An audio recording has been released on the web claiming to feature the voice of al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, urging Sunnis to attack the country's Shias. The taped voice - allegedly that of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - says Shias have long collaborated with foreign invaders in Iraq....Really?????"Forget about those advocating the end of sectarianism and calling for national unity," the speaker says.I doubt if very many Iraqis agree with him.The recording also describes Iraq's highest-ranking Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, as an "atheist"According to Fox News, he also says that Shia and Jews come from the same root. Well in that he is correct, since Sunnis, Shia, and Jews all trace themselves back to Abraham, but there is no root other than that. As this article indicates The division between Shia and Sunni dates back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad, and the question of who was to take over the leadership of the Muslim nation. Sunni Muslims agree with the position taken by many of the Prophet's companions, that the new leader should be elected from among those capable of the job. This is what was done, and the Prophet Muhammad's close friend and advisor, Abu Bakr, became the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. The word "Sunni" in Arabic comes from a word meaning "one who follows the traditions of the Prophet." On the other hand, some Muslims share the belief that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet's own family, among those specifically appointed by him, or among Imams appointed by God Himself. The Shia Muslims believe that following the Prophet Muhammad's death, leadership should have passed directly to his cousin/son-in-law, Ali. Throughout history, Shia Muslims have not recognized the authority of elected Muslim leaders, choosing instead to follow a line of Imams which they believe have been appointed by the Prophet Muhammad or God Himself.and lambasts Shia militia groups for attacking Sunnis in their houses on the pretext of searching for insurgents. The speaker in the tape also attacks targets beyond Iraq. He describes Lebanon's Shia militia group, Hezbollah, as a "shield" protecting Israel from attack.
Zarqawi clearly does not understand what the word "atheist means, because if there is a difference, one would think that the Shia, who follow a line of Imams which they believe have been appointed by the Prophet Muhammad or God Himself, would be more religious than just following the "traditions of the Prophet".You are insane if you think Hezbollah is protecting Israel from attack.He also mocks the Iranian leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for "screaming and calling for wiping Israel from the map" while failing to back up his words with actions.Would you like to try your hand at wiping Israel off the map? Go ahead and take your army and attack Israel.
Friday, June 02, 2006
'Zarqawi tape' urges Sunni unrest
Congress and Justice Dept. May Both Be Overreaching
NYT reported In the search case, there is broad academic consensus that the constitutional protection for Congressional speech and debate does not extend to evidence of criminal conduct, even if it is in a Congressional office.
And 86% of Americans agree.That means the Justice Department was probably entitled to seek — and a federal judge probably correct in authorizing — a warrant to search the offices of Representative William J. Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana, notwithstanding objections by leaders of Congress.
There is no "probably" about it.But having the legal power to conduct a search of another branch of government does not mean it is a wise or prudent thing to do. No other administration has ever done it.
The police have never searched my house with a search warrent either. Does that mean that they should not consider it, if they should have enough evidence to convince a judge that they should be allowed to do it?In ordering a 45-day cooling-off period, during which the solicitor general will hold the seized materials, President Bush seemed to allow time for reflection on the difference between what the executive branch may do and what it should do.
Actually he just gave the Speaker a chance to recover his sanity, and to allow the people time to let their congress critters know what fools they were making of themselves.At the same time, Congressional leaders may have overreached in describing the search as a flagrant violation of the Constitution.
MAY?????Indeed, the argument that Congressional offices are immune from law enforcement searches has something in common with the argument that the president has the authority to reinterpret the bills he signs into law, said Douglas W. Kmiec, a law professor at Pepperdine University.
He has not done that. His signing statements just state his view, as "legislative intent" shows the legislature's view, should the judicial branch need to review a law."They have no taproot in the constitutional document," Professor Kmiec said of arguments. "They're all sound and fury." Several legal scholars went further, saying they found it hard to take at face value the objections of many legislators about the search of Mr. Jefferson's office.
