The United Notions


Pax Vobiscum!

Thanks to Apollon Zamp for the idea for this graphic.




The United Notions is the successor to the —

League of Notions

I’m here sitting in the wreck of Europe
With a map of Europe
Spread out in a hall of Versailles
And every single nationality and principality
have come for a piece of the pie

I’m sitting in the wreck of Europe
With a map of Europe
And the lines and the borders are gone
We’ve got to do this jigsaw puzzle
It’s an awful muddle
But somehow we’ve got to go on

Lawrence of Arabia is waiting in the wings
He’s got some Arab sheikhs and kings
And we’re in debt to them somehow
Lawrence of Arabia has got this perfect vision
Gonna sell him down the river
There’s no time for him now

I think I’m gonna take a piece of Russia
And a Piece of Germany
And give them to Poland again
I’ll put together Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia
And hope that is how they’ll remain

Then I’ll take a bit of Turkey
Then a lot of Turkey
This is all quite a heady affair
There’s Persia and Iraq to pick up
And there’s Churchill’s hiccup
And we can’t leave it up in the air

Woodrow Wilson waves his fourteen points around
And says “The time to act is now
Won’t get this opportunity again”
Woodrow Wilson has his fourteen points
But Clemenceau turns to Lloyd George
And says “You know that
God himself had only ten”

Today I’m carried by a league of notions
(It’s a league of notions)
By a league of notions
I don’t think I quite understand
(I don’t think I understand)
I only know from this commotion
(From this commotion)
There’s a chance that we could turn
The world in the palm of our hands
(We can turn the world in the palm of our hands)

Voices in the corridors of power
Candles burning hour by hour
Still you know that to the victors go the spoils
Such a great responsibility to make it fair
And there must be some reparations now
And don’t forget the oil

Today I’m carried by a league of notions
(It’s a league of notions)
By a league of notions
I don’t think I quite understand
(I don’t think I understand)
I only know from this commotion
(From this commotion)
There’s a chance that we could turn
The world in the palm of our hands
(We can turn the world in the palm of our hands)

Pax vobiscum
Wo-Oh, Pax vobiscum

Al Stewart, from Between the Wars

Big Brother Flexes His Muscles in India

Gates of Vienna hasn’t written on the 7/11 Mumbai bombings just yet. Though intensely interested in the struggle against Great Jihad on the subcontinent, I know so little about the background to the bombings that I don’t feel qualified to write on the topic. I have kept up with The Hindustan Times, noting that the ISI seems to be behind the atrocity (no surprise there), and have continued to absorb information about it.

Then over this past weekend I read in a blog somewhere the alarming news that Indian ISPs were blocking access to blogspot and other blog-hosting sites, using 7/11 as a pretext. In one of Monday’s posts, our regular Indian commenter Ik left the following note:

Frieze on the temple at KhajurSorry for the OT Baron, You won’t be getting bloggers from India now.

India blocks Blogger, TypeAd and Geocities blogs and websites

Post 7/11, Govt targets ‘extreme’ websites, bloggers on the blink

The government of India is using 7/11 as an excuse to block all blogs specifically nationalist blogs. Note that you can still access all jihadi and communist web sites from India.

This is exactly as predicted by the earlier Fjordman article — Soft Totalitarianism moving to Hard Totalitarianism as the Congress Party and the leftists/communists lose control over the news cycle and propaganda.

From Ik’s first link, Moneycontrol:

The Indian Government has issued an order to all Indian ISPs for a ban on various blogging sites. While no official release has been made on this front, the reasons being attributed to this ban range from it being a preventive measure to stop sleeper terrorist cells from accessing instructions contained in blogs, to a new measure to try and control the spread of information through blogs. The order was issued by Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The known list of blocked domains is *.blogspot.com, *.typepad.com and geocities.com/*.

It leads me to wonder if this is a case of ISPs overreacting, which would not be the first. Three years ago, they had rather zealously blocked groups.yahoo.com in a similar manner when all they wanted to actually do was to block a particular group. As of now most of the large ISPs have already complied with the DoT order and a large population of Indian bloggers has been cut off from their own blogs. Keep checking back here, as we will post more news on this story whenever available.

And from The Indian Express:

The fast-growing community of online bloggers has borne the brunt of the government’s decision to block some 20 websites in a post-Mumbai show of force. Some of the websites that have been blocked are Dalitstan.org, Clickatell.com, Hinduhumanrights.org and Hinduunity.com.

But the most harried Internet users were the bloggers, who couldn’t access Blogspot.com, Typepad.com or Geocities.com pages. Sources in ISPs in Delhi as well as Mumbai confirmed that the one blog government has asked them to block is Princesskimberly.blogspot.com.

It seems the order posed technical problems, resulting in a blanket ban on all blogs. ‘‘You cannot block a single page on blogspot.com, which is why all of them are getting blocked,’’ said Neha Viswanathan, Regional Editor, South Asia, Globalvoicesonline.org from London.

The Indian order was issued on July 13, sources in the Ministry of Telecom confirmed, though the Computer Emergency Response Team (India), part of a global cyber-security network set up three years ago, did not announce the bans officially.

Only sources in several ISPs such as Spectranet and Airtel confirmed that they had received the site-blocking order. R Grewal, a spokesperson for Spectranet confirmed: ‘‘We received a list of over 20 websites to block from the Department of Telecom, and this (Blogspot.com) was one of them.’’

Apparently, all the websites blocked are said to express “extreme religious views.”

MTNL officials said they were handed a 22-page document detailing the sites to block a month ago. “It came from the National Informatics Centre (NIC). It was the first time that they had done something of this nature,’’ says RH Sharma, sub-divisional engineer for MTNL in Delhi.

Government sources confirmed late in the evening that some websites have been blocked based on police reports that they were fuelling hatred. They denied that the Mumbai blasts had anything to do with censorship and that security checks on the blocked sites were on since before the terrorist attacks.

But the ban hasn’t been a complete success: later on Monday Gates of Vienna started receiving referrals from Bharat Rakshak, an Indian Defense portal, on whose forums I often lurk and occasionally comment. Contributor Mihir had posted the following:

Carl in Jerusalem is live-blogging the situation as it unfolds.

