The United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees Affairs in Yemen UNHCR has called the international community to support Yemen to face the mounting influx of African refugees. Abdul-Maleek Aboud, a spokesman for the organization said in remarks published by the almotamar.net website on Thursday that Yemen receives between 12,000 to 14,000 Somali refugees every year.
You know you've hosed your country when Yemen's the promised land...
"In the name of the commission, we ask the international community to offer all kinds of aid to help Yemen to overcome this problem," Aboud said. He made clear that the UNHCR was also suffering from budgetary shortages, saying that the Yemeni government was shouldering a big burden in that regard in spite of the economic difficulties the country encounters. He added that Yemen allows those refugees to enter its territory because of their humanitarian situation, saying that Yemen is good example for other world in its help for refugees.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
That's real smart---Let the refugees in and ask the UNHCR to bail you out. Good planning.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/19/2005 11:07 Comments ||
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#2
Are there lots of pre-teen girls (and boys) there? Perhaps we'll have to send peace-keepers.
A series of special operations that have been conducted in Chechnya have shown that guerillas acting in the republic have not only financial and ideological but also blood relations with international terrorist organizations, spokesman for the federal forces in the North Caucasus Maj. Gen. Ilya Shabalkin told Interfax on Thursday.
Just one big happy "family".
For instance, prominent terrorist Jarah, who was recently killed in Dagestan, represented al Qaeda in Chechnya, Shabalkin said. According to information gathered by law enforcement agencies, Jarah's older brother belongs to Osama bin Laden's inner circle, and Jarah himself was a cousin of Jordanian terrorist and al Qaeda's emissary in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Shabalkin said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/19/2005 02:55 ||
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#1
Good name for a band - Dead Kennedys Zarqawis...
#2
"family affair" or "everyday you gotta cry some, everyday you gotta die some" ... Well I for one am crying. Too bad his immediate family couldn't be blasted to hamburger and scorched little bacon bits in a one of the fatwa approved suicide bombings that slaughters and maims civilians daily. I'd give anything to see his sorry mug on that day. Better yet, Z's family members pleading for mercy and then decapitated on video publicized widely. Wonder how he'd ponder that one. Perhaps a brutal lesson in how to develop empathy might do his ilk well. He doesn't seem to care much for alot of his comrades or civilians though I bet he loves his family.
AUSTRALIA'S top spy has called for the removal of a sunset clause on tough questioning and detention powers.
ASIO chief Dennis Richardson told a parliamentary inquiry today the continuing threat of terrorism against Australia and Australian interests overseas warranted removing the sunset clause.
The powers are currently the subject of a sunset clause which requires they be regularly reviewed by parliament.
"We propose that the questioning and detention powers become a permanent part of the suite of counter-terrorism laws enacted by the parliament over the past three years or so," Mr Richardson told the inquiry.
Mr Richardson said Australia needed strong and balanced anti-terror laws to respond to the threat and the fact that they had not been in place until recently meant many terrorists had avoided court.
"Laws must be in place before terrorists strike as it is virtually impossible to play legislative catch up after an actual attack or after an identified threat has emerged," he said.
"Indeed that is one of the reasons but by no means the only reason why the great majority of people in this country who have trained with al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups will never be held to legal account for their actions."
Mr Richardson said the sunset clause should be lifted because of the nature of the terrorist threat, the quality of existing laws to protect civil rights and the ability of parliament to change the laws if needed.
He said if Australia avoided a terror attack or planned attack this year it would be the first time that had occurred in six years.
"In each of the five years between 2000 and 2004 inclusive there was either a disrupted, an aborted or an actual attack involving Australia or Australian interests abroad," Mr Richardson said.
In 2000, Jack Roche - now in jail in Western Australia - planned attacks on the Israel embassy in Canberra and the Israel consulate in Sydney.
In 2001 security forces disrupted a planned attack on western interests in Singapore, including the Australian High Commission.
The Bali bombing occurred in 2002, followed by the disruption of a plan by Willie Brigitte to carry out an attack on Australian soil in 2003 and the Jakarta embassy bombing in 2004.
"It is a long term generational threat," Mr Richardson said.
"It will have its ups and downs, we will go through periods where not much from the outside appears to be happening.
"We will go through extended periods without attacks.
"However, given the nature of the philosophy and ideology that drives al-Qaeda and associated groups, given the continued attraction by small groups of people globally to that ideology, given the capacity for people to continue to be trained, it is inevitable that we will have - looking out - further attacks."
Mr Richardson, who is soon to take up the position of Australian Ambassador to Washington, said all of the laws to tackle terrorism had been carefully considered by parliament and the public, and not rushed.
#1
For once, I have to disagree with a, doubtless worthy and tireless, fighter against terrorism. One of the Pillars of Western Civilization identified by Dr. Hanson is civilian review. It takes many forms, such as elected officials reviewing the military and police forces, as well as voters reviewing the performance of their elected officials.
There is nothing inherently wrong or fatal in requiring a periodic REVIEW of these power4s. What would be fatal would be a REMOVAL of these powers based on liberal delusions that the THREAT requiring that these powers be granted has evaporated, and so they are no longer necessary. The war on terror is unlike a real war, since we, the citizenry, would be able to judge for ourselves that the war is over based on criteria that can be easily verified (has the enemy signed the surrender? Have all their combatants turned over their arms? Do we have their wartime leadership in custody?). Not so with the war on terror, making voter review difficult to perform.
Here's my beef: We are familiar with the blind distrust leftists have of Western civilization governments, and their blind naivete and blind TRUST of NON-Western or Western Leftist advocates. They may merit our blind distrust, but that would be a mistake. It would be an equally large mistake to blindly TRUST our governments, officials, police, armed forces, whatever to the point that we don't want to take the time to perform a proper review of what they do. I am not calling for trust or mistrust: I am calling for an INFORMED, not BLIND, trust and mistrust. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, and based on previous performance, the best advice Comes from the Gipper: "Trust but verify". Assume good intentions and good behavior until proven otherwise, but DO make the effort to perform a review!
A May 17 interview in the Guardian
She arrived in the Netherlands as an asylum seeker and became a fiery critic of both multiculturalism and her own religion, Islam. Then last November the director of a film she wrote about the subjugation of Muslim women was killed, sparking a crisis over the country's attitudes to immigration. I don't think the WaPo or the NYTimes have featured this woman yet but now that the Guardian has done this they probably will do something. Don't expect the fools in Hollywood to support her artistic rights however.
In 1989, the year that Ayatollah Khomeini issued his fatwa against Salman Rushdie, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was a devout student attending the Muslim Girls' Secondary School in Nairobi...Hirsi Ali is an activist, for sure, but her targets are not so much political as theological. And what she wants to do now is to produce a follow-up to Submission - this time, the story of the men. She has just won a court case, brought by a group of Muslims aiming to prevent her going ahead with the project... I don't want somebody else to be murdered," she says. "But if I stop doing what I'm doing, it will be like another murder. That's the real trauma, perhaps, the thought of going through what happened to Theo van Gogh again. We told each other we would make part two, and the thing that keeps me going is the thought, 'I have to do it, I have to do it, I have to do it.'"
#1
She should be designated a Nederlander National Treasure. In this one woman, we find all of the testicles present in their society, culture, country.
#2
Damn straight. If I wasn't in an already republican congressional district, I'd swap one Ayann Hirsi Ali for One Cynthia McKinney and to hell with the residency requirement.
Yeah, it'd be a really uneven swap: this lady seems to have more guts in her left pinkie than the entire Georgia Democratic congressional delegation now that Zell's retired...
#3
There's hope. Interesting that Holland had to go outside its own borders to find a woman with the brains and guts to stand up for freedom and individual dignity.
The detonators used in the Madrid train bombings last year were not made in Bosnia, Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said. Rebutting claims by a Serbian police officer, Moratinos said: "The information is currently being checked out but it seems that there are no indications that it was true." Moratinos made the statement to reporters following talks with his Bosnian counterpart, Mladen Ivanic in Sarajevo. Bosnian Serb police chief Dragomir Andan had claimed that the detonators used in the March 2004 attacks, in which 191 people were killed and nearly 2,000 injured, were made in the former Yugoslav republic. Andan also said suspects linked to the attacks had passed through Bosnia, but he offered no further details.
"I can say no more!"
Ivanic also rejected the claims, saying Bosnian security services "have not, so far, found any evidence indicating that it might be true".
"But we're still checking under the couch cushions, just to be sure."
A German tribunal said on Wednesday it had stripped three naturalised men of their German nationality because they had failed to disclose that they were members of Turkish Islamist group Milli Gorus. The three lost their appeal to the administrative tribunal in Wiesbaden against a decision by officials in Giessen, north of Frankfurt. The men will have to hand in their German passports when the deadline for any further appeals expires. Officials said they will become stateless, because they renounced their Turkish citizenship when they were naturalised as Germans.
No biggie. They're free to go form a Caliphate now.
Germany keeps Milli Gorus under surveillance and says it has 26,500 members in Germany, making it the largest Islamist group on German soil. The three men were active in the Milli Gorus chapter in the small town of Limburg. Officials say the men should never have been granted German citizenship because Milli Gorus is hostile to democratic principles. Naturalisation is only available to those who speak German and offer allegiance to the German constitution.
Islamists generally not fond of allegiances other than to Big Mo and his holy men.
#4
Well, if they're doing it, they need to improve their aim. There are journalists crawling all over Iraq. Wake me up when the journo body count goes over 1000.
#6
The lack of journalist casualties with respect to the numbers crawling around the bar in the green zone in Baghdad Iraq just shows how disciplined our troops are.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/19/2005 11:12 Comments ||
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"when ya embeds with da enemy, ya pays da consequences"
Popeye
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/19/2005 11:22 Comments ||
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After a lull in the battle, a U.S. tank fired an incendiary shell at the hotel. U.S. officials say the troops believed they were taking fire from the hotel.
That's all screwed up. The incident is discussed in detail in the book Thunder Run by Mark Zucchino. IIRC, what the troops thought (from radio intercepts) was that there was a spotter about to call down artillery or mortar fire on a bridge that their tanks were about to cross. They scanned the buildings on the opposite bank and saw someone pointing what looked like an optical scope in their direction. The scope turned out to be a camera. Moral of the story: be damned careful about pointing things at an Abrams tank on the attack. (BTW, the tankers, from the 3ID, had been in combat for about 24 hours straight and were the first ones to roll into the government area.)
