Islam-o-finance

Dinah used to work at 7 WTC and has many fond memories of the WTC

The bankers of the world fall all over themselves to sell the us down the Islam-o-river...

It's like 9/11 and the Islamist's attack on the capital markets of the world never even happened.

The SEC's willful blindness = Terror Financing & Fraud.

Then again, like many other "innovative" products, the "ethical" and "socially responsible" Middle East and Islamic banking and investment market present many new risks not currently addressed either by their proponents or by regulatory agencies, much less due diligence services now available.

These markets and products lack transparency and Western accounting. Frequently, their documentation and offering statements do not disclose information required by federal laws and banking regulations. Furthermore, this market is increasingly governed by radical Islamic clerics whose provenance is unknown to the Federal Reserve Board, U.S. and international equities and bond ratings agencies, index providers and other insufficiently educated market participants and facilitators.

And that giant, sucking sound you hear? Why, that is the sound of Wall Street sucking up to the almighty petrodollar. Dow Jones Indexes wins Best Islamic Index provider award.

Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced it was named the "Best Islamic Index Provider" by Islamic Finance News. The selection was made by a record 1,502 Islamic finance professionals worldwide.

The Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes were the first to measure the performance of stocks and bonds that comply with Islamic investment principles, and we remain committed to further developments in this area," said Michael A. Petronella, president of Dow Jones Indexes. "The award also recognizes Rushdi Siddiqui, our director of business development for the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes. Over the past nine years, he has truly pioneered our efforts to elevate the Dow Jones Islamic Market indexes into the widely accepted and successful benchmarks for Islamic portfolios that they are today."

A six-member supervisory board of Islamic scholars also counsels Dow Jones Indexes on the Shari'ah compliance of eligible stocks for the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes.

Standard & Poors voted best Islamic Rating Agency

Standard & Poor’s, the leading provider of financial market intelligence to customers in the Middle East’s credit risk and wealth management markets, today announced it has been voted Best Islamic Rating Agency by readers of Islamic Finance News, the world’s leading capital markets focused Islamic finance publication.

The accolade was bestowed on Standard & Poor’s following the publication’s annual reader survey and recognises Standard & Poor’s commitment to fostering the development of Islamic capital markets and their integration with global markets through its credit research and ratings on Islamic banks, takaful insurers and sukuk. In other award categories, Standard & Poor’s was recognised for its work assigning ratings on sukuk issues by DIFC Investments and the Jebel Ali Free Zone, which were named Deal Of The Year and Best Sukuk, respectively.

London aims to become key Islamic Finance center
With three fold growth of the global market for Islamic financial services over the past decade to a whopping US $ 531 billion up to 2006, the British capital is seeking to become the key Western centre in this regard.

...London is represented by 23 banks, nine fund managers and a number of international law firms offering Islamic service while there is a secondary market in Sukuk valued at US $2 billion a month and a growing market for retail mortgage business. ...Daily trading in commodity-based agreements through the London Metal Exchange is a key mechanism for the management of assets and liabilities by Islamic financial institutions and the 23 UK banks outnumber more than four times those of any other country in Western Europe...The UK is also ahead of the rest of Western Europe in establishing fully Sharia compliant banks with three of the 23 UK banks having set up there since 2004. These are The Islamic Bank of Britain, The European Islamic Investment Bank and The Bank of London and The Middle East.

Japan's megabanks tap into Islamic Finance

Japanese megabanks are trying to increase their presence in the Islamic finance industry, Japanese media said Tuesday. With the continuing surge in oil prices, the Islamic finance industry is expected to double by 2010 to US$1 trillion...Tsang said the city's financial institutions had already begun work on making sure the legal and taxation systems will allow products compatible with Muslim laws. He added some banks had already started creating products to try and secure part of the worldwide market, which has swelled in recent years to between 700 billion and a trillion US dollars on the back of high oil prices.

Hong Kong's chief executive Donald Tsang announced in his policy address last year that developing Islamic banking would be a priority for the territory. He will make a trip to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates next week to try and drum up business.

