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The country which is still the place to which people come when truly oppressed is the United States. That does not prevent the Left from hating, insulting, and inciting violence against us. The New York Daily News had this story on the 21st of August, Another insult to America's heritage at Freedom Center [editing for format only - ed.];A global network of human rights museums is urging the International Freedom Center to downplay America in its exhibits and programs at Ground Zero, the Daily News has learned.
The outrageous request is the latest controversy to torment the Freedom Center, whose leaders have tried to dispel the perception that it would be a home for America bashers.
"Don't feature America first," the IFC has been advised by the consortium of 14 "museums of conscience" that quietly has been consulting with the Freedom Center for the past two years over plans for the hallowed site. "Think internationally, where America is one of the many nations of the world."
What, specifically was the advice that our America-hating "heroes" got?Coalition members gathered for their annual conference at a Holocaust site in the Czech Republic in July 2004 - and assailed the United States for "reasserting its power in an arrogant way," the conference report shows.
Among its suggestions for the place where the United States was attacked and nearly 3,000 innocents massacred: "The Freedom Center must signal its openness to contrary ideas."
Philip Kunhardt, the Freedom Center's editorial director, was in attendance at a session called Bringing Conscience to Ground Zero and was given this advice:
- "Help distinguish between American people and the U.S. government in exhibits ..."
- "Use reports from human rights organizations to examine contemporary abuse of rights."
- "Involve the United Nations, UNESCO and other international bodies."
- "Use the museum as a venue for international meetings, where all views are welcomed and considered."
At the conference, the coalition also leveled barbs at the IFC: "The Freedom Center is a caricature of the typical American response to everything [telling every story from an American viewpoint]."
Members of the coalition also expressed these concerns:
- "It seems that whatever Americans want, Americans get!" the conference report states. "Is the definition of the 'struggle for freedom' simply defined by the victors, or also by those engaged in ongoing struggles? Will Americans really create a balanced vision of freedom?"
- "The WTC was attacked because it was a symbol of power and influence. In building the Freedom Tower, the U.S. reasserts its power in an arrogant way: Does this mean the U.S. will not only build the biggest building, but also define freedom for the world?"
- "Many nonsecular Muslims may be very skeptical about the intent of this museum (e.g. the average Bangladeshi condemns the Sept. 11 attacks, yet at the same time feels his/her human rights have been violated by the U.S.)."
The space being given to these attacks against us is not insignificant. They will be, by far, the largest tenant at the complex with 300,000 square feet of space. The actual memorial is one sixth of that size at 50,000 square feet and one must go through the IFC in order to get to the memorial.
Deborah Weiss, in a excellent piece for The Weekly Standard, describes it, The Memorial They Deserve;...And now the families of many of them are being forced to resist efforts by the left to hijack the memorial at Ground Zero. The plan? An "International Freedom Center," to be filled with a host of anti-American exhibits and exhibits that have nothing to do with 9/11. Debra Burlingame, sister of a 9/11 pilot whose plane was crashed into the Pentagon, and a member of the board of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, first blew the whistle on these plans in a June 8 article for the Wall Street Journal.
Burlingame noted that a "Who's Who of the human rights, Guantanamo-obsessed world" would be programming the International Freedom Center, with exhibits contemplated on topics such as Jim Crow, the Holocaust, the genocide of American-Indians, and pictures from the Abu Ghraib scandal. The message? We have to understand why all these events occurred in order to gain insight into why we were attacked. Seminars will be held at the IFC, presumably explaining how America brought 9/11 on herself and why the terrorists hate us.
The International Freedom Center is to be by far the largest tenant at the World Trade Center Memorial Cultural Complex. It will cover approximately 300,000 square feet, amidst a designer park with foliage, waterfalls, and retail shops. And the Memorial Center itself? Well, that will be squirreled away underground, in an area of only 50,000 square feet: one-sixth the size of the Freedom Center. Moreover, one will have to pass through the International Freedom Center and all its propaganda in order to get to the actual memorial, where the names of those killed will be listed and artifacts from the site will be displayed.
What a perverse spectacle, to see our own citizens working so hard to smear our Country.
Liberalism is entirely and purely about hate. Hatred of all that is America and Israel, coincidentally the western democracies most interested in defending themselves. Now that the UK is defending itself, watch as it is attacked.
Read all of Deborah Weiss' column, it is very well worth it.
I have not blogged on Hurricane Katrina because there are others covering the disaster with resources much greater than mine. I am assuming that most of you, my dear readers, are also readers of Little Green Footballs. Charles' Hurricane Katrina Open Threads and his other posts are excellent sources of information, including safe places to which you can send money without being scammed. See also Glenn Reynolds' superb work at Instapundit.
If you can, please send whatever money you can to help. Be careful to avoid scammers and other disgusting criminals. If your company is starting a fund, that would probably be a good way to help. That is what I will do. The company that I work for (General Dynamic - which owns Electric Boat Corp.) is establishing a fund to which I will donate.
To understand how the Mississippi River Delta got into this state, read Wretchard's series at The Belmont Club;
The Imperfect Storm
The Imperfect Storm 2
The Imperfect Storm 3
And, pray for the victims of this tragedy.
Have you heard enough about chickenhawks? Go to the Right Wing Nut House and read about The Chickendoves.Where’s the spirit that brought us Lenin’s October Revolution? Where’s the courage that gave us Mao’s Long March? Where’s the defiance that fueled the Vietnamese in their quest to defeat the United States – a defiance made easier by your ideological ancestor’s cheering them on while calling for the defeat of the United States armed forces on the field of battle.
Face it. The reason there is no anti-war prairie fire sweeping the country is that you and your lefty friends are a pale imitation of the hard-eyed radicals that manned the battlements in the 1960’s. Those guys wanted a revolution. Your generation complains if there’s no wi-fi access. They wanted to foment mass protest. You people can’t function unless there’s a Starbucks within a couple of blocks. They were readers of Ginsberg, Sartre, and listened to songs by Joan Baez. You guys think addle brained Kurt Cobaine was a poet.
The whole world is watching and you’re sitting in front of your computer writing paeans to a witless, anti-semitic media glutton whose anti-American rants and conspiratorial flights of fancy have driven away all but the most willfully deluded among Democrats.
If you do decide to drive to Crawford and support Mother Sheehan, be careful. Your Lexus might get dusty.
It should be obvious to anyone that the establishment of a stable democracy where basic freedoms are respected would "destabilize" the Middle East and Central Asia, and that that would be very good. Let the people living in the countries that neighbor Iraq that something better is possible for them.
From Channelnewsasia.com, At least 30 wounded in Philippine ferry blastZAMBOANGA : At least 30 people including children were wounded in a suspected bomb attack on a ferry in an area of the southern Philippines plagued by Muslim insurgents, officials said Sunday.
The explosion went off while passengers were boarding the Dona Ramona ferry at the town of Lamitan on Basilan island, sparking scenes of chaos.
Nick Castro, an aide to Lamitan's mayor, said at least 19 people were initially reported wounded but vice mayor Jimmy Adong said health authorities had confirmed 24 hurt with the figure expected to rise.
Castro said the explosion appeared to have been caused by a home-made bomb although authorities were investigating.
The ferry had been just about to leave for its first morning trip to the nearby port city of Zamboanga.
The area was "in chaos", provincial spokesman Cris Puno said, with those wounded suffering severe burns caused by the blast.
A thick scent of gunpowder hung in the air, he added.
"There were children among those wounded," he said, declining to speculate when asked who could be behind the latest bombing.
The blast at Lamitan port - built using US aid money and opened by the American charge d'affaires Daryl Johnson just days ago - came after Muslim militants injured 26 people in a bomb attack on a parked vehicle and inn on August 26.
Security forces have been on heightened alert for more bombings after three suspects in the Zamboanga blast from the Abu Sayyaf group, a small gang of Islamic militants which once enjoyed support from Al-Qaeda, were freed on bail.
WorldNetDaily reports, Warship built with steel from Twin Towers.In tribute to victims of the 9-11 attack on New York City, the U.S. Navy is using 10 tons of steel from the World Trade Center to build a new warship that will help defend the nation from terrorism.