"Like a lot of these issues where separation-of-powers rhetoric is deployed and where you see cross-party lines of agreement, there's often a competing story," said Daryl J. Levinson, a law professor at Harvard. "Here the story that leaps out at you is that the Republicans are worried that they're next."
They they need to make sure they dont do anything wrong. If there is nothing to find, they should not fear a search.The judge who authorized the warrant in Mr. Jefferson's case, Thomas F. Hogan of Federal District Court in Washington, will hear arguments on June 16 about whether to order the materials returned. Judge Hogan has in other contexts been unsympathetic to claims of privilege, having last year ordered the jailing of Judith Miller, then a reporter for The New York Times, for refusing to testify about a confidential source.
Mr. Jefferson and many of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle have said that the speech-and-debate clause in the Constitution should have barred the search. The clause says that members of Congress "shall not be questioned in any other place" about "any speech or debate in either house." The courts have interpreted the clause broadly. Information concerning almost all legislative activity, including stolen documents received from a tobacco whistle-blower, for instance, have been held to be protected. But materials concerning activities unrelated to the official legislative process are not subject to the privilege (bribery being an obvious example).
Iraqi Assails U.S. for Strikes on Civilians
NYT reported Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki lashed out at the American military on Thursday, denouncing what he characterized as habitual attacks by troops against Iraqi civilians. As outrage over reports that American marines killed 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha last year continued to shake the new government, the country's senior leaders said that they would demand that American officials turn over their investigative files on the killings and that the Iraqi government would conduct its own inquiry.
If what it appears happened at Haditha really happened, those responsible should definitely be punished. Whether by us or by the Iraqis is a separate matterIn his comments, Mr. Maliki said violence against civilians had become a "daily phenomenon" by many troops in the American-led coalition who "do not respect the Iraqi people."
f he has forces that can take over the job, we would be more than happy to ask our forces to stand down."They crush them with their vehicles and kill them just on suspicion," he said. "This is completely unacceptable."
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Naked ‘Sorceress’ Falls From the Sky
ArabNews reported Members of the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice received a call of a suspected African “sorceress” in the holy city’s Al-Seeh neighborhood. Members of the committee along with police went to the suspected den of the black arts to find a naked African woman. Embarrassed about busting into an apartment containing a naked woman,
The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice were the barbarians that let an entire building full of women burn to death, not allowing them to escape the fire, and they are embarrasses about busting into an apartment containing a naked woman.police paused just long enough for the woman to attempt an escape, still naked, through the window of her flat. Police followed in pursuit to discover that the woman had crashed through the ceiling of the neighbor’s flimsy house and landed on the floor next to a bed of sleeping children. The woman was arrested, but not before she was provided some dignity in the form of clothing.
They did not care about the witch's feelings, but they did not want to further embarrass the religious police.OTB blogged Some mighty gentlemenly folks on the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. But, then, what else would you expect? I’m not sure of the technical distinction between a sorceress and a witch, let alone whether they would survive translation. Nonetheless, there seems to be a consensus that the woman was naked. No photos were available.
Dr. Rusty Shackleford blogged If it wasn't so sad that Saudi Arabia actually has religious police going around arresting people on suspicion of "witchcraft" it would be funny. Wait. It's still funny.
ACLU Defends Pedophiles’ “Right” To Easy Access For Children
Stop The ACLU Via Indy StarThe ACLU of Indiana filed the suit challenging a new city ordinance that fines child molesters caught near city playgrounds or other gathering spots for children. Calling the ordinance passed in mid-May unconstitutionally vague, the group said it would make law-abiding citizens unwitting violators of the ordinance and hinder their ability to work, vote and worship.
