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July 2008

We Are The Sinners

Jun 26, 2008

Bruce Bawer: The Times, It Ain’t a-Changin’.

Routinely, news organizations suppress, downplay, or misrepresent developments that reflect badly on Islam; they go out of their way to find stories that reflect (or that can be spun in such a way as to reflect) positively on it; and they publish professors and intellectuals and “experts” like Feldman, who share the media’s determination to obscure the central role of jihadist ideology in the current clash between Islam and Western democracy and to point the finger instead (as Feldman does) at European racism.

This is a particular Western disease that I don't fully understand. It's easy to see why vast majorities in Muslim nations blame the Jews and the West for their failures because they don't want to even remotely equate Islam with disaster. But why do so many Westerners blame themselves for being the innocent recipients of copious amounts of halaal loathing?

Posted at 09:29 PM in Politics, World War III | | Comments (4)

Nehalem News

Jun 24, 2008

Digitimes via Hardocp:

Intel plans to launch three Nehalem-based quad-core processors (Bloomfield) at the end of the fourth quarter this year targeting the company's new LGA1366 socket, according to sources at motherboard makers.

These will likely be the expensive models. The mainstream and budget versions won't make it to market till early 2009.

Posted at 06:05 PM in Web/Tech | | Comments (0)

Jihadists in Canada

Jun 24, 2008

Christie Blatchford:

Mr. Heft appears to be, for lack of a better term, one of the good guys. He tried to counsel some of the accused, including the hysterical leader, and steer them away from extremism, at least on Canadian soil.

According to the CBC interview transcript, the leader once talked to him about the “martyrdom operation of Sept. 11,” so Mr. Heft said, “I was telling him that it hasn't even been proven that Sept. 11 was actually done by 19 hijackers. That was just the alleged story of the U.S. government. All I tried to explain to him is that whoever did it was wrong … And then I started to just talk to him about how we haven't even proven that the people who had actually did it were Muslims.”

Yes, that's the main difference between a bad Muslim and a good one: the bad fellow praises the 9/11 attacks, the "better" one thinks that Muslims didn't even carry out the evil deed.

Posted at 05:03 PM in World War III | | Comments (2)

Those Tender Feelings

Jun 21, 2008

Indigo Jo Blogs:

The BBC have reported that a sister named Bushra Noah, who was refused a job as a hair stylist because the potential employer regarded her headscarf as being incompatible with the funky image of her salon and thought a hair stylist should have her own hair on display, has won £4,000 compensation. The compensation was for hurt feelings produced by a 15-minute interview

From now on, I'm sure, employers will have a greater incentive to hire headscraf-clad women.

The salon owner said she could not understand why someone who was against the display of hair would be in the hair industry, which strikes me as odd, because Muslims are not against the display of hair per se - just its public display.

Yeah, that would have satisfied the salon owner. "But my hair is so spectacularly beautiful ... in private."

Posted at 01:10 PM in General | | Comments (2)

The Land of the Pure

Jun 19, 2008

Tambi Dude emailed these two links.

1. 23 students suspended:

The Punjab Medical College (PMC), Faisalabad, through a notification issued on June 6, rusticated twenty-three medical students belonging to the Ahmadi sect for distributing hate material in the college. The rustication was reported in various sections of newspapers on Friday, but a formal notice was issued later that day.

PMC Principal Asghar Ali Randhawa told Daily Times that he had rusticated the students on the report of the disciplinary committee. He said that he had formed another committee to probe into the issue, and would accommodate the Ahmadi students if the committee found them innocent.

They weren't found guilty of anything. They were told to stay away because:

Asked if the rustication was a clear message to Ahmadi students were no longer welcome in the college, he said that the students had been suspended, and the word rustication had been used to cool down the students who did not want Ahmadis in the college.

Imagine the global outrage if Muslim students at a college in the US were suspended because most of the student body didn't want to be around Muslims.

2. Pakistani cops go after dangerous criminals:

Police in Khushab district have registered a case against five Ahmadis, including two pre-teens, for subscribing to the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiya’s monthly children’s magazine Tasheezul Azhan, Daily Times has learnt.

According to the first information report, the complainant, an officer of the Intelligence Bureau, submitted to the Khushab district police officer (DPO) that the magazine is “banned literature” and contains “hate material”. A brief study of the 50-page magazine showed no obvious “hate material” against any group, and the articles were restricted to discussions about Ahmadi beliefs.

