Today, 26 November 2009, you all decide whether it’s prideful
or shameful moment for India……as one year has passed &
we are still breathing in our motherland and our respected VIP
attacker / prisoner Kasab is also breathing with us & Pakistan
laughing at us.

There is no words to express our grief for the
innocent people & security forces & Police officers
who died in 26/11 attack. But, atleast we can
pray for them & their family.

It’s the SOLDIER not the REPORTER who gives you the
freedom of the press.

It’s the SOLDIER not the POET who gives you the
freedom of speech.

It’s the SOLDIER not the CAMPUS ORGANIZER who
allows you to demonstrate.

It’s the SOLDIER not our POLITICIANS who saves
us and our family from our enemies.

It’s the SOLDIER who salutes the flag, serves the flag,
whose coffin is draped with the flag that
allows the protester to burn the flag!!!

“GOD, hold our ARAMED/POLICE FORCES in your loving
hands. Protect them as they protect us….Bless them and
their families for the selfless acts they perform for us
in our time of need.
Amen.”

source: pratyax

Father Daniel Syosyev, the Moscow missionary priest who was murdered last week, said something very interesting in an interview shortly before his death. He was explaining why Christians should go to Church on Sunday, and his explanation reveals something of what the Church is. You Wish to See Many Miracles – You Should Become a Missionary or a Martyr: Fr. Daniel’s Autobiography and the Interview with Him on the Occasion of the Opening of the Missionary Centre:

If you will, all we Christians are terrorists. We are the members of a rebellious army, which is revolting against the prince of this world (the devil). Churches are linking stations. There we get information from our governing body: ciphers (New Testament), reinforcement (Holy Communion), and we get support through mutual communication. We master all kinds of tricks in order to commit terrorist attacks against the prince of this world, that is, we learn how to do good. Obviously if an agent of the Holy Kingdom shirks attending the headquarters and does not keep in touch with the command center, he can easily get lost, lose his power, and fall in battle.

I have some reservations about the term “terrorist” as a model for Christians. Terrorists are those who use terror-inspiring methods, but as Christians we are to remember that “perfect love casts out fear”. But, as has often been said, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. The enemies of freedom like to call freedom-fighters “terrorists”, whether they are really terrorists or not, and in that sense, perhaps one can liken Christians to terrorists. And once I had a bumper sticker that read “Read the Bible: it’ll scare the Hell out of you.” Perhaps the idea of inspiring terror is not entirely absent.

Generally I prefer the image of freedom fighters.

But the thing that interests me especially is that Fr Daniel uses the image of guerrilla warfare. We are revolting against the prince of this world, the devil. And so Father Daniel uses imagery that comes from the ecclesiology of the church as the liberated zone. It is imagery that comes from guerrilla fighters and liberation struggles.

And it is biblical imagery too. The Bible gives the image of the world as enemy-occupied territory. The world lies in the power of the Evil One (I John 5:19). Satan, the devil, is described as the “ruler” or “prince” (archon) of this world. But in the midst of this world, this enemy-occupied territory, our Lord Jesus Christ has established a liberated zone of the Kingdom of God. And the Church inhabits that liberated zone until Christ comes again and the whole world is liberated.

In baptism we are called to leave the enemy-occupied territory, and enter the liberated zone, just as in the Exodus the children of Israel left the realm and jurisdiction of Pharaoh by crossing the Red Sea. So we renounce the devil, and breathe and spit upon him, and we turn to the east, and acknowledge Jesus Christ as our king and our God. We transfer our alliegiance from the devil to Christ, and we are transferred from the “authority of darkness” to the Kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13).

There is a Western hymn

Conquering kings their titles take,
From the lands they captive make;
Jesus, Thine was given Thee
For a world Thou madest free.

another translation from the Latin is worded slightly differently:

Conquering kings their titles take,
from the lands they captive make;
Jesus, by a nobler deed,
from the thousands he hath freed.

In either case the contrast is clear — there are conquerors and liberators, and Jesus is counted among the liberators.

Ironically, perhaps, the hymn was quite popular in Victorian times, and Queen Victoria took one of her titles from one of the lands her soldiers had made captive: Empress of India.

If conquering kings are so bad, why then do we speak of Jesus Christ as a conqueror? doesn’t that make him the opposite of a liberator?

But the symbol of IC XC NIKA (Jesus Christ conquers) actually symbolises the opposite. The letters surround the Cross, which the Romans used to execute their foes and any would-be liberators in the lands they conquered. Jesus Christ did not come to trample upon life and liberty, like the kings of this world led by the Ruler of this World, but to trample down death by death.

I’ve read many words written by Western Christians about the emerging church and the missional church and the emerging missional ecclesiology. But I think the missional ecclesiology of Fr Daniel Syosyev has been around for a long time, for 2000 years or more. “Ecclesiology” is a relatively new subdivision of theology, and only emerged in the 20th century (in the 19th century it was concerned primarily with ecclesiastical architecture). But it seeks to answer the question “What is the Church?” And, if I read him correctly, Fr Daniel answers, in effect, that the Church is the liberated zone of the Kingdom of God in the midst of the enemy-occupied territory that we call “this world”.

I looked for the original Latin from which the hymn “Conquering kings their titles take” was translated, and found a version on this blog here: Bad things in new hymn books and other sad tales: Conquering Kings their titles take:

Victis sibi cognomina
Sumant tyranni gentibus;
Tu, Christe, quanto dignius
Ab his capis quos liberas.

If you know Latin, you can judge for yourself which of the versions above is the better translation.

The blog on which I found it laments that this hymn has been omitted from some modern Western hymnals, and speculates that the reason for this may have been that it was one of those cases where the hymn is condemned because it appears to indicate that we go happily to death for Christ’s sake. You’ll see that, in verse 4, we say “Joyfully for him to die is not death but victory”. Possibly, or possibly the editors of the new hymnals were too squeamish to accept the liberation theology espoused by the hymn.

I don’t know if it was that verse or that sentiment that made them reject the hymn, but look at it:

Rather gladly for that Name
Bear the Cross, endure the shame;
Joyfully for Him to die
Is not death but victory.

I can’t think of a more fitting epitaph for Fr Daniel.

The following essay is included in the book Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? Reflections on the Liberation of Animals (Lantern Books, New York,  2004), edited by Dr. Steven Best (Philosophy Professor at UTEP) and Anthony Nocella. To order the book, go towww.LanternBooks.com. To read more about Best, Nocella and the ALF go to www.drstevebest.org.

Anonymous

The following article, the first and second in a three-part series printed in No Compromise, is one person’s story of her involvement with the ALF. In Part I, she explains how she overcame her fear and excuses and started conducting solo ALF actions. In Part II, she describes how she found partners to help her with her actions and how they worked together as a team. These are useful statements of how and why individuals decide to go underground in order to fight for animal rights.

Part I: How I Came To Join the ALF

To begin, let me say that while associating with animal rights activists (something I try to avoid), I often hear people rhapsodizin6g about articles they’ve read in the press or seen on the news about animals being liberated, laboratories being trashed, lorries being torched, fast food restaurants being burned to the ground, etc. In the course of these conversations it is practically guaranteed that one or more persons will praise the action and wonder, “Gee, how do I hook up with these people?” or “Why don’t these lads contact me?” or “How do I get involved with that group?” This is how I found the answer to that question.

After reading stories about lab break-ins and fur stores being torched, I, too, desperately wanted to join this group. But how? There was really no place to start. All of my friends in the animal rights movement had less interest in illegal direct action than I did, and even those who showed some interest were completely clueless as to how to meet these people.

At one point, I wrote an animal rights group to let them know that I would be willing to help them raid a lab. Needless to say, that letter went unanswered. Finally I realized what I was doing—I was waiting for someone with a plan to drop in out of the blue and ask me to join in a lab raid. Now, stop and think about this. Would anyone who had put hundreds of hours into planning a covert, illegal direct action that could land them in prison for years risk asking a basic stranger for help simply because he or she was a vegetarian or belonged to the local animal rights chapter? NO! (At least not if they want to stay active and out of jail.)

So how did I, or a better question is, how do you, end up “joining” the Animal Liberation Front? That’s easy. Come up with your own plan! Really. It’s not as hard as you think. Let me repeat this important point: Come up with your own plan.

One of the reasons there is not a lot more illegal direct action happening is that there are only a few people willing to invest the time and energy necessary to choose a viable target, research the facts, re-con the place, and conduct any other work necessary to execute a successful direct action. There are always plenty of people who want to help in the actual execution of the plan—people are always willing to share in the “excitement,” but not in the actual work. Simply put, no one wants to help bake the bread, but everyone wants to eat it.

Overcome the Excuses

People dismiss the idea of planning a direct action for many reasons. Nearly all are mere excuses that could easily be overcome. Most commonly, people tell themselves they don’t know anyone who could help in the final execution of the plan. For example, they don’t know who could find homes for X number of animals; they don’t know whom they could trust as a lookout; they don’t know who could loan or rent them a vehicle to use, etc. I want to emphasize here that if you are faced with a problem like this, continue on!

