Islamic Tolerance - Indonesia

From Indonesia; Ailing Evangelist Abused In Indonesia Prison, Group Says

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BosNewsLife) -- An ailing Christian evangelist serving a four-year prison sentence in Indonesia's West Java province for allegedly defaming Islam has been abused in jail by Muslim militants, Christian investigators said Thursday, August 17.

The UK and Ireland branch of Open Doors, which investigates Christian persecution, said Abraham 'Abe' Bentar, 55, was attacked by Muslims including 'visitors' attempting to reconvert him to his former Islamic beliefs.

Speaking in the Tasikmalaya prison in West Java province, the evangelist was quoted as saying he is battling discouragement and fear. "When Open Doors visited him, it took a while before he recognized us and agreed to meet with us because he has received several unwanted 'visitors' who would usually rough him up," Open Doors UK and Ireland told BosNewsLife.

"I have been abused many times. I have lost six teeth because of that," Evangelist Abraham said in published remarks. The attacks added to other ailments, including his apparent recovery from a stroke that impaired his right arm. He also still struggles with high blood pressure and diabetes, Christians said.

MEDICINES NEEDED

"Because of the medicines and food brought by his wife Waty, 36, and a local church, he manages well. Visits from his wife are difficult though because the only way she can visit him is by making a long and costly overnight bus journey," Open Doors UK and Ireland claimed.

He was sentenced May 17 for defaming Islam and its 'prophet' Muhammad, charges human rights groups say are often used by Muslim leaders and militants to halt the spread of Christianity in the world’s largest Muslim nation, particularly in areas such as West Java.

Elsewhere in West Java, three Sunday School teachers – Dr Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun – are serving a three-year prison sentence in Indramayu State Prison, for allegedly forcibly converting Muslim children, accusations the women have strongly denied.

But one year into their sentence "the three ladies have been a great testimony to the other 12 women prisoners with their quiet trust and faith in God. There was much unrest in the women’s sections of the prison before Rebekka, Eti and Ratna arrived, but all the women now get on well," said Open Doors UK and Ireland, citing its own investigation.

There is more. Read it all and learn how Christians forgive their persecutors.

USS Grunion Found

A submarine has been found off of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It may very well be USS Grunion (SS-216)

Lost submarine found off Alaska, Search for father may have turned up USS Grunion

The Grunion, one of the Gato-class attack submarines commissioned early in World War II, was on its maiden operational voyage when it disappeared while patrolling the seas between Alaska's tip and Japan, according to a Navy Web site.

The submarine made several transmissions in July 1942, reporting that it had sunk three Japanese destroyers. On July 30, it reported heavy anti-submarine activity nearby and said it had 10 remaining torpedoes. It was never heard from again. Warplanes searching for wreckage never found anything.

Now, finally, she has been found.

Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet maintains the USS Grunion web site including a crew list, all of whom were lost on July 31, 1942.

USS Grunion photo archive

Presbyterians Go Over the Edge

The Presbyterians replaced belief in and worship of God with a belief in and worship of liberal politics many years ago. That is why I left them and became an Orthodox Christian.

Now, they have gone completely over the edge.

9/11 Conspiracy Book by Presbyterian Publisher Stirs Controversy

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A controversial book about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks printed by the official publishing house of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has upset some of the congregation's members.

The book, "Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11," alleges that the Bush administration was behind the attacks on the World Trade Center.

The author, David Ray Griffin, a professor emeritus at Claremont School of Theology in California, argues that the towers collapsed because of explosives and not because airliners crashed into the buildings.

Unbelievable. One must wonder, what next?

Good Advice for Arabs

Ahmed Al-Jarallah, Editor-in-Chief of the Arab Times has a few good words of advice for the Arab world. Of course his ideas have no future.

Confront reality, 'accept defeat'

The version at Watching America has a cartoon.

Soon Syria and Iran will start spreading illusions of victory, especially after the issuance of UN Resolution 1706 (sic), doing a repeat of 1967 when Gamal Abdul Nasser and other intellectual terrorist groups attempted to turn a disgracing defeat into a temporary setback. In the name of “Liberating Palestine,” the Nasserites succeeded only in destroying Egypt’s economy and future. There is no winner in Lebanon. Hezbollah’s defeat has affected everything in Lebanon - including its people, buildings, and infrastructure. However, some Lebanese politicians, who are followers of the Syrian regime, won’t be able to avoid coming up with misleading statements praising Hassan Nasrallah for achieving victory.

At the moment all we want is the elimination of these misleading groups because the Arab world cannot afford any more defeats. We must help people of all Arab countries know the facts to ensure they don’t repeat the mistakes of Palestinians who are currently ruing their decision to reject the division of Palestine, the Camp David accord, and former US President Bill Clinton’s initiatives. We want a comprehensive and unified Arab decision to close the mouths of such misleading intellectual terrorist groups.

The Arab world must face reality and accept it has been defeated. This will help Arabs to identify their real enemies and be prepared to defend themselves in the future. Arabs should understand it will be a fatal mistake to challenge a powerful enemy and lead their countries into a dreadful adventure like Nasrallah and then urge the Arab and Islamic worlds to come to the rescue.

Since this column was published we have seen exactly what Mr. Al-Jarallah predicted, supported by a willing dhimmified Press.

Interview With a British Jihadi

Robert Spencer has it over at Jihad Watch

Interview with a jihadist preacher

Note that the interviewer, Dan Rivers of CNN, and the editors who created this report still think that Islam is not the problem.

Of course they are wrong.

Watch the video, it will make your blood boil.

Islamic Tolerance in Ethiopia

We read and hear a great deal about how tolerant the Religion of Peace™ is of other faiths. Here is an example of the tolerance of Islam for Christianity.

"Severe Persecution" for Christians in Western Ethiopia; Believer Crucified

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (BosNewsLife) -- Christians in Muslim-dominated regions of Ethiopia faced another tense Sunday, August 13, amid what Christian investigators describe as "severe but under-reported persecution," including the crucifixion of one Christian believer.

Human rights group Voice Of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC) said its workers have learned that the situation is especially serious in the country's Western regions of Bambesi and Tongo near the Sudanese border.

Among recent incidents, VOMC mentioned that last month, July 5, a convert from Islam, identified as Shek Hamed Adem, was severely beaten and hanged on a cross. "While beating him, the crowd told him, "Jesus was hanged on a cross and beaten and as his follower you also deserve the same punishment," VOMC said.

Later, July 20, "hundreds of Muslims occupied the compound of a Christian woman and forcibly erected a mosque on her property. The building was erected as part of a plan to build a mosque every two kilometers (1.2 miles)," the group added.

Read it all. Several different instances of Islamic persecution of Christians are listed.

Stupid Criminal Stories

I just love the stupid criminal stories.

Man makes fake 9-1-1 call right in front of cop, police say

SALEM -- A man making a fake 9-1-1 call in an effort to divert a police officer from writing his friend a speeding ticket got caught in the act and ended up in the slammer himself, Salem police said.

Not only did the suspect make a phony 9-1-1 call, he did it right in front of a police officer, and the dispatch center got it all on tape, according to authorities.

It unfolded Monday morning when officer TJ Kistner and his partner were patrolling in Northeast Salem, searching for a robbery suspect, and they spotted a suspicious-looking car.

"I see this car and I stop it for a signal violation," Kistner explained.

He said Jermiah Burgess, 27, was behind the wheel and Rex Strauss, 25, was in the passenger seat, talking on his cell phone.

Moments later, Kistner heard dispatchers send two officers to a report of a stabbing just a block away.

"I need to report a knife, a knife fight," a man could be heard telling the dispatcher in the 9-1-1 call.

But there’s someone else talking in the background, too. The dispatcher realizes it's a cop asking for identification.

"So I’m monitoring that [9-1-1 call] trying to decide if I need to abort this traffic stop," Kistner said. And then, "I just start laughing because I can tell the guy I have in the right front passenger seat is making a fake call."

Police said Strauss was reporting the fake stabbing just to get out of the traffic stop. But his ploy didn’t work.

These guys are now in prison where they belong.

A Small Step

Of course abortionists will argue with great vigor that an abortion is not the taking of a human life, or the killing of a baby, or any such thing. It is simply the removal of some undesired tissue from a woman's body. But we who are Orthodox (and orthodox) Christians know differently. It fact, so do the abortionists. So it should not be a big surprise when the line between born and unborn gets a little blurred. In fact, isn't it unfair discrimination to make that distinction? Birthophobic, perhaps? (note to humorless liberals, this is sarcasm).

If one is willing to kill an unborn child, then why not one that has just immediately been born?

