12/20/2010
12/15/2010
Kosovo PM Linked to Sale of Human Organs
Reprinted with permission from 2.0: The Blogmocracy
By Rodan
Hashim Thaci who was trained by AL-Qaeda in Afghanistan in the late 90′s and was the leader of their Kosovar affiliate, The KLA which has been linked to drug and human trafficking. This is no shocker to anyone who has been following the events in that region knew that not only were they Muslim Albanian Jihadists, they were also a criminal syndicate. It was these crimes and their terror attacked on Serbian civilians which lead in 98/99 to Serbia’s crackdown in the province. As usual the Progressives and Muslim nations claimed this was genocide and create false stories about the Serbs, just as they are doing with Israel today. The United States by our bombing of Serbia, help create this Narco-Islamic state. This Islamic and criminal regime is propped up by our tax dollars.
Hashim Thaci, who won re-election in the fledgeling country on Sunday, was described as the “most dangerous” of the leading mafia figures who emerged from the former Kosovo Liberation Army a decade ago. The report says that the West was aware of Mr Thaci’s crimes, yet backed his rise to power.
Members of his criminal organisation were said to be behind the trade in human organs when speciallyselected, mostly Serbian prisoners, were killed for their kidneys in a deal with an Albanian clinic, the report states.
[...]
“As and when the transplant surgeons were confirmed to be in position and ready to operate, the captives were brought out of the ‘safe house’ individually, summarily executed by a KLA gunman, and their corpses transported swiftly to the operating clinic,” said the report, due to be debated by the Council of Europe tomorrow.
[....]
The report concludes that Mr Thaci became “untouchable” because of his sponsorship by the United States and other western powers who were looking for a powerful figure to emerge as a political leader. Mr Thaci and his cronies remain free because key potential witnesses have been violently intimidated or killed, the report concludes
Read the rest: Kosovo PM ‘is Mafia boss linked to drugs and sale of human organs’
This is failure of US foreign policy. We gave created a haven for criminality and Jihad in Europe. Kosovo is an illegal nation as it’s a historical Serbian province which we illegally severed. While we claim we are fighting war on terror, we have enabled a terror regime in the Balkans. As the picture above shows, Bush who claims he was fighting terror smiles and shakes hands with a terrorist. As an American, I am ashamed of us supporting a vile organization like the KLA which is the Hamas of Europe. Clinton bombed Serbia, but it was Bush who recognized these criminals as a legitimate state.
Nice war on terror we have, we fight one Islamic group, while we support one of their affiliates. As the pictures below shows, it’s a Bi-Partisan problem.
Here’s Thaci and Biden.
Here’s Madeline Albright and Thaci after the bombing of Serbia in 1999.
This is your tax dollars at work!
Please write your Congressmen to get all American aid to Kosovo cut off. We should have no part of a criminal regime engaged in terror and criminal activities.
But wait, there's more...
Organ-ized Crime: Kosovo organ trafficking busted
UN War Crimes Tribunal Aided the Continued Jihadi Organ-Harvesting in Kosovo
Warning: Raw language and graphic subject matter!
Also see:
- Documentaries on Jihad against the Serbs in Kosovo
- Crossing Continents
- Kidnapped and Murdered
- Kosovo: Can you Imagine
- Full KitmanTV Collection on Kosovo
11/25/2010
No Copyrighted Cocktails!
I'm happy to report that there is at least one thing that intellectual property lawyers haven't been able to lock down. Not yet, anyway. It's the contents of our drink glasses.
The Atlantic is a typical proggy MSM rag, and it's always fun to see it discredited by someone who has done some actual research in the field.
The Era of Copyrighted Cocktails? Not So Much
Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Sep 02, 2010 at 11:44AM
This Tuesday, an article appeared on the Atlantic.Com called The Era of Copyrighted Cocktails? Back in July, writer Chantal Martineau attended a seminar about protecting intellectual property at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. The seminar was the intellectual property of Eben Freeman, a NYC barman who used to make drinks at the now-defunct Tailor in Manhattan. Freeman, an undisputed pioneer in the industry, feels that his ideas have been unjustly ganked by his cocktail-making colleagues.
"Someone needs to get sued," Freeman told Martineau, “to set a precedent.” That intrigued me, but the article didn’t really investigate how such a lawsuit would work. So I called a lawyer, William Ferron of the Seed intellectual property Law Group in Seattle, and asked him.
“Sue for what?” asked Ferron. “There really isn’t protection for a drink recipe, so I don’t see this type of suit being cost effective or productive.”
Read the rest.
TSA Naked Scan and Crotch Grope: Draw the Line Against Government Intrusion
Modesty, bodily privacy, and human dignity...
The international press and the blogosphere has been full of news items about banning the burqa in various European countries. (Phyllis Chesler offers many strong arguments in favor of banning the burqa.) This is part of the ongoing controversies regarding shari'a law and Muslim demands for the veiling, isolation, and abuse of women under the pretexts of honor, shame, and "modesty."
Such intrusive demands for us to change our ways to accommodate Muslim gender apartheid have nothing to do with modesty as we know it in a society founded upon Judaeo-Christian principles. In fact, the Muslim idea of "modesty" is the very antithesis of ours.
For Muslims, veiling the female body to the point of anonymity with the chador, the niqab, or the burqa, becomes a denial of human dignity and a denial of the equal value of men and women in the eyes of our Creator.
For us, decent clothing for all people - including men, women, and children - is a basic requirement of human dignity. Rabbi Daniel Lapin recently appeared on the Glenn Beck show, where he said that, according to the Torah, clothing the naked is an even more meritorious deed than feeding the hungry, because clothing is essential to human dignity.
...versus totalitarianism
The news is also filled with controversy about the recent TSA "naked body scan" and "crotch grope" policies for passengers boarding aircraft in US airports.
I should not need to remind our misguided policymakers that, even in athletic venues such as the gym and the beach, practicing Christians and Jews of both sexes and all ages cover the buttocks and genitalia, and females of all ages cover the chest. This, of course, is the minimum; in other venues, we cover a larger portion of our bodies, dressing in whatever manner is appropriate for the circumstances. We do this to preserve our own dignity as human beings created in the Lord's own image, and to avoid distracting others with inappropriate temptations.
Despite the recent policies of the TSA, we consider staring at, touching, or groping the private parts of a stranger to be taboo. It is also taboo to peep at, or photograph, a stranger in the nude or even in his or her undergarments. If a private citizen did such things, he or she would end up in prison, and rightly so. Government employees should be under the same rules as the rest of us.
Stripping an unwilling person of his or her clothing, as is commonly done with prisoners, is a deep insult that is intended to shame and dehumanize. The person stripped naked is exposed to ridicule and abuse, and has lost control of his or her fate. Even though I suppose someone will invoke Godwin's Law, I cannot help but be reminded of the naked prisoners in concentration camp photos from the Third Reich. Yes, there is such a thing as a slippery slope, in which we allow our government to get out of control and to become totalitarian. This is a path that we must never take.
Airline boycott?
Rep. Ron Paul has recently complained of having been repeatedly groped in a "disgusting" manner while flying on official state business, on account of the fact that he has metal in his knees. He rightly points out that this is unconstitutional. He recommends that, whenever we can, we use other means of transportation and not fly on commercial aircraft until this intrusive nude scan/crotch grope policy is discontinued. He also favors a national "opt out" day. Even though readers of this blog, including myself, strongly disagree with Ron Paul on many other things, on this particular point I concur that he is right in saying that the current TSA procedures are an unacceptable governmental intrusion into our personal modesty and dignity and our Constitutional rights.
I recognize that the current scan-and-grope TSA policy is the fault of the Obama Administration and not of the airlines. While that is true, at this point, the only effective way we have of making our anger known to the government is to refuse to participate in their totalitarian activities. Wherever possible, I plan to use other means of transportation that are not yet under this level of government intrusion.
11/17/2010
Cock-a-Leekie Soup
I hope y'all can get past the name!
Revised 8/19/2010 after further experimentation
Despite the way the name may sound to modern ears, cock-a-leekie soup is a recipe from Scotland that has nothing to do with male urological maladies.
