A Solution to Piracy

I have said this before. There is only one solution to piracy and, sadly, the UN as well as our own government are too feckless to do it.

Kill.Them.All

These are not cute people. They murder at will and stand to seriously affect world trade. Report warns Somali piracy threat to world trade

NAIROBI (AFP) — World trade faces major disruption if Somali piracy is unchecked and allowed to be co-opted by extremists and maritime routes could be gradually diverted, a report released on Thursday said.

London-based think tank Chatham House warned in a briefing paper that the international community needed to take swift action as pirates were rapidly improving their equipment and modus operandi.

Around 60 ships have been attacked so far this year alone. The danger has caused insurance premiums to rise tenfold in a year.

"If the cost of extra insurance becomes prohibitive, or the danger simply too great, shipping companies may avoid the Gulf of Aden and take the long route to Europe and North America around the Cape of Good Hope," it said.

"The extra weeks of travel and fuel consumption would add considerably to the cost of transporting goods" at a time when the price of oil is already putting the squeeze on world trade, Chatham House said.

And that support for terrorism;

"The other worst-case scenario is that pirates become agents of international terrorism," the study said, stressing that previous occurrences of seaborne terrorism in the region should act as an alarm bell.

Chatham House also argued that the ransom collected by pirates was likely used to fuel the war in Somalia and was routed to the Shebab, a hardline Islamist militia listed as a terrorist organisation by Washington.

And murder;

Pirates last week attracted the world's attention when they seized a cargo of battle tanks headed for Kenya and Chatham House warned it was only a matter of time before a hostage was executed.

See also these somewhat older stories;

Somali pirates seize Greek ship

Somali Pirates Held Record 374 Hostages in September

And if they pirate a ship carrying biological or chemical weapons (or worse) then you might actually get what is coming to you; Mysterious Cargo Aboard Iranian Ship Seized by Pirates Raises WMD Concerns

As Somali pirates brazenly maintain their standoff with American warships off the coast of Africa, the cargo aboard one Iranian ship they commandeered is raising concerns that it may contain materials that can be used for chemical or biological weapons.

Some local officials suspect that instead of finding riches, the pirates encountered deadly chemical agents aboard the Iranian vessel.

On Aug. 21, the pirates, armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, stole onto the decks of the merchant vessel Iran Deyanat.

They ransacked the ship and searched the containers. But in the days following the hijacking, a number of them fell ill and died, suffering skin burns and hair loss, according to reports.

The pirates were sickened because of their contact with the seized cargo, according to Hassan Osman, the Somali minister of Minerals and Oil, who met with the pirates to facilitate negotiations.

Sounds like radiation sickness to me, and others.

Chemical experts say the reports sound inconsistent with chemical poisoning, but may reflect the effects of exposure to radiation.

"It's baffling," said Jonathan Tucker, a senior fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. "I'm not aware of any chemical agent that produces loss of hair within a few days. That's more suggestive of high levels of radioactive waste."

Not necessarily waste either, I think.

China News Predicts Future

The official news agency of China, Xinhua, published a long and detailed piece about the highly successful launch of the Shenzhou 7 space mission. The article even included conversation between the three astronauts (or whatever the Chinese call them).

The article was published hours before the launch occurred. Now there's a news organization for you.

China space mission article hits Web before launch

BEIJING - A news story describing a successful launch of China's long-awaited space mission and including detailed dialogue between astronauts launched on the Internet Thursday, hours before the rocket had even left the ground.
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The country's official news agency Xinhua posted the article on its Web site Thursday, and remained there for much of the day before it was taken down.

A staffer from the Xinhuanet.com Web site who answered the phone Thursday said the posting of the article was a "technical error" by a technician. The staffer refused to give his name as is common among Chinese officials.

Excerpts of the article are included in the report.

Japan Developing Missile Defense Shield

Path of 1998 North Korean Missile Launch (right over my family's house in Muroran, Hokkaido, Japan)

Japan's Defense Ministry, in cooperation with the United States, is planning a test of a missile defense shield. With North Korea once more behaving in an erratic and dangerous way this is very necessary, especially remembering North Korea's aggressive actions toward Japan.

Japan plans missile test as North Korea fears grow

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is planning a ballistic missile defence test in cooperation with the United States in November, the Defence Ministry said on Monday, as fears rise over North Korea's plans to restore its main atomic complex.

North Korea's firing of a ballistic missile over Japan in 1998 spurred Japan to build a missile defence shield in cooperation with Washington, its most important ally.

Japanese navy personnel aboard the newly upgraded destroyer Chokai will use an SM-3 missile to try to shoot down a dummy ballistic missile in space over the Pacific near Hawaii, Japan's Defence Ministry said on Monday.

A similar test using the equipment supplied by Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon last December went smoothly.

It is sadly ironic that, however much we may wish to see the end of the monster Kim and the destruction of that regime, it is so poor with an industrial base that is so old and broken down that its collapse is as dangerous as its continued existence.

NASA Hacker to be Extradited

Its about time.

Hacker Loses Extradition Fight

Gary McKinnon has lost his appeal to avoid being extradited to the US for tapping in to 97 American military and Nasa computers from his London home.

He could even be sent to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the notorious camp where America holds its terror suspects.

McKinnon was never charged in the UK after admitting the offence but Law Lords now say the US should be granted their request to put him on trial there.

He may be locked up for a long time. Let us hope that our feckless government decides to grow a spine and really punish this criminal.

McKinnon has been warned by US authorities that he faces a life sentence rather than a couple of years in jail, if he does not plead guilty and accept extradition.

Without co-operation, say the authorities, the case could be treated as one of terrorism.

Such a charge could result in up to 60 years behind bars in a maximum-security prison, should he be found guilty.

It has previously been reported that US prosecutors wanted to "see him fry".

I hope that they (we) throw the book at this guy.

North Korean Collapse?

This is an older report that I have just now run across. There is speculation that the North Korean regime is in danger of collapse in the face of the worst starvation since the 1990's. Even then there was a danger that the Monster Kim would be overthrown, but the liberal use of mass murder and death by starvation helped him avoid that threat (with a little help from his friends Russia and China). Now they face the same threat but are more isolated. Russia and China also seem less interested in helping.

This piece by Richard Halloran in the Washington Times provides some insight.

North Korean collapse?

Analysts everywhere point to a decade of hunger that has left 7-year-old North Korean children 8 inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter than their South Korean cousins. North Korean soldiers in a regime that gives priority to the military forces have been reduced to two skimpy meals a day. Factory workers nap on the floor for lack of food and energy.

