Sammenhold on Wheels

I watched the news conference held by President Bush with Danish Prime Minister Rasnussen at Camp David and hoped that I would find an after action report for the Danish serving in Iraq with flythemig29 at Those Wacky Iraqis.

Per your request, flythemig29. You guys ALL rock!

First, how cute is PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen?

Second, how great is it for him to get the Camp David treatment?

I know I was discouraged and had some mixed feelings about the Danes and Dhimmitude after our visit to Copenhagen in April but I also have to admit my slice of Denmark was not that big or all that long. True, I expected a more in your face stance, but that might just be the brash, swaggering American in me. Hah-hah!

I just know I admire the heck out of those Danish citizens who have taken a stand against the Muslim tide: The Danish soldiers who serve, the editors at the Jylands - Posten, Queen Margarethe, PM Rasmussen, the chic, little blonde at the Amber Shop on Stroget that sold my husband and I the bitchin' amber jewelry ensemble that was my birthday gift, the sweet and friendly gal at the Marriott bar, the driver of our tour bus, the friendly guy on the street that bummed a match to light a joint. (I kid you not.)

Tak, my Danish friends. I did truly enjoy my short time in your beautiful country and I hope to return soon. (Okay, you should still loosen up the nanny reins on the internet, but your Carlsberg Beer was life affirming and very much appreciated!)

Here's a snippet from the Washington Post:

Most weeks, the White House sees a procession of foreign leaders, and the past week alone brought the leaders of the Congo Republic, Chile and Honduras through the Oval Office. But only the prime minister of Denmark was granted a meeting and lunch at Camp David with President Bush, not to mention a 10-mile bicycle ride through the Catoctin Mountain woods.

"He's very fast," Anders Fogh Rasmussen observed afterward. "I consider myself a skilled mountain biker, but it was challenging."

Some more pics of the meeting can be found here. (Freaking Blogger has taken a dump again)

Here's the transcript of the press conference.

The Copenhagen Post's recap of the trip.

An interesting form of Sammenhold with the Russians here.

Skol!

Media v Marines

Z - MAN'S GREEN TATTOOS - THEY WEREN'T VERY LUCKY WERE THEY?

From the Australian Herald Sun:

"The informer pointed them to the al-Qaida meeting attended by the sheik at the building on the outskirts of Habhib village, 8km north of the town of Baquba.

A task force, called 77 or 145, of Delta Force commandos, Navy SEALs and British special operations experts had first pinpointed the property near Baquba, 60km north of Baghdad.

The white stucco, two-storey farmhouse near a grove of palm trees was in the area where the Jordanian experts had most likely placed Zarqawi from the video.
Maj-Gen Caldwell said: "The strike did not occur in a 24-hour period.

"It was a very long, painstaking, deliberate exploitation of intelligence, information gathering, human resources, electronic signal intelligence that was done over a period of time -- many, many weeks."

But Wednesday was the first time the US was certain Abd-al-Rahman was at a hideout where it was certain Zarqawi was, which could be struck without risk of mass civilian casualties.

A local, Mohammed Ismael, said he saw three utes drive to the house late on Wednesday, but only one stayed.

By 5.30pm local time commandos from task force 145 surrounded the house, then Habhib village itself.

Mr Ismael said American soldiers began swarming the town, seemingly coming from nowhere, with some soldiers sliding down ropes dropped from Black Hawk helicopters.
"The entire village was seized," Mr Ismael said.

He said someone inside the house began shooting as the American commandos took up positions. The Americans returned fire but the fight did not last long.

Senior officers in Baghdad called in an air strike at sunset on Wednesday.
Two F-16 US Air Force Falcons circled high above and dropped two 225kg laser-guided bombs. The first flattened the house, which disintegrated into three dust clouds.

Early reports claimed Zarqawi and others had lived for about 10 minutes after Iraqi police arrived on the scene.

But when the 4th Infantry of the US 101st Airborne Assault Division arrived a few minutes later, everyone in the rubble was dead.

Six corpses were initially taken from the ruins: a woman, a child, two unidentified males, Abd-al-Rahman and finally Zarqawi. The last had green tattoos, just like Zarqawi, who was known among other terrorists as the "green man".

Within hours, the US launched 17 raids on suspect houses around Baghdad, gathering what Maj-Gen Caldwell says was a treasure trove of information.

Checks of the scars and tattoos on the body suspected to be Zarqawi were confirmed by an FBI fingerprint check."

I love the thought of those SOB's being surrounded like rats in a cage before the JDAM hit the fan but did anybody find that emphasis about the green tattoos kind of strange. Were his tattoosGreen Tattoos because he had tried to remove them in an effort to avoid id?

Two words: Dude, DNA.

Green tattoos - here to stay?

[Posted: Mon 29/01/2001]

For anyone who regrets getting the name of a partner they are no longer with tattooed across their chest, there are always laser removal techniques.