Malaysia: Islamic Finance from faith to Global Empire

Six years ago, Malaysia launched a US$600 million bond and sold it to the world. It was more than two times oversubscribed, and attention would have passed if not for a difference -- it was the world's first sovereign sukuk or bond issued according to the tenets of Islam.

Bank Negara Malaysia's governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz remembers the overwhelming response at the first roadshow in Hong Kong and ultimately, a third of the investors came from this region.

"Six years on, the Islamic financial landscape has been dramatically transformed into a vibrant, dynamic and competitive global intermediation mechanism that is supported by more than 300 Islamic financial institutions in more than 75 countries," she said at an Islamic finance seminar in Hong Kong this week.

These days, "tremendous" is the word to describe the demand for sukuk, evidenced by oversubscriptions of between two and 13 times by both Islamic and conventional investors.

Islamic finance has become the fastest growing sector in the financial services industry. It has been dubbed the new "Silk Road", the new link between Asia and the rest of the world.

Thanking God! It looks like someone is finally paying attention on Capitol Hill! Rep. Paul Broun of GA held a Sharia/Islamic Finance briefing this past Thursday. (h/t from my separated-at-birth secret twin, You heard it here... Nuggets of News the MSM won't report)

Congressman Paul Broun Hosts Sharia/Islamic Finance Briefing

Broun: “We, as Members of Congress, have an obligation to investigate vulnerabilities in our system that could be exploited by enablers of extremism and terrorism.” January 17, 2008

Washington D.C.- Congressman Paul Broun announced that a Sharia/Islamic Finance briefing is set for Thursday, January 17 for Congressional members and their staff. Broun said addressing the issue of Sharia or Islamic finance is important, and he is glad to see the meeting is gaining media attention because it raises public awareness about Sharia finance and its significant legal implications for the industry.

Alex Alexiev spoke and advised that many of the Shariah Advisors overseeing these funds have direct connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and the Wahabi/Salafi/Deobandi crowd. Please join me in contacting Rep Broun at his website to thank him for bringing this situation to Congress's attention. (ed. note: plug in zip 30577 to use the auto contact form.)

Hop over to YHIH...and read You Heard it Here... Nuggets of news the MSM won't report!!!: CAIR; Head of Racist Group to Bash Islam at Congressional Briefing- especially the part about CAIR trying to queer the proceedings with their PR Newswire whinefest.

Ed. note: More to follow on this hot potato.

Syria: Assad waxes poetic about terror while receiving UNESCO award.

Pure poetry. No wonder he turned Pelosi's hijab clad head.

Syrian President Bashar Assad marked UNESCO's choice of Damascus as the 2008 Capital of Arab Culture by describing the city as a center of culture as well as resistance.

In a celebration attended by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani and Arab League Chief Amr Moussa, Assad hailed the ancient city's historical role as a cultural center while asserting its steadfastness against all enemies.

"Damascus is the capital of resistance culture by symbolizing Arab culture - the culture of freedom and defending freedom," Assad said.

UNESCO's Cultural Capitals Program, which in the Arab world began in 1998, aims to promote the cultural aspects of development and increased international cooperation, according to the organization.

"Damascus is proud of its Damascene flowers and the way it sprinkles its visitors with jasmine perfume and quenches their thirst with its fresh springs, but Damascus also wields an eponymous sword against the avaricious ones who would harm it," he said.

(And that's some international cooperation with that eponymous sword and all.)

Speaking of international cooperation - here's the same article from the Canadian Press. Interesting how the sword comment is edited out.

Kenya: The natives are still restless

Retired Briton shot dead in front of his wife during Kenyan idyll. His dream house became a crime scene.

“They ambushed him demanding money. Mr Warren resisted and they shot him twice, on the chest and in the arm.” The thieves escaped with about £6,000 but Waikwa added that the killing appeared to be unconnected to post-election violence that has claimed hundreds of lives in Kenya this month.

Including last night's Riot violence claims 8 lives.
At least eight people were killed overnight in Kenya, bringing to 33 the number of deaths over the past three days related to opposition protests against President Mwai Kibaki’s re-election, police sources said Saturday.“Three people were killed overnight in Baba Dogo and in Kibera slums in Nairobi, but we will restore law and order no matter the case,” a top police official, who requested anonymity, told AFP. He said they were killed by police. Another five people were killed in Kisumu, in the west of the country, and police said they are investigating who killed them. (Ed. note: If it happened in Kisumu, it's the Moslems that did it.)

