The Huge Post

Squid caught by NZ fishermen. Calamari the size of a tractor tyre.

A huge Sun Fish.

A huge fish tank from Germany.

The Raddison Hotel.

End Game -a must read

A Statement on Islam

From :View from the right
http://amnation.com/vfr/

Draft manifesto: Together facing the new Islamic jihad, by Lawrence Auster: “Since I have been so critical of the leftist, secularist manifesto against Islamism, “Together facing the new totalitarianism,” that was…”

What is to be done about Islam

Last November, two other writers and I worked briefly on a manifesto on what is to be done about Islam in America, and, by extension, in the West and in non-Islamic countries generally. The original draft made jihad the practical focus of the problem. Subsequent drafts included sharia—the Islamic law—as well, based on the understanding that jihad is not the end of Islam but the instrument by which the end of Islam, which is the rule of Islamic law over the whole earth, is to be achieved. At that point we left the statement aside. Then this past week, in light of new insights and discoveries, namely that even a prominent opponent of jihad like Ayaan Hirsi Ali has no “problem” with the spread of sharia if it is pursued by democratic and respectful means, I went back to the draft and expanded it further. It’s possible that the resulting version is too long and detailed for its purpose, and perhaps the earlier, simpler version that focused only on jihad would be better. I am posting the latest draft now to invite criticisms and ideas.

DRAFT STATEMENT ON ISLAM

Whereas treacherous war has been waged, is being waged, and will continue to be waged against the United States by an organized faction of the Islamic religion;

Whereas this war is being waged in obedience to a doctrine, jihad, which is an organic, intrinsic, and central feature of the laws and traditions of the Islamic religion;

Whereas Islamic law, sharia, divides the world into the Realm of Islam and the Realm of War, meaning that all non-Islamic states including the United States, simply by virtue of being non-Islamic, are at war with Islam, the only true faith, requiring Muslims to wage jihad on the Realm of War until all non-Islamic states including the United States have been brought under the political power of Islam;

Whereas the unchanging and ultimate aim of jihad is the imposition of sharia, the Islamic system of law, on all states and nations, including the United States;

Whereas the imposition of sharia on non-Islamic states is to be brought about both by criminal and violent means, including terrorism, and by lawful and non-violent means, including immigration-fed population growth and the resulting increase of Islamic political influence and power;

Whereas sharia commands the extinction of self-government and of all the liberties and privileges existing under the Constitution and laws of the United States and of the several states;

Whereas even the milder and more limited aspects of sharia, namely sharia family law as distinct from sharia criminal law, embodying such doctrines as polygamy and the sanctified inferiority of women, are totally incompatible with the customs, institutions, and liberties of the United States and with the traditions of the Western and Christian world as a whole;

Whereas jihad and sharia are inextricably linked, with sharia formulating and commanding jihad, and jihad being waged for the purpose of imposing and instituting sharia;

Whereas the doctrine of jihad requires Islamic citizens of non-Islamic states, including the United States, actively to engage in, or passively to support, sedition against those states;

Whereas adherence to this doctrine is not exclusive to those individuals immediately prepared to carry out acts of war against the United States, but embraces a wider circle of sympathizers and abettors, constituting a large part of the Islamic community;

Whereas in any conflict between a non-Islamic state and jihadists, the great majority of Muslims are in solidarity with the jihadists;

Whereas numerous so-called “moderate” Muslims, including the head of Britain’s most prominent “moderate” Muslim organization, have said that any attempt by Western governments to identify and suppress the jihadist elements of Islam is a deep insult to the “moderate” Muslims and will turn them into terrorists or terror supporters;

Whereas Islam is unique in being both a religion for its own followers and a political movement divinely commanded to seek global political power over all non-Muslims and to eliminate all non-Islamic states;

Whereas Islam’s unique status both as a religion and as a global political movement seeking power over non-Muslims through the imposition of sharia implies the following about the different types of “moderate” Muslims:

Muslims who refrain from speech and action for sharia but believe in sharia:
Even if Muslims do not engage in explicit behaviors or speech to advance sharia and jihad, their silent belief in sharia or jihad means that they are on the side of those seeking sharia, whether through violent or non-violent means. As long as Muslims believe in Islamic law and believe that all Muslims—or all Muslims and all non-Muslims—should live under Islamic law, either they must support the spread and imposition of sharia, or, at best, they have no grounds on which to oppose the imposition of sharia.

Muslims who believe in sharia for Muslims, but not for non-Muslims:
Many Muslims who believe in Islam as a religion but not as a political movement to impose sharia on non-Muslims nevertheless believe in the imposition of sharia on Muslims. Therefore, whenever Muslims dwell in a non-Islamic society, they will inevitably seek to bring themselves under sharia to the extent possible, demanding that the host society formally recognize at least some aspects of sharia. As the numbers and power of Muslims increases, the range of sharia regulations demanded by the Muslims, and the range of the society that must come under those regulations, will keep increasing.

Muslims who don’t believe in sharia at all:
Even the Muslims who believe in Islam solely as a private religion and do not believe in sharia either for Muslims or for non-Muslims are, though notably less dangerous than other Muslims, nevertheless members of the global Muslim community or umma and thus, as Muslims, will tend to feel solidarity with their fellow Muslims who believe in jihad and sharia, especially when the latter come into conflict with non-Muslims.

Muslims who oppose jihad and do not support sharia but nevertheless support the right of Muslims to campaign peacefully for sharia
By supporting the right of Muslims peacefully to spread sharia, such non-jihadist Muslims are in effect on the side of the spread of sharia.