That has led to conjecture that North Koreans, despite the pervasive controls in the Hermit Kingdom's police state, may throw caution to the winds. "We just don't think they can go along with this much longer," said an American official with access to intelligence assessments.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington reports that North Korea, after 10 years of food shortages, stands on the precipice of famine that could have political consequences. "The possibility of widespread social distress and even political instability," the institute said in a study, "cannot be ruled out."

Another study, from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, says: "Dismal economic conditions also foster forces of discontent that potentially could turn against the Kim regime - especially if knowledge of the luxurious lifestyle of Communist Party leaders becomes better known or as poor economic performance hurts even the elite."

Regarding North Korea's "friends";

China and Russia no longer seem to have an ideological commitment to their fellow communists in North Korea and were clearly miffed when North Korea detonated a nuclear device in 2006. Japan has begun to negotiate warily with North Korea to get an accounting of the Japanese it kidnapped over a long period. Most sanctions remain in place.

Seoul's contacts with North Korea slowed after, among other things, a North Korean soldier killed a South Korean woman taking an early morning walk on a beach near the North Korean resort she was visiting. Moreover, South Korean young people have shown less interest in reconciliation with North Korea than their parents and grandparents because of the cost.

...

The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, a political event if ever there was one, reflected power relations in East Asia. President Hu Jintao of China was the host, of course. U.S. President George Bush, the 43rd U.S. president, was there along with his father, President George H.W. Bush, the 41st. Premier Vladimir Putin represented Russia, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda represented Japan, and President Lee Myung Bak represented South Korea.

Kim Jong-il wasn't there.

North Korean Terror

Anyone (liberals in particular) who fails to understand the power of deterrence should read this.

North Korea's Trail of Kidnapping and Terror

Sadly, it seems that our feckless government will remove North Korea from the list or state sponsors of terrorism. The monster Kim will not be held accountable for his very many crimes and deterrence will fail. Criminals and mass murderers are enabled worldwide. Now, and in the future, genocide, state sponsorship of terrorism, government mass murder, and all manner of state criminality will be permitted by weak willed bureaucrats who think that words (ignored by the criminals), not actions, are sufficient. These words will be sufficient only to the relieve the self guilt of those who could do something and are too spineless to take action.

Darfur anyone?

Silencing Political Opponents

Barack Obama and his followers, being liberal™ supporters of free speech, are trying to sue opponents into silence. they have been threatening radio and television broadcasters who broadcast criticism of Obama, donors to the GOP, and have particularly targeted Harold Simmons. Mr. Simmons has produced an ad that shows Obama's close association with terrorist Bill Ayers and Obama does not like it, so he wants the Department of Justice to file criminal charges against Mr. Simmons. That's a real commitment to free speech there.

Apparently, for liberals™, free speech refers only to pornography and political attacks against their opponents, not to free speech for conservatives or Republicans.

American liberalism™ is a move to socialism and a loss of our freedoms.

Here is the ad, entirely true, that Obama is suing to keep you from seeing.



A big "Thank You" to Michelle Malkin for her excellent work. Read her column about how the DOJ will not go after GOP donors here.

"The Lying King" - Liberal's Plan for Attacking Sarah Palin

This is just brilliant. Obtained from Copious Dissent via NewsBusters.org

We Can See Through the Press

"Journalists" working in the national press (I won't call it the mainstream press because they are not mainstream - note the falling ratings) routinely deny that they have a bias for any political ideology, party or candidate. Of course simple observation show this to be a lie when top Democratic Party members say that the Press is a chorus for Obama.

Now, a recent Rasmussen Poll show that, however hard those in the Press work to deny it, we the people are not being fooled.

69% Say Reporters Try To Help The Candidate They Want To Win

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 50% of voters think most reporters are trying to help Obama win versus 11% who believe they are trying to help his Republican opponent John McCain. Twenty-six percent (26%) say reporters offer unbiased coverage (demographic crosstabs available for Premium Members).

Just last week a Rasmussen Reports survey found that 51% of voters believed reporters were trying to hurt McCain’s running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, with their news coverage.

Interestingly, while 83% of Republican voters think most reporters are trying to help Obama, 19% of Democrats agree, one percentage point higher than the number of Democrats who believe they are trying to help McCain. Unaffiliated voters by a 53% to 10% margin see reporters trying to help Obama.

Forty-five percent (45%) of Democrats say most reporters are providing unbiased coverage in the current presidential campaign, but only 20% of unaffiliateds and nine percent (9%) of Republicans agree.

Islamic Civilization

This is what it is like for anyone who is not a Muslim to live the hellhole that is Pakistan (or any other Islamic country). Islamic societies claim to have a highly developed culture. I don't know how they define that, but it is clear from the high level of emigration from those countries and the continuing oppression of the people who live their that it is not true. Let me be clear, Islamic religious and political structure are not capable of developing free and prosperous societies.

Pray for the Younas family.

Christian girl, kidnapped and converted by Muslims, returned to family

"The girl told me", her uncle continues, "that in order to convince her, some of the Muslims threatened her with death, in addition to promising her expensive presents".

The two girls were kidnapped from the village of Chowk Munda, in the province of Punjab, while they were visiting their uncle. Afterward, the kidnappers stated that they had converted, and that the older one had married "of her own will".

On July 14, the Christian parents asked the Muzaffargarh Sessions Court for custody of their daughters, but the tribunal responded that, since they had converted to Islam, they can no longer live with their Christian parents. This verdict was overturned by the high court in Aneela's case, because she is only 10 years old. Her relatives say that Saba is only 13, as shown by official documents, but the court has accepted expert testimony that she is over 16 years old, and therefore capable of marrying "of her own will".

"The beautiful religion."

Never Forget

The enemy is not to be negotiated with. The enemy is to be killed.

NEVER FORGET

102 Minutes that Changed America, from The History Channel. This features unfiltered video from 9 different witnesses from 10 locations.

This video contains material of a graphic and disturbing nature, and may not be suitable for all viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

The Reason for the Second Amendment

Here is Dr. Suzanna Gratia-Hupp, a Texas state representative, delivering testimony to a Senate committee about what the real purpose of the Second Amendment to the Constitution is. Here is a clue - it has NOTHING to do with hunting or target shooting.

She was in a cafeteria in Texas when a madman entered and began shooting. Because she made the mistake of obeying an idiotic law that makes it illegal to carry a gun in a purse she left her weapon in her car. Because of this she was unable to defend herself or her parents, both of whom were murdered that day.

