Jimmy Smith

The Sermon

Obama defends US wars as he accepts peace prize

Updated at bottom

Good on him. When Obama does something right, we gotta give him credit.

From AP:

OSLO (AP) - President Barack Obama entered the pantheon of Nobel Peace Prize winners with humble words Thursday, acknowledging his own few accomplishments while delivering a robust defense of war and promising to use the prestigious prize to "reach for the world that ought to be."

A wartime president honored for peace, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president in 90 years and the third ever to win the prize - some say prematurely. In this damp, chilly Nordic capital to pick it up, he and his wife, Michelle, whirled through a day filled with Nobel pomp and ceremony.

And yet Obama was staying here only about 24 hours and skipping the traditional second day of festivities. This miffed some in Norway but reflects a White House that sees little value in extra pictures of the president, (Pastorius comment: ROTFLMAO) his poll numbers dropping at home, taking an overseas victory lap while thousands of U.S. troops prepare to go off to war and millions of Americans remain jobless.

Just nine days after ordering 30,000 more U.S. troops into battle in Afghanistan, Obama delivered a Nobel acceptance speech that he saw as a treatise on war's use and prevention. He crafted much of the address himself and the scholarly remarks - at about 4,000 words - were nearly twice as long as his inaugural address.

In them, Obama refused to renounce war for his nation or under his leadership, saying defiantly that "I face the world as it is" and that he is obliged to protect and defend the United States.

"A nonviolent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaida's leaders to lay down their arms," Obama said. "To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism, it is a recognition of history."

The president laid out the circumstances where war is justified - in self-defense, to come to the aid of an invaded nation and on humanitarian grounds, such as when civilians are slaughtered by their own government or a civil war threatens to engulf an entire region.

"The belief that peace is desirable is rarely enough to achieve it," he said.

It took big balls to give this speech to the Nobel Committee, especially given the fact that he was being given the Peace Prize.

Couple the speech with the fact that he isn't playing the Nobel Committee reindeer games (the Nobel committee members were "miffed" at Obama for "skipping the traditional second day of festivities") and Obama must be admired for having stood his ground; a ground which, quite frankly, I did not believe he had staked out in the first place.

This speech will fly in the face of a large percentage of his ardent supporters. The speech, even more than the 30,000 extra troops he is sending to Afghanistan, sets Obama apart from the Leftists who have absconded with the power of the once noble Democratic Party.

I do not know how to fit this speech into the constellation of idiocy and malevolence which is the Obama Administration. One is left to wonder, what is this America he believes in fighting for? Is it America he is fighting for, or is it some other prize?

Given the "audacity" it took to make this speech to the Nobel community, one has to wonder if the war Obama is fighting is against himself. Certainly this speech is not going to make him many friends at the EU or the UN. This speech was almost a kind of Kamikaze raid on the Peace Movement.

Does this tell us Obama is brave, or is he self-destructive?

Update/Midnight Rider adds:

It's not illegal if the President does it.

Heard that before? 1973 or so, maybe?

Pastorius and I were just hashing this out. It would seem there is another explanation for this speech. Barack Obama, contrary to what many think, does not seek the destruction of the United States. He wants to see it changed (for the much worse). And he wants to rule the new United States. And rule is the correct word.

The hubris of the man is more unbelievable and undeniable with each passing day. He's already moving in that direction. The most recent and aggregious example is the EPA CO2 ruling. If Congress doesn't do what I want I will do it on my own, without them. And the developing Kevin Jennings debacle. SEIU silencing dissent.

His is an arrogance born of the notion that he is better than everyone else, smarter. And if you disagree with him it's because you just don't know better. He says what he wants to who he wants without regard because, after all, he is Barack Obama. The Chosen One. It's look down your nose snobbery of the highest order. After all, he IS the President.

But it is hubris. He may have the moxy to pull it off on camera, but when faced with making the decisions he knows he is clueless how to proceed.

And, in the end, it will be his undoing.

But, he cannot rule the United States if it no longer exists. If it is destroyed by terrorist nukes or falls into complete chaos because of other terrorist actions.

So I think we need to keep separate Obama's social agenda from his military one. He wants to recreate the U.S. as a Socialist nation, maybe even Marxist. BUT HE STILL WANTS TO BE THE ONE RUNNING IT. And thus he needs to still defend it as it exists now, or there won't be anything let to change and rule.

In the case of Afghanistan he waited, too long, to make a decison. And the pressure built for him to make one, any, one way or the other.And when he did he made the worst one possible. 30,000 additional troops. Because he knew we couldn't cut and run or the threat against us would grow.

He is criticized for commiting the bare minimum. He is criticized for commiting them without any clear plan for them. He is criticized for commiting them at all instead of a full draw down.

So the speech to The Nobels is as much Obama addressing and trying to preempt his critics as much as anything else.

Because, of course, he's absolutely right about his decision. After all, he IS The President.

TSA Hands Al-Qaeda Its Playbook

From Pajamas Media:

Terrorists love details. Al-Qaeda’s U.S. embassy bombers knew the thickness of the embassy walls — a key detail in figuring out how much explosives were necessary to take the buildings down. The Mumbai terrorists had copies of the floor plans to the Taj Mahal Hotel before beginning their three-day siege. The 9/11 hijackers took no less than 33 test runs in the months leading up to America’s worst terrorist attack; they cased airports and watched how flight attendants did their jobs. Terrorists do homework. They conduct intense reconnaissance missions so as to maximize the death toll on the day of their actual attacks. Practice makes perfect, so the saying goes.

This week the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) — the agency tasked with keeping you and your family safe on airplanes — literally handed al-Qaeda its playbook. In a blunder of astonishingly poor judgment, the TSA allowed one of its most sensitive documents, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual, to be posted online. And then, instead of admitting the seriousness of its security breach, the TSA tried to take the position that the information wasn’t that important. Only after Congress got involved did TSA take any action. “Some” TSA employees were placed on administrative leave, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary David Heyman told senators on Wednesday.

One of the more troublesome exposures that must be addressed is the publication of undercover agents’ ID cards — including those for CIA officers and federal air marshals. The TSA claims the information is outdated, yet I confirmed with an air marshal and a CIA officer than their ID cards have not changed in the past 18 months. Sadly, I doubt anyone reading this is surprised. America long ago lost confidence in the TSA. Despite billions of taxpayer dollars, the agency consistently proves incapable of doing its job. And yet one question remains: will it take another terrorist attack using airplanes to reform the TSA?

Here are a few highlights from the TSA’s SOP manual, which unfortunately reads like a how-to-breach-airport-security manual for terrorists:

• Orthopedic shoes, wheelchairs, casts, prosthetics, and footwear of disabled individuals that cannot be removed are exempt from screening, as are bandage dressings.
• Pilots in uniform are exempt from screening. Even if they look drunk, the TSA must not screen them, but instead should contact the FAA.
• Diplomatic pouches are exempt from screening; the SOP describes in detail what one looks like, including exactly where the diplomatic seal should be.
• There’s only a “20%” chance that a bag packed with explosives will be opened for a test.
• People from Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq, Yemen, or Algeria will be given extra screening — but not individuals from Pakistan, where the majority of terrorists attacks presently occur.
• Exit lanes are not monitored by TSA-certified officers, but instead are monitored by uncertified civilians who are allowed to sit while on duty.
• Certain procedures for verifying identification documents aren’t used on all travelers during peak travel periods.

