May 18, 2005
For all the juicy details, go here; I think you'll like it. Please don't hesitate to let me know what you think.
Posted by: Chris Short at
10:05 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 60 words, total size 1 kb.
Back in high school, one fine summer day after services, at the First Self-Righteous Church in that Sleepy Little Town of Pascagoula, I was talking to my friend's mom in the foyer when a large spider rappelled down the wall beside us. I reflexively whacked it with what I had in my hand, which was a brown-leather New International Version Bible I'd been given when I was baptized.
My friend's mom looked somewhat disapproving. "It was a Brown Recluse!" I extemporized. "I had to kill it!"
"But with a Bible?" she asked. And then she killed me, and the congregation stuck my head way on top of the steeple as a warning. I sure learned my lesson!
Posted by: seedubya at
07:00 PM
| Comments (5)
| Add Comment
Post contains 159 words, total size 1 kb.
Posted by: seedubya at
06:47 PM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 235 words, total size 1 kb.
Take this statement from the Pakistani Information Minister for example:
"The apology and retraction are not enough," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Reuters.Now, on the surface, this is a statement that doesn't really offend until you think about what WASN'T said; namely, that the violence that occured after this article went out was uncalled for and should be condemned."They should understand the sentiments of Muslims and think 101 times before publishing news which hurt feelings of Muslims."
Put me down for saying that Newsweek acted irresponsibly and did, in fact, damage the reputation of the United States of America without cause. But really, who did the killing here? It wasn't Newsweek. Although, an argument can be made that Newsweek essentially loaded the guns. These terrorists are looking for excuses to attack...Newsweek gave them one. But it is still nothing more than an excuse to kill the innocent.
And that should be causing more outrage than it currently is...
Posted by: MattWMD at
02:43 PM
| Comments (14)
| Add Comment
Post contains 197 words, total size 1 kb.
Michelle Malkin says it's even worse than we thought.
Be careful what you wish for.The REAL ID Act, advertised as preventing states from issuing driverÂ’s licenses to illegal aliens, is now the law of the land.
REAL ID has all the right enemies. The Treason Lobby has denounced it as preventing "many drivers" from obtaining licenses.
But this is the truth: the REAL ID Act still contains loopholes big enough to allow truckloads of illegal aliens to get valid temporary state driverÂ’s licenses.
This driverÂ’s license language first surfaced in the former H.R. 10, but was purged from the final 9/11 "Intelligence Reform" bill. The language reappeared as part of the supplemental appropriations bill for the Iraq war that was signed into law by President Bush on May 10.
The federal requirements for state driver’s license and identification cards are scheduled to go into effect three years from now—May 10, 2008.
The final REAL ID bill still contains its most precious much-resisted language: preventing the acceptance of "any foreign document" as a stepping-stone to a state driver’s license. It prohibits the use of the Mexican government’s infamous "Matricula Consular" card…although unfortunately not for three years. So expect a "get ‘em while you can, Amigos" campaign by the Mexican Consulate sometime before the May, 2008 deadline.
Great.
Just great.
Cross-posted at Suzanne's blog
Posted by: Suzanne at
12:57 PM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 263 words, total size 2 kb.
DUBAI - Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq defended the killing of "innocent Muslims" in suicide bombings against U.S. forces, saying it was legitimate under Islam for the sake of jihad (Holy War), according to an audio tape attributed to him.I am just stunned by this admission that it's okie-day to be killing their own, let alone our guys..."The killing of infidels by any method including martyrdom (suicide) operations has been sanctified by many scholars even if it meant killing innocent Muslims. This legality has been agreed upon ... so as not to disrupt Jihad," Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said on the tape posted on an Islamist Web site on Wednesday.
Posted by: MattWMD at
12:41 PM
| Comments (12)
| Add Comment
Post contains 121 words, total size 1 kb.
John writes in his piece:
"The atrocities of Abu Ghraib—and those alleged to have taken place at Guantanamo—are just that: atrocities. They are horrors both because of what they were in themselves as well as what they said about our self-image as a country."
