“The Police Have Become Political”

In a follow-up to last night’s post about the Al-Quds Day rally and related matters, Michael Coren talks about the behavior of the Toronto police and the larger ramifications of last Saturday’s event.

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

The Ayatollah School

Emanuele Ottolenghi talks to Ezra Levant about a proposed Iranian school in Montreal that will indoctrinate Iranian immigrants to Canada and their descendants with the ideology of the Islamic Republic.

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

Honor Killing in Palestine

It’s time to catch up on some of the videos that Vlad has been accumulating while I was busy doing other things. First, A CNN report on an honor killing in the West Bank.

Notice that the reporter manages to assign at least part of the blame for the killing to Israel — “the stress of occupation”.

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

Our Summer Fundraiser Ends… Also, a Study of Generosity

To finish off our Summer Fundraiser, you might find this report from The Washington Times on the patterns of generosity across the country of interest. Whether or not you agree with the conclusions they reach (some of those opinions being skewed by the Associated Press on page two of the article), reading it was a good way to kiss this fundraiser goodbye.

Similarly, looking at the inferences drawn by The Chronicle of Philanthropy in their journal summaries leave one with questions. However, it was their work that the Times news report referenced so they’re worth considering.

From The Times:

Charitable giving in America breaks down largely along political and religious lines, a new study shows.

Regions of the country considered “deeply religious,” such as the Bible Belt and states such as Utah and Idaho — each of which has large Mormon populations — give much more to charity than others, according to a report released Monday by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The survey, which sampled 2008 tax information for those making $50,000 or more, found that the typical household in a “religious” state, such as Utah or Mississippi, gave more than 7 percent of its income to charity. By contrast, the average home in Massachusetts and other New England states gave less than 3 percent, the study says

Notice several things here: they didn’t look at any givers who make less than fifty thousand dollars a year. That excludes many of the people where we live, and these folks are generous in supporting projects they find worthy. Around her, it’s hard to walk into a country store without seeing a “tip jar” stuffed with small bills and change for, say, a family who lost everything in a fire, or a child with some exotic illness or condition whose family needs may include a frightfully expensive service dog or a handicapped room fitted out.

There is also the front-of-the-grocery-store-phenomenon: many grocery stores permit Boy Scouts, school teams, etc., to set up tables explaining their projects and asking for funds from customers going in and out of the store. I’m sure there are curmudgeons who complain to management about these “beggars” but around here at least these groups are still permitted. No doubt there will soon be some regulatory agency which will seek to continue its own petty existence by ruling out these customs — and then sending out their enforcers to make sure no Cub Scout is found with a leaflet in his hand. It’s a living, I suppose, though such “work” hasn’t a smidgen of honor in comparison to, say, the oldest profession in the world.

Some pages in the journal are devoted to particular charities, but there didn’t seem to be any mention of Habitat for Humanity, though their work is legendary both in concept and execution — and now it’s gone international. When this program first began, the “sweat equity” required of its recipients demonstrated the ‘exceptionalism’ for which we are such objects of scorn. Our government destroyed the housing base in this country via the corruption and machinations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, neither of whom ever looked at the suitability of individuals on whom they pushed home ownership. This fixed game — “Bundling Mortgages Into Eternity” — was ‘played’ by corrupt banksters and their legislators: Barney Frank and Maxine Waters, anyone? We’d be in a much smaller mess today had they not held the cards. And the saddest part is that Habitat for Humanity was changing lives, one house at a time.

Governmental interference is becoming ever more severely deranged and dangerous across a myriad of venues. The ugly rules about curtailing help to religious organizations are mean-spirited indeed. A commenter in the Times report put it this way (you may have to read this twice to understand the full import):

Anyone who gives to people other than their very own religion are no longer defined as a religious organization effective Aug 1, 2012.

Thus a Catholic giving to a Protestant can no longer claim being a religious organization with all the consequences flowing therefrom.

Thus your donations would no longer be tax deductible.

The intent is the hope the organization goes away.

If it goes away there is no buffer between the Gov and the Individual.

It’s Gov vs. individual. The Individual loses Religious protection of word and deed. He violates the tenets of his religion to help others in need plus whatever else yet to be determined.

What his first sentence seems to mean is that if you’re, say, a Catholic and you donate to the local Methodist church’s building fund, you can’t deduct this contribution from your taxes. On the other hand, if you’re an R.C. and give to Saint Jude’s Hospital then you’re okay… but Baptists giving to St. J’s don’t qualify for a charitable deduction on their tax form… Say what? This is indeed passing strange — when you put such donations on a tax return will you now be required to verify your religion to qualify??