The USS New York, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, is scheduled to be commissioned in 2008, according to the European edition of the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes.
The article goes on to discuss the appropriateness of remembering and honoring the victims of the attack in this way.
It is appropriate that it is used in a ship that will help us kill our enemies.
The most overturned court in the land, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has recently ruled that the law applies even when you might not like it.
Court upholds limit on abortion coverageSAN FRANCISCO — U.S. armed forces medical benefits don't cover abortion costs unless a mother's life is at risk, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said an abortion for a Navy sailor's wife, a Bremerton woman, wasn't covered even after the fetus was diagnosed with a fatal birth defect.
In a 3-0 ruling, the judges acknowledged the ruling was "callous and unfeeling" and said they were not judging the "wisdom, fairness or logic" of congressional legislation that limited abortions under military medical plans.
Lawmakers served a legitimate governmental purpose by denying such benefits because of "an interest in potential life," Judge Richard Tallman wrote for the San Francisco-based court.
The case concerns Jane Doe, whose real identity has been concealed, who had an abortion five months into her pregnancy when doctors said her baby would probably survive only two months. Tests in 2002 showed the baby had anencephaly, a defect that causes a fetus to develop without a forebrain, cerebellum or cranium.
Coverage for the abortion was denied, so she sued, claiming an armed-forces health plan owed her $3,000 for the procedure.
The government paid her after a judge ruled in her favor, but then it appealed to get its money back.
The court, reprinting coverage regulations, wrote: "Abortions performed for suspected or confirmed fetal abnormality ... do not fall within the exceptions permitted within the language of the statute and are not authorized for payment."
Key word - statute. Medical benefits in the Armed Forces are set by law. Of course to the pro-abortion lobby the law is unimportant.Lisa Stone, executive director of the Northwest Women's Law Center, which represented the sailor's wife, said the case was a longshot because federal funds generally cannot pay for abortions except in limited circumstances.
"We believe it was worth it to pursue it because the basis for upholding the government's ban — the interest in potential human life — does not apply here," Stone said. "There is no potential for human life."
Stone said the center was considering its next move. Options include letting the decision stand, asking the court to rehear the case with all 11 judges or seeking Supreme Court review.
Now, if we can get judges to rule according to the law, and not later apologize for it, we will be making some progress.
2 Illegal Immigrants Win Arizona Ranch in Court. Notice how the NYT sets the story up to make it look obvious that the illegal aliens were abused, whether or not they ever were.DOUGLAS, Ariz., Aug. 18 - Spent shells litter the ground at what is left of the firing range, and camouflage outfits still hang in a storeroom. Just a few months ago, this ranch was known as Camp Thunderbird, the headquarters of a paramilitary group that promised to use force to keep illegal immigrants from sneaking across the border with Mexico.
Now, in a turnabout, the 70-acre property about two miles from the border is being given to two immigrants whom the group caught trying to enter the United States illegally.
The land transfer is being made to satisfy judgments in a lawsuit in which the immigrants had said that Casey Nethercott, the owner of the ranch and a former leader of the vigilante group Ranch Rescue, had harmed them.
"Certainly it's poetic justice that these undocumented workers own this land," said Morris S. Dees Jr., co-founder and chief trial counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., which represented the immigrants in their lawsuit.
Mr. Dees said the loss of the ranch would "send a pretty important message to those who come to the border to use violence."
Even if true, this is ridiculous.Bill Dore, a Douglas resident briefly affiliated with Ranch Rescue who is still active in the border-patrolling Minuteman Project, called the land transfer "ridiculous."
"The illegals are coming over here," Mr. Dore said. "They are getting the American property. Hell, I'd come over, too. Get some American property, make some money from the gringos."
The immigrants getting the ranch, Edwin Alfredo Mancía Gonzáles and Fátima del Socorro Leiva Medina, could not be reached for comment. Kelley Bruner, a lawyer at the law center, said they did not want to speak to the news media but were happy with the outcome.
No doubt. I'd be happy too. One of the reasons that I do not post every day is that I work between 10 to 15 hours a day so that I may save a down payment for a house (not a ranch, a house). Who can be unhappy about free property? But, perhaps they were so severely abused that this was warranted.Mr. Mancía and Ms. Leiva were caught on a ranch in Hebbronville, Tex., in March 2003 by Mr. Nethercott and other members of Ranch Rescue. The two immigrants later accused Mr. Nethercott of threatening them and of hitting Mr. Mancía with a pistol, charges that Mr. Nethercott denied. The immigrants also said the group gave them cookies, water and a blanket and let them go after an hour or so.
Nethercott is certainly not a character with whom I would sympathize, but it does not appear that these illegal aliens were really abused. Also, on another level this is wrong. Property rights are the very foundation of our Constitution, and that is exactly what liberals are now attacking. While the Ranch Rescue people are depicted as "an extreme anti-immigration group", in America people have rights independent of their political views.
Interestingly, the New York Times was very careful to identify every player in this story except the judge.
The New York Times has lamented the lack of news coverage of heroic acts in the War in Iraq. Of course it is not like they themselves aren't a newspaper that can publish such stories and solve that problem, but of course it is better to blame the President.
Reader Lee Keller King emailed this link to me. This will make you proud.
Go and read the story of Brian Chontosh, American hero.
What kind of country is it that 40% of its population whats to leave and enter the United States? This includes all classes of people, and a willingness to do so illegally. What kink of outhouse basement is Mexico that such a thing could happen?
Well, here's the story. Poll: 40% of Mexicans want to move to U.S.More than 40 percent of Mexican adults say they would move to the U.S. if they could, and 1 in 5 say they would do so illegally if necessary, according to surveys released yesterday by the Pew Hispanic Center.
Surveys of 1,200 Mexican adults in February and 1,200 in May, conducted in their homes, show that Mexicans' rising education levels have not weakened the desire to live and work in this country.
More than a third of Mexican college graduates say they would come to the U.S. if they could, and more than 1 in 8 would do so even if they had to enter the country illegally, according to the surveys, the first of their kind.
"Contrary to what people might expect, the inclination to migrate isn't contained among Mexicans who are poor or poorly educated or with limited economic prospects," says Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington. "They're distributed across the whole breadth of Mexican society."
Mexicans' willingness to come is driven by a desire to improve their economic status and join friends and family already there, Suro says.
Despite improvements in the Mexican economy, "people with college degrees believe they have greater economic opportunities by migration to the U.S. - even illegally - than they would staying at home," Suro says. Mexicans are coming from richer, urban areas as well as poor, rural regions, he says.
More than half of Mexicans say they would be inclined to come if the U.S. established a temporary worker program.
So, how far does this go before it would constitute depopulation? It would be nice if Mexico could get a grip on itself, be a bit less obscenely corrupt, and maybe create a real country. it is, I know, far too much to ask for.
It least these are people from a Christian culture who like the U.S. the way it is, and have moral values as well. Certainly they make for a better immigrant than some.
We absolutely need to get control of our border.
Via Touchstone Magazine's Mere Comments;
Pool of Siloam: It's There
The story of the man born blind, who was then healed after Jesus anointed his eyes with clay and then sent him to wash in the pool of Siloam, is one of my very favorite biblical stories. The man comes to believe in Jesus as the Son of God after being challenged by the Pharisees. It is during the argument with them that one can see his understanding grow into belief and faith. What a terrific story!
Yep.
A New Wave of Repression Justified by the OlympicsWhile a wide majority of International Olympic Committee (IOC) members were voting, on July 13, 2001, to attribute the 2008 Summer Olympics to Beijing, Chinese police received an order to step up their executions of delinquents and intensify repression against "subversive Internet users". IOC members, encouraged by their president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, who personally supported China's bid, paid no attention to the repeated calls against the Beijing bid.
The piece concludes with an apt observation.The Olympic movement was discredited in 1936, when it allowed the Nazis to make the Games a spectacle to glorify the Third Reich. In 1980, in Moscow, the IOC suffered a terrible defeat when more than 50 countries boycotted the Olympics. The Netherlands, Germany, the United States, Egypt and so many others refused to countenance the Soviet regime. In 2008, the international sporting movement must refuse to tolerate one of the world's bloodiest dictatorships.