There are many bridges that one can foresee that look uncrossable during the planning of an action. These problems seem irresolvable and often discourage people from continuing on with their plan. Again I must emphasize, continue. These problems either solve themselves or are more easily solved when you actually reach that point of the plan. And in some cases, the plan is aborted for some other reason long before the problem ever has to be confronted. It is important to add that you should expect about four out of five plans into which you’ve invested time and money to fall through. Again, this shouldn’t deter you. If you approach direct action with the knowledge that most of your plans may not work, then you should not be discouraged from battling on if some of your plans do fall through.

While it is not necessary, it is advisable before taking any direct action to read as much literature as possible on the topic. This is much easier to do now thanks to a “revival” in the grassroots animal rights/liberation movement. If possible, any literature pertaining to illegal activities should be mailed to a fake name at a post office box or private mailbox center. If this is not possible, perhaps a well-trusted friend (who could handle police/federal harassment and is not personally involved in illegal activities) would be willing to have it sent to his or her place. Another possibility would be to get this information off a Web site (from a library, campus, or cyber-coffee shop computer).

Though some of these security precautions may seem ridiculous, paranoid, and unnecessary, you will be thankful you followed them if you continue to increase the frequency, severity, and effectiveness of your actions, thus producing more intense local and federal investigations.

An Army of One

But, wait a minute! You still don’t know if there is anyone you can trust. This does not mean that you shouldn’t consider doing an action. When I realized that no one was going to drop in and ask me to help them with their plan—when I finally realized that I was the ALF—I decided to target a fast food restaurant that I had noticed as appearing vulnerable. Though I still didn’t know who could help me with this plan, I proceeded to scope it out the next few nights, still thinking I would find someone to help me.

Though I had no experience at “casing a joint,” it came very easily and naturally. Between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. (the time I decided would be safest to strike the place) I carefully scoped it out. Some nights, dressed head to toe in my jogging gear (now is not the time to be caught there in your balaclava), I jogged up and down the street past the restaurant. I was careful to look for possible activity inside the building, check on any employees’ cars in the parking lot, judge the amount of traffic and police presence, determine how well the parking lot and building were lit, scan for any drive-through or security cameras (to look out for and to sabotage!), etc.

Other nights I walked my boyfriend’s dog up and down the street looking for the same things. In no time at all I was very familiar with the activity of the area (and had walked two emergency escape routes I would take should I be interrupted). I was soon confident with this target. Unfortunately, I still didn’t know anyone I would trust enough to divulge my plans to. I knew what I wanted to do.

The day before I was going to execute my plan, I drove to a neighboring town and bought super glue, spray paint, and some garden gloves from three different stores, making sure to pay in cash at each store. That evening I went for a walk wearing my gloves and ended up picking up two large rocks and half of a brick that I determined was small enough to carry around and handle, yet big enough to smash through the thick plate glass windows of a fast food restaurant.

The First Action

Though I would have felt a bit more comfortable with a partner to look out for me, I was tired of waiting around for apathetic and unmotivated people. That night, dressed in black from head to toe, I went jogging. As I got near the restaurant I slowed to a walk. Seeing that there was no traffic around and facing a dark and empty-looking building, I approached the restaurant.

Walking briskly across the lot, I pulled my mask down over my face. At the rear of the building I quickly took off my black backpack and got out my supplies. I quickly filled the two back door locks with super glue and small pieces of paper clips that I had snipped especially for this occasion. I then proceeded to spray paint slogans over the entire back of the building and on the side with the drive-through window.

This done, I peeked around the building. Headlights were approaching from up the street, so I just remained calm and motionless. My stomach dropped when I saw it was a police car, but the cop drove by without slowing down or looking my way.

Delighted, I walked around to the front of the building and quickly tossed all three projectiles through three separate windows! I saved this part of the action for last because of the loud sound it would make. And, with the three explosions of glass, I quickly sprinted through one of my pre-arranged exits and into a residential area where I quickly vanished. I then removed my black turtleneck and balaclava, ditched them in an apartment complex dumpster, and went home.

My point here is that with enough planning, determination, and self-confidence, one person can pull off a successful action! Of course, the “bigger” or “more severe” the action, the better it may be to have a lookout with clear communications to you. Nevertheless, one person shouldn’t feel helpless and inactive because he or she doesn’t know others who are willing to take illegal direct action. Besides, taking action is your first step in feeling out potential comrades who share the same philosophy as you and are ready and willing to take action.

Part II: Looking for Partners

It is really very difficult to explain how to find close, trustworthy partners who are willing to take the same risks and are knowledgeable and strong enough to withstand heavy bouts of police interrogation, intimidation, and harassment. Though you never plan to be faced with this situation, it is a realistic risk, and you and anyone you work with should understand with a firm knowledge that if this situation arises, you and anyone you work with will not cooperate at all with any law enforcement agencies!

There is no cut and dried pattern or formula for choosing or finding partners. THIS IS GOOD. If there were a pattern or formula, it would open the door for infiltration of law enforcement and corporate agents.

However, executing the fast food action by myself led me to a second person whom I later hooked up with.

Friends and Comrades

Another member of our current cell really was not “chosen.“ We had merely known and trusted each other since high school, when we used to forge passes out of study hall so we could skip school and go swimming in the river.

We had both been vegetarians (and outcasts) in high school, and I taught him about animal rights as he shared with me his views of deep ecology. It wasn‘t long before we started working together. My point here is that there was no formula with which to evaluate my friend. I had spent years with him as a best friend and we pretty much knew each other inside and out.

These are the best kind of partners to have, since you already have an established relationship and friendship that no law enforcement agent would be able to break up. So I‘d like to emphasize that this is the best way of “finding“ a partner: working with someone you have a history with. And always trust your intuition. If someone doesn‘t feel right or you get “weird vibes“ from him or her, DON’T work with that person! The opposite is true here also, but I don‘t need to explain that, since when you find that true connection, the feeling is pretty much unmistakable.

The other partner I connected with after the fast food restaurant action had a long history in the environmental movement. I only shared my interest in illegal direct action with her after she had complained to me consistently about a billboard advertising animal products and how someone should correct the billboard so consumers would know exactly what suffering that product really hid.

After hearing repeated complaints from my friend (was she checking me out, too?), we went for a walk. Here I told her that the billboard she hated so much appeared to be easily accessible (I had already re-conned it) and that if she wanted to help redecorate it, that would be jolly.

Needless to say, she thought this was a grand idea, and, within a matter of days, the billboard had been corrected. Red paint bombs made from Christmas ornaments also gave the appearance of blood running down the advertisement.

Critiquing the Action

The day after the billboard action, my friend and I went on another walk (we NEVER talked in a house or car!) to discuss and critique our action. This may seem silly to some, but it is the best way to learn from your mistakes and make improvements for further actions.

Meetings like this—restricted to only those involved with the action—are great to learn from. Other than that they should never be discussed again. In this case, we realized that the system we had set up to warn of cops (a loud whistle) didn‘t work. I had been warned twice of police in the area by her whistle, but I was never sure when to resume work on the billboard. Also, the whistling merely attracted attention to my partner rather than to me.

Because of this, we ended up putting together our savings and buying a police scanner, frequency book, and a cheap pair of two-way radio headsets. Because of the headset‘s low price ($49.95 for the pair), I knew they would not be reliable for an action where the lookout is a long distance away. Nevertheless, they would suit our needs for more billboard, fast food restaurant, and fur shop actions.

Building Trust and Solidarity

These are the actions that should be done most often to build up confidence, unity, and comradeship. The more of these types of actions done, the more competent, confident, and experienced you and your cell will become, and you can soon “move up” to bigger and better actions (bigger and better being defined here as larger actions with more severe amounts of damage being done to the target. This, of course, includes arson attacks).

These actions will come in time if you and your partners stay active and build up a unity and confidence that becomes almost intuitive. Myself and the two individuals I currently work with have almost a psychic connection in which we usually know what the other two people are thinking. This will not happen overnight, and if you expect it to, you will be let down. That is why I must emphasize motivation and persistence.

It took me about two years of actions like this, and now I currently work regularly with two separate cells and a handful of other people who occasionally seek my assistance. Through persistence and perseverance you will build up a network of resources including tools, money, people, and experience.

If you tell yourself that there are no suitable targets to strike, you should stop and ask yourself if this is what you really want to be doing. If it is, just go to the nearest phone book and let your fingers do the walking. The yellow pages will give you the names, phone numbers, and addresses (and a map of the local area) of countless animal exploiters. This is an invaluable and easily accessible resource, available 24 hours a day in any city or town you may find yourself in.

In one instance, our cell drove two states away to “remodel“ an establishment profiting off of animals‘ deaths. Once there however, we realized this would not be possible. Instead of going home disappointed, we simply went to the nearest pay phone and let our fingers do the walking. Before we left that state, one animal abuse establishment had been completely destroyed!

source: http://negotiationisover.com/?p=4033

The KKK is sure doing a lot of protesting and marching this past week.

 For a racist organization who routinely mocks the marches,protest, and boycotts organized by the Reverend Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton that they pattern after the Civil Rights protest organized by the late Rev.Martin Luther King,Jr. , they sure are acting a lot like the legendary iconic African-American freedom fighters, with all of their marching and protesting this week.

The protest staged by Dr. King  proved to be  effective in defeating the Klan in the 60’s.

