Archive for the ‘General Commentary’ Category
by Thomas E. Brewton
An example of this bewilderment is liberal columnist Froma Harrop's current piece titled Islamic Terror's Endless 'Root Causes'. She writes:
"That Islamic terrorists hate the United States is an all-purpose explanation. Dig deeper into the reasons for that hatred, though, and the confident answers of "expert opinion" don't quite satisfy.
"Since that gruesome blue-sky day, Islamic radicals have staged more attacks and have been foiled in others. But try to find a connecting theme, other than psychosis. There's only a pile of shifting motives."
Why not believe what the terrorists themselves tell us is their reason for 9/11 and similar attacks around the world?
Osama Bin Ladin has proclaimed unequivocally, many times, that Al Queda envision themselves as reviving the campaign begun by Mohammed in 622 AD to establish a universal Islamic Caliphate and carried on ruthlessly for a thousand years thereafter.
In 622 AD the Mediterranean basin political states were almost all Christian. Mohammed's Islamic military forces began systematically conquering, looting, and subjugating those states to Islam. The men resisting Islam were slaughtered and the women and children sold into slavery.
In addition to acquisitive instincts for other people's property, Muslims were driven by Allah's command in the Koran to convert everyone, everywhere to Islam, a name that in English means submission.
Efraim Karsh, in his April, 2006, article in Commentary noted:
"As the 14th-century historian and philosopher Abdel Rahman ibn Khaldun wrote, "In the Muslim community, the jihad is a religious duty because of the universalism of the Islamic mission and the obligation [to convert] everybody to Islam either by persuasion or by force."
Exposing the Truth
By Sharon Hughes
I received an email in response to Part I of Fashionable Burkas? telling me that I would do better if I loved the terrorists:
“Your jab at Muslim terrorist women for saying:
American soldiers ("filth of the earth"), the Jews ("crush them!" & "make their wives widows and children orphans")
I feel these angry words are similar to how you feel about terrorists. I would respect you if you checked your anger with humility about your own lack of love for your enemies. I feel your influence in media would do a great deal for the kingdom of Christ if you loved your enemies instead.”
While I respect this person’s right to their view, the bottom line of my answer was this:
“What is it but love to expose the lies and darkness that oppresses, enslaves or endangers …those Jesus loves and laid down his life for?”
It’s like this: Terrorists kidnap 3 Israeli soldiers, or as in the 80’s, American hostages. The Israeli and American governments do everything they can for the release of their captive countrymen. New York Police and Firemen rush into the Twin Towers to rescue the victims of 9/11. A good neighbor runs into the house on fire next door to rescue those trapped in the flames.
Love does all it can to rescue victims. Moses did in natural terms. Jesus did in spiritual terms. Love acts, and sometimes simply by telling the truth. Passivity does nothing.
The truth is… it makes me sad and angry when terrorists kill innocent people, such as on 9/11; who raise their children to hate the Jews and brainwash them into becoming suicide bombers; who lie and don’t keep their word despite countless negotiations and efforts at 'peace'; who cry for more and more land, and when Israel gives it up, they continue to attack them because their goal is to ‘wipe Israel off the map.’
Love is strong, and tough, like Dr. James Dobson writes about, and like what we use to talk about in college counseling courses. You know, the elephant in the living room that no one wants to acknowledge because of ‘family dynamics,’ ie co-dependence, fear. But tough love acknowledges the realities, confronts when needed, even when others don’t or won’t. Love does not live in denial or passivity.
The truth is…not all Muslim women suffer abuses such as these slides of “Looking Beyond the Veil” demonstrate. To lump all Muslim women in with the likes of the ‘wives of terrorists’ referred to in Part I would be very wrong. But it would also be wrong to ignore the ‘elephant’ of abuse that does exist.
Telling the truth has the power to set victims free…and yes, even the victimizers, such as our friend, Walid Shoebat. who is trying to get the truth out every chance he can on Fox News, CNN, et al, about the nature and intent of radical Islam.
