Nigerian Explosion: Bombs Hit Churches in Christmas Day Terrorist Attacks

At Telegraph UK, "Coordinated bomb attacks across Nigeria kill at least 40," and "Boko Haram: the group behind the Nigerian attacks."

Also at London's Daily Mail, "Bombs kills 39 at Catholic churches during Christmas Day mass as series of explosions rock Nigeria."

And at New York Times, "Churches Are Hit in a Series of Bombings Across Nigeria." (Via Memeorandum and The Other McCain.)

The Death of Free Speech the 'Canadian Way'

I'm not really up on all of the personalities, but the realities of progressive attacks on political speech are all too real to me.

See Kathy Shaidle, "(Making Someone's Life a) Living Hell Is the Best Revenge."

I'll be checking Kathy's site frequently (or more frequently than I already do) with anticipation of her big announcement. Meanwhile, she links to this cowardly defense of the Canadian Human Rights Commission's "Section 13" --- which is the Canadian left's vile bureaucracy that's mounting a jihad against free speech up north by attacking and prosecuting conservatives who speak the truth, because as we all know, truth is the new "hate speech." See Bernie Farber and Marvin Kurz, "Hateful Words Can Hurt." And a key passage at the piece:

Another argument against Section 13 is that, unlike libel law, truth is no defence. But can it ever be “true” that victims of hate speech deserve hatred and contempt? Should someone be entitled to use a tribunal hearing to “prove” that, say African Canadians are inferior, that Jews are rapacious, or that all gays are pedophiles?

Truth is no defense? God, that's so pathetically f-king stupid it makes me wanna puke. Hello? It doesn't matter if the truth is painful or not --- it's still the truth. And notice how these idiots Farber and Kurz omit example of real conservative free speech. Did you point out that Islamists proselytize death to the Jews? Lock up that man for that, er, "hate speech"! These progressive asshats and their totalitarian minions will dictate what thoughts are acceptable. It's already happening, of course, all around us. The world is upside down, in a big way. The biggest lies in today's world are the inventions of the left. That the war in Iraq was a "debacle." That the science of climate change is "settled." That Israel, the Middle East's original democracy, is an "apartheid state." The list goes on. The common denominator is that progressives can't win debate on the merits, so they use totalitarian methods to attack their opponents and shut down debate --- despite their narcissistic chest-thumping to the contrary.

See also Closet Conservative, "OMGWords Caused the Holocaust AIYEEEE We're ALL GONNA DIE!!!," and Scaramouche, "The Ceej is Dead and Gone But Its Pro-Censorship Zombies Live On."

Muslim Countries Target Free Speech

Well, Muslims worldwide are squelching debate at home, but Professor Jonathan Turley focuses on efforts at the United Nations to "criminalize intolerance," with the blessing of none other than U.S. President Barack Obama.

At Los Angeles Times, "Criminalizing intolerance":

This week in Washington, the United States is hosting an international conference obliquely titled "Expert Meeting on Implementing the U.N. Human Rights Resolution 16/18." The impenetrable title conceals the disturbing agenda: to establish international standards for, among other things, criminalizing "intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of … religion and belief." The unstated enemy of religion in this conference is free speech, and the Obama administration is facilitating efforts by Muslim countries to "deter" some speech in the name of human rights.

"While the resolution also speaks to combating incitement to violence, the core purpose behind this and previous measures has been to justify the prosecution of those who speak against religion." Although the resolution also speaks to combating incitement to violence, the core purpose behind this and previous measures has been to justify those who speak against religion. The members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or OIC, have been pushing for years to gain international legitimacy of their domestic criminal prosecutions of anti-religious speech.

This year, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton invited nations to come to implement the resolution and "to build those muscles" needed "to avoid a return to the old patterns of division." Those "old patterns" include instances in which writers and cartoonists became the targets of protests by religious groups. The most famous such incident occurred in 2005 when a Danish newspaper published cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammad. The result were worldwide protests in which Muslims reportedly killed more than 100 people — a curious way to demonstrate religious tolerance. While Western governments reaffirmed the right of people to free speech after the riots, they quietly moved toward greater prosecution of anti-religious speech under laws prohibiting hate speech and discrimination.

The OIC members have long sought to elevate religious dogma over individual rights. In 1990, members adopted the Cairo Declaration, which rejected core provisions of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights and affirmed that free speech and other rights must be consistent with "the principles of the sharia," or Islamic law. The biggest victory of the OIC came in 2009 when the Obama administration joined in condemning speech containing "negative racial and religious stereotyping" and asked states to "take effective measures" to combat incidents, including those of "religious intolerance." Then, in March, the U.S. supported Resolution 16/18's call for states to "criminalize incitement to imminent violence based on religion or belief." It also "condemns" statements that advocate "hostility" toward religion. Although the latest resolution refers to "incitement" rather than "defamation" of religion (which appeared in the 2005 resolution), it continues the disingenuous effort to justify crackdowns on religious critics in the name of human rights law.