I, on the other hand, on the matter of abuse, ask what acts are more barbaric, horrifying, appalling, brutal, wicked, abominable, and cruel(all refer to the quality or state of being atrocious), the kind of acts attributed to Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, or raping women, sawing off heads, and shooting people in the back of the head with their hands tied behind them(all acts committed by Islamic terrorists and insurgents)? Which set of mindless acts indeed rise to the zenith of abuse? Given the choice of having my head sawed off or stripped naked by women, blood smeared on me, pictures taken of me naked and on a leash held by a sick guard(worse things happen in college and even high school hazing rituals every year) I think that I would choose any of the these except having my head sawed off. Which would you choose? And which is more atrocious? But where is the media outcry over the truly attrocious acts conducted by the terrorists and the insurgents? Answer - it's directed at America. more...
Posted by: Richard@hyscience at
11:51 AM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 1269 words, total size 8 kb.
A past lecture authored by al-Qaeda’s research center, “The Center for Islamic Studies and Research”, also known as al-Neda, has been re-posted to the internet. The message directs Muslims not to "spread any information about the mujahideen which the enemy could benefit from." According to the Center, "It is well known that… America…is making a huge effort to collect information about the jihad and mujahideen from everywhere…the enemy has designated special organizations to analyze information, make links between the [pieces of information], and make conclusions out of [the information]." Thus, "Any Muslim who supports jihad and the mujahideen should not spread any information about the mujahideen…The most dangerous information is information which mentions the names of the mujahideen, times, places, numbers of mujahideen, amounts of supplies and weaponry, and ways of communication."[Emphasis added.]
...is to not talk about Fight Club.
Sounds like the civilian population isn't exactly buying it:
He finishes by asking civilian Muslims to "Â…let the mujahideen manage the information war as they let them manage the military warÂ…"
Posted by: MattWMD at
10:13 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 179 words, total size 1 kb.
The owner of two Kentucky theaters is refusing to show the new Jane Fonda film "Monster-in-Law" because of the actress's pro-communist stand during the Vietnam War.
Photos of a smiling Miss Fonda posing with a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft crew in 1972 were displayed outside an Elizabethtown movie theater to show the disapproval of theater owner Ike Boutwell. The marquee outside Mr. Boutwell's Showtime Cinemas in nearby Radcliff reads: "No Jane Fonda movie in this theater."
"I trained a lot of pilots during the Vietnam conflict," Mr. Boutwell told the Hardin County News-Enterprise, adding that some of those pilots died when their planes were shot down by North Vietnamese gunners.
"To me, Ms. Fonda is a traitor," he explained in a local television interview. "I could not get the picture out of my mind of her cheering the gun crew that had just shot down an American B-52."
Good for you Mr. Boutwell. You can't keep HJ from spewing her America hating communist manifesto, but you can keep her lying traitorous piehole of your movie screens.
Posted by Traderrob
Posted by: Traderrob at
07:03 AM
| Comments (12)
| Add Comment
Post contains 208 words, total size 1 kb.
May 17, 2005
Q With respect, who made you the editor of Newsweek? Do you think it's appropriate for you, at that podium, speaking with the authority of the President of the United States, to tell an American magazine what they should print?MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not telling them. I'm saying that we would encourage them to help --
Q You're pressuring them.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I'm saying that we would encourage them --
Q It's not pressure?
MR. McCLELLAN: Look, this report caused serious damage to the image of the United States abroad. And Newsweek has said that they got it wrong. I think Newsweek recognizes the responsibility they have. We appreciate the step that they took by retracting the story. Now we would encourage them to move forward and do all that they can to help repair the damage that has been done by this report. And that's all I'm saying. But, no, you're absolutely right, it's not my position to get into telling people what they can and cannot report....
Q Are you asking them to write a story about how great the American military is; is that what you're saying here?
MR. McCLELLAN: Elisabeth, let me finish my sentence. Our military --
Q You've already said what you're -- I know what -- how it ends.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I'm coming to your question, and you're not letting me have a chance to respond. But our military goes out of their way to handle the Koran with care and respect. There are policies and practices that are in place. This report was wrong. Newsweek, itself, stated that it was wrong. And so now I think it's incumbent and -- incumbent upon Newsweek to do their part to help repair the damage. And they can do that through ways that they see best, but one way that would be good would be to point out what the policies and practices are in that part of the world, because it's in that region where this report has been exploited and used to cause lasting damage to the image of the United States of America. It has had serious consequences. And so that's all I'm saying, is that we would encourage them to take steps to help repair the damage. And I think that they recognize the importance of doing that. That's all I'm saying.
