Good Muslims?

Amy Alkon, The Advice Goddess comments on an article in MailOnline reporting that,

The widow of a July 7 suicide bomber yesterday launched a High Court bid to be represented at the victims’ inquest - saying she had also suffered the loss of a loved one in the atrocity.

Read the rest of the MailOnline article here: I'm a victim too says the widow of 7/7 bomber, in legal aid claim that could delay inquest

What caught my eye was this comment from someone calling himself "Norsefire".

Considering the status of women under Islam I doubt her dead husband ever discussed this with her but that doesn't matter -- The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim. Especially the incubators.

Amy replies with,

The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.

That's horrible thinking. We don't win here by emulating the commandments of Islam (to murder people who don't share their beliefs) but by maintaining enlightenment values and protecting our society. The best way to do this is to inform people about what Islam really is. About the two Islams -- the Islam that is a religion, practiced by Muslims who are clueless as to what's really in the Quran, and the Islam that is practiced true to the Quran (commanding the death or conversion of the rest of us), which is totalitarianism masquerading as religion.

I'm pretty sure Norsefire is trolling. I doubt the reference to "V for Vendetta" is coincidental. For those who don't know the story, Norsefire was the name of a political party in the graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd. In a fictional England, they solved the Muslim problem (along with the Gay problem, the Jewish problem, the Chinese problem, the Atheist problem and few other bêtes noires) with the brutality typical of collectivism.

Nevertheless, a lot of the rhetoric on the Internet does describe the conflict with Islam as a "war". See the Gates of Vienna as an example: "We are in a new phase of a very old war." Which is not an entirely inaccurate description.

I hope Amy is right and this "war" (battle, conflict, whatever) can be kept cold with the fight managed in the information space. However, Islam is not noted for its rationality. There simply has never been an Islamic equivalent to the Western Enlightenment.

Islam did have its own particular cultural and scientific achievments but turned against science in the twelfth century. The influential Muslim theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali in The Incoherence of the Philosophers argued against the very idea of any laws of nature because such laws would limit God. According to al-Ghazzali if I put piece of cotton in a flame it does not burn because of the heat but because God wants it to burn. After al-Ghazzali, there was no more science worth mentioning in Islamic countries so the culture was never forced to question its traditional worldview.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an exceptional and admirable woman who not only abandoned Islam but became an atheist. A double win for sanity. I would be delighted if more Muslims living in the West would abandon their silly Middle Eastern superstitions and embrace apostasy. Since most Western Governments just don't get the high cost of abandoning Islam (or are too pussified to protect them), I would happily contribute to a fund to buy the apostates a gun and training so that each could protect himself (or herself) from the inevitable attempts at murder.

What are the odds of that happening?

Slouching Towards Chaos

In the Huffintgton Post, Janet Tavakoli has an essay entitled Third World America: 'Fast-Tracking to Anarchy'

To here credit, she sees the problems but, typical of anyone who gets published in the Huffington Post, doesn't see the causes and proposes the same remedies that haven't worked so far. It seems to be a common liberal desire to have someone else ride into town and save them from the bad guys. Sorry, Janet; real life is not a B western and Brad has left the building. The only savior you can rely on is yourself.

Denniger responds with some sensible ideas that might actually work in Janet's Heart Is In The Right Place -- all of which I predict will be ignored by the powers that be because, well, solutions that work will interfere with their power.

Chicago today could be a sister city to Fallujah

One has crooked officials, violent gangs with hooks deep in the government, ineffective law enforcement, crazy preachers screaming about the need to kill anyone who is different and a culture of corruption that has resisted all efforts to clean it up.

The other is a city in Iraq.

Women and Guns

In a post at SnarkyBytes regarding women gunowners the author says:

You don’t have to train with any gun. Practice will certainly improve your shooting, but when it comes to a self defense handgun you don’t have to train at all, most people never do anyway. Refer back to that whole intuitive thing. Point open end at bad guy, pull trigger until he stops moving. If you like to train that’s fine, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’ll be more prepared than anyone else when the shit hits the fan. Cardboard doesn’t shoot back and until it does you’re just playing a game.

The author may be correct in saying that many people will never bother to do any training. That is, unfortunately, consistent with my limited experience. Additionally some of the training I've seen hereabouts really is little more that pandering to mascuine Walter Mitty fantasies and I can understand why women avoid it. However to excuse all that with a flippant, "You don’t have to train with any gun" is grossly irresponsible.

Hell! It is a stupid thing to say! If I were a religious man I'd ask the Saints to protects any person who listens to the idiot.

