British Left: degenerate and ignorant

Great bit of tv this evening on channel 5 most of which i missed! We are long overdue a bit of thundering realism on the issue of how elements of the left have jumped into bed with islamic terrorists. So to hear these apologists revered as 'sewage' certainly made me pay attention.

As a taster: Hitzbollah and its 'cause' represent an apologists 'indignant fantasy' and the apologists are the 'sewage of the fringes of the far right and far left..which have contaminated general discussion, the media and even crossed into the mainstream left'. Oh and: The current left wing thought process is 'degenerate and ignorant'.

OK. Time to pay attention.

The prog documented Saddams iraqi war graves and its effects on those who uncovered them but i missed most of the Iraq war commentary to be honest. I picked up where they examined the recent Israeli Lebananese conflict: It described Hitzbollah in all its 'glory' and referred to Hitzbollah led media outings and skewed journalism which sought to perpetually slam - 'outright condemn' Israel for disproportionate use of force and 'dismissal' of civilian lives. Israel it countered had 'at least attempted to distinguish fighters from civilians' whilst Hitzbollah 'lobbed missiles from behind schools and hospitals'. 'Once again', Aaarnovich concludes, 'its big bad zionists against good muslims theory'. Resistance to Hitzbollah is seen as some hideously misaligned resistance to imperialism and young stoppers start sporting ludicrous 'we are all hitzbollah now' t shirts and waving Hitzbo flags. 'They think hitzbo', an anti semitic terrrorist outfit, are a 'sort of muslim freedom fighters sans frontieres'. It interspersed clips of Galloway calling Hitzbollah terrorists 'martyrs and heroes whose name now rings in joy around the whole world' as he glorified the head of Hitzbollah.

The British Left (no distinction as 'elements'), it warned, are glorifying this leader and falling into bed with the terrorists - 'not a healthy culture'. It harked back to Michael Moore who made it cool to lambast Bush for a terrorist problem Moore denies even exists -"Michael Moore is an idiot".

Other clips were equally damning of our Ken- showing his nazi NBF in full rant mode. There were some very poignant observations from an Iraqi Trade Unionist -Abdullah Musshin- and from the mother of July 7 victim, Rev Julie Nicholson, who resigned her position in the church earlier this year. Abdullah made an impassioned plea calling for support "solidarity in their pursuit of democracy, social justice, equality. Please support us stop supporting these extremists - in the future they will haunt you. They are your enemy". Rev Julie Nicholson concluded that attempts to excuse and 'understand' suicide bombing or blame the victims is the 'beginning of the end of humanity'.

Hard hitting stuff for the uninitiated. Preaching to the converted here - nonetheless, its about bloody time. Cool comments at Harrys Place, who provided the heads up:

"The fight-back for decency is gathering force, the moral point that humanity itself is lost if we begin to blame the victims of terror (any and everwhere for all time) for what is done to them was absolutely uncompromising"

"I caught the last twenty-odd minutes and was literally open-mouthed at some of it. I never
imagined I would see on a British TV channel, someone actually spelling out what Hizballah are and what they stand for, but this programme had that"

(FYI - It was billed as David Aaronovitch: No Excuses For Terror. Who is really responsible for the suicide bombers that target us? Is it the fault of George Bush or Tony Blair? Are we all somehow to blame? David Aaronovitch, journalist and commentator, has had enough of this argument. He asks how we've got to the point where British Socialists support Islamofascist Terrorism. Aaronovitch explains where the left have gone wrong on Israel, Palestine, the War in Iraq and the War on Terror) . It is apparently also screening at the Frontline Club in London on October 9.

"At least I don't have to worry about her running off with the bloke next door."

Funny.

"Government isn't about protests or placards, shouting the odds or stealing the scene"

True

And the rest of his speech hit the right note too (though id query his claims on the home front and that refusal to admit unreformed Islam is part of the problem. He's right about the Tories though. I think overall he made his points well.)

