Peter Gabriel
Solsbury Hill
Solsbury Hill
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Breaking ! Two Men on United Flight from Chicago Arrested on 'Preparation of a Terrorist Attack' in Amsterdam
Two Men on United Flight from Chicago Arrested on 'Preparation of a Terrorist Attack' in Amsterdam.
Full story here.
Dulles? I wonder if there is any connection between this story and the next one:
Nine passengers boarding a United Airlines flight at Washington's Dulles International Airport were removed after a passenger made a comment to a flight attendant.
What exactly the person said is unclear, but it was considered enough of a "threat" to prompt the pilot to make a decision to boot that person and eight accompanying passengers off the Tampa-bound flight, AOL Travel News has learned.
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy says she can confirm only that the passengers were removed from the flight after the comment, talked with United representatives at Dulles and were re-booked on another flight. She would not disclose the nature of the comment.
A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority says Dulles airport police officers were called to the gate area, but the passengers were already off the plane when they arrived and they were not involved in the interviews. No one was detained.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was asked to check the passenger names against its "no fly" list, but otherwise was not involved in the incident.
"We are aware of the situation," a TSA spokesman says.
Other passengers continued on to Tampa as scheduled.
Two men taken off a Chicago-to-Amsterdam United Airlines flight in the Netherlands have been charged by Dutch police with "preparation of a terrorist attack," U.S. law enforcement officials tell ABC News.U.S. officials said the two appeared to be travelling with what were termed "mock bombs" in their luggage.
"This was almost certainly a dry run, a test," said one senior law enforcement official.A spokesman for the Dutch public prosecutor, Ernst Koelman, confirmed the two men were arrested this morning and said "the investigation is ongoing." He said the arrests were made "at the request of American authorities."
The two were allowed to board the flight at O'Hare airport last night despite security concerns surrounding one of them, the officials said.
The men were identified as Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, of Detroit, MI, and Hezem al Murisi, the officials said. A neighbor of al Soofi told ABC News he is from Yemen.
Airport security screeners in Birmingham, Alabama first stopped al Soofi and referred him to additional screening because of what officials said was his "bulky clothing."
In addition, officials said, al Soofi was found to be carrying $7,000 in cash and a check of his luggage found a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together, several watches taped together, a box cutter and three large knives.
Officials said there was no indication of explosives and he and his luggage were cleared for the flight from Birmingham to Chicago O'Hare.
Once in Chicago, officials say they learned al Soofi checked his luggage on a flight to Washington's Dulles airport for connections on flights to Dubai and then Yemen, even though he did not board the flight himself.
Full story here.
Dulles? I wonder if there is any connection between this story and the next one:
Nine Passengers Removed from United Flight After Comment Made
Nine passengers boarding a United Airlines flight at Washington's Dulles International Airport were removed after a passenger made a comment to a flight attendant. What exactly the person said is unclear, but it was considered enough of a "threat" to prompt the pilot to make a decision to boot that person and eight accompanying passengers off the Tampa-bound flight, AOL Travel News has learned.
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy says she can confirm only that the passengers were removed from the flight after the comment, talked with United representatives at Dulles and were re-booked on another flight. She would not disclose the nature of the comment.
A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority says Dulles airport police officers were called to the gate area, but the passengers were already off the plane when they arrived and they were not involved in the interviews. No one was detained.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was asked to check the passenger names against its "no fly" list, but otherwise was not involved in the incident.
"We are aware of the situation," a TSA spokesman says.
Other passengers continued on to Tampa as scheduled.
Monday, August 30, 2010
BUSTED: Florida Mosque Caught on Video Raising Money for Hamas - The Fundraiser? George Galloway
From Eye on the World:
Right Side News: BUSTED: Florida Mosque Caught on Video Raising Money for Hamas Fundraiser George GallowayORLANDO, FL, AUGUST 30, 2010: Investigative members of ACT Jacksonville & ACT Orlando led a video team into the Al Rahman Mosque in Orlando and taped at least $55,000 raised for former British Parliamentarian and admitted terrorist/HAMAS supporter - George Galloway.
