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Merv Bendle Tolerate Intolerance, Demean Democracy

Posted By on November 4th, 2015

Hizb ut-Tahrir uses a public building to preach intolerance and draws nothing more stringent than hedged and guarded reactions from our political class. The Australian Liberty Alliance, meanwhile, is harassed and denounced. Something is wrong here, and the voting public knows it
There is a clear double-standard operating in Australia concerning the two sides of the political debate over Islamist extremism. This is exemplified by the wildly contrasting political and media treatment of Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Australian Liberty Alliance. However, as the strong public reactions to last week’s National Anthem scandal and Sunday’s Hizb ut-Tahrir conference demonstrate, this duplicity is becoming increasingly obvious and is now galvanizing the growing resistance to Islamist extremism and the appeasement policies of federal and state governments and the mainstream media.

To begin with, the coordinated and systematic Muslim assault on Australia’s national identity continues. On cue, speakers at the Islamist activist group Hizb ut-Tahrir conference in Bankstown on Sunday followed up on the attack launched last week at a Victorian primary school, where some 40 Muslim students were allowed to walk out on the national anthem because their religious allegiance was adjudged by school staff and the Victorian Education Department to have priority over their allegiance (if any) to Australia.

Singing the Australian national anthem or pledging support for democratic values in the citizenship oath was part of a state campaign of oppression and “forced assimilation” directed at Australian Muslims, Hizb ut-Tahrir leaders declared. According to media spokesman, Uthman Badar, the federal government “claims to afford freedom, but seeks to impose values and beliefs” on Muslims, specifically in the citizenship oath when new citizens were required to pledge allegiance to the democratic values upon which Australian society is based.

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Timothy Snyder: The Newton of the Holocaust? The Yale historian’s much-lauded new book promises a revolutionary view of the Holocaust. But it misleads more than it enlightens. by Walter Laqueur

Posted By on November 4th, 2015

“In the end, one can say this: Snyder’s obfuscating and half-baked “discoveries” about the Holocaust do further harm to a field of study already disfigured by the work of emissaries of one school or another, not to mention outright deniers. His book will not be the last such venture in misguided interpretation—the varieties are unlimited—but it will lengthen the time needed to repair the damage.”

No author of books on Eastern Europe during the period of World War II and the Holocaust has been more widely reviewed and discussed in recent years than Timothy Snyder, a professor of history at Yale. In Bloodlands (2010), Snyder presented what might be termed a Polish-Ukrainian version of the Holocaust, highlighting the brutality of Nazi rule over the countries of Eastern Europe—the “bloodlands” between Germany and Soviet Russia—and the horrific toll in lives, especially Polish lives, taken by the two battling powers.

Now, in Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning, Snyder deals mostly with the mass murder of Jews, ascribing greater responsibility than have other historians to the early work of the Nazi SS killing squads (Einsatzgruppen) operating in occupied Eastern Europe, but also memorializing those who helped to save Jewish lives in Poland after the 1939 invasion and partition of that country by the twin forces of Nazi Germany and the USSR. Indeed, the book, which is based to a considerable extent on the stories of individual survivors, centers like the previous one mainly on Poland, and to a lesser extent on the three Baltic states. There is little here on the fate of Jewish communities in other European countries, most of whom were transported to their deaths in Poland. Nor, despite its subtitle—“The Holocaust as History and Warning”—is Black Earth properly seen as another history of the Holocaust. It is instead a new interpretation, and one with some startling arguments to advance.

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‘Open Season’: Iran Takes Another Hostage, May Have Baited D.C. Resident By Bridget Johnson

Posted By on November 4th, 2015

Iran arrested yet another American resident on claims that he was working with U.S. intelligence services.

Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese-American, works in Washington as secretary-general of the Dupont Circle-based Ijma3 group, which lobbies for the information and communications technology industry in the Middle East.

He last tweeted on Sept. 9 about Internet freedom and free expression.

