SATURDAY NIGHT STANLEY MYERS, THE CURE.

First Stanley Myers' Cavatina, a 1970 classical guitar piece. It was used by director Michael Cimino as the theme for his 1978 movie The deer hunter.




I did see The deer hunter, and although I acknowledge its value and cult status, I found it an atrocious movie to watch till the end. A bit like 2001, A Space Odyssey. It's there, it's there to stay, you might watch several scenes again, and again, but watching the entire movie a second time in its entirety is out of the question. Cimino's studio bosses will have been grateful, what with The deer hunter costing 15 million dollar and grossing 49 million or so, but IIRC another flick of him, Heaven's Gate, which I never saw, was such a disaster it caused the studio to go bankrupt.


The Cure with Play for Today.




Album Seventeen Seconds. 1980.


Goede nacht.


MFBB.

INSANITY ON FULL DISPLAY: UK'S CAMERON CALLS ISLAM "A RELIGION OF PEACE" AFTER THE SOUSSE, TUNISIA ATTACK THAT LEAVES MANY BRITONS DEAD.

In an mind-boggling display of both apparent insanity and contempt for the feelings of the many Britons among those killed in the Sousse massacre, PM Cameron went on air defending the islamic "faith":




He also said that the West must stop "the poisoning of young minds" by Islamic State and other extremists. You utter incurable FOOL. It's YOUR mind that's poisoned!


For details on the massacre, check out Mail Online:




For the relatives of those killed, take comfort in the knowledge that islam is a religion of peace. Your Prime Minister insists on it!


MFBB.

CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD: SNAPSHOTS OF BELGIUM'S ONGOING SOCIETAL DEGENERATION.

I'm completely f*cked up - company chores are ruining me, but this post's got to be written. To force myself to work it out this night, I'll already publish the raw material.

In Europe, the mechanisms behind the swelling migratory waves can be broken down as follows:

a.) Post-colonialism almost all African countries adopted some form of Afrosocialism. Enthusiastic ideological support by Europe's leftist politicians and "intellectuals", eagerly grasping the opportunity to export the system of which full application in Europe was not realized due to democratic processes, was soon backed up with financial and material support, euphemistically called 'Development Aid'. Sixty years on it can be concluded that African socialism has catastrophically failed. It is true that other factors, often interconnected, have played a (significant) role too: tribalism, endemic corruption, the failure of almost all African politicians to abide by democratic rules, a crippling lack of labor ethic etc. But the basic socialist principles of a centrally guided economy, heavy taxation, protectionism and overregulation, practically ensured the permanent paralysis of African development.

Anno 2015 this translates in massive waves desperately wanting to leave the African inferno. Needless to say, the propaganda war of the left, aimed at making autochton Europeans feel guilty about the developing humanitarian catastrophe by attributing it to colonialism, "unfair" trade, and yes, "racism", does not miss its effect among the cohorts of welfare-seekers in their rickety boats. As a result, rather than contemplating whether their misfortune might not be their own fault, they eagerly accept the left's false narrative, since cloaking oneself in the mantel of a victim is so much easier than self-criticism.


b.) Islam has abundantly proven to be a catastrophic societal model. It is inherently incapable of offering its adherents, nor those who have the misfortune to live as non-muslims under muslim rule, a just society where one has a good shot at fulfilling his dreams and developing his capacities, knowing that there is at least a modicum of certainty with regards to personal safety or the continued possession of own goods. Islam ultimately keeps societies in check on the macroscopic level, while on the individual level it renders its followers into semi-brainless automatons not only incapable of critical thought but also of original, creative thinking. The only way to keep the resulting cauldron of oppressed anger under control is by harsh authoritarian rule. When the political body exercising that rule is challenged by a party matching its strength, even partly, the whole thing goes kaboom - with refugees as one of the results. Of course, even without war there has always been a considerable migration of muslims towards developed countries. But the millions now poised at Europes gates are yet another matter.

Unfortunately, neither those who came before, nor the ones now trying to escape the complete hell that the Middle East is rapidly becoming, are capable of understanding that basic paramount truth: that their very faith and their very islamic lifestyle are exactly what led to their misery, squalor and backwardness in their home countries.


