...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

Gag me with a P.E.I tater: A Canadian icon—Anne of Green Gables—has gone, er, green. From the Ceeb:

Anne and Gilbert, the musical featuring fictional redhead Anne Shirley that started its Summerside run earlier this month, has gone green.

Producer Campbell Webster has purchased just over $300 in carbon credits to help offset fuel and other energy usage during staging of the theatre production, and ease the effects

"There's a certain elegance to it. It can be a simple way to offset the carbon fuels that you use," Webster told CBC News.

Being staged at the Harbourfront Jubilee Theatre from July 15 to Sept. 19, Anne and Gilbert is a love story based on Lucy Maud Montgomery's popular Anne of Green Gables book series. 

Carbon credits are vouchers used to sponsor clean-energy research and projects, in an effort to counterbalance carbon emissions produced by activities such as driving or air travel.

Webster purchased his credits from Planetair, a non-profit Montreal company dedicated to reducing greenhouse gases...

Personally, I happen to adore Prince Edward Island—a charming, tiny place where the ground is red, the sea is blue and the grass is a verdant green. But I would purposely shun any musical, wherever it’s stage, that incorporates such idiocy into its theatrics.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:27 | link | comments

A race to the finish: Joe Conason in the Chicago Tribune says that it’s taken decades for science and society to “catch up” to Al Gore.

 If that’s the case, all I can say is God help us all.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:18 | link | comments

Dhimmitude or brinksmanship?: I’m not sure. From the New York Sun:

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) - President Bush's top national security aides said Tuesday their double-barreled show of diplomatic and military support for friendly Arab allies this week is not a shot across Iran's bow.

"We are out here to talk about the long term," Secretary of Defense Gates said, as he and Secretary of State Rice began two days of meetings among Persian Gulf allies and Egypt. Mr. Gates noted that American relationships in the Gulf and beyond predate the current unease over Iran's ambitions and influence.

If Iran perceives the joint visit and American overtures differently, "that's in the eye of the beholder," Mr. Gates said.

The Cabinet secretaries also said during a joint press conference in this Red Sea resort that they heard worries from Arab allies about the future of the American military presence in Iraq.

"There clearly is concern on the part of the Egyptians, and I think it probably represents concern elsewhere in the region, that the United States will somehow withdraw precipitously from Iraq, or in some way that is destabilizing to the entire region," Mr. Gates told reporters after he and Ms. Rice wrapped up meetings with Egypt's top leaders...

Newsflash for Bush and Condi: the Saudis are the enemy, same as the mullahs.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:14 | link | comments

Sickening: UN "peacekeepers" are racing to Darfur.

Far too late to save the tens of thousands of Christians, animists and black Muslims who have fallen victim to the Arab janjaweed militias unleashed by Khartoum's decades-long jihad.

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:57 | link | comments

Cultish devotion and catastrophic thinking: Lots of true believers on the Left who go ga-ga for the Palestinians are devotees of another cult—the Church of Mother Earth.  Don Feder on the FrontPage Magazine site analyzes this impassioned bunch and their “virtuous” views:

Global warming has become the apocalyptic cult of the new millennium. None of the other jeremiahs, throughout the ages, can hold an end-of-the-world candle to ozone-layer mystics prophesying climate Armageddon.

I just came across the ultimate Al Gore coffee table book, "The World Tomorrow: Scenarios of Global Catastrophe" by Yannick Monget.

On the jacket, the author is described as "the founder and chief representative of the Ankaa Group, an organization dedicated to conceiving and developing ambitious projects for the environmental protection of Europe."

If that weren't enough of a contribution to mankind, we are told Monget "has written several volumes of socially committed science fiction in France" - which didn't sell nearly as well as Gore's several volumes of socially committed science fiction, including "The Earth In Balance" and "The Assault on Reason."

"The World Tomorrow" is a lavishly illustrated book that stunningly depicts ecological end-times in familiar settings.

Singapore is demolished by super tornadoes. Fires ravage downtown San Diego (made to resemble Dresden during the Allied bombing). Torrential downpours and "terrible floods" drench Central Europe. (Prague looks like Venice during monsoon season.) Berlin's lush lawns are replaced by dusty, cracked earth. The ruins of Madrid are in the middle of a jungle. Moscow's St. Basil's Cathedral is stranded in a snowy wasteland. New York City is locked in ice. And D.C. is returned to the forest primeval, with what appears to be a giant, mutant iguana crawling in front of the Capitol - oh, I beg your pardon, Senator Clinton.

This enviro-porn compliments the ravings of Global Warming's nuttier acolytes - chimp girl Jane Goodall, at the Live Earth U.S.A. concert, squawking: "Up in the North the ice is melting. What will it take to melt the ice in the human heart?"

Not to be outdone, and demonstrating that the Kennedy clan loses brain cells with each succeeding generation (impossible as that may seem), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -- son of RFK and president of something called the Waterkeeper Alliance - raved to the Live Earth audience: "Get rid of all of these rotten politicians (presumably, Republicans) we have in Washington, who are nothing more than corporate toadies. This is treason and we need to start treating them as traitors!" His old man, who once worked for Joe McCarthy, would be proud.

Boy Bobbie could have put it differently: "This is heresy. And we need to start treating them as heretics!" Which way to the Global Warming auto-da-fe?

The environmentalist canon may be described thusly: 1) Global Warming caused by carbon dioxide emissions is revealed truth. 2) If we don't repent, mankind will be eternally damned. 3) Doubters are monsters and mental defectives comparable to Holocaust-deniers and members of the Flat Earth Society. And 4) It's time to purge our SUV sins by abolishing the industrial revolution and turning to pig manure and solar power for energy. The former may in found in abundance among Global-Warming advocates in Congress and the media...

Much of the above is also driven by the same kind of leftist self-loathing that prompts true believers to embrace the Third World and cast aspersions on the West, especially Israel and the U.S., which are seen as the alpha and omega of the world’s evil.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:39 | link | comments

The wonder-full land of Oz: Donning his customary rose-colored glasses, Israeli novelist Amos Oz surveys the terrain, and can’t get over all the wonderful things he can see. From the Globe and Mail (article available online for extra shekels):

Hardly anyone seems to notice the good news from the Middle East during the past few weeks. The parting of ways between the Gaza Strip under Hamas's rule and the West Bank under the rule of moderates is a historic window of opportunity for peacemaking between Israel and the administration of Mahmoud Abbas. Both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Mr. Abbas's government accept the principle of two states for two peoples, the idea of trading land for peace and the goal of ending Israel's occupation of the territories. While there are many points of dispute, in no case does an abyss separate the two sides. Intensive negotiations can bridge these differences and produce a draft agreement.

But what about the Gaza Strip, which has fallen to Hamas and which operates under the influence of Iran and the inspiration of Hezbollah? There is reason to hope that when a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian agreement is reached, and when the creation of an independent Palestinian state removes the sway of Israeli occupation from the Palestinians there, a popular movement in Gaza will rise up against the tyrannical, religiously fanatic Hamas regime. The Gaza Strip's masses, surely, will comprehend the historic achievement of the West Bank's inhabitants, and will fight to lift the yoke of Hamas and join the Palestinian state.

Positive changes are evident in both the Olmert and Abbas governments. Israel has made a series of gestures to demonstrate its good will: It has released Palestinian prisoners, allowed Mr. Abbas's forces to equip themselves with new weapons, stopped hunting down Palestinians on its wanted list and eased up on other strictures…

Party-pooper that I am, I sent the following response:

 

Amoz Oz is cheered by what he sees as the positive developments in relations between Israel and Mahmoud Abbas, viewing the Fatah chief’s increasing moderation a chance for a lasting peace. Mr. Oz acknowledges that there might be a slight hitch here—Hamas—but insists that once everyone over in Gaza sees how well things are going in the West Bank, they “will rise up against the tyrannical, religiously fanatic Hamas regime.”

 

They will? Such wishful thinking borders on the delusional. It ignores the fact that the Palestinians have already soundly rejected Mr. Abbas, who presided over a tyrannical, inefficient and corrupt regime, albeit an ostensibly secular one. It also fails to consider that Hamas, in the grand tradition of fascists who made the trains run on time, has brought law and order to Gaza and is earning accolades from Gaza residents who have no desire to put Fatah back in charge. And there is little incentive to do so while Hamas has the backing of Iran, which supplies it with weapons and “moral” support; both Hamas and Iran remain committed to an extremist agenda that will never accept Jewish sovereignty in Israel, and won’t rest until the Jewish state has been destroyed.

 

Israel may or may not withstand the threat posed by malevolent jihadists. It seems clear, however, that it cannot and will not survive if it succumbs to the good intentions and unfounded optimism of its wishful thinkers.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:19 | link | comments (2)

Hooked on Hamza: Abu Hamza, the choleric cleric who used to heat up the jihadi laddies from his pulpit at the Finsbury Park mosque, isn’t happy about his new digs in a British prison. The nearly-blind imam, affectionately known as “Hooky” in the British media because, prior to his incarceration, he used to wield the same kind of metal claw as Peter Pan’s nemesis (the contraption was removed so he wouldn’t be able to use it as a weapon), says he’s being bullied by a bunch of “Islamophobes.”

Poor man. To cheer him up, I’ve written him a poem:

 

A cleric called Hamza the Hook

Is not just some regular shnook.

Jihad’s his agenda,

But here’s the addenda—

He failed, both by hook and by crook.

 

Hooky, in his former life

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:54 | link | comments

Bewitched, unbothered and bewildered: How are British universities dealing with the growing threat of Muslim students being radicalized on campus? They’re not. They’re depending on their “moderate” Muslim students to deal with the problem because the dhimmis in charge are more afraid of being labelled racist than they are of the holy war. From the Telegraph:

…Their [the four Muslim undergrads who were just locked away in the slammer for “glorifying Islamic terrorism”] views alarmed the university's Islamic Society, when at a meeting, Zafar [one of the undergrads] called for Muslims to kill anyone who dared re-publish Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

 

The society ejected them, but the university only became aware of the incident after the police raids.

 

A university spokesman said the society's decision to isolate the group demonstrated that moderate Muslim students were prepared to act when they came across unacceptable behaviour.

 

Up to 48 British universities have been infiltrated by fundamentalists, according to Professor Anthony Glees, the director of Brunel University's Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies. He claims that followers of Omar Bakri, the founder of the disbanded al-Muhajiroun, continue to preach on campuses.

 

A Government report published in December warned of "serious, but not widespread, Islamic extremist activity in higher education institutions".

 

Government guidance, which asks staff to log suspicious behaviour, has been rejected by the University and Colleges Union, which described it as a "witch-hunt".

 

Government guidance has evidently misunderstood the concept of the “witch-hunt”—a paranoid and mean-spirited search for dangerous enemies who are largely a figment of the hunters’ over-heated imaginations. It ain’t a witch-hunt if there are actual witches, ones bent on making Islam supreme.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:39 | link | comments

Sweety assault: A curious piece in the Telegraph by Tim Butcher, one of the Western reporters who went on a Hamas junket in Gaza. Butcher isn’t taken in by Hamas’s charm offensive—which he immediately sees as the crude propaganda it is—but his conclusion leaves something to be desired:

It was the name of the bus company chosen by Hamas to drive foreign guests around Gaza yesterday that said it all. The name was Sweety Tours.

 

The tour was meant to counter weeks of adverse publicity about the supposedly draconian nature of "Hamastan" - the name given to the Gaza Strip by critics of the Islamist movement since its violent takeover last month.

 

So for five sweaty hours, the coach from Sweety Tours took a few dozen reporters on a tour of the Gaza Strip to try to counter this image. The bus stopped at the presidential guest house - Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian national authority and Fatah leader is locked out of Gaza - to show that the gardens were being watered and the building maintained.

 

A great deal was made of the fact the portrait of Mr Abbas still hung in the main reception room. But then a few minutes later the bus passed a vast mural of Yasser Arafat, the former Fatah leader. The mural was pockmarked with fresh-looking bullet holes.

 

"We believe in freedom of speech and democracy," said Ahmed Bahar, the deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament and a senior Hamas figure.

 

His words would have sounded more convincing had the Hamas authorities in Gaza not chosen yesterday to arrest several distributors of Palestinian newspapers from the West Bank, the territory still under Fatah control.

 

The bus continued to the main prison in Gaza City, the Serai, where the cell doors were thrown open to provide access to the inmates. They all dutifully provided glowing accounts of how the administration had improved since Hamas took over.

 

None of the inmates was prepared to speak about torture even though human rights groups had documented cases allegedly committed by Hamas security forces.

 

The coach party was then taken to the main church of Gaza's tiny 204-strong Palestinian Catholic community to hear a glowing account of co-existence from the priest, Father Manuela Salaameh.

 

The bus tour was a clumsy propaganda exercise but it is worth remembering that a few weeks before Hamas came to power Alan Johnston, the BBC reporter, was being held hostage with warnings that other Western journalists would be targeted.

 

Oh, so you mean Hamas is to be applauded because under its rule Western reporters are now safe?

