Thomas Paine wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls." He may as well have been speaking about today. Paine wrote of the American Crisis. Today we have a world crisis.
As we witness yet more terrorist attacks in London, we know what will follow. "We are London." Lights on important landmarks. And, probably, more Brits arrested for having the temerity to say nasty things about the Religion of Peace.
We will be presented with more examples of islamophobic hate crimes such as dirty looks, nasty words, and broken windows. Anything more than that will, more than likely, be self-inflicted actions intended to prove how victimized Muslims are. Meanwhile, as the body count goes up on a weekly basis, the Muslim body count will stay at about zero outside of war zones (which are war zones because of their own actions) and honour killings.
People such the Obamas and Zuckerbergs of this world, speaking from the safety of their walled estates, and Pope Appeaser I, speaking from the safety of the walled Vatican, will tell us that we should accept "refugees" in the name of humanity. Anyone concerned with the safety of young girls going to concerts or people going to casinos, such as in the Philippines, will have to be careful so as not to be arrested on hate speech charges. Meanwhile, "enlightened" nations in the world will have made sure that their citizens are devoid of any meaningful way to defend themselves.
The most important function of a government is the protection of its people. Governments around the world have abrogated that responsibility. It is time that people stand up and withdraw recognition of those governments. If the elite want a revolution, then it is a revolution they will get. It just may not turn out how they expected.
Mail On Line Headline at 04.50 GMT:
ReplyDelete"Three Jihadi knifemen are shot dead by police after killing six and hurting 30: Gang yell 'this is for Allah' after mowing down crowd on London Bridge and then going from bar to bar in stabbing frenzy"
In spite of all the sensational "celebrity" crap the Mail publishes, they never mince words when it comes to terrorists, criminals, crime and violence.
And no, don't colour me shocked.
ReplyDeleteIf I see one more pile of teddy bears, candles, and flowers, or the come togethering of "strong" and "united" communities, I think I will puke.
ReplyDeleteWhat needs to be seen, just once, is a pile of dead, but easily identifiable terrorists and supporters, to Hell with the Geneva conventions on the treatment of dead enemies.
DeleteThe civilized world is simply too civilized in their treatment of what has become an existential threat
Not that I am an expert on the Geneva convention, but (as I understand it) anyone who tries to hide amongst intended victims is not protected by the Geneva convention. If they are not in uniform, if they are not part of a recognized military force, they can be sumarily shot. They are not entitled to civil legal protections, they are not considered prisoners of war.
DeleteRemember in The Great Escape after Steve McQueen dumped the bike into the barbed wired? He showed his badge of rank -- part of his uniform -- to protect himself from being shot. On the other hand, when David McCallum was shot, that was a legally justifiable homicide. (Escaped prisoners were considered civil criminals. The Geneva Convention does not cosier them as combatants -- and McCallum's character just committed what would have been considered murder).
Of course, the US is expected to live up to the letter of every agreement whether it is applicable or not. The other guys, however, are not expected to live up to such agreements in the slightest.
Great comment Matt. I never knew that about the Geneva Convention. It is certainly something that contemporary politicians should be aware of and act on accordingly.
DeleteYour comment made me curious Matt, so I did some reading on the Geneva Conventions and the amendment Protocols.
DeleteVery interesting! I learned things I didn't know, and that some things that I thought I knew were incorrect.
Maybe Trump could work on updating the Conventions (in his spare time) to more specifically address Islamic terrorism.
Thank you Lady Red. Interesting information.
DeleteThis is war.
ReplyDeleteFace up to it or die. It's not that complicated, really.
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ReplyDelete"And, probably, more Brits arrested for having the temerity to say nasty things about the Religion of Peace."
Well then, I guess they can start with me.
imgw:"http://i.imgur.com/yPnee4H.jpg"
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. They must go back, forcefully, voluntarily, or in a body bag.
Deleteimgw:"http://i.imgur.com/0VXLXso.jpg"
ReplyDeleteGreat post Matt, and Fay your comments are spot on.
ReplyDeleteEnough IS enough. This is beyond ridiculous. The police want Londoners to "run, hide, tell". What kind of pansy-ass French bullshit are they foisting on our English cousins? When will the English/Scottish/Welsh people fight? Did all the courageous men die in the two World Wars, leaving just whining, cowardly yobs and riff raff to protect the realm?
Lock and load, cousins. Lock and fucking load. This is War, not a dress rehearsal. If you don't protect your families from these stone-age savages, they will destroy every thing and every one you love. Your culture will be obliterated and replaced by inbred, mentally imbalanced, uncivilized, low IQ cavemen.
I've been watching this latest terror attack in England unfold, and my heart goes out to the British. At the same time I am outraged at the unfairness meted out to Israel by the British and other press.
ReplyDeleteHave their been any outcries against the police shooting these terrorists dead? Of course not! And rightly so. I say "kol hakavod", well done and kudos to the police for doing their job so thoroughly and so promptly.