The above considerations make it clear that it is not practically possible to distinguish “radical,” dangerous sharia-supporting Muslims from “moderate,” non-dangerous sharia-supporting Muslims. To a lesser degree, it is not possible to distinguish non-sharia supporting Muslims from sharia-supporting Muslims. The spread and imposition of sharia is a function of Islam as such, and any increase in the number of Muslims in a society helps advance sharia.

Furthermore, it is essential to understand that what makes both “radical” and “moderate” Muslims dangerous to non-Muslim societies is not that the Muslims are morally bad people, but that they are Muslims. As Muslims, they are required by their god and their religion to do and believe certain things. As long as they remain Muslims, the things Islam commands them to do and believe are sacred to them. In waging jihad and instituting sharia, they are not being bad people, they are being good Muslims. Thus the question of the moral goodness or badness, the kindness or the meanness, of individual Muslims is utterly irrelevant from the point of view of the threat Islam poses to non-Muslim societies. The issue is not the moral character of individual Muslim persons, but the unchanging and unchangeable character of Islam itself. Therefore in excluding Muslims, we are not discriminating or passing judgment against them as human beings, we are protecting ourselves from the religion to which they, as Muslims, are inextricably linked.

It follows from the above that the purpose of these measures is not to promote hostility against Muslim persons or to spark civilizational warfare between the West and Islam, but to reduce and to end the current increasing civilizational warfare by permanently separating Muslims from the West. We respect the right of Muslims to follow in peace their religion in their lands. But in order for us Americans to continue to have the right to follow in peace our respective religions, to live according to our culture and way of life, to enjoy our liberties, and to preserve our nation, the followers of sharia need to leave our country and return to the historic lands of Islam.

THEREFORE, RESOLVED:
That the doctrines of sharia and jihad being totally incompatible with the Constitution and laws of the United States and of the several states, and with our most fundamental customs, institutions, and liberties, the advocacy and promotion of these doctrines is deemed not to be protected speech or a protected exercise of religion under the First Amendment of the Constitution;

That advocacy of the Islamic doctrines of jihad and sharia is tantamount to sedition and ought to be expressly proscribed in law;

That any person who espouses, promotes, formulates, or apologizes for these doctrines is committing sedition against the United States and against the state wherein he resides;

That adherence to the doctrines of jihad and sharia, even in the absence of open advocacy of same, is incompatible with adherence to the Constitution, laws, liberty, and sovereignty of the United States;

That with the exception of immediate family members, diplomatic personnel, and temporary visitors for business and other prescribed legitimate purposes, all immigration into the United States of persons known or determined to be followers of the Islamic religion, whatever the person’s nationality or country of residence, shall cease;

That with the exception of diplomatic personnel and temporary visitors for business and other prescribed legitimate purposes, no person who advocates or adheres to the doctrines of jihad and sharia shall be permitted to enter the United States as a temporary visitor;

That any legal resident alien who advocates, or who adheres to, or who on investigation can be reasonably suspected of adhering to, the doctrines of sharia and jihad shall be deprived of his resident status and removed from the United States;

That any legal resident alien who espouses, or promotes the right of Muslims peacefully to espouse, the institutionalization of sharia in the United States shall be deprived of his resident status and removed from the United States;

That any naturalized citizen who advocates, or who adheres to, or who on investigation can be reasonably suspected of adhering to, the doctrines of sharia and jihad shall be deprived of his citizenship and removed from the United States;

That any natural born citizen of the United States, descended of Muslims born abroad, who espouses, promotes, formulates, or apologizes for the doctrines of sharia and jihad shall lose his citizenship and be removed from the United States.

That any mosque, Islamic center, or Islamic school in the United States that promotes, or disseminates any literature promoting, or hosts sermons or classes promoting, the doctrines of sharia and jihad shall be closed.

That the United States shall encourage the voluntary departure of Muslim legal immigrants and their descendants by offering them $______ in a one-time fee to return to their native land and never to seek to return. The federal government will assure that departing Muslims will receive a fair market price for their real property, investments, and other property that they must sell prior to leaving the United States. To facilitate the acceptance by the respective Muslim governments of their returning emigrants and ancestral sons and daughters, the United States may also consider paying those governments a one-time fee for each person who relocates from the U.S. back to his respective native or ancestral land.

- end of initial entry -

The Gunnery Sgt

Full metal jacket (content warning)

The Nets Last Page

A10 Thunderbolt gun

This weapon weighs 1.8 tonnes. 21 feet of barrel makes the gun acurate at 3.5 miles.


The Hole - video powered by Metacafe

SWORDS - Deployed!

Terrorists worst nightmare come true.

The first gun-toting robotic combat soldiers set to be deployed
from Robotics (116 articles)
January 28, 2006

Meet the world’s first robotic combat soldier – also known as the Special Weapons Observation Remote Direct-Action System (SWORDS). The diminutive remote-controlled US$230,000 SWORDS machine shares the same base as the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Talon robots which have been deployed in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Unlike many of it’s flying robotic (UAV) brethren, the weaponised Talon is not autonomous, being under the direct control of a soldier watching from up to a mile away through an array of cameras which can include both night and thermal vision. SWORDS is completely silent, can keep pace with a running soldier (5mph), climb stairs, right itself, negotiate rock piles, overcome concertina wire, and plow through sand, snow and surf.

Most importantly, it can shoot with astounding accuracy and thanks to its universal weapon-mounting device, can carry and fire your choice of an M-16, M-2, M-240 or M-249 machine gun, or the M-202A1 with a 66mm rocket launcher.

