Abandon Skip

Reprieve

2009-05-17T05:24:00.000-07:00

May 17, 2009

On 2nd thoughts I'm not sure that deleting this blog will be helpful, so for the moment I will leave it as is while I think about it some more. I may decide to keep it in some form.

For the record, I have received no fatwas and have no gifts from China to declare. I have stopped blogging because of some personal circumstance to consider that is beyond my control.

I may still post the odd music video occasionally over here. Here's a few to finish with: Australian, Gaelic, Classical. There won't be any political videos, except maybe something like this ...

Scuttled

2009-04-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

14:40 Tues April 21, 2009

This blog, Abandon Skip, will be closing down shortly i.e. deleted and permanently removed. For personal reasons I have to henceforth refrain from political opining. So I am retiring from blogging and returning to unopinionated Joe Blo.

Apologies to commenters and emails which have gone unanswered recently. Thank you to everyone who has commented over the past couple of years.

Comments are disabled. It's not something I can talk about. The reason is peculiar to my situation and not relevant in a general sense. The decision was not easy, but it has to be done. That's life.

Fare thee well.

Videos: Scottish Gaelic singer

2008-12-16T03:32:00.000-08:00

Ach can't understand a word, Jimmy. But I love it anyway.

Click to watch ...

Mumbai, 125 dead: thank you Gandhi

2008-11-27T04:23:00.000-08:00

Nov 27, 2008, New York Times:

MUMBAI, India--Coordinated terrorist attacks struck the heart of Mumbai, India's commercial capital, on Wednesday night, killing dozens in machine-gun and grenade assaults on at least two five-star hotels, the city's largest train station, a Jewish center, a movie theater and a hospital...

The Mumbai police said Thursday that the attacks killed at least 101 people and wounded at least 250. Guests who had escaped the hotels told television stations that the attackers were taking hostages, singling out Americans and Britons...

Fire also raged inside the luxurious Oberoi Hotel, according to the police. A militant hidden in the Oberoi told India TV on Thursday morning that seven attackers were holding hostages there.

"We want all mujahedeen held in India released, and only after that we will release the people," he said. Some guests, including two members of the European Parliament who were visiting as part of a trade delegation, remained in hiding in the hotels, making desperate cellphone calls, some of them to television stations, describing their ordeal...

A group calling itself the Deccan Mujahedeen said it had carried out the attacks. It was not known who the group is or whether the claim was real ...

Lawrence Auster:

Thank you, Mohandas Gandhi, for using your fabulous moral suasion, backed up by a personal hunger strike, to prevent the Indians from expelling the Muslims at the time of the Partition of India and Pakistan (even as the Muslims were expelling millions of Hindus from Pakistan), leaving a vast Muslim minority in India, now 150 million strong, forever carrying out jihad. Thank you, Nehru, thank you, Congress Party, and thank you, liberalism, which in the name of universal human sameness refused then and refuse now to recognize the nature of the eternal warrior religion of Islam, and thus leave civilized humanity helpless and vulnerable before it.

The only solution, the only way to save the world from Islam, is Separation, the permanent exclusion of Muslims from all non-Muslim countries and the containment of Muslims inside their own lands. In India, tragically, that is not possible, at least in the short term, because of the sheer size of the Muslim population that lives there thanks to the great liberal saint Gandhi. In India, the main method of preventing Muslim terrorism is the threat of mass reprisals by the Hindu majority, as explained here and here. But if such deterrence ceases to be effective, as is evident in this unprecedented Muslim attack, what is to be done?

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

(Note, see my views on separation below).

This gallery is brought to you by Gandhi, Nehru, and subsequent perpetuators of liberalism.
** warning: graphic **

Note: I agree that separation is the only solution. I'm in favour of separating Muslims and non-Muslims. But I think it's too late to talk in terms of excluding Muslims from non-Muslim countries. So that leaves some form of internal separation. How to do that democratically? I don't know, maybe a new federalism with ethnically homogeneous states.

Update: Lawrence Auster explains his view of separationism:

... it's not a one-shot deal--instantly expelling all Muslims. To put it in those terms is to kill it in people's minds, just as making the removal of illegal aliens appear to be a matter of instantly deporting them all has the effect of killing the idea of doing anything about illegals, other than legalizing them. It would not involve, at least in the early and medium stages, expelling law-abiding Muslims with no connections to sharia and jihad. I have proposed a range of measures, starting with (1) expelling the most objectionable and most excludible Muslims, (2) placing legal restrictions on the religion of Islam, such as, at a minimum, closing pro-jihad, pro-sharia mosques, and (3) offering to pay Muslims to return permanently to their home countries. These steps would make Muslims feel unwelcome here, leading many of them to start to depart voluntarily, a process helped along by the offer of payment. The minimal, and perhaps the sufficient, goal of the policy is not to have literally zero Muslims in America, but to reverse our present course, so that the presence and power of Islam in America, rather than steadily increasing, as is now the case, is steadily decreasing.

As far as legal measures to restrict Islam are concerned, my own preference, which I recognize goes too far even for many people who support Separationism, is for a constitutional amendment banning the practice of Islam in the United States.

Honouring forgotten victories

2008-11-10T22:08:00.000-08:00

November 10, 2008, Jonathan King:

... Australia's former World War I European allies have been commemorating Remembrance Day for decades, but our nation's preoccupation with Gallipoli has overshadowed realities of the Western Front to such an extent that it hardly appeared on the historic radar.

... One soldier wounded at Fromelles told me he was forced to say he was shot at Gallipoli as nobody knew of Fromelles, Australia's worst one-day killing field that claimed nearly 2000 lives.

The Western Front was fives times greater than Gallipoli because five times as many Australians served there - 250,000 not just 50,000; more than five times more died there - 46,000 not 8709; they fought more than five times as many battles - 40 battles not eight; they won more than five times more Victoria Crosses - 52 not nine and fought there for 2½ years, not eight months. More importantly, (unlike Gallipoli) by 1918 they fought as Australians under Australian command, with all five divisions led by General Sir John Monash. Most significantly, what happened was not a defeat like Gallipoli because this all-volunteer army of World War I helped win the war. As Monash reported, the AIF only constituted 10% of Allied forces but won 25% of enemy territory, prisoners of war, arms and ammunition...

I interviewed Peter Casserly, 107, our last WWI Western Front man along with the last 50 diggers who begged us to stop glorifying Gallipoli and focus instead on their victory on the Western Front. They wanted to be remembered as winners, not losers...

THREE QUESTIONS Jonathan King, SMH:

What did you learn from the diaries of Australian soldiers who served on the Western Front in World War I?

How traumatised most of the soldiers were having to fight in the battles on the Western Front. They revealed their secret fears in their diaries … these men who were just bank clerks, insurance salesmen, blacksmiths, carpenters or farm hands rose to the occasion, overcoming fear to become brave and skilled warriors all Australians should be proud of ...

SBS radio interview (starts at 4:00) with Jonathan King:

In a special Remembrance Day program we hear Jonathan King, historian who has recently released the book The Western Front Diaries. It is an eyewitness account of the diggers in the trenches of World War 1.

Quote from interview (8:00):

Q: You look at the young of today, will they have the same spirit as those incredibly brave young men?

JK: No, nothing like it. For example, everybody in 1918 was basically British, or Anglophiles, but predominantly British. They were either born in Britain or their parents were born in Britain. Today, Australia is a totally different country, and so we can't imagine that there would be the same commitment, there wouldn't be so many volunteers, and nor would they identify with Britain ... I don't think it could ever happen again.

Anger as whites shut out of Rugby League World Cup

2008-11-07T19:17:00.000-08:00

November, 2008

If consistency was a virtue (TM), that might have been a headline by Daniel Lane at the Sydney Morning Herald. Instead, his 2006 article was titled: Anger as Aborigines, Maori shut out of cup. Back then, retired Aboriginal footballer Arthur Beetson called for indigenous teams to compete in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. As it turned out, they were not included but did play an invitational warm-up match before the opening game, including a very spirited pre-game "haka off" (warning: contains half-naked crazy man):

"As the host nation, Australia can allow the Maori and Aborigines to enter a team in the World Cup but they don't want to," Beetson said.

"You just hit brick walls with the ARL. It's because of this type of thinking that rugby league has gone nowhere in 100 years.

"We could pick a team that would give the World Cup a real shake, and that's without the Aborigines who could be picked for the Australian team. Is the ARL worried we might beat them?" ...

"It would be appropriate in that the two indigenous people of the host nations who have contributed so much to the game can be recognised at the World Cup."

Sounds good. I'm all for it, although the distinction between a World Cup and Indigenous Cup would take some clarifying. But, alas, there is no mention of the value of a white Australian team "who have contributed so much" more to the game and who have no team representing them (the current Australian team is racially mixed and turning browner by the day).

In the aftermath to this game, there were again calls to allow indigenous teams into future world cups. But, now they also suggest allowing Aboriginals to decide whether they want to play for the Dreamtime team or the Australian team. Andrew Stevenson writes Give Kangaroos last pick of the cultural melting pot:

Bring back the Maori and you might bring back some effervescence to some otherwise very flat beer. And, another guaranteed way to raise a froth is choose all the Kooris, Gooris or Murris, for the Indigenous Dreamtime team. Imagine how well they'd go with Johnathan Thurston, Greg Inglis and Scott Prince helping to direct proceedings.

"I think they should get the best of the best Aboriginals and the best of the best of the rest of the country and let's see how they go. I think they would surprise a lot of people," said Anthony Mundine, making a lot more sense than usual. "I think that would give our youth something to strive for and something to dream about."

The Kangaroos will still probably win but, with half a dozen competitive teams and some epic mate-versus-mate confrontations, international rugby league could live again.

Indigenous teams would somehow add effervescence and froth. How so? Yes, by adding competitiveness, but he is also hinting at the added spice of a racial contest. But, either way, the addition of a white Australian team would also add both because the current Australian team is one-third non-white. So was a white Australian team suggested? No. Alas, the white side of the brain does not work for today's journalists. The closest suggestion to a white Australian team is described as "the last pick of the culural melting pot": we only exist in the defacto negative as the undefined leftovers (still unable to positively discriminate with pride and identity).

And if it's good for indigenous youth to strive for and dream about playing for their race, then why not white Australian youth also? The silence is deafening ...

Another SMH article Call to relive the Dreamtime says...

With a number of players likely to be first choice selections in both sides, Mundine said the decision should be left to the individuals but predicted most Aboriginals would want to play for the Dreamtime team.

Supporting his view is the actions of Kangaroos stars Greg Inglis and Scott Prince ...

"To get out there and represent the Indigenous people is a very proud moment," said South Sydney-bound fullback Rhys Wesser, who scored two tries.

"It was great to take the game back to the grass roots and you saw all the people who came out today to celebrate this moment so I think that it would be good to have it every year. We're very proud of our culture and if we could have this game once a year it would give us something to celebrate."

Soward added: "I'd love to see us in the World Cup and even the Maoris, we gave a good account of ourselves today and obviously we've got a huge following so it would create more revenue."

Former Manly great Cliff Lyons, who acted as a mentor in camp and was a trainer, backed Soward's call.

"I thought today's game was better than the one last night [between England and Papua New Guinea] so why not," Lyons said. "It was a great contest."

If Mundine predicts most Aboriginals would play for a Dreamtime team, then do you think most whites would want to play for a Colonial team (or whatever you want to call it)? Alas, we only hear the crickets chirping in the journalists' brains. And if it's a "proud" moment to represent the indigenous team, then wouldn't the same be true for whites? Chirp, chirp, chirp ...

Another article says...

Match-winner Jamie Soward ... believes some of Australia’s best players would support the idea and pick the Indigenous team over the Kangaroos ...

“It would be up to them (Aboriginal heritage Test stars) whether they’d want to play for Australia or the Aboriginal team but I’m sure they’d probably take the Aboriginal team.

“It’s been an emotional week for all of us. Talking at the start of the week what it meant to each player was pretty special and something I will never forget.”

While inclusion in a World Cup is highly unlikely, the near 10,000 fans who flocked to the SFS early enough to watch the game would support the prospect of further clashes between the two teams.

It could have also been an emotional week for whites too. Chirp, chirp, chirp, ...

OK, Ireland beating Samoa was cool, but it's not quite the same as supporting a white Australian team.

The arguments for race based teams are partly based on re-establishing a competitive world cup, but also on the unmistakable pride in playing for and supporting one's race. So white Australians have a right to be angry because, unlike other Indigenous groups, we are not permitted to play for our race. Sure, we might struggle for some equivalent to the haka, and we probably won't attack the referee if things don't go our way, but the pride is there all the same. Whites may still dominate the Australian team, but there's not the same pride in the jersey anymore, and it will soon be dominated by non-whites.

And further, if there is so much pride in playing for your race, then it follows that the National Rugby League competition should also permit teams to discriminate by race (as well as allowing teams of mixed race). If all this talk about racial pride is accurate, then that would explain why I get more enjoyment watching the all-white Ireland team playing than I do the mixed-race Australian team. And it would also add more "froth" to the NRL competition.

Until next time from the journalistic Bermuda Triangle ... Chirp, chirp, chirp ...

Also: Arthur Beetson has also called for a Reconciliation Test between Aboriginals and the Rest of Australia because:

People don't realise that a lot of our mob call Australia Day 'Invasion Day'. An annual game would be a chance to heal the rifts.

I agree it would help to heal the rifts, but if it's reconciliation you seek then you need to play white Australia. And if Tonga and Samoa can play peacefully, but with passion, despite 1000 years of hatred then I think we can do the same with our 200 year history. Let's get it on.

Melbourne's street warfare on racial lines

2008-11-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

November 02, 2008, Herald Sun:

POLICE have compiled a dossier on Melbourne's 40 warring street gangs - most organised along racial lines...

Police and youth workers said gang warfare was turning parts of Melbourne into no-go zones at night...

Officers said they were frustrated the emerging racial nature of gangs was being denied by government because of political concerns...

One police source said crime related to gangs was at crisis levels.

"The level of violence has become serious," he said.

"These people are going armed with deadly weapons. There are knives and baseball bats involved.

"And these gangs are now organised along racial lines - there are Polynesian gangs, Sudanese, Lebanese, Vietnamese and the rest." ...

Former Police Commissioner Bob Falconer said a new debate was needed on how to tackle rising violent crime linked to gangs...

Mr Falconer said there needed to be recognition of the racial nature of gangs.

"There has obviously been some sort of government edict to shut down debate about this. The police will not talk about it," he said.

"It is indisputable that ethnicity is coming into aspects of crime. Most of these gangs have openly ethnic names - and they are self-labelled...

The silence is because diversity only works under fascistic denial. It's because diversity itself is a core part of the problem, and the only solution is to ditch the dumb idea and go back to 'boring' ethnically homogenous communities. A new debate is exactly what we need: ask all public servants to pile up all material with the word 'diversity' in it, burn all the heretical teachings of the diversity ideologues, round up all the diversity advocates and parade them around town like the thieves of social capital that they are. Make them walk around town with the words 'nation wrecker' hung around their necks chanting "Enoch was right".

ENOCH WAS RIGHT - Part 1

ENOCH WAS RIGHT - Part 2
Powell's war-time experience told him diversity leads to violence.
Sing it folks... 2, 4, 6, 8
We don't want to integrate!

ENOCH WAS RIGHT - Part 3

"Too often today people are ready to tell us: 'This is not possible, that is not possible.' I say: whatever the true interest of our country calls for is always possible. We have nothing to fear but our own doubts..."

In 1981, Powell's voice reverberated from the political wilderness with a dour warning of: 'the uncertainty of violence on a scale which can only adequately be described as civil war'.

A debate is long overdue, not doubt hastened by the bashing death of Richard Saunders in Brisbane. But the only solution I can see is one where immigration is recognised as colonisation and some form of separation is the solution. Something that sets limits on the process of colonisation so that each race/religion has their own space and something worth investing their time and energy into preserving. Be that a new federalism, land rights for each group, or whatever. Anything else is just damage control, "heaping up our own funeral pyre" and "mad, literally mad", ending in "the black man will have the whip hand over the white man".

Enoch was right.

Video: missionaries stabbed in Sydney, Oz media silent

2008-10-23T00:07:00.000-07:00

14th October 2008, Video from Channel 2 Utah

Two American Mormons, Chris Collinsworth and David Ferguson, after spending the day in Auburn, were attacked by a group of Middle Eastern men (also described as Lebanese Muslim in one report) upon returning to their apartments. Collinsworth is a tall successful college basketballer, whom they targeted, and they succeeded in pinning him down and stabbing him. Ferguson tried to help and a passing car intervened. Both victims ended up in hospital. The location is only described as "little Lebanon".

Video from ABC 4

It appears that no Australia media or the NSW Police have reported this story, one week after it happened. Why not? This is a serious unprovoked assault, and they almost succeeded in subduing Collinsworth and who knows what they had planned for him. Less serious assaults than this are regularly reported, so why not this one? Is protecting the image of Middle Easterners/Muslims now the highest function of our Police and media? Is it too much for the public to hear about a crime by Middle Easterners/Muslims that has no apparent motive other than the hatred of whites/Christians/Americans? Please explain.

Video from KSL.com

More videos at Montana News and Channel 2.

More on this story at NewSouthWails and TheMidnightSun.

Should whites speak English amongst ourselves?

2008-10-20T03:13:00.000-07:00

October 20, 2008, Lawrence Auster on the subject of re-invigorating French identity by restoring the French language, history, culture, etc, to prominence among the native French people:

To paraphase Obama's "spreading the wealth," what they're doing now is trying to save French by "spreading the French," instead of by elevating it. Meaning, improve the quality of French among the French people. Teach great literature. Instill love of France and French culture, so that the French have something worth talking about again... thus re-invigorating French identity. Dismantle the EU and the entire managerial, liberal, egalitarian, and Eurabian agenda and consciousness, which kill the mind, turn language into a PC tool to conceal instead of a tool to communicate truth. Bring back belief in truth, so that there will be things worth saying again, worth using language well for. Focus schools on 17th century French literature with its clarté. Make clarté, love of truth, love of France, love of the historic West, and, even better, belief in Christianity, which is all about TRUTH, the center of French culture.

Once French nation and culture and its Western identity have been saved and revived, and once the French used by the French people has been improved and purified, then start to make French attractive again to other Westerners. Forget about trying to make it attractive to Third Worlders. As you suggested from the articles at that site, such efforts do not avail. Accept the fact that France cannot have an empire again, that trying to have a Muslim empire only Islamizes France, but see that French can still be saved, because the greatness and beauty of French can still have a great appeal to fellow white Westerners. Thus encourage French as a universal second language in the West alongside English. It won't be as widespread as English, of course, but the unique beauty of French and the "high" of speaking it gives French an appeal that English can't match.

What do you think?

I have no argument with anything that restores the pride and identity of white Westerners, that's all good. What I find most appealing about native white languages is their use as a mark of separation.

I heard a suggestion that whites in Australia should maybe speak another language, in addition to English, as a mark of separation. As a way of advertising our belief that diversity is the road to hell and that homogeny is the path to peace and security and happiness, language can be a way to differentiate ourselves. What better way to advertise 24/7 that we reject the ideology of diversity? I guess we could dress differently too, for the same effect.

For Australians, as a means of restoring pride and marking ourselves out, what native white language would be appropriate? I'm guessing Gaelic. I am probably of Irish heritage, so native Irish would be my pick. Not that I have any knowledge of foreign languages.

English has been lost as an identifying mark for white people. So maybe we should abandon it among ourselves. It's gone. It's their language now. It's the language of liberals, globalists, Islamists, immigrants, corporate sell-outs, Sinophiles, dhimmis, etc.

For language to function as a mark of separation, I guess you would only use it among people who shared your beliefs in rejecting the ideology of diversity, and use English for everyone else. Not sure if it can work. But it's worth thinking about.

No doubt Prime Minister Rudd will assault our kids with a comprehensive blurring of their identities in order to welcome in the globalist era where our "habitual operating principle is cooperation". Our education has already been ear-marked as too nationalistic.

Anything that marks us as separate will probably be an asset. And it will add solidarity with the native Irish or French or whatever white language you choose.

As an example, notice how Icelanders are reluctant to share their language with foreigners:

I understand when someone is in a hurry and doesn’t have time for the trivialities of dealing with a foreigner’s attempts at the language but it can’t be that everybody is in such a hurry that no one has the time for some helpful banter.

Keeping language to yourself is a defence mechanism.

Slainte = cheers (in Irish).

Cool Hand Ruddock's suicidal narrative

2008-09-17T04:56:00.000-07:00

Sept 17, 2008, Janet Albrechtsen:

... on Friday evening ... Philip Ruddock celebrates 35 years in federal parliament ... an opportune time to review his role in some of the most contentious areas during the past decade in Australia ...

Never fazed or flummoxed, Ruddock always responded with indisputable facts, not uncontrolled feelings. Even his demeanor infuriated the critics ...

In that time, Ruddock has had a clear narrative, long before that word became fashionable. He steered Australia towards greater appreciation for, rather than suspicion of, immigration. Even for a country steeped in a migrant history, there is a need for Australians to feel comfortable about immigration.

... As minister for immigration from 1996 until 2003, Ruddock recognised the need to take people with him, not scare them off, when advocating increased immigration...

Ruddock helped to allay the discomfort with strangers factor. He encouraged community acceptance of immigration where new arrivals would be seen as contributors, not freeloaders ... Rather than seen as stealing jobs from Australians, migrants came to be seen as the saviours for small towns looking to employ people in their abattoirs, on their farms and in their small businesses.

And when, in November 1999, boats of illegal immigrants started arriving on Australian shores just about every second day, border protection became integral to building long term confidence in an organised immigration program ...

Ruddock knew better than to be swayed by hysterical emoting. His ministerial eye remained fixed on the long-term objective of securing mainstream community acceptance for increased immigration. Ruddock’s place in Australian political history will record that immigration grew every year after 1996, rising from 67,100 in 1997 to more than 142,000 in 2006. The fair-minded will call that a genuinely compassionate outcome.

... The appointment of Ruddock—one of four Liberal MPs to cross the floor of parliament to vote in favour of prime minister Bob Hawke’s motion against discriminatory immigration policies—signalled a commitment to non-discriminatory immigration policies. Under Ruddock, more than 80 per cent of Afghans and Iraqis were granted protection visas at the primary decision-making stage and the local Islamic community is more than 40 per cent higher than it was in 1996. Under Ruddock, Australia had one of the largest per capita refugee and humanitarian resettlement programs in the world. More compassionate outcomes accepted and supported by the community because they knew that Australia, not people smugglers, determined them ...

Wow, Mr Ruddock is a super-cool visionary immigration reformer. Ahead of his time. A Cool Hand Luke who managed to convince Australia that immigration is a good thing. All without any hint of uncool emotion. Let's look at Cool Hand's work...