On Monday, his nonprofit said in a statement that Zakka received an invitation on Sept. 11 from Iran’s vice president for Women and Family Affairs to attend the 2nd International Conference & Exhibition on Women in Sustainable Development, titled “Entrepreneurship & Employment.”

“Mr. Zakka is a global expert on ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) for economic development and ICT public policies,” Ijma3 said. “Mr. Zakka traveled to Tehran on September 14 and attended all the events of the conference.”

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Researcher targeted by hate campaign, death threats for finding near zero risk in North America from Fukushima By Thomas Lifson

Posted By on November 4th, 2015

The doomsday cult known as environmentalism may have already surpassed the Judeo-Christian tradition as the most powerful religion in the advanced countries of the West. Almost certainly, its followers are the most politically powerful – witness the trillions of dollars devoted to the “paused” global warming Armageddon supposedly soon to threaten human survival. And these followers are also the most fanatical, reaching Islamic levels of fury when their orthodoxy is challenged.

Dr. Jay Cullen might as well have caricatured Mohammed, for all the organized religious hate he is receiving You see, Cullen is a Canadian researcher who set about the measure the impact of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown on the Northwest coast of North America. Mark Hume reports in the Globe and Mail:

Dr. Cullen started a radionuclide-monitoring program in 2014.

The Integrated Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring project (or InFORM, as he optimistically called it) worked with a broad network of scientists to gather the latest research and distribute it to the public.

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Pick one thing and fight like hell By Carol Brown ****

Posted By on November 4th, 2015

The dismantling of America leaves one breathless as we face of an avalanche of horrors. We’ve been dealing with a long roll out of evil with more to come. It shocks the mind trying to absorb it all. What can citizens do to stop the fundamental transformation of our nation? How can we function effectively to save our country? And how do we do so in a leadership vacuum?

I have no magic answers. Just a few humble thoughts.

First, a bit of context.

It’s hard to maintain the will to fight when we lose so many battles. It’s frustrating to be thwarted at every turn. And it’s especially disheartening (if not also terrifying) knowing the stakes are so high. In the face of all of this, how does one ward off cynicism and apathy?

These are some of my thoughts.

For starters, I think we are inundated with more information than we can possibly absorb. And because we are patriots, many of us feel compelled to act. (At least I hope that’s true.) But in the face of a dizzying array of assaults against us and against our constitutional republic, it’s difficult to know where to turn and/or what to do. And, as already noted, it’s hard to believe one’s voice or actions will matter. No doubt many feel that taking action is foolish and a waste of time. It’s easy to run sound bites in our head that absolve us of responsibility. “It’s over.” “We’re passed the tipping point.” “R.I.P. America.”

And so, perhaps, we do nothing.

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The DOE is now in the High School Girl’s Shower By Larry Creech

Posted By on November 4th, 2015

For more than two decades Americans have become desensitized to the arrogance, hubris and general incompetence of Washington insiders. Each succeeding administration has seemingly tried to outdo the previous administration in outrageous conduct, whether it be in creative tax burdens or reasons for sending young Americans to other countries to fight and die. Every day brings another revelation causing Americans to roll their eyes, shake their heads, and wonder what, if anything, can be done to a government that seems to pay no attention to its citizens whatsoever.

Consider one recent headline in the morning newspaper: “Illinois District Violated Transgender Student’s Rights, U.S. Says.” The headline in and of itself did not sound an alarm. Gender identity as well as other gender-related issues are societal issues in the news frequently now. However, the extent of the intrusion by the U.S. Department of Education (DoE), makes it clear that Secretary Arne Duncan is going to make one last reach and grab for everything the ideology-obsessed far left have asked him for.

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Obama’s Syrian Illusions The U.S. says it has Putin and Assad right where it wants them.

Posted By on November 4th, 2015

“Mr. Obama will do none of this. Instead he will send out Messrs. Kerry and Blinken to assert that U.S. retreat is really success, that Russian advances are really defeat, and that five years of war will soon yield to peace because Mr. Obama believes against all Syrian evidence that the arc of history bends his way.”