Sharon Hughes is Founder and President of The Center for Changing Worldviews and a radio talk show host on KDIA in San Francisco, RIGHTALK.com, and online at Oneplace.com. Her column appears in many recognized news sites and publications, most recently FRONTPAGEMAG. She also writes for NewsBusters.org., a division of The Media Research Center. For further information visit her Websites www.changingworldviews.com, WOMANTalk.us, and Blog http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com.
Or Contact: sharon@changingworldviews.com
DisHonors also go to Chris Matthews, Jack Cafferty and Rosie O’Donnell
WASHINGTON D.C.–The Media Research Center today announces the worst liberal reporting awards from their 6th annual DisHonors Awards gala held last night at the Grand Hyatt Washington. Ted Turner, Chris Matthews, Jack Cafferty and Rosie O’Donnell “won” for their superlative bias. Judges included Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Steve Forbes, Brent Bozell and other distinguished conservatives.
Quote of the year was chosen by the 950 guests in attendance and was awarded to Ted Turner for his ridiculous analysis of North Korea. Below is a full list of the 2006 awards, winners and the quotes that earned them their respective DisHonors. Audio and visual clips are available at http://www.mrc.org/.
Excerpts from 2006 DisHonors Award Winners’ Quotes
Aaron Brown Memorial Award for the Stupidest Analysis and Quote of the Year winner – Ted Turner, for declaring his faith in the good intentions of North Korea’s despotic communist dictatorship.
Turner: “Well, hey, listen. I saw a lot of people over there. They were thin and they were riding bicycles instead of driving in cars, but …”
Blitzer: “A lot of those people are starving.”
Turner: “I didn’t see any, I didn’t see any brutality …”
— Exchange on CNN’s The Situation Room, September 19.
Cindy Sheehan Media Hero Award – Chris Matthews for claiming Sheehan is more informed than Congress.
Cindy Sheehan: "We’re not going to cure terrorism and spread peace and good will in the Middle East by killing innocent people … I see Iraq as the base for spreading imperialism…."
Host Chris Matthews: "Are you considering running for Congress, Cindy?"
Sheehan: "No, not this time…."
Matthews: "Okay. Well, I have to tell you, you sound more informed than most U.S. Congresspeople, so maybe you should run."
— Exchange on MSNBC’s Hardball, August 15.
WASHINGTON, DC – Cliff Kincaid, editor of Accuracy in Media, released the following statement on NBC Today Show co-host Katie Couric’s decision to join CBS News as anchor of the CBS Evening News:
"The decision suggests there will be less emphasis on hard news on the network that employed Edward R. Murrow, considered a hero to the old CBS News crowd. On the Today Show, Couric had to deal with some hard news, but a lot of celebrities and fluff. She has been hired by CBS, apparently, because she is a liberal who projects a pleasant, warm and friendly appearance. That may be enough to raise the ratings. CBS Evening News has been mired in third place among network news shows, with 8.1 million viewers. ABC World News Tonight is second, with 8.7 million, and NBC Nightly News is number one, with 9.7 million. It’s like shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic. They’re competing for a dwindling audience. It’s because of AIM — and those who have followed in our wake — that the network news shows are in such trouble. They still don’t understand that it is liberal bias that is driving away viewers. Putting a pretty face and a sweet voice on liberal bias won’t fool viewers for long."
Accuracy In Media (AIM) is a non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage.
The war that has erupted over the publication of the Mohammed cartoons clearly shows the double standard invoked by the Muslim world. The anti-Semantic cartoons produced by Muslim countries in the Middle East prove to be more horrific and damaging then the Danish cartoons.
These anti-Semantic cartoons are the norm for the Arab world. And the Muslim violent demonstrations over the Danish cartoons is also the norm.