"As attorney-general from 2003 until 2007 ... over national security and anti-terrorism laws ... Ruddock once again steered a course to ensure community acceptance of laws needed to protect Australia ... concluding ... as the most successful terrorist prosecution this country has seen."

Let's see, Cool Hand's government presides over increased immigration for 12 years. The increased Muslim population causes the need for new terror laws. Cool Hand delivers new laws and convinces us that they're a good thing but does not question the wisdom of an increased Muslim population, that would be uncool. The increasing Muslim population also spawns the Benbrika terror cells but, thanks to Cool Hand's laws, we have the "most successful terrorist prosecution". So he's digging holes with the left Cool Hand and filling them in with the right Cool Hand. Progressive dilemma solved?

"Ruddock neutralised the issue" that he created. What's even cooler is that, as the Muslim population continues to increase with Cool Hand's increased immigration, the number of successful prosecutions will increase! Although, to a fair-minded person, as your Muslim population increases, so also does the likelihood of successful terror attacks, and successful sharia creep, successful honour killings, etc. But it's not cool to talk about that. It's only cool to talk about Cool Hand's laws, not Cool Hand's increasing Muslim population. Why? Don't ask me, talk to the Cool Hand.

Surprisingly, Cool Hand, whilst still being cool, is then booted out of office. Not his fault, I'm sure, it's probably because of his evil boss:

When the Howard government lost office last year, he did the honourable team thing. Insisting on the need for party renewal, the father of the house went to the back bench. It was a shame the party allowed him to do that.

Did Cool Hand misread a curveball?

The truth is that, while Howard did not change his spots much during the 33 years he represented Bennelong ... the demographics of Bennelong were transformed by migration ...

By 2001, almost one-fifth of Bennelong residents were Asian-born. More than 40 per cent of them speak a language other than English at home, which is more than twice the national average. The new Australians of Bennelong are not anti-Howard, but the point is they are not glued-on Liberals, unlike the WASPs they replaced.

Surely Cool Hand's visionary abilities saw it coming?

"Any seat with more than 20 per cent of its voters born in non-English speaking countries at the 2006 census has a Labor sitting member today with one exception - Bennelong" ...

So is the Liberal Party taking stock of the situation and slowing down immigration to preserve its long-term viability? Not at all. It's doing the very opposite. The current Government has almost doubled immigration over the last ten years to about 180,000 per year.

So Cool Hand Ruddock was suicidal? How can that be? Don't ask me, talk to the Cool Hand.

I'm starting to lose confidence in Cool Hand. Not only is he filling in holes he dug himself, but he's still digging bigger holes, and he's suicidal too! I'm starting to wonder if Cool Hand really did convince us that immigration was good. Maybe we were just mesmerised by his cool? If only super-cool Janet would have pondered some more questions, like: if Australians believe immigration is so good ...

- why is there still white flight from immigrant suburbs and schools?
- why do employers prefer Smiths?
- why is there segregation in our universities?
- why do most Australians think our refugee level is too high?
- why is there investor flight from immigrant suburbs?
- why do half of Australians in immigrant areas believe we have too many migrants?
- why do two-thirds of non-English skilled migrants fail to gain work in their fields?
- why do two-thirds in Britain fear race relations are likely to spill over into violence?
- why is there a bi-partisan call for net permanent immigration in Britain to be zero?
- is Europe headed for Islamification or civil war due to immigration?
- is the West headed for suicide or civil war?
- what lesson have we learned from Britain's knife crime?
- why are we still importing blacks when race cannot be transcended?
- how are we going to stop black savagery if we cannot talk about it?
- how are we going to stop no-go zones from developing?
- will liberalism really disappear up its own backside?
- does civic nationalism really have no future?
- have our nation's elite invited another group to come in and replace it?
- is the most catastrophic threat immigration not terror?
- do population imbalances endanger national sovereignty?
- when should I start hunkering down?
- if we are in a hole then why are we still digging?
- is this also a "primary decision-making stage"?
- how much does permanent residency cost?
- are we really a nation of halfwits?
- where can I live if I'm not an atomised and materialistic individual?
- how does immigration help our cities, threatened by the insecurity of water supply?
- is the economic benefit of immigration really 'chicken feed'?
- is it safe to leave your daughter in a hospital?
- should I always carry around cigarettes in case someone asks for one?
- can you leave your mother alone?
- can your daughter swim at the beach?
- can I hail a taxi?
- is this guy a "small town saviour"?
- is this what a slut now looks like?
- should our tourism slogan now be "where the bloody hell are you going to be killed?"

There are so many more questions I wished Janet would have answered. I'm sure you've got your own list too. Alas, Janet, Cool Hand, little Johnny, and now Chairman Rudd, will all remain enigmas who support immigration without ever answering these questions. I guess facts, of course, will never suffice for some. Although, I guess all those questions do sound a little hysterical. Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm just not cool.

2004: slaughterman jailed for fatal stabbing

2008-09-17T04:55:00.000-07:00

November 2004, the Age:

A Somali slaughterman who fatally stabbed a fellow worker during a rampage at a northern Victorian abattoir has been sentenced to 15 years' jail.

Justice Stephen Kaye imposed a minimum term of 12 years on Mohammed Mustaf Mohammed ...

After being acquitted on charges of murder and attempted murder, Mohammed, 26, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Peter Murphy, 47, and of intentionally causing serious injury to James Regan, 47, and Michael True, 45. Justice Kaye said the attacks at the Ovens River Abattoir in Yarrawonga on March 24 last year had exhibited an "unacceptable and savage level of violence". He said: "I have formed the strong view that you have no remorse at all for your actions."

Outside the court, Mr Murphy's widow Jan said his family had received a life sentence ...

It was unclear what provoked him but Mohammed claimed Mr Regan called him a terrorist and threatened him with a knife ...

Yet another victim of immigration.

Filip Dewinter’s speech in Florence

2008-09-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

Sept 15, 2008, Gates of Vienna:

... Filip Dewinter, a prominent member of Vlaams Belang, was present and spoke at the event. The text of his speech was sent to us by a member of Vlaams Belang, and is posted below.

Filip Dewinter’s remarks at a “Memorial to Oriana Fallaci”

... The ideology of multiculturalism has grown into a kind of new religion with the equality and equivalence of cultures as first dogma. The simple fact that we are no longer allowed to consider our own European civilisation as superior, generates an “away-with-us” mentality... Multiculturalism aggrieves Europeans with an excessive guilt complex about the West — with its history of colonialism, racism and Jew-slaughter — being the source of all evil. According to these multiculturalists we can liberate ourselves from this ‘original sin’ by throwing open the gates of Europe and the West for all kind of third-world peoples. This dangerous and disastrous “one-world” ideology puts on sale all of what we in the West stand for... Mass immigration has now become the Trojan horse of a religion and social ideology that is Europe’s historical original enemy: Islam ...

Islam is in war with Europe and the free West. Islam only executes what’s written in Quran, and follows Mohammed’s example. Mohammed was not a prophet, but a warlord who overcame and silenced his enemies with violence, weapons, and spilled blood. The Quran is a “license to kill” with unconcealed calls for waging war on dhimmis, the non-Muslims. Islam doesn’t allow for the slightest space for interpretation of the Quran, a book written fourteen hundred years ago ...

Islam is an imperialist religion which forces their rights with violence. It’s an historical evidence that Europe is the first and most important enemy of Islam. For almost fourteen centuries Europe is resisting the Islamisation of its continent. The first Islamic invasion of Europe was halted at Poitiers in 732 A.D. The second Islamic invasion was stopped at the gates of Vienna in 1683.The matter is now to halt the currently ongoing third Islamic invasion... Radical Islam is nowadays fighting with other means than before: The scimitar has been replaced by the terrorists’ bomb, but apart from that little has changed. The only fundamental change is that Europe no longer dares to resist Islamic aggression and we tend to behave more and more as dhimmis ...

Islam does not belong in Europe, not yesterday, neither today, and certainly not tomorrow. Islam is diametrically opposed to our European morals and values... Islam is a political ideology, a social order and a jurisdictional system that has undergone hardly any change since Medieval times.

... we are also confronted with a demographic time bomb. It was the Algerian president Boumédienne who said: “One day, millions of men will leave the Southern Hemisphere to go to the Northern Hemisphere. And they will not go there as friends. Because they will go there to conquer it. And they will conquer it with their sons. The wombs of our women will give us victory.” Indeed, Europe nowadays counts up to 50 million Muslims while only 50.000 lived here a century ago... The European population is aware of this, and is able to observe it on daily basis. Europeans have had enough of burqas, of chadors, of hijabs and kaftans, Europeans have had enough of the “ritual” slaughter of animals, of the boundless popping up of mosques, Quran schools, and minarets, of the Arab and Turkish writings on bus and tram, enough of halal food at the butchers and stores, of the never ending flow of sighs and demands made by Islam ...

Europe means Rome, Greece, the Enlightenment and Judeo-Christian roots. Europe is a continent of castles and cathedrals, not of mosques and minarets. Oriana Fallaci showed us the way in her books Rage and Pride and The Force of Reason ...

Nov 2005, Oriana Fallaci:

Europe is no longer Europe, it is 'Eurabia,' a colony of Islam, where the Islamic invasion does not proceed only in a physical sense, but also in a mental and cultural sense. Servility to the invaders has poisoned democracy, with obvious consequences for the freedom of thought, and for the concept itself of liberty...

Europe overflows with the witch hunts.... hits any one going against Islam. It overflows the with New Inquisition. Trying to muzzle. Oh yes, like your Ward Churchills, your Noam Chomskys, your Louis Farrakhans and your Michael Moore's etc. TRAITORS! against which all antidotes seem to fail. Combined Neo nazi islamo fascism [Atlas note: Fallaci spit these names out with such repulsion and utter contempt...riveting] ...

Don't believe in a dialog with Islam. That's a naivete. It can only be a monologue. They do not believe in pluralism. There is no such thing as a "moderate Islam" and a Radical Islam. There is only one Islam ...

The real enemy is Islam and the most catastrophic threat is immigration not terror. It is immigration. And they do not integrate in Europe...

I do not believe the West will win.

Scott Sattler stabbed by Islander

2008-09-15T03:09:00.000-07:00

Sept 15th, 2008, GoldCoast.com.au:

FORMER rugby league star Scott Sattler took on a would-be mugger yesterday after he was confronted on the Broadwater about 6.30pm...

"I told him where to go and walked off and that's when he lashed out with whatever he had, which looked like a small box cutter.'' ...

"He got me across the shoulder and I challenged him a bit and got part of his tooth stuck in my knuckle,'' he said.

He described the man as being in his mid-20s, of Islander appearance, with scruffy hair.

Mad Mel: Tragedy in Britain

2008-09-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

Sept 11, 2008, Melanie Phillips:

London — Earlier this week, a British jury convicted three British Islamists of conspiracy to murder, acquitted one, and failed to convict four more. This resulted from the investigation of the 2006 summer plot to blow up seven transatlantic airliners between Britain and the U.S. by detonating explosives packed in soft-drink bottles.

The discovery of this plot changed the way we all fly, with restrictions imposed on what we can take on board a plane. It was the biggest counter-terrorism case in British history. Yet it ended in a near-debacle. The essence of the case remains unproven, because the jury failed to agree that the aim of the conspiracy was to blow up transatlantic planes.

Prosecutors cannot understand how a jury could have failed to grasp this, given the overwhelming evidence presented to the court ...

More than 20 Islamist terror plots in Britain have now been thwarted; more than 1,000 people have been arrested under terrorism laws, and more than 200 of them convicted. These figures certainly suggest that the British security world has raised its game. But they also demonstrate the enormous scale of Britain’s home-grown problem with Islamic radicalism — a problem that the security and political establishment is actually deepening through its refusal to correctly identify the threat it is fighting.

It refuses to acknowledge that a war of Islamic conquest is being waged against the West and all “infidels”... Instead, it defines the issue as a severe terrorist threat posed by individuals who are promoting a “false” version of Islam. Indeed, British intelligence circles say that the terrorists are motivated by an “ideology” in which religion plays no part.

It is surely quite terrifying that, at this most dangerous juncture for our society, British intelligence can be, well, so lacking in intelligence. The undeniable fact is that Islamic jihadism is solidly rooted in Muslim theology and history. For sure, many Muslims reject this interpretation of their religion and live by different spiritual and peaceful lights. But it is as fatuous to say that jihadi terror is based on a false interpretation of Islam as it would have been to say that the Inquisition was based on a false interpretation of Christianity.

It is also extraordinary that such officials ignore how these admittedly confused and inconsistent terrorist youths actually define themselves as holy warriors. The “martyrdom” videos recorded by those involved in the airline plot spoke of causing violence and death in the same breath as having been chosen by Allah, of scattering the body parts of non-believers, and of their disgust at the decadence of British society. To ignore the fact that such utterances are straight out of the lexicon of imams and sheikhs throughout the Muslim world who have declared holy war against unbelievers everywhere is beyond perverse...

Worse still, Britain has caved in to the key Islamist demand that no one should suggest that Islamic terrorism has anything to do with Islam. In a speech on counter-terrorism last month, Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, even declared violent extremism to be “anti-Islamic.”

The Research, Information and Communication Unit, a “hearts and minds” outfit based in the Home Office set up to counter al-Qaeda’s efforts to manipulate individuals and groups, has told civil servants not to use terms such as “Islamist extremism” or “jihadi-fundamentalist.” Instead, they should refer to “violent extremism” or “criminal murderers” or “thugs” to avoid any implication that there is an explicit link between Islam and terrorism. It warns those engaged in counterterrorist work that any talk of a struggle for values or a battle of ideas is often heard as a “confrontation/clash between civilizations/cultures.” Perish the thought.

The government does nothing to stop the steadily rising number of Muslims coming to settle in Britain who, refusing to assimilate, are steadily changing its demographic, cultural, and political identities...

Even thought itself is being Islamized, with academic objectivity in the teaching of Islam and Middle East studies set aside in favour of indoctrination and propaganda. An as-yet-unpublished report by Prof. Anthony Glees says that extremist ideas are being spread by Islamic study centers linked to British universities and backed by multi-million-pound donations from Saudi Arabia and Muslim organizations. Professor Glees says, “Britain’s universities will have to generate two national cultures: one non-Muslim and largely secular, the other Muslim. We will have two identities, two sets of allegiance and two legal and political systems. This must, by the Government’s own logic, hugely increase the risk of terrorism.”

Yet Britain’s government appears paralyzed as it allows this second culture to develop apace — and with it attitudes that threaten the integrity of British society. A recent report by the Centre for Social Cohesion revealed that, among young Muslims, almost one in three says that killing in the name of religion is justified; four out of ten say they support the introduction of sharia into U.K. law; nearly a quarter do not think that men and women are equal in the eyes of Allah; one in three doesn’t think or doesn’t know whether Islam is compatible with the Western notion of democracy; one third say they are in favor of a worldwide Islamic caliphate based on Sharia...

When the bishop of Rochester, Dr. Michael Nazir-Ali, warned that Britain was developing Muslim no-go areas, he was denounced as Islamophobic. The establishment queued up to say they didn’t recognise the Britain he was describing. The British political and security class is doing everything it can to deny such truths — and its deadly culture of groveling appeasement and ignorance is now spreading among American security circles, too. This is simply cultural suicide.

What’s happening in Britain is a tragedy — but it’s one that the rest of the free world, fighting to defend itself against the global jihad, can ill afford to ignore.

"Beyond perverse" - in case you missed that part.

Video: 9/11, 7th Anniversary Tribute

2008-09-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

A look back and tribute in time for the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Click to watch ...

Why we should teach the Bible in all our schools

2008-09-11T01:24:00.000-07:00

Sept 11, 2008, Greg Clarke:

Fewer and fewer people know the Bible, even among those with religious commitment. The latest National Church Life Survey of 500,000 people across 22 denominations, reported in yesterday's Herald, shows a whopping 59 per cent of respondents read the Bible only occasionally, rarely or never at all.

But why would you bother reading it if you didn't have some belief the words of the good Book were true? What could motivate you to wade your way through those strange, cigarette-paper pages?

To my mind, there are still plenty of reasons to bother with the Bible. But at least one is indisputable, and it reveals a gaping hole in the Australian educational experience. You need to know the Bible in order to understand the history, literature and arts of Western culture. In fact, it is an educational and cultural tragedy that the Bible has quietly disappeared from the schooling experience of many Australians.

In the US, a major project to restore biblical literacy is under way, called the Bible Literacy Project. It is a joint venture of Jewish and Christian educators intended to "encourage and facilitate the academic study of the Bible in public schools". In a country where religion and public education mix like oil and water, it is no mean feat they have got their textbook, The Bible And Its Influence, into the curriculum in 40 states, and counting.

The project had its own statistical grounding. A Gallup Poll for the project found only 37 per cent of American high school students could recognise any of Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount (Australia would have to be worse). And yet 98 per cent of English teachers surveyed agreed knowing the Bible delivered a distinct academic advantage in the study of English literature...

There's no need to be sidetracked by six-day creationism, or Zionism, or the subtleties of denominational differences. This is about teaching the Bible in the same way that you teach scales for learning a musical instrument, or the colour palette for painting. It's necessary to the whole task of understanding what is going on in our culture, literature, and history.

I have a vested interest in biblical literacy; after all, I'm a Christian and I think there's something to the big, unfolding story it tells. But I'm also a literary academic, and I can't bear the biblical ignorance students display. Regardless of whether you find something alive and kicking in the Scriptures, there is a strong argument it should be somewhere near the foundation of Australian education.

And maybe an equally important reason to read the bible is to experience a Western tradition of belief in god. Though I am now a dead-again atheist reductionist, I have recently returned to occasionally reading the Bible, listening to Christian music, and even praying. I like to think of it as Christian dreaming. Though I don't believe, and don't subscribe to (or understand) all of what the Bible says, I suspend disbelief to experience a relationship with a pretend god. I mainly cherry-pick for verses that encourage compassion, humility, peace, etc. I suspend disbelief and say "yes" to the shepherd's call to "follow me". Jesus said:

"Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need ..."

Like it or not, believe it or not, I feel like a better person for it.

The goal should be to pass on a Western tradition, not just reading a book. So maybe our kids should be exposed to a fuller experience of Christian fellowship, music, etc.

Will this offend serious Christians? Maybe. But I think it's better that pseudo-belief is passed down, rather than no belief. I'd go the whole hog and attend a pseudo church if I could find similar pseudo believers.

Just make sure the result is not liberal Christianity which has brought us the stupid belief in open borders and one-worldism. Fortunately, I have a strong identity as a white person and a strong belief in the value of a homogeneous race and culture, which I believe to also be Western traditions worth preserving. Hey, maybe even worth teaching in schools too.

Kirby urges lawyers to think globally

2008-09-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

Sept 9, 2008, Sydney Morning Herald:

Retiring High Court Judge Michael Kirby says Australia's next generation of lawyers must change their focus and think globally.

Justice Kirby, who steps down next year after 12 years serving on Australia's High Court, says the legal profession must no longer view itself as an "enclave of parochialism".

"Question old rules in new contexts of rapidly changing times," Justice Kirby told Faculty of Law graduates at the University of NSW in an address.

"The big challenge, and opportunity, of this generation of lawyers lies in its demand that lawyers should think globally."

Justice Kirby said the changing times had spurred advances in international law - in trade law, economic law and human rights law.

"Never accept that these are developments irrelevant to our Australian domestic law," he told graduates...

ABC News, Michael Kirby:

... At our going out, we who did our best to reform the law must hand it on to you who are coming in. Never be content with injustice. Question old rules in new contexts of rapidly changing times.

The changing times include the advances in international law - trade law, economic law and human rights law. Never accept that these are developments irrelevant to our Australian domestic law. The big challenge and opportunity of this generation of lawyers lies in its demand that lawyers should think globally.

We need to change mental gears. Others on this campus are thinking globally all their lives. A law school cannot be a little enclave of parochialism. Nor can the legal profession or the judiciary. At your coming in, you must change the focus of the law. This is your special challenge and chance.

...The position of women has also improved, as have many of the laws affecting them. But there is still far to go. The slights to Asian-Australians have diminished. But there is still far to go.

The position of gays has got better in my lifetime. But the oppression and ignorance are not yet over. Inequality and discrimination have not yet stopped. Wrongs and injustices still occur in the law to this day, including even for me, an office-holder under the nation's Constitution. So it is work in progress; no room for complacency.

ABC News (with audio), Michael Kirby:

A law school cannot be a little enclave of nationalism and parochialism in today's Australia...

For Islamic Australians it must still seem sometimes very difficult.

The chorus of globalists is out of the closet and singing loud now that Rudd has told them to "think big" about an Asia Pacific Union. Borders are 'immoral', don't you know? And I wonder if he too thinks that sharia law is 'unavoidable'? Of if he too thinks Muslims in the West 'shall be governed by law other than English law'?

Sum children are more equal than others

2008-09-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

Sept 08, 2008, Herald Sun:

ARE you smarter than a third grader? Don't count on it. A national maths contest has proven Victoria has its share of baby brainiacs.

Seven budding mathematicians rose to the top in this year's Educational Assessment Australia maths contest: Eddie Yao from Kew East Primary, Mingyi Wu from Tucker Rd Bentleigh Primary; Kelvin Sun from Parktone Primary; William Ruan from Serpell Primary; Laura Hung from Sunshine Christian School, Martin Huang from Glendal Primary and Morris Gu from Southwood Boys Grammar are Victoria's youngest whizzes ...

The clock ticks...

Man chanting "Allah" attacks stranger on subway with hammer

2008-09-10T02:34:00.000-07:00

Sept 9, 2008, Jihad Watch:

"In Philadelphia. Video here. The detail that he was chanting something in Arabic, as well as "Allah," is in the video -- only "Allah" is in the story below.

Now, I'm sure that if this attacker is caught, he will be found to be mentally ill, and will have no connection to terrorist groups, and only venomous Islamophobes will be attempting to link his actions to the global jihad. And maybe all of that will be true. However, the adherents of a religion that contains traditions about genocide ushering in the end times, and that has a developed doctrine, theology, and legal system that mandates warfare against and the subjugation of unbelievers, cannot forever profess surprise and indignation whenever anyone suggests that such material might incite people to commit acts of violence.

Is this guy a Muslim? A jihadist? I have no idea, and I am not saying he is. But the possibility cannot be dismissed out of hand when he chants "Allah" and mutters in Arabic while attacking a man he does not know with a hammer. In a sane society, government, media, and law enforcement would be calling upon American Muslim groups to do something about this -- to face up to the capacity of Islamic texts and teachings to incite violence, and to institute comprehensive, honest, inspectable programs teaching against jihad violence and Islamic supremacism. But this is hardly at this point a sane society."

There is more video, of better quality, at the above link. Videos via Debbie Schlussel.

Video: what Islam is not ...