 

Good for the reporters, perhaps, but considering the whole wretched context of jihadis in charge of Gaza, big whoop.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:04 | link | comments

"Wiggle room," Taliban-style: Who says the Taliban aren't reasonable? Why, they've given the infidels three more hours to meet their demands, after which they promise to off the 23 Christians they've been holding hostage.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:00 | link | comments

Three strikes yer out: A blast of reason from—of all places— Ha’aretz. Danny Dayan notes the senselessness of Israel’s propping up Mahmoud Abbas, the man Israel’s leadership is desperately trying to turn into the Bashar Gemayal of our times. (Bashar was the forward-looking president of Lebanon who wanted to forge closer ties with Israel in the early 1980s—and who was assassinated for his foresight shortly after taking power.) Dayan warns of the dire consequences of leaving the West Bank to Abbas—a man who is not a Bashar, who will never be a Bashar,  but who, should Israel "disengage" and set him up in a West Bank fiefdom, would likely suffer the same fate as Bashar:

Former prime minister Ariel Sharon led Israel into two giant experiments. Most regrettably, both of them were colossal failures. Nevertheless, his successors are currently playing around with the idea of returning to his failed experiments, with the near-messianic expectation that this time they will succeed. The Big Pines campaign of the summer of 1982 was aimed at making Bashir Gemayel the ruler of Lebanon so he would sign a peace agreement with Israel and ensure the security of the northern communities. The results are known: Gemayel was elected president, but he was assassinated before he managed to be sworn in. Sharon's plan collapsed like a house of cards. Bashir's brother Amin Gemayel ignored all the understandings between the two sides. And today, after years of wars that have exacted hundreds of dead, the peace of Kiryat Shmona depends to a large extent on the mood of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

In the summer of 2005, Ariel Sharon carried out his second large experiment: the forced evacuation of thousands of Israelis from their homes and the transfer of the Gaza region to the Palestinians. For the first time a Palestinian state was established on contiguous territory, clear of any Jewish presence. Just a few months after the withdrawal and establishment of the de facto state, the Palestinians elected Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as prime minister. Hamas later took over the administrative and military mechanisms in the Gaza Strip by force. An Al-Qaida-Hezbollah-Hamas state is currently located on the Israeli border and is supported by Iran. It is raining rockets on the South each day. The diplomatic plans gathering steam these days in the offices of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Vice Premier Haim Ramon are an exact reprise of Sharon's dud operations. The plans aim to establish a "clean" Palestinian state on contiguous territory that covers nearly all of Judea and Samaria - the West Bank - just like Gaza. To prevent, supposedly, the severe damage that has been brought on us by the Gaza state, Israel will ensure the rule of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, whether or not this is what the Palestinians want, just as in Lebanon.

Abbas (Abu Mazen) is the man who wrote a doctorate on "The Secret Connection between the Nazis and the Leaders of the Zionist Movement." He was involved up to his neck in the murder of the Israeli athletes in Munich and has promised the refugees in Lebanon that they will return to their homes in Israel proper.

 

An Israeli withdrawal from most of the territories of Judea and Samaria and the establishment of a Palestinian state there will inevitably lead to the same disastrous results of the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. In the absence of Israeli settlements and the Israel Defense Forces' control of the territory, a Hamas takeover is only a matter of time. The notion that Gaza is a Hamas state whereas the West Bank is not entirely contradicts the facts. In the last regional elections to the Palestinian parliament, Hamas won 30 seats in Judea and Samaria, while Fatah won only 12. In Hebron, for example, Hamas won all nine seats.

So it is clear that without Israeli intervention, the days of Abbas and his colleagues are numbered. To prevent a Hamas takeover of a future Palestinian state, Israel will have to base its control on what the left in its wickedness likes to call "IDF spears." However, the IDF will not be there. Maintaining Abbas, without an Israeli presence on the ground, is an impossible mission. Sooner or later Abbas' fate will be like Gemayel's…

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:49 | link | comments

New Yorker's mislabelling: The this week's New Yorker, David Remnick has written a profile of Avrahum Berg, an Israeli politician and a former speaker of the Knesset whom the magazine dubs a Zionist “apostate.”

Those of us who align themselves on the opposite end of the political spectrum have another name for him: raving moonbat. That’s because Berg and his batty, self-despising ilk--exemplified by Israel's useless Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert--are ensuring that Israel will implode from a critical mass of mush-brained cluelessness long before the Arabs/Persians and their international enablers get to finish it off.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:14 | link | comments

Getting it—in part: An editorial in the International Herald Tribune is a mixed bag. It “gets it” about the perils of arming oily Wahhabists:

The Bush administration and Saudi Arabia's ruling family have a lot in common, including oil, shared rivals like Iran and a penchant for denial that has allowed both to overlook the Saudis' enabling role in the Sept. 11 attacks. But their recent wrangling over Iraq cannot be denied or papered over with proposals for a big new arms sale. And if these differences are not tackled, there is an increased likelihood that the war's chaos will spread far beyond Iraq's borders.

While Washington hasn't protested publicly, Riyadh is pouring money into Sunni opposition groups and letting Saudis cross the border to join Sunni insurgents fighting the U.S.-backed, Shiite-led government. Washington estimates that nearly half of the 60 to 80 foreign fighters entering Iraq each month come from Saudi Arabia.

So far, neither Washington nor Riyadh is spending any time thinking about containing the chaos that will follow the inevitable U.S. withdrawal. The only good news is that President Bush is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Saudi Arabia for what we hope will be a frank discussion.

A failed Iraqi state with Saudi Islamists holed up in Qaeda sanctuaries in its western deserts is clearly not in the interests of the Saudi monarchy. But for Rice and Gates to have any chance of changing Saudi policies, they will have to go beyond the administration's usual mix of bullying and denial and address legitimate Saudi concerns.

One such concern is Iran, which is bankrolling and training Shiite militias, building a power base in Shiite areas of Iraq and drawing the prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, into its orbit. Iran's expanding influence poses a major threat to Saudi Arabia.

Then again, the editorial doesn’t “get it” about Iran, Saudi Arabia, their rivalry—which divides them—and the jihad imperative—which unites them:

After years of mistaken U.S. policy in Iraq, that threat cannot simply be conjured away. Washington needs to face up to these issues, sit down with Tehran and work out mutually acceptable solutions to these issues that the Saudis can live with as well...

Yeah, I’m sure Iran's crazed almost-nuclear theocrats, eagerly awaiting the long-deferred return of their Messiah (he fell down a well in the 9^th Century and hasn’t been heard from since), as well as the untuous Wahhabists, whose oil wealth funds the export of their toxic theology/jihadism to all points of the planet, are just itching to sit down and hash things out with Great Satan—and each other.

 

Good thinking, IHT opiner.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:24 | link | comments

Depressed Swedes: According to the 640 radio report I heard about an hour ago, the death of Woody Allen’s favourite film director, Ingmar Bergman, at the age of 89 is said to have “cast a pall” over Sweden.

Yeah, because they were such chuckleheads before he died.

 

The Bloomberg article about Bergman’s passing is the only one I’ve read so far that mentions Bergman’s “dirty little secret”—a youthful fling with Nazism:

The son of a priest, Bergman described his own childhood as based on concepts such as sin and confession, punishment in the form of brutal floggings, forgiveness and grace. Bergman settled the score with his father, Erik, with the partly autobiographical ``Fanny and Alexander,'' where a stern, Lutheran bishop torments his stepchildren.

Bergman said his authoritarian upbringing may have contributed to an ``astonishing acceptance of Nazism'' before World War II, a stance for which he was later deeply apologetic.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:01 | link | comments

Advantage, Hamas: Hamas’s victory in Gaza wasn’t only a loss for Fatah. As the Wall Street Journal reports, it was also an immense loss for the U.S. and Israel, whose intelligence and security systems may have been seriously compromised:

When the Islamist group Hamas conquered the Gaza Strip in June it seized an intelligence-and-military infrastructure created with U.S. help by the security chiefs of the Palestinian territory's former ruler.

According to current and former Israeli intelligence officials, former U.S. intelligence personnel and Palestinian officials, Hamas has increased its inventory of arms since the takeover of Gaza and picked up technical expertise -- such as espionage techniques -- that could assist the group in its fight against Israel or Washington's Palestinian allies, the Fatah movement founded by Yasser Arafat.

Hamas leaders say they acquired thousands of paper files, computer records, videos, photographs and audio recordings containing valuable and potentially embarrassing intelligence information gathered by Fatah. For more than a decade, Fatah operated a vast intelligence network in Gaza established under the tutelage of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Hamas leaders are expected as early as tomorrow to go public with some of the documents and the secrets they hold.

The exact nature of the threat posed by the intelligence grab in Gaza -- including any damage to U.S. intelligence operations in the Palestinian territories and the broader Middle East -- is difficult to ascertain. U.S. and Israeli officials generally tried to play down any losses, saying any intelligence damage is likely minimal.

But a number of former U.S. intelligence officials, including some who have worked closely with the Palestinians, said there was ample reason to worry that Hamas has acquired access to important spying technology as well as intelligence information that could be helpful to Hamas in countering Israeli and U.S. efforts against the group.

"People are worried, and reasonably so, about what kind of intelligence losses we may have suffered," said one former U.S. intelligence official with extensive experience in Gaza.

A U.S. government official said he doubted serious secrets were compromised in the Gaza takeover. Other officials said they had no reason to believe that U.S. spying operations elsewhere in the Arab world had been compromised.

Close ties between Hamas and the governments of Iran and Syria also mean that intelligence-and-spying techniques could be shared with the main Middle East rivals of the Bush administration. As the White House prepares to lead an international effort to bolster Fatah's security apparatus in the West Bank, the losses in Gaza stand as an example of how efforts to help Fatah can backfire…

A lesson the White House, as well as Parliament Hill, has yet to learn.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:32 | link | comments

Wahhabi Scouts: Don’t look now, but another icon of Western civilization is being Islamized. From Arab News:

JEDDAH, 30 July 2007 — One hundred and fifty Saudi scouts from across the Kingdom are currently participating in the 21st World Scout Jamboree, which is being held in the United Kingdom. Over 155 countries are participating in the event to celebrate the centenary of the scouting movement. The World Scout Jamboree began on July 27 and will conclude on Aug. 8.

 

Prince Mohammed ibn Nawwaf, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and Ireland, will visit the Saudi delegation in London today accompanied by Minister of Education Dr. Abdullah Al-Obaid.

 

Britain’s Prince William helped open the event on Saturday as 40,000 people from around the globe gathered to celebrate the centenary of scouting. Prince William, 25, who is second in line to the throne, sipped tea in a traditional Bedouin tent erected by Saudi scouts and bashed out a rhythm on an African drum as he joined in with an international band.

 

Speaking about the general situation of Saudi scouts, Abdullah Al-Fahad, secretary-general of the Saudi Boy Scouts Association (SBSA) and deputy-president of the Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, said their numbers are swelling due to support from families, schools, universities and sports clubs.

 

Al-Fahad said, “We now have around 100,000 Saudi scouts and 15,000 guides. We hope to increase the number of scouts each year by at least five percent.”…

 

Oh, that William--he's a chip off the old blockhead.

 

The set-up of Scouts and Guides is ideal for those pursuing an Islamist agenda because the genders are already separated, as per the requirements of sharia law:

 

He (Al-Fahad) added that Saudi girl guides also have important roles to play, which should not be underestimated. The Saudi Girl Guide Association functions separately under the supervision of Islamic scholar and university lecturer Fatima Naseef.

 

Along with earning the usual merit badges, Saudi Scouts (but, for obvious reasons, not Guides) can demonstrate their good citizenship by helping others fulfill one of their Islamic duties:

 

The secretary-general added that 3,000 Saudi boy scouts will be deployed during the upcoming Haj to guide pilgrims using state-of-the-art GPS technology. To this end, an e-map of Mina and Arafat will be produced to enable scouts to guide pilgrims using GPS. “The software for the map is ready. In the meantime, we shall train scouts in the use of GPS technology, so that they could locate the areas to which pilgrims, who have lost their way, could go.”

 

And consider this: once they outgrow scouting, the helpful lads will be the perfect age to become martyrs for Allah.

Posted by: scaramouche at 09:50 | link | comments

Saudi slime: As the Bush administration gets set to sell weapons to the oily Wahhabists, an editorial by Youssef Ibrahim in the New York Sun itemizes why that’s not such a good idea:

• In the past 30 years, Saudi charities, government funds, and the Saudi royal family itself have sent thousands of wild-eyed, bearded, sandaled Saudi jihadists as fodder to wars in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Lebanon, and now Iraq.

• The CIA and British and Iraqi intelligence agencies estimate that a majority of the suicide bombers in Iraq today, as well as 40% of the foreign fighters sneaking in to kill Shiite Iraqis and American troops, are Saudi citizens. No coincidences or "slip-ups" can explain that number. Moreover, a former American ambassador to Kuwait and Jordan, Edward Gnehm says Saudi emissaries are lobbying the oil-rich Sunni ruling families of Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates for funds and fighters in the struggle against Shiites in Iraq.

• The 1987 founding of Hamas — a Palestinian Arab terrorist group that originally was the Gaza wing of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and whose leaders then resided in Saudi Arabia — was overwhelmingly a Saudi-financed project undertaken by Islamic charities, including those of Mr. Rajhi.

• Half the terrorists killed by the Lebanese army in the ongoing siege at the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in Lebanon, which began in May, have turned out to be Saudi jihadist fighters.

