ARRRRRRG

Truer Words...

Empires

Absolutely Fascinating

A history of the Great Wall of China - why it was built, how it was built and the genius of the Chinese people:

History....

...of the Arab-Israeli conflict, in a format anyone can understand (that is, if they want to).:



And another one that I, at least, find very interesting:

The British Empire

Here's a little history lesson to rub in the faces of those losers on SunNewsNetwork:

"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.

Back On The Road To Damascus

Syria opposition groups hold crucial Qatar meeting

"Syrian opposition groups have gathered in the Qatari capital, Doha, for a key meeting on how to form a more united front against President Assad.

The meeting could lead to a replacement body for the Syrian National Council (SNC), the main opposition in exile.

Rebel forces in Syria have criticised the SNC as out of touch, and the opposition is also split ideologically."

[---]

"Divisions have arisen not just between those in Syria and opposition figures abroad, but also between Islamist and secularist groups.

A previous opposition meeting in Cairo in July accepted that the Assad government must fall but failed to appoint a committee to act for the opposition internationally.

Representatives at Doha will include various other religious and secular groupings, plus Kurdish figures and dissident members of Mr Assad's Alawite sect."

Syria conflict: Rebels may have committed war crime - UN

I gotta ask. Would that be the Organization of Islamic Conference section of the UN?

"The footage shows gunmen beating and shooting a group of prisoners who were cowering on the floor.

It has been alleged that Islamist militants carried out the attack after seizing army checkpoints on Thursday."

Emphasis mine, throughout. RTWT.

This "Arab Spring" is looking more and more like the French Revolution, complete with the Reign of Terror. I wonder if they will replace their Arab Nationalist dictator/king with an Arab version of an emperor, bent on creating a dynasty.

T's Moi!! I Swear!

And that's Dave cowering beneath me. ;-p

Barbarians

I've been watching some YouTube videos taken from a BBC documentary series about peoples described throughout history as Barbarians - my kind of people. The Barbarians in focus in this series include, among others, the Vikings, the Saxons, the Huns, the Vandals, the Moghuls and my favourite, the Mongols, from whom the Moghuls were descended.

The Mongols didn't do much to contribute to the advance of global civilization, which I guess is why they are considered barbarians, but during their days of empire Marco Polo made his propitious journey to China, which in turn led to Europe's quest for a western, trans-Atlantic route to the fabled riches of the East (the Arabs/Muslims blocked the way along the Steppes and the coastline of the Indian Ocean and they had their own reasons for seeking vengeance against the Mongols).

Anyway, check it out, if you're interested.