Rick Perry And Islamism

Sultan Knish has a fairly balanced look at Governor Rick Perry and Islam ( h/t, my pal Terresa at The Noisy Room via twitter). Here's a slice:

Some questions have been raised about Rick Perry's views on Islam. Islamic infiltration into American politics means that every candidate deserves close scrutiny. My purpose is not to attack Perry, but to conduct a preliminary discussion of the subject. Pamela Geller and Debbie Schlussel have written their own articles, which add more pieces to the puzzle. As with every candidate, the discussion will go on as more materials are brought forward.

First of all it's important to recognize that the Rick Perry question, is also the Chris Christie question, it's the question that comes with every governor from a state with a large and politically active Muslim population. This question will have more serious implications as the size of the Muslim population expands even further.

The multicultural pandering that used to be associated with the Tammany Hall political machine has become second nature in American politics. There is hardly a governor who does not pay lip service to diversity or do roundups of all the religious groups in America. That's an unfortunate reality.

The initial good news is that Rick Perry did not try to influence the judicial system on behalf of a member of a terrorist organization, or appoint a terrorist Imam's political affiliate to a superior court judgeship the way that Christie did.

The worst thing he seems to have done is played footsie with the Aga Khan and appointed one of his people to the State Health Council. He also seems to have met with a group of black clergy, which included a Nation of Islam minister, and made the usual trips to Dubai to talk up trade and academic exchanges.

In this context, I should mention that the Aga Khan is head of the Ismaili sect of Islam, a moderate group considered apostates by most Sunni and Shia. No Ismaili has ever been connected to terrorist or jihadist activities to my knowledge.

As Knish points out, some of Governor Perry's other associations, some of which involved supporters of the new Texas laws on the selling of halal meat are not so innocuous.

Governor Perry is an Evangelical Christian and strong supporter of Israel,but as Sultan Knish points out, so was George W. Bush. And it didn't stop President Bush from pandering to Islamist groups here in America, turning a blind eye to Saudi-funded Muslim Brotherhood fronts to the point where it hampered our war effort or pressuring Israel for strategic concessions to the 'Palestinians' or a ceasefire that essentially saved Hezbollah from annihilation.

At this point, it would be premature to compare Governor Perry too closely to President Bush, just as it would be dishonest to say that a Bush-style presidency wouldn't be an improvement over what we have in the White House now.

But the Perry candidacy needs close watching,especially as more facts come out and Governor Perry is asked to clarify where he stands on certain things.

I'm not particularly willing to settle for George W. Bush redux. And I don't think the country's best interests would be served by it either.

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The Wind Shifts In Egypt - And In The Middle East

Friday morning, I wrote that the end result of the Egyptian revolt would depend on which way the army jumped - and predicted that we would know within 48 hours.

The army has decided to let Mubarak fall.I suspected as much after I heard President Obama's statement essentially cutting Mubarak loose Friday afternoon.

The army is deployed in the riot areas, but has taken great care not to fire on the protesters or attack them in any way. Instead, they have formed cordons around some of Egypt's more important government,infrastructural and cultural buildings and some of the areas where the country's elites live, while allowing widespread looting and chaos as long as the protesters stay outside the military cordons. The only aid they have given the police was in the early hours of the army's deployment in places the army wanted to secure, liked the famed Egyptian Museum where mobs had broken through police lines and threatened to steal or destroy the artifacts there. Outside the cordons, it's chaos, and this is likely a deliberate strategy on the part of the army in order to let the protests run out of steam as the new regime takes control.

Today, Egypt's President Mubarak accepted the resignations of his entire cabinet and appointed General Omar Suleiman, the tough minded former head of Egypt's intelligence services as his new vice president, and General Ahmed Shafik as his new Prime Minister. What's happened is that the army has informed President Mubarak that he no longer has their support. Mubarak will be leaving the country in a day or so, most likely to Dubai, where many of Egypt's wealthy elite connected to the regime have already fled.

The army has positioned itself either to put one of its own in power as the new strongman or more likely, has made a deal with the Muslim Brotherhood to preserve its prerogatives in a new Islamist republic. This is the exact same devil's bargain the Iranian military made with Khomeini in 1979.

Suleiman and Shafik are likely just caretakers until the new regime takes over.

One likely figure whom might surface is Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the IAEA.

During his time as head of the IAEA, ElBaradei repeatedly ignored evidence on Iran's illegal nuclear program, and when it became too obvious,ElBaradi put his weight behind trying to prevent any UN sanctions against the Iranian regime. He continues to dismiss the threat of a nuclear armed Iran, citing the discredited 2007 US National Intelligence Estimate claiming Iran abandoned its nuclear weapons program in 2003 as accurate.

Aside from being pro-Iranian, ElBaradei is also close to the Muslim Brotherhood. He consistently defends the terrorist organization that is the parent group of Hamas, al-Qaeda, Hizb-al-Tahrir and other salafist groups, saying the West has to 'stop demonizing them'.

Indeed, I notice a number of foreign policy 'experts' echoing exactly those sentiments over the last few days. The abysmal stupidity expressed by that view is almost beyond belief.

That, of course, is likely ElBaradei's appeal to the Muslim Brotherhood, and its why they've desinated him to be a front man and negotiate with the army on their behalf. As a former UN functionary, ElBaradei might have just enough credibility with gullible westerners to get them accept the new Islamist regime..at least for a while. And El Baradi is also the sort of figurehead who can be pushed out of the way easily when it's time, the way Bakhtiar and later Bazargan were in Iran.

Whether ElBaradei ends up heading the new government or not, the immediate consequences of a takeover of this sort as serious.

Just as in Iran, the Egyptian military has substantial stocks of US weapons that were given to the regime as part of the peace treaty with Israel, and Egypt has been receiving around $2 billion a year in US aid. Its air force has close to 300 F-16s and the Abrams M1a1 tank is produced in Egypt under US license for use by the Egyptian Army. The peace treaty between Israel and Egypt will undoubtedly be voided fairly soon and those new US weapons are very likely to be turned against Israel and the West, with the new Islamist regime making common cause with Hamas and perhaps Iran.

And both the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran are crowing that US client states throughout the Arab world will soon be toppled as Islamist regimes take over.

Winds of change are blowing, there is an historical shift underway in the Middle East , and the West had better take notice.

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The Inkjet Bomb Plot

The latest manifestation of the Religion of Peace involved a number of explosive devices utilizing ink toner cartridges as containers..some set to explode in midair ala' Lockerbie and two who were mailed to Chicago area Jewish synagogues.

The toner cartridges were an ingenious way of getting past the scanners,using an innocuous and frequently shipped item to get past the scanners.

A FedEx package intercepted in Dubai and a UPS package stopped in England were both constructed out of close to a pound of PETN explosive powder hidden inside the toner cartridges. PETN is the same explosive used in the failed Christmas Day bombing of Northwest flight 253 by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was trained inYemen. The amounts of PETN discovered in the bombs in Dubai and England were seven or eight times greater than the amount used in the Christmas Day bombing .