However, scientists have discovered that some colours are more difficult to remove by laser than others. In fact, green is considered the most difficult. It is thought that the difficulty comes from the addition of titanium dioxide, a pigment added to some tattoos to enhance the colour.

The pigment is also used to brighten yellow, blue and purple inks, however more of it is found in green ink, which is typically composed of 30-40% titanium dioxide.

The research involved examining biopsy samples of tattoos that had been laser treated. In some cases, the tattoos actually darkened when treated.

As Kermit says, "It ain't easy being green."

We gave peace a chance in Vietnam - Good luck with that.

The Iraq Quagmire: Investors Business Daily's paean to the cut and run crowd:

Those who equate Haditha with My Lai, and Iraq with Vietnam, would do well to remember the last time we gave peace a chance. For millions of innocents, it was the peace of the grave.

If there's anyone who condones the deliberate murder of civilians, it is not the U.S. government but the anti-war left and its unindicted co-conspirators in the media. Thanks largely to their efforts, we abandoned Vietnam and ushered in an era of mass carnage, boat people and reeducation camps that resulted in more death after the war than during it.

After Saigon's "liberation," summary executions of tens of thousands of South Vietnamese began. Hundreds of thousands more were forced into re-education camps as a million boat people fled on anything that would float. Countless thousands perished in the South China Sea.

And let's not forget the killing fields of Cambodia, where 3 million were slaughtered, a stark reminder of what happens in the absence of both democracy and U.S. power. Angst over My Lai helped make it happen; angst over Haditha could make it happen again.

Iraq is like Vietnam, where U.S. forces never lose a battle on the ground, but where defeat can come at the hands of a loony left, a biased media and a shortsighted Congress. Whether it's an immediate withdrawal or one with a date certain, it would be a signal to the enemy to set their alarm clocks and wait us out till we cut and run.

And then there's this quote from Ann Coulter's, Godless.

Liberals become indignant when you question their patriotism, but simultaneously work overtime to give terrorists a cushion for the next attack and laugh at dumb Americans who love their country and hate the enemy.

Zarqawi's Theme - Girls Gone Wild in Baghdad - Rock The Casbah

Let's celebrate our success!
To our troops!
Cheers - Dinah

Zarqawi's Theme. It's a blast!

Girls Gone Wild: Baghdad. (Tip of the chapeau to Giant Ketchup)

Rock the Casbah, baby.

Blogger sux

in case you haven't noticed that yet or anything.

I have been unable to post for the past two days and before that I could post, but could not post images and as you know, Dinah likes to use the images in her blog.

Today I find I'm able to post but still can't post images.

Bloggers response to the plight of those affected has been less than impressive.

Does anyone know another good hosting service?

I'm totally over the Blogger scene.

Saudi Witches to be terminated

And I don't mean they will be given a pink slip.

No, according to this follow up article over at Western Resistance.the morality police are going to "purify the cradle of Islam."

This does not bode well for the Naked Witch that reminded me of my friend, Lois.

Saudi Arabia: Asian and African Witches Will be Hunted Down and "Terminated"

Saudi Arabia's dread morality police, known officially as the Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, have unleashed a brutal campaign to stamp out `witchcraft' in an effort to purify the cradle of Islam, reports Reuters.

The move by the Saudi morality police follows a June 3 Western Resistance news report about a naked African `witch' who terrified devout Muslims in Medina.

Over recent months, Saudi newspapers have been full of reports about alleged witches and sorcerers, primarily from India and Africa, reports Reuters. Desperate and impoverished Saudis, many of who have little chance of improving their lives in the country's brutal reality, turn to sorcerers in order to find hidden treasure or get a good job.

The morality police are setting up emergency centers throughout the Saudi kingdom to "register complaints on sorcerers and charlatans, track them and terminate them,'' said morality police chief, Sheikh Ibrahim bin Abdallah al-Ghaith, in the al-Madinah newspaper, reported Reuters.

Such hysteria is fitting for Saudi Arabia, one of the last totalitarian regimes on earth. This oil-rich kingdom of about 20 million citizens and another 5 million guest workers from the Muslim world is desperately trying to reconcile its violent and superstitious Islamic beliefs with the demands of a modern and developed society.
The Arabian peninsula gave birth to the founder of Islam, the 7th century warlord and pedophile, Mohammed. Saudi Arabia propagates one of the most violent forms of Islam, and gave the world 15 out of 19 terrorists on September 11, 2001.

The current witch hunt, aimed mostly at Indian and Africans, appears to be a symptom of the racism inherent in the Arab culture. For centuries, Arabs traded in African slaves, and such slavery continues today, with both African women and Slavic women from the former Soviet Union being forced into prostitution.

Peter posting over at Pereiraville says it all for me tonight.