They are fighting with bows, arrows and machetes. As well as seeking refuge in a Catholic monastery - which is now under armed guard. "Seeking refuge in Cathlolic monastery" now what does that tell you about the attackers. Could they be M-O-S-L-E-M?

Five more people died in ethnic clashes Saturday. Kalenjin, Kisii and Kikuyu fought each other with bows and arrows and machetes in villages around a Catholic monastery northwest of Nairobi. Police said they were guarding the monastery, where hundreds of people have sought refuge.

And Moonbats are moonbats no matter where they may roam as a catchy "song for peace" entitled, "Kenya Together" hits the Kenyan airwaves.

It mixes hip-hop, reggae and other styles, in a musical metaphor for the unity it aims to inspire to help heal raw ethnic divisions revealed by the recent violence. “It questions why the great people of Kenya are fighting each other, it asks why a people once together are shedding the blood of women, children and the elderly,” Kamanzi said, translating some of the lyrics which are sung in Swahili. “The reaction has been amazing and one DJ in a radio station.

And the beat goes on with American Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger. Listen to his happy moral equivocation...

U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, citing “many factors and underlying grievances,” has compared Kenya's violence to the 1968 race riots in the United States.

At a town hall meeting Friday for Americans in Nairobi, Ranneberger said there had been “a lot of cheating on both sides” in the Dec. 27 elections that pitted Kibaki against Odinga.

The U.S. maintains there were allegations of improprieties on both sides that were not properly investigated, and Ranneberger said either Odinga or Kibaki could have won by 120,000 votes because it was a close election and both sides are alleged to have rigged.

But David Throup, an associate of the Washington D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in a public conference call with Ranneberger that Odinga won by 120,000 votes.

Despite saying initially that his party would only take to the streets for three days, the Opposition calls for more rallies. So BHO's cousin rolls the dice and takes to the streets. Clearly, he's holding out for the best deal in some kind of a power sharing agreement. I wonder will the same thing occur between BHO and HRC when it comes time for filling the VP slot? My feeling: If push comes to shove and HRC takes it, BHO will take the VP slot and they will make nice. You heard it here first. (Although I've been wrong before, too.)

And this is a fine kettle of fish:

Three Foreigners arrested in Nairobi. Claimed to be journalists but had pics of "vital installations." They're in the jailhouse now.

Austria: Moslem seethe-fest at Mohammed remarks

The TRUTH hurts, doesn't it?

Mohammed was a child abuser.

Own it, Moslems.

Austrian officials are trying to distance themselves from a politician who described the prophet Mohammed as a child abuser. Susanne Winter, a member of Austria's conservative Freedom Party, told a rally of 3,000 supporters in the city of Graz Sunday that the community was threatened by what she described as "an Islamic immigration tsunami" and that half of Austria's population would be Muslim "within 20 to 30 years,"

The Independent newspaper said.Winter then cited references to the religious leader's marriage to a 9-year-old and said, "By today's standards, Mohammed would be considered a child abuser."

Walter Ferk, a leading Social Democrat and deputy mayor of Graz, said Winter's remarks were "pure racism and obvious discrimination against a community that has been recognized in Austria for many years," the newspaper said.

Dhimmis scream "pure racism" and pull their forelock in obeisance.

Repeat after me. Islam is not a RACE! Today Mohammed would be considered a child abuser. And so is Islam!

(h/t The Religion of Peace. Thanks, boys!)

India: TV office ransacked because of Muslim painter

Armed with hockey sticks (?), a "right wing" Hindu group named the Hindu Kingdom Army attacked a TV station for including M.F. Husain, a Muslim painter on the list for India's highest civilian honor: The Bharat Ratna, or the Jewel of India.

The 92-year-old painter — considered India’s foremost painter — has been in the eye of the storm for his paintings of semi-nude Hindu deities. Right-wing Hindu outfits regularly target Husain for drawing their gods and goddesses in the nude. In 2006, a hardline Hindu group offered an 11.5-million-dollar reward for his death. Husain also faces a slew of cases accusing him of offending the sentiments of Hindus. Husain, who has lived in self-exile in Dubai and London for the past year, has labeled the cases against him “unfortunate.”

