Klein Verzet

Fjordman -- November updates

2009-11-08T07:00:00.000+01:00

[ 8 - 11] On Gates of Vienna Fjordman has a short comment on the Fort Hood Sudden Jihad Syndrome shooting: Dying Not to Discriminate.

[ 4 - 11] On Gates of Vienna: A History of Geology and Planetary Science - Part 2

[ 3 - 11] On Brussels Journal: The Cold War Never Ended.

It is now almost twenty years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. But did it really end, and did we win it? Look at the situation in Europe today, where many of the former Communist countries in the eastern half of Europe are freer and safer than many of those in the western half of Europe. Instead of an Iron Curtain we now have an Iron Veil of Multiculturalism, and Western Europe is on the wrong side of it this time around. Did we trade the USSR for the EUSSR? If we really "beat" Marxism, how come Marxists and Leftists of all stripes virtually control Western media and academia a generation later, and why does the USA have a Marxist-inspired President Obama?

[ 2 - 11] On Gates of Vienna: IQ and Warfare

Islam is a very simple, even primitive, creed, but as such it can ironically carry certain advantages. From a strictly evolutionary point of view, if Islam didn’t enjoy any advantages it wouldn’t have become as large as it has. Muslims are absolutely convinced about the justness of their cause and the fact that they literally have a God-given right to conquer other peoples. They have no moral qualms whatsoever about doing so. In contrast, the modern West is full of self-doubt.

RECENT FJORDMAN
Dying Not to Discriminate
A History of Geology and Planetary Science - Part 2
The Cold War Never Ended
IQ and Warfare
A History of Algebra
A History of Geology and Planetary Science - Part 1
Why Obama but not Osama?
Why Did Europeans Create the Modern World? - Complete
Music and the Rise and Decline of Western Civilization
Why Did Europeans Create the Modern World? - Part 4
Why Did Europeans Create the Modern World? - Part 3
A Brief History of Zero and Indian Numerals
What was the First Novel?
Why Did Europeans Create the Modern World? - Part 2
Why Did Europeans Create the Modern World? - Part 1
Six Percent of Swedish Girls Raped Every Year

More Fjordman Files here.

Time to get out

2009-11-05T17:58:00.004+01:00

Today the UN announced that they will evacuate 600 ''non-essential'' staff (almost half its staff) from Afghanistan. This decision follows in the wake of the attack on British soldiers yesterday by a 'rogue policeman'. But presumably the suicide-bomb attack on a guesthouse frequented by UN workers in Kabul last week also figures in the equation.

The incident where an Afghan police officer turned on British soldiers, killing five, is under investigation. But today the Daily Express quoted a Captain Doug Beattie, recently retired from the armed services, as saying: "The insurgency has infiltrated the police at virtually every level".

They are not really police. They are a tribal militia provided by their village.

They are not controlled by central Government but by local warlords, jihadis and tribal elders. The Government pays them and sometimes elders pass the pay to the police. That’s why police sometimes set up road blocks and extract money from locals – to make ends meet.

If the government’s paying them they’re reasonably happy. But if they don’t get enough money they’re quite happy to be paid by the insurgency.

Earlier last month we had the (quite under-reported) news that in the US a senior Foreign Service official with responsibilities in Afghanistan handed in his resignation in a four-page letter detailing his doubts about continuing the mission there.

I fail to see the value or worth in continued US casualties or expenditures of resources in support of the Afghan government in what is, truly, a 35-year-old civil war.

The problem, as is so often, is the limited understanding of the situation by political leaders and the general public. They seem to think about the Afghan situation in terms of a national government against a single insurgency organisation, in this case the Taliban. The Foreign Service official, Matthew Hoh, argues that this is the wrong perception. Naming the insurgency 'Pashtun', in stead of the more often used 'Taliban', Hoh explains:

If the history of Afghanistan is one great stage play, the United States is no more than a supporting actor, among several previously, in a tragedy that not only pits tribes, valleys, clans, villages and families against one another, but, from at least the end of King Zahir Shah's rein, has violently and savagely pitted the urban, secular, educated and modern of Afghanistan against the rural, religious, illiterate and traditional. It is this latter group that composes and support the Pashtun insurgency. The Pashtun insurgency, which is composed of multiple, seemingly infinite local groups, is fed by what is perceived by the Pashtun people as a continued and sustained assault, going back centuries, on Pashtun land, their culture, traditions and religion by internal and external enemies. The US and NATO presence and operations in Pashtun valleys and villages, as well as Afghan army and police units that are led and composed of non-Pashtun soldiers and police, provide an occupation force against which the insurgency is justified

Hoh concludes:

I have observed that the bulk of the insurgency fights not for the white banner of the Taleban, but rather against the foreign soldiers and taxes imposed by an unrepresentative government in Kabul.

And thus, sending in more foreign troops, or prolonging the presence of the foreign troops already there, serves only to ignite the negative feelings even further. Our continued presence there will only reinforce the idea, held by local Pashtun tribes, that we are there to oppress them.