Abortionists investigated for possible baby murder

Authorities report their investigation includes the potential for homicide charges, as well as evidence tampering. The baby reportedly was 12 inches long and weighed up to three pounds, an age and weight at which premature infants can survive outside the womb.

Witnesses reported to police the 18-year-old woman, whose name wasn't released, went to the clinic at about 22 weeks of pregnancy for an abortion, then returned the next day complaining of pain. Clinic workers said the doctor wasn't available and she would have to wait.

The witnesses reported that she was taken into a recovery room, where she gave birth to the child she thought had been aborted the day before.

"Employees cut the umbilical cord, put the baby in a bag and walked away with it," Hialeah Lt. Ralph Garcia said.

After the anonymous 9-1-1 call, police responded but found no body. Then they returned a second time, following a second call, and found the body in the biohazard bag. Detectives say it's possible clinic workers moved the body during the first visit, to avoid detection, according to LifeNews.com.

Bell said her organization and others concerned about life repeatedly have tried to get basic health clinic rules applied to abortion businesses, without success to date.

"Unfortunately, that's the mentality of this country, that the abortion business is not subject (to rules)," she told WorldNetDaily. "This is the result of that."

North Korea Adopts New Currency

It seems that the North Korean government has completely given up trying to be a legitimate country. After having been caught counterfeiting U.S. $100 bills and having the bank that was laundering the counterfeit money for them forced to stop, they have adopted that fake money as their own currency.

North Korea Adopts the Dollar as Illegal Tender

August 2, 2006: Counterfeit American hundred dollar bills have become, in practice, legal tender in North Korea. Everyone knows they're fake, but they are such good fakes that merchants call them "$70 bills," and often use them at full face value. North Korea has, for nearly two decades, financed it's defense establishment via illegal activities. These included producing and exporting illegal drugs and counterfeit U.S. currency. Of particular concern to the United States, the fake hundred dollar bills were of such high quality that, in some respects, they were superior to the real thing. North Korea has access to the special materials and printing equipment for producing currency. Much of this stuff is only sold to governments. However, since North Korea is a government, they get the quality materials and gear needed to make what American Treasury officials call "supernotes." These counterfeits can be detected, but with difficulty. As a result, thousands, if not millions, of them are in circulation, largely outside of the United States.

North Korean merchants prefer the U.S. hundreds because they are easier to handle. North Korea's currency, the won, currently has an exchange rate of about 3,000 won to one dollar. The largest denomination in North Korea is the 5,000 won note. That's worth about $1.67. So if you want to pay for something in cash, which many merchants prefer (don't ask‚…), those hundred dollar bills are a lot more convenient.

One reason so many of these bills began to show up in North Korea earlier this year is because the United States has recently blocked North Korean access to the international banking system. This was how North Korea used to spend many of these counterfeit notes. With that access blocked, the government apparently made deals with merchants (who did import/export business) to allow them to use the notes within North Korea, as long as they took the notes in payment for goods. The merchants realize the notes are good enough to easily put into circulation. Apparently the term "$70 note" came from the value the North Korean government got for the notes initially, as the counterfeit bills were used to pay for goods.

And remember, these are not shops that a regular North Korean person can go to. These are for the powerful cognac and caviar crowd.

Due to recent flooding in four provinces, North Korea is in grave danger of another famine. This will not bother the counterfeiters of U.S. $100 bills.

An Important Difference

This refers, of course, to the Palestinian terrorists, but it applies equally well to Hezbollah and the Muslim enemy in general. I found it on the internet some years ago. It still applies.

Handy Glossary of Terms

The great Victor Davis Hanson has provided a handy vocabulary for the war in the Middle East.

The Vocabulary of Untruth

A "ceasefire" would occur should Hezbollah give back kidnapped Israelis and stop launching missiles; it would never follow a unilateral cessation of Israeli bombing. In fact, we will hear international calls for one only when Hezbollah’s rockets are about exhausted.

"Civilians" in Lebanon have munitions in their basements and deliberately wish to draw fire; in Israel they are in bunkers to avoid it. Israel uses precision weapons to avoid hitting them; Hezbollah sends random missiles into Israel to ensure they are struck.

"Collateral damage" refers mostly to casualties among Hezbollah’s human shields; it can never be used to describe civilian deaths inside Israel, because everything there is by intent a target.

"Cycle of Violence" is used to denigrate those who are attacked, but are not supposed to win.

"Deliberate" reflects the accuracy of Israeli bombs hitting their targets; it never refers to Hezbollah rockets that are meant to destroy anything they can.

"Deplore" is usually evoked against Israel by those who themselves have slaughtered noncombatants or allowed them to perish — such as the Russians in Grozny, the Syrians in Hama, or the U.N. in Rwanda and Dafur.

"Disproportionate" means that the Hezbollah aggressors whose primitive rockets can’t kill very many Israeli civilians are losing, while the Israelis’ sophisticated response is deadly against the combatants themselves. See "excessive."

Anytime you hear the adjective "excessive," Hezbollah is losing. Anytime you don’t, it isn’t.

"Eyewitnesses" usually aren’t, and their testimony is cited only against Israel.

"Grave concern" is used by Europeans and Arabs who privately concede there is no future for Lebanon unless Hezbollah is destroyed - and it should preferably be done by the "Zionists" who can then be easily blamed for doing it.

"Innocent" often refers to Lebanese who aid the stockpiling of rockets or live next to those who do. It rarely refers to Israelis under attack.

The "militants" of Hezbollah don’t wear uniforms, and their prime targets are not those Israelis who do.

"Multinational," as in "multinational force," usually means "third-world mercenaries who sympathize with Hezbollah." See "peacekeepers."

"Peacekeepers" keep no peace, but always side with the less Western of the belligerents.

"Quarter-ton" is used to describe what in other, non-Israeli militaries are known as "500-pound" bombs.

"Shocked" is used, first, by diplomats who really are not; and, second, only evoked against the response of Israel, never the attack of Hezbollah.

"United Nations Action" refers to an action that Russia or China would not veto. The organization’s operatives usually watch terrorists arm before their eyes. They are almost always guilty of what they accuse others of.

As always, read all of Dr. Hanson's piece. He does an admirable job clarifying the conflict.

The other desideratum is the destruction of Israel itself. Iran promised to wipe Israel off the map, and then gave Hezbollah thousands of missiles to fulfill that pledge. In response, the world snored. If tomorrow more powerful rockets hit Tel Aviv armed with Syrian chemicals or biological agents, or Iranian nukes, the "international" community would urge "restraint" - and keep urging it until Israel disappeared altogether. And the day after its disappearance, the Europeans and Arabs would sigh relief, mumble a few pieties, and then smile, "Life goes on."

And for them, it would very well.

Hating Jews and Americans

How Hating Jews Transformed Into Hating Americans in a translation from Watching America;

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the fundamental catchword of the surviving leftist regimes has been anti-Americanism. But this is recent. Historically, Europe has been anti-Semitic; a deceptive term since in reality we are talking of a phobia against Jews [the Arabs are also Semites]. Since the days of the New Testament during Roman times, blaming the Jews has been the preferred method of explaining all of the bad things that occur on this planet: we Hebrews live among you and we are alike, but we also have differences, that's why we are ideal for being chosen as scapegoats.

After the World Wars, Europeans, Russians and American redrew the Middle East map, uniting ethnic groups, mixing sects, and anointing easily-controlled monarchies. In its beginnings, what has become Israel was colonized by people who were clear social idealists; that is why in the early years of independence, Israel was seen with affability by the entire Western world, and with deep hatred by its Muslim neighbors, who swore to never recognize the State of Israel and to eliminate the Jews from the region.

Now these theocratic dictatorships are ideal allies for all powers that want to fight the hegemony of the United States. Therefore, to be a true leftist is necessarily to hate North America and its main partner in the region, Israel. And hating Israel is the less grotesque way of being anti-Semitic and at the same time to hold a more refined opinion that is shared by Europeans.

A third of the member-states of the U.N. that are officially Muslim are not democracies and do not respect human rights; but these countries have a quarter of the world's population and territory, as well as the largest petroleum reserves. That explains why the largest number of U.N, [General Assembly] resolutions have been against Israel and not the governments that torture their opponents, maintain women in a state of slavery and mutilate their genital organs, execute homosexuals, don't allow freedom of religion or expression and harbor terrorist groups. It is illustrative that European governments and their supposed intellectuals, feminists and defenders of gay's rights, don't come out in defense of the only nation in the Middle East that agrees with the basic Western elements of coexistence.