Hat tip — Gates of Vienna

All links have been “anonymoused” because of the blocking of blogger by ISPs in India

If you look at the links to Carl and Gates of Vienna, you’ll notice that the domain is “anonymouse.org” and the URLs for the forbidden blogs are thus concealed from Big Brother’s robots. Three days after the Wall of Silence went up, India was already getting messages through it.

DesipunditDesipundit is the place I go to see what’s happening on the Indian blogs. Sure enough, they had a sticky post at the top of their blog reporting on the effects of the ban and asking readers to send in more information. Bloggers were already forming consortiums and had created a Public Wiki to pool information about how to get around the ban (the anonymouse strategy was one of those mentioned). Below is a snapshot of the complete post from sometime yesterday; it has probably been updated since then. I’ve included all the links so you can explore the wealth of the Indian blogosphere:

Is Blogspot.com being blocked by some ISPs in India? While it’s highly unlikely, and maybe some local servers are down. (Do they have local servers?) — Mridula says

Now I know I am speculating but it makes me very very irritated to think that our government might be playing some hanky panky with blog sites? The other possibility is that Blogger messed it up only in India? I would love it if it is the second possibility but I think there is a very slim chance of that. I can only hope that there is an innocent explanation to it.

If you are in India, can you please head over here, and just tell me if you can access Blogspot.com and what ISP you are on?

Update#1: Amit at Digital Inspiration has a [partial] list of Indian ISPs that seem to be blocking Blogspot and offers several solutions to get around the block.

We are waiting on news to confirm if it indeed was a Ministry of Communications directive that made these ISPs block the site. Let us know if you find out either way.

Update#2: Abi calls up one of the ISP call centres. IF you cannot access blogspot or typepad domain (despite your connection being robust etc.) please go here and add details regarding your ISP and their contact details.

A very comprehensive guide on how you can go about seeking information under the Right to Information Act, including a draft letter you can send off to the Public Information Officer for the Department of IT here.

Saket writes about the Indian Government doing a Big Brother. Shivam posts on his experience — calling up a government official. Dina shares the mail she wrote to CERT-IN and her ISP. It appears that some ISPs have also blocked Typepad.com and Geocities.com.

Update#3: Things are picking up fast now, a Bloggers Collective has been formed to tackle this issue, and the email discussion can be followed on the web. A Public Wiki has also been created to collate the information on the issue. Readers are requested to add to it.

Update# 4: There is a word from sources that mainstream media will be soon picking up on the issue. Shivam Vij does a rediff article on the issue. BoingBoing has pickes up the issue. So does Mercury News Blog. And by the way, you can also digg it (1, 2, 3).

Other international and popular blogger who have written about it are Michelle Malkin, Wayne Porter, Sean Sirrine, and Jon Lebkowsky. Anna at Sepia Mutiny blogs about the issue and keep a watch on the comments thread. I am sure some dimwits (already one present) will be harping on appropriateness of the government’s actions.

Update#5: Dhoomketu writes an open letter to DoT (yup! on Blogspot) thanking them for showing that Livejournal and WordPress are insignificant blog platforms.

Web Pro News picks up the story.

After the Blogspot ban, what’s next in the ‘to ban’ list to “save” us from terror?

Ethan Zuckerman sadly says that India has joined an ‘elite’ club; something we could have done without. Vijay Rao seems to suggest that the block is enforced only in cities and rural internet connectivity seems to be fine.

Update#6: More MSM stories are trickling in: Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Financial Express, The Blog Herald, The Economic Times, Business Standard, DNA, NDTV, The Times of India, CNN-IBN[1], CNN-IBN[2], Mid-Day[generic], Rediff[2], Host Review, and New Statesman, New York Times.

Greatbong lists important lessons learnt from the ban on Blogspot.

Slashdot has the story with an unfortunate headline that I never thought I would read.

Update# 7: Amit Varma at Guardian’s Comment is Free says “this move by the government is just an attempt to appear to be doing something, and displays their ineptness.”

Because fighting government censorship is hard, we need a moment to lighten up and laugh a little [hat tip: Ammani].

It’s inspiring to read through the information on Desipundit; it opens a window on all those dedicated and intelligent people in India who are determined to preserve their free speech. Since India has wealth of technical talent, including computer engineers, programmers, web developers, and hackers, it’s doubtful that their government can suppress them for long.

We’re fortunate that so many people in India blog in English, so that we can drop in and see what’s going on.

The Chinese government imposes even more severe repression on the internet, with the active collaboration of Google and Yahoo. But the Chinese blogosphere is less easily accessible to us in the West — I wonder if the ever-resourceful Chinese are as successful at circumventing Big Brother as are their counterparts in India?

Of Hate Mail and the Hymen Industry

Gates of Vienna doesn’t get much hate mail, so it’s always a thrill to open up a screed that drools down the page. Take this snippet from an epistle in today’s mailbag:

Put simply, I say to you, that you are ignorant, racist, Zionist bastards. My initial quarrel is with your perception of the religion of Islam. As Americans you no doubt have the utmost contempt for anyone who chooses to go against you [sic] screwed up, Nazi culture and live their own way of life. Many or most Americans, in my experience, claim not to be racist since they do not jusdge [sic] based on racial differences. I put it to you that you do, however, discriminate based upon religion and culture. Just because a woman decides to protect her modesty she is being crushed by the ideals of men? Surely if men had their way, and theirs alone, women would go around wearing very little at all.

Now this would have been a stronger essay had he made his opening salvo into a separate paragraph of one eye-catching sentence. Those ad feminemae would have stood taller had they been forced to fire from their own little fortified island at the beginning. As it is though, the subsequent verbiage buries his virile first statement beneath a veritable waterfall of spittled rage and thus peters out. So to speak.

Such a shame they quit teaching children how to write. The Headmistress would never let one of her pupils get away with this kind of essay. Come to think of it, neither would Sister Benignus, not even in her dotage.

