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| These millionaires, (average salary $US 2 million p.a.) know not wherefore they kneel |
The current mania for tearing down statues and stifling free speech by cultural ingénues ignorant of history and logic, has reached a stellar absurdity in demands to censure "The Star Spangled Banner" on lame claims that it is racist. If ignorance is bliss, then those who indulge their revisionism must be in Nirvana.
Key's poem "The Defence of Fort McHenry"—which, re-named "The Star-Spangled Banner," became the national anthem in 1931—was based on verses he composed in 1805 to celebrate the victory over the Muslim slave-trading pirates on the Barbary coast ("the shores of Tripoli"). "And pale beam'd the Crescent, its splendor obscured / By the light of the Star-Spangled flag of our nation. . . . And the turban'd heads bow'd to its terrible glare . . ." John Langdon was a Founding Father who, as the first President pro tempore of the Senate, administered the vice-presidential oath of office to John Adams. In 1805 as governor of New Hampshire, he set aside a day in thanksgiving "for the termination of our contest with one of the African powers; the liberation of our fellow-citizens from bondage…"Islam, which means "submission," has never had abolitionists like the Christians Bartolomé de las Casas and William Wilberforce. Muhammed was a slave trader, and the Qur'an devotes five times as much space to regulating labor slavery and sex slavery as it does to prayer. Nearly 200 million slaves, white and black, were sold by Muslim traders over fourteen centuries, and almost all the Africans sold to European traders for export to America were enslaved by Muslims. Muslim slavers even raided Ireland in 1631. So many Eastern Europeans were enslaved that the word "slave" itself comes from "Slav." While lip service is given to abolition in Islamic lands, slavery today is blatant in Sudan, Niger and Mauritania and was not abolished in Saudi Arabia and Yemen until 1962 under Western pressure. Where is the indignation of protestors here?
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| Votaries of the Religion of Peace™ are not getting their Swedish welfare cheques quickly enough; burn the Swedish flag! |
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| Hmmmm, when was WW2 again?? |
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| "To save the Enlightenment, we had to destroy it" (apologies to Ben Tre) |
"Is there any other continent with such a commitment to freedom, democracy and the social balances that hold us together, to this reconciliation of justice and freedom which are at last combined.... In Europe today, sovereignty, democracy and trust are in danger".
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| How about Jihadese? |
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| An armed British police officer walks through the carriage of a London underground tube carriage at Parsons Green (image: Getty) |
Just as well is was ISIS wot claimed "credit" for Parsons Green (screwup that it was 'n all), so then we can say for sure that the bombing had "nothing to do with Islam", because of course ISIS has "nothing to do with Islam".
Love you Rod! You write so insightfully and elegantly about something that should concern us all... but for some reason, doesn't....
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| Count the children. The bulk of "refugees" are economic migrants: young men, often claiming to be children, looking for jobs and jumping queues |
Across the continent, poll after poll shows the European public continuously calling for migration into Europe to be slowed down. This plea is not due to some atavistic urge or distasteful racist instinct, but something that the public seems to intuit better than their politicians -- which is that if you do not have control of your borders, with a meaningful set of immigration laws and the right to keep people out of your country then you do not really have a country. [ref]According to some reports, Europen officials do not even ask for proof if a "refugee" claims they are a child. They simply accept the statement because not to do so would impinge on their human rights.
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| Tuvia Tenenbom, Falstaffian scourge of Islamists and anti-semites |
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| Armed police officers and soldiers on duty outside Horse Guards on Whitehall following the Muslim attack at Parsons Green Station London, Saturday Sept. 16, 2017 |
Theresa May is cranky about President Trump's unhelpful tweets, but perhaps she should reserve her wrath for British politicians who have repeatedly refused to pass a counterterrorism bill May has been pushing since at least 2015. Some critics opposed elements of her approach, which focused in part on "extremist" speech and opinions by Muslim citizens. This is a legitimate concern.But it appears the reason there's been no forward motion on a policy is that some British politicians are still insisting that any discussion of terrorism that also includes a discussion of the civil war currently being waged in the Muslim community is unacceptable.Imagine someone arguing during "The Troubles" that every discussion about terrorism must avoid discussing the issue of Ireland. This is just that stupid.Melanie Phillips, who literally wrote the book on "Londonistan," says that even in the wake of repeated terror attacks from their own Muslim communities, "the intersection of an aggressive religious fanaticism with the multicultural ideology of victimhood has created a state of paralysis across British institutions."That paralysis is on display yet again, as are the horrifying images of bomb fragments and burned children.