Read the whole thing.
Han Guangsheng was the overseer of labor camps near Shenyang, China and has fled to Canada because he was sickened by his work and the corruption of the Chinese Communist government.
Former Chinese Labor Camp Chief Says Regime "Sickened" HimTORONTO—A former overseer of labor camps from the northeastern city of Shenyang, Han Guangsheng, has said he defected while on a trip to Canada because he was sickened by the level of brutality, human rights abuses and corruption in the Chinese Communist Party.
Toronto-based Han moved from a privileged position of relative luxury as the head of the Shenyang municipal judicial bureau, to a tiring life running a one-man delivery business after he defected during a visit to Canada four years ago, he told RFA's Mandarin service.
"Even though I was a high-ranking official in China...I didn’t constitute a complete human being, because I had to live my life wearing a mask and act against my conscience," Han told RFA reporter Xi Hong.
"I was greatly pained. I saw myself as just a high-paid slave and lackey. After I came here, life was very hard but I became a true human being," said Han, who also served as deputy police chief for the city.
Are there others like him? You bet.The Chinese Ministry of Commerce reported last year that 4,000 officials had escaped the country in recent years, taking an estimated five billion yuan (U.S.$617 million) in embezzled funds with them.
Chinese law enforcement agencies are hampered by a lack of extradition treaties and a poor human-rights reputation, which makes Western governments reluctant to hand over suspects who may face execution.
No one has accused Han of embezzlement, and it should be expected that the Communists would make this accusation of any official who fled and took so much as a single yuan with him.
Han does not make any claim to purity, but is looking for freedom."The way I see it, being an official in a corrupted political system, I’m afraid I cannot claim I am completely innocent," he told RFA's Mandarin service.
During his time in the Shenyang municipal government, Han oversaw the mass round-up of members of the banned spiritual movement, the Falun Gong in his area.
"At that time (1999), I protested that the labor camps were for housing criminals and not suitable for members of the Falun Gong."
The deputy municipal Party secretary told Han he had to obey orders, and said that the secretary, not Han, would take responsibility if anything went wrong. "During that period of arrest, I was a torn man," Han said.
He said that many of the Falun Gong followers were ordinary people, mostly women from respectable homes. "No matter how you look at the situation, these people were the true victims. Although I was a man of conscience, I was not able to disobey my superiors," he said.
"I can truly say I’ve not been completely innocent. But, I still have my principles. My conscience is my last defense," said Han.
Still, the Canadian government cannot seem to figure out who to keep and who to deport. We are already familiar with her protection of Islamic terrorists, here we see something else.Han's application for political asylum in Canada was rejected in April, and he faces possible deportation after the federal Immigration and Refugee Board ruled him ineligible to stay in Canada because he was a "willing accomplice" in crimes against humanity in his former job.
Lai Changxing, a former official accused of running a massive smuggling network, is one of those near the top of China's most-wanted list. But Lai has been able to stay in Canada since fleeing there in 1999 while his legal case works its way through the Canadian judicial system.
The Canadians need to figure it out. Keep the guy who wants to shed his past and make an honest and free living and deport the criminal (that would be the smuggler, for you Lefties™ who cannot tell the difference).
Matt Drudge has this, BUSH PROTESTING MOM CALLS FOR 'ISRAEL OUT OF PALESTINE'; VOWS NOT TO PAY TAXESAnti-war protestor Cindy Sheehan, whose soldier son Casey was killed in Iraq, is calling for Bush's "impeachment," and for Israel to get out of Palestine!
"You get America out of Iraq and Israel out of Palestine and you'll stop the terrorism," Sheehan declares.
Sheehan, who is asking for a second meeting with President Bush, says defiantly: "My son was killed in 2004. I am not paying my taxes for 2004. You killed my son, George Bush, and I don't owe you a penny...you give my son back and I'll pay my taxes. Come after me (for back taxes) and we'll put this war on trial."
"And now I'm going to use another 'I' word - impeachment - because we cannot have these people pardoned. They need to be tried on war crimes and go to jail."
Sorry, but she loses any sympathy that I may have had for her. Many people lose family members and loved ones without coming to this.
The comment about Israel shows that I really comes down to Left™ hatred. I would like one of these idiots to tell me where the Jews are supposed to go, or do they think that the PLO and Hamas will let them live in the middle east in peace?
Of course we all know what the real answer is, but we conservatives are the ones who are collectively "Hitler".
Russian sailors from the rescued AS-28 mini-submarine describe their ordeal.
Sailors Recount Darkness and Frigid Temperatures Aboard Russian Sub Snagged on Cables for 3 DaysThe seven men endured darkness and frigid temperatures for three days until their Russian mini-submarine was freed Sunday from the Pacific floor by a British remote-controlled vehicle as oxygen supplies dwindled.
"It was cold, cold, very cold. I can't even describe it," one crew member with reddish hair said as the sailors walked ashore with dazed looks and bloodshot eyes after their vessel was cut loose from cables that had snagged it.
The men aboard the AS-28 mini-submarine _ six sailors and a representative of the company that made the ship _ had opened the hatch and climbed out without assistance, officials said.
Six were taken to a hospital on the mainland for examination, waving to relatives as they went in. The seventh was kept aboard a hospital ship for unspecified reasons. They appeared to be in "satisfactory" condition, naval spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said.
At the edge of the gangplank leading off the ship that brought the crew to shore, the submarine's commander Lt. Vyacheslav Milashevsky held a long and solemn salute, then a slight smile crossed his face.
He was pale but told journalists he felt "fine" before climbing into a van with the others for the trip to the hospital. Another crew member in the van looked from side to side, gazing at the green trees and gray skies.
Milashevsky's wife, Yelena, said earlier that she was overjoyed upon hearing about the rescue. "I was happy. I cried from happiness. I danced," she told Channel One television.
The men had worn thermal suits to protect them against temperatures of about 40 degrees and were told to lie flat and breathe as lightly as possible during the rescue effort, officials said. To conserve electricity, lights were turned off and contact with the surface was kept to a minimum.
The crew member with reddish hair said he felt OK and was eager to be reunited with his wife and daughter. He was then ushered in the van taking the men to the hospital and did not reply when asked his name.
Russian authorities thanked the British and praised the international effort that included the United States, but criticism quickly arose over why the nation's once-formidable navy needed outside help.
...
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who supervised the rescue operation from a navy ship, clenched his fists and shook them in happiness when he saw the red-and-white-striped sub surfacing.
"We have seen in deeds, not in words, what the brotherhood of the sea means," he said. [Yes, we submariners do see each other as belonging to a brotherhood even across international boundaries. - ed.]
On Monday, he promised that the navy's rescue capabilities would be improved.
"The condition of the rescue service is one of our priorities and I will demand that they are maintained on the highest level," Ivanov said at a news conference.
Read the whole story, there is some interesting detail. And yes, it was fishing nets.
Again, thank God that they are safe.
Lump on a Blog has a piece on the efforts to deny the new terrorist President of Iran a visa to enter the United States to speak at the (terror supporting) UN.
The centerpiece is from the Financial Times
From the Petition;WE, the undersigned, as members of the civilized freedom-loving people of the world, call urgently to prevent Terror/ Torture Master Ahmadinejad entering United States:
1- Mahmood Ahmadinejad is not elected president of Iran. Great Majority of Iranian people boycotted sham election and they have not participated in the recent Islamic election.
2- Ahmadinejad stepped on a picture of an American flag on his way to vote. Iranian nation have deep respect for all countries flag specially the American flag which is a cherished national symbol of freedom-loving American people and home of million Iranian-American people. Ahmadinejad is not a representative Iranian Nation.
3- Ahmadinejad plotted many dissident's murder and was directly involved in the 1989 assassination of Iranian exile Kurdish opposition leader Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou and two other Kurdish politicians in Vienna, Austria. A murderer and Terrorist is not a representative of freedom-loving Iranian Nation.
4- According to Ahmadinejad himself, he has executed at least 1000 freedom-loving Iranian people in the prison and he was known as “Tir Khalas Zan”, literally meaning “he who fires coup de grace”. Many female former political prisoners raped by Ahmadinejad. Such a dirty person and virus is not president of Iran.
