The Nutcracker - One Example of the Superiority of Western Civilization

We decided to schedule an outing for Christmas Eve afternoon this year. After going over a few ideas we eventually chose to see the Nutcracker at a local theater. This performance was by the New Jersey Ballet and was wonderfully done. One of the Christmas traditions in our family was to read the storybook version (the old-style text) several times to the children each year in front of the tree. My oldest, being a girl, of course identified with Marie (I believe the original name was Clara), the boys with brave, selfless, and ever-the-gentleman Nutcracker, whom the story later reveals to be Godpapa Drosselmeyer's nephew. The story is a classic of good and evil, replete with instances of both heroes sacrificing much for each other. It starts out with a Christmas celebration of a bourgeois or aristocratic German 19th century family. The children's Godfather Drosselmeyer arrives with presents. Marie's is a Nutcracker that the girl falls for immediately, even tenderly wrapping its cracked jaw after her brother Fritz, having snatched it from her, promptly overloads its mouth and damages it. Like many children enthralled by the Christmas tree, decorations, and gifts, she begs to be allowed to play there a bit longer and drifts off to sleep. She awakes to the chime of the wall clock and a mysterious apparition atop it that shifts from the clock's owl to Godpapa and chillingly gives a warning. From so many readings through the years I can recite it like a bard -

“Clocks, clocks stop chiming, for behind the walls he's hiding. Seven wicked heads spit their spite, fourteen eyes burn the night. The Mouse-King awaits the twelve to strike; when hordes of mice shall show their might".

The delivery is supposed to be frightening and I would lay it on thickly. 

Marie hears and sees the mouse army and its horrid Mouse-King, both of which are engaged in battle by the toys, including Fritz's tin soldiers, with Nutcracker leading the way. Nutcracker moves forward to rescue a fallen compatriot and is surrounded. Marie throws her shoe into the fray to help Nutcracker and swoons.

She awakes later in bed and is told that she had bumped her head. Godpapa Drosselmeyer arrives and is chastised by Marie for frightening her. He begins to ever-so-slowly, and imperceptibly to Marie, provide hints to Nutcracker's identity by telling her the story of Princess Pirlipat. Here the reader gets the idea of where this story is going. A young man is employed to reverse a curse of ugliness placed on the Princess by the Mouse-King's mother. The Mouse-King's mother dies under the young man's foot as she trips him and curses him for reversing the curse on Pirlipat. Marie of course feels terribly about Nutcracker being despised by the Princess for having been cursed with an ugliness suffered during his act of saving Pirlipat.

The Mouse-King then begins his hideous visits, threatening Marie that he will destroy Nutcracker unless she surrenders her candy treats, books, dresses, etc. Marie complies to save Nutcracker. This goes on for several nights until, one night, Marie hears a "rustling and a clanging", a "shrill Squeak!", a tapping on her door, then the voice of Nutcracker assuaging her fears and promising good news.
There follows a most gentlemanly act as Nutcracker, holding a bloodied sword, bows his head and places before Marie the seven crowns of the Mouse-King. He tells her that it was her courage that gave him his courage to face and defeat his enemy.

Young girls are especially attracted to the following parts as Nutcracker takes Marie to his world of golden leaved-trees, silver tinsel, and sugar-fairies dancing for them. They travel in a gilded swan-shaped boat pulled by dolphins. Everything there is Honey, Orange, Chocolate, silver, gold, or rainbows. They arrive at Marzipan Castle where there is more to amaze Marie.

She awakes from this and tells the story to her family. In spite of the seven crowns she can produce, no one, not even Godpapa Drosselmeyer will believe or listen to her. In later years, in view of Godpapa, she holds Nutcracker and tells him that she would have loved him if he really were alive. This elicits a different response in the happy Drosselmeyer. The next day Marie is visited by Drosselmeyer and is introduced to his nephew, who reveals himself to be Nutcracker. After explaining his story he, kneeling, asks for her hand. After he passing of the time-honored "year and a day", they are married and go to live in Marzipan Castle.

I find this to be one of the crowning achievements of Western Civilization. The theater, ballet and other arts, music, literature, and the bravery of so many named individuals (as opposed to purely royal societies where the individual is usually absorbed into the culture as a whole) all point to a culture of excellence and individuality. The story of Nutcracker again is about sacrifice, manners, good conduct, beauty, and imagination. I find neither in Leftist thought or Islamic societies.

What arts have Leftist individuals or societies produced? Piss-Christs, elephant-dung Marys, pieces that proclaim anger towards property? Aside from some well-done paintings and prints from the 20's and 30's I am coming up empty. A Leftist would have to look at the Christmas Eve party in the story and see an aristocratic family that should not posses the property and resources that they do. Bravery in the face of evil is foreign to them as it is they who often claim that the Soviet Union needed a person like Stalin (Or China needed Mao) to bring those nations into the modern era. Please, don't believe me on that one. Research those facts on your own.

The whole theater itself was a reverse-image of an Islamic society, nicely-dressed women and men together, young people acting out a story of imagination  and wonder, a girl who plays a major role in both Nutcracker's and her own life, music and dancing, young girls in the audience swinging their arms in mimicry of the performers, and more. Don't forget Christmas without bombings.

We need to remember our incredibly rich inheritance if we are to stand our ground and put an end to the constant attacks on our culture. I do not believe that we have the right to abandon what has been handed down to us.

Christmas Attacks on Christians in Nigeria a Possible Turning Point

Most are aware by now that in Nigeria over three dozen people were killed in a wave of bombings that targeted Christians during Christmas. This of course is nothing new as Muslims have been known to ramp up their works of violence as this particular holiday approaches. See the earlier post on this subject.

Here is a new development - leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria have indicated that their flocks will no longer play the part of sheep in the face of any further attacks. The following is a quote of the statement released by the group:

 “We have hitherto exercised restraint in our public statements on these matters. However, we cannot continue to do so indefinitely, and are determined that in the year 2012, if these unprovoked attacks continue, and Christians remain unprotected by the security agencies, then we will have no choice but to defend our lives and property and take our own steps to ensure our safety and security”.

I hope with all of my heart that these people follow through with this. Christians can not allow this to happen any longer. There are times when turning the other cheek is diametrically opposed to Christian thought. This is not the case of one person wronging another. What we have here is a war being waged on a people/group. Continually allowing violent people to run roughshod over one's community, property, and lives would be nothing short of a prideful show of false humility (a sin in itself) and place the innocent in harms' way. Those who are capable of taking action must be prepared to do so lest their forfeit their label of Jew or Christian.

I am also anxiously awaiting the response of the Left and the UN to this statement. No doubt it will consist of decrying the proposed "escalation of violence"

This is the link to the article:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/category/headlines/

In the words of King Hrothgar, played by Anthony Hopkins in the 2007 digitized movie Beowulf, when asked if they should (apparently without other action) offer prayers for deliverance from Grendel, "No, Unferth, no.... No, the gods will do nothing for us that we will not do for ourselves. What we need is a hero."

My formula will of course be a bit different - I would offer my prayers to protect us from further attacks and, understanding that at times we are to endure trials, pray that we be given the means and the courage to defend ourselves until the enemy is either won over or defeated.

God requires that people work to be able to eat, clothe, and house themselves. The same goes for ensuring one's safety.

