The “Non-Existent” Islamization of America

Below is a brief report on some of the peripheral events that occurred during Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff’s recent visit to Washington D.C.

ACT for America logo


The “Non-Existent” Islamization of America
by Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff

As the Baron has been reporting for the past couple of days, he and I attended the ACT! For America National Conference in Washington DC. From June 22 through June 24.

Apart from “official” business such as the meeting with Congressman Allen West and collecting donations for my defense fund, I was able to catch up with some friends from various ACT! chapters who came in from across the nation. In addition, I spent a day in my favorite outlet mall in Woodbridge, VA.

On the last day of the conference, I had dinner with chapter leaders from Michigan and Texas. We decided on an Indian restaurant near the hotel: “Rajaji Curry House” on Connecticut Avenue. The still ongoing happy hour and the mouth-watering menu made our decision to spend the evening in this restaurant particularly easy. As we sat down, we immediately ordered our drinks and some appetizers while perusing the menu in detail. The menu did indeed promise good food. However, while the others chatted I took a closer look at the menu and imagine my shock and horror when — on the very last page and in fine print — the menu read: “We serve halal food.”

I cried out: “Sorry, you guys, but we have to get out of here! I cannot eat halal food. I am leaving. Now.”

The others immediately concurred with my decision. We motioned for the waiter and told him we would pay only for our drinks; the food order was canceled as the food was halal. The waiter was only very mildly indignant. He obviously realized that we knew exactly what halal meant. We ran outside and had an excellent meal across the street at an Irish pub. Very definitely not halal!

I always spend the early part of the day of my flight home at an outlet mall. Like last year, my destination was Potomac Mills Mall in Woodbridge, Virginia. Imagine my dismay when this year I saw this huge banner displayed in the mall, one that wasn’t there a year ago:

Potomac Mills Halal


The Petra Grill, as in Petra, Jordan. Halal food has now arrived at Potomac Mills Mall. And how many of those thousands of shoppers know what “halal” means? How many would even boycott the mall or protest if they did know?

And why do so many still insist that there is no Islamization of America?

This monster is staring us in the face, ready to devour us whole. Get up and do something about it! Support ACT! for America.

Fjordman: The Flaws of Edward Said’s Orientalism

Fjordman’s follow-up essay on Edward Said has been published at Jihad Watch. Some excerpts are below:

Salah al-Din or Saladin (ca. 1138-1193), the general loved by Muslims for his victories against the Crusaders, is renowned in Western history for his supposedly tolerant nature. Very few seem to recall that his son and heir Al-Aziz Uthman tried to demolish the world-famous pyramids at Giza outside of Cairo, Egypt, just three years after his father’s death. The only reason why we can still visit them is because the task at hand was so big that he eventually gave up the attempt. They were hard to build, and hard to destroy. The Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three major ones at Giza, was nevertheless visibly damaged on one side.

This detail is almost always left out when apologists write about how tolerant and enlightened Muslims supposedly were compared to the primitive Europeans. This attempted destruction was not carried out by Saladin himself, but it would not be unreasonable to mention when writing about him that his devout Muslim son did this shortly after he died. There are also indications that a process of pillaging ancient monuments had begun during Saladin’s reign.

Mark Lehner is an American archaeologist with decades of experience excavating in Egypt. He is widely considered to be one of the foremost living experts on the Giza Pyramids, having devoted his life to studying them, and has appeared on numerous television documentaries. Here is what Lehner says in his book The Complete Pyramids [1997, hardback], page 41:

“Abd al-Latif reports the destruction of a number of small pyramids by the Emir Karakoush during Saladin’s reign (AD 1138-93). It must have been Karakoush who removed the satellite pyramid south of Khafre’s pyramid, and who began dismantling Khufu’s subsidiary pyramids. Other stones, probably from the two larger pyramids, were used for walls in the growing city of Cairo. The plunder of casing stone from the Great Pyramid continued during succeeding generations until the outer mantle was finally stripped bare. Abd al-Latif also enthused about the Sphinx, already known by its modern Arabic name, Abu Hol, ‘Father of Terror’. He described its handsome face, ‘covered with a reddish tint, and a red varnish as bright as if freshly painted’. He specifically mentions the nose, which leads us to think that it was still intact, contrary to indications that it may have been missing as early as the 10th century. It is certain that someone removed it before the early 15th century when another Arab historian, al-Maqrizi, wrote about it. The nose was long gone, at any rate, by the time Napoleon visited Giza in 1798, although he is often blamed for its removal.”

A photo on page 41 of Lehner’s book shows damage done to the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three large pyramids on the Giza Plateau. While it still stands, scars from the attempted destruction are still clearly visible to visitors today. Mark Lehner states that “In AD 1196, Malek Abd al-Aziz Othman ben Yusuf, son of Saladin, mounted a concerted attack on the pyramid of Menkaure to dismantle it and remove its stone. Eight months’ work merely damaged the pyramid’s northern face. Such enormous – and unsuccessful – efforts increase our admiration for the skill of the ancient builders in creating such durable monuments.”

The great Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan were demolished by the Taliban regime in 2001, who decreed that they would destroy images deemed “offensive to Islam.” The Taliban Information Minister complained that “The destruction work is not as easy as people would think. You can’t knock down the statues by dynamite or shelling as both of them have been carved in a cliff. They are firmly attached to the mountain.” The statues, 53 meters and 36 meters tall, the tallest standing Buddha statues in the world, turned out to be so hard to destroy that the Taliban needed help from Pakistani and Saudi Arabian engineers to finish the job. After almost a month of non-stop bombardment with dynamite and artillery, they succeeded.

Judging from the experiences with the Bamiyan Buddhas, it is tempting to conclude that the main reason why the pyramids of Egypt have survived to this day is because they were so big that it proved too complicated, costly and time-consuming for Muslims to destroy them. Had Saladin’s son Al-Aziz had modern technology and engineers at his disposal, they might well have ended up just like countless Hindu temples in India or Buddhist statues in Central Asia.

Read the rest at Jihad Watch.

The Taliban’s Lethal Response to Obama’s Speechifying

*** UPDATE ***


From the Guardian, NATO brought it to an end:

Nato helicopters fired on and killed members of a Taliban squad who attacked a landmark Kabul hotel on Tuesday night where senior Afghan officials were staying.

At least six Taliban, some of them suicide bombers, were involved in the assault on the Inter-Continental, which began when militants in civilian clothes burst into the hotel while many guests were in the dining room and others were attending at least two receptions, including a wedding party.

The Nato rocket attack appeared to have brought an end to the fighting, which lasted for more than four hours.

Go to link at the Guardian to see a photo that is sure to make the rounds. Compelling.



Obama as the Hanged ManThey didn’t even wait a fortnight after Obama revealed his plans to draw down troops in Afghanistan before the Taliban did a Mumbai-style attack on a hotel in Kabul which caters to Westerners.

