LimitsToGrowth Archive

 

June 2005
 

Mexico issues stamp of black cartoon character weeks after racial flap   [6/30/05]
The black community is now responding to the obnoxious postage stamps released yesterday (see 6/29 below) by the Mexican government.

    But NAACP Interim President Dennis Courtland Hayes countered that "laughing at the expense of hardworking African Americans or African Mexicans is no joke and it should end at once." [...]
        Ben Vinson, a black professor of Latin American history at Penn State University, said he has been called "Memin Pinguin" by some people in Mexico. He also noted that the character's mother is drawn to look like an old version of the U.S. advertising character Aunt Jemima.
    Remember that Mario Obledo and other La Raza types had a cow a few years back over the Taco Bell chihuahua, calling it offensive and racist. (Will someone please explain how a dog can be racist?) Apparently the Razas didn't see the canine advertising character as "charming", as the current stamp images were characterized by the comic's Mexican publisher. Big difference when the shoe is on the other foot.
    Furthermore, the LA Times in uncharacteristic honesty writes Mexican Postage Stamp Pushes Racial Envelope:
    "Mexican society is fundamentally racist and classist," said Guadalupe Loaeza, a newspaper columnist. "The color of your skin is a key that either opens or shuts doors. The lighter your skin, the more doors open to you."
        Racism extends to political preferences, she added. Many upper-middle-class Mexicans are expected to vote against front-running presidential candidate and Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the Democratic Revolution Party because he is partly indigenous and brown-skinned, Loaeza said. That group of voters might tend to support Santiago Creel of the National Action Party because he has light skin and blue eyes, she said.
        Racism is one of the many forms of discrimination practiced in Mexico, according to a survey published last month by the federal secretary of social development. It said 80% of Mexicans, among them women, children, indigenous and disabled people and the elderly, suffered discrimination in some way.
    In addition, Mexican comic books — one sees them being widely read in Mexico by adults — also include raunchy anti-white material.
    Meanwhile, white Mexican elites continue to export its indigenous and mestizo people to America.

•   •   •  

'Ethnomathematics' arrival adds to spin of multiculturalism   [6/30/05]
Plain-spoken Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich has gotten plenty of criticism for his dismissal of multiculturalism as "bunk" and his belief that emphasizing people's differences rather than their commonalities is a sure recipe for social conflict. It's a relief then to read a common sense column from black writer Gregory Kane ripping the idea of "ethnomathematics."

    [Educator Diane] Ravitch said one of the goals of "ethnomathematicians" is to teach "social justice mathematics." She gave some lowlights from a new textbook, Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers. Topics include "Chicanos Have Math in Their Blood," "Home Buying While Brown or Black" and - you guessed it - "Multicultural Math."
        "Unbelievable," Ehrlich said after hearing about the latest multicultural mania. "On this general topic [of multiculturalism], I think any social movement that tends to separate a group out from mainstream culture I deem dangerous."
    For more about the education establishment's fadish multiculti math, see this. The joke version nails it.

•   •   •  

Mexican authorities detain two Iraqis near U.S. border on immigration charges   [6/29/05]
According to Fox News, the word is out in Muslim nations that the way to get into America now is via Mexico. This case illustrates a pipeline has developed from the Middle East to Mexican people smugglers. Furthermore, the reports that OTMs are released with a "diploma" (notice to appear) has illegals approaching Border Patrol officers and asking for their piece of paper, which allows them to move about freely. (See update 6/30.)

    Whereas Mexican citizens are processed and swiftly deported, non-Mexicans are either detained or let out on bail pending an appearance before an immigration court.
        Following a security and criminal background check, those not deemed a security threat or found to have a criminal record, are released with a notice to appear before an immigration judge within 30 days.
        The immigration summons, dubbed "the diploma" by local residents in the remote border community, allows them to travel on into the United States legally, crossing Border Patrol road blocks set up to collar illegal migrants in south Texas.
    A panel convened by the 9/11 Commission (the 9/11 Public Discourse Project) emphasized yesterday that a state of complacency has enveloped homeland security with the sense that the war against terrorism is being fought overseas exclusively. Former Senator Bob Kerrey expressed concern that the feeling is returning that "it can't happen here." One-time Coast Guard officer Stephen Flynn regretted that border security is still treated like a stepchild.

•   •   •  

Mexican stamp called offensive to blacks   [6/29/05]
Mexican stamp You might think that Mexicans would make an effort not to insult black Americans after el Presidente Fox's bonehead remark a few weeks back that Mexicans do work not even blacks will do. But no.
    Now the country has issued a series of postage stamps based on comic book characters, including "Memin Pinguin" shown here, which present negative characterizations of blacks.

    Carlos Caballero, assistant marketing director for the Mexican Postal Service, said the stamps are not offensive, nor were they intended to be.
        "This is a traditional character that reflects part of Mexico's culture," Caballero said. "His mischievous nature is part of that character." [...]
        Publisher Manelick De la Parra told the government news agency Notimex that the character would be sort of a goodwill ambassador on Mexican letters and postcards. "It seems nice if Memin can travel all over the world, spreading good news," de la Parra said, calling him "so charming, so affectionate, so wonderful, generous and friendly."
    Tone deaf, or what? See the full set of five here.

•   •   •  

Mexico approves vote for migrants   [6/29/05]
Mexican cheers expatriate vote The cheerful fellow celebrating easy expat voting by mail is a resident of Chicago. Like many Mexicans living in the U.S., his loyalty is obviously with the land of his birth. Naturally the media coverage is all about the benificial aspect to Mexico, with no mention of the hazard to American sovereignty of a growing squatter culture of 20 million Mexicans, many of whom don't much like America.

    Mexico's lower house of Congress overwhelmingly approved a bill Tuesday that would permit Mexicans living outside the country to vote by mail in next summer's hotly contested presidential race.
        The 500-seat chamber of deputies voted nearly unanimously to approve the measure, which earlier had been passed by the Senate.
        President Vicente Fox has pledged to sign the bill once it reaches his desk.
        Legislators broke into chants of "Mexico! Mexico!" after approving the bill, under which registered Mexican voters living outside the country will be able to vote by absentee ballot.
    It is to Mexico's benefit to emphasize the emotional ties to home in order to keep the billions of dollars of easy-money remittances flowing in.

•   •   •  

Judicial Watch:   Bush "Temporary Worker Proposal" Caused Increase in Illegal Immigrant Crossings, New Docs Show   [6/28/05]
No surprise that when the President of the United States merely hints at the possibility of an illegal amnesty, millions of Mexicans (and others) listen. In fact, there was a government survey, recently disclosed, which revealed the influence of those words.

    1.  President Bush's proposal lured greater numbers of illegal immigrants to violate the law. Approximately 45% of respondents crossed illegally based upon rumors of a Bush amnesty program.
    2.  Approximately 63% of the illegal aliens surveyed received Mexican government or media information supporting the notion of a Bush administration amnesty program.
    3.  When asked if they would seek amnesty if offered, 80% of apprehended illegal immigrants answered, "yes."
    It took repeated FOIA requests to get these facts. You may download a PDF of the 17-page report by clicking here.

•   •   •  

Re-Arrests Ordered in Pakistan Rape Case   [6/28/05]
Here's an update on the Mukhtar Mai case, concerning a young Pakistani woman who was gang raped by order of a local town council for something her brother had allegedly done. As a result, Pakistan has been getting a heap of bad publicity about its brutal treatment of women and is trying to save face while still keeping the Islamic fundies happy — no easy chore. The ups and downs of the case have been dizzying.

    Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the re-arrest of 13 men acquitted in the gang rape of a villager whose plight has cast a glaring light on the treatment of women in this conservative Muslim nation.
        The ruling came a day after an emotional appeal by the victim, Mukhtar Mai, who was raped in 2002 on orders from a village council, allegedly as punishment for her 13-year-old brother's illicit affair with a woman from a higher-caste family. Mai and her family deny any affair ever took place, saying the brother was in fact sexually assaulted by members of the other family.
        A lower court in March acquitted five of the men who allegedly raped her, and commuted the death sentence of another to life in prison. Eight other men, most of them members of the village council, were acquitted three years ago.

•   •   •  

Medical robots start work at London hospital   [6/28/05]
Increasingly impersonal techno-medicine is surely in our future, though LTG has envisioned the near-term using the globalization model: HMOs will likely outsource doctor visits to India and China via teleconferencing or the internet in order to save money, since American medical professionals continue to insist upon an appropriate salary.
    The victim, er patient gets the once over by a nurse (hopefully English speaking), or perhaps the check-up will resemble the plug-in diagnostic that a car receives at a modern garage. Dr. Outsource will then interpret the results and write a prescription.
    The famous Santa outsource cartoon is somewhat similar in concept.

•   •   •  

House Immigration Subcommittee Hearing   [6/28/05]
Legislative Hearing on H.R. 2933, the "Alien Gang Removal Act of 2005."

The House passed a strong anti-gang bill a couple weeks back and this hearing pursues more issues around gangs, with the bill HR 2933. The legislation's sponsor, Rep. Randy Forbes, appeared on Lou Dobbs Tonight yesterday with a heads up.

    DOBBS: Congressman, my first question is, what percentage of those gang members, in your estimation, are illegal aliens?
        FORBES: Lou, it's not just my estimation; it's what we've heard from the FBI and other individuals of law enforcement who have testified or talked to us. Well over half, and some people indicate as many as two-thirds of them are here illegally in the United States today.
        DOBBS: And of that group, most people immediately think of Mexico and illegal aliens, because most of the illegal aliens, obviously by a vast preponderance, are crossing our southern border. But there is another country that concerns you more.
        FORBES: Well, the most violent criminal gang in America today is MS-13, and most of them have come here from El Salvador, a large portion of that gang.

•   •   •  

China throws down gauntlet to USA Inc   [6/27/05]
In case you haven't noticed, Washington has allowed America's financial control to slip away, bit by bit, to Red China by putting U.S. spending on the Chinese credit card, which comes with very expensive interest indeed. The most recent skirmish concerns China's bid for a major American-owned oil company.

