RUTHFULLY YOURS

Waterloo marked the end of more than two decades of fighting on land and at sea, nearly as exhausting for those who remained at home as for those who fought Napoleon

On a recent visit to Belgium, I found myself on top of “La Butte du Lion,” a man-made hill overlooking the fields of Waterloo. Here, on a hot day in June 1815, tens of thousands of soldiers marched to their deaths; many were barefoot, having lost their boots to the mud churned up by gun carriages. The Duke of Wellington reportedly grieved the “immense” loss of life rather than celebrating his crowning victory over Napoleon’s armies. For days after, the lanes around the battlefield were slippery with grease draining from the great corpse-pyres built to stop the spread of disease in the hot weather.

I find battlefield tourism eerie and discomfiting—but civilian fascination at the site of bloodshed is by no means a new phenomenon. Tourism began at Waterloo a few days after the battle, and Wellington himself subsequently guided parties of the well-to-do from England and its allies. For years after the battle, there was a trade in trinkets and souvenirs from that gruesome field—everything from buttons and bullets and standards (Sir Walter Scott collected four of them) to bits of bone and even skulls. A former soldier ran an inn nearby to accommodate tourists.

The White House made clear today that it’s accpetable for British Prime Minister David Cameron to lobby Congress against passing Iran sanctions legislation, but it’s not all right for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do so because he doesn’t agree with the administration’s position.

In the fallout of the latest administration fight with Israel, press secretary Josh Earnest today highlighted Cameron’s visit a week ago in which President Obama and his British counterpart tried to discourage congressional action.

“On Iran, we remain absolutely committed to ensuring that Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon,” Cameron said then. “The best way to achieve that now is to create the space for negotiations to succeed. We should not impose further sanctions now; that would be counterproductive and it could put at risk the valuable international unity that has been so crucial to our approach.”

NOT JUST THE FLAGS ARE LOWERED BUT ALL SHREDS OF BRITISH HONOR…..RSK

Except here in Ireland, where they still have six counties, just for spite. Otherwise, get a load of this:

London (AFP) – The government’s decision on Friday to lower British flags following the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has stirred controversy, with critics pointing to the kingdom’s poor human rights record. Tributes from world leaders have poured in for the late monarch, seen by some as a cautious moderniser in a turbulent region, but criticised by others as not having done enough to reform an absolute monarchy adhering to a severe form of Islam.

Saudi law, which forbids women from driving and punishes apostasy with death, is derived from Wahhabi Islam, an ultraconservative sect whose clergy have provided Saudi rulers with religious legitimacy.

“Your flag flying insults every woman in the United Kingdom, HOW DARE YOU,” tweeted former Conservative lawmaker Louise Mensch. Lawyer and journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted: “UK orders flags flown at half-mast for King Abdullah. Will return to lecturing the world about democracy tomorrow.”

And remember — prime minister to the Haus Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha monarchy, David Cameron, is a “conservative.”

In Norway’s educational system, history is not a valued subject. It is included under either “Social Studies” or “Norwegian.” Many Norwegians are therefore unaware how their society and democracy were formed, or of the enormous prices paid to attain them. Recent generations seem to take them for granted.

Norway’s education system is also permeated with an idealistic vision of equality and a belief in cultural relativism: that everyone, every culture and every religion are of the same value. Schools and even preschools are obliged to work to wipe out class differences. The majority of teachers are idealists who believe in the idealism they are obliged to preach. Islam is presented in schoolbooks as “just another religion” — attractive, and portrayed as if has already been reformed, a situation just not the case.

“Even though I was committed to the idea of jihad, I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” Conley said Friday. “It was all about defending Muslims.” (HUH???)

Conley, a 19-year-old suburban Denver woman, was sentenced to four years in prison for trying to help the so-called Islamic State militant group in Syria, under a plea deal that requires her to help authorities find others with the same intentions. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)DENVER (AP) – A 19-year-old suburban Denver woman who tried to go to Syria to help Islamic State militants was sentenced to four years in prison Friday, even as she tearfully told a judge that she never wanted to hurt anyone and has disavowed jihad.

Shannon Conley told the judge she was misled while pursuing Islam and learned only after her arrest about atrocities committed by the extremists she was taught to respect.
“I am glad I have learned of their true identity here and not on the front lines,” said Conley, whose black and tan headscarf clashed against her striped jail uniform. “I disavow these radical views I’ve come to know and I now believe in the true Islam in which peace is encouraged.”

