February 09, 2010

Quite Googleable commented on Rusty's post NYT OpEd: You Know What Would be Awesome? Iran With a Nuke Bomb! and gave a link to this site; Ground Zero

This mapplet shows the thermal damage caused by a nuclear explosion. Search for a place, pick a suitable weapon and press "Nuke It!"

Ooops, forgot (NOT), this is Google, home to terrorist propagandist on blogspot, Youtube, etc.

I will speak for Rusty and give Google Ground Zero a friggin F------- This is friggin nutz.

UPDATE: Those arrested thanks to "guest".

Police have identified the students as:
UC Irvine:
Joseph Tamim Haider
Osama Ahmed Sabry Shabaik
Mohemed Mohy Eldeen Abdelgany
Ali Mohammad Sayeed
Asaad Traina
Mohammad Qureashi
Aslam Akhtar
Hakim Nasreddine Kebir
UC Riverside:
Taher Herzallam
Shaheen Waleed Nassar
Khalid Bahgat Akari

Via Orange County Register

Free speech's survival is at stake at UC Irvine. Its fate is in the hands of UCI Chancellor Michael Drake.

On Monday night there was an assault on this most treasured principle of Americans. Michael Oren, a respected academic and Israel's ambassador to the United States, attempted to make a presentation to about 500 students, faculty and community members about U.S.-Israeli relations. A raucous group of protesters time and again interrupted his effort to create a bridge of understanding over the contentious issue of the Middle East. The protesters screamed and shouted attempting to drown out the ambassador. One of one, they were removed by security officials who stood on the perimeter of the UCI Student Center

[Editor's note: UCI officials said Tuesday that of 12 people arrested, nine were UCI students, and three were students at UC Riverside. UCI police initially refused to release the names of the arrestees, who were cited for disrupting a public event.]

After repeated interruptions, Oren stepped out. In a side room, officials from the university, the Jewish community and the Israeli Consulate were questioning if the ambassador should continue. The real question was would the university be a place for an exchange of ideas or one where totalitarianism and verbal violence would hold sway.

The ambassador told Chancellor Drake, "It's not about me speaking, it's about the right of academic freedom on campus." I told Drake that it was time for him to consider suspending or expelling students who believe they can use violence and intimidation to impose their views on others.

Hat Tip: Kim.

Hat Tip: Vinnie.

Front Page Magazine interviewed Dave Gaubatz:

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Dave Gaubatz, the first U.S. civilian (1811) Federal Agent deployed to Iraq in 2003. He is the owner of DG Counter-terrorism Publishing. He is currently conducting a 50 State Counter-terrorism Research Tour (CTRT). He is the co-author (with Paul Sperry) of the new book, Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that’s Conspiring to Islamize America. He can be contacted at davegaubatz@gmail.com and his site is MuslimMafiaInternational.com.

FP: Dave Gaubatz, welcome to Frontpage Interview.

I would like to talk to you today about jihadi torture videos that have come into your possession and also about Islam’s child martyrs in America.

But first, give us some updates on your new research in terms of counter-terrorism.

Gaubatz: Thank you Jamie.

I just returned from DC, MD, PA, WV, VA, and NJ conducting various counter-terrorism (CT) research. I would like to say that while various realms of our government are doing an outstanding job in protecting our families from future Islamic based terrorist attacks, we have several serious problems. One of them is that our President doesn’t even officially have any type of plans on a “War on Terrorism.” Sadly, we are being overtaken by these groups. I meet Americans and other concerned citizens from Canada and the UK, and they know America and their countries are slowly/patiently being overtaken from within, while their leaders are ignoring the national threats.

FP: Give us some specifics on what you have recently discovered.

Gaubatz: I am beginning to see more and more violent material published and distributed to young Muslim children advocating killing Jews and Christians, and how to conduct treason/sedition inside America and to ultimately take our country down as we know it.

CAIR (Muslim Brotherhood) strongly informs its followers to not assist our law enforcement agencies and to not conduct slander and backbiting against Islamic leaders. Within Sharia law there are severe penalties for undermining the efforts of the ‘Islamic Ummah’ (Nation) and their specific target of a worldwide Ummah under Sharia law.

I have been provided hundreds of DVD’s originally videotaped by Islamic terrorist groups while they conducted torture and killings of people (even Muslims) who have helped their enemies (Israel, America, UK, Canada, etc…) to further (in their opinion) oppress the Muslim Ummah.

Long time Jawa readers are well aware of the brutality of terrorists and the propaganda they spread.

h/t No Sharia

With BS like this, Adam Lowther might just earn himself a Ph.D. as he looks on the bright side of a nuclear armed Iran:

Believe it or not, there are some potential benefits to the United States should Iran build a bomb.