2008-09-09T03:03:00.000-07:00

August 24, 2008
If you are concerned with Islam and the Islamisation of your country, this video has a message for you...

Black schools the answer to black crime in London?

2008-09-08T00:51:00.000-07:00

07 Sept, 2008, London Daily:

The increasingly unruly nature of elements of black Londoners has now focused on the educational failings in the state sector, with leading black politician Lee Jasper and former aide to former Mayor Livingstone calling for support to have black only schools.

"The fact is, it's time the black community ran its own schools, devised a curriculum that suited the needs of our children, employed teachers that look like the young people they are teaching."

In Toronto,Canada the Toronto District School Board approved for the establishment of "Afrocentric or black-focused schools" in 2009 which aims to address the high level dropout of black children estimated to be at 40% per cent in the city.

In London the "dropout" rate is around 20-30% in certain areas of London, with crime figures indicating that murders amongst young people show blacks to be the victims and perpetrators in 80% of cases.

The black school in Toronto has been a very emotive issue with emotions raised during the debates evaluating the merits of the school.

The supporters for the black schools in Toronto went onto to say:

"Opening one school does not address the problem across the system ... (where) a significant number of students of African descent are not doing well in our schools, we have a responsibility to address the needs across the system. We see the Africentric school request as part of a bigger (plan) ... to effectively close the gap."...

Diversity fails again. Jasper calling for "teachers that look like the young people they are teaching" is a blunt admission that race matters. And it does. But if whites want white teachers, and a white school? Well that would be 'racist'.

And that still won't solve the problem of diversity on the streets, in the workplace, etc. If racial cohesion is necessary for school morale and productivity, then why isn't the same true for workplaces, neighbourhoods, sports teams, the military, etc? Once you acknowledge that race matters, you have to be consistent. And consistency says that every aspect of our society will be better off if it is broken up into homogeneous parts.

And if ethnic separation is where Britain is headed, then Australia should admit that diversity has failed overseas and not repeat the same mistake here with some old-fashioned notion of a borderless Asia Pacific Community utopia.

And if separation is where we are headed, the sooner whites acknowledge and act on this, the less ground we will lose. And diversity should be seen not as a strength, but as a state of impermanence that merely leads to dispossession of your land.

Islanders wanted over Coogee tourist attack

2008-09-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

Aug 26, 2008, Nine News:

The father of an Irishman who remains in an induced coma a fortnight after being beaten unconscious in Sydney has tearfully appealed for information about his son's attackers.

Tom Keohane's plea came after police released CCTV footage of two men they say could provide information about the attack on 29-year-old David Keohane in the beachside suburb of Coogee two weeks ago...

Detective Inspector Paul Pisanos said police were looking for two men in their 20s who were at the Coogee Bay Hotel on the night of the attack...

The first man is about 180cm tall, of solid build, with his hair shaved at the sides but longer and blond-tipped at the back.

He was last seen wearing a light-coloured top with a dark pattern and blue pants.

The second man is described as being approximately 180cm tall, of medium build with a similar but shorter haircut.

He was last seen wearing a white hooded top and blue pants.

Both were described by police as being of Pacific Islander appearance.

London: Asian and black youths gang warfare

2008-09-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

Gang warfare on the streets of London as Asian and black youths battle outside Julie Christie's house
05th September 2008, DailyMail:

A warm late summer afternoon on a leafy street in an area colonised by fashionable cafes and shops came to an abrupt end when the peace was shattered by a raw, terrifying eruption of gang violence this week.

Armed with spades, screwdrivers, bars and sticks, two gangs clashed and sent locals fleeing into shops for safety.

This running battle between black and Asian youths - a sickening example of brutal Britain today - was captured by a photographer who had been waiting in the street to take a photo of the actress Julie Christie, who lives nearby...

The fracas lasted around 20 minutes and involved at least ten gang members. It is
understood to have flared after an Asian man accused several youths of vandalising his property.

We need more immigration like we need a screwdriver in the head.

UK: Blacks Riot at Notting Hill ‘Carnival’

2008-09-05T23:23:00.000-07:00

26th August 2008, DailyMail:

Shoulder to shoulder, dozens of police barricade a street to tackle a violent, angry mob.

These were the disturbing scenes which marred the end of London's Notting Hill Carnival on Monday night.

A gang of 40 troublemakers, hell-bent on wreaking havoc, hurled bottles and bricks at officers as the festival drew to a close...

A witness said: 'It was a fullscale riot, bottles were flying everywhere and carnival-goers and police officers were bloodied. A policewoman was carried off unconscious ...

'It was like a war zone. I haven't seen anything like it at the carnival since the early 90s. It reminded me of the Brixton riots.'

A resident who saw the battle from his flat said: 'I've lived here 12 years and this is the worst trouble and the biggest deployment of police I've ever seen at the carnival. At one point there were about 200 police down there. The officers looked terrified.'

The mood turned ugly as the festival drew to a close and the group rounded on the police in Ladbroke Grove, West London.

We need more immigration like we need a bottle on the head. There's another video here.

Race tension behind taxi brawl at airport, say drivers

2008-09-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

And here's one they prepared earlier, in Melbourne ...

June 06, 2008, HeraldSun:

RACIAL tension may have been behind a brawl this week when taxi drivers turned on each other outside a Tullamarine cafe.

Up to 30 drivers, some brandishing weapons, spilled onto Melrose Drive from the Melrose Lounge, a witness said.

... witnesses said the fight began between a Somalian driver and an Indian driver before mushrooming into a brawl between Indians and drivers from various African nations.

A leader in the recent taxi protests in Melbourne's CBD told 3AW the fight was sparked when an Indian driver tried to skip the queue...

Other taxi drivers and airport staff claimed racial tensions were often evident at the airport rank, with queue-jumping enough to spark mass arguments and violence...

We need more immigration like we need a tyre iron on the head. And, of course, no arrests have been made.

Obama: transcending race?

2008-09-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

Nov 30, 2007, Shelby Steele:

The first thing I ever heard about Barack Obama was that he had a white mother and a black father... Apparently this was the way we Americans had to introduce Obama to each other. For some reason, knowledge of his racial pedigree had to precede even the mention of his politics--as if the pedigree inevitably explained the politics.

Of course, I am rather sensitive to all this because I, too, was born to a white mother and a black father, though I did not fully absorb this fact, which would have been so obvious to the outside world, until I was old enough to notice the world's fascination--if not obsession--with it. To this day it is all but impossible for me to actually stop and think of my parents as white and black or to think of myself, therefore, as half and half. This is the dumb mathematics of thinking by race--dumb because race is used here as a kind of bullying truth that pushes aside the actual human experience.

... his candidacy itself asks the American democracy to complete itself, to achieve that almost perfect transparency in which color is indeed no veil over character--where a black, like a white, can put himself forward as the individual he truly is. This is the high possibility that the Obama campaign points to quite apart from its policy goals.

And yet the issue of race, so nicely contained and deactivated in the Barack Obama political persona, is still very much alive within the man himself. Today's black identity has been nearly a life-long preoccupation for Obama. By the surface facts of his life--mixed-race background, childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia--it would be easy to assume that he might be indifferent to the whole business of race and identity. Many Americans want to believe that there are people on whom race sits very lightly, people whose very hybridism suggests the possibility of transcending race.

But Barack Obama is not such a person. His books show a man nothing less than driven by a determination to be black, as if blackness were more a specific achievement than a birthright. This drive puts Obama at odds with his own political persona. Much of the excitement that surrounds him comes from the perception that he is only lightly tethered to race. Yet the very arc of his life--from Hawaii to the South Side of Chicago--has been shaped by an often conscious resolve to "belong" irrefutably to the black identity...

So, yes, Obama's interracial background puts him at cross purposes. It gives him a racelessness that is politically appealing to whites, but it also draws him toward precisely the kind of self-conscious black identity that alienates whites...

... He is a man bound by forces outside himself and by a practice that is central to the minority experience in America: masking. As the word itself makes clear, the mask is not an authentic representation of one's true self; rather it is a presentation of the self that angles for advantage. Today we blacks have two great masks that we wear for advantage in the American mainstream: bargaining and challenging.

Bargainers make a deal with white Americans that gives whites the benefit of the doubt: I will not rub America's history of racism in your face, if you will not hold my race against me...

Challengers never give whites the benefit of the doubt. They assume whites are racist until they prove otherwise...

Barack Obama is a plausible presidential candidate today because he is a natural born bargainer...

But the great problem for Obama is that today's black identity is grounded in challenging. This is the circumstance that makes him a bound man. If he tries to win the black vote by taking on a posture of challenging, he risks losing the vote of whites who like him precisely because he does not challenge...

There is only one way out of this bind for this still young politician. He has to drop all masks, all obsessions with identity, all his fears of being called a sell-out, and very carefully come to reveal what he truly believes as an individual. This is what America really expects from Barack Obama.

Undercover Mosque: The Return

2008-09-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

September, 2008, Channel 4:

A year-and-a-half after the critically-acclaimed film Undercover Mosque was first screened, Dispatches goes undercover again to see whether extremist beliefs continue to be promoted in certain key British Muslim institutions.

Part 1

Parts 2 to 5 are at Jihad Watch.

Turkey goes over to the dark side

2008-08-31T06:19:00.000-07:00

August 19, 2008, LA Times:

Praying in Istanbul's Blue Mosque on Friday, I witnessed firsthand Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's international publicity coup...

I've long been fond of the Blue Mosque because it is where, many years ago, I attended my first Friday prayers. Last Friday, though, I felt uncomfortable in the prayer hall, where I found myself in front of God but next to Ahmadinejad, who turned the ritual into a political show.

Departing from established practice of having visiting Muslim heads of state pray in a smaller mosque in Istanbul, the government allowed Ahmadinejad to pray in the Blue Mosque, Turkey's symbol of tolerant Ottoman Islam. With permission from Turkish authorities, he also allowed Iranian television to videotape him during the entire prayer, in violation of Islamic tradition, which requires quiet and intimate communion between God and the faithful. There was so much commotion around Ahmadinejad that the imam had to chide the congregants. Then, as he left the mosque, Ahmadinejad got out of his car to encourage a crowd of about 300 to chant, "Death to Israel! Death to America!"

Even without this behavior, any visit from a leader representing an authoritarian, anti-Western autocracy would have created controversy in Turkey just a few years ago. Not today. The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government not only opened the Blue Mosque to Ahmadinejad but accommodated his refusal to pay respects at the mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern, secular Turkey -- a major violation of protocol for an official visit...

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan asked the Turkish public to ignore the snub and instead "focus on the big picture." It is the "big picture," though, that is most disconcerting. By extending an invitation to Ahmadinejad, the first such move by any NATO or European Union member country, Turkey has broken ranks with the West. The West can no longer take Turkey for granted as a staunch ally against Tehran.

Via JihadWatch

Preachers of separatism at work inside Britain's mosques

2008-08-31T05:48:00.000-07:00

31 Aug 2008, Telegraph:

In a large balcony above the beautiful main hall at Regent's Park Mosque in London - widely considered the most important mosque in Britain - I am filming undercover as the woman preacher gives her talk.

What should be done to a Muslim who converts to another faith? "We kill him," she says, "kill him, kill, kill…You have to kill him, you understand?"

Adulterers, she says, are to be stoned to death - and as for homosexuals, and women who "make themselves like a man, a woman like a man ... the punishment is kill, kill them, throw them from the highest place".

These punishments, the preacher says, are to be implemented in a future Islamic state. "This is not to tell you to start killing people," she continues. "There must be a Muslim leader, when the Muslim army becomes stronger, when Islam has grown enough."

A young female student from the group interrupts her: the punishment should also be to stone the homosexuals to death, once they have been thrown from a high place.

These are teachings I never expected to hear inside Regent's Park Mosque, which is supposedly committed to interfaith dialogue and moderation, and was set up more than 60 years ago, to represent British Muslims to the Government. And many of those listening were teenage British girls or, even more disturbingly, young children.

My investigation for Channel 4's Dispatches came after last year's Undercover Mosque, which investigated claims that teachings of intolerance and fundamentalism were spreading through Britain's mosques from the Saudi Arabian religious establishment - which is closely linked to the Saudi Arabian government. In response, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia denied it was spreading intolerance, while Regent's Park Mosque, which featured in the film, urged all mosques to be "vigilant" and monitor what was taught on their premises.

So earlier this year, dressed in a full Islamic jilbaab, I went back to Regent's Park Mosque to see what was being taught there. As a woman, I had to go to the main female section, where I found this circle preaching every Saturday and Sunday, eight hours at a time, to any woman who has come to pray.

The mosque is meant to promote moderation and integration. But although the circle does preach against terrorism and does not incite Muslims to break British laws, it teaches Muslims to "keep away" and segregate themselves from disbelievers: "Islam is keeping away from disbelief and from the disbelievers, the people who disbelieve." ...

The reporter's name has been changed. 'Dispatches: Undercover Mosque - The Return' will be broadcast on Channel 4 at 8pm on Monday

Via JihadWatch

Hurstville to be Chinese-speaking by mid 2020s

2008-08-31T00:24:00.000-07:00

Ethnic hotspots
August 21, 2008, the Australian:

... Sydney's Hurstville ... where 43 per cent of the locals speak Chinese... At this rate, Hurstville will be entirely Chinese-speaking by the middle of the 2020s...

... Arabic is spoken at home by 40 per cent of the population in Chullora ... in the city's southwest.

... Chinese speakers have invaded Hurstville about twice as fast as Arabic speakers have moved into Chullora.

... Cabramatta ... where 35 per cent of the locals speak Vietnamese at home...

... Melbourne CBD ... now has 29 per cent of people who speak Chinese at home.

The truly extraordinary feature of Melbourne's new Chinese residents is the speed with which they have arrived...

... this group, as early as next decade, will have the wherewithal to display their success in new housing designed to reflect not Australian aspirationalism, but middle-class Chinese and Arab ideals.

March 2008, Welcome to Australia Street:

When we surveyed an average street in Hurstville, NSW, we gained a unique insight into the cultural mix that is Australia today ...

It's 7pm on Australia Street in Hurstville, a fast-growing suburb in the south-west of Sydney. At Number 11, Chinese-born Solan Tan and his Japanese-born wife Emi are steaming prawn dumplings for their young son Toshi, who is playing on his bike in the road. The family can smell the smoky aroma of marinated lamb and sweet potatoes wallowing over the fences from the Maori family at Number five who are cooking a Hangi - a traditional meal cooked in their garden over hot stones. Meanwhile, it's impossible for Toshi not to hear the gentle din of different languages and accents drifting out of the open windows and terraces - from South Africa and America to Italy and Sri Lanka, almost every continent is represented.

When we set out to discover exactly where all the residents in the road were from we expected to find a degree of mixed heritages, but were to be surprised by actually how extremely varied Australia's cultural melting pot has recently become. Except for just four people out of 150 adults living on the street they were all first generation immigrants from 16 different nations around the world.

Yet this is far from an extraordinary street or an unusual demographic but serves as a multi-cultural snapshot of modern Australia today. Since 1945, over six million people from 200 countries have come to live in this country. And what Australia Street represents, according to immigration expert Dr Alison Bashford, from the University of Sydney, is the "realistic picture" of the country's increasingly culturally diverse population. "Migrants have made a major contribution to shaping modern Australia," she says, "But this diversity isn't always correctly represented in things such as adverts and films and certainly does not match the way Australia's image is presented to the rest of the world." ...

H/T: NewSouthWails

Don't forget that Rudd has just put his foot on the immigration accelerator, so expect the Chinese satellite city of Hurstville to be here sooner.

In a Generation, Minorities May Be the U.S. Majority

2008-08-31T00:12:00.000-07:00

August 13, 2008, NY Times:

Ethnic and racial minorities will comprise a majority of the nation’s population in a little more than a generation, according to new Census Bureau projections, a transformation that is occurring faster than anticipated just a few years ago.

The census calculates that by 2042, Americans who identify themselves as Hispanic, black, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander will together outnumber non-Hispanic whites. Four years ago, officials had projected the shift would come in 2050.

The main reason for the accelerating change is significantly higher birthrates among immigrants. Another factor is the influx of foreigners, rising from about 1.3 million annually today to more than 2 million a year by midcentury, according to projections based on current immigration policies.

“No other country has experienced such rapid racial and ethnic change,” said Mark Mather, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a research organization in Washington ...

Via NewSouthWails

Fjordman: why I don't think Islam can be reformed

2008-08-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

August 21, 2008, Atlas Shrugs:

I do not believe that there is such a thing as a moderate Islam, and have been quite clear about that since I started writing. I disagree with observers such as Dr. Daniel Pipes on this particular point. I'd like to say to Pipes that I enjoy much of his work. I have linked to it a number of times before and intend to do so in the future as well. However, I get increasingly disturbed by how many people keep repeating the mantra of reaching out to "moderate Islam" when I have yet to see a single piece of evidence that a moderate Islam actually exists.

When asked about where to find a moderate Islam, Daniel Pipes has repeatedly referred to the late Sudanese scholar Mahmud Muhammud Taha, whose ideas are available in English in the book The Second Message of Islam. Taha's disciple and translator Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'Im, author of the book Toward an Islamic Reformation, has this to say about the ideas of his teacher:
"[T]he Medina message is not the fundamental, universal, eternal message of Islam. That founding message is from Mecca. So, the reformation of Islam must be based on a return to the Mecca message. In order to reconcile the Mecca and Medina messages into a single system, Muslim jurists have said that some of the Medina verses have abrogated the corresponding earlier verses from Mecca. Although the abrogation did take place, and it was logical and valid jurisprudence at one time, it was a postponement, not a permanent abrogation."

Because of this, An-Na'Im thinks that "The Mecca verses should now be made the basis of the law and the Medina verses should be abrogated. This counter-abrogation will result in the total conciliation between Islamic law and the modern development of human rights and civil liberties. In this sense we reformers are superfundamentalists."
I have read the books of both Taha and An-Na'Im closely. I find that their writing sounds better the first time you read it than it does the second time. For instance, Taha suggests that the reason why Muhammad and the early Muslims "had to" murder so many people was because these individuals didn't accept Islam peacefully. Not only does Taha not indicate that he thinks this was wrong, he describes armed Jihad as a "surgical tool" which can be used to implement true Islam. He hints that this hopefully won't be needed now because people are "mature" enough to know that Islam is good for them and will submit without coercion.

What happens to those who don't like Islam and have no intention of submitting? Taha doesn't say, but judging from his writings, he seems to believe that violence is justified against such people. It is hard to see in what way this is supposed to represent a "reformist" way of thinking. According to orthodox Islamic theology, Muslims are not allowed to physically attack non-Muslims unless these have first been invited to embrace Islam yet have failed to do so, in which case they are fair game. In other words, Muslims should try to convert people peacefully first and then start killing them afterwards if they refuse. Taha thus advocates a traditional concept of Jihad, one not qualitatively different from that espoused by Jihadist terrorists such as Osama bin Laden.

Although Taha resembles an apologist for Jihadist violence, he was still considered so unorthodox by traditional Muslims that he was executed as an apostate. Besides, his ideas are built on questionable "truths" about the Koran. Consider what the German professor Christoph Luxenberg claims in his pioneering work:
"In its origin, the Koran is a Syro-Aramaic liturgical book, with hymns and extracts from Scriptures which might have been used in sacred Christian services. In the second place, one may see in the Koran the beginning of a preaching directed toward transmitting the belief in the Sacred Scriptures to the pagans of Mecca, in the Arabic language. Its socio-political sections, which are not especially related to the original Koran, were added later in Medina. At its beginning, the Koran was not conceived as the foundation of a new religion. It presupposes belief in the Scriptures, and thus functioned merely as an inroad into Arabic society."
In other words, if Mr. Luxenberg is correct, what we now call the Meccan chapters of the Koran are peaceful precisely because they aren't "Islamic" at all, they are based on Christian texts. The "authentic" texts related to Muhammad and his companions, whoever the historical Muhammad really was, are the much more violent and aggressive chapters we classify as Medinan. This is precisely the opposite of what Taha and An-Na'Im suggest. From a secular point of view, their ideas are thus extremely vulnerable to historical criticism, and from an Islamic point of view, it's difficult to see how their ideas can be implemented.

After reading through much of the literature on the subject, I would divide "Muslim reformers" into three categories. The first, and by far the largest category, consists of liars, opportunists and taqiyya artists; people who want to infiltrate our societies rather than reform Islam. The second category consists of people who may be well-meaning but simply don't understand the issues involved. Irshad Manji, for instance, is not a bad person, but she just doesn't know very much about Islamic history. The third and smallest category consists of people who are knowledgeable and genuinely desire reform. The German-Syrian scholar Bassam Tibi could be placed here. I find some of his work interesting, but even he is incoherent and unconvincing in presenting the case for how a moderate Islam should look like.

Where does Taha belong in this picture? Frankly, I suspect it's among category 1. He is theologically unconvincing, and some of the passages he writes are outright disturbing if you read them closely and analyze what he's actually saying. The following quotes, with page references, are from the book The Second Message of Islam by Mahmud Muhammud Taha ...
Page 134:
"In this way, all the verses of persuasion, though they constitute the primary or original principle, were abrogated or repealed by the verses of compulsion (jihad). This exception was necessitated by the circumstances of the time and the inadequacy of the human capability to discharge properly the duty of freedom at that time."

"Some Muslim scholars believe that Islamic wars were purely defensive wars, a mistaken belief prompted by their keenness to refute claims by the Orientalists that Islam spread by means of the sword. In fact, the sword was used to curtail the abuse of freedom. Islam used persuasion for thirteen years in propagating its clearly valid message for the individual and the community. When the addressees failed to discharge properly the duties of their freedom, they lost this freedom, and the Prophet was appointed as their guardian until they came of age. However, once they embraced the new religion and observed the sanctity of life and property, and the social claims of their kith and kin, as they had been instructed, the sword was suspended, and abuses of freedom were penalized according to new laws. Hence the development of Islamic Shari'a law, and the establishment of a new type of government. In justifying the use of the sword, we may describe it as a surgeon's lancet and not a butcher's knife. When used with sufficient wisdom, mercy, and knowledge, it uplifted the individual and purified society."

Page 135:
"Suffering death by the sword in this life is really an aspect of suffering hell in the next life, since both are punishments for disbelief. Whoever adds to his own disbelief by inciting others to disbelief or to shun the path of God must be suppressed before he takes up arms in the cause of disbelief."

Page 136:
"Islam's original principle is freedom. But the Islamic religion was revealed to a society in which slavery was an integral part of the socioeconomic order. It was also a society that was shown in practice to be incapable of properly exercising its freedom, and therefore its individual members needed guidance; hence the consequent enactment of jihad. In Islamic jihad, the Muslims first had to offer to the unbelievers the new religion. If they refused to accept it, they had the second option of paying jizyah and living under Muslim government, while practicing their own religion and enjoying personal security. If they also refused the option of jizyah, the Muslims would fight them and if victorious take some of them as slaves, thereby adding to the number of those already in slavery."

