Saturday, December 29, 2007

Alliance Commitments


Shadow of the Taliban

Patricia Karvelas, political correspondent December 29, 2007

KEVIN Rudd's secret pre-Christmas visit to Australian troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan was motivated by his political and personal desire to demonstrate his Government is deeply committed to fighting the war on terror in both theatres, if differently to the previous government's approach.
It was a deeply symbolic visit that sent a message to troops the new Government will back them all the way. It also sent a message to the US that the election of the Labor Government will not weaken the alliance; both countries believe that Afghanistan is still central in the fight against terror.
Rudd has been consistent both before and after the election. The Labor Government will now move to withdraw the 550 combat troops from the south of Iraq by the middle of next year, leaving 1000 troops in the region to train Iraqi soldiers and protect the Australian embassy in Baghdad.
Rudd's message while in Iraq was that Australia will continue to make an important contribution to the prospect of long-term stability in Iraq. On his surprise visit to Afghanistan a day later, the Prime Minister declared Australia was there for the long haul. The NATO-led force of nearly 40 nations is fighting an intensifying Taliban insurgency. Rudd urged other allies to extend their commitments in Afghanistan, warning NATO and the allies that they risk losing against the Taliban, overthrown by US-led forces after the 2001 al-Qa'ida attacks, unless they adopt more effective military tactics.
Bombings in Kabul have increased dramatically in recent months, while the death toll among allied troops from clashes with the Taliban is rising. The Rudd Government believes ending the Taliban insurgency is an important first step before democracy can be established, a goal that will be discussed at a NATO summit in Bucharest in April. Rudd also warned that Australian troops in Afghanistan face an even bloodier year ahead.
It was a stark warning. Rudd was one of three world leaders who visited their troops in Afghanistan last weekend.
Rudd, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi each separately met Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, underlining the growing NATO concern over the deteriorating security situation across Afghanistan.
Rudd used his visit to the army's 400-strong reconstruction taskforce in southern Oruzgan province to promise that Australia would be staying in Afghanistan. But he was given a grim assessment of the Afghan situation, and he told troops of his own concerns for their safety. It is this grim assessment that has forced Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, who accompanied Rudd on the trip, to take a leadership role in a new NATO military blueprint for Afghanistan, to be led by the US.
Fitzgibbon tells Inquirer that Australia will play a leading role with the US to develop a proposal to be signed by eight nations in Canada in January on a new military strategy in Afghanistan.
Defence ministers representing the eight nations with military forces stationed in the south will meet in Canada late in January to sign off on a new integrated military strategy that will be pushed at a NATO meeting in April. Fitzgibbon categorically rules out Australian troops shouldering more of the security burden after the Dutch decided to withdraw their entire 1600-strong force from Oruzgan by 2010.
Fitzgibbon says the new military strategy he will push would give NATO countries a renewed sense of hope and allow one of them to take the senior security role in the area where Australian forces are deployed. "We just can't be playing a lead role in Afghanistan when we are already so overstretched and there are so many potential contingencies in our own backyard where we will need to play a lead role," he says.
"If we can demonstrate that we have a strategy and things are going well in Afghanistan sometime in the near future, then The Netherlands parliament might take a different view and stick around. Alternatively, it will be easier to get alternative participants," he says.
The submission signed off in Canada will be put to the NATO meeting in Bucharest in April. Fitzgibbon argues it is appropriate that as a good international citizen, we maintain our alliance commitments and make a contribution to the collective effort in addressing extremist behaviour.
"The former Howard government's open-ended, ask-no-questions approach led us to an untenable situation in Iraq and a commitment in Afghanistan which lacks the strategic direction required for success," he tells Inquirer.
"We have discovered that the situation in Afghanistan is far more sobering than we understood to be the case with the limited information we had available to us in Opposition. That means that we've got very, very significant challenges ahead. The new Government is determined to maintain Australia's commitment in Afghanistan but is equally determined to ensure that a coherent strategy is put in place."
The Defence Minister says his worst nightmare is "NATO keeps bumbling along in Afghanistan, people continue to lose their lives without clear progress and the domestic pressures become so great on a whole range of NATO countries that they slowly but surely start to withdraw or wind down their numbers. We can't afford to allow that to happen."
But Australian National University political analyst Michael McKinley says Rudd's promise to stay in Afghanistan for the long haul is "a fatuous statement because the British were in Afghanistan for a long time and didn't win. The Soviet Union went in for 10 years with vastly more troops than had ever been committed by the (West) and came out because it was proving to be impossible to win and doing terrible things to the morale of the Soviet forces. NATO and the US have now probably got half of the maximum number of troops that the Soviets ever had and it's quite clear that although there are isolated pockets of improvement, the Taliban are getting closer and closer to Kabul."
"The main game is actually in Pakistan," he says.
Rudd did not miss this point yesterday, saying of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto: "It reminds us all ... that terrorism is alive and well in the world, that terrorism remains an enemy of all civilised people and that terrorism therefore needs to be confronted with the full vigour and resolve of the democratic community of states."
But McKinley says he hopes the Government's realisation about Pakistan becomes more entrenched in its policy considerations. "I hope people will actually come to realise this. For Rudd to talk about being there for the long haul means staying there until there is a democratic Afghanistan, and that's an indefinite commitment," he says.
"I found the whole thing to be the sort of feel-good statement that some people make when they are in the country but geo-strategically and politically it doesn't seem to make sense to me."
McKinley is blunt in his analysis. "You're not going to get democracy in Afghanistan unless you are prepared to put in very very large numbers of troops, in excess of 200,000. And then you have to keep them there."
He says Bhutto's assassination is a "dramatic reminder" there has to be more emphasis put on Pakistan.
"The notion that if you pacify Afghanistan you've had a major blow against jihadist terrorism suggests that while you are doing this they are not going to somewhere else, like Pakistan."