5- Ahmadinejad is responsible for “Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison” in Iran that would recruit individuals willing to carry out suicide operations against Western targets. Do not allow this Terrorist to put his foot on US soil and enter UN.
6- Ahmadinejad played a central role in the seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran in November 1979 and he was key American hostage-taker for the 444-day.
How can you accept and allow this Brutal Man, Thug, Terror and Torture Master to put his foot on US soil and attend the UN General Assembly in New York?
Read his post and then go and sign the petition.
At least one writer in South Korea sees the danger of coddling the North. We Boost North Korea's Confidence at Our Peril by Kim Dae-joongThe North Korean regime seems to have gained in self-confidence regarding its relations with South Korea. A recent squabble over taking down a statue of General Douglas MacArthur, a hero of the Korean War to some, and a remark by Prof. Kang Jeong-koo of Dongguk University that the Korean War was fought for "unification” send a signal the National Liberation forces, hibernating since their suppression by South Korea's anti-Communist forces, are emerging above ground. Amid a climate where leftist or pro-North Korean forces in the Roh Moo-hyun administration have boosted aid to the North and increased the frequency of inter-Korean events while promoting the posthumous award of a medal to a leader of the former Korea Communist Party, the NL forces are at last showing their faces above the parapet to ride anti-American sentiment and a mood of inter-Korean cooperation.
A North Korea expert says the NL, pro-Pyongyang forces that infiltrated campuses and academic circles, have concentrated on education and propaganda since the 1980s democratization movement following a time in hiding under the military regimes. Now, he says, they are reasserting themselves on the back of Seoul’s "sunshine policy" and a new mood of nationalism. Recently, too, a retired general involved in a drive for a veterans body to counter the Korean Veterans Association proudly revealed that his father was a member of the South Worker’s Party of Korea, while a protester at a rally against the MacArthur statute reportedly shouted, "Yes, I'm Red. What are you going to do about it?"
...
But it is a fantasy that it would contribute to security on the Korean Peninsula and peaceful coexistence if North Korea took advantage of this mood, as the pro-Pyongyang forces would have us believe. We need only to listen to North Korean defector Kim Tae-san, who said the only way for North Korea to survive its structural food and power shortages “is eventually to get a hold over all of South Korea -- that is Kim Jong-il’s innermost aspiration." That these developments are taking place even as North Korea’s dismal human rights record and its desperate economic plight and food shortages are exposed to the glare of world attention is one the great historic ironies.
Liberals in South Korea who appease evil, as they do everywhere, could precipitate one of the great tragedies of history. Should the Dear Monster geat his hands on South Korea - "unifying the peninsula" then millions of innocent people would be simply murdered even after the completion of the conquest. It does not seem to us now that this is possible, but the past two generations of South Koreans have no experience with war or communism and have been thoroughly propagandized by the same kind of academic Leftists™ that we have here in the United States.
South Korea needs to inflict political defeat on her liberals in order to stay secure in her fight against Communism, as we in the U.S. have to defeat our liberals in out fight against Islam.
Neither of us can afford to lose the fight.
Some of my brother submariners are in extremis.
U.S. relief crew on way to Russian subThe drama started Thursday when the propeller of the AS-28 mini-submarine became entangled in fishing nets or cable during a military exercise off the Kamchatka Peninsula on Russia's east coast.
The mishap left the sub nearly 625 feet down on the Pacific floor in Beryozovaya Bay, 43 miles south of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the southern end of the peninsula.
The sailors could not swim to the surface nor could divers reach the vessel because it is too deep at 190 meters (623 feet) below the surface, said Russian navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo.
Interfax reported Federov as saying early Saturday that the sub had been dragged 100 meters closer to the coast in an effort to get it to shallower water.
Crew members understand their situation and are not panicking, Dygalo said.
They were asked to lower their physical activity level, save electricity, and try to keep themselves warm. He said crew members had enough food and water for five days.
A U.S. Air Force C-5 carrying two robotic submersibles and 40 submariners, divers and other experts left Friday afternoon from the San Diego North Island Naval Station in California for the estimated 10-hour flight to Russia.
Once there, the crew and the rescue vehicles -- called Super Scorpios -- will be put aboard a Russian surface ship and taken to the site.
The Super Scorpios -- equipped with video cameras, lights and agile robotic arms that can cut up to one inch of steel cable -- will be piloted remotely and used to untangle the mini-sub, the Navy said.
Thank God that the Russians quickly asked for our help, and pray that we can succeed.
UPDATE:
The Russian Commander of the Pacific Fleet says that they have sufficient air until Monday. I pray that he is right.
Here is a Euronews report with video.
UPDATE 2
The Brits are an the way also. Here is video from the BBC that includes a look inside of a similar mini-submarine.
Hurry, hurry.
UPDATE 3
SUCCESS! Thanks be to God!PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia -- A Russian mini-submarine that was trapped for nearly three days under the Pacific Ocean surfaced Sunday after a British remote-controlled vehicle cut away the undersea cables that had snarled it, news agencies reported.
The AS-28 made an emergency surfacing and appeared on the water at around 4:26 p.m. local time, ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti reported. The condition of the vessel's seven-member crew was not immediately known, though naval officials had been in regular contact with the crew, who faced dwindling oxygen and chilly temperatures.
Many think that forgiving the loans of third world countries is a good thing to do. They forget that people (or companies, or countries) that do not pay on their loans do not get new ones.
Mugabe rebuffed by China"While they (the Chinese) are willing to provide infrastructural help on generous credit terms, they are not willing to throw huge amounts of money at us," according to an anonymous Zimbabwean official who was party to the talks.
Chinese officials fear the loan would never be repaid. Mr Mugabe had offered China farming concessions and even stakes in foreign-owned mines in his country but this was not enough, the paper said.
In the past, Mr Mugabe has tried to swing similar deals with Libya, offering generous cuts of the farming and mining sector in return for petroleum and hard cash. Three years ago Libya abruptly suspended trade with Mr Mugabe because the promised concessions never materialised, leaving the north African country with a sizeable debt it is unlikely to recover.
To forgive all loans to the third world, rather than assist in developing an economy, will condemn millions to continued misery.
Of course the subject country must be willing to develop a free market.
Power Line discusses the Democratic Party's problem with anti-semitism, McKinney's Tinfoil Gavel with a link the the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's article on her latest anti-semitic antics, McKinney reopens 9/11.
It seems that the Democrats cannot rid themselves of this stuff.
He is at the center of all that is bad for the Democrats and other idiot liberals. At the "mainstream" liberal Democrat blog Daily Kos, Case for Adding TANG Forgeries to Fitzgerald's Brief. Not only is Karl Rove's brilliant idea of forcing Dan Rather to broadcast a story based on falsified documents discussed, but a timeline is provided. This provides a convenient list of all of Mr. Roves conspiracies and crimes.
Ya see, it all started in 1972 when...
Wayne Madsen at Counterpunch even said on November 1st, 2002, "He's America's Joseph Goebbels." this is real raving good stuff that even includes this incomprehensible paragraph;And Rove's penchant for fascistic demagoguery and outright lying continues to this very day. After Paul Wellstone's sons asked that Vice President Dick Cheney not attend the Minneapolis memorial service for their father, mother, and sister, the White House explained that the real reason wasn't the surviving Wellstone family's abhorrence for Cheney but the fact the family didn't want Cheney's Secret Service protection to interfere with public access to the service. Of course, the Rove and Ari Fleischer disinformation machine forgot to take into account that two attendees, Bill and Hillary Clinton, had their own Secret Service details. But such is the case with a White House that takes its lessons from Goebbels and the editorial staff of the old Soviet News Agency Tass. [I suppose that it is better to say that the family abhors Mr. Cheney than to be dignified about it. - ed.]
The more recent catalogue at the Daily Kos is, of course, more complete.
And I thought that that particular theory had died under the weight of its own stupidity. Silly me, I had forgotten that it had become a part of the Liberal Religion and therefore an undeniable article of the Democratic Party Liberal Faith™.
