Tel-Chai Nation

Front Page Magazine interviews Pamela Gellar of Atlas Shrugs about the continuing crisis apostate Rifqa Bary is going through in Ohio (Hat tip: Jihad Watch):

Everyone is watching to see what happens to Rifqa. She has become a test case for everyone. The Muslims, the Islamic supremacists, want to prove that a young girl cannot break free, cannot break out of their web, even in America. More importantly, it is a case being watched by every subjugated Muslim dying to break free of the shackles of Islam. If Rifqa can do it and is protected, so can they. This is why it is so critical that she be broken by the Islamic machine.

It's a test case for free people, and for America also. Will American courts knuckle under to Islamic intimidation and implement Sharia provisions for the isolation of female apostates? Will we stand up and defend religious freedom? Do Muslim girls in the same situation as Rifqa have any hope? Rifqa's case will show the answer.

Again, remember to attend the next coming rally in Columbus on December 22!

Labels: islam, misogyny, United States

Here's some more on the efforts now being made to prevent a construction freeze in Israel:

(IsraelNN.com) The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the construction freeze in Judea and Samaria (Yesha). The appellants say the mini-security Cabinet has no right to enforce a blanket freeze on construction without receiving a full Cabinet decision.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu hurriedly convened his 15-member security cabinet last week, and rushed through an 11-1 vote in favor of the 10-month freeze. The two Shas ministers, opposing the decision, refused to take part in the vote – they walked out and did not vote against – and Minister Silvan Shalom, who later strongly opposed the decision, was abroad at the time. Only Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau voted against.

[...]

The Legal Forum says the decision has no standing without full Cabinet approval. Netanyahu did not bring the matter to a vote at the this week's Cabinet session Sunday, nor does he intend to – unless the Supreme Court forces him.

“A non-security related decision that involves such a grave blow at the property rights of so many people may not be made so secretly with no prior warning and with no possibility for Cabinet members to appeal it,” Attorney Yossi Fuchs of the Forum explained. “The mini-Cabinet did not even claim that this was a security decision, but rather stated vaguely that its purpose is to encourage the renewal of talks with the PA…”

Fuchs also noted that, despite objections by Cabinet ministers, the matter was not brought before the full government. It was noted that Minister Landau announced that he would work to force the Cabinet to discuss the matter, and that Minister Shalom had strong criticism of the decision.

The Forum demands that the construction freeze be itself frozen: “Residents of Yesha have been harmed as of the moment that the decree was signed, but the government will lose nothing if it simply waits until after a government decision before proceeding with the freeze.

I'm glad they've taken the time to point this part out. If there's anything this construction freeze cannot be allowed to harm, it's the rights of private land owners and builders who're working on private projects and paying out of their own pockets. Worst, it would be doing just what Obama's administration is trying to do: erect big government.

Update: here's one more news item from Israel Insider, and another one from P. David Hornik.

Labels: Israel

There was a terrorist bombing aboard a train line in Russia often frequented by politicians/diplomats, and amazingly enough, they had the guts to call it what it was (Hat tip: Power Line):

Russian officials opened a terrorism investigation Saturday, saying that a homemade bomb planted on the tracks of the high-speed Moscow-to-St. Petersburg route caused a derailment that killed at least 26 people and injured dozens more.

The head of Russia's Federal Security Service, Alexander Borotnikov, was quoted by the Interfax and RIA Novosti news as saying that an improvised explosive device equivalent to 15 pounds (7 kilograms) of TNT had detonated when the train passed over it Friday night. Remains of the device were found at the site of the crash, Borotnikov said.

Chechen Muslims are the most obvious suspects, but no responsibility claims for the attack have been made yet.

Labels: islam, jihad, Russia, terrorism

The Swiss have made a courageous move to ban the erection of mosque minarets nationwide (Hat tip: Gates of Vienna):

GENEVA — Switzerland on Sunday voted to impose a blanket ban on the building of minarets across the country, backing an initiative by far-right politicians.

Check it out - again, they incite against the right by calling them far-right. Cut it out, AFP.

A clear majority of 57.5 percent of the population and 22 out of 26 cantons voted to ban the towers or turrets attached on mosques from where Muslims are called to prayer.

Far-right politicians celebrated the results, while the government sought to assure the Muslim minority that a ban on minarets was “not a rejection of the Muslim community, religion or culture.”

The Swiss People’s Party (SVP) — Switzerland’s biggest party — had forced a referendum under Swiss regulations on the issue after collecting 100,000 signatures within 18 months from eligible voters.

Having won a double majority — both in terms of cantons and absolute numbers, the initiative will now be inscribed in the country’s constitution.

Let's hope this'll be adopted in more countries across Europe, some of which have already brought the burka into discussion of what Islamic items to ban. And America may have to consider doing the same sooner or later.

Others on the subject include A Blog for All, Hot Air Headlines, Atlas Shrugs, Religion Clause, Tundra Tabloids (plus, another one), Klein Verzet, Don Surber, Chicago Ray, Holy Coast, Saber Point, The Lone Voice, Angry White Dude, Islamization Watch (plus, another one), Doctor Bulldog & Ronin, A Tangled Web, Jihad Watch, The Weekly Standard, Islam in Europe, Coalition of the Swilling, Solomonia, Joshuapundit, Sultan Knish, Hot Air.

Labels: Europe, islam

World Net Daily (via Atlas Shrugs) reports that a judge in a different case of an apostate from Islam in Ohio has ruled in her favor:

A judge in Ohio ruled a marriage arranged by a Muslim father for his 17-year-old daughter who now has converted to Christianity isn't valid, clearing her of accusations she made false statements in applying for a marriage license with the man who now is her husband.

The little-reported case developed in Ohio, where Larry Crain, senior counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, argued on behalf of his client, identified only as "Nishan."

Nishan was married last month to a man she began dating this year when she converted to Christianity, the ACLJ said.

She didn't reveal her conversion to her "devout Muslim family members" until just before the marriage because she feared what they might do.

When her father discovered her plans, he allegedly tried to assault her and then filed a claim that she had falsified her marriage-license application because of the earlier arranged marriage.

And if he tried to beat up on her, that's reason enough for her NOT to have to be subject to this arranged marriage, since it'll likely end up being made in hell, with the husband continuing the violence. Let's now hope that she and her now husband will be moved to safe place, away from the violent "father" she has.

We must also hope that Rifqa Bary can gain this kind of justice, but it'll only be if we remain alert. Don't forget that there's another rally for Rifqa on December 22.

Labels: islam, misogyny, pakistan, United States

I needed time to figure out more about the Netanyahu government's now declaring a 10-month freeze on building in Judea/Samaria, and may even be in Jerusalem. Benny Begin may have said that there will still be building during this time - yes, those apartments approved already will continue uninterrupted, but even so, as One Jerusalem also says, this is still very poorly-advised, not just because it sends a message of weakness to Israel's enemies, but also because it angers and divides the right in Israel.

There's opposition to Obama and Netanyahu rising now, with even Ariel's mayor announcing that he won't take part in enforcing any building freeze, and there's warnings that it could even lead to unemployment. It's also causing problems for people who've already paid. The Likud member Danny Danon is leading an opposition in the party to this ludicrous policy, and there's online petitions being formed against it, here and here, which I encourage everyone to sign. And there's 4 other ministers who've also spoken out against the policy now.

Caroline Glick says that Netanyahu weakened Israel this week. The main reason this is a bad move is because it causes division within the right, and that's the last thing we need right now.