"This terrorism isn't our fault. We didn't cause it"

... of course, the new anxiety is the global struggle against terrorism without mercy or limit.
This is a struggle that will last a generation and more.
But this I believe passionately: we will not win until we shake ourselves free of the wretched capitulation to the propaganda of the enemy, that somehow we are the ones responsible.
This terrorism isn't our fault.
We didn't cause it.
It's not the consequence of foreign policy.
It's an attack on our way of life.
It's global.
It has an ideology.
It killed nearly 3,000 people including over 60 British on the streets of New York before war in Afghanistan or Iraq was even thought of.
It has been decades growing.
Its victims are in Egypt, Algeria, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Turkey.
Over 30 nations in the world.
It preys on every conflict.
It exploits every grievance.
And its victims are mainly Muslim.
This is not our war against Islam.
This is a war fought by extremists who pervert the true faith of Islam.
And all of us, Western and Arab, Christian or Muslim, who put the value of tolerance, respect and peaceful co-existence above those of sectarian hatred, should join together to defeat them.
It is not British soldiers who are sending car bombs into Baghdad or Kabul to slaughter the innocent.
They are there along with troops of 30 other nations with, in each case, a full UN mandate at the specific request of the first ever democratically elected Governments of those countries in order to protect them against the very ideology also seeking the deaths of British people in planes across the Atlantic.
If we retreat now, hand Iraq over to Al Qaeda and sectarian death squads and Afghanistan back to Al Qaeda and the Taleban, we won't be safer; we will be committing a craven act of surrender that will put our future security in the deepest peril.
Of course it's tough.
Not a day goes by or an hour in the day when I don't reflect on our troops with admiration and thanks - the finest, the best, the bravest, any nation could hope for.
They are not fighting in vain.
But for this nation's future.
But this is not a conventional war.
It can't be won by force alone.
It's not a clash of civilisations.
It's about civilisation, about the ideas that shape it.
From 9/11 until now I have said again and again.
If we want our values to be the ones that govern global change, we have to show that they are fair, just and delivered with an even hand.
From now until I leave office I will dedicate myself, with the same commitment I have given to Northern Ireland , to advancing peace between Israel and Palestine.
I may not succeed.
But I will try because peace in the Middle East is a defeat for terrorism.
We must never again let Lebanon become the battleground for a conflict that neither Israeli or Lebanese people wanted though it was they who paid the price for it.
Peace in Lebanon is a defeat for terrorism.
Action in Africa is a defeat for terrorism.
What is happening now in the Sudan cannot stand.
If this were in the continent of Europe we would act.
Showing an African life is worth as much as a Western one - that would help defeat terrorism too.
Yes it's hard sometimes to be America's strongest ally.
Yes, Europe can be a political headache for a proud sovereign nation like Britain.
But believe me there are no half-hearted allies of America today and no semi-detached partners in Europe.
And the truth is that nothing we strive for, from the world trade talks to global warming, to terrorism and Palestine can be solved without America, or without Europe.
At the moment I know people only see the price of these alliances.
Give them up and the cost in terms of power, weight and influence for Britain would be infinitely greater.
Distance this country and you may find it's a long way back.
So all these changes of a magnitude we never dreamt of, sweeping the world, are calling for answers of equal magnitude and vision.
All require leadership.
And here is something else I've learnt.
The danger for us today is not reversion to the politics of the 1980s.
It is retreat to the sidelines.
To the comfort zone.
It is unconsciously to lose the psychology of a governing Party.
As I said in 1994, courage is our friend.
Caution, our enemy.
A governing Party has confidence, self-belief.
It sees the tough decision and thinks it should be taking it.
Reaches for responsibility first.
Serves by leading.
The most common phrase uttered to me - and not at rallies or public events but in meetings of chance, quietly, is not "I hate you" or "I like you" but "I would not have your job for all the world".
The British people will, sometimes, forgive a wrong decision.
They won't forgive not deciding.
They know the choices are hard.
They know there isn't some fantasy Government where nothing difficult ever happens.
They've got the Lib Dems for that.
Government isn't about protests or placards, shouting the odds or stealing the scene.
It's about the hard graft of achievement.
There are no third-term popular Governments.
Don't ignore the polls but don't be paralysed by them either.
10 years on, our advantage is time, our disadvantage time.
Time gives us experience.
Our capacity to lead is greater.
Time gives the people fatigue; their willingness to be led, is less.
But they will lose faith in us only if first we lose faith in ourselves.
Polls now are as relevant as last year's weather forecast for tomorrow's weather.
It's three years until an election.
The first rule of politics: there are no rules.
You make your own luck.
There's no rule that says the Tories have got to come back.
David Cameron's Tories? My advice: get after them.
His foreign policy.
Pander to anti-Americanism by stepping back from America .
Pander to the Eurosceptics through isolation in Europe.
Sacrificing British influence for Party expediency is not a policy worthy of a Prime Minister.
His immigration policy.
Says he'll sort out illegal immigration, but opposes Identity Cards, the one thing essential to do it.
His energy policy.
Nuclear power "only as a last resort".
It's not a multiple choice quiz question, Mr Cameron.
We need to decide now otherwise in 10 years time we will be importing expensive fossil fuels and Britain's economy will suffer.
He wants tax cuts and more spending, with the same money.
He wants a Bill of Rights for Britain drafted by a Committee of Lawyers.
Have you ever tried drafting anything with a Committee of Lawyers? And his policy for the old lady terrorised by the young thug is that she should put her arm round him and give him a nice, big hug.
Built to last? They haven't even laid the foundation stone.
If we can't take this lot apart in the next few years we shouldn't be in the business of politics at all.