After seeing it discussed on a prior thread on 2.0: The Blogmocracy, and viewing a yummy-looking picture on Wikipedia, I was inspired to try it at home. I improvised a little; here's my recipe:
Cock-a-Leekie Soup
2 pounds fresh chicken pieces
2 leeks
1 medium-sized onion
4 cloves garlic
1 1/2 pounds potatoes (I used red new potatoes; use whatever type you prefer)
54 ozs. (or more) canned chicken broth (WITHOUT added salt)
1 bay leaf
Fresh parsley
Dash of celery seed
Dash of thyme
Dash of rosemary
Black pepper to taste
Dash of Jalapeno or Habanero sauce
2 cups egg noodles (optional)
Scrub the potatoes and cut them into sections, but do not peel them.
Chop the onion coarsely.
Peel and slice the garlic.
Wash and slice the leeks. If you haven't worked with leeks before, you have to be careful to remove the loose portion of the green leaves, because soil can be trapped between the leaves.
Put the chicken, the potatoes, the broth, the bay leaf, celery seed, thyme, rosemary, and black pepper (if desired) into a large pot.
Add a small part of the parsley, the garlic, the onions, and the leeks; reserve the rest for later.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for at least 90 minutes.
Remove bay leaf and discard.
Remove chicken pieces from the pot. Discard skin, cartilage, and bone. Return the meat to the pot.
Add the habanero sauce, the garlic, the onions, the leeks, and the egg noodles (if desired).
Simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes - no more.
Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and serve.
Makes at least 4 servings.
Note: The traditional version is garnished with thin slices of prunes. I didn't have any on hand, but you might want to try that. Some other recipe variations add rice, pearl barley, cream, or flour as a thickener.
Blazing Cat Fur: Allahbet Soup...
Blazing Cat Fur: Allahbet Soup...
Why you should boycott Campbell's Soup
11/16/2010
The Suffering Bastard
Long ago, far away, I partook of a "Suffering Bastard" cocktail in a Chicago restaurant. It didn't come in a fancy glass, but that was okay.
I don't have much of a sweet tooth (hardly any at all, as a matter of fact) and cocktails are a rarity for me. In the Serb tradition, I normally drink my liquor neat - no mixers, no ice, no prechilling. But as mixed drinks go, this one wasn't bad.
Classic Suffering Bastard Recipe from Drinks Mixer™:
1 1/2 oz rum
1 oz overproof rum
3/4 oz Orange Curacao liqueur
1/2 oz orgeat syrup
1 oz fresh lime juice
2 oz fresh orange juice
Shake all ingredients well and strain into an ice-filled double old-fashioned glass.
Garnish with slices of orange and lime, and serve.
Read more: Suffering Bastard recipe
All of these photos are clickable...
Another version of this drink uses gin instead of rum, and a mint garnish. Never tried it; I don't care much for gin, and I hate mint. (Click photo below for recipe.)
The classic Suffering Bastard tropical cocktail originated with Victor Bergeron, founder of the Trader Vic's Polynesian-themed restaurant chain. The Lope offers some commentary on the drink:
Once upon a time, Trader Vic's sold Mai Tai rum in one of the coolest containers that ever held anything; it was called "Mai Tai Joe" but that name was little-known to recent-year collectors who nicknamed it the "suffering bastard" decanter, after a drink served at Trader Vic's.
Here's one of the matching Suffering Bastard mugs. They are no longer being made, but collectors sell them on the web.
Martin Denny: Quiet Village (click to play)
10/24/2010
Elisabeth's Voice: An Appeal
Originally posted on Gates of Vienna
A Call to Mobilize the American Blogosphere in Support of Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff
We, the undersigned — consisting of four European blogs, one Canadian blog, and one American blog — have written this post jointly as a public call for our American colleagues to take up the cause of the Austrian feminist and anti-jihad activist Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff.Geert Wilders is well-known to most American conservative and libertarian bloggers, but Elisabeth’s case is not so prominent. Like Mr. Wilders, she faces trial for reporting factual information about Islam. Her “crime” was to conduct public seminars in which she described Islamic doctrine, quoted from the Koran, and explained to her listeners what she considers the dangers of Islam.
Like Mr. Wilders, Elisabeth has been charged with “hate speech” for her words. Unlike Mr. Wilders, however, Elisabeth is a private citizen, a wife, and the mother of a small child. She lacks the major resources necessary to defend herself against the well-funded organs of the state which seek to persecute her.
Elisabeth will go on trial in Vienna on November 23rd, in what is clearly a political action intended to silence anyone who dissents against the prevailing multicultural orthodoxy.
We, her European and North American supporters, have formed Elisabeth’s Voice to ensure that she is not silenced. By appealing for financial aid, we hope to ensure that her defense is well-funded. By appealing for publicity, we hope to ensure that her case is well-known, not just in Austria and the rest of Europe, but across the entire Western world.
Americans may think that Elisabeth’s is a uniquely European plight, and has nothing to do with them. But make no mistake about it: the same repression is on its way to the United States of America. As the recent cases of Molly Norris, Juan Williams, and Derek Fenton demonstrate, free speech may already be taken away by non-juridical means. Dissent is even now being silenced in schools and on college campuses, and politically incorrect expression is cause for dismissal from both public and private employment.
The same types of “hate speech” laws that were used against Elisabeth in Austria are being prepared for the United States through the work of the United Nations. At the initiative of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the UN is on the verge of requiring all member states to pass laws criminalizing “the defamation of religions, including Islam.”
Your president, Barack Hussein Obama, has indicated his support for the UN’s proposed resolution. Time is running out for all of us. If we don’t stand up now for people like Geert Wilders, Ezra Levant, Mark Steyn, and Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, there will be no one to stand up for us later, when our turn comes.
Links to detailed information about Elisabeth’s case may be found at the bottom of this post, along with a link to her legal defense website where you may donate to her cause.
Elisabeth’s Voice calls on the American blogosphere to support Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff in her fight for the right to speak freely.
Of the hundreds of American blogs who have not yet spoken out on behalf of Elisabeth, we appeal to a dozen of the most prominent and influential American voices:
First and foremost is Jihad Watch, which is the single most authoritative source on the web for accurate and scholarly information about the dangers posed by Islam. Its founder, Robert Spencer, has helped Elisabeth in the past through his Freedom Defense Initiative last February. We appeal to Mr. Spencer to step forward and renew his support for Elisabeth.
Atlas Shrugs has been in the forefront of publicizing and raising citizens’ awareness of the ongoing Islamization of America. Pamela Geller’s work in opposing the Ground Zero mosque is unsurpassed. With Robert Spencer, she was also a partner in the Freedom Defense Initiative last winter. We appeal to Ms. Geller to renew her efforts on behalf of Elisabeth.
National Review’s The Corner is one of the most popular political blogs in the American blogosphere. Its contributors include Jonah Goldberg, John Derbyshire, Andrew McCarthy, Jay Nordlinger, and other prominent conservative writers. We appeal to The Corner to come to the aid of Elisabeth and her right to speak freely.
Gateway Pundit is the best single non-MSM source of news and commentary in the United States. Jim Hoft is tireless and committed in his service to conservative principles and traditional values. We appeal to Mr. Hoft to add his voice to ours in support of Elisabeth.
Hot Air specializes in video reporting and political commentary, and follows the most controversial American issues with close attention. We appeal to Hot Air to extend its coverage to include the videos, images, and articles about Elisabeth’s case.
Ace of Spades HQ offers unfettered and no-holds-barred commentary on major American political issues. Ace concentrates on election politics, but also focuses on civil-liberties issues. We appeal to Ace to decry the suppression of Elisabeth’s civil liberties.
Hugh Hewitt is better known as a radio host than a blogger, but his blog was prominent during the 2004 election season. His book Blog inspired the formation of many small political American blogs. We appeal to Mr. Hewitt to inspire us again by taking up Elisabeth’s cause in the name of liberty.
Daily Pundit is one of the longest-established American blogs. Its founder, Bill Quick, has the distinction of being the man who coined the term “blogosphere”. We appeal to Mr. Quick to help bring Elisabeth’s case to prominence in the blogosphere which he so aptly named.
