Wafa Sultan

Stumbled on this great video recently. This lady is awesome. She makes so many great points in this video. Good to know there are some voices like this on AlJazeera.

Transcript:

Wafa Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete.

Host: I understand from your words that what is happening today is a clash between the culture of the West, and the backwardness and ignorance of the Muslims?

Wafa Sultan: Yes, that is what I mean.

Host: Who came up with the concept of a clash of civilizations? Was it not Samuel Huntington? It was not Bin Laden. I would like to discuss this issue, if you don't mind...

Wafa Sultan: The Muslims are the ones who began using this expression. The Muslims are the ones who began the clash of civilizations. The Prophet of Islam said: "I was ordered to fight the people until they believe in Allah and His Messenger." When the Muslims divided the people into Muslims and non-Muslims, and called to fight the others until they believe in what they themselves believe, they started this clash, and began this war. In order to stop this war, they must reexamine their Islamic books and curricula, which are full of calls for takfir and fighting the infidels.

My colleague has said that he never offends other people's beliefs. What civilization on the face of this earth allows him to call other people by names that they did not choose for themselves? Once, he calls them Ahl Al-Dhimma, another time he calls them the "People of the Book," and yet another time he compares them to apes and pigs, or he calls the Christians "those who incur Allah's wrath." Who told you that they are "People of the Book"? They are not the People of the Book, they are people of many books. All the useful scientific books that you have today are theirs, the fruit of their free and creative thinking. What gives you the right to call them "those who incur Allah's wrath," or "those who have gone astray," and then come here and say that your religion commands you to refrain from offending the beliefs of others?

I am not a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew. I am a secular human being. I do not believe in the supernatural, but I respect others' right to believe in it.

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: Are you a heretic?

Wafa Sultan: You can say whatever you like. I am a secular human being who does not believe in the supernatural...

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli: If you are a heretic, there is no point in rebuking you, since you have blasphemed against Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran...

Wafa Sultan: These are personal matters that do not concern you.

Wafa Sultan: Brother, you can believe in stones, as long as you don't throw them at me. You are free to worship whoever you want, but other people's beliefs are not your concern, whether they believe that the Messiah is God, son of Mary, or that Satan is God, son of Mary. Let people have their beliefs.

Wafa Sultan: The Jews have come from the tragedy (of the Holocaust), and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror, with their work, not their crying and yelling. Humanity owes most of the discoveries and science of the 19th and 20th centuries to Jewish scientists. 15 million people, scattered throughout the world, united and won their rights through work and knowledge. We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people. The Muslims have turned three Buddha statues into rubble. We have not seen a single Buddhist burn down a Mosque, kill a Muslim, or burn down an embassy. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people, and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.

End Transcript

My way of thinking is this...if you think of yourself as a moderate, then ask yourself if there is anyone in your ideology that could be considered a scapegoat. For the leftist in America, Rebublicans are the scapegoat. For the moral majority types, it is the leftists and gays who are to blame for everything. For the Germans in 1947, it was the Jews and for the Muslim extremists, it is again the Jews and pretty much all the non-muslims and the more secular muslims. All extremism has to stop.

The greatest lesson that Buddha taught us was that the path to enlightenment was the "middle-way". If you tune the string to tight, it will break and if you tune it too low it will not sound.

People, the "string" is about to break so we had all better find the middle way before it's too late.

No. 1 Lesson Learned From Katrina: Government Failed to Meet Minimum 21st Century Standards of Effectiveness

Our current paper-based bureaucracy has completely failed and Katrina made this fact glaringly obvious. Mayor Nagin has taken quite a bit of heat, but in his defense, he is the first mayor of New Orleans in my lifetime that is not corrupt and he has done a lot to install e-government in what is otherwise a pretty third world city. As a former CEO, he has approached city management with a private-sector management model that emphasises accountablity, convenience and choice. Just have a look a http://www.cityofno.com/. To this end, I would encourage everyone to study the futurist and historian Newt Gingrich's post-Katrina lessons-learned. What follows is a small excerpt...

Government Failed to Meet Minimum 21st Century Standards of Effectiveness

• It is the nature of a science and technology based entrepreneurial free market to provide more choices of higher quality at lower cost.


• Citizen's everyday experience is UPS, Fed-Ex, the Internet, blackberries/treos, camera cellphones, Google, ATMs, Amazon.com, e-ticketing ala Travelocity and Expedia level of knowledge and choice. Citizens expect this same standard from government.


• Government at the Federal, State, and local level totally failed this standard in responding to Katrina.

