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“Islam was never the religion of peace.  Islam is the religion of fighting.”  Abu Bahr Al-Baghdadi, ISIS Leader

George Rebane

Indeed Islam has never been the religion of peace.  History and ongoing worldwide Islamist terror attest to that.  The above quote from a recent ISIS online video is just the latest testimony to a truth understood by all but the most deluded of western progressives.  We recall that for war it only takes one to tango, peace requires at least two.  Today Islam survives as the only religion whose adherents regularly commit mass murders of people embracing other faiths, and even versions of Islam that are not acceptable to their various sects.

That we in the west still deny the demonstrably bloody nature of a self-declared bloody religion is testimony that ours may no longer be a strong and vibrant culture ready to defend itself against a faith that numbers some of the most sincere, devout, and self-sacrificing followers on earth today.  Nowhere is ignorance of this existential threat to civilization displayed more than at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

KirstenPowersThe Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech by liberal Democrat, media pundit, and national correspondent Kirsten Powers represents a long overdue watershed.  For years RR has cited the total asymmetry of how those of the Left and Right interpret the First Amendment.  The Left continues to prosecute and expand its attacks on Americans who seek to freely voice their beliefs and strongly held convictions.  A flood of examples are available at every level of public discourse from Krugman’s recent attack on Alan Greenspan (‘A Liberal Speech Cop Targets Alan Greenspan’) to the chorus of our local leftists (see ‘TechTest2015 Survivors’ Breakfast’ comment stream) ever seeking to silence voices they consider disagreeable or expository.

The collectivists’ cacophony on silencing free speech has become so loud that some prominent liberals are getting worried.  Democratic strategist Donna Brazile stated on national TV, “We have to be very careful that we are not practicing a new McCarthyism.”  But McCarthy never dreamt of having the levels of speech control that are now routinely practiced by the Left; controls that range from our schools and colleges, through government bureaucracies, to our mass media outlets.

For a snoot full of very disturbing specifics, I urge RR readers to peruse this excerpt from Kirsten Powers’ new book.

[update]  On the matter of equivalence in the proscription of free speech.  The awaited comment below came from a sincere mid-roader who took up the gauntlet for the Left which has always maintained that its efforts to roll back the First Amendment are no different from and matched by those of the Right.  I suppose that it is an indelible part of the mid-roaders’ litmus test to always seek balance in their ascribed sins of the Left and Right.

However, there is not a shred of evidence for maintaining the argument for such equivalency.  Anyone from the Right who stands to limit the Left’s speech is immediately dunned by his colleagues, and, if unrepentant, is publicly drummed out of the conservative corps.  The facts of the matter are that more sensible Democrats (leftists) see the asymmetry to be so blatant today that they are beginning admonish the more rabid colleagues to back off from their Orwellian quest.

[20may15 update]  Demilitarization of nation’s police – don’t believe it.  Obama’s recent order to not sell tracked vehicles, grenade launchers, and 50 cal BMG rifles to local constabularies makes no never mind to the military gear that they already have and can still obtain.  As long covered in these pages, military equipments that will remain in local police inventories include armored combat vehicles (e.g. MRAPs), automatic weapons, night vision gear, … . The main point here is that the feds still want the police to have overwhelming tactical capability to quickly quash any uppity uprising by a more lightly armed public.  In the interval full military style SWAT assaults (many erroneous) on private residences continue to increase unabated.  A careful look will reveal that Leviathan has shed neither a tooth or claw.  (more here and here)

Posted in , , ,

149 responses to “Scattershots – 18may15 (updated 20may15)”

  1. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    “how do you keep guns out of the hands of those not legally allowed to carry guns”
    Slap their hands and make them go to bed without supper?
    Paul, you question is really, “how do you keep convicted violent criminals released and out on the street from committing more crimes?”.
    Think about it for awhile.

