Fausta's blog

Faustam fortuna adiuvat
The official blog of Fausta's Blog Talk Radio show.

Monday, July 31, 2006

Rockets in the garden, and France2

SEE UPDATES

Solomonia posts Rockets in the Garden, with video showing Hizballah rocket launchers that hide in a residential home after firing. You won't see anything like that in last evening's France2 newscast (in French; available until approx. 2PM EDT), showing the building where reportedly 60 people died from the Israeli bombing. Four minutes into the program, the reporters are taken into the house next door to the building by one of the former residents of the bombed building, who explains that he's not with Hezbollah but has a beard because he hasn't been able to shave for 2 weeks.

The house next door is intact after the bombing. The owner (See Update 4 below) claims that he's not with Hezbollah, but there are many photos of Nazrallah on display, including the daughter's certificate from Hezbollah's school. The homeowner very calmly claims that his family had taken shelter in the building that was bombed and they all died. The reporter, Loic de la Mornais, concluded the segment by saying that this area had become radicalized after the Israeli occupation.

There is no mention of any attacks on Israel
On Sunday, a total of 140 rockets - the highest number in a single day since the beginning of hostilities on July 12 - rained down on northern cities, including Nahariya, Kiryat Shmona, and Acre.
UPDATE: Via All Things Beautiful, IDF: Qana building fell hours after strike
Air Force Chief of Staff Brig.-Gen. Amir Eshel said Sunday night that the three-story building had been struck by the missiles a little after midnight and that it only collapsed seven hours later, at close to 7 a.m.

"It could be that there was something in the building that caused the explosion," Eshel said.
I've been watching France2 for several years, and if their reporting is any indication, one can safely state that nothing Israel does can satisfy France, much less when it comes to Lebanon (via Pajamas Media). French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy:
"It was clear that we could never accept a destabilization of Lebanon, which could lead to a destabilization of the region," Douste-Blazy said in Beirut.

"In the region there is of course a country such as Iran - a great country, a great people and a great civilization which is respected and which plays a stabilizing role in the region"
And, of course he wants a diplomatic solution.

Update 2 Milking it?
Update 3, EU Referendum wants to know, Who is this man? Who is this ubiquitous fellow wearing the green helmet?
Update 4: I don't know who the guy in the green helmet is, but the man in the white t-shirt
has turned up not only in yesterday's France 2 evening news, but also at
The Telegraph
where apparently he's quoted as "Khalil Bourji, a 54-year-old neighbour" (and he made no mention of his family),
the front page of the Times,
and the front page of The Independent
, complete with Robert Fisk article.

Update, August 1
Stephen Pollard asks, Was Qana staged?
L'Ombre de l'Olivier looks at Qana-llywood, and Roger's wondering, Is Qana another Jenin?
A nurse posting at France Echos (in French) notices that several of the dead children appear to have severe disabilities. At the bottom of the page, a commenter told the blogger that Euronews had said that "the building was occupied by handicapped children", while the official version says that only the children of two families were involved.
The Weaponization of Children
The "Green Helmet" mystery continues

Update 2, August 1
Via Stephen Pollard, Lebanese website blames Hizbullah for Qana deaths
Anti-Syrian elements in Lebanon openly point finger at Hizbullah as guilty of killing of dozens of civilians in order to curtail plans for disarming group. 'Hizbullah has placed rocket launcher on building's roof and brought invalid children inside in bid to provoke Israeli response,' they write.
This is absolutely monstruous: The Lebanese website is Libanoscopie (in French) states (my translation, emphasis added),
Hezbollah . . . put in place a Machiavelian plan by creating an event that would cancel the [deployment of the Lebanese army to South Lebananon, which would disarm the militia of the party of God]. Knowing very well that Israel will not have a state of heart to bombard civil targets, Hezbollan militants of Hezbollah installed rocket launchers on the roof of a building in Cana and brought in crippled children with the firm intention of creating a new situation, using the massacre of these innocents to take again the initiative of the negotiations.
I have no words to express my revulsion.

(technorati tags , , , )

Hezbollah in Latin America: history

This post is the second in a series.

From Hezbollah, Illegal Immigration, and the Next 9/11, of April 28, 2006:
  • The greatest hub of terrorist activity in Latin America is in the border region of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, known as the Triple Frontier or Tri-Border Area, which has long been known as a haven for smuggling, counterfeiting, money laundering and drug trafficking. Officials estimate that at least 30,000 Middle Eastern immigrants reside in the Triple Frontier, with Hezbollah being the most active and dominant group in the area. In a detailed October 2002 New Yorker report, journalist Jeffrey Goldberg found that many immigrants in the area have established business with the help of loans provided by Hezbollah, businesses which are "taxed" by Hezbollah at 20 percent of gross revenues after the loans are paid off. Erick Stakelbeck of the Investigative Project cites Paraguayan Interior Minister Julio Cesar Fanego as saying that Hezbollah received anywhere from $50-$500 million from illegal activities in the Triple Frontier from 1999 to 2001 alone.
  • A research report issued by the Library of Congress Federal Research Division, Organized Crime and Terrorist Activity in Mexico, 1999-2002, quotes (p. 43) Mexican former national security advisor and ambassador the United Nations, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, as saying that "Spanish and Islamic terrorist groups are using Mexico as a refuge." The report also cites an El Norte Spanish-language news report that there are approximately 400,000 Arabic speakers in Mexico mostly located among the large Lebanese and Palestinian communities of the northern city of Monterrey, nearby the U.S.-Mexican border.
  • According to a Dec. 2003 report by Terrence Jeffrey of Human Events, the Mexican consul in Beirut, Imelda Ortiz Abdala, was arrested by Mexican authorities in November 2003 for her role in helping to smuggle Arab migrants into the U.S. from Mexico by selling Mexican visas, including the one sold to Mahmoud Khourani. Jeffrey has also recently written more about the Hezbollah/Mexico connection.
  • Hezbollah was responsible for the greatest anti-Semitic attack since the Nazi Holocaust when a suicide truck-bomb drove into the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1994, killing more than a hundred people. As a result, Jewish synagogues and cultural centers around Latin America have been turned into virtual fortresses to protect them.
  • In May 2001, Mexican authorities announced that measures were being increased to dismantle terror training camps along the US border run by Hezbollah and the Spanish Basque Fatherland and Liberty Party (ETA).
  • In 2005, Mexican authorities arrested Amer Haykel, a British citizen of Lebanese birth, who was sought by US authorities for his connection to the 9/11 attacks. Haykel was arrested near the U.S. border in the northwest Mexican state of Baja California.
  • According to a June 2005 BBC report, Ecuadorian officials busted up an international Hezbollah drug ring run out of a Lebanese restaurant in Quito, in which authorities say cocaine was obtained in Colombia and trafficked to Europe, the Middle East and the rest of South America. Up to 70 percent of the profits from each $1 million shipment went to Hezbollah. In addition to the suspects arrested in Ecuador, 19 other people were arrested in connection with the Hezbollah drug ring in US and Brazil.
  • One major Hezbollah terrorist, still at large, has had his hands in all of the attacks against America — Imad Mugniyeh — chief of Hezbollah’s military operations. Reports indicate that Mugniyeh and Osama bin Ladin have met to establish a concordant and exchange technical expertise. National Security expert Patrick Devenny has called Mugniyeh, Tehran’s Terror Master, and has identified his critical role in Hezbollah’s operations in North and South America. Even in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, 20-year CIA veteran Robert Baer has said: "He is the most dangerous terrorist we’ve ever faced. He’s a pathological murderer. Mugniyeh is probably the most intelligent, most capable operative we’ve ever run across, including the KGB or anybody else."
    • Additionally, the article mentions,

