I attended a two-day film school in San Francisco this past weekend. The class itself was fantastic, and I took notes so rapidly and with such vigor that I may never write properly again.
The class was held in the Film Arts Institute on 9th street, and on the second day, I ended up having to park my car on 6th, due to one of the massive march/rally/parade/social freakshows that San Francisco seems to have every few weeks. Part of its route went down 9th street, bisecting the city and cutting me off from my preferred parking spot.
Walking back to my car, I happened across something. As I hurried along in a fairly rough neighborhood with a $2000 laptop slung over one shoulder, I found the bit of graffiti written in clear white letters on a metal plate embedded in the sidewalk.
Four little words. A passing fancy for someone with too much time on their hands.
If you ever frequent San Francisco, you should go see it. It's easy to find. If you're walking from 9th street to 6th along Folsom, on the right side of the street, you'll find it just past 7th.
Islamists and Jihadists (and their Western liberal apologists) regularl y throw the Crusades at us as an example of evil western imperialism. I think we should hold Islam to the same standard. Therefore, I demand an apology from the leaders of Islam for the invasion and rape of Spain and parts of France, as well as the subjugation of the Byzantine Empire.
Most people seem blissfully unaware that Islamic armies invaded Spain in 709, and by 713 had subjugated (with great violence) the entire Iberian peninsula. They then proceeded to invade what is now France, and were stopped in the vicinity of Tours by a very talented and brave leader named Charles Martel, in 732.
In the east things were scarcely better. The Byzantine Empire (Christian, that is) suffered its first invasion by Muslims in 1070. Conflict was sporadic for almost 400 years, ending with the fall of Constantinople to Muslim armies in 1453.
So by any reasonable metric, the "conflict between Christianity and Islam", such as it ever was, started with Muslim invasions of Christian territory. This includes Israel, which was part of the Byzantine Empire. This says nothing of the fact that it was the home of Judaism, having been ruled by various Jewish kingdoms since about 1200 BC.
It is an Islamic tenet that any land that ever was Muslim will always be Muslim. This is one of the core reasons that Muslims will never acknowledge Israel or Israel's right to exist. Modern Israel as a state has only existed since 1947. Before that, Israel was Palestine, predominantly a Muslim area. Therefore, since the place was once Muslim, it must always be Muslim, and Israel cannot be allowed to exist.
This line of reasoning seems to assume that Islam was always the predominant religion in the area, but that's not true. After all, Judaism existed for many centuries before Mohammed was even born. Palestine may have been recently Muslim, but before that, it was Byzantine, and before that, it was Jewish.
Therefore, I have decided that any land that was once Christian will always be Christian, and that Islam cannot be allowed to rule in these lands.
Therefore, I demand that the Muslims surrender the following territories, taken from their rightful owners by Islam:
Turkey Syria Lebanon Western Jordan Egypt Libya Israel/Palestinian Territories
These are all part of the Byzantine Empire, and were taken by force (and quite savagely, I might add) from them during the Islamic conquests that occurred during Mohammed's life and for 700 years thereafter. These lands were once Christian, and therefore shall always be Christian.
Morocco Algeria Tunisia
These lands are historically part of the Roman Empire, and afterwards fell under the rule of the Western Roman Empire, a Christian entity.
If all faiths are equal, then the Christian faith must at least be afforded the same right to these lands as the Muslim faith. If Palestine has a right to exist under Arab/Muslim rule simply because it was recently so, then Israel has a right to exist under Jewish rule, and has a much better claim to the area, due to a much longer history. Even if you, for some reason abhor the idea of a Jewish state in Israel, you must at least admit that it belongs to Christianity, via the Byzantine Empire. In comparison to these two claims, the Muslim claim to Israel is very tenuous.
A list of people murdered in the name of the Religion of Peace
Now, maybe these are the "fringe" of the Islamic movement. Even if they are, one has to ask oneself: "What is propelling these people to go out and murder other people?" Could it be that their religion demands it?
I would copy and paste the list, but I doubt this blog engine can handle the sheer size of it.
Of course, that's not what the article says, but that's how it's going to end up. Now that the strongest nation in the world has been "pressured" to fund Hamas, whose stated goal is the eviction of Jews from Israel and with an impressive history of attacks against them, the Palestinian Leadership will have plenty of money for car bombs and suicide attacks.
