Canada: Will they have to make a pinky promise, too?

Veiled voters must swear oath.

Canadians who wear coverings over their faces will not be required to remove them to vote if they swear a special oath to affirm their identity and eligibility, a spokesman for Elections Canada said on Tuesday.

"We offer them a choice," John Enright said of the administrative procedure, which has been in place without incident for the seven federal byelections held since September 2007.

The directive from chief electoral officer Marc Mayrand appears to deviate from the existing Canada Elections Act, which has no requirement for federal voters to show their faces.

"He's simply reminding them of the authority to ensure the eligibility of voters," Enright said of the procedure, while adding people would only be prevented from voting if they refuse to swear the oath after turning down requests to show their faces.

The issue caused a stir last autumn on Parliament Hill ahead of three federal byelections in Quebec.

Last September, Harper accused Elections Canada of subverting the will of Parliament by permitting Muslim women to wear niqabs or burkas while voting, saying it was at odds with federal legislation passed earlier that year.

But at the time, Mayrand countered that the act does not contain an absolute visual recognition requirement, noting that about 80,000 voters cast their ballots by mail in the last federal election.

The Conservatives introduced a bill proposing changes to the act that would require all voters to show their faces at polling stations, but the bill was stalled in Parliament and died when the election was called.

al Qaeda and the Pirates

Well possums, I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for this moment.

For years, the party line about the Somali pirates has always been that they were just gangs of marauding bandits who just happened to be Muslim Somalis.

There was no terror connection. Nope. No, siree.

(And if you believe that, I've got a credit default swap I'd like to sell you.)

"Fighters who aspire to establish the caliphate must control the seas and the waterways."

In a recent communiqué, the Islamist organization claimed responsibility for this year’s surge in pirate attacks in the vital Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia. Dozens of vessels from different nations have been seized and held for ransom, shaking the world’s shipping industry. Al-Qaeda calls its maritime campaign “a new strategy which permits the mujahedeen” to hijack shipping, since “fighters who aspire to establish the caliphate must control the seas and the waterways.”

Counterterrorism consultant Olivier Guitta revealed the al-Qaeda connection in his Asia Times column, writing that the terrorist organization “intends to take control of the Gulf of Aden and the southern entrance of the Red Sea.” Guitta called the area “strategic” for the radical Islamic group.

Al-Qaeda’s goal is the removal of Western military bases from the Arabian Peninsula. It believes sea lanes “weakened by acts of piracy,” combined with mujahedeen attacks, will force concessions from Western powers. And while Al-Qaeda has not abandoned its more traditional tactics – it has a presence in both Somalia and Yemen and attacked the American embassy in Yemen this month, killing 16 – the organization is increasingly focusing its terror on the high seas.

Al-Qaeda’s sea war is already having an effect. Piracy attacks have increased so dramatically in the Horn of Africa that a London-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB) spokesman called the waters off Somalia, a Muslim country, the most dangerous in the world. A failed state, Somalia has possessed neither a navy nor a central government since 1991 – factors exploited by criminal organizations and al-Qaeda, sometimes working together. As a result, in the first two weeks of September alone, Somali pirates attacked 17 ships, four more than in all of 2007, and last week captured a Ukrainian ship carrying 33 T-70 tanks. “In my time here, I must say, this is the most concentrated period of destabilizing activity I have seen in the Gulf of Aden,” said Keith Winstanley, a British naval officer patrolling the gulf.

Altogether, piracy accounts for about 60 attacks against oil tankers and cargo vessels in the Gulf of Aden this year. Most scandalous, however, is that these maritime terrorists are currently holding 14 ships and 300 of their crewmen for large ransoms in Eyl, a pirate town in northern Somalia. On Sunday, the terrorists demanded $20 million for the Ukrainian ship alone, although ransoms for most other captive ships are in the $1-3 million range.

The Gulf of Aden is not a sea route ships can avoid. Situated at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula between Somalia and Yemen, the 2,500-mile waterway is strategic for the world’s economy. It connects Europe and North America with Asia and East Africa via the Suez Canal. About 1,500 ships, ten percent of global shipping traffic, pass through it every month, including four percent of the world’s daily crude oil supply. The only alternative route, around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, is thousands of miles longer and much more expensive, considering larger ships cost about $20,000 daily to run.

As it is, the financial costs of piracy in the Gulf of Aden are high enough. The pirates stand to gain an estimated $50 million dollars in ransom money this year. But this sum does not include the losses shipping companies incur for their ships’ inactivity after capture. Increased insurance rates and thousands of dollars in extra fuel consumption costs from ships traversing the gulf at higher than normal speeds to avoid pirates are additional financial burdens facing owners.

The threat that piracy in the Horn of Africa poses to international trade and to freedom of movement is substantial. After two of its vessels were hijacked last month, a major Malaysian shipping company, MISC Berhad, announced that its ships are going to stop using the Gulf of Aden.

World leaders also are waking up to the problem. The United Nations passed a resolution last June giving countries permission to pursue pirates into Somali territorial waters, while French President Nicholas Sarkozy recently sent commandos to wrest an elderly French couple and their yacht from Somali pirates.

The U.S. also has gotten involved. As an anti-piracy measure, the United States in August established a protected shipping corridor in the gulf that Combined Task Force 150, an international naval force under US 5^th Fleet command, is patrolling. But although the CTF has thwarted 12 pirate hijackings since then, ships are still being attacked, even in the protected zone, indicating the extent and strength of the piracy problem. Captains are now even being told to traverse the gulf in convoy.

The IMB estimates that about 1,000 pirates are active in the gulf. One sailor, a pirate prisoner for 174 days, said his captors are well-organized in groups of 15-20. Armed with Kalashnikov rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and scaling ladders, they operate hundreds of miles off shore from two or three larger “mother” ships, from which they launch their attacks in speed boats against unsuspecting victims. Naval officer Winstanley said there was a degree of organization in their attacks, “Which is why we are taking action.”

Security experts fear the ransom money the pirates are receiving will allow them to buy better equipment and weapons for larger operations. Another concern focuses on the threat to the world’s energy supply. A Japanese tanker, for example, was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade last year, spilling hundreds of barrels of oil into the gulf. A spate of successful sinking would see sky-rocketing oil prices climb even higher.

Such financial disruption would please al-Qaeda, since it has long targeted the American economy for destruction. It knows the Western world derives its military and cultural strength from its economic power, hence its attack on the World Trade Center. Al-Qaeda also wants to draw America into as many Gulf of Aden-type military sideshows as possible in order to drain American resources.

That may prove a fatal error. A sudden, resolute attack on the pirates’ Somali bases would sink al -Qaeda’s high seas terror war and restore calm to the waters of the vital Gulf of Aden. Before long, the terrorist organization may discover that its chances against American forces are no better on sea than they are on land.

Hallelujah! It looks like public opinion is catching up with the success in Iraq.

How sweet it is.

For the first time since Rasmussen Reports began polling on the issue, a plurality of voters in September say the U.S. mission in Iraq will be viewed as a success in the long term.

In a national telephone survey Monday night, 41% said history will rate the war in Iraq a success versus 39% who said it will be seen as a failure, with 20% undecided. These findings echo those of the previous two weeks.

By contrast, in August of last year, 57% believed history would judge the U.S. mission in Iraq a failure, and only 29% disagreed.

Nearly half of voters (48%) also believe the situation in Iraq will get better in the next six months versus 22% who believe it will get worse. Twenty-three percent (23%) expect things to stay about the same. The number of those who see the situation getting better has been steadily rising throughout the summer as violence has gone down in the war-torn country.

God bless W and God bless our troops.

The Talibanization of Pakistan's biggest city

Pro Taliban marchers in Karachi - back in 2001
It's worse now.

This is how the Taliban do it, how they move into an area, subdue the local populace and then take over. The conflict has chased them out of the tribal region and they are landing in major Pakistan cities, like Karachi. And...

If Karachi is being ‘Talibanized,’ Pakistan is in real trouble, and so is everyone else.

In the back of a jeep driving through Karachi, a sign on the wall of the city’s famous "Village Restaurant" caught my eye. It was just a little piece of frayed white paper plastered next to the restaurant’s much bigger logo, tempting customers to "Experience the Exotic of Traditional Dining."

But the printed sign expressed an increasingly urgent plea in this teeming port city, once Pakistan’s capital: "Save your city from Talibanization," it said in English.

But could the Taliban really be taking over Karachi? Karachi is Pakistan’s biggest city, far from the lawless tribal hinterland along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Out there, Taliban and al-Qaida militants have carved out an independent state. In the mountains, militants have their own courts and even issue licenses to local business. Last week in the tribal area, the Taliban publicly executed a group accused of murders. In another village square, they flogged several butchers for allegedly selling the meat of sick animals.

That is Taliban justice.

Read it all.

Egypt: European hostages speak about their ordeal.

There's no place like home.

Deny that a military raid even took place.

"At a certain point we thought it was all over," Walter Barotto, an Italian among a group of 19 people kidnapped in Egypt, told La Stampa newspaper.

They say they were suddenly released by their kidnappers, not rescued in a raid that involved a gunfight, as Egyptian officials earlier claimed. "Shots? We didn't hear any," 70-year-old Italian tourist Mirella De Guili told reporters upon arriving at Turin's airport on Tuesday.

The tourists and their guides said they were allowed by the kidnappers to leave in a single vehicle. "We put our trust in God and drove in the desert for five or six hours, with no spare tyre and very little water. If we made a mistake, we would die," Ms De Guili said.

"There were 19 of us packed into one car, some on the roof," Hassan Abdel Hakim, one of the kidnapped Egyptians, told the Associated Press news agency. Mr Hakim revealed that moments before they were allowed to leave in the car he thought he and the other Egyptian guides were about to be killed. "They told all the Egyptians to stand in one line and they cocked their weapons, and at that moment we thought we were dead," he said.

But they were then told they could take one car and leave.

The tourists said they later spotted two armed men who "luckily" turned out to be Egyptian soldiers.

The tourists also revealed dramatic details of their seizure at gunpoint by unidentified attackers on 19 September, which was followed by a dash through remote areas of the Sahara Desert. Giovanna Quaglia, another Italian tourist, told La Stampa: "The water and food was rationed, we were scared."

"They never hit us but with us - women - they were very strict. We had to keep our faces covered."

"The worst moments were Saturday and Sunday, there was no news and we understood that the negotiations had stalled. It's an experience that I would not wish on anyone," Ms De Giuli said.

Did you hear that Government of Egypt? What do you have that army for? Use the damn thing!

Putting window dressing on a dead cat.

Stocks enjoy a dead cat bounce. Credit Markets just dead, dead, dead.

“The money markets have completely broken down, with no trading taking place at all,” said Christoph Rieger, a fixed-income strategist at Dresdner Kleinwort in Frankfurt. “There is no market any more. Central banks are the only providers of cash to the market; no one else is lending.”

The problems in the credit markets could threaten the broader financial system. But for the moment, investors were placated somewhat by the rise in stocks, with the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, a broad measure of major companies, up 5.2 percent. It is not unusual for stocks to show signs of recovery in the hours after a significant rout. (aka Dead Cat Bounce) In the last several decades, the S.& P. has dropped by more than 6 percent on only a handful of occasions. (It fell by almost 9 percent on Monday.) On average, the index has rallied by 3.5 percent the next day, according to data from Citigroup.

Investors may be hoping that Congress will head back to the negotiating table and pass a revised bailout bill by the end of the week, a notion advanced by President Bush in a televised statement on Tuesday before markets opened in New York.

Injections:

"Several measures were taken to calm investors Tuesday. But injections of money into the markets by central banks failed to dampen a hoarding mentality among financial institutions. Analysts and economists have pointed to the problems in the credit markets as posing a more serious threat to the health of the economy, at least in the short term, than the recent declines in stocks.

But in the public eye, the Dow Jones industrial average is the most visible gauge of the economy’s condition. Some analysts hope that a silver lining of Monday’s sell-off will be an increased urgency among lawmakers to pass a revised bill."

“While some policy makers don’t understand exotic funding markets, they definitely understand what nearly 1,000 points off the D.J.I.A. in one day’s time means,” Michael T. Darda, chief economist at the research firm MKM Partners in Greenwich, Conn., wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday morning."

Intervention.

The European Central Bank lent banks 190 billion euros, or $273 billion, for a weeklong period after initially estimating that it needed to drain 40 billion euros from the system. It also lent banks $30 billion for one day at a marginal rate of 11 percent, almost six times the Fed’s 2 percent benchmark interest rate. The Bank of Japan pumped another $29 billion into credit markets, its third intervention of this scale since the collapse of Lehman Brothers earlier this month. In Tokyo, Asia’s largest market, the Nikkei 225 fell 4.1 percent to close at a three-year low of 11,259.86 points. The benchmark index in Hong Kong closed up by less than 1 percent, while Australia ended down almost 4.4 percent after falling more than 5 percent during the morning.

Window dressing

Traders said that so-called "window dressing," or last-minute portfolio tweaking by money managers before they send out quarter-end statements to clients, added momentum to the market. So did a rush of buyers attracted by bargains following Monday's drop, a typical phenomenon after any big market decline. But above all, the prospect of an unprecedented government intervention in America's financial markets continued to loom large.

"We have calmer heads today assessing where the market should really be," said strategist Jim Paulsen, of Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis. "It looks like the odds of [a rescue package] passing before the end of the week are probably pretty good. If that's the case, then the risk of being on the sidelines when it goes through is probably as bad as anything you face on the downside at this point," with Monday's big market drop in the rearview mirror.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...

On a more worrisome note, the cost of borrowing dollars overnight in the interbank market world-wide surged following Monday's bailout rejection in the U.S. House. The move heightened market participants' concerns about the creditworthiness of counterparties amid a spate of recent bank failures. "We are facing a systemic crisis of confidence in the global financial system that is pushing us increasingly closer to a complete meltdown," said Marco Annunziata, chief economist at UniCredit in London.

Are things starting to fray around the edges? Regional banks are coming under pressure and the largest Chevrolet dealer in U.S. files for Chapter 11. (The 89 year old Bill Heard dealership out of Atlanta._

In court papers, Mr. Heard said falling new-car sales led to its decision to go out of business and begin liquidating in bankruptcy court. High gas prices, the downturn of the U.S. economy and the reluctance of some auto lenders to extend credit to customers have caused new car sales to plummet, prompting a "financial liquidity crisis" at Bill Heard dealerships.

Genworth says it may spinoff mortgage insurance business.

Genworth shares have slumped 75% this year on concern about losses at its mortgage insurance business. As the mortgage-fueled credit crisis has deepened in recent weeks, Genworth stock has been crushed, losing 60% of its value in the past month.

Genworth also said it has borrowed $79 million in the commercial paper market, down from $158 million earlier this month. The commercial paper market usually allows companies to borrow money cheaply over short period of time. But some parts of this market have frozen in recent weeks as the credit crisis deepens. That's sparked concern that some companies may struggle to refinance their short-term debt. Genworth also highlighted more than $800 million in cash and cash equivalents at the holding company and almost $4 billion in cash and cash equivalents in its operating companies.

Genworth is exposed to a lot of the companies that have collapsed in recent weeks, including Fannie Mae and Washington Mutual. Genworth's exposure to these companies totals roughly $630 million, according to data disclosed on the insurer's Web site. This includes senior and subordinated debt, preferred stock, credit default swaps, securities lending and guaranteed investment contracts.

Sonic gets their credit spigot cut off by GE Capital.

Actually, on Thursday, Stephen Vaughan, CFO of Sonic Corp (Nasdaq: SONC), told Dow Jones that franchisees of the drive-in chain have been notified by GE Capital's franchise finance arm that it will temporarily stop financing new loans to Sonic franchisees. This is bad for a franchise like Sonic Corp that greatly depends on franchisee growth to increase its bottom line.

Afghanistan: Karzai wants to make nice with Mullah Omar?

Say it isn't so.

Afghans use Saudis to broker peace with Taliban. The Brits are in on it, too. For crying out loud, even the Italians are waving the white flag around.

Mr Karzai said he had asked King Abdullah, the Saudi monarch, to help broker a settlement with the extremist religious movement, which was ousted from power by a US-led coalition in the wake of al-Qaeda's terrorist attacks on America in 2001.

Speaking during a ceremony to mark the religious festival of Eid, Mr Karzai said he had made a direct plea to Mullah Omar, the cleric who has overseen the Taliban's revival across Afghanistan's Pashtun heartland. "A few days ago I called upon their leader, Mullah Omar, and said 'My brother, my dear, come back to your homeland, come and work for the peace and good of your people and stop killing your brothers'."

Mr Karzai said he had offered the Taliban leadership a guarantee of protection from international forces in Afghanistan, if they returned for peace talks: "They should come back and not be afraid of the foreigners. I will stand in front of the foreigners."

The spread of fierce fighting in Afghanistan has revived interest in negotiating with "reconcilable" members of the Taliban - those willing to renounce ties to al-Qaeda in return for a role in government. A senior US official said this week that military force could not be regarded as a "comprehensive" solution to the challenges in Afghanistan. "In some cases you have to be willing to reach across the table and shake the hand of the guy who is trying to kill you," the official said.

Up to 3,000 people are estimated to have been killed in fighting this year, including more than 200 coalition soldiers, making it the most deadly year since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001.

The Saudi mediation, which has relied on significant assistance from British intelligence, has involved forging regular contacts between Taliban defectors and their former contacts in the movement. Mr Karzai said the Saudi monarch's role as custodian of Islam's holiest shrines granted King Abdullah a unique authority to seek peace.

He said: "For the last two years, I've sent letters to the king of Saudi Arabia, and I've sent messages, and I requested from him as the leader of the Islamic world, for the security and prosperity of Afghanistan and for reconciliation in Afghanistan."

A message meanwhile issued by Mullah Omar called on the 70,000 foreign troops operating in Afghanistan to pull out. Mullah Omar has evaded capture since his regime collapsed despite a $25 million bounty on his head. He also offered a peace deal but only on the most extreme terms.