Posted by: Matt ||
05/19/2005 11:35 Comments ||
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#9
I would do the same thing. If I saw someone pointing something at me in a combat zone, I would shoot first and ask questions later. If I saw it was a reporter I shot, I would shoot again.
#15
For our lawyers out there, would this qualify as slander or libel, cause I'm thinking a $50 billion class action lawsuit against the guild would be rather amusing.
I know someone out there is directing fire on my troops.
So Im unbuttonted in partial (head only thru the cdrs hatch, hanging one had off the Ma Deuce to steady myself and the other holding the binocs), looking for the bad guys...
I see glint of from an elevated positon with agreat field of view.
I use my binocs and that reflection turns out to be a big lens looking thing (like a spotting scope). I figure either a sniper or a spotter. Either way he has to go. Too far for me to be sure wiht the coax or deuce, so gotta go main gun.
Grab the traverse and swing the gun in that direction (until the gunner takes it after my call) while I yell:
"Gunner! Goblins on the roof Front LEFT!"
Loader "HEAT Up!"
Gunner "On The WAY"
And that's how some dumbass reporter buys his farm.
#17
OS, exactly right. The TC in the Palestine Hotel incident was Sgt. Shawn Gibson, who's been pilloried by every left-wing asshat on the globe for taking a righteous shot.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/19/2005 18:34 Comments ||
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#18
These lefty reporters ahve never been in that TC's hatch - never carried a rifle, never had to meet the gomers face to face.
Thats why they hat ethe military: the military shames them by being everything they are not.
And FYI, before someone here calls me on it, HEAT is whats called for on buildings, thats why the call would not have been for the beehive/flechette cans (nor the sabot).
These reporters have to realize: peole get killed in wars - thats what they are all about. And if you put yourself in the way of either side, you will die. THere is no magic "journalism" shield.
The sooner they realize that bumping aroudn in a combat zone is not like reporting on the LA Riots, the sooner they will quit getting killed.
I was a soldier once, and still am in many ways.
We are soldiers. We break shit, we kill bad guys. You get in our way and are not immediately recognizable, you will get your shit borken and you will die. If you dont want your shit borken and do not want to die, stay the hell out of our way.
#21
The Newspaper Guild is a division of the Communication Workers of America, affiliated with AFL-CIO, CLC, and IF3.
They have an article essentially endorsing Foley's claims. This gang is the very heart of the institutional media culture, the belly of the beast and it should be treated accordingly.
Big surprise, they are the political front organizations that lobby and collect donations.
Collectively, the ALF and ELF have claimed responsibility for more than 1,100 terrorist crimes resulting in over $110 million in damage, including arson, assault, and vandalism against American companies and individuals.
They're the military faction, that's what they do. Think IRA to PETA's Shein Fein
The FBI has dedicated significant resources to investigating the increasingly violent actions of these groups.
They expect a break in the case any day now, or was that the Anthrax case?
CCF Director of Research David Martosko highlighted multiple examples of support to the ALF/ELF network from several nonprofit organizations, including:
In the mid-1990s, PETA paid over $70,000 in grants for the legal defense
of arsonist Rodney Coronado, who was convicted of firebombing a Michigan
State University research lab. The ALF claimed credit for this violent
crime shortly after it was committed. PETA President Ingrid Newkirk was
implicated in this arson by the case's chief prosecutor for arranging
"days before the MSU arson occurred" for Coronado to send her video of
the arson and stolen materials from inside the targeted laboratory.
* In April 2001, PETA made a direct contribution of $1,500 to the North
American Earth Liberation Front (ELF) to "support their program
activities." Among its long list of crimes, ELF claimed credit for the
1998 firebombing of the Vail Colorado Ski Resort, resulting in $12
million in damage.
* In 2001, PETA campaign director Bruce Friedrich praised the actions of
underground animal rights militants at an animal rights convention
saying, "I think it would be great if all of the fast-food outlets,
slaughterhouses, these laboratories, and the banks that fund them
exploded tomorrow ... Hallelujah to the people who are willing to do
it."
* In 2003, self-appointed ALF spokesman Dr. Jerry Vlasak, while acting as
a spokesperson for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
(PCRM), openly endorsed the murder of doctors who use animals in medical
research, saying, "For 5 lives, 10 lives, 15 human lives, we could save
a million, 2 million, 10 million non-human lives." When a member of his
audience objected, comparing Vlasak's approach to that of abortion-
clinic bombers, he replied: "Absolutely. I think they had a great
strategy going."
* HSUS has funded the operation of an Internet server called "waste.org" -
- which was then the source of "communiques" issued by the ALF after the
commission of arson and other violent crimes.
* A 1999 issue of the magazine No Compromise, published by and for ALF
supporters, printed a list of its benefactors. These included PETA, the
Fund for Animals, In Defense of Animals, and the New Jersey Animal
Rights Alliance.
"Those who start fires, detonate bombs, and stalk and threaten innocent people receive assistance -- both rhetorical and financial -- from many organizations that enjoy tax-exempt status with the federal government," said CCF Director of Research David Martosko. "I urge this committee to fully investigate the connections between individuals who commit crimes in the name of ALF, ELF, or similar phantom groups, and the above-ground individuals and organizations that give them aid and comfort."
The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers, working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/19/2005 1:03:39 PM ||
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WASHINGTON, May 18 - The Bush administration and Senate Republican leaders are pushing a plan that would significantly expand the F.B.I.'s power to demand business records in terror investigations without obtaining approval from a judge, officials said on Wednesday.
The proposal, which is likely to be considered next week in a closed session of the Senate intelligence committee, would allow federal investigators to subpoena records from businesses and other institutions without a judge's sign-off if they declared that the material was needed as part of a foreign intelligence investigation.
The proposal, part of a broader plan to extend antiterrorism powers under the law known as the USA Patriot Act, was concluded in recent days by Republican leaders on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in consultation with the Bush administration, Congressional officials said.
Administration and Congressional officials who support the idea said the proposal would give the F.B.I. a much-needed tool to track leads in terrorism and espionage investigations that would be quicker and less cumbersome than existing methods. They pointed out that the administrative subpoena power being sought for the F.B.I. in terror cases was already in use in more than 300 other types of crimes, including health care fraud, child exploitation, racketeering and drug trafficking.
"Why not provide that same tool to national security investigators as well?" asked an aide to the intelligence committee who was involved in the proposal, speaking on condition of anonymity because the issue will be discussed at a closed meeting scheduled for May 26. "There wasn't really a whole lot of cogent argument against it."
But word of the proposal on Wednesday generated immediate and automatic protests from the usual so-called civil rights advocates, who said that it would give the F.B.I. virtually unchecked authority in terror investigations, and the plan is likely to intensify the growing debate in Congress over the balance between fighting terrorism and protecting privacy rights. "This is a dramatic expansion of the federal government's power," said Lisa Graves, senior counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington. "It's really a power grab by the administration for the F.B.I. to secretly demand medical records, tax records, gun purchase records and all sorts of other material if they deem it relevant to an intelligence investigation."
Kevin Madden, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said department officials welcomed the intelligence committee's efforts "to support provisions that enhance law enforcement's ability to combat terrorism effectively and are particularly heartened by their support for the USA Patriot Act."
Support for the idea among many Democrats and some Republicans in Congress is uncertain, and the Senate intelligence committee's plan to push the proposal could set off a struggle with the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee has joint authority for oversight of foreign intelligence surveillance law - which would be expanded under the current proposal - but its members have shown some reluctance to expand the F.B.I.'s counterterrorism powers.
A Judiciary Committee aide said that Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who leads the Judiciary Committee, wanted to study the intelligence committee's proposal closely to determine if it was warranted. "Being a former prosecutor, he understands what tools are needed for law enforcement, but he also understands that there are serious concerns about ensuring people's liberties," said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of provoking tensions with the intelligence committee.
With 16 provisions of the Patriot Act set to expire at the end of the year, the Bush administration has made the permanent extension of the law one of its top legislation priorities. But critics are seeking to scale back provisions in the law that they say are vulnerable to abuse, and more than 380 governmental bodies, including seven states, have adopted formal resolutions voicing concerns about the broad reach of the law.
One provision of the law that has generated perhaps more criticism than any other is Section 215, derided by critics as the "library records" provision. It allows the F.B.I. to go to a secret intelligence court to demand access to material from businesses and other institutions as part of intelligence investigations. The Justice Department said in a newly declassified report last month that it had used the power 35 times since late 2003 to gain information on apartment leasing, driver's licenses, financial records and other data in intelligence investigations. But it stressed that it had not used the authority to date to demand records from libraries or bookstores or to get information related to medical or gun records - all areas of concern to critics.
Democrats and civil liberties advocates said on Wednesday that they were concerned that the F.B.I.'s expanded subpoena power under the intelligence committee's proposal would render obsolete the limited safeguards under Section 215. While that provision requires the Justice Department to receive the approval of the secret intelligence court before demanding records, the administrative subpoenas under the new proposal would not.
"This all comes down to not wanting an F.B.I. agent to have to go to a prosecutor and then the court to get formal approval for a subpoena," said a Democratic Congressional official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the intelligence committee's proposal is still considered confidential. "This becomes a substitute."
But supporters of the plan said they had built in safeguards. The F.B.I. could only issue the demands for records with the approval of the director or senior officials down through the rank of a special agent in charge, officials said. In addition, those given subpoenas would not automatically be bound to silence unless the F.B.I. determined that disclosure could threaten national security. The Justice Department would have to report twice a year on its use of the power, and the law would be amended to specify that material must be "relevant" to a foreign intelligence investigation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/19/2005 00:45 ||
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#1
...and the Senate intelligence committee's plan to push the proposal could set off a struggle with the Senate Judiciary Committee.
These days, what doesn't set off a struggle with the Senate Judiciary Committee?
#6
Unfortunately, this power would be given to the FBI, which is incompetent to conduct domestic intelligence operations because of its law enforcement mindset, rather than the MI5-like organization that should be doing this kind of work.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
05/19/2005 12:12 Comments ||
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Lori Piestewa, believed to be the first American Indian female killed in combat, left behind 3 children in the care of her parents. The family of five has received a new home from ABC as part of the reality show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition". This episode is scheduled to air May 22, 2005. In addition, their community received a new Veterans Center as part of the program.
Former POW Jessica Lynch -- Lori's best friend and roommate in Iraq -- will be on board for the build.
