"We really are pathetic." Pat Condell's take on Fitna
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Monday, March 31, 2008
AU: Coordinated Laser attacks on planes
Smart ass or Terrorist ass?
An Australian state is considering banning hand-held laser pointers following a "co-ordinated attack" on planes landing in Sydney.
Six aircraft were forced to alter their flight paths when the beams were shone at the pilots for 15 minutes.
Officials said no one had been arrested.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority stressed there was no danger of the planes crashing because of the lasers. However, pilots have previously complained of being temporarily blinded or of suffering headaches from the glare of the laser.
David Campbell, the police minister of New South Wales, said the state was considering a ban of the small laser pointers.
"There are some penalties that police can impose now, but we're looking to make these items a prohibited weapon in certain circumstances which would lead to substantial fines and possible jail terms," he said.
Other Australian states have already initiated the laser ban.
It is a federal offence in the US to point a laser at an aircraft.
Newsflash: Good news! The Mahdi's here!!!!
Out of the mouths of babes.
Image courtesy of those fine infidels over at The Nose On Your Face.
Bad News - he's Palestinian!
Our friends over at Eye on the World have this eye-opener posted and it's just too juicy and good not to spread the word. Hop over to see the video and give 'em some link love!
Palestinian Cleric Issa Badwan: The Mahdi Was Born in Palestine Four Years Ago; Muslim Conquest of Rome Is Imminent
Following are excerpts from an interview with Palestinian cleric Issa Badwan, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on February 6, 2008.
Issa Badwan: Someone who is well known and whom I trust – there is no need to mention his name - told me that four years ago, when he was driving his car, he saw an old woman, who stopped him and asked him to take her to hospital, so she could pick up her daughter, who had just given birth. He did her a favor and took her there, and waited for an hour at the entrance. The woman came out, with her daughter and grandson, and when they got into the car, the baby started talking, and said: "Peace and Allah's mercy upon you." They greeted him back.
Interviewer: The newborn baby?
Issa Badwan: Yes, the baby. The baby said... This is what the man told me, and we reported this to Sheik Nizar and to the Islamic Scholars Association...
The newborn baby said: "I am the man who will be killed [sic] by the Antichrist, who will not rule over anyone again." According to the Prophet's hadith, this man [the Mahdi] would be 18-20 years old. These are good tidings.
Of course, the coming of the Antichrist will be preceded by the conquests of Rome in Italy, and Constantinople, like the Prophet told us. These places will be conquered only by the righteous Mahdi.
The Mahdi is from Palestine, as conveyed by Mu'adh bin Jabal, Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas, and Abdullah bin Mas'ud, who were all great imams and scholars.Interviewer: Is anyone following what’s going on with this child?
Issa Badwan: Yes, now his identity is known, and the brothers follow and take good care of him. I would like to convey to the people, as well as to the scholars, that these are times of victory, with the grace of Allah, that the promised Mahdi lives among us, that the people of Palestine will be the standard bearers, who will carry this religion forth and spread its guidance and light.
unh-huh. If you say so...
-end-
al Qaeda Embassy Bomber charged. Virgins await.
US Charges al Qaeda Tanzanian Embassy bomber - he's currently enjoying Club Gitmo but will soon face capital charges and then hopefully, meet his virgins.
The United States announced Monday it had charged a Tanzanian Al-Qaeda leader held at Guantanamo Bay with war crimes in connection with the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa.
The Defence Department said it had charged Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani with murder, attacking civilians and material support for terrorism among other charges related to the August 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Dar es Salaam, which killed 11 people and injured hundreds.
Ghailani was arrested in Pakistan in July 2004, and officials said in early 2005 that he had been handed over to US custody. He had been on the FBI’s list of most-wanted terrorists and had a five million US dollar bounty on his head.
The Pentagon said that after the twin bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, which altogether killed more than 200, Ghailani worked as a bodyguard for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and forged documents and trained recruits.
Guantanamo Bay prosecutors recommended that Ghailani stand trial on capital charges, meaning he would be executed if unanimously found guilty.
The DOD press release announcing the charges can be found beneath the fold.
Charges Sworn Against Detainee Ghailani
The Defense Department announced today that charges have been sworn against Guantanamo Bay detainee Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani of Zanzibar, Tanzania. He is the fifteenth detainee against whom charges have been sworn under the Military Commissions Act.
The charges allege that he participated in the planning and preparation of the attack on the U. S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug. 7, 1998. The attack killed 11 people and injured hundreds. It is alleged that Ghailani was involved in the following actions, among other things:
- Purchasing TNT, detonators and detonation cord on multiple occasions and transporting the bomb components to Dar es Salaam;
- Moving the bomb components to various safe houses in and around Dar es Salaam;
- Assisting in the purchase of the truck used in the attack;
- Facilitating the purchase of oxygen cylinder tanks which were used as bomb components;
- Escorting the bomb engineer between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, Kenya after the bomb had been assembled;
- Scouting the American Embassy with the suicide bomb driver;
- Meeting with co-conspirators in Nairobi, Kenya, shortly before the bombing; and
- Joining the co-conspirators on a flight from Nairobi to Karachi, Pakistan, one day prior to the bombing.
Based on these allegations and others outlined in the charge sheet, Ghailani is charged with the following substantive offenses: murder in violation of the Law of War, murder of protected persons, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, destruction of property in violation of the Law of War and terrorism. In addition, he is charged with conspiracy to commit all of the above offenses.
Ghailani is further charged with providing material support to terrorism. This charge alleges that after the bombing, Ghailani continued in his service to al Qaeda as a document forger, physical trainer at an al Qaeda training camp, and as a bodyguard for Usama bin Laden.
In accordance with the Military Commissions Act of 2006, these sworn charges will be forwarded to the convening authority, Susan J. Crawford. She will then make an independent determination as to whether to refer some, all, or none of the charges to trial by military commission. If the convening authority decides to refer the case to trial, she will designate commission panel members (jurors). The chief trial judge of the Military Commissions Trial Judiciary will detail a military judge to the case.
The chief prosecutor has recommended the charges against Ghailani be referred as capital. If the convening authority, in her sole discretion, decides to refer the case as capital, the accused may face the possibility of being sentenced to death.
The military commissions provide the following protections for the accused: to elect not to testify at trial and to have no adverse inference drawn from it; to be represented by detailed military counsel, as well as civilian counsel of his own selection and at no expense to the government; to examine all evidence presented to a jury by the prosecution; to obtain evidence and to call witnesses on his own behalf including expert witnesses; to confront and cross-examine every witness called by the prosecution; to be present during the presentation of evidence; to have no statements obtained by torture admitted; to have a military commission panel (jury) of at least five military members (12 in a capital case) determine guilt or innocence by a two-thirds majority, or in the case of a capital offense, 12 members must unanimously decide to impose a sentence of death; and the right to an appeal to the Court of Military Commission Review, then through the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to the U. S. Supreme Court.
The charges are only allegations that the accused has committed offenses under the Military Commissions Act, and the accused remains innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. .
The United States announced Monday it had charged a Tanzanian Al-Qaeda leader held at Guantanamo Bay with war crimes in connection with the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa.
The Defence Department said it had charged Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani with murder, attacking civilians and material support for terrorism among other charges related to the August 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Dar es Salaam, which killed 11 people and injured hundreds.
