Islamic Tolerance - Eritrea

ERITREA: RELIGIOUS PRISONER COUNT TOPS 1,900

September 8 (Compass Direct News) – Newly compiled statistics smuggled out of Eritrea indicate that at least 1,918 Eritrean citizens are imprisoned and being subjected to torture and forced labor because of their religious beliefs.

According to a detailed list obtained by Compass last month, 95 percent of these known religious prisoners of conscience are Christians.

A total of 35 pastors, priests and church elders are confirmed under arrest in Asmara’s Wongel Mermera investigation center. An additional 1,758 Christians of both evangelical Protestant and Orthodox confessions are jailed in 14 other cities and towns.

According to reports compiled by Compass, 163 of these Christian prisoners have been put under arrest since the beginning of 2006. As many as a fourth of all those jailed are believed to have been incarcerated for two years or more.

Additionally, 69 Muslims are being held in Wongel Mermera for opposing the government-appointed mufti. They include Taha Mohammed Noor, a founding member of the Eritrean Liberation Front in 1961 and a member of the Islamic Awqaf (religious foundation).

Arrested in Asmara on November 25, 2005, Noor reportedly has refused under torture to accept government interference with the religious affairs of Eritrean Muslims, who constitute half of the population.

And in accordance with Islamic law, none of those who have been arrested and are being held in jail have received a trial or any kind of hearing. Some of these people have been held for over four years without a trial.

None of those imprisoned for their religious beliefs in the government crackdown begun more than four years ago have been brought before a court of law to be charged or tried.

According to the latest breakdown, 475 Christians are jailed at Wi’a, 250 at Sawa (including 50 students arrested from Mai Nefhee Academy last May), 192 at Dongoloi Ai Ai, 130 at Mai-Serwa, 78 at Adi-Abyto, 55 in Sembel Prison, 155 in various Asmara police stations, 37 in the Keren police station, 22 in the Mendefera police station, 115 at Assab, 97 at Gelalo, 21 in the Dekemhare police station, 56 in the Adi-Kualaa police station, and 75 in the Massawa police station.

During August still another 29 Protestant Christians were arrested in the cities of Asmara, Keren and Massawa, according to the London-based Release Eritrea organization.

Ten evangelicals attending a home prayer meeting in Asmara’s Edaga Arbi district were arrested on August 17, Release Eritrea reported on August 25. In similar raids in the cities of Keren and Massawa earlier in the month, Eritrean police jailed another 15 and 4 people, respectively.

The only known releases in recent weeks occurred in Wi’a, where a reported handful among the hundreds of Christian soldiers in a military jail were set free after signing statements to recant their evangelical beliefs.

Ahhh, the peace, tolerance, and wisdom of Islam.

Read the whole thing to see what else they are doing.

Hindu Tolerance - India Pt. 2

We have been watchng Islam, but Hinduism is no less evil, just less active now. Watch as more and more of these storie come out.

Still, they are not engaged in the large-scale kind of violent terrorism that is a part of Islam. There are very few groups that do not persecute Christians.

India Hindu Militants Attack Church In Tense State

NEW DELHI, INDIA (BosNewsLife) -- Tensions remained high Wednesday, September 6, in an area of India's Jammu and Kashmir state after dozens of Hindu militants stormed a church and attacked Christians, including women and children, as they were attending a Sunday worship service, local Christians said.

The All India Christian Council (AICC), an influential advocacy group, said the militants also attacked seven Christians who are facing charges that include "forcible conversions."

They were earlier identified as the church's Pastors P.R. Anthony and Reji K. Sunny as well as Bible students Umesh Kumar, Tarsan Chand, Samuel Masih, Kamal Jeet and Baldev Raj, who are due to appear in court on September 16. Charges include forcible conversion of a youth belonging to the Sikh religion.