Posted by: Dr. Johnny Fever ||
05/19/2005 00:01 ||
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#1
I'm the poster of this article - SC88. As Gawd is my witness I thought turkeys could fly I'd changed that nick.
#5
The military combat death benefit since 9/2001 is $250,000 with optional premiums to total $500,000. It doesn't replace the father, mother, or spouse, but it does provide several years financial cushion for the family to adjust their lives.
Chu said that under the proposal, a tax-free "death gratuity" payment currently at $12,420 would be boosted to $100,000. In addition, the government would increase the amount of life insurance available to all servicemembers to $400,000 from $250,000. For troops in combat zones, the government would pay the premiums on the extra $150,000 in insurance.
Posted by: ed ||
05/19/2005 8:43 Comments ||
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#6
Excellent--thanks, SC88. I'll mark that on my calendar.
Posted by: Dar ||
05/19/2005 8:48 Comments ||
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#7
I'll be watching but first I'd better head to Sam's and stock up on massive amounts of Kleenex.
#8
Is this an ABC Rep Rehab thingy? Or just a TV Producer's wet dream idea. That it does something good, truly good, is secondary, methinks. MY sole thanks thus go to SC88 for letting us know her family will survive her intact. Good on ya, bro!
#9
The sho has been going on for a while. They find a worthy family whose house just won't do, and fix it up. The one episode I saw, one of the sons, a former high school football star, had been in an accident and became a paraplegic. With help from the family's friends and neighbors, the house was made wheelchair safe, and they built a small dwelling at the bottom of the garden for the young man and the fiance he didn't feel able to marry after the accident. The little house was outfitted with some marvelous gewgaws that enabled him to function independently. The ended the episode by throwing a wedding for the young couple. Definitely a two-boxer...my nose was still red the next day. ;-)
Syria is the main conduit for foreign militants fighting for al Qaeda-ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq, a senior U.S. administration official said on Wednesday.
"We're concerned that Zarqawi is supported by a foreign fighter network that gets foreign fighters largely through Syria," the official said to a small group of reporters on condition of anonymity.
Syria has taken "some cosmetic steps" to address the concerns of Iraq and the United States about the infiltration of foreign fighters into Iraq, but "not nearly what they ought to be doing," the administration official said.
The Bush administration has made building democracy and stability in the Middle East a top priority but has had little success in its efforts to engage Syria.
"There are locations in Syria where foreign fighters and money and logistics come together and then transit to Iraq, and those foreign fighters and money come from elsewhere in the Muslim world. That's really been the Zarqawi connection we have been most focused on," the official said.
"They are a major disruptive force, they are disruptive in Iraq, they are disruptive of the efforts between Palestinians and Israelis to come up with a Middle East peace," he said.
The United States has also appealed to Syria to stop interfering in Lebanon, let elections move forward and stop supporting militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, the official said.
"Syria in some sense has been a source of instability in the region, it is time for them to make a strategic choice and get on the other side on these issues," the official said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
05/19/2005 02:58 ||
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#2
We have warned the Syrians enough. Any more warnings is a sign of weakness on our part. The Syrians duplicity and or looking the other way is resulting in US AND Iraqi casualties. Syria needs a kinetically strong message sent that they understand.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/19/2005 11:25 Comments ||
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In the latest reconciliation between Lebanese war foes, Free Patriotic Movement leader, Michel Aoun, visited Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in his prison cell yesterday and called for a full amnesty for his onetime enemy. The encounter between the two men, the first in over 15 years, is indicative of the political change in Lebanon since the withdrawal of Syrian troops, and comes 10 days before the country's crucial parliamentary elections begin.
Following the meeting Aoun said: "The page of the past cannot be partially folded. It is either fully folded or it is not. Keeping (Geagea) in prison is an injustice. I declare my solidarity with him until he is released. The visit lays the foundations for a new relationship within the democratic process we are witnessing today, and within the framework of letting go of the past."
The U.S. Congress has decided to support efforts to overthrow the Islamic regime in Iran. A bill has been introduced in the Senate that would support the opposition in Iran. The legislation, termed the Iran Freedom and Support Act, would require that the United States work to ensure a referendum in Iran on the type of regime sought by the people. The legislation was introduced by Sen. Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican and a member of the GOP leadership in the Senate. Santorum has served as chairman of the Republican Conference and the third-ranking member of the Senate Republican leadership. In a statement, Santorum said Iran has been linked to strikes against U.S. military personnel in Saudi Arabia in 1996 and Al Qaida attacks against civilians in Saudi Arabia in 2004. The United States has never blamed Iran for Al Qaida's campaign in Saudi Araiba.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2005 00:00 ||
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#2
I'm still for a mass driver or Gauss rifle. Just think, a 250lb watermelon size slug of metal hitting a target at speeds nearing Mach 2. Vaporizing goodness...
#3
How do you aim and point the thing? The spinning mass in the weapon will act as a spinning gyroscope. After it's spinning, it'll be an absolute bitch to point.
Posted by: Dave ||
05/19/2005 15:13 Comments ||
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#4
Just cut the spacing by 8.5 mm and it's called a spear.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/19/2005 15:29 Comments ||
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#5
How about a gauss-powered needle gun spitting 0.01mm needles at just short of lightspeed?
#7
A friend, an engineer and a gun collector said this:
bull.
The writer has a poor grasp of physics.
"Zero recoil" - countered by gyroscopic effect on aiming.
"catastrophic explosion ...is zero" - watch that disk shatter and spall.
"a weapon that doesn't jam" - right
"So, identifying the gun itself with IR (infrared) sensors will be impossible" - friction?
"So, identifying the gun itself with IR (infrared) sensors will be impossible" - detect the RF emissions of the spinner?
IT WAS front-page news this week when Newsweek retracted a report claiming that a US interrogator in Guantanamo had flushed a copy of the Koran down a toilet. Everywhere it was noted that Newsweek's story had sparked widespread Muslim rioting, in which at least 17 people were killed. But there was no mention of deadly protests triggered in recent years by comparable acts of desecration against other religions.
*snip*
Of course, there was a good reason all these bloody protests went unremembered in the coverage of the Newsweek affair: They never occurred.
Christians, Jews, and Buddhists don't lash out in homicidal rage when their religion is insulted. They don't call for holy war and riot in the streets. It would be unthinkable for a mainstream priest, rabbi, or lama to demand that a blasphemer be slain. But when Reuters reported what Mohammad Hanif, the imam of a Muslim seminary in Pakistan, said about the alleged Koran-flushers -- ''They should be hung. They should be killed in public so that no one can dare to insult Islam and its sacred symbols" -- was any reader surprised?
*snip*
But what disgraces Islam above all is the vast majority of the planet's Muslims saying nothing and doing nothing about the jihadist cancer eating away at their religion. It is Free Muslims Against Terrorism, a pro-democracy organization, calling on Muslims and Middle Easterners to ''converge on our nation's capital for a rally against terrorism" -- and having only 50 people show up.
Yes, Islam is disrespected. That will only change when throngs of passionate Muslims show up for rallies against terrorism, and when rabble-rousers trying to gin up a riot over a defiled Koran can't get the time of day.
Preach it, brother! Read the whole thing at the link.
Seething in 5, 4, 3....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/19/2005 11:17 ||
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#1
yeah. and while we flagellate ourselves for possibly disrespecting the religion of peace, at the very same time, the Palestinian Authority TV station broadcasts a vicious attack on Jews and Judaism. Outraged citizens rioting? Nope. We've come to expect it from Islam. Quick to insult, quick to be insulted.
#2
Jacoby's got it right. As much as I loathe Newsweek's behavior, Isikoff is not the enemy. It's those f***ing maniacs who hack off heads in order to preserve the purity and superiority of their one true faith. Perhaps this episode will bring the more rabid Bush-haters-- and maybe some Newsweek-haters, too-- back to their senses and focus us on the true fascist enemy.
#3
When I cancelled my subscription to the Globe, I mentioned Jacoby as the only factor that made me hesitate in reaching that decision. Fortunately, I can get his stuff online.
#4
X-Man - The Globe sucks I haven't bought the Globe badly in over 10 years. I'll read Jacoby but the other Op Eds just serve(d) as Fisking Fodder. I didn't bother with the Herald 'cuz I was reading Drudge, maybe Kaus and some others, regulary by then.
Raj: Aside from Jacoby and sports, I stopped reading the Globe about 5 years ago, but I kept my Sunday delivery for the coupons. After 9/11, though, I just couldn't be a party to their crap any longer, so I cancelled, making sure to let them know why. I didn't want them getting any more of my money or using me to boost circulation numbers.
Remember when Sharon put his foot on the Temple Mount what violence was launched against the Israelis?
Just see how they desecrate their own, Sunnis blowing up Shiite mosques and such.
Just give them an excuse and they desecrate the very world they live in.
#10
Jacoby didn't even get in to the other major Islamic disfunction; i.e., the fact that many muslims believe impossible things (e.g., that Israeli pilots flew the 9/11 planes).
#11
I, for one, can not get past the idea that millions of Western Progressives would rather see a nation re-enslaved, or erupt in civil war, or have twenty thousand of their countrymen come home in boxes than admit that they were wrong.
And more--their reckless words and position against the War have changed the outcome in ways that cannot be recaptured and corrected. Just think-had the lefties here and abroad seen the value of deposing Saddam, seen the enormous and lasting value that promotion of democracy in the region would have had, the dynamics in Iraq today would NO DOUBT be much different. Instead, they pushed negative public opinion so effectively that the people in the ME are panicked, suspicious, leaderless, gullible and self-doubting--and not about the right things--possible culminating at some point in a civil war. They fostered such anti-Americanism in the "intl community" that it will take decades to correct miscomprehension of our intent.
I feel that it's nearly impossible to measure the consequences of their misbegotten politics against deposing a murderous tyrant.
#12
X-Man - I kinda weaned myself off it. I bought Globes for two months, pulled the Sports section out and threw the rest in the garbage, as many times as possible in front of the paperhawker, then transitioned to the WSJ..
One other thing re: Jacoby & the Globe - remember this Globe stunt, putting Jacoby on ice for a conveniently timed stretch of four months before the 2004 Presidential election? I've nary a stitch of respect for those bloodsucking, bow-tied bum kissers thereafter.
#14
The globe sports section aint all that anyway.
Cafardo and Borges suck.
