April 26, 2013

Unless you are a 9/11 truther/ Alex Jones follower.

Find and meet people that share a passion for liberty and freedom and are ready to start a relationship. GET FEATURED: E-mail: mods_love @ infowars.com your picture, 100 words or less description & your PlanetInfowars @ User Name!

Get the conversation going by ‘mentioning’ them! (Just type in your status bar @TheirUserName and it will notify them of your message)

See all the featured Freedom Lovers: http://s1076.photobucket.com/user/Planetlnfowars/library/Dating%20Freedom%20Lovers?page=1

@Maggot is from 'FEMA Region 9":

@Galeeshia likes being awake and telling others:

@BigChevyTruck finally found the truth after discovering the Alex Jones show:

Not sure about @BlackWolf91, tends to ramble in the moonlight or something:

There are more, a LOT more of 'em

April 24, 2013

There's something ironical about calling two guys working together "lone wolves":

Lawmakers want to increase the powers of the CIA to track “lone wolf” terrorists, like the two brothers suspected as being responsible for last week’s Boston bombing, but they are wary of treading on the jurisdiction of domestic law enforcement.

Maybe it's semantics, but inasmuch as our words are tied to our thoughts all concerned should think about the Tsarnaev brothers as an independent terror cell, not "lone wolves".

Nidal Hasan was a lone wolf. He worked alone.

Tamerlan & Dzhokhar Tsarnaev worked together. A small cell, yes. An independent cell, maybe. But a cell nonetheless.

April 19, 2013

A brief moment of levity.

From HuffPo:

The meme has already been written. It's just a matter of timing it's release.

Thanks to John.

April 04, 2013

Coming to a Mosque or Tunisian embassy near you.

BERLIN: Bare-breasted activists staged rallies in front of mosques and Tunisian embassies across Europe Thursday against what they called an Islamist crackdown on Arab women's rights.

A Femen activist burns a Salafist flag in front of the Great Mosque of Paris, on April 3, 2013.

"And we'll fight against them. And our boobs will be stronger than their stones."

The rallies targeted in particular the case of a Tunisian activist calling herself Amina Tyler who sparked a scandal last month when she posted pictures of herself online with the words "My body belongs to me" and "Fuck your morals" emblazoned across her naked breasts.

Why u insult holly banner of Islam?

Previous: 'Quarantine Her"! Says Tunisian Islamist Regarding FEMEN Aminia's Topless Photo.
Arab Spring! Introducing Femen Tunisia

More Fatwa seeking boobies below the fold.

Heh, but when do we Irishmen get protected status?

A British police force on Thursday began recording attacks on goths and punks as "hate crimes" similar to those suffered by people targeted because of their race, religion or sexual orientation.

Police in Manchester, northwest England, said the new policy would allow them to better protect goths, easily identified on the streets by their black clothes and pale make-up, and members of other "alternative sub-cultures".

Like finishing this bottle of whiskey is challenging, no?

April 02, 2013

The story suggests the perp, Haamid Zaid, was on drugs. But the fact that the guy was high doesn't really explain the attack, does it? I mean, people get high all the time. I guess a lot depends on what drugs he was under the influence of.

So, why did Haamid Zaid try to kill random people at at San Jose WalMart with his car?

I'm not saying he was motivated by jihad, but since the MSM always discounts the possibility it's something to keep in mind:

Police released the name of a man Monday who allegedly crashed his car through the entrance of a Walmart store in San Jose then attacked customers randomly before being detained by a group of good Samaritans.

Haamid Zaid, 33, of Seaside, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, hit-and-run, being under the influence of drugs and resisting arrest, according to Ofc. Albert Morales, public information officer for San Jose Police.

March 10, 2013

When Jihad Misharawi lost his son during Israeli air strikes, photographs of the tearful father holding his son's body became iconic anti-Israel propaganda. The Washington Post wasted no time placing blame:

An Israeli round hit Misharawi’s four-room home in Gaza Wednesday, killing his son, according to BBC Middle East bureau chief Paul Danahar, who arrived in Gaza earlier Thursday. Misharawi’s sister-in-law was also killed, and his brother wounded. Misharawi told Danahar that, when the round landed, there was no fighting in his residential neighborhood.

Other major media outlets, the BBC, the Huffington Post, Yahoo, the Sun, the Telegraph, and many more also carried the same narrative.