"Peter gave me permission to post his most recent email update from Afghanistan. I edited some spelling, but nothing else.

'Hello Everyone

Not a lot to report. Last Friday the Taliban finally improved their aim and got a mortar round into the base after firing seven rounds. It shook the ground and my room really hard. It occurred around 7 PM local. Black smoke everywhere. Like in the past the good news is they only hit a pile of tires, and not anyone.

Combat has been very heavy on the weekends for my troops. We had a successful 10 days with my men killing close to 300 enemy combatants. Even thought I report numbers, I wish I was in a situation that I had nothing to report ever. There isn’t anything I hate more than waste, and war is one of the biggest wastes that mankind can bring. However, as long as I am here, I will do my duty and kill the enemy so everyone in American can be safe.

I am bored this week, I get to watch our troops fight via a feed from a drone aircraft call the Predator. You get the see the actual combat day or night with clarity and only a two second delay. To be honest with everyone I would rather be on the ground kicking in doors and fighting like I was last year. Instead of being a director, and telling people where and when to fight. This is the first time in my career on a deployment that I have shot in anger at anyone. Weird afterall this is a war, and there is a lot of fighting.

There is a big debate about when I get to rotate back to the States. One set of orders say Sept 06, another Feb 07 and a third one say Sept 07. The not knowing is killing me, hard to get a career on track when I have no idea what the military has planned for me. Everyday I ask and everyday I get a different answer. I do know one thing once I am back, I am back, untouchable under law for at least three years.

As many of you have heard there was a riot in Kabul last week, and the media of course is blaming the US Army. I have driven in Kabul, there are no traffic signs or lights, it is a free for all. Imagine all the Arab cab drivers we deal with back home weaving in and out and cutting you off. You think they learned that behavior in the street of NYC, no way they learned it in Kabul. Imagine a city where everyone drives like a cab driver, if you can picture that then you have driven in Kabul.

What really happened, a large tractor trailer that belonged to some engineer unit lost its brakes. They tried to stop by plowing into parked cars, but the last car was an occupied taxi. One person was killed. While the US Army medics were treating the people. Taliban extremist came out of a Mosque and started inciting their worshipers. What the newspapers didn’t tell you was that the riot was small, only two thousand people in a city of 500,000. Also that many Taliban fighters live in Kabul. Additionally, that the riot was pre-planned and they were just waiting for an incident to put their plan into effect. If fact we captured pre-printed maps that said in case we can get a riot started we will go to these places. Also the last thing the paper doesn’t tell you that someone in the crowd started shooting at US forces. When that happened our troops mounted up, shot in the air and fled. The people then started attacking the National Police who were on the scene providing crowd control. It was them that started shooting in the crowd. I wish the media was more even handed.

They talk about American atrocities, you should see what these people do to each other. If you have a college degree you are considered a Westerner and should be killed. You wouldn’t believe how many people are found on the side of the road be-headed and have a note attached to their body that says education is evil only knowledge from the Koran is good. If you are a girl and your father gets mad at you, it is common practice to throw hot oil on her or put her hand in the fire, usually she falls in the fire and has more burns. Here on my base we get two to three girls a week with third degree burns from oil of fire. Women according to the teachers of Islam in Afgahanistan are evil and subservient. That is the type of people that will come into power if were leave. The media never report this, but heaven forbid we accidently kill someone who The Taliban use as human shield when fighting against us, you never hear the end of it. Only cowards use women an children as shields to fight.

These so called freedom fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan, fight only for the freedom of men who are Mullahs. They use religion to get into power. That to me is a true coward.

I leave you with the following to ponder: We will eventually fail in Iraq and Afghanistan because the media loves an American loser. It sells much better than good news. I hate to see what the economy will be like back home when we are forced to withdraw. I guess we should start getting use to European Gasoline Prices which range from $7.00 to 8.00 dollars a gallon.

I am on my soap box because all week I have seen the way the media manipulates the truth into lies. I saw the live video feed from Kabul and I saw the rioters shoot at our troops. I saw the national Police shooting back, but that is not what was reported. Once again better to show the ugly American instead of the true American the kind and care. No wonder people hate us in the world, the media tells them we are evil.

Did you know my unit built three bridges across the Helmand River. Everyone who has tried has failed, like Alexander the Great, the Roman, the British, and the Russians. We were the first in three thousand years to succefully complete the project, now that is something the world needs to know.

Everyone, thank you for your support and genorosity. I really do appreciate it. Last item someone sent me a package from Drugs.com, who was it? I want to thank you.

Bye.

Peter' "

God Bless America and God Bless our Troops.