      America's enemies have identified this vulnerability; according to a March 2005 Time Magazine report, al-Qaeda lieutenant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi instructed jihadists to bribe their way into Honduras and cross the U.S. southern border to attack soft American targets. From an intelligence perspective the indicators and warnings of the threat cannot be clearer.

      First post: Hezbollah in Latin America.

      (technorati tags , , )

      Mel, in today's articles from Maria

      Hollywood Split Over Mel Gibson's Future

      KOFI ANNAN'S DRUG DEALERS. I included another article on the subject in last Thursday's post

      The Vocabulary of Untruth

      IS IT REALLY WAR THEY HATE?

      TARGET: HEZBOLLAH. WHY THE FIGHTING IS SO TOUGH
      But Arabs will fight to the bitter end for their religion, their families and the land their clan possesses. In southern Lebanon, Hezbollah exploits all three motivations. The Hezbollah guerrilla waiting to ambush an Israeli patrol believes he's fighting for his faith, his family and the earth beneath his feet. He'll kill anyone and give his own life to win.
      Pander and Run

      Other articles
      The Seattle shooting: Via P, According to this article,
      Yousef Shehadeb, 46, a member of the Islamic Center of the Tri-Cities, recalled Haq as quiet and something of a loner. Shehadeb said he and Haq's father, Mian Haq, both work at the Hanford nuclear reservation, as do many members of the area's Muslim community.


      Meanwhile, in Miami, Jewish synagogue and business vandalized (via Linda

      The Taliban's War on Education
      Schoolgirls are still under fire in Afghanistan


      Don't miss the carnival!

      Saturday, July 29, 2006

      Saturday posting: the happy map and science books

      Via Juan, behold the Happy Map (PDF file). While on the happy subject, a study out of Princeton concludes once your income goes above an additional 12,000 dollars a year, it has little effect on your life's happines. Maybe if you're a tenured professor with a six-figure income, a subsidized mortgage, and help for the kids' college tuition but I believe they'll find a lot of volunteers willing to prove them wrong.

      I don't know what science methodology was used for the happy map or the money study, but Russel Seitz, physicist, reviews 5 science books in today's WSJ, and here they are, from oldest to most recent:



      The only one I've read from Dr. Seitz's list is Longitude, and it's excellent. After reading it, I bought The Husband the illustrated edition as a gift:

      This edition has all the unabridged text, and wonderful photos and maps that really bring to life the story. Please note that the print is very small, particularly for the illustrations, so you might want to remember when purchasing it.

      Another excellent by the same author is Galileo's Daughter:

      The difficult life of Sister Maria Celeste is beautifully told, and is based on the translation of 124 surviving letters to Galileo by his daughter.

      Not listed by Dr. Seitz, but another interesting book on the subject of science and technology in history, is Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel

      While many will argue about Diamond's thesis, the book is a fascinating, enjoyable, read.

      Starting this week, you can find all my book reviews and picks at my new page, Fausta's buys.

      (technorati tags , )
      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll

      Friday, July 28, 2006

      British law enforcement . . .

      . . . is sorely lacking, as Clive Davis has found out.

      Anti-Semitism in Venezuela

      A newspaper ad (in Spanish) for an anti-Israel demonstration in Venezuela scheduled for yesterday (my translation; emphasis added):
      ANZOATEGUI mobilizes against the Israeli agression on the people of Lebanon.
      The Anzoategui Revolutionary Government, committed to the defense of human rights, committed to the view that the fight against terrorism and its many forms of oppression is a fundamental right of peace-loving men and women; in full use of justice, in view of the Israeli government's decision for its troops to invade southern Lebanon thereby committing an act of genocide that violates the soverignty and integrity of the Arab world, [an act] whose magnitude and barbarism recall the invasion of Lebanon by Israel on June 6, 1982 when entire neighborhoods in Beirut were bombed indiscriminately causing death, the March 14, 1978 incursion when Isreal disrespected the international community by attacking with its allies a camp of Irish Blue Helmets sent by the UN, the illegal annexations in 1980 of Arab Jerusalem and in 1981 of the Golan Heights, violating UN Resolution 338, the Camp Daviod accords, and shutting down any peaceful solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict.