    Americans will not admit it, but they are almost impotent in the face of Chinese financial firepower. The Cnooc bid is in cash, backed by the near-limitless resources of the Chinese state, and in a country like the US, which has always lived by the epigram 'cash is king', it looks hard to beat. Chevron would certainly struggle to match it. That is why the political lobby is already rolling, with much muttering about the 'national security' implications of the proposed deal.
        (Notice, however, that such patriotic concerns do not extend to Wall Street. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, perhaps the finest names on the Street of Dreams, are advising the Chinese. Morgan Stanley is waving the flag for Unocal, but its fate will probably be decided by the mainly American hedge funds that dominate its share register. The business of America, it seems, is not business, but finance.)
        And - to seal American paranoia - China is also a major holder of US debt. Put simply, the US is in hock to the Chinese to such an extent that if all the bills were called in at once, Uncle Sam would be bust. It's not in China's interests to destabilise the world economy at the moment, but circumstances change. Beijing might just like to keep that card - a financial nuclear option - up its sleeve for some future geopolitical crisis.
    Remember that a Chinese general threatened to lob a nuke on Los Angeles just a few years back. But such extreme measures may no longer be necessary to bring down America, due to Washington's accommodation of business' outsourcing to reduce labor costs, a post-national strategy that has hollowed out this country's manufacturing base. In doing so, the government has destroyed the taxpaying blue-collar middle class and removed the production engine that made America a great power.
    Bill Gertz has documented the Chinese political and military threats in an important Washington Times series: Part 1, Part 2. The upshot is that the Chinese military has been growing and incorporating advanced technology much more rapidly that the Pentagon had expected.
    Furthermore, as of 2003 polling revealed that "about 30 percent of Chinese citizens consider the United States an enemy.
    Update: Lou Dobbs Tonight devoted a strong, top-of-the-news segment to China's proposed purchase of Unocal.
    LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin tonight with China's unprecedented attempt to seize control of one of this country's most important energy assets. China is aggressively pushing forward with a bid to buy one of the country's largest oil companies, Unocal. Unocal controls major oil and gas fields in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, and, of course, Asia. Unocal also has key technologies that could be adapted for military use. A Chinese takeover of Unocal would follow China's purchase of IBM's personal computer business despite U.S. national security concerns.
    More troubling is the passive attitude of the Bush administration, which "appears resigned rather than outraged by China's blatant grab for U.S. oil interests." Obviously the President hasn't heard from enough citizens who want to maintain American sovereignty. White House comment line (202) 456-1111; toll free (800) 321-8268.
    Also, see Pat Buchanan's recent critique of free trade policies in collision with national security, Schizophrenia over China.

•   •   •  

2,500 Saudis apply for US scholarships   [6/27/05]
Both the American and Saudi governments are working toward more normalized relations, damaged by the fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis and that the Kingdom has continued to fund to most radical mosques worldwide.

    Meanwhile, Saudis hope that Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's visit to the Kingdom would lead to real change on the ground that would remove their fears about travelling to the United States for study, business or vacation.
    Apparently the State Department sees the problem as Saudi fear of Americans, rather than the other way around.
    Another article noted that the US was "expediting the issue of visas" to ensure the success of the project.

Black-Latino Divide   [6/26/05]
Black writer Earl Ofari Hutchinson discusses some discomforting demographic and political realities in southern California.

    This politically correct, fantasy-land approach to L.A.'s black and Latino divide virtually ensures that the profound problems that underlie the clash will remain just as deep -- and just as misunderstood. But, then, that's not new. Politicians have long papered over black-Latino racial conflict by putting on the happy image of everyone marching shoulder to shoulder to do battle against the twin afflictions of racial discrimination and poverty.
        That's no longer possible. [...]
        The black unemployment rate is double that of whites and higher than that of Latinos in L.A. County. Among young black males, unemployment has reached near Great Depression levels in the city and the county. Jobs, or rather the scarcity of them, are a major crisis for blacks. Blacks have been bumped from lower-end jobs in the service and retail industries in L.A. County.
        Young blacks, especially students, might well take these jobs if they were offered them, but many employers flatly refuse to hire them, instead hiring illegal immigrants. Employers rationalize their discrimination with the claim that young blacks are lazy or more crime-prone, and illegal immigrants are more diligent and industrious.
    Illegal immigration arguably hurts black Americans worse than anyone else, due to job displacement and lowered wages.

Culture might be factor in sexual abuse   [6/26/05]
Here's a rare exception to political correctness, with an admission that culture influences behavior, imagine that! Some societies accept actions which our American values condemn as criminal and punish accordingly, e.g. female genital mutilation. This instance concerns the sexual violence of hispanic immigrant men.

    A recently released report compiled by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg [NC] Police Department showed there has been a 50 percent increase in sexual assault among the local Hispanic population. But experts say part of that might be attributed to cultural differences.
        In many Hispanic cultures, it is acceptable for men to engage in sexual activity with younger women, says Dr. Elizabeth Peterson-Vita, who is speaking this week at a mental health conference in Charlotte. She is focusing on cultural differences concerning North Carolina's growing Hispanic community.
        Health care workers attend a mental health conference in Charlotte on Tuesday. "We always have to look at cultural norms, and if people are coming from other areas and different cultures, we have to understand the culture that they've come from and the ideas they have, which may not be synonymous with American culture and law," she said.
        Such culture clashes are to be expected when there is such a large influx of immigrants, social workers say.
        "As the Latino population in Charlotte and North Carolina continues to burgeon, there's going to be all sorts of things that come along with that," said Lynn Bradley Hiltz of Hope Haven.
        Those things will require education on what is culturally acceptable and what is illegal, experts say.
    But despite a clear statement about criminal behavior which is culturally sanctioned, there is a verbal tapdance being performed here: "younger women" does not properly mean children, though the sexual attack of minors is at issue.
    In 2002, the Washington Post presented a straightforward analysis of Mexican sexism, "In Mexico, an Unpunished Crime: Rape Victims Face Widespread Cultural Bias". The article revealed that the social status of women in some rural areas is not much better than Taliban level. For example, a kind of kidnap-for-sex custom remains legal in Oaxaca:
    In the southern state of Oaxaca last summer, the one-year-old, government-funded Oaxacan Women's Institute persuaded the legislature to pass heavy criminal penalties against a practice known as "rapto." Laws in most Mexican states define rapto as a case where a man kidnaps a woman not for ransom, but with the intent of marrying her or to satisfy his "erotic sexual desire." The new law championed by the women's group established penalties of at least 10 years in prison.
        But in March, the state legislature reversed itself and again made the practice a minor infraction. A key legislator -- a man -- argued for the reduction, calling the practice harmless and "romantic."
    Get that? A Mexican political leader called kidnapping and rape "romantic."
    An activist in the United States working against the sexual exploitation of hispanic women and girls admits that "many immigrant men come into the U.S. and harass and sexually assault women and underage girls with impunity."
    Update: For some really disgusting comic book sexism against white women, see this.

He's God's Angel   [6/25/05]
Mexican values include fondness for lawbreakers, and therefore the reverence for unofficial saint Juan Soldado is unsurprising. The man was executed in 1938 for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl, but Mexicans regard him as an innocent victim.

    For believers in the miracles of an unofficial saint called Juan Soldado, — John the Soldier — yesterday was a time to thank him for resolving personal matters, ensuring good health, and in some cases, "they are the expressions of the way ordinary people live their lives." The emergence of saints who haven't been sanctioned by the Catholic Church, such as Juan Soldado, is perhaps the result of people trying to connect to religion on a more personal level, said Paul J. Vanderwood, professor emeritus of Mexican history at San Diego State University.
        "Christianity was imposed on the Roman Empire as well, but people still insisted on practicing their own faith," he said.
        Vanderwood said Juan Soldado's followers "are right in the median or a little above it" in terms of education, salary and social standing. Their belief in Juan Soldado doesn't indicate they are turning away from the Catholic Church, he said, because about half say they go to Mass once a week.
    Another beloved character in the Mexican pantheon is the narco-saint Jesus Malverde who is similarly enshrined.

Europe's Islamist Future Is Now   [6/25/05]
Yet another example of the truth that demography is relentless and unforgiving; an innocuous-sounding report Signs and Manifestations of Religious Affiliation in the Educational Establishments concerning the state of French schools has been leaked to the internet:

    It is easy to understand why the French government was unwilling to publish it. For the survey is a devastating indictment and an anxious wake-up call at the same time. The result of an extensive research and five months of field interviews in numerous schools in 20 French provinces by a distinguished group of educators, the Obin report documents the extensive Islamization of French schools in the vicinity of Muslim ghettoes and the imposition of strict conformity with Islamist dictates through violence and intimidation. Having by and large completed their takeover of the Muslim ghettoes, often by "targeted violence" against non-Muslims and moderate Muslims alike and turned them into "anti-societies," the Islamist fanatics are making great progress towards achieving control of the educational system as well.
        As usual, girls are the first victims of religious extremism. The "big brothers," as the Islamists are known in school, enforce a strict Islamic dress code which prohibits make-up, dresses and skirts, forbid any co-educational activities and make going to the cinema, the swimming pool or the gym all but impossible for Muslim girls. The punishment for refusal to conform is often physical violence and beatings. And this, says the report, is a relatively protected environment compared to "what girls experience outside of school." Such as forced marriages at 14 or 15, for instance.
        No less disturbing is the picture Obin paints of the spread of the kind of religious obscurantism that one associates with Wahhabi zealots, but would find difficult to envisage in a public school in the heart of Western Europe. Thus, Muslim students often refuse to study Voltaire or read Madame Bovary, acknowledge even the existence of other religions, or sing, dance, draw faces or right angles because they resemble the cross. English, on the other hand, is hated as the "language of imperialism."
        Increasingly, the radical Islamists are able to secure special, often preferential, treatment for Muslim students making a mockery of French secular traditions. In some schools, Muslims already have the right to eat at separate tables, have their own toilets off limits to the infidels, be served only halal food and practice mass absenteeism during Muslim holidays. Quite apart from the routine expression of violent anti-Semitic sentiments. The school has also become a major focus of aggressive proselytism. The report states that it is virtually impossible for non-practicing Muslim kids in school not to conform to the strict Islamist behavior prescriptions and even non-Muslims are often forced to take part in Ramadan fasting, for example, against the wishes of their parents.
    Why is there not more reporting of the destruction of Europe from the news media? There are occasional pieces, like the PBS Frontline episode about terrorist infiltration and Fox's examination of Malmo Sweden, but no ongoing investigation of the cultural transformation threatening the entire continent.

Immigration reform church goal, cardinal says   [6/24/05]
Of course the "reform" mentioned by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., is actually an amnesty for the millions of Hispanic illegal aliens who are filling the Catholic Church.

    "The church in the United States is very, very Hispanic and what a blessing that is. They (Hispanic immigrants) come with the values that are so needed in the United States today. When there is a moral issue that concerns so many of our people, we have to speak," McCarrick said, alternating between English and Spanish. "This is a special moment in the history of the Catholic church and the history of migration."
    It's the height of arrogance to say that the United States need "values" from lawbreaking illegal aliens. The Vaticrats continue to have a deaf ear and short attention span: it was American courts and the press which finally revealed the ongoing priest pedophilia, which the holier-than-thou Catholic Church had covered up for decades.
    The issue is market share, not the "moral concerns" mouthed by McCarrick. Catholics want more Hispanics to fill the pews emptied by American Catholics, and since 1960 Hispanics have accounted for 71 percent of the growth in the U.S. Catholic Church. In Europe, however, it's a different story because most of the immigrants are Muslim: and in Italy, Cardinal Biffi has recommended that Catholic immigrants be given preference.
    Say, millions of Mexicans are hot to leave their homeland for "a better life" and Europe would prefer Christian immigrants over unfriendly Muslim ones — why doesn't the UN create a migrant program that would be a win-win?

Unclear on American Campus: What the Foreign Teacher Said   [6/24/05]
Apparently teaching assistant is a job Americans don't want to do, one infers from the New York Times. The poor English of foreign TAs is not exactly news, and the Times tackles the subject in its usual style when dealing with immigrants: the Americans are characterized "intolerant" for not "stretching" enough to understand sub-standard instruction.