In case this doesn’t provide the terrorists with necessary holes to get past airport security, the SOP revealed another troubling detail. Videotaping security checkpoints is not prohibited. If al-Qaeda didn’t already get what it needed, it can send its foot soldiers into airports to photograph airport security procedures for future use.

This Week On The Gathering Storm

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, hosted by WC and Always On Watch. The show broadcasts live every Friday beginning at noon, Pacific Time.

The call-in number is (646) 915-9870.

Callers welcome!

Our scheduled guests this week are Nonie Darwish and Elisabeth of Austria. Please see this recent information about Elisabeth.

Video from Nonie Darwish's Former Muslims United:



Listen to the December 11, 2009 edition of The Gathering Storm Radio Show, live or later, by CLICKING HERE.

UPCOMING SHOWS:
December 18: General Paul E. Vallely (RET)
December 25 and January 1: No show those dates

Spain: Ban-On-Minarets Survey

Please see this post at Tea and Politics.

Excerpt, citing Daniel Pipes:

14,000 readers of 20 Minutos voted 93-6 percent in favor of the statement “Good, we must curb Islamization’s growing presence” and against “Bad, it is an obstacle to the integration of immigrants.” 35,000 readers of El MUndo replied 80-20 percent that they support a Swiss-like banning of minarets.

Swedish Political Organization, EXPO, Spies On Anti-Jihad Writers?

An Anonymous commenter made me aware of this article, posted by Fjordman at Gates of Vienna back in January of 2008. As many of you may know, the writers at Gates of Vienna used to be contributors here. However, Epaminondas, Always on Watch, and I were unhappy with GoV's association with the Belgian political party, Vlaams Belang. Epa, AOW, and I believe the VB are a fascist political party. The writers at GoV do not believe so. Their seemingly endless defense of the Vlaams Belang was disconcerting, as Epa, AOW and I bought none of it. From our perspective, their support of the VB seemed to include a defense of openly fascist behavior by members of the party.

(I don't want to re-open the argument. I am sick of it. However, if you want to learn about it, simply go to our October-December 2007 archives.)

I stopped reading GoV back around November or December of 2007. Hence I was unaware of Fjordman's article until this morning. That's too bad. Because this article contains valuable information. And, it seems Fjordman has done a good job of supporting the information contained herein.

The story he tells is frightening. Read on.

From GoV:

The newspaper Expressen in Sweden recently published an article claiming that two members of the Sweden Democrats party have ties to neo-Nazi organizations. First of all: If these people really do have neo-Nazi connections, they do not belong in a civilized party and should in my view be expelled immediately. The SD will never be taken seriously if they have people like this in their party and they do not deserve to.

That is, however, not the only issue at stake here.

The source quoted in this article is the organization Expo.

Expo has released a warning against the rise of “organized Islamophobia.”

A number of blogs with content that “should probably be banned” were mentioned, among them Gates of Vienna and Little Green Footballs.

Two of the important Scandinavian blogs that were labelled “Islamophobes” were Snaphanen and Kurt Lundgren.

As both of them have pointed out, according to the article it looks like Expo had access to lists of telephone conversations and bank account information about transactions made by a number of private citizens.

If this is correct — and so far I know no more than what this article tells me — several readers suggest that this could be illegal political surveillance of free citizens by a private (but state-sponsored) organization.

Did Expressen journalist David Baas ask Expo how they obtained this information? And if the methods employed were indeed problematic, how many peaceful, private citizens have Expo also been checking in order to make this discovery?

The article by Baas mentions the left-wing extremist organization Antifascistisk Aktion (AFA), which has for years and with near impunity been physically and verbally attacking any person deemed to be critical of Sweden’s insane immigration policies. Is the Expressen newspaper going to put the violent organization AFA under similar scrutiny? Can they, for instance, find out why members of AFA in 2007 were allowed to walk next to senior members of the Swedish cabinet, the Swedish media and the Swedish law enforcement despite the fact that AFA members had probably attacked the property of a judge only days before? How come AFA can openly brag about their violent, extra-legal activities for years without being stopped by the authorities? Is it possible that the political elites find them to be a useful tool against those criticizing mass immigration?

As Bruce Bawer writes in While Sweden Slept: “Sweden Democrats have been the targets of events that recall China’s Cultural Revolution. Staged ‘people’s protests’ by members of the ‘youth divisions’ of other parties have led to the firing of Sweden Democrats from their jobs. A few weeks ago, a junior diplomat was dismissed when it became known that he was a member of the party and had criticized his country’s immigration policy. On several occasions, thugs loyal to the ruling parties have broken up SD meetings and beaten up party leaders.”

Sweden has absolutely no public debate about immigration, yet native citizens are subject to an unprecedented wave of violence. In the country’s third largest city, Malmö, which could soon have a Muslim majority, gangs of immigrant thugs brag about “waging a war” against indigenous white Swedes, according to interviews conducted by sociologist Petra Åkesson. Is it “dangerous Islamophobia” by the Swedes in Malmö if they resist continued Muslim immigration?

How come Expo displays such concern for Islamophobia and so little for the racism faced every single day by the indigenous people of their own country?

One of the co-founders of Expo, Tobias Hübinette, wrote in 1996: “To feel and even think that the white race is inferior in every conceivable way is natural with regards to its history and current actions. Let the Western countries of the white race perish in blood and suffering. Long live the multicultural, racially mixed and classless ecological society! Long live anarchy!”

According to his own CV, Tobias Hübinette worked for Expo until at least 1997.

In other words, he continued doing research for this “anti-racist” organization after having publicly advocated the extermination of the white race and the violent destruction of an entire civilization.

During this time period he did research about “racists”.

He has openly defended the use of violence for political reasons, even against children and the elderly, and has been convicted of violence.

Hübinette has continued promoting “Multiculturalism,” even received awards, and is currently working for the The Multicultural Centre of Botkyrka, Sweden.

The founder and editor of Expo magazine from 1995 until his death in November 2004, Stieg Larsson, worked with Hübinette for years, but was apparently never negatively affected by this collaboration with a person calling for genocide against his people. Larsson has been cited as a credible source regarding the extreme Right, and Expo’s material has been reprinted by leading the newspapers Expressen and Aftonbladet. Larsson left behind three unpublished thrillers, which have proceeded to become major bestsellers in Sweden after his death.

What kind of connections does Expo have with Hübinette today? Why was he apparently allowed to continue his work there after having called for the mass murder of hundreds of millions of people? The Expo website reveals a list of a dozen employees. Who pays these people? What kind of relationship does Expo have with the extremist organization AFA? Is Expo aware of the fact that AFA has been attacking “Islamophobes” for years, and that by branding a person such as Lundgren an “Islamophobe,” they are thus indirectly setting him up for an attack? What has Expo done during the past dozen years to discourage or prevent AFA members from attacking people who have been charged with or convicted of no crime?

Go read the whole thing.

Humpday Blues

Lightnin' Hopkins

Goin' Down Slow

Ace of Spades Gets to the Bottom of It

Intrepid blogger Ace of Spades has managed to obtain through possibly scurious and certainly devious means, the unfiltered unaltered TRUE meaning of the mysterious lights over Norway. . .

He'll be along shortly, Commisioner Gordon. . .

Any Sharia Shithole, Anywhere In The World

What a waste of life.