SWORDS will be deployed to Iraq and see combat for the first time in the next few weeks, beginning a new era of ground warfare.

h/t http://www.gizmag.com/go/5098/

Too close to Medina

Saudi Arabia: Warning! Infidel tourist make a wrong turn and your dead.

3 French tourists killed in Saudi Arabia attack.

Three Frenchmen were killed Monday and at least one other was injured when they came under fire while traveling in the Saudi Arabian desert north of Medina, a spokesman for the kingdom’s Interior Ministry said.

Maj. -Gen. Mansour al-Turki said the group of French travelers was resting on the side of a road when gunmen fired at their car, instantly killing two of the men. The third man died later after he was taken to a hospital, and the four Frenchman was in serious condition at an area hospital, al-Turki said.

Women and children also were with the group, who were on a road 17 kilometers (10.6 miles) north of Medina, but they were uninjured. Saudi authorities were investigating the attack, al-Turki said.

UPDATE: see ….. LGF

A World Without America

DICKHEAD Test...R U one?

“10 Signs that You’re a Moral Idiot”…

You can’t tell the difference between Israel and her enemies.
You believe that the United States is the greatest threat to world peace.
You believe that all cultures are equally valid.
You believe that Iraq 2.0 is all about oil.
You believe that war is not the answer.
You believe that Fidel Castro has been a positive influence for Cuba and a role model for the world.
You believe that 9/11 was an inside job.
You believe we should sign the Kyoto Protocol.
You believe that socialism is still the answer.
You believe that (fill in the blank).

Jack Lacton of Melbourne, goes into detail about why each one is a sign that your moral compass is mistuned… I would encourage you to go and read the whole thing.

H/T- http://ker-plunk.blogspot.com

Terror Training over the net.

WW2 German Sniper Training used by terrorists and supporters.

h/t http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/

22 February 2007: Islamic terrorists have been using the Internet for publicity, propaganda, fundraising, recruitment, planning, coordination of attacks and training purposes for well over a decade. Historical analysis of the websites used by terrorists and their supporters often suggests that information we see on such sites today offers a glimpse of what we might expect in the future. We note with interest the recent postings of (and links to) WWII Nazi sniper films.

German WW2 Sniper Video part 1/7

Political Islam & The Mind of War

The Infidel Revolution

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=27030

Bill Warner, the director of the Center for the Study of Political Islam

FP: Mr. Warner, welcome back to Frontpage Interview.

In our last interview, you did a powerful job in crystallizing the mortal danger that Political Islam poses to all non-Islamic societies. I think that interview set the stage for a new mandatory discussion:

What should we do to protect ourselves from the threat?

Yes, we need to understand Political Islam. But once we understand it, what do we do about it? Or is there anything we can really do? Mr. Warner, let’s begin with a general question.

What has marked our resistance so far?

Warner: Our resistance so far has been the first stage: to know the enemy and to develop a strategy. We are now coming to the end of it. Since 9/11 we have had intellectual warriors who have studied Political Islam, built websites, blogged and written books. We now know the entire scope of Islamic doctrine and the biggest elements of a repressed and denied history of the dhimmitude, and annihilation of cultures.

To repeat, we now know the doctrine and history of Political Islam at a strategic level. We now know the enemy and this is a mark of our success.

FP: Just for the sake of our readers, define “dhimmi” please.

Warner: A dhimmi is a second class citizen of an Islamic state. They can remain Christian or Jew, but pay a special tax and have very few legal rights. They are forbidden to study the Koran. Hence, today a dhimmi who defers to Political Islam is ignorant of the doctrine of Islam and never challenges it. Dhimmitude is the state of mind of a dhimmi. We are all in debt to Bat Yeor for her research and books on the dhimmi.

FP: Crystallize for us who the enemy is.

Warner: Our enemy is the civilization of dualism. The ultimate nature of Islamic civilization is duality. Dualistic Islamic ethics and politics propose one behavior for Muslims and another behavior for the unbelievers (kafirs). Islam has declared that the civilization of dualism must annihilate that civilization which is based upon a unitary view of humanity—ours. It is logically impossible for a civilization based upon a unitary view of humanity to co-exist with a civilization based upon duality.

History confirms that becoming Islamic means that every aspect of the targeted civilization must cease to exist. And it works 100% of the time. There is no such thing as a culture that is only partially Islamic. The evidence is exquisitely clear. So for a people who have been raised with an ignorance of Political Islam we have made incredible strides. Remember we had only apologies from those who should have been our first line of defense—our artists, intellectuals, media and the educational system. In a sense we have started at less than zero.

We should all stop, take a deep breath, look at what we have done and congratulate ourselves for completing the first stage: Know the Enemy. Then we need take another deep breath and get back to work: Strategy.

FP: So what should our strategy be?

Warner: Our strategy must be the salvation of our precious civilization. We must save our very selves. All of this cannot be accomplished without the Mind of War. There is a psychology of war that puts everything in a different perspective. We are rich, fat, dumb and happy living in the land that everyone wants to emigrate to. It is easy to turn on the Super Bowl, plan the bar mitzvah, work for a promotion and just let Political Islam have its way. The Mind of War sees that all of what we have is an illusion, that the cancer has started to metastasize.

Until we develop the Mind of War, we are doomed. We must have that emergency reserve that war brings out. Without this state of mind, we will lose all we have. The great civilization of Coptic Egypt of the Pharaohs that lasted 5000 years is gone, a corpse buried beneath Political Islam. Liberal democracy is only 200 years old. Political Islam is 1400 years old and exploding in power. Without the Mind of War, our civilization will become extinct under the impact of the civilization of duality.