Afghanistan is not a nation-state in embryonic form that needs our forces to guide it to gestation. The coalition in Afghanistan is learning what the Russians learned in the 1980's and the Brits learned (but evidently forgot) in the 19th century: Afghanistan is a collection of constantly shifting alliances between tribes, clans and local warlords, constantly vying (and fighting) for lordship over their immediate surroundings. There is no loyalty greater then that to the local tribe elders or warlord. There is no overarching sense of nationality or national identity. In such surroundings it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to install a lasting, functioning central government.

Pretending that such is the mission of our forces in Uruzgan is tantamount to sending our men and women on a fools errant. And a deadly one at that. Yet our government seems to be intent on prolonging the mission in Uruzgan. The mission is supposed to end in 2010. The Second Chamber of parliament has already signalled its reluctance to continue the mission, but the governments intentions, although not entirely clear, seem to be in the opposite direction. A decision is expected some time before Christmas this year (NL)

With our government poised to start a new round of budget cuts in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, the cost of maintaining our mission in Uruzgan seems to be unnecessarily throwing away money in a bottomless pit. Money that would be infinitely better spent rescuing our education and health care system from the brink of financial asphyxiation.

If our very presence in Uruzgan has led to a situation where we are fighting an uncooperative people who view us as oppressors, rather then the muslim-fanatics of the Taliban, then the wisdom of continuing seems to be doubtful at best. For the illusion of founding a peaceful nation state where none existed before, the cost in cold cash and more importantly: the cost in lives and human misery is just too great.

Dutch ME correspondent: Saudi Arabia superior to Israel with human rights

2009-11-04T23:00:00.002+01:00

From Honest Reporting (link not in the original):

Gross was particularly disturbed by comments made by senior Dutch journalist Connie Mus, correspondent for the Dutch stations RTL 4 and RTL 5, and for Belgium's VTM TV, about how wonderful the Saudi authorities are:
The gentleman from the Netherlands, from Dutch TV - he was praising the Saudis, significantly praising them after his trip there. He even praised women's rights in Saudi Arabia, which I find quite incredible. He praised prison conditions in Saudi Arabia and then he severely criticized Israel, Israeli press freedoms, Israeli prison conditions.

Now I think we all know that Israel's not perfect but the idea that an objective European journalist from the Netherlands can think that Saudi Arabia gives more press freedom, more women's rights, better treatment of prisoners, where prisoners often die of torture in Saudi jails.

(h/t HVV)

Irredeemably biased and unworthy

2009-11-04T15:45:00.002+01:00

From the Jerusalem Post: US House condemns Goldstone report (or here).

The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution on Tuesday condemning the Goldstone Report, that accuses Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza, and calling on the Obama administration to oppose its endorsement.

334 representatives voted for the resolution while only 36 voted against and 22 abstained.

The vote came after Judge Richard Goldstone, who led the inquiry, criticized the resolution, which describes the findings as "irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy."

A little bit of good news in these dark days.

Last man surrendering - All over now.

2009-11-03T12:24:00.007+01:00

Unsurprising

As we fully expected the Czech Constitutional Court has found that the ~~Constitutional~~ Lisbon Treaty is entirely in agreement with the Czech Constitution. What a surprise, eh? As President Klaus has already been given those meaningless promises (here and here) from the EU, the chances are he will sign and claim a victory for the Czech Republic. In this he will be supported by the majority of the Czech people who will eventually find out how little those promises mean.

The Conservative Party of the United Kingdom, on the other hand, is unhappy. Klaus, they feel, should have saved them and saved their leader's blushes. For today is the day when the Boy-King of the Conservative Party who is said to be "disappointed" by the Czech court's decision, will set out his party's plans on Europe. It is certain that they will not include a referendum on the ~~Constitutional~~ Lisbon Treaty. It is also likely that they will include a great deal of vague blather that cannot be turned into hard policy.

[UPDATE001] And that is all she wrote:

Klaus has signed the treaty. As one of our commentators put it, the Czech Republic as a sovereign state ceased to exist on November 3rd 2009, 15:00 CET. And so did we all. For the former satellites of the Soviet empire now in the EU, though, this is particularly poignant. Now that they have been subsumed into a new empire, their independence did not even last 20 years.

[UPDATE002] A translation of the statement by president Klaus is provided by Luboš Motl, who notes:

President Klaus signed the document at 3:00 pm. No photographs, no champagne, no foreign counterparts: there is certainly nothing to celebrate.

The statement reads:

1. The decision of the Constitutional Court was expected by me and I respect it, even though I fundamentally disagree both with its content as well its justification.

2. I can't endorse its form i.e. its legal quality. The ruling by the Constitutional Court is not a neutral legislative analysis but a biased political advocacy of the Treaty of Lisbon by its champions. This point is obvious from the entirely inappropriate, confrontational elaboration as well as the presentation of the verdict.

3. Most importantly, I cannot agree with the content because once the treaty becomes valid, the Czech Republic will cease to be a sovereign country, despite the political opinion of the court. This change is bringing legitimacy to the efforts of a part of our public that is not indifferent to our national and state existence and that doesn't intend to come to terms with these developments - efforts that will take place today as well as in the future.