The myth of Saudi Arabia as a stabilizing power, a friend of America, or a bulwark against Islamist radicalism is just a fairy tale concocted by well-paid Saudi lobbyists on K Street in Washington, a group that includes some former senior American officials. The Saudi Arabia we have painfully come to know for the last two decades is a two-headed monster ruled by the alliance of its hallucinating jihadist priesthood and its ruling family's dilettante princes. The former are on a fanatical mission to proselytize on behalf of radical Islam. The latter see nothing wrong with dropping a few million at roulette tables in Monaco, picking up a few expensive prostitutes on the way to their yachts, then heading to a mosque for dawn prayers on the French Riviera…

In other words, the custodians of the two holy mosques—who arrogate to themselves the Earthly pleasures that are only available to horny young “martyrs” as a posthumous reward, the incentive for their martyrdom—are a bunch of royal hyprocrites. And extremely dangerous ones, to boot.

Posted by: scaramouche at 09:22 | link | comments

Dopplegangers: Ever noticed how a certain waxen but still vital potentate bears a freaky resemblance to a certain Jewish snake-tongued rocker?

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:21 | link | comments

Truth vs. “narrative”: Israeli writer Assaf Wohl is withering in his contempt for the decision to add the Arab perspective to Arab-Israeli textbooks. From YNet News:

A few years ago, falafel balls adorned with the Israeli flag were being handed out at the University of Haifa ahead of Independence Day. An Arab student who studied with me came over and said with a smile: "Look at that. You even stole our food from us, the Palestinians, and put your flag on it." That was his "narrative." "Look at that," I responded. "You stole from us the belief in one God, Abraham our forefather, our only country, and in addition to all that you also stole my uncle's Mitsubishi." That was my "narrative." 

For some reason, whenever I hear the word "narrative" I immediately sense the stench of lies tickling my Jewish nostrils. I found this word too often in articles written by those "new historians," who in order to advance their anti-Israeli and post-Zionist ideas invented the term "narrative."

"Narrative," just like "occupation," always works only one way. This word is used today as a nice wrapping paper that covers the miserable adventure which Land of Israel Arabs were dragged into in 1948.

We can simply say that during that year they chose to "drown the Jews in rivers of blood" and failed. Many of them apparently regret it to this day. Instead of drawing the right conclusions and attempting to live in peace with their Jewish neighbors, their leaders constantly seek to undermine the Israeli flag, as can be attested to by the mustache of former Knesset Member Bishara, which recently became ever-so-closer to Nasrallah's beard.

It is no secret that post-Zionist historians have turned history into irrelevant post-history. Instead of describing events in a manner that approaches objectivity as much as is possible (as there is no such thing as pure objectivity,) they tend to rewrite them. 

 

Paradoxically, these approaches, which make pretenses of presenting the point of view on both sides, argue that only one moral side exists – the Arabic-speaking side. Now, it turns out that school curriculums will be formulated based on this premise as well…

 

Once moral equivalence has rushed in—and turned a critical mass of brains to mush—it’s more or less game over for the side facing the existential threat.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:10 | link | comments

Come again?: In light of this, does this make any sense at all?

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:57 | link | comments

Club Med Gaza: So what if they’re a bunch of genocidal jihadis whose charter calls for the extermination of the Jews? In the grand tradition of totalitarians past, at least they make the trains run on time (metaphorically speaking, of course). And in the same grand tradition, gullible media types continue to swallow the b.s. of clever fascists bent on sprucing up their image. From the Seattle Times:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — If you think of the Gaza Strip as a volatile, violent battleground run by fanatic Islamist militants bent on destroying Israel, Hamas wants you to think again.

Think: "Safe, clean and green."

One month after seizing the Gaza Strip in a military rout that shattered brittle Palestinian unity, Hamas is embarking on a radical marketing campaign to promote what it calls "the new face of Gaza."

They call it the "Gaza Riviera."

Lime-green Hamas banners flutter over Gaza City with a message in English for aid workers and journalists worried about being kidnapped: "No more threat for our foreign visitors and guests."

Bearded gunmen in blue-gray camouflage uniforms who helped seize control of Gaza now rush to settle routine neighborhood squabbles and family disputes.

Once-deserted Mediterranean beaches now are filled with dozens of families holding picnics to escape the summer heat until long after midnight.

Monday, Hamas is planning to take journalists on a special tour, from the packed beaches to the bullet-scarred security compounds its Islamist fighters overran last month when they ousted Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

While the United States and Israel are working to help Abbas transform the West Bank into a model of pro-Western modernity — and isolate and marginalize Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the process — Hamas is working to assure the world that it has no plans to turn the Gaza Strip into a Taliban-style police state.

"This is our new Riviera," boasted Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar. "This is the most secure period in the history of Gaza."…

Sounds like a regular Côte d'Azur—‘cept for the gunmen and burkinis.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:23 | link | comments

Compatible worlds: Calling all “Islamophobes.” Muslim scholars want you to know that there’s no reason to be phobic about the one true faith since Islam and the other Abrahamic faiths are completely simpatico. The scholars were responding to Pope Benedict’s Islamophobic assertion that Islam poses a threat to Europe’s Christian heritage. From Islam Online:

Islamic values are no threat to Europe's identity as they are found in Christian and Jewish scriptures, but Islamophobes are fueling anti-Islam sentiments in the continent, Muslim scholars said on Saturday, July 28.

 

"Islamic values pose no threat to Europe," Mudr Khugah, the personal envoy of the Islamic Religious Authority in Austria, told IslamOnline.net on Saturday, July 28.

 

"These values, just as justice, peace and equality, are found in Christianity and Judaism; so there is nothing to fear," he added.

 

Pope Benedict VXI's private secretary Georg Gaenswein has called for defending Europe's "Christian roots" against the Islamic values which threaten the European identity.

 

In an interview with the German weekly Sueddeutsche, Gaenswein also defended last year's speech by Pope Benedict XVI, which associated Islam with violence, saying that Islam was a "religion of extremes" and have extremists who "invoke the Qur'an in their actions and use arms."

 

Sheikh Hussein Halawa, imam of the Islamic and cultural center in Dublin, dismissed Gaenswein's statements.

 

"Islamic values are all about peace, fraternity and equality," he said.

 

He said Islam does tolerate the other.

 

"The Qur'an says 'there is no compulsion in religion,'" he added.

Halawa said Muslims in Europe are an integral part of their societies.

 

"Europeans, accordingly, have to respect their religious values."

 

Ali Abu Shema, the head of the Milan Islamic center, saw Gaenswein's warnings "shallow" and "unrealistic."

 

"Most Europeans see Islam as a religion that promotes tolerance and peace," he said.

 

He cited a recent poll in the Italian city of Milan which found that 68 percent of its residents saw Islam in a favorable light and that 62 percent did not oppose the construction of a grand mosque in the city.

 

"Unfortunately, extremists' statements always make headlines."

 

Islamophobia

Hussein Hamed, a member of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), described Gaenswein's statements a step backward.

 

"These statements are reminiscent of ages that repressed freedom of religion and trampled on human rights," he said.

 

"Such statements symbolize fanaticism," fumed the scholar.

 

"What is the big deal if Islamic values find ground in the East or the West?" he wondered. "Human beings can choose what suit them best and judge themselves whether they really enhance progress and development."

Muslim scholars blamed the spiraling Islamophobia in the West for anti-Islam statements...

 

Yeah, all that spiraling must be about ‘slamophobia and have nothing to do with legitimate concerns re jihad, terrorism, dhimmitude and sharia law.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:04 | link | comments

A widow laments: The widow of the terrorist in charge of the 7/7 London attacks says she still prays for her late husband. In an interview with Sky News, Hasmina Patel insisted that the man she married was a real sweetie until he underwent an unfortunate transformation. From the Sunday Times:

…Ms Patel fell in love with Khan in 1997 when they were students at Leeds Metropolitan University. “He seemed sensible and polite, a good family man and he came from a good family.”

During the eight years that she spent with him, he transformed from a moderate young man to one who was interested in religious fundamentalism and then active jihad. But she insisted that she had no idea he was involved with extremists.

“We were trying to be good Muslims and, in our religion, we are told that men and women have to be segregated. I never sat in the same room with his friends, he never sat in the same room as my friends, so it is a completely different life.”

She felt that Khan was becoming distant and they had argued frequently. “I didn’t really know what was going on. I knew there was something, like he seemed . . . I thought maybe it is a phase, maybe he is depressed, he is always out with his friends, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.”…

Orthodox Jews sit separately during religious services too, but, remarkably enough, no Hasid has ever strapped on a bomb and blown up a crowd of civilians in the name of Jehovah.

 

Might that be because the seating issue takes a back seat to a little something you can find in the Koran that you won’t find in the Torah: the jihad imperative?

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:30 | link | comments

Jihad’s fearful helpers: Toronto Sun columnist Salim Mansour says “moderate” Muslims and Western liberals are both afraid to speak out against the scourge of radical Islam, but for two different reasons. Muslims are afraid to speak out for fear of being branded apostates; liberals are afraid of being labelled racist.

This state of denial, writes Mansour, is calamitous because it has allowed "Islamist murderers (to) reap their harvest of the innocent dead."

He might have added that it is also helping to facilitate Islamic primacy by allowing the jihad to slip in through the open window of multiculturalism--as in the case of the well-meaning, liberal-minded nincompoops of VisionTV, who broadcast radical Pakistani cleric Dr. Israr Ahmed over their excruciatingly politically correct airwaves for two years.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:12 | link | comments

Criticising Nic: Slick Nic Sarkozy is bent on helping the Libyan waxwork construct a nuclear reactor—in exchange for lots of coin, of course. But at least one of France’s EU partners isn’t too keen on the idea. From AFP via Expatica:

BERLIN, July 27, 2007 (AFP) - Criticism of France's plans to build a nuclear reactor in Libya mounted in Germany on Friday, with the Greens accusing President Nicolas Sarkozy of behaving recklessly.

 

"This is reckless, nationalistic activism on the part of President Sarkozy," the co-president of the environmentalist party, Richard Buetikofer told the daily Passauer Neuen Presse.

 

"I am not surprised that he is suddenly calling (Libyan leader Moammer) Kadhafi a great democrat," he said, adding that France was making it easier for Libya to "reach for nuclear arms."

 

"Kadhafi may have vowed to give up the quest for nuclear fire power but can one really believe a dictator?"

Sarkozy signed a memorandum on building a nuclear reactor for water desalination in Libya after talks with Kadhafi on Thursday, a day after Tripoli freed six foreign medics from jail after an eight-year ordeal.

 

The step has drawn widespread criticism, not least in Germany with its strong anti-nuclear lobby and official plans to phase out nuclear power by around 2020.

German Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Gernot Erler said "politically this is a problematic affair."

 

"Above all the risk of proliferation increases with every country using nuclear energy," he told Friday's edition of the Handelsblatt daily.

 

Gert Weisskirchen, a spokesman for Germany's Social Democrats, who are part of the country's ruling coalition, said it is wise to treat Libya with pragmatism, but asked: "Does one have to start with a nuclear plant?"…

 

Excellent question. Herr Weisskirchen (whose name, if I recall my High School German correctly, means “white church”). France could have started with something smaller, say like encouraging genocide and helping a repellent Arab potentate stay in power.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:48 | link | comments

Inhale, exhale, kaboom: Iran says it can’t possibly put the brakes on its nuclear program because, to the mad theocrats, enrichment is akin to breathing. From the Tehran Times:

TEHRAN (The Independent& The Guardian)-- Iran has issued its strongest signal to date that it will defy UN demands for a suspension of uranium enrichment threatening to respond to any further sanctions and accusing the Americans of ""running away"" from negotiations to end the crisis over the Iranian nuclear program.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani told The Independent and The Guardian that uranium enrichment was ""like breathing"" for his country, and that Iran would not halt the spinning centrifuges at its main enrichment plant in Natanz, even if the Bush administration offered security guarantees. Mr.

Larijani was unusually forthcoming about his negotiations with the European foreign policy envoy, Javier Solana, who has been trying to coax Iran back to the negotiating table while the UN Security Council prepares a new round of economic sanctions. The Europeans have taken the lead in dealing with Iran, which has not had diplomatic relations with Washington since 1979.

They want Iran to suspend uranium enrichment as a precondition for negotiations.

This has been rejected.

The Iranians say that the last time they agreed to a voluntary suspension, a three-week suspension ended up lasting two and a half years.

They say they will not be caught out again. Tehran has made clear that it will not suspend enrichment as the UN Security Council has demanded, despite two earlier rounds of financial, travel and arms sanctions.

A decision on a third round has been put off until September.

""If there is another resolution, we will react with whatever we have,"" the senior official told western journalists.

""So far we have answered legally, limiting (UN) inspections, and reducing cooperation with the IAEA within the legal framework. ""But if there is no legal option left, it is obvious we will be tempted to do illegal things.

What is very important to us is our dignity, and we are prepared to act."" Iranian officials made it clear that one option was a formal break with the treaty and a total severance of relations with the IAEA, like North Korea in 2003. However, said the senior official, unlike North Korea Iran had no intention of building a nuclear bomb, even though he said it had now installed enough uranium-enriching centrifuges to make one. Ali Larijani added that if Iran produced a single bomb ""what is it good for? If we attack Israeli with one bomb, America would attack us with thousands of bombs.

