Check it out.

I've been contemplating a move to Typepad.

The New Dinah can be found here.

What do you think.

Easier on the eyes?

WTF? Deportation proceedings halted to protect Obama's Auntie???

That's what Michelle Malkin is saying this morning in Dubya and Zuni.

According to my sources, the Bush administration issued a 72-hour cease-and-desist order to all fugitive apprehension teams to spare Obama embarrassment over his Kenyan half-aunt, Zeituni Onyango. The Associated Press reported on November 1 that Onyango was a deportation evader — one of an estimated 700,000 illegal alien absconders who have ignored orders from immigration judges to leave the country. The wire report mentioned that the Department of Homeland Security distributed “an unusual nationwide directive within Immigration and Customs Enforcement requiring any deportations prior to Tuesday’s election to be approved at least at the level of ICE regional directors.”

But the politicized order was even worse than the AP reported. The deportation process wasn’t simply slowed down for public relations reasons and fear of a media backlash. The process was completely frozen.

Bring your barf bag and read it all.

I love the smell of hostage rescue in the morning...

Special Ops rescue American Hostage in nighttime raid.

Militants from the Hezb-i-Islami (Party of Islam) kidnapped the man and an Afghan business partner August 20 on a road west of Kabul, according to the Army Times. He was treated "reasonably well" and was even allowed four cell phone calls to his wife, to whom he passed information in English, which the kidnappers did not understand.

The Afghan hostage was sold for a ransom. The American hostage told the Army Times he tried to escape, breaking free from his padlocks and running for cover in the nearest house, but was quickly spotted and caught by guards he said were 40 years his junior.

But when the kidnappers left him in one location for a stretch of days, the special ops group choppered in, climbing thousands of feet toward a mud hut where the engineer was being kept, while a select team approached and killed the militants before they could fire back.

The engineer was helicoptered back to safety that night and checked out by doctors at the U.S. embassy.

The UN: A Spectacular waste of money and air...

Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo works in 'Hall XX' at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

I'm all for art and all, but this is ridiculous.

United Nations diplomats searching for bright ideas will soon be able to look to the ceiling for inspiration. Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo has just completed a mammoth redecorating job - using 100 tons of paint - at its European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The 51-year-old artist has spent more than a year painting the chamber's 1,500 sq m domed ceiling and described the results as like watching 'the sea's surface above your head'. Known as Room XX, the chamber will house the United Nations Human Rights Council after it is officially unveiled next week.

The eye-catching project is the first initiative of the newly formed Fundacion ONUART, an organisation dedicated to using Spanish contemporary art to the ends of diplomacy.

The redecorated chamber will become the UN's most modern negotiating room, using the latest materials and technology in audiovisual resources, conference services, interpretation systems, information technology and telecommunications.

How much did this arty, little boondoggle cost our Spanish amigos?

The budget for the work approved by the United Nations Foundation was 18.5 million € with the option to deviate 10% from that amount. The Spanish permanent representative at the United Nations, Javier Garrigues, confirmed the amount, saying the total cost, of the art work, engineering, artists fee and other items reaches 20 million.

The artist has commented that he hoped the funding for the work had not taken money ‘from the mouths of the poor’ following the revelation that part of the work has been financed by the Spanish Government using development funds. Garrigues confirmed that 500,000 € came from the FAD Development Fund, justified by the fact that the artwork went to the promotion of human rights and multilateralism.

View the slideshow here.

More captionworthy shots from the Glamour WOTY awards

New Do for Change

Same old, same old.

The Murmuration of the Starlings.

Mushroom Murmuration

Winter must must be coming... because the starlings are flocking. Here are many thousands of the birds wheeling together in the afternoon sky near Gretna Green yesterday, as they prepare to roost together for the night.

A starling flock like this is called a murmuration, a word that perfectly describes the rustle of thousands of pairs of wings. Starling murmurations are one of the most dazzling displays in the natural world, as the flock changes shape, one minute like a colossal wisp of smoke, the next a tornado, the next a thundercloud blocking the light.

The huge gatherings, biggest in winter, are boosted by thousands of birds that come to Britain's milder Atlantic climate to escape the harsh cold of the European continent, especially in Scandinavia. There are several reasons to get together in the way they do – safety in numbers, information exchange (if some come back from a good feeding area others may learn of it) and warmth at night through roosting together. The birds may feed up to 20 miles from their winter roost but return each evening.

Who knew?

Somalia: Another day, another ship hijacked by Pirates v.2

I'm glad to see that the Financial Times agrees with me. Well, except for that international court business. That's just crazy talk. I say we catch 'em and give them a choice. Walk the plank or hoisted from the yardarm? And those "experts that argue that we lack the legal basis on which to arrest and prosecute?" They can take a long walk off a short pier.