International Security


Airpower: F-16 destroys enemy rocket site
US Air Force Dec 26, 2007

Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations Dec. 23, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
In Afghanistan, A-10 Thunderbolt IIs engaged enemy combatants who were in firing positions and compounds northwest of Tarin Kowt. The A-10s employed guided bomb unit-38s, cannon rounds, and general purpose 500-pound bombs. Enemy improvised explosive device teams were also struck. The on-scene joint terminal attack controller reported the strikes as successful.
An A-10 expended flares during a show of force demonstration southeast of Bagram. Additionally, the A-10s fired cannon rounds on compounds held by enemy combatants. The missions were deemed a success.
Enemy positions and compounds near Nangalam were struck by GBU-38s and cannon rounds fired from A-10s. The JTAC confirmed the munitions destroyed the intended targets.

An F-15E Strike Eagle deterred enemy activities through a show of force conducted in Musa Qala. During the same mission, the F-15Es dropped GBU-31s on enemy buildings located in Tarin Kowt. Coalition forces were engaged with enemy combatants. The missions were declared successful by the JTAC.
In total, 35 close-air-support missions were flown in support of the ISAF and Afghan security forces, reconstruction activities and route patrols.
Six Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Afghanistan.
In Iraq, an F-16 Fighting Falcon dropped a GBU-38 to destroy an enemy rocket site located northeast of Baqubah. The JTAC reported the bomb destroyed the target and observed secondary explosions.
Enemy personnel in Baghdad were struck by a GBU-38 dropped from an F-16. Coalition forces encountered hostile fire from the enemy combatants. The strike was assessed as successful by the JTAC.
A Royal Air Force GR-4 Tornado showed continued presence in a show of force performed in Baghdad. The mission achieved the desired effect.
In total, coalition aircraft flew 46 close-air-support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions supported coalition ground forces, protected key infrastructure, provided over watch for reconstruction activities and helped to deter and disrupt terrorist activities.
Twenty-three Air Force, Navy and RAF intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq.
Air Force C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster IIIs provided intra-theater heavy airlift support, helping to sustain operations throughout Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa.
Approximately 136 airlift sorties were flown, 436 tons of cargos were delivered and 3,466 passengers were transported. This included approximately 40,800 pounds of troop re-supply air-dropped in Afghanistan.
Coalition C-130 crews from Australia, Canada, Iraq and Korea flew in support of operations in Afghanistan or Iraq.
On Dec. 22, Air Force, French, and RAF tanker crews flew 41 sorties and off-loaded approximately 2.8 million pounds of fuel to 229 receiving aircraft.

http://www.defencetalk.com/

Friday, December 28, 2007

Red Alert- Pakistan

The breaking news bulletin, hosted by Liz Vargas, of the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader, and presidential candidate, Benazir Bhutto. ABC News, Thursday morning, 27-Dec-2007
Bhutto killed in rally bombing
Bruce Loudon, South Asia correspondent December 28, 2007

PAKISTANI opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was killed last night in a suicide bombing at an election rally she had just addressed in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Ms Bhutto, 54, who was rushed to hospital after the attack, died on the operating table.

"At 6.16pm, she expired," said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Ms Bhutto's party, at Rawalpindi General Hospital.

A senior official of Pakistan's Interior Ministry confirmed that Ms Bhutto had died but there were conflicting accounts of how she was killed.

A party security adviser said Ms Bhutto was shot in the neck and chest as she got into her vehicle, before the gunman blew himself up.

"The man first fired at Bhutto's vehicle. She ducked and then he blew himself up," police officer Mohammad Shahid said last night.

There were also reports Ms Bhutto had been hit by ball bearings and pellets in the bomb hidden in the jacket worn by the suicide bomber.

Sources close to her family said the former Pakistani prime minister never regained consciousness after taking the full impact of the blast.
Ms Bhutto's death plunges Pakistan into what many will regard as the gravest crisis in its 60 years of independence, and there were immediate suggestions last night that the national elections due on January 8 will now have to be cancelled.
Links:

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Fleet Upgrade


Navy's new lethal submarine fleet
By Cameron Stewart
December 26, 2007 12:04am
New submarine fleet could cost $25 billion
Regional strategic shifts make subs more important
Mini-subs could covertly transport SAS troops

AUSTRALIA will build the world's most lethal conventional submarine fleet, capable of carrying long-range cruise missiles and futuristic midget-subs, to combat an expected arms race in the region.
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has ordered planning to begin on the next generation of submarines to replace the Royal Australian Navy's Collins-class fleet with the aim of gaining "first pass" approval for the design phase from cabinet's National Security Committee in 2011.
The 17-year project will be the largest, longest and most expensive defence acquisition since Federation, potentially costing up to $25 billion.
It comes at a time when regional navies such as Indonesia's, China's and India's are seeking to dramatically expand their submarine fleets, potentially altering the balance of naval power in the region.
"There is widespread agreement that submarines provide a vital military capability for Australia," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
"The development of new submarines requires long-term planning and needs to progress quickly, and that's what I have asked for."
Defence planners have examined two key studies this year, one by independent think tank the Kokoda Foundation, which have concluded that strategic shifts in the region will make submarines a more important to Australia's defence than ever before.
Defence will study a wide range of futuristic options for the new submarines, which will be built in Adelaide and will replace the six Collins-class submarines when they are retired in 2025.
The new submarines will almost certainly be built by the builder of the Collins-class fleet, the Australian Submarine Corporation, once the government-owned ASC has been privatised.
"South Australia is the only credible location for the construction of Australia's next generation of submarine," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
The aim will be to create the world's most deadly conventional submarine fleet to allow Australia to maintain its strategic advantage over fast-growing rival navies in the region.
Although Defence has not yet ruled out the possibility of Australia acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, this option is considered highly unlikely on strategic, practical and political grounds.