1) Defeating al Qaeda. Yes, really.
2) Breaking up OPEC. I. Kid. You. Not.
3) Peace between Israel & Palestinians. Wow.
4) More jobs because of exporting weapons. Awesome.
5) Saving the taxpayers billions & reducing the defect. Tea Partiers unite!

Hell, if this numbskull is right why don't we just give Iran a nuke or two!

This is the kind of thing I might require some senior level students to write. You know, get them to think outside the box. Force them to see the pitfalls of parroting conventional wisdom and what not.

And then you'd require them to write another paper in which they say what kind of idiot could possibly believe the inane garbage that they were forced to write about in the first paper.

If this was a paper Mr. Lowther was forced to write in some class on Grand Strategy I give it a B, mostly for creativity.

I give the New York Times and F for printing it.

Cojones may not be SFW.

The common theme speaks for itself.

Pakistan:

A court in Faisalabad, Pakistan, sentenced to life imprisonment Imran Masih, a young Christian, for having insulted and desecrated the Koran, according to the Minorities Concern newsletter.

Islam or any other religion can be criticised, but a malicious criticism aimed at promoting communal hatred and painting the whole community as villainous is not permissible, Bombay High Court held today.

Wilders, in the bizarre inquisition that has replaced justice in the Dutch courts, is accused of offending Muslims by pointing out that Muslims invoke the Qur'an and Muhammad's example to justify violence.

Here's Bill Gertz's report about this year's Army CT conference which notes that the alarm was raised about the threat of domestic jihadis to US forces two years ago. That warning, sadly, was ignored.

Even scarier? An insider tells me that the military continues to be in denial about the threat of Islamist infiltration and violence even after the Fort Hood massacre. In fact, several presentations at this year's CT conference echoing those earlier warnings were panned by some of the organizers and at least one presenter called a racist.

A racist. For suggesting that jihadis wish to do us harm. Months after Nidal Hasan. Sickening.

Washington Times:

Almost two years before the deadly Fort Hood shooting by a radicalized Muslim officer, the U.S. Army was explicitly warned that jihadism — Islamic holy war — was a serious problem and threat to personnel in the U.S., according to participants at a major Army-sponsored conference.

The annual Army anti-terrorism conference in Florida in February 2008 included presentations on the threat by counterterrorism specialists Patrick Poole, Army Lt. Col. Joseph Myers and Terri Wonder.

The meeting was organized by the Army's provost marshal general and included more than 350 force protection and anti-terrorism professionals who came from major Army installations and commands from around the world, according to participants.

(Brcko, Bosnia and Herzegovina) Seven members of the Islamist Wahhabi sect were arrested last week by special forces at Gornja Maoca, a village which is known as a hideout for Islamic extremists where state law has been replaced by sharia law.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has ordered today a one-month detention for seven members of the Islamist Wahhabi movement, who were arrested on Tuesday in a major action of special forces in the village of Gornja Maoca near Brcko.

One of the arrested, a foreign national and, according to media, an Islamic extremist, is in an extradition custody and the competent service for foreigners is responsible for him.

The arrested Wahhabis, B-H citizens, are suspected to have attacked the constitutional order, endangered territorial integrity, incited religious and national hatred, involved in organized crime, and possessed unauthorized weapons and explosive materials.

The village of Gornja Maoca is exclusively inhabited by members of the Wahhabi movement, and until the action of the state forces, applied were not valid laws of B-H, but the sheriate law.

Although 30 days detention is hardly a serious countermeasure, at least the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina appears to be doing something.

CBN News terrorism correspondent Erick Stakelbeck was on Hannity's program last night talking about a series of interviews he conducted recently in London with several known Al-Qaeda operatives living openly in the UK. His CBN News report aired earlier today. Both are required viewing.

Here is Stakelbeck's CBN report:

And here is his interview last night with Hannity:

Watch them both.

Will the last one out of Abu Hamza's house be sure to lock up?

I saw the Pepsi commercial just this morning about giving cash for good ideas. I blew it off, but Pupista has some good ideas how you can get Pepsi to donate cash to the troops. Go to the link and then vote!

In the hierarchy of comedy the screaming-allahu-akbar-and-claiming-there's-a-bomb-on-the-train gag is just below yo-momma jokes, but not quite as bad as the hey-[insert favorite 1980s icon here]-called-and-they-want-their-[insert favorite kitchy phrase here]-back bit.

Via PPP:

Could the Republican primary for Governor in Texas end up in a runoff between Rick Perry...and Debra Medina? Medina is coming on strong and polls now at 24%, just four points behind Kay Bailey Hutchison's 28%. Perry continues to hold a double digit advantage at 39%.

