Moving Right Along

UK troops to smash migrants trade: Navy to stop flood of refugees from Libya

Well...

...I guess the old lady with the silly hats is not so bad after all:

Queen salutes Canadian regiments in First World War commemoration

Hmmmm

I'm down with this. I don't want Chucky-Pooh either.

Camilla shouldn't be Queen, say public: And four in ten say Charles should step aside and let William be king

Yup

I know this topic is getting a bit tiresome, but as long as the West continues to find it's backbone, I, for one, will celebrate:

Sharia law goes against all values that we hold dear, blasts LEO MCKINSTRY

"Supporters of cultural diversity prattle about tolerance and equality, but in reality, their demands for acceptance of the Islamic legal code in Britain, they are promoting the most brutish forms of intolerance and inequality.

It is grotesque that self-styled liberals, so smug in their progressive opinions, should back a judicial system that effectively institutionalises persecution, misogyny, oppression, homophobia and barbarity.

Wherever sharia operates across the world, it means the triumph of savage superstition over humane justice, the reign of the mullahs in place of democracy and freedom.

Every theocratic country governed by sharia has an appalling human right records, complete with vicious punishments for so-called crimes like apostasy and blasphemy."

[---]

"But sadly in recent decades, the moral self-confidence of the West has been shattered by the malignant doctrine of political correctness, which holds that it is racist to challenge any cultural practices brought by immigrants.

This is the outlook which allowed female genital mutilation to flourish in this country and turned a blind eye to the criminal activities of Pakistani sex gangs preying on vulnerable white girls in places like Rotherham and Derby.

The same morally inverted attitude has facilitated the growth of sharia law in our midst.

Unbelievably, there are now estimated to be a minimum of 85 sharia courts operating in Britain, and the real total could be higher."

[--]

"According to one survey, around 40 per cent of Muslims in Britain want to be governed by sharia.

Most of our politicians are too cowardly to speak out forcefully against this trend.

But this week the Mayor of London Boris Johnson was refreshingly uncompromising in his hostility to any form of sharia in Britain.

During a radio interview on LBC, he said that he “won’t have it in London” because “a parallel judicature” is “absolutely unacceptable” and “alien to our traditions.”

Boris is right. His ability to speak with such conviction reflects his reverence for western liberal civilisation, bred through both his historical studies and his cosmopolitan background.

But sadly over recent years, there have been too few figures in our civic life who share this robustness."

Hip, hip,...

...boo hoo:

Vikings did not replace Orkney population, concludes DNA study

"Their findings, published in the scientific journal Nature, show that just 25 per cent of the Orcadian DNA was of Norwegian origin, showing “clearly that the Norse Viking invasion (9th century) did not simply replace the indigenous Orkney population.”

The study showed that the UK was divided into 17 genetically distinct clusters of people – three of which are in Orkney."

New genetic study of UK shows 10,000 years of immigration and invasions

Britons’ DNA much more German than Norman, Roman or Viking

Kinda Funny

John Cleese's Letter to the USA

A bit old, but still funny.

And The Hits Keep Coming

The UK Made a Huge Move Against the Muslim Brotherhood… It Puts Obama to Shame

"That British investigation found something that many people have long suspected: The Muslim Brotherhood is not an independent political organization, but has deep connections to other suspicious groups.

“A senior source close to the inquiry said its report — compiled but not yet published — had identified ‘an incredibly complex web’ of up to 60 organisations in Britain,” continued the report.

[---]

"While the United Kingdom takes the lead in holding the radical group responsible, conservatives here in the U.S. have also been trying to bring attention to suspicious Islamic organizations.

Republican lawmakers including Michelle Bachmann and Trent Franks have requested that the Muslim Brotherhood be investigated, but they were largely ignored.

It goes without saying that the Obama administration isn’t willing to touch the issue. They have instead tried to pretend that radical Islam does not exist or isn’t a threat.

