A STUDY IN MICROCOSM OF FRANCE'S INCESSANT ISLAMIZATION: WORK ON NEW MOSQUE EVREUX STARTED.

The nightmare that is France's islamization manifests itself in a thousand incidents, events, and developments each and every day. Via François Desouche:

"In a few years there will be a Grand Mosque to the south of Evreux (Eure Department), close to the borough of Guichainville (Eure). Construction could be completed within about six years. This is but an estimate since financing the operation is essentially dependent on private donor gifts.

The religious building will encompass a surface of 1,400 square meters and have an estimated height of between 10 and 12 metres. Near the part reserved for worshiping, a cultural wing equipped with a library and rooms for educational purposes will be available. The building will be capable of hosting 1,400 worshippers.

For the muslim community of Evreux, numbering about 4,500, the launching of the construction of the mosque is an event that has been anticipated for more than ten years.

The budget is an estimated 2.5 million EUR."

It is extremely sad to notice that the spineless, ignorant cowards pretending to be our politicians enthusiastically support construction-programmes-on-steroids for these Death Cult Prayer Houses, in the name of the glorious multiculti utopia, while massive evidence abounds that more islam equates more oppression, more backwardness, and less freedom. Breitbart has an article up today on Open Doors USA's latest report on Christian persecution worldwide, and it isn't nice:

"A new report by a leading watchdog group has identified 2016 as the “worst year yet” for Christian persecution, ever since the organization began monitoring persecution 25 years ago.

The report, which is produced annually by Open Doors USA, found that persecution of Christians rose globally for the third year in a row, reaching “unprecedented levels” in countries located in South and Southeast Asia, among other locations.

“Christians throughout the world continue to risk imprisonment, loss of home and assets, torture, beheadings, rape and even death as a result of their faith,” the report stated.

The World Watch List (WWL) ranks the 50 countries across the globe where persecution of Christians is most severe.

In 25 years of chronicling and ranking the political and societal restrictions on religious freedom experienced by Christians worldwide, Open Doors researchers identified 2016 as the “worst year yet.”

The report corroborated an earlier study from the Turin-based Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), which found that during the year 2016, some 90,000 Christians were killed for their faith around the world.

The director of CESNUR and leader of the study, Dr. Massimo Introvigne, told Breitbart News that Christians are “the most persecuted religious group in the world,” and the numbers of those affected are staggering.

Islamic extremism remains the dominant driver of Christian persecution in the world, responsible for initiating oppression and conflict in 35 out of the 50 countries on the 2017 list. Moreover, nine out of the top ten countries where Christians suffer “extreme persecution” have populations that are at least 50% Muslim.

“Islamic oppression remains the most common cause of pressure against Christians,” the report states, “and it is rising most sharply in Africa, where more people are killed for their Christian faith than anywhere else in the world.”

For the 14th straight year, North Korea tops the list as the most dangerous place to be a Christian, followed by Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Eritrea and Yemen.

While killings of Christians in Nigeria saw a dramatic increase of more than 62 percent in 2016, the most violent nation is now Pakistan, which climbed to No. 4 on the list for a level of anti-Christian violence “exceeding even northern Nigeria.”

Last Easter Sunday, an Islamist terror group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban carried out a suicide bombing in Lahore, Pakistan, killing more than 70 children and adults. “The target was Christians,” said a spokesman for the group, adding that the jihadists wanted to send a message to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif “that we have entered Lahore.”"

So in spite of the very real horrors muslims inflict upon litterally millions of non-muslims, ESPECIALLY Christians, our totally gone berserk politicians grant ever more building licences for mosques, donate or offer for discount prices ever more grounds for them, and help finance ever more construction schemes for these headquarters from which the death of our continent as we know it will be planned and executed.

Our politicans actually deserve to be shot. From the Canadian Parliament to the UN they debate and pass laws and regulations against 'islamophobia'... meanwhile, out there, in the real world, not a day goes by during which several hundred Christians aren't murdered by muslims... without that being a problem for the construction of yet more, and more, and MORE mosques.

It's insane.



MFBB.

NEW YEARS EVE IN MALMO, SWEDEN: "JIHAD! JIHAD!"

Via Express:





A Norwegian MP from the Progress Party, which, contrary to what you would think, is center-right, had this to say:





Islam to a country is what CANCER is to a body.


MFBB.

SATURDAY NIGHT THE STYLE COUNCIL, THERAPY?

The Style Council with Shout to the top. It was released as a single in 1984, but you can also find it on the deluxe edition of their 1985 album Our Favourite Shop.





Short lived (1983-1986) pop/soul collective around Paul Weller and Mick Talbot. I always found it a bit weird that a formerly "angry young man" like Paul Weller, some kind of a punker previously (The Jam), would engage in a moody experiment like The Style Council. But the band did produce some songs worth listening to.



Therapy? with Bad Mother. Album Infernal Love (1995).





Therapy?, an alternative metal band around guitarist–vocalist Andy Cairns and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing, formed in 1989 in Larne, Northern Ireland. To my surprise, I found out they are still around.


Goede nacht.


MFBB.

A LOT OF FAKE NEWS ABOUT ESTEBAN SANTIAGO.

If you are a gullible Belgian, this is your coverage on Florida's Ft Lauderdale Airport shooting by 26-year old Esteban Santiago: "About possible motives nothing is known".

Yeah right. Other DS articles don't fail to mention that he was "mentally disturbed". I don't know how it is with you, but especially since 2016 it strikes me how many gunmen turn out to be muslims and "mentally disturbed".

The Gateway Pundit and Infowars report however, that Esteban Santiago lived in Anchorage, within walking distance of


The building in question is on the islamic community center of Anchorage Alaska (ICCAA) simply referred to as "Alaska Masjid", and it's address is:


Spring St. & E 80th Ave
Anchorage,AK 99518
United States





Yeah yeah yeah we shouldn't jump to conclusions right, but what about this? Esteban Santiago would have shown jihadist tendencies via his Twitter account, as early as 2007. And lookie look how CNN decided to post his picture:




That's the raised index finger, the ISIS salute. It refers but refers to the first part of the shahada, which is the affirmation of muslim faith, to be recited before every prayer.

So what is Esteban Santiago doing in that photo? Giving us a FU? Or affirming that "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet"? When was it taken?

One thing is certain: Esteban Santiago, despite his name, did not kill on behalf on Catholics. And certainly not wearing a keffiyeh like that.