    "Is there some low-level carping? Absolutely," said Dudley Doane, director of the Center for American English Language and Culture at the University of Virginia. "Is it justified? At times it may be. However, we have some students who aren't used to stretching."
        It is a point echoed by some foreign teaching assistants who, in addition to their own studies and the rigors of grading papers, overseeing labs and leading discussions, must deal with what they sometimes consider intolerant undergraduates.
    In fact, students are paying enormous tuition in many cases and should have a reasonable expectation that classes be taught in intelligible English. There's no mention of the economic advantage to the university of hiring foreigners who will work cheap and don't mind exploitation in order to gain a foothold in the United States.
    With all the talk about American education falling behind, you would think that the Times wouldn't wallow in blaming the victim.

Armed Men Set Afghan Girls' School on Fire   [6/23/05]
Change comes slowly, if at all, to fundamentalist Afghanistan, where the education of girls is seen as an affront to Islam.

    PADKHWAI RAGHANI, Afghanistan (AP) -- Armed men broke into a girls' school south of the Afghan capital and set it on fire, the latest attack on education for girls in the conservative country, officials said Thursday.
        The children burst into tears when they saw their school destroyed, principal Zaher Din said. [...]
        "Why did they only burn the girls' school? Why not the boys' school next door?" asked a 12-year-old student who only gave her first name, Farida. "The police must protect us. We want to be able to study."

Interview with Oriana Fallaci   [6/23/05]
In Europe, Oriana Fallaci is about to go on trial for insulting Islam — telling the truth is more like it, as analyzed by Robert Spencer. The interview shows that she remains the tireless defender of western civilization, tough minded as ever despite encroaching cancer.

    NEW YORK--Oriana Fallaci faces jail. In her mid-70s, stricken with a cancer that, for the moment, permits only the consumption of liquids--so yes, we drank champagne in the course of a three-hour interview--one of the most renowned journalists of the modern era has been indicted by a judge in her native Italy under provisions of the Italian Penal Code which proscribe the "vilipendio," or "vilification," of "any religion admitted by the state."
        In her case, the religion deemed vilified is Islam, and the vilification was perpetrated, apparently, in a book she wrote last year--and which has sold many more than a million copies all over Europe--called "The Force of Reason." Its astringent thesis is that the Old Continent is on the verge of becoming a dominion of Islam, and that the people of the West have surrendered themselves fecklessly to the "sons of Allah." So in a nutshell, Oriana Fallaci faces up to two years' imprisonment for her beliefs--which is one reason why she has chosen to stay put in New York. Let us give thanks for the First Amendment. [...]
        "Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder," the historian Arnold Toynbee wrote, and these words could certainly be Ms. Fallaci's. She is in a black gloom about Europe and its future: "The increased presence of Muslims in Italy, and in Europe, is directly proportional to our loss of freedom." There is about her a touch of Oswald Spengler, the German philosopher and prophet of decline, as well as a flavor of Samuel Huntington and his clash of civilizations. But above all there is pessimism, pure and unashamed.
    Unfortunately, The Force of Reason will not be available in English in the United States until October.

Lodi mayor cools to idea of a 'million Muslim march'   [6/23/05]
Sacramento talk radio guy Mark Williams is working to organize a rally of non-terrorist Muslims in Lodi, where several Sons of Allah were recently arrested for terror- and immigration-related charges.
    Appearing on Oakland television this morning, Williams said he thinks the majority of Muslims living in America do not support radical Islam, but are just shy about speaking out because of social pressures, like Chicago Italians in a heavy mob environment: all that moderate Muslims need is an opportunity to show their anti-terror stuff. But of course, the details are always problematic.

    A division in Lodi's Muslim community appears to have put the brakes on the idea of a local "million Muslim march."
        Lodi Mayor John Beckman announced Tuesday he was working on the idea of a peace march with conservative radio host Mark Williams, who has a program on Sacramento radio station KFBK.
        After meeting with a few of the leaders of Lodi's Muslim community Wednesday, however, Beckman said a march does not appear to be a feasible idea.
        "I can't find one person from the mosque that I can talk to," he said. "There are two distinct groups trying to do distinctly different things. I'm not sure (the march) is a good idea anymore."
        Beckman said he had called in to Williams' radio show last week to take the radio personality up on the idea of a public rally by Muslims to denounce terrorism.
        Reached by phone Wednesday evening, Mark Williams was undeterred by the news that the Muslim community in Lodi lacks cohesion, saying the important thing is just to get some type of event together.
    No enthusiasm for denouncing terrorism? Perhaps the reason is that the Koran is full of exhortations to crush the infidel, as JihadWatch.org often observes. Those rare creatures we call "moderate Muslims" are condemned as apostates by the Islamic community and live under threat. For example, Canadian Muslim reformer Irshad Manji requires protection on book tours and receives regular death threats.
    Furthermore, previous rallies of "moderate Muslims" have been underwhelming indeed.
    Update: Reflections about the situation in Lodi as well as numerous other arrests in the U.S. lead author Srdja Trifkovic to ask why America continues to welcome likely enemies: The Enemy Inside the Gates
    Islamic terrorists and their sympathizers did not need to "come to Lodi" because they are there already. In any group of 1,000-plus Muslim immigrants centered around a mosque, it can be predicted with near-certainty (1) that some percentage will sympathize with the objectives of Al-Qaeda and its ilk, if not quite with all of their methods; and (2) that some smaller percentage of that group, especially among the Western-born young, will support those methods as well, and prove willing to apply them in practice. [...]
        The number of mosques and Islamic centers stands at around two thousand and keeps growing. The total number of mosques increased 42 percent between 1990 and 2000, compared with a 12 percent average increase for the evangelical Protestant denominations, and a two percent average increase among old-line Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox groups.
        The figures for immigration from the Middle East are matched and likely to be exceeded by the number of Muslim immigrants from the Indian Sub-Continent (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh). Currently Muslims account for close to one-tenth of all naturalizations, and their birth rates exceed those of any other significant immigrant group. Even a conservative estimate of their number of three million, or one-percent of the population, has alarming security implications and the potential for disproportionate growth.
        This is madness that needs to be stopped before it is too late. A coherent long-term counter-terrorist strategy therefore must entail denying Islam the foothold inside the United States. The application of ideological and political criteria in determining the eligibility of prospective visitors or immigrants has been and remains an essential ingredient of any anti-terrorist strategy, whereby Islamic activism would be treated as eminently political rather than "religious" activity.

Queens Muslim Group Says It Opposes Violence, and America   [6/22/05]
More Muslim immigrants who hate everything we treasure. The group Islamic Thinkers wants to institute a sharia state in this country, loony as that sounds.
    When a brave Muslim woman, Amina Wadud, lead prayers in March, the group was there to protest, with member Mohammed Nussrah remarking, "If this was an Islamic state, this woman would be hanged." To paraphrase Justice Jackson's remark about the Constitution, immigration isn't a suicide pact. At least it shouldn't be.
    And as far as the "Opposes Violence" part of the headline, remember that Islam has a special word for acceptable lying, Taqiyya, whereby Muslims may willfully mislead infidels.

    The young Muslim men, with beards and bullhorns, work the streets of Jackson Heights on the weekends. They surface at parades and protests around the city, loudly declaring America the enemy and advocating for an Islamic state. Several weeks ago, they publicly tore up an American flag as payback for the reported desecration of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Their own videos of violence against Muslims, one with the title "Muslim Massacres," have recently appeared on Queens Public Television.
        In the annals of New York City's political outspokenness and fringe-group culture, the Islamic Thinkers Society may seem unremarkable at first glance. But after 9/11, in the city most damaged and unsettled by the terrorist attacks, the emergence of this young, however limited, Muslim-American voice is strikingly bold. In its fliers and on its Web site, the group describes itself as an "intellectual and political nonviolent organization," but it bears a strong resemblance to Islamist movements in England that try to unite Muslims by inciting anger.
    The Islamic Thinkers certainly don't approve of gays and women, as a fracas last year indicated. (See also Interview with Kristine Withers which includes some photos of the group's signs.)
    Ms. Withers, who identifies herself as a lesbian and a political conservative, was offended by the group's message. The Islamic Thinkers Society had become a regular feature at local gay-pride parades, where they've called for the castration and death of gay men, according to several witnesses who spoke to The Observer. But Ms. Withers said it was as much the anti-American messages as the anti-gay ones that riled her up.
        "To me, it's synonymous with the Nazis recruiting on 42nd Street during World War II," she said of her antagonists.
        So, in another installment of the then-yearlong series of hostile exchanges between her and the group, she decided to do something. At one point in the exchange, she told the dozen or so bearded young men who make up the group that the prophet Muhammad was a pedophile. They called her a "Christian bitch," by her account. Then she knocked over a sign and stepped on it. Two young bearded men, members of the group, pulled the sign out from under her, sending her flying to the ground.
    Meanwhile in Australia where Muslim immigration has been more substantial, hate speech codes are now utilized to prosecute people criticizing misogynous, murderous Islam.
    A CHRISTIAN pastor who has been ordered to apologise for vilifying Muslims says he will go to jail rather than say sorry for his comments.
        Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) deputy president Michael Higgins ordered two pastors of an evangelical order, Catch the Fire Ministry, to apologise for comments they made in a speech, on a website and in a newsletter.
        In a landmark ruling, the tribunal found Muslims were vilified by claims that Muslims were training to take over Australia, encouraging domestic violence and that Islam was an inherently violent religion.
        The case was the first to be heard by VCAT since the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act took effect in Victoria at the start of 2002.
    Apparently telling an unPC truth against multiculturalism will put the speaker in jail in Australia. This case is particularly shocking after the 2002 trial of brutal gang rapists, Muslim men who targeted young Australian girls for degradation and torture. Memories are short.

Full House Tests Cobb Law   [6/21/05]
One of the basics in quality of life is the population density where you live. Local overpopulation means more cars, less street parking, additional noise, late-night activity and many other irritants. Zoning codes are there to maintain a neighborhood's nature: the law means that housing built for single families shouldn't be turned into rowdy fire-trap rooming houses for dozens of illegal aliens.

    Manuel Flores rents a house in a tidy south Cobb neighborhood, where he lives with his wife, five children, two cousins and the mother of a cousin — 10 people in a three-bedroom, one-bath home.
        The cousins occupy makeshift bedrooms in the basement. More family members — up to 10 — visit often, Flores said, and that has caused tension in his neighborhood.
        Flores said neighbors have complained about the number of people at the house, cars parked in front and the number of children playing in the yard.
        One of those neighbors is Catalina Erneston. She is angry at what she sees as a rooming house in her neighborhood. She believes as many as 20 people are living there, and has gone before the Cobb County Commission twice to complain about noisy outdoor parties and cars parked on the lawn or blocking the street.
        "When are you going to do something about it?" said Erneston, who immigrated to the United States from Peru 30 years ago. "I never thought I'd have to live with these conditions. This is Cobb County."
        Cobb officials are using Flores' home — 492 Alcott Drive in the Concord Park neighborhood — as a first test case for a new ordinance passed by the County Commission in January.
    Like many in this country, Cobb citizens are demanding that the government enforce its own laws to protect their little corner of the American Dream.

