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Monday, June 30, 2008

More Charges Against Wilders Dropped: blow for theofascism

After having been acquitted of charges brought by the Dutch Islamic Federation (NIF) of disseminating hatred and calls for violence against Muslims in April by a Dutch Court, today the Public Prosecutor also dropped charges against Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders.

The Public Prosecutor had been trying to put a case together against Wilders since 2006. Mainly after the publication of the short film "Fitna" and an op-ed in a Dutch newspaper, dozens of charges were brought. But in a press conference today in Amsterdam the Chief Prosecutor said neither the video nor Wilders' statements about Muslims and the Koran in general are deemed unlawful.

All together some forty charges were brought by lawyers, Muslim and student organizations and individuals. In the op-ed 'Enough is Enough' in August last year Wilders wrote inter alia that the Koran constitutes a "fascist book," on par with Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and should be banned.


The Prosecutor has now established that Wilders did not break any European anti-discrimination laws. An appeal is still possible.

The Freedom Party leader is not surprised by the ruling. "From the outset I knew I kept within the framework of Dutch law. I am pleased the Prosecution Office sees that as well," Wilders said.

Besides the appeals there is still the matter of the Jordanian Court requesting the extradition and prosecution of Wilders for racism, incitement to hatred and insulting Muslims and Islam.

In the matter of the ongoing legal jihad against the West these rulings are not without significance: they are a victory for liberty and democracy and hopefully the beginning of the end of the theofascist inroads by the forces of darkness.

Update on the day after:

Elsevier today opines a ruling would have created clarity and jurisprudence, and would therefore have been preferable. Given the number of appeals, they might get their wish after all.

A public media commentator yesterday represented the worst the country has to offer by way of embarrassed pussy-footing - an interpretation to the effect that "the judiciary chose not to become a party in a political debate."

- Filed on Articles in "Legal Jihad" -

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Veterans Day 2008 (no knobs on)

Repatriation from voluntary exile in Athens took place just in time for Dutch Vets Day 2008.

This day of commemorations is only a very recent fixture, an exercise in transnational Political Correctness "in the service of peace". This message is emphasized so often that it lost all claim to honesty.

The organizing committee is just too eager to avoid the impression of pride of country: it is the fallacy of the postmodern multiculturalist who believes that talking oneself down will uplift the downtrodden.

Vets Day was invented by the government of the day to replace the commemorations at Hotel "The World" in the southern town of Wageningen, traditionally presided over by the late Prince Bernhard (God rest his soul). The World War II vets radiated comradeship and pride of achievement; they'd fought their way through the war, and shone with delight over the accomplishment of peace and prosperity.

Opponents saw in it a perverse love of 'militarism.' Today's commentators can't stop to emphasize that "we are historically not a 'militaristic' country." Given the fact that it measures 300x300 kilometers, this is like declaring that chihuahuas aren't particularly eager participants in dog fights.

Today's docile service-men are inoculated from birth against such anti-ideological behavior, but the propaganda and indoctrination machinery proved powerless against the old dogs who wouldn't learn new tricks. When the Prince passed on a few years ago no time was lost in pulling the plug on the incorrigible goings-on at Wageningen.

So instead we have Vets Day in the name of transnational appeasement at any price, rather than a reaffirment of the defence of liberty. The Greek national motto "liberty or death" is meaningless yada-yada to the Leftist dogmatists who chose red over dead.

The concept of freedom has been taken to such perverted abstractions that no one knows for sure what its meaning is. Orwellian bromides like "real freedom through the state" are central teachings to the Hegel collectivist heirs.

The original negative definition of "individual liberty not to be subjected to the whims and will of the collective" has long been obfuscated. Rousseau's "common will" is proliferating in the postmodern diminutive nation, the natives as yet blissfully unaware where their ideological engineering will ultimately lead.
The following is a free translation from the historical site of Hotel "De Wereld," scene of the German capitulation in 1945.

"In the first days of May in 1945 Canadian Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes had chosen the town of Wageningen as the site where the German capitulation would take place. The German lines lay just outside the town. German military negotiators did not have to travel great distances through liberated areas and fear molest by civilians. Another feature in favour of Wageningen was that the Germans had ordered its evacuation (...) When General Foulkes heard about a hotel called "The World" he decided this would be the place where German capitulation would be signed.

On Saturday morning May 5 he ordered the Germans to appear at Wageningen at 11.00 hours. Chief of Staff of the 25th German Army, Lieutenant-General Reichelt appeared with his interpreter. Foulkes met them at the hotel. Also present was His Majesty Prince Bernhard as Commander of the National Armed Forces (seated in the picture on the far right, smoking a cigarette).

Reichelt was ordered to return that afternoon, accompanied by the Commander of the 25th German Army, General-Oberst Johannes Blaskowitz. The final negotiations took place at 16.00 hours. Blaskowitz, Reichelt and their interpreter entered the Great Hall of "De Wereld."

The men saluted. (...) Asked by General Foulkes if Blaskowitz was prepared to capitulate the German Commander answered: ‘Jawohl'. The capitulation orders were signed and Hotel "De Wereld" became a monument (...) >>> (text in Dutch, regret no English version seems available).

- Filed on Articles in "History Compiled" -

Friday, June 27, 2008

Wilders Prosecuted by Jordanian Court (II)

Continued from Part I

Professor Afshin Ellian cautions in his column today "Jordan is an Enemy of the Dutch State" for far reaching consequences in international affairs if Jordan's demands for extradition and prosecution of Wilders on the grounds of his convictions would come to pass.

He writes: "International relations are ruled by the principle of non-intervention in internal affairs. War crimes and gross violations of human rights constitute the exception. A recent example is the situation in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe lost all moral and legal legitimacy in international circles. But as a rule sovereign states do not prosecute each other or each other's representatives. If they would, chaos and violent conflicts would ensue."