"If an individual is invited to become the slave of God but refuses, such refusal is symptomatic of ignorance that calls for a period of training. The individual prepares to submit voluntarily to the servitude of God by becoming the slave of another person, thereby learning obedience and humility, which are becoming of a slave. Reciprocity (al-mu'awadah) here rules that if a free person refuses to become the slave of God, he may be subjugated and made the slave of a slave of God, in fair and just retribution: 'And whoso does an atom's weight of evil will also see it.' (99:8)"
My comment: The above passage is one of the most disturbing quotes from the entire book. Taha was from the Sudan, a country where chattel slavery is still being practiced today. If Taha had said that slavery once existed in most human societies, I could perhaps have accepted that. But he goes further than that. He indicates that slavery can in fact be morally good because it is a "training period" for becoming a slave of Allah, as all human beings should be ...

All things summed up, I agree with Daniel Pipes: Mahmud Muhammud Taha is indeed an interesting case, but for precisely the opposite reason of what Mr. Pipes claims. Taha supports the idea of slavery on a moral basis, not just as an historical fact. "Freedom" is identical with sharia and being a slave of Allah. Those who don't want to accept Islam or Islamic rule should face armed Jihad, and the sword should be used as a "surgical tool" to cut them off from the body of society. And this is moderate…..how, exactly?

If Taha is the great hope for a moderate Islam, we can conclude that a moderate Islam supports slavery, stoning people to death for adultery, whipping those who enjoy a glass of wine or beer and massacring those who disagree with the above mentioned policies. Taha openly supported many of the most appalling aspects of sharia, yet was still considered so controversial that he was executed as an apostate.

The story of Mahmud Muhammud Taha is the ultimate, definitive and final proof that there is no moderate Islam. There never has been and there never will be. It's a myth. We should not base our domestic or foreign policies on the existence of a moderate Islam just like we should not base them on the existence of other mythical creatures such as the yeti or the tooth fairy.

It is unpleasant to conclude that Islam cannot be reformed. I don't like it either, and would much have preferred a different answer. But I see no practical indications that a tolerant Islam is emerging and have great difficulty in envisioning how such an entity could look like. There are several ways Islam could conceivably be reformed, yet none of them are very likely to succeed.

I have reviewed and criticized Irshad Manji's work before. Although she never says so explicitly in her book, I get the impression that Manji largely agrees with the mantra that "Islam is whatever Muslims make of it." I don't share this view. Why do those who behead Buddhist teachers in Thailand, burn churches in Nigeria, persecute Hindus in Pakistan or blow bombs in the London subway always "misunderstand" Islamic texts? Why don't they feel this urge to kill people after reading about, say, Winnie the Pooh?

If any text was infinitely elastic, we could replace the Koran with any other book and get the same result. That's obviously not the case. If you have a text that repeatedly calls for killing, death and mayhem, more people are going to "interpret" this text in aggressive ways. Islam is the most aggressive and violent religion on earth in practice because its texts are more aggressive than those of any other major religion, and because the example of Muhammad is vastly more violent than that of any other religious founder. If you return to the original Islam, which Manji claims to seek, you get Jihad, since that's what the original Islam was all about.

The dozens of explicit Jihad verses in the Koran won't all magically disappear. As long as they exist, somebody is bound to take them seriously. And since any "reformed" Islam must ultimately be rooted in Islamic texts, this probably means that Islam cannot be reformed.

The process of change is anyway not our job. Muslims should do that themselves. They are adults and should take care of their own problems just like everybody else does. For this reason, I dislike Manji's suggestion that infidels should spend money on sponsoring Muslims.

Muslims will not feel much gratitude if we fund their hospitals or schools. To them, everything good that happens is the will of Allah. Infidels are supposed to pay the jizya to Muslims anyway, so many of them will see payments from us as a sign of submission. They will thus become more arrogant and aggressive by such acts rather than feeling grateful.

As long as infidels keep bailing them out, Muslims have no incentives to change. They will only reform or abandon Islam once they are forced to deal with the backwardness brought by Islamic teachings. For this reason, we need a strategy for containment of the Islamic world. It's the very minimum we can live with. If Muslims need money, let them ask their Saudi brothers for it. If the Saudis have to finance hospitals in Gaza or Pakistan, this means they have less of it to finance terrorism, which is good. I agree with Hugh Fitzgerald on this one.

It is possible that some schools or branches within Islam are more tolerant than others. Yes, there are theological differences between Sunnis and Shi'a Muslims. These can be significant enough for Muslims, but for non-Muslims they are usually not important. Shia Islam is not more peaceful than Sunni Islam, nor is it more tolerant, with the possible exception of the Ismaili branch, but they are far less numerous than the adherents of Twelver Shi`ism. Since the Shi'a constitute a tiny minority of the world's Muslims, the Ismailis are a minority of a minority and quite marginal in the greater scheme of things.

My view is that as long as you start out with the texts used by orthodox Muslims - the Koran, the hadith and the sira - it is more or less impossible to come up with a peaceful and tolerant version of Islam. In principle it might be possible to change things by either adding more religious texts or ignoring some of those that already exist. Both options are problematic.

Since Muhammad was supposed to be final messenger of Allah, the "seal of the prophets," any person later claiming to bring new revelations to mankind will invariably be viewed as a fraud and a heretic by orthodox Muslims. This is what happened to the Ahmadiyya movement, who are viewed as unbelievers by most others Muslims, including many in "moderate" Indonesia.

Another example is the Bahá'í faith, which is indeed more peaceful than mainstream Islam, but their view of history, where the Buddha is seen as a messenger alongside Muhammad, differs so radically from traditional Islam that it is usually classified as a separate religion. Bahá'ís are ruthlessly persecuted in the Islamic world, particularly in Iran where the movement originated. They are viewed as apostate Muslims since they challenge the concept of the finality of Muhammad's prophethood. Ironically, their supreme governing institution is situated in Haifa, in the evil, racist apartheid state of Israel. So they get persecuted by "tolerant" Muslim, yet are treated with decency by the "intolerant" Israelis.

There are also the "Koran only" Muslims, who, from what I can gather, currently constitute a very small group of people. They advocate that Muslims should ignore the hadith and the sira and rely solely on the Koran for guidance. In order to achieve this, they will first have to defy mounting opposition from other Muslims who will have some rather powerful theological arguments in their favor. The Koran itself says repeatedly that you should obey both the Koran and the example of Muhammad. But the personal example of Muhammad and his companions, his Sunna, is mainly recorded in extra-Koranical material such as the hadith and the sira. If you remove them, you remove the main sources of information for how to conduct prayer, pilgrimage etc., which is usually not recorded in any great detail in the Koran.

"Koran only" reformers, and indeed all aspiring reformers, will have to face the possibility of being branded as heretics and apostates, a crime which potentially carries the death penalty according to traditional sharia law. On top of this, there are more than enough verses in the Koran itself advocating Jihad and intolerance for this alternative to remain problematic, too. For these reasons, it is unlikely that a "Koran only" version of Islam can ever constitute a viable long-term reform path.

A researcher from Denmark, Tina Magaard, has spent years analyzing the original texts of different religions, from Buddhism to Sikhism, and concludes that the Islamic texts are by far the most warlike among the major religions of the world. They encourage terror and fighting to a far larger degree than the original texts of other religions. "The texts in Islam distinguish themselves from the texts of other religions by encouraging violence and aggression against people with other religious beliefs to a larger degree. There are also straightforward calls for terror. This has long been a taboo in the research into Islam, but it is a fact that we need to deal with," says Magaard. Moreover, there are hundreds of calls in the Koran for fighting against people of other faiths. "If it is correct that many Muslims view the Koran as the literal words of God, which cannot be interpreted or rephrased, then we have a problem. It is indisputable that the texts encourage terror and violence. Consequently, it must be reasonable to ask Muslims themselves how they relate to the text, if they read it as it is," she says.

It has been suggested that some regional versions of Islam, for instance "Southeast Asian Islam," are more peaceful than "Arab Islam." First of all, in this age of globalization and international sponsorship of conservative theology by Saudi Arabia and others, regional interpretations are likely to diminish, not increase. And second of all, I'm not convinced that Southeast Asian Islam is more tolerant than other forms of the religion.

It is true that Muslims in some parts of Indonesia have perhaps been less strict than Muslims in, say, Egypt, but this was because Indonesia was Islamized at a later date and still contained living residues of its pre-Islamic culture. In such cases, we are dealing with "less Islam" or "diluted Islam," which isn't quite the same as "moderate Islam" even if some observers claim that it is. Moreover, numerous churches have been burnt down or destroyed in that country only during the last decade, which hardly indicates that Indonesia is a beacon of tolerance.

In Thailand and the Philippines, where Muslims constitute a minority, non-Muslims have been murdered or chased away from certain areas by Islamic groups who wage a constant Jihad against the authorities. The city-state of Singapore is surrounded by several hundred million Muslims and can only manage to avoid outside attacks by curtailing the freedom of speech of its citizens and banning public criticism of Islam.

Malaysia has been a moderate economic success story because it has had a large and dynamic non-Muslim population and only recently became majority Muslim. This corresponds to some extent to the early phases of Islamization in the Middle East. The Golden Age of Islam was in reality the twilight of the pre-Islamic cultures. The scientific achievements during this period are exaggerated, and those that did take place happened overwhelmingly during the early phases of Islamic rule when there were still large non-Muslim populations. When these communities declined due to Muslim harassment, the Middle East, home to some of the oldest civilizations on earth, slowly declined into a backwardness from which it has never recovered.

Lebanon was a reasonably successful and civilized country while it still had a slim Christian majority, but has rapidly declined into Jihad and sharia barbarism in recent decades due to higher Muslim birth rates and non-Muslims leaving the country. It is possible that something similar will happen to Malaysia, as Muslims become more confident and aggressive.

Lastly, you can try to constrain Islam and keep it down by brute force. This kind of muscular secularism, enforced with methods no Western country would even contemplate supporting at the present time, has been tried under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey. Yet Turkey has never been a beacon of tolerance, and the very few non-Muslims who remain in the country still face harassment. Kemalism has kept Islam at bay but has never really reformed it. Even after almost a century, Islam is in the process of making a comeback. There are serious cracks in the façade of secularism, and some observers fear an Islamic revolution in the country.

The Turkish example is not altogether promising. We should remember that Iran, too, was perceived as a moderate and modern country until the revolution brought the Ayatollah Khomeini to power in 1979. The lesson we can draw from this is that Islam can lie dormant for generations, yet strike again with renewed vigour when the opportunity arises.

The debate about a "reformed" Islam is inappropriately colored by a Western historical perspective, with references to the Protestant Reformation in sixteenth century Europe. This indirectly implies that there is some form of equivalence between Christianity and Islam. I don't think there is, even though I am not a Christian. Christianity with its concept of the Trinity is akin to soft-polytheism from an Islamic point of view. The religious texts are clearly different, not to mention the personal examples of the founders of the two religions, Jesus and Muhammad. Islam became a major world religion through armed conquest and the creation of an empire. Christianity became a major world religion by gradually taking over an already established empire, the Roman Empire.

Christianity's slow growth within a Greco-Roman context made it possible for Christians to assimilate Greek philosophy and Roman law to an extent that never happened among Muslims, even in the Mediterranean world which had been dominated by the Romans. This had major consequences for further scientific and political developments in Europe and in the Middle East. Exposure to Greek and other scientific traditions did lead to some advances in the earliest centuries of Islamic rule, but Greek natural philosophy was never accepted into the core curriculum of Islamic madrasas as it was in European universities.

When the American Founding Fathers in the eighteenth century discussed how the shape of their young Republic should be, they were influenced by, in addition to modern thinkers and the British parliamentary system, descriptions of democratic Athens and the Roman Republic, through Aristotle's political texts and Cicero's writings. None of these texts were ever available in Arabic or Persian translations. They were rejected by Muslims, but preserved, translated, and studied with interest by Christians. The artistic legacy of the Greeks was also largely rejected by Muslims. In short, Westerners have no shared "Greco-Roman legacy" with Muslims. They cared mainly for one part of this great legacy, the scientific-philosophical part, and even that part they failed to assimilate.

The theological differences between Christianity and Judaism vs. Islam are huge. As Robert Spencer explains in his excellent little book Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't, in Christianity the central tenet is that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). While acknowledging that any human being is capable of evil, the Koran says that Muslims are "the best of peoples" (3:110) while the unbelievers are the "vilest of creatures" (98:6). In such a worldview, it is easy to see evil in others but difficult to locate it in oneself. The Koran also says that the followers of Muhammad are "ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another" (48:29), and that the unbelievers are the "worst of created beings" (98:6). One may exercise the Golden Rule in relation to a fellow Muslim, but according to the laws of Islam, the same courtesy is not to be extended to unbelievers.

Yes, you can find violent passages in the Hebrew Bible, such as in the book of Joshua regarding the conquest of Jericho, but "throughout history, rather than celebrating such biblical passages, Jews and Christians have regarded them as a problem to be solved. While interpretations of these passages differ widely among Jews and Christians, from the beginning of rabbinic Judaism and Christianity one understanding has remained dominant among virtually all believers: these passages are not commands for all generations to follow, and if they have any applicability, it is only in a spiritualized, parabolic sense."

As Spencer says, "the consensus view among Jews and Christians for many centuries is that unless you happen to be a Hittite, Girgashite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, or Jebusite, these biblical passages simply do not apply to you. The scriptures record God's commands to the Israelites to make war against particular people only. However this may be understood, and however jarring it may be to modern sensibilities, it does not amount to any kind of marching orders for believers. That's one principal reason why Jews and Christians haven't formed terror groups around the world that quote the Bible to justify killing non-combatants."

The main problem with Islam isn't that it is a stupid religion, as some people say, but that it is a violent and aggressive one. I consider Scientology to be an incredibly stupid creed, but I haven't heard about many people living in fear that Tom Cruise will cut off their head while quoting poems of L. Ron Hubbard and then post a video of the deed on the Internet.

Yes, religions do evolve. Stoning people to death was once practiced by Jews, but they progressed and left this practice behind because they considered it to be cruel, which it is. The problem is that there are literally dozens - more than one hundred, depending on how you count - verses calling for Jihad in the Koran, and additional ones in the hadith. Any "tolerant" form of Islam would have to reject all of these verses, permanently, in addition to the personal example of Muhammad and his followers as well as a large body of secondary literature by more than a thousand years of sharia scholars. That's a tall order. We should also remember that Jihad is not the end goal of Islam. Sharia is. Jihad is a tool used to achieve sharia and the rule of Islamic law extended to all of mankind.

As I have explained in my earlier essay Do we want an Islamic Reformation? and in the online booklet Is Islam Compatible With Democracy?, the question of whether Islam is compatible with democracy largely hinges upon your definition of "democracy." If this simply means voting, with no freedom of speech or safeguards for individual rights or minorities then yes, it can, as a vehicle for imposing sharia on society. But such a "pure" democracy isn't necessarily a good system even without Islam, as critics from Plato to Thomas Jefferson have convincingly argued.

Likewise, the question of whether or not Islam can be reformed largely hinges upon your definition of "Reformation." I usually say that Islam cannot be reformed, and by "reformed" I thus implicitly understand this as meaning something along the lines of "peaceful, non-sharia based with respect for individual choice and freedom of speech." In other words: "Reform" is vaguely taken to mean less Islam.

However, Robert Spencer and others have argued that there are similarities between Martin Luther and the Christian Reformation in 16th century Europe and the reform movement started by Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab in the Arabian Peninsula in the 18th century. Wahhab's alliance with regional ruler Muhammad bin Saud and his family later led to the creation of Saudi Arabia. There was another modern "reform" movement, the so-called Salafism of 19th century thinkers such as Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh. Whereas the former was an internal reform movement triggered by calls for removing "corruption" from society, the latter was clearly a response to external, Western pressures.

Although Abduh's ideas were continued in a secular direction by individuals such as Egyptian writer Taha Hussein, clearly the most successful strands were those developed into what was later termed "Islamic fundamentalism" in the 20th century. Muhammad Abduh's pupil Rashid Rida inspired Hassan al-Banna when he formed the Muslim Brotherhood. Rida urged Muslims not to imitate infidels, but return to the Golden Age of early Islam, as did Abduh. Rida also recommended reestablishing the Caliphate, and applauded when the Wahhabists conquered Mecca and Medina and established modern Saudi Arabia. The two reform movements thus partly merged in the 20th century, into organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

The fact that two initially separate calls for reform, started under different circumstances and for different reasons, produced somewhat similar results is worth contemplating. Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin also called for returning to the Golden Age of early Christianity. Although the Reformation was a turbulent period while it lasted, it did pave the way for more tolerance and religious freedom in Christian Europe in the long run. This was, in my view, at least partly because Christians could return to the example, as contained in the Gospels, of an early age where the founder of their religion and his disciples led a largely peaceful movement separate from the state. Muslims, on the other hand, can find a similar example only in the Mecca period. As long as the writings from the violent Medina period are still in force, a return to the "early, Golden Age" of Islam will mean a return to intolerance and Jihad violence.

Some Western observers are searching for a "Muslim Martin Luther" who is expected to end the resurgent Islamic Jihad. But one could argue that we already have a Muslim Martin Luther: He's called Osama bin Laden, deeply inspired by the teachings of Muslim Brotherhood thinker Sayyid Qutb. If "reform" is taken to mean a return to the historical period of the religious founder, Muhammad, and his followers, it will lead to an inevitable upsurge of Jihadist violence, since that was what Muhammad and his followers were all about.

The question of whether Islam is reformable is an important one. But perhaps an even more crucial one is whether an Islamic Reformation would be desirable from a non-Muslim point of view, and the likely answer to that is "no."

Via Jihad Watch.

So jihad is a not a "butcher's knife", but a "surgeon's lancet" that "when used with sufficient wisdom, mercy, and knowledge, it uplifted the individual and purified society". Jihad is really Islamic Medicare. I feel better now ...

(I edited out some of the Taha quotes. The full article is at Atlas Shrugs)

UK: ministers to recruit young Muslims as advisers

2008-08-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

29th August 2008, Daily Mail:

Twenty young Muslims are to become personal advisers to three Cabinet ministers in an attempt by the Government to tackle Islamic extremism.

Labour says the group, aged 16 to 25, will keep Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham and Schools Secretary Ed Balls in touch with the mood of Muslim youths.

Ministers hope that listening to and addressing concerns that affect Muslims could ease tensions in multi-cultural communities and cut the risk of them becoming radicalised by extremists.

The Young Muslim Advisory Group, to be launched in October, will also work with Arts Council England and Sport England.

The aim is see how cultural and sporting opportunities, such as the use of football tournaments or music gigs, can reduce tensions within different communities...

Ministers recently announced £12.5million for Muslim communities to fund projects which aim to 'undermine extremist ideology'.

This sounds like something Rudd would do i.e. watch the problem instead of fixing it, like fuel watch and grocery watch. Now it's young Muslim watch. You can't fix an ideology (a) by watching Muslims, and (b) by dealing with young people. It's the same ridiculous level of debate that sees our media talking to Fadi Rahman who, whilst doing good work at the street level, is powerless against Islamic ideology. All this money and endless running around skirting the problem: Islamic ideology. Let's do everything under the sun except what needs to be done, confront the extremist nature of Islam itself.

UK: Muslim council chiefs ban eating during Ramadan

2008-08-29T19:12:00.001-07:00

Muslim council chiefs ban ALL members from eating in meetings during Ramadan
29th August 2008, Daily Mail:

Councillors have been ordered not to eat during town hall meetings while Muslim colleagues fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

All elected members at Left-wing Tower Hamlets Council in East London have been sent an email asking them to follow strict Islamic fasting during September no matter what their faith.

As well as restricting food and drink until after sunset, the authority's leaders have decided to reduce the number of meetings throughout the month so they do not clash with the requirements of Ramadan.

The seven remaining meetings scheduled to take place will also include special prayer breaks to accommodate Muslim councillors.

But some members of the Labour-run council say the demands favour one religious group over the others.

Dr Stephanie Eaton, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said she would ignore the restrictions ...

Sounds like something Leichhardt Council would do. From diversity to division to devolution to disaster. It all starts with diversity.

Video: Shannon Noll and Natalie Bassingthwaighte

2008-08-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

This a cover of the Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush classic Don't Give Up. Click to watch ...

BBC Videos: Pakistan - Taleban Winning War

2008-08-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

25 Aug 2008
Taleban winning war, says Zardari

The leader of the main party in Pakistan's governing coalition has warned that the world is losing the war against Islamic militancy.

Islamic militancy warning

In a BBC interview, Asif Ali Zardari, who is set to be his party's candidate for president, said Taleban militants had the upper hand.
Asif Ali Zardari, interviewed by Owen Bennett-Jones
Taleban winning war, BBC News:

The Pakistani Taleban have "the upper hand" and should be put on the list of banned organisations in Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto's widower has said.

Asif Ali Zardari said, in a BBC interview, that the world and Pakistan were losing the war on terror.

"It is an insurgency", he said, "and an ideological war. It is our country and we will defend it.

"The world is losing the war. I think at the moment they (the Taleban) definitely have the upper hand.

"The issue, which is not just a bad case scenario as far as Pakistan is concerned or as Afghanistan is concerned but it is going to be spreading further. The whole world is going to be affected by it."

Mr Zardari's strong remarks came shortly after the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) put his name forward as its presidential nominee.

Quote:

AAZ: Obviously whatever the world has been doing for the last ten years, it's not working. I'm not ashamed to tell you that the world is losing the war.

OBJ: Pakistan is losing the war?

AAZ: The world is losing the war, Pakistan being among it.

OBJ: The truth is that the insurgents are getting more territory, and they're laying on more suicide bomb attacks, week by week. Do you think they're winning at the moment.

AAZ: I think at the moment they definitely have the upper hand, and we need to do something better...

OBJ: Some people are saying you might lose part of your territory permanently to an Islamic state. Do you think that's possible?

AAZ: No, I don't think that's possible because we shan't let it happen.

Moderate Muslims doing bugger all as usual.

Random House and the Islamic War against Free Speech

2008-08-23T23:39:00.000-07:00

August 22, 2008, Robert Spencer:

Random House paid $100,000 for Sherry Jones’ racy historical novel about Muhammad and his nine-year-old wife, Aisha, The Jewel of Medina, only to withdraw the book just days before its scheduled August 12 publication date. Random House deputy publisher Thomas Perry explained that they decided to drop the book after receiving, “from credible and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment.” They decided “to postpone publication for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, booksellers and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the novel.”