      Aware of the importance of preserving what has been attained in preserving peace, [aware that] Zionism's fundamental practice is the extreme use of force, directly responsible for the massacres at Sabra and Chatilla, while the world watched in shame as war criminal Ariel Sharon allowed the Haddad phalanxes under the command of Elias Hobeika rend civilization apart with more than a thousand elderly, wounded, women and children refugees; plus livestock and domestic animals, that were also victims of the Zionist carnage.
      I could translate further but you get the gist.

      Venezuela News and Views explains that the ad was
      published in El Nacional (an opposition paper, read by the intellectual elite of Venezuela if anything because it carries the only literature section worth reading in Venezuela).
      and was paid for by the governor's office of the State of Anzoategui. Venezuela News and Views concludes
      This is a first act in the road to "educate" the Venezuelan people
      Read the whole post.

      To quote Dr. Krauthammer,
      the world -- governments, the media, U.N. bureaucrats -- has completely lost its moral bearings
      In other Venezuelan news,
      Hugo continues his grand tour. Today's stop: Iran, where he'll be awarded "The High Medallion of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Additionally,
      Iranian firms have invested $1 billion in Venezuelan ventures to date, and the industry ministry says it hopes to expand this to $9 billion in the coming years.
      Since it's Hugo's 52d birthday, there's probably the local equivalent of cake and ice cream on the menu.
      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll.

      (technorati tags , , , )

      Thursday, July 27, 2006

      Hugo goes shopping

      For over a year now, I've been posting about Hugo's shopping spree in what The Economist calls "a spectre [that] stalks the Americas". In February 2005 The Economist listed
      In recent months, he has bought from Russia 40 Mi35 helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles. He is negotiating for up to 24 Brazilian Super-Tucano ground-attack planes and four Spanish naval corvettes.
      Hugo was barely starting to warm up back then.

      By last January, Hugo had signed contracts valued at more than $1 billion with Iran - with a nuclear program in sight - and in February this year Hugo committed $500,000 million towards a Chinese space satellite.

      This week the shopping spree continues.

      After visiting "fellow maverick" Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, Hugo went over to Russia, where Vlad sold him $3 Billion's worth of weapons, including
      • $1.5 billion worth of Sukhoi-30 jets (2 dozen jets)
      • short-range TOR-M1 tactical surface-to-air missiles
      • helicopters
      • possibly even a submarine
      While Mr. Chávez doesn't trust the officers in Venezuelan navy and air force, and the US has a weapons ban on Venezuela, Vlad needs the money, as
      Moscow has cultivated ties with China and sought to forge its own line in the Middle East, restoring Soviet-era relations to regimes at odds with the U.S. such as Syria.
      and Hugo's trying to buy Venezuela a seat in the UN Security Council. No wonder people are asking, Chavez, Ex-USSR: A New Axis? Publius Pundit has an excellent round-up of posts on Hugo's travels, which has scheduled upcoming stops in Qatar, Iran, Vietnam and Mali.

      Speaking of Iran, Philomethean reports that an undetermined number of Iranians were present in North Korea earlier this month to witness that country's multiple missile tests:
      It's quite plausible that North Korea would sell one or more nuclear weapons to Iran for a few billion dollars.
      And the weapons can be carried by plane, of course. Coincidentally, just this week Iran and Venezuela signed an air transportation agreement note:
      considering that a straight flight between Iran and Venezuela is not economical for neither sides, it has been agreed that this flight stops in an agreed European country and then heads towards its destination.
      It's not too much of a stretch to picture Belarus as the stopover, but would it be economical?

      Once the jets and the bombs are in the Caribbean, Hugo's not even going to need Fidel to be able to get within firing range of major US cities. Worse prospects await his neighbors.

      Of course, I'm indulging in a most fanciful conspiracy theory, as Christian Oliver of Reuters would say.

      Let's just dismiss all these stressful thoughts and have some fun with Hugo (in Spanish)

      and his little friend

      Maybe Christian Oliver can join in the chuckle.

      Just in case, let' hope Hugo runs out of oil and money before the IOUs come due.
      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll.

      (technorati tags , , , , , )

      Dan Senor at the WSJ, a bust, and meanwhile at the UN

      Dan Senor, in today's WSJ, asks, Iraq's Hezbollah: What's behind Maliki's anti-Israel animus? Moqtada al-Sadr and his Sadrists, the Sadriyyun, that's what:
      While the Sadriyyun lack the sophistication, weaponry and social welfare services of Hezbollah, both are funded by Tehran; and both organizations represent the same ethnic, religious and socioeconomic demographic within their respective countries. Mr. Sadr's organization is, in fact, about where Hezbollah was 20 years ago.
      Let's ponder that for a moment.
      More from Taranto.

      Hillary, looking like Jimmy

      Jimmy Carter, wearing a bra, that is. This friend came up with a suitable Freudian observation: "Subconsciously, artist may have wanted to portay JC as HC". Update 2 The Anchoress says that Hillary looks like the love child of Jimmy Carter and Eleanor Roosevelt, but I think it's more like Jimmy and James Carville.
      Update, Friday, July 28 What has Steve Buscemi done to her? And don't miss the video. The guy who did the Britney Spears giving birth statue came up with this beaut, too.

      At the blogs
      CNN Blogger Has Trouble Defining Terrorist: Tom Foreman, CNN Correspondent can't seem to be able to define the term. Here's where to start, Tom.

      More items later. I'm back.

      Meanwhile, at the UN,
      First, an item you might miss: U.N. Employee Is Charged With Drug Smuggling, as part of a ring that brought 25 tons of contraband into New York in the past year and a half.

      Annan's Claims On Casualties May Unravel because there's documentation that
      A Canadian U.N. observer, one of four killed at a UNIFIL position near the southern Lebanese town of Khiyam on Tuesday, sent an e-mail to his former commander, a Canadian retired major-general, Lewis MacKenzie, in which he wrote that Hezbollah fighters were "all over" the U.N. position, Mr. MacKenzie said. Hezbollah troops, not the United Nations, were Israel's target, the deceased observer wrote.
      After Kofi libelously accused the Israeli Defense Force of a "deliberate targeting" of four blue-helmeted U.N. observers, France2 (in French, available until 2-3PM EDT) reported that Kofi had apologized (2:30 minutes into the program), when in fact he didn't. Kofi said he accepted PM Olmert's words, and would order an investigation.