As this story develops, count on MSM to bury it under six feet of that cold, white global warming powder if it turns out Esteban Santiago converted to the religion of pieces.



MFBB.

RECOMMENDED READS: GIULIO MEOTTI'S "CHRISTIAN CLERGY WELCOMES ISLAM IN CHURCH, THEN BOW TO IT."

A downright depressing article over at The Gatestone Institute, by Giulio Meotti:

"There is a disturbing and growing trend in Italy and Europe.

For the first time in more than 700 years, Islamic songs resonated in Florence's Cathedral, the Church Santa Maria del Fiore. Under the famous Dome of Brunelleschi, Islamic melodies accompanied Christian ones. The "interfaith initiative" was promoted a week after the barbaric massacre by Islamist terrorists in Paris at the magazine Charlie Hebdo, and included "Koran is Justice" and other such "hymns".

A priest in the south of Italy then enraged parishioners by dressing the Virgin Mary in a Muslim burqa for his church's Christmas nativity scene. The pastor of the parish of Saints Joachim and Anne in Potenza, Father Franco Corbo, said that he had the special crèche constructed "in the name of dialogue among religions". These interfaith initiatives are based on the gradual elimination of the Western-Christian heritage in favor of Islam.

Another priest in Italy also eliminated the Christmas nativity scene at the local cemetery because "it could offend Muslims". Father Sante Braggiè said there would be no crib in the cemetery in the northern city of Cremona because it may anger people of others faiths or people whose relatives are not buried there:

"A small corner of the cemetery is reserved for Muslim graves. A crib positioned within sight of them could be seen as a lack of respect for followers of other faiths, hurt the sensibilities of Muslims, as well as Indians and even atheists".

In Rebbio, the Italian parish church of St. Martin was preparing the end of Mass. Suddenly a veiled woman, Nour Fayad, took the floor and read the verses of the Koran which announce the birth of Christ. The initiative was intended by the priest, Don Giusto della Valle, as "a gesture of dialogue".

In Rozano, near Milan, headmaster Marco Parma, then scrapped his school's Christmas carol concert: he decided to ban traditional festivities at Garofani school, "to cause no offence".

In July, for the first time during a Mass in Italy, a verse of the Koran was recited from the altar. It happened in the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome, during a ceremony in memory of Father Jacques Hamel, who was slaughtered by ISIS terrorists in France. While Catholics recited the Creed, a delegate of the mosque of al Azhar Mosque in Cairo softly repeated an "Islamic prayer for peace"."

At La Stampa, you can find a video of the surreal event:





Here is a still:





Can you imagine fanatical Christians entering some mosque in, say, Egypt, slitting the imam's throat in front of those attending a service, and then the highest islamic authorities asking a Coptic Bishop to deliver a prayer in Cairo's al-Azhar mosque?

Of course you can't.

But the same thing is apparently possible when it's the other way round.

"...The Catholic clergy is probably disoriented by Pope Francis himself, who was the first to allow the reading of Islamic prayers and Koran readings from the world's most important Catholic facility. It happened when Pope Francis met with late Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Vatican City, a gathering designed "to pray for Middle Eastern peace".

Since he was elected Pontiff, Francis has spent a lot of time in mosques. He has visited many Islamic places of worship abroad, as in Turkey and in the Central African Republic, but he was also willing to become the first Pope to visit the Grand Mosque in Rome.

When it comes to Islam, the Pope embraces religious relativism. He repeated that Islamist violence is the work of "a small group of fundamentalists" who, according to him, have nothing to do with Islam. When asked why he did not speak of Islamic violence, the Pope replied, "If I speak of Islamic violence, I must speak of Catholic violence", even though one would be hard-pressed at this time to find any priests, nuns or other Catholics planting bombs anyplace in the name of Jesus Christ.

This trend goes beyond Italy. In the UK, Bishop Harries suggested that Prince Charles's coronation service should open with a reading from the Koran. In the US, more than 50 churches, including the Washington National Cathedral, hold Koran readings. The head of the Protestant Church in Germany, Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, has also called for Islam to be taught in state schools. Is there any reading of the Christian liturgy in the mosques?"

Mr Meotti did not mention my country, but basically it's no different here. Last Christmas, on the private TV broadcaster VTM, Belgium's top catholic, Cardinal Jozef De Kesel, forcefully argued for "integratin islam in our culture".

I really, really don't know where the good Cardinal spent the last fifteen years or so, but I find it hard to believe it was here on Planet Earth. In the time slot allotted to him on VTM, scores of Christians were murdered by muslims all across the world. And not necessarily by IS, AQ or Boko Haram. Just as well by mainstream islam Cardinal De Kesel would love so much to have it integrated here.

Absolute madness.

And food for thought also.

Much, much has been said about our islam-whoring politicians, celebs, teachers, media bigshots and what not.

But so far, the Christian Clergy has managed to escape scrutiny, despite an abject failure to stand up for our faith.

It is about time that should change.

False priests should be held accountable.


MFBB.

AULNAY, FRANCE: PEUGEOT PLANT HAD TO CLOSE IN 2013 BECAUSE MUSLIM "WORKERS" CONSTANTLY INTERRUPTED CHAIN FOR PRAYERS.

Via Express, January 5, 2017:

"Peugeot car plant closed as Muslim workers took 'too many prayer breaks', claims official

THE head of the France's centre-right Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) political party, Jean-Christophe Lagarde, has claimed a PSA Peugeot Citroen car plant had to close because it had hired too many "unproductive" Muslim employees.

By ROMINA MCGUINNESS
PUBLISHED: 06:01, Thu, Jan 5, 2017 | UPDATED: 08:46, Thu, Jan 5, 2017


The hardline centrist, who is also deputy mayor of Drancy, a suburb northeast of Paris, said that the carmaker's Aulnay plant, which closed in 2013, had been forced to shut its doors because of "problems arising from never-ending religious demands by Muslim employees".

He said: "The Aulnay site closed because Muslim employees were constantly taking unscheduled prayer breaks and had become unproductive. It's the truth. A Peugeot official told me that it was one - but obviously not the only - of the reasons the plant was shut down."

The shocking claims were made in French newspaper France Info."

And what do you think the laid off muslim 'workers' do now, huh, after such a stellar job producing fine Peugeot cars? Why, live off welfare of course!


