On FNC now: Anarchist literature found at Ricin scene.

It was a manual and the page was tabbed to the subject of ricin. Firearms found as well. Individual involved in discovery stayed at Excalibur Wednesday night - team dispatched there tonight to check it out - no Ricin found. Authorities confident that all ricin has been find and again stress, no threat to terrorism and that just possessing literature on anarchism, ricin and firearms do not mean the individual is an anarchist. (I swear to God that's what he said.)

Man in coma is 57 years of age.

-source-
-end-

Recent DEM and GOP Clusterphuks

Add-on armor too heavy to use.

And those troop-supporting Democrats want to know what took it so long to get there.

The add-on armor known as Frag Kit 6 could overwhelm all MRAPs unless they undergo "major redesigns," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., says in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss, said he will raise questions about the delays in fielding MRAPs when Army and Marine officials appear Thursday before the House Armed Services subcommittee he chairs.

"I will be raising all of this … the lack of a sense of urgency, the lack of accountability, and most of all the lack of their willingness to articulate a desire to do better — the attitude that this is the cost of war," Taylor said.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said he asked Gates two months ago to explain delays in deploying MRAPs but has not received a response.

Richardson’s Universal Health Disaster: The governor’s big-government experiment failed on the launch pad.

Maybe HRC will make him VP and put him in charge of health care.

Richardson’s efforts to achieve government-mandated health-care coverage in New Mexico have foundered, at least to this point, on fiscal and economic reality. In fact, were health care not a life-and-death issue for so many, the entire episode might make for a great comedy.

It became apparent right from the start that Richardson’s people had not done their homework. The consulting firm Mathematica Policy Research was hired to study the state’s health-care proposal. (It had previously done such work for Maine’s Dirigo program, drastically underestimating the costs.) The problem was, Mathematica’s numbers proved to be phony.

But hold on there friends, we at Dinah Lord are nothing but gimlet eyed when it comes to bureaucratic clusterphuk and the Republicans are not immune...

Virtual fence pretty much a miserable failure.

....

Words fail me.

GAO investigators said that Boeing's software could not process large amounts of sensor data. The resulting delays made it hard for operators in a Tucson command center 65 miles to the north to lock cameras on targets. Radar systems were also triggered inadvertently by rain and other environmental factors. Cameras had trouble resolving images at five kilometers when they were expected to work at twice that distance, Stana said.

He added that the system was developed with "minimal input" from Border Patrol agents, resulting in an unworkable "demonstration project" instead of a operating pilot system. He blamed the DHS for acting too hastily in trying to deliver a working pilot by last June.

The effort produced "a product that did not fully meet user needs, and the project's design will not be used as the basis for future . . . development,"

A Buckley-ism

from President Reagan. (from the Corner)

"And once when Bill was asked what job he wanted in the Administration of his friend the President, he replied in his typically retiring and deferential way: "Ventriloquist."

Obama: We are building a religion

courtesy of cakesecret

Thanks for the vid - vrwc54.

Sickest Obama vid ever.

Watch the video mosaic grow!

Aren't they just soooo full of themselves?

And so very precious. Each and every one.

Pakistan: The lefties get in bed with the Islamists

to get rid of Musharraf.

PPP vows to fight terrorism then meets with their sympathizers - kind of like what's going to happen in the US when Obama becomes President...

The party of slain former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is trying to convince Islamist politicians to build a stronger coalition against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Asif Ali Zardari The leader of the Pakistan People's Party, Asif Ali Zardari, met with Islamist leader Fazlur Rehman Thursday to discuss the possibility of forming a government of national consensus. The two sides planned to meet again Friday.

Islamist parties fared badly in Pakistan's February 18 parliamentary election, only holding onto about 10 general seats in the National Assembly.


....

Islamist politicians said Friday they would vote to strip the president of the power to dissolve parliament and abolish the National Security Council, which was formed by Mr. Musharraf to oversee Pakistan's government.

Zardari, the widower of Ms. Bhutto, is working to form a coalition with all political parties, except the president's supporters. The coalition needs a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly to impeach the president or limit his powers.

Friday's planned negotiations brought together groups with contrasting philosophies - the PPP, which has vowed to fight Islamic extremism, and Islamist parties, many of which sympathize with the Taliban.

Taliban vow revenge for "Royal Aggression"

I hate to say I told you so...but didn't I say that Harry's being there and then making a BIG splash about it in the media was going to tick these guys off royal? (Bad pun, I know.)

Now, there are concerns about Harry's return to London and he has been warned off going to his favorite night spots as clubs and discos have long been favored targets of the Religion of Peace.

Per The Daily Mail

According to a Taliban spokesman, the prince's presence in Helmand province is a direct sign of the British Royal Family's stance against Muslims and warned it would merely encourage further insurgent attacks against British soldiers.

Zabihullah Mujahid said: "Prince Harry's presence in Afghanistan encourages our fighters to launch more attacks on British forces.

"The Royal Family is now directly participating in the aggression against Muslims."

And British Muslim Inayat Bungaholla pretty much agreed with them:

"If he is still there I am sure many Afghans opposed to the British presence in Afghanistan will see him as a high-value target," he said.

More at the link.
-end-

Anchors Away! US Cole giving Hezbollah hissy fits

Will the US Cole have the chance to get the last laugh?

I sure hope so.

A Hezbollah MP has condemned the deployment of the USS Cole warship off the coast of Lebanon as a threat to Lebanese sovereignty and independence.

The US is sending one warship and a support ship to the eastern Mediterranean as a show of support for "regional stability".

The deployment is seen as a warning to Syria, which backs the opposition, of which Hezbollah is part.

But MP Hassan Fadlallah said the movement would not give in to threats.

He told reporters: "It is clear this threat and intimidation will not affect us."

We don't succumb to threats and military intimidation practised by the United States to implement its hegemony over Lebanon

"The American move threatens the stability of Lebanon and the region and it is an attempt to spark tension," he told Reuters news agency.

"The American administration has used the policy of sending warships to support its allies in Lebanon before, and that experiment failed and backfired.

"We don't succumb to threats and military intimidation practised by the United States to implement its hegemony over Lebanon."

The USS Cole is expected to take up position, out of visible range of Lebanon.


Lebanon is deep in political crisis, precipitating a series of political assassinations.

The country has not had a president since 24 November, when pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud left office. Parliament has repeatedly failed to elect a successor amid an ongoing row over candidates. The election was postponed once again this week, and is now due to take place on 11 March. There are fears that the political deadlock could lead to escalating sectarian violence.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Michael Mullen, said the presence of the USS Cole was important.

He said the signal was "not specifically sent to any one country as much as it is to the region itself".

"That's a very important part of the world and stability there is an important outcome for us," he said.

Is Zawahiri toast?

Be still my beating heart.

The 48 hour rule sure applies to something like this...and lord knows we've been disappointed before, so I'm just putting this out there so we can all keep our fingers crossed.

From Bill Roggio (by way of LGF) Egyptian al-Qaeda leader rumored to be killed in S Waziristan airstrike.

Pakistani and US intelligence are attempting to sort out the names of the al Qaeda and Taliban operatives killed in yesterday's airstrike in Azam Warzak, South Waziristan. Initial reports indicated Arabs and fighters from Central Asia were killed in the operation. One report indicates an "al Qaeda fugitive from Egypt" was among those killed, sparking rumors that Ayman al Zawahiri was the target of the strike.

Read the rest here.
-end-

Sunni Action Committee: Effigy burning can be hazardous to your health

Up in smoke.

Activists from the Sunni Action Committee run for safety after they caught fire while burning an effigy during a protest in Karachi February 29, 2008.

Here they burn the Danish flag.

-end-

Pakistan: Bombs kill 30 at a funeral

The funeral was for a police officer killed by a roadside bomb earlier in the day. Death toll is expected to rise.

The suicide bomber blew himself up among mourners attending the funeral for one of three policemen killed earlier when their van struck a roadside bomb in a region known as a haven for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

And remember last Friday's bombing? It was at a wedding.

A roadside bomb ripped through cars carrying wedding guests in northwestern Pakistan Friday, killing at least 14 people including the bride and wounding a dozen others, police said.

Poisonous Package Discovery at Las Vegas Motel May Be Part of Murder Plot

That ricin is nasty stuff.

Authorities again stress that there are no links to terror with this incident.

The toxin known as ricin turned up on a parcel found at the Extended Stay America Motel, leaving seven people sick and in the hospital.

Law enforcement officials told FOX that the Las Vegas Police Department is leading the probe and the investigation appears to be focusing on a possible murder plot of some kind.

One of those exposed to the ricin is clinging to life and may be in a coma, the sources told FOX.

Federal and local officials also said that there doesn't appear to be a terrorism connection in the case, but identifying the sender and receiver of the package had taken top priority.

"This is not a terror incident at this point," said police Captain Joseph Lombardo.
-end-

Catholic Archbishop kidnapped in Iraq

Just breaking.

And who said this wasn't a war of religions? I mean really, when was the last time you heard of Catholics kidnapping a Moslem Imam?

Gunmen on Friday kidnapped Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Faraj Rahho in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a provincial police officer said.

The gunmen also killed three people who were with Rahho at the time of the kidnapping after a Mass at a nearby church, said Iraqi Brigadier Gen. Khalid Abdul Sattar, a spokesman for the Ninevah province police. And here is the rest of it.

Other Religion of Peace sponsored kidnappings against church officials in Iraq:

Last June gunmen murdered Catholic priest Ragheed Aziz Kani and three assistants in Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, after stopping his car near a church in the eastern part of the city.

The assailants dragged out the priest and his assistants and shot them dead in an attack that was condemned by Pope Benedict.

A former Archbishop of Mosul, Basile Georges Casmoussa, was kidnapped at gunpoint in 2005, but was released after one day of captivity and said no ransom was paid.

And those Catholics, aren't they just ALWAYS bombing other churches?

In January, bombs exploded outside two Chaldean churches, an Assyrian church and a monastery in Mosul, wounding four people.

....

Nothing from the Pope yet but I did find this statement from:

Last June, Pope Benedict XVI expressed deep concern about the plight of Christians caught in the deadly sectarian crossfire in Iraq and pressed U.S. President George W. Bush in a meeting to keep their safety in mind.

As opposed to "pressing President George W. Bush' perhaps his eminence or whatever they call him should be speaking to his Moslem buddies about this - their fingerprints are all over it. Islamic scholars to hold talks with Vatican.

Islamic scholars are to meet Vatican officials for the first time since warning the Pope that world survival was at stake if Muslims and Christians could not make peace with each other.

The delegation, comprising four academics and theologians, will arrive in Rome on March 3 to discuss A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter sent to the Pope last October urging him and other Christian leaders to unite on the shared essentials of the two faiths. It used quotations from the Bible and the Qur'an to illustrate the similarities between the religions, and drew 138 signatures, many from grand muftis each representing tens of millions of Muslims.

Geert Wilders Interview on Al Qaeda fatwa

It goes without saying that the lack of support from the Dutch government when a member of Parliament is threatened with death by the RELIGION OF PEACE is appalling. Did they learn nothing from Theo Van Gogh?

From nu.nl over at Klein Verzet.

“I had expected [Dutch prime minister] Balkenende would condemn the announcement of Al-Qaeda, but he does totally nothing. Although the dead threat is acknowledged by the [Dutch] governments national coordinator against terrorism. Where is our prime minister?” asks Geert Wilders in an interview with Dutch biggest internet news site.

I don't know about you, but I have been watching the situation in the Netherlands like I watch 24. English translations of Dutch news sources are thin on the ground so I thank Klein Verzet for providing us with a window into what's happening. Thanks KV.
-end-

French Supermodel who spoke out against FGM

found floating in the Seine.

Body showed no signs of foul play, may have "accidentally fallen".

Police said Friday that a body found in the River Seine was that of Katoucha Niane, a former top model for Yves Saint Laurent and other top designers who spoke out against female genital mutilation after quitting the catwalks.

The body of former top model Katoucha Niane has been found in the river Seine.

Paris judicial police said her body was found Thursday near the Garigliano bridge in Paris. Police said an autopsy showed no signs of foul play, pointing to the possibility that she may have accidentally fallen into the river.

She was a victim of FGM herself.

A few weeks ago, Katoucha was promoting her book “In My Flesh”, in which she was telling about how her own female circumcision happened. She has been an anti female genital mutilation activist, fighting against this ancestral practice and has even founded her own association “ Katoucha against FGM” to help achive her goal.

It's a shame but when I read about this, I couldn't shake the feeling that she had been PUSHED by the he-man woman hater's club. Just saying.

Ricin found in Vegas hotel room.

But of course there's no link to terrorists.

(I always take my ricin when I go on vacation, don't you?)

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said Friday there does not appear to be a link to terrorists.
-end-

'Moslem' flap stirs al Qaeda message boards

Obama, in his whatever you do, 'don't call it Moslem' garb is damned if he does, and damned if doesn't. (h/t The Religion of Peace.)

Al Hesbah is one of al Qaeda’s main cyber mouthpieces. It has been cited numerous times by name in official communiqués issued by bin Laden’s terror network, been featured in propaganda films produced on behalf of mujahideen organizations, including al Qaeda.
Its message boards offer key insights into the mindset of al Qaeda supporters and its collective knowledge base.

So those who follow al Qaeda took notice this week when members of the mujahideen took notice of the image of Barack Obama dressed as a Somali elder on the Drudge Report. Evan Kohlmann of Global Terror Alert, and an NBC News terrorism analyst, was among those who watched as the Al Hesbah message board lit up. Al Qaeda sympathizers cited the image as evidence that American political leaders, particularly Hillary Clinton, want to portray Islam as a political negative.

“In this case,” Kohlmann said, “it would appear that the publication of the Obama photo, along with the insinuation of an intended negative political impact from being classified as ‘Muslim,’ has only served to antagonize the ranks of those who admire and support al Qaeda.”

Almost immediately, users, such as "Abu Omar" and "Abdullah," reply in unison, "May Allah kill them." Another echoes the author's sentiments that "Allah's curse" should be "on all of them."
“Not only are they enraged by the implication that being Muslim is something to be ashamed of,” Kohlmann added, “but moreover, they are nearly equally indignant about the much-rumored notion that Obama (who has repeatedly declared his faith in Christianity and his support for Israel) is somehow in league with them.”

In fact, Kohlmann added, al-Qaeda supporters are so insistent about their hatred for Obama that they have gone as far as to portray him as an "Iranian agent" secretly sent to take over the United States and fight a war against Sunni Muslims.

One user, with a login that suggests Saudi nationality, claimed in his response, "Obama is actually of Persian-Iranian origin. Many of the Persians emigrated to Kenya after the fall of the Persian empire... . We ask Allah to destroy Obama, Kerry, Clinton, America, its allies, and its slaves."

“As far as they are concerned,” Kohlmann said, “there is basically no difference between Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or even George Bush.”

Call me a school marm, den mother, nurse ratchet...

kitten with a whip, whatever, but I do love sanctions, especially when it's financial sanctions. There's nothing like putting the financial hurt on the bagmen. And these guys were acting as front men, fueling the ratlines into Iraq, providing aid and comfort to al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Kudos to Treasury for putting the hammer down on these guys.

More. Faster, please.

US Sanctions Four Syrians for Helping Iraq Terrorists

The United States Thursday imposed sanctions against four Syrians accused of helping facilitate the flow of money, weapons and foreign fighters to the "al-Qaida in Iraq" group. (ed. note: I'd bet cash money that Obama doesn't know about this.) The State Department said Syria remains the primary transfer point for aid to Iraqi extremists. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The action by the Treasury Department, the second of its kind in a week (ed. note: and these involved a relative of Bashir! Paging Madame Speaker...), freezes any assets the four Syrians may have in U.S. banks and outlaws all U.S. business dealings with them.

The targets of the action are an Iraqi-born Syrian - Badran Turki Hishan al-Mazidih, also known as Abu Ghadiyah, and his brother and two cousins.

The Treasury Department said Abu Ghadiyah is the principal figure in a network that has provided money, fake passports, safe houses and other services for foreign fighters transiting Syria to join al-Qaida in Iraq.



It said the other three men helped coordinate the group's activity inside Iraq including attacks on members of the U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi security forces, suicide bombings, and the killing of al-Qaida in Iraq opponents.

Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey said in a written statement that Syria has been a "transit station" for foreign terrorists going to Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

At a news briefing here, State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey credited the Syrian government with some improved efforts in curbing the cross-border traffic, but said there is a lot more the Damascus authorities could do:

"The fact that we are sanctioning individuals who currently reside in Syria, because of their participation in, and support for al-Qaida in Iraq, is a clear indication that there is a long way to do on the part of the Syrian government to take the necessary actions to really be a valid partner in fighting terrorism, rather than being a facilitator and an enabler," he said.

Last week, the Treasury Department sanctioned a prominent Syrian businessman and relative of President Bashar al-Assad, Rami Makhluf, for alleged efforts to undermine the governments of Iraq and Lebanon.