BAJRANG DAL

"Sushil Sooden, a leader of [the Hindu militant group] Bajrang Dal, brought along 40 Hindu activists" to beat up the Christians, Sunday morning, September 3 in church in the Shivagiri area of the state's Kathua district. Bajran Dal is following the ideology of Hindutva, or «Hinduness", a word used to describe movements advocating Hindu nationalism

"Children, women and their husbands numbering 20 were [also] brutally attacked during the prayer meeting. The incident took place in full daylight as well as in the presence of local media," said the group, which represents this and other churches across India.

Pastor Anthony was reportedly pulled out and beaten and nearly killed by several militants, Christians said.

Click on the picture for a preview of a future post about an attack on a Roman Catholic bishop..

What Modern President am I Most Like?

I just took one of those web quizzes. Here is the result;

You Are Most Like George W. Bush

So what if you're not exactly popular? You still rule the free world. And while you may be quite conservative now, you knew how to party back in the day!

What Modern US President Are You Most Like?

Actually, I am a little surprised, but thank God it didn't say that I am most like President Carter or Clinton. I was hoping for President Reagan.

The last sentence is exactly true.

Kiev Schools to Teach Christianity

It is good to see that there is at least one Christian country that is willing to teach its Christian culture to its children. With every other country in the world giving up their moral senses and/or bowing to Islam, it is important to transmit our own culture to our children, and Kiev is going to do it.

Of course there are critics.

Kiev Schools Look to Reinforce Ukraine's Christian Heritage

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Some public schools in the Ukrainian capital will begin teaching Christian ethics this year in an experimental program aimed at reinforcing the country's thousand-year Christian heritage, Kiev city officials said Thursday.

The course, titled "Christian Ethics in Ukrainian Culture: The Path of Good," raised concern among Kiev's minority Jewish population, and among state education officials, who called its introduction premature.

The class for 6-year-olds will be launched in 100 of Kiev's 527 schools, reaching about 6,000 pupils. Any parent can choose to have a child opt out of the lessons. Next year, city officials aim to have the lessons reach all of the capital's 21,100 first-grade students.

Ukraine, which is predominantly Orthodox Christian, has flirted before with the idea of introducing a religion-based ethics class, but earlier plans ran into opposition from the country's Jews and Muslims. This latest project also sparked some concerns, but the Kiev city administration - headed by a mayor who once sent a Bible to every Ukrainian lawmaker - has vowed to go ahead. "There is a path of good and a path of evil, and wherever God acts, the devil also appears," Deputy Mayor Vitaliy Zhuravsky said. "Whoever opposes introducing Christian ethics - for me, that's devilry."

I agree.

They are not forcing anyone to become Christian, they are teaching ethics. And remember, their Constitution is not the same as ours. They can, and should, do this. I wish we could.

Kim Jong-Il Assists U.S. - Japan Military Realignment

Yep, you read the headline correctly. The Dear Murderer Freak-boy's erratic, insane, belligerent, murderous national and foreign policies have cleared away the Liberal™ and Leftist™ political debris in Japan such that major changes in the U.S. - Japan military relationship can occur.

Further, the clearing away of that political debris will also enable the modification or rewriting of the Japanese Constitution in such a way as to permit the creation of a real, offensive-capable military in Japan. This would have been unthinkable a mere ten years ago.

These stories together say a lot.

From the Taipei Times, Kim Jong-il helps accelerate US, Japanese plan to realign forces

The Dear Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, has inadvertently added urgency to US plans to realign its military forces in Japan and to the Japanese intent to make their forces more relevant, as the US and Japan seek to increase their capabilities by cooperating more closely.

In the weeks following the North Korean launch of seven missiles into the sea between Korea and Japan on July 4, Lieutenant General Bruce Wright, the US Air Force officer who commands US forces in Japan, said there had been "a monumental change" in Japanese attitudes toward transitions already underway.

Japanese officers, queried separately, agreed.