The Klan,just this past week, held two days worth of rallies in Kennett,Missouri in protest of the Heather Ellis versus Wal-Mart case.

http://jerrybrice.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/the-kkk-and-wal-mart-in-memphis-join-forces-and-support-a-15-year-sentence-for-cutting-in-line-down-in-dixieland/

…and on Saturday they held a rally outside the Ole Miss vs. LSU game in protest of Ole Miss dropping  the lyrics and fight song ”Dixie”  from being chanted at their games.

Chancellor Dan Jones had ordered students to stop chanting the homage to the states racist past. After they continued chanting, he ordered the song From Dixie with Love to cease being played.

The Ku Klux Klan came out to rally in lieu of the chant “The South Will Rise Again.”

The medley, combining “Dixie” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” was often followed by shouts of “The South shall rise again.”…reports the UPI.

Charise Van Horn of the Examiner.com reports…Chancellor Jones sent an address to the student body of the University of Mississippi. It reads, “We cannot even appear to support those outside our community who advocate a revival of segregation. Consequently, I have asked the band not to play ‘From Dixie with Love’ at upcoming athletics events. The absence of this song will send a clear message that the university is neither facilitating nor indirectly condoning the chant.” The order to stop playing the song, From Dixie with Love, was issued on November 17, 2009 to stop playing the song.(http://www.examiner.com/x-12837-US-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m11d21-Ku-Klux-Klan-protest-at-University-of-Mississippi-over-the-South-will-rise-again-photos-video)

The counter protesters outnumbered the klan 10-1 on Saturday, and their ranks included faculty,staff,students, citizens, and alumnae.

They all read  the student creed aloud, including a call for belief in “the dignity of each person.”

“Our major concern was to show that this is what we stand for as a university,” said Artair Rogers, the Associated Student Body president.

Ole Miss, fueled by the insults from the klan, defeated the game LSU 25-23 in the historic rivalry.

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/10404452/No.-10-LSU’s-late-confusion-boost-for-Ole-Miss

From the looks of things, the klan needed to be on the sideline helping the LSU coach manage his time a lot better than he did, with those last three plays, as he messed up an easy field goal kick with his loopy clock management and ultra-strange play calling at the end.

I mean,LSU fans…didn’t you expect your team to kick a game winning field goal with that last play, rather than the one they ran to lose the game? …Seemed to me to be a pretty easy play to call, and you would have won that game.

I think, as I have been pondering that play all night,…maybe, just maybe, the LSU coach did not want to actually win the game, as it would have been celebrated as a win for the Klan, instead of what it would have been, just a win against Ole Miss.

Who knows, but that had to be the case, because that call was just as bad as the one coach Bill Belicheck made last week, to lose the game against Indy and Peyton Manning….it had to be something like that!

The Klan will never learn.They always support the losing side, and the failed causes like racism and the defeated and humiliated Confederacy that their ancestors supported with their lives.

Many of their ancestors did foolishly in their futile attempt to preserve slavery here in America, and if the scorched earth of General Sherman’s march did not convince them, them they all are truly ignorant and insane.

I watched this game between these two great institutions that at one time denied black players a chance to compete on their teams,…but all that is in the past.

Someone needs to let the klan know that.

The Grand Dragon of the Klan Shane Tate stated that …”We aren’t coming there to cause problems or cause trouble. Trouble has already been caused by a handful at Ole Miss, including the black student body president, who wants to shape Ole Miss into yet another liberal sodomite college.”

What is a sodomite college…together these words mean nothing!…I find this statement to be whimsical and nonsensical, much like gibberish.

Gibberish sounds like a fair  description of the Klan.

Follow the story here…

http://www.examiner.com/x-17321-AfricanAmerican-Sports-Examiner~y2009m11d22-KKK-used-the-Ole-Miss-vs-LSU-football-game-as-platform-for-protest

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/11/21/Counter-protest-outnumbers-KKK-at-Ole-Miss/UPI-42151258850426/

“Nidal Hassan Is A Hero”

“Nidal Hassan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people. This is a contradiction that many Muslims brush aside and just pretend that it doesn’t exist. Any decent Muslim cannot live, understanding properly his duties towards his Creator and his fellow Muslims, and yet serve as a U.S. soldier.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________
“How Can There Be Any Dispute About the Virtue of What He Has Done?”

“The U.S. is leading the war against terrorism which in reality is a war against Islam. Its army is directly invading two Muslim countries and indirectly occupying the rest through its stooges.

“Nidal opened fire on soldiers who were on their way to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. How can there be any dispute about the virtue of what he has done? In fact the only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the U.S. army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal. The heroic act of brother Nidal also shows the dilemma of the Muslim American community. Increasingly they are being cornered into taking stances that would either make them betray Islam or betray their nation. Many amongst them are choosing the former. The Muslim organizations in America came out in a pitiful chorus condemning Nidal’s operation.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________
“The Fact That Fighting Against the U.S. Army Is an Islamic Duty Today Cannot Be Disputed”

“The fact that fighting against the U.S. army is an Islamic duty today cannot be disputed. No scholar with a grain of Islamic knowledge can defy the clear cut proofs that Muslims today have the right – rather the duty- to fight against American tyranny. Nidal has killed soldiers who were about to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in order to kill Muslims. The American Muslims who condemned his actions have committed treason against the Muslim Ummah and have fallen into hypocrisy.

“Allah(swt) says: Give tidings to the hypocrites that there is for them a painful punishment – Those who take disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do they seek with them honor [through power]? But indeed, honor belongs to Allah entirely. (al-Nisa 136-137)”

____________________________________________________________________________________________
“The Wisdom Behind the Opinions That Call For Migration [of Muslims] From The West”

“The inconsistency of being a Muslim today and living in America and the West in general reveals the wisdom behind the opinions that call for migration from the West. It is becoming more and more difficult to hold on to Islam in an environment that is becoming more hostile towards Muslims.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________
“Ask Allah to Accept From Him His Great Heroic Act”

“May Allah grant our brother Nidal patience, perseverance, and steadfastness, and we ask Allah to accept from him his great heroic act. Ameen”

Bibligraphy

Right Side Views citing Oriental Hero and Imam Anwar Al Awlaki: (http://www.rightsidenews.com/200911097230/global-terrorism/imam-anwar-al-awlaki-calls-nidal-hassan-a-hero.html). Last accessed: 14.11.09.

Sounds like a good educational documentary for all to see.  Love Richard Aoki’s comment:  “We didn’t lose in the sixties, we just didn’t finish the job!”

Mass Action!  I agree totally, it seems that’s the only way to get our message across!  Though, some will call us Mobs, today.  You know what, those oppressors, can call us whatever they want, but they will never kill the spirit of freedom!  Find your Mob!

Aoki – a documentary film

AOKI is a documentary film chronicling the life of Richard Aoki (1938-2009), a third-generation Japanese American who became one of the founding members of the Black Panther Party. Filmed over the last five years of Richard’s life, this documentary features extensive footage with Richard and exclusive interviews with his comrades, friends, and former students. Viewers will learn about Richard’s childhood in a WWII Japanese American concentration camp, growing up in West Oakland, and serving eight years in the U.S. military. [read more]

Today is the birthday of the United States Marine Corps in 1775.

Resolved, That two Battalions of marines be raised, consisting of one Colonel, two Lieutenant Colonels, two Majors, and other officers as usual in other regiments; and that they consist of an equal number of privates with other battalions; that particular care be taken, that no persons be appointed to office, or inlisted into said Battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve to advantage by sea when required: that they be inlisted and commissioned to serve for and during the present war between Great Britain and the colonies, unless dismissed by order of Congress: that they be distinguished by the names of the first and second battalions of American Marines, and that they be considered part of the number which the continental Army before Boston is ordered to consist of.”

Happy birthday gentleman.

This post will be short because a beer run is difinitely in need. Plan and simple Bart Simpson and the I.R.A, and no even though the provos have laid down most of thier guns the fight for freedom continues. Up The RA!

Bart and the IRA!

The tune in the clip is by the Young Dubliners, Foggy Dew. I’ve posted it before, but it’s here again to go with Bart.

In today’s political environment, one does not need to strain to realize the unhealthy reign of political hyperbole over intelligent discourse.

George Orwell noted on the subject that “political chaos is connected with the decay of language.”

Our country is definitely walking down this path.  To what degree is debatable.

Last Wednesday, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., called for “freedom fighters” to join her and Republicans in Washington, D.C., to help defeat the current health care bill before the House passed it Saturday.  She subsequently triggered an avalanche of evoking exaggerations.

I recognize that the Republicans want to rile up their base, but Bachmann chose to call them “freedom fighters.” Dictionary.com defines a freedom fighter as an individual “engaged in armed rebellion or resistance against an oppressive government.”

I assumed Bachmann didn’t actually mean it in that particular sense.  I assumed wrong.

During the Thursday protest, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the House minority leader, said, “I do think there is a rebellion going on in this country.”  He went on to proclaim the health care bill as “the greatest threat to freedom” he has ever seen.

It didn’t stop there. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., joined in when he said, “You’re going to see an army of Americans fighting for freedom in this next election.”