Spokesman Casey called Syria's overall record on terrorism "pretty abysmal," and said the Bush administration is constantly considering what more can be done to convince the Syrian government to change its behavior.

A 2003 Act of Congress called on the President to invoke a long list of sanctions against Syria, unless he deemed it in the U.S. national security interests not do to so.

President Bush has enacted some of the measures under the Syria Accountability Act, notably a partial trade ban, but has withheld others including severing diplomatic contact with Syria.

Casey said closing the U.S. embassy in Damascus is an option the administration has chosen not to exercise, in order to keep an open channel of communication with Syria, even though a full ambassador has not been posted there since 2005.

Does anybody know the Danish translation for...

Payback is a Bitch? (courtesy of the fine folks over at Eye On The World.)

Surprise surprise, faster than a speeding bullet, the Danish authorities have summoned the Sudanese ambassador in Denmark and told him that of the $405 million owed to Denmark by Sudan, the Danes will not be granting the Sudanese any debt relief. Something the rest of the Western donors to Sudan are considering. Isn't payback a bitch?
-end-

Poor Prince Harry. Or not.

Is Prince Harry actually beating the press like a mule?

He's getting yanked because of the leak of his tour of duty.

There was doubt Friday over how much longer Prince Harry would stay in Afghanistan, after the defence ministry in London confirmed he has been there for more than two months fighting the Taliban.

And the actual amount of time left in his deployment is not yet known.

There's a lots of scuttlebutt that people are peeved about the so-called media leak - but have you seen the news coverage of this since it was "leaked"? There are articles galore, fantastic photos and I haven't had time to look today, but I bet there's video out there, too. This was a well thought out public relations extravaganza and propaganda set piece. Bravo! Well done!

Not only does Prince Harry look like a hero and with his service boost the spirits of freedom loving people everywhere, it also allows him to stand up tall and extend his middle finger to the Taliban and al Qaeda(hah-missed me!) then turn around and beat the press like a mule for leaking his location - and questioning his honor.


"Of British public reaction, Harry said he hoped it would be positive and rounded on some commentators who branded him a coward for not going to Iraq, saying, "hopefully, they'll eat their words"

That's my spin and I'm sticking to it.

Speaking of spin and this is soooo ironic (if true): The Australian publication NewIdea had "no idea" the embargo on the Prince's tour was in place.

The skinny on the leak is here.

But details of his time in combat were published in Australian magazine New Idea and picked up by the US-based website the Drudge Report after 10 weeks on the front line. New Idea first published its story on its website on January 7 and then in its subsequent magazine edition German women's magazine "Frau Im Speigel" also ran a story earlier this week entitled "Prince Harry in Iraq?"

Alas, it wasn't until Drudge broke the story that it really took off.

And if by chance you DID miss Harry's media-lanche, Gateway Pundit has a good sampling.
(Hey, I know you guys are busy. That's why I'm here!)


Update: And yes, there is video.

-end-

There will be more demands once we signal our submission

Per Klein Verzet the political pressure on Geert Wilders is growing very intense.

And in the hopes of offending a few Moslems out there, let me just say it looks like Dutch politicians of every stripe are pig-piling on. They are laying the guilt on Geert like nobody's business and it all must be getting pretty intense. I'm wondering if he has found anyone with the balls to actually air the movie. Will he just air it on the website http://www.fitnathemovie.com/? (which is still under construction, BTW.)

God bless Geert, though. It sounds like there's still a lot of fight left in the old boy. He's going to need it.

Today the Dutch Christian Democratic Party (CDA), part of the coalition government with the Socialist party, has urged Geert Wilders not to release his Islam critical film named Fitna. Their parliamentary leader Pieter van Geel, thinks the expected consequences are too severe and does a [moral] appeal to Geert Wilders:

“this has nothing to do with the freedom of speech, it has to do with taking responsibility for the possible consequences about the safety of [the] Dutch people and our economy”

Wilders response was short: “they can go to hell”...

Only well known Dutch Arabist Hans Jansen had some decent comments on this whole issue:

The threats out of the Islamic world, that is the Jihad. The government is in fact capitulating. It's a surrender to the forces of tyranny. And if we do, it'll not be the end. There will be more demands once we signal our submission.

In other Motoon/Fitna news (also per Klein Verzet) Egypt has rejected Denmark and the Netherlands' participation in the Cairo Film Festival. You know that's got to tick off the Dhimmi film crowd.

Gee, I guess that means they won't be showing FITNA then!!!!
-end-

Obama's Mama

We're not in Kansas anymore, Stanley Ann.

"She was not a standard-issue girl of her times...

"She touted herself as an atheist, and it was something she'd read about and could argue,"

"the only child was a ... daughter of a father who wanted a boy so badly that he named her Stanley -- after himself."

"Stanley Ann Dunham's formative years, spent not on the Great Plains but more than 1,800 miles away on a small island in the Pacific Northwest, Mercer Island. "

"In 1955, the chairman of the Mercer Island school board, John Stenhouse, testified before the House Un-American Activities Subcommittee that he had been a member of the Communist Party. "

Verrry interesting insight into BHO's personal family drama. Was mommie a Commie? Read it all at the link.

-end-

Blackford Oakes R.I.P.

The Original "Architect"

William F. Buckley, Jr.

1925-2008

The tributes to William F. Buckley Jr have been numerous and well deserved. With his smarts, wit and style, he personified the type of man I have always been attracted to. He had a libertarian streak that showed he was a thinking man and his love for the English language was truly a sight to behold. When I lived in NY during the 80's I followed the exploits of he and his glamourous wife, Pat, on the pages of W and the NY papers. In addition, Mr. Buckley had made my "10 people I would most like to sit next to on a cross country flight" short list. (in first class, of course)

Most people knew him as the Architect of Modern Conservatism, but being young, stupid and liberal, I had no clue about all that at the time. No, I met WFB through his Blackford Oakes novels.

Blackford Oakes is the suave protagonist of a series of spy novels set during the Cold War. I remember them as being cracking good reads with a pro Western bent. It was refreshing to read a pro-western spy novel where the good guys REALLY are the good guys. If you're interested in spy thrillers with excellent dialogue and a clever political and historical backstory you might just want to give him a read.

So here we are. In my mind's eye, I am seeing him standing with his arm around Pat at a fabulous cocktail party in the sky, cigarettes and cocktails at the ready, his head is thrown back and he is laughing his marvelous laugh. So long, Blackie. May the Lord bless and keep you William F. Buckley, Jr.

(More on his life, an archive of his articles posted at the National Review, and a list of the Blackford Oakes novels can be found beneath the fold.)




The announcement of his death by the editors of the The National Review ,"William F. Buckley, Jr. RIP", can be foundhere and an interesting obit from the SF Chronicle can be found here.

Salon takes a look at his public life, career as an author, editor and his year spent as a CIA spy here. Find the archive of his National Review articleshere.


The Blackford Oakes Novels from Wikipedia:

Saving the Queen - Set in 1952. Oakes' first mission. He goes to England looking for a British double agent.

Stained Glass - Oakes is sent to keep tabs on a German politician who is trying to unify East and West Berlin against the wishes of both American and Soviet intelligence agencies.

Whos On First - Set in 1956 during the space race and uprising in Hungary.

Marco Polo, if You Can - Set in 1958. Oakes is captured while flying a U2 aircraft over Soviet airspace.

The Story of Henri Tod - Set in 1961. Oakes is in Germany during the Berlin Wall crisis.

See You Later, Alligator - Set in Cuba in the early 1960s, Oakes meets Che Guevara and tries to ease tensions between Cuba and America after the Bay of Pigs incident.

High Jinx - Set in 1954. Oakes works behind the scenes to avoid an internal Soviet power struggle that could lead to a Stalin protégé gaining in power in Moscow.

Mongoose R.I.P. - Set in 1963. Oakes is in Cuba working to overthrow Castro after the Cuban missile crisis. Tucker's Last Stand – Set in 1964. Oakes is in Vietnam to cut off Viet Cong supply lines.

A Very Private Plot – Oakes in 1995 is called to testify about operations he conducted in the 1980s, especially one in particular involving a domestic Soviet plot to assassinate Mikhail Gorbachev.

Last Call for Blackford Oakes – Set in 1987, Oakes confronts the infamous Soviet defector, Kim Philby.

UK: Bobbies to study Koran and learn Sharia law

WTF?

It's something called the APCO (as in Appeasement Cooties?) Prevent program and is expected to receive final approval shortly. All I can say is what a colossal waste of time, money and effort. Get ready for more of the same multi-culti mumbo jumbo that's gotten us where we are in the first place.

Police will be trained on the importance of sharia law and the Koran to Muslim communities, under new plans to fight extremism. The lessons in Islamic faith and culture will become part of the formal training of constables working in towns and cities across the country.

Chief constables say that, by understanding the community they are policing, officers will build better relationships.


These could prove crucial in rooting out extremism and preventing a terrorist attack, according to the Association of Chief Police Officers.

But critics have described the plan as "politically correct thinking".

Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley, said: "Police officers are not there to implement sharia law. They are there to implement British law.

"This idea is misguided. We will only get community cohesion when everybody signs up to being British and following British law."

Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, said: "Of course it is sensible for the police to have an understanding of the Koran and sharia law as long as we do not allow the situation to slip so that sharia law is regarded on an equal basis with British law. British law is and always must be pre-eminent."

Under the Acpo plans, police will not have to learn the "depth and complexity" of sharia law, but would be expected to understand Islamic culture - which includes sharia law and the Koran.

It is part of a wide-ranging strategy to prevent extremist ideas gaining hold in primary schools, colleges, the internet and prisons. Other initiatives in the 40-page strategy include guidance to parents on how to stop children searching for extremist websites, and intervening where convicted terrorists are suspected of spreading hate in prison. It includes a stark assessment about how far police have to go in building trust with Muslim communities.

The so-called Prevent strategy says: "Research last year revealed that the police service would be very low on the list of agencies that the Muslim community would turn to if they had concerns about a member of their community who embraced violent extremism.

"The police service has a long way to go in building a relationship of trust around these issues."

The Chief Constable in charge of the strategy, West Yorkshire's Norman Bettison, said: "We work closely with communities and the majority of police training at the moment in this area is done in partnership with Muslim organisations.

"We are building on this basis of training and emphasising that a basic principle of policing is that officers work with and should understand the communities they are policing.

"The Acpo Prevent strategy recognises this in the context of non-Muslim officers working with Muslim communities.

"These issues can be complex and include nationality, community and religious issues, all of which are interwoven.

"That is what we are trying to get across to officers in our training. The depth and complexity of sharia law is not part of this training.

"The strategy remains in draft form at present and I expect it to be formally adopted by chief officer colleagues after further feedback from partners and communities."

Last month, the Archbishop of Canterbury sparked a ferocious row by saying the adoption of certain aspects of sharia law in the UK "seems unavoidable".
Dr Rowan Williams said the UK has to "face up to the fact" that some of its citizens

do not relate to the British legal system. He said Muslims should not have to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty".

Prince Harry in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban

Godspeed, Prince Harry.

Prince Harry, third in line to the throne, has been on a secret tour of Afghanistan, it emerged today.

The Prince has been on active duty in the country since mid-December but his three-month deployment has not been reported because of a Ministry of Defence agreement with news organisations, including The Times.

The prince has been a "magnificent soldier" and an "inspiration to all of Britain".

Breaking the embargo on the news:

"...the Drudge Report in the US, an Australian magazine New Idea and the German daily Bild have broken world embargoes on the development. CNN had also "debated internally on the merits of reporting Harry at war".

-end-

Pimp my ride, Il Duce style.

It is a car that oozes power and history.

And despite it's history, you have to admit it is a sweet looking ride.

Specially made in 1935 for Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, this Alfa Romeo 6C 2300Pescara Spyder is set to fetch up to £800,000 at auction.

The rare two-seater sports car was built as a gift for Il Duce after he intervened to stop the car manufacturer going into liquidation during the Great Depression.

Alfa Romeo made just 60 of the 6C 2300 Pescara cars. Chassis number 700635, made for Mussolini, is thought to be the sole surviving Spyder. Mussolini had the engine tuned from 68bhp to 95bhp and had a fold-out "dickey" seat fitted to provide an optional rear passenger seat.

And I found this little factoid regarding fascism and "alternative fuels" fascinating:

The car retains traces of the partial alcohol fuelling system used during the race, when the fascist regime was promoting alternative fuels in the face of stringent petrol sanctions.




Il Duce and his Spyder in happier days.

Kidnapped CBS mystery journalist reported in good health

But really, how good can THAT be when you are kidnapped by terrorists?

A British CBS journalist kidnapped in the southern Iraqi city of Basra more than two weeks ago is in good health but remains in captivity, according to an Iraqi source.

News agency Associated Press has reported that the Briton, who works for the American television network CBS but who has not been officially named, was still in Basra and negotiations were continuing for his release.

Our prayers continue for his safe release.

-end-

Sudan: Pro Al Qaeda graffiti appear overnight around the country

But there's no al Qaeda there. Nope. No siree.

The walls in the Sudanese capital as well as another major city have been smothered with Graffiti supporting the Al-Qaeda terrorist Islamic militant group, multiple sources told Sudan Tribune.

Residents of Khartoum and Omdurman woke up to paintings showing Islamic symbols such as the crescent with the words “Al-Qaeda Organization in Sudan” on them.

The pro-government Al-Rayaam said that the drawings appeared in Al-Thawra, Al-Harah Al-Sadisah and Ali Abd Al-Latif Street close to the US embassy.

But Sudanese security officials talking to Al-Rayaam downplayed the importance of these drawings saying it is the “work of children”.

How about this, this and this? Is this the work of children as well?

And what about these remarks from President Bashir at a rally where a "small group carried a banner urging al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to attack Denmark" and the president vowed:

"We tell you that no Dane will foul the land of Sudan again."
-end-

Obama campaign engaged in illegal electioneering?

Wee doggies!

Central Ohioans Against Terrorism has the lowdown on possible illegal electioneering in Ohio Mosques by Barack Hussein Obama.

An email is circulating from an Obama campaign official calling for volunteers to spread out to all of the area mosques in Central Ohio this coming Friday for afternoon prayers to bring in the vote for Barack Hussein Obama (thanks to my friend ***** who forwarded me the email):

Thanks so much for volunteering to help Senator Barack Obama turn out the Muslim vote inshalla. On Friday March 29th we want to have Muslim volunteers pray at the Mosques during Juma at around 12:45. After prayer when people are socializing outside we want to have the volunteer pass out Obama civil rights literature, faith based literature, general literature, stickers and bumper stickers. In addition we want the volunteers to emphasize that the election is the following Tuesday and encourage them to vote. That way we can reach every Muslim that went to Mosque the Friday before the election inshalla. Attached is a list of every Mosque in Columbus, if we have missed one please let me know ASAP. In addition if there is a particular Mosque you would prefer to attend Juma at and volunteer let me know. To accomplish this we need to have a training/meeting and have volunteers pick up the necessary materials before volunteers go to the Mosques. We will be having a training/meeting at 9:30 A.M on March 29th at the Obama campus office 2240 N. High Street Columbus Ohio 43201. I will be providing everyone with more information as we get closer to Friday. Please feel free to contact me through email, or call me at 352-874-1195. If my phone is not on please leave me a voice mail with you number and I will get back to you right away. Also please feel free to pass this on to any brothers or sisters who support Senator Obama and would not mind volunteering for just half a day. Thanks again for everything. SincerelyAhmad S. Khan.

Now, there's no way for the Obama campaign to distance themselves from this potentially illegal effort as the scheduled meeting will be taking place in the Obama OSU campus headquarters. While the mosques themselves might have plausible deniability (we didn't know they were going to show up), it appears that the Obama campaign may be involved in illegal electioneering by deliberately targeting tax exempt institutions.

-end-

Speaking of Geert Wilders

Klein Verzet has a depressing take about the reaction of Dutch authorities to today's threats against Geert Wilders.

It's like it's 1935 all over again.

While Dutch news papers opened today with headlines like “Jihad against Wilders” and “Al-Qaeda gives dead penalty” (see Kleinverzet story here), the Dutch still don’t pull together to protect their own freedoms. It's like if it's 1935 all over again. The Dutch just don't want any fuss.

Thus Dutch ministers Hirsh Ballin (Justice) and Verhagen (Foreign affairs), as real dhimmis should, told parliamentary member Geert Wilders this week, they are expecting much damage because of his film. They fear for the reputation of the Netherlands, trade and the Dutch abroad.

In the same conversation justice minister Hirsh Ballin warned Wilders that they can prosecute him. His justices are already investigating if they can prosecute him for voiced opinions about Islam in the past. Wilders has complained about the intimidation of the Dutch government.