Before, negotiations had been moving along but had run into obstacles due largely to political pressures within Japan. Opposition focused on local issues such as noise from aircraft, crowding as residential areas grew up around once-remote US bases and cultural misunderstandings between Japanese and Americans in Japan.

Those issues have not been entirely swept away but, as a staff officer at a US air base west of Tokyo said, "Japan is on the cusp of major changes in security policy."

The Japanese, for instance, have asked the US to accelerate delivery of Patriot anti-missile batteries to Japan.

...

The weight of Japan's small but modern armed force is gradually being shifted from Hokkaido, the northern island, where its Northern Army's mission was to repel a possible Russian invasion. Today, Japan sees a near-term threat from North Korea and a slowly developing threat from China. Kyushu is closer to North Korea and China than Hokkaido.

A Japanese officer in the Western Army said: "We are the ones out front now."

And from the Manichi Daily News, Nationalist Abe rides wave of popularity as front-runner to lead Japanese government

Abe is far and away the top candidate to take over on Sept. 20 as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, a position that guarantees his election by the LDP-controlled parliament to succeed Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He is slated to formally declare his candidacy Friday.

His handling of the North Korean kidnapping issue illustrates the traits he will likely bring to the job: a hard-line against North Korea, a defiant and muscular nationalism, and a keen ability to please the crowd.

...

Abe is unlikely to initiate any breaks in policy with Koizumi. Analysts expect continued market reform and ever-tighter diplomatic and military cooperation with top ally the United States. The security treaty with the U.S. was signed when his grandfather was prime minister.

Recently Abe has floated ideas for creating Japanese versions of the U.S. National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency.

In a book, "Toward a Beautiful Country," and in speeches he's given lately, Abe has signaled what is likely to be a centerpiece of his initial year in office: revision of Japan's U.S.-drafted pacifist constitution, which bars the military from overseas military action.

"It's been 61 years since the end of World War II and we need to start working toward creating a Japan that's suitable for the 21st century," he said during an August speech.

Lastly, from the International Herald Tribune, Report: Japan will treat North Korea nuclear test as national emergency

TOKYO Japan will declare a national emergency if North Korea conducts a nuclear test, a response usually reserved for major earthquakes and other national calamities, a news report said Saturday.

Watch as Japan decides to build a real armed force with offensive capabilities.

It is about time.

Video - Children of North Korea

Orphan children with no money must pull individual grains of rice out of the mud right in front of stalls selling food.

Liberals and the Left™ make a lot of noise about how socialist and communist countries feed their poor. This video makes it very clear that this is just a lie.

From Discovery/Times,
North Korea - Children of the Secret State

Watch how a country descends into cannibalism.

Watch how valuable farmland in a starving country is plowed under and planted with opium.

Watch how food aid, the most per capita of any country on earth, is diverted from those who need it.

Watch how aid agencies are forbidden to feed starving children standing right in front of them so that the food aid can be given to the Army.

Watch witnesses, including former guards, describe the grossest treatment and murder of people imprisoned for exactly nothing.

Watch how the world's most monstrous government starves its children.

The end of Kim Jong-Il and his monstrous cronies cannot come to soon.

Watch the whole thing, it is only 45 minutes long and it is heartbreaking.

A big "thank you" to Andrew, who linked this video in a comment on the Who is Ahn Chol? post.

Islamic Tolerance - Malaysia

I have written about the large number of converts to Christianity from Islamic slavery in Malaysia.

Lina Joy converted to Christianity 16 years ago. Now the Shari'a courts in Malaysia want to put her and her attorneys to death.

Malaysian Convert Receives Death Threats, Goes into Hiding

DUBLIN, August 25 (Compass Direct News) -- Lina Joy, a Malaysian convert to Christianity, has gone into hiding after extremists issued death threats against her and the lawyers supporting her cause.

Escalating furor over the latest stage in Joy's lengthy struggle to change her religious status has led Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to order a halt to all public debate on the issue. Despite converting to Christianity 16 years ago, in 1990, Joy is still legally identified as a Muslim.