Had a plane exploded in mid-air and crashed in the populated areas of Nottingham, Leicester or Derby, all within a 10-mile radius of the airport, the death toll would have been huge.



"The parcel was prepared in a professional way where a closed electrical circuit was connected to a mobile phone SIM card hidden in the printer," said a Dubai police statement. That means that the devices scheduled to go via air freight were designed to be detonated remotely, so there were obviously local jihadis in England and probably in the US who were part of the plot.

The packages all originated in Yemen, and were allegedly prepared by al-Qaeda, or one of its affiliates. I say allegedly because at this point, the brand name 'al-Qaeda' and the tactic of Islamist terrorism has become so widespread that attributing it to al-Qaeda has simply become a rhetorical convenience.

Part of the problem in Yemen is that history is repeating itself.

Abdullah Ali Saleh, Yemen's dictator has long been the recipient of US aid to the tune of $150 million per year in military aid, training by US personnel and a matching amount in humanitarian and development aid. Most of the military aid and training hasn't gone to fight al-Qaeda, but to shore up the 32-year reign of Saleh from his political enemies. In fact,members of Saleh's clan have been the main recipients of the weapons and training.

There is an openly operating al-Qaeda base in in the Yemeni province of Al Gouf, in the high desert just to the south of San'aa, the capitol.US and Saudi drones have both transmitted intel on the base. It's where Ibrahim Hassan Al Asiri, the Saudi Arabian bomb expert and planner of the latest attack is reported to be stationed, and where the Christmas Bomber was trained.Yet President Saleh categorically refused to allow the US to land Marine counter terrorism forces and Delta Force commandos from the USS Boxer to take the base out, or to allow US aircraft to overfly Yemeni territory to attack it.

If this sounds suspiciously like the situation in AfPak to you, only on a smaller scale, that's entirely correct. A great deal of US blood and treasure could have been saved in the US had simply gone into Afghanistan after the Embassy bombings in 1998, put some boots on the ground, destroyed al-Qaeda's bases there,and taken a slew of prisoners to be interrogated forcefully and then left. Instead, we simply allowed it to fester...just as we're doing in Yemen.

America used to operate differently when someone had the bad sense to try and attack us.

So far, the Obama Administration's response has been to dispatch teams to Yemen to train Yemeni security personnel in better techniques designed to detect bombs of this kind. Given how al-Qaeda and Islamists in general have infiltrated all areas of Yemeni society, that's unlikely to be effective.

There are several inconvenient truths we can garner from this, if we haven't already.

First, the entire rationale for us going into Afghanistan - to prevent it from becoming a failed state and a haven for Islamist terrorism ( now mostly lumped together for political correctness under the term 'al-Qaeda') is flawed. Far more terrorism has originated in Pakistan than ever originated in Afghanistan.There will always be another failed Islamic 'state' to take on the role of training ground and enabler..not to mention the radicalized home grown jihadis now being created in the West by a whole network of Saudi funded radical mosques and madrassahs.

Second,until we make the consequences for attacking us or aiding and abetting those who do far too high for these countries to bear, we will continue to live on a knife edge. As long as we refuse to confront the established Islamic nation-states that fund, harbor and encourage ideological jihad against the West, all our sophisticated and expensive counter-terrorism strategies are simply a matter of playing whack-a-mole, and the game will never end. Eventually, we're going to miss one and a relatively inexpensive jihad attack is going to cost hundreds if not thousands of lives.

As far as the home front, the problem is not entirely one of security. I think by now most astute observers have pretty much figured out that Islam is Islam, and that while a great many Muslims merely desire to live peaceful lives the ideology is what it is, and we are eventually going to have to come to terms with that and find ways to control the spread of radical Islam in the West.

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Iran Paying TheTaliban $1,000 For Each US Soldier They Kill

As General Petraeus informed us months ago, Iran is actively helping out enemies...not only in Iraq but in Afghanistan.

The latest report on this to surface comes via the UK's Sunday Times, which quoted Afghan intelligence and Taliban sources to reveal how Iranian companies in Kabul who have construction and engineering contracts with the Afghan government are laundering their profits through Afghan banks — including Kabul Bank, which is partly owned by President Hamid Karzai’s brother Mahmood — to Tehran and Dubai.

As an aside, the Kabul Bank is the Afghan bank US taxpayers are rumored to be bailing out.

From there, the money is sent back to Afghanistan through the Islamic banking system known as hawala to be paid out to the Taliban.

This means the companies involved in funding the insurgency can cover their tracks easily. It makes it harder for us to trace the cash flow," a senior Afghan intelligence official said.

Iranian companies have been established with the intention of winning contracts funded by foreign aid so that donors’ cash could be channeled into the insurgency, the official said. Western officials believe the network may have been set up by the Al-Quds force, an elite branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

The Iranian embassy in Kabul refused to respond to the allegations. But according to the Taliban treasurer, who has been interviewed by The Sunday Times, Iran is paying bonuses of $1,000 for killing an American soldier and $6,000 for destroying a U.S. military vehicle.

Iran has been carrying out acts of war against the US for years now, both using its own forces and through its proxies like Hezbollah.The Iranians, after all successfully pulled off something no other country in history had ever done to the United States, the invasion of our embassy and the taking of our diplomats as hostages.

They have yet to experience any significant payback for any of these hostile actions.

Is it any wonder that their attitude towards America and the West in general is belligerent contempt?

The really bad upside of all this our commander-in-chief in the White House seems content to let this continue and simply kick the can down the road for his successors to deal with.

And that means that when we actually have leadership prepared to deal with this situation, it will be infinitely more dangerous and costly.

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US State Department Funding Ground Zero Imam's MidEast Fundraising Trip

Not surprising, but the Obama Administration has shown that it's firmly behind the proposed Ground Zero Mosque and its Islamist, Muslim Brotherhood affiliated Imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf.

Imam Rauf is being sent on a taxpayer funded junket to the Middle East by our State Department, including visits to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Qatar....all countries that have a history of extensive funding of both the Ground Zero Mosque and ASMA, Rauf's organization promoting Islam and sharia in America. And yet, the Obama Administration expects us to believe that Rauf isn't going to do any Ground Zero fundraising while he's there...

"He is a distinguished Muslim cleric," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. "I think we are in the process of arranging for him to travel as part of this program, and it is to foster a greater understanding about the region around the world among Muslim-majority communities," he added.

Crowley said no fund-raising for the mosque and cultural center during the trip would be permitted. "That would not be something he could do as part of our program," he said.

Ri-ight.He's somehow not going to solicit funds from the same people who are funding him already? Are they going to monitor him 24-7?

Abdul Rauf already lied to his gullible western enablers when he said that the $5 million in cash for the land purchase came from US Muslims, when according to ASMA's own records he received a great deal of financing from the Muslim world, over half a million from Qatar alone. He's practicing the same sort of taqiya when he says that the estimated $100 million needed to complete the Ground Zero Mosque will come from US.Muslims and his congregation.