It looks like another instance where that $100k in so-called TP money Palin dropped in her PAC won't be supporting the Tea Party candidate in the race for the Texas Governorship. Between Palin's already having disappointed some Tea Partiers in KY, the above, and her stumping for John McCain, some Tea Party folks might start wondering just whose side she's on.

Remember Louay Safi, a a top official for the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) who was conducting classes at Ft. Hood on Islam to troops about to deploy to Afghanistan in the days following Nidal Hassan's act of terror? Well, military ties with Safi have finally been severed and an investigation into him has been opened:

Safi now faces a criminal inquiry by the military but has never been criminally charged. He denies wrongdoing. He also has described post-9/11 counterterrorism crackdowns as a "campaign against Islam."

Safi, for his part claims he's not an extremist but a moderate Muslim. I believe him. Unfortunately being a moderate Muslim does not put one into the mainstream of modern secular thought. Most moderate Muslims in this country who really are moderate by the measuring stick of American values are liberals when compared to the likes of Safi. And it's why the term moderate is meaningless when applied to Muslims in the West.

It's not moderate Muslims vs. radicals. Nor is it about liberals vs. moderates. The real test is commitment to secularism: Muslims vs. Islamists. Islamists are our political enemies, even the moderate ones.

Thanks to Creeping Sharia, who have more.

Related:
Congressional letter to SECDEF Gates demands end to Islamic lectures to troops by Louay Safi and ISNA
Extremist speaker lecturing on Islam to deploying Ft Hood troops

***Bumped, because it feels so good to be right!**

Dawn.com

KARACHI: The Taliban based in Orakzai Agency confirmed on Tuesday that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakeemullah Mehsud is dead.

According to a DawnNews report, Mehsud died on Sunday in Multan after succumbing to injuries received in a drone attack in Shaktoi village.

However, Alam Tariq the offiicial Taliban spokesman has not yet made a statement.

Sources said that Maulvi Noor Jamal has been nominated as Mehsud's succesor.

Government officials too have confirmed his death.

Jawa Report, dependably ahead in Dead Terrorist news!

UPDATE by Rusty: America, f*ck yeah!

Let me start by saying that anything said by a world leader in public should be taken seriously. Especially when it comes from a maniacal dictator like Short Round. That doesn't mean we can't have a some fun at a little person's expense.

What will Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announce on Feb 11 that will stun the west? Winner will get droid spare parts of their choice from the Sandcrawler's junk drawer...you know everyone has a junk drawer, don't pretend you don't know what it is.

I'll start. I will be stunned if Mahmoud doesn't come out of the closet.

Fausta's Blog:

As I write this, the weather cable TV stations are forecasting 4″ of snow today and an additional 6″-8″ tomorrow. Washington, which was slammed harder than us over the weekend causing the government offices to close and the National Guard to be called on duty, is supposed to get even more.

But, says NOAA spokesman Justin Kenney, they’re happy to have a chance to educate people about the difference between the climate and the weather.

Or, as Don Surber puts it, Baghdad Bob joins NOAA.

Manbearpig!

Via I bet I can find more than 1,000,000 who like to see Iran Free

You know, we really don't run many Birther posts either way. But Big Journalism was able to get Bushhitler and Star Wars and as this cool icon all in today's post about the endless pursuit of Barack Obama's removal based on citizenship or lack thereof...

The last thing we need as the truth and power of our core beliefs in small government, a strong defense and the Bill of Rights are becoming evident again even in places like Massachusetts is to distract and discredit ourselves by tolerating weird, nutty conspiracy theories. It’s also a dream come true for our opponents – a chance to dodge the real questions about out-of-control spending, crippling taxes and hug-a-jihadi terrorist policies and to instead focus on the irrational fixations of a few nuts.

Every time some right-wing journalist “raises a question” about the President’s birth certificate, Rahm Emanuel smiles.

They my coded reply was as follows, "How do you know Barack Obama even was born? See Super Sekrit Evil Plan 723."

OMG! Be afraid, be very afraid.

First evah!

The first ever Ivy Muslims Conference this weekend persevered despite a mid-Atlantic snowstorm Friday night. Muslims from five Ivy League schools convened at Yale Saturday and Sunday in the first conference organized by Muslim Student Association chapters across the Ivy League.

About 120 delegates from each Ivy League school attended, with 30 delegates from Yale. Attendees from the Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and Princeton chapters were absent due to the snowstorm that hit Friday night.