Labels: Israel

Front Page Magazine interviews Lucy Mashua, a survivor/victim of female genital mutilation who today is running an organization called Sponsored Girl dedicated to stopping this obscene form of misogynist barbarism, which is being practiced in Africa but, as she agrees, is mainly practiced by Islamists.

Labels: Africa, islam, misogyny

The State Dept. under Hilary Clinton released the following disgrace calling for retreat (Hat tip: Stop the ACLU):

Today’s announcement by the Government of Israel helps move forward toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We believe that through good-faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements. Let me say to all the people of the region and world: our commitment to achieving a solution with two states living side by side in peace and security is unwavering.

And these are the same progressives who say the US shouldn't be interfering in other countries' affairs. All they're doing is showing how they don't mean what they say while being as alienating as they are.

Labels: anti-semitism, Israel, State Dept, United States

Atlas Shrugs and Patrick Poole find info that Malik Nidal Hasan, the Islamofacist in the US army who murdered 13 people in cold blood, had ties to the Noor Islamic Center (via Jihad Watch and The Jawa Report).

Labels: islam, jihad, military, misogyny, terrorism, United States

Antisemitism is still around, and I should hope that conservative reporters understand this, because if they really, truly want to win over the Jewish vote in the next elections, they'll consider that their refusal to address these issues can cause their efforts to backfire. From the Naples Daily News:

Ten North Naples Middle School students were suspended last week after district officials said they participated in “kick a Jew day.”

District Spokesman Joe Landon said a student told the dean of students at dismissal on Thursday that she was kicked because it was “kick a Jew day.” [...]

The district determined that 10 students should be punished. The students received a one day, in-school suspension, which was served today. The parents of the 10 students were also called and conferences with the parents followed the phone calls, according to Landon.[...]

Landon said until further notice, the school will focus the first 20 minutes of each day on character traits, beginning with respect and kindness. Homeroom teachers will speak with the students about these traits and will focus on bullying prevention, he said. Videos on the topic will be sought out and used as part of the training, he said.

What's pathetic here is that the suspensions were just one day, and "in-school". Clearly, they are not interested in serious disciplinary action against them. And whatever traits they're thinking of "teaching", it's doubtlessly just multi-culti nonsense that doesn't help any. Even a Japanese school would provide better disciplinary action than this.

And I should hope that any and all conservatives who say they disapprove of such obnoxious acts are going to put this into focus. Like I said, if they're negligent in providing their own response, the Jewish community members whose vote they seek could think they're bluffing.

Others on the subject include The Other McCain, Yeshiva World News, Israel Matzav, Right Pundits, JewPI, Bill Warner, Infidel Bloggers Alliance, Daled Amos, Bloodthirsty Liberal, Winds of Jihad, My Right Word, Ruthfully Yours, The Underground Conservative, The Right Guy.

Labels: anti-semitism, United States

In one of Rasmussen's latest surveys (via Michelle Malkin), the public tells that it feels political correctness was what led to the Fort Hood bloodbath:

Sixty-three percent (63%) of U.S. voters say political correctness prevented the military from responding to warning signs from Major Nidal Malik Hasan that could have prevented the Fort Hood shootings from taking place.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 16% disagree and do not believe political correctness kept military authorities from possibly stopping the killing of 13 people and the wounding of many others in the November 5 incident. Twenty-one percent (21%) are not sure.

Voters also have very mixed feelings about how President Obama and the Army responded to the Fort Hood incident.

Older Americans are more suspicious of political correctness than voters under 40. Whites were more likely than African-Americans to think political correctness kept the military from responding to warning signs from Hasan.

Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major political party overwhelmingly believe political correctness held the military back. That view is shared by 49% of Democrats while 23% of those in the president’s party disagree.

The army top brass is going to have to apologize and resignations are going to have to be done.

Update: and now, we have one person who most definitely could hand in his resignation: General George Casey, who made calls for "diversity" when it's already there, and that's what led to this horror. As a writer on Town Hall says, Hasan's seditious statements inciting violence against Americans should have put him in the court-martial room long ago.

Labels: anti-americanism, islam, jihad, military, terrorism, United States

The Bulletin reports that there's been an increase in violence against women on TV, especially against teenage girls:

A new report by the Parents Television Council (PTC) has found that depictions of violence against women has increased by 120 percent on the nation’s airwaves in the last five years, with portrayals of violence against teenage girls increasing by a staggering 400 percent.

The report, entitled Women in Peril: A Look at TV’s Disturbing New Storyline Trend, studied treatment of violence against women on primetime shows between 2004 and 2009. During that time, violence against women depicted on the major networks CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox increased by 120 percent.

The most frequent depictions were beating (29 percent), threats of violence (18 percent), shooting (11 percent), rape (8 percent), stabbing (6 percent) and torture (2 percent). This violence against women resulted in death 19 percent of the time.

[...]

However, the most disturbing finding was the 400 percent increase in the number of television episodes that depicted violence against teen girls.

[...]

Portrayals of this type of violence against teens increased by an appalling 700 percent on Fox, following by 600 percent on CBS and 300 percent on NBC.

Fox also stood out for depicting violence against women as being funny. In one example, in the May 17, 2009 episode of Family Guy, a man refers to the “complex, extensive divorce procedures required by 18th century society” which is depicted as a man shooting his wife dead with a musket.

Well, this was the "family" cartoon series that made an obscene joke about the Iraq war and US army. As for violence against teenage girls, if you're looking for one of the most rock-bottom examples, here's an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and the plot is most disturbing:

Stabler teams up with an new partner to investigate a sexual attack on Jessica DeLay, a sixteen-year-old girl who worked tobacco stings for the Department of Health and face an overweight young brother and sister who claim it was an act of vengeance for Jessica and her friend, Tommy Strahan, beating up their older brother Rudi for being fat. Stabler and Blaine arrest DeLay and Strahan, but when the two are released due to lack of admissable evidence, Rudi Bixton takes justice into his own hands.

Wow. So let me get this straight. The male character named Tommy and his female buddy supposedly kicked the crap out of Rudi, and this literally justifies raping the girl, NOT calling the police and filing assault charges, and then, when the two are let go for lack of evidence, Rudi probably takes to using firearms to get, ummm, revenge? The title of this episode is "Fat", and one could argue that it gives fat people a bad name. Not to mention that it does trivialize the seriousness of the rape itself. Could this also be an insult to people who find smoking abhorrent? One more reason why this L&O franchise should be avoided.

You can read the whole PTC report over here.

Labels: communications, misogyny, showbiz, United States

The Philadelphia Bulletin has a report on how US Army forces in Jordan are lending themselves to training enemies of Israel:

Tel Aviv – A new report released by the Center for Near East Policy Research, a Jerusalem based think-tank, discusses the possible connection between American military aid and Palestinian terrorism, and deals with the Office of the U.S. Security Coordinator (USSC), run by Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton.

[...]

Established in 2005, the USSC manages a multinational team of advisors, whose role is to restructure the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces and train personnel. American tax dollars pay for advanced military and constabulary training for the Palestinian security forces at bases in Jericho in Israel and Giftlik in Jordan. The cost of training an entire battalion of National Security Forces (NSF) troops in Jordan is $11 million.

Since 2008, approximately 2,100 troops, enough to make four battalions, have been trained by Americans in Jordan. The American government utilizes advisors from the DynCorp International Corporation for training Palestinian forces. The Palestinian Authority, American intelligence and the Israel General Security Services (Shabak) ensure the soldiers enrolled in American training programs are vetted for terrorist links.

However, there is evidence that many people in the Palestinian security apparatus are also members of banned terror groups.