I don’t see any legalese references to this assertion and it sounds awkward at best. If anyone has real information about whatever was supposed to start on August 1st, I’d be interested in following up on the particulars. Ordinarily, I’d call this paranoid. But given the last four years’ experience, this sounds Obama-esque enough to be credible — perhaps… maybe. Yet wouldn’t this require legislation? Oh wait… perhaps not. The overreach of our regulatory soviet is quite alarming; definitely we live in a top-down statist environment in this era of proliferation of agencies to regulate everything. Sad, but the fellow could be right.

The Times continues:

Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/22/2012

Three Jordanians who were scheduled to compete in the Paralympics in London have been arrested and charged with sexual assault and voyeurism in Northern Ireland. The King of Jordan intervened in their case, and the Jordanian government has posted surety for the three suspects, who have been bailed.

In other news, an Australian sheik from Sydney named Mustapha al-Majzoub was killed in a rocket attack in Syria. Mr. al-Majzoub was in Syria to help deliver humanitarian aid when a rocket allegedly launched by pro-regime forces exploded and killed him.

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

Thanks to Barry Banter, C. Cantoni, Diana West, Erick Stakelbeck, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, JP, TV, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

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.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

There is a widespread phenomenon in the Western democracies that I refer to as “hassling the law-abiding”. I’m familiar with the American version, but the Canadian, Australian, and Western European versions are surely similar.

The general idea is this: complex modern welfare states mobilize bureaucrats and law-enforcement agents to coerce conformity from ordinary people — normal well-behaved citizens who are (mostly) peaceful and productive members of society.

The prototype — some might say the Platonic ideal — of hassling the law-abiding occurs every day at the airport. When I travel by air I have to stand in line for half an hour, have my baggage X-rayed, remove my shoes and belt, and endure TSA employees staring at my junk on a screen. These procedures are supposed to ensure my “security”, but all they really do is display the absolute power of the State and allow sadistic low-level employees to get their jollies humiliating and inconveniencing thousands of innocent travelers a day.

Similar examples may be found at police sobriety checkpoints, or in school pat-downs, or at the National Capitol Visitors’ Center. Any added security is minimal, and mostly illusory — how many lives have been saved by these humiliating, intrusive, and authoritarian procedures? And how many billions (or trillions) of dollars do they cost the taxpayer every year?

I could list more examples, but you get the idea. Law-abiding people experience routine hassles because they are, well, law-abiding. The authorities do this stuff to us because they can. Ordinary citizens are generally compliant, and put up with these things because they’re brought up to be lawful, orderly, and respectful towards authority.

Those who might really be dangerous — the guys in the beanies and nightgowns with their women dressed in shapeless black bags — are the ones who get the religious exemptions. Nobody wants to offend their religious sensibilities or, God forbid, profile them, so they can count on having the rules suspended for them whenever they yell loud enough. They’re not all that law-abiding, but they can cause mass trouble when riled. It’s much easier to just hassle Mr. Jones and let the others slide on by.

This syndrome is partly ideological and partly practical. Everyone is frightened of being a “racist”, or at least of appearing to be one. We all want to be tolerant and inclusive. So we apply a different set of rules to ordinary law-abiding Western citizens than we do to the Other.

And, practically speaking, it’s easier that way. So, no matter how much money it costs, no matter how many man-hours it wastes, we have to go through all this pointless folderol.

A couple of recent examples of cultural dhimmitude in Canada seem to fit the above model. The first one concerns a citizen who was handcuffed and threatened with arrest for walking his dog too near some Muslimas in a public park in Toronto. The second incident — which occurred at the same event, the Al-Quds Day celebration in Toronto — involved a cyclist who was similarly treated by police for flying an Israeli flag.

Superficially, these seem to be classic examples of hassling the law-abiding. The victims are ordinary upstanding Caucasian or Jewish citizens. They are being orderly and obeying the law, but are threatened and pushed around anyway.

However, there is one major difference between these cases and the ordeal at the airport.

What Went Wrong With American Foreign Policy??

11 Years After 9/11:
What Went Wrong With American Policy?

September 10th, 12:00pm - 2:00pm
B339 Rayburn House Office Building

Lunch to be Served, Dietary Laws Observed
RSVP: Info@emetonline.org
After 11 years following the vicious Jihad terror attacks which killed 3,000 Americans, what was once called the "Global War on Terror" has now become our nation's longest war.

We continue to find ourselves embroiled in a conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban and their allies in Afghanistan, a dominating Iranian influence spreads in Iraq, and nations across the Arab world are falling under the sway of the Muslim Brotherhood, adherents to the same ideology that the 9/11 Commission warned us motivated Osama Bin Laden. Are our policy-makers doing enough to protect the American people?

Where do we go from here?
EMET has arranged for an esteemed panel of National Security and Counter-Terrorism experts to address these very questions.