FP: This strategy would seem difficult for us to attain because we appear to be very afraid to make comments about Political Islam in our own society, no?

Warner: It is our dhimmitude. It’s bizarre. We are afraid of Political Islam and its followers. They are not remotely afraid of us. Why is this? We are in a psychotic state of fear and shame caused by a past of 1400 years of dhimmitude and slavery. This psychosis is the state of the molested mind. The horror of Islamic politics produces a denial that the deaths, conquests, slavery, rape, humiliation, degradation, suffering and civilizational destruction ever happened.

The molested mind denies the history and doctrine of Political Islam. That is the mind of dhimmitude. Our civilization must acknowledge our status. We are still dhimmis. It has been 1400 years of servitude, slavery, dhimmitude, ignorance and a repressed and denied history.

When we understand our history we will see exactly how repressed and in denial we are. The first mark of the dhimmi is ignorance of Political Islam. We must acknowledge our suffering. We must decide that 270,000,000 of our ancestors did not die in vain.

We must gain insight into why we know so little. There is a very deep reason in our collective psyche why we choose to remain ignorant. We are afraid to admit our dhimmitude and slavery to Political Islam.

A million Europeans were captured and sold into Islamic slavery. If the history of slavery were completely told, whites and blacks could see each other in a new light.In the past, this shame, ignorance and fear could be ignored. But now Political Islam is here and has us by the throat. Our future as a civilization depends upon realizing how close to annihilation we are. Only a revolution can save us. We must have a revolt of the dhimmis, a Dhimmi Revolution.

After 1400, years it is time we faced our shame and fear with the Mind of War.This common suffering must be acknowledged and told. The history and stories must be told within our groups and shared with the other groups. Once we know about the Tears of Jihad, we will be strong and courageous. Once we remember the suffering of dhimmitude, we can stop being afraid, have the Mind of War and be heroes in the war to save our civilization.

Luckily the cure for dhimmitude is very simple. Once you know the history and doctrine of Political Islam, you cease being a dhimmi. Knowledge is the key and the only key to freedom from shame and fear. We shall know the truth and the truth will make us free. Our future depends upon our facing the past.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali sets things straight- Again!

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Real Time w/Bill Maher

Axis of Evil - Full Steam Ahead

WAR IS WAR

Brace yourselves, All Fucking Hell is about to Break Loose!!

UK Telegraph: Israel seeks all clear for Iran air strike
A senior Israeli defence official said negotiations were now underway between the two countries for the US-led coalition in Iraq to provide an "air corridor" in the event of the Israeli government deciding on unilateral military action to prevent Teheran developing nuclear weapons.

"We are planning for every eventuality, and sorting out issues such as these are crucially important," said the official, who asked not to be named. "The only way to do this is to fly through US-controlled air space. If we don't sort these issues out now we could have a situation where American and Israeli war planes start shooting at each other."

British Political Correctness Warning!

Toothless Police


The "higher ups" aren't supplying the men on the front lines with either the tools or the authority to do their jobs properly. Until the voters demand change the criminals/terrorists will just get bolder and more aggressive.

See story below: How will they tackle the threat??

Secret report: Terror threat worst since 9/11

By Sean Rayment, Security Correspondent, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:30am GMT 25/02/2007

The terrorist threat facing Britain from home-grown al-Qaeda agents is higher than at any time since the September 11 attacks in 2001, secret intelligence documents reveal.

The number of British-based Islamic terrorists plotting suicide attacks against “soft” targets in this country is far greater than the Security Services had previously believed, the government paperwork discloses. It is thought the plotters could number more than 2,000.

Under the heading “International Terrorism in the UK”, the document - seen by The Sunday Telegraph - states: “The scale of al-Qaeda’s ambitions towards attacking the UK and the number of UK extremists prepared to participate in attacks are even greater than we had previously judged.”

It warns that terrorist “attack planning” against Britain will increase in 2007, and adds: “We still believe that AQ [al-Qaeda] will continue to seek opportunities for mass casualty attacks against soft targets and key infrastructure. These attacks are likely to involve the use of suicide operatives.”

The document, which has been circulated across Whitehall to MI5, Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorist Command, the Home Office, the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence, also reveals that al-Qaeda has grown into a world-wide organisation with a foothold in virtually every Muslim country in North Africa, the Middle East and central Asia.

Eliza Manningham-Buller, the director general of MI5, warned recently that there were more than 1,600 “identified individuals” actively engaged in plotting terrorist attacks. There were 200 known networks involved in at least 30 terrorist plots. It is thought that the number of British citizens involved in plots could be well in excess of 2,000.

MI5 believes that soft targets, such as the transport system and economic targets such as the City of London and Canary Wharf, are most at risk.
A senior political source said the picture painted by the document was “particularly bleak and unlikely to improve for several years”.

Allies for Freedom

Hilarious Navy Recruiting Ad


Support Our Aussie Diggers

Australian Values

What I've said is that this is a country, which is founded on a democracy. According to our Constitution, we have a secular state. Our laws are made by the Australian Parliament. If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you. This is not the kind of country where you would feel comfortable if you were opposed to democracy, parliamentary law, independent courts and so I would say to people who don't feel comfortable with those values there might be other countries where they'd feel more comfortable with their own values or beliefs. - - Mr Peter Costello, Australian Treasurer.

Coldplay Time

Fix You

The Scientist

Clocks

RAMBO - Coldplay Parody

America Rocks!