Ghailani was arrested in Pakistan in July 2004, and officials said in early 2005 that he had been handed over to US custody. He had been on the FBI’s list of most-wanted terrorists and had a five million US dollar bounty on his head.
The Pentagon said that after the twin bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, which altogether killed more than 200, Ghailani worked as a bodyguard for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and forged documents and trained recruits.
Guantanamo Bay prosecutors recommended that Ghailani stand trial on capital charges, meaning he would be executed if unanimously found guilty.
The DOD press release announcing the charges can be found beneath the fold.
Charges Sworn Against Detainee Ghailani
The Defense Department announced today that charges have been sworn against Guantanamo Bay detainee Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani of Zanzibar, Tanzania. He is the fifteenth detainee against whom charges have been sworn under the Military Commissions Act.
The charges allege that he participated in the planning and preparation of the attack on the U. S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug. 7, 1998. The attack killed 11 people and injured hundreds. It is alleged that Ghailani was involved in the following actions, among other things:
- Purchasing TNT, detonators and detonation cord on multiple occasions and transporting the bomb components to Dar es Salaam;
- Moving the bomb components to various safe houses in and around Dar es Salaam;
- Assisting in the purchase of the truck used in the attack;
- Facilitating the purchase of oxygen cylinder tanks which were used as bomb components;
- Escorting the bomb engineer between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, Kenya after the bomb had been assembled;
- Scouting the American Embassy with the suicide bomb driver;
- Meeting with co-conspirators in Nairobi, Kenya, shortly before the bombing; and
- Joining the co-conspirators on a flight from Nairobi to Karachi, Pakistan, one day prior to the bombing.
Based on these allegations and others outlined in the charge sheet, Ghailani is charged with the following substantive offenses: murder in violation of the Law of War, murder of protected persons, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, destruction of property in violation of the Law of War and terrorism. In addition, he is charged with conspiracy to commit all of the above offenses.
Ghailani is further charged with providing material support to terrorism. This charge alleges that after the bombing, Ghailani continued in his service to al Qaeda as a document forger, physical trainer at an al Qaeda training camp, and as a bodyguard for Usama bin Laden.
In accordance with the Military Commissions Act of 2006, these sworn charges will be forwarded to the convening authority, Susan J. Crawford. She will then make an independent determination as to whether to refer some, all, or none of the charges to trial by military commission. If the convening authority decides to refer the case to trial, she will designate commission panel members (jurors). The chief trial judge of the Military Commissions Trial Judiciary will detail a military judge to the case.
The chief prosecutor has recommended the charges against Ghailani be referred as capital. If the convening authority, in her sole discretion, decides to refer the case as capital, the accused may face the possibility of being sentenced to death.
The military commissions provide the following protections for the accused: to elect not to testify at trial and to have no adverse inference drawn from it; to be represented by detailed military counsel, as well as civilian counsel of his own selection and at no expense to the government; to examine all evidence presented to a jury by the prosecution; to obtain evidence and to call witnesses on his own behalf including expert witnesses; to confront and cross-examine every witness called by the prosecution; to be present during the presentation of evidence; to have no statements obtained by torture admitted; to have a military commission panel (jury) of at least five military members (12 in a capital case) determine guilt or innocence by a two-thirds majority, or in the case of a capital offense, 12 members must unanimously decide to impose a sentence of death; and the right to an appeal to the Court of Military Commission Review, then through the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to the U. S. Supreme Court.
The charges are only allegations that the accused has committed offenses under the Military Commissions Act, and the accused remains innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. .
Egypt: Fighting for Female Genital Mutilation
Sweet Jesus!Someone help these poor girls.
Islam is the only religion that endorses female genital mutilation.
70% of Egyptian girls today are estimated to be circumcised.
Circumcision is most often performed on female children at the age of seven or eight (before the girl begins to get menstrual periods). On the scene appears the daya or local midwife. Two women members of the family grasp the child's thighs on either side and pull them apart to expose the external genital organs and to prevent her from struggling like trussing a chicken before it is slain. A sharp razor in the hand of the daya cuts off the clitoris.
And this barbarism is occuring in so-called 'moderate' Egypt where Islamists and Moslem clerics are currently fighting legislation to criminalize female circumcision and raise the minimum marriage age.
The criminal penalties they're trying to enforce? A maximum of two years prison and a 5000 pound fine. Sounds like tiddlywinks to me.
The bill "has been met with a storm of protest" by both the majority party and the opposition Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood has ranted about it too.
Of course, we haven't heard a peep out of the blow-dried, show dog feminists on the subject.
Read more about "cutting the rose" as it is euphemistically called, down below.
The Sunna
Islam is the only major world religion tolerating FGM (p 283). Over a hundred million women world wide especially in the Horn of Africa suffer circumcision removing the clitoris, or infibulation the literal sewing up of the labia to prevent pregnancy. Up to 75% of Egyptian women, including Nawal el Sadaawi herself are 'circumcised'. Muhammad is reputed to have said "reduce but do not destroy" when faced with this practice, but this has led to the sunna cut of the female becoming as traditional as Sunni faith itself:
"The practice of circumcising girls is still a common procedure in a number of Arab countries such as Egypt, the Sudan, Yeman and some of the Gulf states.
The importance given to virginity and an intact hymen in these societies is the reason why female circumcision still remains a very widespread practice despite a growing tendency, especially in urban Egypt, to do away with it as something outdated and harmful.
Behind circumcision lies the belief that, by removing parts of girls' external genital organs, sexual desire is minimized. This permits a female who has reached the 'dangerous age' of puberty and adolescence to protect her virginity, and therefore her honour, with greater ease.
Chastity was imposed on male attendants in the female harem by castration which turned them into inoffensive eunuchs. Similarly female circumcision is meant to preserve the chastity of young girls by reducing their desire for sexual intercourse.
-end-
LiveLeak restores Fitna.
Bravo! Free Speech Lives on. (h/t A Blog For All)
On the 28th of March LiveLeak.com was left with no other choice but to remove the film "fitna" from our servers following serious threats to our staff and their families. Since that time we have worked constantly on upgrading all security measures thus offering better protection for our staff and families. With these measures in place we have decided to once more make this video live on our site. We will not be pressured into censoring material which is legal and within our rules. We apologise for the removal and the delay in getting it back, but when you run a website you don't consider that some people would be insecure enough to threaten our lives simply because they do not like the content of a video we neither produced nor endorsed but merely hosted.
-end-
Two Detained near Picatinny Arsenal
Sounds to me like they were casing the joint.
Although, you do have to admit that the I LOVE ISRAEL bumper sticker was a nice touch.
Two people are being detained after being taken into custody near the Picatinny Arsenal and authorities are investigating photos taken around the area of the base late Sunday afternoon. One witness, according to the Daily Record, reported seeing an official using what appeared to be a Geiger counter near the seen. This has not been confirmed by officials.
Authorities closed a span of Route 15 South near the Rockaway Township-Wharton border around 4:30 p.m., where FBI agents, state, county and local police gathered around a tan Nissan Pathfinder with New Jersey license plates.
The suspect vehicle may have been used by two individuals who fled after being spotted taking photos that piqued the interest of the Department of Defense, said Robyn D’Onofrio, a spokeswoman for the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office. The section of the shoulder where the SUV apparently stopped runs alongside a grassy divide that separates southbound Route 15 from a small side street, West Union Turnpike.
