(Because October 12, 1492 wasn’t the only important October 12th in history.)
If I say “Vienna” what is the first thing you think of?
The Vienna Boys Choir? Apfelstrudel? Mozart? Wiener schnitzel? Vienna sausages?
Do you think about one of the most important battles in world history?
The Siege of Vienna in 1529 was the first attempt by the Ottoman Empire, led by Suleiman the Magnificent, to capture the city of Vienna, Austria. The siege signalled the pinnacle of the Ottoman Empire’s power and the maximum extent of Ottoman expansion in central Europe. Thereafter, 150 years of bitter military tension and reciprocal attacks ensued, culminating in the Battle of Vienna of 1683, which marked the start of the 15-year-long Great Turkish War.
The inability of the Ottomans to capture Vienna in 1529 turned the tide against almost a century of conquest throughout eastern and central Europe. The Ottoman Empire had previously annexed Central Hungary and established a vassal state in Transylvania in the wake of the Battle of Mohács. According to Toynbee, “The failure of the first [siege of Vienna] brought to a standstill the tide of Ottoman conquest which had been flooding up the Danube Valley for a century past.”[6]
There is speculation by some historians that Suleiman’s main objective in 1529 was actually to assert Ottoman control over the whole of Hungary, the western part of which (known as Royal Hungary) was under Habsburg control. The decision to attack Vienna after such a long interval in Suleiman’s European campaign is viewed as an opportunistic manoeuvre after his decisive victory in Hungary. Other scholars theorise that the suppression of Hungary simply marked the prologue to a later, premeditated invasion of Europe.[7]
[…]
More rain fell on 11 October, and with the Ottomans failing to make any breaches in the walls, the prospects for victory began to fade rapidly. In addition, Suleiman was facing critical shortages of supplies such as food and water, while casualties, sickness, and desertions began taking a toll on his army’s ranks. The janissaries began voicing their displeasure at the progression of events, demanding a decision on whether to remain or abandon the siege. The Sultan convened an official council on 12 October to deliberate the matter. It was decided to attempt one final, major assault on Vienna, an “all or nothing” gamble.[16] Extra rewards were offered to the troops. However, this assault was also beaten back as, once again, the arquebuses and long pikes of the defenders prevailed.[17]
On one side were the cruel and oppressive forces of the Holy Roman Empire. On the other side were the misunderstood, peace-loving Muslims of the Ottoman Empire. At stake was control of Europe.
It’s a safe bet that there were people alive in 1529 that were born in the final years of the Byzantine Empire, which was conquered by the Ottomans in 1453. Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which had stood for nearly 1000 years after the Fall of Rome. The Ottomans held onto Constantinople until 1922 when their Empire finally fell apart.
Finally, the Christian Orthodox city of Constantinople was under Ottoman control. When Mehmed II finally entered Constantinople through what is now known as the Topkapi Gate, he immediately rode his horse to the Hagia Sophia, which he ordered to be sacked. He ordered that an imam meet him there in order to chant the Shahada, the Islamic creed which declares belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as God’s prophet”[59] This act transformed the Orthodox cathedral into a Muslim mosque, solidifying Islamic rule in Constantinople.
In the years between 1453 and 1529 the Ottomans pushed farther and farther north through the Balkans, conquering what are now Bulgaria and Hungary.
This is the same period when Portugal looked for a sea route around Africa and Spain explored westward, both trying to reach India. The reason they were doing that was that the Ottomans had effectively closed off the historic land routes eastward.
The Ottomans held onto Constantinople until 1922 when their Empire finally fell apart. That also marked the end of the Islamic Caliphate, which began in 632 A.D.
You should keep all this in mind when some idiot tries to tell you that “ISIS is not Islamic” and “Islam is a peaceful religion.”
Look at that map and notice how many of those names have been in the news lately.