Merry Christmas

I hope that all of you have a Merry Christmas. I also offer wishes for a joyous Chanukkha.

This is not intended to ruin anyone's enjoyment of this day, but I do ask that you remember those who were again compelled to minimize or to cancel outright any of their celebrations due to security concerns.
Those who regularly attended church on Christmas as a child can remember the timelessness of the services. These memories are indelibly written onto one's mental picture of the holiday. Many children in the region where Christianity was born will not be the beneficiaries of such memories; indeed they will be fortunate to be free from violent attacks.

The Eastern churches have beautiful liturgies that will transport the attendee back in time. I have had the honor of attending both Orthodox and Coptic Christmas services. It is a tragedy from so many angles that the faithful have to celebrate the services marking the Incarnation behind barred doors.

David Cameron States that Britain is a Christian Country - Loonwatch will be Upset

British Prime Minister David Cameron, while speaking at Oxford at and event marking the 400-year anniversary of the King James Bible, took the plunge and referred to the obvious; the BBC quoted him as saying, for one, "We are a Christian Country and we should not be afraid to say so".

After adding a few other statements about his appreciation of other faiths to assuage the fears of the Left and to head off a possible Muslim outcry, he also noted that "But what I am saying is that the Bible has helped to give Britain a set of values and morals which make Britain what it is today".

Anti-Western types, such as Leftists, Muslims, radical feminists, and those who are quick to comment on websites such as Loonwatch, will no doubt jump all over this event. Soon-to-come will be all sorts of sound bites, posts, and essays not only decrying Cameron's statements, but also containing the tired, overused, and one-sided attacks against western culture and the nations-peoples that made it what it is.

Christianity too will undergo another wave of angry complaints and accusations, some true, some terribly false or twisted.

Being the products of people who live by the rule of "Don't confuse me with the facts", all of these will no doubt contain everything bad about the West and its primary nations, such as those of Europe, the US, and the British Commonwealth, and conveniently leave out any and all facts that would allow one to draw an informed conclusion.

One can not help but be impressed by the sheer efforts that must be expended in hand-picking only the worst things that can be listed and finding a way to compact it all together in one post. All this must be done without including anything that would be considered of benefit to all, an indication of personal/national sacrifice, tremendous achievement, (whether it be in civil law, the arts, literature, inventions, etc.) or anything that could be taken in context, at least as a mitigating factor, in deciding how "wrong" an act or event was.

The website noted above, Loonwatch, lately having a hard time doing its main job of painting Islam as either being a religion of peace and tolerance, or (If that fails) trying its best to dress it up so it does not look any worse than other religions/systems, has engaged in a rash of Plan Bs - muckraking about those that by their very nature find themselves opposed by Islam.

Two recent posts are of note; one that seeks to paint the US as the greatest warmongering nation since time began, and the other that is designed to create a worse-than-Mohammed ancient terrorist. In the case of the latter none other than Moses is the man of the hour.

The first is mostly a collection of wars/conflicts of the US with all of the current Leftist anti-US slants one could gather up. Included among others things are the Mexican wars, the seizures of Native American land, and the claim that the US grossly exaggerated the Soviet threat to the world. Conspicuously absent are the moves taken by the Mexican government against the Texians (Old term) that contributed to the first war, the threat of Santa Anna to storm Washington DC in the second, and the peculiarities of native American societies that included unspeakably horrific mutilations of captured enemies (We're not talking about scalping but those that predate and continued after the arrival of Europeans. They were performed on natives of other tribes - the Commanche and Pawnee are two of note in their savagery). Also strangely missing are the actions taken by the Soviet Union to subjugate Eastern Europe, the creation a gulag system that we never even came close to seeing in the US, the attempt to suffocate West Berlin (And her client's wall to keep residents from leaving), the initiation of the practice of using client-states to attack others, a threat by a Premier that "We will destroy you" (I don't care what he meant by it - he said it), and of course the Afghan war which made the worst of any US actions there look like a soft caress.

Although the US has little in its defense of its treatment of Native Americans (A sore subject for me), it certainly can offer the societies created by its acquisitions of the Mexican Wars with their rule of law (which, is effectively absent in Mexico), the more widespread prosperity*, and lack of real poverty in those areas.
When the Soviet Union is the subject, the US can point to its real elections, free speech, a prosperous middle-class, the freedom and prosperity of many in other countries (South Korea and others) ensured by its strength and commitment, and its survival as an entity when the Soviet Union collapsed under the weight of its own malmanagment.


The post that attempted to make Moses out to be a Mohammed on steroids suffers from a complete lack of integrity; included there are the savage acts against the peoples/nations that existed in the area of Israel, the application of the "Ban" (The shunning and destruction of the defeated people and their goods), and the wholesale seizing of their land.

Ridiculously not mentioned is the fact that all of these acts/orders of the Jewish God, although admittedly similar to that of Muslim attacks, are extremely limited in scope, being intended only to apply to a (Compared to Islamic-ruled areas) tiny piece of property and not at all to any expansion, let along worldwide dominance. While Moses certainly directed his people to engage in these acts, they never were nor did they ever come to be (Except for a very limited scale and time later under David) used against peoples who lived beyond the Hebrew/Jewish horizon. Moses never uttered a single phrase along the lines of "I was ordered to fight all men until they say "Elohim is God and Moses is his prophet". Slave-taking from peoples conquered by Jews under Moses was an incredibly rare event compared to the routine taking of slaves by Mohammed.  No one was forced to convert to Judaism (Indeed if the Jews were at fault here it was due to keeping God’s word for themselves and not sharing it). The post on Moses is devoid of all of all the verses on the Koran and the Sunnah/Haddith that call for violence, slave-taking, etc. If these were to be counted against those of Moses, those of the latter would be like specks of dust. On top of all this is the fact that, as far as taking over other peoples and their land, the example of Moses was not to be followed and/or copied after his death. By this simple fact the entire point of the Loonwatch post is discredited.

Jews have not been known to have moved to other countries to commit acts of violence and state their desire to bring Jewish rule anywhere. If anything, they tend to get terrorized by the native people of those countries.

Keeping in accordance with its practice of avoiding anything good that can be attributed to his opponent, Loonwatch leaves out much that is good with Jewish societies(s), probably due to the fact that they are completely foreign to Islam. Treatment of one's wife in Judaism is infinitely better than that in Islam, mob violence is comparably nonexistent, Muslims are treated markedly better in Israel than are Jews in Muslim countries, and the state of Israel has yet to call for the destruction of any other country.

The posts that were addressed here are classic examples of the mixture of rhetorical fallacies and an utter disdain for any intellectual integrity.

* Some may protest that the US gained much from gold and petroleum in areas taken from Mexico. The difference is how that wealth was ultimately used. Even without Texas and California, Mexico is an oil producing nation also and that wealth hardly has improved its society in any way.

Islamic Tolerance for a Nation's Heritage

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/12/19/183434.html

Above is a link for an article on the destruction of numerous archived letters, maps, books, and other documents in Egypt. The cause was a fire that is believed to be a case or arson and appeared to be deliberately set in order to destroy the materials.

I am reminded of the destruction of the Bamiyan Statues shortly before the US invaded Afghanistan. These statues had been built under the sponsorship of the Kushans, an Iranian (not Persian) Buddhist Dynasty that ruled much of modern-day India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Islamic societies are inherently fearful of anything that reminds one of a country’s pre-Islamic past and often take actions to remove the "idols".