Randy Mc Daniels, Director of ACT Jacksonville states that, "Galloway was fully supported in this federal crime by Imam Mahdi Bray, a national director with the Muslim American Society (MAS). Watch the video and you will be shocked!"
Go read the rest at Eye on the World.
Coming August 31: ‘Direct Access’ Stimulus Grants for the Muslim Brotherhood
Obama - friend of the Muslim Brotherhood?Think of it as ACORN reborn, with a slice of Jihad on the side.Including this:
On August 31, this coming Tuesday, the Muslim Brotherhood-associated “Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations” (CCMO) will bring 25-30 Muslim leaders of 20 national Muslim groups to attend a special workshop presented by the White House and U.S. Government agencies (Agriculture, Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services etc.) to provide the groups “funding, government assistance and resources.” The workshop will apparently provide special access for these Muslim Brotherhood organizations: the organizers pledge to provide “direct access” and “cut through red tape.” Government and Muslim groups will hold an Iftar dinner (breaking the fast of Ramadan) after the workshop.
More...
Here’s the email in entirety:
Iftar with Our Government:Serving up Resources for American Muslim CommunitiesIn celebration of Ramadan, ISNA leadership and staff have been busy attending iftars hosted by the White House, State Department, Federal and State Agencies, Embassies, elected officials and interfaith partners.
“These iftars are a place to celebrate the diversity of America with our partners in the government and interfaith communities,” said ISNA Director for the Office of Interfaith and Community Alliances Dr. Sayyid Syeed. He adds, “They are also evidence that Muslims and our traditions are more regularly incorporated into the mosaic of cultures and traditions that form the foundation of American life.”
Although these iftars are important symbols of the transition of Muslims into mainstream American culture, according to ISNA Director of Community Outreach Mohamed Elsanousi, they are also a very important place for brainstorming and the development of practical ideas to help the Muslim community.
“Muslim community members have been asking for more from these iftars for years now. They have contacted ISNA and requested that we work with our partners in government to make the dinners more useful to our communities at the local levels,” said ISNA Director of Community Outreach Mohamed Elsanousi.
This year, a phenomenal next step has been made where government iftars become coupled with workshops to provide resources and benefit the Muslim community. The US Department of Agriculture (DOA) and the Coordinating Council of Muslim Organizations (CCMO) have paired the first of such events, scheduled for August 31, 2010.
“ISNA is happy to join other nation-wide Muslim organizations and participate in this workshop. We absolutely expect that there will be more of these paired iftars and workshops in future Ramadans,” said Elsanousi.
The Workshop: So what exactly is this workshop, you may ask. Leaders from Muslim organizations around the nation, particularly social service organizations, are invited to a workshop with representatives from the DOA, Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Health and Human Services, the White House, Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, and more. Twenty five to thirty Muslim leaders representing 20 Muslim organizations are expected to attend the workshop.
According to a representative of CCMO, this workshop is designed to clarify how Muslim nonprofits, mosques, Islamic centers, and social service organizations can strengthen their communities through more direct access to opportunities provided to social service agencies at the Federal level. “It will hopefully help cut through some of the red tape and shine light on the many opportunities for funding, government assistance, and resources that we just don’t know about at the local level,” said Elsanousi.
The Iftar: Following the workshop, the DOA will host an Iftar to acknowledge and thank Muslim employees for their dedication and to the DOA. Keynote speakers will discuss the issues of increasing access to healthy foods for all communities and the powerful communal and sacred aspects of food. In addition to the DOA employees and representatives of various Muslim organizations, the DOA also invited Muslim employees from various other government agencies. The Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture is also scheduled to attend.
