Isaac Schrödinger

Get a Room

I agree with the last word in the post title.

Crazy Aussie Lizard

It's the first time I've seen a blue, well take a look.

Worshipping Barbarity

IGST: The great teachings of Islam.

If you grant for a moment the proposition that the West is decadent, wouldn't you think these profound thinkers, these infinitely holy men who churn out prayers faster than a solar-powered Tibetan prayer wheel, could come up with something that would warrant some serious consideration by decent people willing to consider other viewpoints?

One would think, yes.

Later on:

This is one seriously insecure bunch of men who are terrified of women and the loss of privileged male sexual and political control. They experience utter terror at the thought of free thought.

Indeed. Such stories bring to mind this quote from Churchill:

You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police. Yet in their hearts there is unspoken – unspeakable! – fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts! Words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home, all the more powerful because they are forbidden. These terrify them. A little mouse – a little tiny mouse! – of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.

Allied Bombing of Nazi Germany

National Post:

Historian Randall Hansen is calling the Canadian War Museum's decision to amend an exhibit after veterans complained craven and appalling.

Mr. Hansen, a professor at the University of Toronto, this year testified before a Senate subcommittee investigating the historical accuracy of a text panel appearing on a Bomber Command exhibit entitled, An Enduring Controversy.

Mr. Hansen is one of at least five historians who found the 67 words of text were balanced and factually correct.

That's the main problem. Too few words are used to describe the full impact of Allied bombing of Nazi Germany in WWII. Let's take a look.

"The value and morality of the strategic bomber offensive against Germany remains bitterly contested," the panel reads.

"Bomber Command's aim was to crush civilian morale and force Germany to surrender by destroying its cities and industrial installations. Although Bomber Command and American attacks left 600,000 Germans dead and more than five million homeless, the raids resulted in only small reductions of German war production until late in the war."

That is inadequate.

Here's what Richard Overy has to say:

The bombing offensive was for most of its course a fighting contest between the two western bomber forces and the German defences. From the middle of 1943 the defeat of the German air force became a central objective. Until that date German air power, deployed in the main as a tactical offensive arm, was a critical factor in German success on land and sea. The bombing offensive caused German military leaders to drain much needed air strength away from the main fighting fronts to protect the Reich, weakening German resistance in the Soviet Union and the Mediterranean.

That's from page 129 of Richard Overy's Why the Allies Won.

From page 129-130:

Once the Allies had the long-range fighter pouring out in numbers from America's industrial cornucopia, German air power could be blunted once and for all. The result was not a single, spectacular victory, but a slow and lethal erosion of fighting capability.

Bingo.

Oh, and as for making a dent in German production; from page 131:

At the end of January 1945 Albert Speer and his ministerial colleagues met in Berlin to sum up what bombing had done to production schedules for 1944. They found that Germany had produced 35 per cent fewer tanks than planned, 31 per cent fewer aircraft and 42 per cent fewer lorries as a result of bombing. The denial of these huge resources to German forces in 1944 fatally weakened their response to bombing and invasion, and eased the path of Allied armies.

Sorry, Mr. Hansen. That text is not balanced at all.

Recharging for Mischief

So, that's how they get their energy.

Not Funny

Hot Air:

At least a subsection of the press in the US is self-censoring (again) out of fear of offending Muslims, hoping to prevent another cartoon jihad or at least keep themselves out of the way when another one erupts. They wouldn’t similarly self-censor for any other group, to the point of taking a couple of cartoon strips down to the local preacher or rabbi for approval as they did with the Islamic experts, because no one thinks the preachers or rabbis are going to spark a full-blown riot over any cartoons. Many people, like Chris Hedges and Andrew Sullivan, like to ride the “Christianist” threat to generate traffic or a best-seller, but even they don’t really believe it.

Which gets us back to the big fact of the day: Terrorism works.

Yeah, it's so much easier -- and safer -- to rail against the Christianists.

Link via Small Dead Animals.