Instapundit is the the oldest and most famous politically-incorrect blog in America. Glenn Reynolds has enriched the new media with his wide-ranging coverage of social, technological, and political issues. We appeal to Mr. Reynolds to enrich us with his support for Elisabeth’s freedom.
Michelle Malkin concentrates on political and social issues, with a particular focus on the damage done to the United States by President Barack Hussein Obama and the Democratic Party. We appeal to Ms. Malkin to publicize the damage being done to all our freedoms by the case against Elisabeth.
Power Line, like Instapundit and Michelle Malkin, was one of the major blogs that helped expose the forged “Killian memo” during the 2004 election campaign. Two of its contributors are lawyers, and the blog often focuses on legal issues. We appeal to Power Line to focus its valuable energies on the legal travesty that is the case against Elisabeth.
TigerHawk is a New Jersey blogger who covers political issues and national security. He stands in occasionally for Wretchard at the Belmont Club, and is an expert on the intricacies of behind-the-scenes machinations in American political affairs. We appeal to TigerHawk to expose the machinations of the corrupt political elites who are bringing Elisabeth to trial.
The European Union, which includes Austria, is a corrupt and undemocratic superstate with totalitarian aspirations. The oligarchy running it has determined that the millions of Muslim immigrants now living in Europe — and the millions more the EU plans to bring in — are necessary to secure the power base for the unaccountable bureaucrats who now oversee what passes for European governance.
Hence their need to silence people like Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff who speak out against mass immigration and the dangers of Islamization. To help maintain the population in a state of sheep-like passivity, Elisabeth must be silenced.But Elisabeth will not be silenced.
The Austrian court may take away Elisabeth’s voice, but while we yet have our own, we will speak for her.
We are Elisabeth’s Voice.
We are:
Tundra Tabloids
Europe News
Politically Incorrect
The International Civil Liberties Alliance
Vlad Tepes
Gates of Vienna
Those who wish to contribute to Elisabeth’s defense fund — which is not under her control, and may only be used to pay her lawyers — should visit the Save Free Speech legal defense website.
Previous posts about the hate speech case against Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff:
10/13/2010
Geert Wilders: Islam or Freedom
At the request of Gates of Vienna, I am reposting this video and transcript of Geert Wilders' speech in Berlin.
If you have a blog, a Facebook page, or the like, please do the same!
Islam or Freedom?
Thursday, October 07, 2010
“We will not accept Islamization.”
It has taken several days to put together a complete English-subtitled version of Geert Wilders’ speech in Berlin. Mr. Wilders departed from his prepared text in several places, so that the official English text could not be used for subtitling without alteration.
Thanks to the translating and subtitling efforts of the Counterjihad Collective and Vlad Tepes, we can now present the speech just as Mr. Wilders delivered it in Berlin on October 2nd.
It must have been an electrifying speech for the German audience to hear, based on the frequency and intensity with which the speaker was interrupted with applause. The occasion is certain to go down in history — assuming, of course, that the history of these times is not destined to be written in Arabic.
Geert Wilders is now on trial in Amsterdam for speaking the truth about Islam. The mainstream media — not just in the Netherlands, but throughout the West — are bound to distort the proceedings to obscure the import of what Mr. Wilders says, and to paint him in the worst possible light.
That’s why we need to do our best to help him. He is the de facto political leader of the Counterjihad — no one else comes close to him — so he deserves all the support and assistance we can give him. The best way to do this is to:
SPREAD THIS VIDEO AROUND!
Embed it in your blogs. Send the link out to your list. Mirror it. Help the word get out.
Geert Wilders is almost certain to be convicted by the kangaroo court in Amsterdam, but that will not put an end to his mission. In fact, as Obi-Wan Kenobe said to Darth Vader in the first Star Wars movie: “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”
Geert Wilders Berlin Oct 2 English titles from Vlad Tepes on Vimeo.
A full transcript of the text used in the subtitles is below the jump. If anyone wants the SRT file used for the subtitles, drop me an email: unspiek(at)chromatism.net
Transcript:
00:00 On Monday October 4th, 2010, in a court in Amsterdam,
00:03 Geert Wilders was put on trial for his freedom.
00:06 Two days before, on the eve of the anniversary of German reunification,
00:08 an event was held in Berlin, by yet another European political party established to preserve
00:13 the traditions of European liberty and to oppose the Islamification of the continent.
00:16 There Mr Wilders delivered the following speech,
00:18 again giving voice to the opinions that the European establishment,
00:22 would like to see him thrown in jail, for having the courage to express.
00:26 Dear... Dear Friends, I find myself very happy to be here in Berlin today.
00:35 As you know, the invitation which my friend René Stadtkewitz extended to me,
00:41 has cost him his membership of the CDU group in the Berlin Parliament.
00:47 René, however, did not give in to the pressure.
01:01 He did not betray his convictions.
01:05 His dismissal prompted him to establish his own new political party.
01:12 And René, I thank you for your invitation, and I wish you all the best:
01:19 and I also wish you a great great deal of success with your new party.
01:38 My friends as you may have heard, the past weeks have been rather busy for me.
01:46 Earlier this week we succeeded in forging in The Netherlands,
01:49 a minority government of the Liberals and the Christian-Democrats,
01:55 which will be supported by my own party.
01:59 And this is an historic event for the Netherlands.
02:05 I am very proud of having been able to help achieve this.
02:11 And at this...
02:22 At this very moment, while we are here,
02:25 the Christian-Democrat Party conference is deciding
02:29 whether or not to approve this coalition.
02:33 And if they do...
02:35 If they do, we will finally be able to start to rebuild our country.
02:41 To be able to preserve our national identity,
02:44 and offer our children a better future.
02:48 Despite...
02:57 And despite my busy schedule,
03:00 it has always been a wish of mine, to come to Berlin.
03:04 Because Germany too needs a political movement,
03:08 which is both willing to defend German identity,
03:11 and to stand up against the Islamification of Germany.
03:32 Your Chancellor Angela Merkel says that,
03:35 “The Islamization of Germany is inevitable.”
03:39 She has called upon citizens to be prepared
03:42 for more changes as a result of immigration.
03:46 She wants the Germans to adapt to this situation.
03:51 The Christian-Democrat leader has said, and accepts that, quote:
03:57 “More than before mosques will be an integral part of our cities.” Unquote.
04:06 My friends...
04:08 My friends, we should not, and we will not
04:11 accept the unacceptable as inevitable:
04:16 Without trying to turn the tide!
04:31 It is our duty as politicians to preserve our nations for our children.
04:37 And I hope that René’s new movement
04:40 will be as successful as my own Partij voor de Vrijheid,
04:45 as Oskar Freysinger’s Schweizerische Volkspartei [in Switzerland],
04:49 and as Pia Kjaersgaard’s Dansk Folkeparti in Denmark,
04:53 and similar movements elsewhere.
05:06 My good friend Pia Kjaersgaard recently spoke in Sweden,
05:11 at the invitation of the Sverigedemokraterna.
05:15 She said: “I have not come to meddle in Swedish domestic politics.
05:21 Because that is for the Swedish people to be concerned with.
05:24 “No,” she said, “I have come because
05:28 in spite of certain differences today's Swedish debate, in many ways
05:33 reminds me of the debate we've had in Denmark for 10-15 years.
05:40 And I have to come to Sweden because it is also a concern to Denmark.
05:45 We cannot just sit on our hands
05:49 and be silent witnesses to political developments in Sweden.”
05:52 And the same, the very same, applies for me
05:57 as a Dutchman with respect to Germany.
06:00 I am here...
06:12 I am here today because Germany matters to the Netherlands,
06:18 and to the rest of the world;
06:21 and because we cannot, in the absence of a strong German partner,
06:25 establish an International Freedom Alliance.
06:38 Dear friends, tomorrow is the Day of German Unity.
06:43 Tomorrow exactly twenty years ago, your great nation was reunified
06:50 after the collapse of the totalitarian Communist ideology.
06:55 The Day of German Unity is an important day for the whole of Europe.
07:01 Germany...
07:09 Germany is the largest democracy in Europe.