      Claudia Rosett says, Who's Dissin' Whom: There's a disproportionate response all right. Update, via Atlas, take a look at the area of Beirut that is actually being targeted.

      The Beeb continues to spread its poison with headlines such as Israel troops 'ignored' UN plea, a poison which is having its effect:
      British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has protested to the US about its use of Prestwick Airport in western Scotland to transport bombs to Israel.
      Update, via Jane, and the propaganda's effect is felt by many.

      Call me a cynic (again!) but I forsee that the deceased observer's email won't feature prominently in Kofi's investigation. Update, via SC&A: Neither will there be any mention of this:



      Update, Friday July 28: Linda explains,
      What the video does not show is the result of the terrorist raid. The terrorists you see in the film murdered six Israeli soldiers that night, aided and abetted by paid employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
      Read her entire post.

      One thing for sure, Kofi won't be hiring Wretchard, who has a thorough analysis, and a hypothesis.

      John Batchelor looks at Iran, the War Elephant in the room, through the lens of the Spanish Civil War, and silence and denial in EUrope.

      As Richard points out, the EUropeans are not even in the game, while at the same time, they're trying to get further out.

      Neo-Neocon asks, What hath the UN wrought?, while Sigmund, Carl and Alfred, Dr. Sanity, and Shrinkwrapped analyze the situation.

      Update Al Qaeda's buzzards test their wings. They dream of flying "from Spain to Iraq".
      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll

      (technorati tags , , , )

      Wednesday, July 26, 2006

      Blogging the bog find

      Fragments of an ancient manuscript found in an Irish bog are being hailed as comparable to the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Beeb doesn't mention that the book was open on Psalm 83, which I found out from Kathy. Here's Psalm 83
      [[A Song [or] Psalm of Asaph.]] Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.

      Psa 83:2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

      Psa 83:3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

      Psa 83:4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from [being] a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

      Psa 83:5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

      Psa 83:6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

      Psa 83:7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;

      Psa 83:8 Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

      Psa 83:9 Do unto them as [unto] the Midianites; as [to] Sisera, as [to] Jabin, at the brook of Kison:

      Psa 83:10 [Which] perished at Endor: they became [as] dung for the earth.

      Psa 83:11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:

      Psa 83:12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

      Psa 83:13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

      Psa 83:14 As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;

      Psa 83:15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

      Psa 83:16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.

      Psa 83:17 Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

      Psa 83:18 That [men] may know that thou, whose name alone [is] JEHOVAH, [art] the most high over all the earth.
      Uncanny.

      Update Via The Anchoress,
      In summary, the nations where the ten ancient people groups and tribes mentioned in Psalm 83 live today, are Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories within Israel. Read also Gina Cobb's post.

      Uncanny, indeed.

      Update, July 27 Allahpundit says it was Psalm 84.
      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll

      (technorati tags , )

      Hugo and Alex: Reuters' mavericks

      To Reuters, the last European dictator and the latest South American dictator are mavericks:
      Venezuela, Belarus seal "anti-imperialist" alliance (via SC&A; emphasis added)
      MINSK (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday he had forged a strategic alliance to stand up to U.S. imperialism with fellow maverick Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko.

      "Our countries must keep their hands at the ready on the sword," Chavez, in ex-Soviet Belarus as part of a world tour, said on a visit to a military academy.
      Hugo did not give details about what the alliance would involve. I have the impression it has to do with armaments and ideology:
      Chavez leaves Belarus on Tuesday for Russia where he is to sign a deal to buy Russian fighter jets and helicopters. His tour will also take in Qatar, Iran, Vietnam and Mali.
      Chavez, the wanna-be dictador, visits Lukashenko, the last European dictator, with a foot note of Carlos Fuentes.

      Sepcifically, Fuentes -- who's definitely not one in the vast right-wing conspiracy -- says of Hugo (article in Spanish, translation here):
      He is not a leftist. He is a fascist, not to be trusted, a passing phenomenon. He is ruining Venezuela, he is ill using the oil money. The main roads of the country are collapsing. He is a demagogue, a sort of tropical parakeet. He is trying to finish off Venezuelan democracy. He benefited from the void left by the political parties, but he Hill be removed by the Venezuelan society itself, one that I respect very much and that I cannot imagine ruled by this gorilla for ever.
      In other travel news, Hugo's little friend was in Tajikistan talking tough while saying he was against any form of violence in the Middle East. I expect that Reuters will be calling him a maverick, too, as soon as Hugo arrives in Tehran.

      Update Chavez, Ex-USSR: A New Axis? (prior related post here)

      Update 2 Back in April I was posting about Venezuela's oil shortfall. Today Publius Pundit posts,
      Citgo recently announced that it would end supply to gas stations in 10 U.S. states due to the fact that it no longer can internally access enough Venezuelan oil, and the effort to supply these stations with imported oil at world prices was a burden.
      Read the rest of that post.
      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll
      (technorati tags , , , , )

      Love poems, calling Uncle Vito, and today's articles from Maria

      Some people put down the bong and get the munchies; others put down the bong and write love poems:
      Via The Anchoress, a Berkely grad student in education named Cecilia wrote a love poem to Hezbollah (I'm not linking to the poem but you can find it at The Anchoress). The poem's quality is such that while reading it I thought of Phoebe's Smelly Cat, only without Phoebe's talent for rhyme.
      Cecilia:
      I am learning to have hope in you
      I am learning to see you as so much more
      Than those actions I would never want to commit
      Phoebe:
      You may not be a bed of roses
      You're not friend to those with noses
      I'll miss you before we're done
      Or the world will smell as one
      More love flowing at Iowahawk

      Also at the blogs,
      Sigmund, Carl & Alfred point out,
      In fact, wherever there are significant oil resources, there are Muslim communities and facilities funded in large part by the Saudi wahabbis- and that includes Islamic communities in Alberta and on the Mexican coast.
      Update A Knife-Thrower at the Carnival

      Calling Uncle Vito
      Wawayanda [in NY state] Councilwoman Gail Soro finds dead horse in her pool.