Dinah

On this day in the post 09/11/01 world

courtesy of the Religion of Peace

6/6/05 Thailand - Bangkok:
A 59-year-old Buddhist plantation worker is captured and beheaded by militant Muslims.
6/6/04 Kosovo - Gracanica:
17-year-old Christian teenager is shot to death in a restaurant by Muslim terrorists.
6/6/04 Pakistan - Dera Ghazi Khan:
Female Shia doctor is gunned down by Sunni radicals outside a hospital. Her driver is seriously wounded in the attack.
6/6/04 Saudi Arabia - Riyadh:
Islamist shoots a Briton to death on the sidewalk. One other is injured in the attack.
6/6/04 Iraq - Baghdad:
Two suicide bombers, belonging to a group calling itself the 'Unification and Jihad Group' kill nine Iraqis and injure forty-eight others.
6/6/02 Nigeria - Katsina:
A Muslim mob clubs a Christian police officer to death after a cleric makes false charges that he trampled a Qur'an.
6/6/02 Afghanistan - Kabul:
The country's Deputy President and his driver are assassinated by the Taliban.

Time to wake up and smell the Canadian bacon, folks!

Looking for up to date info on the Canadian MapleLeafihadeen check out Neale News

There's this about the sound of automatic weaponry being heard at their training gigs. Nice. Real nice.

Chris Wattie, National Post
Published: Monday, June 05, 2006
WASHAGO, Ont. -- It was the bursts of automatic gunfire that made the farmer in this tiny central Ontario tourist community think something was amiss as he fed his animals after dark.

"I feed my animals at night," the farmer said yesterday. "So I'd be outside late at night and I'd hear the gunfire from over there, automatic gunfire. I'd hear rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat.

"I just knew there was something wrong about them. It was obvious they were doing some kind of military training."

Canadian neighbor I salute you:

Finally, late last December, one neighbour decided he had had enough and called police.

"You can tell when someone's suspicious," the man said. "They were up to no good, that's for sure."

Police quickly honed in on the camp, setting up surveillance cameras in nearby rural mailboxes and in barns overlooking the entrance to the property.

Just say No to Extreme Camping unless Canadian bacon is being served:

One resident said the men gave a thin cover story to explain their activities.

"They told [the property owner], they were doing extreme camping, whatever that's supposed to mean," the man said. "Pretty extreme camping if you ask me."

It's from CBS News so you know what that means, but it is interesting and points out the fact that the US ought to be waking up and smelling the applewood cured bacon too.

The first of the domestic incidents, all of which drew little attention at the time, began with the holdup of a string of Torrance, Calif. gas stations last summer. Muslim converts who bonded together in prison planned to use the robberies to finance attacks on 20 Army recruiting stations.

Next up:

Police in Toledo, Ohio, busted another cell in February. This one consisted of three men training to attack U.S. forces overseas. Once again, luck played a role. When they tried to enlist someone in their mosque to help, he turned them in.

And These guys:

Two months ago, a pair of Atlanta men, one a Georgia Tech engineering student, were arrested not long after communicating by e-mail with two of the suspects arrested in Canada over the weekend. The Atlanta men are charged with videotaping domestic targets, including the U.S. Capitol and the World Bank.

And don't forget the Jeep Jihadi down at Duke.

The CBS report reaches this shocking conclusion:

Analysts now conclude similarities between all the cases were dramatic: All were self-financed, self-motivated, and in each case the men were seeking out others to join their cell.

Oh there might be ONE other similarity: THEY ARE ALL FREAKING MUSLIM!!!!!

On This Day in the Post 9/11/01 World

courtesy of Religion of Peace

6/5/05
India - Bandipore: The Mujahideen abduct and kill two civilians.

6/5/05
Iraq - Shorgat: An Iraqi soldier is killed by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle.

6/5/04
Algeria - Jijel: Islamic extremists ambush and kill a policeman and two village guards.

6/5/04
Iraq - Musayyib: Jihadists disguise themselves as police officers to gain entrance to a police station, then proceed to kill seven officers in cold blood.

6/5/04
Iraq - Baghdad: Mujahideen gunmen kill four civilian contractors in an ambush - two Americans and two Poles.

6/5/04
India - Mawar: Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen gunmen invade a home and kill a 55-year-old woman and her daughter.

6/5/04
Iraq- Mosul: Militants fire RPGs at jobseekers lining up outside a recruitment office. Seventeen are injured.

6/5/04
Bangladesh- Dhaka: At least nine people, including an infant and two women are killed when a state bus is set on fire by organized Islamic terrorists. About thirty others are hospitalized for serious burns.

6/5/03
Afghanistan- Kandahar: Nine people are killed by a Taliban attack.

6/5/03
Chechnya - North Ossetia: Female Fedayeen suicide bomber blows up a bus containing civilians and military personnel. At least seventeen are killed and more than a dozen injured.

6/5/02
India - Kashmir: Three civilians are killed by Jihadis in separate attacks.

6/5/02
Indonesia - Tentena: A bomb planted by Muslim radicals explodes on a church bus killing four Christians, including the pastor, and wounding seventeen.