And so millions of depraved Third Worlders, being themselves first and foremost responsible for their abject situation, stand now poised before the walls of "Fortress Europe". But it is a fortress of which the defenses don't mean much, the gates stand wide open, and the guards on top of the walls look the other way. Courtesy, alas, of the left again.



At the surface, it seems as if Europe is capable of absorbing the steady influx of masses of people with incompatible cultures, without either a decent labor ethic, respect for the laws of the land, or intellectual/technical skills. But the sign is on the wall, and the system is cracking. Two stories from Belgium, one from its capital Brussels and one from the northern port city of Antwerp.


The lunatics at De Standaard try to put a positive spin on it in the case of Brussels, and pretend not to know what the reason in the case of Antwerp. Here are two headers from today's articles:


A.) BRUSSELS: "POP. CAPITAL KEEPS GROWING AND GETTING YOUNGER. Three quarters of babies in Brussels have foreign mothers.

"A quarter of young people in Brussels is born in a family where no one has an income resulting from a job. That situation leads to health risks.

African mothers of sub-Saharan origin have caesareans performed twice or even thrice as much as autochton Belgian mothers. The population of Brussels Capital Region keeps growing and getting younger, far more than is the case in Flanders, and becomes also more international. Half of the newborn children in the capital has a non-Belgian mother. Most often it is a woman of Moroccan origin (11.1 per cent), followed by French nationals (4.2 per cent), then Romanian (3.4 per cent) and Polish (3.2 per cent) nationals...."

B.) ANTWERP: "ONE CHILD IN SEVEN BORN IN UNDERPRIVILEGED FAMILY".

"One child in seven or 14.3 per cent of all children born in 2014 in the province of Antwerp saw the light in an underprivileged family, according to Kind en Gezin's yearly report [Child and Family, Flander's best known government agency for children]. In Flanders as a whole the number is 11.4 per cent, or a doubling of the percentage in 2001 (6 per cent). "These numbers prove that we must continue to support families as much as possible" says spokeswoman Leen Du Bois."

Er, no. These numbers prove that by opening Belgium's sluice gates to a million of welfare-seekers, a deliberate manoeuver to block the progress made by Vlaams Belang and dating from the beginning of the century, is having horrible consequences. "Continue to support" these families at the expense of the rapidly diminishing autochtons and their feeble offspring (around 1.37 children per couple in Flanders) will put ever more stress on our social security system until it cracks.

"Whether a child lives in an underprivileged family, is determined by checking the family's monthly income, the educational level of the parents, the children's stimulation level, the parent's labor situation, the living situation and health."

I object to the use of "underprivileged". The term implies that there is a deliberate mechanism that ensures that, say, my kids, are 'privileged' vis-à-vis the children in far too many immigrant families. Belgium is a rich country, even in absolute terms. That wealth is not the result of exploiting others. The effects of Belgium procuring cheaply precious minerals and natural resources in the Congo have long played out. Belgium owes its prosperity to a rather sturdy labor ethic among (as yet) a majority of the working population, and then especially in Flanders (good for over 80 per cent of Belgium's export) and to famously unpretentious entrepreneurs (you know about Belgian chocolate and beer, but did you know about shipping company Exmar, the dredging giant Jan De Nul, or that Besix built the world's tallest tower?). We autochton Belgians work HARD. Far too many of those entering DON'T WANT TO WORK. A truth that is as stark as it is simple.

"In Antwerp the percentage of children born in an underprivileged family is the biggest, followed by Limburg (11.8 per cent), Oost-Vlaanderen (11.6 per cent), West-Vlaanderen (10.3 per cent) and Vlaams Brabant (6.5 per cent). Underprivileged families are a thing of the cities: 53 per cent of the children concerned live in the thirteen central cities. Apart from that, the mother's nationality plays a role: 64 per cent of underprivileged children have a non-Belgian mother. In Antwerp that's even 74.5 per cent."