"I say to the invaders: if you leave our country, we will provide you the safe context to do so," he said. "If you insist on your invasion, you will be defeated like the Russians before you."

Core Taliban demands are unacceptable to Mr Karzai's Western backers and the Taliban has cast doubt on the Afghan leader's credibility as a negotiating partner. But even the most bitterly anti-Taliban elements of Afghanistan's ruling factions have supported talks with the Taliban. The former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, said a broad spectrum of Afghan political leaders have held meetings with the group.

They just never learn, do they?

Target Rich Environment

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims performed the early morning
Eid Al-Fitr prayers at the al-Haram Grand Mosque in Mecca this morning

Happy Hajj.
(This sight just gives me the creeps.)

A breathless report from the Daily Mail.

"Awesome spectacle as hundreds of thousands of Muslims converge on Mecca. It's one of the most awe-inspiring sights in religion. A duty for every able-bodied Muslim at least once in his or her lifetime, the gruelling five-day haj ritual is one of the world's biggest displays of mass religious devotion" insanity. There, fixed it.

Somalia: 3 MV Faina pirates dead in Eid shootout?

It's unconfirmed, but wouldn't be surprising now, would it?

Disagreements between Somali pirates holding a ship laden with tanks and heavy weapons escalated into a shootout and three pirates are believed dead, a U.S. defense official said Tuesday. The pirates denied the report.

The official in Washington who reported the shootout spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record. He refused to elaborate and said he had no way of confirming the deaths.

In other pirate news, the Malaysian tanker, the MT Bunga Melati Dua was released.

No one is rolling the dice today...

Back in the day, a bunch of guys I knew from work used to set up a private casino in the presidential suite at the Vista Hotel in the World Trade Center. Roulette, baccarat, poker, craps, the whole shooting match. It was always a wild and fun scene. The cigar smoke was thick in the air, the room was full of men in their bespoke dress shirts, with their ties loosened and sleeves rolled up. The liquor was flowing and as the evening went on the bets got larger and larger. The craps table was always where the action was.

Funny, that this would come to mind this morning when I heard a trader say, "no one is rolling the dice today..."

Bond traders are still on the sidelines with their hands in their pockets. What that means is institutions aren't taking positions and probably won't until the government does...

LIBOR, the rate banks charge each other, is now at a record high. That means that banker's sphincters are still tighter than a duck's butt and that's water tight. There were more bank rescues overnight in Europe, 2 British, 1 Italian.

Yesterday's sell off at the close was due to Japanese hedge fund redemptions (yesterday was the end of their FY). Program trades that sold into the market, driving it down because their were no buyers on the other side.

Look for people to "sell into the bell" this morning and a relief rally. The real action will occur at the close.

Somalia: MV Faina. They've got her cornered.

Pirated Arms freighter cornered by US Navy. Secret arms deal still alleged.

American warships on Monday surrounded an arms-laden freighter hijacked by pirates, sealing off any possible escape in a standoff near the craggy Somalia coastline.

Lt. Nathan Christensen, a Navy spokesman, said that “several destroyers and missile cruisers” had joined the American destroyer that was already following the hijacked vessel. He would not specify the number of warships or what they would do if the pirates refused to surrender.

Blow them out of the water.

Let's get busy figuring out what was on the MV Iran Deyanat.

JBS Swift and Muslim prayer: The Tanc speaks

Tom Tancredo tells it like it is.

Pray on your own time.

Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado) regarding Muslim prayer-time accommodation at the JBS Swift plant in Greeley, Colorado.

"The fact is that, if you take a job that requires your attendance on an assembly line from a point certain to a point certain, and if your religious views do not allow you to do that, then don't take the job," Tancredo suggests. "There is nothing forcing anybody to take the job. No one has put a gun to their head[s] and said, 'You must be on this line.'"

Somalia: Tanks, but no tanks...

Confirmation that the tanks on the MV Faina were indeed headed for Sudan - not Kenya.

A US Navy spokesman says a weapons shipment on a Ukrainian ship hijacked by Somalian pirates was headed to unknown buyers in Sudan, not Kenya.

Lt. Nathan Christensen, a deputy spokesman for the US 5th Fleet in Bahrain, says it is not known whom exactly in Sudan the weapons were meant for. A 5th Fleet statement said the ship was headed for the Kenyan port of Mombassa, but added "additional reports state the cargo was intended for Sudan."

Kenya has said that the shipment, which includes T-72 battle tanks, was intended for it.

The UN has imposed an arms embargo on weapons headed to Sudan's Darfur conflict zone. But the ban does not cover other weapons sales to the Khartoum government or the southern Sudan's autonomous government.

Kenya denies this, of course.

6 months of Pakistani honor killings = 225 dead women

Women killed for other reasons? 722.

The Religion of Peace. Unless you're a woman, that is.

Two hundred and twenty-five women have been killed in incidents of Karo Kari (honour killing) in the past six months across Pakistan, according to a survey conducted by the Aurat Foundation, BBC Urdu reported on Friday. The organisation said that though honour killing has different names in different areas of Pakistan, the traditions remain the same across the country. Malik Asghar of the Aurat Foundation said that the survey covered details of women killed for honour between January and June 2008. According to the survey, the number of women murdered during the six months for reasons other than honour was 722. The survey revealed that only two accused in Karo Kari cases registered during the last six months had been sentenced while the rest were pending in courts.

Hat tip: The Religion of Peace.

UK: More threats for Jewel of Medina publisher

"Fundamentalist".

Muslim radicals today warned of further violence after a firebomb attack on the London home of the publisher of a book on the prophet Mohammed.

Fundamentalist Anjem Choudhary said repercussions would be "severe" for those involved with the Jewel Of Medina, a fictional account of the prophet's relationship with his 14-year-old wife Aisha.

-snip-

Those fears were fuelled as Mr Choudhary, a former lawyer and follower of preacher of hate Abu Hamza, said: "Clearly this book is an attack on the honour of Mohammed. It is clearly stipulated in Muslim law that any kind of attack on his honour carries the death penalty.

"If the publication goes ahead then I think, inevitably, there will be more attacks like this. If this book is published I think the repercussions will be very severe for everyone associated with it."

Remember the UK family barred from Saturday burial because they weren't Muslim?

Well, it looks like someone changed their mind.

Council U-turn on non-Muslim Saturday burials

SHEFFIELD Council has announced a dramatic U-turn after a policy allowing only Muslim burials to take place at the weekend caused outrage. The council has admitted they "got it wrong" and is working out a new policy to offer people of every faith living in the city the same service. But it comes too late for Ms Maltby and her family, who had to hold the funeral for Mr Lemaire, a 75-year-old retired steel erector from Woodseats, yesterday.

Mrs Maltby said she was pleased by the U-turn after the council's flat refusal to consider her request. She added: "It was unfair and unjust I just wanted the same service as anyone else in the community. Their stubborn refusal made me really angry, if they had been more co-operative I wouldn't have needed to go to The Star."

Good for Mrs. Maltby! I'm sorry for her loss, but if it weren't for her going to the press with this ridiculous piece of dhimmitude we'd all be none the wiser about this piece of Muslim accommodation and it would still be going on!

Original story can be found here.

Egypt: European tourists released

As a result of "international collaboration."

Well, that and yesterday's killing of 6 of their captors, including the leader of the group who kidnapped them. And today's secretive military ops that isn't being discussed until the hostages are well clear of the area. The good news? No ransom was paid.

All 19 hostages, including five German and five Italian tourists, who were abducted in southern Egypt over a week ago have been freed.

Italy's Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, confirmed Egyptian media reports that the hostages were freed on Monday morning. The hostages are in the custody of the Egyptian authorities and health checks are being carried out on them, Frattini said.

The minister said the hostages' release was the result of "international collaboration".

The five Italians, five Germans and a Romanian - and their guides were kidnapped on 19 September on the Gilf al-Kebir plateau, close to the Libyan and Sudanese borders.

Since then, they have reportedly been moved around a lawless desert region touching on the borders of Egypt, Sudan, Libya and Chad.

There were reports that six of their captors were shot dead on Sunday.

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled...

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew,
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not God that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four...

From Rudyard Kipling's

The Gods of the Copybook Headings

A copybook was an exercise book used to practice one's handwriting in. The pages were blank except for horizontal rulings and a printed specimen of perfect handwriting at the top. You were supposed to copy this specimen all down the page. The specimens were proverbs or quotations, or little commonplace hortatory or admonitory sayings—the ones in the poem illustrate the kind of thing. These were the copybook headings.

This poem was written by Kipling later in his life. He had lost his dearly loved son in World War 1, and a precious daughter some years earlier. He was a drained man in 1919, and England, with which he identified intensely, was a drained nation. Though he was no atheist, (he) was in fact a Christian of an eccentric sort, Kipling seems to have found little consolation in religion. Kipling was embarked on his two-volume history of the Irish Guards—his son's regiment—in WW1. The project took him three years, and was, he remarked, "done with agony and bloody sweat."With all this as background, it is hard to disagree with the general opinion that "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" is a clinging to old-fashioned common sense by a man deeply in need of something to cling to.(source)

This blog is a copybook of sorts for me. And this poem spoke to me because the longer I live and the more I see, the more it seems that there are certain basic truths about the human condition that transcend time and space. You know what I'm talking about - all those things your mother told you, every cliche-riddled, hackneyed phrase that you can think of. I'm here to tell you, you ignore them at your own peril. Remember moderation in all things? Which brings us to today's particular peril: The Financial Market meltdown.

Like Kipling, when he wrote about the Gods of the Copybook, Wall Street and life in general had left me fried like bacon. My brother was fighting a life threatening illness, I was having seizures of unknown origin. It was a crazy time. But it was a glamorous life and had become who I was. It was a little ballsy to turn my back on it, I guess. I'm sure there were acquaintances that thought I should have had my head examined at the time. (I probably should.) But it's always hard to explain the relief I felt upon leaving the high pressure demands of Wall Street and how I've changed since then. I've been gone for a long time from it and the markets have evolved and changed too. Have I missed it? Yes. But I looked at it is the closing of a chapter in my life and moved on, completely stepping out of that world with gratitude and thanks to God for giving me the experience.

But it was the experience of another era, so while I have been watching the developments of this week unfold with great interest, I have also been watching them with a sense of great detachment. (Which is weird because I do have capital and my retirement $ at risk.)

Please know that I am in no way holding myself out to be an expert, but it's starting to seem silly to be talking to you about pole dancing Muslimas with boob jobs, Islamopirates and hijackings and such, all the while ignoring the 800 lb gorilla in the US living room. So here goes...

The good news: there's some kind of deal. That will satisfy those who believe in that kind of thing and buy some time. The bad news: IMO, it's not going to do much to stanch the bleeding.

Everyone is standing around watching the gyrations in the stock market and real estate market like that is where the true problem lies. No, in a heading that could have been written by the Gods of the Copybook Headings themselves.

"Curst greed of gold, what crimes thy tyrant power has caused." Virgil

Good old greed. Starting back in 1995, the masters of the bond and credit market universe got too cute by half and structured a new and exciting financial instrument, the credit default swap and it's these credit default swaps that are the crux of the problem. The magnitude of the fallout from this hairy piece of "financial engineering" is staggering. Believe me, when I tell you that these things are so wrapped around the axle I don't think anyone knows who's got what.

Under a CDS, a bank originates loan to a company. A second bank (or other financial institution) can agree to cover the credit risk for the loan, by agreeing to make payment to originating bank if the company defaults on the original loan. The originating bank pays a small insurance premium to the second bank for assuming the risk of the loan.

Typically, payments under a CDS would only be triggered by the company’s failure to pay interest or principal on its debts due to bankruptcy or some other severe liquidity issue. But there are a host of intermediate or special cases that will doubtless provoke lawsuits when something goes wrong (CDS being a new market, it is by no means "recession-proof").

Credit default swaps were sold to the world as hedging transactions. Investors were told that they were simply transfers of risk, so that banks that made loans could transfer credit risks to insurance companies, which did not make loans directly, or to foreign banks that could not easily make loans in the U.S. market.

But they didn't work out that way...the real estate bubble burst and the mortgage market melted down, factors of life their models didn't take into account. Which brings us to another Gods of the Copybook Heading meets Gordon Gecko Greed is Good moment...the moment when "Wall Street" took over and expanded the volume far beyond what was required for hedging risk. The traders at commercial banks and insurance companies, freed from the constraints of Glass-Steagall by Bill Clinton era deregulation, jumped in with both feet.

After all, bonuses depend on the volume of business. Therefore, bank traders sold the credit risk of a loan not just once, but as many as 10 times. And they sold it not to solid banks and insurance companies, but to three solid banks, one solid insurance company, three dodgy brokers and three hedge funds. Then the traders went out and sold other CDS products that were not even related to actual loans on the books, but to imaginary indices of credit quality in the "widget" industry.

The credit risk of the system was hugely multiplied.

Instead of one $10 million credit risk loan, there are now ten $10 million credit risks on just one loan.

See what I mean about being wrapped around the axle?

Because of this axle, banks around the world are under tremendous pressure. They've even stopped loaning to each other which tells you how bad it is. Bond traders have been standing around with their hands in their pockets - no one is making trades. LIBOR is quaking under the weight of the stress and the short term paper market has pretty much seized up. Commercial paper is how companies finance their day to day operations and make payroll. September 30 is the day when positions unwind and this is where the pain on Main Street will really start. A flood of redemptions is preparing to swamp Hedge Funds. The US Mint has stopped production of gold coins due to soaring demand. Tonight's Asian market open will indeed be interesting. The only bright spot I could find? (and that even has a downside.) Issuance of Islamic bonds falls 54% in the first half of the year. The bad news: "The drop confirms that Islamic finance has become intertwined with global financial markets and is in no way an isolated market". This is confirmed by the following headline: Chicago Muslims devastated by investment scam.

This isn't over by a long shot. Unless this can get things moving quickly (and have you ever known anything to happen quickly when the US govt is involved?) havoc will continue to wreak the credit markets, the relief rally in the stock market will be brief. Will smart money continue to stay on the sidelines? Will there be any smart money left? At heart, financial markets are about confidence in the system and confidence has been gravely shaken.

In other words, the jig is up.

How bad it will be is anybody's guess. But!

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man-
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:-
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will bum,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

Unlike Kipling, I'm an optimist who finds consolation in faith, and I believe we will all muddle through somehow.

I'm also a free market trader and believe that the market has to work this out. These type of bailout programs just tend to delay the pain and there is going to be some pain, my friends. I oppose the structure of this bailout on principle, so watching these government types preening and posturing in front of the cameras this weekend was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. They are beyond clueless. And infuriating. For Nancy Pelosi to call the House Republicans unpatriotic for not attending negotiations that they weren't invited to attend is an outrage. To see these Democrats stand up in front of the cameras and outright lie their a$$e$ off just shows you what we're dealing with.

"Fleece in our times."

Our friend GW at Wolf Howling is doing yeoman's work hoisting these bastards on their own petard for creating the climate that allowed the real estate bubble to flourish and burst. I recommend his blog to you.

(The first credit default swap was after Dinah left the street so she's been having to get up to speed on them herself. If you are interested in learning more, this piece (and source for much of the info here) is a good place to start and this will provide you a window into what's been going on with the banking side of the equation. If you want to laugh and learn as you get up to speed on these magillas go here and check out this horse race analogy.)

The full text of The Gods of the Copybook Headings

Some of Dinah's other Wall Street copybooks can be found here.

And please be reminded that the fasten seat belt sign is still illuminated. It's gonna be a bumpy one.

Pakistan: Fatwa for Palin Flirt

"filthy remarks and repeated praise of a non-Muslim lady wearing a short skirt is un-Islamic"

When Asif Ali met Sarah.

The prayer leader of the infamous Lal Masjid in the heart of Islamabad has issued a decree against President Asif Zardari for publicly making indecent gestures towards the American Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin during their Washington meeting, saying the act was un-Islamic and Zardari has shamed the entire Pakistani nation.

Delivering a sermon at the Lal Masjid the other day, the prayer leader Maulana Abdul Ghafar, who is a close relative of the fanatic Red Mosque cleric Maujlana Abdul Rashid Ghazi, who was killed by security forces during Operation Silence in July 2007, said that President Zardari’s indecent gestures, filthy remarks and repeated praise of a non-Muslim lady wearing a short skirt is not only un-Islamic but also unbecoming of a head of state of a Muslim country.

He said that the manner in which Zardari shook hands with Sarah Palin and expressed his deep desire to hug her is intolerable and shameful. “We are fighting the American war in our country and thousands of our people have been killed just to please Uncle Sam. Therefore, we demand that the military operation in the Pak-Afghan tribal areas be immediately stopped as it is creating hatred amongst the general public against the Pakistan army”, he added.

Egypt: 6 kidnappers of European tourists killed.

Hostages are now believed to be in Chad. There has been no official comment from the Chadian government at this time.

Who has assumed command since one of those killed is believed to be the group's leader?

Six of the alleged kidnappers of a group of tourists were killed by the Sudanese army in a high speed chase across desert, but the missing Europeans are still being held in Chad, Sudan's military spokesman said Sunday.

Sawarmy Khaled told The Associated Press that Sudanese military forces were combing the Jebel Oweinat region near the Libyan border when they came upon a white sports utility vehicle carrying eight armed men.

"The armed forces called for it to stop, but they did not respond and there was pursuit in which six of the armed men were killed," he said, including the leader of the group, which he identified as a Chadian named Bakhit.

The remaining two gunmen were captured and they confessed to being involved in the kidnapping a week earlier of 11 European tourists and eight Egyptians doing a desert safari in southwest Egypt.

The tourists are being held by 35 other gunmen in the Tabbat Shajara region of Chad, Khaled added.

al-Jizz is identifying one of the dead as being affiliated with a Darfur rebel group.

UK: Pole dancing daughter in hiding after Muslim death threats.

You just had to know this was coming. ( a quick twirl around the pole as thanks to the Weasel Zippers )

Extremists threaten to kill Bakri's pole dancing daughter.

The terrified pole-dancing daughter of radical cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed is in hiding after death threats from Muslim extremists. Yasmin Fostok, 27, who has a three-year-old son, is said to feel suicidal after it was revealed she works as a pole dancer.