Those Fast Japanese!

The Washington Post:

Americans invented the Internet, but the Japanese are running away with it.

Broadband service here is eight to 30 times as fast as in the United States -- and considerably cheaper. Japan has the world's fastest Internet connections, delivering more data at a lower cost than anywhere else, recent studies show.

Charles Johnson:

The Japanese are getting download speeds of 61 mbps over fiber optic cable.

Damn. Imagine how much por-, er, music one could transfer with that.

Odd Incentives

Greg Mankiw:

Looking at the new rankings reminded me of a conversation I had with a teacher at a mid-ranked university a few years. He told me that all classes of introductory econ at his school were, without exception, capped at 49 students. Why such an odd number?, I asked.

Click here to find out.

Back to School...

Palestinian style!

Poor Infidels

Austrolabe:

I’ve taken non-Muslims to mosques and Islamic organisations on two or three occasions after they expressed an interest in learning about Muslims — possibly more but post-traumatic stress syndrome has blocked them out — and it has always been an uncomfortable and difficult situation. On the first occasion, I left my guest to get something from the car and returned to find him being aggressively interrogated by an Australian-born Muslim about his religious beliefs; and, on the second occasion, my guest was asked whether he believed the “lies” about September 11 having been carried out by Muslims.

Oops.

Tariq Nelson:

What is the common denominator? Not used to “outsiders” coming in? The insular culture? Do you feel comfortable bringing a friend to your neighborhood mosque?

Not unless I wanted to torture him/her.

Water Frozen

Cool photo.

The Muhammad Cartoons Corollary

They have no qualms about standing up to THE MAN but the thought of a real threat makes them buckle.

Can't Quite Blame the West

National Post:

Academia's fixation on cultural sensitivity is changing the debate around female genital mutilation, with a growing number of professors and women's rights activists becoming hesitant to condemn the practice.

Where feminists rallied against the operation from the pages of Ms. magazine in the 1970s, today's critics are infinitely more cautious, with most suggesting that the Western world butt out until Muslim African communities are ready to reconsider what they are doing to their daughters.

Oh, so brave!

Yeah, we should just keep silent on this issue:

The shift in attitudes about the practice-- which in the worst of cases involves the carving out of a woman's clitoris and inner labia and can cause lifelong urinary tract infections, sterility and even death -- comes at a time when high-profile victims of the operation such as writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali and model Waris Dirie, both Somalis, have launched very public campaigns against the practice.

[Emphasis mine.]

Link via Dhimmi Watch.

Discuss

The film on global warming is a global flop.

Er, a success. Um, wait but didn't it make less money than...oh, forget it.

Distilled Light

Do click to see the giant version there.

Non-lethal Ammo

Clayton Cramer:

It is possible that other NATO forces in the theater are using these older 5.56mm rounds--but unless they are throwing unfired ammunition at her house, this story and picture are, at best, wrong.

That brought up a funny image of rascally Europeans doing the above deed. We've got ammo and we will annoy you with it!

Rootkit: The Sequel

HardOCP:

Damn, you’d think Sony would have learned its lesson by now.

Nope, they're idiots.

The Guilty Shall Be Devoured

Oh no!

Kick It Hard

I don't know why but blasphemous balls make me giggle.

Out of Context!

Ed Morrissey:

I have to admit it. I'm addicted to Bulls**t.

Click to find out what he's talking about.

Link via Pejman.

Slight Frustration

Can you see it?

The 8-letter Dog

The soulful Scrabble.

Carnage in Hyderabad

Three bomb blasts in India. Four fortunately defused.

The death toll is at 44; over 50 injured.

What Utter Dreck

IGN:

In a follow-up to their confirmation that Stephen Sommers will direct G.I. Joe, Variety offers this new description of the team: "G.I. Joe is now a Brussels-based outfit that stands for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, an international co-ed force of operatives who use hi-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil organization headed by a double-crossing Scottish arms dealer. The property is closer in tone to X-Men and James Bond than a war film."