The SUV, which had a small, white, bumper sticker that said “I Love Israel” on the rear bumper, was towed away around 7:45 p.m. Diapers were visible in the trunk near a pair of flip-flops and other items, and a box of baby wipes apparently had been placed on the street with other items from the vehicle.
The investigation into the content of the photos is ongoing and is being led by the Department of Defense, according to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.
About Picatinny Arsenal:
The motto on the Picatinny Arsenal’s Web site is “Home of American Fire Power.”
“Picatinny plays a unique role in the United States’ ability to wage war,” according to Picatinny’s Web site. “There is no other comprehensive armaments facility like it in the country; it is a one-of-a-kind facility that provides virtually all of the lethal mechanisms used in Army weapon systems and those of the other military services.”
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More of that Moslem Honor in Saudi Facebook killing
Facebook Girl beaten and shot dead by her father for talking online.
(h/t Sugiero)
A woman was beaten up and shot dead by her father for talking online with a man she met on the website Facebook. The case was reported on a Saudi Arabian news site as an example of the "strife" the social networking site is causing in the Islamic nation.
A leading Saudi preacher told Al-Arabiya.net that Facebook was a "door to lust" for women and called for it to be blocked to prevent social "strife".
Sheikh Ali al-Maliki said women were posting "revealing pictures" and "behaving badly" on the site, which has become popular with young Saudis.
-end-
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Austrian Hostages - most recent deadline extended to April 6
but no western news reports since March 28. Those reports claimed the hostages were being held at an undisclosed location in Northern Mali. Today, the Malian Parliament 'denied their existence in the region.'
It doesn't sound good.
-end-
Al Qaeda: The clear and present danger - a snapshot in time
Not only is Michael Hayden warning of the clear and present danger that the Al Qaeda's Paki-Afghan tribal region safe haven now represents. He's also advising that the operatives being trained there look Western. Cornered rats get dangerous.
So let's say that we manage to rout them in the border region like we are currently doing in Iraq. (A successful outcome I have every confidence in.) Like a game of whack-a-mole, the AQ's will be popping up again. Next stop: The Dark Continent so let's take a look at what is happening there today.
Uganda: Al Qaeda suspects held. Officials play coy about the total number of Al Qaeda suspects nabbed, released or still in custody since the beginning of the year. It looks like 20 might be the number, give or take a few. The important part: "The majority of the suspected Al Qaeda agents picked by Ugandan security for questioning are said to be from Pakistan, London, Somalia, Iraq, Yemen, Canada and Ireland. "
And Algeria is proving to be quite the Al Qaeda hot spot and has this slightly convoluted but happy news to report: Al Qaeda fertilizer sources dry up... (you have to read the article) and a suicide bomber is eliminated. And you can gain some insight on how al Qaeda has been working to establish an Algerian safe haven here. While reading about another case of an al Qaeda safe haven currently making it's way through the Algerian courts system.
And in another display of al Qaeda tactics, al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM) have posted the farewell video of a 15 yo suicide bomber involved in an attack on an Algerian Coast Guard barracks. It's billed as the last meeting with his friends before blowing himself up. I'm betting drugs were involved here, too.
In Somalia, Islamists fire mortars on the Presidential Palace. The government returns fire on the Bakara marketplace where 10 were killed and dozens wounded. The market is a major base for the 'insurgents' and the source of rocket attacks. Typical Islamist tactic - fire from a site surrounded by civilians. (It looks like the Bakara market death toll is now up to 21 - including 6 women.)
Meanwhile back in the western world: The Daily Mail is reporting that MI-5 and anti-terror police units are carrying out secret background checks on thousands of employees of British research laboratories amid fears of the potential for AQ infiltration... And about those pesky Algerians? Algerian nationals and House of Commons representatives sue Police of London in justice because of the "many Algerians living in Finsbury Park, in the suburbs of London, having been mistreated during an operation aiming at dismantling wrongdoer’s bands, led by the Police of London..."
And one last Algerian tidbit: Strategy Page is reporting that Al Qaeda has "at least one death squad that is hunting down and killing clerics who speak out against Islamic terrorism, or are otherwise cooperating with the government. Several clerics have been murdered, and many more threatened."
-end-
Moslems have overtaken us
for the first time ever.
For the first time ever, there are more Muslims than Roman Catholics, the Vatican said yesterday.
Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, who compiled the Vatican's 2008 yearbook of statistics, said Muslims made up 19.2 per cent of the world's population and Catholics 17.4 per cent.
'For the first time in history we are no longer at the top. The Muslims have overtaken us,' he added.
Monsignor Formenti said that if all Christian groups were considered, including Orthodox churches, Anglicans and Protestants, Christians made up 33 per cent of the world's population - or about two billion. The data referred to 2006.
The Vatican recently put the number of Catholics in the world at 1.13billion.
It did not provide a figure for Muslims but these are generally estimated at around 1.3billion.
Monsignor Formenti said that, while the number of Catholics as a proportion of the population was fairly stable, the percentage of Muslims was growing because of higher birth rates.
Oh no he didn't!
Get off my bus I need to pray, you dhimmis. (h/t Religion of Peace) Just when you thought you'd heard everything... (video at the link)
A MUSLIM bus driver told stunned passengers to get off so he could PRAY.
The white Islamic convert rolled out his prayer mat in the aisle and knelt on the floor facing Mecca.
Passengers watched in amazement as he held out his palms towards the sky, bowed his head and began to chant.
One, who filmed the man on his mobile phone, said: “He was clearly praying and chanting in Arabic.
“We thought it was a wind-up at first, like Jeremy Beadle.” The 21-year-old plumber added: “He looked English and had a London accent. He looked like a Muslim convert, with a big, bushy beard. Eventually everyone started complaining. One woman said, ‘What the hell are you doing? I’m going to be late for work’.”
After a few minutes the driver calmly got up, opened the doors and asked everyone back on board. But they saw a rucksack lying on the floor of the red single-decker and feared he might be a fanatic. So they all...
...refused.
The passenger added: “One chap said, ‘I’m not getting on there now’.
“An elderly couple also looked really confused and worried.
“After seeing that no-one wanted to get on he drove off and we all waited until the next bus came about 20 minutes later. I was left totally stunned. It made me not want to get on a bus again.”
The bizarre event unfolded on the number 81 in Langley, Berkshire, at around 1.30pm on Thursday.
The passenger said he rang the bus firm to complain but claimed it did not believe him.
He said: “They asked me, ‘Are you sure?’. Then they said they would get back to me, but they weren’t taking me seriously at all.”
Yesterday the driver, who said his name was Hrun, told The Sun: “I asked everyone to get off because I needed to pray. I was running late and had not had time. “I pray five times a day as a Muslim — but I don’t normally ask people to get off the bus to do it.”
Muslims pray at pre-dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset and evening.
A spokesperson for bus company London United said: “We are aware of a reported incident involving our route 81.
“We are currently undertaking a full investigation into the matter.”
The Art of the Con
Oops! Heads up. Lehman has a massive fiasco on it's hands. And they're saying it's of Enron-like proportions.
Lehman Brothers was fleeced out of more than $355 million in a fraud the U.S. investment bank believes was perpetrated by two employees at Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp. according to a person briefed on the matter.
