February 22, 2012

Ace hits a home run with this. He's exactly right.

As I've said before, Rush is great at talk radio. At political science? Not so much.

We didn't lose in 1996 and 2008 because we ran moderate candidates. That's historical fiction. We lost those two elections because of a) economic conditions (good in 1996 favoring the incumbent, and bad in 2008 favoring the out-party candidate); b) because of a third party candidate in 1996 (remember, Clinton never got a majority of the vote in either 1992 or 1996, Ross Perot eroded the Reagan independent vote); c) because of weak candidates (the weakness of their personal candidacy having nothing to do with their alleged moderation).

The other problem with the two examples Rush uses is something called selection bias. His chooses cases where moderates lose, and ignores when a moderate wins.

How about 1988? Did a moderate Republican win or not? Um, yes he did.

Remember, George H.W. Bush ran against Reagan as a moderate and famously called Reagan's economic plans "voodoo economics".

But his landslide victory in 1988 (yes, he carried 40 states and 426 electoral votes to Dukakis's 10 states and 111 electoral votes) had nothing to do with his moderation. It had to do with the fact that the economy was booming.

And when he lost 4 years later? We were just coming out of a recession.

It truly is the economy stupid.

Oh, and Ross Perot took 18.9% of the vote in what we call a "spoiler" election (see the election of Woodrow Wilson due to the third party candidacy of Teddy Roosevelt as another example of this).

Clinton only got 43% of the vote and could never translate his personal appeal into anything meaningful past surviving impeachment. He was never a popular president as counted by the thing that matters: votes.

Let's remember that this allegedly "popular" president won twice with less than a majority -- both times because of a third party "spoiler", was impeached, and lost both houses of Congress to the Republican party. Something no other Democrat -- or Republican -- had been able to do for the previous forty years combined.

Since the modern conservative movement doesn't begin as a widespread electoral phenomenon until the 1964 nomination of Barry Goldwater, we don't really have data to make comparisons before that.

But would any one accuse Dwight Eisenhower of being anything other than a moderate?

Nixon, a moderate by any reasonable standard, lost in 1960. Most likely this was due to voter fraud in Illinois and Texas. But, even if it was a fair and square election, it's one of the few times where the out party wins in a general climate favorite to the incumbent party.

But in the atmosphere of 1968 and 1972, the moderate Republican won. In 1968 Nixon won, most likely, because of a third party candidate that split the Democratic vote (George Wallace who took 13.5% of the traditionally Democratic vote, and who won 5 states that had voted Democratic for 100 years straight).

And in the booming economy of 1972, and with the North Vietnamese on the retreat and preparing to give up at the Paris peace talks (they signed a treaty in 1973 renouncing their claims to South Vietnam and calling off the war there), the moderate Nixon won in a landslide. And I mean, a major landslide.

The moderate Nixon garnered over 60% of the vote and won 49 states.

Yes, Nixon, the moderate, actually outperformed either of Reagan's landslide victories.

Reagan's 1980 "landslide"? 50.7% of the vote. It might have been a much bigger victory if Republican John Anderson hadn't taken away 6.6% of the vote.

It was a landslide (no quotes this time), in 1984 when he won 58.8% of the vote and also carried 49 states. But, the economy was booming and the conservative Reagan still got a smaller percentage of the vote than the moderate Nixon.

Are you seeing a pattern here? All things being equal, it is the state of the economy that matters most in a Presidential election, not the candidate themselves.

The second most important factor is whether or not a third party "spoiler" candidate enters the race, and from which side of the aisle are they most likely to draw from.

It's only when we get to the level of tertiary causal factors do things like the individual candidates ideological position or personality traits begin to matter.

Which means that whoever the Republicans nominate is probably going to win this November. Unless, of course, the economy continues to improve. In which case Obama is very likely to win.

But, let us assume, that the economy is improving enough that just enough moderates are willing to give Obama another shot to make a difference; but not fast enough that these moderates are completely comfortable reelecting him.

And there is no major third party candidate to serve as a spoiler.

Then, the ideology and personal characteristics and attributes of the candidate will matter. Call these factors the "tie breaker".

Who is the most electable candidate then?

As and idealistic libertarian leaning conservative I had hoped that it would be Gingrich. Having lost that hope, I'd settle on a Santorum Presidency. And, if the economy wasn't recovering, I'd place my bets on that particular pony.

But the economy is recovering. Not fast enough, in my estimation, that Obama is a sure thing. In fact, we have the nightmare scenario where once in a blue moon the actual candidate might be the most important factor in the election.

When was the last time this happened? Was it 2000, when the "compassionate conservative" George W. Bush lost the popular election but squeaked by in the electoral vote? Or 2004 where he won in the midst of a mediocre economy but a war which still had popular support fighting off an anti-war candidate?