Even so, the problem is far from resolved. The Somali gangs operate across a huge expanse of water, covering thousands of kilometres, and are hard to contain. Somalia, meanwhile, is a failed state, unable or unwilling to take action. Until it does so, nothing will stop these gangs engaging in lucrative crime.

Still, the main powers should be far more robust in acting against piracy. Right now, naval forces operating in the region can disrupt an attempted hijack but some experts argue that they lack the legal basis on which to arrest and prosecute gangs. The United Nations Security Council should therefore look to pass a resolution that is far more explicit about the military action that can be taken by governments against the pirates. An international court could also be established at the Hague to bring pirates to justice."

Chemical Tanker falls to Somali Pirates - the 83rd vessel to be hijacked in 2008

Pirates hijacked a Philippines chemical tanker with 23 crew near Somalia, bringing the total number of attacks in waters off the African nation this year to 83, a maritime official said today.

The tanker was heading to Asia when it was seized in the Gulf of Aden by pirates armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

In Manila, Foreign Ministry spokesman Claro Cristobal said the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi and the ship's operator identified the chemical tanker as the MT Stolt Strengt.

It's been a busy few days for the Somali Pirates.

The Indian Navy rescued an Indian freighter under attack 60 nautical miles off the coast of Aden. It was the INS Tabar's first successful interdiction and the government has sent troops to bolster the "confidence among sailors". An important task, given that more than 100,000 sailors went on strike last week to protest government inaction. 90% of India’s foreign trade by volume and 77% by value is shipped through the region, mainly through the Suez Canal.

Hold up. It looks like Team India was also involved in helping a Saudi merchant ship escape capture. Way to go, INS Tabar aka THE INDOMITABLE BATTLEAXE. Her motto? Guts and Glory. (I like it!)

I'm happy to report that it appears that Team India is getting serious about this piracy business.

Earlier India's position on the use of military force against criminals in international waters was ambiguous. In fact, only recently it had imposed on the Navy a blanket ban to act on its own against pirates. However, a spate in the number of piracy bids, especially in Somali waters, has now forced a change in Indian Government's hand-off policy.

Navy Chief Admiral Suresh Mehta issued standing instructions to his force to act against pirates.In a statement, he said: "Indian Naval ships operating in piracy-infested areas have the mandate to ensure the safety of our sovereign assets. Piracy is a crime which all men of war are required to combat at all times".

Relatives of hijacked Indian sailors aboard the MV Stolt Valor wish their government would have acted this way sooner.

In other pirate news:

Denmark has asked Russia for a frigate escort for it's ship, the CAN Commander. The Neustrashimy has complied.

Talks continue regarding the MV Faina. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister says "the health of the crew aboard a Ukrainian cargo ship seized by pirates off the Somali coast more than a month ago is "satisfactory." The dead captain remains aboard ship.

Out, out damned leak...

Everywhere I look there are leaks...

Now Mohamed el-Baradei is miffed because someone with"political motivation" leaked the info about the Syrian nuke plant. But get this! He's not miffed because the information isn't true! No, he's miffed because it might jeopardize Syrian co-operation. What a weasel he is.

The IAEA did not challenge the substance of Monday's revelations about the uranium traces. The concern is that the leak of confidential information could jeopardise future Syrian cooperation.

Like Syria is cooperating.

Syria has repeatedly denied being involved in any illicit nuclear activity. But Damascus fuelled suspicions immediately after last September's Israeli air strike by razing the remains of the bombed structure it described as a military facility and then stonewalling before reluctantly allowing UN inspectors to visit it. ... The mystery was compounded in August when the Syrian official charged with liaising with the IAEA, General Muhammad Suleiman, was assassinated by a sniper - a killing which remains unexplained and has fuelled speculation that he was murdered to prevent him being questioned about the nuclear issue.

Veterans Day

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

God Bless our Veterans.
Thank you for your service.

Get a load of this latest Muslim shakedown...

giving me apoplexy. (hat tip to Weasel Zippers - the hardest working zippers in the blog business)

Muslim Workers Receive $150K for Being Asked to Sign Form Acknowledging They Have to Handle Pork, $215K to Workers Fired for Taking Too Many Prayer Breaks....

Under a settlement to a federal lawsuit, up to 100 Somali Muslims who are current or former workers at Gold'n Plump Inc. will receive a total of $365,000.

The settlement was filed in Minneapolis on Friday. It sprang from allegations of religious discrimination at the company's chicken processing plants in Cold Spring and Arcadia, Wis.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed lawsuits against St. Cloud-based Gold'n Plump and the Work Connection Inc., an employment agency in St. Paul, which handled some hiring for the plant.

Under the settlement, Gold'n Plump agreed to pay $215,000 to workers who were terminated for taking prayer breaks.