Finally Someone Tells The Truth About The Muslim Massacre In The Philippines

From Asia News:

Massacre in Maguindanao: the Ampatuan clan suspected of 200 more murders
Reported by the National Commission on Human Rights. The bodies were buried in mass graves scattered in different areas of the province. Witnesses have not reported crimes for "fear of retaliation." Those arrested will have to respond to charges of rebellion and murder.

Manila (AsiaNews / Agencies) – The Muslim clan accused of the massacre of 23 November in the province of Maguindanao in the southern Philippines, are believed to be responsible for 200 other homicides. This according to the National Commission for Human Rights, which has denounced that the discovery of several mass graves in areas controlled by Ampatuan.

Leila de Lima, President of the Commission confirms "at least 200" politically motivated assassinations linked to the Ampatuan clan, a political ally of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and power in the province since 2001.

The bodies are buried in several mass graves, scattered in the province of Maguindanao. The cases have emerged only now, following the arrest of Andalo Ampatuan Jr. - son of the powerful local governor - because witnesses did not report them "for fear of retaliation."

Among the 57 civilians killed in the attack on 23 November were relatives and supporters of Ishmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, vice-mayor of Buluan and candidate for governor of Maguindanao, of which 26 are women and 32 journalists. The police reports that "161 people are suspected of having taken part in the massacre.

Under the martial law in force in the province, the police have arrested 62 people, including clan leader Andalo Ampatuan Sr. Those arrested will have to answer to charges of rebellion and murder.

Infidel Babe(s) of the Week

(Thanks to Total for the suggestion)

From the Jerusalem Post:

"The concept of 'one for all and all for one' can get pretty absurd," the late Jerusalem Post staffer and columnist Sam Orbaum wrote about his identical triplet daughters 14 years ago.

The Orbaum girls in uniform.

Orbaum, who passed away in 2002 at the age of 46, went on in the column, entitled "The threeness of it all," to describe life as a father of identical triplets.

Not only did he sometimes mix them up, Orbaum wrote in his well-known wry, comic style, but he was also constantly impressed by their tight bond - when for example they stood up for one another in fights in the school sandbox.

The three blond 19-year-old sisters are still sticking up for one another, although this time not on the playground but in the IAF, in which they all enlisted a few months ago, making history.

WTF??!?!??!!!?? Mystery as spiral blue light display hovers above Norway

UPDATED AT BOTTOM OF POST


From the Daily Mail:

A mysterious light display appearing over Norway last night has left thousands of residents in the north of the country baffled.

Witnesses from Trøndelag to Finnmark compared the amazing sight to anything from a Russian rocket to a meteor or a shock wave - although no one appears to have mentioned UFOs yet.

The phenomenon began when what appeared to be a blue light seemed to soar up from behind a mountain. It stopped mid-air, then began to circulate.

Strange spiral: Residents in northern Norway were left stunned after the lightshow, which almost looked computer-generated, appeared in the skies above them

Curious: A blue-green beam of light was reported to have come shooting out the centre of the spiral

Within seconds a giant spiral had covered the entire sky. Then a green-blue beam of light shot out from its centre - lasting for ten to twelve minutes before disappearing completely.

The Norwegian Meteorological Institute was flooded with telephone calls after the light storm - which astronomers have said did not appear to have been connected to the aurora, or Northern Lights, so common in that area of the world.

The mystery deepened tonight as Russia denied it had been conducting missile tests in the area.

Fred Hansen, from Bø in Vesterålen, described the sight as 'like a big fireball that went around, with a great light around it again.'

Confusion: The Norwegian Meteorological Institute was flooded with calls after the light storm

'It spun and exploded in the sky,' Totto Eriksen from Tromsø told VG Nett.

He spotted the lights as he walked his daughter Amalie to school.

He said: 'We saw it from the Inner Harbor in Tromsø. It was absolutely fantastic.

'It almost looked like a rocket that spun around and around and then went diagonally down the heavens.

'It looked like the moon was coming over the mountain, but then came something completely different.'

What could it be? Astronomers say the spectacle did not appear to have been connected to the aurora, or Northern Lights

'It was like a giant spiral - a shooting star that spun around and around. I initially thought it was a projector', added Axel Rose Berg, from Alta.

Celebrity astronomer Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard told VG Nett he had never seen anything like the lights.

He said: 'My first thought was that it was a fireball meteor, but it has lasted far too long.

'It may have been a missile in Russia, but I can not guarantee that it is the answer.'

Air Traffic control in Tromsø claimed the light show lasted for two minutes, but admitted that was 'far too long to be an astronomical phenomena.'

Tromsø Geophysical Observatory researcher Truls Lynne Hansen was certain the light had been caused by a missile launch.

He told Norwegian media that the missile had likely lost control and exploded. The spiral, he claimed, was the result of light reflecting on the leaking fuel. He was quoted as saying the light was sunlight, despite the strange lights showing up at night.

The Barents Observer quoted Norwegian Defence spokesman Jon Espen Lien as saying that the Norwegian military does not know what the lights were - but that they were probably from a Russian missile.

He said it was normal for Russia to use the White Sea and the Barents Sea as a testing ground for missiles.

However a Moscow news outlet tonight quoted the Russian Navy as denying any rocket launches from the White Sea area.

Norway should be informed of such launches under international agreements, it was stressed.

The Russian Defence Ministry was unavailable for comment last night.

See video showing part of the light here, and below

UPDATE:

More:

Light in the sky over Norway, see at 7:50 am local time. Photo: Jan Petter Jørgensen via Vaeret

Apparently, this is not a Photoshopped image, as there are several more just like it, taken from various locations. This morning in northern Norway, people saw a strange light in the sky which shocked residents and so far, the phenomenon has yet to be explained. This picture was taken from a pier, looking to the east, approximately at 07.50 am local time. "I can imagine that it went on for two, three minutes," said the photographer Jan Petter Jørgensen. "It was unbelievable. I was quite shaken when I saw it."

The spiral as seen over Borras, Norway. Via Altaposten.no

"It consisted initially of a green beam of light similar in colour to the aurora with a mysterious rotating spiral at one end," said another eyewitness, Nick Banbury of Harstad, quoted on Spaceweather.com. "This spiral then got bigger and bigger until it turned into a huge halo in the sky with the green beam extending down to the earth. According to the press, this could be seen all over northern norway and must therefore have been very high up in the atmosphere to be seen hundreds of km apart."

Here's a link to a video of the spiral forming.

"[A popular] suggestion at the moment is that it was a rocket shot up by a Russian submarine in the White Sea, but the Russians deny this apparently. A big mystery indeed!"

According to NRK, there were advance warnings about several Russian missile launches from the White Sea from December 7-10, but an anonymous source in the Northern Fleet said they had no information about the incident. Press Attaché from Russia’s Embassy in Oslo, Vladimir Isupov, did not have any immediate information that could explain the light phenomenon over Northern Norway.

UPDATE: Doug Ellison from UnmannedSpaceflight.com did a very cool simulation of a tumbling rocket stage throwing out unspent fuel in two directions, and what it would look like. The question, though would be how the spiral of fuel was lit. It possibly could have been back-lit by the soon-to-rise sun.

Another eyewitness said, "We saw it from the Inner Harbor in Tromsø. It was absolutely fantastic. It almost looked like a rocket that spun around and around, and then went diagonally down the heavens. It looked like the moon was coming over the mountain, but then came something completely different, "said Totto Eriksen.

We'll keep you posted on any explanations that come out on this!