Joy, previously known as Azlina binti Jailani, requested a name change from the National Registration Department (NRD) in 1997. The NRD granted the name change in October 1999 but retained the Muslim status on her new identity card.

Malaysian law requires all Muslims to be declared as such on their identity cards; the religion of non-Muslims, however, is not specified.

When challenged, the NRD said it could not change Joy's religious status without a declaration from the Islamic law (sharia) court that she had become an "apostate."

Conversion out of Islam ("apostasy") is either forbidden or regarded as a criminal offense under most state Islamic laws. In Malaysia, "apostates" may be fined, detained and imprisoned.

For this reason, many Christian converts in Malaysia choose to remain secret converts.

Malaysia has a secular contitution, but the heavy hand of Islamic totalitarianism will change that.

Secular Constitution

The case is widely regarded as a watershed for religious freedom in Malaysia. If the court orders the NRD to drop the word "Islam" from Joy's identity card, the move would affirm the supremacy of the secular constitution.

Orthodox Muslims favor a status quo decision, however, affirming the supremacy of Islam.

"If they rule against Lina Joy, the whole question of religious liberty - the freedom of conscience, choice, expression and thought of an individual - will be greatly affected," the Rev. Wong Kim Kong, secretary general of the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship of Malaysia, told reporters.

While some Muslim groups support more freedom for would-be converts, other groups are highly resistant. One group of Malaysian lawyers met on July 13 to establish a new association, Lawyers in Defense of Islam, to fight any loss of jurisdiction for the sharia court.

The Defenders of Islam (Front Pembela Islam, or FPI) is also planning a nationwide campaign to counter the use of civil courts as a "way out of Islam," according to Asia News.

Fearing civil unrest, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on July 25 ordered all public debate on religious issues - including forums organized by the 13-member Article 11 coalition - to cease immediately.

On Monday (August 21), the prime minister also recommended that four states that have not yet adopted laws to prevent the spread of other faiths among Muslims should draft them as soon as possible, the Bernama news agency reported. Those states are the Federal Territories, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak.

Read the whole thing to learn how someone must ask permission of an Islamic Shari'a court to convert away from Islam, and then face death for doing so.

It is hard to imagine a more corrupt country than an Islamic country like Malaysia.

It is hard to imagine a more evil and murderous ideology than Islam. Yet, people still willingly risk death to convert to Christianity.

North Korean Military Crumbling

Surprisingly enough, that is the view of Mr. Donald Rumsfeld (a guy who knows a bit about this). While the DPRK has been building up her missile forces, she has allowed her regular military forces to go without training. As any American military person can tell you, training is key to success (see also Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War - I am reading this now).

ABC News has it. Rumsfeld: S. Korea Need Not Fear North

FORT GREELY, Alaska Aug 28, 2006 (AP) - In unusually blunt terms, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said decades-old U.S. ally South Korea need not fear communist North Korea as an immediate military threat.

At a news conference at this missile defense base south of Fairbanks, Rumsfeld said Sunday that North Korea is a serious threat to spread ballistic missiles and other dangerous technologies around the world. But he made plain that he sees the North's conventional military strength eroding as its economy crumbles.

"I don't see them, frankly, as an immediate military threat to South Korea," he said.

The reason why;

"I think the real threat that North Korea poses in the immediate future is more one of proliferation than a danger to South Korea," he said, adding that the North Koreans for years have sold ballistic missile technologies to Iran and unspecified other countries "mostly terrorist countries."

To illustrate his point about North Korea's waning conventional military strength, Rumsfeld said its air force pilots fly fewer than 50 training hours a year because of a lack of resources. That compares with more than 200 training hours in the air each year by U.S. military pilots.

"That makes a difference," he said, "if you're flying less than 50 compared to a couple of hundred or 300. And that's undoubtedly true of other aspects of their military. So I don't see them, frankly, as an immediate military threat to South Korea. I think South Korea has an awful lot of capability, and it's increasing."