Police went to her flat in South East London on Friday night after deciding to move her to a safe house. A police source said:"She is worried about threats from people who have extreme views. She has a young toddler and can't take any risks." She left the flat with a suitcase, looking down at the ground as seven officers, plus plain-clothes detectives escorted her into a police van. She and her son are now staying at separate locations to protect him from attacks.

A friend added last night: "She's suicidal. She can't even see her own son or go to her own home. She's very fearful at the moment."

And daddy dearest? Now he's claiming that she is an imposter.

(I feel kind of bad for her, but she had to know that this was going to be the result of talking to the media. If you continue reading the article you will see that she does have a lawyer. Will she start suing some of the UK newspapers? Will that be next?)

Somalia: Okay, how about $20 million? say pirates.

Pirates hanging around the MV Faina. They should be hanging from the mizzen mast.

Ransom for MV FAINA decreased to $20 million. Funny how the amount went down when the pirates and their ship full of tank booty suddenly found themselves surrounded by three warships.

Somali pirates who hijacked a Ukrainian freighter carrying Kenyan military weapons defiantly demanded 20 million dollars in ransom despite being surrounded by three foreign warships on Sunday.

The spokesman for the pirates, contacted by AFP via satellite telephone, confirmed that they were surrounded by three foreign war vessels off Somalia's central coast and said the ship's crew was "safe and not harmed."

"What we are awaiting eagerly is the 20 million dollars (13.7 million euros), nothing less, nothing more," Sugule Ali said. On Saturday, figures ranging between five and 35 million dollars had been put forward.

Why are they so confident? According to the Marine Log, the pirates claim to have damning paperwork from the ship that will reveal that these tanks weren't going to Kenya as claimed by the Russians. No they were going to the SUDAN. Do they have that proof?

Now Kenya's Capital Radio quotes Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East Africa Seafarers Assistance Program as saying the hijackers claim to be in possession of confidential documents showing that the arms aboard the Faina were actually destined for Southern Sudan.

The pirates are threatening to unleash a "damning report" unless they are paid a ransom.

It sounds like conditions are deteriorating on the ship, too. Although this is being denied by the official spokespirate. One of the hostages has reportedly died of natural causes although this has not been independently confirmed yet. Oh, and one more thing...

THEY ARE NOT PIRATES.

Got that? They are just humble and green ECO-Warriors who are protecting their fragile environment and have the full backing of their "community." Their Islamic community...

Ali said of the ransom demand: "We are not pirates, we are just protecting our natural marine resources. Some countries want to make our waters a dumping site for the industry of the West. We are supported by the local community."

It's still not clear who is doing the actual negotiating.

The Kenyan government said it would not be responsible for the cargo until it was unloaded. This means that the Ukrainian side must negotiate the release of the crew, the ship and the weaponry.

I still say, a mizzen mast hanging is too good for them...

Afghanistan: Taliban kill high profile female police officer

"She was our target, and we successfully eliminated our target."

Taliban gunmen shot dead the most high-profile female police officer in Afghanistan on Sunday as she left her home to go to work on Sunday, officials and the militia said.

The attackers were waiting outside the home of Malalai Kakar, head of the city of Kandahar's department of crimes against women, and opened fire on her car, Kandahar government spokesman Zalmay Ayoobi told AFP.

"Today between 7 am and 8 am when she was (in her car) outside her house and going to her job, some gunmen attacked," Ayoobi said. "Malalai Kakar died in front of her house. Her son was wounded."A spokesman for the extremist Taliban movement, which targets government officials as part of an growing insurgency, said that the assassins were from his group.

-snip-

"We killed Malalai Kakar," spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP. "She was our target, and we successfully eliminated our target."

Kakar, a mother of six, was regularly profiled in international media and was known for her courage in one of Afghanistan's most conservative provinces.

A captain in the police force and the most senior policewoman in Kandahar, she headed a team of about 10 women police officers and had reportedly received numerous death threats.

Such a shame.

Egypt: European hostages - they're running out of food and fuel.

What you're missing at Gilf Kebir - that and being kidnapped by savages.

Once again, the thought occurs to me that anyone that travels to Egypt as a tourist is a fool.
The adventure-tour operator Explore will decide in the next few days whether to go ahead with trips to the remote western desert of Egypt, where 11 tourists were kidnapped on September 19. Explore says the 11 clients booked to travel next month have been offered the chance to switch to another tour, but are all keen to go ahead. Other tour operators report that clients have been in touch seeking reassurance after initial media reports misreported that the kidnap had taken place in the popular tourist city of Aswan.

Thanks again to the Egyptian government who did not act to rescue the last bunch of fools when they had the opportunity. One wonders whether a rescue attempt would have been mounted if the captives were Egyptian citizens.

Kidnappers who seized 19 hostages in Egypt more than a week ago are running short of food and fuel, an Egyptian government source said on Saturday.

The official said the kidnappers moved the hostages into Libya for a few hours on Friday to try to stock up on supplies before returning to Sudanese territory.

"They are suffering from a severe shortage in food and fuel," the official said.

This latest report has them back in the Sudan and on their way back towards Egypt??

Kidnappers holding 11 European tourists and eight Egyptians are back to Sudan after crossing to the Libyan border, Sudanese foreign minister said today. Yesterday Tripoli denied the presence of the kidnappers inside Libya. Libyan officials said Friday an extensive search for the hostages showed they are not on Libyan soil. On Thursday Sudan said the group had crossed into the neighbouring country. Ambassador Ali Youssef head of protocol division at the foreign ministry stated on Saturday that Sudanese security service detected the return of hostage-takers inside Sudan. He further said that the group now is on its way to Egypt from eastern Jebel Oweinat, a mountain near the Sudan-Egypt border.

UK: Jewel of Medina publisher set on fire.

Care to hazard a guess as to their religious persuasion?

Police arrested three men on Saturday in connection with a fire at the offices of the publisher of a book about the Prophet Mohammed and his child bride.

The men, aged 22, 30 and 40, were arrested in north London under anti-terrorism legislation after the fire on Saturday morning at Gibson Square's offices. Police were also searching four addresses in east London.

Britain's domestic Press Association news agency said some residents, whom it did not identify, reported that the incident may have involved a petrol bomb being pushed through the firm's letterbox.

Gibson Square is responsible for the publication of "The Jewel of Medina" -- a fictional account of the Prophet's relationship with his youngest bride Aisha -- by American author Sherry Jones.

Random House announced last month it had cancelled publication of the book in the United States because of fears of violence.

"The Jewel of Medina" was re-released in Serbia earlier this month after being withdrawn in August under pressure from Islamic leaders.

Martin Rynja, publishing director at Gibson Square, earlier this month defended the decision to publish the book, saying that in "an open society there has to be open access to literary works, regardless of fear. As an independent publishing company, we feel strongly that we should not be afraid of the consequences of debate," he added.

Gibson Square could not be immediately contacted for comment on Saturday's fire and subsequent arrests.

Related posts can be found here.

Somalia: Pirates die strangely after seizing MV Iran Deyanat

There is something very wrong with that ship...

A tense standoff has developed in waters off Somalia over an Iranian merchant ship laden with a mysterious cargo that was hijacked by pirates. Somali pirates suffered skin burns, lost hair and fell gravely ill “within days” of boarding the MV Iran Deyanat. Some of them died.

Andrew Mwangura, the director of the East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme, told the Sunday Times: “We don’t know exactly how many, but the information that I am getting is that some of them had died. There is something very wrong about that ship.”

The vessel’s declared cargo consists of “minerals” and “industrial products”. But officials involved in negotiations over the ship are convinced that it was sailing for Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia’s Islamist rebels.

The drama over the Iran Deyanat comes as speculation grew this week about whether the South African Navy would send a vessel to join the growing multinational force in the region.

A naval spokesman, Lieutenant-Commander Greyling van den Berg, told the Sunday Times that the navy had not been ordered by the government to become involved in “the Somali pirate issue”.

-snip-

The ship is owned and operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, or IRISL, a state-owned company run by the Iranian military.

According to the US Treasury Department, the IRISL regularly falsifies shipping documents to hide the identity of end users, uses generic terms to describe shipments and operates under various covers to circumvent United Nations sanctions. The ship set sail from Nanjing, China, at the end of July. According to its manifest, it was heading for Rotterdam where it would unload 42500 tons of iron ore and “industrial products” purchased by a German client.

At Eyl, the ship was secured by more pirates — about 50 on board, and another 50 on shore. But within days those who had boarded the ship developed mysterious health trouble. This was also confirmed by Hassan Allore Osman, minister of minerals and oil in Puntland, an autonomous region of Somalia. He headed a delegation sent to Eyl when news of the toxic cargo and illnesses surfaced. He told one news publication, The Long War Journal, that during the six days he had negotiated with the pirates, a number of them had become sick and died. “That ship is unusual,” he was quoted as saying. “It is not carrying a normal shipment.”

The pirates did reveal that they had tried to inspect the ship’s cargo containers when some of them fell sick — but the containers were locked.

Osman’s delegation spoke to the ship’s captain and its engineer by cellphone, demanding to know more about the cargo. Initially it was claimed the cargo contained “crude oil”; later it was said to be “minerals”. And Mwangura has added: “Our sources say it contains chemicals, dangerous chemicals.”But IRISL has denied that — and threatened legal action against Mwangura. The company has reportedly paid the pirates 200000 — the first of several “ransom instalments”, but that, too, has been denied.

More twists and turns - from the Long War Journal.

The syndicate set the ship's ransom at $2 million and the Iranian government provided $200,000 to a local broker "to facilitate the exchange." Iran refutes that it agreed to the price and has paid any money to the pirates. Nevertheless, after sanctions were applied to IRISL on September 10, Osman says, the Iranians told the pirates that the deal was off. "They told the pirates that they could not come because of the presence of the U.S. Navy." The region is patrolled by the multinational Combined Task force 150, which includes ships from the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.

In a strange twist, the Iranian press claims that the U.S. has offered to pay a $7 million bribe to the pirates to "receive entry permission and search the vessel." Officials in the Pentagon and the Department of State approached for this story refused to comment on the situation. Somali officials would also not comment on any direct U.S. involvement but one high-level official in the Puntland government told The Long War Journal "I can say the ship is of interest to a lot of people, including Puntland."

Somalia: Pirates seize chemical tanker.

$35 million ransom demanded for the Ukrainian ship, the MV Faina.

and want $35 million for the Ukrainian freighter.
(The one with the tanks, grenade launchers and ammo on it.)

Pirates have seized a Greek chemical tanker with 19 crew members off Somalia's coast, continuing an audacious string of hijackings near the African country, an international anti-piracy watchdog said on Saturday.

The tanker, carrying refined petroleum from Europe to the Middle East, was ambushed on Friday in the Gulf of Aden, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre based in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, a man claiming to be the spokesman of pirates holding a Ukrainian ship laden with tanks says they want $35 million for its release.

Warnings are issued to would-be rescuers, a ransom is demanded and then the ransom demand is denied. Confusion reigns. Worse yet, the ship is rumored to be steaming towards Mogadishu in the heart of the Islamist territory.

"We are warning France and others who are thinking of carrying out a rescue that we have the power to reach them wherever they are," he said. "We are demanding a ransom of at least $35m."

But later in a tersely-worded statement, a spokesman for the Kenyan government said they had not received any credible demands for a ransom to release the ship. He went on to say that the government would not negotiate with what it called international criminals, pirates and terrorists, and said efforts to recover the hijacked ship and its cargo would continue.

Hey Sailors! The USS Howard.

The good news? The USS Howard is keeping an eye on it.

A U.S. destroyer off the coast of Somalia closed in Saturday on a hijacked Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks and ammunition, watching it to ensure the pirates who seized it do not try to remove any cargo or crew.

Meanwhile the Russian frigate, The Neuestrashimy has been ordered to the region.

In related hijacking news, the Malaysian tanker the Bunga Melati was released today after a $2 million ransom was paid.

UK: Britain to pay for outing Bakri's pole dancing daughter.

Double D for Daddy Dearest?

Revelation that his daughter is a pole dancer is an "attack against Islam". Yeah-yeah-yeah. Everything's an attack against Islam to you people, Omar...

There's no word how Big Daddy Omar feels about al-Arabiya outing the fact that he paid for Yasmin's $7000 boob job.

Now there's a Muslim family value I NEVER expected! Read on, my little polecat possums.

“Outspoken preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed paid for his daughter to get a boob job, which led to her becoming an erotic pole dancer, British press reported Saturday.

Syrian-born Bakri, famous for slamming Western women who flaunt their sexuality, paid £4,000 (about $7,000) in cash for 27-year-old Yasmin Fostock to enhance her breasts to a massive DD cup, The Sun tabloid quoted a source as saying.

The source said Yasmin managed to convince her religious dad to fork out the cash, saying it would make her feel like a better mother while she was breastfeeding.

“He went along with it and even went to the top London clinic with her where he paid for the surgery in cash. The rest of the family were set against it, but he insisted she should have her way if it would make her a better mother."

Is this hilarious, or just downright weird? Putting aside for the moment the question as to whether or not you would actually have a boob job. Tell me, would you ask your father to pay for it? This smacks of something icky to me and makes me wonder if there's more than a double d cup that meets the eye here. All useless, idle speculation, of course.

But, there is this to consider.

According to University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist Mary Anne Layden, between 60 and 80 percent of nude dancers were raped or sexually abused as children.

I hope that Yasmin's being outed doesn't jeopardize her safety. These thugs have no problem picking on girls.

Gone fishin'

Grand Lake - photo by Charles Yates.

No jihadis today, possums. Dinah's heading up here today for a little family outing.
Hope to see some MOOSE and ELK and maybe throw a line in the water...

European hostages aren't in Libya after all...

No sign of hostages in Libya...where are they? No one knows. IMO, they should have mounted a rescue operation when they had a bead on them the first time. Thanks a lot, Egypt.

A Libyan official has cast doubt on claims a group of European tourists and their Egyptian guides seized in Egypt last week have been taken to Libya. Searches of the border area had yielded no sign of the 11 tourists and their eight guides, the official said. On Thursday, the Sudanese authorities said the hostages had been moved just over the border into Libyan territory. They were seized last Friday while on a desert safari in south-western Egypt, near the borders with Libya and Sudan.

Related posts can be found here.

Push to close NYC schools for Muslim holidays.

Bottoms up!

From the Staten Island Advance:

Some City Council members are urging the state to add two Muslim holidays to the school calendar, calling it a matter of religious freedom and fairness. But their efforts appeared headed for failure, as long as Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in control of schools and the state legislature continues to stall a bill that would make the holy days official days off.

The debate on the issue continued at a packed meeting of the City Council's Committee on Education today, where several Muslim students testified about their desire to observe their religion without missing valuable classroom instruction.

Estimates of the number of Muslims in New York City range from 600,000 to 850,000. Their children comprise about 10-12 percent of the more than 1 million students in public schools. Though it is unclear how many live on Staten Island, the borough is home to eight mosques and a rapidly growing Muslim population, including tens of thousands of immigrants from Pakistan, Albania and Montenegro.

Current school policy permits students to take off religious holidays as an excused absence after submitting a written request signed by a parent. Public schools are closed on Christian holidays, including Christmas and Good Friday, and Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Coalition for Muslim School Holidays is seeking to add two more days off: Eid Ul-Fitr, the final day of the month-long fast of Ramadan (which happens to be this Monday); and Eid Ul-Adha, which marks the culmination of the Hajj, or annual pilgrimage to Mecca (and will be observed on Dec. 8 this year).

Bloomberg has rebuffed the group's efforts on several occasions, saying that students cannot afford any more days off, and adding Muslim holidays could open up the doors for other religions to make the same requests.

Zahida Pirani, a project director for the New York Civic Participation Project, noting how several cities in New Jersey have already made Muslim holidays official days off from school, said the city could do so without hurting classroom instruction. She predicted it would happen if the mayor were not the sole regulator of school policy. "I believe New York City is organized around this in a very powerful way," Ms. Pirani said during the hearing. "If parents had a voice in this process, it would happen."

Slouching toward dhimmitude...

The meaning of Barack Obama's name

From The American Thinker.

Until he was 20 years old, he went by the first name Barry. Then he decided to be called Barack Hussein Obama, his original birth name.

Many people seem to the names "Barack" and "Obama" are African names. They are not.

Baraq [Barack] was the name of the winged horse-like creature that took Mohammed to Paradise in the Night Journey. Baraq can also mean God's blessing. Obama is Swahili for Osama, who was one of Mohammed's chief warriors. Osama also means lion. Hussein reminds some Americans of Saddam Hussein, and Obama's supporters get upset if it is used. Hussein was the name of Mohammed's grandson. So Obama's entire name is based upon Islamic mythology and African conquest. Barack Hussein Obama means [Allah's blessing] [Mohammed's grandson] [One of Mohammed's finest warriors].

Not that he's a Muslim or anything, though. Really. Besides, what's wrong with being a Muslim? It's not like they've declared war on us or anything.

Bosnia: Gays v. Muslims

Gay festival closes after clash with Muslims.

Organisers of the Sarajevo Queer Festival have decided to close the event only a day after its opened, after eight people were injured in violent clashes, local media reported on Friday. Svetlana Djurkovic, one of the organisers, told a media conference late Thursday the festival was closing three days early, because of security concerns. She said a Danish film producer was hospitalised with serious injuries and several people were hurt in clashes. The festival was envisaged as a multi-cultural event aimed at promoting gay rights, but participants from several countries had been attacked by protesters, from the hardline Islamic Wahabi movement, shouting “Allahu Akhbar" (God is great). “May dear Allah give your children to Dutch queers to make porno films,” the demonstrators shouted, beating the participants. The crowd dispersed after police intervention, but other incidents occurred in several places on Thursday, Djurkovic said.

-snip-

Almedina Zuko, secretary-general of the Young Muslims Association, said her organisation opposed the event, but condemned the violence. "If these people (gays) have the right to express their views, so do the rest of us," she said. "I have the right to say that these people are immoral and deviant."