Ryan and Shaugnessy are elitist pricks.
The only columnist I can stomach is Jackie MacMullan
Petaluma High senior wants to wear his Marine dress uniform to ceremony. Principal has said no. Student's father plans appeal to board.
SAN DIEGO — Steven Kiernan, 17, has two dreams: One is to become a Marine, and the other is to wear his Marine dress-blue uniform to his high school graduation. Kiernan is close to achieving the first. He has finished all but the final days of the grueling 12-week boot camp in San Diego.
But his goal of wearing his uniform to Petaluma High School's graduation on June 11 appears thwarted.
The principal of the Northern California school notified Kiernan's parents that school rules require that all graduates wear the traditional cap and gown. Jim Kiernan, Steven's father, plans to appeal the decision to the Petaluma school board at its meeting Tuesday.
"The Marine Corps has traditions, but I guess the school district has traditions too, and the different traditions have collided," he said in a telephone interview. Jim Kiernan, who works for a vineyard management company, said he was not so much angered by the decision as he was puzzled. Other graduates, he said, will be honored for their achievements, by wearing adornments on their caps or having their names read aloud.
"Finishing boot camp is my son's achievement, and I think he deserves to be honored too," Jim Kiernan said. He's a member of another school board in Sonoma County and says he knows that school boards can overrule principals.
In similar cases this spring involving young Marines returning to their high school graduations in Illinois and Wisconsin, school officials lifted the no-uniforms rule.
Steven finished his course work early at Petaluma High so he could start boot camp. His parents, somewhat reluctantly, signed his enlistment papers.
Principal Mike Simpson said he sympathized with Steven and respects his decision to enlist. Simpson's father was a Marine who saw combat in World War II. Still, Simpson said, rules are rules."The intent of a graduation ceremony is not to individualize, but to show that all the graduates are part of the same class," he said. "If we do differentiate, it's because of academic achievements."
The phone call last week to the Kiernans, after hearing of Steven's desire to wear his dress blues, was not easy to make, Simpson said. He said he remembers talking to Steven when he was taking a metal shop class. The youth was wearing a Marine T-shirt, Simpson said."He's a great kid, and we're all proud of him," Simpson said.
Once the story of the dress-blue controversy was reported in a local paper, the reaction of ex-Marines was swift and predictable. The Kiernans were swamped by offers of support. Simpson received numerous e-mails."Most were primarily civil, but a couple were borderline and some were downright nasty," Simpson said.
Simpson said that although wearing dress blues at the graduation ceremony is not permissible, nothing would prevent Steven from wearing it at an all-night party to be held afterward at a nearby school.Jim Kiernan appreciates Simpson's concern but feels an exception could be made, particularly at a time when his son and other recruits could be sent to a war zone.
Steven is set to graduate from boot camp June 1. He has finished the most punishing part of training, a 54-hour exercise called the Crucible in which recruits are taken to the hills of Camp Pendleton and pushed to the limits of their physical and emotional endurance.
After finishing the Crucible, he wrote to his parents that, "ain't nothing stopping me now" from becoming a Marine. In the same letter, he restated his desire to wear his dress blues to graduation."It's all he's ever talked about — becoming a Marine," his father said. So wear the blues anyway, kid. Make them try to stop you.My bet is they don't have the balls.
#1
I hate to say this but I think the principal is right on this. The tradition is the cap/gown and Steven should respect this. If the Principal was smart he would let Steven wear it underneath the Gown and allow him to discard it after he is handed the diploma. It would also symbolize the young mans transition from student to soldier. God speed Steven!
#2
I am with Cyber Sarge on this one, too. The cap and gown is a time-honored tradition. Cyber Sarge proposes a Solomon-type solution. Honor the tradition and honor the uniform. Everyone wins.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/19/2005 11:42 Comments ||
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#3
He doesn't need the Principal's permission. Once he has the diploma in his sweaty hand, he can do as he likes.
#4
I agree. Even years ago, when on a neighboring Indian reservation, the entire male high school graduating class would enlist *as a group*, they still kept the cap and gown tradition. It was seen as their last act as boys, the culmination of achieving manhood, their reward for having made it. From that point on, they were men in the tribe, technically speaking you *could* call them "warriors", and boyhood things were left behind. Even then, the only real argument was Army vs. Marine Corps.
#5
Cyber sarge's suggestion wins my approval also. If I was the principal and had this advice, I'd shake this boy's hand, hand him his diploma, help him out of the gown again, and shake his hand AGAIN.
The whole place will be shedding drywall from all the noise that would generate. Guaranteed.
#8
Back in the ancient time of 1973, when the anti-Vietnam crowd were at their strongest, I graduated from Ohio State. At the end of the graduation speakers, the President of the University had those of us who had completed the ROTC course and were entering on duty, stand and remove our gowns to show our uniforms. The oath of office was then administered to us before the assembly. We then proceeded in uniform like everyone who were still in cap and gown to receive our diplomas. Times change. They'll change again.
Posted by: Don ||
05/19/2005 17:08 Comments ||
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Agree or disagree. At least the Principal is taking responsibility for making the decision. I'm always frustrated at highly paid administrators who won't make a judgement call, but hide behind a "no exceptions" or "zero tolerance" policy.
Palestinian Authority Information Minister Nabil Shaath called for the suspension of a Muslim preacher who recently delivered a venomously anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist sermon which described Israel as "a cancer spreading through the body of the Islamic nation." The sermon, delivered by cleric Ibrahim Mdaires at a Gaza Strip mosque last Friday — and broadcast live on Palestinian television — questioned the Holocaust and blamed the Jews for the rise of Nazism and the orchestration of World War II.
"We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again. The day will come when we will rule America. The day will come when we will rule Britain and the entire world — except for the Jews. The Jews will not enjoy a life of tranquility under our rule, because they are treacherous by nature, as they have been throughout history. The day will come when everything will be relived of the Jews - even the stones and trees which were harmed by them. Listen to the Prophet Muhammad, who tells you about the evil end that awaits Jews. The stones and trees will want the Muslims to finish off every Jew," Mdaires said.
In one of the PA's strongest moves against incitement, Shaath condemned the sermon and asked the Muslim Waqf and Religious Affairs Ministry on Wednesday, who employ the cleric, "to suspend him, investigate him and prevent him from delivering further sermons on Fridays," Reuters reported. Shaath, who is responsible for Palestine Television, said he would ensure that such sermons were never again broadcast as the comments constituted incitement and violated Islamic teachings. "We condemn an assault on Judaism as a religion. As Muslims we reject such remarks," Shaath said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2005 10:50 ||
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#1
Shaath doesn't believe a word he said, he propbably just got a personal call from Condi.
#3
why is he calling for suspension? Not because the rhetoric is vitriolic and subhuman. Not because it flies in the face of decency and basic morality.
He's calling for the suspension because it could upset the Gaza withdrawal. Pure practicality.
I'll bet that "suspension" will be over as soon as the withdrawal is concluded.
#4
i wont give this one a "moderate muslim watch" cause the suspension is so obviously a result or outside pressure, and desire to keep the gaza withdrawl/peace process on track.
However it DOES show that the PA is responsive to pressure - when pressed they will do the right thing, more or less. Keep the pressure up.
After the recent affair of the Koran being so called flushed. I thought that this was an interesting article
Muslims' desecration of holy book received little notice
Posted: May 18, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
While Muslims have responded with deadly outrage to the now-retracted report by Newsweek of alleged Quran desecration by U.S. interrogators, there was little outcry three years ago when Islamic terrorists holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity reportedly used the Bible as toilet paper.
Catholic priests in the church marking the spot where Jesus was believed to have been born said that during the five-week siege, Palestinians tore up some Bibles for toilet paper and removed many valuable sacramental objects, according to a May 15, 2002, report by the Washington Times.
Newsweek is under fire for a report in its May 9 edition that sparked protests and rioting across the Muslim world resulting in 17 dead, scores injured, relief buildings burned down and a setback to years of coalition-building against terrorists.
Newsweek's Periscope column written by Michael Isikoff and John Barry included a brief item alleging U.S. military investigators at the Guantanamo Bay prison found evidence that interrogators placed copies of the Quran down the toilet in an effort to get prisoners to talk.
Despite Newsweek's retraction, the outrage in the Muslim world continues.
In Saudi Arabia yesterday, the country's top religious authority, Grand Mufti Adul-Aziz al-Sheik, condemned the alleged desecration and called for an investigation "to alleviate the sorrow that befell Muslims."
"We condemn and denounce this criminal act against Muslims' most sacred item," al-Sheik said.
Afghanistan's government said Newsweek should be held responsible for damages caused by the demonstrations, and Pakistan said the magazine's apology and retraction were "not enough."
In contrast, during the 2002 church siege, the muted complaints of Christians under the Muslim-dominated Palestinian Authority gained little traction.
The Palestinian gunmen, members of Yasser Arafat's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, seized church stockpiles of food and "ate like greedy monsters" until the food ran out, while more than 150 civilians went hungry, the Washington Times report said.
The indulgence lasted about two weeks into the 39-day siege, when the food and drink ran out, according to an account by four Greek Orthodox priests trapped inside. A church helper told the Times the quantity of food consumed by the gunmen in the first 15 days should have lasted six months.
Angry Orthodox priests showed reporters empty bottles of whiskey, champagne, vodka, cognac and French wine on the floor along with hundreds of cigarette butts.
#1
Of course noooothing from the MSM about this. It is after all, those eeeeeviiiilll christians and conseritives fault for making the Palestinian's life sooooo icky .... and the joooooooss.
#3
SO, it might be useful for members of Christian churches to plan a "protest" with this as background to demand that outraged Muslims check their hypocrisy. A peaceful protest with enough attendees and even a bit of media coverage would be compelling. It's sickening to see how Muslim hypersensitivity and hypervigilance are pandered to.
Britain has expelled a Pakistani man who assassinated India's Deputy High Commissioner Ravindra Mhatre in 1984. Raja Abdul Qayyum, convicted by a British court for assassinating Mhatre in Birmingham, returned to Pakistan on Wednesday, the Daily Times reported. So does he go to a Pak jail or someone's guesthouse?
To me, it woulda made more sense to ship him off to India. They'd probably be able to figure what to do with him.