Again, whose fault is this? ALL traditional parties bear a very heavy responsibility for orchestrating a incredibly lax immigration policy, for pushing the Quick Citizenship Bill through parliament in an undemocratic effort to neutralize the Vlaams Belang, and for deliberately witholding information that proved the correlation of rampant illegal and "legal" immigration and rising crime rates. For DECADES, the VB has warned against the dire consequences of the open door policy, and with every passing day it is becoming clearer that they had been right from the get-go.

"The percentage of children born underprivilegd, is bigger every year, except in West-Vlaanderen (10.3 per cent). We especially see the impact on the rising number of the huge number of births with mothers of non-Belgian origin, says Leen Du Bois."

That 'conclusion' is actually priceless. So madam Du Bois notices that, like, you import hundreds of thousands of sub saharan Africans and 7th century muslims with no noticeable skills whatsoever that might be useful in Belgium's increasingly high-tech labor market and lukewarm (at best) willingness to learn either Flemish or French. So the parents don't find work, not because of racist motives (Thai are doing fine e.g.), but because THEY-SIMPLY-DON'T-HAVE-THE-QUALIFICATIONS. Next thing you know, they stay dirt poor. AND they produce thrice as many kids as native Belgians. Hey, these children grow up in underprivileged families???? HOW COME?????

"We've been working for years at better support for the families", reacts Flemish Minister for the family Jo Vandeurzen. "To that end, we realize the Houses of the Child where every underprivileged family can knock at the door for family support. The Houses of the Child are at the same time an important factor in stimulating learning the language among young foreign children as well as an incentive in kindergarten participation and involvement of the parents in the education".

In other words, your standard PC crap from fellas who should know better PLUS the umpteenth government agency for which the state will have to hire staffers. Simultaneously realizing the left's wet dream of installing the State as the main educator. In Flemish we have a saying: dweilen met de kraan open. Meaning trying to mop up the floor with the faucets still spilling water.



Notice, also, that De Standaard helpfully illustrates the article with a photograph of a white "underprivileged" individual - even though the numbers clearly illustrate that the problem is overwhelmingly a matter for legal and illegal immigrants alike.


Belgium is going to the dogs, and those responsible for the disastrous development, which is picking up steam as we speak, are still in charge and will be for some time yet.


MFBB.

WORLDWIDE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS REACHING ALL-TIME HIGH, WORLD YAWNS.

A chilling summary of the horrifying persecution of Christians raging worldwide, by Raymond Ibrahim over at The Gatestone Institute:

"He could hear from inside his room where he was hiding the gunmen opening doors and inquiring if the people inside were Muslims or Christians.

"The motorbike riders got down from their bike and started beating [Christian journalist] Shamim Masih and... warned him that if he did not stop reporting on Christian issues, they knew his family and home and would teach him and his family a lesson." — Nazir S. Batti, Pakistan Christian Congress Party.

"The city of Mosul alone had 45 churches. Now there is not a single one. The buildings have been destroyed. Four hundred churches have been destroyed in Syria. ... The same is happening in Nigeria, Pakistan, and Northern Africa." — Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia

"What happened to Christians in Iraq and Syria... does not receive Arabic media coverage that befits human beings, whatever their religion." — Hani Naqshabandi, Saudi writer.


Islamic State Slaughters Christian Ethiopians

Just two months after the Islamic State [IS] published a video depicting its members slaughtering 21 Coptic Christians in Libya, on Sunday, April 19, the jihadi Islamic group released another video of more Christians in Libya -- approximately 30 Ethiopians -- disparagingly referred to by an IS spokesman as "worshippers of the cross" -- being butchered for not paying jizya, extortion money demanded of the "People of the Book" who refuse to convert to Islam, according to Koran 9:29.

Some of the Christians were shot execution-style in the back of their heads, the others had their heads carved off, like the Copts before them.

The IS spokesman further addressed "Christians everywhere":

We say to Christians everywhere, the Islamic State will expand, with Allah's permission. And it will reach you even if you are in fortified strongholds. So whoever enters Islam will have security, and whoever accepts the Dhimmah contract [subjugated, third-class treatment and social status] will have security. But whoever refuses will see nothing from us but the edge of a spear. The men will be killed and the children will be enslaved, and their wealth will be taken as booty. This is the judgment of Allah and His Messenger.

