COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Saturday, July 05, 2008

The Dhimmitude of Britain (continued)

What part of theocracy does this man not understand?
Melanie Phillips
Friday, 4th July 2008

After the Archbishop of Canterbury, now England’s most senior judge, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips, has given a green light to the growth of sharia law in Britain in family matters and the arbitration of disputes. It’s not really a surprise that Lord Phillips thinks like this since he actually chaired the meeting where the Archbishop, Dr Rowan Williams, had his sharia moment. Dr Williams, said Lord Phillips, had been misquoted. Not so. It is Lord Phillips who does not appear to understand the significance of what Dr Williams was saying because, as Lord Phillips demonstrated in his own lecture last night at the London Muslim Centre, he is clearly just as ignorant and confused about Islam, sharia and the accepted relationship between religious minorities and the state.

Admitting that he knew little about sharia law, Lord Phillips said he had taken advice in Oman and that as a result of this (clearly highly partial and inadequate) briefing he was able to state:

I understand that it is not the case that for a Muslim to lead his or her life in accordance with these principles will be in conflict with the requirements of the law in this country.


But how can that possibly be the case, when the whole point about sharia is that it recognises no higher authority than itself? Sharia law is therefore by definition inimical to the fundamental rule of British society, that the law of the land is the law for all. Because he clearly doesn’t understand that crucial point, it appears that Lord Phillips thinks that, while reaching out to the Muslim minority, he is nevertheless holding the line for the principle of one law for all. He is wrong. He is destroying it.

He thinks that, because Britain wouldn’t allow sharia punishments to be inflicted – such as stoning or amputation – there would be no problem. He ignores the fact that sharia law is founded upon principles which are inimical to western values, such as the inferiority of women or the requirement to sacrifice free speech in the interests of maintaining the honour of the faith, because the sharia is said to be God’s own law.

He muddles up allowing informal dispute resolution by sharia courts – anyone can informally resolve a dispute by whatever criteria they wish; that has nothing to do with the law -- with the resolution of marital and family issues, a different matter altogether. Although Lord Phillips did not specifically mention the Jewish Beth Din courts, he seems to be labouring under the same delusion as Dr Williams that what Muslims want under sharia courts is the same as Jews already have under the Beth Din. But the huge difference between Jewish and Muslim religious courts is that Jewish courts administer only informal rulings and are bound by the law of the land.

Marriages or divorces of Jews have to be carried out under English law; and in the one instance where the English law was amended in order to enforce a divorce upon a recalcitrant man in certain circumstances, this was only necessary because English family law had authority whereas Jewish family law did not. Since however Muslims regard sharia as superior to secular law, the Phillips/Williams arrangement would establish a two-tier system offering no protection for women, apostates or homosexuals. Even at present, merely turning a blind eye to sharia means condemning many Muslim women to live in fear of their lives, not to mention those who leave the faith. The idea that they could appeal to the English courts for protection is, given the social circumstances, ludicrous.

Next, Lord Phillips repeats the error -- deliberately promoted by the Islamists -- that Principles of Sharia prohibit the earning or paying of interest when what they actually prohibit is not interest – which is even permitted in Saudi Arabia, for heaven’s sake -- but usury. The prohibition of interest was invented by 20th century Islamists to use ‘sharia finance’ as a means of Islamising the western public sphere.

Next, Lord Phillips says he ‘understands’ that terrorist atrocities such as suicide bombing are in conflict with Islamic principles. In which case, why are suicide bombings mandated as a religious duty by some of the most authoritative legal authorities in the Islamic world such as Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradawi and (on occasion) Sheikh Tantawi of al Azhar university in Cairo?

If anyone were in any doubt why the Islamists are so overjoyed by Lord Phillips’s most ill-advised remarks, they only have to read the response by the head of the Muslim Council of Britain, Mohammed abdul Bari. He made it plain that he does not want a parallel legal system. He wants English law to become Islamised:

I believe I speak for a vast majority of Muslims when I say that we do not want separate Courts or parallel legal system. What we do want is a judiciary that is sensitive to our divine laws on personal relationships and family matters. Judges involved in family matters need to have knowledge of our rights and obligations as Muslims in Sharia law.