Bill Roggio says [my emphasis — D]:

…Initial reports indicate that 14 people may have been killed while fighting is still underway.

A heavily armed Taliban assault team, estimated at six fighters strong, penetrated several rings of security at the Intercontinental and have entered the hotel. Three or four members of the assault team broke through the security, entered the hotel, and began targeting the guests, many of whom are foreigners. Many of the hotel guests were in the restaurant at the time of the attack. At least one Taliban sniper is said to have opened fire on security forces using rocket propelled grenades and a rifle from the rooftop. Afghan security forces have surrounded the hotel, cut off power, and are engaging the remaining Taliban fighters.

The Taliban, via their spokesman, Zahibullah Mujahid, claimed credit for the attack in a statement released to the press.

Meanwhile, back at the White House last week, we were treated to a schedule of events. Here’s the Wall Street Journal’s report of the speech back then, “Obama Sets Afghan Rollback”:

…President Barack Obama ordered the withdrawal of 10,000 troops from Afghanistan this year, leaving the bulk of U.S. forces in place into the summer of 2012, when fighting is fiercest, but also signaling the beginning of the end of America’s role in the 10-year war.

[…]

Mr. Obama faces reelection in November 2012, and some critics said the timeline he set for pulling out 33,000 surge troops-leaving about 70,000 troops in the country-was influenced by politics, a charge the White House strongly denied.

“We are starting this drawdown from a position of strength. Al Qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11,” Mr. Obama said. “Of course, huge challenges remain. This is the beginning-but not the end-of our effort to wind down this war.”

Well, let’s see exactly when the New York Times, Obama’s pet ventriloquist’s dummy, says the Q word.

Anyone taking bets on any MSM jornolist belching out “quagmire” within the hearing of White House staff?

Funny thing about language: Bill Roggio’s headline is Taliban Suicide Assault Team, while Aljazeera says Fighters Attack Hotel. Then AJ goes to an Associated Press regurgitation. Gosh, no embeds, y’all??

Of course most folks who live in Real Land will think back to Mumbai. The others will say “‘Mum’ what? You must be crazy. No connection at all.” Uh huh.

Well, let’s just put another little X mark in the column where it says “Fate is Working Against Obama…it’s not his fault”. It’s never his fault, and the buck, for what it’s worth now, never stops at the desk in the Oval Office. Let’s see… blame this one on…eenie, meenie… I know! Let’s blame it on Meanie Bush. Yeah. It’s his fault.

…but never fear, Our Feckless Follower will just keep leading from the rear. I like it when he stays in character.

The Millions Yet to Come

The Eurozone is on the verge of implosion. The current economic downturn has driven millions more European workers into long-term unemployment. The welfare states of Europe are facing eventual bankruptcy. The European Union is pushing for an increase in its centralized soft-totalitarian power.

Yet, in the midst of all this doom-and-gloom, Germany remains an economic powerhouse. So what do ordinary Germans have to look forward to?

Millions and millions of new immigrants.

In the interview below, the head of the German research group Ifo talks about the additional waves of immigrants that can be expected in Germany in the coming years. Not all of them will be Muslims, and many of them will come from other parts of Europe.

Note: “Ifo” is an abbreviation for “Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung”. The acronym is formed from the words Information and Forschung (research).

Many thanks to JLH for translating the article from FOCUS:

“We are expecting millions of immigrants”

FOCUS editor, Nadia Matthes interviews Ifo head Hans-Werner Sinn

Since May 1, East Europeans have been allowed without limitation to work in Germany. Ifo head Hans-Werner Sinn explains why we cannot do without this immigration.

Workers from the EU countries of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary have had to wait seven years. How well prepared is Germany for the new job seekers?

Excellently! We are having an economic boom like nothing for 20 years. Because of the financial crisis, money from savings is no longer flowing out of the country, but is invested here. Investments are an internal thing and furthermore are creating work positions. And exports are flourishing. The situation could not be better for the opening of the borders.

How many immigrants will come to Germany?

We can count on millions of immigrants in the next ten years.

Can you be more exact?

No. Dependable prognoses are hardly possible. However, I expect many more than the 140,000 per year assumed by the federal employment agency. Such low predictions do not sufficiently allow for what is happening in financial markets and differential economic development in the Eurozone. You must take into consideration that a long-term economic lull is to be expected where the immigrants have been going until now, while Germany will boom because it is no longer sending its capital abroad.

But are the East Europeans really that mobile?

In just the past ten years, 2.3 million EU citizens have migrated to Spain, 650,000 to Ireland and over 600,000 workers plus dependents to England, etc. There is a potential of several million mobile people. And a considerable portion of them will come to Germany. In addition, our own citizens from the economically becalmed West European countries, as well as East Europeans who find it too long a way to Spain or Ireland, will immigrate to Germany.

With this forecast you are far beyond the assumptions of many politicians and jobs market researchers. What is driving people to us?

Ten years ago, most immigration experts expected that inside 10 to 15 years after establishment of freedom of movement 2 to 3 percent of the native populations would emigrate. In actual fact, however, within 4 years, without freedom of movement, 5 percent of Poles emigrated. A great many Romanians are also on the move. Migrations in Europe to date exceed the predictions by many factors. Several EU states opened their borders sooner than Germany. Now the immigrants will divide up anew.

The president of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce declared that Germany is possibly not attractive enough to draw many qualified job-seekers.

That is true for academics. But our wage rates for skilled workers are high and attractive enough to entice immigrants, if there are available positions.

Are these workers the German economy needs?

Yes. There are very many well-trained workers in East Europe who will come to Germany.

And what is the situation with engineers, who are in demand everywhere?

They will come too, even if in smaller numbers. There are no longer so many worldwide possibilities for highly qualified people. The times when academics went to America and got wonderful jobs there are over. In the USA, for example, there are hardly any more positions in the universities. When we advertise Ifo institute positions, we get applications from the USA.

That means that the lack of skilled workers in Germany will solve itself?

I consider the debate about the lack of workers to be a debate about nothing. When a German firm needs workers, it has to put an ad in a newspaper in East Europe. Then it can hire as many skilled workers as it wants. Soon there will be no shortage of skilled help.

Won’t these East European countries do something to hold on to their skilled workers?

I don’t know. To be sure, it does not help the local economies indirectly when skilled workers emigrate. But the emigrants usually send a great deal of money home and they themselves profit from the move. In Budapest, there are ads everywhere from Hungarian agencies who want to send skilled workers to Germany.

But skilled workers are also in demand there, for example, in the auto industry, and not badly paid, measured against the cost of living.

Nonetheless, these countries will not succeed in stopping the flow of emigration. For now, their capacity is not so high that the businesses there can offer salaries that are comparable to those in Germany. But conditions will adjust. Until now, much capital flowed from Germany to East Europe, because pay was lower there. Now, the people are allowed to come to us. That is an exchange in the reverse direction. Together, the two things will lead, in the next 10-20 years, to a new balance with similar pay in the East and West.