6/5/02
Israel - Afula: Seventeen people killed by a Muslim suicide bomber while riding in a bus. Thirty-eight others were injured.

Mahmoud and Karl sitting in a tree...

My blood pressure must have gone up 10 points reading this love letter to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from the WAPO. I swear I'm going to need a session with Dr. Sanity after reading it.

Written by Karl Vick, it appeared on Page 1 of the 06-03-06 edition and heaps accolades and roses upon Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Why, he's not such a bad guy after all!Read it yourself if you think you can stand it.

This part was so special:

Iran remains Iran, of course. Controls on the press are firmer than ever, and the April arrest of Ramin Jahanbegloo, a philosopher without a strong reputation for political activism, has both mystified and unsettled elements of Tehran's professional class.

But Ahmadinejad's government has delivered none of the widely predicted crackdowns on social behavior. Iranians remain free to drink, party and generally do as they please behind closed doors. In public, young couples can still canoodle lightly on the street, and young women stretch the definition of "Islamic dress" with form-fitting outerwear.

I guess old Karl hasn't heard about this and this and this and this...

Michael Ledeen takes the boxcutter to tyrant apologist Vick, here.

And there's this little tidbit I gleaned from over at Free Republic.

When unemployment is 6-year low(4.6%) with booming economy, Wash.Post is in doom and gloom -> 70 reporters, editors, photographers, newsroom employees & 100 employees outside the newsroom will be out of their jobs. Wash.Post acknowledges that Circulation has decreased in recent years. As misery loves company, Wash.Post points out they aren't alone & NYTimes, Tribune and other dailies face the same burden as them. Experts say that Wash.Post's biased reporting is the reason for it's sinking circulation & earnings.

On This Day In The Post 9/11/01 World

courtesy of The Religion of Peace

6/3/05
Afghanistan, Tirin Kot - The Taliban invade the home of a civic educator, beat up his elderly father, then execute him.
6/3/05
Afghanistan, Kandahar - Five separate attacks by the Taliban, leave five people dead and at least five others injured.
6/3/05
Iraq, Balad - Ten Iraqis are slaughtered by a suicidal religious fanatic in a car bombing. Twelve more are injured.
6/3/04
Pakistan, North Waziristan - al-Qaeda suicide bomber kills a border guard and injures two others.
6/3/04
India, Kellar Pahalgam - A political activist is assassinated by militant Muslims. Another civilian his killed in his home in a separate attack (Kishtwar).
6/3/03
India, Kishtwar - A man is killed in his home by the Mujahideen, who had abducted and murdered a second person earlier.
6/3/03
Kosovo, Obilic - Three members of a Serb family, including an elderly couple, are beaten to death in their beds by Muslim attackers.
6/3/02
India, Dureja - Muslims kill a woman for granting official approval to an inter-religious marriage.

Remember the Iranian Oil Bourse?

It's ba-a-a-ack!
Maybe.



Per Reuters it's back on:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Friday that in July Iran will abandon dollar payments for its oil and natural gas exports in favor of euros.

You will note that they don't exactly say WHEN in July. And it's not like we haven't heard this before.

Kenya's Rape Problem

From al-Reuters, so consider the source.

Kenya passes laws to fight "epidemic of rape"

Kenya has passed new laws intended to stem the country's "epidemic of rape" and other sexual offences but women's rights groups expressed outrage on Thursday saying protections for married women were dropped. One woman is raped every 30 seconds in Kenya, according to the government, and the local media regularly run stories of fathers violating small daughters, sometimes leaving them dead.

There's more left to do.

"The fact that Kenya finally has a law consolidating all the sexual offences is a huge step to eradicate the epidemic of rape in this country," MP Njoki Ndung'u told Reuters.

But some women's activists said the essence of the bill was diluted after amendments were passed deleting clauses that criminalised marital rape and outlawed forced circumcision of adult women.

"It is not what we bargained for. We were not happy with the removal of female circumcision and marital rape from the bill," Jane Onyango, chair of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, told Reuters.

Calling all women of NOW - we know you don't give a rip about the poor women in the Middle East but do you think you could find it in your liberal hearts to do something here? Maybe?

What a Mujahideen Really Wants? Sons raised on gunpowder and milk.

From SITE:

A series of message (sic)regarding the Muslim woman and her role in supporting Islam and the mujahideen were recently posted to jihadist forums. One document, titled: “What Do the Mujahideen Want from a Muslim Woman?,” written by Abu Omar Abdul Bar, charges that the war launched by the West against Islam is not limited to direct military action, but it also seeks to affect change in economic, social and character levels. In this regard, Abu Omar believes that the enemy is trying to alienate Muslim women within their community and to “spoil them” and provoke them against Muslim society. As opposed to the Western desire to make a “cheap commodity” of a woman, the message advocates the role of a woman as a mujahid, citing various examples of female mujahideen in Muslim history.

