The Old Jarhead Blog: Bringing you news and information the MSM is too busy covering American Idol, celebrity affairs and sensational missing person cases to cover. Please forward to friends who need to be informed.
I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree (or disagree) with every—or any—opinion in the posted article. Help your friends and relatives stay informed by passing the digest on. In some cases I post things sent to me by readers I might not have posted on my own, to get ideas circulating.
Book Recommendation. Mohammad & Charlemagne Revisited: The History of a Controversy by Emmet Scott.
Having read and recommended Bryan Ward-Perkins The Fall of Rome, I was most interested to read this book, which takes aim on Ward-Perkins. While I recommend both, this controversial update of Henri Pirenne’s theory that it was the rise of Islam that destroyed classical civilization in Europe is in my view the most important and on the mark. I confess that there were tedious bits for the non-academic at the start, but stay with them, as they are a necessary foundation to the riveting final four chapters, the conclusion and the epilogue, which are must-reads for those who want to understand today’s world and the millennium-old clash between western civilization and Islam. Basically, Scott lays out a solid case that it was the closure of Mediterranean trade route by Muslim raiders, and the destruction of the lowland, coastal agricultural system that supported advanced economies, as the peoples in the south of Europe had to retreat to defended hill top towns to escapes the attentions of Islamic slave raiders that provided the death knell for classical civilization.
Some telling quotes from the book, which bring to mind our present world: “Aside from the aristocrats themselves, there were armies of bureaucrats and courtiers surrounding the (Roman) Emperor, huge numbers of soldiers, and a vast number of unemployed plebeians, who had to be supported by a social security system, which the Roman’s named the “dole.” … With the decline of the city as a political power, the great majority of this population would naturally have disappeared. (PP. 80-81). (Be carefully what you wish for, OWS!)
“Under the protective shield of Rome, the farmers, artisans, and intellectuals…had grown to despise the calling of the soldier, and to see the defense of the country as someone else’s business. … The civilian populations of Anatolia, of Syria , of Egypt , and of North Africa were vast, but they were completely unused to war. After the defeats of the Imperial forces (by the Muslims), there existed no tradition of military training or activity which could have facilitated independent local action against the invaders.” (P. 172.
“Islam is virtually unique among world religions in that its primary scriptures advocate the use of military force and its early expansion—indeed its expansion during the first six or seven centuries of its existence—invariably involved military conquest and the use of force.” (P.185)
“…there was continual and almost uninterrupted war between Muslims and (European) Christians since the first attack on Sicily in 652 and Constantinople in 674. In the great majority of these wars, the Muslims were the aggressors. … it is estimated that between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries alone (Muslim pirates) captured and enslaved in excess of a million Europeans.” (P. 187)
This book will broaden your understanding of the ancient world, the foundations of our civilization, and the on-going clash with Islam. I rate it a “must read.”
Important: U.S. Sergeant Is Said to Kill 16 Civilians in Afghanistan
Excerpt: Stalking from home to home, a United States Army sergeant methodically killed at least 16 civilians, 9 of them children, in a rural stretch of southern Afghanistan on Sunday, igniting fears of a new wave of anti-American hostility, Afghan and American officials said. (This is beyond terrible. In addition to murdering women and children, he has handed the enemy a huge victory and very likely gotten a lot of his comrades killed. I'd be tempted to turn him over to the Afghans for justice, but the result would sicken the American public, however justified. Muslims don’t get too upset when other Muslims murder Muslim kids, but they won’t much like a psycho American doing it. ~Bob.)
Romney-Martinez 2012?
Christians have no right to wear cross at work, says Government
Excerpt: A document seen by The Sunday Telegraph discloses that ministers will argue that because it is not a “requirement” of the Christian faith, employers can ban the wearing of the cross and sack workers who insist on doing so.
Gas prices sink Obama’s ratings on economy, bring parity to race for White House
Excerpt: Disapproval of President Obama’s handling of the economy is heading higher — alongside gasoline prices — as a record number of Americans now give the president “strongly” negative reviews on the 2012 presidential campaign’s most important issue, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. (Well, Democrat criticism of Bush over then-high, though much lower than now gas prices trained the public to blame them on the president. What goes around...~Bob.)
Two more congressmen hit Holder for Fast and Furious, 120 now want resignation
http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/12/two-more-congressmen-hit-holder-for-fast-and-furious-120-now-want-resignation/
http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/12/two-more-congressmen-hit-holder-for-fast-and-furious-120-now-want-resignation/
Excerpt: Republican Reps. Reid Ribble of Wisconsin and Bob Goodlatte of Virginia
‘Muslim Mafia’ targets opposing lawyer in suit
Excerpt: A controversial Muslim lobby group tied to a major terrorist-financing scheme is attempting to file a third amended complaint in its lawsuit against a father and son who documented the group’s links to worldwide jihad through a six-month undercover operation. The new proposed complaint asks federal Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to add as a defendant lawyer David Yerushalmi, a prominent advocate of efforts to curb the influence of Islamic law in the U.S.
