Al Qaeda group claims Iraq parliament attack

Khaleej Times reported An alliance of Sunni groups headed by Al Qaeda in Iraq said in an Internet statement on Friday that it carried out a deadly suicide bomb attack inside the Iraqi parliament building. “After studying the area... a hero from the Islamic state of Iraq wearing an explosive belt infiltrated the apostates of the parliament. Allah used his hand to destroy the group of infidels,” the self-styled Islamic Nation of Iraq said in the Internet statement.

Which was it?

1. a hero from the Islamic state of Iraq wearing an explosive belt
2. Allah using his hand

Or is "a hero from the Islamic state of Iraq" the "hand of Allah", and is Allah nothing but a terrorist. And since he blew up, does that mean that Allah is now dead?

Thursday’s bombing killed one parliamentarian and wounded 22 other people in the legislature’s cafeteria, the US military said on Friday, revising the previous day’s toll down from eight reported dead and 23 wounded. “The right to legislate belongs to God alone, and whoever disputes that is an apostate.

Does Allah have a one house legislature, or does "he" have a House and a Senate? And who can veto "his" laws, and can "he" override the veto? When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments He wrote them with his mighty finger on tablets of stone. How does Allah document his legislations?

The members of parliament deserve only death,” the Internet statement said. “We delayed the announcement (claiming the bombing) to enable our men to withdraw,”

Why? Couldn't Allah protect them, if they were really doing what he wanted?

it added, also threatening to launch “more violent attacks.”

Double standard

Star Tribune reported Minneapolis Community and Technical College.... officials say the college, a public institution, has a strict policy of not promoting religion or favoring one religion over another. "The Constitution prevents us from doing this in any form," says Dianna Cusick, director of legal affairs. But that seems to depend on your religion.

I suspect it depends on whether adherenants of a religion are ready to use violence to get their way.

Where Christianity is concerned, the college goes to great lengths to avoid any hint of what the courts call "entanglement" or support of the church. Yet the college is planning to install facilities for Muslims to use in preparing for daily prayers, an apparent first at a public institution in Minnesota.

Separation of church and state is clearest at the college during the Christmas season. A memo from Cusick and President Phil Davis, dated Nov. 28, 2006, exhorted supervisors to banish any public display of holiday cheer: "As we head into the holiday season ... "all public offices and areas should refrain from displays that may represent to our students, employees or the public that the college is promoting any particular religion." Departments considering sending out holiday cards, the memo added, should avoid cards "that appear to promote any particular religious holiday."....

If they go through with this plan Christians need to not only demand recognitions of Christmas, but also the constructions of Christian prayer rooms in direct proportion to the number of Christians vs the number of Muslims in the community.

Some local Muslim leaders have advised the college staff that washing is not a required practice for students under the circumstances, according to Davis. Nevertheless, he says, he wants to facilitate it for interested students. "It's like when someone comes to your home, you want to be hospitable," Davis told me. "We have new members in our community coming here; we want to be hospitable."

As long as they don't have to be hospitable to Christians or Jews.

So the college is making plans to use taxpayer funds to install facilities for ritual foot-washing. Staff members are researching options, and a school official will visit a community college in Illinois to view such facilities while attending a conference nearby. College facilities staff members are expected to present a proposal this spring.

In Davis' view, the foot-washing plan does not constitute promotion or support of religion.

So prayer has nothing to do with religion?????

"The foot-washing facilities are not about religion, they are about customer service and public safety," he says.

Does Islam require foot washing before prayer as an honor to Allah, or just for customer service and public safety.

He sees no significant difference between using public funds to construct prayer-related facilities for Muslim students and the cafeteria's provision of a fish option for Christian students during Lent.

Does the cafeteria give the fish away or is there a charge? Will there be a charge to use the foot washing facilities?

Genocide of Jews remains Hamas goal

PMW reported As Hamas seeks international recognition by softening its tone in English, in Arabic it continues the calls for genocide of Jews. In a recent sermon on PA TV, Hamas spokesman Dr. Ismail Radwan made it clear that the classical Hamas ideology had not changed, including its continued incorporation of extremist Islamic beliefs into Hamas ideology and policy. He reiterated:

1. The Hour – the Islamic Resurrection and End of Time– is literally dependent on the killing of Jews by Muslims.
2. The remaining Jews will unsuccessfully attempt to hide, as the rocks and trees will expose them, calling out "there is a Jew behind me, kill him!" This is a quote from Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 52, Number 177
3. "Palestine… will be liberated through the rifle," a euphemism meaning that Israel will be destroyed through violence.

Try it. They have a lot more than rifles.

Alarm in Spain over al-Qaeda call for its "reconquest"

EUX.TV reported The emergence of a new al-Qaeda-linked organization in Northern Africa is alarming Spain, which is concerned about Islamists' calls for the reconquest of the country they regard as a lost part of the Muslim world.

Concern is one thing, but what are they going to do about it.

"We will not be in peace until we set our foot again in our beloved al-Andalus," al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said on claiming responsibility for an attack which killed at least 24 people in Algiers on Wednesday.

