Tel-Chai Nation

The Jawa Report points to the following video (in Dutch) about a car that ran people over at a procession for the queen before crashing into a pedastal:

It's told on the news that four people are dead from being run over. The culprit is in custody, but no name has been given.

Update: Here's a report from the AP:

APELDOORN, Netherlands (AP) - A speeding car raced toward an open bus carrying Dutch Queen Beatrix and her family during a holiday parade Thursday and plowed into spectators, killing four people and injuring 13 others, authorities said.

Prosecutors said they believe the incident was deliberate, but not an act of terrorism. They did not indicate a motive or say why the popular queen might have been a target. The driver was a 38-year-old white Dutch male with no police record or history of mental illness, police said. They would not give his name.

Saying that he's white is not enough to give a description.

Labels: Europe, Netherlands, terrorism

Carrie Prejean may have lost the crown of number one winner in the Miss USA contest, but she's not sorry, as now her brave stance on marriage has helped give her a cause:

Miss California may have lost a pageant, but she's not sorry. She has won a cause.

Carrie Prejean's politically incorrect response to a question about same-sex marriage may have cost her the Miss USA crown, but apparently it's going to take more than a few insults from celebrity blogger Perez Hilton to change her mind.

"It's unfortunate that this happened, but it's become such a blessing," Miss Prejean said in a telephone interview Tuesday with The Washington Times. "I'm glad I didn't win that pageant, because I now have a cause, I now have a purpose and I'm going to pursue it."

Not only is Miss Prejean refusing to apologize, explain her answer or even stay out of the spotlight, but she's unabashedly promoting traditional marriage in post-pageant appearances, including later this week in Washington and in Lynchburg, Va.

In doing so, she's become an inspiration to conservative Christians, especially those in California, who are reluctant to speak out on behalf of traditional marriage in the face of shifting cultural mores, said Miles McPherson, her pastor at the San Diego-based Rock Church.

Some Judaists could find some inspiration in her too, trust me. She could also be a very good asset in fighting a new "hate crimes" bill that's being voted on that could hinder religious liberties in speaking out against homosexual practice. I wouldn't trust what Congress is now coming up with, and it's something that needs to be protested, decidedly.

Update: Prejean is now a spokewoman for the National Organization for Marriage.

Update 2: this is disgusting. Now the leftards are attacking her for having breast implants?!? In that case, I say implants can be good. Case closed.

Others on the subject include Little Miss Attila, Blue Collar Republican, Instapundit, Proletariat Blog, Gateway Pundit, Road Sassy, Wake Up America.

Labels: United States

The savage Islamic gang that murdered French Jew Ilan Halimi is now standing trial in France today. However, there are problems here: the trial is being held behind closed doors, which has rightfully angered the mother of the man who was murdered:

It is scheduled to be held behind closed doors at a juvenile court, because two of the 27 gang members allegedly behind Halimi's murder were minors at the time of the act.

French law allows for a public trial to be held in certain cases where juveniles are involved.

A public trial should help better understand the criminal machine, to make parents and teenagers reflect. It’s the law of silence that killed her son, it would be unbearable for the trial to remain silent,” Francis Szpyner, lawyer of Ruth Halimi, said.

They're right, this is something that the wider public needs to be aware of too, because it can extend to and endanger them as well. Clearly, the law is afraid to deal with this out in the open. Until this can be resolved, I hope that the defendants will all shrivel up and die in prison for the rest of their phony lives.

Others on the subject include The Last Amazon, Closet Conservative, Jewish Breaking News, Rick's Cafe American.

Labels: anti-semitism, Europe, France, islam

The bold and honorable Dutch politician visited a special free speech summit held at the Florida House, at the invitation of Rep. Adam Hasner. And following that, unindicted co-conspirator in terror CAIR demanded that Hasner step down (Hat tip: Jihad Watch), in another show of their disrespect for critics of religion:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on GOP leaders to demand that Rep. Adam Hasner step down from his leadership post for co-hosting a Florida "Free Speech Summit" criticized as an anti-Islam event. Featured speaker Dutch politician Geert Wilders reportedly said: “Islam is not a religion. Islam is a totalitarian political ideologue. Islam heart lies at the Qur'an, and the Qur'an is a book that calls for hatred, that calls for violence, for murder, for terrorism, for war, and submission…We should stop pretending that Islam is a religion... the right to religious freedom should not apply to Islam.”

Hasner was unfazed:

Hasner responded: "I am not going to allow the right to free speech [to] be stifled by a group like CAIR that has legally documented ties to the Muslim Brotherhood - a radical organization that is on record as stating they want to destroy America from within thru the imposition of Sharia law."

Well said. I'd strongly recommend him as a presidential candidate in another 2 years.

CAIR's Ibrahim Hooper on the other hand, was predictably ignorant and vengeful:

“It is unconscionable that a top leader of an American state legislature would host a gathering at which the faith of millions of Americans is denigrated and their rights denied,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper . “Republican Party leaders in Florida and nationwide must demand that Representative Hasner step down from his leadership post because of his support for Geert Wilders and his Nazi-like message.”

What, and the caliphate wasn't? The Quranic verse of 47:4, which says, "Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks" isn't nazi-like? What a pathetic, disgraceful man he is.

Here's a transcript of Wilders' speech at Atlas Shrugs, as well as one by Lord Pearson.

Labels: CAIR corruption, Europe, Florida, islam, United States

This may be the first time the PLO has done this. And what needs to be asked now is, will human rights organizations jump into action in defense of the man, if he hasn't been executed yet?

Hat tip: The Jawa Report.

Update: it's not the first time this has happened. In fact, according to that article, Jordan wrote up a similar law in 1973 forbidding sale of land to Jews.

Update: the National Council of Young Israel has condemned the PLO's bigoted policies.

Labels: islam, Israel, jihad, jordan

That disgusting Perez Hilton has shown where he really stands, IMO. According to Newsbusters, he gave president Obama a pass on his saying that marriage should be between a man and woman, while continuing to vilely attack Carrie Prejean for saying the same.

I guess it's clear that he's not really in favor of his own state of mind, is he?

To make matters worse, a Tory libertarian MP in Britain named Alan Duncan has taken things even lower by making "jokes" about murdering Miss California. Truly disgusting. That's what "conservatives" in Britain are like, which is nothing like the ones in the USA.

Honestly, I think a lawsuit is in order now.

Others on the subject include Fire Andrea Mitchell, Free Thinkers for Liberty, Hot Air.

Labels: londonistan, misogyny, Moonbattery, United States

Just what were Barack Obama and Louis Caldera, whom the president appointed as head of the White House Military Office, thinking when they did the following flyby stunt near the Goldman Sachs building in NYC?

What did they think they were achieving by scaring the crowds at the location? The New York Post (via Michelle Malkin) calls it "plane dumb", and it is.

Update: and now, it looks like Obama has thrown even Caldera under the bus. Caldera may deserve it, but Obama still needs to learn from his mistakes (which I doubt will happen).

Labels: Moonbattery, United States

Michelle Malkin has launched a blogburst for the American journalist imprisoned in Iran. From what I've read about her, she does sound like someone worth fighting for. From the Grand Forks Herald:

Iran’s imprisonment of Roxana Saberi is an international outrage, a flagrant violation of the norms of civilized conduct. But it should come as no surprise.

The Iranian government has shown its disregard for those norms before. This latest example should give great pause to the Obama administration, which came in to office plainly willing to give Iran the benefit of the doubt — and now has seen Iran repudiate that gesture as it has so many before, with cynicism and contempt.

Saberi, imprisoned since January, has been convicted of spying, news stories reported Saturday. Now, whenever these kinds of accusations surface, there’s always a chance that the accused is guilty and was caught in the act.

But in this case, that chance seems vanishingly small. There are ways to credibly accuse and convict someone of espionage, but the Iranian court system has not employed them. Just the opposite: It has mocked those norms by disregarding their substance, while using the norms’ vocabulary — “trial,” “attorney,” “defense” and so on — to give the government’s actions a patina of justice.

Here is all one needs to know about justice as it seems to be practiced in modern Iran. The quote is from a story in Sunday’s New York Times:

“Ms. Saberi’s father, Reza Saberi, who came to Tehran two weeks ago from Fargo, N.D., to secure her release, said Sunday that neither she nor her lawyer was aware that the trial was taking place last Monday until after it was under way.

