Apologies and Thanks

An apology and thank you to all our friends and loyal readers for your continued support during this strange time over the past few weeks. Thanks also to David for keeping this bird in the air.

Mae's mother suffered heart failure combined with a really bad dose of influenza. It has been touch and go for the last few weeks with Mae and I taking her mom to the doctor several times a week for check-ups and blood tests needed to properly regulate her heart medication. Until she stabilizes, any amount of exertion leaves her very winded, so Mae and to a lesser extent, myself, have been doing everything around the house; in addition to trying to keep the reigns on two very active kids, aged 11 and 12. I have also recently volunteered as an assistant coach for Reggie's rugby team.

As a result, we have been very busy, and I just have not had the time nor been in the right frame of mind to put anything meaningful together. We hope you can understand that "real life" priorities take precedence over "cyber" priorities.

We will be moving to Auckland where I will start work in the first week of August, but for now we're here in Rotorua still taking care of Mae's mom. I will not be able to devote as much time to the blog as I had previously, but there will be something every day. Instead of half a dozen posts per day, look for 2 or so. There will be much more in the way of pictures, personal stories, references to more outside reading, etc. In fact, there may be more on the weekends than during the week.

So please spread the word to friends and enemies alike that we're back, and thanks again for hanging in there with us.

And now for today's stories....

Protecting Freedom of Speech by Restricting It?

Thought crime is just around the corner - This disturbing news from Australia:.

A CHRISTIAN pastor who has been ordered to apologise for vilifying Muslims says he will go to jail rather than say sorry for his comments.

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) deputy president Michael Higgins ordered two pastors of an evangelical order, Catch the Fire Ministry, to apologise for comments they made in a speech, on a website and in a newsletter.

In a landmark ruling, the tribunal found Muslims were vilified by claims that Muslims were training to take over Australia, encouraging domestic violence and that Islam was an inherently violent religion. The case was the first to be heard by VCAT since the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act took effect in Victoria at the start of 2002.

This is one of the things I don't like about Australia - this so-called "anti-hate speech" law. It is an eerie reminder of Orwell's 1984. With Australia's close proximity to the largest Muslim country in the world, Indonesia, the liberal end of the Australian government (and in the US) is particularly sensitive to Australia's Muslim community, but most of the people, while not necessarily intolerant, are not particularly sensitive to the needs of the mooooslims. From the Aussies I have met, I would say that a good number of them are at the very least wary of the growing number of Muslims in their country.

Here's how the tribunal is spinning the law:

Judge Higgins said an apology was "appropriate" as the intention of the Victorian legislation was to protect freedom of speech, while placing limits on such freedom by prohibiting the vilification of persons or classes of persons.

He said he took into account that the pastors were of good character, but their passionate religious beliefs caused them to transgress the law.

Protect freedom of speech while restricting it? Scary. Canada has similar laws, and the Left in the US wants the same. Don't let it happen, folks.

**Addendum** Here's how the UK-based Muslim propaganda group, Salaam, tags the same story:

Pastor prefers jail over apology
Thursday 23rd June 2005
The hatred and animosity for Islam knows no bounds. It is now open season against Muslims as a Christian pastor who has been ordered to apologise for vilifying Muslims says he will go to jail rather than say sorry for his comments.

Don't you love how they assume the role of the victim right out of the gate? Who are they trying to kid? These Muslim front groups are shameless.

Turban Durbin: My Take

We've all read it; we've all heard it. Turban Durbin's statements were absurd.

When you read some of the graphic descriptions of what has occurred here -- I almost hesitate to put them in the record, and yet they have to be added to this debate. Let me read to you what one FBI agent saw. And I quote from his report:

On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold....On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.

If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.

The most disturbing part of his seditious rant for me was where he said, "...you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis..."

Really? I didn't.

Anybody who knows basic history and the difference between torture and discomfort most certainly would not, yet he is telling us that we would. Why? The only conclusion I could come to was that he is targeting those who don't know history and/or the difference between torture and discomfort. It's right from the Goebels propaganda playbook: Tell a lie often enough and it will become the truth. Based on the current political climate, I fear there are a lot of ignorant people who believe this lie.

As I and others have stated before, 99.999999% of the rancor coming from the Leftist Socialist Democrats, or LSD's, is all a result of their hatred of President Bush. They can't put aside that hatred for the good of the nation. On the contrary, they little by little chip away at the foundation of our country in the name of doing good for the country; failure of the US is a victory for the LSD's. Speech like this serves no other purpose than to fan the flames of hatred for the US internationally and further the domestic agenda of the enemy within. Add Durbin to that list.

Enemy Watch: Salaam.co.uk

It's always a good idea to know what the enemy's propaganda machine is doing: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

A few months ago we gave you this piece on Britain's Muslim propaganda machine. This group is one of its major components. They go to great lengths to promote the Muslim agenda of abolishing all remnants of Western culture while attempting to pass themselves off as peace-loving people who just want to get along and that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance.

Go here, and read some articles from the enemy. Here are a few headlines and teasers to piss you off:

We need this law to fight hatred
Thursday 23rd June 2005
"The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill is not about gagging comedians or curbing criticism of any religion. It is about giving Muslims and other followers of religions the same protection from hate crimes as, for example, black people", Sadiq Khan, MP for Tooting.

Israel resumes targeted killings
Thursday 23rd June 2005
The resumption by Israel of the deliberate assassination of leaders from the Islamic movements is the zionists' only response to the growing political popularity and stature of Hamas. Confronted with the tide of democracy, the only antidote available to Sharon and his thugs is the resort to violence and murder.

In the name of security
Wednesday 22nd June 2005
The Statue of Liberty, once the icon of the US's tribute to freedom and hope, has been replaced by another symbol, Guantلnamo Bay, and Britain's main ally in the coalition that illegally invaded Iraq now sends detainees to countries that practise torture and feels able to justify it.

Lib Aid

GO FUCK YOURSELF