The Student Ummah

Chip, over at Politics and Religion has a story of dhimmitude at UCF.

"SJS," but aggressive da'wa at UCF (public school) where he links to a story from Daniel Pipes, Sudden Jihad Syndrome

In brief, Taheri-azar represents the ultimate Islamist nightmare: a seemingly well-adjusted Muslim whose religion inspires him, out of the blue, to murder non-Muslims. Taheri-azar acknowledged planning his jihad for over two years, or during his university sojourn. It's not hard to imagine how his ideas developed, given the coherence of Islamist ideology, its immense reach (including a Muslim Student Association at UNC), and its resonance among many Muslims.

Were Taheri-azar unique in his surreptitious adoption of radical Islam, one could ignore his case, but he fits into a widespread pattern of Muslims who lead quiet lives before turning to terrorism. Their number includes the 9/11 hijackers, the London transport bombers, and Maher Hawash, the Intel engineer arrested before he could join the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Mohammed Ali Alayed, the Saudi living in Houston fits, the pattern because he stabbed and murdered Ariel Sellouk, a Jewish man who was his one-time friend. So do some converts to Islam; who suspected Muriel Degauque, a 38-year-old Belgian woman, would turn up in Iraq as a suicide bomber throwing herself against an American military base?

This is what I have dubbed the Sudden Jihad Syndrome, whereby normal-appearing Muslims abruptly become violent. It has the awful but legitimate consequence of casting suspicion on all Muslims. Who knows whence the next jihadi? How can one be confident a law-abiding Muslim will not suddenly erupt in a homicidal rage? Yes, of course, their numbers are very small, but they are disproportionately much higher than among non-Muslims.

Mohammed Taheri-azar plans to use his trial for da'wa - an effort to get people to convert to Islam. Da'wa is such a marvelous idea that the University of Central Florida is allowing its Student Union to be changed into the Student Ummah so that the Muslim Student Association can perform da'wa on campus, using University property funded with Student Government funds. If a Christian group should ever try this there would be universal outrage and lawsuits, but for Islam it's ok.

March 8, 2006 - Philadelphia, PA - PipeLineNews.org - On March 17th 2006 the Student Union of the University of Central Florida Student Union will be transformed into the Student Ummah, as it will be the venue for a Da'wa [Muslim proselytizing] event entitled "Returning to Our Rabb" [Lord] and supported by university funding

According to the posters on the Muslim Student Association website, the event aims to "teach Muslims the correct beliefs in relationship to our Lord, and also his (s.w.t.) relationship towards us. With this new information not only can we strengthen our faith- but also our Da'wah." [aggressive faith spreading]

This brazen exercise in jihad through conversion is being funding by the Student Government Organization.

No one at the administrative office, could say whether a Muslim effort to convert Christians and Jews was entitled to university funding, but one can easily imagine the protests which would have ensued had a Christian evangelical group announced an event at the university hosting Jerry Falwell. Yet the silence is this case is deafening.

The Muslim Student seminar will be presented by three "preachers of fundamentalism." - Ibrahim Dremali, Radwan Koualti and Yahya Abdulbary.

Dremali is the former Imam of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton whose present Imam, Muneer Arafat, admitted to being a member of a jihad organization while testifying during the al-Arian trial.

Dremali's ICBR has openly done fundraising for Hamas - a U.S. designated terrorist organization - via the Health Resource Center of Palestine which listed his brother as the "“Gaza coordinator."

Under Dremali's leadership the ICBR has hosted fundraisers and speakers such as the now jailed Rafil Dhafir, whose Help the Needy 'charity' was closed down for illegally funneling money to Iraq, and Khalid Smaili, the director of Kind Hearts, a "terror charity" which was closed down last month by the U.S. Treasury.

Dremali is a documented radical Islamist, who completed his Islamic studies at the fundamentalist Al Azhar University.

Al Azhar U is probably best known for being the alma mater of Abdullah Azzam - bin-Laden's mentor.

It also serves as a headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood.

There can be no reasonable justification for this outrage.

North Korea Advances Missile Technology

General B. B. Bell has informed the U.S. House Armed Services Committee that the North Koreans have greatly improved their missile technoogy, and that they are also moving ahead with the development of longer-range ballistic missiles that could hit Alaska and targets in the continental United States. This in reference to the recent test launch by North Korea of two short-range missile that apparently fell into the Sea of Japan.


North Korea missiles tested are quantum leap

North Korea's testing of two short-range missiles on Wednesday came during a stalemate in six-country talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programmes.

Pyongyang says it has nuclear weapons but proliferation experts have questioned its ability to mount them on missiles.

"(They) are, in fact, a quantum leap forward from the kind of missiles that they have produced in the past," Bell told the hearing, referring to the short-range missiles tested this week.

The missiles were boosted by solid fuel, rather than liquid fuel, providing greater reliability, mobility and precision, he said.

"They are routinely testing these," Bell told the hearing, according to an audio recording made available on Friday on the U.S. House committee's Web site.

North Korea test-fired a similar missile in May last year. A senior Bush administration official said the missiles tested this week did not leave North Korean territory.

South Korean daily JoongAng Ilbo said North Korea fired the two missiles from its east coast and they probably dropped into the sea about 100 km (60 miles) away, citing a government source.

The have been launching long-range missiles too;

`NK Missile Warhead Found in Alaska’

The warhead of a long-range missile test-fired by North Korea was found in the U.S. state of Alaska, a report to the National Assembly revealed yesterday.

"According to a U.S. document, the last piece of a missile warhead fired by North Korea was found in Alaska," former Japanese foreign minister Taro Nakayama was quoted as saying in the report. "Washington, as well as Tokyo, has so far underrated Pyongyang’s missile capabilities."

North Korea has made effective use of lying and delaying in order to continue nuclear weapons developement. They openly defy the UN and the IAEA (like anyone would pay attention to them anyway) by breaking the seals on their reactors and openly refine uranium to weapons grade. Diplomacy is not working on the North Koreans any better than it is with the Iranians. Still that does not disuade some appeasers for calling for more diplomacy.

Doves, such as Rep. Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and co-chairman of the Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation, called for a peaceful settlement of the current confrontation, by offering food, energy and other humanitarian aid to the poverty-stricken country, while urging the North to give up its nuclear ambitions.

Rep. Markey also said the North should return to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the U.S. should make a nonaggression pact with the communist North.

Unbelievable. Only an idiot can believe that North Korea can be begged into abandoning her weapons program.

Sunday of Orthodoxy

Today is the Sunday of Orthodoxy. One can gain a lot of understanding about the Holy Orthodox Faith by understanding why we celebrate this day.

A news release;
Eastern Orthodox leaders call for fresh appreciation of icons as an aid to, not object of, worship

An explanation from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America;
First Sunday of Lent: The Sunday of Orthodoxy

We believe that in becoming incarnate and allowing us to see and hear and touch Him, God allows us to remember Him with an image, and use that image to aid in the proper worship of Himself. We do not worship the image, it is merely paint and wood, we venerate the Saint that is depicted and worship God in His three persons, the Holy Trinity.

Rev. David F. Abramtsov explains The Veneration of Icons

U.S. Suceeds Despite the Press

Despite the best efforts of the Fifth Column Fourth Estate, we are winning the war in Iraq. Not only that, we are doing good things for the Iraqi people, and they are grateful.

'Job Is Getting Done' in Iraq, Despite US Press, Veterans Say

However, "we were not there as conquerors but as liberators," Gibson stated. "That was our mission."

Gibson also pointed to what he called two "tipping points" in the ongoing conflict that took place during 2005. "These junctures are decisive indicators of coalition victories over the insurgency," he said. "Most Iraqis understand them, but most Americans do not."

The first "tipping point" occurred last March, when the number of Iraqi security forces on the ground surpassed those of coalition troops, he said. Then on Dec. 15, Iraqis elected their first national four-year legislature with a turnout that was impressive even in the central and western areas of the country, where rebels are the strongest.

"This obviously strengthened the government, but more subtly, it splintered the insurgency," Gibson asserted, noting that the two primary insurgent groups - leftovers from the Baathist Party of former dictator Saddam Hussein and members of the terrorist al Qaeda network -- have different political goals.