Paint a naked Mohammed, Husain and then we can talk about "unfortunate".

Gag me.

George Clooney named United Nations Messenger of Peace.

Pakistan: Terror by Cyanide attack foiled?

Pakistan Foils Ashura Attacks.

Using Cyanide to poison refreshment stands along route of Ahsura Processions?

That's what Pakistani authorities are saying. The good news ? The plot was broken up and mastermind Mohammed Ejaz was one of the Moslem terrorists arrested. (This is a good capture. However, given Pakistan's recent track record with prisoners, I wonder how long it will be before he "escapes" from jail.)

Police in Pakistan have arrested five men, including an alleged suicide bomber, on charges of planning to attack Shia processions in Karachi. The men were arrested in raids on Friday night, the day before the religious festival of Ashura.

"The suspects have acknowledged, after initial interrogations, that they planned to attack processions on the 9th and 10th of Muharram [19 and 20 January] with grenades and suicide attack," Azher Farooqi, police chief of Sindh province, said.

"They also planned to attack army installations in the city, and intended to use cyanide to poison the sabeels." Sabeels are refreshment stands, with juices and water, available to mourners in the Ashura processions.

This is the first time that police in Pakistan have recovered cyanide suspected to be meant for terror use. As well as cyanide, the police also recovered 6kg of explosive materials, several grenades and small arms. Mr Farooqi said that the arrested men were trained at a militant camp near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan.

According to him, the arrested leader of the alleged terror cell, Mohammad Ejaz, was an expert in bomb-making and in the construction of explosive jackets for suicide bombers.

There were three men also arrested in Hyderabad for "similar circumstances."

Ejaz has ties to Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani', or the "only hope for the Taliban to be successful against the US-led forces in Afghanistan"and one of the main Taleban commanders fighting Nato forces in Afghanistan.

OAN: Gateway Pundit is reporting that Pakistan has arrested a 15 year old(!)and his dirty, rotten handler behind Benazir Bhutto's assasination.

Linkin' Log

Fulham Reactionary Discusses the recent Orwellian spin taken by the UK government to redefine Islamic terror as anti-Islamic terror. The mind reels at this one.

Citizen Warrior calls a spade a spade here. How many of the Worlds Conflicts involve Muslims? The numbers tell the story. Own it, Moslems! The direct correlation between your so-called Religion of Peace and the world's violent conflicts, terrorism attacks, and state sponsors of terror can no longer be denied. (You're going to want to bookmark this one!)
Islam in Europe tees off on the frenzy whipping up in the Netherlands about Geert Wilders film about Islam. Rumors are circulating that Wilder's tears up a Koran and it looks like things are starting to heat up. According to PM Jan Peter Balkenende, there's "no reason to panic". (Unless you listen to the Moslems themselves, that is. They're saying that the backlash to the film will make the Danish Motoons "look like a picnic".) Read it all. It's definitely worth the click!

Hard To Swallow gets hacked by some crack smoking Arab Jihadis so he turns his tanka on the Internet Jihadi and why it's important that they be stopped.

Terror informant plays the taquiyah game with the FBI

And they say we can negotiate with the Islamists! Hah. What a joke. All I can say is, "the things you see when you don't have a waterboard."

Terror informant for FBI targets agents.

When U.S. authorities got their hands on terrorist Mohammed Mansour Jabarah in May 2002, he agreed to inform on some of the most influential al-Qaeda leaders. So instead of being sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or a high-security CIA detention facility, Jabarah was housed with relatively lax security at Fort Dix NJ. where he was allowed to watch television and movies, speak to his family in Canada by telephone, go for walks and even make his own meals, all under 24-hour FBI watch.

That arrangement soon proved to be a major problem for the bureau.

In court papers filed in relation to the terrorism case against Jabarah -- who was sentenced to life in prison yesterday in a New York federal courtroom -- prosecutors allege that he duped federal authorities into believing he was no longer a threat, and began squirreling away weapons and hatching a plot to kill his captors.