To what extent is that true for such poor countries as Romania and Bulgaria, for whom Germany’s borders will be open at the latest in 2014?

Certain differences will remain, but in the long term they will not be as great as between regions of West Europe. Here too, there are weak areas whose economic capacity is only one-half of Germany’s.

German unions and workers are afraid of an adjustment downward and greater pressure on pay and working conditions. Is that justified?

In principle, yes. Normally, immigration means falling wages in the country people are immigrating into. The good thing now is that we do not have to fear this normal situation, because we are experiencing such a strong economic upswing on account of the redirection of savings. If people and capital come here together, there will be no lowering of wages. We can hope for that today, more than would have been the case at another time of opening the borders.

Is that true in all areas? How is it, for instance, with caregiving, which is in demand in Germany, but not especially well remunerated?

Foreign caregivers are inexpensive. We can be happy about that. The need for caregiving in Germany is often ameliorated by using the most diverse ruses to fetch caregivers from the East for a few weeks.

So the caregivers from the East have already been here for some time?

Yes, and they have naturally held down the wages of caregivers in Germany. But they have also often been responsible for the possibility of care. Here too is an all-clear signal for those affected. When the economy booms, people also pay more dues, so that more money is available in the social system to pay higher wages to caregivers.

So much for theory. And what do you say to the Brandenburgers who are afraid that Polish workers will work for very little money in Germany during the day and go home in the evening?

Wage competition cannot be denied, but, as I said, it will be headed off by the favorable economic development at the time. I find the immigration of dependents of the state more problematic than wage competition.

So we have to expect a wave of immigrants who do not want to work at all?

Anyone who does not or cannot work, could also come. Any EU citizen who has resided in another EU country for five years has a permanent right of residence. That is also one reason the French last summer so energetically expelled the Gypsies. In the course of this decade, we will have more and more social migration to Germany.

What are the consequences of that?

An immigrant can receive just as many social benefits as the natives. After five years, he has absolute claim to that without having paid anything in. Many people do not understand that . And it is also not yet clear to the immigrants. but they will learn it and pass it on. The new rule has been in effect since January 5, 2005. Anyone who immigrated at that time was eligible for social benefits for the first time last year.

Is the German social system that attractive?

Social benefits including living expenses normally amount to over €700 for a single person. Free medical insurance is also worth €100-200. That is more than the standard wage in some East European countries.

But living is more expensive here than in East Europe.

Yes, but not that much more expensive. Besides, they can always vacation in their less expensive home country. No one can keep track of how often someone registered here is away and still collecting benefits.

Then why isn’t this country of residence principle being reconsidered in the EU?

People will not give this principle up. It is a sacred cow in the EU. We will never get out of it.

And what does all this mean in the final analysis?

The welfare state will erode, because it must treat natives and immigrants the same and that becomes very expensive. The needy always go where the benefits are more generous. Since taxpayers also look for the country where it is better for them, they will avoid welfare states. Together, these two effects make the benefits impossible to finance. The EU’s idea was to entrench benefits. In truth, they have dug the grave of the welfare state.

So are we putting our social security at risk with our generosity?

I see this danger in welfare with the country-of-residence. It would be better to introduce a homeland principle. Each needy EU citizen would have claim on social benefits at home. Where he spends them would be left to him. But that is not the leading theme at this time. What is really new is that, beginning in May, we will get a migration in work conditions. And that is good news, because it is about people who pay taxes and social dues.

What prevails then: opportunity or risk?

Germany needs more people. Among the OECD countries, we are the one with the smallest number of children relative to the population. We will not manage without immigration. This is the best possible time in a long while for the borders to open.

Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/27/2011

Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/27/2011Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has ordered the country’s defense establishment to stop the new Gaza flotilla from reaching its destination. The ships are being offered alternate off-loading ports in Israel itself. The IDF is being asked to avoid violence if possible, but is tasked with stopping any ships from reaching Gaza.

In other news, the deputy prime minister of Greece criticized opponents of the country’s austerity plan, some of whom are demanding a withdrawal from the eurozone and a return to the drachma. The austerity debate has been taken up in parliament while the mass protests in Athens continue.

Meanwhile, residents in villages 30 to 40 km away from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan have been discovered to have radioactive urine.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to AC, C. Cantoni, CSP, DS, Fjordman, JD, LN, Mary Abdelmassih, Nick, Nick

, Nilk, TV, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

A Briefing on the European Counterjihad

Col. Allen West and Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff


Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff originally met Col. Allen West back in February 2010 at the Freedom Defense Initiative in Washington D.C. She shared a podium with him to discuss the hate-speech case against her for the first time in front of an American audience. Col. West was one of the featured speakers at the event, and the video of his speech went viral on the internet in a number of languages.

Col. Allen West in Russian


Elisabeth and I renewed our acquaintance with Col. West last Thursday afternoon following ACT! for America’s legislative briefing on Capitol Hill. The Colonel is now a member of Congress representing Florida’s 22nd District, and is perhaps the most knowledgeable and dedicated anti-jihad politician in Congress. We caught up with him that afternoon at his office in the Longworth Building.

We had arranged to meet with Rep. West for three closely-related reasons. First of all, Elisabeth wanted to update him on the status of her case: since she last spoke to him, she had been tried and convicted of “denigration of religious beliefs of a legally recognized religion” for her statements about Mohammed’s sexual proclivities, as evidenced by the consummation of his marriage to a nine-year-old girl. Readers who are unfamiliar with the details of Elisabeth’s case should see the archive for more information.

Our second purpose was to acquaint the congressman with some of the more prominent European political parties that oppose the Islamization of their countries. Col. West already knows Geert Wilders, of course, and there are other parties — some of them relatively new — with whom he may well want to establish a working relationship. Elisabeth and I spoke for a while about several of these parties, and discussed the possibility of his visiting Europe at some point in the future for an on-site look at what is happening.

Our third reason for meeting with him was to present him with a briefing paper on the growing Islamization of Western Europe, and the resulting emergence of social and political resistance to it. This document was designed to be used as a reference for Rep. West when he hears about one of these “Islamophobic” parties in the news, or is contacted by their representatives. It gives an outline of the parties’ current electoral status, and grades each party and organization based on its philosophy, origins, legislative positions, and political allies.

The information we provided can be readily consulted by the congressman and his staff to help them understand the current situation in Europe without relying on biased presentations by the media and EU government bodies. The briefing paper contains better information than the CIA could provide, since it is gathered through grassroots networks in Europe rather than assembled from European media digests.