I also received a report today from a geophysicist in Papua, Indonesia who observed "an enormous flare (bolide?) visible here at Tomage (2°39'27"S 132°59'27"E), and the sighting was at a bearing approximately 165 (East of South) and the flare seemed to begin at about 30 degrees above the horizon." Paul Anderson said the date and time of the flare was approximately 2009.12.09 12:39 UTC

"I have seen meteors all my life but this was extraordinarily bright and lit up the sky. Not sure what the trajectory was aside from a slight (15 degrees, perhaps) trend to the West but this should probably be known
somewhere. My guess is it entered steeply from the North," he said.

Anyone else in or near Indonesia see anything similar?

Washington Times/Cato Institute:"The common citizens feel like chumps"

New underground economy

Richard W. Rahn

The underground or "black" economy is rapidly rising, and the fault is mainly due to government policies.

Here is the evidence. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) released a report last week concluding that 7.7 percent of U.S. households, containing at least 17 million adults, are unbanked (i.e. those who do not have bank accounts), and an "estimated 17.9 percent of U.S. households, roughly 21 million, are underbanked" (i.e., those who rely heavily on nonbank institutions, such as check cashing and money transmitting services). As an economy becomes richer and incomes rise, the normal expectation is that the proportion of the unbanked population falls and does not rise as is now happening in the United States.

Tax revenues are falling far more rapidly at the federal, state and local level than would be expected by the small drop in real gross domestic product (GDP) and changes in tax law that have occurred since the recession began. The currency in circulation outside the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve banks and the vaults of depository institutions - that is, the currency held by individuals and businesses - has grown by 13.3 percent in the last two years, while real nominal (not inflation-adjusted) GDP has not grown at all, and real (inflation-adjusted) GDP incomes have fallen by more than 3 percent. With the growth of electronic means of payment and financial service providers, it would be expected that the currency component of GDP would fall, not rise.

The underground economy refers to both legal activities, such as often found in construction and services industries where taxes are not withheld and paid, and illegal activities, such as drug dealing and prostitution.

Countries such as the United States, Switzerland and Japan historically have had relatively small, nonreporting and/or illegal sectors, a typical estimate being 13 percent of GDP.

Most European countries have had somewhat larger underground sectors (typically 20 percent or so) in part because of the desire to escape higher tax rates. Italy and some of the other Southern European countries are believed to have underground sectors that account for 30 percent or more of all economic activity.

I recall an Italian finance minister telling a few of us at a meeting a couple of decades ago that, for policy purposes, he assumed that "the economy was 40 percent larger than what was reported." In some developing countries and/or highly corrupt countries, underground or "off the books" activities are estimated to be as high as 70 percent of all economic activity.

The FDIC report about the size of the unbanked or underbanked sector in the U.S. should be of concern because those who do not use the banking system often have to pay higher fees to cash checks, pay bills (e.g., money orders, etc.), or transmit funds.

People who keep their savings in cash at home rather than in banks make themselves easier prey for criminals and are more likely to lose their money to fire, flood, or just neglect. Not surprisingly, a majority (71 percent) of the unbanked have household incomes of less than $30,000 per year.

There are many reasons people do not have bank accounts. Banks, because of the "know your customer" and other anti-money laundering regulations, make it difficult for nonestablished people, such as the young and transient, as well as legal and illegal immigrants, to open bank accounts.

Also, many of these same regulations are responsible for the rise in bank fees, which are a particular burden for low-income people. You can be sure that every time Congress passes some new law or the IRS implements some new regulation to "get tax cheats," much of the real burden of these compliance costs will fall on those least able to afford it, while those intent on finding their way around it will do so.

People also avoid having bank accounts because they are vulnerable to asset seizure, judgments, levies, etc. Increasingly, bankers and others who provide financial services are forced by governments to spy and snitch on their own customers, and this is a real turnoff for many people, which causes them to find other ways of maintaining financial privacy.

Many studies have shown that when people believe the taxes they are required to pay are reasonable and the political leaders tend to spend their tax dollars wisely, tax compliance rises, and vice versa. In the United States, there is increased evidence that many tax dollars are not being spent wisely and are often used to pay off political cronies.

Over the past year in particular, the public has become aware that many in Washington who advocate higher taxes and argue that everyone has a responsibility to pay taxes are themselves not complying with the tax laws and regulations.

When you have a secretary of the Treasury and the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee (the tax writing committee) accused of cheating on their taxes, it greatly undermines the moral authority of the tax collectors, making the common citizens feel like chumps and, hence, much more willing to try to legally avoid or illegally evade taxes themselves.

The evidence is unambiguous; governments cannot increase tax compliance and decrease the size of the underground economy by ever increasing and more onerous regulations.

It is no accident that those governments that allow their citizens a high degree of personal and financial liberty, including financial privacy, and spend taxpayer dollars wisely, honestly and competently, have much smaller underground sectors than corrupt and oppressive governments. Washington, take note.

Richard W. Rahn is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth.

Wednesday Nooner!

Claude Bolling & Jean Pierre Rampal

Baroque and Blue

Palin Copenhagen and ClimateGate

Updated at Bottom

Sarah Palin in The Washington Post:

Copenhagen's political science
By Sarah PalinWednesday, December 9, 2009

With the publication of damaging e-mails from a climate research center in Britain, the radical environmental movement appears to face a tipping point. The revelation of appalling actions by so-called climate change experts allows the American public to finally understand the concerns so many of us have articulated on this issue.

"Climate-gate," as the e-mails and other documents from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia have become known, exposes a highly politicized scientific circle -- the same circle whose work underlies efforts at the Copenhagen climate change conference. The agenda-driven policies being pushed in Copenhagen won't change the weather, but they would change our economy for the worse.

The e-mails reveal that leading climate "experts" deliberately destroyed records, manipulated data to "hide the decline" in global temperatures, and tried to silence their critics by preventing them from publishing in peer-reviewed journals. What's more, the documents show that there was no real consensus even within the CRU crowd. Some scientists had strong doubts about the accuracy of estimates of temperatures from centuries ago, estimates used to back claims that more recent temperatures are rising at an alarming rate.

This scandal obviously calls into question the proposals being pushed in Copenhagen. I've always believed that policy should be based on sound science, not politics. As governor of Alaska, I took a stand against politicized science when I sued the federal government over its decision to list the polar bear as an endangered species despite the fact that the polar bear population had more than doubled. I got clobbered for my actions by radical environmentalists nationwide, but I stood by my view that adding a healthy species to the endangered list under the guise of "climate change impacts" was an abuse of the Endangered Species Act. This would have irreversibly hurt both Alaska's economy and the nation's, while also reducing opportunities for responsible development.

Our representatives in Copenhagen should remember that good environmental policymaking is about weighing real-world costs and benefits -- not pursuing a political agenda. That's not to say I deny the reality of some changes in climate -- far from it. I saw the impact of changing weather patterns firsthand while serving as governor of our only Arctic state. I was one of the first governors to create a subcabinet to deal specifically with the issue and to recommend common-sense policies to respond to the coastal erosion, thawing permafrost and retreating sea ice that affect Alaska's communities and infrastructure.

But while we recognize the occurrence of these natural, cyclical environmental trends, we can't say with assurance that man's activities cause weather changes. We can say, however, that any potential benefits of proposed emissions reduction policies are far outweighed by their economic costs. And those costs are real. Unlike the proposals China and India offered prior to Copenhagen -- which actually allow them to increase their emissions -- President Obama's proposal calls for serious cuts in our own long-term carbon emissions. Meeting such targets would require Congress to pass its cap-and-tax plans, which will result in job losses and higher energy costs (as Obama admitted during the campaign). That's not exactly what most Americans are hoping for these days. And as public opposition continues to stall Congress's cap-and-tax legislation, Environmental Protection Agency bureaucrats plan to regulate carbon emissions themselves, doing an end run around the American people.

