October 2014 Quadrant Now On Sale

The subscription details for Quadrant magazine (including online access to the magazine, past and present) are at the following link: https://quadrant.org.au/subscribe/
Keith Windschuttle is the editor of Quadrant magazine and Roger Franklin does the honours at Quadrant Online, which can found at this link: http://quadrant.org.au/

Australian PM: "The Islamic State is an apocalyptic death cult."

The cover of Richard Landes' Heaven on Earth (2012)

I could not agree more with this comment by Australian PM Tony Abbott: http://www.news.com.au/national/tony-abbott-says-islamic-state-is-an-apocalyptic-death-cult/story-fncynjr2-1227075281992?from=public_rss

You might be interested to read a review I wrote of Richard Landes' Heaven on Earth: The Varieties of the Millennial Experience (2012), a fascinating book that explores the history of apocalyptic millennialism and its relevance to the French Revolution, Karl Marx's false prophecy, Lenin's dark fantasy and the psychosis of Islamist organisations such as Hamas. https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2011/12/the-millennial-psychosis/

Good Bye Lenin!

The poster for Wolfgang Becker's 2003 movie, Good Bye Lenin!

The follow story is a little less whimsical than Wolfgang Becker's 2003 film, but that might be because it's real: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2014/Sep-29/272341-ukrainian-nationalists-topple-massive-lenin-in-kharkiv.ashx#axzz3EhAxxjWv

Team Australia

The spirit of John Simpson is calling us

It's time to start putting Team Australia back together again:
http://www.news.com.au/national/anzac-day/weve-lost-our-national-identity-says-camp-gallipoli-founder-chris-fox-the-anzacs-will-help-us-find-it/story-fnmewwpe-1227071625830

The Islamic State Advances on Kobani

The latest news is not hopeful, but there is no alternative for the Kurds but to fight to the death against these latter-day Nazis: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Behind-the-lines-The-defense-of-Kobani-376250

President Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi v President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

One man comes to bury the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk: http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/09/25/erdogan-questions-egypt-presidents-legitimacy/

Another man wants to give it new life: http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/09/25/aim-build-new-egypt-al-sisi-un-speech/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DailyNewsEgypt+%28Daily+News+Egypt%29

University Dunces

Courtesy of the September 20, 2014, edition of The Spectator Australia

Here is an amusing read by James McCann. Given his surname, I ought to find out a little more about this young writer: http://www.spectator.co.uk/australia/australia-features/9317132/time-to-cull-this-plague-of-dunces/

Terra Australis

Keith Windschuttle, the editor of Quadrant magazine, has written a measured and insightful essay on the significance of Islamic State sympathisers in Australia. Click this link: http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2014/09/jihadis-next-door/

Kurdish Nationalism vs Islamic State Internationalism

Fighters in the Women's Protection Unit (YPJ)

Here is an interesting article by Jonathan Spyer, At the Kurdistan Front: http://www.meforum.org/4808/at-the-kurdistan-front

The Radical Realism of Barack Obama

In July 2008, the Democratic candidate for the US presidency gave an address at the Brandenburg Gates. As many as 200,000 Berliners came to hear Barack Obama attempt to echo the heroic sentiments of two American leaders who came before him. “Ich bin ein Berliner,” declared President Kennedy back in 1963, throwing his – and America’s – lot in with the freedom-loving citizens of West Berlin. President Reagan, almost a quarter-of-a-century later, took it a step further and spoke for all the people of Berlin, including the unfortunate souls trapped in East Berlin: “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” There were lines in Obama’s speech that very nearly sounded Kennedy-like or Reaganesque: “People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time!” The difference is that both Kennedy and Reagan defied a foreign Leftist adversary keen to defeat America, while Obama exemplifies par excellence a homegrown Leftism that defeats America from within.

Click here to read entire article: http://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2014/09/radical-realism-barack-obama/

US General John Allen to Lead Something or Other Against Islamic State

US General John Allen will be leading the charge of a very light brigade:
http://www.debka.com/article/24271/US-Gen-John-Allen-named-to-lead-coalition-war-on-ISIS-but-allies-deterred-by-Obama%E2%80%99s-ambiguities-

Erdogan vs Internet

It has been a stellar week for Turkey's President Erdogan. First, he refuses to support the campaign against the Islamic State: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Sep-11/270333-turkey-refuses-us-permission-for-combat-missions-against-isis-official.ashx#axzz3DAW76CZi. Next, he commits to censoring the Internet in his country: http://www.goodmorningturkey.com/new-internet-law-problematic-foreign-diplomat-says/

Queen of Aussie Hearts - Salisbury Review, Autumn 2014

The April 2014 Royal Tour of Australia by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was trumpeted by headlines that proclaimed, “Australians gripped by royal fever”. Republican Australians, on the other hand, were left despairing. For Australian advocates of a republic, a declining percentage of the population, the elevated popularity of the young Royal Couple reminds them of the growing futility of their cause. Anti-monarchists pinning their hopes on a renewed republican zeal after the passing of our current monarch cannot help but be disheartened by the enthusiasm in Australia for Prince George of Cambridge, born July 22, 2013. Has Australia’s republican moment come and gone? Back in 1999, it was widely assumed that the referendum on a republic that year would mark the end of monarchy in Australia.

The Horror of the Islamic State

Here is an article by Paula Kweskin on the subject of the Islamic State's policy towards women:  http://www.honordiaries.com/uncategorized/14-year-old-escapes-rape-forced-marriage-isis/

Abbas Rejects Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's Offer

General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi won Egypt's May 2014 presidential election with a massive majority

Here is a fascinating article showing that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi would like to solve the Palestinian problem: http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Israeli-politicians-praise-Sisi-plan-to-give-Palestinians-land-for-a-state-in-Sinai-374745   

Obama: Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

Here is an article at the Debka site that argues President Obama is not serious about defeating the armed forces of Islamic State:  http://www.debka.com/article/24250/Obama%E2%80%99s-plan-for-local-armies-to-fight-IS-under-a-%E2%80%9Ccore-coalition%E2%80%9D-is-unreal-for-lack-of-military-muscle

Romney Recalled

This is an essay I wrote for Quadrant that came out during the 2012 presidential campaign: http://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2012/9/how-obama-is-fashioning-post-america/

An article I wrote about the tragedy of Barack Obama's victory and the defeat of Mitt Romney was published in the January 2013 edition of Quadrant: http://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2013/1-2/barack-obama-v-the-party-of-lincoln/

And here is a recent op-ed written by Mitt Romney for the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mitt-romney-the-world-needs-a-mighty-us-military/2014/09/04/f5234064-342d-11e4-a723-fa3895a25d02_story.html

The Fiendishness of Evil

Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem

There is a new book on Adolf Eichmann. An interesting review of it is in the New York Times. Click on the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/books/book-portrays-eichmann-as-evil-but-not-banal.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Moth-Visible&module=inside-nyt-region&region=inside-nyt-region&WT.nav=inside-nyt-region&_r=1   

One More Reason To Support Ukip

Ukip leader Nigel Farage and Douglas Carswell, a member of the House of Commons (Ukip)

Click on the link to see why: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/EU-threatens-Israel-with-total-ban-of-poultry-unless-it-marks-products-from-settlements-374177