Do-over: Wilders to show Fitna in House of Lords

From De Telegraaf (NL):

PVV-leader Geert Wilders has received an invitation to come to the British House of Lords on March 5 and show his anti-Koran film Fitna.

The invitation was sent by British peers lord Pearson and baroness Cox, so said Wilders on Friday. Apart from showing his film, the PVV-leader would be given the opportunity for a speech and to answer questions from other members of the House of Lords.

Wilders on Twitter: Fantastic news. Struggle against islamisation continues!

And the UK's NuLabour government? Will they give us a repeat of the carnival we had last year?

[UPDATE001] Proper EN reporting is at DutchNews.nl.

A pamphlet by activists

Last Monday I wrote: 'At this rate the IPCC's AR4 report will be completely and utterly  discredited/destroyed by the end of the week.'. It is Friday now. Let's take stock.

EURef have a post up about the life and times of the '2035'-prediction that is central in the Glaciergate affair: The glacier show – a comedy in many parts. Touted by warmists as a mere typo used all too gleefully by skeptics with nothing better to support their case, the EURef post gives evidence that it was, and always has been, a malicious piece of alarmism paraded around by Dr Sayed Hasnain, evidently for attention-whoring purposes. The lie (for that is what it is) is even more astoundingly bold-faced as even when the 2035-claim was first making headway, there already had been a considerable research project (in 2001), who's members had concluded that the Himalya glaciers were not in peril at all. Yet the IPCC preferred to incorporate an unsubstantiated (and as it turns out: unfounded) claim over the conclusions of a genuine scientific study, apparently because the former suited the members if the IPPC better then the latter.

Then there is 'Referencegate'. This one is fall out from Amazongate: The claim that global warming would cause 40% of the rainforest to disappear. As it turns out, this claim was based on a reference to a World Wildlife Fund report that itself is based (so loosely as to be fraudulent) on a study into "Large-scale Impoverishment of Amazonian Forests by Logging and Fire" – i.e., not about climate change.

Be that as it may: The larger question is the appearance of that WWF reference in the IPCC AR4 report. The document referred to is produced by an advocacy group working with the WWF. What's more, it is a non peer-reviewed paper. Inclusion of this reference is flaunting the IPCC's own rules for producing texts (and BTW: Doesn't this make the psalm-singing by warmists about the sanctity of 'peer-review' sound just a tad hollow?).

Once an avalanche starts to move it becomes unstoppable. WUWT points us to a pair of posts by a blog that is investigating the literature that is referenced in the AR4. As it turns out both the WWF and Greenpeace (both of them activist advocacy groups not in the business of producing 'peer-reviewed' scientific reports) are referenced heavily in AR4. This pair of NGO's both of them have absolutely no scientific authority, and both of them absolutely have a vested interest in maintaining the global warming myth.

If the IPCC AR4 is such a paragon of robust scientific effort, it should not have to rely so heavily on non-scientific NGO's producing non-peer-reviewed work. Or, to turn the argument around: Because IPCC AR4 relies so heavily on such questionable sources as the WWF and Greenpeace, who have an interest in perpetuating the 'green' agenda, it can not be viewed as an scientific report. Rather, is is a very thick pamphlet, written by activists and advocacy groups.

And thus the IPCC AR4 report has become worthless. It is now Friday. With the revelations of the last few days, I think it is safe to say that the destruction of the IPCC's AR4 credibility is complete.

Gretta, Jews and the Royal Family

The most notorious pro-palestinian anti-semite in the Netherlands is Gretta Duisenberg, widow of the late Wim Duisenberg, who once was head of De Nederlandsche Bank (similar in duty to the Fed or the Bank of England) and the first director of the European Central Bank.

To get a feel for her character the wiki entry linked to above is a good introduction. She was also seen marching next to Harry van Bommel shouting 'Intifadah, Intifadah, Palestine free' in that infamous pro-palestinian rally, where also the cry 'Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas' was prominently heard.

Together with Socialist Party MP Harry van Bommel she was sued for incitement to hate, discrimination and violence by Bram Moszkowicz, internationally famous for being Wilders' council in the court case against the latter.

Today the Public Prosecutor announced it is not going to prosecute (NL) either Gretta or Hamas Harry, on the rationale that their conduct during that rally was not punishable. Additionally, the Prosecutor did not feel either of them could be held responsible for the shoutings of others.

However, Mrs. Duisenbergs problems are not over yet. Recently she gave an interview to Islam Online. In that interview she goes off on her virulently anti-Jewish bent, proclaiming that the Jewish lobby in Holland, like in the United States, is very strong and powerful, and accusing this 'Jewish lobby' of still playing on our guilt feelings, although it is 63 years since the Holocaust.

Unfortunately, whereas Wilders is dragged before the court for mild (in comparison) criticism of islam, the utterings of Mrs. Duisenberg are not deemed worthy of the courts time and resources. But then she had to go and drag the Royal House of Orange into it.

Asked by Islam Online: 'I knew that you are a friend with Her Majesty the Queen of Netherland, so do you talk about Palestine with the Queen?', she answered:

I never talk about that. Her Majesty does not want to talk about politics.

Nevertheless, once, princess Maxima was there at a reception, and I passed next to her and she called me and said: "I want to say that I really admire you". However, the Queen is not allowed to talk about politics, and she does not give her opinion.

Princess Máxima is of course wife of crown-prince Willem Alexander of Orange and hence future queen of the Netherlands. Not only that, Gretta seems to imply that the Queen agrees with the (alledged) statement by Princess Máxima even as 'the Queen is not allowed to talk about politics'. These are some pretty big words coming from Gretta. Words that are either true or a fabrication.

The trouble is: It is exceedingly hard for the Royal Family to defend against such accusations. If the statements are patently false, reacting publicly would create an issue where none exists (yet). As such the Royal Family have limited options to deal with this.