The Daily Show- Even Stepvhen: Islam vs. Christianity

Mainstream Left & Anti-Semitism

With the Lib Dem leader in the news, its interesting to see that only two weeks after an all parliamentary enquiry concluded anti Semitism was on the rise again the Lib Dems own Baroness Tonge has publicly embraced the best known anti semitic myth out there. Speaking on Tuesday at a meeting of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, Tonge says: “The pro-Israeli lobby has got its grips on the western world, its financial grips. I think they have probably got a certain grip on our party". This part of her speech was recorded and broadcast by Radio 4’s Today Programme. Click here and forward 21 minutes into the broadcast.

Personally I don’t imagine anyone gripping the Lib Dems all that tightly but her remarks are truly pathetic -especially as a ‘Liberal’ member of the House of Lords. And she is hardly naïve. Waxing lyrical about suicide bombers saw her sacked last year from the front bench (whilst being elevated to the House of Lords, you understand)

You may also recall that Chris Davies, resigned as the leader of the Lib Dems in the European Parliament shortly after sending an abusive email to one of his Jewish constituents.

This sort of rubbish now comes from within the mainstream left and should concern us all. It is a nod to peddling of rebranded anti-Semitism masquerading as Israel criticism by members of Respect and also by the likes of 'MPAC' - seen here wriggling out of complaints about Israel images on their website.

This week saw the Khartoum government allege any UN intervention in Sudanese genocide was merely a design on ‘redrawing the region to protect Israel’.

For some elements of the left that means cue those placards: we are all Janjaweed now

Trees, Acorns, Eggs

I hate it.

I'm almost inclined not to vote for them purely because of this dippy logo. It's that serious. Well, there are certainly no actual policies to get stuck into.

Then I read that the Tories (if that's who they really are)...have asked Faberge to design a special edition EGG to help raise them money:

Faberge has created 50 special edition eggs in blue enamel, priced at £10,000, to help raise money for David Cameron’s Tories.

The “With Pride and Passion” egg, which was unveiled at London’s Carlton Club last week, will be offered to wealthy party supporters around the country.

As with all Fabergé eggs, there is a “surprise” inside — in this case, four tiny golden figurines of past leaders: Robert Peel, Benjamin Disraeli, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.

Oh. My. God.