"The Baathist diehards simply want power. They hope to wait the coalition out; then re-assert their traditional dominance over the Shi'a and the Kurds," he said. "But al Qaeda in Iraq wants an Islamic theocracy.

"As long as the coalition remained the primary target, the Baathists and al Qaeda could operate together, but that has changed with the growth in the numbers and confidence of Iraqi security forces," Gibson added. "The insurgents are no longer dealing with an occupation army but with the forces of an elected government -- and these forces are extremely popular."

When liberals refer to the "catastrophe in Iraq", they lie.

"A lousy day under the coalition yields a body count far under the Baathists," Gibson stated. "In Baghdad today, terrorists may kill you with an ill-timed IED (Improvised Explosive Device), but the Baathist secret police no longer comes to your door, takes your relatives, puts them in a cell, tortures them, kills them and then bills you for the bullets."

But John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha and others would have you believe that we are destroying Iraq, terrorizing women and children in their beds at night, and "summarily executing and killing tens of thousands of people". They lie, and lie, and lie.

To see the "evil" that we really are doing in Iraq see Defend America News - Rebuilding Iraq.

Remember, no major press outlet wants you to know what we are really doing in Iraq. They deceive using disingenous headlines and only a few carefully selected events. They quote only the enemy or liberals like themselves who lie, and then present that as news. They will forge documents if they have to. They have an agenda, and that agenda is not served by letting you know that we are winning the war or that we are helping a grateful Iraq.

The Presbyterian Church is Off of the Rails

The Presbyterian "Church" has disregarded its own Constitution and By-Laws in the current popular fad of homosexual marriage. This is the church that I grew up in. As it is today, it bears little resemblance to the church that I knew. Like the National Council of Churches, of which they are one of the two most prominent members they have adopted all manner of immorality and call those of use who do not support abortion, homosexual clergy and gay marriage, and other abominations racists and fascist.

Presbyterian lesbian minister acquitted for marrying homosexual couples

A lesbian Presbyterian minister in California has been found not guilty of misconduct for performing weddings for two lesbian couples.

The Permanent Judicial Commission of Redwoods Presbytery said in a written ruling late last week that the marriage of same-sex couples is not "outside of, or contrary to, the essentials of the Reformed faith as understood" by the presbytery.

The Rev. Jane Adams Spahr of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) had faced sanctions ranging from a reprimand to removal from ministry, and she was exultant after her victory.

"Today the church recognized that God's love is for all, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people," Spahr said. "This historic ruling means that as a minister I can exercise my conscience to marry two people who have demonstrated their commitment to love, honor and cherish one another."

The presbytery's judicial commission ruled 6-1 that Spahr was acting within her "right of conscience" in 2004 and 2005 when she performed same-sex unions for the couples.

The PJC added, in its majority opinion: "We also find that the accused acted within the normative standards of Redwoods Presbytery, faithfully reporting to it her activities at reasonable intervals."

In a minority opinion, PJC member Janet Moor, an elder from Benicia, Calif., said that a minister who has pledged in her ordination vows to be governed by the church's polity and discipline should not be allowed to perform same-sex marriages. The church's Book of Order clearly states that marriage is between a man and a woman.

"I agree with the prosecution that the beliefs of the accused are to be respected, but (believe) that the actions of the accused must still be constrained by what is prohibited by the Constitution," Moor wrote.

They need to read the whole Bible, especially St. Paul's Letter to the Romans

Space Plane Shelved?

Did we have an operational two-stage space plane?

Two-Stage-to-Orbit 'Blackstar' System Shelved at Groom Lake?

For 16 years, Aviation Week & Space Technology has investigated myriad sightings of a two-stage-to-orbit system that could place a small military spaceplane in orbit. Considerable evidence supports the existence of such a highly classified system, and top Pentagon officials have hinted that it's "out there," but iron-clad confirmation that meets AW&ST standards has remained elusive. Now facing the possibility that this innovative "Blackstar" system may have been shelved, we elected to share what we've learned about it with our readers, rather than let an intriguing technological breakthrough vanish into "black world" history, known to only a few insiders. U.S. intelligence agencies may have quietly mothballed a highly classified two-stage-to-orbit spaceplane system designed in the 1980s for reconnaissance, satellite-insertion and, possibly, weapons delivery. It could be a victim of shrinking federal budgets strained by war costs, or it may not have met performance or operational goals.

This two-vehicle "Blackstar" carrier/orbiter system may have been declared operational during the 1990s.

Hollywood Then, and Now

Charles (the Blogfather) Johnson has the story. Go read and be amazed.

Hollywood, Now and Then

Texas Attorney Hunting Guide

I work with a number of people who enjoy hunting and are scrupulous about the regulations and the licensing process. Now that the Fifth Column's Fourth Estate's inflation of the non-story about the Vice President's hunting accident is over, I thought that I'd try to keep it alive just a little longer.

I received this in my email. The Texas Attorney Hunting Guide:

BULLETIN:

TEXAS ATTORNEY HUNTING GUIDE

1. Any person with a valid Texas hunting license may harvest attorneys.

2. The taking of attorneys with traps or deadfalls is permitted. The use of currency as bait is prohibited.

3. The killing of attorneys with a vehicle is prohibited. If accidentally struck, remove roadkill to roadside, then proceed to nearest car wash.

4. It is unlawful to chase, herd, or harvest attorneys from a helicopter or other aircraft.

5. It shall be unlawful to shout, "whiplash," "ambulance!" or, "Free Liquor!" for the purposes of trapping attorneys.

6. It shall be unlawful to use controlled substances, single malt scotch, $100 bills, prostitutes, or vehicle accidents to attract attorneys.

7. It shall be unlawful to hunt attorneys within 200 yards of whorehouses, cardiac rehab centers, ambulances, hospitals or bars across from the courthouse.

8. If an attorney is elected to government office, there will be a $500 bounty on the pelt.

9. Stuffed or mounted attorneys must have a state health department inspection for rabies, vermin and contagious diseases.

10. It shall be illegal for a hunter to disguise himself as a reporter, drug dealer, pimp, female law clerk, sheep, accident victim, bookie, or tax accountant for the purposes of hunting attorneys.

Attorney Bag Limits:
Silverbacked Texas Millionaire = 1 (in possession)
Yellow-Bellied Sidewinder = 5
Hairless Civil Libertarian = 7
Skinny-Assed Ambulance Chaser = 12
Horse or Cattle Rustler Defender = 20
Silver-Tongued Murderer Defender = 50
Jack-Legged Divorce Litigator = No limit
Intellectual Property or intellectual anything = (rare) protected species
Honest Attorney = Extinct

Remember, enjoy your hunting, but hunt responsibly and follow the rules.

Big Boost to Home Schooling

Universities are well know as leftist™ indoctrination centers. Now the graduates of the "education" programs of those centers are "teaching" our children how to hate the United State, lying and twisting facts and history to do so.

I'm sure that you have heard of the case of Jay Bennish by now, I admit that it is old news. Still, read this carefully:

But what did Bush say in the beginning of his State Of The Union addresss? Indulge me ...

Abroad, our nation is committed to an historic, long-term goal – we seek the end of tyranny in our world. Some dismiss that goal as misguided idealism. In reality, the future security of America depends on it. On September the 11th, 2001, we found that problems originating in a failed and oppressive state 7,000 miles away could bring murder and destruction to our country. Dictatorships shelter terrorists, and feed resentment and radicalism, and seek weapons of mass destruction. Democracies replace resentment with hope, respect the rights of their citizens and their neighbors, and join the fight against terror. Every step toward freedom in the world makes our country safer – so we will act boldly in freedom's cause.

Far from being a hopeless dream, the advance of freedom is the great story of our time. In 1945, there were about two dozen lonely democracies in the world. Today, there are 122. And we're writing a new chapter in the story of self-government – with women lining up to vote in Afghanistan, and millions of Iraqis marking their liberty with purple ink, and men and women from Lebanon to Egypt debating the rights of individuals and the necessity of freedom. At the start of 2006, more than half the people of our world live in democratic nations. And we do not forget the other half – in places like Syria and Burma, Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Iran – because the demands of justice, and the peace of this world, require their freedom, as well.

No one can deny the success of freedom, but some men rage and fight against it.

