Of Sick Games, Dangerous Asymmetrics and Demographics

It's a bit of a mixed bag today, mostly covered by the press from hell.

- "Church threatens legal action over 'sick' Sony game which 'desecrates' cathedral"
Sony stands accused by Church of England clergy of desecrating Manchester Cathedral after using the place of worship, without permission, as the backdrop to an ultra-violent computer game. A Dutch media outlet picks up the story (probably the low season has started to kick in) and heads "Church of England upset about a little game". The diminutive and the postmodern inverted commas trivialize the alleged qualification of the 'sickness' as well as the game itself, while in 'desecrates' they serve the purpose of throwing into doubt if such a thing really exists: isn't it all a gross exaggeration posed by hysterical Christians?

It reminds me of the comments of a E.U. Commissioner Margot "make-love-not-war" Wallstrom a few months ago, who briefly assumed the role of film critic. She derided the American production "The Departed" - covered by the freedom of expression, if not artistic licence - for its 'violence'. Apparently virtual violence from American sources is much worse than produced by Japanese. Ah, the selective indignation of the postmodern establishment and the overt game of deriding organised Christian faith in the press! And so our opinions are manipulated.

- The Los Angeles Times exploits and misuses Pope Benedict's criticism of the Iraq war for its own purposes. In "On Iraq, pope's message to Bush is quiet but firm" (which is an invention in contradiction of their own words further down the article: "Benedict did not use Bush's visit to make public remarks of substance and instead chose to deliver his message in private") the reporters state: "Benedict has been vocal in his opposition to bloodshed in the Middle East, singling out the Iraq war in this year's Easter message ...".

Actually, Pope Benedict XVI in his Easter message, worked his way down the entire list of the world's trouble spots. Instead, it was the press that singled out Iraq from that list!

- South Africa's IOL, with the intrepid headline "Palestinians 'take fight' to Israelis" is reporting on the brazen attack by a disguised Israeli army jeep on the Kissufim crossing, a fortified army position. Jerusalem Post clarifies that the hapless disguise of the car, with the letters TV taped on it, attracted attention of the Israeli soldiers since journalists do not usually drive so close to the security fence. A Palestinian spokesman admitted the raiders meant to snatch a soldier, but the attempt was foiled when IAF helicopters arrived.

The asymmetric warfare of the Palestinians could easily have backfired, as we have seen prior to last year's Lebanon war as a result of the abduction of an IDF soldier. It seems the Palestinian cause is well worth the risk of a few Palestinian lives. On top of that, after ambulances being used in attacks, press vehicles have now become also suspect. Which means that Palestinian lives are at stake as the former are checked for fighters and explosives, and that in the latter case the press are being hampered in their pet project of bringing the Palestinian cause to the world. In today's climate of emotion over reasonable arguments, in both cases the Israelis get blamed, while the Palestinians shoot themselves in the foot.

- Dutch Elsevier Magazine's Women's section carries a column on the lengths some people will go to in order to conceive: "It is actually possible to live without children, you know", taunts the columnist. Holland hasn't woken up yet to the fact that this attitude is the reason, that millions of Muslims from Turkey and Morocco are uprooted from their rural agricultural or pastoral base, into a society that is overly permissive, postmodern and post-industrialized, so as to broaden the tax base to pay for the columnist's pension in twenty years time.

In "Liberty for Social Security" in the series "Neo-Totalitarianism" we concluded that immigration is the Socialists solution to the problems caused by Socialist policies. It will have grave consequences for the future. The impending demographic annihilation is being hushed up, and very few people have as yet woken up to the fact.

Refuge within the Western hemisphere will just land you in another pickle: here's Ann Coulter's view from America. The similarities are striking! Anybody got any data on New Zealand's Southern Island of late?

How existential demographic imbalances can become the Israelis as well as the Serbs in Kovoso can attest to: of what once was the Serbian heartland, today only ten percent remain, fighting for their culture and way of life, a tiny enclave beleaguered by an assertive Muslim majority.

In Israel P.M. Olmert spends billions for Jerusalem, amidst warnings of a Palestinian demographic threat to the capitol, saying Hamas could take over the city without as much as firing a shot. I can do better than that: given time, large parts of Europe will be added to that inheritance, The Netherlands almost certainly in the vanguard of that development.