Where is the Diversity First crowd now? Cowering in the closet?

Somalia: Now the Pirates have TANKS...

30 tanks part of the cargo seized in Ukrainian hijacking.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said the ship had a crew of 21 and was sailing under a Belize flag to the Kenyan port of Mombasa. A report from Russia's Interfax news agency said earlier that the ship had a cargo of about 30 tanks, as well as spare parts for armoured vehicles.

Germany: Suspects removed from plane

Hmmm. Somalis. Holy war and suicide notes left behind. Who can it be?

German commandos have arrested two men on an aeroplane preparing to take off from Cologne airport.

A Somali, 23, and a Somali-born German, 24, were suspected of planning attacks and were detained after several months of surveillance, police said.

The men had intended to carry out "holy war" and suicide notes had been found at their flat, a police official told German television.

The KLM passenger carrier KL1804 had been bound for Amsterdam.

In other Cologne news...They're starting them young.

It has also been revealed that police this week arrested three teenagers who ambushed two police officers in the city in what was thought to be an Islamic extremist attack. Reports said the youths, aged 15, 16, and 17, had repeatedly referred to "Jihad" during their interrogations.

They also apparently admitted they wanted to kill the officers to send a signal of Islamist terror.

The three had tricked a 26-year-old policewoman and her 38-year-old colleague late on Tuesday by making an emergency call.When the officers approached one who was lying on the ground, the two others came out of hiding with guns. The men fled but opened fire at the officers after they fired two warning shots.

It later emerged the teenagers' firearms had been starting pistols.

UK: Omar Bakri's daughter is a fire-eating, pole dancer

Daddy dearest deeply shocked

The daughter of the radical Islamic cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed is a pole dancer, it emerged last night.

Yasmin Fostok, 27, has admitted rebelling against her father's strict Muslim beliefs by performing semi-naked in London bars and nightclubs. She lives as a single mother in South East London, bringing up her three-year-old son conceived during an arranged marriage to a Turkish man which has since collapsed.

Miss Fostok, who left the Bakri former home in North London four years ago, said: 'I don't get on with my dad. I don't agree with his views - I just get on with my life and that is it.'

It has been reported that Miss Fostok regularly works in bars in the West End and has toured other countries as a podium dancer with a troupe called Ibiza Untouched. She is also thought to work a fire-eating routine into her act and performs semi-naked inside cages. She has dyed her hair blonde, has several tattoos of her name on her ankle and a dragon on her back and changed her Muslim name Youssra to Yasmin to try to conceal her identity.

She said: 'I don't normally do topless work but I'm willing to go topless if the venue is right.'

Last night her father said: 'If this is true I am deeply shocked.'

Sarah America

What you call corn.

From the helicopter you can see it clearly, Republican vice-presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's face in a corn maze (video: MyFoxToledo). Duke Wheeler of Whitehouse, Ohio, who owns the Butterfly House and surrounding farm, said he did it to bring people to the farm this fall. "She created a lot of excitement and we would like to see a lot of excitement out here at the maze," Wheeler said. It wasn't an easy process. "We contracted with an artist in Idaho who drew the picture and entered it into a GPS system, flew in and cut it with a John Deere tractor," Wheeler said. "It took him about 8-10 hours to cut it. We saw it from the helicopter it's just a great image of her. I think she'd be proud." Wheeler expects thousands to come out and check out the corn maze, Butterfly House, and other activities he has planned for the season.

Somalia: Another day, another ship hijacked by Pirates.

This time a Ukrainian vessel.

Pirates on Thursday seized a Ukrainian cargo ship off the coast of Somalia while it was en route to the Kenyan port of Mombasa, a maritime official told AFP.

The hijackers commandeered the Belize-flagged Faina to a yet unknown location, said Andrew Mwngura who runs the Kenya chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Programme. "It was sailing from the Baltics and was expected in Mombasa on September 27," he added. "As usual, the pirates were armed on a speedboat when they seized the ship, but we do not know where they have taken it."

Iran: Barbie still wins Miss Popularity

Beats Islamic version hands down.

Iranian children seem to prefer the popular western dolls, Barbie and Ken, rather than the Islamic Dara and Sara dolls, that were created to instill Islamic values. "This data is a clear sign of a failed policy adopted by the government with the aim of stopping the western cultural invasion," said website 'Tabnak', which is close to Mohsen Rezaii, former commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

The Dara and Sara dolls are modestly dressed and wear Islamic garments, but have failed to make a name for themselves unlike their 'western' counterparts, Barbie and Ken, which can be found in one out of every two Iranian children's rucksacks and notebooks, claimed Tabnak.

Dara and Sara were marketed by the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, a government agency with links to the Ministry of Education.

Egyptian hostages moved to Libya

They're being held by "gangsters" not terrorists or anything like that.

A group of 11 European tourists and eight Egyptian guides kidnapped in Egypt's desert have been moved to Libya, a Sudanese official has said.

The group had previously been taken from Egypt to Sudan. Sudanese foreign ministry official Ali Yusuf Ahmed said the hostages were safe.

Egyptian officials say the kidnappers are gangsters who are demanding several million dollars in ransom money. They are not thought to have made any political demands as yet.

Mr Ahmed said the hostages were being held some 13 km (eight miles) inside Libyan territory.

"The Libyan authorities have been informed," he said. "They are now following the progress of the group."

Mr Ahmed said the language of the kidnappers and the direction they were originally taking indicated that they could be part of a rebel faction from the Sudanese region of Darfur.

Roads into Darfur have been shut as a precautionary measure, he said.

I'm sure this wasn't the sightseeing adventure they had in mind...and it looks likes there are some senior citizens in the crowd.

Elderly travellers in their 70s are among the five Italians, five Germans and a Romanian being held in the desert, where daytime temperatures can hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) even in September.

And if you need any more proof positive that fools abound in this world...

Ahmed Mukhtar, the governor of Wadi el-Gedid province where the tourists were taken, said the kidnapping had not discouraged tourism there and that five groups of European tourists were currently on safari in the area, the state-run MENA news agency reported.

But a manager at Minamar Hotel, which organizes excursions to Gilf el-Kabir, told AFP the hotel had cancelled trips to the region after the kidnapping.

Wouldn't you?

Another reason I love living in Colorado

My representative is Tom Tancredo and he just keeps knocking them out of the park...

Tom Tancredo tells UN - Get Out!

All hail the UN Eviction Act.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) introduced legislation today that would effectively move the United Nations headquarters out of the United States. The legislation is being introduced amid incessant anti-American and anti-Jewish political grandstanding from the podium of the General Assembly.

“The U.N. has coddled brutal dictators, anti-Semites, state sponsors of terrorism, and nuclear proliferators – while excluding democratic countries from membership and turning a blind eye to humanitarian tragedies and gross violations of human rights around the globe,” Tancredo said. “The U.N.’s continued presence in the United States is an embarrassment to our nation, and the time has come for this ineffective organization to pack its bags and hit the road.”

The United Nations is hosting dictators from around the world this week, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s brutal dictator. His speech has drawn thousands of protestors in New York City.

Tancredo’s bill, dubbed the U.N. Eviction Act, would direct Attorney General Michael Mukasey to initiate condemnation proceedings against all United Nations properties within the United States, and sell the property to the highest bidder on the open market. The proceeds will be given to the Treasury Department to pay down the national debt. The bill would also bar the future purchase of property in the United States or U.S. territories by the U.N. or any of its agencies, and revokes the diplomatic privileges and immunities that U.N. officials and representatives currently enjoy.

“I refuse to sit idly by while Americans are forced to host Islamofascist dictators, like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, so they can spew anti-American rhetoric just blocks from Ground Zero,” Tancredo continued.

The United Nations, an organization known for its bureaucracy and conciliatory actions, has become a showcase for anti-American dictators like Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and, of course, Ahmadinejad. The organization has also become little more than a rubber stamp for Chinese and Russian foreign policy initiatives – blocking membership by the democratic nation of Taiwan in the world body, and failing to take any meaningful steps to halt the ongoing genocide in Sudan or the illicit nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran.

“If the U.N. is so keen to accommodate the foreign policy demands of rogue nations and dictatorships, perhaps the world body might be more comfortable relocating to one,” concluded Tancredo. “I’m sure Ban Ki-Moon will have no trouble securing a new location in downtown Pyongyang or Tehran.”

Tell 'em, Tom.

UK: Family barred from Saturday burial - they weren't Muslim.

Get this.

The council will allow Muslims to bury their dead on Saturday, but everybody else has to wait for a Monday-Friday slot. Just one more instance of special accommodation for the Muslim interlopers.

Harold 'Charlie' Lemaire died last week aged 75 from pneumonia. His stepdaughter, Jean Maltby, wanted the funeral to be held this Saturday so family who live outside the city could attend. The retired steel worker's stepson Stephen lives in Dorset while other members of his family live as far away as the Isle of Man. But when her funeral director called Sheffield's City Road Cemetery to arrange a memorial service followed by burial, he was told the funeral would not be allowed on a Saturday because the family was not Muslim. The city's council confirmed it does not offer funerals at the weekend except to Muslims, in line with the rules of the Islamic faith that the dead must be buried as soon as possible.
Even the local Islamic leader realizes what a pr disaster this is for the Muzloons.

Their views were echoed by Abdool Gooljar, president of the Sheffield branch of the Society of Islam, who said the council should try to meet the needs of every resident of the city. The last thing we want to do is cause more upset at the time of bereavement, and I would urge a re-think so everybody has the right to bury their dead when they want,' he said. "I, firstly as a Muslim and secondly as a citizen, do not want preferential treatment. We are living in a multi-faith, multi-cultural society and we should endeavour to meet the needs of every citizen in this city."
But the council has spoken and the policy is being upheld.

But Martin Green, senior bereavement services manager for Sheffield, insisted the council's policy was in line with that of others around Britain. 'The council recognised the specific cultural and religious needs surrounding burial and has been offering an extended burial service to the Muslim community,' he said. This degree of flexibility is in line with services offered by major cities throughout the UK. The service was reviewed and agreed last year in consultation with representatives of other religious communities, a cross-section of elected members, and local funeral directors."

It's dhimmitude, from cradle to toilet to grave, possums.

UK: Toilets to turn away from Mecca out of respect for Muslims

The next sound you hear is the sound of the UK being flushed down the toilet of history...

Toilet facilities are being built at London's Olympic Park so Muslims will not have to face Mecca while sitting on the loo.

The Olympic Delivery Authority has said it wants to produce an ideal venue for people of all cultures, faiths, ages and abilities for the 2012 Games and beyond. The Islamic religion prohibits Muslims from facing the Kiblah - the direction of prayer - when they visit the lavatory.

An ODA spokeswoman confirmed that a 'percentage of general toilets would not face Mecca' out of sensitivity. She could not say how many toilets would turn away from the East. Also as part of the design, special washing facilities will be linked to Islamic prayer rooms.

It is not the first time toilets have changed direction to accommodate Muslims.

Last year, thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money was used to ensure toilets at Brixton prison in London did not offend Islamic law. Muslim prisoners complained of having to sit sideways on toilets so as to not break code.

Faith leaders in the government pressured officials to approve turning the toilets 90 degrees.

Oh, possums. First they came for the toilets ... and I fear this will be next, the oh-so politically correct dhimmis of the UK will start requiring all citizens to engage in Muslim Toilet Etiquette (or as I like to say - The old Diddley Squat):

* Say before entering the toilet: In the name of Allah, O Allah! I seek refuge with You from all offensive and wicked things (Al-Bukhaaree)

* One should enter the toilet with the left foot and leave with the right foot.

* It is not permissible to enter the toilet whilst carrying or wearing anything bearing the name of Allah, such as the Quran, or any book with the name of Allah in it, or jewelry such as bracelets or necklaces engraved with the name of Allah.

* One should remain silent whilst on the toilet. Talking, answering greetings or greeting others is forbidden.

* One should not face nor turn your back on Al-Qiblah whilst relieving yourself.

* One should be out of sight of people when going to the toilet.

* It is considered forbidden to relieve oneself whilst standing up, lying down or if you are completely nude.

* One should avoid going to the toilet anywhere where people may take rest or gather for any purpose.

* Do not raise clothes until you get close to the ground and do not uncover the body any more than is needed.

* One should sit on the feet (e.g. squat) keeping thighs wide apart with the stress on the left foot.

* Do not look to the private parts of the body nor the waste matter passed from the body.

* Do not sit more than needed.

* Do not spit, blow nose, look hither and thither, touch the body unnecessarily nor look towards the sky but relieve oneself with the eyes downcast in modesty.

* After relieving oneself it is essential to perform Istinjaa (washing with water) of the anus and/or genitals with the left hand and water.

The precise mode of performing Istinjaa has also been defined by religious leaders: "At the beginning of Istinja, it is preferable to use toilet paper three times. If Istinjaa is being done on a hot day, then the person should start from the front to the back and then from the back to the front and the third time from the front to the back. If Istinjaa is being done on a cold day, then he should begin from the back to the front. After wiping, he should wash his hand first and then he should cleanse himself with two fingers and three fingers if necessary together with ‘pouring’ water. When using the two fingers, one should keep the middle finger in front and the ring and index finger behind it. After beginning with the fingers in this position, he should bring the ring finger forward and rub with the middle finger and ring finger. Thereafter, he will wipe with the index finger, if necessary. He should continue until all the impurity and smell is removed. The left over water after Istinjaa is paak only if there is no impurity in it." (Mufti Ebrahim Desai) And further: "To wash the orifice with water, even though no filth is stuck to it after relieving oneself, is desirable. If the filth is sticking to it (less than a Dirham or equal to it) then the use of water is 'Sunnah' (optional) and in the case the filth stuck to the orifice is more than a Dirham then its washing with the water is 'Fard'. (obligatory)" Islamic Academy

* Other than toilet paper, water and the left hand Istinjaa can be performed with earth, grit, stones and worn-out cloths provided they are all clean. It is forbidden to perform Istinyaa with bone, any edible item, dry dung, baked brick, potsherd, coal, fodder, writing paper and anything which has even a small value.

* After this process the hands should also be washed.

* When leaving the toilet one should also say a prayer, "Praise be to Allah who relieved me of the filth and gave me relief."

Allah Crapbar.

It's that most wonderful time of the year...

A Pakistani Shiite Muslim beats himself with knives on chains to mourn the death anniversary of Hazrat Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Mohammad and the first Imam of the Shi'ite Muslim sect, Monday, Sept 22, 2008 in Karachi, Pakistan (AP)

A Pakistani Shi'ite Muslim flagellates himself during a religious procession in Multan September 22, 2008. Thousands of Pakistani Shi'ite Muslims on Monday observed the death anniversary of Hazrat Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Mohammad and the first Imam of the Shi'ite Muslim sect. (REUTERS)

For crying out loud, I would have missed this if it weren't for the hardest working zippers in the blog business. Tip of the whirling cutlass to Weasel Zippers.

Pakistan: Want US Intel

so they can pass it on to the Islamist infested ISI, I guess.

The U.S. should provide intelligence to help Pakistan's security forces fight pro- Taliban militants in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said. Pakistan wants "actionable intelligence and we will act upon it,'' the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited Rehman as saying in New York where she is attending the United Nations General Assembly with President Asif Ali Zardari.

-snip-

Pakistan's anti-terrorism operations have created tensions with the U.S., which says the government isn't doing enough to combat al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters based on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan. Zardari has made clear Pakistan objects to the U.S. carrying out unilateral military strikes inside Pakistani territory in pursuit of terrorists. Zardari warned in his first speech to Parliament on Sept. 20 that his country won't tolerate the violation of its sovereignty and territory.

-snip-

The Pentagon has presidential permission to unilaterally strike Taliban and al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington yesterday.

Gates said it was "certainly'' his view that the UN charter allows a nation the right of self-defense when a foreign government is either unable or unwilling to take care of international terrorist activity inside its borders. "The fact we are operating under a UN charter in Afghanistan certainly strengthens that,'' Gates said.

Drone, baby, drone.

Yemen: Rounding 'em up left and right.

Yemen rounds up another Qaeda-linked group.

Yemen has arrested six members of an Islamic militant group which claimed an attack on the U.S. embassy that killed 17 people, a state-run website said on Sunday.

Abu al-Ghaith al-Yamani -- who signed the Islamic Jihad group's statements and was thought to be its leader -- was among the six arrested, it said. But the website, in detailing the arrests, did not mention the attack on the U.S. embassy, saying only that the six were detained for threatening to target other foreign embassies including the Saudi and British embassies.

Meanwhile, the British Embassy is closed until further notice and the death toll of the American Embassy attack rises to 18.

In other embassy news, isn't it ironic? Yemen closes it's Mogadishu Embassy due to 'security threat'.

Yemen: It's the new Iraq.

After being set back by the increased US military presence in Iraq, Islamists are focussing on Yemen as a new territory for their operations, according to experts.

-snip-

Yemen is attractive to the Islamist militants for a variety of reasons, said Nabil al-Soufi, editor-in-chief of the website NewsYemen.

For al-Qaida, Yemen provides a "fertile environment" with a lack of state control in "the arid and mountainous regions of the country, where Al Qaeda can establish training camps, without anyone noticing," he said.

Yemen's proximity to Saudi Arabia also plays a role, according to Dominique Thomas, an expert in radical Islam at France's Graduate Center for Social Sciences (EHESS).

"If Yemen has become more important for militants, it's also due to ... the fierce repression that took place in Saudi Arabia" from where many of the jihadists spilled over, said Thomas.

Along with other experts in the field, Thomas said the Yemeni government does not view Islamist militants as a vital threat and has on several occasions chosen to enter into agreements with them rather than to fight them face on.

"Yemeni authorities have always priviledged their relations with the Islamists and tribes so as to strenghten their authority against the main threat, people from the south and Shiites from the north," said Thomas.

Johnsen suggested the authorities have in fact prevented even more attacks from taking place. The "government has made several agreements with some individuals within al-Qaida in order to get them not to carry out any attacks in Yemen," he said.