Turns out, my IFPS colleagues noticed Omer Bajwa at Kurt Westergaard's Yale talk. I previously mentioned Bajwa, billed as the Muslim chaplain of the Yale Muslim Student Association, for having told an Islamabad audience that"Muslims will win the final victory in the West if they conform to their beliefs and disseminate the message of Islam with wisdom and politeness." No doubt Bajwa was conforming to and disseminating Islam's message during his display at the Westergaard talk, but he did so with neither wisdom nor politeness.

First, Bajwa, whose official title is Yale's "coordinator of Muslim life for the University," made the baseless announcement that the "well-known Islamophobes Daniel Pipes and Geert Wilders" were behind Westergaard's Yale appearance.

Well-known "Islamopobes"? Remember, this is a man of the (some) cloth speaking -- the one who co-signed a letter in that same day's Yale Daily News with Yale University Chaplain Sharon Kugler going on about achieving a community of "true religious understanding." As Rabbi Housman would later note, "Lars Hedegaard, President of the IFPS, corrected this gentleman and remarked that neither Wilders nor Pipes were involved in any of the arrangements for Westergaard's appearance and probably did not even know of his presence in the US."

(Santa Ana, California) In February 2008, Boeing engineer Dongfan "Greg" Chung was arrested for economic espionage and spying over almost 30 years, passing information to the People's Republic of China.

Data from the NASA Space Shuttle program to the B-1 Bomber to the F-15 to the B-52 to the Chinook helicopter were stolen and given to the PRC.

In July 2009, Chung was convicted.

Yesterday, 73-year-old Dongfan “Greg” Chung was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney to 188 months in prison, more than 15 years. Judge Carney said he wanted to send a message to China to stop sending spies to America.

Chung has always maintained that he was not spying, rather he was writing a book.

February 08, 2010

You should see him when the goat makes it to 100%

Terror Free Somalia:

a top commander in Somalia's hard-line Islamist militant group al-Shabaab was killed by his own guards, according to Somalia's state radioAmar Ibrahim, a Jordanian national, was killed in Mogadishu's Yaqshid neighborhood, residents told Radio Mogadishu, the state radio of Somalia's transitional government.Ibrahim was reported to be a ruthless commander, and his guards killed him in apparent vengeance

Amir

* Sheikh Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow" (2007–2008)
* Sheikh Mukhtar Robow "Abu Mansoor" (2008–2009)
* Sheikh Moktar Ali Zubeyr "Godane" (2009–present)

It appears that al-Shabaab leaders last oh about a year. So I just used a random al-Shabaab guy in the "dead" pic above. I mean chances are that guy's dead too right?

We at Jawa Report would like to provide our good Bros. at al-Shabaab some music to listen to as they continue their leadership determination process.

That and we always throw a party when this happens.

From the New York Times:

JAKARTA, Indonesia — A recently erected statue of President Obama as a 10-year-old boy will be removed from a public park here, city officials said Friday, bowing to vociferous criticism on Facebook just a month before Mr. Obama is scheduled to visit Indonesia.

Jawa exclusive pic courtesy of "Citizen of the World".

Looks like the Taliban planned to attack another Pearl Continental Hotel yet again, this time in Lahore. The hotel is one of a handful that cater to Western businessmen, all of whom the Taliban types just assume are U.S. agents.

Given the security situation in Pakistan it's a wonder any why any Westerner would want to go to that country for any reason? But the Taliban cell behind the operation seemed to care not a whim if their victims were American or Pakistani. Simply being in or near a hotel which caters to the kafir is enought for them to justify your killing:

Pakistan police have arrested six suspected Taliban militants with a suicide vest and hand grenades allegedly on their way to attack a five-star hotel and kill Americans in the country's cultural capital.

The militants arrested on the outskirts of Lahore included a 14-year-old boy and a prayer leader from Pakistan's Khyber tribal area near the Afghan border, said police official Zulfikar Hameed.

The prayer leader was wearing a vest packed with explosives. They told police they were targeting Americans at the Pearl Continental hotel, he said...

Police seized 26 hand grenades and five detonators from the suspects, who were travelling by car and motorcycle, said Mr Hameed. Despite their intentions, the men did not know for certain whether any Americans were staying at the hotel, he said.

Earlier I posted on the news that the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) led Somali Unity government had appointed an American citizen, Abukar Arman, to be their special envoy to the US. This would be the same ICU that we dubbed the African Taliban because of their support for Taliban-esque sharia law. The image to the right was taken at an ICU rally in Mogadishu shortly after they came to power the first time. Yes, that is Osama bin Laden.

In that post I asked if any one knew who Abukar Arman was. Thanks to dahozho, we learn that in addition to being a "community activist", Arman is also an author at the Huffington Post.

