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July 31, 2008
The 50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill?
I don't agree with their list overall (D.C. is chock full of good-looking people, especially on the Hill), but they definitely managed to pick some hotties. (Click image for more)
Al Qaeda says Bagram escapee killed in U.S. bombing( Abu Abdallah al-Shami)
DUBAI (Reuters) - An al Qaeda field commander who escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan in 2005 was killed in a recent U.S. bombing, an al Qaeda leader said in a statement posted on the Internet on Thursday.No date given as to when it happened....may he have a blazing hot time in hell.
"Al Qaeda announces the martyrdom of one of the heroes and field leaders who performed well in facing the modern crusade, our brother Abu Abdallah al-Shami," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said in the statement dated July 14 on an Islamist website.
Abu al-Yazid did not say when the U.S. bombing took place or name the region in which Shami, an alias, was killed.
The militant, whose alias indicates that he was born in a Levant country along the eastern Mediterranean, was one of four who escaped from the U.S. military prison in Bagram in 2005. Among the group was Abu Yahya al-Libi, a key al Qaeda figure.
Coalition forces capture suspected Kataib Hezbollah associates in east Baghdad
BAGHDAD Coalition forces captured two suspected criminals associated with Kataib Hezbollah Thursday morning in east Baghdad.
Based on intelligence information, Coalition forces targeted the location of an individual suspected of being a part of a propaganda cell for Kataib Hezbollah. This propaganda cell is suspected of making videos of attacks on Coalition and Iraqi forces, which are then used to raise funds and resources for additional attacks against Coalition forces and Iraqis.
Coalition forces approached the targeted individuals residence, where they entered the structure and detained the two suspected criminals.
Source MNF-Iraq.
This is the second capture of a Hezbollah Brigades' propagandist in ten days, see Long War Journal and Jawa of course.
Hey Nancy
Hat Tip: Ed.
Where do I think the Democrats screwed up? Well in at least as many areas as the Republicans did. But its the same basic fundamental mistake. You campaign telling Americans you'll do this and that. Then you fail to deliver.
In 2006 the Democrats ran a lot of mid-western conservative democrats to gain a majority. Promising to unite the country and leave the politics of division behind. They then appointed far left Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to top leadership posts. The result was a congress that was driven not from the middle, but from the far left partisan wing of the party.
Nancy Pelosi is hardly representative of the views of the vast majority of Americans or Democrats for that matter. This is why she fails. She's trying to push a far left wing cause on all those around her. She does not compromise with anyone for any reason.
She should have taken notes from Newt Gingrich who was able to actually work things out with a divided congress and and Democratic president. Maybe then this congress could have earned a C or C+ rather than the big fat zero they've earned so far.
Yes Nancy was able to make all those new conservative freshmen bow to her will. But in doing so she threw out the baby with the bathwater.
Republicans made similar mistakes that made the Democratic congress' failure possible. They lost control by promising fiscal responsibility, ethical conduct and low taxes. The only one they got right was the lower tax plank.
Journalist Stringer Detained in Iraq...AGAIN
Ali al-Mashhadani, a stringer who has worked as a cameraman for Reuters, the BBC, and even NPR has been detained in Iraq for the third time:
Ali al-Mashhadani, who also freelances for the British Broadcasting Corp. and National Public Radio in the United States, was picked up Saturday in the U.S.-controlled Green Zone where he had gone to apply for a U.S. military press card, Reuters said in a statement....Insurgents in Ramadi in 2005 would have been al Qaeda, which declared the city the capital of the Islamic State of Iraq.
The U.S. military confirmed the detention and told The Associated Press in an e-mail that al-Mashhadani was being held "because of a perceived security threat." The command did not elaborate....
Reuters said two Iraqi journalists who were in the military press office at the time said they saw American soldiers frisking al-Mashhadani and leading him away. The agency said two other witnesses said they saw U.S. soldiers escorting a handcuffed man with a hood over his head....
Al-Mashhadani was detained in August 2005 after U.S. troops found photos of insurgent activity in his camera while searching his home in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province.
He was released without charge in January 2006 but was detained for two weeks a few months later. No charges were filed after the second detention.
Keep an eye on this one and drop us an e-mail if you hear anything else. Thanks to RS.
Taliban Threaten to Throw Acid on Women Not Wearing Hijab
Your daily dose of the Taliban:
The Pakistan unit of the Taliban the Tehreek-e-Islami Taliban Pakistan (TIP) has reportedly threatened the owners of CDs shops, Internet cafes and cable service providers to close down their activities, and warned the women to wear hijab to ensure safety, else their face would be disfigured by acid....
the second paragraph said that within five days of the receipt of the letter, every woman not wearing Hijab would be disfigured with acid, while the following third paragraph said that very soon we would cleanse earth from the traitors of Allah.
Does Suicide Underwear Come in a Thong, or Just Tighty Whities?
No, seriously:
Would-be suicide bombers could be using explosives underwear briefs rather than explosives jackets to evade conservative body searches, sources said on Wednesday.
Sihala Police College forensic lab sources told Daily Times that the study of recent suicide attacks showed that suicide bombers used explosives-laden under-garments, briefs in particular, to carry out the attacks.
So Sad: Muslims Returning from Terror Supporting Countries Being 'Profiled'
Here's an article about Canadian airport security agents getting sensitivity training so they won't hurt the feelings of Muslims--or something. Buried in the article is this odd objection by Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress:
But he still hears complaints of Muslim and Arab passengers returning from certain Middle Eastern countries like Iran and Syria being subjected to greater scrutiny than Muslims and Arabs returning from European countries.Just returning from Iran? Oh, in that case, there's no need to check your bags sir!
Those travellers are also more likely to have their luggage searched, to be questioned about their activities and purchases abroad and to have their passport information taken down, Elmasry said.
"We feel that this is a type of profiling, which must cease."
Man Beheaded on Greyhound Bus
Holy freaking freak!
All of a sudden, we all heard this scream, this bloodcurdling scream," said Garnet Caton, who was sitting just in front of the victim, in an interview with CBC Television.It's stories like these that remind me that absolute evil exists.
"The attacker was standing up right over top of the guy with a large hunting knife -- a survival, Rambo knife -- holding the guy and continually stabbing him, stabbing him, stabbing him in the chest area," Caton said.....
"He calmly walks up to the front (of the bus) with the head in his hand and the knife and just calmly stares at us and drops the head right in front of us," Caton said.
"There was no rage in him ... It was just like he was a robot or something."
Update by Howie:
The victim has been identified as 22-year-old Tim McLean. The murderer as 40 year old Vince Weiguang Li of Edumunton.
Still no info on background of Li or of his motive.
ICE Rolling Out New "Self Deportation" Program
This looks interesting:
[Julie] Myers told the network that "Operation Scheduled Departure" will allow illegal immigrants without criminal records a chance to literally "self-deport" by turning themselves in to her agents.I'd go one better. I'd make it a rule that anyone who shows respect for our laws by turning himself in and returning to his home country voluntarily would be given some sort of benefit in our legal immigration system. I wouldn't be opposed to giving them some free legal help to get their immigration application papers on file with ICE as soon as they provide proof that they've returned to their countries of origin.
She said the idea derived from a common complaint voiced by immigrant detainees: If given the opportunity, they'd rather just go home than be holed up in immigration prisons.
Under the new program, those still walking free will have the chance to walk into ICE offices, be processed and get a few weeks to arrange their affairs, pack their belongings and ship out of the country without being detained.
Video: Aussie Meat Mufti Threatens Comedian
It's an old video, but worth the watch. The last time we saw this guy he was warning women not to dress so slutty because men can't help but rape them when they do. From the girlish way he threatens to punch the guy confronting him, I'm not sure he wouldn't have the same advice for all those scantily clad young boys who've been tempting him lately.
Europe's Illegal Immigrants Potential Jihadists?
Well yes. But so what? There are millions of potential jihadis in Europe, the vast majority of them citizens or legal residents. The next terror attack in Europe is far less likely to come from jihadists who illegally snuck in and far more likely to come from the kid next door who was captain of the soccer team and had recently come back from Pakistan on an extended visit to his grandparents.
AQI Leader Has Left Iraq
BAGHDAD, July 30 -- The leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq and several of his top lieutenants have recently left Iraq for Afghanistan, according to group leaders and Iraqi intelligence officials, a possible further sign of what Iraqi and U.S. officials call growing disarray and weakness in the organization.
July 30, 2008
HotAir Poll : 72% Say Ted Stevens Needs to Go Now
Latest poll results here.
In other news, Sen. Larry Craig adopts a wide stance, while other senators are steering clear of Stevens' sinking ship.
950 Lashes for Phone Sex Affair
(Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) It's not clear what the criminal offense is but the punishment is harsh.
A Saudi man is facing 600 lashes and his 'lover' 350 after a phone-sex affair that led to the woman's divorce.The woman's husband filed a complaint saying that Zahrani sweet-talked the wife into divorcing him.
Today a Saudi appeals court upheld a jail and flogging verdict against the biochemist and his female student whose research contact was ruled to be a front for the affair.
The biochemist, Khalid Zahrani, said today that he found out this week from the court offices that three judges had approved the verdict.
He was sentenced last year to eight months in prison and 600 lashes and his student to four months in prison and 350 lashes for establishing a telephone relationship that the court said led her to divorce her husband.
Obama Throws His Fave Rapper Under The Bus
Which is kinda sad, cause Ludacris was so far the only one to admit publicly that he's willing to be Obamamessiah's running mate. Cept for that Hillary beotch.
Sort of related: Just say no to Hopium.
Hat Tip: Instapundit.
Update: By request, video added below the fold. Lyrics in sidebar here.
Terrorists Favorite Filesharing Service is Archive.org
Internet Haganah has been running a series of posts on al-Qaeda and other terrorists using archive.org as one of the file-sharing services for their propaganda releases. The FBI has asked archive.org for data pertaining to users who upload such material. This would be very useful in locating the point of origination for releases from terrorist groups.
Via Internet Haganah:In late August of 2007, during a time when many prominent jihadi forums were suffering from efforts to drive them offline, I collected 351 pages of active discussions from 7 sites. Figure 1 illustrates the findings, comparing the number of files found that were uploaded to Internet Archive as opposed to YouTube.Note here's Abu Ayub al-Liby's speech that was released by as-Sahab last week, Where is it? Archive.org.
Tribute to terrorist Sayyed Qutb. Where is it? Archive.org.
Want a terrorist release in various formats and sizes. Well try archive.org.
Need the latest from Jaish al-Mujahedin? Try archive.org
As Aaron points out, the problem is not with archive.org preserving these files.
The problem here is not with Internet Archive preserving al-Qa`ida's AGITPROP, but rather with IA's insistence on providing jihadists with free and unfettered access to IA's collection of files...I might also add that archive.org is also protecting the privacy of agents of foreign powers at war with the United States.
Security Forces search abandoned madrassa(For the EIGHT time)
Something big took place at an abandoned madrassa in a village called Danday Darpakhel in North Waziristan.
Backed by gunship helicopters, several hundred security forces Tuesday raided a madrassa run by well-known Afghan mujahideen and Taliban commander, Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, at Danday Darpakhel village in North Waziristan tribal agency.This was way to much firepower to be looking for a few local Taliban. Big Game season has opened in the tribals....
This was the eighth time that the madrassa was raided and searched. Official and tribal sources told this scribe from Danday Darpakhel, a town near Pakistans border with Afghanistan, that a large number of troops from Pakistan Army and the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) along with Khassadars and Levies personnel first besieged the village and then raided the huge and famous madrassa known as Manba-ul-Uloom.
Jesus is alive, unlike that thing Allah
The nation of South Africa's constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but when a Christian speaker stated his belief that," Jesus is alive, unlike that thing Allah" and "Islam is a puppet religion" the followers of the religion of pieces decided that violated their freedom of religion and human rights.
Via IOL: The Western Cape education department said Groote Schuur High School principal Henk Punt has apologised to pupils and parents for an invited speaker's Islamaphobic remarks made at an assembly.But doesn't being a Christian automatically mean you do not accept Islam and believe its prophet to be a false one? Doesn't being a Muslim mean you reject that Christ is the Messiah and that the Gospel is false?
"Jesus is alive, unlike that thing Allah" and "Islam is a puppet religion" were among statements which infuriated Muslims in the school community...
..Outraged Muslim parents and pupils met the School Governing Body on Tuesday night...
...On Tuesday, the ID lodged a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission (HRC), accusing the preacher of a violation of the constitutionally enshrined right to religious freedom.
Personally I believe that Muhammad is a false prophet and Islam is a cult. Those who follow it are deceived by the prince of lies. This is my right. Just as its is a Muslims right to believe that Jesus was a minor prophet and not the son of God.
I guess they think freedom of religion means denying others their beliefs. I've read a lot of Islamic text calling Christians "Cross Worshipers", which is Ironic coming from a group of people who bow to a giant cube five times a day.
Come on I've called Muslims Idol worshipers, posted an image of Muhammad, taken down hundreds of mujahdeen websites and youtubes. What's a guy gotta do to get an effing Fatwa around here?
Video: Muslim Woman Attacks Man for Calling Mohammad a Pedophile
I guess we'll just go ahead and keep with the fatwa this theme this AM. You got to admit it, this guy has balls. She slaps him in the face and he calmly goes on to correctly explain to the woman who attacked him that Mohamed was in his fifties when he consummated his relationship with his nine year old bride Aisha.
UPDATE (Good Lt.): I luv how you hear screaming about Allah after she's been forced behind the crowd. Tolerance in action, friends. The Religion of Peace sure is violent...and babbles as quickly as that old Micro Machines dude.
Lulzy video overall. Plus, the street preacher is kind of teh funny.
(Video) Mohammed Brand Condoms: For the Jihadi Playah!
I meant to link this yesterday, but I've alluded to the fact that I've been on an extended road trip. Call me paranoid, but this internet thing keeps following me wherever I go. It's like all around me, I can't get rid of it.
Enjoy it while you can. It's offensive, but in all the right ways. Directed at jihadis & their goats but not Muslims in general. But that doesn't much matter now, does it? Yanked from YouTube in 3...2....1.
I expect that once it gets pulled, the guys from TNOYF will put up a copy somewhere else. Check back here to see if they do.
Thanks to Mrs. Abe Froman for reminding me about this.
She's Hot, She's Lebanese, She's Dead
Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim found dead from multiple stab wounds.
Remember, the long war against Islamism will take both carrots and sticks.
Bombs and guns = sticks.
Hot chicks = carrots.
The more hot chicks on Arab TVs, the better off we all are.
Thanks to Burnt Toast.
Tamim video below.
Pakistani Intelligence Aiding Taliban and al-Qaeda
Not really too surprising since the Taliban are basically a creation of Pakistan's ISI service.
Via WAPO: ush administration officials have responded with skepticism to an appeal by visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani for increased intelligence cooperation, which he said would help his country attack militant groups and terrorist encampments near its border with Afghanistan.Also see Prairie Pundit and Hot Air.
"The problem from our perspective has not been an absence of information going into the Pakistani government," said one Bush administration official familiar with discussions this week between the two governments. "It's an absence of action."...
...Although the CIA maintains close ties with its Pakistani counterpart, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, the relationship has long been tinged with U.S. suspicion of ISI links with extremists. CIA distrust of the ISI has increased in recent months, particularly within the CIA operations directorate, a U.S. official said.
Caption Contest: Partying with John Kerry Edition
Is it me or does John Kerry look a bit polluted in this image?
Kerry's office has issued a statement calling the incident, "a chance encounter on a dock." More images here.
Er uh OK? I think we can do better, write an excuse for John Kerry. Fatwas will be issued.
Hat Tip: Allahpundit (PBUH).
Fatwas issued!!
The "i will cut ur neck" fatwa goes to: Thus Spake Ortner for "No, that was the other Senator. Seriously, come home with me, I'll go slow over bridges and make sure you get home safe."
The "devil will do meetballs from your bodies" fatwa goes to: onetakejake for NO!!! I'm not DRUNK...I have pink eye...and by the way...could I see YOUR pink eye??
The "why you insult holly quoran?" fatwa goes to: The Watcher for Mr Obama comments: "This is not the John Kerry I knew."
Will the GOP Recover from Ted Stevens?
Ed Morrissey weighs in on Stevens at HotAir:
In truth, the GOP should have pushed Stevens out of the race a year ago. The basic structure of his unethical activities with Veco has been well known for at least that long. Even without that, Stevens embarrassing pork-barrel antics such as the Bridge to Nowhere came to exemplify all of the worst impulses of Congress on perks and power. Instead of cleaning house when they could, the Republicans couldnt bring themselves to tell a 40-year man that his time was over and that it was time to find fresh blood.We can all pray that Ted Stevens will be gone soon, but this story is much bigger than one senator. There's a lesson to be learned, here, folks. We have a crisis of leadership. The GOP "leadership" looked the other way while Tom Delay built an unprecedented cash-for-influence pipeline running from K-Street to Capitol Hill. The GOP "leadership" looked the other way while Bob Ney and Duke Cunningham were lining their pockets with bribes. The GOP "leadership" looked the other way while Mark Foley was engaging in his intern shenanigans. Finally, the GOP "leadership" has looked the other way while Ted Stevens has piled up his ill-gotten gains. This is not about a few ethically-challenged men. There is a pattern here. There is a serious failure of leadership in the GOP.
Whether or not you are bothered by the moral aspect of all this stuff, you should at least be troubled by the broader political impact of all these revelations. While there's no doubt that the media falls all over itself to broadcast the news of a Republican scandal, these men have not been mere victims of media bias. They made their own problems--and in doing so, have created huge problems for the GOP at large. Every new revelation of misconduct by a Republican like Mark Foley or Ted Stevens makes it that much tougher for other Republicans--and of most concern, reformist Republicans--to get elected. The GOP needs to clean up its own house and give the voters something positive to vote for. Someday, the GOP will do so, but until that happens, I predict many
days months years in the wilderness for the GOP.
Bad Gay America Hating Peace Activist Anni Telfer Spits on Veteran
Well, Louie and I decided to do a little digging.Video of this "peace loving" moron here at Pat's site.
Louies Uncle Louie got involved as well.
We wanted to ID this classy broad.
This is what we know:
Her name is Anni Telfer. She is originally from Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield High School Class of 2004...
Definition "Bad Gay"; Any two males engaged in homosexual behavior or any two females engaged in homosexual behavior where either one or both is unattractive.
Since Anni Telfer is a rude unattractive America hating commie lesbo, she has forever earned a place in the TJR category Genital Puppets.
Oh and by the way her myspace page is here in case you would like to go by and exercise your right to express your opinion.
Also some bisexual ho on this board using the same name. Not sure if its the same person, if anyone wants to research that.
July 29, 2008
Transgender in the Locker Room
(Cleveland, Ohio) A 53-year-old transgender, Karen Deamons, presents as a female but still has male equipment. As a consequence, Deamons has created a controversy among the membership at a local swimming pool.
If Deamons uses the men's locker room to change clothes, youngsters ask their parents uncomfortable questions. If Deamons uses the women's locker room, complaints are lodged by women because of the presence of male genitalia.
A frustrated Deamons has now filed a formal complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, claiming discrimination at the city-run Cudell Recreation Center. Deamons also wants a law enacted to prohibit discrimination against transgenders.
Expect this story to continue.
NR Editors to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) : "Resign Now"
Posted at NRO:
One of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevenss most memorable moments of the last few years came during the Senate fight over the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. In 2005, when Sen. Tom Coburn introduced a measure that would have redirected the money Stevens had earmarked for the bridge to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, Stevens gave an apoplectic speech on the Senate floor in which he threatened to resign if the Senate passed the measure. It was the nations loss that the Senate voted the measure down, simultaneously missing two opportunities.Read it all here.
Now that a grand jury has indicted Stevens on seven counts of making false statements, it is time for him to make good on his threat. Stevens is of course innocent until proven guilty of the crimes with which he is charged. But even if he committed no crime, the facts that have emerged over the course of the federal investigation into his personal finances are damning enough on their own. The indictment was just the last straw.
So Sad: al-Ommh Down
The al-Ommh forum used to look like this:
I blame the Zionists!
MMMMMM: Giant Death Star Pez Dispenser
Thanks to Randman.
Hot Patriotic Sisters in Uniform
You know what this blog needs? More hot military babe photos! Meet the Smith sisters: Air Force Capt. Kelly Smith, Army Chief Warrant Officer Amber Smith, & Army Chief Warrant Officer Lacey Smith.
With a military this good looking, who could possibly defeat us? Not a bunch of homos who are so afraid of women that they want to cover them up from head to toe.
I'll let you read about them over at the Castle Argghhh! But I posted some higher quality photos below.
I know what you guys are thinking: Lacey is the hottest--blonds always get that reaction. But I think I'm more of a Kelly fan myself.
From left to right:Amber Smith, Lacey Smith, Kelly Smith.
Fifth Circuit Upholds the Sentences of Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean
Statement from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher:
Unfortunately, the Court has sided with the prosecutors who threw the book at the good guys and the good guys have lost this round. This makes President Bushs role in this miscarriage of justice even worse. Affirming U.S. Attorney Johnny Suttons decision to give the benefit of the doubt to an illegal alien drug smuggler in order to win at all costs and destroy the lives of our brave border agents simply magnifies the horrible travesty this really is.To review, a drug smuggler got shot in the butt after attacking two border patrol agents. The drug smuggler got immunity from prosecution and the two border patrol agents got 10+ years in prison each. They received their draconian sentences owing to a provision in federal law requiring mandatory minimum prison sentences for use of a firearm in connection with a federal crime. This prosecutor, Johnny Sutton, decided it would be a good idea to use this law, which was intended for career criminals and hardened thugs, to seek enhanced sentences against men and women in law enforcement.
Every time I hear some kool-aid drinker wax poetically about what a "good" and "decent" and "truly great" man George W. Bush is, I'm reminded of these two good men rotting in prison under the heel of the Bush Administration. Bush could free them with a phone call or a stroke of a pen, but he prefers instead to let them rot. This thought makes me ill.
Michelle has more.
3,000 Blank British Passports Stolen
(Manchester, England) Carrying a price of about $3,500 each on the black market, a total of 3,000 blank British passports and visas were stolen yesterday from a delivery van.
July 28, 2008
Anteater Has Some Opposition
It seems a certain Mrs. al-Khattab has thrown her name into the ring....
That's No Melon.....
Thanks to Kyros who found it at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.
Video: Honor Killing in America
I heard about this special investigative report on Fox News over the weekend, but with four kids who has time? Thankfully, on the 9th day God created YouTube. Here's the video in five parts which John Stephenson (PBUH) has conveniently put all on one page.
Lawsuit Against Tulsa Mosque Goes Forward
The suit alleges that members of the mosque branded Jamal Miftah an apostate for openly criticizing Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.
See Dubya Via Michelle Malkin: Michael Bates posts excellent news from T-Town: Jamal Miftahs lawsuit against the Tulsa Islamic Center has survived a motion to dismiss, and is proceeding.Under Sharia law a Muslim may not criticize a Muslime in front the of the Kuffaar.
If youre not familiar with the Miftah matter, you ought to be. This is a matter of radical Islam attempting to shut up its critics and even inviting violence against them. Heres a Vent by Erick Stakelbeck that lays out the case.
Basically, Miftah wrote an op-ed in the Tulsa World (you can read it here) about how Islam should condemn Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, and his mosque kicked him outand assaulted him, and branded him an apostate traitor to Islam, effectively inviting jihadi violence against him.
And thats not a stretch, either. Here are two comments that appeared on a post about Miftah at Junkyard Blog, both from Islamabad IP addresses:
The Best Way to Communicate With Somebody
Is to speak to them in their own language. In this case liberals, so you knock off some anti-druuuuug and pro-other-kinds of druuuugs adverts and hope stupid people are watching.
Hat Tip: Ransom Eli Olds.
War Porn: Flying Insurgent Meat Jello
(note the meat jello landing in the road on the lower left)
Al Qaeda Calls for Saudi King's Death for Meeting With Pope
Religion of Irony alert. Al Qaeda's #3 has called for the death of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah for meeting with the Pope and calling for interfaith dialogue. Why does this get King Abdullah a death fatwa? The logic goes something like this:
The Pope offended Muhammad by suggesting that the Muslim prophet spread Islam by the sword. For this, the Pope deserves death. King Abdullah deserves death by colluding with the Pope and abandoning violent jihad.
It would be funny if it weren't so tragic.
Al Libi also is accuses King Abdullah of being involved in some conspiracy --part of a new Crusade against Islam-- to spread Christian principles to the Arabian Peninsula.
What Christian principle? Religious tolerance. No joke.
I have the video but it's not going to help you much. The entire thing is in Arabic with no English subtitles. Which, as we've noted for some time now, is a change in the MO of al Qaeda's as Sahab video arm when it was clearly being run by American Adam Gadahn.
Azzam al-Amriki, come out come out wherever you are! Olly olly oxen free!
Thanks to Laura Mansfield who has the video, but for subscribers to her services.
A caption beneath the photo repeats part of al-Libi's video message. It reads: "He (Abdullah) has made religion a joke and has done so in public with Jews, Christians and Muslims.
"He has thrown those fighting for Islamism into jail...and has fraternised with those who have offended the Prophet, notably the adulator of the Cross, the Vatican's Pope." ...
"The Prophet ordered us to drive unbelievers from the Arabian Peninsula. Today, the Saudi royal family is destroying our Islamic tenets by showing Muslims it is possible to spread Christian principles."
"By sitting side by side in public, they are taking part in the Crusader campaign. They are helping them, giving information to their secret services, all in order to spread their culture and religion."
Al-Libi concludes the message with a call to kill King Abdullah for having betrayed Islam.
Report: AIDS Epidemic Hits Iran's "Holy Cities"
Anti-Mullah is reporting that Iran's "holy" cities are in the midsts of an AIDS-HIV crisis. The regime, for its part, denies that AIDS is a problem anywhere in the Islamic Republic.
"There are no homosexuals in Iran," said one top cleric to The Jawa Report. "These holy cities are filled with nothing more than strapping, dark-eyed, luscious, & impressionable young men who's parents have sent them there to study the holy Quran with much wiser, older men who can help them on the path to manhood. There's nothing gay about that."
Thanks to GM.
New York Jihad: Party Invites Warn of Bombing Campaign
Above: The Islamic Thinkers Society of New York desecrates an American flag.
So, what to make of this?
NYPD detectives are investigating a chilling new terror threat - a series of cards from a "New York Jihad" that look like birthday-party invitations but warn of bombs in lower Manhattan this summer, The Post has learned.Just some stupid prank or something more nefarious?
The cards were mailed last week to the homes of seven city residents, including former Fox News television producer Kelley Vick and a person in the 26th Police Precinct, which covers West Harlem, according to Vick and police sources.
The card reads: "Bombs! Bombs! Bombs! Lower Manhattan. July, August, September. New York Jihad."
The "invitations" were sent from somewhere in Brooklyn.
Army Times Reprints Phony Obama Photos from AP
Matt from Blackfive has all the details and apologizes for wrongly believing that Barack Obama had played basketball with soldiers in Afghanistan. He didn't. Apparently the AP has been wrongly captioning photo ops of this and other events attended by Obama. Strangely, the Army Times, which should know better, has been also running the mislabeled photos.
CIA Predator Strike in Pakistan? UPDATE: AQ Chem Weapons Expert Killed
Hmmm, we killed 6 at a compound in Pakistan?
AFP via Yahoo News: WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A suspected U.S. missile strike on a Pakistani madrasa killed six people, including foreigners, on Monday in tribal lands regarded as an al Qaeda and Taliban hotbed, intelligence officials said.Very interesting. Its all about who the target was? I'm hoping it was Abu Yahya al Libi. al-Qaeda announced a new "message" from him over the weekend.
The target of the pre-dawn attack was a house close to a madrasa used by militants near Azam Warsak village, about 20 km (12 miles) west of Wana, the main town of the South Waziristan region bordering Afghanistan.
Spokesmen for NATO and U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan denied involvement in any cross-border strike, but could not speak for the CIA, which also operates drones.
Hat Tip: Laura.