07:15 Germany is Europe’s economic powerhouse.
07:18 The wellbeing and prosperity of Germany is of benefit to all of us.
07:24 Because the wellbeing and prosperity of Germany,
07:27 is a prerequisite for the wellbeing and prosperity of Europe.
07:39 Today I am here, however, to warn you about a looming disunity.
07:45 Germany’s national identity, its democracy and economic prosperity,
07:51 is under threat from the political ideology of Islam.
08:00 In 1848, Karl Marx began his Communist Manifesto with the famous words:
08:08 “A spectre is haunting Europe - the spectre of communism.”
08:14 But Today...
08:16 Today, there is a different spectre stretching across Europe:
08:20 It is the spectre of Islam.
08:24 This danger...
08:34 And this danger, is a political one today also.
08:39 Islam is not merely a religion, as many people seem to think:
08:44 Islam is mainly a dangerous political ideology.
09:01 The Flemish Professor Urbain Vermeulen, the former president
09:06 of the European Union of Arabists and Islamicists, points out that,
09:10 “Islam is primarily a legal system: a law,” rather than a religion.
09:19 I quote from the bestseller and BBC television series: The Triumph of the West,
09:26 which the renowned Oxford historian J.M. Roberts wrote in 1985.
09:32 And he wrote that,
09:34 “Although we carelessly speak of Islam as a ‘religion’;
09:38 that word carries many overtones of the special history of western Europe.
09:45 The Muslim is primarily a member of a community,
09:49 the follower of a certain way, an adherent to a system of law.
09:56 Rather than someone holding particular theological views.”
10:02 And the American political scientist Mark Alexander writes that,
10:07 “One of our greatest mistakes is to think of Islam
10:12 as just another one of the world’s great religions.
10:18 We should not do so.”
10:29 “Islam,” he says, “is politics or it is nothing at all.
10:34 But of course, it is politics with a spiritual dimension...
10:39 ...which will stop at nothing, until the West is no more.
10:44 Until the West has... been well and truly Islamized.”
10:49 And, he was right. These...
10:56 These are not all just statements by opponents of Islam.
10:59 Islamic scholars say, and think, the same thing.
11:03 To anyone who has read the Koran, the Sirah and the Hadith:
11:09 there can be no misunderstanding about the nature of Islam.
11:15 Abul Ala Maududi, the influential 20th century Pakistani Islamic thinker, wrote,
11:24 – and I quote, emphasizing that these are not my words but those of a leading Islamic scholar –
11:31 he said: “Islam is not merely a religious creed [but] a revolutionary ideology,
11:39 and jihad refers to that revolutionary struggle...
11:44 to destroy all states and governments anywhere, on the face of the earth,
11:50 which are opposed to the ideology and program of Islam.”
11:55 And Ali Sina, an Iranian Islamic apostate who now lives in Canada,
12:02 points out that there is one golden rule,
12:06 and that this golden rule lies at the heart of every religion:
12:12 that is, that we do unto others, as we would have them do unto us.
12:19 But in Islam, this rule only applies to fellow believers, but not to Infidels.
12:39 Ali Sina says, and I quote,
12:42 “The reason I am against Islam is not because it is a religion,
12:47 but because it is a political ideology of imperialism and domination,
12:53 in the guise of religion.
12:55 Because Islam does not follow the Golden Rule, it attracts violent people.”
13:03 A dispassionate study of the beginnings of Islamic history,
13:07 reveals clearly that Muhammad’s objective was
13:11 first to conquer his own people, the Arabs, and to unify them under his rule,
13:19 and then to conquer and rule the world.
13:23 That was the original cause.
13:26 It was obviously political and was backed by military force.
13:32 “I was ordered to fight all men until they say, ‘There is no god but Allah’, ”
13:41 is what Muhammad said in his final address.
13:44 He did so in accordance with the Koranic command in sura 8:39:
13:50 “Fight them until there is no more dissension and the religion is entirely Allah’s.”
14:00 According to mythology, Muhammad founded Islam in Mecca,
14:05 after the Angel Gabriel visited him for the first time in the year 610.
14:11 However, for its first twelve years, when Islam was religious rather than political,
14:18 Islam was not a success.
14:20 But in 622, Muhammad emigrated with his small band of 150 followers, to Yathrib,
14:29 which was then a predominantly Jewish oasis.
14:32 There he established the first mosque in history, and seized political power,
14:39 he gave Yathrib the name of Medina (which means the “City of the Prophet”);
14:44 and began his career as a military and a political leader,
14:49 who conquered the whole of Arabia.
14:52 Tellingly, the Islamic calendar starts with the hijra,
14:58 the migration to Medina:
15:01 the moment when Islam became a political movement.
15:07 And after Muhammad's death, Islam developed,
15:11 based upon his own words and deeds: Sharia.
15:14 An elaborate legal system which justified,
15:17 the repressive governance of the world by divine right
15:22 – including rules for jihad,
15:25 and for the absolute control of believers and non-believers.
15:30 And Sharia as you all know,
15:32 is the law of Saudi Arabia and Iran, among other Islamic states.
15:38 It is also central to the Organization of the Islamic Conference,
15:44 which in article 24 of its Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam,
15:50 proclaims that, “all rights and freedoms are subject to the Islamic Sharia.”
15:58 And the OIC is no religious institution; it is a political body.
16:06 It constitutes the largest voting-block in the United Nations,
16:11 and writes reports on so-called “Islamophobia” in Western Countries,
16:17 which accuse us of human rights violations.
16:22 To speak in biblical terms: They look for the splinter in our eye,
16:29 while ignoring the log in their own.
16:48 Under Sharia law, people in territories conquered by Islam,
16:53 have no guaranteed legal rights,
16:56 not even the right to life or the right to own property,
17:00 unless they convert to Islam.
17:04 Before I continue,
17:07 and in order to avoid any misunderstandings,
17:10 I want to emphasize that I am talking about Islam,
17:15 not about Muslims.
17:17 I always make a clear distinction
17:20 between the people and the ideology,
17:23 between Muslims and Islam.
17:27 There are many moderate Muslims,
17:31 but the political ideology of Islam is not moderate,
17:37 will never be moderate, and has global ambitions.
17:53 It aims to impose Islamic law, or Sharia, upon the whole world.
17:59 The way to achieve this is through jihad.
18:03 The good news is,
18:05 that millions of Muslims around the world,
18:08 – including many in Germany and the Netherlands –
18:11 do not follow the directives of Sharia,
18:14 let alone engage in jihad.
18:17 But the bad news...
18:19 The bad news however, is that those who do follow them,
18:25 are prepared to use all available means
18:28 in order to achieve their ideological, revolutionary goal.
18:34 In 1954 the British-American writer and historian Professor Bernard Lewis,
18:42 in his essay Communism and Islam, spoke of,
18:46 “the totalitarianism, of the Islamic political tradition.”
18:51 Professor Lewis said that,
18:54 “The traditional Islamic division of the world
18:58 into the ‘House of Islam’ and the ‘House of War’...
19:01 ...has obvious parallels in the Communist view of world affairs...
19:06 ...The aggressive fanaticism of the believer is the same.”
19:12 says Professor Lewis.
19:14 And the American political scientist Mark Alexander states,
19:19 that the nature of Islam, differs very little
19:22 – and only in detail rather than style –
19:25 from despicable and totalitarian political ideologies,
19:29 such as National-Socialism and Communism.
19:34 He lists the following common characteristics for these three,
19:39 these three, ideologies:
19:42 Communism, National-Socialism and Islam.
19:45 First: They use political purges to “cleanse” society of what they consider undesirable.
19:56 Second: They tolerate only a single political party,
20:01 where Islam allows more parties, it insists that all parties be Islamic ones.
20:09 Third: They coerce the people down a road that they must follow.
20:16 Fourth: They obliterate the liberal distinction between areas of private judgment and of public control.
20:27 Fifth: They turn the educational system into an apparatus for the purpose of universal indoctrination.
20:35 Sixth: They lay down rules for art, for literature, for science and for religion.
20:44 Seventh: They subdue certain people who are given second-class status.