If this is the case, then I just don't see a Santorum winning.

Let's face, a guy in a sweater vest just doesn't look Presidential. And he squints. Like he's used to wearing glasses but just recently switched to contacts. And he has a funny way of moving his arms. Like a guy who took hand gesture lessons, but still hasn't gotten the muscle memory down.

He's kinda weird looking and goofy. Like the guy you elected class President because he was the only one at school who really cared and thought he could make a difference about the lunch line problem.

And, yes, when elections aren't about the economy they are about petty little quirks. Who looks the most Presidential. Who seems like a leader. Who is strong on defending the nation. Who is for the middle class. You know, meaningless crap like that.

But Rusty, you say, look at 2010. A landslide for Republicans, and conservatives at that! See what happens when conservatives come out to vote!

Okay, but you are comparing apples to oranges. There are huge differences between a midterm election and a Presidential election. Voter turnout in a Presidential election is generally 50% higher than in a midterm election. So, a midterm election is often about voter enthusiasm -- who gets the base out to vote. But a Presidential election is about who gets the moderate or swing vote to switch sides. The people least likely to care about a candidates ideology and most likely to vote based on the economy or personal attributes.

And let's face it, Romney looks like a President. If he has a drawback, it's that he's almost too good to be true. Like a caricature of what a President ought to be like.

I mean, the hair? Come on. With apologies to Jon Voight, Michael Bay couldn't cast a more perfect looking President.

I'm not saying Santorum can't win. I think I've made it clear that the candidates themselves are much less important than external factors.

I just think Santorum is less likely to win than Romney.

Which means that since all signs are pointing to an economy which may not push the moderate and independent electorate either way, Santorum would probably lose.

Rush is right about one thing: Romney is the establishment candidate.

The establishment always bets on the safe horse, because their self interest is in getting elected or to be cozy with those in power. Sometimes they get it wrong because they mispercieve economic conditions and therefore electoral probabilities. In other words, they back the safe horse when in fact any horse they bet on would win the race.

But in this case, isn't it possible that they are betting on Romney because they know something that the activists don't? That they have political power because, frankly, they know a little bit more about politics then the rank and file? That experts might in fact have some actual expertise? That they may, in fact, know a thing or two about politics?

I'm no establishment Republican. I have no power connections inside the beltway. Whatever power I may have had back in the heyday of bloggers are the new thing that will revolutionize the world is long gone. The new world of corporate and professional blogging has long since replaced us.

But let me make the case for Romney: He's more electable than Santorum. I think all of the above is evidence of that.

He's far more conservative than the base gives him credit for. Remember four years ago when he ran as the conservative alternative to the moderate McCain? Further, the meaning of what it is to be a conservative changes over time and in different context. By today's Tea Party standards, I get the feeling that Reagan wouldn't be conservative enough because his actions never lived up to the rhetoric.

Moreover, all politicians have to compromise. Reagan did it, they all do it. They have to do it. It's the nature of politics. Political compromise in Massachusetts doesn't look like compromise in Arizona. The choice in Massachusetts wasn't between market based reforms vs. Romney care. The choice was single payer vs. something less than single payer. The Democrats in that state were going to pass something, even over a Republican veto.

Romney vetoed well over 800 pieces of legislation, but those vetoes were overridden by the overwhelmingly Democratic legislature 700 times (I had to check that one since it seemed almost unbelievable, but it looks like it's true).

I'm not a big fan of Romneycare, but such is the 10th Amendment.

You do remember the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, don't you? I was under the impression that much of conservatism was about states' rights. Even the right to do something silly. Like Romney care.

The national government is not just a big state. States have certain powers that the federal government does not have. For instance, the right to force you to do stupid things for the welfare, safety, and yes morals of the citizenry. It's called police power. States have it, the federal government doesn't it.

A President is not just a governor of a bigger state. Which is why it's not hypocritical for Romney to (erroneously) pride himself on the political compromise that was Romney care, and yet call for the repeal of Obamacare which was patterned after it. Because Obama is not the Governor of America, and Congress isn't the State Legislature of America.

That's not hypocrisy, it's Constitutionalism and it's 10th Amendment states' rights conservatism.

It's also the answer for a late to the game pro-lifer like Romney on abortion.

Many of you are under the false impression that overturning Roe v. Wade would make abortion illegal. That is not the case. Overturning Roe means returning the decision to the states.

States like Massachusetts and California would remain pro-choice if Roe was overturned. Other states, like Alabama or Texas, would probably outlaw abortion in all cases. Other states would outlaw abortion in most cases, with generous exceptions.

In other words, the most important test of a President's commitment to life isn't even his commitment to life. Remember Bill Clinton, who was "personally pro-life" yet supported Roe?