I often note the similarities between the Islamic and Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christian mindset. One of the manifestations of this way of thought is the treatment of symbols or practices of a people's pre-Moslem or Christian past; often they are either destroyed or ignored. I would also note that early (Long before Evangelicals and Fundamentalist existed) Christians destroyed pagan temples or sacred groves. The difference is that after a few generations Christians tend to lose their concerns about these symbols or practices, with traditional Christian bodies giving some of them a Christian purpose, (As with Christmas being dated near the Solstice) and Evangelicals ignoring them outright. Christianity, though, cannot posses the complete control of a society that is part of Islamic culture so inevitable many will ultimately decide to be nominal Christians or not be a believer at all. In a Christian country the past is never truly forgotten and can be appreciated. The Norse saga Beowulf is another example of this; although those who wrote down the work added in some Christian elements, the concepts of honor, bravery, and service held in esteem by pre-Christian Europe are recorded for posterity. The same goes for the events recorded by Greek, Roman, Celtic writers and bards and other European peoples.

Neither of these can compare to the fury that we see with Muslims. Little is known about the attempt made by Saladin's son to destroy Egyptian pyramids. This was unsuccessful due to the sheer bulk of these monuments and the Ayubbid Dynasty, thankfully, did not posses high explosives.

The world joined together in trying to persuade the Taliban to refrain from destroying the Statues to no avail.
These works, which sat along the Silk Road for hundreds of years, were treated like garbage. While Europeans can still be reminded of who their pre-Christians ancestors were and what inspired them, the various peoples of Muslim countries do not have this luxury. I cannot imagine an Afghan tribesman being able to speak of any attributes of his Iranian ancestors or of that society, but you can bet your bottom dollar that an old Irishman on the barren Western Coast of Ireland can recite a few lines about the hero Cuchulainn or from the Cattle Raid of Cooley.*

On the Egyptian arson, true to form, Israel received its share of the blame. They were accused by at least one person of desiring to remove any records of the Egyptian border with Israel.
See below for a quote from the article – this from an Archaeology Professor who would hardly be considered an Islamist and no doubt did not relish this destruction. Even he needed a non-Muslim to blame.
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A professor of archeology, Mamdouh al-Masry, held the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces (SCAF) accountable for failing to contain the fire and arrest the culprits.
“Was setting the complex on fire intentional in order to eliminate evidence of the borders between Egypt and Israel? Is Israel up to something especially after the Islamist victory in parliamentary election?” he said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Arab Spring has unleashed the mob. More of this will follow.

* Unfortunately the vast majority of today's youth and middle-age adults will have no knowledge of these or similar subjects. The loss of this part of the heritage of Europeans and their cultural descendants is also a sad chapter. Here, though, the villains of the piece are not religious fanatics but Leftists bent on removing any and all traces the Western world's culture. They exert a tremendous effort to suppress and/or ignore the personalities, events, stories/literature, and more of what made the culture of the West. The Left cannot allow a culture that promotes individuality, heroism, sacrifice, and God forbid masculinity The only instance where they may would be in  its degraded form from a Muslim (Or a 18-24 year-old male who acts completely unfettered and thus proves to feminists that men are immature pigs).
This subject will have to be treated more thoroughly in a later post.

Kim Jong Il Dead at 69

The death of North Korean Dear Leader Kim Jong Il was announced by the hermit nation. As is common with Korean people, there were powerful displays of grief by the citizens of the North. Many will dismiss the last statement due to the fact that the north's propaganda machine and security apparatus both created their emotional state and made them fearful of refraining from showing grief and that is certainly true. These can, however, not be taken by themselves. The Korean culture is prone to tremendous displays of very loud, wailing-type expressions of grief that have a rapid onset and are of significant duration. To a Westerner it can be surprising and uncomfortable as a Korean, seemingly out-of the blue, bursts out wailing, moaning, and loudly crying out without attempting to apply any restraint to which a Westerner is accustomed. For those who have not witnessed video footage of long-separated Korean families from opposite sides of the border when they are allowed to visit each other, I offer my own observations. I am related by marriage to a Korean family and have witnessed this not only among my in-laws but also with other acquaintances.

The citizens of the north have spent their entire lives, indeed the older parents/grandparents have spent most of theirs, under the regime established by Jong Il's father, Kim Il Sung. The society is a propaganda machine the likes of which was never seen in Stalin's Russia. Patriotic and anti-US/South Korea messages bombard the people on a constant basis. Prison camps of horrific brutality and deprivation are maintained as a source of slave labor and an example to anyone who steps out of line or tries to leave. People are actually born into the camps as the state punishes the generation before (parents) and the next generation (children) for offenses considered to be major threats to the state, such as defecting.

Kim Jong-Il was the product of his father, Kim Il-Sung's totalitarian state and its personality cult.  Aside from being groomed for the top spot and taking over after his father's death in 1994, Jong-Il has done little to change the system that is the baby and brainchild of his father.

Kim Il-Sung spent almost his entire adult life, from age 17 to his ascension to North Korean leadership, in the career of a revolutionary. A number of cross China-Korea border attacks were conducted as he led a guerrilla band against the occupying Japanese. Of note is the fact that the vast majority of his pre-presidential adult life was spent in China with that nation's communists and later in the Soviet Union. Kim gained experience from both quarters; scheming and intrigue mostly from the Chinese, brutal purges and personality cult-use from Stalin. He also courted both the USSR and China at different periods. Later on he was largely but briefly pushed aside when the Chinese entered the Korean War to stop his state from experiencing complete defeat at the hands of the US-led UN force early in the conflict. He took the name Kim-Il-Sung from a deceased Korean revolutionary who was his uncle. This too may very well have been out of Stalin's book as the name means "Become the Sun". After being driven off by Japanese counterattacks, he left for the USSR in 1941 or 1942. Here he trained and became familiar with the Soviet model, including the purges, labor camps, and nonstop propaganda for the communist party and the 'man of steel", Uncle Joe himself. He may have served with the Korean-staffed Red Army units that participated in the battle of Stalingrad.

Prior to the practically unopposed arrival of the Soviet army into Korea, Kim was handpicked by Soviet authorities as the new leader. This was not without opposition by Korean leaders, who refused to believe the long and inflated list of his exploits that was being submitted by the occupying Soviets. The opposition was soon brushed aside, and Kim proceeded to create his Marxist-nationalist-personal state mix.

Again, little has changed since that time. Jong-Il experienced some resistance to his power, including a reported attempt at the creation of an autonomous zone by an army general that may have been a marital relation of Kim. It is believed that his son and successor Kim Jong Un will be supported by a sort of regency of his Uncle Jang Song Thaek until he is ready to assume his role in a grandfather-to son to-grandson succession of power.

This of course has many wondering if the South will be able to proceed with a possible merger with the north if the complete economic collapse of that country happens earlier than expected. It is believed that the South Korean government would have preferred that it could complete the merger in small, digestible doses as opposed to all at the same time, as occurred with East Germany.

During much of the period from the Korean War to roughly the 1980’s, the fear as that the north would takes steps to forcefully unify with the south as they had a strong military advantage. This especially would have been the case if the regime could have made the operation proceed as quickly as possible and therefore avoid a protracted conflict against the superior logistical resources of the south and its American allies. By the 80s the turning point had arrived where the south, buoyed by a strong economy, had developed a quite strong military force of its own and consequently was no longer under the same fear of attack. Today the threat of a significant attack from the north is very low.

