The Marxist Revival (9): Why the Mayor of Brussels Gags Free Speech

~ Continued from Part 8: Hysterically Moving the Goal Posts ~

In the present series on the intricacies of Postmodernism (Pomo, or crypto cultural Marxism) we are looking at the use of language, speech in particular. In the preceding posts we discussed a number of the peculiarities that are the result of the Postmodern way of looking at language: not as a vehicle for the transmission of objective data, but to convey a personal version of reality.

In this instalment we'll go further into what the consequences are for the application of Pomo speech: the restriction of free speech by the apparent changing of the rule book in mid-play, as witnessed at present by the Socialist Mayor of Brussels in prohibiting an independent, Paneuropean, grassroots demo against the Islamization of the continent.

In an article adapted from a lecture address given by Stephen Hicks at The Objectivist Center during the 2002 Summer Seminar we find our answer. Hicks uncovers the Left's totalitarian designs on free speech, which they find must be 'redistributed' like tax payer's money.

Hicks, in explaining the idea, uses the analogy of a largely American policy, which has proved useful during the early years of civil rights movement: positive action (or affirmative action, or positive discrimination), and a practical example from the world of sports: shooting hoops with a star basketball champ, who's been lumbered with ankle weights to equalize the chances.

As in some sports, this Marxist vehicle to multiculturalism posits to fit out the stronger, established groups with a similar 'handicap'. The weaker cultural, social and ethnic groups - the subjective minorities, or oppressed victims - are compensated in a measure approximately proportionate to their inequality. Thus the playing field is levelled.

As a temporary policy positive action may have served its purposes, but it has created institutionalized inequality instead of eradicating it. It now comes back to haunt us: the Left is using the same principle to suppress speech rights for the established, supposedly stronger majority.

The collectivist, subjective set of measures is the expectant mother of many evils, but a potentially devastating consequence is, that it may turn the Western world into an intellectual graveyard as individual freedom to pursue knowledge through debate, critique and free enquiry, is being suppressed.

Hicks provides a few samples of speech code which we've all come to know very well, potentially turning perpetrators into veritable criminals:

"Any behavior, verbal or physical, that stigmatizes or victimizes an individual or a group on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, creed, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry or age of the individual or individuals, etc. etc. ...... "

... which acts as a handicap for the established, stronger social groups. Moreover, Postmodern Leftists have literally taken leave of their senses, making no distinction between speech, and act, as Classical Liberalism has always made a point of doing.

Speech may have the intent to hurt. Sound waves beating against the other party's eardrums are just as bad as hitting him over the head with a baseball club. Therefore, the symbolic date of 9/11 for the Brussels demo, lumped the process of Islamization together with a terrorist act on that date!

That's why, in the International Herald Tribune Burgomaster Freddy goes on the record as saying that in a secular democracy "it cannot be that women and men are ... suspected of having committed the worst crimes" simply because they are Muslims, while in fact the demonstrators are not committing any such crudity! All they want is equality and Roman law, not Sharia.

The moving of the goal posts - declaring the rules applicable to one side only - works in tandem with the above surreal confusion of terms. It is one of Marxism's concepts to win power - or destruct. We've seen it at work in the persistent calling for tolerance, to which we should add: "yes, but that only applies to you, stupid!", as it acts as an equalizing ankle weight for the establishment: they are to practice tolerance, they may not generalize, are not allowed to stigmatize, or discriminate.

The Left on the other hand, and by extension all the weaker, oppressed minority groups which they portent to represent, are above such conventions and can breach the rule book for all they are worth. And we, stupid objectivists, still thinking there's just one set of rules for the whole of humanity ...!

It's a decades old invention of the grandfather of the Frankfurt School of Western Marxism, Herbert Marcuse. It's called repressive tolerance. The Socialist Mayor of Brussels is simply applying cultural Marxism to the entire continent of Europe!

For daily purposes the Left imposes their one-sided rules by the social pressure of political correctness. In other cases a verdict by an independent court* is required. That court will apply the Belgian Anti Racism Act.

While redistribution of capital used to be the favorite means to Utopia for economical Marxism, in this case the redistribution of speech rights is the pet vehicle to cultural egalitarianism (multiculturalism). As for the Muslims, success breeds conceit: they're supposed to be the new gays!

* Update 31/8 23:55H: A post on Brussels Journal provides the latest news on the 9/11 Stop Islamization of Europe demo, throwing as well an interesting light on the state of independent courts in the Kingdom of Belgium. The movement is gathering pace. The VLD students are also in, as they should be! The MSM are roaring increasingly louder, a sure sign this cannot be ignored anymore! Don't forget to sign the petitions!

Update 1/9 17:15H: Up Pompeii reports that "The whip for Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League party in the European Parliament, Mario Borghezio, issued a statement in Brussels on Thursday condemning the court ban on the planned protest."Banning SOIE's protest, which is intended to commemorate the victims of '9/11' and oppose the perilous Islamisation of Europe, violates the fundamental rights of the European Union," Borghezio said."The risks to public order invoked by the mayor are a clear strategem to ... >>>

Update 1/9 17.50H: Here the latest from HQ on the legal status and some instructions for the rally.

(If the video refuses service, here's a link.)

SIOE: Belgian Court Upholds Ban

Yesterday the Belgian Council of State has ruled to uphold the mayoral ban on the Stop Islamization of Europe (SIOE) demonstration, to be held on 9/11.

Initially the Court postponed the ruling to decide if the appeal should be presented in Flemish or in French. Today, however, the Council of State has cut the case short and ruled outright to uphold the ban. According to the verdict Udo Ulfkotte of the SIOE organization hasn't proved his interests are harmed by the Thielemans ban.

