Weekend Monkey and Freedom Fighter handicap the elections

Well...this is a first. Normally Weekend Monkey and I do our own seperate things, as it were. But we got to to talking about the election over the weekend and decided that it would be entertaining to go over the coming midterm elections together...So we did, and it's all your fault:

ff: Hello, Weekend Monkey! Ready to run through the electoral jungles?

WM: You betcha, Freedom Fighter! Let's lay one on the primates!

ff: I really wish you wouldn't use that term...

WM: ~Eeh!!~

ff: Let's talk about the Senate first. I pretty much see the GOP retaining control here, and there could be some major upsets.

WM: How you figure that, ff?


ff: Ok...for the Dems, I see pickups in Ohio, with Brown taking Mike Dewine's seat for the Dems. The last polls show Sherrod Brown pretty much ahead and not much momentum for DeWine..and I see another possible pickup for them in Rhode Island, where Sheldon Whitehouse and GOP incumbent Lincoln Chaffee share the same politics, but Rhode Island is pretty much a dem state.

WM: What about Pennsylvania, ff?

ff: Maybe I'm sentimental, but I can't count Rick Santorum out just yet.

WM: Get real, ff. He's toast! So are Burns in Montana n' Talent in Missouri!

ff: I dunno, Monkey.The last poll shows Santorum only down by about 8..

WM: Quit yer kiddin' ff. Santorum has one foot out the door and the other on a banana peel! I'll give you that Burns and Talent could be close. I'd have to say that the Dems pick up at least one of the two.

ff: Which one?

WM: Could be both, y'know. But if I had to pick one, I'd say Missouri.Talent is actually down a little, Burns has tied Tester, and he looks like he's closing.

ff: Did you see Peggy Noonan's piece on Santorum?

WM: Yeah, yeah...boo freaking hoo. I thought we were picking winners here!

ff: Ok,ok...so you see the Dems so far with a pickup of 4, 5 maximum.

WM: We didn't talk about Virginia or Tennesse yet.

ff: What about `em?

WM: I think the GOP keeps Tennesse and the Dems get Virginia. People like porn novels, and George Allen still sounds to me like he played football without a helmet once too often. And I resented the macacca comment..that guy wasn't intelligent looking enough to be one of my people, if you get my drift.










ff: OK, we're agreed on Tennessee, Corker takes it. But I think George Allen holds Virginia for the GOP, even though the way he's campaigned, you could be right about the helmet thing. It'll be close, but I still call it for Allen...he's been a senator for a long time, people know him, he's had plenty of time to spread around some favors, and Virginia is still a pretty conservative state.

WM: Hmmph! We'll see..anyway, that's minimum 5 pickups, maximum 6. So much for your theory of GOP control of the Senate, ff.

ff: We're not done yet Monkey. First of all, the odds on the Dems winning all six of those races is real slim...and you forgot to add in the other side of the equation, possible GOP pick ups.

WM: You really think that the Republicans are gonna win in Maryland or New Jersey? You seen the polls, ff?











ff: I sure have, Monkey. I call Maryland for Michael Steele at the least. And that's going to be major, because it's going to be a significant shattering of the Dem lockstep on the Black vote. I don't see Cardin winning if Steele gets even 20% of that part of the electorate, which he will after Cardin insulted the Black leadership. Kean is a possibility in New Jersey, but I see Menendez ekeing that out because of the Dem ward machines in Newark and a few other places. And don't forget, Lieberman is sure to take Connecticutt as an independent, and he's going to have a few scores to settle back in Washington with his former party. So even if you're right and the Dems take all six seats -which you're not- that brings it down to 4, maximum. And if Burns or Talent win and Allen wins in Virginia, that brings it down to two, maximum.

WM: I say the Dems win at least five, and hang on to Maryland...what have you been drinking?

ff: Bushmill's. Want some? Here.

WM: Smoooo-oooth! I just added a little banana extract and wowie!

ff: I'm not giving you any more if you're just going to pollute it, Weekend Monkey.This isn't the usual cheap rotgut you favor.