It should not affect "law-abiding citizens" unless they are convicted pedophiles, and if they just have not been caught yet since they got out of prison.The ordinance prohibits sex offenders convicted of crimes against children from coming within 1,000 feet of playgrounds, recreation centers, swimming pools, sports fields or facilities when children are around. This news seems to have quite a few people rightfully outraged this morning. Some of these sex offenders are claiming they can’t go to church because of how close their church is to a playground,
Find another church, one without children, or pray at home.or that they can’t work for the same reason. However that argument seems pretty weak when you consider the exeception that is included in the law. One exception to the ban is if the offender is accompanied by an adult with no history of sex crimes.I’m sure there are plenty of adults with no history of sex crimes that attend church and are employed at the same kind of places as these individuals. The ACLU are saying that this law is vague, however what sounds more vague is the arguments against it.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Hey Congress, Who Do You Think You Are?
Tom Bevan wrote on RealClearPolitics If only we could get the NSA to start spying on members of Congress. Tap their phones and read their email, no warrants necessary. We could call it a "Corruption Surveillance Program," and leak the details to the New York Times to make sure everyone in Congress is made aware they're being watched.
I wonder what the NYT would think of that.I'm being facetious, of course, in part to help elicit an image of the howls of righteous indignation such a program would prompt in Washington D.C. If Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert throws a "separation of powers" tantrum over the idea of letting the FBI perform a basic, carefully vetted search of the office of a Congressman who is by most accounts almost certainly guilty of taking a bribe, imagine the cacophony of teeth-gnashing that would ensue on the Hill at the mere suggestion that members' emails and phone calls be subject to scrutiny.
ROF, LMAOThe point is that our humble public servants in Washington D.C. seem to be experiencing an identity crisis in that they're not acting very humble of late nor do they appear all that devoted to serving the public interest. That may be a bit unfair to many, if not most of the 535 elected officials in the nation's capitol who are good people doing their honest best. As is so often the case in politics, however, perception is reality. And right now the perception is that members of Congress don't feel they have to live by the same rules the rest of us do.
That is absolutely the case.
- The average American can't smack a police officer without getting arrested.
- He can't smash his car into a stationary barrier at three in the morning, get out stumbling and slurring, and then get a ride home and a pat on the back from the cops.
- And he certainly can't complain to any real effect about the FBI entering his co-worker's office with a warrant and just cause seeking evidence to support credible allegations of bribery.
Here is a message I sent to the Speaker and Congressman SensenbrennerA good part of the brilliance and the success behind the 1994 Republican revolution is that it tapped into a deep vein of public disgust toward incumbent members of Congress who had grown arrogant and accustomed to a sense of entitlement. Newt Gingrich understood what a powerful political force this could be, and it's no coincidence the list of reforms contained in the Contract with America began with this: "FIRST, require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress."I am very ashamed of the way you behaved when, after trying to suponea reecords for 8 months, the FBI finally got a warrent and raided
Jefferson's office
Despite what you may think,You dont seem to have a problem with conducting oversight hearings of the other two branches, but when they get together and go after a dishonest congressman, you dont like it.
- Congress is not above the law.
- Separation of Powers means it takes the Judicial Branch AND the Executive Branch to hold the Legislative Branch up for inspection.
- The Speeches and Debate Clause does not apply to felonies, and bribery is a felony
- There is a difference between Bribe Money and Campaign Donations
- If you continue as you are now, you are going to give control over to the Democrats
- If you are worried about being raided because of Abramof, turn the shreaders on NOW
I urge you to resign
A short twelve years later we're back to a situation where Congress is displaying a sense of entitlement that borders on arrogance and an unwillingness to seriously reform itself. The American people are tolerant, but they aren't stupid and their tolerance has limits. If members of Congress continue to demonstrate the sort of poor judgment and sense of entitlement we've grown accustomed to seeing lately, don't be surprised to see the public avail themselves of the remedy provided to them by our constitutional republic this November and send a number of incumbents packing.
Estate Tax Lunacy
Harold Meyerson foolishly editorialized in WaPo The Senate, meanwhile, is scheduled next week to take up legislation by Arizona Republican Jon Kyl that would permanently repeal the estate tax on the wealthiest Americans.
Actually no one that died would have the money they left their heirs confiscated, not just rich people. No taxation without respiration.If enacted, Kyl's bill would plunge the government another trillion dollars into the red during the first decade (2011-2021) that it would be in effect.