Quite. It can be argued if the allowance of idealistic exceptions is advisable at all as a course of action in international law. The slippery slope we find ourselves in today is the result of such exceptions. The Western world thought intervention in Kosovo on humanitarian grounds was warranted; but with hindsight public opinion was cynically manipulated, as the Serb population was further marginalized in the pursuit of a Greater Albania. And what to think of Spain's relentless wish to prosecute Chilian Generalissimo Pinochet?

- Caption: From Insights on Law & Society 2.3 (Spring/Summer 2002): 23 -

Ellian provides a further example in the ravings of Iran's President Ahmadinejad who has demanded the final destruction of Israel. "This is clearly a criminal statement. Yet as the representative of a sovereign state he enjoys immunity. As do the Jordanian Hamasoid parliamentarians. The Jordanian judiciary is a nuisance."

The Court's decision on June 10 to prosecute Wilders on the grounds of his views - not of his deeds - is a unique, international case. He is an MP in a parliamentary democracy. Even if only tacitly accepted, it would be a dangerous precedent towards undemocratic countries. Appealing to this case Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Syria, and many others will in the future be able to prosecute any Western politician they do not like. (...) "

"Wilders isn't safe in Muslim countries. They can arrest and extradite him at will. Once Jordan issues a warrant for his arrest, the problem will be internationalised and Interpol must act. The issue is no longer limited to Geert Wilders and his opinions alone.''

The Dutch Government in the meantime is reacting inadequately in Ellian's eyes, proposing a "risk analysis" prior to each visit abroad, followed by a guarantee for Wilders' immunity.

The state of Jordan is carrying the can for this international outrage, writes Ellian. The Government as well as the Queen must unambiguously press upon the absolute ruler of Jordan to change course. Ellian would go as far as the Netherlands and the E.U. to severe diplomatic ties if necessary.

Ellian wonders if the affair isn't really a case of diplomatic blackmail with a view to extracting development funds? If that is true the Netherlands must answer the question if it is prepared to give in to such demands. Ellian doesn't go this far, but experts in Muslim ethics might even see in the affair a demand for Jizyah, the poll tax payable by infidels. Who's to say what's next in legal jihad?

With the above in mind perhaps the Hollits and other Europeans can develop a beginning of an understanding for the American reluctance towards international legal institutions like the ICC in The Hague.



- Filed on Articles in "Legal Jihad" -

Thursday, June 26, 2008

The Postmodern Weimar Republic

The publishers of a Dutch satirical Internet site have been summoned to appear at a local police station for questioning. While Nekschot had his privacy invaded by a entire squad and was unceremoniously thrown in jail, the blokes of 'Geen Stijl' are the recipients of a 'summons' as the proverbial 'knock on the door.'

In the course of 2006 the site (of which these pages emphatically are not admirers) received some 11 million comments. Of that host the editors omitted to detect and delete 16 individual invectives which generally may be indiced as 'hate.'

Four persons - one of which an Amsterdam alderman - have pressed charges. No one outside the official field is at this stage aware of the legal status of 'the summons' as a relatively new instrument to censor and control.

Columnist and Iranian refugee Afshin Ellian writes: I can hardly imagine the existence in the free West of persons who'd choose to become sensors. I detest this profession, because I was born in a country where censorship has been the rule for centuries. During the eighties thousands of Iranian war veterans were drafted to read the letters written by the regime's dissidents. This was not to uncover criminal acts but opinions and contacts.

Pending a 'summons' let's take note that the youngest generations have grown up after the collapse of the major Western totalitarianisms. They know little of thought police, censors and dissidents.

As for the older ones, they've never dreamt in their vilest nightmares that a neo-fascist dictatorship could develop from the laid-back, postmodern version of the decadent Weimar Republic.

However displicable, antisemitism was not the essence of National Socialism, and certainly not of Fascism. Its breeding ground is Pragmatism meeting dogmatic mysticism and a culture of individual duty towards the collective. On the philosophical level the ingredients are just about in place waiting for the right circumstances to ignite fresh blazes.



- Filed on Articles in "Censoring" -

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The Unreformed Neotots of the Worst Generation

Mail Online columnist Peter Hitchens expresses what the authors of EURSOC and yours truly have been saying for a long time.

In "Too fat for their jeans, but Labour still think like Trots" Hitchens affirms that the worst generation's youthful commitment to totalitarianism was never rooted in idealism or limited to adolescent zeal.

I first noticed it when I met people of the old crowd years afterwards, only finding that the advancement of the years had done nothing to their basic mindset. Just as if someone had pulled the cognitive plug and personal development had ground to a halt.

The blokes of the worst generation are in their prime now; they've come to power everywhere in the Western world. They are doing their damnedest! Britain has been re-branded a neotot collective ... "dedicated to overthrowing the moral, social and cultural order."

Heaven forbid, but if the Country of Liberty happens to fall into the hands of similar postmodern pragmatists come the new year, we might consider terra-forming Antarctica into a new continent for the free individual.

In a recent series we analyzed the basic principles of Pragmatism. The philosophy is cunningly cloaked, expediently aiming at 'whatever works.' The latter may be substituted by 'whatever our ideology prescribes.' In "When Reason Fails III" we wrote: "Pragmatism is a Romanticist version of relativism. (...) Pragmatism is essentially amoral."

Far from being practical, middle of the road, and reasonable, Pragmatism in effect is entirely malignant. The firm parameters are destructive enough by themselves (anti reason, subjective and 'organically' collectivist), but just how toxic the brew gets, depends on the choices of the particular practitioner.