Lord Phillips extols ‘equality under the law’. What he does not seem to grasp is that this means Muslims should be treated equally with all other minorities. And all others acknowledge that they live under the law of the land. They do not expect the law of the land to change to accommodate them.

One final point about Lord Phillips’s craven naivety. At the beginning of his talk, he disclosed for the very first time that he has Jewish ancestry in that his maternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants to Britain. He presumably vouchsafed this information, which he has never before made known in public, in order to ingratiate himself with his Muslim audience on the presumed grounds that they would warm to his identifying a common experience with them of being in some sense an outsider to the culture.

However, he delivered his address at the London Muslim Centre. This centre shares the ideology of Jamaat e Islami, an extremist Islamist organisation which aims to Islamise the state and follows the teachings of Maulana al Maududi, who believed that the Jews worshipped Satan. The dignatory who opened the Centre a few years ago was one Sheikh Abdur-Rahman al-Sudais, who has in the past called the Jews ‘calf-worshippers, prophet-murderers, prophecy-deniers... the scum of the human race whom Allah cursed and turned into apes and pigs.. these are the Jews, a continuous lineage of meanness, cunning, obstinacy, tyranny, licentiousness, evil and corruption’.

This is where Lord Phillips chose to use his Jewish background to grovel to those who would destroy the very values which afforded his maternal grandparents sanctuary. How can England’s most important judge be quite so clueless?
This is the same Lord Phillips who says life sentences are cruel and unusual.
Why do I think Lord Phillips is a man our own Justice Kennedy looks to for his "evolving standards of decency?"

91 comments:

  1. If the English (and I intentionally do not say British) do not care enough to do anything about staying English, the results will have been earned through neglect and guilt.

    It will have more to do with diminishment than dhimmitude. The result of dumbing down, slumming down, getting down on the worst instead of aspiring to the best. Standards of morality and civility have been skanked down to the tattooed pierced corpse of a corrupt culture. Certitude and conviction will always trump guilt, doubt and hesitation. Islam has no doubts and no guilt.

    The real threat will come from the internal collapse of our own culture. It can get worse. If the left does not get their way, we will see another wave of radicalism technologically more competent than the last. It will make the sword of Islam look like a butter knife.

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  2. Wow, Deuce! Well said!

    Self-diminishment. Too many of them look down on patriotism and do not even want the English flag or the Union Jack flown on government buildings.

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  3. ‘Don’t teach children patriotism’

    Patriotism should be avoided in school lessons because British history is “morally ambiguous”, a leading educational body recommends.

    Teachers should not instill pride in what they consider great moments of British history, as more shameful episodes could be downplayed or excluded.

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  4. To Paraphrase Praeger:
    Only a College Graduate could believe such bildge.

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  5. At my school they said it was spelled Prager and bilge.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Whoopee,
    A Carbon and Methane emitting spellcheck.
    ...heavy on the Methane.

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  7. There are a couple of minutes missing when they put the captures on the ground. So we didn't get that particular vicarious thrill. Looked kinda rough on Thursday, they did.

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  8. Obama's Racist Rant Against Whites

    Laura at Atlas Shrugs investigated Barack Obama's work and made some startling observations:
    Obama probably did not think about the presidential office possibility when he wrote the book "Dreams From My Father" as it is laden with racist categorizations.

    Obama catagorizes people according to skin tone, as some are olive, pale, walnut, etc. Almost to the point of being laughable, if it was not so pathetic and scary. The last person to be that race obsessed in power started freakin' WWII and murdered millions of innocent people.

    My husband and I sat down one night and began counting how many times Obama used racial catagorization or referred to race in his book Dreams From My Father.

    There are racial references made 179 times in the first 110 pages.We got sick of counting at page 110 and sick of reading Obama's racial trashing.

    The results from their study are listed here.And, HERE is another lengthy compilation of the many racist attacks against whitey by Barack Obama.