In a statement, the Coptic Christian Church of Egypt pointed out that the Ethiopian martyrs, like the 21 Copts before them, were "murdered purely for refusing to renounce their faith."


Al Shabaab Murders 147, Separates Muslims from Christians

On April 2 in Kenya, gunmen from the Somali Islamic group, Al Shabaab -- "the [Islamic] youth" -- stormed Garissa University, singled out Christian students, and murdered them, beheading some. A total of 147 people were killed in the attack -- making this jihad more "spectacular" than the 2013 Al Shabaab attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, which left 67 people dead (then too, Islamic gunmen singled out Christians for slaughter).

Islamic gunmen were careful to separate Christians from Muslims before beginning the carnage, eyewitnesses said. (While Kenya is 83% Christian, it still has an 11% Muslim minority.) Collins Wetangula, vice chairman of the student union, said he could hear, from inside his room where he was hiding, the gunmen opening doors and inquiring if the people inside were Muslims or Christians. "If you were a Christian you were shot on the spot. With each blast of the gun I thought I was going to die."

Al Shabaab has a long history of singling out Christians from among Muslims for slaughter (here are four examples). Other jihadi groups, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State, also make it a point to select out Christians before slaughtering them -- a fact often omitted by the "mainstream media."





Egyptian Churches under Attack

On April 5, as Coptic Christians were celebrating Palm Sunday, a church was attacked in Alexandria, Egypt. Gunmen in a vehicle opened fire on the church during the night, injuring a police officer and two civilians.

On April 12, Easter Sunday according to the Orthodox calendar, two explosions targeting churches took place in the Zagazig area. One car explosion took place near a Coptic Orthodox church and another bomb exploded near the Evangelical Church in the same area. Although no casualties were reported, large numbers could have easily resulted, based on precedent. For example, on January 1, 2011, as Egypt's Christians ushered in the New Year, car bombs went off near the Two Saints Church in Alexandria, resulting in 23 dead worshippers and dozens critically injured.

Muslims rioted because President Sisi had agreed that Copts could build a church in Al-Our, where 13 of the 21 Christians beheaded by the Islamic State had grown up, and where their families still live. Local Muslims arose in violence soon after Islamic prayers on Friday, April 3. They shouted that they would never allow a church to be built, that "Egypt is Islamic!" By nightfall, Molotov cocktails and stones were thrown at another Coptic church, cars were set ablaze -- including one belonging to a relative of a man decapitated by the Islamic State -- and several people were injured.[1]

A day later, on April 4, Muslims rioted and attacked the Christians of the village of Gala', Samalout district. After waiting for years to repair their dilapidated church (see pictures), local Copts finally received all the proper permits to begin restoration. Soon Coptic homes, businesses and persons were attacked with hurled rocks. Christian-owned farms were destroyed and their crops uprooted. Islamic slogans were constantly shouted, including "There is no god but Allah" and "Islamic! Islamic!"

After waiting for 44 years, the Christians of Nag Shenouda, in the city of Sohag, finally received the necessary permit to build a new church. Muslims rioted and burned down the tent the Christians had erected to worship under. The Christians of Nag Shenouda were forced to celebrate Easter in the street (picture here). When one of them tried to hold a worship service in his home, a Muslim mob attacked him and his household.


More Christian churches attacked


Syria: The Islamic State destroyed at least three churches under its control:

On Easter Sunday, the Islamic State destroyed the Virgin Mary Church -- an Assyrian church built and consecrated in 1934 -- in Tel Nasri, northeast Syria. Tel Nasri, loosely translated as "Christian Hill," is one of the dozens of Assyrian Christian villages along the Khabur river; all were attacked and occupied by the Islamic State in late February (more here and here).

On April 28, the St. Odisho Assyrian Church in Tel Tal, and the St. Rita Tilel Armenian Church in Aleppo, were also destroyed.