And, according to Bennish, this kind of language is directly comparable to Adolph Hitler:

If at the beginning of the War and during the War 12 or 15,000 of these Hebrew corrupters of the people had been held under poison gas, as happened to hundreds of thousands of our very best German workers in the field, the sacrifice of millions at the front would not have been in vain.

These tactics are based on an accurate estimation of human weakness and must lead to success, with almost mathematical certainty, unless the other side also learns how to fight poison gas with poison gas. The weaker natures must be told that here it is a case of to be or not to be.

We should all applaud Sean Allen for standing up to a lying liberal teacher.

I hope and expect that stories like this will give a big boost to homeschooling. Liberals hate homeschooling, largely because it removes students from their ideological programming and indoctrination. Such a student could grow up to be (horror) politically and socially conservative. We should all applaud parents who care enough to homeschool their children in order to ensure that they get a good education and are not corrupted with mindless Leftist™ propaganda like this.

Chicken Crossing Road - Navy SOP

I received this in an email. It comes from The Goatlocker.

BTW: The Goat Locker is, in the Navy, the place where the old goats are stored - the Chief Petty Officer's Quarters.

The US Navy answers the question: Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Naval Education and Training Command (NAVEDTRA): The purpose is to familiarize the chicken with road-crossing procedures. Road-crossing should be performed only between the hours of sunset and sunrise. Solo chickens must have at least three miles of visibility and a safety observer.

Special Forces Command (SEALS): The chicken crossed at a 90 degree angle to avoid prolonged exposure to a line of communication. To achieve maximum surprise, the chicken should have performed this maneuver at night, using NVGs, preferably near a road bend in a valley.

Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS): Due to the needs of the Navy, the chicken was involuntarily reassigned to the other side of the road. This will be a 3-year unaccompanied tour and we promise to give the chicken a good-deal assignment afterwards. Every chicken will be required to do one road-crossing during its career, and this will not affect its opportunities for future promotion.

Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA): Despite what you see on CNN, I can neither confirm nor deny any fowl performing acts of transit. Questions? Please see the SSO.

Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC): This event will need confirmation; we need to repeat it using varied chicken breeds, road types, and weather conditions to confirm whether it can actually happen within the parameters specified for chickens and the remote possibility that they might cross thruways designated by some as "roads".

Naval Surface Reserve Force (NAVSURFRESFOR): The chicken should log this as a GCC sortie only if road-crossing qualified. The crossing updates the chicken's 60-day road-crossing currency only if performed on a Monday or Thursday. Instructor chickens may update currency any time they observe another chicken cross the road.

Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe (CINCUSNAVEUR): The purpose is not important. What is important is that the chicken remained under the OPCON of COMSIXTHFLEET and did not CHOP to the theater on the other side of the road. Without CHOPing, the chicken was able to achieve a seamless road- crossing with near perfect, real-time in-transit visibility.

Theater Air Control Center (TACC): We need the road-crossing time and the time the chicken becomes available for another crossing.

Naval Intelligence: What chicken?

Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIRSYSCOM): The chicken was instructed to hold short of the road. This road incursion incident was reported in a Hazardous Chicken Road-Crossing Report (HCRCR). Please re-emphasize that chickens are required to read back all hold short instructions.

Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWARSYSCOM): The "stovepipe" chickens of today will be replaced with a multi-function, supported, affordable, integrated, and interoperable world-class chicken to warriors and supporting elements, enabling them to dominate the roads of today and tomorrow, as we move "Forward...From the Sea." Comptroller holds and corporate taxes, however, will require delay fielding for two years, unless Congressional plus-ups are approved.

Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEASYSCOM): Recent changes in technology, coupled with today's multipolar strategic environment, have created new challenges in the chicken's ability to cross the road. The chicken was also faced with significant challenges to create and develop core competencies required for this new environment.

NAVSEASYSCOM's Chicken Systems Program Office (PMS400CSPO): In a partnering relationship with the client, helped the chicken by rethinking its physical distribution strategy and implementation processes. Using the Poultry Integration Model (PIM), CSPO helped the chicken use its skills, methodologies, knowledge capital and experiences to align the chicken's people, processes and technology in support of its overall strategy within a Program Management framework. The CSPO convened a diverse cross-spectrum of road analysts and retired chickens along with MITRE consultants with deep skills in the transportation industry to engage in a two-day itinerary of meetings in order to leverage their personal Knowledge and capital, both tacit and explicit, and to enable them to synergize with each other in order to achieve the implicit goals of delivering and successfully architecting and implementing an enterprise-wide value framework across the continuum of poultry cross-median processes. The meeting was held in a park-like setting enabling and creating an impactful environment which was strategically based, mission-focused, and built upon a consistent, clear, and unified Mission Need Statement and aligned with the chicken's mission, vision, and core values. This was conducive towards the creation of a total business integration solution. The Chicken Systems Program Office helped the chicken change to continue meeting its mission. The actual crossing of the road has not occurred, however, due to the number of actions items still open from the meeting.

Orthodox Out of the National Council of Churches

The National Council of Churches has long been active in liberal politics. They support a homosexual clergy, gay marriage, Cuba, they supported the Soviet Union (responsible for the murder of 10 million Orthodox Christians), they equate conservatives who support the President with those same Stalinist communists and with German National Socialists (Nazis) preparing the Holocaust. They support all manner of immorality and corruption.

As a result, the Antiochian Archdiocese did what all Orthodox Churches should (obviously) do, they quit the NCC. Good for them.

From the excellent Touchstone Magazine, NCC Exit Poll:

The NCC’s politicization and defense of immoral causes was a frequent complaint that the AOA had considered for quite some time. Last summer, however, a line was crossed with the release of a fundraising letter written by Edgar, a United Methodist minister and former Democratic congressman. The letter identified the NCC with the political left and characterized his opponents—mostly religious conservatives—in terms that were at best unbecoming to an ecumenical organization like the NCC, and at worst crass party politics.

The letter compared President Bush and his supporters to “committed Communists” who had “liquidated” millions, “convinced National Socialists” who had prepared the way for the Holocaust, and “Islamic fundamentalist suicide bombers.” It also boasted that the NCC “worked closely” with the leftist groups MoveOn.org and TrueMajority.org.

At its Archdiocesan Assembly in Dearborn, Michigan, last summer, the archdiocese decided it was time to pull out.

And all of the other achdiocese should make the same decision, but they won't. They've been bribed.

Among the other Orthodox jurisdictions in America, the Greek Orthodox Church is still active in the NCC and resistant to calls for withdrawal. One reason is that the Greek Church’s ties to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople elevate international politics over the moral divide in American culture. Its hierarchy has been criticized for their support of Greek Orthodox Senators Paul Sarbannes and Olympia Snowe despite their advocacy of partial-birth abortion and other culture-of-death positions.

The NCC remains useful to the Greek Orthodox Church, but in return it remains vulnerable to the politicized agendas of the NCC. Recently the NCC authored a curriculum that highlights “peace-making” and other shibboleths of the political left, intended for use in Orthodox Sunday schools. The NCC has a public record of coddling totalitarian regimes (Cuba in particular, North Korea more recently) and lays the lion’s share of the blame for international conflicts on America’s doorstep. Whether Greek Orthodox priests will use the curriculum as the political orientation of the NCC is clarified remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the debate in the Orthodox Church in America remains out of sight, although insiders report increasing support for withdrawal from the NCC. Prominent OCA clergy have been involved in the NCC and support continued participation (Kishkovsky led the search committee that appointed Edgar).

Some Antiochian observers believe that if the Antiochian withdrawal had preceded the OCA’s national convention, the OCA would have withdrawn as well. The puzzle to outsiders is how the OCA—with members who experienced Communist tyranny first-hand—could support the NCC, given its history as an apologist for Marxism.

Too many compromises where there should be none. Good for the Antiochian Archdiocese. Now the rest should follow them.

Go read the entire article, there is a lot more there than what I have discussed above like, who are the NCC's biggest donors, for instance.

Border with Mexico More Dangerous than Iraq

This seems to be a little known fact, it is not ok to surreptitiously cross an international border. That is illegal in every country in the world, yet when we say that we try to control the borders of the United States we are accused of international human rights abuse.

Our border with Mexico is out of control. More Americans abducted along Mexico border than in Iraq:

LAREDO, Texas – This border area is one of the least publicized international crisis zones. More Americans have been kidnapped just in this area than in all of Iraq by Islamic terrorists.