Scot-o-phobes!

Just goes to show how "a particular discourse (neoconservatism and Islamaphobia) is perpetuated in popular culture".

Caturday

That must be good food.

Islam Cannot Stand

Mark Krikorian:

I posted at The Corner recently that radical Islam will only be defeated when Muslims see for themselves the bankruptcy of Islam as a modern political ideology by living under Islamic regimes, like that of Iran. So our widely shared strategic objective of discrediting political Islam is undermined by our tactical efforts at preventing the establishment of Islamic regimes.

One would think that leaving alone putrid Islamic regimes would lead to their eventual ruin. However, given the presence of Shia Iran, Sunni Arabia, sharia Sudan and worsening Pakistan, that outcome seems unlikely.

Why? Two reasons:

1. Petrodollars. Saudi Arabia and Iran can't produce a decent bicycle. But because of oil, which they acquire through no skill of their own, their irrational, immoral regimes are kept alive. As long as the world demands black gold, such Islamic regimes shall function.

2. Islam is a religion. It only requires perception -- not reality.

There could be dozens of totalitarian Islamic states in the world. They could all be poor, wretched and cruel. Yet, the majority of Muslims within such nations won't lose their faith. Instead, they will blame the kafir. The regimes would take every opportunity to channel their rage and frustration on to the Jews, Americans, Westerners and non-Muslims in general.

In other words, we shall be targeted for their colossal failing. We just might save some blood in the short run as Islamists devour large chunks of the globe but then we'd pay with added gallons later. This is exactly why leaving them alone is a terrible option.

Cliff May provides another reason:

[...] it may not be possible for the oppressed populations of these states to throw off their chains.

It was one thing for the Indians to kick out the Brits after WW2. But how long do you think it would have taken the Czechoslovaks, Poles, and French to rid themselves of Nazi rule — absent outside intervention?

True. Islamic regimes have no qualms about annihilating any hint of opposition. A Gandhi won't survive long in such an environment.

For the Environment!

Tim Blair:

We’ll devise our own ways to, er, participate in Blog Action Day, possibly involving powerful cars, apartment-sized barbeques, and grotesque consumption of our precious planet’s withering resources. Commence planning.

Yes, comrade.

Who's Your Daddy?

Doing it for Allah:

A one-legged Emirati father of 78 is lining up his next two wives in a bid to reach his target of 100 children by 2015, Emirates Today reported.

Yes, you read that right.

Daad Mohammed Murad Abdul Rahman, 60, has already had 15 brides although he has to divorce them as he goes along to remain within the legal limit of four wives at a time.

*Sniff.* So romantic.

Abdul Rahman said his large family lived in 15 houses. He supports them with his military pension and the help of the government of Ajman, one of seven emirates that comprise the UAE, which includes the Gulf trade and tourism hub of Dubai.

Forget Jihad! Move to Ajman and enjoy the 72 virgins in this world!

Link via Secret Dubai Diary.

Itanium Madness

The Greatest Desk in the World^TM.

Jihadist Vidoes Gone Bad

Oops.

Pakistan Too Pro-America!

A Pakistani minister says what's on his mind:

Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sher Afgan Niazi on Tuesday stunned both the treasury and opposition senators when he roundly criticised the foreign policy, describing it as one of appeasement at the cost of national interests, sovereignty and honour.

A true gem:

The minister said that events which followed the 9/11 incident proved that it was the brainchild of Jews. He said that according to holy Quran, Jews and Christians could never be friends of Muslims.

Why the hell would they want to given such revolting displays?

Link via Jihad Watch.

Nimble Swan

Take a look.

Transformers Transformed

Wazir Uddin on Michael Bay's Transformers:

Promoting a certain interpretation of the "Cube" as being for "good" or for conquering the world is analogous to the "moderate/reformist" struggle against "fundamentalism/Islamism" that is being constructed. The opening scenes of the film are located in a US military base stationed in Qatar, with iconic Islamic architecture and turban-wearing Arabs. The scene shows an elite US soldier who benevolently protects a young Arab boy from harm as the base is attacked by aliens. The soldier risks his own life to save the Arab boy and eventually returns him to the safe embrace of his father.