Rumsfeld added that North Korea no longer has a "major power sponsor" like it did during the Korean War, in which hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops came to the North's aid after American troops overtook Seoul, the South Korean capital, and reached the Yalu River on China's border in October 1950.

I would not discount the danger that North Korea poses to us. They are a supplier of missiles to terrorists. Should they develop the ability to produce nuclear weapons n a regular schedule (as I am sure that they will), then there can be little doubt that they would supply those to terrorists as well. The Dear Murderer-Freak Kim Jong-Il will do anything for money.

He is a whore.

Scenes of North Korean Life

Chinese tourists in North Korea have been taking photographs and posting them on the internet. The article linked below references Photofans and North Korea Today. I am not sure if my links are the referenced sites, but I believe that they are.

The Chinese people who travel to North Korea see something that their own government tries to deny.

"Kim Jong Il Retire... South Korea Seize North Korea" say Chinese Internet Users

Recently, Chinese internet users are raising criticism on the North Korean regime.

Inside photos of North Korea have been successively posted on Chinese websites (DailyNK report 23rd, Aug 2006) criticizing the Kim Jong Il regime with remarks 'North Korea must instigate reform' and 'What generation is this that they are still starving?'

On 25th August, the DailyNK searched internet sites 'Photofans' and 'North Korea Today.' These sites exposed inside photos of North Korea and were full of criticism such as "Two Kims should retire from their position and South Korea seize North Korea" "Overthrow the government like Saddam Hussein."

Particularly since the missile launch last July 5th, Chinese Internet users have been showing greater interest. In addition crime amongst defectors around the North Korea-China border and home raids by North Korean commanding officers on Chinese soil have incited aversion towards the North Korean regime amidst Chinese people.

Chinese website 'Photofans' is a site powered by Chinese photo enthusiasts and for a while has been publicizing inside photos of North Korea.

Recently 'Photofans' exposed photos of North Korean soldiers going about their daily lives, taken by sightseers touring on the Yalu River. On this website, hundreds of photos taken by the sightseers and other Chinese tourists visiting North Korea are being posted continuously.

The photos below were posted by a person with an ID 'Fat lamb.' Comments made by internet users give an indication of the response of Chinese internet users towards the North Korean government.

On the website 'North Korea Today' some internet users have made sympathetic remarks such as "When will the North Korean people experience a shining day" and "Two Kims should retire from their position and South Korea seize North Korea" as well as more aggressive remarks such as "Kim Jong Il who is dragging his people into turmoil should undoubtedly retire. He should be overthrown like Saddam Hussein." There was also a comment "Marxist is not at fault. It is all because of Kim Jong Il's distortion."

Go to the article to see scenes of life in North Korea.

Hindu Tolerance - India

Contrary to what Liberals™ would have you believe, Christians are persecuted all over the world by every other belief system including atheism, socialism, liberalism, and all other religious beliefs with the possible exception of Buddhism and Shintoism (and there may be minor instances with those as well).

There is exactly one faith in the world today that is tolerant of other faiths. That is Christianity. Yes, we evangelize and try to convert people to our faith, but we do not murder them or destroy their places of worship. Of course the Left™ will lie and tell you differently.

I have been pointing out persecution by Muslims. Islamic persecution is a surprise to no one. The situation with Hinduism is little better.

From Compass Direct, FOUR CHRISTIANS ATTACKED, ARRESTED AFTER SERVICE, Court grants bail to believers, but police refuse to file complaint against assailants.

August 22 (Compass Direct News) - Hindu extremists on Sunday (August 20) beat four Christians, including a pastor, who were later arrested on charges of "forced conversion" in Madhya Pradesh state.