Twenty-six Americans are now officially listed as missing in the Laredo-Nuevo Laredo region of the U.S.-Mexico border—in addition to the more than 400 Mexicans reported to be suffering a similar fate.

The number of American civilians missing or kidnapped in Iraq since the beginning of the war is 23 as of last September, the latest figure released by the State Department.

And then there are the executions.

Unlike Muslim jihadists, enforcers from the feuding Gulf and Sinaloa Mexican drug cartels favor off-camera basement executions and oil-drum burials.

"I’ve seen these barrels with bodies stuffed into them," said a U.S. law enforcement official, who, like most here, spoke on condition of anonymity. "It’s horrible, but it is really happening."

First acid is poured in to break up flesh and bone. Then the drum is filled with diesel fuel.

A match—that’s all it takes to turn a life into a heap of ashes.

And then there are Los Zetas.

We must get contol of OUR border and close it, ensuring that only those who have gone through the legal process can cross.

New Generation of Russian SLBM

New generation submarines to be armed with Bulava missiles:

MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti) - New generation submarines will be armed with Bulava missiles, a submarine-launched version of the country's most advanced ballistic missile, the deputy commander of the Russian navy said Wednesday.

"We have started the final stage of building the promising nuclear missile system, which will include the new Bulava naval strategic missile complex," Admiral Mikhail Zakharenko said. "Fourth generation submarines will be armed with this complex."

Last year Russia conducted successful launch tests of the Bulava, which is adapted from the Topol-M (SS-27). The first in-flight test launch was conducted September 27, 2005 from the Dmitry Donskoi, a Typhoon class ballistic missile submarine. On December 21, 2005 another Bulava was launched from the Dmitry Donskoi in the White Sea before traveling thousands of miles to hit a dummy target on the Kura test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It was the first time a Bulava had been launched from a submerged position.

Russia's Borey-class nuclear submarines will be equipped with Bulava missiles. Two submarines are being built at the Sevmash plant in the Arkhangelsk Region. The first submarine, the Yury Dolgoruky, will be commissioned in 2006 and the second, the Alexander Nevsky, in 2007.

More on the Bulava missile.

More of the 935 Borei class ballistic missile submarine.

George Clooney - Right Side of History?

George Clooney, a Hollywood actor and, therefore an Expert in All Things™ is proud to be "on the right side of history":

Clooney relishes 'traitor' attacks

US actor and director George Clooney said this morning he was proud to be denounced as unpatriotic for questioning US policy because he wanted to be on "the right side of history."

Interviewed on BBC television's Newsnight about his latest films Syriana and Good Night, and Good Luck Clooney said that not only did he accept the right to be attacked for his views but he even relished them.

Clooney, who has weathered attacks since opposing the 2003 Iraq invasion, said at one point that it was "frustrating" to be listed as a "traitor" on a set of playing cards, but he also accepted people's right to free speech.

He later admitted he relished the attacks.

"I think it's important to be on the right side of history," Clooney said.

Of course, this is the side of history that denounces everything that the U.S. and our Coalition partners are doing in Iraq, such as;

1. Building new water treatment plants in Iraqi villages.
2. Building and renovating schools.
3. Building and renovating hospitals.
4. Train Iraqi police (although I recognize that liberals do not like police and so would probably not count that as a good thing).
5. Build systems to monitor and control power production and distribution.

And much more, that was just for the month of February and is not a complete list at that.

Mr. Clooney is proud to be on the side of history that would have Saddam Hussein murdering tens of thousands of people every year, terrorizing and torturing his own population.

Mr. Clooney is proud to be on the side of history that would leave the middle east and Central Asia a cesspit of totalitarian governments ruled by nothing more that the word of a single man, not of law.

Mr. Clooney is proud to be on the side of history were lawless governments support terror. Saddam paid $25,000.00 to the families of terrorists who blew themselves up on city buses, pizzarias, and bar mitzvahs in Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Israel. Mr. Clooney no doubt sees that as the "right side of history".

Why, oh why, are my favorite actors all such political idiots? I love watching Johnny Depp too, but as for his politics, WOW. Ths is very distressing, but I still feel like watching "Secret Window".

And, if you would like to see just what we (by way of the U.S. Army) are doing in Iraq, go here, Defend America.

French Nuclear Weapons Upgrade

Strangely enough, it is the French who are most likely to use a nuclear weapon in warfare under current political conditions. Not the U.S., not the Russians. In an effort to meet the Iranian threat and provide deterrence against an attack by any Middle Eastern or Central Asian country, France has made her nuclear weapons strategy more realistically usable.

France secretly upgrades capacity of nuclear arsenal:

France has secretly modified its nuclear arsenal to increase the strike range and accuracy of its weapons. The move comes weeks after President Jacques Chirac warned that states which threatened the country could face the "ultimate warning" of a nuclear retaliation.

A military source quoted yesterday by the Libération newspaper claimed France had tinkered with its nuclear weapons to improve their strike capability and make this threat more credible.

The source said there had been two major changes: the bombs can now be fired at high altitude to create an "electromagnetic impulsion" to destroy the enemy's computer and communications systems; and the number of nuclear warheads has been reduced to increase the missiles' range and precision.

The missiles at issue here are the submarine launched M45 SLBM. France has 4 ballistic missile submarines, each of which carries 16 of these missiles. Each missile carries 6 warheads. Now they only carry one. This will increase the range and accuracy of the missile, and allow for targeting a single, remote site. With civilian populations not under significant threat, the use of this weapon becomes much more plausible.

In reducing the number of warheads, down to one per missile in some cases, the weapon is lighter and has a longer range. It can also be targeted more accurately.

Libération speculates that while potential targets are "secret", it is clear they include the Middle East or Asia, and that its military contacts suggest the changes are aimed at adding "flexibility" to France's nuclear deterrent.

"These evolutions are aimed at better taking into account the psychology of the enemy, defence minister Michèle Alliot-Marie said after President Chirac's warning in January.

In a speech to MPs, she added: "A potential enemy may think that France, given its principles, might hesitate to use the entire force of its nuclear arsenal against civilian populations.

"Our country has modified its capacity for action and from now on has the possibility to target the control centres of an eventual enemy."

This bears watching. If the Iranians think that they are not in a very seriously dangerous position, then they are very badly mistaken.

For more on French nuclear weapons see this at GlobalSecurity.org.

This is Funny

From the Sacramento Republicrat;

A Texas cowboy was tending to his herd in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and a YSL tie, leaned out the window and asked the cowboy... "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?" The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?"

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his AT&T cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on
the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another
NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.
The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany.
Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image
has been processed and the data stored.

He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with hundreds of complex formulas. He uploads all of this data via an email on his Blackberry and after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, ''You have exactly 1586 cows and calves."

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says the
cowboy. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then the cowboy says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"

"You're a consultant for the National Democratic Party," says the cowboy.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required," answered the cowboy, "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked; and you don't know anything about my business... Now give me back my dog."

Judge Says, "Let her die".

Why is our oligarchy so interested in seeing the innocent die and the guilty live? On the one hand we have Michael Morales, who (not having ensured that his victim was properly sedated first) strangled Terri Lynn Winchell with his leather belt so hard that the belt broke, then smashed her head in with 23 blows of a hammer, then dragged her body out of the car they were in and raped her, returning to the scene later to see if she was safely dead. In the view of our black-robed oligarchy this is not deserving of death. His just penalty has been suspended indefinitely because no one can be sure that he will feel no pain during his execution (like 23 hammer blows, for instance). This is an end-around to the death penalty. Oligarch Fogel wishes to see it ended, and since the law does not support him in this, he applies ever more difficult conditions in its execution with an eye to preventing it entirely. Apparently Michael Morales is worthy of life, in his view.

On the other hand we have Charlotte Wyatt, who is sick. She is 2 and 1/2 years old and has been struggling terribly for her entire life. Oligarch Hedley [Update: Hedley is a British Oligarch, not one of ours. - ed.] had, upon Charlotte's improvement (sufficient even to go home), ruled that she was worthy of life and that efforts to save her should continue. Shortly after, Charlotte suffered a dangerous infection, whereupon the Oligarch, in an emergency injunction, reversed his ruling and now says that she should die. She responds to treatment, yet that treatment is to be withheld. Apparently, in the view of the Oligarch, she is not worthy of life.