Westminster Cathedral London

From Catholic Londoner Blog

"Unfortunately after Mass today at Westminster Cathedral it was shoved in my face. Holy Mass on a Sunday is the very source and summit of the Catholic week, so my family decided this Sunday to make the trip to Westminster Cathedral together. As we came out about 100 Islamists were chanting slogans such as "Pope Benedict go to Hell" "Pope Benedict you will pay, the Muja Hadeen are coming your way" "Pope Benedict watch your back" and other hateful things. I'll post more pictures of it when I get more free time. It was a pretty nasty demonstration. From 11 - 3pm they chanted absurd things, literally just outside the Cathedral. And from 11- 3pm (and indeed all day, every day) like every day of the week, faithful Catholics and non-Catholics (mainly tourists) wondered in and out of the magnificent Church, largely ignoring the furore of hatred this crowd of muslims was trying to stir up"

Good innit eh? Isnt it GREAT?!

'Trinity of Evil' - LOL. Up all night thinking up that one were you?

And as for 'Islam will conquer Rome'. Nahh.

Note there are no "" around the quoted words sorry. The BBC usually likes to employ these for effect.

The BBC would like to make it very clear to peace loving muslims the world over that the Pope is very very sorry, humbled in fact, for suggestng you might want to move away from violence committed in the name of Allah. Clearly from your predictable reaction this is out of the question - and endorsed by the MCB who were quite insistent on an apology also. Actually, so were clear the Pope apologised for the fact you refuse to accept this and invited you to moveinto the 21s century by way of a dialogue. Good to see you rush to take this up.

I'd like to know if muslims are sorry for Darfur which is also in the news at the moment and which took something of a back seat to your sensibilities. Its only genocide of fellow muslims in the name of Islam after all.

Great Britons

~Battle of Britain Day Sept 15 ~

Picture from the opening of the Battle of Britain monument unveiled at Victoria Embankment in London last year. On my list of beautiful places to visit in my city. The monument is made up of two bronze friezes set in an 82ft-long granite structure, not all of it is shown here, obviously!

Seventy surviving pilots and their families attended the ceremony alongside the Prince of Wales and his Duchess. Jack Toombs, 78, above, was a seventeen year old rear gunner during the battle. What a lovely photo of a wonderful Briton. One frieze depicts all the achievements of Fighter Command and the other focuses on the people of London, featuring St Paul's and an Anderson shelter.

There is a plaque on the monument which lists the names of 2,936 servicemen and women from 14 countries who took part in the struggle against the Luftwaffe in 1940. 35 000 Londoners died during the Blitz.

It is engraved with Sir Winston Churchill's famous phrase:

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".

As we all know the Battle of Britain was fought between July 10 and October 31 1940, when the RAF and the Germans fought for supremacy over Britain. Despite being outnumbered four to one, on September 15 1940, RAF Fighter Command claimed victory over the Luftwaffe after a day of bombing raids ended in heavy losses for Germany. And shortly after, Hitler postponed and then cancelled invasion plans, turning his attention to the defeat of Russia. If the RAF had not succeeded the Germans would have been able to invade the UK easily and the course of the war would have been somewhat different for everyone.

Post from last year, reposted to commemorate Battle of Britain Day Sept 15.

Silver Tongued Fascists

In 2005 the radical Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir declared it would resist all attempts by Tony Blair to ban it. (A BBC investigation reveals why we might need a ban here). Officials of the group warned that the government's proposals would be interpreted by the Muslim community as part of an 'anti-Islamic' agenda (snore) and could trigger civil unrest.

Its chief spokesperson, Waheed, threatened: 'God help us if the level of frustration grows among the Muslim community and there is no-one there like us to challenge it’. Sound familiar? Mr Waheed, the ‘radical’, sounds just like the ‘moderates’ at the MCB and the Muslim Public Affairs Committee. God help us indeed. Hitz ut Tahir’s stated aims are to restore the caliphate, the all-encompassing Muslim state, with designs on imposing Islamic Sharia Law on all the citizens of the world.

Waheed popped up like a jack in the box in the 9/11 editorials in this weeks Times to sell us on the idea. He wants to reassure the unwitting British public that the Caliphate is not at all ‘medieval’ (LOL!) as ‘Tony Blair implied’. And he squirms - this is ‘an example of the disinformation expounded since 9/11’. Disinformation? Sounds like Blair has nailed it to me.