The Work Connection will pay $150,000 to workers who were asked to sign a form acknowledging that they might be required to handle pork, which many Muslims consider unclean.

The EEOC estimates that 40 to 100 workers will qualify for the payments.

Source

Yemen's Most Famous Divorcee

Nujood Ali and Human Rights lawyer Shada Nasser

wins Glamour's Women of the Year award.

You remember 9 year old Nujood Ali. Her 30 year old Muslim husband raped her on her wedding night and she took herself to court and asked for a divorce.

At first glance, you’d never guess that Nujood Mohammed Ali is Yemen’s most famous divorcee. She is slight, with a shy smile and coffee-color eyes. Ask what makes her laugh and she says, “My divorce.” What else? Tom and Jerry cartoons—she is, after all, just 10 years old, and loves playing jacks and dolls with her favorite sister, Haifa. Nevertheless, this year Nujood became Yemen’s first child bride to legally end her marriage. “I wanted to protect myself,” she says, “and other girls like me.”

Yemen is full of child brides. Roughly half of Yemeni girls are married before 18, some as young as eight. Child marriage, common in South Asia, sub- Saharan Africa and Middle-Eastern countries such as Yemen, is dangerous for brides and their children. As Glamour interviews Nujood with the help of a translator, an 18-year-old neighbor, who was married at 13 and now has four children, sits listening. Her toddler cries, and she swats him away. “They married me very young,” she explains. “I don’t have time to be a gentle mother.”

Before her marriage, Nujood loved school—specifically math and Quran classes—and made her father promise not to pull her out to be wed. But when she was nine, her parents arranged a husband for her. Nujood was dazzled by her wedding presents: three dresses; perfume; two hairbrushes; and two hijabs, or women’s head scarves. The groom, a 30-year-old courier, gave her a $20 ring, which Nujood says he soon took back to buy clothes for himself. She tells her story sitting on a grubby mattress in one of two rooms shared by her nine family members in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital. A bare bulb illuminates a clock on the wall. It’s nearly midnight, but Nujood’s beloved Haifa, nine, is still selling gum on the street corner. Their father, Ali Mohammed Ahdal, a former street sweeper, has 16 children, two wives, and no job.

(Don't get me wrong. I am thrilled for Nujood but I have to tell you that I was surprised to see Glamour Mag giving her the award. I guess it's hip to talk about the plight of Muslim women and girls again now that the evil Bushitler is not really in office and the Messiah is coming.)

Obama Administration: Leaking like a sieve. Already.

First, we had the leaking of the top secret al Qaeda order... Now we have leaks coming out of the one on one meet between Senator Present Obama and President Bush. And gee, what a surprise! It's in that leaky gray bucket, the NY Times. Obama asks Bush to Provide Help for Automakers. Their source? "People familiar with the discussion." Unh-huh.

The President is irked. And is quick to point out the Demo-spin.

If that wasn't enough - even Hamass is telling tales on al-Bama. (courtesy of Z Truth)

And then there's Syria and Egypt and known Hamass sympathizer and Soros Toadie, Robert Malley and his fascinating tale. (hat tip to Publius' Forum)

What will be leaked next?

Update: 2 minutes after I asked that question I got my answer from Gateway Pundit. The One wants to have talks with IRAN regarding the AFGHANISTAN situation. Report: Obama seeks Iranian assistance in Afghanistan.

"President-elect Barack Obama plans to try a more regional approach to the war in Afghanistan including possible talks with Iran, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing national security advisers to Obama."

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Islamics Bakri and Choudary mock the UK and it's weenie hate laws

Looks like Anjem Choudary and the whole Al-Muhajiroun crowd are whipping it up again in London.

The event, billed as a conference to "rise to defend the honour of the Muslims", had been advertised on several extremist websites with links to the Islam For The UK website, which calls for Sharia law to be introduced into Britain. Beyond a kiosk selling home-made curry and Coca-Cola for £3 and a table where Islamic DVDs were for sale at £2 a copy, was a main hall where the audience prayed in Arabic before the meeting got under way.

The crowd was warmed up by Anjem Choudary. And the Special Surprise guest was Big Daddy Omar Bakri, he of the Pole Dancing Daughter and exile to Lebanon fame. Heh. The video feed didn't work and they had to resort to Choudary calling him on his mobile and holding the cellphone up to the microphone. (I don't know why, but the thought of that techy snafu made me laugh out loud. Then I read what was being said on the microphone. That sobered me right up and pi&&ed me right off.

"We will not rest until the flag of Allah and the flag of Islam is raised above Number 10 Downing Street."

Just days after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced tough new measures to name and shame foreign-based extremists and prevent them coming from abroad to stir up hatred in the UK, firebrand preacher Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad cocked a snook at her new initiative, the Evening Standard can reveal.