Isn't that rich? A nation-state that explicitly discriminates against Ahmadis is charging Ahmadis for supposedly distributing "hate material". Perhaps the Pakistani authorities can direct their attention at the hundreds of madrassas across the country which poison young minds with hatred for the Jews and infidels in general.

Or they can continue to go after a tiny, peaceful minority.

Posted at 09:09 PM in World War III | | Comments (1)

Human Rights!

Jun 17, 2008

The Telegraph:

The UN Human Rights Council said the UK must "consider holding a referendum on the desirability or otherwise of a written constitution, preferably republican".

Um, yeah:

The council has 29 members including Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Sri Lanka.

Link via Daimnation:

the UN Human Rights Council includes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, against whom I'm sure a similar resolution will be directed any day now.

Some monarchies are more equal than others.

Posted at 09:41 PM in Politics | | Comments (2)

Saving the Master

Jun 17, 2008

KETV via The Corner:

A Labrador retriever lived up to its name Friday when he plucked his 12-year-old owner out of the Platte River, near North Bend.

What an incredible creature.

Jake got a very big bone for efforts and was forgiven for every hole he dug and all the mud he tracked into the house, the Baileys said.

He should be forgiven for all the mud he'll bring in the future.

Posted at 07:08 PM in General | | Comments (0)

Hallowed Logic

Jun 15, 2008

Muslim Matters: What About Thy Hallowed Freedom of Speech?

Before I get too far and people wrongfully accuse me, I wish to be clear that I am indeed very much in favor of free speech and very thankful that I do not have to be afraid of what I say in this country. This though does not detract from what many people feel is an abuse of this great privilege of ours in America and elsewhere.

[Emphasis mine.]

Later on:

there were those in the non-Muslim world who defiantly proclaimed their right to depict the Prophet in any way they wished – insulting or not – as guaranteed by the freedom of speech. Again, to be fair though, a large number of other non-Muslim Westerners disagreed with this position as voiced to me by one airplane seat-mate of mine who was visiting the US from Denmark. She reported to me that on the contrary, a number of surveys in her country had shown a majority of Danes were unhappy with their government’s position and felt there was very much a difference between freedom of speech and respecting someone else’s feelings.

You are free to say or publish whatever you want as long as it doesn't hurt her feelings. How generous.

I was thus quite surprised two months ago to read about how a number of outraged Catholics in Austria succeeded in having a sacrilegious painting of the Last Supper removed from Vienna’s Roman Catholic St. Stephan’s Cathedral museum.

Why was that surprising?

Instead of invoking the almighty right of freedom of speech though, something amazing happened - the museum respectfully took down the painting at its Cardinal’s request just over a week after the ‘Religion, Flesh and Power’ exhibition had opened.

The concept of freedom of speech (and thus freedom from punishment) applies to the state -- not the Roman Catholic St. Stephan's Cathedral museum. Had the Austrian government stepped in and removed the paintings or jailed the artist, then the author would have had a point. This silly artist can continue to show his/her work elsewhere in the country and you won't see Christians all across the globe calling for his/her head and murdering over a 100 people in the process.

You know, just a small difference.

although it appears to me to be a double standard, I am very pleased to see that freedom of speech was not abused to keep such a piece of trash masquerading as art in the Cathedral museum. I also hope this will lead to further discussion and reflection in the Western world regarding a delineation between freedom of speech and “reverence for the sacred” so that we may truly become a global civilization that respects all of its members.

Awww, isn't that cute. I would have called for a big group hug but then I remembered that Muslims don't like to come in contact with, by nature dirty, infidels. So, out of "respect", I'll refrain.

Posted at 03:26 AM in World War III | | Comments (4)

What "No Compulsion" Means

Jun 14, 2008

Compass Direct News brings this story from Jordan:

The North Amman Sharia Court in April dissolved the marriage of Mohammad Abbad, on trial for apostasy, or leaving Islam.

Obviously, this Islamic court is misinterpreting the tolerant nature of Islam.

Abbad and his 10-year-old son were violently attacked in their home on March 23, when relatives of another convert, staying with Abbad, stormed the house. Abbad suffered injuries to his head and chest and bleeding in his right eye, according to medical reports from Jordan University Hospital.

Note this greater cruelty:

When Abbad went to the police station the same day to file a complaint he found his father there, demanding custody of Abbad’s son and 11-year-old daughter.

Abbad's father wants to take Abbad's own children away from him. This is the life of an honest apostate in an Islamic nation: the state and your own peaceful, Muslim family turn against you.