Sherry Jones is an unlikely candidate to be the next Salman Rushdie, and her novel is hardly in the same league as Dutch politician Geert Wilders’ film Fitna, which vividly depicted Muslims acting upon the dictates of the Qur’an’s violent passages. The Jewel of Medina, by contrast, is a Harlequin Romance-level trivialization of Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha, luridly depicting the child as finding, at the moment of the consummation of her marriage to Muhammad, “the bliss I had longed for all my life” – yes, her entire nine years.

But Islamic jihadists seem to have little patience for semi-erotic children’s fiction. They are indignant over Jones’s book not because its depiction of the prophet of Islam having sex with a child is inaccurate – the most respected sources of Islamic tradition say he did that. Rather, what apparently angers them is that the novel makes this known. The ordinary understanding of slander in the West is that it involves making false charges that defame another person. But in Islamic law, the definition of slander doesn’t involve falsehood. The Shafi’i manual of Islamic law ‘Umdat al-Salik defines “slander” as “to mention anything concerning a person that he would dislike.” Nothing is said about whether or not what is said is true -- only that the person would dislike it. And this is based on a statement of Muhammad to the same effect.

August 17, 2008, Janet Albrechtsen:

It’s a shame that each time a clash of interests involves Muslim hurt, the West raises the white flag with increasing alacrity. When does Western surrender end? Fencing off Islam from critique and curtailing the West’s long-cherished right to freedom of expression won’t help anyone. If aspects of Islam need to confront modernity, it won’t happen by tiptoeing around Muslim sensibilities, treating them like children too vulnerable to deal with the tough questions. That treatment will only encourage victimhood and more censorship ...

... let Ms Jones write about Muhammad’s child bride. If not for the sake of Islam, then for the sake of the West.

Yup.

Video: Middle Easterners near-riot after fatal shooting

2008-08-20T00:28:00.000-07:00

Video from Herald Sun. Raw footage of the near-riot is at ninemsn. Some of the women are Muslim.

August 20, 2008, ninemsn:

Police have been forced to avert a near-riot outside a western Sydney hospital after a critically wounded man was dumped at the front door.

The 25-year-old died shortly after being discovered with a gunshot wound by Auburn Hospital staff at around 7pm.

It is alleged he and two masked accomplices had earlier tried to rob an armoured truck that was parked outside a supermarket in George St, Parramatta.

The two guards allegedly saw one of the men had a firearm and opened fire on the trio, who are said to have escaped in a white Mitsubishi with stolen plates.

As the dead man's family arrived at the hospital they were followed by a crowd of up to 100 young men who at one stage tried to storm the front door.

Dead robbery suspect was 'a good man'
August 20, 2008, news.com.au:

RELATIVES of an armed robbery suspect shot dead by security guards say he was "the best guy in the world", the Daily Telegraph reported today.

Kaled Dib, 25, died after a shoot-out in one of the busiest streets in western Sydney last night after masked bandits tried to hold up Armaguard security guards delivering cash to the National Australia Bank on George St in Parramatta yesterday evening.

A post-mortem examination has confirmed he died from the wound to his chest.

Mr Dib was allegedly carrying a gun and running directly towards the security guard who fired one shot, hitting him in the chest.

Sheik Hilaly attends funeral:

CONTROVERSIAL Sheik Taj El-Din El Hilaly has attended today's Lakemba funeral for an armed robber shot dead during an attempted bank heist.

More than 200 mourners have gathered at Lakemba Mosque at midday to pay their respects to Kaled Dib, 25, who died after being shot in the chest by a security guard on Tuesday night.

Dib’s coffin, draped in a green cloth with Arabic writing on it, was carried in by crying mourners as a small uniformed police presence kept watch on the proceedings in Wangee Rd.

The street was blocked off for the procession, which was attended by Sheik Taj Din al Halali.

Kaled Dib had criminal past:

... the dead would-be robber, Kaled Dib, 25, of Lidcombe, was convicted of assaulting two security guards at Parramatta's Albion Hotel earlier this year.

He also had unlicensed driving convictions from 2007 and police intelligence reports linked him to the drug trade, armed robberies and to criminals linked to armed robberies, police sources have confirmed.

Killed bank robber was building a new life:

MUSLIM youth leader Fadi Rahman, who addressed the funeral of slain robber Khaled Dib, said Dib had been engaged in street crime but had tried to clean up his act.

He had married just under a year ago and had been setting up home in Auburn with his wife. For the past eight months he had been working as a courier driver.

His family was struggling to understand his actions.

Videos: Hilary Hahn and Josh Ritter

2008-08-12T07:18:00.000-07:00

"Hilary Hahn and Josh Ritter seem like a musical odd couple — she’s a violin prodigy who’s grown into one of the world’s foremost classical soloists, he's a scruffy folk singer compared to Dylan and known for his epic, literary-leaning songs."

And, just like Bob Dylan, I don't have a clue what he's singing about. But they make a good pair anyway. Click to watch ...

Enlightened spirit of inquiry?

2008-08-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

August 06, 2008, Janet Albrechtsen:

Hirsi Ali ... lives with death threats because she has chosen to debate Islam. Sweet-sounding words such as multiculturalism and tolerance are used to repress open debate. She has no problem with people who worship the prophet Mohammed. "But I want to be able to say that Mohammed had some reprehensible qualities without being thrown in jail, without being demonised," she says. This must be allowed in a society committed to Enlightenment values of inquiry and reason because people progress by using reason to challenge ideas.

Any journalist gonna follow this up? There's a scoop there. Front page headlines galore: "Reprehensible Mohammed" will sell papers. You could start with Robert Spencer (and here), Serge Trifkovic, Paul Stenhouse, Andrew Bostom, etc. It'll be a funky adventure. Mohammed the Mini-Series, start collecting today. We can't follow the Minette Marrins down the road that abandons all discussion of religion.

China causing our inflation?

2008-08-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

Dual economy's double bind
August 02, 2008

"We are, of course, fully aware of the possibility that people may fear that this temporary period of high inflation could, in fact, turn out to be persistent," ...

Australia is in the middle of its biggest export price boom since the Korean War, when the economy still rode the sheep's back and the price of wool jumped 140 per cent in nine months from mid-1950.

Such booms typically bust. And the inflation threat has been building for several years, obscured by cheap manufactured imports from China's low-cost factories, made even cheaper by a strengthening Australian dollar.

But a tipping point was reached last year and China switched from being a force for disinflation (through cheap manufactured imports) to a source of inflation (by pushing up global energy, steel and food prices). The Australian version of this global story contains an extra inflationary twist: the billions of dollars of national income from our commodity exports have pushed spending beyond the economy's supply capacity.

Now Stevens is deliberately squeezing the expendable domestic economy to make room for the unstoppable export-oriented resources boom to bring back demand within the economy's supply capacity. That shows up in the two-speed economy, with mining boom town Perth in the fast lane and Sydney's western suburbs' battler belt doing it tough. This week's figures showed that, while retail volumes have fallen during the year to June, export receipts are up nearly 30 per cent, producing a trade surplus. It's a volatile economic and political cocktail.

"There is a bit to be worried about," Treasury secretary and RBA board member Ken Henry warned just after the May federal budget in a speech devoted to defending the RBA's inflation target. "Present macro-economic circumstances are as testing as anything we've seen since the mid to late 1980s."

Everyone agrees with Henry that this is the biggest test yet of the inflation target regime, of which Australia was an early adopter and which now is the norm in most developed economies other than the US and Japan ...

While Hewson has been one vocal critic of Stevens's RBA, so has Peter Jonson, the RBA's head of economic research in the '80s, who writes under the pseudonym Henry Thornton. On Anzac Day, Jonson wrote in The Australian that "we may now be witnessing the death of inflation targeting", arguing that trying to keep overall inflation within or close to the 2 per cent to 3 per cent band in the face of surging oil and food prices from abroad would risk throwing the economy into an unnecessary recession ...

Pointing to "sky-high global oil prices", Swan says the Government can "deal (only) with those matters within our control". "It is certainly going to take a significant amount of time to deal with the inflationary pressures in the Australian economy that have been developing for a long period," he says.

Huh? If China's demand for oil and food is causing inflation here then can't we just slow China's growth by ceasing exports to them? So aren't these matters somewhat within our control? Can't we stuff the exports to China and go back to a one-speed economy? Aren't all the so-called gains of comparative advantage and economies-of-scale negated if we've hit the limits of supply of oil and food? Are pensioners struggling to afford food here because of our exports to China?

Forces conspire to lift grocery prices
July 26, 2008

But it is not only petrol that is jacking up the cost of everything from bricks to bagels.

Creeping interest rates, the drought, a global food shortage and upwardly mobile Asians hungry for Western foods and fads all are feeding into Australia's spiralling cost of living. Kevin Rudd chose three f-words to sum up the global inflation situation this week: food, fuel and finance.

Can't we help return these upwardly mobile Asians back to their peasant life by stopping exports of minerals and food to them? Ploise uxplain ...

Sonny Bill Williams: a nowhere man?

2008-08-05T03:49:00.000-07:00

August, 2008

Most people are now aware that Sonny Bill Williams, a high profile Sydney rugby league player, has controversially walked out early on his five year contract with the Bulldogs club and signed with a French rugby club - leaving without saying a word to anyone.

Many reasons have been suggested for his departure, including money, pressure and other players leaving his club. I won't try and play psycho-analyst too much, considering he has loose cannons in his ear like Muslims Anthony Mundine and Khoder Nasser. But here is some background information about Sonny Bill to explain in part his motives.

Sonny is a poster-child of the global village melting pot: born in New Zealand, with Samoan father, white New Zealand mother, white Australian grandmother, and he has lived in Australia since he was 15-years-old. He was eligible to play football for New Zealand, Australia and Samoa - he chose New Zealand. His club is located in the heart of Middle Eastern and Muslim territory. He lives near Cronulla, a white enclave, for now.

Since signing his contract, the Bulldogs recruitment has shifted away from a Polynesian base back towards pro-white. Willie Mason left for another club. Willie Tonga is leaving next year. Reni Maitua is rumoured to quit. Roy Asotasi left in 2006. A new coach was appointed, another white guy. The Bulldogs recruiting for next year is pro-white: Brett Kimmorley, Michael Ennis, Ben Hannant, Michael Hodgson and Josh Morris. Though, like most league clubs, there is a wave of Polynesians coming up in the juniors. Anyway, the blokes Williams would have to put his arm around next year and pack into scrums with are mostly white.

Williams identifies himself as a Polynesian. He has covered himself in traditional Islander tattoos - probably a case of over-identifying to make up for his half-blood. He recently claimed that Polynesian players don't get the respect they deserve in the game. He recently got his club to allow Polynesian fans free entry into a Bulldogs game. He said he wanted to be a leader for the Polynesian community.

And then he left and signed with French rugby club Toulon. A look at their current squad shows plenty of Polynesians there. His coach there will be Tana Umaga, also of Samoan descent. The coach usually controls the recruiting. The Bulldogs coaching staff had shown their hand by recruiting pro-white.

Sonny said:

"I want to see myself as a leader and I want to be a leader of the Polynesian people," the Bulldogs player said.

And then he got on a plane and left. I think he's a confused individual. And so he should be, because he has no strong identity. He can't be a leader because he's a half-blood who was taken from his home and family at 15. He's still struggling for identity. Sure the kids look up to him, but kids are kids.

Another factor was that white Australian coach Wayne Bennett was appointed to the coaching staff of the New Zealand rugby league team. Not a comforting move for a kid craving identity.

Williams always looks uncomfortable in interviews. Australians would try to make him laugh and he would start to and then catch himself as if he shouldn't be laughing.

Sonny, although growing up in Sydney since he was 15, was also unable to qualify for rugby league's pinnacle the State of Origin series (NSW versus Queensland).

“The one this that's always burned inside of me, deep down, is not being able to play State of Origin," he told Phil Gould in an interview aired on last night's Footy Show.

He's a nowhere man. Sydney, unfortunately, is also a nowhere land. South-west Sydney especially is devoid of any unifying culture. Sonny's a nowhere man, living in a nowhere land. A misfit that finds a home in the French Foreign Legion? Something like that. Ain't globalisation grand? Nah.

A couple more interesting quotes:

One of the more in-depth conversations he had with Folkes was when the coach approached him after an article incorrectly speculated that he was set to become a muslim after dumping his agent Gavin Orr for Anthony Mundine's manager Khoder Nasser. After asking if the story was true, Folkes told Williams it would be a "joke" if he converted to Islam and advised him to stay away from Mundine ...

With Folkes announcing earlier in the year that he would stand down at the end of the season, Williams hoped Stephen Kearney would be appointed as his replacement and if the New Zealand coach had been given the job there was a good chance he would still be at the club.

The opportunity to play under the coaching of Tana Umaga, the first player of Samoan heritage to skipper the All Blacks, was a significant factor in his decision to quit the Bulldogs to play rugby union for Toulon.

Khoder Nasser slammed over Laurie Daley attack
July 07, 2008

FORMER rugby league champions and current NSW selectors last night described player manager Khoder Nasser as "un-Australian" and an "absolute disgrace" for his criticism of former Test captain Laurie Daley.

Nasser yesterday questioned how his client, star player Sonny Bill Williams, was overlooked for Dally M Medal points by judge Daley in the match between the Roosters and Bulldogs last Friday week.

When the sparks start to fly, identity shines through. If you're lucky enough to have one.

UK youth knife crime: black suspects, white victims

2008-08-03T02:09:00.000-07:00

20th July 2008, Daily Mail:

Black youths are suspected of more than half of knife crime among children in the capital, according to confidential Scotland Yard figures.

A highly-sensitive report reveals that 124 of the 225 under-18s legally 'proceeded against' for knife offences in the past three months are from the black community.

Yet in the overwhelming majority of reported cases of knife crime involving young people, the victims are white.

In cases where ethnicity was logged by police, 222 of the 345 under-18s attacked or threatened with a blade since April 1 were white. Sixty-one were black ...

Since January 1, 16 teenagers have been stabbed to death in London, forcing Scotland Yard to launch a high-profile campaign targeting youngsters and hot-spots of knife crime ...

This month Scotland Yard Deputy Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson suggested knife crime has overtaken terrorism as the top priority for London police ...

The article also says "one in eight of the London population is black". Blacks are clearly over-represented in knife crime. This is what Kevin Andrews warned us about. None of this reality is acknowledged by the Rudd government. Lindsay Tanner, the latest of the tall poppy African immigration supporters, never mentions this reality as he recently bent over backwards to welcome this chaos to Australia. Barking mad.

H/T: commenter.

Glassed by immigration, allegedly

2008-07-30T05:09:00.000-07:00

July 30th, 2008, Gold Coast Bulletin:

BEN Felgate ... was attacked trying to defend his girlfriend Stevie during an altercation at Cocktails and Dreams nightclub about 4am on Sunday.

His attacker -- described as being of middle-eastern appearance, about 170cm tall, and wearing a rainbow-coloured jumper -- slammed a glass in his face before fleeing ...

Ben is not the only Gold Coaster to have his world rocked by such a cruel act and the Gold Coast Bulletin is calling for glass to be banned from licensed premises to end this sickening and cowardly crime ...

How about calling for a ban on Middle Eastern immigration? Did the glass do it, or did the immigrant do it?

Rental crisis leaves family out in cold

2008-07-28T03:27:00.000-07:00

June 14, 2008, Herald Sun:

A FAMILY of 13 were bunking down on the floor of an acquaintance's house last night as Victoria's rental crisis hit a critical new low.

The two adults and 11 children, refugees from Afghanistan, had feared ending up on Melbourne's cold streets after a desperate search for emergency housing failed to turn up suitable accommodation.

Father Hussein Zaghar declined the only emergency accommodation offered late in the day -- a one-room cabin at a caravan park 80km from Melbourne ...

The exhausted parents last night accepted a last-minute offer to bunk down at the home of a St Albans acquaintance, another ex-Afghan refugee.

"The acquaintance lives with his wife and seven children in a five-bedroom home in Hillside," Ms Heaney said. "That makes a total of four adults and 18 children sleeping on the floors for the weekend, when the search will start again."

That's two self-inflicted problems for the price of one: immigration causing a housing crisis, and their birthrates are off the scale - making the future problem twice as bad. Somebody take the razor blades off the Australian public who keep voting for self-harm.

John Brumby warns of dangers in growing too fast

2008-07-28T02:17:00.000-07:00

July 28, 2008, Herald Sun:

JOHN Brumby has conceded Victoria's population growth is pushing its limits, thanks to the baby boom and immigration ...

In his strongest comments yet on the state's booming population, he said: "I think we are probably at the limits of growth." ...

While stressing the strength of the state's multiculturalism and its value, he said immigration had doubled over five years and Victoria had attracted a quarter to a third of that intake.

Too much common sense. Need to sit down ...

Sheehan: a reality check on Rudd's rhetoric

2008-07-28T02:16:00.000-07:00

July 28, 2008, Paul Sheehan:

Could someone point out to me where, in last year's election campaign, Kevin Rudd or his Labor cohorts announced they were going to commit Australia to a gang-busters immigration program?

Where was Labor's policy announcement that Australia, with its stressed bread basket living from winter rain to winter rain, was going to increase its population by 1 million people during the three-year term of a Rudd government? I can't find it ...

I'm coming to the conclusion that our new Prime Minister is both dissembling and disingenuous. He has certainly misled the Parliament and the people on some big issues ... and there is a growing disconnect between his soaring green rhetoric and pragmatic brown actions.

This disconnect was evident early, during this year's 2020 ideas festival at Parliament House. One notable attendee, Professor Ian Lowe, president of the Australian Conservation Foundation, was struck by the divergence between rhetoric and reality, and by the foregone conclusions built into the process ...

How is increasing the population by a million people every three years going to contribute to lowering Australia's carbon footprint? Don't ask big business, or the ALP machine, both addicted to "growth" defined by corporate fundamentalism, which means higher per capita consumption and more consumers ...

Rudd looks like a dud.

Agent obtains warrant to evict Sudanese refugee family

2008-07-27T23:56:00.000-07:00

July 01, 2008, Courier Mail:

A SUDANESE couple and their five children have been ordered out of their Brisbane home otherwise the police will come and throw them out ...

The Presbyterian minister mainly blamed the family's grim situation on the critical shortage of affordable housing.

However he fears discrimination is also at work.

"Whether it's racial, I'm not sure. It's certainly discrimination against large families," he said, describing how one agent had refused, without explanation, to give the family an application for one property ...

How ironic. Immigrant lobbies cause a housing shortage, and then whinge about it. This is the same twisted logic that feeds China with minerals and then complains we have to build an army capable of ripping an arm off an Asian giant. Or have mining companies double the size of Newcastle's coal port facilities, to fuel Asia, and then bemoan climate change and say "we have to wait for the world to act before we do". If you don't want these problems, stop creating them.

Video: CBN - can Britain survive multiculturalism?

2008-07-27T05:51:00.000-07:00

July 27, 2008, YouTube:

UK: To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups?

2008-07-27T04:42:00.000-07:00

July 27, 2008
Third of Muslim students back killings:

ALMOST a third of British Muslim students believe killing in the name of Islam can be justified, according to a poll.

The study also found that two in five Muslims at university support the incorporation of Islamic sharia codes into British law.

The YouGov poll for the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) will raise concerns about the extent of campus radicalism. “Significant numbers appear to hold beliefs which contravene democratic values,” said Han-nah Stuart, one of the report’s authors. “These results are deeply embarrassing for those who have said there is no extremism in British universities.” ...

July 27, 2008, Minette Marrin:

... the incidence of conservative and separatist Muslim beliefs has been growing and is more prevalent in young Muslims than in their parents’ generation. British Muslims used to be much more moderate ...

Yet how can young Muslims fit into a liberal western democracy if they believe things that are intolerant, illegal and, in plain English, unBritish? ...

Insecure young people can be swayed by extremists. The question is how to stand up to the extremists ...

First, I think, we should abandon all discussions of what Islam truly is. No one will ever agree how many infidels can dance on a pin’s head ...

Religion is as long as a piece of string; true faith lies in the heart of the believer and is rarely susceptible to argument ...

What follows inescapably from this is that religious people and their views should not be officially recognised in groups. Religion should not be allowed a public space or public representation. This is hard for those of us who used to love the muddled Anglican compromise; it means the disestablishment of our national church – if it doesn’t self-destruct first ...

There must be no more religious schools – personally I would leave those that exist alone. There must be no public recognition of religious associations as representatives of anything or anybody: not on campuses, not in student unions, not in government consultations or in parliament.

So-called religious community leaders, or umbrella groups of religious bodies, must of course be free to associate as they like in private, in a free country, but publicly they must be ignored. Publicly they must not teach or promote illegal prejudices. Forced into the private sphere, denied the oxygen of publicity, power and influence, highly politicised religious groups will wither on the vine. Perhaps, in that wonderful phrase of Yeats, they might even wither into truth.

Minette has said some good things in the past, but I can't get my head around this one. It seems both self-destructive and impotent against Islam. We have experts that are telling us what Islam is, and always has been: Robert Spencer, Andrew Bostom, etc. Ignoring Islam and pretending it doesn't exist is not going to work. Demography is destiny, just ask Turkey.

Welcome to nation of university ghettos

2008-07-26T04:59:00.000-07:00

July 23, 2008, Sydney Morning Herald:

A WIDENING gulf between local and foreign university students is creating segregated classes, cultural cliques and religious ghettos, raising fears of a backlash on campuses ...

While the atmosphere on campuses generally supported foreign students, Professor Marginson said: "So you've got this odd situation with the local students half-disengaged in a way I've never really seen before. The international student industry runs off the back of a reasonably strong local system which presumes a healthy relationship with the local students … all of that has become the marketing pitch. That's the flashpoint that worries me more than any other - that it could spring back into resentment."

Almost two-thirds of international students are from Asia, and many have no contact with local students ...

Connie Zhang, a Chinese student studying commerce at the University of Sydney, said last night: "We don't really hang out with the locals. In the first few years I tried to get along with them, but it's kind of difficult. In the third year I just hung out with
international students." Her friend Hua Feng said some international students lacked the confidence to speak in English. "It's a totally different world."

July 23, 2008
Mixing tough for overseas students:

ELIZABETH Lai, a 21-year-old Singaporean arts student at the University of Melbourne, says life in a foreign country has not had the international flavour she had hoped for ...

Instead, after a year in Melbourne, most of her friends are international students ...

"You tend to stick to groups and once you are in a group you get comfortable and don't want to stray from them," she said ...

Local student Cassandra Mertono ... admitting integration of local and foreign students was probably not the norm.

"It is a bit segregated on campus," she said. "You can certainly tell on site who is local and who isn't and the non-locals tend to stick together, especially in the undergrad years."

The newer undergrads have probably already learned in high school how to shut themselves off from the "celebration", segregate themselves from the "enrichment", shun the "vibrancy", and abstain from the "energy" - for their own emotional health.