UPDATE: Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar killed. Said to be an al-Qaeda chemical weapons expert. I added his photo from the FBI's Rewards for Justice page above. He had a $5 million dollar bounty on his head:
WantedI hope some lucky Pakistani just had $5 million transferred to a Swiss bank account.
Midhat Mursi al-Sayid 'Umar
Up to $5 Million Reward
Date of birth: April 29, 1953
Place of birth: Egypt
Sex: Male
Aliases: Abu Khabab al-Masri
Midhat Mursi al-Sayid 'Umar, a.k.a. Abu Khabab al-Masri, is an explosives expert and poisons trainer working on behalf of al-Qa'ida.
He operated a terrorist training camp at Derunta, Afghanistan where he provided hundreds of Mujahidin with hands-on training in the use of poisons and explosives. Since 1999, he has distributed training manuals that contain instructions for making chemical and biological weapons. Some of these training manuals were recovered by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The exact whereabouts of Midhat Mursi al-Sayid 'Umar are unknown at this time, though he may be residing in Pakistan. It is likely that he continues to train al-Qa'ida terrorists and other extremists.
Killing for Islam
(United Kingdom) Check out what happens when the religion of peace and tolerance is coddled by bend-over British political correctness.
Nearly one third of Muslim students believe it can be acceptable to kill in the name of religion, according to a survey published yesterday.Deeply alarming but hardly surprising, I think.
It also found that 40 per cent want to see the introduction of Islamic sharia law in Britain, 40 per cent think it wrong for Muslim men and women to mix freely together, and 33 per cent want to see a worldwide Islamic government based on sharia law.
The findings were described by researchers at the Centre for Social Cohesion think tank, which commissioned the poll, as 'deeply alarming'.
Terrorism in Istanbul
(Istanbul, Turkey) Two consecutive explosions yesterday in a busy shopping district have killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 150. Fifteen people are hospitalized in critical condition.
Three teens have been detained as suspects.
The Kurdish Workers' Party may be behind the explosions, however, no one has claimed responsibility. (more)
Muslim Cross-Dressers Jailed
(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) Apparently, being a transvestite is frowned on by Sharia courts in Malaysia.
AN official says an Islamic court in northern Malaysia has jailed four Muslim men for taking part in a transvestite beauty pageant.Other cross-dressers are expected to be charged next month.
Mr Mohamad Abdul Aziz Mohamad Noor, a senior official in the Islamic department in Kelantan state, says the men were sentenced to seven days in jail and given a 1,000 ringgit (S$423) fine on Sunday after they pleaded guilty to cross-dressing.
He says the men were arrested together with 11 others on Friday for participating in the beauty pageant at a resort.
Offhand, I'd guess that being veiled up in a burqa doesn't count.
July 27, 2008
US Special Operation raid on Damadola in 2006
This LA Times piece on how the US has been losing ground in Pakistan drops this bombshell buried deep on page three of the article. We know of TWO predator strikes on Damadola one in 2006 targeting Zawahiri.....but number three turns out to have been a SEAL TEAM 6 raid on an Al Qaeda compound...
In 2006, one of the nations most elite units, Seal Team 6, raided a suspected Al Qaeda compound at Damadola.Would the US risk one of its best counter-terrorism units on a compound with only mid-level operatives ....who did we suspect was there?
At CIA headquarters in Virginia, a roomful of people watched on video streamed from a Predator surveillance plane, officials said. They included high-ranking officials such as Albert M. Calland III, then the deputy director.
They choppered in, rappelled down and went into the compound, said a former official familiar with the operation. It was tactically very well executed.
Several mid-level operatives were detained, according to the official. The raid was separate from the January 2006 Predator strike in Damadola that missed Al Qaedas No. 2, Ayman Zawahiri, the official said.
"Iran Says These Are Their Latest Weapons..."
"...American F-14s?"
July 26, 2008
Video : From the Director of "300" Comes...
After watching the first trailer for "300," I remember doubting that the movie would be anywhere near as kick-ass as the trailers promised.
At the end of the day, "300" was even more awesome than I would've believed.
Plus, "Iron Man" and "Dark Knight" have delivered the goods with a vengeance.
Thus, there's reason to believe that "Watchmen" might just deliver a serious wallop.
Obama's Iraq Plan Morphs into Bush's/McCain's
Finally acknowledged reality there, eh Barack Christ?
How's that crow taste? Had we listened to "Mr. Sizzle," Iraq would have been abandoned years ago and descended into a maelstrom of violence, terrorism and despair.
Now that Obama and his ilk have been ignored, Iraq has stabilized. The Democrats' war for defeat waged by the 9%er heroes in DemCong has been lost.
Where are you at, antiwarbots? What do you think of Barry-O adopting the Bush/McLame plan?
Stings a bit, don't it?
Obama's Kumbaya Organizers
(St. Louis, Missouri) According to a report in the WaPo, voter registration volunteers for Barack Obama were told during St. Louis training sessions to canvas the public with a line of personal, heart-plucking stories about why Obama should be viewed as a prophecy fulfilled. Think politics by anecdote.
During training, the volunteers are "encouraged to perfect their stories, a short narrative suitable for doorsteps and living rooms about where they came from and why they care about Obama."
There have been 23 formal training sessions in 17 states, producing more than 3,000 Obama volunteers agreeing to work at least six 30-hour weeks bolstering the grass-roots effort.
More than 10,000 people applied for slots as "Obama Organizing Fellows" and about 5,500 were interviewed by telephone, answering such questions as "Why Barack?"Obama state director Buffy Wicks and field director Peachy Myers run the recruiting effort out of St. Louis, screening and training the mostly 20-something volunteers.
Neither Buffy nor Peachy disputed the contention that the Obama campaign is largely Kumbaya-themed. Buffy said, "for us it's about winning."
Second Day of Terror in India, Jawa Report Probably to Blame
For the second day in a row multiple explosions have terrorized a city in India. Yesterday multiple bombs hit India's high-tech center of Bangalore. Today Ahmedabad was hit. Early reports about the series of timed explosions vary from a low of 20 being injured to a high of 55+. The BBC is reporting that two people were killed.
The blasts seem to have hit the city's major transportation systems, including buses and rail. They also note that the blasts were in a predominately Muslim area of the city. The inference being that his wasn't an act of Islamist terror. But the AFP reports that a group calling itself "The Indian Mujahedeen" has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Yesterdays bombings were an act of terror. Multiple bombings over several days is a campaign of terror.
On July 11, 2006 seven bombs detonated on trains in the Indian city of Mumbai. As part of the reaction, the Indian government attempted to ban 17 websites.
All 17 were connected to The Jawa Report for a series of posts we did making fun of Muslim overreaction to false stories published in the MSM that Qurans had been desecrated at Guantanamo Bay.
The inference being that India blamed us for provoking Muslims into rioting and terrorism.
I wonder who they'll blame for the current campaign of terror?
Saudi Ed: Good Citizenship = No Women Drivers
In this long rambling editorial in the official English language Saudi organ Jaheerah Bint Abdullah Al-Masaad warns women not to drive. The piece is so incoherent that it's not clear whether the autohor is kinda-sorta supporting the idea of allowing women to drive alone, but that they should wait until the law is changed, or if he's just saying that women shouldn't drive period.
Women who are enthusiastic to drive should at the present moment observe the general interest rather than give in to the joy of driving. The repeated attempts, which have all failed, would not bring any good. Rather, they are just like pebbles thrown in a pond that create ripples and fade. They may do more harm than good. It is prudent not to lose your case if you cannot defend it. Do not bang your head against the wall, but rather search for a safe passage, even if it takes longer.
There is a big difference between courage and recklessness. There is also a big difference between boldness and imprudence. There is no doubt a huge difference between citizenship and bargaining. We pray to Almighty Allah to be good citizens.
Cindy Sheehan Still Relevant in Her Own Mind, and ...
July 25, 2008
Report: Taliban Winning Propaganda War in Afghanistan
Screenshot of the Taliban's English language website shows at least 6 updates today. The website is hosted in the U.S.
File under: no shit, Sherlock. The entire report is here while the executive summary is here.
I'm not sure if the ICG recommendations are sound--they collectively amount to nothing more than that Karzai and NATO be nicer, which is the standard talking point from pretty much every European institution--but I do think their analysis of the way in which the Taliban distribute propaganda is pretty much sound.
The Taliban have embraced the jihadi call to arms as a defensive war of foreign aggressor against Islam. Along those lines Taliban propaganda is beginning to mimic the narratives of Iraq, Somalia, & Chechnya. The Taliban are the "locals" fighting "foreign occupation".
All this is well and good for the fundraising and recruiting from the eHadis and the wordlwide wannabes, but lest we forget the same strategy was tried in Iraq as al Qaeda recast itself as "The Islamic State of Iraq". And where is the Islamic State of Iraq today? Mostly dead or in Pakistan seeking refuge from the Taliban's "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan".
The ICG report makes special note of the Taliban's online presence under the guise of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" noting that, while the website is fairly rudimentary, Taliban statements are published on it nearly hourly and in five separate languages. Parenthetically here's a shout out to our old friend Adil Watanmal, grudging props, and a word to the wise: just because we haven't acted lately doesn't mean we're not watching you, bitch.
So, how should we deal with the online Taliban propaganda machine? It's not clear if the strategy we employed in Iraq could be employed in Afghanistan. Just as the real Taliban hide out of reach in Pakistan, so do their online propagandists. Do we know for sure that the Taliban operates their increasingly well-oiled propaganda machine from Pakistan? Yes, we do.
In Iraq CENTCOM actually used al Qaeda's online footprints against them. One of the major reasons that so few Islamic State of Iraq videos have been released over the past 6 months is that we've specifically targeted propagandists as fair game for rounding up, with fingers firmly crossed that they would resist detainment.
How can we do that against Pakistani Taliban propagandists who are off limits and out of bounds? We can't, and unless the Pakistani military decides to re-invade half of its own territory controlled by the "tribes" then we're SOL on this tactic. Fat chance that anytime soon.
Still, the good news is that Taliban propaganda continues to lag far behind that of other jihadi outfits. These are the Taliban after all. The Islamic Luddites who's ideal state is Saudi Arabia without all the cars, satellite TVs, and shallow pretenses about living peacefully in a multicultural world.
Grim Milestone: U.S. Death Toll in Iraq for July Passes 3
Four Americans killed in Iraq so far this month. Vietnam War and Platoon analogies quietly being replaced by Grenada & Heartbreak Ridge comparisons. "Gunny" Highway edges out Major Archie Gates as shallow-but-likeable military charicature replacement for standard Sgt. Elias Grodin template in upcoming Oliver Stone film.
The Courage to Let Junkies OD
Emperor Misha has a great post up about the imaginary drug war vs. the real war in Afghanistan and how the former makes the latter much harder:
What is more important to us as a nation? Protecting a bunch of doped up junkies from themselves or winning The Long War? His Majesty says, in that case: let the junkies OD from sea to shining sea. There are no effective, short term solutions to the poppy farming problem in Afghanistan, that is going to take a long time to fix if ever we can, but there certainly ARE any number of short term negative, deadly consequences to our current approach of waging war on Afghan farmers. So how about addressing the most pressing issue first? You know, this whole actual WAR that were in?Amen, brotha. Another practical reason why the war on drugs is so stupid.
I think my stance on the drug war has often confused people into thinking I'm some kind of libertine. I'm not, I'm a libertarian. Just because I think drugs should be legal does not mean I would wish them upon any one. In fact, those of you who have met me for drinks know that, well, I don't drink. I just don't want to insulate people from the inevitable consequences of their own stupid behavior. Whether it be drugs or alcohol feel free to imbibe in my vicinity. But when you wake up in a pool of your own vomit don't go looking to my wallet to pay for your emergency room visit.
It's not that I don't care about people who make poor decisions like taking drugs, I do. I think it's highly immoral to take drugs, even setting aside the consequentialist reasons. It's just that I think it's more immoral to force people to do good and it lessens their own capacity to be moral.
As Aristotle noted, a slave cannot be moral because he lacks the capacity to choose. I for one do not wish to be a slave. Even if it is to a well intended master.
"The Notion ...Fills me with Shame, Despair, and Raging Red Boners."
Key military assets in Iran have recently been mysteriously and unceremoniously exploding without warning:
Details are only now starting to reach the outside world, and it looks increasingly like sabotage was responsible for devastating a military convoy as it travelled through Khavarshahar....[T]he incident is the latest in a long line of unexplained explosions.This is 100% tragic, of course...and by "tragic," I mean f'ing beautiful.
Ace has the full scoop here.
Obama Camp Fudged Berlin Turnout Numbers?
"Obama Addresses 200,000 in Berlin" -- thus ran the AP headline the day after Barack Obama's much-hyped speech in front of Berlin's Siegessäule or "Victory Column." This 200,000 figure has quickly become the standard estimate of the crowd for Obama's speech in both the American and the German media: so standard indeed that it is for the most part not even treated as an estimate.Interesting, with photo. Not terribly important (typical O! campaigning), much like the entire "foreign policy masterstroke" photo-op circus Baracky thinks is "shoring up" his "credentials."
The estimates given by German public television ZDF actually during the event, however, were as little as one-tenth of that number.
ht: Michelle
Today's LOL: UN Wants to Take Lead in Antiterrorism
That is some funny stuff right there.
Has Anybody Seen His (Ahmadinejad's) Gays?
Thanks to TNOYF who provide context for their song here.
Suicide Bomber Kills Two in Yemen, Same Police Station Targeted Earlier
M&C: Sana'a, Yemen - A powerful car bomb tore through a police compound in south-eastern Yemen Friday, leaving at least two people dead and eight injured, police and witnesses said. The bombing destroyed the main police centre in Sayoun city of Hadharmout province, 900 kilometres south-east of the capital Sana'a, witnesses said. Police sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that a suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden car into the building early in the morning. Medics said eight people were injured in the explosion.
The same police station was targeted April 22 with three bombs placed along the perimeter walls in the early morning. There were no injuries in that attack. In June, authorities arrested "most wanted" al-Qaeda Haithem bin Saad in Hadramout.
So what is it? Not reprisal for the arrest, since the first attack occurred months before. Not "battle hardened Iraq returnees" trying to take down Saleh, no.
Its some localized issue, probably revenge or a form of negotiation that is related to someone at the police station, which BTW houses a variety of government offices, or did anyway. Its possible the bomber was expecting to get away or was one of these 19 year old brainwashed kids who died to exert pressure on the regime for a specific demand by one of the senior operatives.
This is Your Captain Speaking: That Was a Terrific Boom Eh?
There's a large hole in the fuselage, absolutely no reason to be alarmed.
Via Yahoo News: MANILA (AFP) - A Qantas Boeing 747 flying to Melbourne made an emergency landing in Manila on Friday after a dramatic mid-air rupture that punched a "gaping hole" in its fuselage, officials and passengers said.
Stunned passengers reported how the jumbo, which had taken off from London and made a stopover in Hong Kong, plunged nearly 20,000 feet (6,000 metres) in what one said was an "absolutely terrifying" ordeal.
An urgent investigation is underway into what punched a hole of about three metres (10 feet) in diameter into the fuselage near the right wing.
A Qantas spokeswoman said the plane, carrying 346 passengers and 19 crew, was now undergoing an inspection on the ground in Manila, where luggage could be clearly seen jutting out of the hole.
"There was a terrific boom, and bits of wood and debris just flew forward into first (class) and the oxygen masks dropped down," June Kane, a passenger from Melbourne, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"We were told that one of the rear doors, a hole had blown into it, but I've since looked at the plane and there's a gigantic gaping hole in the plane."
Bombs in Bangalore
(Bangalore, India) Earlier today, at least seven bombs exploded across Bangalore, home to most of India's information technology and outsourcing businesses. Thus far, two people are dead and up to 20 are reported to be wounded.
Three different Islamist groups are under investigation. The usual suspects have been rounded up.
LOLz: Obama = Lenin
UPDATE: Some commenters are saying that this isn't a piece of Soviet propaganda, but rather a modern creation that pays tribute to the Bauhaus style of design. And my only source is the link I provided below. If this isn't the real thing, then consider this post and its accompanying snark moot. Read the lowdown at Towerload - the site with homosexual tendencies. No, I did not make that up.
This whole Obama/Old Soviet style propaganda thing has been covered before. Here's the American Thinker blogging it in April.- Lt.
- - -
Nice catch by Scott in the comments.
Obama's infamous "LOOK AT MY VISIONARY FACE" poster advertising his political rally in Berlin that wasn't a political rally before it was bears striking resemblance to an old piece of genuine communist propaganda (an antiwar poster, at that).
HOPE AND CHANGE, people.
Video: al Qaeda Ally Using Children in Afghanistan
Here is the much discussed video from the Islamic Jihad Union showing children being trained for battle. The Uzbek jihad group trains in Pakistan and, like its allies in al Qaeda and the Taliban, raids NATO and Afghan forces across the Afghan border.
This would be the same group that was caught plotting to attack U.S. bases in Germany. If you look at the related links below, you'll notice a pattern here: the group has an extensive support system in Europe.
The video is taken from the last half of the Badr al-Tawheed 3 that I spliced and then uploaded to Liveleak. The first part of the video shows various adults "martyred" in Afghanistan. This portion of the video focuses on another "martyr", an 11 year old named Abd al-Rahim who the group claims was killed in battle with Pakistani forces in Waziristan. They also say that he was some kind of translator between the Pashtun speaking natives and the mainly Uzbek offshoot of al Qaeda.
The 11 year old does not appear to be the youngest boy in the group of kids being trained for jihad. If you watch the whole thing you'll notice that in addition to being trained with AK-47s and pistols, that the kids are also given RPGs.
Child abuse? Certainly, but remember the video below is taken from an IJU propaganda video. This means that they are proud of themselves for getting this kid killed.
The next time some idiot tries to equivocate between us and them, remind them of how sorry we are when kids get killed in the haze of war (even brainwashed kids like this) versus our enemies who are proud of sending their children into harms way.
Video below the fold.
WARNING: The video, while not that graphic, does show the dead body of the child. Consider yourselves warned.
IJU Terrorist Training Camp NW Pakistan
Two German Terrorists in Pakistan ID'd
Jihad Funding Ring Busted
Fresh Terror Warnings for Europe
Video: German Suicide Bomber in Afghanistan
July 24, 2008
Subway Jihad
Didja know there is a PR campaign for Islam kicking off in New York City?
According to Robert Spencer:
As the ads say, you deserve to know. "Training Day for Jihadists: Muslim Subway Ads Have Terror Tie-In," by Jeremy Olshan for the New York Post, July 21 (thanks to Awake):This can mean only one thing for us vigilant keepers of the torch of liberty.: Photoshops!Allah board!
An Islamic group plans to blitz 1,000 subway cars with advertisements this September in a campaign being promoted by a Brooklyn imam whom federal officials have linked to a plot to blow up city landmarks.
Four Thousand Yemeni Political Prisoners
There's about three thousand political prisoners in Yemen, "preventative detentions" or arbitrary arrests that relate to the Sa'ada war. (For witness testimony about tortured children, Click Here) Today IRIN reported, "Abdul-Rashid al-Faqih, head of Hiwar Forum, a local non-governmental organization (NGO), said about 3,000 people had been arrested by the authorities for supporting al-Houthi." Supporting meaning, you know, possibly being sympathetic or just in the wrong place at the wrong time or being a Hashimite or a relative....
Then there are about 900 southern political prisoners who were arrested during the protests or because of them, including several opposition political party leaders. Al-Sahwa reports, Mohammad al-Mikhlafi , head of the Yemeni Observatory for Human Rights, said that the political prisoners number amounted 864 from March up to-date, pointing out that all of them are from the southern provinces except the comedian Fahad al-Qarni."
When you add in journalist al-Khaiwani (sentenced to six years for an article) and other civil activists, the number of people imprisoned by the Yemeni thought police is probably over four thousand. However Yemen has a very nice rehabilitation program for al-Qaeda terrorists.
Key Benazir Bhutto assassination witness shot dead
The Telegraph is reporting someone just tied up a loose end and I'm not shocked......its Pakistan.
The bodyguard of Benazir Bhutto, who was to be a key witness in an investigation into her assassination, has been shot dead. Khalid Shahenshah, who was the former Pakistan prime minister's security chief at the time of her assassination, was killed in a drive-by shooting as he left his house in the southern port city of Karachi on Tuesday, police said.
Mr Shahenshah, 45, was riding in Mrs Bhutto's bullet-proof car when she was killed in a suicide attack in the northern city of Rawalpindi on December 27.
He was expected to be called to give evidence at a United Nations probe into her death.
Obama Speech: Blah Blah Hope Blah Blah Me Blah
Thought this was funny, quoted on Drudge:
Obama Speech: 'I come to Berlin as so many of my countrymen have come before. Tonight, I speak to you not as a candidate for President, but as a citizen -- a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world.LOL - I call bullsh*t. This is a campaign poster for a political rally, complete with the Obama logo.
Are Homosexuals Superhuman?
It's a serious question honest homosexuals should be asking themselves as the debate over Don't Ask, Don't Tell continues in the House. But I don't think there are many truly honest people in the world, homosexuals included.
The problem with the whole debate over whether or not homosexuals should be allowed to openly serve in the U.S. military is that no one is willing to admit what we all know: men want sex. A lot of it. And with multiple partners.
This doesn't mean that every man wants sex more than every woman, it just means that men in general want to have more sex--a lot more of it--than women.
Ladies, if you're even marginally attractive, when you see men looking at you they're thinking with their dicks. Yes, they really are undressing you with their minds. Deal with it.
It doesn't mean that we're always looking at T&A and having rated XXX thoughts. Sometimes we're only having PG-13 thoughts.
The most upright and Moral Oral among us have the thoughts only briefly, followed by internal hymn singing, the recitation of several creedal statements, and maybe some guilt pangs if we feel like we've crossed some sort of line into lusting.
Maybe I'm exaggerating here. Sometimes we think about sports.
None of this means that we'd actually have sex with you if we had the chance. The consequences are often too great. We fear God, our wives, the clap, societal responses or some combination of the above.
What's the point of all this? The inscription at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi "Know Thyself".
I don't doubt that there are a lot of good reasons for homosexuals being allowed to serve openly in the military. Some of those reasons seem rather compelling to me.
But the utter hypocrisy of claiming, on the one hand, that homosexuals are no different than other men, but then on the other hand act as if gays really don't want to have sex with every marginal attractive guy in their unit is just too much to bear.
You really can't have it both ways. Either gays are just like us or they have transcended human sexuality to such a point that we might consider them superhuman.
And by superhuman I really man superhuman. If our popular culture keeps imagining homosexuals to be above the normal human experience then perhaps in the near future our movies will begin to show wise old gay men rather than Asians doling out Confucian wisdom to would be heroes.
This does not imply in any way that gays are less human than the rest of us, just that they are equally human.
Even the most moral, upright, and religiously committed among us understand the limitations of human choice and the compulsions of the sex drive. I imagine that most of us would agree that monks are pretty committed to living a life of sexual purity. And yet we don't see monks and nuns sharing the same close quarters. They don't shower together. They don't room together.
Hmmm, I wonder why that is? Because monks and nuns don't pretend to be anything other than human.
Do you actually believe that gay men are better than monks? That you can throw a gay guy into a communal shower and they won't be imagining who they want to have sex with?
The thought of which, to be honest, creeps me out. And I don't think this makes me homophobic any more than if a chick was creeped out by the thought of some random dude showering with her and the rest of the cheerleading squad.
Mmmm, showering cheerleaders. Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yeah. Gays in the military.
The typical gay response to this runs along the lines of: don't flatter yourself honey. Which is not a serious response at all, just a good one-liner. I could give the same line to the cheerleaders I showered with in my adolescent fantasies.
I know many homosexuals want to serve in the military. I see a lot of good arguments for gays serving in the military. What I don't see is a lot of honesty in this debate. The pro-side makes gays out to be superhumans uninterested in sex. The con-side is so filled with euphemisms about "unit cohesion" that its difficult to really understand what the hell it is exactly they're talking about.
What I want is a little honesty in this debate. Perhaps the need for qualified soldiers outweighs sexual comfort. Perhaps having some gay dude giving his mates the ol' lookover and then spending some 'quality time' with himself is the price we have to pay for overall readiness.
But at the very least can't we all agree that homosexuals are just as human as the rest of us? And as such that they have normal male sexual urges and therefore having them serve openly and in close quarters would add some amount of sexual tension and discomfort?
PS-Yes, I'm still on the road. This post went way longer than I intended for it. But I heard an insanely propagandistic conversation on the Dianne Rehm show today about Don't Ask, Don't Tell and I just had to write something.
Obama Locks Up the Death Row Inmate Demo
A killer's final plea for HOPE AND CHANGE (not sure why this is news - it certainly doesn't favor Obama to have a brutal death row inmate pulling for him):
"For those who oppose the death penalty and want to see it end, our best bet is to vote for Barack Obama because his supporters have been working behind the scenes to end this practice," Bishop said.Yes, and those same supporters have been working to get murderers like yourself back on the street in civilized society.
Let's look at the crime, shall we? Buried in the last few graphs of the sob story:
On the night Gentry (the victim -ed.) was killed, he, Johnson, Bishop and Ricky Myhand had been riding around and drinking beer. An argument began after Johnson accused Gentry of getting Johnson's brother in trouble with the law.So this poor pitiable death row inmate was only guilty of assaulting a man, and restraining him while he was beaten 23 times in the head by a claw hammer by his companion.
Johnson hit Gentry over the head with a hammer, and Bishop grabbed him in a headlock and hit him, according to testimony. When Gentry jumped from the car and fled, Bishop ran after him and took him back to the car, where he was hit and kicked numerous times. Bishop acknowledged holding Gentry while Johnson struck him.
Myhand reported the killing to police. He was not charged.
At trial, forensic pathologist Steven Hayne testified there were 23 injuries to the head, neck and hand produced by a blunt object.
The "HOPE and CHANGE," according to Bishop, is that people who have committed heinous crimes like he has won't get what is coming to them.
No Goo Guns at Democrat National Convention
(Denver, Colorado) Prodded by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Denver City Council has revealed details of the super-secret security plan for next month's convention. Sadly, goo guns are nixed.
Of course, law enforcers will still have billy clubs, tear gas, pepper balls, water cannons, pistols and shotguns.
Surrender is in the Air in Iraq
And it's not us that's doing the surrendering. It's them.
Three al Qaeda terrorists surrender. 1,100 turn themselves in for reconciliation in a single Iraqi province.
Just a few months ago Hillary Clinton claimed we cannot win in Iraq--joining the chorus of prominent Democrats-- and there was an all out war between the two leading Democratic candidates over who was the best candidate for cutting our losses.
IDB: Media Donates $ to Democrats By 100-to-1 Ratio So Far This Cycle
What's all this rightwingnut fearmongering about a "liberal press?" LOL
An analysis of federal records shows that the amount of money journalists contributed so far this election cycle favors Democrats by a 15:1 ratio over Republicans, with $225,563 going to Democrats, only $16,298 to Republicans .Forget that pesky MSNBC "follow the money" expose of media political contributions that put donations from many high-profile media managers, editors, writers and broadcasters at 9 to 1 in favor of Republicans.
Two-hundred thirty-five journalists donated to Democrats, just 20 gave to Republicans a margin greater than 10-to-1. An even greater disparity, 20-to-1, exists between the number of journalists who donated to Barack Obama and John McCain.
Searches for other newsroom categories (reporters, correspondents, news editors, anchors, newspaper editors and publishers) produces 311 donors to Democrats to 30 donors to Republicans, a ratio of just over 10-to-1. In terms of money, $279,266 went to Dems, $20,709 to Republicans, a 14-to-1 ratio.
Just kidding! Wanted to see if you're still paying attention.
Add it to the objective Pew and other polls showing that not only does a majority of the public perceive the media as slanted to the left, but that they will also openly be helping Obama win the presidency, and the evidence is getting harder for the leftwing inforatti to ignore. Although they'll try.