20:53 Eighth: They induce a frame of mind akin to fanaticism,
20:58 adjustment takes place by struggle and dominance.
21:03 Ninth: They are abusive to their opponents, and regard any concession on their own part,
21:10 as a temporary expedient, and on a rival’s part, as a sign of weakness.
21:19 Tenth: They regard politics as an expression of power.
21:24 Lastly: They are anti-Semitic.
21:29 There is one more striking parallel,
21:33 but this is not a characteristic of the three political ideologies,
21:40 but rather it is a characteristic of the West:
21:43 It is the apparent inability of the West to see the danger.
21:50 The prerequisite to understanding political danger:
21:53 is a willingness to see the truth, even if it is unpleasant.
22:14 Unfortunately, modern Western politicians seem to have lost this capacity.
22:22 Our inability leads us to reject, the logical and historical conclusions,
22:28 to be drawn from the facts.
22:32 Though we could, and should know better.
22:36 What is wrong with modern Western man,
22:40 that we end up making the same mistake over and over again?
22:45 There is no better place to ponder this question,
22:52 than here in Berlin.
23:07 Here in Berlin, the former capital of the empire,
23:11 of the evil that was Nazi Germany.
23:14 And a city which was held captive by the
23:17 so-called German “Democratic” Republic for over forty years.
23:22 When the citizens of Eastern Europe rejected Communism in 1989,
23:30 they were inspired by dissidents such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn,
23:35 Václav Havel, Vladimir Bukovsky, and others, who told them:
23:39 that people have a right,
23:41 but also an obligation, to “live within the truth.”
23:46 And freedom, dear friends...
23:49 Freedom requires eternal vigilance;
23:53 so it is with truth also.
24:08 So it is too with truth.
24:10 Solzhenitsyn added however, and I quote, that,
24:14 “The truth is seldom sweet. It is almost invariably bitter.”
24:21 Let us, let us together, look the bitter truth squarely in the eye:
24:27 We have lost our capacity to perceive the danger,
24:32 and to understand the truth,
24:34 because we no longer value freedom.
24:38 Politicians from almost all establishment political parties today,
24:41 are facilitating Islamization.
24:44 They are cheering for every new Islamic school,
24:47 every Islamic bank, and every new Islamic court.
24:52 They regard Islam as being equal to our own culture.
24:57 Islam or Freedom?
24:59 It doesn't really matter to them.
25:03 But to us? To us? It does matter.
25:18 The entire establishment, the elite
25:21 – universities, churches, trade unions, the media, politicians –
25:27 are all putting our hard-earned liberties at risk.
25:32 They talk...
25:39 They talk about equality,
25:42 but amazingly fail to see how in Islam,
25:47 women have fewer rights than men,
25:49 and infidels have fewer rights than adherents of Islam.
26:01 Are we, then, going to repeat the fatal mistakes of the Weimar Republic?
26:20 Are we succumbing to Islam because our commitment to freedom is already dead?
26:26 No. It will not happen.
26:30 We are not like Frau Merkel.
26:32 We will not accept Islamization.
26:55 We have to keep our freedom alive.
26:59 And, to the extent that we have already lost it,
27:01 we must reclaim it in our democratic elections.
27:16 This is exactly why, precisely why,
27:19 we need new political parties that defend freedom.
27:30 It is to support such parties that we established the International Freedom Alliance.
27:40 As you know, I am standing trial in the Netherlands.
27:46 On Monday, in two days time, I will have to go to court again.
27:50 And I will have to spend most of the coming month there.
27:55 I have been brought to court because of my opinions on Islam,
28:01 and because I have voiced these opinions in speeches,
28:07 articles and in my documentary film Fitna.
28:11 I have personally lived under constant police protection for years.
28:16 Islamic extremists want to assassinate me,
28:19 yet it is I who stand before a court,
28:22 because the Dutch establishment – most of them non-Muslims –
28:28 want to see me silenced as well.
28:32 I have been dragged to court because in my country,
28:36 freedom can no longer be fully enjoyed.
28:42 Unlike America, we do not have a First Amendment which guarantees people
28:49 the human right to express their opinions,
28:54 and foster public debate by doing so.
28:57 And in contrast to America, in Europe, the nation state,
29:02 and increasingly the European Union also,
29:05 prescribes how citizens
29:07 – including democratically elected politicians such as myself –
29:11 how we should think, and what we are allowed to say.
29:26 One of the things we are no longer allowed to say,
29:31 is that our culture, our culture, is superior to certain other cultures.
29:39 This...
29:48 Saying only this, is seen as a discriminatory statement
29:55 – a statement of hatred even.
29:58 We are indoctrinated on a daily basis, in the schools and through the media,
30:02 with the message that all cultures are equal,
30:06 but that, if one culture is worse than all the rest,
30:09 then it is our own.
30:14 We are inundated with feelings of guilt and shame
30:18 about our own identity and what we stand for.
30:25 We are exhorted to extend respect to everyone and everything,
30:29 except ourselves.
30:31 This...
30:46 This is the message of the Left and of the politically-correct ruling establishment.
30:54 They want us to feel so ashamed about our own identity,
31:01 that we simply refuse to stand up for it.
31:05 The detrimental obsession of our cultural and political elites with Western guilt,
31:13 merely reinforces the view which Islam has of us.
31:17 The Koran says that non-Muslims are kuffar [the plural of kafir],
31:21 a word which literally means “rejectors” or “ingrates”.
31:26 Hence non-believers, are “guilty”.
31:30 Islam teaches that in our natural state we have all been born as believers.
31:36 Islam teaches that if we are not believers today, the fault for this thus lies with us,
31:41 or the fault lies with our forefathers.
31:45 Subsequently, we are always kafir – guilty – because either we or our fathers are apostates.
31:53 And hence, according to some, we deserve subjugation.
31:57 And our contemporary leftist and politically-correct intellectuals,
32:02 are entirely blind to the dangers of Islam.
32:07 Former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky argues that the West,
32:13 after the fall of Communism,
32:15 failed to expose those who had collaborated with the Communists.
32:21 By for example purposefully advocating policies of détente and improved relations,
32:27 or a relaxation of international tension, and peaceful coexistence.
32:33 He points out that the Cold War was, “a war we never won.”
32:41 “We never even fought it… Most of the time, the West engaged in
32:47 a policy of appeasement toward the Soviet bloc
32:53 – and appeasers don’t win any wars.”
33:06 Dear friends... Islam is the Communism of today.
33:12 But...
33:17 But, because of our failure to come clean with Communism,
33:23 we are unable to deal with Islam,
33:26 trapped as we are in the old Communist habit of deceit and double-speak;
33:33 which in the past plagued the countries in the East, and that now plagues us all.
33:39 So we see the sort of people, who before turned a blind eye to Communism,
33:46 are precisely the same politically-correct, leftists, who today close their eyes to Islam.
34:03 They are using exactly the same arguments
34:07 for “improved relations”, and appeasement as before.
34:13 They argue that our adversary is just as peace-loving, as we are,
34:20 that if only we were to meet him half-way, then he would also do the same.
34:26 That he only asks for respect, and that if we respect him, he will in turn respect us.
34:34 We even hear a repetition of the old moral equivalence mantra.
34:40 They used to say that Western “imperialism” was as bad as Soviet imperialism;
34:49 today they say that Western “imperialism” is just as bad as Islamic terrorism.
34:57 In my speech a few weeks ago in New York, on September 11th,
35:02 I emphasized that we must stop this “Blame the West, Blame America”-game,
35:09 which Islamic spokesmen are playing with us.
35:27 And we must stop playing this game ourselves.
35:32 And I have exactly the same message, dear friends, for you today.
35:39 It is an insult to tell us that we are guilty,
35:44 and deserve what is happening to us.
35:47 How is it exactly, that we deserve becoming strangers in our own lands?
35:53 We should accept such insults no longer.
36:12 First of all, Western civilization is the freest and most prosperous on earth.
36:21 Which is precisely why so many immigrants are so keen on moving here.
36:24 Secondly...
36:29 Secondly, there is no such thing as collective guilt.
36:33 Free individuals...
