How's Multiculturalism Doing in Europe?

Bill Dawson, an ex-pat American blogging from Vienna, notes that its worthwhile to keep up with events in the Netherlands, as that country attempts to deal with its Islamist problem following Van Gogh's murder. As one of the most liberal/tolerant countries in Europe it encapsulates the paradox of tolerance: At some point, a tolerant society must be intolerant of intolerance if it wants to stay tolerant. Hmmm.

Some Dutch blogs that are following the story:
Peaktalk
Zacht Ei

Events in the Netherlands have stirred things up in Germany:

While Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has stepped-up a campaign calling on the country's big Muslim community to fit with the country's laws and its democratic principles, leading political figures in the nation have claimed that multiculturalism has failed in Germany...

[German Interior Minister Otto] Schily drew headlines earlier this year with a harsh warning to Islamic fundamentalists: "If you love death so much, then it can be yours."

Almost Rumsfeldesque. However, Germany is taking steps to better integrate its mainly Turkish Muslim immigrants:

Under this legislation all new immigrants will have to take 600 hours German language instruction plus a 30 hour course on German society. In addition, 50,000 immigrants already here will be eligible to take the courses each year.

The War on What?

From an interesting new blog by a Foreign Service Officer:

OK, I’ve said this before and I am going to say it again. There is no war against terrorism. We are not hunting down the FARC or ETA or Shining Path. We are not chasing the vestiges of the IRA. We are fighting Islamic extremism. I know this is not a ground shaking original thought, but it needs to be repeated. Islamic jihadists are the enemy, and terrorism is simply their weapon of choice.

(Via The Diplomad)

If you can read this...

Seen on a bumper sticker:

If you can read this
Thank a teacher.
If you're reading it in English
Thank a soldier.

Fallujah: proving there are worse things than war

Namely, living joyless lives of subjugation and fear:

"It was horrible," he told an AFP reporter."We suffered from the bombings. Innocent people died or were wounded by the bombings.

"But we were happy you did what you did because Fallujah had been suffocated by the Mujahidin. Anyone considered suspicious would be slaughtered. We would see unknown corpses around the city all the time." ...

"I would hear stories, about how they executed five men one day and seven another for collaborating with the Americans. They made checkpoints on the roads. They put announcements on walls banning music and telling women to wear the veil from head to toe."

It was not just pedlars of alcohol or Western videos and women deemed improperly dressed who faced the militants' wrath. Even residents who regard themselves as observant Muslims lived in fear because they did not share the puritan brand of Sunni Islam that the insurgents enforced.

Isn't it ironic that the Iraqis have far more religious freedom under the cruel American occupation than they have ever had before or will have again if we leave before they have a functioning democracy?

Blackfive's got your exit strategy right here.

Upon discovering that Iranian agents have offered a $500 bounty for each American Soldier or Marine killed, Blackfive offers his own exit strategy from Iraq and Afganistan.

Condi for Secretary of State

Alright! Racist, fascist Bush replaces first black Sec. of State with second black Sec. of State. Instapundit readers wonder whether the lack of play in the press indicates that A) we have come so far as a society that two black Secretaries of State is no big deal or B) MSM can't figure out how to fit it into their Republican=Racism superstory.

Lileks sums it up:

Yay Condi Rice. I want her to go to Saudi Arabia, and I want her first words upon getting off the plane to be “I’ll drive.”

(via Vodkapundit)

It's True! Rove Stole the Election.

Frank J. uncovers the shocking truth:

Hacker2: It was funny to see the Democrats try and cheat the old-fashioned way. They can bring in all the dead people they want to vote, but we'll just change their votes to Republican in the end.

(via Instapundit)

Well, not everyone is sorry

In response to Sorry Everybody, we now have We're Not Sorry, with picture of people who are happy that Bush will be "cutting taxes and killing terrorists" for another four years. Also this heartbreaker:



Now that's something worth being sorry about

Update: why shouldn't the Germans get in on the act.

Everybody's Sorry

Perhaps you've seen the pathetic bunch of whiners congregating at Sorry Everybody, where they have posted picture apoligizing to the world for Bush's reelection. It's a pretty sad display, although I don't think everyone is onboard with the spirit of the project:



(via LGF)

Quagmire, anyone?