Pakistan: Unfair to target thousands and just get two Americans

I hope this is just a clumsy Joe Biden kind of gaffe on the part of Pakistan's Interior Minister, Rehman Malik. Unfortunately, I kind of doubt it.

“It is unfair to target thousands of people in a hotel to kill two Americans,” Mr Malik said.

Doesn't it sound like he wished there were more killed?

Mahmoud gives W a big thumb down at UN

Dork.

Sudan: Remembering John Granville

John Granville, just helping out the folks.

He was the 33 yo USAID officer killed in cold blood in Khartoum, Sudan's safest city on New Year's Eve.

Sudan murder suspects used Saudi cash
Surprise, surprise. Those accused of his murder funded it with a donation from a Saudi and the money left over from a failed bomb plot. Even bigger shocker. One of the accused is the son of a prominent Muslim cleric.

Four Sudanese men accused of killing a U.S. aid worker funded the murder with a donation from a Saudi Arabian man and money left over from a failed bomb plot, the Sudanese police's chief investigator told a court on Monday.

-snip-

One of the four defendants, the son of a well known Islamic preacher in Sudan, received a donation of 35,000 riyals ($9,300) from a Saudi man called Al Naim, the Sudanese police's chief investigator told Khartoum North court on Monday.

Al Naim told the defendant to use the money to launch a jihad against westerners in Somalia, investigator Abdelrahim Ahmed Abdelrahim said. But the defendant, Abdel Raouf Abu Zaid Mohamed, instead decided to use the money to target Americans who he thought were trying to spread Christianity in Sudan, the investigator said.

The investigator said members of the group also used 9,000 Sudanese pounds ($4,300) left over from a failed bomb plot against western embassies in Khartoum.

-snip-

The hearing was adjourned until October 14.

related posts can be found here.

Iran: Man gets death penalty for being gay.

Hey, you two! Get a room!

No wonder there are no gays in Iran.

Death penalty for man accused of homosexuality.
Nemat Safavi, arrested almost three years ago at the age of 16, has been condemned to death by a court in Ardebil, in the northwest Iranian Azerbaijan region. Nemat has not killed anyone, stolen anything or even carried out any political activism. Nemat has been accused of having homosexual relations.While that was not stated during the court case, he was accused of "sexual relations that were not admitted".

Greece: Somalis take on the Sudanese

Is this what we have to look forward to in Grand Island, Nebraska?

A dark day in Athens: Somalis and Sudanese nourish Greek Racism. (some title, huh?)

It was a bloody afternoon as machetes, axes and cutlasses swung from every corner leaving pieces of flesh and puddles of blood on the streets of Omonia in Athens Greece. The Sudanese and Somalians shocked the Greek community to their very bones as they killed each other with reckless crudity. It was a scene that could have easily befitted the 3rd Century when barbarism was at its peak.

The Somalians and Sudanese in Greece are notorious for their drug dealings and Omonia is where they base. Both communities have shared the territory peacefully and dealt their custom mutually until last week.

Trouble began when more and more drug addicts began to take their customs to the Somalian side of the dangerous Omonia area to the probable envy of the Sudanese dealers. As the trend continued, the Sudanese asked the Somalians to leave Omonia. Their odacious demand must have offended the Somalis so much that they returned the request with action.

That Afternoon, as business went on, the Somalians appeared in the Sudanese occupied area of Omonia in a cohort, armed with machetes, axes, clubs and cutlasses. Their Sudanese counterparts soon armed themselves in defence and the bloody and barbaric altercation ensued. They cut, axed and chopped themselves to shreds.

The story self explained what the wars in Africa were all about. The Greeks were left to curse the hearts and reasoning of Africans as the fighting gave them more grounds to build on their racism, prejudices and xenophobia.

To think that being outraged about machete wielding {cutlass wielding? wtf?}drug gangs on your streets makes you a racist or xenophobe. Please, give me a break.

JBS Swift: Muslim pig in a poke watch

Mohammed Rage, bald is beautiful.

The company confirms 86 firings, not 150 or 200 as stated by the Muslims.
Why let facts get in the way of their protest though.

Don't be sitting with the men, ladies. That is haraam, you little vixens.

The Muslims are going ahead with their plans to threaten negotiate with Swift. They are also pulling out all the stops...Sending a woman with White House ties to DC to bring in some muscle to the action including pressuring the Brazilian parent company by contacting her ramadan dinner buddy, the Brazilian ambassador. Woman takes plight of Somali workers to DC

A Denver woman with ties to the White House has taken the issue concerning Muslims at the JBS Swift & Co. plant to national leaders. During a recent Ramadan dinner at the White House, Seeme Hasan spoke with administrators and the Brazilian ambassador to the U.S. about the firing of about 120 Muslim employees at JBS Swift's Greeley meatpacking plant. The company's parent company is based in Brazil, which has a Muslim population. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Hasan has consulted the U.S. State Department on relationships with Muslim countries and has been an organizer for the White House's annual Ramadan dinner.

It was during that dinner Wednesday, when she shared the situation of the Somali Muslim workers who were fired after they walked off the job because they were not allowed to take breaks to observe the Muslim holiday Ramadan...Brazilian ambassador Roberto Abdenur at the White House dinner.

When she told him of the situation at the plant, she said: "You could feel his pain from his face. He was pained with the subject."


Listen to her, trying to send everybody on a Muslim guilt trip...

Hasan, who is a co-founder of Muslims for America, also said she spoke with a "high-ranking" White House staffer about the potential public relations nightmare the issue could create. "You have some Muslim newspaper pick this up, and they will call Americans heartless," she said. "This can give us a bad public image relationship. We don't need this. We look bad. In America, we look bad."

Funny, to think how Christians are treated in the Muslim world and then to have to listen to this broad call Americans heartless. That's just wack.

A Nebraska anti-discrimination group (http://www.neoc.ne.gov) is reaching out to the Muslims but the Muslims want ACTION not OUTREACH.

A Somali Muslim leader says the state commission that handles discrimination complaints needs to investigate concerns at a Grand Island meatpacking plant, not educate the community.

Somali Muslim advocate Mohamed Rage (RAGE) says the state Equal Opportunity Commission needs to investigate and take action against the JBS Swift and Company plant.

See the video featuring Mohammed Rage, taken after their meeting at a local restaurant here.
It's very instructive. (There sure are some angry looking Muslim lugs hanging about.)

You looking at me?

Meanwhile the natives are restless...Two group attacks reported in East Grand Island and the police are called to a Somali-Sudanese occupied apartment complex 21 times over the span of three days. The police spokesman is quick to point out that this increase in violence is NOT related to the problems at JBS Swift. 'Nothing to see here, move along folks.'

In the first, a Somali man reported being beaten Thursday morning by a group of Sudanese men outside his apartment on Yund Street. In the second, a Sudanese man reported being beaten Sunday morning by a group of Somali men on the stairs leading up to his apartment on Sutherland Street. The two assaults were part of more than two dozen calls to those two apartment complexes over the past several days, said Capt. Robert Falldorf of the Grand Island Police Department. "It's pretty much been an every-night deal," Falldorf said. Falldorf said he doesn't believe the incidents were related to the ongoing dispute over time for prayer at the JBS Swift & Co. plant in Grand Island. But he did say the two complexes, which face each other and are separated only by a parking lot, have been a source of particular tension over the past week. "It was just Sudanese assaulting Somalians and Somalians assaulting Sudanese, and it's kind of mushroomed from there," Falldorf said.

-snip-

Police were called into those complexes nine times from Wednesday evening into early Thursday morning, according to police records. They were also called there five times overnight Saturday and seven times Sunday.

Egypt: Kidnapped tourists found, but Egypt doesn't want to really rescue them

One of the sights the tourists wanted to see.
The Cave of the Swimmers was featured in the movie The English Patient.

Because they MIGHT be harmed.

Sudan and Egypt have located 19 kidnapped tourists and Egyptians but "do not want an operation that harms the hostages," Sudanese foreign ministry undersecretary Boutros Sadiq said on Tuesday. "They are now in an area of no-man's land between the Sudanese, Libyan and Egyptian border, in the area of Jebel Uweinat," Sadiq told journalists in Khartoum.

"Their position has been pinpointed and there is coordination between Sudan and Egyptian authorities in this regard. From our point of view the security of the hostages is the absolute priority -- we do not want an operation that harms hostages."

Egypt sent a team of 'military experts' to locate the snatched tourists - not attempt a rescue or anything. I guess they want the world to think they're really doing something about this. Egypt also continues to parrot the party line that the kidnappers are "ordinary criminals not part of any terrorist organization".

I don't know, I'm standing around taking pictures of some pretty sand and a wild bunch of lunatics sweep down and take me hostage??? And me being a woman? Well, color me terrified. Doesn't that make them terrorists??? And when it comes to an Islamic connection you can bet that there will be a mullah in the mudhut with his hand out as the ransom rolls in.

Speaking of...The ransom is now rumored to be $8.8 million and the Germans are still in control of the negotiations.

If I've said this once, I've said this 15 times, possums. But here we go. One more time. If Dinah is ever kidnapped what are you supposed to tell the authorities and anyone who will listen???

Send Marines, not Money. And have them come in guns blazing.

Negotiations in this case are supposedly ongoing and depending on who you talk to they are either in danger or not.

Egypt: European Tourists kidnapped

This is what they were doing there.
Checking out the rock paintings at Gilf al-Kebir.
unh-huh.

They have been taken into Sudan. (One might question what any thinking person would be doing anywhere near the Sudan in the first place...wouldn't one?)

Kidnappers have seized 11 European tourists and eight Egyptians during a Sahara desert safari to Gilf al-Kebir, a plateau famed for its prehistoric cave paintings, Egyptian officials said Monday.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in New York that the group had been freed unharmed Monday, and a military official confirmed their release. But Egyptian officials in Cairo and New York later said they had not yet been freed and Aboul Gheit's announcement to reporters that they had been let go was based on incorrect information.

The five Germans, five Italians and one Romanian were seized Friday along with their Egyptian guides and drivers while camping near the Sudanese border, Egyptian Tourism Minister Zoheir Garana said before the release was announced. The kidnappers took the captives, including two Italians in their 70s, into Sudan, he said.

Interestingly enough, the kidnappers are negotiating with the Germans, not the Egyptians.

Egyptian Tourism Minister Zoheir Garana said the tour company that organized the trip was mediating negotiations with the kidnappers, who were demanding up to $6 million in ransom. He said the German government — not the Egyptian — was involved in the talks. Germany’s Foreign Ministry would not confirm, saying only that it has formed a “crisis team” on the abduction.

Also telling, the Egyptians did not report the kidnapping until Monday, after the initial reports were released in Italy. Don't kid yourself. The Egyptians are worried that the incident will dent "the main pillar of their economy", tourism, a $3 billion dollar per year boon.

News that tourists were kidnapped in Upper Egypt, which was once a hotbed of radical Islamic terrorism, at first raised fears of a potentially crippling blow to tourism, one of the main pillars of the Egyptian economy.

Egyptian officials disclosed the kidnapping only on Monday, after it was discussed by Italian officials in Rome. But once it was made public, officials here sought to underscore that the victims were in a remote area closer to Sudan that any major Egyptian city and that it was a "mobsterlike" criminal attack and not one carried out by religious-inspired radicals.

The tour company is Aegyptus Intertravel.

ægyptus Intertravel was established in 1994 as a class A travel agency under license no. 948 by the Egyptian ministry of tourism. From the very beginning our objective was to combine a broad range of services with detailed and careful planning and a personal approach to our clients.

The founders, Ibrahim AbdelRahim and Kirsten Butterweck-AbdelRahim, have studied Egyptology and Oriental Languages in Germany and have 25 years of experience in tourism, thus combining modern and scientific management methods with an ancient tradition of Egyptian hospitality.

Tourists that end up being sitting ducks in the desert. See here.

Because nothing says Ramadan like

driving your BMW into a crowd of Jews.

Fidayeen-e-Islam claims responsibility for Marriott bombing

And what a surprise they're Baitullah's boyz and they have a direct line into the BBC...

A little known Pakistani militant group, Fidayeen-e-Islam, says it carried out Saturday's devastating attack on the Islamabad Marriott hotel. The group told the BBC the aim of the attack was to stop American interference in Pakistan. The group is based in Pakistan's tribal areas and connected to leading militant Baitullah Mehsud.

-snip-

The BBC Urdu service in Islamabad received a call from the Fidayeen-e-Islam group which gave instructions to call another number. That number played out a recorded message in English.

It said the aim of the Marriott attack was to kick "American crusaders" out of Pakistan and stop them interfering in the government, the military, the media, as well as security, religious and other institutions in Pakistan.

It also said that some 250 US marines had been killed in the attack, together with many officials from Nato and other countries involved in attacks on Muslim interests in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

'American Crusaders', hmmm. I like the sound of that. If only we would make this a crusade...

JBS Swift: The pig is still in the poke.

Update 3:06 pm: Muslims decide they will NEGOTIATE with JBS Swift.

For 'negotiate' read 'threaten with legal action'.

About 100 workers met late Sunday morning at an apartment complex and selected representatives to take part in the talks. They're expected to meet this afternoon.

Muslim workers - most of Somali background - have been asking for accommodations with break times to allow prayer at sunset. The issue led to walkouts last week - not only from Muslims but from non-Muslims who protested such accommodations as preferential treatment.

Mohamed Rage of the Omaha Somali-American Community Organization says 180 to 200 Muslim workers have been fired as a result of the dispute. JBS Swift has confirmed 86 firings.

Well, it looks like the fired JBS Swift Muslims are going to meet to discuss what to do next.

Mohamed Rage, who leads the Omaha Somali-American Community Organization, said Saturday that workers at the JBS Swift & Co. plant wanted to hold another protest, but that he urged them not to. Instead, Rage said, all the Muslim workers — including those no longer with the company because of the dispute — will meet Sunday to talk about a resolution.

Stay tuned.

P.S. This headline over at the Omaha World Herald caught my eye, Muslims workers fired at JBS Swift, Cubans Hired. Unfortunately it leads to a completely different article with no mention of Cubans.

Because nothing says Ramadan like some good, old fashioned Muslim family values

The love and support of large families.

A poor man namely, Lalan Laghari, a resident of village Muhammad Bux Laghari reached Shahi Bazaar Moro to sell his 7 children namely, Owais, Aness, Kawish,Ghulam Qambar, Waqar, Ayaz and Najeeb due to poverty and unemployment. Talking to newsmen, Lalan Laghari said that he is unable to carry on the livelihood of his children due to poverty and unemployment. He added that he went to philanthropics and other officials for the help, but no one helped him, and that forced him to sell his children.

A family barbecue.

A woman namely, Mst. Hanifan, a wife of a police constable, Abdullah Magsi attempted self-immolation after a police officer demanded bribe for the arrest of culprits involved in attack on her husband. According to the details, Mst Hanifan along with her injured husband, Abdullah Magsi and her children staged a protest demonstration outside Nawabshah Press Club and later she sprinkled kerosene oil over herself and lit the match.

Just saying no to drugs.

A third case of Polio has been detected here on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases to 15 in the province. Sources of the Health Department Sindh, the new case reported is an 8-month-old child Kamran, son of Manzoor Lashari.

Children being seen and not heard.

A young girl in Saudi Arabia was brutally executed by her Muslim father this week after he learned his daughter had converted to Christianity. Middle East business news website Zawya.com reported that the man, who is a prominent member of a "virtue committee," first cut out his daughter's tongue and held a one-sided religious debate with her. He then burned his daughter alive. Observant Muslims hold that their Prophet Mohammed taught that Muslims who convert to any other religion must be killed, often in extremely brutal fashion.

Guess who's coming to dinner? Again! Ahmadinejad.

Guess which treasonous bastards invited him?

The same ones that did last time.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been invited to a dinner put on by American religious leaders during his visit to the United Nations, scheduled for September 25.

The event is touted as a dialogue by the Mennonite Central Committee, World Council of Churches, and the Quaker group American Friends Service Committee. Representatives of the Episcopal Church and other mainline denominations plan to attend the dinner.

Representatives of the churches previously visited Iran in February of 2007 and hosted a similar event for Ahmadinejad with the National Council of Churches in September of 2007 at the United Methodist Women's' Building in New York.

Also in attendance at this America haters soiree:

The president of the United Nations General Assembly, Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, a Catholic priest from Nicaragua who publicly criticizes the United States's anti-terror war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Norway's prime minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, who also heads the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights.

I'll say it. I hope they choke.

Mark my words, I will never stay at another Hyatt Hotel for as long as I live.

Oh, and one of Obama's finance chairs will also be hosting at the event.

Pakistan: Tops Iraq and Afghanistan in suicide bombings.

Pakistan now tops Iraq and Afghanistan in suicide bombings.

Pakistan suffered 28 suicide attacks during the first eight months of 2008, killing over 471 people and wounding 713 others...Available figures show there were 42 incidents of suicide attacks in Iraq between January 1 and August 31, 2008, claiming 463 lives, besides wounding 527 others. In contrast, 436 people were killed and 394 injured in 36 suicide attacks that took place in Afghanistan during the same period.

The Pakistani PM is appealing to the public for help in identifying the bombers and offers a $130,000 reward for information leading to their arrest and capture. It looks like 6 suspects have been rounded up already.

The ambassador of Czechoslovakia, Ivo Zdarek, is killed in Marriott blast. A Danish Diplomat is among the missing.

Interior Minister denies that there was a security lapse despite claims that the government was warned on an upcoming attack 2 days ago. Prime Minister Gilani is now claiming that it was HIS house (located nearby) that was the target but they could not do it due to tight security arrangements. No, no, no. The Parliament was the target. (Wack. It's like everyone wants to get in on being a target over there or something.) Not so fast there, it was a top secret and mysterious operation of the US Marines. Of course.