Instead, defence planners will focus on producing a larger, quieter, faster and more deadly version of the existing six Collins-class submarines, which, after a troubled birth in the 1990s, have proved to be one of the country's most important defence assets.
It is not known how many of the new submarines will be built.
Defence has confirmed that one of the options to be considered for the new submarine fleet will be small unmanned mini-subs that can be launched from the "mother" submarines.
"Technological developments such as unmanned vehicles would probably offer complementary capabilities to any future underwater warfare platform," a Defence spokesman said.
These unmanned mini-submarines, crammed with high-tech sensors, could travel remotely tens of kilometres away from the mother vessel to conduct surveillance, detect enemy submarines or carry an SAS team.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Ho Ho

Good Chips!!


Foundations for Victory




War-Gaming in Cyberspace
by Baron Bodissey

In a post last week I wrote about game theory, the Prisoner’s Dilemma, and evolutionarily stable strategies as they apply to the struggle against Islamic expansionism. Readers’ remarks in the comment thread that followed were varied and informative.

In two general areas, however, the commenters veered away from my original intentions:

1.
Focusing on content, rather than process. The exact nature of the “clashing civilizations” is an issue, but this topic has been (and will be) covered adequately in other posts. My intention was to look at the nature of the interactions between cultures, to gain a meta-view of the conflict as an unfolding information war.
2.
Forgetting who “we” are. When making policy prescriptions such as “we should stop immigration from Islamic countries” or “we should insist that immigrants assimilate”, it’s important to remember that “we” can’t do that. Only our governments can do that, and it has become quite obvious in recent years that our governments have no intention of doing any such thing, no matter which political party happens to be in power.
We can lament this situation, but if this discussion is to be anything more than a bitch session, it would be more productive to focus on what “we” really can do.
So, once again, I’d like to look at the information war as a process, and on what we — that is, ordinary people whose will is being thwarted by our elected leaders — can actually do.

Military planners war-game different scenarios when they prepare for the various contingencies that a conventional conflict might entail. I propose to do the same for the information war.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas


A Christmas Story
'Twas the night before Christmas--Old Santa was pissed.
He cussed out the elves and threw down his list.
Miserable little brats, ungrateful little jerks. I have a good mind to scrap the whole works!
I've busted my arse for damn near a year,
Instead of "Thanks Santa"--what do I hear?
The old lady bitches cause I work late at night.
The elves want more money--The reindeer all fight.
Rudolph got drunk and goosed all the maids.
Donner is pregnant and Vixen has AIDS.
And just when I thought that things would get better
Those arseholes from the A.T.O. sent me a letter,
They say I owe taxes--if that ain't funny
Who the hell ever sent Santa Claus any money?
And the kids these days--they all are the pits
They want the impossible--Those mean little shits
I spent a whole year making wagons and sleds
Assembling dolls...Their arms, legs and heads
I made a ton of yo yo's--No request for them,
They want computers and robots...they think - I'm IBM!
Flying through the air...dodging the trees
Falling down chimneys and skinning my knees
I'm quitting this job there's just no enjoyment
I'll sit on my fat arse and draw unemployment.
There's no Christmas this year now you know the reason,
I found me a blonde. I'm going SOUTH for the season

Thanks to JTex

Sexy Legs USA


Ultimate guide to America
By Marianne Betts and Kathleen Cuthbertson December 19, 2007
ALWAYS dreamt of going to the United States? With the strong Aussie dollar, there's never been a better time to get more bang for your buck.
Marianne Betts and Kathleen Cuthbertson scale canyons, gamble more than they can afford and swing with the King to bring us the ultimate guide to America.
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon, a giant chasm carved by the Colorado River over millions of years, is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
How to do it: Many are content to spend a day or two at the South Rim, viewing it from the footpath that runs along the rim and from the road.
But the sheer size of this 446km canyon is best appreciated from a helicopter or a small plane.
As well as day hikes below the rim, there are trails deep in the canyon and campgrounds for backpackers.

