Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.
IZMIR, Turkey - Choking the highways and crammed onto ferries, hundreds of thousands of Turks streamed into this port city on Sunday in an enormous show of opposition to the pro-Islamic ruling party, increasing pressure on the government ahead of early elections.
Some 1.5 million protesters carried anti-government banners, red-and-white Turkish flags and pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded the secular republic in 1923.
Turkish flags hung from balconies and windows, as well as buses and fishing boats and yachts bobbing in Izmir's bay
ISTANBUL, Turkey - Thousands of angry Turks burned an Israeli flag Friday and chanted “Murderer Israel, Get out of Palestine!” to protest Israel’s offensive into the Gaza Strip.
Hundreds of women, wearing black chadors or covering their heads with Islamic-style head scarves, carried Palestinian flags and banners which read: “Israel is burning Palestine.”
Police said about 5,000 people participated in the protest outside Istanbul’s Bayazid Mosque.
I wonder if CNN or others will be talking about the Seething Secular Street in Turkey tonight?
You Are Not Alone Topic: Iraq War
Perhaps you have been sitting at home nights listening to the Talking Heads and the Democratic Leadership, telling you What Americans Want, and it is not what YOU want.
If this has been making you feel that you are alone and out of sinc with the rest of the Country, I have some good news for you.
It may not be true at all and the fact is that you are not alone.
Cliff May at The Corner has some recent poll results that are extremely interesting:
According to a recent USA Today/Gallup poll,61% of Americans oppose “denying the funding needed to send any additional U.S. troops to Iraq,” and opposition is up from 58% in February. (3/23-25, 2007).
A Bloomberg poll reveals 61% of Americans believe withholding funding for the war is a bad idea, while only 28% believe it is a good idea (3/3-11, 2007).
A recent Public Opinion Strategies (POS) poll found that 56% of registered voters favor fully funding the war in Iraq, with more voters strongly favoring funding (40%) than totally opposing it (38%); (3/25-27, 2007).
POS found also that a majority of voters (54%) oppose the Democrats imposing a reduction in troops below the level military commanders requested (3/25-27, 2007).
A separate POS poll finds 57% of voters support staying in Iraq until the job is finished and “the Iraqi government can maintain control and provide security for its people.” And 59% of voters say pulling out of Iraq immediately would do more to harm America’s reputation in the world than staying until order is restored (35%); (2/5-7, 2007).
A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll show 69% of American voters trust military commanders more than members of Congress (18%) to decide when United States troops should leave Iraq. This includes 52% of Democrats, 69% of Independents and 88% of Republicans (3/27-28, 2007).
According to a recent Pew Research survey, only 17% of Americans want an immediate withdrawal of troops (4/18-22, 2007). That same poll found a plurality of adults (45%) believe a terrorist attack against the United States is more likely if we withdraw our troops from Iraq while the “country remains unstable”
Should a date for withdrawal be set, 70% of American believe it is likely that “insurgents will increase their attacks in Iraq” starting on that day. This is supported by 85% of Republicans, 71% of Independents and 60% of Democrats. (FOX News/Opinion Dynamics, 4/17-18, 2007).
An LA Times/Bloomberg polls reveals that 50% of Americans say setting a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq “hurts” the troops, while only 27% believe it “helps” the troops (4/5-9, 2007
Feel better now? I know I do. Isn't it nice to know that MOST of America thinks like we do?
Remember when they tried to convince you how Scared you were?
May 6, 2007 8:22 AM 114,424 citizens have already signed this petition!
Fight Back!!!
Sign
the
Virtual
Counter- March
Petition
May 1, 2007, Chicago, Illinois
On May 1, Huge crowds of Illegal Aliens dishonored this country by demanding Something they did not Earn—Citizenship.
Fight back by being one of a million signers on this ‘Virtual Counter-March’ Petition, sent to President George W. Bush.
Dear President Bush On May 1, Illegal Aliens dishonored our country by demanding something they did not earn—U.S. citizenship. Please use your influence to block all moves in Congress to reward lawbreakers with citizenship, welfare, and other benefits true Americans have fought and died for. Amnesty is not a solution—it's a SURRENDER!
About this Talk Given $50 billion to spend, which would you solve first, AIDS or global warming? Danish economist Bjorn Lomborg put this question to economists and students around the world, and the answers they came up with may surprise you. Ranking our toughest problems not on any moral scale but simply by how effectively they can be solved, Lomborg and his colleagues demand we take a fresh look at doing good.
About Bjorn Lomborg Danish economist Bjorn Lomborg heads the Copenhagen Consensus, which has prioritized the world's... More >
A cry of defiance, and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, And a word that shall echo for evermore! For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear
When it came to defeating the Soviets, Ronald Reagan made it simple: "We win, they lose." Now more than ever, the defeatists in Congress must hear that same message. America will never surrender
An Appeal For Redress is an authorized means for active duty military to submit a grievance to Congress. It can be signed by Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard military personnel.