(To cock a snook: To make a derisive gesture.)

Looks like we agree on something: The three types of Muslims: Those in prison, those on the way to prison and non-practicing. Kufar police, I beg you. Search their homes.

To loud cheers of "Allah Akbar" [God is great], he (Choudary) railed: "There are three types of Muslims, those in prison, those of us that are on our way [to prison] and non-practising Muslims. Brothers and sisters, if you do not fear your home being raided by the Kufar [non-believer] police, you are not enforcing the Sharia."

And as always the women are sitting in their black shrouds at the back of the room, hidden by a partition AND BEING SILENCED...

"Women need to be covered up, men lashed for fornication [outside marriage] and hands cut off for theft and breaking Sharia law," Rumaysah said.

When a woman in a burkha asked how he could justify this when Islam was supposed to be a religion of peace, the crowd mocked her. But it was Choudary who rose to put her in her place. "Islam is not a religion of peace," he said. "It is a religion of submission. We need to submit to the will of Allah."

Who is this Rumaysah fellow? Someone that needs to be sent to right back to the third world Muslim shithole of his choice. His fellow speakers should be joining him.

Besides Bakri, there were three other speakers: Abu Muaz, head of the UK Salafi Youth Movement; Abu Yahya, spokesman for the Followers of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'aah, and Abu Rumaysah, a student at the London School of Shari'ah.

Each spoke for 40 minutes, their talks interspersed with video clips from Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo that were designed to fuel the meeting's "grievance theme" of Muslims being oppressed by Britain and the West. As an example of this oppression, one speaker said: "In the UK, terrorists get 40 years in prison whereas murderers and paedophiles walk free after five years."

Abu Muaz spoke out against UK imams, claiming they are too soft and tolerant. He said that "speech was not enough" and that it was time to "take action". "You must destroy the West," he declared.

But the most provocative was student leader Abu Rumaysah, who spoke to the crowd as if they were trainee terrorists. "Delete unnecessary material from your computers, take precautions not to attract attention to yourself and prepare your family for [police] raids," he said. He added that they should support the families of Muslims who were arrested and that Islam will only take over the UK if Muslims are proactive and enforce Sharia law in their own communities.

"Their own communities." This brings us to Tower Hamlets:

A spokesman for Tower Hamlets council confirmed the meeting had taken place at the council-owned Brady Arts and Community Centre on Hanbury Street just off Brick Lane. He said: "We liaised with the police and were advised there were no major concerns about the group running this event. We were unaware that Omar Bakri was involved, as this was not indicated on the advance publicity. In future we will strengthen our vetting by asking for a list of proposed speakers, including those on conference links."

But Ed Husain, co-founder of the counter-terrorism think-tank the Quilliam Foundation, says Tower Hamlets has long turned a blind eye to the activities of local extremists. "We cannot afford for Tower Hamlets, home to Britain's largest Muslim population, to become a hotspot for radicals. The seeds of terror are sown at these events," he said.

Round them up and deport them all.

Syria: Well, well, well, what have we here????

per The Jawa Report:

IAEA reportedly finds traces of enriched uranium in Syria.

"The IAEA has alledgely found traces of enriched uranium at the same site which was bombed by Israeli jets back in September 2007."

"The agency clearly thinks it has something significant enough to report to put Syria on the (nuclear safeguards) agenda right after North Korea and Iran,"

And get this:

"Diplomats close to the IAEA say Syria has ignored agency requests to check three military installations that may have harboured materials connected to the alleged reactor site."

Iraq: 13 year old girl becomes youngest suicide bomber.

What is wrong with these people?

A 13-year-old girl became the youngest suicide bomber to wreak havoc in Iraq yesterday, killing five Iraqi guards in a town that has become notorious for deadly attacks by women bombers.

The girl blew herself up in Baquba, on the same day that a car bomb exploded in Baghdad, killing about 30 people and shattering a fragile sense of calm in the capital. The carnage was compounded by a male suicide bomber who joined the crowd of rescue workers, bystanders and frantic relatives of victims before blowing himself up in a follow-up explosion.

About the victims:

Many of the victims of the car bombing in the Sunni area of Addumiyah in northern Baghdad were schoolgirls, travelling in a minibus.

“Innocent and simple people were gathering to have breakfast or shop in the nearby area. A minibus which was driving past was also hit and four or five of its passengers were killed,” said a bystander. “How can you explain this act? This is not a military unit, not a military barracks. There is nothing there.” Witnesses described the minibus torn apart by shrapnel, its bloody floor scattered with girls' shoes.

What say you, moderate Muslims?