It's suicide."" …

Right, Mr. Taqiyah-Spouter, because no one in Iran wants to do that. 

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:15 | link | comments (1)

Condi hearts Islam: U.S. Secretary of State has reiterated the Bush administration’s position that Islam is a warm 'n' cuddly religion—and a very “fast-growing” one, too, which means that every day there are more Muslim voters. From Islam Online:

CAIRO — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has praised Islam as one of the fastest-growing religions in the United States, commending Muslims as part and parcel of American society.

"We here in the United States could never disrespect Islam because Islam is a part of us," Rice told the US-funded Al-Hurra satellite channel in an interview published on the State Department's website.

"Islam is a very fast-growing religion in the United States."

Rice said the US administration does hold Islam in high esteem.

"We could never disrespect Islam because we know that it is a great faith and a peaceful faith," she said.

"We could never respect -- disrespect Islam by believing that the violent people who kill innocent people and chant the names of Islam really represent the future of the Middle East and the future of the Arab world."

There are between six to seven million Muslims in the United States, making up less than three percent of the country's 300 million population.

A recent poll showed that US Muslims are largely moderate and well integrated into society.

Last April, Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff described the Muslim minority in the US as a success story because Muslims are well integrated into society…

Ms. Rice and Mr. Chertoff are far too polite to mention the alarming percentage of young’uns who, according to a recent Pew poll of Muslim Americans, think that suicide bombing is permissible in certain circumstances. But I’m sure that, as in other Western societies, they represent an tiny, aberrant thread in the weave.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:00 | link | comments (2)

Money madness: The West has pinned its hopes for “peace” on Mahmoud Abbas, the head of an irredeemably corrupt outfit, Fatah, which has been scorned by most Palestinians. Abbas is seen as the way forward, the only alternative to Hamas, the jihadis who rule Gaza. But, despite what we’re told is an unbridgeable chasm between the two factions, Abbas, whose “regime,” such as it is, is awash in Western cash, has earmarked a large portion of it to help bolter Hamas. Not that Hamas needs any help. It has plenty of its own moolah to spread around:

Could the problem here be that there’s too much money, not too little?

 

From YNet News:

…Abbas' government is replete with ministers of tourism, transportation, agriculture, and other important ministries. Yet everything is virtual. The Palestinians in the Territories refer to the Salem Fayyad government as the "government of salaries."

Indeed, the Palestinian Treasury has enough money to pay salaries for many months to come. The Western world, which views radical Islam as the enemy, blindly follows Abbas' declarations and continues to hand over large sums of money. Abbas sends the money to Gaza and helps stabilize the Hamas rule there.

 

Muhammad from Jabaliya doesn't care who pays his salary – Abbas or Haniyeh, Israel or Iran. For him, the important thing is that the money arrives and enables him to buy food for his children.

 

Meanwhile, the Hamas rule in Gaza is stabilizing, partly thanks to the money Israel has transferred to Abbas, who proceeded to transfer it to more than 100,000 Gazans in the form of monthly salaries.

 

Hamas is conducting itself very wisely. Law and order prevails, there are no weapons on the streets besides the ones held by government forces, and no clan disputes. Even the market stalls at Palestine Square have been removed, and traffic is flowing.

 

The introduction of Islam by the regime is being undertaken at a slow pace, but consistently and with determination. Hamas has no shortage of money either, and it pads the pockets of its new supporters with welfare and aid funds…

 

Thus does Israel’s imbecilic leadership fund its enemies and pave the way for Israel’s ruin.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:05 | link | comments

Perfect fit: Two months ago that bastion of “human rights,” Egypt, proudly took its place on the UN’s Human Rights Council. In so doing, it joined the other repressive tyrannies who serve as the arbiters of international rights. The election of a nation whose idea of “human rights” entails the rights of the state to hassle, mistreat and murder humans occasioned some criticism. However, Egypt’s Foreign Minister was quick to assure everyone that his country did indeed belong in such esteemed company, and of his country's continuing commitment to the HRC's conception of rights. From MEMRI:

…Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit stated that Egypt's gaining membership in the U.N. Council is a new proof of Egypt's esteem and respect in the eyes of the international community. According to him, this achievement is a clear answer to all attempts to question political reform in Egypt and to denigrate the progress achieved by Egypt in the area of human rights. Al-Gheit added that, as a council member, Egypt will promote international legislation prohibiting insults to religions and will work to reinforce the humanitarian law and to protect civilians in armed conflicts. [1]

Egypt's Ambassador to the U.N. Magd Abd Al-Fatah also expressed satisfaction over Egypt's gaining membership in the U.N. Human Rights Council. He stated that it reflects international faith in Egypt and endorses its leadership in developing standards for human rights in Africa. He further assessed that "Egypt would act in cooperation with the other member countries in order to end the international community's policies of double standard, politization, and selective treatment in human rights issues." According to him, Egypt is against the imposition of international standards for human rights that are opposed to cultural and religious principles of the Arab societies." ^[2]…

Yup. It should fit right in.

Posted by: scaramouche at 09:25 | link | comments

Hot to trot: Self-described global warming activist Laurie David, a woman whose Jimmy Choo-shod carbon footprints are, ironically, humungous, has been caught with her pants down. (Via Tim Blair).

Looks like Larry, that petulant troll, has more excuse than ever to curb his enthusiasm.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:53 | link | comments

VisionTV’s blindness: Stewart Bell has another instalment of the VisionTV saga. In today’s episode, the wealthy Pakistani-Canadian from Edmonton who’s been producing The Dr. Israr Ahmad Hour, a.k.a. Dil Dil Pakistan, explains that “he bought the rights to Dr. Ahmad’s videos and began airing them at least two years ago (emphasis added) because they were among the few that discussed the Koran in English.” He had no idea that the man doing the discussing was the author of such hateful material.

Yeah, no doubt the news took him by complete surprise.

 

Meanwhile, back in Pakistan, Dr. Israr Ahmad has issued a statement in which he “strongly refutes the impression that he hated Jews or held anti-Semitic views.” Ahmad says he couldn’t possibly hold such views because “our Prophet Muhammmad, the last of the Prophets himself, was a Semitic.”

 

Good point, Issy. 'Course, that didn't stop Mo the Semitic from waging jihad against and slaughtering the Jewish Semitics in Medina way back when.

 

Bob Roberts, VisionTV’s CEO, insists that Dr. Ahmad has been allowed to appear on the air for so long due to some “internal lapses”—the same kind of lapses, apparently, that allowed Ahmad back on the air last Saturday, a day after Roberts’s assurance that the jihad-preachin’ Jew-hater’s VisionTV career was over. (Roberts explained that “lapse” as being the result of a “mix-up.” Something along the lines of "the dog ate the producer’s homework.")

 

Not exactly a tight ship you’re running there, Bob. The name “Titanic” springs to mind.

 

Now that the jihadi cat has been let out of the bag, the producers of Dil Dil Pakistan have been forced to issue an apology, and at least feign contrition. Here’s the statement that will be read on the air:

Recently, Dr. Israr Ahmad appeared as a presenter on the program Dil Dil Pakistan, broadcast on Saturdays on VisionTV. The National Post subsequently reported that Dr. Ahmad had made offensive remarks about people of the Jewish community in past speeches and writings. His appearance on this program deeply troubled a number of people and we apologize for any offence that was unknowingly caused. The producer of Dil Dil Pakistan has voluntarily removed Mr. Ahmad as a speaker on any future broadcast of Dil Dil Pakistan. It was never the intention of the producer, or of VisionTV, to offend viewers or to suggest in any way that hatred or violence towards people of other faiths or cultures is acceptable under any circumstances. VisionTV's goal--one which we have been successfully pursuing for decades --is to build bridges of understanding amongst Canadians of different faith and cultural backgrounds. Dil Dil Pakistan and programs like it provide windows into other cultures and religions. Dialogue is the best solution. We may from time to time make mistakes, but we will not waver from this focus.

Shut the window. The jihad is getting inside.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:47 | link | comments

A rhyme for our time: This one’s for Nic, the French P.M., who, disappointingly but in the tradition of his ambitious predecessors, is interested in extending France’s influence in the world. Nic, on a visit to the continent where his nation formerly had some colonial holdings, has had a brilliant idée : “Eurafrica”

As if Eurabia wasn’t bad enough. (Eurafrica, Eurabia—why not call the whole kit and caboodle by its Orwellian name: Oceania?)

 

Yesterday on its front page, the Globe and Mail featured a lovely, full-color photo of Nic and Moo Moo, striding side by side—a portent of things to come. The sight inspired the following flight of verse:

 

A potentate known as Gadhafi

Preened and posed like a boastful giraffi.

Now that things are so rosy

With Nic’las Sarkozy

Seems Gadhafi has had the last laughi.

Posted by: scaramouche at 09:26 | link | comments

A question of priorities: The Liberal government of Ontario had a million dollars to squander on the Ontario Cricket Association—not exactly an outfit that deals with society’s have-nots—but it couldn’t find any funds to help out desperate parents who have children with autism.

Shame on Dalton McGuinty—and shame on us if we don’t turf him out.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:53 | link | comments

A possible new career for Lindsay Lohan?: Report: panel finds astronauts flying drunk.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:45 | link | comments (1)

Corruption in Ontario: Call me hard-hearted, but I will shed no tears for Mike Colle, the Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (and my M.P.P.) who resigned from his cabinet post today due to some hanky-panky over at his ministry. Seems a few “generous” folks over there were handing out oodles of cash to some groups—many of them ethnic-types—with no paper work and few questions asked. A report has just been released slamming the practice, although it insists that these handouts had nothing whatever to do with providing anyone with added incentive to vote Liberal.

Uh huh.

From CP via 680 News:

…Although Auditor General Jim McCarter found there was no evidence Premier Dalton McGuinty's government doled out year-end grants to Liberal-friendly ethnic groups, he said the province rushed money out the door without adequate accountability or transparency.

The process for awarding the grants was not ``open, transparent or accountable'' and decisions were made in Colle's office without much consultation with ministry staff, he said.

``Decisions were based on conversations, not applications,'' McCarter said, adding many organizations said they weren't even aware how the minister knew they needed the money.

``More could have been done and quite frankly, more should have been done,'' he said.

Colle said he was under ``time constraints,'' was personally familiar with the organizations and had ``to get the money out the door quickly,'' McCarter said.

That's not good enough, McCarter added.

``We said you had enough time to do a lot more and you should have done a lot more,'' he said.

Although McCarter said he doesn't think the organizations received the money because they donated to the Liberal party, he said the lack of a formal application process left the government open to accusations of ``favouritism.''

Some organizations got cash when they didn't really need the money, McCarter added. The Ontario Cricket Association requested $150,000 but got $1 million, he said.

``You need a better process in place,'' he said. ``There were serious flaws with the process. When you're spending this kind of money, you shouldn't be loosening accountability controls so you can get the money out the door.''

McGuinty reluctantly called upon the auditor general to review the year-end grants doled out to multicultural groups by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration in the wake of mounting criticism.

Opposition critics argued many of the groups had ties to the Liberal party and that no formal application process existed for handing out the grants _ the latter of which the Liberals did admit to.

The Liberals initially voted down an opposition motion to have the province's auditor examine how the grants were doled out, adding fuel to the scandal that dominated legislative business for about two weeks.

Instead, the Liberals passed a motion urging the grant beneficiaries to account for their spending and to report back within six months _ a deadline that would have been after the Oct. 10 election.

While the Liberals succumbed to the pressure and called for the review, many suggest the timing of the report's release was strategic so as not to dominate debate just prior to the election.

Speaking at a press conference Thursday, McGuinty insisted that his government would implement the recommendations of the Auditor General's report.

"Helping newcomers to Ontario, from all over the world, is the right thing to do, and the smart thing to do, but it must be done in an open, transparent and accountable way," said McGuinty.

"I want to thank the Auditor, who found examples of unacceptable administration of this program - and we are going to fix it," said McGuinty.

"From now on, support for capital projects in ethno-cultural communities will be administered like support for other infrastructure projects - through a set fund administered by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal, based on stringent criteria, and as a budget item that is set out at the start of a fiscal year."…

A little bit after the fact, I’d say.

 

Dalton McSquinty has an election on the horizon, and is hoping Ontarians will forgive and forget this “minor” indiscretion when it comes time to cast a ballot.  

 

I’m hoping they give the dreadful McSquinty his walking papers.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:22 | link | comments (3)

Back to the future: While many in the West are cheering the victory of Reced Tayyip Erdogan’s “modern” Islamists in Turkey (and the Toronto Star’s Harpoon Siddiqui uses the occasion to lash out at the West for failing to be sufficiently receptive to Reced’s style of Islamism), others, like the Ottawa Citizen’s David Warren, are far less sanguine about it. From RealClear Politics:

…Turkey has been an unconscious model, for Western occupiers trying to guide political developments in Iraq and Afghanistan. She cannot be a conscious model, because the U.S. and allies have never been prepared to do what Ataturk did to create a civil order, nor what the U.S. and allies themselves did when they imposed democracy upon Germany and Japan after the Second World War.