So, Mr. Hate Email, a C+ for you — and I’m being kind, at that. You lost points for making one paragraph out of divers thoughts and subjects. In addition, the “you” in front of “screwed up, Nazi culture” would make more syntactical sense as “your screwed up, etc.” Lastly, I’m not certain your ultimate jibe in this paragraph doesn’t tend toward the lewd and lascivious, mentioning as it does scantily-clad women. However, despite the pedestrian style of your screed, we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt there, since you so nicely lead into the real subject of this post, which is hymens — a subject vital to the non-Zionists among us, mostly for reasons of health and safety.

Several weeks ago Planck’s Constant had post up entitled “Why There Are Only 72 Virgins in Heaven.” The title alone intrigued me, given all those thousands of virgin martyrs, men and women, that the Catholic Church is carrying on the books even now. Hmm…were we thinking of the same heavenly space here?

As it turned out, we weren’t. Planck’s Constant had found an MSM article, “Young Muslim women in Europe go to extremes to be virgins — again.” (see his site for the link). This “news” featured the usual MSM victim-seeking missiles, of which the following is an example:

Chastity can exact a painful price from young Muslim women, forced into lies or surgery to go to the marriage bed as virgins. Hymen repair, fake virginity certificates and other deceptions, said to be commonplace in some Muslim countries, are practiced in France and elsewhere in Europe, where Muslim girls are more emancipated but still live under rigid codes of family honor.

Such ploys have saved many a young woman from scorn and worse. But they also clash with the more liberal social mores of France and Europe, where some decry it as an attack on human rights.

Oh, for pity’s sake. Over here in America, with our screwed up Nazi culture, any Muslim woman can sneak into a doctor’s office on her lunch hour and quicker than you can say “laser”, why, zap! hymen restored. Not only that, but she can put it on her credit card or sign up for one of their usurious loan schemes.

Check these sites out, or google your own under “hymen rejuvenation”:

You could try Women’s Liberty Health Care. Here, they lay it on the line—

We perform expert hymen repair surgery (hymenoplasty, hymenorrhaphy) or restoration of the hymenal ring in our clean, comfortable, ultra-modern private OB/GYN office.

The hymenal ring normally gets disrupted after a woman has had sexual intercourse or even after strenuous physical activity or tampon use. Sometimes, for cultural or other personal reasons (for example, an upcoming marriage), a woman would like to restore a more intact, tighter hymenal ring.…( let’s call it what it is, why don’t we? “A life-saving procedure.” Cultural reasons, indeed! How discreet of you, doctor.)

Using a special surgical technique, we can repair and tighten the hymen to a more intact, virgin-like state in most patients. Because of a wide variation among hymenal and vaginal states, we customize the surgery to the individual needs and expectations of the patient, as are discussed during the required pre-surgical consultation and thorough gynecological examination. In most cases, the surgery is virtually undetectable after complete healing, and patients are very pleased with our final results.

My favorite reassurance comes from The Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute of Michigan. Michigan has a very large Muslim population so it is reassuring that they also have a number of Rejuvenation sites. Handy.

Hymenoplasty (reconstruction of the hymen) can repair the hymen as if nothing ever occurred. The Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute is sensitive to the needs of women from all cultures that embrace these particular issues because of cultural, social, or religious reasons.

Now tell me, exactly which “… cultures embrace these particular issues because of cultural, social, or religious reasons”? Name three.

By the way, the “complete healing” mentioned above takes some time, so be sure to schedule your appointment well ahead of the wedding date.

In-laws are not the only hazards of marriage. In some cultures.

Double Duty Ketch Up: Watcher’s posts July 7 and July 14

Watcher’s CouncilTwo weeks in one swell foop here, folks. It means I’m out of the Watcher’s clutches for the moment. Well, until Friday at least, when I start procrastinating again…the countdown hasn’t even started yet and I can hear the clock ticking. And yes I do indeed procrastinate.

It’s not my fault though: I was born late. More than ten days overdue, in fact. So I should get a ten-day handicap on everything, right? When I am made Queen, all of us late babies will get the appropriate handicaps. I haven’t decided if the preemies get double or nothing yet. They ought to get something for being in such a rush to get here.

The July 7th winner for the Council was The Wild, Wild West(ern Europe),Gates of Vienna’s essay on crime rates in the US and Europe.

Tne non-council winner was Outside the Beltway’s fisking of the Declaration of Independence. The interesting conceit was to blog the event as though Mr. Joyner were there — and it worked.

All the rest, preserved for posterity, can be viewed here, at the Watcher’s Place.



The July 14th Council winner was Rightwing Nuthouse for his essay Bleeding Iraq, in which Rick Moran notes “there is no denying the fact that at the moment, Iraq is bleeding. And only resoluteness on the part of the government will be able to staunch the flow of blood that is making the lives of ordinary Iraqis a nightmare…” Amen.

First place for the non-council posts was Singing Out of the Flock, by Iraq the Model. His money quote? that there is a new sophistication in the average Iraqi’s political discernments. Go see.

The Watcher has everything set up. Click here.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *


Note that I haven’t put up the second place winners. That’s because there is an interesting phenomenon going on in the Council voting: a very wide point spread, so that last week, for instance, five council members tied for third place. And the week before, there were five ties for second place. Very strange.

I asked an old hand why they thought this was happening. He opined that being on the Council tended to improved one’s writing skills so that choosing an outright winner is becoming less easy.

Click on the Watcher’s links for the two weeks and see what I mean.

July 1914

Israel’s Prime Minister addressed the Knesset today about the situation in Lebanon and beyond. The Washington Times reports:

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert

“There are moments in the life of any nation where it stares reality in the face and says ‘enough,’ “ said Mr. Olmert in his first address to parliament since the fighting began. “So I say to everyone: ‘Enough.’ Israel will not be held hostage to a terrorist gang, nor a terrorist authority.”

The prime minister said he would operate with “all the force” against Hezbollah, an Islamist militant group based in Lebanon, and Hamas, which is holding an Israeli soldier captive in the Gaza Strip. He described the groups as “subcontractors” for an Iranian-Syrian “axis of evil” that exports state-sponsored terrorism.