In fact, we're not the only nation whose people are questioning climate change schemes. In the European Union, energy prices skyrocketed after it began a cap-and-tax program. Meanwhile, Australia's Parliament recently defeated a cap-and-tax bill. Surely other nations will follow suit, particularly as the climate e-mail scandal continues to unfold.

In his inaugural address, President Obama declared his intention to "restore science to its rightful place." But instead of staying home from Copenhagen and sending a message that the United States will not be a party to fraudulent scientific practices, the president has upped the ante. He plans to fly in at the climax of the conference in hopes of sealing a "deal." Whatever deal he gets, it will be no deal for the American people. What Obama really hopes to bring home from Copenhagen is more pressure to pass the Democrats' cap-and-tax proposal. This is a political move. The last thing America needs is misguided legislation that will raise taxes and cost jobs -- particularly when the push for such legislation rests on agenda-driven science.

Without trustworthy science and with so much at stake, Americans should be wary about what comes out of this politicized conference. The president should boycott Copenhagen.

Update:

Pope Albert I of the Church of Anthropocentric Global Warming none to happy with Infidel Palin's remarks. Suggests shunning.

American Spectator:

Totalitarian Sentimentality
By Roger Scruton from the December 2009-January 2010 issue

Conservatives recognize that social order is hard to achieve and easy to destroy, that it is held in place by discipline and sacrifice, and that the indulgence of criminality and vice is not an act of kindness but an injustice for which all of us will pay. Conservatives therefore maintain severe and -- to many people -- unattractive attitudes. They favor retributive punishment in the criminal law; they uphold traditional marriage and the sacrifices that it requires; they believe in discipline in schools and the value of hard work and military service. They believe in the family and think that the father is an essential part in it. They see welfare provisions as necessary, but also as a potential threat to genuine charity, and a way both of rewarding antisocial conduct and creating a culture of dependency. They value the hard-won legal and constitutional inheritance of their country and believe that immigrants must also value it if they are to be allowed to settle here. Conservatives do not think that war is caused by military strength, but on the contrary by military weakness, of a kind that tempts adventurers and tyrants. And a properly ordered society must be prepared to fight wars -- even wars in foreign parts -- if it is to enjoy a lasting peace in its homeland. In short conservatives are a hard and unfriendly bunch who, in the world in which we live, must steel themselves to be reviled and despised by all people who make compassion into the cornerstone of the moral life.

Liberals are of course very different. They see criminals as victims of social hierarchy and unequal power, people who should be cured by kindness and not threatened with punishment. They wish all privileges to be shared by everyone, the privileges of marriage included. And if marriage can be reformed so as to remove the cost of it, so much the better. Children should be allowed to play and express their love of life; the last thing they need is discipline. Learning comes -- didn't Dewey prove as much? -- from self-expression; and as for sex education, which gives the heebie-jeebies to social conservatives, no better way has ever been found of liberating children from the grip of the family and teaching them to enjoy their bodily rights. Immigrants are just migrants, victims of economic necessity, and if they are forced to come here illegally that only increases their claim on our compassion. Welfare provisions are not rewards to those who receive them, but costs to those who give -- something that we owe to those less fortunate than ourselves. As for the legal and constitutional inheritance of the country, this is certainly to be respected -- but it must "adapt" to new situations, so as to extend its protection to the new victim class. Wars are caused by military strength, by "boys with their toys," who cannot resist the desire to flex their muscles, once they have acquired them. The way to peace is to get rid of the weapons, to reduce the army, and to educate children in the ways of soft power. In the world in which we live liberals are self-evidently lovable -- emphasizing in all their words and gestures that, unlike the social conservatives, they are in every issue on the side of those who need protecting, and against the hierarchies that oppress them.

Those two portraits are familiar to everyone, and I have no doubt on which side the readers of this magazine will stand. What all conservatives know, however, is that it is they who are motivated by compassion, and that their cold-heartedness is only apparent. They are the ones who have taken up the cause of society, and who are prepared to pay the cost of upholding the principles on which we all -- liberals included -- depend. To be known as a social conservative is to lose all hope of an academic career; it is to be denied any chance of those prestigious prizes, from the MacArthur to the Nobel Peace Prize, which liberals confer only on each other. For an intellectual it is to throw away the prospect of a favorable review -- or any review at all -- in the New York Times or the New York Review of Books. Only someone with a conscience could possibly wish to expose himself to the inevitable vilification that attends such an "enemy of the people." And this proves that the conservative conscience is governed not by self-interest but by a concern for the public good. Why else would anyone express it?

By contrast, as conservatives also know, the compassion displayed by the liberal is precisely that -- compassion displayed, though not necessarily felt. The liberal knows in his heart that his "compassionating zeal," as Rousseau described it, is a privilege for which he must thank the social order that sustains him. He knows that his emotion toward the victim class is (these days at least) more or less cost-free, that the few sacrifices he might have to make by way of proving his sincerity are nothing compared to the warm glow of approval by which he will be surrounded by declaring his sympathies. His compassion is a profoundly motivated state of mind, not the painful result of a conscience that will not be silenced, but the costless ticket to popular acclaim.

Why am I repeating those elementary truths, you ask? The answer is simple. The USA has descended from its special position as the principled guardian of Western civilization and joined the club of sentimentalists who have until now depended on American power. In the administration of President Obama we see the very same totalitarian sentimentality that has been at work in Europe, and which has replaced civil society with the state, the family with the adoption agency, work with welfare, and patriotic duty with universal "rights." The lesson of postwar Europe is that it is easy to flaunt compassion, but harder to bear the cost of it. Far preferable to the hard life in which disciplined teaching, costly charity, and responsible attachment are the ruling principles is the life of sentimental display, in which others are encouraged to admire you for virtues you do not possess. This life of phony compassion is a life of transferred costs. Liberals who wax lyrical on the sufferings of the poor do not, on the whole, give their time and money to helping those less fortunate than themselves. On the contrary, they campaign for the state to assume the burden. The inevitable result of their sentimental approach to suffering is the expansion of the state and the increase in its power both to tax us and to control our lives.

As the state takes charge of our needs, and relieves people of the burdens that should rightly be theirs -- the burdens that come from charity and neighborliness -- serious feeling retreats. In place of it comes an aggressive sentimentality that seeks to dominate the public square. I call this sentimentality "totalitarian" since -- like totalitarian government -- it seeks out opposition and carefully extinguishes it, in all the places where opposition might form. Its goal is to "solve" our social problems, by imposing burdens on responsible citizens, and lifting burdens from the "victims," who have a "right" to state support. The result is to replace old social problems, which might have been relieved by private charity, with the new and intransigent problems fostered by the state: for example, mass illegitimacy, the decline of the indigenous birthrate, and the emergence of the gang culture among the fatherless youth. We have seen this everywhere in Europe, whose situation is made worse by the pressure of mass immigration, subsidized by the state. The citizens whose taxes pay for the flood of incoming "victims" cannot protest, since the sentimentalists have succeeded in passing "hate speech" laws and in inventing crimes like "Islamophobia" which place their actions beyond discussion. This is just one example of a legislative tendency that can be observed in every area of social life: family, school, sexual relations, social initiatives, even the military -- all are being deprived of their authority and brought under the control of the "soft power" that rules from above.