EURSOC: British politicians paint themselves as pragmatists. Blair excelled at this. Ten years before Nicolas Sarkozy claimed the phrase as his own, Blair was "interested in what works." (...) The revolution (...) took place and it is well on its way to becoming “irreversible”, always Blair's stated aim. (...) Blair has been highly effective in carrying out his reforms and has pretty much succeeded in imposing the kind of society he and his colleagues set out to put in place."

Those who ask the desperate question how all of this came about, might refer to the most popular video on the blog, "Just Doing His Job" ...




Postscript: Blogging may be slow in the coming days due to moving to another state (of the European Union).

Monday, June 23, 2008

Tsvangirai Fled to Dutch Safety

Elsevier reports that Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has taken up refuge in the Dutch embassy in Hahare. The regime have assured the Dutch Government that the safety of Tsvangirai and the diplomatic staff is guaranteed.

After having announced his pull-out out of Friday's runoff election Tsvangirai fled to the embassy on Sunday evening after having been threatened.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on dictator Robert Mugabe to postpone the elections.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that Mugabe's government cannot be considered legitimate without a fair run-off.

There have been frequent reports of extreme violence committed by governing party officials against members of the opposition. Hundreds have been wounded and many have been gruesomely killed.

Bridget Johnson on Pajamas has details in "Help the Zimbabwe Opposition Now!". Times Online relays "‘Stop him’ plea to world as Mugabe gets a free run" (contains video material of scenes of mayhem. A Mugabe campaign poster is the dead give-away: "the final battle for total control").


- Filed on Articles in "Inside Africa" -

Liberty Ditched for Sausages: boycott these cowards!

Last Friday we reported here that Jordan is seeking the extradition and prosecution of Dutch Freedom Party politician Geert Wilders on three counts:

- racism - incitement to hatred - insulting Muslims and Islam -

An Amman Court last Monday accepted the charges against Wilders on account of the short film "Fitna" pressed by a Jordanian group called "The Messenger of Allah Unites Us." "Fitna" outlines the dangers of radical Islam for democratic society. (Link to "Fitna")

Today we know which Dutch companies have 'distanced themselves' from Fitna. Politeia proposes a ban of its own against these companies which sell out democratic principles for sausages:

- Caption: "We Will Not Submit!" -
- Zwanenburg (Zwan sausages and luncheon meat)
- KLM (KLM-Air France-North West Airlines)
- Philips ("We make things better")
- Friesland Foods (dairy products:
- Friso (Nutricia, Olvarit, Nutrilon, Bambix dairy and baby foods)
- Milupa (Aptamil - we believe the latter two are all one and the same parent company Nutricia, now part of Danone)

The companies advertise their condemnation of Wilders' equation Islam=violence and distribute posters, stating that the film only serves to provoke.

President Zakaria Sheikh of "The Messenger of Allah Unites Us" is calling for the travel industry to ban KLM.

The publisher of weekly Fact International says the film has no relation with the freedom of expression. "Wilders has insulted all Muslims. He must be punished."

At the companies no one was available for comment, writes De Volkskrant. A KLM spokesman repeated an earlier statement that the airline is unrelated to political and religious movements and distances itself from this controversial film."

Post will be updated throughout.

"The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who
maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis."

Dante Alighieri
Italian national epic poet (1265 - 1321)

- Filed on Articles in "In Defense of Freedom" and "Legal Jihad" -

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Of Demagogy, Voodoo and Hypnosis 2.0.

After the demagoguery and the mass hysteria in what is now a full-blown personality cult of the type that is often observable in collectivist circles, some are starting to question the use of imagery and symbolism in the Obama campaign.

Without committing the mistake of falling into the gaping conspiracy trap, the question what is going on here is entirely legitimate.

Those who haven't noticed something distinctly unhealthy has crept into the performance - frankly - are only deserving to live in a neotot state for the rest of their illusionary lives.

Patrick Ruffini in "Obama's Manipulation of Patriotic Imagery" on The Next Right has this to say:

"Doesn't this seem like an odd use of imagery for a candidate who has repeatedly denounced the manipulation of patriotic imagery for political purposes, going so far as to refuse wearing a flag pin? And he does it in a way that goes well beyond plopping a stylized flag in your logo (...) campaigns use patriotic imagery all the time. What's different -- in an "I know it when I see it" kind of way -- is Obama crudely grafting his logo on historical renderings of the official seal of the United States."

Of course we all know of the obsession the Third Way-ers Clinton and Blair had with image and perception; their mastery of spin has become the stuff of legends. But Obama is of entirely different ilk.

If the idea is, 'coming across all presidential' the symbolism and the style just aren't 'regal' enough. One would expect Roman overtures and hints of more traditional heraldry.

Townhall's Nedra Pickler in "Play of the Day: Obama debuts new seal" incites an interesting comment (reply #14) by tx honeybee:

"Obama's voodoo campaign politics.. The Great One, Obammessiah, would not need to use subliminal messages and false psychological Props, on gullible voters.. If he weren't a babbling Socialist Empty Suit (and metro-sexual) Better "Bush III" than Marx II ..."

... which is more or less in line with an interesting comment on the other article on The Next Right, which heads "Good Detective Work, and a Potential Example of NLP":

"The subtle message that you've discovered in the image is fascinating. I've been interested in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, aka NLP, for several years. To the uninitiated, NLP is Hypnosis 2.0. While it's still disputed as a model or theory, mainly it's a set of techniques or strategies for enhancing communication and personal influence (...) read it all here >>>

It just so happens that next week we'll have the opportunity to query a hypnotherapist, after which we'll report back on the tender subject of slick looking archetypes, psycho bots and memes.

Update:

Whatever the subconscious meme bots may trigger in the unattentive subjectivist, "The People's Cube" has created this inspirational variation discussed here:

- Filed on Articles in "The Pomo White House" -

Friday, June 20, 2008

Wilders Prosecuted by Jordanian Court (I)

Elsevier Magazine is reporting that Jordan intends to seek the prosecution of Dutch Freedom Party (PVV) leader Geert Wilders in relation to "Fitna," a short film produced by Wilders that outlines the dangers of radical Islam for democratic society. (Link to "Fitna")

An Amman Court on Monday accepted the charges against Wilders pressed by a Jordanian group called "The Messenger of Allah Unites Us."