For answers to why so many young Jews are disaffected about Judaism and uninformed and hostile towards Israel, consult The Jewish Week of Jan 23rd. The cover story addresses the meeting organized by Repair the World at a Martin Luther King Shabbat in Crown Heights where three community activists spoke about race, privilege and partnership. The panel included a black woman, Tynesha McHarris (director of community leadership at the Brooklyn Community Foundation; a black man, Mark Winston Griffith (exec. director of the Brooklyn Movement Center) and a white Jewish woman, Amy Ellenbogen (director of Crown Heights Community Mediation Center). A questioner asked how the largely white audience could become effective allies in pursuing racial justice. McHarris responded that people of color needed to be the leaders while white people could follow and support. Griffith disagreed and said that his agency offered leadership roles to everybody. Ellenbogen stated that whites needed to “shut up and listen, and when you’re done with that, shut up and listen some more.” When a question arose concerning the selective filtering of history in the movie “Selma,” Professor James Goodman (History, Rutgers) felt that it was perfectly legitimate to airbrush Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel from the film despite his enormous contribution to the Civil Rights Movement, his prominent position at the march (the iconic photo shows him in the front line) and his close personal friendship with Dr. King.

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama painted a ‎rosy picture of America’s condition at home and abroad, presenting a delusional list of his ‎own accomplishments since taking office six years ago. ‎

A careful dissection of each of his falsehoods — which were nearly as numerous as the ‎standing ovations he received from the Democrats in the room every time he punctuated a ‎sentence — could fill the pages of a lengthy book. But the abridged version is as follows: ‎Everything would be even rosier if the Republicans were to stop opposing his policies, ‎which not only have been making Americans healthier, wealthier and wiser, but have ‎bridged gaps with countries all over the world.‎

One didn’t know whether to laugh or cry while watching the lame duck remind us that he ‎still has two more years of damage to inflict and veto powers to exercise.‎

The myth of Palestinian centrality has dominated Western policy in the Middle East, while contrasting the reality of the Middle East.

In 2015, following in the footsteps of Presidents Mubarak and Sadat, Egyptian President Al-Sisi does not subordinate Egypt’s national security ties with Israel to Egypt’s ties with the Palestinians.

President Al-Sisi – just like his two predecessors – considers the transnational Muslim Brotherhood and Palestinian terrorism mutual threats to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf States, which have never regarded the Palestinian issue as a top priority, and have denied the Palestinian Authority their financial generosity. Notwithstanding Palestinian opposition, strategic cooperation between Israel and Egypt, as well as between Israel and Jordan and other moderate Arab regimes, has surged to an unprecedented level.

It’s easier to condemn Steven Emerson than to confront issues of assimilation and culture.

Steven Emerson, the expert on terrorism, has caused a sigh of relief among the bien pensants of the Western world. By making inaccurate and false claims on Fox News, he has enabled them to pour righteous scorn on him and thereby avoid thinking about uncomfortable social realities.

Emerson claimed that Birmingham, the second-largest city in Britain, was “totally” Muslim. In the last census, in 2011, 21.8 percent of the city’s inhabitants said that they were Muslim. This percentage is likely to rise because of higher birth rates among Muslims, immigration, and the departure of white Christians. Residents of Birmingham who identified themselves as “white British” declined by 11 percent between 2001 and 2011, while the “white Irish” declined by 33 percent. The proportion of Christians would have decreased further had it not been for the arrival of Eastern Europeans. Meanwhile, the Muslim Pakistani and Bangladeshi populations increased over those ten years by 40 and 50 percent, respectively, and the Arab population rose to 1 percent from zero percent. Whether this matters, whether it fills you with joy or apprehension, or leaves you indifferent, depends upon your political outlook—and perhaps on where you live.

http://www.algemeiner.com/author/elder-of-ziyon/

Buried in a New York Times article today about friction between
President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu is a phrase that the
newspaper has never used before:

Famously, many of those conversations have been deeply uncomfortable.
The two leaders have often clashed on Israel’s determination to build
new settlements, which Mr. Obama viewed as a way to sabotage peace
talks. Mr. Netanyahu was accused of lecturing Mr. Obama in front of
the cameras in the Oval Office during an angry conversation in May
2011, after Mr. Obama suggested that the 1967 borders with Palestine
should be the starting point for peace negotiations. Later that year,
after former President Nicolas Sarkozy of France complained in front
of an open microphone that Mr. Netanyahu was “a liar,” Mr. Obama said,
“You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often
than you.”