Testifying before Khreisat the next day (March 24), Abbad refused to convert back to Islam. According to court records, Khreisat ordered Abbad to be jailed in Amman’s Jweideh Prison for one week for “contempt of court.”

Due to his injuries Abbad fainted while on his way to the jail, prompting police to send him to a hospital where he spent the night handcuffed to his bed.

Can't have such a dangerous "criminal" escape.

The exact number of Muslim converts to Christianity in Jordan is unknown. Many choose to maintain a low profile in order to avoid harassment.

That's putting it mildly.

Link via Dhimmi Watch.

Posted at 10:35 AM in World War III | | Comments (1)

Be a Virgin, Again!

Jun 11, 2008

IHT: For Muslim women in Europe, a medical road back to virginity.

Ain't technology grand?

"In my culture, not to be a virgin is to be dirt," said the student, perched on a hospital bed as she awaited surgery Thursday. "Right now, virginity is more important to me than life."

I don't get her mindset. Why did she choose to not remain a virgin? And after having made that choice, why is she marrying within a culture and a family that would consider her true self to be dirt?

One 32-year-old Macedonian-born Muslim said that she had chosen the surgery to avoid being punished by her father after her relationship with her boyfriend of eight years ended.

"I was afraid that my father would take me to a doctor and see whether I was still a virgin," said the woman, who owns a small business and lives on her own in Frankfurt. "He told me, 'I will forgive everything, but not if you have thrown dirt on my honor.' I wasn't afraid he would kill me, but I was sure he would have beaten me."

Apparently, beating one's 32-year-old daughter is honorable behavior.

Link via Lisa Schiffren who writes out my thoughts perfectly here:

Call me a romantic, but just how great a marriage can be built on a lie about chastity, fear of exposure, and the resentment that must follow the neccessity to undergo that surgery?

Posted at 07:58 PM in General | | Comments (0)

The Anti-Empire

Jun 11, 2008

Daimnation:

The rhetorical phrase "democratic empire" is patently silly. Internally, it's an ideological oxymoron. Externally, Germany and Japan - upon whom we forced democracy - are hardly subject dominions.

I've never understood that criticism either. The US is a weird sort of empire -- one that spends hundreds of billions of dollars of its own money to help other nations while not demanding any financial favors in return. One can, of course, disagree with the usefulness of such a policy but repeatedly calling the US an empire for engaging in this behavior is getting tired.

Posted at 07:33 PM in Politics, USA | | Comments (1)

A Truly Bad Policy

Jun 10, 2008

The Examiner via Instapundit:

This year, it’s harder than ever for teens to find a summer job. Researchers at Northeastern University described summer 2007 as “the worst in post-World War II history” for teen summer employment, and those same researchers say that 2008 is poised to be “even worse.”

Terrible.

The percentage of teens classified as “unemployed” — those who are actively seeking a job but can’t get one — is more than three times higher than the national unemployment rate, according to the most recent Department of Labor statistics.

Why would that be?

One of the prime reasons for this drastic employment drought is the mandated wage hikes that policymakers have forced down the throats of local businesses. Economic research has shown time and again that increasing the minimum wage destroys jobs for low-skilled workers while doing little to address poverty.

The majority of voters are responsible for this.

According to economist David Neumark of the University of California at Irvine, for every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage, employment for high school dropouts and young black adults and teenagers falls by 8.5 percent. In the past 11 months alone, the United States’ minimum wage has increased by more than twice that amount.

Click here to read what I wrote about the minimum wage four years ago.

Posted at 02:26 AM in Economics, USA | | Comments (0)

An Offensive Incident

Jun 09, 2008

Daily Times via Ezra Levant:

Pakistan will ask the European Union countries to amend laws regarding freedom of expression in order to prevent offensive incidents such as the printing of blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and the production of an anti-Islam film by a Dutch legislator, sources in the Interior Ministry told Daily Times on Saturday.

What I wrote two years ago:

It is vitally important that the West not put Islam or any other religion off-limits to critical analysis. For only in the West can a person safely write that the obliteration of a Jewish tribe, the taking of sex-slaves, and the confiscation of non-Muslim property is something not to be celebrated and emulated.

I wouldn't bet on the EU to hold.

Ezra Levant points out the asininity:

My favourite part of the story is the last two sentences. They fit together perfectly, almost like a Shakespearian rhyming couplet.

Here they are:

They said that the delegation would also tell the EU that if such acts against Islam are not controlled, more attacks on the EU diplomatic missions abroad could not be ruled out.

Sources said that the delegation would also hold discussions on inter-religious harmony during its meetings with the EU leaders.