The alternative doesn't bear contemplating, really. We have criticized the royals before on this blog. But I personally still hold them in esteem (if only they would rise to the occasion in these troubled times!). So, until there is evidence proving otherwise I am of the opinion that Mrs. Duisenberg was a bit liberal with the truth. Probably to grandstand before a foreign audience, thinking it would not never come home to roost.

But it did. Such is the awesome power of the Internet. Thus inadvertently a scandal is born. The scandal lies with the either Mrs. Duisenberg smearing the Royal Family or with the Royal Family itself. And it would be a good thing if the Royal Family provided clarity on this matter. Either way, after this the days of Gretta flaunting her Royal connections will undoubtedly be over.

Climate Scam 101

Recently an hour long special by broadcaster KUSI aired in the US, laying out the skeptics case and the grave implications of the many 'gates' we've seem recently. Almost as an aside, it is accusing the NASA Goddard Science and Space Institute of the same sort of manipulation as we've seen in the CRU emails revealed in Climategate.

The show his hosted by John Coleman, a grizzled old veteran skeptic, who doesn't pull any punches. A taster is given below. The whole thing is up at Vlad Tepes' Vimeo account. I promise you 57 minutes of your life well spent.

The Wilders trial: Video

Below a couple of videos of the demonstration held in support of Geert Wilders outside the court where the initial hearings of the trial were held. The videos are subtitled.

Video 1 (thanks to James Cohen):

Video 2 (thanks to Vlad Tepes):

Good, but not good enough

Diederik Samsom (p), erstwhile spokesperson for Greenpeace and MP for the PvdA (Labour), has said Rajendra Pachauri should go (NL):

The PvdA is afraid that the trust in climate research is vanishing now that the UN-panel is seen in controversy after controversy. That is why the head of the IPCC-boss Rajendra Pachauro should roll, according to PvdA member of Second Chamber Diederik Samsom. (...)

Samsom seemed unimpressed at first over the growing criticism with regard to the climate panel. Climategate, in which the IPCC was revealed to have manipulated research results, meant nothing. The glacier blunder (the statement that the ice masses would have gone in 2035) turned out to be based on nothing: that was just a small error in an otherwise large and reliable research project, according to Samsom.

Now that it appears that Pachauri has earned millions of euros from the climate hype, through subsidies for his own company and researchers have admitted that they have been lead by politics, not facts, it is time for damage control for Samsom.

That is why Pachauri must quit his job. His leaving would ensure a return of the reliability of a 'value-free' climate-panel, according to the PvdA member of parliament. He wants Pachauri to do the honourable thing and so make way for the recovery of trust in the climate panel.

The Elsevier item linked to above uses 'bedrijfje', the diminutive for 'company' when describing Pachauris employer, which is a bit puzzling. TERI is by no means a 'small company' as followers of the Pachauri saga (most notably on EURef) will know.

In and of itself this is significant. Samsom is the first politician to speak out on the position of Pachauri in the Netherlands (and as far as I am ware in continental Europe). Moreover, Samsom is the most warmist warmist among the The Hague clique of legislators. He is the spokesperson for environmental matters for the PvdA which in turn is very dedicated to warmist ideals (our minister for the environment, Jacqueline Cramer, is of the same party). But the PvdA is also a coalition partner in the current government, which does give the statements by Samsom some additional weight.

Samsoms about-face with regard to the IPCC and Pachauri are unfortunately not evidence of new-found light and realism on Samsoms part. Rather, it may described as an exercise in damage limitation: Once Pachauri is gone the IPCC will magically transform from the intensely politicised and corrupt institution that it is to a beacon of scientific virtue and independence, grant moneys be damned. As the Americans are wont to say: Fat chance!

Samsom is trying to frame the narrative, playing up the Pachauri angle, scape-goating the man in the process. Once that bad, bad man is gone (and he IS a bad, very bad man) all will be well again. But this bit of trickery completely ignores the evidence of large-scale malfeasance revealing itself from the climategate emails.

And what about Amazongate and Glaciergate? There were many more besides Pachauri involved in the realisation of the chapters in the IPCC report involved in these scandals. If Pachauri goes, and all the others remain in place: What have we won?

Of course Rajendra Pachauri should go. But that should not, must not be the end of it. One has to agree with Dr. North that :

the IPCC itself – like its chairman – is fundamentally corrupt and completely beyond redemption. What is startling is the belief that any body spawned by the UN – of "food for oil fame" - could be anything other than corrupt.

However, so closely identified with the IPCC is Pachauri that his enforced departure would not only confirm his lack of credibility but fatally damage the IPCC itself. In a sense, the "environmentalists" are engaging in damage limitation. But the damage is already too severe. The whole edifice must go.

Samsom calling for Pachauris head on a platter is all well and good. But it is not enough. Not nearly.

Global Warming: A 'gate' too far

The credibility of anything having to do with global warming or climate change is starting to avalanche down at an increasing rate. This is due to a quick succession of three scandals, which leaves the IPCC and its head, noted climatologist railway engineer Rajenddra K. Pachauri devoid of any believability.

First, there was Climategate, which broke in the end of November last year (see the highly enjoyable timelines of how the story broke here and here).

It concerned the leaking of a zip-file containing email correspondence, program code and data pertaining to the climate research done by the Climate Research Unit (CRU) of the East Anglia University (EAU). The correspondence told a story of unethical and decidedly unscientific actions by various climate scientists to corrupt the process of 'peer review' used to vet scientific papers for publication. The computer code is evidence of some highly unscientific, arbitrary and possibly fraudulent manipulation of input data, working towards an outcome that the scientists in question wanted. Then there was a log by a person working to integrate the various data sets into one single data base. The comments he left in his log indicates that the data is so hopelessly corrupted that there really is no telling what goes into the models.

Over the last week we saw the emergence of Glaciergate. Last week it emerged that the rather spectacular claim that the Himalayan glaciers were likely to completely disappear by 2035 was based on nothing of any value.