It is important to emphasize that there are Israelis and Jews of every nationality who promote peace and the self-determination of the Palestinians, while not a single voice of protest is heard from any Islamic representative when terrorist attacks strike civilians in Israel. If there are only about 15 million Jews in the entire world, how can it be that 1.5 billion Muslims all seem to think in exactly the same way?

There is no justification for the deaths of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, just as there is no justifying the fact that they are used as human shields and that Islamic governments harbor terrorist groups. Israel has given up territory, has exchanged prisoners and has proposed peace, but has received only bombs and death. When leftists attack Israel just to be against the United States, they justify the cruel social injustices in the Islamic world, and the anti-modernity in which they [Muslims] remain mired because of its wealthy rulers. Negotiating with kidnappers is to surrender beforehand.

Why does Russia insist on crushing the Chechen separatists? Why does China keep Tibet? Why does England maintain Ulster? Why doesn't Spain give independence to the Basques? Why doesn't India withdraw from Kashmir? And finally, how would Brazil or Venezuela act if the FARC entered their territory to claim it?

The original text in Spanish is also provided.

Wake Up!

Stop kidding yourselves.

Obsession: What the War on Terror is Really About

This movie is from HonestReporting.com. You can order a DVD.

Iranian Response Set For August 22

On August 22nd the Iranians will respond to the appeasement offer of the West has made for them to stop enriching uranium.

Robert Spencer has a good idea of what that response will be.

I pray that he is wrong. If he is right, Iran stands a good chance of being reduced to a smoking glass lined pit.

Timeless Judenhass

Michael Medved has an excellent piece on his blog at Townhall.com.

Bashing Israel and Timeless Bias

Like most American Jews of my post-Holocaust generation, I’ve never suffered significant harm from anti-Semitism. Sure, I’ve experienced the random rude remark, or expression of distaste, or hints of ethnic and religious hostility, but Jew-hatred in no way has interfered with my success, happiness or sense of well-being in this grand, glorious and good-hearted nation.

Recent debates about the Middle East war, however, make it inescapably clear that anti-Semitic attitudes remain a significant factor for an embittered minority of Americans, emerging with special force at times of stress. When callers to my talk radio show insist that Israel remains at fault for the current fights in Gaza or Lebanon, traditional Jew hatred (or delusional psychology) probably plays a role in the analysis.

It doesn’t matter that Israel withdrew from both areas—occupying no square inch of Gaza, nor of Lebanon’s internationally recognized territory. It doesn’t matter that the Israelis endured daily Qassam rocket attacks from Gaza, and frequent (and much more deadly) Katyusha rocket assaults from Lebanon: even if Israelis go to war to defend their innocent civilians, for some people it’s still the Jews who must be at fault. The instinct for “blaming the Jews” flourishes alongside the similar instinct for “excusing the terrorists” – as long as their chief targets happen to be Jews.

Callers to my talk show have fingered the long-retired Henry Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz (head of the World Bank), AIPAC (The America Israel Public Affairs Committee), the Illuminati, “international bankers,” “the Rockefellers”(in the mistaken belief that they’re Jewish and somehow connected to Israel),” “the media elite,” and other traditional anti-Semitic bogeymen in their efforts to discredit the Israeli response.

Go read all of this excellent post.

Major Drug Smuggler

For the first time the top police chief in Japan has alleged that North Korea, in 2002, smuggled amphetamines into Japan. And, it was not a criminal or group of criminals, it was the criminal North Korean government.

From the Japan Times, North Korea government smuggled drugs: NPA chief

The commissioner general of the National Police Agency has said the North Korean government was involved in smuggling several hundred kilograms of amphetamines into Japan in 2002.

"It is a case where North Korea was involved as a state," Iwao Uruma said.

This is the first time the nation's top police chief has alleged the North Korean government has been involved in drug smuggling.

In May, police arrested several people, including Woo Si Yun, 59, an alleged South Korean drug dealer, on suspicion of smuggling the amphetamines into Japan using a North Korean freighter in 2002.

The crew of the North Korean ship is believed to have dropped the drugs into the Sea of Japan off Shimane Prefecture on four occasions between June and November 2002.

Smugglers successfully recovered them using a fishing boat in three of the four cases and brought the illicit cargo to a port in Shimane.

In the fourth case, they failed to pick up the amphetamines, which drifted ashore in adjacent Tottori Prefecture, the police said.

"Relevant evidence so far prompts me to believe all the amphetamines confiscated were manufactured in North Korea," Uruma said.

"Amphetamines made in several factories in North Korea made it to Japan through several routes."

Police authorities also said Friday they have determined that the chemical composition of the amphetamines found in Tottori was all but identical to that of amphetamines they seized in the Pacific off Kochi Prefecture in 1998.

The Japan Coast Guard has concluded the North Korean boat apparently involved in the failed 1998 smuggling attempt was identical to a refitted North Korean boat that sank in 2001 after a shootout with a Japan Coast Guard vessel.

What a pathetic excuse for a government.

Hezbollah Prevents Evacuation

It is no secret that Hezbollah hides behind civilians, hoping that they will die when Israel attacks Hezbollah sites or responds to Hezbollah fire. They count on the world blaming Israel for those deaths. This is happening as it is driven by a liberal, anti-semitic press. The truth is, it is a (real) war crime for a nation to place its aggressive military sites in civilian areas or use civilian homes to hide military personnel or equipment. Hezbollah is not a nation, so it appears that they are off the hook. Also, the liberal press will always blame Jews over terrorists.

Here is another example of Hezbollah arranging human shields for itself.

From ynetnews.com, IDF: Hizbullah preventing civilians from leaving villages in southern Lebanon

The IDF has found that Hizbullah is preventing civilians from leaving villages in southern Lebanon. Roadblocks have been set up outside some of the villages to prevent residents from leaving, while in other villages Hizbullah is preventing UN representatives from entering, who are trying to help residents leave. In two villages, exchanges of fire between residents and Hizbullah have broken out. (Hanan Greenberg)

The American press has not reported this yet as they cannot figure out how to blame the Jews or the Americans for it.

Of course the UN has seen this and is doing nothing, as usual.

Children's TV - Islam Style

Everybody knows that all good children want to become "martyrs" in jihad. After all, what can be more beautiful than killing Jews and Americans?

Egypt primes children for jihad

An Egyptian Islamic cleric working for the state ministry of religious endowment has used a children's television program to encourage young children to strive for holy war.

During program, made available by the Arabic translation service MEMRI , the cleric told a story about Muslim children in history keen
to "sacrifice" themselves and kill "infidels" for the cause of Islam.

"Let's listen to a very beautiful story to learn about the courage of a child, and how, when a child is brought up in a good home, and receives proper education in faith, he loves martyrdom, which becomes like an instinct for him. He can never give it up," Sheik Muhammad Nassar told children on the program, which aired on the Al-Nas television channel.

"This story, my friends, is a beautiful story. Abu Qudama was the commander of the army of the Muslims, when they fought the Byzantines. The Byzantines had a very, very large army, whereas the Muslims did not have many fighters. So Abu Qudama walked down the alleys and streets, among the poor, calling: 'Come join the Jihad,' 'Come join the Jihad,'" Nassar said.

'Take my boy to the jihad'

He continued: "A woman said to him: 'Abu Qudama, I have a boy. I will give him to you. Take him with you to war.' He asked: 'Is he still a boy?' She said: 'He is 15 years old, and his father was martyred in the previous war. Since his father's martyrdom, he sits day and night, praying that Allah grant him martyrdom.'"

The Muslim commander is described as "praising Allah" for receiving the child-soldier from his mother.

Describing the participation of children in jihad, Nassar said: "Sa'id shot the first arrow, killing one (infidel). With the second arrow, he killed another infidel, and with the third, he killed a third. Then he was hit by an arrow, and fell to the ground as a martyr. He achieved the martyrdom for which he yearned. A little later, he drew his last breath. Sa'id, the 15-year-old child, was martyred for the sake of Allah. He died happy."

What a lovely story from the RoP.

Ta Mok Meets Satan

The only sad thing about the death of this monster is the fact that he will not be available to testify against his fellow monsters at trial.

Khmer Rouge Leader Ta Mok Dies Ahead of Trial

PHNOM PENH—Ta Mok [born Ung Choeun - ed.], the 82-year-old former Khmer Rouge commander whose actions earned him the nickname "The Butcher," has died at a military hospital in the Cambodian capital.

Ta Mok, who died Friday, was being treated for high blood pressure, tuberculosis, and breathing complications, his lawyer, Benson Samay, said.