Abdul Rauf has a very different story speaking in Arabic Just the other day in London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that a large chunk of the estimated $100 million construction cost will also come from Islamic countries...in other words, the same people he's meeting with here at the expense of US taxpayers.

Nor is the Obama Administrations support limited to paying for the imam's fundraising activities.

Our State Department spent your time and money to publish the entire text of NY City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's execrable speech supporting the Ground Zero Mosque on www.america.gov, it's official affiliated government website aimed towards an overseas audience.

When asked why our State Department chose to do this, Spokeshole PJ Crowley said it was merely a way to help interested foreigners 'understand the debate'. Which, of course, is why only Bloomberg's remarks were published and no opposing views.

Riddle me this: what would America's Left think if an American administration supported building a huge Christian cathedral on Ground Zero, and paid for the pastor to go overseas to collect funds to build it? What would they say if our State Department published speeches endorsing it on an official government website?

What if it was a huge Chabad Center?

How do you think it would take the ACLU or the Center for Constitutional Rights to sue?

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Tom Friedman: Blind Or Just Nearsighted On The Middle East?

The New York Time's Tom Friedman's writings on the Middle East have taken a fascinating turn lately. After years of being harshly critical of Israel and shilling for ideas designed to destroy the Jewish State like the Saudi 'peace' ultimatum, he began writing anti-jihad columns that had me worried that he'd been kidnapped and somebody else was churning out columns under his byline.

His latest, entitled 'Steal This Movie' is a rave for a a film by Shlomi Eldar, the Gaza reporter for Israel’s Channel 10 news, and it illustrates perfectly the disconnect and fuzzy thinking a lot of well-meaning people like Friedman have when it comes to Israel and the Middle East:

I just saw a remarkable new documentary directed by Shlomi Eldar, the Gaza reporter for Israel’s Channel 10 news. Titled “Precious Life,” the film tracks the story of Mohammed Abu Mustafa, a 4-month-old Palestinian baby suffering from a rare immune deficiency. Moved by the baby’s plight, Eldar helps the infant and mother go from Gaza to Israel’s Tel Hashomer hospital for lifesaving bone-marrow treatment. The operation costs $55,000. Eldar puts out an appeal on Israel TV and within hours an Israeli Jew whose own son was killed during military service donates all the money.

The documentary takes a dramatic turn, though, when the infant’s Palestinian mother, Raida, who is being disparaged by fellow Gazans for having her son treated in Israel, blurts out that she hopes he’ll grow up to be a suicide bomber to help recover Jerusalem. Raida tells Eldar: “From the smallest infant, even smaller than Mohammed, to the oldest person, we will all sacrifice ourselves for the sake of Jerusalem. We feel we have the right to it. You’re free to be angry, so be angry.”

Eldar is devastated by her declaration and stops making the film. But this is no Israeli propaganda movie. The drama of the Palestinian boy’s rescue at an Israeli hospital is juxtaposed against Israeli retaliations for shelling from Gaza, which kill whole Palestinian families. Dr. Raz Somech, the specialist who treats Mohammed as if he were his own child, is summoned for reserve duty in Gaza in the middle of the film. The race by Israelis and Palestinians to save one life is embedded in the larger routine of the two communities grinding each other up.

“It’s clear to me that the war in Gaza was justified — no country can allow itself to be fired at with Qassam rockets — but I did not see many people pained by the loss of life on the Palestinian side,” Eldar told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. “Because we were so angry at Hamas, all the Israeli public wanted was to [expletive] Gaza. ... It wasn’t until after the incident of Dr. Abu al-Aish — the Gaza physician I spoke with on live TV immediately after a shell struck his house and caused the death of his daughters and he was shouting with grief and fear — that I discovered the [Israeli] silent majority that has compassion for people, including Palestinians. I found that many Israeli viewers shared my feelings.” So Eldar finished the documentary about how Mohammed’s life was saved in Israel.

His raw film reflects the Middle East I know — one full of amazing compassion, even among enemies, and breathtaking cruelty, even among neighbors.

I write about this now because there is something foul in the air. It is a trend, both deliberate and inadvertent, to delegitimize Israel — to turn it into a pariah state, particularly in the wake of the Gaza war. You hear the director Oliver Stone saying crazy things about how Hitler killed more Russians than Jews, but the Jews got all the attention because they dominate the news media and their lobby controls Washington. You hear Britain’s prime minister describing Gaza as a big Israeli “prison camp” and Turkey’s prime minister telling Israel’s president, “When it comes to killing, you know very well how to kill.” You see singers canceling concerts in Tel Aviv. If you just landed from Mars, you might think that Israel is the only country that has killed civilians in war — never Hamas, never Hezbollah, never Turkey, never Iran, never Syria, never America.

Destructive criticism closes Israeli ears. It says to Israelis: There is no context that could explain your behavior, and your wrongs are so uniquely wrong that they overshadow all others. Destructive critics dismiss Gaza as an Israeli prison, without ever mentioning that had Hamas decided — after Israel unilaterally left Gaza — to turn it into Dubai rather than Tehran, Israel would have behaved differently, too. Destructive criticism only empowers the most destructive elements in Israel to argue that nothing Israel does matters, so why change?

There are a number of clues to the truth here. But Tom Friedman and those with his mindset simply refuse to put two and two together, because they dislike the answer.

He writes about the Middle East he says he knows, 'full of amazing compassion, even among enemies, and breathtaking cruelty, even among neighbors.' Yet, even after seeing the reality right in front of him, he still can't fathom that the compassion and regard for human life is almost entirely on the Israeli side. He knows, or ought to, the efforts the Israelis have made to avoid civilian casualties, even at the risk of endangering their own soldiers. He certainly knows that had Israel lost a single one of the wars launched against it, the Arabs' treatment of Israel's Jewish inhabitants would have made the massacres in Rwanda, Darfur or Cambodia seem merciful by comparison.

Yet, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, he persists in making the fatal error of trying to look at this through Western, Judeo-Christian norms.

The majority of 'Palestinians' regard the Arab-Israeli conflict as a tribal struggle, and one that can only end with the defeat and massacre of the Jews of Israel. It's winner take all. That's exactly how they were programmed to look at it by Yassir Arafat for several generations and more recently, by Mahmoud Abbas and by Hamas. The 'Palestinians' define themselves entirely out of their opposition to the Jews, their revanchist dreams and a shared feeling on victimization.

It is the clearest example of a national psychosis since Hitler's Germany.

Of course Raida has no gratitude to the hated Jews for saving her son's life. She merely regards them as gullible and weak for doing so.And it's natural given her mindset that she wants her son to become a shaheed and take as many Jewish women and children with him as possible. To our Western sensibilities this seems monstrous, but to the Palestinians,and indeed to a significant part of the Arab world it is not only encouraged by Islam but is heroism worthy of emulation.