But there is no bias. Never was. Never will be. They're straight up the middle and non-partisan. It just so happens that 10 out every 11 journalists/editors/managers are donating to Democrats and have been for years. Where they invest their money in this struggling Bush economy is no indication of their political beliefs, however, and it in no way affects their reporting. Only a fool would deduce something so ridiculous.
Nope - donating your money to a candidate you want to win would in no way affect how you cover that candidate. That is not a conflict of interest, not a question of objectivity, and these are not the droids you're looking for.
In other news, Barack Obama woke up this morning at sunrise, fueling speculation that he may have actually caused this to happen. Film at 4,5,6,10 and 11.
Nothing to see here, folks. The mainstream press, in its various incarnations and current configuration, is just a wholly owned subsidiary and propaganda arm of the Democrat Party. Move it along.
Aliens are Real!
A former astronaut claims aliens have visited the Earth. He's now neck and neck with Lisa Nowak in the world's craziest astronaut competition.
Military to Get Respect at Airports
Well, to be honest, I'd feel more comfortable if our military men and women in transit to or from war zones were allowed to carry their weapons in civilian airports. But, it's a start:
The new protocols require Defense Department officials to screen personnel departing from military terminals on charter flights before entering the secureareas of commercial airports, and to provide 24-hour notice to airport operators and federal security directors of their arrival.The real problem here was specific to certain airports in very blue areas of the country. You know, where they "support the troops". The rest of the story is here.
The military will be required to post guards on the charter aircraft while on the ground to ensure that no one enters or tampers with the aircraft or unloaded weapons.
July 23, 2008
John Edwards (D) - BUSTED
That honest, high-minded, principled former Democrat veep candidate, Obama AG candidate and short list veeper, John Edwards (D), looks like he had an affair, lied about it, and got caught.
No mainstream press full-court press. No wall-to-wall coverage. No network news anchors breathlessly reporting each utterance. No curiosity. Press silence.
No bias, either. If this were a Republican former veep candidate and McCain short lister, I'm sure the press would afford the same due deference and respect to the nominee and his family. And his political party.
Iran Expels Brit Journalist
(Tehran, Iran) Without explanation, Iranian authorities told a British journalist working for Agence France-Presse (AFP) to leave the country.
Stuart Williams, AFP's deputy bureau chief in Tehran, had worked in the country for two years and held a renewable resident's permit which was valid until Aug. 28, AFP reported. AFP said he was told on Monday that he must leave within days.I'd wager that Westerners will see more inhospitable treatment from the Iranian government.
In Tehran, an Iranian official confirmed Williams had been asked to leave but did not give further details.
"This is clearly an unjustified expulsion, which we deeply regret," AFP director of information Denis Hiault said, adding that the agency wanted to "continue covering Iranian news with the same objectivity".
Stuff to Read While Rusty is on the Road
Here we see the increasingly rare link dump in its native habitat. Notice how the male of the species imitates the plumage of the deadly canines blendoras in order to fend off would-be predators.
Jesus never said ousting Ted Stevens would be easy, he only said it would be worth it.
A Russian "Greenlight" To attack Iran? Doubtful.
Being a Terrorist Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry.
Speaking of proto-feminism, Hawkins interviews Kathleen Parker.
Why do our natural allies in India hate us? Some of the answers here.
Shocka: BBC and AFP Headlines Ignore Victims of Latest Pali Attack.
I'm still not buying into the Obama changed his vote on account of Rezko narrative, but other than that this post by Grim at Blackfive does a good job of deconstructing Barry's incoherent Iraq stance(s).
And JHVH said: Let there be yet another Obamassiah shirt!
And again: Jimmy Carter Sticking His Nose In Israels Business Talking With Hamas Again
What "Nationalized Oil" Really Means
It means that instead of the Evil BushcMcChimpyHellibacon making evil obscene profits, the government makes even more obscene profits instead.
Via Yahoo News: OSLO (AFP) - In Norway, many motorists are up in arms over why they have to pay the highest petrol (gasoline) prices in Europe when the country is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and a recent tax hike has done little to cool tempers.Strange? Doesn't seem strange at all, that's what communism does. It creates shortages and lack of competition. Just be glad the government of Norway can get additional funds by taxing what it sells domestically, otherwise market forces would drive them to sell all your oil abroad.
"It is really strange: we have lots of oil and we're a rich country. Why do we have to pay so much?" asks Per-Arne Skjerpingstad, a 38-year-old hospital porter as he fills up the tank of his Peugeot 307 at an Oslo gas station for 750 kroner (94 euros, 148 dollars).
Previous: The Commies Are Coming!
Another Stupid Commie for Nationalizing Oil
Taliban Leader Mullah Rahim Surrenders
Why, cause he's afraid of Kilroy!
Via Daily Mail: The most senior Taliban commander in Afghanistan's wartorn Helmand province has given himself up because he feared being killed by British special forces.Funny he didn't surrender to Afghan authorities or coalition forces? Wonder why, could it be he expects Pakistan to protect him and set him free?
The news will be a massive blow to insurgent forces.
Mullah Rahim surrendered to authorities in Pakistan, the Ministry of Defence said last night.
Rahim - thought to be one of the five main Taliban commanders - is reported to have handed himself in to Pakistani police near the border and is being held in the town of Quetta.
Hat Tip: Report on Arrakis.
Surprise Surprise, DC Blows Off Supreme Court Ruling
Last month the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the District of Columbia had violated the Second Amendment by making armed self-defense in the home impractical and banning the most popular weapons used for that purpose. Last week the D.C. Council responded by unanimously approving a law that makes armed self-defense in the home impractical and bans the most popular weapons used for that purpose....Go figure.
California to be Erased from Maps
(Nizhny Novgorod, Russia) Could this be the start of a trend?
A deserted village named California in a Russian Volga province is likely to be removed from maps, following a decision by a committee of local lawmakers, a legislature spokesman said.I would speculate that writers for one of the late night talk shows will use this material in a joke.
The decision to end the existence of the village in the Nizhny Novgorod Region was taken "because there is now not a single person living in the village," the spokesman said, adding that the regional legislature will reach a final decision on the issue on July 31.
City of Subway Lesbians
(Shanghai, China) A controversy has surfaced in the Far East regarding the acceptability of intimate behavior on the subway. Two sexual episodes, one in Korea and the other in China, were recently recorded on video and uploaded to the Internet. It looks like the beginning of a fad.
Story and links to NSFW videos here.
Inshallahshaheed Unemployed, Has More Time for Online Jihad
It appears our beloved Sammy has stopped showing up for work at a Convergys Corporation.
Via WBTV:We found Khan working at Convergys Corporation in its south Charlotte office. Convergys is a company other companies hire to take care of customer care, H-R and billing services. Sounds pretty basic until you hear this: In March, a 2-point-5-billion dollar, 10-year deal was signed between nine companies and our federal government.Sammy has replied to the reporter Molly Grantham on his site. Posting sermons about the role of women in Islam and in one pointing out that,
Convergys is one of those nine. The contract is in the case of a national emergency... another Hurricane Katrina or... say... a terrorist attack. Those nine companies, including Convergys, will help the federal government set up quick call centers and mobilize communication.
Over the phone, a Convergys spokeswoman doesn't say much when we ask about her company's contract with the government. "That I can't comment on," says Amy Williams, from its Cincinnati-headquarters. Khan worked at the McAlpine Park location. Days after we confront him in the parking lot, his car stops showing up. Williams confirms he's no longer an employee. "He had no access to customer claim information," she says. But Williams won't say what he did, how long he worked there of if he was fired or quit.
This was a kind reminder that the women of Islaam can do the same reports and discussions with modesty"So he thinks she's immodest for her dress and her lack of a hijab.
From this video it appears that part of women's role in Islam is answering the door when uncovered reporter meat knocks, while the brave mujahadeen cowers in the basement.
Oh and Sammy....
Get a job, beotch!
Previous: Cue Crickets: Charlotte Jihadi Asked "Are you anti-American?
Oh and before I forget. Samir Khan's blog http://revolution.muslimpad.com/ provided by Muslimpad is not hosted in Jordan. Sasjamal and Fatimahye of Islamic Network live in Jordan.
Their host is none other than The Planet in Houston Texas.
Alaska Politics: Interview with David Cuddy, Ted Stevens' Challenger
My little brother Gordo has an astounding interview with David Cuddy, challenger for Alaska'a Republican Senate nomination:
Alaska is entering a period of political upheaval. The long time incumbent, Republican Ted Stevens is trailing the Democratic challenger, Mark Benich. Stevens, who has served since 1968, is vulnerable due to his corrupt practices in office and his buffoonish antics in the earmark arena.
David Cuddy is seeking the Senate nomination with the hope of keeping Alaska a red state and restoring credibility to the Republican party.
Six Meat Buffet had the opportunity to interview with Cuddy. Read on:
Ted Stevens is poorly regarded due to his Bridge to Nowhere and other earmark projects. Do you see this as a vulnerability that can be leveraged to receive the nomination?
This is not a vulnerability so much within Alaska, except as to its role in decreasing Alaskan credibility and reputation, and ability to get more pork. This is, however, a vulnerability outside of Alaska. It is the poster pork items for elimination of earmarks and pork - and it drives conservatives crazy to see Republicans doing what Democrats have done for so long.
I didnt know Alaska politics was so interesting, but there's a lot more issues than the caribou. Read the rest at the Six Meat Buffet
July 22, 2008
The Sa'ada War is Over
Yemeni President Saleh called rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi, and they ended the war that raged in northern Yemen since 2004.
The army is withdrawing from areas they haven't vacated since 2004. The general consensus is that the ICC charges against the President of Sudan for genocide gave the Yemeni president the necessary motivation. Salafi Brigadier General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar (half brother of the president) who led the war in Sa'ada is thought to be under loose house arrest.
Hopefully aid groups can get to the internal refugees now, and the regime empties the prisons of the arbitrarily arrested and frees al-Khaiwani.
Even though the prior three mediated settlements broke down, I think there's a real prospect for a lasting peace here. Its great news for the 700,000 residents of the area.
The Forbidden Article on The Netroots Nation Conference
Is cached here, if you'd like to read it.
Background here.
e-Gold Pleads Guilty To Money Laundering
The Internet currency firm e-Gold and three of it's owners have plead guilty to money laundering. e-Gold is similar to Pay-Pal but in my experience is a bit shadier in it's operations. It is known to be a destination for "carders" and most everyone who needs to move money around on the sly. I'm not surprised that it is used by a criminal element but I am surprised that the owners of the company were involved to this degree (and that the Dept. of Justice was able to make a case stick).
Why is this important you ask? Because when crackers and organized crime steal credit card information through virus's and malware they need a place to turn that credit into cash, e-Gold is one of many such places that are abused to make this happen. The 40 million accounts stolen in the Card Systems Hack and the 45 million accounts stolen in the TJX Hack are symbolic of the desire for credit card information by the criminal element online.
FINcen and the United States Secret Service are just a couple of the many organizations that monitor and track electronic fraud in the United States. Even with the assistance of non-governmental organizations, both on the corporate level and non-profits like Shadowserver I still believe the problem is far from being under control. Identity theft (and eFraud) have been continually on the rise, there were an estimated 15 million victims in 2006 with an average of one new victim every two seconds.
It has also been proven that terrorist organizations are using malware, carding and online money laundering to procure funds for battlefield supplies, travel expenses and general funds. Younis Tsouli and his mates are the primary example of using this activity for terrorism financing to date.
The standard for this sort of thing is that the card data gets stolen, mostly "cashed out" (the available funds removed) and then the accounts start trickling into the more common (and easily found) carding channels on the assorted IRC networks. Still not convinced? Go on over to SearchIRC or any other IRC server search engine and search for words like "cashout", "visa" or anything else to do with credit cards and prepare to be amazed at the blatant fraud.
(Disclaimer: the information above is for educational purposes only, if you go screwing around on IRC in the assorted carder channels you can and will get pwned, you have been warned.)
Judicial Watch Sues Feds Over Ramos and Compean Case
Via Americans for Legal Immigration:
Three weeks ago, Judicial Watch, a non-partisan, public interest law firm, filed a lawsuit against the Department of State to obtain documents related to the government's decision to prosecute Ramos and Compean and to strike a deal with the criminal and drug trafficker Aldrete-Davila for his testimony against the two agents who intercepted him at the US-Mexican border.Whenever I think about the fact that these two good men are locked in prison while our government lets violent felons run free, it makes me ill.
According to officials at Judicial Watch, JD attorneys filed their original FOIA request on April 17, 2008. However, the US government failed to respond within the statutory 20-day period, forcing Judicial Watch attorneys to file their lawsuit.
I used to argue that, unlike the world's thugocracies, our country doesn't hold political prisoners. I'm not sure that's quite true anymore. I don't believe Ramos and Compean are in prison in order to protect the public safety. Quite the contrary. These men are in prison because they refused to go along with the "see no evil, hear no evil" game plan. They are there to send a message.
Cue Crickets: Charlotte Jihadi Asked "Are you anti-American?"
Yet another reporter stakes out Charlotte's most famous jihad supporter, Samir Khan--aka, inshallahshaheed [God willing, a martyr]. You'll notice that when asked whether he is helping recruit for terror or al Qaeda he answers the question: No.
Which of course, is probably true. Encouraging readers to join the mujahideen and then constantly praising al Qaeda isn't the same thing as actually working with al Qaeda directly. I encourage people to join the U.S. military, but I don't get a paycheck. Indirectly? Well, that's another matter altogether.
As a reminder on what he's all about, the pic above from his "About Us" page shows one of the dozens of "scholars" he claims people can learn from. Yes, that's al Qaeda's former #1 in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, infamous for the dozens of civilian hostages he beheaded on film.
If our country had any balls, of course, we'd level charges of sedition or aiding and abetting the enemy. But we don't. Our lawyerly class has long since forgotten the fate of Nazi supporters in America during WWII.
I wonder, had the reporter asked whether or not Samir was recruiting for the Shabaab terrorists in Somalia if he would answer the same way?
Here's the money quote, which isn't actually a quote at all:
"Samir, are you anti-American?" asks Grantham. He doesn't respond.Telling, eh?
Apparently the TV station is going to air the second part of the "investigation" tonight. In it we're going to learn where Samir works. Here's a hint: the intertubes are involved.
Thanks to Bill Warner who was interviewed extensively for the story.
Gay Honor Killing in Turkey
(Istanbul, Turkey) A 26-year-old, gay physics student, Ahmet Yildiz, died this past week after being shot as he was leaving a cafe near the Bosphorus Strait. It's believed to be the nation's first gay honor killing.
Yildiz's family has so far refused to take responsibility for his body which is common in honor killings.
Yildiz was very open about his homosexuality and had been warned to leave the country because his life was in danger. Unfortunately, he chose to stay in Turkey. (more)
New Iraqi Airport
(Najaf, Iraq) In a report from the Saudi Gazette:
Iraq opened a new airport in the southern city of Najaf on Sunday in what the prime minister said was a key step in the reconstruction of a country devastated by war.The construction company and financial arrangements for the new airport were not reported. I can only guess.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, mostly Iranians, travel to Iraq every year. The new airport is expected to boost the numbers of pious tourists.
At a ceremony, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki described the US$250 million airport as a vital element in Iraqs economic development.
Too bad Mr. Maliki didn't mention the new airport when he was interviewed by Der Spiegel this week instead of voicing confusing pronouncements about troop withdrawal.
Online Poll: Is The Media in the Tank for Obama?
With 126,875 responses so far...
(click image for latest results)
Frank J is Rethinking This Whole "Big Tent" Thing...
Over at IMAO, Frank J questions the logic of the big tent:
Sitting on the sidelines this election with nothing to cheer about is getting a bit tiresome. Maybe we could start a new party: Republicans Classic. And no more of this open tent crap; I want a nice closed tent. Not just anyone should be able to register as a Republican Classic; you have to prove your worth. In fact, I want this closed tent to also be hidden, so you have to know the right people, and if they trust you, then they'll tell you where the tent is. And when you get the tent, there are like guards in front of it who will knock you to the ground and kick you shouting, "What are you doing at this tent? Explain yourself!"I think we may have just the right candidate...
Now that's a party tough enough for America.
July 21, 2008
We All Benefit from Open Borders? Tell That to Danielle Bologna.
More victims of our nation's indefensible sanctuary city policies. Danielle Bologna and her family have paid a heavy price for cheap labor.
The smug open borders geniuses who love to spout off that "we all benefit" from open borders should try explaining that theory to Danielle Bologna. "Sure, your husband and son are dead and all, but hey, look how cheap your yard work is!" More here. H/t : HotAir.
Hezbollah Propagandist Caught in Iraq
We've had our eye on Hezbollah's Brigades in Iraq. It's good to see one of their propagandists was caught. My only regret? He didn't resist.
Pop quiz: Not only does the guy upload propaganda videos, but he's also financed from which Middle East country? Answer below.
Ha, you thought it would be that easy? Check out Roggio for the answer.
Thanks to Jawa Jane.
PS-Hmm, he uploaded to "various websites"..... I wonder if this dude had
a YouTube account? See below for our various fights with "Hezbollah Iraq" on YouTube.
I'll also remind you that the group had a website. Emphasis on the had. See the hosted/PWND link below. Do we rock, or what?
Cluebat, Meet Hezbollah in Iraq.
Smackdown Hezbollah In Iraq
Hezbollah Aids Iraq Deathsquads
Hizbollah in Iraq's YouTube Jihad hosted from --- PWND!!
Slain Hizbollah Leader Co-Founded .... Mahdi Army
More Proof of Creeping Colonialism in Iraq ...
... or how the left will spin one of the most awesome photos evah.
Thanks to CJ and The Northshore Journal that has the entire press release about the first KFC in the former al Qaeda stronghold of Fallujah.
Al-Qaida senior leader grants rare TV interview
Deep Background is reporting a RARE face to face interview that was granted to a GEO reporter with one of Al Qaeda's major players.
In a rare move, one of al-Qaida's highest-ranking leaders has conducted an on-camera interview with a journalist and, in the process, called for the destruction of Pakistan's government.
It was the first time since 2002 that any top al-Qaida official has taken the security risk of sitting down for an interview with a bonafide journalist.
Abu Mustafa al-Yazid, an Egyptian whom U.S. intelligence officials have identified as the al-Qaeda's third highest-ranking official, sat for an interview with Najeeb Ahmad, a reporter for Geo TV. Geo TV is a private Pakistani television channel.
Why would they risk his operational security to issue a boilerplate "the Pakistan government betrayed us" message to the masses. What else is going on here.....number three (operations chief) in al Qaeda is too important to risk for a sit down with a local journalist.
Loving America So Much You Spit on its Vets
Head on over to Bashman's for whatever context the video needs.
AFP/RightOnline Summit Wrap-up
I'm back home from the Americans for Prosperity/RightOnline New Media Summit in Austin, Texas. What a great event! I have to take my hat off to all of the folks who worked to make the event such a success, including (but certainly not limited to) Peggy Venable, Kristin Jones, Eliza Vielma and Emily Zanotti. It was great to have the chance to meet and hang out with a whole bunch of folks I've only known online, including Erick Erickson, John Hawkins, Soren Dayton, David All, Ed Morissey and Sean Hackbarth. It was great, as always, to get to see Michelle again.
The reviews of the conference are rolling in--and they are generally glowing. I think I can pretty much concur with The Federalist:
I recently got the chance to attend the Americans for Prosperity and RightOnline's conference down in Austin. I think I can sum up the conference in 3 words:
Other bloggers weighing in include:
Laura Elizabeth MoralesIf you missed this event, you missed a really great event.
Right Wing Sparkle
Maggie Thurber
Aaron Marks
North Shore Exponent
The Walker Report
If and when AFP and crew organize another one of these, I STRONGLY encourage you to attend. I've been to a lot of conferences, and this was one of the best.
Black Yemenis Face Severe Racial Discrimination
Just when you thought I couldn't come up with a new topic for you on Yemen, bingo: Blacks. Of all the marginalized groups in Yemen, none is more so then black Yemenis who are called akhdam, which means servants, seriously.
The Akdam are thought to be of Ethiopian descent and have been in Yemen for centuries, yet to achieve integration or equality. The racial discrimination is so dramatic and engrained its hardly noticed. The reason they work as street sweepers is no one will hire them for anything else. Children are excluded from public schools. They are a sub-caste of society, vilified and thought by some to eat their dead.
The Yemeni security forces knocked down their slum yesterday. A few months ago, another slum was burned to the ground. There's no water, electricity or bathrooms. Just a tarp or a tin sheet for a roof, and the floor is dirt, and it gets bad when it rains. And now even that is gone.
Terrorists Claim British Hostage Committed Suicide
One of five British hostages held by Shiite terrorists in Iraq, which may be tied to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, has committed suicide, his captors claim. Do any of you believe his captors? I didn't think so.
The man has only been identified as Jason. Our prayers go out to his family and to the families of the other four British hostages being held by the same group.
Egyptian Christians Demonstrate Against Muslim Persecution
Marked Manner has the details, relevant links, and some photos from last week's demonstration.
Good News: Hollywood Celebs Donate to McCain
Bad News: There are only four of them.
PS-I'm positive there are more than four donors to McCain from Hollywood. But the fact that the Times could only find four says a lot.
Irony: Evil Inflation Causing Ohio Women to Starve
Though probably not any time soon. Via NPR
A generation ago, the livelihood of Gloria Nunez's family was built on cars.And apparently he was the last to do so.
Her father worked...
Nunez's van broke down last fall. Now, her 19-year-old daughter has no reliable transportation out of their subsidized housing complex in Fostoria, 40 miles south of Toledo, to look for a job.I bet the van wanted to die!
Nunez, 40, has never worked and has no high school degree...OK, so these girls need help! If they don't get some meat soon, they could starve to death, someday, maybe.
...Even if she could, she says it's particularly hard to imagine how she'll keep it. She says she needs someone to give her a lift just to get to an interview. And with gas prices so high, she's not sure she could afford to pay someone to drive her to work every day.
People tell Nunez her daughter could get more money in public assistance if she had a child.
"A lot of people have told me, 'Why don't your daughter have a kid?'"
Anyone out there willing to help? All you have to do is lift up that lower roll and ....
I think I just threw up in my mouth, a little bit.
Hat Tip :Irony finder See Dubya.
Good News: Porn and Alcohol Sold on Streets in Majority Muslim Country
On the one hand Kosovo is so thoroughly secular, reports Michael Totten, that you can buy porn right on the streets. On the other hand, Kosovo is so backward that people still have to buy their porn in magazine form. So, you know, they can't be that modern. I mean, that's why the internet was invented, right?
Unfortunately Totten also reports that the Saudis are pouring millions of dollars into the rebuilding of mosques. And paying people to dress more conservatively. Which would be fine and all, except that the chicks appear to be rather hot.
Why can't the Saudis do something constructive with their body covering money and pay the Greeks to cover up?
Yeah, I went there.
Latest Pat Condell Video : Islam is not a Victim
"We Refuse to Support a Permanent Minority"
Powerful stuff. Posted at Spirit of '94:
It is not credible to ask the American people to return Republicans to the majority when all we offer them is the same group of leaders and policies they so recently rejected.Hat tip: LauraW at Ace of Spades HQ.
It's not just "branding," but the right policies which will breathe new life into the Republican Party and re-energize voters.
And one more thing: come November 5th, should the current GOP leadership in either house survive to lead in a new Congress, the Lincoln Club of Orange County will review its financial backing of all Congressional Republicans, and we urge others to do likewise. A GOP caucus that would re-elect such leaders is not one we would likely continue to support.
Because, simply put: we refuse to support a permanent minority.
July 20, 2008
Olympic Prep: Blacks Banned in Beijing Bars
(Beijing, China) Some controversy has been stirred up by a report out of China that police have instructed bar owners in the Beijing entertainment district not to serve blacks and Mongolians.
Anecdotally, bar owners said the police made them pledge not to serve blacks and Mongolians or risk losing their business licenses. Some reporting, however, disputes the bar owners' statements and relates that it's all a misunderstanding due to translation and interpretation problems. Police say they want to discourage criminal elements, not discriminate.
Already, the story is all over the Internet. Expect it to increase in prominence.
Jawa Problems
If it seems like we've been AWOL for a couple of days, and then suddenly a whole bunch of posts went up, don't worry you're not having a bad trip. Well, maybe Howie is, but the rest of you are clean and sober (at least, that's my story!).
What happened? None of us are sure. But Misa, the benevolent owner of all things mu.nu has sprinkled his magic Pixie dust over the intertubes and fixed things. As is common in these situations we resort to the default and blame the J-O-Os.
Sorry for any inconvenience.
Palestinians: TEH JOOISH RATZ!!!11
Amuse yourself with the latest Palestinian lie:
TEH JOoZ Iz GiVIN uS DEmz RATZ!!l1LOL2!!
July 19, 2008
Yemeni Workers Protest Forced Celebrations
Saleh is celebrating 30 years in power and civil service workers are normally forced to attend pro-regime celebrations, but they are starting to get tired of it.
Sahwa Net Demonstrations held on Thursday in Dhala and Lahj provinces demanded to cancel celebrations in which the authorities force citizens to attend to, according to their descriptions...On the other hand, the Joint Meeting Parties in Mahweet condemned forcing employees to attend the celebration of the president's 30th anniversary of assuming power. Yemen's president Saleh took power in north on 17 July 1978.
Friday Night at the AFP/RightOnline Summit
Barry Goldwater, Jr. addresses the AFP/RightOnline Summit in Austin, Texas.
The Friday evening events opened up with a happy hour...
Grover Norquist checking his messages.
Peggy Venable of AFP-Texas M.C.'d the evening program.
The highlight of the evening was The Prince of Darkness himself, who kept the crowd in stitches. Novak couldn't resist the temptation to have a bit of fun at the expense of the Ron Paul supporters attending the dinner. In the Q&A, Novak asked about the possibility of a floor fight at the GOP convention responded as follows (paraphrasing): "Folks, political conventions have long since ceased to be anything but huge INFOMERCIALS for the parties. So why do we spend so much time working to influence what goes on at political conventions? Because we're STUPID, that's why."
Why I Hate Apple
If you don't have any iPhones to sell would it be too much to ask you to stop running those commercials? Seriously, I've been traveling for the past month and since you released the new iPhone I can't find a single one in stock in three different states! And yet every night I see at least three commercials telling me why the new 3G iPhone is better than a three way with Angelina Jolie & Jessica Alba.
I got a feva and the only cure is more iPhones!
July 18, 2008
AP Stringer Detained Over Filming of Two Murders, Questions Remain
Two unidentified Afghan Women chat with each other a few minutes before they were executed by Taliban in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, on late Saturday, July 12, 2008.
(AP Photo/Rahmatullah Naikzad)
[original here]
It looks like our story got some attention in Afghanistan. AP stringer Rahmatullah Naikzad was detained for two days after he filmed the brutal murder of two women by the Taliban accused of prostitution. The incident was first noted by us here and, as Fox News reports (hey, you guys don't know how to link?), "the AP has been following this case closely with some concern," after we raised several questions about Naikzad's relationship with the Taliban.
The video Naikzad made is here (WARNING: Graphic).
It's good to see that Naikzad is now helping local Afghan authorities track down those responsible for the murders. However, Naikzad's version of events still raise some serious questions about journalistic ethics.
Naikzad claims he has no connection to the Taliban. And says:
the Taliban issued a press statement calling all media outlets in the province of Ghazni, which has a large Taliban presence, to cover them carrying out the Shariah on a few burglars in their custody. Naikzad said he believed the Taliban would be cutting off the limbs of their prisoners, according to strict Islamic law.Okay, so according to his own version of events Naikzad knew beforehand that the Taliban planned to administer extra judicial punishment on what he presumed were thieves. He also believed that he would be a witness to the cutting off of these alleged thieves hands?
So, Naikzad knows that a crime-- and what probably would be considered a war crime--- is about to be committed by an internationally recognized terrorist group. Further, he knows the location of the terrorists and the location where the war crime is about to be committed.
What does the AP stringer do? Does he call up the local authorities? Does he notify the closest NATO outpost or headquarters? No.