WM: Ok, ok, straight it is...quit yer crabbin'.

ff: And anyway, here's a little piece of info for you, Monkey. There are at least three more Dem incumbent Senators that could flip after the election.

WM: Huh?

ff: There are 3 dem senators - Akaka and Inoyue in Hawaii and Senator KKK Byrd in West Virginia who are in their mid-eighties plus and could go to that big caucus in the sky anytime or be otherwise incapacitated before their terms are through..and both Hawaii and West Virginia have Republican governers who would appoint their successors.

WM: Whooo! That could get interesting! But we're not talking about that now, are we? Let's make it easy for the primates and summarize...

ff: OK -

Weekend Monkey's picks:
-----------------
Ohio- DeWine gets cellared
Pennsylvania- Casey all the way
New Jersey - Menendez makes Kean sleep with the fishes
Maryland - Steele gets melted
Rhode Island-Close, but Dem all the way
Virginia - Macaca boy hits the showers
Missouri - Talent ain't an asset
Tennessee - ok, the GOP wins this one
Montana...toss up but leaning Democrat.

Net gain to the Dems + 6 in the Senate

FF's Picks
-----------------
Ohio - Brown takes it
Pennsylvania - Looks like it's over, but it will be closer than people think and could be an upset.
New Jersey - the Dem big city Machine delivers another one.
Maryland -the Man of Steele triumphs
Virginia - George Allen wins, by a whisker
Tennesee - Welcome to Washington, Senator Corker
Montana - Burns by a whisker
Missouri - too close to call, but leaning towards Talent
Rhode Island - another one that's too close to call, but I think it's leaning Dem

Net Gain to the Dems +3 in the Senate maximum, more likely +2.


WM: OK, ff..let's talk about the House. I gotta admit, I was all set to see the Dems pick up at least 25-35 seats until this last week.

ff: Yeah, there appears to be a bit of a surge for the GOP at the last minute. Think Kerry had anything to do with that?

WM: Maybe. Did you see what Rahm Emanuel had to say earlier today about being worried about the numbers?








ff: Yeah, sounds like his butt is sweating buttermilk. He knows something. What's your call, Weekend Monkey?

WM: I still see the dems taking control of the House and picking up around twenty five seats, max. A week ago I would have had them taking at least 35 or more.

ff: Why the change?

WM: Well, Kerry, plus a lot of the GOP base decided to hold their nose and vote.

ff: I gotta go with you on that, Monkey..I think a lot of people took a good long look at who's going to be running the House if the Dems take over and got a wake up call. Plus, I think the dems started believing their own PR and got lazy..

WM: OK, ff, numbers time! Put up or shut up!

ff: All right, already! Boy, you get surly when you're drinking...the way I see things there's a max of 19 seats net in play for a dem turnover, including seats that just lean that way, and some of those, like Indiana-2, where Chocola has surged and New Mexico-1, where Heather Wilson remains competitive could go either way. And there are a couple of seats that could be GOP pickups like Georgia-3 and Georgia-12. I see the Dems getting no more than 19 seats and possibly as little as 12.

WM: No way,ff. They're getting control of the House. At least 20-25 seats.

ff: Maybe, Monkey, but I don't see it that way. And they're not anywhere near as confident as they were just last week...and remember what happened two years ago, when they were priming themselves up for a great victory and got bitchslapped? I could seriously see them gaining less than the 15 seats they need.

Another thing..a lot of the Dems running for the House and even the Senate this year are a bit more conservative than the party's leadership. They call them `bluedog' Democrats. So even if you're right, President Bush may likely find a lot of allies on the other side of the aisle. Of course, if they miss out on winning both the House and the Senate you're gonna see serious psychodrama.

WM: You got that right, ff, hee hee hee! I was just thinking of Howie Dean in a straight jacket. What do the bookies say, by the way?










ff: At last, we get to the nitty gritty. Tradesports puts the likelyhood of the GOP keeping the senate at 7.5 in 10 and the odds on the Dems taking the House are exactly the reverse. Vegas is about the same on the Senate, but only gives the Dems a 6 in 10 to take the House. So I guess we'll see.

WM: That we will.

ff: By the way, Weekend Monkey, you voting Democrat this year?