    Like

  2. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Gregory
    Well Gregory you don’t have Pope Francis on your side on this one.
    “It looks as if he will give it a go. In 2015, the pope will issue a lengthy message on the subject to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, give an address to the UN general assembly and call a summit of the world’s main religions.
    The reason for such frenetic activity, says Bishop Marcelo Sorondo, chancellor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences, is the pope’s wish to directly influence next year’s crucial UN climate meeting in Paris, when countries will try to conclude 20 years of fraught negotiations”
    with a universal commitment to reduce emissions.”
    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/27/pope-francis-edict-climate-change-us-rightwing

    Like

  3. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    “Dr. Carlin, now retired, was a 37-year career environmental economist and scientist at EPA when, in June 2009, the Competitive Enterprise Institute broke the story of his negative 100-page report reviewing the agency’s draft Endangerment Finding. As a result, Dr. Carlin’s supervisor ordered him not to discuss climate change with anyone outside his group and to stop working on the issue.
    EPA’s attempt to silence Dr. Carlin became a highly publicized embarrassment to the agency, especially given Administrator Lisa Jackson’s and President Barack Obama’s announced commitment to transparency and scientific integrity.”

    https://www.heartland.org/alan-carlin
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Carlin
    Paul, that’s old news and if the Pope wants to bet his farm on AGW being correct, who am I to object? It may well figure prominently in future judgements regarding papal infallibility. In science I trust, and nullius in verba.

    Like

  4. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    The Pope? Yep, those catholic parishioners will listen to his views on AGW and then go about driving their smoke belching Subaru anyway. Come on Paul, as a atheist you know only GOD can fix things. (I still can’t believe Lois Lerner has a fifth amendment right on her job as a bureaucrat)
    I appreciate RL’s cynicism since I have some myself. Bit as a card carrying Republican I disagree we want to “take away” any rights of fellow citizens. In fact, we want to enhance and protect them. Sure there are always some nuts, even some in the “cartoon” business that want to do dastardly things but we must resist that. Huxley’s world won’t happen but Orwell’s already has and we must remain vigilant. Remember, we are only one generation away from returning to the cave.

    Like

  5. George Rebane Avatar

    RLCrabb 213pm – We may have read different editions of ‘1984’. I distinctly recall Oceania being a communist state, and definitely not a fascist state in which government continues letting big corporations operate as putatively privately owned but under complete government control. And as to your distinction between R and L, any government monitors potential revolutionaries. America’s R/L governments have done it for a couple of hundred years and will continue to do so regardless of the ideology in power.
    Don’t know what you mean by the Brave New World “already taking hold” and attributing its characteristics as “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” which were nowhere in public evidence in Oceania.

    Like

  6. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    I an not an Atheist Todd I am a Druid Diest. Come join me sometime and we can pound on logs together on a full moon and chant to the great unknown spirit of creation.

    Like

  7. Ben Emery Avatar
    Ben Emery

    George, 18 May 2015 at 10:04 AM
    As we populate the planet more and more while understanding the basic similarities in every culture the answer is simple. We see the Earth as it really is, a dinky planet that happens to have living organisms due to billions of years worth of adaptation and ecological diversity that has created an atmosphere in which mammals among other aerobic organisms can survive. We all need water, food/ nutrients, shelter, and health care/ medical attention to survive.
    The fact that a small faction of humans have determined they are more privileged and deserving of essential resources to survive and even live a luxurious lifestyle over others is where we have a severe problem. We were lucky to be born in the situations we were, I more so than you. Eventually you ended up in the US who is at the top of the food chain when it comes to nation states for our particular era. We both could have easily been born in the Niger Delta or rural Asia with no hope of getting out.
    This is where the Great Divide comes into play. It appears by your positions on world relations and domestic superiority that you are more deserving than others. Where I feel that I am no more important than any other person on the planet, we all have our roles in the world and none of them is more or less important.
    This superiority idea spills over into your hyper-nationalism and military imperialistic views. If we are to have nation states with arbitrary lines than we need to live within the means of those lines. Africa, Middle East, Asia, and the America’s aren’t the USA’s colonies to extract the resources to continue an unsustainable lifestyle on a finite planet.
    We need to have fair trade with oil rich nations where their(citizens) oil is given a fair trade value. We have learned to insert dictators that will oppress the citizens while enriching themselves and giving Western Society a commodity for far less than it is worth(in importance to western society). If we paid the real cost of oil we as a nation would be fossil fuel free by now and would have zero interest in oil rich nations. If we executed fair trade instead of puppet regimes under the guise of Free Trade and Capitalism(Crony) through one world government such as the WTO, World Bank, and IMF the amount of strife and religious warfare would be brought down a minimal scale.
    In simplistic terms, just cooperation.
    Long answer but very broad question.