One should however not be too quick to bestow on Mr Lagarde the honor of whistle-blower. Because like far too many Frenchmen and -women, he, too, could be counted upon to do things reliably dead wrong at each and every occasion, and then some. As Riposte Laique reports:

« La religion n’a rien à faire au travail », a déclaré M. Lagarde, lui qui admettait pourtant dans le Parisien du 6 septembre 2008 avoir sciemment trompé ses électeurs en finançant la construction d’une salle municipale transformée en mosquée pour la coquette somme de 1,8 million d’euros. Il assumait son choix d’utiliser les fonds publics en douce : « oui, je vous ai volontairement caché que ce serait une mosquée. […] Et aujourd’hui, tout prouve que j’avais raison de le faire. Contrairement à tous ces maires qui annoncent dans les médias qu’ils veulent une mosquée, moi, je l’ai. Je n’ai pas voulu l’annoncer à la population car cela aurait forcément créé des tensions ».

Translation:

"Religion's got no place on the job", declared Mr. Lagarde, he who nevertheless admitted in the 'Le Parisien' newspaper, edition 6 September 2008, to have deliberately fooled his electorate by financing the reconversion of a municipal hall into a mosque for the neat sum of 1.8 million EUR. He candidly explained his decision to use public funding the way he did as follows: 'Yes, I deliberately did not tell you that it would be a mosque. [...] And today, everything proves that I had reason to do so. Unlike all those mayors who announce in the media that they want a mosque, I, I did it. I did not want to announce it to the broader population because that would have caused tensions."

That was in 2008. We are now 2017. I wonder if the good mayor still thinks secretly using public money, coughed up by infidels, to build a mosque is such a swell idea. I am not a mayor, nor will I ever be, but at least 4 years PRIOR to Mr Lagarde's building a mosque, i.e. in 2004, I was warning on these very pages against the horrible dangers that islamization poses for our continent.

Also per Riposte Laique, a picture of a muslim calendar as used in another Peugeot plant, this one at Poissy, to the northwest of Paris. Notice how integrated the muslim 'workers' are: five years ago, for them it was the year 1433-1434 (post ole Mo).





Of course, they did not live in 1433-1434 aka 2012. Not even close. Like today they don't live in 1438-1439.

They live in the 7th century (our count).

And we have NO USE for assholes like that.


MFBB.

MULTICULTI INSANITY ON FULL DISPLAY IN ZWOLLE, THE NETHERLANDS: SCHOOLCHILDREN FORCED TO PRAY IN MOSQUE.

A couple of days ago, our Waffenbruder at PI News ran the story of young schoolchildren (6 and 7 years old) in the Dutch town of Zwolle being forced, per some insane cultural outreach educational guideline, to pray in a mosque:





Videos disappear after a while, so here's a still:




The prayerhouse in question has been identified as the Ghulzar e Madina mosque:





It is heartbreaking to see those kneeling, grinning idiots of teachers, genuine Dutch women no less, gullibly participating in a scheme that will ultimately condemn their female pupils to a sad life between four walls, subjected to the whims of their muslim husbands. EVERYWHERE on the planet where the gruesome cult of islam rules, women are less than men - yet here we are, in The Netherlands, famous for its enthusiastic embrace of libertine lifestyles. Here we are, in a Pakistani mosque in Dutch-as-can-be Zwolle, capital city of the Province of Overijssel, and OF COURSE the countless stupid multiculti idiots swallow the oh so cute let's-get-together-and-sing-kumbaya stories of the mosque's chairman Hadjie R. Rodjan...

... yet at his mosque a well-known hate preacher like Anas Noorani Siddiqui is regularly invited. Below is a screenshot from the local newspaper De Stentor, January 12,2016 edition, with the caption:


"RADICAL IMAM POPS UP IN ZWOLLE:"




At the time, Dutch pundit site GeenStijl (literally NoStyle) reported on the event:

"The chairman of Zwolle's Ghulzar e Madina mosque, Hadjie R. Rodjan, suddenly pretends his nose is bleeding, like, you know, Siddiqui was some kind of natural disaster his mosque was incapable of avoiding: "The radical muslim leader Mohammed Anas Noorani Siddiqui from Pakistan on Saturday visited the Ghulzar e Madina mosque in Zwolle, against the will of the local mosque committee". "I do not want our mosque being associated with what is being pretended or written about him".

Classic muslim double tongue speak, and succesfully delivered. Because at first sight, Rodjan seems to acknowledge that a guy like Anas Siddiqui, who advocates the death penalty for those who insult mohammed (piss be upon him), and who endorsed an Osama Bin Laden fatwa, is a big no-no...

... yet in the same breath he does "not want our mosque being associated with what is being pretended or written about him".

Got that? He does NOT say he doesn't want his mosque to be associated with Mohammed Anas Siddiqui. He says he doesn't want his mosque being associated with what others are saying about Mohammed Anas Siddiqui. A world of difference!

Anyway, was it a hapless screwup then, Siddiqui suddenly popping up in Ghulzar e Madina? Oh no. It turns out he was there in January 2015 as well:





And here is a screenshot from the mosque's Facebook page re the very same 2015 event:





So what we've got here is Hadjie R. Rodjan, a lying son of a bitch of a mosque chairman, who has no qualms inviting hatebeard asshole Mohammed Anas Noorani Siddiqui to speak in his mosque AS LONG AS THE IDIOT INFIDELS FAIL TO NOTICE...

... and then, WHEN THEY DO, suddenly doesn't know the guy, and is embarrassed he's come to say howdy - "uninvited" no less, how come???. Rodjan LITTERALLY says "We waren verrast. Eigenlijk was zijn aanwezigheid ongewenst." ["We were surprised. Actually his presence was not wanted." - MFBB]. And naturally he doesn't want his good mosque to be associated with him, erm, no, associated with what others say about him. Sort of. Whatever. Good enough for you, that smoke curtain?


But Rodjan DOES KNOW Siddiqui.

He knows him very well, in fact.

Why, it was Siddiqui senior who laid the first stone when the Ghulzar e Madina mosque's construction began, in the late eighties! From Zwolle's website:





That's how far The Netherlands has come. Geert Wilders is being convicted and fined before a Dutch court for asking whether the Dutch want less Moroccans, even though government reports state unequivocally that A FULL 65 PER CENT (65%) of Moroccan youths between 12 en 23 is known to police, that a third of this group has been arrested at least 5 times, and that Moroccans are four times as likely as autochton Dutchmen to be convicted. A staggering 44 per cent of Moroccans in The Netherlands favors fundamentalist islam, and 80 per cent of the Dutch jihadists belong to the Moroccan part of Dutch muslims.