Raja Qayyum was among six men convicted of abducting Mhatre to pressure the Indian government into releasing Kashmiri separatist leader Maqbool Butt, who led the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). British law enforcement officials arrested Raja Qayyum and a court awarded him 18 years' rigorous imprisonment. Mhatre was killed after the Indian government refused to give in to the demands of the terrorists. Butt was later hanged in Delhi's Tihar Jail for his role in terrorist activity.
#1
Butt was later hanged in Delhi's Tihar Jail for his role in terrorist activity.
The Brits couldn't possibly send Raja Abdul Qayyum to a country that would hang him, so their only alternative was his home country. This kind of squeemishness is going to get more people killed, in the end.
Jordan's King Abdullah revealed Thursday that Iraq's former Baath regime had refused to deport Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, blamed for ongoing terrorism in Iraq. Speaking in an interview with Saudi daily al-Hayat, Abdullah said Zarqawi, a Jordanian, is well entrenched in Iraq and that "he and terrorists like him thrive in such places where security and stability are non-existent." Abdullah said Jordan was the first target for Zarqawi before he found safe haven in Iraq. "Since Zarqawi entered Iraq before the fall of the former regime we have been trying to have him deported back to Jordan for trial, but our efforts were in vain," Abdullah added.
But, but, the NYT said Saddam didn't have any contact with terrorists and that al-Qaida wasn't in Iraq till we attacked them.
Zarqawi, the purported leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, is accused of terrorist bombings targeting U.S.-led multinational troops and Iraqi forces as well as civilians. Abdullah also pointed out that "real reforms are forthcoming in all countries of the Middle East," stressing, however, that "true change should come from within and not be imposed from outside."
Posted by: Steve ||
05/19/2005 9:08:32 AM ||
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#1
That's why he didn't deport them: because he wasn't there. The NYT wouldn't print anything false.
The Islamic Saudi Academy is seen by some as a dangerous outpost of militant Islam on the outskirts of the nation's capital. And as evidence, they point to the school's 1999 valedictorian, who is charged with joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate President Bush.
But teachers, students and administrators at the school — which serves nearly 1,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade at two campuses just beyond the Capital Beltway — say such suspicions are unfounded. "These kids are not drilled in any kind of fanatical Islam," said Matt McClusky, who has taught American literature at the school for three years and is leaving to enroll in the New York Police Department training academy. "The kids are led to be open-minded."
On a recent day at the school, most of the female students wore a traditional Muslim head scarf, but many did not. In one student essay on display, a youngster listed his favorite book as the Quran; another essay was about a student's favorite TV program — the gross-out reality show "Fear Factor." A student's artwork showed the emblems of the three Abrahamic faiths — the Muslim crescent, the cross and the star of David.
The school was founded in 1984, primarily to serve children of the Saudi diplomatic corps. Today the student body is more diverse, with nearly three dozen countries represented, but much of the funding still comes from the Saudi government. In recent years, the academy has been at the center of debate over the religious curriculum in Saudi schools and whether it fosters radicalism.
Those questions resurfaced when former valedictorian Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was charged in February. Abu Ali pleaded not guilty and argues that Saudi authorities extracted a false confession from him through torture. Two other people connected to the academy have turned up in terrorism-related cases: A federal indictment in Chicago last year named a former treasurer of the school, Ismael Selim Elbarasse, as a high-ranking official of the militant group Hamas, though Elbarasse was not charged with a crime. Mohamed Osman Idris, an ISA graduate, pleaded guilty in 2002 to lying on a passport application after an investigation into whether he was supporting Hamas.
Frustrated by outsiders' perceptions of the school, academy officials say that two-thirds of the school's teachers are Americans and non-Muslims and would not work there if it promoted anti-Western propaganda. Also, with students from across the Muslim world, with a variety of religious and cultural traditions, it would be impossible to promote Wahhabism — a fundamentalist Saudi form of Islam that has influenced extremists — or any other specific strain, they say. The school's director general, Abdalla I. Al-Shabnan, said that some of the religious curriculum that comes from Saudi Arabia is actually toned down at the academy. "If there is anything in our curriculum that we feel is offensive, we ask the teachers not to teach that kind of subject here," Al-Shabnan said.
School officials cited a textbook for first-graders that contains a notation in the teachers' edition instructing teachers to ensure "explaining that all religions, other than Islam, are false, including that of the Jews, Christians and all others." Could this be an example of what WE feel is offensive? Or does WE only include muslims?
School officials said teachers were told to disregard that characterization. At least while infidel reporters are present.
"To say the other religions are false is totally absurd," particularly in instructions to first-graders, said the school's education director, David Kovalik.
But Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Saudi Institute, a think tank that is critical of the Saudi regime, said it is difficult to believe that any amount of revision can salvage the Saudis' religious curriculum. "It's very clear what they teach," he said. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has asked the Justice Department to investigate the school, saying in a letter, "The continued association of the ISA with individuals linked to terror within the United States must be addressed." The Justice Department told Schumer it could not comment on whether the school was under investigation.
Abdullah Hijazi, a senior from Mitchellville, Md., said he and other students have not been exposed to extremism in the classroom. At the same time, he said, most of the students have access to the Arab media, and "most of the student body generally sides with the Palestinian cause." But as for the Sept. 11 attacks, Al-Shabnan said: "Our religion was hijacked by a group of people who do not represent Islam." They never do.
Posted by: ed ||
05/19/2005 08:59 ||
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#3
Nah, just a verbal statement that Islam was hijacked on 9/11 isnt enough. There are enough examples in the muslim world of much braver actions than that.
#4
Interestingly, a girlfriend of mine was assisting in the classroom at the local Jewish private school (that would be "public", of course, to you British speakers) a few days ago, when into her classroom strode eleven Saudi men in black suits and long beards. They spoke not a word to my friend or to the teacher, nor even to the principal (female) who was showing them around, but silently snapped photos for the better part of an hour (it was a Kindergarten art class).
They then demanded to be taken to the place of worship and shown the prayer books. "What do your prayers say about Mohammed?" quoth one. "Why nothing," answered the principal politely, "Mohammed was born long after the prayers were written." Suddenly one of the Saudis realized with horror, "You're all ZIONISTS!" he exclaimed accusingly, "You've been lying! What other lies have you told us today?!?"
Honest to Gawd truth. Our State Department, for reasons known only to itself, requested that they be shown over the school... immediately. I wonder if there is a connection?
#5
A friend of mine was very friendly with a girl of Jewish origin, but she called it all off because 'he wasn't Jewish'. So Jews and Muslims have something in common then. Rejoice.
Posted by: Get Real ||
05/19/2005 19:42 Comments ||
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#6
Get Real, my dear, you really must learn the difference between marrying within one's religion, and teaching children that their God, the only True God, requires them to kill all the Jews as soon as possible, and enslave everyone else.
Some girls refuse to marry men with hairy backs. Others prefer Italians. Some men prefer like dumb, voluptuous, bleached blonds. Tell your friend he's lucky he found out early on -- another Jewish girlfriend of mine discovered her fiance's antisemitic streak only after she'd put him through graduate school, money which he refused to pay back because, after all, she was only a Jew. But even that is not the same as training an entire generation to commit genocide if they can find a way to do so.
Posted by: Get Real ||
05/19/2005 21:49 Comments ||
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#8
trollery at its' least valuable
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/19/2005 22:11 Comments ||
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#9
No. Only some of us are counted as the Children of Abraham, those who are descended from his wife Sarah or his concubine Hagar, the Egyptian slavegirl. But we all are the Children of Adam and Eve (or Homo sapien sapien, if you prefer the scientific designation). And some of us have hairy backs, or round little tummies, or blond hair. And others of us don't want to marry that.
But not marrying is very different from, "Allah demands that we kill them all," and I am beginning to suspect that the rejected party is your very own self, GR, given how insistent you are on equating the two. Frank has you pegged.
#10
Trailing Wife
Some girls refuse to marry men with hairy backs.
aaaahhh.. the wife calls me "silverback"... says I fit the profile.....
Not sure if I should take offense or not at both views...
Of course at 6'4" and 228lbs nobody gives me too much trouble.... iffen they know whats good for em.
#13
The Arab children cluster around the men with RPGs to protect them; the Palestinians target Israeli schoolbuses, 20% of whose riders are Arab Israelis. Not equivalent. But go ahead and despair all you please, since you haven't the brains to distinguish between accident and intent.
#14
Get Real, Maybe is because we are tried of all the retreaded NAZI/TRANZI/RACIST bullshit from the Religion of "Death to the Infidel".
The monster in the room that we are all tiptoeing about and not directly addressing is that Islam may not be compatible with existing on the same planet with the rest of us. Using the "walks like a duck quacks like a duck" logic model it doesn't look to promising.... so what do we do? Nobody really wants to go there.... but we know we might have to soon. The idiots (yes they are) need to think about how they can co-exist on the same planet with us not how we can be their slaves.
Not on this site, you haven't. Targeting data against Islamists who won't drop their weapons and praise God they are alive, but not hatred. Not in Ranburg.
Hate will NOT bring about justice, only more hate.
Huh?
Anyone thinks otherwise is a fool.
Huh?
The Jews shoot unarmed Arab children; the Arabs blow unarmed Jewish children up.
Well, you got one element right.
I donât rejoice at religious hatred and bigotry, I despair.
Who the f*ck needs you then?
You should all be ashamed of yourselves.
I recognize shame. I have shame the of same bastards who encouraged spitting on our military 30 years ago are basically doing the same now against some of the finest and bravest folks in the history of the world.
I am ashamed our media, who are supposed to have a responsibility to our nation at war, support the murdering/pedophiliac Muslims in their war against civilization.
Ashamed that d*ckless f*cks like you who log on here prefer to twist words and concepts to their own agenda rather debate openly and honestly, who prefer to jerk off about some nebulous concept of justice that makes Osama bin Laden wish he were Michael Jackson every night he sleeps with a goat.
#16
Do you really believe that ALL Arabs hate ALL Jews? Come on⦠Even I know Jews and Arabs who want to earn a buck or two and just enjoy life. Where do you live?
There are ethnic tensions all over the world with killings everyday, you just have to look. And most of the dead are NOT Jewish. Most massacres seem to happen in Africa with guns bought from the US, China, Russia, France, UK etc.
But because its Africa does anyone care? A dead innocent is a dead innocent.
Hatred can twist minds, beware.
Posted by: Get Real ||
05/19/2005 23:22 Comments ||
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#17
BTW...
I went to the Darth Misha School of Speech and Debate.
