Revised-Military EO Manual Pushes White, Male, Christian Privilege

Revision 11/1/13 - They're going after the little ones also:

http://watchdogwire.com/michigan/2013/10/28/common-core-indoctrinating-fourth-graders-about-white-privilege/
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A manual for US military Equal Opportunity Trainers concentrates so fully on the Leftist-inspired propaganda that was formulated to cast those "born to privilege" (meaning  whites, Christians, males or any combination of the three), as to render the targets as virtual enemies of the state.

There is nothing in our society that was ever a key factor in the founding and growth of this once-great nation that is not under siege.

It is not your hard work and good behavior, nor is any accomplishment due to your actual ability that put you where you are, and it is certainly not attributable to your sense of morality or faith . The credit goes to your parents, your gender, and your choice of adhering to a belief system that is the enemy of Socialism.

The amount of references to these accusations in the manual, which has a published date of April 2012, is simply staggering. The spirit of the military, along with that of the nation that it serves, is being gutted.

The Beast never rests.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/10/31/pentagon-training-manual-white-males-have-unfair-advantages/

"A controversial 600-plus page manual used by the military to train its Equal Opportunity officers teaches that "healthy, white, heterosexual, Christian" men hold an unfair advantage over other races, and warns in great detail about a so-called "White Male Club."

“Simply put, a healthy, white, heterosexual, Christian male receives many unearned advantages of social privilege, whereas a black, homosexual, atheist female in poor health receives many unearned disadvantages of social privilege” reads a statement in the manual created by the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI).

The manual, which was obtained by Fox News, also instructs troops to “support the leadership of people of color. Do this consistently, but not uncritically,” the manual states.

The Equal Opportunity Advisor Student Guide is the textbook used during a three month DEOMI course taught at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida. Individuals who attend the training lead Equal Opportunity briefings on military installations around the nation...........

DEOMI instructors were also responsible for briefings at bases around the country that falsely labeled evangelical Christians, Catholics and a number of high-profile Christian ministries as domestic hate groups........... 

The subject of white privilege emerged in a 20-page section titled, “Power and Privilege.”

“Whites are the empowered group,” the manual declares. “White males represent the haves as compared to the have-nots.”

The military document advises personnel to “assume racism is everywhere, every day” and “notice code words for race.” They are also instructed to “understand and learn from the history of whiteness and racism.”

“Assume racism is everywhere, everyday,” read a statement in a section titled, ‘How to be a strong 'white ally.'" [My note - Read Sonderkomanndo in place of "white ally"]

“One of the privileges of being white is not having to see or deal with racism all the time,” the manual states. “We have to learn to see the effect that racism has.”

On page 181 of the manual, the military points out that status and wealth are typically passed from generation to generation and “represent classic examples of the unearned advantages of social privilege.”

“As such, the unfair economic advantages and disadvantages created long ago by institutions for whites, males, Christians, etc. still affect socioeconomic privilege today,” the manual states.........

DEOMI states that “full access to the resources of the club still escape the vision of equitable distribution.”

The military also implies that white Americans may be in denial about racism.

In a section titled, “Rationalizations for Retaining Privilege and Avoiding Responsibilities,” the military lays out excuses white people use.

“Today some white people may use the tactic of denial when they say, ‘It’s a level playing field; this is a land of equal opportunity,’” the manual reads. “Some white people may be counterattacking today by saying political correctness rules the universities or they want special status.”

DEOMI points out that if “white people are unable to maintain that the atrocities are all in the past, they may switch to tactics to make a current situation seem isolated.”

They said some of the ways whites may claim to be victims include saying things like, “I have it just as bad as anyone else,” “They’re taking away our jobs,” or “White people are under attack.”
The military concludes the section by urging students to “understand and learn from the history of whiteness and racism” and “support the leadership of people of color.”....."

A substantial excerpt of the manual can be accessed below. The accusations rain down on the intended targets like an WWI artillery barrage. 

http://personal.crocodoc.com/AkQ0Rg2

Crime, which of course includes violent crimes such as rape (actual rape data appears to be ignored by the manual), is repeatedly attributed to poverty in the manual, which in turn is attributed to race. The reader is supposed to swallow the old lie that poverty breeds crime, even the types in which no financial gain is obtained by the perpetrator.  

We have very little time left to cut ourselves away from the gangrenous flesh that is spreading the rot throughout all parts of our society. Note that I did not state that we should cut away the infected tissue; what we need to do is to remove ourselves from the decay that is being enforced by the Left. 

In the early 90's we heard repeated the denigration of "dead, white men" and we shamefully ignored it. The consequences of this failure to act has been a generation of adults who despise the culture in which they were born and bred. The new enemy is living white men and their Judeo-Christian beliefs and heritage. We can no longer ignore the attacks. Let them have their half of the nation to run into the ground. Like Abraham did with Lot, we can let them choose what half they want (their half does not even have to be contiguous) and we will take the other half. 

Trevor Loudon Speaks in New Jersey

I was off Monday night as I attended a speech*(video at bottom) by Worldwide Marxism expert Trevor Loudon who, fortunately for us, was able to make time to speak in New Jersey.  I have mentioned him and his work in previous posts, and he did not disappoint. His depth of knowledge on avowed Marxists, "Democratic Socialists" (Bringing Marxism legally via the democratic process) and other Leftists that operate in the West is simply staggering. Although many are aware that the Halls of Academia are crawling with these sick types, few Americans have the slightest idea of the amount of committed Leftists that hold key elected and appointed positions in our nation.

Mr. Loudon is very clear with his message. Marxists in the US have not only refused to give up the fight, they have actually, often by clever use of terms and programs that Americans (who fail to see where these are taking us) will accept, to advance their agenda - to bring about Marxism in the  United States.

Of particular note is that one US group - The Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism,  has as one of its ends to lobby Congress for us to pay reparations to Vietnam for damage from Agent Orange that was used during the war. Did you catch the name? Marxist revel in co-opting  terms and names from our struggle for independence. When faced with crackdowns from the Crown, the American colonies created Committees of Correspondence to coordinate their efforts and facilitate communication when our colonial assemblies were shut down on orders from London.

That reality is a hard pill to swallow for us. We see Marxism as a phenomena that is brought about by revolution (and something that we thought failed in the early 90's), not by the electoral process, but this is exactly the means by which they have made such tremendous gains. Devotees of Cultural Marxism have brainwashed many into enthusiastically accepting  a wholesale abandonment of the civic virtue that is crucial for a republic to survive, a detestation of our history and culture, and an even greater desertion from our Judeo-Christian beliefs.

Mr. Loudon, in a methodical manner, outlined the fact that, in addition to the many Leftist politicians, think-tanks, and Academicians in the US, our labor unions are now virtually fully in the hands of Leftists who are working feverishly to undermine the very people whom they profess to represent. Americans whose hearts normally rule their intellect would be sobered at the revelation that the powerful movement to grant citizenship to individuals who entered the US illegally  is one of the key factors in the agenda to, to quote Bertolt Brecht - "...dissolve the people. And elect another".