But a Pakistani hatebeard who hearts Osama Bin Laden and who publicly advocates that those who mock ole Mo' should be killed can roam the land of tulips, windmills and wooden shoes at will. Thanks but no thanks, red and green assholes.



MFBB.


PS: Many thanks for all the research to GeenStijl.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO: THE REBEL MEDIA'S FAITH GOLDY ON ISLAM AND THE CRUSADES.

The New Year is not even 24 hours old, and the Religion of Piss, Genetic Defects and Pederasty has struck again, this time in a nightclub in Istanbul.

The Rebel Media's Faith Goldy teaches the idiots who point to some bloody (or supposedly bloody) chapters in Christendom's history as a means to rationalize islam's neverending killing spree, a lesson:





Spot on. If you know people in your neighborhood, circle or whatever who still hold the gullible view that the Crusades are "proof" that Christianity is just as violent as islam, pass this video on.


MFBB.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017!!!

As per usual, DowneastBlog wishes its readers of good will the very best for the New Year!!!





Wherever you hail from - and God knows that's from far and wide - stay safe, stay sound, and have lots of fun! And thanks for tuning in!



MFBB.

FAREWELL TO LUKASZ URBAN.

A country is measured by how it honors its heroes.

Watch the video below showing truckers and drivers in a neverending procession from the German-Polish border to Lukasz Urban's hometown Banie near Szczecin, where he was buried on December 30. The highest ranking officials, including Polish President Buda, were present.





Only over his dead body was the worthless piece of shit, the muslim terrorist Anis Amri, able to take control of Lukasz's truck.

As long as we have Poland, Europe is not lost yet.

Rest in peace Lukasz, we will pray for you, your family and all your loved ones.



MFBB.

A SCHOOL IN HUDDERSFIELD, UK: A STUDY IN MICROCOSM OF POPULATION REPLACEMENT.

Huddershield is a small town in England's north, roughly between Leeds, Manchester et Sheffield.

The following photo comparison, courtesy François Desouche, speaks bookmarks about the stark and horrible reality of Population Replacement in Europe:





A Huddersfield class in 1950, and one in 2016. I don't know what is more sad: the disappearance of Europe's indigenous population, or the gullible smiles of the idiot white teachers, happy to assist in cultural and ethnic harakiri.

The biggest share of the blame lies with the Left, of course. It is they who have been championing our demise from the start. It is they who opened the sluices to let the waves of backward Third Worlders in.

But I reserve the right to lay part of the blame also with the Europeans themselves.

What on Earth is WRONG, oh so dead WRONG with my "fellow" Europeans that they cannot seem to find the will anymore to do what Man's most essential, impulses dicate: PROCREATE. Make the species last.

I'm sick and tired of the defeatism and the irresponsibility and the boundless consumerism and the ubiquitous 'Après nous le déluge' attitude.

I'm sick and tired of coming across acquaintances and friends who have deliberately chosen not to have children.

Some samples from my circle:

* B.D. and his brother J., the former, at age 49, still living at his parent's house: I don't think they are gay, it's not that they are borderline ugly or whatever, yet I've never known them to even check out girls.
* many, many couples with one or at the very most two kids who, upon my enquiring whether there will be a number three, express horror at the thought. Imagine!
* many girls, even pretty hot ones, who have deliberately chosen the single lifestyle
* of my three siblings, only one has kids also (two)
* of my mother's sister's three children, only one has kids (two also)
* of my three best friends, one is gay, and one has chosen to live with a divorced woman thirteen years his senior: no kids on both fronts.

I could go on and on, but I simply don't have the heart anymore. I'm being bludgeoned day after day by experiences that leave me utterly depressed. Like, e.g., attending family parties where our meager offspring, my two kids and my sister's two, are the only young persons in a huge bunch of otherwise middle aged and old people.

Personally, I would have liked to have three kids. Unfortunately, circumstances dictated otherwise: first my wife was against, then cancer struck. My final chemiotherapy made me sterile.

It's more than a bit weird to find out that I seem to be so isolated to notice our ongoing decline. I live in a society where idiots take to the streets to champion abortion as if it is the zenith of morality, and where progressive politicians try to include ever more categories on tailor made euthanasia legislation. Fools not only in the socialist and green parties, but also in centrist and supposedly center-right ones, scream from the rooftops that Mother Earth has to be saved and holler forever about maintaining biodiversity, all the while not seeming to notice there's one kind of biodiversity that's dwindling fast: Whites. Never have I known the outright propaganda for gay lifestyles being stronger: whenever you open a tabloid or even a 'respectable' newspaper, whenever you so much as glance at a soap, there's always gay celebs and characters involved and please, don't get me wrong: I DON'T hate gay people. It's just that I find it utterly incomprehensible why a way of life that produces no offspring has to be celebrated in a time and age where we are litterally dying out.

At the end of the day, I'm left with one question: how is it possible that I have remained immune from all the madness?


MFBB.

THE ROAD TO MARS: PER DIRECT, OR VIA THE MARS MOONS?

Dr. Robert Zubrin, aerospace engineer and President of the Mars Society and Pioneer Astronautics, makes the case for Mars Exploration, trashing the arguments of some unimaginative LA Times editors (of course they are LA Times editors):

"... In fact, not only do the cosmic ray alarmists lack foundation for their claims, we have direct contrary evidence. As a result of extensive stays onboard the International Space Station or Mir, about a dozen astronauts and cosmonauts have already experienced cosmic day doses comparable to a Mars journey, and there have been no radiological casualties. This is not surprising, since, on the basis of extensive radiation health knowledge, the radiation doses and dose rates involved pose no threat whatsoever of short-term effects, and at most about a 1 percent increase in statistical risk of contracting cancer at sometime later in life.

The authors are on somewhat firmer ground when they talk about the dangers of extended exposure to zero gravity, as there have in fact been harmful effects, including thinning of bones and weakening of muscles, observed. However, it must be noted that literally scores of astronauts and cosmonauts taking six-month tours (an equal duration to that required for flight from Earth to Mars using current propulsion) have survived such exposures. Moreover, a countermeasure -- artificial gravity produced by spinning the spacecraft -- that would eliminate all such effects is readily available.