White flight from schools? Check.
White flight from suburbs? Check.
White flight from foreign sounding job applicants? Check.
White flight from immigrant area real-estate investment? Check.
White flight from policing and nursing? Check.
University flight? Check.
Diversity fails again.
The diversity tap that won't be turned off until whites vote as whites, until Christians vote as Christians, until Australians vote as Australians. Until, wait for it, we discriminate and protect our own space as a distinct race, culture and religion.

Bogus references help students win residency

2008-07-26T04:09:00.000-07:00

July 26, 2008, the Australian:

Private vocational colleges were increasingly using the federal Government's Migration Occupations in Demand List to promote hairdressing and cooking as what one disillusioned former college teacher described as "the easiest, cheapest and fastest way for students to get permanent residency".

Before students doing trade courses can apply for permanent residency, they need a trade certificate III and references saying they've completed 900 hours of work experience ...

Fraudulent references are also showing up in hairdressing, says Ruth Browne, director of Pivot Point International Academy in Melbourne, one of 2000 Pivot Point colleges in 72 countries: "I've heard there's all these scams with students paying for the industry validation certificates of 900 hours work experience. It just seems to be rife. It's a well-known fact within the international education industry that some migration agents are providing documents for required working hours; students don't even have to go to a salon to do it. But salon owners tell me some kids come in and say, 'I'm happy to work for nothing or my agent can arrange it."' ...

Melbourne migration lawyer Michael Clothier says: "I have so many clients abandon their courses in maths and science to take up hairdressing and commercial cookery because its easier to get permanent residence. One of the enticements to get people to the 'arse end of the world' to do their studies is that they can get (permanent residence) at the end of it." In fact some of the students who have come to him for migration advice were confused about the fact they actually had to attend classes, Clothier says. "They thought the fix was in."

That's the fate of nondescript-global-village civic nationalism: self-destruction. Yay team diversity!

I didn't rape her, I was reading the Koran to my dying dad

2008-07-26T01:53:00.000-07:00

July 26, 2008, Herald Sun
Farah Jama used his dying dad as rape alibi:

A DNA sample led police to Farah Jama, 21, months after his victim, who was in her 40s, was found unconscious in a locked toilet cubicle at a Doncaster nightspot in July 2006 ...

But Jama pleaded not guilty, claiming he was at his family's Preston home on the night of the rape because his father was ill.

Family members told the jury Jama was reading his father passages from the Koran and "listening to him pronounce his last will" for all but 15 minutes of that night.

Judge Lacava said the claim was "most unsatisfactory" and must have been rejected by the jury who found Jama guilty of one count of rape.

The perp's name sounds African.

June diversity news from Blacktown

2008-07-26T01:52:00.000-07:00

Hat tip: commenter
Blacktown Advocate
Wednesday, June 18, 2008. Page 11

A 51-year-old Seven Hills man was beaten and bound by three men in his Barbara Boulevard backyard last Thursday.

The man told police he saw three men of Middle Eastern appearance hovering around his son's granny flat and when he approached them, they threatened him and punched and kicked him to the ground before tying his hands with tape.

The men allegedly stole a small safe from the flat after smashing their way in through a glass door.

Police are appealing for information over the assault and theft.

Blacktown Advocate June 4, 2008, page 3.

A 17-year-old suffered facial injuries after a brutal robbery in Blacktown last Wednesday night. The teen was walking from Blacktown train station about 6pm, when a man described as Islander in appearance demanded money. The youth told police he was punched so hard that he fell to the ground. While he was down the man continued to punch him, causing bruising and swelling. After rummaging in his pockets for cash, the man fled towards the station. He was wearing a purple hooded jumper and white Nike shoes.

Blacktown Advocate. June 11, 2008, page 3.

Police are seeking assistance finding the men behind a cigarette heist in Prospect. Two men in their 20s and of Middle-Eastern appearance allegedly rammed a van containing cigarettes in a stolen red Mazda 121, about 8.30am. The 24-year-old driver told police one man pulled a gun and demanded he get in the car, before the men drove him around for about 20 minutes. He was later released unharmed on Stoddart Rd, Prospect. Police later found the empty van.

Blacktown Advocate, June 11, 2008, page 6.

More sex charges for bus driver

A Moorebank bus driver accused of molesting an intellectually disabled woman at Blacktown has been chared with a further six offences.

Five counts of indecent assault and one of obscene exposure were addede to two counts of indecent assault when Satendra Prasad Sharma appeared briefly in Blacktown Court last week.

The 43-year-old of Marshall Ave has been suspended from driving for Busways and was granted bail after his arrest in March.

One of his bail conditions is that he not drive a bus unless supervised.

Mr Prasad has not entered pleas to the charges and will reappear today when the Public Prosecutions Department will decide if it or police prosecutors will handle the case.

Mr Prasad is accused of kissing and fondling the 20-year-old woman in the Westpoint Tunnel on February 28 this year. He allegedly exposed himself in Alpha st.

Video: Turkish Islamists charge secular "plotters"

2008-07-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

July 14, 2008, YouTube:
"The two cases highlight the deep divide between the two sides, but few believe that they will resolve it."

Demography will resolve it in favour of Islam. Get out while you can.

Videos: Carrie Underwood - Pt 2

2008-07-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

Click to watch ...

Report: Victorian employers prefer Smiths

2008-07-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

Helen Szoke, July 18, 2008
Australia, land of the fair go (as long as you're not foreign)

WHAT does it take to get a job in this state if you are Sudanese, Congolese, Burmese, Iraqi, Somali or any other recent arrival from a non-English-speaking country?

Clearly a lot, according to the Harnessing Diversity research report being released today by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and the Victorian Multicultural Commission.

At a time when we are hearing so much about labour market shortages and skill shortages, Harnessing Diversity reveals stories of people who have lived in Victoria for some time, can't get their overseas work experience recognised and can't get a job. How can this be so, when we know that some sectors of the job market are running at 20% vacancy rates, when employers are using all sorts of strategies to retain workers because of labour market shortages?

Harnessing Diversity makes it clear that racial discrimination is behind many of the rejections people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds face. While much of the blatant racism and name-calling is a thing of the past, the discrimination people face today is more subtle, entrenched and much more difficult to identify and deal with.

This sort of discrimination is so systemic that often people don't even realise their own biases and bigotry.

Take, for example, the research on people with Arabic-sounding names who failed to win an interview until they changed their names on their applications to ones that sounded Anglo-Saxon. There are even reports that some recruitment agencies recommend applicants change their names so that they can get an interview ...

There are a number of ways to tackle this.

The first is that the Government, as our largest employer, can demonstrate leadership by reducing discrimination in its own recruitment and promotion practices within the public service. This includes active recruitment of people from different cultural backgrounds, mentoring and support for disadvantaged members of culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Second, highlighting those organisations and individuals who demonstrate best practice and encouraging others to do the same will help challenge some of the negative attitudes and practices against people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds ...

The land of the fair go is an illusion for many migrants. It can only become a reality with practical initiatives that break through the systemic and often internalised racism that still exists ...

Helen Szoke on Life Matters (15 minutes in):

"What's probably more worrying is that some job placement agencies suggested that people should try to change their name after they were repeatedly unsuccessful in even getting an interview. Now, this is not new, if you think about the wave of migrants after the 2nd world war there were many who Anglocised their names ... What's worrying is that we're a very different world to 50 years ago, a much more global world, and to feel that people have to go to those lengths to at least even get a foot in the door - I mean that's astonishing ...

... in order to achieve equality you have to treat people differently ..."

July 18, 2008
Public servants may have to divulge religion and ethnicity

VICTORIAN public servants may have to divulge personal information about their religion and ethnicity under a move to crack down on workplace discrimination.

And businesses could be asked to help fund a campaign encouraging employers to adopt culturally inclusive workplaces.

The recommendations come from a State Government report that has found ongoing racial and religious discrimination at work.

The report, to be released today, calls for the state's anti-discrimination watchdog to be given power to launch its own investigations and to seek orders through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Currently, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission can act only if a complaint has been lodged with the organisation.

The report, Harnessing Diversity: Addressing Racial and Religious Discrimination in Employment, says research showed that people with non-Anglo-Saxon names often missed out on jobs because of their backgrounds.

"In Victoria, the research found that those with Vietnamese and Greek-sounding names had significantly less success in gaining job interviews than those with Anglo-Saxon names, despite the details in the applications being identical," it says ...

Helen Szoke, another of the racial deniers. She's so astonished by her findings that she presumes "people don't even realise their own biases and bigotry". And the next logical step for the denier is the move towards fascism. Whether you like it or not, they're going to ram diversity down your throat. The harnessing is of you, not diversity. But denial never works. "The land of the fair go is an illusion", yes, for Helen Szokes and the racial deniers. Race, culture, religion and identity matter to people. That's why there's white flight in suburbs and schools. That's why you can't get people to fill diversity-frontline jobs like police and nurses. That's why Hazel Rowley admitted that race cannot be transcended in America. That's why Britain is sleepwalking into segregation. That's why diversity is a flawed ideology.

Importing Sino-Fascism?

2008-07-18T22:35:00.000-07:00

11/07/2008
China spies on top ALP figures

The Chinese consulate-general in Sydney has targeted federal Labor ministers and staffers in an intelligence-gathering operation.

A Chinese vice-consul in Sydney cultivated a Labor staffer over a 15-month period before the federal election in November 2007.

The staffer told The Canberra Times that he was encouraged to divulge information on Labor Party figures and handed over internal ALP documents.

He was paid $800 and was offered more money if Labor won the federal election ...

The vice-consul said Mr Howard's defeat would be "good" for Australian-Chinese relations because his government had "lost its way" and Mr Rudd "better understood the role China will play in the future" ...

He encouraged the staffer to get a job with a federal Labor minister and mention was made of the possibility of travel to China, with the cost at least in part paid by a Chinese travel agency.

The vice-consul emphasised it was necessary to "be discreet" about their meetings ...

The staffer says he broke off the relationship with the vice-consul shortly after Christmas 2007 ...

A security expert and visiting fellow at the Australian National University, Professor Clive Williams, said the affair looked like "standard methodology" for intelligence recruitment.

"The aim is to compromise a person and then to later put pressure on them to provide more sensitive information," Professor Williams said ...

The Chinese embassy in Canberra has repeatedly denied that China runs spies under diplomatic or consular cover in Australia.

The embassy's press office did not return calls yesterday.

Sept, 2000, John Derbyshire
Importing Sino-Fascism?

... immigrants from different cultures ... bring quite different notions of governance, nationhood and citizenship with them. These attitudes can be very persistent, surviving long after actual memories of the "old country" are forgotten ...

I signed myself off with my Chinese name—not out of any real intent to deceive, only because this was a Chinese e-list and I thought they might throw me off if they knew I was a round-eye ...

The response to my mild, questioning remarks was astonishing. What kind of Chinese was I, that wanted to dismember the Motherland? Didn't I know that those territories had been Chinese since the beginning of time? That their inhabitants were sunk in slavery and oppression under wicked priests and landlords until rescued by Chinese occupation? ... That all the countries of the world recognized Chinese sovereignty over them? That China's right of possession had been acknowledged by the Nationalist governments of the 1930s and 1940s, even before Mao came along? The range of tones was from baffled to furious. How could a Chinese person cast doubt on the integrity of the national borders?

We went back and forth a few times, until someone noticed that my sign-off Chinese name, "Yuehan", was the common Chinese transcription of "John". Was I really Chinese? I confessed frankly that I am not; that I am an Englishman living in America, with a Mainland-Chinese wife and two half-Chinese children.

Now the floodgates of race-hatred opened. One of the subsequent e-mails addressed me as: "England Big Nose". Another offered, as part of a long, labored attempt at sarcasm, to "kiss my hairy hand". Yet a third laid out a very complicated psychological theory trying to demonstrate (if I have understood it correctly) that for a white man to wish to marry a Chinese woman was a form of mental illness, dooming both partners to misery and their offspring to madness ...

Bear in mind, please, that the writers of these e-mails are the intellectual cream of Mainland China, now immigrants to the U.S. Few do not have Master's degrees; many have Ph.D.s ...

Underneath all this were some even more disturbing currents: a deep, atavistic hatred of the West and all its works; a profound scorn for Western "civilization" and "democracy"—the quotation marks seem to be obligatory. Also, a rooted conviction that China had never done anything wrong, and never could ...

This is the voice of the new generation of Mainland Chinese, born in the 1970s and 1980s: puffed up with self-pity and self-righteousness, all their rage and frustration directed against the outside world, utterly ignorant of the modern history of their country ...

This mindset has been fostered by the Communist educational system. As Steven W. Mosher has documented in his new book Hegemon: The Chinese Plan to Dominate Asia and the World, the Communists have been at pains to replace the discredited Marxist-Leninist rationale for their rule with nationalism of the grossest and coarsest type. Chinese school history textbooks make no mention of the 1959-61 famine—in terms of the number dead, a greater human calamity than WW2—but dwell bitterly on the tale about a sign saying NO DOGS OR CHINESE at the entrance to a Shanghai park in the 1920s. (Does anybody know if this story is true?) This hyper-nationalism is not limited to the schools, either; it is carried over to movies, TV shows, popular magazines and even roadside billboards.
Cherish the Motherland, which never has done, and never could do, any wrong. Hate the foreign devils, who have inflicted untold miseries on our people, and who never cease plotting to weaken and dismember our country. The borders of the People's Republic [which are actually those of the Manchu empire, minus Outer Mongolia] are sacred and inviolable, and must not be questioned.
I have sat with Irishmen for long evenings, discussing their history and their nationhood as topics on which different points of view might be exchanged, different opinions passionately, yet reasonably, held. No such discussion is possible with these younger Mainland Chinese. When you raise their "national question", they just lose their temper and ask how you dare be so impudent as to offer an opinion on something that only concerns Chinese people. If you ask them whether they would prefer a free, democratic China without the "three T's" (Tibet, Turkestan and Taiwan) or the present corrupt despotism with them, they unhesitatingly go for the latter.

Moreover, this Chinese group feeling is consciously racial and explicitly anti-white. Irish immigrants do not have this reflex working to alienate them from their new countrymen.

The U.S. now has several million Chinese immigrants and soon-to-be citizens who are at least susceptible to these prehistoric attitudes. Across the Pacific, there are a billion more—armed with nuclear weapons.

Be afraid; be very afraid.

April, 2008
China calls for a people's army to march on Canberra to defend torch

THOUSANDS of Chinese Australians are being asked to rally and defend the Olympic torch from Tibetan "splittists", "scum" and "running dogs" when it arrives in Canberra next week.

The mass campaign is being organised by community leaders in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, while the Chinese embassy is also said to be actively supporting a peaceful show of strength ...

Perceptions that the West is pro-Tibet and anti-China have generated a furious outpouring of ethnic Chinese patriotism, fuelled by private bloggers and the state propaganda machine.

But the Canberra campaign is unlikely to improve Western views of China because many protest leaders are borrowing the militaristic anti-Tibet and anti-Western rhetoric that is bubbling out of the mainland.

One letter widely circulated among Chinese Australians said "the China forces" in Canberra are weak and need reinforcement because the city is a "separatist base" for Falun Gong, pro-Tibet, pro-Uighur (an ethnic minority group in China's north-west) and other "splittists". It said that no Chinese can tolerate being humiliated by "scum of the Chinese nation" and "running dogs".

"Whether you carry a Chinese passport or are an Australian citizen, I believe that each and every one of you, the sons and daughters of China, are as one with us in loyalty and love for the motherland!" the letter said ...

Zhang Zhuning, chairman of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Canberra, said Australian police were underestimating the "piles of monks" and Vietnamese "paid" thugs from Sydney who would create trouble.

But he was not afraid of local Falun Gong groups because Chinese triad gangs had "quietened them down"......

Student organisers say they are arranging express courier deliveries of giant Chinese national flags from the mainland because shops in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne have sold out...

2007
The Howard Legacy: Displacement of Traditional Australia from the Professional and Managerial Classes

A book which should be read by all those who think about the future of Australia, but especially of concern to those with children/grandchildren with educational aspirations.

In 2005 in the Sydney Morning Herald Michael Duffy asked the rhetorical question: "Is it perhaps the first time in history that a nation's elite have invited another group to come in and replace it?"

Now Dr Peter Wilkinson has collected together both readily available and hitherto unpublished data to show that indeed traditional Australia is being displaced from the professional and managerial classes. This is the enduring legacy that Prime Minister John Howard's regime has bequeathed to the future of Australia. How has this come about?

It arises from a complex web of policies, largely bipartisan, particularly the selective immigration policies which favour applicants with an Australian university degree. Recent arrivals, i.e. the overseas born and non-English speaking background resident students, predominately Chinese, are now in a majority in some fields of education in the universities. They are concentrated in the lucrative and prestige careers. At the UNSW they are the majority overall.

The Chinese presence in Australia has been analysed: numbers, distribution, school and university enrolments, social attitudes and political influence. With near one-fifth in the electorates of the Prime Minister and the Shadow Minister for Immigration, they are influencing immigration policies. The conclusion is that on present policies Australia will have a Chinese minority dominating the economy. Does it matter?

Excerpt:
In selecting skilled immigrants, those who have done a degree in Australia receive bonus points in the criteria for acceptance for residency. In effect the policy selects those Asians who have higher cognitive ability, predominantly ethnic Chinese. In the ‘knowledge economy’ of today a premium is paid for qualifications and cognitive ability. They and their children (who will inherit their higher intelligence) will fill the professional and managerial ranks in Australia. They will dominate the cognitive class and hence have disproportionate influence in the country. This has important ramifications for both internal and external policies as ethnic demographic change continues.
---

Do you think our country is in good hands, Thorpey?

What do you think, Coates?

Thanks for the legacy, Mr Howard.

Hat tip: commenters, Reclaiming Australia, Oz Conservative

Liam Clancy - the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

2008-07-18T00:48:00.000-07:00

For the late SAS soldier Sean McCarthy. Click to watch ...

Call them the Harry Potter books on Islam

2008-07-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

July 17, 2008, Raymond Ibrahim:

Dinar Standard:
... Saniyasnain Khan says Islam is essentially a religion of peace and harmony but there are two main reasons why some people dislike Muslims and Islam. One is violence that has been associated with it while the other is the perceived bad treatment of women by Muslims.

‘I felt that there was a pressing need to educate the new generation about the real Islamic values so that they become little ambassadors of Islamic goodness and they also stimulate them to learn about Islamic ideals as they grow up,’ said Mr. Khan, whose first book “Tell Me About Hajj” has sold over 30,000 copies.

"Children get a lot of negative information about Islam. There is a big need to give them the right picture so that they grow up to be peace-loving individuals” said Mr. Khan who often contributes articles on spirituality to the Times of India.
Interesting statement. At first, when Khan says that Muslim children “get a lot of negative information about Islam” it seemed that he was indicating the negative “propaganda” surrounding Islam. But the “big need to give them the right picture so that they grow up to be peace-loving individuals” implies that the “negative information” about Islam isn’t what infidels say about it, but how Muslim adults teach it.
A trustee of CPS International, a non-profit organization working towards peace and spirituality, Khan says “my endeavor is to present books for children that provide a solid foundation of Islamic moral values. The basic purpose of these books is to teach themes carefully chosen from the Quran and other Islamic sources so that the children not only learn its ethical values but also embody them in their lives.”
Why all the "care" when choosing themes, Mr. Khan? Why not represent them all? Surely you don't find some of those "themes" problematic?

Now dear Muslim children it's time to play pretends, close your eyes and imagine a place far far away where the Koran has no bad verses, none, it's a magical wonderland. Now open your eyes. So if someone says something bad about Islam you close your eyes and go to that place far far away where no one can criticise you. Don't listen to them, just get on your broomstick and go.

So long as adult Muslims continue to play pretends with the Koran, no Islamic reform will ever happen, and their children will have no defence when the jihadists come knocking.

Turkey: 86 secular 'terrorists' charged

2008-07-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

July 15, 2008, NY Times:

ISTANBUL — Eighty-six people, including writers, members of civil organizations and former military officers, were charged Monday with membership in an illegal ultranationalist organization and of plotting to overthrow the Turkish government.

... the suspects, 48 of them in police custody and the others free while awaiting trial, were charged with forming, managing and aiding the organization, which is accused of plotting a coup against the Islamic-rooted, governing Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

The 2,455-page indictment is widely perceived in Turkey as being part of a power struggle between the secular establishment, including parts of the military, and the democratically elected and religiously conservative government.

In another case currently before Turkey’s highest court, AKP and its leadership are charged with introducing religion into government and violating the secular principles on which the Turkish state was founded. Prosecutors seek to disband the party.

The possible coup emerged when a cache of weapons, explosives and illegal documents was found in the home of an ultranationalist retired military officer during a security operation 13 months ago.

Since then, several police investigations have provided information that the Ergenekon group — the name is a reference to a central Asian Turkic legend with strong nationalist overtones — had also been involved in an armed attack on a senior state court in 2006, as well as the 2007 bombing of Cumhuriyet, a left-wing newspaper in Istanbul. Both attacks were included in the charges announced Monday.

A security operation this month led to the arrests of other suspects, including two high-ranking retired generals. These suspects were not included in the indictment on Monday, but will be added in a separate filing, Mr. Engin said.

Military prosecutors have also begun an investigation into the charges against the two retired generals, Sener Eruygur and Hursit Tolon, a private news station, NTV, reported Monday. Military prosecutors demanded copies of evidence that security forces had collected from the former generals’ personal premises, NTV said.

The arrest of the two former generals has stirred controversy in a nation where the military has traditionally seen its role as protecting the secular state.

The military strongly denies any links with the Ergenekon network. It reasserts its loyalty to the secular Turkish Republic in occasional public statements.

Secularists remain suspicious of the governing party, which grew out of previous pro-Islamic parties. Some warn that the government’s policies will lead to Islamic-oriented conservatism.

Opposition parties have heavily criticized the government for appointing religious candidates to critical state positions during its almost seven years in power.

The coup investigation has coincided with the case against the ruling party at the Constitutional Court, where hearings have been held this month. The timing of the coup indictments, as well as the harshness with which some suspects were forced from their beds after midnight for interrogation, was seen by some Turks as an effort by pro-government prosecutors to intimidate secularists ...

Let's take a walk down MEMRI lane ...

June 27, 2008
More Audio Recordings Of Turkish Generals Published In The Internet

Recordings of the conversations and speeches of Turkish generals continue to be leaked periodically to Islamist and anti-military media and websites. On June 27, 2008 the radical Islamist Turkish daily Vakit reported that two new recordings of generals Kenan Kocak and Suha Tanyeri were published at metacafe.com disclosing the contents of Gen. Tanyeri's lecture about a “new counter-guerilla plan” and “dark warfare”.