Since many Christian Churches, especially the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches count homosexual behavior as sinful and will not ordain practicing homosexuals, and since they (we) will not ordain women, obviously an adjustment must be made to drag these Churches into alignment with the practices of the times. This is the opinion of Bob Ferguson writing for the CBC.
According to him, if they (we) will not ordain practicing homosexuals, or should be so bold as to say that our beliefs are true (with the implication that those who believe differently are in error), as we do, then there should be laws that would prevent us from practicing that religion, and under that pressure, perhaps we would begin to believe as required! Requiring these beliefs will, of course, make religion more free!
If you think that I am overstating this even a little bit, listen to the CBC's Radio Commentary for 18/7/05. A transcript is provided, copied in full below.Listen to today's Commentary
Introduction:
Men and women within the Roman Catholic faith are still hoping that the church can change to more accurately reflect the World in which we live. This week-end, for example, an international conference will be held in Ottawa to support women's equality in religions. WOW, or Women's Ordination Worldwide, is fighting for the ordination of women in all Christian Churches. It says it wants to open a global debate on the issue.
And some were hoping for reform during the period when the old pope was dying and the new pope was being anticipated.
Bob Ferguson is a retired professor from the Royal Military College. He believes that Catholics are unlikely ever to see changes in policy on birth control or on the question of married or female priests. In fact, he says change won't come until the churches are forced to comply with the same human rights legislation that affects the rest of society.
Bob Ferguson:
Given the inertia of the Catholic Church, perhaps we could encourage reform by changing the environment in which all religions operate.
Couldn't we insist that human rights, employment and consumer legislation apply to them as it does other organizations? Then it would be illegal to require a particular marital status as a condition of employment or to exclude women from the priesthood.
Of course the Vatican wouldn't like the changes, but they would come to accept them in time as a fact of life in Canada. Indeed I suspect many clergy would welcome the external pressure.
We could also help the general cause of religious freedom by introducing a code of moral practice for religions. They will never achieve unity so why not try for compatibility? Can't religious leaders agree to adjust doctrine so all religions can operate within the code?
I am an engineer so the model I am thinking about is rather like the provincial acts regulating the practice of engineering. For example, engineers must have an engineering degree from a recognized university or pass qualification exams. They must have a number of years of practical experience and pass an ethics exam. The different branches: mechanical, electrical, civil and the like have a code of practice that applies to everyone. Why can't religious groups do the same?
I envisage a congress meeting to hammer out a code that would form the basis of legislation to regulate the practice of religion. Like the professional engineers' P.Eng designation, there would then be RRPs (or registered religious practitioners). To carry the analogy to its conclusion, no one could be a religious practitioner without this qualification.
I won't try to propose what might be in the new code except for a few obvious things: A key item would have to be a ban on claims of exclusivity. It should be unethical for any RRP to claim that theirs was the one true religion and believers in anything else or nothing were doomed to fire and brimstone. One might also expect prohibition of ritual circumcisions, bans on preaching hate or violence, the regulation of faith healers, protocols for missionary work, etc.
Now what is the point of proposing this? I do it because I am worried that the separation between church and state is under threat. Religion is important in our lives, but it can become a danger to society when people claim that the unalterable will of God is the basis for their opinions and actions. [guilty as charged - how can one believe in God and not believe and live as God and his agents teach us? - ed.] Yes religion can be a comfort and a guide, but we cannot take rules from our holy books and apply them to the modern world without democratic debate and due regard for the law.
For Commentary, I'm Bob Ferguson in Marysville, Ontario. [all emphasis above is mine - ed.]
Make no mistake, liberal political beliefs are geared towards taking away YOUR freedoms, with the right to believe as you will being the first. They think that, being better educated than you, and wealthier than you, and being generally better people than you are gives them the moral obligation to look out for your well-being by thinking for you and telling you how to live and in what to believe - all for your own good, of course.
This is just one guy's commentary now, but this is the direction that liberalism has been traveling. With the passage of gay marriage legislation and ongoing efforts to silence the expression of Christian ideas in public (and what good is free speech if it is not public?) it is not inconceivable that legislation such as this could be proposed, and one day passed.
Liberals in the United States see Canada as the model and would love nothing better than to take us down the same tyrannical path that the liberal Canadians are traveling.
This is simply evil - and Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians will lose their property and go to jail before submitting to such laws, as we have done under the Romans, the Turks, and the Soviets.
We must remain vigilant.
The Jew hating mayor of London is interviewed by the BBC. Here is a report by The Telegraph. The Jerusalem Post has an excellent analysis with reader comments. From The Post;The substance of Livingstone's remarks will be sadly familiar to anyone remotely acquainted with the fantasies of Western defeatism: The West has exploited the Arabs to "control the flow of oil;" the Americans "recruited and trained" Osama bin Laden; as a matter of policy Israel practises "indiscriminate slaughter" against the Palestinians; the West defames Muslims by unfairly highlighting the views of Islamists who are "totally unrepresentative" of the mainstream.
Speaking of Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, Livingstone went on: "Under foreign occupation and denied the right to vote, denied the right to run your own affairs, often denied the right to work for three generations, I suspect that if it had happened here in England, we would have produced a lot of suicide bombers ourselves."
This last passage is extraordinary and worth taking apart in detail to illustrate the kind of mind-set we are dealing with.
THE FIRST clause, of course, is a flat-out lie. As Livingstone must surely know, all citizens of Israel proper, including more than a million Arabs, have the right to vote in Knesset elections. As he must also know, Palestinians living in the territories also have a vote and recently and very publicly used it. They did, after all, elect Mahmoud Abbas as PA chairman.
The second clause is a slippery but highly characteristic deception. The only reason the Palestinians do not run their own affairs is because they have consistently refused to accept statehood alongside Israel.
The third clause contains another lie: Israel does not prevent the Palestinians from working and only stops them from coming to work inside Israel when it is concerned about terrorist attacks.
But, interestingly, note how that clause concludes with the words "for three generations." Here, the mask has slipped.
Three generations (60 years by most definitions of the word "generation") refers back to the inception of Israel itself. Perhaps unwittingly, Livingstone reveals his annihilationist prejudices.
It is not the "occupation" that concerns him, it is the very existence of the Jewish state.
The final part of the passage contains both obscenity and idiocy. It is obscene because, on the basis of the above noted lies and deceptions, it offers Palestinian suicide bombers the excuse of "just cause." Who could really blame them? he effectively says.
It is idiotic because one could easily quote dozens of peoples who have lived under genuine tyrannies but have not responded by strapping themselves up with explosives to blow to pieces as many men, women and children as they can. Did Jews respond to the Holocaust by slaughtering innocent Germans? Did east Europeans respond to Stalinism by blowing up Russian buses?
The upshot? It is all the fault of the Jews and the West (Americans), of course.
Meanwhile, from the piece in The Telegraph;In a separate move, Anjem Choudary, the UK leader of the militant Islamist group al-Muhajiroun, interviewed for BBC Radio 4's Today programme said Muslim leaders should not meet Mr Blair.
"The British Government wants to show that they are on the side of justice and of truth, whereas in reality the real terrorists are the British regime, and even the British police, who have tried to divide the Muslim community into moderates and extremists, whereas this classification doesn't exist in Islam," he said.
"Either you are a practising Muslim or a non-practising one, and I cannot envisage that any practising Muslim would sit with the Government, especially with the blood that they have on their hands and the atrocious foreign policy they have and the aggression they are committing against the Muslim community in Britain."
He added: "We need to see what caused this particular effect, otherwise we are going to continue in a cycle of blood and I believe another 7/7 is a very real possibility."
Another radical Muslim, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed, said British voters were to blame for the London attacks for not making enough effort to stop the Government committing its own atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But, of course it is all the fault of the Jews and the West. So, just close you eyes and go back to sleep.
Alexander Vershbow, the departing U.S. Ambassador to Russia makes that casem, and rightly so, is a column that he wrote for Moskovskie Novosti at Mosnews.com. Reviving the Cold War?My four-year assignment in Russia is coming to an end. Since coming here to work as an ambassador, not to mention my Russian university years during the Cold War, our relations have gone through a long journey. Currently the tone is set by the personal contact of the presidents of our two countries. Russia and the United States have forged excellent cooperation in fighting terrorism. Even spheres where tensions were visible until recently — the ABM treaty, global security — have become an arena of partnership.
