Isaac Schrödinger

Feel the Peace

Tambi Dude emailed me this link recently.

Another Fool

Charles Krauthammer via LFG:

Every new president flatters himself that he, kinder and gentler, is beginning the world anew. Yet, when Barack Obama in his inaugural address reached out to Muslims by saying "to the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect," his formulation was needlessly defensive and apologetic.

Of course: America is to blame for the wretched anger of the Muslims. Therefore, the US ought to change her behavior -- a policy that Obama can easily follow with, likely, little short-term consequences.

In these most recent 20 years -- the alleged winter of our disrespect of the Islamic world -- America did not just respect Muslims, it bled for them. It engaged in five military campaigns, every one of which involved -- and resulted in -- the liberation of a Muslim people: Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Under Obama, no more liberations. Change!

Curmudgeon Style

Do not disturb.

An Early Caturday

Meow!

One Egg To Rule Them All

This is a bit confusing and creepy.

The Religion of Peace Explained II

From the comments of this post:

Their vision of the Prophet (saws) and the Sahaabah are 1960’s hippies or Code Pink radicals. I get the feeling that if they knew the REALITY of the Prophet (saws) and his blessed Sahaabah that they would not only not like them at all - but they would be repulsed because of their Western brainwashing.

What brainwashing might that be?

If they saw sex slaves being taken, they would complain of so called “women’s rights”. Many of them think that slavery itself is unislamic and even think that Islam calls for its banishment or some “abolition” movement. These same people would protest that the kufaar have to pay jiziyyah in the Islamic government. There was never any such movements in the history of Islam until the advent of Muslims learning values from the West.

Yes, those filthy! horrible! Judeo-Christian + Greco-Roman values have truly poisoned the minds of Muslims who live in the West.

Can't a brother get a sex-slave?

Another precious commenter:

Denying the zakaah is KUFR. And the penalty for kufr is death. That is why Abu Bakr declared war on the apostates. This story is a thorn in the necks of those who claim that there is no mandate to kill apostates in Islam.

More from this lovely fellow:

One othe thing that has not been mentioned here is that Islam is not complatible with democracy or any system in which the kufaar are considered to be equal to the believers. Far too many muslims think that participation in “the system” is somehow beneficial to the Muslims when in fact we have our own divine and COMPLETE system of gov’t from top to bottom that we can live by.

Where everyone shall submit to Allah ... or else.

The Religion of Peace Explained

Umar Lee:

This was put together on my behalf from the former imam of a masjid in response to many liberal-minded, unaware or just uneducated Muslims who alleged I have slandered the sahabah by referring to many of them being killers and unromantic men. What is written is for your information and I encourage you to use this and study more. However, do not read this and then start going out and robbing kufar, committing acts of violence, or taking sex slaves ( and I have known brothers right here in America to do all three).

What lovely company.

Umar Lee, then goes on to provide some statements which are backed up with historical accounts. Here's something he said:

The Prophet {s.a.s.) was a warrior and many of the Sahabah [his companions] that he loved were straight-up killers.

More:

Others were robbers (robbing the caravans of the kufar).

More:

Others took women and young girls as the booty of war.

More:

Islam spread through jihad and was sustained by the sword of very masculine men.

Arguably, the most hideous point comes at the end:

Ibn Taymiyyah on the concept of “love”. From Majmoo’ al-Fataawa (10/129): Love is a psychological sickness, and if it grows strong it affects the body, and becomes a physical sickness, either as diseases of the brain, which are said to be diseases caused by waswaas, or diseases of the body such as weakness, emaciation and so on.

Why do over a billion people believe in, and follow, this trash?

Gladstone's Ghost Weeps

Robert Spencer via Infidel Bloggers Alliance:

William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898) was Prime Minister of Great Britain four times: 1868–74, 1880–85, 1886 and 1892–94. He called the Qur'an an "accursed book" and once held it up during a session of Parliament, declaring: "So long as there is this book there will be no peace in the world."

That was then:

Now the votaries of the book he saw as such an impediment to peace have triumphed: an Islamic reading room is being set up at the library Gladstone founded near his home in North Wales. In this BBC audio report (thanks to Andrew), Gladstone's great grandson Christopher Parish and Professor Richard Aldous, head of history at University College Dublin, tie themselves into knots trying to come up with a reason why Gladstone would have approved of this reading room.

Goal!

Teh cute.

Elusive Peace

Mezba:

If you are poking a bee's nest with a stick, better be sure to have protection for when they come out. One has to question the tactical necessity of firing rockets at residential areas in Israel. What objective, military or otherwise, did they achieve?

Terror.

After a few more points, this question is asked:

So what should the Muslim community world wide (and the Arabs) do to prevent another round of genocide?

Genocide? Israel has been giving up territory (Sinai, Golan, Gaza) and leaving Arabs to their fate for many years. In that time, the population of Arabs around Israel has grown at a sharp rate. One has to admit, it's the most amusing method of genocide in history.