President Bush's approval rating is at a record low. It isn't as low as it is just because liberals hate him. They always have. It's that low because he's lost the support of the conservative base - totally pissed it away. He's out-liberalling the Liberals. Can anyone call the policy described in this article as anything but a total abandonment of conservative principles? Add to this the inability of Republicans to pass any sensible border controls and a ballooning federal budget, and how can Republicans expect to have any support any more?
Why should I care if Republicans win any more? They're no better than the Democrats with this sort of thing. Not a shred of difference.
Given that the Palestinians now face a big cash crunch, I have a few ideas for them. These are economic opportunities that take into account the particular talents of Palestinians, and ways to use these talents to make money on the global market. For your ease of use, I've written some commercials you can use for these new products.
Idea 1: Crazy Mohammed's Insta-Light Bomb Jacket
Narrator: Has this ever happened to you?
Suicide Bomber: I went into the middle of a really wonderful target - dozens of Israeli school children were all packed together really tightly. I pulled the trigger on my home-made bomb vest and yelled "Allah o' Ackbar!", and nothing happened! The Israelis saw my failed attempt and scattered - no virgins for me! Help, Crazy Mohammed!
Crazy Mohammed: My bomb jackets are made from the very best EU Aid canvas, and the explosives are packed in food cans we got from the United Nations in humanitarian relief! They'll blow up right the first time, or my name isn't Crazy Mohammed!
Come on down to Crazy Mohammed's, where the prices are JIIIIHAAAAAD!!
Idea #2: Al-Ginzu Knives
When it comes time to cut the heads off of your kidnapped Christians, Jews and Hindus, you need the very best knives available. Our exclusive "Head-Off" knives have a extra-sharp edge, and are serrated to saw through the neck bones with ease!
Take a look at this video: This is our competitor's knife. Notice how the head remains attached, no matter how hard Hassam saws at it? If he were using an Al-Ginsu knife, that head would be on the floor and the body would be dumped in the street already!
Idea #3: Ladensoft Flight Simulator for Terrorists
This pared-down product gets rid of all the wasted flight simulator features, like taking off and landing. With Ladensoft Flight Simulator, all we teach you to do is fly the plane and find a big building! No time is wasted learning useless skills like taking off or lowering the landing gear!
(Product Note: Killing of stewardesses is not covered. You're on your own there!)
The US has unfortunately agreed to provide more aid to the Palestinians in their time of crisis. You may recall that the US and EU stopped financial aid to the Palestinian government after the terrorist Hamas organization took power.
Here are a few quotes from the article:
"The move comes after the World Bank warned on Monday the Palestinian Authority could face a breakdown in law and order and basic services unless foreign donors step in to pay the salaries of about 165,000 civil servants."
So? We're supposed to care about this now? They elected terrorists, which means the Palestinian people have tacitly approved of the murder of Israeli civilians. But now, we're supposed to get all teary-eyed for them, because if we don't ship them crates of cash, they might have a civil war, because as a people, they are utterly incapable of existing in a peaceful state without a massive bribe from the international community.
The observed alternative, though, is that when they get the aid money, they'll stop fighting each other and start in on the Israelis again.
"The United States also announced an additional $10 million in U.S. funding for medical supplies and equipment for the Palestinians but this would be directed through U.N. agencies and would not reach a Hamas government."
If you provide "humanitarian aid", you are merely freeing up the terrorist's money to be invested in more terrorism. If the Palestinian authority doesn't have to pay its salaries, it has money for bombing Israeli schools. And this all assumes that the "humanitarian aid" doesn't end up getting sold on the black market anyway, the way Saddam did.
" 'The thrust of the statement is that the international community is still trying to respond to the needs of the Palestinian people,' Rice added."
Why can't the Palestinian people fend for themselves? Why is it that the most corrupt and violent nations always need a big cash infusion to survive? Hamas, maybe if you stopped investing in bomb suits and terrorist training camps, you could spend that money on your people, not that I think that's ever going to happen.
No aid for the Palestinians, period. If they can't exist as a nation without a constant stream of foreign money, then let them move to Damascus.
The US Government doesn't have the resources to monitor the border with Mexico. However, they apparently have the resources to monitor American citizens patrolling the border, and report their activities to the Mexicans.