Did Chucky Shumer understand a word of it? Does he even care? Probably not - he is a simple ideologue and would rather see people die undefended than violate his ideology.

Watch and listen. This story is truly tragic.



And to add to the tragedy, Chucky and his friends could not possibly care less than they do right now.

The End of the Monster?

Courtesy of Nicholson Cartoons

Kim Jong-il, the Dear Mass-Murderer of North Korea, has not been seen in public since August 14th. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea has reported that the Dear Murderer-Freak has heart disease and diabetes. The speculation is that he is so ill that he cannot walk 30 yards.

Fears Grow For 'Sick' Kim Jong Il

The 66-year-old has not been seen in public for three weeks and newspaper reports suggest his health may be getting worse.

Foreign doctors have now been in the communist country for more than a week, according to a mass-circulation newspaper.

Kim was last seen out in public on August 14, when he inspected a military unit.

There are rumors and speculation that he is dead, and has been since 2003. While that may sound crazy, in a place like North Korea it is not inconceivable. No major policy decisions have been made since they joined the nuclear disarmament talks then. Just after that Kim disappeared for 42 days. People who have presumably met with him since then report a dramatic change in his appearance. Were they meeting with a double?

North Korea ‘uses doubles to hide death of Kim’ (Matt Drudge has this one too).

Is Kim Jong-il for real? The question has baffled foreign intelligence agencies for years but now a veteran Japanese expert on North Korea says the “dear leader” is actually dead – and his role is played by a double.

The expert says Kim died of diabetes in 2003 and world leaders including Vladimir Putin of Russia and Hu Jintao of China have been negotiating with an impostor.

He believes that Kim, fearing assassination, had groomed up to four lookalikes to act as substitutes at public events. One underwent plastic surgery to make his appearance more convincing. Now, the expert claims, the actors are brought on stage whenever required to persuade the masses that Kim is alive.

Certainly a bizarre idea, but possible.

After All of This, Be Sure to Vote!

From the geniuses at Jib Jab;

Oh, It's Time for some Campaignin'

Liberal Press Damages Self

The Guardian is an openly leftist news organization. They admit it openly and honestly. I respect them for that. However, I very rarely if ever agree with any point of view that anyone over there expresses. Nick Cohen has hit the nail on the head.

When Barack's berserkers lost the plot

For once, the postmodern theories so many of them were taught at university are a help to the rest of us. As a Christian, conservative anti-abortionist who proved her support for the Iraq War by sending her son to fight in it, Sarah Palin was 'the other' - the threatening alien presence they defined themselves against. They might have soberly examined her reputation as an opponent of political corruption to see if she was truly the reformer she claimed to be. They might have gently mocked her idiotic creationism, while carefully avoiding all discussion of the racist conspiracy theories of Barack Obama's church.

But instead of following a measured strategy, they went berserk. On the one hand, the media treated her as a sex object. The New York Times led the way in painting Palin as a glamour-puss in go-go boots you were more likely to find in an Anchorage lap-dancing club than the Alaska governor's office.

On the other, liberal journalists turned her family into an object of sexual disgust: inbred rednecks who had stumbled out of Deliverance. Palin was meant to be pretending that a handicapped baby girl was her child when really it was her wanton teenage daughter's. When that turned out to be a lie, the media replaced it with prurient coverage of her teenage daughter, who was, after all, pregnant, even though her mother was not going to do a quick handover at the maternity ward and act as if the child was hers.

And more...

Journalists who believe in women's equality should not spread sexual smears about a candidate, or snigger at her teenage daughter's pregnancy, or declare that a mother with a young family cannot hold down a responsible job for the pragmatic reason that they will look like gross hypocrites if they do. Before Palin, we saw hypocrisy of the right when shock jocks who had spent years denouncing feminism came over all politically correct when Bill Clinton had an affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Read the whole thing. Mr. Cohen goes on to discuss the effects of expressions of hatred by the liberal press on political campaigns in both the US and the UK.

UPDATE: A Rasmussen poll shows that the American people are not being fooled into believing that the liberal Press is anything like objective or professional.

What Sarah Knows

According to Rasmussen, fully 68% of voters believe that "most reporters try to help the candidate they want to win." And -- no surprise -- 49% of those surveyed believe reporters are backing Barack Obama, while just 14% think the media is in the tank for Sen. McCain.

Meanwhile, 51% of those surveyed thought the press was "trying to hurt" Mrs. Palin with its coverage.

Perhaps most troubling for the press corps, though, was this finding: "55% said media bias is a bigger problem for the electoral process than large campaign donations."

Obama Considered the Military?

I haven't been trying to keep track of all of the lies that the Left are spouting now. There are too many of them and other bloggers have the time and resources to track them. Still, while reading LGF, this gem caught my eye:

Obama Suddenly Remembers: He Almost Joined the Military. Two autobiographies and hundreds of speeches given over several years of political campaigning and just now he remembers?

“You know, I actually did,” Obama said. “I had to sign up for Selective Service when I graduated from high school. And I was growing up in Hawaii. And I have friends whose parents were in the military. There are a lot of Army, military bases there.

“And I actually always thought of the military as an ennobling and, you know, honorable option. But keep in mind that I graduated in 1979. The Vietnam War had come to an end. We weren't engaged in an active military conflict at that point. And so, it's not an option that I ever decided to pursue.”

A lie. Charles did the research, from Wikipedia;

On March 25, 1975, Pres. Gerald Ford signed Proclamation 4360, Terminating Registration Procedures Under Military Selective Service Act, eliminating the registration requirement for all 18-25 year old male citizens. Then on July 2, 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed Proclamation 4771, Registration Under the Military Selective Service Act, retroactively re-establishing the Selective Service registration requirement for all 18-26 year old male citizens born on or after January 1, 1960. Only men born between March 29, 1957, and December 31, 1959, were completely exempt from Selective Service registration. The first registrations after Proclamation 4771 took place on Monday, July 21, 1980, for those men born in January, February and March 1960 at U.S. Post Offices.

The Coming Collapse of North Korea

This has been predicted before, but a regime can be this dysfunctional for only so long before it can no longer be sustained.

HALLORAN: North Korean collapse?

An array of intelligence analysts, Asian and American scholars, specialists in think tanks, and workers in relief organizations have renewed speculation that the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-il is in danger of collapsing because that nation is on the brink of mass starvation and mounting isolation.