The data for the paper were collected and written up by various European members of the International Civil Liberties Alliance living in the countries involved. I acted as the overall collator and editor, and also wrote the general introduction. An excerpt:

Except for the Algerians who remained in France at the end of the colonial period, there were few Muslims in Western Europe until full-scale immigration began in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In what is now known to be a deliberate policy of the European Community (today the European Union), the flow of immigrants into Europe accelerated in the 1990s, and exploded in the 2000s, especially in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK. Each country has its “preferred” sources for Muslim immigrants: Pakistanis for Britain, Algerians and Tunisians for France, Moroccans for Belgium and the Netherlands, and Turks for Germany and Austria.

Exact demographic figures are difficult to come by, since the collection of statistics based on ethnicity or religion is officially discouraged, and is even prohibited in some countries. France, for example, does not allow government agencies to include ethnicity in their data-gathering. Britain collects data on residents’ countries of origin, but lumps together everyone born in the UK as “British”, regardless of parentage.

Estimates of the Muslim current population are therefore largely educated guesses. Activist organizations in various countries have made estimates based on names recorded in hospital birth records, or by statistical evaluation of surnames in telephone directories. The impact of Muslim crime (which is disproportionately high) can be determined by tracking the names of convicted offenders in court records. However, a number of countries prohibit the publication of offenders’ names, so this methodology is not available everywhere.

The population estimates used here are based on a database of figures published in 2004. Current estimates are derived from anecdotal evidence, including the likely level of illegal immigration.

The percentage values derived from the 2004 data, and our estimates of current figures, are summarized in this table:

Country   2004   2011 (est.)
Austria   4.7%   5-6%
Belgium   3.5%       4%-5%
Denmark   3.0%   3%-3.5%
Finland   0.2%   0.5%-1.0%
France   7.5%   8%-12%
Germany   3.7%   4%-6%
Iceland   0.1%   0.1%
Ireland   0.5%   1%
Italy   1.7%   2%-4%
Luxembourg   2.0%   2%-2.5%
Netherlands   6.0%   7%-8%
Norway   1.6%   2%-2.5%
Portugal   0.4%   0.5%-0.7%
Spain   2.5%   3%-3.5%
Sweden   4.0%   5%-6%
Switzerland   4.4%   5%-6%
United Kingdom   2.7%   3%-5%

We also included this note:

It is important to bear in mind that all of the anti-Islamization parties and organizations in Europe are characterized as “extreme right-wing” groups. This is true no matter how socialist they are in their economic policies, nor how progressive they are on social issues, such as gay marriage, global warming, etc. None of that matters — opposition to Islamization is the sole criterion that earns them the descriptor “extreme right-wing”.

That is, an American fiscal conservative might find it hard to make sense of all these “right-wing extremists” in a European context. Many — probably most — of the anti-jihad parties are at least as Socialist as the Democratic Party here in the USA, yet they are staunch opponents of mass immigration, and their leaders are taking enormous risks to buck the EU establishment and resist the Islamization of their countries.

Elisabeth and I are hoping that our efforts will help bridge the murky transatlantic waters between anti-jihad political leaders in America and Europe. The lack of understanding runs in both directions, and with luck we will someday get the opportunity to present the American perspective to receptive audiences in Europe.



For previous posts on the “hate speech” prosecution of Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, see Elisabeth’s Voice: The Archives.

Islamic Sexuality: A Survey of Evil

Update: Ann Barnhardt just sent us this message:

Would you mind posting a request for any of your readers to forward me any good links or citations they might have on any topic relating to Islamic sexuality?

I have a bunch of data, but I’m always on the lookout for more.

So anyone who has any material on Islamic perversions should send it to Ms. Barnhardt. Her email address is posted on her website.



The Koran-burning buzzsaw Ann Barnhardt will be the keynote speaker at a Las Vegas event in September. She sent along this notice yesterday, which is also posted at her blog:

Live Event Booked — Back to Vegas

I am going to be speaking at the Center For Strategic Analysis’ annual seminar in Las Vegas on Saturday, September 24th. It is a one day seminar that will have a variety of speakers from the intelligence and military communities (before they went to hell) on various topics having to do with counter-Jihad and the war against islam.

And yes, since we’re now in Bizarro World, I am going to be the keynote speaker. My speaking block is one hour and forty-five minutes. I have decided that I will use this event to roll-out my magnum opus on the systemic sexual perversion in islamic culture. This is a massive topic, and my rough outline contains no less than NINE discreet sub-topics. I think that delivering this as a speech with an associated PowerPoint slideshow including photographs and video citations will be extremely effective. My speech is entitled, “Islamic Sexuality: A Survey of Evil”.

The event is being held at a secure location in Las Vegas which will only be given to attendees AFTER they enroll and pay the tuition. There will also be extensive security on-site. It is open to civilians, bloggers, first responders, military, and law enforcement. There are also usually some muslim “crashers”, or so I’m told, so it is guaranteed to be extra-fun. Bloggers are welcome to bring cameras and recording devices, although some of the speakers reserve the right to not be photographed. Obviously, I would have no problem being photographed.

I think this could be a great “meet-up” and networking opportunity for the blogging community in addition to the insights presented at the conference itself. I also like the venue, as Las Vegas is cheap and easy to get in and out of and has plenty of dirt-cheap lodging, thus being a great choice for those on a shoestring budget. The cost is $100 per person if enrolled before July 4th, $125 before August 1st, and $150 after August 1st. Absolutely no enrollments at the door, of course.

FYI, I am receiving no honorarium or speaking fee and am paying 100% of my own travel and lodging expenses. I will make my PowerPoint presentation, citations and bibliography available for free download to all attendees.

Hope to see you there. Tell a friend!

The Kinetic Effects of Prayer in Islam

Pomegranate icon for John of God HospitallersOne of our readers, an anthropologist of sorts, sent in this After Action Report on the experiential effects of his participation in the Friday prayers at a mosque in his city on the West Coast.

Some background on the writer of this essay: he’s Portuguese but now an American citizen. Like his patron, São João De Deus, he sees his mission as one of healing: João’s ‘patient’ is our ailing Western culture.

Like the rest of us, João is alarmed by Islam’s knee-jerk hostility toward anything beyond its own ideological boundaries. However, he has proactively lit a candle and followed his concern right into the heart of the oncoming darkness. [You’re a braver man than I am, Gunga João].

Islam is nothing if not militant. Thus João follows Colonel Boyd’s strategies as outlined in the OODA loop’s recurring cycles. João has been systematically thorough in his use of Boyd’s cycles. Would that our military leaders were half as curious and determined as João has been to comprehend what we really face.

First, he learned Arabic. This served two purposes: to begin with, it allowed him access into public conversations in those pockets of cultural enrichment in his city. Since his visage (and his gender) would permit him to “pass” unnoticed, he eavesdropped quite openly. The public hatred he heard for non-Muslims made him determined to learn more.