The report elaborates, “Salam Fayyad, PA prime minister, reached an agreement with the forces of Al-Aqsa (Martyrs) Brigades … not to arrest them as long as they maintained a low profile. Al-Aqsa people are sheltered and receive salaries from Mr. Fayyad. When PA security troops were deployed in Nablus, Al-Aqsa people who had not been trained in Jordan and were not vetted, received command positions. This included one individual who had engaged in extortion.”

Some members of the Israeli political and military establishment have expressed their support for General Dayton and his program, citing a decline in terror in Judea and Samaria. In contrast, Mr. Bedein writes that the willingness to work with Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades indicates that the Palestinian Authority is not, in principal, opposed to the use of violence.

Operations mounted by PA forces are most often aimed at destroying Fatah’s rival, Hamas, rather than in reducing terrorism.

Fatah recently has been attempting to reconcile with Hamas, creating the possibility of American trained forces being merged into joint units with Hamas fighters.

There is also a risk of American trained forces turning on Israel. As Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stated, he “reserve(s) the right to resistance” if negotiations do not turn out the way he likes. This occurred during the second intifada when Yasser Arafat had failed to gain his demands by negotiations. During that period, American training was also used against Israeli civilian targets.

This is one more reason why it must be remembered that Fatah or PLO, whichever you call it, is still and always has been a terrorist organization. And this is how America's tax dollars are being exploited, instead of being used for more positive aspects.

Labels: anti-semitism, Israel, military, political corruption, terrorism, United States

Here's more about another rally in support of Rifqa Bary to take place on December 22 in Columbus, Ohio (via Tundra Tabloids). There is still no approved visitation list or pastoral guidance provided, and this is getting very angering. As I've said before, I think that Congress should be asked to address this case.

Labels: islam, misogyny, political corruption, United States, US Congress

The Denver Post gives a report that's unlikely to make it nationally, because in the minds of the MSM, racism committed by black thugs is un-PC (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin):

The Denver Police Department announced today that they have made 32 arrests during a sweep to end a four-month spree of what police said were racially motivated assaults and robberies in downtown Denver, including the LoDo entertainment district.

A task force comprised of the Denver Police, FBI and the Denver District Attorney’s Office investigated 26 incidents in which groups of black males verbally harassed and then assaulted white or Hispanic males, according to Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman.

Many of the victims were robbed after being assaulted.

Here's more telling that residents were even left in the dark about what was happening:

Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman said that groups of young black males from the Rollin’ 60s Crips and the Black Gangster Disciples gangs approached single white or Latino men late at night and struck them in the head, often after berating them and calling attention to their race, but sometimes attacking without warning.

Victims in the LoDo and 16th Street Mall attacks suffered broken noses and shattered eye sockets, among other head injuries. Sometimes wallets and other small items were stolen.

“We have seen coordinated efforts before, but not by this large of a group,” Whitman said as the arrests were announced Friday.

Yet no concerted effort was made to alert residents to the unusual nature of these violent crimes, or their apparent racial motivation.

Police say there may have been 26 such attacks, almost all against white males, but investigators stress there could be other victims and more are coming forward. A few are women.

Monday, police spokesman Sonny Jackson told us all but one of the 35 suspects are now in jail, each on a $1 million bond due to the racial bias involved. The mostly young men and teenage boys are charged with aggravated assault, aggravated robbery and bias-motivated crimes.

The situation was so grave even the FBI got involved.

Who knew? Certainly not the young white and Latino men who were at risk of being attacked.

Though Denver Police issued a warning on Sept. 3 that they were aware of “a pattern of assaults and robberies,” they simply said “single males” should be on the lookout.

Jackson said that at the time, police weren’t yet aware of the full scope and biased nature of the attacks. Once the warning went out and police heightened their presence, he said, the attacks “dried up.”

Therefore, Jackson told us, it was unnecessary to issue a more explicit warning, even as investigators learned the more menacing aspects of the crimes.

Jackson said keeping the warning broad should have been enough. “We didn’t want anyone to take their guard down,” Jackson said.

But if police know that a particular segment of the population is being targeted, don’t they have a responsibility to give potential victims a specific warning?

This is another example of how disturbing situations of "cultural sensitivity" are at work here, making it impossible for people to get a clear understanding of who the violence-mongers are. In fact, it's part of the very problem Ayaan Hirsi Ali was alluding to in one of her interviews.

Labels: racism, United States

The growing consensus is that Barack Obama's trip to Asia was simply a big flop. The Times of London (via Hot Air) says:

The real problem may be Obama’s friends — or rather, those among his formerly most enthusiastic supporters who are now having second thoughts.

The doubters are suddenly stretching across a broad section of the Democratic party’s natural constituency. They include black congressional leaders upset by the sluggish economy; women and Hispanics appalled by concessions made to Republicans on healthcare; anti-war liberals depressed by the debate over troops for Afghanistan; and growing numbers of blue-collar workers who are continuing to lose their jobs and homes.

Obama’s Asian adventure perceptibly increased the murmurings of dissent when he returned to Washington last week, having failed to wring any public concessions from China on any major issue.

It's unlikely to get any better for him from here.

Labels: Asia, United States

Seems that in Austria, the organizers of the tournament slighted Israel's honor in a fencing match:

(IsraelNN.com) Young female athletes from Israel's fencing team swept top medals at a 28-nation European tournament held in Mödling, Austria last week – but faced an additional challenge when they stood on the winners' podium to receive their medals: the organizers did not play the recording of the Israeli national anthem, and the Israeli winners had to sing the anthem on their own, a capella style. The Israeli team's staff has no doubt that the incident was intentional.

Israel's Dana Strelnikov, 14, won the gold medal and Alona Kamarov won the bronze at the tournament, which hosted 120 fencers aged up to 17. Both Israeli medalists hail from the northern Israeli town of Ma'alot, whose fencing club has produced many of Israel's best young fencers. But as they stood on the podium and awaited the opening sounds of national anthem HaTikvah – they heard only silence. The girls and their trainers quickly understood what was happening and proceeded to sing the entire anthem on their own, with some scattered support from voices in the spectators' bleachers.

The Israeli national team's coach, Yaakov Friedman, told Arutz Sheva that the Israeli team faces constant political challenges on the international circuit. At a tournament in Göteborg, Sweden, in January this year, Israel won the silver medal and when the medalists were already on the podium the organizers informed Friedman that they do not have a recording of the Israeli anthem. The team sang the anthem without the help of the recording. It was understood by everyone, Friedman said, that the reason was Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, which had just ended.

Sometimes I just don't understand what the point is of attending these sport matches in countries like Austria that may still be backwards.

See also this report at The Bulletin.

Labels: anti-semitism, Europe, Israel

Thanks to Arutz Sheva, several dunams of Jerusalem land plots were saved from being sold to an Arab buyer:

(IsraelNN.com) In the wake of a report last week by Arutz Sheva-Israel National News, Jerusalem real estate purchased in a Zionist reclamation project over 30 years ago will remain in Jewish hands.

Aryeh King, chairman of the National Lands Fund, told Arutz Sheva Radio about an American Jewish businessman who lost his properties as a result of the global economic meltdown. As a result, among other necessary steps, he was forced to sell off Jerusalem property he purchased as part of a Zionist venture 30 years ago, when he lived in Iran. Thus far, King reported, the businessman sold one dunam of his four-dunam property in the capital to an Arab purchaser, who also obtained the right of first refusal for the remaining dunams should a Jewish buyer not be found.