No one will even guess when this might happen - within a year, more likely within five years, and almost surely within 10 years? Will the collapse be a "soft landing" in which Mr. Kim's regime gradually falls apart with the pieces picked up by the South Koreans, or will it be a "hard landing" in which Mr. Kim's regime implodes and chaos sweeps the land?

The consequences of a regime change in Pyongyang could be staggering. Immediately, U.S., South Korean and Chinese troops could charge into North Korea to secure its nuclear facilities - and confront each other. Midterm, reviving North Korea could cost South Korea, Japan, China and the United States enormous sums. Long term, a reunited Korea would change the power balance of East Asia - but unpredictably.

Analysts everywhere point to a decade of hunger that has left 7-year-old North Korean children 8 inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter than their South Korean cousins. North Korean soldiers in a regime that gives priority to the military forces have been reduced to two skimpy meals a day. Factory workers nap on the floor for lack of food and energy.

That has led to conjecture that North Koreans, despite the pervasive controls in the Hermit Kingdom's police state, may throw caution to the winds. "We just don't think they can go along with this much longer," said an American official with access to intelligence assessments.

Mass Starvation - The Mother of Invention

I am sure that this is good food, but the story is pathetic and very sad. It is also an indictment of the incompetent and criminal regime that rules North Korea.

N Korea 'develops special noodle'

According to the newspaper, which is seen as closely linked to the Pyongyang leadership, the new noodles have twice as much protein and fives times as much fat as ordinary noodles.

"When you consume ordinary noodles (made from wheat or corn), you may soon feel your stomach empty. But this soybean noodle delays such a feeling of hunger," it said on its website.

The noodles would be available soon across North Korea, the newspaper said.

An estimated one million people starved to death in North Korea in the late 1990s after natural disasters and government mismanagement devastated the country's economy.

The Party of Cowardice

With the Russian invasion of Georgia many Eastern European countries, formerly satellites of the Soviet Union, are very concerned about their own security. Memories of Prague and earlier, Budapest, have not died.

Poland, quite understandably, is nervous and wants American missile sites and Patriot missile batteries. Although the missile sites would be useless against the Soviet Union Russia, they still send a message. And, the Patriot missiles would be useful even though they would be eventually overwhelmed by the volume of Soviet Russian missile in an attack.

So, it would seem the obvious thing to do...supply Poland with these things to help a fellow NATO country and ourselves. Remember, we are bound by treaty obligation to defend the territory of NATO countries as we would our own.

The Party of Cowardice (you know who they are) give a drearily predictable response to the signing of an agreement with Poland.

Some Democrats urge delay in building a U.S. missile system in Eastern Europe

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was scheduled to be in Warsaw on Wednesday to sign an agreement on the missiles with Poland, which agreed to the basing of 10 interceptors last week, after the Russian attacks on Georgia. Justified as a defense against a missile attack on Europe by a rogue nation like Iran, the installation has provoked outrage from Russia.

Even before the agreement was reached, the Bush administration had proposed spending $712 million in the coming fiscal year to start digging silos in Poland; installing a related radar system in the Czech Republic, another former Soviet satellite that is now a NATO member; and buying initial parts for the first interceptor missiles.

But Democrats are now questioning all that spending as premature.

"Go ahead and move on with research and development," said Representative Ellen Tauscher, Democrat of California, who is chairwoman of the House subcommittee that oversees the missile defense program. "But as far as putting holes in the ground in Poland, we are saying no."

These people will not defend the country.

Our Brothers and Sisters in Georgia

We must pray for our brothers and sisters in Georgia as they undergo a terrible time of trial.

Georgia is overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian, the Church there being one of the very oldest.

I have added the traditional Georgian Cherubic Hymn as an audio file in my profile. A selection of Georgian Orthodox music is available at Chant from the Orthodox Church in Georgia

Listen to the Cherubic Hymn. It is so beautiful that, as I listened to it tears were running down my face. Turn the volume up, turn off the TV and listen to the whole thing. You have never heard anything this beautiful in your entire life I assure you.


Read A Pilgrimage to Orthodox Georgia by Guy Wilson.

Pandering to China

Regardless of how tyrannical a government it is, or how poor its human rights practices are, China is very big business, and people who do business there certainly don't want to take any chance offending them.

kowtow: 1. to act in an obsequious manner; show servile deference.

Why I Can’t Put ‘Tibet’ in My Hotmail Address

Big American tech companies have given us plenty of reasons to be cynical about how far they will go to keep China’s leaders happy and keep their fingers in the Chinese market. And China’s leaders would prefer that everyone just not mention those unruly Tibetans, especially with the Olympics on the way. But would the Chinese regime really feel threatened by the creation of, say, ILoveTibet@hotmail.com? And even if it did, would Microsoft really agree to help perpetuate that insecurity?



A Microsoft spokeswoman had a different explanation. The company blocks usernames that include the names of various financial institutions. This is meant to make life harder for those seeking to impersonate a bank using an official-looking e-mail address in order to steal customers’ passwords. In this case Microsoft is blocking usernames containing “tib,” apparently to protect customers of TIB Bank in Florida.

Baloney

Culture and the National Defense

Amina and Sarah Said - both murdered by their Father in Texas.

National defense involves more than military action or border protection. It includes protection and maintenance of our culture, values, and governmental and legal structures. This is implied in the oath of office that one takes when entering the armed forces. We pledge to defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic. I would like to emphasize the foreign and domestic part.

We have people living in the U.S. who hate who we are and want us to be something else. These people are not only the Islamists, whom we have discussed many times, but leftists of every variety who want to limit or end free speech, expand government into every aspect of our lives, centralize the government and the economy, and turn our values upside down with gay marriage and pro-death actions like abortion, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

I would like to see those whom we elect to govern this greatest of countries stand up and really protect it instead of fecklessly pandering to those who want to harm it.

In Australia they have it right.

I received an email at work a year ago that I have never posted, but I want to share it now. It is one of those that gets widely circulated and are often hoaxes, but this one is true and is discussed at Snopes.com.

see Muslims Out of Australia!

Now, don''t freak out. I do not want to remove all Muslims from the US. But the views expressed below are common sense and are views that we should adopt here.

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown.

Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by parliament.

"If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on National Television.

"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia: one the Australian law and another Islamic law that is false.

If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option", Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country.

Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off. Basically people who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want, to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he said.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.

Quote: "IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture.

Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians."

"However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia .."

"However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand." "This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."

"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom"

"We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society .. Learn the language!"

"Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented.

It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."

"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."

"If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from.

By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.

"This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,

'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."