Bachmann capped it all off with one of the dumbest names for a political rally ever.  After much deliberation, she decided on “the Super Bowl of Freedom”.  I don’t even know how to interpret that one.  Did the New England Patriots play in it?

But this event was all “organic,” according to Bachmann. Yes, she promoted and helped organize it, but real people attended.  That qualifies as organic right?

Adding to the hilarity, a Republican communications director told party members, “Please know that this is a ‘press event,’ ‘press conference,’ or ‘House Call on Washington’ but not a ‘rally’ or ‘protest.’”

When an event’s cry is “kill the bill” and attendees pose sit-ins in Congressional offices, it’s a stretch to only call it a “press event.”

The event ended with a reported 10 arrests for unlawful entry and disorderly conduct. (Pictures can be seen here.)  Too bad that oppressive First Amendment doesn’t permit non-peaceful assemblies. I always thought the Founding Fathers supported dictatorships.

All this hoopla banks on the current democratically elected administration being classified as an oppressive government.  Give me a break.  Congress and the White House can barely impress their own supporters, let alone oppress its opponents.

If anything, the current minority party in Congress has bullied the politically weak majority into making major concessions on almost all legislation.  A loud minority with a mute majority sure does not seem tyrannical.

The Democrats failed to respond to the GOP’s sensational language or even their protests. It took a fellow Republican in Rep. Eric Cantor to come out against the use of Holocaust images during Bachmann’s event.

Eventually, one, just one, Democrat condemned the protestors’ imagery and Republican politicians for allowing it.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs commented on the matter, but only after a reporter asked him about the recent protest.

Calling for an army, freedom fighters or a rebellion should not be tolerated. American politics may be extremely stupid, but that doesn’t mean that every belief or action in this country needs an extreme labeling.

Republicans do not deserve all the blame though.  They are simply taking advantage of their opposition’s silence and refusal to refute.  Democrats not standing up for themselves or for decent political discourse damages our country just as much as the words and actions of the Republicans.

We are experiencing the decay of language.  With this, political chaos can only follow.  I can’t wait for 2010.

I’ll leave you with this clip of Congress at its finest.

Paul Hollander writes an excellent piece in the Washington Post about the momentous events of November 1989.  Hollander escaped the communist hegemony in 1956, and he writes about the oppression and murder committed by the statist regimes of the last century.

While greatly concerned with communism in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Americans — hostile or sympathetic — actually knew little about communism, and little is said here today about the unraveling of the Soviet empire. The media’s fleeting attention to the momentous events of the late 1980s and early 1990s matched their earlier indifference to communist systems. There is little public awareness of the large-scale atrocities, killings and human rights violations that occurred in communist states, especially compared with awareness of the Holocaust and Nazism (which led to to far fewer deaths). The number of documentaries, feature films or television programs about communist societies is minuscule compared with those on Nazi Germany and/or the Holocaust, and few universities offer courses on the remaining or former communist states. For most Americans, communism and its various incarnations remained an abstraction.

The different moral responses to Nazism and communism in the West can be interpreted as a result of the perception of communist atrocities as byproducts of noble intentions that were hard to realize without resorting to harsh measures.

In the New York review of Books, Timothy Garton Ash breaks down the chronology of the mass liberation of Eastern Europe.

The end of communism in Europe brought the most paradoxical realization of a communist dream. Poland in 1980–1981 saw a workers’ revolution—but it was against a so-called workers’ state. Communists dreamed of proletarian internationalism spreading revolution from country to country; in 1989–1991, revolution did finally spread from country to country, with the effect of dismantling communism. Yet the story is as much one of unintended consequences as it is of deliberate actions—let alone of historical necessity.

But Ash’s most interesting observation is that the collapse of the statist system, like the collapse of the wall, happened despite western influence.  The United States government was a relatively passive, even sympathetic observer as it’s cold war enemy crumbled.

Yet even though Washington’s cautious attitude partly resulted from a misassessment, this was actually the best possible position it could have taken. This time around, unlike in 1956, no one in Moscow could suggest with even a jot of plausibility that the United States was stirring the cauldron in Eastern Europe. On the contrary, Bush personally urged General Wojciech Jaruzelski to run for Polish president, as a guarantor of stability, and he was obsessed with doing nothing that could derail Gorbachev. Sarotte suggests that American restraint made it easier for the Soviet Union, too, to step back and let events unfold on the ground in East-Central Europe. With some exaggeration, one might say that Washington got it right because it got it wrong.

To give credit where it is due: in the last months of 1989, especially after the fall of the Wall, and throughout 1990, this initial superabundance of caution turned into a combination of entirely deliberate restraint (“don’t dance on the Wall!” was the injunction heard in the corridors of the White House and the State Department) and some quite impressive statecraft in support of Helmut Kohl’s drive for German unification on Western terms. But for the decisive nine months, from the beginning of Poland’s roundtable talks in February to the fall of the Wall in November, the United States’ contribution lay mainly in what it did not do.

That is even more true of the other superpower. Kramer argues that at several moments Gorbachev did quietly nudge East European communist leaders in the direction of bolder change. But for the most part, his crucial contribution was to accept changes happening at the periphery of the Soviet Union’s outer empire, rather than attempting to slow down or reverse them.

Writing at Reason, Matt Welch recalls the bafflement the first President Bush evidenced.

I’ll never forget just how baffled H.W. Bush seemed by events back then. He gave a speech to 100,000 people on Wenceslas Square in Prague on the one-year anniversary of the Velvet Revolution that was almost a masterpiece of mangled cues, from botching the pronunciation of “Vaclav,” to piping in Civil War music at a time when the Czechoslovak Federation was beginning to fracture, to prattling on about God to one of the most atheistic countries on earth. Bush was advising Yugoslavia to stay together long after the first shots of that breakup had already been fired, and focusing most of his diplomatic attention (and even Central Europe speechifying) on putting together a coalition for the Gulf War. It’s a pretty weird feeling when events are hurtling much, much faster than the participants, let alone superpowers, can comprehend or control.

However such a bewilderment is probably the most appropriate attitude to bring to global politics.  Vincent Ostrom, husband of Nobel Laureate Elinore, refined the Austrian “knowledge problem”.  Hayek posited that knowledge was intrinsically imperfect.  Ostrom phrases the idea in a more constructive way.  All institutions and agreements are based on choices among various options.  As our knowledge and creativity continually push the boundaries of what is known, this refines and multiplies the available choices which underlie these institutions.

As Paul Dragos Aligicia puts it, “new knowledge, and action based on an expanding body of knowledge, means an ongoing creation of new uncertainties about the future.”  As such, any forward planning is deeply and inevitably structurally flawed.  These flaws are, like fault lines, where social instability and disorder arise.

The impossibility of planning – defined not as a result of some externally induced natural ignorance about the environment and of the human incapacity to overcome it but as a result of precisely the human capabilities to generate new knowledge – is an important challenge to be dealt with in constructing social order.  The ability to cope with the future is a necessary condition for any institutional design.  But it is one thing to hope that more knowledge will reduce that uncertainty and something else to realize that . . . may increase [uncertainty] . . .

The structural flaw in statist systems is that choice is, often arbitrarily, taken out of the system.  This, combined with more or less information control, may  slow the growth of knowledge in society, but it won’t stop the refinement of choices.  Choice, given no outlet through voluntary agreement or cooperative association, will lead to social instability; tiny cracks in the cement become more and more pronounced, and eventually the wall, or the edifice of the state, falls.

UPDATE: While I’m generally concerned that this world-changing event is more widely discussed, there are some events here in D.C. about it.  Check this out at the Newseum.

Write now, listening to Boston’s “More Than A Feeling” — it’s not a bad song, not at all, but I wonder if it’s on my mind since “Men Who Stare At Goats” comes out this Friday, and it’s one of the songs they used in the trailer.

I mean, is it all right to get nostalgic about music that’s used in commercials and trailers?  I feel like a total sellout, more than the artists that sold out to have their music licensed for commercial use.

Then again, I’m also listening to the song they used in the trailer for that Star Trek reboot — I dunno, I guess I’m just an aural slut…

Sometimes it is fairly easy to get wrapped up into the warp of angry people, dangerous issues, and the lack of consensus when it comes to understanding what is REALLY going on in our Country, The United States of America.

But, I have to say, as I was driving around today, there is really nothing more beautiful than seeing the American flag waving in the wind.  There is nothing more empowering, nothing more freeing.

And, it is really no more complex than that.  To my fellow Freedom Fighters, Patriots, and God-Fearing Citizens.

- Tisha Casida

Just a random thought this morning: history has progressed to this point, and seen several revolutions in the formal arrangements that govern societies.

Since pre-history, people lived in chaotic tribal groups, often warring with their neighbors.  Power and leadership coalesced around the warlord.  Eventually warlords ceded some power to a King, who could ensure a peace over a broader territory.  Kings eventually gave way to classically liberal regimes, like Napoleon or the English Parliment.  At the close of the 1800’s Europe, and soon the world, was ruled by a sense of tribal-nationalism, centered around the idea of a unified volk, or common people.

At each revolution, history has spread the liberal ideals of peace, prosperity, and a higher standard of living to a broader and broader base of people.