The problem is, it wasn't true. In their desperation to further demonize Israel, these media outlets reported Palestinian propaganda as facts. They lacked any journalistic integrity to present an objective story.

It was a HAMAS rocket that killed the child:

Jihad’s son was killed by Hamas, according to independent investigators from the United Nations. He was murdered by the journalist’s own neighbors, the very men who purport to be his biggest protectors, who live in the surrounding buildings in the city where he lives.

According to the advanced version of its report released by the U.N. Human Rights Council released late last week, "On 14 November, a woman, her 11-month-old infant, and an 18-year-old adult in Al-Zaitoun were killed by what appeared to be a Palestinian rocket that fell short of Israel."

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for updates and corrections.

February 12, 2013

Did I not call this? Just to clarify, the article really is worth reading. But it's really two articles. One, a first hand description of the raid that killed bin Laden -- an excellent piece. And the other, a narrative which makes the guy who killed bin Laden -- "Shooter" -- a caricature out of just about any stupid movie about veterans made since 1975. To quote myself:

I'm surprised the piece didn't end with Shooter hitchhiking his way through a small Northwestern town, harassed by the the uncaring local police he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. The final casualty of war? The entire Hope police department, 200 state troopers, and various weekend warriors of the Washington State National Guard. It's a good thing his old Colonel showed up to talk him down, otherwise we'd all be dead!

Like every combat veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the former SEAL, who is identified in the story only as “the Shooter”, is automatically eligible for five years of free healthcare through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

But the story doesn’t mention that.

He's out of work. No health care. His marriage is collapsing. He's suicidal.

I'm not saying that the guy's life might be screwed up. What I'm saying is that it is atypical. Veterans are not victims and should not be treated as such.

For instance, veteran unemployment is below the national average. Sorry Occum, the stats you cite are wrong. Here's what the VA said last week:

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Veteran unemployment data for the month of January. The unemployment rate for all Veterans was 7.6 percent—a slight increase from last month but still below the national average of 7.9 percent. For Post-9/11 veterans, the rate was 11.7 percent. While Veteran unemployment has ticked up over the past several months, the long-term trend remains downward.

As I also noted yesterday, I predicted that Blackfive would take on the article:

in his article for Esquire, Phil quotes the wife: "the loss of income and insurance and no pension aside, she can no longer walk onto a local base... they've surrendered their military IDs." "He's lost some vision, he can't get his neck straight for any period of time..." If this were indeed the case, this is easy stuff to document in the out-processing; and they DO do a medical when you out-process for a separation physical. Period. If his vision, alone, was affected, they'd document it. Neck issues? The x-rays would pick it up.

He then writes that according to Shooter, ''if I come back alive and retire, I won't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of for the rest of my life.'' So what do you have now? If Shooter had retired, he'd have an income and med coverage, at a minimum. So he comes back from the 4-month deployment, leaves, and STILL has nothing? He'd have been better off waiting. At 18 years, he could have reached 'sanctuary' and been what we call 'retired on active duty'.

More and more issues show up the more I read the article. It's good fiction, but that's all it is- fiction.

Also as predicted, This Aint Hell has picked up that the Esquire author is tied in with the antiwar crowd. And not the nation-building isn't what we should be doing antiwar crowd. No, the America-is-the-real-terrorist antiwar crowd.

Let me also put up some comments by reader PSDiver on the Esquire article:

There are several points that do not track. First and foremost the Navy didn't tell me that I wouldn't have any benefits is I got out short of my 20. Funny, you have to sign paperwork stating that you understand that you will not have insurance, etc. if you do not retire from the service. Second, I am a member of the elite of the elite and no one is helping me out. If you were just Joe Blow Sailor I could agree with that one, but SEALs are tight and if you wanted help it would come your way. A third point is that this individual didn't want to keep carrying a gun, but didn't want a desk job either to finish out the 20... really?!? So just because you no longer want to do what you get paid for you should be able to do whatever you want?!? ...

Finally, there are a bunch of people that would kill for the chance to be a beer truck driver... so suck it up.

UPDATE: Apparently, there was less room in the online version than in the print version. What the what?

And if you want to know just how thorough your betters in the MSM are, go check out this Twitchy post that shows that even after Esquire issued an apology, they're still forwarding the narrative that Shooter has no health care.

February 11, 2013

You haven't read the Esquire interview with "Shooter", the SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden? Do you hate America or are you just lazy?