"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."

My Absence

I must explain that since Holy Pascha I have been extremely busy and under great stress. My employer, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, assigned me to the fire recovery project on USS George Washington. This has been a challenging assignment. In combination with the inconveniences of travel and trying to build a house through my cell phone, there has been no time for blogging. I am hoping to change that.

I hope that you, my faithful readers - who have never failed to come back after long breaks for my deployments - will forgive me this.

The Easter Sermon of St. John Chrysostom

This sermon is read every year at the end of the services that we celebrate for Holy Pascha. Read this beautiful sermon out loud. It is wonderful.

The Easter Sermon of John Chrysostom

If any be pious and a lover of God,
let him rejoice in this fair and radiant festival.
If any be a faithful servant
let him enter into the joy of his Lord.
If any be weary with fasting,
let him now enjoy his payment.

If anyone has labored from the first hour,
let him receive today his just reward.
If anyone has come after the third hour,
let him now be thankful that the feast is at hand,
If anyone has waited until after the sixth hour,
let him not be anxious, no loss shall be his own.
If anyone has tarried until the ninth hour,
let him draw near also, shedding all his doubts.
If anyone has come only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be fearful because of his delay.

For the Master is bountiful
and receives the last even as the first.
He gives repose to him who came at the eleventh hour
just as to one who labored from the first.
The tardy are shown mercy
and the timely are made whole.
To the one he gives,
on the other he bestows.
He honors the deed and praises the intention.

Let all therefore enter into the joy of our Lord,
(let both the first and those who came later receive their wages)
Let rich and poor dance with one another.
You sober and you heedless celebrate the day.
You who have fasted and you who have not
rejoice in this occasion.

The table is full-laden
let all enjoy the feast.
The calf is fatted,
let no one go forth hungry.
Let all partake of the banquet of faith,
let all partake of the riches of goodness.

Let none mourn his poverty,
for the kingdom stands before us.
Let none lament his failings,
forgiveness has risen from the tomb.
Let none fear death,
for the death of the Savior has set us free.

He quenched death when it had tasted his flesh.
He despoiled Hades when he descended thereto
Foreseeing this, Isaiah cried:
'Hell was embittered when it met you face to face.'

It was embittered for it was made void,
It was embittered for it was mocked,
It was embittered for it was slain,
It was embittered for it was despoiled.
It was embittered for it was led off in chains.

It received a body and encountered God,
It received earth and came face to face with heaven.
It received what it saw and fell where it could not see.

Death where is thy sting,
Hades where is thy victory?

Christ is risen and you are cast down,
Christ is risen and the demons are fallen,
Christ is risen and the angels rejoice,
Christ is risen and life is made free.
Christ is risen and there is none dead in the tomb.

For Christ is risen from the dead as the first fruits of those that
fell asleep.

To him be glory and power forever and ever, Amen.


Translated by Frank Dobbs

I pray that Christians everywhere are having a blessed Holy Pascha. God bless all of you.

Barack Obama - Jedi Knight

Found at Real Clear Politics, this gem was created by editorial cartoonist Grey Blackwell of the Raleigh News Observer.

Barack Obama: Jedi Master

Perfect

More Islamic Tolerance in Indonesia

A ransacked and burned Christian Church in Indonesia with ALLAHU AKBAR written in Arabic on the walls

I have written several times about the oppression of Christians in Indonesia and other Islamic countries. It is impossible for me to believe that any well meaning person who can read at the 5th grade level or better can view Islam as anything other than the oppressive, abusive, intolerant political ideology that it is.

And remember, Indonesia has a "moderate" Islamic culture and is (we are supposed to believe) a secular republic. Of course you can believe whatever idiocy that you want.

At The Christian Post: Indonesia: Over 100 Churches Closed in 3 Years

Islamic extremism and local governments closed more than 100 churches in Indonesia within three years, according to a persecution watchdog agency.

From 2004 to 2007, 110 churches were closed in Indonesia as a result of attacks from radical Muslim groups or by local governments coerced by these groups, reported Compass Direct News. Based on official numbers, a total of 1,025 churches have been closed or destroyed in Indonesia since the island nation claimed its independence in 1945. Notably, however, only two cases of church destruction or closures are recorded in the era of Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno (1945-1967).

...

High profile cases of Christian persecution in Indonesia include the 2005 arrests of three Christian Sunday school teachers who were accused of attempting to convert Muslim children. The Muslim parents had reportedly given full consent for their children to join Christian students in singing Christian songs, playing games and hearing Bible stories, but the court nevertheless sentenced the women to three years in prison. The women served two years and were released early for good behavior last June.

Also in 2005, Islamic militants on motorcycles beheaded three Christian schoolgirls who were on their way to school. The girls’ heads were dumped in villages nearby with and a handwritten note by the bodies warned of more killings in revenge for sectarian violence on Sulawesi Island.

“Wanted – 100 more heads,” read the letter, according to The Associated Press. “Blood must be paid with blood, lives with lives, heads with heads.”

Headless corpse being dragged through the streets of Banyuwangi with shouts of Allahu Akbar

Religion of Peace indeed.

Happy and Blessed Easter

Life has been very hectic and I have been under great pressure to satisfy the many roles that I have both at work and at home. As a result you can see that I have not posted in a long time. If either of my faithful readers should still pass by here, you have my apologies for that.

I wanted to take the time to wish all of my western Christian friends a happy and blessed Easter.

Matthew 28:

¹Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ²And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. ⁵But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you." ⁸So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."

¹¹While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. ¹²And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers ¹³and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' ¹⁴And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." ¹⁵So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. ¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (ESV)

Just a note, we Orthodox Christians will celebrate Holy Pascha (Easter) on April 27th.

The Disappearing Presbyterian Church

Some refuse to learn, and place themselves and their ambitions and desires over God. After seeing that a church that abandons any semblance of orthodoxy or understanding of sin is torn apart (see here and here), many wish to continue down that same path.

While many, perhaps even most within the Presbyterian Church sense that something is wrong, many others would rather execise liberal "progressive" politics.

Lesbian Moves Forward in Ordination Amid Debate

An openly lesbian minister's bid to join the clergy may be the first national test of a controversial policy adopted by the Presbyterian Church (USA).

After being denied ordination twice over the past couple of decades because of a ban on ordaining openly gay persons, Lisa Larges made some headway this past week when she gained support from a regional body of the PC(USA).

The San Francisco Presbytery voted Tuesday 167-151 to support Larges' application for ministry. The vote came after a long debate and despite warnings that the action violated the church's constitution and would be appealed.