President Bush's hopeful idea from the beginning, was that democracy would spread through the Arab and Muslim world, in the same way it had spread through central and eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He seems sincerely to believe, to this day, that freedom and democracy are things all human beings want, and will have, if only they aren't prevented from obtaining it. Hence, the rather naïve efforts to endow Iraq and Afghanistan with paper constitutions, and in Iraq especially, the failure of the country's politicians to agree to anything. (In President Karzai, Afghanistan has had something more like a strongman.)

Without a George Washington, I doubt the United States itself could have become anything like the vast free republic that emerged. On the other hand, without the cultural and social order that the U.S. inherited from colonial times, a Gen. Washington was inconceivable.

In retrospect, Ataturk is a man who strides through history more as a brilliantly successful Pinochet, than the failed Washington he could easily have been. In free and fair elections on Sunday, the Turkish people again voted a mild but expressly "Islamist" party to power (the Justice and Development Party, whose Turkish initials are A.K.P.) -- this time by a landslide, despite all the alarmed reservations about it expressed by Turkey's own diminishing Westernized, urbane, secular middle class.

As I've written several times before (most recently June 20th), there is every demographic and political indication that Turkey's "secular" experiment is ending. It went sufficiently against the grain of an Islamic society to begin with. Over time, the prestige of Islam revived, and by presenting themselves as only moderate Islamists, whose main intention is to clean up corruption, and deliver welfare services more efficiently to the country's poor, the A.K.P. has cleverly insinuated itself into the hearts and minds of the people who still have most of the children.

Let that be a lesson to us. The Islamic world is not going to become more Western and "modern" over time. For Turkey was the farthest "West" any Islamic society could be taken, and then only by force. We must confront that reality plainly, and stop dreaming that "democracy" will make the Muslims just like us.

So Turkey beats on, a boat against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:29 | link | comments (1)

Nuclear charge: France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy, pictured today on the front page of the Globe and Mail walking beside a triumphant, if waxen, Moo Moo Gadaffi, says there is absolutely no truth to the rumour that those Belgian medics were ransomed for France’s help in building a Libyan nuclear reactor.

So don’t go accusing him of such infamy!

Posted by: scaramouche at 09:42 | link | comments (2)

American madrassas: To paraphrase Miss Jean Brodie in her prime, “Give the Saudis a young child at an impressionable age, and he/she is theirs for life.” From NRO:

Unless we counteract the influence of Saudi money on the education of the young, we’re going to find it very difficult to win the war on terror. I only wish I was referring to Saudi-funded madrassas in Pakistan. Unfortunately, I’m talking about K-12 education in the United States. Believe it or not, the Saudis have figured out how to make an end-run around America’s K-12 curriculum safeguards, thereby gaining control over much of what children in the United States learn about the Middle East. While we’ve had only limited success paring back education for Islamist fundamentalism abroad, the Saudis have taken a surprising degree of control over America’s Middle-East studies curriculum at home.

Game, Set, Match
How did they do it? Very carefully...and very cleverly. It turns out that the system of federal subsidies to university programs of Middle East Studies (under Title VI of the Higher Education Act) has been serving as a kind of Trojan horse for Saudi influence over American K-12 education. Federally subsidized Middle East Studies centers are required to pursue public outreach. That entails designing lesson plans and seminars on the Middle East for America’s K-12 teachers. These university-distributed teaching aids slip into the K-12 curriculum without being subject to the normal public vetting processes. Meanwhile, the federal government, which both subsidizes and lends its stamp of approval to these special K-12 course materials on the Middle East, has effectively abandoned oversight of the program that purveys them (Title VI).

Enter the Saudis. By lavishly funding several organizations that design Saudi-friendly English-language K-12 curricula, all that remains is to convince the “outreach coordinators” at prestigious, federally subsidized universities to purvey these materials to America’s teachers. And wouldn’t you know it, outreach coordinators or teacher-trainers at a number of university Middle East Studies centers have themselves been trained by the very same Saudi-funded foundations that design K-12 course materials. These Saudi-friendly folks happily build their outreach efforts around Saudi-financed K-12 curricula.

So let’s review. The United States government gives money — and a federal seal of approval — to a university Middle East Studies center. That center offers a government-approved K-12 Middle East studies curriculum to America’s teachers. But in fact, that curriculum has been bought and paid for by the Saudis, who may even have trained the personnel who operate the university’s outreach program. Meanwhile, the American government is asleep at the wheel — paying scant attention to how its federally mandated public outreach programs actually work. So without ever realizing it, America’s taxpayers end up subsidizing — and providing official federal approval for — K-12 educational materials on the Middle East that have been created under Saudi auspices. Game, set, match: Saudis…

 

Sounds like the Americans are set for a rude awakening. All that “religion of peace” stuff has acted as a soporific.

Posted by: scaramouche at 23:38 | link | comments (1)

Islamic visions: Dil Dil Pakistan is only one of several Muslim programs offered by multi-faith, multifrikkincultural broadcaster VisionTV. The program that precedes DDP on Saturday afternoon, Visions of Pakistan TV, does not feature radical cleric Dr. Israr Ahmad expounding on the Koran. It's a hodge-podge that features the opinions of Dr. Syed B. Soharwardy, president of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada. Dr. Soharwardy’s shtick is Muslim victimhood—he’s the driving force behind something called Muslim Holocast Day. But since, unlike Dr. Ahmad, he heads up a Canadian-based outfit, I’m sure he's completely innocuous. Let’s check out the ISCC website, shall we, just to be sure:

Introduction

Islamic Supreme Council of Canada was founded in Calgary on June 18, 2000 with the following mission and objectives. Presently, its head office is located in Calgary, Alberta. ISCC members are from all the denominations of Islam. ISCC believes that the Muslims should not be divided based upon their schools of thoughts. ISCC encourages healthy difference of opinion among its members and follows the Islamic decision-making process, which is more democratic than the western democratic principles. ISCC is a Canadian organization, which is based upon one common belief, " There is no God but Allah and Muhammad (peace be upon him) is his (last) Messenger" and provides nonsectarian environment to its members. ISCC members exhibit this unity through their behaviour.

Mission Statement

To be the leading Muslim organization in Canada helping the government, media and the people of Canada to understand the teachings of Islam and issues of Muslims. To contribute positively in building the Canadian society for the 21^st century and beyond. To provide guidance to the Canadian political, social, Judicial, financial and economical institutions on the issues related to the Muslims in and outside Canada, which may impact the Canadian society. To help Canada in developing better political, trade, social, academic and cultural relationships with the Muslim countries. To organize the political strength of Muslim voters in Canada in order to achieve leading place for Canadian Muslims in Canadian politics.

Major Objectives

1.    To preach and advance the teachings of the Islamic faith and religious tenets, doctrines, observances and culture associated with that faith.

 

2.     To establish, maintain and support a house of worship with services conducted in accordance with the tenets and doctrines of the Islamic faith.

 

3.     To support and maintain missions and missionaries in order to propagate the Islamic faith.

 

4.     To establish and maintain a religious school of instruction for children, youths and adults.

How mission and objectives will be accomplished?

Insha Allah (God willing), the mission and objectives will be achieved by;

·        Following the teachings of the Holy Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and exhibiting it through our behaviour.

·        Establishing the relationship with the Canadian government’s ministries / departments /organizations and guiding them on Islamic issues.

·        Establishing the relationships with the religious and social institutions / organizations in Canada and working with them on common issues.

·        Establishing working relationships with media organizations.

·        Establishing ISCC chapters and branches in all major cities of Canada

·        Establish web sites and email distribution system for quick access to Islamic and community information.

·        Publish a monthly newsletter / magazine.

·        Broadcast TV and Radio programs on Canadian media.

·        Organize lectures, seminars, rallies, gatherings and meetings.

 

Nope. Nothing to worry about there.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:24 | link | comments

Aussies fight back: In Australia, Muslims are being told to hit the road if they want sharia to be the law of the land. From the Daily Times (Pakistan):

CANBERRA: 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 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 the Islamic law, that 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 practises 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 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 they 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 spies monitoring the nation’s mosques.

 

Nice to see that some in the West have both a clue and a functioning spine—the prerequisites for survival.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:07 | link | comments (1)

Malign attention: Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said re the issue of race in America that it “could benefit from a period of benign neglect.”

The same could be said of the Peace in Our Time Process, which the clueless Quartet and its bumbling envoy, Tony Blair, have placed on the front burner once again.

 

Far better to focus on the real problem area—the jihadists in Iraq and elsewhere pursuing their global ambitions, and Mahdi-minded mullahs on the brink of nuclear capability.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:51 | link | comments

Western wimpitude: Jeff Jacoby poses an impertinent but crucial question: Why does the West consistently reward the Thugocracy for its bad behaviour? From the Boston Globe:

FOUR MONTHS ago, Iranian Revolutionary Guards seized 15 British sailors and marines in the Persian Gulf, and held them hostage for nearly two weeks. They were released only after a stage-managed appearance with Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who freed the captives as "a present to the British people" and was thanked for his "forgiveness" by one of the servicemen.

 

For this outrage, Tehran was richly rewarded. How richly? Let us count the ways:

 

It humiliated the British government, which declined to label the abduction of its personnel an act of war or retaliate with anything stronger than press releases. It demonstrated the ease with which it is able to flout international law and civilized norms. It exposed the cravenness of Britain's European allies, which refused London's request for a freeze on exports to Iran. It secured the release of an Iranian "diplomat" being held in Iraq, and allowed Iran access to five members of its paramilitary Quds Force, which trains insurgents to murder Americans, whom US troops in Irbil had arrested in January.

 

Tehran soon grabbed another set of hostages. Early in May, it arrested four visiting American citizens: Haleh Esfandiari, a director of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars; social scientist Kian Tajbakhsh of the New York-based Open Society Institute; journalist Parnaz Azima of Radio Farda, the Persian-language equivalent of Radio Free Europe; and peace activist Ali Shakeri of the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding at the University of California at Irvine. Iran accuses the four of espionage; all but Azima are being held in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison.

 

Now, why would Tehran -- already at odds with the United States for sponsoring international terrorism, supporting Iraqi death squads, stoking hatred of the United States, repressing dissidents, and illegally pursuing nuclear weapons -- want to further complicate its relations with Washington? Nearly three decades into a regime one of whose defining characteristics is thuggish criminality, some people are still baffled when the mullahs act like thuggish criminals.

 

"How Iranian officials can believe they will benefit from Ms. Esfandiari's imprisonment is impossible to understand," a New York Times editorial brooded. But it's no mystery. Tehran takes hostages because it benefits from doing so. The 444-day abduction of US diplomats in 1979 solidified the Khomeini dictatorship's jihadist bona fides and showed that the Great Satan's nose could be bloodied with impunity. Twenty-eight years later, the mullahs find that the seizure of American citizens still pays off nicely…

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:28 | link | comments

Hello Muddah, hello Faddah, here I am at Camp Sharia: Ah, summer camp. Weenie roasts. Nature. Canoeing. Corporal punishment.

Corporal punishment?

 

From Expatica via AFP:

NANCY, France, July 24, 2007 (AFP) - An Islamic holiday camp in the Vosges mountains in eastern France has been shut down due to concerns children were being subjected to a punishing religious routine, officials said Tuesday.

The camp, organised by a Turkish group from the city of Nancy, was ordered to close because of "overly present cultural practices," according to an administrative official in the town of Epinal.

"We had information allowing us to believe that children were being physically threatened," said local youth and sports official Frederic Roussel.

The 96 children taking part have been sent home to their families, in line with a July 13 ruling by the local prefecture, confirmed on appeal on July 18. The Nancy Turkish Cultural Centre was denied authorisation to hold a second camp next month.

A probe was opened early this month after a child called the local police to complain of "physical constraints" at the camp, such as being forced to wake up at night to pray.

The subsequent inquiry found the camp environment "excessively rigorous, verging on disciplinarian", focused on the "intensive and compulsory practice of Turkish religion and culture" and lacking in other educational or leisure activities, according to court documents.

"These practices are an attempt on the physical integrity of the minors placed in care of the association," the court ruling said.

Fun times! Where do I sign up?

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:13 | link | comments

A final solution: Reuters headline—Arab ministers in Israel for land-for-peace talks.

Now, if the Jews would only give them what they want—all the land—there wouldn’t be any more need for discussion.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:03 | link | comments (1)

Shocking!: As rare as a sighting of the Abominable Snowman; as unusual as the sound of Jimmy Carter saying something that makes sense—the Globe and Mail’s Mark “Malarkey” MacKinnon has written an article about Israel that isn’t nasty, doesn’t try to make people feel sorry for the Palestinians, and that is actually kind of sweet.

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. 

Posted by: scaramouche at 09:28 | link | comments

Dr. Israr Ahmad on YouTube: He may be off VisionTV, but he's still got a bully pulpit on the Web.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:10 | link | comments

Zundel’s black cloud: I was going to do a riff on VisionTV CEO Bob Robert’s mea culpa wherein he compared Israr Ahmad preaching from the Koran on VisionTV to having Holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel doing the weather (not that VisionTV does the weather—now, that requires real vision); the idea of Ernst as a weather guy appealed to my sense of the absurb, and the riff would have likely included something about a cold front of Juden moving in from the East ("just like Der Fuhrer warned us about"). However, when I looked up Ernst in Wikepedia, my riff was suddenly derailed by the following bit of info which came as complete news to me (although perhaps not to you):

According to Toronto Sun columnist Mark Bonokoski, Zündel's mother was Gertrude Mayer and his maternal grandparents were the Jewish Mr and Mrs Nagal and Isador (Izzy) Mayer. Izzy Mayer was a trade union organizer for the garment industry in the Bavarian city of Augsburg.