    In related news... Obama is less popular with democrats today than when he won the nomination a month ago.

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  9. Doggone it, there was a real good article just the other day on this topic, but it's slipped off into the virtual sphere somewheres and I can't find it. Upshot was, it's a heck of a mess over there in Anglican Church, divided into about four or five squabbling factions, the team of horses has no strong teamster. Lib vs conservative, gay vs straight, north vs south, etc. And, the pews are pretty much empty in England, though it might change.

    The gospels show a Jesus--the gnostic gospels do too for the most part--relaxed in relation to the femmes, the idea of a follower actually acquiescing to sharia law is a real betrayal. In short, it's bs, and the women ought to be up in arms.

    I'd trade some of the more politically astute, albeit perhaps somewhat sinful, bishops of the old days for this bunch of ninnies any day. At least they still had the will to live.

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  10. Hah--Hitler didn't last long in the wax museum in Germany. Guy ripped his head off first thing on opening day. No stormtroppers around to protect the fuehrer, wax or real.

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  11. Bobal: the idea of a follower actually acquiescing to sharia law is a real betrayal. In short, it's bs, and the women ought to be up in arms.

    I have a theory that most of this acquiescence to Sharia Law is a symptom of Bush Derangement Syndrome, sort of like a 14 year old kid deliberately tattooing the word "Fuck" all over his face in different fonts because his father said it would impact negatively in future job interviews. On the afternoon of January 20 all these folks are going to wake up and go, "You know, I like my porn/ale/casual sex/two piece bathing suits and these immigrants can go pack sand."

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  12. Matthews said some immigrants do not trust the police in their home countries and the mindset travels with them here.

    "They view police as a criminal gang and rightfully so. And they're afraid if they call the police, someone in their family will be deported," Matthews said.



    Chaos In L
    A

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  13. Hey, Teresita, check this out. "All American Literature Goes Back To One Man, Mark Twain"--Hemingway Not true, of course, but we know what he means, right?

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  14. When the Civil War broke out, Twain may have briefly entertained pro-Union sentiments but at length decided to serve with a ragtag bunch of Confederate irregulars. After a couple of weeks, "hunted like a rat the whole time," he thought better of that commitment and, as Huck Finn did, lit out for the territory.

    I didn't know that.

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  15. For some reason the Betancourt video is no longer available at YouTube.

    ****************

    Re: the Hispanic and Black violence. It reminds me of Iraqi militias killing and taking revenge, or S.A. paras operating outside the law.

    Barak is the foremost proponent of the idea which is gaining support from the left that we have been locking up too many "youth," particularly blacks. From bobal's link:
    Among 10- to 24-year olds, homicide is the leading cause of death for blacks and the second leading cause of death for Hispanics. The Justice Department reported that in 2005, the homicide rate for black males, 18-25, was just over 102 per 100,000, and only 12.5 deaths per 100,000 for their white counterparts.

    Other arguments they make are that we can't afford to house all these offenders, blacks are disproportionately sentenced for crimes.

    It's my understanding that juveniles just about get away with murder. By the time they're eligible for serious jail time they have a mile-long rap sheet. What are we to do, simply let them walk?

    We are reaping what we have sown. Drugs, absentee or worthless fathers, unchecked illegal immigration, licentiousness. In my youth, offending youth were sent to Reform school. Granted, that often did anything but reform them, but at least they were off the street. Boot camps are also now a thing of the past in Florida thanks largely to a disinformation campaign against them. People have forgotten the meaning of incorrigible.

    It's only going to get worse.

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  16. Now the video is available. Go figure.

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  17. youtube takes down unauthorized videos that are protected by copyrights.

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  18. When it comes to violent crimes, the numbers speak for themselves. According to the Philadelphia police, there are not enough blacks in jail. Lock them up!

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  19. Charlie Cook sums up:

    [...]

    The point of all of this is that the Democrats should be beating the daylights out of the GOP in this election. And yet general election trial heats match the private expectations of most pros on both sides: This will be another very close election. Most analysts probably give Obama a bit of an edge, but nowhere near as big as betting pools predict.