Israel is specifically targetting Hamas -- you know, that lovely group which actually has genocide as one of its ideals.

Mezba then offers a peace proposal:

You want peace, stability and economic prosperity. Even thought of emulating the Prophet? The Hudaibiya treaty, signed with terms very unfavourable to the Muslims, changed the game forever. Go to the Israelis and ask for a 20 year peace treaty.

How truly wicked. Hamas to Israel: "Please, stop killing us! Let's have peace ... for now. We'll be back later with better weapons to slaughter your children."

This from an educated Muslim in the West.

Nice Monitor

I don't think it has hit the market.

The Dutch Buckle

BBC News via Samizdata:

A Dutch court has ordered prosecutors to put a right-wing politician on trial for making anti-Islamic statements.

Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders made a controversial film last year equating Islam with violence and has likened the Koran to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

"In a democratic system, hate speech is considered so serious that it is in the general interest to... draw a clear line," the court in Amsterdam said.

Mr Wilders said the judgement was an "attack on the freedom of expression".

For the sake of argument, if Wilders is wrong about Islam, then wouldn't the prudent response for opponents be to make a movie in which they disprove him?

But they can't.

Instead, the Dutch system has chosen to sacrifice Wilders to placate the umma: "See! We're not Islamophobes. So, please don't attack us."

Ghost in the Shell, Soon

This is incredible.

People always ask how it's changed my life, but there's no specific thing. It's the hundreds of everyday things you take for granted, which I can do again, like peeling a potato, catching a ball, holding a bottle of water. I'm incredibly grateful.

Obama Isn't Brown!

I couldn't help. Sorry.

Tetris for a Grunt

I'd ditch the iPod completely and get a different color.

One Drop

The composition, corner-to-corner, is well done.

Useful Idiocy on Celluloid

Joe Lima via David Thompson:

“Che” fails on a much deeper level. It attempts to depict actual historical events, the effects of which still play out today and affect millions of people. Does the movie tell the truth? It barely even tries. It is in this failure to connect with historic truth that the film sinks from being a mere failure to being an ugly lie.

I doubt the people involved were interested in the truth to begin with.

The first comment there says it better than I could:

That Che Guevara is a hero and American soldiers are villains tells you everything you need to know about Hollywood. They could not be more idiotic. It would be thoroughly disgusting if it weren’t so laughable.

Hypercash for the Hyperpower

Money you can believe in!

I'm Betting on Last Minute

Cats don't do love.

LFG!!!!

Copy-and-paste can be so hard.

Stopping Power

A most impressive shot.

Haydos Leaves

An eloquent summary of the greatest Australian opener ever.

His breakthrough came on the 2001 tour of India. After experiencing mixed fortunes in his comeback series against West Indies, he was a marginal selection. Many thought the Indian tweakers would make him look like an elephant in dancing shoes. Before the series began, Hayden made the most critical decision of his career. Accepting that he lacked touch, realising that his footwork might appear cumbersome, knowing that it was make or break, he resolved to stop fretting and to attack. Nor had he come unprepared, A few months before, he had paid his own way to the subcontinent to work on his game against spin. He figured out a method founded upon hitting the ball against the spin and aiming at empty parts of the outfield. His strategy played to his own strengths and put pressure back on the bowlers.

It worked a treat. In a trice Hayden was carting the ball around India, repeatedly dispatching Harbhajan Singh over deep midwicket and treating the other bowlers with equal brutality. Hayden was the highest scorer in the series. It was a towering performance and led to the most fruitful period of his cricketing life.

More:

he won World Cups and Ashes series, and helped Australia retain top position in the Test and ODI rankings. From anyone it'd be convincing; from a batsman disregarded in his formative years it is astonishing.

Indeed.

Feeding the Poor

Times are really bad (via Glenn Reynolds):

Amanda Freitag is all about feeding the family.

She's executive chef at The Harrison, in Manhattan's trendy Tribeca neighborhood. Freitag treats guests to an inspired New-American menu that tourists and New Yorkers alike can't seem to get enough of.

As The Early Show Saturday Edition's "Chef on a Shoestring," Freitag sought to take a traditional, three-course spaghetti dinner and give it a little twist any family would love - on our new, lower, recession-busting budget of $35.

Ha! I just had the simple combination of pasta, sauce and meatballs. Cost: $4 max. As commenters there point out, this budget of $35 leads to an yearly dinner tab north of $12,000. The article is more hilarious than informative.

A Slight Revision

The Volokh Conspiracy:

After determining the Big-12 championship game participants, the BCS computers were put to work on other major contests and today the BCS declared Germany to be the winner of World War II.

Oops.

Little Hope for the Economy

Gary Becker:

If the government increased its spending on infrastructure when the economy has full employment, its main impact would likely be to draw labor, capital, and raw materials away from various other activities. In effect, increased government spending under these employment conditions would "crowd out" private spending. Measured GDP would not be much affected, if at all. To be sure, the efficiency of the economy would rise if too little had previously been invested in this infrastructure, while efficiency would fall if this government spending were more wasteful than the private spending that was crowded out.