Islam, the religion of piece (not peace, but piece, which is what was left after bombs blow up.

Al-Andalus is the Moorish name for Spain, parts of which were ruled by Muslims for about eight centuries until the last Moorish bastion, Granada, succumbed to the Christian Reconquest in 1492.

I wonder if that is why the queen sent Columbus on his trip; maybe they did not know the reconquest would be successful.

The terrorists will undoubtedly attempt to extend their offensive from Northern Africa to European soil, anti-terrorism judge Baltasar Garzon warned, cautioning that Spain was at a "very high risk" of suffering an Islamist attack.

All of Europe is at risk, and the EU needs to wake up very soon.

Vote for the Okahoma State Quarter

Click here to take part in Oklahoma's history and submit your choice for the Oklahoma State Quarter. You may only vote for your favorite finalist. Here are all of the entries submitted. Only five were selected for you to vote between.

No nudity for sex

News24 reported An Egyptian cleric's controversial fatwa claiming that nudity during sexual intercourse invalidates a marriage has uncovered a rift among Islamic scholars. According to the religious edict issued by Rashad Hassan Khalil, a former dean of Al-Azhar University's faculty of Sharia (or Islamic law), "being completely naked during the act of coitus annuls the marriage".

Just what is going on in the Ivory tower, dean?

The religious decree sparked a hot debate on the private satellite network Dream's popular religious talk show and on the front page of Sunday's Al-Masri Al-Yom, Egypt's leading independent daily newspaper. Suad Saleh, who heads the women's department of Al-Azhar's Islamic studies faculty, pleaded for "anything that can bring spouses closer to each other" and rejected the claim that nudity during intercourse could invalidate a union.

Women like it, but then Islam does not consider the wishes of women.

During the live televised debate, Islamic scholar Abdel Muti dismissed the fatwa: "Nothing is prohibited during marital sex, except of course sodomy."

And eating a ham sandwich after it is also frowned upon.

For his part, Al-Azhar's fatwa committee chairman Abdullah Megawar argued that married couples could see each other naked but should not look at each other's genitalia and suggested they cover up with a blanket during sex.

What happens if they sneak a look at each other's genitalia?

Snoop Says Rappers And Imus Are 'Two Separate Things'

MTV News reported "It's a completely different scenario," said Snoop, barking over the phone from a hotel room in L.A. "[Rappers] are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We're talking about ho's that's in the 'hood that ain't doing sh--, that's trying to get a n---a for his money. These are two separate things.

Snoop is right. What he and the rappers are saying is much worse than what Imus said, and what Imus said is stupid. But black children do not look up to Imus; they do look up to rappers like Snoop, and that is why the rappers should be much better role modles.

First of all, we ain't no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC [which announced Wednesday it would drop its simulcast of Imus' radio show] going hard on black girls. We are rappers that have these songs coming from our minds and our souls that are relevant to what we feel. I will not let them mutha----as say we in the same league as him."

You are not in his league. As despicable as he may be, he is in higher league than you are.

Give 'em a state!

In a post entitled "Give 'em a state!" Atlas Shrugs lists a bunch of links to various pages showing how the Palestinians love death. She has a valid point. Give them what they want, a state of their own. And then when that state declares war on Israel, do as even the UN must admit a state is entitled to do when another state declares war on the. Attack back. But don't just take control of the land and occupy it with the current residents in it. Do as they say they want to do. Push them into the sea. Push all of the arabs competely off the entire land west of the Jordan river. And if some other arab countries decide to join in with the war, take over their land as well. And tell the residents there that they can convert to Judism or to Christianity, or if they want to remain Muslims they must pay a special tax.

The Jeb Bush College of Education at UF

Orlando Sentinel reported Just a few weeks after the University of Florida's faculty Senate voted against awarding Jeb Bush an honorary degree, a Republican-controlled House council decided this morning to make the university name its entire college of education after the former governor. The University of Florida's education school would be renamed the "Jeb Bush College of Education," under an amendment approved this morning by the House Schools & Learning Council. What's more, UF would also have to erect "suitable markers" noting the college's new name and include the revised name in all university documents, including catalogues and brochures.

The bill still has to pass the Senate and be signed by Crist, so it is far from a "done deal", and while I like to giggle at what the Dems at the University must be thinking, I really don't like either party thinking it has to name every public building, road, bridge, tunnel, etc after some politician.

The provision, which was inserted into a broader bill (HB 621) renaming buildings at various state universities, was offered by Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami. Rivera's a top lieutenant to House Speaker Marco Rubio, who has long admired Bush and regularly seeks counsel from the former governor.

AllahPundit blogged I freely admit, it would annoy me if the Democrats pulled this with one of their guys. But I’d like to think I’d still laugh.

Prosecutor of Islamists Shot Dead

adnkronos reported A prosecutor involved in a case against six Islamic militants in Bangladesh who were hanged two weeks ago, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the southern town of Jhalakathi,

This is one reason why moderate Muslims are afraid to speak out against the Islamists who obviously never read Surat an-Nisa,093 (Quran 4.93) which says "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him."

according to the Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star. Hyder Hossain was killed as he came out of a mosque after prayers near his home on Wednesday night.