Sexuality no longer a private matter in California by Thomas Lifson
Excerpt: The relentless advocates of identity politics don't care about antique notions like privacy in their campaign to make everything subject to quota. Three weeks ago, Lee DeCovnik wrote about the State of California
Nigeria attack targets Catholic church in Jos
Excerpt: At least 10 people were killed after a Catholic church was targeted by suicide car bombers in the restive central Nigerian city of Jos
Sarkozy threatens to withdraw from Schengen accord
Excerpt: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has threatened to withdraw from Europe 's open border zone unless more is done to stop illegal immigration. Speaking at a Paris campaign rally, the president said that reform was the only way to avoid the "implosion" of Europe .
Grayson Involved In Crash With Lynx Bus
http://www.wesh.com/news/30653147/detail.html#ixzz1ouIvUS6T
http://www.wesh.com/news/30653147/detail.html#ixzz1ouIvUS6T
Excerpt: Former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson crashed into a Lynx bus in downtown Orlando
Government-subsidized green light bulb carries costly price tag
Excerpt: The U.S.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the prize would spur industry to offer the costly bulbs, known as LEDs, at prices “affordable for American families.” There was also a “Buy America” component. Portions of the bulb would have to be made in the United States
The Misleading Tale of Income Inequality By Diana Furchtgott-Roth
Excerpt: President Obama has proposed $1.7 trillion in tax increases over the next decade. In his State of the Union Address he said, "We need to change our tax code so that people like me, and an awful lot of members of Congress, pay our fair share of taxes." Although cries for redistribution by government echo in the press and among some politicians, by some measures economic inequality is no greater now than it was in the 1980s.
Specter says Obama ditched him after he provided 60th vote to pass health law
Excerpt: Former Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa. Chicago
Chicago Way
. ~Bob.)
The Nuclear Option for Powering America
Excerpt: When you flip on a light switch, turn on your TV, start up your coffee maker, or charge your cell phone, there's a good chance that the energy you're using to get the job done has been generated by nuclear power. Yet this misunderstood power source is vastly underutilized in America United States
A Few More Reasons To Send Obama Packing by Burt Prelutsky
Excerpt: I sometimes think that Republicans are genetically compelled to bring water pistols to a gun fight. While I acknowledge that it’s difficult to combat the bully pulpit the Left commands, thanks to a corrupt media, I really am sick and tired of hearing Mitch McConnell referring to “Our friends on the other side of the aisle.” Harry Reid is not your friend. Charles Schumer, Patrick Leahy and Dick Durbin, are not your friends. What’s more, Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray and Dianne Feinstein, are not going to the prom with you. Get over it.
The Year Solar Goes Bankrupt by John Ransom
Excerpt: Get ready for a new round of green bankruptcies, as Europe trims back subsidies for solar companies and taxpayers lose their appetite for subsidizing green power. “The mini-bubble resulting from the rush to cash in on solar subsidies in European and U.S. markets is ending, as feed-in tariffs drop in Europe while loan guarantee and tax credit programs tighten up in the U.S.,” says a new report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch according to CNBC.com. (This is bad news, because Obama’s reaction will be to borrow more money from China
Syrian Christians fear for survival of faith By Alexandra Zavis
Excerpt: But warnings of a bloodbath if Assad leaves office resonate with Christians, who have seen their brethren driven away by sectarian violence since the overthrow of longtime strongmen in Iraq and in Egypt , and before that by a 15-year civil war in neighboring Lebanon Syria , the religious cleansing will go forward there as in Egypt
South Sudanese face deadline to leave the north
Excerpt: Sudanese Christians who have barely a month to leave the north or risk being treated as foreigners are starting to move, but Christian leaders are concerned that the 8 April deadline set by Islamic-majority Sudan
How Derrick Bell Beat Martin Luther King Jr. by Daniel Greenfield
Excerpt: While white racism continues to decline year by year, black racism has advanced to the White House and into the hearts and minds of millions. It leads to everything from discrimination to murder. It led to a thirteen-year-old boy screaming as fire ate at the flesh of his face, burning away the white skin that his attackers had been taught to hate so much.
37% Say Their Views More Like Obama’s; 53% Pick One of GOP Contenders
Excerpt: Ask voters which presidential contender’s views are more like their own, and just 37% say President Obama. Most (53%) say they think more like one of the four Republican presidential hopefuls.
52% Worry Government Will Do Too Much Trying To Help Economy
Excerpt: Amidst signs the economy is reviving at least slightly, most voters now fear the government may mess things up by getting too involved. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 52% of Likely U.S. Voters now worry the federal government will do too much in reacting to the nation’s current economic problems. Thirty-six percent (36%) are more concerned that the government will not do enough.
Those Pesky Things Called Laws By George Will
Excerpt: Two policies of the Obama administration illustrate an axiom: As government expands, its lawfulness contracts. Consider the administration's desire to continue funding UNESCO and to develop a national curriculum for primary and secondary education. In 1994, Congress stipulated that no U.S.
