WASHINGTON - A man crashed his vehicle into a security barricade at the U.S. Capitol on Monday, ran into the building and was arrested, forcing the complex to briefly be locked down, authorities said.
Police shut down the complex as they investigated the incident, and to ensure that all people there were authorized to be there. The incident happened shortly before 8 a.m. EDT, witnesses said.
The Capitol complex was reopened within the hour. Hill staffers were briefly instructed to remain in their offices while police searched to ensure there were no other interlopers.
Construction workers and police said the man drove his SUV through a barricade at the Capitol, where a major visitors center is under construction. His vehicle also crashed into a water fountain on the plaza in the middle of the construction area.
Witnesses said the man, wearing a blue ballcap, ran into the Capitol near the Rotunda and was pursued by police. A construction supervisor said the man was apprehended in a construction area on the third floor of the building.
Capitol police were searching room by room, hallway by hallway, Eric Ueland, chief of staff for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., told CNN.
There have been a string of security alerts involving evacuations of the Capitol and various surrounding office buildings since the Sept. 11 attacks five years ago. This individual was apprehended before he could get his way too far in the Capitol and if he intended to do any damage, not be able to follow through on that, Ueland said.
A congressional aide said she had received e-mail from police saying the Capitol building was in lock down because of a security breach and that no one would be allowed access to the building pending a security sweep.
Gee, funny, we get to the end of the article and there's not one word about the identity of the perpetrator. How 'bout that?
#3
Fred is light yellow. Steve White is salmon, newspaperman Scooter McGruder is Pepto Bismol (or chewing gum, if you are so inclined) pink, the just returned from Barthelona (a pronounciation, not a spelling) Seafarious is light blue, lotp is light sage green (possibly sage -- we are now venturing well beyond my non-artistic non-expertise), Pappy is battleship grey, Army of Steves Steve is bright green, and I'm still a bit confused on the identity of the goldenrod guy.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/18/2006 12:57 Comments ||
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#6
At first I thought a Kennedy was late for a floor vote or possibly McKinney trying to go out in style. I think its bad that he go into the building before he was stopped. Just think if he had an explosive vest and detonated it?
The man was armed with a gun, said one security officer speaking anonymously pending an official briefing. The officer said the man was captured by police after running through the Rotunda in the center of the Capitol and down a stairway into the basement. He said the man appeared to be having a seizure, and was taken to a hospital. A congressional aide said the man appeared to be carrying a small weapon and that an ambulance had been called because of the apparent seizure. The aide said that police were reviewing a videotape of the incident and were expected to release a statement soon.
"Is that a small weapon in your pocket or are you just a democratic senator?"
Posted by: Steve ||
09/18/2006 13:36 Comments ||
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#8
The man was armed with a gun
Impossible! Guns are not allowed in D.C.! No one with criminal intent would be so brazen as to break a gun-control law! Clearly false report.
Iran and Venezuela have signed a string of bilateral agreements at the start of Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the Latin American country.
Mr Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed accords including oil exploration and car production.
President Chavez said the visit would strengthen the strategic alliance between the two states.
The Iranian leader was earlier welcomed to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, with full military honours
#1
That means that when we slam Iran, we also get to toss a couple of Tomahawks into the Presidential Palace in Caracas, too, right??? I'll go along with that. No nukes, though - the Venezuelan people have enough problems. At the same time, we'll nationalize Citgo, and then sell it to the highest bidder WITHIN the United States. There's some equally heavy crude up in Michigan and in a couple of other places for the Citgo refineries. Venezuelan crude has just been cheaper.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/18/2006 15:21 Comments ||
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#2
"Mr Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed accords including... car production."
That makes sense. They both have the same kind of car production: from a U.S. parking lots, to freighters, to their docks. Voila, they have produced cars.
TOKYO: Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) plans to submit a bill to parliament as early as this year allowing military use of space for defensive purposes, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily said on Sunday. If passed, the new law would enable the government to launch reconnaissance satellites for defence purposes, enabling it to detect North Korean missile launches and other military incidents, the paper said. Japan's use of space is currently limited to non-military purposes under a strict interpretation of a UN treaty that Tokyo ratified in 1967.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Things are a changin in the East. There is a very big chess game going on.
SEOUL - Up to 1,000 South Korean tourists were detained briefly in North Korea on Sunday after a lawmaker amongst them offered snacks and ice cream to a soldier, a report said.
What I want to know: how did the soldier respond? And his pals?
The group was visiting Mount Kumgang, a craggy tourist enclave in the eastern part of the Stalinist state, when the incident happened, according to tour operator Hyundai Asan, who was quoted by Yonhap news agency.
The tourists were detained for some 40 minutes after the contact between a North Korean military guard and Cha Myung-jin, a lawmaker of South Koreas opposition Grand National Party, the report said. The South Koreans were later released and deported home, reportedly after the South Korean side apologized and promised such unauthorized interaction would not happen again.
Amid easing tensions between the two Koreas, more than a million tourists have visited the rugged terrain just a few miles (kilometres) north of the border with South Korea since tours began in November 1998. Visitors to Mount Kumgang enjoy circuses, listen to old Korean ballads, and soak their limbs in natural hot springs, but they are prohibited from stepping outside the zone to talk with North Korean people.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds like a nice place. Come and spend your money, but dont step over that white line or the guy with the machine gun will cut you in half. Who the hell would go to a shithole like this? Don't they have rocky crags in South Korea? Probably even without military guards, you can probably even give someone an ice cream bar without getting deported in Skor.
#5
I told ya, the sign says, "Don't Feed The SoKos"
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/18/2006 11:05 Comments ||
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#6
I forgot to add that the poor soldier (and prob his family) are in prison or killed. He was tainted by those filthy SoKor tourists and therefor can't be trusted to upjhold the glory of Juiche.
Labor leaders have established a close relationship with anti-American, anti-war activists as part of a move to the political left that began more than three decades ago, according to a recent report produced by a conservative think tank.
"What may be less known is the prominent role that many of the nation's labor unions have had in promoting this view," added Horowitz, who serves as director of the National Legal and Policy Center's Organized Labor Accountability Project.
"For more than 30 years, unions in this country have moved steadily leftward," the report stated, "forging strategic alliances with people who oppose America's rights of sovereignty and self-defense far more than they oppose war."
#1
the unions werent ALL supportive of Meany during the cold war, in particular the UAW, the Drug and Hospital Workers, the West Coast Long Shore were not. And similarly, unions were divided on Iraq. Like Americans in general.
#2
The real story of the Unions in the last 3 decades has been the collapse of the private sector unions and the resulting domination of the movement by the public sector unions.
The union movement has moved left because it now depends on big government and left wing politicians. They are simply supporting their economic best interests.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/18/2006 11:33 Comments ||
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#3
The unions may embrace the LLL Mo0b@+5 but the rank and file doesnt necessarily fall in lock step with them. Most of the union members are like me, I have to join in order to work here. Even though I am a union member I am no where close to there political leanings. I would add that if they made union membership optional, over half the members would leave.
#4
It simple the rank and file have to take the unions back from the 'leadership', the deck is stacked against the rank and file. There are plenty of true believers in a 'workers paridise' in the rank and file who are just silent about their commie tendencies, I have run into them.
I my state the trade Unions are in bed with the enviromental lawyers who kill all projects that do not have union labor doing the work too. Wonderful ain't it.