But I cannot ignore what raises concern. I will not stop on the trifles, such as the intrigues of the Russian bureaucracy in relation to American business. I am far more concerned by the growing distrust of the intentions of the United States. Often, even high-placed Russian officials are heard saying: the United States is interested in weakening Russia. This refrain is repeated with particular insistence regarding recent events in the post-Soviet space, where everyone sees the hand of America.
Mr. Vershbow discusses some of these issues of mistrust and goes on to say;Let’s put aside the slander. America needs a strong and stable Russia — a weak Russia would be a nightmare for us. The United States still intends to encourage Russia in carrying out its responsibilities before the community of democratic countries, especially taking into account that Russia will preside over the Group of Eight next year. Yes, we have our differences, such as over Iraq; however, we are united today by a whole lot more. It’s clear that Russian public opinion lags behind the real progress made in our relations. It’s time to catch up.
The U.S. and Russia are natural allies in the WoT. They have a huge problem with militant Islam and Islamic terrorism. It looks as though they are about to make the necessary adjustment to their Army to meet this challenge, and that is a very good thing.
Ok, I admit that leaving Day by Day at the bottom of my blog was a mistake. It is now promoted to the header.
And I hope that you enjoy the spoof on bad poerty by W. S. Gilbert from the opera "Patience" that he wrote with Sir Arthur Sullivan. That will change from time to time.
Enjoy.
Our future Democratic Presidential nominee doesn't seem to be of one mind with respect to the issue of aliens illegally crossing out southern border. In a story from NewsMax.com she seems to be in favor of closing the border and having *gasp* only legal immigration.
Hillary Clinton Blasts President Bush on Border SecurityClinton says that while "this administration has failed to provide the resources to protect our borders, or a better system to keep track of entrants to this country ... I welcome the addition of more border security."
She pins blame for the failure directly on the Oval Office, saying, "President Bush refused to provide the necessary funding in his Fiscal Year 2006 proposed budget sufficient to hire all of the border patrol agents that had been authorized."
"Fortunately," Clinton adds, "during the Senate’s debate on the budget in March of 2005, we passed an amendment to provide increased funding for border patrol agents."
Sounds good, I find myself agreeing with Her Evillity. Then there is this, Clinton speaks before Hispanic civil rights conference Speaking to the nations' largest Hispanic civil rights organization, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., received a standing ovation Monday when she vowed her support for legislation that would allow illegal immigrant high school students to attend college.
So which is it?
One result of the recent decision of our National Oligarchy in Kelo v. City of New London is discussed at CNSNews, Eminent Domain: Churches 'Targeted by the Bulldozers';(CNSNews.com) - There is disagreement over whether the U.S. Supreme Court's recent eminent domain decision endangers the property rights of churches, synagogues and other religious institutions. Some argue that the First Amendment and existing laws may offer adequate protection, while others worry that the decision will open the door to a political assault on the property of people of faith.
The Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London ruling, could mean that "religious institutions that are, by nature, non-commercial and, by law, tax exempt, would be the first to be targeted by the bulldozers because of their alleged lack of economic contribution to the community," according to Jared Leland, media and legal counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
So, is this a paranoid fantasy, or is it a real possibility.
First, Sandra Day O'Connor says;"[T]he Court today significantly expands the meaning of public use," O'Connor wrote. "It holds that the sovereign may take private property currently put to ordinary private use, and give it over for new, ordinary private use, so long as the new use is predicted to generate some secondary benefit for the public -- such as increased tax revenue, more jobs, maybe even aesthetic pleasure."
O'Connor voiced another concern, one that resonated with groups advocating on behalf of religious rights. She warned that in expanding the definition of "public use," the majority had come close to embracing "the absurd argument that ... any church that might be replaced with a retail store ... is inherently harmful to society, and thus within the government's power to condemn."
How is this possible?Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, agreed with O'Connor's assessment.
"She's absolutely correct, especially since churches are, of course, tax exempt," Sekulow warned. "I think we've got a risk here that's significant."
Gary Palmer, president of the Alabama Policy Institute, told Cybercast News Service that the threat doesn't stop with the potential for taking away property a religious entity already owns.
"A church might want to purchase a property in a high-growth area and, because city planners and developers know that churches don't bring anything to the table in terms of tax revenues, I think that there's a tremendous potential for all kinds of barriers being set up to prevent a church from acquiring property," Palmer explained.
He also fears the ruling might be used to punish churches that are active in promoting political issues involving morality.
"For instance, here in Alabama," Palmer warned, "it was the churches that rallied, contributed money to the campaign but, really rallied behind defeating a lottery.
"And the churches have been the mainstay of opposition to expansion of gambling in Alabama," he continued, "so much so that one state legislator proposed that -- if churches continue to block these gambling measures that he says would bring substantial revenue to the state -- then, perhaps, they should look at taxing church property."
This is a very real threat to religious freedom in an environment where the Left™ is working very hard to silence all Christian expression (strange that they have no problem with Islam)."An added or extra level of protection for religious institutions has been stripped away by the court," Leland said. "Nevertheless, there are some very sturdy shoulders to lean on in the First Amendment and federal law."
Palmer is not so optimistic.
"That's one court decision away from meaning nothing," he argued, adding that the same court that just expanded the definition of "public use" in the Fifth Amendment could limit the scope of the "free exercise" of religion in the First Amendment.
"Kelo is the logical progression of activist judges," Palmer continued. "Activism, by either side, undermines the rule of law and, when one side or the other starts making up new rights or denying existing rights, all the rights are undermined."
Sekulow noted that the federal law most often used to fight encroachment on a church's property rights -- the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) -- has not been contested in the Supreme Court ... yet.
"I think it's an open-ended question right now, and we don't know how the courts are going to deal with that," Sekulow said. "[Someone is] going to test the constitutionality of RULIPA.
The States need to act. Texas has already started. The move is already on for municipalities to condemn Church property and hand it over to private developement interests.Lawmakers in Texas appeared to be acting on Sekulow's advice even before he gave it. State senators Wednesday passed Senate Bill 62, which would block city, county and state agencies there from taking advantage of the high court's decision.
The Becket Fund cited 10 cases in its "friend of the court" brief, in which a municipality is or was trying to seize a church's private property and give or sell it to another private entity for commercial development. Without laws such as the one proposed in Texas, Leland warned that the Kelo decision could make such attempts more common.
"One could actually argue that St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City is in jeopardy of being seized [on behalf of], possibly, Donald Trump, who promises to increase the economic interests and generate greater tax revenue in the city," Leland said.
"Granted, that is a stretch of an example only because of the social and political implications that would have," he concluded. "But it's certainly possible under this new standard."
Make no mistake, this is still a Leftist™ Supreme Court and they will take your right to express your Christian faith away from you.
To understand, all you have to do is look around you.
Carey Sublette, at his excellent nuclear weapons website, has an evaluation of the claims of former Soviet National Security Advisor Alexander Lebed regarding lost Russian man-portable nuclear weapons.
Alexander Lebed and Suitcase Nukes
Be sure to read the bit on the The Burton-Lunev Hearing where a mock-up of a "suitcase nuke" based on a plutonium-fueled gun-type atomic weapon having a yield of 1,000 to 10,000 tons of TNT was shown to the Military Research and Development Subcommittee hearing, chaired by Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Penn.). The bomb dropped on Hiroshima, at 15k tons, was only slightly larger than that.
So, close the southern border!
Charles Johnson (the Blogfather) at LGF has posted the reason why, Possible Terrorist Plot at Texas Border. More from Charles' links news article;Adm. James Loy, former Homeland Security deputy secretary, declined to comment on the specific plot outlined in the FBI memo, but earlier this year he suggested that such a threat is real.
"Entrenched human-smuggling networks and corruption in areas beyond our borders can be exploited by terrorist organizations," Loy said in written testimony at a congressional hearing in February. "Several al-Qaeda leaders believe operatives can pay their way into the country through Mexico and also believe illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons."
