Iran's he man woman hater club announces new crackdown

Small businesses targeted this time around.

Iranian police will launch a crackdown next month on small companies which fail to enforce strict religious dress codes, Mehr News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The move indicates an expansion of a clampdown on "immoral" conduct launched last year against women flouting rules to cover their heads and disguise the shape of their bodies in public, in line with Iran's Islamic system.

"In the first stage, police will only confront companies ... that are active in small buildings or complexes," the head of the moral security police, Ahmad Rouzbehani, was quoted as saying.

Mehr said the move was "to prevent social damage" and the hijab, or veil, "should be respected". It said the campaign would start from around May 4.

Iran's religious codes require women to cover their hair and wear long, loose clothing to disguise their bodies in public, including offices where they may work with male colleagues.

Police sometimes check.....
.....offices to ensure the codes are upheld and can shut them down. Some coffee shops have been closed after police said workers or customers were not meeting standards.

Restaurants and other public places often have signs asking customers to respect the Islamic Republic's dress requirements.

The enforcement of "hijab" has been a cornerstone of the Islamic system introduced after the 1979 revolution.
The crackdown against what clerics see as "corrupt" Western influence coincides with rising pressure on Iran by the West over its nuclear program. The United States and its allies say Iran wants to build an atomic bomb, which Tehran denies. "Everybody, both women and men, just as they want financial and physical security, like to have moral security," Rouzbehani said, adding that police had urged people "to come forward with their reports".

In the past, crackdowns tended to be launched at the start of Iran's hot summers and petered out soon after. But last year's extended into winter and included a drive against tight women's trousers and even men with spiky "Western" hairstyles.

Those who violate dress codes are usually cautioned on a first offence, sometimes after a brief visit to a police station. But they can be held for longer, taken to court and required to have "guidance classes" after repeat offences.

Dress codes are most often flouted in wealthier, urban areas. Conservative dress is the norm in poorer, rural areas.

Afghanistan: Security forces target militants involved in attack on Karzai

Attack originated in Pak tribal region - says intelligence honcho.
Afghan officials say at least seven people were killed when security forces raided a hideout housing militants involved in Sunday's attack on President Hamid Karzai.

Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh says troops surrounded a house in the capital, Kabul, Wednesday, trading fire with Taliban militants. Saleh says at least one of the dead militants directly participated in Sunday's attack on President Hamid Karzai during a military parade in Kabul. Mr. Karzai escaped unharmed.

Hideout after visit from security forces

The intelligence chief also says there is evidence that militants based in Pakistan's tribal region planned the assassination attempt. But Saleh says he has no proof the Pakistani government was involved.

Saleh told Afghanistan's Parliament Tuesday he knew of the plot to murder President Karzai and had warned the Afghan leader and his security advisor.

Just in case you were wondering...US cites new evidence of Iranian support for Taliban.

And Iran IS the biggest state sponsor of terrorism.

A U.S. State Department report says Iran remains the world's most significant state sponsor of terrorism, and that al-Qaida is regaining strength in enclaves in Pakistan. The congressionally-mandated report says North Korea might soon be removed from the U.S. terrorism list. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The report, covering calendar year 2007, says the number of terrorist incidents worldwide declined slightly from 2006, to about 14,500, and that both terror attacks and fatalities in Iraq had begun a steep decline by the end of the year.

But overall deaths from terrorism increased about eight percent in 2007 to more than 22,000 and quadrupled in Pakistan, where extremists based in remote tribal regions took a violent campaign against the Islamabad government nation-wide.

The report identified Iran as the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism with support for hard-line Palestinian factions opposed to U.S.-led peace efforts, Lebanese Hezbollah militants, and Iraqi insurgents.

At a briefing for reporters, the head of the State Department's Office for Counterterrorism, Dell Dailey, said Shiite Muslim Iran is also providing aid to Sunni Muslim Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan in what he termed a shrewd tactic to keep U.S.-led coalition forces under pressure.

"Let us keep sending arms over there to just keep the coalition forces, the United States in particular, but probably the others embroiled and busy, and distracted," he said. "Because the last thing I would suspect that the Iranians want, is a totally pacified Afghanistan with a U.S. base on their immediate eastern side."

The report said al-Qaida and associated groups remained the greatest terrorist threat to the United States and its partners. It said al-Qaida - though greatly diminished since 2001 - has rebuilt some of its operational capabilities in safe-havens in the Pakistani tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

It said while numerous al-Qaida operatives have been captured or killed, the organization - under the strategic and operational leadership of Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri - is cultivating stronger connections with affiliates in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

Statistics in the report were compiled by the U.S. government's inter-agency National Counterterrorism Center.

Its deputy director, Russ Travers, told reporters that well more than 50 percent of the more than 72,000 people killed or wounded in terror attacks in 2007 were Muslims and that mosques and Muslim schools, especially those for girls, were increasingly targeted.

Travers said al-Qaida claims that it spares civilians were shown by the figures to be transparently false:

"We drew only on al-Qaida-affiliated claimed attacks and we find that those attacks killed something like 5,400 civilians, at markets, at funeral processions and so forth," he said. "That number also is much higher. But these are only attacks that al-Qaida-affiliated groups claimed responsibility for."

The U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism remained at five countries - Iran, Syria, North Korea, Sudan and Cuba. But it credited Sudan with cooperation in the war against terrorism. And it said North Korea - which is not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since 1987 - could be dropped from the list as part of the six-party accord under which it is to scrap its nuclear program.

The report noted that Venezuela has been designated under U.S. law as not cooperating fully with U.S. anti-terrorism efforts.

It said the government of President Hugo Chavez deepened ties with designated terrorism sponsors Iran and Cuba, and provided ideological sympathy and refuge, if not material help, to leftwing FARC and ELN insurgents from neighboring Colombia.

God bless you Jonathan Cote.

Rest in peace.

A year-and-a-half of waiting has ended with anguish for family and friends of a former University of Florida student who was abducted in Iraq in 2006 while working for a private security firm.

The body of Army veteran Jonathon Cote, 25, was recovered last week and identified Wednesday by the FBI. Cote's father, Francis Cote of Getzville, N.Y., said Thursday he still does not know how his son died.

"Was he strong? Did they feed him? Was he starved to death? What are those things that happened to him?" he asked during a news conference in New York.

Autopsy results are expected in six to eight weeks. Cote's mother, Lori Silveri of Aventura, could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Florida fraternity brothers mourned Cote's passing, recalling an adventurous young man who was older than his years. Cote had served as a paratrooper in Iraq before enrolling at UF in August 2005. Fellow students gravitated toward his outgoing personality and realized he "wasn't your average freshman," friends said.

"He had this confidence — he had seen and done it all by then," recalled Dane Eagle, who was Cote's "big brother" in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, someone Cote could go to for advice and support. "He ended up being more my mentor than me to him."

Cote, a native New Yorker, began studying accounting at the Gainesville campus, but by the end of the school year decided college life didn't provide the excitement and sense of duty he craved, said fraternity president Matt Sloan. So he decided to return to Iraq, this time serving with the private security firm Crescent Security Group, to make extra money that would help him pay for his schooling.

"He felt guilty. He was in paradise — at UF in beautiful weather, with beautiful girls — but it gnawed at him that there were people still over there," Sloan said. "He felt an obligation to those still serving."

Cote was making plans to return to UF when we was kidnapped in Iraq with three other Americans and an Austrian on Nov. 16, 2006. Suspected militiamen, wearing Iraqi police uniforms at a fake checkpoint, ambushed a convoy of trucks they were escorting on a highway near the southern border city of Safwan.

The Cote family suspects the Crescent employees were set up, perhaps by disgruntled Iraqi Crescent workers angry over their pay and treatment. The Iraqi employees working with Cote had failed to show up for work the day of the ambush, the father said.

He also suspects the hostages were tortured and passed among groups to the highest bidder.

"But in the end, I think they just got tired and decided that America is going to pay for us being there. And Jon was one of those that paid the price."

Cote and other Crescent captives appeared in two videos released by the unidentified kidnappers in the months immediately following their abduction. In one, Cote, dressed in civilian clothes, said: "I can't be released until the prisoners from the American jails and the British jails are released."

Still, family held out hope Cote still lived, creating a Free Jonathon Cote! Web site.

Fears for the abductees' safety were heightened in February when five severed fingers were delivered to U.S. authorities in Iraq. DNA tests revealed that each was taken from one of the Crescent employees, including Cote.

The other hostages appeared to have been killed two to six months ago, Cote's father said Thursday. Jonathon's body was covered with dirt, as if he had been buried.

"The only thing you think of is, these guys are just criminals and don't have any conscience. I mean, how do you do this to people?" he asked, his hands gripping the podium.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Jonathan's family and friends. Words cannot express how sorry we are at the loss of this beautiful young man.

.....

Busy days in Lordville

Light posting continues as I am still up to my yin-yang in houseguests, possums. Today it's Pike's Peak or bust...

Next week is going to be jammed too. I have been serving as a Senior Independent Project mentor to a high school senior this year and will travel back to Phila next week to help put the finishing touches on his project, a history of his extended family's Katrina experiences. He has compiled a 150 page manuscript that we will publish via Blurb and submit for the review of the project committee at the end of May. It's going well so far - but the deadline is fast approaching and we are under the gun. Wish us luck!

Looking forward to being back in the saddle fighting the jihad with you...
.....

Dr. Wafa Sultan - still in hiding

Dr. Wafa in happier times - shining her bright light on the truth

I've found myself wondering how Dr. Sultan and her family are doing lately. Has anyone heard or seen anything about how she is? It is still unreal to me that any American citizen would be forced into hiding out of fear for their safety. It's even more unreal to me that this matter isn't getting more attention...

The only reference I have found is contained in this press release about the Center for Security Policy's Anti-Sharia-Compliant Finance Campaign launch:

It will also feature an audio statement recorded for the event by psychiatrist Dr. Wafa Sultan, a courageous opponent of Shariah law and Islamist extremism. Dr. Sultan has been forced into hiding in America due to threats against her made by Sheikh Yusef al-Qaradawi, head of the European Council on Fatwa and Research and a driving force behind the 20th Century invention of Shariah-Compliant Finance.

Here is her statement:

I am Wafa Sultan. I was born and raised as a Muslim, and had lived for the first three decades of my life under Islamic Shariah which reduced me to subhuman creature.

And here I am, living in the United States of America, the cradle of freedom and Western civilization, regaining my rights and enjoying my humanity.

It’s my responsibility and out of respect and appreciation I have made it my mission to warn my fellow Americans against the danger of applying Islamic Shariah, which violates the basic human decencies. Applying Islamic Shariah here in America is an insult to every human being that values our way of life, especially to every man and woman who are (sic) risking their lives to get rid of it in their Islamic countries.

Please be aware of al-Quradawi, them most prominent Imam in the Islamic world, who has been issuing various fatwa to kill the infidels. Right after my last interview
on Al Jazeera, he accused me of insulting Allah and Muhammed. And it is due to his accusation that I am in hiding.

Can you comprehend yourself as an American citizen living in hiding in your own country?

Please don’t take your freedom and other Western values for granted; defend them and stand up against the hateful Islamic Ideology backed by Shariah law.

Thomas Paine once said, “If there must be trouble, let it be in my time that my children might live in peace.”

Likewise, it would be shameful for all of us to set still and allow the Islamists to prevail. Thank you for providing me with this opportunity to express my strong opposition to apply any decree of Islamic Shariah law.

.....

Let's talk Tunisia

Carla et Nicolas Sarkozy paradent à Tunis
Uploaded by ZappeurLePost

Heads up, possums.

"the growth of recruitment of those willing to die for the holy war is most terrifying."

Tunisia warned about al Qaeda's spectacular hits.

Algeria has warned its North African neighbors that al Qaeda terrorists are planning "spectacular attacks" to destabilize local governments and strike at industrial installations...According to the French Institute for International Relations in Paris, Tunisia is one of the main targets because of its friendly relations with the United States and its successful antiterrorist activities...In various messages, some on the Internet, al Qaeda has warned of the "approaching punishment" for Tunisian President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, "whose regime obeys orders of the West and combats the Islamic veil." Tunisia has banned women's head scarves in public buildings, considering them to be a political statement...Tunisia last fall called on its neighbors to pool their antiterrorism resources...Then, at a conference on terrorism, Mr. Ben Ali said, "Tunisia was among the first to have warned against the pernicious consequences of this phenomenon and stressed the need for intensifying cooperation to guard against it and eradicate it."

Good thing our man Sarko is on the job. Sarkozy praises Tunisia terror fight

With a supermodel on one arm, and big fat letters of intent to build a "700 megawatt conventional power plant in Tunisia", to sell 16 Airbus aircraft to Tunis Air and with "signed accords on nuclear cooperation, migration and aid" on the other, Nicholas Sarkozy cut a wide swath through Tunisia. Reuters has to be the turd in the punchbowl at the occasion with this lede, of course.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy dismissed concerns over Tunisia's human rights record on Monday, portraying its counter-terrorism efforts as a bulwark against the emergence of a "Taliban-type" regime in north Africa.

In a speech at the start of a trip aimed at boosting economic ties with one of France's closest Arab allies, Sarkozy said he would not give lessons on human rights and Tunisia had made advances in granting more personal freedoms. Tunisia is the Maghreb's most westernised state, but rights groups accuse the government of muzzling the press and beating and jailing opponents. It denies the accusations.

Sarkozy said President Zine al Abidine Ben Ali was fighting against terrorism, "which is the true enemy of democracy. For France the fight undertaken here is important," he said. "Because who could believe that if tomorrow, or after tomorrow, a Taliban type regime was established in one of your countries in north Africa, that Europe and France could feel secure? I call on everyone to reflect on that."

Tunisian authorities have cracked down on anyone showing a readiness to join al Qaeda abroad or build support for it at home. Local lawyers say about 1,000 people have been arrested since 2003 on terrorism charges, including for recruiting fighters for the Iraqi insurgency against U.S.-led forces.

-end-

Another grim milestone...

To remind us that the fight is not over.
-end-

(although I wish it was)

The Jeremiah Wright Show...

starring Buffy T. Wentworth, the unfortunate Typical White Interloper.



R.H. Potfry and Buckley F. Williams?
I just love 'em.
It's as plain as The Nose on Your Face.
Bookmark it.

Visit often.

Laugh well.

Iran: War on Barbie declared

Iran launches war on 'Barbie doll invasion'

Prosecutor general says young Iranians must be protected from harmful cultural effects of figures inundating Islamic republic's toy market. Iran's toy market is being inundated by models of Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter and the young must be protected from their harmful cultural effects, the prosecutor general was quoted as saying on Sunday.

"Promoting figures like Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter and the uncontrolled import of CDs of video games and films should alarm all the country's officials," Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi was quoted as saying by the student ISNA news agency.

"We need to find substitutes to ward off this onslaught, which aims at children and young people whose personality is in the process of being formed," he added.

Dori Najafabadi's comments came in a letter to an Iranian vice president, urging measures to protect "Islamic culture and revolutionary values".

While officials regularly lambast Western culture for polluting the minds of the public, Western toys have become a regular and popular feature on the shelves of toy shops in Iran in recent years.

Affluent Iranian parents are known for indulging their children and the purchase of such toys has become for many an obligatory treat.

But Dori Najafabadi said, "These toys, which do not respect the required norms, present dangers for the health of children and affect the survival of toy factories in this country."

Two years ago, police raided toy shops to put black stickers on the packaging of Barbie dolls to hide their bodies. In public in Iran, women must cover all bodily contours, a rule that Barbie conspicuously fails to obey.

Iran has already launched its answer to Barbie and her partner Ken – Sara and Dara, who show full respect for the country's Islamic rules. But they have not succeeded in countering the popularity of Barbie.

These are some of my favorite Barbies...

-end-

Afghanistan: Armed attack on Hamid Karzai

He escapes unharmed.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Canadian ambassador Arif Lalani were among the dignitaries forced to take cover Sunday when automatic gunfire erupted during a ceremony marking 16 years since the overthrow of the country's Soviet-backed rule.

Karzai, his cabinet and foreign diplomats who were present - including Arif Lalani, Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan - were all safe, a statement from the presidential palace said. But it said a local Shiite Muslim leader was killed and nine others, including two parliamentarians, were wounded.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for attack, saying it had deployed four militants with suicide vests and guns to target the president.
Hundreds of people fled in chaos as shots rang out. Firing appeared to come from ruined houses about few hundred metres from where the VIPs were seated. A live TV broadcast of the ceremony on a parade avenue in Kabul was quickly cut.

Witnesses could also hear heavy weapon fire.

An Associated Press reporter saw President Karzai escorted from scene, surrounded by bodyguards and leaving in one of four black Land Cruisers. He could not get a clear view of the president.

Karzai later appeared on national TV and said some suspects were arrested.

"President Karzai condemns this act and asks for all the people to remain calm," the palace statement said.

Several Western officials confirmed Karzai was unhurt and had returned to the presidential palace. Embassy officials confirmed that both Lalani and U.S. Ambassador William Wood had escaped unharmed.

Karzai, who has led Afghanistan since soon after a U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime in 2001, has been targeted by assassins before and is constantly shadowed by a phalanx of bodyguards.

Sirajudin, a police officer at the scene, said he saw two people firing AK-47 assault rifles from a house opposite where Karzai was sitting. UN spokesman Aleem Siddique cited a UN diplomat at the scene as saying between three and five people opened up with small-arms fire toward the dignitaries. He confirmed all the foreign dignitaries were safe.

The gunfire erupted as the national anthem ended at ceremonies marking the capture of Kabul from the Soviet-backed government by the mujahedeen in 1992.

In video footage shown live on Afghan TV, two lawmakers who were sitting about 30 metres from Karzai were seen to be hit by the gunfire. One of the men slumped back in his seat, while the other lay on the ground.

People at the ceremony ducked for cover then fled - among them Afghan police and soldiers who were assembled for the pageantry. Karzai had just completed a drive-past in a U.S.-supplied Humvee jeep.

Security forces deployed elsewhere opened fire at the houses where the attackers appeared to be.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujaheed said four insurgents launched the attack against Karzai near the national stadium where the event was held.

Mujaheed said the insurgents were wearing suicide vests and carrying AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades to attack Karzai.

There was no immediate report of any suicide bombing.

Mohammad Saleh Saljoqi, a lawmaker at the ceremony, said two rocket-propelled grenades landed near the dignitaries and there was continuous AK-47 fire.

One rocket hit inside the Eid Gah mosque opposite where Karzai was sitting. The second hit when the president had already left, landing about 50 metres away, Saljoqi said.

He said the bullets were fired from the west of the where the officials were sitting.

The attack came despite unprecedented tight security for Sunday's anniversary. For days Kabul was ringed by checkpoints with security forces and intelligence officials searching vehicles. The area where the ceremonies took place had been blocked by troops, tanks and armoured personnel carriers.