Second, knowing the language allowed him to see the original Koran and hadith, and to contemplate the inescapable understanding that Islam’s “reformation” must remain a myth. It is simply Western-centric thinking to believe in the possible transformaton of a Middle Eastern tribal mindset.

Both experiences left him deeply appalled and concerned for his country and for the West itself.

His next step was to attend Friday prayers in one of the mosques in his city, simply to experience the Friday prayers for himself. As you will see, he came away with an experiential comprehension of Islam’s “hold” on its followers. As he said in his email:

Part of how we can break the grip of the Islamic cult is to experience and to analyze how these rituals shape Muslim minds. It is only then that we can hope to deconstruct and demolish this cult.

What follows here is but one experience from his many years of immersion.

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As you know, I have long been studying Arabic. Now, moving on to Koranic recitation, I can explain the strong narcotic effect of Islamic prayer. Within the experience, I can see how the chanting is akin to Rap tempos and rhythms. Recently I did the whole Muslim prayer sequence. It was difficult but the process brought much insight I couldn’t have gained any other way.

It is quite different from Christian prayer. The latter has a more inner, spiritual nature and allows space for the individual, even within community-based rituals. The emphasis in Christian prayer is relationship with God and with one’s neighbors.

In mosque ritual the kinetic aspects of bowing and praying in tandem with others have distinctive effects on brain and mood. I experienced these results myself, without having internalized the belief system. In Islam, it’s about behavior shaping belief.

Bowing and touching your head to the ground repeatedly instills a sense of capitulation and surrender of the will. As a student of yoga I compare it to the Downward Facing Dog position. However, in Islamic ritual, this movement is accompanied by chanting Arabic of Koranic scripture, followed by a “religious rap” of one’s head on the ground.

[Dymphna asks: Don’t you wonder whether the resulting forehead bruise (known as a zebiba), repeated exactly on the section of the cranium protecting the frontal lobes — that part of our brain concerned with higher thought and discernment — takes its toll eventually? No doubt it’s a sign of Islamic holiness.]

The repeated rhythmic lowering of head to ground has different results from other religions’ prayer forms. I have experienced the kinetic affect of Christian prayer, Muslim prayer and Yoga; each one seems to have its own affect on the brain.

Christian prayer directs the mind-body movement upwards, leading to an individual and uplifted energized experience. When Christians bow their heads it is voluntary — or as you put it so well, Dymphna, “obedience is not submission”. For Christians this sign can be directed out toward others, as a sign our mutual coexistence in community.

Muslim prayer primarily directs us downward. Think of bowing to the king in subservience — or, in this case, submission to Allah. Finishing the prayer cycle, I was standing level-headed, my energy redirected now to confront the non-believer. The once a week group prayer unifies this outward energy.

No wonder this form of prayer was a common activity before battle! It is not individual spiritual cleansing but group movement outward to conquer. This is why mass street prayer is occurring in Paris and other European cities. It is not just about the public message of dominance; more importantly it is what they’ve done and said to themselves. This is a preparation for the street battles to come.

Yoga, on the other hand, has an entirely different effect on the mind and body. The “effort without effort” brings you to a balance which results in a receptive, open state. Is this why we don’t see yogi suicide bombers? [Note: we do see self-immolators but it’s not the same as taking others with you — D]

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[An Arabic phrase failed to come through our email here — D] “Wudhoo” or ritualistic cleaning before prayer includes saying “Oh Allah I seek protection in you from the male and female devil”; then you step with the left foot. After moving through the steps and considering their effects, I believe these ritual cleansing behaviors had a practical military outcome in better hygiene and less disease among the troops.

The major killer of soldiers in ancient times was not the battlefield but widespread dysentery. Having now done these ritual cleansings many times, I’m convinced they would have resulted in an increase in general hygiene. To wash five times a day your hands, feet, face, ears and mouth means you’re less likely to spread disease. When water is not available, hot sand is used instead — for hands and feet, anyway — as a sterilizer and abrasive for removing organic material which might be a source of pathogens.

So the overall effect of Muslim prayer is:

  • to destroy the free will of the individual through those daily rituals.
  • Friday group prayers to focus hostility toward non-believers.
  • The improvement of group hygiene through daily washing is an excellent way to stay united and prepared for war, or
  • to exclude the unclean while encouraging hostility toward outsiders.

No wonder Muslims have had hostile relations with host communities. Through long practice, their rituals and prayers program them to act this way.

To free them, then, we must discourage or prevent those aspects of their religion that keep their free will out of commission.



While I haven’t the discipline or opportunity to do what João is doing (or the gender — being male helps one pass less noticed), his experience is one I can share vicariously. Since he knows experientially the results of three different esoteric practices, he has changed his orientation towards Islam. Thus he can direct his future actions more deliberately than would have been the case before he took on his anthropological exploration.

John Boyd would have approved.

Monetizing Our Way to Bankruptcy

Silver Certificate


I reported last night on ACT! for America’s legislative briefing that took place at the Capitol on June 23rd. During a break between speakers that morning I happened to encounter a well-known Republican congressman in the corridor, and had a brief chat with him.

This congressman is a real fiscal conservative. I had met him on previous occasions, and highly respect him. He’s been in Congress for a while, but has managed to hang on to his principles. If the rest of Congress were like him — even if just the rest of the Republicans were like him — the country might not be careening towards financial disaster.

During the presentations that morning several speakers had mentioned the national debt, and how crucial debt reduction is for our national security. They cited the current figure of $14.1 trillion, emphasizing this unacceptably huge accumulation of debt.

And it is unacceptably huge. But the actual national debt is far larger than the official figure. Even if we assume that we won’t borrow more money — which we cannot avoid, since the sluggish economy and depleted tax revenues will force us to raise the debt ceiling just to meet the interest payments on the existing debt — our current debt is much higher. If Congress and the president were honest, they would add in our obligation to the Social Security “trust fund”, which now contains nothing but IOUs. If those were included, how many more trillion dollars would be added to the national debt?

And then there are the unfunded federal pensions, the expected steep increase in Medicare and Medicaid (with or without Obamacare), the possible future bailouts of bankrupt states like California, and on and on. The actual debt is many trillions of dollars higher than the official figure, and getting higher every day.

With all that in mind, I approached the congressman, shook his hand, and told him how much I appreciated his work. I emphasized that the criticism I was about to voice was not directed at him.

Then I said:

“They’ve been talking about the national debt in there, and how it has to be reduced. But it’s grown so large now that it can’t possibly be paid off.

“No matter how much we raise taxes or cut spending, there’s no way it can be done, not without inflating the currency.”

His facial expression became very somber and serious, and he replied:

“You’re right. We’re going to have to monetize the debt. There’s no other way.

“It’s a terrible thing. It will be disastrous.

“God help this country.”

Then he had to go, and I had to go, so we shook hands again, said our goodbyes, and parted company.