The OIC has hit on a winning strategy to get Western countries to break away from their commitment to free speech by repackaging blasphemy as hate speech and free speech as the manifestation of "intolerance." Now, orthodoxy is to be protected in the name of pluralism — requiring their own notion of "respect and empathy and tolerance." One has to look only at the OIC member countries, however, to see their vision of empathy and tolerance, as well as their low threshold for anti-religious speech that incites people. In September, a Kuwaiti court jailed a person for tweeting a message deemed derogatory to Shiites. In Pakistan last year, a doctor was arrested for throwing out a business card of a man named Muhammad because he shared the prophet's name.

Ah ha!

Truth. The new "hate speech.

But continue reading at the link.

Professor Paul Derengowski Resigns from Tarrant County College After Muslim Students Launch 'Terroristic Act of Jihad'

Wow, this is one heck of a story.

At Fox News Dallas-Fort Worth, "Professor Calls Student Complaints “Terroristic Act of Jihad”."

And see The Blaze, "TX PROF. RESIGNS, THEN ASKS FOR JOB BACK, AFTER MUSLIM STUDENTS COMPLAIN HE CALLED ISLAM A ‘CULT’."

And see the professor's essay here: "Tell them the truth." And Derengowski emailed Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch, "Muslim students threaten, force resignation of prof who quoted from Islamic texts":

My name is Paul Derengowski, and I was hired by Tarrant County College in 2008 to teach Great World Religions, Bible History I & II, and Introduction to Philosophy.

On November 8, 2011, I gave the second of a two-part lecture on Islam, as I've been doing Spring, Fall, and sometimes twice in the Summer, dealing with Islamic history and doctrine, and more particularly Muhammad's move to Medina. A question had been raised by two Muslim students in the previous the lecture concerning the sources I used to discuss the raid at Nakhlah. At the start of the second lecture I provided my sources (The Life of Muhammad by Haykal and the Qur'an), which included reading Sura 2:216-217. That is when all hell broke loose.

Both Muslim students, for an hour, berated me, my sources, and my credentials. When other students in the class attempted to ask questions or make comments, then the Muslim students would interrupt them as well. Finally, toward the end of the class period, a student made a comment on how "scary" the person of Muhammad seemed to be. That's when the male Muslim blurted out "you ought to be scared," and then bolted for the door in a fit of outrage. I subsequently filed a campus police report on him out of concern for the safety of students and myself. The female followed suit as well, claiming later in a libelous email she passed around unbeknownst to me—that is, until one of the students forwarded the diatribe to me later—that she was not going to sit there and listen to me slander her religion, even though all I did was quote from Islamic sources.

It was the libelous email that really started the wheels in motion leading up to my resignation. The female Muslim student not only stealthily sent around the email to all the rest of the students in the class to (1) defame me behind my back, but also to (2) try and gather support for her reckless behavior.

Continue reading.

No doubt Walter James "Occupy" Casper III would be down with that "female Muslim student." The dude called for an investigation of Pamela Geller and berates conservative counter-jihad bloggers as racist. For pro-terror progressives like Racist Repsac3, the professor had it coming and he obviously deserved to be out on his ass, pounding the pavement for a job. See: "W. James Casper's Demonic Band of Progressive Totalitarians."

Gunman Fires on Motorists at Hollywood Intersection: Eyewitness Tries to Talk to Shooter

The gunman was shot and killed by police.

At Los Angeles Times, "Gunman fires on motorists, others at Hollywood intersection." And KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Eyewitness tapes interaction with Hollywood gunman."

And the dude was a jihadi? See Astute Blogger, "Hollywood Shooter Repeatedly Shouted 'Allahu Akbar' During Rampage?" And at Pamela's, "HOLLYWOOD JIHAD: SHOOTOUT, GUNMAN CALMLY TARGETED DRIVERS AND PEOPLE WHILE SHOUTING ALLAHU AKBAR!"

Fifth Circuit Upholds Convictions of Hamas Front Group Holy Land Foundation

At the Investigative Project on Terrorism, "Fifth Circuit Appeals Court Upholds HLF Convictions." And at Commentary, "Court Decision Reaffirms Convictions of Muslim Brotherhood’s U.S. Branch":

The Dallas Morning News reports the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has upheld the 2009 convictions of five persons who helped the Holy Land Foundation raise money in this country for the Hamas terrorist group. Andrew McCarthy gives a good summary of the decision at National Review. But, as he demonstrates, the significance of this case goes beyond the question of how Islamists sought to use American Muslims as a cash cow for Hamas. The details of the case, reiterated by the unanimous opinion of the three-member panel of federal judges, provide a history not just of American jihadists but their connections with the Muslim Brotherhood; yes, the same group that just won the Egyptian parliamentary elections.