Brussels Journal: "Belgian High Court Maintains Ban Against Anti-Islamist Demonstration" - This verdict may sound nonsensical to non-Belgians, but in Belgium it is not considered harmful to have one’s political freedoms restricted. In Belgium it is also considered quite normal that the lawyer representing Mayor Thielemans before the CoS is Marc Uyttendaele. The latter is one of the most expensive lawyers in the country. He is also the husband of Laurette Onkelinx, the Belgian minister of Justice, who is responsible for appointing, promoting and suspending judges. >>>

International Herald Tribune: "Brussels court upholds ban on anti-Islam protest planned for Sept. 11" (A.P.) - IHT allows a peep into the spin kitchen, how perceptions are got at in a way that can only be termed, demagogy: "In a secular democracy "it cannot be that women and men are ... suspected of having committed the worst crimes" simply because they are Muslims, said Thielemans" ... as if that is the focus of the protest! In one word: Dégoutant, Widerlich, Walgelijk, Disgusting!!! >>>

Gates of Vienna: "Belgium to SIOE: Drop Dead" - ... plenty of disgruntled Europeans are going to show up in Brussels on 9-11, despite Mayor Thielemans and the Council of State.The two big questions are: 1. How many will be there? 2. How will the Belgian authorities respond? >>>

SIOE HQ: "Business as usual" - Well! Mayor Thielemans believes he has the final say! Thousands of people believe otherwise. >>>

Reverting later on today with an update when I've mentally digested the fact, that the Europe I grew up in and was proud of, the cradle of Western civilization, has now evidently been taken over by barbary thanks to a silent majority and The Unholy Alliance.

Update: Robert Spencer weighs in on Dhimmi Watch: "Brussels court upholds ban ... " - "Of course, about the Islamization of Europe itself, Thielemans has nothing to say, because he doesn't recognize its implications, because he has swallowed the PC nonsense about Islam being a religion of peace with no particular ... >>>

Blurring the Border between Reality and Perception (3)

This is the third and last instalment in a series of posts on the effects of Postmodernism (Pomo, or cultural Marxism, or Subjectivism, or relativism) on journalism and the MSM. If you've read the preceding two instalments you might want to skip this introduction and jump to "Continued from Part 2" four paras down.

To remind ourselves of the heart of the trouble: it's the basic fallacy of the industry's pet philosophy that objective reality does not exist. The danger of this deliberate mistake is, that the line between reality and perception becomes blurred, causing any amount of confusion.

One consequence is, that fact - which is based on objective reality - is also rejected as a result, which is a bit of a problem if you're dealing with facts on a daily basis, as is the case in journalism. So what we see reported by the media aren't so much cool, detached facts, as much as the reporter's personal version of reality.

Another, moral consequence of the rejection of reality is, that good and bad, right and wrong, truth and lie, are denied in the same way; or to put it in another way: everybody is 'right' from his or her own particular point of view, and anything 'bad' is called 'bad', only because it doesn't fit into our present, defective idea of society.

The spectacle of pretended journalistic objectivity has run for a long time, until quite recently - at last, pretence was dropped altogether. But the objective realists are now starting to fight back. Lists are appearing with facts, detailing when, why and how the facts were manipulated to conform with somebody's particular 'narrative', attempts at disinformation, censoring, fraud, spin and counter-spin, fibs and lies, fabrication, selective emphasizing, manipulation and censoring, the whole dishonest spectrum.

~ Continued from Part 2 ~

I recently reported, and made some work of, an example of the typical modern activist in the person of a young Belgian convert to Islam. Eva Vergaelen is academically trained in higher crypto Marxism and obtained a degree in Neo Imperialism (or, How to Ruin the Third World and Retain a Clean Conscience) at Antwerp University. She expresses an interest in Identity and Gender Politics. In short, she is a glorified activist posing as a journalist, producing work on Islamization and Multiculturalism that is stripped of anything even remotely approaching balanced objectivity.


In the recent showdown in Brussels involving the institutionalised forces of Subjectivism as represented by Socialist mayor Freddy Thielemans on the one hand, and the Paneuropean organization "Stop the Islamization of Europe" on the other, she joined forces with the radical Hizbollah affectionate, Dyab Abu Jahjah of the Arab European League, in producing a thoroughly toxic article that was filled to the brim with lies and revisionism. It was briefly published on the site of The Brunei Times, but has since been removed. The sole purpose of such invective can only be the poisoning of the atmosphere against the West within the Dar-al-Islam. One wonders just how many Eva Vergaelens roam the tortured land.

Rummaging further through my archive yielded:

- Douglas Hanson's article "The Real Lesson of the Beauchamp Affair" (there may be another such an affair in the making). The Hanson article not just lists that recent scandal, but also throws another light on the Abu Graib scandal, which he terms a "high quality disinformation operation" that played off Iraqi and Arab historical ethnic, racial and cultural biases, indicating that this was run by seasoned professionals in journalism and their government 'sources';

- Tito's bunkers in Iraq, containing the illusive WMD;

- The NIE report;

- The Hamari atrocities, as covered by independent journalist Michael Yon, and ignored by the MSM;

- The Haditha Massacre is another case in point: read the whole article on Accuracy in Media "Haditha Massacre: Media and Terrorist Hoax", which prompted NewsMax to a spot of impromptu fund-raising to cover the legal expenses of the accused;

- Or the reporting on the Beslan massacre. On the same link you will find how normal, professional journalism has become so rare, that it is covered in laurels!

Inconvenient facts are preferably spun into favourable public perceptions, or they are reduced to 'somebody's personal opinion'; alternatively they are suppressed altogether (voluntary or otherwise), or - case need - dealt with through the courts.