I am reading the first of a trilogy by Ken Follett. the century. the book I am reading is fall of giants. I am at the part where the forces are gathering to start WW1. seems like I am reading about Russia and Crimea today.
one of the things mentioned was the weakness of the Turks, the ottoman empire was in decline held back from modernization by a conservative muslim priesthood.
what is that saying the more things change the more they remain the same
I guess Francis Fukiyama was full of shit about the “End of History.”
I love Ken’s books. 🙂
I call them something else entirely. I don’t really care what they WANT to be called I call them what they are.
I think the most important thing the western world needs to call them is enemy. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus on that yet. Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.
Where are men like Charles the Hammer when you need a real leader?
Ask young people who Charles the Hammer was and they’ll probably say “That rapper dude.”
Either that or if they’ve taken world history in public school lately they might tell you how evil he was, because the mulims are peaceful you know.
A lot of young people think they don’t need to learn anything because they can just look stuff up on Google.
Tru Dat and no need to learn math gotta calculator, roll
No, there’s a need to learn math – which is much more important than becoming a human calculator. Unfortunately, becoming a calculator is what most math education is. I know you’re being funny, but getting hung up on whether kids can do long division by hand is robbing them of time in school where they could be learning more useful things. We don’t teach them how to write with a pen and ink anymore, but that’s how I learned penmanship in 1957. It took hours of classroom instruction, ruined lots of clothing, and while it’s nice I can still do it,it’s not one of my more useful skills.
Kids need to understand basic functions and how to perform those functions with small numbers. They need to be able to count money, pay taxes and balance a budget. But they don’t need to memorize square roots and prime numbers.
They need to be able to read and spell, use proper grammar, write notes and memos by hand, but longhand cursive is no longer relevant. Learning to type/keyboard is more important.
Actually a fellow mom was complaining recently that because her kid doesn’t know cursive and he can’t print fast legibly he was doomed to get low on the Writing section of the SAT
I was sad to see cursive and penmanship no longer required in public schools. It was the only thing I was good at 🙂 I think it was more about teaching the brain than “pretty writing”. Now we’re a nation of fonts.
Charlie Hammer, wasn’t he a mob enforcer? ;P
I though he was a FOX news commentator.
This speaks to the level of respect they have for the office and for the country.
Kim Kardashian West selfie!
LOL
I don’t think you shoukd be feeding them… does not seem safe.
Cool pic though.
Raccoon feces can be very dangerous, and deadly to children.
http://www.gateswildlifecontrol.com/blog/index.php?/archives/6-The-Danger-of-Raccoon-Feces.html
Yikes ! http://audubonportland.org/wcc/urban/raccoons
You should have known they were democrats , they were wearing masks!!
The Winnah!!!!!
You can’t let your cats out now — the raccoons will kill them.
Life is NOT fair I was told and so told my kids that too. Live with it 😀
Somehow the Life is Not Fair memo skipped a couple of generations. We learned it in school, sports and on playgrounds. Flash forward, our HOA couldn’t install swings, monkey bars, a slide or a see-saw in the kids’ park because LIABILITY. So sad 😦
13% of Ebola cases do not get a fever. So much for the added airport screening procedures.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-1012-ebola-fever-20141012-story.html#page=1
Remember Typhoid Mary? How long before they admit there could be a few Ebola Mary’s around? And too bad we can plant a couple of not too sick Ebola carriers right in the middle of ISIS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoid_Mary
I recently looked “Mary” up and found that fascinating and scary. Here’s a pandemic story of my area from the early 19th centure. Like our modern viruses, flu was a terrible thing in those days. What have we learned ?
http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/1918/your_state/southeast/virginia/index.html
Quarantine them all!!! 😡
That would be the logical thing to do.
It just occurred to me, we could plant a couple of Ebola infected female goats and donkeys around ISIS encampments! No need to endanger humans and most animal carriers don’t get sick from Ebola. In fact after seeing those pictures of ISIS fighters and the goats and donkeys that were in the comments last night maybe THAT is how the Ebola epidemic keeps getting loose in the human population in Africa not eating bush meat.
Brilliant! I like how you think!
