March 09, 2006

I Smell A Rat

Apparently not being pulled over isn't incentive enough.

I mean, if they really were out to just recognize good driving habits, why not get the info from the license plate and mail the prize to them?

I'm a pro-law enforcement guy, but pulling over law abiding citizens obeying the rules is 90 different types of wrong.

What's next, giving you concert tickets after they search your house and make sure your guns are properly unloaded and locked up, or a trip to Orlando because they didn't find a meth lab? A case of condoms when they don't find any evidence you're running a whorehouse?

Sorry, this is more a fishing expedition than a reward-the-citizens type of deal. I'm sure a great deal of us have been pulled over at one time or another. It's not a happy occasion, even for something as minor as a burnt out headlight.

Meanwhile, as the police are patting you on the back, assuming you're not slumped over the wheel with a heart attack, Abdul goes cruising by in an eighteen wheeler packed with the wrath of Allah.

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Phinding Nemo

Phin, the fishnet wearing half of Apothegm Designs, just had his life get a whole lot more enjoyable.

Congratulations are in order, with a warning.

As you bask in the glow of your firstborn, those who are jealous of your sweet reward will now besiege you with a calvacade of "enjoy it now, wait until he's 2."

Then, when their hopes at your misery are dashed, the "wait until he's..." will generally progress upwards every 4 years or so, concluding with "wait until he's a teenager."

Look long and hard at the teenagers of the parents who say that.

And when your son finishes his schooling with an M.D. and a J.D. and is happily married with a child of his own, you will have your revenge on the person(s) who said "wait until he's a teenager." You know, the one who was a grandparent at 35.

Just ride the wave, Phin, ride the wave.

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Hang em High

Today Iraq hung 13 people convicted of fighting against the new government there.

Yahoo News : The Cabinet announcement listed the name of only one of those hanged, Shukair Farid, a former policeman in the northern city of Mosul, who allegedly confessed that he had worked with Syrian foreign fighters to enlist fellow Iraqis to kill police and civilians. "The competent authorities have today carried out the death sentences of 13 terrorists," according to the statement.
It said Farid had "confessed that foreigners recruited him to spread the fear through killings and abductions." A judicial official said the death sentences were handed down in separate trials and were carried out in Baghdad. "The 13 terrorists were tried in different courts and their trials began in 2005 and ended earlier this year," an official of the Supreme Judiciary Council said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to fears of reprisal from insurgents... ...Capital punishment was suspended during the formal U.S. occupation, which ended in June 2004, and the Iraqis reinstated the penalty two months later for those found guilty of murder, endangering national security and distributing drugs, saying it was necessary to help put down the persistent insurgency.
Death sentences must be approved by the three-member presidential council headed by President Jalal Talabani, who opposes the death penalty. In the September executions and again in the Thursday hangings, Talabani refused to sign the authorization himself but gave his two vice presidents the authority.
Seems to me like the right thing to do. I wonder if they were public and if so where can we get tickets?
more...

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DP World to Hand Over Ports to US Firm

We won't be letting the UAE run our ports after all.

CNN : Reading a statement from DP World on the Senate floor, Warner, a Virginia Republican, said the reason is "to preserve" the strong relationship between the UAE and United States... ...House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, delivered the news to Bush during a meeting Thursday at the White House, two Republican sources said
Good deal? I guess time will tell sounds better to me. I think the heavy public outcry is to credit for this. This shows that in America what the people really want they can get.

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Iran Helped the Taliban?

You know I was always sure that Iran would assist the Taliban and Al-Qaeda as long as we are the target. There was speculation that Iran was behind the bombing of the golden Mosque. It turns out hat may be true in an indirect way. Recent stories of shaped charges at the border coming from Iran help bolster this idea. Since the distraction of the Mohammed cartoons is settling down now attention is turning back toward Iran as it should be. I can understand IranÂ’s interest in screwing up Iraq by supplying fighters there. Of thatÂ’s not participating actively in war against the US and our allies the following surely is.