America should be the world leader in dealing with this issue, not a follower behind the United Kingdom.

It’s time to take extremist groups seriously. Ignoring a problem doesn’t make it go away — yet that’s exactly what Obama is foolishly trying to do."

'Asterix' Comic Artist Comes Out Of Retirement To Pay Stunning Tribute To Charlie Hebdo

Ah!

My English heritage.

Something (or many things) to instill pride (and maybe a wee bit of jealousy) while at the same time make you laugh out loud.

Licking Ass...

...the British way:

Being both a history and a book buff, I have in my possession a reprint of the diary kept by Samuel Hearne, the first "Whiteman" to travel overland, in what was to become Canada, and gaze upon the Arctic Ocean. He dedicates the book as follows:

"To

SAMUEL WEGG, Esq - Governor
Sir JAMES WINTER LAKE, Deputy Governor

and

THE REST OF THE COMMITTEE

of the Honourable 

HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY

HONOURABLE SIRS,

As the following Journey was undertaken at your Request and Expense,

I feel it no less my Duty than my Inclination to address it to you; hoping that my humble Endeavours to relate,  in a plain and unadorned Style, the various Circumstances and Remarks which occurred during that Journey, will meet with your Approbation.

I am, with much Esteem and Gratitude,
HONOURABLE SIRS,

Your most obedient, and

most obliged humble Servant,

SAMUEL HEARNE."

Those were the days (1769-1772).

Hip-Hip Hooray!!

Why are the French so obsessed with our Royal Family?

Except in Quebec, of course.

"If you head over to France for your summer holidays, you'd be forgiven for assuming they care not one jot for royals - particularly those from British shores. But for a people which rabbits on about republicanism as if they invented the thing, the French are obsessed with royalty - and, most notably, ours."

[---]

"Magazines like Gala and Paris Match burst forth with pretty much weekly bulletins on not only William and Kate, but also Harry and Cressida - and, unless I'm much mistaken, the 20-year-old go-go dancer who is said to have replaced Cressida. The Queen is revered sufficiently to suggest that, were she to emulate her predecessor Edward III and claim the throne of France, there'd be a decent vote in favour."

[---]

"You may, therefore, imagine the effervescence gripping the nation right now as HMQ arrives for her fifth state visit to France, to tie in with the 70th-anniversary of D-Day. There have naturally been problems. Traffic anarchy generated by the royal visit to the Arc-de-Triomphe and tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Thursday afternoon was bound to annoy many Parisians. (Others retorted by telling them to belt up: if you live in Paris, get used to it.)"

[---]

"Far more important has been the "psychodrama of the hats". On discovering that the roof of the presidential Citroën DS5 was unlikely to be high enough to accommodate both the Queen and her hat, alarmed French protocol chaps sought an alternative. Dismissing the suggestion of a people carrier ("For the Queen??"), they bagged a Renault VelSatis which, though not very good at motoring, will allow the Queen to sit up straight, be-hatted. It will also be an interesting change from the new Diamond Jubilee state coach she used to get to the opening of Parliament - underlining many of the essential differences between a monarchy and a republic."

[---]

"...when the Queen joins 19 other heads of state in Normandy - and back in Paris on Saturday, when she visits the Flower Market on the Ile-de-la-Cité. Henceforth, the market will be known as Le Marché Aux Fleurs Reine Elizabeth II;"

[---]

"The welcome extended to the Queen isn't simply that accorded to a celebrity, though certain French commentators claim there's little difference. Nor is the interest only ironic, as smarter folk like to pretend. Whatever these people say, it's obvious that the Queen, especially, has real status in France. Of course, she has entertainment value but she's also an embodiment of so many of the things which the French admire in the British - the spirit of "fair-play" (for which there's no French word), restraint, elegance and resolution under stress and a frankly outrageous taste in headgear."