The live TV coverage of the assassination attempt will add to the sense of insecurity in the Afghan capital, which has been spared the worst of the violence as fighting has escalated in recent years between Taliban insurgents and NATO and U.S.-led forces, leaving thousands dead.

Karzai's narrowest escape from attack during his tenure as president came in September 2002 when a gunman opened fire at close quarters as he visited the southern city of Kandahar. Three people, including the gunman, died in that attack.

Algeria: grand total of 24 al Qaeda scumbags killed

10 were killed on Saturday in a raid in Sidi Yahia. They were planning "spectacular operation with media effect" in the name of the rebel group Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa. 14 were killed in their mountain hideouts on Sunday.

Their previous handiwork includes: claiming responsibility for two double-suicide attacks in Algiers. The most recent, in December, destroyed UN offices, damaged a government building and killed 37 people, including 17 members of the UN staff.

Algeria has been battling an Islamic insurgency since 1992, when the army cancelled the second round of Algeria's first multiparty elections to block a likely victory by a now-banned Muslim fundamentalist party. As many as 200,000 people are estimated to have died in the violence, which had largely ebbed until militants began working under the al-Qaida banner.

200000 people killed and not a peep out of the so-called Islamic moderates of the world. Why is that, I wonder???

Playa de Bakio released after payment of $1.2 million ransom

Pirates take their loot and disappear.

Spain, of course, wouldn't confirm the ransom payment but claim that they have "taken steps so that similar situations don't happen again."

(Oh really? Not when you've just given the scurvy lot 1.2 million reasons to do it again!)

Somali pirates freed a Spanish fishing boat and its 26-member crew after a ransom of $1.2 million was paid, a Somali official said.

Suspected pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades had seized control of the tuna-fishing boat from Spain's Basque region last Sunday about 200 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia, a region where piracy has escalated recently.

The pirates released the ship Saturday, authorities said.

The crew was freed after Spanish authorities paid the ransom, Abdi Khalif Ahmed, chairman of the Haradhere local port authority in central Somalia, said late Saturday.

"The ship is free and the pirates disappeared into their villages," he said.

Spanish officials did not confirm that a ransom was paid before Saturday's release, saying only that there had been negotiations.

In Madrid, Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said Saturday that the trawler, the 250-foot-long Playa de Bakio, was sailing home escorted by a Spanish frigate. She would not comment on any ransom.
-end-

Wish I was going to be in my office ...

fighting the jihad, instead of going here today.

(Yesterday, was mani-pedi day for the ladies and Daddy Day Care for the kiddies.)

-end-

Today in Lordville...

Sorry, there'll be no jihad fighting today, possums. Here are some of the things I will be doing with my houseguests instead:

Garden of the Gods It was August of 1859 when two surveyors started out from Denver City to begin a townsite, soon to be called Colorado City. While exploring nearby locations, they came upon a beautiful area of sandstone formations. M. S. Beach, who related this incident, suggested that it would be a "capital place for a beer garden" when the country grew up. His companion, Rufus Cable, a "young and poetic man", exclaimed, "Beer Garden! Why it is a fit place for the Gods to assemble. We will call it the Garden of the Gods." It has been so called ever since.

Manitou Springs: Manitou Springs is located 65 Miles south of Denver (see Map) 4 Miles west of Colorado Springs Hidden between the Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak, America’s most famous mountain, lies the magical town of Manitou Springs. "Manitou," a Native American word for "spirit," describes this beautiful mountain community. Nine named mineral springs throughout town are fed by the snows of Pikes Peak. Long before white men traveled here, the Ute, Cheyenne and many other natives considered this area sacred.

Seven Falls: the“Grandest Mile of Scenery in Colorado”. Located in South Cheyenne Canyon, Seven Falls cascades 181 feet in seven distinct steps down a solid cliff of pikes peak granite. Crystal clear water from the southern most edges of the Pikes Peak watershed have, over the ages, carved this unique scenic masterpiece in an easily accessed location.

The Ghost Town Wild West Museum. a true preservation of Colorado’s western past, Ghost Town Museum is a fun and historic look back at kind of old west town that used to dot this region during the late1800’s and early 1900’s.

Cave of the Winds. Cave of the Winds literally makes your jaw drop in wonder and astonishment. It is geology and adventure rolled into one—a true, unique GeoVenture! Located in scenic hills above historic Manitou Springs, the caves are one of America’s most important show caves. Visitors have shared in the stunning beauty of Cave of the Winds for over a century.

Don't think we'll have time to hit Pike's Peak today. Maybe next week?
-end-

Hide the ashtrays! Put away the china!

Hearing this REALLY makes me want to throw something:

New State Department lexicon to forbid use of the words jihad or jihadist.

A reliable source has informed me that Condoleeza Rice has approved a new lexicon for State Department usage, absolutely forbidding the use of the terms "jihad" and "jihadist" by any State Department official.

The argument, of course, is the old Streusand/Guirard claim that by using the word jihad, we're validating the jihadist claim to be waging jihad. Of course, it's ridiculous to think that the U.S. State Department carries any validating authority within the Islamic world to determine what is Islam and what isn't. This would be the first time that unbelievers have set the meaning of Islamic theology for Muslims.

Also, the claim is that by using the word "jihad," we are insulting the peaceful Muslims who are waging the daily jihad of the struggle against sin, the struggle against the dirty dishes, etc. And that's great, if that's what any Muslim actually believes is the sum and substance of jihad, but it is an understanding of jihad that is at odds with the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence.

Will Muslims be insulted by a reference to other Muslims using the traditional primary meaning of jihad? Answer: probably. But that doesn't negate the traditional status of that meaning, or the influence of that traditional view in the Islamic world.
I will publish more information on this when possible.

I will be found sweeping up the broken glass in my office until then.

More Piracy on the high seas off Somalia

This time there's a happy ending: seven pirates in chains, three of them bleeding...

Somali troops stormed a Dubai-flagged ship on Tuesday that had been hijacked off the Horn of Africa nation, releasing its crew and arresting seven pirates, authorities said.

They pledged to do the same to rescue a Spanish ship held by pirates since the weekend.

"Our troops stormed on to the Al-Khaleej and engaged the pirates. There was brief fighting before they defeated them," Abdirizak Hared, the mayor of Bosasso port, told Reuters.

The Al-Khaleej had been carrying food and new cars for sale in Somalia when it was raided by pirates seven km (four miles) off Bosasso, in the Gulf of Aden on the northeast coast, on Monday. After the Al-Khaleej was brought into Bosasso port under guard, a Reuters witness saw 16 crew members of Asian origin who appeared safe.

He also saw seven pirates in chains, three of them bleeding. Police escorted them to a waiting van and drove them away under tight security from the port in Puntland region. The ship, and cars on it, showed bullet marks.
-end-

Uncle Ayman crying out in the wilderness

It's time for the Ask Uncle Ayman Show!

al Qaeda's number two has issued the second part of his ask Uncle Ayman show. In it he takes Moslems to task for not backing insurgencies, threatens Japan for helping out the crusaders and vows Lebanon will play a pivotal role God willing in fighting the crusaders and jews. He also attempts to nip in the bud the nasty rumor out there that AQ wasn't responsible for 9/11 - the Jews were. That nasty rumor was started by Shia Hezbollah to discredit Sunni al Qaeda, he sniffs. There is definitely an increase in anti-Iranian rhetoric with this tape and he goes so far as to assert that the US and Iran have teamed up to attack Moslem homes.

He even jumps on the global warming bandwagon predicting that "global warming would would make the world more sympathetic to and understanding of the Muslims' jihad against the aggressor America."

Hah-hah. Al Qaeda goes green.

And Moslemas? You want to join the jihad? Stay home, little lady and take care of the menfolk is Uncle Ayman's advice to you...

I knew that Uncle Ayman was really crying uncle when he:
claimed that the Taliban took over 95 percent of Afghanistan and is sweeping Pakistan as well. "Residents of the provinces and various regions welcome the Taliban and urge them to come to purify their regions of corruption; this is the secret of Taliban quick deployment and gripping control of 95 percent of Afghanistan," he said.

"The crusaders and their agents in Pakistan and Afghanistan are starting to fall," al-Zawahiri said.

Wanna bet, Ayman?
-end-

Pakistan to release Maulana Sufi Muhammad

This makes me want to throw something at somebody.

Pakistan to release Maulana Sufi Muhammad, the firebrand religious cleric and leader of the Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi or Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws, was arrested in 2002 after he led 10,000 fighters into Afghanistan to join the Taliban.

His movement was banned by Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf. Sources inside Pakistan's interior ministry told Adnkronos International (AKI) that Muhammad has been shifted to a safe house under an agreement aimed at having him broker a peace deal with his al-Qaeda backed son-in-law Mullah Fazlullah in the Swat valley in northwest Pakistan and in the tribal area of Bajaur.

Fazlullah is a pro-Taliban cleric who has been engaged in fierce battles with the security forces in the Swat valley. The militants have been fighting for Sharia or Islamic law. "We have also learnt that our father will be released," Moulvi Rizwan, Muhammad's son told AKI in a telephone interview. "Our movement is peaceful and we consider the Pakistan army, our army. We will continue our struggle through peaceful means," said Rizwan.

-end-

About the Austrian Hostages...

I know I said that one of the hostage negotiators working for the release of the Austrian couple was killed.

Correction. Make that three of the hostage negotiators have been killed.

This is what we're dealing with here.



Sickening savage bastards that's all I can say.

May God bless the hostages and grant them some measure of grace and comfort at their hour of need.

Amen.

The Polite Pirating Guide...they even brought their own goats!

The only violence was when one pirate shot another pirate over drugs.

This whole business is starting to sound like al Qaeda got the Six Sigma memo to me. First the marked increase in hijackings, then the 80/20 split on the Le Ponant ransom and now this?

Bandits who hijacked a luxury yacht and held 30 people hostage insisted they followed a "polite pirating guide".

The six raiders claimed they had a good conduct manual on how to seize foreign vessels to ensure their prisoners felt "relaxed and cheerful" during their week's captivity.

The written guide said they must not sexually assault women hostages, not shout at prisoners, give them food and drink regularly and let them sleep and use the toilet when they ask.

The gunmen even brought goats on to the 290ft French yacht, inviting their captives and 20 friends from their village in Somalia to an on-board barbecue.

When one pirate's gun accidentally went off and narrowly missed the boat's doctor he was sent off for "carelessness".

The only violence was when one pirate shot another dead in a row over drugs.

Stockholm syndrome is a reality.

The mostly French crew, who are returning home, said the pirates never abused them. One told French newspaper France-Soir: "We really didn't have a bad time at all. At first it was frightening when men with guns boarded but we soon realised they were pretty nice guys. They were calm and polite and hardly even raised their voices. Luckily they got what they wanted and left, because they didn't look like they really wanted to kill us."

THE CHARTER
No sexual assaults on women hostages
No shouting loudly at prisoners
Allow them to use the toilet
Give hostages food and drink regularly
Let them sleep when they want.

-end-

Barbary Pirates Deja Vu

The Le Ponant and the French frigate currently guarding it.

The latest on the Le Ponant Pirates now languishing in a Parisian jail. It's hard for me to get too worked up about their fate at this point. Not when I agree with my good friend MK, that shooting the lot of them on the spot would have probably spared the crew of the Playa de Bakio the fate they are suffering today.

More reports are trickling in on that front. It doesn't sound like a good situation to me:

Cadena Ser, a Spanish radio station, said it managed to get through to the Spanish fishing boat and hold a short, frantic conversation with one sailor. In the space of 12 seconds, the sailor asked four times that the broadcaster not call back. "Please do not call back. They are watching us," the unidentified crew member said, according to Cadena Ser.

And from the daughter of the Playa de Bahio's skipper:

Amadeo Alvarez Gomez, told Spanish National Radio. Negotiations are under way and going well, she added. The government declined to comment on any negotiations that might be taking place.

And just in case you were wondering where piracy is hot right now:

Nigeria ranked as the No. 1 hot spot amid a lack of effective law enforcement. Its 10 reported attacks (most of them off its main city of Lagos) accounted for one-fifth of the global total. India and the Gulf of Aden off the northern coast of Somalia tied for second place among pirate-troubled territories, with both reporting five incidents apiece. Those in India were low-key attacks aimed at theft, while the Gulf of Aden was prone to hijackings.

(I'm not sure these numbers take into account the 20% increase seen in pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia alone for the first three months of this year. ) But back to the Le Ponant. A ranson of $2,000,000 was paid for its release, but did you know that only $200,000 of the ransom money was found with the Le Ponant pirates when they were captured by French forces?

Where did the rest of the money go?

The IHT is reporting this about the Japanese tanker attacked on Monday.

"Pirates in the lawless Gulf of Aden off Somalia fired on a Japanese oil tanker Monday, unleashing hundreds of gallons of fuel into the sea...The tanker attack helped send crude oil prices to a new record, spiking above $117 a barrel Monday before falling back slightly."

(Hundreds of gallons of fuel? As in less than a thousand? Surely that is a manageable amount. Besides, I thought the recent spike in oil prices had more to do with the attack on the Nigerian pipeline...and the usual OPEC-ian jawboning that is taking place. Still and all, this can't be good for the world oil market jitters.)

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum

Moslem Pirates don't get none.

The picture (r) shows the pirate activity off the coast of Somalia in 2007 which is up 20% in the first three months of 2008. Busy little buggers, eh?

It's definitely getting hot down there. It's interesting to note that the Dutch government took over for Denmark and began escorting the UN relief ships early this month.

Is it time for security on board ships traversing this shipping lane? Or is it time to just go in there and clean effing pirate house?

I vote for both.
-end-

Spain: All hands on deck

to end Playa de Bakio pirate siege.

Contact has been made with the boat and they look to be headed to Somali town of Gaan, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the southern town of Obbia.

Speaking in broken English on Spanish National Radio (RNE), a man who appeared to be one of the pirates said Monday they wanted "money," after snatching the phone from the boat's captain who had been contacted on board.

"I am the captain of the boat... we are all well and there is no problem, for the moment there is no problem," the skipper said in Spanish, before being interrupted by the pirate who said he was a member of a "Somalia militia."

Meanwhile, back in Spain...

Spain appealed to France, the United States and NATO on Monday for help in ending a crisis sparked when pirates seized 26 crew members of a Spanish fishing boat off the Somali coast.

The defence ministry said a Spanish military frigate was heading to the area off east Africa, where the pirates have demanded money for the release of the crew, a day after storming the vessel armed with grenade launchers. It said the ship would arrive in 24 to 36 hours.

Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega chaired a meeting of senior cabinet members, including Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and Defence Minister Carme Chacon, to discuss the crisis.

"We have sought the help of France and the United States," two countries with a military presence in the area, a Spanish government spokesman said. The defence ministry "has already entered into contact with NATO authorities," the government said in a statement. It said Madrid is also in contact with "Britain and other allied countries and friends with a military presence in the area."

About Spain's newly sworn in and heavily pregnant defense minister Carme Chacon. She has zero experience in matters of military defense and is a lifelong committed pacifist.

I swear it's true.

But who cares about all that - not when you can fret about her state mandated maternity leave.

Words fail. Thank God the EU and the UN can be counted on to offer resolutions. Wastrels.

There was another attempted pirate attack on Monday. Interested?

On Monday, a major Japanese oil tanker was damaged and then chased by heavily armed pirates off the coasts of Somalia and Yemen but no one was injured, officials and crew members said.

The 150,000-tonne Japanese tanker Takayama, with a crew of 23, sustained damage but was able to sail on its own power after the attack at about 4:40 am (0140 GMT) Monday, its owner and operator Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) said in Tokyo.

"We heard one big boom at first and then we were chased by the group for about an hour," a crew member told Japanese public broadcaster NHK. "We were attacked on the left and the right sides of the ship at least four times."

The attack occurred in international waters some 440 kilometres (275 miles) east of the Yemeni port of Aden, Japanese officials said.

Tell it, Sister!

Bahraini Women's Rights Activist Ghada Jamshir Attacks Islamic Clerics

for Fatwas Authorizing Sexual Abuse of Children



courtesy of Memri and h/t to the lovely JLayne

-end-

Somalia: Spanish Fishing boat captured by pirates...

Fate of the crew is unknown at this time.

A Spanish fishing boat with 26 crew on board has been seized by pirates off Somalia, officials in Spain say. They say the Playa de Bakio - a Basque tuna boat - was attacked about 250 miles (400km) off the coast. A source from the Basque regional government said the boat was in "international waters". The fate of the crew is unknown.

A source from the Basque government's Agriculture, Fisheries and Food department told Spanish news agency Efe that four armed pirates took control of the boat using grenade launchers. The source said the crew was made up of 13 Africans and 13 Spaniards, and the boat suffered "some damage" in the attack but is "navigable". The boat is currently heading towards Somalia, the source added.

The Playa de Bakio was taken in the same area as the Le Ponant. "The defence ministry has instructed one of its ships which is nearby to head immediately to the area of the incident," the foreign ministry's statement said. A Spanish military frigate that was in the Red Sea was heading towards the are where the fishing boat was seized, a government source said. The defence ministry has also been in contact with military officials of nations with a military presence in the area to request "logistics support and help in locating the affected boat, the statement added.

Dear CNN, call me crazy, but I think being forcibly boarded by thugs wielding guns and grenade launchers sure sounds like PIRATE to me! Presumed Pirates take fishing boat off Somalia. Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and all that.
-end-

Muslim headhunters. Part 2

Al-Qaeda in Iraq tape calls for monthlong surge...and the celebratory beheading of an American.

"We call on our beloved ones ... that each unit should present the head of an American as a gift to the charlatan Bush ... in addition to one of the apostate servants and slaves of the awakening (councils) during a one-month period," he said in the tape, posted on an Internet site known for its militant content.

Muslim headhunters. Part 1
-end-

Nigeria: Speaking of restless...

Muslim traders on a rampage! Christian trader allegedly blasphemes Mohammed. Now he's being held in protective custody. I'd say he's lucky to be alive....

Commercial activities were paralysed in northern Nigeria's largest city Kano on Sunday when Muslim traders protested an alleged blasphemy of the prophet Mohammed by a Christian trader.

Hundreds of angry traders at the Sabon-Gari market were seen setting bonfires on major streets leading to the market, and called for the killing of the trader. He was accused of putting blasphemous writings onto the walls of his shop against Mohammed, Islam's holiest figure.

"A Christian trader was accused of making some blasphemous inscriptions against prophet Mohammed in his shop by his moslem colleagues who pounced on him," Kano police spokesman Baba Mohammed told AFP. He said the man escaped to the police station in the market, from where he was quickly ferried to the state police headquarters for protection.

"We have made several arrests of persons suspected of attempting to breach the peace while the suspect is in our custody pending conclusion of investigation," Mohammed said. He said the police used tear gas and fired shots in the air to disperse the protesters, while the market and other businesses were shut to prevent the situation from escalating.