Drug wars' long shadow   [6/21/05]
The Dallas Morning News has been doing important stories about the overflow into America of Mexican drug crime and the war between the cartels.
    This additional entrance of Mexican crime is more worrisome since the cartels have grown more dangerous.

    Authorities fear that the growing border violence has moved up the I-35 corridor to Dallas, whose major roadways and airports make it among the most important drug distribution points in the country, drug authorities say. In early June, a federal task force arrested more than three dozen people, most of them in Dallas, in a major drug bust that officials said involved Mexican drug cartels.
        Phil Jordan, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent who has worked in Texas and Florida, said drug traffickers have come to see Dallas as a prime hub for moving into drug-starved cities in the rest of the country.
        "Dallas is the new Miami for transiting drugs," said Mr. Jordan, former head of the DEA's El Paso Intelligence Center, which studies the drug trade. "Drug traffickers kill for I-35."
    I-35 goes straight up the heartland of America, through Dallas, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Des Moines, Minneapolis and Duluth.
    The Gulf cartel's muscle is enhanced by Zetas, Mexican military personnel who went private.
    The Zetas, as they are known, originally were trained in the U.S. by Army special forces to battle drug lords back in Mexico. But a small group broke away from the Mexican military in 2001 for more lucrative jobs as Gulf cartel enforcers.
    In fact, the Zetas constitute a serious escalation in the level of crime brought to America by open borders.
    "U.S. law enforcement have reported bounties offered by Los Zetas of between $30,000 and $50,000 for the killing of Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement officers," the bulletin said. "If a Zeta kills an American law enforcement officer and can successfully make it back to Mexico, his stature within the organization will be increased dramatically."
        The Zetas take their name from a radio code once used by its members. Mexican officials have long said there were 31 original Zetas, but one U.S. investigator put the number of original members at 68. The investigator, who spoke on the condition that he not be named, said the higher number comes from a Mexican intelligence report. Experts disagree on the number of original Zetas who are still alive and free. [...]
        Officials on both sides of the border know of special training camps in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas and Michoacan, where newly recruited Zetas take intensive six-week training courses in weapons, tactics and intelligence gathering.
    Training camps for military-style killers threatening America's safety? How similar to the Taliban!

A Madrassah in Bridgeview, Illinois   [6/20/05]
Extremist Islam has a bridgehead in Bridgeview, according to Daniel Pipes' analysis of a recent Time magazine puff piece.

    Islamic schools constitute perhaps the least known area of Muslim institutional life in the United States, acting largely out of public view but with many signs suggesting their radicalization. When a reporter has the rare chance to interview faculty and students, especially with a photographer in tow, it's an important opportunity. [...]
        Unfortunately, [reporter Maguerite] Michaels proved clueless about the real nature of the Universal School. She portrays it as a moderate institution, but the information she herself provides points to its being a school imparting an extreme version of Islam. [...]
    •   The high school senior quoted above also believes that "America" sees Muslims as the "new enemy." A student named Ryan Ahmad observes that "Americans seem to have more fun. Muslims try to be American, but we don't know how. The cultures are so different." Seeing Americans and Muslims, or more accurately, non-Muslims and Muslims, as separate populations is a key component of the Islamist project. [...]
    •   "They are obsessed with foreign politics," says Steve Landek, the mayor of Bridgeview. "I come to talk to them about better sidewalks. They want to know how to run for Congress so they can change America's Israeli policy."
    •   Assigned in English class to write about his American Dream, a 15-year-old wrote that the territories under Israeli control should be returned to the Palestinians and "the Jews should be left to suffer."
    Is there a single good reason to continue immigration from Muslim nations? Only political correctness stops this obvious and prudent step of ending the importation of possible enemies. Our foes preach their hatred of America and the values we treasure, while also demanding their non-existent right to immigrate here. Apparently Washington is only listening to the demands part.

Muslim anger at bid to serve drink outside   [6/19/05]
JihadWatch.org alerts us to the situation in Scotland where local Mooslims are complaining that people are drinking alcohol OUTSIDE! The scene of the controversy is an Italian restaurant serving drinks at a few outdoors tables on the sidewalk.

    MUSLIM charities have tried to stop an Italian restaurant serving drink on a terrace, claiming it is offensive to Glasgow's Asian community.
        Gambrino Pizzeria in Kelvinbridge wants to use the pavement outside its premises as an eating and drinking area and has applied to Glasgow City Council for permission.
        However, the proposals for eight tables and 16 seats has infuriated the local Asian community who say drinking alcohol outdoors is "offensive".
        Two Muslim charities, UK Islamic Mission, based at the Islamic Mosque in Carrington Street, and Noah's Ark/ Radio Ramadhan in Arlington Street, formally objected to the Great Western Road restaurant's seating plans.
        Javeed Gill, secretary of the UK Islamic Mission, said: "This area is the second largest area for Muslims in the city and we look after 1500 young people and provide activities for them.
    Someone should inform the Sons of Allah that Western Culture includes the concept of self-control.

Bush's Impeachable Offense   [6/19/05]
Prof. Glynn Custred observes that the President is worse than disinterested in border security; he is actively working to sabotage it.

    Yet the president has not only refused to deal with the issue, except for some vague talk of an amnesty under the rubric of a "guest worker" program, he has actually moved to insure the continuation of illegal immigration by shutting down immigration enforcement. [...]
        When Congress authorized 2,000 new agents for the Border Patrol the Bush budget allocated only enough money for 210, not even enough to cover attrition. [...]
        Poll after poll indicates that the American public want something done about illegal immigration. Also, influential opinion leaders in the conservative media increasingly discuss the problem with their audiences who form the heart of the Republican base. As a result, some Republican insiders worry about a split in the party over the issue. Yet Bush stubbornly shields the massive influx of illegal aliens by abandoning enforcement and starving the agencies of resources and encouragement.
    Custred was the co-author of Prop. 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative, which passed by a 54-46 percent vote in 1996.

Dutch MP plans new Islam film   [6/18/05]
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is going forward with the follow-up to the film "Submission" which was the source of much jihadist anger, including the assassination of its director Theo Van Gogh in Amsterdam last November.

    "Deciding not to make Part Two after Theo van Gogh's murder would be, I think, really wrong," Ms Ali told BBC World Service's The Interview programme.
        "It would reward the killers of Theo van Gogh, it would reward violence, suggesting it can get people to do what you want them to do."
    Ms. Ali now lives under 24/7 police protection from jihadists because of her courageous stand for women's rights by telling the truth about the cruelty women suffer under Islam.

Saudis Import Slaves to America   [6/18/05]
The arrest of a well heeled Saudi immigrant couple in Aurora Colorado on charges of slavery has surprised some Americans, but it shouldn't, according the scholar Daniel Pipes who lists several examples of other Saudis who have imported the noxious custom.

    •   In 1991, Prince Saad Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud and his wife, Princess Noora, lived on two floors of the Ritz-Carlton in Houston. Two of their servants, Josephine Alicog of the Philippines and Sriyani Marian Fernando of Sri Lanka, filed a lawsuit against the prince, alleging they were held for five months against their will, "by means of unlawful threats, intimidation and physical force." They say they were only partially paid, were denied medical treatment, and suffered mental and physical abuse.
    •   In March 2005, a wife of Saudi Prince Mohamed Bin Turki Alsaud, Hana Al Jader, 39, was arrested at her home near Boston on charges of forced labor, domestic servitude, falsifying records, visa fraud, and harboring aliens. Ms. Al Jader stands accused of forcing two Indonesian women to work for her by making them believe "that if they did not perform such labor, they would suffer serious harm." If convicted, Ms. Al Jader faces up to 140 years in jail and $2.5 million in fines.
    Pipes notes that Joel Mowbray has toted up 12 cases of Saudi slavery in the U.S.
    Pipes also describes the government attitude toward such crimes as "lax" which is apparently the case when the perps are politically well connected. The Colorado couple reportedly may get life in the slammer, indicating little clout.

The Akaka Bill Could Give Birth to the Nation of Aztlan   [6/18/05]
Sen. Akaka (D-HA) wants to create a state within Hawaii by and for the native peoples, based on bloodlines.

    The influx of illegal aliens, especially from Mexico, that come and settle in that general area is seen as a precursor for the formation of this new nation. By establishing themselves in overwhelming numbers they intend to create such a huge voting block that the nation of Aztlan could be voted into reality.
        This could never happen legally you say. There could be no legal precedent for the formation of a new sovereign nation within the borders of the United States that could form the seed for such a new nation. Well, the irony is that legal precedence may come from, of all places, Hawaii.
        The intent of the Akaka bill is to do just that, create a new sovereign nation within the borders of the United States. The criterion is the "blood quantum" or traceable lineage of anyone who qualifies according to the established definitions as "Hawaiian." What kind of government will be the ultimate result of such an arrangement is anybody's guess.
    LTG has no lawyer on staff, but the threat of legal precedent to create a separate Mexican state from the Akaka legislation does look concerning.

While US Focuses on Iraq, Mexico is Collapsing   [6/17/05]
Nathan Gardels gets down to basics in this brief piece, noting immediately that Mexico is a "failing state." For many Americans, Mexico's proximity makes its meltdown easy to miss, but the symptoms are rapidly worsening. The war between the Gulf and Juarez drug cartels has been spinning out of control recently, as shown by the Mexican army moving in to Nuevo Laredo and fighting the local police, thought to be completely corrupted by drug money.

    With democracy, the corruption that had resided within the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) during its 75 years of one party rule has migrated outside the system and become autonomously organized and competitive. This has resulted in the accelerating Colombianization of Mexico, in which the drug gangs and other criminal syndicates fight it out with each other or any state authority that can't be bought off. Witness the bullet riddled body of the new police chief in the border town of Nuevo Laredo who was assassinated last week a mere 6 hours after he took office!
        Further, kidnappings and gunpoint muggings, frequently in collusion with police networks, are rampant in Mexico City and elsewhere. Everyone has a story about being robbed at the ATM machine or about having their watch snatched from their wrist when idling at a stoplight in their car.
        Seeing this enduring lawlessness, others, less organized,do what they have to do to make it in a stagnant economy. Where there is impunity but no opportunity, the Mexican commentator Carlos Monsivais has quipped, everyone becomes an opportunist. This is true from the desperate migrant to the petty street thief to state governors who look the other way to business leaders to the middle class professional who avoids taxes.
        On top of all this, and in part because of it, Mexico is fiscally anemic, collecting the least assessed taxes of any major Latin American state. It has consequently relied on oil revenues to fill the gap, thus robbing itself of the capacity to invest in futher exploration and development of this diminishing resource, which is also drained away by corruption. Last year, $1 billion worth of oil from PEMEX, the state oil monopoly, was stolen! That's on the scale of the UN oil-for-food scandal in Iraq.
    Fixing the inability of the Mexican government to collect enough taxes was supposed to be high on el Presidente Fox's list of reform items, but Fox's poor political skills doomed that initiative. Due to its pathetic tax collection, Mexico cannot even pay its law enforcement officials enough to live on, directly contributing to police corruption.