The fraud may have hit other financial institutions as well, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
How it went down:
The person briefed in the matter told Reuters that two former Marubeni employees -- Shingo Yamaura and Takuro Nitahara -- convinced Lehman to help finance what it understood were Marubeni's equipment leases and supply contracts with hospitals. Lehman gave the partnership money in advance to fund initial leases and contracts.
When Lehman sought payment under its deal on Feb 29, 2008, Marubeni said the seals on the contracts had been forged, and refused payment, according to the person briefed on the matter.
Marubeni declined comment on Lehman's statements, and said it could not give information on people no longer with the trading house or comment on ongoing investigations.
Marubeni also claims that the two former employees were independent contractors. In any event, it's going to be a big mess before all is said and done. Hope it's not another nail in Lehman's coffin.
The Art of the Deal.
Mookie declares false peace. Again.
Poor Mehdis. Getting their butt kicked every which way. Long War Journal reports:
Since the fighting began on Tuesday 358 Mahdi Army fighters were killed, 531 were wounded, 343 were captured, and 30 surrendered. The US and Iraqi security forces have killed 125 Mahdi Army fighters in Baghdad alone, while Iraqi security forces have killed 140 Mahdi fighters in Basra.
From March 25-29 the Mahdi Army had an average of 71 of its fighters killed per day. Sixty-nine fighters have been captured per day, and another 160 have been reported wounded per day during the fighting. The US and Iraqi military never came close to inflicting casualties during the height of major combat operations against al Qaeda in Iraq during the summer and fall of 2007.
Now Mookie wants to play the false surrender game but his thugs on the street aren't happy.
"We are now making phone calls to headquarters," a low-level Mehdi Army commander who gave his name as Abu Haidar told Reuters. "We don't know what to do. If we carry guns the government will oppose us, but if we put them down, the Americans will come, surround our homes and capture us."
Another Sadr City street commander, Abu Aqeel, said: "We don't have a choice. We should respect the order of Moqtada al-Sadr. But we will respect it with unease.
"There are worries, because this order will allow the American forces to capture and kill us one after another."
Sadly, it looks like al-Maliki is buying into the whole hudna. But warns that actions will be taken against those who disobey the cease fire conditions. Sadr's offer does not come without strings. His conditions for the cease fire include: a halt to all raids and release of prisoners without charges being levied.
Meanwhile, Iranian weapons continue to be used to kill our soldiers. And nobody says boo!
It's that time of the year again...
Happy Birthday to me.
Hah-hah. Can you believe another whole year has gone by already, possums? Kinda scary.
I was going to post a long reflection on my reflection of this past year of blogging but have decided to spare you that agony.
Suffice to say that I have been teetering on the blog brink for some time now. Yep. Been thinking about throwing in the towel and just quitting cold turkey. But, I swear it's like crack to me - I can't seem to quit it.
I tried taking a day or two, off. That helped for - about a minute.
Then I thought - maybe if I played around with the template a little bit and got a new, fresh look, I might get a new and better attitude. This thinking was going on around the same time that the Obama Pastor Disaster business broke and before I knew it - Obama was sucking all the air out of my anti-jihad room. So I started fiddling with a new template and filled it with observations about Obama just for kicks.
You know what happened. Now, I have two blogs that I can't seem to quit.
If you have any interest in little known Obama fun facts and messianic utterances - you can find the blog that saved Dinah Lord here.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of my dear readers. I know you're out there! And I'd also like to apologize because I just discovered that I haven't been getting any comment notification!
Who knew?
I have no idea how long it's been - so to all of those who have commented and then thought, "bitch" because I didn't reply. I am truly sorry for missing your well-considered remarks!
(And I will be probably messing around with the DL template in future.)
Taking the rest of the day off to watch the NCAA (my brackets are bad) and then take a spin around the hood in my b-day present.
(metallic red)
Slap me silly and call me Imam...
I don't know where No Compromises finds this stuff but it's hilarious...
-end-
Dr. Wafa Sultan in hiding after receiving death threats
Can you believe this shi&?
An American citizen in hiding because of a FATWA issued by a Islamic cleric?
It's true. Back on March 4th, Dr. Sultan appeared on an al-Jazeera program about the re-publication of the Mo-toons. (She was awesome, as ever and I can only marvel at her composure and her grace under pressure as she smacked down the Islamic hardliners she was debating.)
It is hard for me to imagine her having to go into hiding with her family but since Egyptian Islamist Sheik al-Qaradawi has issued his fatwa that is what has happened. According to Robert Spencer:
Spencer concludes, "These are serious charges, and Qaradawi states them in terms that his jihadist minions will understand as meaning that she must be killed.
Thanks to Always on Watch (and Memri) for bringing this to our attention. The Memri vids of the Al Jazeera interview are below. Do yourself a favor and watch them. She is amazing.
Through Brigitte Gabriel, Dr. Sultan has made a request for our help. She asks that we send a letter to the Embassy of Qatar (al-Jazeera's home base) advising them of the situation. Contact info and a sample letter can be found here at the site.
It will only take a minute and lord knows, after seeing the way the Dutch government has "supported" Geert Wilders, I'm starting to think we sure won't be able to count on the US government to do anything...
There's more info beneath the fold - and get this, al-Jazeera apologized to their viewing public because of Dr. Sultan's "offensive remarks" after this program.
Bold ex-Muslim threatened by top sheik
Wafa Sultan shocks Islamic TV audience again, Al Jazeera apologizes
Wafa Sultan – the Syria-born psychiatrist whose Al Jazeera interview two years ago sent shockwaves throughout the Islamic world – reportedly is the target of a serious tacit death threat from an influential Muslim scholar in the wake of a second interview with the Arab satellite television network.
Al Jazeera issued an apology after Sultan's interview earlier this month, pointing to "offensive remarks" but never specifying anything she said. Since then, however, the prominent Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi of Egypt "has directed his rage against Sultan," writes author and Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer in FrontPage Magazine
Qaradawi said Sultan, a former Muslim, uttered "unbearable, ghastly things that made my hair stand on end." Specifically, "she had the audacity to publicly curse Allah, his prophet, the Quran, the history of Islam and the Islamic nation."
Spencer concludes, "These are serious charges, and Qaradawi states them in terms that his jihadist minions will understand as meaning that she must be killed.
"Given that Qaradawi has justified suicide attacks against Israeli civilians and American soldiers in Iraq, it is clear that he has no distaste for violence, and thus law enforcement officials should take his latest fulminations against Wafa Sultan very seriously indeed," Spencer writes.
In her Al Jazeera appearance this month, she defended the Danish cartoons of Muhammad that have sparked violence by Muslims around the globe.
"The reactions of the Muslims, which were characterized by savageness, barbarism, and backwardness, only increased the value of these cartoons and gave them more importance than they merited, simply because they proved that these cartoons were true, and that the message they were conveying was true." Sultan said.
"The Muslim is an irrational creature ruled by instincts," she declared. "Those teachings have deprived him of his mind, incited his emotions and reduced him to the level of an inferior creature that cannot control himself or react to events rationally."
