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Vice and Virtue III - Wisdom

"Intellect is invisible to the man who has none" - Arthur Schopenhauer (German Philosopher, 1788-1860)

It has been my dubious privilege to witness how in the last few decades basic forms of entertainment, such as radio and single-channel TV, gradually gave way to a plethora of wireless multimedia devices, and full feature CGI films that are barely indistinguishable from their real life counterparts (including the juvenile plots).
Yet, while the technical knowledge of youngsters may be flabbergasting, and their ability to embrace new inventions staggering, their capacity to make decisions, weigh ethical choices, judge character, and predict the consequences of actions, are vastly inferior to those of previous generations. Yes, they may be able to type lightning-fast messages in Facebook, but not with actual words*. While they may have seen how humans think and act on cable television, these characters are the artificial construct of political correctness, mixed with the abysmal writing skills of people equally lacking in emotional depth, so by mimicking them the unfortunate viewers end up with an exceedingly poor ability to form meaningful connections with others, not to mention act like responsible adults.
Protest all you wish, but despite all the goods and services thrown their way, the face of the current generation in first-world countries is the face of a dog licking its own behind, certain that it had discovered a gateway to some magical kingdom.

Enter wisdom, that cryptic, antique word that may ring a bell to anyone who has ever played D&D (or beat up somebody who did), which is also known as common sense. If Intelligence is the capacity to learn, store, and use knowledge, wisdom is the ability to decide how to use that knowledge.

A knowledgeable person may prepare for the possibility of global warming in ten years; a wise one would first prepare for the snowstorms of this winter.
An intelligent man may know the law, but a wise one would know when it needs to be changed.
When reading an article in the newspapers, intelligence may understand and memorize its content, but wisdom would tell you when the journalist is likely to be promoting a hidden agenda.
Intelligence may tell you that it's good to warm-up before physical exercise; wisdom would suggest skipping that when being charged by a raging bull.
We may have all been taught to tolerate different cultures, but it is wisdom that tells us where to draw the line.

Because first-world countries are teeming with knowledge, but are wanting in wisdom, we see many college students that cannot understand the difference between the theory taught in classrooms, and the complexity of real-life situations. Socialism can sound just and viable on paper, but once it collides with the intricacies of human society, with its layers upon layers of power struggles, it invariably ends in tyranny, and yet, it is still taught as a viable solution, and young minds, having neither the experience, nor the wisdom to discern it properly, fall under its false promises of a brighter future.
It is this haughty pseudo-intellectualism, filled with selective knowledge, and zero wisdom, that creates all those individuals, who preach about the merits of islam, while remaining blind to what it truly is.
A person who cannot ascertain the validity of the information he is being fed, is equally likely to believe Saudi propaganda, as he is to trust a fellow countryman.

Wisdom, as a value, is a boon for society. Compare the ancient Athenians to the barbarians that surrounded them - even to the immense, and wealthy Persian empire, and see who had contributed more knowledge and value to the whole of humanity. In a society that values wisdom, the experience of mature, and elderly people, is priceless.
In contrast, a society built solely around the pursuit of immediate, shallow thrills, would invariably turn to the worship of youth, but the young, with all their attractiveness and confidence, do not add to the collective knowledge of society**.
Such societies are doomed to stagnate, slip into decadence, and eventually suffer an internal revolution (France), or are conquered by more violent outsiders (Rome).

Let us not become like them. Let us value, and learn from our elders, so that their knowledge and wisdom would live on in us. A man who bedded forty teenage girls, is nothing compared to the one who kept his marriage intact for forty years; licentious starlets who can't even remember to put underwear on are a pathetic role-model next to a woman who managed to raise four kids to be responsible adults.

If Philosophy is the love of wisdom, then a car mechanic can be as much of a philosopher as a faculty member who wears expensive suits and writes for the Washington Post.
Knowledge is power, and we should all strive to use it well.


* To quote Mark Zuckerberg's 'ingenius' opinion of the complications of e-mail: “Think of the friction of trying to think of the e-mail address and think of a subject line, write ‘Hey Mom,’ at the top and ‘Love, Mark’ at the bottom.”
** That is, with the exception of geniuses, who break boundaries at very young ages.

Next Virtue: Courage

Missing character in kids' literature: Muslims. Is this really a problem?

From the state of MINNESOTASTAN:


"We have tons of books about Islam. However, the fiction is harder to find. ... If there are any smart American authors, they'll start writing books like this.", States Leah Larson, media specialist at Richfield Middle School.


No, we do not need a flood of books singing the praises of islam or muslims written by American authors or any other authors as far as I am concerned. WE do not need any more muslim immigrants coming in to this country or any immigrants from ANY country. For at least ten years until we can get a handle on all the illegal aliens and immigrants we already have here. If muslims, children or adults are so craving to find books to identify with about islam, all things muslim, the depravities and violence contained with islam and most islamic cultures, let them move back to where they immigrated from. Please, take all your problems, sharia law, taqiyya, persecution, honor killings back with you. We do not need them here and so many muslims refuse to assimilate and become true, active and functioning members of American Society. From the StarTribune.




Missing character in kids' literature: Muslims
By NORMAN DRAPER, Star Tribune

As the Muslim student population grows in Minnesota, some educators detect a glaring gap: a dearth of books the students can relate to and from which others can learn.


"There wasn't a whole lot in our library that provided a sense of 'this is what's normal,'" said Julie Scullen, a reading intervention specialist at Northdale Middle School in Coon Rapids, where she took stock of books about Muslims growing up in America.


When colleague Beth Braun, a Northdale media specialist, launched a full-blown national search, she didn't have much luck, either.


"The books are more about what it's like to live in another country and be a Muslim, or what it's like to be from a war-torn nation, not what it's like to be a teenager in America and be a Muslim," Braun said. "Those books are few and far between."


Librarians in some other school districts tell a similar tale.


"I have really not come across anything," said Linda Goering, library media specialist at Robbinsdale Middle School.


Many educators say it's critical for students to have books in which they can see themselves.


"It is extremely important for young people to read stories reflecting their ethnicity and/or religion in order to feel like worthwhile human beings," said Freda Shamma, director of curriculum development for the Foundation for the Advancement and Development of Education and Learning, based in Cincinnati.


"The absence of such stories leads to poor grades in school, feelings of loneliness and alienation, and low self-esteem," said Shamma, who is working on an anthology of Muslim literature directed at middle-school-age students.


Leah Larson, media specialist at Richfield Middle School, sees an appetite for such books. She pointed to a novel in her media center, "Does My Head Look Big in This?", about an 11th-grade Muslim girl growing up in Australia who decides to wear the hijab, the traditional Muslim head covering, full time.


"I just can't keep it on the shelf," Larson said of the book.


"We have tons of books about Islam. However, the fiction is harder to find. ... If there are any smart American authors, they'll start writing books like this."


Trying to fill the gap


At Northdale Middle School, in the Anoka-Hennepin district, Scullen said the idea of getting more books aimed at Muslim kids "has been brewing in my head for a couple of years."


In September, she read an article citing the need to help students learn about the different cultures represented by their classmates. Using an $800 grant from the Anoka-Hennepin Educational Foundation, Braun and Scullen ordered 30 to 40 books for their library.


A few -- "The American Muslim Teenager's Handbook," for instance -- fit the bill. Most of the others, while valuable enough for Braun and Scullen to order, fell short of their ideal. There was, for example, "From Somalia With Love," about a girl who leaves the violent chaos of Somalia for London.


How big a deal is this to Muslim teenagers? For many who are voracious readers, almost anything will do.


"The Muslim kids are just like any other kids we have here," Larson said. "They read everything."


"Not many of the books have Muslim characters in them," said Sakina Walji, an eighth-grader at North View Junior High in Brooklyn Park. "But it works out pretty OK for me. I like to read any good books."


"I think it is important to have books for Muslim kids," said Sumaya Warsame, a seventh-grader at Northdale. "Then other kids can read about them."


Still, as far as Sumaya's own reading tastes are concerned, "it's not really a big deal." She said she likes the mystery and adventure books she reads now no matter what the characters' religious persuasion.


Some easier to find


Books oriented toward Muslim students are apparently more common at some grade levels than others. "They're easier to find for elementary kids," said Lori Saroya, president of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Minnesota. "There are a number of books out there focusing on Ramadan [the Muslim holy month], but they're more targeted for younger kids. I've heard of some series of fiction books for junior high kids, but they are difficult to find."


Saroya, who grew up Muslim in southern Iowa and graduated from high school in 2000, said she found little to read that she could identify with.


"It was the blue-eyed, blond-haired girl who was into cheerleading," she said. "There really wasn't much I could relate to in terms of my Muslim identity."(Maybe she will realize what a blessing this was later in life?)

 
"There are limited books that focus on Muslim students as part of the fabric of schools because perhaps there's been a limited demand and a limited market," said Jean Doolittle, who is in charge of circulating books and other resource materials for Minneapolis schools. "If people will buy them, publishers will produce them."


Even if such books were in circulation, school officials would have to make sure they are getting high-quality reading material that will appeal to the students.


"The kids need to see themselves, but they also need to want to read the books," Doolittle said.


(No, the kids need to see themselves as AMERICANS and start adopting to the society and our laws if they want to remain here and be considered as equals. Many muslim parents set a pretty bad example at home. Is it any wonder so many Americans dislike and do not trust muslims or care for islam. After all, it was NOT 19 Christians, Jews or Sikhs that flew the planes into the the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on 9/11/2001.)

Original article is here.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil - The Brass Monkeys

Ok, I think our Internet is stable for now...Here is an excellent post by Maj.Gen Paul Valley, U.S. Army(Ret.). I am posting the entire article and this is cross posted from ARRA News Service which is an outstanding site and you will find many great sites linked there. Thank Bill, for everything you do!







 


See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil - The Brass Monkeys




Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, US Army (Ret):  A very good friend from England sent me an e-mail over the holidays depicting the situation in jolly ole England in regards to the Brits’ submissiveness to the Muslim onslaught. He likened the British leadership - even down to the local “bobbies” - as the Brass Monkeys. Most of our political leaders and appointees are also best represented as the three brass monkeys: “See no evil, Hear no evil, and Speak no evil.” As an example, take the lame duck session of Congress that we just endured. We knew which way most of the Progressive Democrats would vote and they did as we expected. Senator Mitch McConnell gave a half-hearted gesture to fight the Democrats and to his credit the massive Omnibus Bill was voted down. Then all the other lame ducks jammed through legislation passed and most signed into to law by Obama. My question is - Where was the real fight from the Republicans even though many voted against much of the legislation? Where were the filibusters and the battle? Where was the real fight?





The RINOS (Republicans/Conservatives/Constitutionals in Name Only) are still alive and well in Washington and we know who you are. Many of you will make the list to be voted out of office in the next go-around. How could twelve Republicans vote for the START Treaty in a Lame Duck Congress?



Congress, you are continuing down the path of destroying America. Please realize that we do not need you in our lives as much as you think we do. You are “sucking the oxygen” out of America and its people with all this legislation. Enough is Enough!



We need term limits on elected officials more now than ever before. We need resignations of all those that are corrupt and inept. Judge for yourselves! My request would be to Senators and Congressmen; stay in your States that you represent nine out of twelve months of the year and spend no more than three months out of the year doing the people’s business in Washington. Make use of the electronic age. Three months out of the year will provide you sufficient time to legislate and vote on measures and issues with this thought in mind. “You will be a greater asset to the State that you represent and to the country to stay away from the addiction of Washington and the belief that you need to support a bloated Federal government (and out of control earmarks) as a lifeblood to your elected office.



You see, we do not need you other than to represent us, the People, and abide by and protect the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I would further suggest in the 2011 Congress that your first order of business is start eliminating and downsizing government organizations and budgets by a minimum of 25 percent. As well, start eliminating Federal Legislation that violates our Constitution and the “Sovereignty” of our States and Local authorities. Go to work to reduce government and spending NOW! Disallow and avoid all lobbyists and special interests groups. You work only for the People, all the people and no one else! Senators, start acting like the defenders of your sovereign states, not the national slate. Let’s get the 17th Amendment overturned.



This is a National Call to Action that begins now, the first week of January, 2011. The Declaration of Independence states:



“To secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness.”


We will not permit the current leaders in the White House and Halls of Congress to continue in their efforts to lead us down the road of Progressive Socialism and destruction of the Republic. The Patriotic Revolution that I forecasted well over a year ago is happening now.

We Constitutionalists face a battle that is unknown to our generations so we must be aggressive in our collective efforts to continue to change the tide. The Fate of the country is now in our hands and the plea from the majority of our citizens is to enforce the Constitution, severely limit the Federal Government and it’s out of control spending. There is a growing list of documented violations of the Constitution and their Oath of Office by current elected and appointed government officials. We cannot wait two more years…it must be NOW!

Lincoln issued this warning in his inaugural address, “Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government and form a new one. This is a most valuable and sacred right – a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the world.”

We are a representative republic, not a democracy; and “rising up” means other than revolution by use of arms. The people must “rise up” (Stand Up) from the grass roots across this great country as we think of the greater good for this and future generations. We are limited in the peaceful transfer of power…resignation, elections, and impeachment. That is why the Patriotic Revolution must take place to ensure survival of the Union.

The oath is simple and reads:

“I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

Sadly, we have seen them violate their oath. Fraud, lying, and corruption are rampant and some have engaged in treasonous activities, and they effectively thumb their noses at us and have sold you to the highest bidder.

The Articles of Confederation were replaced with the Constitution, which granted the federal government enough authority to cultivate, promote and secure the Blessings of Liberty. The balance of authority and individual liberty was understood. Power was confined to that which was enumerated in the Constitution with a certain and meaningful intent for check and balances.
Our Senators and Congressmen continue to seek and stay in office as a career. Power, money and benefits beyond the reach of most Americans are the basis now for many politicians and revolving door appointees staying in office. They must be termed out. With incumbency comes power. The party in the majority assigns power, so a long-term sitting representative can expect such power. A representative expected to stay in office in the 3rd Congress for approximately two years now expects 12 years, or 6 terms - so much for a “citizen government.” But this can be changed through grass roots organization and discourse. We must make it a local imperative and movement….of the People…by the People… and For the People.

One of my favorite poems reflects our destiny. "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul." From the poem Invictus by English poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) that was penned in 1875. Yes, America, WE are the Masters of our Fate and the Captains of our Soul.” You are watching while Washington burns and self-destructs before our very eyes but now you are starting to awaken. The majority of the country and its citizens are seeing the light of our inept and incompetent leadership In Washington! The battle is on and we shall not retreat.

“We, the People” have had enough. Enough is Enough!

The Obama White House and identifiable Members of Congress are now on a progressive socialist and treasonous death march and are bankrupting the country beyond expectations. We have watched them violate their sacred oath of office. “We, the People” cannot solely depend on the results of the elections. It is now that many of these public servants (and you know who they are) must put the people and country interests above self-interest by resigning and stepping down immediately. A civil uprising is still not out of the question as “pain” grips the country more each day. Hopefully, our future will reflect the citizens changed the tide in a peaceful way. This means raising your voice now to your neighbors, family, co-workers, and friends in 20121. Be the Captains of your Souls.

I hope and pray for another George Washington to appear within the year and lead us.

Paul E. Vallely, Major General (USA/Ret.) is an author, military strategist and Chairman of Stand Up America and Save Our Democracy Projects. He is also a Contributing Editor to Family Security Matters.

Original article is here.

Annual checkup under obamacare.

Two Articles by Dr Zuhdi Jasser

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk


Dr Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a true moderate Muslim, has written two recent articles which I find quite noteworthy. The first concerns plans by Rep. Peter King (R-NY) to hold hearings on Islamic radicalism within the US. The second is Dr Jasser's take on the recent decision by the Justice Department to take up the case of a Muslim school teacher who was denied leave to go on the Hajj.


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/why_muslims_must_look_in_the_mirror_g6HY8SYPEtYo8gHubxnNhI


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-jasser_27edi.State.Edition1.16fc395.html


I would hope that Rep. King would invite Dr Jasser to testify. Rather than listening to the likes of CAIR, ISNA and MPAC, Jasser is the kind of Muslim our government (and us) should be listening to. His words make sense.

Internet issues...again! Damn it to hell!

Sorry about the absence the last couple of days. We have been having ISP issues again and they will be re-installing the entire cable on the power poles for our entire block. It is extremely irritating and there are no options here except Qwest. That is out of the question as they are very expensive. So I have not been AWOL because I want be. Sometimes dial up seems like a better option. The connection is extremely unstable and erratic.Strictly an ISP issue. Will try for late tonight to get some posts up. Sigh and grumble.....

You can forget about Democracy in Israel

Recently, the shill for "the Atlantic", Jeffrey Goldberg, has been moaning about the rising power of Sefardi and Russian Jews in Israel, as well as settlers and everyone else he doesn't personally approve of.
Since the leftist media can't really go out in the open, and say their version of Democracy is one where every group that isn't them, falls in line with their beliefs, they instead attack others as un-Democratic, or a danger to Democracy.

The very term, 'Democracy', has been sullied beyond recognition already (more on that in a future article), but I'd like to cover a different angle here, which is that Israel could not possibly be Democratic in the near future.
Sure, it may be called Democratic, like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the deceased Republic of Iraq, or the Islamic republic of Iran, but it won't actually be run in an honest way.

That is because of a multitude of social reasons, three of which I will touch on here briefly:
First, we're dealing with incompatible cultures living inside Israel. Secular, European Jews have very different values than North African and Middle Eastern Jews. Furthermore, being Jews, they detest each other, rather than try to find common grounds. The same can be said about Ashkenazi and Sefardi orthodox Jews, the former of which were held to a 'racism' public trial over segregation in a class-room. As usual, racism is a one-way street, and all Jews of darker skin are exempt from being called on it. Sefardi Jews, while wearing the mantle of the victim, are intolerant of Ashkenazim, spreading myths about them not being 'real Jews', and the later, along with the Russian ones, are possibly equally intolerant. How do you suppose they feel about the Ethiopian Jews?
Then there are the religious settlers, who, after the shameful deportation from Gush Katiff, and other actions of the Israeli government, deeply mistrust everyone outside their own ranks, enough that some of them call for secession, and a founding of a separate state - Judea.

Second, Israel has been so broad minded about who it's going to take in and feed, with money it doesn't have, that it has unwittingly accepted non-Jews into its borders - and I'm not even mentioning the Muslims, but rather all the Slavs and Africans. The children of the first group tend to pass their quiet afternoons by spray-painting swastikas on synagogues; the later are fine with just stealing, raping, and murdering - either one another, or, well, you know, someone that happened to be on the street at the time.
Russians and Ukrainians have every right in the world to be antisemitic bastards, but not in Israel. It is one thing to blame the Jews for you being a lazy, drunken crook; it's a completely different thing to do it while mooching off his country.
The condescending leftist autocracy perhaps thinks they can be 'integrated', but to what exactly? a crumbling vision of world-peace and understanding, which would take place somewhere between the Jordan river, and all the spots that the same autocracies do not inhabit? For all their fervor about taking in illegal African immigrants, none of those immigrants make it past the gates of Kochav Yair, or Neve Savion. Rather, they take over poor neighborhoods, which are usually inhabited by the same dark-skinned Jews these autocracies despise.

Third, and last, millennia of exile have taken their toll on Jewish mentality, shaping it into an inferiority-superiority complex that can barely ever see reality in a balanced, factual, mild, or at least unhysterical means.
It can be understandable, considering persecutions, pogroms, and the holocaust, but it nonetheless does not help forge a society of mutual understanding.
Because in their mind, Jews have come to believe that the very survival of their people depends on their personal actions, which is a lot of responsibility for any one man. Thus you get plenty of Israelis who believe they are the Messiah, but many more who do so in a private, inconspicuous way, by sticking to their opinions as if they were holding onto the ark of the covenant, as it was dragged out of the temple by the invading armies of Nebuchadnezzar.
The bi-product of being so sure of one's own beliefs, is a lack of tolerance for someone else's - on a personal basis. That means Jews have a serious problem accepting one of their own as a leader, because they don't think another Jew is more fit to rule than them do. It is a poisonous mixture of envy, insecurity, and lack of respect.
The one exempt from that rule is the blind devotion of flocks to their rabbis, yet this is as useful in a Democracy as the blind devotion of Mac users to Apple - a single Rabbi would be too hated by the devout followers of competing 'brands', to unite them all under the same banner.

Add to that the constant threat of destruction brought by the incessant, seditious machinations of the islamic jihad - from within, and without - the absurd, unreasonable demands of western powers, and a growing sense of isolation, and what you get is an almost assured fall into tyranny.

Democracy can only be upheld in societies where there is a wide enough consensus to hold together rival sections and groups. When the fabric of society is stretched too thin by the petty squabbling of too many groups, none of which is willing to compromise in the name of a shared goal, it is only natural for Democracy to dissolve, and for one stronger party to take control (only to be challenged by others, wash-rinse-and-repeat).

If Israelis cannot act with wisdom, responsibility, and loyalty - to something bigger than their own ethnic, religious, or ideological group - their sovereign state is doomed. Like the Seleucid empire it had once broken free from, a weak, divided, isolated Israel would eventually be put out of its misery by the powerful external forces that seek its destruction.

Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue: Two years into the obama nightmare

From China Confidential


Snapshot of the first two years obama nightmare
By Confidential Reporter


And so it goes.


Two years into the odious Obama Presidency, it is clear that America's first Muslim-born and most left-wing-ever President has effectively served, ironically, as an agent of reactionary organized Islam and the clerical fascist creed with which the religion has become practically synonymous since 9/11--a global plague commonly referred to as Islamism, or radical Islam, or right-wing political Islam.


Americans who voted for Barack Hussein Obama naively assumed that they were electing an appealing, multicultural/mixed race statesman who identified and was seen as an African-American--a prominent member of the black community capable of unifying and inspiring the nation. In fact, the voters who chose the Democrat Obama over his Republican opponent, John McCain, elected a cunning, Third World-American demagogue--a master of political deception and disinformation who is enthralled by the Islamist tidal wave that threatens to overwhelm and destroy democracies everywhere.


Consider some of Obama's so-called accomplishments (apart from the phony stimulus and the incredibly unpopular and seemingly unconstitutional health bill):


He has appeased and attempted to actually align with nuclear-arming, Islamist Iran.


He has intervened in the burqa wars--on the side of the barabaric burqa backers.


He has elevated a religion, Islam, which he was born into and practiced and studied as a child in Indonesia, to the level of a superpower by addressing and apologizing to "the Muslim world"--an inherently Islamist concept.


He has downgraded the war on Islamist terror to the level of a law enforcement challenge, complete with civilian court trials for captured enemy, alien combatants and a bureaucratic ban on appropriate, logical language, such as Islam, Islamism, radical Islam, etc.


He has obsessively squeezed and pressured Israel, a staunch American ally, and the only democracy in the backward Middle East, to withdraw to clearly indefensible borders--the infamous "Auschwitz lines," in the words of the late, great, and distinctly dovish Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban--in order to make possible the creation of an inherently irredentist Palestinian Arab state almost certain to be ruled by Iran's Islamist proxy, Hamas (barring regime change in Iran, which the Obama administration opposes).


He has warned Israel against attacking Iran's nuclear/missile sites.

He has embraced Turkey's crypto-Islamist government by overtly supporting its bid for European Union membership (even though the U.S. is not an EU member and has no standing in the issue) and tacitly supported Turkey's tilt towards Iran and away from Turkey's traditional ally, Israel.


He has emboldened and encouraged Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood--the organization that spawned Al Qaeda and associated Hitlerian groups.

He has covertly supported Jordan's Islamist opposition--a branch of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood--in order to pressure Jordan's King Abdullah to visit Iran and to refrain from criticizing the Islamist regime--a move meant to further frighten Israel.


He has physically bowed to the king of Saudi Arabia, a country with no human or civil rights.


He has spoken out in support of the Ground Zero mosque project.

He has been embarrassingly slow to condemn Muslim terrorists in Russia, and has refused to speak out in support of persecuted and oppressed minorities in Muslim lands and Western victims of Islamist terror, including America's own Molly Norris.


He has continued America's stupid, cynical, pre-9/11 policy of attempting to contain China's rise by covertly supporting Islamist separatists seeking to dismember the country.

We can look for more of the same or even worse to come from this traitor, liar and appeaser that we  
we are stuck with as potus.



Tyranny: A simple definition

This is from the book:
From "Leadership and Liberty" by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward
    

This came from a friend who would like to remain anonymous. As always, I will honor that request.

CAIR's hate speech extravaganza

This is from The Religion Of Peace. If you have never dropped in to TROP site I urge you to do so at your earliest opportunity. This is by far one of the best sites one can access for information on the latest atrocities committed by muslims(for the most part) under the banner of islam.


A TROP Original, Hate Speech?
(Not According to CAIR)

“Muslims are the vilest of animals…”

“Show mercy to one another, but be ruthless to Muslims”

“How perverse are Muslims!”

“Strike off the heads of Muslims, as well as their fingertips”

“Fight those Muslims who are near to you”

“Muslim mischief makers should be murdered or crucified”

Hate speech? Incitement to violence? Sounds like it to us, but a knowledgeable Muslim would have to disagree.

Why would Muslims not consider this to be hate speech? How is it that we can post these quotes with full certainty that CAIR won't be contacting the media (or Congress) with wild-eyed accusations of Islamophobia?

Well, for one thing, we don’t actually agree with any of these disgusting statements, of course. No one should be harassed for their religious beliefs (or lack thereof) much less physically assaulted.

But the real reason is that we don't fear CAIR is because Muslims themselves honestly believe these quotes to be the literal, eternal word of Allah. In fact, CAIR is promoting this hate speech on their own website! It is actively propagating the very literature that contains these comments, even while sanctimoniously claiming that it is working against hate and violence.

But… isn't CAIR a Muslim organization? What’s the catch?

Well, if you haven’t guessed it already, these are quotes from the Qur’an in which we've replaced the word ‘Christian’, ‘Jew’ or ‘unbeliever’ with the word ‘Muslim.’

Here is how they actually appear in the literature that groups like CAIR are pushing:

Sura (8:55) - Surely the vilest of animals in Allah's sight are those who disbelieve

Sura (48:29) - Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard (ruthless) against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves

Sura (9:30) - And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah... Allah (Himself) fights against them. How perverse are they!

Sura (8:12) - I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them

Sura (9:123) - O you who believe! Fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness

Sura (5:33) - The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement

These verses come from five different places in the Qur’an. There are dozens of others scattered throughout that advocate violence in open-ended fashion. There are hundreds more that speak of hatred and hell toward Christians, Jews, and other non-believers. (Is it any wonder that the Muslim world is split largely between those who tacitly support Islamic terror and those who do nothing about it?)

Very few of these verses are bound by historical context within the text of the Qur’an, and any appeal to external sources for mitigation would apply also to the tiny handful of verses that are used (disingenuously) to promote Islam as being loving and tolerant. More importantly, there is a far greater number of violent verses than ones of tolerance, and most were “revealed” later, thus abrogating the handful of earlier ones.

And yet, this is the book that CAIR wants people to read! This is what CAIR considers to be holy text, even to the extent that an exact replica of the Qur’an (grammatical errors and all) is said to be on a table in heaven guarded by angels.

So, the next time you hear CAIR smugly accusing its critics of “hate speech,” just remember what the organization's agenda really is:

They don’t mind hate speech directed at non-Muslims. In fact, they promote it.

They don't mind religious minorities being denied rights that Muslims have in Muslims societies. In fact, they plug fatwas and religious literature that encourage discrimination.

They don't even mind the vast amount of terrorism in the name of Islam. In fact, they refuse to acknowledge or denounce more than 99% of it, including the on-going genocide against black Africans by Arabs.

The language of civil rights and tolerance is merely a tool of convenience for prominent Muslim organizations in the West to advance the cause of Islamic supremacy. A true civil rights organization, however, is concerned about rights for all people, regardless of race or religion, and this is something that Islam has never been able to produce... and probably never will...

At least according to our Qur’an!


Tags: CAIR, hate speech, allowed under Islam, islam and the qur'an To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the Patriot's Corner. Thanks!

Bulletins of Jew Hatred, Christian Persecution: Political Islam

Sorry about not copying in all the links but am limited for time tonight. Have to be at work at 6:00 AM. I did copy the permalinks to each article. From Bill Warner's
Political Islam.


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

Bulletin of Jew Hatred, Bulletin of Christian Persecution

November 26 - December 22, 2010


November 26, 2010
Maldives (Hat tip to AtlasShrugs via SavageInfidel)

The Islamic Foundation of the Maldives has called on the government to break off all diplomatic ties with Israel, a day after Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital announced that a team of seven Israeli doctors is due to arrive in the country to treat patients at the government hospital for a week.

November 30, 2010
USA
Vandals target Indiana University Jews; books were torn up and urinated on and rocks were thrown at the Chabad House windows. More HERE.

December 5, 2010
Belgium (Hat tip to and translated by IslaminEurope)
A jihadi cell which was arrested last week in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria intended to carry out an attack which would have had more of an impact and victims than the Madrid attack. The possible targets: A train full of NATO soldiers, NATO Headquarters, a packed sports stadium, a sports event, a street full of Jews and trains on routes which Belgian Jews often go on.

December 6, 2010
Netherlands
Dutch MP and former EU Commissioner Frits Bolkestein says there is no future for orthodox Jews in the Netherlands because of "the anti-Semitism among Dutchmen of Moroccan descent, whose numbers keep growing. More HERE. (Hat tip to GatesofVienna translated by VH)
Update HERE.

USA (Hat tip to Savageinfidel)
A Hanukkah menorah at the University of Florida was vandalized during the weekend, said a leader of Hillel, a Jewish student organization.

December 8, 2010
Palestine (Hat tip to Jihadwatch)
A video on official Hamas TV calls for Allah to kill Jews, Christians, Communists and their supporters. The video asks Allah to "count them and kill them to the last one, and don't leave even one."

December 9, 2010
UK
Muslim religious schools operating in Britain are using poisonously anti-Semitic textbooks from Saudi Arabia to teach children as young as six that Jews are descended from "monkeys" and "pigs," and that Zionists are plotting to take over the world.

December 11, 2010
Iran (Hat tip to Savage Infidel)
Iranians threaten to destroy the Jewish shrine of the tomb of Esther.

December 16, 2010
Sweden (Hat tip to JihadWatch )
A US-based Jewish group has issued a travel warning urging Jews to exercise "extreme caution" when traveling in southern Sweden.

December 17, 2010
Samaria
Palestinians vandalized Joshua's Tomb in Samaria's Timnat Heres with Arabic graffiti overnight Thursday. Hundreds of Jewish worshippers, escorted by the IDF, arrived at the site which is located between Barak and Ariel, and discovered graffiti on surrounding walls which advocated martyrdom.

Middle East
Leading Sunni Scholar Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi supports suicide bombings in Palestine and declares: "I Am Against the Peace Process." The sheik, revered by the Muslim Brotherhood, also said that the Jews are the most miserly of all people.

December 19, 2010
Israel
The body of Christine Logan was found early Sunday morning in the Beit Shemesh-Jerusalem area after police and IDF searched all Saturday night, fearing she had been kidnapped in a nationalistically motivated incident. The search was launched after Kaye Susan Wilson reported being attacked by two Arab men in a forest outside Jerusalem, within the Green Line. Wilson was found with her hands bound and several stab wounds to her chest and back.

December 20, 2010
Russia (Hat tip to IslamInEurope)
The head of a Russian Jewish association accused one of Russia's top Muslim clerics of making offensive statements about Russia's "native population."

December 21, 2010
Canada
An anti-Semitic Islamic website police say is operated by Ontario student Salman An-Noor Hossain who is on the run is now back on the Internet after being shut down earlier this year by a Canadian web-hosting provider.

December 22, 2010
France
The "Gang of Barbarians" who tortured to death Ilan Halimi five years ago were retried due to the lenient sentences given at the first trial. Halimi was tortured for three weeks with the aid of 26 others. He was eventually released naked, blindfolded, gagged and handcuffed, near a railway track and died upon his arrival at the hospital.

Produced by Political Islam.com
Publisher: Bill Warner; Editor: Asma Marwan


Bulletin of Christian Persecution

Nov. 29, 2010 - December 27, 2010

November 29, 2010
Afghanistan
Two Afghans accused of converting to Christianity could face the death penalty, a prosecuting lawyer said on Sunday.

December 1, 2010
Pakistan (Hat tip to Atlas Shrugs)
Muslim extremists are blamed for the murders of five Christians in Pakistan in less than a week.

December 2, 2010
Indonesia
After closing churches in West Java, South Sulawesi, Sumatra, and other provinces, hard-line Islamic organizations are now attempting to stop Christian worship in or near shopping malls.

December 3, 2010
Egypt
Coptic teenagers were arrested by security authorities because they were working on building a new church which is in violation of Sharia law.

Pakistan (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
A pro-Taliban Pakistani Muslim cleric Friday offered a reward for anyone who kills a Christian woman who was sentenced to death on charges of insulting Islam, in violation of Sharia law.

Somalia
A Somali teenage girl was shot to death for becoming a Christian.

December 4, 2010
Pakistan
The Islamic terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Toiba and other Taliban groups have launched a fatwa (an official proclamation) against the Pakistani Minister for Religious Minorities, Shabhaz Bhatti, who happens to be a Catholic. Reliable sources in Pakistan confirmed that the minister is now being targeted by militants and has become a "legitimate objective" and "may be killed for being an accomplice to the blasphemy."

December 6, 2010
Iraq (Hat tip to AtlasShrugs)
Iraq's Christian minority took another hit Sunday evening when gunmen shot and killed an elderly Christian couple in their home.

Indonesia (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
US-backed elite Indonesian forces target church members and civilians.

December 7, 2010
NYC - USA (Hat tip to AtlasShrugs)
Historic St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, plans a multimillion-dollar suit against the Port Authority and other agencies for blocking its reconstruction.

December 8, 2010
Palestine (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
A video on official Hamas TV calls for Allah to kill Jews, Christians, Communists and their supporters. The video asks Allah to "count them and kill them to the last one, and don't leave even one."

December 9, 2010
Java (Hat tip to Jihadwatch)
The Archbishop of Semarang, has called the Catholic community "to remain calm" after the explosion of two bombs in the church of Christ the King in Central Java on 7 December. The attack is the latest in a series of attacks on Christian places of worship.

Australia
The leader of the Australian Anglican Communion, Archbishop Phillip Aspinall condemned attacks on Christians and Muslims in Pakistan in the December issue of FOCUS, the newspaper of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane.

December 11, 2010
Bangladesh (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
Police in Bangladesh said they believe at least two Islamic extremists are responsible for a bomb blast in a Catholic church building that killed 10 young Christians and maimed dozens of others in 2001.

Palestine (Hat tip to AtlasShrugs)
Music video from Hamas: "Kill the Christians and Jews to the last one."

December 13, 2010
Algeria
A Protestant clergyman and three of his parishioners were convicted on the basis of a controversial 2006 law that requires a permit to set up a place of worship. . . According to some observers, this trial against Algeria's Christian minority reflects a crackdown undertaken by Algerian government since February 2006 against non-Muslim religions. Since the 1990s, the country has been targeted by Islamic extremists.

Pakistan
An evangelist is still recovering from burns after six young Muslim men beat him with clubs and belts and set him on fire.

December 14, 2010
Afghanistan (Hat tip to Atlas Shrugs)
The International Red Cross neglects an Afghani man who converted to Christianity.

December 15, 2010
Iraq
One month ago, Muslim terrorists in Iraq massacred Christians at a church in Bagdad. A three year old boy who witnessed this horror, including the death of his parents, followed the terrorists, saying "Enough, enough," until he himself was murdered.

Kosovo (Hat tip to IslamInEurope)
Christian civilians detained by the Kosovo Liberation Army were allegedly shot to death in northern Albania so their kidneys could be extracted and sold on the black market after the war in Kosovo ended in 1999, according to a report prepared for Europe's premier human rights watchdog.
Background info: HERE and from James Jatras HERE (Hat tip to GatesofVienna) and from a documentary on a jihadi martyr in Bosnia HERE.

December 16, 2010
Pakistan (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
It promises to be a difficult Christmas for the Christian community in Pakistan. An alliance of radical Islamic groups has called for a large mass national demonstration on 24 December, after Friday prayers, to say "no" to the release of Asia Bibi and any changes to the blasphemy law.

December 17, 2010
Egypt (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
A Muslim convert to Christianity has lost his family and job and has now been arrested and charged with 'defamation of religion.'

December 18, 2010
Iran
A group of nine Christians arrested in Hamadan are in prison, after being held in isolation without specific charges.

Indonesia
About 200 demonstrators from hard-line Islamic organizations in West Java on Sunday (Dec. 12) disrupted the worship of a church in Bandung, driving more than 100 worshippers from the building.

December 20, 2010
Egypt
An Egyptian priest has explained that radical Muslims are trying to rid the Middle East entirely of Christians, who once comprised the largest religious group in the region.

Somalia (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
The jihadi group Al Shabab destroyed a Christian library. They brought Bibles, books, and a/v material to the city center and burned them after Islamic noon prayers.

Middle East (Hat tip to Investigative Project on Terrorism)
Threats and attacks against Christians in the Holiday Season.

Indonesia
Authorities have banned all public activities or celebrations associated with Christmas, including Christmas Mass, at Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church. More HERE.

Turkey
Attorneys prosecuting the murder of three Christians in southeastern Turkey are making progress linking the knifemen who slayed them to the masterminds who put them up to it.

December 21, 2010
Canada (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
More than 100 Canadian-Arab Christians are listed on an al-Qaeda affiliated website, apparently targeted because of their alleged role in attempting to convert Muslims.

December 22, 2010
England
Muslims from a banned Islamic hate group have launched a nationwide poster campaign denouncing Christmas as evil.

Iraq
Iraq's Christian leaders called off Christmas celebrations amid new al-Qaida threats on the tiny community still terrified from a bloody siege on a Baghdad church. Update, December 24th HERE.

Bethlehem
This Christmas in Bethlehem, the cross has been banned from souvenirs for tourists and pilgrims in the Holy Land due to fear of retaliation from Islamic militants.

December 23, 2010
Pakistan
Update on the case of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced for death for blasphemy who is requesting a pardon.

December 25, 2010
Philippines/Nigeria (Hat tip to JihadWatch and Atlas Shrugs)
A bomb in a church during Christmas mass in the southern Philippines wounded six people, including the priest, even as Christian leaders highlighted the plight of believers facing the threat of attacks around the world. Update HERE.

In the northern Nigerian city of Kano on Friday, there were bombings during various Christmas Eve services. More on the Nigerian attack that killed thirty one people HERE.

December 26, 2010
Sweden (Hat tip to and translated by IslamInEurope from GP)
The Coptic Christian church in Gothenburg was closed down after receiving an internet threat.

December 27, 2010
Cyprus (Hat tip to AtlasShrugs)
The Cyprus government has protested to the United Nations and the European Union over an illegal act by the breakaway regime in the areas of the Republic occupied by Turkish troops to stop a religious service on Christmas day at a Turkish-occupied village, where Christian Orthodox Cypriot live as enclaved.