So what’s the next revolution?  The time of the nation-state is, if not drawing to an end, than at the very least stagnating.  Even volk as statistically insignificant as the Inuit have their own nominal nation-states.  The nation-state franchise has been extended about as far as reasonably possible.

The forces of progress have never let a social equilibrium rule forever.  It took thousands of years for Kings to bend the warlords knees.  It took centuries for Parliament to sever the divine link between the sovereign and the deity.  It took less than a 100 years for nationalism to sweep Europe, it’s colonies and the world, instigating two world wars in the process.

No stasis lasts forever, so looking ahead, what is the next step in the social progression of human societies?

It seems probable that given the broadly liberal trend of increasing freedom and franchise, we might find something based on the associative freedom of the 1st Amendment.

Such self-selected communities could have several advantages over the nation-state.  Most notably, they would likely categorically reject the one-size-fits-all prescription of state action.  The downside is that they would be, at least on the surface, creating more chaos in the social order, something the march of history has been against on balance.

But there’s some evidence that such associative arrangements are chaotic only to outside observers, and that for the participants these communities provide a much deeper security or stability than might otherwise be found.

A few questions spring to mind.  Are these kinds of communities a good idea?  What disadvantages would they have?  Would you live in one?  If so how would you like it structured, and what unifying principle would you endorse?  Would this lead directly to a world like this, and if so, would that be so bad?

Interestingly, Neal Stephenson chronicles technology’s path from chaos to order to distributed order, a path which mirrors our own as societies.

This weekend a good friend of mine came to town.  She’s been one of my best friends for years, but she wasn’t coming exclusively to visit me.  While we don’t always (or even rarely) see eye-to-eye on social issues, there’s one we can agree on.  It’s pretty indefensible to keep homosexuals from having legally binding marriages.

And that’s how I ended up hanging out with these women, and marching through D.C. on a remarkably beautiful sunny Sunday. (My friend is on the far left, literally and figuratively.)

After reflecting on it, I’m ambivalent about the event.  I went to support my homosexual friends and family, because I support their fight for freedom.  I resent that anyone believes that they have the authority to tell anyone else how, or with whom, to live their life.

As for the march itself, it was very interesting.  I was there as a polite and silent guest (at least I hope I was those things), so I didn’t engage any of the folks I was with about their own beliefs or attitudes.  Instead, I can only offer my observations.

First, the crowd was smaller than I expected.  We filled McPherson square before the march started, and a couple of the side streets, but by the time we hit the Capitol’s west lawn, I would say only a few tens of thousands of people were there.  So far I haven’t been able to find an official estimate, but for those of you who know the capitol grounds, the protest and stage filled the middle part of the law, and spilled over to about half fill both side lawns.  There were also maybe two thousand total people behind the law, surrounding the reflecting pool.

The speakers were, for the most part, terrible.  There were too many of them, and the crowd interest really waned dramatically after the first two or three.  The only time the crowd was interested again was when Lady Gaga spoke.  When she was announced, there was a large rush of people trying to get closer to the stage.

Overall the biggest flaw in the speaking was that over a dozen speakers really only had two points to hammer on: discrimination is wrong, and we must end it.  Even the best orators would have run out of different ways to rephrase that, and there’s no possible way that they could have maintained a frenzied crowd with that material.  The women I was with (amazingly NOW doesn’t have a lot of young straight white men coming with them to events) were very impressed that Dame Gaga used ‘misogynistic’ correctly in a sentence.

There were quite a few hilarious signs in the crowd, and some creative chanting.  Seeing average people be creative, funny and daring always makes me feel good (this is also why I LOVE texts from last night, very very very very very very very very NSFW).

The best sign I saw said “JESUS HAD TWO DADS AND HE TURNED OUT FINE”.  The best chant I heard was “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re fabulous, don’t fuck with us.”  The worst signs I saw were a couple thousand professionally made signs from the social worker newspaper.  They were everywhere, along with socialtards handing out fliers and newspapers.  I took a flyer, just to see if it had anything new or  interesting, and it didn’t.  There was a massive socialist presence, which surprised me, but I was encouraged to not see anyone besides myself take any fliers or newspapers.  I did see one older woman reading a paper, laugh, and drop it on the ground.  She was the only person I even saw with one in her hands.

For such a single-issue event, there was a lot of diverse groups there.  Socialists, NOW, Acorn (I could barely keep myself from pointing and laughing), and a whole host of acronyms tossed around that I didn’t recognize.

But that was also a weak point in the organizing.  Judging from what I saw, and listening to the NOW organizers I was hanging with (never ever thought I would type that sentence), these groups don’t have any common ground besides this issue.  That’s the problem generally with the left, it’s not a movement animated by any principle that would unite those groups, each group is based on a collection of principles that don’t translate across issues.

I’m hardly literate in the inner workings of liberal coalitions, so I don’t want to downplay what a success the event was overall.  Those are just my reflections as a freedom-loving advocate of human liberty, there to support a worthy cause.

And that brings me to the Schadenfreude part of this post.

NOW helped raise a ton of money for this event (according to my hosts).  They organized the event, and the women who I was with came all the way from California to support this cause.  Of the five women in the picture above, only two of them are lesbians, so support for this issue goes far beyond the effected class (goddamn law school ruins your vocabulary).  When it came time for NOW president Terry O’Neill to speak, someone stopped her and told her she couldn’t address the crowd.  As a straight woman, she “isn’t one of us”, according to a gay man.  That did not go over well.

You can also see the signs our group carried said “Lesbian Rights”, and I found the specificity of that statement a little disconcerting.  At a movement dedicated to tolerance, it seemed odd to hold one group up like that.  But that’s kind of the left’s general thing; everyone’s equal, but some are more equal than others.

The most delicious piece of idiocy/irony came from, who else, but a socialist worker-worker. Trying to pass out their toilet newspaper, she watched a hotdog vendor near the White House, and said, approvingly, out loud “Man that’s really smart to sell food here!”  I couldn’t decide if I wanted to smack or hug her, and fortunately the crowd moved me on before I had to choose.

The only other highlight, besides dinner with a hilarious group of women at Trio in Dupont, was having to use a restroom, and wandering into the Botanical Garden.  I’d never even heard of it, but it’s beautiful and amazing.  I’ll definitely be going back, with a camera and lots of free time.

Overall, I was proud to have been there.  I’m disappointed more homosexuals and their friends and advocates don’t phrase this issue as one of freedom, and not ‘equality’, but that’s how I see it, and what made me supportive.  Unfortunately, I found out later that Obama wasn’t home, he was golfing as we marched past the White House.   I was not surprised.

UPDATE: My ivy-league-educated little sister, in London studying Art History, is plowing through feminist art theory and had this to say via im:

my main prob with feminism…is ppl think its a crime that no women artists are famous, big, considered good, blah blah blah…but its a little insulting that the idea is because i am a woman i have different thoughts and ideas then men

why does me being a woman nec. mean that i would think and create something totally different

it doesnt at all

• ભારતના ક્રાંતિપથ ઉપર સમર્પિત
• દેશભક્તિની પરંપરાને અનુસરીએ : નરેન્દ્રભાઈ મોદી
• શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્મા જેવા ક્રાંતિવીરોએ સ્વરાજ માટે ખપી જવાનું અને સુરાજ્ય માટે જીવી જવાનું શીખવાડયું છે
• ભારતની આઝાદીની લડતની બંને અલગ વિચારધારામાં નેતૃત્ત્વ ગુજરાતના સપૂતોનું છે
• જે સમાજ પૂર્વજોના યોગદાન અને સંસ્કૃતિની વિરાસતની ઉપેક્ષા કરે છે તે વિનાશ પામે છે
• ગુજરાત કોઇપણ ભોગે શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માને ભૂલવા દેશે નહીં
• ક્રાંતિગુરૂ શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્મા સ્મારકનો શિલાન્યાસ
• ૧પરમી જન્મજયંતિએ સ્વ. શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માને
• તેમના જન્મસ્થળ માંડવીમાં મુખ્ય મંત્રીશ્રીની શ્રદ્ધાંજલિ
• માંડવી-કચ્છમાં દરિયાકિનારે ભારતની આઝાદી માટે સશસ્ત્ર ક્રાંતિવીરોના
• પ્રેરક શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માની સ્મૃતિમાં ભવ્ય સ્મારકનું નિર્માણ થશે

મુખ્ય મંત્રી શ્રી નરેન્દ્રભાઈ મોદીએ ક્રાંતિગુરૂ શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્મા સ્મારકનો આજે માંડવી-કચ્છમાં શિલાન્યાસ કરતા ભારતના ઐતિહાસિક ક્રાંતિપથ ઉપર દેશભક્તિની સમર્પિત પરંપરાને અનુસરવાનું આહ્વાન કર્યું હતું.