These days we have Leftist inspired hatred laws at the expense of free speech and freedom of conscience. These laws are little else but legal back up for political correctness, in other words, the Left's soft social pressure to conform with their morality and political agenda, which they share with their partner in the Unholy Alliance, institutionalized Islam. Read "Stop Forum Shopping Terrorism" by Flanders Fields for a very important case. Said Rachel Ehrenfeld was recently the guest of Pamela Geller's at BlogTalkRadio. The broadcast is available here.

Consider this from Doug Giles' recent article on Townhall: we are "bamboozled into believing that Islam is a peaceful, Little House on the Prairie religion being temporarily hijacked by jihadist renegades".

The combined, cultural egalitarianism of the Unholy Alliance may have prompted a commentary in Examiner by John R. Thomson "Whose Genocide Will it Be": "America is berated for heinous crimes, minimizing whatever may have been done by the regimes of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein and, currently, Sudanese President and Field Marshal Omar al-Bashir".

Let me stress at this point that all these totalitarian dictatorships are based on the rejection of reality fallacy (see Chart I: the Straight Red Line), sharing the same Counter-Enlightenment heritage as originated by Rousseau.

Giles again: "Simultaneously, the accusations are calculated to inflame the credulous Arab/Muslim street, in order to justify murderous Muslim terrorism, to recruit gullible suicide bombers and to attract covert support from Saudi Arabia, once a stalwart U.S. ally." Hm, the 'inflame' part reminds me of Eva and The Brunei Times ...

"This propaganda campaign seeks to distract the world’s attention from the real murderers, the true ethnic and religious cleansers. For the truth is, the perpetrators to an overwhelming degree are the Muslims themselves." To make the sinister list:

- Indonesia 500-600.000 - Bangladesh 1.4-2 million - Somalia 600.000 - Sudan 5-6 million and counting - Afghanistan's Soviet invasion 1.5 million, "the American invasion in 2001 created perhaps 10,000 fatalities" - the Iran/Iraq war 1.5 million on the side of Iraq, and 450-970.000 Iranians - in Iraq, Saddam's war on his own people, another 1 million deaths - Syrian fratricide in Syria 20.000, and in Lebanon 130.000 - The article further mentions Chad, Jordan, Mauretania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Turkey, Yemen and Zanzibar.

The apocalyptic figures are only rivalled by the hecatombs piled up by the heirs of Marx on the same altars of egalitarian collectivism! This, of course, is no coincidence. Both vistas enjoy an inherent justification to violence, and an end-justifies-the-means mentality.

I have no doubt whatsoever that any Pomo activist with an agenda would gladly counter those figures with the perversity of the Iraq Body Count (go ahead: check it!) - and "the Christian counterpart of the Iraqi fratricide", the Irish Troubles (4,000 fatalities), just so that things are put into perspective!

It's only appropriate to wrap this post up with Randall Hoven's "It's Not Just Scott Beauchamp" in American Thinker, a brave effort in almost comprehensively listing all the "lying and fabricating, doctoring photos, plagiarism, conflicts of interest, falling for hoaxes, and overt bias" in the recent history of damaged journalism.

Hoven's figures break down as follows: of the total count of 62 cases in the United States alone, 7 are in relation to Iraq, and 4 to the Middle East. Case number 28 makes clear that the Leftist press has been at it since The New York Times' Walter Duranty hailed the accomplishments of Stalin era Soviet Union. I conclude with Randall Hoven that:

"If it is 'too good to be true', or just too politically correct to be true, take it with a grain of salt - several grains, apparently, if from The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The New Republic, CNN or Reuters ... If this is the visible part of the iceberg, just how big is the iceberg?"

To which I can add a query of my own: I'm just so curious what the figures for Europe would be!

In the meantime there's an update in which Hoven effortlessly lists another 21 cases, of which 4 relate to the combustible Islam, Middle East, AQ triangle.

Greece: the Political Fall Out Begins

Well, that didn't take long! While the fires are threatening the villages of 'Lush Land' (Πλουτοχωρι, Peloponnese) and Marathon (approx. 50 km from Athens) the opposition leader, Georgos Papandreou of the Socialist PASOK party on Monday night issued a second official party political declaration in relation to the crisis.

It would appear that 'some government ministers' on Sunday night more or less implied to the foreign press, that some opposition radicals might be engaged in 'asymmetrical threats' (cui bono?). Papandreou is demanding proof for such foul, unspoken allegations.

Other opposition spokespersons point out that the government till this moment hasn't apologised for the situation, thereby implying government culpability. Oddly enough, after the people who were directly affected by the disaster, the government is about the last party to profit from the situation.

The opposition leader meanwhile has ratcheted up the imaginative hyperbole, milking the situation for all it is worth: "fear, insecurity, division and fanaticism (surely projection!), triggering chaos", all at once. Another representative of the opposition just now - in very high tones - reiterated the above, accusing the government of creating a 9/11 atmosphere. This is starting to sound like panic.

Police have arrested 32 arson suspects, and upto now have not disclosed any details as investigations continue into the origins of the blazes.

According to the Biased BBC (World) "approximately 2,000 people - by no means only representatives of leftist parties, but also families and the elderly" - attended a rally in the centre of Athens." "Some of the demonstrators said they believed the fires were deliberately started by property developers in order to clear the land for development."

"However, the president of the Hellenic Property Federation, Stratos Paradias, told the BBC ... if there is a company which wants to get its hands on some piece of land, to burn this land is the worst way to do it. "Once a forest is burnt, according to our constitution, within three months the Forestry Service is obliged to pass a decree according to which this land is reforested."