This is hardly a unique instance. Aside from deliberately targeting for death as many Jewish children as they can get their hands on, the Palestinians have, on many occasions shown a shocking disregard for the well-being of their own children, to the point that most Westerners would consider it child abuse.

It was the Original Gangster Yassir Arafat himself who best captured this sentiment when he spoke to Palestinian women right before the second intifada and enjoined them to 'have ten children. Keep one for yourself and give the others to me.'

The smartest thing Tom Friedman has to say in his column, albeit inadvertently was the sentiment that 'nothing [positive] Israel does matters.' To Israel's foes both in the Arab world and the West that is literally true. It doesn't matter what Israel does because Israel's existence is the problem, not Israel's good or bad behavior.

The Arab-Israeli conflict will end not with a piece of paper being signed, some land changing hands and yet another part of the Middle East becoming judenrein, free of Jews. It will end when the Arabs are defeated badly enough militarily that war is no longer an option and they grudgingly accept the status quo. That is exactly what led to the armistice Israel now has with Egypt and Jordan in spite of the fact neither Arab country has much in the way of warm and friendly feelings towards Israel.

When the Arab nations give up the idea of Israel being merely the latest version of the old Crusader kingdoms and start programming their people for progress rather than hatred and war, then a lasting peace will be possible.

The problem with Friedman's view -and that of those like him - is that they persist in looking at the War on Jihad through the distorted lens of their Western values and insisting that war be fought accordingly.

For both Israel and the West, this is a suicidal path.

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Times Square Bombing Suspect Caught

Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized US citizen from Pakistan and the 'person of interest' wanted in connection with the Times Square bombing was arrested late Monday at New York's JFK airport.

He was on a flight to Dubai, with a connection afterwards to Pakistan.Believe it or not, the FBI had not flagged his passport.

Apparently, he's already admitted his involvement and claims he acted alone.

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UK To Expel Israeli Diplomat Over Dubai Assassination

The UK admits to having no real proof the Mossad was behind the killing of Hamas kingpin Mahmoud Mabhouh, but they're going to expel an Israeli diplomat as a 'demonstration of anger':

Ron Proser, the Israeli Ambassador to London, was summoned to the Foreign Office on Monday to be told the results of an inquiry into the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, whose body was discovered in a luxury Dubai hotel room in January.

Several members of the team suspected of killing him were found to be travelling on passports cloned from documents belonging to British citizens living in Israel. Other passports had been stolen from Irish, German, Australian and French citizens.

A ministerial statement to be made to Parliament will formally name the Israeli security services as responsible for the cloning of up to 15 British passports, which were copied after being taken away by airport officials.

The statement will say that it proved impossible to confirm definitively whether Mossad, the feared Israeli secret intelligence service, was responsible for the operation, with suspicion also resting on the Military Intelligence Directorate.

But the probe had determined for certain that the passports were cloned when British citizens passed through airports on their way into Israel, with officials taking them away for “checks” which lasted around 20 minutes.

Foreign Office sources expressed frustration that there was little more that could be done to “punish” Israel over the affair.

Hey, passports were cloned..so it had to be those sneaky, underhanded Jews, right?

The reality? Anyone could have cloned the passports, even Fatah's security services.For that matter, the British Consulate in Jerusalem is entirely staffed by 'Palestinians', and the consular staff's getting hold of passports held by Britons or dual citizens in Israel for their own nefarious purposes would be simplicity itself.

Of course, no one is saying anything about al-Mabouh's forged passport, or the fact that he was involved in facilitating arms shipments from Iran that the UK gives lip service to 'condemning.'

The chief push for expelling the Israeli diplomat and essentially tagging Israel with the blame for the Dubai hit is coming from Foreign secretary David Miliband, who has always been in step with the Labour government in demonstrating hostility to Israel at every opportunity.

It's also worth remembering that Gordon Brown and Miliband have repeatedly promised to amend the British law that allows any UK activist or Palestinian groupie to file an arrest warrant in a British court against any foreign visitor to be tried for 'war crimes'. This statute has only been used against Israelis, and was responsible for Israel's opposition leader Tzipi Livni canceling a visit to London late last year, as well as a delegation of Israeli officers who bowed out of a scheduled meeting with UK counterparts after they were warned that there were arrest warrants waiting for them at Heathrow airport.

In spite of repeated promises by Brown and Miliband, they've done absolutely nothing to change this situation. As a matter of fact, Labour minister of justice Jack Straw(whose seat in Parliament is dependent on catering to Muslims in Blackburn) took action in January to put amending this legislation on hold indefinitely, and neither Gordon Brown nor David Miliband ever voiced any objections.

Just another episode in the UK's ongoing attempts to appease their restive Muslim population by demonizing Israel....something they may one day regret.

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Dubai Police Chief: "We'll Identify 'Israelis' By Their Features

In his latest change of story, Dubai police chief Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim said today that he's 'almost positive' that the Mossad was responsible for killing Hamas apparatchnik Mahmoud al-Mabhouh and that the UAE will "deny entry to anyone suspected of having Israeli citizenship."

Actually, they already deny entry to anyone even flying in from Israel, let alone Israeli citizens. As a matter of fact, Jews in general aren't allowed entry unless their are special circumstances.

What was more interesting, as Elder Of Ziyon recounts was the police chiefs' anti-Semitic rant in Arabic, as reported in the Khaleej Times:

Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander in Chief of Dubai Police, said Israel is a rogue state, and that goes beyond international legitimacy and laws. Its leaders have sick mentalities, and they need psychologists, saying that its use of passports shows great arrogance and contempt for the world.

(Tamim said that) the leaders of "Israel" have blood on their hands the blood of others throughout history, pointing out that the "Israeli" people are human beings like any other people who want to be loved and open to others but that the successive governments, the Governments of bloodshed and assassinations, and wars and the Governments of the occupation and aggression, are not interested in peace in the world at all.

He added that the vanity which haunts the "Israeli" mentality stems from the time of Pharaoh, and their hate comes up to this day and age.

He said that the entire world should study the mentality of the "Israeli" leaders throughout history. Their sick psyches needs to be analyzed by psychology professors, who need to examine why they launch crises, and why they brought on themselves hate from others, since the time of Moses, peace be upon him.

He said we will train our personnel in the passport of the forms and features of the Jewish people and their names, noting that no one can hide their features of Jewishness. He asked the appropriate departments to prepare nationality and residency sessions to familiarize the staff with [Jewish] forms and names, especially since most Jews hold dual passports [with Israel.]

He pointed out that the number of Jews, compared with the Europeans, is nothing, and even within Palestine itself.

Yep, you can definitely tell the Jews apart...they're the sneaky looking ones with the horns on the heads. Keep in mind that Tamim has uncovered no evidence linking the Mossad to the killing whatsoever.

Needless to say, the English language media is ignoring Tamim's blatant racism.

But it gives rise to another set of interesting questions:

According to US and EU law, Hamas is an officially designated terrorist organization. So why was a Hamas cockroach like al-Mabhouh allowed to enter Dubai freely under a false passport? Why has Dubai become an arms transit point between Iran and Hamas?

