Self-appointed spokesman for 'moderate' Islam apologises for calling Harry a 'thug'

Mohammed Shafiq is the spokesman for the Ramadan Foundation, which purports to represent young, moderate British Muslims. He's been omnipresent in the British media in recent days, condemning Prince Harry for using the word 'Paki' to describe an Asian fellow army officer. In several interviews, however, he apparently forgot that he was supposed to be the voice of reason, and called Harry a "thug". Now, just like Harry, he's apologized.

Shafiq normally does a better job of playing the 'moderation' game - so, for example, he was vocal in his condemnation of Sudan for arresting Gillian Gibbons, the British teacher who allowed her Sudanese pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed. Shafiq has a good feel for mainstream public opinion, and doesn't try to defend the more outrageous behaviour of his co-religionists. But, as I've written in this piece on the Harry row for Pajamas Media, the mask slips when the issues become more nuanced (the article also touches on the double standards of other Muslim 'activists', and the media).

Shafiq has attacked Tony Blair for having the temerity to suggest that some British Muslims should do more to integrate, and the Pope for merely quoting a 14th-century emperor who was critical of Islam. He also criticized the decision to award a knighthood to Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie, on the grounds that Rushdie’s exercising of his right to free speech was offensive to Muslims, and has condemned the publication of The Jewel of Medina, a 'racy' book about the Prophet Mohammed by U.S. author Sherry Jones (I wrote about that row here). Before the Harry story broke Shafiq was accusing the Israelis of behaving like Nazis in their assault on Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

And now the mask has slipped again. Like Harry, Shafiq has discovered the pitfalls of opening your mouth without first engaging your brain.

Brits taking fight to the Taliban

Lost amid the coverage of Israel's assault on Gaza, British troops have been enjoying big successes against the Taliban in Helmand province, capturing four key enemy positions. Around 100 Taliban fighters were killed in the operation, which reached its climax with a battle on Christmas Day.

My brother Steve is in the middle of his six-month tour in Helmand, helping to co-ordinate artillery support for troops in the field from the British base in Musa Qala. He just sent a batch of photos, including this great shot of a US Marines CH-53 Super Stallion taking off from the base in the early morning (double-click for full-size image):

Karmic justice catches up with Somali pirates (and taxi drivers)

From the Telegraph:

Five Somali pirates who released a Saudi supertanker have drowned with their share of a reported £2 million ransom after their escape boat capsized.

Residents and pirates in the Somali port of Haradhere told the Associated Press that the boat, which was carrying eight men, overturned in a storm after dozens of pirates left the Sirius Star following a two-month standoff in the Gulf of Aden.

Three of the eight pirates managed to swim to shore but five were believed to have drowned.

The Telegraph reports that the ransom money was lost at sea, although it's not clear if all the money was lost, or if the three survivors managed to hang on to their share. Either way, karma has apparently has managed to achieve what the world's navies couldn't.

My girlfriend had a similar experience a few weeks back. A taxi driver overcharged her, and when she complained he became abusive and threatened to call the police. My girlfriend, not wanting to make a scene, paid up. The taxi driver drove out of our street, hit a patch of ice and crashed into a bus stop.

Sadly though, he held on to his money.

Israel is right to keep the MSM out of Gaza

My latest piece for Pajamas Media. It's not like there's a news blackout - there's plenty of information coming out of Gaza, much of it in fact skewed against Israel, and the last thing Israel needs is Christiane Amanpour and the rest of the MSM all-stars providing one-sided, context-free, 'infotainment' that focuses almost exclusively on Palestinian suffering.

Make sure you read the rest of the coverage at Pajamas, particularly Victor Davis Hanson.

Media's favourite Gaza doctor is terror-loving fascist

Unbelievable. A Norwegian doctor who is all over the TV news channels pontificating about the suffering of Gazans is a terrorist sympathiser. A regular Che Guevara. And these are the sort of people the world is getting 'impartial' reports from. (Via LGF)

More closing arguments: Obamanomics

Three great pieces on the dangers posed by Obama's economics policies. Just highlights – read them in their entirety if you have time.

From Chicago Boyz: Why isn't Detroit a Paradise?

In 1950, America produced 51% of the GNP for the entire world. Of that production, roughly 70% took place in the eight states surrounding the Great Lakes: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York.

[…]

Yet, a mere 30 years later, by 1980, we called that area the “rustbelt” and it became synonymous with joblessness, collapsing cities, high crime, failing schools and general hopelessness.

What the hell happened?

Obama happened.

Of course, not Obama personally but rather the same ideas that Obama espouses. What those ideas did to the Great Lakes states, they can do to the entire country.