The fundamental test should be the candidates commitment to overturning Roe. Which returns the question of abortion to the states, where the Constitution and the Founding Fathers clearly intended for such legal questions to be handled.

Moreover, Romney is the most conservative on issues such as immigration. Remember immigration? It's like you need a way back machine to refocus the base on issues that motivated them just a few years ago but which seem to be casually thrown by the wayside based on whatever issue it is the media is talking about today.

Lastly, and the most important case for Mitt Romney: He's not Barrack Obama.

And that, my friends, is the most important issue of all.

Did I mention he's not Barrack Obama? Or that he's not Barrack Obama? Which is another key factor.

It took stupid politicians over 200 years to accumulate a national debt of 8 trillion dollars. In less than 3.5 years President Obama has nearly doubled that, to 15 trillion dollars.

By the end of his first term, the national debt will be close to 16 trillion dollars.

Obama's reckless policies are equivalent to all of the other reckless policies of the last 200 years -- all of them -- combined.

If Obama's fiscal year 2012 budget were enacted, 10 years from now we'd be 21 trillion dollars in debt. Imagine Greece. Now imagine that is what is going to happen in the US. It's not just what the President is promising, it's what he is predicting.

So, go ahead and vote for Santorum on some sort of consistency principle. Maybe he'll win. It's possible. If the economy turns sour again, it's probable And if he's the candidate, I'm 100% on board the Santorum train.

But I just don't see that scenario playing out. He's not a good candidate. And if the election turns on who the candidate is, I doubt he'll win.

In which case I'm going to start stocking up on ammo. I mean, more so than I already have.

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz Day Edition.

Click for bigger.

I'm not sure if it's good news or bad news that Somalia still needs foreign intervention to get rid of the terrorists in Shabaab. But, it's news.

Forget little Eichmanns, Germany is now the place to be for the young, urban, Islamofascist hipsters.

Given Germany's history, let's just say I'm uncomfortable with some of the ideas being spread in some if its Muslim communities.

Thanks to Lou.

Looks like it to me!

The Islamotards are still troubled by NATO's burning of defaced Korans (or the only copy of the Koran, the way the media is portraying it) so they made a effigy of Obama and laughed at themselves as they paraded it down the street. They even burned it cuz it was stupid looking, hence the LOL.

Honest, would I lie?

Islamotards always laugh at themselves for being Islamotards.

Some even die laughing!

Via JTA

(JTA) -- Suspected terrorists with links to Iran and Hezbollah were arrested in Azerbaijan, while bombs intended for use against Israeli targets in Thailand's capital were discovered hidden in inexpensive portable radios.

The suspects in Azerbaijan are accused of planning terrorist attacks against foreigners in Baku, the Azerbaijan capital, the National Security Ministry said in an announcement Tuesday on Azerbaijan state television. According to reports, the suspects had gathered intelligence on identified targets and bought weapons and explosives.

Last month, at least two men were arrested after planning an attack on two Israeli teachers, Chabad emissaries at the Or Avner school in Baku.

Top ten things you didn't know about the alleged Capitol suicide bomber[aka Amine El-Khalifi]

Photos, lots of photos..heh

h/t Aaron

Bastard Zionists! First p0rn and then Viagra gum, and now soccer balls! Will their Islamophobic reign of terror never end??

Hat Tip: Zip

When one digs into the background of Global March to Jerusalem one finds there appears to be a stench from the mad mullahs fingers

In Mein Kampf, Hitler discusses the art of lying in which he states: "It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation." There is certainly some truth to this. If you tell a lie big enough and with strong conviction, there are quite a few people who will believe it as absolute truth. Unfortunately, those same gullible people have the right to vote.

With a straight face, the Obama Administration spokesman Jay Carney blames Republicans for rejecting the Keystone Pipeline:

That appears to be the Obama Administration's new campaign tactic - outright lies and hoping gullible voters will believe it, which, sadly, they probably will.

Tunisia court throws out porn websites ban..

And none too soon, currently a google search for Hot Tunisian Chick returns...

Did you mean: hot asian chick?

Al Qaeda's African Taliban (aka al-Shabaab) brutally abduct children from their homes, play fields, schools, etc to serve as cannon fodder for them as well as sex slaves, errr, wives. Hmmm, I wonder how old Hammami's wives are? 10, 12?

Brave perverted mujahideen, eh?

Entire classrooms of Somali children - some as young as 10 - have been forced to fight for Islamist militants, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report says.

An unprecedented number of children has been abducted over the past two years, HRW said.

Boys are often sent to the frontline to serve as "cannon fodder" to protect adult fighters - and girls used as "wives" for al-Shabab fighters[...]

While in the camp, children were also subjected to abuse - and made to witness the assault and killing of people al-Shabab considered enemies.

