AP still calls them "militants"

Good news is marred by bad description:

JENIN, West Bank - Israeli troops shot and killed three Palestinian militants in the West Bank town of Jenin on Wednesday and raided the nearby city of Nablus for the second time this week, placing tens of thousands of people under curfew. The army said the Islamic Jihad militants who were shot in Jenin had planned a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that was thwarted last week. The dead included Ashraf Saadi, a spokesman for the group.

Good riddance, but I think it'd also be good if use of the word "militants" were rid of as well and the right word, "terrorists", were placed upon those thugs' heads instead. Clearly, the AP is seething and vengeful, aren't they?

More info on Olmert's bribery tactics

Israel's Channel 10 News presented an important document exposing more of Ehud Olmert's bribery and corruption career:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced new allegations of corruption on Wednesday evening when Channel 10 exposed a document containing 115 names of Likud Central Committee members and activists whom the prime minister allegedly helped illegally when he served as industry, trade and labor minister.

Allegedly, Olmert used his position as head of the investment department - which had authority over small businesses, the employment industry, the authorization of foreign workers, the broadcasting authority, Bezek and other communications companies - for the benefit of Likud members.

Among the alleged misdemeanors, Olmert supposedly helped prevent the dismissal of a Likud member from the postal service, helped another Likud activist get a job, illegally helped obtain a telephone number from a cellular phone company and arranged permits for foreign workers for two Likud members.

According to Channel 10, the document contains the following words: "Pini Sabah, a Central Committee member from Ashkelon - 21 foreign workers for his close associate," and, " Central Committee member and Nesher Chairman Fredi Malik - nurse for his mother."

Some of these people may have even abandoned the Likud for Kadima in the past year. If so, they should not be welcomed back.

Open trackbacks: Basil's Blog, Cao's Blog, Dumb Ox News, Third World County.

RoR: for the Religion of Rape

Israel Matzav offers a perfect description I once thought of myself for how to describe rapes committed by Muslims: the Religion of Rape. The Jerusalem Post reports about four local cases of gang rape committed by Muslims against Jewish women, and what for? In revenge for IDF action against other terrorists like them.

A gang of serial rapists has been prowling the North, raping Jewish women as revenge for IDF actions in the West Bank, police revealed Tuesday after arresting six suspects.

"We are raping Jews because of what the IDF is doing to the Palestinians in the territories," one of the six suspects told investigators from the Northern District Central Investigative Unit (CIU) during questioning. During their questioning and their brief appearance at the Nazareth Magistrate's Court Tuesday, none of the four main suspects indicated that they felt remorse for their actions.

Police said they were aware of four attacks carried out by the gang, but they believed there were probably other incidents that had gone unreported by the victims.

In all four cases, police said, the rapists' modus operandi were strikingly similar - all of the attacks were directed against young women who were waiting at bus stops or designated hitchhiking points in the western Galilee and the Haifa area.

In all of the cases, the attackers forced their victim into a car and drove together with the victim to an isolated spot, where they raped her.

Put those Islamofascists in perfect isolation in prison eternally.

Open trackbacks: Basil's Blog, Cao's Blog, Dumb Ox News, Outside the Beltway, Pirates' Cove, Third World County. Others rightfully disgusted at this crime include The Jawa Report, Sister Toldjah, Atlas Shrugs, Elder of Zion, Sultan Knish.

Olmert's family members leaving Kadima

An amazing surprise: even Ehud Olmert's own family members are abandoning him:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's brother plans to stop being an active member of Kadima, Ynet learned Monday. Prof. Amram Olmert is the prime minister's eldest brother. He serves as Israel's counselor in agriculture in the Israeli Embassy in Beijing.

Sources in Kadima said, following the report that, "Kadima's conception has collapsed."

Amram Olmert is not the only family member expected to leave the party. His son, Attorney Yair Olmert, already made the move several months ago.

Alex Fernand, a Kadima member in Haifa and a former Likud member, informed Knesset Member Tzachi Hanegbi on Monday afternoon that he also plans to leave the party.

Olmert is turning out to become a very lonely man, isn't he?

Police state Germany

Did you know that in Germany, homeschooling is still illegal? And has been ever since the days of the nazi regime. And to make matters worse, they even seem to consider taking away the children of people who dared to practice homeschooling acceptable:

German authorities who sent 15 uniformed police officers to take custody of a 15-year-old girl who committed the crime of being homeschooled now have suggested a solution that, in their minds, would "resolve" the situation: the parents should give up custody of their other five children.

The situation involving Melissa Busekros has been in the headlines ever since the beginning of this month, when the officers arrived at her parents' home with a court order allowing them to take her into custody, "if necessary by force."

It's clear that Germany has a long way to go, if at all, if they're to become a real democracy. This is truly despicable, and needs to be taken to task as best as possible.

Dieudonne gets charged for mouthing off with anti-Semitic slurs

Dieudonne, the pseudo-comedian whom Jean-Marie Le Pen has been getting chummy with lately, has been charged by a French court for his anti-Semitism:

(IsraelNN.com) The French High Court has overruled a lower court decision and decided that humorist Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala slurred Jews in January 2002. In an interview with a newspaper, he was quoted as saying, "Racism was created by Abraham. The 'Chosen People' [is] the beginning of racism. Muslims today are just answering back."

He also stated that "anti-Semitism does not exist because the Jews do not exist.... In my opinion, the Jews are a sect, a rip-off."

A lower court has decided that the remarks were aimed against the influence of religion and not against Jews, but the High Court ruled in favor of Jewish groups who appealed the decision.

Dieudonne was making racist cracks, and in the second paragraph, he was trying to confuse the differences between the Jewish race and its founding religion. His slur is definitely bizarre.

Traitorous collaborators arrested

Some traitors to Israel were arrested in Tel Aviv:

JERUSALEM (AP) - Police said Sunday they had arrested Israeli staff at two Tel Aviv companies, suspected of helping channel funds to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad Palestinian militant groups.

Authorities raided offices of Shintrako Ltd. and Mayan Customs Brokers and International Forwarding Sunday in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan, the police said in a statement. Police arrested the general manager of Shintrako and other workers of the two companies, the statement said.

Mayan accountant Tzvika Koren denied that anyone from the company was arrested and said police had only questioned several employees, including himself. The company was not involved in any illegal activity, since it only relayed Shintrako imports through customs, Koren said.

Shintrako did not immediately return a call requesting comment.

The companies are suspected of funding Hamas and Islamic Jihad through a company they did business with in the Gaza Strip, the statement said. Shintrako had been warned not to work with the company but found ways to help it get around trade restrictions imposed by Israel, the release said.

Police report an increase during the past year in the flow of clandestine finance to Palestinian militant groups squeezed by a financial blockade imposed by international aid donors since Hamas last year won parliamentary elections and control of the Palestinian government.

"These funds are used as fuel to ignite terror and they allow these organizations to preserve and expand their organized infrastructure," the police statement said.

Anyone making business investments in Israel, whether or not they're residents, would do well to avoid doing business with these traitorous companies.

IDF raids and puts curfew on Shechem (Nablus)

A positive step taken by the IDF:

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) - Dozens of Israeli jeeps and armored vehicles poured into Nablus overnight Sunday, placing large areas of the city under curfew and conducting house-to-house arrest raids in one of the largest West Bank military operations in months.

The army also took over local television and radio stations, ordering people to remain indoors and warning residents that the clampdown would remain in effect for several days, Palestinian residents said. Two soldiers and several Palestinians were lightly wounded in clashes, officials said.