Wilders is accused of racism, incitement to hatred and insulting Muslims and Islam. This will be an important test-case in respect of legal Jihad.

According to Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant both the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the terrorism czar are on the case because of the implications the matter could have for freedom of expression in the Netherlands. For once it seems the Government is siding with liberty instead of signaling inter-religious solidarity.

Wilders, fearing arrest, has welcomed the Government support. "Fortunately it's taken seriously. This is hugely impacting my activities as a politician," Wilders said.

He fears the court will proceed quickly with issuing an international arrest warrant. He expects it next week.

Jordan has several options to get Wilders extradited: to have the request distributed via Interpol, or issue direct requests to countries where Wilders is visiting.

As long as Wilders remains in the Netherlands there is no problem.

The Jordanian group behind the indictment is also organizing a boycott against Dutch products.

Here's a link to a speech Wilders' recently delivered in Copenhagen, explaining his reasons for producing the film.

Continued and updated in Part II.

- Filed on Articles in "Legal Jihad" -

Thursday, June 19, 2008

The Giant Blegosphere Conspiracy (or merely a Kettle of Taqiyyah?)

In view of the Rage, Rage, Rage of the Obamanables over vile and scurrilous Smears, Smears, Smears, Rick Moran on Pajamas in "‘Obama the Muslim’: The Smear that Just Won’t Die" explains why the slur is so damaging, and why opponents keep on doing it: "between 45%-54% of Americans would never vote for a Muslim candidate. Already by some surveys, 15% of the electorate believes that despite vehement denials from the campaign, intensive investigations by mainstream media organizations, and all evidence to the contrary, Barack Obama is a Muslim."

For all their sensitivity training and political correctness the Left aren't blessed with the sensitivity to be alerted to the fact that lumping Muslims with smears is somewhat insentitive on their part towards Muslims: "Muslims Against Sharia demand immediate removal of "SMEAR: Barack Obama is a Muslim" statement from the official Barack Obama's website as well as an apology for giving the word "Muslim" a negative connotation."

Bart Stewart - a prime reality dodger - is "the author of Tales of Real and Dream Worlds, a collection of short stories in the Twilight Zone tradition" and publisher of a blog titled with an oxymoron, "Reason and Imagine". Muslims Against Sharia in a comment to Stewart's post "Muslims Against Sharia (?)" point out the insensitive callousness.

"Not," says Stewart who proceeds with a Clintonian explanation (pomo can be precise when expedient to their cause), and a slur of his own against Muslims Against Sharia on account of the membership of Pamela Geller, blogger of Atlas Shrugs. Defending the free world against the forces of neofascism invariably results in a case of projection and the predictable ad hominem of 'racist!'. La Geller counters the punch in "Obama and Indicted Islamist Terrorists."

Melanie Phillips, another crusader against "crazed Jew-hating American-loathing moonbats" in "Obama and the Giant Blogosphere Conspiracy" on Front Page Magazine sums up the situation as follows:

"These multiple known deceptions by someone who may become President of the United States are deeply alarming. The concealment is the issue. To dismiss such concerns and the related questions they provoke as a smear campaign is to attempt to browbeat into silence those who legitimately raise them and require urgent answers as a matter of the most acute public interest."
Sounds like giant kettle of taqiyyah to me ... me, I'm with king rat ... "
"There are elections in America now. Along came a black citizen of Kenyan African origins, a Muslim, who had studied in an Islamic school in Indonesia. His name is Obama."




- Filed on Articles in "The Pomo White House" -

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

EP Awards Postmodern Version of History

The European Parliament Bureau The Hague has announced that a Media Prize has been awarded to an installment of the television series "In Europe" which is based on faulty historical data, reports Elsevier.

Perhaps the EP didn't care to check if the documentary was based on factual historical reality before awarding the prize. Given the origin, they should have. On the other hand, that may be besides the point.

The documentary was produced by the Left-wing public broadcasting outlet (VPRO) that has managed to monopolize the entire field of national history, enabling them to revise facts in whatever way they see fit. Two of its radio reporters have also been awarded prizes in the category Radio.

The documentary is written by author Geert Mak, one of the most passionate mainstays of multiculturalism in the Netherlands.

Historian Willem Melching has posited that some facts are plain wrong. It only stands to reason. Postmodernists like Mak and his VPRO producers do not believe in objective reality. They see history as a subjective narrative, the events of which depend upon the position of the viewer. Theirs is consistently on the Left.

Amsterdam University lecturer Melching states that the first four installments 'have no factual relation with the present knowledge of history.' Mak is repeating old bromides. He paints a simplistic and faulty image of Germany and the dual monarchy of Austria and Hungary in 1906. In part 2 Mak maintains the Austrian Empire stretched from Vienna to the Black Sea. This is wrong. In 1906 Bulgaria and Romania were already autonomous countries.

These mistakes matter in the historical context. Anyone who thinks of Austria as flanking the Black Sea has no inkling of the geopolitical situation in the Balkans and Central Europe. Let alone that he is able to explain such matters to a larger audience, says Melching.

The series "In Europa" has costed 3 to 4 million Euros of public money.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

When Reason Fails (IV): fulfil my needs ...

Continued from part III: "Morbid Obama Intoxication"

Those of us who cling to facts still stubbornly believe in right and wrong. Not the subjective morality of 'one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter,' but the objective kind - the true and false that can be measured along given standards, for instance thou shalt not kill unarmed civilians.