One also wonders if there will be any appreciable opposition to Jong Un's power. It would not be surprising if certain army leaders, eager to either ensure their own positions and/or to set themselves up to avoid criminal charges for human rights violations in the event of a nationwide collapse, will seek to assert more independence of the Kim family.
It would not be a complete surprise if some of them will try to reach out to the south in order to present themselves as dissenting and desirous of reform.

China, which of course became the north’s only appreciable supporter after the collapse of the USSR, probably will not be terribly happy with the timing of Jong-Il's passing. They have no desire for a potentially (eventually) greatly-strengthened unified Korean State on their Northeastern border where they once had an independent yet very needful neighbor.* Very few doubt that China looks to create a new Sino-led "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" in the future and a unified Korea would be a major impediment to their designs.

I find it highly unlikely that the north will continue indefinitely with the status quo as even they must know that they can not go on much longer without appreciable help and restructuring

One move that the regime may consider is to move closer into the orbit of China and place itself under her wing. That may enable the elite to maintain their positions and prevent a round of Nuremberg-type trials that would probably occur if the state fell to pieces.

It is also possible that either Jong-Un decides to or is pressured by other influential members of the ruling elite to reach out to the south and the US.

The coming year will be interesting.

12/28/11 - *Recent news reports have described Chinese leaders as having previously expressed their acceptance of  a possible ROK (South) Korean - led merger. They did, or course, draw the line at US troops being moved north of the 38th parallel. I can't blame them for that.

The Harvest From the Arab Spring in Full Swing

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurds/4236.html


The above link provides details on the attacks on Christian businesses in Iraqi Kurdistan. An earlier post a couple of weeks ago contained my opinions on the attacks.

The next link provides video footage of a far worse attack. Two protesters are savagely beaten by Egyptian Police or Military personnel. One woman's clothing was removed from her torso after and during her beating, another was actually stomped with both feet at the same time by one of her attackers.
When CNN is the one airing this footage, you know that the situation has reached a boiling point.

This is the religion of peace in action.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/18/world/africa/egypt-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

I have little say at the moment.

NJ Catholic Diocese Writes of Multiculturalism as a New Sort of Normal

The Beacon, which is a newsletter of the Catholic Paterson Diocese of New Jersey, seems to have jumped on the multicultural bandwagon. In a recent front-page photo of parishioners at a recent event, the faithful were carrying flags of multiple nations. As most of New Jersey's Catholic immigrants are from Latin America, it was not surprising that the bulk of the flags shown reflected that fact.

This is of course not a problem; the Church in the United States has been a community of immigrants from various countries since the first Catholics arrived from England, Germany, and then Ireland.

The part that I found disturbing was that the description of the photo mentioned the multiculturalism as an established fact for the United States, the Diocese and the Church as a whole. I confess (No pun intended) that I came across this while attending church. Are there to be no places of refuge from the tide of Leftist propaganda?

The United States is a nation which is unified by integration and assimilation. Entire State and Supreme Court decisions  have been based on that very principle. Multiculturalism as an idea is not used to refer to immigrants communities that stay together for communal and economic purposes and slowly diminish in size as second and third-generation Americans move away and often marry other Americans. An example provided by Wikipedia defines Multiculturalism as "the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g. schools, businesses, neighborhoods, cities, or nations."

The manner in which this principle is normally applied is not for immigrant neighborhoods (That are largely temporary like New York’s Little Italy - almost no people of Italian descent live there anymore) but actual separate groups that are expected to remain separate and that any expectation of integration or assimilation is an example of the high crime of today-intolerance. Note that the definition mentions not just acceptance but "promotion" of new cultures. Promoting a culture is not a normal means to encourage new Americans to assimilate like 18th and 19th-century immigrants were expected to do. What was required of previous immigrants resulted in a tremendously successful period of assimilation.

Those familiar with the demographic makeup of New Jersey are well aware of Latin American immigrants who have lived in the US for many years but have made little to no effort to learn English. I'm not talking about broken English, I mean people who will not even make an attempt to communicate in English and immediately ask if anyone present can "Speak Spanish?" I happen to speak Spanish quite well for a kid that grew up in a town with virtually no Spanish speakers but I make a point of encouraging the person to speak English. I will usuallly not switch to Spanish unless it is clear that the individual is unable to do so. Many of the same (and their children) have the carelessness to speak Spanish to a third-generation child in order that he/she will have that as a primary/first language. I already know the response to that; "Well I think that it is good for a child to have a second language". This of course dodges the point completely and ignores the fact that In American culture/society it is not unreasonable to expect that such children be brought up primarily speaking English in preparation to, at least do well in school, which is an blink of an eye away for a young child. It also ignores the fact that such carelessness does not help to establish a sense of identity for the child as an American. Many third-generation children can be taught the basics of one's ancestral language in private schools or in lessons in moderately priced teaching materials. Anything learned can of course be practiced in the home, as my High School-age son likes to do with me with his Spanish.

This hardly applies only to Latin Americans. I personally knew a gentleman from Romania who insisted that his son, who had been raised in the US almost from birth, refrain from playing in the local youth baseball league because baseball is an "American sport". Hey pal, are you telling me that your kid is not American?
Note that the family had no plans to return to live in Romania either.

I can offer an anecdote on how much things have changed to what we see today. My father's parents were both from Italy (my mother's from Ireland). My grandfather owned a food market in Brooklyn in the 20's and 30's. He had an employee who had lived in the US for probably thirty years and knew virtually no English. One day, a city health inspector arrived when that employee was running the shop and took a good long look at the horses that drew the carts. At one point the inspector handed a form to the employee and indicated that he should sign it. The employee complied, whereupon the inspector promptly drew a revolver and shot one of the horses. You can imagine the screaming and yelling that my father, returning from wherever he had been, heard as the terrified employee shouted in his operatic-style Neapolitan that he gave his approval for the horse to be shot and that he no doubt expected the same treatment to be meted out on him by his boss.

I of course do not call for a return to shooting people's animals without first providing an explanation that can be understood. I do though hold that we have swung so far to the other side that we bend over backwards to expect no effort whatsoever from today's immigrants.

The Catholic Church seems to be so overwhelmed by guilt from the past (Not nearly enough concerning pedophile priests, though) that it too has swung to a direction where those of the leadership cannot bring themselves to stand up for what is right. The Vatican recently called for a Central Banking body to keep a sure grip on the world's finances, it has referred to East Jerusalem as being illegally occupied, and now (in NJ) it takes yet another page out of the Leftist playbook and promotes a non-unifying idea of multiculturalism.

Multiculturalism is an idea sponsored by the Left and is often used as a weapon to chip away at any sense of identity of a nation’s people. The US has not experienced this phenomenon to the extent or with the severity that we see in Western European countries. One terrible example is the reaction to the horrific wave of rapes that has swept through those countries. I provide a link below this paragraph for statistics but hope that this will result in others seeking out statistics independently. The overwhelming majority of rapes in Western European countries are committed by Muslim immigrants on ethnic or indigenous Europeans. The liberal will be quick to point out that the West was not so nice in its colonial days, thus implying that "Who are you to judge others?". Even if this convoluted sense of logic could be taken into consideration for a nanosecond, it cannot be applied when we speak of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, which have virtually no colonial history. (Norway has none at all)

http://www.truthandgrace.com/muslimrape.htm

I offer here a Leftist Feminist's response to this situation.
The response is from Unni Wikan, a Social Anthropology professor at the University of Oslo.