Federal authorities wrote that Jabarah collected steak knives, a long piece of nylon rope and instructions on how to make explosives. Jabarah also allegedly wrote a litany of angry Arabic passages in a notebook he kept in his room, vowing to die as he avenged his slain al-Qaeda comrades.

Lawyer laugh of the day:

Jabarah's attorney, Kenneth Paul, said the allegations that Jabarah was plotting to kill FBI agents while pretending to be an informant are "just ridiculous." He said his client had the knives because he was worried about his own protection.

Yeah, I keep notes on how to make explosives for my personal protection, too.

I sure hope they send him here so he can experience some fine Colorado hospitality.

Most individuals are kept for at least 23 hours each day in solitary confinement. They are housed in a 7 ft (2.13 m) by 12 ft (3.66 m) room, built behind a steel door and grate. The remaining free hour is spent exercising alone in a separate concrete chamber. Prisoners rarely see each other, and the inmates' only direct human interaction is with correctional officers. Visiting from outside the prison is conducted through glass, with each prisoner in a separate chamber. Religious services are broadcast from a small chapel.

Most cells' furniture is made almost entirely out of poured concrete, including a desk, stool, and bed covered by a thin mattress. Each chamber contains a toilet that shuts off if plugged, a shower that runs on a timer to prevent flooding, and a sink missing a potentially dangerous tap. Rooms may also be fitted with polished steel mirrors bolted to the wall, an electric light, a radio, a 13-inch black and white television set that shows recreational, educational and religious programming. These privileges can be taken away as punishment.

And good luck finding Mecca while you are there for the rest of your life, chump.

The 4 in (0.10 m) by 4 ft (1.22 m) windows confuse the prisoner as to his specific location within the complex because one can see only the sky and roof. Telecommunication with the outside world is forbidden, and food is hand-delivered by correctional officers.

Huh. Nick Burns resigns from State Dept.

Leaving for "personal reasons."

R. Nicholas Burns, the State Department's third-ranking official and one of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's closest aides, said he would leave his post in March for personal reasons. Appearing next to Rice at the State Department, Burns said his decision to leave the foreign service was "just about the most difficult decision I've ever had to make. But I do so with the conviction that after 26 years in government service it's time for me to meet my obligations to my wife and three daughters and it's time to pursue other ventures outside the government."

As the undersecretary of State for political affairs, Burns led U.S. efforts to use inducements and deterrents to deal with Iran's nuclear programs. He also pushed for completion of a groundbreaking U.S.-India civil nuclear deal, and tried to defuse the brewing crisis over Kosovo's drive to break away from Serbia.But U.S. efforts on Iran have lost international credibility, and the nuclear deal with India has been obstructed by politics in that country. Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians and Serbs are at an impasse, and some observers fear a violent upheaval there.

Conservatives have seen Burns as a symbol of what they consider a dangerous drift by the administration toward a policy of appeasement.

And I would tend to agree with them on this point.

14 Terrorists arrested in Spain

Spain arrests 14 terror suspects

Material has been found during raids in Barcelona which led to the arrest of 14 people suspected of links with an Islamist terror network. Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said the suspects included 12 from Pakistan and two from India.

Local media reports that the Spanish intelligence agency had warned France, the UK and Portugal that a terror cell was preparing an imminent attack.

This coincides with a European tour by Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf.

The Civil Guard detained the suspects in Barcelona as part of a joint operation with Spain's National Intelligence Centre (CNI). Several premises were searched and officers seized computers and materials to produce explosives. The operation is ongoing and more arrests have not been ruled out.

Mr Rubalcaba said the evidence suggested that they were faced with "a radical Islamist group with a significant level of organisation which seems to have taken a step beyond ideological radicalisation".

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said that it was too early to arrive at any conclusions as to what the suspects might have been planning. "Let's be as cautious as is advisable in these cases, with regard to the scope, intentions and what this potential group of radical Islamist activists represented," he said.

I don't think they were planning on coming over for tapas and wine, Jose Luis. Just sayin'.

Tajikistan: Getting tough on Moslem death cult - and I love it

Tajikistan tells Moslems to get with the program or else.