When I say this guy is lucky to still be alive - I mean he's REALLY lucky. Get a load of this:

Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria has been a hotbed of religious strife in the west African country of some 140 million inhabitants.

In 1996, a number of Muslims scaled the fence of a prison in Kano where a Christian, Gideon Okah, was in protective custoday after he was accused of sacrilege against the Koran.

Okah was subsequently killed, with his murderers hoisting his head onto a spike in jubilation.

That's right - they put his head on a spike.

-end-

At last: Word on the Pakistani Envoy missing since February

This is pure terror. And pure Religion of Peace. After hearing NOTHING for months about the Pakistani envoy who was seized in the Khyber Pass, he has finally been shown on a tape broadcast by al Arabiya and "claiming to be held by Taliban militants" (What's with the "claiming" BBC, like he's making the whole thing up?) and urging the Pakistani government to meet their demands. What are they demanding? A prisoner exchange for a Taliban commander currently in Pakistani custody. He also spoke directly to Pakistan's Iranian and Chinese ambassadors, saying: "I urge them to do what they can to keep us alive and fulfil all the Taleban's demands as soon as possible so we can be released and return home, God willing." Our prayers go up for his (and his driver's) safe release.
-end-

25 years ago today...

the US Embassy in Beirut was attacked.

Twenty-five years after terrorists detonated a massive car bomb, killing 52 people at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, President Bush urged unity in condemning terrorism he said continues to threaten the United States.

The Islamic Jihad Organization, today known as the terrorist group Hizballah, launched the April 18, 1983, attack that left 17 Americans and 35 Lebanese citizens dead.

Those killed included Marine Cpl. Robert V. McMaugh, an embassy guard, and Army trainers Sgt. 1st Class Richard Twine, Staff Sgt. Ben H. Maxwell and Staff Sgt. Mark E. Salazar. Employees of the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development and members of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Middle East contingent were also killed.

President Ronald Reagan quickly denounced the “vicious terrorist bombing” as a “cowardly act” that would not deter U.S. goals of peace in the region.

We've sure seen how those goals of peace worked out, haven't we?

-end-

Fatwa on labeling urine or stool samples with any of the 99 names of Almighty Allah.

Piss be upon him!

(Tip of the specimen cup to YankeeDame.)

A fatwa has been issued by Dubai Islamic Affairs Department (DIAD) to ban printing of names that include the 99 names of Almighty God such as Abdul Rahman, Abdullah, Abdul Salam as well as names of prophets and saints on the labels of sample bottles provided by hospitals and laboratories to the patients.

A top official at DIAD said the fatwa bans writing or printing the name of Almighty God on stool or urine samples desecrates the glorious names of God.

The DIAD advised the hospitals and laboratories to write the file number of the patients on the bottles. The DIAD has alerted the Ministry of Health and Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS) to implement the decision in order to stop this practice immediately.

The official explained that “Asma-ul Husnaa” means the Excellent Names of Allah, which are also known as the 99 Attributes of God that are considered glorious and sacred.

Unh-huh.
-end-

Did the Obama flip off Hillary? Or just have an itch that needed scratched with his badfinger.

speaking of gotcha games

From Politichill ... courtesy of the FR.

-end-

Oh possums - I'm a little behind in my work...

I have outstanding tags over at Wolf Howling and Always on Watch. I have sympathy cards to write and it is eating me up not getting them done. We had snow last night - which meant shoveling the driveway first thing this morning. Not enough snow for the snowblower - enough to freeze if you didn't shovel it. That meant get busy.

Then, Charlotte, my "progressive" liberal girlfriend called and wanted to talk and talk and talk. I admit I was so put off by our last conversation about the Presidential race that I had kind of been avoiding her. So today, I just tried to listen to her expound about the Democratic candidates and be a good friend. She'd been in the wine. It was not easy. They are getting ready for chickens down on the Farm.

I have trained the Kafir K-9 Brigade to ring a bell hanging on the front door if they need to go out. (They also alert and send up the alarm at the sound of a helicopter passing overhead. How about that?) Every hour on the hour they were ringing it today. And then just going out to eat grass....

In between, it was time to put my new Master Bedroom Closet back together (After having workmen in the house for two days which I hate) and now my leg is numb and my back is killing me. Oy. Getting old.

And there's mucho company on the horizon. (A dinner party on Sunday and one of my nieces will arrive with her small children in tow for an extended visit on Tuesday.)

Posting may be light over the next few days. Or not. You know how it is.

Well, the Lord and Master has just passed judgment on the closet job. I did a dynamite (dinah-mite?) job.

I only wish I would have taken a before and after.

So this is what has been happening in Dinah-land.


-end-

Senate Pope Resolution passes

with absurd edits that illustrate the foolishness that is the Democratic party today.

This is what was ridiculously cut:

"that neither attempts to strip our public spaces of religious expression nor denies the ultimate source of our rights and liberties"

and...

"Whereas Pope Benedict XVI has spoken out for the weak and vulnerable, witnessing to the value of each and every human life".

Fools.

-end-

Mohammed and Megahed: The Goose Creek boys back in the news

Terrorism and weapons charges added for Mohamed. Additional charges regarding devices found in their car trunk levied against both.

TAMPA - Twelve days before they were scheduled to go on trial, two former University of South Florida students are facing new charges handed up by a federal grand jury.
The new seven-count indictment adds terrorism and weapons charges against one of the defendants, Ahmed Mohamed. It also includes a new charge against Mohamed and Youssef Megahed relating to the devices found in the trunk of their car when they were arrested Aug. 4 in South Carolina. It replaces a two-count indictment handed up last year.

-end-

This is so infuriating I can hardly bring myself to post it.

The Imam of Canterbury says middle east Christians are facing persecution because of "American Global project."

(The things you hear when you don't have a gun...or some sheep shearing clippers...or a cattle prod...)

Dr Rowan Williams will say that many Christians have been forced to flee their homes in the Holy Land because of 'appalling pressure' from extremist Islamic groups.

And he will warn that historic communities risk becoming mere 'museum pieces' in the 'theme park' Middle East because of the military policies of the West.

And what, pray tell, does he think Londonistan has become????

-end-

Father and son banned from council swim pool - they weren't Muslim

Dhimmi in the UK

A stunned dad and his little boy were banned from swimming at a popular public sports centre - because they are not Muslims.

The man, known only as David T, and his 10-year-old son were stopped from going into the pool at Clissold Leisure Centre in Stoke Newington, east London.

Last night embarrassed management at the complex said staff were wrong to turn customers away from the designated 'men-only modesty session' on Sunday morning. The council says the special early-morning get-togethers are aimed at community groups who have strict rules on segregation.

At least the Daily Mail comes out and calls it for what it is, and that is segregation. Lord forbid Moslems should swim with an infidel or - horrors.! I don't know, what would be more haraam for them swimming with a woman? Or a Jew?

As always the comedy gold is in the comments - like this instructional comment from a classic appeaser....and someone that is in need a good shaking:

Again, ignorance of the religion of Islam is to blame. The Muslim men-only swimming session has rules to abide by. Islam commands Muslims to adhere to a high level of modesty with regard to dress code. Men are not allowed to expose the area between naval and knee to anyone other than their spouse and at the same time, they are not allowed to look at that part of the body of other men. This means the shorts would typically be knee length when these guys go swimming and they'd be tugged up to the naval as well.

The non-Muslims who wanted to join them would be wearing normal swimming trunks and would therefore not fulfil the criteria.

The sports centre staff should have been told the requirements regarding the trunks and then the father and son could have been told these requirements. At least then they wouldn't feel discriminated against.

While being treated like second class citizens in their own country.

The Pope didn't go to his birthday dinner

at the White House last night. (Evidently, there's some rule about the pope not eating in public) But Imam Talal Eid of Boston did.

-end-

Senate Dems block resolution honoring Pope

Clinging to their religion of being jerks...

A reliable GOP aide informs Townhall that Senate Democrats are blocking a measure to commend Pope Benedict XVI because of “controversial” religious language used in the text of the resolution.

The Pope arrived in Washington Wednesday for a six-day visit to the United States. He delivered an address on the White House South Lawn that morning to praise the America for preserving religious freedom at home and abroad.

The Senate has so far refrained from passing a similar resolution because at least one Senate Democrat is objecting to the following statements contained in the Senate’s resolution to welcome the Pope:

"Whereas Pope Benedict XVI has spoken approvingly of the vibrance of religious faith in the United States, a faith nourished by a constitutional commitment to religious liberty that neither attempts to strip our public spaces of religious expression nor denies the ultimate source of our rights and liberties"

"Whereas Pope Benedict XVI has spoken out for the weak and vulnerable, witnessing to the value of each and every human life;"

The Senate resolution has bipartisan sponsorship. Republican Sen. Sam Brownback (R.-Kans.) introduced the resolution on April 15. It is cosponsored by Democratic Sen. Bob Casey (Pa.). Both senators are Catholic.

The was offered for passage by unanimous consent, meaning the Senate could pass it without a vote, through a procedure called “hotlining.” The resolution could not be “hotlined,” however, because of Democratic objections to the statements listed above.

Until Democrats lift their objections, or the resolution is modified, it remains in limbo.

Clinging to her faith as photo op... Nancy Pelosi, on the other hand, is taking the Papal Bull by the horns and is planning a press conference to comment on the Pope's visit (this ought to be a lulu)and to keep the President (ergo the Republicans) having a monopoly on him.

Another example of their Religion of jerkdom can be found here: Pope should start "spiritual renewal" with Bisexual God. (Warning: HuffPo material)
-end-

It's kind of surreal -

I'm sitting here all happy go lucky watching the Pope celebrate Mass at Nationals Park and then I see this rolling across my RSS feed.

Suicide bomber kills 42 at funeral.

Islam strikes again.

-end-

Ricin dude out of the hospital

and into the hoosegow.
facing charges for “Possession of Biological Toxin - Ricin, Possession of Unregistered Firearms, and Possession of Firearms Not Identified By Serial Number,”

Items found in the von Bergendorf's room:
two .25 caliber semi-automatic pistols, a .22 caliber Ruger rifle, and a .22 caliber Browning pistol with a silencer. They also found a copy of the “Anarchists Cookbook,” reportedly bookmarked on a page with a recipe for ricin, which is derived from castor beans. They also found some syringes and beakers in the apartment, though it’s not clear on what Von Bergendorff was planning on doing with the stuff.
-end-

2nd Mistrial in Liberty City Seven trial

Crap.

A federal judge in Miami has declared another mistrial against six men accused of plotting to spark an anti-government war by toppling Chicago's Sears Tower and bombing FBI offices. U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard ordered a mistrial when jurors reported after 13 days of deliberation they were hopelessly deadlocked in the case of the so-called "Liberty City Seven."

The first trial ended in a mistrial in December because of a hung jury for the same six defendants and the acquittal of a seventh. It is unclear what the prosecution's next step will be.
-end-it.

Round 'em up...al Qaeda's latest

Indonesia: 2 JI suspects arrested on suspicion of involvement in the beheading of 3 Christian schoolgirls were on their way to Syria to meet with "an international terrorist network" when arrested in Malaysia, according to the Indonesian police. The police said they "are not sure what group they are referring to," O-kay. Three guesses and the first two don't count...oh, and did I mention yesterday that one of these dirtbags was a medical doctor? More of his fine healing handiwork can be seen in the photo - left.

Somali Pirates transported to Paris for questioning, possible trial. (Unless they just decide to offer them asylum and a cushy life on the dole like the UK) Six Somalis accused of taking a luxury yacht's crew hostage have arrived in Paris on a military plane to face questioning, judicial sources said.

Maliki confident of defeating al Qaeda. "We are more confident than ever that we are close to a definitive victory over Al-Qaeda and its lawless allies." Maliki said the jihadist movement was in a state of "total isolation" in Iraq and was seeking "refuge beyond the borders" in neighbouring nations, which he urged to do everything possible to stop them from infiltrating. Hey Pipsqueak, you got that?

Violence and political tensions spoil this year's kite-flying event
Lahore: Pakistan's political turmoil and violence have claimed a high-profile cultural victim - a centuries-old kite-flying festival that draws thousands of visitors. The Basant festival brings a springtime buzz to eastern Pakistan and its regional capital, Lahore. Officials usually relax a ban on the pastime - imposed to prevent abandoned strings that are often covered with crushed glass from slitting people's throats.

About 175 terror groups in India. The surprise on the list? Dukhtaran-e-Millat, an all-women organisation that exerts community pressures to further social norms dictated by Islamic fundamental groups. Old news - but just for the record. 30 active terror plots inside Britain: minister
British police and security agencies are monitoring 30 terror plots, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told a tabloid on Sunday.“There are 22,000 individuals who are being monitored. There are 200 networks involved and 30 active plots,” Smith said in an interview with the News of the World.“We now face a threat level that is severe. It’s actually growing,” she said.

Yemen: Another bombing. 3 policemen killed. 4 civilians injured. While we're on the subject of Yemen... and just in case you haven't read Gary Swenchonis's Open Letter to the people of Yemen, yet. Please do.

-end-

Afghanistan: Child brides - their religion has nothing to do with it...

Gee, Officer Krupke. They're depraved on account of being deprived. I agree this is part of the equation - however the Beeb completely ignores the role of the Moslem religion and Afghan government in sanctioning these marriages.

A midwife in the village of Khordakhan, Hanufa Mah, agrees that alleviating poverty is key. She says she tries to teach parents not to marry their girls too young but some feel they have no choice. One girl she helped through labour was only 10 years old.

"The girl was so small. I held her in my lap until the child was born," she says.

-end-

The Persian Pipsqueak speaks about 9/11

He says: 3000 killed whose names were never published - who were they?

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday reaffirmed his doubts about the accepted version of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, describing the strikes as a "suspect event".

"Four or five years ago a suspect event took place in New York," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to a public rally in the holy city of Qom broadcast live on state television.

"A building collapsed and they said that 3,000 people had been killed, whose names were never published."Here is the beginning of my post.

This is the third time in a week that he has raised the issue - trying to take the focus off the Pope's visit to Ground Zero?

Austrian Hostage negotiator killed in Mali border region

Death brings negotiations to an impasse.

No word on who killed the negotiator. Anyone care to hazard a guess?

A mediator involved in negotiations to free two Austrian tourists kidnapped by an al-Qaeda affiliate in Tunisia is believed to have been killed. According to an Algerian source quoted in the Arab daily, al-Sharq al-Awsat, the Tuareg mediator was murdered in a region on the border of Mali and Algeria. His death has reportedly brought a stalemate in negotiations between Austrian authorities and representatives of Abdel Hamid Abu Zayd, local head of the Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb.

Yemen terminates 8 year old girl's marriage to abusive dirtbag

Not because it's wrong or anything like that.

No, it's just because she hasn't reached puberty. If she was 12 and had her period it would be okay, I guess. The child bride gets $250 dollars in compensation for her trouble. I'm wondering if the person who volunteered to pay the compensation was the Imam that married them in the first place? Moslem. What can I say? (Reuters then has the nerve to file the article under "Oddly Enough News" and call the quaint Islamic tradition of pedophilia "tribal", blaming the marriage on the poverty of the region. Please.)

Yemeni court ordered the marriage of an eight-year-old girl terminated on Tuesday because she had not reached puberty. The court also ordered the child's family to pay about $250 in compensation to the 30-year-old ex-husband.

The girl's lawyer and human rights activist Shatha Nasser said the minor had filed a suit in April asking for divorce and told the court that her husband had been physically abusing her and forcing her to have "sex with him after hitting her."

One of the people attending the trial volunteered to pay the compensation, the lawyer said, but did not explain the reason why the court ordered the compensation.

The ruling terminated the marriage instead of granting a divorce to prevent the husband from seeking to reinstate the marriage, according to the lawyer.

Many minor girls in Arab countries that observe tribal traditions are married to older husbands but not before puberty. Such marriages are also driven by poverty in countries like Yemen, one of the poorest countries outside Africa.

-end- (Unfortunately there's no end in sight for the young girls of the Moslem world)

Today in al Qaeda's world.

No rest for the wicked. Another bloody day in Iraq thanks to Qaeda linked bombings. Sunni areas attacked in an attempt to weaken the resolve of the Sunnis who have joined with the Coalition. The bloodshed — in four cities as far north as Mosul and as far west as Ramadi — struck directly at U.S. claims that the Sunni insurgency is waning and being replaced by Shiite militia violence as a major threat... or so says the AP as they continue to act as al Qaeda in Iraq's secondary propaganda arm. Meanwhile, AQ in Iraq's main propaganda arm has been getting busy issuing calls from Baghdad Bob's imaginary brother, Omar al-Baghdadi for the Sunnis to join with al Qaeda and fight the Evil Shatan. They better find somebody to help them out! Because the Evil Shatan is systematically kicking their behind: Coalition forces detain 18 suspected al Qaeda in Iraq.

Jihad Italian Style: Al Qaeda announced the opening of a web site in Italian aimed at recruiting new members. Postal police is looking into the matter. Investigators say that "At the moment it has only been announced, but we have found no trace of a new Italian website on the internet. We are looking for it and in the event that we find it we will monitor access to blogs and will adopt relative measures in the event of any breach of law". Al Qaeda's decision to open a new website follows the shutdown, on Fabruary 22, of the blog run by Carmagnola's imam Abdul Qadir Fadlallah Mamour. Paging Jawa! Paging Jawa! Clean up on Aisle Italia. More detail can be found here.

Speaking of Italia - May Allah curse Berlusconi urges Qaeda linked website. A jihadist message posted to an al-Qaeda linked website urges Allah to "curse" Italy's prime minister-elect, billionaire media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, and also Pope Benedict XVI."May Allah curse and unleash his wrath on him [Berlusconi], and the evil Pope," read the message, which recently appeared on one of the main jihadist websites, the al-Qaeda linked Al-Hesbah.The message was signed by 'al-Wahabi'. See photo left for Berlusconi's reply.




Two Jemaah Islamyiah members are arrested in Malaysia.

And one of them has admitted to the beheading of three Christian school girls walking home from school.

It would be nice to hear some moderate Moslems speak out about this...maybe even the Pope. AND yes, that is one of the girls brutally beheaded by what I can only describe as savages.




Prison Riots in Jordan after attempt made to separate al Qaeda prisoners from general population. Al-Khatib said the trouble in Swaqa, the largest of Jordan's 10 prisons, was in solidarity with riots at another Jordanian jail, the Muwaqqar Penitentiary, where three inmates were killed in rioting involving scores of prisoners who were objecting to separating Al Qaeda-linked militants from other convicts. Police said Muwaqqar rioting began when wardens tried to move some non-militant inmates to other sections of the desert prison, or to other detention facilities in line with a police regulation introduced last week. The decision calls for separating convicts from detainees who are still on trial. It also divides inmates according to age, physical build, conviction and sentence length.

