I've been in Europe on business since late last week, so I haven't had much time for posting. But here's a shot of my favorite bar in Heidelberg, from their web page since I neglected to bring my camera.B E L O I T C O L L E G E
M I N D S E T L I S T: 1 9 1 8
By Adam Underhill
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The millions of young gentlemen, and handful of young ladies, who will be freshman students at the great universities of our Republic came into this world in the year of our Lord 1900. Consider the following:
1. They have no meaningful recollection of the administration of President William McKinley, and probably do not know that he had been shot.
2. They were but three years old when the Wright brothers first took flight at Kitty Hawk.
3. They have never lived in fear of an Indian insurrection.
4. The "hobble" skirt has always appeared fashionable to them.
5. Their life-time has always included Coca-Cola as a recreational beverage. A Coca-Cola has always cost five cents.
6. They likely have never heard of William Jennings Bryan.
7. To them, "Bismarck" is merely the name of the capital of North Dakota.
8. They have only known North Dakota to be a state in the Union—never a mere territory.
9. They were a mere eight years old when the Habsburgs acquired Bosnia and Herzegovina.
10. They have always known the luxury of the hand-cranked Victrola.
11. They have never heard of the Panic of 1893.
12. They have always known the Gold Coast as a British possession.
13. They have never known King Umberto I of Italy.
14. They have never seen the great Roger Connor play baseball.
15. They shall never know war again, now that the War to End All Wars has forged a new era of world peace.
Fadi Ahmad Abdel Latif, Hizb ut-Tahrir in Denmark'sA unanimous panel of judges in a Copenhagen city court found Adbel Latif, the spokesman for the Danish branch of radical Muslim organisation Hizb-ut-Tahir, guilty on all three counts for which he was charged, including for distributing fliers in 2004 urging Mulsims to 'kill their leaders' if they prevented them from helping their 'brothers' fighting in Fallujah.
He was also convicted for threatening the lives of Jews by calling on Muslims to 'kill them all, wherever you find them'.
It comes as no surprise that Abdel Latif denies the accusations, saying his fliers had been misinterpreted:
Abdel Latif claimed that the flyers had been misinterpreted. He appealed the conviction and the three month jail sentence.
'This was expected. The decision is politically motivated. It's only intended as a way to force Danish Muslims to keep their mouths shut,' he said after the trial.
Right. I'm sure the fliers actually said kiss the Jews wherever you find them.
Unfortunately, Abdel Latif only draws a 3-month sentence for his hate mongering, and the article makes no mention of booting his fascist ass out of the country. On the bright side, the conviction may lead to the banning of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Denmark:
The government shelved a 2005 effort to dissolve the controversial organisation after the attorney general, Lene Espersen, said there was no specific reason to do so. But if Thursday's conviction is upheld, Espersen may ask the public prosecutor to determine whether if can be used to forcibly disband the group.
I posted an entry on Hizb ut-Tahrir back in March, which linked to their web site. Unfortunately, all the non-Arabic versions of their site have been suspiciously taken down, but here's a clip from their site that I was able to snag at the time:
Its aim is to resume the Islamic way of life and to convey the Islamic da’wah to the world. This objective means bringing the Muslims back to living an Islamic way of life in Dar al-Islam and in an Islamic society such that all of life’s affairs in society are administered according to the Shari’ah rules, and the viewpoint in it is the halal and the haram under the shade of the Islamic State, which is the Khilafah State. That state is the one in which Muslims appoint a Khaleefah and give him the bay’ah to listen and obey on condition that he rules according to the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saw) and on condition that he conveys Islam as a message to the world through da’wah and jihad.
The Party, as well, aims at the correct revival of the Ummah through enlightened thought. It also strives to bring her back to her previous might and glory such that she wrests the reins of initiative away from other states and nations, and returns to her rightful place as the first state in the world, as she was in the past, when she governs the world according to the laws of Islam.