#5
It's still criminal that FDR forcibly unionized the railroads in 1942, and that illegal action has never been overturned by either Congress or the Supreme Court. There are hundreds of other examples where unionism has been forced upon companies. I admire Walmart for standing up against the union pressure, if for nothing else.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/18/2006 15:45 Comments ||
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#6
Not surprising. The Union leaders are all pretty much communist anyway.
CHAPPAQUA Sen. Hillary Clinton this morning blasted the producers of a new film depicting the assassination of Pres. George W. Bush.
"I think it's despicable," Clinton said of "Death of a President," a fictional film that features a staged assassination of the president in 2007. "I think it's absolutely outrageous. That anyone would even attempt to profit on such a horrible scenario makes me sick."
Clinton made the comments in her adopted hometown of Chappaqua at the annual New Castle Community Day.
#5
Yeah, don't want to start the ball rolling on 'just cap the Prez' politics. It's so, so, Roman. Like getting the mob up to remove those pesky Gracchus boys from power by blood. Ended up with a civil war, several purges of Senators and a Caesar in the end. Not that something like that could ever happen to this republic. No. Not here.
#8
#5 - not as long as I can still hold a gun and point and fire it, it won't happen here... and I come from a VERY large Southern family, with lots of cousins that think as I do. I believe most Americans wouldn't put up with a Ceaser longer than it would take to re-establish the Will of the People - by force, if necessary. As long as we have a Second Amendment, we're safe from that disaster.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/18/2006 15:48 Comments ||
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#9
Either that, #2 ed, or she had an opinion poll done to see what her position should be.
"Clinton this morning blasted the producers"
Seeing as to how this was in the news last week....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/18/2006 15:50 Comments ||
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#10
Oh. Now the bitch finds religion...
Posted by: The Ghost of Vince Foster ||
09/18/2006 20:17 Comments ||
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#11
POTUS or Senator only, all Men + America will be blamed.
INDIANOLA, Iowa - Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., warned Democratic activists Sunday that the party must take a tougher stance on national security if it wants to succeed in the November elections. "What Democrats have to do is to close the deal," said Obama, the keynote speaker at Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin 29th annual steak fry. "We have got to show we have a serious agenda for change."
Obama's appearance in Iowa, where precinct caucuses launch the presidential season, has raised a number of eyebrows about his intentions for a presidential run in 2008. Though only a first-term senator, Obama has burst onto the national scene. But he wouldn't say Sunday whether he was considering a run at the White House. "My only attentions right now are focused on '06," said Obama. "Whoever is looking toward 2008 without focusing on 2006 makes a mistake."
Obama said he and other Democrats want to take the nation in a different direction, but he vowed not to "demonize" Republicans. He said a carefully cast message could lure moderate Republicans who are uncomfortable with the White House's hard-line conservative stance.
"The American people are ready for change," he said. "The American people recognize the path (of) the last five years has not made us more competitive, has not opened more opportunities and has not made us safer." Too bad. I thought I was beginning to like this guy. Unless the writer screwed up, and this is Warner's quote, which I deleted as old news.
Obama called the attention he has received "flattering," recalling how he was treated like a hero when he traveled to Kenya this summer to visit his father's home village. He also noted that rumors of his presidential ambitions began the day after he was elected to the Senate in 2004, when someone asked him about his plans for 2008. "I said you'll have to wait a little while," he said.
In his speech to more than 2,000 activists gathered in a county park, Obama also warned that many voters are losing hope that the government is on their side. "Even those of us in public life get a certain cynicism," he said. "We've got a lot of self-important leaders who are long on rhetoric and short on ideas. I'm thinking of some folks from Mass and Calif....
"People still believe that in America the promise is limitless, but they aren't sure their leaders do."
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/18/2006 08:48 ||
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#1
Nothing quite so dangerous as a man with the gift of taking old, discredited and bankrupt ideas, and putting shiny new wrappers on them.
#2
You are correct on the agenda, but unfortubately all you have are hollow words. No serious actions to back it up. By the way, do you have an agenda ? As much as this administration tees me off, the Dummocrats offer even less. The choices become bad and worse. I think this Obama has no chance of any widespread support. It's just that he's so new on the scene that his dirty laundry is yet to be exposed , unlike Pelosi, Reid, Conyers, ad infinitum. Until this party disavows it's communist bent, it's going nowhere.
#3
I don't see where you find a compromise in this. Either you give the agents legal coverage or you don't; either you have an effective interrogation program or you don't.
Bush needs to go to the mat on this one.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/18/2006 11:10 Comments ||
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New Delhi, Sept. 18: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President General Pervez Musharrafs decision to put in place an India-Pakistan anti-terrorism institutional mechanism to identify and implement counter-terrorism initiatives and investigations has outraged and baffled diplomats and security analysts alike.Naive and ill-advised is how they chose to describe the joint statement that has been thrust upon an unsuspecting nation barely a few weeks after the Mumbai serial blasts.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seems to have been smitten with the Stockholm Syndrome ever since the Mumbai blasts of July 11, in which 184 suburban train commuters were killed by suspected members of the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation and a member of Osama bin Ladens International Islamic Front, according to Mr B. Raman, a retired additional secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat. The expression Stockholm Syndrome, which came into vogue in 1973, refers to a psychological condition in which a victim of terrorism, finding himself powerless in the hands of a terrorist, starts empathising with the terrorist.
At a time when a growing number of Western analysts and policy-makers have begun doubting the sincerity of Pakistans President Pervez Musharraf and suspecting that he has been playing a double role openly as a front-line ally in the war against terrorism and covertly as a supporter of Pakistan-based jihadi terrorists our Prime Minister has sought to play down the extent of Gen Musharrafs perfidy with regard to jihadi terrorism directed against India from Pakistani territory with the help of organisations such as Lashkar which operate under the control of Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence, Mr Raman has said.
Mr G. Parthasarathy, a former high commissioner to Islamabad, wondered how anybody could equate a country like India, which faced the problem of terrorism, with a country like Pakistan, which sponsored terrorism. [The move] is ill-advised, he asserted, Four days ago, in Brussels, Gen Musharraf said that violence by militants will continue till the Kashmir issue is resolved. To pretend that [a change will happen] is naive and misplaced. India, he reminded, faced a threat from the terrorists trained by the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan and it was inconceivable how the ISI or Gen.
Musharraf would cooperate with us. Asked whether the joint initiative has come about without help from the United States, Mr Parthasarathy said the Americans have been making such suggestions. He nevertheless felt no initiative can deliver positive results until there was change in the political intention to stop the use of terrorism. However, there were some like strategic analyst K. Subrahmanyam who supported the decision announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf in Havana.
He was of the opinion that once a joint mechanism was in place, India can give Pakistan whatever evidence India has of terrorists operating from Pakistan. They (Pakistan) have to now answer specific allegations and charges. Its a step forward. Pakistan has accepted that terrorism is a problem between the two countries. It has accepted that terrorism exists on its soil, Mr Subrahmanyam said.
Posted by: john ||
09/18/2006 17:41 ||
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At a time when a growing number of Western analysts and policy-makers have begun doubting the sincerity of Pakistans President Pervez Musharraf and suspecting that he has been playing a double role openly as a front-line ally in the war against terrorism and covertly as a supporter of Pakistan-based jihadi terrorists our ________ has sought to play down the extent of Gen Musharrafs perfidy with regard to jihadi terrorism directed against ________ from Pakistani territory with the help of organisations such as _______ which operate under the control of Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence,
Yeah, you can fill in the blanks a lot of ways.
India said on Sunday that the joint anti-terrorism mechanism with Pakistan meant that New Delhi would now be able to take up terror-related extradition issues with Islamabad.