What is the matter with our judges? Why do they value the murderer and wish to see the innocent die? My contempt for the Bench at all levels grows daily. So to my contempt for "lawmakers" who fail to draft laws that prevent this kind of horror.

UPDATE:
This is a British case, I wrongly assumed it to be an American one. Still, liberal judges in the U.S. make these same kind of decisions. I will find them for you as they come up.

UPDATE and AMPLIFICATION:
The reason I leave this post up is because of the shared values of western liberalism in whatever countries it manifests itself. Our legal system in the United States is different that the one in the U.K. and an American Judge would have a bit more difficulty in achieving the result that Hedley did, but would still seek to do so.

Liberalism™ in Europe and in the U.S. values abortion on demand, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and the gradual expansion of all of those. Liberalism™ in both Europe and the U.S. seek to abolish the death penalty wherever it exists (in the West, they had no problem with Saddam) and preserve the lives of murderers while condemning the infirm to death. Liberal judges in the U.K. and the U.S. are of one mind in this.

Velvet Elvis, Jesus, and Muhammed

Yes, you've seen them at gas stations all over the United States. Painting on black velvet. Elvis is the most popular. In this spirit you can now get a Velvet Muhammed (click on the center thumbnail). From their press release:

With or without fluorescent paint, few things are as quintessentially kitschy as black velvet paintings. But many political leaders in Europe and the United States seem to agree with the Pope and the Islamic community that free speech is what's truly out of style. In response to this officially endorsed cultural intimidation, an international group of brave human rights activists, known as the Velvet Prophet People (www.velvetprophet.com), have created the Velvet Muhammad to demonstrate that "free speech is never in poor taste."

The Prophet, who shares a remarkable likeness to "the King," can be viewed in all his finery at www.velvetprophet.com - or soon, in the offices of several major Islamic organizations. The Velvet Prophet team is giving original, hand-painted Velvet Prophets to several of the groups inciting rage in Muslim communities. Gift recipients include Jamaí­a Islamiya, Arab European League, Muslim Council of Britain, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Islamic Defenders Front, Islamic Circle of North America and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. These organizations, which were appalled by a few cartoons, will see for themselves that the Prophet looks much more dignified on black velvet.

The Velvet Prophet is also available to mere infidels. Global citizens who support freedom of expression and oppose the spread of culturally oppressive forms of Islam are hanging their very own Velvet Prophets in homes and businesses. If some true believers wish to murder us all for the sin of being human, we'll exercise our freedom to laugh about it.

All profits from the sale of Velvet Muhammad paintings, shirts and prints go to non-profit organizations that either support free speech or work against the growth of radical Islam.

A note on the website adds:

Please note that those organizations do not necessarily endorse the Velvet Prophet Protest. All death threats should be sent to Attn: Fatwa at Velvet Prophet People

This site has the Lizardoid Stamp of Blasphemy

I will be putting a button with a link to their sit in the sidebar.

Go there are read about the "Seven startling similarities between Elvis and Muhammad"

I just love the belt buckle.

Coming Genocide in Europe?

Cathedral of St. George in Prizren after Attack by Albanian Muslims

There is ethnic cleansing going on in Kosovo, and it is not what you think. The minority population there stands a good chance of being wiped out in a very short time (if it is not too late already).

Kosovo Bishop Warns Not to Hand Jihadists a Victory

(CNSNews.com) - A leading Serbian Orthodox bishop, visiting the U.S. on a mission of "peace and understanding," has warned the international community against granting independence to Kosovo, saying such a move would hand a victory to radical Muslims and their jihadist supporters.

Kosovo's independence from Serbia would also mean "a virtual sentence of extinction" for minority Serbs in the province, according to Dr. Artemije Radosavljevic, the bishop of the Serbian cities of Raska and Prizren.

He met with Cybercast News Service during a recent 20-day tour of the U.S. to discuss the fate of the troubled province, which is formally known as Kosovo and Metohija. This month, international talks are set to begin regarding Kosovo's final status.

Here is the News from Kosovo.

Of course these people are Orthodox Christian Serbs. Watch as the UN, the European "community", and the U.S. do nothing to help them. National independence for Kosovo is assured.

A Bad Day at the Office

I received this in an email.

This is even funnier when you realize it's real!

The next time you have a bad day at work...think of this guy. Rob is a commercial saturation diver for Global Divers in Louisiana. He performs underwater repairs on offshore drilling rigs. Below is an e-mail he sent to his sister. She then sent it to radio station 103.2 on FM dial in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, who was sponsoring a worst job experience contest. Needless to say, she won.

Hi Sue:

Just another note from your bottom-dwelling brother. Last week I had a bad day at the office. I know you've been feeling down lately at work, so I thought I would share my dilemma with you to make you realize it's not so bad after all.

Before I can tell you what happened to me, I first must bore you with a few technicalities of my job. As you know, my office lies at the bottom of the sea. I wear a suit to the office. It's a wet suit. This time of year the water is quite cool. So what we do to keep warm is this: We have a diesel powered industrial water heater. This $20,000 piece of equipment sucks the water out of the sea. It heats it to a delightful temperature. It then pumps it down to the diver through a garden hose, which is taped to the air hose.

Now this sounds like a darn good plan, and I have used it several times with no complaints. What I do, when I get to the bottom and start working, is take the hose and stuff it down the back of my wet suit. This floods my whole suit with warm water. It's like working in a Jacuzzi.

Everything was going well until all of a sudden, my butt started to itch. So, of course, I scratched it. This only made things worse. Within a few seconds my butt started to burn. I pulled the hose out from my back, but the damage was done. In agony I realized what had happened. The hot water machine had sucked up a jellyfish and pumped it into my suit. Now, since I don't have any hair on my back, the jellyfish couldn't stick to it. However, the crack of my butt was not as fortunate. When I scratched what I thought was an itch, I was actually grinding the jellyfish into the crack of my butt.

I informed the dive supervisor of my dilemma over the communicator. His instructions were unclear due to the fact that he, along with five other divers were laughing hysterically.

Needless to say I aborted the dive. I was instructed to make three agonizing in-water decompression stops totaling thirty-five minutes before I could reach the surface to begin my chamber dry decompression. When I arrived at the surface, I was wearing nothing but my brass helmet. As I climbed out of the water, the medic, with tears of laughter running down his face, handed me a tube of cream and told me to rub it on my butt as soon as I got in the chamber. The cream put the fire out, but I couldn't poop for two days because my butt was swollen shut.

So, next time you're having a bad day at work, think about how much worse it would be if you had a jellyfish shoved up your butt. Now repeat to yourself, "I love my job, I love my job, I love my job".

Reaction to Eminent Domain Abuse

After the Supreme Court ruled in the Kelo v. City of New London decision that it is perfectly ok for the government to take your property and give it to someone with more money, a very healthy reaction has occurred.

States Curbing Right to Seize Private Homes

"It's open season on eminent domain," said Larry Morandi, a land-use specialist at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "Bills are being pushed by Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, and they're passing by huge margins."

Seldom has a Supreme Court decision sparked such an immediate legislative reaction, and one that scrambles the usual partisan lines. Condemnation of the ruling came from black lawmakers representing distressed urban districts, from suburbanites and from Western property-rights absolutists who rarely see eye to eye on anything. Lawmakers from Maine to California have introduced dozens of bills in reaction to the ruling, most of them saying that government should never seize private homes or businesses solely to benefit a private developer.

The Supreme Court seemed to invite such a response in its narrowly written ruling in the case, Kelo v. City of New London. Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority, expressed sympathy for the displaced homeowners and said that the "necessity and wisdom" of the use of eminent domain were issues of legitimate debate. And, he added, "We emphasize that nothing in our opinion precludes any state from placing further restrictions on its exercise of the takings power."

Two months after the ruling, addressing a bar association meeting, Justice Stevens called it "unwise" and said he would have opposed it had he been a legislator and not a federal judge bound by precedent.

Plenty of legislators took the hint.

Good.

Islam - Religion of Intolerance

I have said many times that Christians are leaving the Middle East because of the tyranny of Islam. A quick Google search provides a large number of links to verify this.