This week King said that, due to the exposure the story received through Arutz Sheva, dozens of Jewish purchasers have come forward. They include Israelis and Diaspora Jews, some of whom offered to buy the land themselves and others who wanted to establish purchasing collectives.

[...]

According to King, due to the many offers the current landowner received, it was decided to divide the remaining dunams of property among three separate buyers, rather than selling to one individual. One of the buyers is a Jerusalem businessman, a second is a resident of the south of the country and a third lives abroad.

And I'm sure that, besides apartment buildings, they can in time serve for setting up business offices and workplaces too. I do have to wonder why this biz-man would think almost instantly to sell his property to an Arab buyer when there are tons of Jewish buyers out there whom I'm sure survived the recession enough to afford the purchase. They're going to have to start thinking much bigger than that if they want to have a good reputation in history to come.

Labels: Israel, Jerusalem

Atlas Shrugs talks more about how outside sources are trying to get through to Rifqa Bary, and one of the ideas is to send a Christmas card to her with the help of the info provided. Extra item here.

And here's also a topic featuring video links to a panel discussion held on Restoration Weekend. I have no idea at the moment if they thought to bring this subject to Congress, but I think it would be a good idea if they did.

Labels: islam, misogyny, United States

The Rocketnews site reports that swine flu, just in case you're wondering, has taken its toll on at least 4 people on their way to Mecca for pilgrimage.

But what if, even worse than that, riots start up again in Mecca, this time egged on by Iran in their current incitement campaign, which isn't just limited to the west? That's something to wonder about. What would the effects of that be?

Update: and this article from a pro-Saudi Arab source is already warning about the possibilities that a riot could happen.

Labels: House of Saud, iran, islam

The American Thinker reports that Shukan Bunshun, a prominent Japanese weekly, has reported that a source at Japan's foreign ministry told them Obama's screw-ups have resulted in an embarrassment. This topic at the Free Republic translates some of the article, including:

"To tell you the truth, it had to have been the worst US-Japan Summit Meeting in history," a source of ours at the Foreign Ministry revealed to us.

And I guess Obama has succeeded in alienating yet another ally to the US.

Labels: Asia, Japan, United States

But really, does it matter? Obama's policies are already alienating enough, so if he's decided he doesn't want certain groups attending, all this ostensibly because they need to lower the budget, that's okay, because I personally would rather not attend. Here's an entry about this from Newsbusters.

Labels: United States

The former governor of Alaska has spoken out against Obama's attack on Jewish "settlements":

Former US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin disagrees with the Obama administration's demand that Israel halt settlement construction, although her reason for that opinion is puzzling to some (or at the least demonstrates she's not familiar with the term "natural growth" that much of the debate has revolved around).

She told Barbara Walters on ABC's Good Morning America this week that she disagrees with the White House because all the Jews moving to Israel need a place to live.

"I disagree with the Obama administration on that," Palin told Walters. "I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don't think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand."

J Street responded by releasing a lengthy statement that condemned Palin's comments and accused her of pandering and ignorance.

"Palin's pandering to her right-wing base comes at the expense of the security of the State of Israel, the lives of those actually living the conflict, and the fundamental American interest in achieving a two-state solution in the near term," it said. "Her words reveal a glaring ignorance of damaging facts and a callous disregard of past and present US policy."

I'm afraid J Street has already been exposed as a fraud, getting their funding from Saudi Arabia and George Soros, so they don't carry much weight in their crud.

This is an improvement over a mistake she made in her debate with vice president Joe Biden last year, something I hadn't taken enough notice of at the time, when she stupidly agreed on the notion of stopping Jewish growth, or segregation from Arabs. But she's still got a long way to go, and is going to have to show that she can still hold that standing in any following election she'll have, regardless of what advisors she has, whom I assume in fairness influenced what she said during the election debate.

Labels: Israel, United States

I most certainly do hope this news (via Allie is Wired) is true, because Oprah Winfrey, as this info revealed, is one of the most pretentious talk show hosts around. An apologist who is not helping anyone, not even during Katrina. It most definitely is time for her to leave the stage, just like Phil Donohue did a few years ago.

Labels: Moonbattery

According to witnesses at a special Senate panel hearing on homeland security, Islamofascists in America are increasing their attacks:

Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Terrorist incidents over the past 12 months show that Islamic extremists within the U.S. increasingly are launching attacks against targets such as military bases, anti-terrorist experts said today.

“The threat is now increasingly from within, from homegrown terrorists who are inspired by violent Islamist ideology to plan and execute attacks where they live,” Mitchell Silber, director of intelligence analysis for the New York City Police Department, said.

Silber was among witnesses testifying to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has started an investigation into events leading up to the Nov. 5 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, in which 13 people were killed and 43 were injured.

While it may be “premature” to link the shootings at the Texas Army base to homegrown radical Islamic terrorism, the incident is similar to other recent incidents at military bases, Juan Zarate, President George W. Bush’s deputy national security adviser, said.

“Unfortunately, this event follows in a line of attacks against military personnel,” said Zarate, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based policy group.

Zarate pointed to a murder outside a military recruitment center in Little Rock, Arkansas, in June and killings at Camp Liberty in Iraq in May and Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait in 2003.

Premeditated Murder

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, has been charged by military authorities with 13 counts of premeditated murder in connection with the Fort Hood incident.

The Homeland Security panel’s probe is the first congressional investigation into the shootings. Republicans have been pressing Democrats, who control Congress, for more probes into the incident.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who heads the panel, has said his goal is to find out how the federal government missed detecting Hasan as a threat.

He said the panel wants to talk to members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force who were collecting information on Hasan. The task force is headed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The panel also wants to interview staff at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where Hasan completed a residency in psychiatry before transferring to Fort Hood.

Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said his panel will investigate how the military handled concerns about Hasan.

New Wave

Zarate said the shootings raise “questions about whether we are facing a new wave of terrorism driven in part by self- radicalized actors.”

Some witnesses said they thought those investigating Hasan’s behavior before the shootings may have felt reluctant to act because they were overly concerned with protecting the suspect’s religious beliefs.

Retired General John Keane, the Army’s former vice chief of staff, said the military needs “clear, specific guidelines” on what constitutes jihadist behavior.

“It should not be an act of moral courage for a soldier to identify a fellow solider” as a potentially dangerous Islamic extremist, he said. “It should be an obligation.”

Keane was commanding officer at Fort Bragg in North Carolina during the investigation of racially motivated murders in the 1990s. He said the Fort Hood situation may be similar.

At Fort Bragg, “we were wrongfully tolerating extremists in our organization,” he said.

Pentagon Review

Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans a broad review of the military procedures and policies that were in place before the shootings, a spokesman said.

Gates wants to “assess if the department is doing everything it can to prevent” similar incidents, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The steps could include a review of base security and how “adverse personnel information is handled,” he said.

Frances Fragos Townsend, Bush’s former assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, said reports about Hasan’s communications and ideology indicate that investigators shouldn’t have felt restricted by his First Amendment rights.

Many of the inflammatory comments “had nothing to do with his religion or speech,” she said.

‘Political Correctness’

Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, asked if “political correctness” may have contributed to authorities not stopping Hasan.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that was operating here,” Keane said.

Zarate disagreed and said that any reluctance may have stemmed from the perception of Hasan being a doctor conducting research.

Here's where I want to argue that I don't think so, and this certainly doesn't explain how a man as pathetically incompetant in psychiatrics as the repulsive Hasan was could be allowed to continue his job.