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I’m an amateur on economic issues, and also a paranoid crank when it comes to the Fed, the currency, and the national debt. I realize the extent of my crankdom, however, so I refrain from buttonholing strangers on the topic, and tend to rant and rave only to my wife and close friends.

So this was a rare validation of my own idiosyncratic conclusions. A congressman of some years’ experience, who sits on various committees that oversee fiscal matters, says without hesitation that the national debt will have to be monetized.

The magnitude of what this means to the future of United States of America is difficult to imagine. There is no historical precedent for what is about to happen, so the consequences can’t be fully predicted. There has never been a single world reserve currency before, and now it is on the verge of being massively inflated.

Anyone who says he knows what is going to happen is pulling your leg.

Morgan Dollar


Since our banknotes can no longer be redeemed for anything of permanent value, the purchasing power of the dollar depends entirely on how much faith our creditors place in the dollar reserves they hold. That faith is rapidly disappearing: the Chinese have divested themselves of about 95% of their treasury notes. In other words, our biggest creditor has realized that we can no longer be expected to make good on all our debts, and is prudently refusing to loan us any more money.

Without enough new lenders, the only solution for us is to monetize the debt, a process which used to be known as “printing money”. In an age of universal electronic transactions, however, it is no longer necessary to crank up the printing presses at the Treasury Department. We have much more creative ways to increase our dollar holdings, and “quantitative easing” is simply the latest strategy. Now that QE2 has been retired, our government will no doubt come up with some ingenious new stratagem to acquire more cash without access to additional reserves having actual value.

Based on our level of debt, the dollar must lose 80%-90% of its current value, and possibly more, before the national debt is paid down to a reasonable level. This process has already begun, but it’s hard to recognize, because the three other major world currencies — the pound, the euro, and the yen — are also being inflated. If you want to see signs of the coming inflation, watch the prices of silver and gold. Or consider the value of the Norwegian kroner and the Swiss franc, which are rising against the other currencies.

Who will bear the brunt of the coming inflation?

Needless to say, the very rich will likely escape the worst of the consequences. They will hedge their assets, acquire non-perishable commodities, and retreat to safe locations where they can wait out any civil unrest.

The working poor, who live from paycheck to paycheck, will not see as much change as most of the rest of us, provided that they manage to remain employed.

People on fixed incomes — the elderly, the disabled, welfare recipients, etc. — will be hard-hit. Our government has already gamed the cost-of-living index so that the real rate of inflation will far exceed the official level that drives the annual increases in pensions and benefits.

The middle class will presumably bear a disproportionate burden. The real value of 401(k)s, mutual funds, and most pensions is likely to plummet, and the scythe of unemployment will cut down many “symbolic analyst” positions. As the purchasing power of the middle class evaporates, what will happen to the rest of the national economy, which depends so heavily on consumer spending?

Tough times lie ahead. If Iran doesn’t hit us with an EMP, our government may have to sell off a big chunk of federal real estate to the Chinese, or lease them the mineral rights to all our national parklands. Or devise some other creative last-ditch strategy that I can’t think of.

I’m not predicting when any of this will happen — I’ve learned my lesson over the last three years: the Fed and the Treasury Department can display enormous ingenuity when staving off the inevitable.

Yet it has to happen. There’s no avoiding it. The debt will be monetized.

It may occur in six months, or two years, or five years.

But the change will come — and relatively soon.

Flemish Independence: The Vlaams Belang Position

Map of Flanders


The following position paper on the independence of Flanders was sent to us by Gerolf Annemans of Vlaams Belang.



Flemish independence

Abstract of party position

Vlaams Belang strives for the dissolution of the Belgian state. The division of the Scandinavian Union into Norway and Sweden (1905), the division of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia (1992) and the recent independence of Montenegro (2006) prove that it is possible to dissolve a state and become independent in a peaceful, democratic and internationally accepted way.

The right to self-determination

The right to self-determination has been repeatedly and explicitly acknowledged, for example in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), the Helsinki Final Act (1975) and in the final declaration of the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna (1993). The right to self-determination is universal, on a moral and a judicial level.

Why independence?

There are enormous cultural and political differences between Flemings and Walloons. Flanders and Wallonia are actually two completely different countries. Decent policy-making is impossible in Belgium: The Belgian governments are paralyzed by the ongoing disputes between Flemish and Walloon politicians, who disagree about almost everything. Security, justice, social and economic policy, immigration and asylum, tax law and foreign policy: There is no consensus on any of these issues. The Flemish solutions are flatly opposed to those of the Walloons. Flemish independence is a matter of principle for Vlaams Belang, but also an absolute necessity for an effective and efficient policy. Flanders already has a Flemish parliament with its own (limited) authority. This parliament could easily become the legitimate representation of the independent Flemish state.

Small but prosperous

When Flanders and Wallonia become sovereign states, twelve countries in the European Union will still be smaller than Flanders , even six that will be smaller than Wallonia . With its (more than) six million inhabitants and its internationally oriented economy, Flanders will belong to the group of small, prosperous countries, such as Ireland (3,7 million inhabitants), Norway (4,4 million), Finland (5,2 million), Denmark (5,3 million), Switzerland (7,1 million), Austria (8,1 million) and Sweden (8,9 million). There are very strong economic arguments in favor of Flemish independence. For example, Flanders produces three-quarters of the Belgian gross domestic product (GDP). It also counts for more than 80% of Belgian exportations. When it comes to the gross domestic product per capita, Flanders does better than other countries such as Germany, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Ireland, Finland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

Flemish money in Flemish hands

Vlaams Belang wants to stop the compulsory and opaque flow of money from Flanders to Wallonia – at least 12,68 billion euros each year. This way, the Flemish people lose more than 7% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which makes it probably the world’s biggest contribution to another community. Stopping the Flemish flow of money would force the Walloon government to take responsibility, and would give the Walloon economy an important boost, comparable to the great economic progress Slovakia made after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Our party is in favor of solidarity with other nations, but in a European context, in which the wealthier countries take measures in favor of the less wealthy. This solidarity should always be voluntary, transparent, negotiated and of course efficient and controlled.

Prominent people in favor of independence

In economic circles, more and more people realize that it is time for Flemish independence. At the end of 2005 already, Flemish captains of industry wrote an extensive manifesto, in which they pleaded for the division of the Belgian state. Among these prominent Flemish people that spoke up for a Flemish state are Herman De Bode (top executive of consulting firm McKinsey), René De Feyter (former director of the “Vlaams Economisch Verbond,” a Flemish employers’ organization and lobbying group), Manu Ruys (former editor in chief of the Flemish newspaper “De Standaard”), Guido Naets (journalist and former spokesman of the European Parliament), Frans Crols (director of the leading business magazine “Trends”) and Remi Vermeiren (former top executive of KBC, the third largest bank holding company in Belgium). These people prove that the Belgian form of government holds back economic development and keeps us from securing our prosperity. The Belgian establishment has never managed to refute this well-founded manifesto.

