Breaking News: Must Cite Jawa Report

By Vinnie

(San Francisco - Jawa Report) They were 5 little words gone largely unnoticed by the vast majority of a nation blissfully unaware that the Academy Awards were even on that night.

"And the Oscar goes to...Crash."

Those five words started a ripple that has turned into a tsunami of rage that is now sweeping the world.

In Paris, militant gays attempted to storm the American Embassy, but were repulsed when a quick thinking Marine guard ran inside and came back to his post in full dress blues, stopping the throng in its tracks, mouths open and tongues lolling.

In London, rampaging mobs chanting "Remember The Crying Game! were beaten back by police employing several well-placed slaps to the face.

In Tehran, a quickly assembled march was just as quickly rounded up, and all participants hung from cranes.

Demonstrations in the United States were largely peaceful, with some exceptions.

In San Francisco, George Fisting, Womyn's Studies Professor at UC Berkeley stirred the crowd with; "We're tired of being the other white meat! We're sick of being a minority within minorities. We're sick of being judged by the content of our character, and not the color of our skin, and we're not gonna take it any more!" The crowd roared its approval.

At the SF demonstration, I noticed a woman with close cropped hair standing by herself, arms crossed, with a bemused look on her face. When I asked her why she didn't join in with the fist pumping fervor of the male-dominated crowd, she replied, "I have no dog in this hunt. After all, 99.9% of the men know that I'm the good gay.

Vinnie is the executive editor of offending people at the Jawa Report. He also blogs at Vince Aut Morire. Pronounced veen-kay aut mo-rir-ay

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(Toledo, Ohio) Three Toledoans have been indicted on charges of planning attacks to try to kill U.S. military personnel and coalition forces in Iraq.

From FoxToledo.com:

Mohammad Zaki Amawi, Marwan Othman El-Hindi, and Wassim I. Mazloum are accused of conspiring to kill or maim persons in and out of the United States, including U.S. Forces personnel. The Federal indictment obtained by Fox Toledo News Tuesday morning says the three were also solicting funding for jihad training, including government grants and private sponsorship.

The accused had travelled to the mid East to establish training facilities for terrorist activities, among other charges.

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On a hunting trip in Texas, Vice President Cheney accidentally blasted fellow hunter Harry Whittington, a lawyer. Whittington is in the hospital and reported to be "alert and doing fine."

There's no confirmation of the rumor that Whittington is a Democrat.

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From the Associated Press:

VIENNA, Austria - The U.N. nuclear watchdog Saturday reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council in a resolution expressing concern that Tehran's nuclear program may not be "exclusively for peaceful purposes." Iran retaliated immediately, saying it would resume uranium enrichment at its main plant instead of in Russia.

The landmark decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board sets the stage for future action by the top U.N. body, which has the authority to impose economic and political sanctions.

Still, any such moves were weeks if not months away. Two permanent council members, Russia and China, agreed to referral only on condition the council take no action before March.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto and Vince Aut Morire.

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(Cairo) All contact with the Egyptian cruise ship Salaam 98 was lost shortly after it left the Saudi port of Dubah on the Red Sea coast.

From WCBSTV.com:

Egyptian maritime officials say lifeboats containing people have been spotted in vicinity of where cruise liner was last seen on radar.

The ship Salaam 98 disappeared from radar screens shortly after sailing from the port of Dubah, western Saudi Arabia, at 7 p.m. local time on Thursday night, maritime officials in Suez said.

They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to address the media.

The ship was due to have arrived at Egypt's southern port of Safaga at 3 a.m. local time, but did not, the officials added.

[Update] Another report has been filed with more detailed information.

From CNN.com:

State-run Nile Television, quoting the Red Sea governor, said the ship was carrying 1,415 people -- 1,310 of them Egyptians.

"Our understanding now is that there are survivors," said Egyptian Minister of Transport Mohamed Loutfy Mansour, who said the reports came from helicopter pilots.

"The Coast Guard is doing everything in its power to try to rescue the people." Four frigates were expected to arrive at the site soon, he added.

Helicopters have spotted bodies floating on the sea and one lifeboat carrying three people in the vicinity of where the ship was last seen on the radar screens, maritime officials told The Associated Press.

Companion post at Interested-Participant.

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The five permanent Security Council members have directed the International Atomic Energy Agency to remand Iran's case to them. From Reuters:

The foreign ministers from China, Russia, the United States, France and Britain as well as Germany and the European Union, said after a dinner in London that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must decide to bring Iran's case before the Council when the agency meets on Thursday in Vienna.

