According to information leaked to The Guardian, the United States has secretly promised the Palestinians that it will not veto a United Nations resolution condemning the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Rumors are circulating in Israel that Prime Minister Netanyahu has already instituted a de facto moratorium on further building.In other news, Belgium’s lower house passed a ban on the burkha, despite the absence of a functioning government in the country. Meanwhile, Tunisia’s Culture Ministry reports that 22% of Tunisians have never read a book.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Diana West, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, KGS, SF, Steen, Takuan Seiyo, TB, TV, Zenster, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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Tunisia’s Culture Ministry reports that 22% of Tunisians have never read a book.
Is that surprising at all, especially when ayrabs, according to the UN (The United Ayrabs and Ayrab Sandal-Lickers) published a survey that found that the average Arab in the Middle East reads approximately four pages worth of literature a year?
On the other hand, how many of those four pages are from Mein Qurampf and how many are from Mein Kampf could be the subject of a more detailed survey of ayrab reading habits.
Is it okay to link to articles that are not in English?
“Euroscepticism is on the rise in France”:
Le scepticisme à l'encontre de l'Europe est de retour dans le débat politique
Open Europe summary: A comment piece in Le Monde notes that euroscepticism and ‘euro-worry’ are gaining ground in France. The article argues that the Greek crisis has fed scepticism and quotes French Europe Minister Pierre Lellouche saying, “the crisis and the inability of [the EU] institutions to respond is accelerating the alienation of the people [from the EU]”.
Jedilson Bonfim: Is that surprising at all, especially when ayrabs, according to the UN (The United Ayrabs and Ayrab Sandal-Lickers) published a survey that found that the average Arab in the Middle East reads approximately four pages worth of literature a year?
Not at all, especially considering that some estimates show relatively small countries like Portugal or Greece translate more books per year into their own somewhat obscure native tongues than does the entire MME (Muslim Middle East).
This voluntary illiteracy results from Islamic Madrasahs over-emphasizing rote memorization of the Qur'an. A secondary effect arises from how Islam shut the door on ijtihad (i.e., independent interpretation of Qur'anic law) some one thousand years ago, thus strangling in the cradle any Muslim inclination for critical analysis.
While these two practices certainly facilitate the production of robotic maniacal fanatics who are willing to strap on explosives belts, it thoroughly poisons overall innovation and scientific investigation just as completely as rigid conformism previously did for East Asiatic cultures. The MME's barren industrial landscape stands as stark testimony to this fact.
For all of its faults, the Euro-American model of liberty and free speech elicits unparalleled levels of achievement from its peoples. Furthermore, the yawning chasm that divides Western and Islamic cultures is not one that can be bridged readily by a few generations of exposure or imitation. The entire mode of Muslim thought, along with its high context culture, simply does not allow it to function with any adequacy in a technologically advanced world.
The mere thought of Muslims taking control of Western civilization evokes an image of baboons at the helm of an interstellar starship. The only possible outcome is a collision course with some random star.
This is no great surprise as Islam's current jihadist course almost guarantees that physical conditions similar to that of the solar surface will eventually manifest throughout the MME.
Posted by Zenster: The mere thought of Muslims taking control of Western civilization evokes an image of baboons at the helm of an interstellar starship. The only possible outcome is a collision course with some random star.
I'm glad I wasn't eating or drinking anything when I read that. As scary as such a thought is, the metaphor used to describe it could have made me choke from how hard I laughed.
Always happy to return the larf, J.B.. Sadly, or hilariously, depending upon how one looks upon it, the metaphor works on far too many levels for comfort.
Anyone who has seen David Lean's cinematic masterpiece, "Lawrence of Arabia", may well remember the scene where El Aurens's band of illiterate Bedouin are quarreling over some loot from a train derailment. Two of them almost fall to blows over a large pendulum clock whose bulk would be difficult to carry on camelback and of little use in its damaged state anyway. Now, replace that battered clock with an interstellar spacecraft.
One can just as easily imagine exultant Muslims squabbling over the captain's chair on a starship's bridge. Distracted by the bright lights and shiny appurtenances, they excitedly push buttons at random and, just as likely, end up triggering the self-destruct sequence or shutting down all internal life support systems.
Finally, Islam's metaphoric collision course with the sun is another likelihood in that − whether it is outside powers who attack or the usual endless internecine Muslim bickering − the presence of nuclear weapons, in Muslim hands or not, will probably play a significant future role in the MME (Muslim Middle East).
Muslim possession of those nuclear weapons is probably even more of a danger to themselves than anything else. Be it Iran experiencing a misfire as they try to perfect the niggling details of safely fusing an H-bomb or some tinpot bullyboy seeking to teach his MME neighbor an unforgettable lesson, the legendary volatility of Muslim tempers is sure to get the best of them in the end.
As Wretchard quite soberly noted in his magnum opus, "The Three Conjectures":
Even if Islam killed every non-Muslim on earth they would almost certainly continue to kill each other with their new-found weaponry. Revenge bombings between rival groups and wars between different Islamic factions are the recurring theme of history. Long before 3,000 New Yorkers died on September 11, Iraq and Iran killed 500,000 Muslims between them. The greatest threat to Muslims is radical Islam; and the greatest threat of all is a radical Islam armed with weapons of mass destruction.
Conjecture 3: The War on Terror is the 'Golden Hour' -- the final chance
It is supremely ironic that the survival of the Islamic world should hinge on an American victory in the War on Terror, the last chance to prevent that terrible day in which all the decisions will have already been made for us. That effort really consists of two separate aspects: a campaign to destroy the locus of militant Islam and prevent their acquisition of WMDs; and an attempt to awaken the world to the urgency of the threat. While American arms have proven irresistible, much of Europe, as well as moderates in the Islamic world, remain blind to the danger and indeed increase it. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad recently "told an international conference of young Muslim leaders ... (that) ... Muslims must acquire skills and technology so they can create modern weapons and strike fear into the hearts of our enemies". Fecklessness and gunpowder are a lethal combination. [emphasis added]
The foregoing is one of many reasons I continue to predict a Muslim holocaust. Even if the West fails to prevent its own fall, using nuclear arms or not, beyond a certain minimum number of atomic weapons there emerges a non-zero probability of them being diverted to the purpose of jihad or even just the usual intramural Muslim Mayhem™. Any way you slice it, the odds all point towards a gigantic glow-in-the-dark parking lot in the MME.
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