In the last day or two some commentators, perhaps impatient with the measured pace of unfolding events, have expressed doubt that Israel is willing to go the distance in this war. In particular, they wondered if it would balk at a ground assault into Lebanon.

The Prime Minister’s speech indicates otherwise. “All the force” can only mean the dirty and dangerous task of hunting Hizbullah terrorists down and pulling them out of all their rabbit holes in South Lebanon.

The strategic logic for the ground assault requires major operations in the Bekaa Valley, Hizbullah’s stronghold and armory. In order to neutralize the Bekaa, the terrorists’ supply routes and logistical support from Syria must be interdicted. Wretchard and Chester agree that this may make an Israeli attack on Syrian territory necessary. Bashar Assad, if he is truly dedicated to sitting this one out, might pull all his assets back from the border and ignore what’s going on. But, since saving face is of utmost political importance in the Arab world, he might not.

Then we have this interesting tidbit from YNet (hat tip: Carl in Jerusalem):

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was sent to Damascus to urge Hizbullah to curb rocket attacks against Israel and to release two Israel Defense Forces soldiers captured a week ago in order to avoid further escalations, a London-based Arabic daily reported.

Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported that a European country warned Iran that Israel is ready for a confrontation with Syria, which recently signed a defense alliance with Iran.

The alliance stipulates that Iran would send arms and troops to back Syria should Damascus be attacked.

Iran was also warned that Israel is determined to crush Hizbullah’s infrastructure and liquidate its leadership.

The report, which was based on leaks by an Iranian presidential aide, said Iran is worried by criticism waged against Hizbullah by an array of Lebanese politicians like Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and Saad Hariri, son of slain former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Interestingly enough, this seems to be a fight the Arabs want to keep inside the family: Carl reports that Al-Sharq left this story out of their English-language version.

Just to make the situation even more interesting, Spook86 points out that the infidel tourists currently being evacuated by sea from Lebanon may prove to be an irresistible target for Hizbullah’s artillery on the Lebanese coast. Especially the Americans — how could any dedicated mujahid forego the opportunity of blowing up a boatload of Americans?

One big question is whether there truly exists a chain of command running from Tehran through Damascus and the Bekaa to the Hizbullah units on the front lines. Iran and Syria are Hizbullah’s patrons, but do the terrorists really take orders from Damascus and Tehran?

Everything may go smoothly. The Israelis may destroy Hizbullah’s offensive capabilities, hold Syria at bay, and clear a buffer zone in South Lebanon. The UN could broker a cease-fire deal that saves face for everybody, and delegate a multinational force to keep the terrorists away from southern Lebanon. Then the West, with deep-pockets Uncle Sugar leading the way, can shower Lebanon with billions of dollars in development aid to rebuild all the infrastructure destroyed in the war.

It might go that way, but I’m not betting on it just yet.

It’s mid-July, 1914. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand has been buried. Gavrilo Princip is in custody. Austria is mobilizing. The Kaiser rages and seethes. The Serbs are defiant, and Russia seems dangerously oblivious. Everything is up in the air.

What will happen next?

An Unfortunate Choice of Words?

Tonight’s story on CNN was interesting for more than one reason.

First of all, it’s notable that the UN is pressuring the Lebanese government to do something:

Lebanon’s government should play a role to bring peace to the nation which has been crippled by violence between Israel and Hezbollah, said the chief of a United Nations delegation in Beirut on Monday.

The head of the delegation, Vijay Nambier, spoke with Lebanon’s parliament speaker and prime minister, and said more diplomacy is needed to come up with a solution to the conflict, which has entered its sixth day.

So the UN has apparently given up on browbeating the Zionist Entity over the current crisis, and has sent an envoy to scold the Lebanese instead. Maybe it’s because the Great Satan, for once, has refused to twist Israel’s arm behind the scenes in order to force it to accept some “compromise”.

Then there’s this:

Hezbollah guerrillas sparked the crisis last week when they crossed from southern Lebanon into Israel in a raid that killed three Israeli soldiers and led to the kidnapping of two others.

A clear statement about the responsibility of Hizbullah for the conflict! Are we sure this is CNN?

The article goes on to describe the high stakes for Lebanon in the unfolding war. It seems clear, accurate, and mostly free of spin; very unusual for CNN.

But here’s what really made me sit up and take notice:

“We have made many efforts to improve the situation, and our teams have discussed these issues with the Lebanese government, and we will continue to discuss these suggestions and ideas, and we will come back to Lebanon to develop and explore these ideas further,” Nambier said.

“And of course, we should spend more diplomatic work to reach a final solution, and the parties should know that the consequences of failure are great, and time is critical, and there should be creative solutions to end these crises.” [emphasis added]

A Freudian slip, perhaps? Or should we call it a Hitlerian slip?

Not quite the solution I expected…

Dan Riehl Notices the New Music

Yesterday, I mentioned the new Saudi song that everyone in the Middle East seems to be humming.

Dan Riehl has taken further and broader notice of those choosing to sing harmony in this catchy new tune:

The Arabs, led by Saudi Arabia, have condemned Hezbollah. A decade ago the only reports we’d be seeing would include pictures of mobs in the Arab Street shouting “Death to Israel”. As tragic and possibly far from over is the current conflict, there has been movement in what amounts to glacial forces over the last decade and since we invaded Iraq.

The only hope that ever existed for bringing down the state infrastructures behind the world’s worst terrorist organizations (Iran and Syria) had to start with driving a wedge into the Middle East — a region that has been more monolithic in its pro-terrorist, anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric than any other over the last fifty years.

The current news may be tragic, as it is, after all, news of war — but, so far, depressing it is not. If current positions by the majority of nations hold, we have crossed the ultimate Rubicon that needed to be crossed in order to finally bring peace to one of the most troubled regions of the world.

Not just Egypt, but now, through their rhetoric and led by Saudi Arabia, the majority of Arab nations have indicated a willingness to peacefully co-exist with a secure Israel. There hasn’t been so profound a shift, or moment in contemporary world events since the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.