A senior U.S. official said the statement meant Russia and China were now on board with the United States and the European powers that there must be strong action taken by the IAEA in Vienna to discourage Tehran from pursuing atomic research which could enable the country to build a nuclear bomb.

"This is the most powerful message we could have hoped for," said a senior U.S. official, who said the discussions over dinner had been animated.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the ministers shared serious concerns about Iran's nuclear programs and agreed that an extensive period of "confidence-building" was required from Iran.

The Council could ultimately impose sanctions against Iran but there are many steps before this could happen.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto and Vince Aut Morire.

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(Moscow) This story is breaking world wide but little has come out of Russia.

From Reuters:

Russia's intelligence services accused British embassy officials on Monday of spying in Moscow after state television said diplomats had used a transmitter in a fake rock to secure state secrets.

"Yes. I can confirm that everything that was shown was true and based on our information," a spokesman for FSB intelligence told Reuters.

"The diplomats were shown to be involved in activities that were incompatible with their diplomatic status," he said, using diplomatic jargon to refer to spying.

"Four British diplomats are suspected," a Federal Security Service (FSB) spokesman said. "I am not ready to give their names yet but this is all being investigated."

"This was absolutely new spy technology."

Companion post at Interested-Participant.

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(Berlin) Two news outlets reported on Wednesday that German intelligence agents assisted the United States military during the invasion of Iraq. The German Foreign Minister has denied the allegations.

From Deutsche Welle:

In a front page story in the respected Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), renowned investigative journalist Hans Leyendecker and colleague Wolfgang Krach quoted a high-ranking German security source as saying that two Federal Intelligence Agency agents (BND) in Baghdad helped the US military assess targets during the air invasion of Iraq in the war's opening weeks.

The office of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who thrust US-German relations into an ice age through his disapproval of the Iraq invasion, reportedly knew about the cooperation and approved of it, according to the article. The cooperation was made after a "political decision" by Schroeder's coalition government. "This wasn't the decision of some department head," the SZ quoted their source as saying.

The report was indirectly confirmed by a former US defense official in the German television program "Panorama." Whereas the article in the SZ said the agents were involved in reporting targets on the ground that shouldn't be attacked, the US defense official claimed the agents did much more.

The BND gave "direct support" in "selecting targets," said the official. One example of that support: a BND agent drove to the Baghdad district Mansur in an armored limousine in order to confirm US suspicions that a caravan of cars carrying Iraqi officials, including Saddam Hussein, was driving through the area. The information he relayed on April 7, 2003, was reportedly used in an immediate bomb attack on a complex of buildings in which at least 12 people died.

All the German leftists are having a fit.

Companion post at Interested-Participant.

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Yes, that Paris. The one in Fwance. If you were in London anyway, and you had the time and money, would you go?

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Reports are circulating that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has died. Certainly he is very ill and he may very well be brain dead. Reports of favorable brain scans are for bleeding only.

World Tribune : Sharon was declared dead by physicians at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital before 1 p.m. Israeli time [6 a.m. EST]. Authorities have already been notified of the death, and a government announcement was expected to be issued over the next hour.... Â… A computed tomography scan taken on Friday morning showed little to no brain activity in Sharon. At that point, Sharon's son, Omri, called aides and senior officials to the hospital to prepare for an announcement of the prime minister's death.

Hat Tip : Filthy and Jay at Stop the ACLU who put it best.

If he isnÂ’t dead, he is at deathÂ’s doorway.

Also Michelle Malkin has updates and a roundup of Sharon Related links.

No major MSM source so far has confirmed this. But considering the complications Mr. Sharon has suffered the last 24 hours I feel it is likely that he may indeed pass on.

CBC's Adrienne Arsenault reports the following :

The CBC's Adrienne Arsenault, who has outside the hospital awaiting word of Sharon's condition, said there is intense interest in his prognosis, and some incorrect information is circulating. "There have been many rumours over the past 24 hours that Sharon had, in fact, actually died or was on life support," she said.

Developing....

Mere Rhetoric has more

Another doctor they got on the phone: "... despite this good news, the damage is undoubtedly extensive..."

Updated: Mr Sharon has indeed survived and is showing some response to pain. Demosophist adds that sever strokes can be survived. I agree My grandfather had two in a row and althouhg it took two years he did recover very well. So it's possible Mr. Sharon will do OK. But it''s a long hard road back and only time will tell.

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Well, we haven't even gotten a full week into 2006 and the Idiot of the Year has already reared his ugly head. There may be bigger idiots as the year goes on, but I certainly don't see how at this point.

This idiot makes the ACLU look almost tame by comparison as he attempts to fell the entire Catholic Church in one fatal blow. Luigi Cascioli of Italy has decided to try and force the Italian court system to prove that Jesus never existed.