At least he had just prayed, and hopefully was forgiven his sins. Maybe he will talk to Allah about these nutjobs that are taking His name in vain.

The Daily Star reported that Hyder had recently said that several people identifying themselves a members of the banned Islamic group Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were threatening him over the telephone following the execution of the six JMB members.

Free Thinkers

I am proud that Greta Perry of HooahWife has just nominated my blog for a Free Thinkers Award, and I thank her for the kind things she said about me, and also what Amy Proctor said.

Now I must come up with five other bloggers to nominate. Well one of them must be Greta's other blog Kiss My Gumbo, where she is teaching people in New Orleans area what blogging is all about.

Danny Carlton certainly merits a nomination, because I check out his site as soon as I have checked out HooahWife and Kiss My Gumbo

Deb and Cat, the two fine ladies at Elephant in My Coffee certainly have interesting thoughts to say, as does ...

Michael Bates of BatesLine, my fourth nominee. I always check Michael's site to see what is happening here in Tulsa, and his Newsgator has identified many of the items I have blogged about.

And how can I forget Betsy Newmark, an AP history and government teacher in Raleigh, NC that has a very interesting blog.

Diabetics cured by stem-cell treatment

TimesOnline reported Diabetics using stem-cell therapy have been able to stop taking insulin injections for the first time, after their bodies started to produce the hormone naturally again. In a breakthrough trial, 15 young patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes were given drugs to suppress their immune systems followed by transfusions of stem cells drawn from their own blood.

Note this cure was from adult stem cells, not embryonic stem cells. This is just one of many cures that come from adult stem cells, or stem cells drawn from cord blood, and there is not yet a single cure from embryonic stem cells.

The results show that insulin-dependent diabetics can be freed from reliance on needles by an injection of their own stem cells. The therapy could signal a revolution in the treatment of the condition, which affects more than 300,000 Britons.

Republican candidate off the mark on cost of milk, bread

Associated Press reported Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani hasn't done a lot of grocery shopping lately — at least based on his answers about the cost of milk and bread.

Grocery shopping is not one of the skills I look for in a President. But did the AP ask the Democratic candidates?

Campaigning in Alabama on Tuesday, the former New York City mayor portrayed himself as a fiscal conservative and an aggressive fighter of terrorism who has a lot in common with the Deep South state. But when asked about more mundane matters — like the price of some basic staples — Giuliani had trouble with a reporter's question. "A gallon of milk is probably about a $1.50, a loaf of bread about a $1.25, $1.30," he said. A check of the Web site for D'Agostino supermarket on Manhattan's Upper East Side showed a gallon of milk priced at $4.19 and a loaf of white bread at $2.99 to $3.39. In Montgomery, Ala., a gallon of milk goes for about $3.39 and bread is about $2.

He was in Alabama, not Manhattan. And in Tulsa Wonder Bread is $1.74, and I think a generic loaf of bread is available for not much more than $1, two loaves of French bread are $1, and a half gallon of milk is $1 (on sale)

Later Tuesday, the Giuliani campaign pointed out that the national average for bread is $1.17 per pound, as listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The government agency also lists milk as costing, on average, $1.60 per half-gallon.

Silencing Muslim moderates

Arizona Republic reported On April 15, PBS, along with its Washington, D.C., affiliate, WETA, will begin airing an 11-part series of documentaries titled America at a Crossroads. It is described by PBS as "a major public television event . . . that explores the challenges confronting the post-9/11 world," and much of what it explores is the clash of Western values and those of fundamentalist Muslims.

The news covers that every day.

Until earlier this year, a part of that exploration was to include a segment on Muslims living in the West - in places like Copenhagen, Paris, Toronto and Phoenix - and their clashes with Muslim fundamentalists who often explicitly align themselves with violence and, sometimes, with terrorists.

That is something I would like to see.

The segment was titled, Islam vs. Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center. By and large, the clashes it depicted involved people like Jasser condemning violence perpetrated in the name of Islam, and fundamentalist imams condemning the Jassers of the world as false Muslims.

In other words they don't agree with the fundamentalists.

In some cases, the documentary showed fundamentalists talking candidly about shutting up the moderates in their midst. And, in one case involving a moderate Muslim politician in Denmark, it caught them talking about shutting him up permanently.

That is something we should see.

In many respects it is an inspiring story, the sort of story that public television often likes to tell. But it isn't going to tell the story depicted in Islam vs. Islamists. At least not as a part of the heavily promoted Crossroads series, and quite possibly not at all. The problems that the PBS-WETA producers had with Islam vs. Islamists are complex. On The Arizona Republic's news pages today, reporter Dennis Wagner details many of those issues.

Mainly a desire to keep their heads attatched to their live bodies.

But much of their hostility seems to boil down to this: They could not bring themselves to declare people like Jasser "moderate" because that would mean criticizing the fundamentalists whom the Jassers of the world oppose.