In the past few days the scientists behind the warning have admitted that it was based on a news story in the New Scientist, a popular science journal, published eight years before the IPCC's 2007 report.

It has also emerged that the New Scientist report was itself based on a short telephone interview with Syed Hasnain, a little-known Indian scientist then based at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

Hasnain has since admitted that the claim was "speculation" and was not supported by any formal research.

Moreover, the scientist responsible for this gross dereliction of scientific duty has admitted he knew the claim was bogus, but had included it anyway to put political pressure on world leaders.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Dr Lal, the co-ordinating lead author of the report’s chapter on Asia, said: ‘It related to several countries in this region and their water sources. We thought that if we can highlight it, it will impact policy-makers and politicians and encourage them to take some concrete action.

‘It had importance for the region, so we thought we should put it in.’

This is embarrassing enough and a further (considerable) dent in the IPCC's credibility. But the real scandal is the way this fraudulent claims was subsequently used by Dr. Hasnain, our dear railway engineer and TERI (for which they both work) to exact a considerable amount of grant money from the EUnion.

Rajendra Pachauri's Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), based in New Delhi, was awarded up to £310,000 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the lion's share of a £2.5m EU grant funded by European taxpayers.

It means that EU taxpayers are funding research into a scientific claim about glaciers that any ice researcher should immediately recognise as bogus.

Which begs the question: Why is EUnion money (the money we all pay in taxes!) given away to an Indian institute, employing Indian nationals, to do research in India?

Festering beneath the radar of most MSM outlets is yet another scandal: Pachaurigate, or Pachygate for short, relating to who is and who isn't paying Mr. Pachauri for his 'services'. The multiple conflicts of interest of Mr. Pachauri were covered on this blog here (and do follow the links). Dr. North of EURef is stubbornly slogging away, revealing ever more embarrassing and quite possibly career-ending details about the man.

But that particular story saw an unexpected twist in the revelation that our railway engineer also has some considerable commercial interests in the Houston oil technology firm GloriOil and the proposed India Climate Exchange (ICX).

With GloriOil, the irony is that the head of an outfit devoted to climate change is promoting the enhanced recovery of a fossil fuel the use of which has, according to IPCC, led to global warming. Equally remarkable, he adds, is the fact that the chair of IPCC, which is advocating emissions trading along with other mitigation strategies, is himself involved in a commercial trading exchange involving carbon credits.

As the numerous, principally conflicting interests our railway engineer uses to finance his lavish lifestyle ($1,000 dollar suits and all) cast a deep shadow of doubt on the man, his behaviour in the Glaciergate affair has been beneath contempt.

Remember, this is the man who was perfectly happy to accept the Nobel peace prize on behalf of the entire IPCC group of scientists who produced the IPCC reports. But now that Glaciergate is upon him, he suddenly claims he has "absolutely no responsibility" for the errors in a report whos production he presided over:

“It’s the work of independent authors... they’re responsible.”

And when the truth finally became undeniable, he relegated the humiliating task of admitting the mistake to his second-in-command, the IPCC's vice chairman Dr Jean-Pascal van Ypersele. No honour, indeed.

Even though, in the West at least, the Pachauri scandal has not received the attention it deserves, this happy state of affairs (for dear Rajendra, anyway) is not likely to last very long.Quite possibly Glaciergate, with Pachygate as a strong supporting undercurrent, will become the mans undoing over the next few days or weeks.

And with him, the entire IPCC circus will come apart. It is already happening, with WUWT summarizing reports that the UN has abandoned its deadline for countries to sign up to the Copenhagen treaty and declare their global warming strategies. As it stands only 20 out of 192 countries have so far done so. And now te UN is back-pedalling away from a humiliating defeat:

Yvo de Boer, UN climate change chief, today changed the original date set at last month’s fractious Copenhagen climate summit, saying that it was now a “soft” deadline, which countries could sign up to when they chose. “I do not expect everyone to meet the deadline. Countries are not being asked if they want to adhere… but to indicate if they want to be associated [with the Copenhagen accord].

Thus it seems that the quick succession of the three scandals relating to the IPCC and its president are proving to have been one or to scandals too many. One 'gate' too far, if you will. The first jacks and aces are falling in a process that is inevitably going to bring down the entire house of cards we've come to know as Anthropogenic Global Warming.

[UPDATE001] As if to hammer its own pointlessness home: The IPCC is now forced to admit that they wrongly linked global warming to an increase in natural disasters, solely based on the conclusions (since revised) of one paper, which had not been peer reviewed, nor published at the time the IPCC's report was written.

[UPDATE002] And on and on... The latest chapter in the IPCC's long slide into embarrassed oblivion: Amazongate. At this rate the IPCC's AR4 report will be completely and utterly discredited/destroyed by the end of the week. And with it the entire 'green' movement that latched on to it.

Sunday linkage

Some links to stories I deemed worthy of a little attention:

After an absence of some 18 months, the Dutch Daily seems to be back in action: Let's evaporate!

Now this is what I call a nice visualization! Behold, the evaporation of a complete nation within a single generation.

In the Netherlands muslimas who cite religious objections to washing the buttocks of male patients are actively discouraged from entering nurse.


Hugo Chavez Blames Haiti Destruction on US Earthquake Machine


One step closer to Armageddon: Dubai wants to host UN Headquarters.


2008 and 2009 Were The Coolest Years Since 1998 in the USA


In the UK a House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee has been started to investigate the the significance of the Climategate revelations. And even though the commission may be asking all the right questions, it does seem to be a bit slanted to one side.


And lastly, on the Wilders trial:
The crux of Wilders' indictment
Is Truth a defense?
The real question of the Wilders trial: Shall the Netherlands exist?

Geert Wilders' personal speech at pre-trial hearing (subtitled video)

Text of speech in NL and in EN. With a big 'Thank you!' to Vlad Tepes for providing the video.

Quote of the day

Today's quote of the day could hardly have come from anywhere else, could it?