I already expressed my suspicions this is a classic urban legend. Perhaps the President of the Hellenic Property Federation should demand an apology from Franco Frattini, one of the Vice Presidents of the EU Commission who yesterday in his blog expressed 'construction mob' involvement, dubbing such alleged criminal acts "territorial terrorism". This, I reckon was primarily meant to expose the word 'terrorism' to frequent, inappropriate use, rendering it meaningless at some time in the near future.

The other usual suspects in the EU are exploiting the crisis to call for more integrated emergency cooperation, in other words: continued deepening of federal structures. Strangely, among the first countries to send fire-fighters and airplanes were Israel and Switzerland; both countries aren't EU members.

The press from hell continues: "'The village of Artimeta in the Peloponnese has become known as the 'crematorium', says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant who is in the village near the town of Olympia." I have serious doubts about this piece of atheist cynicism! Considering the fact that Greece is 96% Orthodox, a Christian denomination prescribing interment, I 'd be surpised if most Greeks even know what a crematorium is, as the first is still to be build; it's highly unlikely that local Greeks would describe a much loved village in such terms!

Update: VP Frattini of the EU Commission can rest assured: the political discussion has been suitably reframed. Either politicians talk of the construction mob's involvement in terms of 'terrorism', unless they belong to an opposition party, in which case the government is accused of governing by fear (just waiting for the word 'divisive' to be brought up).

Burning our History!

The site of ancient Olympia is now enclosed by wildfires from three sides.

Situation is sketchy: the academy and the surrounding brush and woodland is affected, but the museum is said to be safe ... for the moment.

Total number of casualties at present: 59.

Third night in Hades has set in!

"I wasn't worried about the house; I was worried about the museum!"

"We lost our beauty ..."

Who's Burning Greece?

Not that it ever was a mystery to countries in this part of the world, but since Spain 2003 everybody has been able to witness how catastrophic events can influence an election result: the psychological effects of terrorism, natural disasters and psyops.

The facts:

- The latest poll - three weeks before the general elections - shows the governing right wing Nea Democratia (ND) party at 31% of the vote, against the opposition Socialist Party, PASOK at 29,5%. If one applies a reasonable margin of error, this result can be considered too close to call.

- The present ND government has taken flack for its handling of the last batch of wildfires in June.

- Wildfires are a fixture during hot Greek summers, as they are in other semi-tropical parts of the world.

- On nearby mountain range Hymettos, the site of a fire that raged yesterday (I just wiped the ashes from the yard), burnt gas canisters have been found. Ant1 TV channel just showed video footage of two figures suddenly wrapped in a cloud of smoke.

- Present casualty count: 53 fatalities.

Related:

- "The country in state of emergency"
- "Emergency declared in Peloponnese"
- "Dread and disaster"

Comment and observations:

Although PASOK - when in power - haven't fared any better, opposition leader Georgos Papandreou yesterday - fires raging - in an official party political declaration, made it sound as if the government itself is guilty of arson. There are times I really dislike politicians.

Personally I no longer believe in the urban legend of the real estate industry's involvement, the traditional explanation for freak summer fires. This map and satellite image shows the main sites (by no means all!), and how evenly spread these smokers are along the western Peloponnese coast.

... "My wife's on fire in that house!"

Who's burning Arcadia ... ?

SIOE Update: Of Fascists, Commies and Hezbollah

First a few comments of a domestic nature on my part:

- A reminder that the SIOE Petition to the Mayor of Brussels, Freddy Thielemans to allow the 9/11 rally "Stop Islamization of Europe" can be signed HERE.

- Another petition, addressed to the Mayor of Londonistan for a SIOE activity in England, is available HERE.

- This will be my last SIOE Update and News Round-Up. As the organization grows and the press and blog exposure builds more and more time is involved, interfering with my other activities. However Google Email Alerts are a free and practical feature which allows you to build your own news and blog round-ups (choose 'Comprehensive'). I can recommend "SIOE" as a Search Term and various spellings and translations of "Stop Islamization of Europe".

News from HQ:

- SIOE: "AEL Wants to Demonstrate in Brussels on ... 9/11" - "It’s going to be busy in Brussels on the 11th of September. The AEL (Arab European League) announced that it will hold a manifestation against "Islamophobia and racism in Europe". The AEL is known for some violent protests in Antwerp some years ago. It was founded by Dyab Abu Jahjah. During the war last year, he went back to his homeland Lebanon to join Hezbollah in it’s fight against Israel. Dyab didn’t ... >>>

Note: AEL's website yields some unfortunate cryptology. Instead enjoy Theo van Gogh's article about his encounter with the AEL, written before he was martyred by a fiddle ... eh fidel.

This is news indeed! After Trolls United on 9/9 are accusing the Bush administration of having murdered 3,000 innocent people in cold blood for political gain, we now have the agents provocateurs of the AEL stirring the pot by adding insult to injury! This is crunch-time for Burgomeister Freddy Thielemans: is he going to allow this Hezbollah-by-proxy manifestation to go ahead on 9/11?! Is Freddy's veil about to drop? Is the Unholy Alliance itself about to grace Europe's proud capital with a presence?

AEL's declarations on the Belgian news site HLN.BE is oozing a toxic mix of veined innocence and victimhood, while relying on World War II ghosts and communist boogies to create the required poisoned atmosphere. AEL is accusing the SIOE of generalization, of lumping the entire peace-loving mainstream Ummah together with a coincidental terrorist fringe (the basis of Thielemans' legal prohibition), while unblinkingly coming up with a counter generalization: "Europe at last is showing its racist and imperialistic character". As Europe however is part of the realm of the White Patriarchal Oppressor, this will be no basis for a counter-prohibition: it is as yet not a deed of bigotry to lump all Europeans together as racists.