That still won't stop the Democrats from pushing a giant spending bill in the coming weeks. They want to be on record as DOING SOMETHING!

Oh the Oppressed

The hatred of men is quite common in feminist circles. But now the loathing of family is oozing to the surface.

Family is the social institution that ensures unpaid reproductive and domestic labour, and is concerned with initiating a new generation into the gendered (as I analyzed here) and classed social set-up. Not only that, families prevent money the flow of money from the rich to the poor: wealth accumulates in a few hands to be squandered on and bequeathed to the next generation, and that makes families as economic units selfishly pursue their own interests and become especially prone to consumerism.

So it makes sense to say that if the world has to change, reproduction has to go. Of course there is an ecological responsibility to reduce the human population, or even end it , and a lot was said about that on the blogosphere recently (here, and here), but an ecological consciousness is not how I came to my decision to remain child-free.

"Ecological consciousness"!? What the hell is that?

There is something deeply wrong with these people.

Link via David Thompson.

Tewowist, I Tells Ya!

I don't know if Jews should laugh or feel insulted?

Gays Support Hamas

The first comment in this post:

I will never understand the left siding with the Islamics

They very tenants they hold dear and claimed to have championed, Gay rights, womens rights, hell even human rights the Islamics would be more than happy to take away from them.

Whatever ally is anti-US, anti-Israel or anti-West will do for the brain-dead on the left.

A New York Sunset

Nice capture.

The Chosen Scapegoats

Yaacov Lozowick:

What Cole has just told us is that his mind can live with the explanation that Mohammad Atta murdered thousands of people in New York, because five years earlier he'd been absolutely and totally furious at an Israeli killing of one hundred people in Lebanon. Moreover, Cole implies, it is well likely that another act of Israeli killing today will have a similar result sometime down the road. Furthermore, he then goes on, he's telling us this because the Obama administration must stop the way Israel is purposefully putting Americans in danger merely because Israelis are that kind of people.

It's amazing how some people adamantly refuse to see evil.

Fiscal Insanity

An easy prediction:

President Obama will preside over the largest deficits in American history (in dollar terms). It is possible that we'll hit a trillion-dollar deficit.

It's a lot worse (via Instapundit):

The details aren't known, but Mr. Obama and Democrats have been talking about at least $800 billion, and probably $1 trillion, in new spending or various tax credits and reductions over two years. Toss that in and add more expected bailout cash, and if the economy stays slow the deficit could reach $1.8 trillion, or a gargantuan 12.5% of GDP. That 2006 Democratic vow to pass "pay as you go" budgets seems like a lifetime ago, which in political terms it was.

Nearly two trillion dollars!

A Civilized Power

Some perspective on Israel and war. From a comment:

the Palestinians don't deserve one iota of sympathy for the fact that their attacks are getting deadlier responses. You don't wage war on a modern military power's civilian population and then go crying to mommy when they see your pathetic, 19th century weapons and up the ante with 21st century firepower.

If the Ukrainians, Kazakhs or Mongols did this crap to Russia, and the Russians responded by carpet-bombing their capitol city into rubble, I doubt you'd hear more than a "golly, that was rough" out of the UN. By all rights, the Palestinians are blessed that their neighbors are Westernized Jews, not Russians or Chinese.

Do You Have Enough Cores?

Yikes! I'm at only two.

Legitimate Use of Force

Instapundit:

BUT DON’T CALL THEM “BARBARIANS,” because that would be rude. Comparing Hamas to the Nazis. “The Hamas founding covenant explicitly calls for the extermination of all Jews. Hitler never made total extermination an official plank of the the Nazi party platform.”

Yet, ignorant and idiotic commentators are yelping about how Israel(!) ruins the peace process. I've always maintained that, given the Hamas charter, Israel ought to annihilate every member, or at least every leading official, of Hamas.

It was a good day when the IDF made Ahmed Yassin fly. But instead of congratulating Israel, most of the world shed tears for the evil "spritual" leader and, of course, blamed Israel for another setback to peace.

Hamas and their sponsor states must be ground into powder for there to be any chance of peace in that region.

Two Years Later

January 4, 2007 will remain one of the most important days of my life.

What a Pose!

For some reason, it reminds me of an inanity-spewing imam.

Apologies for repeating myself there.

Addicted to Deficit Spending

Holy #$!* via Instapundit:

Governors of five U.S. states urged the federal government to provide $1 trillion in aid to the country's 50 states to help pay for education, welfare and infrastructure as states struggle with steep budget deficits amid a deepening recession.

At this rate, a President Obama will preside over the largest deficits in American history (in dollar terms). It is possible that we'll hit a trillion-dollar deficit.

A Cold Panorama

The feeling in Canada on most days.