Featuring:

• Frank Gaffney Jr., President & CEO, Center for Security Policy; former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy
  
• Sebastian Gorka, Military Affairs Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies & Council for Emerging National Security Affairs
  
• Patrick Poole, National Security and Terrorism Correspondent for PJMedia
  
• Dr. Michael Widlanski, Author of Battle for Our Minds: Western Elites and the Terror Threat, Former Strategic Affairs Advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Public Security

Sidenotes from Dymphna

People often ask us some variation of the following:

Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/21/2012

There’s a lot of news in tonight’s feed, for some reason. Most of it concerns the deteriorating economic situation, Iranian nukes, or the bloody chaos in Syria. But the violence in India merits a few column inches, as do various conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa.

Oh, and there’s also the police investigation of a bias crime in a Staten Island park involving uncooked bacon and praying Muslims…

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, Diana West, Fjordman, Gaia, Insubria, JD, JP, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

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.

This Petty Pace

Y’all must think I’ve fallen asleep over my keyboard.

Or could I be on strike for higher wages?

Seriously — what really happened is that I’ve been working hard most of the day on a complicated and time-consuming little programming job. It’s finished now, but there won’t be anything else from me tonight except for the news feed. The wrap-up for the fundraiser has been postponed (and Dymphna may do it instead).

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…

Gates of Vienna News Feed 8/20/2012

An unemployed Italian man committed suicide by dousing himself with a flammable liquid and setting himself on fire. His suicide note said that he had become despondent after he lost his job and failed to find another one.

In other news, a gunman in Yemen celebrated Eid al-Fitr by opening fire inside a mosque, killing nine worshippers and wounding ten others.

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

Thanks to C. Cantoni, CSP, Fjordman, Gaia, Insubria, JD, JP, McR, Nick, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.

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.

Dog Gone

Ezra Levant talks to a Canadian citizen named Allan Eintoss, who was accosted, handcuffed, and threatened with arrest on Saturday for walking his licensed, leashed, well-behaved dog in a public park in Toronto.

The reason? The occasion was the annual anti-Israel Al Quds Day rally, and a group of culture enrichers took exception to having an unclean animal come so close to their women.

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

Will He Or Won’t He?

In the following clip from Fox News, Walid Phares and his host speculate on Israeli plans for a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear capability, and the possible response from the Obama administration to the escalating crisis.

Will Obama act before an Iranian first strike on Israel? Afterwards?

Or not at all?

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

When Europe Fought

This summer marks the 800th anniversary of one of the milestones of the Reconquista, the great Christian victory over the Moors at Las Navas de Tolosa in Iberia. Last month we posted an account of the battle written by a guest poster.

Today’s essay about Las Navas de Tolosa appeared originally on August 18 in Berlingske Tidende. Many thanks to our Perth correspondent Anne-Kit for translating it from the Danish:

When Europe Fought

The exact location is unknown, but is thought to be somewhere within a good day’s march SW of Calatrava, which was then the only town of any significance in the Guadiana valley, southern La Mancha.

By David Gress: Historian, writer, PhD

The time was a summer’s day in 1212, which is why this year we can — if we dare — celebrate the 800th anniversary of one of the most significant battles of the Middle Ages: The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, where a broad array of Christian warriors from Spain and France decisively conquered the Almohad Muslims who then occupied the southern third of the Iberian Peninsula.

From then on it was merely a question of time before the whole of Spain would be liberated. In 1212 it was exactly 500 years since the Muslims had begun their lightning campaign to conquer Spain. They named the conquered lands Al-Andalus and established themselves exactly as Muslims always did: They were the new Master Race; Christians and Jews must feel and act like cowed and subservient subjects. If they complied they were — by and large — left alone.

As early as 718 the Christian counteroffensive had begun in the far north west, but another couple of hundred years were to pass before the reconquest, La Reconquista, reached even as far as the river Duero. Not until 1085 did King Alfonso VI of Castile conquer the old capital of Spain, Toledo. The peninsula was now roughly equally split between Christian Spain and Muslim Al-Andalus.

In response to the fall of Toledo the Muslims called for assistance from the Almoravids, a fierce and very pious Berber warrior people of North Africa. They were akin to the Talibans and Salafists of our modern age: ruthless, sure of their own righteousness, merciless with apostates and Christians, and extremely brave to boot. They overran Al-Andalus and put an abrupt stop to the Christian offensives.

Fumes From the Past

A gift for you, this example of the genius of Western culture whose fumes we can now only catch a whiff of here and there. There was a time when people really thought Bach’s work approached the eternal; it has been long overtaken by the random noises of modernity.

It is about as eternal as… well,think of a child with her nose pushed against an empty rectangular pink box. She’s inhaling deeply from the memories of those chocolates it used to contain. When she’d first untied the gold ribbon and pulled off the top, the richness of those three layers seemed immense. If not exactly forever, five pounds was surely enough to last a long, long time.


These organ works are beloved by the Baron, who — without missing a beat — went straight from the Grateful Dead to Bach.