Culturist Media Strategy Debate and The Ground Zero Mosque
Hey Guys, Its been a million years since I put out a video with me talking. I'm baaaack!
http://www.culturism.us/
http://www.culturism.us/
So, You Mean, All That Stuff About Jihad ... No Big Deal?
Imagine if Christians had committed 15,946 terrorist attacks in the past 9 years.
Imagine if Christians had done that, and then made a weak-assed video like this to try to let everyone know that there are moderate Christians out there.
The thing is, my moderate Muslim friends out there, people are murdering in the name of your religion, your holy scriptures, every day.
Condemn them.
Don't waste your words on us.
Condemn your co-religionists.
Stop telling us how nice you are. Who the fuck cares.
Condemn the Jihadis among you.
SPLC Redefines "Hate": Islamic Jihadists Good, Pammiecakes Bad
Mark Potok, SLPC: "With regard to monitoring radical jihadists, we have made a pragmatic decision to leave that mainly to" others
Click on the title to read the whole story over at Atlas.
I have long said I hate the SPLC. The reason? Because my own subjective observation told me they ignored the Jihad and the Jew-hate of Islam.
This proves my observation was correct.
Because of people like the SPLC piling on her, Pamela Geller is seeing a spike in death threats directed at her and her family.
I would encourage everyone to donate what you can to help out:
Death Threats and Security
In recent weeks, the Muslim Brotherhood front, Hamas funder co-conspirator CAIR has been given ongoing nationwide exposure. They have taken to the airwaves accusing me of leading the crusade against Muslims which is patently untrue.
Both Saturday and Sunday nights, this past weekend, Geraldo Rivera had the vile Zead Ramadan of CAIR who, yet again, made wild accusations as an incitement to violenceagainst those who oppose the Islamic supremacist Ground Zero mosque and the sharia in America. Laura Ingraham , Bill O'Reilly, MSNBC, Chris Matthews, Keith Olberamann and others have allowed these stealth jihadists to go on the air and gin up the jihadists by publicly accusing us of "leading the opposition to the Ground Zero mosque" which has resulted in a spike in death threats to me and my family.
These same media outlets (Geraldo, Matthews, Ingraham, O'Reilly etc) have not given me (or Spencer) the opportunity to defend ourselves and state our case against the lying jihadists but have allowed these lies to stand unchallenged by enemies of the state.
I oppose the Muslim Brotherhood, their proxies, and Islamic supremacists like CAIR, ISNA, ICNA, MAS, MPAC who are actively working to subvert the constitution and in a Brotherhood internal captured document "eliminate and destroy western civilization from within" with millions contributed by the Saudis and the State department.
Why mainstream media would host these avowed enemies of the state is beyond reason.
It is now a steady stream of threats, intimidation and violent screeds.
I must increase my security. It is costly. I need your help. Badly. Please contribute something (anything!) to help me defray the costs of the new and significant expense. There is no money in what we do. Neither I nor SIOA or FDI has benefactors, donors etc. We operate on a tattered shoestring budget but we get it done.
We use every dime that good people send to buy buses (1oK a city), taxi top (10K a city) , stage rallies etc. We need real money to stage the 911 rally against the Ground Zero mosque. If you wish your contribution to go a specific issue (ie Ground Zero rally, bus campaign,security...) Just specify. The Ground Zero rally on Septermber11th is going to need your help. The security cots for the rally will be enormous. If you want to contribute to that specifically go here: Stand with us on September 11
Help me keep me and family safe. I can't run certain threats for obvious reasons but here's a typical sampling.
Subscribe!
Newsbusters:
Imam to FBI (2003): ‘U.S. Response to 9/11 Could Be Considered Jihad’
By Rusty Weiss
Created 08/29/2010 - 23:34
Defenders of controversial imam Feisal Abdul Rauf have been touting his past efforts in offering counterterrorism advice to the FBI as a way to illustrate his bridge-building intentions. Much like other reports, they tend to gloss over the more controversial aspects of Rauf's statements. But, as is typical with the Ground Zero mosque imam, it can be demonstrated that he is frequently speaking with a forked tongue.