4. I can't accept the Constitutional Court's decision to proclaim the obligation of the president of the republic to ratify this (or another) international treaty "without unnecessary delays" by references to the law about the Constitutional Court. This bill only deals with the work of the Constitutional Court: the rights and responsibilities of the president are defined exclusively by the constitution.

5. I inform that I signed the Treaty of Lisbon today, November 3rd, at 3 pm.

And thus comes an end to 27 sovereign nations. Thus comes an end to democracy on our benighted continent. Lights are going out all over Europe. When will we see them lit again?

[UPDATE003] Brussels Journal comments:

Like EU politics, Belgian politics is characterized by a lack of transparency, unaccountability, corporatism and a willingness to bend the democratic rules and legal procedures so as to allow the political establishment to proceed with their own project and secure the survival of a state which is unloved by its citizens but provides the livelihood of the ruling elites. What Vaclav Klaus calls “Europeism” is the application of Belgicism, the doctrine underpinning the Belgian state, on the European level.

The whole process of writing a European Constitution and changing the EU from a supranational organization into a state began with the Laken Declaration of December 2001, an initiative of the Belgian presidency of the European Council that year. The coming into power of the Lisbon Treaty marks the annexation of Europe by Brussels – the expansion of Belgium over an entire continent.

There's a novel thought: We're all Belgians now...

Five years ago today

2009-11-02T22:21:00.007+01:00

Has it been five years already? God, how time flies...

Five years ago I was convinced that this moment would prove to be a watershed. Surely now the Netherlands, and Europe, would wake up. Surely now the aggressive wing of the muslim community would be dealt with, would be cut down to size.

With 20/20 hindsight we must conclude that it was a watershed moment, but not in the way I envisioned.

What made the day so memorable was the obvious panic coming over our political classes and the dignified calm that the general populace displayed despite everything. There were no riots. No bands of enraged citizens were roaming the streets searching out muslim victims to exact revenge upon. No headscarfs were forcefully torn off or spat upon. Mosques did not go up in flames, Korans were not torn up in the streets

And yet our intrepid prime minister Balkenende and the equally purposeful Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen kept urging us to remain calm. To not lash out, to not destabilize the situation further. As if Theo van Gogh was not murdered by an (ignominiously failed) would-be shaheed. As if this whole thing was some kind of awkward misunderstanding, that had absolutely no bearing on islam occupying the public space ever more aggressively. As if the population as a whole would seize this moment to go out and quench our lowest lusts at the expense of defenceless immigrants.

The day after the murder then-minister of Justice Justice Piet Hein Donner thought it the opportune moment to revive the articles of law on grievous blasphemy, sending the rather unambiguous signal that this government thought van Gogh has brought his gruesome death on himself. Minister Donner was not made to stand down and would go on suggesting that Sharia law should be possible in the Netherlands.

In the days following the murder we saw Mayor Cohen visiting the family of the murderer and the mosque he used to frequent. Our queen did not go out and meet with the family of the victim to pay her respects. But she did find the time to sit down with muslim youth to assure them that the government would be there to protect them. Protect them against an 'anti-muslim backlash' that never materialized and never was on the cards to begin with.

The van Gogh murder was the moment that our elites openly adopted a standard of operating that was to become so depressingly familiar in later years. In Slotervaart 'youth' were allowed to torch cars with impunity for days on end. But when the population threatened to react to the senseless murder of Rinie Mulder the entire neighborhood was virtually put under martial law.

No, from the royal family denying there is a Dutch identity to our political classes frantically and hysterically trying to prevent Fitna from premièring or their betrayal with regard to the EU Constitution, I mean the Lisbon treaty, I mean the Turnip, they have only reinforced the feeling they are there for everyone BUT the Dutch. That they are actively attempting to destroy Dutch identity. And that they will shamelessly employ any means at their disposal to de-legitimize any attempt to defend what we've built.

Even now, with new elections looming, a campaign seems under way to paint Geert Wilders, his PVV and those that would vote for them as the equivalent of Nazis and a threat to democracy. Needless to say: Geert Wilders and the PVV are not Nazis, they certainly are not a threat to democracy. Rather, they are a threat to the current political classes.

When Theo van Gogh was murdered, our elites came out against us, the people whom they pretend to serve. That was the moment when for the first time they did so openly, brazenly even. It definitely was a watershed moment. It was that exact moment that showed the Dutch that our leaders cannot be trusted.

And it will prove to be the moment that has decided the fate of many of them. Not tomorrow. Perhaps not even in another five years. But it will. Inevitably, inexorably the moment will arrive when the Saxon wakes and will seek a reckoning.

See also:
Amsterdam: Tensions remain five years after Van Gogh killing
Geert Wilders: “Right-Wing Extremist”
The Propaganda Machine is Working Full Power
Wilders warns against "climate of hate"

The final paragraph

2009-10-29T22:44:00.002+01:00

It seemed an item (NL) like so many others we've seen in the past. Some scientist of questionable credentials making some wild claims about the atrocious effects of global warming in the future.