According to its constitution, the PC(USA) requires "fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman" or "chastity in singleness" for its clergy.

And as they become more "liberal" they begin openly to abandon the Christian faith.

Following the 2006 General Assembly decision, several Presbyterian churches have taken steps to withdraw from the national church. The churches have opposed the liberal direction the denomination is going on homosexuality as well as other issues, including the singular lordship of Jesus Christ.

They are moving towards becoming just another liberal-progressive political organization.

How to Decide Who to Marry

The kids say it at Curmudgeonly & Skeptical²

How To Decide Who to Marry: By Kids

This is wonderful and funny - read it, you will be glad you did.

Jay R. Grodner - Lawyer

Jay R. Grodner - Lawyer, leftist moonbat™ and vandal

He will probably get away with it.

See also;
Confederate Yankee for this POS' contact data.

Liberal Arrogance

The arrogance of the Liberal Left is on clear display in a piece by Dave Lindorff in the Baltimore Chronicle;

Global Warming Will Save America from the Right...Eventually

After describing a scenario where much of "red state America" is destroyed or depopulated as a result of rising sea levels and drought, he concludes;

There is a poetic justice to this of course. It is conservatives who are giving us the candidates who steadfastly refuse to have the nation take steps that could slow the pace of climate change, so it is appropriate that they should bear the brunt of its impact.

The important thing is that we, on the higher ground both actually and figuratively, need to remember that, when they begin their historic migration from their doomed regions, we not give them the keys to the city. They certainly should be offered assistance in their time of need, but we need to keep a firm grip on our political systems, making sure that these guilty throngs who allowed the world to go to hell are gerrymandered into political impotence in their new homes.

There will be much work to be done to help the earth and its residents—human and non-human—survive this man-made catastrophe, and we can’t have these future refugee troglodytes, should their personal disasters still fail to make them recognize reality, mucking things up again.

It should be considered acceptable, in this stifling new world, to say, “Shut up. We told you this would happen.”

That is the state of Liberalism in America today. Do not kid yourselves, these people have no use for a free and open democracy, they want totalitarian socialism. If you doubt it, just look at what controls they wish to put in the people. They will even tell you what kind of light bulbs to buy.

And they do not want free speech for any but themselves. Dissenting opinions and those that offer them are to be crushed.

Remembering Cocoa

Two years ago today my beautiful little girl preceded me into Heaven.

I remember the first time we met her at Mary's (the breeder) home. We were looking at a number of Pomeranians. We saw Cocoa, Cocoa's sister, their mother and grandmother. Cocoa and her sister were beautiful little 8-week old puppies. Cocoa's mother was not available, of course, and nor was her grandmother. Cocoa's mother was the only one who was not chocolate colored. She was parti-colored, white and black. We were sitting in the kitchen by the kennel that the dogs would go in and out of. We picked up Cocoa's sister and looked at her. She was very well behaved and an entirely lovely dog. We fell in lover with her. We put her down and she went walking around the into and out of the kennel and the net room.

Then Mary handed Cocoa to us. My wife held her for a bit and then gave her to me. Cocoa was struggling to be let go. I tried to hold her but she was struggling so hard that she fell from my lap to the floor. We were mortified and Mary was not happy. Cocoa shook herself off and went into the kennel for a moment, then came back out. She still wanted our attention and wandered around our the area where we were sitting. She was not going to let any other dog upstage her. We loved her to.

As this would be our first dog, we got into a discussion about what personality of dog would be suitable for us. A dog who was too willful or demanding may not be a good match for us, and that would not be good for the dog either. It was a tough choice. We loved them all, particularly Cocoa and her sister. As we talked, we kept coming back to Cocoa (who continued to wander about in our presence). Although she may turn out to be difficult in the future, she was the choice. Her fiery personality was something that we could not resist. She was the choice.

We loved her very much, and she loved us. The memory of her bring tears to my eyes even as I write this. In a comment to my memorial post of her from last year Marguerite wrote,

I have a priest friend who thinks that man's ability to make friends with animals is a proof of God, perhaps he's right.

I believe that he is right.

I have two dogs now, Niko (a pomeranian) and Mikro (a long haired chihuahua) and love them. We almost lost Niko this summer and it was difficult for us. He is a good friend. He is doing well now, but he is 14 years old. That will be hard to.

Cocoa was exceptional and we miss her.



UPDATE: My wife reminds me that when Cocoa wanted to go into the kennel, she would just push any other dogs aside to go in. The kennel was large enough to hold four or five puppies or an adult and two or three puppies. When Cocoa wanted in, and if there were other puppies in there, she just pushed them aside to get where she wanted. Any other dog would look and see that there was no room and not enter. Cocoa, however, would not be denied.

She lived every aspect of her life with great gusto. She loved people and she loved us with that same gusto. Truely she was a gift directly from God to us and I thank God for her.

Anglo-Orthodox Saints

Our Lady of Walsingham and the holy Abbess Werburgh of Chester

Go and read this very beautiful blog.

Anglo-Orthodox Saints

Some Fallout of Appeasement

Appeasement, however seemingly "minor" will always have bad effects. These effects can be seen not only in the strengthening of the enemy but in the harm do to allies and to the relationships with allies who may be in trouble.

Both of you, my faithful readers, already know what I think of our weakness in the face of the Dear Murderer-Freaks crimes and provocations. Here is some more (it never stops).

Pyongyang Fallout

One unfortunate consequence of the Bush Administration’s about face-face on North Korea is playing out in Tokyo, where the new Prime Minister is struggling to deal with a string of recent insults from Washington. The sharpest slap may come today.

When Yasuo Fukuda visits the White House, President Bush is widely expected to tell him that he plans to take North Korea off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror, despite Pyongyang’s refusal to provide any new information on the Japanese citizens it kidnapped in the 1970s and ‘80s. Information on the abductees has been Tokyo’s top priority in he six-party nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea.

Until recently, the administration has made progress on the abductees issue a prerequisite for taking North Korea off the terrorist list. Last year Mr. Bush met in the Oval Office with the mother of Megumi Yokota, a 13-year old girl who was kidnapped by North Korean spies in 1977 as she was walking home from school in the western city of Niigata. He called it “one of the most moving meetings since I have been the President.”

so...

U.S. support for Japan’s position also goes to the heart of American credibility as a security partner. Some Japanese are already beginning to wonder why the U.S. is so eager for a deal that won’t truly de-nuclearize the North, which has hundreds of missiles capable of reaching any corner of their country.