      Today's articles from Maria
      Too nice to win? Israel's dilemma.

      Red Alert: Hezbollah's Iranian Connection (by subscription)
      Prior to the rise of the Shia in Iraq, Hezbollah -- as a radical Shiite Islamist organization -- was Iran's main asset in the Arab world. In fact, it likely will continue to be used by Tehran as a key tool for furthering Iranian geopolitical interests in the region, until such time as Shiite power has been consolidated in Baghdad and Iran's interests there secured.

      In its earliest days, Hezbollah was a classic militant organization -- the creation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite unit of the Iranian military. It was founded as a way to export the ideals of Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini's Islamic revolution to the Shiite community of Lebanon, and served as a model for follow-on organizations (some even using the same name) in other Arab states. It did not take long, however, for Hezbollah to emerge in Lebanon as a guerrilla movement, whose fighters were trained in conventional military tactics.

      In the mid-1980s, Iran's premier intelligence agency, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), assumed the task of managing Tehran's militant assets -- not just in the Middle East but in other parts of the world as well. This allowed the Iranians, through a special unit within MOIS, to strike at Israeli interests in places as diverse as Latin America and Southeast Asia.

      The relationship between MOIS and Hezbollah remains a subject worthy of study in light of the current situation in Lebanon. Of course, Iran has been Hezbollah's chief source of funding and weapons over the years, and the Iranians continue to supply extensive training in weapons, tactics, communications, surveillance and other methods to the militant wing of Hezbollah in Lebanon. The relationship is sufficiently close that the Hezbollah branch in Iran proper recently declared it would unleash militant attacks against Israelis and Americans around the world if given the order by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Tehran insists that Hezbollah is not an arm of official policy.)

      We have previously discussed the possibility that Hezbollah might be moved to seize hostages or engage in other militant acts, given the pressure the Israelis now are bringing to bear. There is some question, of course, as to whether Iran might be involved in future militant operations -- and if so, what assets it might use and the modalities that would apply.

      An Organizational Model

      There is a division of labor of sorts in the way that Iran manages its foreign assets: The IRGC (which is led by a professional military officer with strong ideological credentials as an Islamist) oversees the Lebanese Hezbollah, while MOIS (which almost always is headed by a cleric) manages militant operatives and groups in other parts of the Muslim world -- Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, India. Moreover, MOIS also maintains contacts among the Shiite immigrant populations in non-Muslim countries, including those in the West.

      It also is important to note that radical Shiite Islamist ideology is only one factor that shapes Tehran's decisions. Ethnicity and nationalism also play an important role in Iran's dealings with Shiite allies of Arab, South Asian and other descent. The Persians claim a rich cultural heritage, which they view as superior to that of the Arabs. This attitude impacts the level of trust and cooperation between the Iranians and other Shiite groups -- including Hezbollah -- when it comes to sensitive international operations. It is little wonder, then, that the Lebanese organization's sphere of operations does not extend much beyond the Levant.

      It follows that Hezbollah is a useful tool for Iran in its dealings with Israel, but in few other areas. However, Iranian intelligence has cultivated numerous groups that can serve its interests in other parts of the world, and it maintains contact with these groups through MOIS operatives placed in diplomatic posts.

      A History of Cooperation

      Though it has been many years since Hezbollah carried out significant attacks beyond the Middle East, the participation of MOIS agents in some of those attacks is worthy of note. Investigations into the 1988 hijacking of Kuwait Airways Flight 422 out of Bangkok and two bombings in Buenos Aires -- in 1992 and 1994 -- both revealed involvement by MOIS, coordinating with local Hezbollah operatives. However, to provide plausible deniability, the hijacking and bomb teams were deployed from outside the targeted country; the assets in place were used to conduct preoperational surveillance on potential targets.

      Up close, what this would mean is that the MOIS officer at the Iranian embassy in the target country or city would maintain close contact with the Hezbollah cells in his area or responsibility. Given the rules of intelligence work, an "official asset" like a diplomat is usually under suspicion and surveillance as an intelligence officer (or IO); therefore, less-prominent Hezbollah members can be used to case potential targets. In a situation where a MOIS agent is believed to be under such tight surveillance that he cannot function effectively, the Iranians might call on the services of a clandestine MOIS agent instead. In the case of the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, the MOIS officer was the Iranian cultural attache, who oversaw the operation from the safety of his embassy office. The Argentines eventually declared seven embassy employees as "persona non grata" due to suspected connections to the bombing.

      Upon receiving a "go" order for an operation -- such as assassinations of Iranian dissidents or the kidnappings of Western diplomatic and intelligence personnel (for instance, CIA station chief William F. Buckley in 1984 and U.S. Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins in 1988) -- activity levels at the embassy spike. The role of MOIS frequently would be to provide the cash or supply weapons or materials needed for an attack carried out by its "militant assets." In some countries, such as Britain (where Hezbollah bombed a Jewish charity in 1994), it can be difficult to obtain items like blasting caps and explosives; these can be supplied with the protection of a diplomatic pouch.

      Many MOIS intelligence operatives have been educated in the United States or in Britain, wear nice suits, are multilingual and move easily in Western social circles -- unlike the IRGC operatives in Lebanon, who, socially speaking, are rougher around the edges. The combination of their brains and Hezbollah's willingness to pursue martyrdom can produce highly formidable capabilities.

      With Hezbollah under attack in Lebanon and Iran unable to send significant reinforcements, there is some possibility that Hezbollah might resort to staging an attack abroad as a way of countering the Israeli assault. If so, it is highly likely that operatives already are on the move; the organization has been known to use "off the shelf" operational plans in the past, and its targeting information and surveillance would need to be updated -- regardless of whether an order to strike is actually issued. It is reasonable to believe that Hezbollah would find it advantageous to coordinate with MOIS again, as in past operations. Whether the Iranians would see events through the same lens, however, is much less clear. Tehran might cooperate in an attack only if it is willing to seriously escalate the current conflict in the Middle East -- which, given its many interests in the region, does not appear so far to be the case.
      TownHall.com appears to still be down, but Maria sent Dennis Prager's Israel's war separates the decent left from the indecent left, and Thomas Sowell's Then and now

      Chinese hail Genghis Khan as first Renaissance man. Yeah, right.