An Egyptian Islamist, Tal'at Rmeih, who debated Sultan on the March 4 Al Jazeera show, replied: "God help me. First, Islam is too great to be harmed by the publisher of the cartoon, or by that woman who is talking over there. The truth is that everything she said is 100 percent false, I'm sad to say. It seems to me that the American and Zionist intelligence agencies have begun to produce people who are hostile to their own nation."
Spencer points out that Qaradawi – who was praised by Saudi-funded U.S. academic John Esposito as a "reformist" – in 2006 exhorted Muslims to fight against Israel by invoking the traditional saying of Muhammad, that on the Day of Judgment "even the stones and the trees will speak, with or without words, and say: 'Oh servant of Allah, oh Muslim, there's a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'"
Sultan first drew attention worldwide in a February 2006 Al-Jazeera interview that spread across the Internet through a video clip produced by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
In her interview this month, Sultan charged that if Islam "were not the way it is, those cartoons would never have appeared. They did not appear out of the blue, and the cartoonist did not dig them out of his imagination. Rather, they are a reflection of his knowledge."
"Westerners who read the words of the Prophet Muhammad, 'Allah has given me sustenance under the shadow of my sword,' cannot imagine Muhammad's turban in the shape of a dove of peace rather than in the shape of a bomb," she said. "The Muslims must learn how to listen to the criticism of others, and maybe then they will reexamine their terrorist teachings."
Qaradawi fired back, saying her statements are "all based on ignorance," contending she has no knowledge of the Quran or Sunna, the body of customs based on the acts of Muhammad. The sheik also
Spencer says Qaradawi falsely charges – "with stinging irony in light of his support for suicide attacks" – that Sultan "sanctions the killing of Muslims in Gaza and elsewhere, claiming that they deserve to be killed."
Sultan, says Spencer, has "yet again shown up the hollowness of the denial, obfuscation, and finger-pointing that all too many Islamic leaders engage in rather than embarking upon the searching self-reflection" she urges along with and other "defenders of universal human rights and human dignity."
"Wafa Sultan is a national and international treasure," Spencer says. "The American government should be rushing to protect her against any who might be motivated to act by the distortions of the thuggish Qaradawi."
Named to Time Magazine's list of 100 influential people in the world, Sultan told WND in 2006 Bush's insistence Islam is a religion of peace has been "empowering" to Muslim leaders whose ultimate aim is for Islamic law to govern the world.
In her February 2006 Al-Jazeera appearance, which first brought her death threats, she asserted the world is witnessing "a battle between modernity and barbarism which Islam will lose."
The video clip is estimated to have been viewed at least 1 million times, according to the New York Times.
Sultan's 2006 interview found her squaring off with Al-Jazeera host Faisal al-Qasim and Islamic scholar Ibrahim Al-Khouli about Samuel P. Huntington's "clash of civilizations" theory. The exchange took place on the 90-minute discussion program "The Opposite Direction," with Sultan speaking via satellite from Los Angeles.
"The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations," she said. "It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat women like beasts, and those who treat them like human beings. What we see today is not a clash of civilizations. Civilizations do not clash, but compete."
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Criminy Dutch! Now even the Dutch burghers are suing over Fitna!
Can't say with certainty that I am Queen Beatrix related...Dutch businesses mull suing Wilders over anti-Islam film.
Small car-be-cue and Wilders death threat reported - although the police couldn't say with "certainty" whether or not it was Fitna related. Ha-ha-ha. And I'm Queen Beatrix.
THE HAGUE: Dutch businesses warned on Saturday that they would consider suing far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders if his anti-Islam film led to a commercial boycott of Dutch goods, while police said cars were set ablaze and graffiti called for Wilders to be killed.
“A boycott would hurt Dutch exports. Businesses such as Shell, Philips, and Unilever are easily identifiable as Dutch companies. I don’t know if Wilders is rich, or well-insured, but in case of a boycott, we would look to see if we could make him bear responsibility,” Bernard Wientjes, the chairman of the Dutch employers’ organisation VNO-NCW, told the Het Financieel Dagblad newspaper.
...Although there were no mass disturbances in the Netherlands, two cars were set ablaze in Utrecht overnight, with a slogan calling for the death of Wilders. Police said they could not say with certainty that it was connected to the release of “Fitna”.
The Arab League - cracking like an egg.
Thanks, Abdullah. Next time you talk to your buddy, Saud...Eggs? I like mine scrambled well and I wonder if Dick Cheney's little swing around the region last week had anything to do with the sudden steel in the spine of the Saudis, Egyptians and Jordanians?
Despite Infighting, Meeting of Arab League gets underway in Damascus.
As Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president, opened the annual Arab summit meeting here on Saturday morning, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister convened a competing news conference in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, with new criticism of Syrian policy, underscoring the bitter political feud that nearly upended this year’s Arab gathering.
The meeting had already suffered from deliberate absences, with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Egypt boycotting in an unusual rebuke to Syria, which they blame for the continuing political crisis in Lebanon. King Abdullah of Jordan and President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, both strong Saudi allies, also decided to stay away at the last minute, as did Lebanon.
Despite Infighting, Meeting of Arab League gets underway in Damascus.
As Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president, opened the annual Arab summit meeting here on Saturday morning, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister convened a competing news conference in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, with new criticism of Syrian policy, underscoring the bitter political feud that nearly upended this year’s Arab gathering.
The meeting had already suffered from deliberate absences, with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Egypt boycotting in an unusual rebuke to Syria, which they blame for the continuing political crisis in Lebanon. King Abdullah of Jordan and President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, both strong Saudi allies, also decided to stay away at the last minute, as did Lebanon.
Out of the mouths of dictators. From Moammar's lips to God's ears...
“Even you, or us — friends of America — Washington might decide to hang us one day.”
I sincerely hope so, Moammar.
Saudi slams Syria.
In a Press conference broadcast live on some Arab TV channels during the League summit's opening session in Damascus, Prince Saud Al Faisal said from Riyadh that "the kingdom has never boycotted a summit before."
He blamed his boycott on Syria, and implicitly blasted the country for worsening most of the crisis in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon.
-end-
The Art of the Deal
Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you.blackhedd (now, there's a nic for you) over at RedState has put up an excellent series of articles on recent events in the US financial markets. If you loved Chaos Trade , Pay Attention to the Signs and Bear Stearns Meltdown you will dig: More on the Federal Reserve's St. Patrick's Day Massacre. The comments are illuminating and entertaining, as well. Definitely click-worthy.
Here's a sampling to get you started:
I now have much more information on what this deal is all about. I guessed quite wrong about the deal structure. The $30 billion loan is not a term repo as I originally thought. Nor is it likely to generate monetary losses for taxpayers. (In fact, the opposite is true.)
But it is something bold and different that's worth understanding. In fact, it's a major milestone event in the monetary and financial history of the United States.
Before I launch into this, let me set the context by reminding you why all this financial mumbo-jumbo is important: it's because of politics. Even before the full effects of the credit crisis make themselves felt, we're already deeply into a paroxysm of "the sky is falling! What is the government going to do about it?" I'll be posting as much as I can on this subject in the coming days and weeks, because there is at least as much danger to the real economy from a mad dash toward new regulations and Federal involvement, as there is from the financial-system disorders themselves.
-end-
Here's a sampling to get you started:
I now have much more information on what this deal is all about. I guessed quite wrong about the deal structure. The $30 billion loan is not a term repo as I originally thought. Nor is it likely to generate monetary losses for taxpayers. (In fact, the opposite is true.)