After Belgium – The Orderly Split-Up Synopsis

This English translation of the recent (2010) Vlaams Belang book is neither a political nor a polemical monograph. The political background of the authors suggests the contrary, but from the start – since the first initiatives for the O2-colloquium of 30 January 2010 – the authors wanted to provide inspiration for the inevitable debate on the dissolution of the Belgian federacy. Of course, this debate will take a political course. At the moment, however, it is still in its early stages. However, there is one very specific political angle: our reply on arguments that the dissolution of the Belgian Union and the foundation of a Flemish state (as a member state of the European Union, of course) would lead to so-called ‘revolutionary situations’ or even ‘chaos’. In their book, the authors explain that there is an alternative after the Belgian model has completed collapsed, there is a ‘Plan B’: the Orderly Split-Up of Belgium.

Chapter 1 gives an historical look on the creation of new states in the 20th century. This is a useful and instructive exercise, even if some cases cannot be compared to the situation in Belgium and cannot serve as an example for the orderly dismemberment of the country. This analysis needs to make the readers realize that founding a new state is not exceptional or rare. Even in modern times, states can be dismembered. This chapter shows that the creation of new states has been an important international tendency during the past 100 years. It also tells what we can learn from these examples from the past.

Chapter 2 is devoted to the modern concept of ‘states’ and to the principles (in the international community and the international literature) along which new states come into existence. There are classical, modern and even postmodern views on the essence of ‘states’ and their purpose. We make clear that the dismemberment of Belgium and the foundation of an independent Flanders is in accordance with these theories and even is a logical consequence of these views. The more recent theories also indicate that Flanders has strong international trumps.

This chapter shows the importance of international recognition. We do not want to found an isolated, unworldly state. All prejudices about an independent Flanders are refuted, such as institutional chaos, economic disasters, the loss of Brussels and even outbursts of violence. With well-founded arguments, the authors show that a Flemish state can be founded in a decent and orderly way. This means: within the margins of the constitutional state, even if this state is in crisis and special measures need to be taken. This chapter also pays attention to the membership of the European Union. This chapter also gives an overview of the advantages for Flanders with regard to the generally accepted instrument of ‘uti possidetis iuris’ (UPI: especially important regarding Brussels) and gives a summary of the various principles of dismemberment. In chapter four, these principles are put into practice.

In the following chapter, we applied the general principles on succession of states on the difficult questions relating to the failing state of Belgium, a country that is in constant crisis since 2007. We start with a detailed analysis of the community role of the Christian democrats during the last decades. This is necessary to understand the current crisis. Since Yves Leterme came into play, community problems have seriously increased, because the francophone federalism obstructed the ‘classic role’ of the Flemish Christian democrats: to represent the ‘undercurrent’ in Flemish society. For now, the N-VA has succeeded in becoming the new political emanation of this undercurrent. The undercurrent, however, does not confuse actual statesmanship with solving the Belgian chaos. Because of this institutional crisis, the Flemish people have understood the necessity of a ‘Plan B’. This is an important warning for all political parties. That is why we have drawn up a detailed strategic agenda of the Orderly Split-Up. At first, we zoom in on the sense and nonsense of further Belgian state reforms, in which we make a clear distinction with Flemish nationalists who are in favor of such state reforms. That’s why we developed a strategy for the termination of the Belgian structures, the ‘click and boomerang tactic’, in response to the francophone federalism of obstruction. We have also investigated the future of Brussels (in which the Flemish-Brussels unity, which is guaranteed by the UPI-instrument, is very important), the ‘double approach’ (first the declaration of sovereignty and then the declaration of independence), the importance of international recognition and the Advice of the International Court of Justice (more specifically with regard to Kosovo), the analysis of the concept of ‘compromise’ with regard to the final negotiations, the Constitution of the Flemish republic, organizing or avoiding a referendum, the recognition of the Minority Treaty and the central role of the Flemish Parliament, as well in the transitional phase as in the further development of the constitutional state.

Chapter 4 holds a large inventory of the federal properties. The principles of the split-up are applied to these assets, of course with the international recognition and the practical situation in mind. This results automatically in an orderly ‘dedramatization’ of this question.

The last pages of the book (chapter 5) are devoted to a conclusion which calls for urgency and increased activity on the international forum. The book also holds a glossary and an important number of notes which show that everything is based on scientific sources and factual findings.

Gerolf Annemans
MP Vlaams Belang

Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/26/2011

Gates of Vienna News Feed 6/26/2011Hugo Chavez’ allies in Venezuela lashed out today at the critics of the dictator — who has been incommunicado in Cuba for the last two weeks while undergoing medical treatment — saying that those who question the health of Mr. Chavez are ghouls “dreaming of his death”.

In other news, an eight-year-old girl was used as a suicide bomber in Pakistan by the Taliban, in an attempt to blow up a police vehicle. The police officers were only injured, however, and the child was the sole fatality in the incident.

Meanwhile, a couple in Norway protested deforestation by having sex at the altar during a service at Oslo Cathedral, while an accomplice took photographs. All three were arrested.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Dave, DT, Fjordman, JD, LAW Wells, Mary Abdelmassih, Salome, Steen, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

Fjordman: Edward Said and the Myth of Eurocentrism

While I was away last week, Fjordman took a brief sabbatical from his “Human Accomplishment” series and posted an essay at Europe News about Edward Said and “Eurocentrism”. Some excerpts are below:

In his book Orientalism from 1978, Edward Said slammed what he considered to be the “racist ethnocentrism” of Europeans. Said argued that Western stereotypes of the “Orient” and Asia date back to ancient Greece. The only problem with Said’s claim is that it is utterly false, as is the entire basic premise of his book.

Probably all nations in the world are “ethnocentric” to some degree. This is not a specifically “European” quality; it is a human one. If anything, Europeans have not infrequently proved to be less ethnocentric than many other cultures.

The conclusion we can draw from these examples is this: Most Asian nations, and probably most nations elsewhere in the world, too, were simply too subjective and too ethnocentric to invent comparative linguistics. Treating their own language on the same level as those of alien peoples was mentally impossible and just wasn’t done.

Contrast this with the genuine curiosity, openness and much more objective attitude displayed by linguists such as William Jones and we realize that Europeans invented comparative linguistics because they were the least ethnocentric of the major civilizations. It is likely that this heritage of greater scholarly objectivity was a major contributing factor to the emergence of modern science in Europe.

Needless to say, this insight completely blows away the main arguments presented in Edward Said’s Orientalism. The entire basic premise of his book is wrong and can easily be shown to be so. It is unfortunate that he and his disciples have been allowed to spread demonization and falsehoods against European and Western scholars for so many years relatively unchallenged.

Read the rest at Europe News.