Widely known as a ruthless enforcer for Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, Ta Mok remained powerful for years after Vietnam toppled the Khmer Rouge. He controlled northern areas of the Khmer Rouge's remaining territory from his base at Anlong Veng.
One of two defendants in custody

After a split in the party, he declared himself supreme commander in 1997 and was detaining Pol Pot when he died.

Earlier this month, officials were sworn in for a long-awaited trial of those blamed for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people under the Khmer Rouge from 1975-79. Ta Mok could have provided key testimony against other defendants.

Only Ta Mok and former prison commander Kaing Khek Iev, also known as Duch, were in custody ahead of the trial, and many people fear that more defendants—all of whom are elderly—may die before they can be tried.

Ta Mok was one of the important leaders of the genocide.

Ta Mok is one of the Khmer Rouge leaders profiled in Seven Candidates for Prosecution by Steve Heder, which lays out the cases against seven top leaders.

Heder cites "significant evidence that Ta Mok…played a central role in implementing the Communist Party’s execution policies."

The only sadness in the death of this monster is for the 30,000 victims he is personally responsible for, and the other millions who were killed in other provinces under the Khmer Rouge.

North Korea May Face New Famine

Adherence to the Juche idea and a failure to develop any kind of market economy make North Korea susceptible to disasters that would not be disasters in a western country. Two major storms have caused flooding that has destroyed young rice crops in large areas of what little arable land North Korea has.

Floods may bring famine to North Korea

UPDATE: The above link does not seem to be reliable, here is a better one, Floods could push North Korea back into famine

Experts have warned that the North Korea people, who constantly battle food shortages, could be facing a famine after heavy flooding in key farming regions this month.

Two major storms over the past ten days have hit the impoverished country with some of the heaviest rainfalls in years just as it faces greater international isolation over missile tests this month and the prospect of less food aid from its major donor, South Korea.

"Conditions have never been that good in North Korea and this could push them over the edge again," said Peter Beck, an expert in Korean affairs for the International Crisis Group.

"This has increased the probability of a famine returning to North Korea," he said.

Up to 2.5 million North Koreans, or about 10 per cent of its population, died in the 1990s due to famines caused by droughts, flooding and mismanagement of the agriculture sector, the United Nations World Food Programme said studies have indicated.

You would think that Kim Jong Il would be interested in maintaining a good relationship with the countries that feed his failed country, but no,

He said Pyongyang's main benefactor China probably shipped North Korea far less food in the first quarter of this year than it did in the same period of last year.

South Korea has sent huge amounts of rice and fertiliser aid to North Korea over the past several years. But it has rejected the North's latest request for 500,000 tonnes for rice for this year, unless Pyongyang returns to stalled talks on ending its nuclear weapons programmes.

North Korea's Declaration of Independence

William S. Cohen, the former Secretary of Defense, has a few things to say about North Korea's declaration of independence.

Commentary: North Korea's declaration of independence

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On July 4, North Korea fired off six missiles, followed two days later by a seventh. Kim Jong Il, North Korea's repressive leader, was not celebrating America's independence holiday, but declaring his own independence from world opinion, while secretly craving American attention.

The international community responded quickly and with near unanimity, condemning North Korea's actions as dangerous and provocative.

The UN Security Council resolution, passed unanimously on Saturday after an 11-day impasse, showed solidarity among nations in demanding that North Korea return to the bargaining table rather than their missile launching pads. That North Korea promptly rejected this resolution demonstrated what we must be careful to avoid: that tough words followed by little action will likely produce North Korea's further contempt for those alarmed by its actions [I think that that is exactly what is going to happen. - ed.]. The international community must follow through on enforcing the sanctions called for in the resolution, and resort to stronger action in the Security Council if these measures are not enough.

Some now suggest that since the six-party talks have failed to bring about a successful negotiation to the persistent crisis generated by North Korea, the only alternative is for the United States to agree to engage in direct bilateral negotiations with the North Koreans. Why, it is asked, should we hold on to form and pass on the opportunity to participate in direct diplomacy?

The answer is that more than the size and shape of a conference table is involved. A willingness on the part of U.S. officials to meet with North Koreans in the context of the six-party talks should be encouraged. Initiating direct bilateral negotiations in response to provocative missile launches would be a mistake, as it would reward provocation and enable the North Koreans to blame the United States if the negotiations continue to end in an impasse.

Why is that so hard for liberals to understand? Give Kim what he wants and it will validate his behavior as successful.

His behavior is wrong on many levels. Besides the wholesale murder and starvation of his population, there is now the impetus for his neighbors to be more active in defending themselves.

Japan's desire to develop the means to actively defend itself in response to threats such as North Korea's provocations is real, growing and perfectly understandable. Japanese Defense Minister Fukushiro Nukaga last week reiterated Japanese policy that it has the legal right, even under its pacifist constitution written by the United States after World War II, to strike hostile missiles that are being prepared to launch against Japan, adding that Japan should debate what military capabilities it should possess for such missions. The number two official in Japan's government, Shinzo Abe, who seeks to replace Prime Minister [Junichiro] Koizumi this fall, endorsed these views.

Kim Jong Il needs to beware the law of unintended consequences.

Arab World has Had Enough

In an editorial yesterday in USA Today, Youssef Ibrahim explains how Iran has overplayed its hand and will not receive Arab support.

Finally, it seems, Iran has overplayed its hand

The attempt by Hezbollah and Hamas to drag the whole Arab world into their war with Israel in the past two weeks has drawn flak in the form of Arab public opinion that neither militant jihadist organizations anticipated.

Speaking in an unusually blunt tone, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain openly rejected what they described as unilateral "adventurism," telling both groups that they are on their own vis-a-vis Israel. More important, indications are surfacing that a long-silent Arab majority has had enough of being hijacked by extremists in its midst.

In a meeting of its 22 foreign ministers Saturday in Cairo, the League of Arab States did not mince words. "Behavior undertaken by some groups in apparent safeguarding of Arab interests does in fact harm those interests, allowing Israel and other parties from outside the Arab world (read Iran) to wreak havoc with the security and safety of all Arab countries."

Read the whole thing for details.

The sentiments of the Arab governments has everything to do with the Sunni/Shia conflict (they would still love to exterminate the Jews). Iran is now starting to find that they cannot continually undermine the Arab states and then expect support whenever they want it, even when it involves killing Jews.

Watch as Europe knuckles under to Hezbollah first.

Doomsday for Syria and Iran via Hezbollah

Charles has the story at Little Green Footballs.

Tel Aviv Attack Imminent?

Nasrallah Will Give Tel Aviv Residents One Hour to Flee

The unnamed sources are quoted by the Palestinian Authority-based news agency Ma'an as saying:

"The Lebanese resistance is preparing a retaliation parallel to Israel's military actions. Hassan Nasrallah will address the people of Tel Aviv and warn them to evacuate the city within one hour. As soon as the delay ends, hundreds of heavy missiles will start landing in the city, which has been divided into squares in order to let damage reach every inch of the city. An estimated 500 missiles are expected to land in Tel Aviv in a short period of time."

The Arab sources further said that the Hizbullah has been very careful in cultivating its public image, in order to increase the surprise effect of the planned barrage on Tel Aviv.

Well, here is some news for Iran and Syria from Dan Gillerman.
Video: “Doomsday,” says Gillerman, if Hezbollah hits Tel Aviv

A Bloody Nose for Iran

DEBKAfile is a web site written by people rumored to be involved with Israeli intelligence. They often write some pretty wild things, and are not always terribly reliable. Many people don't give them credit for better that 50% accuracy, but I think it is considerably better than that.

Here is an interesting analysis of the various political interests at play in this war.

Bush Wants the Hizballah-Israel War to Give Iran a Bloody Nose

Since the onset of the Israel-Hizballah war on July 12, US president George W. Bush never tires of repeating that Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorists and that it is up to Syria to press Hizballah to stop shooting rockets at Israel.

His secretary of state Condoleezza Rice says she doesn’t see how an immediate ceasefire can solve the Middle East crisis.

UN secretary general Kofi Annan, playing along, is in no hurry to take a hand. “It will be a while before fighting ends,” he says calmly. And Germany’s Angela Merkel thinks the kidnapped Israeli soldiers should be returned before any talk begins.

Britain’s Tony Blair would like to put an international force into southern Lebanon, but Bush put him off none too gently according to an open mike at the G-8 summit. Anyway, south Lebanon already has an international force. It is called UNIFIL, and it has never stopped Hizballah firing a single cross-border shot.