There is no doubt that Rauf has made some questionable and incendiary comments regarding America and her role in the Muslim world. Perhaps these statements fit the imam's overall rhetoric involving U.S. complicity in the attacks of 9/11. As does the following statement to the FBI [1], which is conveniently omitted from media reports defending Rauf.
Bridge-building imam Feisal Abdul Rauf was giving a crash course in Islam for FBI agents in March of 2003 [2]. When asked to clarify such terminology as ‘jihad' and ‘fatwa', Rauf stated (emphasis mine throughout):
Which version of the word jihad is he referring to when he speaks of the U.S. response itself? Is it the struggle he speaks of for the average Muslim, or is it the holy war?
Getting very little run in the media is an analysis of Rauf's FBI days in the New York Post [3]. Contained within Paul Sperry's column is a question of whether Rauf actually knows the definition of jihad, or if he simply presents things ambiguously to make things more difficult on the agents he is trying to teach. While Rauf passes jihad off as nothing more than a struggle, Koranic scholar Abdullah Yusuf Ali disagrees, insisting that jihad ‘means advancing Islam, including by physically fighting Islam's enemies.'
Sperry then questions, ‘If he (Rauf) believes jihad is really just an internal struggle, then why does he refuse to condemn Hamas? (Why, for that matter, did he in late 2001 suggest that "US policies were an accessory to the crime" of 9/11?).'
And speaking of the fatwa advising Muslims in the U.S. military that it was okay to fight the Taliban ...
The renowned Islamic scholar that Rauf is referring to is Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi. In a New York Times [4] article one month after 9/11, Rauf was quoted as saying:
Perhaps the media should not be relying so heavily on the imam's efforts within the FBI anyway. Lest we forget, the FBI doesn't exactly have a great track record [6] in spotting red flags being raised by a radical imam. Families of the victims at Fort Hood can attest to that. In their defense, the FBI was constantly compromised by over-sensitivity training when it came to Muslims. But when Nidal Hasan was chatting it up with Anwar al-Awlaki, they suspected it was nothing more than a simple case of psychiatric research.
Is all this nothing more than parsing the double talk of a 'moderate' imam, or is it something more alarming?
Links:
[1] http://www.mentalrecession.com/2010/08/26/ground-zero-imam-2003-u-s-response-to-911-could-be-considered-jihad/
[2] http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/03/11/2003-03-11_imam_briefs_agents_here__cra.html
[3] http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/rauf_moderate_vVYXWDsRdiF6UGZUr3xvNO
[4] http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/12/us/nation-challenged-religious-opinion-muslim-scholars-back-fight-against.html
[5] http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/1231.htm#_ednref1
[6] http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/11/ft_hoods_hasan_to_get_military.html
[7] http://www.mentalrecession.com
Imam to FBI (2003): ‘U.S. Response to 9/11 Could Be Considered Jihad’
By Rusty Weiss
Created 08/29/2010 - 23:34
Defenders of controversial imam Feisal Abdul Rauf have been touting his past efforts in offering counterterrorism advice to the FBI as a way to illustrate his bridge-building intentions. Much like other reports, they tend to gloss over the more controversial aspects of Rauf's statements. But, as is typical with the Ground Zero mosque imam, it can be demonstrated that he is frequently speaking with a forked tongue.
There is no doubt that Rauf has made some questionable and incendiary comments regarding America and her role in the Muslim world. Perhaps these statements fit the imam's overall rhetoric involving U.S. complicity in the attacks of 9/11. As does the following statement to the FBI [1], which is conveniently omitted from media reports defending Rauf.
