Author Archives: Baron Bodissey

Nun Danket Alle Gott

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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

In celebration of the occasion, we’ll listen to various permutations of “Nun danket alle Gott” (“Now thank we all our God”) by Johann Sebastian Bach. Most Protestants will be familiar with the hymn, which was written in the early 17th century (words [German]: Martin Rinckart; music: Johann Cruger). You’ll hear the core melody in these pieces, although, as with all of Bach’s variations, each piece is expanded far beyond the original tune.

I prefer Bach’s organ music, so we’ll begin with the chorale prelude “Nun danket alle Gott”, BWV 657, performed by Bine-Katrine Bryndorf on the Wagner organ (built in 1738) in the Nidaros Cathedral at Trondheim, Norway:

I’m aware that Baroque organ music is an acquired taste, and that most people prefer choral or orchestral music. You’ll find both in the cantata “Nun danket alle Gott”, BWV 79, performed by Thomanerchor Leipzig, Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum andns-Joachim Rotzsch:

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Gates of Vienna News Feed 11/26/2014

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The Spanish soccer club Real Madrid removed a cross from its logo in order to avoid offending a bank in Abu Dhabi. The club and the bank have entered into a “strategic partnership”, and the club’s logo will appear on a credit card put out by the bank. As far as analysts can determine, the club’s decision had nothing to do with Islam.

In other news, two “Minnesotans” who attempted to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State were sought by the FBI. One of the men was apprehended, but the other got away.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Phyllis Chesler, Steen, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

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.

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Mumbai on the Thames

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Today is the sixth anniversary of the beginning of the terrorist attacks that paralyzed Mumbai for three days and killed more than 160 people. So it’s interesting to see the following report pop up in The Daily Mail:

Police are taking to railway stations to tell passengers what to do in the event of a Mumbai-style terrorist attack at one of Britain’s busy terminals.

After government warnings that the threat to Britain from Islamist fanatics is ‘greater than ever’, officers handed out leaflets telling the public to ‘run, hide and tell’ if they are caught up in an attack.

How can this be? After all, Prime Minister David Cameron reassured the British public just a few weeks ago that

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The Intolerable Lord Pearson

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Right about now Tommy Robinson is appearing at a Q&A session in the Oxford Union, where he is legally enjoined not to mention JIM.

Lord Pearson (more fully, Malcolm Everard MacLaren Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch), a former leader of UKIP, is not subject to any such constraints. He has just been taken to task for saying “Islamophobic” things in the House of Lords.

Green Infidel sends the following brief report on what happened.

According to the The Guardian:

[Lord Pearson] told peers: “My lords, are the government aware that Fusilier Rigby’s murderers quoted 22 verses of the Qur’an to justify their atrocity? Therefore, is the prime minister accurate or helpful when he describes it as a betrayal of Islam? Since the vast majority of Muslims are our peace-loving friends, should we not encourage them to address the violence in the Qur’an — and indeed in the life and the example of Muhammad?

Predictably, a “culturally enriched” lord took exception. But take a look at what he found the most “offensive”:

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Gates of Vienna News Feed 11/25/2014

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Violent protests continued for a second night in Ferguson, Missouri. Angry activists threw firebombs and overturned a police car in front of City Hall. Some business owners used armed guards to prevent their buildings from being torched.

In other news, a video from Mosul shows the Convent of the Sacred Heart being blown up by the Islamic State. Although devastated by the loss, the Christians of Mosul were able to find comfort in the fact that the tragedy had nothing to do with Islam.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Nick, Phyllis Chesler, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

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.

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Ferguson, Palestine — Same Thing

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CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood front groups have been trying to worm their way into the current no-justice-no-peace uproar ever since the trouble began last summer in Ferguson, Missouri. The latest wrinkle involves an NFL star named Reggie Bush, who entered the debate to promote an equivalence between the “youths” of Ferguson and the “youths” of Palestine.

Of course! It’s obvious — why didn’t I notice the resemblance before?

A “youth” in Ferguson shoplifts from a store, roughs up the owner, attacks a cop, tries to take his gun, and gets shot for his efforts.

“Youths” in Palestine set up launchers, fire rockets at schools with them, and get shot (well, some of them do) for their efforts.

Yes, come to think of it, the two places have a lot in common.

Here’s the report from Algemeiner.com:

As the town of Ferguson, Missouri, woke this morning to the sight of burned out cars and stores, following a night of rioting in protest at a Grand Jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, pro-Palestinian activists were quick to co-opt the tragic events – even managing an endorsement from an NFL star.

Detroit Lions running back Reggie Bush posted a photo on social media site Instagram of a man holding a sign that reads, “The Palestinian people know what mean to be shot while unarmed because of your ethnicity #ferguson #justice.”

Bush added his own perspective: “No matter who you are, what color skin you have, where you live, we are all in this together! This isn’t a Ferguson problem it’s a Global Problem! We need change NOW! What happened to humanity? #JusticeForMikeBrown.”