Talking to reporters, Indian Foreign Secretary-designate P Shivshankar Menon said the mechanism meant that New Delhi would soon raise its long-standing demand for the extradition of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin, both of whom it believed were residing in Pakistan.
He also rejected claims that there had been a "shift" in New Delhi's stance regarding cross-border terrorism after recent comments by Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh that acknowledged Pakistan was a victim of terrorism, stressing that there could not be a guarantee that all kinds of terrorist acts would come to an end with the establishment of the joint anti-terror mechanism. Menon went on to deny that New Delhi had accused Pakistan of playing a role in the July 11 Mumbai train blasts, saying that investigations were still underway.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
In other news, the Pakistan President has offered to sell one of his bridges to India.
The structure, located in Brooklyn, is in good condition.
The Indian PM has accepted the offer
Posted by: john ||
09/18/2006 18:28 Comments ||
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There are no Taliban in Pakistan, but there are millions of Afghan refugees, but they must not be confused with the Taliban. However, there could be stray individuals part of or sympathetic to the group, Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan, press secretary to the president and head of Inter-Services Public Relations, told journalists here on Saturday.
Gen Sultan said there should be no misgivings about the deal reached with tribal elders in North Waziristan. He dismissed as utterly baseless allegations that some kind of a deal had been entered into with the Taliban in Afghanistan. He said no foreigner would be accorded asylum nor Waziristan would turn into a haven for terrorists. He said there was no question of any "cross-border terrorist movement" from Pakistan to any neighbouring state.
His lips moved, words came out, none of it made any sense.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistan is as free of the Taleban as General Sultan's words are of the truth.
People's heads need to explode when they spew transparently false shit like this.
#3
Nice thought, gorb, but I'm beginning to think that the only sure way to guarantee Pakistan no longer has any terrorists is to scrub the entire country with a free Neutron Bath.
The U.S. military in Iraq has imprisoned an Associated Press photographer for five months, accusing him of being a security threat but never filing charges or permitting a public hearing.
Military officials said Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi citizen, was being held for "imperative reasons of security" under United Nations resolutions. AP executives said the news cooperative's review of Hussein's work did not find anything to indicate inappropriate contact with insurgents, and any evidence against him should be brought to the Iraqi criminal justice system. Be careful what you ask for.
Hussein, 35, is a native of Fallujah who began work for the AP in September 2004. He photographed events in Fallujah and Ramadi until he was detained on April 12 of this year. "We want the rule of law to prevail. He either needs to be charged or released. Indefinite detention is not acceptable," said Tom Curley, AP's president and chief executive officer. "We've come to the conclusion that this is unacceptable under Iraqi law, or Geneva Conventions, or any military procedure."
Hussein is one of an estimated 14,000 people detained by the U.S. military worldwide 13,000 of them in Iraq. They are held in limbo where few are ever charged with a specific crime or given a chance before any court or tribunal to argue for their freedom. But they're off the battlefield. Like the Gitmo commander said the other day, they're not 'imprisoned' for punishment or rehabilitation, they are detained to save American lives.
Posted by: ed ||
09/18/2006 11:13 Comments ||
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#4
The U.S. military in Iraq has imprisoned an Associated Press photographer for five months, accusing him of being a security threat but never filing charges or permitting a public hearing
I believe SCOTUS said they can be kept till the war is over. No hearing necessary. Caught on the battlefield with a weapons cache, tough tiddly wats. New Bulletin - Flashing a Press Card is not a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card. You are not special people. Get over yourselves. So when was the last article you ran on SPC Matt Maupin? We'll show as much concern for your boy.
#5
"Journalists have always had relationships with people that others might find unsavory," she said.
Hands up everyone who remembers when it was decided that the CIA cannot associate with "people that others might find unsavory".
Now, shouldn't our freaking intelligence service have wider lattitude in dealing with criminals and our enemies than the freaking press? Shouldn't the press be held account for what amounts to their funding terrorists and propagating enemy, um, propaganda?
Shouldn't any AP execs who authorized the continuing employment of "stringers" like Belial be investigated for treason?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/18/2006 12:15 Comments ||
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Australian forces may have to protect Iraqi civilians who could be marked for death after appearing in amateur videos shot by Diggers serving in Iraq. The videos were made by shot by bored Australian troops as part of an unofficial film-making competition and it is thought thousands of videos were made, with many being edited on army equipment, Time magazine said in an online report today.
Fourteen of the videos were posted on the video website Youtube and have created a furore with their depictions of soldiers horsing around with weapons, exposing themselves and posing in apparently mock scenes of subduing a captive in an Arab headdress. The videos also show aspects of the troops' day-to-day life in Iraq and include apparent scenes of fraternising with locals.
Iraqis who work and mix with occupying Coalition forces are frequently targeted by insurgents for grisly execution-style killings to make an example of those they see as collaborators.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) said it was moving to ensure the safety of any locals who may be compromised by appearing in the Australian troop videos. "We will be having a close look," said ADF head Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston. "Where we feel the security of an individual is at risk we will be doing everything we can to make sure they feel safe," he said, according to Time.
#4
Soldierly humour, especially regarding the enemy, has always been deemed too rough for tender civilian feelings. It's generally wisest to keep such things amongst yourselves to prevent exactly this kind of overreaction.
#5
Juz the MSM trolling for Abu Ghraib redux materials.
Move along, nothing newsworthy here.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/18/2006 10:57 Comments ||
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#6
In the midst of a civil war, they are bored?
Months of boredom punctuated by seconds of sheer terror. Even WWII vets have described their times of service -- outside of actual combat -- as boring.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/18/2006 12:11 Comments ||
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ISRAELI state prosecutors have indicted three captured Lebanese Hezbollah guerillas on criminal charges including murder and membership in a terrorist organisation, Justice Ministry officials have said.
The trial in Nazareth District Court reflected Israel's refusal to recognise Hezbollah as a legitimate fighting force, despite the Shi'ite group's broadbased support in Lebanon and representation in the Beirut government and Parliament.
The defendants were named as Mahmoud Ali Suleiman, Mohammed Sarur, and Mahar Qurani. Officials said they were captured during an offensive in southern Lebanon launched after Hezbollah seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in a July 12 raid.
It was not immediate clear how the defendants would plead to the charges, which carry lengthy potential prison sentences. Trying the three in open criminal court rather than in a military tribunal may signal a desire by Israeli authorities for a public reckoning that could off-set unhappiness in Israel with the war's inconclusive end in an August 14 truce.
Convictions might complicate any future swap of the Hezbollah men for the two Israeli army reservists still held captive in Lebanon.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is scheduled to meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in New York on Monday. Livni will demand the speeding up of efforts to bring about the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. She will also urge that the Palestinian Authority's unity government recognize the principles set down by the Quartet -the US, Russia, UN and EU - for the Middle East "road map." Livni told CNN on Sunday that "the world has only few months to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons." The foreign minister and Abbas will also meet with US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that negotiations between his Fatah party and Hamas on establishing a national unity government had been suspended until his return from the United States. Abbas is scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Monday in New York. Abbas said the talks were frozen because Hamas had reneged on recognizing past agreements with Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Israel's cabinet appointed a commission on Sunday to investigate the way the government and military handled the Lebanon war, bowing to calls for an inquiry but rejecting veterans' demands for an independent probe.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has come under fire from critics who say he launched an ill-prepared campaign in Lebanon that failed to crush the Lebanese Hizbollah guerrilla group after it abducted two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid in July. Hizbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel during the 34-day conflict and Israeli reservists who fought in Lebanon have complained of poor planning and tactics.