Ignoring these facts, Wohlforth and Hendrix say that “space propulsion would need a giant technical leap to make a Mars roundtrip in a safe period of 150 days.” They then pile on further impossibilities by saying that the goal should really be not Mars at all, but Saturn’s moon Titan, which is not only ultra cold and ultra dark, but ten times further away than the Red Planet.

Engineering is the art of making the impossible possible. Those who seek to make the possible seem impossible are members of a very different profession. Americans should not allow their horizons to be constrained by such defeatists.

Mars – the new world of our time – is within reach. It holds the key to the truth about the potential prevalence and diversity of life in the universe. It is the bracing challenge that will draw millions of our youth into science and engineering, with vast benefits to our society as a result. But more than that, it is the first step into an open frontier, offering an unlimited future for humanity.

The effort to get there won’t be free of either risk or cost. But from a technical point of view, we are much closer today to being able to send humans to the Red Planet than we were to being able to send men to the Moon in 1961, and we were there eight years later. For us to accept claims that we can no longer do such things is to accept the idea that we have become less than the kind of people we used to be.

And that is the one thing that this country cannot afford."

An alternative scenario is offered by Fred Singer, emeritus Professor at the University of Virginia and director of the Science & Environmental Policy Project. Singer advocates setting up a base on Deimos, one of Mars' two moons, first. He has coined this approach the PH-D project, from the two moons' names, Phobos and Deimos. Phobos, which measures about 27 × 22 × 18 km, is closest to Mars, orbiting only 6,000 kilometers above the planet's surface. Deimos, at about 15 × 12.2 × 11 km, is the smallest of the two, is also far more irregular, and orbits at about 23,460 kilometers.

This is a scenario also championed by others, such as Buzz Aldrin, 2nd man on the Moon, or Lockheed Martin Space Systems:

"... The PH-D project is basically a manned transfer from Earth orbit to Mars orbit, taking about six months; there don’t seem to be any showstoppers at all. A rough calculation has convinced me that ordinary chemical propulsion is quite sufficient -- no need for any exotic schemes that require lengthy development. Any simple fuel, like kerosene, suffices, and any of the available oxidizers can do the job. No special rocket engine is needed; existing ones will do -–as explained below. And propulsion is surprisingly cheap -- only a few percent of the total project cost; more than 95% of the cost is engineering and design -- and the US has many well- qualified engineers.

Electric power -- again no problem. Of course, solar photo-voltaic becomes more difficult at Mars distance, where solar energy is less than half that at Earth orbit. But the Russians have space-tested nuclear reactors, and units are available for purchase. I estimate that 100 kilowatts should do nicely and would even provide an adequate reserve of power.

Other issues, relating to maintenance and life support of astronauts, present no problems either; they have been mostly solved in the International Space Station. As in the ISS, one would recycle liquid waste, but not solid waste. With cheap propulsion and essentially unlimited payload, one simply carries more food and water. The same argument applies to maintaining a healthy breathing atmosphere.

Radiation is usually cited as the major health risk; but propellants turn out to be the most effective shield, especially against heavily ionizing particles of the incident galactic cosmic radiation -- GCR. Once the astronauts set up their base on Deimos, the preferred destination, they can construct also a more permanent shelter against the omni-directional cosmic rays, the unidirectional meteor showers, and the occasional solar eruptions that can lead to penetrating particle radiation. Note that none of that protection is present in the ISS, but Deimos itself provides shielding against unidirectional radiation; it is only necessary to move to the opposite side.

Absence of gravity can lead to long-term health problems. The answer here, as in the ISS, is regular exercise, aided by artificial gravity from a centrifuge; such a scheme should be tested in the ISS.

Scenario of Deimos Base

Assemble propellants in low-earth orbit -- LEO; then send to Deimos as “slow freight” – including a nuclear reactor, spare habitat, spare rocket engine, penetrators and rover vehicles equipped for return of samples; release penetrators that will provide also seismic data, and some rovers while underway to Mars. Send one habitat, two rovers and some of the propellant to Phobos -- for use on the later sortie to Phobos and Mars surface.

Test the habitat-lab while in LEO with 5 astronauts aboard; then send them to Deimos on a “fast express” trajectory. Upon arrival, shield and activate the reactor; surround the habitat-lab with rocket propellants to provide additional shielding; set up a GPS system and weather satellites for Mars.

Start sample-return program, analyzing initial samples -- and call for follow-up samples from different Martian locations or different depths, based on the initial analyses– all the while consulting with experts on Earth.

Sortie to Phobos and Mars Surface

Two astronauts depart for Phobos and meet two rovers, collect samples of regolith and deeper, and send them back to Deimos base, then move on for a powered landing on a preselected Mars site, meet rover vehicle there, collect samples, set up an experimental equipment, and then take off for return to Phobos and thence to Deimos base. Note that take-off from Mars requires only our small rocket -- while a direct return to Earth would have required a special, high-thrust rocket, capable of lifting the large propellant load necessary for transit to Earth.

Deimos Base vs Mars Base

There is no question that a Deimos base is easier to set up, much cheaper, safer, and better in all respects than a base on Mars. Besides, it can be accomplished much sooner, perhaps within 10-15 years.

A Mars base does not confer mobility, does not provide a view of the rovers; from Deimos one can view the surface from pole to pole for up to 40 hours. [Deimos is in a near-synchronous orbit, with an orbital period of 30.3 hours, just a little longer than the spin period, 24.7 hours, of the planet.]

On Mars, because of its gravity field, meteor impacts are more frequent and also more energetic; there is interference from Mars’ atmosphere, from winds, and from dust storms—while on Deimos one gets a ‘free’ vacuum, essential for most lab instruments, such as mass spectrometers, electron microscopes, etc..."

Using the Mars moons as a stepping stone seems indeed to be an idea gaining importance. See also this highly interesting slide provided by Michael Gernhardt, NASA astronaut:

Astronauts and Robots 2015: Mike Gernhardt, NASA from American Astronautical Society

Lecture of all this material does seem to indicate that the radiation protection offered by these moons is a key advantage of this approach.


The mere fact that both approaches, Mars per direct or using Deimos and/or Phobos as stepping stones first, are still heavy contenders, is in itself an impediment to getting to work. So if the new administration is serious about its promise to put people on Mars, it better resolve this question first.