Current headlines should give us pause, as no one really wants a war to take place; but there’s more reason for optimism in today’s news from the Middle East, then there is rationale for being depressed.

Why even President Bush has joined in the singing, adding a needed tenor to the chorus. Here’s his solo part, as reported by Agence France Presse:

US President George W. Bush, caught on an open microphone at a summit here, said Monday that a key to defusing the Middle East crisis was for “Hezbollah to stop doing this s**t.”

“What they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s**t, and it’s over,” Bush told British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a leaders’ lunch at the Group of Eight industrial countries gathering here.

The president was on camera but apparently unaware that his words were being captured by a microphone.

AFP adds, as an aside, that “It was unclear who ‘they’ were.” But that’s a journalist for you…always the last person in the room to get it. And note that AFP has to repeat the President’s bon mot, just in case you missed it the first time. Whoowee – there goes that crazy Christian using bad language…obviously a hypocrite, right?

Back in the late ’80s or early ’90s Saffire, the Uppity Blues Women did a song titled How Can I Miss You When I Can’t Get You to Leave? Seems to me that Lebanon must be singing this one to Hizbollah by now – in fact, the real, true patriotic Lebanese have been singing it for years, but Hizbollah is deaf from all the rockets they’ve fired. Well, they were tone deaf to begin with anyway.

Atlas Shrugged has a video clip from Fox as the President gives forth this wisdom to Tony Blair. Unfortunately, he’s eating a roll at the time, so the audio isn’t clear, and Fox bleeped it to boot. However, you can hear one of the Fox news anchors cheering Bush on for his statement.

Barbara Bush probably had her hands full trying to train George not to talk with food in his mouth. On the other hand, do you recall the exchange between Bess Truman and the press, when they complained about President Truman’s “rough” talk? Bess parried by telling them it took her years to teach him to say “manure.” I doubt Laura’s working on that one, though. Sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade, and sometimes you have to shovel what’s filling up the stall.

One thing is for sure: President Bush isn’t looking for a pony in the midst of the steaming piles that Hizbullah and Hamas have created.



Hat tip: Pundita

A Matter of Proportion

The “D” word came up again today in the news. This time it was the Lebanese prime minister who said it.

According to Brunei Direct:

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer” that the Israeli attack had opened “the gates of hell” with what he called a disproportionate response to Hezbollah’s Wednesday raid. [emphasis added]

I’m a fan of Disproportionate ResponseThe whole business has driven me to create a new graphic for the occasion.

The idea of a “disproportionate response” from Israel has been floating around a lot lately. Try using Google News to search for “disproportionate Israel Lebanon”, and you can click through the resulting links until your arm is crippled from carpal tunnel syndrome. The EU, the French, and the British left-wing press are all prominent proponents of the concept, but UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the Capo of the World Mafia, has been the most notable. The first instance I noticed was Kofi Annan’s initial response to the crisis on July 13th:

I condemn all actions which target civilians, or which unduly endanger them due to their disproportionate or indiscriminate character. I would like to remind the parties that under the law of armed conflict, attacks must not be directed against civilian objects. In particular, they have an obligation to exercise precaution and to respect the proportionality principle in all military operations so as to prevent unnecessary suffering among the civilian population. I call on all parties to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law and international agreements. [emphasis added]

If you could cut through all the Kofi-speak to the heart of the matter, what do you think would be a “proportionate” response to the provocations Israel has endured? Do the Israelis have to fire Qassam rockets into Gaza at Hamas? Do Jewish kids have to strap on bomb belts and blow themselves up in Ramallah?

Do Israeli commanders have to get on the phone to UN headquarters and clear their orders with the General Assembly before having their subordinates carry them out?

“So what do you think, Kofi — can we use a 1000-kilo bomb to take out this particular missile launcher? No? Artillery shells only? Right-o; will do.”

As someone recently said, it’s like a bank robbery — when the call comes in that three men are robbing a bank, then the cops can only send in three patrolmen to stop them.

Or imagine that you’re woken up in the middle of the night by a burglar in the living room. You grab your twelve-gauge and creep down the stairs very quietly. But when you flip on the light and surprise the burglar, he’s armed with only a knife! What do you do? Why, you drop the shotgun, rush to the kitchen, and rummage through the drawers for a knife. And not just any knife — it has to be no longer or sharper than the one the burglar has!

Of course, if you’re a British householder, you don’t have the shotgun to grab in the first place. Not only that, you can’t pick up a knife of any size to confront the thief with; otherwise you could end up in court on serious charges yourself. No, all you can do is sit down on the couch and say, “Help yourself, mate. Can I get you a cup of tea?”

Come to think of it, the UN prescription sounds like modern British law writ large, scaled up to resolve international conflicts. Lie down, be non-threatening, let the thugs take whatever they want, and wait for the coppers in the blue helmets to arrive. If they ever do. And, when they do arrive, prepare to be cited for human rights violations if you failed to provide your enemies with the proper handicapped accommodations.

I’m a fan of Disproportionate ResponseI say, “To hell with all that! Bring on the Disproportionate Response!”

As an American, I recognize my constitutional right to take whatever measures are necessary to protect myself, my family, and my home. If someone comes after my wife and child, tearing him limb from limb would not be disproportionate. If I showed mercy, and subdued him by other means, that would be my prerogative. But I am in no way required to.

I’m a fan of Disproportionate ResponseIt’s the same for Israel. Personally, I think the Israelis have shown remarkable restraint in the face of intolerable provocation. They not only bend over backwards — and take extra casualties — to avoid hurting civilians, they rush the enemy wounded to Israeli hospitals and give them the best treatment Western medicine can provide.

Based on what’s been done to them, they’d be justified in clearing Lebanon and Gaza of people and paving both places over. They haven’t; but that’s their prerogative.

I don’t think Israel’s enemies have seen even the beginnings of “disproportionate”.



Steal the graphics for your sidebar! Fight back against Kofi-speak!

And thanks to Naval Air Station Lemoore for the fist-and-lightning-bolt graphic.

Are the Abducted Israeli Soldiers in the Iranian Embassy?