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  20. It wouldn't surprise me if, like the Archbishop of Canterbury, he's been greased.

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  21. Just applying Occam's Razor. This Lord Chief Justice Phillips, is too smart to be this dumb.

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  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  23. Libertarians More Likely To Vote For Obama Than McCain This seems surprising.
    ----
    People have forgotten the meaning of incorrigible.

    Seems so. I'm renting to a girl from LA this fall, I'll be able to find out a little about how things are there.

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  24. Islam has no doubts and no guilt.

    Yeah, just where is the guilt? But, then, if you take mo as The Shining Example, there's not much to fall away from. In the koran, is there any example anywhere of the 'Lord, I have sinned against Thee' idea?

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  25. There may be, in a way. I'm scratching my head, ought to know it better.

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  26. Along the lines of deuce's comments above, my girl from LA always has this at the bottom of her e-mails--

    If you're any good at all, you know you can be better
    -Lindsey Buckingham

    Lindsey of Fleetwood Mac fame, I think.

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  27. Syria is ready to break off its close links with Iran if America gives it financial and military backing, a former Israeli diplomat involved in unofficial peace talks has revealed to The Sunday Telegraph.

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  28. Well, we turned the tribes of Anbar, so we may as well turn the Syrians, too.

    Couple billion, in payoffs or tribute, depends upon the perspective, but Peace in our time, well worth the credit we'd extend to that dentist.

    Since we gave 'em a pass, by not destroying his armor, maybe those Syrians will see the light, regardless.

    We'll have to talk to them directly, after the election.

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  29. Desert Rat: We'll have to talk to them directly, after the election.

    Nixon went to China, but Bush is going nowhere but Crawford, leaving it to Obama to take the road to Damascus. As far as Bush is concerned, the fall of Saddam left an opening for Syria to take Iraq's spot on the Axis of Evil, and he don't talk to evildoers. And neither does McCain.

    bobal: Lindsey of Fleetwood Mac fame, I think.

    He also did amazing work by himself, please watch this video from 1981. It will definitely sound familiar.

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  30. If we keep this up, we'll be paying every muslim country in the world, just to behave. And sub-groups within countries, too. When does the check arrive in our mailbox?

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  31. If we keep this up, we'll be paying every muslim country in the world, just to behave.

    And the money comes back to us in arms sales as they stock up on war materiel in the event the payments are cut off and they have to misbehave. It's the Circle of Bullshit.

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  32. The Dentist saw how well it worked for the other leg of the Axis, Baby Kim.

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  33. Memories are short. Syria was on our side not that long ago.

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  34. s'ok, Mat,
    not ALL Dentists are sadists.

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  35. Doug,

    I'm certainly not Gay. But Sadist?

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  36. Japanese Shell subsidiary plans solar-panel plant

    Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary Showa Shell Sekiyu, Japan's fifth-largest oil refiner, plans to invest 100 billion yen, or about $938 million, in a solar-panel megaplant, according to AFP.

    The planned factory will produce panels with the cumulative annual capacity to produce 1 gigawatt of power, equivalent to that of a small nuclear-power reactor.

    The news breaks a month after Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda called for a tenfold increase in the country's use of solar power by 2020. The government is considering subsidies to boost the industry.

    Showa came into the solar-power business last year, with its first 20-megawatt-capacity photovoltaic plant in the southern city of Miyazaki. In August, it announced plans to build a second factory, with a capacity to produce 60 megawatts.

    The company produces its thin-film photovoltaics with copper, indium, and selenium (CIS). This differs from the combination of copper, indium, gallium, and selenium (CIGS) that companies such as Miasole, HelioVolt, Nanosolar, and Global Solar are using.

    In 2005, CIS had reached a maximum efficiency in converting solar light to electricity of roughly 20 percent, according to scientific studies (PDF). That is similar to the 19.9 percentage mark that CIGS cells achieved in March by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Both are a lot cheaper to manufacture than traditional silicon cells, just like cadmium telluride thin film, manufactured by First Solar.