Ray Hammond, a 'leading expert in predicting future social and economic trends and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Oxford’s Institute for the Future of Humanity', claims that due to extreme weather and failed crops, caused by climate change, price will rise such that we'd pay

£6.50 for a loaf of bread, £7 for a box of cornflakes and £18 for a pint of beer – these are the eye watering prices we could face in 2030 unless urgent action is taken to prevent dangerous climate change.

But what is different is the final paragraph in the Dutch item:

There are scientists who claim that the emissions of certain gases by for instance cars and factories contribute to global warming.

If even news sites (moreover: Dutch news sites) are starting to use this kind of sarcasm in their reporting on 'climate change' then we can safely conclude that the final paragraph on the climate hype sage itself is about to be written.

Terror attack on Jyllands-Posten thwarted

2009-10-28T00:37:00.003+01:00

Esther has the goods.

Danish news reports that according to the American justice department, two men from Chicago were arrested for planning a terror attack against Jyllands-Posten (DR) Jyllands Posten is the Danish newspaper which published the Mohammed cartoons.

From the Justice Department press release:

Two Chicago men have been arrested on federal charges for their alleged roles in conspiracies to provide material support and/or to commit terrorist acts against overseas targets, including facilities and employees of a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005, federal law enforcement officials announced today.

The attacks were planned, apparently, against the Jyllands-Posten offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus. In addition to attacking the offices of Jyllands-Posten, the group also planned to kill Jyllands-Posten's cultural editor Flemming Rose and cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. (DA)

No time for reality

2009-10-27T23:44:00.002+01:00

From EU Referendum we get the news that in a new scientific paper, the Russian head of the Space Research Laboratory of the Pulkovo Observatory, Dr Habibullo Abdussamatov, is telling us not to be concerned about "catastrophic global warming". What we should be worried out, he warns, is a deep temperature drop.

But we are in the middle of the run up to the Copenhagen conference. So all our political classes are too focussed on imagined warming, that they just do not have the time to deal with a very real, potentially devastating problem. Instead we have snake oil salesmen accusing our cattle of conjuring up green house gasses out of thin air (counterpoint here).

New Labour elects a new people

2009-10-27T22:24:00.000+01:00

I realize that I'm a bit late to the party. But I thought it worthy to bring this matter to the attention of readers of KV (especially the Dutch ones) since this story doesn't seem to get much traction outside of the Anglosphere.

Last Sunday Andrew Neather, a former speech writer for a number of British Labour big shots, dropped a bombshell, that by rights should explode over the heads of any and all EUnion socialists: Labour wanted mass immigration to make UK more multicultural, says former adviser.

The huge increases in migrants over the last decade were partly due to a politically motivated attempt by ministers to radically change the country and "rub the Right's nose in diversity", according to Andrew Neather, a former adviser to Tony Blair, Jack Straw and David Blunkett.

He said Labour's relaxation of controls was a deliberate plan to "open up the UK to mass migration" but that ministers were nervous and reluctant to discuss such a move publicly for fear it would alienate its "core working class vote".

It is a truly shocking revelation. Mass immigration was used to irreparably change the face of Great Britain, not for economic necessity, but from an ideological desire to destroy a national identity. And because New Labour knew deep down this wouldn't go over well with their British constituency they engaged in a subterfuge, actively betraying those that had entrusted New Labour with government.

For the first time in history there is evidence that a government has actually been electing a new people. Millions have come in, straight into a life of low-earning jobs and government benefits, virtually ensuring a solid New Labour constituency replacing the old (out-moded?) one.

At the same time it raises questions about mass-immigration into other EUnion member states. How much of this was actively promoted by the EUnion? How much of this is laid down in Directives? How much of our MPs protestations about getting tough on immigration is that much sound and and fury?

This is probably why the EUnion media outside Britain stays mute on the subject. Any reporting in the issue will undoubtedly lead to questions such as the ones I just posed. The legitimacy of the EUnion is already at an all time low after the forced Irish double referendum. Tolerance of anything EUnion is waning day by day. Uncomfortable answers to inconvenient questions might break the EUnion definitely. Or force it to come out with its benign mask fallen away too soon.

In the mean time Melanie Phillips wrote a searing condemnation in reaction to this revelation:

But the most shattering revelation was that this policy of mass immigration was not introduced to produce nannies or cleaners for the likes of Neather. It was to destroy Britain's identity and transform it into a multicultural society where British attributes would have no greater status than any other country's.

We've had Lisbon. We have immigration. And soon, very soon we will have Copenhagen. After betrayal upon betrayal, angry mobs setting out to kill any politician they can get their hands on will not be far behind, I fear.

h/t to ATW

No principle, no spine, but plenty of slime

2009-10-27T20:07:00.002+01:00

Yesterday the Second Chamber of Dutch parliament demanded quota for women in top jobs. This came hot on the heels of the announcement by the leadership of Dutch telecom giant KPN they would exclude male candidate from applying for top jobs. Second Chamber now demands that Dutch corporations include at least 30% women in their top management (now at 7%), even though research after research has shown not a great number of women want to work full time, let alone the hours necessary to secure a top job in corporate life.

