“We are aware of the consequences of exercising the right of free expression. We can and we are ready to self-regulate that right.”

No, really, that’s what the EU Justice and Security Commissioner is saying, according to…

We need to learn a new word: dhimmitude. I’ve written about dhimmitude periodically, lo, these many years since September 11, but it takes time to sink in. Dhimmitude is the coinage of a brilliant historian, Bat Ye’or, whose pioneering studies of the dhimmi, populations of Jews and Christians vanquished by Islamic jihad, have led her to conclude that a common culture has existed through the centuries among the varied dhimmi populations. From Egypt and Palestine to Iraq and Syria, from Morocco and Algeria to Spain, Sicily and Greece, from Armenia and the Balkans to the Caucasus: Wherever Islam conquered, surrendering dhimmi, known to Muslims as “people of the book [the Bible],” were tolerated, allowed to practice their religion, but at a dehumanizing cost.

There were literal taxes (jizya) to be paid; these bought the dhimmi the right to remain non-Muslim, the price not of religious freedom, but of religious identity. Freedom was lost, sorely circumscribed by a body of Islamic law (sharia) designed to subjugate, denigrate and humiliate the dhimmi. The resulting culture of self-abnegation, self-censorship and fear shared by far-flung dhimmi is the basis of dhimmitude. The extremely distressing but highly significant fact is, dhimmitude doesn’t only exist in lands where Islamic law rules.

This is the lesson of Cartoon Rage 2006, a cultural nuke set off by an Islamic chain reaction to those 12 cartoons of Muhammad appearing in a Danish newspaper. We have watched the Muslim meltdown with shocked attention, but there is little recognition that its poisonous fallout is fear. Fear in the State Department, which, like Islam, called the cartoons unacceptable. Fear in Whitehall, which did the same. Fear in the Vatican, which did the same. And fear in the media, which have failed, with few, few exceptions, to reprint or show the images. With only a small roll of brave journals, mainly in Europe, to salute, we have seen the proud Western tradition of a free press bow its head and submit to an Islamic law against depictions of Muhammad. That’s dhimmitude.

Not that we admit it: We dress up our capitulation in fancy talk of “tolerance,” “responsibility” and “sensitivity.” We even congratulate ourselves for having the “editorial judgment” to make “pluralism” possible. “Readers were well served… without publishing the cartoons,” said a Wall Street Journal spokesman. “CNN has chosen to not show the cartoons in respect for Islam,” reported the cable network. On behalf of the BBC, which did show some of the cartoons on the air, a news editor subsequently apologized, adding: “We’ve taken a decision not to go further… in order not to gratuitously offend the significant number” of Muslim viewers worldwide. Left unmentioned is the understanding (editorial judgement?) that “gratuitous offense” leads to gratuitous violence. Hence, fear — not the inspiration of tolerance but of capitulation — and a condition of dhimmitude.

How far does it go? Worth noting, for example, is that on the BBC Web site, a religion page about Islam presents the angels and revelations of Islamic belief as historical fact, rather than spiritual conjecture (as is the case with its Christianity Web page); plus, it follows every mention of Mohammed with “(pbuh),” which means “peace be upon him”—”as if,” writes Will Wyatt, former BBC chief executive, in a letter to the Times of London, “the corporation itself were Muslim.”

Is it? Are we? These questions may not seem so outlandish if we assess the extent to which encroaching sharia has already changed the Western way. Calling these cartoons “unacceptable,” and censoring ourselves “in respect” to Islam brings the West into compliance with a central statute of sharia. As Jyllands-Posten’s Flemming Rose has noted, that’s not respect, that’s submission. And if that’s not dhimmitude, what is?

The publication of the Muhammad cartoons solicited by Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten was an act of anti-dhimmitude. Since no Danish artist would dare illustrate a PC children’s book about Muhammad for fear of Islamic law (and Islamic violence), the newspaper boldly set out to reassert the rule of (non-Islamic) Danish law. It’s as simple as that. And as vital. The cartoons ran to establish — or re-establish — Denmark as bastion of Western-style liberty. But in trying to set up a force field against encroaching sharia, Jyllands-Posten and the Danes have showed us that no single bastion of Western liberty can stand alone.