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
Excerpt: Qur'an 2:256 says there is "no compulsion in religion," but there is plenty of coercion in Islamic law. Sharia is set up in its dealings with non-Muslims to pressure them to convert through marginalization, punishment, humiliation, fear, and danger (cf. Qur'an 9:29). There are also innumerable opportunities for semantic games and rationalizations; above all, those in power could care less where persuasion ends and compulsion begins. (Feminists accuse conservatives of conducting a “war on women” for not wanting to force everyone to pay for college students’ birth control. But the real, mostly ignored “war on women” is the 1,300-year Islamist war to subjugate women in every way. ~Bob.)
Shocker: Egyptian army acquits army doctor over "virginity tests" on female protesters
Excerpt: The "tests" were nothing but state-sponsored sexual assaults to terrorize and blackmail protesters, to make an example of them and frighten other women into staying home. The "results" could be used as another way to write off the army's female opponents as women of ill repute, and set them up for suspicion, ostracism, and potentially even honor killings. Not that one would expect the military junta to be able to police itself.
Excerpt: Shall I compare the Obama administration to a Zombie Apocalypse? The comparison is a bit too restrained and understated perhaps, but that’s only in keeping with my cool, not to say austere, personality and writing style. … And finally… oh, let’s face it, Mitt Romney’s going to win the nomination and whatever else you may think about the guy, he’s not a zombie.
Excerpt: Recently, Salman Rushdie did not attend a literature festival in India New York
Worth Reading
Judging from his comments over the past two weeks, very little frustrates Barack Obama as much as criticism of the difficult decisions he is facing as president on matters of war and peace. … There’s a simple reason Obama sees politics in everything his rivals say: projection. Barack Obama owes his rise to partisan, antiwar rhetoric.
Coffee Is an Essential Benefit Too: Here are some other health-care mandates that government should impose on employers.
Except: too. Employers for too long have been able to restrict our access to essential health services like contraception by making us pay some of the bill. Really, it's amazing that we aren't all dead. Now, thanks to you, we'll enjoy free and universal access to preventative care just like workers do in Cuba U.S.
EXPOSED: UN Media Official Responsible for False Photo Tweet
Excerpt: Our guest post from the IDF revealed how a photo, allegedly depicting the results of Israeli air strikes in Gaza
Labor Leaders Plan to Apply New Clout in Effort for Obama
Excerpt: As the A.F.L.-C.I.O. prepares to endorse President Obama on Tuesday, labor leaders say they will mount their biggest campaign effort, with far more union members than ever before — at least 400,000, they say — knocking on voters’ doors to counter the well-endowed “super PACs” backing Republicans. (Knock, knock. Who's there? Teamsters. Teamsters who? Teamsters with baseball bats, that's who. --IowaHawk.)
WaPo/ABC Poll: Obama Fares Worse Among Women after Month-Long Contraception Mandate Battle
Excerpt: Then, from March 7 to 10--a week into the national media firestorm surrounding Rush Limbaugh's degrading remarks about Georgetown Law student and liberal activist Sandra Fluke--Washington Post/ABC conducted another poll. It found Obama's approval rating at 46 percent, down four points from February, and his disapproval rating at 50 percent, up four points from February. (Well, if a lot of women are unwilling to pay for other women’s birth control, I guess my lobbying effort to get them to pay for my heart-healthy red wine isn’t going anywhere. ~Bob.)
Parking Tickets Issued During Fallen Marine’s Procession Now Voided
Excerpt: City Hall is apologizing. Parking tickets issued during Friday’s funeral procession for a Marine from Beverly have been voided.
Palestinian officials claim Obama said: Wait until after election
Excerpt: Palestinian officials allege that the Obama administration told them not to expect anything big this year, and to be patient as President Barack Obama's reelection is a prime concern. (Since both they and Obama lie effortlessly, hard to judge this one. ~Bob.)
Excerpt: The study ‘New Little Ice Age Instead of Global Warming?’ comprises a rigorous analysis of more than 100 leading peer-reviewed papers. It comes as a sharp retort to unfounded global warming alarm propagated by government-sponsored climatologists and discredits claims by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) who had speculated temperature rises this century as high as 5.8 degrees Celsius.
GERMAN media totally ignore the brutal rape and mutilation of a 16-year-old German girl by Muslim savages
Excerpt: During the last 24 hours we have received numerous emails, asking us to report on the brutal and perverse rape of a 16-year-old girl in Worms, which has not been reported at all by German media.
Excerpt: More than a year since a state district judge ruled 10 Montgomery County residents voted fraudulently in a Woodlands election, a grand jury Thursday indicted seven of those individuals for illegal voting. The indictments stem from the May 8, 2010, election of The Woodlands Road Utility District No. 1. Ten individuals listed their voter registration address as that of a hotel in order to take control of the RUD board. 9but showing an ID to vote is racist. ~Bob.)
12-year-old girl forced to marry 60-year-old man to settle father’s debt
Guess where? ~Bob.
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