Bridge-building imam Feisal Abdul Rauf was giving a crash course in Islam for FBI agents in March of 2003 [2]. When asked to clarify such terminology as ‘jihad' and ‘fatwa', Rauf stated (emphasis mine throughout):
"Jihad can mean holy war to extremists, but it means struggle to the average Muslim. Fatwah has been interpreted to mean a religious mandate approving violence, but is merely a recommendation by a religious leader. Rauf noted that the U.S. response to the Sept. 11 attacks could be considered a jihad, and pointed out that a renowned Islamic scholar had issued a fatwah advising Muslims in the U.S. military it was okay to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan."Well, wait a minute.
Which version of the word jihad is he referring to when he speaks of the U.S. response itself? Is it the struggle he speaks of for the average Muslim, or is it the holy war?
Getting very little run in the media is an analysis of Rauf's FBI days in the New York Post [3]. Contained within Paul Sperry's column is a question of whether Rauf actually knows the definition of jihad, or if he simply presents things ambiguously to make things more difficult on the agents he is trying to teach. While Rauf passes jihad off as nothing more than a struggle, Koranic scholar Abdullah Yusuf Ali disagrees, insisting that jihad ‘means advancing Islam, including by physically fighting Islam's enemies.'
Sperry then questions, ‘If he (Rauf) believes jihad is really just an internal struggle, then why does he refuse to condemn Hamas? (Why, for that matter, did he in late 2001 suggest that "US policies were an accessory to the crime" of 9/11?).'
And speaking of the fatwa advising Muslims in the U.S. military that it was okay to fight the Taliban ...
The renowned Islamic scholar that Rauf is referring to is Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi. In a New York Times [4] article one month after 9/11, Rauf was quoted as saying:
"This fatwa is very significant. Yusuf Qaradawi is probably the most well-knownQuestion is, was that hollow fatwa (a hotwa as it were) more significant than Qaradawi's proclamation on Al Jazeera two weeks earlier? Qaradawi stated:
legal authority in the whole Muslim world today."
"A Muslim is forbidden from entering into an alliance with a non-Muslim againstQaradawi elaborated on that non-fatwa fatwa in 2004 when he said of American troops [5]:
another Muslim." He called on Muslims to "fight the American military if we can,
and if we cannot, we should fight the U.S. economically and politically."
"...all of the Americans in Iraq are combatants, there is no difference betweenAbduction and killing is an obligation, but he draws the line at corpse mutilation. Very classy.
civilians and soldiers, and one should fight them, since the American civilians
came to Iraq in order to serve the occupation. The abduction and killing of
Americans in Iraq is a [religious] obligation so as to cause them to leave Iraq
immediately. The mutilation of corpses [however] is forbidden in Islam."
Perhaps the media should not be relying so heavily on the imam's efforts within the FBI anyway. Lest we forget, the FBI doesn't exactly have a great track record [6] in spotting red flags being raised by a radical imam. Families of the victims at Fort Hood can attest to that. In their defense, the FBI was constantly compromised by over-sensitivity training when it came to Muslims. But when Nidal Hasan was chatting it up with Anwar al-Awlaki, they suspected it was nothing more than a simple case of psychiatric research.
Is all this nothing more than parsing the double talk of a 'moderate' imam, or is it something more alarming?
Links:
[1] http://www.mentalrecession.com/2010/08/26/ground-zero-imam-2003-u-s-response-to-911-could-be-considered-jihad/
[2] http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/03/11/2003-03-11_imam_briefs_agents_here__cra.html
[3] http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/rauf_moderate_vVYXWDsRdiF6UGZUr3xvNO
[4] http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/12/us/nation-challenged-religious-opinion-muslim-scholars-back-fight-against.html
[5] http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/1231.htm#_ednref1
[6] http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/11/ft_hoods_hasan_to_get_military.html
[7] http://www.mentalrecession.com
The next time you make a mistake of judgment at work, think of this
Rumors have circulated in China that People's Bank of China (PBC) Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan may have left the country. The rumors appear to have started following reports on Aug. 28 which cited Ming Pao, a Hong Kong-based news agency, saying that because of an approximately $430 billion loss on U.S. Treasury bonds, the Chinese government may punish some individuals within PBC, including Zhou. Although Ming Pao on Aug. 30 published a report on its website indicating that the prior report was fabricated by a mainland news site that had attributed the false information to Ming Pao, rumors of Zhou's defection have spread around China intensively, and Zhou's name has been blocked from Internet search engines in China.
