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Malaysia Targets 2020 for Possible Manned Moon Mission

FOr crying out loud! If MALAYSIA is planning this, why haven't we been back up there yet?

John Leo on the MSM Looking the Other Way. Excerpt:On August 6, as her 15 minutes of fame was just beginning, Cindy Sheehan used an odd term in a TV interview with Mark Knoller of CBS. She referred to the...

This from Robert Scheer, the LATimes version Paul Krugman. Instead of the much-celebrated American can-do machine that promises to bring freedom and prosperity to less fortunate people abroad, we have seen a callous official incompetence that puts even Third World...

[This post has been bumped to appear on the top of the page, all day today. Scroll down for new posts.] Time for a Hurricane Katrina blogburst. Instapundit wants a post recommending relief efforts to donate to, and here are...

Labor Day weekend is always a busy one for me. Saturday was my birthday, so I usually take an extra day off and make it a four day bonanza of non-work. So needless to say, I'm not going to spend...

Islamists, get out!

A GREAT column from JWR by Daniel Pipes this AM:

As the full implications of the London's terrorism by domestic jihadis sink in, Westerners speak out about the problem of radical Islam with new clarity and boldness. The most profound development is the sudden need of the British and others to assert what it means to be British, Australian, or some other nationality. In the face of the Islamist challenge, historic identities taken for granted must now be explained and codified.

What a concept! Give rules to immigrants: "You want to live here with US, this is how you can do it. If you don't like the rules of our society, don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way back to wherever you came from!"

This can be seen on a diurnal level, where Islamist assertion has provoked a new European willingness in recent months to stand up for historic customs ? as seen by the banning of burqas in Italy, requiring a German school boy to attend co-ed swimming classes, and making male applicants for Irish citizenship renounce polygamy. When a ranking Belgian politician cancelled lunch with an Iranian group after it demanded that alcohol not be present, his spokesman helpfully explained that "You can't force the authorities of Belgium to drink water."

One can hear the moonbats already protesting the lack of inclusiveness and diversity in these policies.

As shown by two statements on the same day last week (Aug. 24), leading Western politicians are going beyond these minor specifics to address the civilizational heart of the matter. David Cameron, the British shadow education secretary and one of the Conservative party's bright prospects, defined Britishness as "freedom under the rule of law," adding that this expression "explains almost everything you need to know about our country, our institutions, our history, our culture ? even our economy." Peter Costello, the treasurer of Australia and regarded as heir apparent to Prime Minister John Howard, asserts that "Australia expects its citizens to abide by core beliefs - democracy, the rule of law, the independent judiciary, independent liberty." Cameron also spoke with a bluntness unique in four years of politicians' discourse since 9/11: "The driving force behind today's terrorist threat is Islamist fundamentalism. The struggle we are engaged in is, at root, ideological. During the last century a strain of Islamist thinking has developed which, like other totalitarianisms, such as Nazi-ism and Communism, offers its followers a form of redemption through violence."

Back to basics - definitely a good move!

Most striking are the growing calls to extrude Islamists. Two politicians have advised foreign Islamists to stay away. Monique Gagnon-Tremblay, Quebec's international relations minister, retracted the welcome mat from those "who want to come to Quebec and who do not respect women's rights or who do not respect whatever rights may be in our Civil Code." Bob Carr, premier of New South Wales, Australia (which includes Sydney), wants would-be immigrants to be denied visas if they refuse to integrate: "I don't think they should be let in." Costello goes further, observing that Australia "is founded on a democracy. According to our Constitution, we have a secular state. Our laws are made by the Australian Parliament. If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Shari'a law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you." Islamists with dual citizenship, he suggests, could be asked "to exercise that other citizenship," i.e., leave Australia.

Likewise, Brendan Nelson, Australia's education minister, also on Aug. 24 urged immigrants to "commit to the Australian constitution, Australian rule of law." If not, "they can basically clear off." Geert Wilders, head of his own small party in the Dutch parliament, similarly called for the expulsion of non-citizen immigrants who refuse to integrate. But it was the British shadow defence minister, Gerald Howarth, who went the furthest, suggesting in early August that all British Islamists must go. "If they don't like our way of life, there is a simple remedy: go to another country, get out." He directed this principle even to Islamists born in Britain (such as three of the four London bombers): "If you don't give allegiance to this country, then leave."

Phew! I think THOSE guys get it, but...:

These statements, all dating from the past half year, prompt several observations. First, where are the Americans? No major U.S. politician has spoken of making American-based Islamists unwelcome. Who will be the first?

Who indeed? They would get MY vote!

Second, note the consistent focus on the law and legal issues. This correctly picks up on the fact that ultimately, the Islamist project concerns the application of Islamic law, the Shari'a. And finally, these comments are likely to be leading indicators of a broader campaign to restrict and remove Islamists ? a move that comes none too soon.