Spending is what plunges the government into the red..Behind the scenes, the action has been on the Democratic side in the Senate, as the party's leadership has sought to dissuade Montana's Max Baucus, ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, from forging a halfway-house compromise with Kyl that would deplete revenue by only $500 billion to $600 billion during that decade. The Republicans would need Baucus to bring roughly a half-dozen Democrats along with him to reach the magic number of 60 votes required to overcome any filibuster that the vast majority of Democrats would mount to block any such measure.
I wish him luck.Even a paltry $500 billion, of course, is a lot of money to drain from public coffers
A tax cut does not drain anything from the public coffers; it just does not put more in them.just when boomers are going onto Social Security and Medicare and the number of employers providing health insurance, if present trends continue, might have dropped to a virtuous handful. To cover those and other needs, Congress will either plunge us deeper into debt or increase some other levies -- payroll taxes, say -- that will come out of the pockets of the 99 percent of Americans whom the estate tax doesn't touch.
And who may not even be hit by income taxes.
2 Studies Link Global Warming to Greater Power of Hurricanes
NYT reported Climate researchers at Purdue University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology separately reported new evidence yesterday supporting the idea that global warming is causing stronger hurricanes.
If you pay for the study, you can get it to find whatever you want found.That claim is the subject of a long-running scientific dispute. And while the new research supports one side, neither the authors nor other climate experts say it is conclusive.
They apparently want to continue to be considered reliable. researchers
Saudi fighters are leading the surge in attacks on British troops
Telegraph reported Foreign terrorists, led by fighters from Saudi Arabia, are behind an upsurge in attacks against British troops in Basra, military sources said yesterday.
We need to learn how to close the borders: with Saudia Arabia, Syria, and Iran. It is too bad we have not had our military doing training sessions keeping our own border closed.As the Army suffered the highest number of fatal attacks in a month since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, commanders on the ground are concerned at the level of sophistication and ferocity of the assaults.
Insurgent attacks in Iraq at highest level in 2 years
Boston Globe reported The Pentagon reported yesterday that the frequency of insurgent attacks against troops and civilians is at its highest level since American commanders began tracking such figures two years ago,
That is because they are running out of people stupid enough to blow themselves up to kill, so they are resorting to attacks. But we are killing a lot of them in each attack, so soon they will figure that approach does not pay eitheran ominous sign that, despite three years of combat, the US-led coalition forces haven't significantly weakened the Iraq insurgency.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
A Political Party for Everyone in the Netherlands
Betsy Newmark blogged You'd think that the Dutch have enough problems to worry about with the tensions between radical Muslims and traditional Dutch values in their country and violence threatened against anyone who criticizes radical Islamicism. But, apparently, there still are some issues out there that aren't being addressed. So, a new political party is forming.Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals. The Charity, Freedom and Diversity (NVD) party
I can understand Diversity, and perhaps even "Freedom" from their perveted point of view, but "Charity"???said on its Web site it would be officially registered Wednesday, proclaiming: "We are going to shake The Hague awake!"
It is asleep, particularly regarding the threat presented by radical Islamists, but I doubt there are enough pedophiles to interrupt their slumber.The party said it wanted to cut the legal age for sexual relations to 12 and eventually scrap the limit altogether. "A ban just makes children curious,"
I doubt very many children have any thoughts, curiosity or other, about being abused by an adult.Ad van den Berg, one of the party's founders, told the Algemeen Dagblad (AD) newspaper. "We want to make pedophilia the subject of discussion," he said, adding that the subject had been a taboo since the 1996 Marc Dutroux child abuse scandal in neighboring Belgium. "We have been hushed up. The only way is through parliament." The Netherlands already has liberal policies on soft drugs, prostitution, and gay marriage, but the NVD is unlikely to win much support, the AD quoted experts as saying.Maybe the new party will be able to band together with those Muslims who support child marriage.
Or the Muslims that take Christian children and sell them into sexual slavery.It just goes to show that where society draws few limits, there will always be some who want to take those limits even further.