Now, the Iranian paper Hamshahri is sponsoring a contest to find the best Holocaust cartoons with the challenge that they are published in the same newspapers that the Mohammed cartoons appeared.
In a report on the cartoon wars, Spiegel Online reports:
In the end, it was the image of the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a lit fuse that proved perhaps most offensive. After all, as the Web site of the Arab-European League — a group supporting the rights of Arab and Muslim communities in Europe — pointed out: "The issue for us is not about depicting the prophet or any other theological consideration. It’s about stigmatizing a whole population of more than 1 billion Muslims through portraying their symbol as being a terrorist, megalomaniac, misogynies (sic) and a psychopath. This is racist, xenophobic and calling for hatred against Muslims."
That’s a valid point. But it would have been a lot more forceful had the Web site not published a political cartoon a few days earlier depicting Anne Frank in bed with Adolf Hitler, who is looking amorously appeased. As if that wasn’t offensive enough, the illustrator throws in one of the worst crimes in recent European history by name dropping Marc Dutroux, the convicted Belgian killer infamous for kidnapping young girls, raping them and then starving them to death. Hitler is saying, "Write this one in your diary Anne!"
The Anti-Defamation League website has many examples of anti-Semantic hate cartoons from the Arab world. There has been no let up of the cartoon campaign by the Arabs since 1948.
Listed here are the 10 Planks of the Communist Manifesto. As you can see the United States federal government has enacted legislation pushing our country towards Communist ideology and most American citizens may not be aware of this. Communisms unfortunately, is not dead. None of the following planks or the laws enacting them are authorized by the US Constitution.
America, wake up and read your Constitution!
1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rent to public purpose.
The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (1868), and various zoning, school and property taxes. Also the Bureau of Land Management. Various federal housing programs such as Habitat for Humanity, allow homeowners "ownership" of property but not allow equity or rights to true ownership as long as it is subsidized by federal grants. Other federal programs allow ownership of homes on lease land at one dollar for 100 years.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
Misapplication of the 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, 1913, The Social Security Act of 1936.; Joint House Resolution 192 of 1933; and various State "income" taxes. We call it "paying your fair share".
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
We call it Federal & State estate Tax (1916); or reformed Probate Laws, and limited inheritance via arbitrary inheritance tax statutes.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
In response to the left-biased media, I am posting this press release from The New Media Alliance.
Shelton, CT., Jan. 19/06 – In a growing trend of increasing organization and consolidation within the new-media, a new company has been formed which brings together grass roots writers, journalists and media outlets into a single organization.
The “new media”, a term typically used to refer to the unorganized collection of blogs, on-line magazines and talk radio shows, has had some impact in on public awareness of issues that have affected public perceptions and even influenced politics such as the Lewinsky “scandal” and “Rathergate”. However, What is different about the New Media Alliance is that it represents a more formal coming together of these new-media players.
According to a company spokesperson, the New Media Alliance (http://www.thenma.org/ – NMA) has developed a growing network of “some of the most talented grass-roots” writers, media outlets and organizations who have all agreed to partner together in the origination and national distribution of daily news, commentary, research and analysis covering current political and cultural issues.
Gary Schneider, Founder and President of the New Media Alliance, Inc., says that: “…Americans are increasingly seeking out alternatives to the traditional sources of news and perspective on today’s issues for a number of reasons, and we are well positioned to satisfy that growing demand.” Schneider further states that "…through our vast and growing network of contracted writers and media partners, we plan on supplying information and context on today’s important issues that would probably not otherwise have a chance to be heard.”
The NMA is owned and operated by Heritage New Media Partners, Inc. which also publishes the conservative on-line magazine “TheRealityCheck.org” (http://www.therealitycheck.org/) and directs the up-start campus watchdog and student empowerment group dubbed "The Reality Check On Campus" (www.oncampus.therealitycheck.org).
ABOUT THE NEW MEDIA ALLIANCE, INC.