Mule rides into the canyon also are popular.
Best times: The South Rim is open year-round, but North Rim access is snowed-in from October to mid-May.
Spring and autumn are the best times to backpack in the canyon and, except for those at camping at Phantom Ranch, a permit is needed to stay overnight.
Hot tip: Book your accommodation in the Grand Canyon Village, inside the national park, well in advance.
Las Vegas
Rising out of the desert, Vegas, the ultimate in eye-popping opulence as well as tackiness and sleaze, is known as Sin City for its gambling and girls.
How to do it: Strolling down the Strip at night when everything is awash in neon is a great experience.
Bellagio's dancing fountains are the best free show in town. They are a mesmerising ballet of water and light every 15 minutes.
See a stage show – everything from topless showgirls to a high-quality Cirque du Soleil production.
Best times: Any time, but it can be oppressively hot in July and August, although rates are cheaper then.
Hot tip: Free drinks are handed to anyone lurking near poker machines.
San Franciso
Cable cars, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf &$150; San Francisco has no shortage of internationally known attractions.
But it's the soul that sets the city apart.
How to do it: Start with must-sees (the bridge, the Rock, the wharf), then head for culturally significant spots.
City Lights Booksellers & Publishers is considered the spiritual home of Beat Generation luminaries such as Jack Kerouac.
Best times: San Francisco is mild all year, but summer is when the famous fog rolls into the bay, threading through the Golden Gate Bridge for those postcard photos.
Hot tip: Try to squeeze in a meal at the Stinking Rose, a Frisco institution devoted to eating garlic. You'll reek for days, but it's worth it.
New York
Whatever you're into, New York has it in bucketloads. Sightseeing. Shopping. Culture. Dining. Bar-hopping. You name it, it's there.
How to do it: Though the queues can be long, a visit to the top of New York's highest landmark, the Empire State Building, is worthwhile. Get a cultural fix at the Museum of Modern Art. See a Broadway show. Escape the city bustle with a picnic and people-watching in Central Park.
Visit some of the sights made famous by classic movies.
Best times: Any time.
Hot tip: Visit the TKTS booth in Times Square for half-price tickets for same-day shows.
Memphis
You can walk into Graceland not giving a hoot about Elvis and come out sad that the King is dead.
His Georgian mansion with sweeping grounds on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee, is a monument not only to his life and career but also a time when US life seemed simpler.
How to do it: Allow most of a day for a Graceland tour and to check out Elvis's collection of cars and his custom jets, named the Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog II. True tragics will want to stay in the surprisingly reasonably priced Heartbreak Hotel.
Away from Graceland, Memphis, the home of blues and rock 'n' roll, has its fair share of musical history. Beale St nightlife is worth a look.
Best times: Elvis's birthday celebration at Graceland runs from January 5-8, but it's open all year.
Hot tip: If music isn't your thing, Memphis is still worth it. Cotton, slavery and the Civil War all helped shape the soul of the city.
Los Angels
THE lure of La-La Land, with its famous "Hollywood" sign that has come to symbolise the movie industry and the city itself, is undeniable. It is home to some of the world's great movie stars.
How to do it: Take a tour of the homes of the stars. Visit Universal Studios. Drive down Sunset Boulevard or go cruising along Rodeo drive.
Visit a famous West Hollywood nightclub.
Best times: Any time, but the weather is most settled from April to August.
Hot tip: Rent a car.
Disneyland and Disney World
A trip to a Disney theme park is still a childhood holiday dream, but these days kids come to find Nemo and Woody rather than Mickey and Donald.
How to do it: Disneyland in California is the original. It's the smaller of the two, but includes the California Adventure theme park, where a major expansion is about to take place.
Disney World, near Orlando, Florida, has the Magic Kingdom, Disney Studios, Animal Kingdom and the Epcot Centre.
Flight Centre US product manager Stephen Walker recommends three to five days to explore Disneyland but at least a week for Disney World, more if you wish to explore other attractions in the area such as SeaWorld and the Kennedy Space Centre.
Best times: The September-October school holidays in Australia are good because it's not peak season in the US.
Hot tip: Book Disney packages before you leave Australia for extras such as early gate entry.
Route 66
The historic highway Route 66 stretches some 4000km from California, through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri to Illinois.
How to do it: Route 66 was decommissioned in 1985, so although it's no longer possible to drive uninterrupted from Chicago to Los Angeles, about 80 per cent of the original highway remains.
Best times: Spring and autumn.
Hot tip: Make the trip in a classic American car.

Holiday Reading

Pray We Win
"Stand By Steyn," from Human Events.
.

West: What about the record?
Here is a brilliant column by Diana West, touching on recent stories we discussed
here, here and here.

----
The Enemy Speaks!!!!!

"Allah willing, we will reach America....The eyes of the nation of Muhammad are set on Washington, London, Moscow, Paris, Delhi, Beijing, and other countries"

Following are excerpts from a speech by Muhammad Taher Al-Farouq, leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which was posted on December 3, 2007 at http://ek-is.org, a website hosted in Tampa, FL, and owned by NOC4 Hosts Inc.

---

"Our goal is to implement Islamic law, the law of the Koran, in God's kingdom. In other words, this kingdom, which belongs to God, should be ruled by the laws of God alone.

"I always tell the mujahideen that if they want to get money, they should beat the infidels and take their money. You must hit them on the head and take their money. You should rob their banks and take the money. You should take their people prisoner, just like the Prophet did. Don't think this is a sin, because the Prophet Muhammad himself exchanged prisoners for ransom. There's nothing wrong with collecting money in exchange for prisoners.



ALSO:
Spencer: Somalia: The Rise and Fall of an Islamist Regime

Somalia: The Rise and Fall of an Islamist Regime" in the September 2007 edition of the Journal of International Security Affairs, is now online here.

ALSO:

http://www.securityaffairs.org/issues/2007/13/spencer.php

...............

I wrote my book Religion of Peace? to try to make a case for Western civilization as worth defending. The fundamentally most misunderstood and overlooked aspect of the defense against the global jihad is the challenge that the jihadists make to Western values, which are in large part Judeo-Christian. This is combined with a historical critique which relentlessly portrays the West as the aggressors against the rest of the world, and as uniquely responsible for its evils -- thus sapping our will to defend something as rotten as Western civilization. This myopia about slavery is just part of this problem. - Mr Robert Spencer

.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Always the Cat

Cat Knocks Down Christmas Tree

Xmas gift Idea #7

hehe...only kidding! Fortress Australia is against white slave girls.


Helplessness & Hope

Message ... George Pell has said God and religion have been unfairly attacked


'Christian God is not to blame'
December 23, 2007 06:21am
Article from: AAP
RELIGION has been unfairly blamed for conflicts around the world in recent years, but Christians should remember the benefits of their devotion, Sydney Catholic Archbishop George Pell has said.
In his Christmas message, the archbishop reminds Christians that the birth of Jesus is a symbol of helplessness and hope.
"Christians believe that the almighty God has visited us, not just through prophets, saints and humanitarian heroes, but through sending his son to be born of a virgin in Bethlehem...," Cardinal Pell has said.
"Babies are vulnerable, more helpless initially than any of the animals.
"So too was the son of God, but every birth inspires hope, even when it is only hope against hope."
The archbishop has said God and his believers are not to blame for the world's wars or crimes and Christians should remember the benefits of their devotion.
"...God has been attacked angrily here and there in the English-speaking world and believers have been accused of causing most of the wars and crimes in history," Cardinal Pell has said.
"This is an exaggeration as the moral monsters of the twentieth century Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot were atheists and Hitler bitterly hated Jews and Christians.
"But all believers have to acknowledge the downside of their long story, while asking that their positive contributions are also recorded."
In July, more than 500,000 Christians will descend upon Sydney in celebration of World Youth Day and a papal visit.
Cardinal Pell has said followers would travel much further than Mary and Joseph did for the birth of their baby son Jesus in Bethlehem.
"I ask you all to welcome them into your hearts and perhaps, as at the Olympics, into your homes," he said.
"As we celebrate again the birth of the helpless newly-born Christ child, we should remember the sick and the sad, the lonely and the angry and reach out to help them."