Supporters of US Vice President Dick Cheney hold a banner outside the hotel where he delivered his Australian American Leadership Dialogue in Sydney. Cheney on Saturday met Australian Prime Minister John Howard, one of Washington's staunchest allies, for talks likely to focus on troop deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.(AFP/Torsten Blackwood)

Israel - A Vital Friend

Israel a 'Vital Friend' Says New U.S. Poll
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/
by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) A new Gallup poll shows that more than half of American citizens consider Israel to be a "vital friend" in the Middle East. The average U.S. citizen considers Israel to be one of America's most important allies, according to a survey released this week by the world-renown Gallup polling organization. The poll examined America's perception of foreign nations, which it considers to be allies and which it views with disfavor.

More than half of Americans rated Israel as a 'vital friend' – 55 percent of the respondents rated the Jewish State as "favorable" and "important", the only country to be named in both categories. More than half of the respondents to the survey – 63 percent – rated Israel favorably; slightly less than last year's 68 percent, but still much higher than five years ago, when 56 percent of respondents rated the Jewish State favorably.

Of the Arab nations viewed favorable by Americans, Egypt rated at the top of the list, with 60 percent of respondents viewing Israel's southern neighbor positively. Jordan followed with a 51 percent rating. The Palestinian Authority was rated close to the bottom of the list at 16 percent, only one percent higher than Iraq at 15 percent.

Other Middle East countries did not fare nearly as well. Only 35 percent of respondents rated their perceptions of Saudi Arabia as "favorable" and 21 percent granting a positive rating to Syria. The Palestinian Authority was rated close to the bottom of the list at 16 percent, only one percent higher than Iraq at 15 percent.

The poll made it clear that Iran is profoundly unpopular with U.S. citizens -- only 9 percent of respondents giving it a positive rating. English-speaking countries were rated highest, with Canada at the top of the list (92 percent), followed closely by Australia and Great Britain which were tied at 89 percent.

Massive sink hole

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala -
By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA, Associated Press Writer
A 330-foot-deep sinkhole killed at least two teenagers as it swallowed about a dozen homes early Friday and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people in a crowded Guatemala City neighborhood. Officials blamed the sinkhole on recent rains and an underground sewage flow from a ruptured main.
The pit emitted foul odors, loud noises and tremors, shaking the surrounding ground. A rush of water could be heard from its depths, and authorities feared it could widen or others could open up. Rescue operations were on hold until a firefighter, suspended from a cable, could take video and photos above the hole and officials could use the documentation to decide how to proceed.

72 page list of demands- UK

Demands by muslims are non-stop 24/7 around the world

Muslims Demand British Schools Conform to Islamic Culture
In a staggering display of arrogance, Muslim colonizers are insisting that Britain overhaul its schools to accommodate Islamic culture.

The Muslim Council of Britain's 72-page list of demands includes prayer rooms, individual changing cubicles, halal meals, head scarves, and no exams during Ramadan, which goes on for a whole month and slides all around the calendar. The MCB also saw fit to whine that students sometimes have to "experience Islamophobic sentiments," despite Muslims going so far out of their way to make themselves lovable to the rest of the world.

Big changes are needed in PE, where kids have to change and take showers right in front of other kids of the same gender. It's a "profound indignity" for Muslims to have to do this like everyone else.

3D pavement art

New Zealand Tribute

Something tells me these guys take this sport very seriously. Wouldn't wanna mess with these guys that's for sure..

Chemical Warfare Today

The use of gas in war is probably the most vicious of all types of warfare, short of the use of atomic weapons. Not even Hitler allowed the use of gas against Russian or American troops in WW2. He ruled that out. -jw

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents exploded a truck carrying chlorine gas canisters Wednesday — the second such "dirty" chemical attack in two days — while a U.S. official said ground fire apparently forced the downing of a Black Hawk helicopter. All nine aboard the aircraft were rescued.

The attacks offer a sweeping narrative on evolving tactics by Sunni insurgents who have proved remarkably adaptable.

Military officials worry extremists may have recently gained more access to firepower such as shoulder-fired anti-aircraft rockets and heavy machine guns — and more expertise to use them. The Black Hawk would be at least the eighth U.S. helicopter to crash or be taken down by hostile fire in the past month.

The gas cloud in Baghdad, meanwhile, suggests possible new and coordinated strategies by bombers trying to unleash toxic — and potentially deadly — materials. "Terrorists are using dirty means," said Brig. Gen. Qassim Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman.

Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman, said initial reports indicated the chopper was brought down by "small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades" north of Baghdad, but gave no further details. All nine aboard were taken away on a rescue helicopter, he said.

In Baghdad, a pickup truck carrying chlorine gas cylinders was blown apart, killing at least five people and sending more than 55 to hospitals gasping for breath and rubbing stinging eyes, police said.

On Tuesday, a bomb planted on a chlorine tanker left more than 150 villagers stricken north of the capital. More than 60 were still under medical care on Wednesday. Chlorine causes respiratory trouble and skin irritation in low levels and possible death with heavy exposure.

In Washington, two Pentagon officials said the tactic has been used at least three times since Jan. 28, when a truck carrying explosives and a chlorine tank blew up in Anbar province. More than a dozen people were reported killed.

A third Pentagon official said the United States has been concerned about Iraqi militants' ability to get weapons like chlorine bombs and use them effectively. But the official cautioned that chlorine bombs are just one threat on a long list of possible attacks that Iraqi fighters may try to carry out.

It was unclear whether the confluence of new insurgent tactics — attacking isolated combat posts, targeting helicopters more intensely and using chlorine bombs — was coincidental or in response to the U.S. troop increase.