A couple of teaser quotes:

I'm just looking at him from right here [he moves his hand out from his face about ten inches]. He's got a gun on a shelf right there, the short AK he's famous for. And he's moving forward. I don't know if she's got a vest and she's being pushed to martyr them both. He's got a gun within reach. He's a threat. I need to get a head shot so he won't have a chance to clack himself off [blow himself up].

In that second, I shot him, two times in the forehead. Bap! Bap! The second time as he's going down. He crumpled onto the floor in front of his bed and I hit him again, Bap! same place. That time I used my EOTech red-dot holo sight. He was dead. Not moving. His tongue was out. I watched him take his last breaths, just a reflex breath.

In each computer room, there was a bed. Under the beds were these huge duffel bags, and I'm pulling them out, looking for whatever. At first I thought they were filled with vacuum-sealed rib-eye steaks. I thought, They're in this for the long haul. They've got all this food. Then, wait a minute. This is raw opium. These drugs are everywhere. It was pretty funny to see that. Altogether, he helped clean three rooms on the second floor.

Bronstein uses "Shooter" to forward the usual narrative about veterans. They're traumatized. Suicidal. They're marriages are breaking up. They can't find work. All because they "sacrificed it all" for a military that could care less about them.

I'm surprised the piece didn't end with Shooter hitchhiking his way through a small Northwestern town, harassed by the the uncaring local police he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. The final casualty of war? The entire Hope police department, 200 state troopers, and various weekend warriors of the Washington State National Guard. It's a good thing his old Colonel showed up to talk him down, otherwise we'd all be dead!

Seriously, the author's narrative was really that trite and predictable. It's the kind of narrative that the guys over at Blackfive and This Aint Hell have been trying to counter for years. Mostly because it's a pile of bullshit. It's the warriors-as-victims narrative. And it's offensive.

But the story of what really happened that night? Compelling. It turns out that Zero Dark Thirty was pretty close to dead on.

The only really unanswered question is this: Who was the wise guy that planted the squirt guns? Come on SEALS, inquiring minds want to know!

January 31, 2013

"Given that Iran, the people — I’m quoting right now from Iran — people of the Middle East, the Muslim region and North Africa, people of these regions hate America from the bottom of their heart," said Inhofe. "It further said Israel is a cancerous tumor in the heart of the Islamic world. They further said Iran’s warriors are ready and willing to wipe Israel off the map. The question I’d like to ask you, and you can answer for the record if you’d like, why do you think the Iranian foreign ministry so strongly supports your nomination to be the Secretary of Defense?"

Hagel responded, "I have a difficult enough time with American politics, Senator. I have no idea, but thank you. And I’ll be glad to respond further for the record."

Credit: The Weekly Standard

New? WTF? We've been talking about al Qaeda 2.0 since?? 2004!!! That would be during Bush's FIRST term. Here we are in Obama's SECOND term and only now his administration is discovering the problem?

Or is it just that the morons over at the Washington Post are just discovering it? Hell, Catherine Herridge over at Fox has been talking about this for years:

The Obama administration is working with its allies to frame a strategy to combat what might be called “al-Qaeda 2.0” — an evolving, morphing terrorist threat that lacks a coherent center but is causing growing trouble in chaotic, poorly governed areas such as Libya, Yemen, Syria and Mali.

U.S. officials liken this new problem to the spread of cancer cells: Al-Qaeda nodes emerge in diffuse places, feeding off local issues and grievances. These cells have only a loose, ideological connection with what remains of the core leadership in Pakistan, but they are stubborn and toxic.

January 04, 2013

What, you don't want to sing along with that? What do you hate democracy?

Also I'm monitoring rumors of a "Zawahiri" captured by the Syrian regime. Rumors are that its Mohammad Zawahiri although I can't figure why he'd leave Egypt. I can see why Ayman Zawahiri might go to Syria but I'd think Mohammad would be most useful to AQ in his safe haven in Egypt.

I can find no source that confirm the whereabouts of Mohammad Zawahiri, if you can please comment or email mypetjawa(at)gmail(dot)com.

Update: I've one source that Mohammad Zawahiri is indeed captured. The Idependent in the UK is running this report.

Rebel fighters insisted Mohamed al-Zawahiri was engaged on a humanitarian mission and had not been involved in violent acts. They also claimed that he had, in fact, proposed a local truce to enable aid to get through.

However the Syrian regime is likely to try to capitalise on Mr Zawahiri’s presence in the country – if indeed they have him under arrest – as proof of their repeated charge that the revolution has been taken over by “terrorists”.