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22966044-2,00.html

Support Them


NSW - Riot Brewing


Police fear Cronulla-style riot brewing
December 23, 2007 - 5:50AM

There are fears a Cronulla-style riot may be brewing as tensions grow over plans to build an Islamic school in southwest Sydney.
Police are believed to be investigating a series of mobile phone text messages circulating Sydney, purportedly inciting violence.
"We have come together to call for calm after becoming aware of text messages being sent around targeting young Australian Muslims," Independent Centre of Research Australia Youth Centre president Fadi Abdul-Rahman told The Sunday Telegraph.
"Police have confirmed they are investigating.
"We are extremely concerned as this is exactly what happened with the Cronulla riots."
Mr Abdul-Rahman was joined by Uniting Church Minister Dr David Millikan in condemning the texts.
Dr Millikan launched an attack on Christian Democrats leader Fred Nile, whose comments in the past week may be seen as having added fuel to the fire.
Tensions escalated at Camden on Wednesday night at a public meeting to discuss the proposed 1,200 student Islamic school.
At the meeting Mr Nile spoke of Islam's opposition to Christianity and also claimed some Muslim schools overseas had produced terrorists.
Camden Council has received more than 300 submissions on the proposal and will make its decision on the development in March.
Early in November, 1,000 residents protested against the school, with some saying it would damage the area's social fabric.
Later in November two pigs' heads were rammed on to metal stakes and an Australian flag draped between them on the site of the proposed school.
AAP
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/12/22/1198175421734.html?s_rid=theage:top5

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Merry Christmas Soldier


Thankyou to all the men and women everywhere fighting for Western Freedoms.

Merry metal xmas

Pantera - Drag the Waters


Pantera-Walk


Thrash Metal
Headbanging music set to full metal jacket

Pillars of Truth Everywhere


Culture in Crisis
Pope Benedict XVI on Europe

Pope Benedict XVI is particularly aggrieved when he observes the European landscape. In Without Roots (2006), co-authored with Marcello Pera, the Holy Father makes the diagnosis that "Europe seems hollow, as if it were internally paralyzed by a failure of its circulatory system that is endangering its life" (66).

Pera, though an unbeliever, is in agreement with Benedict’s assessment to a remarkable degree while averring that, "Christianity has been the greatest force in Western history" (2). He deplores the current relativism that is sweeping Europe, contending that it has "debilitated our Christian defenses and prepared us for surrender."

He fully agrees that Benedict’s diagnosis that Europe has "lost the capacity for self-love." In fact, as he adds, the situation is "nothing short of pathological."

"How," says Pera in a tone of near desperation, "can we restore realism" to Europe?"

The Pope enumerates three phenomena that are contributing to this necrosis.

The first is a widespread disregard for human rights and human dignity. In the concrete sphere of biology, in reference to cloning, the freezing and storing of human fetuses for research purposes and for organ transplants, stem-cell research where human embryos are deliberately destroyed, one finds clear evidence that the notion of rights and dignity do not apply to the human unborn.

The second factor relates to the undermining of monogamous marriage through easier forms of divorce, widespread cohabitation, and the popular acceptance of a hedonistic lifestyle. Paradoxically, as monogamous marriage is being undermined, there is a clamor for homosexual "marriage." If same-sex unions are perceived to have the same moral standing as monogamous, heterosexual marriages, the Pontiff, concludes, "then we are truly facing a dissolution of the image of humankind bearing consequences that can only be extremely grave" (77).

The third factor pertains to the decline of religion, particularly the practice of Christianity. To a significant extent, a loss of a sense of the sacred has been replaced by multiculturalism. Yet it is a spurious form of multiculturalism that routinely tolerates acts that dishonor Christianity in the name of freedom of speech. Such tolerance is not extended to other religions.

Pope Benedict does not believe that a true multiculturalism can survive without a genuine respect for the sacred. Speaking for Christianity, he reminds us that [I]t is our duty to cultivate within ourselves respect for the sacred and to show the face of the revealed God, of the God who has compassion for the poor and the weak, for widows and orphans, for the foreigner; the God who is so human that He Himself became man, a man who suffered, and who by His suffering with us gave dignity and hope to our pain. (79)

Of the three factors that the Pope enumerates, the first two pertain to truth: the truth of man, including his dignity and rights; the truth of marriage in its traditional, universal and Biblical sense as the union of a man and a woman. The third factor pertains to religion. Pope Benedict, therefore, is urging Europe to embrace the pillars of truth and religion so that it can overcome its culture of "self-hatred" and be restored to health.