Hamas, now the controlling political party in the West Bank and Gaza, has made their plans for the Jews, Christians, and Israel clear.

Gaza's Tiny Christian Community Threatened With Violence:

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Extremists are threatening to blow up the Palestinian Bible Society in the Gaza Strip if the people who work there do not close up shop and abandon their ministry by the end of February, a Christian source told Cybercast News Service.

The threat appears to be the work of Islamic extremists who are determined to drive Christians out of the area. Arab Christians are taking the threat very seriously, said a Palestinian Bible Society information officer who asked not to be named.

Stay tuned, there is a lot of Islamic persecution of Christians going on now all over the world, including in Europe. I will be posting on this often.

Please pray for our Christian brothers and sisters.

ACLU Kills Antioch, California Man

In it continuing effort to eliminate all effective law enforcement tools and protect criminals nationwide, the ACLU has made it difficult for police in California to use TASERs. As a result, they are left with only their sidearms (something that the Left™ has been unable to take away from them).

Police Shot Him, But ACLU Killed Him;

(CNSNews.com) - Police in Antioch, Calif., shot and killed a man this week when he allegedly advanced on them with a carving knife and a meat fork.

Although a bullet killed 27-year-old Scott Dittman, it might not have happened if police could have used a TASER instead of a gun, a law enforcement lobbying group said on Friday.

The Law Enforcement Alliance of America calls Dittman's shooting the nation's "first real TASER death," and it pins the blame on the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, which released a report in October, warning about the rise in Taser-related deaths.

Police went to Dittman's house around midnight Tuesday, after he called to complain about vampires prowling outside, press reports said.

Facing an armed and dangerous subject, police officers are entirely justified in using lethal force, the LEAA noted. But it called Dittman's death "exceptionally tragic" because police lacked less-lethal alternatives to subdue him.

Although the Antioch police department has TASERs, police officials apparently have suspended their use because of legal and political concerns.

In its October report, the ACLU of Northern California called for strong regulations on how police use the weapon.

Of course the ACLU has always relied on only the very best science in the studies that it uses to support its conclusions.

The report, "Stun Gun Fallacy: How the Lack of Taser Regulation Endangers Lives," was based on a survey of TASER policies and training in more than 50 police departments across central and northern California, the ACLU said.

The report said that since 1999, at least 148 people in the United States and Canada had died after police shocked them with TASERS. "More than half of those deaths occurred in the past year, of which 15 took place in northern and central California," the ACLU said in a press release.

The LEAA called the report "misleading and dangerous" and "junk science."

In its rebuttal, the LEAA said the study made "outrageous claims, unsubstantiated charges and ill-considered policy recommendations," including a recommendation that local governments adopt new, more restrictive policies regarding the use of TASERs by law enforcement officers.

"Sadly, the death of Scott Dittman was a predictable consequence of the dangers of letting the ACLU and politicians meddle with police safety and training," the LEAA said in a press release on Friday.

The LEAA warned several months ago that the ACLU study would "handcuff" police officers on the street by giving them fewer options for survival in potentially deadly confrontations. Fewer options lead to dangerous results for police, the public and suspects, the LEAA said at the time.

The ACLU could not possibly care less about public safety. They have an agenda that requires hobbling the police and other authorities, supporting and freeing the worst criminals whenever possible, the continual violation of our borders, an enforced lack of respect for our laws, and many other actions to harm the country that they hate the most of all, US.

Crowds Panic as Flooding Threatens Ireland!

I received this important news in my email.


I hope that the authorities and disaster relief agencies are able to get control of the situation.

Chinese Nuclear Weapons

This page is a couple of years old, but the information on it is still current.

DONG FENG/JULANG SERIES MISSILES

This site comes complete with photographs (very rare with respect to Chinese missile systems).

About the DF-31;

The new Dong Feng 31 (DF-31) missiles are attached to the 80304 Unit of the Second Artillery Corps. The 80304 Unit is headquartered in Luoyang, Henan province. The new Dong Feng (EAST WIND) 31 missile performed flawlessly during its test flights. The DF-31 can reach any city in America and is armed with three nuclear warheads. The DF-31 has Clinton-supplied guidance, nuclear warhead, nose cone and solid rocket engine technologies.

During the visit to China of General Henry Shelton, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and just a few days prior to the American presidential election, Beijing successfully flight tested its new DF-31 inter-continental ballistic missile, reports Bill Gertz in the Washington Times. Defense analysts say the timing of the test was a deliberate political signal to the United States and its allies. During Shelton's visit, Chinese officials repeated Beijing's opposition to US defensive arms sales to Taiwan. The DF-31 test missile utilized several decoy warheads, intended to defeat US missile defenses.

The DF-31 is equipped with many technologies stolen or bought from America during Clinton's term. The DF-31 success was so spectacular that the the PLA 2nd Artillery will deploy 24 missiles by the end of 2004.

The Chinese DF-31 is a road mobile, nuclear tipped SCUD like missile, that is nearly impossible to find, much less destroy. It is intended to counter the USAF B-2 bomber in a "limited" nuclear war scenario where China and the U.S. would only kill a few million people on each side. If deployed in large numbers, the DF-31 could pose a significant first strike theat (sic) against stationary military targets inside the U.S. homeland, such as the MX missile fields and the single B-2 bomber base.

Read all of it. These are some high quality missile systems. That is not good when it is in the hands of the enemy.

RoP in Afghanistan and Our Hollywood Heroes

The Taleban is not dead yet. They are still beheading anyone who opposes them.

Afghan TV screens gruesome Taleban video

Disturbing video footage of beheaded bodies being paraded through the streets of southern Pakistan, in front of powerless police, has been broadcast today in Afghanistan.

Tolo TV, a private Afghan network, said that the men were killed a month ago in the tribal district of South Waziristan as a punishment for their opposition to the Taleban and al-Qaeda militias.

It would not reveal the source of the footage, whose authenticity has not been verified.

In one segment of the film, three decapitated heads are held up to cheers from a gathered crowd. Later, a number of bodies are seen being dragged behind a pick-up truck.

Crowds are heard chanting "long live Osama bin Laden" and "long live Mullah Omar", respectively the leaders of al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

They have been busy.

Last week, in a show of strength, 200 Taleban militants surrounded provincial government offices in the area killing more than 20 people in a failed attempt to capture the deputy governor. The beheaded bodies of two Afghan intellingence agents were found two days ago in a desert near the border with Iran.

The Taleban, toppled from power in a US-led military campaign in late 2001, regrouped on the border of Aghanistan and Pakistan was last year blamed for the deaths of 1,700 people in the area.

Of course, those who are Very Wise™ would have us understand that modern forces beyond our control, particularly rapid global communications and a commercial Fifth Column Press manipulate us into fighting wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq that we should never have started. [of couse WE did NOT start it at all, but liberals cannot see this - ed.], and because we are there, the President should be impeached.

Here is what one of the Very Wise™, in the person of Richard Dreyfuss, has to say:

On impeachment;

"There are causes worth fighting for even if you know that you will lose," Dreyfuss said during a speech at the National Press Club. "Unless you are willing to accept torture as part of a normal American political lexicon, unless you are willing to accept that leaving the Geneva Convention is fine and dandy, if you accept the expansion of wiretapping as business as usual, the only way to express this now is to embrace the difficult and perhaps embarrassing process of impeachment."

On the Media and the reaction to 9/11;

Nevertheless, Dreyfuss charged that "people can sometimes be pretty thoughtless, pretty terrified and do some pretty impressive damage" when they are wrong or "are the victims of political hypnosis." [That's right, wrong and hypnotised - ed.]

In the past, "time and distance played an amazing part in keeping the human race from killing itself," the actor noted. The need for revenge after an attack "inevitably weakened because it took a lot of time to get men into ships and move them to the right battlefield. Only those truly staunch of heart and truly zealous could keep up that hatred.

"But now, people in Kansas see the [Twin] Towers fall at the exact instant as people in Nigeria or Cairo," he said. "Instantaneous knowledge leads to instantaneous reaction, which creates a demand for an instantaneous, reflexive response."

Dreyfuss blamed part of that reaction on television newscasters, who "fill the air with the same terrible clips, the same blaring intro music, the same screaming fonts, and then the same clips again and the same screaming fonts again and again to fill up these news cycles."