The only bright spot in the article is that a few days ago KRO, the Dutch Catholic version of PBS announced a 45 minute film to counter Wilders' film, Fitna saying:

“The film will couple violent and intolerant bible text to current events, just like the film of Party For Freedom leader Wilders does with the Koran” a newspaper reported.

Now, a few days later they are changing their tune because:

After “extensive research about the coupling of bible citation to actual political events and violence resulted in a lack of facts for a journalistically approvable production”.

(ed.note: unh-huh. Gee, is it because unlike the KORAN, there are no acts of modern day violence able to be traced back to the Bible?)
-end-

How Pakistan got their YouTube groove back...

Youtube acted like good dhimmis and caved, removing the Wilders clip. (Which clip was it I wonder? Anyone know?)

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Pakistan's telecoms regulator lifted restrictions on YouTube after a video criticizing Islam was taken down.The video clip in question features a Dutch lawmaker who claims Islam is fascist and prone to inciting violence, according to the AP. On Friday, Pakistan lawmakers, who consider the clip "blasphemous", ordered access to YouTube shut down.
-end-

UK: Undercover Mosque makers to sue police for libel

Police allege fakery in program that ripped the veil off the Moslem extremism in their midst.

Channel 4 said yesterday it would pursue a libel claim against West Midlands Police and the Crown Prosecution Service for statements made following the broadcast of an investigative documentary on British Muslims.

The Dispatches programme, "Undercover Mosque", which was shown in January last year, used hidden cameras to expose supposed Islamic extremism in British mosques. It featured preachers speaking on the condemnation of non-Muslims, the intellectual inferiority of women, and calling for the murder of Jews and homosexuals.

After the programme was broadcast West Midlands Police launched an investigation which concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any of the speakers.

Channel 4 claimed yesterday that comments by West Midlands Police and the CPS about the programme were libellous. In a statement on behalf of the Dispatches editor, Kevin Sutcliffe, and Hardcash Productions it said libel proceedings had been started. "The statements made by both West Midlands Police and the CPS were completely unfounded and seriously damaging to the reputation of the programme makers," it said. "We fully support this action as we feel that it is the only way to vindicate their reputations and to prove this was a responsible piece of public interest journalism."
-end-

NYT: McCain not eligible to run for President

Because of where he was born?

McCain’s Canal Zone Birth Prompts Queries About Whether That Rules Him Out

It sure seems kind of early for the NY Times to be acting this desperate, doesn't it?

For the record: John Sydney McCain was born on August 29, 1936, at the Coco Solo Air Base in the then-American-controlled Panama Canal Zone to Navy officer John S. "Jack" McCain, Jr. (1911–1981) and Roberta (Wright) McCain (b. 1912).

Bonus NYT coverage: The last sentence in this article, Obama Fights False Links to Islam?

This version CORRECTS to show that elementary school in Jakarta was not Catholic.

-end-

It's a miracle I tell you! Obama's face appears...in a potato!

Do you feel faint?


Read all about it here.

-end-

Dhutch Dhimmitude on Dhisplay

The actual burkini in dhispute.

How it all went dhown.

The young woman was ordered out of an indoor pool in the northeastern city of Zwolle last Thursday after only five minutes in the water with her two-year-old son. The pool manager said users found burkinis objectionable so the woman — a convert named Liselotte Buitelaar — should swim only in special hours set aside for separate groups. Like the obese, who have their own special hours, he told the daily Dagblad van het Noorden (English here). The manager said he was afraid other swimmers would stop coming if they saw a burkini there. “It costs me clients. Money is money,” he told the daily Trouw.

What the Reuters article above dhidn't dhiscuss.

Hanzebad pool director Hans Meijer told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the facility has for several years been offering separate hours for female swimmers, to accommodate particularly the needs of religious Muslim women.

Dhisgusting.

NRC.next reports that a swimming pool in the eastern city of Zwolle has relented and will now allow women wearing a burkini to use the pool during normal opening hours.

The burkini is a combination of a burqa and a bikini and allows devout Moslem women to go swimming without revealing their hair or their bodies.

It actually resembles a scuba diver’s wetsuit far more than it does an itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny yellow polka dot bikini.

Last week, the Zwolle swimming baths made the headlines in the Dutch papers after it refused to allow a woman wearing a burkini to use the pool on the grounds that it did not conform to the regulations regarding swimsuits. However, after talks with the city council, the organisation has reversed its decision and Moslem women will be allowed to use the pool while wearing the burkini.

A lone voice crying out in the burkini wilderness
Netwerk sent a reporter wearing the Islamic-style swimsuit to swimming pools to gauge the reactions. The fiercest reaction shown was by a Muslim man, who said the burkini was an example of oppression of women and tolerating it an example of the influence that orthodox Islam is gaining in the Netherlands.

-end-

UK: Hizb ut Tahrir vote to reject democracy.

"We need to return to our roots. Our vision is to change the world, not join silly little parties.

That sure sounds like ka-boom to me!

In a heated debate held last night at the London Muslim Center in Whitechapel, approximately 150 Muslims sided with the Dr. Abdul Wahid, leader of Hizb-ut-Tahrir as he said things like, "Taking part in the political process is "a waste of time" and then advocating "working outside the political system" while "concentrating on grass roots" initiatives such as building madrassas and mosques. (ed. note: Grass roots like this I wonder?)

And about that freedom of speech thing? They'd rather have adherence to religion, thank you very much. (ed. note 2: Then what are they doing in the secular West?)

The question is, will their Council funding be cut off as a result? I'm happy to report that is currently being discussed.

I would dearly love to see that happen.
-end-

Patched up US Embassy reopens in Belgrade.

Serb officials blames last week's attacks on "isolated vandals".

The embassy will not be issuing visas to Serb citizens until security improves, she added, because the visa section at the front of the building was effectively destroyed.

Since then...

Hoax bomb threats have been made against foreign stores and round-robin e-mails urge Serbs to boycott foreign products and close their accounts in foreign banks because "any dinar going through may be used to finance donor conferences".

Washington has issued a travel warning asking U.S. citizens to "strongly consider the risks of traveling to or remaining in Serbia".
-end-

Busy day for al Qaeda

Not only are they issuing a fatwa on Geert Wilders and the Netherlands, we've now got Zawahiri on tape vowing revenge for the death of al-Libi.

Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri vowed revenge for the killing of a top group commander in a suspected U.S. attack in Pakistan, speaking in a video posted on the Internet on Wednesday.

"No chief of ours had died of a natural death, nor has our blood been spilled without a response," Zawahri said in the video posted on an Islamist Web site, referring to the killing of Abu Laith al-Libi. "If one of our chiefs passes, another arises in his place," Zawahri said, without making a specific threat. "So seek help O Americans and agents of Americans ... from those seeking a way out ... They will be of no help to you," he said, referring to Muslim clerics who have criticized jihadist militants.

Al Qaeda condemns as sell-outs Muslim clerics, including renowned scholars, who have said its jihadist ideology is un-Islamic.

The video was produced by al Qaeda's media arm As-Sahab and carried English subtitles.
-end-

Awww! Poor Berkeley takes a hit after dissing Marines.

Too bad their city government could give a rip! (Although I bet cash money they all agree with the protestors, just disagree with their tactics. Kind of like moderate Moslems.)

Berkeley businesses take hit from Marine protests

Hotels, theater, restaurants have seen cancellations, with hostility from opponents of military branch cited.

Nearly a month after the Berkeley City Council refused to apologize to the U.S. Marine Corps for calling them "uninvited and unwelcome intruders," Berkeley businesses are feeling the backlash from people who do not want to spend their money in the city.
Code Pink's cavalier response? Let them eat sandwiches!

CodePink leaders, who went door-to-door Tuesday passing out sandwiches and pink window signs reading "Another Berkeley Business for Peace," deny that the protests are affecting downtown business.

"If they want to blame the downturn in the economy on a protest against the Marines, it's a pretty bad excuse," CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin said.

And get a load of what this elected official is saying!

City Councilwoman Dona Spring also does not view the protests as a problem. She said only the businesses on the same block are being affected.

Que sera, sera!

Update: Latest Berkeley Marine Recruiting station protest photos can be found here at Protest Shooter. Heh-heh. The patriots outnumbered the pinkos.

Also, according to Flopping Aces the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce will be honoring the Berkeley Marine recruiter at their annual Crab Feed on February 28. I guess we know which side of this debate that they are coming down on.
-end-

Chopping watermelons in simulated beheadings

More from the trial of Osama Bin London and his Paintball Bombers:

Terror trial exposes network of terror camps in bucolic England. And reveals the extent of people's cluelessness. It really is shocking to realize that people would see this kind of activity in this day and age and not become alarmed and drop a dime about it ...

Security officials believe hundreds of men — including a gang that made a failed attempt to bomb London's transit network — passed through camps across the English countryside.

Clad in mud-smeared combat fatigues, the young Muslim men trained in picturesque British farmland, hurling imaginary grenades, wielding sticks as mock rifles and chopping watermelons in simulated beheadings.

Here's where the idiots come in:

Ahmed told his trial that scores of tourists saw a training camp in Cumbria, northern England, in 2004. "They were kind of shocked at the big beards, but we spoke to them just to break the ice," he said.

Farmer Bruce Rowland, who rented a field to the men, told police he originally jokingly called the group "my Taliban" — before becoming concerned. At a paintballing center north of London, a female member of staff told officers how customers had laughed at the men.
-end-

Look who's wearing a No Snitch t-shirt at the BBC

BBC knew of link to failed 7/21 bombers, but felt under "NO OBLIGATION" to notify police.

(Is this the same BBC as the home of paid sources and "disappeared" content, BBC?)

A BBC producer failed to give police information that would have helped track down the July 21 bombers, the trial was told.

Don't Panic, I'm Islamic (ed. note: Still trying to find a copy of this video which is now "no longer available"), which featured the group paintballing and an interview with Mohammed Hamid, was shown on BBC2 on June 12, 2005.

Nasreen Suleaman, the producer, told the court that Hamid said he would use his £300 fee to settle the fine he had been given by magistrates for racially abusing two policemen at his Oxford.

Called as a defence witness, Miss Suleaman admitted that she had spoken to Hamid in the days following the July 21 attacks and found out he knew the wanted men.

She said she thought he was scared the fugitives might try to call him but did not contact the police because she felt under "no obligation" to do so.

Miss Suleaman claimed she told BBC managers of the situation but no one passed on the information to the authorities.

Who was the "authority" in question is a good question and Harry's Place is asking it.

I don't know about the BBC management structure. Did she report what she had been told to the producer of the programme, Phil Rees?

Phil Rees, who produced the show, told the court that he was impressed by Mr Hamid’s sense of humour while looking for someone to appear in the documentary. He said: “I think he had a comic touch and he represented a strand within British Muslims. I took it as more like a rather Steptoe and Son figure rather than seriously persuasive. I saw him as a kind of Cockney comic.” Mr Rees, who now works for the Arabic TV station al-Jazeera, gave Mr Hamid a signed copy of his book Dining With Terrorists.

More about al Qaeda sympathizer Phil Rees can be found here. Oh and Phil? You can take your"media have a responsibility to show both sides of the debate" and stick it in your ear. There's no debating a man with a bomb, you fool.

What SHOULD have happened. BBC: Editorial Guidelines in Full: War, Terror and Emergencies.

We have a legal obligation under the Terrorism Act 2000 to disclose to the police, as soon as reasonably practicable, any information which we know or believe might be of material assistance in:

preventing the commission of an act of terrorism anywhere in the world.
securing the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of a person in the UK, for an offence involving the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.

It is a criminal offence not to disclose such information, punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Any situation where BBC staff may be in potential breach of the Terrorism Act must be referred to Controller Editorial Policy and Programme Legal Advice.

To refer this breach of the Terrorism Act click here.

"Bring us the throat of this unbeliever"

Al Qaeda issues Fatwa against Geert Wilders.

The populist de Telegraaf opens with news that al-Qaeda has handed down a death sentence against Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders for his not yet released film about the Koran. "Jihad against Wilders" is splashed in huge letters across its front page. The paper writes that the al-Qaeda terrorist network has called on its followers to "bring us the throat of this unbeliever" and has also called for the Netherlands to be terrorised to prevent the film being shown.

Kenyan town to protest Obama pic

After FRIDAY PRAYERS (wink-wink)

They're "offended" that anyone would think Obama did something "wrong" on his visit.

Residents of a remote Kenyan town plan to demonstrate on Friday after a photo of U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama in Somali dress took centre stage in an increasingly acrimonious race for the White House.

The picture, which appeared on a U.S. Web site, showed the Illinois senator donning a traditional white headdress and robes during a 2006 trip to Wajir in northeastern Kenya.

What could be wrong with going around looking like Haji on "Johnny Quest"?

-end-

Can't find Islamophobia in the US?

Hell, just hire some actors and make the whole thing up!

CAIR is behind it, of course.

Michelle Malkin has more. As does LGF.

Want to let ABC know what you think of their stupid stunt? Contact them here.

Speaking of the liberal narrative, actors and making stuff up. A casting director has been fired for issuing a casting call looking for extras with that "West Virginia inbred look". She has since been fired.

-end-

Osama bin London: top UK terror recruiter found guilty

Mohammed Hamid: Paintball and camping trips

A man said to be one of the most important recruiters for Islamist extremism in the UK has been convicted at the end of a major trial.

Mohammed Hamid, 50, of east London, was found guilty of training men in secret camps in the Lake District and New Forest to prepare them to fight abroad.

Among those to have passed through Hamid's camps were the four failed suicide bombers of 21 July 2005.

All four of the men responsible for the failed bombings were friends of Hamid.

The conviction marks a major success for counter-terrorism policing with Hamid regarded as a key figure in extremist networks.

More at the link.
-end-

Pakistan: YouTube is back up

and we didn't cut service to 2/3 of the world.

We mean it!

A grim milestone approaches

And why do I feel like the Boston Globe just can't wait to remind us of this sad fact?

US Military deaths in Iraq at 3,973.

As of Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008, at least 3,973 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,234 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The AP count is three higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Tuesday at 10 a.m. EST.

I found these numbers revealing - not to denigrate their contributions or anything, thank God they are with us in this fight, but you sure can tell who's doing the heavy lifting here.

The British military has reported 174 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.

Since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq, 29,275 U.S. service members have been wounded in hostile action, according to the Defense Department's weekly tally.

God bless our troops. And may God also bless the troops of our allies.

THE FALLEN SOLDIER

Don't weep for me

O' land of the free,

When it was my time to fall

'Twas for my country's call

'Twas for the land that I loved

That I gave my all,

And for the land that I loved

I did freely give,

And in her freedom

and her courage

I'll continue to live.

Written by Patricia Krull.

Originally dedicated to the men who lost their lives

in another conflict with the Mohammedans,

Somalia.

-end-

Ruh-roh.

Moonbat explosions in 5-4-3-2-.....

IRS investigates Obama's church.

The IRS is investigating the United Church of Christ over a speech Barack Obama gave to its national meeting last year after he became a candidate for president.

Obama is a member of the church.

A spokesman for the denomination says it received notice of the inquiry on Monday.

The IRS says there is reason to believe the speech violated restrictions on political activity for nonprofit groups. The denomination denies any wrongdoing.

Church officials say they had consulted with lawyers before the Democrat's June 2007 speech and made clear before Obama's address that he was speaking as a church member, not a political candidate.

Fifteen years ago today...

was the first World Trade Center bombing.

I was out of the stock and bond business by then but had a friend who was at a meeting at the restaurant, Windows of the World. She was 8 months pregnant and heavily so. She had to walk all the way down from the 107th floor in the cold and dark, breathing thick black smoke. She made it, but was hospitalized for a few days with respiratory problems. The baby was fine.

I still curse you bin Laden.

-end-

UK: Muslim medics in hospital row

The Heathens are at the health care gate, my friends.

Here's another group of Moslem medical personnel that are refusing to follow medical procedures in WASHING THEIR HANDS. It's IMMODEST and they would rather QUIT than comply. (ed. note: Please do.) They've already been ACCOMMODATED with regards to special changing areas. Is this some sort of weird Medical Jihad they're trying to pull?

Problems with regards to MRSA and c. diff have gotten so bad it has even caused the Health Department to issue regulations for DOCTORS with regard to handwashing practices.

HEALTH officials are having crisis talks with Muslim medical staff who have objected to hospital hygiene rules because of religious beliefs.

Women students at Liverpool’s Alder Hey children’s hospital have raised objections to removing their arm coverings in theatre and to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands because it is regarded as immodest.

Minutes of a clinical academics’ meeting at Liverpool University revealed that female Muslim students at Alder Hey children’s hospital had objected to rolling up their sleeves to wear gowns.
Similar concerns have been raised at Leicester University, and Sheffield University also reported a case of a Muslim medic who refused to “scrub” as this left her forearms exposed.

Some students have said that they would prefer to quit the course rather than expose their arms, but hygiene experts said no exceptions should be made on religious grounds.