      Khmer Rouge "Butcher" dies

      More on AMLO: Official loser in Mexico election to ignore result. Lopez Obrador set to begin campaign of civil resistance; bishops urge calm. AMLO's initials are an anagram for MALO, which means bad. He's living up to that.

      Dinner in the sky. For $15,000 I want a floor under my feet, but whatever floats your boat.
      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll.

      (technorati tags , , )

      Tuesday, July 25, 2006

      Hezbollah in Latin America

      Last week, after Sigmund, Carl and Alfred sent me this article, Jihad in the Caribbean, which explores the subject of the Caribbean's links to jihad - and Jamaica's links in particular - I started to do some research. The amount of articles is huge, but the subject should be explored.

      As an introduction to the subject, I'm starting with Jeffrey Goldberg's 2002 article in The New Yorker IN THE PARTY OF GOD
      Hezbollah sets up operations in South America and the United States


      The article gives a description of the Triple Frontier zone -- also called The Triple Border, or (pdf file) Tri-Border Area (TBA) -- where Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil meet:
      Roughly two hundred thousand people live in the Ciudad del Este region, including a substantial minority of Arab Muslims; in the Triple Frontier zone, there may be as many as thirty thousand. According to intelligence officials in the region and in Washington, this Muslim community has in its midst a hard core of terrorists, many of them associated with Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group backed by the Iranian government; some with Hamas, the Palestinian fundamentalist group; and some with Al Qaeda. It is, over all, a community under the influence of extreme Islamic beliefs; intelligence officials told me that some of the Triple Frontier Arabs held celebrations on September 11th of last year and also on the anniversary this year. These officials said that Hezbollah runs weekend training camps on farms cut out of the rain forest of the Triple Frontier. In at least one of these camps, in the remote jungle terrain near Foz do Iguaçu, young adults get weapons training and children are indoctrinated in Hezbollah ideology—a mixture of anti-American and anti-Jewish views inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini.

      In the Triple Frontier, Hezbollah raises money from legitimate businesses but, more frequently, from illicit activities, ranging from drug smuggling to the pirating of compact disks. Unlike the other radical Islamic groups in the Triple Frontier, Hezbollah, it is said, has the capability to commit acts of terror.
      In addition to drug smuggling and video piracy, the tactics include protection rackets,
      At the beginning of each month, they said, a Hezbollah official named Sobhi Fayad or one of his associates would visit shops owned by Lebanese immigrants—Shiites, but also Sunni Muslims and Christians. The shop owner would be handed a certificate thanking him for the support he had provided to various Hezbollah-run charitable groups. A dollar amount would be written on each certificate—a South American investigator showed me one with the figure ten thousand dollars—and the shop owner would be expected to pay that sum. After that, the certificate would be put in his shopwindow—and no more "donations" would be sought for the remainder of the month. Otherwise, the shop owner would be warned, and then his relatives in Lebanon would be warned, that if they didn't comply Hezbollah would spread rumors about them. "People would be told that they are spies for Israel," one South American investigator told me. Some were beaten. "It's a very effective system," the investigator said.
      and money laundering,
      The Fayad operation was expert in laundering money. According to intelligence documents provided to me by regional investigators, Hezbollah has used traders from India to move money from Paraguay to the Middle East. The documents referred to an Indian named Rajkumar Naraindas Sabnani, who does business in the Triple Frontier and in Hong Kong; investigators allege that he arranged to ship goods to Paraguay, receiving payment far in excess of their value. After subtracting his own fee and paying for the actual goods, Sabnani wired the surplus to banks in the United States or in Lebanon. Sabnani is believed to be currently in Hong Kong.
      Hezbollah's annual budget is more than a hundred million dollars, provided by the Iranian government directly and by an international network of fund-raisers, of which, according to the article approx. 10% came from the Triple Frontier area.

      Some of the funds raised were used for materials that are probably being used in the current Hezbollah attacks on Israel: (emphasis added)
      Hezbollah officials in Lebanon asked the cell members in North America to buy such items as computers, night-vision equipment, mine-detection devices, global-positioning devices, and advanced aircraft-analysis software. Bell said he did not know how much of the equipment requested by Hezbollah was shipped to Lebanon. Wiretaps revealed that Hezbollah members discussed buying life-insurance policies for operatives who "might in a short period of time go for a 'walk' and 'never come back,' " the indictment reads.
      There are also Hezbollah involvement in cigarette smuggling in North Carolina, but,
      The North Carolina operation is not the only Hezbollah cell to have been discovered in the United States. Asa Hutchinson, the director of the Drug Enforcement Administration, told me recently that his agents discovered a drug-trafficking ring in the Midwest that was sending some of its proceeds to Hezbollah.
      The Goldberg article is the second in a series of two titled IN THE PARTY OF GOD. In the first part, also written in 2002, Goldberg asked,
      Are terrorists in Lebanon preparing for a larger war?


      We now know the answer to that.

      (technorati tags , , )

      One for the Anchoress

      The Anchoress just emailed me a collection of Bryn Terfel photos, and, since one good turn deserves another, here's news to warm her heart:
      HM The Queen presents Bryn Terfel with The Queen's Medal for Music 2006 at BBC Proms

      Terfel is the second recipient of this award which was introduced last year, and is made annually to an individual (or group of musicians) judged to have had a major influence on the musical life of the nation.
      While life as a major opera star can sometimes be a drag, it has its rewards.

      MMmmm, Bryn!

      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll
      (technorati tags , )

      Proportionate madness

      Don't miss A Proportionate Response is Madness:
      The list of those who have accused Israel of not being in harmony with its enemies is long and, alas, distinguished. It includes, of course, the United Nations and its secretary general, Kofi Annan. It also includes a whole bunch of European newspapers whose editorial pages call for Israel to respond, it seems, with only one missile for every one tossed its way. Such neat proportion is a recipe for doom.