Tribute to Ray Bradbury

The Upright Citizens Brigade does a tribute to Ray Bradbury.

Not safe for work -- see it here or here

More 7-Eleven stores robbed

St. Petersburg police looking for 7-Eleven robber wielding kitchen knife

Police are asking for the public's help to identify a man accused of robbing two 7-Eleven stores while armed with a long kitchen knife.

The first incident took place about 5:50 a.m. on Aug. 19 at 11590 Fourth St. N, police said, when the suspect leaped over the counter and threatened the clerk to open up the register.

The clerk did so, police said. The suspect grabbed an undisclosed amount of cash and ran out the store.

The second incident took place Saturday, when a man matching the description of the suspect in the first incident entered the store at 5451 31st St. S about 6:24 a.m.

I hate to state the obvious but what the hell do they expect? In July 2000 Glenda Renee Hull attemtpted to rob a 7-Eleven store in W. Virginia. One of the clerks responded by detaining the criminal until the police arrived.

After giving her the money, Feliciano grabbed her gun and wrestled her to the ground, holding her there until deputies with the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department arrived. Glenda Renee Hull, the woman apprehended in the attempted robbery, was arrested and later pleaded guilty to one count of carrying a firearm during a violent crime. She was sentenced to prison, where she remains.

Did Southland Corporation (the owners of 7-Eleven) reward this brave young man? Did they at least acknowledge his actions with an attaboy? No to either: They fired him.

Two weeks after the incident, Feliciano, who was hailed a hero by some local residents, was fired, in part because he violated a company policy against resisting a robber. The case captured national media attention.

"Do not resist," has become the mantra politicians, corprolites and the police constantly promote and, as 7-Eleven illustrates, they will punish anyone they have the power to punish who resists criminal action. This is unconscionably anti-social behavior. No matter where you believe criminal tendencies originate -- nature or nuture -- giving an attacker what he wants only encourages the behavior via the well known process of reinforcement. Maybe that explain why 7-Eleven stores are such popular targets for crime

Do the idiots on the Board of Directors of Southland Corporation really think that the bad guys don't know about their insane policy?

In a sane society, no citizen would be punished for stopping a crime. The Board of Directors of Southland Corporation have chosen to not support sanity but instead choose to encourage criminals. By doing so they not only endanger their own employees but, by attracting thugs to the area, increase the risk for others as well.

H/T to David Codea

Politicians Side with the Criminals Again.

Legislators in Westchester County are not going to change their archaic storage laws according to this report at LoHud.com.

The county law, enacted in 2000, requires owners to store a gun with a safety lock or in a safe-storage depository.

Gun lock advocates like Dennis Henigan claim a lock can be removed in 2 seconds even though he failed to do so in a demonstration while wide awake in a well-lit room with no attacker. Imagine trying it in the dark with a knife wielding thug intent on hurting you and your children. Anyone familiar with the Tueller Drill knows that the actual evidence from repeatable experiments indicate that an armed assailant can cover 21 feet and stab you in about 1.5 seconds. Even if you could remove a gun lock in 2 seconds that is 500ms too long to save your life.

So-called "safe storage laws" tilt the odds in favor of the criminal and I'm an not convinced that this is an unintended consequence.

H.T to David Codrea

Recovery Act Satire

Originally seen at Sipsey Street Irregulars



I think that just about sums it up.

Jesus on a Pig's Back.

Over at The Gate of Vienna Baron Bopddisey post the above image explaining that,

Nothing was said or done by Christians on the European continent about this provocative tasteless piece of art. If the artist had instead painted the prophet Mohammed on the back of a pig, at a minimum riots would have erupted all over Europe.

I get the point about the Muslims and if Christianity was still stuck in the Twelfth Century, Christians might be outraged at the tattoo, launch an Inquisition and have the artist burned for witchcraft or some other superstitious nonsense. Last time I checked, though, most Christians have left that behind them.

Maybe I'm just too provincial but I don't get why the image above is offensive to modern Christians.

I googled the artist's name (Wim Delvoye) and I see he has done a lot of tattoos on the backs of pigs. I don't see much point in tattooing a pig but I just don't get why the image of the Sacred Heart on a pig's back is an offense to Christianity. Delvoye also tattooed Ariel and the lobster from the Disney cartoon onto a pig and I thought the tattoo of a crucified Micky Mouse with Minnie praying at the foot of the cross was kind of touching.

For a tattoo that that might upset the Disney lawyers, that is...

Sign of the Times?

Recently received in E mail:

Common Sense from a Retired LEO.