A group of about 15 extremists punched and hit the Christians with hockey sticks soon after worship ended at about 10:30 a.m. After the initial attack, the extremists dragged the Christians to the Sheopur police station about 500 meters away, beating them en route. The police promptly arrested the Christians, as a complaint against them had already been filed.

Pastor K.K. Jwala of the Sheopur Bible Fellowship (SBF) church and three members, identified only as Anup, Jijo and Raju Mathew, were released from the Sheopur district jail at 8 p.m. on Monday.

The officer in charge of the police station, Hukum Singh Yadav, also allegedly beat up Pastor Jwala at the facility. Yadav was not available for comment.

The four accused will have to appear before the court on August 30.

Note the recurring pattern. The Christians who were attacked are the one arrested. The attackers are not charged. Read the whole thing.

UN to Permit Weapons from Syria for Hezbollah

Kofi Annan has now clearly stated that UN "forces" in Lebanon will not be used to patrol the border with Syria to prevent the shipment of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah terrorists. Nor will they attempt to disarm Hezbollah. Nor will the International "Forces" to be introduced into Lebanon be permitted to disarm Hezbollah.

According to Mr. Annon, the disarming of Hezbollah is to be accomplished by "political agreement among the Lebanese".

Here are the texts of the major resolutions.

Resolution 1553

Resolution 1559

Resolution 1680

Resolution 1701

There is a lot of mushy language in these resolutions, but 1559 "Calls upon all parties concerned to cooperate fully and urgently with the Security Council for the full implementation of this and all relevant resolutions concerning the restoration of the territorial integrity, full sovereignty, and political independence of Lebanon". Mr. Annan's statement is in direct contravention of this statement, which is in fact one of the very few clear statements of who is responsible to effect these Resolutions.

Mr. Annan has very clearly stated that he will have no part of it.

DEBKAfile: Kofi Annan rides roughshod over Israel's security concerns, leaves wide holes in expanded UNIFIL force, (yes, I know that DEBKAfile is controversial, but they are still generally right and this is straight reportage, not forecasting);

UNIFIL-2, which will deploy in two stages starting early September, "will not be used along Lebanon's long and porous border with Syria to stop any shipments of arms reaching Hizballah," the UN secretary admitted Friday night from Brussels.

This confirms DEBKAfile's report Friday that Israel has failed to obtain a pledge to enforce the UN embargo on arms for Hizballah's rearmament from Iran and Syria.

Annan also stated: "Troops are not going in there to disarm - let's be clear." Disarming Hizballah, he said, is a subject for "political agreement among the Lebanese -" (a direct contradiction of UN Security Council resolution 1552) (sic)

Annan also spoke of "international guarantees" to secure Israel against further attacks. In other words, that is not UNIFIL's job.

See also this from the Associated Press;

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM -- The peacekeepers in Lebanon won't be disarming Hezbollah.

That word comes from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who says he wants to be "clear on that." Annan contends that disarming the militant group "cannot be done by force."

The UN chief also says the cease-fire resolution doesn't require the peacekeepers be deployed at the Israeli border unless the Lebanese government asks for that.

So, how credible is this force to be? Back to the DEBKAfile piece;

The UN Secretary General will go ahead with raising more international soldiers from Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh, despite their refusal to maintain diplomatic relations with Jerusalem.

And this;

French defense minister Alliot-Marie (picture) told the Wall Street Journal that Paris had obtained a very important clarification permitting its troops to use rubber bullets against "anyone standing in their way."

And this;

Foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the force would mark out "exclusion zones," in which armed militias would be disarmed, as "the best way to remove Hizballah's weapons."

Neither French minister referred to the non-exclusion zones, from which it may be inferred that there, Hizballah fighters would be allowed to bear arms.

The Italian foreign minister, Massimo D'Alema, who can't wait to plant a European military presence in the Middle East, is even more relaxed about holding Hizballah to UN resolution 1701. After all, he says, Europe does not regard Hizballah as a terrorist organization. He repeated Annan's statement and declared Italy would not engage in disarming Hizballah fighters.