    Like

  8. Barry Pruett Avatar
    Barry Pruett

    I will come with Paul for the simple reason of watching Todd chant to the moon.

    Like

  9. Ben Emery Avatar
    Ben Emery

    Todd, 18 May 2015 at 10:22 AM
    What are you so afraid of? I would think a Christian such as yourself would welcome reuniting with loved ones, Jesus, and God in heaven.
    Although in Love with this life on Earth I don’t seem to fear death as you do. I am only afraid of not living and experiencing the most on this short journey in this beautiful world. Walking around fearful and hating others seems like a waste of energy and precious time. In fact almost everyone on these blogs I love and respect, we might disagree on political issues but that is part of life. I don’t particularly like you since you seem to be a person that only brings division and bigotry but I don’t hate you or wish you harm. I wish and hope one day you will awaken to find the beauty in the natural world that includes people of all walks of life.
    My hatred is saved for those institutions that will exploit, manipulate, suppress, and oppress others for the purposes of wealth and power. These aren’t human beings they are entities and institutions that should not have human rights. As the saying goes “A corporation has no soul to save and no body to incarcerate.”
    – attributed to Baron Thurlow
    Just think, What are Merger and Acquisitions? If applied to human beings would they be legal in the US?

    Like

  10. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Benn, I agree with your 8:11 about the as to the state of mankind and placing some kind of spiritual value to our good fortune and ability.
    Someone show the moral and spiritual justification of profiting and consuming goods that are the result of child or virtual slave labor?
    The list is here. You need to go to page 31
    u.s. department of labor’s bureau of international labor affairs
    office of child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking
    U.S. Department of Labor’s
    List of Goods Produced by
    Child Labor or Forced Labor
    http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/pdf/2012TVPRA.pdf

    Like

  11. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Ben Emery 8:37
    I have no idea what you are talking about. There has been no discussion by me of my religious beliefs here. You must be delusional. In fact I am very happy, I have lots of friends and many people love me. I have wonderful family and life is good. So I am sad you are having reality troubles. But I still wish you no harm.
    Barry, maybe some moon chanting and a little JB on the rocks? Could be fun.

    Like

  12. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Am I invited Todd? Tell me where and when.

    Like

  13. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    “If we paid the real cost of oil we as a nation would be fossil fuel free by now and would have zero interest in oil rich nations” Ben 8:37
    Amazing. Ben, there’s nothing in your latest fantasy alternate reality that has any bearing on real life, and if there’s fear and hate here, I think you’ve brought it with you.
    “I wish and hope one day you will awaken to find the beauty in the natural world that includes people of all walks of life” Ben to Todd
    Perhaps you can actually quote something Todd said that indicates he doesn’t; if not, perhaps someday Ben will awaken to find that he’s been so bloody bigoted himself that the people he’d been lecturing on life were perfectly justified in ripping Ben’s sermonettes to shreds.
    “I have no idea what you are talking about. ” Todd to Ben 9:42
    Neither does Ben.

    Like

  14. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Paul E, here’s one answer to your prayers: “Childish labor laws” by Sowell
    http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell060399.asp
    Not to approve of children being placed in danger or exploited, but if a job to do means they have enough good food to eat, there are worse injustices in this world. In general, countries tend to treat their children as best they can afford.

