Updated: The Barbarian West

Europe, Free Speech, Islam, Jihad, libertarianism, Terrorism, The West

What’s another bout with a 48-hour flu, my second this season, compared to the ordeal the heroic Kurt Westergaard—illustrator of the the 12 Jyllands-Posten cartoons, depicting the connection between Muhammad and the violence that disfigures the Muslim world—must live with day-in and day-out.

Satire is a highly civilized and refined way of exposing “folly, vice, or stupidity,” to follow the dictionary. For lampooning the connection between Muhammad, author of Islam, and the savagery and atavism that grip the Muslim world today, Westergaard’s life has been continually threatened.

“On Friday night, a 28-year-old Somali man, armed with an ax and a knife, tried to enter the home of Kurt Westergaard in Aarhus Denmark. Westergaard was at home with his visiting 5-year-old granddaughter when he heard the suspect trying to break in. ‘I locked myself in our safe room and alerted the police.'” (The Examiner.com.)

“Unable to smash the front door with his ax, the suspect was shot once in the knee and once in the hand by police. The wounds are not life-threatening.” [Why not?]

AND:

“Police were aware of the Somali suspect’s background from previous activities in east Africa and had a permit to live in Denmark.”

A pattern.

I’ve said it again and again: This is not a failure of Jihad; Jihad is doing just fine for itself, functioning as it ought to. Rather, attacks on the lives of the likes of the late Theo van Gogh, Geert Wilders, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Westergaard, and Wafa Sultan showcase the West at its miserable emasculated worst.

Contrary to some libertarian opinion, a free society is not one in which civilized courageous, peaceful human beings fear for their lives, but one in which such individuals thrive, as their assailants cower in dank corners, hunted and exterminated like vermin.

Updated (Jan. 4, 2010): A little timid for my taste, but well worth a read: “Heeere’s Muhammed!”

Oscar Reads Broad Sides, So Can You

Africa, Family, Ilana Mercer, Relatives, Science, South-Africa

Oscar is my recent rescue: a rare Cape Parrot. Or, more accurately, an Un-Cape Parrot (Poicephalus fuscicollis). One more homie. (You’ve already met T. Cup, my adorable, feisty, Senegalese Parrot.) Oscar is even closer to home (I hail from South Africa; his forefathers from South-Central Africa.)

Oscar_on_cage

The African parrots are the smartest of the Psittacidea family. I wonder why? Is it evolution’s answer to the sorry state of the Continent? Perhaps Africa’s parrots have evolved to take over. (Humor alert for the grim among you.)

The African Grey, in particular, is the most intelligent parrot. It can acquire upwards of 1000 words, sentences included, and displays considerable cognition. Observe Einstein in action. By her own admission, she’s a “Super Star.”

The pioneering researcher into African Greys is Dr. Irene Pepperberg. Here she is on CNN explaining how her work with the late Alex (for “Avian Learning Experiment”) shattered all preconceptions about the parrot as no more than a mimic. Pitted against a primate, Alex always won out.

Here Dr. Pepperberg both demonstrates and explains Alex’s cognitive and communicative accomplishments. (Of course, Alex would never have committed the syntactical infelicity committed by the human who titled this YouTube segment: “ALEX – One of the most smartest parrots ever!”)

My Oscar has the potential to be as smart as the Grey, but first he has to overcome the stunting effects of shop life. No matter how dedicated the breeder, three years with little individualized attention leaves its mark on such a sentient, sensitive, highly intelligent creature. In the case of Oscar, it is a plucking habit.

Here Oscar has climbed to the top of his giant castle, and is posing alongside my libertarian manifesto, Broad Sides: One Woman’s Clash With A Corrupt Society.

The Second Edition features bonus material. Ask Oscar. Get your copy (or copies) now!

And do pray that no more little, fluffy green feathers find their way into my gentle giant’s mother-of-pearl beak.

The Defunct Foundations Of The Republic

Classical Liberalism, Constitution, Democrats, Founding Fathers, Individual Rights, Natural Law, Reason, Republicans

From my new, WND.COM column, “The Defunct Foundations Of The Republic”:

“In the course of the agonizing debates over the soon-to-be-merged Senate and House health-care bills, Republicans cried out for partisanship, griped about procedure and said next to nothing about principles, an accusation that cannot be directed at the Democrats.

‘Health care in America ought to be a right, not a privilege,’ thundered Sen. Christopher J. Dodd. The Democrat from Connecticut was expressing sentiments that are par for the course in Democrat discourse.

Nancy Pelosi’s core beliefs vis-à-vis conscripting individuals into buying (or providing) a commodity at the pains of punishment came across loud and quirky. When the House passed its hulking health-care legislation, the speaker was asked where in the Constitution is the warrant for individual health mandates. Pelosi’s response was for posterity. ‘Are you serious?’ she shot back.

No, Democrats are not in the habit of hiding how they feel about the US Constitution.

As much as he dislikes the philosophical foundations of the republic, the president seems to know – and prattle – about them more so than do the Republicans. Here’s Sen. Barack Obama talking about the document Republicans discount and Democrats deem dated”…

The complete column is “The Defunct Foundations Of The Republic.”

My libertarian manifesto, Broad Sides: One Woman’s Clash With A Corrupt Society, is back in print. The Second Edition features bonus material. Get your copy (or copies) now!

A Happy New Year to all,
ilana

Updated: Skanks Unite (Heave Ho)

Media, Morality, Pop-Culture, The Zeitgeist

Reality Shows May Be Setting Unrealistic Standards of Skankiness For Our Nation’s Skanks. “Hanging off stripper poles, vomiting into hot tubs. The average skank can’t keep up with that. One of the most damaging aspect of these shows it that they teach skanks to talk shit about other skans.” The Onion debates a pressing problem in fin de siècle America. Onion satire beats SNL any day.

Update (Jan. 2, 2010): HEAVE HO. It’s hard out there for a ho.