In this post Arman advocates the implementation of sharia law in Somalia. Ironically, since he's now working for a government that wishes to impose Taliban-like sharia, he argues that Taliban-like sharia isn't, you know, the real sharia:

If by Shariah we mean the Talibanesque, self-righteous, and unjust brand currently being practiced by the Somali Neo-Islamists known as al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam, the answer is: No.

I'm not sure I understand why any Muslim who has tasted freedom wants sharia. Even moderate Islamic jurisprudence calls for penalties for blasphemy, even if they sometimes eschew the death penalty. Hence, unless one resorts to definitional tricks -- like calling anything they like sharia, and anything they don't like not sharia -- then it seems that sharia is inherently antithetical to secular governance.

But let us assume that some very liberal forms of sharia can be reconciled with modernity. If history is any guide then unfortunately the government which he now apparently represents doesn't want that.

This would be the same government that killed a 22 year old apostate for leaving Islam and embracing Christianity. That banned the watching of movies in theaters.

Now, I'm not saying that ICU Islamists of Sharif Sheikh Ahmed aren't less despicable than those of the al Shabaab. Clearly, there is more order to the murders and oppression which would accompany a real consolidation of power in the ICU and its so-called Unity government. And since the al Shabaab is clearly aligned with al Qaeda (which, I note that Arman disputes -- even though Shabaab itself makes the claim) it makes a whole lot of sense that we have to deal with the ICU as there may be no better alternatives.

The problem here is not necessarily that Arman is now working for what will clearly be an oppressive regime. Neither is the problem that Arman advocates reconciliation with that regime. Realpolitik may mean we have to learn to live with the bad in order to avoid the worse.

The problem is that the Huffington Post has given him a bullhorn to spread what are essentially lies. Lies about the nature of sharia. Lies about the nature of Sharif Ahmed's vision of political Islam. The actions of the former ICU government led by Ahmed speak for themselves.

Perhaps reconciliation is a worthy goal in Somalia. Stability also may be a worthy goal. And so, too, a government willing to oppose the al Shabaab. The suffering of the Somali people may be less under an oppressive sharia regime than under the present chaos.

But Arman is clearly a propagandist who wishes to whitewash what has happened in Somalia and disconnect all of the many atrocities done there from the ideology which inspired those very same atrocities -- political Islam.

Arman reminds me of one of those apologists for Communism who were all the rage on the Left during the height of the Cold War and which were endlessly quoted in the Soviet Press. And the HuffPo has become his Pravda.

UPDATE: I asked Robert Spencer if he had come across Abukar Arman. He has. For instance, see these posts which take on Arman's past publications. Apparently he's the kind of guy who likes to accuse those that disagree with political Islam "Islamophobes" or worse -- he insinuates that those opposed to political Islam are racists (including, ironically, Charles Johnson):
"More people were victimized as a result of Islamophobia than the other way around"
Islamophobia? Not so fast
Slander against Spencer, Horowitz in Middle East Times editorial

Also see this Front Page article about Arman from Patrick Poole:

Abukar Arman is one of the most prominent public defenders of the al-Qaeda-backed ICU terrorist organization in the West, having published numerous articles in print and online defending the group prior to their violent takeover of Somalia last summer, during their campaign to impose shari’a on the Somali population during brief time in power, and following the ICU’s expulsion late last year by Ethiopian troops to restore the UN-backed Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and to defuse the threats made by the ICU to conduct terror operations inside Ethiopia.

Back this past December [2006 -- ed], Arman called the ICU takeover of Somali “the best thing that happened to Somalia in the past 16 years”:

Reportedly, species of animals and plants are endangered because of human overpopulation and the Center for Biological Diversity is launching a program to minimize homo sapiens procreation. Free condoms emblazoned with images of endangered species will be distributed to prevent pregnancies.

Heh. Imagine a latex-clad member sporting the image of a California condor (right). Eco-friendly intimacy, eh? Frankly, I would sense a bit of bad karma or negative mojo putting images of endangered and, presumably, unfit-to-survive species on my jewels.

Nevertheless, the biological diversity crowd see the primary conflict as endangered species versus people and they are rooting for the endangered species. (More ....)

My thoughts and prayers go to his family.

A group of burglars has hit a Paris Post office using Burquas as a disguise.

Update on The Jawa Report's Obligatory CribNoteGate Post

Heh...

How will the leftists spin this?

Crazy shite right there

h/t Ace

Potty mouth related:
Amanda Marcotte: It Gets Worse

Today’s “Jesus cries when women f**k” update by Amanda Marcotte

Well, the Texas House of Representatives got Republican Jesus and he reminded them that out of of all the things he hates, which are multitude, nothing incurs his wrath more than women’s sexuality.