Can someone tell me why the most powerful, most free nation in the world is cowtowing to second-rate, corrupt den of criminals that actively supports breaking our la ws?
Hey Mexico: If you are concerned that your people are being mistreated by the Minutemen (they aren't), then STOP SENDING THEM HERE.
Standing where I am, in a little suburb of Sacramento, California, I can see the future, and it is ugly.
Let me posit a few... posits.
There will be no meaningful sanctions against Iran for violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty. Europe does not have the political will to enforce sanctions, China is content to have Iran act as a thorn in the West's side (and will defer to them because they get a lot of oil from them), and Russia will veto any meaningful sanction that the Security Council approves.
There are other reasons. We can boycott Iran's oil, or Iran can boycott us. Either way, if Iran's oil goes off the world market, the price goes past $100 a barrel in about a day. If Iran attempts to close the Straits of Hormuz with mines or sunken vessels, oil will skyrocket and the world economy will be crushed. Note to China: That means you too. China is probably more vulnerable even than the US. We have significant domestic reserves, although they are greatly degraded by environmentalist opposition to refineries and new wells. If things get as ugly as I think they will, ANWR will be swiss cheese within about a year, and the Santa Barbara skyline will look like the Gulf of Mexico. In a few years, anyway.
So a nuclear Iran is not something the world is really prepared to stop. The painful truth of the matter is, the power is in Tehran, not Washington. They can cause us more pain than we can cause them, and they can cause a LOT of pain to places like Europe and China.
However, there is one place in the world that has even more to lose from a nuclear Iran than the rest of us have to lose by opposing it; Israel. Does anyone really think that Israel doesn't see Iran as a mortal threat? And after the Iranian mullahs latest round of promises to blow Israel off the map, does anyone blame them?
So Israel, with an estimated 150 to 200 nuclear weapons, is going to face a choice within the next five years. Either launch a full-scale nuclear strike on Iran, enraging the world, or sit around and wait for Tel Aviv to go up in a fireball. Now, maybe Iran will launch a nuclear strike on Israel and maybe they won't. That's not the question. The question is, do the Israelis have a realistic fear of such an attack? I think they do. Iran is a real threat to the very existence of Israel. When the threat becomes this acute, wars break out.
Israel has struck its Arab neighbors preemptively at least three times before. They destroyed the Arab air forces on the opening days of two different wars (the 1956 Suez War and the 1967 Six Day War), and bombed a nuclear reactor in Iraq, in order to prevent the Iraqis from getting a nuclear bomb. So a preemptive strike from Israel is fully realistic, and in my opinion, should be expected.
That's when things are really going to go to hell.
Israel does not have the conventional force projection ability to effectively counter the Iranian nuclear weapon program. The only nation on Earth that can realistically be expected to have this ability is the US. Russia could do it, sharing a border with Iran as they do, but won't.
I don't think we will do it either, though. I don't think we have the political capital, or indeed, the will, after Iraq, to go after Iran. I think we will impose some level of sanctions with some friends of ours, but they will not be enough to seriously impede the Iranians.
Ergo, Israel, lacking the conventional ability to stop Iran, and facing a threat to its existence as great as it has ever faced, will use the sole weapon at their disposal capable of doing the job. What weapon is that? I'll give you a hint: They have at least 150 of them.
Israel does not have the luxury of a deterrence strategy. Their entire nation can be destroyed by as few as three nuclear bombs. And the Iranians, fanatical religious extremists non pareil, cannot be counted on to act rationally. So I think the only realistic expectation for the region is that Israel will launch a full nuclear strike on Iran. I don't know how many weapons they would need to accomplish the task, but if the Iranian program is as decentralized as everyone says it is, the number could be dozens. I very seriously doubt it would be less than five.
The part about this terrible tragedy that people will be talking about for years afterward is this: We would have been far better off to have taken care of the problem before it got to this level. Comparisons will be made to Chamberlain and World War II. And one of the nations that will suffer most is one of the nations that could have stopped the tragedy in the first place: China. By preventing a solution to this problem via political means, they will push it inexorably toward a military one, and that great Iranian oil that they covet so much will do them no good as it burns in Iranian wells.
And of course, the rest of us will have a fine time adjusting to $200 a barrel oil.