All the world powers assembled in St. Petersburg for the G-8 summit agreed that Hizballah started the war as Tehran’s proxy terrorist arm. They picked up on the attitude of the US president, who is telling Israel: Let it run; but keep civilian casualties down and don’t kick too much Lebanese infrastructure.

Even Arab governments, which automatically fought any Israeli military action in the past, have formed a solid Sunni Muslim front, led by Saudi Arabia, which is content to watch the Shite Hizballah take a beating and the burgeoning Shiite assertiveness in the region squashed.

The Olmert government is eagerly exploiting this leisurely international climate to smash as much of Hizballah’s terror machine as he can before Washington holds up a stop sign. Monday, July 17, a clutch of would-be ceasefire brokers descended on Beirut and Jerusalem. None came with Bush’s nod, so they will not get very far.

That is just the introduction, there is much more. Read it all, it is fascinating.

Buy a Pizza for a Soldier or a Family

The IDF, in addition to defending Israel, is doing the world a favor as they destroy Hezbollah and Hamas.

Support these wonderful men and women as they fight to remove this scourge from the world. Buy them a pizza pie.

PizzaIDF.org

There are families in Israel who are temporarily displaced. You can buy them pizza as well.

Pizza & Soda for our Soldiers

Pizza & Soda for a patrol
1 pizza pie & 1 bottle of soda
(5 soldiers)
$16.95

Pizza & Soda for a section
2 pizza pies & 2 bottles of soda
(10 soldiers)
$31.95

Pizza & Soda for a platoon
6 pizza pies & 6 bottles of soda
(30 soldiers)
$89.95

Pizza & Soda for a company
18 pizza pies & 18 bottles of soda
(90 soldiers)
$269.75

A Full Month of Pizza
1 pizza pie & 1 bottle of soda each week for a month
(Tell us how many months, and you will be charged monthly.)
$61.95

Pizza & Soda for Gush Katif Families

Pizza & Soda for a family
1 pizza pie & 1 bottle of soda
$16.95

Cold Summer Fruit Soup
Cold Fruit Soup
(Minimum order of 5 portions.)
$2.89 per portion

Ice Cream
Large Cornetto/Drumstick Ice Cream
We drive our ice cream van right up to the soldiers!
(Minimum order of 5 ice creams.)
$2.89 per portion

Your gifts of over $250 are eligible for a US IRS tax deduction.

They also note that;

All our products are Kosher l'Mehadrin
allowing all soldiers receiving them to be able to eat them.
Delivery included in price.

If you prefer, you can send hamburgers instead.

BurgerIDF.org

Arab Reaction Muted

Here is a view that you have probably not heard yet. The Strategy Page has this story.

The War With Iran

July 16, 2006: Iran aside, there hasn't been a really noisy response from the Moslem world about Israel's military operations against Lebanon. Notably subdued is the response from the Arab countries; it's mostly been mumbling about the plight of the Palestinians and such. Could this mean that the principal Arab leaders are not all that unhappy to see Hizbollah get it in the neck? After all, most of the Arabs are Sunni, while Hizbollah and Iran are Shia. The exception that proves the rule is Syria, which has a Shia leadership. But most Arabs fear Iran, not because most Iranians are Shia, but because Iranians are not Arabs. Iran has been the regional superpower for over three thousand years. Iran is building nuclear weapons. Iran is backing Shia Arab factions in Iraq that would support turning Iraq into an Iranian ally. Also scary is the fact that Iran is currently run by a religious dictatorship. Most Arabs have noted how that worked in Iran, Sudan and Afghanistan and want no part of it. Worse, the Iranian religious leadership believes that they would do a better job running the Hejaz (the region of Saudi Arabia containing Mecca and Medina and the most holy places in Islam). For centuries, the Turks kept the Iranians out of the Hejaz. But who would keep nuclear armed Iranians out? Perhaps worst of all, what if Iran tried attacking Israel with nukes, and both nations went at it with nuclear weapons. Iran has loudly proclaimed its aim of destroying Israel, but Israel has nuclear weapons, and no desire to be destroyed. The Arabs would be caught in the middle of all this.

The Sunni Arab world always saw Hizbollah as an Iranian branch office on the Mediterranean. Hizbollah was also seen as one of the reasons the Lebanese civil war, that began in 1975, went on for so long (until 1990, when everyone called it quits, mainly because of sheer exhaustion). Sunni Arabs also take a dim view of how the Shia Alawite sect has controlled Syria (a majority Sunni country) for two generations. The Syrian Alawites hang on via subsidies from Iran. Sunni Arabs have always despised Shia, and would like to see the Lebanese and Syrian Shia put in their place (subordinate, very subordinate). Having Israel do a lot of the heavy lifting is seen as an added bonus.

Read the whole thing for important details and come back to this page every day for a running update of the war.

The only people who think that this war was started by Israel are the liberals and leftists™ who believe that the existance of Israel is the problem, brought on by the NeoconChimpyMcHitlerHaliburtonites in the White House.

Israel must destroy Hizbollah to protect herself. She has the right to defend herself, to the disappointment of liberals and leftists™ everywhere.

Chutzpah from North Korea

North Korea, through Senior Cabinet Counselor Kwon Ho-ung, told a South Korean delegation that the Songun (military-first) policy of the North actually protects the South as well. All of those nuclear weapons are a big benefit to South Korea as well. Now, all South Korea has to do to show proper appreciation for this blackmail protection is disarm, kick out the Americans, drop the National Security Law, and feed them. The editors at the Chosun Ilbo have a few things to say about that.

WOW! What a good deal for the South Koreans. And to think that they have been worrying about the North unnecessarily for all of these years!

Paying North Korea to Laugh at Us

North Korean Senior Cabinet Counselor Kwon Ho-ung on Wednesday told a stunned South Korean delegation at ministerial talks in Busan that his country's Songun or military-first policy "“helps the security of South Korea too, and a vast majority of South Korean citizens have benefited from it."” North Korea's missile launches and nuclear weapons program are apparently a boon to us. The least we can do in return, Kwon indicated, is let our delegations visit "“sacred places"” in the North like Kim Il-sung'’s embalmed cadaver, suspend Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, and abolish the National Security Law. Oh, and deliver the 500,000 tons of rice and light industry raw materials we promised.

Amazingly, the South Korean government actually listens to this nonsense.

But it is equally absurd that our government continues to listen to this rubbish. The foreign and defense ministers originally wanted the talks cancelled, saying it is time for a firm response, but the president backed the unification minister's call to go ahead, saying it makes no sense to demand a solution through dialogue while canceling dialogue. Didn'’t the government anticipate what the North would do at the talks? If it didn't, it is incompetent; if it did but agreed to hold the talks regardless, it has betrayed the people.

The current Liberal government in the South will be replaced soon.

Rogue Activist Judges Get Spanked

Finally some members of the black-robed oligarchy recognize the people. Kevin McCullough at Townhall.com nails it.

High courts rebuke activist judges

Two rogue activist judges on lower courts in the states of New York and Georgia got the surprise slapped out of them this week.

It's about time!

Judge Doris Ling-Cohen of New York and Constance Russell of Georgia were sent stinging rebukes by their state's highest courts, and in cases that will be watched by other high courts in New Jersey, California and perhaps most importantly Washington. These women were given very clear lessons in judicial clarity and "We the People" rejoiced!

Judge Ling-Cohen knew when she issued the decision to allow marriage to be redefined in New York City that she had stirred up a hornet's nest. The very same afternoon my radio show organized communications with some of the 8000 church leaders in the New York metro to begin aggressive opposition to her unilateral mandate that defied the state's constitution. Mayor Michael Bloomberg also felt the sting; thousands of phone calls pouring into his office finally forced him to begrudgingly acknowledge that it was the city's responsibility to attempt to have the decision overturned. He also then promptly went to several homosexual advocacy groups and made it clear that he preferred the ideas that Judge Ling-Cohen had put forward.

In addition, at the beginning of PRIDE month, the Mayor went on-air for his weekly radio address and promised quick compliance if the state high court returned a verdict that defended the radical activists seeking changes in the state law. He promised that the city would "immediately begin performing so called 'gay' marriages." He also then added that should the decision go against the activists and for the families of New York, he would begin working to craft legislation in the state assembly to get voters to approve the redefining of marriage. (Good luck with that, Mayor.) I played the arrogant comments over and over the following Monday on my radio show and again thousands of calls poured into the Mayor's office.

The Court of Appeals, the highest court in the Empire State, answered all the involved parties with a 4-2 spanking of the activists and made perfectly clear that only the people of New York have the ability to redefine the institution of marriage, clarifying the division that exists between the judiciary and the legislature. It is notable that this case mirrored nearly to perfection its predecessor in the Massachusetts courts that eventually legalized a redefinition of marriage.