    Like

  15. Ben Emery Avatar
    Ben Emery

    Greg,
    You are the other person I don’t particularly like on the blogs. You’re an asshole to the 10th degree.

    Like

  16. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Is that what they taught you Ben Emery? Jeeze, what a neanderthal comment. Greg is quite intelligent and knows his stuff. That does frustrate dolts I guess.

    Like

  17. Ben Emery Avatar
    Ben Emery

    Todd,
    My response about your fear has to do with your comment 18 May 2015 at 10:22 AM. I guess expecting you to be able to follow your own comments is too much to ask.
    Your comment is the very reason why I am a proponent of the separation of church and state and am against capital punishment. Oddly enough you seem to be on the opposite sides of those issues. What a surprise.

    Like

  18. Ben Emery Avatar
    Ben Emery

    Greg,
    The reality is the world is run by a small % of the population that gain wealth and power off the suffering of others. So you’re right my views of how it would work doesn’t reflect the present day reality.

    Like

  19. Ben Emery Avatar
    Ben Emery

    Sorry Todd,
    I tell it the way it is and sometimes that ruffles a few feathers.

    Like

  20. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Ben Emery, your comments are ridiculous and childish. My goodness, you are a neanderthal.

    Like

  21. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Also, I have tried to give you a history lesson about Islam and its Prophet Ben Emery and you somehow think I am afraid of something? Jeeze, you need to reread that comment of mine and get back to us. Go road the attack on Vienna by the Muslims. Get educated.

    Like

  22. George Rebane Avatar

    BenE 811pm – Another one of your heartfelt renderings of a better world, and it deserves another answer. Why? because it is so beguiling to the lightly read; Rodney King’s plaintive question still continues to resonate with those who think that it is an answer wrapped in a question. Thanks, I’ll get back to you.

    Like

  23. Joe Koyote Avatar
    Joe Koyote

    “a fascist state in which government continues letting big corporations operate as putatively privately owned but under complete government control.”
    What is it called when the opposite situation occurs; where government operates putatively as a public entity but is under complete corporate control? answer — America

    Like

  24. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Ben, don’t hold your breath waiting for any state to become an anarcho-syndicalist commune, or ISIS and the House of Saud uniting for some drum circle male bonding.

    Like

  25. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: Joe Koyote | 19 May 2015 at 10:21 AM
    Good to see JoKe putting his spin on the classics…..
    How does it go?
    Under Capitalism Man exploits Man…….Communism changes all that….under Communism it’s the other way around!
    Bada Bing!

    Like

  26. fish Avatar
    fish

    Wow….JoKe, Ben and Todd all have the same identifying avatar graphic.
    I bet Patricia needs to spark up a fatty after seeing that!

    Like

  27. fish Avatar
    fish

    No…..simply not possible……I don’t……you guys didn’t……..!
    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/19/are-you-ready-for-president-biden.html
    President Biden??? That would be like Christmas, The 4th of July, and my birthday all wrapped up into one neat little package!
    If Hillary is bound and determined to scuttle her election hopes…….well dare I say….. this would be even better!

    Like

  28. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    “Greg, You are the other person I don’t particularly like on the blogs. You’re an asshole to the 10th degree.” -Ben
    Let me translate: “Mom, that man was mean to me, all I did was tell him what a prick he was and started beating him up, and he HIT ME BACK, hard, square on the nose.”
    I recall how you described your youth, always getting in fights with bullies, your fight for truth, justice and the Ben Emery way. Perhaps at some point you will consider you were grappling with the wrong bully. Virtually everything you write about politics and economics is wrong, and you’re practically incapable of making rational, logical arguments supporting your causes, just a series of barely decipherable declarations that are to be accepted because you think they are true.