An Israeli military spokesman said the operation was aimed at countering "terrorist threats" in Nablus. The raid came a day after Israeli troops discovered an explosives laboratory in the city. Nablus, the West Bank's largest city and commercial center, is known as a stronghold of Palestinian militants.

[...]

The Israeli forces began moving into Nablus about 3 a.m. and continued to move in for several hours, Palestinian witnesses said. They said about 80 military vehicles, along with several bulldozers, were in the city.

The bulldozers erected huge piles of rubble to block movement on main roads, witnesses said. The main entrance to the city also was closed.

It should remain that way too. If Fatah is going to allow terrorists (whom the AP refers to in PC-terms as "militants") to maintain bases there, then it can't be opened again until they're all cleaned out.

Update: here's another article about the raid from YnetNews with a video podcast.

Open trackbacks: Church and State, Is it Just Me.

No change on sanctions for Abbas

And yet, "Mickey D'Orsay", as Phillipe Douste-Blazy is nicknamed, proved to be as bad and insulting as his own boss, Chirac. From the AP Wire:

PARIS - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ended his European tour Saturday without persuading any country to end crippling economic sanctions based on his power-sharing deal with the rival Islamic militant Hamas.

The bright spot in his trip was a promise Saturday from French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy to work with a government that includes Hamas and Abbas' more moderate Fatah party. His comments were more positive than those of other European leaders during Abbas' four-country tour. But Douste-Blazy made no commitments on resuming aid frozen since Hamas won parliamentary elections a year ago.

Enough pushing the "moderate" tommyrot already, AP. As for Douste-Blazy, while he may not have made any commitments on aid, he's still a disgrace if he's willing to work with Abbas (and I wouldn't be surprised if Britain's government was even even more welcoming in their reception, even if it doesn't actually say so here).

Still more clashes in Gaza

No sooner is there a discussion about "unity" that takes place in Saudi Arabia than everything breaks down anew. Two days ago, there was fresh violence following the killing of a youth. Now, there's more clashes taking place, the latest over the killing of a Hamas commander. At least four killed and 20 injured.

They even say they expect a new coalition formed by next month. But with the way things are going now, there's no telling if that'll last long.

Update: here's one more report from the AP.

Violent leftist student assaulted college Republicans

I think there's a case to be made for banning partisan politics at universities if this is what leftists are going to do, and start ruining themselves over their political viewpoints. First, here's a starting report from the Fredricksburg Free Lance-Star (via Michelle Malkin):

A Fredericksburg man was arrested Saturday on charges he assaulted three strangers at their home during a dispute over politics, police said.

According to a Fredericksburg police report, the suspect went to a home in the 900 block of Marye Street about 5:30 p.m. after finding one of the resident's name on a Republican Web site.

The resident and his two roommates engaged in a discussion with the suspect, though none of them had ever met or had contact with him before.

The argument got heated and the suspect learned that the young residents had not enlisted in the military and "put their all" behind the Republican-led war effort in Iraq, police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said.

The suspect refused to leave the home after repeatedly being asked to do so, police said. The three roommates were hit multiple times each as they attempted to get the suspect out of the door, authorities said.

The suspect continued to be aggressive and disorderly even after a city police officer arrived, the report states.

Andrew Stone, 23, was charged with three counts of assault and battery. A magistrate released Stone on his own recognizance and he was ordered to have no further contact with the victims.

It was not clear in the report what political agenda Stone was supporting.

But now, in this followup provided by Michelle, the agenda is - he didn't like their standings, and the only way this muscle-bound dummy named Andrew Stone could think to solve his problems was by brawling around. He tracked the victims through Facebook, which shows that it can be almost as dangerous a venture as MySpace. And he should be completely ostracized for his crime. As seen in the screenshots of some of his other postings on Facebook, he's anti-semitic and pro-Islamic/terrorist as well.

See, this is what I think makes a very good case for why people otherwise shouldn't be wasting their time on political matters. Why must leftists do this to themselves, when they could be much more confortable going to a movie house or an amusement park? Why must they waste their time in politics? This is exactly what's destroying creativity in entertainment too, because they're starting to prove incapable of keeping their political positions from impeding on their creative talent.

That's exactly why, if you ask me, leftists should be moving away from politics, and finding other, better things to do.

Update: the creepy man plead guilty, and was ordered to do community service (Hat tip: Michelle). He recieved a suspended sentence, but I think he should've done at least a month of jail time. Besides, isn't it illegal to impersonate army recruiters?

Others on the subject include Rhymes With Right, Reformed Chicks Babbling, The Jawa Report, Texas Rainmaker, Jammie Wearing Fool, Right Voices, Mary Katherine Ham, On the Right, The Thunder Run, Blogmeister USA, Right Pundits, Conspiracy what Conspiracy, Maggie's Farm, Sister Toldjah, The New Editor, Iowa Voice, Riehl World View, The Mighty Righty, Ace of Spades HQ, JaM News, Teresa Centric, Mark Nicodemo, The Drive By Review, The Learning Curve, Spatula City BBS, Matt's Thoughts, SOTUblog, Right Wing News, The Violence Worker.

Free Kareem Suleiman

We shouldn't be leading relations with Egypt if this is how they're going to treat those who disagree with Islam. Suleiman, whose support site can be found here, has just been convicted for his "crime" and sentenced to four years in prison (H/T: Michelle Malkin). He needs all the support he can get now to be freed.

Should children be exempt from passport rules?

This seems to be what the Dubya administration and the DHS want to do now, in another example of how America's security is risking hazards:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is expected to announce on Thursday that it will exempt children from new rules that will require people to show passports when entering the U.S. at land or sea borders.

The new passport requirements are expected to take effect as soon as January 2008. But under the expected announcement, children aged 15 or younger with parental consent will be allowed to cross the borders at land and sea entry points with a certified copy of their birth certificates rather than passports.

Children aged 16 through 18 traveling with school, religious, cultural or athletic groups and under adult supervision will also be allowed to travel with only their birth certificates.

Notice the part about religious groups? It doesn't any or which, but one can only wonder if this includes those travelling with Muslim groups. Possible?

The details were described by a Department of Homeland Security official who requested anonymity because the announcement has not yet been made.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was expected to announce the relaxation in rules at a speech in Detroit on Thursday afternoon.

Beginning last January 23, nearly all air travelers entering the U.S. who are citizens of Canada, Mexico, Bermuda or the Caribbean - as well as returning American citizens - have been required to display passports. Children entering the United States by air will still be required to show passports.

The Homeland Security official said the easing of rules for children entering by land or sea was in part the result of talks between the department and Canadians and interested state officials. Canada and U.S. border states have been concerned that the passport requirements would hurt legitimate travel and commerce.

When the new requirements for travelers crossing land and sea borders take effect, it will bring residents of Western Hemisphere nations under the same rules as travelers from the rest of the world.

The rules were mandated by Congress in 2004 as a response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the recommendations by the Sept. 11 commission that border security be tightened.

Last October, Congress passed an amendment sponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, that would postpone the day the land and sea rules take effect for as long as 17 months, till June 2009, if certain conditions have not been met.

One of those conditions was to develop an alternative procedure for groups of children traveling across the border under adult supervision and with parental consent.

Chertoff will meet with local officials in Detroit before traveling to Ottawa, Canada, for meetings Friday with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts.

I think this is, simply put, not something anyone with common sense wants if the country's security is to be kept safe. Because what if this enabled tricks to smuggle children into the country illegally? Exactly why this cannot be accepted, and therefore, a firm objection to this latest questionable step is required.