It must be said that Dyab Abu Jahjah is a rather clever, little demagogue who's learned in his native Lebanon how to play ethnic and religious divisions to the advantage of Leftist Fascism. He's known to be fiercely pro free speech; how else can he stoke up the civil strife that he wants? Possibly in a reaction to the next two entries, in another article on HLN.BE, he's denouncing the hypocrisy of the SIOE appeal to moderate Muslims, in no uncertain terms:

"The train has left and where it will end is predictable: an enlightened Kristallnacht" (double click will automate a clarification by Answers!). According to the AEL, an Islamic ghost has been created (see the imaginary ghost photo of 9/11 ... oh, I forgot ... 'twos BusHitler and them Dews that did 9/11!,) so as not to discuss "the real problems of capitalist society", which are indeed unsurmountable! This guy should have been a speech writer for Adolf Hitler! Of course he's livid - denouncing it as hypocrisy - that ... read on ...

- SIOE England, No Sharia Here and SIAD Denmark are carrying "The Annual International Islam Apostasy Day" - "SIOE believes that many who call themselves moderate Muslims are in fact closet apostates and are people desperate to leave Islam, but are too afraid to say so ... therefore, to encourage people wishing to leave Islam ...

(The)Annual International Islam Apostasy Day is the second Friday in October! In 2007 this is Friday October 12. Those wishing to leave Islam ... should congregate in the central square of their state capital on Friday October 12 wearing a plait of green, yellow and blue ribbons for mutual identification. Strength in numbers is the key. Be brave, be bold, be free! Better coordination may be achieved by using forums on websites such as:

- Faith Freedom - Apostate of Islam - Islam Watch -

- SIOE England, No Sharia Here: "The Brunei Times accuses Europe of Racism" - reproducing The Brunei Times' article "Eye on Europe's Islam Hypocrisy", authored by Ms Eva Vergaelen, a Belgian freelance activist eh ... journalist, and a recent convert to Islam. It is a highly inflammatory piece of invective, filled to the brim with deliberate factual errors, revisionism and bent logic. It is written in rather bad English and in a confrontational tone, reminiscent of afore mentioned Abu Jahjah.

Come to think of it, the piece is an almost verbatim copy of afore mentioned articles on the Belgian site HLN.BE, in which Abu Jahjah is denouncing the hypocrisy of the appeal to moderate Muslims in terms of a train running straight into the direction of an 'enlightened Kristallnacht'. It is obvious, Abu Jahjah and Ms Vergaelen are in collusion: he prompts her and she - as "free lance journalist, with special interests in gender politics and identity" (that's the class next door to Critical Theory) channels it on to spread its poison within the Dar-al-Islam.

The irrational logic goes about like this: because the Queen of England is also the Head of the Church of England the West isn't really all that secular, whereas Islam, familiar as it is with the separation of state and religion (Ali Abd Al-Raziq (1888-1966) saying that "Islam is a message of God and not a system to govern a worldly state"), "Islam can fit in whatever political system that its citizens choose a nice example of democracy." [sic]. And I say to Ms Eva "I am a little dumb" Vergaelen "one swallow no enlightened Muslim summer makes, and the royal exception confirms the rule"!

- SIAD Denmark: "Egypt and Arab News" - "Let me thank you for your effort regarding the conservation of the values of civilization against the tyranny of barbarianism here in the muslim world ... the authorities in the middle east claim that "islam is peaceful" ... they are fundamentalists & cruel & DO hate the "other" ... the truth is - and im speaking from INSIDE the arab & muslim world - is that they are a real danger to the civilization & Europe in specific [sic] >>> read it all ...

... and another story of Muslim disrespect for local culture: "Italy-News by "Lepanto". And here a typical example for Freddy-to-my-knowledge-not-a-single-rule-specific-to-the-Islamic-religion-is being-enforced-I see-no-indication-that-a-large-majority-of-our-Muslim-population-is-demanding-any-such-thing-Thielemans. No, they don't need to, as this is the method how it's done! You wanna have a religiously neutral public space? Fine! We no veil, you no Christmas tree nor Easter Eggs!

Round-up of the Press:

- Front Page Magazine: "Anti-Islamist Rally Banned in Brussels" - "... It is hard to believe that in Europe Muslims and far-left radicals are allowed to march in support of their causes and inane theories while those concerned about the ongoing disintegration of their societies are not only being silenced but threatened with legal action. The controversy surrounding the planned 9/11 rally in Brussels is emblematic of Europe’s rapid descent into madness. Today Europe is a place where things are turned upside down and where common sense is not only commonly disregarded but actively suppressed. Having lost both its sense of identity and sanity, Europe stands on the brink ... >>>

- Canada Free Press: "Toasting the Death of the Pope: Brussels mayor bans Stop the Islamisation of Europe demo but welcomes anti-American United for Truth rally" - "While Brussels’ `Fast Freddy" ... seems to be ultra sensitive towards some constituents, he shows no restraint when it comes to insulting Catholics ... Freddy’s boorish and loutish behaviour are worn as proudly as his mayor’s Chain of Office. ... In New York, the 22nd Annual Muslim Day Parade is also to take place on September 9. The event is expected to draw thousands of Muslim extremists ... since past parades have included accused death squad leader Ashrafuzzaman Khan, unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing ... In contemporary politics, mayors like Freddy Thielemans preside over the "whine cellar" of politics: civic government ... >>>

- Also in Canada Free Press: "Arab-European League, Stop the Islamisation of Europe, Pro-Hezbollah Group Will Demonstrate in Brussels on 9/11" by Brussels Journal's Paul Belien - "The Arab-European League (AEL), a pro-Hezbollah organization of Arab immigrants in Belgium and the Netherlands, is rallying its members to march in Brussels on 11 September "against Islamophobia and racism in Europe." The AEL demonstration is a response to the request by the Danish-British-German organization Stop the Islamisation .... >>>

Round-Up of the Blogs and Forums:

- Infidels are Cool: "Anti-Islamist Rally banned in Brussels" - "Unbelievable. Islamists can rant and rave about beheading infidels, instituting Sharia, and Death to America…yet when their own citizens try to march in support of Western culture and western civilization, the Mayor denies them", copying the Front Page Magazine article.