Amen!

From Rush Limbaugh: What we have seen in New Orleans -- and we have not seen it in Mississippi, and we have not seen it in Alabama -- what we have seen in New Orleans is first and foremost the...

United States of Shame

DISCLOSURE NOTE: The above is Maureen Dowd(y)'s header on this column of tripe.

Whys do the libs make it so easy to rip their spiel to shreds? This is a primo case in point, as the Chief will humbly demonstrate:

And when you combine limited government with incompetent government, lethal stuff happens. America is once more plunged into a snake pit of anarchy, death, looting, raping, marauding thugs, suffering innocents, a shattered infrastructure, a gutted police force, insufficient troop levels and criminally negligent government planning. But this time it's happening in America.

The very first sentence - no resemblence to reality. I guess the rest is to compare New Orleans, LA to Baghdad. Not much resemblence in reality, but why should THAT be a hindrance to a good slam at the administration.

Ms. Dowdy need to be swatted with a cluebat here: FEDERAL troops are NOT sent in UNTIL REQUESTED by state and local authorities. National Guard is under the direct control of the state governor, unless they are "federalized". In both cases Maureeen, why aren't you asking your fellow-lib moonbat Gov. Blanco why she was asleep at the switch on this one? NOTE: In Mississippi, and Alabama there was no problem with getting the troops out. It seems the Governors THERE did their jobs...and while there was a major disaster there - worse in Mississippi than in Louisiana, there was no anarchy, since (GOP) GOv. Haley Barbour knew how to get his ducks in a row.

W. drove his budget-cutting Chevy to the levee, and it wasn't dry. Bye, bye, American lives. "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," he told Diane Sawyer.... Why does this self-styled "can do" president always lapse into such lame "who could have known?" excuses.

Maybe because the excuses are just a statement of fact - which I realize is an alien and difficult concept to the denizens of the NYT.
If this was such a big problem for so long, why didn't the State of Louisiana and City of New Orleans as least make SOME attempt to beef up the flood defenses. One would think that this would be their first concern. Over the years, this issue was discussed by them, with the ultimate decision being not to bother with spending THEIR money on the situation. So why then is it a problem for the rest of the country?

Who on earth could have known that Osama bin Laden wanted to attack us by flying planes into buildings? Any official who bothered to read the trellis of pre-9/11 intelligence briefs.

...unless the Clintonista Jamie Gore-lick's "firewall of separation" prevented the relevant official from getting the word as to what was being planned. Remember that? No? Oh, that's right, THAT wasn't the President's fault, so it doesn't exist in the minds of MSM pseudo-wonks such as yourself.

Who on earth could have known that New Orleans's sinking levees were at risk from a strong hurricane? Anybody who bothered to read the endless warnings over the years about the Big Easy's uneasy fishbowl. In June 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, fretted to The Times-Picayune in New Orleans: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."

"...doing anything we can..." except putting your money where your mouth is. HEY! If you have a problem - fix it! All roads don't automatically lead to Washington for taking care of local infrastructure.

It would be one thing if President Bush and his inner circle - Dick Cheney was vacationing in Wyoming; Condi Rice was shoe shopping at Ferragamo's on Fifth Avenue and attended "Spamalot" before bloggers chased her back to Washington; and Andy Card was off in Maine - lacked empathy but could get the job done.

Again Dowdy, we are a FEDERAL republic...the first responsibility is at the local and state levels. Also, the state and local emergency response plans stated in plain English which one would (apparently falsely) assume you can understand, that there was a 72-96 hour inherent delay in the application of Federal resources to a disaster situation.

Lacked empathy? Why? Because they didn't go running around like a bunch of headless chickens making a ruckus as moonbats are wont to do to exhibit the "symbolism" of "doing something" instead of giving the plans the required time to be implemented. Also...the Chief admits bafflement as to the responsibility of Secretary of State Condie Rice in this...I wasn't aware that New Orleans was in a foriegn country, at least since the 1804 Louisian Purchase. I mean the State Dept. IS tasked with FORIEGN relations, no?

When they were deaf for so long to the horrific misery and cries for help of the victims in New Orleans - most of them poor and black, like those stuck at the back of the evacuation line yesterday while 700 guests and employees of the Hyatt Hotel were bused out first - they shook the faith of all Americans in American ideals. And made us ashamed.

That bit with the hotel guests was managed by the Black mayor of NOLA. Yep, he's shameful!

But it is a chilling lack of empathy combined with a stunning lack of efficiency that could should make this administration Louisiana and New Orleans leadership implode.

IN SUMMARY: What a total load of dreck, but, all too typical for the NYT and its inimitable Maureen Dowdy.

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