This is how we should understand the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama. To his credit he has made clear that he does not deserve it -- though I assume he deserves it every bit as much as Al Gore. The prize is an endorsement from the European elite, a sigh of collective relief that America has at last taken the decisive step toward the modern consensus, by exchanging real for fake emotion, hard power for soft power, and truth for lies. What matters in Europe is the great fiction that things will stay in place forever, that peace will be permanent and society stable, just so long as everybody is "nice." Under President Bush (who was, of course, no exemplary president, and certainly not nice) America maintained its old image, of national self-confidence and belligerent assertion of the right to be successful. Bush was the voice of a property-owning democracy, in which hard work and family values still achieved a public endorsement. As a result he was hated by the European elites, and hated all the more because Europe needs America and knows that, without America, it will die. Obama is welcomed as a savior: the American president for whom the Europeans have been hoping -- the one who will rescue them from the truth.

How America itself will respond to this, however, remains doubtful. I suspect, from my neighbors in rural Virginia, that totalitarian sentimentality has no great appeal to them, and that they will be prepared to resist a government that seeks to destroy their savings and their social capital, for the sake of a compassion that it does not really feel.

Shooting Ourself in the Foot

Newsmax:

TSA Accidentally Posts Secrets Online
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 5:21 PM

WASHINGTON -- The federal government improperly posted an internal guide to its airport passenger screening procedures on the Internet in a way that could offer insight into how to sidestep security.

The document outlines who is exempt from certain additional screening measures, including members of the U.S. armed forces, governors and lieutenant governors, the mayor of Washington, D.C., and their spouses and immediate family.

It offers examples of identification documents that screeners accept, including congressional, federal air marshal and CIA ID cards; and it explains that diplomatic pouches and certain foreign dignitaries with law enforcement escorts are not subjected to any screening at all. It said certain methods of verifying identification documents aren't used on all travelers during peak travel crushes.

The Transportation Security Administration, which oversees airport security, said the document is outdated. It was posted in March by TSA on the Federal Business Opportunity site. The posting was improper because sensitive information was not properly protected, TSA spokeswoman Kristin Lee said.

As a result, some Web sites, using widely available software, were able to uncover the original text of sections that had been blacked out for security reasons. On Sunday, the Wandering Aramean blog pointed out the document in a posting titled "The TSA makes another stupid move."

According to the blog, TSA posted a redacted version of the document but did not delete the sensitive information from the file. Instead of removing the text, the government covered it up with a black box. But the text was still embedded in the document and could be uncovered.

TSA asked that the document be removed from the Federal Business Opportunity site on Dec. 6 after the security lapse was reported in a blog. But copies of the document, with the redacted portions exposed, circulated on the Internet and remain posted on other Web sites not controlled by the government.

Lee said TSA takes the incident seriously and a review is under way.

Noting that the transportation agency uses multiple layers of security, Lee said, "TSA is confident that screening procedures currently in place remain strong."

The document, marked "sensitive security information," includes instructions on how it should be stored to avoid compromising security: Electronic copies should be password-protected; hard copies should be in separate binders and stored in cabinets or desk drawers; and missing copies should be immediately reported.

The document also describes these screening protocols:

Individuals with a passport from Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq, Yemen, or Algeria, should be given additional screening unless there are specific instructions not to.

Aircraft flight crew members in uniform with valid IDs are not subject to liquid, gel, aerosol and footwear restrictions.

Wheelchair and scooter cushions, disabled people's footwear that can't be removed, prosthetic devices, casts, braces and orthopedic shoes at certain times may be exempt from screening for explosives.

Intelligence officials have warned of prosthetic devices and wheelchairs being used to conceal weapons and other contraband.

"Some of these devices may have been used to exploit a perception that security and law enforcement officers offer disabled or pregnant individuals a more relaxed inspection," said an August 2007 TSA intelligence note marked "for official use only" and obtained by The Associated Press.

Former TSA Administrator Kip Hawley said the document is not something a security agency would want to inadvertently post online, but he said it's not a roadmap for terrorists.

"Hyperventilating that this is a breach of security that's going to endanger the public is flat wrong," Hawley said.

A Hannukah Song Written By Orrin Hatch?

Yes, it's true.

Eight Days of Hanukkah from Tablet Magazine on Vimeo.

Very cool.

It was something about taxation without representation, wasn't it?

Administration Warns of 'Command-and-Control' Regulation Over Emissions

The Obama administration is warning Congress that if it doesn't move to regulate greenhouse gases, the Environmental Protection Agency will take a "command-and-control" role over the process in way that could hurt business.

The warning, from a top White House economic official who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity, came on the eve of EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's address to the international conference on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Jackson, however, tried to strike a tone of cooperation in her address Wednesday, explaining that the EPA's new powers to regulate greenhouse gases will be used to complement legislation pending in Congress, not replace it.

"This is not an 'either-or' moment. It's a 'both-and' moment," she said.

But while administration officials have long said they prefer Congress take action on climate change, the economic official who spoke with reporters Tuesday night made clear that the EPA will not wait and is prepared to act on its own.

And it won't be pretty.

"If you don't pass this legislation, then ... the EPA is going to have to regulate in this area," the official said. "And it is not going to be able to regulate on a market-based way, so it's going to have to regulate in a command-and-control way, which will probably generate even more uncertainty."

Then Congress is just a bunch of COWARD rubber stamp FIG LEAVES in the machinations of White House thought, you stupid, stupid people.

Resist and we will dictate.

Think 'other' and we will dictate.

Disagree and we will dictate.

TIME TO GET RID OF THE EPA and executive czar mandatory behavior.

The increased costs which Jackson, Gov Corzine of New Jersey's (who just lost) former running dog warns are an outright tax by the executive BECAUSE THEY SAID SO.

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS

Fistgate III: Obama’s Safe Schools Czar’s “Black Book” For Kids Included Tips on Fisting & Pi$$ing on Your Partner

From Gateway Pundit:

(Warning on Content)
In March 2000 the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) organization of Massachusetts held its 10 Year Anniversary GLSEN/Boston conference at Tufts University. This conference was fully supported by the Massachusetts Department of Education, the Safe Schools Program, the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, and some of the presenters even received federal money. During the 2000 conference, workshop leaders led a “youth only, ages 14-21″ session that offered lessons in “fisting” a dangerous sexual practice. During the same workshop an activist asked 14 year-old students, “Spit or swallow?… Is it rude?” The unbelievable audio clip is posted here. Barack Obama’s “Safe Schools Czar” Kevin Jennings is the founder of GLSEN. He was paid $273,573.96 as its executive director in 2007. Jennings was the keynote speaker at the 2000 GLSEN conference.

Barack Obama’s “Safe Schools Czar” was the keynote speaker at the GLSEN/Boston Conference at Tufts University in 2000. High school students at the conference learned about fisting and watersports from the GLSEN activists. Jennings is seen here holding the conference program. (Via Mass Resistance)

Unfortunately for GLSEN, undercover journalists with Mass Resistance recorded these outrageous sessions at Tufts University. The audio was later leaked to a local radio station. This created such an uproar that GLSEN leaders were forced to apologize for their disgusting behavior.