Then come up with a different word. Like reasonable.

As the PBS producers affirmed time and again in their letters and e-mails, who is an Islamic "extremist" and who is a "moderate" depends entirely on which side of the street you're standing. In large part, it is about "context."

No it is about whether the person is willing to debate those that disagree with him, or whether they just want to kill him.

"We felt the program was flawed by incomplete storytelling and problems with fairness," said Jeff Bieber, executive producer of the Crossroads series. "We felt the writing was alarmist and without adequate context.

What context justifies spreading a faith with violence.

"We just felt there was incomplete context, (that) could lead viewers to the wrong conclusions."

I.E. they might have killed us.

"These are the 'root-cause' people," responded Jasser, who said the PBS-WETA producers could not bring themselves to identify the issue facing the United States since Sept. 11, 2001: "It is a radical Islam problem." On Feb. 12, Bieber wrote to the Islam vs. Islamists production team, informing them they were scrapping the project. Bieber's bottom line: "The latest cut of Islam vs. Islamists falls significantly short of meeting the standards necessary for inclusion in America at a Crossroads and for PBS national distribution.

Apparently it does not bash the Bush administration enough for PBS tastes.

.... The correspondence between Burke and the series producers suggests the two sides simply could not reach common ground on what constitutes a "moderate" Muslim in the West, and what constitutes an extremist.

Here is a clue: do they threaten violence and even death to someone that disagrees with them?

It seems a bizarrely fine point to fight over. The moderates, it seems, are the ones struggling to project a peaceful co-existence between the West and Islam. People like Jasser, for example. And the extremists? Perhaps those who despise Jasser. Or those who threaten with death those who disagree with them. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like viewers of the Crossroads series will have much chance to sort them out for themselves.

Muslims can live in harmony

Jacksonville.com reported
According to a Gallup Poll, four out of 10 Americans have admitted prejudice toward Islam and Muslims.

9/11 may have something to do with that.

Unfortunately, a recent letter writer suffers from the same malaise. Fom the dawn of Islam, Muslims have adapted to live in harmony in large multicultural societies.

As long as they don't want to bring alcohol into their cabs, or expect them to touch pork products when checking out of a grocery store.

The third largest Muslim population in the world now lives in India, accounting for fewer than 20 percent of its population.

And even there there are muslims stiring up problems. But instead of a land where they are outnumbered 5 to 1, what about Indonesia, where their law calls for all religions to be respected, even though the population is 90% muslim. How are the other 10% treated. Why are there calls for Sharia Law to apply to everyone.

If Islam commanded conversion at the point of a sword, would Muslims still be a minority after eight centuries of uninterrupted rule?

When you are outnumbered 5 to 1, trying to kill everyone with a sword is difficult.

Look no further than Spain to learn that, despite over six centuries of Muslim rule, it was the intolerant Christian Inquisition that gave Muslims and Jews three options, convert to Christianity, leave Spain or die.

Islam did not control all of Spain, just part of it, and it was based on what they did during the six centuries that caused them to be kicked out.

Today, despite the mosque in Cordova being one of the most beautiful in the world, no Muslim prayers are allowed there.

And are Christian prayers allowed in the Hagia Sophia or many other former churches or sites of churches in the Islamic world. Can Jews pray at the top of Temple Mount?

A recent poll by the Council on American-Islamic Relations shows the American Muslim population to be both young and highly educated. Sixty-two percent have obtained a bachelor's degree or higher, which is double the comparable national figure for registered voters. The survey results also show that Muslims are already well integrated in American society. Eighty-nine percent said they vote regularly; 86 percent said they celebrate the Fourth of July; and 64 percent said they fly the U.S. flag. Forty-two percent said they volunteer for institutions serving the public (compared to 29 percent nationwide in 2005).

Do they volunteer for secular organizations or just for muslim organizations

Eighty-four percent said Muslims should strongly emphasize shared values with Christians and Jews.

Really, even though the Qur'an

3:28 says Let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends rather than believers; and whoever does this, he shall have nothing of (the guardianship of) Allah, but you should guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully; and Allah makes you cautious of (retribution from) Himself; and to Allah is the eventual coming.

Seventy-seven percent said Muslims worship the same God as Christians and Jews do.

Really? Haven't the other twenty-three percent read the Qur'an

29:46 says "And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better (than mere disputation), unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury): but say, "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our Allah and your Allah is one; and it is to Him we bow (in Islam)." "

The letter writer's assertion that Muslims want Shariah law to displace the U.S. Constitution is pernicious. The U.S. Constitution is consistent with aims and objectives of Islamic Shariah.

Even though Sharia denies of freedom of conscience, does not allow for equal rights for women, and calls for inequality for non-Muslims.

Israel must make peace to coexist with Muslims

Ynetnews reported Jordan's King Abdullah said Tuesday that if Israel wanted to "coexist with a billion Muslims" worldwide, it must make peace.