Intelligence agencies last year intercepted e-mails between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki, a Muslim religious leader in Yemen known for his anti-American views. Investigators say there was nothing suspicious in the communications, and they appeared to be related to a research project.

Silber said Hasan’s alleged murder spree came after U.S. authorities foiled a number of terror plots by cells and individuals, including four men placing what they believed were explosives outside a Riverdale, New York, synagogue and community center in April.

In September, authorities arrested Najibullah Zazi for allegedly planning to attack New York sites with explosives.

Most recently, the Internet has become a tool for spurring militants in the U.S. to act, Silber said.

Charismatic religious leaders such as al-Awlaki have been effective in urging on would-be terrorists, he said.

Also testifying today was Brian Jenkins, senior adviser at RAND Corp., a Santa Monica, California-based policy group.

The administration provided no witnesses for the hearing.

As told in the prior post, the Senate is calling now on the administration to cooperate and provide witnesses.

Update: in this entry at the Weekly Standard, it tells that Moazzam Begg, a former Gitmo detainee, has ties with Hasan's cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki.

Update 2: as told in this item from ABC's Blotter (via Hot Air Headlines), Hasan even told Awlaki he could wait to join him in the afterlife. One can only wonder if he was planning suicide bombings as well as shootings.

Labels: anti-americanism, islam, jihad, terrorism, United States, US Congress, war on terror

It's good to learn that the Senate has stepped in to help following Obama administration's attempt to stonewall Congress's investigation (Hat tip: Hot Air):

A bipartisan group of senators began a concerted push Wednesday to get more cooperation from the Obama administration in its reviews of the Fort Hood shootings, which left 13 dead and a raft of questions about information-sharing among intelligence agencies.

In addition to the public hearings that Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) is set to begin Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) demanded Wednesday that his panel receive the results of a White House review of agency investigations of suspect Nidal M. Hasan's communications with a radical Muslim cleric who has ties to al-Qaeda.

Congressional Democrats have not been nearly as aggressive in their oversight of the Obama administration as they were during the Bush administration. The actions on Capitol Hill this week, however, demonstrate a growing impatience, particularly among senators, with the White House's preference that lawmakers slow down their inquiries.

Lieberman's hearing Thursday, the first on Capitol Hill regarding the Texas shootings, will start what potentially could be a more assertive approach to administration oversight, at least on matters of national security.

"We are not interested in political theater," Lieberman, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Wednesday. "We are interested in getting the facts and correcting the system so that our government can provide the best homeland security possible for the American people."

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is leading the investigation with Lieberman, said information-sharing is the most troubling issue that must be addressed. "There's a lot we don't know at this point. That's why we're doing the investigation," she told reporters. "But that's an example of an information restriction that I feel I need to learn more about."

The briefing, coordinated by the National Security Committee, for House and Senate leaders was scheduled after the administration bowed out of a closed hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee that was supposed to happen on Monday.

Collins, the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said she’s calling on the administration to work with the committee to cooperate with its investigation of the Nov. 5 shooting deaths at Ft. Hood. Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan has been charged with the crime, which Collins called “certainly” an example of home-grown terrorism.

In order to prevent more horrors like this from occurring in the future, that's why we need to know exactly what led to the political correctness and irresponsibility the top brass exhibited.

See also this NPR report that reveals how Hasan was dangerously incompetant as a psychiatrist (also via Hot Air).

Labels: islam, jihad, military, terrorism, United States, war on terror

Atlas Shrugs reports more on how Rifqa Bary is being isolated from the outside world, and those who are allowed to visit her are being fingerprinted?

Not only that, it seems they're trying to keep the info on the court hearings secret and not revealing it, if at all.

An excellent question is brought up here:

Can any outside pressure be applied? How do we know she is all right? How do we know she is not being psychologically pressured?

My recommendation is to turn to Congress on the matter, both the Ohio-based legislature and Capitol Hill, and even to Sarah Palin's staff, and ask them if they'll be willing to comment on this. Yes, really.

Here's also the Ohio governor's office contact info:
GOV. STRICKLAND's OFFICE:

Governor's Office Mail Governor's Office Riffe Center,
30th Floor 77 South High Street
Columbus, OH 43215-6108 Phone/Fax General Info: (614) 466-3555
Fax: (614) 466-9354

Labels: islam, misogyny, United States

First, here's some news on how president Obama's administration may be stonewalling Congress by refusing to cooperate in a probe to find out how the army could be so negligent in dealing with Malik Nidal Hasan (via Hot Air).

Now, here's something from the Weekly Standard (also via Hot Air) on Sarah Palin's response to this case:

I asked about Palin's upcoming visit to Ft. Hood. "We had planned on that before the tragedy struck," she said. She commented on the trail of evidence linking the alleged Ft. Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Hasan, to militant Islam. "There were such clear, obvious, massive warning signs that were missed," she said. "This terrorist, even having business cards" that identified him as an "SoA" or soldier of Allah. Palin blamed a culture of political correctness and other decisions that "prevented -- I'm going to say it -- profiling" of someone with Hasan's extremist ideology. "I say, profile away," Palin said. Such political correctness, she continued, "could be our downfall." If the upcoming investigations into the attack reveal bad decision-making on the part of senior officials, Palin continued, those officials ought to be fired.

Palin visits Ft. Hood on December 4. She plans to donate all the royalties from her book-signing there to the families of the victims.

A very good idea. She's absolutely correct that those officials who did not distance Hasan from the army or anyone else he could've attacked must take responsibility for their failures and be dismissed from the military.

While I'm writing this, I want to remind one and all that Hasan was there even while Bush was president, so it'd be ill-advised to think this is just Obama's fault. Bush had 8 years to tidy up the military, yet his administration did nothing about problems like these, which took place under their very noses.

Others on the subject include Michelle Malkin, The Jawa Report (plus, another one), Rhymes With Right, Cold Fury, Sword at the Ready, Conservative American.

Labels: anti-americanism, islam, jihad, military, racism, United States

Jonathan Tobin writes more about how Barack Obama has attacked the legitimacy of Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood, home to at least 33,000 people, by describing it as a "settlement", the MSM's way of delegitimizing any Jewish residence they oppose, and says:

The president’s decision to speak as if this part of Jerusalem was a “settlement” where Jews had no right to live and build is not just a provocative escalation of the administration’s hostile attitude toward Israel. It also gives the Palestinian terrorists who made the apartment complexes in this neighborhood their personal shooting gallery throughout the second intifada an unexpected boost. Palestinian Authority–backed snipers based in the neighboring Arab village of Beit Jala regularly shot into Gilo during that conflict. Gilo also became more than just a middle-class Jerusalem neighborhood. It assumed the role of a symbol of Israeli tenacity and courage, and the area became a regular stop for visitors to the city.

Obama and his staff are going way overboard already with their assaults on Jewish rights to their city, and it's going to run the risk of encouraging more Fatah/Hamas-based attacks on Jewish neighborhoods.

Here's more on the subject from Rick Richman and Evelyn Gordon.

Labels: anti-semitism, Israel, Jerusalem, United States

In this report, it's told that George Mitchell tried to pressure the Israeli government to stop building in the Gilo neighborhood:

(IsraelNN.com) U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell reportedly asked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, during one of their recent meetings, to freeze a construction project of dozens of housing units in Gilo. Netanyahu turned him down.

[...]

Netanyahu refused the U.S. request, explaining that the construction in Gilo, as in most places of the world, does not require government approval. He also explained that the neighborhood is “an integral part of Jerusalem.”

And that's also the good thing about limited government, as they say. I'm glad he stood up to Mitchell's grave demands, and made clear it's unacceptable. More on this here.