Thousands of Israelis have taken part in protests to demand an independent inquiry into the war by a so-called state commission whose members would be appointed by a supreme court judge. Olmert has said such an investigation, which in past Israeli-Arab wars has led to high-level resignations, would be too time-consuming. Instead, the cabinet approved by a vote of 20-2, with one abstention, Olmert's nomination of retired judge Eliayhu Winograd and four other members to a panel that will examine how political leaders and military commanders conducted the war.
Outside the prime minister's office, dozens of veterans held a demonstration, holding signs calling on Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and the military's chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz to resign. The protesters brought along a donkey and a sign reading: "Only an ass does not see that the Winograd Committee is a whitewash."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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An al-Qaeda-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters returned to the streets across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence.
The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq, issued a statement on a Web forum vowing to continue its holy war against the West. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified.
The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross" saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (killed by) the sword."
#3
Moonshine is best shared amongst friends. Your ever in KY stop by for a taste. Many a county has representation in my freezer.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/18/2006 11:28 Comments ||
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#4
The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross" saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (killed by) the sword."
#6
The Pope should use some of that Vatican's vast wealth for an ad campaign showing the world after Al Queda won....
+ Rosie O'Donnel being killed for being gay.
+ Supermodels in Burqas.
+ Woman as property.
+ Anti-War protesters gunned down in the streets.
+ Alchohal banned world wide.
Put things in a way they (the useful idiots) can actually understand. This is Al Qaedas goal. They are not kidding. They are not almost as bad as Bush. Wake up. That sort of thing.
#8
'We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax'
Whoah, whoah, whoah. Wait a minute there. The cross bit's annoying, but the part about spilling liquor and taxing head?
That's just evil.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/18/2006 12:18 Comments ||
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#9
Just curious cause they didn't mention this in their trite response... do ya think there going to have a problem with the strip club across the county line?
#3... If I am ever in KY I might take you up on that... but where I am at here in VA getting a readily available supply isn't too much of a problem... lol...
#10
Moonshine: Nope - but I sure do know how to make it... and if I want to make it I will!
That's my hobby, but don't tell anyone.
I make the best top shelf liquor around, at least I think so.
Once I gave a lot of people at a party a tasting of Midori and my concoction.
One hundred percent said mine was the best.
I get the same feed back from my whiskey (note spelling) and Brandy.
#12
My great-uncle used to make blackberry-flavored moonshine in Louisiana. That stuff had enough of a whallop to put a guy in orbit - around Jupiter. He sent me a couple of quarts when I was in tech school. The only thing that kept me from being dishonorably discharged is that our XO was from Arkansas, and had a taste for the stuff himself.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/18/2006 16:24 Comments ||
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#13
Hmmmmmmm, so IOW "PAY US, OR WE'LL DESTROY YOU", andor "CONVERT, OR WE'LL YOU DESTROY YOU" andor "WE RULE, OR WE'LL DESTROY YOU".
SYDNEY'S Catholic Archbishop has hit out at Muslims protesting over comments by the Pope, saying their reaction shows the link in Islam between religion and violence. Cardinal George Pell has also labelled the response of some Australian Muslim leaders to the issue as "unhelpful". Cardinal Pell today backed Pope Benedict, saying the violent reaction to his comments on Islam and violence illustrated his fears.
"The violent reactions in many parts of the Islamic world justified one of Pope Benedict's main fears," Cardinal Pell said in a statement. "They showed the link for many Islamists between religion and violence, their refusal to respond to criticism with rational arguments, but only with demonstrations, threats and actual violence.
"Our major priority must be to maintain peace and harmony within the Australian community, but no lasting achievements can be grounded in fantasies and evasions."
Dr Pell said it was a "sign of hope" that no organised violence had flared in Australia following Pope Benedict's comments. But he said the responses of Australia's mufti, Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali, and of Dr Ameer Ali, of the prime minister's Muslim reference group, were "unfortunately typical and unhelpful". "It is always someone else's fault and issues touching on the nature of Islam are ignored.
"Sheik Alhilali often responds to criticism by questioning the intelligence and competence of the questioner or critic," Dr Pell said.
Later, on ABC radio, he added of Sheik Alhilali: "I'm tempted to say almost never does he address the criticism of Islam but diverts the question away from it and I think resorts to evasions."
Dr Ali said yesterday Muslims in Australia were disappointed by the Pope's comments. "We expect the Pope to follow (in) the footsteps of his predecessor who had been a great builder among communities for the last so many years and not a pope of the crusades," Dr Ali said.
Dr Pell said Dr Ali had called on Pope Benedict to be more like Pope John Paul II than Pope Urban II, who called the First Crusade. "In fact the Pope's long speech was more about the weaknesses of the Western world, its irreligion and disdain for religion and he explicitly rejected linking religion and violence," Dr Pell said. "He won't be calling any crusade."
Dr Pell sought to draw a distinction between Westerners and Muslims. "Today Westerners often link genuine religious expression with peace and tolerance.
"Today most Muslims identify genuine religion with submission (Islam) to the commands of the Koran.
"They are proud of the spectacular military expansion across continents, especially in the decades after the Prophet's death. This is seen as a sign of God's blessing."
Dr Pell said while he was grateful for the contributions of moderate Muslims, "evil acts done falsely in the name of Islam around the world need to be addressed, not swept under the carpet".
Dr Pell has repeatedly said Islam is more warlike than Christianity. In June this year he told the National Catholic Reporter in the US: "It's difficult to find periods of tolerance in Islam."
#2
Once again, Aussies holding their ground. It's obvious they are taking the Muzzie menace more seriously than the US, who basically remain blase. Most in US put more credence in the vapid shit coming from the Rotund Rosie than from the Murderous Muzzies. I wonder if that fat slob realizes she would be among the first to be beheaded if her wonderful Muzzie friends took over. They would grab and muzzle her in a heartbeat. She's the kind of vision that frightens them to the core.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/18/2006 14:34 Comments ||
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#5
There's another one too, Archibishop of Denver has said pretty much the same things. Courageous, and Truman-like in statinf the truth without recourse.
Funny that they are both Monks of the same order - the Capuchins (a sub-order fo the Franciscans).
Leaders of Islamist parties are not happy with the apology extended by Pope Benedict for his recent remarks against Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). They said that a man of his stature should have avoided making such comments in the first place. However, it is good to hear that he has realized he hurt religious sentiments of Muslims and our emotional attachment with the Prophet (PBUH), remarked Syed Munawwar Hasan, secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The stature he enjoys is fragile and he should have avoided targeting our religion and prophet as his predecessors did in the past.
Qari Gul Rehman, secretary general of the breakaway faction of Maulana Samiul Haqs Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam and an MMA MNA, said Muslim scholars and people had never targeted any religion and their revered personalities but the Popes statement against the Prophet Muhammad (PTUI PBUH) deserved the highest condemnation. True, he has apologized to Muslims but what he did is unforgivable, Rehman said.
Qari Hanif Jalandhari, secretary general of the Wafaqul Madaris, the largest of five educational boards, which control over 9,000 out of 14,000 seminaries across the country, said the Popes words were not unintentional but it was part of the Wests agenda against Muslims. The Pope is yet another ally of George W Bush and what he has said must be part of the agenda the US-led West has conceived against the Muslim world. His apology cannot heal the Ummahs wounds. Other religious parties, including the Sunni Tehrik and Ahle Sunnat Jamaat, held demonstrations outside the Karachi Press Club to express their anger. Liberal parties such as the Tehrik-e-Istaqlal also staged a similar demonstration at the same place.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
This one needs the surprise meter. I can only hope that the Pope issues no further "apologies", letters of concern or anything that can even be remotely construed as an apology.