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| Do these look like "refugees"? Where are the women and children? |
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| The hijab as the Confederate Flag of headwear. Good one! |
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| "Fatty the Third" the Chinese call him. Your average Chinese hates the North Koreans. But what the government does or can do is a complex issue and not as simple as the US seems to think |
In broad outline, North Korean threat reduction requires progressive development of more effective defenses against the DPRK’s means of destruction while simultaneously weakening Pyongyang’s capabilities for supporting both conventional and strategic offense.
A more effective defense against the North Korean threat would consist mainly, though not entirely, of military measures. Restoring recently sacrificed U.S. capabilities would be essential. Likewise more and better missile defense: THAAD systems (and more) for South Korea and Japan, and moving forward on missile defense in earnest for the USA. It would be incumbent on South Korea to reduce its own population’s exposure to North Korean death from the skies through military modernization and civil defense.
The DPRK would be served notice that 60 years of zero-consequence rules of engagement for allied forces in the face of North Korean “provocations” on the peninsula had just come to an end. But diplomacy would count here as well: most importantly, alliance strengthening throughout Asia in general and repairing the currently frayed ROK–Japan relationship in particular. Today’s ongoing bickering between Seoul and Tokyo reeks of interwar politics at its worst; leaders who want to live in a postwar order need to rise above such petty grievances. Read all of it....BTW: Eberstadt uses a TLA that's not easy to find. It's PSI, which is the "Proliferation Security Initiative"
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| Iraqi policemen stand guard as Sunni and Shiite tribal clerics and leaders meet to discuss reconciliation (image: Getty) |
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| Max Fisher, below, doesn't think China can solve the North Korean problem. The Atlantic has some ideas, though |
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| Europe staunchly marching towards a cliff led by Mad Mutti Merkel. And so we have "The strange death of Europe" |
“When we lack the will to see things as they really are, there is nothing so mystifying as the obvious.”
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| Driving the pedant crazy |
Ultimately, the solution to the problem of poor grammar isn't abolishing objective standards. It's restoring traditional grammar classes to schools and ensuring everyone has the ability to speak the language the correct way. This protects against the problem of Mandarin — adjacent regional dialects becoming different languages entirely...
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| Drink up Mutti! It's the right decision |
Merkel said: "It is clear that Turkey should not become a member of the European Union."
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| The greater the Muslim population the lower the freedom index. Statistically significant correlation coefficient of 0.61. X-axis: L to R: lower to higher % of Muslim population. Y-axis: most freedom = 2 (top). Least freedom = 14 (bottom). [For clearer graph see original post] |
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| Yalu river border between China (L) and North Korea |
What the administration should do is demand that Beijing and Moscow accept a complete embargo on North Korea. If they do not comply, the administration should threaten to impose severe costs on them. For instance, Trump could hand down what are essentially death sentences on the largest Chinese banks, like Bank of China, for laundering money for the Kim regime. The president can do that by designating them "primary money laundering concerns" under Section 311 of the Patriot Act. Such designations would deny these institutions the ability to transact in dollars.
Sanctioning the largest Chinese banks in such a manner could throw the Chinese financial and political systems into turmoil, and Beijing knows it. Therefore, the White House has the means to persuade China's leaders to disarm the Kim regime.
Fortunately, Xi Jinping, the Chinese ruler, is particularly vulnerable at this moment. The 19th Communist Party Congress, which begins on October 18, is when Xi must consolidate his power if he is to continue strongman rule. He will be blamed by his many adversaries if relations with the U.S. are disrupted before the meeting.
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| The Steinharts: she from Shanghai, he from Ohio And their two "Third Culture" sons |
As China expands its international influence while America's dominance wanes, young Chinese-Americans – rather than struggling to fit in – are reaping the benefits of their backgrounds.
"There are more advantages than disadvantages to being of mixed-race," Metters said. "It's definitely become more popular to engage in Asian culture for Americans with Asian heritage. I find it an enriching part of my life. I can't imagine not being like this – just living in New York like a regular American but also being able to go to Taiwan and mainland China and interact with people in Mandarin."
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| My favourite Google doodle. This one is not by Google! |
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| Morris Dees, the founder of SPLC, milks his registered charity as does his CEO, Richard Cohen. (Source) |
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| Trump Tweets Bureau Chief, Fox News, early adopter to bespoke news. Featured in NYT bestseller, "Yuge!".. |
To kick off "Made in America" Week Ivanka Trump Collection announces all "Made in China" tags to be printed in U.S.! #LeadingbyExample