Update by SH: Per @ASAWinstanley: "AJE[AlJazeera English..ed]: Indy report abt Ayman al-Zawahari's brother being captured by Syrian regime is false: they spoke to him. Thx @MadeInNablus @Falasteeni"

h/t @El_Grillo1

So there's that.

December 28, 2012

Additional subtitle: Why Mark Steyn is the greatest living almost-but-not-quite-yet American:

To Howard Kurtz & Co., it’s “obvious” that Gregory didn’t intend to commit a crime. But, in a land choked with laws, “obviousness” is one of the first casualties — and “obviously” innocent citizens have their “obviously” well-intentioned actions criminalized every minute of the day. Not far away from David Gregory, across the Virginia border, eleven-year-old Skylar Capo made the mistake of rescuing a woodpecker from the jaws of a cat and nursing him back to health for a couple of days. For her pains, a federal Fish & Wildlife gauleiter accompanied by state troopers descended on her house, charged her with illegal transportation of a protected species, issued her a $535 fine, and made her cry. Why is it so “obvious” that David Gregory deserves to be treated more leniently than a sixth grader? Because he’s got a TV show and she hasn’t?

In this case the EFF fretting over a provision in the Patriot Act which gives FISA courts authority to issue wiretap warrants. That somehow if a different court issued the same warrant, then all would be fine. That is: that to fix this particular problem (or, not really a problem since they only offer "the potential for abuse" as justification for opposing a particular part of the bill -- so, the "potential problem") what we need are different procedures.

Groups like the EFF or the ACLU claim to be for liberty, but what they are really for isn't liberty at all: it's either procedural due process or "civil liberties" which are liberties connected to some democratic process or another. Hence, they aren't "libertarians" or "groups in support of liberty", they are "civil libertarians".

Which is why they might support David Gregory's "right" to show an illegal ammo clip on TV, but not your right to show one to your friends in the privacy of your own house. It's not because "free speech" or "media freedom" is important on their own, it's because these things are important to democracy.

David Gregory can (and should in their minds) get away with violating the law, because they view the media's role in democracy as more vital than, say, yours and mine.

It seems to me that liberty, to these people, is an instrumental value.

Liberty is something that is useful because it furthers another more lofty goal: democracy.

They've got it all wrong. Democracy is useful because it furthers liberty. Not the other way around.

Or, at least, it used to be.

These so-called "civil libertarians" want more and more laws to protect people from .... the state. Which is oxymoronic because the danger of state oppression is exactly proportionate to the number of laws which the state enforces.

You can never hope for more liberty and simultaneously build up the state's capacity to oppress.

I just got through watching Les Miserables with my mom (fine, you can have it. But I want my man card back come New Year!). One of the important points the protagonist, the redeemed ex-convict, points out is that he holds no grudge against the antagonist, the unredeemed police officer who relentlessly pursues him, because the police officer is merely doing his duty.

A libertarian believes that police ought to be given all the tools they need to do their duty. But they simply have too many duties!

A "civil libertarian" believes that police ought to have fewer tools to do their duty. Also that they should have more duties to do!

Which is why whenever I hear the word "civil libertarian" used by this or that leftist organization I cringe. These people care as much about liberty as I do about "social justice". Which is to say, not at all.

December 12, 2012

Mushoom's mustache is for sale, oh I forgot they don't let you use EBay in Federal Pound Emerson in the ass Prison.

SH & I earlier posted about union goons tearing down an Americans For Prosperity (AFP) tent. Video shows the violent mob pulling down the tent, running on it after it was on the ground and while people were still trapped beneath it, and, later in another video, slashing and cutting up the tent.

But MSNBC is reporting that the AFP deliberately sabotaged their own tent to make the union protesters look bad:

Thomas Duckworth, a Michigan resident and lifelong union member, said he’d been at the AFP tent earlier in the day, when he noticed a man in an NRA hat. Later, he said, he saw the man deliberately loosening the ropes holding the tent up. Duckworth acknowledged that labor supporters had cheered the tent’s collapse, but suggested that AFP had deliberately helped initiate the it, in order to depict their adversaries as an unruly mob.

Duckworth made the claim again later when interviewed by Progress Michigan:

In other words, don't believe your own eyes. The videos of the tent being torn down and stepped on while people were under it, of union thugs slashing the material, of Steven Crowder being sucker-punched, were all the manipulations of crafty, evil, right-wing conspirators who wanted to make the union look bad. The union members are the real victims here.

