Monday, May 16, 2011

Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/16/2011

Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/16/2011According to reports from the rebels in Libya, Col. Muammar Ghadafi has fled the capital and is holed up in the desert south of Tripoli. They say he pulled out several days ago, and that the rumors of his death are false.

In other news, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the raid that killed Osama bin Laden was just a stunt pulled by President Barack Hussein Obama to ensure his re-election next year.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to AC, Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Insubria, JD, KGS, Nilk, Vlad Tepes, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.

13 comments:

philip.zhao said...

Off Topic--
Can't access Vlad Tepes. Do you happen to know what's wrong?

Nilk said...

Server problems, I heard, Philip.

philip.zhao said...

I have a stupid question.
I understand that music is banned in Islamic countries. Does this mean that the world-renowned Berliner Philharmoniker, Vienna
Symphony, and Andre Rieu will soon be disbanded to appease the Muslim immigrants? And the La Scala will be blown up to build a
mosque on top ??

Anonymous said...

Philip, music is banned in some strict Islamic areas, but not everywhere. Countries that have/had pro-Western elites still have a tradition of Western classical music. Egypt and Turkey have some good Italian operas going on even now, or at least until recently.

But your concerns are real. I'm a tad pressed for time, but maybe later I'll post a link to a YouTube excerpt of an otherwise wonderful production by the Danish Royal Opera of Handel's Partenope. One of the characters, who is not a character in the opera, but is just something they made up for this production, is an ethnic Danish guy who symbolizes wisdom, advising and supporting the real characters. He's dressed in one of those little Muslim hats.

It's always creeped me out, in an otherwise very Western and world-class opera production only a few years old.

I'm sure the director of the opera thought it was cool and trendy to show how wise Muslims are compared to the foolish Italian characters. This sort of thing is common...it's not that the Danish Opera people are deliberate traitors, it's just that these artists only know their own world, and they don't realize how bad it is, to basically say to opera fans, Muslims are wiser and cooler than Italians (played by Danes).

Lawrence said...

I thought that Amadinnerjacket liked Obama...

philip.zhao said...

But as the Muslims occupies the the whole block of the streets for Friday prayers , where would Andre Rieu stage his big shows?

philip.zhao said...

And also, do you think the Muslim Brotherhood would allow Aida performed by the Pyramid ? What will happen to the Cairo Symphony Orchestra? It just occurs to me that I have never heard of any Muslim composers or performers.

Anonymous said...

Yes, and you'll really be missing the Muslim ballerinas, ballroom dancers, and figure skaters....

Anonymous said...

There are some really good Egyptian and Turkish classical musicians, and a few brave ones have even performed in Israel. Of course, these people are only nominal Muslims. Once the Muslim Brotherhood gets more control, people like this will get fatwas and not be able to go home.

The more Muslim influence there is in Europe, the more European high art is at risk. This could be a good talking point, for enlightening progressives. How can anyone who loves art (many progressives) advocate Muslim immigration, knowing that the most extreme ones will attack Christian art, especially the Renaissance works that have a lot of nudity.

Forget about opera--once Muslims see what's going on, men and women singing together shamelessly, it's over. That's why I'm not going to link to the YouTube clip I referred to, but people should look it up if they want to see an example of appeasement. I wonder if a Saudi sponsored that thing.

philip.zhao said...

Thank you, latte island,
As always, your posts are most informative and educational !

philip.zhao said...

The profile picture looks very familiar. Could it be Golda Meir?

Anonymous said...

Yes, it's Golda. I feel unworthy to have her as my avatar, but OTOH, it's a constant reminder that strong Jewish women aren't always Green Party types.

philip.zhao said...

I still remember when Golda Meir visited the US after the 6-day War she was asked by the Secretary of Defense if she'd be willing to trade Gen. Dayan with any US General she'd like to choose, and Gold Meir replied: " How about General Motors?"
What a great woman !!