    Like

  29. Bill Tozer Avatar
    Bill Tozer

    My, Gregory, that is no way to treat the feeble minded, the lame, the weak, the affirmed. But since Dr. Rebane did mention “Orewllian quest” and only someone with their head so far their anal cavity that it would take one of Walt’s hydraulic machines to pull it out, I will quote (paraphrase) the man, the one and only Geogre Orwell. Let’s give it up for Big George O!
    “The idea is so crazy that only an intellitecual would believe it.” He was referring to the mantra that Islam is a religion of peace, of course. Or, maybe he was referring to that cockamamie idea that black Americans lack the intelligence, the drive, the initiative, the human spirit that burns in the breast of all mankind (except lazy dumb oppressed people of color cursed with interior intelligence) to ever ever make it on their own. Thus, we are consigned to send them monthly checks forever and ever, Amen. There is no other choice. And don’t you dare say they can make it because White Priviledge says they cannot ever make it without being on the dole. Another idea that is so crazy what only an intellectual or a sap could possibly believe it.

    Like

  30. Scott Obermuller Avatar

    Oh my, can I join in?
    Crabby at 5/18 noon – One guy tried to introduce a bill and no one would support it and it died. Bill wasn’t passed – no one was silenced – nothing happened. And BTW “…story of Matthew Sheppard, a student beaten to death because he was gay.”
    Wrong-O It was all about drugs. Nothing to do with his happiness. Do try to keep up.
    Crabby thinks he is middle of the road by saying everyone does it and refuses to accept any info to the contrary. You are not being even and cynical, just intellectually lazy and cowardly. Did you read the book? I thought not. The left is where the danger comes from to silence us.
    Your ‘examples’ are so weak and pathetic I just have to shake my head.
    Can’t you at least try to find some actual examples to make your point?

    Like

  31. Scott Obermuller Avatar

    For Ben E at 8:11 – “It appears by your positions on world relations and domestic superiority that you are more deserving than others.”
    I’m going to guess that you meant that George feels that way. Or did you mean that you think that George is more deserving?
    Anyway – could you just possibly back up that statement with actual facts? Or was this just more Eddie Haskell-type name calling?
    Ben E at 8:09 – “Your comment is the very reason why I am a proponent of the separation of church and state and am against capital punishment.”
    But what about the Pope? Are you saying he shouldn’t be allowed to speak to governing authorities about AGW? And what about your anti-capital punishment buddies that posit religious reasons for their views? Do you tell them they have no right to be invovled with the debate?
    Ben – you need to stop waxing on about how morally superior you are to everyone due to your wishing for everything to be groovy. Try to sit down and come up with a cogent personal philosophy that doesn’t contradict itself every five minutes and please – do try to not use the word ‘fair’.
    “My hatred is saved for those institutions that will exploit, manipulate, suppress, and oppress others for the purposes of wealth and power. These aren’t human beings they are entities and institutions that should not have human rights.”
    Well – that pretty well sums up most govts. I take it you don’t hate individuals that do the same?

    Like

  32. fish Avatar
    fish

    “You’re an asshole to the 10th degree.”
    How long does one typically have to train to reach this level? I’ve never had the stamina get past 6th degree….and that was more due to natural talent than than hard earned skill.
    (bows respectfully)

    Like

  33. Scott Obermuller Avatar

    10th degree? Ah, Little Grasshopper – one must acheive the highest level to then bestow the honor to another.

    Like

  34. George Rebane Avatar

    Gentlemen, gentlemen! The degree of one’s assholity should be a matter best ascribed and held in confidence, and most certainly not bandied about in a public forum. Pray, let us continue this comment stream on a bit loftier level.

    Like

  35. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Now you see it, now you don’t.
    The FUE’s asshollity goes to 11.

    Like

  36. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    LOL!!!

    Like

  37. fish Avatar
    fish

    Easy you two……! Your neighbors are watching…..and judging!
    ….and purple…..let’s never forget that!