Judiasm existed a long time before Muhammad even created Islam, and initially he tried to persuade both Jews and Christians that their religious documents fortold that he would be a prophet, but he never convinced them. When the British first decided to support a Jewish homeland in Palestine (the Balfour Declaration it was to include the land on both sides of the Jordan. In other words, the area called TransJordan, which became modern day Jordan, was originally supposed to be a part of the Jewish homeland. You were made King over TransJordan simply because they realized that Arabs were too greedy to be willing to live in a Jewish country, so two thirds of the land was given to you for all of the arabs, and Israel should have gotten all of the land west of the Jordan.

In addition, once Israel was created you and other arab countries attacked them. They won the war in 1948, and they won in 1967. Do you really want to fight them again?

The king told the French news agency that the Arabs have already expressed their desire for peace by accepting the Saudi peace initiative.

SEAL's memorial within kids' view? Perfect spot

The Denver Post reported Maybe those parents offended by a proposed war memorial in Littleton believe that freedom can be defended using snappy bumper stickers. Luckily, Danny Dietz knew better. For now, despite the protestations of a handful of locals, the memorial to honor this Navy SEAL, Navy Cross winner and Colorado native killed after volunteering for action in Afghanistan will go on as scheduled.

Fantastic news. I could not believe those nut cases that opposed a war memorial because the man had a gun. How do they think wars are fought?

A wonderful statue of Dietz holding a rifle will be placed in the vicinity of schools and playgrounds - near many impressionable children. Really, there's no better spot for it. The more kids see it, the better..... Certainly, some of them live in a fantasy. Take for example the comment of one Ann Levy to a Post reporter. She believes that Dietz's sacrifice deserves a "peace dove instead." A peace dove ... You know what? When a dove can protect our children from religious fanatics who'd like to behead them, I'll visit the National Peace Dove Memorial.

What Do Muslims Want?

Raymond Ibrahim wrote on National Review Online .... All of these issues revolve around the Muslim desire to live according to Allah’s laws — which, among other things, ban contact with pigs, dogs, and alcohol, and have rigid social guidelines, especially concerning interaction between the sexes. From a religious point of view, the anti-social behavior of these Muslims can be, if not excused, then certainly understood. They are doing only what their religion commands them to do. And their refusal to compromise on these points demonstrates that adherence to the commandments of Islam is a priority of the utmost importance to them.

Or at least they pretend that it is.

However, if living in strict accordance to sharia is the first priority of some Muslims, one wonders: Why have they voluntarily come and immersed themselves in infidel countries that do not recognize sharia law and, indeed, allow many things that run counter to it, such as the selling and consumption of alcohol and pork and the liberal intermingling of the sexes? Most of the Muslim countries that Muslims abandon for the West are much more conducive to the Muslim lifestyle and uphold many if not all aspects of sharia law. Yet, each year, thousands of supposedly “ultra-devout” Muslims forsake these countries and, of their own free will, come and surround themselves with wine-imbibing, swine-eating libertines. Why?

Because they want to try to force the west to adopt their style of life. Translation of Sahih Muslim, Book 19: The Book of Jihad and Expedition (Kitab Al-Jihad wa'l-Siyar) 19:4294 says Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war .... If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. [A special tax that Jews and Christians must pay to live in a Muslim country. Followers of other religions are just killed outright if they refuse to convert to Islam.] If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them. [i.e. they must convert to Islam, pay a special very high tax so they can live as second class citizens, or die.] Christians would like to spread Christianity to the whole world, because Jesus said (Mark 16:15) "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." But He did not say to kill people who do not accept, and he did not say make them pay an extra tax.

It is for the same reason that everyone else comes to the West — for the “good life.” They come in order to be prosperous and to enjoy opportunities, security, and equality the likes of which they could never have in their own countries (ruled quite often — no surprise — according to sharia). The vast majority of Muslims emigrating from the Islamic world do not leave due to necessity — say, oppression or starvation. No, they come to the infidel West solely to prosper materially.

But why are Muslims of the “ultra-pious” variety seeking after material comfort in the first place — especially when doing so will almost certainly undermine their professed desire to live strictly according to the sharia? Coming to live in a democratic country composed of some 300 million infidels is bound to affect any Muslim’s observance of sharia. These pious Muslims risk coming into daily contact with, not only pork, alcohol, and dogs, but all sorts of other defilements: flamboyant homosexuals, scantily clad women (who are often in positions of authority!), gamblers and usurers, to name a few.

And they will be faced with laws that say they cannot treat their wives as property, beating them any time they want.

Are they not concerned that they, or especially their children, might become contaminated by the licentious and seductive practices of the infidel West? If their priority is truly to strictly follow sharia, should they not remain in their Muslim countries of origin, which, if not as prosperous as the West, are definitely more conducive to the Muslim lifestyle?

And they might even choose to follow another religion, and the laws in the west do not allow them to kill Muslims that leave Islam.