I'm just really sick of the contempt the media shows for conservatives, Christians, and anyone else who doesn't fit into their haughty regime of elitism. It's not about a government-driven press. I'm completely against that.
Cross-posted at Ze Uzzer blog
Posted by: Suzanne at
10:03 PM
| Comments (45)
| Add Comment
Post contains 456 words, total size 3 kb.
"We are celebrating today a historical event and the rebuilding of the Iraqi army. Having the headquarters of our ground forces here is an indication of the Iraqi army controlling its own destiny."In response, Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, commander of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, stated,"Our streets have been covered in blood, and we want to clean this place with the help of our friends the Americans."
"As soon as you feel you are ready, we will hand over operations. And the coalition will return to their own countries."This is the first somewhat formal declaration of an exit point -- when the Iraqi commander believes his army can do the job -- for the Coalition Forces go home.
Companion post at Interested-Participant.
Posted by: Mike Pechar at
08:44 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 179 words, total size 1 kb.
In my previous post on Monday I wrote that I was probably the only one that considered what has happened across the Muslim world over the past few days as the tantrums of a sick culture. My focus in the post was focused on the need for Muslim reform and the fact that the real story in the Newsweek fiasco, the 800 pound gorilla(really big gorilla) in the living room, was not Newsweek's stupid mistake and escape from journalistic standards and reason, but the reaction of the Muslim world to the Newsweek article. As bloggers and other pundits continue to pound on "News-Weak," why isn't more written on the absurd and inappropriate behavior of the Muslim world? Since when did flushing a book down or in a toilet, even if true which it wasn't (sourced to be true), holy or otherwise, rate commiting murder? Where is the uproar over Mulsim culpability and responsibility? Why isn't everyone screaming about the insane madness of the Muslim world's completely inappropriate and disproportionate response to the story? Completely missing from our posts and articles is the element of moral judgement. "To kill people thousands of miles away who had nothing to do with the act, and the fulminate with threats and murder against the entire Western world, all because of this alleged act, is not just disproportionate. It is not just excessive. It is mad."
Well, finally, from Robert Spencer at DhimmiWatch, comes this:
There is no excusing Newsweek's irresponsibility in publishing an explosive story that was false. But establishment conservatives like Marshall and National Review are fighting the last war
if they think this is a story that is solely about media bias. Of course the media is biased, and it's getting worse, but people are waking up to that.
The bigger story here, and the gorilla in the living room that no one wants to notice, is that flushing a Qur'an down the toilet should not be grounds to commit murder. Note the total absence of moral judgment in Marshall's piece, except that which he directs toward Newsweek. His argument is this: Newsweek should have known that this story would lead to deaths. Therefore, they shouldn't have printed it. But he says nothing whatsoever about a culture that condones -- celebrates -- wanton murder of innocent people, mayhem, and destruction in response to the alleged and unproven destruction of a book.
The question here is one of proportionate response. If a Qur'an had
indeed been flushed, Muslims would have justifiably been offended. They may justifiably have considered the perpetrators boors, or barbarians, or hell-bound unbelievers. They may justifiably have issued denunciations accordingly. But that is all. To kill people thousands of miles away who had nothing to do with the act, and the fulminate with threats and murder against the entire Western world, all because of this alleged act, is not just disproportionate. It is not just excessive. It is mad. And every decent person in the world ought to have the courage to stand up and say that it is mad.
Why is it that rule #1 in the establishment (left and right) view of this present conflict is that it has nothing to do with Islam and to bring a moral judgment to bear upon Muslim people, or to explore the ways in which Islam fuels the confict, is therefore absolutely forbidden?