So, how do you say solidarity in Danish? If we don’t find out now, our future is more dhimmitude.

By Diana West
Diana seems to have a very interesting take on this. It is something to think about.

Oh well

Interesting twist about the imam really being the only blaphemer here! Unfortunately, I doubt it will catch on in the muslim world.

I thought about this on the way home from work today.

If ANY human form depiction, especially the Prophet Muhammad is prohibited, isn’t against the Islam religon and blasphemous to even display copies and recreations of it to other Muslims?

I understand they were “trying” to show the outrage of what was done, but in showing these pictures themselevs, are they not just as guilty as those who created and published them according to thier own religous doctrine?

And Baklava, that was an excellent point, since the “added” fake cartoons, especially the pig snout one from France Pig Contest was included by the Imams and was not a cartoon or even published by the paper they were threatening, they are guilty of lying to thier Muslim Brothers, Hearasy, and Blasphemy in trying to show the Prophet Muhammad as a pig.

But, how much will you see this in the news?

New name for the MSM is the Muslim Submissive Media

Malkins is so on top of the 3 extra cartoons drawn by Muslim Imam’s to stoke anger in the Islamic anger. She’s been taking CNN and Fox News to task. I saw Malkin on Fox News last night and HAD NO IDEA that she had the cartoons put on a cardboard and FOX NEWS CUT AWAY TO THE RIOTS when she tried to show them.

Crazy. The 12 cartoons published by the Danish newspaper were done as part of a contest for Islamic artists.

Check out these words from Malkin’s site where she quotes Paul Belien:
When the Danish press discovered the three false so-called Danish cartoons, the imams refused to say where they had got them. They claimed, however, that the false cartoons were genuinely Danish and had been added to “give an insight in how hateful the atmosphere in Denmark is towards Muslims.”

…Western papers and blogs that published the twelve cartoons were right to do so. If they had not published, no-one would have been able to ascertain that the pigsnout was not among them. If they had not published, the cheating, blasphemous imams would have got away with their lies. The public is served by information, never harmed by it. Let this be a lesson to the cowards of The Guardian, SBS, the BBC and the British and American mainstream media, who “out of respect” for Islam would have allowed blasphemous imams to get away with their gross insult of the prophet, with slander and libel, and with the violent acts which they instigated.

I already enabled TCP 3389 through my firewall and port forwarded it to my laptop running Windows XP and it’s working. Of course the RDP is being run with 128 bit encryption and the laptop has a firewall on it so I’m not too worried.

I have the same problem at work, and Apache solved it. That it’s free is just a bonus Don’t make it anonymous though, or you will get hammered with traffic!

And no, I’m not talking about last night’s episode of Lost (a good episode showing what conmen do if they want to make a bunch of money not involving a switch in their car insurance to Geico). Instead, I’m talking about the long term views of the Is…

Euroweenies are about to submit to Islamoterror. What a surprise. *yawn*

Will the US?

Steve, ignore steve. he’s just a one trick pony.

I’ll have to setup RDP on my home computer so that I can login to that from work and get my ST fix….

TCP port 3389! And a few security vulnerabilities that you just path here and there when they are found….

I can’t even view this during work hours unless I call in sick (like today).

So much to discuss with steve’s latest statement.. there’s almost no point in doing it anymore. It’s like a broken record.

Basically do the opposite of what steve says and you’ll be right.

I’m going to pass this time though since you guys covered it so well. You can’t have freedom (freedom) without standing up for protecting your freedoms (freedom). Freedom

A tolerant peace loving Danish cartoonist holding a contest is now in fear of his life and his families life and is paying for protection because of people who have basically slandered him and have created additional drawings and attributed them to him.

Now irresponsible people go to blogs and act like we need to be tolerant and peaceful. HA! Tell that to the tolerant peaceful good hearted Danish person who is MYSTIFIED (I think that’s the term he used – mystified).

Some people’s children.