Hizballah spokesmen say that the "exclusion zones" issue is under study.

This is a terrible joke that will have continuing tragic results.

The UN and the International "forces" are there to protect Hezbollah terrorists, if anyone. It will be necessary for Israel to reenter Lebanon because they will be attacked again.

UPDATE: Charles Johnson has the proof. UN Allied with Hezbollah

Europe Beginning to Wake Up?

Is it possible that some segments of the population in Europe are waking up to the danger of the Islamic cancer growing in their countries (and ours)? Charles Johnson has two posts that offer hope. Here are his links;
UK: 53% "Threatened By Islam"
Germany's Belated Awakening

Here are the articles that he lined to;
Many feel threatened by Islam: poll

Most people in the UK feel threatened by Islam, a poll has revealed, after the Government launched a bid to tackle inter-faith tensions.

The YouGov survey for the Daily Telegraph found 53% were concerned about the impact of the religion - not just fundamentalist elements - up 21% from 2001.

There had also been a near doubling of the number agreeing that "a large proportion of British Muslims feel no sense of loyalty to this country and are prepared to condone or even carry out acts of terrorism".

A total of 18% backed the statement - compared with just one in 10 in the wake of the terrorist bombings in London last July.

And there was a seven point slump - to 16% - in those believing "practically all British Muslims are peaceful, law-abiding citizens who deplore terrorist acts as much as anyone else".

Note this bit near the end;

She called for an "honest debate" on how to best to bind communities and conceded multiculturalism may have led to isolated communities.

Her speech drew a cool response from some Muslim groups.

Youth organisation the Ramadhan Foundation criticised ministers for failing to recognise that integration was "a two-way street".

And this from Germany, Germans, Spared Until Now, Awaken to Reality of Terror Threat;

"It's never really bothered me what people next to me in the train are doing," said Juergen Darsch, 36, a graphic artist, at Berlin's Friedrichstrasse rail station. But ever since a Lebanese student was arrested Aug. 19 on suspicion of helping plant bombs on German trains, "you look around more carefully. That's something I really don't want to live with."

Police arrested the student, identified only as 21-year-old Youssef Mohamad E. H., after the discovery of bombs placed inside suitcases on two trains in western Germany that they say would have killed a "large number" of people. A second suspect, Jihad H., also Lebanese, turned himself in to police in Tripoli, Lebanon, yesterday.

Germany, under then-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, refused to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and had been spared the sort of fear engendered by attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London, Madrid, Istanbul and Mumbai. Now the public is confronted with stepped-up security checks at train stations and travel delays as suspicious suitcases are cleared away, with the promise of more measures to come.

While the bombers failed to blow up the trains, they managed to "blow away any lingering illusions that Germany is an island not on terrorists' maps," Margret Johannsen, a senior research fellow at Hamburg University's Institute for Peace and Security Policy, said in a telephone interview.

No Shield

"Non-participation in the Iraq war was never a shield against terror," she said. "Germany is as vulnerable as the next country. We need to wake up and make a political contribution in the war on terror."

The Financial Times Deutschland reported yesterday that the Federal Criminal Office is investigating whether Youssef Mohamad E. H. had contact with a German-Moroccan suspected by the authorities of being an al-Qaeda middleman.

Both Youssef Mohamad E. H. and Jihad H., 20, are alleged to have had contact with Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic group headquartered in Lebanon that calls for the destruction of Israel, the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported Aug. 23.

Sadly, France is still fast asleep as is most of the rest of Europe.

Islamic Tolerance - Pakistan

MUSLIM LAND-GRABBERS ATTACK CHRISTIANS
One believer missing, three severely injured; police file charges against victims.

August 18 (Compass Direct News) – In an attempted land-grab, Muslim attackers have terrorized a predominantly Christian village in Pakistan’s Punjab province over the past two weeks and demolished its church.