"Norwegian women must take their share of responsibility for these rapes" because Muslim men found their manner of dress provocative. The professor's conclusion was not that Muslim men living in the West needed to adjust to Western norms, but the exact opposite: "Norwegian women must realize that we live in a multicultural society and adapt themselves to it."

Credit to Michael Winter of USA Today Feb. 15, 2011

I can only say that this has to be the most filthy remark that I have ever heard in my life, and it came from Leftist feminist (Yes, Unni Wikan is a woman)

I have noted in previous posts that the close of the 20th century saw the end of much of the stigma attached to being dishonest about one's opinion. A similar remark made in the period prior to this would have resulted in a response such as "Sir or Ma'am, that is clearly not true." The speaker would then be known from that point on as a person utterly lacking in credibility.Today we somehow are supposed to feel obligated to give one the benefit of the doubt and accept that a person believes what he/she says no matter how patently false, impossible. or purely filthy it is. An apologist with such a mindset would state. "Well, it's her opinion."

Well, no it's not - she's spewing garbage and she knows it.

It is no secret that Swedish men are marginalized to the point that they can hardly conduct themselves in a masculine manner in their our country, but Muslim men get a pass from Unni Wikan for raping her countrywomen because the targets happen to look attractive in what they wear. Unni would would never let a Swedish man assume any sort of manly role in her life, but she will allow that Muslim men can act like savages and blame the victims for their acts.

I do not accuse the Catholic Church of going this far, but my point is that embracing multiculturalism leaves those who have lived in a nation for generations (In Sweden’s case hundreds of generations) unable to stand up for the right to be what they are. Multiculturalism is a euphemism for the step-by-step dismantling of the identity of a people. The United States is American, not Latin American. Sweden is Swedish, and includes the Sami culture. Contrary to what the Leftists proclaim, neither is multicultural, at least in the manner that Leftist would want them to be. American Whites, Blacks, Asians, and Native Americans are all Americans and those who follow will become Americans in turn. The mere fact that there is a sizeable Muslim minority in Sweden does not make it a multicultural nation. It means that these immigrants have a responsibility to try to assimilate into Swedish culture and society. That is the idea of being allowed to have a new home. If these people refuse to assimilate then the host nation has the obligation to reconsider whether or not they may remain there.

US Spy Drone GPS System Hijacked by Iran

The Christian Science Monitor reported today that an Iranian engineer proudly claimed that the Spy Drone's landing in Iran was no accident. He claimed that Iran had used a technique referred to as "spoofing" where the transmissions to the craft were jammed followed by transmitted data that caused the navigation system to function as if the drone's home base was in Iran. The craft landed in a location that had been well-prepared ahead of time indicating that there had been a reasonable expectation of success.

The only wrinkle appeared to be that the location for landing was a few meters off in elevation. This resulted in damage to the bottom of the drone.

According the the article, US officials were aware that the craft's GPS system was its Achilles heel and that similar events had occurred earlier with older drone models when Iraqi Shiite fighters supported by Iran downloaded encrypted transmissions using readily-available software. Up until this point no group had ever been able to actually take control of a drone.
Needless to say, it looks as if the US dropped the ball on this one. Once they were aware that the drone was going down, they should have prepared for a missile strike to that location to destroy as much of the craft as possible. If the US wants to use drones in the searches for nuclear facilities, then it must be prepared for this type of event. I will allow that it possible that the jamming and takeover of the GPS resulted in the US being unsure of the craft's location at first, but procedures need to be in place to locate a crash site as without delay. Now pretty much everyone will have access to the craft's technology. Iran does a brisk arms business with China, they will no doubt be a customer and/or partner in the work to reverse-engineer a new drone.
Link to article is below:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45685870/ns/world_news-christian_science_monitor/

More Violence Against Christians in Iraq -Just in Time for Christmas

Ishtar Broadcasting Corporation and Jihad Watch reported that a Christian couple was murdered by gunmen in Mosul. The couple's two children were also hurt but are alive. Links to both sites are given below:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/12/iraq-muslims-murder-christian-couple-as-they-walk-to-their-car.html

http://ishtartv.com/en/viewarticle,35738.html

Violence committed by Muslims against Christians is stepped up annually as the Christmas season approaches. In particular, Christians in the Middle East are targeted as they are a minority and have little protection. A list of the more notable attacks is quoted from The Human Rights Blog in a post Dated Jan. 4 2011:
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October 31, 2010
Baghdad:  Nearly 60 Iraqi Christians are killed and over 100 are injured by bullets and bomb blasts after Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church is attacked by armed gunmen strapped with bombs.  Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for the massacre and declares that they are waging war upon Christian minorities.  See Bloomberg Report. President Obama calls the attack “barbaric and heinous” while Pope Benedict XVI calls it a “vile gesture.”  See The New York Times
As a result of the bombing, over 10,000 of Iraq’s Christians flee the city in fear and move to the northern Kurdish provinces or abroad. According to the United Nations, 1,000 Christian families left Iraq.  See The Washington Times
November 10, 2010
Baghdad:  Coordinated bomb attacks on Christian homes, including the homes of those Christians who survived the October massacre, kill three Iraqi Christians and injure 26 others.  A group affiliated with al-Qaeda claims responsibility.  The Christian Science Monitor
November 24, 2010:
Cairo:  Two Coptic Christians are killed and 152 arrested as Christian demonstrators protest the Egyptian government’s refusal to allow a community center to be turned into a church in Cairo’s suburb of Omraniya.  (Egyptian law prohibits Christian churches from being built in Egypt without express governmental permission.)  See The Wall Street Journal
December 22, 2010:
Egypt:  Egyptian universities announce that they will hold final exams during the Coptic Orthodox Christmas period despite requests from Egypt’s Coptic Church to postpone the examinations until after Coptic Christmas celebrations.  See Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt
December 23, 2010:
Iraq:  A council of Iraqi Christian churches advises followers to cancel public Christmas celebrations for fear of violence amidst threats by al-Qaeda insurgents. Churches in the cities of Baghdad, Kirkuk, Mosul, and Basra, take down Christmas decorations, cancel Christmas Eve Mass, and advise Christian laity to refrain from decorating their homes.  In Kirkuk, an appearance by Santa Clause is cancelled. See The Boston Globe
December 30, 2010
Alexandria:  After a New Year’s Eve service, a bomb explodes in front of Al-Qiddissin “Saints” Coptic Orthodox Church killing 21 worshipers and injuring over 100 others.  According to The Los Angeles Times, “the bomb designed to inflict maximum civilian casualties, bore the hallmark of Al Qaeda militants.”  See Newsweek
Baghdad:  Two Christians are killed and 16 wounded after coordinated bombs are detonated at six separate Christian targets within a one-hour period throughout Baghdad in front of Christian homes.  Among those dead are Fawzi Ibrahim, 80, and his 75-year-old wife, Jeanette, who opened the front door of their home only to find a piece of luggage with a bomb hidden inside. See Los Angeles Times
January 3, 2011
Baghdad:  Christian woman Rafa Toma is shot dead in her bed while asleep in her home.  See AOL News
Europe:  Radical Islamist website affiliated with al-Qaeda posts a “hit list,” which details Coptic Orthodox Christian Churches throughout Europe, including in France, England, The Netherlands, and Germany, that are to be bombed during Julian Christmas Eve services.  Coptic services throughout Europe will be shortened due to security threats.  See CNN

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This is of course a brief summary. Note that believers were advised to cancel Christmas celebrations in many cities in Iraq. Imagine that - I thought that only bad snowstorms at the North Pole could cause such a thing.