Download, view, study and advocate THIS PDF if you never want to see this happen again.

This not an issue of party politics in the sense that any particular party is the answer to these problems. Democrate Congressional leader Nancy Pelosi would have us believe that if her party was in charge, everything would be fine -- an excerpt from an article on her website -

The priority of Republicans has been to help their friends at the expense of helping people. They are out of touch with the people of the Gulf Coast region who struggle to find housing, jobs, and schools for their children.

Lousiana politics has historically been democrat-controlled AND infamous for chronyism.

Does Pilosi wake up in the morning and think of how to best serve the American people or how to stick it to Republicans?

It's pretty clear that the problem is systematic and way beyond the scope of any particular party. The federal government should contract Google to develop an open API and set of standards for electronic local and federal government. Private sector software is built to meet ISO 9000 standards...why is it that public sector systems don't have to meet this standard? Anyway...I could go on and on but until we recognize the source of the problem and demand change as a people we'll have more of the same.

Run Rice Run!

Our new Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, made her first major diplomatic address in Paris, France recently. Both her prepared opening statement AND her responses to the foreign press during the Q&A round were the most profound, eloquent, and inspiring words I've heard from a modern politician. The width and breadth of her intellectual acumen is stunning (she seems to have total recall regarding geopolitical events, recalling exact dates of different major world events at will) and her demeanor is strikingly charming and attractive. It's hard to imagine any head of state saying no to her.

If there were any truth to the speculation that the Democrats will choose Sen. Hillary Clinton as their Presidential Candidate in '08, Republicans would be wise, in any event, to choose Condi Rice as their candidate for Pres in '08. Rice would make Hillary look like under-achieving, white trash by comparison. Think about it...Rice is single (she didn’t get where she is by riding on any man's coat tails) AND she's black for christ sake. This lady is so classy and impressive.... she will be the first black and first female president in my opinion...it's just the logical next step in her incredible career.

Update:
Dick Morris (a guy that knows a thing or two about campaigning) seems to agree with me. Check out his column "To Stop Hillary, draft Condi"

There's something happenin here

High turnout for Iraqi Democratic Election!
See - Iraq: The Model > The People Have Won!



Still much work to be done. Lots of reconstruction, bad guys to catch and a couple of parishes where people were too scared to vote.

I imagine there will be a lot of people second-guessing themselves today. You know who you are.

Congrats Iraq & bless the Boots on the Ground!

Follow Up:

The final official percentage of registered voter turnout is 58%. Not a bad result for what John Kerry charicterized as "the wrong war, at the wrong place and the wrong time". He could not have been any more wrong. More election news here. The EU should now feel compelled to help out and all the dictators in the middle east have got to be sweating. Onward to Iran and Syria, I say!

Lessons Learned

After paying pretty close attention to the way Operation Iraqi Freedom has unfolded, I've come up with some observations on how to go about doing similar future operations.

The one thing that was done with perfectionism was the toppling of the regime. Hit 'em with shock and awe, take out the regime command centers and go on the the thunder runs.

That said, however, the first thing we should do is drop leaflets that say something to the effect of -

We are coming in to remove your oppression regime.

If you are an official of the regime, you will be retrained and possibly reassigned based on your skills.

If you take this option you will be supplied with pay, food and housing.

If you do not wish to take this option you will destroyed.

Please help us help you to create a better life your people.

I'll bet if the Baathists had read something like that, and they saw the legitamacy of that claim with their own eyes, we would not have had the level of insurgency and looting that occured.

The fact that all of the Middle East is now seeing with their home satellites a political system of open discourse on channels such as Aj Jazeera, Al Arabia and the myriad of new free press outlets has a significant impact in and of itself. We need to see to it that this is expedited in future conflicts as soon as possible. None of them have ever seen anything like it. When they see a live press conference from some party leader, followed by a dissenting opinion...it will blow their minds and the fairness and good sense of it will sway them toward the democratic system.

Hail to the Chief

The ailing Chief Justice William Renquest administered the Oath of Office today. It was a wildly historic moment. The President's speech was moving and perhaps the best I've heard by a living president in my lifetime. What really strikes me about this moment in history is that the administration and the country as a whole is focused on the cause of the freedom and liberty of others across the globe rather than being self absorbed . I also find it amazing that there are those who would deny the world this moment in history. At this very moment there is a mass protest against the Inauguration ceremony at Jackson Square in the French Quarter. These are very shortsighted people.