It also aims to bring back the Islamic guidance for mankind and to lead the Ummah into a struggle with Kufr, its systems and its thoughts so that Islam encapsulates the world.
This is a very scary organization, folks.
Extremist groups are targeting Muslim undergraduates, offering them a simplistic narrative of victimhood in which to make sense of their lives.Unfortunately, Gallagher offers his own "narrative of victimhood", effectively excusing Muslim students who turn to violent radicalism:
The response of university officials has all too often been timid and sluggish. Too many have gone along with the Government strategy to increase student numbers while diluting the quality of degrees, especially in the humanities and social sciences.
This means many Muslim graduates will fail to establish themselves in the labour market. The word will spread that university is only a prelude to casual or low-paid jobs, which aids extremists grooming a young generation to reject Britain and embrace an international identity championing Islamic revolution.
Gallagher, in true whackademic fashion, then proposes a government program to cure this particular ill:
Government needs to have a strategy for promoting upward mobility in the Muslim population. Many young men should be steered away from university and into vocational training for jobs that will offer them the financial stability that will elude many graduates. High-earning Muslim tradesmen would be good role models for young Muslims.
Gallagher is shooting so wide of the mark with this piece that none can take it seriously. Linking low earning potential to radicalization is a red herring. Osama Bin Laden is (was?) filthy rich. His lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is a physician. He could have emigrated to any western country and lived quite nicely.
The problem in Britain is radical Islamic hate-mongering. The solution is to cut it out like the cancer that it is.
I know alot of you don't understand why people hated Dean so much, but there's a reason for it, at least there was for me. George W. Bush, and all his followers/enablers, scare the shit out of me. You see, I'm from the south. Specifically, the Bible Belt. I grew up with these people, I know how they think, these so called social conservatives, the fundamentalists. These are dangerous, scary, creepy people. They need to be removed from power with the quickness. To me, that objective takes priority over all other concerns. Gay Marriage, Abortion Law, Terrorism, even Iraq Policy takes a backseat to the overriding goal of removing these people from office.I guess that even though I'm neither a Republican nor fundamentalist (fundamentalist what...agnostic?) I might be considered a social conservative for my extremist view that the world doesn't owe me (or anybody else) a living. Therefore, I too need to be removed from power with "the quickness". I might actually be worried if I held any kind of power.
He said his group, with "some 2,000 active members, mostly in Saudi Arabia," would coordinate its activities with other opponents of the Saudi government at home and abroad, chiefly the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) which calls for a regime change in the kingdom.Frankly, any group with the word "Islamic" or "Muslim" in its name piques my interest, so I did a little bit of research on MIRA. What I found gives me serious doubts about Prince al-Rashid's desires for democracy.
MIRA is run by al Qaida-affiliated Saad al-Faqih, who was designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 by the Treasury on December 21, 2004 and is named on the United Nations 1267 Committee consolidated list of terrorists tied to al Qaida, UBL and the Taliban."Al-Faqih uses MIRA to facilitate al Qaida's operations," said Stuart Levey, the Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI). "Designating MIRA will help stem the flow of funds to the organization and put the world on notice of its support for al Qaida."
Next was this item from Militant Islam Monitor dated July 2005 tieing Muslim Council of Britain finance director Iqbal Asaria to MIRA and thus, in turn, al-Qaeda.
This raises some unsettling questions. For instance, why does Britain continue to allow the MCB to operate in its midst? And just how deep does one have to probe to find similar connections to other ostensibly peaceful Islamic groups?
The media holds up groups like the Muslim Council of Britain and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as models of moderate Islam. Is this the "vast majority" of Muslims we keep hearing about?
The new symbol of the Democratic partyAin't this the biggest CO-INKEDINK ? BE VERY AFRAID! VOTE REP !So on and so forth, ad nauseam.
Have to keep the Sheep Afraid.
What "plot"? Has Jerkoff provided any evidence of the plot?
Anti war candidate defeats a major Bush supporter - next day, a terror plot is thwarted.
That's great timing.