North Korea has failed to declare the components of its nuclear program-seven month after the agreed-upon deadline for doing so. And there are growing doubts that the U.S. will insist on an accounting that includes the North’s nuclear weapons, its stockpile of plutonium, and a uranium program That Pyongyang once touted but now says doesn’t exist. Meanwhile, the Yongbyon nuclear reactor that is now being “disabled” too much fanfare may already be at or near the end of its useful life. No wonder Tokyo is nervous.

J. Thomas Schieffer, the U.S. ambassador in Tokyo, is widely reported to have sent Mr. Bush a private cable last month, warning that the pending nuclear deal with North Korea could damage relations with Japan. There are indications that may already be happening.

On November 1, Japan suspended its naval mission to supply fuel to U.S.-led coalition forces in the Indian Ocean. Mr. Fukuda’s government pushed through a watered down bill in the Diet’s lower house this week restarting the mission. The Prime Minister decided against using his authority to push through stronger registration in part, we are told, on the counsel of advisers who urged him to distance himself from the Americans. That kind of thinking could lead to a decision by a future Japanese government to go nuclear, rather than run the risk of relying on the unreliable Americans.

North Korea is winning due to our weakness and gullibility.

Kill the Innocent - Allow Heinous Criminals to Live

From the UN:

November 16 - Death Penalty Resolution Adopted Because of Concerns About Human Rights Says EU President

Ambassador Joao Manuel Guerra Salgueiro, President of the European Union, says member states of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly voted to adopt a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty in part because of their concerns about human rights. The Ambassador rejected claims that the resolution sought to impose values [Although that is the entire purpose of it. - Photi] on all member states and noted the broad support for the resolution. Now that the third committee -- which addresses social, humanitarian and cultural issues -- has approved the resolution, the matter can be discussed in the full General Assembly sometime after mid-December.

From "progressive religious leaders":

A Faith-Filled Commitment to Development Includes a Commitment to Women’s Rights and Reproductive Health

As progressive religious leaders, we call on other religious leaders and policy makers to overcome the fears, taboos and stigmas associated with sexuality and reproduction, to accept that these matters are part of the legitimate scope of human rights and public policy and include these important human rights more explicitly in the struggle to end poverty. We call on the world’s leaders—religious, governmental, nongovernmental and those in multilateral and UN agencies—to incorporate the ICPD agenda and goals to ensure that all the world’s people have available to them the reproductive health services [read "abortion" - Photi] that will enable them to live healthy, dignified and financially secure lives.

About Those Bumper Stickers

Atomic Trousers has your bumper sticker review.

Bask in Bumper Sticker Wisdom

Thug Chavez gets Public Correction

I love this story. It is good to see that there are some who have not yet become deranged Chavez supporters.

Spanish King Tells Chavez to "Shut Up"

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - The king of Spain told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to "shut up" Saturday during a heated exchange at a summit of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

Chavez, who called President Bush the "devil" on the floor of the United Nations last year, triggered the exchange by repeatedly referring to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a "fascist."

Aznar, a conservative who was an ally of Bush as prime minister, "is a fascist," Chavez said in a speech at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile. "Fascists are not human. A snake is more human."

Spain's current socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, responded during his own allotted time by urging Chavez to be more diplomatic in his words and respect other leaders despite political differences.

"Former President Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a legitimate representative of the Spanish people," he said, eliciting applause from the gathered heads of state.

Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, but his microphone was off.

Spanish King Juan Carlos, seated next to Zapatero, angrily turned to Chavez and said, "Why don't you shut up?"

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Armistice Day

I know that we have now replaced Armistice Day, a remembrance of the men who fought and died during the human disaster that was WWI, and replaced it with Veteran's Day to remember all of America's veterans. I feel a little self-conscious about Veteran's Day and I remember seeing WWI veterans when I was growing up. That terrible conflict does not get enough attention now and, since it was the first major war of a warfare-filled century and really the war from which all of the others grew, I choose to remember it and the men who fought it. These men gave enormously to put the United States in a place where we could later defeat the Nazis and the Communists. That series of wars did not end until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

That is not to say that I don't respect Veteran's Day and all of America's veterans, but being one, I'll let others write about that, and I thank them very much for their kind words.

In 1923, on Saturday November 10th, Woodrow Wilson spoke on the significance of Armistice Day. (There is a link to an audio recording of the speech at the website.) It was a short speech and is reproduced in its entirity below.

The anniversary of Armistice Day should stir us to great exaltation of spirit because of the proud recollection that it was our day, a day above those early days of that never-to-be-forgotten November which lifted the world to the high levels of vision and achievement upon which the great war for democracy and right was fought and won; although the stimulating memories of that happy time of triumph are forever marred and embittered for us by the shameful fact that when the victory was won-won, be it remembered-chiefly by the indomitable spirit and ungrudging sacrifices of our incomparable soldiers-we turned our backs upon our associates and refused to bear any responsible part in the administration of peace, or the firm and permanent establishment of the results of the war-won at so terrible a cost of life and treasure-and withdrew into a sullen and selfish isolation which is deeply ignoble because manifestly cowardly and dishonorable.

This must always be a source of deep mortification to us and we shall inevitably be forced by the moral obligations of freedom and honor to retrieve that fatal error and assume once more the role of courage, self-respect and helpfulness which every true American must wish to regard as our natural part in the affairs of the world.

That we should have thus done a great wrong to civilization at one of the most critical turning points in the history of the world is the more to be deplored because every anxious year that has followed has made the exceeding need for such services as we might have rendered more and more evident and more and more pressing, as demoralizing circumstances which we might have controlled have gone from bad to worse.

And now, as if to furnish a sort of sinister climax, France and Italy between them have made waste paper of the Treaty of Versailles and the whole field of international relationship is in perilous confusion.

The affairs of the world can be set straight only by the firmest and most determined exhibition of the will to lead and make the right prevail.

Happily, the present situation in the world of affairs affords us the opportunity to retrieve the past and to render mankind the inestimable service of proving that there is at least one great and powerful nation which can turn away from programs of self-interest and devote itself to practicing and establishing the highest ideals of disinterested service and the consistent maintenance of exalted standards of conscience and of right.

The only way in which we can worthily give proof of our appreciation of the high significance of Armistice Day is by resolving to put self-interest away and once more formulate and act upon the highest ideals and purposes of international policy. Thus, and only thus, can we return to the true traditions of America.