But law enforcement officials discounted the suggestion that terrorists would use the rugged Big Bend area to transport explosives - especially in a tractor-trailer that would glaringly stand out.
"I think there would be easier ways to get explosives inside the United States," said Benjamine Carry Huffman, assistant chief patrol agent for U.S. Customs & Border Protection in Marfa, Texas.
But the intelligence bulletin noted that the alleged terror plot, as relayed by the informant, was still a work in progress, leaving open the possibility that less conspicuous vehicles might be employed. And the FBI memo said that "one possible smuggling route Traca wanted to use was through Big Bend National Park."
The border patrol's Marfa sector is its largest, covering 510 miles of border with Mexico, including part of Big Bend National Park, and bordering the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Coahuila. With some 200 agents, it has the smallest force of any sector along the Mexican border, according to Bill Brooks, the sector spokesman.
Much of the area is desert and mountainous terrain, dotted by at least a dozen informal crossings known as Class B ports of entry. These consist of makeshift bridges capable of carrying foot and some lighter vehicle traffic. Authorities tried to seal them off after Sept. 11, 2001, but several have been re-established. Officials acknowledged that agents cannot regularly police the informal crossings.
"Who ever imagined that terrorists would use passenger planes to crash into tall buildings?" Hoffman said. "After September 11, we have to operate on a different mindset, one in which we take absolutely nothing for granted. Is it possible terrorists can come across this border with explosives or a dirty bomb? Absolutely."
And not just a dirty bomb, how about actual functioning nuclear weapons?
Having posted on the ordination of women, I thought it good to post the Life of St. Thekla. She is one of Christianity's greatest Saints and has the title "Equal to the Apostles". All Christians, even my Protestant brothers and sisters, would do well to read her Life.
For some time political correctness has imposed a requirment that we be tolerant of other people's beliefs, no matter what they are as long as they are not Christian. This is London has a piece about some people who are NOT unusual citizens of the United Kingdom. Some beliefs, and the presence in society of some people should not be tolerated.
Terror on the dole published on the 20th of April, 2004 predicts recent events.Four young British Muslims in their twenties - a social worker, an IT specialist, a security guard and a financial adviser - occupy a table at a fast-food chicken restaurant in Luton. Perched on their plastic chairs, wolfing down their dinner, they seem just ordinary young men. Yet out of their mouths pour heated words of revolution.
"As far as I'm concerned, when they bomb London, the bigger the better," says Abdul Haq, the social worker. "I know it's going to happen because Sheikh bin Laden said so. Like Bali, like Turkey, like Madrid - I pray for it, I look forward to the day."
"Pass the brown sauce, brother," says Abu Malaahim, the IT specialist, devouring his chicken and chips.
"I agree with you, brother," says Abu Yusuf, the earnest-looking financial adviser sitting opposite. "I would like to see the Mujahideen coming into London and killing thousands, whether with nuclear weapons or germ warfare. And if they need a safehouse, they can stay in mine - and if they need some fertiliser [for a bomb], I'll tell them where to get it."
His friend, Abu Musa, the security guard, smiles radiantly. "It will be a day of joy for me," he adds, speaking with a slight lisp.
These are "educated", healthy people able to contribute to the society in which they live, but...Prior to seeing the group at the fastfood restaurant, Sayful meets me at his semi-detached rented home in Bury Park, Luton's Muslim neighbourhood. He no longer works, even though he is able-bodied, he admits, preferring instead to claim housing benefit and jobseeker's allowance. He smiles sheepishly and says the irony is not lost on him that the British state is supporting him financially, even as he plots to "overthrow it".
"I made a decision that I wanted to follow what Islam really said," Sayful begins, sitting on his sofa in his thowb (a traditional robe) and bare feet. "I went to listen to all the local imams, but I found their portrayal of Islam was too secularised. When I heard Sheikh Omar [the leader] of al-Muhajiroun speak, it was pure Islam, with no compromise. I found that appealing.
So, are these a bunch of big-mouthed losers who can be ignored? Sadly, no. They are big-mouthed losers who seriously desire to kill their host - and there are a lot of them.He denies any link between al-Muhajiroun and the Muslims arrested in the recent police raids. But, as I later discover at the fastfood restaurant, not everyone attaching themselves, however loosely, to al-Muhajiroun draws the same line. Two members of the group - Abu Yusuf, the financial adviser, and Abu Musa, the security guard - scorn al-Muhajiroun as "too moderate".
"I am freelance," says Abu Yusuf, fixing me with his piercing brown eyes. What does that mean? I ask.
"The difference between us and those two," interjects Abu Malaahim, pointing to Musa and Yusuf, "is that us lot do a verbal thing, [but] those brothers actually want to do a physical thing."
And of course, while these parasites are seeking to destroy their host, one must ask - Who is to blame? Certainly not the future murderers themselves, nooooooo.Referring to the latest truce offered by Bin Laden, and Britain's scathing rejection of it, Abu Malaahim adds: "He tried to make a peace deal. When terrorism happens, you will only have yourselves to blame."
How far are you prepared to go? I ask.
"You want to know how far I will go," says Abu Musa, his high-pitched lisp rising an octave. "When Allah said in the Koran 'kill and be killed', that's what I want. I want a martyr operation, where I kill my enemy."
Are you saying, I probe, that you are looking to kill people yourself ? "Yes," Abu Musa says, "to kill and to be killed." He emphasises each word.
Many Muslims say that the accusation that they say one thing to us, the dirty infidels, while they say other things inside their own communities is a false, racist accusation. Well, how about that?Sulaiman insists that Sayful Islam and his crew are not welcome at the mosque. He cannot prevent them praying there, but he will never give them a platform. "I've told Sayful to bugger off and ejected him many times," he says brusquely. "Even Sayful's father, who I know well, thinks his son has been brainwashed."
But Sayful and his friends laugh at the idea that they are local pariahs. "The mosques say one thing to the public, and something else to us. Let's just say that the face you see and the face we see are two different faces," says Abdul Haq. "Believe me," adds Musa, "behind closed doors, there are no moderate Muslims."
They also mock the idea that they are attracted to al-Muhajiroun because they have suffered alienation from white society. "Do we look like scum?" they ask. "Do we look illiterate?"
Remember, this piece was written over a year ago.
It is hard to be any more clear than this as to why Islam is a cancer in every civilization that it appears in, including ours.
For more on al-Muhajiroun see, Al-Muhajiroun - The portal for Britian’s suicide terrorists
Mona Charen explains why.Almost certainly Al-Qaeda or one of its allies murdered and maimed random, defenseless civilians in London today. According to the BBC, "al-Qala'a," an Islamist website that has been used as a conduit by Al Qaeda in the past, contained a claim of responsibility that read, in part: "Rejoice, for it is time to take revenge against the British Zionist Crusader government in retaliation for the massacres Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan. The heroic mujahedeen have carried out a blessed raid in London."
People who can use a word like "blessed" to describe men, women, and children being blown to pieces or having their eyes gouged out by flying glass or losing limbs are not just barbarous, they are twisted. Theirs is a perversion of mind and spirit that almost defies imagination. But thankfully, they are also not very smart.
By committing such atrocities, the Islamists manage to stiffen whatever small residue of resolve remains in flaccid Western civilization. Before the vicious attacks on London civilians, the G8 conference in Scotland focused primarily on global warming, poverty in Africa, and economic matters. But now the leaders of the industrial giants will inevitably turn their attention to the war on terror.
The Islamists could make huge strides in their campaign to undermine Western societies if they used any tactic other than terror. And, in fact, in Great Britain, they have made incredible progress by playing upon Britain's overindulgence of any minority complaint. Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes keeps a running chronicle of British abjectness on his website (Danielpipes.org).
Go read the examples and her conclusion.
Appeasement is surrender and defeat. There is only one way to deal with an enemy, and that is to destroy him.
I was visiting Discarded Lies and came upon this post by zorkmidden. I answered her in the comments section, and promised a post on the subject here.