Others, who have dispensed with reality have not just thrown out epistemology - philosophy's study of human knowledge - but, for good measure - have abolished the field of ethics as well. This is done by the sheer fact of their rejection: whatever spin is put on it, in a reality vacuum there simply is no right or wrong, true or false.

This is the whole point of the relativist world view! How else can one peddle to the world a cornucopia filled to brim with - in absolute terms - nothing? Postmodernists who insist they do believe in ethics (as they happen to have matters they fiercely disapprove of - BusHitlerCheney for instance) simply don't get their own philosophy - but then, the nihilists have rejected reason by the same logic - so there's simple no angle here. Politically motivated hysteria does not constitute a moral system.

Those who cling to objective right and wrong have the occasional satisfaction of having done the right thing in the face of overwhelming impopularity, adversity, unpleasant side-effects, or cost to themselves.

The not so fortunate must resort to psychological tricks to squeeze the tiniest trickle of happiness out of live. Their refuge is the multiplication of personal feel-good factors or the cultivation of self-esteem. This alternative doesn't seem to work so well.

Agony aunts in desperation counsel to try and see life as the enemy; act against the inner compass - be lazy or run amok; avoid bench-marking; go it alone, or join a victim-group (everyone else does); pretend, escape, indulge in the blessings of postmodern life (the past was not that great either); learn to enjoy solving problems that matter, like bad-hair days. Most of all their clients desire to be loved and admired for nothing, "for who they are" - the collection of physical cells stripped of convictions.

American politicians may resort to commissioning investigations into other branches of surrogate ethics: the diplomatic popularity contest; the 44-page report “The Decline in America’s Reputation: Why?” issued this week by the House’s Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs for instance.

Bridget Johnson in "Why the World Hates America" on Pajamas Media says it all: "If Israel shaped its policies on how much the country is liked by others in the world, Israel would cease to exist. That’s a hard fact. Most of us were taught way back in grammar school that doing the right thing is not always the popular thing." Johnson doesn't seem to have been in grammar school of late. This is borne out by her sound advice:

"British author and World War I vet William McFee once said, “People don’t ever seem to realize that doing what’s right is no guarantee against misfortune.” Nor is it a guarantee of pristine Zogby numbers. And it shouldn’t take hearings and reports — and I’ll be waiting for “Irrational Global Hatred for Israel: Why?” — for this Congress to realize that."

There's nothing like a good, old, Victorian reality check for building up solid self-esteem!

Postscript: This series of posts on "When Reason Fails" was supposed to be made up or two, perhaps three posts - tops. But already a fifth is on the horizon: Progress Report - Global Boiling. We must resist temptation: the subject matter warrants a dedicated blog. Even we do not have that much time ... for global madness we can refer you for the time being to the dossier on Articles, "The Controversial Dossier," or for the more or less scientific approach to the subject, "Case Closed."

- Filed on Articles in "The Political Pathology Page" -



Monday, June 16, 2008

CIA in Dutch Espionage Gaffe

Dutch newspaper "De Telegraaf" reported last week that the CIA has carried out covert operations in the country, resulting in a diplomatic tiff in which the CIA station chief has been sent packing. The conflict was kept carefully under-wraps. "Well informed sources" in The Hague say the discredited CIA station chief left the Netherlands in 2005.

Central to the covert operations was an investigation into the proliferation of nuclear technology to Pakistan. According to sources this led to a bizarre situation during a secret operation at the house of a businessman. At some point Dutch intelligence agents became aware of CIA spooks also entering the premises, and caught them on tape.

Since the departure of the CIA officer relations have markedly improved. The new American station chief is said to be more diplomatically correct than his predecessor.

- Caption: Hat Tip "The Atlantic" -


Underlying this innocent sounding anecdote is a much more sinister espionage story, which might have wider ramifications in the future.

In August 2005 former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers confirmed that the Government at the time knew Pakistini nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan was stealing secret nuclear technology from the Physical Dynamics Research Laboratory (FDO) in Amsterdam where Khan worked from 1972 to 1976.

FDO was a URENCO subcontractor, the uranium enrichment facility which had been established by the U.K., West Germany and the Netherlands to produce enriched uranium for European reactors.

Lubbers went on record, affirming - upon the CIA's wishes, in order to monitor Khan's movements - to have let Khan proceed with his clandestine activities on at least two separate occasions.

In January 2004 Khan confessed to having been involved in a clandestine international mail order network of nuclear weapons technology from Pakistan to Libya, Iran and North Korea.

Khan, being somewhat of a national hero, was pardoned by President Musharraf after having served a period under house-arrest. The Pakistan President later confirmed Khan had supplied uranium hexafluoride, gas centrifuges and parts to North Korea.

Evidently this lethal spat hasn't got the tendency of becoming very fast a blast from the past.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

We Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident

On America's Flag Day Europe honors the embodiment of the self-evident truths of Human Equality and Liberty. May your light shine for ever more ... from sea to shining sea ...!



Hat Tip: Ironic Surrealism II

- Filed on Articles in "Americana" -

Saturday, June 14, 2008

When Reason Fails (III): Morbid Obama Intoxication

Continued from Part II: "The Left's Narrative"

The collective swoon over B. Barak Hussein Muhammed Obama is getting corrosive. If Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS) (see parts I and II) was a public health hazard, we ain't seen nothing yet. The Morbid Obama Intoxication (MOI) beats BDS on all fronts.

For a proper understanding we must turn beyond the field of psychology - to philosophy - which explains matters in broad abstracts. As is happens, a number of parameters alarmingly coincide - and here it gets sticky - with the German interbellum.

We all know how that ended. Nota bene, I'm not collating Obama with Adolf Hitler, or lumping him with Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels; although he is playing the campaign like a full-fledged demagogue, the problem rather lies with his fans and admirers.