MFBB.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO: BILL WHITTLE EXPLAINS THE VALUES OF THE GOP VS THE DEMOCRATS.

The values of the GOP as it should be, anyway. After it's been rinsed clean of RINOs.






MFBB.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2016!!!

Another year has gone by, and it's another Xmas.

Like every year, DowneastBlog wishes its readers of good will heartfelt Merry Christmas!





I just came home from dinner at my mom's house; she had invited our family and my siblings and their families for the yearly supper on the eve of December 25. The company of my sisters and their husbands and their children was pleasant, and the supper absolutely great.

In short, or, as they say in French, "bref", we had a real good time.

So good in fact, that I could not help comparing my blessings to what befalls other people sometimes.


Like Wim D.B., a client whose wife was ten years ago diagnosed with CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), had to stop working two years after that, and was diagnosed with cancer three years ago. Last thing I heard, about one year back, was that she was a little better. Then I came across Wim again last week, and I gullibly asked how S. was doing, and the reply was, "S. died in September".

So that's what Wim and his two young sons had to cope with at the exact same time I was enjoying my meal, prepared by an excellent chef from a small but well known, well regarded restaurant in my hometown.


Then last week I also read an article about a forty-three year old former IT manager, a guy by the name of Erwin Vervaet, who suffers from a extremely rare Multiple Sclerosis variant:





Erwin hails from Mechelen, roughly right between Brussels and Antwerp. Like Wim's wife, he got the diagnosis of his disease ten years ago. Until 2010, he could function more or less in an acceptable way. But since that year it's unstoppably downhill. He's confined to his wheelchair now, has troubles with bladder and eyes, and cannot bear heat. There's no medication for his particular MS-variant, unless...

... well, there seems to be a new therapy, called HSCT, which stands for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. However, since the therapy is still in its infancy, it cannot of course be recognized by RIZIV, the Belgian State Institute for Insurance against Disease and Invalidity, and therefore Erwin would have to cough up the 55,000 EUR needed for the treatment himself.

He's desperate, since he's getting worse day after day. He has therefore set himself a goal: collect the money via crowdfunding formula in a mere 60 days.

So, if you want to make a difference, you can do your little bit HERE.


And two days ago, I learned at another client's home that one of their sons sits in class with a ten year old girl, Femke, who first lost her dad in an accident some four years ago - he was in construction, and reportedly made a deadly fall from a scaffold - and just one week ago lost her mother in a botched operation.

I.... don't want to think what Femke is going thru these days.


Anyway, what I want to say is... for those spared by the sort of calamities listed above, we should count our blessings and be GRATEFUL...

There's a world of hurt out there. In the spirit of Christmas, you might want to help a bit, even if you think it don't mean much, to alleviate the pain of others, to offer a shoulder to cry on, to proffer some financial help.

It might make a bigger difference than you think.


Nite.



MFBB.

INSANE: NOT ONE BUT TWO IMAMS PRESENT AT MERKEL ATTENDED CHURCH SERVICE TO COMMEMMORATE VICTIMS OF BERLIN TRUCK JIHADI.

Via PI News:

"When a fake Christian like Angela Merkel wants to make a big show by attending a church service, a lousy priest in a run of the mill church won't do. No, an imam has to be trucked in. Even better, two!

Die Welt reports:

"When Angela Merkel entered the church in the afternoon, to sign the Condolences Book, someone in the public called out: "It is you whom we have to thank for this!" A few houers later the Chancellor is in the church again, to attend the remembrance service for the victims and their relatives. At the altar, the priest is in the company of a rabbi and two imams. "We stand here together, because separately we are unable to comprehend this", exclaims Father Martin Germer."

One simply cannot understand this! So a Christmas market is attacked. Right near the Gedaechtniskirche [a famous Berlin landmark - MFBB]. Germans die. A Jewish woman is missing. A presumably Catholic Pole is shot dead and his truck hijacked. And what happens in this clueless country? Two imams standing at the altar! Words fail me..."

Two big thumbs down. One for Monster Merkel who has the NERVE to show up in a church to "mourn" the victims of muslim terrorist Anis Amri - but they are her own victims just as well.

And one for the clueless idiot of a priest, who more than anyone else should KNOW that Christians are the victims of merciless day by day prosecution, harassment, humiliation, torture and discrimination at the hands of MUSLIMS, yet who still needs the support of not one, but TWO representatives of this gruesome death cult "to comprehend better what happened".

In my worst moments, I tend to think that a continent that has degenerated so badly that it is ruled by the likes of Merkel and populated by the likes of that mentally challenged priest, deserves its sad demise.


MFBB.

THE REAL FAKE NEWS.

Because our moral betters cannot comprehend why Trump won over Clinton, they have been searching frantically for reasons ever since. The only venue they did not explore was some serious soul searching, but why go down that path when you can blame it on Russian hacking, James Comey, and, naturally, rightist websites offering "fake news".

Well, in the aftermath of yesterday's horrible attack on Berlin's Breitscheidplatz, where yet another paedophile worshipper allahu akbared a huge truck in a crowd of peaceful Christmas Market shoppers, we all got an (un)healthy dose of "fake news".

How about this, for instance? The BBC shines its light on what happened and it looks like the Polizei will need to ramp up it's prison building schemes for those naughty naughty NAUGHTY eighteen wheelers:


BERLIN BREITSCHEIDPLATZ: LORRY KILLS 12 AT CHRISTMAS MARKET.





Eighteen wheelers having committed serious crimes will from now on face harsh penalties like oil starving, flattening their tubes (with the added benefit that they can't escape - smart!), scratching their sides with rusty monkey wrenches, indecently fondling their private parts over big "maintenance" pits, disconnecting their batteries etc etc etc. Guantanamo will look like Cars 3.0 by comparison.

As the "article" slugs forward, we come across the opinions of some enlightened politicians, who know it so much better than these hateful AfD types and dumb Buerger Pieparsch in the Strasse:

"Was it a terror attack?

German politicians have been unwilling to call the deadly crash a terrorist attack at this stage, while many of the details remain unverified or unclear.

Interior Minister Mr de Maiziere told ARD television: "I don't want to use the word 'attack' yet at the moment, although many things speak for it.

"There is a psychological effect in the whole country of the choice of words here, and we want to be very, very cautious and operate close to the actual investigation results, not with speculation."

