Media Criticism, Political Commentary, War Commentary

Creeping Sharia

Bruce Bawer, on the cultural surrender of the west, aided and abetted by our own media, and the multi-culturalists in both academia and government.

Not exactly a new theme, but it doesn’t hurt to repeat or remind, for those who haven’t seen things like this, or have gone back to sleep.

It’s a long piece, but this is really the nut of it:

What has not been widely recognized is that the Ayatollah Khomeini’s 1989 fatwa against Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie introduced a new kind of jihad. Instead of assaulting Western ships or buildings, Kho­meini took aim at a fundamental Western freedom: freedom of speech. In recent years, other Islamists have joined this crusade, seeking to undermine Western societies’ basic liberties and extend sharia within those societies.

The cultural jihadists have enjoyed disturbing success.

Sadly, he makes a good case.

War Commentary

A New Member?

8 Comments

Since Saddam was removed from power, there’s been a vacancy in George Bush’s three-nation “axis of evil.” It looks like Syria has decided to apply for the position (and did so long ago, and even at the time was no doubt an unindicted co-conspirator–one wonders why Bush didn’t include it in the beginning). Now, Austin Bay discusses the disturbing relationship between the two dictatorships of Syria and North Korea, and their increasingly evident first-strike posture.

Given Nancy Pelosi’s idiotic visit with Assad earlier, and the dictator-soothing noises coming from the Obama campaign, Israel has to be very nervous about the Democrats running both the executive and legislative branch. Don’t be surprised to see more strikes on Syria, and on Iran itself, this fall, if it looks like Obama is going to win, or does win–they won’t want to wait until it’s too late, after he’s taken office in January.

Political Commentary, Social Commentary

A British Perspective

10 Comments

On the peacefulness of an armed society:

Brits arriving in New York, hoping to avoid being slaughtered on day one of their shopping mission to Manhattan are, by day two, beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. By day three they have had had the scales lifted from their eyes.

I have met incredulous British tourists who have been shocked to the core by the peacefulness of the place, the lack of the violent undercurrent so ubiquitous in British cities, even British market towns.

“It seems so nice here,” they quaver.

Well, it is!

How about that. This kind of ignorance is what happens when you rely on the BBC (in general) for your news about the colonies. Which makes it all the more surprising and out of character for it to print a piece like this.

Political Commentary

A New Rule

4 Comments

“If your mentor of 20 years has ever declared the United States to be ‘the same as al-Qaeda, under a different color flag, calling on the name a different God to sanction and approve our murder and our mayhem!’ you are ineligible for the Presidency.”

More wit and wisdom from Jeremiah Wright, who doesn’t seem to want his protege to be president.

Political Commentary

If McCain Loses This Election

22 Comments

…this will be the reason:

My support for McCain has been just as tentative as McCain’s support for market liberty, the Constitution, limited government, low taxes and not buying in to the leftist takeover on climate change.

I’ve had it with him with this latest insult. I didn’t like him showing up that Cincinnatti guy supporting him either. If he doesn’t like their tone, tell them in private. I want an apology to the North Carolina GOP or no more money.

Treat other Republicans with respect, period.

This anti-Republican schtick endears him with the press, but he can’t count on enough independents to win, if the base stays home.

Business, Economics, Political Commentary, Science And Society, Technology and Society

Fascists Of The Corn

3 Comments

David Freddoso is still angry about our insane and, in my opinion, criminal ethanol and sugar policies:

The problem is that our sugar industry has even better lobbyists than big ethanol. They enjoy price supports, which we pay for both through the Treasury and in the supermarket. The price of our sugar is usually twice that of the world market. The sugar growers love it — even if they cannot sell all of their sugar, they have a guaranteed government buyer at an inflated price. The corn growers love it too, because high U.S. sugar prices push our food industries to use high-fructose corn syrup (ever seen that on a product label?) as an alternative sweetener — yet another artificial support for the world price of corn.

Not to mention wreaking havoc on the Everglades. Price-supported sugar cane is using up a lot of the water that both south Floridian humans and animals need, and they do this with the same political clout that they use to get the subsidies and tariffs, for an industry that is not all that big in terms of the economy.

Even if we want ethanol, we can’t solve the problem by importing sugar, because there are tariffs in place. We can’t import the ethanol itself because there’s a high tariff against that, too. Wherever you turn, there’s no way out — Americans don’t enjoy economic freedom, we live in a managed economy.

It makes me especially proud of my country when I see Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) call foreign delegates’ concerns over a potential doubling of world hunger “a joke…”

Let’s call these people out for what they are–Republicans and Democrats alike–fascists. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

[Update a few minutes later]

Biofool.

[Update early evening]

Oh, wonderful:

Key House and Senate farm bill negotiators reached agreement today on the main elements of the farm bill…[T]he five-year bill would raise the target prices and loan rates for northern crops beginning in 2010, raise the sugar loan rate three-quarters of a cent and include a sugar-to-ethanol program.

Oh, that’s just great. We have a program that makes us overpay for sugar, and now we’re going to start a new program to subsidize the ethanol we create from it — because without the subsidy, the inflated sugar price we’ve created will make the ethanol unprofitable.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, they always find a way.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!