36:41 Free individuals are free moral agents who are only responsible for their own deeds.
36:51 I am very happy, very fortunate, to be here in Berlin today in order to deliver this message,
37:00 which is extremely important, especially so, here in Germany.
37:05 Whatever...
37:07 No matter what took place in your country in the past,
37:13 the present generation is not responsible for it.
37:34 Whatever happened in the past, is no excuse for punishing the Germans of today.
37:49 But... But, neither is it an excuse, for you to shrink from the fight for your own identity.
38:10 Your only responsibility is to eschew the mistakes of the past.
38:16 It is your duty to stand with those threatened by the ideology of Islam,
38:24 such as the State of Israel and your Jewish compatriots.
38:41 The Weimar Republic refused to fight for freedom,
38:46 and was overrun by a totalitarian ideology,
38:50 with catastrophic consequences for Germany, the rest of Europe and the world.
38:56 Please do not refuse to fight, for your freedom, today.
39:14 I feel lucky to be in your midst today because it seems,
39:18 that twenty years after German reunification, a new,
39:23 a new generation no longer feels guilty, just for the fact of being German.
39:41 The current and very intense debate about Thilo Sarrazin’s recent book,
39:48 is an indication of the fact that Germany is coming to terms with itself.
39:53 I have...
40:01 I have not yet read Dr Sarrazin’s book, but I say this:
40:05 While the minds of the ruling politically-correct establishment
40:09 may be closed to, and almost unanimously critical of his thesis,
40:12 and while he may have lost his job as a Bundesbanker,
40:16 nevertheless, a large majority of Germans acknowledge that Dr Sarrazin
40:21 has addressed an important and pressing issue.
40:35 “Germany is abolishing itself,” warns Sarrazin,
40:40 and he calls upon the Germans to halt this process.
40:44 The enormous impact of his book indicates that many Germans feel the same way.
40:50 The people of Germany, do not want Germany to be abolished.
40:54 Despite all...
41:04 Germany is no longer ashamed to assert its national pride.
41:18 In these difficult times, when our national identities are under threat,
41:23 we must stop feeling guilty about who we are.
41:26 And with that cease feeling shameful,
41:29 and say together who we are:
41:31 We are not kafir, we are not “guilty”.
41:48 Like other peoples, Germans too have the right to remain who they are.
41:53 Germans must not become French, nor Dutch, nor Americans, nor Turks.
42:00 They should remain Germans.
42:10 When the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan visited your country in 2008,
42:17 he told the Turks living here that they had to remain Turks.
42:23 He literally said that, “assimilation is a crime against humanity.”
42:28 And Erdogan would perhaps have been right,
42:32 if he had been addressing the Turks in Turkey.
42:47 However, Germany is still the land of the Germans.
42:52 And hence, the Germans have a right to demand that anyone
42:56 who comes to live in Germany should assimilate.
43:00 They have the right...
43:07 They have the right
43:09 – no, they have the duty to demand, for the sake of their children –
43:17 to demand that newcomers respect German identity,
43:21 and fully respect Germany’s right to preserve its identity.
43:25 And we must realize...
43:29 We must realize that Islam expands in two ways.
43:35 Since it is not a religion, conversion is only a marginal phenomenon.
43:41 Historically, Islam has expanded either by military conquest,
43:48 or, it has expanded by using the weapon of hijra: immigration.
43:55 Muhammad conquered Medina through immigration.
43:59 Hijra is also what we are experiencing today.
44:03 The Islamization of Europe continues all the time.
44:09 But the West, our West, has no strategy for dealing with the Islamic ideology:
44:17 because our elites say to us, that we must adapt to them,
44:22 rather than the exact opposite.
44:35 In this regard, there is a lesson which we can learn from America,
44:41 the freest nation on Earth.
44:43 Americans are proud of their nation, its achievements and its flag.
44:50 We, too, should be proud of our nations.
44:55 The United States has always been a nation of immigrants.
44:59 And President Theodore Roosevelt was very clear about the duty of immigrants.
45:07 Here is what President Roosevelt said, and I quote:
45:12 “We should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith,
45:19 becomes an American and assimilates himself to us,
45:22 he shall be treated with a full and exact equality with everyone else...
45:29 But this is predicated upon the man’s becoming in very fact an American,
45:35 and nothing but an American...
45:38 There can be no divided allegiance here...
45:43 We have room for but one sole loyalty
45:47 and that is a loyalty to the American people.”
45:52 Endquote.
46:05 And it is not up to me to define what Germany’s national identity consists of.
46:13 That is entirely up to you.
46:16 However I do know, that German culture,
46:19 like that of neighbouring countries such as my own,
46:24 is rooted in Judeo-Christian and humanist values, and not in Islam.
46:43 Every responsible politician has a political obligation:
46:48 to preserve these values against ideologies which directly threaten them.
46:55 And a Germany...
46:56 A Germany full of mosques and veiled women,
47:00 is no longer, my friends,
47:02 it is no longer the Germany of Goethe,
47:05 of Schiller and Heine,
47:06 of Bach and Mendelssohn.
47:28 It will be a loss to us all.
47:32 It is vital that you cherish and preserve your roots as a nation.
47:38 Otherwise it will be impossible for you to safeguard your identity:
47:43 you will be abolished as a people, and you will lose your freedom.
47:49 And the rest of Europe will lose its freedom with you.
47:55 My friends, when Ronald Reagan came to a divided Berlin 23 years ago,
48:04 he uttered, not far from here at the Brandenburg Gate,
48:09 the following historic words, to the Soviet General Secretary:
48:20 “Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
48:25 President Reagan was not an appeaser,
48:29 he was rather, a man who spoke the truth, and who loved freedom.
48:34 Today, we must again tear down a wall.
48:40 It is not a wall of concrete,
48:43 but rather it is a wall of denial and ignorance, about the real nature of Islam.
48:50 The International Freedom Alliance aims to coordinate and stimulate these efforts.
48:59 And because we speak the truth – and it is the truth – voters have given my party,
49:05 and many other parties too, from Denmark all the way to Switzerland,
49:09 the voters have given us the power to influence the political decision-making process.
49:15 Whether that be in opposition, or through supporting a minority government;
49:21 as we too want to do soon in the Netherlands.
49:26 President Reagan... President Reagan showed, that one can, by speaking the truth,
49:33 one can change the course of history.
49:37 He showed...
49:47 He showed also, that there is no need to despair.
49:52 Never!
49:55 My friends... Just do your duty.
50:00 Do not be afraid.
50:03 Speak up. Speak the truth.
50:06 Defend Freedom.
50:08 Together we can preserve freedom,
50:12 together we must preserve freedom,
50:14 and together, my friends, we will be able to preserve freedom.
50:19 Thank you.
9/29/2010
“YOU MIGHT BE A MUSLIM IF…”
- You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to liquor.
- You own a $3,000 machine gun and $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can’t afford shoes.
- You have more wives than teeth.
- You wipe your butt with your bare hand, but consider bacon unclean.
- You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.
- You can’t think of anyone you haven’t declared Jihad against.
- You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry explosives in your clothing.
- You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs.
- You have nothing against women and think every man should own at least four.
- Your cousin is president of the United States
- You find this offensive or racist and don’t forward it.
9/11/2010
Where were you on September 11, 2001?
9-11: Where Were You When...
Please visit this thread on 2.0:The Blogmocracy and post your memories of that day as a comment. If you are not already a member, you will need to sign up in order to comment. Registration is open, and takes very little time to complete.
Please spread the word about this post on Blogmocracy.
Thank you.
9/06/2010
9/02/2010
Busting the Climate Change Myth #24: Meltdown of the climate change 'consensus'
Meltdown of the climate change 'consensus'
If this keeps up, no one's going to trust any scientists.
The global-warming establishment took a body blow this week, as the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change received a stunning rebuke from a top-notch independent investigation.
For two decades, the IPCC has spearheaded efforts to convince the world's governments that man-made carbon emissions pose a threat to the global temperature equilibrium -- and to civilization itself. IPCC reports, collated from the work of hundreds of climate scientists and bureaucrats, are widely cited as evidence for the urgent need for drastic action to "save the planet."