Labels: Israel, Jerusalem, United States

Here is some info on the origins of the horrific Goldstone report. See also here for more.

The Bulletin reports that Saudi Arabia has been identified as the source of Islamization in the US military and spread of Wahabism.

The Knesset has introduced a special bill recognizing the rights of Jewish refugees from Arab lands:

According to the bill, it will not be possible for Israel to sign any diplomatic agreement with any state or foreign entity without arranging for the interests and rights of the Jewish refugees from Arab countries.

The refugees are defined, according to the UN's Refugee Convention as, "the Jewish citizens of Israel who immigrated from Arab countries in the wake of the establishment of the State of Israel and forced to leave the property that had been in their ownership in their countries of origin."

The Jewish refugees from those now utterly hostile lands have every right to demand compensation.

Here's a video at Jihad Watch of the rally for Rifqa Bary.

The abominable Malik Nidal Hasan's many offensive actions include trying to frame/libel/slander US soldiers for "war crimes", and have them prosecuted (also via Jihad Watch). I would never want to have a vile man like that as my shrink!

Disbarred, traitorous attorney Lynne Stewart has been sentenced to prison for abetting terrorism (Hat tip: Jammie Wearing Fool and Hot Air). And, it may hopefully be for even longer than thought. More from Andrew McCarthy.

British actor Edward Woodward, famous for roles like Breaker Morant and the Equalizer, has passed away at 79 years old (via Big Hollywood). He'll be missed. More here from S.T. Karnick and Coleman Luck.

Phyllis Chesler reports that western governments such as Canada's are starting to wake up to Islamo-misogyny, among other barbaric practices in the Religion of Peace.

PETA doesn't practice as it preaches. And the website to unmask their hypocrisy is Peta Kills Animals. My my, when will they ever learn?

Hat tip: Michelle Malkin.

Labels: anti-americanism, anti-semitism, Canada, islam, Israel, jihad, Knesset, misogyny, terrorism, UN corruption, United States

The Knesset has taken some much needed steps to help those unfairly demonized:

(IsraelNN.com) The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee has unanimously approved a measure to pardon detainees who were arrested during protests against the 2005 Disengagement Law expulsions from Gaza. The bill now goes to the Knesset plenum, where it will face a vote on the floor, and then moves to the Knesset Constitution and Law Committee, headed by MK David Rotem, before a final vote in the legislature.

The bill will not apply to those who have committed serious or violent crimes, nor to those who endangered the lives of others. None of those records will be deleted, nor will proceedings be suspended against anyone who was guilty of committing crimes of deliberate sabotage, sabotage with explosives, or sabotage and injury to others. Nor will the bill apply to anyone who had a criminal record preceding the events of the expulsion of Jews from Gaza.

Approximately 400 civilians will be affected by the measure, most of whom were teenagers accused of misdemeanors. Some of them have already been sentenced and served their time, but the measure will at least expunge all criminality from any police file in their names. For others, the proposal is irrelevant, since they were accused of more serious crimes, or had risked their lives, or those of others.

Let's just say that the protestors had every right to decry the surrender of Jewish land to the enemy by a prime minister named Ariel Sharon who turned out to be a cold, corrupt man with a record of serious offenses in his past, who's now lying brain-dead for his crimes.

Labels: Israel, Knesset, political corruption

On the ABC News blog of Jake Tapper (via Hot Air), a Japanese expert has said Obama did make himself look like a fool:

“Obama’s handshake/forward lurch was so jarring and inappropriate it recalls Bush’s back-rub of Merkel.

“Kyodo News is running his appropriate and reciprocated nod and shake with the Empress, certainly to show the president as dignified, and not in the form of a first year English teacher trying to impress with Karate Kid-level knowledge of Japanese customs.

“The bow as he performed did not just display weakness in Red State terms, but evoked weakness in Japanese terms [...].The last thing the Japanese want or need is a weak looking American president and, again, in all ways, he unintentionally played that part."

At least one newspaper in Japan isn't even running the photos out of embarrassment. Curiously enough is that Obama shook hands with the Empress yet didn't make much of a bow to her. Is that because a woman, in his mind, isn't qualified for as much respect as a man?

Labels: Asia, Japan, United States

Atlas Shrugs presents some photos from the rally for Rifqa Bary that took place today in Columbus, Ohio; more to come (here's also some photos of the sponsors). There were people who even came from Canada, and Louisiana and Texas. I may have noticed at least one leftist blog that wasn't happy with this, and the blogmaster was being pretty nasty (blog I allude to is spoken about here).

Will there be another rally next month too, if there's another hearing? Let's hope so, and that this current one can help.

Update: Atlas Shrugs presents a video of an interview for a DC legal panel on the case.

Others on the subject include Thoughts and Theology, Dinah Lord, Small Dead Animals, Daily Christian Way, The Last Crusade.

Labels: islam, misogyny, United States

Another of Obama's ill-advised steps includes trying to discourage Congress from doing their own investigation of the Fort Hood jihadist (via Hot Air):

President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Congress to hold off on any investigation of the Fort Hood rampage until federal law enforcement and military authorities have completed their probes into the shootings at the Texas Army post, which left 13 people dead.

On an eight-day Asia trip, Obama turned his attention home and pleaded for lawmakers to “resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater.” He said those who died on the nation’s largest Army post deserve justice, not political stagecraft.

“The stakes are far too high,” Obama said in a video and Internet address released by the White House while the president he was flying from Tokyo to Singapore, where Pacific Rim countries were meeting.

If Congress doesn't investigate, it can run the risk of failing to fix more mistakes that could be prevented. What if there's more Hasans waiting in the wings to strike at innocent people? Also, the families of the victims at Fort Hood deserve justice, and that's what Congress is in the business for, to help their constituents. Therefore, Congress would do well to keep on with the investigation they're going to run, to prevent more disasters like the horror at Fort Hood from happening again.

Update: here's a column about the case from Barry Rubin at the Gloria Center.

Others on the subject include Voting Female Speaks, Right Truth, Fire Andrea Mitchell, The Jawa Report, Daily Pundit, Cabinet Meeting.

Labels: islam, jihad, military, terrorism, United States, war on terror

Avigdor Lieberman has spoken at a conference warning what a withdrawal to the 1967 or even 1949 borders would bring:

(IsraelNN.com) Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, in an address at the Saban Forum on Saturday night, warned that a withdrawal to the 1967 borders would only exacerbate Israel's troubles with its Arab population.

Lieberman said the establishment of a Palestinian Authority state in Judea and Samaria would not solve the Arab-Israeli conflict; instead, it will draw it closer, to within the pre-1967 borders.

Arab communities in the Galilee and the Negev -- which include Bedouin and Druze, both relatively loyal to Israel at present -- are likely to demand autonomy once they see Arabs in Judea and Samaria living in an independent state, he said.

There is something to what he says. Worse, it would only further the negative influence of segregation, which would not help anyone.

Labels: islam, Israel, terrorism

First, it was to the Saudi king. Now, he's taken a bow before the Emperor of Japan. You might not think it as bad as bowing to the overlord of the House of Saud, a country that, unlike Japan, is still run by tyranny, but still, it's very extremely stupid, and the Emperor and Empress themselves should really have pointed that out to him as well, if they too are deserving of any criticism. Once again, Obama has shown that he clearly has no understanding of the protocols and beliefs of American politics, nor do any of his advisors.