Heavy security as Pakistan welcomes Olympic torch - due to al Qaeda this time. Pakistani authorities also slashed the torch's route at the last minute, citing security fears sparked by an unprecedented wave of Al-Qaeda and Taliban suicide bombings that has killed 1,000 people in the past year.
-end for now -

Iran denounces "Google Plot" forging name of Persian Gulf.

This is an old story that seems to be getting new life thanks to Google and the deliberate staging of another Iranian hissy fit. Back in 2004, National Geographic was forced to remove the term “Arabian Gulf”, which appeared under the name “Persian Gulf” in the eighth addition of Atlas of the World in 2004, after facing millions of protests from Iranians all over the world. (I sincerely question that millions number.)

Well, now they're taking on the dastardly Google plot.

The Islamic Iran Participation Party expressed hope that Google Earth will revise its “questionable disregard of historic, political, and international documents and the United Nations directives on the name ‘Persian Gulf’” Earlier, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) in a letter to the CEO of Google Inc. Eric Schmidt protested against “any misuse of accepted and accurate references” to the Persian Gulf. “Several legal documents from the United Nations as well as the United States Board of Geographic Names confirm the legitimacy of the term (Persian Gulf), as do centuries of classical history, including a reference to the body of water by Greek geographer and astronomer Ptolemy as the Aquarius Persico.” “The Persian Gulf has been known and recognized as such for more than 2,500 years. Agreement on this matter has been solidified by the signatures of all six bordering Arab countries on United Nations directives declaring this body of water to be the Persian Gulf,”...

Eric Schmidt has yet to reply.

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Seven Historic Synagogues destroyed in Tehran

Progress or a systematic program of erasing Jews from the landscape?

Seven ancient synagogues in the Iranian capital, Tehran, have been destroyed by local authorities. The synagogues were in the Oudlajan suburb of Tehran, where many Iranian Jews used to live. "These buildings, which were part of our cultural, artistic and architectural heritage were burnt to the ground," said Ahmad Mohit Tabatabaii, the director of the International Council of Museums’ (ICOM) office in Tehran. "With the excuse of renovating this ancient quarter, they are erasing a part of our history," said Tabatabaii. He called for the government to intervene to stop the work commissioned by the local authorities. A group of residents of Oudjalan have also sent a letter to the mayor of Tehran asking him to suspend the renovation work being carried out in the suburb.

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Somali teachers killed because they were Christian

Daud Hassan Ali and his wife Margaret.

Remember this from yesterday? Well, it looks like they weren't killed for teaching girls (although that very well may have been in the plan.)

Islamists killed my husband because he converted to Christianity.

A British teacher killed in Somalia was targeted because he had converted from Islam to Christianity, his widow claimed yesterday. Daud Hassan Ali, 64, was shot in the early hours of Monday outside a school his charity had just finished building.

A British colleague, Rehana Ahmed, 33, and two Kenyan teachers were also killed in the attack on Hiran English School, in Beled-Weyne, central Somalia, about 190 miles north-west of the capital, Mogadishu. All four were reportedly shot in the head.

The Islamist al-Shabab Movement, the armed youth-wing of the Council of Islamic Courts movement, has admitted attacking the town, but it has not accepted responsibility for the killings.

Mr Ali's widow, Margaret, 64, said her husband had been targeted by Islamists who, she said, "believe it is OK to kill any man who was born into Islam and left the faith". She said her husband knew it was a risk going back to Somalia as a Christian, but said he was there to teach, not convert others to his faith. "He was a teacher. He never made any attempt to convert anyone to Christianity, and only practised his faith in private," she said. "I just hope they died quickly and didn't suffer too much. But I hear their bodies are riddled with bullet holes."

Mr Ali kept a blog on the development of the school and had detailed his fears about night-time raids by militants.

Ahh - there is no compulsion in Islam. Got that?
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Bin Laden Jr. Desperate to stay in the UK

Vow to do whatever it takes - will go to the EU Court of Human Rights if the UK turns them down.

This morning Zaina Al Sabah Bin Laden, who used to be known as Jane Felixe-Browne, told GMTV that Omar had passed all the necessary immigration tests. However, the couple were "99%" sure his application would be rejected because of his father.

Speaking from Paris, and wearing matching tan leather jackets, she said: "We applied before Christmas and we don't know if we have been refused. "It has taken this long and there's no definite answer and no real refusal. We think 99% that it is going to be a refusal though there has been no official letter."

Saying they were desperate to come home, Mrs Bin Laden, a former parish councillor, said: "We already have an MEP working with us and an immigration lawyer."

If we get a clear refusal we are going to go to appeal and if that's refused we will go to the (European) Court of Human Rights because there's no reason he shouldn't be allowed into the country." She added: "He has never done anything wrong. We will go to the top and eventually get into Britain."

I don't think it will go that far, my bet is that the UK will accept his application.

Sex padlocks for Indonesian masseuses

The Imam in charge of the town's public order authority likes the idea

At least one parlor in the tourist town of Batu on Java island has required its masseuses to padlock their skirts or trousers to make it clear that the establishment does not tolerate prostitution. Others in the town started following suit after local officials suggested it was a good idea at a recent meeting with parlor owners. TV footage and photos have shown several masseuses with small padlocks in the zip of their pants or skirts in recent days.

'The padlocking phenomena has been seen at various parlors and it is something we like,' said Imam Suryono, the head of the town's public order authority. He denied media reports that he had formally ordered them to wear padlocks.
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And here is the rest of it.

Sacre bleu! Brigitte Bardot on trial for racial slur against Moslems

It's her fifth time, God love her.

Her beef with the Moslems? Animal cruelty, possums. That's right, she is not happy because they don't make the goats dizzy before they sacrifice them. No mention of her feelings regarding their pre-coital treatment. (That is a total joke, my Sons of Allah. Not for one single minute do I believe that bestiality is the sixth pillar of Islam or anything like that. Heck no!)

A Paris prosecutor on Tuesday called for former French actress Brigitte Bardot to pay a 15,000-euro (23,000-dollar) fine and be given a suspended two-month prison sentence, for inciting hatred against Muslims.

In December 2006, the former sex symbol wrote a letter to France's then interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, claiming Muslims should make animals dizzy before sacrificing them at the Aid al-Kabir holiday. She outraged French anti-racist groups by saying "I've had enough. These people have been dragging us by our noses, destroying us and our country by imposing their ways".

Bardot, now 73 and suffering from arthritis, was absent from Tuesday's court hearing. Instead she wrote to the court saying, "I'm sickened by how these organisations are harassing me." She added: "I will not shut up as long as no blackouts are carried out" on animals before they are ritually killed. Bardot, who has been an animal rights activist for 20 years, has a string of similar convictions. In 2004 a Paris court fined her 5,000 euros for inciting racial hatred in her book "Un Cri Dans le Silence" (A Cry in the Silence).
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Somalia: Four teachers killed by Islamists

British teacher among four killed by Islamists.

What do you want to bet it has something to do with teaching girls? (Although it could also just be because there were infidels in their midst - hard to tell these days with the Religion of Peace.) 15 men with machine guns stormed the house where they were staying, dragged them out, abducted them and then shot them in cold blood. Witnesses said the Islamist fighters did not meet any resistance from government troops because they abandoned the town when the Islamists stormed it.

A British school teacher, her two female Kenyan colleagues and a Somali headmaster were killed in an overnight attack in central Somalia blamed on Islamist insurgents, witnesses said Monday.

The four were killed when suspected rebels attacked and briefly took control of Beledweyne, the capital of Somalia's Hiraan region located about 300 kilometres (187 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu.


In an unrelated attack, Islamists threw a hand grenade into a crowded cinema also killing four. (They were watching a Bollywood film.)

Thousand Island Dressing has Islamists all a twitter

Allah salad bar! The Palestine 48 Website calls on Israeli Arabs to avoid salad dressing after consumer discovers it contains alcohol. (hat tip: The Religion of Peace: and a big stack of dead bodies.)

A website affiliated with the northern branch of Israel's Islamic Movement warned its readers to avoid a brand of Thousand Island dressing produced by a well-known Israeli company. The warning was issued after a local Arab discovered that the dressing contains alcohol.

"I was invited to dinner by a friend and discovered appetizing salads," Khatib recounted. "I asked my friend what he used to make the salad and he told me about the dressing and said it is sold in stores. When I returned home with my wife I checked the dressing's ingredients and was stunned (!) to discover that it contains alcohol, without directing people's attention or warning them."

Khatib noted that he approached a senior figure in the manufacturer's marketing department and was told that the company did not mislead anyone, as the ingredients were clearly noted on the packaging. The senior figure reportedly told Khatib that anyone can decide whether he wishes to use the dressing. (hah-hah. In other words, grow up little moslem.)

I guess he didn't get the fatwa email that says he can have 0.5% alcohol. Oh, and if he doesn't know it doesn't have alcohol and drinks it - it doesn't count because he didn't know. Got that? Alcohol Fatwa stirs controversy.

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Hallelujah - CBS Journo kidnapped in Iraq found

This is a great news. Man, I never thought we'd see this guy again.

Iraqi forces storm hideout and free Richard Butler, CBS Journalist.

A British photojournalist kidnapped two months ago in Basra was set free today in a dramatic rescue by Iraqi soldiers who stormed a house where he was being held captive with a hood over his head.

Richard Butler, who appeared to be in good health, thanked his rescuers and said that he was looking forward to seeing his family and friends.

"The Iraqi army stormed the house and overcame my guards and then burst through the door,” Mr Butler told Iraqi state television.

“I had my hood on which I had to have on all the time, and they shouted something at me and I pulled my hood off."

He was found in Basra...

An Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman described how soldiers from the 14th division of the Iraqi army targeted a suspect house at about midday as part of a series of operations that are taking place across the city.

“They were confronted by heavy fire,” said Major-General Mohammed al-Askari. “The group was organised and the confrontation went for about 30 minutes,” he told The Times by phone from Basra.

One man was arrested, while another was wounded in the exchange. He was evacuated by the rest of the group, which fled the scene in a vehicle.

“Then the troops went into the house and found the British journalist inside and rescued him,” Major-General Askari added.

The house was in the area of Jubayla, about five kilometres from Basra city centre.

Thanking God for answered prayers.

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More on Le Ponant. The cruise company paid the ransom

More details begin to trickle in.
(And I still love the thought of the pirate's getting the ransom money and then getting swooped down upon by the French military. Well done, I say.)

Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, the chief of staff of France's armed forces, said the pirates released the hostages Friday after negotiations with the owners. That phase of the operation was calm, with no weapons fired and the hostages brought smoothly to safety, the general said.

The pirates "gave themselves up without too much difficulty," he said.

"Naturally," he added, "absolutely no public money was paid in this affair. … Check with the ship owner. In capturing the pirates, we also recovered some interesting bags. ... We recovered part of the ransom that was probably paid."

So it appears that the ship's crew members owe their freedom not to swashbuckling French commandos swinging from ropes onto the desk of the distressed boat, but instead to the strength of whomever lifted those bags of money and delivered them to the pirates...

Jean-Emmanuel Sauvee, chief of the company that owns the ship, the French charter company CMA-CGM, declined to confirm a ransom, but said, "It's obviously a very delicate and difficult context, and so the only thing you should take from this is the outcome -- crew members who are going to be able to go home to their families."

Karim Meghoufel, the brother-in-law of a pastry chef onboard the boat, said, "We don't know how much they paid, and, in any case, we don't want to know".

The pirates themselves were captured after they had released their hostages. A French helicopter gunship reportedly swooped down on one of their escape cars and opened fire. Conflicting reports about possible deaths or injuries during that confrontation were not immediately resolved.

One thing is clear: The Somali pirates did not have the luck or guile of movie pirate Capt. Jack Sparrow, of "Pirates of the Caribbean." But it appears they had Capt. Jack's' naïvete. They hit the ship as it was returning without passengers from the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean, toward the sea. The ship can accommodate 64 passengers, in addition to the crew, and that kind of payload could have been a pirate's dream.

The Somali bandits also may have been naïve to believe that it was all over when they got their bags of loot and allowed the crew to go free. There may be honor among enemies at sea in the movie world, but the French military was not about to give these bandits a pass.

I can honestly say that I am looking forward to the Pope's visit

And I pray that he will be safe while he is here.

The pope is "very calm before this trip," Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state and Benedict's top aide, said on Vatican Radio when asked about the risk of a terrorist attack. The head of the Roman Catholic Church arrives in Washington on Tuesday for a five-day visit that will also take in New York.

"Do you remember his trip to Turkey? There were threats before and during (the trip)," said Bertone. "This time around there have been threats too, no doubt," he added but did not elaborate. "We have trust in the protection that the (US) government will put in place wherever the Holy Father will pass, as happened in Turkey," during his visit in late 2006, he said.

You have to wonder - especially when you see what the Religion of Peaceniks REALLY thinks about the Pope:









More on his schedule and the full text of his Ground Zero prayer can be found beneath the fold.
This time the pontiff is to attend a reception at the White House on Wednesday and scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.

Other events on the schedule include a visit to Ground Zero, the site of the September 11 attacks in New York, a meeting with Jewish leaders in Washington and a short stop at a synagogue in New York.

But it is his two showpiece events at baseball stadiums in Washington on Thursday and in New York on April 20 that are causing the biggest security challenge.

Access to the pope's appearance at New York's Yankee Stadium, where he is to celebrate mass on April 20, is being strictly controlled with the help of bar-coded, non-transferable tickets and hours-long security procedures.

Federal agents were carrying out background checks on everyone attending the New York event, who were being asked to arrive at their parishes six hours before the service to allow enough time for security, according to reports.

The text of the Pope's Ground Zero prayer:

God of love, compassion, and healing, look on us, people of many different faiths
and traditions, who gather today at this site, the scene of incredible violence and pain.

We ask you in your goodness to give eternal light and peace to all who died here—
the heroic first-responders: our fire fighters, police officers, emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel, along with all the innocent men and women who were victims of this tragedy simply because their work or service brought them here on September 11, 2001.

We ask you, in your compassion to bring healing to those who, because of their presence here that day, suffer from injuries and illness.

Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy. Give them strength to continue their lives with courage and hope.

We are mindful as well of those who suffered death, injury, and loss on the same day at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Our hearts are one with theirs as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world: peace in the hearts of all men and women and peace among the nations of the earth.

Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred.
God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy, we seek your light and guidance as we confront such terrible events.

Grant that those whose lives were spared may live so that the lives lost here may not have been lost in vain.

Comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love reign among nations and in the hearts of all.

Al Qaeda - still spanning the globe

19 al Qaeda get slapped on the wrist in Tunisia. (What do you want to bet that this will be the next headline you read on these scumbags: 19 al Qaeda prisoners escape Tunisian jail)

A Tunisian court has jailed 19 men for up to eight years for having links to al Qaeda's North Africa wing, a defence lawyer said on Sunday. "Tunis court judge Hedi Ayari announced the verdict to jail the 19 men between one and eight years for having links with al Qaeda and setting up a Jihadist cell," lawyer Samir Dylo Said, adding the verdict was pronounced on Saturday.

Wow. Who just woke up the LA Times? Islamic extremism returns to the Sudan.

Most alarming to Sudanese officials is that this new generation of extremists appears to be almost as hostile toward the Arab-dominated Sudanese government as they are to the West, despite Khartoum's efforts to bolster its Islamic credentials. (Mohammed the Moslem Bear, anyone?) It's interesting to note that not only is al Qaeda spanning the globe so are clueless moonbats. It's a steady chorus from the Sudanese moonbats with their deny, deny, deny, and calling the terrorists "al Qaeda wanna-bes" and "really just lads" and "we don't have that brand of Islam here." I wonder what brand of Islam this is?

Dude looks like a lady - Moslem style. In Mauritania, one of the al Qaeda terrorists suspected of killing four French tourists during their roadside picnic on December 24 was captured. The big, tough, mujahideen was dressed as a woman and was carrying a weapon under his dress. He was wearing habaya (abaya)the black robes favored by some strict Muslim women that cover the head and entire body with only a small hole for eyes. And may I say I'm glad they got his a$$. (You can see some video from the takedown here.)


The Chinese are raiding Uyghur homes in the "restive province" of Xinjiang. Explosives found. Arrests made. How are Moslems treated by the Chinese? According to U.S.-based Human Rights Watch says authorities in Xinjiang maintain “a multi-tiered system of surveillance, control, and suppression of religious activity aimed at Xinjiang’s Uyghurs...At a more mundane and routine level, many Uyghurs experience harassment in their daily lives.”“Celebrating religious holidays, studying religious texts, or showing one’s religion through personal appearance are strictly forbidden at state schools. The Chinese government has instituted controls over who can be a cleric, what version of the Koran may be used, where religious gatherings may be held, and what may be said on religious occasions.”


Algerian Prime Minister: I'm not scared by al Qaeda assassination threats. Two attempts on his life have already been made. His message to AQ: Mr. Belkhadem has sent political messages to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb which said it plotted assassinating Prime Minister at least twice, saying assassination threats “did not scare me.” move a hair of my head,” adding: “ages are in God’s hand.”

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Oh, and about that Iranian Mosque Bombing yesterday...

It's starting to look like an inside job ... as in the explosives were being stored INSIDE the Mosque were 'mishandled' and exploded.

Now, what on earth could they be doing there, I wonder?

"The police commander said the munitions were apparently left behind after a "Sacred Defense" exhibition was held at the mosque, which also serves as a cultural center. "Sacred Defense" is a local reference to the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. Local militia groups -- known as Basij -- often use the mosques for meeting places."

When I went to church we had Spaghetti Suppers not 'Sacred Defense' exhibitions/ And we used to have Sunday School in our church basement, not munitions. Just saying.

So what was going on in the Mosque when the 'explosives were mishandled'? Well, it sounds like a real hootenanny of Islamohate:

800 people, mostly young, were gathered at the mosque Saturday to hear a prominent local cleric's sermon denouncing Baha'i and Wahhabi faiths -- both of which are considered heretical by some Shiites.

It is important to note that no one has taken responsibility for the explosion.

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The Halal Inn: A pub whose time has come in the UK

Britain's first alcohol-free Islamopub opens in England.

"More and more pubs are closing down across the country, and we believe turning them into Islamic pubs could be a success anywhere that has a large Muslim community."

No booze, no televisions. No ban on women customers, but they sure looked thin on the ground in the article's pictures...not too many "typical white persons" there, either. And I bet it's a real blast come prayer time. The thought of everybody stepping back from the snooker table and hitting the floor, then sticking their butts up in the air sure sounds like a lot of fun to me.

Unfortunately, it also just sounds like more segrgation for that 'super special class of citizen' to me.