- Campaign for an English Parliament: "Stop Islamisation of Europe" - publishing the initial SIOE press release.

- Foehammer's Anvil: "Pro Hezbollah Group will Demonstrate in Brussels on 9/11" - "Europe is worse off than even I had previously thought. Look what additional protest is marching in Brussels on September 9th. Bottom-line: If you’re anti-American or pro Islam, you’re welcome to spread your taint wherever you please, but if you stand up for European or American rights, culture and dignity, forget about it", echoing Paul Belien's article.

- Atlas Shrugs: "Europe looks anarchical" - "Fat Boy Freddy nixed September 11th rally but this is OK eh? No to peaceful 9/11 freedom lovers rally, yes to troofers and Hezbos. Lovely. Storm the EU!", Pamela Geller also transcribing Paul Belien's article.

- The Discussion Forum "History of PIA" (Pakistan Int'l Airlines): "A Group calling itself Stop Islamization of Europe (SIOE)" - PIA was fast to lock onto Ms Eva Vergaelen's inflammatory invective in The Brunei Times. It's been posted, but no comments received yet at the time of publishing.

- Weasel Zippers: "Infuriating Dhimmi article of the day" - a review of Ms Vergaelen's poison pen in The Brunei Times - " ... Some dhimmified European "journalist." I can point out about 10 errors she made in this article...." Errors, Zip? This is just muzzleman revisionism and the Hizbollah version of reality!

- Right-Thinking from the Left Coast: "Welcome to Eurabia" - "If you live in Europe, and you don’t have anything to do on September 11, why not join the big pro-Hizbollah rally?", also on to Paul Belien's article in Brussels Journal.

That's all, Folks!

Blurring the Border between Reality and Perception (2)

~ Continued from Part 1 ~

This is the second instalment in a series of posts on the effects of Postmodernism (Pomo, or cultural Marxism, or subjectivism, or relativism) on journalism and the MSM. To remind ourselves of the essence of the trouble: the deliberate fallacy of their pet philosophy that objective reality does not exist. This causes a blurring of the border between what's real, and what is perception: the recipe for a global nut-house!

One pernicious consequence of this fallacy is a moral one: the denial of good and bad, right of wrong, truth or lie, or to put it in another way: everybody's 'right' from his or her own particular point of view, and everything 'bad' is only called 'bad' because it doesn't fit into the present idea of what constitutes society (once the egalitarian collectivism is established even pedophilia will become a 'good' thing).

Read here that "Julien Benda, in his 1928 classic "La Trahison de Clercs", decried with prophetic accuracy how the abandonment of objective truths abetted (my emphasis) totalitarian ideologies, which led to the cataclysmic destruction of World War II. The author (Diana West in her new book "The Death of the Grown-Up") identifies the "Trahison de Clercs" of our time: The complete failure of Western intellectuals to acknowledge the heinous consequences of the living Islamic institutions of jihad war and dhimmitude." Actually I can go much further than that: the abandonment of objective truth is the essence of the philosophy that underpins totalitarian ideologies!

Another catastrophic consequence of this deliberate fallacy is, that fact - which is rooted in objective reality - does not exist either. That, is a tough conclusion if your occupation is, observation and description of facts on a daily basis, as is the case in journalism.

So what we see reported lately, aren't so much cool, detached descriptions of the real world, as much as the reporter's personal opinion, the 'narrative' from his perspective, which, as is often the case, happens to be multicultural and Leftist - or he wouldn't be a Pomo in the first place.

Aside ... unconsciously society at large has picked up much of Pomo's faulty thought processes. If in fear of being infected, the PMF offers help in finding out to what extent you've been affected: the list provides a number of eye-openers to get you back on orthologica. But a sure sign of trouble is "... in my view this colour is red, perhaps ...", instead of "... this, is red".

News reports from the Middle East have become synonymous with subjectivity: laced with personal (emotional) involvement (the BBC has become practically a party in Gaza!), spin and counterspin, political bias, censoring, selective emphasizing, etc., etc. Each and every death that occurs within Iraq's borders is brought to me personally, 'as it happens' by CNN's and the BBC's Breaking News Email Service, a lame effort in emphasizing the frequency and the number of casualties.

Lately we are informed that a 'paradigm shift' in the press' attitude towards Iraq may be in the making, reflecting a shift in public opinion (lies don't endure) and in the attitude of the Iraqis themselves.

There's hope yet, but it will be next to impossible to ween the lost souls of the anti-war crowd of their immature psychological coping devices. They much rather see all-out fratricide develop in Iraq resulting in another few million hecatombs on the sacrificial alter of collectivism (Vietnam is a case in point), than to accept a BusHitler victory for democracy and the advancement of freedom. At this point I'd like to venture a qualification of this mentality: pathologically malicious.