So tastefully thuggish.

Posted at 06:28 PM in Politics, World War III | | Comments (1)

The Cost of Free Speech

Jun 09, 2008

Armies of Liberation:

Amnesty International has today condemned the jailing of a leading journalist in Yemen just days before an event in London at which the journalist is in line for a human rights media award.

More:

Mr Al-Khaiwani, who was on trial with 13 other defendants, appears to have been convicted as a result of his professional work as a journalist, including his coverage of armed clashes between government forces and supporters of the late Zaidi Shia cleric Hussein Badr al-Din al-Huthi in the northern Yemeni province of Sa'dah. Some of the cases defendants were charged with violent activities and one is believed to have been sentenced to death.

Mr Al-Khaiwani is one of many activist journalist and critics of the state in Yemen who have been persecuted for their peaceful criticism of government policies.

Posted at 06:16 PM in Politics | | Comments (0)

The Muslim Immigrant

Jun 08, 2008

Achelois:

I am not pro assimilation. I support that people be seen as different parts of mosaic that together forms a beautiful piece with various colours and backgrounds. I don’t want to assimilate into a foreign culture and I don’t want to force them to assimilate into mine. I never wanted to assimilate into a Christian British culture; British culture today is so varied that there can and does exist a prominent Muslim British culture. When the colonists came to East India they did not start wearing a dhoti kurta. They did not assimilate and there is no reason why people from various ethnic backgrounds should be asked to assimilate blindly into the Western cultures. But the British were the colonists and not immigrants. There is a difference.

It seems that the last two sentences undercut the whole point of the paragraph.

Later on in the post:

In the past three months, four friends have said they have lost their spirituality. I am terrified.

Only four had the courage to come forward and admit that they refuse to be Allah's slaves. The true number is likely higher. Be very terrified!

Posted at 09:58 PM in General | | Comments (1)

The Joys of Being a Muslim

Jun 08, 2008

Umar Lee: I Would Not Have Been Muslim If…

What would have happened if I would have went to a masjid whose only religious activity is interfaith and where there is a minimal observance of the Sunnah? What if I was told Muslims, Christians, and Jews are one big happy family?

Lee doesn't specify exactly what he has been told about Jews and Christians by his model peers.

That on gender relations we refer to feminism and not the Sunnah?

Yeah, what could possibly be wrong with marrying pre-teens and beating a wife (of course, be careful not to leave bruises!).

That on business matters we refer to the Wharton School instead of the Sunnah school?

Interest is illegal in Islam. Definitely a smart idea to reject the successful economic system of the West.

Posted at 09:43 PM in USA | | Comments (1)

Religion of Peace, Again

Jun 08, 2008

Tambi Dude emailed this link:

A young blind boy has died after a teacher at his Islamic school in Pakistan hung him upside down and beat him for not learning the Koran, Agence France-Presse reported Friday.

Teacher Qari Ziauddin allegedly hung Muhammad Atif, 7, from a ceiling fan at Qari Latif Islamic school near Lahore, Pakistan, on Thursday.

Harsh beatings -- the preferred teaching method -- are a regular occurrence in Pakistani schools.

Posted at 09:07 PM in World War III | | Comments (0)

Why Do They Hate Us?

Jun 07, 2008

The Copenhagen Post via LFG:

Danes need look no further than their own newspapers to find the reason for the car bombing that severely damaged their embassy in Pakistan on Monday, according to Rohan Gunaranta, an international terrorism expert from Pakistan.

'There is still a lot of dissatisfaction here about the cartoons, as well as the fact that the Danish government still has not condemned them or the people that were responsible for them. As long as that hasn't happened, Denmark will be under the constant threat of militant muslims,' Gunaranta said.

Pakistan's sick ambassador gets into the act:

'It isn't just the people of Pakistan that feel they have been harassed by what your newspaper has begun,' she said. 'I'd like to know if your newspaper is satisfied with what it has done and what it has unleashed?'

The logic is impeccable; the same species of it is used when a woman is raped in Muslim lands. You see, she must not have covered herself properly. She is ultimately responsible for enticing Muslims into committing barbaric acts.

The ambassador conveniently forgets that death and carnage has been the forte of Muslims for centuries -- largely because their role model was a psychotic, cruel and deeply immoral man. The violent reaction of the umma across the globe and the Let's Blame The West mentality of "educated" Muslims shows that the cartoons weren't off the mark.

Posted at 04:51 PM in Politics, World War III | | Comments (0)

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