How to Live on $7/Hour   [6/17/05]
A recent subject of the new Stop Illegals blog was how "poor immigrants" can get by on their pitiful wages: they are in fact expert at scamming the generous American system using both legal and illegal means. As the Stop Illegals blogger observed:

    I was standing at the counter of my mailbox service in Pasadena, CA, to pick up a package one Thursday afternoon, waiting while a man bought three money orders for $300 each. The transfer service he used included a phone call, and he place three free calls to a Central American country. A woman with a small baby in a stroller stood beside him for the entire transaction, and they finally left together.
        The mailbox service owner told me that man sent three $300 money orders to the same people every Thursday. With money order fees, it amounted to nearly $1000 a week, over $50,000 a year -- all cash.
        If I hadn't run into these people the very next afternoon, I probably would never have recognized them. The woman, now with two babies stuffed in the stroller, plus five more little kids, showed up at the weekly Catholic Charities food distribution. She hauled several bags of food halfway up the block, where her presumed "husband" and another woman waited beside a station wagon. The man loaded the rear with the groceries while the women changed the kids' clothes. Then the second woman took all seven kids back into Catholic Charities. Within 15 minutes, she emerged with another six bags of groceries.
        Meanwhile, Catholic Charities turned away a disabled middle-aged American woman. "We only help families with children," they told her. I followed as she limped, leg in a brace, eight blocks to a building of tiny studio apartments. She had no car, no ride, no bus fare -- and no food.
    Not incidentally, Catholic Charities receives a massive input of taxpayer dollars to operate its "good works": in 2001 columnist David Broder mentioned in passing that the organization received $2.3 billion in taxpayer funds. The Catholic Church has been a major voice advocating open borders, thereby acting against the interests of American citizens. Of course, the Vatican will be happy to see America become a majority Catholic country which is likely to occur sometime this century due largely to the Hispanic immigration which is filling its pews now.
    There's more about how foreigners rip off America, in the page 2 post from Stop Illegals.

Denver DA to delegation: Back off   [6/16/05]
The subject of this article is the disagreement about how best to persuade Mexico to extradite accused cop-killer and Mexican citizen Raul Gomez-Garcia. Colorado Rep. Bob Beauprez has proposed legislation that would "cut $66 million in foreign aid to Mexico" — how interesting. Washington's largesse to our neighbor narco-state is not much debated, much less mentioned:

    Last year, the United States sent nearly $72 million in foreign aid to Mexico. This year, the Bush administration requested more than $66 million.
        "This case is pretty egregious," Beauprez said in an interview with The Post Wednesday. "As any parent knows, you put your kid on an allowance, they break the rules of the house, you hold back some of the allowance."
    Why is Washington doling out money to Mexico of all places? It's ridiculous for the United States government (in the hole for well over $7 trillion) to be sending the taxpayer's hard-earned dollars south to ultra-corrupt Mexico, Latin America's richest nation.
    And was Rep. Beauprez talking out of school with his "allowance" remark? Handing out millions of dollars (a small amount by Washington standards) to banana republics may well be seen by Beltway pols as a useful behavior-shaping device. But taxpayers have a different idea of how their money should be spent, and squandering it entirely by giving it to crooked Mexican politicians is not acceptable.

Verdonk orders three imams to leave   [6/16/05]
Rita Verdonk is the Immigration Minister of the Netherlands, a nation that is struggling with Muslim immigration. The Dutch have been taking little baby steps to deal with the violent jihadist threat.

    AMSTERDAM — Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk has ordered three imams accused of being a threat to public order and national security to get out of the Netherlands.
        The trio have been accused of preaching a militant anti-western message at Al Fourkaan mosque in Eindhoven and allowing young people to be recruited for Jihad.
        They will be expelled if they do not leave the country voluntarily, Verdonk has vowed.

One Mexican in every 11 emigrates to U.S.   [6/16/05]
The Pew Foundation's recent report, "Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics", has some frightening statistics, like the one in the headline above. However, even that eye-opener is a likely underestimate, because Pew used the very conservative figure of 10.3 million illegal aliens rather than the more realistic assessment of 20 million as researched by Bear Stearns analysts.
    One stat is noteworthy, that only three percent of illegals work in agriculture.

    While 3 percent of unauthorized workers are employed in agriculture, 33 percent have jobs in service industries and substantial shares can be found in construction and extractive occupations (16%) and in production, installation and repair (17%).
    Many Americans believe that we need some sort of guest worker program to get the fruits and vegetables picked. However, there is already an agricultural visa, the H-2A, which accomplishes the same thing.
    The figures show that foreigners are increasingly taking and thereby devaluing formerly well paying jobs such as construction which used to provide middle-class incomes for blue-collar citizens. As an Urban Institute report pointed out several years ago, farm jobs are treated as a "revolving door" by foreigners on their way to stealing better paying American jobs.

Muslim Target   [6/14/05]
Oriana Fallaci, the courageous defender of western values, is about to go on trial in Italy for defaming Islam. Author Robert Spencer uses Fallaci's own words to analyse the charges and explain why the frivolous lawsuit is the latest skirmish in Islam's war against everything western civilization has built.

    Fallaci: "Despite the massacres through which the sons of Allah have bloodied us and bloodied themselves for over thirty years, the war that Islam has declared against the West...is a cultural war...they kill us in order to bend us. To intimidate us...Their goal is not to fill cemeteries. Not to destroy our skyscrapers...It is to destroy our soul, our ideas. Our feelings and our dreams. It is to subjugate the West once again."
    Important reading.

Mexican special forces take control in border town   [6/14/05] Troops in Nuevo Laredo
The federal military takeover of Nuevo Laredo posted here yesterday appears a very large operation in order to crack down on the extreme gang and police corruption there. One hint is that more than 700 NL city police out of around 1200 were sent to Mexico for further investigation.

    NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico - (KRT) - Residents of this besieged city awoke Monday to find their police force gone, replaced by Mexican special forces troops who took over this border community stung by drug violence.
        Following a gradual buildup over the weekend, Mexican troops - some of whom were trained by the U.S. military - swept into the city before daybreak and took control of a number of strategic operations, including city hall, the communication tower and police installations.
        They also detained hundreds of local police officers suspected of being in cahoots with drug traffickers. [...]
        At least 600 people have been killed nationwide in drug-related violence this year, most of them in border states. [...]
        In a country where police of all stripes - federal, state and especially local - often work for drug traffickers instead of citizens, the sight of dozens of federal agents and special-forces soldiers toting AR-15 assault rifles left many residents elated.
        "What took so long? It was about time," said Eduardo Garcia, 37, surveying the scene outside city hall as a paratrooper stood in the back of a dark green Ram Charger with his finger on the trigger of a sniper rifle. "I love the sight of this."
    This has not been a good year for Mexican law enforcement. In February a highly placed aide to el Presidente Fox, Nahum Acosta, was arrested for his connections to drug traffickers, adding to the impression that Mexico is riven with drug corruption.

Mexico's Pivotal Moment: Border lawlessness   [6/13/05]
The drug war anarchy that started in Mexican border towns between the Gulf and Juarez cartels is headed our way.

    A U.S. investigator in Laredo told The Dallas Morning News' Tracey Eaton that President Vicente Fox's federal police "are spectators, waiting for Fox's sexenio [six-year term] to end. ... We're looking at a bloody summer, and things may get nasty not just here, but in other cities, including Houston and Dallas."
    In fact,the Gulf cartel's Zetas (former military) are already operating in Dallas, where they are blamed for at least three drug-related murders.
    In just the last few days, the meltdown of law in Nueva Laredo has been nearly total. The city's new police chief, Alejandro Dominguez, was assassinated six hours after taking the job by drug traffickers, just to show they could. Then the federal police and local police "swapped gunfire" Saturday as the feds entered into the city. Most recent reports say the federal police and Mexican troops have taken over Nuevo Laredo.
    For other symptoms, see Gang war spilling over from Mexico to U.S.?
    Meanwhile, President Bush and other elites are working tirelessly to remove borders and create a unified North America for "continental security." Of course, one of America's worst security threats comes from Mexico, with its relentless crime, corruption and violence.

Rape victim cannot travel abroad   [6/13/05] Mukhtar Mai
Mukhtar Mai, a young Pakistani woman, was brutally gang-raped in 2002 after a Pakistani tribal council ordered the attack as punishment for a rape falsely attributed to her brother. But unlike many oppressed women in her culture, she fought back and refused to be a passive victim. In fact, many rape victims commit suicide, because their lives are over. Although illiterate herself, Mai used the money she received as compensation for the attack to open two schools in her village.
    Although five men had been sentenced to death in the crime against Mai, they were acquitted on appeal in March. And the most recent indignity is that the Pakistan government will not permit her to travel abroad.

    Ms Mai has been invited by human rights group Amnesty International to visit the United States.
        Pakistan's opposition says that she is being prevented from travelling abroad because the government believes any such visit would hurt the country's image.
    It's likely Pakistan doesn't want to see her on Oprah, for example, who likes to feature stand-up women on her show. If Americans knew more about how cruelly women are treated in Pakistan, regard for the country would fall like a stone.
    Update June 16: The travel ban on Mukhtar Mai has been lifted by th Pakistan government.

Great Britain: Muslim Scouts May Pledge to Allah   [6/12/05]
Multiculturalism is distorting the Scouts, as it does to every other institution it touches. The new pledging choices sound like a Monty Python sketch.

    Now, after a century, the Scout Association has ditched its traditional pledge of loyalty "to God and to the Queen" in favour of a series of multicultural options.
        Muslim Scouts can opt to swear to Allah, while atheists can drop God altogether and budding republicans can pledge themselves to the state rather than the monarch.
        The pledge is taken by all Scouts on joining the movement, which was established in 1907. The new variations are intended to reflect the growing diversity of Britain.
        They represent a rejection of the "muscular Christianity" and love of monarchy espoused by Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of scouting.
        The changes have horrified some prominent former Scouts. Stephen Pound, the Labour MP and chairman of the all-party parliamentary Scout group, called the changes "profoundly retrograde, uncalled for and potentially extremely divisive".
        The current pledge, based on that written by Baden-Powell, states: "On my honour, I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God and to the Queen, to help other people and to keep the Scout law."
        Under new guidelines issued to Scout leaders, Muslim Scouts — as well as Beavers and Cubs, the groups to which younger boys belong — can pledge their duty to Allah and Hindu Scouts to their Dharma. Atheists can promise to live life in "good moral standing".
        In addition, children who are not British but live here can promise to do their duty to "the country in which I am now living" instead of promising allegiance to the Queen.
    Hopefully this bad craziness will remain in Europe.

Daniel Pipes: Lodi, California, mysteries   [6/12/05]
While the MSM spins kumbaya fables about the joys of diversity in Lodi, author Daniel Pipes finds important details in the available coverage about the accused terrorists, and asks pertinent questions, for example:

    •   Hamid Hayat, 22, arrested on his return from what he admits was a jihadist camp in Pakistan, is an American citizen born in Stockton, California who attended school (though only up to the sixth grade) in the United States. That being the case, why does the Los Angeles Times write that, "Apparently unable to follow the proceedings in English, Hayat listened with the help of an Urdu translator"? Does Lodi contain an Urdu-speaking ghetto? (In the absence of the two imams yesterday, the mosque service was held in Urdu.)
    •   When he was arrested, Hamid Hayat, the junior-high dropout, was packing cherries. His father, Umer, sells ice cream from a truck. But his maternal grandfather, Qari Saeed ur Rehman, founded the Jamia Islamia Madrassa in 1962 (and still runs it), is a leader in the Jamiat Ulema Islam Party, and served as minister of religious affairs in the late 1980s. The family is Pakistani religious royalty — so, what are the father and son doing in California as unskilled laborers?
    Daniel Pipes is a long-time scholar of the Middle East and the author of numerous books. His recent article Jihad through History is a good, brief overview of the last 1200 years.