As our luck with Obama is going, THEN he’ll send the boots on the ground in. 😛
That is why they weren’t at the Dallas press conference 7:30 with the hospital, city, county and state officials. When asked where the CDC was hospital COS said they were busy with other stuff. LOL. They had to come up with spin. “It was her own fault” is going to backfire. The hospital specifically said she followed CDC protocols.
I never bought into the whole fever scan philosophy anyway, but this sure blows a hole through it. As I said, it was folly in my mind anyway since someone could take tylenol or something similar.
Boy the CDC is just getting egg thrown all over their faces aren’t they? Somehow I don’t think the MSM will carry the administrations water on this one. They might for a little while, but I don’t think for long.
I saw a news blip that a doctor from a “hot spot” was waved through without testing at one of Ebola screening airports. He was so upset he contacted the media.
For anyone who follows John Smart’s blog he has a new poll up. Worst two-term President ? And Obama’s NOT winning. I protested Nixon and GWB war policies back in the day, but they were not worse than Obama overall.
Obola is winning now.
Smart said Obama still has two more years so he’s not going to judge him yet? Wonder why he even put him on his poll …. LOL!
Hope is eternal.
this is really weird. just met a lady 5 minutes ago out side my patio visiting from Vienna
New Ebola case from a Texas health worker
That means we have the first ever case of Ebola contracted inside the United States. Yay.
Obama continues being historic.
The state set in motion all of the Ebola protocols being effected today. The CDC director is sending more “resources” today. He blamed the nurse for catching it. What a douchebag. Epidemiologists from the University of Texas Health Science Center are already in Dallas now running the show. Also the state was supposed to wait on CDC confirmation but refused to do so since they are so “slow”. Hoo boy. I don’t think they trust the CDC.
Wait until health care workers go on strike because “universal” precautions aren’t working for shit.
Especially if they are going to be vilified by the CDC and dead people’s families. The hospital has already closed their ER and I doubt if will ever reopen because all they get is grief and blame.
Let me get this straight: The CDC director and Ebola guy’s family are blaming the hospital and staff. What major A-holes. Ebola shouldn’t have reared its ugly head in our country. I wish we could sue Ebola guy’s estate and family.
The CDC director seems qualified:
http://www.cdc.gov/about/leadership/director.htm
He’s still an Obama appointee so wondering (adjusting tinfoil hat) exactly what his “orders” are? He seems to be flailing when we need a little emotional support here.
In Obamanation loyalty to Teh Precious is more important than honesty or competence.
I think the hospital needs to put 24/7 surveillance camera on this patient and those treating her including when they take off their moongear so that if another healthcare worker caring for this nurse gets infected they might be able to see where exactly the protocol is being breached.
Friedan seemed a little rattled at his press conference this morning. I think he realizes that shit is getting real and the spin is going to fail. The way this hospital and its staff has been blamed, defamed, targeted, etc is going to get hosptitals refusing to treat Ebola patients. There is also the issue of insurance. My understanding is that rates are so high for anything Ebola (including hazmat cleanup) that it is will be prohibitive for many to have anything to do with it all. Insurance riders are going out that policies exclude Ebola. Very bad. It will bankrupt any business, individual, etc in this country.
If the Epidemiologists are in control the result won’t be politically correct from a Progressive perspective. While they are consulting them I would like to hear their comments on where the Enterovirus that is killing and paralyzing our children came from because it didn’t come from no where.
A state will have to do it. The CDC is run by PC appointees.
Why do we only have an “acting” Surgeon General now? Hmmmmm? Doesn’t he trump CDC ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeon_General_of_the_United_States
Who was told this by a Libyan Ambassador 200 years ago?
Thomas Jefferson?
Tommy Jefferson?