Weekly Standard : But the recently released transcript corroborates earlier reporting on Iran's cooperation with the Taliban, as well as al Qaeda. Afghani opposition sources reported in early 2002 that the Iranians helped Taliban and al Qaeda members escape approaching U.S. forces through the Herat province. For example, Time Magazine reported:
An adviser to [Herat] warlord Ismail Khan told TIME that shortly before the U.S. bombing campaign began in October, a high-ranking Iranian official connected to the hard-line supreme leader Ayatollah Khameini had been dispatched to Kabul to offer secret sanctuary to Taliban and al Qaeda fugitives. The Iranian official was apparently trapped in Kabul during the bombing, and remained there until the Northern Alliance took control of the city. Although the Iranians despised the Taliban for their persecution of Shiite Muslims in Afghanistan, their hatred for the U.S. may have run deeper.


And, according to sources in Herat, the Taliban and al Qaeda took the Iranians up on their offer. Shortly before Herat's Taliban garrison fled in November, a convoy of 50 off-road vehicles carrying some 250 senior Taliban and al Qaeda members allegedly crossed over into Iran, using a smugglers' route through the hills about 20 miles north of the city. A Western diplomat in Afghanistan claims that groups of Taliban and al Qaeda are still threading their way through the mountains of central Afghanistan and heading for the Iranian border. "The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has an eye on everything that happens along the border," says the diplomat. "Of course they know that Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are getting across."

The importance of this allegation goes beyond understanding Iran's past behavior. Currently, some analysts assume that fear of U.S. retribution limits Iranian interference in Iraq and support for al Qaeda. But if Iran's leadership agreed to set aside its differences with the Taliban in order to stymie American operations against al Qaeda, then such assumptions are clearly no longer valid.

Also Powerline has a post with other links and information. You should check that out as well. The war of words seems pretty harsh of late but I've heard October will be the critical time.

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ACLU Opposes Surveillance Agreement

Big surprise: loud squawking from an organization that has done its best to thwart counter-terrorism efforts. The ACLU is upset because Republicans have come up with a compromise to allow the NSA to continue monitoring conversations between Americans and suspected terrorists. more...

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Hillary: Enforcing Law Equals 'Police State'

I'm not sure who Hillary thinks she's fooling with this one. From boston.com news:

WASHINGTON --Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a potential White House candidate in 2008, said Wednesday some Republicans are trying to create a "police state" to round up illegal immigrants.

Speaking at a rally of Irish immigrants, Clinton criticized a bill the House passed in December that would impose harsher penalties for undocumented workers.

"Don't turn your backs on what made this country great," she said, calling the measure "a rebuke to what America stands for."

Clinton said it would be "an unworkable scheme to try to deport 11 million people, which you have to have a police state to try to do."

Illegal immigration made this country great? How so? And of course, if we do as Hillary says, and surrender to the flood of illegals, how long before the Democrat party begins registering those 11 million to vote?

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto.

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On Hamas as OK, somewhat equivalent to Israel

Hello hello again, readers. I have been AWOL as of late, but I wanted to share an interesting hobby that I have acquired before I return into my wine-induced slumber.

Reading college newspapers, especially the editorials, always provides a chuckle or two. I think it's something about the mix of idealism of change yet the laziness to enact change that just nails the irony bone in the right spot. Of course, there are those creative editorials that attempt to advance typical left-wing talking points; I guess there is something to be said for truly mimicking the national media, just it seems too easy to do on a college campus as those places generally are leftist echo chambers.

That said, I found an editorial today that even took the wind out of my sails. The race between "sad" and "mind-bendingly funny" is pretty close, so I leave it to others to judge.