An eyewitness report:

The front cabin of the truck, loaded with five-to-six-hundred kilogram explosives, caught fire when it hit the automatic steel barrier at the main entrance of the 5-star Marriott Hotel before it exploded, eyewitnesses told The News on Saturday. The fire continued for some minutes before the big explosion, which shook the federal capital. They said five security guards of the hotel, one local intelligence officer, one traffic constable and one policeman rushed to the driver and started trying to extinguish the fire in front of the truck cabin while quarrelling with the driver. There was no trace of the bodies of eight security personnel and the driver of the truck, as the explosion created a crater of 20 feet deep with 40 feet width.

And in another ironic twist, yesterday marked the United Nation's observance of the International Day of Peace. I guess, the RELIGION OF PEACE didn't get the memo.

India: Delhi bomber taken out

Delhi police kill blast kingpin.

Indian police said they shot dead on Friday the man behind last week's serial blasts that killed 23 people in India's capital.

Bashir alias Atif had also carried out bomb attacks on the western cities of Ahmedabad and Jaipur, where a total of more than 100 people were killed, police said. "Atif is the kingpin in the Delhi blasts," police chief YS Dadwal said.

A police team shot dead two suspected militants, including Atif in south Delhi, during a raid for suspects in connection with the bombings.

More details of the raid can be found here.

Mauritania: Al Qaeda decapitates 12 soldiers

Looks like the al Qaeda boys are up to their old beheading tricks. Refresh my memory, which of the 5 pillars of Islam covers beheadings, again?

Twelve Mauritanian soldiers who were abducted in an attack on their patrol claimed by al Qaeda have been found killed with their heads cut off, a senior official of the ruling military junta said on Saturday. The soldiers had been missing since Monday, when gunmen ambushed their patrol in the northern Zouerate iron ore mining region of the West Saharan Islamic state. Al Qaeda's North Africa wing had claimed responsibility for the attack and said it had captured the soldiers.

The new Mauritania government (a military junta overthrew the US approved civilian elected government a month ago) is appealing to the international community for help fighting this "very grave threat to the stability of the region."

(The US did cut off some non-humanitarian aid following the coup.)

Suicide bombs, OBL losing popularity among the Faithful.

Some interesting stats to reflect upon from the Pew Research Global Attitudes Survey.

The decline in support for terrorism observed in Pew Global Attitudes surveys over the last few years continues this year among Muslims in Nigeria, Turkey and Pakistan. Elsewhere, there has been virtually no change, or in the case of Egypt, a slight increase in support for terrorism.

Since 2002, the percentage saying that suicide bombing and other forms of violence against civilians are justified to defend Islam from its enemies has declined in most predominantly Muslim countries surveyed. For instance, in 2002 roughly three-in-four Lebanese Muslims (74%) said such attacks could often or sometimes be justified; today, 32% take this view.

Opinions about Osama bin Laden have followed a similar trend. For instance, only three years ago, about six-in-ten (61%) Jordanian Muslims voiced at least some confidence in the al Qaeda leader; today, just 19% express a positive view. In 2003, 20% of Lebanese Muslims and 15% of Turkish Muslims had positive views of bin Laden. Today, seven years after the September 11 attacks, bin Laden's ratings have plummeted to the low single digits in both countries (Turkey 3%, Lebanon 2%). Still, substantial numbers of Muslims continue to express confidence in bin Laden in Nigeria (58%), Indonesia (37%) and Pakistan (34%).

You can read more or download the whole report here.

Because nothing says Happy Ramadan like Bloody Mayhem at the Marriott.

A man carries a victim to safety. She looks severely burned.
Sick damn bastards that did this. Death is too good for them.

The death toll has risen to 60 and one of the dead is reported to be an American.

THE streets outside Islamabad's Marriott Hotel were littered with bodies and burned-out vehicles today, while weeping survivors in blood-soaked clothes searched for friends and relatives. An AFP photographer who reached the hotel minutes after a huge truck bombing heard cries for help from inside the burning building, where many people leapt to their deaths from upper floors trying to escape the flames.

The restaurants of the five-star establishment had been packed with Muslims breaking the daily Ramadan fast, and with foreigners who considered the hotel one of the few safe places to dine in the Pakistani capital. "It was like the hotel collapsed, and the roof of the kitchen fell with a huge bang," said a stunned chef sitting among the debris, his white overalls stained red with blood.

The question is - were senior CIA officials the real target?



Several senior officers of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who are reported to be currently visiting Islamabad were the target of the blast at the Marriott Hotel which took place here tonight. Well placed sources said that Marriott Hotel is usual hotel choice of the US officials and it seems that militants tipped off that certain high level US intelligence officers were currently staying at the hotel.

While no confirmation was available but Pakistan sources said it was clear that the explosion was aimed at specific targets based on a tip off.

Were they having dinner?

Sixteen US nationals were inside the hotel having dinner at the time of the attack, the official said on condition of anonymity, adding that they included several diplomats. He said the nationality of the second foreigner killed was not known.

The US Embassy is still attempting to locate staff members and others who might have been caught up in the blast. All major hotels in Lahore have been evacuated in what sounds like just a safety precaution. The Islamabad Marriott was previously attacked. Twice.

President Bush is scheduled to meet with Zardari on September 23 rd during Zardari's visit to the US for the opening of the UN General Assembly.

Our quote of the day comes from a former minister of Pakistan's most liberal party, the PPP.

"I would rather live in the dark ages under the Taleban than be subservient to any foreign power."

Well, that's sure where your headed, bub.

Marriott bombed in Islamabad

It's a hotel in Islamabad where "foreigners" congregate because of it's good security. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack as yet but it appears to be a suicide bomb.

Hmm. Let me see, now. Who on earth could it be?

Fox News Channel is reporting 18 are dead and that a car bomb near the lobby is suspected.

Huge Blast strikes Pakistan Capital.

It's interesting to note:

The attack came soon after Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, had made his first address to a joint session of parliament, pledging that Pakistan would not tolerate any infringement of its territory in the name of the fight against militants.

Veggie Burger Hill - featuring Barack Obama

The Nose on Your Face strikes again!



In other Veggie Burger News...

Heather Mills gives $1 million in veggie burgers to the Bronx..."I wanted to help make sure they have as many nutritional advantages as anyone else, Mills said."

Wives of Nigerian "Super Polygamist" stage demo

Yesterday we learned that "super polygamist" Bello Abubakar Masaba had 86 lawyers to divorce his 86 wives.

Today, those 86 wives took to the streets in protest.

Alhaji Bello Abubakar Masaba's 86 wives yesterday staged a noisy protest at the premises Niger State Ministry of Justice and demanded for the immediate release of their embattled husband. Masaba, who has been detained at the Minna Prison since Monday, is standing trial before the Upper Sharia Court, Minna for marrying 86 wives, contrary to the Islamic injunction that limits a man to not more than four.

The women, accompanied by at least 20 of Masaba's children, raised placards and chanted slogans in solidarity with their husband, who they said committed no crime.

Some of the placards read, "Our husband is innocent, he is God-sent", "What Allah has joined together, let no man put asunder", "We are legally married to Baba and we are not complaining."

Spokesperson of the Masaba wives Hajiya Hafsat Bello Masaba, who said she was wife number three, said she has been married to Alhaji Bello for over 20 years with four children, adding that the allegations against Masaba were a ploy to bring hardship to a law abiding citizen of Nigeria.

"The judgment at the sharia court is an abuse of justice and the rule of law. If we are not complaining, and our parents are not complaining, what is the sharia commission or the Etsu Nupe to complain for us?"

In the courts... one of HIS lawyers argue that it's a fundamental human right to have 86 wives. And oh, by the way, could you drop that fatwa saying he should be killed?

Meanwhile, the embattled Alhaji Bello Abubakar Masaba yesterday asked an Abuja Federal High Court to declare that the Sharia Court has no jurisdiction to try him for marrying 86 wives. Masaba, 84, moved his case to Abuja yesterday by dragging the Jama'atu Nasir Islam (JNI) and Bida Emirate Counsel before the court for their role in what he called "alleged attempt to breach his fundamental human rights."

The applicant is seeking an order of the court to restrain the respondents or any person or group of persons from undermining his rights to marry as many wives as he likes. Marrying more than four wives, according to JNI, is a violation of Islamic laws.

-snip-

He wanted the court to declare that "the issuance of 'Fatwa' by the JNI, which is an order any Muslim in Nigeria who finds him (Masaba) should kill him for marrying 86 wives is a contravention of his right to life and personal liberty as enshrined in the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, and it is therefore null and void and of no effect."

There you have it.

Somalia: where it's talk like a Pirate Day every day!

Drakken the Awful

Arrh, Mateys. Today is official Talk Like a Pirate Day.

And when I hear pirate I think SOMALIA!

To tell you the truth I have been laying off Somalia's pirates lately. It's kind of like Pakistan - the more I was reading the more p o'd I was becoming and the more I was wanting someone to go in and just annihilate the whole bunch of them. Not a good thing. So I thought it would be better if I just took a little break from them instead. I'm sure you can see my point. BUT! After visiting the Pirate Name Generator and getting my new pirate moniker, DRAKKEN the AWFUL, I'm feeling like taking the scurvy bastards on again.

Good thing. They've been busy.

Hong Kong and Greek ships hijacked near Somalia

Armed pirates hijacked two ships carrying a total of 50 crew members off the coast of Somalia on Thursday, a maritime official said. The attacks bring the number of ships seized in the notorious African waters in the past two months to 14 and indicate pirates may be expanding their area of operation, warned Noel Choong (pirate name, The Magnificent Nose) of the International Maritime Bureau.

-snip-

Fifty-seven ships, including those seized Thursday, have been attacked off the Somali coast this year, most in the Gulf of Aden. The surge in attacks has prompted the U.S. Naval Central Command to establish a security corridor patrolled by an international coalition of warships.

The Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, is one of the world's busiest waterways with some 20,000 ships passing through it each year.

Ship owners and Union appeal to the UN for help. Good luck with that, folks.

International ship owners and a union representing seamen appealed to the United Nations to take urgent steps to combat piracy in Somali waters.

The shipping associations' called for ``real and immediate action against brazen acts of piracy, kidnapping and armed robbery, carried out with increasing frequency against ships in the Gulf of Aden, by pirates based in Somalia.''

"The solution, the industry stresses, is for more nations to commit naval vessels in the area and, crucially, for them to engage effectively, actively and forcefully against any act of piracy, and to intercept and bring to justice the criminals in order to re-establish safety and security to one the world's most strategically important seaways.''

200 sailors are currently being held according to Andrew Mwangura (pirate name Evil Jim Rackham), East African coordinator of the Seafarers Assistance Program.

"The recent seizure of vessels by the pirates who are holding over 200 seamen hostage is the worst in the world and the situation requires global attention," Mwangura said. The coordinator said the alarming increase in Somali pirate activity is being fueled by enormous ransoms being paid for the release of seized vessels and their crew members.

According to Mwangura, on average, ship owners are paying more than 1 million U.S. dollars per vessel. Mwangura said the potential for riches through piracy has lured a legion of poor young men to join various pirate groups that have been operating in Somalia since the fall of the country 's last functioning government in 1991.

"In the past five or six years, there were less than 100 pirates," says Mwangura. "But now, we have information that there are between 1,100 and 1,200 pirates."

There's been no news on the captive Austrian tourists since September 1, 2008.

My man, Nicolas Sarkozy (pirate name Heartless Harry) has the right idea. French hostages rescued in gunbattle A gun battle that was personally ordered by Heartless Harry, himself.

The Islamists deny any and all involvement in piracy. Of course.

Related pirate scum posts here.

CAIR: The Muslim pig in a poke at JBS Swift.

Group in talks with Greeley plant about Muslims for a year. In talks? More like agitating and shit disturbing, if you ask me.

A volunteer attorney with the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Wednesday that CAIR has been negotiating for a year with JBS Swift & Co. about break times for Muslim workers.

A volunteer attorney with the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Wednesday that CAIR has been negotiating for a year with JBS Swift & Co. about break times for Muslim workers.

Rima Kapitan, with CAIR's Chicago office, on Wednesday met with Muslim workers recently fired by JBS Swift. She said CAIR is coordinating with an attorney retained by about 60 of the fired workers.

Kapitan said more talks are planned this week between CAIR and national officials with the United Food and Commercial Workers, the union that represents production workers at Swift.

JBS Swift: Fight night at the factory

A fight breaks out in the cafeteria and now the A Shift is getting into the action.

Day four of strikes at the JBS Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Grand Island opened with a majority of A-shift workers (6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) walking off the job Thursday in a continued counterprotest -- and ended with police called to a reported riot in the Swift cafeteria. Reports Thursday night from workers at the scene indicated that a fight broke out between about 20 to 30 Somalian and Hispanic workers, but that the scuffle was under control in less than half an hour. A police team was called to Swift about 9 p.m. and entered the building. Shortly after, a group of Somalian workers were seen exiting Swift from north side doors and heading toward the parking lots. There were no immediate reports of injuries and no formal comment from either police or corporate officials.

The police later said:

Falldorf said there apparently was a verbal altercation, but no fight or physical altercation of any kind. "There was no criminal activity," he said. When police officers arrived, they talked with JBS Swift officials from Greeley who had come to mediate the disagreements that have occurred this past week on providing some means for Muslim Somalis to observe Ramadan. Falldorf said there had been a verbal altercation in the cafeteria that had gotten "loud," but the situation had de-escalated by the time police officers arrived. But The Independent received a phone call from a woman at the plant who said there was "a riot." As the woman's conversation continued, she said Somali employees were banging their helmets in the cafeteria.


The company has thrown out the "compromise" and is telling the workers to "get through the nine days left of Ramadan and then the plant schedule would return to normal."

The quote of the day comes from clueless union official Dan Hoppes:

The whole situation left Hoppes bewildered.

"I don't know what happened," Hoppes said. "I think we have problems between races."

Islam is not a race, Dan.

P.S. I thought the report that the Somalis all headed for the exits and ran to the parking lot when the cops arrived was very interesting. Maybe ICE needs to be paying JBS Swift a courtesy call?

UPDATE: 11:30am. This could explain the people making for the exits...

About 50 to 80 Muslims quit at the JBS Swift & Co. meatpacking plant Thursday night.

Dan Hoppes, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local No. 22, said the matter stems from the recent debate over break time for the purpose of prayer during the holy month of Ramadan. "There were some Muslim people who wanted to get the rest of the people to back them to moving their (dinner) break to an earlier time, and when that did not happen, the rest of the people went back to work and those people protesting got loud and boisterous. It wasn't a physical altercation at all," Hoppes said.

But there was fear that it might get physical, so the police were called into the Swift plant about 9 p.m.

"By the time the police got there, it was settled down, and several of them went ahead and quit or left the plant," Hoppes said. "They were told either go back to work or leave."

"Some of them chose to leave -- to quit," Hoppes said.

One of the reasons I love living in Colorado...

is having Tom Tancredo as my representative in the US House of Representatives.

Tancredo Proposes Anti-Sharia Measure in Wake of U.K. Certification of Islamic Courts

“Jihad Prevention Act” would deny U.S. visas to advocates of ‘Sharia’ law, expel Islamists already here

Amid disturbing revelations that the verdicts of Islamic Sharia courts are now legally binding in civil cases in the United Kingdom, U.S. Representative Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) moved quickly today to introduce legislation designed to protect the United States from a similar fate.

According to recent news reports, a new network of Sharia courts in a half-dozen major cities in the U.K. have been empowered under British law to adjudicate a wide variety of legal cases ranging from divorces and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.

“This is a case where truth is truly stranger than fiction,” said Tancredo. “Today the British people are learning a hard lesson about the consequences of massive, unrestricted immigration.”

Sharia law, favored by Muslim extremists around the world, often calls for brutal punishment – such as the stoning of women who are accused of adultery or have children out of wedlock, cutting off the hands of petty thieves and lashings for the casual consumption of alcohol. Under Sharia law, a woman is often required to provide numerous witnesses to prove rape allegations against an assailant – a near impossible task.

“When you have an immigration policy that allows for the importation of millions of radical Muslims, you are also importing their radical ideology – an ideology that is fundamentally hostile to the foundations of western democracy – such as gender equality, pluralism, and individual liberty,” said Tancredo. “The best way to safeguard America against the importation of the destructive effects of this poisonous ideology is to prevent its purveyors from coming here in the first place.”

Tancredo’s bill, dubbed the “Jihad Prevention Act,” would bar the entry of foreign nationals who advocate Sharia law. In addition, the legislation would make the advocacy of Sharia law by radical Muslims already in the United States a deportable offense.

“We need to send a clear message that the only law we recognize here in America is the U.S. Constitution and the laws passed by our democratically elected representatives,” concluded Tancredo. “If you aren’t comfortable with that concept, you aren’t welcome in the United States.” Tancredo pointed to the results of a recent poll conducted by the Centre for Social Cohesion as evidence that the U.S. should act to prevent the situation in Great Britain from replicating itself here in the United States. The poll found that some 40 percent of Muslim students in the United Kingdom support the introduction of Sharia law there, and 33 percent support the imposition of an Islamic Sharia-based government worldwide.

Show Tom some love here.

About the US teen killed in latest Yemen attack.

Remember the Lackawanna 6?

Her cousin is the 7th member... and yet is walking around as free as a bird in Yemen. Irony of ironies, the question is - was he involved in the attack that took his cousin's life?

A teenager from Lackawanna, N.Y., was killed this week in the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, and authorities said Thursday that they were investigating whether a group of militants believed to be linked to Al Qaeda -- which allegedly includes her cousin as a senior member in that country -- was responsible.

Susan Elbaneh, 18, and her Yemeni husband, Abdul Jaleel, whom she had just married on a trip her ancestral homeland, were among the 17 people killed in the well-coordinated attack Wednesday in Sana, the Yemeni capital, relatives and State Department officials said.

Terror: keeping it all in the family.

Friends and family Thursday described Susan Elbaneh as an outgoing and popular girl, the second of eight siblings, who would never have anything to do with terrorism.

Jaber Elbaneh, in contrast, was a salesman and taxi driver around Lackawanna who long ago fell in with a group of militants and went to Yemen, his birthplace, where, according to the FBI, he became one of the local Al Qaeda affiliate's most influential members.