June 28, 2008
“New Party” Registered With “Sun” For Its Symbol

Following signs AKP has been giving that they would erect a new party to replace the AKP in the event of closure by the Constitutional Court, competitors acted first and registered a new party. AKP’s current emblem is the “light bulb” and there were rumors that in case the party is closed down they would create a replacement party, possibly called “Yeni Parti” [the New Party], with the “sun” as its symbol. Recent AKP posters and billboards that are displayed all over the country, quote PM Erdogan’s words, “We witness thousands of times, the rise of the 'sun' after darkness” hinting on the symbol of a new party.

It is reported today that a center-right political party named “New Party” with the “sun” as its symbol has been registered yesterday by former MHP and ANAP politician and former minister Yasar Okuyan and 32 founding members. While it is believed that the move was made by competitors who wanted to prevent the AKP from using “the sun” as its new emblem, there are some speculations that the intention may have been to prepare the new home for members of the AKP.

July 1, 2008
Turkey Shaken With Arrests

Turkey woke up today to shocking arrests of two dozen prominent personalities known for their fierce opposition to AKP government. Among the detained are retired full generals and force commanders, ret. brigadier and major generals, an admiral, a colonel, a university professor, prominent journalists from Cumhuriyet and Tercuman dailies, Chairman of Ankara Chamber of Commerce, chairman of Ataturkist Thought Association and members of other NGOs. This is the first time in Turkish Republic’s history that top commanders are taken into custody of the police.

Police raided the homes of the detained at early morning hours and conducted search in their homes as well as in their work places, confiscating computers, documents and other belongings. Despite the fact that the court authorization for the detentions was obtained on June 29, police waited for two days to carry out the raids in four Turkish cities with 6000 officers, to coincide with the presentation of the verbal testimony of the Chief Prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya to the Constitutional Court in AKP’s closure case.

It is reported that the police is also looking for four other other personalities including the Honorary Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court Sabih Kanadoglu, and former AKP MP Turhan Comez that was expelled from AKP because of his opposition to party policies.

The official reason for the detentions is that those taken into custody had suspected links to an illegal, nationalist gang [Ergenekon] which is accused of paving the way to a military coup to topple AKP government. Over hundred people were taken into custody in the past year under the so-called “Ergenekon” investigation. Some prominent Turkish personalities are held in custody since last year without being indicted or having seen a judge.

While the government circles and the Islamist media attack the alleged gang and vow to crack it down, many Turks believe that AKP government uses “Ergenekon” in order to suppress, intimidate and eliminate its opponents.

July 2, 2008
Chief Prosecutor Accused AK Party For Trying To Establish Theocracy

Supreme Court Chief Prosecutor made his oral presentation on July 1 regarding the AKP closure case and claimed that the AKP was trying to establish an Islamic state. Chief Prosecutor Yalcınkaya said in his oral presentation that AKP’s goal was a system based on Shari’a law and that there was a clear and present danger in this respect.

In his one and a half hour presentation at the Constitutional Court, Yalcinkaya said that the Venice Criteria did not apply in this case and that the acquittal of Fethullah Gulen would not affect the outcome of this case, since this acquittal case did not change the fact that Gulen is an Islamist leader. Yalçınkaya also added that the annulment of the amendment about allowing the Islamic headscarf in the universities did not change the nature of the allegations, only strengthened them.

He also mentioned that the U.N. Security Council list of people who give financial support to terrorism included the Saudi businessman Yassin Al Qadı, who is associated with the PM and AKP circles.

July 2, 2008
Turkish Media Divided Over “Ergenekon” Detainments

Turkish columnists and commentators are divided over the detainment of two dozen people, including retired 4-star generals, journalists, business and civil society leaders over their alleged links with a gang that aims to topple the AKP government through a military coup.

The Islamist, leftist liberal, pro-AKP media organs hailed the operation calling it a step forward to enhance democracy, while the mainstream media commentators sounded their concerns that the Ergenekon investigation has turned into a “witch hunt”, being used by the AKP government to suppress its opponents.

July 2, 2008
Turkish Business Leader Slams Large Scale “Ergenekon” Detainments

Rifat Hisarciklioglu, Chairman of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) who is known to have close links with the AKP government and especially with the Turkish President Abdullah Gul, slammed the detainments carried out under the so-called “Ergenekon Operation” and said that it dealt a blow to "human dignity".

Retired commanders, journalists and opponent politicians are being accused of suspected links to an illegal “Ergenekon” gang [they define as a terrorist organization] which was alleged of paving the way to a military coup.

In his speech at an extraordinary meeting of Ankara Chamber of Commerce [ATO] Hisarciklioglu said "I condemn the detainment of Sinan Aygun, the chairman of ATO without any charges. If he was invited to the police station to give a statement, he would go to the station to give it".

July 2, 2008
Turkish Opposition Says “Ergenekon” Political Tool Of AKP Government; CHP Likens Detentions To Hitler and Stalin Era Operations

The new wave of detentions of retired high-ranking military officers and journalists known for their opposition to AKP government was condemned yesterday by all political parties other than the ruling AKP. Most opposition parties argued the government is heavily involved, even saying the AKP is directing the case to suppress political dissidents.

Main opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal likened the detentions to Hitler and Stalin era operations and said that Hitler too had been elected by over 47% of the voters. Baykal said that the “Ergenekon case” is nothing but PM Tayyip Erdogan’s “personal case”. Baykal reminded that PM Erdogan has announced after the detentions the imminent release of an indictment, acting like the spokesman of “Ergenekon” case. Baykal said, “I told you that the staffing of all state positions by AKP partisans is completed. Now they are taking over the judiciary and the police”.

DSP leader Sezer said that the AKP was building a “fear empire”.

July 3, 2008
Are Waves Of Detentions Of Prominent Soldiers, Politicans, Journalists AKP’s Method Of Intimidation?

Many columnists in the mainstream media think that the new detentions are AKP government’s “warning” to military and civil society leaders and journalists to be “careful” – or their turn will come too. Some columnists argue that this open ended investigation, that they define as a "witch hunt", will continue and will also threaten Gen Yasar Buyukanit, Chief of General Staff, once he retires in August.

While members of mainstream media expressed their outrage at the manner in which respectable people were taken into custody, especially at the handcuffing of a fellow journalist – the editor of Tercuman daily – there was not one word of criticism in AKP-media organs.

July 3, 2008
Lands Forces Commander, Prime Minister’s Office Denied Discussing Detention Of Ret. Generals

Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug, who is expected to become the new Chief of General Staff in August, denied allegations that PM Tayyip Erdogan and he talked about “Ergenekon” or the upcoming detention of certain retired generals during their meeting on June 24th.

Speaking to the press yesterday, Gen. Basbug said "This subject did not come up during our meeting. Turkey is going through difficult times. We all need to be responsible, careful and cautious”, urging the media to engage in responsible coverage. He called on everyone to share the desire for the unity of the armed forces. The Prime Minister’s Office made a similar statement that denied the rumors and speculations.

July 3-4, 2008
AKP's Coordinated Media: “July 7 Would Be The Day For Bloody Coup”

Fatih Altayli of Haberturk news portal pointed out to today’s identical headlines in AKP-press. He wrote that AKP formed a large group of partisan media that unconditionally and passionately supports the AKP government, and claimed that it is PM’s information office that must be directing these organs by providing the material to be published.

The pro-AKP media organs, Yeni Safak, Sabah, Star, Bugun all had the same headline today - as they did many times before, apparently based on leaked information from the government. They all had “July 7 Chaos Plan” on their front pages; they all alleged that the recently detained retired generals were organizing massive demonstrations to take place on July 6 to support the judiciary; during which time they would incite clashes between the police and the demonstrators; then they would carry out some assassinations; all in order to prepare the grounds for a military coup on July 7.

Cumhuriyet too pointed to the sameness of the news in pro-AKP dailies and wrote that these media organs were claiming to possess information that the two generals – now in custody – were making preparations for “a bloody July 7”.

July 3, 2008
Vakit: University Presidents Next

This time the radical Islamist Turkish daily Vakit targeted the secular university rectors [presidents] in today’s issue, with a front page headliner that read, “Pro-Coup Rectors In Panic”.

Vakit claimed that the secular university presidents were “shaking in their boots out of fear” that they would be the next to be investigated, allegedly for their links to the “Ergenekon terrorist organization”. Vakit claimed that 15 of these professors had had a meeting with the detained Gen. Sener Eruygur in 2003, when he was the commander of the gendarmerie.

For a long time the Islamist, pro-AKP media has been targeting certain names that were taken into police custody soon thereafter, raising suspicions that these media organs were being given information about the details of the investigation that by law should be conducted in secrecy.

July 7, 2008
Two Retired Turkish Generals Sent To Prison

10 out of the 21 people detained in early morning raids on July 1 were arrested and sent to prison, for suspicion of links to “Ergenekon” terrorist organization that allegedly made plans to overthrow the AKP government. Among the arrested are two four-star generals Sener Eruyugur and Hursit Tolon, and the chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce Sinan Aygun who joined 58 other people who have been in prison for over one year without any charges or indictment against them.

Attorney for Gen. Eruygur said, “A commander who loyally served his country for many years has been formally arrested on false accusations. We do not accept any of the charges”. Gen. Tolon’s lawyer said that he would appeal to secure his client’s release and claimed that the General had not been judged fairly.

Zekeriya Oz, the prosecutor handling the Ergenekon investigation, demanded life imprisonment for retired generals Sener Eruygur and Hursit Tolon, claiming that the two have established and direct “the terrorist organization”.

Despite earlier reports that the 2500-pages-long indictment was ready to be published, the prosecutor of the case said on Friday that the indictment would further be delayed due to the new detainments, signaling the continuation of an open-ended uncertainty.

Arrested: Retired Gen. Şener Eruygur

Arrested: Retired Gen. Hurşit Tolon

Arrested: Sinan Aygun

July 7, 2008
Turkish Businessman Dies After Spending 13 Months In Prison Without Charges; His Widow Takes Case To European Court Of Human Rights

Businessman Kuddusi Okkir who was arrested last year under the “Ergenekon probe” was released on July 1, 2008 to die four days later. The widow of Okkir who was accused of being the "financier" of the "Ergenekon organization" said that her husband was taken from his home at 3:00 AM on June 20, 2007 as a healthy man and was given back to her when he was in a coma, about to die.

Speaking to the press Mrs. Okkir said that he had encountered lung cancer while in prison and did not receive timely treatment due to negligence. Mrs. Okkir said that it was ridiculous to claim that her husband was the “financier” of any organization when they had debts and they don’t even own a house. She said that all the appeals for his release were denied and he died without seeing the charges against him.

Due to financial difficulties Mrs. Okkir was not able to pay for her husband's funeral expenses which were met by the municipality thanks to the intervention of some journalists.

She intends to take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights [ECHR].

July 7, 2008
Former Turkish Chief Of General Staff: “No Plans For Coup During My Term, As Alleged”

The former Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok spoke to Hurriyet columnist Fatih Cekirge and denied the allegations that he had stopped some generals [including the newly imprisoned ones] that had plotted a military coup against the AKP government in 2004 [during his term].

Cekirge asked Gen. Ozkok if he had been aware of any coup attempts or plans made by some commanders. The retired top general said, “There is no such thing. I say clearly that if anything like this had happened, and if those generals had made such preparations while in active duty, the military prosecutors would definitely have intervened”. Cekirge wrote that according to Gen. Ozkok, there had been no attempts or planning by other generals against him, when he was serving.

Gen. Ozkok was clearly disturbed by the allegations and stated that the society as a whole is extremely confused and in distress. He said that the questions in everyone’s minds [about the Ergenekon operation] must be addressed and eased by a responsible official who must provide the necessary explanations as to what is happening in the country. He suggested that the President [Gul] assume this responsibility and said, “All must – and will - be figured out within the framework of democracy and the rule of law”.

July 8, 2008
“Ergenekon’s Neocon Plan: Bomb Attack In Taksim Square!”

The pro-AKP Turkish daily Bugun, known to be affiliated with the Islamist Fethullah Gulen Movement, claimed that “chaos plans” were found in the computers of the four-star generals arrested as “Ergenekon” suspects, which showed plots for a bomb attack in Istanbul’s largest square Taksim, and for the assassination of an important chief prosecutor that would trigger a military coup.

Bugun ties the “Ergenekon organization” with “American Neocons” and claims that the plans allegedly found in the confiscated computers were very similar to “Neocons’ horror scenarios for Turkey", which were discussed last year at the American Hudson Institute with the participation of a Turkish military representative.

Turkey’s pro-AKP media organs disseminate every day “news” and “details” about the “secret” investigation for which there is no indictment yet.

July 7, 2008
"Operations, Like Those In Hitler Era"

Legal professionals and law professors in Turkey are reacting to the manner in which the Ergenekon operation is being carried out. Professor Aydın Aybay criticized the raids carried out under the operation, saying, “These are the kind of operations seen in the Hitler and Stalin periods. Those responsible will pay for them one day.”

Referring to the fact that the indictment is said to be between 2,000 and 2,500 pages, Aybay said an indictment of 2,500 pages was unprecedented. He added, “An indictment only includes facts pertaining to the felony that is established through the investigation. A prosecutor that does such a thing is an inexperienced prosecutor. He does not know what being a prosecutor is.” Aybay also said that an indictment should not be kept waiting for 13 months in order to ensure justice. He said, “The fact that an indictment could not have been prepared in such a long time is not a good sign. This is a form of abusing rights.” He added that the raids carried out under the operation are also against the law.

Professor Burhan Senatalar, spokesperson for the December 10 Movement reminded that the closure case against the AKP and the Ergenekon probe coincided with one another. He said, “The AKP is trying to solidify its rule under the pretext of fighting for democracy”.

July 9, 2008
Six Killed In Terror Attack On U.S. Consulate In Istanbul

Three Turkish policemen and three gunmen were killed in the terrorist attack on the police guard at the main entrance of the well-fortified U.S. Consulate building in Istanbul. There is massive hunt for a fourth assailant believed to have fled the scene in the same vehicle that brought the terrorists there. Two wounded officers are being treated in the hospital.

According to unconfirmed media reports some of the attackers may have been in Afghanistan and one of them –identified as Erhan Kirgiz – had been accused of being a member of the Islamist terrorist organization IBDA-C that claimed responsibility in the November 2003 attacks in Istanbul on two synagogues, the British consulate and a British bank that killed over 60 people.

Ross Wilson, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey said in Ankara that the attack was "an obvious act of terrorism" aimed at the United States and added, “This was an attack on an American diplomatic establishment. The persons who lost their lives are Turkish citizens and we are very sad about that. Turkey and the U.S. are close friends and allies and such acts of terrorism cannot change that".

July 11, 2008
Possible Al-Qaida Links In U.S. Consulate Attack; Turkish Police Detained The Fourth Assailant

Turkish police detained six people yesterday, suspected to have links to the terrorists that attacked the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul killing three Turkish policemen. The Ford Fiesta car that brought the terrorists to the consulate was seized and the driver that fled the scene is now in custody.

Police suspects Al Qaeda was behind the attack as the gunmen had traveled to Afghanistan where it is believed they received training. Islamist and jihadist literature were found during searches conducted in the homes of the attackers. It is reported that the father of one of the killed terrorists is a convicted member of the Turkish Hizbullah terrorist organization.

July 11, 2008
Islamist Media: Attack On U.S. Consulate Work Of “Ergenekon”, Not Islamists

Turkey’s pro-AKP, Islamist media argues that the target of the attack was the police, and not the U.S.. Islamist media also claims that the attack “smelled” of Ergenekon, denying the mainstream media reports that Al-Qaida or other Islamist groups had committed the crime.

Today’s front-page headliner of the Turkish daily Sabah that after its controversial sale joined the AKP-media read, “It Smells Of Ergenekon”, basing its story on speculations of an unidentified source in AKP government’s ministry of justice.

July 10, 2008
Vakit: CIA, Mossad, British Secret Service Behind Attack On U.S. Consulate

The pro-AKP, radical Islamist Turkish daily Vakit claimed that the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul was committed by foreign intelligence agencies, namely the CIA, Mossad and the British Secret Service and accused the mainstream media of attempting to lay the crime on Al-Qaeda or other Islamist groups. Vakit attacked the mainstream media for describing the terrorists as having beards.

The Islamist daily reported that Dr. Selcuk Ozdag of Mugla University told the newspaper that he believed foreign intelligence organizations were behind the attack to push the Turkish government to America’s lap. He said that these foreign agencies would attempt to lay the responsibility for the attack on Islamist groups or on Iran, to draw Turkey into the conflict with Iran and oblige it to act with the U.S. against its neighbor.

July 11, 2008
Founder of AKP, Former Deputy PM Resigned His Party

Former deputy PM Abdullatif Sener officially resigned from AKP today, during the party’s central executive board meeting. Sener, a former member of the banned Islamist Welfare Party [RP] of Necmettin Erbakan was one of the four founders of AKP along with PM Erdogan, President Gul, and former parliamentary speaker Bulent Arinc, all of whom belonged to the Islamist Milli Gorus movement.

Sener had decided not to run for parliament in July 22, 2007 general elections but remained a member of AKP’s executive board. Recently he talked about the need in Turkey for a new political formation and last week declared his intention to establish a new centrist party that would attract politicians from both the right and left of the political spectrum. His remarks signaling a new party drew harsh criticism from members of AKP who demanded his resignation.

After bidding farewell, Sener is expected to start his countrywide travels beginning with Konya, a stronghold of the Milli Gorus movement and of AKP. The first ad of his new political movement appeared today in a local newspaper in his hometown of Sivas. It said, “For honesty in politics, C'mon Turkey”.

July 11, 2008
Release Of “Ergenekon” Indictment Postponed Again; File To Be As Tall As 26-40 Storey Building

The long awaited indictment in “Ergenekon terror organization” probe has not been published today as promised, and is now expected to be released on Monday, July 14, 2008. The indictment that has not been written in over 13 months is said to contain 2500 pages and does not include results of the investigation of two dozen people detained on July 1, including two four-star generals, business leaders, and journalists. The prosecutor’s office said that there will be an additional indictment to be added later for the last group of detainees that according to experts may consist of about one thousand more pages.

Sinan Tumlukolcu from Gazi University said in a televised interview that this unheard of volume of papers of about 4 thousand pages together with about hundred times as many attachments and documents would reach about 400 thousand pages, which would fit into about 800 folders, which if piled on top of one another would be as tall as a 26-storey building. He said that when the case begins to be heard there would be many more documents presented and added to the file that might make it as high as 40-storey building.

Many Turkish analysts have criticized the declared volume of this case, saying that this long an indictment is unprecedented and besides putting an unmanageable burden on the court it would also jeopardize the chances of reaching a just resolution of this case. Some analysts have reminded that in Nuremberg case - which they described as “the mother of all cases” - the indictment against the high ranking Nazi criminals had been less than 70 pages long.

July 14, 2008
Long Awaited “Ergenekon” Indictment Filed; 86 Suspects Charged With Forming, Aiding A Terrorist Organization

At a press conference today, Istanbul’s Chief Prosecutor unveiled the outline of the 2455-pages-long indictment on the controversial “Ergenekon” probe charging 86 suspects of forming an anti-government terrorist organization; being member of a terrorist organization; helping a terrorist organization.

48 of the suspects that include retired army officers, leader of Workers’ Party [IP] as well as some business people are being held in jail, while the remaining 38 that include the prominent journalist Ilhan Selcuk of the anti-AKP Cumhuriyet and the former Istanbul University president Prof. Kemal Alemdaroglu had been released to be tried without detention.

The indictment that was filed today with the court does not include those that were detained on July 1. An additional indictment will be written for 21 people seven of whom are jailed, including the retired four-star generals Sener Eruygur and Hursit Tolon and will be attached to the original file.

Pro-AKP media organs for months have been disseminating news based on "secret" information allegedly seized during the operation, which were denied by Istanbul’s chief prosecutor who said today that these media reports create “information pollution”.

July 14, 2008
Military Prosecutor Requests Files Of Arrested Generals

Turkish TV channels reported that the chief military prosecutor of Turkey’s General Staff has requested copies of the documents relating directly to the two retired generals Sener Eruygur and Hursit Tolon, who were arrested in the Ergenekon investigation.

It was also reported that the civil prosecutors that are handling the “Ergenekon case” have been sharing information about the former military officers with the military prosecutors and that the military prosecutors are now preparing to charge two former officers in whose possession secret military documents were found.

July 14, 2008
Ankara Chamber of Commerce Chairman Released From Jail

Following the release of the “Ergenekon” indictment today, the Chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce Sinan Aygun was released from prison to be tried without being detained.

Appeals made by attorneys of the two retired generals for their cleints’ release were denied.

July 15, 2008
Report On AKP’s Closure Case To Be Submitted To High Court Justices On Wednesday

The Constitutional Court rapporteur will submit his report regarding the closure case filed against Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the high court on Wednesday. The timing of the submission makes the decision process likely to be finalized by end of July or early August.

Turkey has been locked in a political turmoil as everybody waits for the court's ruling on the closure case according to which the Islamist-rooted AKP is accused of being "the focal point of anti-secular activities".

July 15, 2008
Chief Justice: AKP Ruling Will Not Cause “Doomsday”

Chief Justice Hasim Kilic said on Monday that Constitutional Court’s critical ruling on the closure case against AKP will not cause a “doomsday” in the country, adding that Turkey is a great country that is strong enough to handle and overcome this situation.

Kilic said, “Nobody should be concerned. Turkey’s institutions are working and fulfilling their duties”. He refrained from giving a specific date for the resolution of the case.

July 15, 2008
More Questions Being Asked After The First Official Statement On Ergenekon Probe

The long awaited indictment on Ergenekon probe has now been sent to an Istanbul court. The court has 15 days to decide on the basis of its merits whether or not it will accept the case. As the details of the case cannot be disclosed until the court accepts it, only basic information was provided by Istanbul’s chief prosecutor. Analysts commented that the case is like a big bag into which prosecutors are throwing any and all the crimes.

Prosecutors alleged that Ergenekon was a terrorist and a “600-year-old-sect-like organization” based on the mythical legend of Agharta [Ergenekon] of central-Asian Turks.

The indictment also alleges that this organization – and not the radical Islamist Alpaslan Arslan- was responsible for the three bomb attacks on the secular, anti-AKP Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, as well as for last year’s shooting at the high administrative court [Danistay] that killed a judge and wounded five others. This leads to the confusing conclusion that two of the most prominent Cumhuriyet journalists, Ilhan Selcuk and Mustafa Balbay that were detained during the investigation, will stand trial for being part of an organization that enthused the attacks on their own newspaper. Inclusion of Danistay attack in the Ergenekon case also creates a legal problem, as an Ankara court already heard the case; dismissed any connection to Ergenekon; convicted and sentenced Alpaslan Arslan with life in prison for the crime that he admitted to have committed with religious motives. According to Turkish press reports following the announcement of the indictment yesterday, Arslan’s attorney submitted an appeal with the High Court of Appeals [Yargitay] to re-open and combine the Danistay case with the Ergenekon file. This would be the only way to get Alparslan Arslan to serve a shorter prison term.