West Java
Hundreds of members of Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church celebrated Mass under the sun and in a tent set up in the parking lot of an elementary school due to the hostilities of local Muslims.


Produced by Political Islam.com
Publisher: Bill Warner; Edited by Asma Marwan

A Tiny Minority: From Gates Of Vienna

From Gates of Vienna with commentary by Zenster.


Perhaps the most enraging thing about this "Tiny Minority" meme is that it deals with around ONE QUARTER of our world's population.

Suddenly, even small fractions of that amount translate into some really big numbers. Out of approximately 1.5 Billion Muslims:

1% = 15 MILLION

10% = 150 MILLION

20% = 300 MILLION

30% = 450 MILLION

Now, reflect that, when polled, some 30% of British Muslim youth deemed violence to be permissible in spreading Islam.

Go ahead, pick whatever tiny number you like to represent your "Tiny Minority".

What will it be, just a few DOZENS of MILLIONS (percents), or just a few HUNDREDS of MILLIONS?

There are untold MILLIONS of Muslims around the world that would like nothing better than to have a sword at our necks.

Isn't about time that we begin to put a gun to their head and tell them to piss off?

Without wishing to be too obscure, the West needs to reach out and touch several dozen million Muslims in a variety of locations.

There exist only a very few ways of doing that and most of them are rather nasty.

One of the few scenarios that involves an exceptionally limited degree of violence is taking the shrines at Mecca and Medina as physical hostages to be held for a few decades during which there cannot be any low level terrorist attacks or the haj will be canceled.

Should some jihadist loons get it into their last lonely synapses to unleash a chemical weapons attack on the West, POOF! ... Medina is thoroughly contaminated in an exact same manner.

Detonate a dirty bomb? POOF! First Medina and then Mecca are irradiated in the same way.

Pop off a nuclear weapon, POOF! First Medina and then, if there is any repetition, Mecca are slagged into 24 hour glow-in-dark parking lots.

As one wag said, after a while Muslims would feel pretty silly bowing five times a day to a plain of hot, smoking glass.

In the meanwhile, having each shrine encircled with automated high-rate machine gun emplacements and anti-personnel minefields would serve as the ultimate flypaper for enraged jihadis everywhere.

Think how much bargaining power a Western general would obtain by posing next to the Kahbah with a bucket of liquid pig fat.

Lack of imagination seems to be one of the biggest problems for Western militaries.

That needs to change and damn soon.

All Americans must die: Threat from muslims from somalia

So once again it seems like our enemies, muslims that we let immigrate to the United States from Somalia, think it perfectly fine to write the following in blood on the walls of the Tyson Chicken plant in Shelbyville, Tennessee.

"All Americans must die."

Tyson has repeatedly caved in to pressure tactics from the muslims who work at this particular plant.

I have a few questions about this situation. First of all, why are they continually hiring these people? Local reports have repeatedly mentioned that there are plenty of local citizens who would like to have these jobs. Secondly, what is Tyson going to do about this? Workers at this plant are scared and are in fear when they go to work. Why are we still letting these people, especially those from somalia immigrate to the United States? The percentage of muslims from somalia that have caused problems all across the country is much higher, I would guess than immigrants from other countries. Time to ban all muslim immigration. In fact, it is time to close our borders for at least ten years until we can get a handle on our immigration problem.





Tenn: ‘All Americans Must Die’ Written in Meat Plant with Somali Muslim Strife

“We even know where they plot, at this point…They are the butcher-shops, to begin with.” ~ Oriana Fallaci, The Rage and the Pride

Ok, strife probably isn’t the right description. Stealth jihad perhaps? The trend of trouble following Somali Muslims isn’t just a foreign problem. It’s an American problem too. via ‘All Americans Must Die’ Written On Plant Wall – WSMV Nashville.

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. — The Shelbyville chief of police and a former Tyson employee confirmed that threatening messages surfaced this week, leading to extra security at the plant.

“A couple days ago, they had a terrorist threat that was written on the bathroom walls that said ‘all Americans must die,’” said a woman, who said she wanted to remain anonymous to protect her relative, who works inside the plant.

She said that she didn’t see the writing herself but is aware of what’s going on from others.

“One day last week, someone set the women’s bathroom on fire, and they finally put a security guard at the bathroom door,” the woman said.

She said workers are scared.

“Some of them are afraid. They’ve been talking about it and worried about it and wondering what Tyson is going to do about it,” she said.

“We have not been asked to come down to Tyson to make any kind of official report,” said Chief Austin Swing.

But Swing said the department has been asked to provide an armed, off-duty officer to patrol inside the plant through the holidays. Tyson didn’t explain the reason why.

“I guess I’m assuming now, but he’s just there for some type of security reason or to maybe to put people at ease who work there,” said Swing.

He said he believes Tyson has already removed the graffiti and is conducting its own investigation into who’s responsible.

“They’ve doubled up the guards in the guard shack outside,” the anonymous woman said.

Some at the plant are concerned.

“They’ve complained for years, as to why these people are being hired in our food department when we are worried about our safety as Americans, you know, and that’s something we all need to think about,” she said.

Tyson said in a statement “the security of our facilities is important to our company.”

The FBI did not returned Channel 4′s request of whether it’s involved.

Extra security for Americans, in America? No FBI investigation? No clamoring from Holder or Obama?


…in addition to the observance of the Muslim holiday, “two prayer rooms have been created to allow Muslim workers to pray twice a day and return to work without leaving the plant.”

“In addition to regular, non-paid breaks, all Team Members are allotted a seven-minute paid break,” the Tyson spokesman said. “Some Team Members choose to pray during this time.”


“They’ve had an impact here. Unfortunately, it’s not been a good impact…”

Yes, that is very true. muslims seldom a positive impact no matter where they
end up. It is quite the contrary.

Five pillars of liberal thought

tolkein revisited

I have been reading the Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) by Robert Spencer. Whilst in the middle of reading the book my wife and I watched the recent Lord of the Rings movie, "The Two Towers." Being a Tolkein affecionado I can tell you of the multiple plot deviations the movie took from the book. But that is not the point of this post. what I was left with at the end of watching the Two Towers was an understanding of how Islam and its adherents really are. In Tolkein's story they are the Orcs. Sauron is the prohet/servant of Morgoth (read the Silmirillion) who enriches himself by going to even greater lengths of cruelty than his 'god' and Saruman is a deluded opportunist (Amenijihad, maybe?) who goes along for the ride in destroying mankind in a hope for a share of the profits. Frodo? He is the small and insignificant person in all of us who will do what it takes knowing it may cost him his life. he is not perfect, only steadfast against the evil that wishes to subjugate the whole of middle-earth.
By the way, did I say I was PC? I don't think I did.