So the U.S. government that was surprised by Vladimir Putin’s takeover of Crimea, surprised by his invasion of eastern Ukraine, surprised by his plan to sell S-300 missiles to Iran, and surprised by his intervention in Syria now thinks the Russian strongman will sue for peace in Syria on U.S. terms and oust Bashar Assad.

“Russia’s intervention is a powerful example of the law of unintended consequences,” said Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a security conference in Bahrain this weekend. “It will have two primary effects. First, it will increase Russia’s leverage over Assad. But second, it will increase the conflict’s leverage over Russia. And that in turn creates a compelling incentive for Russia to work for, not against, a political transition.”

Secretary of State John Kerry’s right-hand man even used a Vietnam War-era word to describe Mr. Putin’s supposed predicament: “The quagmire will spread and deepen, drawing Russia further in.”

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Third World America The Keystone beating shows political risk is a major U.S. problem.

Posted By on November 4th, 2015

One difference between the developed and developing worlds is honest, transparent government that treats investors fairly. By that standard, the Obama Administration’s handling of the Keystone XL pipeline shows the U.S. is sliding closer to Third World politics than Americans would like to admit.

On Monday TransCanada Corp. asked the State Department to stop its review of the proposed pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast that has been held hostage to liberal politics for seven years. The company said it wants a pause to give Nebraska time to finish its review of the pipeline route.

That may be true, but everyone knows that TransCanada’s bigger problem is the State review that President Obama has dragged out to the end of his term. The company’s reasonable fear is that Mr. Obama will reject the permit in the weeks before the global climate-change fiesta in Paris in December. He would then use this as a chit to prod other countries to sign onto bigger CO2 reductions.

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The Next Climate Scandal? House Republicans hunt for evidence that temperature records are politicized. By Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.

Posted By on November 4th, 2015

With their latest subpoena to the Obama administration, House Republicans risk descending into a rabbit hole, albeit a useful one.

Lamar Smith, the Texas GOPer who runs the House science and technology committee, has been seeking, voluntarily and then not so voluntarily, emails and other internal communications related to a study released earlier this year by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The study, by adjusting upward temperature readings from certain ocean buoys to match shipboard measurements, eliminated the “pause” in global warming seen in most temperature studies over the past 15 years.

Let’s just say, without prejudging the case, gut instinct has always indicated that, if there’s a major global warming scandal to be discovered anywhere, it will be found in the temperature record simply because the records are subject to so much opaque statistical manipulation. But even if no scandal is found, it’s past time for politicians and the public to understand the nature of these records and the conditions under which they are manufactured.

This is where those who confuse science with religion, and scientists with priests, take umbrage. Unfortunately, NOAA has proved itself pliable to the propagandizing urge. Witness its steady stream of press releases pronouncing the latest month or year the “warmest on record.” It always falls to outsiders to point out that these claims often rest on differences many times smaller than NOAA’s own cited margin of error. Case in point: When President Obama declared in January that 2014 was the warmest year on record, it had only a 38% chance of being hotter (by an infinitesimal margin) than other hottest-year candidates 2010, 2005 and 1998.

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Houston Equal Rights Ordinance Rejected by Voters Known as HERO, the measure would have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race and a dozen other categories By Dan Frosch

Posted By on November 4th, 2015

HOUSTON—In a victory for social conservatives, voters in the nation’s fourth-largest city on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure to extend nondiscrimination protections to gay and transgender people.

Known as the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, or HERO, the measure would have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race and a dozen other categories. It was backed heavily by Houston Mayor Annise Parker and a cadre of national Democratic political figures, and proponents poured more than $3 million into the push to pass it.

Supporters conceded defeat on Tuesday evening shortly after the Associated Press called the election in favor of opponents. Roughly 61% of voters opposed the measure and 39% backed it, with 96% of precincts and early voting totals tallied.

The defeat of the bitterly contested ordinance represents a rare recent win for social and religious conservatives, four months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage. Opponents of the measure had argued that the ordinance would infringe on businesses’ religious freedoms. In placards and advertisements, they asserted that it would allow people born as men to freely enter women’s bathrooms.