After a member of the Taliban personally called him up and assured Naikzad of his safety if he would come to watch the crimes committed, he then checks with his bosses at the AP:
He said he checked with the Kabul office of the Associated Press, for which he works as a stringer, and then set off around sunset on his motorbike to a village on the outskirts of Ghazni City, only to find that no other journalist was there.Here is an even more important question about the AP's involvement. The AP is an American company. The organization, according to Naikzad, had prior knowledge about the location of a group of enemies of the US . The organization also had prior knowledge that a crime was about to be committed.
Did the Associated Press notify NATO forces with this information? The article makes no mention of this. What it does imply is that the AP gave Naikzad the green light to be a witness to a war crime.
Do journalists and news corporations have a moral responsibility to try to prevent such crimes? I believe they do. Becoming a journalist does not give one a free pass from the normal moral obligations required of human beings.
We'll return to this later.
After Naikzad met with the Taliban he learned that it was not thieves who were to have their limbs amputated, but women who were to be "executed".
Not so incidentally, Naikzad spent some of these daylight hours between the time that he first meets up with the Taliban and later that night when the two women were murdered snapping photos and making video of the Taliban marching and posing for him. Some of the poses show the Taliban in attack exercises.
If you read the Fox News story they also use the troubling word "execute" to describe the cold blooded murder of two women. That is, they allow the Taliban to choose the words to describe their own heinous crime. This is one of the main objections I raised when I first noted the AP's involvement in the murders.
The use of neutral terminology to describe what is clearly a crime is simply unacceptable. Perhaps "execution style murder" would be the only description other than "murder" which would be apt.
Moral equivocation has been all the rage in our institutions of higher learning since the 1960s, but it is perhaps seen clearest in the way reporters and editors are taught that "ethics" require strict neutrality: even when that neutrality is clearly immoral.
Neutrality between liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats are one thing. But neutrality between our country and the enemies we fight is not.
Let's get back to Naikzad's story. As the women are about to be "executed" he claims:
I told one of the Taliban, These are women, they are harmless. Why would you want to kill them? But they didnt listen to me.If true, good for you Naikzad. This is an important piece of context to the story. A journalist with some balls!
But, isn't it troubling that Naikzad went to the meeting with the Taliban fully expecting to film/photograph limb amputations? Which the phrase, by the way, makes sound quite clinical. I've seen the way the Taliban "amputate" limbs. They don't take their victims to some hospital. They tend to use common knives, there is a great deal of blood, and horrible screaming.
Again, it's even more troubling that the Associated Press sent him.
One of the things we pointed out in our criticism of the AP and of Naikzad was that the organization had been used by the Taliban to produce a propaganda snuff film for them. I claimed that the AP was worse than al Jazeera because at least al Jazeera only played these types of videos while the AP had now been reduced to producing them.
Naikzad, though, claims that the Taliban told him not to video tape the "execution":
He said the Taliban turned him down, but his camera was already rolling and he kept it on when he placed it on the seat of his bike.It's interesting to note that Fox's reporter seems skeptical of the claim owing to the fact that the video seems to follow the Taliban murderers after they kill the two women. How is it possible that if he had set the camera down on his motorcycle's seat so that the Taliban wouldn't notice he was filming them that the camera seems to follow their movements?
Naikzad claims:
I was standing near the bike, so my body may have touched the camera, Naikzad said, explaining the movement of the camera. He stumbled slightly and added, I myself nudged the camera a little bit.Ookay. Right. I guess it's possible if not entirely plausible.
Here's where we get back to the equivocation:
If I have photographed Taliban casualties, I have also photographed American casualties. I have been balanced in my journalism, he said.Again, this raises serious ethical questions about what it means to be "balanced" in war reporting. Especially in a war against enemy combatants who by every measure of the Geneva Conventions are illegal!
So, two main issues remain even after we hear Naikzad's version of events.
1) Do journalists have a moral responsibility that trumps whatever ethical standards they learned in journalism school to try and prevent heinous crimes that puts life or limb in jeopardy? I think yes. And if the AP had prior knowledge that these crimes were about to be committed then they had a moral (and perhaps legal) responsibility to notify those with the power to stop them. In this case probably NATO.
2) Do journalists have an allegiance to their home country in times of war that transcends the normal peace time journalistic ethic of "neutrality"? Again, I think yes. I do not necessarily think that journalists shouldn't try to understand why our enemies do the things they do. But note that they are our enemies, journalists included.
American journalists must recognize that America's enemies are their enemies. The Associated Press is and American company. Their allegiances must be to America.
There are two problems with the Naikzad incident raised by this second question. First, if the Associated Press, an American company, knew the location of enemy combatants it seems that they would have an obligation to report that, does it not?
Second, when American companies hire foreign stringers to do their reporting for them it would seem that they have a responsibility to add a context to the story which clearly distinguishes between our actions and the actions of our enemies. Such a distinction isn't always easy to make. We shoot at the Taliban, they shoot back.
But in the case where the Taliban's version of events is that two women were "executed" for crimes against Sharia law, but where Americans (and might I add the rest of the civilized world) would see the event as murder plain and simple, then clearly the context of the story must reflect American values and not the values of the barbaric enemies we fight.
The one bright spot in this whole thing is that the AP seems to at least be troubled by what happened. A feeling, I'm sorry to say, they seemed not to have after another one of their stringers in Iraq was caught with an al Qaeda operative.
Thanks to various readers who sent me this.
AP Stringer Stands by as Taliban Murder 2 Women, Gets Snuff Footage
Question About Journalistic Ethics: Are the AP Accomplices to Murder, Traitors, or Just Horrible Journos?
More From The RightOnline New Media Summit
A few photos from around the conference...
Local media interviews Laura Elizabeth Morales, conservative youth activist extraordinaire.
The Americans for Prosperity booth
Confirmed: Jihadis Recycling, Stealing, and Staging Propaganda Videos
Three articles of interest that seem related.
1) As we have noted several times al Qaeda has been recycling old videos for months now. The Blotter also notes:
Al Qaeda and its video production group are also distributing reruns. At least twice this summer, al Qaeda's media arm As Sahab has reposted old videos on jihadist websites, without identifying them as reruns. The move signals a shift in al Qaeda's strategy, and a decline in the frequency and quality of its propaganda videos.Ditto that for al Qaeda's Iraqi production arm, al Furqan.
Al Qaeda videos are becoming less frequent, of lower quality, recycled, and when "new" footage is released it is often only new in the sense that we haven't seen it before: the attacks are old.
This raises several interesting questions, but the two that immediately come to mind are: Where is Adam Gadahn? (dead, we hope) Where have AQI's in-country propagandists gone? (again, dead, we hope)
2) The Army of Ansar al-Islam seems to have one upped their former allies by resorting to even worse tricks than recycling old videos in an attempt to make themselves seem somewhat relevant. CBS reports that a recent lengthy video released by the group (banner announcement accompanying the video at the forums shown above) purporting to show an attack on and the successful take over of the headquarters of the Iraqi National Guards in Miqdadiyah may have been completely staged:
An insurgent video obtained by CBS news and produced by the Iraqi group Ansar al Islam may have been staged....At a forum at which I used to be associated with some of the jihad supporters swear they see IA soldiers on the rooftop of the building about 8 minutes into the video, thus proving that the CBS report is false.
The video opens with shots from the preparation for the operation, followed by large number of heavily armed militants attacking what appears to be an abandoned building. No Iraqi soldiers were shown throughout the entire video.
I've watched the video carefully and just don't see what they're talking about. In fact, just the opposite is true: the al-Ansar terrorists do seem to be attacking an empty building. I don't see any IA soldiers. The entire thing does seem staged.
And unless the Ansar al-Islam group (formerly known as Asnsar al-Sunnah), which first began making headlines for the dozens of civilian hostages they murdered, is composed mostly of "little people", it would also appears they're using children or young teenagers in their attacks. Or at least in this staged attack.
3) The recent discovery we made that the Taliban's Ummat Studios apparently stole an AP news video and claimed it as their own.
So, we have various Salafi jihad (al Qaeda, Ansar al-Islam, the Pakistani Taliban) groups 1) recycling video 2) staging video 3) stealing video.
In the first two cases this probably indicates that the groups are near total collapse. They no longer have the capacity to produce high quality propaganda in any quantity. They are hasbeens.
The outliers here, though, are the Taliban. By all accounts they are resurgent, especially on the Pakistani side of the border. So what to make of the low quality videos coming from them? It seems to me more of an indication of a neverwas capacity rather than of hasbeens. These are the Taliban. When have they ever been technologically savvy?
Liveblogging the RightOnline New Media Summit
A group of almost 500 conservative activists have converged on Austin, Texas this weekend to share lessons learned and develop strategies by which conservatives can more effectively organize and challenge the left online.
Emily Zanotti of Sam Adams Alliance opens up the morning's "Austin Samsphere" group session. Emily's presentation focused on what the Left-wingers do well, and what we can learn from their success. In particular, Emily's presentation focused on the importance of networking, interaction and online community.
Nicky Cheese (also of Sam Adams Alliance) moderates a breakout session on effective online activism. The group discussed what has been found to work and what hasn't.
Sean Hackbarth, of The American Mind, shares his thoughts on getting out the conservative message effectively, as John Hawkins of Right Wing News looks on.
Erick Erickson, of RedState, lays out strategies for getting online conservatives in touch with one another. Erick points out that, contrary to a lot of the hype, there is a great deal of conservative activism online. The difference, as Erick correctly notes, is that individual conservatives tend to build personal outposts, while lefties tend to congregate in huge online collectives, such as DailyKos.
Twoofers: Bali Bombings Was Aussie False Flag Op!
Australia's twoofer brigade blows the Bali bombing conspiracy wide open: Fool Me Twice. It all makes sense now.....
You'd think the Australian truther squad could get original and come up with their own deep-seated conspiracies, but they don't. Making an appearance in the Aussie version of the "truth" are all the usual suspects: Zbigniew Brzezinski, the CIA, and even the Council of Foreign Relations. The CFR for Crissake!
They even use "scientific evidence" to show how the Bali bombers really couldn't have used an ammonium nitrate car bomb. Instead, the bombers must have used C-4, ergo the CIA was really behind the attack.
Because the CFR and the CIA really care about a reduction of civil liberties in Australia.
Seriously, can't you morons come up with something more original than recycling Loose Change with an Aussie accent?
If your IQ hovers somewhere around 60 and you really want to know the TRUTH just go to YouTube and search for Fool Me Twice. It's there in 20 segments.
Thanks to David
6 Israeli Arabs Arrested over Bush Assassination Plot
Al Qaeda in Israel? Say it isn't so! Israel Matzav:
Six 'Israeli Arabs,' two from the north and four from 'east' Jerusalem, have been arrested and indicted for allegedly setting up an al-Qaeda cell in Jerusalem. One of the six - a student at Hebrew University - has been charged with attempting to assassinate President Bush during his visit here in May.The thing about the Israelis is that it seems that they know how to arrest guys like this, just not keep them locked up.
Mandatory Death Sentences for Internet Promotion of Apostasy in Iran
Iran is considering making the death penalty for apostasy mandatory. Not only for the apostate--the person leaving Islam--but for any one who promotes apostasy on the internet.
If the law takes effect, it would replace the current punishment for apostasy which gives the judge the option of imposing the death penalty.
Yes, Muhammad himself declared that apostates should have their heads cut off. Yet, Muslims insist that religious tolerance is part and parcel to the Religion of Peace.
I do not think that word tolerance means what they think it means.
Many liberal Muslims are opposed to anything in sharia that smacks of this kind of religious fascism. But you'd be hard pressed to find a single "moderate" country with a Muslim majority that legally and openly allows religious conversion out of Islam.
Thanks to Cindy.
Advice for Next Prez: Get a Grip on the Ideology Behind Jihad
Adam e-mails:
I just watched Andrew McCarthy on Peter Robinson's show. He gave his three sentences of advice for the next president: "Come to grips with the ideology that's fueling this [War on Terror]. Smoke out the people who are pretending to be moderates and aren't moderates. And devote some energy to fixing our system of dispensing justice so that we can protect our national interests but at the same time have a system that other countries are willing to cooperate with because we need their help."Ameen. Watch it here.
For Unto us a Savior is Born!
There came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Madrid Train Bombing Suspects Freed
(Madrid, Spain) The Spanish Supreme Court overturned the convictions of three men in the Madrid Train Bombing case and affirmed the acquittal of a fourth.
Abdelilah El Fadual El Akil, Basel Ghalyoun and Mohamed Almallah Dabas were released from prison yesterday afternoon.
The acquittal of Rabei Osman El Sayed, known as "The Egyptian" and suspected to be a ringleader, was affirmed. The court contended that the prosecution had not proven its cases against the men.
July 17, 2008
LOL: Algore Pwns Environment with Fleet of Gas Guzzlers
Thanks, Algore! I have to not only breathe in the noxious fumes emitting from your overfed piehole every day somewhere on my beloved planet, but now we have to all choke on the pollution from your entourage of SUVs and Towncars. Very "environmentally conscious" of you as you travel around peddling smake oil to the masses.
Watch the Gorebots get completely pwn3d by Americans for Prosperity as they stutter to rationalize both their hypocrisy and the desire to ruin the economy.
And see Algore's gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing train of vehicles. BOW DOWN BEFORE THE LEADER, GOREBOTS. ALL IS WELL.
ht: MM
Taliban/AP Use Same Cameraman?
A "new" video released by the Taliban's Ummat Studios shows two alleged American spies kidnapped in Afghanistan and then taken over the border and murdered by Pakistani Taliban sympathizers last month. The two were accused of helping the U.S. in an airstrike in Damadola, near the border, which killed several Taliban leaders. The crowed shouted Allahu Akbar.
However, the video released by Ummat Studios is identical to video released earlier by the Associated Press.
Look at these two screen grabs. The first is from a CNN International news report from late June of this year, the original video (seen here thanks to Kafir) is credited to the Associated Press (for instance, see AP marked images here). The second is a screen grab from the "new" Ummat Studios video. The two are obviously the same. I've stretched the image from CNN to match the dimensions of the image from the Taliban video.
I'd make an animated GIF, ala Charles Johnson, but I'm just not talented in that area. [Update: Thanks to Lizaroid Flying Dutchman for making the animated gif below]
So, what's the explanation here? Since the AP obviously had the video before the Taliban, we have a few possibilities.
1) The Taliban simply stole the AP video.
2) Whoever took the video sold (or gave) it to both the AP and the Taliban.
I'm leaning toward #1: the Taliban simply stole an AP video then added some background music, some subtitles, and their own watermark. There's some other evidence on the video that suggests this (you'll spot it pretty quickly as soon as I get the thing up at Liveleak).
Will the AP sue the Taliban for copyright infringement or might that spoil the otherwise splendid relationship the company has with the internationally recognized terror group?
Last question: since the Taliban obviously had their own guy there to record the murders (that's a camcorder they guy in the left foreground is holding), why did they have to use the AP's video? I think the answer is ovious: whoever is now in charge of Ummat Studios is not in the same physical location as the Taliban who murdered these two.
It also tells us what we've long known: the Tailban are knee deep in their own bullshit.
There is also an alternative #3 not mentioned above and which, in this particular case, seems like a longshot: the AP stringer who took the video also works for the Taliban.
Thanks to Howie for noticing the "similarities".
UPDATE: The video was rejected at Liveleak as already posted. Does any one see it there or is this just BS?
Q: How Long Does it Take to Deport a Terrorist from Canada?
A: Twenty years, and still counting. Convicted PFLP terrorist Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad still living in Canada after being ordered deported in 1988. He's still in the appeals process.
Thanks to Beowulf.
Heartache: Gas Prices Force Stay at Home Moms into Life of Stripping
An "investigative report" surveys women [with an N = 1] concluding that higher gas prices are leading normally chaste stay-at-home mom types into a life of sordid vice!
I just love these kinds of stories purporting to show the human side of the high price of gas. Accompanied by a video in which the anchor gives a strong sexual content warning, of course. I imagine the pitch the reporter makes to the editorial director as something straight out of Anchorman.
Be assured, I link it solely for the sake prurient interests:
With the average price of gasoline in these parts at an all-time high of $4.00 per gallon, and food costs rising, some women are entering the world of adult entertainment. This world of quick cash is nothing new to Amber. She stripped for three years in local clubs, but took a break after finding out she was pregnant. She then got back into the profession shortly after gas prices started rising and feeding her child got difficult. "Honestly, there are some days where I just don't eat because I can't afford to go buy food. Especially when it comes to diapers or milk, oh my God."It actually gets worse from there as "Amber" recounts how girls are raped in the VIP lap dance room. Ergo, not only do higher gas prices lead to a life of immorality, they also lead to an increase in rape.
QED fellas. QED.
25,000 Jihaddists to Fight in Yemen's War
Yemen's four year war in Sa'ada, northern Yemen has reached a city of 75,000 on the outskirts of the capital, which the government is bombing. Some reports indicate that mass arrests which began in 2005 have escalated to a new level:
From the Yemen Times: The army destroyed residents homes and property before raiding the village. [Army personnel] evicted residents, including women and children, to a nearby school, Bani Hushaish sources say, adding that the soldiers beat, badmouthed and insulted citizens.
According to the same sources, female soldiers from counterterrorism units deployed in the area arrested numerous women from Beit Al-Aghrabi village on suspicion of supporting Houthi gunmen. They further noted that the Yemeni army has arrested the majority of the villages male residents under age 50.....
A religious forum including Salafi members and tribesmen was held Tuesday, chaired by Sheikh Abdulmajid Al-Zindani, rector of Al-Iman Islamist University and also on the U.S. terror list. At the forum, participants agreed to contribute to the gathering of tribesmen under the name of a Popular Army to fight against Houthis, who belong to the Zaidi Islamic sect.
Reliable sources report that Salafi leaders promised to gather thousands of well-trained jihadists, most of whom are called Yemeni Afghans, to back the Yemeni army in its fight against Zaidi Houthis in Saada and other areas. .
Killing Bush = Art
What passes for art these days? Killing President Bush. No joke. An Iraqi professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Wafaa Bilal, is now displaying his latest 'work': a video game where the player hunts down and kills President Bush.
Sound familiar? That's because it is. Wafaa's 'art' is simply a hack of a video game made by the Global Islamic Media Front GIMF), an online al Qaeda media support group, called The Night of Bush Capturing (image above). GIMF's video game, where the jihadi user attempts to capture and kill President Bush, was actually a hack of another video game The Quest for Saddam.
The nuance added to GIMF's work is that instead of just assuming the player is an al Qaeda operative out to kill President Bush because that's the right thing to do, Bilal gives the player a reason to kill the President: U.S. forces have killed his brother.
Not so incidentally, Bilal's brother was really killed by U.S. troops at a checkpoint in Iraq. Sounds rather like a masturbatory fantasy on Bilal's part, doesn't it?
The alleged point of the traveling exhibit which lets the gallery visitor pretend he's an al Qaeda terrorist bent on killing President Bush?
This work is meant to bring attention to the vulnerability of Iraqi civilians to the travesties of the current war and racist generalizations and stereotypes as exhibited in games such as "Quest for Saddam," along with vulnerability to recruitment by violent groups like Al Qaeda because of the U.S.'s failed strategy in securing Iraq. The work also aims to shed light on groups that traffic in crass and hateful stereotypes of Arab culture with games like "Quest for Saddam" and other media.I'm not sure how pretending you are an Arab suicide bomber bent on killing the President of the United States helps the fight against racist stereotypes against Arabs. But perhaps that's because my taste in art is not quite nuanced enough?
It's interesting to note that Bilal chose to highlight what he sees as the racism inherent in video games where the player is asked to kill Arabs, yet there is nothing racist (or nothing of note to point out) in Arabs killing white guys.
Also, if Bilal thinks Americans are such racist bastards, why is he here instead of back in Iraq?
Thanks to AllahP.
UPDATE: Didn't see this before, but apparently the Lord of Moons also had a similar conversation with his boss about this one. Michelle Malkin has her own commentary on this including the reaction of protesters to the game.
Israel Returns Yemeni's Bodies to Hezbollah
Yemen to recover bodies of citizens killed in fight against Israel SABA
Yemen is preparing to recover the bodies of its citizens who were killed while fighting Israelis in Palestine and Lebanon, the mouthpiece of Yemen's Defense ministry September 26 reported on Thursday.
The bodies were handed over to the Hezbollah Group among other Palestinian and Lebanese bodies on Wednesday within the prisoner exchange agreed by Israel and the group.
Dollars to Donuts, they get a hero's welcome from the official Yemeni establishment, considering at the time President Saleh was urging the youth to go to Lebanon and surrounding countries to open their borders.
Iraq is soooo boring!
Some places in Iraq becoming so boring that some soldiers are begging to be sent to Afghanistan just so that they can see some action. Thanks to Larwyn.
Hamas Children's TV: Bunny Discusses Virtues of Hand Chopping
I'm at a loss for a comment.
Click the pic for more images and a link to the video. Thanks to Brian from Snapped Shot who has more commentary.
British Knife Problems
(United Kingdom) Some disturbing data is being reported regarding the number and extent of knife crimes in Britain. Statistics indicate that 22,151 knife and sharp instrument crimes were committed during the accounting year ending March 2008 -- not including fatal stabbings which are counted separately by the Home Office.
Ian Johnston, the head of the Police Superintendents' Association, says the knife criminals should be put in jail. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith says jail is too simple a solution and she is against it.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown promises to take over families who can't control their kids. If parents object, they will be evicted from their homes. As many as 20,000 families are affected.
All the while, the Brit police departments are worried that a deadly exploding-tip knife will soon appear on the streets of the British Isles. (More)
Headline of the Week
Goes to North county Gazette...
Stiff Sentence For Penis ManSee AP, if you weren't such a bunch of A-holes, I would have never even looked for an alternate source and found this one.SARATOGA SPRINGSThe man who disrupted the graduation ceremony of the Saratoga Springs High School last month, dressed in an inflatable 6-foot penis costume, has until Sept. 18 to make a written apology, complete 24 hours of community service and pay $95.
Calvin Morett, 19, of Pyramid Pine Estates appeared before Saratoga Springs City Court Judge Douglas Mills Wednesday to answer a charge of disorderly conduct, a violation. He must write a letter of apology to the school as well as pay to have it published in the local newspaper.
Video below the fold. Probably safe for work unless your employer is really uptight.
July 16, 2008
The RightOnline New Media Summit in Austin this Weekend - It's Not Too Late to Sign Up!
If you live in Texas and you've ever wanted to meet Michelle Malkin, here's your chance!
Register here.
UPDATE : In the comments, Melissa in Texas reminds us that thousands of Nutroot Kossacks will also be in Austin this weekend for their own pow-wow.
US Assessment of Yemeni Government and Governance
Well that's pretty forthright IMHO. Considering its diplospeak, its rather spot-on. Yay!
Yemen Online: Yemen-Advancing Freedom and Democracy Reports 2008 - Released by the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor- Part 1Yup. For more on these topics, see my recent articles, a) Yemeni security forces blanket Aden on war anniversary, at Jawa's good pal Bill Roggio's and b) The Spreading Destruction of the Saada War in Yemen at the truly excellent World Press.org
Yemen is a republic headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled the country since 1978. In September 2006 citizens re-elected President Saleh to another seven-year term in a generally open and competitive election, characterized by multiple problems with the voting process and use of state resources on behalf of the ruling party. Although there is a multiparty system, overwhelming power rests with the president and the ruling party, the General People's Congress. Significant human rights problems continued to exist in some areas. Weak governmental institutions, tribal patronage networks, and pervasive corruption continued to undermine civil liberties. There were reports that government forces committed arbitrary and unlawful killings, and that torture and poor conditions existed in prisons. Prolonged pretrial detention, judicial corruption, and executive interference continued to undermine due process. Arbitrary arrest and detention increased, particularly of individuals with suspected links to the rebellious al-Houthi movement in the Saada governorate. Restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, and peaceful assembly increased significantly. Pervasive discrimination against women and southerners also occurred, as well as child labor and child trafficking.
Taliban Supporting Students Demand U.S. Kill Them
I'm pretty sure the sign says:
Any one else want to take a stab at it?
Internet Weasel Rats On Jesse?
Well not us specifically. Either TVnewser or Inside Cable News, something.
Totten: The War in Iraq is "All But Over"
More on the we've won front from Michael Totten:
Im reluctant to say the war has ended, as he did, but everything else he wrote is undoubtedly true. The war in Iraq is all but over right now, and it will be officially over if the current trends in violence continue their downward slide. That is a mathematical fact.Over the past few days al Qaeda has detonated several car bombs in Diyala. So, how is the war "over"?
Totten goes on to say that the violence may never actually peter off to nothing in Iraq, but reminds us that violence and terrorism are endemic to the entire Middle East.
It's not over in the sense that we can now come home. It's over in the sense that we've crossed a line where our victory is all but assured if we stay the course. Like U.S troops crossing the Rhine in 1945--there are still a few battles left in the failed Islamist insurgency, but there is little doubt what the ultimate outcome will be.
It may even be too late for Barack Obama to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Of course, that wouldn't be true had his "let's end the surge before it ever begins" strategy been adopted. But if (God forbid) he wins, he'll take office in January of 2009. Given current trends we should be in full peace keeping mode by then.
From the beginning the many reasons for my support of ongoing efforts in Iraq can be reduced to a single premise: America must win its wars.
Victory enhances national security, failure reduces it. The ten years following our surrendering Vietnam to the communists were a foreign policy nightmare. That single act emboldened and reinvigorated not only communists across the world, but also Islamist revolutionaries such as Ayatollah Khomeini who, rightly, saw that the U.S. would no longer keep its security commitments.
Ditto that in our initial response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. And the killing of our Marines in Lebanon. And in Somalia.
Losing emboldens our enemies, winning frightens them.
I'll end with these two quotes which have haunted me for years now:
When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse.Liberals would do well to pay attention to them.
---Osama bin Laden, December 2001
We experienced the Americans through our brothers who went into combat against them in Somalia, for example. We found they had no power worthy of mention. There was a huge aura over America -- the United States -- that terrified people even before they entered combat. Our brothers who were here in Afghanistan tested them, and together with some of the mujahedeen in Somalia, God granted them victory. America exited dragging its tails in failure, defeat, and ruin, caring for nothing.
---Osama bin Laden, October 2001
NATO Forces Fire into Pakistan
NATO forces have returned fire over the Pakistani border. Expect the Taliban to begin whining about civilian casualties, which they themselves bring on by using family compounds as firing points.
NATO press release:
KABUL, Afghanistan: ISAFs Task Force (TF) Currahee in Paktika province received multiple rocket attacks from militants inside Pakistan on 15 July.Wikipedia identifies TF Currahee is a US-led task force primarily consisting of the 4th BCT, 101st Airborne Division with an attached battalion, 1-503rd IN (ABN), from the 173rd ABCT.
The troops identified a qalat [note: walled compound] as the point of origin of the attacks and responded in self defence with a combination of fires from attack helicopters and artillery into Pakistan.
TF Currahee* and Pakistan military coordinated their operation closely from the outset. The Pakistani military agreed to assist and search the area if the border firing continued.
In related news, the Canadians have killed the Taliban's second in command in Kandahar, Mullah Mahmoud. Mahmoud called himself the 'deputy governor of Kandahar'. Eight other pieces of crap were killed with him. Way to go Canada!
Report: German Hostage Killed in Afghanistan
Reports that a German aid worker who converter to Islam, changed his name from Harald Kleber to Abdul Rahman, and married an Afghan woman only to be kidnapped and held for ransom has been killed. AFP:
Based on some information we have received from intelligence sources, the German national has been killed because the ransom they demanded was not paid," said the police commander for western Afghanistan, Akramudin Yawar.Most kidnappings of Westerneres in Afghanistan can be traced to the Taliban. It's not clear whether Kleber was being held by Taliban sympathizers or petty criminals. Either way, those responsible are bloody animals.
"Police are investigating to find his body and see if this is true."
Arrest Warrant Issued for FLDS Hoaxter
Told you so:
The Colorado woman alleged to have sparked the raid on the polygamous FLDS ranch in Texas with bogus tips may be on the run.Will we see Nancy Grace and all the other WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!crowd spend endless hours yammering on about Swinton's malfeasance? Magic 8-ball says no.