#18
Well since 1979 (actually earlier) the word from the muslim pulpit has been "DEATH TO AMERICA" "DEATH TO ISRAEL", "DEATH TO THE INFIDEL".
After 9-11 we really have to take these fucktard seriously.
A Muslim woman who said she ordered a Quran through Amazon.com only to find profanity and religious slurs written inside asked Wednesday for an apology and a full investigation by the online retailer.
Hop aboard the Desecrated Koran bandwagon...
Azza Basarudin, 30, said she received the Quran by mail on May 5 after ordering it through a used books division of Amazon.com that allows customers to order directly from third-party sellers approved by the company.
Why didn't she buy a new Koran? Not devout enough to spend the extra few dollars?
When she opened the Quaran, Basarudin said she found profanity and the phrase "Death to all Muslims" written in thick black marker on the otherwise-blank first page.
Who in the United States over the age of 14 writes or utters "Death to [fill in the blank]"? It's simply not an Americanism...
"I dropped the book because I didn't know what to do," she said at a news conference at the Islamic Center of Southern California.
"I was afraid it'd explode or catch fire or I'd turn into a pillar of salt!"
Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said his organization wants a public apology and investigation from Amazon.com, as well as the firing of those responsible for mailing the desecrated book.
That's the usual punishment for violations of Political Correctitude, even trumped up violations...
Patty Smith, a spokeswoman for the Seattle-based book retailer, said the Quran was purchased directly from Bellwether Books, a small book resale company in McKeesport, Pa., through the "Marketplace" section of Amazon's Web site. "This was not our inventory, it was nowhere in our order or fulfillment process," she said. "It was a used book purchased through a third party."
"Wudn't us!"
Richard Roberts, owner of Bellwether, said he doubts the book was defaced by his employees.
"They've got better things to do that waste time with that crap. If they don't, I'm paying them too much!"
The company buys used books at bargain prices from individuals, other book stores and libraries and then resells them through Amazon.com and other outlets. He said before this incident, his six employees gave each book a cursory check before shipping and didn't look inside the pages. Roberts said Bellwether has since instituted a more stringent quality control check.
Thereby increasing its costs by a significant percentage...
Bellwether is also suspended indefinitely from selling Qurans through Amazon.com, Smith said.
They've sent someone to kill his children, too...
Bellwether apologized to Basarudin by e-mail and offered to replace the book. Amazon.com also apologized, reimbursed her for the Quran's cost and mailed Basarudin a gift certificate, Smith said.
Basarudin then went out to eat to celebrate and found a finger in her soup...
Posted by: ed ||
05/19/2005 08:48 ||
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#1
No, honey, that's what the USPS does to ALL books.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/19/2005 9:06 Comments ||
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#2
(Actually, am I the only one who gets a whiff of "chili finger" from this story? It'll no doubt show up in the next CAIR report about hate crimes, too.)
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/19/2005 9:07 Comments ||
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#3
Compare writing samples. For a sense of the magnitude of the cry-wolf charges leveled in this country, read: CAIR's Hate Crimes Nonsense
Posted by: ed ||
05/19/2005 9:23 Comments ||
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#4
RC -- You beat me to it. I was thinking the same thing. There's probably a copy of Anna "Chili Finger" Ayala's book How to Scam Big Corporations for Fun and Profit in that same order.
Posted by: Dar ||
05/19/2005 9:32 Comments ||
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#5
I seriously wonder about this one. Scratching the surface to see what's there will probably reveal a whole different truth.
#7
Didn't catch that Azza bought a used Koran. She would have had a heart attack if she saw what is written in the margins of many of the used college textbooks.
Posted by: ed ||
05/19/2005 9:42 Comments ||
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#8
Google our aggreived party. She has an interesting background. This story just screams bullshit.
#10
A little search on google reveals she's studying the reconciliation of arab and western feminism as well as other aspects of women under islam. Got on the bad americans in iraq kick with an interview of two iraqi women at UCLA. She's from Penang in Malaysia. Why would she be buying a used Koran online at Amazon given her prior academic work (including a trip to Cairo) and religious preferences? It sounds odd.
#11
When she opened the Quaran, Basarudin said she found profanity and the phrase "Death to all Muslims" written in thick black marker on the otherwise-blank first page.
Must be a typo. All the other korans say "Death to all Jooos".
#12
She also fancies herself a Human Rights Activist which in my experience often means an individual not averse to lying for the special cause of the day.
1) Chili. Finger. Wendy's.
2) Just send the damn thing back to Amazon and get a new one.
3) You're "offended"? I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ANYMORE.
4) Christians have to put up with their religion being trashed all the time. What the fuck makes you so damn special?
5) Get out. Get out while you still can.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/19/2005 10:14 Comments ||
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#15
Good digging everyone!
I think you've nailed down a first-class moonbat-faked hate crime!
(Rule of thumb: Anyone who is a foo-studies anything and reports a hate crime is almost certainly lying.)
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/19/2005 10:23 Comments ||
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#16
Salam Al-Marayati is an opportunistic player whose involvement in this raises further suspicion.
#18
I think BH is onto something there. Maybe that particular Koran was recalled. And yes I am smelling chili fingers on this too. I hope they haul this harlet in and stone her (according the the Koran of course).
#21
Just guessing but what are the odds the marker is a match to those one could requisition from dept. stationary? Still in your top rigt hand desk drawer, honey?
Finger, been there, trashed car, done, desicration, bound to get the attention of a newsweak syncophant. And all those disclaimers at the Amazon site, just lawyers, honey. Pay no attention.
Posted by: john ||
05/19/2005 13:02 Comments ||
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#22
used books division of Amazon.com that allows customers to order directly from third-party sellers approved by the company
Um, I know my expertise in this realm is limited but in the past week I've learned that the most sacred and holy book is not to be touched by infidels. So what the f*** was this dingbat thinking when she ordered a used copy from an infidel?
#23
Mayhaps she was thinking that going to a ma and pa store to buy a used Koran would make it tough for her to cry about receiving a desecrated Koran she didn't page through before the purchase. In the first instance, nobody would really pick up the story under those circumstances and there would be no PR and no attention to receive. The best she could hope for would be a personal apology and a refund. You can hardly demand donations to tolerance groups from a ma and pa store. Now, ordering it online from a big kaffir infidel seller who mails it to you means you were a poor innocent, completely blameless and therefore the parade of horribles about feeling like you did on 9/11 can get some traction. Having a big name seller involved means that they'll be apt to cave in to demands for apologies, donations, and severing of commercial ties because they have alot to lose through negative PR especially coming on the heals of the Newsweak thing. Your activist bona fide credentials get a boost in a big way all over the press and you get additional publicity to help in climbing the academic activist ladder. Just gotta remember where you put the marker and don't let anybody have any writing samples for a few months just to be careful.
#24
Azza babe, you may be able to fool the a discerning AP reporter or even the skeptical editors at Newsweak, but the denizens of Rantburg see right through your finger-in-the-chili-bowl scam.
BTW, does anyone know if there's anything to the rumor that Wendy's is renaming their 'Chili Dog'to 'Wendy's Famous Chili Finger on a Bun'?
#28
Change Dismembered to Fallen, Felled (or some other F-word) and you got a deal.
Posted by: ed ||
05/19/2005 15:56 Comments ||
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#29
Did she order a Koran, a Quran, or a Qu'ran? What the hell is wrong with the centuries old English accepted spelling with a K? Idiots. I agree this whole thing smells fishy to me as well.
It also sounds stinky that such a Holy Book would even be sold. The word of God should have no price. People shouldnt' make dirty profits on the word of Allah. You should get the Koran for free form the local Mosque. Cheapskate religion.
This is some funny stuff, as in laugh out loud funny.
The author has the right pedigree, wrote for RFK Jr. a Yalie, etc. D00d even brings his own 'special' Kool Aid to Huffington's blog.
Interesting post by Norman Mailer. I know what he means: he way this Newsweek fiasco has played out is a little too neat, and the White House has jumped on it almost as if they knew it was coming.
The question I'd ask, though, is not whom, but why? Would Karl Rove or someone at the Pentagon really plant such a volatile item just to discredit the MSM? The MSM seems to have done a pretty good job of that all by itself of late.
Granted, the leaker couldn't have known just how violent the reaction would be, but still, it seems like playing with fire for a relatively trivial benefit.
Unless, maybe, it was someone inside the Administration who wanted to discredit the "war on terror," or the Pentagon, or the White House, and was willing to use Newsweek to do it. Someone trying to oust Don Rumsfeld, for example. Now, that would be interesting.....
#2
Oh,please! The old "They were tricked; it was disinformation!! It was a nefarious plot by the far right" ploy just doesn't sell. Those cards have been dealth too many times.
#5
I'm sure AC can say it more eloquently, but this appears to be another data point on the path to merge the agendas of BDS, MSM incompetence, Islamic Seeth-o-Matics, "It's the Jooos!", and the remainder of the LLL memes. A recap and timeline make hash of this idiocy, but hey, who can stop the MSM and their fellow toolfools when they're on a roll?
Careful, if all that BS merges and crushes down to singularity, it will be so dense that not even logic can escape. A black hole of stupidity so to speak that could theaten the entire world.
#7
I vist Arianna Huff'n'puff's blog every now and then just for laughs. The scary part is I have come to the conclusion these people REALLY believe the bullshit they write. Today was Defend Newsweek and Global Warming Day. Even the writers at Reason are fisking this blog.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/19/2005 12:48 Comments ||
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#8
MM821 - You're onto something there, methinks. That neutron stars are incredibly dense tracks well with the parties in question. That GRB's appear to be generated at the birth of black holes jibes well with the frenzy of asshattery and moonbattery currently taking place. Yeah, there's something there... I have to figure out how it tracks with this, pre-Moonbat, truism, heh:
"Everything is cracked. It's how the light gets in."
Perhaps it needs adjustment or an extension to accommodate LLL Black Holes, lol.
Angie? Buy into this, this and this? Can you address the celestial (or terrestrial, lol) ramifications of LLL Black Holes? Lol!
#9
Okay, did the White House know that Newsweek would fail to second source? Did they know that the rest of the media would circle the wagons and disgrace themselves along with Newsweek?
If the White House set this up it shows the Main Stream media is too stupid to trust on anything.
Nice headline. We might also add that the Muslim world is largely feudal, plagued by ummm... plagues, wallowing in illiteracy, ignorance and xenophobia, and in the majority of countries making it up possessed of rulers ranging from the venal to the lunatic. Oderint dum metuant.