Or, could it be that, despite all the ruckus (and subsequent headlines) made by these Muslims, living in accordance to Allah and his sharia is not their first priority, after all? At least, not to the degree that they would be unwilling to put this priority at substantial risk for the sake of living the good life, in a strictly secular and materialistic sense.... All Muslims who freely migrate to the West must understand that they can’t have it both ways — that they can’t have their cake and eat it, too. They must choose between either strictly upholding the laws and customs of 7th-century Arabia (in which case they should remain in their “sharia friendly” countries of origin) or, if prosperity and comfort is their first choice, let them relocate to the West, but prepare to assimilate — that is, compromise — to some degree. It’s a simple question of priorities.

Totalitarian Islam's Threat to the West

The Ayn Rand Institute announces A panel discussion on the threat of Islamic totalitarianism and how to deal with it at UCLA Campus: Moore 100, Los Angeles, CA on Thursday, April 12, 2007, at 7:00 PM

A distinguished panel of Middle East experts (Dr. Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, Dr. Yaron Brook, president of the Ayn Rand Institute, and Dr. Wafa Sultan, outspoken critic of Islam and author of the forthcoming book "The Escaped Prisoner: When God Is a Monster") will provide new and illuminating answers to the most important questions of our time: Is the West ready to concede victory so easily? Are the terrorists a fringe group of fanatics, or are they part of a much wider ideological movement? What threat do they pose to the West? What can the West do to ensure victory? Is peace possible?

While the experts will answer these complex questions from diverse points of view, they all agree on one thing: Islamic totalitarianism is a real threat, and the right response necessitates engaging in a principled, ideological battle to defend the West from the jihad declared against it.

As LGF indicated the event [is] guaranteed to get a reaction from the radical Islamic student groups at UCLA. I wonder whether they will even let it take place. I hope that Campus Security will have plenty of officers present.

Why So Gloomy?

Richard Lindzen wrote in Newsweek Judging from the media in recent months, the debate over global warming is now over. There has been a net warming of the earth over the last century and a half, and our greenhouse gas emissions are contributing at some level. Both of these statements are almost certainly true. What of it?

Things change, and those who think they can predict the future are usually wrong.

Recently many people have said that the earth is facing a crisis requiring urgent action. This statement has nothing to do with science.

No, it is the new religion of the left.

There is no compelling evidence that the warming trend we've seen will amount to anything close to catastrophe.... The current alarm rests on the false assumption not only that we live in a perfect world, temperaturewise, but also that our warming forecasts for the year 2040 are somehow more reliable than the weatherman's forecast for next week.

And if they can't predict what will happen next week, why should we believe them about what will happen in the next century.

A warmer climate could prove to be more beneficial than the one we have now.

Precisely, because it will increase the growing season for crops.

... Modelers claim to have simulated the warming and cooling that occurred before 1976 by choosing among various guesses as to what effect poorly observed volcanoes and unmeasured output from the sun have had. These factors, they claim, don't explain the warming of about 0.4 degrees C between 1976 and 1998.

Which just proves that their guesses are wrong. So why should we believe those guesses can predict the future.

Climate modelers assume the cause must be greenhouse-gas emissions because they have no other explanation.

At least no other explanation that would let them justify the changes they would like to see in society, where the advanced Western cultures were forced to destroy their economies so that the undeveloped world could generate even more greenhouse gasses than the west cuts back.

... Ten years ago climate modelers also couldn't account for the warming that occurred from about 1050 to 1300. They tried to expunge the medieval warm period

Which was much warmer than it is now; they grew crops in Greenland.

from the observational record—an effort that is now generally discredited.... India has warmed during the second half of the 20th century, and agricultural output has increased greatly. Infectious diseases like malaria are a matter not so much of temperature as poverty and public-health policies (like eliminating DDT). Exposure to cold is generally found to be both more dangerous and less comfortable.

Draft Blogger's Code of Conduct

O'Reilly Radar blogged When I wrote my Call for a Blogging Code of Conduct last week, I suggested some ideas of what such a code might contain, but didn't actually put forth a draft that people could subscribe to. We're not quite there yet, but we have a plan.

We've drafted a code of conduct that will eventually be posted on bloggingcode.org, and created a badge that sites can display if they want to link to that code of conduct.

Leftwing bloggers laugh at the idea of civility. After all, they are so filled with hate that they can't imagine being civil.

Ed Morrissey wonders whether we really need a code of conduct, saying

Most of us came into the blogosphere to get away from editorial restrictions imposed by others. We allow our own judgments and values to guide our publications. That may result in some bruised feelings from time to time, but our readers make the decision as to whether we have met their editorial guidelines, and that should be good enough in a free market.

But the best response I saw came from ScrappleFace

Genteel Blogs Offer 'Civility Offsets' to Vitriolic Bloggers

Read the whole thing. It is hilarious, reminding us all how Gore and his friends by buying carbon-offset "indulgences" from themselves so that they can preach respect for global warming, while spewing more carbon dioxide than just about anyone else in the country.

Hero's tale is 'too positive' for the BBC

Telegraph reported Amid the deaths and the grim daily struggle bravely borne by Britain's forces in southern Iraq, one tale of heroism stands out. Private Johnson Beharry's courage in rescuing an ambushed foot patrol then, in a second act, saving his vehicle's crew despite his own terrible injuries earned him a Victoria Cross. For the BBC, however, his story is "too positive" about the conflict.