Despite the controversy, Barack Obama’s Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings and his GLSEN organization did nothing to clean up their act. In fact in 2001 activists handed out “fisting kits” to the children and teachers who attended the GLSEN conference.

But that’s not all. The children who attended Kevin Jennnings’ GLSEN 2005 Conference also left with their own “Little Black Book – Queer in the 21st Century”.

This book exposes the young teens to–
Rimming – Fisting – Water Sports (Pi$$ Play) – Toys
It’s what every teen needs to know…

The page titled “How safe is dat?” introduces young teens to fisting, rimming, and watersports (pi$$ing on your partner). Shouldn’t every teen know this?

And in case any of the teens got bored, GLSEN was also kind enough to include a list of the local gay bars in the booklet distributed to high school students.

The entire Little Black Book is posted here.

Kevin Jennings insists his programs are about education and not sex (video here)…
But is education on fisting and pi$$ play what young teens really need?

Because of his excellent work with children Kevin Jennings was promoted by Barack Obama to be his Safe Schools Czar. Today he’s running the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools in the US Department of Education.
Do you feel safe now?

There’s more to come.

This was cross-posted at Big Government.

Related Posts:
** Breaking: Obama’s “Safe Schools Czar” Is Promoting Child Porn in the Classroom– Kevin Jennings and the GLSEN Reading List
** Breaking: Obama’s “Safe Schools Czar” Is Promoting Porn in the Classroom– Kevin Jennings and the GLSEN Reading List (Part II)
** Breaking: Obama’s Safe Schools Czar’s Question to 14 Year Olds: “Spit vs. Swallow?… Is it Rude?” (audio-video)
** Obama’s “Safe Schools Czar” Promoted “Fisting” to Children (Video)
** Fistgate II: High School Students Given “Fisting Kits” At Kevin Jennings’ GLSEN Conference (Photo)

UPDATE: The Washington Times is reporting on Obama’s Risky Sex Czar today, via Free Republic.

We Also Failed to Understand Japan's "Holy War" of Hakko Ichiu

Those Americans who have still never heard of Sharia law and who try to rationalize away Jihad had their counterparts in the pre-WWII years. A recent exchange of comments on a posting at the JihadWatch site alerted me to similarities between Islamism and the concept of hakko ichiu that motivated the Empire of Japan in WWII.

Hakko ichiu, translates into English as "all the world under one roof," meaning world dominance by Japan. It was first used as a political slogan in the early 20th century by Japanese nationalist Tanaka Chigaku as his interpretation of a "divine command" issued by Jimmu, Japan's first god-emperor, believed to be a direct descendent of the sun.

The Japanese people believed themselves to be descendants of gods, destined to rule the world and all its people. Their religion of Shinto decreed that all living people must imitate the ways of the gods, in a system as detailed and all-encompassing as that of Islam's Sharia law. And like Islam, Shinto had permeated its culture for many centuries. But since 1870 the state had forced into the practice of Shinto the doctrine of hakko ichiu. The combination was deadly, because to the Japanese it justified any treachery, brutality, rape, and torture used against non-Japanese. In 1940, the Konoe administration proclaimed for Japan "a new order in East Asia aimed at establishment of world peace...". The meaning of hakko ichiu in relation to "peace" was about the same as that of Islam: submission.

Frank Capra's film "Know Your Enemy - Japan", part of his "Why We Fight" series, provides an excellent short introduction to hakko ichiu. To quote from the film, the Japanese soldier "...believes that in the attack itself there is some mystic virtue" by which a superior enemy force can be defeated. "Death in battle is the attainment of the ideal... where his flag leads, he follows in a blind emotional rush", for the Japanese flag of the Rising Sun was the symbol of their holy emperor, their visible god. The emperor was also their political ruler, thus combining religion and politics. As a direct descendant of the sun, the emperor could not be imitated in any way, could not be touched, and the Japanese government filed an official protest when a photograph of Hirohito appeared on the cover of TIME magazine.

As one commenter on JW pointed out, differing circumstances lead to differences in the perception of similarities between Jihad and Hakko Ichiu in history. The current difference is based in Political Correctness. That insidious barrier to rational assessment is compounded by the fact that the "nationality" of Islam, the "uniform" of its "military", and the structure of its "government" are not as clearly delineated as was the case with Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany, and are therefore more susceptible to the distortions of PC. This is not likely to change unless and until we are hit with an attack of even greater magnitude than 9/11/01 which will require us to finally acknowledge the nature of our enemy, in the name of our very survival.

REPENTHOUSE: All I See Is You....

But days have come and gone
Since you were here
Nights are twice as long
Without you near
Pictures on my mind
Stand out so clear
No matter where I am
Or what I do
My darling
All I see is you...

You're there in every dream
I ever dream
There at every place
I've ever been
Everyday I find
You're in my heart
And on my mind
I close my eyes
But I'm not blind
I see you still
And when I throw my arms out wide
I find that you're not by my side
But one thing is for sure
Until I do
All I see is you

Everyday I find
You're in my heart
And on my mind
I close my eyes
But I'm not blind
I see you still, oh
I won't live again
'Til I'm with you...

For you were like sheep going astray,
but now you have returned
to The Shepherd
and The Overseer of your souls.
~ 1 Peter 2

"In Fifty Years France Will Be Another Muslim Country - In One Hundred Years, Europe Will No Longer Exist"

I decided to take up the challenge, laid down by Avenging Apostate, and interview people I come in contact with on what they think of Islam.

This first person I spoke with is a Middle East-born, Ivy League-educated Christian man with whom I work. I had always avoided talking politics with him, because he has told me he listens to NPR while he on his commute. I figured that told me all I need to know. He must be a Leftist dhimmi, right?

So, yesterday, we were discussing trends in the economy and how they would effect our business, so I asked him what he thought of the EPA decree.

Instead of launching into a rant, as I might have done if someone had presented the same question to me, he calmly responded, "Well, it seems to me we, as a nation, are going more and more towards the European model."

"And, what do you think of that?"

"I think it is a tragedy in the making, because the European model is a failed model. They have bought into the idea of an ever-expanding economy under which they can have anything they want, so they import huge amounts of immigrants, a de facto slave class, to serve them. "

Interesting answer. There is definitely a bit of Leftist ideology in there, with the antipathy towards the idea of an "ever-expanding economy", but I decided to push ahead, since he had, essentially, brought the subject up for me. I responded,

"I know this is an extreme way of putting it, but the European model is, basically, a Ponzi scheme dependent upon the importing of immigrants to feed the tax base and keep the scheme going. And, that's not going to work "

When I said this, he looked at me with a little apprehension in his eye. But, he seemed to recognize the truth of what I said. I pushed further,

"And, the Europeans don't have enough children."

"Yes, this is true. In one hundred years, there will be no recognizable Europe."

Now, it was my turn to have a little bit of apprehension.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"They are being outbred by their de facto slave class. The same thing happened to Egypt in the 13-14th century B.C. They imported huge numbers of people to support their opulent lifestyle, and the slaves outbred them and went on to rule. History repeats itself. In fifty years, France will be another Muslim country," he declared with visible disgust.

Frankly, I did not want to push it any further. The company I work for is relatively large, and we have a latticework of rules about what is and isn't acceptable behavior. I have a feeling speaking out too clearly on a political subject could be construed as a violation of some rule, so I backed off there. After all, we must not offend the Muslims who do work for our company.