Legislative Priorities

ACT for America logo


Last Thursday morning I attended ACT! for America’s legislative briefing in the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. ACT once again invited legislators from both parties to speak to its assembled members and take questions, but for some reason only Republicans accepted the invitation.

Funny about that.

One senator and six congressmen spoke to us that morning. Two of the congressmen were freshmen from the “Tea Party” Class of 2010. Trent Franks, Sue Myrick, Louie Gohmert, and Pete King spoke to us last year; the other three were new to me. I’ll discuss their presentations in the order they were given.

Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ)Trent Franks (R-AZ), in the House since 2003

Rep. Franks is a stalwart conservative. If all Republicans were like him, I might consider calling myself a Republican.

He is currently sponsoring a number of bills that are dear to the hearts of ACT! for America members — and to everyone else in the American Counterjihad. One focus of his talk was the danger of Iranian nuclear weapons, which he considers the most serious threat to American national security.

His greatest concern is the risk of a deliberately induced EMP (electromagnetic pulse) caused by a nuclear weapon detonated high over the continental United States, which could destroy the electrical grid and all unprotected electronic devices. The likely result would be to catapult the country back into an early 19th century level of technology, causing millions of deaths through starvation and disease. There’s no doubt that Iran would attempt an EMP attack if it were to gain the capability.

Rep. Franks has introduced the Shield Act (HR668), which will secure the electrical grid and power systems against EMP attacks.

Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC)Sue Myrick (R-NC), in the House since 1995

Rep. Myrick is a dedicated anti-jihad activist who has extensive knowledge of the threat posed by the Islamic infiltration of America. She spoke at length about Al Qaeda, and discussed the apparent leadership struggle after Osama bin Laden’s death. Although Anwar al-Awlaki is reportedly vying with Ayman al-Zawahiri for control of the terrorist organization, she believes that their conflict is largely for show, and that Zawahiri is really pulling the strings.

She also discussed Pakistan, and the symbiosis between the ISI (Pakistan’s intelligence service) with various Al Qaeda affiliates.

Other topics covered were the use of “lawfare” by the Muslim Brotherhood as a weapon in the American court system, and the danger posed by Iranian nuclear weapons.

From my point of view, Ms. Myrick stumbled on the subject of Europe. She said that Europe had been funding Islamic radicals with connections to terrorist groups, but had recently changed course. Presumably she was basing her statement on recent news reports from the UK, in which the government admitted that it had funneled some £60 million to groups espousing extremist or Salafist ideologies. At the moment Mr. Cameron is still floundering, and can hardly be said to have changed course in any meaningful way.

The situation varies in other countries, with Denmark and Switzerland leading the way with sensible policies, and Sweden and Norway bringing up the rear with their tolerance and even support of the most vile Islamic groups. Only the Dutch could be said to be in the process of changing course, thanks to Geert Wilders.

After hearing Rep. Myrick’s views, Elisabeth and I were hoping to have a chance to brief someone on the congresswoman’s staff about the European situation, but she and her team were not at the luncheon that followed the legislative presentations.

Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC)Jeff Duncan (R-SC), in the House since 2011

I really took a liking to the two Tea Party freshmen. These are guys from red states, and both are still full of enthusiasm and dedication. Rep. Duncan focused on the need for energy security in the United States, and the necessity of making full use of our existing energy resources to reduce our dependence on Islamic oil.

He also discussed the importance of border security, decrying the porous nature of our southern border and the failure to enforce our immigration laws. Given the fact that Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas are known to be infiltrating people into the USA through Mexico, it’s vital that we impose a full seal on the border so that all arrivals can be closely monitored and screened.

Like some of the other congressmen, Rep. Duncan spoke of the difference between radical Islam or “Islamism”(the ideology) and Islam (the religion). His audience would have none of it, however — a number of us loudly informed him that there was no distinction between Islam and Islamism, and kept repeating it until he had to acknowledge our point. I don’t think he was used to speaking to groups in which such sentiments could be publicly voiced.

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS)Mike Pompeo (R-KS), in the House since 2011

Rep. Pompeo is also a freshman, and spent some time discussing the threat of Islamic infiltration. He is a graduate of West Point — first in his class, if I recall correctly — and talked about the problems posed by the prevalence of political correctness in the military.

As with Rep. Duncan, his enthusiasm and dedication to the task he faces showed through strongly.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)John Barrasso (R-WY), in the Senate since 2008

Sen. Barrasso is from a shale oil state, so it was no surprise that he focused on the imperative to utilize the domestic oil resources that we already have instead of importing more Middle Eastern oil. Besides shale oil, he mentioned ANWR, offshore reserves, and other sources that remain untapped.

Like some of the other speakers, he pointed out the absurdity of Barack Obama’s promotion of offshore drilling in Brazil, even while his administration denies the same opportunity to American oil companies along the coastlines of the United States.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)Louie Gohmert (R-TX), in the House since 2005

Rep. Gohmert has a wry sense of humor, and managed to make his presentation amusing and entertaining, even though his topic — the infiltration of the United States by the Muslim Brotherhood — was such a serious one.

He used a couple of anecdotes from his days as a state court judge in Texas to launch a discussion of the Holy Land Foundation trial, and highlighted the significance of the unindicted co-conspirators named during that trial: CAIR, ISNA, MPAC, IIIT, ADC, and all the rest of the alphabet soup of Muslim Brotherhood fronts that pretend to be “charities” and “civil rights organizations” when operating in America.

Rep. Pete King (R-NY)Pete King (R-NY), in the House since 1993

Rep. King, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, was unavailable for the morning session, but he joined us during the luncheon at the Capitol Hill Club and gave his talk then.

Not surprisingly, his main topic was his committee hearings on Islamic radicalism in the United States. His most recent set of hearings concerned the radicalization of inmates in American prisons, which gained immediate relevance last week, when two former prisoners — who had become zealots while doing time — were arrested for planning a terror attack on a military recruiting center in Seattle. If they had not tried to recruit an FBI informant for their conspiracy, they could well have succeeded in their attack and killed a large number of people.

Rep. King said that the state prison systems are the main problem. The feds have mostly tightened up on Muslim chaplains and prayer services in the federal prison system, and the states need to adopt the federal procedures as a model for their own systems.

When prompted by a question from the audience, he acknowledged the problem posed by the dozens of rural Jamaat ul-Fuqra compounds across the United States, most of whose members were recruited through proselytization in the American prison system.

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Not long after Pete King spoke to our lunch crowd, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolf took the microphone to bring ACT members up to date on the latest news of her trial. She explained that since the last time they saw her, she had been convicted and fined in a Vienna courtroom. She told them she intends to appeal the verdict all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, if necessary.

Later in the afternoon she and I paid a visit to Rep. Allen West (R-FL) in his office in the Longworth building just across the street from our lunch venue. I’ll report on that memorable occasion in a separate post.