Eyes Wide Shut and Circling the Drain

The Irish Times

"There have been calls for an urgent debate in the Dutch parliament about the integration of Muslim immigrants amid claims that one area of The Hague, known locally as “the Sharia triangle”, is being run by a form of unofficial Sharia police.

The claims relate to the district of Schilderswijk, about two kilometres from the city centre, where an almost entirely Muslim population of some 5,000 people surrounds the El Islam mosque, fuelling criticism that the government has failed to ensure a proper ethnic mix in schools and local housing. One recent investigation, in which local people were extensively interviewed, concluded that Schilderswijk had become “orthodox Muslim territory” which was now largely ignored by the city authorities, by politicians and even by the police, on the grounds that it had become self-regulating.

The investigation found that orthodox Muslims had become so dominant that they were dictating what people in the neighbourhood wore and how they behaved.

“The norms of the majority are beginning to take over,” it said.

In the case of women, dress was a particular issue. One woman told how her daughter had been approached and told her short skirt was inappropriate, while her son had been called a “kaffir” – a racist term formerly used in colonial South Africa to refer to a black person – for smoking. A youth who had previously been involved in local gangs said that criminality had dropped off, not because of the police, but because he and his friends were “afraid of the wrath of Allah”.

Another man said he felt he was gradually being driven out of his home because he had a dog, and many traditional Muslims tended not to keep or favour dogs.

A veiled Muslim woman, however, defended Islamic practices, and said dressing modestly would “do the locals good”. She pointed out that women in the Dutch ultra-conservative, largely Protestant, Bible Belt also wore long dresses, and that shops there were closed on Sunday – as many in Schilderswijk were on Fridays.

Local police chief Michel de Roos said: “We have no indications there is a form of Sharia police here. That is not to say it does not happen, but we are unaware of it.”
 

Get a Grip Europe. I Doubt We Will Shed Blood for You Again

 DiploMad2.0  

How Many Times do We have to Hear about the Peaceful 99% of Muslims?

I was--big mistake--reading CNN and BBC reporting on the Religion of Peace's activities in London and Stockholm when I saw that the benefits of Islam's Peaceful Activities also have made themselves manifest in Paris, where a French soldier has been stabbed. I love the cautious, oh so very delicate reporting by BBC on this latest demonstration of Love of Peace,

President Hollande also responded cautiously while on a visit to Ethiopia, telling reporters: "I do not think at this point that there may be a link" [with the London attack]

French reports said police were hunting a bearded man of North African origin about 30 years of age. He was wearing a light-coloured robe called a djellaba.

 "We still don't know the exact circumstances of the attack or the identity of the attacker, but we are exploring all options.

Oh yes, that description is undoubtedly of a Mormon missionary, or perhaps a Hasidic Jew or a slightly disheveled Amish tourist?

I also adore the breathless reporting (here and here, for example) re the alarming "rise" in anti-Muslim "attacks." Note the source for the reports and take a grain of salt, a spoonful would be better, then let me know how many Muslims have been beheaded on the streets of London in the middle of day. How about zero for a number? How many Muslim immigrants in the UK are packing up, turning in their assistance cards, and moving back to Nigeria, Pakistan, Morocco, Bangladesh, etc? I'll bet that zero number remains a pretty accurate estimate for that, too.

 I enjoy reading the comments from readers around the world on the BBC and CNN stories. There, and elsewhere, we see another number, a rather tired one: the "statistic" that "99% of Muslims" are not terrorists. Is that true? I don't know. From where does that number come? I don't know. Let's, however, go along with the gag. Let's assume it is accurate, and come up with our own equally valid "99%" statistics. Some samples follow; I am sure you can turn this into a drinking game--but not around Muslims because drinking offends them (unless they are Saudi diplomats in Islamabad).

 Did you know that,

-- 99% of the Japanese did not attack Pearl Harbor?

-- 99% of the Nazis did not kill Jews or Gypsies, or invade Poland?

-- 99% of the Communists did not engage in Stalin's or Mao's purges?

-- 99% of the Germans killed in Dresden had never bombed England?

-- 99% of the Italians did not invade Ethiopia?

-- 99% of the Iranians did not occupy the US embassy in Teheran?

 -- 99% of the Al Qaeda membership did not fly airplanes into the World Trade Center or the Pentagon?

 And so on, and on, and so what? What does that "99%" prove? Just one thing: There are consequences in the real world to belonging to organizations or following ideologies and leaders that commit atrocities. That's the way it works. If 99% of Muslims are not terrorists, and do not support terrorism (that's the big "if") where are they? Why can't they control the crazies and murderers and rioters in their midst? If they can't they will find that they might just pay the price, even if they did not pull the trigger, or drop the cyanide gas. The Germans and the Japanese discovered that during World War II.

We see Britain's foolish PM Cameron making the typical foolish Western politician statement after the murder of the young British soldier (and let's not forget he is just following in the path of nonsense about Islam blazed by our own President Bush),

"This was not just an attack on Britain and on the British way of life, it was also a betrayal of Islam and of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country. There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act."

No, Mr. Prime Minister. Everything in Islam justifies this truly dreadful act and so many more. That is why the "99%" cannot condemn, isolate, or punish the murderers. That violence, that "extremism" is Islam; that is the real item. We need to deal with that hard and unpleasant fact. Islam has not gone through an enlightenment, and what "reformation" has taken place has moved it backwards, ever deeper into the thinking prevalent in the dark ages and places from whence it came.

London Daily Columnist States the Obvious: Obama - Weakest President In The History Of The U.S.

MEMRI 

"The problem of U.S. President Barack Obama can be summed up in a single word: hesitation. The man is short-sighted, confused and diffident. It seems that the gist of his policy is disagreeing with every position of his predecessor, George W. Bush, and that is quarrelsomeness, not policy. 

"This assessment of Obama's policy is not voiced only by his Republican rivals in the U.S., or by those who hate some [aspects] of his global [foreign] policy, but also by some proponents of his own school of thought, like the well-known American author David Ignatius, who recently wrote a critique of the Obama administration's policy that was not confined to foreign [policy] affairs... Summarizing the problematic aspects of Obama's conduct, he said that the public is more afraid of a weak administration than a strong one!

"We are not talking [only] about harsh critics of this administration, inside or outside the U.S. This is apparent from a recent article by Lebanese-American writer Fuad 'Ajami, who slammed Obama for his feebleness, his lack of leadership, and his inability to take bold decisions under difficult circumstances......."

Read More HERE

Diogenes Earns Third Finger

We're This Many

 This Weekend Marked the Third Anniversary of the Advent of Diogenes' Middle Finger. 

Because of generous linkage and kind words on many on-line forums about the format, 'Diogenes' Middle Finger' has experienced unbelievable growth since our first year. 

I would like to thank all who linked over, emailed me and drop in on regular basis for your support and kindness. You know who you are (the e-referrer list on my sidebar tells the story). 

New features and plans are in the offing but the mission shall remain the same; kneecapping the political left with strong doses of satire, biting humor and serious commentary.

Thank You All so much for your support, readership and comments over the past two years!

Jan 

_____________________________________

God Bless America and Her Children that Defend Her

IN CONTRAST:

Earl of Taint

Spot the Incongruous Headline

CVN

"So take in this screen cap of the yesterdays roster of headlines appearing on the AOL/HuffPo home page. Six of the ten headlines relate one way or another to terrorism or the problem of Islamic jihad. One of them sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb. The country’s in the very best of hands, as Glenn Reynolds likes to remind us."

I've Got Friends in Low Places