While that is going on, the editor of The New Republic had the gall to respond to the first questioning of the 'Baghdad Diarist's plausibility, by attacking the skeptics' motives, complaining that "some Conservatives make 'a living, denying any bad news that emanates from Iraq'", a chutzpah if there ever was one in light of the above, and as is made clear by Winds of Change's post "Man, People Are So Gullible...".

The shrink says it's a natural consequence of projection: if you think of yourself as a nice and peaceful person, while actually you are full of wrath and hatred, the psychological coping device of projection makes the object of your wrath the one that's hateful, divisive, full of vitriol and bile, bigotted, intolerant and hatemongering ... something like ... this! Hat tip Atlas Shrugs.

Sorry to disappoint those expecting neat little lists: it so happens they're all in Part 1 and 3.

~ Continued in Part 3: ... rummaging through my own recent archive yields not only ... the Beauchamp Affair, but also throws some other light on the Abu Graib affair, (a) "high quality disinformation operation" ~

The Fatwa on Robert Spencer

We received following email letter from NewsMax:

Quote

An Urgent Message
From the Desk of David Horowitz

I need your help. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) - whose very founders have been arrested in connection with terrorist activities - has decided to silence once and for all its harshest and bravest critic: the Freedom Center's Robert Spencer.

CAIR is using legal threats to extort groups who ask Robert to speak at their gatherings and tell the truth about Islamic Jihad. ...

Robert is so good at what he does terrorists issued a fatwa - a legal decree in sharia law requiring any Muslim to kill Spencer if they had the chance. The fatwa's closing line is nothing less than bloodcurdling:

"May Allah rip out his spine from his back and split his brains in two, and then put them both back, and then do it over and over."

Read the whole letter received from NewsMax >>>

SIOE Update: Legal Loonies United!

While there's no going back at this stage, it cannot harm to evaluate some that has been written in the last few days.

Brussels Journal: "Brussels Mayor Warns: 9/11 Demonstrators Are Criminals":

FT: "First and foremost the organizers have chosen the symbolic date of 9/11. The intention is obviously to confound the terrorist activities of Muslim extremists on the one hand and Islam as a religion and all Muslims on the other hand."

The date of 9/11 is a brave choice and very symbolic. The link with Islamization by stealth does however provide an adverse mayor with the legal basis he is looking for to deny his permission. Having said that, as this particular generalization is apparently a huge No-No - while "'t was the Dews that did 9/11" isn't (perhaps someone needs pressing charges) - facilitating a club of loonies, who are basically accusing a friendly nation's government of having murdered 3,000 innocent people in cold blood for political gains, is not an offence.

FT: "To my knowledge not a single rule specific to the Islamic religion is being enforced in similar fashion. And I see no indication that a large majority of our Muslim population is demanding any such thing."

BJ provides part of the answer: "Contrary to what the mayor says, rules specific to the Islamic religion are being imposed upon society as a whole. For instance, Brussels has segregated swimming hours for women in public pools; Brussels public schools serve halal meat; Muslims slaughter sheep in the streets of Brussels.

Where are the animal rights activists when you need them? Oh, they're with FruitCakes United!

Snaphanen weighs in, in reference to the recent Doctors United actions in Scotland: "Apparently the bureaucrats believe that the would-be bombers were demanding sandwich-free offices in Glasgow hospitals during Ramadan."

Muslims normally only hit the streets in anger about perceived grievances; they do not do so, in demand of specific rights. They are more clever than that. Ask CAIR c.s. how the West's legal systems are being played like a piano forte. The Islamization by stealth process is supported by our own usefuls through coinciding ideology (see Chart I: the Straight Red Line), by dhimmitude through intimidation (see above example provided by Snaphanen), and through jurisprudence.

Consider the text of Leftards United: "Recently the French Minister for Housing and the City Mme Christine Boutin expressed her doubts about the official 9/11 report. Before, Michael Meacher, secretary of state in Britain and Andreas Von Bulow, ex Minister from Germany, stated clearly that 9/11 and the war on terror are orchestrated by the Bush administration ... They agree the 9/11 attacks and other terrorist acts, no matter if they were carried out by some so-called Afghan cavemen or by the governments themselves, inflicted the current policy of fear ..."

We've already seen that accusing a friendly government of cold blooded mass-murder isn't punishable by any contemporary liberal law. Cowards United are hiding behind a battery of European government officials with whose accusations they say to agree. What these various officials are doing is a disgrace and a diplomatic scandal, but at no time are Lobotomy United linking terrorism with a specific culture, religion or race. Therefore it might be of some importance to find out what was really being said here and by whom.

There's no going back at this stage. SIOE HQ: "A Line in the Sand" - "This is the limit! Therefore the organisers of SIOE call upon all to carry on and join the demonstration anyway, – because enough is enough. If we do not draw a line in the sand, and reject the attempts of people like Thielemans to curb our rights – people like him will turn the EU into a dictatorial state. Therefore we also call upon all organisations and ... >>>

Way to go, guys!!!

SIOE Update: Of Fascists and Other Loonies

First a reminder that the SIOE Petition to the Mayor of Brussels, Freddy Thielemans to allow the 9/11 rally "Stop Islamization of Europe" can be signed HERE.

Another petition, addressed to the Mayor of Londonistan for a SIOE activity in England, is available HERE.