One has to wonder though: will he be bowing for European royalty next? Or isn't it funny that he hasn't? Indeed, why would he bow for the king of Saudi Arabia and now the Emperor of Japan but not for the royal family of say, Sweden? Or is he planning to, when even in Europe, they've long adopted and accepted simpler greetings themselves like handshakes and would surely find it insulting by now to have one take a bow to people like them?

Update: Thomas Lifson at the American Thinker points out how Obama's bow isn't even how they do it in Japan: they don't touch/shake hands at the same time as they bow! Indeed, the Emperor and Empress do seem embarrassed, much as they try not to.

Others on the subject include One Free Korea, Michelle Malkin, Stop the ACLU, Frisk a Liberal, Ed Driscoll, Always to the Right, Cold Fury, Natural Fake, Scared Monkeys, Missourah, Flopping Aces, The Black Kettle, Conservative Viewpoint Blog, Quipster, AntiObamaBlog, The American Pundit, Moonbat Patrol, Inzax, Texas Broadside, Ironic Surrealism, Ramparts360, Power Line.

Labels: Asia, House of Saud, Japan, United States

Atlas Shrugs tells that there have been hearings on the Rifqa Bary case in Ohio without public knowledge, and that the November 16 hearing appears to be canceled.

On the one hand, while a gag order could actually be of help if that's what it takes to keep awful newspapers like the Columbus Dispatch from writing things that could actually hurt her, it is bad if hearings are being run behind everyone else's back, especially if a backdoor deal were to come up that could find Rifqa returned to her abusive parents without prior knowledge.

And that's one more reason to attend the rally on November 16 at 11AM in Dorrian Commons Park, where Andrew Bostom will also be present.

So far, there appears to be another hearing scheduled for December 22. Let's hope there'll be a rally planned for that time as well.

Others on the subject include Conscience of a Conservative, Texas Broadside, Bare Naked Islam's Weblog, Responsible for Equality and Liberty, Larry's Internet Soapbox, The Legacy of My Fathers.

Labels: islam, misogyny, United States

The Dallas Morning News (via Hot Air) reports that Malik Nidal Hasan may have wired money to Pakistan:

WASHINGTON – Authorities have been examining whether Fort Hood massacre suspect Nidal Malik Hasan wired money to Pakistan in recent months, an action that one senior lawmaker said would raise serious questions about Hasan's possible connections to militant Islamic groups.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., said sources "outside of the [intelligence] community" learned about Hasan's possible connections to the Asian country, which faces a massive Islamist insurgency and is widely believed to be Osama bin Laden's hiding place.

Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, would not identify the sources. But he said "they are trying to follow up on it because they recognize that if there are communications – phone or money transfers with somebody in Pakistan – it just raises a whole other level of questions."

Much remains unknown about the 39-year-old Hasan, born in Virginia to Palestinian immigrants. He lived alone near the Army base in Killeen, Texas, and would sometimes use a neighbor's computer even though he had his own.

"With what I know about Hasan to date ... I would expect we will learn more about him that will make us concerned," Hoekstra said, "rather than information that says, 'Oh man, we got that all wrong and this had nothing to do with terrorism.'"

The problem is that that's just what the MSM have been trying to avoid. Even now, quite a few leftists out there are trying to dodge the harder questions and downplay the more serious parts involved. Including why he would use a neighbor's computer instead of his own console.

Hasan’s finances have been a mystery since last week, when the Army major and psychiatrist allegedly shot and killed 13 colleagues at the sprawling Central Texas military base. Hasan earned more than $90,000 a year and had no dependents, yet lived in an aging one-bedroom apartment that rented for about $300 a month.

“You can bet there is an ongoing, extensive investigation into every single financial transaction he made,” said Matt Orwig, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas who has no direct knowledge of the Hasan case. “Federal investigative agencies are very good at tracing the flow of money, both to him and from him.”

If the prosecution can prove Hasan sent money to terrorists in Pakistan, it could help raise the charge level against him to treason, which, in fact, is exactly what he committed when he murdered the people at the base in cold blood. And again, he deserves to go to death row for his repulsive crime.

Update: The Wash. Times (via Hot Air Headlines) says officials now confirm that Hasan had contact with multiple jihadists.

Update 2: see also this article on The American Thinker (via Molten Thought) about how Shari'a law is de facto being adopted in the US, and why we must do whatever we can to prevent it.

Update 3: and here's another item about the role Saudi Arabia has played in radicalization in the army.

Others on subject include Palmetto Conservative, Voting Female Speaks, The American Pundit, Spitfire Murphy, Political Byline, Fire Andrea Mitchell, The Harrington Report, The Right Side of Life, Yid With Lid, American Power, Flopping Aces, The Strata-Sphere, Campaign Spot, Weasel Zippers, No Quarter, Dr. Sanity, Commentary's Contentions.

Labels: House of Saud, islam, jihad, military, pakistan, terrorism, United States

In this interview (via Town Hall and Hot Air), the former Miss California who was demonized for not supporting gay marriage earlier this year says that she's been targeted in a way similar to Sarah Palin. Oh, I agree with that.

As far as I know, she's reached a settlement with the organizers of the beauty pageant, and I hope they've agreed to pay for any problems they caused. They should.

Here's also an interview with her on Big Hollywood.

Labels: misogyny, Moonbattery, United States

It looks like NYC's authorities are now hopefully taking responsible action by having the Feds confiscate 4 mosques and a skyscraper that may be controlled by Iran:

NEW YORK (AP) - Federal prosecutors took steps Thursday to seize four U.S. mosques and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper owned by a nonprofit Muslim organization long suspected of being secretly controlled by the Iranian government.

In what could prove to be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, prosecutors filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets.

The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centers consisting of schools and mosques in New York City, Maryland, California and Houston; more than 100 acres in Virginia; and a 36-story glass office tower in New York.

Confiscating the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which has been accused by the U.S. government of bankrolling terrorism and trying to build a nuclear bomb.

A telephone call and e-mail to Iran's U.N. Mission seeking comment were not immediately answered.

John D. Winter, the Alavi Foundation's lawyer, said it intends to litigate the case and prevail. He said the foundation has been cooperating with the government's investigation for the better part of a year.

"Obviously the foundation is disappointed that the government has decided to bring this action," Winter told The Associated Press.

It is extremely rare for U.S. law enforcement authorities to seize a house of worship, a step fraught with questions about the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

Are they so sure of that? If this were a Christian Church or a Jewish Synagogue in question, something tells me it would've been shut down long ago if they were suspected of aiding evil forces.

The action against the Shiite Muslim mosques is sure to inflame relations between the U.S. government and American Muslims, many of whom are fearful of a backlash after last week's Fort Hood shooting rampage, blamed on a Muslim American major.

"Whatever the details of the government's case against the owners of the mosques, as a civil rights organization we are concerned that the seizure of American houses of worship could have a chilling effect on the religious freedom of citizens of all faiths and may send a negative message to Muslims worldwide," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Once again, the AP Wire is resorting to victimology and apologia, and paying lip service to an unindicted co-conspirator in terrorism, instead of providing the authorities with the backup they need to get the job done.

The mosques and the skyscraper will remain open while the forfeiture case works its way through court in what could be a long process. What will happen to them if the government ultimately prevails is unclear. But the government typically sells properties it has seized through forfeiture, and the proceeds are sometimes distributed to crime victims.

"No action has been taken against any tenants or occupants of those properties," U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman Yusill Scribner said. "The tenants and occupants remain free to use the properties as they have before today's filing. There are no allegations of any wrongdoing on the part of any of these tenants or occupants."