"Television did this. Television created the sound bite and then shrunk it," the actor said. "Television replaced words with images so that people make extraordinary decisions based not on prose or any attempt at analysis," but on pictures instead.

The implication being that we should never have gone to war with anyone, even though Afganistan supported and protected Ossama bin Laden and his camps even after 9/11. In fact, al Qaeda constituted, de facto, the Afgani Armed Forces. In fact the Taleban fully supported terror attacks on the United States, but the Hollywood Very Wise™ would have us leave them alone.

I suppose that we are just supposed to embrace those who wish to kill us, and then die.

Thank for the advice, Dick.

Hamas Video - We will Drink the Blood of Jews

Jimmy Carter, Norway, and the UN wants us to continue sending these savages money.

Hamas Video: We will drink the blood of the Jews

The Hamas website this week presented the parting video messages of two Hamas suicide terrorists. One message was for Jews, whose blood Hamas promises to drink until Jews "leave the Muslim countries," and the second to a mother, as she helps dress her son for battle prior to his suicide terror mission.

One of the terrorists (liberals would have me call him a "freedom fighter") says;

"My message to the loathed Jews is that there is no god but Allah, we will chase you everywhere! We are a nation that drinks blood, and we know that there is no blood better than the blood of Jews. We will not leave you alone until we have quenched our thirst with your blood, and our children's thirst with your blood. We will not leave until you leave the Muslim countries."

The other said;

"In the name of Allah, we will destroy you, blow you up, take revenge against you, [and] purify the land of you, pigs that have defiled our country... This operation is revenge against the sons of monkeys and pigs."

And their loving mothers were supportive, and joyous at the prospect of their beloved sons weddings with the "Maidens of Paradise" (I know that my Mother would not be happy with my having an orgy with 72 celestial whores).

Imagine their surprise when they arrive in Hell and are given 72 white raisins.

An Email from a Friend

A friend with whom I work is a regular reader of this blog. She read my Religion of Mercy post and sent an email to me in response. She is a lovely and gentle young lady, I was shocked to read this;

Hello Michael,

I just read your "Religion of Mercy" post and felt compelled to comment. The picture says it all. I suppose I read this post more thoroughly because I have a relationship with Persians. Half of my family is from Iran. I bet you didn't know that. Most of them truly are merciless and think there is nothing wrong with torture. In fact, the man I know as my (step) father has said "I would have made a better Hitler. I would not have been caught and I would have got rid of all the Jews, blacks, and homeless people". That's compassion for you.

I watched some of the stoning video and couldn't help but get a little nauseous not only for the act they were performing but also from what they were shouting: Allah oh Achbad which means Praise be to (their) God. All in the name of religion and culture. Sickening. I thought I had it bad as a child but I am quickly humbled by realizing it could have been much worse...I could have been brought up in Iran.

You post mentions that the woman is being punished for adultery but in the Islam religion if a woman is raped it is also adultery and in most cases the woman will be stoned anyway. After all, under the direction of Allah the compassionate and merciful, woman are lower than dirt and children were made to serve their parents.

The last paragraph of her email has been deleted to conceal her identity.

This just makes my blood boil.

Historic Islamic Images of Muhammed

It is not true that images are forbidden in Islam. Here are a few. These are centuries old images made by Muslims. This is a sample.

The Birth of Muhammed, painted in Istanbul in 1594.

Muhammad and his companions
advancing on Mecca. The angels Gabriel,
Michael, Israfil and Azrail, are also in the painting.
From Siyer-i Nebi: The Life of the Prophet 1595.

Muhammed, sitting on the Buraq
(a deer with the face of a woman) visiting Hell.
Note, his face is not veiled.

This is a Persian miniature painted by the Sultan Muhammed
in 1550 AD. It shows the "Prophet" Muhammed
ascending into the Heavens on the Buraq.
This is known as the Miraj.

The Death of Muhammed, Istanbul, 1595

These images, and many more like them, can be found at the following sites;
Wikimedia Commons

Islamic and Middle Eastern Art during the Middle Ages. See Page 3.

Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey has a page of Ottoman religious miniatures.

zombie's Mohammed Image Archive

It is also interesting to read about the creation of Siyer-i Nebi: The Life of the Prophet and how the images in that volume came to be.

A Christian and True Martyr

St. Stephen, the First Martyr

We have been seeing a lot of "martyrdom" Islamic style. This involves strapping a bomb belt onto yourself and, as you blow yourself up (suicide), you kill Jews or Americans at the same time.

The Christian way to martyrdom is significantly different.

A Christian Martyr in Iran

He was a Christian priest and his crime was changing his religion from Islam to Christianity. Dibaji had not only changed his religion, but as a clergy, he had tried to invite others to his religion. He had worked in places like north and west of Iran and even he had made travels to Afghanistan for preaching.

He was not one of my cellmates, and I noticed him because he was walking as person who was very satisfied and content. He was telling things slowly to himself that I could not understand at first. Later I came to know that he was reciting Christian hymns in Farsi and English. I asked him "why are you so joyful?" He said I am praying to God that has made this beautiful day possible for me. Look around you isn't it beautiful? The flowers, the sight of mountains and the huge trees are around us, and I am in the company of nice people. I am thankful to God.

His body was later found tortured and murdered in a forest near Tehran.

RoPMA

Chinese Try to Smother Islam

Of course I cannot approve of the way that China governs herself, but until they threaten the U.S. or one of our allies, I don't care. That is the business of the Chinese people. We must remain vigilant that we do not get caught by surprise.

That said, it is a good thing for them that they are able to take action like this;

China Bans Officials, State Employees, Children from Mosques

HONG KONG—Chinese authorities have tightened curbs on minority Muslims in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, banning any government officials, state employees, Party members, and in some cases women from entering mosques.

A photo sent to RFA’s Uyghur service shows a sign above the gate of a mosque in the poorer southern part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, forbidding Muslims to attend for worship—as they are supposed to do five times a day.

“The following people are prohibited from entering the mosque and conducting religious activities,” reads the sign, written in the language of the main Muslim ethnic group, Uyghur, which uses the Arabic alphabet.

The following people are prohibited from entering the mosque and conducting religious activities:

1) Communist Party members and Communist Youth members.
2) State employees, workers and retirees.
3) Youth under the age of 18.
4) Prefecture employees.
5) Women.

Sign outside mosque in southern Xinjiang

“1) Communist Party members and Communist Youth members. 2) State employees, workers, and retirees. 3) Youths under the age of 18,” it says. Categories four and five are local government employees and women, the first time such gender restrictions have been alluded to.

While it is a shame that a peaceful faith like Orthodox Christianity is supressed in the same manner as Islam, it is good that the Chinese people have a government, however flawed in other ways, that will protect them from Islamic encroachment.

Carter Authorized Warrantless Wiretaps

In 1977 President Jimmy Carter authorized, without any warrant or supporting legislation, the wiretapping of two people thought to be spying for the government of Vietnam. He did this based only on the authority granted to the President under Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Of course this did not prevent Mr. Carter from publically and personally attacking President Bush during Coretta Scott King's funeral (how classy).

Carter allowed surveillance in 1977

"Under the Bush administration, there's been a disgraceful and illegal decision -- we're not going to the sic let the judges or the Congress or anyone else know that we're spying on the American people," Mr. Carter said Monday in Nevada when his son Jack announced his Senate campaign.

"And no one knows how many innocent Americans have had their privacy violated under this secret act," he said.

The next day at Mrs. King's high-profile funeral, Mr. Carter evoked a comparison to the Bush policy when referring to the "secret government wiretapping" of civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

But in 1977, Mr. Carter and his attorney general, Griffin B. Bell, authorized warrantless electronic surveillance used in the conviction of two men for spying on behalf of Vietnam.

The men, Truong Dinh Hung and Ronald Louis Humphrey, challenged their espionage convictions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which unanimously ruled that the warrantless searches did not violate the men's rights.

In its opinion, the court said the executive branch has the "inherent authority" to wiretap enemies such as terror plotters and is excused from obtaining warrants when surveillance is "conducted 'primarily' for foreign intelligence reasons."

That description, some Republicans say, perfectly fits the Bush administration's program to monitor calls from terror-linked people to the U.S.

