Acquitted of Political Incorrectitudes

David Warren:

Free speech has a long history in the Netherlands, and thus defenders from some unlikely sources. In court, Wilders had many supporters who by no means like him. And even the prosecutors were extremely cautious in representing the charges. In the end, even they recommended acquittal. The issue came down not to any prospective jail time, but to whether the court should impose a symbolic fine of one euro. In the end, it did not.

The court accepted arguments that go a little beyond what I have read in mass-media coverage. It is generally reported that the court made a distinction between attacking Islamic doctrines, which is fair play, and attacking Muslims as members of an “ethnic group,” which is not. This it did, but it was only the preamble.

The decision went further in holding that if proactive public policies such as “multiculturalism” and open immigration are to be freely discussed, opponents must be allowed to discuss them freely. Advocates of such policies have no right to decide which part of their opponents’ arguments are “out of bounds.” And Wilders was neither inventing facts gratuitously, nor encouraging violence. Indeed, his allegation against Islam was that it advocates violence as a means to advancing its own interests; and that this in itself must be resisted by those opposed to violence as a political tactic.

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There Are No Socialists

by Victor Davis Hanson:

Are There Really Socialists?

Two unconnected developments were announced this past week. President Obama is releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, despite the absence of a global embargo or horrific natural disaster — and despite a litany of assertions from 2008 that drilling and increased supply might only have a marginal effect on prices.

Like the sudden Afghan withdrawal announcement, the tapping is largely explained by political worries about reelection, as in increasing oil supplies to lower gas prices by election time — and thus avoiding campaign ads equating Obama’s opposition to drilling with high prices at the 2012 pump.

In a second piece of news, the Europeans seem to be winning far more plane orders than Boeing. One wonders whether that fact is remotely connected with airlines’ collective worries about obtaining orders on time and as specified — as in uncertainty whether Obama’s NLRB ruling that attempted to shut down a nearly $1 billion new aircraft line in South Carolina translates into something like “who knows what those Americans are doing next?”

All this raises some questions. The strangest things about the global statist crack-up are socialists’ unhappiness with their socialist utopia, and their subsequent efforts to avoid the consequences of the very redistributive state that they themselves once so gladly crafted.

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Medieval murder in modern times: Woman faces death by beheading in Saudi Arabia for crime she ‘committed as a child’

DAILY MAIL [UK]:

A young maid is facing death by beheading in Saudi Arabia for a crime she claims she did not commit.

Rizana Nafeek, who alleges she was a teenager at the time of the incident, was arrested in May 2005 on charges of murdering a four-month-old baby who was in her care.

The Sri-Lankan born maid denies murder and claims she desperately tried to save the child, who choked while she was looking after it.

The news comes just days after Indonesia announced it would ban women from travelling to the kingdom for domestic work after another maid was beheaded there.

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Spending Insanely While the Economy Collapses

Alan Caruba:

America is a sovereign nation, a constitutional Republic that will celebrate the 235th anniversary of its declaration of independence in 1776 and the 223rd anniversary of its Constitution which became effective when the State of New Hampshire became the ninth State to ratify it in 1788.

By most indications it is a nation in its death throes. Its original values and virtues are being jettisoned and that is always a sign of internal rot. The passage of a law legalizing gay, same-sex marriage in New York State is just one example. It becomes the sixth State to do so.

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Obama trips promote profits for his donors, not jobs for Americans

Ed Lasky:

Between golf outings (13 weekends in a row), musical soirees in the East Room, fantasy basketball pickup games, and trips to fundraisers for high rollers, Obama has made numerous trips to promote so-called clean-tech energy ventures. He has touted these companies as the wave of the future and as the hope for job growth in America. However, as is true of most actions Barack Obama takes there is an ulterior motive — and it all has to do with himself.