The jist is that Hamas' rise to power isn't really so bad. So what? We have heard that a thousand times before in stories of Hamas' "pragmatism". No, what makes this great (and something that could only be pulled off in print on a college campus) is the stated position that Hamas and Israel are in fact very similar. The editorial, from the student newspaper of George Washington University, tries to toe a fine line -- both validate Hamas through comparisons with Israel, yet still twist facts to demonstrate Israel's villiany. Logically, that makes little sense, but don't worry. The author is a senior, majoring in Middle East studies, so I sure he just knows a more subtle version of the truth than we do.

I provide some of my point-by-point opinions behind the fold, but I leave you with a taste of what the editorial has in store...

While it refuses to recognize the state of Israel, there is a historical point worth noting: at the initiation of the Oslo process in 1993, Israel had not recognized the Palestinians right to a state. Even informal recognition did not come until Ehud Barak was elected prime minister several years later. A formal public statement acknowledging the right of Palestinians to a state was not made until Ariel Sharon became prime minister. In spite of this lack of recognition, the Palestinians pursued negotiations with the Israelis, hoping that a viable state would come in the final agreement. The precedent exists for engaging in negotiations without recognition at the outset. more...

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Can Rusty Come Out to Play?

I'm sorry, Billy, Rusty isn't home. He'll be back next week. That's why he hasn't answered the gazillion e-mails sitting in his inbox.

PS-If you're the praying type, please pray that I get this job!

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Poll: More Americans Distrust Islam

From the Washington Post:

...a growing proportion of Americans are expressing unfavorable views of Islam, and a majority now say that Muslims are disproportionately prone to violence, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Read the Rest

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March 08, 2006

And They Call Us Bigots?

What a dumbass.

So - the 82nd Airborne needs a guy to sell pencils in Iraq now? After the war is over he can get a job as a greeter at Wal-Mart. Trailer-people can come in and rub his stub for good luck on their way to the dog track.

Nothing for me to add, except this:

Picture 925.gif

Update: And on a related note, Cindy Sheehan's son lies in an unmarked grave.

Update Too: LA drops a turd in his own comments:

I was mildly surprised that almost nobody understood what I perceived to be the gross absurdity of the situation: a bunch of fucking war cheerleaders crying about a nasty prank card some asshole sent to this poor kid whose leg has been vaporized and THEN weÂ’re going to clap our hands and pretend that everything is OK because heÂ’s going to go back to work for the 82nd. Way to cleanse yourself of sin, wingnuts. ItÂ’s such a brave and inspirational story! Is it? Or is it a devastating tragedy?

What a perfect display of leftist thought. The Leftard Avenger is trying to backpedal from his original display of glorious stupidity.

But even his own readers aren't buying it:

# Terry Says:
March 8th, 2006 at 10:02 pm

Jesus, LA and sgo. Stop it. Just stop it. Your attempts at shock and awe are wearing a little thin. ThatÂ’s right - shock and awe. Are you proud of this? I hope not.

The man made a sacrifice for his country. An extreme sacrifice. You may (as I do) question his motives for doing so, but he made the sacrifice nonetheless. He bought the NaziconÂ’s sale of goods, and he paid for it. Big time. Is this a reason to ridicule his sacrifice? I donÂ’t think so. I think he did what he thought was right, and he got his ass kicked for it.

So stop ridiculing this poor bastard to make your point. YouÂ’re really not doing the cause any favors. I donÂ’t think the fact that this poor son of a bitch bought the company line makes him fair game for our derision.

And thatÂ’s what youÂ’re doing, boys. You may think that youÂ’re making a political point, but youÂ’re not. What youÂ’re really doing is belittling another americanÂ’s sacrifice to further your own agenda. Exactly what you blame the other side for doing.

So knock it off. Just grow up and knock it off.

I love Leftist cannabilism.

Final update: Ayup, he yanked the post. And then he does a mea culpa, which I'll not link to, comparing PFC Sparling to Max Cleland. Sorry, chuckles, it doesn't fly.