On Monday, an arrest warrant was issued for Rozita Swinton after she failed to show up for a court hearing on charges of violating her probation for one of two other false-reporting cases against her, court administrator Lori McKager told Salt Lake City's 2News.
Thanks to Bill.
Q: How many Barack Obamas does it take to change a lightbulb?
None. Barack simply hopes and the light bulb changes itself.There's more.
The Dowd "Obama Gets Most Money from Foreigners" Hoax
There's an e-mail going around purporting to be a column by Maureen Dowd which claims that most of Obama's online fundraising can be traced to either Saudi or Chinese donors. Some bloggers have posted the e-mail with attribution to Dowd.
The problem? Dowd never wrote such a column:
Dowd herself found the email an exercise in absurdity, not to mention -- quite possibly -- the first time she's been indirectly involved in a smear campaign.I get e-mails like this all the time, and mostly just dismiss them. You should too.
"The line about it being the 'most shocking revelation,' I don't think I've ever said those words, except in a satire. Also, it is about money, which I never write about," she told the Huffington Post. "Sometime you try and protest things you hear about, but sometimes it's just not worth it... It is hard to track down and control these things, and anyone who reads my column knows that this wasn't me. I got to the second line and I knew it wasn't me."
Confirmed: Failed London Terrorist Digs Ben Stiller
Apparently Omar Yassin didn't get the memo about the subliminal Jewish mind control rays embedded in Meet the Fockers. This was found in the London transit bombers backpack which he left on the train after his bomb failed to explode.
NEFA Briefing: The July 21, 2005 London Transport Bombings (PDF)
I'm probably the only person on the planet who thinks Ben Stiller had exactly one good movie to his name: There's Something About Mary. And I know what you're thinking, but Dodgeball doesn't count. He was playing second fiddle to actual comedic genius, Vince Vaughn.
Obama Imagines Whirled Peas
When will the lambs finally lay down together with the lions and eat straw? When Barack Obama becomes President, of course! Obama will rid world of nuclear weapons.
Another Province Handed Over to Iraqis
10/18 provinces now fully under Iraqi sovereignty. Another province to be turned over within weeks.
Who's in charge of the ticker tape parades?
UPDATE: All provinces by end of the year.
WSJ: Civil War in Iraq is Over
Another opine that we've reached the tipping point in Iraq:
It is time for Americans to recognize it's a whole new ballgame in Iraq. The civil war is over, American troops are not an "irritant" fueling the unrest, and far from becoming dependent upon us, the Iraqi government and the army show more determination every day to run their country and to protect it. But they continue to want and need our assistance.When will the 'reality based community' and their Messianic leader, Barack Obama, get the message?
While victory in war is never certain until the war is over, the odds are strongly with us for once provided we do the right thing. That is to stand by our best ally in the war against al Qaeda, and the struggle to contain Iran.
What's so odd is that most of the arguments for withdrawal from Iraq could be equally leveled at Afghanistan.
UK Imam: Whip Fornicators, Chop off Clepto Hands
A British imam has called for the introduction of Saudi style Islamic law in the UK:
Abu Zahra declared: Male and female thief amputate their hands. Those who kill their life is not secure. And he slammed unmarried sex, saying: Lash them.Well, at least he's honest about sharia.
Thanks to Republican Jen for the behead Muno pic.
Mac vs. PC: Obama Edition
Pelosi Troll
Isn't calling Nancy Pelosi a troll redundant?
Time for some Campaignin'
Only 3 and a half more months of this crap. I can't wait.
Terrorists Imprisoned in Germany
(Stuttgart, Germany) Finally, the two-year-trial of three Iraqis has concluded with each being sent to prison for attempting to assassinate Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi in 2004.
High Court Presiding Judge Christine Rebsam-Bender sentenced Ata Abdoulaziz Rashid, the 34-year-old ringleader, to 10 years in prison. Mazen Ali Hussein, 27, received seven and one-half years and 33-year-old Rafik Mohamad Yousef got eight years.
Rashid, who was arrested in Stuttgart, is believed to have been the ringleader and to have been informed of other attacks planned by Ansar al-Islam.The assassination plotters were prosecuted under a new law allowing Germany to jail members of foreign terror organizations. Defense attorneys vowed to appeal the verdicts.
The court found that he collected funds and recruited potential suicide bombers for the group, which has claimed responsibility for a series of bloody attacks on US troops and aid workers.
Authorities found that Hussein, 27, was a close accomplice of Rashid's who also drummed up funding for Ansar al-Islam in Germany.
The court estimated Rashid had raised about 45,000, some 20,000 of which was funnelled to Ansar al-Islam in Iraq to fund attacks and pay stipends to families of suicide bombers.
Hussein told the court in September 2006 that the intention was not to kill the Iraqi leader but to "teach him a lesson". He conceded having made telephone calls which contained coded messages about the plot.
Yousef is believed to have approached Hussein just five days before Allawi's arrival in Germany seeking support for his idea to kill the prime minister.
Praise the Lord and Pass the Matches
(The Netherlands) On July 1st, smoking was banned in Dutch bars and cafes. On or about that date, the heavens apparently parted and a message from a higher being directed Michiel Eijsbouts to found a church devoted to the trinity of smoke, fire and ash to honor god.
The One and Universal Smokers Church of God was established.
Several dozen bars have joined the movement which claims the Dutch constitution and European rules give it legitimacy under the right to freedom of religion, the paper says.According to Eijsbouts, the church takes smoking very seriously and members follow the faith very strictly.
People who join the church get a membership card entitling them to smoke inside the building.
July 15, 2008
AP Films Taliban Murdering Women, Calls it "Execution" by "Militants"
**Sticky**Scroll Down for Newer Posts***
If you're looking for the post on the AP photographer who had the Taliban pose for him shortly before they murdered two women go here.
*Shocka* ACLU Exaggerates Watch List Numbers
John from STACLU and I had a little discussion about this yesterday in private. My opinion is that the ACLU is right in some of its criticisms of the Terror Watch List. It's not that we don't need a watch list--we do--but there really are far too many names on the list for it to be effective.
One might argue that it's better to err on the side of caution--too many names on the list--than to keep a lot of iffy names off and find out too late that we were wrong--oops, sorry 'bout that second 9/11! There's some merit to the argument I think. But at some point a list such as this just becomes too large to properly enforce. Especially if the database is name driven rather than biostatic in nature (meaning we know the name of the person we don't want flying, but have zero info on what he looks like).
In any event, as John rightly points out the ACLU widely overstates it's case. The ACLU claims, "the list does more harm than good." I don't any one doubts the list does harm by confusing solid citizens with potential threats based on a name, but does it do more harm than it does good? I doubt it.
After you're done reading the STACLU article, cruise on over to the Washington Times which confirms his stats. Here's an important quote from the Times article:
TSC spokesman Chad Kolton said that about 95 percent of watch-listed suspects are not U.S. citizens or legal residents of the U.S. and the vast majority aren't even in the U.S.Here's a helpful hint to those who might mistakenly be on the list: Changing your name from Abu Laith al-Libi to Todd Jones might just not be a bad idea.
Yon: War in Iraq is OVER
The unwinable optional war, Iraq, is over says Michael Yon. Guess who won? We did:
I would go so far as to say that barring any major and unexpected developments (like an Israeli air strike on Iran and the retaliations that would follow), a fair-minded person could say with reasonable certainty that the war has ended. A new and better nation is growing legs. What's left is messy politics that likely will be punctuated by low-level violence and the occasional spectacular attack. Yet, the will of the Iraqi people has changed, and the Iraqi military has dramatically improved, so those spectacular attacks are diminishing along with the regular violence. Now it's time to rebuild the country, and create a pluralistic, stable and peaceful Iraq. That will be long, hard work. But by my estimation, the Iraq War is over. We won. Which means the Iraqi people won.But guess which war we haven't won? The winable good war, Afghanistan:
I wish I could say the same for Afghanistan. But that war we clearly are losingRead the rest. By winning what Yon means is we've past a point where victory is now inevitable.
Remember, we were going to win in Afghanistan because we had righteousness, a U.N. Resolution, and an international coalition and support for it. Our expedition in Iraq was fated to be lost from the beginning because it was an unholy war for oil, the U.N. didn't approve, and the international community (meaning, you know, China, Russia, and France) was against it.
Anteater has something to say to the lot of you.
Coalition troops in position(Troops moved to the Pak-Afgan border)
Pakistan's deadly game of allowing cross border raids into Afghanistan is about to find out TWO can play the same game. Hundreds of allied troops have taken up position Tuesday along the Pakistan-Afghan border backed by tanks and various other high tech weapons.
In this writers opinion its about damn time we cleaned out the rats nest that is called the tribal areas.
No more diplomacy!
No Laughing in Yemen! Jail for You!
Fresh on the heels of the politicized trial of Yemeni journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaiwani, sentenced to six years for "an article liable to demoralize the military", comes the conviction of Fahd al-Qarni, COMEDIAN. Seriously. From HAMSA's C.R.I.M.E. report:
Fahd Al-Qarani faced the judge in the southern Yemeni city of Taiz. The nationally-beloved comedian-singer (dubbed by some the Adam Sandler of Yemen) was being charged by the government for insulting Yemens president, Ali Abdullah Saleh. To prove their case, prosecutors played a tape of one of his sketches. The entire courtroom burst out laughing and prosecutors rushed to demand a recess as police intervened.BTW, al-Qarni was given the opportunity to apologize to the ever sensitive President Ali Abdullah Saleh in order to gain his freedom. Al-Qarni refused saying, "I will not kneel."
Clearly, Al-Qarani is a pretty funny guy. Because much of Yemens population is illiterate, his recordings reach a much wider audience than opposition newspapers, and his concerts draw thousands of spectators. One of Al-Qaranis most popular sketches features a taxi driver who, though never named, speaks in a dead-on imitation of President Saleh. The skit is both hilarious and blunt: Yemen is being taken for a ride by a reckless driver.
While Yemeni crowds were laughing inside and outside of courtrooms President Saleh was not. After repeated attempts to silence Al-Qarani, the government won its case on July 9, as the comic was sentenced to 18 months in jail plus a $2,500 fine. But Al-Qarani seems to be relishing the notoriety of being sent to jail for being too funny. He called on his fans to come celebrate the verdict, and hundreds poured out into the streets demanding his release and a commitment by the government to protect freedom of expression.
In the showdown between Saleh and Al-Qarani, it remains to be seen who will get the last laugh.
Question About Journalistic Ethics: Are the AP Accomplices to Murder, Traitors, or Just Horrible Journos?
Two unidentified Afghan Women chat with each other a few minutes before they were executed by Taliban in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, on late Saturday, July 12, 2008.
(AP Photo/Rahmatullah Naikzad)
[original here]
Phyllis Chesler notes that not only did AP photographer, Basmatullah Naikzad, just stand by and do nothing as two women were brutally murdered by the Taliban-he (and the Associated Press) also profited off their deaths through the photos they sold. I would also add that Naikzad also made a snuff video. Oh, and the Taliban were comfortable enough with the AP photog that they posed for him. The day before the women were murdered.
Clearly we have a case where the AP embedded one of their photojournalists (stringer?) with the enemies not only of the United States of America, but of civilization itself.
Chesler ends with these interesting questions:
Should photographers document the atrocities? Should they refuse to do so? Will this refusal lead to fewer atrocitiesor to even greater license to commit more since no one will be watching?Interesting questions, all. The answer of course is that journalists are human beings. As such, they have a moral obligation to protect innocent human life that trumps any other concern--including so-called "journalistic ethics".
If they can't stop atrocities, should journalists document them? Of course. But would it be too much to ask that journalists and their editors label the atrocities, you know, atrocities!
In this case the AP labeled the Taliban "militants" and called the extra-judicial murder of two women for the alleged crime of prostitution an "execution".
Further, as Rusty Humphries pointed out to me on his radio show last night, journalistic ethics require that the AP fully disclose whether or not Basmatullah Naikzad was filming the Taliban atrocity under duress. This was their defense for the photos taken by Iraqi stringer Bilal Hussein who claims terrorists forced him to photograph them next to the murdered corpse of Salvatore Santoro.
There is no indication that Naikzad was under duress. If he was, the AP does not disclose that fact. This is important because then we might excuse the AP photographer for being forced to videotape what is essentially a snuff film and terrorist propaganda.
This really marks a new low in journalism. In the past we have complained about al Jazeera for airing murder videos produced by terrorist organizations and sent to the Arab network. But the AP one-ups al Jazeera becoming the first news organization to actually produce a terrorist snuff video themselves!
The Associated Press has a lot of explaining to do here. Their explanation needs to start with Naikzad's presence in the midst of an internationally recognized terrorist organization, continue with what steps he took to stop the murder of two women, go on from there to explain whether or not he is helping in the apprehension of the murderers, and then end with why the AP chose to use a value neutral context in reporting what are clearly war crimes.
I have a feeling that we'll receive little satisfaction to any of these questions.
A True O!bot
Whilst perusing the comments at a Politico post here (where posted is a McCain flip-side cartoon to match the New Yorker cartoon), I stumbled upon what I felt was a particularly sad, pitiable representation of the entire kneejerk left-wing reaction to the sight of their own jackassery:
That is mighty tame compared to the Obama cover. I got a bad feeling in my stomach after seeing that New Yorker magazine cover. What they fail to realize is that a huge portion of the electorate are idiots, and they are going to see that picture and it's going to turn them off from Obama at a visceral level. [...]Funny - the years of the whole BushHitler thing his ilk invented gets no mention. Or something, dude.
Posted By: TJ | July 15, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The rest of the comment is lamenting over the fact that this wasn't done to McCain, or that the parody cartoon of McCain isn't that bad and is true. I don't know - it's too stupid and isn't worth killing your brain cells over.
I just found it especially creepy, and yet simultaneously hilarious, that this clown had a visceral, nauseous physical reaction to seeing his Democrat candidate, the Lord His Obama, satirized as savagely as Bush has been for his entire Presidency.
Fragile little babies, those O!bots. They can dish it out, but brother, they can't take it. Even when the satire in question is agreeing with them.
Video: Canadian Teenage al Qaeda Member 'Tortured' at Gitmo
Raw video of Omar Khadr being interrogated by Canadian agents at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. From what I gather, this is the first video to be released of an interrogation of a prisoner at Gitmo.
Khadr was just 15 years old when he was captured by U.S. troops in Afghanistan following a firefight. Khadr comes from a family of jihad supporters. His father, Ahmad Khadr, was arrested and unsuccessfully prosecuted in Pakistan for financing al Qaeda in the 1990s. There's really no doubt that the entire family was close to top al Qaeda leaders such as Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Abu Laith al-Libi.
The video below shows a distraught 16 year old Khadr, but there is no sign of physical or any other type of abuse. Lefties in Canada and the U.S. claim the tape proves the U.S. tortures people at Guantanamo Bay. Watch for yourself.
The biggest caveat, though, is that there is an additional 6.5 hours of video that will be released today. Given the way Khadr moans and groans in this video, I'm guessing that in that you could probably splice together a lengthy propaganda video intent on making the U.S. look bad and terrorists like Khadr look like victims.
He really is a whiney little bitch.
After the younger Khadr was caught, soldiers found a video tape of him with al Qaeda leader al-Libi. The video showed the two wiring the house that Khadr was caught in with explosives. I'm guessing Khadr's lawyers don't want that video released.
Now contrast the way the U.S. treats illegal enemy combatants like Khadr, who many on the Lef claim was 'tortured', with the way the Taliban treats women accused of being prostitutes.
Canada Orders U.S. Army Deserter Deported
(Vancouver, British Columbia) Yesterday, Canadian Federal Court Justice Anne Mactavish ordered 25-year-old U.S. Army deserter Robin Long to be deported back to the United States.
Long's lawyer, Shepherd Moss, presented a fairly weak argument.
This issue may not be completely resolved, however, since Canada's peace activists are jazzed and they have allies among the parliamentarians.
When the Chewbacca Defense Goes Horribly Wrong
Actual lawyer representing actual terrorists at actual press conference.
AFP Photo Shenanigans
I'm guessing that the AFP photo shown here which claims to be of US forces securing a facility in Iraq is a stock photo. How else to explain the fact that the soldiers are carrying MILES laser equipped weapons? Someone needs to talk to whoever is in charge of captioning photos over at AFP.....
Diplomacy, Al Qaeda Behind Afghanistan Attack. But Mostly Diplomacy.
Yesterday Newbie had a discussion with the rest of the gang behind the scenes here at Jawa world headquarters about the likely involvement of al Qaeda in the attack which killed 9 Americans in Kunar province Sunday. Bill Roggio confirms that not only al Qaeda, but other Islamist organizations were involved. Further, they've reconstituted Brigade 055:
Al Qaeda has also reformed Brigade 055, the infamous military arm of the terror group made up of Arab recruits. The unit is thought to be commanded by Shaikh Khalid Habib al Shami. Brigade 055 fought alongside the Taliban against the Northern Alliance and was decimated during the US invasion of Afghanistan. Several other Arab brigades have been formed, some consisting of former members of Saddam Husseins Republican Guards, an intelligence official told The Long War Journal.How has al Qaeda become re energized? It had nothing to do with 'distractions' in Iraq. Quite the contrary. Al Qaeda has had its asses handed to them on a platter in Iraq.
Al Qaeda's elite forces were likely involved in the planning and execution of Sunday's sophisticated attack in Kunar.
The real culprit here is diplomacy. The various peace agreements made by the Pakistani government with the various Taliban and Taliban-like organizations created the space needed by al Qaeda to reconstitute, reenergize, and retrain.
Think about that the next time someone in the State Department calls for diplomatic efforts.
Apologies to Ace for the headline.
It's Okay to Call Scientologists Bastards
From Tongue Tied:
"The South Australian Government was at odds with the Church of Scientology last night after backing the right of a senior state minister to brand its members "bastards".As far as I know, the bastards issue hasn't been tested in the U.S.
Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith has also questioned the organisation's tax-free status in comments to an anti-Scientology group called Anonymous, which it posted on popular internet site YouTube.
While declaring Dr Lomax-Smith was entitled to her opinion, a spokeswoman for Premier Mike Rann distanced the Government from the remarks, saying they represented a private view, The Australian reports.
July 14, 2008
Rusty on the Radio
**Bumped**Sticky for now***
Barring some cool author like Orson Scott Card or Brad Thor bumping my slot, I'll be on the Rusty Humphries show tonight at about 10:35 Eastern (that's 7:35 Pacific). We'll be discussing the latest AP fiasco and whatever else strikes our fancy.
UPDATE: Dear Eric S. You are a moron. And ghey. Definitely the latter if not the former.
It's called a Google search. You do know what Google is, don't you?
UPDATE II: Nigel asks, we deliver. There's an archive of the show here (as of 7/15/08, looks like it will only be valid for a few days). I'm on at the bottom of hour 2 of the show.
USF Student w/ Terror Ties Gets 6 Mos.
Two down, one to go. Hey, Karim. Watch out for the corhnole buddy. TampaBay.com:
Karim Moussaoui, a University of South Florida graduate with ties to Youssef Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed, received a six-month federal prison sentence today for violating his student visa by posing for a picture with a firearm...Have fun in federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison!
Moussaoui was captured on surveillance footage at the Shoot Straight gun range last summer on an outing there with Megahed. He posed for a picture holding a rifle, which prosecutors used as the basis for their charge againt him.
Thanks to Cindy.
Son of Jalaluddin Haqqani killed in firefight
Mohammad Omar Haqqani, one of the sons of Jalaluddin Haqqani was killed in a firefight at Satto Kandao with Afghan and American troops late last week . Killed along with him was Abu al-Hassan al-Saeedi a top Al Qaeda commander in southeastern province of Paktia. The deaths have been confirmed by Al Qaeda via email to Pajhwok Afghan News
For those who are unfamiliar with Jalaluddin Haqqani he served as minister of tribal affairs in the Taliban government.
Video: A-10 Vs. Taliban
A-10 takes out Taliban position in Afghanistan. Why? Because we're not the AP.
Anteater Campaign Gaining Momentum
Watch below. Anteater '08!!
Red Cross: NATO = Taliban
AP Stringer Stands by as Taliban Murder 2 Women, Gets Snuff Footage [UPDATE: Worse than Bilal Hussein!][UPDATE: Confirmed: Took Video of Murder]
UPDATE 7/18/08: Rahmatullah Naikzad detained for two days and interrogated over his involvement in the Taliban murders.
AP photographer Rahmatullah Naikzad was a witness to a Taliban murder. The two women were alleged to have been prostitutes who served Western clientèle.
Two unidentified Afghan Women chat with each other a few minutes before they were executed by Taliban in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, on late Saturday, July 12, 2008.
(AP Photo/Rahmatullah Naikzad)
[original here]
Local people watch two Afghan women shot and killed by Taliban in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, on Sunday, July 13, 2008.
(AP Photo/Rahmatullah Naikzad)
(original here)
This page from the AP seems to suggest that Rahmatullah Naikzad also took a snuff video of the two women being murdered. [UPDATE: Yes, he did. Video added at end of post]
We would remind the AP that the act of the Taliban inviting a reporter to the murder means they wanted this news out there. The AP was clearly being used as a propaganda outlet for the Taliban.
Does this make him an accomplice or only a witness to the crime? When you know a crime is about to be committed, do you not have a moral and ethical obligation to try to prevent that crime? Even if you're a journalist? Even if all you do is try to call the authorities, in this case someone in the Afghani government or NATO?
A quick Yahoo News photo search of Rahmatullah Naikzad seems to indicate that he's very friendly with the Taliban. Many of the pictures show Taliban fighters posing for the AP photographer. For instance:
(AP Photo/Rahmatullah Naikzad)
[original here]
Naikzad appears to have been embedded with the Taliban during the daylight hours before the two were murdered. The image below, taken by Naikzad, has this caption:
Face covered Taliban militants exercise before they executed two Afghan women in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, on Saturday, July 12, 2008. [original here]
You'll notice that the caption on the first photo at the top of this page is clearly taken at night a few minutes before the two women were murdered. The second photo above, showing the bodies of the two women, was clearly taken the next day after the women were murdered. This means that Rahmatullah Naikzad was with the Taliban for at least 24 hours!
What, if anything, did Rahmatullah Naikzad do to either prevent the murder of two women? Or what is he doing now to help find those who murdered them? If the answer is anything other than nothing I would be more than a little surprised.
Once again the AP is aiding and abetting the enemy. This time with a group listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. and which several U.N. Security Council Resolutions forbid giving any assistance to.
Will the AP be given a Pulitzer this time?
Thanks to Phyllis Chessler for first noticing the photo.
*All emphasis in quotes mine.
UPDATE: If you'll remember the AP tried to excuse Bilal Hussein's photos that he took of two 'insurgents' posing over the body of murdered hostage Salvatore Santoro by claiming that he was forcibly taken there by the terrorists and shown the body after Santoro was killed. This time, the AP has no such excuse.
If we accept the AP's version of Bilal Hussein's photos of Santoro, then Rahmatullah Naikzad's photos are clearly worse than those of Hussein! He stood by while two women were murdered!!
UPDATE II: It gets worse. A snuff video was made by Naikzad. It's horrible. The murder of the two women is at night, so it's not visually graphic, but the audio is awful. You can hear at least one of the women screaming after the first shots are fired.
It's official: the AP has now replaced al Jazeera as the official outlet for terrorist snuff videos. You'll have to scroll all the way down for video. I'll put additional updates before it with relevant bail out warnings.
UPDATE III: AllahP makes a great point about the AP violating their own ethical standards. Also note his point about the difference between anti-jihad websites showing these images and the *neutral* territory provided by the AP.
The key point here is the context in which the photos/videos are shown.
In the context of this blog it is clear that the photos are meant to show what horrible evil we are fighting. But when the the AP chooses to use value neutral terms to provide context for the photos they cross a line into a moral relativism which is more than just unpatriotic, it's downright disgusting!
Instead of calling the Taliban what they are--primae faciea war criminals & illegal combatants--they simply label them militants. Worse, they allow the Taliban to choose the words to describe the horrible murders of two women calling it an execution.
And, the more I think about it, this suggests the AP is worse than al Jazeera. Remember when we all were outraged about al Jazeera showing snuff videos produced by terrorists? This terrorist snuff video was filmed by the AP.
UPDATE IV: Drew M:
No word yet if the AP will be charging the Taliban if they use the photos or excerpts of the story on their jihadi recruitment sites.Heh.
UPDATE V:Pirate's Cove asks this exit question:
will all those liberal womens groups who we never hear from about the plight of women under Islam decry what the AP has done?Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I'll be on the Rusty Humphries Radio Show tonight discussing this and other whatnots at 10:35 Eastern.
WARNING: Graphic AP video of the Taliban murdering two women below. Do not click play if you do not wish to see it.
Thanks to Watcher for the vid link.
The Most Intelligent Voters In History
Watch some O!bots do what they do best. I dare you to keep your IQ from dropping.
Protecting Free Speech From Foreign Islamist Censors
Sens. Arlen Specter and Joe Lieberman have an op-ed in the WSJ today on a bill they are co-sponsoring which would immunize Americans from Islamists bent on using foreign libel law to squelch critical speech in the US:
Our bill bars U.S. courts from enforcing libel judgments issued in foreign courts against U.S. residents, if the speech would not be libelous under American law. The bill also permits American authors and publishers to countersue if the material is protected by the First Amendment. If a jury finds that the foreign suit is part of a scheme to suppress free speech rights, it may award treble damages.Bruce Kessler over at the Democracy Project has more info on how your support can help get this bill out of committee and onto the floor for a vote.
Bush to Lift Exec Offshore Drilling Ban
Democrats in Congress, though, continue to oppose it.
Tried to find the famous Ted Kennedy & mistriss pic, but couldn't. Anyone have it?
Westboro: Tony Snow now in Hell
No word other than disgusting comes to mind:
The WBC writes:
Christ Episcopal Church (Lepor Colony) 118 N. Washington St. Tony Snow (Press Secretary for 6 B George W. Bush) is dead, YES! He had a platform, he was given some small talent by his creator. He was an unfaithful steward, and is now residing in hell.More here.
Obama Wants New National Civilian Security Force?
Strange, Odd, Oh but just think of the parades comrades!
Via Protein Wisdom: Back on July 2, Barack Obama read his public service address, and it contained this line that hasnt received much notice:Gee, I wonder what he would call it? The Shield Squadron?
We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives weve set Weve got to have a civilian national security force thats just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded.
What if George Bush or any Republican were to suggest such a thing? The screams of bushhitler from the left would be deafening!
Also see Free Republic.
Hat Tip: Instapundit.
It switched out the youtubes. The first one is here.
July 13, 2008
Nine US soldiers killed in Afghanistan as Taliban attacks base
This will go down as one of the worse days yet in the war in Afghanistan. Reports are confusing right now but it seems the Taliban have tried to overrun(and may have succeeded) a Combat outpost in Dara-I-Pech district of Kunar Province with the loss of 9 US troops(that number could rise).
Nato reported that the small American Combat Outpost in Dara-I-Pech district of Kunar Province, on the border with Nuristan Province in the east of the country, came under heavy fire at around 4.30am local time. Heavy fighting continued throughout the day with US forces calling in artillery, fast jets and Apache helicopters.No way of sugar coating this quote...
"The Taliban attacked the US base yesterday and the American planes bombed the area. After the attack, the US troops decided to move their base to the district centre of Wanat and they tried to build shelters there in the bazaar overnight. Now the Taliban have attacked again."
July 12, 2008
Saturday Night Dixie Chicken
Shortened version, and very solid.
Enjoy the sumptuous rhythms and compelling genius of Lowell George and Little Feat, circa 1977.
Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff makes unannounced visit to Pakistan
When this man shows up...its not for a social call.
The Lying Propaganda of the Islamic State of Iraq
To say that the al Qaeda front group known as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) is full of liars is to repeat oneself. They do nothing but misinform, that is their mission.