Islam needs to sit and stew in their own juices. As VDH puts it:
If a farthiccupsnifflebelchsneezecoughgiggle sentence, indeed a mere phrase can be taken out of context, twisted, manipulated to show an absence of deference to Islam, furor ensues, death threats follow, assassins load their beltseven as the New York Times or the Guardian issues its sanctimonious apologies in the hope that the crocodile will eat them last.
The catch phrase is "absence of deference". Muslims will forever be able to find insufficient deference in anything a non-Muslim does, says, thinks about or dreams of in their sleep. To put it plainly, Muslims wouldn't be happy if you hung them with a brand new rope.
Posted by: Alaska Paul at Homer, Alaska ||
09/18/2006 1:31 Comments ||
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#4
Did the most prominent Imams, A$$ayatollahs and Muslim clerics act responsibility and explain that the Pope was quoting a dialogue between others and attempt to dampen down the fricken uproar, shit conniptions, riots etc?
Nope..they've exploited it and sure as hell are about setting an endless string of rhetorical traps to force dhimmitude and submission.
#7
Yup, it sure was. But that's nothing new. Just the natural progression of lunitics left unchecked. Now we will see crosses being burned, churches attacked, etc... We will just continue to sit and watch. these people understand fear, we should give them a life full of it.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/18/2006 8:00 Comments ||
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#8
Now we will see more crosses being burned, churches attacked, etc...
#11
Thanks TW. A muzzie hit on the Vatican will change the whole scope of this war. I think this is going to force Europe out of their state of denial and belief this is a muzzie-US only war.
At the strategic level I see the centers of gravity Teheran and their leadership, Syria and its leadership. We must strike strategically, and destroy the leaders and Irans ability move forward with nuclear weapons. I dont give a rats ass if they are five or even ten years out from a bomb. End the capability today, why wait???
At the operational level we are doing things right. Troops and presence showing we mean what we say and the determination to stay the course. Its not perfect, but as the old timers know, the best of plans go out the window on first contact.
At the tactical level we need to get serious. We need to grow the mettle require to go and kill these mullahs that are recruiting and stirring up the hate. Our legal system is broken when it comes to dealing with these idiots. They preach hate and incite violence. We need to identify them, kill them, and hang a note on their shirt for all to see we are done with this, not unlike Columbia and Pablo.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/18/2006 10:46 Comments ||
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Here we come,
Walking down the street.
Gettin' funniest looks from,
Everyone we meet!
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/18/2006 12:04 Comments ||
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#15
We need an Islamic 'seethe-o-meter' in the Rantburg images library. How 'bout it Fred?
Malking had a good one yesterday. Always pegged at "Red Alert".
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/18/2006 12:04 Comments ||
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#16
How come I picture these boyz strutting to a disco beat?
Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,
I'm a madrassa man, no time to talk.
Music smashed and women covered.
I've been kicked around since I was born.
And now it's all right, it's O.K.
And you may look the other way.
We can try to understand
The koran's effect on man.
Whether you're a brothah
Or whether you're a mullah,
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Feel the city breakin'
And the infidels shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Posted by: ed ||
09/18/2006 13:08 Comments ||
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#17
In a word, f**k you Paks and the jackasses you rode in on. 49 Pan, I couldn't agree more. We need to directly go after these imam assholes and let it be widely known. Take them out and flame the mosk they operate out of. As the outcry grows, accelerate the exterminations. Even dumbass animals eventaully catch on. Standing idly by, encourages these rabid fools.
#18
We need to grow the mettle require to go and kill these mullahs that are recruiting and stirring up the hate.
There will be no significant change until this policy is implemented on a global basis.
.com, Frank and myself (plus some others) have been hollering about this for a long time now. Hunter-killer wetwork teams need to be deployed around the world in order to sanction, Bashir, bin Laden, Qaradawi, al Masri, Hamza, mullah Omar, Nasrallah and every single other one of these damned thugs.
We will have made progress only when these extremists have to look over their shoulder before yelling, "Death to America!"
#24
All that seething is hard on the throat. A little napalm would do wonders in soothing it. We need to offer this remedy to our poor suffering muzzie brothers.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/18/2006 16:28 Comments ||
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Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood retracted their acceptance of Pope Benedict XVI's apology, issued earlier Sunday just hours before the group ackowledged the apology as "sufficient."
"[The Pope's apology] is not a detailed apology, and because of this we call on the Pope to offer a detailed apology which will put a definitive end to the confusion," the the group's second in command, Mahmoud Habib said on Sunday. Previously, Habib, said "We see the Pope's latest statement as a retraction of his previous statements."
"We see it as a sufficient apology, even though we would like the Pope to give a picture of his position on and vision of Islam."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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I'm feel sorry that the extremists wasted their lives reviving a dead branch of Islam. I'm sorry some guy dreamed it up in the first place. I'm sorry some guy thought it wise to keep a copy of that filth around. I'm sorry that guys with less than four functioning neurons in their brain seem to gravitate to extremism. I'm sorry you're so ignorant. I'm sorry you guys have the guns and the rest of Islam feel compelled to keep quiet. I'm sorry for what might happen if everybody doesn't figure out a way to get rid of you pretty soon. I'm sorry you can't take a joke or read between the lines. I'm sorry defeatists will need more concrete examples of terrorist successes before they figure it out. I'm sorry you guys are so hopelessly lost you'll never figure it out. I'm sorry you guys are trapped among other extremists who seem to be making a contest out of the whole thing as to see who can get away with being the most uncivilized.
#4
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood retracted their acceptance of Pope Benedict XVI's apology, issued earlier Sunday just hours before the group ackowledged the apology as "sufficient."
I can only suppose that the Pope's missive was insufficiently deferential. Begin watching for this, it is the absolute all time mega-cop-out for Islam. Victor Davis Hansen mentions this "absence of deference", and I predict it to be the trigger for everything from temper tantrums to all out nuclear war.
Every single stinking thing that Islam does all points to the need for some sort of massive retaliation. One that will shut them the fuck up for years. Nothing short of devasting a city with nuclear weapons will probably do the trick. The last vestiges of my humanity pleads that we should detonate a nuclear weapon somewhere in a vast swath of the Middle East's desert and issue a proclamation of "who's next?".
Sadly, I know that this will only generate more endless seething and further headlong races to build nuclear weapons. I know down deep inside that we are going to have to get all Medieval on one portion or the other of Islam. I'd really hate to begin with Iran, no matter how much the mullahs deserve it. The Iranian people are very much pro-American, regardless of how helpless they act. If we need to do this, I'd sooner see Pakistan get the Glass & Windex treatment, pour encourager les autres . Pakistan's near-constant deceit and continued sourcing of so many jihadists make it a prime candidate for this demonstration of power. No-fucking-thing else is going to do it, unless we go all the way and simply fuse every Muslim majority nation on earth.
What we are going to see now is a constant stream of extortion and blackmail involving the murder and kidnapping of Christians until the Pope gives in and flagellates himself while kneeling at the base of the Kabbah. And we all know that ain't gonna happen anytime soon, so let's just get this over with. If we thought the cartoonifada was bad, we ain't seen nothing yet. Islam has an endless supply of this vitriolic bile and they will spew it until someone slaps their collective mouth shut and stiches it closed.