The American Left is traditionally steeped in pragmatism. That may sound innocent and practical, but it comes with a few less known consequences which seldom come to the fore all at once.

The champion of pragmatism is the American pioneering psychologist William James (1842-1910), who gave the concept its name. The brother of novelist Henry James and of diarist Alice James wrote: 'The true,' to put it very briefly, is only the expedient in the way of our thinking, just as 'the right' is only the expedient in the way of our behaving." Dewey applied pragmatism to education.

Pragmatism is a Romanticist version of relativism. Extrovert action and passion are valued over introvert reflexion and reason. Pragmatism is essentially amoral. It has contributed to the nastiness of Postmodernism by positing a sort of secular, Western form of taqqiyah, which is governed by the same principle: our goal is so ethical that even the unethical is justified in reaching it - the aim justifies the means, truth is flexible and depends on the need of the moment, a utility expedient towards realization of the goal.

As a consequence pragmatism is rather dishonestly presented as the opposite of what it aims to achieve. It seemingly is the practical over theory, portends to position the individual in a central role, ostensibly respects reason and facts, while its very principle constitutes an assault on logic (everything is in flux), gives a central role to feelings and passions (subjectivism), denies reality (nothing is absolute), and reduces the individual to an atom of the collective. That collective - in pragmatism is usually 'our generation,' 'liberals,' or 'society'; it is not an aggregate, but an 'organic entity.'

It holds a number of Orwellian concepts, as Hegel's 'Ethical Whole' to which individual free will must be sacrificed for the good of the Collective Will, and Rousseau's notion which has come down to us in Marxism, of 'true freedom through the state'. A picture of mystical group-think is emerging from the Obama campaign which looks ominously familiar, but is by itself not enough to warrant great concern.

Is gets more hazardous when pragmatism is coupled to dogma and subjective passions spiral out of control. This is the winning ticket that made National Socialism such a lethal ideology: they strengthen one another. One can see how that works: our aim justifies the means because we say so. Dogmatism couples blind belief to an already brutal concept. It beckons: stop thinking, follow me and I'll give you what you want so passionately!

If we turn our attention to the Obama campaign we hear one mantra: Change, Action, Belief. The latter represents the dogmatic side: blind faith, not in the Obama ideas (he doesn't have any) but in his method, while Change through Action suggests Will to Power: the dogmatic approach to a subjective aim that justifies the pragmatist means.

There is the negative myth as summed up in part II by Front Page Magazine author Ben Johnson's "The Left's Fairy Tale," a shortlist of the main delusions that the Dems and the Leftist world at large have convinced themselves of. The demonization of George Bush is not a Sorelian myth, but it lends sufficient fire and motivation to reach the goal: getting Obama into 'our' White House.

Sit tight for Leonard Peikoff quoting Herman Goerring in "The Ominous Parallels" (Meridian, 1982, p. 55):

"Just as the Roman Catholic Church considers the Pope as infallible (...) so do we National Socialists believe with the same inner conviction that for us the Leader is (...) simply infallible. [Hitler's authority derives from] something mystical, inexpressible, almost incomprehensible which this unique man possesses, and he who cannot feel it instinctively will not be able to grasp it at all."

If you think that's tacky, compare that to this load of Postmodern 'spirituality,' according to which Obama is both the infallible Pope and the celestial Leader rolled into One:

"Barack Obama isn't really one of us. Not in the normal way, anyway. (...) The appeal, the pull, the ethereal and magical thing that seems to enthrall millions of people from all over the world, that keeps opening up and firing into new channels of the culture normally completely unaffected by politics? No, it's not merely his youthful vigor, or handsomeness, or even inspiring rhetoric. It is not fresh ideas or cool charisma or the fact that a black president will be historic and revolutionary in about a thousand different ways. It is something more. Even Bill Clinton, with all his effortless, winking charm, didn't have what Obama has, which is a sort of powerful luminosity, a unique high-vibration integrity. Dismiss it all you like, but I've heard from far too many enormously smart, wise, spiritually attuned people who've been intuitively blown away by Obama's presence - not speeches, not policies, but sheer presence - to say it's just a clever marketing ploy, a slick gambit carefully orchestrated by hotshot campaign organizers who, once Obama gets into office, will suddenly turn from perky optimists to vile soul-sucking lobbyist whores, with Obama as their suddenly evil, cackling overlord. Here's where it gets gooey. Many spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious, mind you, but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker, that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot, but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet, of relating and connecting and engaging with this bizarre earthly experiment. These kinds of people actually help us evolve. They are philosophers and peacemakers of a very high order, and they speak not just to reason or emotion, but to the soul. The unusual thing is, true Lightworkers almost never appear on such a brutal, spiritually demeaning stage as national politics. This is why Obama is so rare."
Mark Steyn noticed it too: "Obama the humble savior:" "I face this challenge with profound humility (...) limitless faith (...) I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal … . This was the moment – this was the time – when we came together to remake this great nation." It's a good thing he's facing it with "profound humility," isn't it? ... Yeah, and divorced from reason ...





- Continued in Part IV: "Fulfil My Needs"

- Filed on Articles in "The Political Pathology Page" -

Friday, June 13, 2008

Irish Reject "Treaty of Lisbon," Ratification Continues

Yessssss! Thanks, Paddy! Now let's see with what anti-democratic engineering feat from hell the neotots will push through EU statehood come hell or high water ... a gap of seven percent is considered too close to call???

Update: EU Observer: "Brussels calls for Lisbon treaty ratification to continue" ... of course ... "This vote should not be seen as a vote against the EU … commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said in Brussels (...) "the treaty is alive" and "we should go on and try to find a solution."

The Times of Ireland: "Lisbon Treaty looks likely to be rejected"

The Lisbon Treaty looks set to be rejected by the Irish people as counting of votes continues around the country this afternoon.