The recent lengthy video release by the ISI, The Knights of Martyrdom III, reveals a couple of interesting things. First, there is no new footage in the film. None. All old attacks. The highlight of the film seemed to be an attack on a bridge in Mosul from May of last year.
But there is a major discrepancy in the video that a friend (who I don't know if they want to be credited at the moment) noticed. About 27 minutes into the video the douchebags at the ISI begin to use the memory of a fallen American soldier for their own propaganda. They show several items belonging to Spc Hoby F. Bradfield, Jr., including a photo identification of him. The footage has the logo of the ISI and of al Furqan Media (the video propaganda arm) superimposed on it.
Unfortunately for the ISI, which takes credit for the attack which killed Bradfield, there is one problem: Bradfield was KIA on July 9th, 2005 in Tal Afar -- that's about a year before Abu Musab al Zarqawi was killed in June of the next year.
The ISI was established October 15, 2006, a year and a half after the group claims it killed Bradfield.
Nice try ISI. We know who you are: al Qaeda, nothing more. We know what you are: terrorists, rapists, and murderers; nothing more. We know what has become of you: dead, dying, and defeated; nothing more.
Islamic State of Iraq? No, more like the Islamic State of Lying Losers!
PIJ Terrorist to be Freed: PIJ Sites PWND, 1 More to Go
*Bumped. For now.*
To be honest, this is less than a big deal. Dr. Sami al-Arian, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad supporter and operative, is not an immediate short term danger to our country. He's the kind of academic coward who knowingly supports terrorist and raises money for them, but would never knowingly put his own precious life, limb, or liberty in jeopardy. This is why his initial arrest and prosecution came as such a shock to the Islamist establishment: people like al-Arian seemed to be far enough removed from actual acts of terror to ever be prosecuted.
While he's out he'll be well watched, I'm sure. It may be a moral victory for the Left, the anti-Israel fringe of both sides of the political spectrum, and the Islamists, but it matters very little in the grand scheme of things.
So, enjoy your freedom while you can a Dr. al-Arian. I hear the Egyptians can't wait to get you on their soil.
The IPT has all the relevant information.
Hat tip: STACLU who have commentary.
Meanwhile in other Palestinian Islamic Jihad related news, three of the four PIJ websites hosted in the U.S. that we brought to your attention a few weeks ago have vanished.
Only one more to go. When The Planet asks you how you know this is a PIJ website, please direct them to the prominent PIJ logos all over the page. You know, it's kind of the first hint.
http://www.alnashrah.org/ = 18.104.22.168
The Planet NOC
Houston, TX
OrgAbusePhone: 1-281-714-3560
OrgAbuseEmail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Then, if they still don't have a clue, direct them here. Also let them know that this, displayed prominently across the top of the al Nashrah website, says in Arabic that it's the official jihad publishing site for the organization:
QED bitches. QED.
Q: How Does America's Only Muslim Congressman Celebrate the 4th of July?
A: By going to Kenya. He spent the day with Barrack Obama's grandmother.
Weird, no?
BBC Show: Extremist Christians Behead Moderate Muslim
I'd laugh, but apparently the show isn't a comedy. Surreal:
A recent episode of the series Bonekickers displayed what many are calling graphic images of a moderate Muslim being beheaded by a supposed extremist Christian...No more tongue-in-cheek "Presbyterians Behead Hostage" headlines I guess.
Viewers were apparently shocked when actor Paul Nichollswas was seen using a sword to hack off a moderate Muslims head in an unprovoked attack.
Nichollswas plays a member of the fictional group called the White Wings Alliance. The fictitious group is far-Right evangelical group of Christians inspired by the Crusades.
Honestly, can the BBC be any more idiotic? What's so disturbing about this is that a fair number of lefties actually believe their own shallow equivocations between religious groups. To them, Christians rhetorically damning non-believers to hell is just as scary as Muslim terrorists actually sending them there.
Then again, it could have been a coldly calculated move at self preservation. A plot involving Christians killing Muslims is sure to raise a protest. But a plot where Muslims murder Christians will get you death threats from the religion of irony.
Meanwhile, four men in actual danger of being beheaded by 'rebels' searching for an independent Presbyterian state in the southern Philippines have been released.
Thanks to Martin.
What a Difference a Year and a Peace Agreement Make: From 29 to 100 Terror Camps
Read it and weep:
"More than 100" terror camps of varying sizes and types are currently in operation in the region, a senior US military intelligence official told The Long War Journal. As of the summer of 2007, 29 terror camps were known to be operating in North and South Waziristan alone.No doubt the motivation for increasing U.S. attacks within Pakistani territory.
Gloves Off in Pakistan?
I've been sent several articles over the past few days claiming the U.S. commandos are now deep into Pakistani territory. It's all open source, so I'm not outing any secret operations here. I'm just happy to see that we've finally put up with enough bullshit from Pakistan.
It looks like the Pakistani response is going to be to publicly decry the actions as a violation of their sovereignty, and then privately thank us for doing what they can't or won't.
The problem the Pakistanis face is that a majority of their own population has some sympathies with the Taliban. To directly confront them would be a disaster. To do nothing would also be a disaster. So they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Letting us do their dirty work for them while the publicly make a stink about us is about as good as it's going to get for the world's largest failed nuclear state.
This IBD editorial has background:
It appears hawks within the Pentagon and CIA have won a long-running policy battle with risk-averse officials in the administration and diplomats at the State Department. The result is a more aggressive, go-it-alone policy in response to Pakistan's failure to disrupt terrorist training camps and cross-border attacks against our troops and the Afghan government....The U.S. military confirms it is sending extra air power to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border by moving the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. The battle group ostensibly will provide air support for special forces who reportedly have been given the green light after tumultuous debate within the White House to conduct raids deep inside Pakistan's tribal belt to eradicate al-Qaida and Taliban bases.Unfortunately, we will never have a solution to the Pakistan problem. The best we can hope for is that when the smoke clears from the inevitable escalation of what already is a civil war, that the anti-Taliban factions will hold all the keys to Pakistans nukes.
Thanks to Jim.
McCain Can Win
So says that other McCain. Sure he can. So can the Denver Broncos. It can happen.
Saddam's Secret Terror Documents Book Signing in Annapolis
"Sammi", coauthor with Ray Robison of the book Both In One Trench: Saddam's Secret Terror Documents is coming out of the shadows to do a book signing:
Sunday July 13th from 1:30 to 4:30 PM
Hard Bean Coffee & Booksellers
36 Market Space, Annapolis Md
If you're in the area, you might want to stop by.
LOL: ICC May Indict Sudan's President
The International Criminal Court may indict Sudan's sitting "President", Omar al-Bashir. It's laughable, really. No, I'm not laughing, but al-Bashir is. Out loud.
The man is responsible for the deaths of millions. A few Euroweenie lawyers and the threat of a summons aren't about to ruin his day.
Is This Canada? Former Diplomat Sentenced for Racist Remarks
Dude, is this freaking Canada or what? Can someone explain to me how a former employee of the government making racist and vague non-specific threatening phone calls and e-mails is a Civil Rights violation?
Thanks to Fakir.
Tony Snow Dies
Breaking news!
Former White House spokesman, talk-show host and commentator Tony Snow, died of colon cancer early this morning. He was 53.
Snow is survived by his wife , a son and two daughters. Condolences to the family.
Rest in peace, Tony. You will be missed.
July 11, 2008
Rusty's Plan to Teach Americans a Foreign Language.
Obama is wrong. We gun-toting American morons don't need to learn Spanish. We need to learn Russian. Here's how I propose to do it.
Warning: Some uptight types might not appreciate PG-ish vid below.
Under my plan, every red-blooded American will learn Russian, and have fun doing it.
So next time you're in Europe, as most of you are each and every summer, forget your lame ass merci beaucoup, just remember spacibo bolshoi!
Where's PETA? Dog IED Video
Here's a video from the Jaish al-Mujahideen in Iraq. I guess touching a dead dog isn't harem if you plant an IED in it and use it to kill the infidel?
Warning: Video below shows dead dog, but it's not clear what they blow up. Probably another mujahideen f*cking the corpse. Dog, goat, whatevs....
Pakistan: Taliban Leaders Arrested
(Islamabad, Pakistan) According to Pakistani government official Rehman Malik, the Frontier Constabulary has arrested Taliban leader Amjad and four associates. Also a tipster led law enforcers to arrest Rafiuddin, the Taliban commander believed responsible for the siege of the police station in Hangu, southwest of Peshawar.
Interestingly, during the arrest of Rafiuddin, hand grenades and "poisonous injections" were found and seized. Malik said it was the first time that evidence has been found that the Taliban is armed with injectable poisons.
The recent government operation in the tribal areas of the Northwest Frontier Province was prompted by terrorist blasts in Islamabad and Karachi. No arrests have been made regarding the terrorist blasts but the operation has resulted in the arrest of 32 Taliban commanders and the destruction of 12 hideouts. Troops are now being pulled. Tribal leaders have promised to help maintain law and order.
Based on the reporting, it appears that the Pakistani government is being proactive with regard to the Taliban and achieving results. Frankly, though, I'm unconvinced that the government is doing anything more than a token effort.
The armed bad guys who are arrested typically don't serve harsh sentences since the court system is in chaos. High-profile bad guys are regularly set free in hostage-prisoner exchanges. And, frequently, prisoners are successful at escaping. Therefore, I'd suggest that the Pakistani government is merely nipping at the margins of the overall problem.
Drudge has up this flash that the NY Times will report tomorrow that Iran bluffed....and the video was bogus.
Many of Iran's claims related to missile tests during "Great Prophet III" war games -- appear to be smoke and mirrors!
Will the media even bother reporting this.... Read the rest at the link...
Al Qaeda's Many Voices in Turkey
Whether or not those involved in the attack against the U.S. Consulate in Turkey turn out to be actual members of an al Qaeda cell or simply Islamist sympathizers with al Qaeda's goals is of little concern to me. The problem of Turkish jihadis is as real as it is big. And the online presence of Turkish speaking jihadis is growing.
See for instance the "Cihaderi Media Group" which operates freely from Turkey. Keep in mind that cihad is jihad in Turkish.
Another example is cihadmedya.com, which also operates from Turkey.
It's not like these guys are trying to hide what they are promoting: violent jihad.
Commies Shoot S. Korean Woman Tourist in Back
World's last Stalinist state opens up for tourism. What could possibly go wrong?
A soldier fatally shot a South Korean tourist Friday at a resort in North Korea, prompting the South to suspend a high-profile tourism program just as the president was seeking to repair strained ties with his communist neighbor.Tragic.
The death of the 53-year-old woman, who the North said had ventured into a restricted military area during a pre-dawn stroll at a beach, followed a series of hostile North Korean moves against South Korean President Lee Myung-bak....
North Korea said the shooting victim, Park Wang-ja, walked three-quarters of a mile into a fenced-off military zone, then fled when a soldier shouted for her to stop and kept running after a warning shot, according to Hyundai Asan.
Park was shot about 5 a.m. some 200 yards from the fence, according to the North, but officials didn't inform Hyundai Asan for more than six hours, the company said.
The woman suffered two gunshot wounds from behind, said Cho Yong-seok, an official at the hospital in the South Korean city of Sokcho where her body was taken.
Note to self: Cancel plans for second honeymoon to North Korea.
Karachi Kids: Brainwashing American Kids into Hating America
Meet tomorrow's homegrown terrorists. Only their not so homegrown. Sure they were born here, but they were indoctrinated in Pakistan.
Watch the whole video below and try not to get sick. You have to watch to the end to get the full effect. The documentary follows the lives of two American boys in a Pakistani madrassa over three years as they are brainwashed into hating America.
The two boys just returned to Atlanta. Let's hope American culture corrupts their pious little souls a lot faster than Pakistan poisoned them.
The film has a website here and a blog here. The producer released this statement yesterday:
I am grateful for the safe return of the two American children from Atlanta from a Taliban- backed madrassa but the mullah claims to have up to 78 more in his institution. The headmaster comes to the United States once a year and personally recruits American children to enroll in his madrassa.Thanks to Bill.
The remaining 78 children must be returned to the United States. This pipeline to jihad must be closed.
Let me be clear - these children do not learn math, or science, or liberal arts. They learn one thing - they memorize over the course of seven years every verse of the Koran coupled with the radical interpretation of their teachers.
This is just the first step in integrating these children back to American society. I am proud we did our part so we could say Welcome Home.
It is imperative that Members of Congress and the State Department undertake an accounting of just how many Americans are in the other 20,000 madrassas in Pakistan. Hundreds remain behind.
Apologies if this has been posted around here but, if you haven't noticed, I've been away from the intertubes for about a week.
Ban Lightning!
Lightning is responsible for ending five young lives this week.
It's time for Congress to ban lightning.
Ten bucks that somebody, somewhere is going to blame this story on global warming. And Bush. And the Iraq war.
Just you wait.
A Message from the Director, Ayman al Zawahiri
al-Qaeda re-branding operation in progress.
Wrap murderous evil in a new wrapper and those silly consumers will climb all over themselves to be the first to get it!
Hat Tip: LGF.
Yemeni Child Bride Gets Divorce, Speaks Out
What a Brave little girl. And the husband was not prosecuted for this? Under Islamic Sharia law she had to pay him $200 to compensate him for the loss of his bride.
So don't go telling me, "Its just their culture, not Islam". Because this case was tried under Sharia law which is derived from Islam.
Religion of protecting the molestor.
Bodies of Two Missing US Soldiers Recovered
More than a year after they were ambushed and kidnapped in Iraq, the bodies of Sgt. Alex Jimenez and Pvt. Byron Fouty have been recovered. Via CNN:
The military has not yet issued a public confirmation, but uniformed officers visited the father of Sgt. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, at his Lawrence, Massachusetts home Thursday to tell him about the discovery, according to Jimenez family friends.Our deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of Sgt. Jimenez and Pvt. Fouty.
The officers told Ramon "Andy" Jimenez that information from an informant led investigators to the remains of Jimenez and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Michigan on Wednesday, Jimenez family friend Sandy Almonte said.
The military did not give the family any other details, such as where the bodies were found, Almonte said.
Major Dan Elliott with the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division confirmed to CNN that human remains were found in the division's area of operation in Iraq. He said the remains have been sent to the United States for positive identification.
Cross posted by permission from not ready for my Burqua. Video available there as well.
Massive Corruption Scandal (D) in PA
Oh, snap. Those ever-vigilant, ever-principled, non-partisan politicos known as Democrats were caught with their hands in the cookie jar in Pennsylvania. Twelve of them, to be exact.
A SORDID TANGLE of corruption, cash and sex rocked the Statehouse yesterday in a political scandal that left one current and one former legislator and 10 current and former staff members facing criminal charges.
Among the accusations leveled by two state grand juries: Former top legislative staffer Mike Manzo got his lover, a twenty-something former rural beauty queen, a $29,000 job and $7,000 bonus mostly for doing her schoolwork.
State Attorney General Tom Corbett announced the charges against the 12, all Democrats, in a news conference in Harrisburg.
And what is the cry from the accused? It's what you'd expect, because we hear the same things from Washington every time a Democrat is caught in a scandal:
The charges could harm Democrats in legislative battles this fall, and some have accused Republican Corbett of a partisan focus in the investigation.I see. It's "partisan" and "political" to prosecute Democrats for blatant violations of the law and abuses of the public trust. When Republicans are prosecuted (or are the targets of partisan political witchhunts - ie, US Attorney "scandal") everything's gravy and the Democrats are just doing their constitutional duty to provide oversight.
Here's a glimpse into the real culture of corruption - big, unaccountable, Democrat-controlled government:
* Former House whip Mike Veon and Manzo directed more than $1 million in taxpayer-funded bonuses to legislative employees for working on political campaigns, often on state time.More at the Inky.
To decide which staffers got the most cash, a list ranked them as "rock stars," "good," or "OK," based upon the quality of their political work.
* In 2004, Veon used two state employees to drive his and his wife's motorcycles to South Dakota for their vacation so they could fly there and find the bikes waiting. Taxpayers covered their staffers' expenses to the tune of $1,500.
* After state Rep. Sean Ramaley won the 2004 Democratic primary for a Beaver County legislative seat, Veon gave him a "no-work" state job and allowed him to run his general-election campaign from Veon's office, with state employees doing much of the work.
* Veon used state money to buy dinner spreads for his friends after their regular Tuesday night basketball games. Over four years, the tab came to more than $22,000.
* Attorney Jeff Forman collected a state salary ranging from $103,000 to $126,000 as Veon's chief of staff while doing private law work on state time and charging taxpayers for comp time he didn't earn.
F*cking idiots.
I'm doing a little jig here in PA tonight with my comrades over this news. Throw the bums, prostitutes, and corrupticrats (D) out.
ht: Michelle
Abuse of Afghan Boys
In a world where political correctness dictates cultural equivalency, it's impossible for me to understand how the PC crowd can ignore reports like this one.
Afghanistan must do more to end an age-old practice of young boys being kept as sex slaves by wealthy and powerful patrons, the U.N. special representative for children and armed conflict said on Monday.Cultural equivalency? I don't think so. Even the UN is against it.
* * * Disturbing image put below fold * * *
Radhika Coomaraswamy said the practice, called "bacha bazi" -- literally "boy play" -- was a taboo subject, but she had heard reports of warlords and military commanders keeping young boys and "exploiting them in terrible ways."
"What I found was nobody talks about it; everyone says 'Well, you know, it's been there for 1,000 years so why do we want to raise this now?'" she told a news conference at U.N. headquarters, reporting on a visit to Afghanistan last week.
"That seems to be the general attitude among everyone, but somebody has to raise it and it has to be dealt with."
Known as "bacha bereesh," boys without beards, the victims of such abuse are teenage boys who dress up as girls and dance for male patrons at parties in northern Afghanistan.
Famous Indonesian Penis-Healer Reported Dead
(Java, Indonesia) Reportedly over 100 years old, the iconic Mak Erot has died. She was famous throughout Indonesia and East Asia for her purported penis-lengthening prowess and became very wealthy in the male enhancement business.
Mak Erot's death is big news in the Far East where studies have found that the average male packs below-average firepower in the loins.
Fortunately, Mak Erot's secret potions and magic concoctions have been passed along to 21 designated heirs who will continue to "heal" Asian penises.
July 10, 2008
Iranian missile test:The next image in the sequence.
Found this great thread at Free Republic.... which included this great photoshop posted by freeper Colorado Doug....
LOL of the Day!
Click image for AFP link.
Jesse Jackson Apologizes To Obama
While I was thinking it, someone else was already making it.
UPDATE: Apparently the guy who made the video deleted it because of audio-video sync issues, and he's uploaded a new version. I've changed the video link in this post, and it should work fine now.
Just Remember....
Larger Image.
Iranian Missile Test Photos Make a Comeback(Media duped again!)
The worlds media has become nothing but the Propaganda arm of the Iranians. Gateway Pundit has found photos that keep making a comeback.....
Great work by Gateway Pundit for putting it all together.
Yemen: Sending Photos to Jane Novak is a Crime
The Yemeni government doesn't dispute the authenticity of the photos in question. The crime is sending them out of the country, "especially" to me.
Update: Not that the truth matters in Yemen, but Howie reminds me that he found the photos at a public forum and sent them to me. I'll dig for the link where they were posted online way before I ever published them.
Offical Yemeni government website: The source also pointed out that elements of the network were writing leaflets and sending some information on trends of the public opinion and then sending them to terrorist Abdulmalik al-Houthi in addition to sending some film shots to journalists and newspapers abroad , among them American press especially to the American journalist Jane Novak... He explained that after completing investigations with the network elements they would be sent to concerned authorities to be given just punishment for the acts they have committed.
Do they mean the photos that show the Yemeni government's war crimes? (slide show at Long War Journal.) The following photos were published by a Yemeni newspaper .
They show people digging out the bodies of women and children killed by the government's jihad in Sa'ada where the Yemeni government is waging an intensive and random bombing campaign against its own citizens as well as starving them with a food blockade.
Warning: Graphic photos below the fold.
Smackdown Assignment of the Week
Revenge of Kaiser has suggested we target the big users. Sounds like fun.
I'm particularly interested in this user from his post.
Note he has two copies of a video from the terrorist group Ansar al-Sunnah AKA Ansar al-Islam.
More Jihadi videos here from special groups like JAAMI. You can sell they are Shia vids because the second uses musical instruments in the nasheed.
What makes this user so interesting?
Well he lives in Canada and also runs a website that runs terrorist releases from a couple of groups. al-Rasheen Army, and al-Nasshabandlya Army (JAN). He also seems to be rather supportive of Saddam Hussein and the Baath party.
The website is http://www.alrafdean.org/ his former website (scroll down a bit), alrafdean-news.net, is now defunct.
The Whois record for his old website identifies him as Said Kanan of Montreal, QC.
His current website DNS is provided by Go Daddy.
His site is hosted by Bluehost.
Their terms of service is here. Contact info here.
I've written both providers. I wrote GoDaddy about the false info in thje DNS record. The postal code listed is for Montreal Quebec not Yukon province. Also the city is listed as Station H. GoDaddy replied and say they require a bounced email or returned mail as "evidence" of a false DNS entry.
Bluehost refuses to remove the site without a court order although their terms of service seemed to be violated.
Other ActivitiesAs always if you intend to complain, be polite, business like and have a good reason you think the website should be removed.
Engaging in any activity that, in Bluehost.com's sole and absolute discretion, disrupts, interferes with or is harmful to (or threatens to disrupt, interfere with, or be harmful to) the Services, Bluehost.com's business, operations, reputation, goodwill, customers and/or customer relations
May the force be with you.
Bonus! Email a terrorist email@example.com. Not traceable because its hotmail but sign him up for the pork of the month club or something.
Obama Attacks McCain on Equal Pay for Women
Via Yahoo News:
Obama said the problem is some employers aren't paying women enough and many women aren't able to challenge that...Heh that's rich Barack. Your Opponent John McCain hires more women and pays them better than you do. So what are you trying to do Barack, make it easier for women working in your office the right to sue yourself?
Thought we'd forgotten that fact already Mr. Obama?
If You Build It, The Lawyers Will Come
Geeesh, glad I'm not a kid anymore.
Via NYT's: After three weeks of clearing brush and poison ivy, scrounging up plywood and green paint, digging holes and pouring concrete, Vincent, Justin and about a dozen friends did manage to build it a tree-shaded Wiffle ball version of Fenway Park complete with a 12-foot-tall green monster in center field, American flag by the left-field foul pole and colorful signs for Taco Bell Frutista Freezes.Well these kids are creating, building and enjoying a fun sport. The adults complaining should take a good long hard look at what they have become.
But, alas, they had no idea just who would come youthful Wiffle ball players, yes, but also angry neighbors and their lawyer, the police, the town nuisance officer and tree warden and other officials in all shapes and sizes. It turns out that one kids field of dreams is an adults dangerous nuisance, liability nightmare, inappropriate usurpation of green space, unpermitted special use or drag on property values, and their Wiffle-ball Fenway has become the talk of Greenwich and a suburban Rorschach test about youthful summers past and present.
Harry's Place Stands Up to Legal Threat Hamas UK
Wow there are Brits left that have not been Dhimmified!
Last Friday, in the wake of a closely argued debate about whether Mohammed Sawalha, the President of the British Muslim Initiative, had used the phrase Evil Jew or Jewish Lobby in a speech, Harrys Place received a letter. The letter is from Dean and Dean, a firm of solicitors who are acting for Mr Sawalha. Mr Sawalha has demanded that we take down certain articles from Harrys Place, and publish an apology in the attached wording.David T goes on to expose the extensive ties that Mohammed Sawalha has with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Both racist organizations are anti-semitic anddedicated to destroying Israel. From Hamas' charter and er, uh, that wonderful manual on how to hate da Joooos the Koran.
The solicitors have failed to attach the apology that Mr Sawalha insists we publish. That omission matters little, as we have no intention of apologising to him at all, nor of taking down any article....
...Mr Sawalha claims that we have chosen a malevolent interpretation of a meaningless word. In fact, we did no more than translate a phrase which appeared in an Al Jazeera report of Mr Sawalhas speech. When Al Jazeera changed that phrase from Evil Jew to Jewish Lobby, we reported that fact, along with the statement that it had been a typographical error...
...If Mr Sawalha persists in attempting to silence us with this desperate legal suit, we will need your help.
We wont be able to stand up to them alone.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:Read the rest.
The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.
Pak Women Vow "Babies for Jihad"
(Islamabad, Pakistan) Yesterday, women of the religion of peace crowded for a jihad pep rally.
About 2,000 Islamist women gathered at the radical Red Mosque in the Pakistani capital on Wednesday and vowed to raise their children for holy war, days after a suicide bomber killed 18 people after a similar rally.Last Sunday, a similar jihad pep rally for men was followed by a suicide bombing which killed 15 police officers.
Chanting slogans of "jihad is our way", burqa-clad women, some with babies, listened to fiery speeches from the daughter of the mosque's jailed cleric on the eve of the anniversary of a commando raid on the complex in which more than 100 people died.
"Our mujahideen (fighters) laid down their lives for the enforcement of the Islamic system in Pakistan. We are left behind to carry forward their mission," the daughter of cleric Abdul Aziz told the tightly guarded rally in the mosque compound.
With their children pre-programmed to become suicide bombers and targets of violence, one must wonder whether the fundamental followers of the religion of peace ever hug their kids.
Swedish Snooping Law Targets Russia
(Stockholm, Sweden) Apparently, a new surveillance law will allow the Swedes to keep track of what the Russians are doing. Reportedly, that's the intent. Trust but verify (H/T to RR).
According to one source in the Swedish intelligence community, fully 80 percent of Russia's communications with the outside world is transmitted through cables in Sweden. The Kremlin is logically not happy with the situation.
July 09, 2008
Anteater on Campaign Trail
So nice to see our candidate out there, getting to know people, shaking hands.
Update: New Anteater 08 Campaign Website!
Damn, wish I had made that one....Good LT? Fess up.
Jesse Jackson, "I wanna kick Obama right square in the nuts!"
Via Gateway Pundit: Radio host Sean Hannity just revealed that FOX News is in possession of an exclusive tape of Reverend Jesse Jackson, recorded after a recent interview when he thought the microphone was off, slamming Barack Hussein Obama for talking down black people on matters of faith (Hannity also has said it as talking down to black people on matters of faith) among other issues.
Hannity also intimated that Jackson says he wants to rip Obamas nuts off on the tape.
Caption Contest! Best (fake) Jessie Jackson to Obamamessiah insult wins!
Update Fatwas Issued!
The "i will cut ur neck" fatwa issued against LC Scott for:
I'd kick you in the nuts but I don't what to hurt your wife.
The "devil will do meetballs from your bodies fatwa issued against Mrs Abe Froman for:
B.O., "What Balls"?
The "Why U insult the holly Koran?" fatwa issued against Hucklebuck for:
I take them one at a time in my left hand, like this...
I dunno that last one was close, I hate judging these things anyway. Thanks to everyone for all the comments.
The Last Patriot Makes #1 Best Seller
Click image for The Last Patriot on Amazon.com
Brad Thor's newest book is now a NYT #1 best seller.
Hat Tip: Some Troll Something.
And Now, A Message from Our Candidate
Shooting Mice with a .44 Mag
(Potter Valley, California) A 43-year-old local woman, arguably a true idiot, saw mice scurrying around her trailer so she grabbed her .44 Magnum revolver to shoot them.
Unfortunately, she clumsily dropped the pistol and it discharged when it landed on the floor.
The bullet went through the woman's kneecap, bounced off the keys sitting on the belt loop of a 42-year-old man in the trailer and grazed the man's groin before ending up in his coin pocket.The mice escaped.
Authorities did not release the shooting victims' names.
Mulsime Honor Killer, "I did nothing wrong"
It seems that Chaudhry Rashid is upset and distraught of the fact that he beat his daughter with an iron strangled her till she died. Why? Because she wanted out of an arranged marriage.
Via CNN: A Pakistani man accused of killing his daughter because she wanted out of an arranged marriage told a judge Tuesday that he had done nothing wrong. Chaudhry Rashid, 54, later said he was "very disturbed" and "not in a state of mind" to talk because of the death of his daughter, Sandeela Kanwal.I can't figure what he is distraught about? Was the prospect of having to pay back the mahr just too much for him? Having to murder his daughter? Getting locked up over it?