I have noted in previous posts that the US is perilously close to finding itself with an electorate that will consistently elect candidates that make Obama look like William F. Buckley. Mr. Loudon correctly noted that the next three years will make or break the US. If we fail in the 2014 and 2016 elections, the table will be set for the further election of radical Leftist candidates who will eagerly work to reduce the People of this great republic to abject servitude under a Socialist state. 

His prognosis for us is a scant three years if we do nothing or too little.

He also brought up a very basic fact that very few acknowledge in private let alone treat publicly  - that if Texas and her electoral votes fall to the Left, national elections will be mere play-acting as the Presidency (and probably in time the House and Senate) will be owned by the Beast:

-From a previous post:

http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2013/03/texas-schools-more-anti-us-propaganda.html

"....Couple the demographic trends above with a generations of brainwashed students, many of whom will vote in 4-8 years, and Texas may very well fall.

Without Texas, even in an intact US, a national election is less than a charade; its electoral votes are too many and too crucial to lose. For a restored republic, losing Texas could easily leave the hypothetical new state landlocked. With no access to deep water ports, the new republic will be strangled at birth.

Texans have to fight hard and to start doing so now. As far as I am concerned, Texas is our Athens. As Herodotus noted in The Histories, if Athens had submitted to the Persians or remained neutral, the enemy would have picked off the free Greek states one by one. Even if Sparta never yielded, she would have eventually have been overrun once all of her allies were out of the fight. The Athenian navy was the lynch-pin of a free Greece. For a free US, Texas is a must-win state. Without her electoral votes, we lose every national election........."

-and another:

http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2013/03/texas-schools-besieged-by-left.html

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Mr. Loudon repeatedly drove home the point that Marxism is still a powerful force backed by enemies, both internal and in the rest of the world. The worldwide Left is aligned against us. China has made her threats not only to the far eastern nations, but not-so-veiled ones to Australia ( with New Zealand implicitly included) as well. He also noted that Marxism is by no means dead in the former USSR but continues to have influential adherents who have every intention of making the dream of Marx - sans his idea of class revolt, a reality in the West and the rest of the world.

I have noted previously that all modern Marxists are Trotskyites at heart. As Trotsky understood, Marxism's only chance of succeeding was if free market/capitalistic nations were eliminated from the playing board. 

For individuals who understand and appreciate the threat but don't know where to start, Mr. Loudon stated that good people should become active as soon as possible with their Republican county committees. These bodies weld tremendous influence in determining  what candidates gain party support. Due to the time constraints with the fast-approaching  2014 and 2016 elections, he asserts that we should take the Reagan approach - not a third party, but a revitalized (and retaken) Republican party.   

I purchased his most recent work, and I strongly suggest that you consider doing the same.

http://pacificfreedomfoundation.org/

“The Enemies Within” is designed to show American voters exactly how modern communism works and how it impacts on your life, every single day. Just how do the communists win big on things like Obamacare and immigration “reform,” which go completely against the wishes of the American people? Trevor Loudon’s research has been cited by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, countless articles, blog posts and in books by well known authors Paul Kengor, Aaron Klein and Jerome Corsi.

“The Enemies Within” profiles fourteen Senators and more than fifty Representatives. Their ties to Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America, Workers World Party, the Institute for Policy Studies, Council for a Livable World and other radical anti-American organizations....."

A digital (Nook) version can be purchased here:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-enemies-within-mr-trevor-loudon/1116254631?ean=9781490575179

This is Trevor Loudon's website - please visit it often:

http://www.trevorloudon.com/

You may be able to catch one of his appearances before he returns home.

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMV_fYY-jcI

Pastor Builds Mega-House Without Apologies

-Very short post tonight as I was busy both this and the previous evening

While Evangelicals love to tell us that the Catholic Church is "all about money", the far greater amount of church offerings paid per capita by Evangelicals make the revenue per parishioner make the cash flow at St. Miscellaneous look look mere trickle.

Pastor Steven Furtick, whose name should be "furtive", apparently has made enough in salary from his church and book sales - the time for writing being available due the the nature of his job that is paid for by worker-members, that he was able to have a massive-sized house built.

Even with the knowledge that - in this economy, lots of people could use some help (or at least be free of being reminded how well-off some are), he still feels comfortable with going whole hog on a house that will be sufficient for his station in life.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/28/should-pastors-live-in-extravagant-homes-preachers-16000-sq-foot-house-sparks-debate/

"Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in Charlotte, N.C., has sparked monumental controversy over a new 16,000-square-foot home he is building with his wife, Holly.

The home’s size and cost have renewed a question that often follows large ministries and churches: Is it wrong for faith leaders to command large salaries and live in mansions?

Despite the attention, Furtick doesn’t appear to be backing down or apologizing. He spent the first 10 minutes of his Sunday sermon essentially defending the home and proclaiming that all blessings come from God, the Charlotte Observer reported.

“My wife and I made a decision, and we built a house,” he said. “It’s a big house, and it’s a beautiful house, and we thank God for it …. We understand everything we have comes from God.”

WCNC-TV reported that the home has 7 1/2 bathrooms and that the contract value of the house is $1.4 million. In addition, the land was $325,000. In sum, the home will cost about $1.7 million.

While Furtick didn’t apologize, he did tell the congregation he was sorry that they were forced to have “uncomfortable conversations” in recent days and told the congregation that he has always worked hard to protect Elevation’s reputation.

“I have always tried to make this a church where you could be proud of your church,” the preacher said, going on to pledge a renewed commitment to having a ministry that is characterized by integrity.

No church money has been used to build the home. While Furtick is spending his own money from book sales, Ole Anthony, president of the Trinity Foundation, a group that examines religious fraud, says there are still some ethics issues at play....."

Many Evangelicals shamelessly insist that Christians are obligated to tithe - a ten percent offering of one's gross income, rather than allow them to decide how much they should contribute. Tithing is a great thing, but it is no way at all a standard or required practice for Christians. They clamor about the Catholic Church and their money, then, when confronted  with the reality that Evangelicals reap far more per member than any Catholic church from tithes, promptly do a volte-face accuse people who do not tithe of not being true Christians. 

Talk about "Damned if you do and damned if you don't."

This attitude exists throughout Evangelical Christianity. On an Evangelical radio show Money Matters, the host was once asked by a mother about her concerns for her 13 year-old daughter who did not desire to tithe. The host offered no advice, but merely asked "Well, is she saved?". He then went on to tell the distraught mom that, if her daughter was in fact "saved" (an terms that is used by Evangelicals to mean someone who believes in Christianity to the point that he is a permanent lock for salvation), then she would "want" to tithe.

See, it's that simple. In their world, making a decision to offer what you believe you can afford is a  sign that you are not "saved" and therefore not even a Christian.

Mandatory tithes are the scam of the century and the abuses of indulgences in 16th century Germany pale in comparison 

Half of American Society is Shot - Their Minds are Ruined

I prefer movies or baseball games over shows when I do get to watch TV, but I have seen a few episodes of Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs. Mr. Rowe features jobs that are of the type that the average enervated and brainwashed American would think is "below" him. If you don;t believe me, then by all means ask young people when you have the chance. The best example that I can recall is an interview that Sean Hannity had with one of the representatives of Occupy Wall St. when the movement was at its height. The young man was using his college loan monies to pay for camping at the then-ongoing protest (yes, he actually had very little or no college credits to his name at the time). Yet he still, in a arrogant manner that shocked even me, casually stated that the suggestions that Hannity offered, such as waiting/bussing tables in restaurants were jobs that were "beneath me". That is was the Left has done to our youth in schools - deliberately convinced them that they are too good to work hard for a living, By this simple, act, the population will be unable to do anything other than what they are told by the elite.