It is said that many a truth is said in jest and if that's the case they're speaking truth to power in the comments section:

From Clive in Suffolk: "I'll open the KosherBar next door, that should be fun!"

From Peterr in London: "I expect that someone will soon open a butchers that doesn't sell meat. This country is a big joke."

From Norman in Norwich: "Whilst law after law is passed forcing integration and acceptance of ethnic religions and cultures there seems no effort at all from ethnic populations to accept the British way of life."

From TB in Nottingham: "How many non Muslims will be employed, or will the race relations board turn a blind eye again?"

From The Gene Genie of Croydon: "In fifty years' time this will be the norm."

Don't get the wrong idea, like the notion of a Moslem pub, the comments aren't all a laugh riot. No, there are a ton of comments where moonbat and moslems alike express their excitement about the venture.

So, is this how we'll travel down the road to dhimmitude? Inch by inch. Piece by piece. Creeping Islam - coming to a neighborhood near you?

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Obama's jobs program for bitter, small town gun-totin', Bible thumpers.

Ahh! Scrappleface.

(2008-04-12) — Senator Barack Obama today announced a plan to employ millions of bitter, small town Americans who, in their anger over jobs lost in the 1980s, have turned to guns, God, and xenophobia.

Campaigning in Pennsylvania, Sen. Obama said his new proposal addresses remarks made this week at a San Francisco fundraiser, during which he said, “You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

The presumptive Democrat presidential front runner, said his plan would employ “these Archie Bunker-type people” in government programs “to register and/or confiscate inappropriate personal firearms, to monitor churches for hate-speech about homosexuality or abortion, and to build tax-funded housing for low income illegal aliens.”
“Twenty-five years is a long time to wallow in bitterness like our friends in Pennsylvania, the Midwest and elsewhere have been doing,” said Sen. Obama, “So, until the steel mills can all be converted to casinos and re-opened, we’ll provide good government jobs at high wages that will soothe the rage, and help to re-educate these small-town folk.”
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Drool Britannia: Pirates have human rights, too!

UK; Pirates can claim asylum. In their ongoing effort to ruin the United Kingdom, the Foreign Office sides with poor widdle pirates, leaving British sailors standing there with their d&*&s in their hands.

THE Royal Navy, once the scourge of brigands on the high seas, has been told by the Foreign Office not to detain pirates because doing so may breach their human rights.

Warships patrolling pirate-infested waters, such as those off Somalia, have been warned that there is also a risk that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain.

The Foreign Office has advised that pirates sent back to Somalia could have their human rights breached because, under Islamic law, they face beheading for murder or having a hand chopped off for theft.

-snip-

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “There are issues about human rights and what might happen in these circumstances. The main thing is to ensure any incident is resolved peacefully.”

aaarh! The article goes on to remind us of days gone by.

The guidance is the latest blow to the robust image of the navy. Last year 15 of its sailors were taken prisoner by the Iranians and publicly humiliated.

In the 19th century, British warships largely eradicated piracy when they policed the oceans. The death penalty for piracy on the high seas remained on the statute books until 1998. Modern piracy ranges from maritime mugging to stealing from merchant ships with the crew held at gunpoint.
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This country was founded by a bunch of bitter, gun toting, Bible thumpers, Barry

You knew Red State Update would have an opinion. And here it is.


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Pigs Knuckle under in the Moslem world.

Ham and eggs (scrambled well with home fries and wheat toast) Jambon et fromage on a crispy baguette. Bacon, lettuce, tomato on toast. Ft. Benning BBQ on a sesame seed bun, Stuffed pork chops w/apple sauce. Herb encrusted pork loin w/ sweet potato bake. Crispy carnitas wrapped up in a flour tortilla, guacamole, beans and salsa. Hot dog with Kraut and cheese. Pizza with sausage, mushroom, and banana pepper.

Istanbul's last pig butcher fights Islamist crackdown. Lazari Kozmaoglu, Istanbul's last pork butcher, takes a break from a two-hour backgammon session to recall the days he spent slicing bacon instead of rolling dice. Eight workers used to rush in and out of the cutting room, placing wrapped meat in refrigerators, Kozmaoglu, 63, recalls in his store in central Istanbul.

Today the shop is down to its last two months of stock and attracts only a handful of customers. Turkey's Islamist-rooted government has clamped down on the pork industry since 2004, closing all but two of the country's 25 pig farms and revoking slaughterhouse licenses. Kozmaoglu, unable to add to his meat supplies, spends most of his time shuffling paperwork as he seeks permission to reopen his abattoir. ``I don't know what I can do if they don't give it to me; this business is my life,'' Kozmaoglu says as he watches a news bulletin on Greek television. He's one of about 2,000 ethnic Greeks remaining in Istanbul. Most Greeks left the city after Turkish mobs attacked their homes and workplaces in 1955. Others were expelled in 1964 after fighting between Greeks and Turks on Cyprus.

Malaysia: Pig Farm stirs Muslim Ire. A plan to build a major pig farm outside Malaysia's largest city has triggered protests by some Muslim residents whose religion considers the animal unclean. About 200 people carrying banners staged a demonstration outside the Selangor state governments office yesterday and handed a protest note to officials, the national news agency Bernama reported.

"We are worried that the number of pigs will increase and the environment will be polluted with the stench of pig waste," Bernama quoted a protester, Mohamad Tarmudi Tushiran, as saying. ... The project "will be implemented fairly in line with multiethnic harmony," Abdul Khalid said in a statement.
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Honor has nothing to do with it

Honor Gang Rape in Pakistan. Two women. Twelve men. One of the women was pregnant.

As many as 12 men gangraped two women in Pakistan's Punjab province to avenge a love marriage, the police said. "The men abducted the women, one of them pregnant, and raped them in a nearby jungle for two days last month in the Rohallanwali area of Muzaffargarh district," said Mohammed Rafi, a police investigator. The gang was allegedly led by a man identified only as Latif, whose daughter had eloped with the nephew of the two rape victims. "It seems the accused wanted to take revenge for the loss of their honour," Rafi said.


Fear of Honor Killing in rape case (courtesy of Islam in Europe)

The police and the Kristiansand court think a 59 year old might commit honor murder if he's released from custody. The man is suspected of having sex with his two minor daughters for several years. After the attacks were reported, he threatened to kill his children. As a result one of the daughter has been housed in a secret address for fear of threats and reprisals from the father. Both girls say they fear their father will kill them if he gets out.One of the daughters was told by close relatives to forget what happened or she'll be killed.The 59 year old was arrested in February. The man is also suspect of obstructing the investigation by threatening to kill one of the daughter and two witness if they spoke to the police. Two of the sons in the family, brothers to the alleged victims, are suspected and have been arrested for having helped their father with obstructing the investigation.


UK Helpline for Forced Marriages: The scale of the problem is unknown. 400 reported annually but the figure is believed to be four times that.

Worried about the spread of the controversial practice of forced marriage and honour-based violence among Asian communities, the British government on Friday launched a national helpline for such victims.

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Ridiculous? You make the call.

Okay, I can understand where you'd get downright Sikh (hah-hah) of being confused with Osama Bin Laden all the time. Wear a turban, raise awareness. To understand what it feels like to be identified as a member of a different faith, non-Sikhs - including the Jewish mayor of Fremont and a Catholic state assemblyman - plan to wrap their heads in brightly colored cloth this weekend as part of "Sikh Turban Day," an international movement launched five years ago.

"I said, 'Sure, I'll do it,' " said Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman, who plans to show up early to the Fremont Sikh temple Sunday to get help winding the long piece of turban cloth around his head.

Wearing a turban is a first for Wasserman, who is Jewish. "It's just a way of showing unity and understanding for each other's culture," he said.

Out of work? Need a job? In the Netherlands you'll have to visit your past lives first. Maastricht Sends the Jobless to Reincarnation Therapy. The municipality of Maastricht has pressurised unemployed people to follow reincarnation therapy. Uncooperative welfare recipients were told that their attitude could have consequences for their allowance, local newspaper De Limburger reported Friday.

The Social Services, which grants allowances and attempts to get recipients back to work, urged at least one unemployed resident of Maastricht to accept the guidance of a reincarnation therapist. Returning' to a previous life, would supposedly help them regain their balance and enhance their chances of finding work.

Unh-huh. Operatic Oddity: Thirty Naked Pensioners at Ground Zero. For Americans, the site of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York is hallowed ground. For a theater in Germany, though, its the perfect setting for a provocative production of Verdi's "A Masked Ball" -- one that includes naked retirees, Mickey Mouse masks and burning Uncle Sam hats.
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Five years ago today...

Ten of the main suspects in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole escaped from prison in Yemen.

Thanks to Flopping Aces for this:

How ironic that it comes:

two weeks after a US Navy ship in the Suez Canal fired upon a small boat approaching in a manner identical to the attack on the USS Cole.

the same day as Iranian terrorist speedboats made a run on a US Navy ship in the Persian Gulf in a manner similar to the attack on the USS Cole.

And less than a month after a Pentagon report revealed that captured documents from Saddam’s regime showed they had prepared for an operation

almost identical to the attack on the USS Cole called Operation Basra Revenge

In honor of all those who perished and to remind yourself how the perpetrators of this heinous act were basically let off scot free please go to Terrorism: Politicians and Victims and read "To The Good People of Yemen" a letter from Gary, the father of a USS Cole victim.

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How do you solve a problem like Sharia...

Sharia: Coming to a Western Country near you soon?

Bangladesh: Yesterday, modern day denizens of the Religion of Peace took to the streets to fight running battles to protest changes to Sharia inheritance laws. The riots have continued today. Hundreds have been injured in violent clashes over proposed sexual equality laws. What have they got their dervishes whirling about? They were outraged at the idea of women having the same inheritance rights as men. Under Sharia Law, women receive only half as much as men. Think about this:
About Bangladesh and its Sharia: It has one of the worst records in the world for female oppression. Physical attacks are common, sometimes using sulphuric acid, as punishment for turning down proposals of marriage. Fewer than one in ten of the male attackers ever faces justice.


Nigeria: Lesbians get a lashing and it's not a tongue lashing either, possums. Two women in Kaduna, Nigeria have been sentenced to six months in prison and 20 lashes each for having a lesbian relationship.The Sharia court said that Malama Hauwa and Hajiya Ai'sha were violating the tenets of Islam and the teachings of Sharia law. The women claimed in court to have been married for five years. Ai'sha said she had paid a dowry of 5,000 Nigerian naira (£21) to her 'wife' at the start of their relationship. Their relationship came to the attention of the police when Ai'sha became concerned that Hauwa may be about to leave her and demanded the return of the dowry.

About Nigeria and it's Sharia: "Predominantly Muslim states in Nigeria introduced Sharia law, a legal system based on Islamic theory and philosophy of justice, in 2000. The governor in a Muslim state must give his approval for some of the harsher penalties handed down by Sharia courts, such as execution or amputation. In reality the re-introduction of harsh punishments apart from the death penalty has been the main feature of Islamic courts. In Bauchi state alone there are 40 people awaiting amputation of one or both hands for theft."

Yemen: 8 year old "wife" seeks divorce from 30 year old husband. This will make you sick to your stomach. It did me, anyways. She arrived at court by herself to find a judge to hear her case, but because she is underage she can't file suit. A judge heard the case anyway (?) and the husband and father were remanded to jail although no charges have been filed. In her own words: “My father beat me and told me that I must marry this man, and if I did not, I would be raped and no law and no sheikh in this country would help me. I refused but I couldn’t stop the marriage,” Nojoud Nasser told the Yemen Times. “I asked and begged my mother, father, and aunt to help me to get divorced. They answered, ‘We can do nothing. If you want you can go to court by yourself.’ So this is what I have done,” she said. Listen to what the nauseating so-called husband has to say for himself: "Yes I was intimate with her, but I have done nothing wrong, as she is my wife and I have the right and no one can stop me," he said. "But if the judge or other people insist that I divorce her, I will do it, it’s ok.” Get this. The little girl's case is not the first of its kind in Yemen, it is however, the first time a child approached the court herself.

About Yemen and its Sharia: "...item number 15 in Yemeni civil law reads that “no girl or boy can get married before the age of 15." However, this item was amended in 1998 so parents could make a contract of marriage between their children even if they are under the age of 15. But the husband cannot be intimate with her until she is ready or mature.”

Eight years old...
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Miscellaneous Religion of Peace and post Prayer round up

Buh-bye. Scottish suicide doc's bro (the one that went up in flames at Glasgow Airport. You remember his extra crispy self) was sentenced to 18 months jail and then deportation for lying about his brother's whereabouts to the police. He serves 270 days and then gets the boot. More detail can be found here. And all you ultra-hip club-goers out there? Read about the Glasgow bombers' plan to systematically attack the uber-cool night spots that you so like to frequent. (Hey, I may have put the Din-ah in Dinosaur but I used to like to frequent them, too.)

Just another Friday night in Dhaka. Hundreds of people campaigning for Islamic rule in Bangladesh have clashed with police over a new policy advocating more rights for women. What rights were these peaceful souls rioting in the streets about? Equal inheritance. And the riots took place AFTER Friday prayers, I might add.



Karachi Islam-o-lawyers gone wild. They're duking it out on the streets, 13 people are dead - offices and cars set on fire. I thought for sure there was an Islam-o-lawyer joke in there somewhere - and then I read this:

Tahir Plaza, a building opposite City Courts where chambers of lawyers are situated, was set ablaze with six persons including a woman inside having burnt alive. Seven more persons were killed in incidents of firing in the city. Out of eight bodies recovered from Tahir Plaza two were identified as Basit and Dawar Hasan.

More than 80 vehicles were burnt in the city by miscreants without any reason while over 17 buses and coaches were torched during violence only for show of power. Process for burning the vehicles was similar to as earlier witnessed on 18 October and 27 December 2007 by throwing gun powder which instantly burns the vehicle from top to bottom.


Geez. Had enough bombings, murder and mayhem? Well, then read about the UK Headmistress forced out of her school by Moslem Governors and who is now suing because of it. She "failed to meet the needs of the faith-based community".
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Good news! Le Ponant hostages freed.

Le Ponant crew members

Better news: French commandos stage raid, take 6 pirates prisoner.

Controversy swirled last night around a daring French commando raid on Somali pirates who had been holding a luxury French sailing cruise ship in the Indian Ocean.

An hour after the pirates had accepted a $2m (£1m) ransom and released the yacht and its 30-strong crew, they were attacked on shore by French military helicopters. Local Somali officials said between three and five "local people" had died in a rocket and machine-gun battle between the pirates and the French commandos.

This was angrily denied by the French military. They said that they had captured six of the pirates and recovered part of the ransom, paid by the ship's French owners. No one had died in the raid but one pirate had been slightly injured in the foot. "It was an intervention, not a pulverisation," said General Jean-Louis Georgelin, the head of the armed forces general staff.

More details beneath the foc'sle -

The French government must, however, bear some of the blame for the confusion surrounding the raid. The Elysée Palace had originally put out a statement saying that the hostages and ship had been released without "incident" and without the use of force.

No mention was made of the subsequent attack until a press conference in Paris hours later. By that time confused reports of a murderous battle had emerged from northern Somalia.

The district commissioner of the Garaad region, Abdiaziz Olu-Yusuf Mohamed, said that three French helicopters landed and tried to intercept the pirates after they came ashore. "Local residents came out to see the helicopters on the ground," he said. "The helicopters took off and fired rockets on the vehicles and the residents there, killing five local people."

Abdul Kadir Ahmed, the governor of the Mudug region, said "three bodies have been recovered" from the scene of the battle near Garaad. The French military denied this version of events last night.

Naval captain Christophe Prazuck, the spokesman for the French military chiefs of staff, said: "There were four helicopters involved. A sniper [in a Puma helicopter] shot out the motor of the pirates' four-wheel drive vehicle. A second helicoper [a Gazelle] then landed nearby, allowing the six pirates to be arrested under covering fire from two other [Gazelle] helicopters. We are absolutely sure that there were no collateral victims."

Looks like the Persian Pipsqueak wants to tweak our noses some more

Three Iranian boats play cat and mouse with a Navy patrol ship. Iranian officials say it was all part of a "routine check" and deny it of course and claim it is all an American "plot to put the attentions (sic) on Iran and take it off their failures in Iraq."

A Navy patrol ship in the Persian Gulf fired a flare to warn off three approaching high-speed boats late Thursday, the Navy said, and although a Navy spokesman said the boats were unidentified, U.S. news agencies reported they were Iranian.

The coastal patrol ship Typhoon was in the central Persian Gulf on its way north when it encountered the three boats, said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for 5th Fleet in Bahrain. The Typhoon’s crew made what Christensen called “standard queries” over the bridge-to-bridge marine radio, warned the ships to stay away, and then fired the flare. As the Typhoon continued its transit, the three boats fell behind out of sight, he said.

Christensen said there would be no investigation because “there was nothing to investigate. Nothing happened.”

Navy officials in Washington, who identified the boats as Iranian, told reporters they were not apparently armed and came within about 200 yards of the Typhoon before its crew fired the warning flare.

Iran’s official PressTV news network reported on its Web site that an Iranian official denied there was a confrontation between the boats and the Typhoon. PressTV quoted the official as saying that the boats had approached the U.S. ship for “a routine check.”
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Fitna - Schism throwdown

Google's trend-tracking software shows that the search term "Fitna" -- the title of the film -- has been entered by a far greater number of Internet users in Indonesia than anywhere else. The next highest level of interest came from the Netherlands, home to the controversial lawmaker who made the film, followed by Malaysia and Denmark. The U.S. ranked ninth.

Meanwhile Indonesia has reversed it's youTube ban. Sort of. An association of Indonesian ISPs has announced that they would only block access to specific pages carrying the film by Geert Wilders, controversial leader of the Dutch anti-immigration Freedom Party. (Does this mean we can all get 'Banned in Indonesia' jpgs for our sidebars?)

Indonesia then apologizes. Sort of: "I openly ask the public's forgiveness for the inconvenience caused over the past few days by the blocking of sites," Nuh (Indonesia's communication minister) told journalists on Friday. "This was a consequence of a process designed to protect the state." The real reason the ban was reversed? Because Google bowed down and assumed the position: Nuh wrote to YouTube last week asking it to remove the film. In a reply seen by AFP, YouTube owner Google said it would seek an "agreeable solution" but would not "unnecessarily block legal videos from Indonesian users. "We propose that the ministry send a list of videos believed to be illegal, noting the specific web addresses. We will promptly review the ministry's list and remove any illegal videos from display to Indonesian YouTube users," it said.

Author Alamgir Hussain has a very interesting take on Fitna, freedom and the continuing need to "blunt too sensitive Moslem feelings by exposing them to criticisms". (Where do I sign?) While the WSJ argues that "with minor edits the film could easily become a jihadist propaganda video" and that it basically targeted the wrong audience. (DL has argued that the reason there wasn't more of an Islamobaloo about Fitna was because Muslims basically agreed with Geert's Koran citations and the terrorist actions they inspired. Mockery is the ticket to the radical Moslem's inner nutjob.)