ભારતની આઝાદી માટે અનેક દેશભક્ત ક્રાંતિવીરોને પ્રેરણા આપનારા ક્રાંતિગુરૂ શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માની આજે ૧પરમી જન્મજયંતિના દિવસે શ્રી નરેન્દ્રભાઈ મોદીએ માંડવીના દરીયાકિનારે શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માની સ્મૃતિમાં ભવ્ય સ્મારકના નિર્માણનો શિલાન્યાસ કર્યો હતો. મુખ્ય મંત્રીશ્રી જિનિવામાં ભારતની આઝાદીનું સપનું સેવતા જીવનલીલા સંઘર્ષમય સ્થિતિમાં સંકેલી લેનારા શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માના અસ્થિકળશ ૨૦૦૩માં જાતે જિનિવા જઇને સ્વદેશમાં લાવ્યા હતા અને મુંબઇથી સમગ્ર ગુજરાતમાં વિરાંજલિ યાત્રા સાથે માંડવીમાં અસ્થિકળશ પ્રસ્થાપિત કર્યા હતા અને તે સમયે સંકલ્પ જાહેર કર્યો હતો કે પેઢીઓ સુધી શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માની સ્મૃતિ ચિરંજીવ રાખવા ભવ્ય સ્મારકનું નિર્માણ કરવામાં આવશે.

શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માના જન્મસ્થાને જઇને શ્રદ્ધાસુમન અર્પણ કર્યા બાદ રૂ. પ.૯૦ કરોડના ખર્ચે નિર્માણ થવાનું છે તે ભવ્ય સ્મારકનો શિલાન્યાસ સંસ્કૃત વેદવિધિ સાથે મુખ્ય મંત્રીશ્રીએ કર્યો હતો.

વિદેશી સલ્તનતની ગુલામીની ઝંઝીરોમાંથી ભારતમાતાની મુક્તિ માટે વિદેશની ધરતી ઉપર ક્રાંતિની અજબ મિશાલનું નેતૃત્ત્વ લેનારા શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માના સ્મારકની ભૂમિકા આપતા શ્રી નરેન્દ્રભાઇ મોદીએ જણાવ્યું કે, આ સ્મારક આવતીકાલના ભારત માટે છે. જે સમાજ પોતાની સાંસ્કૃતિક વિરાસત અને પૂર્વજોના ઐતિહાસિક યોગદાનને વિસરી જાય છે તે સમાજનો વિકાસ અટકી જાય છે અને વિનાશ થાય છે. કચ્છના ધોળાવીરાની પૂરાતન માનવ સંસ્કૃતિના અવશેષો આપણી વિરાસત જરૂર છે પણ આ ખંડેરો બોધપાઠ આપે છે કે સંસ્કૃતિની પૂર્વજોની વિરાસતને વિસરી જશો તો સંસ્કૃત સમાજનો યુગ ખંડેર બની જશે.

મુખ્ય મંત્રીશ્રીએ આઝાદી પછી આજ સુધી રાજકીય વિચાર ભેદની આડ લઇને આપણા રાષ્ટ્ર માટે જીવનારા સપૂતો, ક્રાંતિવીરોને વિચારભેદની વાડાબંધીમાં બાંધી શકાય નહીં તેવી સ્થિતિ દુર્ભાગ્યપૂર્ણ ઉભી થઇ છે તેનો ઉલ્લેખ કરી સને 18પ7ના ભારતના પ્રથમ સ્વાતંત્ર્ય સંગ્રામના બીજને નષ્ટપ્રાણ કરવા જાૂલમનો કાળો કેર અંગ્રેજોએ કર્યો તેવી આત્યંતિક સ્થિતિના સમયે શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માનો ૧૮૫૭માં જન્મ એ વિધિનો સંકેત હતો એમ જણાવ્યું હતું. શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માનો સ્વામી વિવેકાનંદ સુધી પ્રભાવ હતો તેવા પ્રખર પ્રકાંડ સંસ્કૃત પંડિત તરીકે શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માએ રાષ્ટ્રીય શિક્ષણનું અભિયાન ચલાવવાનું બીજ ૧૯૦૨માં ગાંધીજીને પત્ર લખેલો અને તેમાંથી ૧૯૩૦માં ગુજરાત વિદ્યાપીઠનું બીજ વવાયેલું તેની ભૂમિકા તેમણે આપી હતી.

અંગ્રેજ સલ્તનતના નાક નીચે જ ભારતની આઝાદી માટેની ક્રાંતિકારી લડતને લલકારી હતી તેનો ઉલ્લેખ કરી શ્રી નરેન્દ્રભાઈ મોદીએ જણાવ્યું કે, દયાનંદ સરસ્વતી અને લોકમાન્ય તિલક જેવી મહાન વિભૂતિઓ સાથે વિચારભાવ ધરાવનારા શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માએ ગુજરાતની ધરતી ઉપર જન્મીને આઝાદીની લડતની બંને જુદી જુદી વિચારધારાનું ગૌરવ ગુજરાતને અપાવ્યું હતું. ગાંધીજીના અહિંસક સત્યાગ્રહની લડત અને સશસ્ત્ર ક્રાંતિના લડવૈયાનું નેતૃત્ત્વ કરનારા શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્મા બંનેનું ગૌરવ લેવાનો ગુજરાતને અધિકાર છે, તેમ તેમણે જણાવ્યું હતું.

દેશભક્ત વિરલાઓને પ્રેરણા આપે તેવું ભવ્ય સ્મારક માંડવીના દરીયાકાંઠે બનાવવાની સાથે માંડવીનો પ્રત્યેક પરિવાર પોતાના પૂર્વજ સપૂતની યાદમાં એક વૃક્ષ ઉછેરે તેવી પ્રેરણા શ્રી નરેન્દ્રભાઈ મોદીએ આપી હતી.

લંડનમાં ઇન્ડિયા હાઉસ એ ક્રાંતિગુરૂએ ભારતની આઝાદી માટે સશસ્ત્ર ક્રાંતિનું તીર્થ બની ગયું અને તેની પ્રતિકૃતિ આ માંડવીના ભવ્ય સ્મારકમાં મુકાશે, તેમ મુખ્ય મંત્રીશ્રીએ જણાવ્યું હતું.

ભારતના ઇતિહાસને ભૂલાવવાની રીતસરની કોશિષ થઇ રહી છે ત્યારે સમાજ તરીકે આપણી જવાબદારી છે કે ઇતિહાસને સાચા સત્ય અને સત્ય સાથે જીવંત રાખવા માટે આ સ્મારક, ગુજરાતની સુવર્ણ જયંતિના ૨૦૧૦ના અવસરે સમર્પિત કરવું છે તેવો સહિયારો સંકલ્પ કરીએ તેમ માંડવીના પ્રત્યેક જનને પ્રેરણા આપતા મુખ્ય મંત્રીશ્રીએ આહ્વાન કર્યું હતું.

મુખ્ય મંત્રી શ્રી નરેન્દ્રભાઈ મોદીએ ક્રાંતિગુરૂ શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્મા સ્મારકના ભવ્ય નિર્માણનો શિલાન્યાસ માંડવી-કચ્છ ખાતે કરતા ભારતના ઐતિહાસિક ક્રાંતિપથ ઉપર સમર્પિત દેશભક્તિની પરંપરાને અનુસરવાનું આહ્વાન કર્યું હતું.

શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માએ સ્વરાજ મેળવવા દેશ માટે ખપી જવાની પ્રેરણા આપી હતી. હવે આઝાદી પછી સુરાજ્ય માટે જીવી જવાનું દાયિત્વ આપણે સૌએ નિભાવવાનું છે, એમ પ્રેરણાદાયી સંબોધનમાં તેમણે જણાવ્યું હતું.

સામાજિક ન્યાય અને અધિકારીતા મંત્રી શ્રી ફકીરભાઈ વાઘેલાએ સ્વાગત પ્રવચનમાં જણાવ્યું હતું કે, પંડિત શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્મા મેમોરિયલ સોસાયટી દ્વારા આયોજિત સ્મારક બની રહ્યું છે તે એક વિરલ ઘટના છે અને મુખ્ય મંત્રીશ્રીના હસ્તે જે સ્મૃતિ આકાર થઇ છે જેની નોંધ ભારત વર્ષ લેશે.

રાજ્યના સામાજિક અને શૈક્ષણિક રીતે પછાતવર્ગોનું કલ્યાણ રાજ્ય મંત્રી શ્રી વાસણભાઈ આહીરે આભારદર્શન કર્યું હતું.

પ્રખર ઇતિહાસકાર અને વરિષ્ઠ પત્રકાર શ્રી વિષ્ણુભાઈ પંડયાએ સમગ્ર ઘટનાને વિરલ ઘટના ગણાવી અને જલાવતન જિંદગીની યાદગાર બાબત છે. પંડિત શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માનું જીવન ક્રાંતિવીર તરીકેનું જીવનચરિત્ર વર્ણવી. શ્રી વિષ્ણુભાઈ પંડયાએ જણાવ્યું કે, શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્માના સ્મારકને જે પ્રકારે સમર્થન મળ્યું છે તે અભૂતપૂર્વ છે જેને ચોક્કસ દિશા રાજ્યના મુખ્ય મંત્રી શ્રી નરેન્દ્રભાઈ મોદીએ આપી છે. આ અંગે તેમણે મુખ્ય મંત્રીશ્રીને અભિનંદન આપ્યા હતા. લંડનમાં પણ પંડિતજીનું સ્મારક બનાવવા ત્યાંના ગુજરાતીઓ થનગની રહ્યા છે, એમ તેમણે ઉમેર્યું હતું.