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Moussaoui's Target: The White House

From Reuters:

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui talked of his dream to fly an airplane into the White House more than a year before the hijacked aircraft attacks, a witness linked to al Qaeda testified in federal court on Wednesday.

Fazi Bafana, formerly a treasurer of a unit of Jemaah Islamiah, which is linked to al Qaeda, revealed discussion of that dream in videotaped testimony played during Moussaoui's sentencing trial.

"He told me he had a dream. He dreamed to fly an airplane ... into the White House," Bafana said. "He told me he informed (Osama bin Laden) what he dreamed and (bin Laden) said go ahead. He asked me to assist him."

When the defense cross-examined Bafana he said that he thought Moussaoui was "cuckoo". Of course the "cuckoo" defense might work better if jetliners had not, in fact, actually been flown into buildings on September 11, 2001.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto.

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Explaining the Epidemic of Muslim Rape.


Howie is often shocked at the treatment of women by Muslims all over the word. From “honor killing” to rape as a form of punishment and the strange and backward thinking that leads the rapist himself to absolve himself of responsibility for his actions. Today Fontpagemag attempts to explain the psychology behind this horrid aspect of Islamic culture that it is exporting to Western Europe.

Peter Raddatz via Frontpagemag : The direct connection between the rapes and Islam is irrefutable, as Muslims are significantly overrepresented among convicted rapists and rape suspects. The Muslim perpetrators themselves boast that there crime is justified since their victims were, among other things, not properly veiledÂ… Â…What is the psychology here? What is the significance of this epidemic? And how do we face it when our own feminists, with a few exceptions, are deafeningly silent about it?
Yes girls why are you silent?
By the same token, however, and this is the core of "modern" Islam's tragedy, the male controllers are confined to physical methods of "sublimation" whenever problems arise. Aside from the usual bombing "protest" against Western "arrogance" and "unbelieving morals", the current rape wave is the vital expression of an ongoing jihad against women who under Western influence may drift slowly out of the grip of male Muslim hands.
Abuse is almost always about control.
While some UN organizations keep on complaining about this, the Western feminists keep silent because they are not interested in the general problem but rather concentrate on clutching to their few elitarian privileges, mainly in business. Doing this they are simple part of a greater Western mainstream that has started to adjust to Muslim immigrant political "sharia" demands based on the growing radical Islamist influence as well as oil price pressure. And mind you: keeping Muslim women obedient through male "honor" might also sustain their "seed field" fertilization rate thereby compensating for the Western "morals" of pornography and weak reproduction. In this respect global elite ideology, antisemitic "new age" fascism and Islam are not so far apart.
Facism and Islam similar? IÂ’m shocked I say, shocked to the bone!

Yes western Feminists are silent because to pick up this cause would support the war on “radical Islam” and they would rather let other women suffer than admit they are treasonously self interested. Now we see this is no longer confined to Muslim nations like Sudan now the abuse has spread as the Islamists seek to impose their will on women in tolerant host nations like Sweden and Germany. The quicker people realize that their tolerant view of the world is not respected by Islamic tradition and there will be no reciprocation for tolerance the better off we will all be. I'd like to be all nice and tolerant of them but I know they consider that an open weakness to be taken advantage of. If you undertand that Isalmic facism is all about confrontation by strength then you begin to see that, while undertanding it is useful, it must be faced the same way otherwise you find yourself always stepping backward against it's advance.

Others : Dr Sanity, Proteinwisdom, and Transterrestrial.

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Teri Hatcher Reveals Past Sex Abuse

(Sunnyvale, California) Popular television and film actress Teri Hatcher (pic) has come forward and announced that she was molested by her uncle, Richard Hayes Stone, when she was a little girl.

Hatcher contacted Santa Clara County prosecutor Chuck Gillingham to help in convicting Stone, 67, for molesting 14-year-old Sarah Van Cleemput who later committed suicide. Gillingham needed Hatcher's corroborating testimony.