Other children interviewed talked of "bodies of children littering the battle-fronts", Ms Bader said.

The majority of children being forced to join al-Shabab are between 14 and 17 years old, but some are as young as 10, she said.

Also, a brave perverted British al Qaeda mujahideen may possibly be using twitter to post propaganda for al Shabaab

Update: the BBC left off this tidbit from the article (via ZIP)

Girls who resisted capture can face the most appalling consequences, Human Rights Watch found. A 16-year-old girl who refused to marry an al-Shabaab commander who was three times her age was killed by his men and beheaded. Her head was brought back to the school as a warning to others.

February 21, 2012

Yemen’s presidential “election” Tuesday was a single candidate affair designed by the United States. Abdu Mansour Hadi, Yemen’s Vice President since 1994, was elected to the presidency in a poll that saw broad turnout among men, women and children.

Yemenis embraced the opportunity to partake in dethroning Saleh. The ballot only contained a yes option although some voters scribbled the names of murdered protesters on the ballot before they voted.

The Obama administration is framing the election as a success and furthermore a model for other transitions, although the power transfer agreement designed by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was imposed over broad public objections. One difficulty is Saleh’s immediate family remains in control of most of the security forces and military, as well as major economic concerns and vast swaths of land. This gif at Critical Threats.org shows the incestuous nature of power in Yemen.

Mr. Hadi was selected as a consensus candidate by UN envoy Jamal ben Omar under the terms of the GCC deal, and strongly backed by the US and Saudi Arabia. The GCC transition plan supersedes the Yemeni constitution and laws. In the event the unity government is unable to reach consensus on any issue, President Hadi makes the final decision. The plan effectively re-establishes a dictatorship although some have called it more akin to an international trusteeship.

In November, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed an agreement to resign in return for prosecutorial immunity for 33 years of major corruption, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The UN Security Council endorsement of the immunity deal for Saleh was unprecedented and likely violates international law and certainly UN principles, the UNHCHR said in a statement at the time.

Hundreds of protesters were killed during the Yemeni Revolution and thousands wounded. In addition, well over a thousand southern protesters were killed 2007-2011 in pro-independence protests. A five year war in the northern province of Saada was characterized by collective punishment including bombing villages, refugee camps, mosques and hospitals. The Saleh regime also deliberately denied food and medical supplies and international aid during the Saada War in a pattern that constituted collective punishment, Human Rights Watch found. Saleh got off scott-free for all of it.

The GCC deal was overt rejected by millions of protesters since its proposal in April 2011. Saleh agreed and reneged on the deal several times, once besieging western diplomats gathered for the signing with a mob of pro-regime gun-toting thugs.

Following Saleh’s November resignation, the GCC deal created a unity government between Saleh’s ruling party and the compromised and ineffectual opposition party coalition led by Islah, the Islamic Reform Party. The protests were triggered by the failure of the political party system, and the protests were neither led by nor endorsed by the opposition parties until they were well underway.

The unity government designed in Washington raised most regressive elements in society, Islah and the GPC, well above the levels of their popular legitimacy and re-establishes the political statement that existed for years in Yemen. A strong contingent of protesters clinging to the demand for a “civil’ government, non-military and non-theocratic, was sidelined by the Obama administration. Also frozen out are the protesters themselves, the southerners, the northern rebels in Saada. In one ironic twist, ruling party members who resigned the party in protest of Saleh’s barbarism toward the protesters are also excluded from the unity government.

Phase one of the GCC deal was completed with today’s poll. Next the unity government is required to ask for and accept international assistance. Russia (to whom Yemen owes $6 billion for MIGs and other weapons) will help reconcile the ruling party with the opposition parties. The US is going to take charge on restructuring the Yemeni military, quite an overdue and necessary task. The EU appears to have focused on necessary political reforms including electoral reform. A national reconciliation conference will designate a committee to draft a new constitution in three months.

The counter-revolution, a Saudi-US effort, derailed the protests by supporting Saleh months past any logical or moral threshold, and failing to hold him to account for any of his crimes. The US still has not frozen any of the funds or assets (reported to be in the billions) that Saleh stole from the Yemeni treasury.

While the US may frame the political intervention into the Yemeni revolution as good counter-terror policy, many have questioned that premise including Jeremy Scahill, see Washington's War in Yemen Backfires and Katie Zimmerman in Recipe for Failure at Critical Threats.org

Areas of violence during the vote included Aden in south Yemen where an announced boycott degenerated as mobs attacked polling centers and absconded with ballot boxes. Some southerners view the south as "occupied" by the (Northern) Saleh regime since 1994 when they claim, Saleh imposed the unity of north and south Yemen by force. Although mass marches broke out in 2007, southerners never developed representative mechanisms or an overarching organizational structure even as their numbers grew, accounting for the nihilistic approach to the election. The latest tally has eight killed, including both soldiers and separatist protesters.