A Royal Liverpool hospital spokesman said they had experienced issues of Muslim staff not sanitising their forearms with alcohol gel although this had now been addressed.

Dr Steve Ryan, medical director at Alder Hey said that while the “bare below the elbows” dress code is a matter of patient safety, the trust would work with Muslim students to find a solution.

He said: “We specify bare below elbows, no wrist watches, nail varnish or false nails in clinical areas.

“Good hand hygiene is one of the most important and simplest actions we can take to prevent healthcare associated infections.

“A number of female Muslim students had approached the University of Liverpool to ask if we would provide facilities for them to change their outerwear and Hijab for theatre scrubs.

“We were pleased to accommodate this request and these facilities have now been incorporated.”

Dr Charles Tannock, a Conservative MEP and former hospital consultant, said: “These students are being trained using taxpayers’ money and they have a duty of care to their patients not to put their health at risk.

“Perhaps these women should not be choosing medicine as a career if they feel unable to abide by the guidelines everyone else has to follow.”

But the Islamic Medical Association insisted that covering all the body in public, except the face and hands, was a basic tenet of Islam.

It said: “No practising Muslim woman – doctor, medical student, nurse or patient – should be forced to bare her arms below the elbow.”

NEW Department of Health guidance introduced this month stipulates all doctors must be “bare below the elbow”.

The measure is deemed necessary to stop the spread of infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C.difficile), which have claimed the lives of hundreds.

Included in the rules are further infection control measures such as a ban on wrist watches, nail varnish, jewellery and false nails in clinical areas.

The code of practice will help NHS bodies to plan and implement how they can prevent and control healthcare- associated infections. It sets out criteria by which managers of NHS organisations are to ensure that patients are cared for in a clean environment and the risk of infections is kept as low as possible.

Barack Obama's career as a successful male model...

really took off after this ad for Shahid's Quarterly appeared.

Who knew?

(image courtesy of Jammie Wearing Fool)

Fitna: Batten down the hatches!

per Klein Verzet

Geert Wilder's controversial film, Fitna will be ready at the end of the week.

Dutch parliamentary member Geert Wilders has announced that his Islam critical film named “Fitna” will be ready at the end of this week. The film, he announced, will soon have it’s own website:

http://www.fitnathemovie.com/
(the site is still under construction a/o 2/26.)

Revealing fact is that the Dutch parliamentary member choose to host the website not from a server in The Netherlands, but from a server located in North America.

Presumably to hold it out of reach of the Dutch government.

Next week, says Wilders, he will start negotiating with Dutch broadcasters to get his 15 minute film broadcasted in The Netherlands. A process that, according to him, can take up to several weeks. This could be sign that the movie will not be released the end of this week. But it could also be a way to put pressure on the Dutch broadcasters who don’t want to broadcast the whole movie, because they all politically oppose Wilders,

but who at the same time would even sell their own mother for a scoop.

....
We keep you posted about the developments around the film Fitna. In the meantime, if people like to provide some free PR to the movie, they should create as many back links as possible to the website "fitna the movie". This can be done by simply placing links to www.fitnathemovie.com. This can be done on you're personal blog, other people's blog comments, discussion forums, websites, etc..

Oh no she didn't!

I've said it once, I'll say it again - I feel so sorry for Casey.

Oh, yes she did.

Dinah Lord readers know about Cindy's recent trip to Egypt to "do important human rights work".

We did not know she was on a Muslim Brotherhood dog and pony show and funded by the Muslim American Society.

Now we do.

"...she resurfaced in Cairo last week as a member of a delegation from the Muslim American Society which is in Egypt to protest against the military trial of 40 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

An important Cindyism follows:

If we [America] really want to promote democracy in this region then we cannot silence the voices of the Muslim Brotherhood because they're the moderate voice here and they are the ones who are actually working for democracy.

And good, old Cindy never disappoints when it comes to putting the "idiot" in "useful idiots", does she?

I didn't really understand a lot of what was going on. There was a lot of yelling in Arabic. They weren't the right people to get us a meeting with Suzanne Mubarak ... I left a letter for Madame Mubarak and they promised that she would see it.
-end-

Welcome to the Sharia Board

Get your fatwas here, kids.

Here's a sampling and let me tell you, you can't make this stuff up:

#1: Salam. I would like to know which brand of paper towels/tissues is safe to use in USA. I used to use Bounty, but when I contacted them they said they use pork derived materials. Please advice me which product I may use.

Okay, call me crazy, but I don't think the good Lord almighty cares about which paper towels/tissues I use. (ed. note: You notice the good Moslem doesn't mention toilet paper and you know what that means... gross.)

#2: I'm a student in a madrasa and Alhumdulilah i'm married for two years now and my husband is really far from me and is studying. I can't live without him. We talk on the phone for a about three hours every day and within our conversation we end up talking about sleeping together (which we haven't) and in the end i begin to have a lot of discharge. So will such talk bring the need for a shower? The discharge comes out but i'm still not satisfied i really want to sleep with my husband but he's really far away and it's not in his hands to bring me closer to him. And question number 2. If i think of our conversations about sleeping together will that be considered masturbation? And does that discharge bring the need to take a shower too? I know you have given many answers of this sort but i really wanted an answer specific to my question.

Honey, I'm telling you. Don't do it! You'll go blind and Moslem cabbies won't pick you up because you will have an unclean animal with you!

#3: After urinating and making istinja satisfactorily I made wuzu and offered the prayers. One day after I offered the prayer I was changing the dress I just happend to gently press the tip of my penis and noticed a small drop came out from my penis. Is this normal and the prayer I did was fine? Since then I have been noticing it a drop is there but it comes out if I just very lightly press the tip of the penis.

Ick. He just "happened" to gently press the tip of his penis - yeah, right.

Words fail me. These are the burning questions from the minds of Moslems, folks. Is there any wonder they are so effed up?

Check it out. There's a lot more at the site. And it's out of Chicago.

(Want to bet there are some Obama supporters in this crowd?)
-end-

Motoons: Over 1000 Danish websites hacked

More than a 1,000 Danish websites have been infiltrated following a new controversy over the publication of a cartoon that insults Islam.

The hacker, calling himself United Arab Hackers and reportedly from Saudi Arabia, inundated online forums with exploits and links to infiltrated Danish sites. It seems the hits were indiscriminate – common factor being “.dk” at the end of the URL, which means the website is based in Denmark.

Many of these sites appear to be small and local. The websites of international companies based in Denmark, such as dairy producer Lurpak and Carlsberg, were not affected.

The hacker claimed in his communiqué that he will continue to attack all Danish-related websites and promise to “forcefully respond to all those who insult Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)”.

Well, here you go Mr United Arab Hackers. Here's what I think about your prophet (panties be upon him)...

courtesy of The Islamic Threat

-end-

Shoppers take on the Iranian Fashion Police...

and win!

The video the Persian Pipsqueak doesn't want you to see!

Courtesy of Pajamas Media

The Iranian regime does its best to keep a tight rein on news outlets, but new media – cell phone video, YouTube, and the countless number of blogs and news forums in Farsi means that when large-scale protests against the regime occur in public they are impossible to completely conceal.

This is apparently what happened over the weekend. Sources have told PJM of a major public uprising over the weekend in Tehran – an account corroborated by other reports on the Web.

This is the story they tell: at approximately 7 pm on Saturday, February 23, the Ershad patrol, modesty police assigned to enforce clothing regulations, accosted and attempted to arrest a young woman at Goldis Shopping Mall, located in western Tehran, presumably because her dress was not sufficiently modest.

In recent weeks, the police squads charged with enforcing modesty have become more rigorous in their enforcement, with thousands of women detained, questioned, and arrested for violating hijab standards. Instead of meekly submitting to her fate, the woman fought back. A young man - it is unclear whether he was accompanying her - came to her defense and joined her in fighting the police. In an attempt to subdue – and humiliate him - the police grabbed the young man and threw him into the garbage can nearby.

That was when the large crowd, predominately made up of young people, rose up against the police and attempted to liberate the young woman themselves. Faced with a full-blown riot - complete with angry crowds with garbage cans being set on fire - the frightened police jumped into the van and fled the scene, except for one unfortunate officer who was left behind. The policeman was reportedly attacked and beaten by the mob.

The police returned, reinforced by a full-fledged anti-riot unit. To gain control of the situation, members of the unit fired warning shots into the air and threatened to fire directly into the crowd. There were reports of between 10-15 arrests.




(citizen journalism at work - the video is sideways for some reason. the reporter must be a tech wizard like me.)

Among the calls coming from the angry crowd after the police were first driven away:

“You have put us on since 1979 until now” (the Islamic Revolution of 1979) The crowd cheered after repeating the slogan multiple times.

Another slogan chanted repeatedly - accompanied by boos: “We do not want the Islamic regime”
The crowd continuously boos and heckles the police: “A revolution is happening” When a police vehicle approaches, there is a call: “Look this guy is entangled too” “He is going the wrong way”, “What the hell are you going to do?” “How many people do you think you can kill?”

Then, there are cries of “Death to the Police”

On the video, the voice of an individual – a citizen reporter - narrates: “They (police) arrested a girl and put her in the van, people rushed to free her from the police custody. The arresting officer let go of her and they started attacking him. The van belonging to the agents left the scene, not wanting to be hit by the people and left that officer behind. People ambushed him as he was running away from them and beat him up badly.”

-end-

The Maldives: Paradise for Pedophiles

Regular readers of Dinah Lord know that she has had a bee in her bonnet for some time regarding the Pedophile's paradise, The Maldives.

You can read all about it at: The Maldives, the UN, Sharia Law and child abuse.

Now, there's this...

Imam accused of serial pedophilia.

Ali Hassan, 66, Imam of Gnaviyani atoll Fuvahmulak, has been accused of molesting and raping a ten-year-old girl last Wednesday.

The gynaecologist at the island’s hospital, Dr Thajwar, told Minivan News there was conclusive evidence of rape and that the ten-year-old had been “sexually active.”

Police media co-ordinator Sergeant Shiyam confirmed that such a case was “under investigation,” but refrained from revealing any further information “due to the nature of the case.”

But local police said they were investigating other, similar allegations against the same suspect, who is currently out of the country.

Abdulla Ahmed, brother of the alleged victim, said that Ali Hassan had “groomed” the girl by giving her sweets and money before allegedly committing the crime. Mazeena Jameel, Director General of the Child Protection Authority, said international research indicates paedophiles either “threaten” or “bribe by giving presents” to the child they plan to abuse, as part of a “strategy” to gain access.


Staff Sergeant Hassan Shifau, who heads Fuvahmulak police station, told Minivan News that further allegations of child abuse against Ali Hassan were being investigated by Fuvahmulak police. But the investigations are hindered by the absence of Ali Hassan, who is out of the country for medical reasons, he added.

The family of the alleged victim also believe it was “not an isolated” incident. They accuse Ali Hassan of being a “serial molester.”Aishath Mohamed, 47, claims that Ali Hassan also molested her daughter, now 16 years old, seven years ago. However, Aishath said she had not gone to the authorities because the Imam was a “respected member of society”. She felt that pressing charges would “hurt her daughter” due to the social stigma attached to such an incident.

The families of both of Hassan’s alleged victims question whether justice will be served. In child abuse cases, there may no evidence of trauma on the victim’s body, argued Aishath Mohamed. This means that – unlike in last week’s case – there would be no way to prove her child had indeed been molested, besides the child’s evidence.

In child abuse cases, medical reports, witness accounts and victim statements can be used as evidence, State Attorney Hussein Shameem said. Shameem added that a draft bill on admissible and inadmissible evidence had been completed, and that this will clarify how expert opinion – such as a statement from a psychologist – can be used as evidence in courts of law.

Another case of accused child abuse is under investigation by Fuvahmulak police, but the accused man, Ahmed Shareef remains at large in the island while the investigation is ongoing.

This case comes after the Justice Ministry announced that sex offenders will face jail sentences rather than banishment under amendments brought to sentencing earlier this month. This is the second case of alleged paedophilia from Gnaviyani Atoll Fuvahmulak this month.

Kidnapped mystery CBS journalist - an update (of sorts).

I keep wondering about this guy despite the fact that he has fallen off the media's radar screen. This google entry from February 20 is the only thing I've been able to find over the last few days.

Photojournalist still missing British Journal of Photography, UK - Feb 20, 2008A CBS photojournalist was still being held in Iraq more than a week after he was kidnapped in Basra, as BJP went to press. Briton Richard Butler was ...

The link is dead. Perhaps because the British Journal of Photography had the temerity to use his name?

I continue to pray for Mr. Butler's safe release
-end-

Pakistan: Norway increases security at embassy

This, after closing their embassy in Kabul due to "unspecified" threats.

A Norwegian Foreign Ministry official said on Monday that Norway’s embassy in Islamabad had increased security measures after receiving an unspecified threat over the weekend. “We have taken several extra security measures after receiving a threat over the weekend while the embassy was closed,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kristin Melsom told AFP.

The Islamabad mission remained open, however, she said, refusing to divulge the nature of the threat or what security measures had been taken.

Norwegian news agency NTB however reported that the embassy had received a letter on Saturday warning that it would be attacked within a few days. The increased security at its Islamabad mission came just over a week after Norway closed its embassy in Kabul after receiving a threat. That embassy remains closed to the public, Melsom said.

-end-

How sweet it is...

I'm sure you've heard about Howard Dean's standing up and calling for John McCain to be investigated by the Federal Election Commission concerning his campaign's withdrawal from the public finance campaign scheme. Once again it would appear that our friends, the Democrats, are overreaching.

I'm not sure you've heard this:

Seriously complicating McCain's situation is the fact that four of the FEC's six slots are vacant, thanks to the Democratic Congress blocking President Bush's nominees to the commission. Since a forum cannot be convened in such circumstances, McCain may not be able to withdraw from the system.

This also means a hearing on Howard Dean's charges is unable to be convened. No quorum.

Can I have a little bwa-ha-ha-ha?

From Investor's Business Daily.

It's also important to note this:

Lawyers for the bank that provided a crucial $4 million line of credit to John McCain's campaign late last year said Monday that the loan agreement was carefully drafted to give McCain the opportunity to withdraw from public financing during the primary elections.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, the outside counsel for Fidelity & Trust Bank said the loan terms specifically excluded from the collateral any potential share of public matching funds the Arizona senator was entitled to receive.

The letter, from lawyers Matthew S. Bergman and Scott E. Thomas to McCain lawyer Trevor Potter, supports McCain's stance against claims that his withdrawal from public financing is in jeopardy.

Oh, and there is also this...

McCain and his lawyer, Potter, a former FEC chairman, have argued that McCain is entitled to turn down the primary matching funds in the same manner that Democratic presidential candidates Richard Gephardt, John Kerry and Howard Dean did in the 2004 primaries. Dean is now chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

-end-

Taliban: A fatwa on your wi-fi?

The Afghanis aren't happy with this latest threat.

Taliban demand night-time cell tower shutdown.

Reports out of Afghanistan say that the Taliban have threatened attacks on mobile phone companies unless "signals" are "stopped" at night. Reportedly the hardline Islamic militia believes that cell towers are being used to locate and track Taliban gunmen.

The BBC quotes Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujaheed as saying: "If those companies do not stop their signal within three days, the Taleban will target their towers and their offices." Reportedly the demand is for the "signal" to be cut off from 5pm to 3am local time.

The mobile companies have long been thought by the Taliban to be colluding with NATO and Coalition forces operating in Afghanistan, and in fact it would be surprising if they weren't. The Afghan government is heavily dependent on the international troops.

Use of the mobile networks for intelligence is an obvious step which is well-nigh certain to have been taken, just as governments have done in every country. And it's well known that masts can be used to locate a phone which is powered up.

What's less clear is why the Taliban have chosen to demand a shutdown of mast signals at night. Even the most paranoid phone-security advisers would normally suggest taking the battery out of one's phone, rather than menacing local cell operators unless they went off the air. (The idea of removing the battery is to guard against someone having modified the phone to switch itself on without the owner's knowledge.)

It could be that the Taliban want to operate their own networks, of course.


Micro/pico/femtocell equipment is widely available, and there's said to be a strong tradition in wild and woolly rural Afghanistan of unregulated, private wireless comms. It might be that guerrilla commanders merely want to clear other operators off the spectrum so that they can use it themselves.

Even so, Western military or spook electronic-intelligence units will still be able to intercept, identify, locate and track active mobile phones in an area of interest, even if they are communicating (or meant to be communicating) only with Taliban-controlled cells. The reported threats still don't make a huge amount of sense in terms of the reasons given.

Another possibility is that the Taliban simply want to deny ordinary Afghans phone service at night, perhaps to stop people reporting on militia movements and/or prevent them phoning for help if attacked. Or it might be that the Taliban - the Taliban press office, anyway - simply isn't up on the technical issues.

Or, it just could be that there's an element of good old-fashioned UK-suburban-style technofear mast phobia brewing among the hardcore religious zealots of Central Asia.