Baquba has been struck by a wave of women suicide bombers in recent months, often the widows of al-Qaeda members or Islamist extremists who have themselves been killed fighting against the Americans or the Shia government forces. About 30 women have blown themselves up this year, compared with 8 in 2007.

Bali Bombers: There's got to be a morning after...

May they rot in hell.

Bali Bombers left to rot as fanatics desert them.

A SMALL black sign proclaims it as the graveyard of Islamic heroes. The message in Arabic is even more of a lie: "To fight for good against evil."

But evil lurks here at the final resting place of of the Bali bombers, brothers Mukhlas and Amrozi, who were instrumental in the murders of 202 innocent people in October 2002.

Just a day after the fanatical scenes that accompanied the bombers on their final journey following their date with the firing squad, their graves in the village of Tenggulun are a reminder their pathetic lives are already fading from memory.

There were just a few radical students lurking near the graves yesterday, apparently guarding their dead comrades from prying cameras.

As three vultures bring the bomber's families bliss...

The bomber's older brother Abu Chozin yesterday told The Daily Telegraph that the mood within the family was "blissful". He said they were happy that tangible signs of his brothers' martyrdom had been seen at the funeral with the appearance of three large vultures circling above the family's house. "The Koran says the souls of those who die as Islamic martyrs will be brought by the birds directly to heaven," he said.

Vultures are scavenging birds that feed on the carcasses of the dead and dying. They can eat rotten flesh containing anthrax and cholera bacteria.

"In the western world, the image of the vulture is quite negative, with 'vulture' used as a metaphor for those who prey on the weak or dying, with associated negative connotations of cowardice and selfishness." (source)

Sounds like a fitting metaphor for the Bali bombers all right. Take a quick peek at the Daily Telegraph Bali Bomber picture gallery to see what Islamohate looks like.

One week Obama's team gets a security briefing...

the next week the existence of a 2004 secret order allowing the hot pursuit of al Qaeda suspects gets leaked. A secret so top secret that no White House spokesperson will confirm or deny it's existence. And all of a sudden it gets leaked. Like that.

Coincidence? I think not.

The United States military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against al Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, according to senior American officials.

You will note the source is referred to as "senior American officials".

Funny, the only new senior American officials on the security scene that would now have access to this 2004 secret order is from Team Obama.

Connect. The. Dots.

The first dot leads us to the source and that is the New York Times. Guess what? This past weekend they have been running profiles of Obama's "small group of foreign policy advisors." Another coincidence! Amazing. So each and every one of the Obama team had the means to obtain the secret through the first top secret security briefing and then they had the opportunity to spill the secret beans during the course of their profile interview.

Hold up, you say. I thought Obama campaigned with a foreign policy staff rivaling the State Department itself. Why couldn't it have been one of them? Here's why, possums. Because it all comes down to 'means, motive and opportunity' IMO and the 300 didn't have the means or the opportunity this small group of foreign policy advisors had.

Here is the brush off letter sent on November 7 by Susan Rice and Tony Lake to the 300 members of Obama's foreign policy team. It basically names who's been left standing and moving onto the transition team.

We are obviously entering a new phase now with the transition. The transition will be a separate operation from the campaign, which is now disbanding. So too must our foreign policy expert teams disband. The transition operation will be brief and comparatively lean. Given the need to complete this work expeditiously and efficiently, please understand that only a limited number of people will be able to support those activities.

Who remains part of this 'comparatively lean' team after the campaign and who would be the most likely to be exposed to the latest security briefing? Next dot: Who out of this group was profiled by the NY Times? In other words, who would have the means, motive and opportunity to leak? To my way of thinking we're looking at the following individuals: Susan Rice, Tony Lake, Mark Lippert and Denis McDonough.

Now, what do you think the motive was for spilling the secret beans on Al Qaeda Network Exord? Think about it. What would motivate you to betray your country? Power and greed come to my mind. I would imagine the scramble for places on Team Obama is pretty fierce. Rice and Lake are the Clintonian interlopers. Lippert and McDonough are the longtime aides closest to Obama. It's a power struggle of Mongolian goat phuk proportions, I'm sure.

Right now my gut and my dots are leading me to Mark Lippert and Denis McDonough for the simple reason that I think they would have more immediate access to Obama and the actual details of the security briefing - in other words, they are more likely to have the means, baby.

This Newsweek article gives you an idea of the pecking order...

Until Obama launched his presidential campaign, Lippert was his only senior foreign-policy aide. Now the presumptive Democratic nominee has more than 300 experts advising him on foreign affairs, organized into roughly 20 specialized groups and weighing in on every conceivable issue. The top ranks include two veterans of the Clinton administration: former assistant secretary of State Susan Rice and former national-security adviser Tony Lake. But day-to-day, Obama relies on two key aides. One is Denis McDonough, a former Capitol Hill staffer based at Obama's campaign HQ in Chicago. The other is Lippert.