In this excerpt from the documentary Guns and Weed: The Road to Freedom, Richard Mack, former Sheriff of Graham County in Arizona, comments on the War on Drugs and the War on Guns.

(Video is too wide for the blogger template so go here to view it)

The Power to Tax

The Philadephia City Paper reports on a new scam by the government of the City of Philadelphia to raise revenue.

For the past three years, Marilyn Bess has operated MS Philly Organic, a small, low-traffic blog that features occasional posts about green living, out of her Manayunk home. Between her blog and infrequent contributions to ehow.com, over the last few years she says she's made about $50. To Bess, her website is a hobby. To the city of Philadelphia, it's a potential moneymaker, and the city wants its cut.

In May, the city sent Bess a letter demanding that she pay $300, the price of a business privilege license.

Of course, the first mistake was reporting whatever pittance she was earnng from the blog.

She's not alone. After dutifully reporting even the smallest profits on their tax filings this year, a number — though no one knows exactly what that number is — of Philadelphia bloggers were dispatched letters informing them that they owe $300 for a privilege license, plus taxes on any profits they made.

Read the rest here.

This new interpretation of an existing law also gives the city the power to shut down blogs they deem threatening or embarassing. The Washington Examiner has this to say:

To say that these kinds of draconian measures are detrimental to the public discourse would be an understatement.

That may, in fact, be the real purpose.

H/T to David Codrea.

Morgan Freeman on Racism

Whatever its original usage, the word "race" has become a collectvist term that only serves to perpetuate class warfare. Martin Luther King once said he dreamt of of the day "...that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Morgan Freeman just told you how to get there.

If there were only a way to get the race hustlers to listen...

H/T to The Advice Goddess

Don't cut the budget; write more tickets!

From Crimes, Guns and Videotape

Chicago’s Government Rules by Extortion
Chicago, IL—Chicago’s politicians and their appointed bureaucrats are dismayed by the decrease in traffic fine revenue. The outgunned, undermanned, demoralized and endangered Chicago cops can’t protect Chicago’s citizens but city officials want cops to bring them bags of cash.

The Chicago Sun Times released internal city documents that detail the decrease in traffic fines and stepped up efforts to threaten the jobs of cops that seem reluctant to become full time revenue agents.

Read the rest here

Traffic enforcement has always been a source of revenue for cities. I can remember when I was still young that whenever contract negotiations were going badly, the city cops would slow down ticket writing. Now that cities are bleeding revenue but generally unwilling to cut budgets the cities are looking to traffic tickets as a panacea. So, while I generally agree with the position Mr. Huebl is taking, traffic law is, and always has been, a cash cows for city governments.

Chicago isn't the only city trying to milk the citizenry for even more money than they already do. For example, some cities in California have been citing drivers under a Municipal Code rather than State Vehicle Code because, in the former case, all the money goes straight to the city while in the latter the city only gets a percentage.

"The City of Roseville gets a small slice of fines from state courts," Doane said. "We’re enforcing these laws, but a very small sliver comes back to the city. The city gets 15 percent of a Vehicle Code fine, which for a typical $207 fine comes to $32.50. This way, 100 percent of the [$100 local fine] comes back to the general fund."

A few more examples from around the country:

Virginia Hands Out 6996 Traffic Tickets In One Weekend In An Effort To Raise Revenue For The State Government

Speed Trap: More Traffic Tickets in Cash-Strapped Cities

Speeders on strapped cities' radar

Even more here

Attention Mall Ninjas!

Administration blocks import of surplus rifles

The venerable M1 Garand -- sometimes called the rifle that won World War II -- is a favorite of collectors and rifle shooters in the United States. While it's reputation may be exaggerated the design has proved reliable over three wars and billions of rounds fired in matches and recreation. Though quite heavy compared to modern sporting rifles, it has a reputation for accuracy not usually associated with military surplus rifles and it is a piece of history.

Now The Korea Times reports that the Obama Administation is blocking the import of about 86,000 surplus Garands that have been setting in a warehouse for the past 50 years.

The U.S. administration put the brakes on the plan, citing “problems” that could be caused by the importation of the rifles.

The problems the U.S. government cited were somewhat ambiguous, said an official at the Ministry of National Defense on condition of anonymity.

“The U.S. insisted that imports of the aging rifles could cause problems such as firearm accidents. It was also worried the weapons could be smuggled to terrorists, gangs or other people with bad intentions,” the official told The Korea Times.

Terrorists and gang bangers do not use the Garand. It is absurd on its face as an excuse for blocking these imports. Terrorists prefer the AK-47 which is a hardy, reliable, user friendly rifle designed to be used by those who have had little or no military training. American gang bangers seem to prefer 9mm pistols and shotguns. I doubt that many would even recognize a Garand if they saw it.