In view of this, shouldn't the Obama Administration be considering direct flights between Dubai and the US a significant security risk? Shouldn't banking transactions that involve the Iranian regime be subjected to more scrutiny?

Not that the Obama Administration would ever ask those kind of questions...

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Never Underestimate The Israeli Sense Of Humor

In this case, it's taking the mickey out of the Brits being all in a lather over whether the Mossad carried out the assassination of a Hamas cockroach in Dubai.

Check out this tweet from the Israeli embassy in London:

Uhhh...except the 'hit' the link refers to goes to a story about Israeli tennis phenom Shahar Peer pulling off an upset and knocking off top ranked Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championship!

Heh!

Courtesy of William at the one and only Le'gal In'sur'rec'tion

Oh,by the way, you might remember Shahar Peer..she wasn't allowed to participate in the Dubai open last year because she was a Jew and was refused the visa Dubai gives to the occasional Jew to enter the country..

What changed this year is that the Women's Tennis Association made noises about dropping Dubai after Peer was refused a visa at the last minute, and The Tennis Channel refused to televise it.And Barclay's Bank, who sponsored the tournament reaped a lot of bad press.

I suppose the powers that be in Dubai decided that letting a Jew in to play tennis was worth avoiding the headlines and bad publicity.

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A Fatah Connection To The Dubai Killing Surfaces

Yet another dimension has materialized in the mysterious assassination of Hamas kingpin Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.

Now, the authorities in Dubai have somewhat changed their story again and are saying elements of Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah had a hand in the assassination:

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, is facing accusations of collusion with Israel after two former members of his Fatah faction were linked to the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai last month.

The two men, who are both in custody in Dubai, supplied logistical support to an assassination squad that carried out the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, according to police in the Gulf state.

Making a potentially explosive accusation, Hamas alleged that Ahmad Hasnin and Anwar Shekhaiber are employed by a company whose owner is a top confidante of Mr Abbas, the western-backed leader of the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank.{...}

Allies of Mr Abbas sought to deflect the charges of collusion by repeating claims that Hamas had been infiltrated by Israeli intelligence and that at least one of the two men had fled Gaza after his cover as an Israeli double agent had been exposed.

"Hamas should extensively search the scope of penetration within its ranks that has led to the assassination of Mabhouh and other Hamas leaders," a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority security forces said.

Again, I consider al-Mabhouh's death to be a welcome piece of pest control, and if it was the Mossad, excellent. I'm merely saying that there could have been a lot of other people whom wanted this particular cockroach stomped...including Hamas if al-Mabhouh was caught skimming or double dealing.

In other news, the British Daily Mail is claiming from a 'confidential source' that the Mossad not only carried out the killing but that they tipped off M15 and the British Foreign office beforehand that UK passports were going to be used:

A British security source who met the Mossad agent, and has a track record of providing reliable information, told the Daily Mail: 'This is a serving member of Israeli intelligence.

'He says the British Government was told very, very briefly before the operation what was going to happen. There was no British involvement and they didn't know the name of the target. But they were told these people were travelling on UK passports.'

The security source said that the tip-off was not a request for permission to use British passports but more a 'courtesy call' to let the security services know 'a situation' might blow up.

The Mossad man said Israeli intelligence chiefs understand British authorities will have to 'slap them on the wrist' and added: 'The British government has to be seen to be going through the motions.'

The Israeli's claims contradict Foreign Office assertions that the UK knew nothing of the affair until shortly before the Dubai authorities went public over the assassination earlier this week.

The British source told the Mail he has known the Mossad man for more than 20 years and they met as part of a longstanding arrangement.

He said British-Israeli intelligence relations were 'jogging along very nicely when nobody knew - then it all became public'.

The Israeli agent rejected suggestions that intelligence-sharing between the two nations might be damaged.

He said Mossad was handling several sources within the UK Muslim community and added: 'There is no question of jeopardising that information flow.'

Heh!

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The Great Dubai Mystery

So far, I've avoided further comment on the assassination in a Dubai hotel of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh beyond what I wrote when it happened, but as this rapidly descends toward farce and is now an international story, I suppose further comment is warranted.

The facts, briefly are these. Al-Mabhouh was one of the heads of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing and a key link in smuggling arms from Iran to Hamas. He was found dead in a Dubai hotel room January 20th. Interestingly enough, none of his security guards was present when he was killed.

The Dubai authorities first said the death was due to 'suffocation', than from a shot administered to look like a heart attack, which progressed to 'causes unknown'.

They likewise originally said that al-Mabouh was killed by an "experienced criminal gang" with European passports. That later morphed into a certainty that they were '90% sure' Israel's Mossad was behind it..although they haven't presented any evidence to back up that particular claim except that some phony passports used by the assassins belong to British Jews with dual residence in Israel.There were also some CCTV pictures taken of the killers in their disguises) at the hotel....very useful, that.

The Europeans, particularly the Brits are in absolute meltdown over this:

Ministers are understood to be furious that an alleged hit squad which murdered a Hamas leader in Dubai last month cloned the passports of six unsuspecting Britons, who are now living in fear of reprisals.

Israel, which has not denied involvement in the murder, had previously promised that Mossad, its secret intelligence service, would never use British passports to help its agents carry out covert operations.

Israel's ambassador to the UK was summoned to the Foreign Office to give his explanation as the diplomatic row intensified. {...}

All of the British passport holders whose identities were stolen live in Israel, meaning Mossad would have had ready access to copies of their travel documents.

A senior Foreign Office source told The Daily Telegraph: “If the Israelis were responsible for the assassination in Dubai, they are seriously jeopardising the important intelligence-sharing arrangement that currently exists between Britain and Israel.

“If it transpires that Israel has been using British passports to assassinate its opponents, the British government will need to give serious consideration to any future cooperation. "

So, let's see what's wrong with this picture, shall we?

• If the Mossad needs passports, they can manufacture them from scratch, or use the names and particulars of dead persons.That's how they've done this sort of thing in the past.What the Brits of course don't understand is that it's the Mossad's mission to protect Jews, not put them in jeopardy by possibly getting them in Hamas' target sights.Nor are most Mossad agents silly enough to get caught on camera with anything incriminating, and as the Mossad knows very well, there isn't a major hotel in the world today without a CCTV camera around.
  

• What evidence do the Dubai police have besides some stolen passport numbers, some CCTV pictures of some heavily disguised perps and their usual hatred of Jews and Israel to determine that 'it was the Mossad'? So far, the Dubai police have been all over place in their investigation. Why are they suddenly deemed to be so credible?

• A spokesman for Hamas in Damascus told the AP that al-Mabhouh was laying over in Dubai on his way from Syria to an unspecified third country.Was it Iran, or maybe Lebanon? Was he buying arms? Did he perhaps have a large sum of cash on him? And just why were his bodyguards missing? Could it be that he was skimming off the top and paid the ultimate penalty? Revenge for a business deal gone bad perhaps? Or could it have been someone simply sending a message to Hamas's Damascus-based leader Khalid Meshaal, who was al-Mabhouh's patron?