European Court Bars Passing Passenger Data to U.S.
NYT reports The European Union's highest court ruled today that an agreement providing for the transfer of extensive personal data on air passengers to the authorities in the United States was illegal. The decision forces the two sides back to the negotiating table at a time when privacy safeguards are increasingly being debated. The European Court of Justice, in Luxembourg, overruled a May 2004 decision by the European Commission and the European Council, which represents national governments. The agreement, which took 18 months to negotiate and was set to last through the end of next year, gives American counterterrorism authorities access to 34 different types of information about passengers on all flights that originate from the 25 member states.
If this means that the countries will cease providing the information, then the US needs to announce that effectively immediately no aircraft that originates from the 25 member states of the EU will be allowed to land in the United States.
Earn Cellphone Minutes by Watching Ads
NYT With the cost of mobile phone calls already dropping sharply, Virgin Mobile USA plans to announce a way that people can talk for no money at all. They will, however, have to pay with a chunk of their attention. The program, called SugarMama, lets people earn one minute of talking time by watching 30-second commercials on a computer or receiving text messages on their phones, then answering questions to prove they were, in fact, paying attention.
I have seen this done in other venues, and it did not last long there. It remains to see how it works here.Virgin Mobile, a relatively small cellphone carrier with four million mostly young customers, is aiming the program at teenagers, who can earn up to 75 minutes of free talk time a month.
The problem there is that teenagers have recently been through our public school system, and they don't teach kids to understand what they read, and answer questions about it.
CNET’s AllYouCanUpload Is Disruptive
TechCrunch blogged CNET very quietly launched a simple new photo uploading site called AllYouCanUpload last week. At first glance it doesn’t appear to be very special or disruptive. But it is. By launching AllYouCanUpload, CNET just pulled the rug out from under at least two startups (photobucket and imageshack) that focus on providing image hosting for users who want to display those images on other websites, like Myspace, eBay and others. This is a big business - a lot of traffic flows through photobucket today, and it is a profitable and well funded company.
Why does offerring one free service disrupt other free services. Can't people decide which they prefer to use?AllYouCanUpload is a site that makes uploading photos as easy as it can possibly get. They’ve removed all of the friction. You do not need to register for an account. You just use the uploading tool and you are shown the image along with codes to post the photo on sites like Myspace, ebay and others (I’d also like an option to have the image links emailed to me). Unlike Photobucket and Imageshack, AllYouCanUpload is completely free, and no advertisements appear on the uploading areas of the site (there are ads on the hosted part of the site, which you see if you click on a hosted image). There is no limit to the number of photos that can be uploaded or the total amount of storage that may be consumed. There is no limit on the size of an image, and images are not resized unless you request it. And possibly most importantly, there are absolutely no bandwidth restraints.
Iraq Becomes Deadliest of Modern Wars for Journalists
NYT By some reckonings, the death of two journalists working for CBS News on Monday firmly secured the Iraq war as the deadliest conflict for reporters in modern times.
Are camermen and soundmen considered journalists?Since the start of the war in 2003, 71 journalists have been killed in Iraq, a figure that does not even include the more than two dozen members of news media support staff who have also died,
If a cameraman and a soundman are considered journalists, what are news media support staff? Or is the NYT playing loose with its figures so it can justify another story against the war?according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. That number is more than the 63 killed in Vietnam, the 17 killed in Korea, and even the 69 killed in World War II, according to Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan free speech advocacy group.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Google Holiday Graphics
Jonah Goldberg blogged on The Corner It's kind of sad. They change their homepage logo for all sorts of holidays and occasions. Just last week they paid tribute to Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday. But Memorial Day doesn't seem to rate anything at all.
They seldom honor any real holidays. I guess they think that would be "evil".Update: A reader sends this along:
It's worse than you think. Google doesn't always do logos for the same days every year, but they've never changed their logo for Memorial Day.