Supporters of the President try to use the fact that Obama signed a credit card reform bill with an amendment allowing conceal carry in national parks -- subject to local law -- as evidence that the Lightworker is not anti-gun. However, actions like this and last year's aborted attempt to eliminate once-fired military brass from the civilian market give lie to that assertion. Make no mistake, Obama wants to restrict the rights of gun owners as much as he possibly can. I have no doubt he would disarm all non " only ones" Americans if he could.

Anyone who wants to disarm you has a reason. That reason is usually that he wants to do something you would stop him from doing if you still had the power to do so.

H/T to David Codrea

Maybe there is Hope for England

I am not an advocate of vandalism. I've sometimes said, tongue barely touching cheek, that it should be a rebutable defense against a charge of homicide that the victim was shot while spray painting private property. Nevertheless, vandalism can be a symbol of something good.

In Merrie olde England

Snipers target road signs

Never mind speeders or road hogs, now there is a new peril facing British motorists – signpost snipers.

The RAC Foundation has warned of the growing phenomenon of gunmen firing at road signs at locations across Britain.

Officials there say that many of the shootings are "drive by", with the guns fired from a moving vehicle. Analysis of the damaged signs reveals that a high proportion of shots are fired from the near, or passenger, side of the car.

A dossier compiled for the motoring organisation has found evidence that illegally-held handguns, high velocity rifles and shotguns are all being used in the shootings.

Read the rest here

This may turn out be just some meaningless vandalism by members of one or another of the gangs that are infesting England. In fact, I suspect it is. OTOH, it may be a sign that the some of the English are finally getting sick and tired of what their country is becoming.

I can only hope. After all their ancestors committed regicide at least twice, stood up to the Germans and endured the Blitz.

H/T to the Sipsey Street Irregulars

Smoke, Ass, Blow

Radley Balko writes about his interviews with three law enforcement officials who defend arresting citizens caught video recording on-duty cops. If I hadn't followed Balko's blog, The Agitator, and the Only Ones files from David Codrea's War on Guns, for the past few years I would honestly think the article was satire. There actually was a time I would not believe that a District Attorny or Police Officer would say, on the record, the incredibly stupid things Balko reports.

It's getting harder and harder to find any substantive difference between the criminals and the cops.

Gewaltmonopol des Staates

David Codrea criticizes a recent Huffington Post editorial by Josh Horwitz entitled Passing the Sword. Codrea writes:

“The question of whether armed citizens should be entitled to challenge the government with force is at the heart of the current debate over the Second Amendment in the Supreme Court case of District of Columbia vs. Heller,” Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Executive Director Josh Horwitz writes in a recent Huffington Post opinion piece.

CSGV, of course, is the kinder, gentler name giving PR cover for what was once called “The National Coalition to Ban Handguns.”

“The concept of a ‘monopoly on force’ might sound foreign or even frightening to Americans that take great pride in our revolutionary beginnings,” Horwitz continues, “ but it is the fundamental organizing principle of any political entity, including the United States.”

To back up this assertion, he cites, “German political economist and sociologist Max Weber.”

Read the rest here.

First, Max Weber did not say monopoly on "force", he said monopoly on "violence". However, the difference may be too subtle for an intellect as "exceptional" as Josh Horowitz's.

Of greater interest to Americans is that Weber's theory means government uses violence as a matter of right but that any individual or group that may only use violence when authorized to do so by the state. This means that there is no inherent individual right to use violence in self defense no matter how great the provocation. There is only a privilege which can be granted or withheld at the whim of the state.

That is a complete inversion of the discoveries of the Enlightenment and the founding principles of the American Republic where power is inherent in the people and the state acts by permission. If that state becomes abusive then the people have the right to withdraw any previously granted permissions. If this can be done peacefully then it should be. If it cannot be done peacefully then the state has abdicated its legitimacy and the people are within their rights to use whatever means -- including violence -- is necessary to bring the state back into line.

The reason for the Second Amendment was not to insure the right of self defense nor does it grant a right of revolution. It exists to insure that the people will always have the power to "alter or abolish" a government that is no longer responsive to the individuals is was created to serve.

Whoring for Allah

Planet Iran claims to have obtained a document advertising "temporary marriages" for pilgrims en route to the shrine of Imam Reza.

Temporary Marriage (Marriage is among the traditions of the Prophet Mohammad)

In order to elevate the spiritual atmosphere, create proper psychological conditions and tranquility of mind, the Province of the Quds’eh-Razavi of Khorassan has created centers for temporary marriage (just next door to the shrine) for those brothers who are on pilgrimage to the shrine of our eighth Imam, Imam Reza, and who are far away from their spouses.