માંડવી નગરપાલિકાના પ્રમુખ શ્રી અનિરૂદ્ધભાઈ દવેએ પુષ્પગુચ્છથી મુખ્ય મંત્રીશ્રીનું સ્વાગત કર્યું હતું અને શાલ અર્પણ કરી સ્મૃતિચિહ્ન આપ્યું હતું. મસ્કાના સરપંચ શ્રી હીરજીભાઈ પટેલે મુખ્ય મંત્રીશ્રીનું સ્વાગત કર્યું હતું. ગુંદીયાળી ગામના સરપંચ વિમળાબેન ગોડાએ પણ સ્વાગત કર્યું હતું.

આ પ્રસંગે સરદાર સરોવર જળસંપત્તિ સૌરાષ્ટ્ર વિભાગના અધ્યક્ષ શ્રી અનંતભાઈ દવે, સાંસદ શ્રીમતી પુનમબેન જાટ, ધારાસભ્યો સર્વશ્રી ધનજીભાઈ સેંધાણી, જયંતિભાઈ ભાનુશાલી, બાબુભાઇ મેઘજી શાહ, જિલ્લા પંચાયતના પ્રમુખ શ્રી જીવાભાઈ શેઠ, પૂર્વ સાંસદ શ્રી પુષ્પદાનભાઈ ગઢવી, પંડિત શ્યામજી કૃષ્ણ વર્મા સ્મારક સાથે જોડાયેલા દિલીપભાઈ દેશમુખ સહિત જિલ્લાના વરિષ્ઠ નાગરિકો અને રાજ્યના વરિષ્ઠ અધિકારીઓ શ્રી વી. એન. માયરા અને શ્રી બી. બી. સ્વેન ઉપસ્થિત રહ્યા હતા.

By: Daily.pk

The Afghan Taliban pose no threat to the west but will continue their fight against occupying foreign forces, they said on Wednesday, the eighth anniversary of the US-led invasion that removed them from power.

US-led forces with the help of Afghan groups overthrew the Taliban government during a five week battle which started on October 7, 2001, after the militants refused to hand over al-Qaeda leaders wanted by Washington for the September 11 attacks on America.

‘We had and have no plan of harming countries of the world, including those in Europe…our goal is the independence of the country and the building of an Islamic state,’ the Taliban said in a statement on the group’s website www.shahamat.org.

‘Still, if you (Nato and US troops) want to colonise the country of proud and pious Afghans under the baseless pretext of a war on terror, then you should know that our patience will only increase and that we are ready for a long war.’

US President Barack Obama has said defeating the militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a top foreign policy priority and is evaluating whether to send thousands of extra troops to the country as requested by the commander of Nato and US forces.

In a review of the war in Afghanistan submitted to the Pentagon last month, US General Stanley McChrystal, in charge of all foreign forces, said defeating the insurgents would likely result in failure unless more troops were sent.

There are currently more than 100,000 foreign troops in the country, roughly two-thirds of who are Americans.

The Taliban statement comes at a time when western officials warn that deserting Afghanistan could mean a return to power for the Taliban and the country could once again become a safe haven for al-Qaeda militants, who could use it as a base to plan future attacks on western countries.  Dawn. Afghan Taliban say they pose no threat to the west. Wednesday, 07 Oct, 2009

Less than an year to go for Commonwealth Games 2010 and we are way short of the “World Class City” status. It’s the same story today as it was about 2 years or maybe even 10 years back, same broken roads, same potholes, same tobacco stained spit marks on the walls, children throwing wrappers on the road, women disposing garbage openly and people urinating openly in public.

Some times I feel are we really the same country that fought for our independence with amazing vigor, for which we are praised around the globe. Did Bhagat Singh, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Tantya Tope, Chandrashekhar Azad, etc, lay their lives for the country just for us to spit on the walls, did the Mahatma went on hunger strike just so that we can pay bribes to corrupt officials who in reality are public servants, did Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru dream of a nation where Goonda Raj is more effective than Democracy?

I don’t think so!

If you have a small bit of patriotism and love for OUR COUNTRY, stop the next guy you see urinating openly, stop the next man to spit on the floor or walls, stop you kids from throwing empty wrappers on the roads, stop your friends from paying or taking bribes, stop your wives from throwing garbage out of the house in open, most of all motivate your self to make these changes.

Internal change is required to instigate external change.So – YOU BE THE CHANGE

“I wonder what finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you? Have you been as hard as a marble and escaped?

If you are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you anyway, the wine produced would have been remarkably bitter. To be a holy person means that the elements of our natural life experience the very presence of God as they are providentially broken in His service. We have to be placed into God and brought into agreement with Him before we can be broken bread in His hands. Stay right with God and let Him do as He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.”

UTMOST OF HIS HIGHEST

]]> http://siyasipakistan.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/indian-atrocities-continue-on-kashmiris/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:17:43 +0000 agaahipk http://siyasipakistan.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/indian-atrocities-continue-on-kashmiris/

By: Daily.Pk

Under the new puppet regime in the occupied Kashmir, atrocities on the innocent Kashmiris by the Indian security forces continue unabated. Perennial tactics of state terrorism such as curfew, firing, killings, rape and arrests could not reduce the strong determination of the people of the Valley, calling for freedom of their land. In the recent past, Indian police, military and paramilitary troops massacred a number of people protesting against the death of three Kashmiri women who were raped and murdered.

In another event, Indian military troops kidnapped some freedom fighters and assassinated them near the Line of Control in order to show that they died during an encounter with the forces.

More than 300 innocent people in the Indian occupied Kashmir have been killed by the Indian forces since the current phase of Kashmir struggle began on August 12, 2008 when Indian security forces killed Hurriyat Conference leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz and five other persons who were protesting against the government decision to give land to the trust that runs Amarnath, a shrine of Hindus. On the same day, more than 200000 Kashmiris marched towards the Martyrs Graveyard to participate in the funeral of Sheikh Abdul Aziz. The police killed 18 innocent Muslims by firing while extremist Hindus started violent protests and economic blockade of the Muslims, emulating the Israeli siege of Gaza which had resulted in starvation of thousands of innocent Palestinians.

In 1989 when Kashmiri people lost faith in the international community, which persisted in ignoring their liberation and when it became obvious that the Indian occupation forces would not vacate the controlled areas through political means by implementing the UN resolutions, the people had no choice but to resort to armed struggle. Since then, India has intermittently been using all possible techniques of state terrorism to maintain its alien rule. Indian atrocities could be judged from the fact that last year, more than 1000 graves of the unmarked Muslims in the 18 villages of Indian occupied Kashmir were discovered. Recently, a human rights group has discovered several unmarked graves containing about 1,500 unidentified bodies in held Kashmir Valley. The All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) and other organizations, while expressing serious concern over the discovery of unnamed graves in the occupied Kashmir, have demanded international probe into the matter. Reports suggest that these are the dead bodies of those Kashmiris who were tortured to death by the Indian security agencies, especially RAW.

The silence of the West broke when in 2008; European Parliament while taking cognizance of the unmarked graves passed a resolution condemning Indian atrocities in the held Kashmir. Contrary to the past, this time Indian occupied Kashmir has become a special focus of world’s attention including India itself. For example, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband who visited New Delhi and Islamabad in the aftermath of Mumbai-terror attacks pointed out that complete de-escalation of situation between Pakistan and India was fully linked to resolution of Kashmir issue saying that New Delhi should cooperate with Islamabad in this respect. Even Indians have started realizing that, there should be an end to the sufferings of Kashmiris. Its gravity is evident from the fact that even Indian intellectuals have favored the independence of occupied Kashmir. On 17 August 2008 in its editorial, the editor of The Times of India wrote “On August 15, India celebrated independence from the British Raj.

A day symbolizing the end of colonialism in India became a day symbolizing Indian colonialism in the Valley”. The editor further elaborated, “We promised Kashmiris a plebiscite six decades ago. Let us hold one now, and let Kashmiris decide the outcome, not the politicians and armies of India”. It was admitted that state elections were also rigged in support of leaders nominated by New Delhi. On August 16, 2008, Hindustan Times wrote: “Nothing has really changed since 1990s. A single spark such as the dispute over Amarnath land can set the whole valley on fire—Indian forces are treated as subjugators. New Delhi is seen as the oppressor”. The paper further indicated, “The current crisis in Kashmir is a consequence of Indian establishment raising the confrontation to a new level”. The world looks at us with dismay”. This Indian newspaper clearly suggested a referendum in the Valley, writing, “Let the Kashmiris determine their own destiny—whatever happens, how can India lose? If you believe in democracy, then giving Kashmiris the right of self-determination is the correct thing to do”.

It is of particular attention that demanding immediate withdrawal of Indian Army from the Indian controlled Kashmir, a renowned Indian author and book prize winner, Arundhati Roy, while criticizing the Indian media had already pointed out that New Delhi has failed to highlight the plight of Kashmiris who are exposed to brutalities perpetrated by the Indian Security Forces. As regards Indian delaying tactics in the solution of Kashmir dispute, it has become fashion to blame Pakistan and its intelligence agency ISI for infiltration, using it as a pretext to crush the Kashmiri’s war of liberation which is indigenous as now recognized even by Indian media. Under the cover of ISI, New Delhi wants to distract the attention of the West from her atrocities on the Kashmiris. Various sources have accused Indian RAW of the custodial killings of the Kashmiri people through brutal methods.