Portugal youths in beach rampage   [6/12/05]
You have to watch the accompanying video to learn that the 500 thieves and muggers who assaulted crowds of holiday beachgoers near Lisbon were "immigrants" from Africa. The riot police were called out since the local cops were overwhelmed even after they fired shots into the air. The authorities hope "a fashion" for more such violence doesn't develop.

Employers shun service to weed out illegal hires   [6/12/05]
The good news is that the government makes available an easily accessed database for employers to check the veracity of social security numbers of new employees. The bad news is that Washington does not require that employers verify that workers are legally eligible for employment.

    Last week, anti-illegal immigration demonstrators turned out in Tennessee calling for $25,000 fines against employers who willingly hire illegals.
        "We have become a magnet for illegal aliens," said radio talk show host Phil Valentine who spearheaded the turnout. "We're wanting to demagnetize Tennessee, (but) it's all about passing comprehensive laws on a state level so we don't attract illegal aliens anymore. If we cut off the reason of them coming, they'll stop coming. We can talk about deporting and arresting, but until you address why they're coming, you're never going to solve the problem."
        Because the law only requires employers to check documents, but not determine their authenticity, illegals have continued to be hired using fraudulent papers — and employers have been able to plead ignorance.
        According to the Pew Hispanic Center, there were 7 million undocumented workers in the U.S. last year — 55 percent of whom were hired using documents with fabricated or stolen Social Security numbers, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.
    Take away the enticement of employment, and many illegal alien job thieves will self-deport.

Paul Watson: Too much immigration puts whole planet at risk   [6/11/05]
Captain Watson is the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and he currently serves on the board of the Sierra Club, where he is one of the few who believe that excessive immigration is an environmental issue.

    The leading national environmental organisation is pushing its head deeper into the sand. The Sierra Club policy on immigration is neutral, meaning that it has no policy at all. In effect, the Sierra Club has said that this is something for the next generation to deal with.
        Sierra Club policy as early as 1970 was to "stabilise US population". In September 1999 the Board went further, voting for a policy that stated "reduce" rather than "stabilise".
        The unwillingness to implement Club policy because it means advocating family planning and reducing immigration, is logically inconsistent and has angered many members.
        The reason for this stand has little to do with conservation principles and everything to do with the fear of being criticised by the left as anti-immigrant.
        The US population is increasing by about three million people per year and this does not include illegal immigrants. This rate of growth projects a population of one billion by the end of this century.
    For all Watson's thoroughness in this largely sensible article, he didn't mention a major reason for the Sierra Club's recalcitrance on immigration sanity, namely the $100 million "donation" from open-borders advocate David Gelbaum, revealed in the LA Times (Oct. 27, 2004, "The Man behind the Land").
    But [Gelbaum] said [Sierra Club Executive Director Carl] Pope long had known where he stood on the contentious issue. "I did tell Carl Pope in 1994 or 1995 that if they ever came out anti-immigration, they would never get a dollar from me."
    Your humble correspondent has reported on the recent Sierra Club election, revealing how completely it has become corrupted by money and leftist politics.

Saudi Pair in Colorado Kept Slave   [6/11/05]
Here's another example of why we should NOT Celebrate Diversity. Some well heeled Saudis abused an illegal alien in their Aurora home in their country's traditional fashion — slavery was not officially abolished in Saudi Arabia until 1962. (But slavery-like conditions continue in the kingdom even now, particularly for immigrant workers, many of whom come from Indonesia and Sri Lanka.)

    AURORA, Colo. -- A Saudi Arabian couple was in custody Friday, accused of turning a young Indonesian woman into a virtual slave, forcing her to clean, cook and care for their children while she was threatened and sexually assaulted.
        A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Homaidan Al-Turki, 36, and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, 35, on charges of forced labor, document servitude and harboring an illegal immigrant.
        Al-Turki also faces state charges including kidnapping, false imprisonment and extortion, as well as 12 charges of sexual assault. His wife faces some of the same charges. The two could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
    The Denver Post includes photos of the accused perps in their new orange outfits.
    Update: JihadWatch (aka Robert Spencer) points out that when a Muslim man "possesses" a woman, e.g. through slavery, then the Koran says he can do what he pleases with her (4:24).

Is Europe's constitution kaputt?   [6/10/05]
A more important question might be, "Is belief in Multiculturalism dead in Europe?"

    Growing anti-Muslim sentiment, opposition to EU membership for Turkey, and fears over losing control of immigration policy all contributed to the debacle for the pro-EU camp.
    Another sign of the increasing rejection of loopy multicultural ideology is the observation in the leftist standard The Nation that European women are beginning to realize that not all cultures are equal:
    In what appears to be a Europe-wide pattern, some feminists are aligning themselves with the anti-immigrant right against their former multiculturalist allies on the left. Joining them in this exodus to the right are gay activists, who blame Muslim immigrants for the rising number of attacks on gay couples.
    In the same article, The Nation criticizes courageous Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a rare political leader who has defended the rights of Muslim women in the Netherlands, for "poisoning the political atmosphere with her strident attacks on Islam" — talk about shooting the messenger!

FBI Terror Probe Moves to Peninsula   [6/10/05]
The investigation of an Islamist terror cell in Lodi in California's central valley has expanded to the San Francisco Bay Area.

    FBI agents interviewed an official of the Farooqia Islamic Center in his East Palo Alto home this week and suggested that other leaders of the group had made inflammatory speeches about terrorism, the official said Thursday. In Lodi, agents went door to door conducting more interviews of Pakistani Americans in the investigation.
    Interestingly, there was a pre-911 report in the SF Chronicle about Taliban supporters living in the Fremont area, back in March 2001 when the Taliban still ran Afghanistan. So the idea that extremist followers of Islam live in Northern California should not be a total shock.

Guatemala's epidemic of killing   [6/10/05] Rosa Franco
Amnesty International has released a report about the horrendous violence against women in Guatemala. Over 1500 women have been murdered in under four years, often with terrible brutality. In the first five months of 2005, 225 women were killed.

    In Guatemala, a small country not long emerged from three decades of civil war, women and girls are being murdered faster than anyone in authority can cope.
        Deborah Tomas Vineda, aged 16, was kidnapped, raped, and cut to pieces with a chainsaw, allegedly because she refused to become the girlfriend of a local gang member.
        Her sister Olga, just 11 years old, died alongside her.
        The raped and mutilated body of Andrea Contreras Bacaro, 17, was found wrapped in a plastic bag and thrown into a ditch, her throat cut, her face and hands slashed, with a gunshot wound to the head.
        The word "vengeance" had been gouged into her thigh.
The violence is apparently a noxious stew of traditional Latin misogyny stirred with a gang problem and the social detritus of 36 years of civil war. The danger to women is worsened because of an attitude of disinterest from the police about women's safety, plus a general lack of regard.
    "Firstly, there is no respect for the body of a woman. People feel they can treat women however they want. Also, there is the idea that women are the property of someone.
        "Because of this we find women are often tortured and sexually abused before they are killed. In some cases they are dismembered."
    These crimes are horrible enough in and of themselves: no woman should have to live under the constant threat of such violence. But American women should understand that this country cannot accept millions from deeply misogynous societies without that attitude infecting this country.

Sensenbrenner and Dean trade insults over immigration   [6/9/05]
Howard Dean recently turned his ire on pro-borders Republicans, accusing Rep. Sensenbrenner and Tancredo of "attacking immigrants." (Hint: the two Rs have advocated legislation to control Illegal immigration. Big difference.)
    Earth to Howard Dean: The majority of Americans want immigration to be legal, controlled and reduced. And that includes Democrats, in only slightly lower numbers than Republicans — a fact which elite Dems in Washington ignore at their peril, and which has contributed to their continued out-of-power status.
    See NumbersUSA's collection of surveys for the polling data.

Lodi reaction: Muslims shaken, fearful of backlash   [6/9/05]
Here it comes: a terrorist cell has apparently been uncovered in a small agricultural city, but the media are worried that Muslim feelings might be hurt. It's not exactly like lynch mobs are roaming the streets: the worst backlash has been a few "insults" yelled at Muslims. So we read that Islam is a "religion of peace" despite ongoing jihadist attacks with plenty of headchopping.

    "The imams are good people, respectful, who teach peace, who were up front and always out in the open" said Shah.
        He spoke on a bench behind the Boys and Girls Club across the street from the mosque.
    The press might better consider the genuine threat to a small town that a terror cell represents. A big city has a whole infrastructure set up to deal with natural and man-made disasters, something a little community cannot afford.
    It is also disturbing that Islamic residents of the United States are still traveling abroad to receive terrorist training about "how to kill Americans" as spelled out on the FBI affadavit. The case additionally suggests that merely being born and raised in the USA does not innoculate against jihadist motivation when the immigrant parents are so inclined.
    The unspoken question is why the United States continues to allow immigration from countries where our values are despised and Americans are hated. There's no right to immigrate, although many in Washington act otherwise.

One of Every Seven People in U.S. Is Hispanic   [6/9/05]
Mexican Lebensraum continues, as the consequences of open borders accumulate.

    WASHINGTON — Hispanics accounted for half the 2.9 million U.S. population growth from 2003 to 2004 and now constitute one-seventh of all people in the United States.
        A Census Bureau report issued Thursday said that trend probably will continue because of immigration and a Hispanic birth rate outstripping non-Hispanic blacks and whites.
        The agency estimated there are 41.3 million Hispanics in the U.S. [...]
        The Hispanic growth rate for the 12 months starting July 2003 was 3.6 percent compared with the overall population growth of 1 percent.
    The number of Hispanic residents in the United States is estimated at 41.3 million. A simple calculation using the growth rate to arrive at the population doubling time results in 19.4 years. Therefore, assuming the growth rate doesn't increase, there will be more than 80 million Hispanics in America in less than 20 years.
    As part of the headlong plunge into a Latino Quebec, at what point will Spanish become required in public schools?
    See also U.S. faces becoming as diverse as L.A's , which compares the Census releases to the demographic cataclysm which Los Angeles has undergone.
    Blake said preliminary 2004 estimates show Hispanics make up 46.7 percent of the Los Angeles County population - up from 44.5 percent a year ago and an increase of about 131,640 people. Since 2000, Hispanics in the county have increased by about 462,400.
        In the city of Los Angeles, about 48 percent of the population is Hispanic.
    Get that? The percent of Hispanics in LA County has increased over two percent in just one year.

Arson highlights Danish tensions   [6/8/05]
In Scandinavia, Denmark has been the toughest against Muslim immigration with its attendent jihad and general conflict. It shouldn't be a surprise then that the Danish immigration minister's car was firebombed as it was parked next to her house. Rikke Hvilshoj, her husband and two young children had to be rescued from the house, which also caught fire.