Below the fold, a different perspective. A union member says the tent accidentally collapsed and the union mob was simply trying to rescue and help those inside. Apparently, the "tear it down!" chants were just misinterpreted.

December 07, 2012

Remember how the US raised the terror level after all those anti-Mormon films? Seriously, just do a YouTube search for "Joseph Smith fake prophet" and there are dozens of hits. There are no riots in Utah. No one is concerned about the Salt Lake federal building being bombed.

BELGIUM has raised its terror threat level to the second-highest ahead of the release of a new home-made film on the internet next week criticising the Prophet Mohammed.

No one prints "the prophet L. Ron Hubbard". No one ever prints "the prophet George W. Armstrong". It's only Mormons who say "the Prophet Joseph Smith." To the media hes' "the Mormon Prophet" or "Joseph Smith, who Mormon's believe was a Prophet". Which is perfectly appropriate.

It's only Muhammad who is "the Prophet". I go back and forth on this as to motivation, and it's quite possible that members of the media have multiple reasons for doing this.

Part of it is the Leftist tendency to give passes to the out group. In this case, Muslims are the "powerless".

Part if it might just be to avoid the hassle. If you don't call Muhammad "the Prophet" then you are subject to the letter writing ire of the religion-of-perpetutal-outrage.

But you know what? Part of it is fear.

The very thing they do out of fear is evidence of the very thing they are trying to cover up. And that speaks volumes.

December 03, 2012

An interesting exploration of government "interfaith outreach" programs over at FrontPage. It looks at how Philadelphia's city government uses interfaith outreach programs to reach out and legitimize Islamist radicals. In the name of tolerance the city tacitly endorses the intolerant.

Imagine if you will a city "reaching out" to the Westboro Baptist Church or to the KKK. They wouldn't, of course, and would be rightfully excoriated if they did so.

However, governments routinely "reach out" to Muslim organizations in favor of killing homosexuals, apostates, and blasphemers. They also support convicted terrorists and some of these groups, like the Nation of Islam, are explicitly racist.

This is just one more example in the long laundry list of examples in which liberal politicians lower their expectations for minority groups. In this case that Muslims can have all sorts of intolerant attitudes which would never be accepted if those same attitudes were held by Jews or Christians.

Anyway, go check out the article.

November 23, 2012

Every nation and culture has its share of SOBs. We have white supremacists and supporters of violent Islamism here in the states.

One major difference between civilized societies and barbarians is that we condemn acts of senseless violence directed at the innocent while barbarians celebrate it.

For instance, when one of our soldiers intentionally kills a civilian that soldier is put on trial for murder.

So, when the Left equivocates between barbarians in Gaza with the civilized society just over the wire in Israel, we have a prime candidate for why our own civilization is in the sunset of its existence.

November 19, 2012

Our friends at the British-Israeli coalition made the find.

Also, I heard the first media question about whether or not Israel's response was "disproportionate" on the radio this morning. Was it al Jazeera? Iran's Press TV? Russia's RT News?

Nope, it was MSNBC. Natch.

Because failing to kill the civilians you were aiming at is somehow morally equivalent with killing terrorists who are intentionally hiding among women and children to many on the Left.

Thanks to Ron the Cop.

November 16, 2012

Hat Tip: Adam.

November 03, 2012

To the media's delight, President Obama made a brief visit to the Red Cross this past week, telling Red Cross workers to "lean forward." What he really meant was for victims of hurricane Sandy to bend over:

Staten Island residents are furious. They feel that in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy they’ve been ignored and left to fend for themselves. [...]

“Red Cross is here with hot chocolate and cookies. We need blankets, we need pillows, we need clothing. We can get hot chocolate and cookies, we need help!” resident Jodi Hannula said.

Meanwhile, the media is criticizing Romney for putting his campaign on hold to help collect - brace yourself - food, blankets and clothing for the victims.

October 30, 2012

Cindy Sheehan & Nancy Pelosi

Good point:

During the 2004 presidential campaign, a media eager to deny George W. Bush a second term made Cindy Sheehan, who lost a son in Iraq, a national heroine and reported virtually her every word and move.

"Cindy Sheehan," gushed NBC News, "is single-handedly bringing the Iraq debate to Mr. Bush's doorstep." ...

A few conservative outlets have talked to him, notably Fox News, and he's had much to say about how and why his son was abandoned by the government he served.