A tip of the wighat to Aunty Dhimmitude for sending this along on Schism, a Saudi Arabian blogger's answer to Fitna. (To be forever known as the "Aunty-Fitna"here at DL.) shows verses of the Bible that call for war and illustrated them with clips of extremist Christian groups that preach violence. Is it any surprise that the blogger claims that the Koran was taken out of context and "that you can't cannot judge a religion or an ideology by taking things out of context"? According to this - he's had 5000 clicks since late Thursday. But just based on doing a google dive it looks like the Arab press has picked up the story and it starting to run with it. I can't find it on youTube. (Let me know if you do.)
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Whoa. Mookie al Sadr's top lieutenant assasinated

Just more after Friday prayers action from the Religion of Peace. Of course, the US is being blamed for it - I would expect nothing less. Here's my deal. I wouldn't be surprised if Mookie himself had a hand in it - just to rile up his troops and stir the shi%. Don't think so? Well, I wouldn't put it past Iran to use a trick like this to try and incite more violence in the region, either.

Gunmen shot dead a top aide to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Iraq's holy city of Najaf on Friday, sparking fury among his followers and calls for calm by senior Sadrists.

The attack comes as Sadr's Mahdi Army militia is engaged in deadly clashes with Iraqi security forces in their eastern Baghdad bastion of Sadr City and in the southern port city of Basra.

Riyad al-Nuri, director of the Sadr movement's office in Najaf, was shot dead near his home as he returned from weekly Muslim prayers, Najaf police chief Major General Abdul Karim Mustafa said.


Police immediately imposed an indefinite curfew in the shrine city, while Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki strongly condemned the attack and the Sadr movement blamed US forces "and others working with them."

A Sadr official in Najaf, Haider al-Turfi, said the gunmen were waiting for 37-year-old Nuri near his home in the city's eastern neighbourhood of Al-Adala.

"When he arrived from the prayers, they opened fire on him, killing him instantly," Turfi said.

State television Al-Iraqiya said Maliki had condemned "the brutal assassination" of Nuri, while Sadr spokesman Salah al-Obeidi told AFP that the cleric had demanded a probe into the killing.

"Moqtada al-Sadr has urged the Iraqi government to conduct a detailed investigation into the killing and to find those who committed the act," Obeidi said.

He said Sadr had also ordered the movement to hold condolence meetings at its offices in Najaf, in Baghdad, Qom in Iran and Damascus in Syria.

An angry Obeidi accused US forces of being behind the killing of Nuri. "The occupation forces and others who are working with them are responsible for this assassination," Obeidi said.

He urged Sadr's followers, however, to remain "calm" following the assassination.

Nuri was a senior leader in the cleric's movement and his sister had been married to Sadr's brother Murtada who was killed in 1999.

Sadr's supporters in Najaf too expressed their anger at the killing.

"This killing will bring chaos to the country," said Kadhim Wayid, 50, a government employee. "The assassination of any person not carrying a weapon is a major crime."

Nazar Ahmed, 26, who is self-employed, said Sadrists were under attack on all fronts.

"Brutal crimes have increased recently against us from many quarters," he said. "They don't like the Sadr movement's stand against the (US) occupation. But we will not submit, even if they kill us all."

Mahdi Army militiamen have been battling Iraqi troops in the two Shiite strongholds since March 25, when Maliki ordered a crackdown on militiamen in Basra.

At least 700 people have been killed in the fighting, which began in Basra but quickly spread to Shiite areas of Baghdad and other regions of Iraq.

The battles subsided after Sadr pulled his fighters off the streets on March 30, but fighting erupted in greater fury a week later in Sadr City when Iraqi and US forces began new operations in the sprawling township.

Fighting on Friday was sporadic in both Baghdad and Basra, residents and Iraqi officials said, while US and British commanders said that at least 12 people were in killed in fresh air strikes in the two flashpoint areas.

On Friday afternoon, a mortar hit a bakery in Sadr City, killing two people and wounding five, an Iraqi security official said.

Sadr's movement said on Thursday it was "under siege" in Sadr City and warned that its militia was ready to take up arms again, breaking a ceasefire ordered by Sadr last August.

The US military says its raids are targeting "criminals" firing rockets and mortars into Baghdad neighbourhoods and at the fortified Green Zone where the Iraqi government and the US embassy are based.

In the latest attack, a Katyusha rocket fell near the Palestine Hotel in the centre of Baghdad on Friday, killing three people and wounding seven, an Iraqi security official said.

A young Iraqi translator, wounded in battle and fearing death, asked an American commander to bury his heart in America.

Iraqi special forces units took to the streets to track down terrorists who killed American soldiers. The U.S. military is the most respected institution in Iraq, and many Iraqi boys dream of becoming American soldiers. Yes, young Iraqi boys know about "GoArmy.com."

From Michael Yon's editorial in today's WSJ.

Please read.

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Separated at Birth?

Who's zooming who?

What's Jeremiah Wright doing wearing a turban doo-hickey, I wondered. Then I figured it out. The man on the left is not Rev. Jeremiah Wright he's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir who has just turned down an invitation to a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, where he had been expected to face pressure over the conflict in Darfur. That smiling mug on the right, is the right honorable Rev. Jeremiah Wright who is speaking to the NAACP in Detroit at the end of the month. Security permitting, of course.


(It looks like everybody who's anybody has one of these turban doo-hickeys.)












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World's most famous Christian convert forced to cancel trip

"Our authors do not usually face death threats."

(And our governments can't or won't protect us from Muslim bullying and threats.)

Magdi Allam, the former Muslim who provoked an international controversy when he converted to Christianity has cancelled a visit to Spain due to concerns about his safety.

Allam, an Italian journalist and author who was born in Egypt, was scheduled to present the Spanish edition of his book at the San Pablo-CEU University on Wednesday in Madrid. But the author's Spanish publishing house, Ediciones Encuentro, said he had cancelled his visit because authorities could not provide adequate security for him.

Pope Benedict XVI baptised Allam in a highly-publicised ceremony at the Vatican during Easter festivities in Rome in March. His conversion provoked an angry response from Muslim clerics and academics in Italy and the Middle East. The Spanish title of Allam's book is, Conquering Fear - My life against Islamic terrorism and the unconsciousness of the West.


"Magdi Allam's trip to Spain is a state matter for the Italian government," Salgado told AKI. "They spoke to Spanish authorities to coordinate protection measures during his stay." But Salgado told AKI the publishing house had also been contacted by one of the two bodyguards that accompany Allam in Italy.

She said he had asked her firm to change the Christian convert's flight reservation and hotel because of security fears. Salgado said the Italian embassy had then told the publishing house that Allam's visit could not proceed because Spanish authorities could not provide adequate security.

When contacted by AKI on Wednesday, Allam declined to comment on the issue.

The Italian embassy in Madrid was not available for comment on Wednesday.

Allam has long been a controversial figure in Italy for his regular critiques of Islam. In a previous book entitled, Long Live Israel, Allam said "the root of evil is innate in an Islam that is physiologically violent and historically conflictual."

On the kidnapping front...

The Muslims are so busy kidnapping people and taking them hostage you practically need a scorecard to keep up. I almost missed this one. Another Gaza Christian kidnapped by Muslims.
Guess who? Jimmy Carter's headband buddies, Hamas.

Not a kidnapping but a 1986 killing that has now been linked to Your Black Muslim Bakery gang, an American group of Islamic thugs responsible for killing a reporter who was investigating them.

In the Philippines, 6 workers were abducted by an al-Qaeda linked group. Abu-Sayyaf are rumored to be the culprits. The US State Department has issued a travel warning there, btw.

Here's one for you from Pakistan. Whatever you do, Don't call the Religion of Peaceful Lawyers. First, they kidnap a pro-Musharraf government official hostage, then they beat him up and then 7 people die in street riots - all in short order. The government official has since been released and he is shaken but unharmed. The lawyers are still fighting in the streets.

The latest on the Le Ponant: Contact has been made and talks are ongoing. The only other news is about the 'high tech' Somali Marines and their satellite telephones and rocket launchers.

And about the Austrian Hostages. Let's hope no news is good news, because there's really no new news. And there's also no further news on the kidnapped CBS journalist in Iraq or the Pakistani ambassador kidnapped at the Afghan border.

Bonus Religion of Peace and Tolerance news...a Palestinian newspaper reported last week that Muslims in the Samarian town of Nablus had vandalized a local Christian cemetery, smashing many of the tombstones.

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Polygamy, pedophilia and consanguinity: Just plain wrong no matter where you find it.

A modern day harem at the "Yearning For Zion" ranch. Sounds like they were yearning for young girls to me.
(On topic only because of the polygamous and consanguineous marriage practices of many Islamists. They like 'em young, too sometimes.)

This raid arose from a call to a family help center last week from a 16-year-old girl, who said she was the mother of an eight-month-old baby and pregnant with a second child. The girl has not been found/or is currently in custody but refusing to identify herself out of fear. She attempted to recant her statement (to the same crisis center in a phone call, I presume although the article is unclear on that point.) In addition, claims are now being made that Texas authorities named the wrong man in search and arrest warrants used to enter the Ranch. I hope this doesn't jeopardize the legality of the whole shebang.

You will too when you read how crazy bad it was there.
Many of the teenage girls were pregnant and some already had babies. Few of the 416 youngsters brought out of the sect in the Texas desert knew their full names, their birth dates or could even identify their own mothers. Some had been beaten so badly they suffered broken bones and younger girls, some as young as 12 and 13, had been expected to have sex with much older men.

Reverend Jeffs was a busy man. And so was his trusty sidekick.
Ominously, a disproportionate number of the children, ranging in age from toddlers to 17-year-olds, had the surname Jeffs, as in Warren Jeffs, the leader and self-styled prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, rumoured to have more than 80 wives and 250 children...She added that mothers did not appear to know the full names of many of the children. Two surnames – Jeffs and Jessop, the name of compound leader Merrill Jessop – came up repeatedly when officials were checking identities.

Like all good pedophiles, the cult groomed (and abused) the children.

Still wearing their hand-sewn ankle-length pioneer dresses, the women and girls were hesitant in talking to officials after years and sometimes generations spent cloistered in the male-dominated sect. But child welfare officials allege in court documents released yesterday that the 1,700-acre compound was rife with sexual abuse, with girls being "spiritually married" and "conditioned to expect and accept sexual activity with adult men at the ranch" as soon as they reach puberty and boys groomed to perpetuate the cycle...Children living in the self-contained ranch were deprived of food and forced to sit in closed cupboards as a form of discipline, said the court documents.

The men from the Yearning for Zion ranch remain in FBI custody. DNA tests are rumored to be next. More photos of the Yearning For Zion ranch can be seen at this link.
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Online marriages fatwas, church protests, and your tax dollars paying for WUDU.

Iran: Edict authorizes online short term marriages. If you're a woman you can't go around with your hair uncovered but you can get married online, have cybersex and get paid for it.

Iranian men and women may from Wednesday contract short-term marriages online, according to a religious edict (fatwa) signed by Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Sadeghi Rouhani.The edict says that couples must clearly establish how long the marriage will last. They must also guarantee there are no legal impediments to the marriage, and agree on the amount of money the man must pay the woman when it ends.

Egypt's Parliament passes law that prohibits protests at places of worship. No surprise, the Muslim Brotherhood voted in opposition to the law. I'm thinking it sure will put a crimp in their media jihad if they can't draw the crowds in with some post-prayer death-to-the-infidel effigy-and-flag-burning! A fact that hasn't gone unnoticed by the "Minister of Religious Endowments Mahmoud Hamdi Zakzouk" who said some people were using mosques for protest after Friday prayers every week and inviting satellite television news team to the protests "to promote political ideas that have no connection to religion".

Speaking of political ideas that have no connection to religion: Sharia Protestors charged for disrupting Easter service. Protesting the Archbishop of Canterbury's calls for sharia, they carried signs that said: "Support the persecuted church" and "No to Sharia law."

No persecution in Minnesota where they fund Madrassas! Wall of silence broken at Minnesota Madrassa. When a reporter tried to get in to visit the school she was denied admittance by the Imam "due to the hectic schedule for statewide testing" When she discovered that the tests would not begin for several weeks, she emailed the Imam. He did not respond to emails or urgent phone calls looking for comment. Now a substitute teacher has come forth and puts the lie to the Imam's claim that off the fiction that the Madrassa is not a religious institution.

Arriving on a Friday, the Muslim holy day, she says she was told that the day's schedule included a "school assembly" in the gym after lunch. Before the assembly, she says she was told, her duties would include taking her fifth-grade students to the bathroom, four at a time, to perform "their ritual washing."

AKA wudu.
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The Middle East: A Refresher Course.

You might find this recap of "How it all went down in the Middle East" a useful addition to your library.

Once again, the sheer number of misconceptions perpetuated by the Arab states (and Jimmy Carter too) about the Jews and the state of Israel is staggering.

Never Again, my friends.


Shamelessly lifted from Red Squirrel. Thanks, man.

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Jimmy Carter should have his AARP travel privileges revoked

and if he proceeds with his April 18 meet with Hamas he should be brought up on charges.

Unless he is acting at the behest of the State Dept, of course. Yep. American Thinker raises that odious possibility. (more at the link - including Sean McCormack's baby weasel responses to the questions about the Hamas question.)

Or, another chilling possibility, will be doing the dirty work under secret assignment from the US State Department? Just a month ago, the State Department tested the reaction of US relations with Hamas, floating such a possibility by oh so innocently asking on its blog:

Question of the Week: Should the U.S. Engage Hamas in the Peace Process Between the Israelis and Palestinians?

Let's review:

Hamas latest offering to the peace process was just this morning when they attacked Nahal Oz, killing two civilians. And in another good neighbor turn, Egypt has put its Army on alert because Hamas is threatening to blow up the wall. Again. And remember that heinous Yeshiva attack that killed 8? That was the handiwork of Hamas. Kidnapping? That's their bag, too. Hamas has been designated as the group holding Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. The latest from Meshaal's office (the guy Jimmy's going to be pressing the flesh with) said they would "negotiate the return of Shalit's remains" if Israel did not release 350 Hamas terrorist killers currently in Israeli jails. Such peaceful fellows. Oh, and did I mention that the State Dept has also designated Hamas as a "foreign terrorist organization"? Yep, they did.

There's more. It looks like they're cheap, petty SOB's too. Good for us because they're proving to be very informative when it comes to revealing the linkage between Iran and al-Qaeda. From the fine folks over at Hot Air: Hamas In Iraq: Iran funds al-Qaeda.

Salah Al-Din (leader of the Iraqi Hamas chapter) accused Al-Qaeda of being subservient to Iran, [claiming] that they had [extensive] evidence to that effect. He said: ‘We found Iranian [currency], toman, at an Al-Qaeda headquarters that we uncovered. We have also captured Iranian weapons, not to mention audio and video recordings containing announcements by Al-Qaeda fighters that they had received training in Iranian military camps and that Al-Qaeda wounded were being transported to Iran for medical treatment.’

The good news? al-Qaeda in Iraq weakened - if you can believe anything you hear out of a leader of Hamas' mouth - that is.)

Salah Al-Din explained that as of late, Al-Qaeda in Iraq had considerably diminished in size - so much so that today it can be said to constitute 15 percent of what it was a year ago, [and that therefore, even] if Al-Qaeda has begun launching suicide operations, these [operations] are not proof of its strength…’

The bad news? That brings us to Obama and his boneheaded plan to "talk it over" with the Iranians. Yeah, that'll work all right. Hey, Obama. Get the memo - we are talking to the Iranians already. Sheesh.

(I'm sorry, but if I was a Democrat I would be pretty damn embarrassed at these two numbskulls and their dhimmitude. But that's just me.)

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This just in: Abu Ubaida al-Masri is officially abu U-be-a DEAD

Oh, happy day.

And yes, he is the man who brought us (or tried to)

The 2005 Subway Bombings and the 2006 Airline Bombing plot.

More on al-Masri, the "stocky Egyptian bomb expert with two fingers missing". (okay, that made me laugh.) It appears that the third time was a charm!

Masri reportedly escaped two attempts to kill him in the region. The first was a January 2006 missile strike by unmanned U.S. aircraft in the village of Damadola. Ayman al-Zawahri, Al-Qaida's No. 2, was also believed to be in the village at the time.

Masri taught bomb-making techniques to would-be suicide bombers in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal agency and that police in Denmark prevented one of his students from carrying out an attack last year.

Masri became a senior Al-Qaida operative for international terrorist operations after fighting in Bosnia and Chechnya and then serving as a military instructor in an Al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan before the 2001 U.S. intervention, the Los Angles Times reported.

He then served as Al-Qaida's senior commander in eastern Afghanistan, said the U.S. counterterrorism official.

I am now happy to report that he is currently someplace in hell nibbling away at his 72 Raisins.

Update: Eye on the World is reporting that he died of natural causes, possibly hepatitis.

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Sarkozy meets with families of Le Ponant hostages

Pirate group named the "Somali Marines" believed to be behind yacht's seizure.

President Nicolas Sarkozy met Tuesday with the families of 22 French crew members held hostage on a luxury yacht for the last five days by pirates off the coast of Somalia, an Elysee official said. Some 40 members of the hostages' families arrived at the French presidential Elysee palace just after 3:00 pm (1300 GMT), leaving 90 minutes later without making any comment to an AFP reporter waiting at the scene.

As the families were with Sarkozy, the 32-cabin yacht Ponant remained moored in waters near a village, Garaad, on the eastern Somali coast, north of Mogadishu by the self-proclaimed autonomous region of Puntland. Foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday that "contact" was under way with the pirates, without spelling out the nature of France's engagement with the hijackers.

More about the Pirates beneath the fold:

Meanwhile, two separate international piracy specialists said they were sure the group responsible for holding the Ponant were from a local gang known as the "Somali Marines." In the port of Mombasa, the president of a Kenyan-based anti-piracy centre said the gang is structured along formal army lines.

"They are the best organised group," Andrew Mwangura told AFP. "They have a military background and training, with a very good communication system, lots of weapons and boats, very powerful radios and satellites.

"They are like an army: they have an operations commander, whose job is to attack the ship. Another officer is in charge of guarding the boat. Another is in charge of supplying the food and the kit."

Canada-based journalist Daniel Sekulich, who has spent months in the area researching a book on its pirates, said even if another group originally boarded the ship, it may have been passed on subsequently to Somalia's most feared outfit.

"There are four main groups based in Somalia," Sekulich added. "All have ties to warlords, and are hijacking vessels for ransom. With the position where the ship was taken, my guess is that it was taken by another group and then taken to the Somali Marines, because they were afraid that the French navy would attack them."