They're cracking down in Tajikistan.

Tajikistan’s education minister has extended official strictures on personal and religious freedoms with an assault on deeply ingrained practices at one of the country’s major institutions of Islamic learning.

Less than a year after he effectively eliminated Islamic-style head scarves in public schools, Abdujabbor Rahmonov has ordered male students at the Islamic University of Tajikistan to don suits and ties and shave their beards, and he has vowed to introduce teacher uniforms there and ban head scarves, known as hijabs.

Read it all. 300 Mosques have been bulldozed. 350 are ready to lose their license. Imams are tested - if they don't pass the test - they're gone.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for religious freedom, but there comes a point in time when enough is enough and I think Tajikistan may be on the right track here. The danger is they will go too far. (although at this point I am having a hard time deciding what's too far - people that keep blowing innocents up and killing women tend to do that to you, I guess.)

Rockets fired on Pakistan Aeronautical Complex

The rockets red glare.

Terrorists targeted the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) at Kamra in the Punjab province on January 17-morning, firing four rockets at short intervals, Dawn reported. One of rockets landed on the roof of the senior non-commissioned officers’ mess and two others hit airmen’s residences inside the Mirage Rebuilt Factory. The fourth rocket exploded in a field near the Qutba village, close to the Kamra Cantonment. However, no casualty was reported. District Police Officer Tariq Hanif Joya said the rockets had been fired from a place about five to eight kilometers north of the cantonment. He said that security agencies were looking for assailants in the nearby villages, including Jatyal, Samah and Nullah Chail. This is reportedly the second incident of terrorism targeting the Kamra cantonment in a little more than a month. On December 10, 2007, seven people, including four children, were injured when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a PAC school vehicle outside the Kamra facility.

About the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex:

The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra comprises of four factories which are spread over an area of 10 square kilometers. PAC has become a center of excellence in aviation engineering based on more than 30 years of experience in Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) of fighter aircraft, their components and engines.

But don't worry, those nukes are safe. Really.

President Pervez Musharraf said on January 17 that the nuclear assets have been dispersed and placed under multi-tiered security safeguard, dismissing reports about threats to country's nuclear programme, Associated Press of Pakistan reported. He said the National Command Authority was looking after the country's nuclear assets with a Strategic Planning Division fully capable of ensuring the safety of installations.

Musharraf also said the country currently faced three major challenges; terrorism and extremism, transition to democracy and need to sustain socio-economic growth. He said a few "misguided and lunatics" were attempting to force their way of life on the majority, but vowed that such elements will not succeed. "There is no place for al Qaeda in Pakistan... we cannot allow al Qaeda to operate and commit acts of terrorism here or elsewhere… neither can we allow Taliban's here or any support to them. No militants can be allowed here," he observed.

Happy Ashura

What a cut-up!

Pakistan put on high alert for Ashura

Yesterday's suicide bomb in Peshawar kills 9 and Lashkar i Jhangvi a Moslem group allied with Baitullah Mehsud are believed responsible. There are worries that Indian intelligence is stirring the pot as two L-I-J bombers in prison for another Ashura bombing escape. (Likely story.) Grab the popcorn kids. Time to watch the Religion of Peace put on another show of Islamic brotherhood.

About Lashkar i Jhangvi or Army of Jhang. They're neoWahabis!

Lashkar i Jhangvi is an Islamic terrorist organization formed in 1996. It is affiliated with Al Qaeda that has operated in Pakistan after notorious hitman of Sipah-e-Sahaba, Riaz Basra, broke away from the sectarian outfit over differences with his seniors, and made his own neo-Wahabi terrorist outfit named after the late founder of the original Sipah-e-Sahaba, Haq Nawaz Jhangvi who was killed in a retaliatory bomb attack by Shia militants in 1990.

They had a whale of a time

Australians remove Anti-Whaling Protestors from ship.

Two anti-whaling protesters who boarded a Japanese whaling ship in the Southern Ocean have been released. The transfer defuses a tense situation on the Antarctic seas, but activists say they will continue to harass the Japanese fleet.
...