The Washington Post reports that the focus of these clean-energy trips have been to ventures backed by huge donors to Barack Obama:

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Another Anti-Semitic/Radical Left Group Rears Its Ugly Head

By Harold Witkov:

Intactivist men and women are part of the far-left movement and are a threat to the American system designed by our founding fathers. Their mission is a big brother government that removes individual choice and imposes the will of their self-anointed elitism. Leftists, in most cases, love government-imposed regulations, are anti-Israel, are pro-abortion, and pine for the day the United Nations can regulate every human activity on the planet. Leftists believe in uniformity. They have no room for the individual, for non-Jewish parents who want circumcision for their sons, or for Jewish religious exemptions. Intactivistits are far leftists who embrace uniformity to such an extreme they want to regulate penises!

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Niall Ferguson Warns About The Threat Of Radical Islam

Caliphate Conference Tour Comes to the Netherlands Too

WALID SHOEBAT:

On July 3 in Amsterdam “The First National Khilafah of the Netherlands” will take place. This Neo-Ottoman Revolutionary Organization strives to promote the tsunami of uprisings in Muslim countries around the world. Through widespread propaganda, extremist Islamic organizations subtly call for the destruction of democracy, nationalism and capitalism in the free West. In prelude to the demonstration in Amsterdam at October 30, 2010 the media predicted a clash between Ajax hooligans and EDL (European Defense League) members who would visit Amsterdam from England. The concern for a clash reached the point to which the mayor decided to move the demonstration to another location, a decision the DDL (Dutch Defense League) wanted to fight in court but later reconsidered and refrained from doing so.

The solution of Islam – Khilafah

The similarites with the Third Reich are great. The initiatives that are promoted by these extremists are reminiscent of Adolf Hitler who aimed to unite all Germans into one political entity. Adolf Hitler aspired to annex several Slavic regions in an attempt to create a “German Super-State.”

Supporters of the “Khilafah” call to unite the entire Muslim population into one Islamic State under Shariah (strict Islamic law). This message is spread via mass distribution of images through the internet (www.expliciet.nl) and videos through YouTube; they all portray the fall of the Ottoman Empire (Muslim Empire) in 1924 being replaced by oppressive dictators (Western Rule) for a period of 87 years.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan dreams of a restored Ottoman Empire. Turkish Chief Justice Emina (ULKER) Tarhan has recently resigned her position in opposition against the current government in Ankara. She is very concerned because over the course Turkey has taken under Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has taken. The Turkish government behaves like a gang, said Tarhan, who argues that Erdogan government aspires to place absolute power in a new “Sultan of the Middle East” – in short, he wants Turkey to head the cecond Ottoman Empire.

WATCH HERE

Gutless Canadian Political Class

When Canada entered into the FTA with the U.S., the Council of Canadians, prominent among whom is Maude Barlow, lobbied hard against the deal, implying that such a treaty would, among other things, diminish Canada’s sovereignty. They were right, and our sovereignty has been diminished in relation to the U.S.

Nothing illustrates this more than the case of Conrad Black, against whom the most serious charge was obstruction of justice. This alleged crime, the removal of file boxes from his Toronto office, took place in Canada, supposedly an independent nation. How can an alleged crime that took place in Canada become the subject of American Extra-Territorial prosecution? The prohibition on removing those boxes was issued by the Ontario Superior Court, and subsequently, restrictions on removing those boxes were lifted by the same court. So what gives here?

Where were the protests of the likes of the Council of Canadians, of Maude Barlow, at the imposition of American law in our country? I never heard anything-the silence was deafening.

The Americans have become increasingly imperial in their attempts to impose their laws in other countries, for actions not even a crime in the country where they took place.

The case of Marc Emory springs to mind. Our justice system refused to prosecute Emory for posting pot seed to the U.S. but was happy to send him off to the U.S. for incarceration.

The even more outrageous case of Britain’s Natwest Six is another example of the bullying attitude of the U.S. towards countries with a more humane, and dare I say it, just system of law.

Canada Day is six days away. Remember the words of our national anthem,

“the true north strong and free.” Bah!

Not for our cowardly political class. And to hell with U.S. paranoia.

David B.