But it is something bold and different that's worth understanding. In fact, it's a major milestone event in the monetary and financial history of the United States.
Before I launch into this, let me set the context by reminding you why all this financial mumbo-jumbo is important: it's because of politics. Even before the full effects of the credit crisis make themselves felt, we're already deeply into a paroxysm of "the sky is falling! What is the government going to do about it?" I'll be posting as much as I can on this subject in the coming days and weeks, because there is at least as much danger to the real economy from a mad dash toward new regulations and Federal involvement, as there is from the financial-system disorders themselves.
-end-
Lunch with the First Lady
Another exciting Possum Cam adventure...Well possums, blogging was light at the beginning of the week because of my road trip over to Kansas to hear First Lady, Laura Bush speak at a fundraiser for US Senator Pat Roberts. Having never attended one of these shindigs before I wasn't sure what to expect. Would a chicken dish be on the menu? Would it taste like rubber? Would the room be full of 'typical white women' in St. John's knit suits and bouffant hairdos? What would security be like? Would I be at a table so far back in the room that I wouldn't be able to see her?
The answers to these burning questions are: Yes. No. No. Somewhat present, but unobtrusive and no.
The event was held at the Sheraton Overland Park in the Cottonwood Ballroom and we drove over from Lawrence with time to spare to check out the scene. The Possum Cam was live. Sort of. The phrase operator error comes to mind. (Note to self: work on possum cam skills.)
The view from the back of the room - it really wasn't that big, holding just 44 tables each seating 9 at $500 a seat = $198, 000. (Not a bad haul for a 20 minute speech!) We were at table 34, third row of tables back, but with an excellent angle on the podium. And having gotten there early, we were in the Princess seats - the two with the most comfortable viewing of the stage, no craning your neck in these!
Our table awaits and luncheon is served...
The Menu: Tossed mixed greens w/ balsamic viniagrette, Fontina, Pancetta, and Spinach stuffed French cut chicken, Risotto Parmesano and glazed baby carrots. Getting in the room early not only affords one the princess seat, it also allows for the princess dessert swap. I swapped my Baby Chocolate Bundt Cake for the Raspberry Summer Breeze. (Just so you know - the luncheon was better than the dinner I had at Lawrence's most chi-chi restaurant later that night - so much for those rubber chicken rumors. Our politicos are eating higher at the trough than they'd like us all to believe!)The room continued to fill up as a pianist tickled the ivories with songs like "Ain't she sweet" and "You musta been a beautiful baby" before breaking out the patriotic standards like "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "America, The Beautiful." The doors were closed promptly at 11:45 and the warm-up acts began. Mayor Peggy Dunn of Leawood was dubbed Master of Ceremonies and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. She introduced Senator Sam Brownback who made the opening remarks and gave a shout out to the other local politicos in the room then gave a short speech about his impressions of the First Lady and also Sen Roberts. He then told us to chow down, so chow down we did. The most humorous highlight of the occasion was when the Lord and Master was reading the program. "Holy Shit," he exclaimed. "I'm listed as a PATRON on this thing!" (I was too busy gabbing with my charming and lively seatmates to notice!)
We had three empty seats at our table - so I don't know if the place was sold out or not. It's hard to say because there were a number of folks that came in when Laura arrived, including a couple at our table - who had been in a group meeting privately with the First Lady. I wish I could give you more info on the meeting but they were being kind of snotty about giving up the details. Maybe it was me interrogating them like Barbara Walters - hah!)
Being a security chick (thinking of you, No Compromises) and all I was kind of surprised at the level of security. Or not. It was clearly present as is visible by the big ass SWAT vehicle parked outside...
But was light at the door - what appeared to be the local PD, 1 in uniform, 1 in plain clothes were at the door. (just visible through the couple behind us as we walked in - damn they hopped in my shot at the last minute)
Here's where the security surprise comes in - there was no bag checking, there was no magnetometer walk-through, hell, they didn't even check our photo ids! We just waltzed right up, gave our names and breezed right in.
A Secret Service detail arrived right before the First Lady. Check them out - I know you've seen these faces in the crowds accompanying the President and First Lady before.
Call me a typical white person but this gal's going to end up being busy if the Obamas get in...
And now - what you've all been reading for... Laura Bush. (I got a little misty-eyed when I first saw her.)
She really is as pretty in person as she appears in the media. She was gracious, charming and composed. Her speech focused solely on the Senator and she never let us forget what she was there for, and that was to get Senator Roberts re-elected. What were her biggest applause lines? Making George Bush's taxcuts permanent and the remarks she made on education.
After her speech Senator Roberts escorted her to one of the front tables and she shook about 6 hands before her security detail whisked her out the back door and she was gone! (I do have her speech on possum videocam if anyone is interested.. take your dramamine before watching. It's a little wavy-gravy.) A good time was had by all, Possums. I'm so glad I was able to attend. Hugs and kisses to the L & M for getting me in the door. Now I'm scheming and dreaming about getting to DC for W's farewell in January. Any ideas?
Bonus Possum Cam coverage: Tell me, does this look like a bomb to you?
I sure hope it is and that it is headed to the Paki-Afghan border region with OBL's name on it!-end-
The New Crusades: War of the Dungarees
First, there was Allah Akbar Jeans, now Jesus will make his second coming in his:
(And it's right here in Dinah's hood.)
Proclaim your faith on your backside.
A fledgling Palmer Lake clothing company hopes that's exactly what you'll want to do.
Castle Rock Jeans & Apparel, 780 Colorado Highway 105, is rolling out high-end jeans with a back pocket decorated with a Christianrelated symbol and a corresponding biblical verse inside the waistband.
The line, called His Spirit Jeans, fills a market niche for Christian clothes while spreading the Gospel, said company President Bob Beard, 66.
"We want to be in good taste, fashion-balanced and at the same time impart an inspirational message," Beard said.
You can get your Jesus Jeans here. This is the pair Dinah will soon be sporting on her backside...
Another pair not-so-subtly combines American nationalism and religion. The symbol: the presidential seal. The verse: Psalms 33:12 - "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."
Malaysia: Don't you wish your houri was hot like me?
Raunchy Pussycat Dolls cop fine.
(h/t Religion of Peace)
AMERICAN all-girl pop group the Pussycat Dolls have been fined for a concert display in Malaysia that displayed much more than their singing talents.
The group has been fined $3400 for a show in the capital Kuala Lumpur in which the group let it all hang out - literally.
During the routine Carmit Bachar flashed a breast and Ashley Roberts - wearing a very short pair of shorts - was accused of a different kind of flashing that would have done Britney Spears proud.
The group was fined for performing "sexually suggestive" routines.
You be the judge:
.
-end-
Friday, March 28, 2008
US banks "missing a trick" with Muslim Customers
This is the actual headline from CNN - which really is beginning to sound like Crescent News Network. Read it and weep - I mean, for crying out loud, they go so far as to even call it a "trick" in the headline! Their ultimate conclusion? The US market remains 'unexploited'.
When it comes to Sharia-compliant banking, few Western countries can compete with Britain. One of the world's prime financial centers, the City of London is also the key Western hub for Islamic banking.