According to the Lebanese Foundation for Peace:

Missing Israeli Soldiers Held at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut

Delicate Intelligence information coming out of Hezbollah indicated that the 2 missing captives of the Israeli Army Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev have been smuggled outside Southern Lebanon to the capital.

They are secretly being held at the Embassy of Iran in Beirut, under direct Iranian security guards supervision.



Hat tip: Israel Matzav (who can’t verify the report).

Sovereignty, Terrorism and Those Caught Between

Lebanese fireman during air attackAs everyone else has been doing, I am living life less-than-fully present to my environment. At the moment, part of my being hovers over the border between Lebanon and Israel. Not only is the conflict dreadfully painful — I grew up with many Lebanese American friends and in the war against the Jews, I stand with Israel — but this bloody mess has about it the air of something inevitable. The shoe has dropped…perhaps for the final time?

And much as everyone else has been doing, I try to read across a broad spectrum of mass media noise, to see if it is possible to filter out dibs and dabs of reality. I mean the reality underneath, not the who, what, or where of the bombs and brouhaha and the spin of the MSM.

Two commenters on Gates of Vienna — Rich (no profile), and Dave Schuler have summed up the current situation confronting Israel/Lebanon most succinctly.

First, Rich’s rhetorical question and response:

…how is Israel supposed to proportionally respond to an enemy that hides missiles in houses that are inhabited by civilians. A war crime. And how is Israel supposed to proportionally respond to an enemy that volleys missiles against Israel’s civilian population. Again a war crime.

In fact just about everything Hezbollah and Hamas do is a war crime.

But no one will say it is a war crime, and that Hezbollah and Hamas are war criminals.

Now, Dave Schuler, cutting to the quick of Lebanon’s dilemma:

Sovereignty requires that Lebanon maintain a monopoly on the use of force within its territory. It has not done so; consequently, the claims of sovereignty ring hollow. There are really only two plausible explanations: either Lebanon is allowing Hezbollah’s attacks in which case they’re a belligerent or they’re unable to stop Hezbollah in which case they’re not sovereign.

Both commenters have managed to say in very few words what the core issues are. Of course, in our anxiety, words help to stem the flow of uncertainty and our fear for the innocents in harm’s way, so we continue to read obsessively, hoping for some magic words of surcease to appear on the screen.

Meanwhile, there is, faintly on the horizon, the possibility of change, for I am reading, with surprise, the usual suspects say some unusual things. Here, for example, Saudi Arabia , of all countries, has criticized Hezbollah:

In a significant move, Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s political heavyweight and economic powerhouse, accused Hezbollah guerrillas — without naming them — of “uncalculated adventures” that could precipitate a new Middle East crisis.

A Saudi official quoted by the state Saudi Press Agency said the Lebanese Hezbollah’s brazen capture of two Israeli soldiers was not legitimate.

The kingdom “clearly announces that there has to be a differentiation between legitimate resistance (to Israel) and uncalculated adventures.”

[…]

The Saudi official said Hezbollah’s actions could lead to “an extremely serious situation, which could subject all Arab nations and its achievements to destruction.”

“The kingdom sees that it is time for those elements to alone shoulder the full responsibility for this irresponsible behavior and that the burden of ending the crisis falls on them alone.”

“The Kingdom” is also offering the Lebanese government some financial aid. The magnificent sum of fifty million dollars – this from a country whose 2005 GDP was $ 338,000,000,000. I suppose we should be glad they’re that stingy. Who knows how much of that “gift” will wind up in Hizbullah’s armory?

Meanwhile, I offer a prayer of gratitude for the blogosphere, for being able to read across the spectrum of opinion on this inevitable, here-at-last war. However grim the news, the light the ’sphere sheds on the situation at least provides us with enough information to make up our own minds as to how things “ought” to be.

So, thank you Rick and Dave for your astute summations. We are fortunate to have you as commenters.

I’m Generally Specific

I’m frothing at the mouth!Scotsmen are stingy. Russians are drunk. Italians are hot-blooded. Sri Lankans are… Well, I’m sure they engage in some stereotypical Sri Lankan behavior with which I’m not yet familiar.

And Americans generalize. We like to do that sort of thing, especially about our betters in Europe. And our tendency to do so has gotten under the skin of one of our British commenters.

Last Friday, in various comments on Dymphna’s post about a thwarted honor killing in Denmark, Old Peculier took exception to some of the things that were said about the British:

…as I often say on Jihadwatch, I wish American posters, when talking about the UK — about which there is much to criticise — would make some attempt at getting just a few of their facts right.

…What I dislike is sweeping generalisations made by Americans and other foreigners who have very little knowledge of what they are talking about.

…Perhaps I have been reading JW too long, but I get fed up with Americans saying Britain is lost to dhimmitude, often on the base of a story that turns out not to be true about piggy banks being banned somewhere. Most American posters there confuse what is written in The Guardian and the BBC with what ordinary people think. This is the equivalent of us thinking that you all think like Michael Moore or Ward Churchill, and is perfectly ludicrous.

…sweeping generalisations do not help. In this particular case, the implication was that the UK does nothing about honour killings. That is absolute nonsense. As I said above, honour killings are regularly prosecuted, treated as murder like any other killings with no “dhimmi” allowances for “culture” and the police have recently begun to treat this as a special category of murder and set up a task force to deal with it.

…while there are problems in the UK that should not be underestimated, the wild generalisations that come out of the US are just plain silly, and, to be honest, smack of Schadenfreude.

I’ll leave aside the fact that Old Peculier is carrying resentments about Jihad Watch over here to Gates of Vienna. I’ll even leave aside the specific generalizations she objects to.

Instead, I’ll pose the question. “What’s wrong with making generalizations?”

A tide of anti-Semitism rose throughout Germany and other parts of Europe during the 1930s.

There, that’s a pretty commonplace generalization, wouldn’t you say? A useful historical summary, widely accepted, and objectionable to very few people.

Racial hatred and discrimination caused suffering for black people in the United States for a hundred years after the end of the Civil War.

There’s another one that most people would not disagree with.

Then what’s wrong with the next one?