Anjem Choudary is an incendiary Muslim cleric who recently saw his fourth attempt at having a group that would not get outlawed due to suspicion of having terrorist ties go out of business.The last one was Muslims Against Crusades, which was shut down by British authorities in November of this year. Mr. Choudary summed up the attitude that contributes to the vicious behavior. The following is quoted from the Assyrian National News Agency in an article from November 15, 2011:
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A Muslim lawyer has launched an extraordinary rant against Christmas, branding the celebration 'evil'.
Hate preacher Anjem Choudary claimed the festival was the 'pathway to hell' and urged his followers to boycott it.
'In the world today many Muslims, especially those residing in Western countries, are exposed to the evil celebration Christmas,' he raged in a sermon broadcast on the internet.
'Many take part in the festival celebrations by having Christmas turkey dinners.
'Decorating the house, purchasing Christmas trees or having Christmas turkey meals are completely prohibited by Allah.
'Many still practise this corrupt celebration as a remembrance of the birth of Jesus.
'How can a Muslim possibly approve or participate in such a practice that bases itself on the notion Allah has an offspring?
'The very concept of Christmas contradicts and conflicts with the foundation of Islam.
'Every Muslim has a responsibility to protect his family from the misguidance of Christmas, because its observance will lead to hellfire.
'Protect your Paradise from being taken away - protect yourself and your family from Christmas.'

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It seems that the very fact that Christians want to continue with their time-honored traditions in celebrating the birth of the person that they believe to be their savior and Lord is just too much for the tolerant Muslims. They are just so concerned that Muslims will be seduced by these events that they can't see any other option than to put a stop to them.

Such attacks are most frequent in, but not restricted to, the Middle East; Sweden, a nation with no real colonial history for which it must make amends and which generously allowed a tremendous amount of Muslim immigration in the last twenty-plus years, also often falls victim to those to whom they have offered a home. The last several years have witnessed massive attacks, including firebombing and attacks on fire and police personnel in cities such as Malmo during the same season. Although the situation in Malmo has gotten so bad that Firefighters can no longer respond to fire calls without police protection in that city, Christmas and St. Lucia's Day (a Swedish tradition) are special times where the angry yet tolerant Muslim residents feel the need to work overtime.

It is a travesty that so little is mentioned about such attacks and that even less is done to prevent them.

Omerta Being Enforced on Islam and Terrorism in US Training

Details of the following can be found on Human Events and Jihad Watch. Credit to both sites.

In response to articles written by the blogger Spencer Ackerman and posted on sites euphemistically named, for example, "Think Progress", the Obama administration has taken steps to remove any mention of Islam from training courses and material for law enforcement officers. Getting sidetracked as I usually do, allow me to publicly wonder how the Left decided to collectively think that their way of thought is progressive. I can not come up with any idea of a system that is more regressive than that which is promulgated by the Left. For those who know me, the only comparison I could make is if I named a blog site "Neat and Clean Garage". So from this point on until the curriculum undergoes major repairs, FBI agents and others responsible for meeting the terror threat will not be allowed to given any training on Islamic teachings, mindset, scriptures, or exhortations by examples in how these pertain to unchecked aggression. We have become a society that behaves like 19th century Sicilians who will not speak of such things.

The military, always the first to get forced to excise necessary information from training courses provided to its members, has already diluted their training material to ensure that Koranic references are omitted since we can't have our soldiers, etc., being aware of the mindset of their opponents. Those of the Marine Corps, including former Marines like myself, may be sent "to the shores of Tripoli" but we can't know what those who live in Tripoli teach and believe. But military personnel do, of course get told that the Crusades are a major factor in why many of the Islamic worlds feel the need to attack the West. This of course is a classic rhetorical fallacy which can be exposed relatively easily.

1. The Crusades were a response to Islamic militarism and aggressive conquest. Christian thought, unlike that of Islam, had no provision for warfare in the service of God. Early Christianity had problems with allowing a Christian to even be in an army. Not until Augustine of Hippo did an influential Christian come to articulate the idea of a "Just War". The Byzantine Empire did not employ this idea with their army either; indeed those who fought for the empire were expected to undergo some manner of penance after battle.
To close this one, the aggressor can't proclaim that he is upset that his victim has begun to copy and use his own methods against him.

2. The Crusades, as mentioned above, not only were the result of a substantial build-up of arguments to justify, they were extraordinarily brief in the span of history. While Islamic aggression has been an integral part of their scriptures, practice, and world from the beginning in the 7th century AD until today, the Crusades lasted less than two hundred years. They were a blip on the radar.

3. The West lost the crusades after being ultimately driven out by the Mamelukes. How does one pretend to be outraged by winning a campaign? Do the Russians and others advocate war against the people of Mongolia?

4. Aside from the fact that contemporary Muslim commentators complained that Muslims preferred to live under the more frugal Franks with less taxes than what they were accustomed to pay to Muslim lords, Muslims made no mention of being bothered or hurt by the Crusades until General Allenby marched into Jerusalem in the closing days of WWI. Only after that does the Crusades come up as a sore subject.


After a couple of articles and a feigned horror expressed on NPR, the entity responsible "for the common defense" abandons information that would provide insight for out military and law enforcement. All it took was throwing out the Muslim Brotherhood- created term "Islamophobia"* and the code of Omerta gets placed upon all training material


* Note that the term Islamophobia is an inherently and falsely created misnomer as no one to my knowledge has, as of yet, produced a person who has a phobia of Islam.

China's One-Child Program Results in Purchased Wives and Sex Slaves

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Increase-in-women-smuggled-into-China,-sex-slaves-or-sold-as-wives-23350.html

Credit to Gates of Vienna blog for posting this on their news feed.

The article in the link above noted that China's one-child policy has resulted in such a shortage of marriageable females that women from other countries are effectively being trucked in or otherwise fetched like cattle to deal with this fascist-engineered policy. I cannot imagine how many women are being lured by the promises of jobs and consequently get forced into prostitution. Every developed or wealthy country of course has this to some extent but the scale of it in China must be off the charts.

This one could have been called by a 1970's New Englander with a fifth-grade education who worked on a maple syrup farm.

One looks at this and asks, "What were those idiots thinking when they decided to restrict families to an allowance on one child?"

This policy could only have occurred in a Socialist, Fascist, or Far Eastern society as it is completely devoid of even basic common sense (Leftist) from several angles and involves the basic premise that there is nothing beyond the pale of governmental control. (Leftist and Eastern)

1. Without population growth, how does one propose to be able to pay for an aging population as the working group that pays in gets effectively/relatively smaller?

2. Did they think ahead on how this would affect employers when there were not enough employable people to go around?

I find it highly unlikely that the Chinese would be interested in either ethnically or culturally diluting the Han people by importing tons of non-Chinese.