Le Pen opens his big mouth again

Here we go again. Jean-MarieDhimmi Le Pen has dismissed September 11 as a "mere incident":

PARIS, Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) - French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen has dismissed the September 11, 2001 attacks as an "incident", saying the death toll of 3,000 was equal to the number of people killed in Iraq in a month.

Le Pen made the comment in an interview published Wednesday with the Catholic newspaper La Croix during which he praised Islamic leaders for condemning the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

"The September 11 event, or one could say incident, prompted a certain number of people to distance themselves (from Islamic extremism) to avoid falling under the barrage of accusations that was then unleashed," said Le Pen.

Commenting on the death toll from the attacks, Le Pen said: "3,000 dead, that is how many die in Iraq in a month and it's far less than the deaths in the Marseille or Dresden bombings at the end of the Second World War."

The National Front leader said the World War II bombings were "also terrorist acts as they expressly targeted civilians to force military leaders to capitulate."

If he's referring to the bombing of Dresden, wasn't that enemy territory, and a place where nazi headquarters and rocket launchers were located? And look at how he seems to be drawing yet another moral equation between Dresden and Marseille. Did it ever occur to him that the Free French forces and other allied armies were raiding that area at the time to liberate it from the nazi tyranny?

Let's also not forget that this is the same scumbag who insulted his fellow French a couple months ago, and who, back in the mid-80s, did something similar to this current search for media attention when he called the Holocaust "a detail".

He is simply unbearable, and having heard in the news that he's still having trouble getting signatures for running for president, well, I should certainly hope so. He does not deserve to be a leader.

Others rightfully outraged include Drunken Blogging, Cacciaguida.

Tony Blair prepares to run away from Iraq

Let's face it, Tony Blair is just simply weak in the knees:

LONDON (AP) - British troops have achieved many tangible successes in Iraq - securing oil platforms, rounding up rogue police units and driving smugglers carrying weapons and contraband from waterways and border crossings.

Now some of these tasks will be ceded to Iraqi troops for good.

Under proposals laid out by Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday, Britain will withdraw about 1,600 troops from Iraq over the coming months and hopes to make other cuts to its 7,100-strong contingent by late summer.

[...]

Some analysts fear a militia resurgence once British troops withdraw and warn Iran may attempt to step up its influence in the region.

Blair's official spokesman, on customary condition of anonymity in line with policy, acknowledged British officials "still believed Iranian supplied ordinance is coming across the border."

But Blair said the decision to withdraw was made because the south had "no Sunni insurgency, no al-Qaida base, little Sunni on Shia violence."

Uh, Tony, how do you know that these problems couldn't return once you've left? Risks can't be taken, you know, and by abandoning your posts in Iraq, you're running the risk of enabling the terrorists to gain a foothold anew.

The sad truth, I think, is that Blair is caving in to the opposition he faces back in the Blighty, which may have been against raiding Iraq and stopping Saddam from the very beginning.

Romano Prodi resigns

This is good news, considering how Prodi, the minute he was in office, quickly revealed what a dhimmi he is:

ROME - Premier Romano Prodi resigned Wednesday after nine months in office following an embarrassing loss by his center-left government in the Senate on foreign policy, including Italy's military mission in Afghanistan.

[...]

The loss, by two votes in the Senate, came on a bid by Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema to rally the often bickering partners in the coalition, which range from Christian Democrats to Communists. He was hoping to the allies would close ranks in the vote on foreign policy, including Italy's military mission in Afghanistan, but his bid backfired.

"Foreign police involves the role and image of Italy in the world and the life of our soldiers committed to international peace mission," said conservative opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi, whom Prodi had defeated in elections in April. The loss meant Prodi had the "obligation" to resign, Berlusconi insisted.

Italy has 1,800 troops in Afghanistan, which were sent in by Berlusconi. The current government has agreed to keep the troops there, sparking opposition from its own Communist allies.

[...]

A centrist opposition leader, Pier Ferdinando Casini, said it would be tough for Prodi to try to put together a new government.

"He pretends not to see" his problems in mustering a majority, Casini said in an interview on state TV. "If he wants to go ahead, good luck" in trying to form a new government, but "the country is paying the price, Casini said.

While Prodi's forces had a razor-thin majority on paper in the Senate, which failed to come through for him in Wednesday's vote, his coalition partners have a more comfortable margin in the lower Chamber of Deputies.

Berlusconi may have a good chance of being reelected too. As for Prodi, the really atrocious thing about his policies is how this very same politician who opposed the war in Afghanistan and Iraq was willing on the other hand to send troops to Lebanon, yet not to take down the Hezbollah. What's the point of sending troops to Lebanon if they are unable to fulfill a good deed by ridding the world of terrorist scum?

Cross-posted to Maverick News Network. Open trackbacks: Pirates' Cove, Pursuing Holiness, The Trouble With Angels.

Dumb spam comment by a Muslim...in Salt Lake City?

A trolling poster wrote the following mishmash on this entry on my comics blog (since then erased):

mullah cimoc (stop1984today@yahoo.com) wrote the following:

Mullah Cimoc say

ameriki people so smart hate bush for let israeli control usa.

is true that neocon people plan war for usa soldier die for israel?

is true neocon want "pearl harbor like event" for make ameriki hate muslim.

Now ameriki so smart after die so many good ameriki men. Now time destroy israel spy and agent in white house and pentagon. good idea. you go girl.

Gee, I wonder what exactly this lemming is talking about; he's just too incomprehensible. That said, "ameriki" is how some Arabic speakers pronounce America in that language.

The IP address, 67.166.110.107, traced to around Salt Lake City. I wonder if the head case who wrote the above was a Bosnian Muslim, like the monstrous Sulejman Talovic, who went on a shooting spree at Trolley Square mall last week?

And while we're on the subject, there's more about Talovic: KUTV has a report revealing that Talovic had a history of violence, including threatening a house landlord with a knife (Hat tip: Free Constitution):

(KUTV) SALT LAKE CITY Years before Talovic’s killing spree he may have had a disturbing encounter with a man; it reportedly involved a knife.

According to the man, who says he was the family’s landlord. Sulejman Talovic as a young boy pulled a knife and said he was going to kill him.

He did not have the firepower, age and senseless aim, but about age ten it’s alleged that Sulejmen Talovic had moments with Musto Redzovic, a reported landlord, which Redzovic has not forgotten.

He says the young Talovic had a knife and threatened to kill him ‘for no reason.’

“He cam to me with a knife and he said, ‘I’m gonna kill you,’ and I was joking with him,” says Redzovic, “I said, ‘what did I did to you? I give you a dollar the other day,’ or something like that.”

Redzovic continues, “‘He said, ‘I’m just gonna kill you for no reason.’ The kid was not normal, he needed help.”

And the Salt Lake Tribune reports that:

At age 12, Talovic was before a judge for allegedly holding a knife over the head of girl while stating, "I'll kill you," according to a source who is familiar with the case.

Two years earlier, Talovic was referred to juvenile court for throwing rocks at a little girl.

[...]

The first girl was not struck by the stones. And the mother of the second girl snatched her up in the nick of time, just as Talovic took a swipe with the blade, according to the source, who has seen court documents relating to the case.

[...]

The knife brandishing episode involving the girl occurred on April 24, 2001, and was eventually dismissed because the victim and her mother could not be located.

Talovic was also referred to court for stealing fireworks from a Smith's grocery store on June 22, 2001.

And his parents have the gall to say that he's a "nice person"? Oh, of course they do. Muslims like the ones comprising his family seem totally incapable of being honest.