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2007/0703fea4sb2.asp

h/t:jtex


Friday, December 21, 2007

Come get some


Official Duke Nukem Forever Teaser Video

Duke Nukem Time to kill intro

Duke Nukem Repopulation

Enslaved by Culture



What Will Save Civilization?
By Donald DeMarco

The father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, once wrote "I scorn to distinguish between culture and civilization." At the heart of this statement lies Freud’s philosophy of culture. For him, the transition from culture to civilization is not a favorable one. Indeed, he said that "every individual is virtually an enemy of civilization." In other words, civilization places too many restrictions on man’s need for instinctive satisfactions and too many obstacles in his path toward happiness. For Freud, civilization is man’s enemy. For this reason, Philip Reiff, editor of the ten-volume Collected Papers of Sigmund Freud, refers to him as "the champion of the second best."
The Catholic view, on the other hand, sees civilization is the crown of culture—it is the condition to which society aspires. Just as the individual person aspires to better things, so too, does culture (a society of persons) aspire to higher modes of civilization. Indeed, the scholars of antiquity contend that if all the great and broad contributions of the ancient Greeks could be distilled into a single word, it would be aspiration. All human beings experience dissatisfaction and discontent with their lot. They naturally desire a better state.
Therefore, they have a natural desire to advance from culture to civilization. Religion makes this advance possible; truth makes it practicable. Human beings can suppress their aspirations and settle for "second best," but Catholicism most assuredly does not champion the second best. It urges human beings to endure great difficulties and continuing struggles to realize more fully their humanity and their reflections as creatures made in the image of God.
The Catholic view urges people to live in loving relationship with their neighbors and to work together for a better tomorrow. For the Greeks, "aspiration" is a description of the soul; for Catholics, it also includes the supernaturally infused virtue of hope. Christ provides the objective correlative for our aspirations. Catholics have little excuse for avoiding their role in helping to shape culture into a civilization.
But how is it to be done? What marks the difference between mere culture and genuine civilization? Religion is one necessary part. In Truth and Tolerance, Pope Benedict XVI comments:
In all known historical cultures, religion is an essential element of culture, is indeed its determinative center; it is religion that determines the scale of values and, thereby, the inner cohesion and hierarchy of all these cultures. (59)
Religion reminds people that they have a destiny that transcends their momentary satisfactions. But commitment to the truth is necessary to ensure that religion is guiding the people along a realistic path. Finally, culture is the lasting matrix in which man first plants his feet and begins to hope for something better. Religion, truth, and culture, then, constitute three pillars of civilization.
Religion and Truth Are Essential

Culture is omnipresent and irremovable. One might question the reality of God or the possibility of discovering truth, but no one can doubt the persistent and unmistakable presence of culture. For this reason, there is a tendency for societies to exclude religion and truth so that culture can become self-sufficient (a process known as enculturation or acculturation). Various attempts throughout history to exclude religion and truth, however, have failed. They have failed primarily because they deny the permanent need in the human being for God and the truth about himself that is indispensable for justice, peace, and mutual cooperation.
Pontius Pilate infamously set truth aside and, in so doing, invited the frenzy of the mob. In today’s world, it is relativism that attempts to set truth aside. It does so in the name of tolerance, but it really opens the door to what Pope Benedict XVI aptly labeled "the dictatorship of relativism." In the absence of truth, either the mob or the dictator prevails.
Nevertheless, even some Christian theologians have argued for making culture purely secular. William O. Fennell, for example, in his "Theology of True Secularity," maintains that God created a secular world and populated it with autonomous men free to use it. Fennell then argues that:
[I]n Jesus Christ, God has rescued the world from man’s "religiousness" and restored it to its original "secularity," and in him has given back to man the freedom which he lost when he sought to make his culture a religious and therefore an idolatrous thing. (New Theology, 29)

The fact that Christian theologians—and there are many of them—believe that religion’s role in society should be eradicated to prepare the way for secularization shows well the seductive power culture has. That said, religion needs the guidance of reason so that it does not devolve into mere superstition. In 44 B.C. Marcus Tullius Cicero advised that "we should do ourselves and our countrymen a great deal of good, if we were to root superstition out entirely."
The great Roman statesman was pleading for the abolition of superstition, but for the retention of religion. We do not need superstition, he proposed, but we do need religion. Cicero’s grasp of the consonance between religion and reason is worthy of inclusion in John Paul II’s longest encyclical, Fides et Ratio. The Church loves reason because it loves truth, and in loving truth, freedom.
Get Beyond the Realm of Caesar

It is the love of truth—not a wall of separation between church and state—that protects our freedoms by telling us what to render to Caesar and what to render to God. The great twentieth-century Thomistic philosopher Jacques Maritain opens his study on The Things That Are Not Caesar’s with the following impassioned statement concerning the distinction between the spiritual and the temporal powers:
Nothing is more important for the freedom of souls and the good of mankind than properly to distinguish between these two powers: nothing in the language of the day, has so great a cultural value. It is common knowledge that the distinction is the achievement of the Christian centuries and their glory. (1)
Failure to make this distinction opens the way to reducing the human being to the level of a pawn of the state, enclosed within a narrow secular framework. Recognizing and affirming man’s higher destiny allows him to exercise his God-given freedom as a person and to enjoy those spiritual realities that are not contained within the confining realm of Caesar.
The purely secular view absorbs the spiritual into the temporal and denies man his inalienable right to be who he is, namely, a being who has a spiritual dimension and an innate capacity to know truth and utilize his freedom. Freud’s final sentence in his Future of An Illusion is a lucid and disturbing example of his view of man de-spiritualized. It would be an illusion, Freud says "to suppose that what science cannot give us we can get elsewhere."
The truth of man—the anthropological realism that is the centerpiece of John Paul II’s personalism—provides him with the real possibility of working effectively within his culture in order to produce greater realizations of civilization. Just as the acting person has a civilizing effect on culture, so too, does civilization have a civilizing effect on the person.The ultimate purpose of culture, then, beyond cultivating the more superficial differences of language, lifestyle, cuisine, forms of celebration, and so on, is to contribute to the development of the human person while also establishing a civilization. If we fail to effect the proper interplay of culture, religion, and truth, we become absorbed in and enslaved by culture, and lose sight of who we are and where we are going.
A River in the Desert

The Catholic view of civilization is as sound as it is simple. It is also as revolutionary as it is realistic. What, then, impedes its acceptance? One impediment is our culture’s almost exclusive preoccupation with making a living and keeping up with the Joneses. Materialism has brought about a lack of appreciation, or even awareness, of what is needed to maintain a civilization. As distinguished Catholic historian Christopher Dawson observes in his book, The Crisis of Western Education:
Our modern Western secularized culture is a kind of hothouse growth…[Man] seldom has to think for himself or make vital decisions. His whole life is spent inside highly organized artificial units—factory, trade union, office, civil service, party—and his success or failure depends on his relations with this organization. (173)
Nonetheless, Dawson offers us an image of hope when he tells Christians that they can contribute to the revitalization of civilization if they would only assume their appropriate roles as Christians. Though the following message was penned in 1952, it has a fresh and timely quality that is perfectly harmonious with the current mind and expressed hopes of Benedict XVI:
However secularized our modern civilization may become, this sacred tradition [Christianity] remains like a river in the desert, and a genuine religious education can still use it to irrigate the thirsty lands and to change the face of the world with the promise of new life. The great obstacle is the failure of Christians themselves to understand the depth of that tradition and the inexhaustible possibilities of new life that it contains. (Understanding Europe, 255)
Tend the Garden