[---]

"...somehow, her very presence and bearing suggests that Britain is a country worthy of respect. Certainly - listen up, British republicans - she generates a warmth and fascination within France which is experienced by no other nation. It goes without saying that the British also exasperate the French, as vice versa. But it's the exasperation of close-ish relatives. As the Queen herself has said in the past, we may drive on different sides of the road, but we're going in the same direction.

Vitally, this time, the Queen is a living link with the past being commemorated. France's current ambassador to the UK, Bernard Emié, put it best: "With Queen Elizabeth II, we meet our own history, but also our liberty. For it's to her people, to her father George VI, to the man who became her prime-minister, Winston Churchill that we owe the welcome extended to General de Gaulle and the Free French in London - and then, with the Allies, the liberation of France."

Same goes for the Yanks.

Oh My

UPDATE: From Walid Phares' Facebook page:

Islamists on defensive throughout Middle East

"The backlash against Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt comes as secular forces across the Middle East are rising up in opposition to political Islam. Divisions reach from top leaders to the street.

Political leaders in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Jordan have sided with the Egyptian military and secularists who backed the July 3 ouster of President Mohammed Morsi.

On the streets of Cairo over the weekend, mobs and snipers attacked Morsi supporters, forcing security forces accused of slaughtering the Islamists to stand between them and the mob. The violence in Egypt echoes similar, though less deadly, backlashes against a recently installed Islamic ruling party in Tunisia, and one in power since 2002 in Turkey."

Gulf nations split with West to back Egyptian military

"Efforts by the West to pressure Egypt’s new government to end its crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood could be moot thanks to Saudi Arabia’s oil money – and whole-hearted backing of the military.

While the West calls for peace in Cairo, the Saudis are supporting Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who led the ouster of Mohammed Morsi. The Kingdom has pledged to make up for any loss in foreign aid resulting from the military’s brutal crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood"

Unbelievable! You know, I used to be amazed at how quickly the Soviet Union crumbled and the Berlin Wall fell. This has the same feeling about it. But I'm not so sure about the sincerity of the House of Saud, tho. Only time will tell.

And in my ever-so-humble opinion, this all started with Gulf War I and II. All hail Bush Senior and Junior. And I should also put in a good word for Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the WWW, and the British Empire for making English a global language. Thanks to them, we can now communicate with people on the other side of the globe.

History is just one damned thing after another, and you just never know where it's going to lead. PS: I didn't know Berners-Lee was a Brit. I just learned that right now.
============Original Post Starts Here============
...What's up with Pakistan?

Former Pakistani leader Musharraf charged with 2007 assassination of Bhutto

Was it because Bhutto was a woman, or was she just a threat to his dictatorship?

More here

"The former president was brought to a special anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi under tight security after his lawyers warned of threats to his life."

Pakistan has "anti-terrorism" courts? The world is changing. Never thought I'd see the day. I'll bet you he gets off.

And here.

Morsi and Musharraf. Both from yesterday, er, I mean the 7th century. The times, they are a changing.

And look at this!!!

Egypt arrests Muslim Brotherhood’s leader

And, of course, we shouldn't forget Turkey, where there have already been massive protests against their Islamist government.

And on the home front:

Two Speeches

Winston Churchill to the Canadian Parliament, 1941.

Harper to Britain's parliament, 73 years later, in 2013:

Makes Me Proud...

...of my British heritage:

The 17 Best Ways To Annoy A British Person

Except I do have a concept of baked beans and, of course, the water has to be boiled properly to make tea, and the best way is to pass the tea bag over the steam, never mind letting it steep for hours on end. I don't own a "rooty-tooty point and shooty". I like blueberry pancakes, but "clamy rogers"? What's up with that? And here in Canuckistan, the real and proper name for chips is French fries, not fries, although "fries" will do in a pinch, and we'll take them with either vinegar or ketchup, thank you. In other matters, it's a toss-up between the Brit way and the Yank way.

Chin Up...

...stiff upper lip and all that.