    The attack comes less than two weeks after a shooting in Norrebro, another part of Copenhagen, involving members of the immigrant community. A young man was killed by a nightclub bouncer, while another was wounded.
        When a leading Muslim cleric, Abu Laban, suggested the hand-over of "blood money" from one family to another as a way to settle the dispute peacefully, the immigration minister rejected the idea as "medieval".
        "Nor do we trade camels in Denmark", was Mrs Hvilshoj's response to the idea.
    Apparently Ms. Hvilshoj was aware of the Somali practice of using camels to smooth tricky social negotiations, as noted by an immigrant in Minnesota a couple years ago:
    The camel is involved in every aspect of our culture," Jama said. "If I want to get married, I pay 100 camels to my bride's family. If I take a man's life, I pay 100 camels to the tribe of the victim.

The Great Ground Zero Heist   [6/8/05]
Author Debra Burlingame is the sister of Charles F. "Chic" Burlingame III, pilot of American Airlines fight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and she is furious that the Ground Zero Memorial has been hijacked by the politically correct crowd. The hate-America bunch believes that what's needed is a lecture on "why they hate us" including reminders of the Abu Graib variety. The salutes to the heroism of local firemen and police which visitors would reasonably expect will not be there.

    Most of the cherished objects which were salvaged from Ground Zero in those first traumatic months will never return to the site. There is simply no room. But the International Freedom Center will have ample space to present us with exhibits about Chinese dissidents and Chilean refugees. These are important subjects, but for somewhere —anywhere — else, not the site of the worst attack on American soil in the history of the republic.
    The purpose of a memorial is to commemorate certain events deemed worthy of special recognition, not to engage in political indoctrination. Here's a slideshow in case you have forgotten what happened on September 11, 2001.
    Please send comments to this address.
    Update: One of the people behind the PC "memorial" presents his side in the June 10 WSJ, saying that his vision is about a "narrative of hope" with other verbal flummery. The New York Post responds with a sensible editorial that memorials should not be about politics.
    Update June 10: The Take Back the Memorial website is now available for viewing.

Al Qaeda probe reported — Lodi father, son arrested   [6/8/05]
Al Qaeda has apparently burrowed into even small farming towns in agricultural America, as evidenced by the latest terrorist arrests. (Lodi, California, population around 60,000.) Hamid Hayat, 22 and born in the U.S., is accused of attending a terror camp in Pakistan where he learned how to kill Americans. His Pakistan-born father Umer is accused of financing the camp and lying to the FBI about Hamid's association with terrorists. Locally, the elder Hayat drives an ice-cream truck. After training for several months in Pakistan, Hamid was given his choice of where to carry out jihadist activities, and he chose to go home to Lodi. The camp he attended was owned by his uncle according to an analyst on Fox News, so Hamid was following the family business.
    The Lodi Mosque is located right across the street from the city's Boys and Girls Club. Most mosque attendees, an estimated 500 at Friday services, are Pakistani. The mosque is not open to women, whose presence is considered a "distraction." Terror expert John Loftus remarked that the exclusion of women in a mosque is often indicative of a Wahhabi terrorist inclination.
    Two other Lodi men, Shabbir Ahmed and Mohammed Adil Khan, are being detained on immigration violations. Ahmed is the current imam of the Lodi mosque, and Khan was a previous imam there.
    Here's a PDF file of the FBI affadavit.
    For yet another reminder that an unknown number of Muslims in America are a dangerous fifth column, watch the video included in the linked article. JihadWatch has more information and comments.

Report Card on America's Schools: Illegal Immigration   [6/7/05]
The press release for FAIR's new report spells out in clear language the bill to taxpayers for educating illegal aliens' children. See the full report for all the disturbing details.

    With the traditional end of the school year, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has updated its study of the impact of illegal immigration on America¹s public schools. Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration is Sending Schools Into the Red estimates that nationwide, the cost of educating the children of illegal aliens in the U.S. now runs an astonishing $28.6 billion.
        The $28.6 billion figure does not include ancillary costs such as school-based nutrition programs that are provided to children from low-income families, or additional costs associated with the need to teach English to non-English speakers. Estimates based on Census Bureau data, suggest that there are about 1.5 million illegal alien children and an additional 2 million U.S.-born children of illegal aliens in K-12 classrooms across the country.
        California, at $7.7 billion a year, leads the nation in expenditures for education of the children of illegal aliens, but five other states also have costs in excess of a billion dollars annually.

Village marries off toads in bid for rains   [6/7/05]
As mentioned yesterday, the India PR machine has been in high gear to convince Americans that the bad old days of cows and untouchables are over. The media makeover artists scored a major coup in 2003 when Sixty Minutes broadcast a virtual advertisement for Indian programmers, insinuating that they were smarter and better educated than their American counterparts. The piece even suggested that Indian immigrants played a large part in the creation of Silicon Valley — a total rewrite of history. (See "Triumph of the Nerds" for the real story of who built the personal computer industry.)
    But back to the frogs, er toads:

    KHOCHAKANDAR, India (Reuters) - Two giants toads were married in a traditional Hindu ceremony in eastern India at the weekend by villagers hoping to propitiate the rain gods and end a dry spell.
        Some 400 people cheered and blew conches as women put streaks of vermilion on the female toad's head while a band played music and priests solemnized the marriage to the chanting of Hindu hymns.
        The toads were picked up from separate ponds, dressed in bright red clothes and brought to the marriage venue in a decorated palanquin in Khochakandar village in West Bengal state late Sunday.
        The married toads were released into a pond after the ceremony in the village about 365 km (225 miles) north of the state capital, Calcutta.
        "Our forefathers used to organize marriages of toads to get sufficient rain for cultivation. We hope rain will be coming very soon," said Konica Mandal, one of the organizers of the wedding.
    At least this wedding was between two members of the same species; certain Indian tribes require dog marriage for children whose teeth come in oddly.

Women Living under Muslim Laws   [6/7/05]
The title of this website is self-explanatory. A recent item from the news section is "Saudi Arabia shelves plan to let women drive".

    Women in the kingdom are forced to cover from head to toe in public, and cannot travel without a written permission from their male guardian.
        A group of 47 women defied the ban on driving by roaming the streets of Riyadh in 15 cars on November 6, 1990. They were arrested and punished.
        Saudi Arabia received the lowest rating on women's freedom in a survey of 17 nations in the region conducted by the American "Freedom House" and released at the weekend's World Economic Forum in Jordan.

D-Day Address, June 6, 1984   [6/6/05]
Here's President Reagan's famous speech 21 years ago today saluting "the boys of Point du Hoc" and all the others who made D-Day a success:

    The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers at the edge of the cliffs, shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After two days of fighting, only ninety could still bear arms.
        And behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there. These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. And these are the heroes who helped end a war. Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender's poem. You are men who in your "lives fought for life and left the vivid air signed with your honor."
    There are some nice photos of the American Cemetery in Colleville St. Mer taken at the commemorations of the 61st anniversary of the D-Day. Also, First Wave at Omaha Beach.

Modern India's complex connection with complexion   [6/6/05]
Newly affluent Indian women are spending millions of dollars on beauty products to lighten up unwanted dark skin, revealing unegalitarian attitudes about race. But apologists for racism get their due in this article, and the usual excuse is given that India prefers light skin because of colonialism and the attitudes of "invaders." The more complex truth comes out in latter paragraphs:

    Some observers are careful to distinguish India's colour preference from the kind of racism practised elsewhere, such as apartheid-era South Africa, which involved systematic repression of those with darker skin.
        But there are parallels. Tone is not just a measure of beauty in India; it is also a mark of caste. It's believed that caste occupations were originally decided by skin colour, with dark-skinned people assigned to the latrines and light-skinned people assigned to the Hindu clergy.
        Thousands of years later, the colour-caste correlation is diluted, but still loosely in place. Aggressive affirmative-action programs have bettered the lives of many at the bottom but India is not nearly yet a land of equal opportunity.
        "Caste may not be the same as race. But discrimination has gone on for thousands of years," says Uma Kant, a leading campaigner for Dalits, the so-called untouchables who continue to face cruelty, especially at the village level.
    The India propaganda machine wants Americans, particularly those in business, to regard the subcontinent as a modern, forward-looking place. However the brutal caste system remains in place with little change. "Gang rapes are mostly of Dalit women" according to Human Rights Watch.

It's History That's Tearing the E.U. Apart   [6/6/05]
Did anyone with an ounce of sense ever think the EU "United States of Europe" scheme would work? It was doomed from the time they decided to create a full political union, rather than merely knocking down a few trade barriers. Europe's history has been one of tribal wars against each other before the Romans marched in, and conflict between the Euro-tribes is practically hard-wired. Some politicians' dreams of an easy road to dominance over the USA through the EU were just that — dreams.
    A more serious diagnosis of full blown insanity will be indicated if the EU bureaucrats try to go forward with the proposed inclusion of Turkey:

    Turkey is not Europe, and it is certainly not France.
        I do not say this merely because the phones, electricity, hot water and front door lock have failed on me, serially, since my arrival, along with the Internet, refrigerator and stove. I say this because every Turk to whom I've spoken wants nothing more than the chance to become part of the predicted flood of cheap, unskilled labor that would almost certainly destabilize the economies and social orders of the Northern European welfare states if Europe and its periphery were to be glued together and all the borders thrown open. [...]
        The modern nation-state is predicated, precisely as the term suggests, on this idea: one nation, one state. The nation includes those who share a particular historical, linguistic and cultural heritage. Unsurprisingly, it is difficult to cobble nation-states together into a grand transnational entity. Unsurprisingly, they do not take well to the prospect of large-scale immigration.
    You wouldn't marry someone just because they lived next door. In the same way, transnational unions shouldn't be based on mere geography, particularly when borders mark the line between entire civilizations, e.g. the Bosphorus and the Rio Grande.
    Mexicans are always saying that they are an "indigenous" culture, not European: we should listen. Americans understand the huge dissimilarity with Mexican culture, which is why the objections to the shotgun marriage between the countries are so strong.
    Samuel Huntington warned about the culture clash of Mexican immigration in his important book, Who Are We. In 2000, Prof. Huntington wrote a CIS paper "Reconsidering Immigration" which concluded, "Mexican immigration is a unique, disturbing, and looming challenge to our cultural integrity, our national identity, and potentially to our future as a country."

The Hard Truth of Immigration   [6/5/05]
Newsweek's sensible economic columnist Robert Samuelson has been a critic of open borders for some time. His most recent opinion concerns a paper from Harvard economist George Borjas and Larry Katz, "The Evolution of the Mexican-Born Workforce in the United States." (Downloadable PDF here.) No surprise, it's not a pretty picture:

    Some Mexican-Americans have made spectacular gains, but the overall picture is dispiriting. Among men, about one in 20 U.S. workers is now a Mexican immigrant; in 1970, that was less than one in 100. The vast majority of Mexican workers lacked a high-school diploma in 2000 (63 percent for men, 57 percent for women). Only a tiny share had college degrees (3 percent for men, 5 percent for women). By contrast, only 7 percent of native-born U.S. workers were high-school dropouts and 28 percent were college graduates in 2000. Mexican workers are inevitably crammed into low-wage jobs: food workers, janitors, gardeners, laborers, farm workers. In 2000, their average wages were 41 percent lower than average U.S. wages for men and 33 percent lower for women.
    Open borders permit the entrance of millions of unskilled Mexicans, whom the country's ultra-rich rulers are happy to see leave. America is importing poverty, illiteracy and a bad attitude toward education — not what's needed in a 21st century economy. At all.