Continue reading.

In Fog of War, Rift Widens Between U.S. and Pakistan

At New York Times":

WASHINGTON — The NATO air attack that killed at least two dozen Pakistani soldiers over the weekend reflected a fundamental truth about American-Pakistani relations when it comes to securing the unruly border with Afghanistan: the tactics of war can easily undercut the broader strategy that leaders of both countries say they share.

The murky details complicated matters even more, with Pakistani officials saying the attack on two Pakistani border posts was unprovoked and Afghan officials asserting that Afghan and American commandos called in airstrikes after coming under fire from Pakistani territory. NATO has promised an investigation.

The reaction inside Pakistan nonetheless followed a now-familiar pattern of anger and tit-for-tat retaliation. So did the American response of regret laced with frustration and suspicion. Each side’s actions reflected a deepening distrust that gets harder to repair with each clash.

The question now, as one senior American official put it on Sunday, is “what kind of resilience is left” in a relationship that has sunk to new lows time after time this year — with the arrest in January of a C.I.A. officer, Raymond Davis, the killing of Osama bin Laden in May and the deaths of so many Pakistani soldiers.

Norway School Segregates Students by Race and Ethnicity, Sparking Outrage Over 'Apartheid'

Oops!

A little problem with that multicultural diversity thing, eh?

At London's Daily Mail, "Apartheid row at Oslo school as teachers segregate ethnic students so white children don't feel 'in a minority'." And Telegraph UK, "Apartheid row at Norwegian school after it segregates ethnic pupils":

Bjerke Upper Secondary School in Oslo filled one of the three general studies sets solely with pupils with immigrant parents, after many white Norwegians from last year's intake changed schools.

The controversy over the decision has highlighted the unease in Norway over how to integrate the 420,000 "non-Nordic" citizens who immigrated between 1990 and 2009, and who make up 28 per cent of Oslo's population.

"This is the first time I've heard about this, and it is totally unacceptable," Torge Ødegaard, Oslo education commissioner, said on Friday, before pressuring the school to inform parents that the three classes would now be reorganised. The letter to parents read: "Such a division of the students is not in accordance with the requirements of the Education Act. The school regrets this error."

But Robert Wright, a Christian Democrat politician and former head of the city's schools board, struck back, arguing that the authorities had been wrong to block the move. He also said that other Oslo schools should start to segregate classes to prevent a situation of "white flight" developing.

"I think we have to try this to see how it's functioning," he told The Daily Telegraph. "Bjerke School has come up with a radical solution to a real problem, but the politicians have just said 'no'."

Islamists Claim Victory in Morocco

And what's all this about a "moderate" Islamist party?

Morocco's Party for Justice and Development is a Muslim Brotherhood front-group.

But you wouldn't know it at New York Times, "Moderate Islamist Party Winning Morocco Election":

RABAT, Morocco — A moderate Islamist party appeared Saturday to have won the first election under Morocco’s new Constitution, according to partial election returns announced by the government.

The Justice and Development Party won a plurality of the vote, requiring the king to choose a prime minister from the party and giving it the right to lead a coalition government.

The new Constitution, drafted by King Mohammed VI in response to pro-democracy protests last spring, still reserves important powers for the king, including over military and religious matters, and remains a far cry from the constitutional monarchy demanded by the protesters. But the government will be Morocco’s first popularly elected one, with the power to appoint ministers and dissolve Parliament.

The vote on Friday also made Morocco the second North African country after the Arab Spring to choose a moderate Islamist government. Tunisians gave a plurality to a similarly inclined party last month.

Right. What a scam.

See Pamela, "'MODERATE' MOROCCO GOES ISLAMIC: ELECTION WIN FOR SHARIA PARTY."

Islamists Expected to Win Big in Monday's Egypt Elections

At Los Angeles Times, "Political Islam at a crossroads in Egypt":

The call to prayer quiets in the minaret as Mohammad Abbas, a street protester turned candidate for parliament, steps out of a decrepit elevator and hurries to his office. He's still learning the art of politics but he can spin a sound bite better than most of his elders. Ask away:

Facebook activists?

"They sit in air-conditioned rooms but don't touch real Egyptians."

Young Islamists?

"Not yet strong enough to influence change."

The Muslim Brotherhood?

His eyes narrow, the banter hushes.

Abbas joined the Brotherhood, the Arab world's largest Islamic movement, when he was in college. But the group that brought the 27-year-old closer to God and honed his social conscience booted Abbas out in July when he made clear that his ambitions for a new Egypt were much different from those of his mentors.