Nigeria: A Muslim mob set fire to a church in a Christian village in Nigeria's northern Kano State on April 1. Muslims were searching for a young man in order to kill him; he had renounced Islam and re-converted to Christianity. The mob with machetes also attacked Christian villagers, torched the home of a pastor, and killed one of his daughters. According to a local official, General Dikko:

The church and all the properties were burnt down in the presence of the Christian community despite all pleadings for them to stop the destruction. The arsonists gathered cornstalks and put them inside the church in order to cause greater damage.... We have the right to belong to any religion of our choice and live anywhere in this country. We call on the authorities at all levels to rise up to their responsibilities of protecting lives and properties of every citizen in this country.


Pakistan: Two assailants on motorbikes opened fire on the main gates of a church and Christian school in Lahore; in the crossfire, two passersby were injured.

Malaysia: On Sunday, April 19, a Muslim mob of approximately 50 people rioted and protested against a small Protestant church in the capital of Kuala Lumpur The object of their wrath was the cross atop the building of worship. Members of the mob said that the cross, the central symbol of Christianity, represented "a challenge to Islam" and could "influence the faith of young people." The cross was removed.


More Muslim Slaughter of Christians

High Seas: On April 16, during a recent crossing from Libya, Muslim migrants threw as many as 53 Christians overboard, according to police in Sicily. The reported motive was that the victims "professed the Christian faith while the aggressors were Muslim." Another report said that the reason the Christians were thrown overboard is because a boy was seen praying to the Judeo-Christian God. Muslims commanded him to stop, saying "Here, we only pray to Allah." Eventually the Muslims, in the words of a witness, "went mad," and started screaming, "Allahu Akbar!;" then began hurling Christians into the sea.[2]

Nigeria: "All 276 Christian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 may have been among a group of women slaughtered by Boko Haram last month [March], Nigerian media reported Monday, April 6,"[3] according to a "U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights."

Syria: Islamic rebels fired rockets at a Christian neighborhood in Aleppo on the night of April 10-11. The attack left massive destruction in the eastern section of the predominantly Assyrian and Armenian Sulaymaniyah district. At least 40 people, mostly Assyrians -- including women and children -- were killed. An Assyrian Catholic Cathedral was also shelled, injuring three civilians. "Our Easter feast has turned to grief," a nun in Aleppo said: "Some people woke up to find themselves without a home and others did not see the life died under the rubble because they were victims of violence."

Egypt: A Muslim man repeatedly stabbed a Christian woman with a knife, then threw her body into a canal. The Coptic woman, Gamila Basilious, 48-years-old and married, lived in Minya. According to police reports, the man, Mahmoud Hassan Abdulhamid, came to her door inquiring about her husband. When he discovered her husband was not present, he took advantage of the situation by attacking her with a knife, repeatedly stabbing her neck and chest. As "infidels," Coptic Christians are regularly attacked in Egypt. The attacks include kidnapping, church attacks, and random slaughter.


Islamic Attacks on Christian Freedom: Apostasy, Blasphemy, Proselytization

Uganda: Five Muslim men gang-raped and beat a Christian pastor's 17-year-old daughter. The attacks were reportedly done in "retaliation" for the pastor's refusal to stop Christian worship services in a Muslim-majority region. The girl was approaching the New Hope Church building where her father serves as pastor when she was abducted and taken to nearby bushes by the rapists. In her words:

The five Muslims took hold of me, and they raped me there. I tried to scream, but they threatened to kill me. One of them said, "Your father should stop this prayer meeting of trying to change Muslims to become Christians and close the church building — we have warned him several times.

The suspects fled when church members arrived for an all-night prayer vigil. They rushed her to a local clinic, where she was treated for serious injuries and mental trauma. According to her father, "The girl still has problems communicating. She just says a few words and then keeps quiet. She needs trauma counseling." Earlier, the father had received messages threatening him and demanding he cease holding Christian worship services. One text message said, "Be you informed that we do not want your church in this area. If you continue worship here, then you will live to regret it."

