Religious Fundamentalists: America vs. the Middle East

This is magnificent. There are only two problems with it.

First, it doesn't make its point in 60 seconds or less and

second, the people who should see it won't and worse, even if they did, they either wouldn't get it or would deny there's any truth to it.

For the rest of us, enjoy.

Quote of the day--for a Sunday

 

Oops.

 

 

 

Muslim extremists hurting their own cause

Did you see this rather big story from England today?

Chilling video of London attacker explaining machete attack

The report is that "..two men attacked a man believed to be a British soldier in the London neighborhood of Woolwich, but U.K. officials are already investigating it as a possible act of terrorism.

One of the two men are quoted as saying "We swear by Almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. The only reasons we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day. This British soldier is an eye for an eye a tooth for tooth. We apologise that women had to see this today but in our lands our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government. They don’t care about you."

And all I can say is that with the reports from around the world, that so many Muslims strapped bombs to themselves and blew themselves and innocents up, time after time, their fellow countrymen, frequently, and now this, it's all creating images of Muslims and Islamists that far too many people across in many countries, Americans, British, all kinds of people, all over the world, that they think "they're all like that."

This is going nowhere good for them, that's for sure, and for too many of them, they don't seem to care. How they expect this to go well for them, I don't know or understand.

In the meantime, here's something that won't get reported enough, also from today:

Woolwich attack: Religious groups condemn attack

And from this article:

...Muslim groups have condemned the attack after a video captured of the suspected attackers saying: “We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you.”

A statement from the Muslim Council of Britain said: “This is a truly barbaric act that has no basis in Islam and we condemn this unreservedly. Our thoughts are with the victim and his family.

“We understand the victim is a serving member of the Armed Forces. Muslims have long served in this country’s Armed Forces, proudly and with honour.

“This attack on a member of the Armed Forces is dishonourable, and no cause justifies this murder.”

The group called for vigilance and solidarity between “all our communities, Muslim and non-Muslim”, and for police to “calm tensions”.

Mohammed Shafiq from the Ramadhan Foundation said: “I wish to condemn the evil and barbaric crime carried out today in Woolwich.

“Our immediate thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims. From whatever angle you see today’s attack, it was at every level evil.

“We must allow the police to gather all the facts before unnecessary speculation and wait for the facts before determining its impact on our country.

“But what happens in the days to come, London and our nation will come together and will not be divided. The terrorists will never win and succeed in their evil plans.

“But tonight we think of the family of that soldier killed.”

So let's keep that in mind,  too, if we can. 

Don't think all Muslims are for this bararity.

Purely by fluke, I ran across this flip side of the coin, so to speak, this evening, too:

British soldier jailed for stabbing 10-year-old Afghan boy - Telegraph

But that's different, right?

Right?

Dear Religion,

On the international Muslim protests

Let's get this straight.

The President and leader of Syria, Bashir Al-Assad, is blowing up Muslim, Islamist Mosques in his country and killing women, children and yes, men, in his country--Muslims, all, in many cases--but the big problem right now in the Muslim world, at least to the radical Muslims, is an obscure, poorly made video on YouTube that no one is watching?

And for that you want to kill US Ambassadors who have helped free the country of Libya and some 3 other people and create violent protests all across the planet?

Seriously?

And you think these are good ideas and that the rest of the free, educated, intelligent world should work with you on this?

Seriously?

Links: http://kcur.org/post/politics-religion-and-power-behind-protests

http://news.yahoo.com/western-embassies-edgy-muslim-anger-film-simmers-000716007.html

To the nutty fundamentalists from Topeka

Dear Westboro Baptist Church,

In a few days, there will be a funeral you can protest. It will only be a memorial service but, just this once, we won't try to stop you.

Sincerely,

America





(Thanks and a special hat tip to long-time friend Dennis for this)

Muslims of the world

Moderate Muslims need to speak out against the extremist Muslims of the world who are blowing up and killing or maiming so many other people of the world.

It needs to be said.

It needs to be done.

This shouldn't be a radical or controversial idea at all.

Sure, it's being done to an extent but the voice/voices of these moderate Muslims is/are absolutely not loud or convincing enough, as they should be.

I hope this starts soon.

Link:  http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=muslim+terrorists&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=a404a1c26a268bba

revelations VII

I could never understand why so many of you think I want to punish you.


                                   --God

revelations VI

It really is love beyond your comprehension, people.  That "peace that surpasses all understanding" thing?  That's just part of it.  Deal. 