“‘The lawyer was only told to go meet Roxana last Monday,’ he said in a telephone interview. ‘No one knew that they were trying her. Roxana found out 15 minutes into the session that she was being tried.

“‘None of them, neither Roxana nor the lawyer, were ready to defend her.’

“Mr. Saberi said that the trial took less than an hour as he waited outside the courtroom, believing that the lawyer was only meeting his daughter in the presence of the judge.”

So: Saberi didn’t know she was on trial until after the trial started. She met her defense lawyer the very day of her “trial.” Neither Saberi nor her lawyer had any time whatsoever to prepare her defense.

And the proceedings took less than an hour.

No conviction by such a kangaroo court can be believed.

Saberi isn't the only one who's suffered at the hands of Iran's savage courts. An Iranian blogger died in prison:

A young blogger arrested in Iran for allegedly insulting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an Internet posting has died in prison, his attorney said Friday. The blogger had been jailed for allegedly insulting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an internet posting.

The blogger had been jailed for allegedly insulting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an internet posting.

Attorney Mohammad Ali Dadkhah said Omid Mir Sayafi, reported to be in his 20s, died in Evin prison, which is located in Tehran and known for its wing that holds political prisoners.

Dadkhah said a fellow inmate, Dr. Hessam Firouzi, called him Wednesday night with the news — and said he believed Sayafi would have lived if he received proper medical care.

Dadkhah said Firouzi, an imprisoned human-rights activist, said that he carried a semi-conscious Sayafi to a prison doctor but that he didn’t receive the care he needed…Sayafi was first arrested in April, then released for 41 days before being arrested again. He was sentenced to 2½ years in prison for comments on a blog that his lawyer argued was intended only for a few friends to read.

That's Iran for you, where they'll let you die.

For more on Saberi, here's a campaign blog dedicated to her cause.

Update: she's in very bad condition after going on a hunger strike in prison (via Hot Air Headlines).

Labels: iran, islam, misogyny

An Italian cruise liner was able to ward off more Somali pirates:

ROME – An Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack far off the coast of Somalia when its Israeli private security forces exchanged fire with the bandits.

Six men in a small, white Zodiac-type boat approached the Msc Melody at about 1730 GMT Saturday and opened fire with automatic weapons, Msc Cruises director Domenico Pellegrino said. They retreated after the security officers returned fire and sprayed them with water hoses. The ship continued its journey with its windows darkened.

"It felt like we were in war," the ships commander, Ciro Pinto, told Italian state radio.

None of the roughly 1,000 passengers and 500 crew members was hurt, Pellegrino said. The passengers were asked to return to their cabins and the external lights on board turned off.

Pellegrino said all Msc cruise ships around the world are staffed with Israeli security agents because they are the best trained.

The attack occurred about 200 miles (325 kilometers) north of the Seychelles, and about 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of Somalia, according to the anti-piracy flotilla headquarters of the Maritime Security Center Horn of Africa.

They don't know how lucky they are to have security staff from here, and I'm glad they were on board.

And it is a war now with these vile venom from Somalia. The world is going to have to prepare more than ever to deal with them.

Labels: Africa, Israel, Italy, jihad, Somalia, terrorism, war on terror

Mexico City has suffered a case of swine flu that experts are worried could spread to other places around the globe (via Michelle Malkin):

A new flu strain that has killed up to 68 people in Mexico could become a pandemic, the World Health Organization warned on Saturday, as health experts tried to track the disease’s spread.

Hospitals tested patients with flu symptoms for the never-before-seen virus, which has also infected eight people in the United States. No further deaths had come to light since Friday afternoon, but officials warned the person-to-person infections meant there was a risk of a major outbreak. [...]

Mexico has shut schools, cinemas and museums and canceled public events in its sprawling, overcrowded capital of 20 million people to try to prevent further infections. Weekend soccer matches were played in empty stadiums and people on the street wore face masks.

The strain of flu has spread fast between people and infected some individuals who had no contact with one another.

The WHO says the virus from 12 of the Mexican patients is genetically the same as a new strain of swine flu, designated H1N1, seen in eight people in California and Texas. All of the eight later recovered.

An emergency committee of WHO experts, convening on Saturday, will advise Chan on issues including possibly changing the WHO’s pandemic alert level, currently 3 on a scale of 1 to 6.

In the US, a prep school in NYC had 75 students fall ill, and health experts are trying to find out if it had what to do with this crisis. The World Health Organization is set to declare this an international concern. And in Kansas, there were 2 cases of this found. It could have what to do with uncontrolled immigration, which is why border enforcement is going to have to get serious now if the crisis is to be kept under control.

Update: here's some more on the dangers of swine flu from FOX (via Hot Air):

This virus is a mix of human, pig and bird strains that prompted WHO to meet Saturday to consider declaring an international public health emergency — a step that could lead to travel advisories, trade restrictions and border closures. Spokesman Gregory Hartl said a decision would not be made Saturday.

Scientists have warned for years about the potential for a pandemic from viruses that mix genetic material from humans and animals. Another reason to worry is that authorities said the dead so far don’t include vulnerable infants and elderly. The Spanish flu pandemic, which killed at least 40 million people worldwide in 1918-19, also first struck otherwise healthy young adults…

The CDC says two flu drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem effective against the new strain. Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, said the company is prepared to immediately deploy a stockpile of the drug if requested. Both drugs must be taken early, within a few days of the onset of symptoms, to be most effective.

Mexico’s Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said the country has enough Tamiflu to treat 1 million people — only one in 20 people in greater Mexico City alone — and that the medicine will be strictly controlled and handed out only by doctors.

All those who want to remain healthy should make sure to obtain the medicine ASAP.

Labels: immigration, Latin America, United States

Barry Rubin at the Gloria Center writes about how much of the world wants Israel to give the Palestinian Authority what they think it wants with nothing in return.

Labels: islam, Israel, terrorism

In an interview with Worldmag (via Politico and Hot Air Headlines), Mike Huckabee says:

WORLD: What about Israel and the Palestinians? Any hope there?

HUCKABEE: I've been to Israel 10 times; I've also been to virtually every other country in the area. This may put me in such a small minority, but I think this two-state solution is nonsense. If we're trying to get these two warring factions to occupy the same piece of real estate with two political entities layering over each other, that's absurd. We wouldn't tolerate it and they're not going to tolerate it. We shouldn't try to prolong the sense of that happening. [Israelis] not only have a right to existence, which is a fundamental agreement dating back to the early 1900s in the Balfour Declaration, but a right to a secure homeland. The tiny sliver of real estate they occupy, surrounded by people who are hostile to them, is really a very vulnerable place for them. Hoping for this two-state solution is simply not practical.

He's quite right, the whole notion was nonsense from the very beginning. Now I know why I've liked him as a host on FOX News' interview programs.

Labels: Israel

A decade after they bought them, Yahoo has now decided to close Geocities:

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) - Yahoo Inc. said Thursday it plans to close GeoCities, a Web site publishing and hosting service it bought in May 1999 at the height of the dot-com boom for around $3 billion in stock.

The service will be shut down later this year. Visitors to the site now see a message that says new GeoCities accounts will not be available and gives them the option to sign up for Yahoo's Web hosting service for $5.98 a month.

It is not clear when Yahoo made the move, but a spokesman said in an e-mailed statement that the decision was recent.

GeoCities is not the only Yahoo service to get the ax - Yahoo Briefcase, Farechase, My Web, RSS ads, Yahoo Pets, Yahoo Live, Kickstart and Yahoo For Teachers all are being eliminated as well. The search giant also recently outsourced Launchcast radio to CBS Corp.

"As part of Yahoo's ongoing effort to build products and services that deliver the best possible experiences for consumers and results for advertisers, we are increasing investment in some areas while scaling back in others," the statement said.

The trimming is part of a process that started in 2007 while Jerry Yang was still chief executive, to close down services that aren't profitable or don't fit into company's long-term vision.

The revamp has accelerated under new CEO Carol Bartz, who was hired in January.