The inglorious butcher Ali Abdullah Saleh has been in the United States since January 28. He may return to Yemen for Mr. Hadi's inauguration and to lead the General People's Congress party, according to the US ambassador to Yemen.

In that they failed to cure Hugo Chavez' cancer.

Maybe he should have tried America? I mean curing the crabs is one thing....

Hat Tip: David Burge.

ACLJ.org:

We are hearing reports from our contacts in Iran that the execution orders for Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani may have been issued.

Pastor Youcef’s situation – an innocent man convicted and sentenced to death for becoming a Christian – has not been this dire since we first brought his case to your attention last year.

It is unclear whether Pastor Youcef would have a right of appeal from the execution order. We know that the head of Iran’s Judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, must approve publicly held executions, but only a small percentage of executions are held public—most executions in Iran are conducted in secret.

There has also been a disturbing increase in the number of executions conducted by the Iranian regime in the last month.

Iran is actively violating its human rights obligations by sentencing and detaining Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani. We call on the Iranian government to release Pastor Youcef immediately.

We are continuing to work to help spare the life of Pastor Youcef, and will provide additional updates on his situation as we are able.

Please continue to pray, share his story, and call for his release.

I just fired Rusty edition!

Why? Because I wanted to write IMF, Hooker, and Orgy all in the same sentence.

Also, how do I get a job at the IMF?

I've been writing about this for some time to the chagrin of some of you readers. It is not up to me or you or Ayman al Zawahiri (or Robert Spencer) to say what exactly Islam is. Because the fact is that no such thing as an official Islam exists. There is no single Islam, there are only Islams.

Just as the radicals don't get to speak for Islam, neither do the moderates or liberal reformers. Because, just like Christianity, no one can speak for all of the religion. There is no Muslim Pope, and even if there was our own Catholic Pope certainly doesn't speak for all of Christianity. Only a part of it. And not me.

Us declaring what Islam is or isn't would be a lot like Muslims declaring Catholicism "true Christianity" and Protestantism a "deviation", simply because they liked the Pope's encyclical against the war in Iraq (had such a thing been delivered).

Which is why it has always bothered me when I hear liberal non-Muslims say that Islamists or other radicals have deviated from true Islam. No such thing exists. And, if it does, it is not for we outsiders to decide what that is.

I've had to correct more than one student on this and, unfortunately, other professors who continue to believe the malarkey that Islam is a religion of peace and radicals are deviants from it.

But it's equally malarkey to think that Islam is a religion of violence and that reformers, moderates, and liberals have also deviated from true Islam.

I'm not trying to take some ill thought out middle ground here, either. It's just the simple truth that there is no such a thing as an Islam that can be boxed into what any one of its sects believe.

Nor is this to say that there isn't a traditional Sunni Islam, or an orthodox Sunni Islam, or a mainstream Sunni Islam. Neither should we illusion ourselves that the history and political teachings of early Islam are radically different than early Christianity. Sean Stone's insanity aside, Muhammad was no follower of the teaching of the Biblical or Jesus.

That's why this NY Times Op-Ed is so important. I'm not sure I agree with the rather thin Constitutional argument (how is a government official simply saying he likes one version of Islam better than another anything like a violation of the establishment clause?), but I do agree with the sentiments about where reform within the Islamic world needs to come from. Here's a hint: it's not from us:

From a national security point of view, challenging ideas that underpin radical Islam makes sense. Counterterrorism is ultimately about ideas; why shouldn’t officials try to marginalize the theological teachings cited by violent terrorists?

The problem is that when American officials intervene in Islamic teachings — interpreting them to believers in a national-security context and saying which are or are not acceptable — they create tensions, both legal and strategic.

The strategic problem is easier to see: Is the government a credible authority on Islamic interpretation? Based on the results of comparable efforts in Britain, the answer is a resounding no. Simply put, young Muslim men in the thrall of radical teachings will not embrace a more pacific theology because the F.B.I. tells them to, any more than Catholic bishops would have yielded to Mr. Obama’s plan to mandate coverage of contraceptives at Catholic hospitals if he had invoked canon law to defend his position.

Detroit News:

Americans hit the brakes on travel in 2011, as travel on U.S. roads fell to its lowest level since 2003, government data shows.

Last year, U.S. drivers logged 35.7 billion fewer miles over 2010 — down 1.2 percent — to 2.963 trillion miles, the Federal Highway Administration reported.

That's the fewest number of miles since Americans drove 2.890 trillion miles in 2003.

