Je Suis Charlie

The Blood soaked altars of Islam claimed some more sacrificial victims today, when twelve more brave men and women were murdered by Islamic Jihadists, this time at the offices of the left-wing and secular satirical magazine 'Charlie Hebdo' in Paris France.

But, in the week in which thousands have marched in Germany under the banner of the name 'Pegida', against the 'Islamisation' of Europe, it has also brought into sharp relief, the debate the between the Western European concepts of 'Freedom of Speech', and the concept of 'Freedom of Religion'. Does the right of people to practise their religion (no matter how odious), outweigh the rights of those of whose who think they are either deluded, or dangerous, or both?

Of course ironically, the left-wing in Germany counter marched to 'support' the Muslims .... how many will do so next time?

Charlie Hebdo had been attacked before by petrol bombs, however on that occasion no one was hurt, but this time it wasn't just the ten men and women of the editorial staff, and the two policemen outside, who have been killed, it was also a bloody assault on core European Values.... the very same values that allow those Muslims who detest the West, to spout their hatred, and yet still live here in safety (certainly compared to the treatment of non Muslims in Islamic societies).

Once again the Gates of Vienna are being pushed by the forces of backwardness .... its up to us all not to blink, or our cowardly politicians will appease these barbarians in the name of 'cohesion' .... the only real response would be for every publication in Europe to publish the Mohammed cartoons again on their front covers, and let Jihadists see that the days of being able to force acquiescence from our press are over.

Tribute By Oriol Malet

When last they were attacked, the editor Stephane Charbonnier (who died today), said that Islam should not be excluded from 'freedom of the press' to comment in the West. He added that "If we can poke fun at everything in France, if we can talk about anything in France apart from Islam, or the consequences of Islamism, that is annoying."

He bravely added that "This is the first time we have been physically attacked, but we won't let it get to us" .... to my shame I suspected that it would get to them editorially ..... they proved me wrong, but at a terrible price.

Charlie Hebdo RIP

Seeing Is Believing

"Life, but not as we know it Scotty" ..... The words attributed to Captain Kirk whenever they found something they couldn't explain. Well here's one for you:

1). Down load this picture from the NASA site ... http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a15/AS15-89-12016HR.jpg

2). Open it up fully using a photo-viewer that allows close-ups and ...

... well an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) is apparent if you look closely.

Or, if you trust me not to have Photoshopped it, then look at these examples from the picture ...

I Have Ringed The Object For Clarity - Original Image On Link

Closer View

Much Closer

Of course the uncritical part of the web goes wild .... but look more carefully ......
 

A Tail Is Clearly Visible

With no atmosphere on the Moon to leave 'a trail', the line beneath and to the left of the 'UFO', suggests something a little more prosaic .... a bit of lens dirt, aka lens specks, the curse of cameras since their creation. Probably a pollen speck with a tail, or maybe something like lint from the polishing process on Earth.

"Seeing is believing" as they say, but more often than not, we "see only what we want to see".

Wasted Hot Air

Apparently, the 113th Congress of the United States approved more legislation in the last week it sat, than it had done in many preceding months ~ Most of these laws passed were temporary extensions of existing tax measures, lasting just two more weeks (until the end of 2014), when the 'negotiations' to try and approve some 'sensible' taxes will resume.

So this makes 113th session one of the least productive of Congresses in modern history.

The legislative body approved far fewer bills than the group of lawmakers former President Harry Truman called the “do-nothing Congress.” Those legislators, serving from 1947 to 1949, passed some 900 laws, which is positively speedy compared to this current Congress.
 

Trueman's Do-nothing Congress ...

...... this one was actually proud to declare that it passed more than 200 bills into law during the past two years .... which was well short of the worst before it.

End Of World Cancelled

For reasons that were pretty pointless I looked up the Book of Revelations .... 

 

The Revelations Start With
The Opening Of The 7 Seals

 

and I discovered one strange thing (Out of many), which I thought particularly odd.

The Honours Dishonoured

The honours system once again proved how pernicious the class system still is in the UK. It was noticeable in this New Years Honours List, that the famous, the rich, the powerful, and the political establishment, are given Knighthoods, or are made Dames, while those who are not in the top 0.01% of society are not.

This was nicely illustrated by the fact that MP's, Anne McGuire and David Amess, both got top honours i.e. she became a Dame, and he was Knighted ... Who are they? What have they ever done except be voting lobby fodder? Who knows .... possibly not even them .... certainly they have never held high office that I am aware of.

Similarly the comic 'actor' James Corden, a man whose career up until the age of 36 (if a couple of years of low level fame is a ''career'), has gained him a OBE 'for his work in film and television'. Some people work 30 years, saving people's lives or making a difference, to get a similar medal. e.g A lady who has given more than four decades of dedicated service to the Scouting movement in Romford, Essex, was made an MBE.

Dr Campbell, the inventor of Viagra in 1985 was only made a Knight in this year's honours. Only 30 years after his initial  research into blood pressure led to Viagra in 1998.

There are even super upgrades for the top elite. .. .. Baroness Ashton the former EU foreign policy chief got an upgrade to the highest class of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George ... obviously her Baronetcy wasn't enough reward. While the inventor of the wind up radio Trevor Baylis has now got a CBE to add to his OBE ... No step up for him .... next stop an MBE?. He's obviously not the right stuff, unlike the clothes designer Mary Quant who was also made a Dame.

The lower awards invariably go to the 99.9% of us who are not in the elite 0.01% ..... but lets not forget that the same 'honours' system gave us:

• Sir James Savile OBE, KCSG ~ Paedophile.
• Sir Fred Goodwin ~ Goodwin's knighthood, awarded in 2004 for "services to banking", was "cancelled and annulled" on 1 February 2012 ~ remains a millionaire.
• Sir Jeffrey Archer ~ Resigned as MP resigned over a financial scandal which left him almost bankrupt. Later resigned as chairman of Conservative party after another scandal, conviction and subsequent imprisonment for perjury and perverting the course of justice ~ remains a millionaire.
• Baron Hanningfield ~was convicted of false accounting in the Parliamentary Expenses scandal and sent to prison. Following his release, he resumed his parliamentary career as an independent peer.
• Baron Taylor ~ Found guilty by the jury on six counts of false accounting, relating to the Parliamentary Expenses scandal and sent to prison. Disbarred from practising Law.

The Queen Often Forced To 'Honour' The Undeserving ......

and finally ....

• Sir Robert Mugabe ~ In 1994, Mugabe was appointed an honorary Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Bath by Queen Elizabeth II. On 25 June 2008, the Queen cancelled and annulled the honorary knighthood after advice from the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. "This action has been taken as a mark of revulsion at the abuse of human rights and abject disregard for the democratic process in Zimbabwe over which President Mugabe has presided."

........ enough said.

Just for the record for those who don't understand them, these are the Commonly Awarded Ranks:

• Companion of Honour - Limited to 65 people. Recipients wear the initials CH after their name
• Knight or Dame - Top honour
  
• CBE - Commander of the Order of the British Empire
• OBE - Officer of the Order of the British Empire
• MBE - Member of the Order of the British Empire
• BEM - British Empire Medal

..... yeah, I know, we haven't got any empire anymore .... its just one more part of the anachronism.