But the twilight moment of the day came when the VVD (liberal conservative) came out in support of the quota plans. The VVD is traditionally a pro-market party advocating a minimum of government interference. But not in this case. Said Frans Weekers, VVD MP in Second Chamber:

This is a temporary impulse to break through the old boys network.

This nearly led to open revolt within the VVD, but today they came out with the rather confused and incomprehensible position (NL) that they are against quota, except for women in boardrooms. Citing the temporary nature of the measure (if indeed it is temporary. There exists some doubt about this), the VVD fraction in parliament is quite content to the plans, because it isn't a quota-quota, or some such.

But just how dismally our current crop of parliamentarians fulfil their duty of representation in parliament was revealed by the Dagelijkse Standaard (NL) today.

On April 23 and 24 last year the fraction spokespersons for Finance had a General Meeting at the end of which Paul Kalma (PvdA; Labour) introduced a motion imposing binding quota on top appointments in corporate Holland. The motion was co-signed by Pieter Omzigt (christian democrats) an the earlier mentioned Frans Weekers.

However, nearly a month earlier, on April 7, feminist lobby group 'Women on Top' (nudge-nudge, wink-wink. Giddit?) reported that such a motion would be carried. How did they know? No such motion had been debated in fraction meetings after all. The Dagelijkse Standaard cite a source claiming that 'Women on Top' had written the motion themselves. Moreover, they had taken it upon themselves to secure a majority in Second Chamber.

In December last year, WoT awarded their first ever award to honour politicians active in promoting the position of women in corporate Holland. And the winners of this award: Kalm, Omtzigt and Weekers.

With the award as payment for services rendered, these three guided a motion dreamt up by 'Women on Top' through parliament. So what if you betray the principles of the party you claim to represent in the process? A small price to pay for sliming your way into the affections of powerful women, you'll agree.

Evidently, one doesn't have to be a woman to be a prostitute.

The death of free speech

2009-10-27T11:58:00.002+01:00

Paul Belien warns of impending doom:

If all goes as planned, the 27 member states of the European Union will soon have a common hate crime legislation, which will turn disapproval for Islamic practices or homosexual lifestyles into crimes. Europe’s Christian churches are trying to stop the plan of the European political establishment, but it is unclear whether they will be successful.

The legislation, in the form of the European Union’s Equal Treatment Directive seeks to criminalize 'harassment' based on discriminatory grounds. However, 'harassment' has been defined so broadly it includes the perception of creating an 'offensive environment'. Moreover, the burden of proof is on the accused. If accused of creating an 'offensive environment' it is up to him or her to prove such an 'offensive environment' was not created. Proving a negative, in short.

The broad definition of 'harassment' potentially include mere disapproval. Hence, the directive may force people and organizations to act against their beliefs. The Catholic church, in its orthodox views of the sanctity of marriage is in direct violation of the directive. Anyone expressing disapproval of the Muslim faith (such as this blog) would seem to be in danger of persecution by the EUnions 'agents of nice'. How's that for 'free and democratic'?

[INSTANT UPDATE] Jihad Watch sees the Eurabia conspiracy in action:

This would, of course, render us mute and hence defenseless in the face of the advancing jihad -- and that is just what it is designed to do.

Side bar update

2009-10-26T20:50:00.002+01:00

I've added a new link to the side bar: Amsterdam 2012 - A blog novel

Written by Ruth Francisco, it's a grim look into an all too possible future.

A young woman who witnesses a murder that starts a Muslim rebellion in Amsterdam, which touches off riots throughout Europe and leads to the Great Eurabian War--World War III.

(h/t Esther of Islam in Europe)

The real climate disaster

2009-10-26T19:41:00.004+01:00

Christopher Booker has an important new book out, just in time for the Copenhagen conference: The Real Global Warming Disaster: Is The Obsession With `Climate Change` Turning Out To Be The Most Costly Scientific Blunder In History?

EU Referendum rather succinctly states that it 'reveals how a handful of scientists, who have pushed flawed theories on global warming for decades, now threaten to take us back to the Dark Ages.'

For those in a hurry Mr. Booker himself wrote the Cliff notes in a piece for the Telegraph. Leading to the inevitable conclusion:

In words quoted on the cover of my new book, Prof Lindzen wrote: “Future generations will wonder in bemused amazement that the early 21st century’s developed world went into hysterical panic over a globally averaged temperature increase of a few tenths of a degree and, on the basis of gross exaggerations of highly exaggerated computer predictions combined into implausible chains of inference, proceeded to contemplate a rollback of the industrial age.”

Such is the truly extraordinary position in which we find ourselves.

Thanks to misreading the significance of a brief period of rising temperatures at the end of the 20th century, the Western world (but not India or China) is now contemplating measures that add up to the most expensive economic suicide note ever written.

Of course the scandalous intrigue, unbecoming to serious science, around the infamous hockeystick features prominently.