...Travel on rural roads fell faster than urban roads in 2011 — down 1.6 percent on rural and 1 percent on urban roads — but urban driving accounts for two-thirds of all driving.

Overall, driving fell faster in the second half of 2011, down 1.4 percent, versus a 1 percent decline in the first half.

All that is fine and dandy for a liberal Urban dweller, But for most of us outside urban centers our freedom of movement depends on gasoline. Out here there are no trains, no buses. Your car is your freedom.

Higher prices restrict our freedom, Ten years ago al-Gore said drilling in Anwar would not lower prices today. But guess what today is here and your freedom of travel, travel for the little guy, the poor guy, the rural population, its slipping away.

Biting the hand that feeds them...

So, how's that democracy going for you, Egypt?

(Hat Tip: Jihad Watch)

Within minutes, hunters blasted the drone out of the sky.

A group called SHARK, which stands for Showing Animals Respect and Kindness, had publicized their plans to use the drone to record the pigeon shoot at Broxton Bridge Plantation in South Carolina.

Written by an unknown person, these are the Top 12 Reasons someone would vote Democrat.

12. I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies’ profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn’t.

11. I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

10. I voted Democrat because Freedom of Speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

Read the rest at IHateTheMedia.

I had a similar vision once, only Olivia Newton-John was the demon and Alice Cooper was the angel...

No more mescal for me!

Prosecutors urged jurors on Tuesday to reject a murder suspect's claims that he was visited by a demon who sounded like Barry White and an angel who looked like Olivia Newton-John before he shot and killed a toddler's father outside a preschool. (Source)

Apparently the only copy of the Quran in Afghanistan was accidentally burned when someone at Bagram threw it and other religious literature out with the trash. Trash is burned at the air base.

Afghans are rightly outraged. How will they read their holy book with what appears to be the only copy in the country burned?

It is the only copy, right? They keep calling it the Quran and not a Quran:

Hundreds of Afghans have staged angry protests at two sites in and around the capital Kabul, angered by reports that NATO troops had set fire to copies of the Quran, the Muslim holy book.

General John Allen, the American commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, offered his apology and ordered an investigation into the incident as protesters shouting "Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar" [God is great] besieged the US-run airbase in Bagram on Tuesday, firing slingshots and petrol bombs.

Guards at the base, about 60Km north of Kabul, responded by firing rubber bullets from a watchtower, an AFP news agency photographer said.

Another protest by about 500 people broke out in the Pul-e-Charkhi district of Kabul, not far from major NATO bases on the Jalalabad road, Ashamat Estanakzai, an Afghan police spokesman, told AFP.

Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith, reporting from the city of Herat, said: “We don't know if the religious literature was burned, but we know that it was due to be burned because waste at the base is burned generally.

"We do know it was being thrown out. That is what’s caused the protests outside Bagram, about 800-1,000 people were protesting there.

It's nice to know that we've opened negotiations up with these barbarians:

Suspected Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan have beheaded four men they apparently suspected of being spies for the government because they had a satellite phone, Afghan officials said Tuesday.

The four decapitated bodies were found in the Washir district of Helmand province. The area has no cellphone service, and local people said it was commonplace for residents to share use of a satellite phone for business dealings or medical emergencies.

A couple of days ago, Howie posted an article about Eric Allen Bell and Loonwatch.com. Howie's initial sources indicated Loonwatch had deliberately pass Bell's "personal information" to some supposed Islamists forums.

Like Howie, I searched around and failed to find any "personal information" posted by Loonwatch.com. However, I did find, in comments, links to an Islamist's facebook page and another poster who claims to have found Bell's given name and birth date. (The actual birth date is not mentioned, but rather noted where it can be found.) I should also mention that the picture Loonwatched used was available at Bell's IMDB page.

So, maybe that is the "personal information" to which Bell initially referred.

All that being said, I thought this interview with Bell was rather interesting and illustrates the leftist agenda in defending Islamist ideology:

Breitbart's video caption:

Eric Allen Bell, who was banned from The Daily Kos and defamed by Loonwatch.com to the Islamic world for his investigations into radical Islam, discusses how initial support for the Arab spring was thwarted when: "I started to pay attention to the news coming out of the Islamic world, and follow what was happening with the Islamist winter, looking at Egypt, Tunisia, other countries starting to go the way of possibly Iran in 1979. So I started to take a deeper look at the truth about Islam and that just kind of turned my whole worldview upside down."

While I don't care at all for Loonwatch, it does appear that the "personal information" posted there, in the article and in comments, was easily located and publicly available.

Update by Howie: Although as we've pointed out most of that information was easy to get and publicly available, even a paranoid has real enemies. The most disturbing post we found was here on Pastebin. On February 14th of 2012 a person described as "guest" posted this information.