W. Patrick Lang, a former official at the Defense Intelligence Agency, said the insurgents are always "seeking to achieve higher levels of effectiveness" and these new tactics are part of the normal "evolution of sophistication."

Lang said trucks filled with chlorine gas are "really quite deadly" because the gas is potent and spreads easily.
Some authorities believe militants could be trying to maximize the panic from their attacks by adding chlorine or other noxious substances.

Aussie Special Forces Increase

Australia is commited to fighting for the ideal of freedom on the world stage. Together with NATO and the U.S.A. and many other nations.

Australia looks to increase forces in Afghanistan
Wed Feb 21, 8:42 PM ET

CANBERRA (Reuters) -

Australia is considering plans to double its troop deployment to Afghanistan to about 1,000 to head off an expected spring resurgence of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said on Thursday.

But Nelson ruled out any plans to follow Britain's lead and reduce Australia's military commitments in Iraq, saying any phased withdrawal of soldiers helping provide security in Iraq's south would put the lives of those who remain in danger.

Australia has about 1,400 military personnel in and around Iraq, including about 500 soldiers providing security in the country's south, and about 500 in Afghanistan working with Dutch
NATO forces in the Uruzgan province."We are very concerned about the activities of al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan," Nelson told Australian television on Thursday. "What I have decided to do is to send a small scoping group over to Afghanistan to have a very close look at it."

Australia withdrew its special forces commandos from Afghanistan last September, but The Australian newspaper said Australia would send about 250 special forces troops back to Afghanistan, as well as extra helicopter support.
Nelson said while Australia had not yet made a formal decision to deploy extra troops to Afghanistan, he had discussed the issue with the Netherlands, British and U.S. governments and Australians should not be surprised if extra troops were sent.

Before they were withdrawn last September, Australia's special forces spent 12 months in Afghanistan, where they were involved in long-range missions to hunt down Taliban insurgents.
At the time, Australia's Defense Force Commander Angus Houston left open the option of sending the special forces back to Afghanistan but said they first needed a rest.

Past & Present B17 & B52

From Atlas Shrugged via Capitalism Magazine:

"So you think that money is the root of all evil?" said Francisco d'Anconia. "Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?

German Carnival Fun

Carnival attracts 3 million in Germany - Muslims offended.

A Muslim leader criticized a float in the city of Dusseldorf that satirically suggested Islam was not peaceful.

The float carried two identical cartoon-style papier-mache figures, each wearing a suicide-bomber’s belt and carrying a dagger and a pistol. The first was labelled ‘the cliche,’ the second was labelled ‘the reality.’

Both scowling figures were labelled ‘mullahs,’ a term used to describe both Shiite and Sunni clergy. The float was part of a carnival parade watched by more than half a million people in the western city of Dusseldorf.

‘This hasn’t got anything to do with humour,’ said Aiman A Mazyek, general secretary of the National Council of Muslims in Germany. ‘The message it gives me is: ‘We love our prejudices, we’ll stand up for them, even if they are flagrantly untrue.”However ‘as a born-and-bred Rhinelander, I wouldn’t get too upset about it,’ said Mazyek. ‘I’m sure most of the revellers don’t want to spread anti-Islam cynicism.

Evolution of the burka

The Burqa - no longer just for male terrorists escaping

justice through political correctness.

.. LGF

Debate & Relate Aust

Crocodile Dundee - Knife



"Debate and Relate" is dedicated to providing a forum for meaningful communication with a distinctly Australian style, in an era where the Australian identity is under siege.

http://www.debaterelate.com/

Fundamentalism

Blunting the Senses in the Name of Fairness

by David Thompson : the equating of Christian and Islamic "fundamentalism":

"The size of an extremist ‘fringe’ and its relationship to mainstream conceptions of the faith have to be considered as they actually are, not as one might wish, or assume. When given a moment’s thought, all fundamentalisms are not in fact equivalent in their particulars, or the consequences thereof. Yet this is the default prejudice from which many commentators proceed..."

My previous Bad Faith column, which dealt with cultural equivalence and the moral contortions that result, led to a barrage of email and a number of odd exchanges. Most centred on the way in which cultural equivalence can be used to present very different moral phenomena as equal in weight, generally to excuse the larger evil with a much smaller one. Recent events have given further pertinence to the arguments made in that column, and so some additional reflection seems in order.

To recap briefly: Cultural equivalence is evident when Tariq Ramadan depicted those who criticise religious intolerance and intimidation as “extremists”, thereby suggesting some parity of derangement between the people who published cartoons of Muhammad, or argued for the right to do so, and the believers who made homicidal threats and set fire to occupied buildings.

This echoed Karen Armstrong’s reference to “aggressive” cartoons, published “aggressively” – again, attempting to suggest parity of motive and blame, as if one excused the other or shared the same moral gravity. Perhaps we're supposed to believe that unflattering cartoons can hurt a person in exactly the same way that, say, fists, bricks and fire do.

Cultural equivalence is also found in superficial comparisons between fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist Muslims, as if no significant differences existed or should be sought. In February, Reverend Patrick Gaffney of the University of Notre Dame blamed associations of Islam with violence on a history of anti-Islamic prejudice, insisting “there are parallel behaviours in every tradition.” Gaffney maintained there was little point looking for “distinct features” within Islamic theology that might have bearing on the wave of cartoon-related violence. Attempts to deflect attention away from theological specifics are commonplace, even habitual, though not entirely convincing. One cannot simply assume that all religious traditions are exactly equal in how they deal with various slights and taboos.