In this letter Hitz ut Tahir are proposing elements laid out in their own charter – such non medieval sounding treats as execution for apostasy, separate roles for men and women, women to not sit in positions of power, women to be veiled and obey their husbands…. to name but a few. And naturally it is totally opposed to democracy as a form of government. By definition Islamic law cannot be democratic (unless by democratic one means to decide on the size of the stone to use in Islamic stonings.)

Infinitives Unsplit pounced on this and pulled apart the slimily worded letter to expose the real lies here.

The NUS, ‘trustees’ of some of Britain's mosques and Islamic schools all banned Hizb-ut-Tahrir from operating a while ago.

Here’s my take. Banning them is a passive get out in this and in this instance the position of the so called moderate muslim community. The NUS, muslim Mosque trustees etc should buckle up and challenge them. Expose them and their ilk for the slimy, weasly, double speaking, silver tongued crypto-fascists they really are.

cross posted ATW

Very early in the morning. Somewhere near Mount St Helens, USA. Sept 11, 2001.

Adam and Yve

Posting it a bit late after the event but its worth it..for posterity. I enjoyed this from over at Harrys Place (the decent Left) .

"In the latest al-Qaeda video, warning us infidels to turn to Islam before it's too late, American convert and fugitive Adam Gadahn gives a shout-out to a couple of familiar figures:

As for those who have expressed their respect and admiration for Islam, and acknowledged that it is the truth, and demonstrated their support and sympathy for the Muslims and their causes-- like George Galloway, Robert Fisk and countless others-- I say to them: isn't it time you stopped sitting on the fence and came over to the side of truth?

C'mon, guys-- don't be embarrassed. Stand up and take a bow"


In the comments section:

"and countless others...but not Yvonne Ridley she's a f***ing nutjob".

A reminder of Yvonne in action interviewing former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir:

America and Britains very own home grown Media Jihadis 'Adam and Yve'. Eugh

Oh Burqa Off ...Thats Just Daft

During the Taliban's reign of terror a woman and her 12-year-old daughter were beaten to within an inch of their lives when the woman removed her daughter's burqa in order to help her breathe during an asthma attack.

I recall reading this in one of Julie Birchills articles some years back. That wasn’t of course the first time id read of the horrors of Islamic treatment of women and that ludicrous garb we’re meant to accept as a modern ‘symbol’ of a woman’s 'right' to choose whatever ‘fashion’ she wants in a deeply right on liberal society.

I’ve also since read and agree with columnist Yasmin Alibhai Brown on this particular issue. She leans somewhat towards a ban: “thousands of liberal Muslims would dearly like the state to take a stand on their behalf. If it doesn't, it will betray vulnerable British citizens and the nation's most cherished principles and encourage Islam to move back even faster into the dark ages, when we all need to face the future together".

The vulnerable women she referred to included a desperate young woman who had followed her home one evening revealing from under her burqa bruises and cuts received from her deeply pious father and brothers. It left her with a number of serious questions about just what we are helping to cover up by paying not a blind bit of notice in the name of ‘rights’. She condemns what she views as a "pernicious ideology.. propagated by misguided Muslim women who claim the burqa is an equaliser and a liberator". I'd only add along with all modern day feminists and homo-lefticus who’ve since abandoned fundamental women’s rights in favour of a tacit support for religious fundamentalism.

Stifle (or not) a laugh at this little hospital number we read about earlier this week but its depressing to read that the latest ‘severe burqa homage’ syndrome hails, not from Saudi Arabia or Iran, where women fight and die daily against the shroud, but from right here in the UK.

The hilariously named ‘inter faith’ gown is designed to help you retain your modesty in surgery. Not sure what is ‘inter faith’ about it firstly and, secondly, when you’re under anaesthetic and on the surgeons table, modesty is the least of your problems and adequately handled already. I’m guessing here but surely there is no way this gown can actually be worn during surgery? That would give rise to a number of issues surely. So this is presumably for that really long arduous journey you make on a trolley from your ward to the theatre.