This site is an Appeal For Redress in support of our mission in Iraq.
An Appeal For Redress is an authorized means for active duty military to submit a grievance to Congress. It can be signed by Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard military personnel.
It is authorized by DoD Directive 1325.6 and DoD Directive 7050.6 (pdf).
The wording of the Appeal is:
As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.
If you are active duty, reservist or national guard, please Sign this Appeal.
This Appeal will be delivered to members of Congress. We are currently working with members of Congress to make a presentation.
Most service members fully support the war in Iraq and feel calls to retreat by Congress and emphasis by some in the media on negative aspects while ignoring positive ones acts to motivate our enemy while demoralizing our support at home, directly increasing the threat we face and resulting in greater American casualties.
Clarification: 'Actively oppose media attacks' is asking for verbal support of our mission, not legislation of any kind.
As of the time of this post 6:12 AM April 29, 2007
Appeal for Courage is a non-partisan, grass-roots effort to communicate to Congress the troops' desire to remain in Iraq until our mission is complete. We feel calls to retreat embolden our enemy and hurt our support within the American public and Iraqi people. We accept no funding from any source, and do not speak for any group or organization other than those military members who have signed the Appeal.
They are Supported by Vets For Freedom Vets for Freedom is a nonpartisan organization established by combat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our mission is to support policymakers from both sides of the aisle who have stood behind our great generation of American warriors on the battlefield, and who have put long-term national security before short-term partisan political gain. Families United for Our troops and Their Mission Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. We are a grassroots coalition of Gold Star families, veterans, families with loved ones in harm's way, and Americans who share a deep appreciation for our men and women in uniform and support them in their efforts to make America safer by winning the War On Terror. Military Families Voice of Victory Military Families Voice for Victory is comprised of families of our Military. We are non-partisan, non-political but we voice opinions of support or failure in regards to any individual politician, political party or media service
Tell others about Appeal For Courage Anyone can help by downloading a flyer and posting wherever allowed. Military members who can post at FOBs, flight-lines or on ship would be particularly helpful. Other areas of possible help include:
Submit a new flyer, which will be posted around Iraq and on this site for download by others. Help spread the word by writing letters & emails to blogs and news organizations.
Appeal For Courage PO Box 25154 Scott AFB, IL 62225-0154 Write your Congress member regarding AFC. Tell your friends! Update:The Mudville Gazette has words about this over at MilBlogs in Quadruple Re: Generalship Including the fact that the media is reporting another website with an opposite Appeal For Redress Petition that has less signatures than Appeal For Courage.
I am going to miss this kid, I hope he does not end up in some "backroom"
Done
Today is going to be the day that I've been dreading for quite sometime now. Today is the day I walk away from this blog. Done. Finished.
There are many reasons, each would take a post to list, and I just do not have the energy to list them. As anyone who has been reading this blog for the past month, I think it is apparent that things are not the same with me. There are reasons for that:
One of the chief reasons is the fact that there has been too much heat around me lately. I no longer believe that my anonymity is kept, especially with State Secuirty agents lurking around my street and asking questions about me since that day. I ignore that, the same way I ignored all the clicking noises that my phones started to exhibit all of a sudden, or the law suit filed by Judge Mourad on my friends, and instead grew bolder and more reckless at a time where everybody else started being more cautious. It took me a while to take note of the fear that has been gripping our little blogsphere and comprehend what it really means. The prospects for improvment, to put it slightly, look pretty grim. I was the model of caution, and believing in my invincipility by managing not to get arrested for the past 2 and a half years, I've grown reckless. Stupid Monkey. Stupid!
And speaking of the state of the egyptian blogsphere, it has been pretty depressing in its own right. One has to wonder at some point the futulity of being a keyboard warrior in a country where nothing seems to matter to its people anymore. At the same time, there has been those amongst us who have loved the fame and the attention, and are now becoming the egyptian blogsphere's equivelant of Paris Hilton: They are famous for being famous, peddling the same stories and not really presenting anything of value to the debate. And then there is the fact that we are entering the "Iconogrphy" phase : We are becoming Icons. Too much Media attention, too many american organizations claiming to champion our causes while they are cashing out in donation from people gullible enough to believe them, too much hype generated by us and others, so many of us tooting our own horns and even crying wolf at times has made Icons of us. We now have young bloggers who come up to many of us "Old Guard" and tell us how they are such great fans of ours, and how we are their role models and heroes and how they are starting to blog because of our "courageous example". And there are those of us who are buying into it, taking in undertsudies to placate our big heads, hooking up with groupies to feed our egos, acting as if we are the warriors for change we are made up to be and forgetting why we started blogging to begin with. It seems that we are entering a state of transformation, and we should either 1) evolve, take the next step whatever it is, 2) stay the way we are and risk becoming carricatures of ourselves or 3) quit. Not knowing what the next step is, and needing time and space to figure it out, I chose the only other option that made sense: I quit!