Although I find him to be a good and entertaining speaker and host, I believe that this sad reality is the precise reason that his show became such a success.

Recently, Mr. Rowe appeared with Glenn Beck on TheBlaze. The comments that he received from "Americans" to me illustrate the depths to which our society has sunk - a very large subset or our citizens are shot-out; their brains are fired by the drivel that is fed to them by the Left. Worse still, many of them do realize this but their only response to this nagging feeling is to lash out*(more on this below) at anyone who speaks truthfully.

*http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2012/10/more-leftist-thuggery-minds-are-conned.html

"....I call it my "conned" theory.

When an individual falls prey to a confidence, or "con" job, and loses a sum of money, it is fairly common for the victim to tell no one about the event. Often enough, even the police are not contacted about the theft.

This of course makes some sense. We all like to think of ourselves as immune to being fooled. We will of course admit to be pranked by a family member, friend, or coworker, but to let people know that we have been swindled out of our money is a very hard thing to do. It is a humiliating experience.

The way that I see it is this - If you would be reluctant to admit to others that you have been tricked out of, say $1,000, would you be willing to admit, not only to others, but yourself, that you have been tricked into being unable to think rationally?

I hold that a great many of these Leftist thugs who verbally attack conservatives, throw urine and fecal matter, and use objects to injure them are doing so in an effort to convince themselves that they have not been lied to. I would be willing to bet that a good portion of these thugs have attended college. If they were not brainwashed by Leftist dogma in primary school (And many have) the deed was done in the Halls of Academia. They spent years of their life there, applied themselves, and spent or borrowed money to be fed a load of garbage.

When the leave college, and start to get that nagging feeling that they have been conned out of their own intellect, they react not by reconsidering their positions, but by lashing out at those who have either maintained their wits or swung back to reclaim them......"

Below are excerpts from the article from TheBlaze:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/27/mike-rowe-responds-to-sharp-criticism-he-received-for-appearing-on-glenn-becks-tv-show/

"Less than a week after appearing on Glenn Beck’s television program Wednesday to promote hisMike Rowe Foundation, the Facebook page of the “Dirty Jobs” host was hit with hundreds and hundreds of comments from “fans.”

{What they stated in their Tweets about Glenn Beck was atrocious and cruel as well as clearly false]

"That comment triggered Rowe to craft a very thoughtful reply. And his response to Ms. Walsh is also drawing heat. Less than an hour after it was posted on Facebook, the letter had been “shared” more than 1,100 times and had earned almost 5,000 “likes.”........"

"Well, hi there, Shannon – and a pleasant good morning to you too!

If you want a detailed answer to your question, please take a moment to read my earlier reply to Bob Reidel, another crestfallen soul who couldn’t reconcile my association with a TV host that he personally despised. As you read it (out loud, if possible, and in a public place), kindly replace the words “Bob Reidel” with “Shannon K. Walsh,” and “Bill Maher” with “Glenn Beck.” But prepare yourself – you might be forced to conclude that my true objective here has little to do with winning or losing your approval.As for your personal characterization of Glenn Beck, I can only assume you have information not available to me. In my time with him, I saw nothing “horrible, psychotic, hateful, or nasty.” I smelled no burning sulphur, no smoldering brimstone, and saw no sign of cloven hooves.To the contrary, I found a very passionate guy who employs about 300 people, works his butt off, and puts his money where his mouth is. Do we agree on everything? Of course not. Am I “disappointed” by that fact? Not at all. The real question, Shannon, is … why are you?


To be clear, I’m not here to tell you what to think or whom to hate. Like everyone else, you’re free to pick your devils, choose your angels, and attach the horns and halos accordingly.

But the guts of your question – even without all the name-calling and acrimony – reveal the essence of what’s broken in our country. You want to know “how I can associate” with someone you don’t like? The short answer is, how can I not? How are we ever going to accomplish anything in this incredibly divisive time if we associate only with people that we don’t disagree with?

Mike.....:

Below are excerpts from the article from TheBlaze:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/27/mike-rowe-responds-to-sharp-criticism-he-received-for-appearing-on-glenn-becks-tv-show/

Urban Living Inclines People to Liberalism

This is a good article to revisit one of my repeated assertions.

Note that Rabbi Lapin generously employs the term Liberal. I of course use stronger terms.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/25/rabbi-lapin-explains-why-youre-instinctively-pre-primed-towards-liberalism-in-a-city/

"Rabbi Daniel Lapin of the American Alliance of Jews and Christians filled in on The Glenn Beck Program Friday to explain why he believes cities tend to vote Democrat, and rural areas Republican – and what it all means for the country.

After showing a county-based map of election results (Map taken from HotGates link is used here - the one in the TheBlaze article is the same but couldn't be copied), which is more indicative of rural vs. urban areas than a state-based map, Lapin asked three questions:http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2012/03/agenda-21-iclei-creation-and-purpose.html

"......Lapin asked: “Where are people in closer contact with their neighbors — rurally, or in an apartment in Manhattan?”

Overwhelmingly the audience noted that it’s rurally, despite the fact that the houses and living spaces are much further apart.

“One of the things the city does, paradoxically, though there’s so many of us packed into a smaller space, we have less communication with our fellow citizens,” Lapin said. “When we have less communication with other citizens, automatically you replace that with more communication with institutions…Government becomes more of your communication center.”

The second reason cities tend to lean left, Lapin said, is because in a city you “lose touch with reality.”

“Conservatism is linked to reality,” he asserted. “It is based in how the world really works. Liberalism is based on how the world would be if we could wish it was something else.”

Whereas in a rural area you are connected to how the world works at its most basic level — from the phase of the moon to how food gets on the table — in a city, your “reality” becomes your monthly water bill, whether the elevator is working, and the “artificially structured” institutions around you, Lapin said.

More than that, in a city you become accustomed to relying not on yourself or your neighbors, but on the “city systems.” Who cleans the sidewalk? Who provides clean water? Who gets you from point A to point B?

“Everything is taken care of,” Lapin said, “so much so that you relinquish your independence with things like transport and security.”

“When you’re detached from reality, you’re instinctively pre-primed to move towards liberalism, that’s what happens,” Lapin asserted. “…In a city you don’t have self-reliance; you don’t have freedom; you don’t have independence. All the things that are the cornerstones, you just don’t have anymore.”

In answering the first two questions, Lapin asked: “Where are people in closer contact with their neighbors — rurally, or in an apartment in Manhattan?”

Overwhelmingly the audience noted that it’s rurally, despite the fact that the houses and living spaces are much further apart.

“One of the things the city does, paradoxically, though there’s so many of us packed into a smaller space, we have less communication with our fellow citizens,” Lapin said. “When we have less communication with other citizens, automatically you replace that with more communication with institutions…Government becomes more of your communication center.”

The second reason cities tend to lean left, Lapin said, is because in a city you “lose touch with reality.”