The New Media Alliance (http://www.thenma.org/) is a non-profit (501c3) national coalition of writers, journalists and grass-roots media outlets .
Our Federal Courts have been making law instead of ruling over the laws. At sometimes their rulings are questionable as to whose rights are they really protecting.
California passed a law in October that made it illegal to sell or rent violent or sexually explicit games to children. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the law that allowed fines of $1,000 for the illegal sales that was to take effect on January 1, 2006.
The law was passed to protect underage children from the exposure to violent or sexually explicit games. And most parents would applaud this new law. But the law was challenged by the Entertainment Software Association and the Video Software Dealers Association which represent game makers and retailers.
In yesterday’s BBC News:
Citing freedom of speech worries US district judge Ronald Whyte granted an injunction to stop the law coming into force on 1 January.
Judge Whyte also questioned whether it was possible to ban sales to minors.
The ruling comes as US politicians draft national laws to stop the sale of adult-themed games to children.
Whose rights was Judge Whyte really trying to protect? Not the children’s rights!
The Entertainment Software Association and the Video Software Dealers Association have challenged similar laws in six other states and won reversals or injunctions that allowed them sell or rent violent or sexually explicit games to anyone. No consideration was made for the rights of the young children’s rights to be protected from inappropriate violent and sexual games.
I stumbled on this brilliant article by Mike Bates. The facts he reveals on Ramsey Clark’s political activities over the last four decades are definitely un-American. One wonders why he was never charged with treason for aiding and abetting the enemy. I also found another article by Cliff May with more facts on his treason - Walt
It’s not surprising that former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark is defending the monstrous Saddam Hussein. If Clark’s ever met an enemy of the United States he didn’t like, he’s managed to keep the fact a secret.
We owe it all to John F. Kennedy. Ramsey was toiling in Texas in well-deserved obscurity when Kennedy appointed him assistant attorney general.
The next step was promotion to attorney general under Lyndon Johnson. Since then, he’s racked up a record of anti-American activism few can match.
In 1972, he journeyed to North Vietnam to participate in the Communist-front International Committee of Inquiry into U.S. Crimes in Indochina. Not that the forum’s designation suggested any prior conclusions had been reached or anything.
Clark visited American POWs and declared, according to the Tribune Wire Services at the time, that the POWs were healthier than he was "and I am a healthy man." He claimed to be "particularly touched" by the hygienic conditions maintained for American prisoners.
Clark had been duped. After our POWs returned home, they detailed the torture and inhumane treatment they’d suffered.
Commander John McCain told U. S. News and World Report in 1973 that, "When Ramsey Clark came over they (the North Vietnamese) thought that was a great coup for their cause." It was.
Years later, a North Vietnamese general admitted: "Visits to Hanoi by people like Jane Fonda and former Atty. Gen. Ramsey Clark and ministers gave us confidence that we should hold on in the face of battlefield reverses."
High terrorist global alerts for the Christmas season in effect.
The Christmas season has been identified by the worlds major intelligence community as a prime time for jihad terrorist attacks against innocent civilian population. Many new terrorist cells have been identified in many countries worldwide.
These cells have been operating openly in public areas where internet access is available. Especially in cafés and public libraries. And in the United States.
There are two terrorist target types identified. They are defined as quality targets with a strong national and international impact such as the attacks on European land transportation from 2003 to date; and those with a clear western character in Muslim environments such as the 2002 attack on tourists in Bali, Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt and the recent terrorist event in Jordan.
The months of December 2005 and January 2006 will require extra vigilance to protect Christians wherever they live, especially in countries where Christianity is the dominant religion, since this period is perceived by Muslim dreamers of a global Khalifat as an obstacle to Islam’s march to global victory.
Jihad terrorist will not stop at anything for their causes. In recent UN and Middle East discussion. Theses organization have been trying to give meaning and define the difference between terrorist attacks and freedom fighter attacks, especially against civilian targets.