One might, for instance, contrast how the Christian Messiah and the Prophet of Islam are said to have dealt with unflattering comments. To the best of my knowledge, the New Testament does not inform believers that Jesus sanctioned the assassination of his critics or mocked their dead bodies. While Muhammad did occasionally forgive those who ridiculed him, this forgiveness was by no means a typical response, particularly in his later career. Al-Nadr bin al-Harith, Kab bin al-Ashraf and Uqbah bin Abu Muayt were killed at Muhammad’s instruction in 624 AD, and the poetess Asma bint Marwan was killed the same year for writing a disrespectful verse. Given there are those who are gripped by literalist passions and view Muhammad as exemplary in all regards and for all time, perhaps these events shouldn’t be dismissed quite so lightly.

By way of further illustration, Rosie O’Donnell was happy to assert that, "radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America." But while red-faced evangelists may say, for instance, that gay people are wicked, damned to hellfire, etc, I don’t know of any internationally renowned Christian leaders who are calling for the imprisonment and killing of gay people. Unlike the supposedly “moderate” Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who insists that gay men and lesbians should be “killed in the worst manner possible.” Not condemned, ‘corrected’, prayed for, or pitied, or any of the usual nonsense spouted by Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson et al; but murdered - as brutally as possible.

Read it all.

Come-on USA sell us the F-22

Please, Pretty Please with Sugar on Top :)

America's Churchill of our times

Virgil Goode On The Surge Resolution And Muslims

Video Games are GOOOD NOOB!

A claymore here, a claymore there.

Video Games Improve Vision 20 Percent
And Mom said I was just wasting my quarters! Not only are video games said to improve concentration, now they've been found to increase visual ability, too.

The details: Playing action games (first person shooter-style games, in particular) for a few hours a day for one month increased test subjects' ability to identify letters in a cluttered field by about 20 percent. As Science Daily puts it: "In essence, playing video game improves your bottom line on a standard eye chart."
Interestingly, the study from the University of Rochester showed that vision did not only increase in the primary field (where you tend to focus while playing a game), it also improved in the peripheral parts of vision, suggesting that the video games had improved visual processing overall instead of just training you to search for items better in a narrow range.
Mind you, the study only showed improvement for action games (Unreal Tournament was the tested title) and not less visually complex games: The control group played Tetris. In other words, playing Minesweeper and Solitaire at your desk all day instead of working is not going to give you better eyesight. Tell your boss you need an Xbox 360 and Gears of War, stat.

USS New York "Never Forget"

USS NEW YORK

The U.S.S. New York
Recycled steel from the World Trade Center will be used to build part of a new U.S. warship, according to defense contractor Northrop Grumman.

The brand new assault craft with a capability of carrying around 800 marines and equipment is to be named the U.S.S. New York, in tribute to the almost 2,800 people who died in the attacks of September 11 2001.

The steel is set to be shipped to Northrop's shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, for construction to begin in the middle of next year. The 684-foot ship should be ready for service in 2007. The ship will have the motto "Never Forget".

Chinese Hacking Conflict

Chinese hackers constantly attack the US

Claims Network Warfare Command
By Nick Farrell:

Monday 19 February 2007, 10:19

THE US MILITARY thinks it has been actively engaged in a cyber war against China for ages.
The Naval Network Warfare Command says it is tracking and investigate hundreds of suspicious events each day from Chinese hackers, according to Federal Computer Week.

It says the attacks far outstrip other attackers in terms of volume, proficiency and sophistication.

A senior Netwarcom official said that conflict has reached the level of a campaign-style, force-on-force engagement.

He said that the hackers "exploit anything and everything" and although it is impossible to confirm the involvement of China’s government he reckons it is hard to believe it’s not government-driven.

The hackers are stealing technology, gathering intelligence, researching defence operations and the creating sleeper software in defence department networks, the report claims.
One favourite trick was to use phishing, sending deceptive mass e-mail messages to lure DOD users into clicking on a malicious URL.

They will also use as Trojan horse viruses and worms as a distraction and then come in 'slow and low' to hide in a system while the monitors are distracted.
China seeks a position of power to ensure its freedom of action in international affairs and the ability to influence the global economy, the senior official said.

According to the FCW report, a recent Chinese military white paper states that China plans to be able to win the "informationised war" by the middle of this century.

12% = 84,000 Supporting Terror

84,000 Canadian Muslims Support Terrorism Against Canada, Poll says
Disturbing reality buried
Fear of causing offence and wilful blindness will only end the day innocent Canadians die
http://calsun.canoe.ca

By LICIA CORBELLA

Poll says 12% of Muslims in Canada believe terror plots justified. "That means 84,000 Canadian Muslims think it's justifiable to behead our democratically elected prime minister and blow up the very symbol and centre of our democracy!" Author says media covering up disturbing poll info about Muslim support of terror.

The Big Guns

Military Firepower: Artillery Strike

Snipers

Use of Snipers in Military Documentary


Sniper Documentary - video powered by Metacafe

M16: Pillars of Creation

1995 Hubble Photo considered one of the most Dramatic Space Photos

It has become one of the most famous images of modern times. This image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, shows evaporating gaseous globules (EGGs) emerging from pillars of molecular hydrogen gas and dust. The giant pillars are light years in length and are so dense that interior gas contracts gravitationally to form stars.

Terror top 10

Readers Rank Iran as Top Terror Threat, followed by Democrats

-I kid you not

Sunday, February 18, 2007
By Mike Baker

Iran, Dems, and then Al-Qaeda. Global Warming came in last at number 11. The list offered possible threats including China, Russia, Iraq, Al Qaeda, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, global warming, oil and gas and the erosion of civil liberties in the pursuit of security. Readers had their own ideas

#11 Global Warming… apparently many of you aren’t buying it. In fact, many questioned why it was on the list. Personally, my town’s been socked in with single digit temperatures for the past couple of weeks and snow and ice storms that have left my front yard looking like a scene from the Shackleton expedition. I wouldn’t mind a bit of global warming right about now.