The Australian government finally offered to end the impasse by sending a customs ship, the Oceanic Viking, to retrieve the activists. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says the transfer worked smoothly because of Canberra's close diplomatic ties with Tokyo. "If we didn't have such a strong relationship with Japan, then over the last couple of days we wouldn't have seen both the Australian government and the Japanese government at one wanting to secure and affect the safe and speedy transfer of Benjamin Potts and the U.K. national," said Smith.

The Japanese had offered earlier to send the men back to their ship, if the protesters would stop harassing the whaling fleet. The captain of the protest ship refused to accept the condition. (editor's note: IMO he should be tied to the mast, too.)

The men are now back on board the Sea Shepherd vessel. Potts, the Australian, says the campaign against the whalers will continue. "Hopefully we'll continue with the chase until such time that we have to head back - same as before, we'll continue to harass the Japanese fleet and prevent them from whaling," he said.
...
Australian police are investigating the actions of two men. Law experts say the pair are subject to Australian law, and could face a range of charges including a criminal act of terrorism.
Australia sent the Oceanic Viking to the Antarctic last month to collect evidence that could be used in international court action against the Japanese whaling program.

I sure hope they bring these fools up on charges.

Your Black Muslim Bakery serves up another threat

Oakland publisher receives death threat, seeks police protection.

The publisher of the Oakland Post has requested police protection because of a death threat he says he received, according to a published report. The Oakland Tribune reported Thursday that Paul Cobb told the newspaper he called police and city officials Wednesday night saying he feared for the safety of himself and his wife.

A man who reportedly had been associated with Your Black Muslim Bakery told Cobb he had been approached "to set up" the publisher, the newspaper reported. Oakland police said they've been in contact with Cobb and were taking the information seriously.

Five months ago, the editor of the Oakland Post, Chauncey Bailey, was shot to death on his way to work. Devaughndre Broussard, a man associated with Your Black Muslim Bakery, confessed to the killing, then recanted his confession. He's awaiting trial. Cobb said he was unsure why someone would want him killed now, the newspaper said.

The Religion of Peace - ahh!

Hillary: Living History - not learning it...

The other day I heard Hillary waxing lyrical about the 2008 presidential campaign. She was going on and on about this magical, so special time in America when a black man and a woman can run for president.

I guess she forgot about that other special, magical time in America when a black man and a woman ran for president, 1872. Look at all the coincidences between the two campaigns! It's deja vu, all over again!

Victoria Woodhull was nominated for the U.S. Presidency by the Equal Rights Party. Her candidacy attracted an unusual coalition of people, which included laborers, female suffragists, Spiritualists, and communists, among others. The members of the coalition represented diverse--and often conflicting--opinions. The one thing that they all agreed upon was that the government needed reform. They wanted a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." They wanted a government with principles. Not only did the Equal Rights Party nominate the first female presidential candidate, they were also the first to nominate a black man, Frederick Douglass, for Vice President.

(Friday laugh: Here's Victoria Woodhull's campaign song. Insert HRC and BHO for Victoria and Frederick D.)

Victory for Victoria
The 1872 Campaign Song

If you nominate a womanIn the month of May,

Dare you face what Mrs. Grundy

And her set will say?

How they'll jeer and frown and slander

Chattering night and day;

Oh, did you dream of Mrs. Grundy

In the month of May?

If you nominate a negro,

In the month of May

Dare you face what Mr. Grundy

And his chums will say?

How they’ll swear and drink and bluster,

Raging night and day;

Oh, did you dream of Mr. Grundy

In the month of May?

Yes! Victoria we've selected

For our chosen head.

With Fred Douglass on the ticket

We will raise the dead.

Then around them let us rally

Without fear or dread

And next March, we'll put the Grundys

In their little bed.

Editor's note: "For our chosen head"... Ummm - wasn't that Monica's position? (My bad - I know. Couldn't resist.)

BHO hearts Code Pink

Barack Obama urged to renounce terror supporter contribution.

Gotta love those FReepers. Heh.

The D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com, an independent grassroots group comprised of veterans, military families and other patriotic Americans, is urging Senator Barack Obama to renounce a $2300 contribution to his presidential campaign by terrorist supporter Jodie Evans of Venice, California.