A Kissinger riff

for the Coen brothers to contemplate.

From Dr. Kissinger's speech at the Powerline Book of the Year Awards.

Terrorism, what we call terrorism, refers to a method. What terrorism represents is an assault by radical Islam on the political structure of the Islamic world, but in a deeper sense on the secular structure and international structure of anything, any society, within reach of Islam, which means almost every part of the world. That is a fundamental challenge. Therefore, to talk about withdrawal from any battlefield is to describe defeat. There is no way to escape the conflict with Islam by leaving Afghanistan or leaving Iraq. Now that is not only delusion and it is not something that will have long term consequences, it is something that would have almost immediate consequences. That is the fundamental problem of our period. That this is a war against radical Islam that has to be won.

-end-

YouTube in the UK accidentally blocked

due to Pakistani censorship.

Per a YouTube spokesman:

"For about two hours, traffic to YouTube was routed according to erroneous Internet Protocols, and many users around the world could not access our site.

"We have determined that the source of these events was a network in Pakistan.

"We are investigating and working with others in the internet community to prevent this from happening again."

More at the link.

Update: YouTube accidentally blocked for 2/3 of the world.
-end-

England: Believe it or not

A picture is worth a thousand words.

England on the verge of becoming the most crowded country in Europe.

England will be bursting at the seams within 25 years, with a fifth more people crammed in. Figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal there will be 464 men, women and children packed into every square kilometre by 2031, compared with 395 today.

That will be the equivalent of around 1,200 per square mile.

By next year, England will overtake Holland as the most crowded country in Europe. Around 70 per cent of population growth is from immigration, and much of the rest is accounted for by higher birth rates among recent immigrants. With "zero immigration" - the same number arriving as leaving - the population would rise to only 414 per sq km by 2031.


The figures were revealed in a letter to Tory MP James Clappison. The ONS said that by 2011 there will be 405 per sq km - the official measure of how crowded a country has become. This will rise to 450 by 2026.

The population density here is almost double that of Germany and quadruple that of France. Malta is more crowded, but is a small island with only 400,000 citizens, most of whom live in and around the city of Valletta.

Mr Clappison, a member of the home affairs select committee, said: "We urgently need to have a debate about how crowded Britain is going to become."

London and the South-East will suffer the greatest impact, along with the North-West. By 2056, the 521 per sq km in England will compare to 165 in Wales, 67 in Scotland and 153 in Northern Ireland.

Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said: "These projections show what might happen unless we take action now."

He said the Government was making sweeping changes to the immigration system, such as introducing a points-based system, to restrict the numbers who could come here to work and study.

Motoon violence continues to percolate around the globe

I still say, "screw 'em, if they can't take a joke." But that's just me.

The Sudan and Jordan are now seething according to the Copenhagen Post.

The Danish flag was burned in Jordan and Sudan's president has ordered a boycott of Danish goods in the wake of the media reprinting the Mohammed cartoons

Violent protests against the Danish media's reprinting of the infamous Mohammed cartoons are spreading quickly, as demonstrations have taken place in Jordan, Sudan, Pakistan and Indonesia over the past few days.

A press release from Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir's office ordered a national boycott on Danish goods Saturday and further threatened to expel Danish aid organisations and their employees working within the African nation.

Despite the statement from the Sudanese government, neither the Danish embassy in Khartoum nor the Foreign Ministry has yet received any official confirmation of the threats. In Jordan, demonstrators burned the Danish flag outside the embassy Monday, and in Indonesia demonstrators marched in protest last week. Muslim organisations across the Asian continent have promised more unrest over the next several days.

On Friday, Sheik Youssef el-Qaradawi, one of the world's most influential Sunni Muslim leaders, ordered Muslims worldwide to boycott Danish goods.

Even the Hamas Bunny is getting in on the act. In addition, a youth football "friendship match" between Denmark and Egypt has been cancelled due to an "unspecified security situation" but in reality it was really because of the Motoons.
-end-

Just for the record

Farrakhan hearts Obama.

Compares him to the Islam's founder, Fard Muhammad, who also had a white mother and black father.

"A black man with a white mother became a savior to us," he told the crowd of mostly followers. "A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall."

I swear to God, not only did I not know that Mohammed's parents were black and white, I did not know that Mohammed's first name was Fard, did you?

Huh. The things you learn...

-end-

Some items of note

Busy day here at El Rancho Lordo, possums. The Lord and Master is home with a bad sinus infection, an unfortunate casualty of his many overseas flights with bad air and our recent brush with Mardi Gras madness. Needless to say I have strapped on my old nursing helmet and I remain at his beck and call, not riding high in the blogging saddle.

In addition, I have been on some kind of weird security trip around here lately.

Perhaps it's reading things like this post about Australia over at mk's views or this article about the UK. (Just looking ahead, possums.) So today I had a security system installed in the house and tomorrow I hope to fire up the Lordmobile and do a drive by of this place. Scope the place out and see what's what, you know. Next step will be to inquire about the course "Introductory Course on Purchasing a Firearm, and Accessories,( includes shooting various Firearms). If that goes well, we'll move onto the "Introductory course on Safety and Introduction to Defensive Shooting". Someone please stop me if you hear me talking about uparmoring the Escalade, okay?

With all this security action going on I haven't been able to do much blogging, but I have been able to do some reading and have stumbled across some items of note. Allow me to point you in their direction:

Melanie Phillips talks about Kosovo, asking "Is this crazy, or is this crazy?" My reply: Melanie, it's crazier than a shithouse rat!

Next up, Victor Davis Hanson takes a look at Europe's "fascinating but unstable mix" and lays out the gravity of their situation and the real potential for WW3. He also reminds them they won't have George Bush to kick around anymore, raising the nightmare spectre of "a President Obama calling Sarkozy or Merkel and announcing, “I think we should co-chair a worldwide Islamic conference to hear out Iran’s grievances.” We could be looking at a world of hurt here, people.

Speaking of crazier than a shithouse rat AND a fascinating and unstable mix AND a world of hurt...Spengler at Asia Times Online takes a look at the Great White and Black Hope (well, that is what he is!) as he examines the women behind the man, Ann Dunham and Michelle Obama.

He sure doesn't mince words when he makes statements like these: "The probable next president of the United States is a product of his mother's revenge against the America she despised."

Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark!

-end-

Harvard changes gym hours to accommodate Moslemas

Dhimmi. Dhimmi. Dhimmi.

And now the Moslems are starting to call for it at Boston University, as well.

Harvard University has moved to make Muslim women more comfortable in the gym by instituting women-only access times six hours a week to accommodate religious customs that make it difficult for some students to work out in the presence of men.

Men have not been allowed to enter the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center during certain times since Jan. 28, after members of the Harvard Islamic Society and the Harvard Women's Center petitioned the university for a more comfortable environment for women.

Harvard Islamic Society's Islamic Knowledge Committee officer Ola Aljawhary, a junior, said the women-only hours are being tested on a trial basis. The special gym hours will be analyzed over Spring Break to determine if they will continue, she said.

Aljawhary said that she does not believe that the women-only gym hours discriminate against men."These hours are necessary because there is a segment of the Harvard female population that is not found in gyms not because they don't want to work out, but because for them working out in a co-ed gym is uncomfortable, awkward or problematic in some way," she said.

Though the policy was in part initiated by the school's Islamic group, Aljawhary said women-only hours are not a case of "minority rights trumping majority preference" and said women of different faiths have showed interest in the hours.

"We live together in one community, it only makes sense for everyone to compromise slightly in order for everyone to live happily," she said. "This matter is simple: Can't we just display basic decency and show tolerance and inclusion for people not a part of the mainstream majority?"

Make that members of a 7th century death cult happy to stay back-asswards and stupid.

Asshat alert....

Harvard junior Nick Wells said he believes the women-only hours are inconvenient for the residents that live near the facility and discriminate against men."It is unfair to impose a stringent policy that inhibits [students] from using their own facility in order to further a useless policy that doesn't have any real effect," he said.

"I don't mind that Harvard is trying to give space to women and religious minorities, it's just that it seems that it's not making a real effort," Wells said. "Just one that is impractical and purely symbolic at the cost of people like myself."

Wells lives near the Quad, and said the response to and use of the women-only gym hours so far has been underwhelming. Harvard freshman Kyle Harasimowicz said women-only gyms have been successful and women-only gym hours fill the same need. "I guess as long as the time is divvied up fairly, there should be no issue," he said.

Boston University Islamic Society President Mohamed Serageldin said he thinks women-only gym hours would benefit Muslim women at BU. "Because the FitRec is co-ed, [a Muslim woman] would most likely be compromising her modesty. He said modesty can be compromised on both the part of the man and the woman when physical action is involved."BU's Fitness and Recreation Center facilities manager Alex Southall said FitRec's design easily accommodates sectioning off areas for groups.

"It depends on the arrangement with the particular group, so we aren't playing favorites with space, but the FitRec does have the capability to section off for special use," he said.

In 52 seconds...why Obama cannot be allowed to win this election

Surrender Nation

(Thanks for the tip, George 76)

What's sauce for the goose...

Hillary in a headscarf.

Oh dear.

This is beyond troubling. Evidently blogger Ronbo has committed suicide. I used to see him in the comment section of a number of the blogs I frequent and he was a contributor over at posse member, The Midnight Sun.

May God bless him.
Rest in Peace, Ronbo.

-end-

Watching Pakistan and the Oscars

UK Media buzzing with rumors that Musharraf's days are numbered. The Three Mosqueteers - Kerry, Biden and Hagel are advocating his quick demise, Musharraf denies it. Perhaps the three stooges might want to save their sage advice for Sister Clinton. Who, truth be told, put on a helluva show tonight in Rhode Island (thank you, Hot Air)

The PPP aren't even officially in power yet and already they are taking it on themselves to apologize to an aboriginal tribe. This time it's Balochistan. Next up....the Taliban. They're already making noises. And demands are made for the release of "all political prisoners". Hearing things like "maximum autonomy to be guaranteed to all provinces" and you can bet money the Pakistani liberals are going to be folding like a lawn chair.

I'm wondering, if Obama gets in will we have to listen to an apology to the Shoshone? The slaves? The Cubans? The Iranians? The Mexicans? Stand in line and wait your turn, grievance grifters. I have a feeling it's going to one, big long, apologia tour. (I swear to God watching the Oscars has put me in a very uncharitable mood - I think it was the sight of that old chorine, Julie Christie sporting an orange ribbon courtesy of the ACLU, mewling and puling about the horrors of Gitmo and how it must (!) be closed down. Now watch her win...feh. Too bad, so sad - she didn't. We were spared that at least.)

Another thing we can look forward to when Obama gets into office: a return to treating acts of terror as a criminal matter, not an act of war. Like Pakistani Hamid Nawaz, he will issue a sweeping declaration like this: "The menace of terrorism and extremism is on the verge of elimination as law enforcement agencies have apprehended about 122 potential suicide bombers so far".

So far, the Oscars have been relatively politics free. Thank God. Oops! Spoke too soon, I think. Here comes Tom Hawks with some weird soldier tribute. The soldiers are announcing the nominees for Best Documentary Short Subject. and and the crowd is silent, no applause, no shouts of hoorah. You can tell they are soooo uncomfortable. At least two cute babes have won. Don't have a clue who they are - oh boy. It's about a lesbian soldier who fought against discrimination. Oh, NOW, they're applauding.

Now it's onto the Best Documentary Feature, all anti US in nature. Sickening. Who will win? Taxi to the Dark Side. I think I will walk the dog during their acceptance speech if you don't mind. Back from that. The Big Man says the guy made a big speech and got no applause. I guess everyone in the audience was pulling for Castro and Michael Moore.

Best screenplay: Ugh. Liberal neuroses on display. Diablo Cody, in a shaky voice..." I want to thank my family for loving me exactly the way I am." We won't go there, tonight, dear. Speaking of the devil/diablo though: Security agencies arrest Mullah Obaidullah again. He was in Lahore raising $ for the taliban.

Oh, and all you naysayers going on and on about Pakistani election fraud and poll violence. Put this in your pipe and smoke it. The Human Rights Society of Pakistan has issued a congratulatory message to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) "for conducting fair, free, transparent and peaceful elections.

Elections which were considered "encouraging" as far as the participation of women. I guess that depends what your definition of encouraging would be. In the Islamist controlled portions of the country women still got screwed out of their vote.

The Oscars have been such a dud this year. The only thing the Lord and Master has perked up about was watching the tribute to those who have passed. Speaking of... in Pakistan pirated copies of Benazir Bhutto's recently published book are "selling like hotcakes".

The Motoons have reached the grade school in Pakistan as school-going children stage anti-blasphemy protest. (Helen Mirren's dress looked so-so on the red carpet but those diamante sleeves just pop on the stage. You go, girl!) She's announcing the Best Actor.
Will there be blood? In Pakistan, Khyber Agency political authorities have set a deadline of February 26 for the Malik Din Khel tribe to recover the missing Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan, Tariq Azizudin.

Daniel Day Lewis wins for "There Will Be Blood" and gives a very heartfelt thank you speech. Class Act. Not so much Imran Khan, political party chairman, philanthropist, sportsman who is siding with the trial lawyers and already boycotting the next election.

The Coen brothers are up to receive Best Director with some weird ultra hip Dr. Henry Kissinger riff. I look at them and wonder just what kind of world they live in. "No Country for Old Men" wins again. I'm going to fix another drink while they thank their world.

Not a word from the ultralibs at the Oscars about the Pakistanis TOTAL censorship of youtube.com for BLASPHEMOUS CONTENT (rumored to be the trailer from Geert Wilder's FITNA - I know a trailer for a 10 minute movie?). Que lastima.

Oh! They're over. That's the best thing I've heard all night.

Obama the snake charmer

I'm seeing this picture and looking for a basket, a flute and a snake.

Courtesy of the National Enquirer by way of the lovely FReepers.

Hey Press TV

Newsflash: You and your silly propaganda attempts can bite me.

US loses stealth bomber bragging rights.

A recent Air Force B-2 stealth bomber collision recounts the inability of Washington in keeping its high-tech fighter jets in the sky.

The US jet was completely wrecked after crashing into Andersen Air Force Base in the Pacific island of Guam shortly after take-off on Saturday.

According to the Pacific Air Force, the accident left no casualties.

The US Air Force has taken great pride in its 21 stealth bombers which each cost around $1.2 billion.

Conventional and nuclear bombs can be mounted on the aircraft and its high-tech features make radar detection difficult.

Washington is now in dire straits as a result of recent US Air Force accidents.

A Navy EA-6B Prowler from the USS Kittyhawk crashed on Feb. 12 and an Air Force fighter pilot was killed Wednesday after two F-15C jets collided during a training exercise over the Gulf of Mexico.

-end-

Nine Lives...Now that's a lot of virgins!

Shamelessly lifted from The Religion of Peace.

-end-

Toledo: Operation Punked.

Heh.

City phone greetings call Mayor a Moron.
The Mayor has no comment.

A Toledo city hall prank at the expense of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner created a downtown whodunit yesterday.

For several hours during the day, the telephone voice mail greeting for the city's purchasing hot line was, "Carty Finkbeiner is a complete moron."

Katerina Bekyarska, a spokesman for Mr. Finkbeiner, said the outgoing message was changed immediately after it was brought to her attention.

"Someone obviously went in and - trying to do a joke, not a very good one - went in and recorded the message," Ms. Bekyarska said.

A security code is needed to access any of the city's voice mail systems and change an outgoing greeting, she said.

The system automatically transferred callers to an attendant after the greeting.

The message was changed about 2 p.m. to start with the city's usual telephone greeting: "Thank you for calling Toledo, the most liveable city."

Ms. Bekyarska said she had no idea whether it was a city employee or someone else who recorded the greeting.

"We are looking to see if there is an issue that needs to be addressed with our phone lines and if they need to be better protected," she said.


The automated hot line is used to record messages about outstanding bids and awarded contracts for the purchasing department.

Mr. Finkbeiner did not have a comment on the recording, Ms. Bekyarska said.

The mayor has been under fire for his Feb. 9 decision to cancel a planned weekend urban-patrol exercise for a company of U.S. Marine Corps Reservists on downtown streets.

Two hundred members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., arrived to drill in the city, but instead were greeted by police officers at a roadblock on the mayor's order.

Berkeley: Operation Pushback.

Here's Move America Forward's new ad.

Pass it on. (h/t Flopping Aces)



Sign the petition here.
-end-

Around the World with the Religion of Peace

Just another day in Islam-o-paradise.

Pakistan: Bomb kills bride and thirteen others in wedding party attack.

Thailand: Three wounded in attack on wedding.
Two students and professor wounded in Yala University attack.

Somalia: Yemeni consul survives grenade attack.
Roadside bomb kills two in Mogadishu.

Algeria: Politician escapes assassination attempt, terror mastermind

Iraq: Horse cart bomb kills 4, downtown Baghdad ban on horse carts ensues.