Mohammed's Believe It or Else   [6/5/05]
LTG opened up our favorite comic book website the other day, and discovered that it now plays a song about Islam with a reggae beat. It's worth a listen as well as a read!
    The publication rated a rare comic book review in the recent Social Contract issue dedicated to considering the danger of Islam to western values.
    There are more mp3 sounds at the Islam Commentaries site — scroll down to Our Music.
    Speaking of amusing sound files, here's a message from the pilot.

Downsizing Illegal Immigration   [6/4/05]
This transcript is of a panel discussion presented with the publication of the CIS paper of the same name, considering the important topic of what can be done with estimated 20 million illegal aliens residing in the United States.
    Author Mark Krikorian's strategy of "Attrition Through Enforcement" with its consequent self-deportation makes a lot of sense against the hand-wringer arguments that mass deportations would upset alien families, etc. Central to the attrition idea is removing the job magnet by checking Social Security numbers and other methods of unplugging the ability to get employment. An example of self-deportation is the community of illegal Pakistanis who left by the thousands post 9/11 (An Exodus Grows in Brooklyn).
    Roy Beck was a member of the panel and emphasized that American victims of illegal immigration not be forgotten:

    I have a few suggestions as you work on this. One of them is an overarching theme, which is to let relief for victims drive the attrition — relief for victims. I think that is a missing part — a major missing part of the philosophy on what we are doing with illegal immigration.
        My comments relate to three major points: number one, that the reason we want to reduce illegal immigration numbers, the illegal population in this country, is because it is a crime and it's not a victimless crime; there are victims throughout society.
        Number two, [...] illegal immigration is a business; it is a criminal business in which everybody involved in it profits from it. And so the way to do enforcement against it is to take the profit out of the business.
        Number three is the problem of the American victims and there are tens of millions of American victims. The smallest numbers of victims are probably the ones who have directly lost their jobs to illegal aliens or who can't find a job because illegal aliens have stepped into those jobs. A larger number are Americans who are working alongside illegal aliens and have seen their wages and their working conditions be depressed because of that.
    In 2004, the anti-borders San Francisco Chronicle created a whole series of sob stories about the illegal Cuevas family from the Philippines who were threatened with deportation. When the family actually was repatriated, the paper reported that too. As it turned out, the Cuevases reconnected with their culture, bought a house and renewed bonds with their extended family — living in the Philippines wasn't horrible at all. It's only our American chauvinism making us believe that there's nothing worse than repatriation.

8 Nations Added to Human Trafficking List   [6/3/05]
The US State Department has published its annual report about the ongoing problem of slavery and human trafficking worldwide. It's fine to draw attention to a genuine evil in the world, but why must Washington spend millions of our tax dollars on other nation's problems when the national debt is well over $7 trillion?

    The United States spends $96 million to help other countries combat trafficking, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote in a forward to the report.
    If the government wants to combat human trafficking, it should instead spend that $96 million at home, where there are plenty of bad guys making a fortune from human misery.
    Someone should tell the State Department that there is more than enough human trafficking within the United States caused by open borders to occupy its attention. It's mind boggling that any taxpayer money is being spent overseas when the borders at home remain wide open, permitting a deluge of imported criminal abuse and slavery to land here.

Payrolls Grow by Just 78,000 in May   [6/3/05]
Remember that 150,000 new jobs are needed every month just to keep up with population growth, so 78,000 is actually a loss in the economic parade. More details here.

The Real Racist Problem Behind Illegal Immigration   [6/3/05]
As a descendant of the Commanche warrior Bad Eagle, writer David Yeagley brings a unique viewpoint on the issue of immigration, one which is eminently realistic and goes beyond the tiresome kneejerk categories in which the MSM wallows.

    Most Americans think of Mexicans as short and dark, despite the fact that Mexican President Vicente Fox is tall and white. So what really is a Mexican, and who is in charge of Mexico? Americans are getting a confused picture, while illegal immigration is rampant, with all its attendant ills. Americans see hordes of swarthy, illiterate workers, yet American media flaunts a "white," professional Mexican, as president. The reality is the white upperclass really does rule Mexico. Their chauvinism — and the lack of patriotism shown by most of the Mexican population — has helped create America's illegal immigration problem. [...]
        What happened to Mexican pride? Where are the Mexicans who care? Crossing the river doesn't make them a different kind of human being.
        I say, where is Emiliano Zapata when you need him? Where is Poncho Villa? Where are the leaders of the people, who will defend them against the careless, endless abuses of the generalesciudad Mexico?
    Sadly, there will be no Mexican patriots fighting for democracy and a fair economic shake at home as long as it is so easy to waddle across the Rio Grande. Besides, revolutionary activity can be messy, even violent, and blood stains can be hard to get out of designer clothes. Shopping is so much nicer.
    For long-overdue regime change to occur in Mexico City, the border must be shut down tight. Only then will Mexican citizens demand accountable governance.
    As LTG has pointed out many times, Mexico Is Rich and increases the wealth of its ruling class by dumping its unskilled, illiterate peasants on America. El Presidente Fox whines about the "dignity" of migrantes as a ploy to guilt-trip Americans into opening the border entirely, while illegal Mexicans are stealing the jobs of America's poorest workers (often black). In fact, Mexico is addicted to the easy money of remittances in the same way that American business is addicted to exploitable illegal alien labor. It's an evil arrangement, bad for both countries.

Saudis Outraged Over Women-Drive Proposal   [6/2/05]
Women remain in chains in Saudi Arabia, as shown by the latest controversy over whether they should be permitted to drive. One member of the Consultative Council merely suggested that the subject be studied, and he has received an onslaught of abuse ever since, even calls that his Saudi citizenship be stripped from him.

    Conservatives, who believe women should be shielded from strange men, say driving will allow a woman to leave home whenever she pleases and go wherever she wishes. Some say it will present her with opportunities to violate Islamic law, such as exposing her eyes while driving or interacting with strange men, like police officers or mechanics.
        "Driving by women leads to evil," Munir al-Shahrani wrote in a letter to the editor of the Al-Watan daily. "Can you imagine what it will be like if her car broke down? She would have to seek help from men."
    There is no better argument against the flawed ideology of multiculturalism — the idea that all cultures are morally equal — than the nature of Saudi Arabia. Not only are women treated like property and still may not vote, but gay people are beheaded. All religions other than Islam are disallowed in the country, and anyone carrying a Bible in their luggage will see it shredded at the airport of entry. The Saudi government even blocks access to Christian websites.

Black Leaders Snoozing on Immigration   [6/2/05]
Dave Gorak has been a strong voice about the unfairness of open borders on American minorities, particularly blacks. He was critical about the recent race controversy when el Presidente Fox said Mexicans took jobs "even blacks wouldn't do" after which Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson visited Fox in Mexico City to derive political benefit for themselves, but not for American blacks.

    What mass immigration is doing to black Americans today is a carbon copy of what the "Great Wave" of immigration from Europe did to them at the end of the 19th century. But then there were responsible black leaders like Booker T. Washington who, in his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech to American industrialists, urged them to hire blacks before the newly arrived immigrants.
        Rather than deal with the real problem, the best Jackson and others can offer are symbolic gestures that do nothing to protect the people they say they care about. For example: Jackson just announced he is forming a multiracial coalition with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund to look after the interests of blacks and Hispanics. (MALDEF supports amnesty for the millions of illegals here who have stolen jobs and wages from our working poor.) Why would Jackson want to help those whose presence has hurt blacks so much?
    Why indeed? Last year, Prof. George Borjas of Harvard reiterated that Hispanic and black Americans were the groups hurt most by the endless influx of foreign workers. Excess labor supply resulting from open borders costs cost native-born American men an average $1,700 in annual wages in the year 2000. Where's the left now that blacks are getting it in the neck? Are African-Americans no longer important since they have become #2 behind hispanics among minorities? And as Borjas points out, a labor pool with excess workers serves to transfer wealth from employees to business owners.

Europe Eschews 'Union': Return of the Tribes   [6/1/05]
Military writer Ralph Peters believes that Europe is reverting to its old nationalist ways, despite the best laid plans of European elites.

    If anything should strike us about this turn from Greater Europe back to a Europe of competing parts, it's how wildly the intellectuals were wrong and how ineffectual elite power monopolies proved in the end. For a half century, Europe's approved thinkers insisted that a new age had begun, that historical identities were dying. The wealth and power of a borderless Europe would rival, if not exceed, that of the United States.
        Instead, we see a squabbling, grasping continent. Far from feeling solidarity with their Polish or Hungarian counterparts, French farmers view them as the enemy. Labor unions in Germany and France have turned Slavic job-seekers into bogeymen who'll rob the daily bread from the native-born.
        The Dutch feel doubly under siege, invaded by an immigrant community that rejects their values, while simultaneously in danger of being gobbled up by a leviathan Europe that would seize control of their destiny.
        For Europe's political elites — accustomed to docile, bought-off populations — the turn against further EU integration has been an enormous shock.
    Peters doesn't exactly say that multiculturalism, the nutty ideology of our age, has been rejected by recent events, but he does note that "Group identity is indestructible." So much for the planetary kumbaya and diversity hand holding.
    Furthermore, LTG agrees with Czech President Vaclav Klaus' opinion that "you cannot have democratic accountability in anything bigger than a nation state."
    Update: The Netherlands has voted No on the EU constitution. Big time. Columnist Mark Steyn opines that the EUro elites have put a serious kabosh on democracy:
    Europe's "consensus" politics has ruled more and more topics unfit for discussion, leaving voters with a choice between Eurodee and Eurodum, a left-of-right-of-left-of-centre party and a right-of-left-of-right-of-left-of-centre party. None of these plodding technocratic parties seems eager to talk about any of the faintly unrespectable subjects on the minds of voters — Muslim immigration, increasing crime, Turkey, EU labour mobility.

The Borders Are Closing   [6/1/05]
Columnist Andres Martinez laments the failing popularity of globalization signaled by the crumbling EU, and faults the Netherlands for rejecting multicultural immigration, even though Dutch culture is threatened by intolerant newcomers who terrorize gay people and women. In fact, two members of the Dutch parliament, Geert Wilders and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, now require 24/7 security to protect them from murderous jihadists.
    The globalization so beloved by Senor Martinez is nothing more than a scheme by business to bypass national laws protecting workers and the environment: NAFTA and the World Trade Organization have no Bill of Rights to safeguard the citizen.
    What's never mentioned is that many thousands of American soldiers died to protect the sovereignty that Washington is now giving away through open borders and destructive trade agreements. Their sacrifice is what we remembered on Memorial Day.

 

© 2005 Brenda Walker All rights reserved.