Muslim "cabbie" tries to run over passengers with stolen vehicle

It's not just in Minneapolis where there's potentially dangerous Somali Muslims living. Even in Nashville, there seems to be some, including the following one who attacked two of his passengers:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A local cab driver allegedly tried to run over two customers after a fight over religion became heated.

The incident happened early Sunday morning on the Vanderbilt campus and left one man hospitalized and a cab driver arrested, said police.

Two students visiting from Ohio were coming from a bar downtown when they got into an argument with their driver over religion, said police. After they paid the driver he allegedly ran them down in a parking lot.

Ibrihim Ahmned, of United Cab, was arrested and charged with assault, attempted homicide and theft. One of the passengers, Andrew Nelson, managed to outrun the cab but Jeremy Invus was taken to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center with serious injuries, said police.

Ahmed has been convicted of misdemeanors including evading arrest in a motor vehicle and driving on a suspended license, said police.

Ahmed was charged with theft because police said the license plate on his cab was listed as stolen. His bond is set at $300,000.

A cab driver who uses stolen cars. But still nothing compared to his attempt to murder the two passengers.

Open trackbacks: Outside the Beltway, Pirates' Cove, Pursuing Holiness, The Trouble With Angels.

Austria sold rifles to Iran, and even defends their actions

Austria apparently hasn't changed much since WW2, when they, along with Germany, led the nazis. Now, as the International Herald Tribune (via No Pasaran and Davids Medienkritik) reports, these rifles, built by Steyr-Manlicher, are being used by terrorists to murder soldiers in Iraq:

LONDON: Sophisticated rifles supplied to Iran by an Austrian arms company are finding their way into the hands of Iraqi insurgents, a British newspaper reported Tuesday.

American troops have recovered more than 100 "Steyr .50 HS" rifles in Iraq, part of an Austrian consignment of 800 such weapons delivered to Iran over American protests that they could be given to insurgents, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The Austrian government approved the sale of the rifles, made by precision weapons maker Steyr Mannlicher GmbH, after it concluded in 2004 that they would be used to fight narcotics smugglers.

"We checked the proposal very thoroughly," Austrian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Astrid Harz said, noting that the situation in Iraq and the region in 2003-2004 was very different then than it is today.

No kidding. That is so naive and on-the-defensive, it's disgusting.

"What happened to the weapons then is the responsibility of the Iranians," Harz said.

Not to mention yours too, you disgraceful "politician". I'd say there should be sanctions issued against Austria for what they've led to!

The truth about the Empire State Building attacker

Ten years ago, a Muslim teacher in NYC named Ali Abu Kamal went up in the Empire State Building and opened fire with a gun there, murdering at least one person before killing himself. The MSM, however, wouldn't tell the whole story. Now, his daughter, who works in the UN, has admitted what was really the case (Hat tip: Little Green Footballs), though unfortunately, she upholds his act of murder before he committed suicide:

GAZA CITY - Ali Abu Kamal’s relatives say they are tired of lying about why the Palestinian opened fire on the observation deck of Empire State Building, killing a tourist and injuring six other people before committing suicide.

Kamal’s widow insisted after the shooting spree that the attack was not politically motivated. She said that her husband had become suicidal after losing $300,000 in a business venture.

But in a stunning admission, Kamal’s 48-year-old daughter Linda told the Daily News that her dad wanted to punish the U.S. for supporting Israel - and revealed her mom’s 1997 account was a cover story crafted by the Palestinian Authority.

“A Palestinian Authority official advised us to say the attack was not for political reasons because that would harm the peace agreement with Israel,” she told The News on Friday. “We didn’t know that he was martyred for patriotic motivations, so we repeated what we were told to do.”

But three days after the shootings, Kamal’s family got a copy of a letter that was found on his body, they said. The letter said he planned the violence as a political statement, his daughter said. “When we wanted to clarify that to the media, nobody listened to us,” she said. “His goal was patriotic. He wanted to take revenge from the Americans, the British, the French and the Israelis.”

She said the family became certain that he carried out the attack for political reasons after reading his diary. “He wrote that after he raised his children and made sure that his family was all right he decided to avenge in the highest building in America to make sure they get his message,” said Linda, who works for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

She said her mom burned the diary, fearing that it would cause the family trouble.

The little fiend of a "daughter" should be ashamed of herself for the way she's talking. That shows exactly why people like that don't deserve statehood.

Update: Dan Riehl (via Michelle Malkin) notes that Rudy Giuliani used this as a tool for advocating gun control when he was mayor of NYC. Instead of focusing on the religio-psychological matters that led to this, Giuliani would rather deal with gun control.

Open trackbacks: Basil's Blog, Jo's Cafe, Maggie's Notebook, Pirate's Cove, Samantha Burns.

More Kadima members speaking out against Olmert

Ehud Olmert faces more and more criticism from inside his own party:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced sharp criticism over the weekend from two political foes inside his Kadima Party, coalition chairman Avigdor Yitzhaki and Construction and Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit.

The criticism showed that members of Olmert's party felt freer than they had in the past to speak their mind about a prime minister who had led their party to its tailspin in the polls.

"I understand the feelings in the public that Israel is in the midst of the worst leadership crisis since its inception," Yitzhaki said in a speech on Saturday in Beersheba. "It will take time until we succeed in bringing forth a leader whom the public could trust and support."

But not with that "party", I don't think.

Open trackbacks: The Amboy Times, Basil's Blog, Jo's Cafe, Maggie's Notebook, Samantha Burns.

Four-legged duck

It's something rare, but just a short time ago, it seems that there was a case of a duckling born that grew four legs!

LONDON (AP) - Webbed feet run in Stumpy's family, but a rare mutation has left the eight-day-old duckling with two nearly full-sized legs behind the two he runs on.

Nicky Janaway, a duck farmer in New Forest, Hampshire, 95 miles southwest of London, unveiled the duckling to reporters on Saturday.

"It was absolutely bizarre. I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting 'one, two, three, four,'" Janaway said.

Stumpy would probably not survive in the wild, but Janaway, who runs the Warrawee Duck Farm in New Forest says he is doing well.

"He's eating and surviving so far and he is running about with those extra legs acting like stabilizers," Janaway said.

The mutation is rare, but cases have been recorded across the world. One duckling named Jake was born in Queensland, Australia, in 2002 with four legs but died soon after.

While having four legs probably isn't as comfy for a bird as it could be, I do hope our little feller there will live a good life for as long as he does.

Moderate Muslim threatened by non-moderates

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a moderate Muslim was menaced by other non-moderate ones (H/T: Michelle Malkin). Hot Air has a podcast about him, and also a PDF report by the Freedom House on Saudi mosque funding.

But Jane, we already heard you, didn't we?

Jane Fonda thinks she hasn't been heard yet:

FOR HER next act, Jane Fonda has entered the fight against the Iraq war.

Towards the end of Saturday's anti-war rally Fonda stood onstage with the Capitol behind her and addressed the tens of thousands of protesters. "I haven't spoken at an anti-war rally in 34 years," she said. But "silence is no longer an option".

Um, but Jane, you already made that clear in 2003 and 2005, didn't you?

A really stupid person she is alright. Saying and doing things that we can just as well do without.

H/T: The House of Wheels.

Open trackbacks: Church and State, Right Voices, Stop the ACLU.

Knesset draft bill gives farmers the right to defend property with force

A positive step in ensuring that farmers will be able to act in self-defense against intruders. From Israel Insider:

A new draft bill proposing that land owners who take physical action to defend against intruders on their property not be subjectable to prosecution self-defense passed a first reading in the Knesset on Wednesday.