With 29 of 43 constituencies declared, the No vote is leading by 53.5 per cent to 46.5 per cent. All but six constituencies have rejected the treaty, with a national running total of 527,591 voting in favour of Lisbon and 608,156 votes against.

Tallies from early on in the count this morning showed the No campaign appeared to be winning in most constituencies across the State, with significant majorities emerging from rural and urban working class areas in particular.

Minister for Foreing Affairs Micheál Martin, who is also director of Fianna Fáil’s referendum campaign, said there was a perceived lack of information on the treaty. "People were on the doorstep were saying 'I still don't know enough about this treaty'."

This was a "significant" factor, the Minister claimed. The Minister said he was not blaming the Referendum Commission but said there was a sense that the treaty "just didn't register" and "lacked a clear tangible".

In his own constituency, Cork South Central, the treaty was rejected by more than 55 per cent of the electorate there.

Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív conceded defeat this morning for the treaty in the constituency, Galway West, while Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny also conceded defeat for the treaty in Mayo early on in the count.

The founder of Libertas, Declan Ganley, who campaigned for a No vote, said: "The Irish people have rejected the Lisbon Treaty. "it is a great day for Irish democracy", he added.

"This is democracy in action . . . and Europe needs to listen to the voice of the people," Mr Ganley said. He added that the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, "has a mandate to go back to Europe and do the best job possible".

Polling stations closed at 10pm last night after 15 hours of voting in the referendum, the result of which will determine the future development of the European Union and its institutions. Voting began at 7am, and stations in 43 constituencies were open until 10pm.

Turnout was reported at about 40 per cent by 9pm, up from 20 per cent in some constituencies by mid-afternoon. In general, turnout was reported to be higher in city areas than in rural areas.

By the time polls closed at 10pm last night, around 50 per cent of the three million people registered to vote were understood to have cast their ballots.

There is concern in other EU countries about the impact of the decision by Irish voters, and the French and German governments are expected to make a joint statement later today once the Irish result is known.

Ireland was the only country to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. >>>

Updates:

- Flanders Fields: "Barroso's Empire Turns Green!"

- Filed on Articles in "The Lisbon Treaty" -

When Reason Fails (II): the Left's Narrative

Continued from Part I: Bush Derangement Syndrome

A number of polemics on the Bush legacy force postponement of the post on Obama Derangement Syndrome. Which is just as well, as it is somewhat of a precarious subject.

After the article linked in part I "The Party of Defeat's Top Five Lies about Iraq," Front Page Magazine author Ben Johnson has another compilation, "The Left's Fairy Tale," a shortlist of the main delusions the Dems and the Leftist world at large have convinced themselves of. Both articles are the subject of book which is co-authored by David Horowitz: "The Party of Defeat."

The 'narrative' of that fairy tale reads as follows:

“President Select” George W. Bush stole the 2000 election after his daddy’s Supreme Court justices stopped the Florida election boards from counting all the votes. When he got into office, he did not make terrorism a top priority but immediately began dividing the nation along political lines. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the entire country came together in unity to get those who perpetrated this atrocity, and we stayed united as we fought al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. But soon Bush and his neocon allies took our eye off the ball and used the attacks as a pretext to invade Iraq based on lies. Administration officials pressured CIA analysts, twisted intelligence, and insisted Saddam Hussein was an “imminent threat” who had sponsored 9/11. Bush lied that Saddam had WMD stockpiles and invented a story about him trying to buy nuclear material in Niger. But there were never any WMDs; Iraq had no ties to terrorists at all, much less al-Qaeda; and our presence in Iraq is drawing these terrorists to Iraq. (The CIA did not misinform him, because it is an instrument of ruling class hegemony and probably puts manganese into the crack it sells in black neighborhoods, when it’s not blowing up levees in New Orleans. The administration’s perpetual campaign mode had them slur anyone who got in their way, questioning the patriotism of anyone who opposed the war and revealing Valerie Plame’s identity when Ambassador Joseph Wilson told the truth about them. Bush even declassified sensitive information in the NIE to punish his political enemies. Ultimately, a jury convicted Scooter Libby of fixing Iraq intel to get us into war. Our soldiers – who are too poor and uneducated to help getting stuck in Iraq – are caught in the middle of a civil war. Even though the American people overwhelming want an immediate withdrawal from Iraq and voted for it in 2006, the cowardly Democrats keep passing funding bills and ignoring the will of the people. The Surge has failed, and our best option is to redeploy within six months, even if genocide follows.

Ann Coulter has excelled herself this week in "Bush's America: 100 Percent Al-Qaida Free Since 2001." "In a conversation recently, I mentioned as an aside what a great president George Bush has been and my friend was surprised. I was surprised that he was surprised." I know the feeling ... the admission of a pro-Bush stand invariable triggers catatonic shock and disbelief. Nobody musters the critique of self for an introspection resulting in the question: why am I consumed with hatred for a man I do not even know? The answer might have revealed some pretty putrified psychic artefacts rotting away in the remoter crevices of the subconsciousness.

Blogger-psychologist Dr Sanity has explained the mechanism of projection like this: if you think of yourself as a nice, peaceful person (which all Leftists do since they are the party of 'ethics'), while actually you are full of wrath and hatred (this would be a typical blog dedicated to hatred), the psychological devise of projection as by miracle turns your opponent into someone who is full of wrath and hatred, the origin of BDS.