The bloggers, Amanda Marcotte, formerly of Pandagon, and Melissa McEwan, of Shakespeare's Sister, had come under fire from right-wing bloggers for statements they had previously made on their respective blogs.

A statement by the Catholic League's Bill Donohue, which called Marcotte and McEwan "anti-Catholic vulgar trash-talking bigots," and an accompanying article on the controversy in the New York Times this morning, put extra pressure on the campaign.

The teacher, Nicholas Dafuris, filled out a" Racist Incident Reporting Sheet" only to be told; 'If the child was older, say 15, I might take it more seriously, he's only nine, he's only doing it to wind you up."

UK's "Central Employment Tribunal" needs to view child training videos by terrorists...

Daily Mail

A Christian teacher told today how he lost his job after complaining that Muslim pupils as young as eight hailed the September 11 hijackers as 'heroes'.

Nicholas Kafouris said he was forced from his £30,000-a-year post because he would not tolerate the 'racist' and 'anti-Semitic' behaviour of children.

He said the predominantly Muslim youngsters openly praised Islamic extremists in class, and hailed the terrorists of the 2001 atrocities as 'martyrs'.

Mr Kafouris, 40, told how one pupil said to him, ‘Don’t touch me, you’re a Christian’, when the teacher accidentally brushed against him with his arm.

Others said, ‘We want to be Islamic bombers when we grow up', and 'the Christians and Jews are our enemies, you too because you're a Christian', he added.

Mr Kafouris, who had taught at Bigland Green Primary School, in Tower Hamlets, East London, for 12 years, said there was a change in attitude of pupils at the school - where the majority of pupils are Muslim - after the World Trade Center attacks. more....

WWJSS? (What Would Jeff Spicoli Say?)

Aweseome. Totally awesome!

The Big Feed has more.

His name is Abukar Abdou Arman and he's a long time resident of the United States and a "well-known community activist." So well-known, in fact, that I've never heard of him. Any one have any info on Arman?

How screwed up is Somalia? The African Taliban in Somalia -- who Arman represents -- are now our allies. These would be the same people that we helped oust from power through our support of the Ethiopian invasion only to find that the alternative in the al Qaeda aligned Shabaab were worse.

The rift between the Islamic Courts Union (the African Taliban) and their armed wing in the al Shabaab did not occur over whether or not adulterers should be stoned to death, movie theaters closed, and apostates murdered -- no, both groups are in agreement over that. No, the rift came when the ICC decided it would negotiate through the UN, promise not to support violent jihad outside of Somlia's borders, and enter into a transitional government.

In any event I find it disheartening that this is as good as it gets in Somalia. There has to be some better alternative to a government run by al Qaeda types and one run by Taliban wannabes.

Terror Free Somalia Foundation has more.

Via Somali reporter extraordinaire Rahm

Al-Shabab fighters have reportedly vacated their strongholds in Mogadishu ahead of a government offensive.According to sources, the group has been pulling out all its weapons and vehicles from its main stronghold ever since they heard the reports of an imminent government attack.

Other reports also suggested that other Al-Shabab strongholds, including the Daynile district, have witnessed large movements of military personnel and equipment. It is unclear if this is a military tactic that Al-Shabab is employing. In addition, five people were killed and dozens of others injured on Sunday in shelling that rocked parts of the Somali capital Mogadishu, medics and witnesses said...

Related:
Al Shabaab declares jihad on Kenya

Michelle Malkin:

I was offline most of the weekend with family, so surfed over to Memeorandum tonight to catch up on the latest blog buzz. What have the left-wing blogs been raging about?

The ink on Sarah Palin’s hand.

The wall-to-wall coverage leads with “exclusive” investigative reports from a HuffPo “independent journalist and foreign correspondent.”

Plus: Breaking updates on the “crib notes!”

Seriously?

Shocking!

Sort of, I guess.

Telegraph:

Fusilier Martin Williams described shooting the insurgents as a “vendetta” against those who killed his friend Robert Hunt, who was the 200th soldier to die in Afghanistan.

His skills were put to the test when his patrol came under fire after it moved into a compound in an area north of Lashkar Gah in central Helmand last Monday. He took up his position and waited patiently for enemy troops to appear. His victims included two Taliban shot in a ditch at a distance of about 800 yards, including one who was hit in the throat.

“He put his hand out as if asking someone to help but not one came,” the Welshman said. “There was definitely less movement after I dropped them.

“The Taliban are used to machine guns but as soon as you get a sniper on the ground, it puts the fear of God into them.”