-end-

I'm not buying the Sadr truce...even as hudna.

Explosions rack Green Zone in Iraq.

Splinter group of Mookie al Sadr's militia blamed. (Splinter group my ass...it's Mookie at work, pure and simple.)

A series of rockets or mortars has struck Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government headquarters.

At least 10 blasts were heard inside the 10-square-kilometer complex Saturday, as authorities warned people to take cover. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The Green Zone has been a frequent target of rocket and mortar attacks. The U.S. military has blamed the attacks on Iranian-backed Shi'ite militants who have broken away from radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

About Mookie's hudna.

-end-

Democrats: They can't run a caucus...

think of them running the country.

Dems Botch Colorado Caucus

And doesn't this just say it all about the Demos?

On the bright side, Democrats can be pleased "that people are so interested that they would lie about their party affiliation," Waak said.

Denver Democrats have a problem: 172 of the delegates and alternates they elected at Super Tuesday caucuses appear to be ineligible. Some showed up at the wrong precinct. Most of them weren't even registered Democrats.

"A couple people were Republicans. A couple people were Green Party," said Jennifer Coken, who chairs the Democratic Party of Denver. "It's been kind of nerve-racking for us."

Republicans getting elected as Democratic delegates is just part of the confusion that accompanied an overwhelming turnout at precincts throughout Colorado.

Two weeks after the vote, state party chair Pat Waak cannot say exactly how many eligible Democrats took part in the record-breaking caucuses. Only one-third of the counties have turned in audited totals.

Others are still scrambling to separate eligible from ineligible voters before Democratic delegates begin meeting in county conventions, the next step toward the selection of Colorado delegates to the 2008 presidential convention in Denver.

The problem showed up — though in smaller numbers — in counties across Colorado.


"We had a few, but our number was more like 20," said Boulder County chair Deborah Gardner. About half of those had not lived in the precinct long enough, "and about half were non-Democrats."

El Paso County party chairman John Morris said the party had to toss about 25 delegates and alternates who were in the wrong precinct, registered as unaffiliated voters or not registered at all. In most cases, "people were excited and wanted to get involved and just showed up," he said.

Waak and other party officials emphasized that on a percentage basis, the number of ineligible caucus voters appears to be minuscule and should not affect the ultimate number of Colorado delegates snared by Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton at the convention. Obama overwhelmingly won the state with 66 percent of the vote to Clinton's 32 percent.

Waak said that roughly 120,000 people, a record, showed up for Democratic caucuses, and she expects the number of ineligible participants to be less than a thousand.

On the bright side, Democrats can be pleased "that people are so interested that they would lie about their party affiliation," Waak said. Party officials also say many ineligible voters made an honest mistake.

"Most of these people were unaffiliated voters, and some of them didn't know that," said Jennifer Jacobson, director of operations for Denver Democrats. "They said they voted for Democrats their whole lives. They didn't know they hadn't affiliated with a party."

In Iowa and Nevada, Democrats can register on caucus day. In Colorado, a "closed caucus" state, law requires participants to register with a party by Dec. 5, 2007, and live in their precinct for a month.

At the county level, tabulating Colorado caucus votes is a time-consuming effort performed by party volunteers. They take handwritten results from informal precinct gatherings in homes and school classrooms and enter them all into a computer file that identifies participants, delegates and alternates.

And while Colorado Republicans excluded people whose names didn't appear on the list that came from the county clerk's office, Colorado Democrats offered an option that complicated the count. Would-be participants could sign a statement swearing they were eligible, and the party would check later.

Colorado statutes state that "any person who fraudulently participates and votes in a precinct caucus, assembly, or convention when he is not a member of the political party ... is guilty of a misdemeanor."

Waak said she believes that law requires her to turn over the names of ineligible caucus voters to district attorney's offices for possible prosecution.

Republicans had an official state total of 70,229 participants the next day, party chairman Dick Wadhams said, but "there were some cases where there were people who were not on the list who should have been."

Democrats had the opposite problem.

In Denver, the number of voters who showed up at Democratic caucuses jumped from 2,628 in 2004 to 26,096 on Super Tuesday. They chose 3,032 delegates and 3,032 alternates to attend their county convention on March. 8, Jacobson said.

Saudi Arabia: If I lived there I would be soooo busted

Saudi cracks down on flirting. 57 arrested.

Saudi Arabia's powerful religious police ordered the arrest of 57 youths this week for flirting with girls in malls in the holy city of Mecca, The Saudi Gazette reported on Saturday.

The young men were detained on Thursday evening by regular police officers following a request from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the English-language daily reported.

They were accused of wearing "indecent clothing and playing loud music and dancing" to attract the attention of the opposite sex, it added.
-end-

CNN: How do you say plant in Espanol?

Why IS a Mexican citizen be asking questions at a United States of America presidential debate?
-end-

Afghanistan: Kerry, Biden and Hagel's chopper make an emergency landing

Update: Help us Jon Carry...we r stuk

Helicopters carrying three senior U.S. senators made emergency landings Thursday in the mountains of Afghanistan because of a snowstorm.

Sens. John Kerry, Joseph Biden and Chuck Hagel were aboard the aircraft. No one was injured, according a statement from Kerry's office. The senators and their delegation returned to Bagram Air Base in a motor convoy, and have left for Turkey.

"After several hours, the senators were evacuated by American troops and returned overland to Bagram Air Base, and left for their next scheduled stop in Ankara, Turkey," the Kerry statement said. "Sen. Kerry thanks the American troops, who were terrific as always and who continue to do an incredible job in Afghanistan."

Update: No big deal, it was something mechanical and they are already on their way onto Turkey. Nothing to see here folks. Move along now.

Holy crap. Fox News Channel is reporting this. Off to find some links.

Update: Here's a link but it doesn't say much.

WASHINGTON -- A helicopter carrying three senior U.S. senators has made an emergency landing in Afghanistan.

Sens. John Kerry, Joseph Biden and Chuck Hagel were aboard the aircraft., according to Jon Summers, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The lawmakers are on a trip this week that includes stops in India, Turkey and Pakistan.

Kerry and Biden are Democrats from Massachusetts and Delaware, respectively, and the Republican Hagel is from Nebraska.

-end-

Satellite shoot down

One bullet. One kill.

Looks like it blowed up real good to me. (video)
-end-

Denmark: Bombing ups the Motoon Violence Ante

From the good people over at Eye On the World.

(Just hazarding a guess here, but I would bet money that tanning salons are considered haraam for the you-know-whos. "Foreign-looking" yutes seen running from the scene are wanted for questioning.)

Around 11am today a bomb exploded in a solarium in Copenhagen. The suntan shop was situated just by the national football stadium in Oesterbro, a peaceful and affluent part of the Danish capital. The explosion completely destroyed the shop and the surrounding flats were also damaged. The police are putting the fact that no one was hurt down to sheer luck; two other bags were found in the area and have been destroyed. Two young men between the ages of 15 and 25 were seen running away from the crime scene; they were described as "foreign-looking" and are now wanted by the police.

The explosion is a drastic escalation of the week-long riots on the streets Denmark where young Muslim men have vented their anger and frustration towards Danish society by setting fire to cars and burning bonfires in the streets. The rioters claim that their action is a protest against the reprinting of the prophet cartoons, which took place last Wednesday when a unified Danish press decided to print/reprint the cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban. The decision to reprint was taken when the Danish security service (PET) notified the public that three men had been arrested on suspicion of plotting the murder of the cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard.

-end-

Obama blows nose; audience applauds.

No word on whether or not anyone fainted.

(Come to mention it, I don't think I've heard of anyone fainting at an Obama rally since the news of Swoon-mania started making the rounds. Have you?)

It's probably safe to say that you have arrived as a politician when your audience applauds when you blow your nose.

Yes, just a day before a debate in Texas, Sen. Barack Obama has a head cold.

And about a half-hour into a speech here, the Illinois Democrat announced that he had to take a quick break. "Gotta blow my nose here for a second," Obama said.

Out came a Kleenex (or perhaps it was a hankie), and he wiped his nose.

The near-capacity audience at the Reunion Arena, which his campaign said totaled 17,000, broke out in a slightly awkward applause.

-end-

Columbia Noose Professor cited for plagiarism

It's just words, right? Well, that and claims of being all about race, of course. Funny how the mystery of who planted the noose has never been resolved. I hate to say it, but I always suspected her of being the one that did it. I don't like feeling that way but I just can't shake it.

From the NY Times.

A Columbia University professor who was the apparent target of a hate crime last October, when a noose was left on her office door, has been sanctioned for plagiarism, university officials confirmed today. The plagiarism investigation of the professor, Madonna G. Constantine of Teachers College, was reported today by The Columbia Spectator. This afternoon, she called the investigation “biased and flawed” and accused the university of a “witch hunt.”

The university would not specify how Professor Constantine, a psychologist, is being punished.


A memo sent to faculty members by Susan Furhman, the president of Teachers College, and Thomas James, the provost, stated:

A year-and-a-half long investigation has found that Professor Madonna Constantine in a number of instances used the work of three others, a former TC professor and two former students, without attribution. Professor Constantine has been sanctioned by the College. Professor Constantine has the right under College statutes to appeal to the Faculty Advisory Committee. We express the appreciation of the College to former TC Professor Christine Yeh and to the former students, Tracy Juliao and Karen Cort, for their cooperation. We are also grateful that these charges were brought to the attention of the College.

The university said in a statement:

Teachers College of Columbia University confirmed today that it has sanctioned Professor Madonna Constantine after an internal investigation found numerous instances in which she used others’ work without attribution in papers she published in academic journals over the past five years. The investigation, which began in 2006, was prompted by complaints from students and one former faculty member who said language from materials they wrote was included without attribution in the articles.
The investigation, which was conducted by Hughes Hubbard & Reed, a law firm with a substantial practice representing universities and academic institutions, concluded that Professor Constantine’s explanation for the strikingly similar language was not credible.

The College will not specify the sanctions imposed against Professor Constantine. Teachers College takes academic plagiarism very seriously, and must take appropriate disciplinary action when it is uncovered. Such misconduct is completely at odds with the ethos of our institution, our faculty and our students.

In a statement sent by email this afternoon to Teachers College students and faculty members, Dr. Constantine called the investigation “biased and flawed,” saying that it, coupled with “other incidents that have happened to me at Teachers College in recent months, point to a conspiracy and witch-hunt by certain current and former members of the Teachers College
community.”

“I am left to wonder whether a white faculty member would have been treated in such a publicly disrespectful and disparaging manner,” she wrote. “As one of only two tenured Black women full professors at Teachers College, it pains me to conclude that I have been specifically and systematically targeted.”

Dr. Constantine’s lawyer, Paul J. Giacomo Jr., said in an interview that his client was, in fact, the one whose work had been plagarized. He said he had submitted “third party documentation” substantiating his case, but that “all of that was ignored, and there was this rush to judgment that was unbelievable.”

Last October, the noose case resulted in a police investigation — it still has not been solved — and also prompted campus protests. Professor Constantine, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Memphis, is a professor of psychology and education and director of the Cultural Winter Roundtable on Psychology and Education at Teachers College.

Netherlands: This little pig went wee-wee-wee all the way to the ...

cultural trash heap. Fortis Bank claims Knorbert the piggy bank "does not meet the requirements that multicultural society imposes."

I say: Piggy Banks Banned due to complaints by the you know whos.

Although the spokesman tries to blame the Jews. (ed. note: I'm not buying that angle.)

-end-

Weather delay for satellite shoot

Rough seas

There's a 10 day window to take it down but only one time during each day that would allow the shot to take out the satellite and direct the debris field away from populated areas.

-end-

Pakistan: Islamist parties lose big in elections

Massive defeat

Pakistani voters handed Islamist political parties a massive defeat Monday, virtually eliminating them from regional parliaments in an election that's likely to have a wide-ranging impact on efforts to rein in growing Taliban and al Qaida influence in Pakistan's North West Frontier province.

In 2002, fundamentalist religious parties, some openly sympathetic to the Taliban, won 12 percent of the national vote. That was enough to form a regional government in the North West Frontier province, which borders Afghanistan , become part of the ruling coalition in Baluchistan, another conservative province, and hold 57 seats in the 342-member national parliament.

But unofficial results of Monday's vote indicate that religious parties won only five seats in the national parliament this time. In North West Frontier province, where the country's Islamic insurgency is strongest, religious parties won just nine seats in the 96-seat provincial assembly. In 2002, they won 67.


"This is a sea-change," said Khalid Aziz , a political analyst based in the province's capital, Peshawar . "The people have rejected the much-hyped Islamic nation concept."

The North West Frontier province's voters turned instead to two secular parties, the Pakistan Peoples Party , which emerged as the biggest force across the country, and the Awami National Party , which gained the most provincial seats, bringing it back from decades of marginalization.

Critics of the religious parties had charged that they pandered to Islamic extremists, or at least turned a blind eye to their activities. As a result, a group of heavily armed militants seized control of the province's Swat valley late last year.

"They were not committed to fighting the terrorists," Aziz said. "They were the flip side of the same coin."

Mahmood Shah , a former senior government official in the North West Frontier province who's now a security consultant, said that voters hoped the secular parties would be more willing to go after militant groups that travel routinely between Pakistan and Afghanistan .
"For the last five years, the provincial government has been trying to defuse federal government activity" against militants, Shah said. The secular parties "have a clear stance on terrorism," he said.

Shah said he expected that local officials also would become more willing to cooperate with Afghanistan in suppressing Islamic militants, noting that the Awami National Party has good relations with U.S.-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai . Karzai and U.S. officials think that the Taliban and al Qaida use Pakistan's tribal belt as a base.

The religious parties also faced an electorate that was unhappy with their tough positions on moral issues. The religious coalition had banned billboards showing women and prohibited theatrical performances.

In the Punjabi city of Jhang in Pakistan's heartland, a religious cleric who's accused of heading a banned violent Islamic group, the Sipah-e-Sahaba, also lost. Mohammad Ahmad Ludhianvi got more than 35,000 votes but was defeated by a margin of about 5,000 by Sheik Waqas, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q , the political party that backs the election's biggest loser, U.S.-backed Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf .

Danish Cartoonist booted from hotel

Due to security concerns. (h/t Islam in Europe)

Newspaper cartoonist Kurt Westergaard (73) has no place to live after Thursday. No hotel will have him as a guest due to the death threats against him. Kurt Westergaard is the man responsible for the Jyllands-Posten cartoons showing Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.

The cartoon has caused many threats against him and the cartoonist has been living in a secret place for several months.

Now he was asked to leave by the hotel the police has chosen for him, since he's a security threat.Westergaard says he thought this would happen. The Danish security services hasn't managed to find other hotels that can take him in. He hopes the police will be able to find a different solution for him.
-end-

The Great Satellite shoot-out

Now scheduled for Wednesday?

Maybe. Maybe not.

This NOTAM (Notice to AirMen) has been issued to pilots in a large area of the northern Pacific for two and a half hours early on Thursday morning. Area is 1400 miles long and nearly 700 miles wide.

02/062 (A0038/08) - AIRSPACE CARF NR. 90 ON EVELYN STATIONARY RESERVATION WITHIN AN AREA BNDD BY 3145N 17012W 2824N 16642W 2352N 16317W 1909N 16129W 1241N 16129W 1239N 16532W 1842N 17057W 2031N 17230W 2703N 17206W SFC-UNL. 21 FEB 02:30 2008 UNTIL 21 FEB 05:00 2008. CREATED: 18 FEB 12:51 2008

A "CARF" (Central Altitude Reservation Function) designation indicates a NOTAM intended to keep commercial and private flights clear of military operations, and SFC-UNL means the height band of this warning zone reaches from the surface to "unlimited" altitude - in other words all the way into space. The UTC time referred to is the same as UK time, so the zone exists from 0230 to 0500 on Thursday morning for British readers.

The latitudes and longitudes can be plotted with the crippled spy sat's ground track overlaid, which has been done by satellite watcher Ted Molczan in handy pdf form here. Those running Google Earth can get a better look using this kmz file, compiled by Molczan's fellow sky-watcher Alan Clegg from the pdf.


As will be evident, the barred area is a cool 1,400 miles long and nearly 700 miles wide at the surface, giving the US Navy plenty of elbow room to fire their interceptor missiles up into the descending spacecraft's path.

Reports have it that three US Aegis air-defence warships, the cruiser Lake Erie and the destroyers Decatur and Russell, will be waiting for the satellite west of Hawaii. Each ship carries a specially modified Standard SM-3 interceptor, originally intended for defence against lower-flying ballistic missile warheads. The three interceptors are on separate ships in case of a technical issue with the Aegis radar and fire-control system.

As it passes over the firing area, the satellite will be approximately 3,000 miles and ten minutes out from the western coast of Canada, the next land it will pass over. The satellite has much more mass than the soaring "exo-atmospheric kill vehicle" it will smack into, so this gives some idea of the onward track the wreckage might follow in the event of a hit.