Georgia Supreme Court Justice Constance Russell arrogantly believes her fellow Georgians to be idiots;

Less than two hours later, the Georgia Supreme Court sent a much more recent decision by lower court Justice Constance Russell packing as well. In Russell's flimsy decision to overturn the will of seventy-six percent of the electorate in the state of Georgia, she attempted to assert that no single piece of legislation could address both the idea of "marriage" and "civil unions that bear an uncanny resemblance to marriage" in the same bill. She found that perhaps Georgia voters had been confused about what nearly 8 out of 10 of them had voted to approve.

Nice try—but no dice.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously to overturn Russell and found that, in fact, Georgians were very well-informed about what they had decided to vote for. (You know that old fashioned idea of one man and one woman before God for eternity silliness ...)

Of course, both decisions are hated by liberals and therefore received spotty coverage in the media, but make no mistake, these decisions portend large in the upcoming decisions in New Jersey (which can't even seem to stay open), California (which seldom ever makes sense), and Washington. The Washington case being the biggest one of all.

Yep, she thought that Georgians would be confused about the complexity of a man and a woman (one from each gender) being married.

Is it possible that the Oligarchy is starting to get the message that we do not want them to make law? I think that seeing strict constructionist judges like Justice Roberts and Justice Alito get to the Supreme Court may have woken them up.

Islamic Word of the Day - JIZYA

The Islamic word of the day is - Jizya.

Jizya is the tax that is levied against all non-Muslims living in an Islamic country. From Wikipedia, Jizya. Of course this is the politically correct definition.

Also, The Jizya Tax;

This illustrates that essentially, in an Islamic State, the non-Muslims are in a worse situation than prisoners out on parole, since they are still being punished -– they are not considered 'good, law-abiding citizens' however exemplary their conduct, but rather criminals given day-leave. Their crime is their faith. Moreover, their crime is capital in nature -– they deserve death. This demonstrates the unique character of the Jizyah tax - unlike Western taxes, payment does not grant equality and liberty to the payee, but rather merely permission for another tax period to live; failure to pay it results in death. Again, it is rather analogous to a convict on parole regularly visiting the police station or parole officer to register. This is different from the case of someone in the West who refuses to pay his tax for whatever reason; he is punished, though it must be stated not by execution, for breaking the law. The reverse is true with the Jizyah - the tax itself is punishment, and the payee lives in the permanent condition of being punished for his faith until he converts. Essentially, non-Muslims live under a permanent death-threat. [Read the original for footnoting - ed.]

Also, Jizya;

Fight those who believe not in Allah and the Last Day and do not forbid what Allah and his messenger have forbidden - such men as practice not the religion of truth, being of those who have been given the book - until they pay the tribute out of hand and have been humbled (humiliated). Surah al-Baqara 9:29

The idea that jizya is fair is often heard from Muslims. Some will even tell you that jizya is sometimes less than zakat, the alms tax that Muslims pay. This is a lie.

IslamOnline: jizya is "fair"

I have often encountered, in person and on radio shows, Muslims who claim that the jizya, the special tax required of non-Muslim dhimmis under Islamic law, was actually less than zakat, the Muslim obligation of charitable giving. This is patently absurd on the face of it, of course, since innumerable respected historians (including A.S. Tritton, Maxime Rodinson, and Bat Ye'or) have noted that it was money from the dhimmis, not from Muslims, that financed the early Islamic empires; indeed, Muslims paid nothing at all into the state treasury in the days when there were large populations (i.e., in Egypt and Syria) of conquered dhimmi Christians. Rodinson even points out in his biography of Muhammad that at certain times conversions to Islam were forbidden, as they were destroying the tax base! If the jizya had really been less than zakat, human nature being what it is, we would have seen large-scale conversions of Muslims to Christianity in the great Islamic empires -- but of course we don't, because who would want to exchange the position of the dominator for that of the dominated? [read the whole thing - ed.]

So there you have it. Jizya. Just another example of Islam's tolerance and fairness.

China Deceives U.S. on North Korea

The Washington Times reports on China failures;

Pentagon officials tell us China's government failed utterly to come through on private pledges to the Bush administration to halt North Korea's missile tests.

Worse, some officials say, it is likely Beijing deceived the United States about its efforts to dissuade North Korea from the apparent tests and that China may have tacitly backed the seven missile launches earlier this week.

"This demonstrates how impotent the Chinese are and the incredibly low level of influence they have over their North Korean brethren," one official told us.

A second official suggested that China deliberately misled the United States into thinking that it had prevailed on North Korea not to conduct the launches, which have triggered a regional crisis, led by concerns that Japan may impose sanctions.

Chinese government officials "at the highest levels" directly asked North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on several occasions during the past two weeks to turn off plans for missile launches, including the long-range Taepodong-2 that ultimately failed after 42 seconds into flight, the first official said.

"The North Koreans basically stuck their finger in the eyes of the Chinese and went ahead with the tests," this official said.

Yet, no one is prepared to do anything about North Korea, except the UN may decide to write a letter. With luck it will be a really nasty one.

Comments to be Moderated

I had been moderating comments for a while, but after a peaceful period, I turned moderation off. Almost as soon as I did that, a troll from Malaysia visited the comments for Malay Muslims Become Christians

I answered him the best that I could considering the time that I have available, but he is, as all trolls are, not an honest interlocutor. I tried banning him, but he has a dynamic IP, so I banned the ranges of both IPs that he has used to date. Rather than ban all of Malaysia, I will moderate comments.

*Sigh*

A "Progressive" Moment

BLACKFIVE has the story.

A New Low

Of course one had to read it there because Deborah Frisch's fellow freedom loving progresives had Jeff Goldstein' blog "protein wisdom" under two DOS attacks. He is back up and running now.

Read it all at Jeff's site, now that he is back online. More from the Tolerant Left

Deborah Frisch has lost her job over this, which is good, and now sees herself as the victim.

Remember, she was teaching your children and being paid with taxpayer money.

Oh, and she loves her country too.

I hope that she enjoys being a new internet verb.

Howard Dean Says Gay Marriage is Essential

Howard Dean, after trying to convince evangelical Christians that he shares their values and with the Demcratic Party trying to convince us that they are a "values oriented" party, says this;

Statement by Howard Dean on the New York Court of Appeals Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage

To: National Desk

Contact: Damien LaVera of the Democratic National Committee, 202-863-8148

WASHINGTON, July 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean today issued the following statement in response to the decision by the New York Court of Appeals that the state constitution does not guarantee the right to marriage for same-sex couples, but that the state legislature could provide this:

"As Democrats, we believe that every American has a right to equal protection under the law and to live in dignity. And we must respect the right of every family to live in dignity with equal rights, responsibilities and protections under the law. Today's decision by the New York Court of Appeals, which relies on outdated and bigoted notions about families, is deeply disappointing, but it does not end the effort to achieve this goal.

"As that essential process moves forward, it is up to the State legislature to act to protect the equal rights of every New Yorker and for the debate on how to ensure those rights to proceed without the rancor and divisiveness that too often surrounds this issue."

----

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, http://www.democratsorg. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

How to Begin Dealing with Kim Jong-Il

J. Peter Pham, Ph.D., Director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University, has the answer for how to deal with Kim Jong-Il and the murderous North Korean regime.

"Don'’t Feed the Animals": How to Begin Dealing with North Korea'’s Kim Jong-Il

Given the inhumane nature of the regime in Pyongyang as well as its dangerously provocative and destabilizing pursuit of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), it is clear that the only sensible long-term policy strategy is one of regime change. Kim Jong-Il'’s ongoing tenure-—or, for that matter, his continued physical existence in this vale of tears where he has been the cause of a disproportionate number of tears-is in the interest of neither the international community nor the United States, to say nothing of the long-suffering North Korean people. This does not mean, however, that we should be preparing a military campaign, even if no options should be ruled out a priori. Rather, what should be done immediately is that the United States and its allies should stop any policies that help strengthen a rogue regime that we need to ease off the world stage sooner or later. In substitution, we need to adopt the same policies that the Central Park Zoo and every other zoological institution has in place to cope with the risks associated with having wild animals in close proximity to urban humans, most of whom have long ago shed the hunter instincts of their distant ancestors.

Dr. Pham tells us to keep the animals from roaming freely amongst the humans, not to feed the animals, and not to touch the animals. [Note to liberals, the reference to "animals" is only part of the metaphor being used. He is not calling Koreans animals. - ed.]