I suspect with the right court order whomever posted that information can be revealed. Cross referencing text within the Pastebin post reveals a couple other postings of the same information, but none on Islamist sites.

So was I too skeptical? Maybe, but I don't think so. Skepticism is good. Its what led Eric to actually look beyond the politically correct narrative on Islam. But at this point it seems the main push back against his "awakening" is coming from his former liberal friends at Loonwatch. Ironic no?

Which if you think about it makes Eric Bell's stand all the more admirable. He must have known many of his liberal friends would target him with their brand of character assassination. Yet he spoke out anyway.

It turns out from what I can find that *most if not all his accusations against Loonwatch appear to be factual at this point. My apologies for be so darned stubborn about it but I'm a raw data kind of guy.

And Sean Ali Stone supports Iran getting a nuclear bomb.

Remember the last time someone wanted to kill all the Jews. It was just a big misunderstanding then as well.

(Hat Tip: Gateway Pundit)

Related:

Sean Stone Experiences Islamophobia
Sean Stone: Islam Is Justice And Equality
Clearly Someone Missed Islam 101 Class

February 20, 2012

President's Day edition.

Local t.v. station asked on their Facebook page who people thought the greatest president ever was. I threw up a little in my mouth every time I saw "Obama."

Idiots.

Progressives know that the most fertile fields for subversion lie within the malleable minds of children:

With his blonde pigtails and purple tutu, Zach Avery, now five, has been living as a girl for more than a year - after he first refused to live as a boy when he turned three.

Little Zach was just three when he began refusing to live as a boy, instead choosing to wear pink dresses and ribbons in his long, blonde hair - because he has Gender Identity Disorder (GID).

And the primary school he attends in Essex has even changed the kids' toilets to gender-neutral Unisex in support of Zach since his official diagnosis last year, aged four...

...[when] He became obsessed with the girly kids' TV character Dora the Explorer and started dressing in girls clothing.

Yeah, this is news to, well, no one in particular. But it's a good reminder of just who it is we are fighting:

A campaign of high-profile kidnappings has provided the Pakistani Taliban and its allies with new resources, arming insurgents with millions of dollars, threatening foreign aid programs and galvanising a sophisticated network of jihadi and criminal gangs whose reach spans the country.

Because I've requested some sort of links to the posts that allegedly were given by Loonwatch to Islamist boards.

I've also searched Loonwatch and found that Eric uses his Facebook profile in comments there?

So until that is cleared up, I'm just going with the Kos fired/banned him for having an opinion of Islam that did not sit well with the Kossacks. That seems to be true to me.

If anyone has info showing the original "personal information" posts on Loonwatch and the subsequent post on any Islamist board, by golly I'll be first in line to post that. Until then I can't report anything other than Eric being banned from Kos for speaking his mind.

NY Post:

He told Page Six: “I’ve already experienced the reverse of anti-Semitism, having people within the film industry express a reluctance to work with me now that I have said a simple prayer, ‘There is no God but God, and Mohammed is his messenger.’ I am sure I have [bleeped] off some powerful people.” Speaking over dinner at Barrio 47, Sean told us, “Having read the Koran and having been around the Islamic culture, especially in Iran, I do believe that Mohammed is a prophet of the same god worshipped by other religions.

“I am of a Jewish bloodline, a baptized Christian who accepts Christ’s teachings, the Jewish Old Testament and the Holy Koran. I believe there is one God, whether called Allah or Jehovah or whatever you wish to name him. He creates all peoples and religions. I consider myself a Jewish Christian Muslim.

I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

22Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

23Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

24Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

So I guess since Christianity and Islam don't really go together in that way, I mean seriously they don't. You can just revert back to Christianity and your Muslim Akhi will be cool with that won't they?

Whosoever turns back from his belief (irtada), openly or secretly, take him and kill him wheresoever ye find him, like any other infidel.

Well one can only hope so.

A lawyer for a British man held in Kenya over alleged links to Somalia’s Islamist insurgency and possession of explosives says his client was beaten in prison to extract a confession.

Chacha Mwita says his client Jermaine Grant and another suspect were beaten after their arrest in December. Mwita also says Grant, who was born in London, is being held in solitary confinement.

Grant was jailed for three years for immigration offenses and lying to a government official about his identity. He is also charged with conspiring to commit a felony and possessing explosive materials. Prosecutors say he is linked to Somalia’s Islamist insurgency.

State lawyer Jacob Ondari says that he had no indication that the suspects were beaten but would investigate.

Israel Survival Updates:

Builders are putting the final touches on the building, to be called Mishkan Ehud, or Ehud Hall, in memory of the late Rabbi Ehud (Udi) Fogel, who was murdered in his home along with his wife Ruth and three of their children, Yoav, Elad and baby Hadas. The new building will become the permanent residence of the Itamar Yeshiva.