Check it out for yourself
Minutemen Build Fence
Chris Simcox, President of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (“MCDC”), today announced plans by the MCDC to work with local Arizona land owners to build border security fencing on private land along the border with Mexico.
And they are not even asking Mexico's permission to do it
At present, six private land owners have partnered with the Minutemen for the commencement of construction of border fencing on their land. Surveillance cameras on the fencing will be monitored via computer by registered Minutemen across the country. We have chosen a fence design that is based on the Israeli fences in Gaza and on the West Bank that have cut terrorist attacks there by 95% or more. In order to be effective, a fence should not be easy to compromise by climbing over it with a ladder, cutting through it with wire cutters, ramming it with a vehicle, or tunneling under it undetected. No fence can be a 100% impenetrable barrier—but a good design will be time-consuming enough to get through that Border Patrol agents can be alerted to get to a point of attempted intrusion before the intrusion can be completed. We thank Colin Hanna and We Need A Fence.com for the design concept.
Simcox says those involved in the planning hope to keep costs near $150 per foot.
If you want to help, you can donate money.
Justice Dept. Seeks to Block Suits on Spying
NYT reported The Bush administration has asked federal judges in New York and Michigan to dismiss two lawsuits filed over the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program, saying litigating them would jeopardize state secrets.
We just learned how the British security services uncovered 20 major terrorist plots in Britain, and there are as many as 1,200 potential terrorist suspects that may now be in the UK. I suspect we have even more here, and these idiots dont want us to track their phone and email traffic with their bosses overseas.In papers filed late Friday, Justice Department lawyers said it would be impossible to defend the program's legality without disclosing classified information that could aid terrorists. John D. Negroponte, the director of national intelligence, invoked the state secrets privilege, writing that disclosure would cause "exceptionally grave damage" to national security. The administration laid out some of its supporting arguments in classified memos, filed under seal.
And I suspect some of the anti American media, like Al Jazeera, New York Times, and Washington Post, want to open that seal.The motion, widely anticipated, involves two cases challenging an N.S.A. program that allows investigators to eavesdrop on Americans who communicate by phone or e-mail with people outside the country suspected of terrorist ties.
A very reasonable programIn New York, the Center for Constitutional Rights
Never heard of themhas asked a judge to stop the program, calling it an abuse of presidential power. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a similar suit in Detroit.
Al Qaeda would really like to stop the program too. Have they donated money to the ACLU?
20 Islamist plots in Britain
Times Online reported Twenty “major conspiracies” by Islamist terrorists in Britain have been uncovered by the security services, John Reid, the home secretary, has disclosed.
It is good that their security services are doing what they are doing to protect their citizens.Reid said that the existence of so many plots means that the police and MI5 are fully stretched and cannot divert their precious counter-terrorism resources to a lengthy public inquiry into last year’s London suicide bombings.
Sounds like they have the same sort of idiots there as we do here complaining about the Terrorist Surveilance ProgramReid revealed the existence of the plots — far more than have previously been reported — at a meeting with some of the victims’ relatives and survivors of the attacks last week.
The problem with revealing your successes, is that you run the risk of revealing sources and methods for achieving those successes.He failed to give further details but the claim appears to fit in with briefings by MI5 which suggest that as many as 1,200 potential terrorist suspects may now be in the UK.
And we probably have even more than that here in the US.
Pentagon Seeks Nonnuclear Tip for Sub Missiles
NYT reported The Pentagon is pressing Congress to approve the development of a new weapon that would enable the United States to carry out nonnuclear missile strikes against distant targets within an hour.
Why does the Pentagon have to ask congress if it can put NON-Nuclear warheads on missles rather than Nuclear ones???The proposal has set off a complex debate about whether this program for strengthening the military's conventional capacity could increase the risks of accidental nuclear confrontation.
Why would giving the military more capability to fight conventional ways increase the risks of a nuclear confrontation? Look at it the reverse way. If conventional weapons make nuclear confrontation more likely, then why not take way conventional weapons, and make everything nuclear. That way if they are attacked and need to defend themselves, mushroom clouds will be automatic.
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