“Conservatism is linked to reality,” he asserted. “It is based in how the world really works. Liberalism is based on how the world would be if we could wish it was something else.”

Whereas in a rural area you are connected to how the world works at its most basic level — from the phase of the moon to how food gets on the table — in a city, your “reality” becomes your monthly water bill, whether the elevator is working, and the “artificially structured” institutions around you, Lapin said.

More than that, in a city you become accustomed to relying not on yourself or your neighbors, but on the “city systems.” Who cleans the sidewalk? Who provides clean water? Who gets you from point A to point B?

“Everything is taken care of,” Lapin said, “so much so that you relinquish your independence with things like transport and security.”
“When you’re detached from reality, you’re instinctively pre-primed to move towards liberalism, that’s what happens,” Lapin asserted. “…In a city you don’t have self-reliance; you don’t have freedom; you don’t have independence. All the things that are the cornerstones, you just don’t have anymore.”

The article  has a video for more on the talk.

The point is certainly clear and hard to contradict. As I have noted in previous posts, the city-dweller, and lo a lesser extent the suburbanite who lives in a densely-populated suburban area that have very small yards, are far more likely to live an insular lifestyle. They may say Hi and Bye to their neighbors, but their own worlds are spent in their little corners with little appreciable contact with others despite literately bumping into them throughout their days. Rural people and most suburbanites are moving inside and out of their homes regularly, and the times that they are out very often directed associated with local events that bring people together. Years of Little League games, school functions, Memorial Day parades, will create blocs of parents and children who literally grow up (and get older) with each other. A move by a family in either of these areas is a big deal - people hurry to be the first to say "Did you hear the Johnson's are moving to North Carolina?".... "Yes, Dave's work is relocating him".

The truly big difference between the two types is that the rural and most suburbanites live a lifestyle that is much more akin to the traditional American type. Many attend Church on Sunday, have cookouts and children's birthday parties in their backyards, attend summer fireworks displays and American carnivals (when amusement park rides come to town), make the daily trip to the town pool or lake, go fishing in local rivers and ponds, children ride bicycles and may disappear for hours (as kids, we came home for dinner when the local fire department blew the "five o'clock whistle" - actually one blast of the alarm siren), play with toy guns (oh, the horror!) or paintball in the backyards or woods, children later learn to drive and disappear for even longer, dogs run unleashed in yards. etc. 

The difference gets even greater when we consider the marking of time by the seasons. This is obviously the most basic parts of the farmer's life, but suburbanites too live their lives by the calendar and -unless they pay landscapers for all of their yard chores (some are too busy with work but others are just Prima Donnas ), the suburbanite has to cut (remove weeds, fertilize, etc.) his lawn grass, open, maintain, and close the swimming pool at the weather-directed  times, plant flowers and vegetables in the spring and bulb/tubers plants in the autumn, rake leaves and clean gutters  in October-November multiple times, remove snow from their own and elderly neighbor's driveways and sidewalks, (in some regions this can be more than twice a week), clean the chimney for the winter, run the generator when a storm causes a power outage, (for many) split firewood throughout the year and stack it closer to the house when the temperature drops, prepare hunting gear when that season arrives, etc.

Don't forget children going Trick-or Treating on Halloween.

These tasks require tools and power equipment - lots of them. A rural suburban garage has several tool boxes of hand tools and related necessaries to tackle virtually any household and many home auto repairs, a lawnmower, lawn edger, "weedwacker", snowthrower, chainsaw, circular saws and other wood-cutting saws, pruners/shears, hedge-trimmers, other yard tools by the dozen, paint brushes and rollers, and - again, etc.; with many taken out and put away when the calendar says so. If you do not have the hand or power tool needed for a task, then one of your neighbors will lend you his - return it "whenever".

Neighbors will watch your house when you are gone, and when a person is driving in a suspicious manner on the street. He will take a long look at the guy knocking at your door and lingering for too long and question him before he even considers calling the cops. A chimney fire or other dangerous situation will bring him running to your house.

The house and yard will be decorated for Halloween (which includes carving pumpkins, either bought or grown in the yard), and Christmas, and even for other holidays. Flags will be put out on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

The most telling anecdote that I have regarding the differences in mindsets between the urban and non-urban person is a conversation that I had with a coworker a few years ago. He was a transplanted New Yorker from the Bronx, and on one occasion he stated that the most pleasant sound that he recalled from his days in the city was the scraping of snow shovels by the employees who are paid to do such mundane tasks. I felt disappointment for him that he could not appreciate the satisfaction one gets from having yard work as a regular part of one's life. He would never have the feeling of truly maintaining  his own home and property, with the connection to our past that naturally comes with having tasks that are dictated by the seasons.

Urbanites do certainly live lives that are quite different from the rest of us - and it shows in their voting patterns 

Actor Russel Brand Calls for Socialist Revolution

I got back very late from a family event, so this post is short.-


I assume that Mr. Brand's plan is for his types to be exempt from the "inevitable"redistribution that he craves.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/24/famous-actor-calls-for-socialist-style-revolution-and-massive-redistribution-of-wealth-in-brutally-honest-sit-down-interview/

"Actor and comedian Russell Brand is not shy about making his extreme far-left political views known. He doesn’t care if people disagree with them and he certainly doesn’t believe that he should keep his ideas to himself because he’s just an “actor.”

But those unfamiliar with Brand’s in-your-face style might be surprised by the actor’s brutal honesty in a recent sit-down interview with BBC’s “Newsnight.” Not only did he openly call for a socialist-style “revolution” and the “massive redistribution of wealth,” he also urged people not to vote or participate in the “facade” that is modern-day politics.........

“A socialist egalitarian system based on the massive redistribution of wealth, heavy taxation of corporations and massive responsibility for energy companies and any companies exploiting the environment. I think the very concept of profit should be hugely reduced.”

When asked if he truly wants a revolution, Brand said such a revolution is inevitable. However, he acknowledged he hardly has all the answers as to how the system would work on a global scale....."

The Western Socialists have stepped up their pace. With the USSR having been dissolved over twenty years ago, and a successful excising of the horrors and dysfunction of Marxism, Leftists in the West understandably feel confident that they can publicly and clearly state their intentions/desires with no fear of being 'laughed out of court".

Colleges in the West are churning out new-minted Socialists with an efficiency that would make Henry Ford turn green with envy. The People are too afraid of losing what  they have to risk what is truly necessary, a break with the Leftist elements of their own nations. They are frozen in a paralysis like a batter on a 1-2 count who - too late, watches a high curve-ball drop neatly into the strike zone to end the game.

The state of things in the Western world can be seen in the microcosm of Leftist thought run-wild  is Sweden.

http://gatesofvienna.net/2013/10/fear-and-loathing-in-sweden/

Time is running out for Westerners to salvage what little is left of their unique cultures and systems. If a movement of substance is not begun soon, the only option that will remain for many is to leave the regions with the greatest degree of infestation and coalesce in smaller pockets that can be run efficiently and free of the the Socialism of the West - a much more sordid, ugly, and immoral type than what once ruled behind the Iron Curtain.