Inspired by the ordeal of a southern farmer who shot and killed Bedouin criminals he caught on his farm last month, former Agriculture Minister and Likud MK Yisrael Katz described his draft bill as "revolutionary."

"This is one of the most significant civil revolutions in years," Katz said of his bill which was passed by a 37-19 vote. The bill needs to pass second and third votes to become law.

Shai Dromi fired at Khaled al-Atrash and Ayoub al-Hawashleh who broke into his Negev farm in late January. Dromi was charged with manslaughter for the killing of al-Atrash.

Al-Hawashleh was injured and was indicted for attempted burglary upon recovering from his injuries.

With this, I hope that Dromi will be fully exonerated soon.

J-Lo makes a film of importance, but should she have taken an award from Amnesty Intl?

Jennifer Lopez has put together a movie based on a subject that I once spoke about a while back - the murders of as many as 400 women in Juarez, Mexico, since 1993:

BERLIN (AP) - Jennifer Lopez has been honored by Amnesty International for producing and starring in "Bordertown," a new film examining the murders of women in a Mexican border city.

Lopez said she felt very humbled to receive the human rights group's Artists for Amnesty award Wednesday from East Timor's Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace laureate.

The 38-year-old singer-actress plays an investigative journalist reporting on the serial killings of women in Ciudad Juarez, on Mexico's border with the U.S.

Amnesty International puts the number of women and girls killed in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua since 1993 - many after being kidnapped and raped - at more than 400.

Lopez described it as "one of the world's most shocking and disturbing, underreported crimes against humanity."

Also at Wednesday's ceremony was Norma Andrade, whose 17-year-old daughter was found murdered in February 2001. She co-founded Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa (Our Daughters Back Home), which represents mothers and families of the murdered women.

"She's a remarkable woman and a true inspiration," Lopez said.

"Bordertown," directed by Gregory Nava and also starring Antonio Banderas and Martin Sheen, was to premiere Thursday at the Berlin film festival.

Now this is certainly an important case, and it's good that they thought to make a movie about it, but, considering that Amnesty is otherwise a corrupt organization that has done dishonest and hurtful things before, that's why I have to wonder: should J-Lo have accepted an award from them? I really don't think she should have. To take an award of any sort from that bunch of phonies is simply stupid. That doesn't mean I and you can't see the movie, but all the same, I think she should've shunned Amnesty and let them know who they really are.

Open trackbacks: Church and State, Jo's Cafe, Phastidio.Net, Right Voices.

Hamas/Fatah disagreements take place again

I thought it could happen:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh Thursday in a bid to resolve the political crisis in the Palestinian Authority. Abbas will deliver to Haniyeh the letter of appointment for the establishment of the coalition government.

The Palestinian unity government deal reached in Mecca between Hamas and Fatah was thrown into question Wednesday night when Abbas canceled the Thursday speech in which he intended to present the deal to the Palestinian people.

Abbas also called off a Thursday visit to the Gaza Strip, where he was slated to deliver to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh the letter of appointment for the establishment of the coalition government.

Palestinian sources said the crisis broke out due in part to disagreements over the Interior Ministry portfolio. According to the sources, the conflict primarily resulted from disagreement over appointments.

Haniyeh was supposed to serve his resignation Thursday immediately after Abbas' speech. Now, however, Haniyeh has delayed his resignation.

Hamas officials claimed the delay was due to technical problems, but Fatah representatives said it was because Hamas introduced conditions which contradicted the Mecca agreement.

Haniyeh won't resign. Not by a longshot. He'll keep on leading the Hamas itself in one way or another, for as long as he's in existence.

Blogs for Borders Blogburst

Go here to see Freedom Folks' first Blogs for Borders video burst recording. It's pretty good.

Howard scores again: says it right about Barack Obama

Australia's prime minister John Howard has come out against Democratic Senator Barack Obama (H/T: Melanie Phillips):

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Australia's conservative prime minister slammed U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Sunday over the candidate's opposition to the Iraq war, saying it encourages terrorists and threatens to destabilize the Middle East.

The first-term U.S. senator announced Saturday that he will run for the White House in 2008, saying the country's first priority should be to end the war in Iraq.

Obama has also introduced a bill to prevent U.S. President George W. Bush from increasing American troop levels in Iraq, and to remove U.S. combat forces from the country by March 31, 2008.

[...]

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who will face his own re-election bid later this year, said Obama's policy would spell disaster for the Middle East.

"I think that will just encourage those who want to completely destabilize and destroy Iraq, and create chaos and a victory for the terrorists to hang on and hope for an Obama victory," Howard said on Nine Network television.

"If I were running al Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory, not only for Obama but also for the Democrats."

Howard makes some excellent points. That could be why the AP has been trying to claim that the Australian public is against him now. Message to AP: stop trying to insult the public's intellect. If I lived Down Under, I'd want to vote for Howard now.

Barack Obama recently insulted US troops, as seen in this video (via Michelle Malkin), where he said:

OBAMA: We ended up launching a war that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged and to which we have now spent $400 billion and has seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted.

There is a lot to be done in order to make Iraq a democracy, but what Obama is saying certainly won't lead to it. Clearly, he does not appreciate the fact that a repulsive dictator was brought down and recently given a sound punishment for his crimes. He is not worthy as a presidential candidate, and Howard is quite right to criticize him.

Others on the subject include Leaning Straight Up, Hot Air, Narcissistic Views on News/Politics, Bill's Bites, Brutally Honest, Cop the Truth, Sensible Mom, Lone Star Pundit.

Recommended French Resistance movie: Army of Shadows

The Arizona Daily Star recommends seeing Jean-Pierre Melville's 1969 movie, Army of Shadows, an overlooked gem based on his own experience as a member of the French Resistance during WW2. If it's playing at your local arthouse, see it ASAP.

Teen shooter in Salt Lake was Bosnian Muslim

When I first saw the name in the AP coverage of the gunman at a Salt Lake City shopping mall, which is Sulejman Talovic, I certainly had to wonder about the first name. Now, thanks to the Salt Lake Tribune I was shocked to find out, that it looks like the killer was:

The 18-year-old man who shot and killed at least five people Monday night at Trolley Square has been identified as Sulejmen Talovic, a Bosnian refugee who lived in Salt Lake City.

Little additional information was released about Talovic.

The Bosnian community, which numbers about 3,000 in Utah, planned a news conference later this afternoon.

Talovic parked his car in the west parking lot and walked into the mall, encountering two people, whom he shot. Then he walked further into the mall and shot a woman, said Police Chief Chris Burbank.

He then walked to a gift shop and shot five people. He shot several other people before he was gunned down by an off-duty Ogden police officer assisted by four Salt Lake City police officers, Burbank said.

He had a backpack that carried numerous rounds of ammunition as well as a .38-caliber handgun, said the chief.

Police have no motive in the killing.

Perhaps they might want to check into his religious educational background?

Update: The Islamic Threat has more.

Others on the subject include Jihad Watch, Michelle Malkin, Ace of Spades, View From the Nest, Hugh Hewitt, Infidels Are Cool, Free Constitution, Israpundit, Know More Media (plus, another one), The Saloon.

French leftists move to the right

Several French intellectuals who identified with the left-wing before are beginning to move to the right-wing now. From the Washington Post (via Purple Avenger):

PARIS -- One by one, several French writers and intellectuals are making the startling confessions. After decades as committed leftists, they are defecting to the right _ many saying they've lost faith in Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal.

With just 10 weeks to go until the election's first round, Royal still has no platform. She has made gaffes on international affairs, and her popularity with intellectuals and ordinary voters alike has slipped, leaving conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy at the top of the polls.