Anti-American feelings are widespread in the Muslim world and extend to U.S. consumer brands, according to a report released Wednesday. It suggested the U.S. burnish its image with a change in tone and by publicizing aid programs.
What the hell have we been doing? Keeping them secret?
How culturally insensitive. The culturally sensitive thing to do is to invite the muslim heathens to the true religion (pick one). If they refuse, then make jihad.
The United States should emphasize its development aid jizyawelfare checks to Muslim countries rather than try to persuade Muslims to support U.S. policies in Iraq or in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the Council on Foreign Relations report. The report, by Charney Research, is based on 14 focus groups conducted last December and January among college-educated men and women in Egypt, Morocco and Indonesia. Anger at U.S. foreign policy and at the U.S. government dominated spontaneous reactions in all three countries. Many young Muslims said they admired Osama bin Laden, The voice of moderate muslims speaks, when will the west listen?
"Us college-educated Moose limbs really like him, 'cuz he's groovy an' he's got a turban."
while views of President Bush were uniformly negative. All focus group members rejected U.S. views of the war in Iraq, saying the United States invaded on a false premise to further its own regional goals.
It's just that our regional goals involve dragging the benighted inhabitants thereof out of poverty and ignorance and into something approaching a civilized life. It probably won't work, because swine love their mud...
Anti-Semitic stereotypes also were noted. Focus group members saw the United States and Israel as synonymous and estimated the proportion of Jews in the U.S. population at up to 85 percent; it is 2 percent. Even the German under Nazism weren't this delusonal.
The report found negative opinions of the United States are taking a toll on U.S. companies, and that amounts of U.S. aid were massively underestimated; not one person in any focus group knew the U.S. is the world's largest donor by dollar amount. Cut them off. Let them starve. It's allah's will.
"Most Egyptians and Indonesians put U.S. support for their countries over 10 years in millions; the correct figures were $7.3 billion and $1 billion, respectively," the authors said. It's a hell of a lot more than that. US aid to Egypt has been consistent at $2billion a year since Sadat.
When asked what they wanted from the United States, focus group members said respect and aid to develop as their countries choose. How about scorn and North Korean edible rock imports?
The Council on Foreign Relations, founded in 1921, is a nonpartisan center for scholars dedicated to helping members and policy-makers better understand the world and governmental policy choices, according to its Web site. The council has headquarters in New York and an office in Washington, D.C. wonder if they had a front seat to the WTC collapse?
Charney Research is a private consulting firm in New York that offers opinion polling and market research. Never turn your back:
Koran 47:035 Be not fainthearted then; and invite not the infidels to peace when ye have the upper hand: for God is with you, and will not defraud you of the recompense of your works
Posted by: ed ||
05/19/2005 08:08 ||
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Muslim World largely anti-American or anti-non-muslim?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/19/2005 10:53 Comments ||
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#3
ROFL! An example of Perfect Geometry. The poster and the Sheriff intersect - and achieve Unity in thought and deed, lol! Perfect story, perfect graphic, perfect in-line commentary.
Muslim World Largely Anti-American
- Of course they are. It's what they do.
.
.
. Fuck Yeah!
#4
Here's a thought: why don't we demonstrate our good will toward the muslim world by finding an oppressed (by Christians) muslim insurgency that we can support, with massive displays of air power, so as to save many thousands of innocent muslims from slaughter by the infidels?
Oh, wait, sorry-- forgot we already did that. Our recompense: two years later we get attacked by muslim jihadists and millions of muslims applaud. File under "intentions; road to hell"
#6
Great, brilliant. Another sweeping, vague, collectivist, unsubstantiated, fresh, steaming, heap from the Big BM,
Posted by: Annie War ||
05/19/2005 13:21 Comments ||
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#7
aid to develop as their countries choose...
Develop a better madrassa system, develop nukes and chem/bio weapons, further develop a sense of raging paranoia, all the while leaving the peasantry ignorant and seething...
Newsweek merely gave the crazies their excuse du jour. But they didn't need a report of Koran desecration to fly jumbo jets into skyscrapers, to blow up embassies, or to behead hostages taken for the great sin of being Americans or Jews. They didn't need a report of Koran desecration to take to the streets and blame the United States while enthusiastically taking innocent lives. This is what they do.
The outpouring of righteous indignation against Newsweek glides past a far more important point. Yes, we're all sick of media bias. But "Newsweek lied and people died" is about as worthy a slogan as the scurrilous "Bush lied and people died" that it parrots. And when we engage in this kind of mindless demagoguery, we become just another opportunistic plaintiff â no better than the people all too ready to blame the CIA because Mohammed Atta steered a hijacked civilian airliner into a big building, and to sue the Port Authority because the building had the audacity to collapse from the blow.
What are we saying here? That the problem lies in the falsity of Newsweek's reporting? What if the report had been true? And, if you're being honest with yourself, you cannot say â based on common sense and even ignoring what we know happened at Abu Ghraib â that you didn't think it was conceivably possible the report could have been true. Flushing the Koran down a toilet (assuming for argument's sake that our environmentally correct, 3.6-liters-per-flush toilets are capable of such a feat) is a bad thing. But rioting? Seventeen people killed? That's a rational response?
Sorry, but I couldn't care less about Newsweek. I'm more worried about the response and our willful avoidance of its examination. Afghanistan has been an American reconstruction project for nearly four years. Pakistan has been a close American "war on terror" ally for just as long. This is what we're getting from the billions spent, the lives lost, and the grand project of exporting nonjudgmental, sharia-friendly democracy? A killing spree? Over this?...
#4
The sooner Islam experiences its liberal reformation (some f*cking chance) the better for the world. Remember the Bamiyan Buddhas. Bastards.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
05/19/2005 6:36 Comments ||
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#5
Here's an actual newsflash â and one, yet again, that should be news to no one: The reason for the carnage here was, and is, militant Islam. Nothing more.
Here's another news flash. I don't give a f*ck about Muslims. What I care about is winning this war and Newsweak isn't helping; they are in fact trying to lose this war for us.
It seems Andy has jumped to the abysmally false and riotously hilarious conclusion that my outrage against Newweak was because of the riots in Afghanistan. What do I care if Moose Limbs want to give the world a demonstration of why they should be eliminated from the face of the earth?
#6
Remember when Coulter was a non touchable for one over-the-top post 9/11 comment. Well 4 years later she is picked up by Yahoo, she is on the cover of Time and best of all, her writing is as sharp as ever.
#7
What if the report had been true?
Yeah, what if?
It still doesn't rank with cutting heads off, blowing up children, flying planes into buildings and other sundry barbarity Islam visits on the civilized world daily.
A religon that gives legions of pyscho's and sociopaths justification for slaughter.
One of these days I hope we get serious about winning this thing and smack the living shit out of the entire Egyptian/Saudi/Syrian/Iranian cesspit.
#8
I had to laugh when I saw Ann mention Mapplethorpe's "Piss Christ" exhibit. I was thinking of that same thing last week when this whole "flush the Quran" story came out. Yes, there was an outrage, but it certainly didn't result in riots and one score dead in the streets.
I think Newsweek is pathetic and obviously biased in their reporting, but regardless there are too many Islamofascists ready to kill any innocent in their way in Allah's name, and they're the real enemy.
Posted by: Dar ||
05/19/2005 8:45 Comments ||
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#9
The AP story quoted an Afghan as saying "the Arab told us" upon his return from Gitmo. Real credible source, right out of the jihadi handbook.
#10
Serranos "piss Christ" is one of the more plain spoken, confessional items from the Left; It says everything about what the Left thinks of Christianity: Who they are, what they stand for, and what they plan to do. (something you won't otherwise get out of them)
1) the left wants to place everything Christian, our books, our creed, our doctrine, our Houses of worship, in the toilet along with human waste, and flush it away, and obliterate it forevermore.(Think...uh...oh yeah..Recycling!). And it is the hand of Liberalhocks "moderate, centrist, go-military!" Hilery! placing the desecrated symbol of Christs sacrifice and our redemption, into the excrement, or FTM, on the fire with the other books.
2) Remember, the cross is not just a symbol. It is the physical embodiment of THE STATE. A State that murders its perceived opposition. And a religious process based on free will and individual pursuit is incompatable with the the Left, and the cult of personality of apostates such as Hilllery, Billlerie, alGore, et al.
Posted by: an dalusian dog ||
05/19/2005 11:01 Comments ||
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#11
This is classic Coulter. She clearly illustrates the hypocrisy of the MSM while pointing out where the real atrocities and affront to religion are taking place. It raises the same question that was asked during the Clinton years...where is the outrage?
#12
Actually, Steve White, this piece by Ann C isn't "red-meat" at all. It's completely logical, matter-of-fact, calm and with very few snarky touches. In good lawyerly fashion she sets out two diametrically opposed cases of MSM behavior and simply asks, Why the huge discrepancy?
Isn't it f***ing obvious by now that no amount of PR, no amount of bowing and scraping, be it in Bush's "religion of Peace" idiotic mantra or in MSM dhimmitude, will persuade these idiots of our good intentions? There are only two ways to fundamentally alter most muslims' opinions of the US: either
a) withdraw from Iraq immediately and abandon all support for Israel while simultaneously championing Hamas and Hezbullah's cause; or
b) trounce Zarqawi and any other islamist nutter in the only arena that really counts, the battlefield.
This is not a war of ideas. It's a war against primitves, period. The PC/PR effort is a huge waste of time and energy.
#13
The title is more provocative than the contents. Lex is quite right: The facts, logic, and common sense are so overwhelmingly on her side that she, rightly, decides to just lay out the facts and trust the american reader to do the right thing.
#14
The PR effort is shaping up as a typically self-absorbed Beltway exercise, directed mainly for our own consumption and benefit rather than for any muslim's. They couldn't care less-- otherwise, Abu G would have had far more impact than the Piss Koran fable.
#16
Al-Jazeera also broadcast a TV miniseries last year based on the "Protocols of the Elders Of Zion." (I didn't see it, but I hear James Brolin was great!)
BEIJING - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas warned in comments published on Thursday that relations between the Palestinians and Israelis remain so sensitive that the smallest provocation could trigger large violent clashes.