If something is true, it cannot possibly be illegal, can it?

Geert Wilders, during the first day of the trial where he stands accused of incitement to hatred and discrimination.
(Complete speech in NL and in EN)

That is going to be the litmus test, isn't it? Have things gone so far in the Netherlands that telling the truth (about the contents of the Koran, or the contents of Muhammeds character, for that matter) will now become illegal?

Coverage of the trial is abundant, so I will refrain from repeating what others have probably said much better then I could possibly do. I'll just refer you to:

Jihad Watch:
Geert Wilders: "If a politician is not allowed to criticize an ideology anymore this means that we are lost, and it will lead to the end of our freedom"
"According to Wilders, the truth about Islam must be made known, even if it is painful and unpleasant for certain people"
Al-Jazeera proves Wilders' point
Wilders: "If expressions reflect the truth, how could they be criminal?"

Pamela:
Geert Wilders Goes on Trial Today
Geert Wilders Trial: Scenes From the Criminal prosecution of Free Speech

Gates of Vienna:
“You Are Living in an Islamic Country, My Friend”
Geert Akhbar!
The Opening Salvos
“It Is Becoming Frightening Now…”
Tabled Until February 3rd
A Partial List of Witnesses
The Trial of Geert Wilders

Snouck:
Geert Wilders on trial for criticizing Islam
What does Wilders want?

Diana West:
The Wilders Trial: Voices From Europe

Pajamas Media:
Geert Wilders: ‘Freedom Is Threatened in the Netherlands’

Public prosecutor may ask for acquittal Wilders

From the public broadcasting company NOS, this just in (NL):

The Public Prosecutors Office may possibly ask for acquittal in the court case against Geert Wilders, the PPO let the NOS know.

Wilders is accused of incitement to hatred, discrimination and insult of muslims. The Ministry of Justice is not convinced that statements by the PVV-leader are in breach of the law and hence open to punishment. The court case starts tomorrow.

The PPO never was in favour of litigation. The MoJ earlier called statements by Wilders offensive, but not illegal.

Opponents of Wilders did not agree and filed an appeal with the Court in Amsterdam. They determined that the statements were illegal after all, resulting in the PPO having to prosecute Wilders.

The MoJ will monitor the court case and will decide whether to ask for acquittal after proceeding have finished.

Will some measure of sanity prevail after all?

Not that it matters any more. The damage is done. Not to Wilders of freedom of speech, but to the authorities that decided to let this deeply tragic farce to go ahead. Elections are coming up: local first in March, parliamentary elections in May next year (If the current coalitions holds together, which is a big IF). All the signs indicate a big reckoning to come. And after that? ...

[UPDATE001] Wilders himself is supremely optimistic (NL):

Tomorrow morning trial starts. Am ready and convinced that it can only lead to acquittal. Freedom of expression will have to win.

Preparing for the day of tomorrow

Pat Condell released this vlog a year ago, after the decision to prosecute Wilders after all was taken. But since the court case will start in earnest tomorrow, reposting this stinging indictment of Holland's elites is as urgent as ever.

Elsewhere others are also the omportance of tomorrow:

Daniel Pipes: Why I Stand with Geert Wilders - He represents all Westerners who cherish their civilization.

Via Gates of Vienna: IFPS' The Trial of Geert Wilders: A Symposium. Bat Ye’or, Clare Lopez, Daniel Pipes, David Harris, David Yerushalmi, Diana West, and Mark Steyn weigh in on the Geert Wilders trial.

Climate change!

From WUWT: Summer snow in Australia.

Australia is following its second-hottest year on record with extraordinary snow flurries in its southeastern alpine region, where some towns have recorded their first-ever summer snowfalls.

Australia’s temperatures during the summer months of December through February can be uncomfortably hot even on its highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, which stands a modest 7,310 feet (2,228 metres) above sea level.

Snow fell to 3,000 feet (900 metres) above sea level Monday in parts of New South Wales and Victoria states, Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Jane Golding said.

“Any time of year, it’s unusual to have snow down that far,” she said.

Let us pray

The next big elections in the Netherlands are scheduled for March 3rd. Nation-wide local counsel elections will be held. And as such things go, elections brings out the very best in some people.

For instance, in the The Hague election a new party will compete: 'Stop Wilders Now'. A party with, given the name, an all too predictable election platform. Geert Wilders has often been derided as being the leader and founder of a 'single issue party', the single issue being the islamisation of Western Europe. But how does one define a party that is not even 'single issue'? 'Single person'? 'Single target'? It is curious to see that for the depravity that Wilders is being accused of, his opponents are perfectly willing to go one (or two. Or even three) deeper if that carries the promise of 'meaningful' opposition against the man.

Initially the The Hague central election bureau refused to enter SWN into the register. The bureau refused registration of the party's name, because it violates the private life of PVV-leader Geert Wilders. Additionally the provoking name can be construed as incitement, which would be detrimental to public order. Or so the The Hague election bureau reasoned.

But last Friday the Raad van State (Council of State) for some unfathomable reason decided otherwise (NL). In a verdict after a formal complaint by SWN, they ordered The Hague to enter SWN into the voting register, on the grounds that a political party is free in chosing a name for itself. The the name of the party in question "indicates opposition to the political thinking" of Geert Wilders and not against him personally.

Wilders is understandably indignant. "If I had tried to pull something like this, I would have had a hundred complaints filed against me, and ditto court cases". To put insult to injury, Wilders cannot appeal against the RvS verdict.

Around the Dutch blogosphere some intriguing theories are going around about who exactly is behind the SWN. Most cited is the party's leader, Frans Schulte. He is an ex-employee of Roman Catholic broadcast organisation KRO, featured on KV before with their attempt to make a Fitna-like film on the Bible. True Roman Catholics, you'll all agree.