The Pentagon believes most of the resulting debris from a successful shot will burn up soon afterwards, and almost all should be gone within "two orbits". Boosters and other gubbins from the interceptors will presumably fall within the ocean NOTAM area.

The firing area seems to have been chosen so as to minimise the chances of debris falling anywhere other than in the ocean or North America, which could lend credence to the idea that the intercept is primarily aimed at safeguarding the satellite's technology.

Wilders booted off flight to Moscow

due to 'problems with his security'. per Klein Verzet:

The Dutch government is not supportive about Kosovo's independence. Today a Dutch parliamentary comity went to Russia for talks. But the Royal Dutch KLM refused to take Islam critical parliamentary member Geert Wilders on that flight, making sure he would miss a part of the visit.

From the article:

Airline KLM refused to take Geert Wilders on a flight to Moscow on Monday morning because of problems with the Freedom Party (PVV) leader's security.

After consultation the delegation of which Wilders was a part departed for Russia without him. KLM says that the MP had "specific requests regarding his security."

Since these requests had not been submitted to the airline in advance, they could not be met, a spokesperson said.Wilders denies this vehemently.

"There were absolutely no extra requests made. This trip was prepared and they knew I was coming."

The parliamentary foreign affairs committee travelled to Moscow on Monday for a working visit. Wilders serves on this committee but had to return home after being refused for the flight.

"Unbelievable," the politician said.
-end-

Berkeley tree sitters get pruned

Dude, where's my tree?

Ecodisaster results as human sh*& bucket explodes.

UC police brought in an arborist at dawn today to snip ropes and dismantle a wooden platform at the Memorial Stadium oak grove, where tree-sitters have been roosting for more than 14 months to protest the university's plans to remove about 100 trees to build an athletic training center.

The arborist climbed into the grove at about 6 a.m. and cut most of the ropes connecting the half-dozen platforms the tree-sitters have built in the foliage. The arborist also took down one of the platforms, which was uninhabited. In the process, a bucket of human waste fell about 60 feet to the ground.

There were no arrests, and a university spokesman said police moved in because the protest appears to be winding down.

But the action enraged the protesters.

"They cut a s- bucket and it fell to the ground and exploded," said Erik Eisenberg, 39, a leader of the tree-sitters' ground crew who goes by the name Ayr. "They've made things less safe and less sanitary. All they're trying to do is harass and intimidate us."


University spokesman Dan Mogulof said, "There's just a hardcore few left up there. The police felt this was a good, safe opportunity to act, to address some of the public safety and public health issues up there."

A judge is expected to rule by June on lawsuits filed by the tree sitters, the city of Berkeley and neighbors in an attempt to stop the stadium renovation plans.

Saudi Arabia: Starbucks Slut flouted Sharia law

The Mutaween have spoken.

US businesswoman is denounced publicly, accused of not only being a slut, she's a lying slut who wears make-up and didn't cover her hair! So there.

A US businesswoman living in Saudi Arabia fears for her life after the religious police issued a rare statement defending her arrest this month for having coffee with a male colleague at a Starbucks coffee shop in Riyadh.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice denounced her publicly with a statement posted on the internet on Monday night saying that her actions violated the Sharia of the country.

“It’s not allowed for any woman to travel alone and sit with a strange man and talk and laugh and drink coffee together like they are married,” it said.

“All of these are against the law and it’s clear it’s against the law. First, for a woman to work with men is against the law and against religion. Second, the family sections at coffee shops and restaurants are meant for families and close relatives,” it continued.

The commission contested the version of events from Yara, saying that she was never strip-searched or forced to sign confessions. It accused her of wearing make-up, not covering her hair and moving around suspiciously while sitting with her Syrian colleague, who was also arrested but later released.


Speaking to The Times yesterday from the family’s home in Jeddah, the husband of Yara, who did not want the family name made public for fear of retribution, said: “We are afraid for our lives, for our family and from further harassment. The things that they are suggesting about my wife, of course it isn’t true. She’s a professional businesswoman and she was at a café, not at a bar. They are coming up with ways to justify their actions.”

The story of Yara captured international attention and has started fierce debate within Saudi society, where reformers and human rights groups are pressuring the Government to be more liberal.

The powerful religious police vowed to sue two newspaper columnists who have written in defence of Yara and who criticised the “Mutaween” and their handling of the incident, saying: “The commission has the right to sue the writers because of the lies they are spreading. It gives the wrong idea of Saudi Arabia.”

Yara, a managing partner in a finance company has returned to work but she no longer travels to the offices of the company in Riyadh.

Her family is contemplating a return to America, saying that they feel caught in the middle of a greater debate in Saudi society between conservatives and reformers.

“There are a lot of Saudis who are angry and they are using Yara’s story to say ‘Enough of these people in our country’. Regardless of whether we agree or disagree we don’t want to get further punished for this,” Yara’s husband said.

Separated at birth?

OMAROSA

MICHELLE

-end-

Kerry, Biden, Hagel, get chummy with Nawaz

Larry, Curly, Mo and Shemp.

We talked about John Kerry, Joe Biden and Chuck Hagel's trip to Pakistan to act as election observers last week. Well, ever since then. I've been just praying for a picture like this.

It is perfidy gold, my friends.

This is the United States of America's Democratic party in action, all buttied up and looking cozy with Nawaz Sharif, former PM of Pakistan and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League N (Nawaz group).

Let's review. During Sharif's tenure he:

tried to institute Sharia law,

played footsie with Osama Bin Laden a number of times,

was charged with corruption and tax evasion,

and kicked off the Pakistani-Indian Nuclear Arms race.

And yes, I am questioning not only their patriotism, I am also questioning their judgment.

15 more cities added to Homeland Security Terror list

Toledo?

More cities across the country are considered at high risk of a terrorist attack, according to a new list of funding priorities from the Homeland Security Department.

Last year the department made 45 cities or regions eligible for a competitive counterterrorism grant program. This year, the list has been expanded to 60 areas that can apply for the nearly $782 million available, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The urban area grants are one of the department's most popular -- and most intensely debated -- programs. The department divides the regions at highest risk of a terrorist attack into two tiers. The seven highest-risk areas -- including Los Angeles, New York and Washington -- will be competing for about $430 million this year. The remaining 53 will compete for about $352 million.

The list has grown and shrunk in recent years, based on decisions the department says are not the result of specific threats or concerns but that reflect an overall analysis of threat data.
Some regions on the list in the past were dropped more recently. For instance, Albany, N.Y., was put back on the list this year after being dropped in 2003.

Other regions added to the list this year are: Rochester, N.Y.; Syracuse, N.Y.; Austin and Round Rock, Texas; Baton Rouge, La.; Bridgeport, Stamford and Norwalk, Conn.; the Hartford, Conn., region; Louisville and Jefferson County in Kentucky and an adjoining area in Indiana; Nashville, Davidson County and Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Richmond, Va.; Riverside, San Bernardino and Ontario, Calif.; Salt Lake City; San Juan, Caguas and Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; and Toledo, Ohio.
-end-

Bali Bomber, He's dead, Fred.

"This is a big blow to the JI and the Abu Sayyaf,"...

If you will recall the Bali bombings killed 202 people, including 7 US citizens and I can only hope the worms were playing pinochle on this guy's nose when they found him.

A body believed to be that of Indonesian terrorist leader Dulmatin, wanted for the October 2002 Bali bombings, was recovered Monday afternoon by a joint military team in Tawi-Tawi province.

Intelligence reports said the body was found 1:30 p.m. at the vicinity of Sitio Salisit in Balimbing village, Panglima Sugala town in Tawi-Tawi."(The) said corpse was jointly identified by informants with notable wounds in the head, chest and right foot to include clothing in physical characteristics matched with previous revelations," the report said.

The body was exhumed for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing for confirmation.


Reached for comments, Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino said that if the remains turn out to be that really of Dulmatin, his death could be traced to the January 31 clash in the province."That is the report we got from our units in Tawi-Tawi. Remember that during the January 31 encounter, he was reported injured," Dolorfino told reporters.

Dolorfino said an informant led government troops to Dulmatin's supposed gravesite and that based on the informant's accounts of the slain terrorist's injuries, "it matched with (the accounts) of our witness.""This is a big blow to the JI and the Abu Sayyaf," Dolorfino said.

Dulmatin, who had been a target of a manhunt operations in Mindanao, was a senior figure in the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). He was one of the most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia. He is also known as Amar Usmanan, Joko Pitoyo, Joko Pitono, Abdul Matin, Pitono, Muktarmar, Djoko, and Noval.

Dulmatin was allegedly one of the masterminds behind the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia which killed 202 people, including seven US citizens.

Looks like Thursday is going to be the big day...

for the "clean kill".

And it looks like Pearl Harbor based Aegis Cruiser, and "intercept standout", the USS Lake Erie is going to get the shot. How cool is that. Happy Hunting, boys!

"If we shoot and get a direct hit, that's a clean kill and we're in good shape,"...

The U.S. Navy will likely attempt to shoot down a faulty spy satellite Thursday, the day after the space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to land, two officials told CNN Monday.

The officials -- who spoke on condition of anonymity because much of the planning remains classified -- said the idea is to leave as much time as possible so a second attempt could be made if necessary.

The Navy plans to fire at the satellite as it enters Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of about 150 miles.


Without any intervention, Pentagon officials have said they believe the satellite would come down on its own in early March.

The option of striking the satellite with a missile launched from an Aegis cruiser was decided upon by President Bush after consultation with several government and military officials and aerospace experts, said Deputy National Security Adviser James Jeffrey.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said there's nothing the military can do to make the outcome worse.

"If we miss, nothing changes. If we shoot and barely touch it, the satellite is just barely in orbit" and would still burn up somewhat in the atmosphere, Griffin said.

"If we shoot and get a direct hit, that's a clean kill and we're in good shape," he added.

Pakistan: Women get shut out of voting in He-Man-Woman-Hater districts

"That is their tradition, we can do nothing." says government official.

"Not only are women only polling stations bull-shi&, so is your tradition." says Dinah Lord.

VOTING stopped at women-only polling stations in parts of northwest Pakistan after elders decided that women should not cast ballots, police and officials said.

Peshawar district mayor Ghulam Ali said voting had to be discontinued in Maryamzai, Budaber and other areas on the outskirts of Peshawar, which is close to the Afghan border where al-Qaeda and Taliban militants are active.

Men and women vote at separate locations throughout Pakistan, an Islamic republic.

"I have reports that elders in the area decided that voting by women is against our culture," Mr Ali said. "This is their tradition. We can do nothing."

Chief election commissioner Qazi Farooq, in a televised speech yesterday, warned that stern action would be taken if people tried to prevent women from casting their votes.

Pakistan has 81 million registered voters, about 36 million of whom are women.
-end-

Heh.

A float featuring Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama at the "Rose Monday" carnival parade in the western German city of Duesseldorf.

-end-

Knock me over with a feather...

the Iranian oil bourse that Dinah has been bird dogging since Dinah Lord became Dinah Lord has FINALLY opened!

Took you long enough, guys. What? It's only the initial phase? And only open to the Iranian private sector. Huh. So it's really not THAT open? Is that what you're telling me?

Oh.

The first phase of Iran’s Oil and Petrochemical Products Bourse made debut on Sunday on the Persian Gulf island of Kish. Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari speaking at the inauguration hoped the new bourse will help pave the way for more investment in Iran’s lucrative oil sector.

“With the launch of the first phase of the oil bourse, private sector role will be enhanced in the oil industry,“ he said.

Second phase of the oil stock market demands special considerations, he said, and noted that the necessary preparations were underway to that end. He said neighboring countries can buy oil and petrochemicals from the Iranian bourse both in rials and/or foreign exchange after the second stage comes on stream.

Hah.
-end-

Saudis boycott Denmark over Motoons - again!

Looks like it's time to buy Danish again, possums!

"It is imperative for Arab and Moslem tradespeople and shopkeepers to boycott Danish products."

A new campaign has begun in Saudi Arabia calling for a boycott of Danish products, after the fresh publication of 12 controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, reported the Arab daily al-Watan.

"We will carry out a new boycott," said the president of Arab entrepreneurs, Mohammed Abidat."

It is imperative for Arab and Muslim tradespeople and shopkeepers to boycott Danish products," he said.

On 12 February 2008, Danish police arrested five people in connection with a planned attack to kill the cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who drew the original images of the prophet Mohammed in September 2005. Westergaard’s cartoon depicting the prophet wearing a bomb turban with a lit fuse attracted particular attention and led to worldwide protests by Muslims at the time and a boycott of Danish goods.

The Muslim World League, a leading non-government organisation in the Muslim world, has condemned the renewed publication of the cartoons."It is important to take every intiative to ensure that the Prophet is not offended again.

"The Muslim World League has also invited Muslims and Danish Islamic centres to take action, but without the use of violence, only dialogue.

Yeah, that last one worked so well. (Snicker)

This boycott will take hold in the Islamic world because it is a religious boycott and such boycotts are not easily forgotten by religious consumers. In the non-Islamic world, however, the riots have only served to build sympathy for the Danish, resulting in a greater demand in the west, thus an overall expanded market and demand for Danish products.

Final score: Denmark 1, Muslims 0.


The cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed first appeared in Danish daily Jyllands-Posten. Later, the cartoons were re-published by scores of papers around the world, provoking the outrage of Muslims and calls for a boycott of Danish products. When the Danish government refused to apologise saying the paper had the right to print it, the issue turned explosive in the Muslim world and many people died in violent protests.

Last week Westergaard said he and his family had suffered because of the virulent response and death threats he had received. "It has made me angry that a perfectly normal everyday activity which I used to do by the thousand was abused to set off such madness," he said on the newspaper website.

Westergaard said he still went to work and did not know for how long he would live under police protection. "I think, however, that the impact of the insane response to my cartoon will last for the rest of my life."

The Religion of Peace in Gaza: Bomb and slaughter the Danes

From the JPost via LGF.

Muslims worldwide should bomb Denmark’s embassies and kill its diplomats following last week’s republication of caricatures of Muslim prophet Muhammad, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees in the Gaza Strip said on Monday.

Israel Radio reported that the spokesman, speaking to demonstrators burning Danish flags, said anyone involved the drawing, printing, or publication of the caricatures should be “slaughtered.”. And here is the rest of it.

Did you read that and wonder how much aid Denmark gives to the Palestinians? Me too. So did our good friends over at Eye On The World after they posted the pics from the protest, including the lovely shoe on the flag one shown above. It always kills me when they do that shoe thing - thinking it is such a big insult. It always makes me laugh. Not as much as hearing that the Danes were pulling all of their aid dollars out of Palestine would, though.

Hop on over to Eye on The World and check it out.
-end-

Rambo: Pro-Democracy Flick Banned in Burma

Nice knife.

Yee-haw.

He rescues the Christian missionaries and fights the junta Rambo style.

Police in military-run Myanmar have banned DVD vendors from selling the new "Rambo" film about a Vietnam war veteran fighting the junta's soldiers, but that hasn't stopped people from trying to buy it.

"Many customers keep asking about 'Rambo 4' but I dare not to sell it. Police have warned me I could go to jail for up to seven years if I sell the latest Rambo film," said one vendor, who declined to be named.

Another seller said at least 20 customers asked him each day whether he had a copy of "Rambo."

"I don't even know what kind of movie it is. I too want to see it but even among sellers it is very difficult to get copies," he said.

Starring Sylvester Stallone, the blood-splattering follow-up to the classic 1980s film trilogy sees war veteran John Rambo fighting Myanmar forces to rescue captured Christian missionaries helping ethnic Karen villagers. The film, which portrays Myanmar's military as sadistic and depraved, opened recently in the United States and Singapore against a backdrop of the junta's ongoing persecution of Karen minorities.

To see pics from the UK premiere and view a clip of the film, click here.

An interesting tidbit about the UN and Rambo IV can be found at Inner City Press:

When Inner City Press asked Mr. Gambari what he thought of Myanmar being the topic of the new Rocky film, Gambari said that he hadn't been aware. Since Sylvester Stallone claims that it was the UN who told him that Myanmar is the most forgotten humanitarian crisis on Earth, one wonder to whom Stallone / Rocky spoke. We'll see.


Just on Thursday, a top leader of Myanmar's largest Karen rebel group was assassinated at his exile home in Thailand by two gunmen, fueling speculation among Myanmar exiles that Pado Manh Sha could have been killed by the junta.

In Yangon, the banned Rambo film has become one of the most sought-after DVDs, creating underground buzz among movie fans.

"Many people are talking about this movie, but I cannot buy it anywhere," complained a 30-year-old business man, who declined to be identified. He said he also tried several times to download the film from the Internet.

"I have asked a DVD seller where I can buy the movie, but he told me I can buy anything -- including banned porn videos from India, China, Japan and South Korea -- but not 'Rambo 4'," he shrugged.

One 45-year-old pro-democracy activist was among a lucky few to watch it.