In a sign of its ongoing troubles, Yahoo said Tuesday that it will lay off nearly 700 workers, the company's third round of job cuts during the past 14 months.

Yahoo earned $118 million, or 8 cents per share, during the first three months of the year. That represents a 78 percent drop from net income of $537 million, or 37 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Revenue fell 13 percent to $1.58 billion.

Yahoo shares rose 7 cents Thursday to close at $14.55.

I don't think this is a good idea, partly because now, some people who built a space on Geocities for whatever purpose will now be forced to move elsewhere. But I can tell why this came around: they gave very low bandwidth for loading the sites, which often caused many that I tried to access to go offline and become unavailable for at least a few hours at a time. Free Web Hosting, a directory of services, no longer has them listed, but when they did, there were reader comments that complained about this. Yet Yahoo did nothing to make people feel better about using their sitebuilding services. And they wonder why they must've lost so many users?

The ad frame that appears at the side of many pages may have also turned people off. They used to have one that was in drop-down format, and should've kept it that way, but no, they couldn't be bothered to do that either. Maybe this'll be a lesson to other companies that offer free webhosting options, that, if you must put ads on the site, at least try to avoid being too obtrusive about it. That way, people can sign up and use their options without too many complaints. And keep the bandwidth at a reasonable amount!

It was report a few days ago that Egypt went back on its decision to ban Avigdor Lieberman from visiting. Now, it's been reported that this isn't quite so:

Cairo's intelligence chief did not invite Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to come visit when the two officials met in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said Thursday.

However, another Egyptian official who attended Omar Suleiman's meeting with Lieberman would not rule out the possibility that an invitation had indeed been extended to the foreign minister, or would be in the near future.

"Egypt welcomes any official from any country that respects Egypt and the Egyptian leadership," the second official told The Jerusalem Post.

Lieberman "said he respects Egypt and respects the president. Then that's it... this is the basis."

The unnamed official called Lieberman's remarks, which apparently stopped short of an apology to Suleiman for past remarks, "a positive development" and a change from his previous statements about Egypt.

Following the meeting, sources close to Lieberman told reporters that Suleiman had invited him to Egypt, but Zaki said, "no he did not" in a text message he sent to the Post.

Lieberman and his aides would not respond to inquiries about the meeting or reports of an invitation on Thursday.

Also, in a rare public statement, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak addressed the issue on Thursday, confirming only that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had been invited, and that when he came to Egypt, he would come unaccompanied by any other minister.

"The Israeli prime minister might come to us during May... and some say that he will bring with him [Lieberman]... The Israeli prime minister will come alone. The only one who will come with him is the director of his office and no other minister will come with him," Mubarak said, according to Arab press accounts.

Officials in Jerusalem noted this is usually the case.

Last week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told Russia Today TV that Cairo would deal with the new Israeli government, but not via Lieberman.

He also said Lieberman "will not visit Cairo. He will certainly not visit as long as his positions remain as they are."

It really doesn't matter what Egypt's positions are. I expect relations between Egypt and Lieberman to be very cold, that's for sure.

Labels: anti-semitism, Egypt, Israel

The crappy AP covers the recent Miss USA pageant, and it seems like they can't keep themselves from focusing on the political slant that shouldn't have been allowed or addressed following the winner's crowning. When Miss California was being interviewed at one point during the competition, the gay blogger Perez Hilton just had to ask her questions about her take on gay-lesbian issues:

If there is a YouTube moment from Sunday's show, it may be Miss California's answer to a question about legalizing same-sex marriage. The tall blonde stumbled some before giving an answer that appeared to please the pageant audience.

"We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage," [Carrie] Prejean said. "And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."

Some in the audience cheered, others booed. The answer sparked a shouting match in the lobby after the show.

"It's ugly," said Scott Ihrig, a gay man, who attended the pageant with his partner. "I think it's ridiculous that she got first runner-up. That is not the value of 95 percent of the people in this audience. Look around this audience and tell me how many gay men there are."

Charmaine Koonce, the mother of Miss New Mexico USA Bianca Matamoros-Koonce, argued back.

"In the Bible it says marriage is between Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve!"

I think Miss California's answer was pretty good (oh, and did I mention she's really hot? Yum), and that jerk who went out of his way to claim that the audience is chock full of homosexuals should be ashamed of himself. But this was apparently why the winner was Miss North Carolina and not Miss California. Hot Air has some more on this subject, and I have to say I'm disappointed that the contest staff would ever invite Hilton to be a judge or even involve politically-related items in this to begin with. Just look what he called the lady afterwards. Some class he's got, using profanity like that. And after supposedly apologizing, he went back on it by invoking the c-slur. I think there's grounds for a lawsuit here.

Prejean has been interviewed more on TV about this. While I think she does a good job here too, I do wonder if gay marriage opponents should try to argue from more than just a religious perspective - is it that hard to say that homosexuality is simply abnormal behavior? Nevertheless, this could be a PR bonanza for gay marriage opponents.

Andrea Tantaros (via Hot Air Headlines) asks why it's okay for liberals like the president and the veep to say they're against gay marriage but not a conservative female. But even more importantly, she tells that the Miss USA pageant is a for-profit production owned by Donald Trump, clearly not a champion of women's rights if he too is defending the creepy Hilton's misogynist tirades. Any business agents with common sense would be advised not to invest in Trump's trash anymore.

Update: Power Line is asking why nothing is wrong with protesting bailouts, another question asked to Miss North Carolina, but something is wrong with implying you're against gay marriage in this politicized profit contest. Good question.

Update 3: here's another interview with the sexy Prejean on Neil Cavuto's show, via Gateway Pundit:

She says she feels sorry for Hilton. You know what, I do too, especially if he can't gather up the courage to go for some psychological counseling! Poor man, no wonder he's so stuck in a corner.

Prejean is also against bailouts and welfare. She's very good, and makes a perfect ladyfriend for any conservative.

Others on the subject include Jammie Wearing Fool, Brutally Honest, Right Minded, Scared Monkeys, Cassy Fiano, Booker Rising, Vets on the Watch, Whatever is Right, Mark Epstein, Lonely Conservative, The Autopsy, So Many Idiots So Little Time, DianeJ's Weblog, Political Vindication, Right Side News, NRO's The Corner, Scripture Mom, The Jawa Report, Newsbusters.

Labels: misogyny, Moonbattery, msm foulness, United States

As the subject begins to build more steam, we learn the following:

LONDON (Reuters) – Piracy incidents nearly doubled across the globe in the first quarter of 2009 almost entirely due to an upsurge in attacks by gangs off the Somali coast, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said on Tuesday.

The London-based watchdog recorded 102 attacks worldwide in the first three months of 2009 compared with 53 in that period a year ago, with 61 attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off the east coast of Somalia compared with 6 in the first quarter of 2008.

Somali pirates have made millions of dollars in ransoms hijacking commercial vessels in the busy shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, despite patrols by foreign navies off the Somali coast, disrupting aid supplies and trade routes.

Twenty attacks were recorded off Somalia's east coast with 18 of those in March alone, which included four hijackings. That compared with seven incidents in the fourth quarter of 2008. The IMB said 41 incidents were reported in the Gulf of Aden region and 5 vessels hijacked.

A total of 34 vessels were boarded, 29 ships fired upon and nine hijacked worldwide, the IMB said.

"In the majority of incidents the attackers were heavily armed with guns or knives," the watchdog said. "Violence against crew members continues to increase."

"Given the current state of the global economy, there are concerns that piracy may increase. Navies and coastguards must continue to maintain their physical presence," it said.

The IMB said apart from Somalia, Nigeria continued to be a high risk area with nearly all attacks related to vessels supporting and connected to the oil industry.

It said seven incidents had been recorded by the IMB in Nigeria, but added that unconfirmed reports indicated at least another 13 attacks had occurred. That compared with 10 incidents in the same period in 2008.

The IMB said only one incident was reported in the Malacca Strait off Indonesia's coast in the period, compared with 5 recorded in the same period a year ago.

"The littoral states should be complimented for their continued efforts in maintaining and securing the safety of this strategic trade route," the IMB said.

One problem that furthers the damage is that NATO in Europe has been letting go the pirates because of some would-be laws that make it difficult. If they continue to do this, they cannot expect attacks to decrease.