[Fred] When was it last not the case with the Paleostinians? [/Fred]
"Currently, the situation is rather sensitive. Temporary quietness is very fragile, and a very tiny spark of fire could trigger large violent clashes," he said in an interview with Xinhua news agency. "There are indeed many problems existing between Palestine and Israel, nevertheless, they are not unsolvable," he said.
Which is why you're making such gallant progress and all ...
Abbas admitted differences between the various Palestinian factions was a problem, but said he was confident of the future. "We have agreements among different fractions, hostile conflicts are unlikely to break out. I'm fully capable of controlling the situation," he said.
Says the little big man.
"I look forward to strengthening internal unity and making progress in political restructuring," he added.
In the interview, he said war could not be accepted and vowed to dedicate his life to leading his people towards a peaceful existence. "I have a dream: I hope my children can live in an independent state of Palestine free of worries in the future," he said. "I need peace, not violence. The Palestinian people need someone to lead them towards such a life. I believe I can make it."
"But if I can't, I'll take some of Suha's Kruegerrands and make a nice life for myself in Madrid."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/19/2005 00:15 ||
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Hey, asshole: Long as there will be sparks, how's about we take your murdering ass out and let the sparks really fly.
#6
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas warned in comments published on Thursday that relations between the Palestinians and Israelis remain so sensitive that the smallest provocation could trigger large violent clashes.
This is the result of being unable to control your own population.
..Iâm fully capable of controlling the situation,â he said.
So why the bleating about tension?
âI need peace, not violence..."
For the thousandth time then, live up to your end of a deal.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2005 00:03 ||
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#1
Trigger trip...
I have to say that much of the "news" today blurs into a single pasty smear. The stories, suchs as this one, follow a form so regular that my initial reaction, regardless of venue or topic, is approaching unity.
"Well of course they did. That's what they do."
And, more often that it should, I presume, that's where it ends. Perhaps being bereft of curiosity is the landmark, the very important milestone or marker on the road to whatever. It's something of a concern to me, for I fully bought off on the Bobby Zimmerman line: "He not busy being born is busy dying."
I guess when the urge to rant stops occurring, then it will truly be Q.E.D., lol!
Sheesh.
And "Sheesh" works pretty well, too, as a summation. As it's a single word, it approaches unity of elegance. I haven't visited him in ages, now, but I guess the I-Pundit's "Heh" is a strong contender for ultimate response. I still have hope, however, since the Team America gag line / tag line was revealed to mine ears...
Posted by: john ||
05/19/2005 12:26 Comments ||
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#3
Wow, john, how fine is thy rapier. Sooo sorry I failed you - I thought it was Rantburg, not the "john" blog - how foolish of me. Have a nice lie down, it will pass.
Judges in Egypt's Council of State, which deals with administrative and public matters, have said they will oversee a referendum on a new law allowing for competitive presidential elections. The decision came after the government agreed to the financial demands of the judges, who have joined a growing opposition campaign in Egypt pressing for political reforms. The judges' syndicate said it had now authorized its members to supervise the May 25 referendum on a constitutional amendment allowing multiple candidates to stand in presidential elections for the first time.
Under the terms of a deal that followed a meeting with Justice Minister Mahmoud Abu al-Leil, the government decided to increase the number of judges serving on the Council of State - which will supervise the referendum - from 330 to 1,100. The syndicate statement said Abu al-Leil had also agreed to grant judges a budget to be separate from the justice ministry, with a yearly allocation of one million pounds ($150,000). Land will also be designated to build rest houses to be used by judges when they go on mission outside the capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2005 00:00 ||
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Israeli military intelligence has determined that three Arab countries serve as the chief suppliers of weapons to the Palestinian insurgency in the Gaza Strip. Military intelligence sources said Egypt, Libya and Yemen have become the leading suppliers of weapons to insurgency groups in the Gaza Strip. The sources said the three Arab League states also supply Palestinian Authority officers with extra weapons and explosives. "The weapons are smuggled by private gangs but with full knowledge of the authorities of these countries," a military source said. "There's no secret here."
The sources said arms dealers purchase AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, rocket and missile components, ammunition and explosives in Egypt, Libya and Yemen. From these countries, the supplies are shipped to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and then smuggled over the border into the Gaza Strip or Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2005 00:00 ||
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Maybe the Bangladeshis might want to muscle into the market by introducing their fine line of pipe and shutter guns...
Egypt has been the only Arab state that has maintained plans to attack Israel, a senior Israeli parliamentarian says. Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said Egypt has been developing its military in an effort to ensure capability to attack Israel. Steinitz said Egypt's operational plans and exercises have focused on striking Israel. "Egypt is the only country in the region that is preparing for the possibility of a military confrontation with Israel," Steinitz said. Steinitz, whose committee obtains weekly briefings by Israel's military intelligence, said Egypt has developed or procured missiles that could strike Israeli military and civilian targets. He said the Egyptian targets include Israeli air force bases.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm hard pressed to figure out why Egypt's plans don't somehow invalidate some, most or all of the $2 billion we send them every year.
#2
I'm not saying I really trust these people, but how much is bluff and bluster to keep their own people happy? Heck, we probably have plans to attack Israel, and Canada, and Mexico, and Britain, and... Doesn't mean we're even thinking about doing so.
As for Raj's question, I suspect the $2,000,000,000 is mostly so that the State Dept. Egypt section gets a good retirement package. Sec'y Rice has a lot on her plate, but I hope one item is to hose out the stables.
#4
I'd suggest that it means, sans the messy moral questions, that they're just more focused.
One goal. One item on the agenda. Unity of purpose. Focus.
Of course, not being into the whole scientific method, cause=> effect thingy, were they to succed in this one single goal, well, they'd be as lost lambs ever after. So sad.
An entire collection of ideologies, approx 1/4 of humanity, boiled down to one point of reference, one sparkling idea, one tiny tiny (really extra super small), um, datum.
Perhaps it's actually quite nice to have a brain as smooth as a cue ball.
The alleged Al-Qaeda No. 3 Abu Al-Faraj Al-Libbi has confessed to masterminding two assassination attempts against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to derail his peace moves with India, a report said. Libbi, who was arrested two weeks ago in Mardan, told his interrogators that he worked with a group of Pakistani militants belonging to different jehadi groups to carry out suicide bombings against Musharraf in Rawalpindi in December 2003, The News said, quoting sources privy to the investigations.
The first bomb went off after Musharraf's cavalcade passed over a bridge. The president narrowly escaped the second attempt on Christmas Day, in which 17 people, including the two bombers, were killed. One bomber was identified as Muhammad Jameel of the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group that is active in India's Jammu and Kashmir and the other was said to be an Afghan. "Preliminary investigation suggests that Libbi's motive was specifically to target Musharraf, whose initiatives were aimed at uprooting extremism from Pakistan and bringing peace with India," The News said. "Though it is difficult to glean information from a trained militant like Libbi, he is cooperating with the interrogators," it quoted an official as saying.
The fabled Number 7 truncheon, with the leather grips. Accept no subsitutes!
"He has accepted the responsibility for planning the attacks on Musharraf and has even given some important leads as well about his contacts with various jehadis," the official said. "We have got some invaluable information during the interrogation that could lead us to bust the network or nexus of splinter groups of local jehadi groups which are believed to have links with Al-Qaeda," the official added.
Following Libbi's capture, 24 local militants have been rounded up from different parts of the country, including from Islamabad and Peshawar, and more arrests are expected. However, it is yet to be ascertained whether the attempts on Musharraf's life were Libbi's brainchild or came on orders from Osama Bin Laden or his deputy, Ayman-Al Zawahiri.
Libbi, a 40-year-old Libyan, exploited the anger of local jehadis who were upset with Musharraf's ban on Kashmiri groups. He had also met Amjad Farooqi, who headed the militant outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and was killed last year after a gun battle with security forces. Farooqi introduced Libbi to several local militants who agreed to be part of assassination plots against Musharraf, the newspaper said. Libbi and his group of militants also carried out sectarian attacks, especially in Quetta, in which dozens of people were killed in a series of bombings in July 2003. The group spread rumors that India and Iran were behind the attacks. This was meant to create unrest in Pakistan and to harm Musharraf's peace initiatives, The News said.
This article starring:
ABU AL FARAJ AL LIBI
al-Qaeda
AIMAN AL ZAWAHIRI
al-Qaeda
AMJAD FARUQI
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
MUHAMAD JAMIL
Jaish-e-Mohammad
Jaish-e-Mohammad
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2005 00:00 ||
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A former Taleban minister has registered to run in Afghanistan's Sept. 18 parliamentary election, an election commission official said yesterday. Former Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil was detained by US forces after the ouster of the Taleban government in 2001 and released two years later. He has been living in Afghanistan since then. Muttawakil registered to be a candidate in the parliamentary election in the southern city of Kandahar on Tuesday. Asked by reporters if he expected Taleban supporters to vote for him, Muttawakil said people were free to vote for who they wanted. Muttawakil, who was always seen by political analysts as a Taleban moderate, is one of several former group officials who have been involved in reconciliation talks with the US-backed government this year. Nearly 2,000 people have registered to run in the election for the 249-seat lower house of Parliament, known as the Wolesi Jirga. Candidate registration in most of the country ends next week, the election commission official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Good luck to him -- he'll learn a great deal even if he doesn't win.
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.
A series of special operations that have been conducted in Chechnya have shown that guerillas acting in the republic have not only financial and ideological but also blood relations with international terrorist organizations, spokesman for the federal forces in the North Caucasus 
The detonators used in the Madrid train bombings last year were not made in Bosnia, Spanish foreign minister 
A German tribunal said on Wednesday it had stripped three naturalised men of their German nationality because they had failed to disclose that they were members of Turkish Islamist group 
Well known tax-exempt organizations, including 
In the latest reconciliation between Lebanese war foes, Free Patriotic Movement leader, 
Palestinian Authority Information Minister 
Britain has expelled a Pakistani man who assassinated India's Deputy High Commissioner 
Jordan's 
A Muslim woman who said she ordered a Quran through Amazon.com only to find profanity and religious slurs written inside asked Wednesday for an apology and a full investigation by the online retailer. 
Patty Smith, a spokeswoman for the Seattle-based book retailer, said the Quran was purchased directly from Bellwether Books, a small book resale company in McKeesport, Pa., through the "Marketplace" section of Amazon's Web site. "This was not our inventory, it was nowhere in our order or fulfillment process," she said. "It was a used book purchased through a third party."
The alleged Al-Qaeda No. 3 