Ambassador Thomas Jefferson, who was trying to negotiate an end to the Barbary Wars. The US ended up have to kick mussulman ass to end it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-a-rizvi/an-atheist-muslims-perspective-on-the-root-causes-of-islamist-jihadism-and-the-politics-of-islamophobia_b_3159286.html
do not usually bother with huffpo as i really do not like her.
this is what Thomas Jefferson had to say on the root cause of islamist jihadism
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/10/isis-releases-latest-magazine-dabiq-justify-enslavement-of-yazidis/
isis justifies the enslavement of yazidis
read the last line
http://www.bizpacreview.com/2014/10/12/nailed-check-out-conservative-journalist-dogging-pelosi-over-sweetheart-deal-with-dem-mega-donor-151872
OHOH he struck again. I like this guy. he is asking what journalists should ask
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2014/10/12/the-enterovirus-d68-and-president-obamas-executive-order-13295/
interesting. no medical screening at all
By the way, while the peace-loving Muslims were enslaving the crew of ships during the Barbary Wars, the oppressive Catholic Church was arranging ransoms for them.
http://weaselzippers.us/202298-john-mccain-we-need-an-ebola-czar/
McCain needs to retire and spend time with his family
Question: I have two cat beds and four cats. None of the four cats will sleep in either of the beds.
Is there a way to entice them into sleeping in a bed made just for a cat or should I give up?
How’s Catnis handling the new brood ? Need a family photo 🙂 I do think they want to be where you are at this age, put the beds under the computer table and see if they’ll get used to their comfy spots.
Put the beds in separate boxes and loosely close the lids. Also put a crumb from a treat in each box. Put the boxes on the floor in another room. Don’t let them in the room for a day, and then ignore them. Once they discover them, continue to ignore them, but after three days remove the boxes. Done.
sprinkle some cat nip in the cat beds.
” I have two cat beds and four cats. None of the four cats will sleep in either of the beds.”
******
Is this a Common Core match question??? The answer is give up.
Guess where this came from:
Spoony? Or whoever doesn’t know that 41% of the “Republican” criticsm is coming from former Dems and Independents because Obama is a failed leader and a poopy head ?
Play that race card white boy (or girl).
Is it the half-black wannabe all black guy whose name I can’t think of from MSNBC? Torre – Toure Something? It sounds like someone who isn’t too bright but likes to think his ideas are utterly brilliant.
Salon.
Got to be the Onion. Must be a joke. No one is that batshit crazy.
http://www.salon.com/2014/10/12/when_that_cop_killed_michael_brown_and_when_george_zimmerman_killed_trayvon_martin_they_were_killing_barack_obama/
Yep, comedy. Though unintentional comedy.
Put a dirty tee shirt on top of a paper bag–they love that. Btw, the expense of dealing with Ebola should not have to be carried by individual states since the Feds let potential carriers into the country.
So I was wondering what Zombie’s been up to lately and found him/her’s latest expose on the “climate” people 😀 It’s a goody:
http://pjmedia.com/zombie/2014/09/23/climate-movement-drops-mask-admits-communist-agenda/
There is a history of building mosques over churches and synagogues–just read the post
http://weaselzippers.us/202309-ebola-spreading-isis-winning-obama-spends-sunday-on-golf-course/
what else is new? backtrack does not even bother to pretend he gives a damn anymore
Does she understand that that community’s ER is closed now because of asshole shit like she is spewing? Theresidents now get to go about 8 MILES down the interstate to a hospital run by the county that is locally known as the ZOO instead of this nice private hospital ER. The average wait time at the zoo is 6 hours to be seen and on the weekend it is about 11 hours. During a full moon no one is seen but car wrecks and gun shots. Yeah the immigrant community around that terrible hospital will be much better off. Dumbass.
I think that the more important point is that the Black guy with Ebola and his race-baiting friends went to Texas because Blue states suck that hard.
Really a super post, Klown. Thank you. Imma take my iPad and go down to the cafe and READ.
Just as soon as the Packers game ends. (There’s 6 seconds to go.)
OMG!!!!!! The packers just scored w 6 seconds to go and are ahead 27-24 w/3 seconds to go!
Good Ebola rant from Oct 4
http://raconteurreport.blogspot.com/2014/10/do-math.html
I found it when I was looking up how many special biocontainment hospital units there are in the country.