Fjordman -- October updates

2009-10-26T07:00:00.000+01:00

[26 - 10] On Brussels Journal the start of a new 'European Achievements' series: A History of Geology and Planetary Science - Part 1

[22 - 10] On Brussels Journal: A History of Algebra

If the level of knowledge was comparable across the major regions of Eurasia by the early fourteenth century, why was modern mathematics developed in Europe? In the Islamic world, mathematical sciences and natural philosophy tended to be classified as “foreign sciences” and treated with some suspicion, not integrated into the core curriculum at places of learning. In Europe there was a growing body of universities where natural sciences were viewed more favorably and where students enjoyed much more free inquiry and legal protection. The Islamic world did not develop calculus, analytic geometry or heliocentric astronomy.

[10 - 10] Fjordman weighs in on this years Nobel Peace prize award on Gates of Vienna: Why Obama but not Osama?

If the Norwegian Nobel Committee has indeed decided that to promote Islam is to promote peace, I think they have unfairly bypassed another name: Osama bin Laden. Obama has been very eager during his first months as US President to promote Islam, but in all fairness, bin Laden has devoted his entire life to the same cause. Due to his many years of devotion to the spread of Islamic peace and justice, you could consequently argue that Osama deserves the Peace Prize more than Obama.

[ 8 - 10] The complete 'Why Did Europeans Create the Modern World?' is up at Gates of Vienna.

[ 2 - 10] On Brussels Journal: Music and the Rise and Decline of Western Civilization.

Interestingly enough I have heard a few people from former Communist countries state that they do not like Beethoven because they sense some form of ideological megalomania underlying his music. Personally, I would say that a man who could compose timeless and beautiful pieces of music such as the Moonlight Sonata cannot have been all bad, but it is undoubtedly true that he was not a humble craftsman like Bach was.

[ 1 - 10] On Gates of Vienna part 3 and part 4 are up on the 'Why Did Europeans Create the Modern World?' series.

RECENT FJORDMAN
A History of Algebra
Why Obama but not Osama?
Why Did Europeans Create the Modern World? - Complete
Music and the Rise and Decline of Western Civilization
Why Did Europeans Create the Modern World? - Part 4
Why Did Europeans Create the Modern World? - Part 3
A Brief History of Zero and Indian Numerals
What was the First Novel?
Why Did Europeans Create the Modern World? - Part 2
Why Did Europeans Create the Modern World? - Part 1
Six Percent of Swedish Girls Raped Every Year
Europe and Human Accomplishment
istory of Beer - Part 6
A History of Beer - Part 5
A History of Beer - Part 4
A History of Beer - Part 3

More Fjordman Files here.

Statement of this weekend

2009-10-25T01:08:00.006+02:00

Mainly in response to this.

(h/t Saberpoint via IBA)

Your home is not your castle

2009-10-24T10:19:00.002+02:00

In Emmen, in the north of the Netherlands, a thief was caught helping himself to the contents of a purse belonging to an 88 year old lady. He's done this before, so the lady's family installed a camera in the house, filmed the thief and handed the tape over to the police, who put the footage online (NL).

Now the the Lawbreakers Union ('Bond van Wetsovertreders'; BWO. We have one of those...) has filed a complaint (NL) with the National Ombudsman, arguing that filming criminal activity in a private home violates the privacy of the criminal in question. According to the 'union' video surveillance in shops is okay, 'but equipment in private homes goes too far. [The complaint] is a sort of trial suit to find out how far people may go.'

One would hope that the complaint is shoved into the circular shaped archive, while the ombudsman wipes the tears of laughter from his face. But this being the Netherlands, I am not too sure this will be the outcome...

The Super Turnip (updated and bumped)

2009-10-20T14:33:00.003+02:00

It really shouldn't surprise us. After all we had plenty of warning. Back in 2006 we already reminded ourselves of Chiracs assessment of the Kyoto Protocol:

French President Jacques Chirac provided the key clue as to why so many in the international community still revere the Kyoto Protocol, who in 2000 said Kyoto represents “the first component of an authentic global governance.”

That seems the stuff that makes up the daily ration of a conspiracy nut. But in the run up to the Copenhagen climate summit next December we get some worrying words from Lord Monckton on the true aims of the intended Treaty of Copenhagen over at 'Watts up with that': Obama Poised to Cede US Sovereignty in Copenhagen, Claims British Lord Monckton

I read that treaty. And what it says is this, that a world government is going to be created. The word “government” actually appears as the first of three purposes of the new entity. The second purpose is the transfer of wealth from the countries of the West to third world countries, in satisfication of what is called, coyly, “climate debt” – because we’ve been burning CO2 and they haven’t. We’ve been screwing up the climate and they haven’t. And the third purpose of this new entity, this government, is enforcement.

How many of you think that the word “election” or “democracy” or “vote” or “ballot” occurs anywhere in the 200 pages of that treaty? Quite right, it doesn’t appear once. So, at last, the communists who piled out of the Berlin Wall and into the environmental movement, who took over Greenpeace so that my friends who funded it left within a year, because [the communists] captured it – Now the apotheosis as at hand. They are about to impose a communist world government on the world.

Which confirms what a lot of us are already thinking.The climate hype is used as an excuse to foist upon us the big brother of the Turnip: The Super Turnip.