Add this to the fact that Lippert and McDonough have been madly spinning Obama's foreign policy tales since the day after the election and I think we're looking at someone who is trying to be the new big swinging foreign policy dic& (motive) by playing footsie (means) with someone over at the NY Times. (opportunity)

My thought is that Obama got his mind blown with that security briefing and when he heard Rumsfeld had ordered hot pursuit of al Qaeda into countries we were not at war with he freaked and blurted it out to Lippert and McDonough when they debriefed him. They freaked and someone blurted it out to the NY Times for whatever reason. File this one under: Amateurs operating above their pay grade.

Useless idle speculation, I know. But I don't like it when loose lips compromise the people who are fighting to keep us safe. This hamhanded leak worsens the situation throughout the Middle East, denying political cover to those countries who support our war on al Qaeda but seek to pacify the Radicals in their own countries by doing it on the down low. It also antagonizes those countries who don't support us and makes them resent us even more. The leak goes on to jeopardize another successful tool in our terror fighting arsenal and weakens us further, making us more susceptible to attack.

All this and Obama hasn't even been sworn in yet...

Piracy on the high seas...an update.

Aaarh, me mateys! Will the Pirates ruin Christmas this year? There's talk of that in the UK:

Pirates Threaten Christmas Shopping

The rate at which ships are being taken has led the British Chamber of Shipping to warn customers that all supplies that come to the UK and other western European countries from Asia could be put at risk.

Gavin Simmonds, head of international policy at the chamber, says: "Car carriers with vehicles for the UK, foodstuffs from Asia, textiles and clothing, dare I say it in time for the Christmas market, will not be arriving on time if they have to [go round South Africa]. We could begin to see shortages within the next few weeks." Of the ships pirated this year, most attention has focussed on MV Faina, the Ukrainian vessel carrying tanks and heavy weaponry. But the majority of ships sailing through the Gulf carry supplies vital to the running of the global economy. Goods as diverse as oil, gas, cars, textiles and electronics travel past Somalia on their way to Britain.

The alternative route, going round the Cape of Good Hope, would add up to three weeks to the average journey. However, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) says that two companies have already given their captains the permission to go the long way round and others are considering following suit.

You don't even see the MV Faina even talked about in the news anymore. And I can't believe that absolutely no progress has been made with regards to freeing the crew since I've been gone. Hell's Bells! They haven't even gotten the Captain's dead body off the ship yet! The latest? Ship's owner in talks with the scurvy Islamodogs and the talks are expected to be completed within several days. I smell a ransom negotiation, possums and if that happens it will truly be open season off the coast of Somalia. The only way we are going to beat these SOBs if we go all "shores of Tripoli" on them and start kicking some butt.

The moonbats are all in a dither because Blackwater has sent a ship in to help with the situation. I say privateers have worked in the past, let's see what they can do today.

But it's going to take more than that. It's going to take a concerted effort to get the men behind the 'foot soldiers'. And that's going to require cooperation between international law enforcement agencies. Good luck with that.

Read this account, "Pirates making big money" which quotes our old friend, Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Association, (you remember him. He was recently busted in Kenya for his suspected connections to the pirates and possession of marijuana. Those charges appear to be in response for his blowing the lid off the story that the weaponry on the MV Faina was intended for Kenya in violation of arms control restrictions - but he will still face trial this week.)

"There really isn't a military solution. The boys on the boats are just the foot-soldiers," said Andrew Mwangura, whose East African Seafarers' Association monitors piracy. "The commanders and generals - the financiers and the organisers behind it all - are in Dubai, Nairobi, Mombasa, and even Canada and London, sitting in their hotels, communicating via laptops, and making big money."

Andrew goes on to make the point that often goes unnoticed in discussions about Somalia:

"Many people are making good money from instability in Somalia,"... and he believes "a network of Somali businessmen abroad and corrupt accomplices are the driving force for piracy.

The government is complicit:

Mwangura said authorities in the region were turning a blind eye to illegal fishing, toxic dumping, drug- and gun-running, illegal charcoal shipments, and human trafficking in Somali waters that were all indirectly fuelling piracy.


I have a feeling this type of action - going after the Pirate Emirs and Imams will be a low priority in the upcoming Obama administration. There's not a peep about piracy in his African foreign policy. Nothing under Homeland Security, either. I'm thinking about joining his African Policy Group just for grins. The Obamanoids over there at his website are killing me - do they actually think that their "proposing and debating issues to benefit our relations with the continent of Africa" will result in ANYONE taking them seriously? I honestly think they do. What do they think they are? A lowly blogger like moi!

Meanwhile, a Danish dry cargo vessel, the Cec Future has been seized. Contact has not been made with the ship or it's hijackers yet.