With 23 banks, nine fund managers and a number of international law firms offering Islamic finance in the City, by 2006 British Sharia-compliant assets were thought to be in the region of $22 billion.
The global industry has trebled in the past decade and is now worth around $531 billion.
Britain is also in the vanguard when it comes to Sharia-compliant retail banking ...
... catering for its population of approximately three million Muslims.
In 2004, the Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) opened its doors for the first time, becoming the UK's first and only standalone Islamic high street bank.
A number of Britain's "big five" high street banks are getting in on the act. Lloyds TSB and HSBC offer Islamic banking, including mortgages, current accounts and trust funds for children.
In the retail market, Britain is the only European country that offers government-authorized Islamic banking products.
In the United States, only regional banks like University Bank, Michigan offer Sharia-compliant products.
"In France, Islamic finance is at an embryonic stage. They are where we were three or four years ago," Sultan Choudhury, the IBB's director of sales told the Financial Times.
British mosques dating back 150 years attest to the long connection between the United Kingdom and Muslims, but it is the British government's staunch support of the sector -- backing words with legislative changes -- that has responded to the needs of Muslims in the financial world.
Junaid Bhatti, who was involved with the setup of the IBB, told CNN: "Government is a firm supporter of the industry down to amending legislation to create a level playing field for Islamic banking."
The British sector is currently experiencing phenomenal growth of around 20 percent per year compared with global growth of around 15 percent. Industry insiders feel there is still scope for continued growth.
Aktar Ahmed of Lloyds TSB Islamic finance told CNN: "Islamic finance is still in its infancy at the moment. We're seeing a fantastic rate of growth both globally and here in the UK."
Lloyds TSB now offers Sharia-compliant banking at all of its 2,000 UK branches. Services include an Islamic current account, mortgage and child trust fund.
Islamic mortgages have proved particularly successful in Britain, with the market growing from barely a trickle in 2003 to a value of $1.7 billion in 2007.
But Islamic banking in the United States is suffering from an image problem. Many Americans are felt to be hostile to the concept after the 9/11 attacks, equating it with "terrorist finance."
"There seems to be this misperception out there that the U.S. is perhaps Islamophobic," said Abdi Shayesteh, an attorney at law firm King and Spalding, which has had a practice dedicated to Islamic banking and finance since the 1980s.
"The U.S. regulators have been supportive and they've accommodated Islamic banking and finance since the mid 80s," Shayesteh told CNN.
With a best-guess figure of six million Muslims in the United States of whom around 60 percent are devout (and therefore likely to use Islamic banking services), Shayesteh considers domestic Sharia-compliant banking an untapped market.
"We have at least 3.6 million [potential customers] at the very base level market opportunity for banks from abroad and here to tap into," he explained.
Even so, with constitutional limits on promoting any one religion over another, which keeps legislators quiet about the opportunities, and no sign that any major American banks will be rolling out Islamic products, the market remains unexploited for now.
Welcome to the Jungle
Calais riot police break up vicious battle between 'armed migrants' and people smugglers.
When riot police arrived at the scene most of the mob had fled to a nearby wood known as "The Jungle" where many of the hundreds of migrants to be found in Calais every day live in makeshift camps.
The incident is thought to be linked to the vast sums of money paid to smugglers.
The four men tried to seek refuge in the clubhouse of the Calais dog club. Bruno Laurent, the club president, said: "It was just after 5pm on Thursday evening when four migrants came running into our HQ.
"They were followed by a gang of between 40 and 50 other migrants who were all brandishing iron bars, batons and knives.
"A fight broke out in front of us. It went on for anything up to six minutes.
"At the end of it all four men were lying in pools of blood with wounds, and then another stabbed man was found outside."
Read more about what a big mess they've got on their hands here.
-end- And here is the rest of it.
Ruh-roh 3 : Muslima confesses to Chinese terror attempt
The temptation to make water torture jokes is strong.
As is the urge to make toilet jokes, given her surname is Turdi and she tried to set the sky commode on fire.
A 19-year-old woman has allegedly confessed to a "terror plot" aimed at an aircraft flying from the Muslim west of China to the capital Beijing.
State media said the girl, named for the first time as Guzalinur Turdi, was trying to cause a fire above the wing. She had injected two drinks cans with petrol, which she had placed in the waste-paper bin in the toilet, when she was spotted by an air stewardess.
The revelation of the "terror attack" was made during the National People's Congress, or parliament session, in Beijing this month by senior officials from the region of Xinjiang, which is inhabited by members of the mainly Muslim Uighur ethnic group.
A long history of dissent and calls for autonomy has occasionally erupted into violence, though there have been no major reported terror attacks since the 1990s.
At the same time as the aircraft attack was foiled, the provincial Communist Party secretary also alleged that a Muslim terror group based in the region was plotting to attack ...
...the Olympics, though he did not say what evidence he had.
Exile groups who oppose Chinese rule have alleged that both incidents were fabricated by the authorities to discredit them.
Previously state media have reported that Turdi was travelling on a Pakistani passport with a male companion, who was also arrested, as was a third man not on the plane who was said to be the "terrorist mastermind".
Michael Yon phones it in from Iraq - talks Basra
Is Basra the defining moment in Iraq?
It surely shows the perils of premature evacuation, doesn't it? (And if I haven't mentioned this yet - Desmond Brown is c-l-u-e-l-e-s-s. In this 3/29 interview he talks about premature withdrawal of British troops.)
The British did not, in his view, cut and run. "We left at exactly the right time. The majority of the violence when we were in Basra was directed at us."
Perhaps the Surrendercrats (and Mr. Brown) should take heed and listen to Michael Yon's opinion over at Instapundit.
Michael Yon called on his satellite phone to talk about what's going on in Iraq. I recorded it and it's up here for your listening pleasure -- nothing fancy, just a quick recording posted less than 20 minutes after it happened. Click here to listen.
A few key points: (1) It's likely to get worse before it's better; (2) No one seems to doubt Iranian backing for the violence; (3) This isn't about religion, it's about money and power; and (4) Unlike Al Qaeda in the north, this isn't so much a fight to the finish as violence as a negotiating tactic. It's not a civil war.
Take a listen, and then take a moment to marvel at today's technology, which lets me do this stuff from my basement at the spur of the moment.
Meanwhile, Michael has a book coming out, Moment of Truth in Iraq. If you buy it through his site, you can get an advance copy shipping Monday. Otherwise it'll be out in a few weeks.
It IS a marvel that this was done from Instapundit's basement. Click over and listen to the call and show him some link love.
-end-
Fitna: Sticky to top til after Friday prayers...
Especially now that Live Leak has been forced to take Fitna down due to "SERIOUS THREATS".
Update: Double especially now that several al Qaeda websites have been posting pictures of Geert Wilders and "is asking for Muslims to act against him" (according to AKI. Somehow I don't think al Qaeda put it quite that nicely.)
"The Dutch, enemy of Allah, has done what he threatened to do and distributed his film," said a banner in an Islamist website.
The message is followed by dozens of posts by visitors of the site asking for Muslims to act against him.
"Dear brothers, remember what happened to Ariel Sharon. Now let's hope that he (Wilders) ends up the same way," says a member of the forum.
Ariel Sharon is the former Israeli prime minister who is currently in a coma after having suffered a massive stroke."
Kabul Radio Station burned for being un-Islamic
Awaiting global condemnation about the burning of this radio station...hearing the sound of crickets.