Chancellor Angela Merkel has been briefed by the interior minister and the mayor of Berlin, her spokesman Steffen Seibert tweeted.

"We are in mourning for the dead and hope that the many injured can get help," he added.

German President Joachim Gauck said in a statement that Monday was an "awful evening for Berlin and for our country".

Truly helpful, these people.


In Germany itself, a scandalous example of the disgusting practice of burying THE key fact about these murders committed by yet another muslim terrorist is offered below. Hard left daily DIE WELT offers a very, very long winded essay choke full of irrelevant items such as a 1968 Conference in Vienna detailing how truck drivers should at all times retain control over their vehicle, Scania activating the Emergency Braking Systems on its trucks at 15 kloms an hour, diatribes by a MAN (another truck manufacturer) spokesman, new technologies such as radar, swerving away sensors, Tempomats and what not...







You almost have the impression you are reading Trucker Magazine's latest issue! Here, check it out, but I don't have the heart to translate and anyway, translating this garbage which is completely and deliberately diverting attention away from MURDER IN THE NAME OF ALLAH is pointless:

"Zu den schrecklichen Details der Todesfahrt auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt in Berlin will sich der Lkw-Hersteller Scania nicht äußern. Der Attentäter nutzte einen Lastkraftwagen des Unternehmens, der vermutlich auch mit diversen Fahrerassistenzsystemen ausgestattet ist – womöglich auch mit einem Notbremssystem. Diese technischen Hilfsmittel folgen bislang aber unabhängig vom jeweiligen Hersteller alle einem schlichten Gesetz: Sie können vom Fahrer überstimmt oder lahmgelegt werden.

Hintergrund für die Formel „Mensch vor Technik“ ist das sogenannte Wiener Abkommen von 1968. Demnach muss ein Fahrer die Kontrolle über sein Fahrzeug haben. Diese internationale Regelung kollidiert aber immer stärker mit neuen Entwicklungen für automatisiertes oder sogar autonomes Fahren. Erst im Herbst gab es dazu auch im Bundestag eine ausführliche Debatte.

Viele Fahrer schalten Sicherheitstechnik aus

Die Logistik- und Lkw-Branche diskutieren untereinander und mit der Politik seit Längerem darüber, ab welchem Baujahr welche Assistenzsysteme zwingend vorgeschrieben sein sollen. Das ändert aber nichts daran, dass sie alle von Menschenhand ausgeschaltet werden können. So sind etwa die Notbremssysteme darauf ausgelegt, dass ein Lkw nicht auf ein Hindernis auffährt, etwa auf ein Stauende auf der Autobahn.

Anzeige

Bei Scania werden diese Notbremssysteme bereits ab einer Geschwindigkeit von 15 Stundenkilometern aktiviert. Doch viele Lkw-Fahrer schalten diese Sicherheitstechnik aus, wie in der Branche zu hören ist. Sie fahren auf der Autobahn häufig sehr dicht auf und werden dann von optischen oder akustischen Vorwarnstufen des Notbremssystems darauf hingewiesen – und das kann auf Dauer anstrengend sein. Wie sich die Systeme konkret ausschalten oder überstimmen lassen, ist von Hersteller zu Hersteller verschieden. Als Beispiel werden etwa ein kraftvoller Tritt auf das Gaspedal, ein sogenannter Kick-down, oder das Betätigen eines Spezialknopfes genannt.

Die Lkw-Hersteller von Mercedes bis Volvo treiben die Entwicklung für Hightech-Lkw mit diversen Assistenzsystemen, Sensoren und Radartechnik wie etwa Spurhaltung, Abbiegeschutz, Tempomat oder automatisches Kolonnenfahren voran. Ein Meilenstein ist dabei das automatisierte Fahren. „Aber es gibt immer auch die Möglichkeit, dass der Fahrer bewusst eine andere Entscheidung trifft“, erklärt ein Sprecher des Lkw-Herstellers MAN.

Lkw lassen sich nur schwer von außen stoppen

Im konkreten Fall der Lkw-Todesfahrt in Berlin werden die weiteren Ermittlungen vermutlich ergeben, dass der Attentäter die Schutzsysteme des Lkw bewusst ausgehebelt hat. Ein Stoppen eines Lkw von außen ist ohne Vorbereitung kurzfristig nicht möglich, sagen Experten..."

A SCANDAL, basically. For such agitprop and deliberate misleading efforts, the author of this "article", Gerhard Hegmann, should be fired right away. And then having the nerve to conclude with "Trucks are not stopped easily". No shit Sherlock! Tell that to the relatives of the dead and wounded, it might be news to them! What an ASSHOLE!!!

But if you thought that enlightening the German public about Tempomats and self-driving trucks would give people a clue about what's at stake here, you might be mistaken. Mr Hegmann's Wanderlust for pointless venues in this horrible story is unsatiable. Why, how about the next item: a reconstruction of...

.... the truck's itinerary through Europe! What a shocker of a header:

"RECONSTRUCTION: IT ALL BEGAN IN TURIN"





No scumbag, it "did not all begin in Turin". It all began in the 7th century in Camelfuckerland on the Arabian Peninsula, where a murderous inhumane pervert by the name of Mohammed started spreading his insane message to kill the unbelievers. THAT's what happened here, a muslim terrorist heeding a 1,400 year old call from a syphilis-ridden leering child molester and ruthless killer.

But of course we don't get to see it that way. Instead, we are treated to the fascinating story of the Polish driver... loading his truck with square steel tubes in Turin. Just about ANYTHING is okay if only Mr Hegmann can avoid the dreaded words "muslim", "jihad", "islamic terrorist":

"Der polnische Fahrer Lukasz Robert U., geboren am 16. Februar 1979, belädt im italienischen Turin seinen Sattelschlepper vom Typ Scania mit 25 Tonnen Vierkantrohren aus Stahl. Diese waren von der ThyssenKrupp Schulte GmbH bestellt worden. Die Lieferung der Rohre sollte plangemäß eigentlich erst am Dienstag erfolgen."

Translation:

"The Polish driver Lukasz Robert U., born on February 16, 1979, loads his Scania truck in Turin, in Italy, with 25 tonnes of Square Steel tubes. These had been ordered by ThyssenKrupp Schulte GmbH. Delivering the steel would, if everything had gone as planned, have taken place on Tuesday..."