Woods is especially angry "that apparently the White House situation room was watching our people die in real time, as this was happening."

If Cindy Sheehan had made such a comment, it would have led every evening newscast.

October 16, 2012

I don't know which is more racially offensive - the claim that blacks will riot if their black candidate doesn't win or that white liberals have such a low opinion of blacks they think they can manipulate blacks into behaving erratically and uncivilly if the election doesn't go as desired.

Ann Coulter notes the real antagonists:

“I will note that white liberals are always threatening black riots whenever they’re about to lose an election. Al [Gore] did it in 2000.” [...]

“It was very clear that [Gore] was speaking in both cases about black people rioting,” Coulter said. “Black people don’t riot, but thanks for the hat tip, liberals. And if it’s white liberals who are threatening to riot, I don’t think we have much to worry about from the people who have been hysterical about Big Bird over the last two weeks. You know, what are they going to do, knock over their sippy cups or throw a tantrum when mother is changing her blouse in the department store too long? I don’t think we have much to worry about white liberals rioting, and black people have not shown a disposition to riot, despite liberals slandering them by saying they are about to.”

I do disagree with Coulter about the severity of the riots, if they do take place. It will be a bit more than tantrums. Property damages will be high. But probably not much more than we've seen at #Occupy protests.

October 13, 2012

The Good News: The tax-payer funded government program "Text Against Terrorism" has produced no credible tips about possible terrorist activities.

The Bad News: The tax-payer funded government program "Text Against Terrorism" has produced no credible tips about possible terrorist activities.

From Judicial Watch:

The U.S. government has blown nearly $6 million on an experimental “anti-terrorism” program in New Jersey that encourages the public to send tips via text message from their cellular phones.

Since it was launched in mid-2011, the federally-funded “Text Against Terror” project has produced no credible tips, according to a local newspaper report that reveals the feds have poured $5.8 million into the initiative. Police in New Jersey claim 307 tips have been texted so far and that includes people “testing the system.”

October 06, 2012

Big Bird may be on welfare, but he's cleaning up big with merchandising profits:

Shows like Sesame Street are multi-million dollar enterprises capable of thriving in the private market. According to the 990 tax form all nonprofits are required to file, Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell received $956,513 -- nearly a million dollars -- in compensation in 2008. And, from 2003 to 2006, "Sesame Street" made more than $211 million from toy and consumer product sales.

That works out to around $50 million a year in profits. In the end, it's the U.S. taxpayer that loses. It's time Big Bird is weened from the public teat.

October 02, 2012

Or, why English professors need to get bent:

For decades, scholars in the field of critical race theory have demonstrated how "whiteness" is not a universal standard but instead a specific social identity built upon unearned entitlements. Romney's whiteness is most flagrant not in the remarkable privilege he enjoyed, but in his denial of how his race has fundamentally influenced his life's trajectory.

H/T Instapundit who has related comments.

September 20, 2012

Is any one surprised by this?

**crickets**

August 29, 2012

I guess I'm late to the game, but this guy Joshua Scott Albert had put up a Facebook page advocating the murder of Mitt Romney.

The Facebook page is down, but this guy still has a blog. I won't link it but Marezilla has a pretty good expose on him here.

I'm pretty sure that if this guy was a Tea Partier and he had advocated the murder of the President, that the story would lead on CNN and MSNBC for the next 24 hours followed by another 48 hours on calls for "civility in public discourse" or some other nonsense.

August 27, 2012

I was just sitting here thinking about my life and realized how much more fulfilling and happy it would be if it were viewed through a lomo filter and had cartoon dandelion spores floating around.

And then Allah (swt) led me to this video:

I am saved! Allahu akbar!

July 13, 2012

Yes, I'm still on vacation. I know, it's a tough life being in academia but what are you gonna do?

Anyway, I have a few minutes free and Debbie from Right Truth sent me this article in the Pakistani Daily Times. The author was watching a Taliban propaganda video. Apparently she had become numb to the images of beheaded civilians and attacks on NATO bases. Having spent hundreds of hours watching the same videos, I get that.

No, what really bothered her were images of wounded warriors here in the US being used by the Taliban for their own propaganda. And you know what, she's right. First, they try to kill these young men. And when they fail at that, they use them in other ways. It's one thing to suffer injury in the service of your country, it's quite another when those wounds are used by your enemies for their own purposes.