Sick Queen rushed to hospital for first time in 10 years after suffering with highly infectious stomach bug

I hope she lives to a ripe old age like her mother did. The last thing we need is Chucky-Pooh sitting on that big chair.

And the Queen gets the runs? Who knew?

Leave It To The Brits

A Gigantic Rubber Duck Floated Through London's Financial District

"It's The JOOOZ"

With the recent flair-up between Hamas and Israel, and the UN recognition of Mahmoud Abbas and Palestine, whatever it means (it's not full nationhood), the creepy crawlies have come out from under the rocks and are posting comments on Sun News Network's website. I am both amazed and amused at how shallow, in terms of time, at the very least, their knowledge of this conflict seems to be.

Soooo, I turn to a website called the Jewish Virtual Library and other sources, all of which are more balanced, and which show the very long history of terror and Jew hatred in that area of the world. Information, therein, on Palestinian violence, goes back at least to 1956. One could easily extend that with references to the Ottoman Empire, the Balfour Declaration, the Sykes-Pecot Agreement, the British Palestine Mandate and the establishment of the Muslim Brotherhood, among countless other critical and relevant events in history, which the Jewish Virtual Library also does a good job of covering. And why shouldn't they? There is so much disinformation out there and, sad to say, anti-Semitism is on the rise again. And the number of "plans" put forward for peace between the Arabs and Israel is astonishing. All of them have failed.

The use of terror, of course, is not unique to the Arab-Israeli conflict. But Palestinian terror is certainly very long-lived and its practitioners are seemingly not the least bit interested in any sort of settlement, as other terror groups have been. I have long ago come to the conclusion that Palestinian Arabs, their "leadership" at least, are not the least bit interested in a peace settlement. The destruction of the State of Israel is their founding and steadfast aim. Moreover, the rate at which these groups splinter and morph into new groups is not just astounding, but is indicative of the nature of the hot-headed-zealot personality types that make up their numbers. To quote (more or less) an impressive line from a play (written by Maria Campbell) I once attended, about the Metis people in Saskatchewan and their political factions: "They couldn't organize a bowel movement, let alone a political movement."

So, history continues to unfold, and if it isn't one damn "steaming pile" thing, it's another.  

Oh. And good for Stephen Harper for standing on principle, rather than folding and going along to get along.  Here we have statesmanship, not "bowel movement" organizing, as the CBC and the NDP would like to have it.

Oh, Those Nasty Brits...

I'm reading a book about the continent-wide small pox epidemic that took place between 1775 and 1782. Apparently the Brits did their level best to spread the disease among the colonials who were rebelling. The book is entitled Pox Americana by Elizabeth Fenn.

Here's a quote from page 132 (emphasis mine):

"Three years before Yorktown, a book written by a British officer in New York had explicitly  suggested that His Majesty's forces should propagate smallpox among the Americans. "Dip arrows in matter of smallpox," wrote Robert Donkin, "and twang them at the American rebels, in order to inoculate them; This would sooner disband those stubborn, ignorant, enthusiastic savages, than any other compulsive measures...."

LOL!!

No matter though. All's been forgiven. Water. Bridge. And all that.

Well, I thought it was funny.

Is It Any Wonder...

Quebec and the ROC are always at odds?

This is so true.

"...like 'lads looking for a brawl outside a pub on a Friday night'"

[---]

"...when Franco-British relations sank to an all-time low over Paris's fierce but ultimately futile opposition to the invasion of Iraq. Blair termed Chirac's stance "foolish" and "irresponsible", Chirac asked Blair how he would answer when Leo asked what he had done in the war, his foreign minister Jack Straw recalled "Napoleon – and remember who won", and even Straw's urbane French counterpart Dominique de Villepin complained of "comments unworthy of a friend and a European partner"."

[---]

"...in the period from 1066 to 1815, when the two countries fought each other in, among others, the Norman invasion, the wars of Henry II, the hundred years war, the Italian wars, the wars of the Spanish and Austrian succession, the seven years war, the American revolutionary war, the French revolutionary wars and the Napoleonic wars. Eight-hundred-odd years of near-continual armed conflict do tend to colour a relationship.

