“The imperial notion, by its very definition, posits the domination of one ethnic, religious, or national group over another, and the Ottoman Empire was no exception.” –Ephraim Karsh, from Islamic Imperialism Turkey’s history, together with its present political footwork in regards to ISIS, represents, for me, everything bad about Islam. I remember reading somewhere years […]
The People Will Waken And Listen To Hear
“In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoofbeats of that steed, And the midnight message of Paul Revere.” -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The best thing about Donald Trump’s message, in my opinion, is that its promotion of old fashioned prudence has awakened the American […]
The Ideology of the Cancer Cell
The mass murder in San Bernardino, California—a terrorist attack the most prudent of us expected and saw coming—is proof that, no matter where Islam takes root, no matter how moderate and benign the perpetrators of these mass murders previously projected themselves, there remains for every Muslim a jumping off point: the option of jihad. As […]
Those Who Have Been Forgotten
“War hath no fury like a non-combatant.” –E.C. Montague Vladimir Putin, in his defence of Russia’s bombing missions against Islamic elements residing in the mountains of northern Latakia, Syria remarked, “These are people who must be directly qualified as international terrorists.” In that one statement alone Mr. Putin has shamed and exposed the inefficacious promises […]
I In Mine Own House
“I in mine own house am an emperor And will defend what’s mine.” –Massinger, The Roman Actor [1629] Sir Edward Coke wrote, “The house of everyone is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defense against injury and violence as for his repose.” I believe the same can be said of […]
The Golden Era Is Now Over
“Meanwhile, refugees are still heading into Germany — at a rate of around 10,000 a day. … The decade after Ms. Merkel first came to power in 2005 now looks like a blessed period for Germany, in which the country was able to enjoy peace, prosperity and international respect, while keeping the troubles of the […]
Silence Is the Sovereign Contempt
Silence is the sovereign contempt. – Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve Jews are being stabbed to death in broad daylight, in Israel, by Arab Muslims and the Western world suddenly grows silent. Of course, there are always those wilfully sciolistic journalists avowedly reproving both Jew and Arab Muslim, as though Jews are also guilty of the violence—the […]
The Tables of Our Enemies
“…by defining modernity, progress, trade, consumption, and even pleasure as Western assaults on Islam, al-Qaeda left little on the table for themselves.” –Lawrence Wright, from The Looming Tower (al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11) In their book Kingmakers, Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac refer to a certain William Gifford Palgrave and his warning, […]
Fanaticism: The Moderate Version
“Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.” – George Santayana I would not say that the apologists for Islam, even the most shameless, have forgotten their aim. I think one of their highest hopes is that we, the opponents of Islam, forget the aim of these apologists, which is to […]
Skobelev’s Principle
“I hold it as a principle that the duration of peace is in direct proportion to the slaughter you inflict on the enemy.” –Gen. Mikhail Skobelev, 1881 General Mikhail Skobelev’s words above were in reference to his defeat of the walled citadel of Geok-Tepe and his army’s complete depredation of the Tekke Turkmen, “a fierce, […]
It’s The Way We Live
“The mystery is not the way we die, it’s the way we live.” — Martin Cruz Smith, from Red Star When Jews begin warning the world about apocalyptic possibilities, the world should listen. When we are told that Iran is a much too dangerous country to be interested in nuclear weapons capability, we should take […]
A Strange Turn of History
“In a strange turn of history, the threat of global nuclear war has gone down, but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up.” –President Barack Obama, 2009 While reading Philip Taubman’s book The Partnership, a story about “five Cold Warriors and their quest to ban the bomb,” I was amazed by how he […]
When A Man Bites A Dog
“When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.” – John B. Bogart, from Frank M. O’Brien, The Story of The [New York] Sun Nietzsche wrote that, “The sick are the greatest danger for the healthy; it is not […]
A Reversion to the Law of the Jungle
“What we today call the policy of appeasement was in fact the refusal on the part of the civilized leaders of France and England to abandon the politics of reason. They were sincerely convinced that by reasoning with Hitler, by making compromises with him, they could avoid the horrors of reversion to the law of […]
The Effect of Liberty on Individuals
“The effect of liberty on individuals is that they may do what they please: we ought to see what it will please them to do, before we risk congratulations.” -Edmund Burke I’ve just read that Omar Khadr is suing the Canadian government for 20 million dollars. As it turns out, the Muslim who travels abroad […]
An Idea Whose Time Has Come
“No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.” –Victor Hugo Frank Zappa famously said that “There is more stupidity around than hydrogen and it has a longer shelf life.” The stupidity of those who yet insist that Islam is a religion of peace—that Islam does not create the terrorist, that […]
A Blundering Stupidity
“In the modern world the intelligence of public opinion is the one indispensable condition of social progress.” –Charles William Eliot, 1834-1926 Ben Hubbard of the New York Times writes of the Islamic State, or ISIS, that “…the group is offering reliable, if harsh, security; providing jobs in decimated economics; and providing a rare sense of […]
No Happy Ending and No Happy Beginning
“In this book, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle.” –Lemony Snickit, from ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ George Jonas, author of Vengeance, has written: “But is there something about Islam that is conductive to the formation of extremist sects and radical […]
These People Are Speaking a Strange Language
“These people are speaking a strange language. It is strange to me And strange, I think, even to themselves.” -Louis Simpson I am a lover of words. I have a collection of dictionaries. I love the way words can articulate meaning in just a certain way. In my Penguin Dictionary I found the word pronoid, […]
Where Our Frontier Lies Today
“When you think about the defense of England you no longer think of the chalk cliffs of Dover. You think of the Rhine. That is where our frontier lies today.” -Stanley Baldwin, July 30, 1934 Although Stanley Baldwin is remembered as being one of the “guilty men” for having attempted to appease Hitler prior to […]