Don't misunderstand me. I consider al-Mabhouh's death to be a welcome piece of pest control, and if it was the Mossad, kol tov. I'm merely saying that there could have been a lot of other people whom wanted this particular cockroach stomped.

As I pointed out when I first wrote about this, vermin like al-Mabhouh don't get to where they are without making some enemies, and anyone dealing in smuggling clandestine arms shipments can be a target, particularly given how Hamas makes money from criminal enterprises like counterfeiting, drug smuggling and other nefarious activities.

As for the Brits threat to suspend intelligence cooperation with Israel...given how infiltrated Britain is by the Muslim ummah in their security services and how hostile the UK is to Israel in general, does anyone think the Israelis are stupid enough to trust the Brits with more than a weather report?

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Top Hamas Leader Killed Under Mysterious Circumstances..

Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found dead in his Dubai hotel room this morning under interesting circumstances.

He was one of the king pins of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing and a key link in smuggling arms from Iran to Hamas.

As Hamas grew closer to Iran in recent years, Mr. Mabhouh came to play a critical liaison role between Hamas militants in Gaza and Iran, including orchestrating weapons deliveries to Gaza-based militants, the official said.

On Jan. 19, Mr. Mabhouh arrived in Dubai and checked into the five-star Bustan Rotana hotel, located near the Dubai airport, according to Hamas officials and local Dubai media.

A spokesman for Hamas in Damascus told the Associated Press that Mr. Mabhouh was laying over in Dubai on his way from Syria to an unspecified third country.

But the following day, he was found dead in his hotel room. Mr. Mabhouh's death became public on Friday, a day after his body was returned to Damascus.

On Saturday, Dubai's police chief, Dhahi Khalfan, told Al Jazeera that he couldn't exclude the possibility that Israel's Mossad intelligence agency was behind Mr. Mabhouh's death, which he said occurred by suffocation.

Dubai security officials, meanwhile, told the state news agency that an "experienced criminal gang" with European passports committed the murder, but said the perpetrators had already fled the country.

The Israeli defense official said Mr. Mahbouh's death would deal a serious setback to smuggling efforts by Hamas.

"The fact that this guy is dead, I think it will only make the situation in our area much better," the official said.

"It won't be easy to replace him because these guys live in secret, all their connections are in secret, so you can't just replace him the next day. It can take a few months and sometimes much longer," the official added.

Did the Mossad do it? Hamas thinks they did and it's certainly possible.

However it could very well have been someone else. Cockroaches like al-Mabhouh don't get to where they are without making some enemies, and anyone dealing in smuggling clandestine arms shipments can be a target, particularly given how Hamas makes money from criminal enterprises like counterfeiting, drug smuggling and other nefarious activities. Or it might have been someone simply sending a message to Hamas's Damascus-based leader Khalid Meshaal, who was al-Mabhouh's patron.

Another interesting little detail is that al-Mabhouh's security guards were not present when he was killed...which even brings up the possibility that he was dipping into the till without permission and paid the ultimate penalty.

For their part,the Israeli are following their usual policy in cases like this, either not commenting or outright denying that they were responsible, but leaving things in a gray area that suggest they might have been.

Aside from his role in smuggling arms to Hamas from Iran, al-Mabhouh has planned hundreds of attacks on Israeli civilians and his death is setback to Iran's re-arming Hamas, so I seriously doubt the Israelis are shedding any tears over his well-deserved demise.

If it was a Mossad op, it appears to have gone off pretty well, especially since it was done in an Arab country.

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Today's Must Reads, 11/30/09

Feel free to send anything you find that you feel is worthy of a look to me at rmill2k@msn.com and I'll review it. This includes stuff you write yourself.Or if you prefer, you can send it attention Natasha, our must reads Avatar..she loves mail.

Politico: Seven Stories Obama Doesn't Want Told

Toby Harnden, The Telegraph : Will the real Obama please stand up?

David Corn :Can Obama sell the Afghanistan war?

Victor Davis Hanson :Bowing, Dithering and Trashing America

Fouad Ajami: The Arab World has stopped applauding Obama

The Hill : Top Democrat Obey calls expected troop surge a 'fool's errand'

Patrick O’Hannigan/American Spectator : Community-organizer-in-chief

Rasmussen: Poll shows Obama now at 47% Gallup: 51% FOX News: 46%

Hot Air :Cato: ObamaCare price tag is $6 trillion:

WSJ Lieberman vows to filibuster ObamaCare

Mike Volpe/Big Government The Future of ACORN

WAPO :No deficit reduction in health care bill

Instapundit :Is Dubai a financial China Syndrome?

Robin of Berkeley/American Thinker: The Wilding Of Sarah Palin

WSJ :Senate debate on ObamaCare to begin today

Hot Air :9/11 Detainee lawyers - trial will become their platform to the world

Breitbart :Hasan's Attorney says Fort Hood suspect may use insanity defense...

Tom Friedman: The Narrative

RightSide News: Islamic Political Ideology: The Conceptual Drivers For Mumbai

Robert Spender/Human Events : What the 9-11 Plotters Will Say in Court

Asia Times:US Stalls as Pakistan drifts

WSJ Tehran Ups Ante Again as Diplomacy Goes Nowhere

Dubai - The Most Important Story In The News Today

Dubai,one of the major members of the United Arab Emirates is apparently on the verge of going bust.

Dubai’s debt woes may worsen to become a “major sovereign default” that roils developing nations and cuts off capital flows to emerging markets, Bank of America Corp. said.

“One cannot rule out -- as a tail risk -- a case where this would escalate into a major sovereign default problem, which would then resonate across global emerging markets in the same way that Argentina did in the early 2000s or Russia in the late 1990s,” Bank of America strategists Benoit Anne and Daniel Tenengauzer wrote in a report.

A default would lead to a “sudden stop of capital flows into emerging markets” and be a “major step back” in the recovery from the global financial crisis, they wrote.

Emerging-market stocks around the world have slumped for two days on concern a debt restructuring by Dubai World, with $59 billion of liabilities, will add to the $1.72 trillion of losses and writedowns from the global credit freeze. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 1.9 percent to 940.30 as of 1:55 p.m. in New York, extending this week’s decline to 2.6 percent.

Dubai, which borrowed $80 billion in a four-year construction boom to transform its economy into a tourism and financial hub, suffered the world’s steepest property slump in the recession. Home prices fell 50 percent from their 2008 peak, according to Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank AG.

The story's actually pretty simple. Dubai was a playground for the major players,sort of a Middle East Switzerland.Because of their bank secrecy laws, relatively Western-friendly atmosphere and the free-spending ways of the Sultan, Not only was capital flowing in from all of the Middle East (Iran, for example) but from Europe and America as well.