Since 1989, India has deployed more than 500000 troops to quell the freedom movement of Kashmiris, but it cannot eliminate it at present as it could not do so through many years of oppression. Instead, a study report, prepared by Indian Government revealed that Kashmir violence has affected the psyche of Indian forces. In this connection, the report has disclosed that disturbances in Jammu and Kashmir have had adverse psychological problems found especially among the officers and Jawans such as short tempers, quarrelsome attitude, mental disorders and abnormal behavior. Sometimes, the situation leads to suicide attempts or attacks on their seniors and colleagues.

Nevertheless, setting aside all internal and external implications, Indian military troops are using inhuman tactics of ethnic cleansing to disturb the majority population of the Kashmiris, which had been practiced by the Serb forces on Bosnian Muslims in the past and recently by Israel on the Palestinians. New Delhi must understand that if in the last five decades, it could not reduce the strong determination of the people of the Valley, calling for freedom of their land, how could it do so now? Meanwhile, in the past, ‘composite dialogue’ between India and Pakistan took place on a number of occasions, but produced no results, prolonging the agony of the subjugated people of the occupied valley due to Indian intransigence. At present, India is acting on a deliberate policy of delaying tactics in relation to the solution of Kashmir and implementing similar strategy under the pretext of Mumbai carnage. Despite Islamabad’s insistence, New Delhi wants to talk on the issue of terrorism alone and refuses to discuss any other issue. While the world is rapidly advancing towards modern trends such as renunciation of war as a state policy, peaceful settlement of disputes and economic development, India continues its suppressive policies in Kashmir.

Waqar Ahmed

IDWTCME

DWFACIMYB AIDWTMAT

Hurhur – acronyms slash safety in numbers.

This is the day that the Lord has made, AND I will rejoice and be glad in it!

I have learnt, amongst other things, that dying daily to self is a conscious decision/ + takes deliberate effort! and what it is to have the Fear of the Lord? I want to make everyday count – and am glad we have enoughgrace 24hrs at a time. (!) Nomorenoless. Always morethanenough for me!

I also caught Inglorious Bastards today – finally- and I thought it was pretty good! I was very taken by Shoshanna’s story. I heart Melanie Laurent – I think she’s really really pretty and very classy in her own way. Heh! Don’t you think she has a certain charm (especially when she looks over the stairwell in that gorgeous red dress and black netted headpiece!?).

So many changes are taking place and I am terrified but delighted at the same time(!)

This is a sketch of a green tea latte I had during a meeting yesterday.

Taste and see (that the Lord is good!).

Viper Island is a tourist destination as well as a destination with historical importance. Viper Island is the place where British constructed the first jail in British-India. The major attraction in Viper Island is the jail which is open for tourists. Tourists can explore the jail and learn the inhumanity faced by the freedom fighters from the British. Until a new cellular jail was constructed in Port Blair, the jail in Viper Island was the only place convicts where kept. Sher Ali the one who killed Lord Mayo the viceroy of India in 1872 was hanged here. The Island is named after the vessel “Viper” on which Lieutenant Archibald Blair reached this island in 1789.

The accessibility to Viper Island is through Port Blair. Port Blair has an airport which has flights from different parts of the country via Cochin and a few flights from Kolkata and Chennai. Port Blair offers local ferries to reach Viper Island. There are several hotels and resorts in Port Blair for tourists to stay.

Well, the fight for freedom continues and both parties are scared. However, the Republican Party is taking another disastrous step in the wrong direction. The current problems with the party have nothing to do with the success and ideas Ron Paul has inspired within a younger generation. To continue to attack him and his ideas is futile. It sends the message to a rather smart, savvy, and intelligent group of younger individuals you are completely opposed to promoting individual freedom.

You want the younger Vote?

There simple steps

1. Start to address and support many of the issues Senator Paul has raised

2. Stop attacking the only person in your party that has consistently stood for Freedom.

3. Recognize quickly the party needs to return to the core principles of “conservatism” as defined by individuals like Barry Goldwater and other libertarians.

I cannot speak for other younger voters, but each and everyday on issues that deal with individual freedom you’re losing the fight and it will eventually cost you another election. I’m not completely set on voting for democrats, but if they continually present themselves as the party that will most support individual freedom, i may have to accept the lesser of the two evils.

1. Peace (No Wars, No policing the World, No more entangling alliances, that further jeopardize the safety of US Citizens)

2. Get Rid of the Religious Right and this “Family Values” bs. Get it through your head most individuals do not support these wackos, because they have no right imposing their belief of morality on individuals, that pose no threat to their individual freedoms!

The concept of “Family Values” and maintaining a nuclear family is a great idea and most younger individuals do not disagree with this goal, but to continually attempt to legislate and reduce citizens freedoms behind this concept is going to further alienate and distance younger voters. (Don’t listen to the religious right anymore they do not have a monopoly on morality!)

3. Abortion is also a losing cause its controversial and may garner a few younger votes, but the majority of younger individuals believe the government needs to stay the heck away from deciding what they do to their bodies.

4. Also supporting US Military Personal that continually advocate for more troops and more war is not going to win votes (this goes for both parties)

5. Start letting the American Public know your position on issues that will greatly affect future generations. WE ARE SICK OF PEOPLE CONTINUALLY PUSHING THE DEBT BURDEN ON OUR GENERATION! I want to know what the Republicans plan to do about Social Security? How do you plan on either eliminating or fixing the program? Start to advocate an option that allows individuals to opt out!

6. As a bonus find a true leader that intelligent younger conservatives can respect! (Sarah Palin is just not good for the party. She has caused more harm than good. Mit Romney may be a Moron, but im interested in the issues not his religion, he’d be a much better person to promote than Palin. If the Christians cannot accept or tolerate those with different religious views then purge them from the party.)

These are just 6 things off the top of my head. The republicans and your talk show arm are just going about this in the wrong way!!

To be honest I’m going to side with Michael Savage and say, “The Republicans need a Barrack Obama type younger candidate to promote individual freedom and inspire the younger conservative base”

Soilders

Found this song called Freedom Fighters by Two Steps From Hell.  It was featured in the 3rd Star Trek trailer.  These guys make music that is geared towards TV, movie trailers and other media markets.  So you cannot buy their music unless you want to license it.  Or you can do what I did just do a YouTube search.

Turkey tells Israel to end Gaza tragedy Children in Gaza have no schools to go to: Turk FM

By: The News International

ANKARA: Turkey urged Israel on Friday to end the “humanitarian tragedy” in Gaza, saying ties between the two allies cannot recover if Palestinian suffering continues and peace talks remain dead in the Middle East.

“Ending the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, reviving peace efforts — both on the Palestinian and Syrian track, and most importantly — reinstating a prevailing spirit of peace in the region… this is what we want,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters.

“When there is a return to the track of peace, these relations of trust (with Israel) will be re-established on the same level as before,” he said.

Israel’s ties with its chief regional ally took a sharp downturn last week when Ankara excluded the Jewish state from annual joint military exercises, prompting a rebuke from the United States.

The row flared Thursday as Israel summoned the Turkish envoy to protest a Turkish state television series which it condemned as “inciting hatred against Israel” and “not worthy of being broadcast even in an enemy state.”

Davutoglu said that Israel’s war on Gaza at the turn of the year “killed the peace perspective” in the Middle East and that ongoing turmoil in the devastated Palestinian enclave was at the core of the bilateral chill.

He made it clear Ankara was still bitter that the war also disrupted indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria that Turkey had mediated “with so much effort.”

“As long as the human tragedy in Gaza continues, no one should expect us to be part of a military picture” with Israel, he said, referring to the scrapped military drills.

“Although no single rocket has been fired on Israel from Gaza over the past eight months, children in Gaza have no schools to go to, people have no homes to take shelter in,” he said.

Davutoglu rejected suggestions that his government, the moderate offshoot of a now-banned Islamist party, was becoming anti-Israeli.

“The humanitarian situation (in Gaza) should be improved in the shortest possible time.

How can wanting this amount to being anti-Israeli? This is a humanitarian attitude,” he said.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said the television series that infuriated Israel had no political motive but conceded the plot might be “a bit exaggerated,” Anatolia news agency reported.

“Relations between Turkey and Israel have always been strong. We have full confidence that they will always remain strong,” he said.

The first episode, aired Tuesday, showed Israeli forces shooting a little girl and a newborn baby, and portrayed them as insulting and ridiculing Palestinians. Israel’s hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday the latest developments “raised the question: what direction is Turkish policy taking? We hope it is toward strengthening peace and not extremists.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been at the forefront of international criticism of the Gaza offensive.

In an unprecedented outburst, he stormed out from a debate at the World Economic Forum in January, accusing Israel of “barbarian” acts and telling Israeli President Shimon Peres, sitting next to him, that “you know well how to kill people.”

The Palestinians struggle for statehood enjoys widespread support in Turkey, both among Islamists and leftists.

In contrast to its souring ties with Israel, Erdogan’s government has markedly improved ties with Syria and sought closer relations with Iran, an arch-enemy of the Jewish state.