Another good reason for the Brits to break up and privitize the BBC. They are worse than PBS and NPR together.

The corporation has cancelled the commission for a 90-minute drama about Britain's youngest surviving Victoria Cross hero because it feared it would alienate members of the audience opposed to the war in Iraq.

So the BBC is willing to admit that it's purpose is not to tell the news, but only to tell things that will appeal to certain people.

Al-Sadr Calls for Attacks on U.S. Troops

RedOrbit reported The renegade cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged Iraqi forces to stop cooperating with the United States and told his guerrilla fighters to concentrate their attacks on American troops rather than Iraqis, according to a statement issued Sunday.

If he really wants the US troops out, he should be urging his people to work with the Americans as well as the Iraqi army and police, to stamp violence, because then we will leave. Attacking our forces will just get his forces killed.

The statement, stamped with al-Sadr's official seal, was distributed in the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Sunday - a day before a large demonstration there, called for by al-Sadr, to mark the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.

But his forces should not that al-Sadr himself was too chicken to show up. He wants them to do something he himself is not willing to do.

"You, the Iraqi army and police forces, don't walk alongside the occupiers, because they are your archenemy," the statement said. Its authenticity could not be verified. In the statement, al-Sadr - who commands an enormous following among Iraq's majority Shiites and has close allies in the Shiite-dominated government - also encouraged his followers to attack only American forces, not fellow Iraqis.

New Immigration Plan

FOXNews reports The draft immigration legislation is the first stab by the White House and Republican senators to address the presence of 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living and working in the country and the reliance by employers on illegal workers.

I am very pleased with this draft plan as outlined by Fox News. It is much closer to what I would have proposed, had I been President, than I was afraid George Bush would propose.

The White House draft plan was circulating Thursday around Capitol Hill and among groups with an interest in immigration legislation after elements of it were leaked late Wednesday. Under the plan, undocumented workers could apply for three-year work visas, which the plan dubs "Z" visas. They would be renewable indefinitely but renewal would cost $3,500 each time.

This is a good idea. It provides for the 12 million that are here to stay, but makes them pay a penalty to keep staying. Also according to FoxNews, any FICA that was deducted from their pay would be forfeited. This should help to keep Social Security liquid a little longer. I was afraid the Dems would let them immediately be eligible for Social Security.

The undocumented workers would have legal status with the visas, but to get a green card, making them legal permanent residents, they'd have to return to their home country, apply at a U.S. embassy or consulate to re-enter legally and pay a $10,000 fine.

Fantastic idea. And only if they do that, and get the green card, would they be eligible for future citizenship. And according to Fox News, they would go to the end of the line. That is good.

The plan also tries to make border security a priority by requiring 18,300 Border Patrol agents and 370 miles of physical fencing be in place, as well as electronic monitoring of the southern border ongoing before a temporary worker program could start.

I would prefer to see a longer amount of physical fencing, but this is better than nothing.

Hypocrisy at the New York Times

Betsy Newmark blogged James Taranto at Best of the Web points out how the New York Times praised President Clinton for making a recess opinion of James Hormel as Ambassador to Luxembourg when the Republican Senate was blocking his nomination but then the Times turned right around and excoriated President Bush for ignoring the Senate's blocking of Sam Fox's nomination to be Ambassador to Belgium. When Clinton did it, he was utilizing a constitutional provision; when Bush did it, he was making an "end run around the Senate." Don't these editorial writers have any sort of institutional memory or do they just not care? Of course, the Democratic Senators sputtering in anger about Fox's nomination also showed a similar lack of care when Clinton recess-appointed Hormel. I know that all this political hypocrisy is shocking everyone.

Betsy is exactly right. NYT feels that if Clinton did it, it is ok, but if Bush did it, it is bad. It is ok for Clinton to fire 93 or 94 attorneys, including one about to indite a friend of his, yet it is not ok for Bush to fire 8, and no one has proven that any pending inditements were prevented.

Belittling the faith

In an article in the New York Times about Pope Benedict XVI and the Roman Catholic Church on Easter, the article was called Keeping the Faith but the cover of the magazine was

Referring to the Pope as The Anti-Secularist is outrageous. It implies that Secularism is the preferred state that people should be in, and that a leader like the Pope is against that which is good. I am not a Catholic, but I take offense at that cover.

Thief’s Hand Amputated in Public in Iran

MEMRI reported The reformist website Rooz reported on April 5, 2007 that the Friday prayer leader of Shiraz, a city in the heart of Iran, had called for more public punishments, as prescribed by "hodud," Islamic penal law.

It sounds like they are already doing public punishments. When he calls for more, does he want to mutilate the bodies of people other than thieves.

After a convicted thief’s hand was amputated in public in Kermanshah, Ayatollah Mohiyeddin Shirazi, an appointee of the supreme leader of Iran, criticized the halting of public punishments, and added, "Those who say that practices like amputating hands belong to the past are themselves part of the past."