Hat Tip: Rambo.

Always expect the unexpected.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Endeavour and six astronauts rocketed into orbit Monday on what's likely the last nighttime launch for the shuttle program, hauling a new room and observation deck for the International Space Station.

The space shuttle took flight before dawn, igniting the sky with a brilliant flash seen for miles around. The weather finally cooperated: Thick, low clouds that had delayed a first launch attempt Sunday returned, but then cleared away just in time.

"Looks like the weather came together tonight," launch director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts right before liftoff. "It's time to go fly."

"We'll see you in a couple weeks," replied commander George Zamka. He repeated: "It's time to go fly."

There are just four more missions scheduled this year before the shuttles are retired.

If you are concerned that we're going to be begging rides from the Ruskies and Chicoms or watching people splode in that famously dependable SpaceX POS, just think of how much pride we'll be able to take in totally kicking Holland's ass by becoming the world leader in windmill technology.

F*ck Yeah!

Yahoo: SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – Costa Ricans have elected their first woman president as the ruling party candidate won in a landslide after campaigning to continue free market policies in Central America's most stable nation.

With most of the votes from Sunday's election counted, Laura Chinchilla held a 22-point lead over her closest rival. Her 47 percent share of the vote was well beyond the 40 percent needed to avoid a run-off.

The 50-year-old protege of the current president, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias, promised to pursue the same economic policies that recently brought the country into a trade pact with the U.S. and opened commerce with China.

"Today we are making history," said Chinchilla, who will be the fifth Latin American woman to serve as president when she takes office in May. "The Costa Rican people have given me their confidence, and I will not betray it."

...Chinchilla, the mother of a teenage son, is a social conservative who opposes abortion and gay marriage

Desperate to keep wildly unpopular New York governor David Paterson from running for re-election, elements of the Democrat Puppet Media appear to be ready to smear the hapless politico as if he were a Republican:

New York, United States - It is being reported that New York Governor David Paterson will resign on Monday after the New York Times will publish a “bombshell” article on the same day, according to New York Magazine. The piece would reveal a scandal for the governor and force him to submit his resignation; however, it is unknown what the scandal could be.

Until the Gray Lady's water breaks, we can only speculate.

February 07, 2010

K Bai Nao

Via Big Government

Antisemitism is rampant on Facebook

Via Islam in Europe

Police have launched an urgent investigation into a horrific Facebook group that gave graphic details of anti-Semitic incidents perpetrated by its members against Ilford's Jewish community.

The group, created by a student at Loxford School of Science and Technology, attracted more than 500 members in two weeks following its launch last month and featured teenagers boasting about engaging in anti-Semitic behaviour.

It featured messages from youths using language rife with spelling errors,
profanities and teenage colloquialisms.

One girl wrote: "Jews are the ones that killed prophets in the past. Dirty filthy scum-bags. No wonder they have the curse of Allah upon them. Burn Jew burn."(...)

The Jewish News was informed about the group, created by a student at
Loxford School, by a private investigator in Australia. It has since been
removed from the popular social networking site.

The group was described by a Community Security Trust (CST) official as "one of the most shocking things I have ever seen".

Heh....

h/t Dave in Texas

Terrible tragedy:

Via Hartford Courant

MIDDLETOWN - Witnesses and authorities said as many as 100 people may have been injured and two killed when a massive explosion, which homeowners more than 10 miles away mistook for an earthquake, blew up a power plant being built on the Connecticut River in the southern section of Middletown at about 11 a.m. Sunday.

Medical rescue personnel said four of the 100 were injured, four critically, and two were dead at the site of the Kleen Energy Systems plant on River Road.

"There are bodies everywhere," a witness said. Another witness said many victims may be buried in rubble.

Middletown deputy fire marshal Al Santostefano said at 1:15 p.m. there were "confirmed fatalities" but that he did not know who many. He said there were at least 50 construction workers on the site.

"It was a massive explosion" he said.

Santostefano said the explosion was related in some fashion to natural gas, but he did not know how.

Dan Riehl has more

"Tight End"?

Ha!

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we wi...ll have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that.

Apparently these children didn't please the sexually perverted Taliban:

Via UK's Major Paul Smyth's Helmand Blog

Boys as young as 12 are being used by the Taliban to plant bombs designed to kill and maim British troops in Afghanistan.

Army commanders say insurgents are forcing children to lay improvised explosive devices (IEDs) because they know they will not be shot by British snipers.[...]

A senior Army source said: ‘The Taliban know that if they get caught in the sights of our snipers, they don’t last long, so they have resorted to hiding behind compound walls and directing children to plant bombs for them.