#10 The Erosion of Civil Liberties in the Pursuit of Security… this was very interesting. The overwhelming majority put this in either the #10 or #11 spot. The consensus appears to be that there’s a willingness to sacrifice to some degree in an effort to improve our security posture. Kenny from California wasn’t worried about the government overstepping, noting that “… I have faith in our system of government with its many built in checks and balances.”

#9 China… showed up consistently in the #9 slot on over 75 per cent of the surveys. The general feeling seems to be that you view China as a nation we can work with or at least negotiate with. Mike, whereabouts not cited, mentioned that “… We can prevent their power from passing ours if we work with them and use their economy to our advantage.”

#8 Oil and Gas… here’s an interesting result… most of you (over 60 per cent) commented that oil and gas dependency is a key underlying element of many of the threats cited (Iran, Russia, Venezuela), but on it’s own the topic only merited the #8 ranking.
Justin from the great city of Cedar Rapids, Mich., writes “… People complain about gas that is $2.50 per gallon but then turn around and pay $6.50 for a grande latte mocha carmel frappe whipped with low fat soy cream coffee.” Frankly I only pay $3.76 for my coffee but I suspect we can all get on board Justin’s logic train.

#7 Russia… even with Putin’s channeling of Stalin at the weekend Munich security conference, most respondents had Russia in the #7 slot. Although some were more concerned than others. And Bruce, from parts unknown, has developed a Putin-Centric view of the globe. Bruce laid out the following survey response…
1. Russia… Look at Putin’s attempts to take over Russia, from the oil companies to their Constitution.
2. Iran… is Putin’s agent.
3. Al Qaeda… a dangerous wildcard. Putin is now their friend.
4. North Korea… an unpredictable brat.
5. Venezuela
6. Iraq… possible breeding ground for Putin’s agents.
And so on, you get the idea. Bruce is very concerned about Putin.

#6 Venezuela… he’s my favorite old school Socialist, and apparently he ranks consistently high on many readers lists. Greg from somewhere out there in the hinterlands had an interesting comment, “… Another psychopath with lots of money and now unlimited constitutional power. Of course, we created the environment that he was able to step up into with our dysfunctional Latin American foreign policy.”
Full marks to Greg for noting that the U.S. for many years now has paid little to no serious attention to Latin America. You reap what you sew. Or don’t sew as the case may be.

#5 North Korea… a strong showing with over 70 per cent of respondents putting this isolated and beat down country run by the Kim clan in the #5 slot. Just this past week they demonstrated their unique ability to extract aid from the first world nations by yet again promising to cease and desist with all their nuclear shenanigans. Just to be clear, we will be doing this same thing over again within the next two to three years when this latest aid package runs out.

#4 Iraq… there was some real angst among the respondents with this issue… not over where it ranks (80 per cent had it in the top three position), but rather why it was such a serious concern and threat. Most expressed some variation on the theme that we can’t afford to leave and let Iraq potentially collapse. It is true that the enormous sucking sound would be the vacuum left by Iraq’s collapse just after we left and just prior to the country becoming a battleground for fundamentalists, Al Qaeda, associated elements and regional players with no interest in the welfare or lives of the Iraqis.
However, there is a sense in your responses that, while the majority believe we need to stick it out, the majority is also less than certain that we can make it work.

#3 Al Qaeda... in reality, Al Qaeda was consistently lumped into a larger category by many that used some variation of the term Global Islamofacism. Dale down in Florida commented that “… Al Qaeda will attack U.S. interests when they can, where they can. All they need is some breathing room to regroup. Failure in Iraq could give them that.”
But not all were on board with this ranking. Greg, who opted not to identify his whereabouts, believes that Al Qaeda is “… way over-rated. They spend almost as much time in-fighting as they do fighting. They are largely ineffective.”

#2 The Democratic Party… I kid you not. We had over two dozen additional threats or concerns written-in by readers to supplement the original suggested top ten list. This was the big daddy of write-ins, with almost as many votes as our number one selection. I’d like to include some of the reader comments here, but I’m worried that there may be kids reading the Peoples Weekly Brief.

#1 Iran… selected by more than 80 per cent of respondents to sit at the top of the hit parade. Apparently the combination of President Ahmadinejad, the fundamentalist element, oil revenues and nuclear technology has many sensible, well adjusted people slightly concerned for the stability of the region.

If we’re lucky, the clerics of Iran will eventually neuter the president (that position has traditionally been relatively weak in the Iranian power structure) and the moderates will gain more of a voice within the country. If we’re unlucky, you PWB readers are going to look back on the survey results and marvel at how clever you were to spot the top threat.

Finally, we couldn’t wrap this up without giving a nod to some of the assorted write-in threats and concerns that were submitted. Some of the favorites included:

“… U.S. citizens who don’t educate themselves before forming opinions.”
“… Sloth and greed.”
“… France.”
“… the United Nations.”

The U.N. actually received numerous votes, including from Ed in California who wrote “… if there were ever a more useless organization in the history of the world, I can’t think of it.”

“… the U.S. Congress.”

Fight for an Ideal - The Ideal of Freedom

The Battle Of Thermopylae 1

The Battle Of Thermopylae 2

The Battle Of Thermopylae 3


The battle based on the movie "300"