3. Did they look back and see how the Black Death set Western Europe back a generation or more in terms of growth?

4. Were they unaware that the tremendous preference for male children in this culture was going to result in a dearth of adult women at some point?

5. Who told these people in the first place that the government has the authority to even consider getting involved in this matter?

A Westerner would look at this back when it started and decide that the job of the individual is to begin having as many children as possible to combat a law that by its very nature screams out to be defied. Leftists have a mindset that is very close in many ways to that of the Easterner. Feminists in the West barely made mention of China's intrusion into matters of family. Indeed many would likely have applauded some measure of control or means to make it financially difficult (i.e. tariffs) for those who dared defy the ruling elite and their false doctrine of overpopulation.

Islam and the Christian Patriarchates - Continuing on Mission

A subject long-ignored by both Leftists and Evangelicals Christians is the organization of the early Christian Church. Both of course have different reasons for doing so; Leftists because they would love nothing more than for Christianity to disappear, Evangelicals because all those historical events get in the way of the picture of the early Church that they would prefer had existed. They go to great lengths to pretend that the church was structured in the way they would have wanted it. Muslims, however, have no desire to ignore the structure of the early Church nor do they labor under the delusion that it was anything other than what it actually was. Muslims are all too aware of the administrative makeup of the Church and intend to do something about it.

This post is intended to describe the Church structure as it pertains to Islam and Islamic conquests. If any long-winded debates are needed on the tired subjects of Rome, Peter, Papal authority vs. other Patriarchs, etc., that can be handled later. I will also avoid the intricacies of how much authority a local bishop has versus that of a Patriarch as this would be irrelevant for the purposes of this post. Purely national bodies such as the Armenian and Nestorian Churches, although they too fell under the rule of Islam, will not be covered here. We will need to avoid the comparatively brief few years that the patriarchates of Jerusalem and Antioch were brought under Christian control during the Crusades.

The Christian Church was Episcopal in nature. As bishops came to administer ever-large swaths of the population with more and more converting to the new faith, the greater portion of daily duties fell upon the presbyters (The Greek Presbuteros made its way into our English word Priest), or elders (the most literal translation of Presbuteros). The Bishop of Rome (as a successor to Peter) from early on made continual efforts to assert his primacy over the rest of the bishops with varying degrees of success. By the time that most, if not almost all of the population of the Empire had become Christian, the Church had been fully organized into Patriarchates. These were sees where the bishops of the higher ranks exercised authority over the Churches and episcopates of the respective areas. There originally were five Patriarchates of the Church; Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Antioch. Even today one of the titles of the bishop of Rome is Patriarch of the West. Among the five, primacy was generally accorded to the Bishop of Rome however few were willing to allow that primacy to be of much effect. The mayhem that went along with the Arian heresy and the resulting conflict serves to illustrate how independent many other bishops considered themselves.

Shortly after the Byzantines and the Sassanid Persians had exhausted themselves one last time in a long war, the Muslim armies were unleashed against both empires. The Persian Empire was totally destroyed by 649AD. The Byzantines, although surviving admirably as an empire for centuries after and officially until 1453AD, suffered several defeats at the hands of the mostly Arab Moslems in rapid succession. Syria (including some portions of modern-day Turkey), the areas of Israel/Palestine, and Egypt were overrun and incorporated into the Caliphate from 636-642AD. The Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem thus began their Dhimmi * status. The lead in Islamic aggression was later assumed by the Turks. From that point until 1453, the only Christian Patriarchates not under Christian control were those of Rome and Constantinople.

Well, you know the story from this point - the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453. The entire original Christian East was now under Islamic rule. From the middle of the 15th century until today, only the seat of the Patriarch of the West, the Bishop of Rome, was left free of the rule of Moslem overlords. Not that this a result of a lack of trying, Islam forces seized and controlled for a time portions of Italy and France, ruled most to all of Sicily for the better part of 250 years, and of course conquered almost all of Spain and were not fully ejected from there until 1492. Rome itself, including the Vatican, was sacked by Muslim raiders in 846AD.

Boy, just imagine if Islam had not been a religion of peace! With milquetoast peaceniks like these, who needs enemies?

There are a tremendous amount of verses on The Koran that refer to conquest of non-Muslim countries and peoples. Jews and Christians are to be subject to a status of second-class citizens, including a payment of the Jizya tax, so that in the words of the Koran, they will feel submission. Those who are neither Christians nor Jews can expect no such mercy from the religion of peace, death for the men and slavery for the women and children is the lot for them. Interestingly, Hindus came to be given statuses similar to that of Christians and Jews under the Moghul emperors. Again, to keep this post even remotely digestible I will need to refrain from listing specific Koranic citations. These are easy enough to find separately anyway. It seems to be a specific burr under the saddle for Muslims that there are Jews and Christians that are not yet subject to Islamic rule. It seems that Muslims may say to one another “How can we even begin to speak of bringing the rule if Islam to the entire world when we can’t even get the Christians and Jews under control?”

Today the Islamic world continues on its mission to extend its dominance over the last major original Patriarchate of the early Church. In 1995, what was then the world's largest Mosque was built in Rome. Let’s see here - the only one of the five original Patriarchal seats not found in an Islamic country+(Note also that Italy did not have near the number of Muslim residents found in other countries of Western Europe) and Muslims coincidently choose Rome to be the location of the world’s largest Mosque. Unfortunately this was not greeted with any protest by Pope John Paul II. +.+ Muslims who protest in Europe today often hold signs saying that “Islam will rule the world” or that it will conquer Rome.

Muslims take full advantage both of the disastrous and malicious immigration policies of the Left and of the lawful protections inherent in western European countries to brutally bully ethnic Europeans and continually call for more and more concessions to be ruled by their own Sharia Law. The Patriarchs of the Eastern Churches have done what they thought was best to care for their flocks from the time of conquests until the present day. Any word of protest from them inevitably results in negative repercussions on their people. It is high time that the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, Patriarch of the West, et cetera, takes the position of leadership that he is obligated to perform and works with Protestant and secular leaders of Western Europe to make a stand for the rights of Europeans to remain free of Dhimmi status. He also needs to find ways to offer support to his coreligionists still under Islamic rule as they even today rarely enjoy any respite from attacks by Muslims. Perhaps he can be a thorn in the side of the United Nations and use that forum to expose the plight of his fellow Christians. This could be ironic yet appropriate as the UN for years has been dominated by the vast number of Islamic nations. The Leftist media would have a hard time ignoring the ensuing uproar. Unless the Pope or his successor has no problem with the thought of the last of the five original patriarchates too falling under rule of the crescent, he will have to accept that the current manner of dealing with Muslims is not working.

*Usually translated as “protected peoples” but in practice applied in a manner to keep a Jew or Christian in a status of second-class citizenship where little to no protection is provided in civil courts and churches may not be built (or even repaired without lengthy periods of permit applications). Dhimmi were also required to give up their seats in public to Muslims and allowed to ride donkeys but not noble creatures such as horses which are reserved for use of Muslims. Christian women may marry Muslim men but a Christian man can not marry a Muslim woman, thus providing for a steady decline in Christian numbers.