Did the carbeques serve as a wakeup call for them? It's very good that now, they're starting to realize that Royal is simply not fit for the job.

Sarkozy on the other hand made an excellent move by offering support for Charlie Hebdo in the lawsuit filed against them for publishing the Mohammed cartoons last year (via The Jawa Report). He's got a good point, that satire is something the French are good at, and should continue with their talent.

Chertoff undermines Federal officials by resorting to "Islam PC"

He's against the use of "Islamic extremists" in reports and training for dealing with terrorism. Federal officials are rightfully angry about this. From WorldNetDaily (via Dhimmi Watch):

Citing recent internal memos, Department of Homeland Security employees complain their boss Michael Chertoff is hamstringing counter-terror operations with pro-Islamic political correctness.

They say headquarters has cautioned officials not to describe Islamic terrorism as Islamic and to respect Islam as a "religion of peace."

"It's constantly drilled into us that Islam is not the enemy, and that the terrorists are merely a minority of 'extremists' distorting Islam," said one official who wished to go unnamed.

DHS Secretary Chertoff set the tone in a staffwide memo last year, when he described as "extremists" the two dozen Muslim terrorists who plotted to blow up 10 airliners over the Atlantic. Unlike British authorities, Chertoff did not mention the religious motivation of the terrorists. Nowhere in the one-page memo were the terms "Muslim" or "Islamic" used.

WND has obtained a copy of the internal alert from Chertoff, which was distributed to staff at 7:57 a.m. Aug. 10 – within hours, it says, of the arrests of "a significant number of extremists engaged in a substantial plot to destroy multiple aircraft flying from the United Kingdom to the United States."

"It's ridiculous. 'Extremists' could mean anyone. Who are we talking about here? Neo-Nazi extremists? Environmental extremists?" another DHS official said. "It's so politically correct. If the head of Homeland Security can't say it, who can?"

He noted that as a Jew, Chertoff is especially sensitive to charges of bigotry leveled by Muslim-rights groups.

In a press conference on the sky-terror plot, President Bush called the British terrorists and their ilk "Islamic fascists" but quickly backed off the remark after the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other Muslim groups complained.

Longtime Bush confidante Karen Hughes warned the blunt phrase was hurting her efforts at the State Department to improve the U.S. image in the Muslim world. The president has not used the term again, opting instead for the generic "extremists."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also has toned down her war rhetoric.

Last month she referred to the terrorist group Hamas as a "resistance movement," even though the group has been on her department's official terror blacklist for a dozen years.

A former senior CIA analyst says America is losing the war on Islamic terror because of such political correctness.

"We are losing in Iraq and Afghanistan because the political leaders in both parties – and their politically correct acolytes in the media, the academy and the general officer corps – refuse to square with the American people about the enemy's motivation," said Michael F. Scheuer, who headed the CIA's bin Laden unit.

He says the enemy is motivated by faith in Islam and is carrying out a jihad, or holy war, against the West.

The guy's got a very good point. How can we win the war in Iraq if we don't identify clearly what the motivating ideology is for any terrorists there, including the deposed and recently executed dictator Saddam himself? The same goes for when dealing with Iran, which we're going to have to go to war with sooner or later.

Chertoff is going to have to leave office, as he is clearly not fit for the job, if he's going to just keel over to PC-dom as he is.

US Border Patrol agent beaten in prison, Sen. Tancredo pays visit

Ignacio Ramos, one of the two Border Patrol agents wrongfully convicted of shooting a drug dealer, was recently beaten in prison by other convicts and initially did not get proper medical attention (via Pirates' Cove). Sen. Tom Tancredo visited the officer in prison to see what had happened. From his website's news page (via Arizona 8th):

Congressman: Convicted agent's injuries are worse than reported

(Feb 10, WASHINGTON, DC) - An imprisoned former Border Patrol agent who was beaten in his sleep has injuries that are more serious than previously reported, said a congressman on Friday.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., met with Ignacio Ramos, who was convicted in March for the nonfatal shooting of a Mexican drug smuggler. Ramos is serving an 11-year sentence at Yazoo Correctional Complex in Mississippi.

Tancredo said he was astonished at the injuries on Ramos' body, which he said did not coincide with reports from the prison earlier this week that described his injuries as "minor."

"His bruises were deep and severe," Tancredo said. "His arm, chest and back are black and blue with broken blood vessels on his arm. It was terrible."

Ramos was beaten Saturday night by roughly a half-dozen inmates who recognized him from a TV show that aired shortly before 10 p.m. He was pulled from his cell, which remains unlocked until midnight, by the inmates and kicked repeatedly by the men who were wearing steel-toed boots. The boots are issued to inmates for their daily work, according to the prison's Web site.

Ramos did not see a doctor until Wednesday, Tancredo said.

The prison's warden, Constance Reese, did not return phone calls for comment.

According to a prison press release, "Ramos was evaluated by medical staff at the institution, who determined he had sustained some bruises and abrasions."

Charles Smith, a spokesman for the institution, also said in the release that Ramos' injuries "were minor in nature."

"Inmate Ramos was subsequently placed in the Special Housing Unit pending a thorough investigation of the incident. He will remain in the Special Housing Unit until the conclusion of this investigation."

Prison officials have interviewed six inmates associated with the assault, Tancredo added. The congressman said he is working to move the former agent to a facility where Ramos will be safe.

Representatives of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, visited the facility with Tancredo. Tara Setmayer, Rohrabacher's communications director, said she was astonished at the injuries Ramos sustained.

Setmayer said Reese refused to allow her, or Tancredo, to view photos taken of Ramos the night of the incident or any documents regarding the ongoing investigation into the case.

"To underestimate the seriousness of the assault on (Ramos) is a disingenuous characterization by the prison officials," Setmayer said. "He clearly is the victim of a vicious attack. And the ineptitude demonstrated by prison officials with such a high-profile prisoner is troubling."

This is even more disturbing than I thought. First, the agent is convicted while a drug dealer goes free. Then, same agent received even more contempt by not geting proper medical attention. The man MUST be freed from prison. Tancredo did the right thing to pay him a visit.

Open trackbacks: 123Beta, Blue Star Chronicles, bRight and Early, Conservative Thoughts, Pursuing Holiness, The Right Nation, Right Pundits.

AP alters quote in CAIR attack on Ayaan Hirsi Ali

While CAIR's attack on Hirsi Ali was bad enough as it was, it's also bad that the AP is trying to sanitize what they said. Hot Air features the two quotes, one posted early in the morning, the other posted later.

The Dems have an awful imam speaking at their convention

Debbie Schlussel wrote recently about an anti-Israeli imam from Dearbornistan, Husham al-Husainy, whom Michelle Malkin and Hot Air featured a video about a week ago. And the Dems dare to embrace this monster? Simply disgraceful.

Others rightfully offended include The Night Writer, The Crawfish, Old War Dogs, Jammie Wearing Fool, Kevin McCullough, Narcissistic Views on News/Politics.

Giuliani runs for president, but that doesn't mean he's worthy

Rudy Giuliani is now running for president. However, due to his record on illegal immigration, I think that's why I would not recommend him for candidacy.

On National Review (via Michelle Malkin), they have a good argument:

Many conservatives understandably don’t want to shut the door on Rudy Giuliani. He is very effective at fighting for, and implementing, those conservative causes with which he agrees. Indeed, he represents one of the best examples of executive ability over the last 15 years.