    Like

  38. Scott Obermuller Avatar

    OK – back to the topic at hand. For those on the left (including the claimed middle of the road types) please start keeping track of actual examples of conservatives preventing the left from opining in the news media, in public, at schools, etc. I would like to know. The reverse is happening on a regular basis. The whole AGW thing is now down to the left declaring that ‘the debate is over’ and won’t even allow a discussion, or a presentation of facts. That isn’t science, that’s simply proselytizing of a religion.

    Like

  39. MikeL Avatar
    MikeL

    Fish May 19 10:35.
    A Biden and Loretta Sanchez ticket would be that would be fun. They both have similar lack of judgement characteristics regarding Indians.

    Like

  40. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: MikeL | 20 May 2015 at 08:24 AM
    The Pride of Scranton & Recent Insulter of Native Americans ticket

    Like

  41. George Rebane Avatar

    I often wonder what kind of people live in congressional districts that send the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, and Hank Johnson to Washington. Today congressional districts are comprised of approx 750K people. Are their districts so gerrymandered as to select out the stupid voters?

    Like

  42. fish Avatar
    fish

    Posted by: George Rebane | 20 May 2015 at 09:09 AM
    The Gruberized primarily democratic voter….they will be the end of this nation!

    Like

  43. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    Pelline just turned his assholliness knob to 12, smearing TechTest.

    Like

  44. Jon Avatar
    Jon

    That attack dogs are out again on Ben for some reason. Hey Scottie, you are always asking for sources/facts to back up statements and opinions. I’d like to see one to support your claim that “Ben contradicts himself every 10 minutes.” Amazing since I would pick him out of all the local commenters as the person who sticks to his principles most often. You obviously detest his view of the world, but he is far from contradictory.

    Like

  45. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    He is probably upset he can’t reach it.

    Like

  46. fish Avatar
    fish

    I wonder what the people who live in those congressional districts, not to mention the locals, think about him.
    Ben is on record as claiming want decentralization of power from a central nexus while still having a government structure that is robust enough to provide all manner of goodies for the proles. When challenged on how he might accomplish this lofty goal his response is usually along the lines of mumble….mumble….mumble……PEOPLE POWER!
    I hadn’t commented on Scotts specific post but he summed up Bens “philosophy” as little more than, “….wishing for everything to be groovy”.
    Ben is a nice guy and would be a good neighbor. I think that to a man everybody wishes him well and hopes he recovers from his illness.
    That said, I don’t think Ben belongs within 50 miles of an important societal decision any more than a retarded child belongs in a room full of live nuclear weapons.

    Like

  47. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Ben Emery has not progressed emotionally past 14. He has no real world experience I can see and that clogs his veins especially the ones to the noggin. But, as a person he has attacked relentlessly for years and called me all kinds of names, I still forgive him.

    Like

  48. George Rebane Avatar

    Gentlemen, IMHO Ben Emery brings an important message to these pages that is more prevalent across the land than many of us would like to admit. It is a view of a collective, peaceful, and good-hearted America wherein equality and justice reign. I find many of his desiderata inconsistent (and perhaps even logically incoherent), but I believe we all will derive the most profit in addressing Ben’s prescriptions as presented, rather than posting comments which just denigrate him (or anyone else for that matter). Substance, stick to substance!

    Like

  49. Jon Avatar
    Jon

    False Todd. Ben has NOT attacked anyone on here relentlessly. That is a flat-out false claim and you know it.
    I appreciate George’s intellectual counter responses to Ben, and the fact he values his input and knows of his good natured dialogue. Thank you George for your comments above.
    Most of you despise his politics and mock it endlessly, but until recently, he had held back for years in the face of that mocking. Many people reading the attacks on Ben could not believe he could sit there and take it without responding. I was heartened that Ben finally responded honestly to certain people on here.
    Would love to see any one of you run for Congress and win a significant amount of support with virtually no funding. Won’t happen. Ben is a good man.

    Like

  50. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Jon, sorry you are incorrect. You just showed up here lately so I will give you a break on your ignorance. I actually received more votes as a Assembly candidate than Ben Emery did in his run for Congress. You really don’t know squat do you?

    Like

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