Marines Pressured to Gender-Neutralize Uniforms

Quick brief-

Washington DC is infamous for its terribly draconian firearm laws. One would think that,because it is the seat of our national government - with the natural legal consequence that the Bill of Rights never had to be extended to it (because it was never a state in the first place), that it would be a oasis of Liberty, but unfortunately that is not the case.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/24/d-c-businessman-faces-2-years-in-prison-for-possessing-unregistered-ammo/

"When more than 30 police officers in full tactical gear descended upon the house of a successful Washington, D.C., businessman with no criminal record last summer, they were looking for “firearms and ammunition … gun cleaning equipment, holsters, bullet holders and ammunition receipts,” The Washington Times reported.

But what did police find after they shut down the streets for blocks around Mark Witaschek’s Georgetown home, broke down a bathroom door with a battering ram and pulled his 16-year-old son out of the shower naked, pointed guns at the heads of Witaschek and his girlfriend, handcuffed them and then “tossed the place” for two hours?

Very little, according to the Times’ Emily Miller:
“One live round of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition” — actually an inoperable shell that misfired during a hunt years earlier that Witaschek kept as a souvenir.
“One handgun holster” — perfectly legal.
“One expended round of .270 caliber ammunition” — a spent brass casing.
“One box of Knight bullets for reloading,” according to police notation on the warrant. Except, Miller reveals, they aren’t for reloading....."

Nevertheless, Mr. Witaschek is facing criminal charges, interluding a year in jail, for possessing unregistered ammunition. Only registered firearm owners can posses ammunition, and as he stores his guns in Virginia, he understood that he was not in violation of the law.

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Advocates of the the radical feminist agenda have set their crosshairs on the United States Marine Corps. As, I noted in a previous post, the women who want to be considered or said  to be as physically strong and aggressive and emotionally prone to use deadly force without regret as men, have persuaded the Obama administration to force the Pentagon and its meek command staff to reduce the standards*(Bottom) for service in the combat units of the military. 

Having accomplished this shameful act, the man-haters have specifically targeted the Marines. 

http://nypost.com/2013/10/23/obama-wants-marines-to-wear-girly-hats/

"A change to the Marine Corps’ uniform hats could take the hard-nosed Leathernecks from the Halls of Montezuma to the shops of Christopher Street.

Thanks to a plan by President Obama to create a “unisex” look for the Corps, officials are on the verge of swapping out the Marines’ iconic caps – known as “covers” — with a new version that some have derided as so “girly” that they would make the French blush.

“We don’t even have enough funding to buy bullets, and the DoD is pushing to spend $8 million on covers that look like women’s hats!” one senior Marine source fumed to The Post. “The Marines deserve better. It makes them look ridiculous.”

The thin new covers have a feminine line that some officials think would make them look just as good on female marines as on males — in keeping with the Obama directive.

“The Marine Corps is being ‘encouraged’ by DoD to standardize on a unisex/universal dress and service cap,” Marine brass noted in an internal memo obtained by The Post...."

Note that the memo refers to the service hat, but I have little doubt that it is the dress uniform itself , especially the jacket, is the ultimate and primary target. The cap/hat can be argued to have a background for wear by men as it was once issued to Marines, but like Civil Unions and gay Marriage, this move is just the foot in the door for the next step.

I served in the Marines in the late 80's and I can attest that the Corps does in no way marginalize its female members. They are Marines just as are the males who serve. But the Marines do, however, enjoy the reputation as the manliest branch of the armed forces. Of course, the Army, Navy and Air Force have the Rangers, Special Forces, Seals, and Para Rescue units, (along with other combat units that are first class) but the Marine Corps has repeatedly demonstrated that - when considering it as an entire military branch, there is a understandable mystique of masculine martial prowess and professionalism that is unique to it. 

No Marine will accept being seen as "merely" a soldier, nor will he stand to hear someone tell him that Army Infantry is as good or better than that of the Corps. Army personnel feel the same, but for the Marine psyche, the insult is felt at a much deeper level. 

I don't think that there exists a single former Marine who has not, when no on else is home, tried to get his dress blue jacket around his time-swelled waist and chest.

From the moment that a new recruit enters one of the two Marie Corps Recruit Depots, he or she is immersed in a culture that take a incomparable degree of pride in its history and accomplishments. Bits and pieces of this were already absorbed even before he said his goodbyes and was sent to the airport, but what he learns in Parris Island or San Diego (the former of course being the better one!) is designed to impart in his memory the understanding that the acts of valor and sacrifice of they who preceded him are his to inherit and to emulate. 

Classes in Marine Corps history are standard fare for the recruit. The span of its history, from its origin until today, with dozens of accounts of individuals and units, is covered in detail and quickly becomes part of his identity.

As with accounts of British army soldiers who, when faced with possible defeat in battle, shouted to their peers to "remember... (their choice of unit and battle)" that occurred decades before anyone in that unit was even born, a Marine will forever recall the exploits of Archibald Henderson, Dan Daly, Chesty Puller, the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments, and the bloody campaigns against the Japanese in the Pacific.With the fight having been taken to Afghanistan and other regions, I am sure that accounts of new heroes and commendable actions have been added to the curriculum. When the Marine puts on the uniform, an entire mindset goes along with it.

That image is something in which the Corps and its members take tremendous pride.

-and in our world of neutralizing all concepts of gender, that has to go.

One thing to their credit, the Left and their allies are not as stupid as they look or make themselves out to be. The male Marine Corps Dress uniform has a look and fit that convey the image of manliness. A successful modern adaptation of  late 19th century uniforms, the Marine Dress Blues are recognizable to even the least military-minded:

The US Army and Air Force uniforms are unfortunately , just plain awful in comparison. (Sorry, but I also served twelve years in the Army National Guard and the business suit-look was the worst part of that period). The training was very thorough and was still hard, but wearing the dress uniform was something that I dreaded.

I hope that the command staff of the Corps does not let their beloved branch get hijacked for the sake of appeasing Obama and his radical feminist allies.

*http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2013/06/military-standards-changing-to-allow.html  

EU Court Orders Basque Terrorists Released

The European Union has proven that there is no feature of national sovereignty left in its member countries that cannot be undone by the unelected commissariat of the regional Socialist superstate.

http://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20131021/54392239527/violadores-asesinos-presos-etarras-beneficiados-doctrina-parot.html

http://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20131022/54391510657/la-justicia-europea-libera-a-61-etarras-de-forma-inmediata.html

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/10/22/spain-court-heeds-european-rights-tribunal-to-release-eta-prisoner-denied/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fworld+%28Internal+-+World+Latest+-+Text%29

My Spanish is good enough to read articles, but it is not sufficient to translate effectively for the reader. I was unable to find any articles in English that dealt with the court-ordered release of anyone other than Ines del Rio Prada - a vicious butcher herself , but the European Human Rights Court is ordering the releasing of over sixty imprisoned ETA terrorists, with up to 130 more cases expected to fall under this ruling.

We are not talking about rebels who were engaged in fighting the Spanish Army. These people were cold-blooded murderers who murdered members of the police and the Civil Guard, and in some cases deliberately targeted children in their campaigns of terror. Bombings. rape, shootings, have all now been assigned the status of minor criminal offenses by the EU.