I wrote on Monday:
(...) Sure, Newsweek did what the mainstream media does best in a world that places more importance on getting the story out first than on getting the story out right; they researched, wrote a piece, trashed the administration and our country, trashed the reputation of our military, and got the story out to the world - wrongly. Subsequently, sparked by a single paragraph in Newsweek alleging that US military interrogators had desecrated the Koran, a wave of anti-American demonstrations swept the Islamic world from the Gaza Strip to the Java Sea. In the past week it was condemned in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Malaysia and by the Arab League, and on Sunday, Afghan Muslim clerics threatened to call for a holy war against the United States. Think about it, this is from a
sub-population of our planet that refers to themselves as peaceful? What does this say about their culture, their thoughtfulness, their mindset, their ability for rational thought and their suitability to join in the rest of mankind in making
our planet a better place to live ?
(...) Newsweek got it wrong, the Arab press never bothered to verify the alleged toilet episode any more than did Newsweek, and the mindless, tantrum-like violence sparked by the false story showed all of us the true face of the Islamic culture today - a sick and violence-prone society, enveloped and characterized more by hate than by love of God and humanity, and badly in need of reform.
Looking back on Monday's post, my own outcry over the Muslim's reaction failed to go far enough.
To borrow from Robert Spencer, they fall ever deeper into dhimmitude,
National Review, Marshall, other MSM pundits, and especially bloggers are doing the Western world an enormous disservice. The reaction to the Newsweek story in the Muslim world only shows how critical it is that the elements of Islam that give rise to fanaticism and violence be examined and confronted. Lives are at stake. All of us "citizen journalists" and MSM quot;professional" journalists need to step out of the mold; the real story has nothing to do with media bias.
Media bias has always been there, is there, and probably will always be there. It's just the excuse, if it hadn't been the toilet it would have been something else. The real cupablility remains squarely in the lap of Islam.
Cross posted by Hyscience
Posted by: Richard@hyscience at
01:08 PM
| Comments (23)
| Add Comment
Post contains 993 words, total size 7 kb.
LOS ANGELES, May 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- As Americans continue to celebrate National Military Appreciation Month, a California teenager has accomplished what no other person has been able to do; give one thank you note to every person serving in the United States Armed Forces.Now THAT is a patriot.Last year, Shauna Fleming, 16, a sophomore at Lutheran High School in Orange, Ca, convinced her Principal, Gregg Pinick, to have her school be the collection point of her letter campaign that she called "A MILLION THANKS." Her goal was to collect and distribute one million thank you letters and emails to U.S. Service Members, here and overseas.
In October, 2004, Fleming reached her goal and had the millionth letter framed for presentation to President George W. Bush. That presentation occurred in the Oval Office in November, but Fleming was not satisfied with a million.
"I wanted to find a way to thank all of our Service Members, so I decided to continue collecting letters and emails until I reached 1.4 million, the number given to me by the Pentagon, said Fleming. "This week we reached that so I can say, at least symbolically, that A MILLION THANKS has a thank you for every Service Member, " Fleming added.
Gregg Pinick, principal of Lutheran High School, said he is proud of Shauna and all of his students and faculty for reaching a number that is historic.
Fleming said the 1.4 millionth letter will be framed and sent to General Frank B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The teen wrote a book about her experiences, along with some of the letters she received titled, A MILLION THANKS (Doubleday Books). She has even had offers to turn her story into a television movie.
So what's next? "I am planning to charter A MILLION THANKS clubs in high schools, and establish a Foundation to assist wounded soldiers and their families, said Fleming. "Plus, I'd like to reach another million thanks," she added.
Cross-posted at WMD.
Posted by: MattWMD at
10:36 AM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 345 words, total size 2 kb.
Posted by: MattWMD at
08:17 AM
| Comments (24)
| Add Comment
Post contains 28 words, total size 1 kb.
Iran's Agriculture Jihad Ministry is determined to reduce the countryÂ’s heavy reliance on imported edible oil, said the official in charge of implementing the national oil seed production scheme.[Emphasis added]
What sort of crazy Iron Chef Iran is this? Does the loser get beheaded? Just asking...
2:00PM Update: This was just begging for some visuals...
Posted by: MattWMD at
07:32 AM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 64 words, total size 1 kb.