#6
What we are witnessing is their utter arrogance brainwashed into them that they alone possess that certitude of righteousness for which our disagreement by way of merely being infidels is THE REAL affront to them. The rest is just opportunistic excuses.
#7
Yup, Duh!. Being mere infidels can't possibly explain to them why we have enough nuclear weapons to blow them back to the stone age mezozoic era and still bounce the rubble a fewhundred thousand more times afterwards.
#9
We apologize that we have not captured you, tied you down, gouged your eyes out with spoons, lacerated every inch of your bodies, cut off your private parts, and boiled you in oil. How that for a 'specific apology'?
#10
I still don't undersand why Islamic nations don't seem to have institutions to lock the criminally insane in. Instead they let them run wild spouting religious bullshit. Letting their mentally ill run wild attacking the rest or the world is a criminal act of "moderate islam".
#16
I still want to see the stealth bomb from Tom Clancy's book "Clear & Present Danger".
It does a great immitation of a car bomb. We could send over a B-2 or F-117 and deposit them in appropriate places when appropriate people were around and then deny everything.
"What?? Wasn't us, we didn't do nothin'." Everytime one of the turds opens his mouth on Friday his parking lot gets a makeover.
#18
Sadly, more than any American politician has the cojones spine to authorize.
Which was Tom Clancy's point. The count was one.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/18/2006 14:36 Comments ||
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#19
I am sorry that after the Reconquesta kicked Islamic ass out of Andalusia the Papacy pushed for a series of Holy Wars in Europe rather than uniting to kick the Mulsim religion into the dustbin of history. For that I am truly sorry, but the Vatican is working on a plan to rectify this mistake.
Posted by: The Pope ||
09/18/2006 16:42 Comments ||
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In editio televisium is oriens, Pontifex Benedict XVI ferito sicco procul velico of suus mane ineo in Muslimum dicum ut said velico ut a "sarcina of crybaby snake - lepor lepos" quod suadeo they tractare varius humanus impossible pluma of lentesco quod colonia facultas...
It gets better!
Posted by: Old Grouch ||
09/18/2006 18:28 Comments ||
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#21
"Charlie 34, flight of two you are cleared to the target. Happy hunting and sorry bout making you hold over Mecca for so long. Beer is on me when you get back."
Now thats my kind of apology!!!!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/18/2006 18:35 Comments ||
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#22
How about this one?
I'm sorry our military dipped all our bullets and bombs in lard prior to arrival at your little terrorist training camp. I'm also sorry we buried them all on their left sides, facing away from Mecca. Bob oversaw the whole operation, and he's kinda "directionally challenged", you could say. I guess that means you ain't getting to Paradise. Our bad!
In an official statement presented to Muslim leaders over the weekend, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar expressed sorrow over Pope Benedict XVI's condemnation of Islam. "I am very sorry about the deprecating things said against Islam," said Amar, in a letter that seemed to put the blame for the turmoil between Muslims and Christians on the shoulders of the Pope. "Our way is to respect all religions, nations and peoples according to their customs," continued Amar. "As the prophet [Micah] said: 'For let all people walk everyone in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. "And even when there is a struggle between peoples it is wrong to make it a religious struggle. Love truth and peace.'"
Fruman passed on Amar's statement to Sheikh Abdala Nimer Darwish, head of the Israeli Islamic Movement's moderate wing who relayed it to Sheikh Yusef Darwish, a popular Muslim leader living in Qatar. In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Amar called on both Christians and Muslims to put their differences behind them. "These are two religions that have millions of followers," said Amar. "If they start quarreling who knows where it will lead. Both must stop the unnecessary talk and actions."
Only after being questioned repeatedly was Amar willing to denounce Muslim violence against Churches in the Holy Land. "Our Muslim brothers would add respect to their religion if they outdid themselves and overcame the feelings of humiliation."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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Amar called on both Christians and Muslims to put their differences behind them
I guess it depends on what he means by "differences". But you have to admire his courage, standing up and admonishing those fanatical, rabid Christians for calling attention to the murder comitted by Islamics.
Posted by: tired and beat down ||
09/18/2006 0:44 Comments ||
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#2
We can't put our differences behind us.
I believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They don't. That can't be reconciled. End of discussion.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/18/2006 1:43 Comments ||
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#3
"And even when there is a struggle between peoples it is wrong to make it a religious struggle. Love truth and peace.'"
#4
"Our way is to respect all religions, nations and peoples according to their customs," continued Amar.
Nice shot at moral equivalency, but this Rabbi is teched in the haid. Christians and Jews don't cut off heads, hands and genitals. He fails to explain how one is supposed to "respect" that sort of psychotic bullshit.
"And even when there is a struggle between peoples it is wrong to make it a religious struggle."
Yet, somehow this dweeb manages to omit how it is Islam, and Islam alone, that has turned every aspect of this conflict into a "religious struggle".
"Love truth and peace."
Glaring omission there, he left out the brown rice.
Steve, if the differences you speak of are things like 9-11 and Islam's hypocriitcal persecution of "people of the book", then I'm behind you 100%. If the differences you cite are something other than what I've referred to, please clarify.
Christians now have their golden opportunity to learn about loathing Islam. I'll even go so far to say that hatred may come into play. In this case, hatred probably is a family value, because a healthy hatred of Islam is about the only thing guaranteed to keep Christian families alive in the face of Islamic fascism.
#5
Christians now have their golden opportunity to learn about loathing Islam
That makes no sense. Would you say that "People who believe in freedom of speech now have their golden opportunity to learn to stifle speech?"
That you don't allow people to yell fire in a crowded theater or to slander others does not mean that those who believe in free speech would relish an opportunity to prosecute those who threaten free speech by abusing it. But sometimes you do what you have to do.
Posted by: tired and beat down ||
09/18/2006 2:52 Comments ||
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#6
Pray tell, tabd, where in the world do I make any mention of "free speech" or the stifling thereof? This oughta be good.
#7
It's an analogy. I'm sure you are smart enough to make the connection.
Posted by: tired and beat down ||
09/18/2006 2:58 Comments ||
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#8
Ummmm ... no. Your definition of "smart enough" probably varies quite significantly with mine. Big clue:
loathe - [lohth] verb (used with object), loathed, loath-ing.
to feel disgust or intense aversion for; abhor: I loathe people who spread malicious gossip. Synonyms detest, abominate, hate.
#14
I'll note he's the Chief Sephardi Rabbi. His primary concern is probably damage control on behalf of the small jewish communities that still exist in some Arab countries.
If you are going to burn down a church, you might as well burn down a synagoge while you have the petrol and mob handy.
#15
I've met this fellow. He doesn't speak English. Doesn't seem to actually like non sephardi jews. Doesn't trust other rabbis to do proper conversions. Etc.
I believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They don't. That can't be reconciled. End of discussion.
I do not believe in Jesus and the Holy Spirit either, Steve. And yet we agree that faith is a personal thing -- offered perhaps, but never imposed on others by force. Islam mandates imposing itself by force on others whenever possible, and with that I will never be reconciled.
Just because the gentleman is a chief rabbi doesn't mean he isn't a prime idiot, as mhw's post certainly suggests. But in the end this war is not about two religions fighting for primacy; it's about free men refusing to be enslaved to the carriers of the latest totalitarian ideology, yet another one whose byword is, "First we kill all the Jews, then we'll finish off the rest of you... unless you surrender and join us."
I believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They don't. That can't be reconciled. End of discussion.