Frans Schulte may be classified as a usual suspect, in that he used to be a member of the Party Political Radicals (PPR), a rag-tag assembly of far-left nonvaleurs and malcontents, ranging from cloud-nine pacifists to violent anarchists. The party itself later fused into what we now know as GroenLinks (GreenLeft) a rag-tag assembly of far-left... etcetera.

More intriguing is the suggestion (NL), made by a GroenLinks member of the The Hague city council. David Rietveld maintains that two parties making up the coalition that is our current government, have a hand in SWN: The Christian Democrats (CDA) and the Christian Union (CU).

He reminds us that Frans Schulte started a personal campaign during the last local elections (2006), after he was placed low on the list of The Hague city council candidates of ... the CDA. Then there is Roeland Bol who appears to be the person to register SWN with the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Bol was a member of the the CDA last local elections, but this time around he features as no. 18 on the list of The Hague candidates for the CU (As of this evening the CU website (NL) reports Mr. Bol as having withdrawn).

The evidence is not nearly enough to imply direct involvement of both CDA and CU. But it does give pause that members of these two mainstream political parties, let alone coalition members, think nothing of founding this loathsome initiative. What is curious, though, is that both implicated parties are 'confessional'. In stead of this initiative coming from 'the Church of the Left', it comes from the Church, period.

Of course this is nothing new. Prominent CDA member Doekle Terpstra started a movement called “Stop Wilders” (but failed ignominiously), telling all and sundry that “Geert Wilders is evil and evil has to be stopped”. The Protestant church in the Netherlands holds that voters for the PVV are akin to the National Socialist Movement (NSB), to be banished from the pews. Elsewhere, Christians sympathizing with Wilders are equated to sinners beyond education. Only last Friday CU-leader Andre Rouvoet accused Wilders (NL) of 'abusing' the Judeo-christian culture, saying that the Bible teaches 'love thy neighbour and the protection of minorities'.

It is this type of intellectually lazy, politically correct platitudes that will be the death of Christianity in the Netherlands. It is a crypto-marxist line of thought which holds that any 'minority' is oppressed by the majority and needs extra protection from the state and its citizens. And all that irrespective of the attributes of the minority in question.

Not only that: it is highly selective. One can think of any number of groups or 'identities' which constitute a minority in Dutch society. Just recently government and authorities purposefully failed to protect Moluccans from terrorizing (to the point of attempted manslaughter) by Moroccans. Child-molesters are all very well defined minorities in the Netherlands. Surely Rouvoet doesn't mean to imply the Bible teaches us to protect them from punishment?

One just cannot be a true Christian, living up to the word of God, and at the same time condemn those that oppose giving our lands over to members of a flock, whose creed is the antithesis of Christian principle.

The absolute central, core belief in Christianity is that Jesus was the incarnation (Son) of God, who died on the cross to expiate the sins of this world, to open access to Heaven for all of us, whatever our short-comings. One doesn't even have to a religious person to see the glaring contrast between Christianity's defining belief and the teachings of Islam, that hold that Jesus was not God, and that he didn't die on the cross, but was quickly switched for some hapless soul when nobody was looking.

All that could be overlooked, were it not for the ever more assertive way in which Islam occupies the public sphere, in no small part helped by those who maintain that 'minorities must be protected', no matter what. And when does this protection end? When Islam finally becomes the majority? By then it will be all too late, and Rouvoet will find he has contributed to the end of the Netherlands and the persecution of the Christian flock within its borders.

It really boggles the mind why somebody like Mr. Rouvoet would go out of his way to protect those that injure our society and ourselves on an almost daily basis, and claim the Bible tells us that we must protect this evil. Let us (those of us who are so inclined, anyway) pray for Mr. Rouvoet and those like him, that God will set them straight before it is too late.

Related:
The Wilders trial: Torquemada would be proud

The core of civilization

EURef and Booker compare the disaster relief efforts of the US and the EUnion.

The US:

Within hours of Port-au-Prince crumbling into ruins, the US had sent in an aircraft carrier with 19 helicopters, hospital and assault ships, the 82nd Airborne Division with 3,500 troops and hundreds of medical personnel. They put the country's small airport back on an operational footing, and President Obama pledged an initial $100 million dollars in emergency aid.

The EUnion:

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the European Union geared itself up with a Brussels press conference led by Commission Vice-President Baroness Ashton, now the EU's High Representative – our new foreign minister. A scattering of bored-looking journalists in the Commission's lavishly appointed press room heard the former head of Hertfordshire Health Authority stumbling through a prepared statement, in which she said that she had conveyed her "condolences" to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, and pledged three million euros in aid.

The comparison speaks for itself, but I'd like to make a point of the misguided condolences our EUnion foreign minister offered. Why Ban Ki-Moon? Last time I looked he was neither Haitian nor part of the Haitian government. Their seems to be something desperately inept about Brussels offering somebody, anybody condolences to convey their 'heartfelt' sympathy. Or is this EUnion toadying up to the UN? Whatever it is, it leaves a distinctly unpleasant taste in ones mouth.

Much to the lament of both Booker and North it seems that nothing has been learned from the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004.

Then – as we were to observe many times – the world was split into two main categories: those who did something about it, and those who talked about doing something about it.

In the former category fell the United States which took the lead in forming an alliance with Australia, India and Japan, and within hours had despatched two battle groups fully equipped to deal with such an emergency, including 20 ships led by two carriers with 90 helicopters.

The EU, in the meantime, took nine days to launch a "donors' conference", the start of grotesque bidding process which had different nations vying with each other to be seen as the most generous.

And the UN isn't doing much better, with Ban Ki-Moon mumbling something about a 'technology gap' that is supposed to be the cause of the devastation on Haiti, while completely glossing over years and years of horrendous misrule, which does not allow for the kind of political and economic climate in which people can help themselves, and put technology to good use. Misrule, by the way, that was propped up by that same UN pouring in billions worth in the name of more “development aid” (all the while keeping a nice percentage of 'overhead' for itself, of course).