Such benevolent and heroic portrayal of US forces in the Middle East is clearly a product of fictional delusion; the atrocities and abuses of human rights by the occupying US forces in Iraq are well documented.

It says a lot about supposed American atrocities in the Middle East when the author has to resort to such an asinine interpretation of a Hollywood movie to somehow "prove" that the US military isn't so peachy.

Later on, he analyzes The Incredibles to show how "a particular discourse (neoconservatism and Islamaphobia) is perpetuated in popular culture".

A fanatic will see what he wants to see.

Stark Contrast

Indie Quill:

Human beings are social animals and Indians spend a lot of time worrying over society at large, so perhaps it’s not surprising that the male-female dynamic is the thing that strikes us most when we leave our hometowns or our shores. My father, for instance, once told me that he acclimated far more easily to the language and food in Paris, where he spent the 1960s, than the sight of everybody constantly making out. “I’d look out my window and they’d be kissing under the lamp post,” he said aggrievedly, while my mother looked on as if she’d have liked some of that lamp post action. “The whole street is deserted but they would only kiss under the lamp post!”

Those uncouth Frogs!

Anyhow, I’m here to bring you news that one day, sooner rather than later, you or someone you know is going to actually hold hands under a lamp post. It could be your mom and dad or your kids or your wife (maybe, preferably with you?). And when it happens, please don’t leap into the air with fright and scream, “Naheeeeen! yeh paap hai!”

Ha. That last bit means, "Noooo, this is sinful!"

Blood-sucking Capitalists. Literally.

Ever wondered about the reasons for genocide in Sudan?

Wonder no more -- a reader emailed this in:

Sheikh Sadeq Abdallah bin Al-Majed: "The West, and the Americans in particular, have been planning this for years."

Interviewer: "The West or the Americans?"

Sheikh Sadeq Abdallah bin Al-Majed: "The Americans in particular. The reason is that they studied this region extensively - the Darfur region in particular - and realized that it is full of treasures, the likes of which have never been found elsewhere in Sudan."

Later on a different person offers his take.

"Nobody talks about what is going on in the Congo, because it cannot be presented as a war between Arabs and Africans. This is the phobia and hysteria that has afflicted America and the Western regimes. They must have an enemy to fight, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. They have set the Arabs, of the Muslims, as the target, and have begun to operate accordingly. The humanitarian tragedy lies in other countries, and it is caused by America. The humanitarian tragedy is not here, in Sudan. Who supplied weapons to the rebels? Who financed their activities and supplies them with weapons? The president of the republic declared in his recent press conference that it is the U.S., through Roger Winter and others. They are the ones who ignite conflicts and then try to profit from them. This civilization feeds on blood - human blood, I'm sad to say."

And all this time, I thought it was artificially flavored.

[Original image here.]

Non-specialists Only

Sigh. I'm just not qualified for this job.

Striking

Sky, water, and sand.

Italy Stands on the Side of Freedom

Dhimmi Watch:

This is what all Western states should be doing.

Indeed:

Italy's Foreign Ministry has instructed the country's embassy in Cairo to monitor closely the plight of an Egyptian man, Mohammed Hegazi, who has received death threats following his conversion from Islam to Christianity.

Good on Italy.

Last year Italy granted political asylum to an Afghan man, Abdul Rahman, who converted to Christianity and who could have been executed in Afghanistan for renouncing Islam.

Hegazi's case first came to light when he asked the Egyptian Interior Ministry to change the religion in his identity card, only to have his request refused.

Of course. You can only check in, never check out.

Slow Decay

There are have been a lot of stories and articles written about the slide of Britain. Here's another.