The draft treaty text can be viewed here (pdf). Highlights (for want of a better word) are here. If you thought that the betrayal over the Turnip was bad, just wait and see how the Super Turnip turns out...

[Afterthought] And of course this all just happens at the moment that global warming is lying inches thick on much of central Europes door step.

[UPDATE001] Het Vrije Volk has a series of videos on this matter. The first two are from the Minnesota Free Market Institute event where Lord Monckton made the speech referred to above and the Q&A-session after the speech (btw, I inadvertently misattributed the original post to WUWT. It was actually from Fightin' Words). The third is an interview with Canada's Michael Coren on Corens show.

Reader DP111 flags up a radio interview Lord Monckton had with Glenn Beck (reproduced below). Watch (listen to) it. Among other things, Lord Monckton states that the Copenhagen draft treaty would force developed countries to pay up to a mind-boggling 2% of gross domestic product in 'climate reparations'. When a deal is reached in Copenhagen we may find that we got much, much more then we bargained for. Copenhagen is truly shaping up to be Lisbon writ large.

Meanwhile, the big shots of the blogosphere are covering this (Michelle, Pamela).
And here in the Netherlands? Well... The silence is truly shattering. As with the Turnip we are in the process of a stitch-up of epic, even biblical proportion, with our MSM standing idly by, studiously looking away. In the past the profession had a certain dignity and nobility. But for all their sycophantic complicity in this, as well as the Lisbon treaty, it is sad but true to state that at the beginning of this, the twenty-first century most journalists are sub-human scum of the earth.

[UPDATE002] Quite surprisingly the EUnion is digging in its heels with regard to the 'climate reparations' in the Copenhagen treaty:

A call from the chancellor, Alistair Darling, for the EU to commit to €10bn, of which Britain would contribute €1bn, went unheeded. The European Commission has proposed €15bn a year by 2020. The European parliament's environment committee this week put the figure at €30bn, but environmental lobby groups talk of €35bn.

Babysteps, as they say.

Do-it-yourself hockeystick

2009-10-19T22:52:00.003+02:00

Via WUWT we get a very illustrative post by Lucia's Blackboard on how to construct your own hockey stick graph from randomly generated 'proxies'.

Yes, you read that right: Now you can create your very own super-alarming hockey stick graph showing the urgent necessity to wreck our economies and hand over ever more money in (carbon) taxes to Al Gore and the Goristas. And all you need is a spreadsheet with a random number generator. It is THAT easy...

All kidding aside, it provides a good explanation on how improper statistical procedure inadvertently biases climate reconstructions by the likes of Mann et al. to show what they want it to show.

But that is not all...

Also on WUWT the discovery that in those reconstructions (by Mann et al.) some proxies were 'up-side-down proxies'. For some reason or other Mann et al. got the data on at least four proxies inverted. And wouldn't you know it: Those were four proxies that indicated recent cooling. But after the mistake (if that's what it was) those proxies showed recent warming. Awesome coincident that.

Between that and the DIY hockey stick it seems we are back where we started some 15-20 years ago. That much vaunted consensus is as dead as can be.

[INSTANT UPDATE] WUWT also has a new widget (see right column of KV) where the latest stats of some important climate indicators are shown: global temperature anomaly, atmospheric CO2 levels, number of sunspots and solar flux. Just click on it (or the link above) to get the code.

The last ember of democracy in Europe

2009-10-18T23:45:00.002+02:00

EU Rerefendum has the story. Too depressed to add meaningful comment...

As Booker writes: "Europe's last democrat".

Back in the UK

2009-10-17T00:20:00.005+02:00

Gawain Towler was around Westminster this afternoon and caught sight of those lovely, peaceful people welcoming Geert Wilders to the UK, now that he's allowed. Helen S. of EU Referendum also has some pictures. A victory for free speech for all sides, apparently.

[UPDATE001] And we have moving pictures. From Wigan Patriot, thanks to commenter Sir Henry Morgan.

[UPDATE002] EU Referendums Helen S. has her take on Geert Wilders'visit to the UK and the subsequent protests: Freedom of speech.

[UPDATE003] The press conference Geert Wilders gave:

Much needed debunking

2009-10-15T14:10:00.002+02:00

In the Dutch MSM (NL) and elsewhere the story is making the rounds about 'a prominent British researcher' warning that in ten years the Arctic will be completely ice free in the summer. The prediction is all the more surprising given that it is completely at odds with the recent trend in Arctic ice extent. From the Dutch link we learn that this 'prominent British researcher' is Professor Peter Wadhams, basing his conclusions on 'an expedition'.

From the BBC website we learn that the expedition in question was the Catlin Ice Survey expedition. Readers may hear a bell ringing now and they would be correct. The weblog 'Watts up with that' have reported on the questionable character of this expedition from its very start (extensive coverage here).

With the publication of the results of the Catlin survey, Watts provides us with a top 10 of reasons not to trust the Catlin survey data. Included in those reasons is the tendency of the expedition to only travel on smooth ice. Which happens to be young ice, which happens to be thinner then older ice. The technical term for that seems to be 'navigational bias'. In more popular vernacular that is called 'crappy science'. And there was of course the embarrassing episode on the amateurishly fake 'telemetry data' on the expeditions participants.