Notwithstanding the brave efforts of Lukasz Robert U., who by all accounts, like a Real Pole, died fighting the muslim terrorist, is there any sane person who can explain what the story of ThyssenKrupp Schulte ordering 25 tonnes of steel tubes in Italy has got to do with this latest islamic terror act???

Anybody?

It might help to digest this journalistic garbage if one were able to wield such a steel tube and smash Mr Hegmann's head with it. It might even make a better person of him.

But alas, like it or not, this is the real world. BBC did not write "A truck killed 12 people" in some parallel universe, it really wrote it in our world. And Die WELT really gave us insight in Tempomats and steel tubes from Turin.

Leftists are INSANE.

And the US really dodged a bullet on Nov 9.

No, not a bullet. An artillery shell, rather. This is The Donald adressing the Berlin islamic terror attack:






Upon reading that, I got a distinct "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall" feeling. I guess there's still hope for the US.

As for Europe...

... not so much, reading the tweets from 99 per cent of its politicians. Less than a day has gone by, and it's onwards to the next islamic slaughterfest.



MFBB.

NEW DOCUMENTARY: "HATE SPACES: THE POLITICS OF INTOLERANCE ON CAMPUS".

Miriam Elman over at Legal Insurrection, the blog of William A. Jacobson, Clinical Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, has a film review up on a 70-minute documentary dealing with the rampant and increasing anti-semitism at US universities:

"What’s happening to Jewish and pro-Israel students on many American universities and colleges from coast to coast is horribly ugly. On “hotspot campuses” the problem is only getting worse.

“Hate Spaces: The Politics of Intolerance on Campus”, a new 70 minute documentary recently released by the organization Americans for Peace and Tolerance, chronicles the rampant anti-Israel and anti-Jewish activism prevalent on many of America’s institutions of higher learning..."

Below is a kind of 10-minute 'trailer' by Avi Goldwasser, the executive producer, writer and director of “Hate Spaces: The Politics of Intolerance on Campus”:





For some background, check out this article over at USA Today College, November 3, 2016:

"Jewish students face rising in antisemitism on campus:

Anti-Semitic activity on U.S. campuses continues to be on the rise. A 2016 study conducted by the AMCHA Initiative, an organization that seeks to combat anti-Semitism on college campuses, found the number of incidents involving “the suppression of Jewish students’ freedom of speech and assembly” doubled from last year.

“We’re really concerned for this new year,” said Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, AMCHA’s cofounder and director. “(Anti-Semitic behavior) really tends to completely shut down and obliterate the presence, the opinion and the safe space for one particular group. It’s not a matter of incivility, it’s a matter of intolerance.”

As reported by Newsweek, more than a dozen Jewish student events were violently disrupted this year at schools coast to coast, including Boston University, University of Maryland and University of Florida. And on the University of California campuses, anti-Semitic graffiti reading, “Zionists should be sent to the gas chamber” has appeared on the walls of buildings, and a UCLA student’s impartiality on a judicial board was questioned due to her involvement in the Jewish community..."

The following map details the prevalence of anti-semitic incidents on US campuses:





Hmmm, that map reminds me of another map:





Indeed, as per usual the rise in antisemitism can safely be attributed to our leftist do gooder fellas and self-declared persons of tolerance and diversity. But it's not only them, it's also, possibly foremost:





... our good friends the muslims.


Wherever they roam, they cause trouble, they are a pain in the *ss, they wreak havoc. You should really check out all photos at the end of Elman's article.

Muslims do seem incurable. When will the rest of humanity finally acknowledge the inherently vile nature of islam?



MFBB.

SATURDAY NIGHT PIXIES, THE WATERBOYS.

First Pixies with Cecilia Ann. Album Bossanova (1990).





A sympathetic nod to the surfrock genre.



Then one of those great forgotten numbers, A girl called Johnny by The Waterboys. From the album The Waterboys (1983).





Irish/English/Scotch folk rock band around Mike Scott, formed in 1983. Still around, despite a hiatus from 1993 to 2000.


Good night everybody, and to our Russian friends: Спокойной ночи!



MFBB.

FINAL F-4 PHANTOM FLIGHT ON DEC. 21, HOLLOMAN AFB, NEW MEXICO.

As a kid in the early seventies, I was already aware - and in awe - of that magnificent air superiority fighter known as the F-4 Phantom. Buck Danny comics may have played a role in my fascination, although there's only a couple of albums in that series in which our hero flew the type.

And I recall reading a air mag in the late eighties, celebrating "Thirty Years of Phabulous Phantom". It was a British aeronautical magazine, I still have it somewhere. Anyway, by that time the F-4 was already a grizzled old veteran.

And now, again almost thirty years later, the curtain is finally about to fall: via John Smith over at American Thinker:

"The final flight and retirement ceremony for the venerable F-4 Phantom will be December 21 at Holloman AFB, New Mexico. The Phantom is still in active service at Holloman with Detachment 1 of the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron.

The F-4 first flew in 1958 and set 15 world records for in-flight performance, including an absolute speed record and an absolute altitude record. It first entered active service with the Navy in 1960 and eventually became the frontline fighter not only with the Navy, but also with the Air Force and the Marines.

The Phantom was the fighter plane of the Vietnam generation and was the last U.S. fighter plane flown to achieve Ace status. To my knowledge, it was also the only aircraft to achieve a supersonic gun kill, also while in action over Vietnam. The Phantom was the mainstay of the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy during the Cold War throughout the '70s and early eighties until replaced by F-15s, F-16s in the USAF, and F-14 Tomcats, and F/A 18 Hornets in the Navy. Phantoms also saw action in the Persian Gulf War as reconnaissance aircraft and as the "Wild Weasel," conducting anti-enemy air defense missions. The F-4 was finally removed from its combat role in 1996.

Over its production run, a total of 5,195 were built, making it the most numerous American supersonic military aircraft. Phantoms were also used by eleven other nations, including Israel, where the planes had extensive combat operations in the many Arab-Israeli conflicts. And it was the only aircraft to be used by both the Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels flight demonstration teams."

Godspeed Phantom!


MFBB.

FRANCE'S NO WOMEN ZONES.

A sad development, France's growing number of neighborhoods where women seem to have completely disappeared. Via Gates of Vienna:





More on the catastrophic tidal wave of events that's fundamentally transforming France here. This cannot go on. Something's gonna happen, and it won't be nice.


MFBB.