"I started this lawsuit because I wanted to deal the final blow against the Church, the bearer of obscurantism and regression," Cascioli told Reuters.

Cascioli says Righi, and by extension the whole Church, broke two Italian laws. The first is "Abuso di Credulita Popolare" (Abuse of Popular Belief) meant to protect people against being swindled or conned. The second crime, he says, is "Sostituzione di Persona", or impersonation.

"The Church constructed Christ upon the personality of John of Gamala," Cascioli claimed, referring to the 1st century Jew who fought against the Roman army.

Now, I'm no lawyer, but I seem to see a TON of loopholes here. First and foremost being that even a large number of athiests admit that Jesus was a real person. They don't necessarily attribute any diety to Him, but they do admit his existence. Heck, even Muslims go that far. It would seem to me that you're going to have an extraordinarily hard time convincing a judge of ANY stripe to conclusively rule that Jesus never existed.

Secondly, you're going to have just as hard a time trying to find a judge that will label the entire Catholic Church as a giant "pyramid scheme." That's just ludicrous to begin with. The public fallout of such a decision would be disasterous. Not to mention the political hornet's nest you'd open up.

Yes, I know there have been specific churches that have been called up on charges of fraud and other such activities. I have never denied that there are some corrupt pastors who use God to make money. But I'd think if you're going to target an entire religion, you might want to start with one that everyone (except Tom Cruise) recognizes as a scam. Even L. Ron Hubbard admitted that Scientology is nothing but a joke.

At least the Italian court is attempting to do the right thing. According to the story, the judge had tried several times to dismiss the case, but only ends up getting tangled up in appeals from the plaintiff. I'm fairly sure of the outcome of this idiot's case, but I'll have to follow the story closely anyway to make sure.

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(Tallmansville, West Virginia) Contrary to earlier reports that twelve miners survived, officials are reporting that there is only one survivor.

From NBC4i.com:

Mine company officials have confirmed that only one of the 13 miners who hadn't been heard from since an early Monday morning explosion at an Upshur County, W.Va., mine survived the ordeal.

Ben Hatfield, CEO of Sago Mine owner International Coal Group, told reporters that there was a "miscommunication" earlier when rescuers in the mine that had indicated all 12 miners were alive.

Hatfield said the initial report from the rescue team to the command center indicated multiple survivors, but that information was incorrect.

Condolences to the families who lost their loved ones.

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Russian Programmer Develops Unofficial Fix

All versions of Microsoft Windows are now thought to be vulnerable to viruses and spyware exploiting Windows Metafile (WMF) files.

From Financial Times via The Drudge Report:

The flaw, which allows hackers to infect computers using programs maliciously inserted into seemingly innocuous image files, was first discovered last week. But the potential for damaging attacks increased dramatically at the weekend after a group of computer hackers published the source code they used to exploit it. Unlike most attacks, which require victims to download or execute a suspect file, the new vulnerability makes it possible for users to infect their computers with spyware or a virus simply by viewing a web page, e-mail or instant message that contains a contaminated image.

“We haven’t seen anything that bad yet, but multiple individuals and groups are exploiting this vulnerability,” Mr Hyppönen said. He said that every Windows system shipped since 1990 contained the flaw.

...some security experts were urging system administrators to take the unusual step of installing an unofficial patch created at the weekend by Ilfak Guilfanov, a Russian computer programmer.

Also posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto.

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Illegal immigrants attack law enforcement officers in California.

Every single one of the perpetrators should be fed alive to a hungry shark.

Yeah, they make nice commercials, but they are filthy creatures nonetheless.

I know, because we have one living in our house.

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(Camp Justice, Iraq) A dozen or more dead or wounded are being reported after a prisoner grabbed a rifle from an Iraqi policeman and opened fire. Details are confused.

From ABC News Online:

Iraqi police have shot dead several prisoners in a shoot-out at a Baghdad military base after one prisoner grabbed a weapon from a guard and opened fire, Interior Ministry officials and police sources said.

Up to six guards were killed, one police source said, before security forces began firing into the unarmed prisoners.

There was confusion over casualty figures.

Another police source and an Interior Ministry official initially said more than 20 prisoners were killed but a second official insisted there were 15 casualties in all, some only wounded, and that these included one dead guard and one wounded officer.

I'd suggest that recreation breaks for terrorists might not be a good idea.

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Breaking news that a federal Air Marshal has shot a passenger disembarking in Miami from a flight from Columbia. Hat tip to several people, including Tim at Opinion Bug and Ron. More below. UPDATE: Tim at Opinion Bug is following story closely here. Reports suspect is DEAD. Check his site for updates. Update II: Malkin also following closely. more...