WM: In the middle of a war, ff? I'm a monkey, not a jackass.

ff: And with that little nugget, we better sign off.

WM: Later, primates. I gotta figure out how I'm gonna spend my winnings after ff's predictions go down in flames!

Penn President poses with costumed suicide bomber

Just when you thought dhimmi-itis couldn't get more ridiculous...

Penn State president Dr. Amy Gutmann is seen above standing with engineering student Saad Saadi at the annual Halloween costume party held at the president's home.Gutmann, appropriately, is dressed as Galinda, the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz.

Gutmann, by the way, identifies herself as Jewish, and has been Penn's president since 2004.

In other photos taken at Gutmann's party that evening, Saadi can be seen carrying out a series of mock hostage executions, evoking images reminiscent of the series of abductions and murders of Westerners in Iraq in 2004.

In one instance, Saadi stands over a fellow student crouched on the ground, and points a gun at her head while reciting verses from the Koran.

Lovely.

The day after the party, Saadi was quoted in the Daily Pennsylvanian, the campus newspaper, as saying that he attended Gutmann's affair dressed as a "freedom martyr."


Carl in Jerusalem at Israel Matzav has more on this. Apparently, once the fit hit the shan, Gutmann made a statement saying she was `unaware' of Saadi's costume: "This year," Gutmann said, "one student who had a toy gun in hand had his picture taken with me before it was obvious to me that he was dressed as a suicide bomber."

Wannabe Jew killer Saadi has a different story. According to what he told the Daily Pennsylvanian, Gutmann got a big laugh out of his costume, and when he approached her for to the photo, she joked, "'How did they let you through security?'"

What a yuck, eh Professor?

Of course, after Saadi went public, Gutmann changed her story again. She said that after she realized he was dressed as a suicide bomber, she refused to take any more pictures with him. "The costume is clearly offensive and I was offended by it," she said.

Look at the picture. Looks pretty outraged, doesn't she? Not.

Moreover, she acknowledged that "the student had the right to wear the costume just as I, and others, have a right to criticize his wearing of it."

No, professor, he damn well didn't have the right to dress up as a rascist murderer.You simply made a decision to tolerate and allow it.

I'm sure if Saadi had been dressed up as a Klansman or had a costume with an anti-Gay theme, Gutmann would have been just a wee bit more critical..yah think? But because he dressed up as somebody specializing in killing Gutmann's fellow Jews, all's well.

What if Gutmann had taken a smiley face picture with someone dressed as a Klansman? How long do you think it would be before the `progressives' at Penn were howling for her resignation?

The fact that Jew hatred has become acceptable in some quarters, even as a joke is a mark of shame in our society. And it's especially disgraceful when Jews collude in it, a mere sixty years after the Holocaust Gutmann's own family fled from, with living witnesses still among us who saw it happen first hand.

A little thing, a mere glitch in the ozone, but highly indicative of where things are at the moment.

Remember the canary in the coal mine.

`Progressive' Democratic Candidate Ned Lamont campaigns in Connecticutt

No wonder MoveOn and Code Pink like him...and unfortunately, he's by no means unique inthe Democratic party this year. Hat tip to lgf

The Palestinians claim to have formed a unity government

According to al-Reuters, the Palestinians had a sitdown and finally agreed on a unity government. And a Hamas lawmaker says Haniyeh will not head the new government as Prime Minister.

"We have agreed on the political platform of the new government," said Hamas lawmaker and senior leader Yahya Moussa. "The Hamas movement has also agreed that the next prime minister will not be Haniyeh."

"The choice has been made for the next prime minister," Moussa said. "His name will be presented to President Abbas. A joint committee will be formed to appoint the portfolios and to finalize other details."

Well, Moussa is not known for his veracity, but this is a major step if true..if Haniyeh steps down as senior gang boss for Hamas, and Abbas emerges as the Palestinian capo del tutti (literally `head of everything or in mafioso-speak`boss of all bosses'), that means that either Hamas boss Khalid Meshaa in Damascusl hung Haniyeh out to dry or that there has been a revolt among the Hamas consiglieres and they have decided to oust Haniyeh and cut a deal with Abbas for all that wonderful aid money.