But when Israel does EXACTLY the same thing in the same circumstances, we get accused of "extra judicial killing" and other such assorted crimes, not to mention UN resolutions against us.
The opinion of many, if not most, Israelis is that if the West had reacted properly to the terror attacks in Israel, they themselves might not have suffered these same attacks.
It's getting more and more difficult to feel sorry for people who won't defend themselves. Throwing chairs at terrorist isn't exactly a winning strategy.
DeleteAnyone who advocates singing songs and placing flowers over the blood splattered on the pavement is a collaborator. The day of reckoning WILL come.
Annie, that is exactly because it happened in Israel, and fools have allowed themselves to be convinced things are different there.
DeleteIt is virtue signaling on an international level, and as with all such signaling, there is no actual virtue, or intelligence, involved
DWT: "It is virtue signaling on an international level, and as with all such signaling, there is no actual virtue, or intelligence, involved"
DeleteYou hit the nail on the head.
Lady Red: "It's getting more and more difficult to feel sorry for people who won't defend themselves. Throwing chairs at terrorist isn't exactly a winning strategy."
DeleteBut the point is that those Brits DID defend themselves by throwing chairs. You'd be amazed how much it can deter a terrorist armed only with a knife and not a gun.
Even in Israel, where many people are armed, terrorists were brought down by nunchuks, selfie sticks and even a shopkeeper chasing the terrorist with a broom!
Not everyone in Israel is armed, and in Britain almost no one is armed. That includes these terrorists who "only" had knives and a van.
I don't think the British should be blamed for doing what they could.
Re the right to bear arms, that is a non-issue in Britain. You can argue one way or the other. I think that the number of guns in the US has led to more violence not less. You cuold argue that it enables citizens to better defend themselves. We both have a point, so I don't think we should argue it out here.
In Israel it's a mishmash of both countries. More people are armed in Israel, but it's MUCH harder to get a gun licence here than in the States.
Annie, I did not read that as contemptuous of the Brits who actually did defend themselves, but more as contemptuous of a government that reduces its citizens (erm, "subjects")to such necessities.
DeleteThe areas of the United States where gun violence is a serious problem are those areas that are liberal and have restrictive gun laws. If you remove those areas from the mix the US has gun violence/homicide rates that are some of the lowest in the world.
DeletePerhaps not all, but a vast majority of mass shootings occur in "gun free" zones. Countries with higher gun violence rates than the US pretty much all have restrictive gun ownership laws.
Meanwhile I want to share a couple of facebook posts I saw today.
ReplyDeleteThe first is by Kay Wilson, a terror attack survivor in Israel. She was almost hacked to death by machete wielding terrorists a few years ago. Her friend with her was murdered. She writes:
"Praying for London" (or Manchester, or Paris, or Brussels, or Berlin, or Stockholm or... or... or...) clearly isn't enough. Pop group Oasis leading the crowds in a Manchester vigil with a rousing chorus of "Don't look back in anger," (as the French did with "Imagine" in Paris), is not only not enough, it is a dangerous repression of righteous rage in the name of "culture," and an insult to those who buried their dead.
Hugging Muslims who show their solidarity with the horrors of terrorism isn't enough. It is also patronizing, because it is the bar of low expectations. These Muslims should be protesting in their mosques, ridding their books stores of all the hateful material that demands and promotes Sharia, demonizes Jews, vilifies Christians, and is obsessed with the destruction of Israel. While they are at it, these Muslims should be handing over to security those in their mosques who preach of the evils of Western democracy.
Given the backdrop of slaughtered corpses pilling up on Europe's streets, anyone with any common decency should be offended by the news anchors who apologize for the trembling, empty-eyed and pale-faced whose lives will never be the same, those in the background of the shot wearing blood splattered clothes, clenching their heads and can be heard saying, “Fuck them! Fuck them!”
British news anchors apologizing profusely for "the bad language" spoken by those who have just witnessed carnage is an inverted, delusional, trivial, misplaced and dangerous morality — as if clean speech is the dominating virtue. Although the people may not know it now, trust me, they are scarred for life.
Rage at carnage is the right psychological reaction. It is not a dirty word, or a moral failure. It is a moral necessity and it is a virtue.
And it is this righteous rage that will enable people to act, that is the answer to all those prayers."
Ms. Wilson gets it right. I wonder what her opinion was before she was hacked nearly to death?
DeleteThe second post would be surprising to you but not to me. The writer, David Newman, is the Dean of (I can't remember which faculty) in Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva. He's a political science professor of political geography, and is pretty much a leftist in Israeli circles, i.e. he is against the "occupation". However he is also a religious Jew, and is honest in his viewpoint, i.e. he does not consider the Palestinians purely innocent, and calls out terrorism whenever and wherever he sees it. He has served in the IDF, and besides, he is a personal friend of ours.