Pachauri: UN big scored great grants for silly science. But the prestigious InterAcademy Council, an independent association of "the best scientists and engineers worldwide" (as the group's own Web site puts it) formed in 2000 to give "high-quality advice to international bodies," has finished a thorough review of IPCC practices -- and found them badly wanting...
Read the rest.
h/t: huckfunn of 2.0: The Blogmocracy
7/24/2010
Busting the Climate Change Myth #23: Desperate days for the warmists
Desperate days for the warmists
Warmists may be winning the big grants, but they're not winning the argument, says Christopher Booker (Telegraph UK).
7/06/2010
Busting the Climate Change Myth #22: Political Fallout
Credibility is like virginity - once it's gone, forget about getting it back:
7/01/2010
Want a headline animator from Gates of Vienna?
Click this link to get it.
It looks nice, and it works.
The only reason I don't use it myself is that I already have a regular headline feed from Gates of Vienna in the sidebar of 1389 Blog.
Gates of Vienna is the voice of the European counterjihad, and they also have a great daily news feed that covers worldwide news with an emphasis on the counterjihad cause, along with other economic and political issues. It's worth visiting the blog every day.
6/29/2010
Mystery link on Amplicate
Amplicate: Making Your Opinion Count
This article from my other blog ended up with a link on Amplicate. I'm not sure how or why, but Amplicate apparently picked it up from my Twitter account.
6/27/2010
Comedian elected mayor of Reykjavik
Icelander’s Campaign Is a Joke, Until He’s Elected
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — A polar bear display for the zoo. Free towels at public swimming pools. A “drug-free Parliament by 2020.” Iceland’s Best Party, founded in December by a comedian, Jon Gnarr, to satirize his country’s political system, ran a campaign that was one big joke. Or was it?
By Hordur Sveinsson
Jon Gnarr is now the fourth mayor in four years of a city that is home to more than a third of Iceland’s 320,000 people.
Last month, in the depressed aftermath of the country’s financial collapse, the Best Party emerged as the biggest winner in Reykjavik’s elections, with 34.7 percent of the vote, and Mr. Gnarr — who also promised a classroom of kindergartners he would build a Disneyland at the airport — is now the fourth mayor in four years of a city that is home to more than a third of the island’s 320,000 people.
In his acceptance speech he tried to calm the fears of the other 65.3 percent. “No one has to be afraid of the Best Party,” he said, “because it is the best party. If it wasn’t, it would be called the Worst Party or the Bad Party. We would never work with a party like that.”
With his party having won 6 of the City Council’s 15 seats, Mr. Gnarr needed a coalition partner, but ruled out any party whose members had not seen all five seasons of “The Wire.”
A sandy-haired 43-year-old, Mr. Gnarr is best known here for playing a television and film character named Georg Bjarnfredarson, a nasty, bald, middle-aged, Swedish-educated Marxist whose childhood was ruined by a militant feminist mother.
While his career may have given him visibility, few here doubt what actually propelled him into office. “It’s a protest vote,” said Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson, a political science professor at the University of Iceland.
In one of the first signs of Europe’s financial troubles, Iceland’s banks crashed in 2008, plunging the country into crisis. In April, voters were further upset by a report that detailed extreme negligence, cronyism and incompetence at the highest levels of government. They were ready for someone, anyone, other than the usual suspects, Professor Kristinsson said.
“People know Jon Gnarr is a good comedian, but they don’t know anything about his politics,” he said. “And even as a comedian, you never know if he’s serious or if he’s joking.”
But as Mr. Gnarr settles into the mayor’s office, he does not seem to be kidding at all.
The Best Party, whose members include a who’s who of Iceland’s punk rock scene, formed a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats (despite Mr. Gnarr’s suspicion that party leaders had assigned an underling to watch “The Wire” and take notes). With that, Mr. Gnarr took office last week, hoping to serve out a full, four-year term, and the new government granted free admission to swimming pools for everyone under 18. Its plans include turning Reykjavik, with its plentiful supply of geothermal energy, into a hub for electric cars.
“Just because something is funny doesn’t mean it isn’t serious,” said Mr. Gnarr, whose foreign relations experience includes a radio show in which he regularly crank-called the White House, the C.I.A., the F.B.I. and police stations in the Bronx to see if they had found his lost wallet.
THE polar bear idea, for example, was not totally facetious. As a result of global warming, a handful of polar bears have swum to Iceland in recent years and been shot. Better, Mr. Gnarr said, to capture them and put them in the zoo.
The free towels? That evolved from an idea to attract more tourists by attaining spa status for the city’s public pools, which have seawater and sulfur baths. For accreditation under certain European Union rules, however, a spa has to offer free towels, so that became a campaign slogan.
Mr. Gnarr, born in Reykjavik as Jon Gunnar Kristinsson to a policeman and a kitchen worker, was not a model child. At 11, he decided school was useless to his future as a circus clown or pirate and refused to learn any more. At 13, he stopped going to class and joined Reykjavik’s punk scene. At 14, he was sent to a boarding school for troubled teenagers and stayed until he was 16, when he left school for good.
Back in Reykjavik, he worked odd jobs, rented rooms, joined activist groups like Greenpeace and considered himself an anarchist (he still does). He also wrote poetry and traveled with the Sugarcubes, Bjork’s first band. He said he hated music but was a good singer, and began his career with humorous songs punctuated by monologues.
“I didn’t have many job options,” he said. “It was a way of making a living and still having fun.” His wife, Johanna Johannsdottir, a massage therapist, is Bjork’s best friend.
Mr. Gnarr said his idea for the Best Party was born of the profound distress and moral confusion after the banking collapse, when Icelanders fiercely debated their obligation to repay ruined British and Dutch depositors.
Practically speaking, Mr. Gnarr said he had no qualms. “Why should I repay money I never spent?” he asked, a common sentiment here. But on a deeper level, he had misgivings.
“I consider myself a very moral person,” he said. “Suddenly, I felt like a character in a Beckett play, where you have moral obligations towards something you have no possibility of understanding. It was like ‘Waiting for Godot’ — I was in limbo.”
LAST winter, he opened a Best Party Web site and started writing surreal “political” articles. “I got such good reactions to it,” Mr. Gnarr said, “and I started sensing the need for this — a breath of fresh air, a new interaction.”
The campaign released a popular video set to Tina Turner’s “The Best,” in which Mr. Gnarr posed with a stuffed polar bear and petted a rock, while joining his supporters in singing about the Best Party.
“A lot of us are singers,” said Ottarr Proppe, the third-ranking member of the Best Party, who was with the cult rock band HAM and the punk band Rass. Mr. Proppe now sits on the city’s executive board, where he will be deciding matters like how much money to allocate for roads. “Making a video was very easy,” he said.
At a recent budget meeting, Mr. Proppe, who has a wild red beard, ran his hand through his bleached-blond hair as he studied the fiscal report from behind tinted, gold-rimmed glasses. His old band mate S. Bjorn Blondal quizzed the city’s comptroller. Heida Helgadottir, who ran the campaign and is now assistant to the mayor, wore a diaphanous minidress and typed notes.
Mr. Gnarr, who comes across as thoughtful and reserved, did not speak often. When he did he had the whole room, including the strait-laced Social Democrat, in stitches. Still, he is not just playing a cutup; friends describe his move to politics as a spiritual awakening. He agreed.
“Of all the projects I’ve been involved with, this one has given me the most satisfaction, the greatest sense of contentment.”
Ooooookkkkaaaayyy...
If you're going to vote for a clown anyway, I suppose you might as well pick one who has some experience!
6/26/2010
All major countries but the US are moving in the right direction
The Hill: U.S. isolated on spending at G-20
By Ian Swanson - 06/23/10 08:34 PM ETSo much for the fools who insist that the US is "the last fortress standing."
The U.S. will be isolated at the G-20 summit on the subject of stimulus spending.
In the days ahead of this weekend’s summit, President Barack Obama and his economic team have pressed Europe and Congress alike on the need for more spending to drive economic growth.
But huge gaps have emerged between the Obama administration and allies in Europe.