Bangladesh: A Muslim mob attacked a former Muslim and his wife for converting to Christianity. The couple was attacked while coming home after being baptized. The man was slapped across the face by a Muslim imam in front of the convert's two young children. The Islamic mob further broke the fence of the new Christians' family home and said they would chase the "apostates" out of the village for leaving Islam. The man who baptized the couple was also attacked, beaten by the mob at his home, and later lost his job.

Egypt: Gad Yunan, a Coptic Christian teacher, and five of his Coptic students were arrested on the charge of "contempt of religions." Their "crime" was to have made a 30-second video on Yunan's iPhone, poking fun at the Islamic State -- which Egypt's Muslims and authorities apparently equate with making fun of Islam, even as Muslims in the West insist that IS has "nothing to do with Islam." Yunan was "banished" from his village of al-Nasriya in an effort to appease local Muslims; they had reacted to the video with violence, including pelting the homes and businesses of Christians with stones. According to Khamis, Yunan's brother: "I don't see any insulting of Islam in the video. They were joking and making fun of Daesh (the Arabic acronym for IS), not Islam. My brother didn't intend to insult the Islamic religion." [4]

Ethiopia: Gemechu Jorgo and Sheikh Amin -- two men who were distributing Bibles in Ethiopia's Melka Belo region -- were arrested. Islamic law bans the advertisement and dissemination of any religion other than Islam. While imprisoned, both men endured harassment and physical abuse by authorities. At one point, Jorgo reminded District Administrator Jamal Adam of his constitutional right to practice his Christian faith freely. In response, the Muslim administrator used Jorgo's Bible to slap him in the face three times. Amin, formerly a Muslim sheikh and prayer leader of a mosque, is a recent convert to Christianity. While in prison, officials persistently pressured the apostate to renounce Christ and return to Islam. He refused. Both men were eventually released. Ethiopia is a Christian-majority nation, although Muslims make up about one-third of the population.

Uzbekistan: Reports appearing in April told of the harassing, jailing and fining of several Christians for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief. One of the prisoners of conscience -- Council of Churches Baptist Doniyor Akhmedov -- was fined more than three years' official minimum wage after his release from 15 days in jail. Other prisoners of conscience to be jailed for short periods include a Protestant in Bukhara, who received seven days' imprisonment for "illegal" religious activity, and another Protestant, who received 10 days' jail time for "teaching religion illegally." Their identities remain anonymous for fear that they might suffer further reprisals. Nine more Protestants were fined for "illegally storing" Christian literature and materials. Their homes were raided by police, who confiscated Christian books, CDs and DVDs. "Religious minorities face tight scrutiny in Uzbekistan as they are unable to openly practice their beliefs without facing major penalties such as jail terms or heavy fines," Forum 18 News reported.


Dhimmitude: Generic Violence and Hostility against Christians

France: On April 15, 215 Christian gravestones and crosses in the cemetery of Saint-Roch de Castres (Tarn) were damaged and desecrated (pictures here). The man responsible was later arrested. According to the prosecutor, Charlotte Beluet: "The suspect, arrested at 12:45 on Thursday, matches the description given by a witness, a cemetery employee, who came across the man dressed in a white djellaba [Arab/Muslim garb], and followed him... The man repeats Muslim prayers over and over, he drools and cannot be communicated with: his condition has been declared incompatible with preliminary detention." He was hospitalized on the assumption that he is "mentally unbalanced."

Iraq: The Islamic State published pictures of its members destroying Christian tombstones and crosses in cemeteries under its control, including Mosul's oldest Christian cemetery near the Syrian Orthodox Cathedral. IS quoted Islamic scriptures justifying its actions. Several jihadi websites posted these pictures. Some include Islamic State members using sledgehammers to destroy gravestones and efface the crosses carved on them."

A Christian man in Yemen who was crucified for his faith. Are we really living in 2015???


Meanwhile, our political leaders put their fingers in their ears singing nya-nya-nya-can't hear you, the United Nations is (far) more concerned about "islamophobia", and Pope Francis has got no time to be worried about his flock since writing an environmental encyclical is a more pressing issue.

Planet Earth has gone bonkers.


MFFB.