The Catholic and the Holy Orthodox Churches share the same views on the ordination of women to the priesthood. This is a controversy that has been a serious problem to the Catholics but a much lesser one for the Orthodox. This is, to some extent, a reflection of the quality of teaching inside the two Churches. Many Catholics are seeing issues of Church practice and Holy Tradition through secular and political eyes assuming that such things should change with the times. Orthodox Christians are not bashful about teaching that time does not matter. To the extent that the times have changed such that our practices no longer reflect them, it is the times that are wrong, not the Church.
That said, the reasons that the Holy Orthodox Church does not believe in the ordination of women to the priesthood are complex and only partially covered in Holy Scripture. They are covered in the Holy Tradition (as opposed to tradition) of the Church - the same Holy Tradition that produced the Holy Scriptures themselves.
I wrote to my friend zorkie (I would love to meet you and ev one day);I'm sorry that due to my being in a big hurry just now I cannot give you a complete answer. The answer about menstruation is flatly wrong, priests that teach that need to go back to seminary.
The Church is the Bride, Jesus is the Bridegroom. The priest acts both as a representative of the Bishop in offering worship and the "sacrifice of praise" during the Divine Liturgy, and at the same time represents Christ to the Church in his ability to perform the Holy Mysteries (sacraments). Female priests would upset this relationship.
The priesthood is not the only, nor is it the most important ministry in the Church. For an important discussion of this matter see this from the Orthodox Church in America;
Ordination of Women
I hope that this helps.
+Photi
The priesthood is not a job or career, there is no right for anyone, man or woman to any type of ordination. The priest is not separate from the people in any way. He is one of the people of God as all Orthodox Christians are. The laos tou Theou (laity) includes the priest and are not simple consumers of religion. All in the Church have a ministry, and each is different according to ones ability and the will of God.
The Ordination of Women (linked above) is an excellent artice in answer to this question. Rather than repeat its arguements, I would like to highlight a particular problem in the discussion. Most people from other Christian traditions, and all non-Christians look at issues from a different viewpoint. That viewpoint tends toward a rational, juridical view (many Catholics have this viewpoint also - hence their problems with this issues among others). The Orthodox viewpoint is not rational (and that is not a bad thing), but spiritual. Orthodox Christians see the entire person as being involved in a relationship with the Church and with God. The entire person is involved in worship and is sanctified and is saved. We worship with all five senses. The entire person includes a person's entire identity - and that includes gender. Each person has a slightly different charism, and men and women have different charisms. This is something not understood by people outside of the Orthodox Church.
As a result, most of the noise about ordination of women in the Orthodox Church comes from outside of the Church. As Fr. John Matusiak quite rightly wrote in the article linked above;It is interesting to note that the controversy over the ordination of women is a rather recent one with roots outside the Orthodox Church. It is also interesting to note that, while the controversy rages in other confessions and has been a source of division, enmity, and schism elsewhere, it has garnered far less interest among Orthodox Christians. While the matter surely warrants thorough study, discussion, and dialogue, especially within cultures such as our own, and while there are certain related questions which indeed beg serious discussion -- such as the role of deaconesses in the early Church -- care needs to be taken not to create an artificial issue. The teaching of the Church clearly encourages all persons, women as well as men, young as well as old, to undertake essential critical ministries in the life of the Church -- the grandmothers of the Soviet era had a far greater impact on the life of the Church than the clergy of their day; had those grandmothers been ordained clergy, they would not have been able to have the same powerful effect on generations which otherwise might have been lost. [because they would have been killed as the priests, bishops, monks, and nuns were. - ed.] Perhaps the very success of the hordes of faithful grandmothers in their priestly ministry as grass-roots evangelizers is due not only to their faith, but to their understanding of ministry as a gift and a blessing and a calling and a vocation rather than a question of justice and equality, as is heard so often in heterodox circles. [all emphasis mine - ed.]
As an example of this, a site that calls itself Religious Tolerance.org (which is intolerant of Orthodox Christian belief, so I will not give them a link) points out;The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) considers that the ordination of women in Orthodox churches is not a closed matter. At their 8th assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, women's ordination and the use of inclusive language have surfaced as key issues. Most of the member denominations of the WCC are Protestant churches; most of them ordain women as ministers and priests.
The WCC has no say, and no right to say, what we Orthodox Christians should do in out ecclesiastical lives. They have no understanding of Holy Tradition and have conducted worship services with Wiccans and other animists in the U.S. and Australia. I do not even know why we are members of that (non-Christian) organization. They are trying to harm our Church. I could rant on this for a while, but I'll save that for another post.
So, with each person having their own charism, and with each person's entire Person involved with the Church - which is the Body of Christ, each person has their own role in the Church. Each of those roles is critical to the proper functioning of the Church. Since the Church is the Body of Christ, it is very important to Orthodox Christians that it function properly and that we all best use our gifts for the good of the Church. St. Paul explains this clearly in several of his writings. This one is particularly good; Chapter 12 of St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians;1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were heathen, you were led astray to dumb idols, however you may have been moved. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.
4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free -- and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18But as it is, God arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19If all were a single organ, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, 25that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
The great Mark Steyn writes on the recent Supreme Court decision re: eminent domain. Public 'interest' shouldn't mean money;Do you know Nancy Pelosi? Her job is leading the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives. They should have asked for references. Here's her reaction to the Supreme Court's recent decision on "eminent domain":
"It is a decision of the Supreme Court," said the minority leader. "So this is almost as if God has spoken."
That's not the way Abraham Lincoln saw it:
"If the policy of the government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court . . . the people will have ceased to be their own rulers."
Which is, in fact, the situation that prevails today.A couple of days beforehand, the majesty of the law turned its attention to "eminent domain" -- the fancy term for what happens when the government seizes the property of the private citizen. It pays you, of course, but that's not much comfort if you've built your dream home on your favorite spot of land. Most laymen understand the "public interest" dimension as, oh, they're putting in the new Interstate and they don't want to make a huge detour because one cranky old coot refuses to sell his ramshackle dairy farm. But the Supreme Court's decision took a far more expansive view: that local governments could compel you to sell your property if a developer had a proposal that would generate greater tax revenue. In other words, the "public interest" boils down to whether or not the government gets more money to spend.
I can't say that's my definition. Indeed, the constitutional conflation of "public interest" with increased tax monies is deeply distressing to those of us who happen to think that letting governments access too much dough too easily leads them to create even more useless government programs that enfeeble the citizenry in deeply destructive ways.
Nonetheless, across the fruited domain, governments reacted to the court decision by sending the bulldozers round to idle expectantly on John Doe's front lawn: In New Jersey, Newark officials moved forward with plans to raze 14 downtown acres and build an upscale condo development; in Missouri, the City of Arnold intends to demolish 30 homes, 14 businesses and the local VFW to make way for a Lowe's Home Improvement store and a strip mall developed by THF Realty.
If you think that you are not in danger, you are wrong.
Read what the inmates at Democratic Underground are saying about a break-in at the headquarters of the Ohio Democratic Party.
The consistent pattern amongst Democrats is to try to "discover" some great scandal what can be used to begin impeachment proceedings against the President. Most recently, Karl Rove is accused of revealing Valerie Plame as a CIA agent, although there is no evidence to support the accusation.
Now they want a new Watergate.
Idiots.
As my faithful readers know, I work for the Electric Boat Corp. at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard converting Trident SSBN's to SSGN's. The Shipyard oozes history, and is a National Historic District. It is an amazing place with many interesting structures and beautiful, large brick buildings housing various shops and industrial capabilities.
I will, from time to time, write about what I see there. For instance, after picking up my morning latté and scone, I sometimes walk to my office through a large metal working building that encloses acres of floor space in which large steel things are manufactured and/or maintained (ship rudders, shafts, etc.). For a simple 'cellist such as myself, this is a fascinating place.
Here is a thoroughly enjoyable read, A History of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
I walk across the caissons of Dry Docks 1, 2, and 4 several times every day. Less often I cross Dry Docks 3 and 5. They are all impressive, although it is sad to see the USS Mississippi (CGN 40) being cut up for scrap in DD #3.
It is a joy to work there.
The country which is still the place to which people come when truly oppressed is the United States. That does not prevent the Left from hating, insulting, and inciting violence against us. The New York Daily News had this story on the 21st of August, Another insult to America's heritage at Freedom Center [editing for format only - ed.];