Abu Omar writes that a Muslim woman should support the mujahideen, feed her sons “gunpowder with milk” and raise them in the spirit of jihad. He also states: “we want from her to be a factory of heroes and her house to be a lion’s den”. Similarly, another message views the role of women in Islam and entry to Paradise in the context of the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad. The author provides eleven examples of Muslim women practicing austerity, praying in accordance with Islamic law, and maintaining fealty towards their husbands.

Sorry ladies, but this reminds me of a joke. Here you go.

Two Arab mothers are sitting in the cafe chatting over a pint of goat's milk.

The older of the mothers pulls her handbag out and starts flipping through family photos, and they start reminiscing. "This is my oldest son Mohammed. He's 24 years old now."

"Yes, I remember him as a baby" says the other mother cheerfully.

"He's a martyr now though" mum confides.

"Oh, so sad dear," says the other.

And this is my second son, Kalid. He's 21."

"Oh, I remember him," says the other happily, "he had such curly hair when he was born."

"He's a martyr too." says mum quietly.

"Oh gracious me ...." says the other.

"And this is my third son. My baby. My beautiful Ahmed. He's 18." she whispers.

"Yes" says, the friend enthusiastically, "I remember when he first started school".

"He's a martyr also," says mum, with tears in her eyes.

After a pause and a deep sigh, the second Muslim mother looks wistfully at the photographs and says...

"They blow up so fast, don't they?"

Hoochie Mamas of the Sudan released

Per Reuters: Sudan to release women jailed for brewing alcohol

KHARTOUM, May 30 (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has decreed all women imprisoned for brewing illegal alcohol should be released, ending a vicious cycle affecting southern widows trying to feed their families in Khartoum.

It seems that a key component of the Sudan's economic and social structure is the home brewing of white lightning.

"...mostly southerners who fled the north-south civil war to live in slums surrounding the capital Khartoum. Women with as many as eight children, often widowed, make and sell home-brewed alcohol known locally as Aragi or Mireisse to feed their families."

Everything was just fine until Sharia arrived. What a surprise.

Selling alcohol in Sudan is illegal under Islamic Sharia law, which was imposed in 1983 and was one of the catalysts for the war between the mostly Christian and animist south and the Islamist government in Khartoum.

If you haven't been following the Sudan (and I really haven't either - so many Islamic terror fronts, so little time) there is this:

Under the deal sharia has been lifted in southern Sudan and a new constitution enshrines religious freedom throughout the country. But a commission to protect the rights of non-Muslims in the northern capital Khartoum has yet to be formed and many are still arrested for making alcohol.

Kafir Hoochie Mamas unite.

"Cool. He's a Freedom Man."

Stares, Glares for Afghan Female Drivers

KABUL, Afghanistan — Everyone she passes _ each taxi driver, every man and burqa-clad woman _ is looking at Sofia. The stares and glares are no surprise: She's female, she's driving, and she's just 14 years old.

Their numbers are few and I found this passage of the narrative quite telling.

Then there's the question of safety _ many female drivers report being harassed.

"Afghanistan is not yet at the place where we were 30 years ago. Even with lots of development we are seeing women denied an active place in society in every field," said Parwana Wafa, a 38-year-old who learned how to drive three months ago.

Wafa said she would never drive outside the capital. Even in Kabul she has to contend with men who'll drive straight at her.

"Why? They may enjoy disturbing the women. Maybe they don't like women drivers," she said in the offices of the printing company she owns.

Sofia's father says "A lot of people are against female drivers," especially in conservative regions where women are expected to stay indoors.

An incident in the western city of Herat a couple of weeks ago is a cautionary tale. Two motorcyclists who spotted a woman driver buzzed around her and cut her off, said Gulam Sarwar Haydari, deputy police chief of Herat province.

"They yelled at her, 'Why are you driving? Aren't you ashamed?'" he said.

Police jailed the two men for three hours.

"They were stupid boys," Haydari said.

Even after the Taliban fell, Herat's conservative former governor kept on enforcing the ban against female drivers for three years.

Sofia has not yet suffered any harassment. She executes a snappy U-turn at her father's command, beams and declares herself "the luckiest girl in the world" for being allowed to drive at such a young age.

She answers a question before it can be finished. "Your father is very ..."

"Cool," she says. "He's a freedom man."

You're right, Sofia. He is a cool, freedom man."

Lois, honey is that you?

Ah-h-h. Baghdad by the bay. Do they still call San Francisco that? I used to live there back in the day and one of my best friends, a wild black woman named Lois lived right across the street from me in a neighborhood we laughingly referred to as Dolores Heights.