Jaber Elbaneh, 42, is on the FBI’s most-wanted-terrorists list and has a $5-million U.S. bounty on his head. He has been indicted by a federal grand jury in New York for allegedly being the seventh member of the controversial Lackawanna Six, a group of Yemeni-American men imprisoned for traveling to an Al Qaeda training camp in 2001.

Like I said, he's free as a bird while the Feds and the Justice Dept dither.

FBI and the Justice Department have tried to have Elbaneh extradited to the United States on those charges. The Yemeni government has responded that its constitution prohibits such extraditions, and at times it has allowed Elbaneh and some other alleged senior members of Al Qaeda's Yemen operation to walk free as long as they promise not to launch attacks inside the country, one top FBI counter-terrorism official said.

"We know where he is, the Yemenis know where he is . . . and we'd like the Yemenis to give him to us, but that's not really in the cards," another senior federal law enforcement official said Thursday.

Not in the cards, he says. Our navy was attacked, our embassy has been attacked - how many times now? This scum, Elbaneh, wants to attack us. And this joker says it's not in the cards. Disgusting.

The Gray Lady of Al Qaeda's son...an update.

I hate to say I told you so, but...I told you this story reeked of a set up and the family was full of hooey.

Boy's account casts doubt on family accusations.

Nevertheless, Afghan officials said that he had given an account under questioning that cast doubt on the family's claims that Siddiqui was in United States military detention in Afghanistan for five years.

The boy told them that he had lost his parents in Pakistan's 2005 earthquake and that he was adopted by Siddiqui, the spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sultan Ahmad Baheen, said. That suggests that she was free and living in Pakistan in 2005.

The boy also told Afghan investigators that he and his mother had traveled to Afghanistan from Pakistan only a few days before they were taken into custody, General Abdul Manan Farahi, head of the counterterrorism directorate of the Interior Ministry, said in an interview.

And that the boy had been brainwashed.

Farahi said the boy appeared to have been "brainwashed" and eventually admitted that he belonged to the extremist Pakistani group Jaish-e-Muhammad. Originally formed to fight in Kashmir, the group has established training camps in the Pakistani tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and its fighters have been found in Afghanistan and in the valley of Swat.

The boy also told investigators that Siddiqui had gone to Afghanistan to look for her husband, a story that she had made up, Farahi said.

"The boy was very smart as he did not want to reveal things like the woman's activities and the organization that he was with," Farahi said. "He was speaking fluent English and Urdu," the general said. "He was very brave, confident and courageous," Farahi said, adding, "He was aware of religious issues and about jihad and was well informed."

A man works from sun to sun, a woman's work is never done.

Oy. This made me laugh.

Algerian women work twice as hard during Ramadan.

Between work, shopping for food and hours spent in the kitchen, there is very little time left for Algerian women to relax during Ramadan. Whatever their professional or social status, they cannot escape the obligation of producing a table full of different dishes every night for iftar.

And men usually do not help.

This would be newsworthy because...????

Remember the Nigerian man with 86 wives?

Now he has 86 lawyers, too.

A COALITION of Nigerian human rights groups has mobilised 86 lawyers to defend the country's most married man, detained for unlawful marriages and inciting contempt of Islamic religious laws.
And you think you have problems.

Why, why, why are we putting up with this shi&???

Skins and Shirts it's not. How do they know who is their team?

When will this stop, people? This time it's a team of girl Muslim basketball players who are having a conniption because - wait for it... Boys at other schools might sit in the bleachers and WATCH them!! Oh, the horror.

Three years ago, girls at a private Muslim high school in suburban Bridgeview asked their basketball coach if they could play against public schools. School administrators hesitated because the teenage athletes removed their head scarves during games and wore uniforms that revealed elbows and knees.

Boys at the other schools might sit in the bleachers and watch them.

This year, girls at Universal School, on the grounds of the Bridgeview Mosque Foundation, will compete a full season against public schools for the first time by wearing a modest uniform of long pants and long-sleeved shirts beneath maroon sports jerseys. They'll also cover their hair.

"Our other option was to keep boys away at the other schools, and it's very hard to do that," said coach Lena Tleib.

7th century throwbacks playing roundball.

About the Bridgeview Mosque and terrorplex.

It's controlled by hardliners and has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Among the leaders at the Bridgeview mosque are men who have condemned Western culture, praised Palestinian suicide bombers and encouraged members to view society in stark terms: Muslims against the world. Federal authorities for years have investigated some mosque officials for possible links to terrorism financing, but no criminal charges have been filed.

JBS Swift: Muslim pig in a poke watch.

Meanwhile, back at the JBS Swift plant in Grand Island, NE. (all related posts here.)

400 workers walkout in protest of new work rules. Some additional deets:

About 400 workers at a Grand Island meatpacking plant have walked off the job in a counterprotest after management altered the workweek to accommodate Muslim workers in a prayer dispute.

White, Hispanic, Vietnamese and African-American workers walked out after clocking in for the second shift Wednesday afternoon. They objected to a temporary break schedule that leaves that shift short hours Monday through Friday. It also forces them to work Saturday to earn at least 40 hours of pay.

(A tip of the meat cleaver to NEWEST posse member and veritable fount of info regarding the refugee time bomb going off in our midst, Refugee Resettlement Watch.)

Man. I would have loved to have been here to see this action going down.
Note: The Sudanese are Christians and have not joined the Muslim Somalis protest.

Odd. The American workers don't like working shorter hours and getting paid less. Or even working on Saturday, their day off, to accommodate the "Muslim Pray, Divide and Conquer Group." What's wrong with them??? Why aren't they honoring their Muslim overlords??? I hope you know me well enough by now to know there's a /sarc tag coming here.

Instead of Norma Ray, we have 'Norman Reyes'.

Plant management speaks to the crowd - but the crowd wasn't having any of it.
And I don't blame them - read on pilgrims.

WTF? Management has to issue AN apology to the workers and the Muslims were given a raise???? Employees who failed to report to work will just get a letter in their file and not FIRED??? Allegations of physical abuse to be further investigated??? I don't blame the other employees for staging a walkout of their own.

Counterprotesters raised objections Wednesday to a pay raise they say the Somalians were given and were bragging about Tuesday and Wednesday.

But "everybody is losing money" when the plant isn't operating, said Swift Human Resources spokeswoman Mary Chmelka. She exited on the plant's north side, stood on the metal staircase and addressed a crowd of about 400 fabrication and trim line workers an hour after they walked off their lines. "Go back to work … get a representative of your culture to come to a meeting at 2 p.m. (Thursday)," she said as the crowd booed. About a half hour later, Plant Manager Dennis Sydow, Operations Manager Mike Helzer and a plant owner from corporate headquarters in Greeley, Colo., stepped out to address the crowd. More booing was heard and no workers made an effort to return to the line.

Reports were that more protesting was occurring inside on the kill and slaughter lines, but calls to the corporate office were not returned.

The counterprotesters finally broke up and marched from the Swift parking lot to Grand Island City Hall at about 6 p.m. The Muslim protesters had also staged a demonstration at Grand Island City Hall both Monday and Tuesday.

-snip-

Swift supervisors were to apologize to Muslim workers who were accused of taking too long on those breaks, which some had used for prayer, Hoppes said. An accounting of the break time taken was conducted and Hoppes said the company and union found no violations. Hoppes said Muslim workers who did not show up for work, walked out of work, or did not notify supervisors of not coming to work will have a disciplinary letter placed in their personnel file. "They will not be fired, but if it happens again they could be terminated," Hoppes said Wednesday.

The disciplinary letter was viewed by those protesting Wednesday as too light of a punishment.

Hoppes said the union is continuing to investigate allegations that some praying workers were kicked by a supervisor and that a male supervisor followed a female worker into a bathroom as she attempted to pray. He said witnesses to those events have not surfaced and Swift is denying either incident happened.

Ramirez said Wednesday that the Somalians come late, leave early and take frequent breaks and "drop all the time" in prayer right in front of people, so people are literally tripping over their bodies. "They don't do the work and we have to work double," she said. "It's not fair."

Hoppes had heard the rumors of a counterprotest early Wednesday, but hoped it wouldn't happen. "I don't think there will be any problems, but there's always some people who aren't completely satisfied … and there may be a glitch or two," Hoppes said. "Really, the only change is the supper break going from 8 p.m. to 7:45 p.m." B shift workers said the plant has been hampered by the protests this week. Normally, about 400 head of cattle are processed every hour, but that was down to about 220 to 260 an hour this week.

"Everyone has rights. Be equal. Be fair," a protester sign stated in the Swift parking lot Wednesday night.

"We all have religion," Ramirez said.

Yes, but it's not the SPECIAL one...ISLAM.

One if by land, Two if by Minaret.

Why do I see this mosque and think of the Mitchell Corn Palace?

Boston's new Mega Mosque to broadcast the call to prayer. Of course, before the mosque was built they taquiyah'd it all up and said they weren't going to do any such thing...

Yet, here we are today, listening to their 7th century caterwauling emanate from loudspeakers.

In the cradle of liberty, no less.

Just depressing. (h/t The Religion of Peace.)

The Islamic Society of Boston has revealed that they intend to broadcast an amplified call to prayer throughout the neighborhood now that the Boston mosque is complete...but that's contrary to what two previous spokespeople assured the public when the mosque was still under construction.

Hah! I thought I was depressed just hearing about the call to prayer? Then I read this.
...Speaking of taxpayer screwjobs, the Boston Globe-Democrat has a story today about the opening of Menino's Mosque. Interestingly, this long and detailed article leaves out the two key facts about the Islamic Society of Boston's project: The taxpayers of Boston subsidized the building of this mosque by "donating" a $2 million parcel of land to the ISB for less than $200,000- -- a deal arranged when a member of the Boston Redevelopment Board also just happened to be a fundraiser for the ISB. The ISB is notorious for its support of terror advocates like Mullah Al-Qawadari, who was the first prominent mullah to urge women to become suicide bombers, too. The ISB has actually distributed the teachings of this sicko. And now, thanks to Mayor Menino, they've got a publicly-funded mosque to continue their work.

A little bit more about the Terrorplex and how the local politicos are selling us down the river.

A cultural landmark. The ISBCC is the largest Islamic center in New England, and the second largest on the East Coast. The 70,000 square foot building stands tall on Malcolm X Boulevard in the heart of Boston, a Muslim handprint on the city skyline.

The cornerstone of the New England Muslim community. The ISBCC is not just a mosque, but is also planned to house a school (by 2013), a library, an interfaith center, an exhibition space and a morgue. Every Muslim neighborhood in the greater Boston area has had a hand in its construction, and its leadership reflects the full diversity of our community.

A magnet for political support. The two-decade effort to build the ISBCC has brought together Muslims, the Roxbury community, the city of Boston and the leaders of other faith groups. Mayor Thomas Menino, (DemocRAT) State Senator Dianne Wilkerson(DemocRAT) and City Councilor Chuck Turner (DemocRAT) have all publicly announced their support for the ISBCC. More than 250 leaders of different faiths also attended an Interfaith Solidarity Event to support the establishment of the ISBCC. No wonder then that the ISBCC has been regularly featured in local, regional and national media.

You know, I'm always posting pictures of the terror scumbags. I think it's about high time I start posting the pictures of the members of the Democratic party that are facilitating the Islamic takeover of our country, don't you?




Here's Mayor Thomas Menino. Were he and Barney Frank separated at birth?





Here's the lovely and talented, Dianne Wilkerson. Tax cheat, home loan dodger and keeper of poor records. She must have gone to the Charlie Rangel School of Ways and Means. Despite the best campaigning efforts of Menino, Deval Patrick, trouble-plagued Dianne just lost her six term seat to Sonia-Chang Diaz. Such a pity. Oh well, I'm sure the multi-culti Ms. Chang Diaz will prove to be another DhimmicRat all too happy to roll over and play dhimmi to the Muslim mob.

In addition to previously being convicted of tax evasion and narrowly avoiding foreclosure, Wilkerson last month agreed to pay a $10,000 fine and forgo about $30,000 in debts she said her political committee owed her after acknowledging she failed to keep proper campaign records from 2000 to 2004.





Last but not least is Chuck Turner. And he's a gem. He created a scandal when he claimed to have photos of our troops raping Iraqi women, said Condoleezza Rice reminds him of Jewish people working for Hitler and oh yes, he WAS a community organizer.

Over the course of almost four decades, Turner — a Cincinnati native who settled in Boston after graduating from Harvard — has established himself as one of the city’s best-known agitators. In the early ’70s, he helped stave off construction of a stretch of I-95 slated to run through the South End, Roxbury, and Jamaica Plain, at one point lying across Columbus Avenue to prevent construction. From the end of the ’70s through the early ’90s, he pressed Mayors Kevin White and Ray Flynn for increased hiring of minorities and blacks on city construction projects. In 1991, unsatisfied with Flynn’s enforcement of existing guidelines, Turner led a dozen protesters who occupied Flynn’s office for four hours and forced him to make key concessions. More recently, he’s railed against educational inequity in the city, the onset of gentrification, and the wars in Iraq. In leftist political circles, Turner is legendary.

Get the wagons in a circle, Pilgrims.

JBS Swift caves into Muslim pressure.

I knew this was coming but I didn't think it would be this SWIFT.

Union: Muslim Workers Reach Deal for Prayer Break

Nebraska: Earlier this week 300 Muslim JBS Swift & Co. workers, most of Somali background, walked off the job in protest of the prayer dispute. No one was fired after the protest.

Dan Hoppes, president of the local United Food and Commercial Workers Union, said management at the plant has agreed to temporarily change the timing of the second-shift lunch break to accommodate workers wanting time to pray during the Muslim observance of Ramadan.

Workers previously took the 30-minute break in shifts. The change will force the entire line to break at once. The arrangement will be in effect the next nine working days, which will cover the remainder of Ramadan, Hoppes said.

A phone message left with company officials was not immediately returned Wednesday.

The plant employs about 2,500 people, not including management, Hoppes said. He estimates about 500 of the plant's workforce is Muslim.

More than 100 workers at a Greeley, Colorado, Swift plant were fired last week because the company said they walked away from work before their shifts ended. The workers blamed the company's refusal to allow their breaks to coincide with sunset so they could pray.

JBS Swift: Muslim pig in a poke watch.

Second day of protests at Nebraska plant.

Protests continue for a second day in Grand Island where Muslim works at JBS Swift say the company is denying them time to pray during the Muslim observance of Ramadan. Around 500 marched from Swift to Grand Island City Hall Monday.

Tuesday, the numbers dropped to around 30 protesters.

6 more fired at Greeley plant, join others in filing for unemployment and meeting with DOJ. Head Muslim troublemaker gets new job.

Isse said virtually all of the terminated workers filed for unemployment benefits on Monday and Tuesday, working through union representatives in Greeley. He said the workers also are filing for hardship benefits through the union.

Six more Muslim workers were fired at the Greeley plant Monday for taking breaks to pray around sunset, Isse said.

Some of the fired Muslim workers in Greeley met with a representative of the U.S. Department of Justice, and most have remained in Greeley, Isse said.

"I'm not going nowhere. I like Greeley," Isse said, noting that he had an interview this week at the Weld County Courthouse to work as a translator.

Because nothing says Happy Ramadan like...

Blowing up US embassies.

A car bomb targeting the U.S. Embassy hit the front gate of the compound in Yemen's capital Wednesday, a U.S. spokesman said. A senior Yemeni security official said six Yemeni guards and four civilians were killed. The Yemeni guards were assigned to sentry duty outside the embassy by the Interior Ministry. The civilians were three Yemenis and one Indian national, the Yemeni security official said.

Muslim on muslim gang warfare.

A night of clashes between Hamas forces and one of Gaza's strongest armed clans left 11 people dead, including an infant, and at least 40 wounded. The battle, which ended early Tuesday, began when police officers surrounded the Dagmoush clan compound in Gaza City, demanding that it turn over a family member accused of killing a police officer.

Blowing up "tables of mercy".

At least 20 people have died and 30 have been injured as a result of a suicide bombing by a woman in a crowd who were participating in a celebration dinner in Balad Ruz, 37 miles east of Baquba, Diyala province, in northern Iraq. The suicide bomber had detonated the explosives belt attached to the body being carried together with some "tables of mercy", where dozens of people were celebrating the Iftar, the meal with the Muslims break the fast in the holy month of Ramadan at sunset.

Killing a television crew.

On Saturday, as the Sharqiya TV personnel homed in on a family reeling from losses suffered in a massive bombing, kidnappers zeroed in on them. Hours later, three journalists and their driver were found dead, shot in the head and chest and dumped on the outskirts of Mosul, a northern city that has become one of the most violent in Iraq. The TV show is one of the country's most popular, a form of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" in which a TV crew surprises needy Iraqis with food and gifts during the holy month of Ramadan.

Getting arrested for having a glass of juice.

The Dubai court in the United Arab Emirates fined a Russian tourist and a Lebanese for improper behavior during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. They found themselves in the dock after policemen detained them drinking juice in public during the day. Article 313 of the Emirates Penal Code prohibits publicly drinking and eating in daytime during strict Ramadan fasting and carries a punishment of up to AED 2,000 (over $500) fine and even one-month imprisonment.

Watching the soaps.

"Ramadan has become a month of soap operas," complained the Saudi commentator Nourah Al-Khereiji, with no less than 64 of them being broadcast on various channels, timed to start after the iftar meal - the evening meal when fasts are broken - but staggered so that viewers can flick from one to another for hours of uninterrupted entertainment...But this year it is also attracting record audiences for controversial TV programmes that have been condemned by conservative clerics as depraved, immoral and damaging.

The difference between Hillary Clinton and a pit bull?

The pantsuit.

Hillary cancels appearance at NY anti-terror event because Sarah Palin is invited.

Another Muslim Meatpacker walk out.

The God is Great sign says Allah Akbar on the back, what do you want to bet?

This time at the JBS Swift plant in Grand Island, Nebraska.

Unfortunately, it appears that JBS Swift is folding faster than a cheap lawn chair.