As a consequence, the Persian Gulf Emirate borrowed billions to build itself into a tourism and trade mecca. Dubai boasted indoor ski slopes manmade islands, casinois the world's tallest Office building tower and the up and coming Dubai World, a tourist complex designed to rival Disneyland and Vegas combined.

What happened is that increased scrutiny of tax havens in Europe and America cut into the offshore banking trade, oil prices plunged, and and the Emirate was faced problems with people paying them for various services. Property prices have plunged by 50 percent since last year, the Emirate canceled ongoing projects, and expatriate workers without jobs simply left, leaving buildings unfinished, apartments sitting empty with no buyers and infrastructure to service them incomplete.

So as a consequence, DubaiWorld - which like all other commerce in the Emirate is owned by the ruling Al Maktoum family - asked for a restructuring of about $80 billion worth of debt with a suspension of payments for six months. The effect this had on hedge funds and companies invested in Dubai can be imagined.Oil prices went down to $74 per barrel, and the Dow plunged 150 points.

So, why is this so important?

First it's another shock to an already weakened global financial order...an remember, Dubai isn't some third world hellhole, but about as close to Belgium or The Caymans as anything in that part of the world is likely to become.

Second, the US has an arrangement with countries like Dubai - we protect them militarily, and they continue vote in OPEC to allow the oil trade to continue in dollars, thus importing our inflation. If Dubai needs to exercise its power in the UAE to vote stop doing that to get their own financial house in order, the effect on the dollar can be imagined.

JoshuaPundit's Headlines, 2/17/09

All the links you need and nothing you don't... make sure to check back for updates.

Ramos and Compean freed from federal prison Definitely a bit of good news.

Bill Press: The Fairness Doctrine Will Let Me 'Make Money' - Yes...if you're a boring Leftist shill like Press the only way to keep poluting the airwaves is at PBS or by having government legislate away the competition and jam.it.down.people's.throats.

Burris now acknowledges fundraising effort for Blagojevich — What a surprise! Let's see if the Senate doesw anything about it...my bet is they won't.

President Obama's 2,000-point tumble — Michelle Malkin has the goods on how the market has reacted to Hope n'Change. On November 4th, after Barack Obama was elected, the market closed at 9,625.28. Today, as the current occupant of the White House signs his massive raid on the US Treasury into law , the Dow has dropped to to 7,606.53.

CHRYSLER asks govt for $5B more in loans - First GM, now Chrysler..

Washington Post:A Truth Commission? — The Danger in Democrats' Rush to Investigate - The WAPO sudenly realizes that show trials on the Bush Administration might not be a good idea.

CNN:After stimulus, Obama looks to mortgage rescue - the gist of Obama's plan is to throw $150 billion of your money into the breach to 'modify' mortgage contracts and lower payments to 31-38% of the borrower's gross income. Aside from screwing over the investors who buy home loans on the secondary market so that the actual supply of loans will tighten even if you have good credit, $150 billion is a drop in the bucket to make a policy like this fair across the board. Will you have to swear a loyalty oath to Obama before you're eligible?

I would add that the classic Fannie/Freddie underwriting guideline before the CRA and the Democrats 'modified ' it for political purposes was 33 over 38...33% of your gross income for housing, 38% of your gross income as total debt including housing. As you can see, those ratios were trashed a long time ago...an dmost of the people who are going to be bailed out by this stuff shouldn't have gotten home loans to begin with.

Will Obama's Stimulus Live Up to Its Name? - Rich Lowry, National Review

U.S. Senate to Vote on D.C. House Seat - UPI

Obama OKs 17,000 more troops for Afghanistan...

British Muslims on trial over 'airliner bomb plot'...

US-Somali youth join Jihad in Somalia

With Shahar Peer Barred, Tennis Channel Won’t Show Dubai Event. - The Tennis Channel has decide it will not televise the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships this week to protest the United Arab Emirates’ refusal to grant an entry visa to the Israeli player Shahar Peer. Well done, I say.

France's role in Holocaust legally recognized

Assad to US: Don't bet on new Israeli government Basher Assad wants to make his own deal with Obama.

Report: Hamas stole 7 tons of unexploded ordnance - And the UN's not happy about it.

JoshuaPundit's Headlines, 2/16/08

All the links you need and nothing you don't... make sure to check back for updates.

Breaking: Sam Donaldson To Retire From ABC News. I'll miss the sound of him baying at press conferences like a bloodhound in heat...

Kansas suspending Income Tax Refunds... Hey, what's good for California....Notice, BTW that Alaska, governed by the supposedly none-to-bright Sarah Palin has a surplus and is paying not only tax refunds but the dividend to residents that comes from the oil money!

Democrats May Be Headed to Showdown With Obama Over Bush Probes - The Angry Left really really really wants those show trials. Obama will likely go along in the end.

Rehab for Jihadists - Stephen Hayes & Thomas Joscelyn, Weekly Standard

Perjury or not, Burris shows he is at least a liar — Mark Brown in the Chicago Sun-Times

Student Sues LA College Over Right to Give Anti-Gay Marriage Speech

NY Muslim Charged with Beheading His Wife - Another honor killing in America.

1900% Beer Tax Hike Proposed in Oregon...Break out the torches and pitchforks!!

The British Authorities Surrendering to Extremism- From AJ Millar via the Brussels Journal

Referendum vote allows Chavez to run again - Hugo Chavez - President For Life..

IDF: World duped by Hamas's false civilian death toll figures - but you knew that, right?


Livni: Give up parts of ‘Land of Israel’ - 'Land for peace' again hmmm. After all, it's worked so well in the past!
I am so tired of this incompetant quisling with the greasy hair and a mouth that keeps advocating dangerous policy... if it can be called that.


Hamas says it awaits Israel's response on Gaza truce - Stunning...Hamas is still firing rockets at Israel, Gilad Shalit is still a prisoner and Hamas expects Israel to go along with the program?

Russia Says They Will Not Toughen Policy Toward Iran - told ya so.

Iran official to US: Chess better game than boxing - Nothing like insulting the Great Satan, hmmm?

WTA could drop Dubai after Israel's Shahar Peer refused visa - I wouldn't bet on the Women's Tennis Association doing any such thing just because of a lil' Arab Jew hatred.Cowards denied Peer a visa at the very last possible moment too, after saying she could come and compete. UPDATE: Turns out I was right

The Writing is on the Synagogue Wall - Denis MacShane, Times of London

Trump Says No To Dubai's Jew Hatred, Moves Miss Universe Pageant

The UAE sheikdom of Dubai, as regular members of Joshua's Army know is a racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic place.

An occasional Jewish celebrity or sports figure is allowed there, rather the way South Africa's Sun City would occasionally have black performers but for the most part Dubai is a Jew free zone the Nazis would approve of. And that especially applies to Israelis, and has even before the 1967 War, when the 'Palestinians' supposedly became an issue...not that the Sheikdom of Dubai has ever cared squat for the Palestinians.