The second comment there:

You haven't seen anything until you've seen a British woman, all brash and independent when speaking with you, merely a humble man who accepts her equality as her inborn right, then turn around and silently walk with her head bowed a step behind her cocky muslim boyfriend who forbids her to speak until he nods his head.

I've never understood that mindset.

Maineiac

This brings back memories. The first time I had lobster was in New England. I loved it! I've eaten four new meats in the West: turkey, duck, pork and lobster. The last one wins by a huge margin.

Oh, and that sign directed at teenagers is precious.

What the !?

The guy will have nightmares.

Reign of Intel

TG Daily:

Intel plans to initially release nine desktop processors with the 45 nm Penryn core, with clock speeds eventually scaling up to 4 GHz, according to a report published by Digitimes today. 

Bad news for consumers:

According to our sources, Core 2 Duo processors have been running at 4.0 GHz in Intel's labs for some time, while the company apparently never felt the competitive pressure to actually release such a processor to the public.

AMD has been getting clobbered for over a year now and still that pressure is nowhere to be found on the horizon.

The Hamas Youth

The Christian Science Monitor:

Like Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which spawned Hamas, the group takes a patient approach to tapping religious conviction to build political support. It is the movement's youth focus, critics say, that sets it apart from Hamas's rival, Fatah, which controls the West Bank and enjoys US and Israeli support.

The basic unit of the Hamas organization isn't cells or political committees – it's families. The organization has shown that by introducing children early enough to Hamas's hard-line Islamic thinking, it can recruit lifelong supporters.

Nothing beats being nourished on poison.

"It hurts us so much when the international community misunderstands us," says Samir Abu Mohsen, a senior director at Al Aqsa. "Nahool isn't for teaching hate. It's for teaching children to think in the right way, to socialize them in our culture's way of life, and, of course, to remind them of their rights to the land that was taken from us."

[Emphasis mine.]

Of course. The loathing of the land-grabbing Jew has to be kept red hot. In the late 1940s, millions moved across the India-Pakistan border. How many of them demand the idiotic 'right of return'?

And isn't it interesting that this so-called right works one-way. What about the hundreds of thousands of Jews who were kicked out of Arab countries during that time. Should they not have the same "right of return"?

Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. The Jew can never be a victim.

Though Mohammed mentions soccer, public safety lessons, and basic Muslim teaching, he fails to mention that many of the Gaza camps also include a paramilitary element. A Hamas official says that such training is reserved for boys over 16, but a photographer who recently visited a camp in central Gaza and others say much younger boys also take part in paramilitary exercises.

In one Gaza City camp, boys practiced field drills with wooden pistols and crawled under barbed wire while being harangued by an adult drill instructor. Teenage boys undergo a tougher regimen that includes hand-to-hand combat and exhausting exercise. Boys that break discipline are sometimes beaten with sticks, said the photographer.

Hamas: Preparing the Thugs of Tomorrow.

Link via Daimnation.

Global Meltdown

Tim Blair points to this:

One of the main findings of the report, Consuming Australia, is that the more people earn, the more they spend [...]

I'm shocked!

Dangerous Toys

Argus Hamilton:

Mattel was hit by complaints Tuesday from toy store owners who were not warned about all the recalled toys made in China. The company is trying to appease them. Mattel will ship them two grades of Barbie dolls this Christmas, regular and unleaded.

Ha!

Lab + Malamute

His coat is gorgeous.

Nation vs. Tribe

Rich Lowry:

In October 1993, badly outnumbered American troops battled the forces of a Somali clan leader in Mogadishu. We unleashed machine-gun fire and helicopter gunships on the primitive warriors and suffered 18 fatalities and 73 wounded to as many 5,500 Somali killed and wounded. It was a fight nearly as lopsided as the Battle of Omdurman, but the U.S. was out of Somalia within a year.

Read on to find out why.

What's in a Name?

Kathleen Parker: Oh, Allah, Won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

I prefer BMW.

Modern Russia

Samizdata:

The Devil does not like to be mocked.

Distant Warmth

Our sun.