That does not make any sense. Something that may have been acceptable in the seventh and eighth centuries may not be acceptable in the 21st century.

He also claimed that imprisonment had no effect "on educating criminals and reducing crime."

They can't steal while they are in prison.

At a meeting with judges from Fars province, Shirazi argued that public punishments are more effective that imprisonment: "Prison and imprisoning individuals do not have an effect on educating criminals and reducing crime. They also add to corruption." He also called for using criminals convicted for drug-related charges as forced labor. Kermanshah judiciary head Allahyar Malekshahi promised more amputations in the future and said that citizens had requested the public amputation.

Which citizens? I bet the thief did not like the idea. And if a person is so poor they must steal to eat, if you cut off their hands so they can't steal, will that suddenly fill their bellies?

According to Rooz, following the punishment Malekshahi told IRNA that the punishment had been approved by Iran’s Supreme Court. He added that if thieves "don’t want their hands cut off, they should stop stealing." Also, the Etemad daily quoted Kermanshah’s governor as saying that carrying out hodud in public "has a visible effect on controlling the crime rate."

It probably does. Burning arsonists alive would probably have an effect on the arson rate, or beating someone to death for beating someone else to death might help that crime rate as well, but does that mean that it is acceptable in 21st century standards.

Zell Wants End to Web's Free Ride

Samuel Zell is a real estate magnate that just bought the Tribune Co. (Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Baltimore Sun, Long Island’s Newsday, Orlando Sentinel, plus nine other smaller papers). From what the Washington Post said, I think Zell should have stayed in real estate, because he does not understand what he bought. According to WaPo:

In conversations before and after a speech Zell delivered Thursday night at Stanford Law School in Palo Alto, Calif., the billionaire said newspapers could not economically sustain the practice of allowing their articles, photos and other content to be used free by other Internet news aggregators.

Someone needs to tell the Newspaper WebMasters about the noindex and nofollow meta tags.

"If all of the newspapers in America did not allow Google to steal their content, how profitable would Google be?" Zell said during the question period after his speech. "Not very."

Google News does not make money from advertising. And if I learn of an article in WaPo or any other newspaper through Google News, it takes me to that newspaper's website, where I am exposed to the advertisements that newspaper has on their website.

Newspapers have allowed Google to use their articles in exchange for a small cut of advertising revenue,

They get ALL, not just a cut, of the ad revenues on their websites.

but search engines also help to distribute their content to wider online audiences.

Bringing more viewers to the newspaper websites.

Google and Yahoo have financial arrangements with wire services, such as the Associated Press, to provide news stories and photos. Yesterday, Google settled a copyright-infringement lawsuit with Agence France-Presse, which had alleged that Google posted news summaries, headlines and photos without permission.

Jason Calacanis believes

Sam Zell is going to lose billions on newspapers and the Washington Post has no idea what they're talking about.... Witness this quote:

"If all of the newspapers in America did not allow Google to steal their content, how profitable would Google be?" Zell said during the question period after his speech. "Not very."

Ummm.... exactly the same--and Google doesn't steal anyone's content. Zell's statement is so wrong on so many levels that you have to wonder if this guy has any idea what he bought, not to mention if the reporters at the Washington Post have any reporting skills and knowledge of the Internet.

Let me count the ways this statement is wrong:

1. Google doesn't steal anyone's content. Nope, they take a very short amount--around 200 characters including spaces--on Google News.
2. You can opt out of Google News AT ANY TIME.
3. Google News has NO ADVERTISING ON IT!

Additionally, even if Google didn't let you opt out their use of 100-200 characters on Google News:

1. That has no impact on Google's bottom line--they make their money from people running Google Adsense on their websites and Google's own sites.
2. That only sends more traffic to newspapers--making them more money.
3. Google doesn't sell display advertising on their site, so advertisers ARE FORCED to spend their money on the newspaper's site.

Sunni vs Shiites

AllAroundPhilly reported Gunbattles between majority Sunnis and minority Shiites left at least 40 people dead and 43 wounded in remote northwestern Pakistan after men opened fire on Shiite Muslims, a Pakistani official said Saturday.

Some seem to think that Sunnis and Shiites are only killing each other in Iraq, and that for some reason it is all our fault for being in Iraq, but this just shows that they are willing to kill each other whereever they are. And this is nothing new. The conflict started when Muhammad died, and there was a debate on who should take control of this new religion. And this is true despite the fact that in their Holy Book Surat an-Nisa,093 (Quran 4.93) it says "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him." Apparently either each must believe that the other is not really a Muslim, or they so hate someone for thinking other than they do about what should have happened back in the 8th century that they are willing to go to Hell as long as they can kill someone they don't like in this world.

... Pakistan has a history of sectarian violence, and scores of people are killed in such clashes every year. Although most Sunni and Shiite Muslims live peacefully together, extremists on both sides often target each other's leaders and activists.

15 Most Strangest X-Rays

You have to scroll right past a bunch of ads, but take a look at 15 Most Strangest X-Rays