Today's Anglo-French rivalries, though, are born not of military ambition but long-established and strongly-held differences of view: social, cultural, political, commercial, on the economy, Europe, America, and free-market liberalism versus the "social model". Each remains the other's favourite mirror, in which to hold itself up and say: 'Well, at least we're not like them.'"

"For as Chirac once put it, "You can't trust people who cook as badly as that." Or as Noel Coward preferred: "There's always something fishy about the French."

There's something about this ancient row, which actually does date back to the early Middle Ages, that feels rather comfortable. LOL!! The world has always been thus.  There were connections dating to Offa, King of Merica and Charlemagne, Richard the Lion Heart and Eleanor of Aquitaine, remember Charles de Gaulle and his "Vive Quebec Libre".  Anyone who thinks we can easily rid ourselves of this yoke should think again. In days gone by, both our friends and our enemies were those people who lived next door, simply because we knew them best...and they were next door.

Let's Play...

(update below)

..."What's wrong with that flag?"

This is the Iranian flag. Notice the green strip is on the top.

This is the Iranian flag in the British Embassy in Tehran. Normally, the British flag would be on the flag pole at a British embassy, as is the custom at all embassies throughout the world. But, as you all know, things are different in Iran, and there is currently a gang of thugs holding British diplomats hostage in the British embassy in Iran. But what does it mean that the Iranian flag, now hoisted at the British embassy, is upside down?  The thugs are stupid amateurs, would be my guess.  In any case, I would also say this is an omen of some sort, not a sign of distress, which is usually what an upside down flag is meant to signal.  Perhaps this is the year when the regime will fall.

God save the Queen. Rule Britannia.

UPDATE: Mark Steyn weighs in.

The Good Ole French/English Mutual Hatred Society...

...is hard at work in the Telegraph's offices.

A baby at last for Carla! Quick, call the hairdresser

"The waiting is over and the First Lady can finally smoke and drink. Oh yes, and she’s had a baby, too. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, 43, who complained, with Gallic bluntness, that being pregnant was boringly abstinent, can celebrate the safe delivery of her little girl, Giulia, with a shrug and a Gitanes. And, of course, a leg wax.

Here, in Britain, the NHS tradition may be a lukewarm cup of tea and a nice cry, but in France the cutting of the umbilical chord is the signal for a woman to seize back control of her pelvic floor and squeeze back into a Chanel pencil skirt."

[---]

"The baby is Madame Bruni-Sarkozy’s second child, so the rather hardline emphasis on immediately reclaiming her feminity and renewing conjugal relations rather than eating mille-feuilles, with cabbage leaves stuffed in her bra, won’t be entirely new to her. Her 10-year-old son, Aurélien, is the product of a previous relationship with a philosopher, which is apparently considered to be a proper job on the Continent."

[---]

"For his part, President Sarkozy already has three sons from his previous two marriages.

And now we are told, he’s coq-a-hoop at having a daughter. She, in turn, has been trumpeted as the first baby to be born to an incumbent head of state in France since Empress Eugénie brought Louis Napoleon Bonaparte into the world 155 years ago.

This historical precedent might explain why the President left the hospital within hours of the birth for foreign parts. Ostensibly, he was attending an International Monetary Fund meeting in Frankfurt, but rumour has it he nipped over the border to Austria in his lunch hour to seal a dynastic marriage alliance with a spare Habsburg."

I must admit, though, the British woman who wrote this has quite the sense of humour when she's jealous.

"Her stern announcement that there will be no pictures was greeted with dismay. Not only is it a shame for all of us, as we want to know if (heaven forfend) she looks like daddy, but it represents a tragedy for Sarkozy père, who was quite possibly counting on a baby bounce to boost his dismal popularity ratings."

RTWT She really skewers both the Sarkozis and the French.