The Truong case, however, involved surveillance that began in 1977, before the enactment of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which established a secret court for granting foreign intelligence warrants.

And, on the administration's (Mr. Bush's and Mr. Carter's) view to the legality of this both before and after the passing of FISA?

Administration officials say the president has constitutional authority to conduct surveillance without warrants in the name of national security. The only way Congress could legitimately curtail that authority, they argue, is through an amendment to the Constitution.

The administration's view has been shared by previous Democrat administrations, including Mr. Carter's.

When Mr. Bell testified in favor of FISA, he told Congress that while the measure doesn't explicitly acknowledge the "inherent power of the president to conduct electronic surveillance," it "does not take away the power of the president under the Constitution."

Jamie S. Gorelick, deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration, agreed. In 1994 testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Miss Gorelick said case law supports the presidential authority to conduct warrantless searches and electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes.

Earlier this week, however, Mr. Carter said it was "ridiculous" for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to say the spying is justified by Article II of the Constitution.

His he shameless, stupid, senile?

I think he is shameless.

Until the Democrats stop playing politics with our national security they should not be permitted to hold executive power again. I just hope that the Republicans make these issues clear to the population in a more effective way than they did the need to go to war in Iraq.

UPDATE: Power Line has more legal info.

North Korea's Covert War

South Korea's passivity in the face of aggressive politics by North Korea are by the design of Kim Jong Il and his father, Kim Il Sung. The DPRK has been conducting a war of infiltration and subversion for decades.

Korea in Crisis: North Korea's covert war

"One day, Kim Jong Il asked an aide, 'How many provinces are there in the North?' The aide answered, 'There are nine.' Kim Jong Il responded, saying, 'that is not correct. We have one more. Our tenth province is called, 'Republic of Korea.'" [the Republic of Korea is South Korea (the ROK) - ed.]

Although the official section of anti-South covert operation of North Korea is the Unified Front Department, there are other sections in the party including the External Liaison Department, Operations Department and the External Information Research Department, referred to as "Room 35."

While the Unified Front Department is involved in open propaganda, the other three departments have agents directly infiltrate into South Korea and engage in illegal activities, including reconnaissance and terrorism as their main missions. They are under the direct command of Kim Jong Il and are active in covert operations even today, according to South Korean security sources.

The article discusses how this infiltration was accomplished. How successful has it been?

This information suggested the possibility that North Korea's anti-South covert operations have reached the upper echelons of the current Seoul government.

As if to verify the fact that North Korea's anti-South operation is steadily progressing, agents who had remained underground have recently begun coming to the surface, according to experts on North Korean affairs.

Former Secretary of the North Korean Workers' Party Hwang Jang Yeob, who defected to South Korea in 1997, has expressed frustration with the situation. He recently severely criticized South Korean youth who are deeply influenced by North Korea's anti-South operations.

"If the Leader [Kim Jong Il] says something is imperialism they unconditionally believe it is imperialism," he said. "How can we say that South Korean youth who have become mental slaves to the Leader are sane?"

How indeed. One result is this.

Is it possible that they do not understand what would happen to them were Freak-boy Kim to succeed in taking over the Peninsula, as he clearly intends to do? More likely, they know what will happen, but expect to be in such "good" political positions that they believe that they will not be harmed.

They are wrong, and we should leave them to suffer the consequences of their error.

Liberal Judenhass Watch - Anglican Church

The Anglican Church has voted to disinvest from all companies whose products are used by the Israeli government in the territories.

Lord Carey 'ashamed to be an Anglican'

The former archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday he was "ashamed to be an Anglican" following Monday's vote by the Church of England to disinvest from companies whose products are used by the Israeli government in the territories.

The February 6 divestment vote, which was backed by current Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, was "a most regrettable and one-sided statement," Lord Carey said, and one that "ignores the trauma of ordinary Jewish people" in Israel subjected to terrorist attacks.

Lord Carey joined Jewish leaders protesting the vote by the General Synod, the church's legislature, to adopt a "morally responsible investment in the Palestinian occupied territories and, in particular, to disinvest from companies profiting from the illegal occupation, such as Caterpillar Inc., until they change their policies."

And, as always, Israel is the problem. Not the mindless terrorist drones of Hamas, the PLO, Hizbollah, Islamic Jihad, etc. No, not them.

During the one-hour debate that preceded the vote, a letter from the Anglican bishop in Jerusalem, the Rt. Rev. Riah Abu al-Assal, condemning the Israeli government's use of Caterpillar tractors to demolish Palestinian homes was read to the synod.

The bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt. Rev. John Gladwin, said he held Israel responsible for the worsening plight of Palestinian Christians, telling the synod, "Caterpillar may be a company being used for dreadful purposes across the world, but the problem is not Caterpillar. The problem is the situation in the Middle East and the government of Israel."

As a personal note, I have known Orthodox Christians from Palestine who have come the the U.S. and all except one came here fleeing the Palestinian Authority and the thugs of Yasser Arafat, not the Israeli government.

If liberals would have us believe that Palestinian Christians are fleeing the Israelis, then what do they make of this?

Terrorists plant group's flag on parliament, declare beginning of hard-line Islamic rule

JERUSALEM – Moments after official election results this afternoon certified a large Hamas victory in Palestinian ballots, members of the terror group planted their green flags on the main parliament building in Ramallah, with some Hamas gunmen declaring hard-line Islamic law will soon be imposed in the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinian security sources in the area told WorldNetDaily.

But it's ok, these are cute and cuddley Palestinian Arabs who are just terribly misunderstood.

Christianity Banned in NYC Schools

Van Helsing at Moonbattery has this story.

Christianity Banned, Islam Okay in NYC Schools

Our black-robed oligarcy has determined that the Islamic Cresent and the Jewish Menorah are both secular symbols and the Christian nativity scene is religious. This absurd view by the NYC School Distrit, supported by softheaded judges on two federal benches shows a preference for Islam and Judaism.

In a dissent;

Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, called the decision another outrageous example of federal courts discriminating against Christians. "This should be a wake-up call for Christians across this nation," he said.

Thompson accused judges of imposing their ideological views under the pretext of constitutional interpretation.

In his dissenting opinion, appeals court Judge Chester Straub said it is clear to him that New York City's current policy violates the Establishment Clause "by sending the message that Judaism and Islam are favored while Christianity is disfavored."

He said the city was wrong to define the menorah and the star and crescent as secular and a creche as "purely religious."

Go to Moonbattery for the comments. They are good, and he deserves the traffic.

An American Hero

Yes, a real one, not like the ones the MSM create out of political thin air. A big "Thank You" to Sgt. Lori for this one.

Gunnery Sgt Michael Burghardt

Where do we get men like this?

Savages?

That is the only word that describes the people who do this.

Danish embassy in Beirut torched

Lebanese demonstrators have set the Danish embassy in Beirut on fire in protest at the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

Thousands of people attended a rally and clashes broke out with security forces sent to protect the building.

Denmark urged its citizens to leave the country as soon as possible.

The violence came a day after mobs in neighbouring Syria torched the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus in anger at the pictures.

So this is not the first embassy to be burned over the pulication of cartoons in a distant, non-Islamic, country [non-Islamic for the next few years anyway - ed.].

The cartoons first appeared in a Danish newspaper in September and caused outrage among Muslims, who consider any images of Muhammad offensive.

One of the cartoons shows Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban.

Gosh, I wonder why anyone would caricature Muhammed like that?


It seems apt to me. Here are all of the cartoons published by Jyllands-Posten.

And how about those cute and cuddly Palestinan Arabs who are busy tryng to build a country of their own?

Muslim anger on cartoons spreads

Early Friday, Palestinian militants threw a bomb at a French cultural center in Gaza City, and many Palestinians began boycotting European goods, especially those from Denmark.

"Whoever defames our prophet should be executed," said Ismail Hassan, 37, a tailor who marched through the pouring rain along with hundreds of others in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"Bin Laden our beloved, Denmark must be blown up," protesters in Ramallah chanted.

An imam at the Omari Mosque in Gaza City told 9,000 worshippers that those behind them should have their heads cut off.

"If they want a war of religions, we are ready," Hassan Sharaf, an imam in Nablus, said in his sermon.

This speaks for itself. This is not the fringe. This is Islam