Stay tuned...

Palestinians continue using women and children as Human Shields..and Lieberman makes the headlines...

As the Israelis continue their battle against Palestinian terrorists launching rockets into Israel, the Palestinains have hit on a new tactic, one which worked well for them inBeit Hanoun - using women and children as human shields.

The Palestinians have always done this when seeking shelter for their fighting men and leaders. What's new here is that they are now using women and children to escort terrorists on their missions and movements.

The Palestinians fired 11 qassam rockets on Sunday evening from the northern Gaza Strip at Israel.

One of the rockets landed near Kibbutz Erez, and one man was lightly hurt by shrapnel. Another two rockets landed near Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, and another one apparently landed in the sea.

Hamas earlier threatened the life of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit if the Israelis refused to pull back, but changed their minds when new Israeli Strategic Threats Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh and Hams Interior Minister Siad Siyam would join the 'martyrs' list' if Shalit was harmed.

This actually makes a great deal of sense as an approach, considering who Israel is dealing with. I would've dealt with the idea of exchanging terrorist murderers in Israeli custody for Shalit by releasing them..one per hour, from height of about 2,000 feet over Gaza City until Shalit was safely home. I guarantee you, it wouldn't have taken long.

Lieberman also made headlines today by proposing that for his comments that Israel should follow the example set by the Arab world and divide Jews and Arabs.

"The source of the conflict here is not territory, it is not occupation, it is not settlers. It is a clash between two people and two religions."

He's right in terms of the source of the clash between Arabs and Jews, but wrong, I think in his approach. Nevertheless, it's fascinating to see the anti-Israel press snap at this like a shark going after blood in the water...the same press that has never had a single word to say about the ethnic cleansing of Jews by the Arabs.

It adds fuel to the claims of those who refer to Israel as an `apartheid state' and conveniently ignore the fact that the Arab nations have been `apartheid' when it comes to Jews for years.I'd hate to see Israel lower itself to the level of its Arab neighbors.

It also ignores the fact that a number of Arabs are and remain loyal Israeli citizens, with some (mostly Druse and Bedouin) serving with distinction in the IDF.

Believe it or not.

Saddam will swing

An Iraqi court sentenced Saddam Hussein and a couple of his henchmen to hang for war crimes committed during his regime.

He certainly deserve to die for the sort of atrocities that were routine during his reign.

However, there is one thing about this that bothers me and that no one else seems to have mentioned: the fact that he was never forcefully and fully interrogated by the US, especially on the subject of what happened to Iraq's chemical weapons and WMD's , which, thanks to the New York Times we now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was actively involved in producing.

Instead he was turned over to the Iraqis for a travesty of a trial and will take his secrets to the grave, while becoming a martyr to his followers.

Saddam Hussein's death sentence for crimes against humanity stems from the killing of 148 Iraqi Shi'ite Muslims 24 years ago in the village of Dujail during the Iraq/Iran War, after an assasination attempt. Interestingly enough, the present Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's Dawa party claimed responsibility for that 1982 attempt at removing Saddam Hussein from the scene.

Judge Rauf Abdel Rahman ordered Saddam to stand as he read out the verdict. When he refused to do so,the bailiffs moved him from his seat. As the judge began reading the sentence, Mr. Hussein shouted: "Allahu Akbar" and "Long live Iraq! Long live the Iraqi people! Down with the traitors!"

He then denounced the court and the American occupation of Iraq.

Needless to say, Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority was..not pleased.

Immediately after the sentence, violence broke out in Baghdad's Sunni Azamiya district. Defying curfew, thousands of Saddam's supporters took to the streets in his hometown of Tikrit, in the Triangle.

The Islamic Party, Iraq's biggest Sunni Arab party, said that the government should have stopped the sectarian violence in the country before sentencing Saddam.

"The government should have put food on the table of the starving people, stopped all criminal acts, death squads and sped up the national reconciliation before it puts all criminals before and after the fall of (Saddam's) regime on trial."

A senior Sunni Arab memeber of Iraq's parliament who asked not be named for fear of sectarian reprisals was quoted by al-Reuters as saying "This is a political verdict from a political court."