The country also has substantial ties to terrorist financing, was a drop ship point for illegal nuclear materials to Iran from places like Pakistan, is an enthusiastic participant in an Arab boycott against Israel that's against US law and refuses to comply with UN sanctions against Iran..yet for some reason the Bush Administration, which has always made such stirring pronunciations about being with the terrorists or being with us has always had the most cordial relations with them,, looked out for their interests and looked the other way whenever anything unpleasant came up. Just good friends and bidness partners, you know?

Donald Trump, of all people, appears to have a different standard than the current occupant of the White House.

Dubai was scheduled to be the host of this year's Miss Universe pageant, which Trump is putting on. And when Dubai told Trump that a Miss Israel( it's Shunit Faragi this year, pictured above) would not be welcome in their country, he told them fuggedaboudit.And let them know he was moving the pageant.

Nicely done, Mr. Trump.

Watcher's Council Nominations, 12/17/08

The Watcher's Council is a group of some of the most incisive blogs in the`sphere. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.

So, let's see what we have this week....

COUNCIL

Joshuapundit - Newsweak Shills For Same Sex Marriage - In It’s Religion Section! - In the wake of several propositions passing by wide margins in favor of restricting marriage to one man and one woman, the gay lobby has intensified their pressure on the dinosaur media to come out of the closet for the cause. The entire latest issue of Newsweak has an interesting dichotomy - it literally drips with contempt for the sort of inbred hillbillies that take religion and scripture seriously, yet Newsweak made their cover story - written by Lisa Miller, their religion editor - a long essay on the Scriptural support for gay marriage.

It's one thing to simply say that the Bible is wrong, but to actually attempt to spin the argument using the Bible as a reference is simply a lie in print.

While I think there are very good societal and practical arguments against same-sex marriage, the people who run Newsweak decided to actually use a religious argument to shill for it, so I addressed it in those terms. And as I reveal, Ms. Miller has a rather interesting dichotomy in her personal life concerning this issue...which like Newsweak's reeks of hypocrisy.



The Provocateur - The Irony of Me, Barack Obama,Regulations, and Loan Modifications - Mike writes about his thoughts on loan modifications and government regulations. Ironically, the fed's policies on this item, combined with creating a new subprime loan class by shifting existing subprime to the FHA(AKA the taxpayers) by raising the loan limits is not only likely to create a huge crisis in loan defaults down the road, but will keep property values artificially high..and yes, Mike, we will unfortunately see no money down loans again in the future, I'm afraid.

Rhymes With Right - Sense At Daily Kos? - Greg is pleasantly surprised at a Daily Kos diary that criticizes Illinois AG Lisa Madigan for attempting to illegally oust Governor Blagojevitch..and then examines the state constitutional argument against what the AG attempted to do . Nicely done Greg, says I.

Bookworm Room - Selfish is as selfish does - Ms. Bookworm has a nifty, well written rant against what she terms the selfishness, inarticulateness and carelessness of the younger generation. Socrates felt exactly the same way.

My personal experience with my own children and their friends is very different, but that could very well be a product of their education in a religious Day School..that, and consciously choosing not having TV in the house when they were small( for that matter, we still don't). I certainly couldn't take credit for it myself.

The Razor - Bush’s Automaker Bailout - Scott writes about the ridiculous hypocrisy the Left is exhibiting by labeling the failed UAW bail out ' Bush's bailout' when a great many prominent Democrats voted against it as well.

The thing that has always intrigued me about the Left and the current occupant of the White House is that with all the legitimate reasons to criticize him, they consistently pick the most unfair and illogical.

The Colossus of Rhodey - How dumb was this? - Hube relates the sad tale of a new teacher who attempted to liven up a lesson on slavery by shackling a couple of black students in her class...and explains how he would have handled it.

A couple of very funny but 'insensitive' remarks occur to me, but I'll leave them to your imagination.

Cheat-Seeking Missiles - Dubai’s Lobbyist As Climate Czar? - Laer points out yet another instance of Change We Can Believe In...Obama's proposed appointment of Dubai lobbyist Carol Browner as climate Czarina, putting her in charge of further restricting American energy creation and the drilling of our own oil.

Both state and federal Big Government, of course, want $4.00 a gallon oil...because they need the tax money to fund further gimmees to the people that, y'know, matter. And that unfortunately doesn't include you and I. I'll have more of my own take on this later.

The Glittering Eye - The Ministry of Silly Suggestions - Dave Schuler shares my opinion of NYT columnist Nicholas Kristoff ; aside from never finding a terrorist he didn't have at least some apologetic excuse for, the man is not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed by a large margin.

Here Dave takes apart his silly suggestion that we change the name of the Department of Agriculture to `The Department of Food', along with some equally idiotic suggestions by Kristoff regarding changes in its function.

Soccer Dad - Falk - moonbattery a feature not a bug - This week, Soccer Dad examines the case of one Richard Falk, the so-called "Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967," who Soccer Dad quite accurately describes as `an anti-Israel crackpot' as well as a 9/11 'troother' conspiracy theorist.

The UN, of course, continues as one of the most anti-Semitic organizations on the planet and Falk is an appropriate representative. Small wonder Israel declared him persona non grata and booted him out of the country, and it surprises me that they don't extend that treatment to a number of other foreigners.

Right Truth - Death With Dignity - An interesting post from Debbie Hamilton, as she makes an argument for assisted suicide.

Mere Rhetoric - Obama: Since We All Know That Engagement With Iran Won’t Work, How About A US Nuclear Umbrella For Israel? - Omri doesn't think much of Obama's offer of a 'nuclear umbrella' for Israel.

I agree with him....although I'm hardly surprised this popped out of the woodwork, given whom Obama's national security team consists of..


NON COUNCIL


Submitted By: The Provocateur - Dick Morris - The Collapse of Our Enemies

Submitted By: Rhymes With Right - Althouse - AG Lisa Madigan’s argument to the Illinois Supreme Court about ousting Governor Blagojevich

Submitted By: Bookworm Room - Biz Lizards - American Special Forces in Afghanistan Accidentally Defend Themselves

Submitted By: Joshuapundit - ShrinkWrapped - Some Disparate Dots

Submitted By: The Razor - Real Physics - Power or Reason

Submitted By: The Colossus of Rhodey - Yourish.com - Euphemism of the year: Suicide bombings are “Violent, politically motivated attacks”

Submitted By: Cheat-Seeking Missiles - The Brussels Journal - On Deconstructing the Majority: Nothing To Do With Islam? Really?

Submitted By: The Glittering Eye - Pundita - To the man who threw his shoes at President Bush and missed

Submitted By: Soccer Dad - Treppenwitz - Some points worth making

Submitted By: Right Truth - Fore-Left - Tamm Exposed

Submitted By: Mere Rhetoric - Danger Room - IRA Historian: Today’s Terrorists Are ‘Amateurs’ - and Still Deadly

Submitted by The Watcher - Wizbang - We’re Mad As Hell, And We’re Not Gonna Take It Anymore!