The People of Western Europe are being told in no uncertain terms that their nations are not their own, and the vestigial and impotent  national governments (in this case, that of Spain) are meekly complying with the high-handed diktats of the court. The People are to accept that their history is not their own, that they have no right to enforce their own criminal laws or have any right to a secure society, and are implicitly being informed that the fault lies with themselves for having allowed the conditions that "create" terrorism to exist.

The Spanish government blandly assured their citizens that the current policy against terrorism will not be changed.

One can imagine the pain and outrage of the family members of the victims. In the case of the police and Civil Guard who were murdered, family and coworkers alike must wonder what exactly it was for which their fathers and fellow officers died.

The sickest part of the first article notes that the court, in a masquerade of  gravity, ruled that the released terrorists were not to be treated as heroes upon their return home. Of course, their supporters will do what they want and will take an "or else what?"* approach to that pointless prohibition.

* - an American English idiomatic phrase having connotations that one will do what he desires and asks "and what are you going to do about it?' - defiantly implying that nothing will be done in response.

Syrian "Oil Battalions" Plundering Crude Oil

In scenes that recall the actions of the first Jihadists when break out of Arabia, rebels on Syria have taken to plundering oil sources in that nation. I am reminded of the accounts of the destruction of the Sassanid Persian empire, when tapestries were torn apart for their gems, perfumes (being mistaken for spices) were poured into soups, and anything that was not necessary to teach Islam was destroyed. This was to continue with conquered Byzantine and Western regions as well. Although liberal academicians vociferously deny this, many sources hold that it was the armies of Islam that destroyed what was left of the library of Alexandria. The academicians prefer to blame early Christians, even though it was in fact Christians who for centuries laboriously hand-copied ancient classical manuscripts - this while the only medium for containing the words were expensive parchment (the papyrus being blocked after the Islamic conquest of Egypt).

In the case of the free-for-all with crude oil among them Jihadists, one is reminded that Islam, although it has a veil of a system that worships the God of Abraham, is actually based on a pagan Arab way of life that still exists, particularly in how different clans deal with each other.

Hat tip to Gates of Vienna.

http://gatesofvienna.net/2013/10/the-oil-battalions-of-syria/#more-31281

".........Starting in 2013, we have seen the emergence of bandits in the regions of Deir Ezzor, Rakka and Hassaké, bandits engaged in a special activity: the theft of crude oil. First they drilled pipelines to extract crude then sold it to the public, taking advantage of the general scarcity and making significant profits. Then they stole extraction and oil exploration equipment and even pipelines, hundreds of kilometers of them, with a value exceeding millions of dollars. These items were sold as scrap for a few thousand Syrian pounds (€1 = 150 LS)!

But in this race for the black gold of East Syria, greed was quickly generated and disputes over wells have become increasingly fierce between the protagonists represented by hordes of al-Qaeda (the al-Nusra Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (EIIC) Front), the heads of Bedouin tribes and Kurdish fighters. When disputes broke out over the division of spoils, as if they were raiding camels or cattle, some wells were burned to prevent another faction occupying the well: “This well is either mine or belongs to no one.” It belongs to whomever can attract the greatest number of fighters to protect “their well.” Other wells were deliberately demolished.

Health disaster

This oil, in its two variants, heavy and fluid, which fell into the hands of people who have no concept, no knowledge of the risk of contact with bare hands and without protective masks, has led to skin diseases and respiratory diseases, not to mention inhalation of toxic gases caused by fire pits. Thieves, employing these primitive methods of “refining” absorb more carcinogenic gases and fumes of toxic radiation. Will the oil overcome the thieves’ lives before international intervention stops this traffic?

Ecological disaster

The rupturing of pipelines has triggered the flow of oil onto arable land and the poisoning of deep groundwater for hundreds of years. To this must be added the atmospheric emissions of toxic gases from burned wells. Equipment used for production and extraction is 95% contaminated.......

Having dismantled and sold to Turkey a thousand factories in Aleppo, then robbing the wheat silos from this rich Syrian plain, jihadists in recent months have attacked oil to the absolute silence of the international community. The “oil battalions” were formed for self-refinement, utilizing hurried techniques with mobile refining units. The stolen oil is the property of the Syrian people. It is plunder............

So Europe, which has allowed the import of oil stolen from the Syrian people, behaves like a fence and swaps the cheap oil against money and equipment. In addition, revenues from the oil collected by the jihadists and al- Nusra EIIC are used to purchase weapons, armour, provide a comfortable pay-out for jihadists and maintain an endless war. The EIIC can afford to attract new jihadists and compensate them generously. The activity of the EIIC even extends also to the cultivation of cannabis, as was the case in Afghanistan........"

Petition Signed By Supporters of a US Police State

I have seen a lot of videos lately in which passers-by are asked to sign petitions for all sorts of fictional but inherently un-American programs. These have included full bans on privately-owned firearms, governmental suppression of Tea Party members, etc. Not that I can vouch for that none of them are staged, but they do give one cause to reflect on the sad state of the enthusiastically ignorant electorate in the US. This most recent video (in link below), though, tops them all. The speaker repeatedly shows success in obtaining signatures of people who support the (the speakers's words) "police state", the "Orwellian police state", and a state modeled after the Nazis - all for the stated purpose of keeping us safe.

http://www.infowars.com/americans-sign-petition-to-support-nazi-style-orwellian-police-state/

Note that the hyperlinks in the text below will take the reader to other videos made by Mark Dice , who - as he operates in the United States, resides in a target-rich environment of willing would-be subjects of totalitarianism and naive idiots.

"Citing issues with how the government shutdown has impacted the ability of the police to “keep the community safe,” Dice tells San Diegans that there is a need to “increase the Orwellian system.”

“Not a problem,” responds one man as he signs the petition.

“We just want to model it after the Nazi Germany system to keep people safe and secure,” Dice tells another individual.

After signing the petition to “implement the Orwellian police state,” another man responds, “You find the pot of money though,” apparently more concerned about how much a Nazi-style police state would cost than its actual consequences.

“They’re trying to cut the budget by 20 per cent so we just want to make sure that we can model the police state after the Nazi Germany system,” Dice tells another couple who sign the petition, before adding, “Thanks for supporting the police state.”

“We’re going to model it after the Nazi Germany-style police state,” Dice clearly tells another man who signs the petition.

“We need this Orwellian-style system to keep everybody safe,” Dice tells a woman as she is signing the petition, to which she responds, “Yeah.”..........

He quite clearly spells it out to them on numerous occasions what they are supporting – an Orwellian police state modeled on Nazi Germany.

Dice’s previous videos illustrate how Americans are willing to support just about anything, so long as it is done in the name of supporting Obama or the government, including granting Obama immunity for all crimes he commits while in office, adding birth control drugs to the water supply, and repealing the 2nd, 4th and 5th amendments to the Constitution while detaining gun owners in concentration camps......"

All politics aside, I would like to know if anyone believes that the United States is not already two utterly separate nations. 

Conservative US Writer Disparages France's National Front Party

Barely a day goes by in which I am not beset my reminders of why the West is in such grave danger.

All we seem to do is bicker among ourselves,  point fingers at each other, and fail to see what is at stake - and this is precisely what they enemy wants us to do.

