A Forgotten Washington Times Editorial From October of 2010:

A clear warning against Shariah Law.

Islamists say the Koran is destined to rule America. In fact, the Muslim takeover of the White House is not just an unfolding action plan but a directive from Muhammad himself.

In an interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” British radical Muslim activist Anjem Choudary made clear what he and his Islamist brothers have planned for the West. “We do believe, as Muslims, the East and the West will one day be governed by the Shariah,” he said. “Indeed, we believe that one day, the flag of Islam will fly over the White House.” He then quoted a hadith, or saying of Muhammad, as related by 10th-century Muslim scholar Al-Tabarani, that “the final hour will not come until Muslims conquer the White House.” Another version of the saying goes, “A small portion of Muslims will rise and conquer the White House.”
Many Americans believe this conquest is well underway, if not already secretly completed. President Obama was concerned enough about perceptions of his faith to address the question at one of his recent “backyard discussions” in New Mexico. Mr. Obama said he is “a Christian by choice,” which may or may not assuage the concerns of those who believe he is a Muslim by birth.

The president’s declaration of faith may not help with his vaunted outreach to the global Muslim community. A Gallup poll released last week showed that current approval of U.S. leadership in countries in the Middle East and North Africa is “similar or lower than what it was in 2008,” in some cases “erasing gains seen after the transition from the Bush administration to the Obama administration.” In no country was the approval rating above 30 percent. It’s fair to conclude that this experiment in engagement with Islam has failed.

As Mr. Choudary indicated, Islamist “engagement” with the United States is a holy obligation.

Last week, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the leading proponent of global Shariah law, held a conference on “Islam and Muslims in America” in cooperation with the American Islamic College in Chicago. OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu called on Muslims in the United States to become involved in all aspects of American life, including local and national politics. The Obama administration gave its imprimatur to the gathering by sending its own small portion, including special envoy to the OIC, Rashad Hussain, Dalia Mogahed who works with the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and Farah Pandith, the State Department’s special representative to Muslim communities.

The OIC is currently campaigning to have so-called “Islamophobia” recognized by the international community as a form of racism prosecutable under international law. This would include any expression the Islamists find offensive, which in practice would amount to a global gag order on any critical discussion of Islam. Last year, the Obama administration co-sponsored with Egypt a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution against “racial and religious stereotyping,” which offered cover to the Islamists in their drive to put any criticism of their religion off limits.

The leading countries in the OIC are among the least religiously tolerant in the world. In most cases, Christians, Jews, Hindus and others may not freely practice their faith, and under Koranic law, converts from Islam face the death penalty. The OIC has stated that any freedoms in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that conflict with Shariah do not apply to its members. If this is the type of cooperation the Obama administration is seeking to promote with Islam, then the “final hour” draws closer still. Mr. Obama said Jesus Christ died for his sins, but the United States continues to suffer for the president’s mistakes.

First, an amazing editorial predominantly ignored back in 2010 but, now in 2012, even more important.

Please read this editorial than contrast and compare it to what you experience with regard to your own religion. For you secularists, atheists and anti-theists, ask yourselves: what is it about Islam that you’d want to practice under duress or force or at the end of an AK-47 or scimitar?
Further: what other religion on the planet makes these threats?
Only one: Islam. A barbaric, misogynistic Death Cult.

Just a friendly reminder.

BZ

Iran ‘definitely’ closing Strait of Hormuz over EU oil embargo


First, from the UK Telegraph:

European Union nations have agreed on an oil embargo against Iran as part of sanctions over its nuclear programme.

With that in mind, Iran has its response. From FT.com:

Tensions in the Gulf could reach a breaking point as a senior Iranian official said Iran would “definitely” close the Strait of Hormuz if an EU oil embargo disrupted the export of crude oil, the semi-official Fars news agency reports.

The announcement came in response to a decision by the European Union on Monday to impose an oil embargo on Iran over the country’s alleged nuclear weapons program.

“The pressure of sanctions is designed to try and make sure that Iran takes seriously our request to come to the table,” EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.

However, with Washington’s decision to deploy a second carrier strike group in the Gulf, the EU’s attempt to pressure Iran economically could greatly increase the likelihood of all-out war in the region.

The Strait of Hormuz is the vital link between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

It is also one of the most strategic chokepoints in the world when it comes to oil transit.

With world oil output estimated at some 88 million barrels per day in 2011, the US Energy Information Administration estimated that some 17 million of those barrels passed through the Strait.

If economic sanctions sufficiently pressure Iran to retaliate by closing down the Strait, nearly 20 per cent of worldwide oil trade would be impacted, resulting in a massive spike in global energy costs.

With over half a million regular forces and an additional 120,000 personnel in the country’s elite Revolutionary Guard, analysts believe the consequences of a US-led war against Iran would dwarf recent Western-backed military incursions the Middle East.

I only have two words:

It’s starting.

BZ

Super Bowl 46 Will Be: Patriots vs Giants


The first game, Baltimore Ravens vs the New England Patriots, was hard fought and could have been won by the Ravens. Final score? 23 to 20, Patriots.

The second game, San Francisco 49ers vs the New York Giants, was equally tough. Final score? 20 to 17, won in overtime by the Giants.
Both games were exciting, well fought, and very entertaining to watch!
Now: Patriots vs Giants. Just as in Super Bowl 42 in 2008, where the Giants won, 17 to 14.
Whom do you choose?
BZ
P.S.
Sore Loser award to SF 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh for refusing to be interviewed on Fox TV directly after the 49ers loss. Poor form coach, very poor form.

Chihuahua, Mexico: Deadlier Than Afghanistan

[I was going to ease off the politics for today, but the information now revealed won’t wait. –BZ]

According to CNSNews.com, the Mexican border state of Chihuahua was deadlier, in 2011, than the conflict in Afghanistan:

(CNSNews.com) – Organized crime-related deaths in one Mexican border state during the first nine months of 2011 exceed the number of Afghan civilians killed in roughly the same period in all of war-torn Afghanistan.

According to the Mexican government, from January through September 2011 2,276 deaths were recorded in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, which borders Texas and New Mexico.

A Nov. 2011 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report states that over nearly the same period – January through October 2011 – 2,177 civilians were killed in Afghanistan, where a U.S.-led war against the Taliban is underway. It did not provide a breakdown of responsibility for that period, but said that in 2010, 75 percent of civilian deaths were attributed to the Taliban and other “anti-government elements.”

Per capita, a person was at least nine times more likely to be murdered in Chihuahua last year than in Afghanistan. (Chihuahua has 3,406,465 inhabitants, according to Mexico’s 2010 census; the CIA World Factbookreports that in July 2011 the estimated population of Afghanistan was 29,835,392.)
But, of course, we need to ensure that our borders remain porous with our loving neighbors to the south.
And one thing not pointed out: because of the poor economy in the US, border incursions don’t exhibit quite the rampant numbers once shown. Still, despite that, Mexico is deadlier than it’s ever been. And that violence bleeds over — literally — into border states and border towns and border ranches in America.
Can you even fathom being an American rancher on the border? The illegal incursions? The trash? The trespassing? The violation? And the physical threat to you and your family from not just coyotes but drug cartels as well?
Further: could you fathom not just the indignancy, the indifference, but the pointed scapegoating of you and your fellow ranchers by the federal government?
The numbers diminish slightly; the violence and danger increases.
BZ