Kabul Radio Station burned for being un-Islamic.
Four gunmen broke into the offices of Radio Zafar before dawn, tied up two security guards and then set the station's equipment ablaze, said Paghman district police chief Abdul Razaq.
The station's director, Najibullah Nassir, said militants have accused Radio Zafar of being morally corrupt and un-Islamic. Its programming includes shows on Islam, sports, news and music.
The station has 16 employees, including two female journalists.
The Afghan media have flourished since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, but journalists often face threats from militants and warlords for airing critical stories, playing music or employing women.
-end-
Seething and Friday Fatwas
Sri Lanka:
The Council of Europe representing the Muslims in Europe as well as Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaath delegation in Sri Lanka that met the Netherlands Ambassador in Colombo condemned the Dutch right-wing MP Geert Wilders' 15-minute film on the Qur'an as offensive and a distortion of Islam.
The Dutch officials cowered and offered up Geert Wilders as a human sacrifice to the ire of their Moslem overlords.
Moreover, if his action damages the feeling of other religions as well as if it breaches the law of the nation, he will be prosecuted according to the law prevailing in the country, the Ambassador stated.
Egypt:
Egypt's Grand Imam and Fatwa King calls Fitna 'a provocative act and warns of severe consequences' to his Sunni buddies at Friday prayers, after he sang a different tune to the Dutch delegation that came crawling on their bellies in the dirt to see him this past week.
The Imam claimed Wilders "betrayed a deep ignorance about Islam" and invited him to come for a nice little visit to learn the true meaning of Islam. Sounds like an invitation to a necktie party to me.
I don't want to play the 'deep ignorance card or anything here, but... It is important to note that this Imam and Fatwa King is the same Imam and Fatwa King that has just decreed that Mentally Ill Muslims may wed - as long as they know their mate is mental, that is. Unh-huh.
Full Fatwa found beneath the Fold...
Source.
Mentally disabled Muslims may marry as long as their prospective partners are made aware of their condition, Sunni Islam’s main seat of learning Al Azhar said yesterday.
The approval comes provided “the other party is aware of the state of their mental health and doctors do not have concerns about the marriage,” the Egypt-based Al Azhar research centre was quoted as saying by official news agency MENA.
The announcement was made at a meeting chaired by the grand imam of Al Azhar, Mohamed Sayed Tantawi.
Trouble in Arab League paradise
Syria is hosting for the first time. Lebanon is boycotting the whole magilla and Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt have snubbed their hosts by sending low level representatives. To further complicate matters, Iraq's al-Maliki has begged off because of the Basra fighting. Add Yemen to the list - they've sent their VP.
I'm sure there's seething of one sort or another going on.
-end-
Fitna: More Miscellaneous Seething
Just so we get a better sense...
Again in this article, my man Mohamed (Panties be upon him) pretty much comes out and makes the case that Islam is set on destroying Dutch society with their schools and their mosques and their institutions. It's a total non-denial, denial. Why isn't anybody listening?
Mohamed Rabbae, leader of a group representing members of the Netherlands' large Moroccan immigrant community, said the film was not as bad as he had expected, but warned that the message from Wilders was that Islam was set on destroying Western civilisation. "So we as Muslims with our schools and our mosques and with our institutions are out to destroy Dutch society," he said.
"That is his message to our autochthon compatriots so as to instigate a serious conflict between us."
What is an autochton? Man, I didn't know and had to look it up:
Autochtoon, (and it's variant autochton) a term in Dutch: a native-born citizen of the Netherlands or Flanders whose parents were also native-born, as opposed to an allochtoon, whose parents were not native-born.
And lets' not forget those fine seething fighting fools - al Qaeda. You better believe they've got their exploding turbans wrapped pretty tight when it comes to the matter of Fitna:
A militant believed linked to al-Qaida's deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahri told The Associated Press in Peshawar last week militants would mount revenge attacks against foreigners because of Wilders' film.
-end-
Court decision on Dutch Islamic Federation's case against Wilders
To be delivered on April 7.
The case was heard today and they say they are seeking a gag order on Geert Wilders and a public apology to Muslims everywhere.
I say, here's your public apology. You can kiss my a$$ in Macy's window. (How's that for some free speech?)
-end-
Fitna: Stirring the melting pot. Dutch Moslems are serving hudna.
The Fitna news just keeps on keeping on.
More Sad news for lovers of Free Speech: LGF is reporting that Michael van der Galien's European blog "Poligazette" posted Fitna and has now been suspended. I don't think it's because he didn't pay his bills.
Wilders is saying that the PM Jan Balkenende must be terribly embarrassed about everything he has said about Fitna in the past.
I don't know. If I were a member of the Dhutch Government I'd be more embarrassed about this: Dutch Cabinet: Muslim and Non-Muslim stand side by side. If this isn't dhimmitude, I don't know what is, folks.
On a clearly pre-arranged scenario, the government Friday held a series of meetings with Islamic groups. Hours after MP Geert Wilders released his Koran film Fitna, the cabinet's message was clear: Muslims and non-Muslims stand side by side.And remember how I told you that I thought that there was a Moslem backdown in the works. There was, and it appears to have been a coordinated effort.
At her ministry on Friday morning, Integration Minister Ella Vogelaar held dialogues with various religious, ideological and minority organisations to speak about the content of Fitna, the anti-Koran film released on Thursday evening by Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders. Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin was also present.
All Muslim organisations were restrained in their reaction to the film. They confirmed that they had mutually agreed on this strategy. There was also close consultation with the ministers, according to Fouad Sidali, chairperson of the Alliance of Moroccans in the Netherlands.
And I found this observation interesting. The Moslems completely blow off the Mohammed cartoon with the exploding turban and then say the linkage of horrific terrorist events to the Koran isn't blasphemy. So, in other words, it's true. And there you go.
The film links horrific events to Koran verses. But virtually all Islam experts agreed it is never blasphemous.And this insight into the real situation on the ground there is worth the price of admission.
Three of the mosques known as the most radical apparently instructed their visitors Friday not to react to the film. "We are furious, but we will stay clam. (sic) Do not utilise your emotions but your reason. Otherwise we will lose," said the imam of the Al Fourqaan mosque in Eindhoven. If asked for a reaction to the film, "you shall send (the person asking the question) to the mosque".-end-
Apparently, a similar message went out to visitors of the El Tawheed mosque in Amsterdam, who did not wish to answer journalists' questions Friday. And Sheikh Fawaz Jneid, the imam of the As Sunnah mosque in Hague, said: "Wilders has not succeeded in offending Muslims. (...) All have remained calm. That proves the film has not affected us."
Fawaz Jneid, a Syrian, cursed filmmaker Theo van Gogh in a sermon two weeks before Van Gogh was ritually assassinated. The killer, Mohammed Bouyeri, attended that sermon, a terrorist suspect earlier declared in court. Last November, The Hague city council however announced it had issued a permit allowing the As-Sunnah mosque to expand.
Like As Sunnah, Al Fourqaan and El Tawheed are Salafist mosques. According to the secret service AIVD, Bouyeri's terrorist group 'Hofstad' was formed in El Tawheed from 2002 onwards. And in Al Fourqaan, three imams allowed Jihad-recruitment to take place, say open AIVD sources.
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