Elected officials and civil servants in Britain seem willing to overlook the possibility that many “accidents” and “suicides” of young Muslim women in Britain are, in fact, honor killings.

I see three reasons to object to this statement and not the other ones:

1.   It addresses what is happening in the present. The first two examples I cited deal with issues that have receded far enough into the past to have a common historical consensus, at least in the mainstream. But the third example generalizes on the basis of current events, using incomplete information which is still being gathered, and addresses controversial issues that are still unfolding.
2.   The generalization is being made by an American about the British and events in Britain. I am therefore not qualified to say such a thing, and am being impertinent in doing so.
3.   Finally, the facts do not support the statement. Counterfactual instances can be adduced to refute it, possibly including statistics.

I categorically reject all three of these arguments.

1.   The generalizations of history arise contemporaneously with the events themselves. The historical judgments about the Six-Day War, for example, arose gradually in newspapers and periodicals during and immediately after the war. I remember reading them as op-eds in the newspapers of the time; they now form part of an accurate historical summary of the events.

There’s no reason we can’t generalize about currently unfolding events, and revise the generalization as new facts come in.

2.   This is a version of the notorious “Chicken Hawk” argument, and I’ll have none of it. If I keep myself well-informed about places I have never visited, I am perfectly capable of generalizing about them.

I’ve never been to India or Pakistan, but wrote extensively about the Great Jihad in those countries after a lot of reading on the topic. When I posted, I expected (and received) correction from commenters who knew more than I did, and revised my writing accordingly.

As I became fluent in my topic, my generalizations received fewer objections from my readers.

3.   There are indeed facts to support the generalization; Dymphna cited some in her response to Old Peculier. They are unpleasant and discomfiting, and rely on statistics and induction, but they are facts. I remember reading in one (British) source that as many as 1,500 recent accidents and suicides may be disguised honor killings.

I’m willing to accept counterfactual evidence against this generalization, if it can be found; but it’s evidence that’s important, and not simply a dislike of generalizations, or Americans, or — God forbid! — American generalizations.

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I spent my formative youth in England, in the late 1960s. That’s how Dymphna knew that “Old Peculier” was a type of beer brewed by Theakston’s: I told her that Theakston’s had been my favorite beer when I lived in Yorkshire (as I recall, “Old Peculier” is a stout; I preferred a bitter).

One of the things I noticed when I lived in England was the awful, ignorant generalizations about Americans that passed for common knowledge among the British. It wasn’t just that they were the basis of insults and prejudice; many times friendly and well-meaning people were simply very ignorant about things American.

When I returned to America I found that the reverse was true: Americans tended to be quite ignorant about the British, basing their ideas on stereotypes and shallow media information. The main distinction was that Anglophilia was much more likely among ignorant Americans than Yankophilia was among ignorant Brits.

Since I have been almost forty years out of England, I am reluctant to write in depth about British affairs. I’m qualified to write about British politics and popular culture from “Carnaby Street” days, the time of Harold Wilson and Ted Heath, when there were still shillings and pence. I was well-informed about what was going on politically in those times, since I kept up with the news in the Times and the Guardian (which was still the Manchester Guardian back then, not yet having become the national mouthpiece of the extremist Islam-loving Left), and had plenty of rousing pub discussions with my friends.

When I returned for a visit to Yorkshire in 2002, and met with those same friends after more than thirty years of absence, I tiptoed gingerly around political topics. I knew from a quick glance at the headlines in newspapers that George W. Bush was regarded in Britain very differently from the way most Americans would see him. It was as if the most extreme Bush-bashing from CBS News and CNN International and Daily Kos had been extracted and purified for the British news media, and had become the only information available. I had neither the time nor the inclination to attempt the necessary re-education of the good people I was talking to.

However, what my friends did volunteer was this: political correctness is ubiquitous, stifling, and out of control in Britain. They told me in near-whispers — even though there was no one but a barmaid close by — that you could lose your job if you used the wrong word for an immigrant foreigner. A shop assistant might face legal consequences if she called her customer “love”, which used to be a common (and charming) practice in that part of the country.

Mind you, these are not “facts”. I can’t cite statistics, or provide documentation for them. But they were told to me by real people, who believed them to be true.

To be generally specific, so do I.

Bolton Speaks. Benedict Appeases.

Atlas Shrugs provides the entire text of John Bolton’s address at the Public Session on Lebanon in the UN Security Council today:

“Mr. President, in recent days and weeks, we have seen an outbreak of violence in the Middle East, sparked by attacks and kidnappings which Hamas and Hizballah carried out against Israel. Events continue to develop even as we speak.

Hizballah’ s incursions across the Blue Line on July 12 were a deliberate and premeditated provocation intended to undermine regional stability and are contrary to the interests of both the Lebanese and Israeli people. We unequivocally condemn the kidnapping by Hizballah, a terrorist organization, of two Israeli soldiers and call for their immediate and unconditional release.

Provocations across the Blue Line by terrorist groups highlight the urgent need for full and immediate compliance by Syria and Hizballah with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, including 1559, 1583, 1655, and 1680.

The international community has made clear its desire to see the central authority of the Government of Lebanon extended throughout the country.

In this context, we underscore the importance of the Security Council President’ s statement of June 18, 2000 and the Secretary-General’s conclusion that as of June 16, 2000, Israel had withdrawn all its forces from Lebanon in accordance with UNSC resolution 425 and met the requirements defined in the Secretary-General’s s May 22, 2000 report.

As President Bush said yesterday, we are concerned about the fragile democracy in Lebanon. While we have been working very hard with partners to strengthen the democracy in Lebanon, we are also making clear that the democratic aspirations of the Lebanese people must not be undermined by the irresponsible and destabilizing actions of Hizballah.

We have repeatedly made clear to Lebanon and Syria our serious concern about the presence of terrorist groups on their soil and the periodic attacks against Israel from groups and individuals in southern Lebanon.

All militias in Lebanon, including Hizballah, must disarm and disband immediately and the Lebanese government must extend and exercise its sole and exclusive control over all Lebanese territory.