The Washington City Paper reports in its current issue that Ms. Evans is co-founder of a group that publicly supports the terrorist-led insurgency in Iraq against Americans and free Iraqis:
Drawing perhaps the most fire is Code Pink's support for the Iraqi insurgency that has killed more than 3,700 American soldiers and wounded nearly 30,000 since post-combat operations began there in May of 2003.

The group's co-founder, Jody (sic) Evans, was an international observer at the World Tribunal on Iraq in June 2005. The Tribunal culminated in a statement signed by ativists (sic) from 10 countries that characterized the insurgency as "legitimate and justified" and called for war crimes charges against Bush and other world leaders who backed the U.S. invasion.
(Washington City Paper, issue of January 11-17, 2008)

Ms. Evans, who markets herself to the media as a peace activist, issued the following statement regarding her support for the terrorist-led insurgency in Iraq while at the tribunal: "We must begin by really standing with the Iraqi people and defending their right to resist. I can remain
myself against all forms of violence, and yet I cannot judge what someone has to do when pushed to the wall to protect all they love. The Iraqi people are fighting for their country, to protect their families and to preserve all they love. They are fighting for their lives, and we are
fighting for lies." (AlterNet, June 26, 2005)

...

Kristinn Taylor, co-leader of the D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com, issued the following statement regarding Ms. Evans' contribution to Sen. Obama: "Barack Obama has a credible chance to be the next commander-in-chief of America's armed forces. The leader of our military
must have the confidence of the American people that he is not in bed with America's enemies. It is therefore incumbent upon Sen. Obama that he immediately repudiate the $2300 terrorist supporter Jodie Evans has contributed to his presidential campaign. Rather than return her blood money to Ms. Evans, the money should be given to a troop support organization of Sen. Obama's choice.

"Should Sen. Obama elect to keep Ms. Evans' contribution, it will tell the American people that he shares her support for the terrorist-led insurgency in Iraq."

Jodie's other $ faves:

Among the recipients of her blood money are the 2008 presidential campaigns of former Sen. John Edwards and Gov. Bill Richardson, and the 2004 presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry. Ms. Evans has also contributed heavily to the Progressive Patriots Fund which has funded the campaigns of Code Pink ally Sen. Jim Webb and other senators including Bernie Sanders, Tim Johnson, Bob Casey, Mary Landrieu, and Ben Nelson.

Belarus: Motoon publisher gets 3 years in jail!

Belarussian Muslim community urging leniency.

"May God and the Holy Cross be with us." I'll say.

Belarus jailed on Friday for three years an editor of an independent newspaper who reproduced cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad which first appeared in Denmark in 2005 and caused mass demonstrations across the Muslim world.

Belarussian authorities shut down the "Zgoda" (Consensus) paper in March 2006, around the time when other European journals began reprinting the cartoons. The security service, still known by its Soviet-era name, the KGB, began an investigation after Muslims in the ex-Soviet state complained.

Editor Alexander Sdvizhkov was sentenced to three years in jail in a closed session of the court for incitement of religious and national hatred.

"May God and the holy cross be with us," Sdvizhkov said afterwards. His lawyer said she would appeal.

Muslims constitute about two or three percent of the 10 million residents of the country wedged between Russia and three members of the European Union. The Muslim community had called for leniency in the case.

Only two or three percent and this is the result.

Ban-ki Moon steps in it on Algerian bomb probe

Fury expressed! Algiers refuses UN blast probe.

Algerian Prime Minister, Abdelaziz Belkhadem, has expressed his government's fury over the United Nations' decision to probe the 11 December bombing that killed 41 people, including 17 UN staff without consulting them. As a result, Algiers does not welcome UN investigators.

The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on Monday endorsed the appointment of an independent panel to "establish all the facts" concerning the Algiers attack. Ban's action came after he had received a preliminary report on circumstances that led to the terrorist attack against United Nations premises in the Algerian capital Algiers last year. A Spokesperson of the UN chief said the panel is expected to seek the full support and cooperation of the Algerian authorities. However, Prime Minister Belkhadem told the government daily, 'El Moudjahid', since his country's Ambassador to the UN was not consulted, Algeria would not consider the investigation.

So there you go.