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, a contradictory personality, but a very interesting one.
He is currently on Sabbatical in London, but has just been back to Israel for a short visit, and we spent the weekend with him and a bunch of other old ex-British friends.
Here are some excerpts from what he wrote today (it was a pretty long post, you can click the link to see it all):
"Returning to London today - no change of plans. Just as we all continue to live our normal life in Israel after attacks of this nature, so we have to continue to be as normal as possible in London as is possible - including Borough Market. It may be easier said than done but the ultimate victory of terror is their ability to disrupt the normality of daily life - and it can be done so easily in a huge metropolis like London - in the crowded streets, the restaurants, the markets, the sports stadium and the night life. Nevertheless, for all of us who grew up in the UK and who were always so proud of the fact that law and order was maintained without the need of armed police and stringent security measures on the street, the world has changed and it has become a far more dangerous place - and we all have to keep our eyes open and watch our backs where in the past we would never have given it a second thought. The two cities which I love, and which I frequent and share, Jerusalem and London, remain two of the most interesting, fascinating, exciting, places in the world and we cannot allow the purveyors of death and carnage to prevent us from moving around the city . That would be their ultimate victory. "
It is difficult to know how this will impact upon the elections which take place later this week but it is likely to push some votes back to Teresa May and the Conservative Party who have been falling away in recent weeks, if only because of Corbyn's reticence to totally condemn all forms of terrorist organizations and activities, past and present (along with an abysmal campaign performance by Teresa May). It has nothing to do with the supposed "justice" of their causes (from the IRA to ISIS) but everything to do with the use of violence and terror as a means of advancing their cause rather than through that of the ballot box. Elections may not be the panacea for all evils and injustices, but they remain the best of all bad solutions. Terror - in whatever form and whatever location (Europe, the Middle East or elsewhere in the globe) can never be justified as innocent people in the streets, the restaurants, the buses, the shopping malls, the places of prayer and the mass events (concerts, sports stadia) - wishing to go about their normal lives - are needlessly killed or injured. No polemics or discussion can ever justify such actions and even those people whose minds are so open to every injustice and every cause that their brains sometimes fall out of their heads, should refrain from doing so. "
/con'td
And here is the money quote from his post:
ReplyDelete"The word "but" should not be appearing in any of their commentaries or analysis. Evil is evil is evil wherever it happens and those who use violence, terror and murder to further their cause should be met with wall to wall opposition from anyone (regardless of their political and social views) who desire to be part of something we have loosely termed civilisation. Purveyors of violence, terror and murder are not part of a civilised society."
And if all else fails:
ReplyDeleteimgw:"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBcxyRiXcAEs5UR.jpg"
The image above was not from David Newman but I saw it on Twitter.
ReplyDeleteWhat Annie said.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what would happen if one of those neanderthals who drives a vehicle through a crowd of people were taken from the vehicle and literally torn limb from limb. Unfortunately I know the answer: that person would be portrayed as the victim at the hand of a bunch of islamaphobes.
The gov't can't arrest thousands of people with baseball bats. And if a few collaborators get on the wrong end of the bat...oh well. Collateral damage. Oops.
DeleteI think annie likes cricket though.
DeleteUm, cricket?? Corbyn is so utterly contemptuous, beneath contempt even. I'm terrified about the elections tomorrow. May hasn't been doing a very good job in her campaign. It's been so low key it's almost disappeared.
DeleteBut the worst thing about Corbyn is that he supports Arsenal. My husband (mad keen Gunners fan) is in despair about it!
But the worst thing about Corbyn is that he supports Arsenal.
DeleteAs someone in another blog/universe/kalpa once maybe said... L'MAO! 😇
I don't like either candidate, but Corbyn makes my skin crawl. If May wins and doesn't deport the hundreds (if not thousands) of identified terrorist roaming the streets, the left REALLY won't like who comes next.
DeleteOr what.
DeleteYes. Exactly.
DeleteBy the way Dianne Abbott has just resigned her Shadow cabinet position due to ill health. Hallelujah! Some nasty people (I'm sure I'm not included in that!) hint that maybe it's mental illness. She's revolting.
ReplyDeleteI shall now sit here quietly in the corner...
Can't abide that woman and I wish she had stood down. What I'm reading states that Corbyn forced her to step aside for a few days. She says she'll be back soon...
DeleteThat makes it even worse because it's a dishonest move. Corbyn has realized that she's a liability and forced her to back off. But the real liability is Corbyn himself. He makes me almost physically sick.
DeleteIsn't she that stupid woman who had no idea what she was babbling about on a news interview? If stupidity is "ill health" then she's terminal. Egads, what an ignorant idiot! She'll be back after the election; pond scum cling together for survival.
ReplyDeleteYup, that's her. She and Corbyn used to be "lovers" back in their hippie heydays. {{{SHUDDER}}}
Delete