Three Christian men were hospitalized with serious hatchet wounds from an initial August 7 attack on Mominpura Thaiki village near Sharaqpur, 20 miles southwest of Lahore. The Muslim aggressors came from a neighboring village.

Another critically injured Christian, Bashir Masih, was abducted and remains missing since a second assault on the village on Saturday (August 12), when he tried to stop armed attackers from stealing his cattle.

And yes, the victims were charged.

When the Christian villagers tried to file an official complaint against the assailants, local Sharaqpur police refused to comply, insulting them and ordering them to leave the police station.

Instead, the police filed an official complaint from Maher on August 8 against 10 of the villagers, accusing the Christians of “opening fire” on him.

Three days later, a fact-finding team from the Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) helped the villagers file an amendment to Maher’s complaint. The August 11 First Information Report (FIR) formally accused Maher and his named accomplices of creating riots, damaging the church and harassing the villagers.

But by 9 the next morning, local police had intervened and the accused Muslims were all granted pre-arrest bail. According to one eyewitness at the court, town nazim (mayor) Mian Jalil was seen paying out the money for the suspects’ bail.

At 10 that evening, a mob of 30 Muslims led by Maher and armed with machine guns and hand grenades descended on Thaiki village. The intruders began to beat all the Christian residents they could find, including women and children, and completed the ruin of the church.

With many of the men away that evening at a prayer service, several of the Christian women took shelter in the houses of their Muslim neighbors, who drew guns to protect them and shot at Maher and his accomplices, finally driving them off.

The suspects were arrested and it looks as if some of this is being sorted out, but;

Under the ongoing investigation led by officer Rana Aslam, four of the accused suspects have been arrested, including Maher and two of his sons. But police have found no trace of Bashir Masih since he was dragged off by his assailants six days ago.

“We don’t know if he is dead or alive, or what,” CLAAS legal advisor Aneeqa Maria told Compass. In his early 30s, Masih lived in the house adjacent to the village church. His wife and children have fled the village to stay with relatives since his disappearance.

Let us pray for Bashir Masih. I hope for the best, but from these savages I expect only the worst.

'Twas the Night Before Miraj

This year the Miraj promises to be a very special one for Muslims worldwide. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian government have a real treat in store. This has not gone unnoticed. The People's Cube, in celebration of Miraj this year, has posted that lovely traditional Miraj poem, 'Twas the Night Before Miraj.

This year, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has promised not only to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth, but also to "Light up the night sky over Jerusalem" during Miraj on August 22. Mike Wallace said in his "60 Minutes" interview that Mahmoud is a very intelligent and nice man, so everything Mahmoud said is true unlike that goofy Santa Claus myth. Once this is done, the 12th Imam, who has been living in seclusion since the 11th Century will return, bringing about the final Apocalypse. Isn't that nice?

Now you can see, children, that while Israel's claim to its territory is based on myth and fairy tales of the Old Testament, Islam's claim to the same territory is based on strict historical facts and scientific analysis.

So, now let me tell you about Miraj. You might think it was stolen from another poem, but this is the real one, the other one was stolen.

Go to the link and enjoy the poem. A taste;

'Twas the night before Miraj, when all through dhimmiland
Not a camel was stirring, nor flea in the sand.
The infidels were hung by the over-pass with care,
In hopes that Twelver soon would be there.

The children were bomb-wired all snug in their beds,
While visions of martyrdom danced in their heads.
And mamma in her burqa, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long summer's nap.

For more on the beautiful Miraj traditions, see;
Iran to Nuke Israel on August 22?

Note to humorless Liberals™; I am employing a literary device know as "sarcasm" here. See my sidebar for a clue as to my real views regarding Israel.

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.

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

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Pizza & Soda for Gush Katif Families

Pizza & Soda for a family
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Your gifts of over $250 are eligible for a US IRS tax deduction.

They also note that;

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If you prefer, you can send hamburgers instead.

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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.