The British War on Her Own Culture

The liberal elites of the UK continue to work toward the erasure of their own national identity. Britain's Escalating War on Christianity

The report's recommendations are probably the most radical that have been made so far by a body with real political influence for the destruction of Britain's Christian identity and historic culture.

However, the thrust of its recommendations are really nothing new, and are squarely in line with concerted and unremitting political/culture-war attacks on Christianity and Britain's historic identity which have been going on for at least a decade, not at the level of national Parliamentary government, where an electorate might show its displeasure, but in a shadowy, Gramscian way at quasi-govnmental (sic) level and in localized areas with entrenched Labour/left control of councils, Parliamentary seats and other institutions.

Not all of the British are happy about it. The Telegraph asks the question, Should integration work both ways? Fortunately at least a few Brits still wish to retain their culture against their government's wishes.

A Poet of Islam

Samina Malik is a British Muslim poet who writes from the deep well of Islamic faith.



British Muslim woman convicted of penning poems about beheadings

Described as a "committed Islamic extremist", Malik, a shop assistant at Heathrow, hoarded an extensive collection of terrorism manuals, the Old Bailey heard.

She was a member of an extremist group linked to Omar Bakri Mohammed, a hate preacher who fled to Lebanon from Britain two years ago.

Yesterday a jury found her guilty of possessing documents likely to be used for terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000, by a majority of ten to one, after deliberating for 19 hours.

Malik, who wore a black head scarf, wept as the verdict was read out.

She is happy to see other, innocent, people murdered in a horrific way. She loves watching the videos of people being beheaded while alive. These are a few of her favorite things. But, to have to answer for it, well that is another matter.

She also wrote of how she enjoyed video messages from Osama Bin Laden and "videos that showed massacres of the kuffars", or non-Muslims.

In one poem, called The Living Martyrs, she called for Muslims to rise up against the infidels.

In another, How To Behead, she warned that the victim should be bound and blindfolded.

Malik, who worked as a shop assistant airside in a branch of WHSmith at the airport, also owned an Al Qaeda encyclopaedia of Jihad, a Mujahideen poison handbook and a 'terrorist handbook' which explained how to make bombs.

On the hard drive of her computer police found a copy of a sniper rifle manual, a firearms manual, anti-tank weaponry, a document entitled How To Win Hand To Hand Fighting, and pictures of weapons.

Outside the court, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, said: "Malik held violent extremist views which she shared with other like-minded people over the internet.

"She also tried to donate money to a terrorist group. She had the ideology, ability and determination to access and download material which could have been useful to terrorists.

"Merely possessing this material is a serious criminal offence."

But she weeps for herself. Her hatred and self-obsession speaks for itself.

UPDATE:
A news clip. It seems that she just wanted to be "cool".

Meet the 72 Virgins!

This is an older piece, but still very funny.

From Steve Martin, Seventy-two Virgins

Demography and War

Every so often we will discuss demographics in the context of fertility. European fertility is down, Muslim nations have much higher fertility, and the Palestinians so called "right of return" is a political use of fertility in the continuing effort to destroy Israel.

Clark Whelton has written an excellent article on Gunnar Heinsohn's idea on the relationship between national demographics and war. A Demographic Theory of War - Population, power, and the 'slightly weird' ideas of Gunnar Heinsohn.

"LOOK AT IT THIS WAY," Gunnar Heinsohn said. "Your family is in a shooting war with a family across the street. Your forces consist of a father, mother and one child, perhaps two. The other family has a father, mother and seven children, perhaps eight or nine. For your family, the loss of one person would be devastating. The larger family can take casualties and continue fighting."

How important is this?

"My point," Heinsohn continued, "is that the strength of a nation's military is affected by the size of a nation's families. Falling birth rates in Western countries mean that even light casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan bring cries of pain in Europe and America. But Iraq and Afghanistan are growing rapidly. Their populations are swollen by youth bulges. Their average family has five or six children. They are in what I call 'extreme demographic armament.'"

Some of the points that he makes;

* The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will continue because "Western aid has enabled Palestine--where nearly every newborn is considered a refugee and provided with food and medical care by international agencies--to defeat Israel demographically." The population of Gaza jumped from 240,000 in 1950 to almost 1,500,000 in 2007. In 2006 there were 640,000 Jewish boys under 15 in Israel, against 1,120,000 Arab boys under 15 in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. The last cohort with a Jewish majority is the 30-44 age bracket--540,000 Jews vs. 410,000 Arabs--which is now past prime military age. And yet despite 60 years of fighting and violence, the overall Israeli-Arab death toll is relatively low. It ranks 49th on Heinsohn's list of fatalities in conflicts worldwide since 1948. The Israeli-Palestinian conflicts rank 67th.

* Colombia's return to peace and public safety was not brought about by tough controls imposed by the Uribe government. Peace is a result of the "ageing out" of Colombia's last big youth bulge, combined with falling birth rates, "which have simply dried up the recruitment pool for violent gangs." Similar drops in violence and political extremism have been seen throughout South America as youth bulges disappear into middle age.

* Turkey may become a more reliable partner of the West. Turkey's youth bulges have run their course and total fertility has fallen below the U.S. birth rate. This means Turkey can no longer afford to push its young people abroad to find jobs. It must encourage them to stay, "and feels reluctant to sacrifice them in war."

* Low birth rates in Russia and China place both countries in demographic capitulation.

* Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's top lieutenant, miscalculated when he encouraged Somalia to fight its war with Ethiopia by doing to the Ethiopian army what al Quaeda is doing in Iraq and Afghanistan--inflicting casualties that cause protest and dissension in Coalition countries. In 1993 U.S. forces fled Somalia after suffering 18 killed and 73 wounded. But unlike America and the UK, Heinsohn noted, Ethiopia is in strong demographic armament. It is unlikely we'll see peace marches in the streets of Addis Ababa or that Ethiopia will be deterred by losses on the battlefield.

* To compensate for falling birth rates and "to slow the ageing of its own populations, the Anglo-World--the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand--is trying to attract immigrants from a handful of European countries. But these European providers of manpower, such as Poland, Ukraine, and Austria, are in demographic capitulation and are desperately trying to attract immigrants themselves. By 2050, the total demand for foreign talent in the developed world will reach 150 million. The United States alone will realize growth by pulling in the best and brightest from everywhere else. For this reason, friends and allies may opt out of alliances with the U.S., not out of anti-Americanism but because they don't want to be demographically neutered."

As always, read the whole thing. There are numerous interesting and even surprising cnclusions here.

This is a great read covering very important material.