As violence enveloped Ferguson, Palestinians and their supporters took to Twitter to share photos of pro-Palestinian banners carried by protestors…

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The Dream of a Tolerant, Progressive, Open-Minded Islam

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Saïda Keller-Messahli is a Swiss woman of Tunisian Muslim background who wants to help bring about the reform of Islam. Many thanks to JLH for translating this article from Weltwoche:

“I Know I’m Disruptive”

Saïda Keller-Messahli is the best-known Islamism critic in Switzerland. She battles bravely against her radical co-religionists.

by Wolfgang Koydl and Andrea Diglas

The truth is, the woman can get on one’s nerves, and there are people who roll their eyes when she speaks into the camera. Whenever there is talking, debating or arguing about Islamism in Switzerland — and that happens more and more from year to year — she stands up and adds her thoughts. No matter whether it is about head-scarves or burkas, forced marriages, Salafists or young Swiss who go to jihad in Syria or Iraq, the best-known Islam critic of the land is broadcasting on all frequencies — online, TV, print, from Blick to NZZ to the “Club.”*

Saïda Keller-Messahli gets into things, and it is not just hard-boiled Islamists who don’t want to hear what the 57-year-old says. She cautions, and warns of the dangers that proceed from radical, fundamentalist Islam for our society and its freedom. By doing that, she disturbs the comfortable yet fatal self-deception of many Swiss whose misperception of reality leads them to believe that any kind of cultural and religious diversity per se constitutes an enrichment of society.

“I know I am disruptive,” says Keller-Messahli and smiles almost apologetically. “But if you question something, you always disturb someone, and if I don’t do it, who will? Very few people have the courage to be disruptive, because they fear the consequences. Who wants to go out on a limb?”

“The Other Side Is Not Sleeping”

The consequences in her case sometimes go as far as death threats. Anyone who gets into it with radical Islam has to know it is a personal risk to life and limb. “The other side is not sleeping. It is active in the net and it is watching us very carefully,” she says. All the world knows about the witch hunts unleashed on the British writer Salman Rushdie, the Somali human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali or the Mohammed cartoonist for the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. The terrors that Saïda Keller-Messahli endures are largely private.

Speaking of the threats which she has received “by mail, cell or telephone,” she says, with a reserve typical of this country, “It is a unique experience. I have lived in Zurich for more than 30 years and have always felt safe, even going somewhere at night. This feeling is now shattered.” Anyone who takes the trouble to seek out the pertinent web sites or Facebook entries will quickly determine that this inconspicuous woman evokes blind hatred among several hardcore fundamentalists.

Saïda Keller-Messahli does not look like a woman who seeks conflict or danger at any price. Elegant short haircut, sensible heels on her ankle boots, black pants and, as the only concession to style, a luminous floral blouse. Just as you might imagine a high school teacher would look — which she was for years. Until recently, she taught French, but now she has dropped teaching. She needs more time for her political work and her organization — the forum for a progressive Islam founded in 2004.

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The Janus-Faced HRC

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Ezra Levant talks to Marc Lebuis Point De Bascule about a culturally enriched “Canadian” named Sulaiman Al Hayiti. Mr. Al Hayiti is an outspoken Islamic radical with all the usual opinions about infidels, women, Jews, etc., and an inspiration for terrorists.

Yet the Human Rights Commission — the same institution that prosecuted both Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn — declined to pursue any action against Mr. Al Hayiti.

Funny about that…

Hat tip: Vlad Tepes.

Gates of Vienna News Feed 11/24/2014

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The grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri has made its long-awaited decision. As expected, it declined to indict police officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of a teenager named Mike Brown. To protest the decision, demonstrators took to the streets in front of police headquarters, throwing objects at riot-control police, vandalizing police cars, smashing windows, looting, shooting guns, and setting fires.

In other news, Chuck Hagel has resigned his position as Secretary of Defense in the Obama administration. His decision to leave was reportedly made under pressure, and was a result of disagreements over how to conduct the war against the Islamic State.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Gaia, Insubria, K, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

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.

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What Multi-Culti Isn’t

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Many thanks to JLH for translating this brief essay from Politically Incorrect about Modern Multicultural Germany:

What Multi-Culti Isn’t

by Alpha Centauri

It is no secret that European and German journalists would like to make the country more “colorful.” The concept of (the German word) “bunt“ is generally associated with something positive, brightly colored and desirable. The concept unites positive aspects and automatically negates uniformity, forced conformity, sadness, death and terror — all negative aspects which have nothing in common with the concepts “bunt“ and “multikulti.”

For, you see: What our “people’s representatives,” “investigative journalists” and “associations” — more exactly our collaborators, traitors to people and country — would like to establish is not what is “colorful” but is black as death, red as flowing blood and green as the standard of the Prophet who according to today’s international law would be a mass murderer and war criminal, and no doubt was, in his own time.

They don’t want to establish a varied/colorful republic which would positively influence the country and Europe, but rather a republic that is red, black and green and brings oppression, death and ruin into human lives. If you think analytically about many political decisions and themes in everyday life, there can be no other interpretation for what they propose.