But for four decades, pro-lifers have resisted intense pressure from journalistic, political, and legal elites to declare the abortion question closed. Those elites would surely treat the Republican party’s nomination of a pro-choicer as their final victory. Having blocked that bipartisan ratification of abortion-on-demand for so long, pro-lifers will be especially disinclined to accept it now, after several years in which they have gained ground. (Even Democrats realize that their pro-choice extremism is an electoral loser.)

Many pro-lifers, and many conservatives, may eventually decide that for all his obvious strengths they cannot support Giuliani for president. For now, however, there is a certain symmetry of interest between conservatives and Giuliani. Conservatives should want Giuliani to agree with them on as many issues as possible. And Giuliani should want to win the nomination, without triggering any rush to the party’s exits. We hope he campaigns like it.

Surprisingly enough though, this article mentions nothing of what Giuliani did during his tenure as mayor of NYC, when he made the Big Apple a safe haven for illegal immigrants. It's very odd that they don't, since I thought that was surely the most important argument for any conservative who feels that he's not the man for the job, and having thought about this myself, I have to conclude that he's not. What if as president he went soft on illegal immigration again, and this enabled terrorists to infiltrate the US? What if this happened during the time he was mayor, and terrorists were able to hide in NYC because of his lack of responsibility on that matter?

David Frum, on the other hand, does give some mention to this:

How is he going to assure conservatives who have differed with his past policies on life issues, family, and immigration that their views will have weight in a Giuliani-led party?

When you look at what his real record was on immigration, which Frum certainly does note, you realize that the risk that he could alienate any voters who find out is possible, and that's why he'll have a lot of fences to mend on the issue, assuming that he does.

Muslims in France converting to Christianity by thousands

Zee News from India has some great news from France, (except for those who have to go into hiding) about how tons of Muslims are converting every year to Christianity (via IRIS Blog):

Muslims are converting to Christianity in their thousands in France but face exclusion from their families and even death threats.

Most Muslims hide their conversion and Protestant ministers do their utmost to protect new converts. It is estimated that every year in the world some six million Muslims convert to Christianity.

The Muezzin call to prayer. But here in France it is no longer reaching all Muslim ears.

Around 15,000 Muslims each year are converting to Christianity - around 10,000 to Catholicism and 5,000 to Protestantism.

[...]

Many Muslims in France hide their conversion but the trend is continuing. World wide around six million Muslims a year convert to Christianity.

If my estimates are correct, the Muslims population in France may actually be shrinking, as many of them turn to Christianity instead.

Wimpy Hollywood

Author Andrew Klavan writes on the Jewish World Review about how Hollywood is too timid to deal with the subject of the war on terror.

Me, I certainly hope that someday, it will be possible to do so, but I suspect that it'll only be after conservatives are allowed to have their say for real in showbiz.

Participated in bloggers conference with Benjamin Netanyahu

I just took part in another One Jerusalem bloggers conference, this one with none other than Benjamin Netanyahu. It was shorter than some of the other conferences, since understandably, he's a very busy politician and didn't have much time, but while I didn't have time to ask any questions, it was certainly very interesting to listen to, and I'm glad to have taken part.

The other participants include American Thinker, Gateway Pundit, Boker Tov Boulder, Jewish Current Issues, Liberally Conservative.

Denmark presents a good example for many other countries

Gates of Vienna has an entry discussing how Denmark is reinforcing its immigration policies and fighting back against the creeping Islamicization of Europe. One of those ways, as discussed in an earlier entry (I wish I'd seen it earlier too), is that now, they're judging the Muslim families of culprits in honor killings murders as well as the culprits themselves for their involvement in plotting the crimes.

It'll be interesting to see if any other countries follow the example Denmark is setting, and I think that they should be taking steps similar to what the US has, which is to revoke citizenship for convicts in prison, depending on the crime committed. Also, and something that the US needs to do too, is to change the law so that citizenship can no longer be an automatic path.

Open trackbacks: Basil's Blog, bRight and Early, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao's Blog, Church and State, Is it Just Me, Jo's Cafe, Mark My Words, Point Five, Right Voices, Stop the ACLU, Third World County, The Trouble With Angels.

Exploit Iran's weaknesses to stop their nuclear plots

The American Thinker (via Molten Thought) discusses Iran's weaknesses and how the US can exploit them.

The war with Iran is going to be coming sooner or later, and I should hope that the US will take the right steps - and is planning ahead - on what it takes to bring down Ahmedinejad's regime once and for all.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Alan Colmes show

Hirsi Ali was interviewed recently on Alan Colmes' show on FOX. Hot Air has the video.

She's also got a new book coming out called Infidel. It's a little odd that that's the title, given that if it's primarily about her life, then surely "Apostate" would be a more ideal title.

Winnie the Pooh's pal, Piglet, was censored by Saudis

Qatar Living talks about how a Saudi-owned bookstore and distributors blotted out the sight of Piglet from some books of Winnie-the-Pooh. Here's a sample picture:
Virtually every copy of the book had Piglet totally erased from sight. Put another way, this is a case of Islamic censorship being performed in the Mideast. It's very sad.

Zogby gets busted

James Zogby, head of the Zogby International polling company, is a big phony himself, and according to this news item I received from SliwaNews, it looks like he's just been sued for fraud:

Zogby Sued in Exit Poll Fiasco

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Zogby International, the famed polling company, was sued on January 17, 2007 for breach of contract,fraudulent inducement and unjust enrichment. The case arose out of a series of exit polls Zogby was hired to conduct during the 2006 mid-term elections for the election protection organization VelvetRevolution ("VR").

VR paid Zogby $120,000 to conduct exit polls in seven key states for the purpose of comparing those polls to the official tallies in order to help detect fraud, launch legal and public relations challenges, and convince candidates not to concede close elections. Zogby promised to conduct the polling Sunday through election-day Tuesday and have the results to VR by Wednesday morning, November 8, 2006. Zogby also said that it knew of no company that was doing exit polling.

According to the suit, Zogby never completed the exit polling. Two states, Maryland and Tennessee, were incomplete, Maryland was not even started until Friday after the election, and the others were not completed until much later than promised. (CA -- Nov. 10; MO -- Nov.13; OH -- Nov. 13; PA -- Nov. 13; FL -- Nov. 14). On November 14th, Zogby offered exit polls it had done in 26 states to anyone for a mere $75.00.

According to VR co-founder Brett Kimberlin, "Zogby defrauded us big time. They promised to have the exit polls completed by Wednesday but never got them all done. And they intentionally misled us about doing other exit polls so they could line their pockets at our expense. Finally, they co-mingled data from our exit polls with data from exit polls they did for their own marketing campaign."

The lawsuit, VELVETREVOULTION.US, et al. v. Zogby International, Inc. was filed in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. The suit demands compensatory, consequential and punitive damages, as well as attorney fees.

VelvetRevolution.us is a non profit organization engaged in election protection and reform.

Zogby deserves to be sued.

Traitors in Britain

The Guardian talks (very misleadingly at that) about a couple of self-hating Jews in Britain who consider the rights of palestinians more important than Jewish rights:

A group of prominent British Jews will today declare independence from the country's Jewish establishment, arguing that it puts support for Israel above the human rights of Palestinians.

Mistake number one.

Independent Jewish Voices will publish an open letter on the Guardian's Comment is Free website calling for a freer debate about the Middle East within the Jewish community. Among the more than 130 signatories are Stephen Fry, Harold Pinter, Mike Leigh, Jenny Diski and Nicole Farhi, as well as leading academics such as Eric Hobsbawm and Susie Orbach.

No freer than any other debate to come down the pike in Britain since who knows when.