Culture, religion, and truth are three pillars of civilization. The image of the pillar is appropriate in that it denotes firmness, strength, and support. Yet the image is imperfect because culture, religion, and truth are not discrete entities that can be separated from one another. They interpenetrate, intertwine, flow into each other.
Civilization depends entirely on the proper interweaving of these three factors.
So, in addition to the image of three pillars, the image of a garden helps our understanding of civilization. Culture is the soil, truth is the light, and religion is the sun. The growth that is the movement from culture to civilization requires the coordinated activities of all three of these dynamic forces. Truth, informed by religion, stirs the culture, and civilization blossoms.If we are to save our civilization, we must tend the garden and repair the pillars
Donald DeMarco is professor emeritus at St. Jerome’s University and adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College and Seminary and at Mater Ecclesiae College.

h/t: jtex

Sam & Space

SPACE : WITH SAM NEILL - Boldly Go

If humans are ever to reach deep space, there will need to be some revolutionary changes in transport.

See Darock's posts for episodes 1, 2 and 31:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b4d_11774663532:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d97_11774741663:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e3a_1177551727 4
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8d3_11958893675:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5e7_1195909162

Al says:


We can't allow the viruses of political correctness and multiculturalism to intimidate us when it comes to speaking the truth about Islam.
.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Frontline Aussies

On the Frontline in Afghanistan
Australia's new Defence Minister has called on NATO to draw up a new strategy for Afghanistan with special attention to the most dangerous zone of southern Afghanistan where the Australian troops are stationed. Peter Lloyd takes a closer look at the dangerous work of securing and keeping territory won from the Taliban after weeks of close contact fighting.


Australian Troops Working on Reconstruction in S. Afghanistan. Pt2
Freelance journalist embedded with NATO troops. Shown on C-SPAN.

Mozziephobia

Forget global warming, these mozzies will kill us all first.


The mozzies made me do it
By Phoebe Stewart
December 19, 2007 12:00am
A DRUNK driver caught behind the wheel at nearly five times the legal limit said he drove to avoid a mozzie attack.
Stephen James Diggs, 30, made the "stupid decision" to drive with a blood alcohol level of 0.236 per cent because "sand flies and mosquitoes" where he was fishing with a mate were "absolutely horrific", a Darwin court was told. Because "they'd run out of Aerogard" and had drunk many beers, which "didn't even help", he "took the risk" and drove home with his dogs and gear, only to be caught by police.
Diggs pleaded guilty to drink-driving in the Darwin Magistrates Court yesterday and driving without a licence. Click here to read the full Northern Territory News story

Dec 20 - A bad day for home invasions

3 reports on the same day in Australia of home invasion crimes.


Two women threatened with gun in Werribee home robbery
AAP
December 20, 2007 06:58am

A GIRL and a woman were threatened with a gun and knife by robbers who invaded their home in Melbourne's south-west.
Police said two men in dark clothing and hooded tops forced their way into the Shaws Road home in Werribee about 12.30am. They believe the offenders turned off the power to the property to lure the occupants outside. When one of the occupants went outside to switch it back on, the men confronted them and kicked open the front door. They demanded cash and took a mobile phone, threatening the woman, 36, inside with a knife and firearm.
The other occupant, a girl, 17, was grabbed by the men as she went to investigate the noise. The woman was locked in the garage while the men dragged the girl through the house demanding cash. The girl managed to escape, fleeing through the front door. The offenders escaped on foot, last seen running into Sanderling Street.
One of the men is described as aged 20-30, 183cm tall, thin and unshaven with a small patch of facial hair just below his lower lip. The other is described as 165cm tall of solid build.Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact their local police or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun


Home invasion puts woman in hospital
December 20, 2007 07:50am

POLICE are investigating an aggravated burglary in Castella which has left a 56-year-old woman in hospital.
Investigators have been told that a man broke into the Castella Rd property around midnight. Once inside, the intruder went into the bedroom and assaulted the sleeping woman. After the assault he fled the address and the woman managed to call emergency services.
She was conveyed to Maroondah Hospital with serious injuries. A 28-year-old Castella man is currently assisting police with their investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit the website at www.crimestoppers.com.au

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/


Man, 95, robbed in own home
December 20, 2007 07:35am
A 95-YEAR-OLD man has been robbed at knifepoint in a home invasion in south-western Sydney.
The elderly man was sitting on the front veranda of his Copeland St home in Liverpool yesterday afternoon, when he was robbed by two men at about 3pm, police said. One of them threatened the man with a knife, while the other went inside the house. Police say both men then fled the scene, and were last seen running up Moore St. The 95-year-old and police have yet to determine what was stolen.
One man has been described as being of white/European appearance, aged in his 20s, slim, and 170cm tall. He has brown hair and was wearing dark-coloured board shorts. The second man has been described as in his early 20s, with slim build, 173cm tall, with short dark hair and tanned skin. The two men involved were both wearing blue singlets, police said.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun

Defending Christmas

Send the ACLU a Christmas Card...



The Alliance Defense Fund, and the ACLJ are both great organizations that defend Christmas each year. The Alliance Defense Fund does it for free. Why not help groups like that out this year?However, from experience last year...

I know that many will insist on sending the ACLU a Christmas card. Afterall, it is tradition. If that is how you want to make your message...we have some great greeting cards and postcards available at our online store. Plenty of other great Christmas gifts too.

Send your Christmas card to the ACLU at:
ACLU
125 Broad Street
18th FloorNew York , NY 10004

h/t:
http://conservativeblogtherapy.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Global Psychotics

A Great movie- The Big Lebowski
---
Damned straight it's a hoax
— and pretending it's real is becoming increasingly insane.