‘Lots of home-made IEDs detonate before they have even been laid, but the Taliban don’t seem to care whether a child gets killed or maimed. Some boys are as young as 12.’

Surgeon Lieutenant Colonel Jedge Lewin, 41, the Household Cavalry Battle Group’s doctor, said: ‘In the past few days alone, we have had five cases of children who have been exposed to blasts causing severe damage to, or loss of, hands and fingers.

‘Children can pick up devices when they are playing or handle detonators when forced to plant the bombs. This is a cowardly Taliban tactic and when children are suffering the consequences, it’s particularly sickening.’

February 06, 2010

God, grant them victory and grant it swiftly:

In a break from traditional military secrecy, American, British and Afghan commanders have announced that Marjah, the last town in Helmand under Taliban control, will be attacked.

Operation Moshtarak (“Together”) will be by far the largest offensive since General Stanley McChrystal, the American commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, instigated his counter-insurgency strategy, backed by President Barack Obama’s 30,000-troop “surge”.

About 1,000 Taliban, mostly Afghans but with some foreign fighters in their ranks, are believed to be in Marjah, an opium centre and local headquarters for bomb-making and sending out suicide bombers.

Military sources described the use of publicity as a psychological tactic to intimidate the Taliban into laying down their weapons or fleeing.

Today, in 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in rural Illinois. He’s the kind of leader who ordinarily comes along only once in a life-time. We’re hoping we can beat those odds.

heh...

h/t Chip

His name is Issa T. Salomi, a sixty year old man from El Cajon, California. He was in Iraq as a civilian contractor. He's been missing since Jan. 23rd. A video of him appeared on the internet today.

The same group announced that it had the body of another American civilian kidnapped and murdered in 2006. His name was Ahmed Qusay al-Taie.

It's a Shia group tied to the Iranian government is holding Salomi. They call themselves the League of Righteousness. They are demanding the release of members of their group from Iraqi prisons in exchange for Salomi's life. They also want Backwater employees to be prosecuted for alleged crimes and for all U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq.

Here's the video of Salomi.

We pray for his immediate release -- and if that doesn't happen of their own volition, for U.S. Special Forces to be instruments in God's hands.

UPDATE: Long War Journal has more. Let it sink in that we've already swapped prisoners for hostages with this group in the past. A move supposed to have bought us reconciliation, but instead has only brought us .... more hostage taking.

Silly me, I meant the adviser said; Pope Benedict XVI is “hurting people in the name of Jesus.”

I just wanted to "borrow" Dan Riehl's headline, very catchy

My inbox:

I clicked on Can you write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper now?

I entered a standard zip code for Las Vegas for the heck of it.

This ain't over yet folks.

These dudes remind me of the Salem witch hunt.

"Lahore, Muslim lawyers will "burn alive" anyone who defends murdered 12 year old Christian."

Islamabad (AsiaNews) - Because of the threats posed by the powerful Lahore Bar Association – an umbrella organization of city lawyers - no Christian or Muslim lawyer is ready to take on the defence in the murder of 12 year-old Shazia Bashir, it was reported yesterday by The Pakistani Christian association that deals with legal assistance.

The girl, of Christian faith, died on Jan. 23 as a result of violence - even sexual – at the hands of her employer, a wealthy and powerful Muslim lawyer in Lahore. The alleged murderess, Chaudhry Mohammad Naeem, is a former president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association. The girl, just 12 years old, had worked as a maid in the home of Naeem in the last six months.

The Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) denounces that access to the courtroom where the court hearings were held against the accused was denied, because a group of Muslim lawyers (pictured) 'prevented' entry. The association is fighting - for free - for the rights of the poorest and marginalized groups has been threatened by thousands of lawyers - friends of the murderer - that promise to burn alive anyone who wants to represent the victim in court. "

h/t Robert

Good news: al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Northwest Africa) did not kill Italian Sergio Cicala and Pierre Camatte, from France as they had promised.

Bad news: they're giving Italy and France 25 more days to exert pressure on the government of Mali to release members of AQIM. After that the two hostages will be murdered.

France and Italy have a long tradition of caving in to the demands of terrorists over hostages. While this may save the lives of today's hostages, it also leads to more hostage taking. Such a strategy leads to more hostage taking and deaths.

We demand the hostages be set free without any conditions or any quid pro quo. Hostage taking is barbaric and exposes al Qaeda as the murderous thugs that they are. If you support this, you too are a barbarian.

Unfortunately for Muslims, the taking of slaves and hostages in battle was a practice endorsed by Muhammad. The practice is clearly evil. Either Muhammad wasn't a prophet, or his example (sunnah) in many cases should not be followed.