It may not matter if the CDC chief hints mean anything. With no dialysis or respiratory intervention for end stage organ failure any hospital can just lock someone in a closet and wait for them to die. What is so funny is that the CDC chief implied the hospital did too much to try to save his life thus endangering their staff, and Ebola guy’s family is claiming they didn’t do enough which would include a very expensive bio-hazard lifeflight to Nebraska or Georgia, medicine which doesn’t exist and blood transfusions which would kill him almost immediately. Which is it? The media of course is too stupid to see this.
Sean Hannity has been talking to Dr. Gil Mobley, the guy who wore the HAZMAT outfit with the sign ” The CDC is lying to you.” He may be a crackpot, but he rebuilt a hospital in Guatemala and he seems to have a decent understanding of how out of control something like Ebola can get.
Mobley has advocated for using decommissioned hospitals as fever centers to screen people away from regular hospitals, so that people with other medical problems can be treated and live. He pointed out that the medical system in Dallas was brought to its knees in 1 hour after Duncan was identified as having Ebola.
The US does not have the infrastructure to give a cluster of Ebola patients dialysis or artificial respiration or $17 million worth of ZMapp and specialized care. The only way to cure Ebola is to isolate the infected.
Seems like good idea to me.
Possible Ebola case in Boston.
Concerns me that Harry Reid’s Senate is holding this up, because midterms ?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2789464/surgeon-general-missing-action-ebola-patient-america-dies.html
The guy Obama nominated is a gun grabber and the NRA shut that down.
So another “wait til after midterms” guy. Got it. 😉
Another possible Ebola case on a plane
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/10/12/lax-possible-ebola-patient-on-united-flight-from-jfk/
Boston and now LA, damn! BTW I think if I had a ticket on United I’d cancel they seem to be the ebola patients carrier of choice.
I usually do a Fall trip to NYC, I’m keeping my powder dry for now.
I think they’re saying now the LAX guy is a false alarm.
VM how close are you to Boone, NC? Someone in the comments on this Yahoo news story about the suspected Boston ebola case says that their news reported a suspected ebola case in Boone, NC. This person lives in TN. Scan down the comment is toward the bottom, I think it was by Sarah.
http://news.yahoo.com/patient-isolated-massachusetts-clinic-displaying-ebola-symptoms-newspaper-200117720.html
Nevermind found it that patient has been cleared.
http://www.wfmynews2.com/story/news/local/2014/10/09/boone-hospital-monitoring-patient-for-possible-ebola-infection/17012061/
Have I got a Brooklyn girl for Con Man 🙂 Oh darn, you’re not my FB friend, can’t share, boo, hoo. Stupid privacy settings, can’t even post her to the TCH FB page. I guess that’s a good thing?
You can reply to that tweet with a matchmaking tweet. BTW, Con Man definitely looks like trouble. 🙂
Luckily he has a bossy older sister to keep him in line.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/american-suicide-bombers-travels-in-us-middle-east-went-unmonitored/2014/10/11/38a3228e-4fe8-11e4-aa5e-7153e466a02d_story.html
American suicide bombers travels in US and ME went unmonitored
wow I feel so secure NOT
In addition to sending Columbus on his way in 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella forcibly expelled the entire Jewish population of Spain (more than 200,000 individuals) that very same year after a prolonged campaign of forced conversion, torture and execution (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/expulsion.html)
Lest one think that an aberration, let’s not forget what happened when Christian forces took Jerusalem in 1099 during the first Crusade. After the city surrendered, Frankish knight massacred Muslim and Jewish civilians who had sought refuge on the Temple Mount. An estimated 10,000 were killed there, or as one contemporary (Crusader) account stated:
If you’d prefer something a little more recent, there was always the “ethnic cleansing” of Bosnian Muslims by Serbian Orthodox forces during the Bosnian War in the mid-1990s.
For some reason, nobody cites incidents like that (or, for that matter the Thirty Years War) as evidence that Christianity isn’t a “religion of peace”. Under the wrong circumstances, nearly everyone is capable of being a homicidal bastard.