All this leads to one big conclusion: Tranzie organisations like the UN and the EUnion are all talk. In the case of Haiti, as dr. North writes, the tranzie nexus of the EU-UN has failed once again. And once again it has been left to nation states such as the US to pick up the pieces. One day the world will re-learn the lesson that trans-national agencies are an evolutionary dead-end and that the core or civilisation is and will remain the nation state.

Delegitimizing the state itself

Mark Steyn in classic form on the Wilders court case:

[T]his court is explicitly attempting to criminalize the political opinions of a large swath of the Dutch electorate. That doesn't seem a smart move. Whatever it does to Wilders, it risks delegitimizing the state itself. Even by European standards, the Low Countries have too narrow a political discourse, and whenever somebody comes along to broaden the discussion, they either get killed (Pim Fortuyn), banned (Belgium's Vlaams Blok), or prosecuted (Geert Wilders) — all for asking the same question as this piece in Germany's impeccably non-far-right Spiegel:

How Much Allah Can The Old Continent Bear?

The way things are going in the Netherlands that headline will be illegal in a year or two. Pathetic.

Related:
The Wilders trial: Torquemada would be proud

How Islam breathed new life into slavery and the slave trade in Europe

On Jihad Watch: How Islam breathed new life into slavery and the slave trade in Europe

by John J. O'Neill

In my newly-published book, Holy Warriors: Islam and the Demise of Classical Civilization, I argue at length that a great majority of the things commonly regarded as "Medieval" were in fact introduced to Europe from Islam, and that it was Islam, and not the Huns, Vandals and Goths, which terminated Classical Civilization, the rational and humane civilization of Greece and Rome. This civilization survived in Europe and in North Africa and the Near East until the seventh century, at which point it was terminated by the Muslim conquests.

Read the rest.

The main event is on

The court case against Wilders is scheduled for January 20th. However, the suit actually began in earnest today. Today Wilders was in court in an attempt to get part of the indictment thrown out:

Wilders' lawyer Bram Moszkowicz told reporters outside the court that Wilders hopes the court will decide that he should not be prosecuted for 'collective insult' - or targeting a particular group of people on the basis of their race or nationality.

Wilders has always stated that he is targeting Islam, not Muslims themselves.

Wednesday's appeal follows a decision by the public prosecution service to also charge the PVV party leader with inciting hatred against Muslims, Moroccans and non-Western immigrants, the Volkskrant reports. Wilders already faced general charges of inciting hatred and discrimination.

Complicated

Moszkowicz referred to a case last March in which the high court ruled a poster with the words 'stop the tumour that is Islam' cannot be construed as insulting an entire group of people on the grounds of their religion.

But lawyers told the Volkskrant, Wilders' appeal is unlikely to succeed because the case against him is more complicated.

The extra charge is based on Wilders' statement that 'the borders will close that same day to all non-western immigrants', the paper said. The statement appears to refer to Wilders' plans if he became prime minister.

'Wilders always says he is attacking Islam, not Muslims,' lawyer Haroon Raza told the paper. 'But Wilders is not only talking about Muslims but non-Western immigrants, or people with different coloured skin.'

Leaving the court, Wilders told reporters: 'Freedom of speech is under pressure. The legal system in North Korea is better then in the Netherlands.'

I don't know about North Korea, but this doesn't reflect too favourably on our present judicial system. In any case, everything stays as scheduled: January 20th is the date of the main event.

More on GoV.

[UPDATE001] Here's the news in EN: Wilders prosecution to go ahead

[UPDATE002] The IFPS has its own view: The Wilders trial: Torquemada would be proud.

“It is irrelevant whether Wilder’s witnesses might prove Wilders’ observations to be correct”, the ‘Openbaar Ministerie’ stated, “what’s relevant is that his observations are illegal”.

A real beneficial crisis

Yesterday was a momentous day, for the report on the inquiry into the Dutch 'political support' for the invasion of Iraq was presented. BNftN has the short-short version:

A commission of inquiry, presided over by former Supreme Court President Willibrord Davids, has submitted an extremely critical report on the Dutch political support for the American Iraq campaign before it started. The report says that, according to international law, there was no legal basis for this. The government said falsely that the Dutch intelligence services had an independent position on the matter and the government selected the information as it suited it. The report also said that Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende had shown little leadership in the matter.

The most damaging conclusions of the report are widely regarded to be that 1) parliament was not sufficiently informed and 2) United Nations resolutions on Saddam Hussein's weapons programme were not a sufficient mandate to justify the invasion of Iraq by the US and Britain. Hence, the commission of inquiry (the Davids 'commission') holds that the support for the invasion by the Dutch government was not legitimate.

Of course, what International Law does or does not mean is very much a matter of opinion. Which is exactly what our PM told the press, defending the decision made by one of his earlier cabinets.

The prime minister told a news conference late on Tuesday afternoon that parliament was fully informed about the Americans' request for help in preparing the invasion. The report said MPs had not been kept in touch with all developments.

And the prime minister reiterated the government's standpoint that it was up to Saddam Hussein to prove he did not have weapons of mass destruction, not the west to prove that he did. That was the legal basis for the invasion, Balkenende said.

Not in the report was the PMs remark that whether there was or was not a legal basis for the invasion is a matter of opinion, with the commission of inquiry of one opinion and the PM (and others) of another.

But this galvanized the political left in parliament into huffing indignation. Especially coalition partner PvdA (Dutch Labour) reacted as if stung, with the fraction leader demanding in high volume for Jan Peter Balkenende to make a new statement on the report. This on the principle that the PM should represent all coalition partners. Something which our intrepid PM conspicuously failed to do with his disagreement with some of the conclusion of the Davids commission.

So now the coalition government of the Netherlands are embroiled in a real crisis today. Today saw emergency meetings of the cabinets nucleus and (separately) of the head honchos's of the different fractions. An emergency session of parliament is scheduled for tonight. On Twitter (NL) rumours abound of the impending demise of yet another Balkenende cabinet (which would make it a pristine four out of four cabinets that did not reach term).