It is the same with the idea “multi-cultural.” “Multi-culti” is supposed to inspire positive associations, that people from other cultures are an enrichment for a country and a society. But is that true? Why are no distinctions made? Why are various cultures thrown into one pot, even if they don’t want to be? Why is a Turkish woman (Aydan Özoguz) the official in charge of immigration, refugees and integration? Does she represent, for instance, Greeks, Italians, Chinese, Japanese, Spaniards, Croats, Bosnians, Serbs, Slovenes, Russians, Chechens, Poles, Portuguese, French, English, Dutch, Danes, etc.? Do these people feel represented by her? Why is a Muslim in this position? Why not someone from one of the other ethnic groups?

No, Mrs. Özoguz exclusively represents her fosterlings, her Muslim co-religionists — i.e., those who are neither varied and colorful nor multicultural, and are willing to integrate little or not at all.

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Non-Terrorist Incident at Fort Sam Houston

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As reported in last night’s news feed, a four-hour lockdown was ordered at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio yesterday afternoon due to a “high-security incident” in which a suspicious, unauthorized vehicle was able to enter the base. More details, some of them conflicting with each other, emerged in today’s news, making the story more intriguing.

The incident will probably turn out to be of no significance whatsoever. However, just in case there’s more to it than meets the eye, we’ll examine a range of reports gleaned from the media. The quotes below are taken from online news articles. Longer excerpts are appended to the end of this post, with links to the sources.

First, let’s take a look at the setting for last night’s events.

According to the media, “Fort Sam Houston is a highly secure facility with guards posted at all vehicle entrances.” My curiosity was piqued by that statement, so I opened up Google Maps, located Fort Sam Houston, and dropped into Street View to see what the place looked like. Below are shots from July 2013 of the three principal entrances to Fort Sam Houston (which seems to be mostly a military cemetery), all taken from Harry Wurzbach Road in San Antonio:


Winans Road Entrance
Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio


Entrance at Sam Houston Boulevard
Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio


Entrance at Austin Loop
Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio

Curiouser and curiouser! This is hardly a “highly secure facility with guards posted at all vehicle entrances”. It’s completely open; anyone can just drive in.

Something was amiss here. So I returned to the news stories, and learned that “[t]he 502nd Air Base Wing in San Antonio was closed off for four hours on Sunday”. I looked up 502nd Air Base Wing on Google maps, and it was a good fifteen miles from Fort Sam Houston, at Lackland Air Force Base.

Checking the Wikipedia entry on the 502nd Air Base Wing, I learned that it was part of the JBSA:

Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) is a United States military facility located in San Antonio, Texas, USA. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 502d Air Base Wing, Air Education and Training Command (AETC).

The facility is an amalgamation of the United States Army Fort Sam Houston, the United States Air Force Randolph Air Force Base and Lackland Air Force Base, which were merged on 1 October 2010.

So it seems that “Fort Sam Houston” must be the catch-all name — probably because it was the first base in San Antonio — for all the different components of JBSA. Randolph AFB is about ten miles away from Fort Sam Houston, in the opposite direction from Lackland AFB.

And take note of this: “[502nd Air Base Wing spokesman Alex] Delgado declined to say exactly where he was stopped on the base, which covers about 3,000 acres.”

Hmm…

So where did last night’s intruder enter? Which base was he on?

As of late this afternoon, I still hadn’t figured that out. San Antonio people probably had a good idea — the rumor mill must have been turning down there all day — but an amateur armchair sleuth like me couldn’t get any farther.

As a matter of interest, here are the main entrances to the two big air bases:


Entrance, Randolph AFB, San Antonio
from Gordon A. Blake Highway


Entrance, Lackland AFB, San Antonio
from West Military Drive

My money was on Lackland, for reasons that I’ll explain below.

Last night’s events acquired new significance today when someone in the military leaked information (or passed on rumors, depending on your point of view) to KENS-TV:

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Gates of Vienna News Feed 11/23/2014

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Activists from Boko Haram killed 48 fish traders at a roadblock in northeastern Nigeria. The traders were on their way to Chad to buy fish. The families of those killed were relieved to learn that the incident had nothing to do with Islam.

In other news, Pope Francis told the World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Migration that immigration enriches host countries.

To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Fjordman, Insubria, Jerry Gordon, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

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.

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Emperor Barack Hussein Palpatine

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Emperor Palpatine was a character in several of the Star Wars movies, including the dreadful three-part “prequel” that was made many years after the original trilogy. Fortunately for me, I can’t remember much from Parts I-III — just a sith falling into a big hole and people jumping out of air cars.

And the emperor, of course. For readers who are unfamiliar with Star Wars, Palpatine begins as a senator in the Galactic Republic and ascends to the position of Supreme Chancellor. His political machinations lead to the dissolution of the Republic, and he eventually declares himself Emperor of the new Galactic Empire.

There’s no need to belabor the obvious parallels.

In the movies, Emperor Palpatine comes to a bad end and earns his just deserts. Alas, that’s just in a fantasy world.

Interestingly enough, Robert Tracinski has been thinking along the same lines. I began photoshopping the Obama-Palpatine image last night, and this morning “President Palpatine” arrived in Mr. Tracinski’s email newsletter. So Palpatine seems to be in the air these days…

All hail the Emperor!