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  37. Coming your way, al-Bob!

    Damn! And I've got my new binocs, too. I feel like I'm on the English coast, circa 1942, with the Nazi in the air!

    At least this guy had the good sense to file a flight plan, not like that moron in California, that lifted off from his back yard.

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  38. Kent Couch was wearing a parachute Saturday morning as he kissed his wife and kids goodbye

    Kent Couch was wearing a parachute Saturday morning as he kissed his wife and kids and ass goodbye...

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  40. T., reminds one of William James and the Nitrous Oxide Revolution, which was a bummer, like all the other false flags. You can't get there through drugs. Nor revolution. Nor 'hope'.

    Through thought, maybe, through love, yes.

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  41. An airborn invasion from liberal Oregan. I'll have to think about that. But, from Bend, that's a strike in their favor. Nice place, Bend.

    Truth is, they have some balloon clubs down that way, and have a really good time with it.

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  42. Las Vegas is Fallen, Fallen--

    Don't get me wrong, I just love the poetry--

    King James Version: Isaiah Chapter 13
    1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.


    2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.


    3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.


    4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.


    5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

    (That is to say, economic forces-bob)


    6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.


    7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:


    8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.


    9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.


    10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.


    11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.


    12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

    (That's all of us folks, turn away, turn away!)


    13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.


    14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.


    15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.


    16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.


    17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.


    18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.


    19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.


    20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.


    21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

    Las Vegas The Great Is Fallen Fallen


    22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonge

    Now, I call that--Damn Good Poetry!

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  43. 15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.


    16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

    But, notice, Mat and WiO, the Lord is nothing but a muslim thug here.
    We must transcend this beautiful poetry.

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  44. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  45. Well, that wasn't very well spoken. I did not mean to attack Israel, who I would welcome as the 51st state. Israel has transcended the old poetry. I did not mean to imply that you had not. I am sick of the whole argument between the arabs and the Jews, but, as always, I take the side of the Jews.

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  46. I quess another way to look at is, the dictatorship of the poets, and the old civilizations. I known a lot of the Nez Perce. They would say, or would have said, Babylon, what the fuck is that?

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  47. "..who I would welcome as the 51st state.."


    Imperialist pig! :D

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  48. Mat, I'm goin' to bed, Bible at my pillow, Nez Perce feathers on my head, and, dreaming of Swedish plows. GOODNIGHT (I have been drinking a little wine)

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  49. Shoshana Li, a descendant of the Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, recently made aliyah and married an American Jewish immigrant to Israel.

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  50. Bob,

    You know the Bible better than I. To my eyes, for intent and purpose you're Jewish.

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  51. Good night, Bob. I hope you dream a dream full of Jerusalem pines laughter and joy. And I hope it comes true for you.

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  52. Pinus halepensis

    Common: Aleppo pine, Mediterranean pine, Jerusalem pine
    Family: Pinaceae
    Origin: Mediterranean regions
    Light: Full sun
    Soil: Useful in poor soils and arid climates
    Temperature: Tender when young; established trees can take near zero temperatures Thrives in desert heat, aridity and wind; good at seashore.

    A small grove provides a cooling, pine-forest effect. Excellent windbreaks and screens. Grows quickly to a height of 30-50 feet. Drop their lower branches so that trunk is visible. Rounded habit. Attractive as 2 yr. old, rugged character as 5 yr. old. In age, open irregular crown of many short, ascending branches.

    Needles usually in bundles of two, 2-1/2 to 4 in., light green. Cones, 3 in. oval to oblong, reddish to reddish-brown. Can be bothered by mites in Southern California. Aleppo pine blight is also a nuisance, and is indicated by the browning of growing tips.

    One of the best fast-growing trees for desert areas. The Greeks traditionally cut down an Aleppo pine every year, decorating it with flowers and ribbons in honor of the god Attis. This custom is believed to have been adopted by the Europeans in honor of Christ, making the Aleppo the first Christmas tree.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Jewish faces:

    http://www.shavei.org//en/Default.aspx

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  54. What does this refer to?