And just today Geert Wilders announced (NL) that his PVV will support a minority cabinet of CDA (christian democrats) and VVD (liberal conservatives). In the present conditions of the highly polarized Dutch political landscape this makes eminent sense. And I have to hand it to Wilders: This is the most statesman-like thing he's done to date.

With the high number of projected seats for the PVV, its support for a minority centre-right coalition would ensures this to be virtually the only possible outcome, should elections be held. And it would be the dream coalition to deal with a number of pressing, but still highly incorrect, issues: Immigration, economic recovery (without Keynesian debt spending) and climategate climate change.

Between Wilders' promise and the current crisis, things are looking quite hopeful all of a sudden...

[UPDATE001] For some more explanation of the crisis see Numan at GoV.

Setting up Eurabia

From Galliawatch a shocking report of what apparently is a EUROMED meeting of ministers:

Writer Malika Sorel's pro-France and pro-nationhood positions are unusually lucid and surprisingly candid. She stands far removed from many other Algerians in France who regularly manifest their hatred of their host country. Recently she wrote an assessment of a meeting of European ministers organized by the French Minister of Immigration and National Identity, Eric Besson. Read more about Malika Sorel a the end:

Yesterday morning I attended a ministerial seminar organized by Eric Besson on the theme "The migrations in the lands of the Mediterranean: constructing a space of shared prosperity". Insofar as many journalists covered the seminar, I feel safe in sharing with you a few high points.

The ministers of Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, and Egypt were among the guests.

One expert set the tone right away by declaring that since the European population was aging, three possibilities ensued. I quote them:

1. We delay the age of retirement. Not a very popular measure.

2. We put more women in the workplace. That would have a negative effect on the birth rate.

3. We organize international migrations.

And with these words, obviously intended to allow the ministers to begin their well-prepared speeches, the main theme of the morning was set: since the North was not producing children, and the South producing many (they actually said it), it was necessary to agree to organize migratory waves from the South to the North. Several ministers even declared that since immigration, in any case, was occurring illegally when it was not authorized, it would be preferable to legalize and organize it. They also said that 75% of the youth of Tunisia were considering leaving their country...

(...)

The Egyptian minister began his speech with "In the name of Allah the most merciful..." and formulated the hope that the Arabic language become more common in the future in the Mediterranean bassin.

Eric Besson concluded the meeting thus: "We must accelerate and increase the mass movements."

But of course EUROMED is just the fevered imagination of right-wing conspiracy nuts, right?

Sorel draws the a conclusion that every living soul in Europe should sear into their memory:

During this entire morning it was patently clear that European peoples were of no interest to the European ministers. It was as if Europe was an uninhabited land, or soon to become one, and there was a need to people it. The only moment when you felt that Europeans still existed in the minds of these ministers was when mention was made of the need to fight against the discrimination that these migrants would be victims of...

This morning showed me, as if it was still necessary to do so, the extent to which this European "elite" was sometimes more concerned about the interests of foreign populations that about those of their own people. It is indeed this elite that is responsible for the current situation, and not the immigrants. Henceforth, only the European populations themselves will be able to spare their countries chaos, and at the same time save their lives and those of their descendants, for it is clear that what is being planned for us by leaders who don't even realize it, is a proliferation of Balkan States throughout the European Union. We are indeed far away from the dreams of the founding fathers!

That is one to remember the next time you find yourself in a voting booth...

Clash of civilizations in a small Dutch town - Updated

In Culemborg, a small town near Utrecht, Moroccans and Molluccans (the latter being an ethnic group living in exile from the South Moluccas) are at each others throats. The unease has been festering for some time now. But things came to a head when during the New Year celebrations a car with three Moroccans drove into a group of Moluccans (NL) standing in the front yard watching the fireworks.

Their drive ended in a garden against the front of a private home, hitting two people standing in the yard. These victims were lightly injured.

The passengers of the car tried to escape, but were attacked by angry Moluccans. Two passengers were injured, one which had to be taken to hospital by ambulance. The three Moroccans were later apprehended for attempted manslaughter.

Yesterday (Sunday) night saw fresh violence, with a number of windows of Moluccan homes smashed by rocks. No arrests were made, but the situation is serious enough for the mayor of Culemborg to declare an emergency situation (NL), thus giving temporary extra powers to police to stop people who do not live in the area from entering.

However, this seems primarily aimed at Moluccans from the north of Holland reinforcing their kin in Culemborg. Culemborg Moluccans are complaining that the police does exactly nothing to quell the nuisance caused by Moroccan youth. If you look at the time line (NL) what strike you is the typically Dutch (i.e. softer then soft) approach towards the Moraccans, with streetcoaches and 'dialogue' featuring prominently.

What you won't see, however, is any attempt to forcefully shut down the main culprits of the unrest or to protect their victims. In that respect Moluccans are treated exactly the same as native Dutch. As opposed to other groups, they seem to be fully integrated. For what that's worth...

[UPDATE001; 4 - 1] This is what happens when authorities fail to respond to citizens worries: The Moluccan chapter of the Hells Angels, Satuh Darah, will patrol the streets of Culemborg (NL) tonight (Monday). In a comment on an article in De Telegraaf (NL) a comment was left reading:

Tonight two chapters of the Saruh Darah Motorclub (Moluccan branch of the Hells Angels) will drive around in Culemborg. Dear fellow Moluccans, don't be afraid. We are there for you.

Shades of Denmark, don't you know?

[UPDATE002; 4 - 1] The incident with the car on New Year turns out to be an attack directed at a thirteen year old girl (NL).