NHS money is now being squandered on indulging superfluous fundamentalist beliefs. Wonderful opportunism from its designer. After all, it was always highly unlikely anyone would dare to pipe up 'but thats just daft!'.

The robes 'designer' refuted suggestions that she had taken her inspiration from the 'Imperial Snowtrooper' character in 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'

Cross posted at A Tangled Web

Jacks Back

Finally, it seems as though the story of illegally-imprisoned U.S. Special Forces soldiers Jack Idema and Brent Bennett is starting to attract the kind of media attention it deserves.

Indeed, over the past week, we've had the announcement of a film, Disavowed, that focuses on Jack Idema, a wealth of intelligence footage of Jack arresting and interrogating Taliban detainees, and the internet debut of a British documentary which includes an interview with Idema.

Read more at Rottweiler Puppy with all the video links.

Brazil v Argentina at the new Arsenal Stadium

3-0 to Brazil. Joga Bonito. Yeah, you tell em....


New Arsenal 'Emirates' stadium....


"You're playing in the wrong country against the wrong team". Heh. (Arsenal season ticket holder)
Humble beginnings. Glimpse of the old Highbury stadium..side entrance opposite Arsenal tube.

Great football. How about that Kaka. Unfortunate name for a footballing genius. What a goal...

Gangster Diplomacy 2006

Catherine Tate Show - Death Row Wife

'Left'speak. Hilarious.

Just A Regular Friday Night

Last night whilst sipping a well earned alcoholic beverage with friends close to the Charing Cross Road, we witnessed a slew of police vans headed south at break kneck speed. It would have been a regular sight for a Friday night except van after van after van hurtled in the same direction accompanied by other officers on bikes, in cars etc, suggesting something big was occuring somewhere. About 8 or 9 vans and associated entourage i guess. That sinking feeling ensued. All occured mid evening. It now seems highly likely that it was officers headed for London Bridge/Borough.

BBC News:14 held in terror police swoop

Armed police have arrested 14 men overnight following anti-terror raids in London, which included 12 arrests at a restaurant in the Borough area.

Sky News: A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "The arrests in south and east London follow many months of surveillance and investigation in a joint operation involving the Anti-Terrorist Branch, Special Branch and the Security Service."

AFP: British anti-terror police probing 'thousands' of suspects

LONDON (AFP) - British police are currently trying to monitor "thousands" of potential security suspects, the head of the anti-terrorism unit at London's Metropolitan Police said in an interview to be broadcast Sunday.

Reuters: UK police arrest 16 in anti-terrorism raids

LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Saturday they had arrested 16 men in two separate anti-terrorism operations just three weeks after uncovering a suspected plot to bring down U.S.-bound airliners over the Atlantic. Fourteen of the men were held in London in an operation that a police source said focused on suspected "training, recruitment and encouraging others to take part in terrorist activity".

"A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Anti-Terrorist Branch have arrested 14 men under the Terrorism Act 2000 in a pre-planned, intelligence-led operation. The arrests in south and east London follow many months of surveillance and investigation in a joint operation involving the Anti-Terrorist Branch, Special Branch and the Security Service."

Sorry not good enough! Here we go.

"An 18-year-old witness said: "There were about eight police vans and a large number of police in riot gear. There were police cars lined up on the street - I think it was over the top for the number of people I saw being taken away."

And Ive already heard a journo suggesting that busting into a restaurant was a little 'melodramatic'.

Good grief. So is blowing yourself up in the strange belief you will influence foreign policy. But i never heard anyone in the media comment in that fashion last July. Isnt it amazing how local dimwit 'witnesses', 'observers' and 'commentators' are able to determine what level of force and backup the police should use - presumably they are privvy to the information that led the police to their target in the first place, since the police have adopted this new strategy of sharing in advance.

Prepare for another round of whinging muslims playing up to a collective sense of liberal guilt, milking their 'victimhood' with cries of discrimination and harrassment whilst the rest of us are expected to forget all about it.

Oh and expect people dining out in Chinese restaurants to become suspicious of fellow diners and start running screaming from said restaurants any day now. Bigots.