“It is quite remarkable for people to be talking about the prospect for a democratic transition at this moment. A population that was convinced just two months ago that sharks in the Red Sea were implanted by the Israeli Intelligence Services is hardly at a stage of creating a liberal democracy in Egypt. ... Until someone actually starts addressing the real issues and stop the chatterbox of clichés on democracy, things will not get better at all. It will only get worse.”
I would normally find unexpected Middle East events like the Egyptian uprising stimulating and clarifying, but frankly, I can’t make heads or tails of this one and haven’t drawn any meaningful conclusions yet. Both as an American and a Zionist, I’ve been rendered speechless. However, I’ve been reading a lot stuff from people who aren't and I found a piece in The American Thinker written by an Egyptian student that’s very useful.
Friday, 4 February 2011
An Egyptian Writes.........by Dan Friedman
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Egyptweet
The growing unrest in Egypt is best being captured by the bloggers on the ground in Tahrir Square and other locations throughout the cradle of civilization. Here are some of the key bloggers to follow on Twitter:
Wael Abbas, a blogger and grassroots journalist renowned for exposing Mubarak-regime abuses. He's taking photos and posting video on his blog, as well, which he's linking to from Twitter. Recent tweet:
From the Twitterlicious totties at GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD
The big squeeze........from Rico
There is inflation everywhere in the world....except in the BLS (which figures U.S. inflation). Conveniently, the BLS does NOT include FOOD or ENERGY when calculating inflation, ad erratum est "there is NO inflation" in the U.S.
- Move along now, nothing to see here!
It is nonsensical to have an 'inflation index' without food and gas.....why, it's like having a 'crime index' without robbery and murder.
When the price of food and gas goes up, who gets squeezed? Not the government and its bureaurats [nope, that was not a typo], but the little guy. The littler the harder the squeeze.
- In Egypt, for example, 40% of the people have to get by on $2 a day. If you had to get by on that, would you riot? When [not IF] the FED prints enough money to create hyperinflation, WILL you riot?
Video: Andy Williams The Ticket
Norfolk's premiere painter & decorator made this short film as a presentation to the local BNI. It may not get an Oscar but it is fun.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Egypt's Revolt and the Freedom Agenda
Okay, lots of stuff going on. On the video below, see "Asmaa Mahfouz: 'There Will Be Hope'."
The debate over Egypt and the freedom agenda is here: "Egypt and the End of History."
And the epic failures of the administration's response is here: "Obama Frozen on Egypt."
And be sure to check back for updates.
Why Islam is Different and Dangerous
Imagine that every day of your life begins with a morning call to prayer from minarets around the city or village in which you live.
Imagine that you are required to pray five times throughout the day, every day.
Imagine that the law of the land is based on Sharia, taken from the Koran.
Imagine that you live in a nation where stoning women, beheading criminals, and other draconian, ancient punishments are deemed acceptable.
Imagine being Muslim and knowing that conversion from Islam is punishable by death.
Imagine saying or doing anything that might be interpreted as disrespect for Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, can get you whipped or killed.
Imagine a religion that has no tolerance for any other religion, even those that existed for two or three thousand years prior to Islam.
Imagine a religion that sanctions suicide if it is done for the purpose of killing others.
Imagine a religion that has routinely taken over the temples and churches of other faiths and builds mosques in their place or a religion that builds its mosques upon the most holy sites of other religions.
Imagine a culture that reduces women to chattel owned by their fathers and their husbands.
Imagine a culture that permits the killing of women for “dishonoring” the family.
Imagine a religion in which a close associate of Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, said, “We have not reached parity with them. We have the right to kill four million Americans—two million of them children—and to exile as many and wound and cripple hundreds of thousands. Furthermore, it is our right to fight them with chemical and biological weapons, so as to afflict them with fatal maladies that have afflicted the Muslims because of the (Americans’) chemical and biological weapons.”
Imagine a religion that, on Iranian television, June 25, 2004, says, “May Allah, by virtue of the Hidden Iman, remove the evil America and Israel from humanity.”
A recent news report says “Al-Qaida is on the verge of producing radioactive weapons after sourcing nuclear material and recruiting rogue scientists to build ‘dirty’ bombs, according to leaked diplomatic documents.”
In his book, “In the words of our enemies”, Jed Babbin, wrote “Like the Nazis, the radical Islamists play on the same sense of persecution and cultural inferiority that many people in underdeveloped nations possess because they are oppressed. And, like the Nazis, the Islamists have convinced their followers that the problems of their world are the fault of others. The Islamists blame every ill of their world on America, the West, the Jews, and Israel.”
The Middle East and Northern African nations in which Islam dominates are in a state of turmoil, seeking to overthrow the despots that have ruled for decades. No matter who is selected to replace them, Islam remains the guiding principle in the lives of their people.
Imagine a religion that divides the world into Dar al Islam, the land of Islam, and Dar al Harb, the land of war.
They cannot be accommodated.
They negotiate only with the end goal of achieving domination.
They cannot be deterred except through the use of force.
The translation of the word “Islam” is “submission.”
We share the planet with 1.6 billion Muslims and we must either convert them or defeat them.
© Alan Caruba, 2011
A 120 mm mortar round flies out of the tube as U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ramey J. Brown (left), a section sergeant from Marshville, N.C., Spc. Tyler L. Dillon (center), a team leader from Williamstown, W.Va., and Pvt. Gabriel C. Fields (right), from Fort Worth, Texas, all mortarmen assigned to Troop C, 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, Task Force Bandit, take cover while at Observation Post Mustang in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province on Jan. 26. “It gets pretty intense sometimes when firing, especially if a firefight is going on,” said Dillon. Photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Burrell
H/T Marc
Tax reminder..!
The IRS has announced that this year they will give a free pencil sharpener to all taxpayers.
It can be placed on your desk as a constant reminder of the service they provide to you each year.
H/T DML
Video: 20mm Personal Assault Weapon (South Africa)
The Neopup/Denel PAW-20 is a hand-held, gas operated, semi-automatic grenade launcher that fires a 20 mm point detonating round. It holds up to seven rounds in a conventional box magazine, with an effective range of 300–400 metres.
H/T Marc
Casting shadows......from Rico
While many are waiting to see if the famed groundhog Punxatawny Phil can 'see' his shadow or not, predicting how much longer Winter will be with us, here is a graph showing another marmot-like creature's 'shadow'....a shadow that will be with us for a very long time!
Thanks Barry!