So far 21 suspects - believed to be British citizens, many of Pakistani origin - have been arrested in overnight raids in London, the Thames Valley and Birmingham...But then again, you didn't need me to tell you this.
Retransmitting original full frame for context to show full scale ofRETRANSMITTING ORIGINAL FULL FRAME FOR CONTEXT TO SHOW THAT PEOPLE IN BACKGROUND ARE NOT DIRECTLY IN THE LINE OF FIRE — A Palestinian militant fires toward Israeli troops during an arrest raid in the West Bank village of Qabatiyeh near Jenin, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006. Four Palestinians were wounded when the army arrested an Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades militant, Palestinians sources said. The army said two Islamic Jihad militants were arrested during the operation. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)A little re-captioning is once again in order.
Note the guy with the backwards baseball cap...
...and again at upper-right background...
...and one more time right foreground just before...
...his sudden and untimely "death"! Note the cap now tucked betweenLieberman's camp is claiming that the Web site has been sabotaged by hackers who support his challenger Ned Lamont for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate.Well, I know of at least one "progressive" Democratic activist with a strong dislike for Lieberman who's also pretty tech-savvy.
"They have totally attacked our Web site and e-mail system," Lieberman's campaign manager, Sean Smith said. "If Ned Lamont has a backbone in his body, he will call on these people to cease and desist."
A Palestinian terrorist fires at anti-terrorism forces, usingA Palestinian militant fires toward Israeli troops during an arrest raid in the West Bank village of Qabatiyeh near Jenin, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006. Four Palestinians were wounded when the army arrested an Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant, Palestinians sources said. The army said two Islamic Jihad militants were arrested during the operation. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)Without the photo, one might assume a lone, brave "militant" was standing up to Israeli aggression against his comrades.
FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko emphasized that there was no indication that the men were involved in any illicit activity.The students entered the country on 29 July for cryin' out loud! That's about 10 days ago, by my count.
"At this point, all they have done is not show up for a scheduled academic program," Kolko said. "There is no threat associated with these men."
Cases like these are actually quite common, Kolko said. Oftentimes when large groups of foreign students arrive in the United States, it is almost inevitable that some will break off and head to tourist destinations before turning up several days later.
Montana State has tried repeatedly to contact the students, university spokeswoman Cathy Conover said. When that failed, the school notified Homeland Security officials and registered the Egyptians as "no-shows" in the system developed after Sept. 11 to track foreign students.And they ask me why I drink. Yeesh.
"We hope this doesn't cast doubt on this program because we think it's important to have international students on our campus and in our community," Conover said.
Everybody knows that President Bush and the Republican Congress have chopped poverty spending to finance massive tax cuts for their wealthy friends.Another liberal meme debunked.
"The Republican House just voted to slash health care for struggling families, cut college loans for middle-class kids, and take food off the tables of poor children," the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees complained in TV ads during budget votes last December. As Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) moaned in The Washington Post, "I don't know what the poor, the elderly, the disabled, or our foster children have done to Republicans to deserve this."
Once again, what "everybody knows" turns out to be false.
Heritage Foundation budget analyst Brian Riedl actually looked at social spending under Republican control. What he finds is as astonishing as it is counterintuitive: Under the mean, nasty, coldhearted Republicans, expenditures on the poor have zoomed to record levels.
In 2004, 16.3 percent of the federal budget went to anti-poverty efforts. This figure never has been higher.
In 2001, President Bush and the GOP Congress spent $285.7 billion on 33 anti-poverty programs. By 2005, that sum had grown $111.2 billion to a total of $396.9 billion. That 39 percent boost far outstripped that period's 10 percent cumulative inflation.
Officials with knowledge of the document said the draft calls for a "full cessation" of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, but would allow Israel the right to launch strikes if attacked by Hezbollah.Gee, thanks. So if Hizballah uses any of the weapons that Israel is frantically trying to destroy, Israel can hit back.
Cartoon courtesy of Cox and Forkum and used here