There are over a billion Muslims in the world – and the vast majority of them aren’t a threat to anyone. Yes, there are lunatics among them (just as there among every group) but they’re hardly representative.
What’s your point?
Christianity has a long bloody history too, but they haven’t been killing anyone lately.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot – those Spaniards were pretty shitty to the “Indians” they encountered in the New World too.
The Spaniards were pretty shitty to a lot of populations around the world.
No shit!
If it’s only the Muslim lunatics that want to enslave and murder then where is the outcry from the peace loving Muslims that are the supposed overwhelming majority? Are there only lunatic Muslims in the middle east and on the streets of places in the US like Dearborn? Is that why they cheered and danced in the streets on 9-11? Because those places have all the lunatic population? The lunatic population that wants all infidels converted, enslaved or dead?
Christianity doesn’t seek to convert people by the sword. If you reject Christianity then that is just fine, the Christian will simply think you’re headed to hell, but they tried to save you. They don’t want to help you get to hell right then and there. The bible nor priests/pastors preach that nonbelievers should be enslaved or killed if they don’t accept Christianity.
I do believe if I am not mistaken the world condemned the ethnic cleansing and fought to protect the Bosnian Muslims. BTW we’ve fought to protect Muslims many times, they don’t seem to be a very grateful bunch…..or maybe that’s just the lunatics I’m speaking of.
Those are the only songs I know with lunatic in the lyrics……just thought they’d go along with the “lunatic theory”.
By their silence and acquiescence the non-threatening Muslims have made themselves irrelevant.
“(Reuters) – Reports of creepy clowns carrying knives and other weapons have been scaring people in the California city of Bakersfield for the past week, police said on Sunday.”
****
Just a little drive down the Golden State Hwy from Merced.
Yep it’s not very far away is it? Klown does tend to disappear sometimes, he claims he’s watching baseball or football games…..hmmmm. Perhaps we should see if the creepy clown episodes coincide with baseball or football games….hmmm…..and he says it was his ex that was the psycho. OR maybe it is his ex trying to frame him, aha…….OR maybe it’s colonel mustard in the observatory with the knife????
Colonel Mustard in the conservatory in a clown suit with a knife, AHA!
The NIH director went to Huffington Post to blame Ebola outbreak on Republicans. http://twitchy.com/2014/10/13/sunday-night-bombshell-nih-director-claims-budget-cuts-have-prevented-an-ebola-vaccine/
Their budgets have increased but so have the expenditures on stupid shit that please progressives like global warming, school lunches, trans fat, and farmers markets. Budgets for communicable diseases and pandemics are not COOL! Or fun for that matter. If you were a CDC or NIH political hack flunky appointee what would get you brownie points with your political masters who are idiots? Certainly not Ebola or Enterovirus EV-D68 that was invited into the country with ruinous policies. If this is their proactive pushback on their incompetence they are screwed. Assholes.
Why did the CDC not train the staff in the Dallas hospital? They had a end stage Ebola patient and were using “minimal” protection according to the CDC now. What exactly were the CDC doing in Dallas besides running down contacts of Eric Duncan. They knew they were inadequately protected but did nothing? Then claim they knew this might happen but it is the hospital and staff’s own fault? WTF. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/13/us-health-ebola-usa-nurse-idUSKCN0I206820141013 “Healthcare and infection control experts said that hospital staff need to be coached through the stages of treating an Ebola patient, making sure they have the right safety equipment and know how to use it properly to prevent infection.”
“Some experts also question the CDC’s assertion that any U.S. hospital should be prepared to treat an Ebola patient as the outbreak ravaging West Africa begins to spread globally. Given the level of training required to do the job safely, U.S. health authorities should consider designating a hospital in each region as the go-to facility for Ebola, they said.”
This nurse graduated from college in 2010. She works very hard and lives in a tiny apartment with a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. This young woman sounds a lot like my daughter. I am so furious I could spit. These CDC assholes let her be exposed with incorrect protective gear knowingly and be deathly ill for political correctness and incompetence.