Labels: Africa, jihad, Somalia, terrorism

A seabound pirate arrives in NYC for trial:

NEW YORK – The sole surviving Somali pirate from the hostage-taking of an American ship captain arrived in New York on Monday, smiling for a gaggle of cameras and reporters as federal agents led him into custody to face charges in the attack.

Abduhl Wali-i-Musi (AHB'-dul wahl-ih-MOO'-sih) was handcuffed and had a chain wrapped around his waist. His left hand was heavily bandaged from the wound he suffered during the skirmish on the ship two weeks ago.

The smiling teenager seemed poised as he entered a federal building in a rainstorm, but he didn't say anything in response to reporters' shouted questions about whether he had any comment about the pirate episode.

Wali-i-Musi is the first person to be tried in the United States on piracy charges in more than a century. He was flown from Africa to a New York airport and taken into custody ahead of a court hearing Tuesday.

A law enforcement official familiar with the case said that the teenager was being charged under two obscure federal laws that deal with piracy and hostage-taking. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the charges had not been announced.

The teenager's arrival came on the same day that his mother appealed to President Barack Obama for his release. She says her son was coaxed into piracy by "gangsters with money."

"I appeal to President Obama to pardon my teenager; I request him to release my son or at least allow me to see him and be with him during the trial," Adar Abdirahman Hassan said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from her home in Galka'yo town in Somalia.

The age and real name of the young pirate remained unclear. The mother said he is only 16 years old and is named Abdi Wali Abdulqadir Muse. The law enforcement official says he is at least 18, meaning prosecutors will not have to take extra legal steps to put him on trial in a U.S. court.

The suspect was taken aboard a U.S. Navy ship shortly before Navy SEAL snipers killed three of his colleagues who had held Capt. Richard Phillips hostage.

The U.S. officials said the teenager was brought to New York to face trial in part because the FBI office here has a history of handling cases in Africa involving major crimes against Americans, such as the al-Qaida bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998.

Ron Kuby, a New York-based civil rights lawyer, said he has been in discussions about forming a legal team to represent the Somalian.

"I think in this particular case, there's a grave question as to whether America was in violation of principles of truce in warfare on the high seas," said Kuby. "This man seemed to come onto the Bainbridge under a flag of truce to negotiate. He was then captured. There is a question whether he is lawfully in American custody and serious questions as to whether he can be prosecuted because of his age."

Just look at how those apologists always make their way into these articles. Considering that he took part in threatening an innocent man's life, I'd say that's good reason to prosecute him to the fullest. Make sure he remains land-locked for quite some time.

The article of course doesn't mention whether Islam has anything to do with this. But if it does, then that's one more reason why NOT to let him go, as he'll go back to his old ways again.

Labels: Africa, islam, jihad, Somalia, terrorism, United States

Phyllis Chesler writes about a brave woman who helped save Jewish children in Poland from the nazis during WW2. Sendlerowa later visited Yad Vashem in Israel to receive the righteous award in person.

And while we're on the subject, during the Holocaust Memorial ceremony, Benjamin Netanyahu thought to add the subject of Switzerland allowing Iran's Ahmedinejad to come to the Durban sequel and pile on with his sick bigotry:

After Peres, Netanyahu spoke, quoting from the Passover Haggadah: “In every generation, they rise up to destroy us.”

Netanyahu was direct in his criticism of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has vowed to “wipe Israel off the map.” Directing himself to Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz, who met with Ahmadinejad despite Israeli pleas not to grant Ahmadinjad legitimacy, Netanyahu asked “How can you, as the head of a enlightened country, meet with a Holocaust denier, or with someone who plans another Holocaust?”

Netanyahu thanked those countries that refused to attend the Durban II conference at which Ahmadinejad spoke Monday, and those who left the hall during Ahmadinejad's speech.

"We will not allow Holocaust deniers to perpetrate another Holocaust on the Jewish people,” Netanyahu said. “That is our utmost responsibility as the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu turned to the Holocaust survivors who were present, and promised that the government will do what it can to assist them and their fellow survivors.

Very good speech. I'm glad to learn that there were walkouts at the "conference" in Switzerland, but even so, those countries shouldn't have attended in the first place, even on a lower profile. What was interesting was the condemnation by spectators wearing clown wigs.

But wouldn't you know it, Norway's rep, unsurprisingly, chose to stay at that manurefest. And I don't buy any of Ban-Ki Moon's blather. He knew this was going to happen, and is a sick, stupid man indeed.

Update: here's the Jerusalem Post's article on the Holocaust Memorial service (via Hot Air Headlines).

Labels: anti-semitism, Europe, iran, Israel, racism, UN corruption

Barry Rubin at the Gloria Center talks about how many are expecting a confrontation between the Israeli and US governments. He predicts that such a confrontation may not take place.

We should hope not. But that's why we need to keep our eyes and ears open, and study the Obama administration's actions carefully. Otherwise, a confrontation is more likely to occur.

Labels: Israel, United States

The PLO/Fatah is back to their old ways of persecution of their own community again:

The Palestinian Authority's Preventive Security Service, cooperating with the PA's general intelligence service, recently undertook intensive activities to prevent the sale of land by Palestinians to Jews in east Jersualem, Ynet discovered.

In recent months, the PA investigated several real estate agents suspected of selling land in the capital to Jews, even resulting in arrests of some of the agents. PA sources said that the sales in question involved a large-scale amount of lands and properties.

Among the arrested real estate agents are those holding an Israeli ID card and those holding Palestinian Authority papers. They were also transferred to the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after the investigation.

PA sources reported that, while in Abbas' office, a senior official of the 'Supervision Committee', the PA body responsible for investigation internal corruption, became involved and brought about the close of the investigation.

One source said that the official, whose actions led to the release of the arrested real estate agents, was motivated to close the cases following by pressure from Israel.

Arabs have the right to sell property to Jews if they want. The real estate agents and owners are going to need protection now if they're to sell safely. And the police are going to need to make sure that these Fatah agents are not allowed within Jerusalem's boundaries.

Labels: islam, Israel, Israeli Arabs, terrorism

Natan Sharansky, the dissident from the former Soviet Union who was a minister in at least 3 Israeli coalitions, is now being recommended for director of the Jewish Agency.

I think Benjamin Netanyahu made an excellent choice. When Ariel Sharon was prime minister, he blocked Sharansky from running for chairmanship in revenge for Sharansky's opposing the "disengagement", in a gross violation of democratic rules. Now, at last, Sharanksy may be getting a job that's perfect for him.

Labels: Israel

There is legitimate concern that Barack Obama's administration would cut off aid to Israel in order to force it to negotiate with the palestinians, and even to deter the country from defending itself against Iran. One journalist (via One Jerusalem) has written:

One of President Obama's closest foreign policy advisers, National Security Council member Samantha Power, is a proponent of ending military aid to Israel in order to force it to negotiate with Iran's Palestinian Islamist proxy, Hamas, and withdraw from all lands taken during the Six-Day War of June 1967. Power also advocates shifting aid to a Palestinian state. Overall, she views Israel as a liability and a historic mistake, in line with the European left position (and that of old-line, right-of-center, American isolationists and anti-Semites). Her antidemocratic admirers in the Democratic Party's (Hillary-hating) left wing agree and are eager for an opportunity to paint Israel as a Jewish North Korea (although they actually have more sympathy for North Korea than for Israel).

More on the subject here. It's clearer than ever that Israel cannot afford to be discouraged from taking action against Iran's nuclear menace. Of course, it's Obama's irresponsibility that led to Iran's imprisoning the American-Iranian journalist.

The US may have decided to boycott the Durban sequel, but their response to it is still weak. It's to be hoped that Congress can bring up the subject on their part and speak against the damage that Obama is leading to.

Labels: anti-semitism, Asia, iran, islam, Israel, jihad, political corruption, terrorism, United States, White House

Look how well Obama's attempts to appease Iran are working out: Roxana Saberi, an American-Iranian reporter, has been thrown in prison:

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - An American journalist jailed in Iran has been convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years in prison just days after she was tried behind closed doors, her lawyer said Saturday, dashing any hopes for her quick release.