And the beat goes on. Without direct action on the part of the Obama administration the situation will continue to fester, money will continue to be paid to Islamofascist thugs, radical Islam will lap up the cash and continue to grow stronger around the world. Maybe I should throw that little verbal hand grenade into the discussion over at the Obama African Policy Group and see what they have to say about that. Ha-ha!

UK: "Somali Taliban" behind stoning gets UK funding.

We've talked in the past about the high ranking Somali officials living part time on the dole in the UK and spending the rest of their time in Somalia getting busy with war crimes and such.

But now we have this revelation:

Sums thought to be totalling tens of thousands of pounds a week are being sent to the Shabaab militia, a fundamentalist Islamic group blamed for sentencing a 13-year-old girl to be stoned to death in the southern city of Kismayo.

The execution, details of which were revealed last week by Amnesty International, was imposed on the girl, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, after she complained to a Shabaab-run Sharia court that she had been gang-raped.

I know you've heard about the stoning death of Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, but the details of her punishment are truly horrific:

"Don't kill me"... "four men forced her into the hole and buried her up to her neck. Fifty men then set about stoning her to death. After 10 minutes she was dug up and two nurses checked to see if she was alive. She was. So they put her back in the ground and the stoning recommenced."

"People in Kismayo say they live in constant fear of the Al-Shabab, but not everyone was content to watch a "clearly distressed" girl being stoned to death. Some people tried to intervene. The gunmen fired shots; one man was wounded and an eight-year-old boy was shot dead. The militia later apologised for his killing."

Follow the money:

A London-based Somali community leader has claimed that much of their funding is coming from the Somali diaspora in Britain, many of whom support the groups' fierce guerrilla war against Somalia's long-time enemy Ethiopia, which invaded in January 2007.

"People are sending money over to back the Shabaab because they want to see the Ethiopians kicked out, even if they don't have much sympathy with the Islamist agenda," said Mohamed Abdullahi, director of the UK Somali Community Initiative. "But over here in Britain, they are not seeing the violence that they are fuelling, or realising that al-Shabaab has some very hardline policies. Many people here were shocked to hear about the stoning incident, and said that it was not Islamic. In that case, they should think twice about sending money."

How about the UK thinking twice about allowing the hawala monetary system to continue to flourish? There's an idea...

Mr Abdullahi said that most of the money being channeled to the Shabaab came via the traditional hawala money transfer system, an informal wire service arrangement which is hard for the authorities to monitor. Post-September 11, hawala agents in Britain agreed to abide by money laundering rules, but in practice there is little real restriction on which inviduals they send money to in Somalia.

And this is the end result:

May God bless her poor soul.

Photo of Miss Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow
courtesy of Judith A Klinghoffer at Political Mavens.

UK: Abu Qatada gets busted

Get this bumwad off the streets

Hah! Here's the kind of thing we like hearing out of the UK...

Radical 'preacher' Abu Qatada arrested

Abu Qatada, once described by a Spanish judge as Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe, has been arrested in Britain, supporters said.

The Palestinian-Jordanian preacher was arrested for breaching his strict bail conditions after the authorities received a tip-off that he was planning to flee the country, according to the Sun.

Good. Now if the Brits would just wise up and either lock him up or send him back where he came from we'd be in business! Maybe they will send him over to the US where he will be served by the new Obama justice planned for our Club Gitmo residents. Groan.

US: Obama planning US trials for Gitmo terrorists

Club Gitmo: There's a new sheriff in town.

Well, isn't this special?

President-elect Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice.

Obama justice: Releasing terror squads in a neighborhood near you soon.

Under plans being put together in Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and many others would be prosecuted in U.S. criminal courts. A third group of detainees - the ones whose cases are most entangled in highly classified information - might have to go before a new court designed especially to handle sensitive national security cases, according to advisers and Democrats involved in the talks. Advisers participating directly in the planning spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans aren't final.

If I was behind a boneheaded idea like this I wouldn't want my name known, either. Two names quoted in the article Hah-vahd prof and legal advisor, Lawrence Tribe and Rep Adam Schiff D -CA. Of course, they think that Obama justice is a grand idea and can't wait for the new 'hybrid system' to take effect. Mark my words, this is going to end up being a clusterphuk.

Source: API via the Orange County Register.

Update: Shut Guantanamo on Day One, Obama urged. See the full page ad here. The usual suspects are doing the urging: the ACLU, Amnesty International, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, Reprieve and the International Federation for Human Rights.

Lucky for you...

My navel isn't that interesting. That, and there comes a point when I just have to laugh at myself and how silly I can get. Then I smack myself upside the head and say, 'Snap out of it! It's a fricking blog for crying out loud. It isn't dying of cancer or being blown up by an Islamofascist. Get real, girl.'