She (Rashid lawyer) requested that Rashid's family be given privacy, but said Rashid is holding up as well as can be expected.Holding up as well as expected? So tell me how is Sandeela "holding up"?
Related. A Dallas Observer article on the murder of Sarah and Amina Said that I neglected to link last month. Pretty comprehensive account of that if you've not read it.
Update: Translate of CNN doublespeak by Phyllis Chesler.
Honor Killing=Cultural Misunderstanding; Pakistani=South Asian; Muslim=Holy Man/Victim
Congressman McCaul Confronts Pakistan on American Kids Held in Madrassa
From Karachi Kids via email.
AUSTIN - In a face to face meeting in Islamabad, Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX) urged Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to help free two American citizens from an Islamic religious institution in the Middle East - the type which have been directly linked to the spawn of anti-American terrorism in the region that is the front line of the global war on terror. In their July 4 meeting President Musharraf assured Rep. McCaul that the teenagers would be released. The US Ambassador to Pakistanalso gave assurances that they would be released, as early as this week....Filed under hostages, because when Mufti Muhammad Naeem holds people against their will for political gain, that's what they are.
...Noor Elahi Khan, 17, and Mahboob Elahi Khan, 16, of Atlanta,GA, are being held at the Jamia Binoria Institute in Karachi, recognized by both the U.S. and Pakistani governments as one of the most radical madrassas in Pakistan. Exit visas issued by the Pakistani government are holding up their departure. The boys enrolled in Binoria in August 2004, and have expressed the desire to leave Pakistan since their arrival. Despite attempts to free these children, and Pakistan's policy that madrassas must expel any foreign students, including Americans, Mufti Muhammad Naeem, the head and founder of the Binoria madrassa, continues to hold these Americans in a show of political strength against the government.
Also blogging, Doctor Bulldog.
TNOYF: Motivational Thoughts
Click image for more
Hamza Bin Laden writes a poem.... Death to everybody!
And the beat goes on.....add another name ....Hamza Bin Laden to the list of one of those who needs a Predator house call......
Hamza Bin Laden, 16, the youngest of the Saudi-born warlord's 18 sons, is claimed to be the author of a poem featured on an extremist website to mark the third anniversary of the July 7 London bombings in which 52 people died.
Hey AQ its a sign of weakness when you dip into the minors and bring up a kid from double A ball....to do a job Daddy can't finish.
Six killed at U.S. Istanbul mission
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Three policemen and three gunmen were killed in an armed attack on the United States consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday, the city's governor said.
They (assailants) were four people. Three of them got out of the car and fired at the police. I saw them dead afterwards lying on the ground and many more dead among the police," Enis Yilmaz, who was going to the consulate for a visa application, told Reuters. He said the other person drove off in a vehicle.
A frontal assault on a heavily defended mission.....hmmmm. An operation is underway to capture those who got away.
Iran Tests Missiles
Earlier today, Iran made news with more high-profile, saber-rattling.
From the BBC:
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have successfully test-fired a Shahab-3 missile, whose range puts it within reach of Israel, state media have said.The head of the Iranian Air Force, Hossein Salami, said, "We are ready to defend the integrity of the Iranian nation." Iran has already promised to take out Tel Aviv if attacked.
The missile, said to have a range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles), was one of nine fired from an undisclosed desert site.
Two other types of missile with shorter ranges were also fired as part of the Great Prophet III war games.
On a lighter note, I wonder if the head of the Iranian Air Force is called the Big Salami.
Illinois Man Jailed in Pufferfish Toxin Case
(Rockford, Illinois) A 35-year-old suburban Chicago man, Edward Bachner, is in federal custody without bond awaiting trial on charges of illegally possessing a deadly nerve agent in his home. It's suspected that Bachner was planning to kill his wife.
Authorities found 25 vials of the deadly nerve agent tetrodotoxin (TTX) and 20 vials with TTX residue inside Bachner's home. Fake CIA credentials were also found.
Tetrodotoxin is found in pufferfish and is deadly in 50 to 60 percent of cases.
July 08, 2008
Chaves' Government Officials Helping Hezbollah Kill Our Soldiers
Via See Dub at Michelle Malkin's blog:
Bombshell in the Wash Times:Yes it is troubling. Since there is a group called Hezbollah in Iraq that is linked to and gets support from Lebanese Hezbollah. Videos from Hezbollah in Iraq often feature sophisticated EFP attacks. EFP's are the shaped charges designed to penetrate armor with hot liquid heavy metals such as copper. They thought to be mostly of Iranian origin and used by Shia groups in Iraq.
The Bush administration is accusing the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of providing cash and refuge to the militant Islamist group Hezbollah of southern Lebanon.
An investigation by the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) names Venezuelan diplomat Ghazi Nasr al Din and Venezuelan-Arab businessman Fawzi Kanan as key links between the two.
It is extremely troubling to see the government of Venezuela employing and providing safe harbor for Hezbollah facilitators and fundraisers, said Adam Szubin, political affairs director of OFAC.
Previous: Cluebat, Meet Hezbollah in Iraq.
Canadian Model Found Dead in Shanghai
(Shanghai, China) A 22-year-old model from British Columbia, Diana Gabrielle O'Brien, was found dead in Shanghai on Sunday.
Based upon current information, it's not clear whether she was murdered or otherwise died. The story is all over the Canadian media but hasn't been mentioned by the Chinese press -- so far.
Reports indicate that O'Brien had a three-month contract for modeling, however, she was forced to dance in bars and promote the sale of whiskey. She expressed unhappiness to her roommate and said she wanted to return to Canada.
Canadian Foreign Affairs officials are pursuing information. Shanghai Police are investigating. An autopsy is scheduled.
July 07, 2008
Survey Says: DemCong = EPIC FAIL
We hear a lot about Bush's historic lows and the hatred of the GOP, but this poll at the Christian Science Monitor (I know - it's just a poll) is a larf.
The Presidency, despite the drag and lag of the Bush years, is still more trusted than Congress, TV news, and newspapers. That's gotta have some lefties scratching their heads.
And of course, our brave brothers and sisters in arms retain their rightful position at the top of the list.
What a pathetic, horrid joke the Democrat-controlled Congress has been and continues to be. May it choke on its own stupidity.
ht: HA Headlines
Chinese Magic Chicken
Visitors to the Olympics in China this summer may want to try the Chinese Magic Chicken. Looks good on the plate. Mmmm!
Chinese Magic Chicken
For the benefit of those with sensitive constitutions, it's recommended that the method of preparation be kept a secret.
An Islamophobic da Vinci Code
The American Muslim reviews The Last Patriot and compares it to The Satanic Versus and The da Vinci Code. We also get a link in there. Of course, the title of the book review pretty much says it all: The Last Patriot: Islamophobia Triumphant in an Islamic da Vinci Code :
A best-selling new book, The Last Patriot, by Brad Thor, perfects a sophisticated art form surpassing Robert Spencers books in the emotional demonization of Islam and Muslims. It cites Spencer but goes beyond his accomplishments to the next level by launching a subliminal mimetic crusade to demonize the true scholars of Islam as dangerous apologist enablers of terrorism because they insist that traditionalist Islam is not inherently terroristic.See how that works? The book doesn't attack Islam directly, instead there is a subliminal mimetic crusade to demonize the true scholars of Islam.
The Last Patriot is the Abbey Road for the new millenium. If you read the book backwards you can just barely make out "the true scholars of Islam are inherently terroristic" and "Paul is dead".
But here is a hopeful prophecy in the review:
This book might even rival in popularity its progenitors, namely, Dan Browns publication in 2003, The Da Vinci Code, and Salman Rushdies The Satanic Verses...That last part, of course, is way off. When was the last time any blockbuster movie criticized Islam, subliminally or otherwise? No, no one in Hollywood has the balls to do it. Either they're too PC to state the obvious, or too afraid of the consequences of portraying Islam as anything other than the Quakerism of the Middle East.
This could become a blockbuster movie.
It goes on to explain the book based on a psychological profile of Islamophobia. When those who claim the real problem is Islamophobia and not Islamic terrorism warn about the evils of a book, it's time to go buy it.
Bad news:I'm still out of town, limited intertube access.
Good news: Magic 8-ball foresees delicious burritos in the immediate future.
Image Like I Your
How contact me soldiers Iraq 2865?
John Conyers' (D) Wife Caught in Federal Probe
Taking kickbacks? Say it ain't so:
Federal investigators have electronic surveillance evidence that allegedly links Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers with receiving a payment or payments in connection with a city-approved sludge contract, two people familiar with the investigation said.Blame Bush or Iraq or the GOP!
Conyers -- who changed her position from speaking in opposition to the sludge contract to voting in favor of it -- and at least one other council member are under FBI investigation in connection with possible bribes related to the $47 million contract with Synagro Technologies Inc. of Houston, one of the people familiar with the investigation said Friday. Bribes allegedly paid to people connected with the city but not members of the City Council also are under investigation, one person said.
Yay! Sharia Comes to Georgia
An "honor killing," as it were
A Clayton County man faces murder charges in the strangulation death of his 25-year-old daughter early Sunday over what police said was her desire to end an arranged marriage.Must...not...judge...its...their...culture...
Chaudhry Rashad, 54, apparently became angry during an argument in which the victim, Sandela Kanwal, told him she wanted out of the marriage, Clayton police spokesman Timothy Owens said.
The father and daughter are both of Pakistani descent, and police said language barriers have slowed their investigation.
July 06, 2008
Where's Rusty?
Dr. Shackleford is temporarily unable to access teh Interwebs because of sooper sekret operashunz that he's partaking in.
Using Fraud To Advance Liberal Politics
Honesty. Integrity. Principle.
It's the Hope and Change you've been waiting for!
ht: LGF
July 05, 2008
Students Punished for Not Praying to Allah
(Stoke-on-Kent, England) Two boys were disciplined for not kneeling in prayer to Allah during religious diversity education.
Two schoolboys were given detention after refusing to kneel down and 'pray to Allah' during a religious education lesson.In a statement, the Cheshire County Council said, "Educating children in the beliefs of different faith is part of the diversity curriculum on the basis that knowledge is essential to understanding."
Parents were outraged that the two boys from year seven (11 to 12-year-olds) were punished for not wanting to take part in the practical demonstration of how Allah is worshipped.
They said forcing their children to take part in the exercise at Alsager High School, near Stoke-on-Trent - which included wearing Muslim headgear - was a breach of their human rights.
It appears that religious diversity education in Britain concentrates exclusively on having infidels learning to pray to Allah. There are no reports of Muslims being required to take Holy Communion.
July 04, 2008
Video : Black Hawk Down - Heroes Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon
Under conditions that almost guaranteed they wouldn't make it out alive, two heroes went in to protect their comrades from an advancing mob of the followers of Mohammed Farah Aidid.
Lord Chief Justice Wants Sharia in UK
Something is seriously wrong in the United Kingdom and the people in positions of authority don't seem to have a clue.
Muslims in Britain should be able to live according to Sharia, the country's most senior judge has said.Women, in particular, should be outraged at the suggestion since, under Sharia, they are assigned less value as human beings as men. As a result, any financial or marital dispute resolved in a Sharia proceeding would likely be unreasonable for the female litigant.
Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, the Lord Chief Justice, strongly backed Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, over his suggestion earlier this year that aspects of Sharia law should be adopted in Britain.
The archbishop's remarks sparked a national debate and led to calls for his resignation.
Risking inflaming that controversy again, Lord Phillips has said that Muslims in Britain should be able to use Sharia to decide financial and marital disputes.
Even a Muslim member of Parliament, Khalid Mahmood, weighed in against the idea.
He said: "This would create a two-tier society. It is highly retrograde. It will segregate and alienate the Muslim community from the rest of British society.I think Mahmood nailed it.
"The majority of British Muslims want to live only under British law and they would reject anything that means they are treated differently.
"What Lord Phillips and the archbishop are discussing is something that is completely outside their area of understanding."
Video : "Ragged Old Flag" (Johnny Cash)
Happy Birthday, America
"As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free."
I can scarcely begin to express the gratitude that I feel for the fact that I live in this country, a nation born out of the simple idea that people should be free. In most nations of the world, I suspect I would've long ago been hauled off to the gulag for saying what I think without sufficient regard for the consequences. In this country, I mostly just get hit with furniture and disinvited to parties.
The United States of America is not just the richest or the most powerful nation in the history of the world, although it is certainly both. United States of America is also the best nation in the history of the world. This is, indeed, the shining city on a hill. We cherish our freedom, and yet Americans have, at so many crucial times, been willing to give up their own individual freedom, their own blood and treasure, and many times their lives, to bring freedom to others around the globe. We did this even for the French, though we knew that they'd only resent us for it. We live in a time, now, that totalitarianism is again on the march around the globe. Torches of freedom that once burned brightly are down to glowing embers. Allies who once stood fast for liberty now waver, or are long gone. Yet through it all, our nation stands firm.
This country is not perfect, but it is closer to perfect than any other. Compared to the rest of this world, the United States of America is a nation of angels. If you are a citizen of this country, you have every right in the world to be proud of what this country stands for. At the same time, the vast majority of us who have done little, if anything, to deserve this precious freedom we enjoy should never fail to be humbled by that fact.
UPDATE : Below the fold, I've posted another video, featuring battle footage set to the Battle Hymn.
A Love Letter to America
From the amazingly articulate Cassandra: "I love my country not because she is perfect, but because she wants so badly to be. I even love her faults, even the kind of obsessive navel gazing angst that mistakes fallible humans and imperfect realization of our ideals for evidence of pervasive moral rot and in so doing, makes conscience the scourge that would make moral cowards of us all"
Read it and have a Happy 4th of July all!
Enjoy Freedom!
Drug Bust Linked to Taliban Trafficking Ring
(Seoul, South Korea) A raid on a drug-trafficking ring earlier today by South Korean police resulted in the arrest of Afghan and Pakistani traffickers believed to be linked to the Taliban.
Police said two Afghans, three Pakistanis and four Koreans tried to use South Korea as a shipping point for several tons of acetic anhydride destined for southern Afghanistan.Since the chemical is needed for heroin production, one must wonder why it took so long to identify where it was coming from. Apparently, it's supplied by Japanese producers through South Korea to Afghanistan.
The chemical is heated with morphine, extracted from opium, to produce heroin.
The key Afghan suspect admitted he did it at the instigation of the Taleban, Oh Ki-Duk, an investigator, told AFP. But he claimed he is not a member of the Taleban.
Police confiscated 12 tons of acetic anhydride in a chemical engineering factory in the Seoul suburb of Ansan and arrested the two Afghans. The chemical was disguised as motor oil.
In a separate operation by the three Pakistanis -- who were also arrested in a Seoul suburb -- police said about 50 tons of the chemical had already been shipped, labelled as disinfectant.
It was sent between April 2007 and March this year.
July 03, 2008
Medical Update: Vaginal Muscle Test Now Available
(New York City) A medical spa has opened in Manhattan where women can have their vaginal muscles tested. The doctor inserts her fingers into the vaginas of clients and then asks them to contract their pelvic muscles. By feel, the doctor determines whether muscle tone is weak or strong.
The procedure costs a stiff $150.
Glen Beck on Mother Nature, "That evil wench"
More talk of flat screen TEE VEEs, Natural Seeps and ANWAR.
Via CNN: Here's the thing. America is a long-term plan for me. I don't know where these people plan to be in 10 years, but I plan to be here. This is, of course, the same argument heard around President Clinton's veto of ANWR drilling in 1995. Among other things, if we had started drilling ANWR then, oil would be already flowing. At its peak, ANWR could supply 1.45 million barrels per day, enough to tell Hugo Chavez and all his Venezuelan oil to shove it (with a little change left over).Heh....
Of course, Clinton didn't have Chavez to deal with back then. If only he were thinking 10 years into the future.
Flat Screen TVs To Destroy the Planet
Here's the latest bit of scaremongering from the Global Warming lunatics:
A gas used in the making of flat screen televisions, nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), is being blamed for damaging the atmosphere and accelerating global warming.Of course nobody's bothered to see how much of this NF3 has escaped into the atmosphere, nor has anyone actually documented how or if it actually damages the atmosphere, but they've "estimated" that it's 17,000 times as harmful as carbon dioxide. You know carbon dioxide. It's that gas that enters the atmosphere every time you exhale.
It appears that the only way to avert setting the atmosphere on fire via Global Warming is for all of us to move into caves...and breathe as little as possible. I say the smelly hippies go first.
Chicken Little Predicts The Sky Will Fall
This is really making me nervous, folks (truncated due to length):
There are ominous signs that the Earths weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth. The drop in food output could begin quite soon, perhaps only 10 years from now. The regions destined to feel its impact are the great wheat-producing lands of Canada and Russia in the North, along with a number of marginally self-sufficient tropical areas parts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indochina and Indonesia where the growing season is dependent upon the rains brought by the monsoon.What are we to do?
The evidence in support of these predictions has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep up with it. In England, farmers have seen their growing season decline by about two weeks since 1950, with a resultant overall loss in grain production estimated at up to 100,000 tons annually. During the same time, the average temperature around the equator has risen by a fraction of a degree a fraction that in some areas can mean drought and desolation. Last April, in the most devastating outbreak of tornadoes ever recorded, 148 twisters killed more than 300 people and caused half a billion dollars worth of damage in 13 U.S. states.
To scientists, these seemingly disparate incidents represent the advance signs of fundamental changes in the worlds weather. The central fact is that after three quarters of a century of extraordinarily mild conditions, the earths climate seems to be heating up. Meteorologists disagree about the cause and extent of the warming trend, as well as over its specific impact on local weather conditions. But they are almost unanimous in the view that the trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century. If the climatic change is as profound as some of the pessimists fear, the resulting famines could be catastrophic. A major climatic change would force economic and social adjustments on a worldwide scale, warns a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences, because the global patterns of food production and population that have evolved are implicitly dependent on the climate of the present century.
The worlds food-producing system, warns Dr. James D. McQuigg of NOAAs Center for Climatic and Environmental Assessment, is much more sensitive to the weather variable than it was even five years ago.
Climatologists are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change, or even to allay its effects. [...] The scientists see few signs that government leaders anywhere are even prepared to take the simple measures of stockpiling food or of introducing the variables of climatic uncertainty into economic projections of future food supplies. The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality.
Actually, it would be making me nervous if it were in fact about global warming. But it isn't.
I've merely substituted each instance of "global cooling" in the article with "global warming" rhetoric. Indistinguishable from all for the crap being written today or what you'd here on the evening news.
What you were actually reading above was "The Cooling World" from Newsweek in 1975. Read for yourself.
This is the same dire, doomsday-riddled pap we were being fed during the last catastrophic climate change" era not more than 35 years ago. Same rhetoric. Same "evidence." Same hysteria. Completely bogus on all counts.
But THIS TIME, they're right, dammit! Algore said so!
Abu "The Doctor" Doha Freed on Bail
A terror suspect said to have "direct links" with Osama Bin Laden has been freed on bail, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) has said."U" is most likely Abu "The Doctor" Doha.
The Algerian, who can be identified only as "U", has been released from Long Lartin high-security prison, in Worcestershire.
He had spent more than seven years in jail awaiting deportation.
from the same BBC article: He had been in custody since February 2001, when he was picked up at Heathrow airport attempting to board a flight to Saudi Arabia with a false passport.Via Time:
Doha (a.k.a. "The Doctor," Rachid, Amar Makhlolif, and Didier Ajuelo) was arrested in February 2001 while trying to travel from London to Saudi Arabia on a fake passport. Six months later, the U.S. filed an extradition request after a Federal grand jury indicted Doha as a co-conspirator in the LAX plotThe US later dropped the extradition request. Why? who knows?
Also via The Independent:
By 1995, the number of Algerians claiming sanctuary in this country had risen to 1,865. Most of those were genuine asylum seekers, but not all. Among those who became a regular visitor to the Four Feathers and to the Finsbury Park mosque in north London was Abu "The Doctor" Doha, who has since been identified as al-Qa'ida's main recruiter in Europe. Mr Doha, now 37, was a senior figure in an Algerian terror group called the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC).The GSPC is now called al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb.
More on Abu "The Doctor" Doha here and here.
The La Times knew who "U" was on June 29th.
Regardless it seems that al-Qaeda's main recruiter and operative on Europe will be allowed to go free. Although he has been indicted in the US, we have declined extradition and prosecution. The UK refuses to deport him to Algeria for fear they may abuse him. So it looks like the British taxpayer will provide a flat and feed al-Qaeda's #1 operative in Europe for the rest of his days, Pending appeal of course.
John Lott on Obama's "inartful" Gun Control Flip-Flops
Posted at FoxNews.com:
One of the strangest [reactions to Heller] was Barack Obama's claim that the court had essentially confirmed what had been his positions all along...Full article here.
Last November, Obama's campaign told the Chicago Tribune that "Obama believes the DC handgun law is constitutional." After Obama's statement yesterday supporting the Supreme Court striking down the ban, Obama's campaign disowned the statement as an inartful attempt to characterize his position.
The problem is that he personally voiced support for the DC ban at other times. Earlier this year, he did this himself, not something that he could blame on a staffer. ABC 7's Washington, DC anchor Leon Harris asked Obama: "One other issue that's of great importance here in the district as well is gun control. You said in Idaho recently - I'm quoting here - 'I have no intention of taking away folks' guns,' but you support the D.C. handgun ban." Obama's simple response: "Right." When Harris said "And you've said that it's constitutional," Obama is clearly caught on tape nodding his head yes.
Cross-posted at the Arsenal.
Related : NRA Planning to Show Obama the Meaning of 'Bitter.'
"Why havent we gotten a better Iraqi Army for all the money weve spent?"
BillT reports from Iraq:
You'll have to read the rest to see what kind of Amy Iraq has.
First, *we* didnt get an Army -- Iraq did. Sure, we foot the bill -- just like we foot the bill for most of NATO during my growing-up years (pssst -- Marshall Plan, remember?), and for a lot of our other allies during their growing or reconstruction spurts (*waving hi to all our buddies in South Korea and Japan*) -- and Iraq is now an ally.
Second, everything else. Lets take a look at the Army Iraq got.
The more reports I read from the front lines, the more apparent it is that the Iraqis are stepping up to the plate. Remember Conventional Wisdom just over a year ago? That only by abandoning the Iraqis would they truly learn to step up to the plate? Then along comes Patraeus putting CW on its head.
I'll admit that I was far too optimistic about the post-invasion handling of Iraq. I'll admit that President Bush should have listened to those commanders that argued for a far larger footprint. I'll even admit, the utter dismay of most you, my friends and readers, that maybe we shouldn't have invaded in the first place.
But for the love of God, why can't some of you admit that a) the surge strategy was brilliant and is working, and b) that your calls for disengagement would have been disastrous on a number of fronts?
Islamic Charity Loses Wiretapping Case
Judge throws out Islamic charity's lawsuit alleging they were illegally being wiretapped. Maybe. And they might have been harmed. Maybe.
A federal judge in San Francisco dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday that sought to prove President Bush acted illegally in 2001 when he ordered the wiretapping of phone calls between Americans and suspected foreign terrorists without court approval.I always love it when activists sue over some alleged harm to them, but find that they can only articulate the harm in the most general terms. Was the harm here that they were being wiretapped (because it was believed they were diverting funds to terrorists) or that they knew they were being wiretapped?
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said an Islamic charity on the governments terrorist list could not use a crucial classified document - an accidentally released memo indicating the charity and its lawyers had been wiretapped - to show that it had been harmed by the surveillance program and thus had the right to challenge it in court. But the organizations lawyer said he wasnt giving up.
I'm actually sitting at the Phoenix airport but I thought I forward a few stories while I had some time. Thank God for free wi-fi!
Hostages Reunited With Families
Former Columbian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and Americans Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes and Marc Gonsalves, and eleven Columbian soldiers are finally reunited with their families after seven years held hostage by the left wing revolutionaries of FARC. Their dramatic rescue should give hope to all of those families who still have loved ones being held hostage around the world.
Indonesian Terror Cell Planning Bombing Busted
A group of ten people have been arrested by Indonesian authorities. They are all members of the group Jemaah Islamiyah
Via The Telegraph: Ten men were arrested in a series of raids beginning at the weekend in which 22 bombs were also discovered. They are allegedly members of Jemaah Islamiyah, which wants to create an Islamic caliphate in south-east Asia.AP reports that at least two of those arrested were high level operatives with ties to al-Qaeda. One suspect identified as Abu Hazam was trained by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and has met with Osama bin-Laden.
The police have not revealed what the group was allegedly planning. But officials briefed journalists in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, that there was a Western target in the city.
The attacks were apparently set to go and were to target westerners.
For more on Indonesia see Big White Infidel blogging at Jubasucks.
60's Dying as Leftist College Profs Retire
Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.
Baby boomers, hired in large numbers during a huge expansion in higher education that continued into the 70s, are being replaced by younger professors who many of the nearly 50 academics interviewed by The New York Times believe are different from their predecessors less ideologically polarized and more politically moderate.Stop, children. What's that sound? Everybody look what's goin' down!
Theres definitely something happening, said Peter W. Wood, executive director of the National Association of Scholars, which was created in 1987 to counter attacks on Western culture and values. I hear from quite a few faculty members and graduate students from around the country. They are not really interested in fighting the battles that have been fought over the last 20 years.
Could it be that the younger generation sees college - which follows the liberal model of economics (ever-increasing costs with no return on the investment) - as what it was orginally intended as and what it used to be? That is, an educational institution for scholars and not a political activism breeding ground / left-wing indoctrination machine?
Poor little Boomers. Maybe the mass-produced stupidity of the 60's was limited to that generation and a segment of their offspring. We shall see. As an adjunct professor myself, I have been surprised at how many of my students actually enjoy learning and not politicking. A good sign.
Let's take stock. Newspapers are dying. Colleges are de-liberalizing. TV news is losing audience share. Maybe some of these left-wing institutions have at long last peaked and are being revealed as non-sustainable over the long run. That certainly seems the case financially.
And to a point, I thought there was no inherent institutional left-wing bias in our academic institutions. That's what we're told by these tye-dyed whackademics, liberals and Democrats. That was all just a bunch of right-wing hooey, right?
From The Last Patriot
A shoutout in the aknowledgement page from Brad Thor in his just released novel The Last Patriot:
Dr. Rusty Shackleford and his team are a force to be reckoned with. Though few know who they really are, many know the incredibly dangerous and important work that they do every day. Thank you for everything.Cool. Now go buy the book!
WHITE on WHITE Aggravated Racism?
(Reading, England) A 20-year-old white man, Jonathan Wicks, has been convicted of aggravated racism for a comment he made to three white security guards.
Wicks, a bit tipsy from drinking, was feeling smart-alecky when the security guards told him to move along so he called them "honky wannabe cops."
Wicks is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17.
Holy moly! The Brits have gone crazy!
July 02, 2008
Boba Fett Dances His Way Out of a Dying Steel Town...
...almost. Boba Fett doing the Mandalorian Dance
Mandalorian Dance
Uploaded by PatrickBoivin
Thanks to Brian.
Iran Seeks the Death Penalty for Blogging
I'm sure those dastardly "neocon" warmongers made this all up to try to hoodwink us into war with Iran.
The Imperial March
Probably posted it before, but it's still teh awesome. The point? Don't. F*ck. With. Us.
Thanks to AG.
It seems that the Americans know what they are doing ...
Stunning op-ed in the WSJ today. You really have to read it all, but here's a teaser:
"I am from Fallujah" says one man an art agent with a cigar ever between his fingers. "We should make the most benefit from the Americans while we can. It is a moment of history. We either get a state now, or we will always be like this."Wow, it seems that Iraqis are more optimistic about our long term success in Iraq than are most Americans. Food for thought.
"The problem," responds a Baghdad printing house owner whose origins go back to the southern tribes, "is that since the day of the fall of the idol [Saddam's statue] people are asking who will rule us now. A disgusting question it is. It does not matter who rules, it matters how they rule." ...