"I watched the movie at home with my family, and gave it to my friends because I wanted them to see it," he said.

"I like the movie very much because Rambo fought against Myanmar soldiers," said the activist, who declined to be named. He refused to say how he had obtained the copy.

In Myanmar, sales of pirated DVDs, mostly from neighbouring China, are illegal, but police rarely crack down on the thriving street business.

One DVD disc costs around 1,500 kyats (1.25 dollars) at roadside shops. South Korean soap operas and Hollywood blockbusters are among the most popular.

For 25-year-old university student Mu Mu, the latest Rambo holds no appeal -- her choice is South Korean dramas.

"I am not interested in watching 'Rambo.' I am only interested in buying Korean drama series," she said.

"Thanks to China, we can buy easily DVDs at a low price," Mu Mu said.

Vendors said there were some Rambo copies smuggled from Singapore, but said the audio and video quality was not good. They advise eager Myanmar customers to wait for pirated DVDs from China.

"Once this movie hits China, I think there will be a way for us to see it with much better quality," one vendor said.

UK's last 1000 soldiers head out to the Balkans

This can't be good.

Very grim news about troop readiness in the UK. Stretched beyond thin, below recruiting goals, equipment vital to their mission in short supply. (ed. note: It's from the Telegraph so I feel I should also add, "if true".)

Britain's overstretched Armed Forces are to send as many as 1,000 troops to the Balkans in a move that will see the military's last remaining reserve unit deployed on operations.

The imminent departure of the 1st Bn Welsh Guards to Kosovo has been ordered in response to fears that the newly formed independent state could slide into "ethnic cleansing". But last night MPs and former military chiefs described the move as "irresponsible" and "demented", accusing the Ministry of Defence of being "bankrupt".

The deployment - part of Britain's commitment to the Nato-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) - takes place at a time of growing pressure on the military. It will mean that more than 14,000 British troops are on overseas operations, a figure last equalled at the end of the Iraq War in May 2003.
The Army is currently 3,800 men under strength, virtually every infantry battalion is undermanned and one in 14 serving soldiers is not fit for active service.

In the next few weeks thousands of Paras from 16 Air Assault Brigade will fly out to Helmand in southern Afghanistan for the start of a widely anticipated Taliban "spring offensive".


Sources have also indicated that despite the troop shortages, the British Task Force in Helmand might need to be reinforced before the summer in order to hold on to the strategic town of Musa Qala, which was taken from the Taliban in December.

The Paras, who fought a bitter campaign against the Taliban in 2006, will arrive in Helmand as the future of the Nato mission in Afghanistan is reaching crisis point. Both Britain and the US, the main contributors to the Nato force in Afghanistan, want France, Germany and Italy to share more of the burden in the southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Zabol - recognised Taliban strongholds.

The lack of available troops has also forced the MoD to call up two entire Territorial Army regiments to serve with the United Nations in Cyprus, to free troops for operations elsewhere.
advertisement

Commenting on the Kosovo deployment, one senior officer last night said: "We are now in a position where we will struggle to cope with an emergency. It is a case of 'fingers crossed' that nothing happens for the next few months."

Lord Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, a former chief of the defence staff, said: "This deployment is another example of the overstretch facing the armed forces. My fear is that our servicemen can't train properly for 'tomorrow's war'. The MoD is bankrupt and no one wants to work for a bankrupt organisation."

Commander John Muxworthy, the chief executive of the UK Defence Association, said: "It is irresponsible of this government to deploy its entire reserve force. But this is the result of 25 years of underfunding of the armed forces. We are in a position where the cupboard is bare."
The military overstretch has been described by General Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the Army, as "unsustainable".

Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP and a former infantry commander, added: "Committing all of your reserves is a basic failure of military planning. This is a demented action."

News of the deployment to Kosovo, where 15,000 Nato troops - but just 30 of them British - are currently based, can be revealed after the Royal United Services Institute described Britain's armed forces as being in a state of "chronic disrepair" through a lack of funding.

The MoD was also strongly criticised on Friday over the deaths of Captain James Philippson, 29, Lance Sergeant Chris Casey, 27 and Lance Corporal Kirk Redpath, 22, all of whom were killed in Afghanistan. At two separate inquest coroners found that a lack of equipment contributed to their deaths.

In Helmand, commanders expect the "tempo" of operations to soar as many Taliban fighters leave their farms following the end of the poppy harvest in April to take up arms against Nato forces. Any sustained attack would mean that the 7,800-strong task force might need to be reinforced, adding even further pressure on the armed forces.

Commanders had hoped that an extra fleet of Chinooks would have been available for operations but software problems have meant that the helicopters will not be ready for another year, it can also be disclosed.

The helicopter shortages will force troops to travel by road, making them vulnerable to attack from mines and improvised explosive devices.

A spokesman for the MoD said: "We are fully committed to our role within KFOR and we do not anticipate that the deployment of the Operational Reserve Force will place significant additional pressures on our other overseas operations."

Australia gets a place at the NATO table for war planning

This is just excellent news for the war on terror.

The Aussies have gotten NATO to agree to allow them to participate in NATO intelligence and provide input to battle strategery. I say, thanking God for that!

And may God bless all of you clear-thinking, straight-shooting Aussies.

We love you, man. (Germany? Not so much. Germans balk and claim WW2 hangover when it comes to sending addl troops to Afghanistan for the upcoming mission. Grrr.)

Australia Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the nation will have access to NATO intelligence on Afghanistan and will be included in strategic meetings.

``It substantially upgrades our input,'' Fitzgibbon told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio in Canberra. Fitzgibbon met NATO Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Feb. 15. ``He has reaffirmed his commitment to ensure we do have access to the relevant information and at all times we are involved in any meeting which is considering the way forward in Afghanistan.''

Australia is a partner of NATO's International Security Assistance Force and has 1,000 personnel in southern Uruzgan province and around Kandahar Airport.
-end-

Unfortunately, it's a different story in Afghanistan

New Suicide Blast kills 37.

Another suicide bomb today. Yesterday there was the dogfight bombing with the anti-Taliban commander target. Today, a market with a Canadian convoy was the target . 3 soldiers reported wounded. A British soldier was killed on footpatrol.

Did the Taliban see their shadow on Groundhog's Day? Is the spring surge coming 6 weeks early?

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (AFP) — A Taliban suicide car bomb aimed at Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan killed 37 civilians Monday, a day after another suicide blast left 100 dead in the country's deadliest such attack.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force said three of its soldiers were also wounded in the powerful suicide blast Monday in a car parts market about 50 metres (160 feet) from the Pakistan border in the town of Spin Boldak.

It would not comment on the nationality of the troops but Kandahar province governor Asadullah Khalid told reporters they were Canadians.

The Canadian military confirmed it had a convoy in the area but would not say if it had been involved in any incident.

The interior ministry said the attack killed 37 civilians and wounded 30 more.

The blast caused a fire and destroyed a vegetable market, leaving a 30-metre-wide hole in the ground, an AFP reporter at the scene said. More than 100 shops were destroyed or damaged, he added.

About 20 burned bodies were collected in one clinic, many lying on the floor, he said. Witnesses said many of the victims were shopkeepers.

"My cousins were killed. I can't find their bodies," said one trader, 25-year-old Abdul Majeed.

A spokesman for the extremist Taliban movement said his group had carried out the blast, which is similar to scores carried out by extremists who were in government between 1996 and 2001.

President Hamid Karzai issued a statement condemning the attack as cowardly and brutal. "The enemies of Afghanistan once again mercilessly killed innocent people in Kandahar who were living their normal lives," he said.

The attack came a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of hundreds of men and boys watching dog fighting outside Kandahar city. More than 100 people were killed, according to a toll issued by province governor Khalid Monday.

It was the deadliest suicide blast since the fall of the Taliban regime in a US-led invasion. The Taliban were behind most of around 140 suicide attacks last year.

Khalid said the target of Sunday's blast was an anti-Taliban militia commander, Abdul Hakim Jan, who was killed along with about 35 of his men, according to an aide.

The commander had been warned that his life was under threat from the Taliban, the governor told hundreds of people packed into a mosque for a ceremony to mourn Jan.

"We told him a week ago that a suicide bomber was looking for him," he said.
Afghan officials blamed the extremist Taliban for the attack. But a spokesman for the movement, Yousuf Ahmadi, rejected Taliban involvement, suggesting the motive was infighting among pro-government commanders.

Sunday's bombing was condemned by the United Nations and several Western countries which have a military presence in the war-ravaged country.

The UN Security Council underlined in a statement "the need to bring perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism to justice."

The British Ministry of Defence announced meanwhile Monday that one of its soldiers was killed Sunday in a separate explosion in the southern province of Helmand, which sees some of the worst violence of the Taliban-led insurgency.

The soldier was killed and another wounded when they were caught in a blast while on foot patrol in the Kajaki area, the Ministry of Defence said.

The new casualty took to 16 the number of international soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year. Most of them have been US nationals but the toll also includes Canadian, British, Dutch and Italian troops.

ISAF and the United States, which heads a separate force in Afghanistan that focuses on counterterrorism, have been calling for more troops for the country ahead of an expected surge in the unrest in spring.

Pakistan Voting: So far, so good.

Low turnout, peaceful polling in Pakistan.

As polling closed in Pakistan’s most-watched general elections on Monday and the counting of votes got under way, cadres of the Pakistan People’s Party and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N) began taking out jubilant processions in anticipation of victory while gloom descended over the Pakistan Muslim League (Q), the former ruling party and ally of President Pervez Musharraf.

The Election Commission will announce official results only on Tuesday, but unofficial vote counts at individual polling stations were giving the PPP and the PML(N) leads over the PML (Q) at many places.

Contrary to widespread fears, polling day passed off without any major untoward incident, and none of the major political parties came up with any complaints of rigging or any other irregularities. Sporadic incidents of violence and irregularities were reported from some places, and over 80 people were arrested country-wide.

Despite a relatively peaceful day, voter turnout was uniformly low throughout the country. The Election Commission did not release numbers, but media reports estimated that the turnout might be lower than the 41 per cent in 2002.
-end-

Just thinking about our troops and their C-I-C being attacked

by the likes of Berkeley, Toledo, and the Peoples Republic of Boulder.

And then I saw this:

"When you men get home and face an anti-war protestor, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend because she knows she’s dating a pussy"…

~ Attributed to General Tommy Franks

God bless our troops and their C-I-C.
-end-

Baitullah Mehsud, concieved, funded and ordered the killing of Benazir Bhutto

It cost Rs 0.4 million - that's about $7000 bucks.

He wasn't crazy about her stance on the war on terror and wanted to keep a female from becoming the leader of a Muslim state.

Militant commander Baitullah Mehsud had conceived, funded and ordered PPP Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto’s killing in a gun and bomb attack, said Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, chief investigator of the Liaquat Bagh incident.

Majeed told a news conference here that the joint investigation team had arrested Sher Zaman, Aitzaz Shah, Hussnain Gul, Rafaqat and Abdul Rashid Turabi who later confessed being ‘facilitators’ of Bhutto’s killing. He quoted these accused as claiming that Bilal alias Saeed blew himself up after firing two shots at Bhutto.

He said Baitullah Mehsud had masterminded and ordered the killing and distributed Rs 0.4 million among the killer and facilitators. He said Baitullah made money through thefts, called Maal-e-Ghaneemat.

Majeed said the accused had disclosed that they got militant training at camps run by madrassas in Waziristan agency in FATA and Mansehra district of NWFP.

He said the accused and Benazir’s killer had tried to target Bhutto in Peshawar but failed. Their earlier plan to kill PPP chairwoman on October 18 in Karachi also bore no fruit, he said. He said the accused and killer spoke to each other over cell phone in code words before attacking Bhutto.

He said Mehsud saw off the killer group saying he would see its members in heaven. He said the accused were convinced that Allah would allow them entry into heaven for killing Bhutto who wanted to act against mujahideen in Waziristan to please the US after coming to power.

He said the accused also wanted to stop a woman from becoming prime minister of a Muslim state in line with the Islamic injunctions.

Majeed said the Lal Masjid operation had persuaded the accused to ‘sacrifice’ their lives for Islam.He said Aitzaz Shah and Sher Zaman were involved in attacking a camp office of Pakistan Air Force in Kamra. He said some other facilitators might also be involved in Bhutto’s killing.

Majeed said Waziristan housed a good number of madrassas, which trained youngsters for suicide missions. He said other members of the JIT were ready to confirm confessions made by the accused.

A smackdown of Clintonian proportions...

Depends what your definition of 'is', is.

"I think he even hit me in the face with his hand..." per Gateway Pundit

Obama supporter Robert Holeman came after Bill Clinton today at a high school in Ohio and said that Bill Clinton smacked him in the face. MSNBC reported:

CANTON, OH -- Robert Holeman came to Timken High School here today with a message to deliver to Bill Clinton. He did -- and he said the former president wasn’t happy about it.

Clinton spoke to a capacity crowd in this Northeast Ohio town, the third of five events today in the Buckeye State.

He told voters that the contest was “the power of speeches against the promise of solutions by a world-class change maker.”

Throughout the event, as Clinton made his case for his wife, Holeman’s dissenting voice could be heard. At times he simply shouted Obama’s name. When Clinton would set up a sure applause line, Holeman could be heard heckling.

As soon as Clinton finished speaking, the Canton native made a beeline to the ropeline to give Clinton a piece of his mind.“I asked the president to please stop the bickering between the campaigns,” Holeman said in an interview afterwards. “All this name calling is like the bully in the yard. He can’t get his way, he can’t get nothing done.” Holeman said he thought Clinton was “gasping for air.” Holeman said that Clinton responded by saying Obama came after him first.

Holeman also described Clinton’s reaction to him as “irate.” “I think he even hit me in the face with his hand,” he said. “He did give me a little pop. It was okay, because I understand his tenacity for his wife.”

Clinton did engage Holeman for a few minutes, at times pointing directly at him. It was unclear whether he did make physical contact, however.

In other Ohio fisticuff news - a great win for Ohio. Pavlik stays unbeaten.

-end-

We'll release kidnapped mystery journalist, the hitch is you can't arrest us.

Negotiations with the kidnappers continue.

The release of a British journalist seized by gunmen in Iraq is being delayed because his kidnappers fear future arrest, according to reports.
...
A Shia group that claims to be negotiating with the kidnappers said they want assurances before freeing their remaining captive.

(I wonder if they want those assurances in dollars or Euros.)
-end-

2nd Danish Motoonist goes underground

And under police protection.

A second Danish cartoonist has been forced to live under police protection by the renewal of the Mohammed Cartoon Crisis. Our Danish correspondent Kepiblanc has translated an article about Franz Füchsel from Fyens Stiftstidende.

Read it all at Gates of Vienna.
-end-

7th night of violence in Denmark

PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen speaks out for the first time.

Angry yutes and their worthless parents in largely immigrant neighborhoods at fault not Danish society. Freedom of speech includes cartoonists, anger over a drawing doesn't give one a right to burn cars, or schools or other institutions. Get 'em, Anders.

Angry youths who have been setting fires in immigrant neighborhoods across Denmark for seven consecutive nights should expect no sympathy from society, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Sunday.

"I think it will be the opposite, that a lot of people will turn their backs on them," the prime minister said in interview with Denmark's TV2 news channel. It was the first time he had commented publicly on the weeklong youth violence that has kept police and firefighters busy in cities across Denmark.

Fogh Rasmussen rejected any notion that society was to blame for the unrest.

"We must make clear that the youths are responsible for this — and their parents," he said.

Thirteen people were arrested late Saturday and early Sunday on suspicion of vandalizing and torching schools, cars and garbage containers. The unrest — largely in immigrant neighborhoods — started in Copenhagen and spread to other cities last week.


Some community leaders said the situation may have escalated after Danish newspapers reprinted the Muhammad cartoon in a protest for free speech following the arrest of three men accused of plotting to kill the man who drew it.

Fogh Rasmussen noted that Denmark's freedom of speech includes cartoonists, and that anger over a drawing did not give anyone "the right to burn others' cars or to burn down schools or institutions."

The cartoon and 11 other drawings of the prophet sparked massive protests in Muslim countries two years ago after they were originally printed in Danish and western newspapers.

In a statement Sunday, the Mecca-based Muslim World League urged Muslims, Islamic organizations and centers in Denmark to maintain calm following the reprinting.

"Muslims should not get caught in a whirlwind of emotional reactions," it said.

The organization, founded by the Saudi Arabian government and comprising Sunni religious figures from at least 22 countries, also called on responsible parties in Denmark to take the necessary measures to stop what they described as the offense against the prophet.

Best. Dunk. Ever.

I do love this game.

"You can see his lips, right here."

He wuz robbed! The Superman dunk wasn't nearly as impressive.

-end-

UK: Embassies row

Diplomatic row breaks out between Spain and the UK over 9/11 suspects.

Diplomatic crisis looms as French bugs discovered in UK defense minister office.
-end-