News from HQ:

- Sunday night received following communication re the weekly Skypecast, which didn't go entirely flawless due to Skype's outage:

"... Skypecast Sun Aug 19th, 2100-2400 ... we discussed the current situation in Brussels, the behaviour, tactics and influence of Muslims in GBR and around the world, the approach of "mainstream journalists to sensitive" topics as "Islamisation", etc. Skype working or not, I won't give up getting the news out, and inviting people to present their input and have their say. Nothing is more threatening to the creeping Islamic influence, than critical surveillance, information by independent mass media, and finally peaceful, democratic action in speech and expression. But it is also Achilles heel of Westerners against Islam.
Freigeist, Northern Germany"

- SIAD: "Demo in front of Belgian Embassy Denmark" "... Suddenly there were 15-17 autonomous on bikes coming our way and they started to throw filled bottles after our group. One bottle hit on the ground only one meter from a woman from the demonstration. It landed with such a power that it would have killed her if she was hit in the head. Five of our group succeeded to scare the attackers away with the use of the signs as shields. It's shocking to realise that these autonomous are prepared to kill in order to stop democratic minded people's right to manifest. This phenomenon is often seen in history. It's called fascist methods in order to stop utterances that do not harmonise with the fascist way of thinking. And at the same time we have to remember that they act in harmony with Freddy Thielemans' words!"

- SIOE: "Demo-tatorship? Thielemans's only allowing his own opinions!" - Announcing that a demonstration on 9/9 by Lies United is allowed, while ours isn't. The guys and girrls at Denial United insist in making idiots of themselves by perpetuating and pushing the demented Muslim conspiracy theory born out of denial, that "'t was BusHitler and the Juice that did 9/11"... yeah, and AQ's own proud confessions were Stockholm Syndrome!

Perhaps the date of 9/9 wasn't haphazardly chosen ...

- FrontPageMag: "New York Islamist Day Parade" - "On September 9, 2007, a pre-9/11 celebration of sorts will be taking place in New York City, as Islamists from across the Tri-State area will congregate there for the 22nd Annual Muslim Day Parade. If past parades are any indication, law enforcement will need to be on high alert, as the participants have been amongst the most radical in the nation. Will the city allow this denigration of a very somber day to take place, or will it remember its many victims of terrorism and shut it down?" >>>

Round-up of the blogs:

- Brussels Journal: "Brussels Mayor Warns: 9/11 Demonstrators Are Criminals" - Prepare yourselves for some bad news: "I decided to forbid the September 11 demonstration "against the islamization of Europe." [...] Since 2001 I have allowed over 3,500 demonstrations. This is only the sixth one which I forbid. [...] The right to demonstrate exists only inasmuch as it does not cause a disturbance of the public peace and order. [...] First and foremost the organizers have chosen the symbolic date of 9/11. The intention is obviously to confound the terrorist activities of Muslim extremists on the one hand and Islam as a religion and all Muslims on the other hand. [...] Such incitement to discrimination and hatred, which we usually call racism and xenophobia, is forbidden by a considerable number of international treaties and is punished by our penal laws and by the European legislation. The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly pronounced judgements condemning this type of acts. [...] Our society has long fought to achieve that certain codes of behaviour connected with the Catholic religion are no longer enforced as civil law ... >>>

- Freedom Ain't Free: "Asswhollery" - is deriding the demonstration on 9/9 by the trolls of Usefuls United. He seems to agree with me that the press seem to be on an a perpetual acid trip since 1972: "The Leftinistra have secured and entrenched themselves within the alleged Main Stream Media now renamed as The Lame Stream Media or as I like to call them, The LSD Press."

- Faith Freedom International Forum: "Stop Islamization of Europe Rally Brussels 11 September".

- Ground Report: "Senator takes anti-sharia protest to Belgium's high court; protesters to hold demo 'allowed or not'" - "A Belgian Senator says it is "80% certain" the Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) demonstration will be held legally in Brussels on September 11, despite the ban imposed by Brussels Mayor Freddy Thielemans. Meanwhile, speaking to Brussels Journal's Paul Belien, Dr Udo Ulfkotte (photo), German academic and journalist, vowed his supporters would go ahead 'whether the demonstration is allowed or not'. Hugo Coveliers, a politician since 1985 and also one of Belgium's top lawyers ... >>>

- SeniorenNet Forum: "Stop Islamisering van Europa" (Senior Citizens - Flemish)

- Right Truth: "Iranians Admit Attacking Americans, sort of ..." - Debbie calling on her readership to leave comments on present blog. Better, write a post yourself about the movement and become a supporting blogger. In "World Infidel Day - Join the Celebration" - "September has now been designated as National Infidel Month, and September 11 has been designated as National Infidel Day. The purpose of this article is to inform you and to request your participation in celebrating this worthy event. I hope you will participate in some way to celebrate the fact that you ARE an infidel and you are PROUD of that fact. Leave me a comment and let me know if you will participate and share this information with your readers." >>>

- Saber Point: "Stop the Islamization of Europe!" - hopes to be making a real nuisance of himself in irritating the Bey of Brussels into permission.

- Politically Incorrect: "'Stütz die Brüssel Demo'-Demo in Fredericia" - announcing another Danish pre-demo on the 25th August at 12.30 hours. (Probably a local Danish/German initiative.)

- Foehammer's Anvil's still at it, enganging in a spot of meta-blogging to the preceding update: "Stop the Islamization of Europe" and is smelling 'revolt' ...

- Parabiodox: "Stop the Islamization of Europe" - is cross-blogging from Foehammer's.

- Speeple: "Stop Islamization of Europe"- also cross-blogging from Foehammer's.

Round-up of the MSM:

- De Standaard Online: In above post Brussels Journal is linking and partly translating a number of articles in this Flemish newspaper. Alas all Belgians seem be in cahoots: I wanted to go through it and analyse the Bey's comment further, but apparently De Standaard only allows one free access before hiding the lot behind a subscription, payable only through a Belgian mobile phone card. Thielemans calls the SIOE march on the particular day of 9/11 "a dangerous amalgamate". Reverting.

Want a link? Blog about the SIOE! Who's in for a blog tempest?