Another recent historic event was the Cassini mission, which explored Saturn and it's many satellites. The probe actually went on a trajectory that took it through the gap in Saturn's rings and ended with a descent into the mysterious moon Titan. Soon there will be probes going to extra-solar bodies and sending back pictures of these other worlds. What an amazing time to be alive it is.

My hope and belief is that in the near future, scarcity will cease to exist and the governments of the world can then govern purely in the interests of the good of humanity without the corrosive effect of money, power and influence peddling. The best hope to eliminate scarcity is nanotechnology. If food, housing and materials can be fabricated from raw molecules, this goal can be achieved and materialism will no longer be an obsession.

We recentlyhad Martin Luther King Day and it reminded me of the contraversial remarks made by Bill Cosby recently. There is a disease of domestic terrorism perpetrated by young blacks in many inner city areas. Something has to change. I'm glad someone has the guts to put this truth out there..especially a guy with his credibility. It's a real problem here in New Orleans.

I saw in incredible documentary recently called In the Name of God: Scenes from the Extreme. I've also been reading about the Holocaust lately and it makes me wonder if in 30 years the Jihadists will realize the gross error of their ways as the living Germans who were accessories to the holocaust now do.

Interesting W Endorsements

The first comes from Reason Online.com (which is a pretty liberal publication). The writer is cringing at himself as her writes it but makes the clear choice of reason in the end.

Read the Endorsement -
With the Cretin, Not the Shyster
An endorsement from overseas
By Michael Young

Excerpt:

Here it is: Speaking only for myself, I endorse George W. Bush, and just as soon as I can get out from under this rising mound of banana peels and rancid egg shells I'll explain why.

The reason can be distilled into three words: Middle Eastern democracy. Endorsing Bush is not an easy thing to do when the American president has overseen the steady corrosion in Iraq of the very qualities for which he is being promoted here. Alas, any defiant defense, in order to be credible, must lead in with an inventory of administration failures, gaffes, setbacks, howlers and contradictions.

But in the end one thing stands out: John Kerry is simply not interested in seriously advancing democracy in the region, and will enter the Iraqi fray looking, primarily, for the exits; Bush, in turn, for all his administration's backtracking on democracy, is more likely to keep fighting on for success in Iraq, if only to burnish his legacy. That means he will remain more focused on what Iraq can become if a pluralistic system is set up there: a liberal example for the Arab world and Iran.

Simplistic, you say? Perhaps. But it's Kerry's myriad subtleties on the Middle East that have convinced this single-issue endorser, who believes that a liberal future for the Middle East should be of overriding concern come Nov. 2—it's Kerry's subtleties that have convinced me that the man of countless plans is an unreconstructed shyster on the issue of democracy.

Another huge endorsement comes by way of the 9/11
Families for Stronger and Safer America please click here to click here to read it and make sure to tell someone else about it.

Also, for a dose of much needed optimism for the future of the world, check out the Article Nanotechnology: Hell or Heaven also from Reason Online.com

As I write this, a brand new tape from Osama Bin Laden is about to be aired with new threats of Jihad against our homeland. Could we be about to get yet another Kerry endorsement?

Support Terror: Vote Kerry

Mahathir Mohamad's Open Letter to American Muslims: Vote Kerry

Mahathir, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, thinks Jews secretly run the world, and that the United States should not interfere in the affairs of other countries. But that doesn't stop him from trying to interfere in the affairs of the United States. From IslamiCity, with thanks to L:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In the past four years, during the Presidency of George W. Bush, the Muslims and their countries have suffered oppression and humiliation as never before in the history of Islam. There is an obvious connection between the sufferings of the Muslims and the policies and thinking of Bush.

We cannot expect much change to the policies of the United States of America towards Islam and the Muslims under Democrats as under Republicans. But we have a duty to ensure that Bush will not be able to determine our fate for four more years....

Dear Brothers and Sisters. Vote Bush out of office. It is truly an ibadah that you perform.

DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Former Prime Minister of Malaysia,
Malaysia

Source: Jihad Watch

Update 10/22/04

The list of rogue leaders endorsing Kerry has grown to include Yassir Arafat, Kim Jong Il, and the Mullahs of Iran. Way to go, Herman Munster head!

Update 10/27/04

The Army of Ansar al-Sunnah hassent out a message congratulating Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s Tawhid and Jihad movement’s addition to the US State Department’s list of terrorist organizations, Ansar Al-Sunnah praise John Kerry for criticizing the President, imply that terrorism has struck fear into John Kerry’s heart, and that his election would signal that terrorism is working.