Global Warming Psychosis
Believing in the ballyhooed climate change crisis requires a disassociation from factual reality that can only be called psychotic.

The Ramones

Merry Christmas Baby - The Ramones (HQ Audio)

3 Doors

3 Doors Down
Citizen Soldier:



Kind Thanks to C.B. : http://rightwingnation.com/

Comrades in Arms

D Day Cemetery, France
[here is an English translation]
When two schools, a library, a police station, a garage and several other buildings on a list already forgotten are set on fire, not to mention dozens of vehicles each day, we are used to it. It has become almost a routine. However, the second night of Villiers-le-Bel marks an escalation that the media and the government would probably prefer to hush up, but which may be the start of a new stage: the use of firearms.
In truth, the surprise is not that the rioters began to use them, but first, that they hadn't done it sooner [...] and second, that they are still confining themselves to hunting rifles and lead shot.
The suburbs however have been armed for a long time with caches of quality war weapons, lethal weapons, against which the bullet-proof vests will be useless.In other words the situation is explosive in both meanings of the word. It seems that from one riot to the next the techniques harden, the methods become more professional and the police and gendarmes will soon have to confront, if they have not already, experts in urban guerilla warfare [...]
I am convinced that up until now we have been lucky that the thugs and future murderers in the suburbs have not yet dared to use their fire power. I hope that the public authorities will become aware of the imminence of calamity and especially that they will finally seek solutions. I would not like to be in their shoes, for the margin of maneuverability, if there is one, will be very narrow.
Yes, the perpetrators must be mercilessly punished. But repression, in the long term, solves nothing.
And people must stop dreaming, those on the Left and the others: neighborhood police are not a panacea either. You cannot graft an ethnic police force ["police communautaire"] on a society that is this sick and torn apart, in which the members are in open rebellion against society.
Police are a means, not a solution. Educators will not be useful either: you cannot cure cancer with a placebo. To shower the caids [a type of governorship, originally found in North Africa and Moorish Spain] with subsidies to buy armed peace will be the chosen way: it will provide only a short respite.
Is there another solution? I don't know, and I am very happy not to be in government.
h/t: J Tex

Monday, December 17, 2007

Friendship Outside Only

New Jihad Watch: Islam is Peace wants to Make Friends

In Part 6 of Robert’s look at the UK’s “Islam is Peace” campaign, he takes on the fifth and final point: “To make friends…” A close look reveals that the if campaign really wishes Muslims to make friends with non-Muslims, they have some verses from the Koran to deal with.



Don’t forget to read Robert’s excellent Blogging the Qur’an series, with new posts arriving each Sunday morning.

Jihad WatchReligion of Peace?: Why Christianity is and Islam Isn’t

Out There

Berserk & Pantera


Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness [Welcome to the Jungle]

Xmas Gift idea #7


Star Wars: Jedi Saga Wii
First of all, this is real Wii swordfighting. Not that half-hearted "flick to activate sword swing No. 1" Red Steel crap. Real lightsaber fighting, the glowing blade mapped to your Wiimote. And, it's every lightsaber battle from all six movies.
You lightsaber your way right the damn hell through waves of storm troopers, then the boss battle is some famous duel from the movies. Darth Maul, Count Dooku, that one retarded four-armed robot thing with the completely unprotected heart, all of them, leading up to a climactic duel with Darth Vader. In the bonus levels, you get to switch sides and cut down the good guys.

Gun Myths

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Advanced Electronic Ship

click to enlarge

The Advanced Electric Ship Demonstrator “Sea Jet” undergoes sea trials, Nov. 30, 2005, on Lake Pend Oreille in Bayview, Idaho. The 133-foot vessel is testing an underwater discharge water jet called AWJ-21, a propulsion concept with the goals of providing increased propulsive efficiency, reduced acoustic signature, and improved maneuverability over previous destroyer class combatants. U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams Related Photo

Hypocritical Oppressors

THE MYTHS THAT FUEL THE LEFT'S ONGOING DENIAL OF REALITY

The end of the year is upon us, and I think it is time once again to look at the "Top 10 Myths of the Iraq War" that were compiled by Strategy Page in January of this year. I've just listed them, so go to the link for a discussion of each myth:
1-No Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).
2-The 2003 Invasion was Illegal.
3-Sanctions were working.
4-Overthrowing Saddam Only Helped Iran.
5-The Invasion Was a Failure.
6-The Invasion Helped Al Qaeda.
7-Iraq Is In A State of Civil War.
8-Iraqis Were Better Off Under Saddam.
9-The Iraq War Caused Islamic Terrorism to Increase in Europe.
10- The War in Iraq is Lost.
Also from Dr Sanity
http://drsanity.blogspot.com/

WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE !
The dustbin of history eagerly awaits the apparatchiks from Hugo's little revolutionary Cuban-wannabe hell-hole:

A video of a Gucci- and Louis Vuitton-clad politician attacking capitalism then struggling to explain how his luxurious clothes square with his socialist beliefs has become an instant YouTube hit in Venezuela. Venezuelan Interior Minister Pedro Carreno was momentarily at a loss for words when a journalist interrupted his speech and asked if it was not contradictory to criticize capitalism while wearing Gucci shoes and a tie made by Parisian luxury goods maker Louis Vuitton."I don't, uh ... I ... of course," stammered Carreno on Tuesday before regaining his composure. "It's not contradictory because I would like Venezuela to produce all this so I could buy stuff produced here instead of 95 percent of what we consume being imported."

Workers of the world, unite! Rise up! You have nothing to lose but those oppressive marxist thugs who promise you everything, but only manage to suck away all your liberty, your wealth, and your pride. Get rid of all the stupid and hypocritical oppressors who are working so hard to bring you poverty and misery even as they line their own pockets and live the high life.
Viva La Revolucion!
Dr Sanity