I have found Michael Curtis to be a writer who has a knack for seeing and explaining the problem(s) and the solutions for many of the threats facing the United States, and that is exactly why he needed to be singled out.  In a recent piece in American Thinker, Curtis inexplicably treats the National Front (FN - Front National) Party of France as a problem that needs to be dealt with by the French people.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/10/the_danger_of_populism_in_france_and_elsewhere.html

I will not go into detail on Curtis' charges, but I will note that it is ridiculous to even mention that the founder of the party denied the horrors and magnitude of the Holocaust as its current leader, Marine le Pen, does not, nor does a denial of the Holocaust have any part in the current position of the FP.

The greatest tragedy of Curtis' piece is that here he, wittingly or not, plays the same game as the Leftists and their allies who are his most common targets. When one desires to denigrate a group or political party that is virtually alone in addressing some of the most severe threats to a nation or its identity, the easiest means of doing so is to marginalize the very problems that plague a nation or people.

This could be an act of intellectual snobbery, an honest ignorance of the current societal climate in France (and the rest of Western Europe), or a fear of being labeled as a racist for failing to join in with the attacks on the FP and related groups. If I had to bet money on my opinion of Curtis' case, I would take the latter with confidence - American conservatives or notorious for jumping through flaming hoops  in order to avoid the racist label. This fear of the "R" word leads to a habitual skirting of reality, a practice that in time becomes ingrained in one's way of thinking. The tragic consequence such practices is that many individuals are influenced by writers such as Curtis and turn a blind eye to the threat.

The enormous problem with violent crime and "creeping sharia" in Western Europe has a direct correlation with the massive and ongoing flood of immigrants from Muslim-majority. I know that is is stating the over-obvious, but we must note that at this point the FP is the only party that is making an effort to do anything about it. Center-right parties have their leaders and representatives who pay lip-service to the "failings of multiculturalism" but their actions stop immediately following their words, and the problems continue to grow in quantity and severity.

If Curtis and his types do not like the FP or similar groups then they need to come up with their own solutions to the problem or ferme la bouche. The French are the ones who are experiencing dire threats to their livelihoods, security, and national identity that make ours pale in comparison, and it is they who have an absolute right and obligation to take measures to take their nation back.

If Curtis' daughter (if he has one) was studying in Paris, then I suspect that he would be singing a different tune.

American conservatives are, rightly so, quite annoyed when Western Europeans get on their high horse and denigrate Americans who do not call for an end to the death penalty, so what we need to do is show support for our cultural cousins on the other side of the pond rather than point fingers back at them when they make decisions.

The only way that the Left and their allies can expect an easy victory is if their opponents remain divided. Religious and secular conservatives need to find common ground. Cultivating an appreciation for the best aspects of Western Culture is a good start. Seculars would do well to recognize the significant contributions of Christianity and Judaism, and, religious people would in turn help themselves a lot if they couch their opposition to travesties such as gay marriage - not in religious terms, but in language that notes the very real threat of governments taking on powers that no government can, by its very nature, posses.

Both side also need to admit that the Western Churches and Western secular/civil arms both reached their respective peaks of strengths because - despite the  occasional imperium and sacerdotium conflicts, they complemented more than they hurt each other each other. Western Europe would never had had the innumerable accomplishments that we cherish without a Christian society, and with the secular arm, the Western Churches would likely have been overrun by Islam several times over.  

Either way, they who recognize that the Western world is under siege had better stop finding fault with other Westerners who are making an effort to improve the situation, especially when a political party seeks to maintain a France that is comprised mostly of French people.

More Calls to Again Make Hagia Sophia Into a Mosque

http://gatesofvienna.net/2013/10/gates-of-vienna-news-feed-10182013/#134724

http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2013/10/17/Turkey-Islamic-Hagia-Sophia-campaign-restarts_9478093.html

Hat tip the Gates of Vienna:

Although Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has, somewhat surprisingly*, decided not to pursue the "re-mosqueifying" of Hagia Sophia, calls to end the landmark's status of a museum and return it back to its place it had under the Ottomans have not ended.

* Erdogan desperately wants to obtain EU membership for Turkey, with all of its benefits of free immigration so that yet more Turks can reside in Western Europe. This may be his reason for dropping the idea; he may want to avoid anything that could rile or worry Europeans.

"ANSAmed) - ANKARA - Conservative Muslims in Turkey have launched another campaign to transform the Hagia Sophia basilica, a jewel of Byzantine architecture that is a symbol of Greek Orthodox Christianity, into a mosque. Formerly a Greek Orthodox basilica from the date of its construction in 537 AD, it later became an imperial mosque, and is now a museum in Istanbul. After Islamic nationalist Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan put an apparent stop to the debate over whether to change Hagia Sophia back into a mosque, the imam of the Sultan Ahmed or Blue Mosque, Mustafa Akgul, has taken up the gauntlet once more.

''See, Sultan Ahmed mosque is packed, while Hagia Sophia is deprived of morning prayers'', the imam told a full house during a sermon for Eid al-Adha, or the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice.

In May, Erdogan told MPs from his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to ''leave Hagia Sophia alone and focus on filling Sultan Ahmed, which is next door''.

Hagia Sophia ''should be allowed to operate as a mosque. I call on the government to do so in the name of you all'', the imam told the crowd, echoing demands being made by Islamic conservatives from the Anadolu Genc organization, whose members are conducting sit-ins at the Byzantine basilica every Friday. A petition has been submitted to Parliament. The basilica has already been a mosque for half a century, beginning with the May 29, 1453 conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II......."

The original transformation into a Mosque followed this:

http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2013/05/new-saints-murdered-for-their-faith-by.html

"........When the walls of the great city were breached by the Ottoman artillery, her defenders, including the last Emperor, Constantine XI Dragases of the Palaeologus dynasty, were cut down in the streets in a last act of defiance against the enemy. The most effective and vicious assault troops were the Janissaries, Stockholm Syndrome-exemplars who had been taken as youths from conquered Christian communities and raised as Muslim slave-soldiers to be deployed against their former coreligionists. The women, many of which had fled to Hagia Sophia as a final refuge were taken - nuns, commoners and nobility alike, as sex slaves. Three days of pillage ensued......"

There have been pathetically few people who have spoken out against this move to rub salt yet again into the memories of Christians:

http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2013/02/orthodox-patriarch-opposes-hagia-sophia.html

".....The Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church has spoken out about the proposals of formerly secular Turkey to return Hagia Sophia to Mosque status. To protect their flock from violence and other acts of oppression, those who have held this office traditionally held their tongues to avoid stoking the anger of Muslims. During one of the periods when Greeks fought for independence from the Ottomans, a Patriarch was hung on Easter as punishment for the acts of the freedom fighters....."

This is from my first post on this subject:

http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2011/11/hagia-sophia-in-istanbul-en-route-to.html

"....After over 900 years as a Orthodox Christian Cathedral and seat of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Church, the grand work of Justinian and his master architects and builders was turned into a mosque following the sack of Constantinople. Few are aware of the pillaging, looting, rapine, and slave-taking that went on in Hagia Sophia once the walls of the city were breached. Mehmet, or Mahomet, is often referred to as allowing for the "customary" three-day period of looting upon the final failure of the city's defenses. Let's not ignore custom and tradition, now. Their sack probably made that of the Fourth Crusade look like high school kids having a night of mailbox baseball.