"We come together in the belief that the broad spectrum of opinion among the Jewish population of this country is not reflected by those institutions which claim authority to represent the Jewish community as a whole," the letter says. Jewish leaders in Britain, it argues "put support for the policies of an occupying power above the human rights of an occupied people" in conflict with Jewish principles of justice and compassion.

The statement does not name the institutions it is criticising. But one signatory, Brian Klug, an Oxford philosopher, writing an accompanying article on Comment is Free, singles out the Board of Deputies of British Jews for calling itself "the voice of British Jewry" while devoting "much of the time and resources of its international division to the defence of Israel".

Mr Klug also criticises Britain's chief rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, for telling a pro-Israeli rally in London last year: "Israel, you make us proud."

"Others felt roughly the opposite emotion," Mr Klug writes.

Just who exactly might that be? I can't tell. All I can tell is that this is one of quite a few very sneakily crafted anti-Israel reports from one of Britain's worst newspapers, paying lip service to a bunch of traitors with no attachment to their country of origin. And it even implies that a]Israel's government is not legitimate and b] Britain's Jewish institutions are only supposed to concern themselves with local matters, and not have a single concern about Israel. I have nothing but feelings of disgust for these traitors, who wouldn't be speaking for me if I lived in England.

Update: Melanie Phillips had a discussion with one of the fiends on BBC.

UNIFIL enabled Hezbollah to plant bombs at the border

The UN's continuing corruptness exposed:

Defense officials slammed UNIFIL and the Lebanese government Monday night, claiming that their "slackness" was what enabled Hizbullah to plant five deadly explosive devices along the border between Israel and Lebanon. IDF officials said it was possible that the bombs were planted as part of a planned kidnapping attack similar to the July 12 abduction of reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser that sparked the war this past summer.

[...]

The Northern Command assessed that the bombs found on Monday, just north of Avivim and right along the Blue Line international border between Israel and Lebanon, were planted there only a few days ago by Hizbullah.

Soldiers from Engineering Battalion 630 under the command of Lt.-Col. Eran Pauker discovered one of the explosive devices during a routine patrol along the border. The bombs - weighing between 15 to 20 kilograms each - were made of high-grade explosives and were disguised as boulders to blend in with the rocky terrain.

"We are deployed well along the border and do all we can to prevent Hizbullah from even getting close to Israel," said Pauker. "Due to bad weather, however, it is possible for them to get close to the border without us or UNIFIL noticing."

The soldiers did not cross the border, but instead detonated the bombs by shooting at them from a distance. IDF sources in the Northern Command described the incident as "an operational success," claiming that in the past it had sometimes taken the IDF months to discover Hizbullah bombs and bunkers along the border.

UNIFIL is unlikely to improve, and this is another reason to look down upon them in disgrace.

The two pictures above show the bomb discovered before and after it was blown up by the army to make sure it wouldn't post a danger again.

Anti-Semitic attacks in Britain reach horrific level

And the worst part is because the authorities in Britain allow it. From this Daily Mail report (via Melanie Phillips):

There were nearly 600 anti-Semitic assaults, incidents of vandalism, cases of abuse and threats made against Jewish individuals and institutions, it found. The number of attacks was up by nearly a third on 2005.

[...]

White attackers were responsible for anti-Semitic incidents in fewer than half of those where the colour or racial background of the perpetrator was identified. More than a third, 37 per cent, of attackers whose background was known were Asian or Arab.

It may be even worse than that, with even some whites in Britain committing the hate crimes too. But as you can see here, yep, there are Muslims doing it, though the report would rather identify them as Arabs. While I realize that that is true that there are Arabs guilty of the anti-Semitic hate crimes there (and Pakistanis, as the Asian part hints at), what's left out is the most likely inclusion of that guess-what religion.

On the other hand, the Guardian, by far the worst newspaper in the UK, does mention Muslims, but in their case, what they do is write up moral equations:

Jews and now Muslims have been and are the targets of cultural racism: differences arising from their religious culture are pathologised and systematically excluded from definitions of ‘being British’. Both antisemitism and anti-Muslim racism focus on belief in religious law to construct Jews and Muslims as a threat to the nation.

What we have here is not just moral equivalence, but also a blurring of the differences between race and religion, pretending that Islam is a race when as it so happens, it's a religion. Many of the Jews attacked are being persecuted for belonging to a race, and not because of said race's founding religion. Not to mention that hate crimes against Muslims in Britain are far from being as severe as they'd like us to think, while as for any committed against Muslims, I've got a feeling that the police would take them far more seriously than they have anti-semitic crimes. Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, this being a country where anti-Semitism not only exists, but, as the UK Spectator once said, is tolerated.

I can't see why Jews should bother to continue living in the UK. It's not like France hasn't had the awful problem all this time, but at least people there are able to understand it better, mainly because the non-Jewish community there too have been as much victims of Muslim hate crimes as Jews have. Maybe what British Jews should do is, if they don't decide to move to Israel, then at least to Italy, where things are certainly better, and a lot of British writers and such moved to live there too. I'd suggest that all British Jews follow the example set by those former residents of Britain who moved to Italy and make the shift to there as well.

Muhammed Dahlan's nephew kidnapped while other palestinians admit they don't deserve a state

In the first article here, from the Jerusalem Post, we find out that Fatah overlord Muhammed Dahlan's nephew was kidnapped:

Tensions between Fatah and Hamas were again running high in the Gaza Strip following the kidnapping of Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan's nephew by Hamas gunmen on Sunday afternoon.

According to reports, Ashraf Dahlan was stopped at a Hamas checkpoint when the incident occurred. Currently there is no information of his whereabouts, nor have any demands been issued for his release.

And I won't shed any tears for him. Terrorists, and it's most likely that he was too, aren't deserving of any sympathy for their "problems".

In the second article, also from the JPost, this is quite a surprise: "palestinians" saying that they don't deserve a state, and even admitting that they're ashamed to call themselves palestinians!

"Everyone here is disgusted by what's happening in the Gaza Strip," said Shireen Atiyeh, a 30-year-old mother of three working in one of the Palestinian Authority ministries. "We are telling the world that we don't deserve a state because we are murdering each other and destroying our universities, colleges, mosques and hospitals. Today I'm ashamed to say that I'm a Palestinian."

Well, this is certainly getting somewhere. Maybe people who give an answer like that will also be willing to consider that the whole notion that there was ever a "palestinian people" of Arabic backgrounds was all a fabrication, and that the name "palestine" itself was conceived by the Roman empire as part of their own attempt to delegitimize Israel, for political purposes.

Will they begin to wake up and understand that?

Open trackbacks: Blue Star Chronicles, Church and State, Stop the ACLU.

Americans must be on the lookout for hatemongering at universities

A few weeks ago, Daniel Pipes went boldly to London to speak at a conference hosted by none other than Red Ken Livingstone, to discuss the problems with terrorism around the world, and scored a surprising success. However, this week, he went to the Irvine University (H/T: Melanie Phillips), and there, there was certainly some bigotry present, even if there were Pipes supporters present there too:

At one point, at 12:00, the leader predicts that ‘it’s just a matter of time before the State of Israel will be wiped off the face of the map,’ in response to which the crowd, self-exiled, standing in the dark and the cold, yelled out ‘Takbir’ and ‘Allahu Akbar.’ In response, those who remained in the auditorium chanted ‘Am Yisrael Chai.’

There may have been supporters of Pipes there too, but, such universities have still become something akin to safe havens for bigots and terrorist supporters, and it's a serious problem that needs to be discussed and debated, perhaps on network TV. The time has come to take back control of universities, and to rein in our children if we discover that they've gone over the brink.