Special congratulations from the Ansar al-Sunnah Army to the Tawhid wal-Jihad Movement, on the occasion of its addition to the list of terrorists…..

Our congratulations should not be a surprise to anyone who understands the true nature of our Islamic religion, which is based on verses from the noble Quran and the words of the noble prophet. We are optimistic that this recent declaration by the evil Bush government (adding Zarqawi’s Tawhid and Jihad group to the list of terrorist organizations) will only bring us joy and happiness….

Praise be to Allah, it increased the joy in our hearts that John Kerry, the presidential candidate criticized the Bush governmentfor taking so long in making this declaration. The one who may be president of America [John Kerry] is already struck with terror by our brothers from the Tawheed wal-Jihad Movement [Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s group]. The repeated atacks that have targetted the evil Bush are now echoing on Kerry, even though he is not yet a president. This is what Allah means when he commands us to ‘terrorize your enemy and the enemy of Allah.”

View the document in PDF

From JAWA REPORT

Voices of Iraq (see this movie!!)

Forget the spin...this is Iraq reality.

Voices of Iraq

About the Film

Silenced for 24 years under Saddam's regime and denied attention by the international media, the people of Iraq are not well understood at this tumultuous time in their history.

Meet the people of Iraq as they struggle with years of turmoil and strive to build a civil society. Hear in their own words their feelings about Saddam Hussein, the multinational invasion of their country, the presence of American troops and their hopes for what may lie ahead for Iraq.

What values do Iraqis bring to the discussion of their future? What role will women play in a new Iraq? How will Islam influence government?

VOICES OF IRAQ offers a unique opportunity to hear the diverse perspective of Iraqis on issues at the forefront of a global debate over war, terror and the prospects for democratic reform - directly from the street. VOICES OF IRAQ is a ground-breaking documentary that does what no other film or news organization has done before.

The producers of VOICES OF IRAQ distributed over 150 DIGITAL VIDEO CAMERAS across the entire country to enable everyday people - mothers, children, teachers, sheiks and even insurgents - to document their lives and their hopes amidst the upheaval of a nation being born.

Beginning amidst the Falluja uprising in April, going through the marshlands in the South, the Kurdish communities in the North and ending in September of this year, thousands of ordinary Iraqis became filmmakers to reveal the richness, complexity and emotion of their lives.

VOICES OF IRAQ is an unprecedented film. This new documentary genre offers a unique window into what is happening in Iraq. VOICES OF IRAQ has allowed Iraqis to tell their own story.

Visit the official site for Voices of Iraq
Sign Up for Show Times and Locations

The All Inclusive Exploiter

Kerry is the all-inclusive exploiter. So far he has managed to exploit lesbians, blacks, soldiers, hostages, prisoners of war, civilians in war zones and cripples. Hmmm...that's some pretty impressive stuff there. A part of me wants Kerry to win just so I don't have to hear the Dems endlessly bitch for another four years. Give them the ball and see what they can do with it. Think you can't prevent the enemy from hacking peoples heads off with diplomacy and stuff?

They can't completely destroy the country in four years...right?...however, someone could do it for them while they're crunching on granola bars or rubbing elbows with big-Hollywood important types.

Stop Knocking Down My Bush yard sign you assholes

This had been a daily occurrence since I put my yard sign up. I guess liberal tolerance only applies to those who share their views. On a similar note, I head there is a memo going out to democratic loyalist all over the country urging them to contest all election poll results. If this memo is any thing more than a rumor, we can expect three things after the election:
1. The election will once again be decided by lawyers and judges
2. The stock market will tank again, just as it did in the last election.
3. More african americans will believe that there is a conspiracy to negate their votes, even when the facts have shown that predominately black-populated districts spoiled their own votes in the last presidential election because of inexperience, incomplete ballots, hanging chads and so on.
In any case, if Kerry where to win, wouldn't it be interesting to see how the left actually handles the dirty work of fighting the war on terror instead of just bitching about Aschcroft, Rumsfeld, the DHS, etc..

From the donkey's mouth

”Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real." - Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003

Saddam Possessed WMD, Had Extensive Terror Ties

File this under the Duh! Category. Information from newly discovered Iraqi intelligence documents. From CNSNews.com

CNSNews.com) - Iraqi intelligence documents, confiscated by U.S. forces and obtained by CNSNews.com, show numerous efforts by Saddam Hussein's regime to work with some of the world's most notorious terror organizations, including al Qaeda, to target Americans. They demonstrate that Saddam's government possessed mustard gas and anthrax, both considered weapons of mass destruction, in the summer of 2000, during the period in which United Nations weapons inspectors were not present in Iraq. And the papers show that Iraq trained dozens of terrorists inside its borders. One of the Iraqi memos contains an order from Saddam for his intelligence service to support terrorist attacks against Americans in Somalia. The memo was written nine months before U.S. Army Rangers were ambushed in Mogadishu by forces loyal to a warlord with alleged ties to al Qaeda.