The Brotherhood's moderate Freedom and Justice Party and its more conservative Islamic allies are likely to win big in parliamentary elections Monday; no other organizations are as disciplined or as connected to the masses. But the Brotherhood's unity, which buttressed it for decades against bans and repression by Hosni Mubarak's police state, is splintering as both young and established voices break away.

With about 6,000 candidates running for 498 seats, the elections are a crucial test for the Arab world's most populous nation. The outcome, along with a presidential election scheduled for next year, will reveal whether Egypt emerges as a democratic inspiration in a region clamoring for change or slips back into a military-dominated autocracy where only the faces and illicit bank accounts have changed.

Continue reading.

Added: At Legal Insurrection, "Egyptian Imam The NY Times called “moderate” holds “kill all the Jews” mass rally."

Is Stephen Walt Responsible for Inspiring Terror Suspect Jose Pimentel?

He's not, but he should be held to the same standards by which he attacks his ideological enemies.

See Omri Ceren, at Commentary:

ABC News disclosed last night that arrested New York City terror suspect Jose Pimentel “spent much of his time on the Internet… and maintained a radical website called TrueIslam1.” TrueIslam1 has a number of sections, most of them handed over to Islam and jihad. There are two only sections that deal straightforwardly with politics: one labeled “Politics” and one labeled “The U.S.A.”

Both sections have different articles and both of course still contain plenty of Islamic theology – ergo the concept of political Islam – but they have one thing in common. They both have links to free downloads of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer’s book The Israel Lobby. Other than those links there doesn’t appear to be any overlapping content between the two sections. Apparently, Pimentel thought Walt and Mearsheimer’s feverish opus was something that needed to be read and distributed...

Continue reading.

And here's this at Atlas Shrugs:

Walt’s paranoid worldview and its concomitant conspiratorial images are the stuff of ancient anti-Jewish bigotry. They seem to resonate deeply with online and offline jihadists, who give them priority of place next to tracts calling for genocidal warfare. And unlike Geller and Spencer, Walt has an entire media industry helping him make anti-Semitism respectable. On that last point, see Lee Smith’s Tablet Magazine expose from last year.

Egyptian Generals Apologize for Bloodshed but Reject Calls to Leave Power

At New York Times, "Egypt Military and Protesters Dig In for a Long Standoff."

Also, at Business Week, "Egyptian Army Says Holding Power Is a 'Curse' It Can't Escape."

Progressive Heads Explode Over Islamic Butterball Turkeys!

I saw this on Twitter earlier, from the Israel-hating pro-terror progressive blog Mondoweiss, "Pamela Geller’s Islamophobia hits new low with Thanksgiving Day smear of dietary laws."

Right. "Islamophobia." It's not Islamophobia when they're really trying to kill you. Come to think of it, it's not like authorities are overreacting, or anything.

And Pamela has a huge roundup on the exploding progressive hatred, "CLEAN UP, MEAT AISLE: TALKING HEADS EXPLODING OVER HALAL BUTTERBALLS."

Hamas Gains Momentum in Palestinian Rivalry

Wonderful news!

At New York Times, "New Winds in Mideast Favor Hamas":

GAZA — For years, the imposing black gate that sealed the border between Egypt and Gaza symbolized the pain and isolation that decades of conflict have wrought on this tiny coastal strip, especially under Hamas in recent years.

But recently, the gate has come to represent a new turn for the increasingly confident Hamas leadership. The twin arches of the border crossing have swung open twice in recent weeks for V.I.P. arrivals, first to receive hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails as one captive Israeli soldier moved in the other direction, and a second time for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood to visit Gaza for the first time in decades.

Both instances lifted the fortunes of the Islamists at a critical time ahead of negotiations scheduled to be held in Cairo this week with their main rival, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, who leads the Fatah party.

Hamas’s leader, Khalid Meshal, arrives at those talks with a sense of regional winds at his back. Dictators have fallen, replaced by protest movements and governments that include the Islamist movements those dictators suppressed. Hamas has lost no opportunity to highlight this development as it basks in the growing regional importance of its parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, the oldest and most powerful Islamist movement in the world.

“This is a hot Arab winter that has not until now ripened into spring,” a Hamas official, Dr. Mahmoud Zahar, proclaimed in Gaza last month as he claimed the Arab revolutions for Islamic revivalism. The campaigns to oust corrupted leaders have reached a “critical stage,” he said, before concluding, “With God’s help, next year we will see the flowering of Islam.”

That should read, "With God's help, next year we'll see the flowering of terrorism."

But continue reading.

Occupy America: Leftists and Islamists United

At Answering Muslims.

Asshats:

Progressive Islamofascism and Campus Indoctrination

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Michael Coren & David Horowitz on the Left & Islamofascism":

RELATED: From Stephen Schwartz, at the Weekly Standard, "What Is 'Islamofascism'?"