STRATFOR has received no confirmation of the rumor, and reports by state-run Chinese media appeared to send strong indications that Zhou is in no trouble at the moment. However, the release of this rumor and its dispersion throughout the public is significant, particularly as the Communist Party of China (CPC) is preparing for a leadership transition in 2012.
CNBC reports that Zhou will be appointed to replace Geithner as soon as he enters the US illegally
How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Just a quick note about the Putin picture -- contrary to what many reported he was not hapooning whales (or dissidents). He was shooting them with darts to collect skin samples as part of a biological study. On whales, that is, not dissidents. All part of the macho-ing up of his image.
As for the macho-ing up of the other feller well, there's just no helping some people. . .
(stole that pic from Drudge)
A Little Leftover Weekend Housekeeping
Regardless of what we may or may not think of Glenn Beck his rally this weekend was a huge success. We all know that.
But. . .
What isn't being touted too much anywhere is that it raised $5,500,000 for the Special Operations Warriors Fund. Money that is used to help the families of Spec Ops Warriors killed in battle.
You can donate here
But. . .
What isn't being touted too much anywhere is that it raised $5,500,000 for the Special Operations Warriors Fund. Money that is used to help the families of Spec Ops Warriors killed in battle.
You can donate here
On the Beck thing .. PERFECT EXPRESSION
Image via Wikipedia
A trio of voices in the more libertarian-ish corner of the conservative blogosphere came away with fairly warm and fuzzy feelings toward Glenn Beck's weekend rally featuring Sarah Palin.Glenn Reynolds: "Although Beck's rally attracted a lot of Tea Partiers, his religious message is pretty distinct from the core Tea Party message. On the other hand, a lot of people agree with Beck that something's gone wrong in this country, beyond the last election. Some people worry that Beck's trying to transform the Tea Party movement into a religious movement, but I'd say that remains unclear at this point. If he tries that, though, it's likely to fail. For the moment, though, I agree with those who characterize his message as Tocquevillian."Tim Cavanaugh, writing at Reason: "The dismissive pose toward Beck stems from a well founded fear my fellow rootless cosmopolitans have -- that if we seem too close to the cars-on-cinderblocks, chicken-coops-in-yards, shotguns-and-rockingchairs variety of libertarianism, we will lose the respect of liberaloids in New York and D.C. It's a real concern, but if the trade-off means you reject the Tea Parties -- by far the biggest popular movement with a clear anti-government mood that has occurred in my lifetime -- and in exchange you get to be comfortable at table with David Frum, well, that deal sounds like a loser to me. (Then again, I've never had dinner chez Frum/Crittenden. Maybe it's really worth it.) . . . I actually like this doughy Mormon over in his spooky little study, who as of the other day was advising his college student viewers in this way: 'Don't you just take from [teachers]. You question them. You read everything they tell you not to read. You read everything theytellyou to read, and then you read everything they tell younotto read. You find out why they don't like it. Challenge them. Find out on your own what's true.' I have no problem with that advice. Does anybody else?"Jen Rubin, not always a huge fan of Palin, is pointing out that she's doing what no other woman in American politics has done: "Palin has proved by example that a woman politician need not spout the pro-big government, pro-abortion, pro-welfare-state line. 'Ms. Palin has spent much of 2010 burnishing her political bona fides and extending her influence by way of the Mama Grizzlies, a gang of Sarah- approved, maverick-y female politicians looking to "take back" America with "common-sense" solutions.' She sure did, and she proved herself to be the most effective female politician in the country. Sorry, Hillary -- while you have been playing errand girl for the Obama foreign-policy train wreck, Palin has ascended to the throne. (Nancy Pelosi's days are numbered.) . . . Palin not only trumped the left on style but she also managed to connect on nearly every issue -- ObamaCare, bailouts, Israel, taxes, American exceptionalism, and the stimulus plan -- in a way the president and his liberal supporters could not. For all of her supposed lack of 'policy muscle,' it was she who defined the debate on ObamaCare and she who synced up with the Tea Party's small-government, personal-responsibility, anti-tax-hike message. Who's short on policy muscle -- the White House or Palin? Does 'engagement' of despots, Israel-bashing, and capitulation to Russia make for a meaty foreign-policy agenda?