She told me "it seems that the Americans know what they are doing. They have been so patient with us, but it seems that we have learned our lesson now."
The AFP/RightOnline New Media Summit - July 18th-19th, Austin, Texas
Register HERE.
BONUS : If you live in Texas, FREE BUS RIDE!!
Colombia: Betancourt, US hostages freed
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) Colombia's military says it has rescued 15 hostages, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors, from leftist rebels.
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos made the announcement at a news conference on Wednesday.
Kos Kidz Unimpressed By McCain's Military Service
As many differences of opinion as I have with John McCain on questions of policy, you will never hear or read anything from me but the utmost admiration and respect for John McCain's service to our country in Vietnam and the sacrifices he made there. It is, in fact, almost difficult for me to fathom how someone could bring themselves to write something so magnificently stupid and ungrateful as this Kossack diary.
And lest you think that this is just one lone voice, be sure to check out the comments at the bottom. While a few of the commenters (thankfully) take on the diarist, there plenty willing to pile on. A few choice examples:
"...you hear again and again that McCain is a "hero", but nobody ever says why he should be considered a hero. Except McCain, of course: he's a legend in his own mind."I realize a whole lot of the Kossacks are nuts, but wow...
"Kudos to [McCain] for following orders like millions of other soldiers,sailors and airmen. Have we got to the point that doing that is laudable...Obama had a choice- make millions or work to help people make their lives better. He chose to work as a community organizer. How many of us given that choice would make the one that he did. Therefore I think it is laudable."
"He's a creep, whose sole positive act is he was an average POW. Big Whoop."
"Thank you...I'm sick the automatic "we gotta respect him" crapola."
"Why is it ok for the GOP to trash Kerry's war record with total lies but we are expected to leave McCain alone because he was a war prisoner? "
Youtube Smackdown Totals For June
You know you blog about stuff and it takes on a life of its own. People take up the cause and soon it becomes a monster of its own. Youtube Smackdown posts monster totals for June.
Via Free Republic:
43 Suspensions!This monster strikes fear into the hearts of hirabi youtube users!
With those 43 suspensions, 1282 videos were removed from YouTube:
Plus an additional 194 Smackdowns.
Nice start to July as well with these users suspended.
AnsarTube 6/24 (27) 7/1
knivzta93 4/26 (40) 7/1
WarisThis 6/9 (23) 7/1
jihad4all 6/12 (14) 7/1
haiderqasim 6/10 (17) 7/1
WarriorsOfIslam 6/28 (43) 7/1
Oh yes, and we see that network of dummy users you hirabi scum are creating to skirt Youtube's terms of service.
We see everything!
Korans Left on Houston Doorsteps, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
The money quote is right in its irony if not in its faux outrage. So what if Muslims want to go door to door leaving free Qurans? It's a free freaking country (or so I am told).
It's not outrageous that Muslims can go door to door dropping off their holy book to your house. It is outrageous that non-Muslims can't do the same in any Muslim country.
But the Pieri's hit the irony nail right on the head with their observation about Christian preseletyzing in Muslim countries which for the most part won't get you killed, but will get you landed in jail or deported. Mostly.
Doubly ironic if you click on over to the sidebar video from the Fox Houston affiliate. The letter accompanying the Koran said:
Rather than judging Islam and Muslims by the few .... we want our fellow citizens to judge us by the book that influences and guides the lives of over one billion Muslims.That's double mocha fudge irony right there!
But the Rodney Dangerfield triple lindy irony of all ironies is found right after the Pieri's outrage. See if you can pick it out. I'll italicize it since I know a few of you are only allowed out of the house wearing a helmet:
If we went into a Muslim country and left a bible, we would be in prison and then decapitated a few years later, said Sue Ann Pieri, who chose not to destroy the book like other neighbors did.How did the other neighbors destroy the Qurans? The sidebar video says the Pieris went dumpster diving to retrieve the Qurans. In the garbage, no doubt with the leftovers of last nights pork chops wrapped in bacon.
Thanks to Howie.
35 al Qaeda Recruiters Rounded up in Morocco
Morocco's official news agency, the Maghreb Arabe Press, reports that 35 al Qaeda recruiters have been rounded up. Most of the recruits were sent to Iraq, with three of them joining the North African branch of al Qaeda.
The scary part? As I write this Morocco's internet cafes are full of three groups of people. One group downloading porn, the other group downloading terrorist videos, and the third group downloading both. It's the last group I'd be most worried about.
Security services have recently dismantled a terrorist network specialized in the recruitment of fighters for the Al-Qaeda branches in Iraq and Algeria, police said on Wednesday.
The operation resulted in the arrest of around 35 people in several cities across the country, according to the same source.
The group has recruited and sent about thirty candidates to carry out suicide operations in Iraq, and three fighters to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), former Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), according to the same source.
The network's members were also planning to carry out terrorist attacks in the Kingdom.
Better Make that Four Safehavens for al Qaeda
In addition to Pakistan, Somalia and Algeria al Qaeda has at least one more safe haven: Chechnya. Sure, the Russians are always on the hunt, but the same can be said about Somalia and Algeria, if not Pakistan.
Candidate countries for al Qaeda safehaven? Sudan, Indonesia, Thailand, Yemen.
And that's just the short list. The world remains a complicated, dangerous place.
Where's Rage Boy?
It's like Where's Waldo, only at the end of it they cut your head off.
Obligatory "Dig It" Video About Obama's Radical Friends
Guilt by association and cheap shots? Yes, but I've got several e-mails about this so here it is. The mob has spoken.
Personally I'm more worried about Obama's policies than his friends. I can tell you that in academia these types of radicals are a dime a dozen. Hanging out with them means precisely nothing. If you hang around academics long enough, chances are you'll run into these types of douchbags. I don't even want to know the kind of slimeballs many of my professors were. I wouldn't be shocked to learn that some of them were in the Weather Underground. I know for a fact that many of them were radical leftists of one stripe or another.
But red meat is red meat. Apparently TigerHawk had it posted first. Here it is.
Video Ghey? Whore Dresses Like Stormtrooper
So Flea sends me a link to this pic of a high-heeled storm trooper boot. Not content with just the shoe, I click around until I find the video posted below of a whore--no, really, a whore, at what I'm guessing is a Nevada brothel--who has custom made her own crotchless Stormtrooper uniform in order to fulfill a client's dream of ... er, screwing a Stormtrooper?
Seriously, WTF? A Princess Leia metal bikini I get. But a Stormtrooper? Denial ain't just a closet in Tom Cruise's mansion, baby!
SFW vide below. Exit question: If screwing a Stormtrooper isn't teh bad ghey and is only kinky and/or perverse, why wouldn't you pick out a more attractive whore to fulfill your fantasy? If you can afford to pay a prostitute to dress up like a Stormtrooper, I'm guessing you can afford to rent a hot one.
Video: Terrorist Shot in Jerusalem (UPDATED)
Abu Qatada, who is out of jail because the British courts refuse to allow him to be extradited because testimony used against him might have been extracted through torture, has famously argued that jihad is an individual obligation to be carried out whenever and wherever the mujahideen may be found. In Jerusalem, one such warrior for Allah has killed two--maybe three--women.
An off-duty IDF officer borrowed a pistol and shot the terrorist. A police officer was already in the bulldozer cockpit reportedly trying to strangle the terrorist. Actual video of the terrorist getting shot below.
Infolive has two videos shot at the scene. The first is some pretty poor quality cell phone footage of the actual attack with the bulldozer. UPDATE: I've added the video to the end of the post.
The second, it's graphic. Here's the description:
An off-duty soldier and a policeman from an elite unit at the scene of the Jerusalem attack shot the terrorist dead. The soldier, Moshe Klessner, 18, is the brother-in-law of IDF officer David Shapira, who killed the terrorist in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva attack on March 6. The policeman Eli Mizrahi told reporters after he did what he was trained to do. BBC took the footage. 07/02/08See it here. UPDATE: I've added a Liveleak version below the fold at the end of this post.
Three women were killed and at least 30 more people were injured when a bulldozer driven by a Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem trampled over pedestrians and vehicles and plowed into two buses in downtown Jerusalem at around noon Wednesday....UPDATE: Carl is liveblogging from Jerusalem.
The driver, who reportedly had a criminal record and was the holder of an Israeli (blue) identification card, was shot dead by a SWAT officer near the old Shaare Zedek Medical Center. The terrorist was identified as 31-year-old Hossam Dawiath, a father of two from the village of Tzur Baher. ...
Egged official Yossi Klachkes told Yet, "Two of our bus lines - 13 and 60 - were rammed by the bulldozer as they were traveling toward the Mahaneh Yehuda Market. The line 13 bus was carrying 35 passengers and the other bus had 15 people on board. The drives and some passengers were inured of suffered from shock and were evacuated to hospitals." ...
The Islamic Jihad issued a statement praising Wednesday's attack:"The attack is a clear message to the enemy from the person who carried it out and the entire Palestinian people, that it should expect more attacks for as long as it continues its crimes against the Palestinian people and the aggression against our people, our land and our places."
UPDATE: Solomania had this e-mailed to him:
Among his innocent victims is an infant, who was injured in the attack and taken to hospital. Eyewitnesses told police that the murdered mother saved her baby, by throwing the child out the car window, just before the bulldozer crushed her to death.WARNING: Graphic video below.
Thanks to Ed who has more.
Hat tip to Willis.
UPDATE: Here's the cell phone footage. Pretty poor quality.
July 01, 2008
Too Good to Check: Bible Stops Iraqi Sniper Bullet!
Seriously, I never believe these kinds of stories. Never. Just way too good to be true. And by good I mean trite and hoaky.
But this time? Looks like this might be the real deal. Seriously, if you e-mailed me this when it first came out (last year some time) and I didn't answer, it's because I was too busy being a snarky jaded a**hole and sent it right to the trash folder. Sorry 'bout that.
The guy's name is PFC Brendan Schweigart. If you know him, I'd like to meet him. In Vegas. At the craps table.
Two videos below. Make sure to at least check out the first vid, which shows the life saving Bible.
Stupid Jihadi Video of the Day: Kirkuk Edition
Fire one! Fire two! Fire three! Fire three? I said, fire three!! Damnit, cut the tape.....
A Missile Has Been Launched by Arab Terrorists. You Have 15 Seconds to Do Something.
The good news is, the terrorists' missile probably isn't headed your way.
The bad news is, it is headed toward the Israeli City of Sderot.
The other bad news is, there is nothing you can do to stop it.
Cluebat, Meet Hezbollah in Iraq
The first clue that Hezbollah is operating in Iraq? A Shia insurgent group calling itself Hezbollah in Iraq.
The second clue? Here is a frame from a "Hezbollah in Iraq" video showing what the group claims is the firing rockets at the Green Zone. Note the symbol in the upper right.
Now note the flag of Lebanese Hezbollah.
So, if the report by the AP that Iran is using Hezbollah to train Shia militia in Iraq is "news" to you, please meet Wonderboy, my cluebat.
UPDATE: This video from Hezbollah Iraq was posted at Liveleak today. It claims to show an EFP (no doubt of Iranian make) hitting a U.S. Humvee in Baghdad. The date on it claims the attack was yesterday.
We've done a pretty good job of locating al Qaeda in Iraq cells by backtracking their internet postings. I hope some one in CENTCOM is paying attention to who is posting over at shianet.
Just missed: Maulvi Omar escapes Bara blast
The Daily Times is reporting Maulvi Omar, Taliban spokesman escaped death by Predator in that latest hit in Bara. The intel keeps getting better and better it seems.
Jordan to Prosecute Geert Wilders for Fitna
(Amsterdam, Netherlands) Yesterday, the chief public prosecutor for Amsterdam, Leo de Wit, announced that MP Geert Wilders would not be prosecuted for discrimination or incitement for his film Fitna.
Mr. de Wit said the film was offensive to Muslims but it had to be viewed in the context of the political debate regarding Islam in the Netherlands.
As a result, the nation of Jordan announced that it would act to prosecute Geert Wilders as a criminal.
The Jordanian justice authorities are preparing a criminal case against right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders because of his anti-Islam film, Fitna. A Jordanian judge has ruled that there is a case to answer. A number of procedures will have to be followed before any indictment is issued and this is likely to take a considerable time.Jordanian justice authorities said they want to send a signal to the Netherlands.
The complaint has been brought by organisations which believe the film constitutes an incitement to hatred of Muslims. They have already launched a campaign to boycott Dutch products, blaming the government in The Hague for not prosecuting Mr Wilders.
I wonder if the Jordanian justice authorities are the same crowd that sentences murderers who commit honor killings to ridiculously lenient punishment.
More Proof the NYTimes Doesn't Understand Islamist Terror
WTF were the sources that the NYT used that claimed that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb were a "nationalist insurgency" before they pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden with the help of Ayman al Zarqawi? The article actually has this laughable little tidbit questioning whether or not the group was even a terrorist organization before it joined al Qaeda:
Some militants also said that Washingtons designation of the Algerians as a terrorist organization after Sept. 11 despite its categorization by some American government experts as a regional insurgency had the effect of turning the group against the United States.Do you see how this works? It's America's fault that the group became terrorists. The group was just a "regional insurgency" until the U.S. got all mean on them.
And that quote isn't out of context, it's central to the main narrative of the entire piece: the U.S. is partly to blame for the rise of al Qaeda in North Africa.
The biggest problem is that the authors don't disclose the former name of the group until four pages in: Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). Or they treat as incidental the up front confession by the founder of the group that there were, "religious motivations for his groups merger with Al Qaeda."
The previous name of the organization says it all. While not organizationally part of al Qaeda they were exactly like al Qaeda ideologically, with the same goals and methods used by the group. All of this before 9/11 and before their designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
By downplaying these key pieces of information the authors downplay the centrality of the Salafi version of Islam which is central to the worldwide Sunni jihad, and therefore downplay the role of traditional Islam itself in the violence.
For those of you who don't know what Salafism is, it often referred to as Wahabism, which is incorrect only in that Wahabis are a subset of Salafis. Very few traditional Muslims call themselves Wahabis, a lot think of themselves as Salafis or call themselves followers of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaat. Whatever they want to call themselves, all are followers of the earliest form of Islam and believe in emulating Muhammad's close circle of devotees-- the ones who were most responsible for Islam's sudden and bloody rise to the world stage.
If you can overlook the blame the U.S. tone of the narrative, the article does a decent job of illuminating the rise of the group from the periphery of the global jihad to one of the central constellations. When Europe is hit by al Qaeda again (yes, again, remember Madrid?), I give it a 50/50 chance that it will be by members of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The other 50%? Supporters of the Islamic State of the Caucuses which I'm sure experts at the NY Times think is just another nationalist or regional insurgency.
"Change": Obama to Take Taxes Back to Carter Levels
Hope and/or change?
Obamas tax plan has two major components. First, he promises to end the Bush tax cuts, allowing the top two tax rates to return to 36 percent and 39.6 percent. Second, he promises to end the Social Security payroll tax cap for incomes above $250,000. Individuals making more than $250,000, therefore, would face a 15.65 percent tax rate from payroll taxes in addition to a top income tax rate of 39.6 percent for a combined tax rate topping 56 percent. Individuals living in cities or states with high taxes such as New York City or California would have tax rates approaching 70 percent, levels not seen since Carter was president.Thanks to McQ.
Happy Canada Day!
Best wishes for all our Canadian friends on Canada Day! May God rescue you from the lunatic PC fanatics running your country.
3 al Qaeda Fundraisers Arrested in ... Spain
Not surprisingly, the 3 men are connected to al Qaeda sympathizers in Britain:
Spanish police say they have broken up an al-Qaida-linked cell and arrested three people, including one person in the Basque town of Azkoitia.One step back in the Muslim reconquista of Andalusia, but how many steps forward?
The Interior Ministry says the three men of Algerian origin are accused of fundraising for Islamic terrorist activities....
The statement says the arrests were made in collaboration with British authorities. It says these officials knew of the suspects because they had links with other suspected extremists in Britain.
Report: bin Laden, Sasquatch Dying of Kidney Failure
You can understand why we would circulate hope-filled speculation and unsubstantiated rumors about top al Qaeda leaders being spotted, killed, or dying, but Time magazine? It's why I continue to feel no guilt pangs for The Jawa Report being listed as "news" by Google. Be sure to read AllahP's take and follow the links to the recent Deep Background report on bin Laden's whereabouts/fate.
Justice From Above
Having rashly attacked US Soldiers instead of their usual prey, schoolchildren or bound hostages, terrorist-insurgents cower in fear for several minutes as an F-18 engages them with rockets and guns.
Thanks to Liveleaker Iraqi Translator USMC.
Consensual Sex With High-Schooler Leads to Life Imprisonment?
Via Gabriel Malor over at Ace's:
Here, Cedric Bradshaw is a pedophile and a dumbass. When he was 19 he had sex with a 15 year-old. But he served his time and was released, subject to sex offender registry. He then was imprisoned for six months when he gave an invalid address on his first registration. After that, he had to move twice when it turned out the family members he was living with (a sister then an aunt) lived too close to areas where children were likely to be. He finally found a place, but transposed two numbers in the address. He also failed to move into the new place within 72 hours. He was caught and prosecuted for failure to properly register as a sex offender. The trial judge ruled that he had no discretion to do anything other than sentence Bradshaw to life imprisonment. The case is currently before the Georgia Supreme Court.Correction: Cedric Bradshaw may be a dumbass, but I don't see how he's a "pedophile." If his love interest had been FIVE, or even TEN, then I'm definitely seeing "pedophile," and I don't care much what you do with a guy who wants to get sexual with pre-pubescent children. In this case, a guy had sex with a teenage girl when he was also a teenager. How many teenage boys haven't had sex with teenage girls? Not many, I reckon.
There certainly is be a case to be made for punishing consensual teenage sex, but for a person in this guy's shoes to be facing life imprisonment is stupid and ridiculous.
This is particularly true given the likelihood that a female in the same situation wouldn't even be facing charges.
Anti-Violence Rally
(Los Banos, California) The Victory Outreach Church held an anti-violence rally on Saturday. Gut-level enemies, the Hells Angels and Mongols motorcycle gangs, showed up.
What possibly could go wrong?
35 Years Later the All Volunteer Military the Envy of the World
Today the U.S. military celebrates the 35th anniversary of the end of the draft and the beginning of the all-volunteer force. The idea of going back to the draft? Insanity.
More Missile Strikes in Pakistan
God, I love news like this.
At least three missiles struck the headquarters of Amar Bil Maroof Wa Nahi Aneelmunkar (promotion of virtue and prevention of vice force) at Bara in Khyber Agency, where Pakistani security forces launched a crackdown against militants on Saturday.Unfortunately Haji Namdar the head of the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice force survived. Missed it by that much!
Thanks to Birddog26
Oh, That Satan Worshipping Obama Supporter
The headline says it all.
A Letter from Reza Pahlavi to Ali Khamenei
A recent letter from the son of the deposed Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, to Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran. Translated by Garduneh Mehr.
From: The Secretariat of Prince Reza Pahlavi
Date: June 2008
I, like the indisputable majority of my compatriots, have long considered your tyrannical and dictatorial rule
over my beloved Iran and its noble and honourable people void of any legal or moral legitimacy.
While the revolution [of 1979] derived a measure of legitimacy from the, albeit unwise, complacency
of the Iranian people; the start and the continuation of the nightmare of "The Guardianship of the Cleric", which you and your accomplices have subjected the Iranian people to, has by its filthy and bloodied robes erased any trace of that legitimacy.
Validity and legitimacy of any government is contingent not only upon its heeding the wishes of its citiznery; but also, more importantly, upon its competence in realizing their just wishes and anthropic goals.
A regime which neither answers to the people nor ameliorates their affairs, is about as valid and lawful as a
foreign occupying force. Thus, Mr. Khamenei, the shameful ledger of the actions of the past three decades of "The Guardianship of the Cleric" [the Mullahcracy] evidently betokens the presence of a such alien regime in our beloved homeland.
The evidences of your regime's complete disregard for the wishes of the Iranian people are so plain and numerous that there is scarcely anyone left in the world who has not heard of them. It is nearly thirty years that you and your collaborators have,
by resorting to endless violence, intimidation tactics and various deceits have robbed the Iranian people of any means of freely expressing their wishes and expectations. To wit, in that vast prison that you have turned our [once] great country into, you have erased all traces of free media that might have truthfully reflected the wishes of our people, and destroyed any independent parties who might have spoken out in the defence of the interests and the weal of any segment of the society.
The Iranian working class who, in these [thirty] years of unbearable hardship, have suffered the greatest privations are neither allowed to form their own syndicates or associations nor are they given the right to assemble and peacefully demonstrate to protest against the regime that has subjected them to all these miseries. Whenever millions of Iranian [university] students, these true representatives of the nation, these wise and inspired voices of the Iranian people, speak up about the truth of the bitterness of their lives, or write in the defence of the interests of their afflicted country, they receive no answer save imprisonment, torture and death. This same price has for years been levied against the lion-hearted women of Iran, the mothers and daughters of the homeland, for demanding their rights, for the [supposed] crime of overstepping medieval bounds and limitations, for the sin of labouring to break free of the chains of slavery and humiliation that your regime has imposed upon them. Even fairminded [Muslim] clergy who are
aware of your role in undermining the religious beliefs of a large segment of the Iranian population are not immune from vengeful retaliation should they voice any criticism or complaint.
You have reduced the only two institutions that could have been representative and expressive of the wishes of the people, namely the elections and the Consultative Assembly, to shameful and purely cosmetic devices for deceiving the populace. Without free [political] parties and free media, your elections are about as useful to the people of Iran as the Stalinist regime was to the peoples of the Soviet Union.
Now, Mr. Khamenei, one must consider the second reason for the utter ilegetimacy and complete invalidity of your absolutist "Guardianship of the Clergy" regime; namely, the [irredeemably] chronic incompetence of you and your predecessors in managing even the least of the economic needs of the people of Iran. The terrifying dimensions of this incompetence are made clear upon considering the enormous oil revenue of the past thirty years of Iran. In other words, your "Cleric Guardianship" regime in addition to depriving the Iranian people of all rights and liberties, and depsite access to a windfall of an enormous wealth, has pushed Iran, which just prior to the revolution was so prosperous and full of promise as to be the envy of all of our neighbours, down the precipice of economic bankruptcy; and have thus afflicted the hardworking and gifted people of Iran with the deadly ailments of inflation and unemployment. Throughout the world, the number of regimes, which like yours, deprive their citizenry of fundamental human freedoms and impoverish them can be counted on one hand. Little wonder then, that on the international scene, your friends are limited to the likes of North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
But, Mr. Khamenei, robbing the Iranian people of their rights and liberties and burdening them with backbreaking and ever increasing economic hardships, pale in comparison with the dangers and threats that you, through your ignorance and thuggery, have brought upon the security and the territorial integrity of our beloved Iran. It is a doubtless fact that even years before you and your collaborators succeeded in gaining control of the apparatus of government, you had schemed and fantasized about using the lever of religion to interfere in the interal affairs of all of Iran's neighbours. Indeed, the opening paragraphs of the constitution of your Islamic Republic, which more appropriately would be named "The Bill of No Rights", speaks quite clearly of such schemes.
Your efforts in creating crises and seeking confrontations for the purpose of manipulating the thoughts of the Iranian people have much older roots; do they not? From the moment you and your ilk assumed power, you have maligned our historical personages and heroes, belittled our ancient works, and regularly confirmed your adamant animosity towards Iran's ancient culture and identity which are the firm foundations for the millennia old unity of our people. From the very begining, by decimating the ranks of our once strong and well-equipped military and by shedding the blood of its commanders, you gave the [Baa'thist] regime of Iraq the opportunity and the excuse for bold aggression against Iran. Right from the start, by treading on the different ethnicities, and by intimidating and belittling followers of faiths other than Shi'ah'ism you have weakened the long held underpinnings of the unity and [amicable] coexistence amongst Iranians. Driven by ambitions of extending your dominance first to Iraq and then to Jereusalem, you unnecessarily prolonged the Iraq war at the expense of the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iranian youth and pre-youth and wastage of uncounted capital; so much so, in fact, that Iran which was originally the victim of aggression was seen in the eyes of the world and the United Nations as an aggressor itself [no better than Saddam]. In violation of one of the oldest and firmest principles of international law, you occupied the American embassy, held captive and tortured its staff, and forced that country to break diplomatic ties with Iran resulting in costly and unprecedented economic and political difficulties for the Iranian people.
By direct and indirect interference in the internal affairs of our neighbours, including Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Afghanistan, and by supporting, through financial military and propagandist means, the most extreme and most violent enemies of liberty and coexistence in these societies, not only have you made the name of Iran synonymous with such despised words as "terrorist" and "rogue"; but also made enemies of a large number of the nations of the world, great and small. If until now the naive peoples of the world have been unable to discern your direct and indirect roles in causing strife and bloodshed in foreign lands, near and far from Iran; the words spoken, for the first time, by your old friend Mr. Khatami [Ahmadi'Nezhad's predecessor] confessing and unveiling your current plots, have removed all doubt for everyone.
Still you are not content with all of this for realizing your primary goals of twisting the mindset of the Iranian people by making enemies of others and fanning the flames of conflict and strife. For this very reason, under the pretext of accessing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, you are pursuing more terrifying weapons so that once again you can make Iran the target of threats and attacks of others. It is as a consequence of this scheme of yours that today our country is faced with an unprecedented and terrifying crisis; a crisis which our dear peace loving compatriots have not had the smallest role in creating.
The informed and long-sighted people of Iran see their own interests and welfare neither in armed and malicious interference in the fate of the peoples of Palestine, Iraq or Lebanon, nor in your animosity towards the free and advanced societies of the world, nor in your insane insistence on having a nuclear arsenal. The Iranian people have not forgotten that the preliminary steps for developing nuclear technology for peaceful purposes had already been taken before the revolution, since in that era no country in the world had anything to fear from the policies and aims of the government of Iran. You and your predecessors, however, have, by pursuing aggressive and provocative policies, not only completely destroyed that atmoshpere of trust and mutual understanding, but also by your willful ignorance has turned the majority if not all of the governments of the world into the enemies of Iran; and all of this just so you can give yourself further excuses for further oppressing the Iranian people.
Since, as I mentioned at the beginning of this letter, your regime is, in the eyes of my compatriots, devoid of any legitimacy; I ought not have addressed your and your regime. Nevertheless, my love for the sacred land of my ancestors and my concern for the future of my fellow countrymen leave me no choice but to warn you that the primary responsibility for every harm and injury which the territorial integrity and continuity of our beloved Iran may suffer from any world power lies solely with you and your collaborators.
Know this that in the event of such a tragic calamity, your fate and that of your cohorts will not be better than that suffered by certain autocratic rulers who in recent years were made to take the seat of the accused for crimes against humanity and received their just punishment. If refuse to learn from their fates, if the liberty and prosperity of the citizens of Iran do not concern you in the slightest, at the very least feel some concern for the land of your birth. If today, while you are able, you refuse to acknowledge the wishes of the nation and ask for their forgiveness, know this for certain that the power that you, like a Pharaoh, rely upon will not be able to withstand the ever increasing anger of the Iranian people; it will shatter and you will be made to answer for thirty years of calamitous tyranny.
May God be the Protector of Iran.
Embedded With the Enemy: Underground Edition
Hello, can I get two halal pizzas delivered to 5 meters under the Rafah crossing?
Desmond Tutu, Neocon?
Who knew da J-O-Os controlled South Africa?
Poor Sami Al-Arian
Law professor Charlie Rose on the criminal contempt charges filed against Sami Al-Arian for failing to testify before a federal grand jury:
"I just can't imagine that this is still around," Rose said. "You almost never see a charge of criminal contempt, historically, unless you're dealing with organized crime. They're treating Sami Al-Arian like he is a member of a criminal organization."Yeah, it's not like the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is as bad as the mafia or anything!
Mrs Abe Froman
Iran ordered to disclose all its US assets
Suing Hamas? I like it. Making Iran liable for Hamas' terrorism? I like it a lot.
The Face of America in Iraq
Click this link, try not to choke up.