Prosecutors said the Alavi Foundation managed the office tower on behalf of the Iranian government and, working with a front company known as Assa Corp., illegally funneled millions in rental income to Iran's state-owned Bank Melli. Bank Melli has been accused by a U.S. Treasury official of providing support for Iran's nuclear program, and it is illegal in the United States to do business with the bank.

The U.S. has long suspected the foundation was an arm of the Iranian government; a 97-page complaint details involvement in foundation business by several top Iranian officials, including the deputy prime minister and ambassadors to the United Nations.

"For two decades, the Alavi Foundation's affairs have been directed by various Iranian officials, including Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations, in violation of a series of American laws," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

There were no raids Thursday as part of the forfeiture action. The government is simply required to post notices of the civil complaint on the property.

As prosecutors outlined their allegations against Alavi, the Islamic centers and the schools they run carried on with normal activity. The mosques' leaders had no immediate comment.

Parents lined up in their cars to pick up their children at the schools within the Islamic Education Center of Greater Houston and the Islamic Education Center in Rockville, Md. No notices of the forfeiture action were posted at either place as of late Thursday.

At the Islamic Institute of New York, a mosque and school in Queens, two U.S. marshals came to the door and rang the bell repeatedly. The marshals taped a forfeiture notice to the window and left a large document sitting on the ground. After they left a group of men came out of the building and took the document.

The fourth Islamic center marked for seizure is in Carmichael, Calif.

The skyscraper, known as the Piaget building, was erected in the 1970s under the shah of Iran, who was overthrown in 1979. The tenants include law and investment firms and other businesses.

And we all have Jimmy Carter to thank for the Shah's downfall and replacement by the much more sadistic Ayatollah. I hope the authorities do the right thing and shut down those so-called institutions.

The sleek, modern building, last valued at $570 million to $650 million in 2007, has served as an important source of income for the foundation over the past 36 years. The most recent tax records show the foundation earned $4.5 million from rents in 2007.

Rents collected from the building help fund the centers and other ventures, such as sending educational literature to imprisoned Muslims in the U.S. The foundation has also invested in dozens of mosques around the country and supported Iranian academics at prominent universities.

If federal prosecutors seize the skyscraper, the Alavi Foundation would have almost no way to continue supporting the Islamic centers, which house schools and mosques. That could leave a major void in Shiite communities, and hard feelings toward the FBI, which played a big role in the investigation.

The forfeiture action comes at a tense moment in U.S.-Iranian relations, with the two sides at odds over Iran's nuclear program and its arrest of three American hikers.

But Michael Rubin, an expert on Iran at the American Enterprise Institute, said the timing of the forfeiture action was probably a coincidence, not an effort to influence Iran on those issues.

"Suspicion about the Alavi Foundation transcends three administrations," Rubin said. "It's taken ages dealing with the nuts and bolts of the investigation. It's not the type of investigation which is part of any larger strategy."

For the sake of America's safety, and the rest of the world, that's why it's important to close these institutions down.

Legal scholars said they know of only a few cases in U.S. history in which law enforcement authorities have seized a house of worship. Marc Stern, a religious-liberty expert with the American Jewish Congress, called such cases extremely rare.

The Alavi Foundation is the successor organization to the Pahlavi Foundation, a nonprofit group used by the shah to advance Iran's charitable interests in America. But authorities said its agenda changed after the fall of the shah.

In 2007, the United States accused Bank Melli of providing services to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and put the bank on its list of companies whose assets must be frozen. Washington has imposed sanctions against various other Iranian businesses.

Unfortunately, if I'm not mistaken, they have not done the same with other Islamic countries with potential ties to terror like the UAE, and the House of Saud. These should not be overlooked, and federal prosecutors are going to have to start considering investigating them as well.

Labels: iran, islam, jihad, terrorism, United States, war on terror

A military official, Major Shawn Keller, writes on Real Clear Politics about the problems with PC awfulness that have plagued the army (via Hot Air):

The Army as an institution has been neutered by decades of political correctness and the leaders in Hasan’s chain-of-command failed to act accordingly out of fear of being labeled anti-Muslim and receiving a negative evaluation report. The counter-terrorism agencies knew Hasan was communicating with Al-Qaeda and dismissed it as academic research instead of delving deeper into the probability that a terrorist had infiltrated the ranks.

Even four hours after Hasan stood on a desk yelling Allahu Akbar! and opened fire, the FBI stated that they were not investigating the attack as an act of terrorism even as there were still reports of other gunmen on the loose. Meanwhile, the Army continues to dismiss it as a “tragedy” and an “isolated incident by a lone gunman” while the media has invented the psychological condition of post-traumatic stress disorder by proxy. There is more concern for promoting the appropriate information operation campaign and maintaining the illusion of safety than there is for actually exposing the weaknesses and faults in the system that allowed this to happen. We’re even being told that damage to the Army’s efforts at diversity would be a greater tragedy than the murder of the twelve soldiers — how ironic the week of Veterans’ Day.

This has nothing to do with being anti-Islamic. After numerous tours to Iraq and working with countless cultural advisors on Ft. Bragg, I know dozens of Muslims who I respect and admire greatly. This has everything to do with force protection and security being trumped by the concepts of political correctness and diversity. This has everything to do with a hypocritical system and culture that breeds timidity and dismissiveness in the interest of career advancement. If I preached a white-supremacist ideology or described Timothy McVeigh as a hero to the cause of freedom and liberty, how long do you think I would still be in the military drawing a salary, receiving educational benefits and getting promoted like Hasan did?

All army officials have a right to be angry at the top brass for neglecting their responsibilities and leading to their lives being endangered. Similarly, they have a right now to demand a change in leadership that will act responsibly, and, if another Islamist in the army is discovered to be potentially violent and even have ties to terror, the army top brass will move immediately to take restraining maneuvers against him without concerning themselves with cultural sensitivity.

That said, at the Weekly Standard, they have a sad prediction:

Major Keller will get in more trouble for writing this, than anyone in Hasan’s chain of command or elsewhere in the government will get for failing to do their job.

Or more than even Hasan himself did. That's why I'd recommend: be ready to come to Major Keller's defense, and help him stand up to any PC-ridden charlatans who'd be foolish enough to turn against him for speaking in the army's defense.

Update: Life News (via Michelle Malkin) reminds everyone that there was a 14th victim of Malik Nidal Hasan's bloodbath:

It was beyond heartbreaking, seeing a young widow pausing before a picture of her beloved soldier, killed not on the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan, but on the presumably safe spot of Fort Hood, Texas.

I had to turn away from the television screen, the pain on her face was so great.

In the massive media coverage following Major Nidal Hasan’s killing spree at the military post, I have heard over and over again about the death toll from the tragedy.

But seldom mentioned is the most hidden victim — soldier Francheska Velez’s unborn baby. Velez was on maternity leave when she stopped at Ft. Hood, where she and the child she carried in her womb fell victim to Hasan’s bullet.

In the interest of true justice, Hasan should be prosecuted under the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, also known as Laci and Conner’s law, named for the pregnant woman and unborn baby who were murdered in California by Scott Peterson, the baby’s father.

This is another reason why Hasan should receive the death sentence for his crime.

Update 2: the army merely ordered Hasan to attend religion lectures (also via Hot Air)? More disturbing however is that the psychiatrists at the Walter Reed Center otherwise did not think he posed a danger, strongly suggesting that they weren't worthy of their positions either.

Update 3: the National Post in Canada (via Hot Air Headlines) talks about the Fort Hood double-standard, and even mentions one that took place at Duke University.

Labels: islam, jihad, military, terrorism, United States