    "Very glad we did not see that brave Colombian officer killed for speaking up.
    Rather wishing there was a follow up visit 5 minutes later from some fighter bombers."

    ReplyDelete
  55. Norfolk Island Pine, Star Pine (Araucaria heterophylla)
    These grow really well here.
    Every one I've seen is a lot more symetrical and handsome than this scraggly POS.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Bottom right. Is that it?

    http://flickr.com/photos/songtuyuri/458838498/sizes/m/

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  57. That Nitrous Scene is the highest form of Art, in my book.
    In more ways than one.

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  58. An uncommonly elegant thief
    Smooth and well-spoken, Doris Payne recalls a five-decade career as an international jewel thief.

    Payne said she stole her first diamond at age 27, hoping to raise money to help her mother leave an abusive husband. She remembers her mother's reaction: "She said,
    'Doris, don't you know that's stealing?' "

    "I'm not stealing, because I'm just going to keep what they let me have,"
    she replied.

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  59. When police interviewed her, Payne admitted stealing the ring in Palo Alto and described how she had done it. On her booking sheet, she gave her occupation as
    "jewel thief."

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  60. "At least this guy had the good sense to file a flight plan, not like that moron in California, that lifted off from his back yard."
    ---
    That "moron" is a Darwin Award Immortal, I'll have you know.

    ...the look on the pilot's faces alone, coming into LAX, qualifies him as one of my Gods.

    "Roger, man in lawn chair with Beer @ 3,000 feet."

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  61. Marines act as paymasters to Afghans
    ... Marines act as paymasters to Afghans, in the wake of their offensive againstthe Taliban in Helmand province...

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  62. I do see the deeper humor, as yet unmentioned, of the ties between England and US severed, on the fourth of July, oh those many years ago. While of the fifth we begin to remark on the Monarch's Church and their last days, here on Earth.

    England and history will march on, new invaders changing her course, again. But the current crop of royalty, may be seeing their final days, Mired in the past, unable to adapt, limited by their generations of experience at another game.

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  63. Harry should seize the Reins of Power, expel the Muzzies, and lead Jolly old England back to her finest hours.

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  64. (along with that cute wench, at his side)

    ReplyDelete
  65. How S.F. Became A Sanctuary
    Illegal immigrant shield laws like the one S.F. adopted in 1989 are seen as pragmatic option.
    Comment
    Editorial: No sanctuary for drug dealers

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  66. Ore. man completes lawn chair flight

    He takes his BB gun and shoots some balloons to lower himself to the ground. When he hit the ground he released all the little tiny balloons. People were racing down the road with cameras. They were all talking and laughing."

    Couch covered about 235 miles in about nine hours after lifting off at dawn from his gas station riding in a green lawn chair rigged with an array of more than 150 giant party balloons.

    Sandi Barton, 58, who has lived her whole life in this town of about 300, said she and her brother-in-law were the first ones to reach Couch and shook his hand.

    "Not much happens in Cambridge," she said, adding that about half the town turned out.

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  67. bobal said...
    Don't get me wrong, I just love the poetry--

    King James Version: Isaiah Chapter 13
    1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.


    2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.


    3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.


    4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.


    5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

    (That is to say, economic forces-bob)


    6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.


    7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:


    8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.


    9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.


    10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.


    11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.


    12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

    (That's all of us folks, turn away, turn away!)


    13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.


    14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.


    15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.


    16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.


    17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.


    18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.


    19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.


    20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.


    21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

    Las Vegas The Great Is Fallen Fallen


    22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonge

    Now, I call that--Damn Good Poetry!

    Naw.....

    go here:

    http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1013.htm

    read the original HEBREW MUCH MUCH BETTER....

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  68. Come on WiO, read it again. They're essentially the same...:)

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  69. "Yeah, looks like it."

    Well, Doug, that would be a Japanese pine. :)

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  71. it's unbelievable ... difficult to understand

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  72. A very interesting story. I just do not know whether through your interpretation or in general :D

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