Censored31:

"Bismillah. Allah Akbar! This woman and this man not only destroyed their own worldly life, but also of others (family, husband and children). How terrible for them to get informed that their own mother or father committed adultery with another man/woman! We need Shariah law ASAP in the whole world.

Google is also the ad provider on the liveleak page here.

Remember Google's ad service suspended Jawa Report for advocating truthfully against such barbarism, it seems they are more tolerant of advocacy for it.

In this case Google is serving me an ad for Allstate Auto Insurance with my Islamic blood lust.

Atlantic:

The Pakistani commission appointed to investigate just how Osama bin Laden came to be living in Abbottabad, in a large house adjacent to Pakistan's military academy (a house built by an architect regularly employed by the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, according to a report from David Ignatius) appears to be struggling to reach a credible conclusion, and has already blown past its deadline:

....Part of the reason the commission may be late in releasing its findings is that it has spent a great deal of time investigating Pakistanis accused of aiding the Americans in their raid on Abbottabad, rather than on finding out who was hiding Bin Laden. A prime target of this witchhunt has been the now-former Pakistani ambassador in Washington, Husain Haqqani, who stood accused of issuing visas to American intelligence and military personnel. The charge is absurd and baroque on its face, of course; The Pakistanis are, officially at least, cooperating with the U.S. in the fight against al Qaeda (unofficially, elements of the ISI are supporting organizations that kill Americans in Afghanistan), and Pakistan's military budget is underwritten by the American taxpayer, so naturally there is a great deal of military traffic between the U.S. and Pakistan.

So if you add all this up it tends to bring up the rather uncomfortable truth. Pakistani intelligence was behind 9/11. Look a bit deeper into who funds the radical ideology and Islamic schools and it leads to Saudi Salafis.

No wonder they are having such a hard time making up an excuse.

I heard they were going to allow established Avitars? I think it must be because they dislike boobies. I mean who hasn't heard watched dozens of her muted videos?

That takes a bit of chutzpah.

And then there's super important double clutch blogs.

Daily Mail:

Britain's most dangerous Islamic terrorists are exploiting a security loophole to spread their message of hate from behind bars.

Not only have they been able to radicalise fellow inmates, they have also appealed to a new generation of supporters around the world.

Dozens of unrepentant extremists have been exposed as glorying in their fanaticism and encouraging others to consider further atrocities.

News of the security breach sparked outrage and one MP called on the prison authorities to tighten up their systems. It comes at a sensitive time for the Government in the aftermath of the decision to release hate preacher Abu Qatada.

Steve McCabe, a Labour MP who sits on the Home Affairs Committee, said some of the material ‘sounds dangerously close to incitement’.

Looking at this we find that the site is registered to one Muhammad Aseer

46-92 Whitechapel Road
London, wales E1 1JX
GB
Phone: +44.7955173281
Email: letters@muslimprisoners.com

The site is hosted by www.weebly.com in San Francisco CA.

OrgName: Weebly, Inc.
OrgId: WEEBL-1
Address: 447 Battery Street, Suite 250
City: San Francisco
StateProv: CA
PostalCode: 94111
Country: US

So it would seem the MPs might get a better result by having Kilroy to pay these providers a visit, No?

The report that the website was taken down is not quite accurate. The owner has instead placed a "parking" page on the site to avoid the coming wave of TOS complaints against the site's content.

February 19, 2012

No Pok!

Daily Times: A group of Islamic leaders is urging Muslim business owners to stop selling alcohol tobacco and drug paraphernalia, which are prohibited in the Quran because they contribute to the destruction of humanity.

The United Muslim Coalition for Chester Citizens Against Violence and Crime mailed out a letter detailing the request to 16 Muslim-owned businesses last In their letter, the coalition also asked Muslim business owners to cease selling pork and any other products also forbidden in the Quran.

The Muslim leaders spent two weeks visiting each of the establishments, because none of them responded to their letter or attended their meeting, they said.

(Moscow, Russia) A Russian magazine reports that Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of the late Kim Jong-il, has been kicked out of his fancy-schmancy hotel in the casino gambling mecca of Macao due to insufficient funds. Kim owes $15,000.

According to the local authorities, Kim’s living expenses are paid by an intelligence organization of China while his entertainment expenses had been paid with remittances from North Korea. Recently, however, he faced a shortage of funds for entertaining.

An official of the hotel said, “He (Kim) presented a gold card. But it was declined.”

As for his younger brother, Jong Un, who became the North Korean leader after the death of Jong Il in December, Kim Jong Nam recently said, “He (Jong Un) will not be able to maintain his leadership for long.”

Because of the remark, the editor in chief suspects that North Korea stopped remitting money to Kim Jong Nam, the weekly magazine said.