President Bush has made clear that Syria and Iran must be held to account for supporting regional terrorism and their role in the current crisis. Syria provides safe haven to the militant wing of Hamas and provides material support to Hizballah, which also maintains an active presence in Syria. Iran’s extensive sponsorship and financial and other support of Hizballah is well known and has been ongoing for decades. No reckoning with Hizballah will be adequate without a reckoning with its principal state sponsors of terror.

UN Ambassador John BoltonWe call on Syria and Iran to cease their sponsorship and support of terrorist groups, in particular Hizballah and Hamas. For the third time in two weeks, we again call on Syria to arrest Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, who currently lives in Damascus. There is no excuse for a member state of the United Nations to continue to knowingly harbor a recognized terrorist.

The Secretary General’ s decision to send a senior level team to the region is a development that is welcomed by my government.

We are also engaged with the primary parties and other concerned leaders to help restore calm and achieve a resolution to this crisis. In fact, senior U.S. officials are in Jerusalem today for meetings.

All parties in the region must accept their responsibilities for maintaining security and stability. We urge all parties to accept the principle that governments must exercise sovereign control over territory. The United States remains firmly committed to working with others not only to resolve the present situation but toward building longer-term peace and stability in the region.”

The emphases in Mr. Bolton’s address are mine.

Please compare his straight-forward speech with the statement released under Benedict XVI’s authority:

“As in the past, the Holy See also condemns both the terrorist attacks on the one side and the military reprisals on the other,” he continued.” He argued that Israel’s right to self-defense “does not exempt it from respecting the norms of international law, especially as regards the protection of civilian populations.”

“In particular,” the statement continued, “the Holy See deplores the attack on Lebanon, a free and sovereign nation.”

So I join multitudes of the shocked faithful in asking, with all humility, Holy Father, just what do you consider Israel to be, if not a “free and sovereign nation”? And what reasonable response would you expect from a free and sovereign nation when her civilian populace is fired upon without provocation by another nation? In fact, when she is beset on all sides, when she is threatened daily with annihilation?

I also ask in all humility why you would dissemble by referring to Lebanon as “free” when, you, Holy Father, or all people, know the suffering and death of Lebanese Christians — for generations — within the sovereign borders of Lebanon. When you, of all people, know the treachery and cruelty and disdain for human life that Hizbullah, which controls the southern part of this so-called “free” Lebanon.

The children cry out for bread — for justice, Holy Father — and you have given them stones. You are ruining the credibility of the Church with these declarations, which are mere hand-wringing appeasement.

Values in a Time of UpheavalIf you do not stand for justice now, Holy Father, you will kneel eventually, head bowed, in front of an unjust sword. Or one of your successors will, and part of the responsibility for that murder will fall on you. Vatican City is not immune from the tempest — particularly when its leader chooses to take sides, which you have clearly and unjustly done here. Do you think the Ummah will spare your small country, or you, an infidel it despises? You are an expert historian and you know better.

God have mercy on your soul for the harm you have caused today.

Danes Claim that Family Executions Have No "Honor"

I Could Scream: Examining the plight of women under Islam


The following is a news report from yesterday’s Jyllands-Posten, kindly translated for Gates of Vienna by Zonka:

Brother Is Prevented ‘Honor Killing’ His Sister

A courageous big brother — and an attack on him — have possibly put the police in Elsingore onto the trail of a failed ‘honor killing’ within the Pakistani community.

The police opened the case after jailing two friends of the brother’s family. Among other things, these arrests will send a signal to the people involved, and to threatened women, that such behavior is not tolerated.

The older brother told the police that last year in July or August, he was ordered to kill his little sister by his seventy-one year old father because she wanted out of her arranged marriage. He refused and instead allied himself with his younger sister.

“He was subjected to extreme pressure to perform the killing, but he wouldn’t have anything to do with it,” says Henning Svendsen, Crime-Inspector in Elsingnore.

On June 9, he was assaulted in Birkerød by a gang of seven or eight people. The forty three year-old brother was hit with clubs and cricket bats; his wife, who is the same age, was also beaten when she tried to stop the assault.

Within 24 hours, the victim’s father and two brothers-in-law — aged forty-one and thirty-six — were arrested.

Last week another forty one year-old male was arrested for being a part of the gang that assaulted the brother. And with the arrests on Thursday of two more men — ages forty-two and thirty-seven — a total of six people have been detained.

The last three men arrested are friends of the family, and in addition to these the police are looking for yet another man. He is assumed to be outside of the country.

The seventy-one year old father has been charged with being an accomplice to murder, while the others are held on charges of dangerous violence, and all will be held in custody until July 27.

Names and minutes from the court sessions have been kept confidential, and the court sessions have been held behind closed doors (without public attendance).

When Henning Svendsen, the Crime-Inspector in Elsingnore, talks about the case despite its confidentiality, he intends to send a signal to those areas where ‘honor killings’ could take place.

“It is unbelievable that somebody is planning such deeds while the ‘honor killing’ case from Slagelse is running in the media. We also want to send a strong signal to these people that such behavior will not be tolerated. We also want to send the signal to women who could have been subjected to similar threats, that we do not tolerate it,” says Henning Svendsen.

This second example of Danish refusal to follow any longer the Orwellian multi-cultural “tolerance” for cruel and dysfunctional practices among Muslim immigrants may be the tipping point. It may be the death knell for homicidal behaviors in the cultural sink that is commonplace among so many of the Islamic ghettoes that are filling to the brim all across Europe.

Denmark’s authorities are saying “Enough!” and they are saying it loud and clear. Loud enough even for the impaired hearing of those Muslims who refuse to learn Danish, who refuse to look for work, who live on the generosity of the Danish taxpayer — the same Danish taxpayer they look down upon with contempt.

See Queen Margarthe’s book. And then look at poor Queen Elizabeth’s once-great island. There, young Muslim women simply disappear and the police look on helplessly. Or they look away. What else can they do without the backing of government and monarch?

It is past time for the Queen of the United Kingdom to insert her age-old magisterial authority into a situation that impinges on Britain’s survival.



Hat tip: commenter Phanarath.