According to Bonokoski, Ernst's ex-wife Irene Zündel said that the possibility of being at least part-Jewish bothered Zündel so much that he returned to Germany in the 1960s in search of his family's Ariernachweis, a Nazi-era certificate of pure Aryan blood, but was unable to find any such document for his family.

In 1997, Zündel granted an interview to Tsadok Yecheskeli of the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that includes the following exchange:

Yecheskeli: Are you sure there's no Jewish blood in your family?

Zündel (in hushed voice): No.^[30]

 

You mean old Ernst is really a self-loathing Jew? Somehow, that explains volumes.

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:48 | link | comments

The lesson of the VisionTV incident: We must remain vigilant because if we let down our guard, even for a moment, the jihad will hitch a free ride into Canada inside the Trojan Horse of multiculturalism.

Posted by: scaramouche at 16:03 | link | comments (1)

A few questions for Bob Roberts, CEO, VisionTV: These have yet to be answered: 

1. How long has Dr. Israr Ahmad been polluting Canadian airwaves courtesy VisionTV?

2. Has the Dil Dil Pakistan show—which has been on VisionTV for several years—really been  the “Dr. Israr Ahmad Preaches from the Koran Hour” all along?

3. Why, before he was outed, was Dr. Ahmad never mentioned in connection with anything related to Dil Dil Pakistan—not on the VisionTV website, nor on the show itself? Were “producers” afraid that his name might raise some red flags?

4. Who are these “producers”—and who has been paying to put this show on the air?

5. Could it be that, in its cluelessness and multifrikkincultural zeal (which tend to go hand in hand), the kafirs of VisionTV allowed themselves to be duped by some clever jihadists?

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:18 | link | comments

That VisionTV thing: The CEO of VisionTV, Canada’s multi-faith, multiculi channel (a sort of Ceeb, without the religion or public funding), has apologized profusely and promised that sermons by a radical cleric from Pakistan who calls for a global jihad and the extermination of the Jews will never, ever, no way, you can bet the bank on it, run again over his airwaves.

Phew, what a relief.

 

VisionTV remains committed, however, to running this multifrikkincultural tripe.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:52 | link | comments (1)

Same as it ever was: Hamas is in Gaza, Abbas is in the West Bank, and the jizya is flowing once again. 

This time, though, I’m sure the Fatah kleptocrats will exercise greater discipline and won’t help themselves to the lion’s share of the proceeds (Fatah’s militia, the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades no doubt getting its share, too).

 

In the words of a great mid-20^th Century sage, “What a revoltin’ development this is.”

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:29 | link | comments

Abjuring brutality: Well, whaddya know? It seems even jihadists fighting for Islam’s supremacy have a threshold of barbarity they aren’t prepared to cross. From the Times Online:

Fed up with being part of a group that cuts off a person’s face with piano wire to teach others a lesson, dozens of low-level members of al-Qaeda in Iraq are daring to become informants for the US military in a hostile Baghdad neighbourhood.

The ground-breaking move in Doura is part of a wider trend that has started in other al-Qaeda hotspots across the country and in which Sunni insurgent groups and tribal sheikhs have stood together with the coalition against the extremist movement.

“They are turning. We are talking to people who we believe have worked for al-Qaeda in Iraq and want to reconcile and have peace,” said Colonel Ricky Gibbs, commander of the 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, which oversees the area…

So facial-removal by piano wire is beyond the pale. Good to know. Bear in mind, however, we are talking about people who subscribe to a form of law which prescribes a conking on the noggin by large stones as the appropriate way to deal with adulterers, so presumably these informants are up for some less flagrantly brutal hijinks. What, one might ask, are they prepared to do to fulfill their goal?

Seems to me there are two ways to go here. Either the brutality sickens you, and sends you packing, or you become innured to it—enjoy, it, even—and you move on to even greater heights (or depths) of savagery. Al Qaeda, like other totalitarians (Hitler’s Nazis, Tojo’s Japan, Stalin’s U.S.S.R., Mao’s China, etc.) appears to be an example of the latter.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:52 | link | comments

A: Idiots; fools; gluttons for punishment: Q: What do you call people who pay the salary of their sworn enemy?

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:27 | link | comments (1)

Summer song: In “honour” of Tony Blair assuming the position (the position of abject Dhimmi Peace Envoy, that is) I’ve revised a 60s girl group classic. I like to imagine it being sung by a wised-up Israeli:

Goin’ to the peace talks and we’re

Gonna get buried.

Goin’ to the peace talks and we’re

Gonna get buried.

Gee, they really hate us and we’re

Gonna get buried.

Goin’ to the peace talks again.

 

Summer’s here.

He-eh-ez-bollah’s crazed.

(Woe, woe, woe)

If it attacks

Won’t be amazed.

Those Quartet folks

Are all so dazed

And were’ goin’ to the peace talks again.

 

Because we’re

Goin’ to the peace talks and we’re

Gonna get buried.

Goin’ to the peace talks and we’re

Gonna get buried.

Gee, they really hate us and we’re

Gonna get buried.

Goin’ to the peace talks again.

 

Hamas’s goal: to maim and kill.

(Woe-woe-woe)

And Moo Abbas, he’s such a pill.

I better go and make my will

‘Cause we’re goin’ to the peace talks again…

Posted by: scaramouche at 09:47 | link | comments

Clueless, feckless, useless—but completely calculating: Headline: EU vows to be active player in planned international Mideast talks.

Oh, goody. Maybe they can use the occasion to explain that whole Eurabia thing to us.

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:51 | link | comments

Dry Bones drollery:

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:46 | link | comments

Condi on the outs?: Passport, the blog of journal Foreign Policy, bemwails the diminishing influence of Condoleeza Rice, the result, it says, of her many diplomatic failures. I, however, think there's much to cheer about Condi’s waning influence, seeing in it the glimmers of hint of a clue that dealing with Iran will require more than bribery, appeasement and Foggy Bottom bafflegab.

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:40 | link | comments

How do you spell “diplomacy” in Libya?: E-X-T-O-R-T-I-O-N.

Update: Looks like the addlepated potentate's strategy is already paying off.

Update: That Gadaffi's a genius!

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:25 | link | comments

Oxymoronic punditry: UPI has sussed out the scene in Turkey and concludes that Erdogan's re-election means there will be "more democracy" along with "more Islam" in that country.

Jumbo shrimp, anyone?

Posted by: scaramouche at 22:20 | link | comments

Prescient anagram: The MSM are celebrating the victory of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a man whom it claims belongs to that mythical species, the “moderate” Islamist.

 Silly MSM. Don’t they know that Erdogan’s real agenda—a return to the pre-Kemalist sharia law that made Turkey “the sick man of Europe” (even though half of it is in Asia)—is revealed in his name? Rearrange the letters and, voila!, it becomes “God near.”

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:56 | link | comments (1)

The Left—incurious about George: Christopher Hitchens may have a blind spot when it comes to religion—good or bad, it’s all the same to the Savonorola of atheism—but he sure “gets it” when it comes to the Left. Here he is, in glorious high dudgeon, lambasting the Left and its imbecilic support for the detestable Mr. Galloway. From Slate:

When [George] Galloway came to testify before the Senate and delivered a spittle-fueled harangue instead of answering the direct questions posed to him, he became a populist hero on the Left, was rewarded with a moist profile in the New York Times that praised his general feistiness, and was invited back to the United States to mount a speaking tour in which he repeated his general praise for the heroic "resistance" in Iraq, adding a few well-chosen words in support of the Assad regime in Syria. Praise was showered upon him in the Daily Kos, by columnists in The Nation, and elsewhere. Now we have the sober words of Sir Philip Mawer, the parliamentary commissioner for standards among elected members, who adds to the existing reports and evidence by saying that however much Galloway may have "prevaricated and fudged," the evidence against him is "now undeniable."

 

It’s undeniably undeniably—but not to those receptive to the truth, which excludes, alas, a vast number of those on Georgie’s end of the political spectrum.

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:24 | link | comments

We have a winner: Today’s prize for egregious asininity goes to Daniel Levy. Levy, a former Peace in Our Time negotiator, is the son of Lord Levy, also a former Peace in our Time negotiator. (Who says the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?). Levy fils has advised current chief Peace in Our Time buddinsky, Tony Blair, to “let Hamas inside the tent” (a most picturesque—but completely inappropriate—analogy, summoning up images of infidels past, like, say, Larry of Arabia, holding confabs with desert princes). Otherwise, Palestinians may become disillusioned and turn against the Peace in Our Time process.

As if they’re on side right now.

 

Levy has told Blair to use the I.R.A. case as a model, in the mistaken belief that it is in any way related to the case of bunch of Islamist thugs, supported by Iran, whose agenda includes gaining control not only of a scant piece of Jewish property, but of the entire globe.

 

Congrats on the prize, Dan. You certainly earned it.

Posted by: scaramouche at 19:03 | link | comments

Why the Left hates Israel: Here's why.

Posted by: scaramouche at 16:19 | link | comments

"I was ready to hold out for days under their cruel torture...but then they threatened to take away my i-Pod": The Beeb reports that MPs are critical of a decision that would allow the British sailors kidnapped by Iran last summer to sell their stories to the highest bidder.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:00 | link | comments

Iran hostage crisis: With great fanfare this week, Israel freed more than 250 Palestinians who had been convicted of assorted crimes, including many who’d been implicated in terrorism. They appeared hale, hearty and, going by the numerous photos on display in the media, thrilled to reunite with their womenfolk, who’d been keeping the home fires burning while their men were in the slammer.

Contrast that with the plight of Westerners being held in Iranian prisons. They likely committed no crime and, as Mark Steyn notes with his trademark withering sarcasm, they have been left to their fate and have been largely ignored by the media. From the Orange County Register:

…Among the other Zionist-neocon agents currently held in Iranian jails are an American journalist, an American sociologist for a George Soros-funded leftie group, and an American peace activist from Irvine, Ali Shakeri, whose capture became known shortly after the United States and Iran held their first direct talks since the original hostage crisis.

Two months in an Iranian jail is no fun. Four years ago, a Montreal photo-journalist, Zahra Kazemi, was arrested by police in Tehran, taken to Evin prison, and wound up getting questioned to death. Upon her capture, the Canadian government had done as the State Department is apparently doing – kept things discreet, low-key, cards close to the chest, quiet word in the right ears. By the time Zahra Kazemi's son, frustrated by his government's ineffable equanimity, got the story out, it was too late for his mother.

Still, upon hearing of her death, then-Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham expressed his "sadness" and "regret," which are pretty strong words. But then, as Reuters put it, this sad regrettable incident had "marred previously harmonious relations between Iran and Canada." In his public pronouncements, Graham tended to give the impression that what he chiefly regretted and was sad about was that one of his compatriots had had the poor taste to get tortured and murdered onto the front pages of the newspapers.

With an apparently straight face, Graham passed on to reporters the official Iranian line that her death in jail was merely an "accident." The following year, Shahram Azam, a physician who'd examined Kazemi's body, fled Iran and said that she had broken fingers, a broken nose, a crushed toe, a skull fracture, severe abdominal bruising, and internal damage consistent with various forms of rape. Quite an accident.

The longer American prisoners are held in Evin, the more likely it is they'll meet with a similar accident…

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:52 | link | comments

The NYT’s two cents' worth: The last time the Jews faced an existential threat, the New York Times chose to more or less ignore it. This time, the jewel in MSM’s crown has opted for a more pro-active approach. It is actively cheering on Israel’s enemies and counselling the Jewish state to accept its inevitable oblivion.

Sage advice worthy of the Elders, I’d say.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:28 | link | comments

Out of sight, out of mind: There’s a bit of a kafuffle in Australia, as authorities try to figure out what to do with Mohammed Haneef, one of those foreign doctor-types for whom the Hippocratic Oath apparently takes a backseat to defeating the infidel. Haneef is said to be connected to the physicians involved in the U.K. Doctor’s Plot. From the SMH:

THE Federal Government is planning to deport detained terrorism suspect Mohamed Haneef to contain the political fallout from a case that insiders fear is becoming farcical.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock can ensure Haneef is deported immediately by withdrawing the Criminal Justice Certificate issued last week.

As Imran Siddiqui, the cousin of Haneef's wife, arrived in Brisbane last night in a show of support, several senior Government sources said they were furious at the Australian Federal Police's handling of the case and wanted to shut the issue down before it did more damage to the Government's credibility.

"Our best option is to cancel the Criminal Justice Certificate, which was issued to keep Haneef here in Australia after we cancelled his visa, and that is my understanding of what our intentions are," one Government source said.

"Cancel the certificate and get this guy out of Australia. The story ends there and he can become someone else's problem."

Mr Ruddock issued the Certificate of Justice so that Haneef's deportation could be stayed pending judicial proceedings.