+Note that although Jerusalem has been under the administration of the Israeli government since the 1967 Six-Day War, until that point the City had been under Islamic rule for almost the entire time since the beginning of the Arab Muslim conquest. The only other exceptions were those of the short-lived Crusader states and the post WW1 British Mandate. Either way, the Islamic world does not recognize Jerusalem to be anything other than a Muslim-ruled city.

+ +John Paul II made several attempts to provide an example of tolerance in the hope that it would be reciprocated in Muslim countries. He participated in ceremonies celebrating the opening of the Mosque, even reportedly kissing a copy of the Koran. He added to this an appeal to Muslim countries to allow for more freedom and protection of non-Muslims in Muslim-ruled countries. This of course had no affect on the status of any of these peoples. The Pope also reportedly expressed disappointment at what he took to be the underlying cause that allowed such as thing as the Mosque-building. He felt that it was due to the failure of Europe’s Christians to fully embrace their faith.

More Attacks on Christians - Kitman and Taquiyya no Longer Needed by Kurds

In addition to the attacks on Egypt's Copts, which have not abated and are or course largely ignored by the Leftist press, now Kurds are joining in on the fun. Liquor stores and other businesses owned by Christians were destroyed in attacks that occurred on December 1st.

Kurds of course were perfectly happy to receive all sorts of assistance from the US, especially in the years following the first Iraq war. They no longer have to engage in strategically misleading statements and acts that are recommended in Islam to convince non-Muslims when they (Muslims) are not in a position of strength. Now that they have their self-administered zones, they have no need to avoid lashing out at those who are coreligionists with most of those in the US military. When Kurdish leaders were referring to "Haji" Bush and presumably giving the same praise to Clinton, they in all probability were employing the principles of Kitman and Taquiyya. The former refers to concealment of the facts or intentions (in regards to ones' religion), the latter more to outright lying about the same.

The Christians of the Middle East are leaving their homelands of two millennia in droves. The West ignores their plight. The US will not allow for them to ask that their religion (and consequent suffering as a result) be considered in any applications for Visas. The US only will allow that their nationality or possibly their political affiliation be considered. The existence of these Christians in the geographic region of Christianity's origin is at best a nuisance for the Leftists of the West, who need the cooperation of Muslims and indeed are busy tearing at Christianity from all angles in Western nations. Having more Christians (who will probably at some point vote) whose traditions are even more deep-set and hallowed by time than those of Europe and Europe's former colonies is the last thing that Leftists want in their own countries.

If the Christians of that region ever decide to stand up for themselves in the future, they will no doubt held to be at fault by the media. They are expected to just wither away as a group.

Possible Israeli Involvement in Iran Nuclear Facility Explosions

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was reported by Reuters as being interviewed recently about possible Israeli involvement in the two major explosions in Iranian nuclear facilities. Barak is one of many legends of the nation of Israel. He was a key operator in many missions of the Israeli army in his career In particular; he played a major role in the unbelievably successful rescue mission of Israeli hostages on Uganda in 1976. As Prime Minister, he offered so many concessions to the PLO in an attempt to achieve peace (including a joint Israeli-Palestinian administration of East Jerusalem) that even though these proved unsuccessful, few could pretend to argue thereafter that Yasser Arafat and the PLO were serious about ending the decades-long conflict. (Without demonstrating an utter lack of honesty or credibility) Arafat and his boys had been put in a position where they were unable to avoiding showing that they never wanted peace. They could not even come up with a counter-offer without running the risk of it being accepted by Barak, so they simply, Soviet Union SALT talks-style walked away from negotiations. For those who are too young to recall the nuclear weapons reduction negotiations between the US and the USSR, the Soviets would walk out on the pretext of being unable to agree on such difficult issues such as arranging dates for meetings.

In the interview Barak was asked if a "clandestine war" of Israel and the US/US allies was behind the explosions. His answers left much to chew on. One was "I don't think so". Another was "I think that the answer to your questions is negative". Coming from a Defense Minister, who would likely be somewhat aware if his nation's military or agents had been involved in the events that killed several and probably at least set the Iranian program back for some time, it appears that there is a good chance that Mossad did indeed attack or otherwise sabotage the facilities. As far as I am concerned, any amount of time that Iran has lost in achieving a deployable nuclear weapon is worth the effort.

Barak also strongly noted that the UN or the test of the developed world must do more to pressure Iran to drop the program. He stated that "...sanctions have to be intensified, quick, determined.... and therefore everyone is saying that no option should be taken off the table". One could easily draw the conclusion that he was indicating that Israel was getting fed up with the world dragging its feet with Iran, that yes, we did take steps on our own, and that we will continue to do so unless you do something about it.

Israel does not have the time or luxury of being too far away from Iran to wait for the world to step up and do its job. If the UN or other nations that have the ability to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons program continue to vacillate, then Israel is not going stand idle.

Britain's Response to the Sacking of their Embassy in Iran and Various Sundries

I have been tied up with firewood-stacking in preparation for the next three months or so of Northern New Jersey winter and have consequently been off of the posting schedule. Yes, I know that some may react with laughter and compare New Jersey to Canada and other much colder areas. In my defense, not only does firewood in my Norwegian-made Jotyl wood stove make for a much more comfortable house, it is also a safeguard in the event of a problem with the furnace, fuel supply, and other unexpected problems. It is of course nice to know every year that my work is going to save some money in heating costs.

On top of that, in the words of the old guys when speaking of the attributes of turning big pieces of wood into small pieces to burn, "Firewood warms you twice". Stacking the wood also allows me to something relatively quietly in the yard while my son engages in the horrid activity of deer hunting; an act for which no doubt many would gladly cause injury or worse to me for introducing him to such an abominable crime.

With Britain's response to the neo-1979 embassy sacking - The House of Commons took decisive action and gave the Iranian diplomatic staff 48 hours to leave Britain. It was a bold move and the right one. According to news reports today, the actual exit occurred less than an hour ago. Maybe I was reading too much into this, but the mood of the members of the House seemed different from the usual as I watched a video of the announcement on Thursday. They looked like the indignant Brits that I had hoped to see after the 2005 bombings. This time they looked serious. Good old-fashioned shouts of “Here, Here!” could be clearly heard in affirmation of the speaker’s words. I would like to hold out hope that the Lion is being stirred into action. The time is past due for Britain to reassert her identity, especially on her own island.

As I have noted, Islam has a tendency to mob-type action. There is no room for moderates in a religion that is also the government and the bedrock of one’s civil society and family. It permeates every aspect of one's life, including washing and more. Individual Muslims may very well live in fear of being perceived as not Muslim enough. During the height of the Mohammed turban cartoons, I watched photos and videos of extremely angry protests that purported to express outrage at Danish people doing things that are prohibited to Muslims. I could not help but think that many in the crowd were there because they felt that they would be endangering their safety or at least their social standing if they stayed at home. I went further and pictured some of them putting tremendous effort in working themselves into a frenzy in an effort to demonstrate to their neighbors – and quite possibly to themselves, how angry they were.

I can’t come up with one recent event that even could have been stretched into a reason to forcibly enter and takeover an embassy. The sanctions had to occur at some point as the nuclear weapons program of the country Obama described as “tiny” was moving along at pretty good pace. What type of culture does not find other ways of expressing their disagreement and even defiance of sanctions?

British colonial rule in Iran (then Persia) is long past, so I doubt that this was the result of those days when a backwards, stagnant, corrupt country was taken advantage of by a country that was more organized and strong militarily.