                                              --God

revelations V

I don't belong to a religion.


And while we're at it, that's a double-entendre.


Think about it.


               --God

revelations IV

Live, laugh, love and stop messing up that planet you're on.  What is so difficult about this, people?

                                                                     --God

revelations III

Stop making up goofy rules about me.


                            --God

Next up on the "Democracy March": Algeria

You saw it here first:

Algeria braces for pro-democracy protest


ALGIERS, Algeria – Hundreds of police began taking up positions the night before a pro-democracy protest march in Algiers by militants who have vowed to defy an official ban.
 
The planned march on Saturday is aimed at pressing for reforms to push this oil- and gas-rich North African giant toward democracy.

The weeks-long uprising in Egypt that forced Hosni Mubarak to abandon the presidency after 30 years was bound to fuel the hopes of Algerians seeking change — as did the "people's revolution" in neighboring Tunisia. A month of deadly uprisings there pushed Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile Jan. 14.

However, many Algerians fear any prospect of conflict after years of a brutal insurgency by Islamist extremists that has left an estimated 200,.000 dead. There is no specific call by organizers of the protest march to oust President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

With scattered strikes and clashes, including five days of rioting in early January, the atmosphere in Algiers has been tense.

There have been numerous copy-cat suicides, and attempted suicides, in Algeria like the self-immolation attempt by a young man that set off the Tunisian protests in mid-December.

The Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, an umbrella group of human rights activists, unionists, lawyers and others, insists the march will take place despite numerous warnings by authorities to stay out of the streets.

Buses and vans filled with armed police were posted at strategic points along the march route and around Algiers, including at the "Maison de la Presse," a small village in Algiers where newspapers have their headquarters.

The daily El Watan said Friday that barrages were thrown up on roads leading to Algiers, apparently to stop busloads of potential demonstrators expected to descend on the capital.

In a clear bid to placate militants, Algerian authorities announced last week that a state of emergency in place since 1992, at the start of the Islamist insurgency, will be lifted in the "very near future." However, it maintained a ban on demonstrations in the capital. Authorities offered to allow Saturday's demonstrators to rally in a meeting hall.

The army's decision to cancel this nation's first multi-party legislative elections in January 1992 to thward a likely victory by a Muslim fundamentalist party set off the insurgency. Scattered violence continues.

It doesn't sound as though this one is going as well as the one in Egypt.

Here's hoping it goes well.


Enjoy your weekend, y'all.

Link to original post:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110212/ap_on_re_af/af_algeria_protest

Problems?

By and large, I think President Obama is doing and has done some terrific things, for sure, since gaining office this year.

Doing away with Guantanamo is an improvement for the country--re-establishing a nonpolitical Justice Department is huge, nominating Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court recently, the list goes on.

But there have been, as there always are, missteps.

Hey, they're all humans there at the White House but these missteps have seemed rather avoidable.

The first, I think, was the goofy gift he gave to Britain's Queen early this year.

(WTF?)

But that was really a minor problem or issue and we can all laugh about it and recover.

Then there was this odd oversight of the President's and French President Nikola Sarkozy's and Britain's Prime Minister. I mean, why would you NOT invite the one person to the D-Day commemoration WHO WAS THERE? (That being the Queen).

That just didn't make sense.

Now, in the very rare, overly-sensitive, odd and forever war-torn place that is the Middle East, the President made a very smart speech to the Muslim world and the rest of us.

In it, he said many wise, true and possibly difficult things.

He called for fairness and "give and take" from all sides involved. He asked for concessions from both sides and a lot more.

All good.

But one thing President Obama didn't do on this trip to the Middle East was include a stopover in Israel. I think that's a glaring omission and I'd love to hear an official explanation for it. I'm not saying he HAD to go or needed to go or that it was a huge mistake, at all.

It might possibly be one, though, and I'd love to know the reason he didn't make this stop.

(Link to story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090604/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama)

Where the President really hurts himself and his political party, though, is on spending, without doubt.

When now former President Bush proposed spending the trillions he said he wanted and needed to bail out the banks and support the economy, we all knew he was stupid and at the end of his Presidency.

For President Obama to continue this huge spending reflects especially badly on him and his Democratic Party because it makes it far too easy to paint him as the old cliche': "a tax-and-spend Liberal".

It's old but extremely effective and it makes a sort of "Achilles heel" for the President.

He needs to get away from this big, deficit spending, for the country's sake and his own.