A juicy bit of info is shared by commenter 'Ed Zuiderwijk' (a fellow Dutch-person?) who notes that

Catlin is an Insurance company specialising in selling cover against risk from “climate change”. Well, let’s say: it’s not an oil company.

Tells you al you need to know about the import of the findings from Catlin Arctic Survey, doesn't it? More on sponsors paying for the Catlin Ice Survey can be found here. If this is the sort of sort of people that the Climate Hype depends on for its survival, I'd say the hype is truly over.

Breaking: British judges rule against Brown government in Wilders ban case

2009-10-13T13:29:00.011+02:00

From the Algemeen Dagblad (NL):

The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in London ruled on Tuesday that Geert Wilders was wrongly refused entrance into the UK last February.

The Birkenhead Society, a British organisation that strives for freedom of speech, had filed the suit on behalf of the PVV leader (...)

"The political decision by the British government was correctly wiped off the table by the British judge. That's a boost for freedom of speech", stated the leader of the PVV Tuesday in The Hague in a first reaction to the news.

Finally, some sanity prevails.

The Volkskrant has an 'atmosphere sampling' of the trial (NL).

[UPDATE001] EN reporting on Expatica:

The British government was wrong to deny far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders entry in February, rules the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in London.

In February, Britain refused entry to Wilders whom it accused of inciting anti-Islamic hatred. The politician was sent back home on a plane a few hours after being detained by immigration officials on arrival at London's Heathrow airport.

Wilders had arrived in the UK for the screening of his anti-Islamic film Fitna at the House of Lords by Lord Pearson of Britain's Independence Party.

Then, Britain's Home Office said Wilders was turned back to stop him spreading “hatred and violent messages”.

The Freedom Party leader then launched an official appeal against the British government's decision to ban him.

When informed of the new ruling, Wilders said it was "fantastic news” and that it shows “there is progress for freedom of expression”.

It remains unclear whether the tribunal's decision means that Wilders is now free to travel to the UK. The British government has yet to comment on the ruling.

[UPDATE002] Via ITN the reaction of the British government:

A Home Office spokesman said the Government was "disappointed" by the ruling, adding: "We are disappointed by the court's decision today. The Government opposes extremism is all its forms.

"The decision to refuse Wilders admission was taken on the basis that his presence could have inflamed tensions between our communities and have led to inter-faith violence. We still maintain this view."

A quote from General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett comes to mind: That's the spirit! If nothing else works a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.

[UPDATE003] Good commentary from the Telegraph.

Earlier blogging:

Monday morning linkage

2009-10-12T11:38:00.008+02:00

To start of the week, a couple of links to stories that caught my attention.

Another EDL demo, another accusation of racism: Arrests as rival race demonstrations clash (thanks to DP111).

Scandinavia is rapidly approaching actual Intifada: “Sweden as a Horrific Example”

What we are seeing are indications that society is dissolving. Muslim parallel societies have become so extreme that they display direct aggression towards the rest of the society. Regularly we also see attacks on firefighters and ambulance teams.

The tectonic plates in governmental and administrative Holland are shifting profoundly: Trade union FNV meets over Wilders talks. (Update Monday: Shifting has stopped. For the moment... Time permitting I will do a fuller post on this issue).

Amsterdam discovers the reality of the Laffer curve as it applies to parking: Amsterdam finances hit by parking fees.

In total, the city expected income from parking to reach €136m this year, but the final figure is set to be €124m, a shortfall of €12m

Even the BBC is starting to wonder: What happened to global warming? And the British government, in a new low of climate propaganda, is resorting to actual fairy tales.

Meanwhile: the IPCC didn't get projections of the CO2-levels or the global temperature right. And now it turns out it got the methane projection wrong too.

This weekend Poland caved to the Turnip, leaving Vaclav Klaus to face the EUnion politburo on his own. And Germany and France are in Prague letting everyone know who really is in charge in the 'new' post-Turnip EUnion.

The only thing I have to say...

2009-10-10T00:14:00.004+02:00

... about the Nobel peace price, its recipient and the committee has already been said by The Times: The absurd decision on Obama makes a mockery of the Nobel peace prize.

Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of America’s first black president and hope that Washington will honour its promise to re-engage with the world. (...)

Mr Obama becomes the third sitting US President to receive the prize. The committee said today that he had “captured the world’s attention”. It is certainly true that his energy and aspirations have dazzled many of his supporters. Sadly, it seems they have so bedazzled the Norwegians that they can no longer separate hopes from achievement. The achievements of all previous winners have been diminished.

There. Now I don't have to say so myself. And to think the committee thought Obama to be more deserving then these other candidates. He should graciously decline. But he won't, of course...

[UPDATE001] From the comments at De Zwijger NL):

In reality it's a filthy scam. Leftist idiots awarded the prize to themselves. Obama is their biggest victim. What scum.

Don't know about 'biggest victim', but for the rest spot on.