Dr. Pham pulls no punches. This piece is a good read.

Undoubtedly, the Dear Leader will bitterly resent a strategy that prevents him from trading abroad in the only product that his country produces that anyone wants (weapons of mass destruction) and thus receiving the means to purchase at home the loyalty of the party and military officers on whom his regime depends (food and other basic supplies) [while those not in the Party or the Military are denied food, the distribution of which is very closely controlled - ed.], while simultaneously denying him the international attention and stature that he believes himself entitled to and which he exploits for regime legitimization. So be it. The international community can ill-afford to continue indulging a tyrant in possession of nuclear weapons capable of striking South Korea and Japan and clearly pursuing the capacity to strike the west coast of the United States. Anyway, I recall no one at the zoo objecting that the poisonous snakes were kept behind glass-or caring what the snake thought of its surroundings.

Read it all.

A Wonderful Story

Saint Panteleimon the All-Merciful

From Ted Harvey, not Paul Harvey.

Effort to honor Planned Parenthood defeated.

After our meal, the executive director of the organization introduced the keynote speaker. I looked up and saw walking to the stage a handicapped young lady being assisted to the microphone by a young man holding a guitar.

Her name was Gianna Jessen.

Gianna said “Hello,” welcomed everyone, and then sang three of the most beautiful Christian songs that I have ever heard.

She then began to give her testimony. When her biological mother was 17 years old and 7 ½ months pregnant she went to a Planned Parenthood clinic to have an abortion. As God would have it, the abortion failed and a beautiful two-pound baby girl was brought into the world. Unfortunately, she was born with cerebral palsy and the doctors thought that she would never survive. The doctors were wrong.

Imagine the timing! A survivor of a Planned Parenthood abortion arrived in town just days before the Colorado House of Representatives was to celebrate Planned Parenthood’s “wonderful” work.

Read the whole thing and see how the fireworks flew!

The Democrats were not pleased. From the Denver Post,

Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, said he told the woman's story on the same day the House planned to consider a resolution to recognize the 90th anniversary of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains because, "I just wanted to put a face to this celebration."

But Kate Horle, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said "There's no statistical evidence that cerebral palsy has been caused by failed abortions."

Read both articles and note the difference in tone, the bitterness and pettiness of the pro-abortionists.

Kudos to Mr. Harvey.

UPDATE: James M. Kushiner over at Mere Comments has this story. Noting that...

Harvey's move drew a sharp rebuke from Democratic House Majority Leader Alice Madden.

"I think it was amazingly rude to use a human being as an example of his personal politics," Madden said.

...a Touchstone reader points out that liberal and Leftist™ groups do this with every issue that they push. They find a person with whom we can sympathize. The gay couple who cannot get State benefits, the poor woman who must abort (kill) her child because she cannot afford to raise it, the criminal who has "truly reformed". Always for issues of dubious moral value. When a Christian attempts to "put a face" on the tragedy of abortion by presenting a survivor who has lived a terribly difficult life the left™ reacts with ... outrage.

Pets in Uniform

I hope that y'all enjoyed the work out video. Now that I am back at the computer, I thought I'd share this with you.

Pets in Uniform

And now back to our regular programming

A Short Break

I must apologize to both of my beloved readers. I will be taking a few days off from blogging as other events are demanding a great deal of my time. Having just returned from a vacation, I am now planning a large remodel of my house, and later today will be going into surgery to remove a (small and non-dangerous) tumor from my head. Not wanting to blog under the influence of anesthesia, I will give it a couple of days to wear off.

In the meanwhile, visit the places I have linked in my sidebar. Also, here are a few of my favorite blogs. These should give you plenty to read and think about.

Little Green Footballs by my friend Charles Johnson

discarded lies by my friends evariste and zorkmidden

Power Line

Instapundit

The fabulous Michelle Malkin

Read and enjoy. And, since health is an issue of mine, I want to offer this workout video for you to exercise with;

Weird Workout Video

The ACLU and Free Speech

We are often told that it is a "fact" that our free speech rights, both on the right and on the left are protected by the ACLU. I hold this notion to be false, but have never really addressed it on this blog.

The great John Leo, four weeks ago, wrote a piece on this very matter.

ACLU's free-speech defense depends on who's speaking

Many people believe that the American Civil Liberties Union no longer cares much about free-speech cases. Now, the organization is thinking of curbing the speech of its own officers. It has drawn up standards, not yet promulgated, that would discourage public dissent on ACLU policies and forbid open criticism of anyone on the board or the staff. Nat Hentoff, a former board member who writes frequently about the ACLU, called it a "gag order."

The organization said it feared that internal criticism might harm its fund-raising and public support. Yes, dissent can affect a group's reputation, but not as much as the squelching of dissent by alleged advocates of free speech.

One trigger for the no-criticism standards was the loud, open dissent by board member Wendy Kaminer on the ACLU's backing of a bill calling for federal regulation of ads placed by anti-abortion counseling centers. The bill, introduced in Congress by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D.-N.Y., would instruct the Federal Trade Commission to ban ads, under headings like "abortion" and "clinics," by centers that oppose abortion and try to convince women to keep their child. Kaminer, a Boston attorney who is "very strongly pro-choice," said, "I don't believe the pro-choice movement has the copyright on the term 'abortion services.' That seems to me a very clear example of government being the language police."

...

Meyers leveled many criticisms at Romero, among them: that he is intolerant of dissent, withholds financial information from the board, and cuts funding of ACLU affiliates if they are critical of him. He also says Romero instructed Nadine Strossen, president of the ACLU, to create a policy restricting board members' rights to speak directly to staff. Meyers said that policy was twice changed. Now questions by board members have to be voted on and agreed to by a majority of the executive committee before Romero will agree to answer.

Meyers thinks the ACLU's backing of the Maloney bill is an indication that the organization has strayed from its "traditional free-speech roots" and turned to "identity politics." It's hard to imagine the ACLU of 10 or 20 years ago asking government to monitor advertising.

But the ACLU now has issue-oriented lobbies inside it. They are called "projects" and include the "Reproductive Freedom Project," the "Women's Rights Project" and the "Lesbian and Gay Rights Project." The influence of the projects, and the money they bring in, often tend to sway the ACLU away from its once primary concern about free speech.

Read it all, there is much more.

The ACLU long ago gave up its interest in protecting free speech unless that speech supports some flavor of identity politics. And, if you are engaging in speech that goes against the causes of pro-abortion, pro-gay, pro-whatever, anti-Americanism, then you can expect no support from the ACLU. In fact, you may see them move against you. [read at least the first few pages of this, you will be astounded - ed.]

A Nice Vacation Stop

I have been on vacation in Richmond, Virginia for the past week. We are having a wonerful time, of course. Yesterday I went to Fort Lee to visit and shop in the PX.

Since I retired from the Navy, I have not spent much time on military bases other than Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. I must say that being at Fort Lee with U.S. Army soldiers was a very comfortable feeling. These guys and gals are the salt of the earth.

God bless them.

Taep'o-dong Is Not For Satellites

The Leftist™™ site Think Progress posted a piece that supports North Korea in her efforts to launch a missile, and criticizes the U.S. for activating the missile defense shield. Administration Responds to North Korea Missile Stunt With Missile Defense Stunt. Included in this is the following;

Fortunately, the missile the North Koreans may test does not work either. The last time they fired a long-range missile was in 1998, it went about 1300 killometers (sic) and failed to put its tiny payload into orbit.

This is clear proof that the Lefties™™ do not know what they are talking about. Neither the Taep'-dong 1 nor any other North Korean missile was intended to place a payload in orbit. The North Koreans know what is necessary for that. These are built to be weapons. One does not orbit a weapon. One drops them on targets.

For more about the Taep'o-dong missiles, The Taep'o-dong Missile Series. Read both links. There is a lot of good information there.

So, where did this notion that this is all related to satellite launches come from? It came from the liberal government of South Korea, which routinely covers for North Korean actions as part of her "Sunshine Policy". This is why the liberals lost in such a big way in the recent elections, and now the Sunshine Policy will soon be history. The people of South Korea have gotten tired of kidding themselves about the North.

So, as part of the Sunshine Policy, the South Korean government covers for the North by announcing that these are satellite launches. Nothing to worry about. This is willfullyly blind position. The North Koreans know perfectly well what is required to place a payload into orbit, and did not design these missiles to do that. North Korea is all about weapons and weapon sales (in addition to counterfeiting American $100 bills and manufacturing illegal methamphetamines and heroin) to make money for Kim Jong-Il and friends.