Steve, I also believe these things, but let me throw in my 2 cents. The Rabbi believes in Jehovah, the God of the Bible as well. But that's not the crux of the problem. The problem is, what do you believe about people who don't believe the same thing as you?
We CAN accomodate the differences between people of differing religious beliefs, as long as their beliefs and ours include tolerating or accomodating people who differ. For a religion whose adherants believe anyone who disagrees must DIE, putting our 'differences' behind us is an impossibility. This is the reason for the total incompatibility of Islam with a civilized world---not the fact that our beliefs differ from theirs.
So what was the pope really saying in that lecture he gave in Regensburg, his old stamping ground in Bavaria? It was a rich and elegant reflection on the rationality of faith, couched in the erudite language of a very German philosophical discourse.
But the message was, at heart, a straightforward one. The Jewish or Christian God acts in accordance with reason: In the beginning was the Word, the Logos. Benedict emphasizes that this new, logocentric understanding of God is already present in the Hebrew Bible, long before the fusion of Jerusalem and Athens in the New Testament. Our knowledge of God the God of Israel or the God of Christianity emerges in the unfolding of the encounter between faith and reason.
The contribution of Hellenic thought to this gradual enlightenment is, for Benedict, essential. He laments the "dehellenization" of Christianity ... Its effect, he thinks, has been to "relegate religion to the realm of subcultures" and to treat scientific rationality as if it had nothing whatever to do with faith. "The West has long been endangered by this aversion to the questions which underlie its rationality," he warns. If the West ignores this theological perspective, it "can only suffer great harm."
But the Pope was saying that there is an alternative to the Jewish or Christian God: the God of medieval Islam. Allah is "absolutely transcendent," above even rationality. Benedict cites a Muslim authority to the effect that "God is not bound even by his own word."
It is in this context that the pope invokes the Emperor Manuel II Paleologus, who recorded his dialogue with a learned Persian Muslim about the year 1400. Byzantium would finally succumb to Turkish conquest only half a century later, and Manuel wants to know how the doctrine of jihad can be justified, given that it is incompatible with God as Logos. For this Hellenic Christian, Muhammad's command to spread Islam by the sword must indeed be "evil and inhuman."
Years ago a teacher of mine pointed out that whereas shamans in various cultures often see visions, by and large the Hebrew prophets HEAR the word of God. It's an important distinction, for it implies that the prophet and his or her people are actively involved in responding to and interpeting what has been revealed.
The poignant story of Abraham struggling with the command to sacrifice Isaac is an example for us all. What we believe to be commanded by God must fit both our faith and our reason, if we are not to be led astray.
#22
Actually, LOPT, de-hellenization is to me less of a problem than those who would de-hebrewize christianity and leave just another hellenistic mystery cult in its wake. But maybe that's a comment for another time, and I've, er, pontificated enough on religious matters for today.
Posted by: Phil ||
09/18/2006 11:33 Comments ||
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#23
I dont think R. Amar meant everyone should believe the same thing.
I don't think that Steve was saying that they should. He was simply stating his belief and noting that it was a difference that could not be reconciled by accepting Islam by the Sword. Sometimes it seems that all beliefs, no matter how anti-social, are acceptable to "liberals" except Christianity. JMHO
Indian Muslim leaders and political parties have demanded an apology from Pope Benedict XVI for his remarks implicitly linking violence and Islam. The chief cleric of the 17th-century Jama Masjid mosque in New Delhi said the comments were a deliberate attempt to hurt the feelings of Muslims worldwide. "He should apologise to the Muslims of the world," said Syed Ahmed Bukhari. "What the Pope said is absolutely wrong. Prophet Muhammad preached only love and peace."
"And if you don't agree, we'll kill you all!"
The main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the pontiff's remarks could create "hurdles in the way of world harmony".
"The pope should immediately clarify his position and if his reported statement is true, he should apologise," said BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in New Delhi.
The ruling Congress party also condemned the pope's remarks in which he talked about the "issue of jihad, holy war".
"The pope is not only the leader of a religion, he is also the head of a state and therefore he should be more careful in making statements," Congress spokesperson Satyavrat Chaturvedi told the Press Trust of India.
Protests erupted on Friday in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir where Islamic rebels are fighting Indian rule, New Delhi, the northern city of Lucknow and other cities with Muslims denouncing both the pope and the United States. Maulana Rashid, a member of the powerful All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, said the pope's statement was more insulting than the Danish cartoons of the Prophet, which led to worldwide demonstrations by Muslims after their publication in September 2005.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
"And if you don't agree, we'll kill you all" > Awwww, I wanted to say it.
#3
You beat me to it, flyover. I just couldn't believe that the Hindus hadn't had their own fill of standard issue, four star rated, black tie service, prix fixe, health inspected, USDA compliant, haute cuisine, ten course, halal prepared Islamic bullshit.
#6
I presume you missed your calling in the advertising industry
Not at all, pal. I've cold-called my way into some of America's largest corporations. Personally, I blame Toastmasters International for letting me win all of their group seminar presentation ribbons without even having to join. The nerve of them!
#7
You guys should know that Pakis and Indian Muslim share the same outlook and behaviour. They tend to be indoctrinated think they are holier than holely. Wanna impress Araby. Wherever they work in East Asia as migrant workers, they are particularly aloof.
#8
I'm sorry I suggested Islam could debate rationally, without violence and seething. It was an inexcusable mistake proven by centuries of history. I should not have made such a stupid mistake and I will not make it again.
In that light I would like to present my plans for Crusade 2006 and the restoration of the crusader kingdom of Antioch. Any questions?
Posted by: The Pope ||
09/18/2006 11:56 Comments ||
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#9
Oh, a question from a member of the press from soon to be Coptic Egypt... No, no, quiet down. The fellow from future Zorastrian Persia will just have to wait his turn.
Posted by: The Pope ||
09/18/2006 12:00 Comments ||
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The head of Lebanon's Christian Maronite community defended Pope Benedict XVI Sunday against what he termed a 'misunderstanding' over the pope's comments on violence and Islam earlier this week.
the criticism of the pope is part of a political campaign based on a misunderstanding...
Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir said that 'the criticism of the pope is part of a political campaign based on a misunderstanding.' Pope Benedict had 'not spoken directly about Islam' in his speech, said Sfeir.
During his Sunday sermon in Bkirki, north of Beirut, the patriarch expressed 'sorrow about the reactions in the Islamic world' over the speech which the pope made Tuesday in Germany. Sfeir said 'the speech was misunderstood.'
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Let's keep count: Conservatives replacing Liberals in governments, religious and political leaders speaking up about the unacceptability of Muslim behaviour... The Path to 9/11 getting shown despite Clintonista seething, along with all the other 9/11 rememberences... we may have actually crossed a tipping point.
Johannesburg (AND) In yet another furore to grip the Christian community, the head of the Orthodox Church of Greece has joined the Pope controversy by attacking what he calls Islamic fanaticism in Africa.
The Muslim world is seething with anger over Pope Benedict XVIs quoting of a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who said innovations introduced by the Prophet Mohammed were 'evil and inhuman'.
In a scathing attack, barely 48 hours after a Somali Islamic cleric called for Muslims to kill the Pope for his Tuesday utterances, Archbishop Christodoulos told a sermon in Athens that Christians in Africa were suffering at the hands of fanatic Islamists'. "Many Christians on the Black Continent (Africa) suffer from fanatic Islamists. The example of Roman Catholic monks who were slaughtered last year... because they wore the cross and believed in our crucified Lord is still recent, said Christodoulos.