Roxana Saberi's Iranian-born father said his daughter was tricked into making incriminating statements by officials who told her they would free her if she did.

It was the first time Iran has found an American journalist guilty of spying, and it was unclear how it would affect recent overtures by the Obama administration for better relations and engagement with Washington's longtime adversary.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she was "deeply disappointed" by the conviction, which could have carried the death penalty.

Um, Hilary, shouldn't that be outraged? Because indeed, it is cause for outrage. And no doubt that Iran's prisons are hell on earth.

Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen, was arrested in late January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But earlier this month, an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation, charging her with spying for the United States.

She appeared before an Iranian court behind closed doors on Monday in an unusually swift one-day trial. Her lawyer was permitted to attend, but had declined to discuss any details.

No doubt this was planned from the start to convict an American on trumped up charges.

The Fargo, North Dakota native had been living in Iran for six years and had worked as a freelance reporter for several news organizations including National Public Radio and the British Broadcasting Corp.

Which tells just how much they think of people who work for even those propaganda outfits.

"Saberi has been sentenced to eight years in jail. I'll definitely appeal the verdict," lawyer Abdolsamad Khorramshahi told The Associated Press.

Reza Saberi told NPR his daughter denied the incriminating statements she made when she realized she had been tricked but "apparently in the case they didn't consider her denial."

He said his daughter was convicted Wednesday, but the court waited until Saturday to announce the verdict to the lawyers. He is in Iran but was not allowed into the courtroom to see his daughter, who he described as "quite depressed."

North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan called on the Iranian government to "show compassion" and release Saberi. "This is a shocking miscarriage of justice," the Democrat said in a statement issued Saturday.

Clinton said in a statement the U.S. is working with Swiss diplomats in Iran to get details about the court's decision and to ensure Saberi's well-being. She said the U.S. will "vigorously raise our concerns" with the Iranian government.

The United States has called the charges against Saberi baseless and has demanded her release, and the conviction and prison sentence could put strains on efforts to improve ties.

President Barack Obama has said it wants to engage Iran in talks on its nuclear program and other issues - a departure from the tough talk of the Bush administration.

Iran has been mostly lukewarm to the overtures, but Iran's hard-line president gave the clearest signal yet on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic was also willing to start a new relationship with Washington.

In a speech, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was preparing new proposals aimed at breaking an impasse with the West over its nuclear program.

On Thursday, the State Department said Saberi's jailing was not helpful and that Iran would gain U.S. good will if it "responded in a positive way" to the case.

Some conservative Iranian lawmakers played down Saberi's conviction, saying the verdict would not affect any ongoing efforts to build trust between Washington and Iran.

"Although there is a wall of mistrust between Iran and the United States, the judicial verdict won't affect possible future talks between the two countries. The verdict is based on evidence," said lawmaker Hosseini Sobhaninia.

The United States severed diplomatic relations with Iran after its 1979 Islamic revolution and takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Relations deteriorated further under the former President George W. Bush, who labeled Iran as part of the so-called "Axis of Evil" along with Saddam Hussein's Iraq and North Korea.

Iran's judiciary is dominated by hard-liners, which some analysts say are trying to derail efforts to improve U.S.-Iran relations.

Saberi's conviction comes about two months ahead of key presidential elections in June. Ahmadinejad is seeking re-election, but the hard-liner's popularity has waned as Iran's economy struggles with high-inflation and unemployment. The June 12 vote is pitting the hard-liners against reformists - led by a former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi - who support better relations with the U.S.

Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized Iran for arresting journalists and suppressing freedom of speech. The government has arrested several Iranian-Americans in the past few years, citing alleged attempts to overthrow its Islamic government through what it calls a "soft revolution." But they were never put on trial and were eventually released from prison.

Journalist watchdog groups criticized the conviction. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement on Saturday that her trial "lacked transparency."

"We call on the Iranian authorities to release her on bail pending her appeal," Mohamed Abdel Dayem, the group's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said in the statement.

NPR released a statement saying it was "deeply distressed by this harsh and unwarranted sentence."

Iran has released few details about the charges against Saberi. Iranian officials initially said she had been arrested for working in the Islamic Republic without press credentials and she had told her father in a phone conversation that she was arrested after buying a bottle of wine.

An Iranian investigative judge involved in the case charged that Saberi was passing classified information to U.S. intelligence services.

Her parents, who traveled to Iran from their home in Fargo in a bid to help win their daughter's release, could not be reached by the AP for comment on Saturday.

Saberi's father has said his daughter, who was Miss North Dakota in 1997, had been working on a book about the culture and people of Iran, and hoped to finish it and return to the United States this year.

"I'll bet my bottom dollar she has not been spying," said Marilyn McGinley, president of the Miss North Dakota pageant, who said she has kept in touch with the journalist through telephone calls and e-mails.

"She is not a spy. She loved the people over there and her intention of going over there was to learn about her culture," she said.

And she did! She learned that Islam and Shari'a are a most abominable lot. Or did she? Well it should be a lesson learned. It also shows just how well Obama's policies are working out.

Others on the subject include Hot Air, The Daley Gator, A Blog for All, Neoavatara.

Labels: iran, islam, misogyny, United States

The bold Dutch politician has a followup in the works for his controversial documentary short from last year. You go, Geert! Don't let the dhimmis discourage you from working on another important project. And don't let the jihadists do so either.

Labels: Europe, islam, jihad

He's met with the awful dictator of Venezuela, who recently fixed things so that he could remain dictator of the Latin American country eternally. Oh, and Obama shook hands with Chavez too. Ugh. The pic over here is even worse.

No good will come of this either.

Others on the subject include Fire Andrea Mitchell, Scared Monkeys, The Western Experience, Jules Crittenden, Hot Air, Stuck on Stupid.

Labels: Latin America, political corruption, United States

Another attempt has been made at attacking Israeli authorities with an expensive German-made car:

A Palestinian driver ran over two police officers Saturday, while they were on a patrol near the Hizmeh checkpoint, north of Jerusalem.

According to the initial police report, the officers were on routine Highway Police activity at the time of the incident, inspecting a Palestinian taxi at the checkpoint, when the man, driving a Mercedes, came out of one of the lanes and rammed into them.

Both officers were thrown a short distance from the impact of the car. They were rushed to the Hadassah Mount Scopus and Hadassah Ein Kerem hospitals in Jerusalem, suffering from moderate and light injuries to their lower extremities.

The driver, a 37-year-old Palestinian resident of the East Jerusalem village of al-Azariya, was detained immediately. The man initially admitted malice, but later confessed to having mental problems.

First, I'm afraid that terrorist attacks are on the increase again. Oh, and don't buy into his sob story about mental illness, which is certainly farfetched.

Now, about the car. Notice how the vehicle used was a luxury car made by a German outfit? A couple months ago, a similar incident happened in Jerusalem when another car jihadist used a BMW. Again, this shows how these are no paupers.

Labels: Israel, jihad, terrorism

Here's some extra news on Israel's government doing the right thing by standing up to bad George Mitchell:

In a direct challenge to President Barack Obama’s commitment to rejuvenate moribund Mideast peace talks, Israel on Thursday dismissed American-led efforts to establish a Palestinian state and laid out new conditions for renewed negotiations.

Leaders of Israel’s hawkish new government told former Maine Sen. George Mitchell, the special U.S. envoy, that they aren’t going to rush into peace talks with their Palestinian neighbors.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he’d require Palestinians to accept Israel as a Jewish state in any future negotiations — a demand that Palestinians have up to now rejected — Israeli government officials said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Obama’s envoy that past Israeli concessions led to war, not peace.

There ya go! Not that Mitchell is listening of course (and we can't expect Obama to do the same either), but they are quite right: quality can't be rushed. What's important now, if you ask me, is making improvements within Israeli society itself: economy, common sense and conduct, and even employment. There's even the menace of Iran to consider. The "peace process" is something that can only come later.

Found through Hot Air, where I see that Ed Morrissey seems to have learned something:

On that point, it’s hard to argue. Ariel Sharon dismantled settlements in Gaza and pulled the occupying army out in 2004 after accepting the Bush-Rice “road map for peace” the previous year. Instead of stabilizing Gaza and allowing for responsible self-rule, Gaza became more radical than before. In 2007, Hamas staged a coup d’etat and took full control over the territory and expanded its missile and rocket attacks on Israel. The IDF has had to conduct major military operations twice in Gaza since then, and have also had to conduct many smaller operations to pinpoint launch sites.

I guess this suggests that Morrissey has come to realize that Sharon's actions were wrong from quite a few perspectives. If so, I thank him for that. But to be sure, he's still got a long way to go.

Labels: islam, Israel, United States

YnetNews reports that a young man who was injured in Amona atrocity will be compensated by the state as well:

Over three years ago, 20-year-old Benyamin Frankel arrived at the Amona outpost in the West Bank as a protester, and left the place in a helicopter bound for a hospital, after reportedly being beaten by a police officer.

He was ultimately diagnosed with a permanent 10% orthopedic disability rating, and now, Frankel will be receiving compensation from the State in the amount of NIS 35,000 ($8,373), according to a settlement reached by the two parties.

[...]

Meanwhile, the horseman in question is also facing two other legal proceedings with regards to his conduct in Amona: Another damages claim filed by a youth that was standing near Frankel at the time, and was also allegedly beaten in the head, and a criminal case in which the officer is suspected of having trampled Yehuda Etzion with his horse.

Whoever that "headless horseman" is, he should have his citizenship revoked. Seriously. If known who he is, he should be banned from entering your local supermarket, carnival fair, or shopping mall.

Labels: Israel

For attemtping to murder in a "settlement" as the MSM would rather call them, one terrorist gets sent to hell:

A Palestinian terrorist armed with a knife was killed Friday morning after infiltrating the settlement of Beit Hagai, in the Southern Hebron Hills.

According to reports, the man entered the community with the intent of stabbing local residents.

Two residents who were on security duty confronted the man and questioned him as to his purpose there. In response, the man brandished a knife and attempted to stab them. After a short scuffle, the attacker was shot and killed by one of the men. One of the residents was reportedly very lightly wounded by the terrorist.

One of the locals, who identified himself only as Uziel, recounted the events to Army Radio.

"I had a pistol on me. I tried to shoot, but it jammed. During the struggle, he ran after me as well, and then my friend took the pistol and shot him," Uziel said, adding that the Palestinian appeared to be between 18 and 20.

The IDF launched an investigation to determine where the attacker was from and how he got into the settlement. No Palestinian group immediately took responsibility for the attempted attack.

It marks the second time in a month that a lone Palestinian attacker has infiltrated a settlement. Two weeks ago, an ax-wielding terrorist infiltrated Bat Ayin, killed 13-year-old Shlomo Nativ and fractured the skull of seven-year-old Yair Gamliel.

Last week, the IDF announced that drastic cuts would soon be made in the number of soldiers assigned to guard West Bank settlements, prompting Dani Dayan, head of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip (Yesha), to warn that a large number of settlements would be left unguarded.

The Yesha council said in a statement Friday that the attempted attack "proves the importance of protecting the [West Bank] neighborhoods," and called for the plans to cut security to be shelved.

The council also said that pressure being exerted on Israel to establish "a terror state" encouraged attackers.

Following Friday morning's incident, Yesha's Rabbinic Council released a statement saying that the increasing attempts to carry out terror attacks against Jews stemmed from the "unrealistic peace chatter," and proved that there would never be peace with a "blood thirsty enemy."

"The heroics of the Beit Hagai residents is the strength of Israel that will defeat all evil coming from inside and outside," continued the statement.

See, that's why it's a good thing Avigdor Lieberman told things like they are to the awful George Mitchell the other day. The security budget must not be reduced, and should be addressed immediately.

Labels: Israel, jihad, terrorism

French president Nicholas Sarkozy once said shortly before the American election that he was disappointed with now US president Barack Obama. Now, according to the Times of London (via Hot Air), Sarkozy is again disappointed with Obama:

Mr Sarkozy is pouring cold water on President Obama’s efforts to recast American leadership on the world stage, depicting them as unoriginal, unsubstantial and overrated. Behind leaks and briefings from the Elysée Palace lies Mr Sarkozy’s irritation at the rock-star welcome that Europe gave Mr Obama on his Europan tour earlier this month.

The American President’s call “to free the world of the menace of a nuclear nightmare” was hot air, Mr Sarkozy’s diplomatic staff told him in a report. “It was rhetoric – not a speech on American security policy but an export model aimed at improving the image of the United States,” they said. Most of Mr Obama’s proposals had already been made by the Bush administration and Washington was dragging its feet on disarmament and treaties against nuclear proliferation, the leaked report said.

[...]

According to the leaks, Mr Sarkozy shamed Mr Obama into intervening: "You were elected to build a new world. Tax havens are the embodiment of the old world," he is quoted as saying. He also reprimanded Mr Obama for setting US goals for climate change that were inferior to Europe's, according to his staff.

Again, according to the Sarkozy version, at the Nato summit in Strasbourg, Mr Obama was meekly yielding to Turkey's refusal to endorse Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the alliance's new Secretary-General. It took pressure from Mr Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel of Germany to stiffen him up and change his mind, say the French.

Mr Obama's favour for Ankara has irked but also helped Mr Sarkozy as his Union for a Popular Movement campaigns for European Parliament elections in June. Mr Sarkozy slapped down the US President on French TV after he publicly called for Turkish entry to the European Union.

This is amazing news, I must say. Obama's foolish call for admitting Turkey to the EU is one of his biggest mistakes, even though the EU is already worthless as an organization, and not helpful to Europe anyway.

Labels: Europe, France, turkey

I guess we'll have to hand it to Avigdor Lieberman: he's again said it like it is, that past concessions by Israeli governments led to war while the terrible George Mitchell was visiting and calling for cliched concessions. From YnetNews:

According to sources in the Foreign Ministry, Lieberman explained that the traditional approach to the peace process, taken by previous governments, has proven futile; leaving the process deadlocked despite the fact that they introduced dramatic concessions.

Israel wants to explore new avenues in the negotiations, the sources said. The minister, they added, gave Mitchell the examples of the Second Lebanon War, the Israeli offensive in Gaza, the severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and Mauritania and the fact that IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is still held in Hamas captivity, as examples for theses failures.

And they are! But most importantly, it's because of the Religion of Peace that concessions are a recipe for fiasco. With Islam around, there can be no peace.

Labels: islam, Israel, jihad, terrorism

But that's not something we can truly expect, unfortunately. Reuel Marc Gerecht has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (via The Weekly Standard blog) about some of the things you can find in the Islamic world that Obama is acting oblivious to:

"The United States is not at war with Islam and will never be. In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject."

So spoke President Barack Hussein Obama in Turkey last week. Following in the footsteps of the Bush administration, Mr. Obama wants to avoid labeling our enemy in religious terms. References to "Islamic terrorism," "Islamic radicalism," or "Islamic extremism" aren't in his speeches. "Jihad," too, has been banished from the official lexicon.

But if one visits the religious bookstores near Istanbul's Covered Bazaar, or mosque libraries of Turkish immigrants in Rotterdam, Brussels or Frankfurt, one can still find a cornucopia of radical Islamist literature. Go into the bookstores of Arab and Pakistani immigrant communities in Europe, or into the literary markets of the Arab world and the Indian subcontinent, and you'll find an even richer collection of militant Islamism.

Al Qaeda is certainly not a mainstream Muslim group -- if it were, we would have had far more terrorist attacks since 9/11. But the ideology that produced al Qaeda isn't a rivulet in contemporary Muslim thought. It is a wide and deep river. The Obama administration does both Muslims and non-Muslims an enormous disservice by pretending otherwise.

Quite right. It does not help to find the root cause of the problem. Read the whole article for more.

Labels: islam, jihad, turkey

The war on modern day piracy continues. No real mention of Islamic jihad being related, of course:

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) - A pirate gang that staged an abortive attack on a second U.S. ship loaded with food aid said Wednesday they were singling out American vessels and would kill their crews. French forces detained 11 other hijackers in a high-seas raid. Pirates fired grenades and automatic weapons at the cargo ship Liberty Sun, but its American crew successfully blockaded themselves inside the engine room. The ship was damaged in Tuesday's attack but escaped and was heading to Kenya under U.S. Navy guard.

A pirate whose gang attacked the ship said Wednesday that his group was targeting American ships and sailors.

"We will seek out the Americans and if we capture them we will slaughter them," said a 25-year-old pirate based in the Somali port of Harardhere who gave only his first name, Ismail.

"We will target their ships because we know their flags. Last night, an American-flagged ship escaped us by a whisker. We have showered them with rocket-propelled grenades," boasted Ismail, who did not take part in the attack on the Liberty Sun.

The move comes after U.S. Navy sharpshooters killed three pirates Sunday to win the release of a hijacked American sea captain, Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. will pursue new efforts to track down and freeze the assets of pirates, who have reaped multimillion-dollar ransoms for ships they have captured.

"We may be dealing with a 17th century crime, but we need to bring 21st century solutions to bear," she said at a news conference in Washington.

Clinton said the Obama administration also would call for immediate meetings of an international counter-piracy task force to expand naval coordination against pirates operating in the key shipping lanes off Somalia.

Frankly, with people like her in charge, I have reason to doubt they'll be able to manage things effectively.

French forces launched an early morning attack on a pirate ship after spotting it Tuesday with a surveillance helicopter and observing the pirates overnight. The raid thwarted the bandits' planned attack on the Liberian cargo ship Safmarine Asia, the French Defense Ministry said.

The statement called the pirate vessel a "mother ship" - usually a seized foreign ship that pirates use to transport speedboats far out to sea and resupply them. The ship was intercepted 550 miles (900 kilometers) east of the Kenyan city of Mombasa.

The 11 detained pirates were being held on the Nivose, a French frigate serving in the international fleet trying to protect shipping in the Gulf of Aden.

France has traditionally been aggressive in fighting piracy - this was its ninth military operation against pirates. Three Somali pirates were in the French city of Rennes on Wednesday facing judicial investigation after being captured in a hostage rescue Friday. Several other pirates are also in French custody after being seized last year.

You have to hand it to the French - they may be doing considerably better than the US at fighting piracy just now. Some more at Power Line.

Tuesday's attack on the Liberty Sun foiled the reunion between Phillips and the 19-man crew he saved with his heroism. Phillips had planned to meet his crew in Mombasa and fly home with them Wednesday, but was stuck on the USS Bainbridge when it was diverted to help the Liberty Sun.

The crew left without him, flying to Andrews Air Force base in Maryland in a chartered plane.

"We are very happy to be going home," crewman William Rios of New York City said before departing Wednesday. "(But) we are disappointed to not be reuniting with the captain in Mombasa. He is a very brave man."

Third mate Colin Wright, from Galveston, Texas, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that fighting off pirates gave him a new appreciation for life.

"I'll just love to hug my mother," Wright said. "Everybody out there give your mother a hug. Yeah, don't wait. Life is precious. And what a beautiful world."

The Liberty Sun had left Houston with a crew of 20 American sailors and a load of aid for the U.N. World Food Program. It warded off the pirates with evasive maneuvers, said U.S. Navy Lt. Nathan Christensen of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet.

"We are under attack by pirates, we are being hit by rockets. Also bullets," Liberty Sun crewman Thomas Urbik, 26, wrote his mother in an e-mail. "We are barricaded in the engine room and so far no one is hurt. (A) rocket penetrated the bulkhead but the hole is small. Small fire, too, but put out."

By the time the Bainbridge arrived five hours later, the pirates had left. A small group of armed U.S. sailors from the Bainbridge went aboard the Liberty Sun to ensure its safe journey to Mombasa.

Despite President Barack Obama's vow to take action against the rise in banditry and the deaths of five pirates in French and U.S. hostage rescues, brigands have seized four vessels and more than 75 hostages since Sunday's dramatic rescue of Phillips.

Pirates released a Greek-owned cargo ship Wednesday and Greek authorities said all 24 crewmen on the Titan were in good health. The ship had been hijacked March 19 in the Gulf of Aden.

In all, Somali pirates are holding over 280 sailors on 15 ships - at least 76 of those sailors captured in the last few days. Pirates have attacked 79 ships this year and hijacked 19 of them, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a piracy watchdog.

Pirates can extort $1 million or more for each ship and crew seized off the Horn of Africa - and Kenya estimates they raked in $150 million last year.

The United States has asked the International Red Cross and Somali officials to help locate the families of the three pirates slain Sunday by Navy snipers so their remains can be returned, a senior U.S. official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

I have a difficult time understanding why the families of these pirates deserve to have their remains back. I find it even harder to understand why they would even deserve a decent burial.

The pirates have been robbing a lot boats delivering food to the poor, and this is what their abominable crimes have led to:

The difficulties in getting food aid delivered could leave some Somalis hungry.

World Food Program spokesman Peter Smerdon said more food aid was to have been delivered by another cargo ship hijacked Tuesday, the Lebanese-owned MV Sea Horse. It was headed to Mumbai, India, to pick up 7,327 tons of WFP food for Somalia.

"WFP is also extremely concerned that people in Somalia will go hungry unless the Sea Horse is quickly released or a replacement ship can be found," he said.

Hours before the attack on the Sea Horse, pirates seized the Greek-managed bulk carrier MV Irene E.M. in an unusual nighttime raid. They also captured two Egyptian fishing trawlers carrying 36 fishermen.

Pirates say they are fighting illegal fishing and dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters but now operate hundreds of miles from there in a sprawling 1.1 million square-mile danger zone.

Oh wow, what a pathetic sob story those pirates are coming up with. Please, spare us the absurdity.

A flotilla of warships from nearly a dozen countries has patrolled the Gulf of Aden and nearby Indian Ocean waters for months. They have halted many attacks but say the area is so vast they can't stop all hijackings.

The Gulf of Aden, which links the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, is the shortest route from Asia to Europe. More than 20,000 ships cross the vital sea lane every year.

Pirate attacks in the region have rapidly increased lately, according to the International Maritime Bureau. In less than four months this year, there have been 79 attacks, compared to 111 for all of 2008.

In 2003, there were only 21 attacks by Somalis in this expanse of water.

Last year pirates took 815 sailors hostage and hijacked 42 ships.

Some serious action is going to have to be taken by many navies, and Somalia may have to be raided in order to shut down these pirate operations.

Labels: Africa, anti-americanism, France, jihad, military, Somalia, United States, war on terror

Let me now offer some TV history for anyone who cares. I'm going to present now 2 examples of TV adventure shows that have a few things in common. Their names are Alias Smith and Jones (1971-73) and Cover Up (1984-85). Here's an intro clip from Alias Smith and Jones:

And here's an intro clip from Cover Up:

Now what do they have in common, you ask? Both were created/produced by one of the same producers (Glen Larson), albeit at different studios (Universal and 20th Century Fox, respectively). And both of them involved a tragedy that ultimately cut their life short.

Let's start with the premise for AMAJ. It was a western series that drew from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, produced at a time when westerns still had an audience, and the plot focused on two bandits played by Ben Murphy and Pete Duel who were offered amnesty if they could go straight for a time. The governor wanted them to keep it secret, however, as it was still very controversial with the public. It might've had something to it, but you're about to learn why it plummeted.

Now, about CU. An espionage/adventure series, it was like a variation on James Bond, Mission: Impossible and the Man from U.N.C.L.E, with fashion photography and models serving as a backdrop. A fashion photographer, played by Jennifer O'Neill, discovers that her murdered husband was a government agent, and hires a Green Beret, played by Jon-Erik Hexum, to help solve the case surrounding his death. After they succeed, her late husband's boss is so impressed that he offers her and the Green Beret jobs as secret agents themselves, and together, they'd go on adventures to combat criminals and help US citizens in trouble with enemy forces. The fashion photographer had several other female models in her employ who were in on this, making them unofficial agents as well. Sounds like a cool premise for a series produced at the time MTV was just getting underway, right? (And they even used Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" as they intro theme!) Well, you're about to learn why this too went down the drain.

This brings us to where we find out just what these 2 series had in common: they both involved the death of an actor at the barrel of a firearm, albeit by slightly different circumstances. In the case of ASAJ, co-star Pete Duel committed suicide by gunshot shortly after filming the first season. And while they hired a new actor to take up his role (outside of soap operas, replacing a one performer with another in the same role isn't that common), it fell out of favor with the public. In the case of CU, it's even more disturbing: the star of show, Jon-Erik Hexum, sitting around bored during some delays in filming, decided to play Russian Roulette with himself. He loaded a prop gun with blanks, and apparently didn't realize that the materials used in blanks can be deadly when fired at close range. The shot struck him so badly that a bone fragment the size of a quarter was shattered and rammed into his brain tissue. He died a few hours later from massive hemmorhaging.

It's a shame that Duel had to take his life as he did almost 4 decades ago, regardless of ASAJ's outcome in the ratings. In the case of CU, it's even more disturbing how someone could be so stupid to think that guns are playthings.

The producers brought in another actor to replace Hexum, but the damage was done: CU may have begun with high enough ratings, but lost out quickly and lasted only one season. While some could easily argue that the new actor did not appeal to the audience, another answer could be that the on-set tragedy made people too depressed to watch it further. I know that I certainly don't feel up to watching it today because of that. This is far different than when an actor is fired for doing something wrong that violates the contract, which people can sometimes overlook more easily.

There's a serious lesson to be learned here, that even blanks can be dangerous, and you should never point a gun at yourself, and definitely not at other people. According to some of the info I'd found, O'Neill was angry at Hexum for toying with weapons on the set during filming breaks - 2 years earlier, she'd accidentally injured herself while checking a gun her husband owned to see if it was loaded. Tragically, he didn't listen, and look what happened. They may not have even had a proper props inspector working the set, another reason why this happened. If there's anyone else I feel sorry for here besides the late star, it's O'Neill. Oh yeah, she was robbed alright. By all means, this should've been her show, and was surely a perfect vehicle for her. Alas...

Besides all that, I find it rather eerie that two TV shows from the same producer would both suffer a gun-based tragedy, one a suicide and one from mindless toying around. Does anyone else find that surprising?

Labels: showbiz, United States

A dhimmi rabbi to watch out for: one Marc Schneier, who clearly never studied the Quran:

WASHINGTON – Rabbi Marc Schneier, who was included on Newsweek's list of America's 50 most influential rabbis, is the founder and president of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU). As part of this endeavor Schneier is leading an initiative to develop dialogue between Jews and Muslims in the US and across the world.

Last November Rabbi Schneier twinned between 50 synagogues and 50 mosques across the US and Canada for a day of joint prayers, with rabbis and imams speaking out against hate.

In November 2009 he hopes to expand the initiative to Europe.

[...]

Last month Rabbi Schneier approached the UN ambassadors of 20 Muslim countries and invited them to engage in dialogue and join hands in the fight against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. "I have said that the ideal would be that in the upcoming Durban Review Conference, moderate Muslims should be those that will work on behalf of advocating Jewish issues and vice versa.

"We need to have friends in the Muslim world and we are beginning to identify them," he concluded.

Ho, I'll bet. When he brings up mention of Islamophobia, that's where the learned know that there's something wrong with him. But here's what's most challenging: does he know anything about the meaning of jihad? Does he approve of honor murders, female circumcision, or even Shari'a law? Does he even approve of Mohammed's marriage to the 9-year-old Ayesha? That's what I'd like to know.

A man who's more concerned with dialogue between Judaism and Islam than confronting the latter about their perverted culture is not someone to hang around with. No wonder Newsweek chose him for their list.

Labels: dhimmitude, islam, Judaism, misogyny, msm foulness

This article on Israel National News says that a group of marchers is providing a test for Netanyahu to rebuild Yad Yair, a neighborhood that was demolished by the Olmert government:

(IsraelNN.com) Hundreds of people have begun a Passover holiday march to Yad Ya’ir, an 18-year-old neighborhood that was destroyed seven months ago by the Olmert-Barak government.

At 4 PM, a major event will be held at Yad Ya’ir, near Dolev in the Binyamin region of southern Samaria. Public figures including rabbis and Knesset Members will be in attendance. Monday is the 18th anniversary of the establishment of Yad Ya’ir, marking the murder of Dolev resident Ya’ir Mendelson by Arab terrorists.

March to Resettle
The area, which is owned by Jews, had been torched and vandalized by local Arabs several times before IDF Division Commander Brig.-Gen. Noam Tivon ordered the town’s destruction last September. The marchers say they are paving the way for Jews to resettle the sight.

The government should allow for reconstruction without opposition, neither from within nor from abroad. And if you can contact the government, you can voice your support as well.

Labels: Israel

They said they were going to commit more atrocities. They were not joking. Here's the latest:

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) - Undeterred by U.S. and French hostage rescues that killed seven bandits, Somali pirates brazenly hijacked three more ships in the Gulf of Aden, the key waterway that's become the focal point of the world's fight against piracy.

The latest trophy for the pirates was the M.V. Irene E.M., a Greek-managed bulk carrier sailing from the Middle East to South Asia, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

The Irene was attacked and seized in the middle of the night Tuesday - a rare tactic for the pirates.

U.S. Navy Lt. Nathan Christensen, spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said the Irene was flagged in the Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and carried 23 Filipino crew. Choong reported a crew of 21, and there was no immediate way to reconcile the figures.

It won't be a rare tactic if allied forces allow this to continue.

The AP, however, is also making sure to apologize for the pirates, seeing how another related article of theirs bears the headline "Pirates seen as not interested in raising violence". Excuse me? Just what did Congressman Don Payne almost encounter?

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Assailants fired mortar shells at the Mogadishu airport as a plane carrying an American congressman took off Monday, officials said. The plane departed safely, but 19 Somalis were reported wounded in surrounding residential areas.

U.S. Rep. Don Payne, who met with Somalia's top leaders during his one-day visit, said that he had no idea of the violence until reaching Kenya after the flight from Mogadishu, one of the most dangerous cities in the world and rarely visited by foreign travelers.

"We found out when we arrived in Nairobi," the chairman of the House subcommittee on Africa told The Associated Press. He said that the aircraft noise probably drowned out the sound of the mortars.

The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility in a posting on a militant Web site, saying it launched the mortar barrage after learning of Payne's visit, according to the terrorism monitoring group SITE.

Now this may have been land-based, but it's still the same thing - a terrorist attack. Exactly what the "pirates" were conducting.

While we're on the subject, McClatchy is also going the apologia route (Hat tip: Hot Air):

Vice Adm. William Gortney, commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, in a briefing for reporters, said U.S. Navy SEAL snipers perched at the back of the USS Bainbridge — a guided-missile destroyer floating about 30 yards off the 28-foot lifeboat where Phillips was being held — opened fire on the pirates when one of them pointed an AK-47 rifle at Phillips’s back…

According to Somalis with knowledge of the discussions, the pirates, who at one time had demanded $2 million for Phillips’s release, had grown desperate with their situation — adrift under a searing sun in waters infested with sharks, staring at two massive Navy ships armed with guided missiles, running low on fuel and having spent their ammunition.

A relative of one of the pirates, who said he spoke with the men by satellite phone at about 3 p.m. — four hours before the Navy opened fire — said they “were getting scared” and trying to persuade the Americans to let them go in return for the captain’s release.

“They were trying to save their own lives,” said the relative, Hassan Mohammed Farah, speaking by phone from Haradheere, a coastal town in central Somalia where pirates are known to operate. “The only thing they could bargain with was the captain, but the Americans would not accept.”

Are they implying that the terrorist pirates were shot in cold blood while in the midst of trying to surrender? Some way to thank the navy for their brave efforts to rescue a man whose life was in danger. A little further down the article, it says:

The only real deterrence for pirates, who netted tens of millions of dollars in ransoms last year, according to independent experts, is the threat of force. But military interventions often don't end as well as the U.S. operation. On Friday French forces swooped in to release a captured yacht and one of the five French hostages was killed in a firefight with pirates.

As can be told from that, those pirates were certainly armed. In any case, I'm not sorry for any of the terrorists who lost their worthless lives. They caused trouble, taking innocent people hostage and got what they deserved. McClatchy and the AP should be throughly ashamed of themselves for trying to downplay the evil of the terrorists.

Labels: Africa, jihad, msm foulness, Somalia, terrorism