      The dire consequences of proportionality are so clear that it makes you wonder if it is a fig leaf for anti-Israel sentiment in general. Anyone who knows anything about the Middle East knows that proportionality is madness. For Israel, a small country within reach, as we are finding out, of a missile launched from any enemy's back yard, proportionality is not only inapplicable, it is suicide. The last thing it needs is a war of attrition. It is not good enough to take out this or that missile battery. It is necessary to re-establish deterrence: You slap me, I will punch out your lights.
      I was watching BBC news this morning and was amazed at how their reporters tried to tap dance around the facts of
      • missiles filled with ball bearings being fired from Lebanon today (and the Beeb was showing the damage on a Haifa city bus)
      • from entire border towns that are being run by Hezbollah;
      • large underground tunnels surrounding Israel
      • terrorists hiding among civilians, and being proud that they had lost very few fighters, and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of casualties which even UN guy Jan "give me more money" Engeland recognizes as a fact (yet he thinks the Gaza offensive is "disproportionate")
      • while the Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah is telling al-Jazeera that the Lebanese government explicitly knew that Hezbollah would invade Israel and abduct Israeli soldiers
      • Hizbullah's representative in Iran says they're going to widen the war, because
        "This war will be remembered as the beginning of the end for Israel," Safiadeen said.
      • Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers were killed in Lebanon (are we supposed to think they were on vacation?)
      While you ponder this, read Walid Phares's article on Hezbollah's Iranian War in Lebanon, which killed the Cedar Revolution in its cradle.

      The legacy media will do what they can to reassert the memes. But some are starting to see things differently (hat tip Sigmund Carl & Alfred)

      Pajamas Media's extensive coverage and its new Politics Central site are the places for more news.

      Update
      Via Barcepundit, one photo you won't be seeing at the Beeb:

      (click on photo for article)

      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll.

      (technorati tags , , , )

      Monday, July 24, 2006

      Beeb bias, Viva le Floyd, Condi in Beirut, a Puerto Rican Miss U, and today's ME articles from Maria

      Check out the updates!

      The worst Beeb bias yet?
      France2 and the Beeb's ME coverage has shown plenty of man-in-the-street interviews with Lebanese men (and a veiled woman or two) spewing bile against Israel, but Stephen Pollard finds The worst BBC bias yet
      I can't imagine that the BBC has ever broadcast a more poisonous or vile programme than this morning's Andrew Marr show. It devoted - quite properly - the first half to the events in the Lebanon. But what was completely improper was that every guest - every guest - was simply nodded into the studio and handed air time to pour out as much anti-Israel bile as they could manage in their allotted slot. And there was not one slot allocated to anyone who thoiught that Israel might have even the basis of a case.
      And Stephen hasn't even touched on the loathsome HardTalk, with the obnoxious host and the straight-from-Hades fire & brimstone set. Meanwhile, via Linda, the NYT continues to spill secrets

      Floyd's da man! (click on photo)
      Floyd Landis Wins Tour De France I do not exaggerate when I say that the French were salivating over the prospect of regaining Tour victory after 7 consecutive years of Lance Armstrong's victories. They'll have to wait.
      Update Government-owned France2 buried the Tour report 25 minutes into the broadcast, and showed it after a rather pathetic report on mountain biking.

      A PR Miss U
      In other earth-shaking news, Puerto Rican Is Miss Universe for the fifth time. I can safely predict that Puerto Rico will declare a day off so people can attend a giant parade that will deliver her from the airport to the governor's mansion while San Juan traffic will be tied up for hours (a lot more than usual, that is).
      Update More at Powerline

      Condi in Beirut
      I guess CBS News thought Dr. Rice was going to start by pressuring the Israelis: Rice Makes Surprise Visit To Beirut.
      Update: And she's not mincing words, either.

      Pajamas Media's Politics Central Leverages Global Editors for Continuous Stories and Exclusive Podcast Interviews. Check it out at Pajamas Media and at Politics Central, THE place to read about the ME, and don't miss also the following:
      Today's ME articles from Maria:

      Iran Against the Arabs: Unease grows over Tehran's menace
      There is no change of heart in Riyadh, Cairo or Kuwait. Saudi princes still finance Palestinian terror. Rather, the recent Arab tolerance toward Israel's predicament and condemnation of Hezbollah signal recognition of a greater threat on the horizon. Wadi Batti Hanna, a columnist in Iraq's Arab nationalist al-Ittijah al-Akhar daily, put it bluntly when, on July 15, he asked, "How long will the Arabs continue to fight on behalf of Iran?"
      Calif. Pro-Israel rallies draw political heavyweights

      Israeli startup turns mother's herbal remedy into a diabetes treatment

      TownHall.com appears to be down, but here are a few articles if you can get through: Appeasing contempt of the Jews
      Hugh Hewitt writes about What The American Left Really Thinks About Israel: Tom Hyaden Explains It All For You and links to Tom Hayden's post in the Huffpo:
      It is clear that apocalyptic forces, openly green-lighted by President Bush, are gambling on the impossible. They are trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in Iraq through escalation in Lebanon and beyond. This is yet another faith-based initiative.

      If the American people do not see through the headlines; if the Democrats turn hawkish; if the international community fails to intervene immediately, the peace movement may be sidelined to a prophetic and marginal role for the moment.
      . . .
      The immediate conflict should not become a pretext for continuing the U.S. military occupation of Iraq. American soldiers should not be stuck waist-deep in a sectarian quagmire. Congressional insistence on denying funds for permanent military bases is a vital first step. Otherwise we will witness a tacit alliance between Israel and the U.S. to dominate the Middle East militarily.
      As Hewitt said,
      Hayden is to be thanked for stating the real agenda of the Democratic Party's dominant faction in bold and undisguised particulars.
      Ralph Peters: CAN ISRAEL WIN? NOT THE WAY IT'S FIGHTING

      Thank You Israel

      Maria also sent this cartoon

      STONE SINKS: NEW FLICK MISSES 9/11'S ESSENCE. I'm not surprised. As Podhoretz mentions, Oliver Stone said only a month after 9/11: "the revolt of September 11th was about 'F--- you! F--- your order'".