So here comes my apology to those of you who read me: I am sorry. I really can't continue to do this. You guys have been the best readers anyone could hope for, altough there are some of you who made me come close to shutting down the comments section many many times. I love you all for everything you have done for me, for all of the egyptian blogsphere. When I asked for your help, you gave us more than a helping hand. You cared. You gave a damn about a bunch of egyptians who had a dream to be free and stood by us in our houres of need. For that you are my heroes, and I can not possibly thank you enough.
May the day comes when I rant once again….
Love you all,
The Sandmonkey
Drop by his website and pay your respects to a 21st Century Hero.
I will be the first to admit that at times I am a little slow on the uptake, but last night I had an Epiphany which filled me with instantaneous outrage.
Let me digress to explain how I arrived at this mental crux.
This Spring the Iowa Legislature raised the Tax on Cigarettes by $1/pack and $10/carton.
Now this was no surprise the Democrats took control of the State Legislature during the last election so Tax raises of some kind were a given.
It was a little odd that the Left which raises the most complaints about Regressive Taxes was silent on this one. The fact is that cigarette smoking is skewed towards the lower income brackets so this Tax is much more regressive than others they have complained about, but again that was not much of a surprise either.
It was not until I stood last night before a cash register ringing up my sale, that I realized the full extent of their perfidy.
The $10 increase in Cigarette Tax was not enough for them I was paying Sales Tax on that $10!
The Trouble With Islam SENSE OF UMMAH Sadly, mainstream Muslim teaching accepts and promotes violence.
BY TAWFIK HAMID Tuesday, April 3, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
Not many years ago the brilliant Orientalist, Bernard Lewis, published a short history of the Islamic world's decline, entitled "What Went Wrong?" Astonishingly, there was, among many Western "progressives," a vocal dislike for the title. It is a false premise, these critics protested. They ignored Mr. Lewis's implicit statement that things have been, or could be, right.
But indeed, there is much that is clearly wrong with the Islamic world. Women are stoned to death and undergo clitorectomies. Gays hang from the gallows under the approving eyes of the proponents of Shariah, the legal code of Islam. Sunni and Shia massacre each other daily in Iraq. Palestinian mothers teach 3-year-old boys and girls the ideal of martyrdom. One would expect the orthodox Islamic establishment to evade or dismiss these complaints, but less happily,
the non-Muslim priests of enlightenment in the West have come, actively and passively, to the Islamists' defense.
All of this makes the efforts of Muslim reformers more difficult. When Westerners make politically-correct excuses for Islamism, it actually endangers the lives of reformers and in many cases has the effect of suppressing their voices. Tolerance does not mean toleration of atrocities under the umbrella of relativism. It is time for all of us in the free world to face the reality of Salafi Islam or the reality of radical Islam will continue to face us. Dr. Hamid, a onetime member of Jemaah Islamiya, an Islamist terrorist group, is a medical doctor and Muslim reformer living in the West.
Here is a video on a Secular Islam Summit he took part in
Are you green? How many flights have you taken in the last year? Feeling guilty about all those unnecessary car journeys? Well, maybe there's no need to feel bad.
According to a group of scientists brought together by documentary-maker Martin Durkin, if the planet is heating up, it isn't your fault and there's nothing you can do about it.
We've almost begun to take it for granted that climate change is a man-made phenomenon. But just as the environmental lobby think they've got our attention, a group of naysayers have emerged to slay the whole premise of global warming.
There you will find links to: The Programme, The Arguments, Watch the Trailer, Ask Our Expert, Vote, Play the Quiz, Find Out More and the Forum.
Since I am updating this I have to decided to bump it up to the top with a couple of images to stimulate some thought.
It seems that Global Warming is no longer a theory but a dogma to many. We are not experts on climate change - and we don't pretend to be - but we do recognize that an entire school of thought has been suppressed in the German media and political culture. As Chancellor Merkel and others debate what to do about Global Warming, we think it would be appropriate to at least listen to what "the other side" has to say instead of blindly accepting what is becoming a state religion in much of Europe.
Google seems to be having problems if you cannot view the above Video there are several posters with segments on Technorati HERE
Vets for Freedom is a nonpartisan organization established by combat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our mission is to support policymakers from both sides of the aisle who have stood behind our great generation of American warriors on the battlefield, and who have put long-term national security before short-term partisan political gain. 
Military Families Voice for Victory is comprised of families of our Military. We are non-partisan, non-political but we voice opinions of support or failure in regards to any individual politician, political party or media service