If the powers-that-be won't take action against enemy propagandists for the million reasons I've given in the past, won't they at least take action to protect the identities and integrity of those who have already given so much?

June 11, 2012

They might be American spies, sent to Egypt to find out where our BILLIONS in foreign aid went...

The advertisements featured a man with Western features entering an Egyptian cafe. “From the start he knows why he came and for what purpose,” read the narration, accompanied by menacing music. “He will infiltrate your heart, as though you knew him forever.”

The ad went on to show three young Egyptians voicing their complaints about the behavior of the military and high fuel prices.

“Don’t just open your heart to anyone without knowing who he is and who stands behind him,” continued the narrator. “Every word has a price — a word can save the nation.”

Yes, we wouldn't want foreigners to really know how well the US Tax-payer funded "Arab spring" went...

The Foreign Hands warns against destabilizing the country.

Update: The Egyptian Government has removed the ads.

June 06, 2012

... the first drive-in theater. And they say your company is filled with left-wing America haters....

June 03, 2012

Say what?

NYPost

Six Long Island cops claim their commissioner is putting politics before the badge.

The Long Beach crime fighters say they’ve been targeted by the seaside town’s Democratic machine for supporting GOP candidates in local elections last year.

Long Beach Police Commissioner Michael Tangney, a longtime Democrat, demoted the cops, cut their overtime, switched them to midnight tours and even filed false internal charges against them for “political payback,” the veteran officers claim in a $39 million lawsuit.

“It’s just the way politics work in this town,” Tangney allegedly told one of the officers while demoting him.

Officers James Canner, 44; Karl Hayes, 42; James McCormack, 55; John Radin, 53; Benjamin Tayne, 47; and Jose Miguez, 39, claim they turned to their union for help, but that then-president Stefan Chernaski, another Democrat, ignored them.[More...]

May 30, 2012

Also, they're worried about the hookers.

April 24, 2012

If it's over, then to paraphrase Han Solo why don't we blow this thing and go home?

"The war on terror is over," one senior State Department official who works on Mideast issues told me. "Now that we have killed most of al Qaida, now that people have come to see legitimate means of expression, people who once might have gone into al Qaida see an opportunity for a legitimate Islamism."

Also, if the war on terror is over then why are Islamists in Somalia, Kenya, Syria, Yemen, Mali, the Philippines, Nigeria, etc., etc. still killing their fellow Muslims and those allied with them?

If we're going to declare the war on terror over, maybe someone should tell our opponents.

April 23, 2012

****sticky, scroll for newer****

Andrew F. March has an editorial at the NY Times in which he bemoans the conviction of Tarek Mehanna. In it he claims that Mehanna's prosecution was nothing more than an unconstitutional attack against free speech. That Mehanna had been convicted of speech crimes, or worse, "thought crimes".

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Mehanna was tried and convicted for material aid to a terrorist organization. In this case, that aid was in the translating of material for and in behalf of al Qaeda. Yes, translation is a form of speech, but in the case of al Qaeda it is, in fact, also material support.

What March would have us believe is that the First Amendment of the Constitution protects speech openly advocating violence against American soldiers engaged in an actual shooting war.

That there is legal precedent to such thinking there is no doubt. I've never accused the Supreme Court nor the legal profession in general of clear thinking.

But at some point a legal argument leaves the realm of slippery slope sophistry and becomes an out and out lie. For instance, take March's justification of Mehanna's major work of translation on behalf of al Qaeda, "39 Ways to Serve and Participate in Jihad". In it, he makes the incredible claim that:

The text in fact shows Muslims numerous ways to help fellow Muslims suffering in their own lands, without engaging in violence.[emphasis mine]

So, the Muslims today are left with no choice but that of Jihad and the language of weaponry...

So, iron is not to be fought except with iron, and force is not to be met except
with force...

There is no solution except for the greatest Jihad * World peace no longer satisfies us,

There is no peace for the enemy. This is a legislation * and belief in every Muslim heart....

To claim otherwise, as March does, is simply a lie.

Further, Mehanna did not simply translate some scholarly work. He did so for and behalf of at Tibyan publications for the express purpose of recruiting and inciting others to join organizations such as al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Context matters. At Tibyan shares membership with al Qaeda. It cannot be viewed as a separate organization. Al Qaeda has several related media organizations. For instance, their media production arm is called "As Sahab". Their distribution network is called "al Fajr".

