Beware Citizen, Terror is Everywhere.

Thanks to the endless war on terror and mission creep, our governemtn can now label anything and everyone a terrorist. When hysteria runs amok the term loses all meaning.For example ,If you complain about your local government about something as common as water quality - you’re a terrorist. Protesting corporations has long been viewed as communistic  but now you are also a terrorist. Even questioning the cost of the very security system erected to keep us safe from terrorists is viewed as heresay. Where does it end? It never does citizen.

For those strong of heart-you'll need a strong stomach too..

 
The following speech, which I have excerpted, was forwarded to me recently. That such outrageous statements like these come my way mystifies me but I felt the need to comment.

Geert Wilders, Chairman, Party for Freedom, the Netherlands, at the Four Seasons, New York, introducing an Alliance of Patriots and announcing the Facing Jihad Conference in Jerusalem.

“I come to America with a mission.  All is not well in the old world.  There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic.  We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe.  This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer survival of the West.  The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe . . . Let no one fool you about Islam being a religion.  Sure, it has a god, and a here-after, and 72 virgins.  But in its essence Islam is a political ideology.  It is a system that lays down detailed rules for society and the life of every person.  Islam wants to dictate every aspect of life.  Islam means 'submission'.  Islam is not compatible with freedom and democracy, because what it strives for is sharia.  If you want to compare Islam to anything, compare it to communism or national-socialism, these are all totalitarian ideologies. . .

Dear friends, liberty is the most precious of gifts.  My generation never had to fight for this freedom, it was offered to us on a silver platter, by people who fought for it with their lives.  All throughout Europe , American cemeteries remind us of the young boys who never made it home, and whose memory we cherish.  My generation does not own this freedom; we are merely its custodians.  We can only hand over this hard won liberty to Europe 's children in the same state in which it was offered to us.  We cannot strike a deal with mullahs and imams.  Future generations would never forgive us.  We cannot squander our liberties.  We simply do not have the right to do so.

We have to take the necessary action now to stop this Islamic stupidity from destroying the free world that we know. ”              

I found this speech beyond offensive. Speaking of extremist, This man is reviled as one in his own country. He was barred from entering the UK because of his racism. Dutch authorities tried to get his film Fitna, which links the Koran to terrorism, banned and no TV company would air it. As reported on the BBC  "The Dutch MP had upset the Muslim world before Fitna by calling for a ban on the Koran and likening it to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf."

Yes there are extremists in Islam, there are extremists in every religion. Terrorists have used them to justify their cause through out history, This is nothing new.

The claims that Islam is taking over Europe is hyperbole at best and racist at worse. To call all Moslems extremists is irresponsible and absurd. Most Moslems are appalled by terrorists appropriating their religion and there are plenty speaking out about it.

We should guard against intolerance and it's partner violence with reason, law and resolve, not with equally inflammatory language. As the last sentence of the message sent to me so ironically put it:

". . . it is so very important that we understand there is NO possibility of a coexistance with a culture that fervently believes they have a Divine Mission to EXTERMINATE all those who refuse to bow to the will of ISLAM”

This applies equally to the idiots who believe this horse shit.

She Does Get Ink

The following is my letter to the editor published last week in the Register-Guard, the local newspaper.


When did the US decide it was acceptable to torture people? On September 12 , 2001 that’s when. Before then we would decry it’s use in third world countries and banana dictatorships we propped up. But when some bad people killed some of our people we reacted like everyone else with retaliation.

After the latest incident with the bomber from Yemen, the hysterical cries of a mob gathering to stone a whore drowns out reason. None of this will end the fear of terrorist attacks, none of it will gain us valuable information, even if we caught the real leaders it will do no good, why?

Because torture is not about extracting information, it’s about extracting revenge. Even professional interrogators know this doesn’t work.

The effect will only lead to a war of attrition. “Let’s do to them what they did to us” is an ancient battle cry. We have to recognize this is merely a need to satisfy our bloodlust, not a way to stop those with fanatical egos. It suits any government to keep the populace in a state of fear, so suspicion, paranoia and angry are given loud free reign to prevent real peace from being achieved.

The Year in Review Part 2

I have been sorting out my notes and found some leftover bits and pieces on various subjects. Here, in no particular order I present some observations about events, controversies, and the media from the last year that caught my eye.

We were treated to yet more examples of TSA incompetence from their security manual being posted on the internet to the latest bomb threat and their bone head security solution to it, that that average person can see is useless. Real security is based on stopping bad people not bad things. It’s about correctly interpreting the ego of these bad people. As Dr. Hawkins says about ego in his book, "Reality vs. Subjectivity":

"The ego is not only unable to correctly access situations that are fatal but it even willingly sacrifices life for its own ends. The ego is therefore potentially deadly and would rather 'see you dead than admit it is wrong. . . The ego is intran sigent in that it fails to learn from its mistakes. Failed policies are reinstated repeatedly, even in the face of major catastrophe, and the justification is almost always a resort to some moralistic catch phrase that services the political gains of the propagandists who exploit the gullibility of the naive public."

We think racial profiling is wrong blah, blah but law enforcement has been engaging in racial profiling for years. Ask any Black or Hispanic how many times they have been pulled over by a cop. Is the TSA afraid of using ethic profiling because of the political backlash or because the profiling won’t work? Take some lessons from the Israeli's, they know how to do this.

Speaking of fantasy the ( non) issue of gay marriage is till in the news with the advocates sounding more intelligent than the opponents.

“Gay people should be free to marry and other people should be free to believe that our same-sex marriages are wrong because their religion forbids it or because that's how they were raised or because they just think it's icky. Just because same-sex marriage is legal doesn't mean that everyone is required to approve. Interracial marriage is legal despite the disapproval of some; inter-faith marriage is legal despite the strong and sometimes violent disapproval of most religious traditions; divorce is legal despite the disapproval of Jesus Christ himself and despite being forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church. Gay people want the same deal interracial couples, inter-faith couples, and divorced-and-remarried couples all have now: our marriages should be legal even if some people disapprove.” Dan Savage

Gays are also angry and impatient. And you don’t want to piss off a drama queen.

":. . . If Obama wants to support gay equality, he knows what to do. If Pelosi and Reid want to support gay equality, they know what to do. If HRC believes in gay equality, they also know what to do.So spare us the schmoozing and the sweet-talking and do it. Until then, Mr. President, why don't you have a nice steaming cup of shut-the-fuck-up? " Andrew Sullivan

Meanwhile certain so called Christians ( Scott Lively, Caleb Lee Brundidge, Don Schmierer) are now backpedaling from the propaganda they spewed in Uganda now that the country is pushing for a law that would put homosexuals to death. Good thing they weren’t told Jews were out to pervert their children.

Health care reform is still a disgusting joke. If you think our system is fine, good for you. The Republicans on the other hand hope that I die quickly if I’m hit by a car. So do I because I have no insurance.

On that cheerful note I wish everyone a happy new year where you are in good health when you attend the wedding of a gay friend after flying safely on a plane.