Update:

John Hawkins over on Townhall also explodes a few alternative truth stories in "Tackling Five Modern Myths Created by Liberals":

- Part I
- Part II

Update:

Pajamas: "Critical Times for Critical Thinking" - "(...) Hiatt — that page’s editor — made the mistake of actually quoting passages of this report, which claimed that a host of “lies” of which President Bush has been accused since 2003 were “substantiated by intelligence.” Vituperation and ad hominem attacks were left as commentary at the paper’s website, with calls for Hiatt’s immediate firing, for — apparently — his treason in quoting a report, written by a Democratic majority, that dared to depart from a narrative that has become conventional wisdom. (...) >>>

- Filed on Articles in "The Political Pathology Page" -

Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Irish Lisbon Referendum: updates throughout

Ireland is the only EU country that granted its citizens the right to vote on the EU Lisbon Treaty. They now have the power to ditch the pseudo constitution that will turn the EU into a state instead of a supranational 'club.' An analysis of the treaty and what it all means is available on the Articles File.

- Caption: a four petaled shamrock: Dutch for good luck -

The Irish Times: "Voters go to polls in Lisbon referendum"

Voting begun early this morning on the Lisbon Treaty referendum with Ireland's electorate deciding the future structure of the European Union.

Polling stations opened at 7am and will stay open until 10pm to encourage as many people as possible to vote.

For first time in the State's history more than three million voters will be eligible to cast their ballots in a European referendum. The electorate stands at 3,051,278 as of February 15th, 2008.

Every person who is an Irish citizen and is included in the register of electors, which came into force on February 2008, 15th, is entitled to vote. Those included in the supplement to the register can also vote. (...) >>>

Update:

The Irish Times: "Polls close in Lisbon Treaty referendum"

Polling stations closed at 10pm tonight after 15 hours of voting in the Lisbon Treaty referendum, the result of which will determine the future development of the European Union and its institutions.

Voting began at 7am and statons in 43 constituencies were open until 10pm to encourage as many people as possible to vote.

Both the No and Yes sides of the treaty debate expressed confidence today that the result will go in their favour, but the result may be tight with 17 per cent of voters still undecided in a poll last weekend.

The result is expected by late afternoon tomorrow. (...) >>>

- Filed on Articles in "The Treaty of Lisbon, the Constitution of the State of EU" -

Conservatives: Cameron Live Tonight


Just received following missive from the British Tories:

Tune in to Conservatives.com at 6.30pm tonight to watch a live stream of the latest Cameron Direct event. David will be live and unscripted, taking questions from a 150 strong audience.

You can take part as well by adding your comments to the live blog which will accompany the broadcast.

To get a taste of Cameron Direct, watch the highlights package from last week's event in Essex.

Make sure you don't miss tonight's webcast by adding our calendar update or go to the Cameron Direct page and use the reminder function.

Link Go to the Cameron Direct live stream (broadcast starts at 6.30pm)
Reminder Add the calendar update
Video Watch highlights of Cameron Direct in Essex

Local Time? World Time Converter.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

When Reason Fails (I): Bush Derangement Syndrome

Seldom has a president had so much opposition and bad press from the outset as George W. Bush. He never stood a chance against the onslaught of parlor tricks and other theatricals that the postmodern shop of rhetorical attributes has to offer. It was full throttle from day one: for just an example read "The Party of Defeat Top Five Lies About Iraq," by Ben Johnson on Front Page ... read it all!

The world - not all of it, but a very vocal part - was determined from the get go to trash and ditch the man. Some have axes to grind, but the main reason? Of course they didn't need an excuse, but the truth is, he wasn't a member of the Democratic Party, but a Republican ... and in Their White House!

Europeans - even the thinking, 'Right' part, have bought the propaganda that the Democrats are conservative enough for their standards, and that Republicans are a rabidly reactionary bunch of religious morbids. They even think slavery was abolished by the Democrats (they're the good guys, aren't they?).

They needed no excuse but on top of that, W. owns a ranch in Texas (a bowboy in the White House), he's no natural orator (dim), he's plain speaking (crude), is a Christian (a religious maniac, possibly insane), and a man of action (a war-monger): any characteristic can be turned into a negative if taken to extremes. This rhetorical trick is the postmodernist's specialty: raising straw-men, making caricatures, switching contexts.

Ronald Reagan met the same fate in Europe. He didn't have a paradigm shattering terrorist attack on his hands, so the histrionics were limited to the stationing of cruise missiles. Of course the vocals would rather have the Soviets over - ostensibly rather not 'provoke' them - what else is new with the habitual traitors.

Examples in the Eurotrash press abound, but here's a typical article in last night's Der Spiegel from Germany: "THE COWBOY AND HIS SUNSET," subtitled "Europe Happy to See the Back of Bush" - well, not in my name, you don't!

The innuendo from Orwell's Press from Hell in the meanwhile continues. Take this morning's article by the fallen BBC: "BBC Uncovers Lost Iraq Billions": the accusations are hurled in hyperbole, but nowhere are they substantiated. To legitimize the story the BBC come up with one example. We may never hear of it again, no retractions, no apologies, but the mud sticks.

This is how you trash a subject. Quite a bit of what is going on in that department is compiled on Articles in the dossiers "The Demise of the Press from Hell," "Big Bro's Smoke and Mirrors," and in the series of posts "Blurring the Border between Reality and Perception."

Times Online had an exclusive interview with the Number One Cowboy: "President Bush regrets his legacy as man who wanted war." W. doesn't go any further than expressing regret for some of the rhetoric, and rightly so. I agree with commenter Steven from London: "History will be kind to George Bush because expectations of him were so low yet the actual positive results will last for generations. Al-Qaeda almost destroyed. Afghanistan mainly pacified. Installing the first Arab democracy in Iraq. All necessary. A truly decent and remarkable man."

The same psychological mechanism that causes all rational faculties to break down is responsible for the exact opposite, in the case of B. Barack Hussein Obama. Not only is there no healthy scrutiny into the man's past or present At All, the adoration (in which he shares!) is reaching truly disquieting levels.

- Continued in Part II: "The Left's Narrative" -

- Filed on Articles in "The Political Pathology Page" -

 
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