But with the police case surrounding Haneef collapsing after revelations that the SIM card he left in Britain was not used in the failed suicide bomb attack in Glasgow, Government strategists believe there is little point holding him in Australia.

"There is no upside proceeding with this. We keep him here, then it remains an issue every day until the election. We deport him and it's over," the source said.

Haneef's SIM card was not found in the car used in the attempted bombing of Glasgow Airport, as initially claimed by the Commonwealth. It was found in Liverpool with his cousin, Sabeel Ahmed.

"Another snafu special from commissioner plod [AFP chief] Mick Keelty," another Government source said.

"There is growing sentiment that we should cut our losses and deport him [Haneef]. No one is backing away from the fact that this guy is a security risk. We are standing by the decision to cancel his visa but there is simply not enough evidence to convict him of anything."…

If I were Haneef, I’d want to come to Canada. When authorities here send you back to where you came from, and you’re tortured, you stand to make some big bucks.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:08 | link | comments

Oops!: Looks like unctuous George Galloway is in trouble again for allegedly helping himself to Saddam's oily lucre.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:56 | link | comments

How China fights "the war on terror": As you can imagine, it ain't with kid gloves.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:50 | link | comments

Interactive Elders: You can include the clueless Ceeb among those who are mighty impressed by “the Elders,” the group of oldsters whose collective “wisdom” could be comfortably contained in a thimble. In its enthusiasm, the Ceeb offers one of its cutting edge interactive posts, so you can click on an old fart’s photo and immediately conjure up his/her profile.

Fun for all ages, but you may lose a few I.Q. points by the time you’re done.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:45 | link | comments

Law of the land: A news snippet in the Toronto Star (no link):

Hamas forms committee to fix judicial system

 

Hamas announced yesterday the formation of a committee to administer justice in the Gaza Strip, which the Islamist movement took over last month.

 

“We have formed a judicial committee to overcome the paralysis in the judicial system since the June 15 takeover,” said Islam Shahwan, spokeman for Hamas’s Executive Force militia.

 

Shahwan said the move was necessary because the head of the Palestine Supreme Court had ordered prosecutors and judges to halt work in Gaza after the Hamas takeover.

 

Out with the old; in with the new. I’m sure the new sharia-based law-makers will have no trouble picking carrying on with the cases currently on the docket. The miscreants, though, may not know what hit them when it comes time to mete out their punishment.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:14 | link | comments

Alternate realities:

THE LEFT	LOVES	LOATHES
	The UN, every last one of the UN’s associated bodies, organizations, and offshoots; Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and most every NGO devoted to “human rights Feeling guilty The MSM Live Aid, Live Earth, etc.—pat-ourselves-on-the-back rock concerts that raise heaps of cash but do little to alleviate actual suffering Downplaying the threat of jihad Multiculturalism Statism Al “the Goracle” Gore, Prophet of Doom who coulda been the president (sigh, if only) Michael “Sicko” Moore The “Elders”, including Jew-hating Hamas-booster, Jimminy “Cricket” Carter The Palestinians, who have been colonized, occupied and brutalized by mean Jews who land to which they have a tenuous claim at best Fidel “Compassionate Health Care Provider” Castro Hugo “Man of the People” Chavez Noam Chomsky Collectivism The Third World One-Worldism (except for America's “globalization”)   Wishful thinking and looking on the bright side, preferring a Rousseau-ian interpretation of mankind’s inclinations	Israel The U.S. Individualism Globalization Republicans Conservatives (Canada); Liberals;  Australia) Fox News and any other “right wing” media outlet   Patriotism   Faith-based anything, unless it’s Muslim

THE RIGHT	LOVES	LOATHES
	Israel   The U.S.   Individualism   Globalization   Republicans   Conservatives (Canada); Liberals (Australia)   Fox News and any other “right wing” media outlet   Patriotism     Faith-based anything, unless its devoted to jihad	The UN and all its revolting offshoots, like the HRC and UNRWA; Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and most every sanctimonious hard left NGO devoted to “human rights Feeling guilty The MSM Live Aid, Live Earth, etc.—pat-ourselves-on-the-back rock concerts that raise heaps of cash but do little to alleviate actual suffering Downplaying the threat of jihad Multiculturalism Statism The pomposity of Al “the Goracle” Gore, Prophet of Doom who coulda been the president (sigh, if only)  Michael “Sicko” Moore   The “Elders”, including Jew-hating Hamas-booster, Jimminy “Cricket” Carter   How the Palestinians have been coddled by those who want to seek an end to the Jewish state.   How Fidel Castro, brutal dictator, has been idolized by the clueless   Ditto Hugo Chavez    Ditto Noam Chomsky   Collectivism   How the Third World is considered virtuous by virtue of its being poor   Self-loathing   Wishful thinking and looking on the bright side, preferring a Hobbesian interpretation of mankind’s inclinations

 

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:11 | link | comments (1)

The Taliban’s Hobson’s choice: You have to wonder about Christian missionaries who would try to win hearts and minds in Talibanistan, one of the least Christian-friendly places on the planet. Still, the penalty for proselytizing seems a tad excessive. From Islam Online:

CAIRO — The Taliban group in Afghanistan threatened Saturday, July 21, to kill 23 South Korean Christian proselytizers unless Seoul withdraws troops from the war-torn country, shortly after claiming the killing of two German hostages.

 

"Right now they are safe though," spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told the Times of Britain.

 

Ahmadi earlier said that Taliban's leadership council would decide later on Saturday the fate of the South Korean hostages without mentioning the troop withdrawal condition.

 

"They are under investigation and once the investigation is over, the Taliban leading council will make a final decision about their fate," he told Reuters.

 

The South Koreans, who are members of a Christian evangelical church group, were kidnapped while traveling from the capital Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar.

 

"They are young Korean Christians who were engaged in short-term evangelistic activity and service for children in Kandahar," said Joseph Park, mission director of the Christian Council of Korea.

 

"We cannot turn away from poor people and children there just because of safety risks," he said.

 

Proselytizing, a sensitive issue, is banned in Muslim Afghanistan.

"In terms of punishment the one who comes to a Muslim country to convert people to their religion must face the strongest punishment," Sayed Murard Shrifi, who heads the public court in Baghlan, told the Times.

 

"The first choice is death and the second life in prison."…

 

I thought the first choice was convert, the second choice was death and third choice was having to sit through the collected oevre of auteur Michael Moore without a bathroom break (by any gauge, a punishment worse than death).

 

Guess I need to read up on my sharia.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:38 | link | comments

More from “Stretch” Armstrong: As dangerous as the jihadists are the apologists for and enablers of the jihad. One of the biggest, most influential—and thus, the most dangerous: former nun, Karen Armstrong, a writer who consistently misrepresents the true nature of Islam. A useful dhimmiot who is prone to stretching the facts to fit her thesis, and who wants everyone to settle down, now, and accept the inevitable primacy of a warm ‘n’ fuzzy—if, on occasion, excessively sensitive—faith.  From, where else?, the Guardian:

In the 17th century, when some Iranian mullahs were trying to limit freedom of expression, Mulla Sadra, the great mystical philosopher of Isfahan, insisted that all Muslims were perfectly capable of thinking for themselves and that any religiosity based on intellectual repression and inquisitorial coercion was "polluted". Mulla Sadra exerted a profound influence on generations of Iranians, but it is ironic that his most famous disciple was probably Ayatollah Khomeini, author of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie.

 

This type of contradiction is becoming increasingly frequent in our polarised world, as I discovered last month, when I arrived in Kuala Lumpur to find that the Malaysian government had banned three of my books as "incompatible with peace and social harmony". This was surprising because the government had invited me to Malaysia, and sponsored two of my public lectures. Their position was absurd, because it is impossible to exert this type of censorship in the electronic age. In fact, my books seemed so popular in Malaysia that I found myself wondering if the veto was part of a Machiavellian plot to entice the public to read them.

 

Old habits die hard. In a pre-modern economy, insufficient resources meant freedom of speech was a luxury few governments could afford, since any project that required too much capital outlay was usually shelved. To encourage a critical habit of mind that habitually called existing institutions into question in the hope of reform could lead to a frustration that jeopardised social order. It is only 50 years since Malaysia achieved independence and, although the public and press campaign vigorously against censorship, in other circles the old caution is alive and well.

 

In the west, however, liberty of expression proved essential to the economy; it has become a sacred value in our secular world, regarded as so precious and crucial to our identity that it is non-negotiable. Modern society could not function without independent and innovative thought, which has come to symbolise the inviolable sanctity of the individual. But culture is always contested, and precisely because it is so central to modernity, free speech is embroiled in the bumpy process whereby groups at different stages of modernisation learn to accommodate one another.

 

It has also, as we have been reminded recently, become a rallying cry in the escalating tension between the Islamic world and the west. Muslim protests against Rushdie's knighthood have recalled the painful controversy of The Satanic Verses, and last week four British Muslims were sentenced to a total of 22 years in prison for inciting hatred while demonstrating against the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

 

It would, however, be a mistake to imagine that Muslims are irretrievably opposed to free speech. Gallup conducted a poll in 10 Muslim countries (including Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia) and found that the vast majority of respondents admired western "liberty and freedom and being open-minded with each other". They were particularly enthusiastic about our unrestricted press, liberty of worship and freedom of assembly. The only western achievement that they respected more than our political liberty was our modern technology.

 

Then why the book burnings and fatwas? In the past Islamic governments were as prone to intellectual coercion as any pre-modern rulers, but when Muslims were powerful and felt confident they were able to take criticism in their stride. But media and literary assaults have become more problematic at a time of extreme political vulnerability in the Islamic world, and to an alienated minority they seem inseparable from Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo Bay and the unfolding tragedy of Iraq.

 

On both sides, however, there are double standards and the kind of contradiction evident in Khomeini's violation of the essential principles of his mentor, Mulla Sadra. For Muslims to protest against the Danish cartoonists' depiction of the prophet as a terrorist, while carrying placards that threatened another 7/7 atrocity on London, represented a nihilistic failure of integrity.

 

But equally the cartoonists and their publishers, who seemed impervious to Muslim sensibilities, failed to live up to their own liberal values, since the principle of free speech implies respect for the opinions of others. Islamophobia should be as unacceptable as any other form of prejudice…

 

There is no doubt that Muslims, like other groups, face prejudice. However, there is also no doubt that most of those who rant about Islamophobia are usually trying to shield Islam and those who practice it from valid criticism. Armstrong is one of those “Islamophobiaphilics”—someone who loves hurling the epithet in the hopes it will shut down debate. We allow her to do so at our peril—literally.

 

Update: And here's that other notable apologist, John Esposito, in the Washington Post.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:10 | link | comments (1)

Malarkey touts a terrorist: The Globe and Mail’s Mark “Malarkey” MacKinnon is up to his usual tricks—trying to wrest maximum support for the Palestinians by focusing on a poor, hard-done-by Palestinian. In this instance, the “human” in the human interest saga is Mohammed al Abu Hamed. Mr. Hamed is one of the angry young lads who founded the “secular” al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Yasser Arafat’s successful attempt to get into the terrorist militia game. Abu Hamed, responsible for the deaths of scores of Israeli civilians, is one of the 250 Fatah-niks who were released today in a “goodwill” gesture by Israel, and Malarkey wants you to know that the former terrorist, now gainfully employed in Mahmoud Abbas’ police force, is thrilled that he can live a “normal” life again after his years of incarceration:

JENIN, WEST BANK — Mohammed Abu Hamed did something Thursday he has rarely done in the past six years without looking nervously over his shoulder or up at the sky: He took a walk through the centre of his hometown without wearing a mask or carrying a gun.

Until this week, Mr. Abu Hamed, better known in the West Bank by his nom de guerre Abu Arraj, was one of Israel's most wanted men. As one of the founders and top commanders of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a group dedicated to violent resistance against Israel's 40-year-old occupation, he bore the Jewish state the same ill will that it bore him.

When he did go outside, it was most often to battle the Israeli army during its frequent incursions into this city of 36,000 people. When not fighting, he remained in hiding, avoided speaking on the telephone and told almost no one his whereabouts. He wore disguises when he moved between safe houses, and has said he survived three Israeli assassination attempts.

That tumultuous period of Mr. Abu Hamed's life ended this week, at least temporarily, when he signed a pledge to cease attacks on Israel and exchanged his M-16 and AK-47 assault rifles for a promise that Israel will stop hunting him. It's part of a wider amnesty for Palestinian fighters that both sides are quietly hailing as proof there's substance behind the latest peace push, an effort directed in part at countering the Islamist Hamas movement in the wake of its recent takeover of the Gaza Strip.

“I decided I wanted to create movement in the peace process. We surrendered our weapons because we felt there was political progress,” the fit 33-year-old said as he sat beneath a portrait of Yasser Arafat at a Fatah party office in Jenin. He later took the conversation outside, strolling around the city's ancient centre as if quietly celebrating his new freedom.

Mr. Abu Hamed is among the most high-profile of some 178 al-Aqsa gunmen who agreed this week to the amnesty pact. It's part of a package of goodwill measures aimed at re-establishing trust between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that also includes today's scheduled release of 256 of the more than 10,000 Palestinians being held in Israeli jails. The amnestied fighters have to spend the next three months in informal PA custody as a test of their commitment to the truce, then they will be free to cross Israeli military checkpoints and travel unrestricted in the West Bank.