Sekulich said Somali pirates do not do business themselves, but share out ransoms with warlords who offer protection and businessmen who handle negotiations.

"I think it will be resolved without a gunfight," added the Toronto-based writer. A commando attack might look good in a Hollywood movie, but the reality is that in a confined space like this cruise ship, a lot can go wrong."

He thought the pirates would wait, in the belief a rich country such as France would pay out a larger-than-normal ransom.

Lebanon: Christian University threatened by al Qaeda linked group

Terroristic threats from Fatah-al-Islam litter the campus. (there's that pesky Islam again!)

The Christian-funded Balamand University in north Lebanon Tuesday took steps to increase its security after reports of a threat by a terrorist group.

A security source said a number of copies of a statement signed by Fatah al-Islam - a terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda - were found by students on the campus of Balamand University.

The security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the statement 'threatened to bomb the university. 'We cannot ignore such a threat ... We are taking the necessary precautionary measures.'

There was no confirmation from the group, Fatah al-Islam, that it had produced the leaflet.

Last year, Fatah al-Islam fought a bloody three-month gunbattle ...

...with the Lebanese army at the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared which ended with many of the group killed and the others, including the leader, on the run.
Fatah al-Islam emerged in November 2006 when it split from Fatah al-Intifada (Fatah Uprising), a Syrian-backed Palestinian group based in Lebanon, which itself was a splinter of Yasser Arafat's mainstream organization Fatah.

Lebanese security officers dispute that it was a real split and allege that Fatah al-Islam is a part of Syrian intelligence security forces, and also has links with the al-Qaeda terrorist network, led by Osama bin Laden. Syria has denied any links with Fatah al-Islam.

Al Qaeda: Spanning the Globe

al-Qaeda continues hostage negotiations with Austrians after third deadline passes. Maybe. Maybe not. It sounds like a rehashing of earlier reports to me but I couldn't find anything else reported. Hold the phone. This just in: Vienna denies allocating half of ransom to al Qaeda - evidently they don't want to queer the deal. The Austrian Government has denied yesterday information being reported by local and international media saying the abductors have not killed the two Austrian nationals being detained by Al-Qaeda wing in the Sahara because they have been delivered the half of the5 m euros ransom. Meanwhile, the Tunisian foreign minister has announced that 500 Austrian schmucks - er tourists will be arriving next week.

al Qaeda releases video showing slain Medic's ID and making the words 'sick fuc&s' come to mind. (h/t Jawa)

Mauritania finds bomb-making materials after raiding suspected al Qaeda hideout. Bad news. The bad guys got away. Security forces in Mauritania found a bomb-making facility in a house they stormed after exchanging fire with gunmen believed to have been involved in the killing of four French tourists in December, officials said Tuesday. The gunmen, suspected of having links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, fled after a shootout late Monday that left two dead on the outskirts of the capital, Nouakchott. About their earlier victims: The French tourists were gunned down Dec. 24 on the side of a Mauritanian highway where they had stopped to have a picnic near the town of Aleg, about 155 miles south of Nouakchott. The tourist attack and a subsequent assault on a Mauritanian military outpost led organizers of the Dakar Rally road race to cancel the trans-Saharan course this year.

al Qaeda exchange student program? Four Turkish Nationals with ties to al Qaeda were arrested in Pakistan based on a tip. A large quantity of high explosives, 1,600 rounds of sub-machine gun, a laptop, 10 Jihadi books, CDs and a digital camera were found in their possession. Fake Afghan refugee cards and dollars and riyals were also seized. The sources said that three of the suspects carried Turkish passports, while the fourth man, also a Turkish national, had no travel documents.

Yemen: al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Sunday's attack on oil execs compound. Don't know if it's just the Yemeni govt rounding up the usual suspects or if it's a for real bust, but: The source said police had arrested seven people in connection with the attack, adding that three people had fired the rockets from a car on the edge of the neighbourhood where the villas are located.

Libya releases 90 prisoners with ties to Islamists. Sure. Why not. All they want to do is kill the infidel so why wouldn't we? Libya has released 90 al Qaeda-linked Islamic rebels from prison after talks between their movement and a charity run by the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the charity said on Tuesday. The rebels were members of the Fighting Islamic Group in Libya (FIGL) and represent one third of the group's members still held in Libyan jails, said the Gaddafi International Foundation chaired by Saif al-Islam.

Not surprisingly, what with al Qaeda operatives being released and escaping all over the place, the masters of the obvious over at the EU are foreseeing imminent AQ attacks originating from North Africa.

Glad to hear that somebody's got the right attitude around here: FBI head predicts al Qaeda can be defeated in three and a half years. Fascinating.
-end-

Continuing Fitna Fallout

Sudan refuses admission to Dutch defense minister. I'll say it. What a bunch of ungrateful slugs. The Netherlands donates 140 million euros annually to Sudan and is making a financial contribution to the African Union peacekeeping force. So why are the Sudanese authorities refusing Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop admission to their country? One guess and it's a five letter word that starts with 'f' and ends with 'a'.

Indonesia blocks access to youTube. The Indonesian information ministry last week ordered Internet service providers to block site where Wilders' film appears because it "could disturb relations between the faiths." The order lasts until the Web sites remove the film.

Read the squeals of an Indonesian moonbat because Geert has let the bad Dutch cat out of the bag. Instead of blaming the Moslems who would commit the violence she blames Geert for speaking out against it and inflaming them. Shrieking that it "will take a superhuman, king-sized effort to rectify this delicate, sensitive and damaged religious situation."

Iranian MP's call for a revision of Tehran's relations with Amsterdam. The Majlis members' call for revision of ties with the Netherlands is in reaction to the production of the blasphemous anti-Islam film, “Fitna”, by the far-right Dutch parliamentarian, Geert Wilders.

The Persian Pipsqueak takes time out of his busy secret nuclear arms race schedule to recieve Vatican's new envoy. The Vatican's new envoy quickly assumed the position: "The Vatican envoy emphasized that the Christians and Muslims are united in various issues such as the recent insults to Islam and Quran. Enemies of humanity should know that freedom of expression is not equivalent to “freedom of insult”, he added."

Not to be outdhone in the dhimmi dhepartment, The World Council of Churches denounces "anti-Islam" film and calls it a clear case of Islamophobia.

Piercing the Vodka curtain: Anti-Fitna Wave reaches Russia. From the Muftis: We deem that spiritual values must be legislatively protected from unlimited permissiveness”, the Board’s message says. According to the muftis, this refers to all, especially to “the western politicians who think they can do whatever they want under the mask of democracy”.

I'll drink to that!
-end-

Miscellaneous Moslem-abilia.

Moslem Lovebirds separated, but spared execution. The quality of sharia is not strained.
Two Afghan lovebirds who had fled a refugee camp on Thursday evening but were caught by Kalabagh police, were separated by an Afghan jirga on Monday.The jirga, led by spiritual leader Pir Mohammad Amin Rohani from Bannu, won the custody of the boy and the girl after giving an assurance to the police that they would not be handed over to the firing squad.

Moslem Mosque Outreach: School children in the Netherlands told - "You are Dogs." School officials are blithely blowing it off.

"We are shocked that during the guided tour, the mosque's chairman told the children and chaperoning parents that non believers were dogs. We consider this statement as unacceptable since we allow our children to partake in this project to develop respect for freedom of religious choice. In the meantime, the school's management has addressed the mosque on the undesirable behaviour of the chairman. Both parties will say nothing further on the matter. "We will resolve the matter amongst ourselves and I have no inclination whatsoever to discuss the matter with the media",...

Islamic adviser wants treatment opt out for UK Moslem sex offenders. That's right, folks. Moslem sex offenders should be allowed to opt out of treatment because it's against their religion to "discuss their crimes with others." How convenient. Not only does Islam allow Moslems to lie (taquiyah) it now admits that it is truly the Religion of Sex Offenders. Wait, there's more. It sounds like those nuts in the UK responsible for the policy are actually going to consider it!

Moslem leaders irate over "BB gun war Game" that dresses enemy in Arab head gear. "The game's creators, however, say using the shemaghs is the "easiest way to tell who the enemy are," according to a report in the London Daily Mail." Ain't that the truth, Ruth?

Inshallah, you k*** (rhymes with bike). Alan Colmes takes on Islamic degenerate Joseph Cohen aka Youseff al Khatabb and gets called a dirty, rotten name for his trouble. (Our friends over at Jawa have been religiously beating Joey like an egg. Hot Air has more.)

No wonder they so crazy.

Women's sexual dissatisfaction is responsible for 50% of all Iranian divorces.

68.1% of divorced women said they had lost their sexual appetite

a few months after their wedding.

59.1% were angry everytime they had sex with their husband.

66.8% felt used by their husbands as an instrument for his sexual pleasure.

63.9 percent said that sexual pleasure was a completely unknown concept.
-end-

Some Somalia to chew on..

Okay, they're all denying it now. Hijacked French Yacht did not anchor in Eyl: Mayor.

The mayor of a small coastal village in northern Somalia dismissed media reports that a French luxury yacht hijacked by pirates on Apr. 4 has anchored near the village of Eyl.

Abdullahi Said O’Yusuf, the mayor of Eyl, told Radio Garowe on Monday that the hijacked French yacht had passed Eyl and headed south towards coastal waters off the region of Mudug, in central Somalia.

(I beg you. If you didn't do this yesterday - take your dramamine and embark on your own little trip to Eyl today. )

Somali officials back assault on Pirates. Sounds like a plan to me.

Somali officials on Monday urged tough action against pirates holding a French yatch after an elite French army unit was placed on standby to intervene if negotiations failed. The local governor in Somalia's breakaway northern region of Puntland, Musa Ghelle Yusuf, said he would be "happy ... to see the pirates killed. The French and American ships must attack the pirates. They have our blessing," Ghelle told AFP by phone, adding that the hijackers have been encouraged by ransoms paid in previous ship seizures. "These pirates are terrorists and there is no need to negotiate with them," Guelleh said. "Attacking them will solve future piracy plans."

Islamists take over another town. I believe this is nine in a row now.

Islamists militants Sunday took control of a Somali trading post after heavy fighting that saw government forces escape into the countryside, an official and witnesses said. The Islamists wrested control of Balad town, 30 kilometres (19 miles) north of the capital Mogadishu, said Mohamed Abshir, a government official. "They took control of the town forcefully after fighting with government forces. There were casualities (sic) but I do not know how many," he told AFP by phone.

Roadside bomb kills six in central Somalia. More attacks on innocent civilians from the Religion of Peace.

Six people were killed Monday when a roadside bomb targeting a government vehicle exploded in central Somalia, witnesses and an official said. "Four people died on the spot and two others died on their way to the hospital," said Osman Adan, who runs a pharmacy near the scene of the explosion. Several other witnesses confirmed the toll in Beledwein, a relatively sleepy regional capital that has escaped much of the bloodletting in the capital Mogadishu. Hiraan regional governor Yusuf Ahmed Hagar blamed Islamist insurgents fighting the government for the attack that also wounded at least 26 people in Beledwein township. "We are very much concerned about the explosion that killed many civilians in Beledwein today. It is unfortunate that insurgents are planting bombs in the civilian sites," Hagar added. Islamists, accused of ties with Muslim extremist groups, have taken control of towns in recent months in an apparent show of determination to regain power across the country.

'al Shabaab are thugs,' says Hawiye Council spokesman. Who's on first? I'm confused.

A controversial clan elder in south Somalia has referred to the country's al Shabaab insurgent group as "thugs" who wrongfully attacked a small town and looted property. Ahmed Dirie, an outspoken critic of Ethiopian troops in Somalia, told a Mogadishu-based radio station Sunday that the al Shabaab insurgents' deadly attack on the town of 'Adado on April 3 was "aimed at hurting a [single] clan."

"There were no government troops in 'Adado but the men who were attacked at the checkpoint [outside ' Adado] were placed there by the clan elders," said Mr. Dirie, who is spokesman for the self-appointed Hawiye Tradition and Unity Council. He called on al Shabaab militants to return looted properties, including military trucks, and to offer blood compensation for the battle's dead victims.

At least 20 people, including 15 government soldiers, were killed in last week's al Shabaab raid on a checkpoint outside the town of 'Adado, in Galgadud region. [ Full story]
-end-

Okay - we're starting the 48 hour rule commencing now...

From LGF: Saddam WMD's found?

Be still my beating heart.

An upcoming joint US-Israel report on the September 6 IAF strike on a Syrian facility will claim that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein transferred weapons of mass destruction to the country, Channel 2 stated Monday.

Furthermore, according to a report leaked to the TV channel, Syria has arrested 10 intelligence officials following the assassination of Hizbullah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh. -end-

Morocco: Another Al Qaeda 'Prison Break'

Somebody needs to come down like a ton of bricks on these countries that continue to let Al Qaeda prisoners slip through their fingers. There really is beginning to be a pattern here. I say let's make a new law. You get convicted of involvement with suicide bombing, you do not pass go, you do not get a get out jail free card - you go directly to Gitmo.

Nine people convicted of involvement with suicide bombings in Casablanca have escaped from a Moroccan prison, officials say.

Prison authorities at Kenitra, 40km (25 miles) north of the capital, Rabat, noticed the escape on Monday morning, the Justice Ministry told state media. An interior ministry source told AFP news agency that the prisoners had tunnelled their way out.

The 2003 attacks left 45 people dead, including 12 bombers, and many injured.

Most of the nine men were serving life sentences for involvement in the bombings, a group which supports Islamist prisoners said.

The men are reported to have escaped just after morning prayers on Monday.

A source close to Islamist prisoners told the BBC the nine men had left a message on the wall of their jail.

It said they had suffered injustice and were escaping because they saw no other solution to their woes, stressing that they had received no outside help for their prison break.
-end-

Dutch Court: Geert Wilders has a free speech right to tell the truth about Islam

When it came to 'Mohammed the NIF was unable to deny he was a barbarian'. Hah!

Wilders does not incite hatred. Court says that fascism should be seen "as a collective term for ideologies which fundamentally embrace a totalitarian political system which leaves no room for people with other ideas". In other words, Islam.

Anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders’ comments about the Koran and the prophet Mohammed do not incite hatred or violence against Muslims, a court in Rotterdam ruled on Monday.

The judge rejected a case brought the Islamic federation (NIF) saying that Wilders’ comments were provocative but did not break the law. ‘A member of parliament must be able to express his standpoint, if necessary in sharp terms,’ the judge is quoted as saying by ANP news service.
‘Wilders’ right to freedom of expression is the deciding factor here’.

The NIF wanted to know if Wilders had broken the law with his public declaration in August last year that the Koran is a fascist book and comments that Mohammed was a barbarian.

According to the judge, the term fascism must be seen in a broader context. The NIF associated it with the Holocaust and ‘other evil practices from Nazi Germany’. But fascism should, said the judge, be seen as ‘a collective term for ideologies which fundamentally embrace a totalitarian political system which leaves no room for people with other ideas’.

When it came to Mohammed, the NIF was unable during the hearing to deny that he was a barbarian, reports ANP.

Furthermore, the organisation was not able to disprove the fact that Islam consists of beliefs that are in contradiction to democratic principles, the judge said. Wilders, who is leader of the anti-immigration PVV party (which has nine of the 150 seats in parliament) said he is pleased with the ruling.

‘I have always been of the opinion that I must be free to point out the dangers of the ongoing Islamisation of the west and the Netherlands in the political debate. I have never felt that I have gone over the top. You must be able to make sharp comments in the political debate, ’ ANP quotes him as saying.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled jihad fighting program to bring you a breaking news bulletin

Did you know that Reverend Jeremiah Wright is a former Muslim and black nationalist?

That's what it says in this March 2007 New Republic article entitled "The Agitator" by Ryan Lizza,

From Wright and others, Obama learned that part of his problem as an organizer was that he was trying to build a confederation of churches but wasn't showing up in the pews on Sunday. When pastors asked him the inevitable questions about his own spiritual life, Obama would duck them uncomfortably. A Reverend Philips put the problem to him squarely when he learned that Obama didn't attend services. "It might help your mission if you had a church home," he told Obama. "It doesn't matter where, really. What you're asking from pastors requires us to set aside some of our more priestly concerns in favor of prophesy. That requires a good deal of faith on our part. It makes us want to know just where you're getting yours from."

After many lectures like this, Obama decided to take a second look at Wright's church. Older pastors warned him that Trinity was for "Buppies"--black urban professionals--and didn't have enough street cred. But Wright was a former Muslim and black nationalist who had studied at Howard and Chicago, and Trinity's guiding principles--what the church calls the "Black Value System"--included a "Disavowal of the Pursuit of Middleclassness.'".

It also adds this about the good Reverend.

Trinity's pastor since 1972, flies a red, black, and green flag near his altar and often preaches in a dashiki. He has spent decades writing about the African roots of Christianity, partly as a way to convince young blacks tempted by Islam that Christianity is not "a white man's religion."

Interesting.
-end-
(h/t Freeper Timeout)

Iraqi Army rescues 42 students from al Qaeda

More gratuitous violence against civilians by the Religion of Peace. Sounds like they were trying for a little Beslan action but the Iraqi Army put the stop to that: ISF rescue 42 kidnapped students.

The Iraqi Army rescued 42 college students after they were kidnapped by al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorists in southwestern Mosul April 6.

The AQI attacked two university buses with small-arms fire wounding three. The other 42 students were abducted.

The three wounded students were taken to a local hospital while Iraqi Forces searched for the missing students.

The soldiers identified a dump truck with a tarp over the back behaving suspiciously. The vehicle was stopped after warning shots were fired. The driver and passenger fled to a local residence.

The three kidnappers were positively identified by the hostages and detained by Iraqi Police.

“This swift and professional response by the Iraqi Security Forces is just another example of their ability to serve and protect the Iraqi people,” said Maj. Gary Dangerfield, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment spokesperson.
-end-

AQIM: We're not responsible for the fate of the Austrian Hostages.

This does not bode well for their safety.

Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa posted a new Internet message on Monday saying it won't be held responsible for the fate of two Austrian tourists it kidnapped two months ago, according to a U.S. group that monitors jihadist Internet traffic .

In the posting, the al-Qaida affiliate claimed it was «absolving» itself of responsibility for what happens to the Austrians and also set new demands that include the release of two Muslim prisoners in Austria, the Washington-based SITE Intelligence Group said.

The posting came just hours after a deadline by al-Qaida for conditions to be met for the Austrians' release expired at midnight Sunday.
-snip-
The new al-Qaida posting blasted Austrian authorities and said Vienna would be held responsible for the lives and the «unknown fate of the kidnapped.»

It didn't elaborate on what that fate would be. «Austria has shown disregard and carelessness regarding its citizens, despite the flexibility of the mujahideen in their legitimate demands,» the al-Qaida statement said, according to SITE.

In Vienna, ...