Geert Wilders: 'Our culture ... is better than the retarded Islamic culture'
He is so right.
Of course, the dumbass PC/moral equivalence crowd will object, asking who are we to judge, telling us we are arrogant, and showing off the new suit of clothes the tailor made especially for them, but really, should we care?
Would they be able to admit our culture is better than, say, that of a tribe of Amazon Headhunters?
No way. That would be racist.
From Islam in Europe:
Of course, the dumbass PC/moral equivalence crowd will object, asking who are we to judge, telling us we are arrogant, and showing off the new suit of clothes the tailor made especially for them, but really, should we care?
Would they be able to admit our culture is better than, say, that of a tribe of Amazon Headhunters?
No way. That would be racist.
From Islam in Europe:
Wilders: 'Our culture ... is better than the retarded Islamic culture'
Geert Wilders was interviewed on Australian TV show Dateline, and the interview is already making headlines for his use of the phrase 'retarded Islamic culture'.
GEERT WILDERS, POLITICIAN, PVV: Our culture which is based on Christianity, Judaism and Humanism, is better than the retarded Islamic culture and this is tough to say, but it is true. We should defend who we are and get rid of this cultural relativism because at the end of the day it will kill us.Watch the entire interview here (full transcript also available)
REPORTER: You can be proud of your own culture but why use terms like 'retarded'? I mean it is a deeply offensive term, is it not?
GEERT WILDERS: If it is true, I don't care if people are offended. My aim is not to offend people. We don't have anything against Muslims if people behave according to our laws.
REPORTER: But you do. You do have something against Muslims. How can you say that on one hand, you don't want any of them here, and then say you have got nothing against Muslims? You have got a lot against Muslims.
GEERT WILDERS: No, we don't have. I even acknowledge the fact that the majority of the Muslims in the Western world and certainly also in the Netherlands today, are law-abiding people. But still, the more Islam would come to our free society, the more is the Islamic culture will become dominant and the less freedom we will get.
(...)
GEERT WILDERS: Of course you have to use arguments, and I have a lot of arguments - a lot of facts - it is very difficult to make clear to the people that Islam is not just another leaf on the tree of religions. It is not to be compared with Christianity. It is a violent ideology like communism and fascism and we should deal with it that way. If we don't, at the end of the day, Islam will eat us.
Several more interesting points from the show:
1. Wilders says he's against all immigration from Muslim-majority countries, including Christians and Jews.
2. At about 9:40, the 'man on the street' threatens to kill Wilders: "When Geert Wilders is in Rotterdam, and I see him, he is a dead man"
3. Fatima Lamkarat, a social worker, on the Dutch support for Wilders: "No matter of what you do, it is never enough. You just get fed up with that feeling. Because the message that Holland gives immigrants is you have to learn the language, you have to get an education, you have to get a job. Well, I did that, and still you tell me that I don't belong here."
4. Dateline's final analysis: Though it could make him into a political hero, carrying a criminal charge for hate speech would cause problems for Wilders' plans of a worldwide crusade
5. The mass media likes to make fun of blogs, but at least blogs sometimes check the original source. In this case, RNW simply translated from the Dutch translation of Wilders interview:
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