      At the blogs
      More Israel = Nazis, now in Barcelona, from Inside Europe: Iberian notes, who translated the signs.

      Not related to the ME, ACLU Harassing Sheriff For Enforcing The [immigration] Law. ACLUseless

      And don't miss:

      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll.

      (technorati tags , , , , , , )

      Sunday, July 23, 2006

      Fidel not dead

      Not dead, and on pilgrimage in Argentina with Mini-Me:

      Castro, Chavez visit Che's childhood home
      Cuban President Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Saturday toured the Argentine boyhood home of Castro's fallen comrade and legendary guerrilla, Ernesto "Che" Guevara.
      . . .
      Chavez told reporters the two were delighted by their tour: "Fidel invited me to come and get to know the house. For me, it's a real honor being here."
      As the Church Lady said, "Isn't that precious!"

      Update, Monday July 24: Carlos Alberto Montaner casts insight on castro's coming demise
      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll.

      (technorati tags , , )

      Saturday, July 22, 2006

      Saturday blogging: Stoics in review

      I picked up a few books that visitors to this blog might find interesting.

      The first one is not the most interesting. Live Your Best Life: A Treasury of Wisdom, Wit, Advice, Interviews, and Inspiration from O, The Oprah Magazine is a compendium of previously-published articles from O Mag, with 1-2 page long articles on the usual Oprah fare. There's plenty of advice by O, Suze, Dr. Phil, et al, and some interviews, but I can't say I found much wit or inspiration. Skeptics might refer to it as the Book of Common Fare for the Church of Oprah.

      The confessional self-help and possitive affirmation tone of the Book of Common Fare for the Church of Oprah couldn't be further from Nany Sherman's fascinating Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy behind the Military Mind. One might even say that Oprah is from Venus and Nancy is from Mars, to paraphrase another of Oprah's protégés, which would mean short-changing Nancy but wouldn't be too inaccurate. As Ms Sherman says in the first line of the preface,
      This book is about "sucking it up".
      and thank G-d for that. Control, self-discipline, endurance, "can do" agency, and stiff upper lip are virtues (yes, virtues) we can all use in these our trying times. As Sherman explains (p. 27),
      Virtue alone becomes sufficient for happiness, without dependence on external goods or luck. This position, in essence, is what the Stoics return to and embrace.
      Think of Stoic Warriors as the Oprahantidote.

      While Ms Sherman at times plods through the psychology of facial expressions and the "ritualized aesthetics of garments" in the military, the book is both interesting in its exploration of the military and in its explanation of the Stoic philosophy. She gives clear descriptions of what the Stoics believed, and quotes appropriately from Cicero, Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. All these authors' works are available for free on line at The Internet Classics Archive and other sources, in addition to being available at Amazon.

      If the name Marcus Aurelius sounds familiar, it's because Bill Clinton (arguably the least stoic president in history) claimed to have as bedside reading The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Bill didn't specify on whose bedside, so maybe it was.

      I also came across Arthur Cotterell's The Encyclopedia of Classic Mythology, beautifully illustrated with Victorian (mostly Pre-Raphaelite) and Eduardian paintings and drawings. Each character description is complete while not too lengthy.

      Cotterell's The Encyclopedia of Classic Mythology is a very nice reference book on Greek, Roman, Celtic, and Norse mythologies, which also comes in handy when trying to decypher the meaning of the art and music of the Western tradition. My only misgiving is that the print is very small and the captions to the illustrations are smaller yet, and in lighter font, which makes them harder to read, so please keep that in mind if you're buying the book as a gift.

      While not related to the ancient Romans or the Stoics, Olivia the pig continues to amuse her many fans. The latest installment of the charming series, Olivia Forms a Band, brings back my favorite girl pig and will bring a smile to your face. The series is brilliantly written and illustrated by Ian Falconer, and each Olivia book is a classic.

      Olivia Forms a Band is delightful. Buy one for yourself and one for a friend!

      (technorati tags , , , , )
      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll.
      Thank you

      Friday, July 21, 2006

      A sign of courage in Madrid

      El Manifestómetro (in Spanish) has video of the lone Israel sympathizer at a peace demonstration in Madrid.

      The young man was alone, holding a sign that said,
      La otra cara
      on one side, "Israel wants peace! Stop the killing!"
      Una cara

      and on the other side, "Don't let them fool you! Anyone voting for Hezbollah and Hamas doesn't want PEACE"

      The guy was confronted by hostile men who started yelling at him, "Who's paying you? Who's paying you to provoke? Provocateur! Jew! Jew s-o-b! Nazi! Scram! Out! Murderer!"


      El Manifestómetro's commenter Arutha, who lives in the area of the demonstration didn't get to see the guy with the sign, but heard people yellling, "It's not terrorism, it's resistance!".

      The police removed the young man from the premises while the crowd chanted "Nazi! Nazi!".

      On a related subject, Fjordman posts In Praise of the First and Second Amendments:
      In a true, totalitarian society such as the old Soviet Union, crime rates are usually low because of the crushing state control of all its citizens. Supposedly, street crime in Moscow in the USSR was rare, probably because the state itself was the biggest criminal. In contrast, in the European Union of today, which is not a totalitarian society, at least not yet, crime rates are booming in major cities. At the same time, authorities are stepping up censorship efforts, openly talking about media "speech codes" and aggressively slapping labels such as "racism" or "xenophobia" on anybody daring to criticize the immigration policies or pointing out the inadequate response to Muslim gang violence.
      Read it all.

      Update Via Newton, In Spain, anti-Semitism is new leftist trend
      Spanish Jews knew there were hard times ahead. Prime Minister Zapatero has not disappointed them

      Zapatero wearing the kaffiyah
      . (Photo: AP)
      ------------------------------

      A reminder: Fausta's blog has a new address. Please update your bookmark and your blogroll
      (technorati tags , , , )