From MercuryNews.com:

"She asked what I thought," about coming forward, Gillingham said of Hatcher. "I said, 'I'm going to beg you to be involved, as hard as that is for you.'"

Gillingham flew down to Los Angeles with a Sunnyvale public safety officer to take Hatcher's statement.

"When we went to interview her, she almost canceled," Gillingham said. "But she had been with her daughter that morning and was thinking if, God forbid, something happened to her daughter that someone would come forward and do the right thing."

With a tape recording running, Hatcher explained in detail how her uncle -- the then-husband of her mother's sister -- allegedly molested her in the late 1960s and early '70s when she was no more than 7.

"Obviously she took a big risk doing the interview," Gillingham said.

After prosecutors gave the defense a transcript of Hatcher's interview, Stone pleaded guilty Oct. 24, 2002, leaving no need for a trial nor a court appearance for Hatcher.

Hatcher tells her whole story in the April issue of Vanity Fair Magazine.

From Interested-Participant.

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Detainees or Hostages?

Reuters reports that "dozens" of office workers were taken from a security firm in a raid by gunmen wearing Iraqi police commando uniforms:

Two sources said about 50 people were taken. They said that the gunmen, who arrived in at least 10 vehicles, broke into the headquarters compound of the firm in the Zayouna district.

One Interior Ministry source said he was unaware of any official police operation in the area.

Many Iraqis have complained that gunmen dressed in police uniforms raided their houses and seized relatives.

But Sunni and other groups have accused the interior ministry of condoning death squads operating inside the ministry targeting Sunnis areas. The ministry denies it.

more...

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Suspects Arrested in AL Church Fires

(Washington) Two young men have been arrested in connection with the string of church fires in Alabama. Ben Moseley, 19, and Russell Debusk, 19, were taken into custody by federal agents. Both are being charged with arson and conspiracy to commit arson.

A third suspect is being sought in the fires at five Bibb County churches and four in west Alabama last month.


[Update 1230 EST]

The two suspects in custody are students at Birmingham Southern College. The third suspect is reported to be Matthew Lee Cloyd who is a student at the University of Alabama - Birmingham. I noticed that FoxNews now reports that the third suspect has been arrested.

Posted by: Mike Pechar at 09:38 AM | Comments (26) | Add Comment
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Hamas Launches Website Encouraging Kids to Become Martyrs

They blow up so early these days.....

The Palestinian Authority's ruling Hamas terror group has launched a web site for children, preaching the moral desirability of being a suicide terrorist through cartoons and children's stories.

more

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WTW Tiny Bubbles.

Yes “Howie Vintage 06 batch A” is in progress. Judging by the color I’ve quite a good reaction going on here. Before the yeast gets going it’s dark in color. Bubbling it’s ass off it is.

Due date is 04/16.

Blogroll removed cause it hangs up at times.

more...

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Would That

we had more like him today.

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GOP, White House Reach Agreement on Intercepts

From the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, March 7 — Moving to tamp down Democratic calls for an investigation of the administration's domestic eavesdropping program, Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee said Tuesday that they had reached agreement with the White House on proposed bills to impose new oversight but allow wiretapping without warrants for up to 45 days.
This is the Times supposedly in "news" mode, but you'll notice that they refer to "domestic eavesdropping", even though that's not really the truth - all of these calls and emails have either a destination or an origin outside of the United States. The Gray Lady also insists on calling the intercepts "wiretapping", which is the equivalent of calling a Ferrari Testarossa a "horseless carriage".

Here's the reason this accord is big news [emphasis added]:

The agreement, hashed out in weeks of negotiations between Vice President Dick Cheney and Republicans critical of the program, dashes Democratic hopes of starting a full committee investigation because the proposal won the support of Senators Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine. The two, both Republicans, had threatened to support a fuller inquiry if the White House did not disclose more about the program to Congress.
Of course there will be a thorough investigation into just who betrayed his or her country by leaking details of the intercept program to the New York Times.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto.

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