Lois was a tall, graceful and beautiful woman who resembled a African Warrior Queen but hailed from a small town in the deep South. (or Sudanese model Alek Wek. I have to ask you to imagine what she looks like . Blogger is screwed up and won't allow the posting of photos) We had known each other for years before we both moved to San Fran. She was wonderful but complicated and we loved each other like sisters. She had a beautiful but troubled soul and I'm sorry to say our friendship ended sadly and badly. I still think of her often and I do miss having her in my life, but I had decided I couldn't stand by and watch her become addicted to alcohol and painkillers and so I spoke out about it.

You know how you usually end up pissing off people who use alcohol and drugs when you start calling them on stuff?

Well, I guess I pissed her off but good because one day Lois wrote me out of her life.

Anyhow, I was scrolling around over at Western Resistance when I found this post by Jean de la Valette: Saudi Arabia: Naked African `Witch' Brings Medina to a Standstill and as I started reading it my first thought was of my old friend, Lady Lo.

It truly sounds like some kind of crazy thing she would get herself mixed up in. Then I read the entire post (posted here in its entirety it is so freaking bizarre) and I am left wondering about the poor Saudi Arabian African witch and how she is doing as well. It doesn't sound good for her at all.

The dread Islamic morality police in Saudi Arabia, one of the last remaining totalitarian countries left on earth, launched a fierce manhunt for a naked black woman in Medina, Islam's second most holy city. Since the woman dared to walk the city streets naked, locals accused her of being a witch, reports Newsru, the Russian web newspaper.

The morality police later located the woman in a brothel in this city of 918,000 inhabitants, but the righteous Muslim warriors were totally disarmed by the view of a naked female. This bought the criminal valuable time, letting her escape through the window, but when she climbed onto a nearby rooftop she fell through and landed in the bedroom of several small children.

The sight of a naked African woman falling through the roof, into a room with innocents, and then walking away unharmed, was taken by locals as further proof of her demonic powers. Aware of the potent threat that naked woman pose to Islam, the morality police called in reinforcements and later apprehended the `witch.'

Medina is famous for the Mosque of the Prophet, a shrine to the 7th century Arabian warlord and pedophile, Mohammed. The city also holds the Quba Mosque, the first mosque in Islam. As with Mecca, only Muslims are allowed to enter the city, and each year hundreds of thousands of pilgrims come to these sites.

In Islam, the female body is an object of loathing and sometimes subject to mutilation, such as female circumcision. In Islam, women are also subjected to daily psychological and physical abuse, such as brutal subjugation to their fathers and husbands.

The Nuclear Coda

Take your seats everyone. The lights are dimming on the world stage and the diplomatic pas de deux between the US and Iran is about to begin.

The Corps de Ballet, aka the EU, will finish its last pretty sanction flutter around the stage leaving Condi and Mahmoud alone in the spotlight.

Will Mahmoud continue the 'slow and sustained movements' of the diplomatic adagio thereby allowing the talks to drag on until 2008? Is he gambling that the DemocRats will win by a landslide in 06 and set the stage for a Dem Pres in '08? Why not? It does make sense if you think about it.

I mean honestly, who would you rather deal with? The Appeasing Dems or that wacky gun-happy Bush Neocon crowd? Mahmoud's mama didn't raise no fool. Remember how North Korea snookered the Clinton Administration? Mahmoud sure does. He's looking forward to the Dhimmicrats for crying out loud. They've given him a human rights pass and cover their eyes when it comes to his state sponsorship of terror. The American Liberal Media seems to be doing everything they can to assist him. Things are coming up dhimmitude as far as Mahmoud is concerned.

But let's not forget there's another danseur center stage...

Will Condi, take advantage of Mahmoud's foot dragging adagio to display a "mastery of lyrical movement" thereby shaming him in front of his people and his mullahs? Or will she misstep thanks to bad advice from those leakin' loons over at State? Time will tell.

In my opinion, there's no way Mahmoud is going to cave. Too much is at stake for him. He has the mullahs at his back and his base whipped to a frenzy.

As you can imagine, there are a wide variety of opinions and metaphors used to describe the subject. Here's a smattering:

First, If you don't read Dr. Sanity you should. She sashays out her take on the subject in Texas Two Step (scroll to June 1)Her theory is not a pretty one but it's definitely worth a read. She starts with an idea that makes me want to tell Condi to dig those black boots out of the back of her closet:

The Iranians could never possibly agree to the pre-condition without believing that they would be losing face--and hence experience shame. This will infuriate Ahmadinejad. Particularly since a woman has shamed them.

The good Doctor reminds us again of the impact of a shame based culture and refers to her magnificent work Shame and the Arab Psyche (another must read if you haven't already) before winding up with this:

Ahmadinejad's next step in this dance will be to do something that will bring him back his honor and eliminate the shame. It will not be something nice, like contributing to the Indonesian relief effort, either. He will have to do something to counter the humiliation of being outmaneuvered by Condi Rice.