Other memos provide a list of terrorist groups with whom Iraq had relationships and considered available for terror operations against the United States.

Among the organizations mentioned are those affiliated with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Ayman al-Zawahiri, two of the world's most wanted terrorists. Zarqawi is believed responsible for the kidnapping and beheading of several American civilians in Iraq and claimed responsibility for a series of deadly bombings in Iraq Sept. 30. Al-Zawahiri is the top lieutenant of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, allegedly helped plan the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist strikes on the U.S., and is believed to be the voice on an audio tape broadcast by Al-Jazeera television Oct. 1, calling for attacks on U.S. and British interests everywhere.

The source of the documents

A senior government official who is not a political appointee provided CNSNews.com with copies of the 42 pages of Iraqi Intelligence Service documents. The originals, some of which were hand-written and others typed, are in Arabic. CNSNews.com had the papers translated into English by two individuals separately and independent of each other.


Read Article

Too Funny: Who do you want leading the country?

I saw this today and almost died laughing.

Which of these men do you want leading our country?


Source: Digital Marine | Original Post

War Advice for Civilians

I wish everyone in America would do a few little things for their own good to be prepared for the rough seas ahead. There will probably be like 5 people that ever read this but hey...it's my dream anyway...so here goes.

Make some time to read some of the blogs written by people on the front lines of these current conflicts. These war theaters out there are so dangerous and chaotic...there is no way we can fathom it here at home yet.. so help them out how ever you can. Check out the Soldier and Iraqi links I've got in my "recommeneded" section. You will learn a lot more by doing that than by watching mind-fuck material like that Fahrenheit 911 shit. Remember, you may have more in common with these people than you would like to in the days to come.

Don't obsess on day to day political rhetoric (especially from the opposition during political seasons) but always question authority...the opposition may still make good points (not including Michael Moore of course...with film making skills you can make anyone or anything look like Satan).

Realize that the 24 hour news networks are extremely biased (Fox News is right wing, CNN is left wing and Al Jazeera is just plain anti-jew) ... feed your brain with information from a variety of sources and take everything with a grain of salt. Alvin & Heidi Toffler wrote about the dangers and growing pervasiveness of 'cult of philosophy', years ago in their excellent book The Third Wave. Also, learn about Psychopolitical Warfare, the Stockholm Syndrome and Roy Master's other thoughts on the "hypnosis of life" because media is constantly trying to mind fuck us. Remember...propaganda is a big part of war.

This war on terror is a monumental conflict of epic proportions on an unprecedented scale...it is going to take a looooong time to win. The path is riddled with setbacks and small victories. Realize that we are effectively under Martial Law. It's being called a State of Readiness or something like that but it's Martial Law nonetheless. Deal with it because we have no choice..the enemy is unfortunately within.

Consider how this war will likely fundamentally change our way of life, cherished institutions, traditions and possibly even the fundamental aspects of being human beings. One way to get ready for this change is to start learning about some of the DOD Research being developed and futurist concepts (see my recommended futurist links). I doubt we will be able to win without mandatory military service like they do in Israel unless we have hordes of battle droids at our disposal like the republic has in star wars or some kind of other exotic weapon that can give us a significant advantage like the Active Denial System combined with human computing interfaces.

Well, there it is for what it's worth. After this entry, I'm hopefully going to start focusing more on music, art and personal experience in my future posts...if nothing else..for my own sanity in these stressful times. Anyway...my concience is clear now...plus I can say "I told you so" later ;-).

Good Luck

Moral Clarity

If you experience mild pain or discomfort when reading the title of this entry, you might want to check your paranoa level. Ask yourself this...is moral ambiguity working for you in your personal life? Does it help you make the rational decisions necessary to survive? Why does the backbone that Bush exhibits rub you the wrong way? You should find it reassuring, if anything. Does his hawkishness really frighten you more than the global jihad that is right at our doorstep? Tomorrow it could be your kids getting blown up in their own school like we saw today in Southern Russia. Please get behind the effort to stop this threat. We aint gonna kill 'em with kindness, folks.