Vice and Virtue II - Loyalty

In the first part of the "Vice and Virtue" series, I advocated the value of responsibility, which, in my view, forms the very basis of a healthy, civilized society.

But even when people act responsibly, they are not in a vacuum. Our loyalties, or lack-thereof, shape and define who we are. Is a woman a mother who fiercely defends her infants, or sees them as an unwanted burden? Is a man willing to put his money, name, or life on the line for a friend?
And for an ideal?

Loyalty can be explained in words: a committed emotional attachment that signifies devotion and allegiance.
But it is an emotion, and so must be felt, not simply understood. For this, I'd like you, the reader, to try and imagine who, or what, you would never turn your back to, even if offered all the money in the world.

Decades of smearing campaigns by leftist un-education have eroded loyalty as a 'foolish' behavior. Children are suggested that they should always put themselves first in any relationship. As these children grow-up (but do not mature), they begin to pay for this attitude: first when their personal relationships falter, and later when their own children turn on them.
Putting yourself first only means that, in the long-run, everyone else would put you last.

And then we read those idiotic news titles about celebrities bragging how happy they are to be alone.
Allow me to snicker in contempt. A small cup may fill fast, but a pathetic lie only makes a person more pathetic.

Then there is the hyper-sensitive idea of loyalty to a nation, which has become the equivalent of Fascism. While it's true that Fascist states demanded obedience from their populations, so did the nations that fought against them. The United States, and the British commonwealth did not ask people nicely whether they were interested in stopping Hitler, and then go have a cup of tea with one of his secretaries - they trained them to fight.
However, loyalty is not mere obedience. It cannot be commanded through fear, and requires a willing participation. It also has to be preserved through reciprocal actions, or what we get is exploitation.

So ask what your country can do for you, and what you can do for your country. That's the only correct rule.

A country is not the government. It is not the bureaucracy, and the institutions. A nation is comprised of "the people", and their values. This is where one's loyalty should lie with. That is the difference between Democracy, and the obedience of Fascism.

Being loyal does not mean to mindlessly agree and accept everything a friend, spouse, boss, troops, or country do, but rather to stand by their side, without compromising your own beliefs. For example, the Tea Party, while critical of the American government, is still loyal to the United States. Code Pink, on the other hand, is not.

Another person who doesn't have her loyalties sorted out is Anat Kam, an ex-IDF soldier who, while on duty, has leaked numerous secret documents to circles within the leftist media, under the guise of 'moral outrage'.
By breaching the trust of her superiors, and handing over sensitive information to elements hostile to the state, this woman has put her own needs and desires above those of the Israeli people. Therefore, as much as Anat's clique would like to paint her as some ideological hero, she is nothing but a common traitor.

In contrast, think about the drafted men, who walked towards the horrors of battle in WWII, or the Civil War, and did not break rank. They knew that upon their actions, their loyalty, lay the future of their country and home.
During the American War of Independence, when the British came for Thomas Jefferson at his home in Monticello, Robert Hemings and family - his black slaves - refused to cooperate, even under threat of bayonets.

So, when we compare these behaviors, we should ask ourselves which face should our society have, and who do we want our neighbors to be. Should we cry 'every man to himself', until every single principle is compromised for personal gain, and predators devour us whole.
Or do we want to be a part of something bigger.

So let us preach loyalty, in favor of creating long-lasting bonds: between husband and wife, parents and children, employer and employee, friends, siblings, and whole communities.
Because to have true freedom, we first need to have freedom from betrayal.


Next Virtue: Wisdom

American Muslim indicted for wanting to join US military to kill soldiers

The cover of Islam's
"holy" Quran, a product of
the "religion of peace"
Photo: Wikipedia
by Marc Schenker, Vancouver American Politics Examiner: American Muslim indicted for wanting to join US military to kill soldiers. A US-born Muslim from Staten Island, New York, has just been indicted for lying to the FBI about his true intentions to join the US military and then start killing US soldiers. 21-year-old Abdel Hameed Shehadeh faces three terrorism-related charges that involve his plan to join the US military only so he could fight against US soldiers. According to the complaint, Shehadeh plotted to deploy with the US military to Iraq, but once there to desert the military and then fight alongside Islamic terrorists against the US. Shehadeh is also an operator of multiple, radical and violent Jihadist websites that promote terrorism against the west.

The indictments from a federal grand jury only came down late yesterday, and they relate mostly to Shehadeh’s lying about his terrorist motives.
Nonetheless, this is yet another case of a US-born Muslim—who you think should be…you know…assimilated and all that—rejecting his American nationality and choosing instead violent, Jihadist terrorism. The US Islamic community is always said to be better assimilated than the Islamic communities in other countries, and this is certainly true in that you don’t see many, for instance, of the kinds of violent Muslim protests in the US.

However, even the US Muslim community has its share of problems as not only Shehadeh’s arrest and indictment proves, but as the many, previous cases of American-born Muslims also prove. Just last month, there was the Oregon Christmas tree bomber, whom libertarians keep defending as being "set up" or "entrapped" into his terrorism inclination. Yeah, sure. Then, before that, there was the case of the Times Square Bomber, and while he wasn’t a US-born Muslim, he lived in the US for more than 12 years, more than enough time to assimilate. The fact that the US Muslim community is spawning these terrorists shows that they have problems, too.

A recent poll from only three years ago actually showed that up to 25% of young, US Muslims support suicide attacks in the "defense" of Islam. The same poll did find that about 80% of the US Muslim population is assimilated, but if even 20% to 25% of US Muslims are not, then that’s still a lot of Muslims within the US who may be a possible terrorist risk. Certainly, the arrest and the just-released charges against the Staten Island terrorist, Shehadeh, surely confirm that clear and present danger.

This Shehadeh terrorist grew up in New York, a very liberal and blue state that is a melting pot, which means that he should have been exposed to enough cultures and different backgrounds to moderate him. It’s not like he was living in a British slum or all-Islamic neighborhood where chances of him being radicalized are very high—yet this guy still became a terrorist. I think that simply shows that being a Muslim increases your chances of becoming a terrorist by…oh…let’s say a huge amount.

What’s equally disturbing is this Shehadeh fellow could only get eight years—eight years!!—if convicted! Let’s say he does his time and is let out with good behavior—after being radicalized in a federal prison some more because Islam is popular there—after a much shorter time. Then what? He goes back to terrorism, and then Americans have to die because his sentence was so short?!

Tags: American, Muslim, Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, kill soldiers, US military, Islam, terrorist, FBI, H/T Blogs for Borders.