The al-Aqsa fighters, an offshoot of the secular Fatah movement who are loyal to PA president Mahmoud Abbas, are hardly putting their guns away for good. Most are expected to join the formal Palestinian security forces, bolstering the Western-backed Mr. Abbas as he locks horns with Hamas.

But the decision by Mr. Abu Hamed and other senior al-Aqsa figures to cease fighting Israel ushers in the end of a violent era in Jenin's history marked by the posters of fallen “martyrs” that hang from nearly every one of the town's ancient stone walls…

Notice how Malarkey slipped in that “ancient”—his subtle way of suggesting that the Palestinian claim to the land of Israel is every bit as ancient as the Jews’. Apparently, Malarkey is incapable of doing some basic arithmetic and subtracting 1967—the year the Palestinians became the Palestinians—from 2488 B.C.E., the year Moses died and the Jews crossed over into the Promised Land.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:56 | link | comments

Together again: A study in the journal Nature reports that hundreds of thousands of years ago the U.K. was part of Europe, but was severed from the Continent by a massive flood. The report contradicts the usual theory for the separation—the slow erosion of land along with rising sea levels.

Britain and the Continent: separated eons ago by Mother Nature; reunited in modern times by a common fecklessness, cluelessness, greed, dhimmitude and ennui.

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:17 | link | comments

An Elder in the making: Move over, Desmond, Jimminy, and Kofi. There’s a “younger” who’s proving that he belongs in your company—former U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell. From China Daily:

Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday that the Middle East Quartet should have talks to the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

"I don't think you can just cast them into outer darkness and try to find a solution to the problems of the region without taking to account the standing that Hamas has in the Palestinian community," Powell said in a radio interview.

"They (Hamas) won an election that we insisted upon having," Powell said. "And so, as unpleasant a group they may be and as distasteful as I find some of their positions, I think through some means, the Middle East Quartet ... or through some means Hamas has to be engaged."

Powell made the remarks while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is visiting Lisbon, Portugal, said neither of the Middle East Quartet - the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia would deal with Hamas unless it recognizes Israel's right to exist and renounces terrorism.

Rice's call has apparently ruled out the possibility of Hamas' participation in an upcoming Middle East peace meeting called by U. S. President George W. Bush.

Give that man a Nobel Peace Prize!

Posted by: scaramouche at 20:06 | link | comments

Same old chanson: More evidence that it’s business as usual in France—the Sarkozy government is about to pull a Pelosi. From AFP via expatica:

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2007 (AFP) - The United States expressed skepticism Wednesday over France's decision to send a top diplomat for talks with Syria, Washington's arch enemy.

"There have been a number of different attempts at outreach by a number of different countries and different envoys to convince Syria that it should change its behavior," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

"We are still waiting for that to happen."

Paris sent ex-envoy to Syria Jean-Claude Cousseran to Damascus this week in the first high-level contact between the two countries in more than two years.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner described the move as a "sign on the road of conciliation" with Syria, with which relations were frozen since the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri in February 2005.

 

Syria has been implicated in a UN probe over the Hariri assassination despite its repeated denials.

McCormack also accused Syria of being a "source of instability throughout the region in its support for Palestinian rejectionist groups and allowing foreign fighters to use its territory to go into Iraq.

"Obviously we all want to see Syria reorient its policies and change its behavior in the region. Thus far, they have chosen not to play a positive role," he said…

Another unintentionally wry understatement courtesy Foggy Bottom flak McCormack.

Update: Well looky here—it seems someone else is visiting the Baathist backwater. Maybe reps from all three nations can have a tête-à-tête-à-tête. Providing they don't mind if one of the têtes has very little chin.

Posted by: scaramouche at 16:48 | link | comments

Protocols of the Elders of Virgin: Apparently, their protocols entail using moral suasion to effect global dhimmitude, er, peace.

Not to be confused with these protocols, the strategy of Elders who have a much different game plan.

Posted by: scaramouche at 16:18 | link | comments

A radical suggestion: Dean Goodson, the director of a think-tank, rightly slams those who have fallen for the Muslim Council of Britain’s newfound “revisionism”; he rightly describes it as a matter of expediency and butt-covering in the face of ongoing Muslim terrorist plots in the U.K., most recently the one involving foreign doctors. But he goes off the rails with his conclusion. From the Times Online:

The truth is that MCB’s new-found “revisionism” is extremely limited and owes rather more to tactical than ideological considerations. It has not undergone a public transformation, after the fashion of a Hassan Butt or an Ed Husain. If the views of Inayat Bunglawala, its assistant general secretary – as expressed recently on Newsnight – are anything to go by, it still largely blames Western foreign policy for the discontents of the world. By underwriting these attitudes, it contributes mightily to the grievance culture that fuels violent jihadism.

But the Straw-Denham faction will not have it all their own way. Another grouping, including Hazel Blears, the new Secretary of State for Communities, and Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary – backed, significantly, by some of the Muslim MPs – remain unconvinced about the extent of the change in the MCB. Ms Blears resisted strong pressure to attend the MCB’s recent conference held at Regent’s Park mosque on July 7 – which would have constituted an important sign that it enjoyed renewed favour.

The problems with the MCB run far deeper than the issues of the day. For the price of winning the support of the MCB in the struggle against violent jihadism on these shores is high indeed. The coin in which they must be paid is the further ideological radicalisation of Muslim communities.

The MCB’s vision of the future for Muslims in the UK is light years removed from Mr Brown’s conception of Britishness. Its recent document on education Towards Greater Understanding: Meeting the Needs of Muslim Pupils in State Schools is a charter for segregation of the sexes – and urges strict controls on how dance, drama and sports are organised. More Arabic lessons all round, too – in line with the traditional Islamist aim of “Arabising” Britain’s predominantly South Asian Muslims.

This kind of sectionalism is perhaps more entrenched in the public services than Mr Brown realises. Why, for example, is there an Association of Muslim Police? Why is there a Civil Service Islamic Society? Why do such organisations have so little to say about Britishness? Why does “integration” seem to take place on their terms?

The worst aspect of the renewed push for respectability by the MCB is that it caters to the delusion among policymakers that there is some kind of body that can “deliver” Muslims. A Policy Exchange survey this year revealed that a mere 6 per cent of Muslims believe that the MCB represents them – and 51 per cent believe that no organisation here currently does so.

A truly radical approach would be for the State to stop treating British citizens who happen to be Muslims mainly as Muslims. In other words, why does the Government still deem their religious affiliation the most important thing about them in the public space? A prime minister from Scotland – a country that has largely left behind its sectarian past – can surely understand that.

Wow, that would be radical. Unfortunately, it would also involve a serious “revisionism” of British society, with multicultism going out the window, and pluralism and individualism becoming the order of the day. And, given that mulitcultism is resolutely, immoveably entrenched, and the growing influence of the MCB and those it represents, there’s not a hope in Hell that’s ever going to happen. Aside from which, pretending that the issue of terrorism don’t stem from religious belief, and from one religion’s triumphalist, supremacist doctrines, is just another way of avoiding the grim reality.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:39 | link | comments

A clash of frenzies: Islam Online makes note of the unprecedented success of an intrepid lad who has conquered much of the world, and whose latest exploits are sure to set off a “frenzy” among devout followers:

CAIRO — Seizing on the phenomenal success of Harry Potter books and films, the Church of England has published a resource guide advising youth leaders to harness the frenzy to promote Christianity, the Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday, July 18.

"These sessions draw parallels between events in the world of Harry and his friends, and the world in which we are seeking to proclaim the gospel to young people," Owen Smith, youth worker at St Margaret's Church in Rainham, Kent, writes in the guide.

The resource -- "Mixing it up with Harry Potter" – offers creative ideas for using the Potter books as a basis for Christian teaching.

It uses film scenes to prompt discussion about moral choices and extracts from the books to demonstrate the power of words and their impact on others.

From theological concepts such as sacrifice and mercy, to everyday issues such as fears and boasting, each of the 12 sessions provides a basis for an hour's discussions and activities.

The sessions include Bible verses that present the Christian perspective on the theme, and prayer activities drawing on the topic.

The guide is designed for use with 9-13 year olds and will be available for churches to purchase from a range of Christian and general booksellers.

The publication comes as the world awaits the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — the eagerly anticipated seventh and final book of the series — on Saturday, July 21.

Fans of the bespectacled boy wizard will be queuing outside bookstores around the globe to receive their copy of the book, which is expected to break records and become an instant best-seller when it is released…

I get the feeling that Islam Online is kind of jealous of the frenzy that will ensue when J.K. Rowlings’s final, perfect revelation is released. That’s likely because the only kind of “frenzy” the Wahhabist rag is prepared to accept it that of true believers “protesting” insults to Islam.

Posted by: scaramouche at 12:02 | link | comments

True wisdom: You won’t find it on a stage full of senescent, self-important “peace”-lovers. But here’s some, sans hype, from Ralph Peters, a guy who “gets it,” in FrontPage magazine:

FP: What are your thoughts on the role religion plays in wars of religion – and the denial that appears to exist on this issue in our national debate?

 

Peters: It's amazing, isn't it?  The book [Peter's new book, Wars of Blood and Faith: The Conflicts That Will Shape the 21st Century] takes on this issue at length.   In Washington both Dems and Republicans continue to insist--against tidal waves of evidence to the contrary--that religion has nothing to do with religious wars.  When I brief the D.C. crowd, I tell them that it pays to listen to what your enemy says now and then.  And our enemies have declared uncompromising religious war on us.  We don't have to like it.  And this isn't a religious war from our side (at least, not yet).  But our deadliest enemies truly believe that they are on a mission from their God to kill us.  And they're out to prove it.  Yet, the Washington crowd keeps trying to explain everything in term of 20th-century sociology, economics or American misdeeds.  Well, sorry, folks.  All those factors may matter, but they're secondary to the fanatical faith of the terrorists and other assorted murderers we face.   If religion isn't really a factor, where are the Western atheist suicide bombers?, 

 

The problem is that the Washington crowd is secular from start to finish.  Even those who go to a church or synagogue every week have been so thoroughly secularized intellectually by their educations and the circles in which they live their professional and personal lives that they have no sense of the power of unbridled faith, of the spectacular power of revelation, of the suddenness of conversion--or even of the basic human need for something greater than the self in which to believe.  We mock al Qaeda for clinging to the past, but Washington is equally desperate to hold fast to the last century's secular interpretation of all human actions. 

 

We face enemies who want to please their God with blood sacrifices.  And we just want to please the lawyers...

 

Wiser words were n’er spoken.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:32 | link | comments

Old farts on the world stage: They say age brings wisdom, but one would have to question the truism in light of the revered “elders” who have come together to, in the words of the Globe and Mail, “advance the cause of global justice.” Who are these sage geriatics, five of whom have won the Nobel Peace Prize? The Globe features a large photo of them on the front page. At the centre: Nelson Mandela, unassailable icon of freedom and reconciliation. And it’s all downhill from there, with Jew-hating Hamas-booster and self-appointed conscious of the world, Jimminy “Cricket” Carter to his right, and everyone, including British tycoon Richard Branson and singer-activist Peter Gabriel, chortling with delight to the comedic stylings of Archbishop Desmond Tutu (who is not in the photo; also not in view: “Elder” Kofi Annan).

An assembly of mush, who believe “goodness will prevail”—just as soon as something can be done about those pesky Jews:

…The Elders, it emerged, is the brainchild of the English tycoon Sir Richard Branson – who was himself in the audience with his elderly parents. Back in 2001, he and his friend, the British musician and anti-apartheid campaigner Peter Gabriel, sought out Mr. Mandela and asked if he would try to convene a group of world leaders to take on conflicts such as that in Israel and the Palestinian territories – to use their moral influence where others with political agendas had failed.

“The structures we have to deal with these problems are often tied by political, economic and geographical constraints,” Mr. Mandela said Wednesday. “As institutions of government grapple with the challenges they face, the efforts of a small, dedicated group of leaders working objectively and without any vested personal interest in the outcome can help to resolve what often seem like intractable problems.”…

Jimminy Carter, for one, isn’t too worried should the Elders fail to make any headway, because, heck, it’s not like anyone’s going to hold him accountable or anything.

 

But former U.S. president Jimmy Carter said it would be fine with him if no one outside their council ever knew what issues they worked on. “The Elders neither want, nor will we ever have, any kind of authority except that that comes from common moral values,” he said. “We will be able to risk failure and we will not need to claim successes.”

 

Sounds like a fair summation of the Carter presidency. And if Jimminy is counting on “common moral values” to be the wind beneath their wings, the alte kachers, like his presidency, also ain’t getting off the ground.

 

Fair speed, Elders. You have your work cut out for you, especially since there’s an intractable group seeking to advance another sort of “global justice,” one that goes back a good 1,400 years.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:05 | link | comments

Deflation: In recent days, a number of people have floated the trial balloon of Jordan assuming responsibility for the West Bank in what would become a “confederation.” But, as Sholomo Brom on the YNet News site writes, the “moderate” Hashemite autocrat has perforce shot it down:

…However, the bubble burst when King Abdullah gave interviews to Jordanian newspapers in early July in which