Germany, France and Great Britain have all launched austerity campaigns designed to reduce public debt. They’re motivated in part by the Greek debt crisis, which continues to scare countries across Europe.
“In the run-up to the summit, a clear plurality of G-20 countries has come up on the side of fiscal consolidation and not stimulus spending,” said Dan Price, a senior partner at Sidley Austin and former President George W. Bush’s “sherpa” for G-20 summits.
Japan has also introduced a strategy to reduce its budget deficit, while Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is hosting the summit in Toronto, has challenged G-20 members to cut their deficits in half.
The motivation for the Obama administration is different. In less than five months, voters will elect a new House and Senate, and Democrats are in danger of losing their majority in the House.
Higher unemployment figures this summer will hurt the Democratic case this fall, which makes it tougher to argue against spending that could increase employment.
We're the ones who are trying to bring everybody else down!
6/25/2010
It isn't a revival of the Russian Empire we need to worry about...
...it's a de facto revival of the Turkish Empire.
Buying from HP means exporting America's last few IT jobs
HP Services to cut costs by automation and offshore delivery
Its India delivery center may see an increase in staff, even as the company is cutting services staff overall
By John Ribeiro, IDG News Service
June 23, 2010 10:22 AM ET
Hewlett-Packard's Enterprise Services business is counting on automation of its services and an expansion of its strategy to move work to low-cost offshore locations like India, to help cut costs and get more efficient, an executive of the company said on Wednesday.
The roll out of automation is also likely to be more efficient at the company's large offshore centers, said Robb Rasmussen, vice president and general manager for Best Shore Delivery of HP Enterprise Services on Wednesday.
HP said earlier this month that it was cutting 9,000 jobs over three years as it restructures its enterprise services business and automates the services it offers enterprise customers.
HP said it would invest US$1 billion in this connection, while also hiring 6,000 staff for the new services initiative, including some in services delivery.
In some offshore locations, including India, HP may however see net additions to the number of staff, Rasmussen said. The company is still hiring in India and some other offshore locations, and does not plan a reduction in staff in these countries, he added.
India is already the second largest location for HP's services business in terms of number of staff.
HP also has a majority-owned services subsidiary in Bangalore, called MphasiS, which became part of the company after its 2008 acquisition of Electronic Data Systems.
As its business grows, HP's enterprise services is having an increasing number of staff in offshore locations, Rasmussen said. The company has 14 offshore services centers across Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
Customers are increasingly opting for an "India plus one" offshore delivery model, which includes near-shore delivery from locations in the customer's time zone, in addition to delivery from India, he added.
Automation will further drive down costs, as key services like applications management will be done with fewer people, Rasmussen said.
The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.
6/24/2010
Each bullet point below is a separate link:
- The Balkan Problem, Part 1
Several times on Blogmocracy, the actions of the Serbs in the FYRs (former Yugoslav Republics) have come up for discussion. What is lacking in these discussions is the background, history, and ethnic tension that underlies the actions. This post will attempt to clarify how a culture of Serbian Orthodox Christians can end up as war criminals. What drives civilized men to massacre? This is part one in a series. Next, Did the US and NATO pick the wrong side in the Yugoslavian Wars?
Read more at the above link. - The Balkan Problem, Part 2a: Did the US and NATO pick the wrong side in the Yugoslavian Wars?
- The Balkan Problem, Part 2b: Who Are the KLA?
- The Balkan Problem, Part 3: Revisiting Srebrenica
Visit 2.0: The Blogmocracy at this link.
6/23/2010
6/03/2010
6/02/2010
"Aid" flotilla sponsors affiliated with al Qaeda
Yid With Lid: IHH, the terror group that sponsored the "aid" flotilla
This article is crammed with useful links.
5/31/2010
The EU will come apart, and so will the US
Dick Morris: The European Union Will Come Apart
Click here to read the article. Decide for yourself whether you believe that Dick Morris is correct.
I believe that he is, and that the same applies to the US.
I am old enough to remember the "Common Market" - which I understood to be a set of free trade agreements to promote peaceful relations and economic development. I didn't see any problem with that, and still don't. But for reasons of political ambition, it evolved over time to become something quite different, namely the EU. That was a bad idea from the get-go. The insistence upon a common set of laws and regulations, a centralized bureaucracy, and a common currency, has worked out to be a disaster for individual liberties, a stranglehold on small businesses, a threat to regional and national identity and culture, and an open doorway for jihadis, not to mention a financial drain not merely on Germany, but also on the US.
The US is going through much the same thing with profligate spending in Washington DC and in many of the States, and as with Greece, it's all about too many people on the government payroll, along with overly generous wages, benefits, and pensions for government workers at the federal, state, and local levels. They can't afford it and they go into debt to pay for it. The Obama administration wants to bail out those states and localities, in order to pay off the teachers' unions and the SEIU for helping to get Obama elected. We obviously can't afford it either, and if we can't stop spending money that we don't have, this type of wastefulness will end up causing the bankruptcy and most likely the eventual breakup of the US.
Secession is no longer a dirty word, and despite all the insistence on "preserving the Union," there has never been anything in the US Constitution that precludes secession. These days, I doubt that there is the political will to make war against any State or group of States that wants to secede. Fewer and fewer States want to be held hostage to the profligate spending and runaway indebtedness of the federal government, or of those States, such as California, that cannot stay within their budgets.
The take-home lesson for voters everywhere: Don't spend what you don't have, and don't make promises you can't keep, it's as simple as that!
5/20/2010
The computer built into your car is vulnerable to hackers!
Vehicle Computer Systems Successfully Hacked
This makes me wish I had a classic car with all manual controls.
5/05/2010
JOE LEGAL vs. JOSE ILLEGAL
This is viral on the emails around here.
Send it to a liberal family member near you!
You have two families: "Joe Legal" and "Jose Illegal".
Both families have two parents, two children, and live in California.
Joe Legal works in construction, has a Social Security Number and makes $25.00 per hour with taxes deducted.
Jose Illegal also works in construction, has NO Social Security Number, and gets paid $15.00 cash "under the table".
Ready? Now pay attention...
Joe Legal: $25.00 per hour x 40 hours = $1000.00 per week, or $52,000.00 per year. Now take 30% away for state and federal tax; Joe Legal now has $31,231.00.
Jose Illegal: $15.00 per hour x 40 hours = $600.00 per week, or $31,200.00 per year. Jose Illegal pays no taxes. Jose Illegal now has $31,200.00.
Joe Legal pays medical and dental insurance with limited coverage for his family at $600.00 per month, or $7,200.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $24,031.00.
Jose Illegal has full medical and dental coverage through the state and local clinics at a cost of $0.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.
Joe Legal makes too much money and is not eligible for food stamps or welfare. Joe Legal pays $500.00 per month for food, or $6,000.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $18,031.00.
Jose Illegal has no documented income and is eligible for food stamps and welfare. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.00.
Joe Legal pays rent of $1,200.00 per month, or $14,400.00 per year. Joe Legal now has $9,631.00.
Jose Illegal receives a $500.00 per month federal rent subsidy. Jose Illegal pays out that $500.00 per month, or $6,000.00 per year. Jose Illegal still has $ 31,200.00.
Joe Legal pays $200.00 per month, or $2,400.00 for insurance. Joe Legal now has $7,231.00.
Jose Illegal says, "We don't need no stinkin' insurance!" and still has $31,200.00.
Joe Legal has to make his $7,231.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, etc.
Jose Illegal has to make his $31,200.00 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, and what he sends out of the country every month.
Joe Legal now works overtime on Saturdays or gets a part time job after work.
Jose Illegal has nights and weekends off to enjoy with his family.
Joe Legal's and Jose Illegal's children both attend the same school.
Joe Legal pays for his children's lunches while Jose Illegal's children get a government sponsored lunch.
Jose Illegal's children have an after school ESL program.
Joe Legal's children go home.
Joe Legal and Jose Illegal both enjoy the same police and fire services, but Joe paid for them and Jose did not pay.
Do you get it, now?
If you vote for or support any politician that supports illegal aliens...
You are part of the problem!
H/T: Keepandbear at Grouchy Conservative Pundits
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