The disgust on his face told me everything I needed to know anyway. This NPR listener knows which way the wind blows for Western Civilization. What he seems to have given no thought to is how Europe reacted the last time Islam took over. He seems to think Europe will just roll over and die. But, if Egyptian history can be a lesson in what happens to a decadent society which finds itself outbred by it's immigrant servant class, then are not the stories of Queen Isabella, Charles Martel, and Jean Sobieski also lessons worth heeding?

By the way, how do you like my subtle interviewing technique? ;-)

In closing, I will tell you this. This is not the first time I've discussed Islam with people at work. However, it is the first time I attempted to get someone to discuss it. I work with a number of Filipino people. When I tell them my wife is Filipino, they inevitably ask me where her family is from. When I tell them "Mindanao", the subject always turns to Islam. Everyone of the Filipino people I work with has a dislike for the Muslims who have caused so much trouble in their country. Some express their dislike with visceral anger, some simply look like they want to when they says the words, "Muslims". They do not blame the problem on Islam so much as they do "the Muslims".

It's almost as if CAIR is not doing a very good job as an Islamic PR firm.

I guess Muslims have caused an awful lot of ill will around the world. My ME-born co-worker, and all the Filipino people seem very clear on what the problem is.

Spain Under Shari'a All Those Centuries Ago

Article (2005) here

Pamela Geller, Frontpage Magazine Interview: Obama’s Landscape of Anti-Semitism

Here's an excerpt, but do read the whole thing:

FP: What explains this hatred of Israel in Obama’s administration? What is it that is motivating Obama and these anti-Semites around him?

Geller: Obama’s anti-Semitic associations go all the way back to the beginning of his career: the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who worked with Louis Farrakhan and gave him an award from Trinity United Church of Christ; Bill Ayers, whose Communist rhetoric from the 1960s – the Weather Underground manifesto Prairie Fire — was full of anti-Semitic attacks on Israel; and others. Israel has always been an ally of the United States and was an enemy of the Soviet Union and socialist internationalists. Barack Obama is a socialist internationalist, as are the people he has surrounded himself with. It’s no surprise in light of that that his administration would be so anti-Israel.

Little attention is paid to Obama’s childhood study of Islam and his Koranic studies in Indonesia. Knowing what we know about Islamic anti-Semitism and Jew-hatred in the Koran, it may have been a powerful influence on Obama’s attitudes towards the Jewish homeland.

FP: What are the consequences of this landscape of Jew-hate in the Obama administration?

Geller: The main consequence is that Israel is on its own to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat, and the U.S. may even try to stop Israel from doing anything about that threat. A nuclear Iran threatens the entire free world, not just Israel, but no one in the Obama administration seems very concerned about that. They’ve even opposed new sanctions on Iran.

When the cop walks off the beat, thugs go wild. With a weak Islamophilic President in the White House, there is a vacuum, a void — one that evil is only too happy to fill. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently called on the Iranian mullahs to stop their uranium enrichment activities. Two days after that, showing how much they fear the wrath of the U.N. and Barack Hussein Obama, the mullahs okayed a plan to build ten new uranium enrichment plants.

This is the same IAEA whose chief, Mohamed Mostafa ElBaradei, said in October that “Israel is number one threat to Middle East.” The IAEA, led by Mohamed ElBaradei, has given covert cover to jihad nuclear weaponization for decades. Would we be in this predicament if the UN had even tried to do its job? Yet even this lapdog called out the Iranians, and not surprisingly, they laughed at him.

And all this comes after Iran defiantly rejected a deal that the UN brokered on its nuke program – although Obama has been mum about the rejection for understandable reasons. He knows what it will show about his determination to negotiate with the Iranians “without preconditions.” One colossal failure after another. All hail O-blunder.

But what did he expect? Why would Iran have endorsed this deal? Would Hitler have stopped in the Thirties? Did handing over Czechoslovakia satiate Germany’s bloodlust?

There is a weak leader installed in the Oval Office. It’s not hard to fool the invertebrate in the White House. He wants to be conned. The Islamic Republic of Iran is counting on it. Iran’s rogue regime has been unimaginably successful in achieving its goals while spitting in the face of the world. Why stop now?

For Iran, it’s all systems go.

Report: Spanish Security Officials Say Sharia Courts Including Saudi-Style Islamic Morality Police On The Rise...

Click on title above for the whole story.

The virus spreads....

Cheney: Obama "More Radical" Than Any Other Dem President, His Failure to Understand "American Exceptionalism is Deeply Disturbing"....

Once again, Cheney pins Obama to the wall and proceeds to beat the ever-living-fuck out of him with his superior intellect (that should drive the left insane)....

President Barack Obama, bowing to other leaders of the world, fails to understand the concept of "American exceptionalism,'' former Vice President Dick Cheney contends.

"There's never been a nation like the United States of America in world history, and yet when you have a president who goes around and bows to his hosts and then proceeds to apologize profusely for the United States, I find that deeply disturbing,'' Cheney says in an interview that FOX News will air tonight. "That says to me this is a guy who doesn't fully understand or share that view of American exceptionalism that I think most of us believe in."

The Republican also contends that Obama is a "more radical'' Democrat than he first appeared to be - yet stops short of calling Obama, as some critics have, a socialist: "I don't want to use that kind of a label."

"I saw him when he got elected as a liberal Democrat, but conventional in the sense of sort of falling within the parameters of the national Democratic Party,'' Cheney says in the interview with FOX's Sean Hannity airing tonight at 9 pm EST and again tomorrow, same time. "I think he's demonstrated pretty conclusively now during his first year in office that he's more radical than that, that he's farther outside the parameters if you will of what we've traditionally had in Democratic presidents in years past."

Mick Jagger

Harlem Shuffle

Santa's Gifts to Obama Kids Revealed!

The NY Slimes reports that they have it on good authority The Big Guy plans to leave Malia an Ipod loaded with Michelle's greatest rants and scoldings and Sasha will receive a replica helicopter of Marine One and a Burqa Barbie from The White House Gift Shop.

Obama's "Non-Religious" White House Christmas and No Christmas Gifts for his Kids

Pamela has a very good point here.

From Atlas Shrugs:

He is off the wall. Mad with power. Even if you think this, if you are President of the United States, you don't say it. Read this story and then consider the gala event he held at the White House for Ramadan; I covered it here. And remember Obama's cancellation of the national day of prayer.

Obama Plan 'Non-Religious Christmas' at WH FOX

President Obama and the First Family were planning a “non-religious
Christmas,” according to Social Secretary Desiree Rogers. Ms. Rogers reportedly told a gathering of former social secretaries that the Obamas did not intend on putting the Nativity scene on display – a longtime East Room tradition.

The account was reported in the Fashion and Style section of The New York Times. The White House confirmed to the Times that there had been internal discussions about making Christmas more inclusive – but in the end – tradition won out – and the Nativity scene is once again in its traditional East Room spot.

Did you know that Obama does not celebrate Christmas? Obama Leaves the Gifting to Santa

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) tells People magazine in the issue out Friday that he and his wife, Michelle, do not give Christmas or birthday presents to their two young daughters.

Obama tells the magazine’s Sandra Sobieraj Westfall in a seven-page cover story that he and his wife follow the unusual practice because they “want to teach some limits.”

In the interview earlier this summer, Obama noted that they do spend “hundreds” of dollars on birthday slumber parties.

Michelle Obama told People: “Malia says, ‘I know there is a Santa because there’s no way you’d buy me all that stuff.’ ”

UPDATE: Jesus nearly banned at the White House Inn