"An issue has arisen at our Grand Island facility regarding the sunset prayer during Ramadan and the timing for our second-shift lunch break," JBS spokeswoman Tamara Smid said. Smid said the company is seeking assistance on how to address the issue.

"Area religious leaders have been notified that restrictions regarding these breaks prevent us from precisely accommodating requests for an evening prayer break," she said. "It is our understanding that these leaders will notify employees."

"At this time, we have taken no disciplinary action and no employees have been terminated," Smid said of the Grand Island plant.

I swear the complaints must have been scripted by CAIR because they sound mighty similar to the ones alleged in Greeley. Here, one worker claimed to have been kicked by a supervisor while praying. Another claimed that a supervisor followed her into the ladies room because she went in their to pray and was taking too long. No word yet, on the breast fondling. They usually reserve making those kind of charges at places like al Jazeera and al Bawaba. The better to inflame the Muslim street.

What a racket they've got going here.

Members of the B shift (3 to 11:30 p.m.) and some members of the morning A shift walked off the job after being denied time to pray during what they said is the holiest of times for them -- Ramadan.

A group of protesting women said they were kicked by a supervisor when they attempted to pray at work. Asha Abdi said she knelt to pray when the supervisor said, "You can't pray here," kicked her feet and told her to go home.

Another woman, Hawo Mohammed, said she told her production supervisor she needed to go to the bathroom. She attempted to pray quickly in the bathroom until the male supervisor followed her in and told her she was taking too long.

Special accommodations have been made previously - but it's never enough for the Muslim. Never.

Last spring about 125 Somali workers resigned from the Grand Island Swift plant, but about 70 returned to work after Swift and the workers' union, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local No. 22, worked on the issue. The plant said then it couldn't accommodate prayer time, but did move many Somalis to earlier shifts that better fit their prayer schedule.

They wear outfits like this to preserve their modesty and think no one is looking at them?
They're kidding, right?

The Media campaign is in full swing. From the AP:

After he left the production line and began praying, Mohamed said, supervisors took his prayer mat, pulled him up by his collar and sent him crying to a lead supervisor, who fired him. "I told him, 'Look, I know I am in America and I know in America there is a freedom of religion for everybody to practice their religion. . . . And as long as you fulfill that — as long as you let me pray — I will always work for you,'" Mohamed, 28, said last week through an interpreter. "And he said, 'No, that's not acceptable — your prayers are not acceptable here. You're here to work, not pray.'"

Through an interpreter no less. No doubt an interpreter facilitated by CAIR, or Mohammed Rage, the leader of the Omaha Somali-American Community Organization. They can't speak English but they know their rights.

Didn't I tell you they were just a bunch of thugs? Gleaned from the comments section:

tmc- Well, I can tell you nobody kicked anyone! Plus I know that at least 1 Muslim told their own people they were going to work because they had bills to pay and their tires were flattened.

Tracy Overstreet - I'm the reporter for The Independent who wrote yesterday's story and the update with comments from Swift today. TMC, it sounds like you have some first-hand knowledge of what's occurring inside the plant. I'd like to know more about that. Please call me at 381-5420. I'd like to know more and corporate is saying very little.

Read all about the Muslim machinations at the Greeley plant here.

Iran: Death to women who don't wear the veil...

Let she who is without veil catch the first stone

And for not keeping their wimmen folk in line - death to their husbands and fathers, too...
(h/t Centurean 2's Weblog)

A top Muslim cleric in Iran, Hojatolislam Gholam Reza Hassani said on Wednesday that women in Iran who do not wear the hijab or Muslim headscarf, should die.

“Women who do not respect the hijab and their husbands deserve to die,” said Hassani, who leads Friday prayers in the city of Urumieh, in Iranian Azerbaijan.

“I do not understand how these women who do not respect the hijab, 28 years after the birth of the Islamic Republic, are still alive,” he said.

“These women and their husbands and their fathers must die,” said Hassani, who is the representative of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in eastern Azerbaijan.

Out of the sub-prime frying pan and into the Sharia fire...

I'm telling you, possums. You think derivatives are bad? At least they don't call for the stoning of women. Sharia finance is the biggest scam to come down the pike since Odysseus saddled up the Trojan Horse and rode into Troy. And most of our government officials and Wall Street firms are just going right along with it...

Get along little doggies.

From Ed Gaffney's article in today's Washington Times.

Tragically, in the process of leaping out of the scalding subprime frying pan, Wall Street is heading directly into a fire that promises, if anything, to be more devastating than the present disaster. Incredibly, it bears all the hallmarks of subprime with respect to a lack of transparency, a systematic failure to disclose and an utter absence of due diligence, good governance and accountability. The next "what" is called Shariah-Compliant Finance (SCF).

-snip-

Earlier this year, David Yerushalmi, a litigator specializing in securities law and an expert on Shariah, produced a riveting legal memorandum (soon to appear in the University of Utah Law Review) examining the civil and criminal exposure inherent in Shariah-Compliant Finance. His conclusion: banks and investment houses offering SCF products may be enabling or engaging in the following: racketeering, antitrust activity, securities fraud, consumer fraud and/or material support for terror.

What makes Shariah-Compliant Finance even more dangerous than subprime is that, in its effort to legitimize and institutionalize Shariah in America, it is advancing a criminal conspiracy whose purpose is the violent overthrow of the United States Constitution and government in favor of Islamic rule. That would make it sedition.

-snip-

A forthcoming book about SCF by Center for Security Policy Vice President Alex Alexiev offers a further, sobering thought about the fire next time: It is becoming ever-harder to differentiate between the Gulf states' so-called Sovereign Wealth Funds (actually they are the slush funds of the sovereigns) and Shariah-Compliant Finance. The former is increasingly being invested in ways that promote the latter, adding unfathomably large pools of funds to what is estimated already to be an $800 billion global industry.

The Center for Security Policy has sent copies of David Yerushalmi's legal memorandum to the heads of scores of Wall Street firms and the nation's leading commercial banks, warning them of the ominous similarities between subprime and SCF. Interestingly, only the late Merrill Lynch bothered to respond, albeit with a vacuous note blithely affirming its concern about terrorism.

Fortunately, Congress is beginning to recognize the possible peril in what may happen next to Wall Street. Notably, last month, a senior and highly respected member of the Senate Finance Committee, Arizona Republican Jon Kyl, wrote Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Chris Cox, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Attorney General Michael Mukasey, asking them to respond to Mr. Yerushalmi's analysis of Shariah-Compliant Finance.

Hope somebody addresses this! AND soon...

Michael Yon: Part 1 of Death in the Corn

Michael Yon has another moving account of the magnificent performance of our friends, the Brits, as they take on "Terry Taliban."

Some choice bits:

The soldiers are living like animals at a little rat’s nest called FOB Gibraltar. They call it “Gib.” Named after the lynchpin of British naval dominance in the Mediterranean, this cluster of mud huts in the middle of hostile territory is more like Fort Apache, Afghanistan. The British soldiers from C-Company 2 Para live in ugly conditions, fight just about every day, and morale is the best I have seen probably anywhere.

-snip-

On Thursday nights, the ANA have what the Brits call “man-love” night, or “man-love Thursdays.” Interestingly, Iraqis would sometimes say that a man is not a homosexual unless he has sex with other men when he is over thirty. At that age, they say, a man should stop, or else he’s a homosexual, which is a perversion of faith. I recall reading Ahmed Rashid’s fantastic and prescient book Taliban, which was published before the war. Mr. Rashid described a tank battle waged between warlords over the services of a young boy. Boys are for pleasure, women are for babies, they say. Such is this land, Jurassic Park.

Read it all here.

May God bless and keep you, Michael Yon.

The Gray Lady of Bagram: The story about her kids keeps changing.

The family now asserts that Dr. Siddiqui had all three kids with her when she was captured and that one of them died while in the custody of somebody... the details are sketchy, of course.

It may be mentioned here that US officials claimed to have arrested Dr Aafia and her three children from Ghazni this July. One of them has since died while there is no information about her daughter whether or not she would be handed over to Pakistani officials. Interestingly, the Afghan government in its statement has been calling the youngster Ali Hassan. He has been in the Afghan government’s custody since July, when his mother, Aafia Siddiqui, was detained outside the governor’s house in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province.

About the boy captured with Aafia when she was in the process of identifying targets to bomb, the family alleges:

“He is traumatised and quite afraid but seems to be in good health,” Dr Fauzia told journalists after the boy had been handed over to her by officials of the interior ministry and intelligence agencies. Dr Fauzia said: “Ahmed is mentally disturbed and so far he has said nothing about what had happened to him in custody.” She suggested that he should undergo a thorough check-up to determine his health condition.

Good health? I'll say he's in good health. Look at him. Mentally disturbed? I can buy that - no doubt after being brainwashed by his mother and her al Qaeda cronies for all these years the kid is a bit psycho.

Iraq: Baghdad real estate market heats up.

But sectarian divisions persist.

"the few mixed districts where sectarian violence was minimal command some of the highest prices." Returning Baghdadis are experiencing sticker shock.

A dramatic fall in violence has breathed life into Baghdad's once moribund property market, although the hunt for homes in Sunni and Shiite enclaves bodes ill for sectarian reconciliation in the Iraqi capital. Real estate prices have doubled in some parts of Baghdad in recent months and many properties sell or are leased as soon as they hit the market, say the city's realtors, who as recently as last year were jobless as sectarian killings raged in the city. "Last year there was lots of real estate to sell and no buyers. Now it's the opposite. There's not enough for sale. If you put something up for sale, it's immediately sold," said Abdullah Jasim of the Al-Noor real estate agency.

Taliban using Skype to make secure calls???

Say it isn't so!

I love my Skype and the thought of those terror scumbags using it ticks me off.

London's Daily Mail reported Saturday that an unnamed British intelligence source told it that the violent Afghan Islamists were using Skype, the free internet phone service, to communicate without being overheard as they plan attacks on Western soldiers.

"The trouble with this technology is that it is easily available but devilishly hard to crack," the source told the Mail. "The technology can now be accessed on mobile Internet devices and the country's mobile-phone network is expanding rapidly."

It's true that Skype's encryption is impossible to crack. It's also true that Skype is available for Windows Mobile smartphones. But it's doubtful that a Taliban commander standing by the side of a dirt road 20 miles outside of Kandahar is going to get much mobile broadband Internet access on his $600 phone. More likely, any insurgents using Skype to evade Western ears are sitting in front of regular old pcs, using fixed lines to route calls over the Internet.

USA: Is the Khalil Gabril Islamic Academy on the brink of failure?

I sure hope so.

Boo-hoo. The Beacon of Multiculturalism is going dim.

Designed to be a beacon of multiculturalism, KGIA was surrounded by controversy from its inception. Parents, students and educators say that inadequate classroom resources, an unresponsive school administration, lack of support from the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and teacher firings pushed the school to the brink of failure.

Read all about it.

Barry's take on the Bear in the living room...

On his website and in an important essay...

Dinah gives him a D-minus.
Read it all at Suitably Flip.

Sometimes you eat the bear...

Once again, events in the US financial markets bring Dinah shuffling out of her Wall Street retirement cave to opine about the events of the day. I don't usually talk about these things on this blog, but bear with me as I reminisce about the good old days. Market crashes always tend to make me sentimental. Heh.

My retirement from Salomon Brothers centered around a sad event, my brother and best friend was dying of AIDS, he had no insurance and being a private kind of person, he didn't want strangers in the house when he was ill. Once a nurse, always a nurse, so I resigned and went down to San Diego to live with him. It was time for me to leave Salomon anyways, I had arrived on Wall Street after eight years putting myself through college working nights as an ICU nurse and had put in 12 hard charging years on the Street. After all that pressure/stress/crazy, I was burnt to a crisp but not admitting it. I'd started having seizures (stress related, or so they thought, and get this - my first one was in the World Trade Center, of all places. Wack, huh?)

Anyways, my brother eventually passed away and it was the greatest privilege and honor of my life to be able to spend time with him and take care of him before he died. I still miss him to this day. I was pretty emotionally drained by that point, so the L&M and I decided to just say phuk it, sell everything and "do a 60's in the 90's" thing and go on an extended road trip. For one whole year. We ended up criss-crossing America more times than I can remember, traveling hither and yon, soaking up the beauty of this great country and moving on when it came time to see something else. Our trip lasted almost two years...

It was phenomenal.

But there is a financial point to my tale, possums. There's even a link to Lehman and Merrill...

All good things come to an end and Dinah was sitting in a Palm Springs bungalow watching the OJ Simpson trial (funny, here he is - on trial again.) and wondering whether she should try to get back in the game. Out of the blue, I got a call from a Lehman recruiter asking if I'd like to talk to them about an opportunity. I would be doing the same thing, in the same office building, in the same elevator bank only located three floors below my old office, working with different people for MORE money. I said, "Sure. I'll come in and talk to you" and by the end of the week I was at the interview. Not to toot my own horn or anything - but they LOVED me. So much so, that they canceled the rest of the recruiting schedule and started making arrangements to fly me back to NY to meet with the trading floor brass.

Before the interview, I had to scramble to get my references in line and had contacted my old boss, who by this time was CEO of one of the most successful, profitable and esteemed investment advisors in the world. He agreed to be my reference, but was irate and wanted to know why I didn't come see him first when it came to finding employment.

My other big reference, who was working at Merrill in New York, gave me a hard time and wanted to know the same thing.

So in the course of three days, I ended up with three excellent opportunities and appointments to interview for all of them while I was back in New York. I was open with all parties involved about my interview schedule and was excited about my prospects.

Merrill at the World Financial Center was up first. (Remember how it looked after 9/11?) It was great renewing old acquaintances and talking about old times, but Merrill always felt too big for me and it just didn't seem like a good fit. My old boss's firm was a shoo-in. The job would have been great and was located at a fabulous office in southern Cali, but the memories of the time spent there with my bro were still pretty fresh. It would have been hard to go back. So by the end of the second day it was looking like either SoCal or the Lehman gig. I love my old boss but I was really liking the bunch of guys that I would be working with at Lehman and it just had a good vibe.

I was pretty much headed down the primrose path with Lehman. The interviews went well and I was rolling into the last one with the BIG GUY feeling pretty darn good about the job and about me. We shook hands and made small talk for a while, but after about 15 minutes I could tell this guy was no more interested in me than flying to the moon. Who knows? Maybe I reminded him of his ex-wife or something. He wanted to know what I'd been up to since last gainfully employed so I gave him the Readers Digest version of events. He was not impressed until I laughingly brought up the fact that in the process of lining up my references for the Lehman opportunity I had bagged two other interviews.

Then everything changed. The guy went OFF! I mean he went ballistic on me! Accused me in so many words of being a low down, lying, double dealer. That got me seeing red. Big time. You've heard me say before, that when it comes to the broker dealer business you're word is your bond and I was HOT that he was making it sound like I was hondling him. I explained that everyone knew about the interviews and that I was being completely open and above board about my situation. If he didn't like it, I couldn't help him. It was clear he wasn't buying any of it. It was the most bizarre interview experience I ever had in my life.

After about five minutes of back and forth, I'm looking at him (steam had to have been coming out of my ears), he's looking at me and then he slammed his hand on his desk and said "Either you accept this offer this very minute or it disappears!"

I stood up, thanked him for his time, turned on my heel and walked out.

It was very empowering.

It was then that I realized a little freedom was a dangerous thing. My days on the Street were over. I haven't looked back since and only follow it on the periphery of my attention span.

Except when days like today happen.

Dinah dates herself when she recounts her Wall Street war stories. She's weathered the Savings and Loan Debacle, the Treasury Auction scandal and the Crash of 1987, she's had a passing exposure to the Long Term Capital Management blow up. And watched the bursting of the bio/tech/dot com bubble back in 2000. (when the L&M was trying to get a Biotech IPO out. It turned out successfully, but the process of getting it to market was like a dog-shi$$ing razor blades.) She even had an interesting window on the events of Enron as one of the bright, young women she hired went on to become an energy trader at Enron and we all know how THAT turned out.

After all, Dinah does put the Dinah in dinosaur.

Could it be possible that because of all this she views today's henny penny media coverage and Obama's absurd and irresponsible claim that this was the biggest financial crisis since the depression with a somewhat jaundiced eye?

Perhaps.

Well, to try and put things in perspective, realize that the market only fell 4% today. In 1987, it fell 20%.

Lessons were learned in 1987 and the capital markets are much better positioned to absorb these kind of volatile shocks. That's the good news. The bad news is that some people never learn. They continue to make the same mistakes. They get greedy, become too clever by half in the derivatives market, become over-leveraged and end up unable to comprehend the extent of their asset valuation problem. A form of denial sets in. And more greed. There's no hiding the stink, though, balance sheet problems start wafting up and pretty soon rumors begin floating. If the rumors get loud enough, the customers leave, your capital stream dries up and you are in big trouble.

Your word is your bond, after all.

The cycle seems to happen over and over, the only thing that changes are the people and the sector. It's like some cosmic rock of Sisyphus that financial markets keep trying to roll up that hill.

But what goes up always comes down, possums.

I will admit that when I turned on the radio in the possum mobile and heard that the market was down 500 points I did have a dizzying deja vu moment like it was 1987, all over again. That feeling quickly passed though.

To have bailed Lehman out would have been the height of fiscal irresponsiblity. Excesses resulting from the home loan crisis have to be wrung out of the system and that is what you saw happen today. The BofA-Merrill merger is prudent. I just hope it was in time.

Back in March I told you to fasten your seatbelts. Let me remind you that the sign is still illuminated and you should not be moving around the cabin. WaMu and Wachovia are still dicey propositions and I can't help you with AIG. Dinah doesn't do insurance. It's above her pay grade. Kidding. The insurance side is okay. It's the investment side of the house that's in trouble. It's also important to remember that 747 S&L's failed during the Savings and Loan fiasco and the one day crash in 1987 was a more severe correction than all of the 1929 crash combined.

I feel bad for the employees left in the lurch by Lehman's bankruptcy and the Merrill employees that will lose their jobs as a result of the merger.

But that is the risk you take when you play with the bears on the Street.

Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you.

If you're interested in reading more, some related posts can be found here.

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