True - and it needs saying and saying loudly.
The Archbishops remarks come as the Muslim world is seething with anger over Pope Benedict XVIs quoting of a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who said innovations introduced by the Prophet Mohammed (the Islamic supreme leader) were "evil and inhuman".
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Too much seething and they'll all get heart attacks. Hmm, I have an idea . . . .
#3
I hearby issue a fatwa that this guy must die. (Well, actually, we all must die, but I mean, like sooner, violently, and at the hands of faithful Muslims.)
San Francisco, New York, Washington and other big cities are using bluegills _ also known as sunfish or bream _ as a sort of canary in a coal mine to safeguard their drinking water. Small numbers of the fish are kept in tanks constantly replenished with water from the municipal supply, and sensors in each tank work around the clock to register changes in the breathing, heartbeat and swimming patterns of the bluegills that occur in the presence of toxins.
"Nature's given us pretty much the most powerful and reliable early warning center out there," said Bill Lawler, co-founder of Intelligent Automation Corporation, a Southern California company that makes and sells the bluegill monitoring system. "There's no known manmade sensor that can do the same job as the bluegill." Big cities employ a range of safeguards against chemical and biological agents, constantly monitoring, testing and treating the water. But electronic protection systems can trace only the toxins they are programmed to detect, Lawler said.
Bluegills _ a hardy species about the size of a human hand _ are considered more versatile. They are highly attuned to chemical disturbances in their environment, and when exposed to toxins, they experience the fish version of coughing, flexing their gills to expel unwanted particles. The computerized system in use in San Francisco and elsewhere is designed to detect even slight changes in the bluegills' vital signs.
San Francisco's bluegills went to work about a month ago, guarding the drinking water of more than 1 million people from substances such as cyanide, diesel fuel, mercury and pesticides. Eight bluegills swim in a tank deep in the basement of a water treatment plant south of the city. They do have limitations. While the bluegills have successfully detected at least 30 toxic chemicals, they cannot reliably detect germs.
New York City has been testing its system since 2002 and is seeking to expand it. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection reported at least one instance in which the system caught a toxin before it made it into the water supply: The fish noticed a diesel spill two hours earlier than any of the agency's other detection devices.
More than a dozen other cities have ordered the anti-terror apparatus, called the Intelligent Aquatic BioMonitoring System, which was originally developed for the Army and starts at around $45,000.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/18/2006 22:19 Comments ||
Top||
#2
In Paris, since the end of the 19th century, carps are constantly kept in the biggest parisian reservoir (the Montsouris reservoir, located on the highest hill in the south of Paris) to detect any contamination of the water.
HEZBOLLAH leader Hassan Nasrallah has called for a "victory" rally on Friday in the Shiite southern suburbs of Beirut that were battered by air strikes during his militant group's 34-day war with Israel. "The victory rally will be dedicated to the martyrs, the wounded, the prisoners (held by Israel) and all those who supported the resistance," he said in a statement broadcast by his Shiite group's Al-Manar television overnight.
Al-Manar did not specify if Nasrallah would appear in public for the first time since the war erupted on July 12 and was ended by a UN-brokered August 14 ceasefire after some 1300 people were killed in Lebanon alone.
Nasrallah said last week in an interview with Al-Jazeera television that Hezbollah had won "a strategic and historic victory" over Israeli forces, whose objective, he said, had been to crush the Syrian-backed Lebanese group. But in late August, he expressed regret for the capture of two Israeli soldiers in a Hezbollah raid on the two countries' border that sparked the devastating war between his guerrillas and Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/18/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Think Nasty will poke his head out of his bunker? Naaah. Me neither.
#10
Victory Rally....seems to me the tory of why Hitler never had a victory parade in Paris is applicable here: he was afraid the RAF would do a flyover, and I think the IAF neds to do the same thing.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/18/2006 9:26 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Iran and Venezuela have signed a string of bilateral agreements at the start of Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the Latin American country. 
SEOUL - Up to 1,000 South Korean tourists were detained briefly in North Korea on Sunday after a lawmaker amongst them offered snacks and ice cream to a soldier, a report said.
Labor leaders have established a close relationship with anti-American, anti-war activists as part of a move to the political left that began more than three decades ago, according to a recent 
CHAPPAQUA Sen. Hillary Clinton this morning blasted the producers of a new film depicting the assassination of Pres. George W. Bush.
India said on Sunday that the joint anti-terrorism mechanism with Pakistan meant that New Delhi would now be able to take up terror-related extradition issues with Islamabad. 
There are no Taliban in Pakistan, but there are millions of Afghan refugees, but they must not be confused with the Taliban. However, there could be stray individuals part of or sympathetic to the group, Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan, press secretary to the president and head of Inter-Services Public Relations, told journalists here on Saturday. 
The U.S. military in Iraq has imprisoned an Associated Press photographer for five months, accusing him of being a security threat but never filing charges or permitting a public hearing. 
Australian forces may have to protect Iraqi civilians who could be marked for death after appearing in amateur videos shot by Diggers serving in Iraq. The videos were made by shot by bored Australian troops as part of an unofficial film-making competition and it is thought thousands of videos were made, with many being edited on army equipment, Time magazine said in an online report today.
ISRAELI state prosecutors have indicted three captured Lebanese Hezbollah guerillas on criminal charges including murder and membership in a terrorist organisation, Justice Ministry officials have said.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is scheduled to meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in New York on Monday. Livni will demand the speeding up of efforts to bring about the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. She will also urge that the Palestinian Authority's unity government recognize the principles set down by the Quartet -the US, Russia, UN and EU - for the Middle East "road map." Livni told CNN on Sunday that "the world has only few months to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons." The foreign minister and Abbas will also meet with US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
Israel's cabinet appointed a commission on Sunday to investigate the way the government and military handled the Lebanon war, bowing to calls for an inquiry but rejecting veterans' demands for an independent probe.
An al-Qaeda-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters returned to the streets across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence.
SYDNEY'S Catholic Archbishop has hit out at Muslims protesting over comments by the Pope, saying their reaction shows the link in Islam between religion and violence. Cardinal 
Leaders of Islamist parties are not happy with the apology extended by Pope Benedict for his recent remarks against Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). They said that a man of his stature should have avoided making such comments in the first place. However, it is good to hear that he has realized he hurt religious sentiments of Muslims and our emotional attachment with the Prophet (PBUH), remarked Syed Munawwar Hasan, secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The stature he enjoys is fragile and he should have avoided targeting our religion and prophet as his predecessors did in the past. 
Indian Muslim leaders and political parties have demanded an apology from Pope Benedict XVI for his remarks implicitly linking violence and Islam. The chief cleric of the 17th-century Jama Masjid mosque in New Delhi said the comments were a deliberate attempt to hurt the feelings of Muslims worldwide. "He should apologise to the Muslims of the world," said Syed Ahmed Bukhari. "What the Pope said is absolutely wrong. Prophet Muhammad preached only love and peace." 
The head of Lebanon's Christian Maronite community defended Pope Benedict XVI Sunday against what he termed a 'misunderstanding' over the pope's comments on violence and Islam earlier this week. 
HEZBOLLAH leader Hassan Nasrallah has called for a "victory" rally on Friday in the Shiite southern suburbs of Beirut that were battered by air strikes during his militant group's 34-day war with Israel. "The victory rally will be dedicated to the martyrs, the wounded, the prisoners (held by Israel) and all those who supported the resistance," he said in a statement broadcast by his Shiite group's Al-Manar television overnight.