At Tibyan was founded as a means of supporting al Qaeda with a translation arm. Mehanna knew this. He intended to recruit people for violent jihad. Which is why he first got in trouble with law enforcement: his buddy had just gone off to violent jihad, and Mehanna lied about it to them.

Moreover, Mehanna was not some lone wolf radical. He was an integral node in a global jihadist movement that recruited Muslims in the West for jihad in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia. March fails to mention his connections to real world terrorists when he argues that Mehanna's case doesn't rise to the level of 'material support' as defined in the Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project (2010) decision.

Mehanna worked for an organization, at Tibyan. That organization may be virtual, but in the 21st century physical proximity is no longer a defining characteristic of organization. And at Tibyan was really connected to al Qaeda. Mehanna knew this. He knew actual terrorists. This is not some abstract connect-the-dots relationship either: He actually knew them.

Like who? Mehanna knew Daniel Maldanoda, who went to Somalia to join al Shabaab, and lied to the FBI about it. Mehanna knew Samir Khan, who went to Yemen to join al Qaeda where he was killed. Mehanna knew Ahmad Abousamra, who fled to Syria after being questioned by the FBI. It is also likely that Mehanna knew dozens of other internet jihadis turned real-life jihadis.

Mehanna's words literally led to others committing crimes. In fact, this was his intention. Which I think is the very definition of unprotected speech under the Brandenburg standard.

He was not advocating violence in the abstract, now was he advocating support of some hypothetical jihad. He advocated very specific acts of violence against US soldiers, and he did so in the context of those soldiers engaging in actual warfare on an actual battlefield. And many of his readers took that advice to heart, and went on to actually fight.

But if March and the NY Times have their way, then any support of al Qaeda short of actually taking up arms would be legal. What would we say, then, of an Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri, who actually have never fired a shot but who's role in the organization is simply encouraging others to do the fighting and dying? Under their standard, would the propaganda produced by Joseph Goebbels now be considered protected speech?

Tarek Mahanna is no martyr for the First Amendment, he was a warrior for the global jihad. That a warrior may use the pen rather than the sword is simply a fact of modern warfare. Any one disputing this is living in a fantasy world.

April 19, 2012

There are very few things in life dumber than 9/11 trutherism and few widespread conspiracy theories as despicable. So, why would MSNBC employ a Truther as the go-to guy on all things race related?

On September 7th, 2009, Touré sent the following tweets about the incident.

“Van Jones was forced to resign partly bc questions the truth of 9/11 but that Pentagon attack is really fishy…”

“How could a plane crash into the Pentagon? And not appear on video cameras?? And leave little wreckage??? #Don’tbuyitfiremenow.”

“This fascinating video raises questions about the Pentagon attack: 757 or missle? http://bit.ly/12AOlN”

The tweets didn’t get Touré canned from his job as “idea writer” at Time or commentator at MSNBC.

So, why hasn't Toure been fired? It seems to me that this is another example of the Left's not-so subtle racism of lowered expectations.

A white guy says this: Fired! A black guy? Oh, we have to listen to what the "community" is saying or some such nonsense.

It's the same reason why MSNBC keeps a guy like Al Sharpton employed. He can get away with stuff that no white guy let alone a conservative of minority ethnicity would ever get away with.

Tell me why I'm wrong? I'd really like to believe something else is at work here.

April 05, 2012

March 29, 2012

Thanks to R.H. Potfry.

Like I've said, I actually think Zimmerman might have gone too far and may be at fault. But the way the media is treating this whole thing, I really have no way of knowing either way. The media really has acted shamefully.

March 25, 2012

A murder of an Iraqi immigrant + CAIR + a convenient note = recipe for propaganda

From FNC:

A 32-year-old woman from Iraq who was found severely beaten next to a threatening note saying "go back to your country" died on Saturday.

Hanif Mohebi, the director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he met with Shaima Alawadi's family members in the morning and was told that she was taken off life support around 3 p.m. [...]

A family friend, Sura Alzaidy, told UT San Diego that the attack apparently occurred after the father took the younger children to school. Alzaidy told the newspaper the family is from Iraq, and that Alawadi is a "respectful modest muhajiba," meaning she wears the traditional hijab, a head scarf.

How convenient CAIR happened to be there. My gut instinct is telling me this was an 'honor killing' made to look like a hate crime. Even if proven so, don't expect CAIR to admit otherwise.

And, whether it is a hate crime or an honor killing, I hope the person that did it rots in prison.