I am happy to announce I am over myself now.

Here are a few things I found interesting this evening, I hope you will, too.

My reaction to the news that the Bali Bombers had faced their firing squad? "Sweet". Visit El Marco (h/t LGF) and check out his moving photo essay and tribute to the victims. Take a look at the long list of names and countries engraved on the memorial and ask yourself why all of these countries aren't doing everything in their power to stop these Islamoterrorists.

Keeping it all in the family. Obama asks ma-in-law to move into the White House with them. First Granny they're calling her. Meanwhile, Auntie Z's lawyer says Obama's Aunt can't walk - Dinah says maybe so, but she sure was able to run from her deportation order! Margaret Wong, the lawyer handling her case, said Ms Onyango could be barred from reentering for three to ten years if she left the US now. She needed to stay for medical care because she could not walk. “She has to go in a wheelchair but because of her pride she tries to give the impression that she can walk,” she said. No doubt medical care that will be paid for by you and me... Auntie Z has fled to Cleveland to stay with ANOTHER Obama relative, a preacher. Is the next thing going to be Auntie Z seeking sanctuary in the sanctuary of his church ala Elvira Arellano?

Speaking of low-down, lazy freeloaders and the countries that enable them with their lax immigration policies...Remember the Somali Muslims fired for praying on the job at the JBS Swift plant in Greeley, CO? Well, you had to see this one coming. Now, they're the first ones standing in line for with their hands out for "heating assistance". Figures.

Barack the hot new name for Future Freeloaders of America... Decontee Williams was so excited by Barack Obama’s victory on Tuesday night that she started jumping up and down — and went into labor. Twelve hours later, Barack Jeilah was born at Phoenix Baptist Hospital to Ms. Williams and Prince Jeilah. The baby was 8 pounds 9 ounces and had a full head of hair. “I love Barack Obama, and I love the name,” said Ms. Williams, 31, who came to the United States as a refugee from Liberia in 2003. “In Africa, we call it a blessing. That is a good name.”... Nuff said.

File this under Modern Moonbattery: Rothko art hung wrong way around in exhibition. (And there are no plans to change it.)

Now, to clear that nasty taste of moonbat from your mouth. Read about Sgt. Tyson Two Two: Tribe honors returning Marine.


"Sgt. Tyson Two Two stood on a war blanket provided by his family, a traditional Northern Cheyenne Tribe war bonnet perfectly complementing his dress blues, as drummers and singers welcomed him home. Saturday afternoon in the baggage claim lobby of Billings Logan International Airport, Two Two, 24, a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, was welcomed home from a seven-month tour in Iraq by about 50 family members and friends from the Northern Cheyenne reservation. "

"Two Two's father, Vince Two Two Sr., said the war blankets are handed down in families and given to returning warriors to help ward off bad dreams from war demons and comfort them while they sleep. The war bonnet, he said, helps usher in change. "We know them as soldiers when they go in (to war)," Vince Two Two explained. "When they come back, they are warrior-soldiers."

God bless the United States and our brave warrior-soldiers. Read the full article here and watch the slide show here. Bring a hanky.

Time in...

Sort of.

Well possums, just because I've been gone doesn't mean you haven't been in my thoughts. I have been AWOL because I was back east tending to my friend while her daughter went home to spend some time with her young children. None of her docs can believe it, but my girl is still hanging in there. She remains very sick and is more miserable than you can imagine. Believe me when I say that in my previous life as a nurse I got to see plenty of misery, but the misery associated with my friend's condition tops them all. It was very hard to say good bye.

So it was with a heavy heart that I came back to Colorado and threw myself into my phone bank work, pulling 10 hour shifts at McCain Palin HQ until the polls closed on Tuesday. I'm happy to report that despite Colorado's going for Obama, Douglas County went big for McCain and all the GOP candidates. It's a small victory, but I'm claiming it.

The rest of the time since then has been spent growling at the television, reading the latest Vince Flynn and doing chores around el Rancho Lordo (finally got the Halloween decor taken down) - and taking part in some heavy navel gazing.

I know hearing that makes you all groan "Oh no. Not that shi& again, Dinah."

Yes, Dinah's bogged down about her blog again. Sigh. You know the drill: "I suck" and "so and so does it better than I do, so why even try" and "what is it you're exactly trying to prove here, dear" and on and on it goes.

I did say that if Obama was elected that I thought I would "abandon blog" and pull one of the half-finished manuscripts out from under my desk and resume working on it. I would drop out of the wonderful world of blogging and spare myself a lot of agony watching an Obama presidency.

But those dirty, rotten Islamists never sleep. And that doesn't sit too well with Dinah.

So, this is where I'm at right now. I hope you will indulge my silliness a while longer as I continue to ponder the fate of Dinah Lord.