Picked clean of its gold, silver, people, and anything else of value to the Ottomans, the Icons, statuary, and anything that depicted a living creature were either removed and plastered over (after being severely scored to ensure a good bond for the plaster). The Church of the Holy Wisdom was now a Mosque. The building was to take on the look with which we are familiar - the four minarets surrounding it from which the the sound the American president referred to as "The sweetest sound in the world" would be heard until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the founding of the nation of Turkey by Kemal Ataturk. Graciously, seemingly almost as an act of charity (sincere or not) the shell of Hagia Sophia became a museum.

The policies of Islamist Turkish Prime Minister's Tayyip Erdogan's party (And man! I was raised on how 'Western" and secular Turkey was - was of course being the operative word), like the Arab Spring praised by the left, are now also bearing fruit. Hagia Sophia is to again be a mosque.

Not that the West did not have its chances; the nations of Western Europe did pretty much all that they could to ensure the survival of the Ottoman state. Far from the Muslim victimisation-type claims (the old story of Europe ganging up on the poor declining Sultanate), Europe's far-sighted rulers happily encouraged them to attack other Christian nations like France did with Austria during the 1683 siege of Vienna. The British even brought the French into the Crimean War because, well, we can't have the Russians gaining full control of the Black Sea or taking Constantinople, that would give them an unfair advantage in the "Great Game". Catherine the Great had high hopes for John Paul Jones when the naturalized American was given a Rear Admiral's command - "He will get to Constantinople". But Russian selfishness and intrigue among top officers caused him to be withdrawn from the Black Sea.

And today, we see more of the results of the Islamist resurgence that has pushed the secular Turkish army commanders aside. Muslims tend to be quite gleeful about taking over Christian houses of worship. In this case, Erdogan's boys get to act in the manner of 'Well, you know that it was a great shame that Kemal remove so much of Islamic culture from our country, especially taking away our crowning achievement of the Aya Sofia (Hagia Sophia) Mosque. We will right that wrong and reestablish our rightful place as leaders in the Muslim world'

This time I would be surprised if the icons and other representations that did survive through the years and may have been brought back to public view (Lots of plaster would have had to be removed) during the museum period are not going to removed completely. If, to Erdogan, the Mosques are their barracks, then he is more than likely planning to ensure that the greatest of Turkey's barracks is not defiled by all of that (In the eyes of iconophobic  Muslims) horrendous Byzantine art."
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The Hagia Sophia of Trebizond, on the strip of Black Sea coast on the eastern side of Turkey, which was one of the last Byzantine states to fall to the Turks, was converted back to Mosque status earlier this year.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/494506/20130725/hagia-sofia-church-mosque-trabazon.htm

"The Hagia Sophia Museum, one of only a few dozen Byzantine sites still extant in Turkey, is a former Greek Orthodox church in the Black Sea city of Trabzon. Dating back to the 13th century, when Trabzon was the capital of the empire of Trebizond, the Hagia Sophia constitutes one of the most important monuments of late Byzantine architecture.

After the Ottoman Empire took control of the city, it was converted into a mosque and its frescos were covered in whitewash. In 1964 it was restored and put into use as a museum until Turkey's religious and nationalist right decided to convert it into a mosque again.

In 2012, vice-prime minister Bülent Arınç announced that Trabzon's Hagia Sophia would be opened for prayer as a mosque. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, he said, had "occupied" the building for five years without the permission of the General Directorate of Foundations (the government body responsible for antiquities) and the Hagia Sophia could not be used as anything other than as a place of worship.........

An imam has been hired, the Christian frescoes have been covered with curtains and the bell dome has been turned into a minaret from where the azan is called by the muezzin.

"To destroy the properties of a museum like Hagia Sophia, which could be a candidate for world cultural heritage, is a crime against universal culture and humanity", said the Association of Archeologists in Turkey......"

Girls Concerned With Boys in Restroom Threatened By School Officials

http://www.infowars.com/girls-threatened-with-hate-crime-charges-for-complaining-about-transgender-bathroom-harassment/

We all saw this coming when the label of "transgender" became an excuse to "do what thou wilt".

For those who are not familiar with the term, transgender has nothing to do with having had sex-change surgery. It merely means that a boy or man feels that he is a female and vice-versa.

"Female students at Florence High School in Colorado were threatened with hate crimes charges when they complained about being harassed by a transgender boy in the girls’ bathroom.

Initial complaints about the transgender student’s behavior towards the girls were made by their parents, who were told by the school that the boy’s transgender rights trumped the privacy rights of their daughters.

When the female students continued to complain about the harassment, the school threatened to kick them off the athletic team or even hit them with hate crimes charges if they didn’t stay silent.....

The school so adamantly sided with the transgender student that officials even suggested the girls give up access to most of their restrooms altogether, reported CBN News.

Although Colorado’s treatment of transgender school children is determined by policy, California became the first U.S. state to mandate by law the right of girls and boys to choose which bathroom they would use regardless of their gender back in August when Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 1266, otherwise known as the ‘Transgender Bathroom Bill’. The law takes effect on January 1st.........

Californians “jolted by the mental image of children sharing lavatories and locker rooms with opposite-sex classmates,” are making concerted efforts to repeal the bill before it becomes law,reports Bloomberg. If the bill is suspended, it could set the precedent for other areas of the country.

However, in states like Colorado, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Washington, students and parents are at the mercy of schools who have already instituted policies which exalt the rights of a tiny minority while violating the privacy rights of a huge majority of students who are being forced to share bathrooms with members of the opposite sex who identify as transgender..."

Remove all barriers for privacy, and do away with  gender, class, ethic/cultural/religious identities (unless they are fake identities or those which are contrary to the mores of our society). Render the individual powerless to have any control over anything, including when one is not fully clothed. Remind them on a daily basis that they have no say in how others interact with them.

Late last year in Washington State, an adult male set himself up in the female locker room sauna at a town pool. A very young girl walked in, saw the naked man with his legs open, and ran out to tell her mom. The cops responded but did not charge the individual because he identifies himself as a woman - transgenders can get away with exposing their genital to little girls.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Controversy-swirls-around-local-transgender-college-student-177055311.html

We are two different nations, and we need to take steps to make this reality official.

Excerpt from a previous post:

http://thehotgates480bc.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-handwriting-on-wall.html

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/27/parents-of-transgender-6-year-old-raise-complaint-against-school-banning-child-from-using-girls-restroom/

"The account the handwriting on the wall in the Book of Daniel is well known.

For the purpose of this post, I will refrain from treating the historical discrepancies of names and titles in the account.

During the period of the Babylonian exile, a hand (Fingers) is/are seen writing on a wall while a royal feast in being enjoyed. The intellectuals are brought to determine the meaning of the writing, but are unable to make anything out of it. Desperate for an interpretation, the king has Daniel, one of the exiles, brought forward to try to make heads or tails of the inscriptions:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+5&version=RSVCE

24 “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: mene, mene, tekel, and parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting;28 peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Today, the situation is almost reversed; all of us not only are able to see the handwriting on the wall and understand its meaning, we just refuse to acknowledge that either the hand or the writing exists.

The nation is being undermined from every angle, but we either ignore this fact or tell ourselves that, somehow, the message will be changed to something more palatable......"