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer and West Africa's economic powerhouse, erupted in turmoil on Saturday after Ivory Coast warplanes killed nine French peacekeepers and an American aid worker in an airstrike on the rebel-held north.

France wiped out the nation's newly built-up airforce on the tarmac in retaliation, sparking a violent anti-French uprising of looting, burning and attacks by loyalist youths. The turmoil has claimed at least 27 lives and wounded more than 900, with no deaths reported among expatriates.

Hmmm. France retaliates? Why not search for the root causes of the violence. Obviously the local population is just trying to throw of the yoke of foreign oppression. I wonder when we'll see the demonstrations in Paris against this imperial aggression. "No Blood for Cocoa!"

Belgian Political Party Declared illegal

According to the BBC:

Belgian's highest court has ruled that the Flemish far-right Vlaams Blok party is racist. The ruling means the Blok will lose access to state funding and access to television which will, in effect, shut down the party... Recent opinion polls suggest the Vlaams Blok is the most popular party in the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders. It garnered almost a quarter of votes in regional and European elections in June.

So what's scarier: that a far-right party is garnering 25% of the vote or that a party that garners 25% of the vote can be outlawed in a supposedly free society? Hmmm. I thought it was America's democracy that was teetering on the edge.

Of course, it's hard to tell how far-right this party really is. After all, one gets the feeling that the folks at the BBC think the Republican party is far-right.

The New World Order according to Der Spiegel

Wow. I don't even go to church, but I'm stunned by the condescension of the European media. Now, tell me again why we should bend over backwards to get our actions pre-approved by Berlin? (via LGF)

Update

A commenter at LGF posts a corrected version of Der Spiegel's map.

Another conspiracy theory bites the dust

That mysterious bulge on President Bush’s back during the first presidential debate was not an electronic device feeding him answers, but a strap holding his bulletproof vest in place...

But sources in the Secret Service told The Hill that Bush was wearing a bulletproof vest, as he does most of the time when appearing in public. The president’s handlers did not want to admit as much during the campaign, for fear of disclosing information related to his personal security while he was on the campaign trail.

Well, duh. 30 seconds of thought should have told you that. But no. Must be another Rovian conspiracy. A campaigning president mixing with large crowds everyday has got to be a major headache for the Secret Service. I'm sure they really want someone from the administration saying "Yes, the President always wears a bulletproof vest" (so be sure to aim for the head). That whole ridiculous dust-up reminds me of reporters who ask "When exactly are you going to invade Fallujah? And with which units? And will you be coming from the north or the west?"

(via Tim Blair)

Who ya callin' stoopid, stoopid?

The Batman Effect

From Truth Laid Bear:

Batman is constantly trying to put the Joker out of business for good. But if you haven't noticed, he generally never quite manages. The Joker is never, ever truly vanquished; he'll always be back for more.

But when the Joker's on the loose again, you don't stop to think "Damn, Batman still hasn't managed to get rid of this guy, we better find somebody else." You don't say "get me Aquaman on the phone." You think about the only guy who actually does something about the Joker, even if it hasn't been a permanent solution: the only guy who's been able to do the clown some damage and set back his schemes a ways. You put up the damned Bat Signal and hope that Batman answers the call.

Bush is Batman to Bin Laden's Joker. And the American public isn't going to dump Batman just because he hasn't won the final battle with the Joker yet.

That's what I thought every time I heard Kerry chastising Bush for not catching Osama. At least Bush took the fight to Osama the best way he knew how. Maybe Kerry stands up to the bad guys, maybe he invites them to a summit. Who could tell?

Married People for Bush

Apparently, more married people than single people voted for Bush. Barbara Ehrenreich just said on the News Hour that this is because women have less influence in a marriage and are so beaten down that they take on the views of their evil fascists husbands (or words to that effect). Tee hee. Apparently she's never met me or my sister-in-law. I was strongly pro-Bush and she was strongly pro-Kerry. Our poor husbands just kept their heads down and tried to stay out of the way.

Just got back from the polls

I made Brian go with me, so I would have some company in line. When we got there, I skated right through because I fell in with that notorious group of slackers: people with surnames beginning J-Z. Poor Brian belongs to the more civic-minded A-I's. He had to wait at least another half-an-hour. Now we just wait to hear the results.