To that end, we call on all our sisters who are virgins, who are between the ages of 12 and 35 to cooperate with us. Each of our sisters who signs up will be bound by a two year contract with the province of the Quds’eh-Razavi of Khorassan and will be required to spend at least 25 days of each month temporarily married to those brothers who are on pilgrimage. The period of the contract will be considered as a part of the employment experience of the applicant. The period of each temporary marriage can be anywhere between 5 hours to 10 days. The prices are as follows:

• 5 hour temporary marriage – 50,000 Tomans ($50 US)
• One day temporary marriage – 75,000 Tomans ($75 US)
• Two day temporary marriage – 100,000 Tomans ($100 US)
• Three day temporary marriage – 150,000 Tomans ($150 US)
• Between 4 and 10 day temporary marriage – 300,000 Tomans ($300 US)

Our sisters who are virgins will receive a bonus of 100,000 Tomans ($100 US) for the removal of their hymen.

After the expiration of the two year contract, should our sisters still be under 35 years of age and should they be so inclined, they can be added to the waiting list of those who are seeking long-term temporary marriage. The employed sisters are obligated to donate 5% of their earnings to the Shrine of Imam Reza. We ask that all the sisters who are interested in applying, to furnish two full-length photographs (fully hijabed and properly veiled), their academic diplomas, proof of their virginity and a certificate of good physical and psychological health which they can obtain through the health and human services of the township of their residence. Please forward all compiled material and send to the below address by the 31st of the month of Ordibehesht, 1389 (May 21st, 2010).

Attention: For sisters who are below 14 years of age, a written consent from their fathers or male guardian is required.

If the Olympics ever has an event called "Lying with a straight face", the above would be a slam dunk for the gold. On a brighter note Americans could earn a thing or two from Imam Reza about how to treat women: I hear the Nevada brothels demand up to 50% as the house cut.

FBI Seal Illegal to Display Without Permission

In what has to be a local maximum of bureacratic stupidity, the FBI is demanding that Wikipedia remove the FBI seal from its site.

 The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has threatened Wikipedia with legal action if the online encyclopedia doesn't remove the FBI's seal from its site.

Read the rest here

Just when I started to think the FedGov could possibly not get any further into the borderlands of insanity they proved that you can't keep a stupid bureaucrat down.

On the advice of Patrick at Popehat I invoke this ancient spell of protection:

Ipso facto. E. pluribus unum. Res gestae divi Augusti. Agricola est bona. Shai Gaba Umbala Shoombala OOM!

And a "Klaatu, barada nikto", Just in case.

Taggers for Christ

This is old news but, given my earlier post entiled "Threeper versus Threeper", it is relevent.

Chrissy Saterfield over at World Net Daily experienced journalistic orgasms over the vandalism of a billboard right before the "Fourth of July weekend" (her words, I call it "Independence Day").

Just when I start believing there is no hope for our country I get a little reminder from my God that all is not lost. It was reported June 29 that a billboard sign sponsored by a North Carolina atheist organization had been vandalized. The ad reads, "One Nation Indivisible." It seems someone didn't think the sign was an accurate depiction of our Pledge of Allegiance, so the vandals inserted "Under God" with spray paint – and I couldn't be more relieved. It's nice to know that I am not alone in my beliefs and that some people are still willing to stand on the right side of truth.

Of course she inserts the obligatory disclaimer that she would never encourage such a thing (Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink).

Never would I encourage vandalism, but in this case I think I'll let it slide. Atheists have been vandalizing my beliefs for years, so it's about time the shoe was on the other foot.

If her beliefs are so fragile that a few words are the equivalent to vandalism then the logical side of Ms. Saterfield must be tempted to check her premises. Fortunately for the survival of Christendom, her belief system insulates her from the temptation of thinking.

In the final analysis, there is no Commandment against vandalism I guess there is no reason for Ms. Saterfield to condemn the actions of her co-religionist.

My dose of honesty this week: I am not happy that vandalism seems to be the only way to get an atheist's attention. I'm happy that I can count on other Christians to stand up for themselves and for Christians everywhere. It gives me hope.

OTOH, do I need to care what Chrissy Saterfield thinks? She seem to do it very rarely.

Onward Christian taggers, skulking in the night.
With your holy spray paint those billboard you will smite.
The royal Master Krylon, leads against the foe;
forward into battle see God's graffiti go!

H/T to The Secular Right