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Some news for those who mocked the President when he spoke of the "Axis of Evil". Iran's insane hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is seeking a trade deal with fellow lunatic North Korean president Kim Jong-il. Oil and natural gas for nuclear missiles.

From Haaretz:

BERLIN - Iran has offered North Korea oil and natural gas as payment for help in developing nuclear missiles, German weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday, citing unidentified Western intelligence sources.

A senior Iranian official traveled to the North Korean capital Pyongyang during the second week of October to make the offer, the magazine quoted the sources as saying. It was unclear what North Korea's response was, it added.

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(San Francisco) The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that 7th-graders training for three weeks to be Muslims is not a "religious exercise."

From the SacBee.com:

Christian students and parents cannot sue a school district where some seventh-graders pretended to be Muslims for three weeks during a course in world history, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the role-playing game was not a religious exercise that violated anybody's constitutional rights.

The decision was issued one day after the U.S. House of Representatives chastised the 9th Circuit for ruling earlier this month that parents can't sue public schools for providing information about sex. That decision "deplorably infringed on parental rights," said the House resolution.

Thursday's decision came down in an unpublished memorandum, indicating the judges considered it routine.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton dismissed the case two years ago, saying teaching was not indoctrinating.

The 9th Circuit upheld her decision in a five-sentence ruling, saying only that the activities weren't "overt religious exercises" that would raise concerns under the First Amendment prohibition of "establishment of religion."

Senior Circuit Judge Dorothy Nelson of Pasadena and Circuit Judges Johnnie Rawlinson of Las Vegas and Carlos Bea of San Francisco signed the decision.

The unpublished memo format indicates the appellate judges did not believe they were breaking legal ground. Unpublished decisions cannot be cited in future cases.

This is worth seeing also. Companion post at Interested-Participant.

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According to a an unverified statement on an Islamist website, Al Qaeda in Iraq takes responsibility for the triple bomb attacks on Amman hotels.

From ABC News Online:

"A group of our best lions launched a new attack on some dens," the statement said.

"After casing the targets, some hotels were chosen which the Jordanian despot turned into a backyard for the enemies of the faith, the Jews and crusaders."

The admission comes as no surprise since al Qaeda was suspected from the very beginning. That said, it is odd that many hours transpired before they claimed responsibility.

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(Amman, Jordan) Eighteen people are reported dead from explosions at three major Amman hotels about two hours ago. Suicide bombers are suspected. More than 120 injured.

From the JPost:

"The attacks carry the trademark of al-Qaida," one police official said on condition of anonymity in line with police regulations. "However it is not certain. We are investigating."

The explosions struck the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels. A police officer at the Radisson site said it was caused "apparently by a bomb."

The hotels, in the commercial Jebel Amman district, are frequented by American and European businessmen and diplomats. The Radisson, in particular, is popular with Israeli tourists, and was a target of several foiled al-Qaida plots in the past.

[Update 1625 EST]

From Reuters, at least 23 people are now reported dead from three suspected suicide bombers in the three hotels.

The explosion at the Radisson Hotel occurred in a banquet room where 300 people were attending a wedding reception. The room was adjacent to a bar which security sources believe was the intended target.

The stone entrance to the Grand Hyatt was completely shattered. Hyatt General Manager Otto Steenbeek stated the explosion was in the bar area and caused many casualties.

The blasts came without warning or any hint from intelligence. Thus far, no claims of responsibility have been received.

Television news reports that suicide bombers are believed to have walked into the hotels. Videotape surveillance footage should be available. Similarities are being drawn to last month's bombings in Bali where suicide bombers walked into restaurants.

[Update 1640 EST]

Fox News reports that a Jordanian security force spokesman has confirmed that there are 53 dead. The explosions are believed to be the first organized simultaneous terrorist attacks in Jordan.

[Update 1700 EST]

From Lawhawk, it seems there may have been some warning that Jordan was a target for an imminent attack. Check out Hammorabi who posts an alert that Zarqawi has been planning an attack in Jordan. The source of the information is not clear.

[Update 1745 EST]

(via television newscasts) The Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said there were two suicide bombers and a car bomb. The Hyatt and Radisson were attacked by suicide walk-ins, the Days Inn was attacked with a car bomb. The death toll has increased to 57.

The AP reports approximately 300 wounded. The borders of Jordan have been sealed and a search is underway for collaborators.

Jordan's King Abdullah blamed a "deviant and misled group" for the attacks. The Jordanian cabinet is in an emergency session.

Companion at Interested-Participant.

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