During the announcement about the indictment the prosecutor also stated that there were 20 secret witnesses given code names or numbers, whose real identities would be protected. However, as other protected information, leaked throughout the process, columnist of pro-AKP Star daily disclosed today the professions of three of those witnesses, claiming that their names and what they have to say will shake Turkey.

Pictures

The editor-in-chief of the ultranationalist Tercüman daily, Ufuk Büyükçelebi (R), and the Ankara bureau chief of the radically secularist Cumhuriyet daily, Mustafa Balbay, were among those taken into police custody on Tuesday. Büyükçelebi was released on Friday, pending trial.

Arrested: Retired Gen. Şener Eruygur, Retired Gen. Hurşit Tolon, Journalist Mustafa Balbay, ATO chairman Sinan Aygün

And more pro-secular rallies since the arrests ...

Secularism and Islam at each others throats as per usual. Turkey: 99% Muslim, and the home of Islamophobia. And to think they still tell us that Turkey is the model of successful Islam. What shall Turkey do? Time for a two-state solution (or three if you want to settle the Kurds). Send in NATO or the UN or a 'coalition of the willing' and start building walls. Get Turkey off the coup-election merry-go-round. Stop the abuse of human rights. Sing us out Tammy ...

Spy cases raise concern on China’s intentions

2008-07-14T23:53:00.000-07:00

Jun 18, 2008
Chinese engineer jailed for theft of US military technology:

LOS ANGELES - A Chinese engineer who stole sensitive military technology from US firms and tried to sell it to China, Thailand and Malaysia was jailed for two years, justice officials said Wednesday.

Meng Xiaodong, 44, a former Chinese national now living in California, was arrested in 2006 on allegations he stole trade secrets from San Jose-based firm Quantum 3D throughout 2003 and 2004 with the aim of selling them overseas ...

Meng was accused of attempting to sell Quantum's technology after leaving the firm to work for a rival company ...

March 26, 2008
US hands Chinese 'sub spy' Chi Mak 24 years in jail:

A CHINESE-BORN US engineer convicted of conspiring to smuggle secret technology about US navy submarines to China has been jailed for 24 years.

Chi Mak, who worked for a US company with navy contracts, was convicted last May of trying to export intelligence on silent submarines in a plot involving four members of his family ...

In a statement read to the court, Mak said he "never intended to violate any law at all".

"I never intended to hurt this country," he said. "I love this country. I still hope for justice."

Yeah, we believe you.

July 10, 2008
Spy Cases Raise Concern on China’s Intentions:

WASHINGTON — Gregg W. Bergersen was a Navy veteran who liked to gamble on occasion but spent far more time worrying about how to earn some serious money after he left his career as an analyst at the Defense Department.

At 51 and supporting a wife and a child in the Virginia suburbs ...

Mr. Bergersen believed he had found what he was seeking when he was introduced to Tai Shen Kuo, a native of Taiwan, who had lived in New Orleans for more than 30 years. Mr. Kuo, an entrepreneur who imported furniture from China, was active enough in civic affairs to have been named to a state advisory board on international trade. He told Mr. Bergersen that he was developing a defense consulting company ...

... Mr. Kuo and his Chinese handlers ran what intelligence professionals call a “false flag” operation on Mr. Bergersen, a weapons systems analyst, making him believe that the information he was providing was going to Taiwan, an American ally, not Beijing ...

While sitting in a rental car on July 10, 2007, Mr. Bergersen pleaded with Mr. Kuo not to tell anyone that he was the source of the information he was providing, which included anticipated American arms sales to Taiwan. “I’d get fired for sure on that,” he said. “Well, not even get fired, go to [expletive] jail.”

... Mr. Kuo regularly dangled a promise that he would eventually take him in as a partner in a defense consulting firm after he retired from the Pentagon and pay him $300,000 to $400,000 a year. In the meanwhile, Mr. Kuo gave him small gifts and took him to Las Vegas, where he treated him to expensive shows and paid for his wagering, all of which were observed by F.B.I. agents.

Beyond the case of Mr. Bergersen, prosecutors in the last year have brought about a dozen cases involving China’s efforts to obtain military-grade accelerometers (used to make smart bombs), defense information about Taiwan, American warship technology, night-vision technology and refinements to make missiles more difficult to detect.

In interviews, current and former intelligence and law enforcement officials demonstrated uncertainty as to the precise scope of the problem of Chinese espionage. But many officials offered a similar description of the pattern of the cases: Chinese government and state-sponsored industries have relied on the Chinese diaspora — using immigrants, students and people of second- and third-generation Chinese heritage — and regular commercial relations to operate a system in which some people wittingly or unwittingly participate.

One senior law enforcement official involved in prosecuting such cases said the Chinese had “a game plan of sending out lots of tiny feelers in hopes of getting back small bits of seemingly unrelated information in hopes of creating a larger picture.” ...

Mr. Mak and PRC official A also figure in a third major case, the one involving Dongfan Chung. Mr. Chung, a former Boeing engineer known as Greg, has been indicted on economic espionage charges — which he denies — for providing China with company trade secrets related to several aerospace programs, including the space shuttle.

The documents say Mr. Chung decided to spy for China partly out of patriotic sentiment. A letter from a Chinese official to Mr. Chung read in part, “It is your honor and China’s fortune that you are able to realize your wish of dedicating yourself to the service of your country.” ...

Bergerson has been jailed for 5 years.

June 19, 2008
China’s Secret War:

Cyber warfare officially arrived on Capitol Hill last week. Two Republican congressmen ... went public last Wednesday with the news that in 2006 and 2007 their office computer networks had been breached by Chinese hackers.

The cyber raiders were not looking for sensitive military or economic data. Instead, they apparently tried to steal political information about Chinese dissidents. “My suspicion is that I was targeted by Chinese sources because of my long history of speaking out about China’s abysmal human rights record,” ...

This is not the first time that Chinese government hackers have gotten their hands on sensitive American documents. Chinese hackers’ long march through American computer networks is believed to have started in 2000. Since then, the attacks have increased in both their frequency and their sophistication ...

China’s largest cyber-raid in the United States occurred in 2004. The assault was so massive that American security authorities gave it a code name, “Titan Rain.” Computers in several defense and space installations were targeted and thousands of unclassified documents, both military and industrial, were stolen. Fortunately, classified military information is not directly connected to the internet; but data found in those unclassified networks can also be of a sensitive nature.

Equally brazen was a 2007 cyber attack on Pentagon computers. That attack saw Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ computer system compromised. The perpetrator in this case was believed to have been the People’s Liberation Army ...

It is known as the “thousand grains of sand” strategy. In this approach, the agents are all amateurs. They consist of Chinese who are either going overseas, such as students, or those who already live abroad. Appealing to their shared ancestry, Chinese intelligence asks them to bring or send home any military, technological or economic information, no matter how low level. The goal is that such information, when put together, will lead to something big. “Chinese do not hit homeruns,” John Pike, a security expert, has remarked. “Their theory is that if you do enough of it, eventually it will amount to something.”

By some estimates, the “thousand grains of sand” program involves 100,000 people – a testament both to the importance that China attaches to the program as well as to its extent. And it has been going on for a long time. “For nearly two decades, Beijing has mobilized the Chinese-American community to penetrate US military corporations that are working on defense contracts,” writes commentator Sreeram Chaulia.

Nor is the U.S. China’s only target. In an interview with Canadian television, a former Chinese diplomat has revealed that Canada and Australia, which also have large ethnic Chinese communities, have hundreds of Chinese government agents in their midst.

Dec, 2006
Spy drive to tackle Chinese:

ASIO has stepped up espionage against Chinese spies and Muslim extremists by more than doubling in only two years the number of intelligence officers from non-English-speaking backgrounds.

The domestic spy agency, dominated by white Anglo-Saxon males during the Cold War, has recruited an unprecedented 88 foreign-language-speaking spies since late 2004 as part of the Government's plan to fast-track ASIO's expansion.

The Australian understands many of the new recruits are fluent Chinese speakers who have been assigned to a new ASIO counter-espionage unit specifically to combat the increased number of Chinese spies in Australia ...

Yes, we feed China with minerals, and then admit that they may be a growing military threat to us, so we must increase our defence spending. Yes, we increase Asian immigration and then bemoan the spies among us, so we go and recruit Asians into ASIO. A pair of two wrongs does not make a pair of two rights. Barking barking mad mad.

And not only that, Chairman Rudd wants an Asian union which is a one-way ticket to the free movement of labour. Lunatics.

Video, UK: white flight

2008-07-14T06:46:00.000-07:00

March 2008, YouTube:

Whites say they are leaving for racial reasons. Listen to the immigrant deny what is said bluntly before his eyes. That's the bone-headed level of debate that exists, and always will.

Video: the Man From Snowy River

2008-07-14T01:50:00.000-07:00

Banjo Paterson's poem with scenes from the movie. Click to watch ...

50,000 Filipino workers for SA (or 300,000)

2008-07-13T00:23:00.000-07:00

July 10, 2008, Adelaide Now:

ADELAIDENOW SCOOP: AN IMMIGRATION agreement with the Philippines will deliver up to 50,000 skilled workers to South Australia over the next decade. Deputy Premier Kevin Foley, who is on a nine-day trade mission to Malaysia and the Philippines, told The Advertiser yesterday a memorandum of understanding between the two governments would help streamline the immigration process ...

About nine million Filipinos work overseas, sending back "remittances" of about $15 billion a year that is vital to the economy of the Philippines ...

Mr Foley said the SA agreement was modelled on a similar one signed in February between the Philippines and the Canadian province of Manitoba ...

"There is no reason why as early as next year we should not be seeing a flow of workers into South Australia, provided businesses themselves join us in wanting to make this work ...

Mr Foley predicted about 50,000 skilled Filipino workers would come to SA in the next five to 10 years, with most expected to become permanent residents. "That is what has happened in Manitoba, Canada, and they have a similar population to us," he said.

"The mining boom and the defence projects alone will require us to find at least an extra 300,000 workers in the next 10 years. There are simply not enough workers in Australia ...

Most Filipino workers were expected to travel to SA on a 457 visa. That will allow them to stay for between six months and four years for work.

Hold onto your stomach, here comes the propaganda ...

AdelaideNow revisits SA history to spin it into a pictorial celebration of immigration. The usual Talking Heads number: Same As It Ever Was. Afghan cameleers, Chinese gold miners, all one big celebratory gushing immigration tap. No journalism here, no debate, no contrasting views, no polling the public, nope just pure propaganda from the brainless cult of globalisation.

A new state arises, July 12, 2008:

THE face of South Australia is set to change dramatically over the next 10 years, with predictions we will have a younger, more multi-cultural population and our country towns once again will be vibrant, thriving hubs.

Premier Mike Rann and key business leaders believe while many of the extra 133,000 workers needed to keep pace with the defence and mining booms will be migrants, South Australians will be in the box seat for the jobs bonanza ...

"So I think what we're seeing is the absolute transformation of the SA economy . . . the balance of economic power in Australia is shifting." ...

"In five or 10 years time, I think you'll see a state that is at full employment, but is culturally different because of a changing in the mix of the population," EDB chairman Bruce Carter said.

"If its a large Filipino community or a large Indian community or a large community from Somalia they have to be, as much as Greeks and Italians underpinned us 30 years ago . . . welcomed and integrated into our community.

"So I think my children will grow up in a far more culturally diverse Adelaide than I did." ...

Business SA chief executive Peter Vaughan is also talking up the state's prospects despite his organisation this week releasing a report showing business confidence was declining.

"Despite the dip (in confidence) . . . in the future for SA we will see prosperity that has not been enjoyed at any time in the whole of white settlement in SA," Mr Vaughan said.

"It will bring with it a dynamic youthful, educated highly skilled and very well paid workforce that will completely re-engineer Adelaide and shake its foundations to the ground.

"We are at the cusp of one of the great transformations of society in SA."

The economists, business leaders, politicians and the media are all in cahoots to destroy the social fabric of this country. This is nothing short of colonisation. No comparisons with past immigration are justified: you can't keep importing foreigners and expect your nation to survive. Dilution is death to a nation, and those who use only economic arguments are unbalanced nation destroyers guilty of treason against the people of Australia. Betrayers like Bruce Carter and Peter Vaughan are the enemy of Australians. Barking mad.

Here's how it was reported by Global Nation (Celebrating the Filipino Spirit Worldwide)
300,000 new jobs open in South Australia:

"Australia will need 300,000 more [people] to provide support for our mining sector. We don't have the potential to fill all those jobs out of Australians, we have to, as we've always done throughout the history of our nation, embrace the world," said Foley following a luncheon meeting with Philippine business leaders in Makati City Friday.

And how many illegals or overstayers can we expect? Let's ask Europe (06/20/2008):

Some 94,000 irregular or undocumented Filipino workers in Europe may be affected once the European Union enacts a new immigration rule against overstaying or illegal migrants.

According to the latest Department of Foreign Affairs figures culled from reports of overseas posts, there are at least 189,023 Filipinos who are permanent residents in Europe as of June 2007, 135,493 are temporary residents, and 94,113 are undocumented.

And when you get lots of illegals, you can expect a whole lobby group to start banging on about amnesty, full citizenship rights, and sanctuary cities. Global Nation: Daly City is no haven (07/07/2008):

Daly City, California – One nagging question seems light years away from an answer: Can the ‘gateway to the Peninsula’ also become the ‘gateway to sanctuary’?

The question has been posed time and again by a group of concerned Filipinos as they wonder why Daly City has not gone the way the cities of New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and, closer to home, Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco in proclaiming itself a sanctuary city.

Daly City is known for hosting one of the largest concentrations of Filipinos in the country, with close to 50,000 residents. Needless to say, the city is also home to thousands of illegal Filipino immigrants.

Aside from the four listed above, 25 other California cities have been proclaimed safe havens, to mean a "don't ask, don't tell" stand on the immigration status of residents. It also means that city logistics and human resources may not be used to aid federal agents, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operatives, in locating and arresting illegal immigrants ...

Filipino-American Ademan Angeles, one of the many community leaders in the Peninsula who denounce the continued non-conformity of Daly City, told FilAm Star: "Someone should take the cudgels for our kababayan who toil in America’s agricultural fields and plantations, clean its hotels, take care of the elderly in care homes and private residences, and are a great help in the communities they serve. They are also the ones who really have the largest share of dollars remitted to families back home."

Angeles plans to spearhead a campaign to push the city council into declaring Daly City a sanctuary and, at press time, is drafting a proposal that will be submitted for immediate consideration by the city council.

"It is about time something is started to help Filipino illegals, so they can avoid harassment," Angeles insists. "The community must show them that something is being done to address their plight, in the same manner that Hispanic groups have taken a solid stand against harassment and sub-human treatment of undocumented immigrants."

Of course, needless to say, there will be thousands of illegals among a Filipino population. Apparently it goes without saying, the newspaper for Filipinos abroad states. Shame on those non-conforming cities: how dare they? Not sure what is "cudgels for our kababayan" but I think it's something about taking a stick to defend your brother. We get the picture: immigrants banding with their illegal kin and telling the host country to "take your laws and shove 'em". The "nagging" and "time and again" terminology is because they know time and demographics are on their side. The USA is sinking under divided loyalties. Demography is destiny.

These Australian business leaders, politicians and media are driving Australia down the same road of borderless insanity that is the USA and EU. Lunatics.

For a look at some of the problems with guest worker programs, see A Throwback Policy at OzConservative.

Go nuclear, halt immigration and ignore Garnaut

2008-07-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

10/07/2008, David Barnett:

If Australia wants to cut its production of greenhouse gas there are two measures open to a government with a bit of guts. We can go nuclear, and call a halt to immigration ...

... our production of CO2 is on an upward trend, while in the rest of the world it is down. Why? Because our rate of population growth is three times greater than the global rate of growth. Ross Garnaut gives us that evidence, but skirts the implications, preferring to plump for taxation through an emissions trading scheme ...

We could instead end immigration, which brings in people from countries with low living standards to one where their contribution to atmospheric gases must be greater. This would be immediately effective ...

There is no water in the rivers because we have increased the population five- or sixfold in my lifetime, way beyond the capacity of the world's driest continent.

Those are my conclusions from Garnaut's evidence. They won't ruin anybody. Furthermore, they will still work to the nation's benefit even if the greenhouse effect turns out not to exist, or not to exist in a significant manner.

The air will be cleaner and electric cars, charged overnight in the garage, will make sense. Our cities will cease becoming more and more miserable every year. Hot water will be free ...

We must face the fact that the days of mass immigration are over, and we must face the facts about power generation. Coal pollutes the air. Uranium does not.

David Barnett is a Canberra writer.

I won't wade into the energy debate, but I agree that our environment and cities cannot support the current population. So further increase of population from immigration should stopped.

Estonia, 1987: the singing revolution

2008-07-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

The Singing Revolution:

Most people don’t think about singing when they think about revolutions. But song was the weapon of choice when, between 1987 and 1991, Estonians sought to free themselves from decades of Soviet occupation. During those years, hundreds of thousands gathered in public to sing forbidden patriotic songs and to rally for independence.

“The young people, without any political party, and without any politicians, just came together ... not only tens of thousands but hundreds of thousands ... to gather and to sing and to give this nation a new spirit,” remarks Mart Laar, a Singing Revolution leader featured in the film and the first post-Soviet Prime Minister of Estonia. “This was the idea of the Singing Revolution.”

James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty’s "The Singing Revolution" tells the moving story of how the Estonian people peacefully regained their freedom--and helped topple an empire along the way.

An idea that time will bring again?

Documentary: the Karachi Kids

2008-07-11T01:55:00.000-07:00

July 2008, GatesOfVienna:

American Children Indoctrinated Against Their Will in Taliban-Backed Madrassa in Pakistan.
Up to 80 Americans Instructed by Taliban.
“Karachi Kids” Documentary Highlights Their Plight.

(Atlanta, GA — July 9, 2008) — A Muslim father, a taxi driver in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States on a green card, flew his American born-boys against their will to Saudi Arabia, and then to the a radical, Taliban-backed Jamia Binoria madrassa in Karachi, Pakistan with instructions to the head master for his sons to memorize the entire Koran before returning to America. This is their story.

Children in the documentary film “The Karachi Kids” describe beatings and human rights violations for those who reject the radical teachings of their Taliban masters. Children from California and Georgia are interviewed in the film from inside the madrassa and discuss coming back to the United States to spread extremism within our borders.

The trailer of the documentary can be seen at www.KarachiKids.com.

Spencer: honor killing in Georgia

2008-07-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

July, 2008, YouTube.com

Robert Spencer,
No one knows why he did it, even though he told them:

Last Sunday Chaudhry Rashid, a Pakistani immigrant living in Clayton County, Georgia, strangled his daughter to death. According to police, Rashid explained to them that he had killed his daughter, Sandeela Kanwal, in order to restore his family’s honor, which she had sullied by planning to divorce the husband to whom she had been given in an arranged marriage. Clayton County Police spokesman Tim Owens explained: “Apparently she and the father had argued over the marriage and the fact that it was arranged, and at some point during the altercation he did end up killing his daughter.”

The family appears to have adhered to traditional Islamic mores. A neighbor noted: “I would see the young lady outside every once in a while dressed in the traditional Muslim gear.” Added another: “The father, he would pray at certain times of the mornings and evenings.” And indeed, honor killing most commonly occurs among Muslims. While there is no direct sanction given in the Qur’an or Islamic law for it, the practice is encouraged by the shame/honor culture that Islam has created. A transgression of the moral law is not seen only as a sin to be somehow expiated by the individual who committed it, but as a blot upon the honor and purity of the family of the victim – and that blot inheres in the sullied purity of the victim, not the perpetrator ...

Islamic clerics are partially responsible for the strong association of this practice with Islam. One notorious example of this association came in the relatively moderate Muslim country of Jordan in 2003, when the Jordanian Parliament voted down a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings ...

Ignoring the clear and close link between of honor killing and Islamic culture, however, the mainstream media searched for explanations elsewhere. CNN consulted Ajay Nair, associate dean of multicultural affairs at Columbia University, to see if honor killing was a “South Asian” problem. Certainly not, explained Nair: “My immediate reaction was that this is an anomaly in the South Asian community. This isn’t a rampant problem within South Asian communities. What is a problem, I think, is domestic violence, and that cuts across all communities.” ...

In line with the widespread acceptance of this practice in Islamic culture, when he appeared before a judge, Chaudhry Rashid insisted: “I have done nothing wrong.” Speaking to the judge, he demanded prison food prepared according to Islamic requirements, and declared that he would refuse pork in any form. It was a clear indication of the strength of his commitment to Islam, even as the mainstream media remained determined not to notice any such commitment.

The price of this politically correct refusal to confront the ugly realities of the Islamic link to honor killing will be, quite simply, more honor killings. No one will call upon Islamic groups to do something about this practice. No special scrutiny will be focused upon Muslims in the United States, or any studies undertaken about how honor killings can be prevented. No one will examine the question of unrestricted Muslim immigration in light of this problem. While learned analysts search for clues in South Asian cultural habits and the practices of European royalty, more young women will be murdered by their Muslim fathers, husbands, and brothers to cleanse their family’s honor. These young women are the ultimate victims of political correctness.

Note: whilst this blog sometimes talks about race, Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch holds the view that the anti-jihad resistance is not about race.

Video: immigrant chaos in German schools

2008-07-10T05:40:00.000-07:00

July 2008, YouTube.com:

Teachers: In many classes it is impossible to carry out lessons because of the total rejection of study material and because of the scornful attitude ... We are helpless.

Kid: Our school head master was also beaten, that is why he is in a hospital now.

Kid: Here they often mask themselves, chase the teachers and then beat them up.

Journalist: Do you feel integrated into German society?
Kid: [knife is shown] We are the meanest around here.

Via: Snaphanen
H/T: commenter

Immigration is going pear-shaped everywhere, and Australia can't wait to get more of it. Go figure. Most German immigrants are Turkish. Perhaps these kids are the kind of Turkish immigrant, or their descendants, that our own Dr Liza Hopkins tells us will be no problem.

Video: immigrants attack a German elder man

2008-07-10T05:18:00.000-07:00

And here's one that some German immigrants prepared earlier. A 17-year-old Greek and 20-year-old Turk brutally attack a 76-year-old man on his way home who asked them to stop smoking on the train. They called him "damned German", spat on him and caused several skull fractures.

Dec, 2007, YouTube.com:

If only he had learn't in school not to say "yuk" at smoking ...

See also: Germany sitting on a powder keg

Video: Turkish immigrants attack German police

2008-07-10T05:06:00.000-07:00

May, 2008, YouTube.com: