Sunday, November 30, 2008

Beverly Hills Synagogue Plans 'InterFaith ' Event With Jihad Mosque

Stupid, suicidal dhimmis:


Temple Emanuel will be having an interfaith event tomorrow with the King Fahd mosque which was attended by two of the 9/11 hijackers and Muzammil Siddiqi former president of The Islamic Society of North America(ISNA) and an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas Founding trial. The evening is also sponsored by the Muslim Public Affairs Committee.

According to Discover The NetworkA few hours after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, MPAC Co-Founder Salam Al-Marayati told a Los Angeles talk radio audience: "If we're going to look at suspects, we should look at the groups that benefit the most from these kinds of incidents, and I think we should put the state of Israel on the suspect list because I think this diverts attention from what's happening in the Palestinian territories so that they can go on with their aggression and occupation and apartheid policies."
(FF notes: I personally heard that broadcast)

The evening, presented at a high end Reform Jewish Temple is entitled "Confronting Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism Together" and "will include brief presentations from Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, Chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America {...} and a conversation between Aziza Hasan and Malka Haya Fenyvesi, interfaith coordinators of NewGround, a Muslim- Jewish partnership-for-change that trains young professionals in a fellowship program sponsored by Progressive Jewish Alliance and the Muslim Public Affairs Council which will be facilitated by Brie Loskota of the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture. (And, of course, the opportunity to socialize over dessert!)"

Lovely. Appeasement at any price,right?

For those of you whom don't recall, ISNA is the Saudi funded wahabi front given the job of taking over America's mosques and madrassahs and radicalizing American Muslims,a job they've been notably successful at thanks to Saudi money and a large group of Western hirelings. Siddiqui, among his other successes counts American traitor Adam Gadahn as one of his converts,which occurred while attending the Islamic Society of Orange County in Garden Grove, California, where Siddiqi was in charge of that mosque .

As for the Muslim Public Affairs Council(MPAC), it's on record as calling Israel entirely responsible for the "pattern of violence" in the Middle East and considers Hezbollah and Hamas "liberation movements" staffed by "freedom fighters.

Salam Al-Marayati has called Patrick Henry's "Give me Liberty or give me death" speech as "a way of looking at the term jihad from an American perspective."

Except that Patrick Henry left out the bits about fighting the infidels until they either were killed, converted to Islam or 'felt themselves subdued' and paid jirzyah ( monetary tribute) to the Muslims to buy their lives.

MPAC, like most groups with Saudi ties will occasionally `condemn' jihadi terrorism,but only in the context of 'state terrorism' ( by which they mean Israel) and a reminder that we have to understand these murderer's rage and frustration..as if that excuses anything.

As for Rabbi Mark Schneier,well... you can find out his particulars here. It's not pretty.

People like this will be pleading for dialogue and 'mutual understanding' until the day they get their throats cut. And even then, they'll be wondering how it happened.


Watcher's Council Results, 11/30/08


The Council has spoken! A complete rundown of the voting tallies is here.


Among the Council members, the winner this week was The Colossus of Rhodey for Culture of Whine (a rant)

In second place, we had a tie between Joshuapundit for Zero Hour…Iran Now Has Material For First Nuclear Bomb and The Provocateur for Some Perspective on PNC, Fraud, and the Bailout


Among the non-Council entries, the winner my nominee, Serendituous Altruism for American troops in Afghanistan through the eyes of a French OMLT infantryman

In second place was a three way tie (!) between Israelly Cool, The despicable Lauren Booth, National Review Online, Party of Privilege and The Daily Beast, No Stimulus From Government Spending .

As usual, congratulations not only to the winners, but to all the participants.


Friday, November 28, 2008

Chabad Rabbi And His Wife Murdered in Mumbai



The siege at the Chabad House in Mumbai is over...and the five Israeli hostages are dead...may G-d avenge their blood.

It's uncertain whether they were murdered previously when then Chabad house was first targeted and taken over by the jihad terrorists or later, when Indian commandos stormed the building.

Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg were inside the building and can be presumed to be among the dead, although their two-year old son Moshe survived unharmed when he was spirited out of the house by his Indian babysitter. Since it was reported that the child's clothes were covered in blood, it's likely that the Holtzbergs were shot in the initial attack and tried to shield their baby with their bodies.He's now in the care of his grandparents,who flew to Mumbai from Israel after it was reported that their son and daughter-in-law had been taken hostage.Foreign Ministry sources reported that the victims also included two women who had been trapped on the top floor with the Holtzbergs, as well as a fifth unnamed person

The Chabad House was a place where Jews could worship, eat kosher meals and meet with a rabbi for spiritual counseling and help if it was needed. It was deliberately targeted for one reason...there were Jews there.

The murder of people like the Holtzberg's and the other hostages meant nothing to the people that attacked them, because Islam does not consider Jews human beings,and it says so in the Qu'ran,which describes Jews as pigs and monkeys. Obviously, not all Muslims feel that way, but a significant majority do. And that attitude predates Israel, since Muslims were murdering Jews with obscene joy and impunity long before then.

As a matter of fact, Mohammed began his career by murdering, robbing and enslaving the people in the Jewish city of Medina after they gave him refuge when Mohammed fled from Mecca in the hejira.

That was yet another example of Jews suffering because of their willingness to be humane,and the fall out has continued into the present generation. I can't help thinking that it would be a far better, more peaceful world if they had simply turned him away into the desert.


Thursday, November 27, 2008

Iraqi Parliament Approves Security Agreement With US

Iraq's parliament approved the Iraqi-US Status of Forces Agreement with a huge majority.

"This is the day of our sovereignty," said Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.

"Together we will go forward toward a free, prosperous and glorious Iraq, where Iraqis can live with pride and dignity and can be proud that they are sons of this beloved country," he said.

Since the cabinet approved the final version of the security agreement Nov. 16, the government has waged an intense effort to urge approval of the measure, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2009, when the United Nations mandate that now governs U.S. troop operations in the country expires.


There's a timetable in the document that requires U.S. troops to withdraw from cities and towns by June 30, 2009, and for all troops to leave by the end of 2011 unless the Iraqis and Americans negotiate a separate pact to govern an extension of the American military presence. Which leaves the door open to further arrangements, of course.

This is a defeat for Iran, which was lobbying the Shiite government we set up not to ratify the deal.Ultimately, Iraq decided it didn't want to become an Iranian colony.

We'll see what develops..


Correction: Chabad Hostages Still Held

Apparently the eight hostages released near the Chabad House in Mumbai were local Indians and not the Chabad Rabbi and his family. Operations to free them are still ongoing:

Eight people seen outside the besieged Chabad House in Mumbai Thursday night were local Indians from a home in the same compound, and not Jewish or Israeli hostages from the Chabad House, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Thursday night, refuting media reports that the Chabad House hostages had been freed.


The commando raid was continuing outside the Chabad House with the remaining members of the five families taken hostage still being held.


Pray for the safety of Rabbi Gavriel Hotzberg,his wife Rivka and his family and the other hostages.



Mumbai Death Toll Rises to 125; Hostages Freed At Chabad Center

The horror story in Mumbai continues.

The death toll has risen to 125,with hundreds injured. Indian commandos raided the Oberoi Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel to free hostages held by the jihadis, and apparently got most of them out, although 35 people are still reported trapped in the Oberoi.

One of the sites targeted by the jihadis was the Chabad House in Mumbai, where the jihadis held eight Jews including Rabbi Gavriel Hotzberg,his wife Rivka and his family. According to Israel's Channel 2 news,they're safe after Indian commandos stormed the building.

For any of you whom doubt that Israel is a major front in the War on Jihad and that what happens there happens elsewhere sooner or later, remember that Israel has seen exactly these kind of attacks and tactics in the past.And reports are already coming out of the hotels that the jihadis sought people with American, British and Israeli passports for special attention.

This operation was meticulously planned to do maximum damage to Mumbai and cost the largest possible human toll. The jihadis were caught with an arsenal of high explosives that they were unable to detonate thanks to the bravery and quick response of India's commandos.

The relatively high level of training and planning leaves little doubt that the jihadis had support from at least some elements in the fragmented Pakistani government..most likely the ISI,Pakistan's equivalent of our CIA or Britain's MI5.

The attackers also likely originated in Pakistan, and speculation that some of the jihadis were landed from the sea was given substance by the seizure of a suspicious Pakistani freighter,the M V Alpha by the Indian Coast Guard off the coast near Mumbai.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in an address to country, condemned the attacks and charged they came from terrorists "based outside the country."
Singh also said his government would be setting up a federal government agency to coordinate against threats to public safety in India.

H epromised to "take up strongly with our neighbors that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated and that there will be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them."

With an election scheduled shortly and many Indians critical of the Congress party for failing to take decisive action to prevent terroist attacks like this one, Singh is under enormous pressure to take decisive steps.

Pakistani President Asif Zardari said Pakistan "strongly condemns the terrorist acts and the killing of innocent people" and also warned that blaming Pakistan for the carnage would "worsen relations."

I doubt that this was an official act carried out with Zaradari's knowledge and support, but Pakistan is essentially a failed state with whole areas of its territory not under government control and a number of rogue elements even within its official forces.


Wednesday, November 26, 2008

US Embassy In Kabul Hit By Suicide Car Bomber

This is turning into an insane day,

The attack was targeted against an American convoy that was gathering at the embassy compound for Thanksgiving.

The suicide car bomb detonated just outside the main entrance.

Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayub Salangi said one person was killed and six wounded in the attack.

There's no reason to believe there's any connection with what's going on in Mumbai, but it's a reminder that the War onJihad has a way of rearing it's ugly head when you least expect it. And that will remain true until we defeat our enemies.


Mumbai Terrorist Attacks - Update


The latest is that the terrorists came to Mubai by boatand hit ten seperate locations. 11 policemen are among the dead, so it looks like my little birdie was correct about the perps setting up secondary ambushes for cops and rescue workers who rushed to the scene - a typical tactic of jihadis.

The attack is still ongoing and there is a hostage situation going on at the Taj and Oberoi hotels, a local hospital and residential building that houses foreigners.

Six arrests have been made and Indian Mujahadeen, a Muslim group,(now there's a surprise) has already is taking creditaccording to Indian intelligence.

Indian Mujahadeen is a front group created by Pakistani terrorists Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Harkat ul Jihad al Islami to confuse investigators and cover the tracks of the Students' Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI, a radical Islamist movement. The groups receive support from Pakistan's infamous Inter-Service Intelligence(ISI) and are al Qaeda affiliates.

More as it develops...


Thanksgiving And Giving Thanks

Tommorow is Thanksgiving, a uniquely American holiday. OK, American and Canadian, though they celebrate it on a different day. While many cultures have a harvest festival at this time of year, Thanksgiving is different in that it clearly acknowledges divine providence as its source and inspiration.

Its direct ancestor was the Hebrew festival of Sukkot, as William Bradford and the Pilgrims were very familiar with the Hebrew Bible, and regarded themselves as akin to the Jews dwelling in the Wilderness.

On the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims celebrated and thanked G-d for their survival and reportedly gave a feast, inviting the local Indian tribes as guests. The holiday has endured ever since.

Over the years, Thanksgiving has acquired a number of traditions..foods like roast turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and pumpkin pie, football on TV, travel madness for those leaving town to be with their extended families...and a feeling of thankfulness for G-d's bounty and closeness to our families, sometimes unexpressed but never absent.

As you celebrate, try something...take a moment to reflect on your blessings. Be thankful for that bountiful harvest,for your loved ones, for the fact that we live as free men in a free country. And remember that this is so because other men and women are willing to endure hardship and be away from their loved ones to keep it so.

Take a minute to spend some time and enjoy the feeling of being close to the people that have always been there for you, the ones you can't leave behind, as the song says.

And carry with you my best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving for you and yours.

May you be blessed...Selah.



Joran Van Der Sloot Tells FOX He Sold Natalie Holloway For $10k

Given that Van Der Sloot is now under suspicion of human trafficking in Thailand where he now lives, it's not implausible:





One thing about the entire case that always struck me was the idea of Natalie Holloway partying and drinking with a strange guy to the point where she was intoxicated.

Strange things happen on vacation, especially in a place like Aruba, but she was an honors student and her family and friends have all stated that kind of behavior was very much unlike her.

What I suspect is that she was slipped a rohypnol or GHB at the bar and then taken to the beach where she either died from an overdose and was dumped in the sea or was transferred to a boat as Van Der Sloot describes...'drunk' and unresisting.

UPDATE: In yet another twist on this sad tale, Van Der Sloot now claims he was just pulling Greta Van susteren's leg and made the whole thing up. This would be the third or fourth time he's changed his story..


Mumbai India Hit By Major Terrorist Attacks - 80 Dead

Mumbai India has been targeted in a score of coordinated terrorist attacks.

Gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons fire and grenades on two of the city's best known Luxury hotels, the Taj Mahal and the Oberoi. They also attacked the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station in southern Mumbai and Leopold's restaurant, a Mumbai landmark.

At least 80 people have been murdered so far and another 250 wounded, and a number of the gunmen are reportedly still holed up in at least one of the hotels and are holding hostages.

Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Bangalore have been hit by terrorist attacks c that have claimed more than 150 lives over the past six months. The Indian Mujahideen, a previously unknown Islamist terror group, has claimed responsibility for those assaults.

One of my local little birdies e-mailed me that it appears the attacks were well planned, with secondary ambushes set up to target police and rescue workers as they rushed to the scene - a standard tactic of those adherents of the Religion of Peace that go in for this sort of activity.

He also told me that according to the local media, foreigners, particularly Americans and Brits were especially targeted.

I'll have more on this as it develops.


Watcher's Council Nominations, 11/26/08


The Watcher's Council is a group of some of the most incisive blogs in the`sphere. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.

So, let's see what we have this week....

Council Submissions :

Joshuapundit - Zero Hour…Iran Now Has Material For First Nuclear Bomb - Remember when all those 'experts' in the US State Department assured us Iran had ended its quest for nuclear weapons back in 2003? Guess what...they were mistaken.

And as I point out, there are various reasons why the idea of living with a nuclear armed Iran is a fallacy, and the old doctrine of mutually assured destruction doesn't apply here.



Mere Rhetoric- Obama’s Top NSA And CIA Picks: Harsh On Israel, Sympathetic To Iran And Hezbollah Omri reflects on some troubling picks by the incoming Obama administration.I'm pretty familiar with General Jones, who's ideas on positioning a NATO peacekeeping force in Judea and Samaria to prevent the IDF from pre-empting strikes by Fatah's armed terrorists security forces is uncomfortably near to Obama adviser Samantha Power's notion of invading Israeli territory with US forces to impose a settlement along the pre-1967 lines and establish a Palestinian state.

I'm less familiar with John Brennnan.

I would only add that as with most of Obama's presumed appointments,these two remain in the area of speculation.

Soccer Dad - My my...Mark Halperin admits to despicable media bias. I wonder if he felt the same way back when he was head of political news for ABC back in 2004 and instructed his reporters to ignore items critical to John Kerry and focus on news critical of George Bush?

Collosus of Rhodey - Culture of Whine (a rant) - As Hube points out, in the world of education everybody's a victim and self-esteem is king.

A good antidote to this stuff is to read about our warriors in Afghanistan and Iraq, who come from the same generation ( start out with my non-Council entry this week). There's where the real future of America is being built, not in places like Harvard.


The Glittering Eye - Official History - Ah,this one struck a particular chord with me. Reminds me of the old Churchill quote about his not being concerned with his place in history because he intended to write it.

Cheat-Seeking Missiles - Sunday Scan - This week Laer surveys a few things he noted on global warming vs. global cooling, the Venezuelan elections, yet another hit piece on Sarah Palin,and a few other items of interest. Nice to see Council alumnus Okie cited..

The Provocateur - Some Perspective on PNC, Fraud, and the Bailout Mike has another fine story on the Great Treasury Robbery,also known as the bail out. Now you know where your taxes are going,in a supposed 'conservative' Republican Administration.it will take som etime fo rthe GOP to recover from this malfeasance on the part of President Bush and his appointees.

Bookworm Room - Halting the Schism - Ms. Bookworm considers the rift between conservative groups and how it might be bridged.




Non-Council Submissions:


Submitted By: Mere Rhetoric - Defense Tech - The Big Three/National Security Risk Myth

Submitted By: Soccer Dad - Israelly Cool - The despicable Lauren Booth

Submitted By: The Colossus of Rhodey - Times Higher Education - Nine out of ten dogmas

Submitted By: The Glittering Eye - Serendipitous altruism - American troops in Afghanistan through the eyes of a French OMLT infantryman

Submitted By: Joshuapundit - Serendituous Altruism - American troops in Afghanistan through the eyes of a French OMLT infantryman

Submitted By: Cheat-Seeking Missiles - National Review Online - Party of Privilege

Submitted By: The Provocateur - The Daily Beast - No Stimulus From Government Spending

Submitted By: Bookworm Room - Jewish World Review - Why Reporters — and Judges and Professors — are Biased


Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Alan Colmes...Buh Bye



As you know, I normally make it a point not to demonize people I disagree with...unless I find their point of view truly despicable.

That said, I couldn't be happier that Alan Colmes is 'resigning to pursue other career options' and will no longer be around to make an ass of himself on FOX's Hannity and Colmes.

Among his other asinine and puerile stances :

* Defending Iran's proxy war in Iraq against our warriors on the air, (September 24th, 2007) excusing Iran and Ahmadinejad's killing our troops by saying "“He’s supporting the Shiites, not targeting the United States.”

*Agreeing with Obama's high falutin' remarks to a bunch of San Francisco limousine Leftists about those bitter hicks in flyover country clinging to their guns and religion.

* Writing on his blog accusing Governor Sarah Palin of 'causing her son's down's syndrome' by not taking proper prenatal care of him... And then trying to make it disappear. Fortunately, a screen shot is here. For that alone he ought to have the chicken fried crap kicked out of him. Imagine, this is coming from someone who thinks it's perfectly fine to stab an almost delivered infant while it's still in the womb with surgical scissors, vacuum out the brains, collapse the head and 'deliver' the corpse in a partial birth abortion, AKA infanticide.

There's plenty more, but that will do for now.

Sean Hannity would do far better with someone with at least a shred of decency as a liberal co-host...Susan Estrich, perhaps?

As for Alan Colmes he reminds me of the sort of clown who got bitch slapped around regularly back in my high school for flapping his lips at the wrong people. I'm sure FOX will find something for him to do to finish out his contract,but as far as I'm concerned, he can crawl back under the rock from whence he came.

American Warriors In Afghanistan Through French Eyes


We hear a great deal about how despised Americans are in 'the eyes of the world.'

Here's a first hand account of our warriors in Afghanistan, written by a French OMLT (Operational Mentoring Liaison Teams) infantryman serving with them:

“We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while - they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as series showing “ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events”. Who are they, those soldiers from abroad, how is their daily life, and what support do they bring to the men of our OMLT every day ? {..}

Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - we are wimps, even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans.

Here we discover America as it is often depicted : their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by promiscuity lack of privacy and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that : the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the post parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the hearth of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star spangled banner. Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location : books, chewing gums, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission.

And they are impressive warriors ! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump.

And combat ? If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all - always coming to the rescue when one of our teams gets in trouble, and always in the shortest delay. That is one of their tricks : they switch from T-shirt and sandals to combat ready in three minutes. Arriving in contact with the ennemy, the way they fight is simple and disconcerting : they just charge ! They disembark and assault in stride, they bomb first and ask questions later - which cuts any pussyfooting short....."


Read the whole thing over at Serendituous Altruism


Monday, November 24, 2008

Victory - Holy Land Foundation Jihadis Guilty On All Counts


Apparently the second time was the charm... unanimously guilty on all counts.

For those of you who don't remember, the HLF trial is a watershed case involving our basic ability to combat fund raising for jihad against the West here in our own country.

The Holy Land Foundation was a front for the Muslim Brotherhood set up to raise funds for terrorist groups like Hamas here in America. They were also intimately connected with the good folks at CAIR, who was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the trial.

The original trial ended in a mistrial, largely because the government had a somewhat sloppy case that had a tangled narrative and because there was significant jury tampering during deliberations.

This time, the Feds streamlined their case significantly to make all the loose ends easier for a jury to follow...and presented new evidence seized by the Israelis from the Palestinian Authority showing that the HLF were nothing but shills and money launderers for Hamas:


A jury convicted five former officials at the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) on all counts in the Hamas-support case after 8 days of deliberations.

The men, Shukri Abu-Baker, Ghassan Elashi, Mohamed El-Mezain, Mufid Abdulqader and Abdelrahman Odeh, could face up to 20 years in prison for their convictions on conspiracy counts, including conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. The verdicts, read Monday afternoon, ended a two-year saga in what is considered the largest terror financing case since the 9/11 attacks.

In the original trial last year, jurors acquitted El-Mezain on 31 of the 32 counts against him, but could not reach unanimous verdicts on any other counts, prompting a mistrial.

Prosecutors made a series of significant adjustments, from dropping 29 counts each against defendants Mufid Abdulqader and Abdelrahman Odeh, to adding new witnesses who could put the charity support in context. In addition, jurors in this trial saw three exhibits Israeli military officials seized from the Palestinian Authority which showed the PA also considered HLF to be a Hamas financer and that an HLF-supported charity committee was controlled by Hamas. {....}

(I wonder if Abdelrahman Odeh is any relation to PLO shill Sami Odeh?)

Journalist Douglas Farah studied the HLF evidence on behalf of the Nine Eleven Finding Answers (NEFA) Foundation and was the first to identify the significance of a Muslim Brotherhood memorandum outlining the group's ambitions in America. He said Monday's verdict has implications for unindicted co-conspirators in the case – most notably the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) - because it validates what already was "a clear public record of why these groups were founded and how."

The Muslim Brotherhood memo called for "a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions."

CAIR is listed as a member of the Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and founders Omar Ahmad and Nihad Awad are included on a telephone list of committee members. CAIR has not refuted the evidence, Farah said. Government officials ought to study that evidence to realize CAIR is not what it presents itself as.

"The main currency CAIR and these groups have is their access," he said. "The time is now, with full justification and with a full public record - not a whispering campaign, not innuendo – for the government to now say without hesitation: you don't have access here. We don't want to deal with you."

After the verdicts were read, jurors were asked to determine whether convictions for money laundering meant HLF assets should be forfeited to the government, the Dallas Morning News reported. Jurors agreed $12.4 million from the defendants' assets shold be forfeited.


'You don't have access here...we don't want to deal with you'..someone ought to whisper that in George W. Bush's ear....maybe accompanied by a little poke in the ribs to get his attention.

As for the five jihadis, considering that they were involved in an organization trying to subvert our country's government and cheerfully raised money to murder women and kids, twenty years seems far too short a time to put them away.

Far better to hang them as conspirators to murder and treason, followed by a pigskin burial as an example to those of like mind who might be tempted to emulate them.


Halperin 'Apologizes' For Media Bias



Mark Halperin from Time has the grace to be just a leetle embarrassed over the blatant media bias this election :

"It's the most disgusting failure of people in our business since the Iraq war," Halperin said at a panel of media analysts. "It was extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage."

Halperin, who maintains Time's political site "The Page," cited two New York Times articles as examples of the divergent coverage of the two candidates.

"The example that I use, at the end of the campaign, was the two profiles that The New York Times ran of the potential first ladies," Halperin said. "The story about Cindy McCain was vicious. It looked for every negative thing they could find about her and it case her in an extraordinarily negative light. It didn't talk about her work, for instance, as a mother for her children, and they cherry-picked every negative thing that's ever been written about her."

The story about Michelle Obama, by contrast, was "like a front-page endorsement of what a great person Michelle Obama is," according to Halperin.


Of course, it wasn't just the New York Times, was it Mark? How many flattering articles and cover appearances on Time did Barack Obama receive as opposed to ...uh, what was the name of the other guy running?

Like most enablers, Halperin's supposed apology was more in the line of a justification:

The former ABC News political director acknowledged that some of the press coverage was simply reflecting the reality of Obama's presidential campaign.

"You do have to take into account the fact that this was a remarkable candidacy," Halperin said. "There were a lot of good stories. He was new."


Yes..and Sarah Palin was new too, wasn't she? Somehow, I don't recall the same sort of coverage for her.

I wonder, could part of the reason Obama's candidacy seemed so remarkable is because the press gave in to its innate bias with a will and scripted it that way, ignoring anything critical?

Halperin is in a unique position to know.While he was political news director at ABC news, he issued instructions to his reporters telling them to concentrate on criticism of George W. Bush and ignore or downplay anything critical of Democrat John Kerry..just a week before ABC's Charlie Gibson would be selecting questions for and moderating the second presidential debate between Bush and Kerry.

Speaking of justification disguised as an apology, here's one of Halperin's co-conspirators:

New York magazine's John Heilemann, one of Halperin's co-panelists, offered another reason for all the positive press coverage Obama received.

"The biggest bias in the press is towards effectiveness," said Heilemann, who is authoring a book on the 2008 race along with Halperin.

"We love things that are smart."


You mean like Joe Biden? Like Jeremiah Wright and the 57 states?

I'd appreciate if you boys from the press room would just own up. After all, you got what you wanted, and I can do without the mea culpas. The vast majority of you have no professional ethics and your Leftist bias rules in all cases. Regardless of how smart or effective or new someone is you simply can't be depended on to report news honestly or to live up to even the basic requirements of fairness when a conservative is involved. And by doing so, you betrayed one of the most important pieces of our Republic,a free and independent press.

That worked out well for you this election cycle, but the times are changing. Only the most gullible will ever trust what you have to say anymore.

Buy the ticket, take the ride.


General James Jones...An Interesting Choice

Obama's pick for National Security Adviser(NSA) is someone I'm rather familiar with, ex-Marine General James Jones.

Jones was Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian security issues over the past year, and his special job was to work with Fatah's armed terrorist wing security forces to make them more effective.

Even more troubling, he's an advocate of placing a NATO peacekeeping force in Judea and Samaria (AKA the West Bank) as a buffer between the Israel Defense Forces and Fatah. And Jones also is against Israel's demand to retain extensive security control over the territories even after a Palestinian state is established:

Israel has worked hard over the past year to persuade the Bush administration to accept its proposals on security arrangements. Israel's main argument was that its major population centers are vulnerable to rocket and suicide attacks from the West Bank, and that security control of the Jordan Valley is essential to prevent weapons from being smuggled into the West Bank. Israel also demanded complete demilitarization of the future Palestinian state, Israeli control of border crossings and Israeli early warning stations in the mountains.

In response to Israel's claim that the Palestinians cannot be trusted with responsibility for security, Jones, a former NATO commander, proposed a NATO-based international force that would later transfer control to the Palestinians.

Israeli officials say that such a force sounds wonderful, but in practice cannot provide the intelligence necessary to prevent terror.


What this means on the ground is that instead of the IDF being able to operate against terrorists who attack Israeli civilians, arrest suspected terrorists or pre-empt planned attacks, they would have to rely on an international force to do the job. An dthat international force would operate as a buffer fo rthe Palestijnians, essentiually giving them a free ride to plan and carry out attacks and then flee behind their NATO protectors. Imagine the idea of Palestinians shooting at Israelis in a suburb like Gilo and then fleeing behind their NATO protectors...with the IDF unable to pursue them or do anything to stop that attack from recurring.

Nor would NATO buffer do a damned thing to stop heavy arms from coming in and being deployed right nexst to Israel's main population centers. The failure of the international force in Lebanon to implement UN Resolution1701 and stop Hezbollah from rearming or redeploying in its old bases is a pretty good indicator of what sort of 'restrictions' a NATO force would impose on al-Aqsa or any other Fatah forces.

This is fairly close to another Obama adviser's vision of invading Israel and enforcing a solution to establish a Palestinian state.

The Israelis are suicidal if they agree to this.



Shiny Happy Dhimmi #2 Is Up

A new blog carnival, courtesy of Soccer Dad. And well worth the detour, especially since he linked to one of my pieces...enjoy!



Friday, November 21, 2008

Michael Jackson converts to Islam


Well, you knew this was coming.
According to the Sun article, Jackson's chosen name is now Mikaeel, after the name of one Allah’s angels.
At least he got to pick his own name...unlike the Africans enslaved by the Arabs over the centuries, even to this day.


Hat tip to Stop The ACLU






Watcher's Council Results, 11/21/08


The Council has spoken! A complete rundown of the voting tallies is here.


Among the Council members, the winner this week was Joshuapundit with The Afghanistan Blues , my analysis of how president-elect Obama appears to be likely to fight that 'real war' in Afghanistan..many thanks gang, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Coming in second was The Colossus of Rhodey for Oh, the musical memories … Hube's reminiscing about his European tour with a jazz band.

Also getting votes were Bookworm Room with Perpetually Selfish Anger and Victimhood and Rhymes With Right for Intolerant Gays Attacking Religion


Among the non-Council entries, the winners were both sort of non-blog pieces. The winner was Paul Kengor at American Thinker on How the Academic Left Elected Obama

In second place was John Kass at the Chicago Tribune for Obama and the Chicago Way


As usual, congratulations not only to the winners, but to all the participants.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Zero Hour...Iran Now Has Material For First Nuclear Bomb


Iran reportedly now has enough enriched uranium to manufacture it's first nuclear bomb.

That estimate comes from nuclear experts who've been extrapolating data from the latest IAEA report. Given the feckless nature of the IAEA and the fact that they're not alowed to see everything, Iran is likely much further along than that. Considering the missiles they've tested, which can hit Europe as well as Israel, the hour is much later than we think.

Assuming Iran gets nukes, how likely are they to use them? Can't we live with a nuclear Iran the way we lived with a nuclear Soviet Union?

Don't bet on it.

`Living with it' would be akin to learning to live with a live rattler in the house...except Iran would be more dangerous. For one thing, there's the distinct possibility- I'd say it's almost a certainty - that Iran would provide nukes down line, to the terrorist groups it sponsors and is closely allied with for use against the West. Such attacks could be very hard to trace back to Iran an dby then it might be too late anyway. And if the fingerprints were the least bit uncertain, would a President Obama and a Democrat Congress have the will to rspond appropriately in the face of massive political opposition and street theater from their constituency on the Angry Left?

Even worse, in some ways, is the idea that Iran might not use the bomb...but instead would use it as a threat to coerce `respect' from the West, and use their nuclear might to blackmail OPEC to pump up the price of oil and gas and beef up its leadership of the Islamist bloc while fomenting conventional terrorism and Iran-based Islamist takeovers.

What lots of people who think a simple diplomatic solution is possible don't consider is that Iran may actually be seeking a confrontation with the West as a 'divine mission'. Notice I said Iran, not Ahmadinejad...important to remember that he's merely a hired hand of the Supreme Council of Guardians and Khameini.

To fully understand what we’re dealing with here, we need to throw out the notion that we’re dealing with a Western mindset, and examine Iran’s theological and psychological makeup.

All streams of Islam believe in a divine saviour, known as the Mahdi, who will appear at the End of Days. Several Islamic demagogues have raised vast armies and taken territory by utilizing this belief through history.

Iran's dominant Shia "Twelver" sect believes this will be Mohammed ibn Hasan, regarded as the 12th Imam, or righteous descendant of the Prophet Mohammad.

He is said to have gone into "seclusion" in the ninth century, at the age of five. His return will be preceded by chaos, war and bloodshed. After a cataclysmic battle with evil and darkness, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal Dar Islam..domination of the world by Islam and Sharia law, batta bang, batta bing.

Are Ahmadinejad, Khameini and the Supreme council now pushing for a clash with the West because they feel safe in the belief of the imminent return of the Hidden Imam?

And are they trying to speed up things in the hope of hastening his reappearance?

Here's something to consider from Iran and Ahmadinejad's recent history.

During the Iran-Iraq War, the Ayatollah Khomeini imported 500,000 small plastic keys from Taiwan. After Iraq invaded Iran in September 1980 and the Iranians initially suffered military reverses, Khomeini recruited Iranian children, some as young as twelve years old, and packed them off to the front. There, they marched across minefields toward the enemy lines in human waves, clearing a path with their bodies. Every one of them had one of those Taiwanese keys hung around his neck…and the children were told that these were their Keys to open Paradise.

No joke.

These children who ran to their deaths in suicide attacks were part of the Basiji, a mass movement created by Khomeini after the Revolution in 1979 and put on the front lines after the war began. The Basij Mostazafan--or "mobilization of the oppressed"--was a volunteer militia, most of whose members hadn't even turned 18 yet. They went by the thousands, willing martyrs for Khomeini and the regime.


Today the slaughter of the Basiji is a source of Iranian legend and national pride...believe it or not. Since the end of the Iraq war in 1988, the Basiji have vastly increased both in numbers and influence, as a cadre of loyal heroes of the Islamic Republic. They’ve been used mostly as religious police to enforce Sharia in Iran, and as Allah's own storm troopers against dissidents.



Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, served as a Basij instructor during the Iran-Iraq War, and is now the poster boy for the movement. That black and white scarf Ahmadinejad wears ins't a Palestinian kefiyah, but a basiji scarf. Recruited from the more conservative and impoverished parts of the population (the exact social class Hitler used for the SA), the Basiji swear absolute loyalty to the Supreme Leader Ali Khameini, Khomeini's successor. During Ahmadinejad's run for the presidency in 2005, the millions of Basiji all over Iran got solidly behind Ahmadinejad in every Iranian town, neighborhood, and mosque and pushed his presidency. He was their guy..and the regime's.


Re-examine that little bit of information for a second…the man who trained children to blow themselves up for Allah at the Mullah’s behest is now the country’s president.


Turn it over in your mind.


The inmates have definitely taken over the Persian asylum. And this suicide/martyr complex is deeply engraved in the Iranian/Shia psyche.


After all, why be afraid when the Hidden Imam is on his way?


Something else to consider is Iran’s perception of how America and the West has reacted to any confrontation or provocation.


In 1979, the Iranians got away with something no other country has ever done, even in wartime. They seized a US embassy and held our diplomats hostage for over a year...and the Carter Administration did nothing about it.


This perception has been reinforced since then by our retreats from Beirut after a Hezbollah suicide attack, our failure to deal decisively with Saddam after defeating him in the first Gulf War and continuing through our retreat from Somalia...not to mention our `nuanced' and indecisive response to having 3,000 of our fellow citizens slaughtered while a significant portion of the adherants of the Religion of peace celebrated it as one happy victory for the Great Jihad. And why wouldn't the mullahs feel that way? Until very recently our leaders couldn't even bring themselves to call the enemy by its right name.


Iran sees us a power in retreat…eager to recoil after any forceful response by the Islamic world. And Iran considers itself the rightful standard bearer of a resurgent Caliphate Islam.


Diplomacy only works when you are dealing with people that perceive they have something to lose.



Sanctions and multilateral diplomacy has been and will remain a waste of time. Aside from the fact that Russia, China and certain members of the EU are unlikely to abide by them, the black market is alive and well, especially when you have oil and gas to sell.


So where's that leave us?


The key to solving this little dilemma is to remember that we're not only dealing with Iran's nukes. We are dealing with Iran as the leader of jihad and the Islamist movement - which is exactly how Iran sees itself.


President Bush touched on this when he compared `Militant Islam' with the communist menace of the Cold War. Except that the mullahs and their pals have a very different mindset in some ways. The communists actually cared about staying alive.


Are we prepared to be half as ruthless and thorough as the mullahs are towards us to preserve our lives and freedom?

So far, we haven't. Fascinating it is that President Bush was in such a lather to get us into Iraq, where the nukes weren't, and has been so reluctant to deal with the real threat in Iran. It will go down as perhaps the greatest failure of his presidency, in an administration absolutely chock full of failed policy.

Unless something drastic happens, or the Israelis do the job of taking out Iran's nukes themselves, we will pay in blood and treasure for that failure.


Stealth Jihad


A link to a recommended vid by Jihad expert Robert Spencer

The Things You Can't Give Away


Two interesting bits today, both from self-professed intellectuals of the Conservative movement. One comes from diva and Palin hater Kathleen Parker and one from Tod Lindberg, a Hoover Institution fellow and foreign policy adviser to the McCain campaign. Both come to us courtesy of the WAPO, and both essentially have the same message; the GOP needs to ditch the Evil Religious Right and the social conservatives (or as Parker put it, 'the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy people') to have a hope of winning elections.

Lindberg's piece, entitled " The Center-Right Nation Exits Stage Left" says pretty much the same thing, but from a dry, more statistical point of view that suggests a major shift in the electorate to what he refers to a center Left position:



Thus Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, in Outlook last week: The United States "is indeed, as conservatives have been insisting in recent days, a center-right country." On election night, former Bush guru Karl Rove opined on Fox News, "Barack Obama understands this is a center-right country, and he smartly and wisely ran a campaign that emphasized it." And it's not just conservative pundits and operatives singing this song. Take Newsweek editor Jon Meacham, who wrote an Oct. 27 cover essay entitled "America the Conservative," which argued that Obama will have to "govern a center-right nation" that "is more instinctively conservative than it is liberal." {..}

In 2004, Republicans and Democrats each constituted 37 percent of the electorate. In the 2006 congressional election, Democrats outnumbered Republicans 38 percent to 36 and won big. This year, the Democrats made up a stunning 39 percent of the electorate, compared with just 32 percent for the Republicans. Add the painful fact that Obama outpolled McCain among independents, 52 percent to 48, and you have a picture of a Republican Party that has lost its connection to the center of the electorate.

Shortly after the GOP convention, McCain looked as if he could still come back. But it was the “maverick” McCain, running against party type, who was winning over independents at that point, not a conservative campaigning as a conservative (compassionate or otherwise).

Perhaps, as Rove says, Obama was running to the center. But can anybody make a serious case that people were mistaking him for a center-right politician?



Parker's self-consciously cutesy piece is one of the most bigoted pieces of anti-Christian rhetoric I've seen in print for quite some time. I'm certain she had a good cackle at what she thought were some particularly w-i-t-t-y bits as she spewed them out.

I mean 'armband religion'? Please.


...the GOP has surrendered its high ground to its lowest brows. In the process, the party has alienated its non-base constituents, including other people of faith (those who prefer a more private approach to worship), as well as secularists and conservative-leaning Democrats who otherwise might be tempted to cross the aisle.


Are they right? And even if they are, does it matter?

I've written before about the recent Pew Research post-election polling. The Left may dislike admitting it, but America is still an overwhelmingly center/right nation. According to the latest Pew survey only some 37% of Americans identify themselves as 'liberal'(a category that would probably include Joe Lieberman and a lot of other relatively sane people) with only 16% of those identifying themselves as 'very liberal'.On the other hand just under 60% of Americans identify themselves as 'conservative' or 'very conservative'.Even more interesting, these percentages remain consistent since the last time Pew took this survey, before the 2004 election.

More importantly..if the new, Left-leaning GOP decides to purge religious and social conservatives, do they really think they can out-Democrat the Democrats with a socially liberal agenda, identity politics and promises of gimmees and entitlements? This time, the margin was 52-47%. Can you imagine what it would be next time if religious and social conservatives get booted from the GOP?

Conservative principles work because that's how life works. And that's true for the married, white Christians Parker despises as well as for blacks and Latinos.The thing is, you have to deliver, mean what you say and say what you mean.And you have to pick issues that resonate across the board, and present yourself as a clear alternative. I mean, did anyone notice that Obama got away with presenting himself as the tax cut candidate, and that McCain was too inept and the media too partisan to out him on it? Or that anti-same sex marriage propositions passed in California and Florida this year, with huge support from black and Latino voters?

What happened in this election is quite simple, and Senator Jim DeMint put it fairly well: "People favor a traditional, conservative government...they just didn't trust the Republicans to deliver it."

This has happened before,and both times there was a guy named Bush sitting in the White House to run against. What a coincidence, hmmm?

Parker bitchily compares the Democrat's convention to the GOP's: "One party was brimming with energy, youth and diversity; the other felt like an annual Depends sales meeting."

I guess Parker didn't stick around to see what happened when Hurricane Sarah took the floor. Or consider that the cameras and reporting were run by her pals in the dinosaur media, who were, let us say, less than objective in how they presented things.

The fact that the Democrats were only able to win by five points when they had the uncritical media advocating for them, a charismatic candidate with a huge money advantage, a deeply flawed incumbent in the White House to run against, a worrisome economic climate and a lousy and ineffectual candidate in McCain that a large chunk of the party had to swallow like a dose of Metamucil says volumes. If McCain had picked somebody other than Sarah Palin, he'd have been lucky to crack 40%.

And having said that, there's also this - even if Parker and Lindberg are right, it doesn't matter. Because principles matter.

If the GOP is planning on ditching it's socially conservative small government principles to become the Democrat party lite, who needs them? Me, I'm a principles man, not a party man.

When you stand for nothing - or even worse, when you claim to stand for something and then prove that you don't, you forfeit any political mandate you might have had and deserve to be consigned to oblivion like the Whigs.

At the end of her piece, Parker writes, in a very different context that a new party may be necessary. She may be right at that.


Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Ted Stevens Loses Alaska Seat To Democrat

Well, it's official.

Democrat Mark Begich, the former mayor of Anchorage will be the new senator from Alaska, rather than a Rewpublican appointee by Governor Sarah Palin. This puts the Democrats within 2 seats of a 60 seat veto proof majority...and when you consider that some of the remaining GOP seats are held by people like McCain,Lindsay Graham and Susan Collins,they're likely there already anyway.




A Shout Out To Joshua's Army..And A Reminder About Comments




Hi Y'all..

We have some business to cover, so I'll be leaving this at the top of things for a while to make sure everybody sees it.

First off, the good stuff - JoshuaPundit has gotten a lot more popular, and it seems to be maintaining the traffic in spite of the post-election doldrums. I thank each and every one of you for patronizing this fine establishment.

Part of that traffic surge happened because a number of larger sites liked what they saw here and linked to it, and a number of you came from these sites, likewise hung around and decided to become members of Joshua's Army....hoo-rah!

However, that also has led to problems with the comments.

Some of you remember when there was no comment moderation onsite, and why I had to institute it. Lately with all the new readers I find I'm bouncing a few more comments than I'd like to...so perhaps another another little reminder about the guidelines is in order.

As most of you know who've been around awhile this site is not run as an echo chamber, and as far as I'm concerned a spirited exchange of ideas keeps it lively.. I've learned a lot from some of you, as you know. But I also insist that these exchanges, whether they involve me or one of the other readers be adult, reasonable and add to the mix. Most of you understand that,but for those of you who don't and are irritated at not seeing your comments onsite,here's what I'm talking about:

-I routinely excise comments that use derogatory racial and sexist slurs. Referring to Barack Obama with any of the usual racial slurs or to Sarah Palin using the c- word (been a few of those) doesn't fly here, just to give an example. Likewise when it comes to certain terms some people use to refer to Arabs or Jews. Spew that stuff somewhere else, please.

-Personal abuse directed towards me or other posters will normally not make the cut. Likewise with excessive profanity.

- I also usually filter out sheer stupidity,on a totally subjective basis - unless I decide to let it through for the purpose of amusement and ridicule. Mullah Cimac, Brooklyn Cowboy, I'm talking about you.

- Blog pimping is deep sixed about 80% of the time, especially if you cite your own blog as a source to reinforce your opinions without citing any other factual sources in the blog post itself, like one guy did here recently! Here's a hint - your saying that something is so doesn't make it so, regardless of the high opinion you have of yourself.

The same thing applies to comments that cite other blogs as sources when those other blogs aren't citing any objective sources in their posts. Again, just because you read it in one of the Daily Kos diaries or in TPM doesn't make it fact.

I do occasionally allow blog pimping if I think what you have to say is relevant and adds to the discussion, or if I think the post you're linking to actually has some significant and relevant facts or points to make. Or if I feel like it.

-Plagiarism is an absolute no no, and I can almost always tell when you've cut and pasted somebody else's stuff and presented it as yours. Man up...if you have something to say, do it in your own words.

That about covers it, I think. The vast majority of you understand this stuff, but for the few who don't you've been duly instructed...and persistant violations will get you banned. The First Amendment gives a right to free speech, but it does NOT give you an automatic right to be heard, at least not here. For those few of you bitching about 'censorship', feel free to swipe a milk carton or a fruit crate from the back of the local supermarket to stand on, leg it down to the park and spew away to your heart's content.

Please e-mail me with any complaints, concerns or comments....

Cordially,
The Management

Good Ol' Moderate Abbas Threatens Jihad Against Israel


Just what you'd expect from Arafat II - moderate noises to the West and to gullible Israelis like Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni with one fork of his tongue and jihad for the home folks in Arabic out of the other..


Vicious, lying little scumbag.


Zawahiri: Obama A House Negro






Another missive from Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Aheik Ayman al-Zawahri, giving us al-Qaeda's first reaction to Obama's victory. Since al-Zawahri refers to a November 5 U.S. airstrike attack in Afghanistan, the video was made after that date.

Not surprisingly, al-Zawahri is using this in two ways; first to gin up the mujahadeen characterize Obama's election as a sign of defeat for America because of Obama's endorsement of an Iraq pullout, and second to speak to the Muslim umma and tell them them Obama represents no positive change in American policy.

In the course of a fairly slick video, al-Qaeda uses old footage of Malcolm X using and explaining the epithet of 'house negro' to refer to Obama, Colin Powell and Condaleeza Rice and showing Obama with rabbis and wearing a Jewish yarmulke to accuse Obama of doing the bidding of white people and Jews.

What Zawahiri said was "abeed al-beit," which literally translates as "slaves of the house." In Arabic, the word for 'black' and the word for slave are the same, ('abeed') which may come as a surprise to some anti-Israel black proponents of the Arab cause. It shouldn't..the Arabs ran the slave trade in Africa in collusion with the tribal chiefs and historians estimate that for every slave driven to the coast and sold to the whites to make the middle passage, as many as seven went east to become slaves in the Arab world. In any event, the al-Qaida supplied English subtitles of Zawahiri's speech translate it as "house negroes."

There's a hidden insult to Obama here as well.By Obama's own admission, Malcolm X was a role model for Obama and the similarities between their speaking styles is striking.Zawahiri is using one of Obama's heroes to condemn him out of his own mouth!

Al-Zawahri said Obama’s election has not changed American policies he said are aimed at oppressing Muslims and others.

“America has put on a new face, but its heart full of hate, mind drowning in greed, and spirit which spreads evil, murder, repression and despotism continue to be the same as always.”

He said Obama’s plan to shift troops to Afghanistan is doomed to failure.

“Be aware that the dogs of Afghanistan have found the flesh of your soldiers to be delicious, so send thousands after thousands to them,” he said.





Watcher's Council Nominations, 11/19/08


The Watcher's Council is a group of some of the most incisive blogs in the`sphere. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.

A full list of entries, including some excellent non-Council ones can be found here.

So, let's see what we have this week:

Joshuapundit - The Afghanistan Blues - All during the campaign, Barack Obama got considerable mileage out of his claim that Iraq was a 'distraction' and that the Bush Administration 'took it's eye off the ball' and refused to fight the real war - in Afghanistan. With Iraq settling down, president -elect Obama will likely get his chance to fight that 'real war' in Afghanistan, but from what I see he unfortunately continues to be misguided as to the nature of what that real war actually consists of, and risks significant folly because of it.

Rhymes With Right - Intolerant Gays Attacking Religion - Greg notes the bigotry and intolerance practiced by those who claim to be seeking it for themselves.

The Provocateur - The Coming Mortgage Class War - Mike makes an excellent point in his piece this week, which concerns the push for 'loan modifications' - changing the interest rates, terms and even the amount owed for those people who irresponsibly took out loans they knew they couldn't afford hoping to flip properties at a higher price to the next sucker, or who got into the homes with little or nothing down, or who used their homes like ATMS and spent their equity to finance a lifestyle beyond their means.

He uses his father as an example of what will become an increasingly resentful silent majority of Americans who responsibly paid their bills, lived within their means and as a consequence are going to end up paying the tab for others who didn't.

The Colossus of Rhodey - Oh, the musical memories … - Hube reflects on his tour of Europe at 17 with a jazz band. Being on tour with a hot band is da bizness, isn't it Hube? Someday, we'll have to swap a few road stories.

Bookworm Room - Perpetually Selfish Anger and Victimhood - Ms. Bookworm notes that the Arab psyche is fraught with a perpetual sense of victimhood, hatred, and tribalism. And yes, it's in the Qu'ran and the Hadiths, which were designed to appeal to a certain select audience after all.

The Razor - COIN of the Realm - Scott reflects on the counter insurgency strategy used in Iraq and reflects on it's possible applications elsewhere.

Soccer Dad - Names will never hurt me - the double standard - This week, Soccer Dad compares the media mini-firestorm over remarks made Rahm Emmanuel's father with the total crickets on Palestinian intolerance for Jews and Israelis.

The Glittering Eye - Winners and Losers - This week Dave Schuler, with the massive bailouts in mind reminds us about a fundamental fact of capitalism...that there will be winners and losers and to over subsidize the losers is to penalize the winners.

Mere Rhetoric - Detente In Our Time - Obama Prepares To Sell Out Poland In The Face Of Russian Aggression. Again. (Plus: By The Way, Missile Defense Works) - Omri notes that president-elect Obama is likely to grease out from under one of our best allies in Europe to appease Russia.

The problem with the Cold War ( and this can be laid squarely at the feet of President George HW Bush) is that while we defeated the Soviet Union, we did absolutely nothing to see to it that they wouldn't become a threat to us again..like demanding they dismantle ( or at least severely downgrade) their nuclear arsenal in exchange for the aid they so desperately needed from us.


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Harry Potter And The Muggle Commando...



Funny! Reminds me of an old Cheech the Wizard cartoon..

How Obama Got Elected...



And how Sarah Palin got demonized...

From the Zogby Poll..

512 Obama Voters 11/13/08-11/15/08 MOE +/- 4.4 points

97.1% High School Graduate or higher, 55% College Graduates

Results to 12 simple Multiple Choice Questions

57.4% could NOT correctly say which party controls congress (and remember just guessing gives you a 50-50 chance of getting this one right)

81.8% didn't know Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism

82.6% didn't know that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)

88.4% didn't know that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket

56.1% had no clue that Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground.

The vast majority had never heard of Bill Ayers.

But...

Only 13.7% failed to identify Sarah Palin as the person on which their party spent $150,000 in clothes

Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter

And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her “house,” even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!



The Auto Bailout..AKA There's A Sucker Born Every Minute, Part II


Tell me, members of Joshua's Army....would you loan 'invest' $25 in something that was only worth $7?

Well, would you?

Add the word 'billion' to the above values and that's exactly what the Democrats in Congress are proposing to do with your money.

The entire value of the combined stock of the Big Three Automakers totals around $7 billion, yet the bailout proposition for the industry would loan them over three times the stock value of their companies combined.

And I certainly don't want some motard commenting on how these companies have assets and inventory worth more than $7 billion, thank you. When you own the stock, you own and control these assets.

Don't misunderstand me. I don't favor simply letting these companies go under.The effect on the US economy as a whole, where a big part of the game is confidence would be disastrous,not to mention the cost of the unemployment and business failures not only to the Big Three but to their suppliers down the line.

And there are also national security issues in abrogating yet another part of our manufacturing base.

GM, Ford and Chrysler have the ability to make superb cars here in America. So do companies like Honda, BMW, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Mazda and a number of other companies who have the image of being 'foreign cars' but are in fact mostly manufactured in places like South Carolina, Illinois, Ohio and Tennessee.

The first group of 'American' manufacturers actually farm out large pieces of their manufacturing overseas and to maquilladora factories situated in Northern Mexico just over the US border and take advantage of NAFTA's provision to utilize the low cost labor there, yet they're supposedly going bust.

The 'foreign' companies, known in the industry as transplants have the majority of their manufacturing here, yet they remain relatively healthy even at a time when the economy is down and car sales are slipping badly.

So, what's the difference? Two things...management and the UAW.

The Big Three have been saddled by poor management for decades. I still recall the poor quality fuel inefficient vehicles they used to produce until fairly recently and the high, noncompetitive prices they charged. Things have changed now,but there's been significant damage to the Big Three's brand names.

The United Auto Workers are another part of the problem.I am not the kind of person who demonizes unions, but there's no question that the UAW has played its part in the decline of the Big Three, not just in pay and benefits but in the huge entitlements and pensions it won for its workers. While some of the transplants own unionized plants, the majority of their production is non-Union.

What the Democrats are trying to do is not designed to help the Big Three but to preserve the UAW on the backs of the taxpayers. Ultimately, that's merely postponing the inevitable. And that's just as stupid as allowing these companies to go bankrupt.

Instead of throwing another $25 billion down the rat hole, it would be far better for the US taxpayers to simply spend the $7 billion and control these companies outright, then reorganize them totally with brand new management, and some sharply revised union contracts as part of the deal. They could then be reprivatized by selling the stock back to private investors at a profit.

Both management and the UAW would have to take some serious bites out of this crap sandwich, rather than have the American taxpayer swallow the whole meal. And the companies would be preserved, as well as the jobs...if at a somewhat lower pay scale than people on both sides of labor and management are accustomed to earning.

While I normally don't favor government control of industries, the above solution makes a lot more sense than letting the Big Three go bankrupt or tossing them a huge windfall at the taxpayer's expense. Especially if it's designed as a temporary situation, with reprivatization built into it.

The Democrats in Congress, of course, wouldn't hear of this kind of solution. They could care less about Other People's Money,and their primary object is to preserve the union..er, the UAW, that is.