Still there are two more posts I recommend, especially if you hail from the Bear Flag state or attended college there. The first is Jeff Harrell, again, with a revealing anecdote about what Newsweak's Mark Whitaker isn't doing tonight at Stanford.
The second, longer piece is by State Department mystery blogger New Sisyphus, who has a harrowing story about a murder at UC Berkeley and what makes such an event into a "story". I will let him connect it to the Newsweak matter for you.
Finally, in the extended entry, a note for the illumination of my Chomskyite interlocutor "Actus": more...
Posted by: seedubya at
01:04 AM
| Comments (5)
| Add Comment
Post contains 287 words, total size 2 kb.
May 16, 2005
UNESCO director Koichiro Matsuura said at the time, "As inexcusable as this action is, I hope that it will not provide fanatics elsewhere with an excuse for acts of destruction targeting Muslim cultural properties". Little did he realize the extent of the horrendous wave of riots, lynchings, and desecrations the Taliban's actions would engender. Some moderate Buddhists have condemned the Dalai Lama's harsh words, but have largely been intimidated into silence by a small band of noisy extremists--who do not represent mainstream Buddhism-- that marched through major Asian cities in million-strong protests this week. There is little the frightened moderates can do to stop the worldwide wave of sectarian Buddhist violence, often by itinerant bands of kung-fu-fighting Shaolin monks, against symbols and practitioners of the Islamic faith.
"Buddhism is a religion of peace, but we were provoked," said Drunken Monkey Master Qong Xi. "Their chickens have come home to roost, and are being methodically Kentucky Fried. What did they expect when they defaced these important cultural symbols of our religion? Besides, these Bamiyan statues were one of a kind, irreplaceable works of art, not the sort of thing that has been reproduced millions of times the world over."
Western human rights activists were flummoxed by the ongoing devastation and seemed generally baffled when asked for comment. "Buddhists v. Islam...Not touching that one with a ten-foot pole," confided one UN official.
UPDATE: Jeff Harrell has photoshopic evidence of efforts to accommodate Buddhist (and American) rage.
Posted by: seedubya at
07:56 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 338 words, total size 2 kb.
Per WND:
A major Boston talk-radio station cancelled Newsweek's weekly program due to the magazine's false report that U.S. interrogators desecrated the Quran at Guantanamo Bay by flushing one in the toilet.
Newsweek On Air" no longer will be broadcast on WRKO-AM, the station said in a statement today, according to a report by radio blogger Brian Maloney.
WRKO's schedule now shows "TBA" in place of the Newsweek program in its Sunday 9 p.m. timeslot.
Not a lot but it's a start
Posted by Traderrob
Posted by: Traderrob at
04:50 PM
| Comments (31)
| Add Comment
Post contains 137 words, total size 1 kb.
Posted by: seedubya at
04:22 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 44 words, total size 1 kb.
Buddy, try the Al-Atkins
Yeah, he's a creep. The actual news here is that Ahmed Chalabi is helping him negotiate the dismissal of the indictment. I am conflicted about Chalabi's role in Iraq; people who know far more about Iraq than I do are sharply divided about whether Chalabi is a true Iraqi patriot or a self-dealing opportunist. The Fox article is a little vague about Chalabi's role, but any association with al-Sadr looks bad for him.
Let's remember what else al-Sadr did besides allegedly arranging the murder of a respected, moderate Shiite cleric and being a suspect in assorted other assassinations and sundry other anti-US activities. He also destroyed a Gypsy village (Qawliya) for immorality back in 2004. His mob leveled the town with machine guns, RPG's, and mortars when the village refused to give up a woman to stand trial for prostitution in Sadr's kangaroo religious court. An excellent dossier on all his Sadrmizing can be found in, of all places, Newsweek.
This murdering thug must not be allowed to return to a place of public power and respectability in Iraq.
UPDATE: CAPTION MOOKIE!
e.g., "We must sit on the American Infidels and crush them beneath our enormous Islamic butt!"
Posted by: seedubya at
04:03 PM
| Comments (19)
| Add Comment
Post contains 251 words, total size 2 kb.
135 queries taking 0.2645 seconds, 501 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