Anyone in the world who is not yet convinced of the sick irrationality and mental instability of the leaders of this regime, will likely be witness to a demonstration on the part of handiness that will remove all doubt.

But that has been part of the Bush Administration's strategy in dealing with Iran--give them enough rope and Ahmadinejad will surely hang himself; and the international community will eventually realize exactly what kind of insanity they are dealing with.

After that depressing dance with Dr. Sanity and the devil, let's move onto the UPI playground for a ride on the old Iranian Seesaw. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down.

In reviewing the week's events it seem rather that Washington and Tehran are engaged in a dialogue of the deaf. But then again maybe not. Perhaps this was exactly the reply that Washington expected from Tehran, and again, perhaps this was just what Tehran wanted to hear. One should not exclude the possibility that Iran's President Ahmadinejad might not be interested in dialogue.

Their conclusion and what a surprise, it's all George Bush's fault. The real shocker? They don't mention the evil Jooooos. Here you go.

Several analysts who monitor developments in Iran believe that Ahmadinejad was placed in the presidency by the ruling theocracy with the specific task of insuring the country gets its nuclear program running as soon as possible.

Then there are those who support the thesis that Ahmadinejad awaits the return of the 12th imam, which according to legend will come to announce the end of the world. Ironically, there are some among Iraq's Shiite community groups of religious supporters who are beginning to call President Bush "the 13th Imam," in reference to the 12 historical Imams sacred to the branch of Shiism, which is dominant in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. India and Pakistan also have large Shiite populations.

President Bush's support for Shiism was by no means intentional. There is no doubt regarding the effects of his administration's preference in making sure that the Shiites maintain their power in Iran. U.S. support for the Shiites would in part explain the violent terrorist campaign in which mostly Sunnis are engaged in fighting the American presence in Iraq.

In the run-up to the last American presidential elections a high ranking Iranian security chief publicly wished success to George W. Bush, much to the amazement of many American analysts. The reason for that is now clear. President Bush and his administration have done more than any other American president to promote and protect the interests of Iraq's Shiite community. In three short years, Bush succeeded in strengthening not only the Shiite community in Iraq, but gave renewed vigor to the Iranian Islamic revolution across the border in Iran.

So as far as sitting across the table from an American delegation to discuss any matter, except its nuclear program, Ahmadinejad might well play along. And if the talks fail, which they most probably will, Ahmadinejad will walk away, placing all the blame on the Americans. And if sanctions are imposed, as they are likely to be, and the Iranian people are to suffer, once again Bush will appear to be the villain and the Iranian president the hero.

Had enough of that seesaw business? Well, another UPI article Iran Intransigence Threat to NPT likens the Iranian talks as a game of poker and quotes State Department official Larry Semmel.

Semmel said the United States' offer to negotiate now was not a capitulation to Iranian brinkmanship, but a well-contemplated next step in an escalating series of offers. "We don't lay everything out at the outset," Semmel said. "In a game of poker you keep certain things reserved."

Hold 'em or fold 'em:

"There is some time, but I think with every passing day the situation becomes more precarious," he said. Iran is aware that time is on its side, and he believes that is why this current tussle over uranium enrichment has been brewing for two years.
I think their strategy is definitely to drag it out," he said.

The article goes on to point out that he is clueless and more than willing to kick the can down the road til 2008.

"We'll see what the lesson is as this unfolds. We'll see what the end product is when the situation ends." He suggested that diplomacy has a long way to go yet, and seemed to dismiss the possibility of military action to resolve the problem. "We want to be very careful and turn over every rock to be sure Iran comes to negotiations," he said. "We want to make sure we have the right information in Iran. One of the lessons is to be very careful, more careful than we were on Iraq."

The nuclear coda is coming. I just hope everyone is paying attention because when Mahmoud pulls his first overt act of aggression and W goes in and takes out some Iranian nuclear facilities with precision guided bombs I don't want to hear everybody whining about not 'taking the diplomatic route', m'kay?

The Stormy Petrel flies again

stormy petrel\STOR-mee-PET-ruhl\, noun:

1. Any of various small sea birds of the family Hydrobatidae, having dark plumage with paler underparts; also called storm petrel. 2. One who brings discord or strife, or appears at the onset of trouble.

Greetings dear readers.

Well, it looks like I'm back but who knows for how long. It seems to always be the same old story with your friend, Dinah. You know, the ongoing drama of disease, familial dysfunction and its accompanying chaos and disorder that is my everyday life. I still have a moderate gimp going but I am delighted to be back fighting the Islamic Jihad (and I include all state sponsors of terror here)- one keystroke at a time.

But what's up with the bird?

Stormy Petrel was the word for a day over at dictionary.com and for some reason it made me think of Pres Ahmadinejad. Not that I can speak to his having dark plumage and paler underparts or anything, but the little fellow sure does seem to fit the description otherwise.

So here he is in his native habitat.