Via Chicago Boyz, at Free Republic: An American businessman's letter to Obama

It's long but powerful. The conclusion:

In short, Mr. Obama, your political philosophies represent everything that is wrong with our country. You represent the culture of government dependence instead of self reliance; Entitlement mentality instead of personal achievement; Penalization of the successful to reward the unmotivated; Political correctness instead of open mindedness and open debate. If you are successful, you may preside over the final transformation of America from being the greatest and most self-reliant culture on earth, to just another country of whiners and wimps, who sit around looking to the government to solve their problems. Like all of western Europe. All countries on the decline. All countries that, because of liberal socialistic mentalities, have a little less to offer mankind every year.

God help us...

David Harsanyi at the Denver Post: If it redistributes like a duck ...

Now, I'm not suggesting Obama intends to transform this nation into 1950s-era Soviet tyranny or that he will possess the power to do so. I'm suggesting Obama is praising and mainstreaming an economic philosophy that has failed to produce a scintilla of fairness or prosperity anywhere on Earth. Ever.

[…]

From 1982 until now, every arrow on nearly every economic growth chart, every health care chart, every chart that matters, points in one general direction — and that's up.

Obama — who, it seems, is running not only for president but also national babysitter/accountant/daddy/icon — ignores this success and claims he can "invest" (will that euphemism ever go away?) and disburse your money more efficiently, smartly and fairly than you can. How could any American accept the absurdity of this position?

Obama and the post-racial illusion

I have a new piece up at Pajamas Media in which I argue that, while it's understandable that some people will be persuaded to vote for Obama because of his skin colour, rather than his policies, an Obama presidency is unlikely to usher in the 'post-racial' era that Americans are being promised, and in fact could have a negative impact on America's black underclass. You can read the piece here.

The piece was inspired in part by a video, embedded below, by a black conservative called 'Zo', which has deservedly become a big hit on YouTube, and has been linked by many conservative blogs. They should have given this guy half an hour of prime-time at the Republican convention, and he deserves to become a star of the Republican Party in the years ahead.

Via the links on his YouTube page I've found some great blogs by black Republicans. Here are a few links, and you can find lots more blogs and resources via these: Zo's blog, Hip Hop Republican, Bob Parks, Rational Black Man and Black Man with a Gun. You might also want to consider donating to the National Black Republican Association. These guys have a lot of guts to go against the 'conventional wisdom' of their peers, the party that's considered their 'natural home', and the narrative spun by the mainstream media, and they deserve the support of all conservatives.

Over to Zo…

VDH: The End of Journalism

Victor Davis Hanson on the US media's wholesale abandonment of journalistic integrity:

The media has succeeded in shielding Barack Obama from journalistic scrutiny. It thereby irrevocably destroyed its own reputation and forfeited the trust that generations of others had so carefully acquired. And it will never again be trusted to offer candid and nonpartisan coverage of presidential candidates.

Worse still, the suicide of both print and electronic journalism has ensured that, should Barack Obama be elected president, the public will only then learn what they should have known far earlier about their commander-in-chief — but in circumstances and from sources they may well regret.

Read the whole thing. I agree with most of what VDH says, but if Obama wins and the Democrats make gains I'm not sure if his prediction of long-term damage to the reputation of the MSM will hold true.

The Democrats will likely bring back the Fairness Doctrine, and pursue other measures to curtail the influence of talk radio, bloggers and other new media outlets, which (along with a few conservative outlets like Fox News and the WSJ) have dared to question Obama's motives, past associations and fitness to be president.

At the same time they'll do everything in their power to prop up the 'old media' that has in effect become an arm of the Democratic party, and which will spend the next four years portraying the Obama presidency as a spectacular success enjoying universal support, whatever the reality.

Closing arguments from Mark Steyn

Mark Steyn has a timely reminder about Obama's utter lack of substance and achievement at National Review:

In Tokyo last week, over a thousand people signed a new petition asking the Japanese government to permit marriages between human beings and cartoon characters. “I am no longer interested in three dimensions. I would even like to become a resident of the two-dimensional world,” explained Taichi Takashita. “Therefore, at the very least, would it be possible to legally authorize marriage with a two-dimensional character?”

Get back to me on that Tuesday night. We’ll know by then whether an entire constitutional republic has decided to contract marriage with a two-dimensional character and to attempt to take up residence in the two-dimensional world.

Read the whole thing.

An exceptional American

A powerful endorsement of McCain from Quin Hillyer at the American Spectator. Here's his conclusion, but do read the whole thing, especially if you're a wavering voter…

So there you have it: John McCain as a patriot firmly rooted in the American traditions of free enterprise, limited government, strong defense, personal accountability, and a decent respect for the cultural standards of the broad middle of the American public. Those are the constituent elements of American exceptionalism -- and to his great credit, John McCain is an American exceptionalist, and an exceptional American.