...Launsky-Tieffenthal said authorities were aware of the Monday posting but that it was too early to comment because experts were in the process of analyzing it. «We are aware of it and looking into it,» Launsky-Tieffenthal said.

The kidnapped Austrians exact location remains unclear. Media reports have placed them near the Algerian border in the West African nation of Mali and Austrian officials have been in the country's capital Bamako.

Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa first said in a March 10 audio recording that it kidnapped the two because of Western cooperation with Israel. Unconfirmed media reports have suggested that the kidnappers are also demanding a ransom.

The Associated Press could not independently access the latest posting, but in a transcript provided by SITE, al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa said it was waiving earlier demands that its members held in Tunisia be released, and instead was now demanding that a Muslim husband and wife be set free from an Austrian jail and that Austria pull out its four officers from Afghanistan.

The Muslim pair, identified in Monday's posting as Mohammed Mahmoud, a.k.a Gharib al-Diyar, and his wife, were said to have been arrested in Austria in Sept. 2007 in connection to a production of a video threatening Austria and Germany with attacks if they didn't withdraw military personnel from Afghanistan.

Al-Qaida's affiliate said the pair was held in the «Guantanamo of Austria» and urged the public to press Austrian authorities with calls for their release.

The two, who according to Vienna officials are an Austrian couple, were convicted in March of making terror threats on targets in Germany and Austria. The man, identified in Austria only as Mohamed M., 22, was sentenced to four years in prison. His wife, 21, identified as Mona S., was convicted for helping him and sentenced to 22 months in prison.

Yemen arrests their most wanted AQ terror leader

The question is - will they be able to keep him?

The security forces have arrested the most wanted al-Qaeda element, who escaped from the political security prison in 2006 along with 22 al-Qaeda affiliates, Abdullah Ghazi al-Raimi, the state-run 26sep.net said.

Al-Raimi has been convicted of carrying out terrorist attacks in Yemen during the last years, and was arrested after a more than two-year hunt. Early in February, 2006, al-Raimi and 22 others of al-Qaeda terrorists escaped from the political security prison in Sana'a through the tunnels they had dug beneath the prison.

In other Yemeni news - Rockets hit villas housing American oil experts. Nobody was hurt and Al Qaeda is claiming responsibility. It seems they didn't like their little buddy being taken off the streets. And the streets are pretty wild in South Yemen where the fifth day of riots occurred. More of those pesky ROPer's fighting amongst themselves. This time the Feisty Shiites are taking on the pro-government al Bukhtan tribe and 15 are killed all in the name of Allah.
-end-

Fit(na)s and Starts.

Headbands for the glory of the prophet.

Amen, brother. More than happy to oblige.

Over 25,000 Pakistanis rage at Fitna in "The Glory of the Prophet March". " They call this freedom of expression, but it's freedom of aggression!" Effigies of all the usual suspects, Geert, W and Pervez were hung and fricasseed. US and Pakistani flags were burned. Stylish headbands were worn. They said: "We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the sanctity of our prophet." We say, "Right on, Mo-bro."


In Iran, The Harry Reid of Persia wants a boycott. He states that "the sacrilege of Islamic sanctities" is the ugliest kind of cultural onslaught and violation of human rights." Then goes on to complain about "The Western countries are making optimum use of books, films, animations and their media to weaken beliefs of Muslims and to insult Islamic sanctities." (In other words, 'The jig's up Islamos!' Sounds to me like we're getting those Islamosuckers on the cyber-run. Keep up the good work, possums!)

Beyond Fitna: A documentary-style expose of American Trash Journalist Bill O'Reilly's militant calls for violent demonstrations and reprisals against "unbelievers" who dare to oppose his dogma?

"The documentary recycles film clips from crimes committed by extremist Christians under the inspirations of the said Bible teachings, and aims to provide a response to the allegations made by Pope Benedict XVI, who called Islam a religion of violence after misunderstanding certain Organic verses."

Who's looking out for you rock and roll hootchie koo. Game on. Let's hope that FNC will truly engage on this and bloviate all across America. I'm serious. Wake up the masses, baby. Hearing that: "FARS reports the film makers also will include segments on FOX News' Bill O'Reilly" makes me think they will be all over this like a cheap suit.

IRNA spins, Tehran students yawn. Xinhua lets China's mask slip. 70 (or 40 - depending on reports) Students of Tehran Universities stage rally outside the Dutch Embassy to protest against a controversial anti-Islamic film made by a Dutch lawmaker. Chanting slogans such as "Dutch ambassador to Iran should be expelled," the students condemned the release of the film and called for the closure of Dutch companies including Shell and Phillips in Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

And Xinhua lets China's True feelings be known on the subject through the words of it's article: "Mohammad Sadeq Shahbazi, a representative of the protesting students, said the imperialists are always trying to harm Muslim countries and "the global arrogance has tried to show its hostility against Islam over the past years. Today is no more the time for the reign of the superpowers and we, the students, will not be idle confronting the domestic and the foreign enemies."

Eggs and stones were thrown.

(0n another more gruesome note. If you had any question where China is coming down on this - Xinhua seems to be making a habit of publishing coffin pics of 'Palestinian dead children". Warning. Click at your own risk.)

-end-

Somalia: French Warship hot on Le Ponant's trail

The 288 foot yacht is reported to be anchored in the small Somali port of Eyl, a known pirate base located about 310 miles north of Mogadishu, the Somali capital. 10 pirates armed with automatic weapons and rocket launchers stormed the ship by way of a staircase leading to the upper decks from a swimming deck at sea-level.

Contact has been established

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said everything would be done to avoid bloodshed and did not rule out paying a ransom to free the crew. "We've made contact and the matter could last a long time," Mr Kouchner told France Inter radio.

French Defence Minister Herve Morin earlier said a military operation to free the crew would only be attempted if their safety could be guaranteed.

The French coastal frigate, Le Commandant Bouan, has been diverted from Nato duties to track the yacht and a French military plane based in Djibouti has overflown the vessel. A Canadian helicopter on the HMCS Charlottetown also was taking part in the operation, the Associated Press (AP) said. Officials in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, in north-eastern Somalia, said the Ponant had anchored nearby. The French company that owns the vessel, CMA-CGM, said on Sunday that its crew were thought to be unharmed.

Of the 30 crew members; 22 are French citizens the rest are thought to be Ukrainians and Koreans. Six women are on board.

Have a look at Eyl's town center via some guy named Sool's home movie. (Warning: Wavy gravy - bring your dramamine.) And yes, the only thing moving downtown is a ... goat. Our host, Sool, has this to say about the place: "this place is a lost town where only 2 cars a in 2 weeks come it's so nice a cool place to chill." (Okay, it's not exactly what I pictured a pirate's lair to look like. Where are all the wenches and the rum? Islamo-pirates don't have much fun as regular pirates, I guess. Although, now that I think on it, that goat WAS walking a bit gingerly!)

Eyl's other claims to fame? Eyl is the home of the MAD MULLAH - the guy that brought you the CARNAGE OF CIISE MAXAMUD.

The carnage of the Ciise Maxamuud is known as the "Bloodshed of Ilig Daldala" where bundles of hundreds where thrown from the peak of the rocks of Ilig into the sea. Towards the end of 1912 at least one third of the pastoral Somalis perished in the chaos.-end-

A little more of the follow through on the follow up.

I'm sure you remember the Moslem bus driver in the UK that stopped his bus to pray from the other day. Who could forget that one? Well, it looks like his bosses are back in the news - and they're defending him! The results of their "investigation" are in. He was on his break so shut your dhimmi trap and get on the damn bus, stinkin' white person.

When it comes to the Iraq War, Basra is like so - last week. Anyone who is anyone knows that Sadr City is where it's happening this week. The Long War Journal is reporting this from the Washington Times; "... (there is) positioning explosives to defend the major routes into Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood in anticipation of a major battle with U.S. and Iraqi government forces," according to reports from Sadr City residents. "Iraqis also said families in Sadr City and other Shi'ite areas of Baghdad are stocking up on food, fearing new fighting that will leave them unable to get to the markets." We call it 'taking out the trash in Sadr City'.

More on the FGM front. I'm sorry, but the death of Katoucha Niane haunts me. Especially after reading this: "I will never get the incomparable pain out of my head," Katoucha wrote in the book "Dans Ma Chair" (In My Flesh) , which she dedicated to her three daughters. She saw her career as a top model as a form of "revenge" for the dreadfulness of genital mutilation." The investigation seems to have tapered off but I still say there's no way a supermodel goes out on the town without her purse and her cellphone. And being the second woman speaking out against FGM to meet an unusual end? Tres hinky, mon amis.

Wafa Sultan is still in hiding and the word still needs to get out, possums. The New Media Journal has picked up the story and gives the lowdown on Woman in Islam: Suffering the Barbary of an Ideology. Wandering Moonbats and lost liberals happening onto this site beware: Prepare to get your world rocked. Your Moos-lim pals ain't all that when it comes to women.

-end-

It looks like the Islamists' plan

to get their nose under the tent by buying their way in is proceeding apace.

Cambridge University has been given £8 million by a Saudi Arabian prince to establish an Islamic studies centre. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, ranked in the top 20 richest men in the world, with a fortune of about £10 billion, has donated the cash to the university to fund a centre in his name for the study of the role of Islam in the Middle East and globally.
The gift has been recommended by the university's general board and is expected to be announced in June.

The grandson of King Ibn Saud and nephew of King Abudllah, the prince counts the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall among his friends. With a huge portfolio generating massive returns – he calls his investments his "hundred wives" – the 50-year-old is the biggest single shareholder in Citigroup, the world's biggest bank.

In 2005 he bought the Savoy Hotel in London for about £220 million. Last year, he became the first person to buy an Airbus A380 superjumbo to use as a private jet, dubbed the "flying palace".

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal hit the headlines in 2001 when his offer of cash for the victims of the September 11 attacks in New York was turned down after he criticised American foreign policy. New York's then mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, rejected a £6.6 million donation when the businessman issued a statement that America had to adopt a "more balanced stance" on Palestine. The row belies the prince's influence in America, however.

He is the biggest foreign investor in the US and has the ear of its leaders and business figures. He also learnt the basics of commerce at Menlo College, in San Francisco, in the Seventies. The title of his biography, Alwaleed: Businessman, Billionaire, Prince, signifies how he would be liked to be perceived.

A renowned philanthropist, the prince has made two donations of £10 million to establish Islamic studies centres at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Georgetown, in Washington. He also gave £10 million to fund an Islamic art wing at the Louvre Museum in Paris.Kingdom Foundation, his Riyadh-based charity, has earmarked £100 million for projects aimed at improving understanding between the West and the Islamic world.

The gift to Cambridge, which will transform its Islamic studies department, follows news of a £4 million donation to the university to widen access from alumnus and businessman Harvey McGrath, former chairman of the Man Group.

About 15 institutions in Britain offer more than 200 courses in Islamic or Middle Eastern studies. Last year, the Government defined Islamic studies as a "strategically important subject". British universities receive more than £200 million a year in donations, with at least 50 institutions engaged in fund-raising.

Batting cleanup...

Remember Kevin Brown, the Jamaican Tree Stump bomber arrested at Orlando International Airport? He's been detained by a federal court judge and it looks like his court appointed lawyer is going to challenge the evidence. Look for full disclosure of the behavioral profiling techniques used to nab this nut - anything to help the Islamists out.

Remember the Two detained near Picatinny Arsenal? Well, the one charged has been released and is on his way back to GA where he is in graduate school. His lawyer is offering up the usual poor victim excuses and pleading communication difficulties. The circumstances suggest that something's still a little hinky to me.

The suspect, Ayzenberg, is claiming that "someone he knew used to live in the area and wondered what it looked like today". (Odd. The attorney couldn't identify the name of that individual.) He and his companion were warned once and told to leave the area - they did but then pulled over again and started snapping more pictures. When police approached the vehicle they saw that Ayzenberg was concealing a digital camera under his jacket. A laptop was at his feet.

His lawyer is claiming that his client's beard and white knit head covering might have led the silly authorities to confuse him for a terrorist but that his client was in fact, an orthodox Jew. So he says. Well then, he should also be able to say who the former resident was that wanted to know what Picatinny Arsenal looked like, no?

Like I said. Hinky. (What better cover than an Orthodox Jew? I did say that I LOVE ISRAEL bumper sticker was a nice touch after all.) Keep in mind the Fort Dix Six, possums and the Goose Creek Firecracker Packers. There is a clear and present danger to our military bases and this seems to be the modus operandi for scoping them out.

Speaking of the Fort Dix Sicks... Meet the Flipper of the group. Ethnic Albanian Kosovar gets 20 month sentence for plot. Funny how Moslem is missing from that headline, isn't it? Anyways, how do you know this guy is the one that flipped? The other members of the group are still facing life sentences. Here's the dead giveaway: his lawyer thinks the sentence is "fair". And our Flip-perp states that he "never thought for a single moment that the group "would carry through with it." Unh-huh. Likely story.

In case you were wondering, the Las Vegas Ricin Dude is still in hospital and being treated for kidney failure. He regained consciousness on March 12 and is regarded by the FBI as acting alone. His cousin was indicted this week on a misprision of felony charge.

No news on the Pakistani ambassador kidnapped on February 11 at the PAK-AFGH border. The last word on the subject is this 3/16 article out of Peshawar. The highlight? The elders of the tribe believed to be involved in the kidnapping has "announced to set on fire the houses of kidnappers if proved to be hailing from the area."

And finally, no news regarding the British CBS Journalist (unknown, except to long time DL readers) kidnapped in Iraq. The last report is a passing mention in an article lamenting the situation for reporters in Iraq. -end-

Austria to AQ: We reject your deadline...

Austria rejects Al Qaeda’s deadline on hostage issue

They're not negotiating with terrorists, they're using intermediaries.

Nuance.

There's no nuance in one of the 10 prisoners involved in the prison release demand issuing a statement via his lawyer saying no thanks, he'd rather stay in an Austrian prison if it was all the same to them.

Hah!

Austria is refusing to treat an April 6 midnight deadline as definitive in its drive to free two citizens kidnapped last month in northern Africa, a foreign ministry spokesman said yesterday.

“We are pursuing intensive efforts, with the aid of a large number of people, to reach a solution,” Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal told AFP. “(But) we have never considered April 6th as a deadline, and (our) efforts will continue over and above (that date).”

Vienna has yet to broach direct negotiations with the hostage-takers, the Algeria-based Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb.

Instead, its four-strong team – led by diplomat Anton Prohaska is maintaining dialogue through intermediaries from Mali President Amadou Toumani Toure’s office.


Andrea Kloiber and Wolfgang Ebner were abducted on February 22 as they holidayed in the Tunisian desert and are now believed to be in northern Mali or southern Algeria.

The kidnappers initially set a March 16 deadline, then March 23 and finally moved the date to Sunday. They have threatened to kill the hostages if any attempt is made to free them by force.
Austrian authorities have so far kept a guarded silence on the kidnappers’ demands, but the country’s press has speculated that they are motivated by money rather than ideology.

They initially demanded the release of a number of Islamists imprisoned in Algeria and Tunisia in exchange for the Austrians’ freedom, then according to press reports, demanded five million euros ($7.9m) in ransom money.

Austrian public radio has since reported, on March 31, that extra conditions were added: an increase in the ransom figure; the withdrawal of Austrian soldiers on NATO deployment in Afghanistan; and the liberation of two Islamists convicted on March 10 in Vienna of distributing a video threatening terror attacks on Austria and Germany.

One of those men, sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, has made it known through his lawyer that he wanted “nothing to do” with the kidnappers and that he refused to be offered in exchange for the tourists.

Interviewed yesterday in the daily Standard, Ebner’s son Bernhart said he was “cautiously optimistic” his father would be coming home.

According to his information, three of the kidnappers who appeared in images outlining their demands have been identified as having taken part in the abduction of German tourists in 2003, who were safely freed after mediation by the Malian president.

“All of these details are noted and analysed, but they can’t be commented upon in the interests of the hostages’ security,” said Launsky-Tieffenthal.

The Religion of...

Compassion: Britons seized last year in Iraq thought to be in Iran.

Family values: British Muslims wanted to take family on suicide missions.

Family values: Child torture incidents in Madrassas.

Tolerance: Priest killed in front of his Baghdad home.

Compassion: Couple stoned to death for adultery.

Honor: Gang of three jailed for honor killing.

Faith: Toledo jury hears of holy war prep.

More Family Values: Moslem Mother attempts to kill son for becoming a Christian.

And finally...

LOSERS! The Al Qaeda network has not pulled off an attack in the West since 2005.

(and none in the US since 2001.)

-end-

French Yacht seized by Somali pirates

Le Ponant is in le trouble.

France's military is keeping close tabs on a French luxury yacht seized by pirates off Somalia's coast, and officials hope to avoid using force to free the 30 crew members, the prime minister said Saturday.

Attackers stormed the 288-foot Le Ponant on Friday as it returned without passengers from the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean, toward the Mediterranean Sea, officials with French maritime transport company CMA-CGM said.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said officials were "following the hostage situation minute by minute."

Paging the cheese eating surrender monkeys...please report to the merde deck.

"Our priority is to protect the lives of the people on board," Fillon said while visiting the town of Le Mans. "All channels of discussion are open to try to resolve this case by trying not to use force."

France has considerable military resources in the region, including a base in Djibouti and a naval flotilla circulating in the Indian Ocean.

A French frigate, Le Commandant Bouan, was temporarily diverted from its role in the naval arm of Operating Enduring Freedom on Friday to track the yacht, military spokesman Cmdr. Christophe Prazuck said. A Canadian helicopter on the HCMS Charlottetown also was taking part, he said.

The yacht was in the high seas in the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia's coast in the Indian Ocean, the French Foreign Ministry said. At least some of the crew members are French, and no other nationalities were specified.

According to the company's Web site, the three-mast boat features four decks, two restaurants, and indoor and outdoor luxury lounges. It can hold up to 64 passengers.

Le Ponant was next scheduled to carry passengers as part of a 10-day, 7-night trip from Alexandria, Egypt, to Valletta, Malta, starting April 19. Prices started at $3,465, not including air fare or taxes.

Pirates seized more than two dozen ships off Somalia's coast last year.

Denmark's government paid a ransom to win the release in August of the crew of a Danish cargo ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates some two months after they were taken captive.

The U.S. Navy has led international patrols to try to combat piracy in the region. Last year, the guided missile destroyer USS Porter opened fire to destroy pirate skiffs tied to a Japanese tanker.

Wracked by more than a decade of violence and anarchy, Somalia does not have its own navy, and a transitional government formed in 2004 with U.N. help has struggled to assert control.

The International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy, said in its annual report earlier this year that global pirate attacks rose 10 percent in 2007, marking the first increase in three years.

There's nothing like a good house cleaning

and toilet scrubbing session to put you right.