The 15 year old Shoëla Coenmans earlier that week witnessed a car on fire. She recognized one of the Moroccans that had set the car alight last Tuesday, called 1-1-2 [the Dutch 911 - KV] and filed a complaint. Two days later [New Years Eve - KV] five older Moroccans drove their car into the house. Father John Coenmans says: "This is not a coincidence. Wednesday in the supermarket she was intimidated, threatened and Thursday once more. Later they drove into her. They first drove into a group on the other side of the street. Fortunately they could jump out of the way. Then they drove into a fence. That didn't work. They backed up the car to make speed. the second time they did get through the fence".

Five Moroccan men in a black Punto against a 15 year old girl. Such heroes! The Algemeen Dagblad registers a similarity: A small, black car driving purposefully into citizens. Shades of Queensday 2009.

BTW, Esther is also blogging...

[UPDATE003; 4 - 1] Isn't that just typical? For months, years even, that scum from the Rif were allowed to run roughshod on the population of Culemborg, vandalizing and robbing their way through the days. But now that it seems the population, Moluccans in particular, are about to make a stand, the neighbourhood in question is closed off (NL) and visitors are turned away by riot police. Shades of Ondiep, remember?

[UPDATE004; 6 - 1 ] A revealing quote from Het Parool (NL) today:

Many Moluccan families have lost all faith in the authorities in general and in particular the mayor, who showed a lack of strength and leadership in (not) dealing with the conflict between Moluccan and Moroccan youth that has been brewing for months now.

Many Moluccans are particularly incensed that they were 'rushed' into their homes by the riot police. "Those that didn't listen received blows, while on the corner of the street the Moroccans looked on laughing. Disgusting", says inhabitant Anneke Ririmasse.

Yes, that is typically Dutch government in times of unrest as we've come to know it: Don't deal with aggressors, but try to take away any cause of possible aggression. In another era we'd call it appeasement. Today one would probably speak of frank, disgusting dhimmitude.

Slowly roasting Rajendra Pachauri

EURef has set its sights firmly on Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, the renowned climatologist railway engineer who heads up the UN's IPCC. The short version is that Dr. North has some evidence of 'conduct unbecoming' (up to the point of being utterly corrupt and quite possibly illegal) by Dr. Pachauri. For a reasonably short version I refer you to Chris Bookers column of last Boxing Day.

We already know about the close ties that seem to exist between Dr. Pachauri and the Tata Group. These ties are so close in fact, that it raises strong suspicions that Dr. Pachauri is NOT an objective, disinterested party in the debate on Climate Change.

This lead EURef to do some digging (what used to be called investigative journalism, back in the day when being a journalist had a social standing above that of a prostitute and being investigative was not relegated to lone bloggers) and turning up post after post that shed an increasingly unfavourable light on the man that is Dr. Pachauri.

The number of entries is simply too large to list (although Wolf Howling makes a fair stab). But one only needs to read a few of the entries featuring the railway engineer to get a feel for the monumental corruption that has taken hold of this man.

In particular Dr. North is building a dossier on TERI-Europe, the European branch of The Environmental Research Institute (formerly Tata Environmental Research Institute, founded by the Tata Group). In a series of posts Dr. North dissects the financial statements of this supposed charity and finds evidence of conduct in violation of the UK's legislation on charities:

TERI-Europe – the enigma (Part 1)
TERI-Europe – the enigma (Part 2)
TERI-Europe – the enigma (Part 3)
TERI-Europe – the enigma (Part 4)

The purpose of so insistently banging on about TERI Europe is explained in part 3:

Al Capone was never prosecuted for his major league crimes – to get him jail the Feds did him for tax evasion. Much the same thinking is behind the pursuit of Pachauri's outpost of empire, TERI-Europe.

Located in London, this is the one part of his empire which comes under UK jurisdiction, where the Charities and Companies Acts apply, in a situation where there is a very strong smell of malpractice – to put it mildly.

A more pointed assessment might veer towards the supposition that this is a "front" organisation, its primary purpose being to launder a substantial flow of funds to other recipients, with minimum scrutiny and accountability.

And so Dr. North is building a dossier on TERI Europe in the hopes of gathering sufficent evidence to lodge a formal and robust complaint with the UK Charity Commission. Investigation of the complaint would mean that Dr. Pachauri (and others within TERI, Europe or elsewhere) will have to specify their earnings and their sources of income. If this succeeds the scandal that will be revealed will be bigger then Climategate by not just a factor, but by several orders of magnitude.

In the mean time Dr. Pachauri is beginning to feel the heat. In a pathetic op-ed on the Guardians Comment is Free site, he blames 'powerful vested interests and those opposed to action on climate change (...) working overtime to see that they can stall action for as long as possible'.

This pretty much gives you the measure of the man: He just cannot conceive that there are individuals in this world who have a love for truth and are willing to express that love voluntarily, without pay. That concept is so alien to Dr. Pachauri (and his ilk in the UN and the EUnion) that the only one explanation is reasonable: 'powerful vested interests' working to bring Pachauri down.

Then there seems to be an effort underway to scrub from the internet information that is embarrassing to Dr. Pachauri, in that it shows what a corrupt and unprincipled weasel he really is. As Dr. North notes, such actions are typically those of guilty men, who have something to hide.

(to be continued...)

Still those cartoons

2010 is off to a flying start! A 27 year old Somali immigrant was shot when he tried to break in the house of, and kill, Kurt Westergaard. Westergaard is unhurt, but shaken. Even more so since his five year old grandchild was with him at the time.

GoV has the latest, including the translation from Politiken maintaining there were three men involved, in stead of the lone Somali.

Isn't it incredible? Four years after their publication, the Religion of Peace (tm) is still murderously miffed about the cartoons. Talk about bearing a grudge! Geert Wilders' PVV put up the cartoons on the website in solidarity with Westergaard. We will do the same:

[UPDATE001] In a disgusting piece that is supposed to be a grown up op-ed, one Nancy Graham Holm argues that prejudiced Danes provoke fanaticism. That this piece is too rich, even for dyed-in-the-wool Grauniad readers can be observed in the comments. (h/t WEIT)