Of course liberals tell us that it is wrong to call North Korea a criminal government, reserving that designation only for the United States.

The people of South Korea are getting sick of their government and it is beginning to show up even in liberal news outlets. An editorial in the Digital Chosunilbo, I Say Satellite, You Say Missile

The government has reportedly concluded that what North Korea is preparing to test-launch is likely a satellite rather than a ballistic missile. The North Korean regime has starved millions of citizens to death or driven them into modern-day slavery and prostitution in China, but, our government says, it now merely wants to launch a satellite to compete in the noble field of science and technology.

We have no way of knowing exactly on what grounds the government makes a judgment that differs so markedly from that of the U.S. and Japan. Everyone knows that more than 90 percent of our information about the North relies on U.S. intelligence satellites. Since when has the government developed its own intelligence capability? If it did, it would be a spectacular achievement.

...

This administration also offered an "independent" assessment on the North'’s nuclear arms program, namely that it was "“for defense purposes"” and therefore had some justification. Along the same lines, it has now decided to call a satellite what the entire world says is a missile. A missile, it seems, is a crisis, and a satellite is its resolution. Naive or stupid, who knows? But it'’s a shame the people have no government but this one to rely on.

Not for long.

The Left Makes Up the News

Of course it does not come as a shock to clear thinking people, and it should not come as a shock to Liberals that this should catch up with them. There are many examples of this, the most obvious and well known one being this, Karl Rove Indicted on Charges of Perjury, Lying to Investigators, By Jason Leopold Of course that one has been discussed already by many other bloggers, including Charles over at LGF. The Lefties™ were very disappointed. This is all stuff that you already knew.

The great John Leo wrote and excellent column about the tendency of liberals to write fiction, The Left promotes assertions that turn out to be false

Writing in Rolling Stone, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. assures us that the 2004 presidential election was stolen. This popular conspiracy theory has attracted many Democrats, from the clearly unbalanced to John Kerry himself. (Professor and activist Mark Crispin Miller of NYU says Kerry told him he believes the election was stolen.)

Kennedy thinks it's fishy that the recorded vote didn't match the exit polls in four battleground states where Kerry was supposedly ahead. He also thinks the Republicans discouraged voters by creating long lines at voting stations in heavily Democratic areas. But bitter surmise isn't proof. And according to a long and detailed analysis on Salon.com -- no hotbed of Republican thought -- the evidence Kennedy cites isn't new, and his argument is filled with distortions and the deliberate omission of key data.

Why would Kennedy damage his credibility this way? This may not be breaking news, but if an assertion reflects a widely shared emotion, it can make great headway in this culture without any need to prove its truth. We have been through this many times. The 2000 election was allegedly stolen, though no credible investigation backed up the claim, not even the one by the Civil Rights Commission, which was then firmly in Democratic hands.

...

Assertion doesn't always beat facts, but it happens a lot. For example, many of President Bush's detractors are saying that his argument for keeping troops in Iraq -- to achieve a democratic transformation -- is a new rationale meant to distract from the missing WMDs. The New York Times made that charge in an editorial on April 27. But it isn't true. Bush listed democratic transformation in Iraq as one of his aims before the war, as the Times acknowledged in an editorial on Feb. 27, 2003. Distilling the president's various arguments on Iraq down to the one on which a lot of people think they were snookered -- the WMDs -- is a distortion, but it accurately expresses a popular feeling, so who cares if it isn't so? Not the Times, apparently.

Read it all.

One area that Mr. Leo did not cover in this piece, but has discussed before is another technique that the liberal press has for slanting and distorting the news - story selection. There are many stories that simply do not get reported because they do not fit the political agenda of most of the liberal press. I will cover that in a later post. And, think about how polling data is published. For instance, the majority of Iraqis want the U.S. out of their country. No doubt that that is true. You are not told that they want us out after they are strong enough to govern without us. THAT is a big secret. Also, most Americans want us out of Iraq. Of course they do, I do to, after Iraq is secure. We don't want to stay any longer than necessary, but we need to finish what we are doing. You won't hear that angle from the press either.

Now, how about that Rove indictment?

The Taep'o-dong Missile Series

The Taep'o-dong 2 Missile Series

This is the class of missile that North Korea, in her game of brinksmanship, is unwisely preparing for launch. For details see;

Taep'o-dong 2 (TD-2) from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).

and

Taep'o-dong 2 (TD-2) from GlobalSecurity.org

ACLU Supports Christian Song?

Yes, strangely enough. Yet, credit where credit is due. This news is a bit old, but I have been traveling and haven't had a chance to blog on it yet.

ACLU backs student's right to sing Christian song

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a legal brief yesterday supporting a Frenchtown elementary school student's right to express her religion by singing a pop Christian song at a school talent show.

Maryann and Robert Turton sued the district last year after the school struck the act from its performance list. School officials said the Turtons' daughter, Olivia, then in second grade, could not sing the song "Awesome God" at the evening talent show because it was too religious for a school setting.

The School's idiotic position is;

School officials banned Olivia from singing the song, arguing its content was unsuitable for the school-run talent show held on a Friday night in May 2005. Concerned about crossing the line separating church from state, they said the performance might lead the audience to believe the school endorsed Olivia's religion.

...

In court documents filed last week, the school board said the song was not appropriate for several reasons, including "violent imagery," and cited lyrics that read, "There is thunder in his footsteps and lightning in his fists" and "It wasn't for no reason that He shed his blood."

In a reversal of the usual, the ACLU takes the reasonable position;

The ACLU argued in its motion filed yesterday that no reasonable person could conclude the school endorsed religion simply by allowing Olivia to sing her song. The ACLU cited other similar cases.

I seriously doubt that the ACLU will ever take the next reasonable step - let Christian students pray as freely as Muslim students are permitted to pray.

Tolerance of the RoP

This is an excellent piece by Ramesh N. Rao on the tolerance for Hindus shown by Islam.

Hinduism in Islamic republics
Commentary: Of Karma and Dharma

FARMVILLE, June 16 (UPI) — Islam, we are told, is a religion of peace but that a few people have hijacked it and given it a bad name. Others say that Islam is the problem, and that fascism and authoritarianism are codified in Islam. I will leave it to the experts to debate the validity of the contending claims. While that debate rages on, I would like to present some disturbing information about the attacks against other religions, religious symbols, and religionists in Islamic Republics, and especially attacks on Hindus and Hinduism.

India was partitioned in 1947 by the British into the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and India, a secular, democratic republic. Pakistan chose Islam as its state religion, and living in the two parts of Pakistan - West and East - was a large minority of Hindus. In West Pakistan (now Pakistan), the Hindu population was estimated to be anywhere between 15 and 24 percent of the population, and in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), Hindus constituted 30 percent of the population.

Sixty years later, the Hindu population in Pakistan has been reduced to about 1.6 percent, and in Bangladesh (a.k.a. East Pakistan, formerly East Bengal) to about 9 percent. "They just migrated to India because they felt more secure in India," or "they migrated because of economic opportunities" are the assertions of those who wish to side-step the hegemonic nature of the monopolistic claims of Islam, or the authoritarian bent of Islamic regimes.

Read the whole thing for good information on the benevolence shown to the Hindus by pratitioners of the Religion of Peace™. Also discussed is the approach taken by "progressives" in multicultural matters and how helpful that has been.

They say, "Also needed are multicultural policies that recognize differences, champion diversity and promote cultural freedoms, so that all people can choose to speak their language, practice their religion, and participate in shaping their culture — so that all people can choose to be who they are."

Interesting as it may sound, does it mean that a Muslim living in the U.S. is allowed to divorce through "talaq" or marry four wives, or that Muslims can demand that Arabic be the language of instruction in public schools where there are large groups of Muslim students, or that Hispanics can demand Spanish, and Indian-Americans can demand Hindu and the seventeen other official languages of India for Indian students?

In India, the demand to have a common civil code governing practices like marriage, etc., has been labeled as an attack against Muslims made by "Hindu nationalists," ignoring the fact that such a demand is completely logical, fair, and rational. This attitude of the liberal/progressive groups is what enables the extremists from the other end of the political spectrum then to demand an America for "whites only," or the Christian fundamentalists to make the world "Christian."

Amartya Sen and the U.N. committee are mum, however, in their report about diversity and democracy in Islamic republics. It is this strange blindness and inexplicable tied tongues that make progressives the object of racist and extremist derision if not hatred. When we recognize the strange blinders that progressives wear evaluating the "functioning" of Islamic regimes or the influence of Islam on peoples of the world we recognize ideology overwhelming sanity and logic.

Read the whole thing, there is much, much more.