The judge also sentenced to death Barzan Al Tikriti, Mr. Hussein's military intelligence chief, and Awad Hamad Al Bandar, a former chief judge. Taha Yassin Ramadan, vice-president in the deposed government, was awarded life imprisonment.

Three former Baath party officials were sentenced to 15 years, while one of the co-accused was acquitted.

A nine-member appeals panel now automatically reviews the death sentences and the other verdicts.

I'm pretty sure that this verdict is the beginning of the US redeployment in Iraq, outside of the cities, allowing the splintering of the country into its natural divisions.

Hopefully, the US will take advantage of this to ally itself with an independent Kurdistan..something we should have done a long time ago.

Watcher's Council results, 11/03/06

The Council has spoken! Complete results can be found here on the site of our fearless leader, Watcher of Weasels




This week's winner is:

Gates of Vienna: Female Genital Mutilation in Georgia: Who is the Perp? Dymphna examines a case of Islamic genital mutilation in Georgia that occured when the child was at the tender age of two. And I might add that since this was written. the defendent has been convicted. Congrats, Dymphna!

In second place, Done With Mirrors: You Would Weep Callimachus comes up with a real gem. He relates the story of
William Eaton, who captured the city of Derne in the fiefdom of the Barbary Pirates with a handful of marines against all odds during America's early 19th century confrontation with them over the piracy of American ships and the enslavement of our sailors - only to be forced to withdraw after `diplomacy', leaving his Arab allies who had backed the US at the mercy of the Tyrant of Tripoli.

Callimachus likewise relates this to our abandonment of the Vietnamese and the proposed abandonment of the Iraqis. excellent job, Calli...


For non-Council posts, the winner was Isis’ Guide to Sensible Islam Posting: Smart and Final Isis I won't lie to you..I did not agree with the basic premise of this post. While I agree with and indeed practice some of the guidelines she uses for what she considers `sensible posting' I find her central premise - that Islamofascism is a perversion of Islamic teachings - and her rejection of the simple notion that the Qu'ran and Hadith actively preach that Islam is to conquer the world and create a hegemony by any means necessary to be well, naive. Results don't lie, one doesn't need to be an `Islamic scholar' to observe them and it is exactly this sort of head in the sand attitude that makes Islamic fascism dangerous as the ideology hides within a religion. The similarities between the Qu'ran vs. Mein Kampf are quite astounding if one examines them, as I have. Nevertheless, a well written if logically flawed post, and I congratulate Isis on her win.


Hearty Kudos to all the winners!

Weekend Monkey Sez: Enjoy yourselves this weekend..and if you can't be good, be careful!

I'm outta here! Take care and see you in 24.

A GOP majority- a necessary evil.

As regular members of Joshua's Army know, I pretty much venture into domestic US politics only when it impacts on the War on Jihad. which I consider to be the primary issue of our time. And I'm hardly a partisan of either party.

Two weeks from today, America is holding its midterm elections. And while there are a number of sensible Democrats with solid records on the war against jihad (my own congressman is one of them) the majority of the Democratic party is, frankly far from having an understanding of this war or what it will take to win it.

This is particularly true of a number of Democrats slated for leadership and influential committee chairmanships should the Democrats win a majority in either house.

Let's take a look at that.

House majority leader Nancy Pelosi, who would be number three in line for the job of commander in chief after the President and Vice President is a perfectly good example. As a representative, she has voted consistently, like most Democrats, to slash intelligence budgets even after 9/11, and to slash military budgets, and voted against the Patriot Act. Pelosi also championed local San Francisco high schools and colleges in her district barring military recruiters from campus, in direct violation of US law as embodied in the Soloman Amendment. She also apparently is backing none other than John Murtha (D-PA) to replace Steyn Hoyer as Whip.

John Conyers (D-MI) would be slated to chair the House judiciary committee. Aside from having a number of questionable ties to Islamist origin like CAIR in his home state,which should give you an idea of his positions on surveillance of Islamic terrorists, Conyers has sponsored a bill to start an impeachment investigation against President Bush and would tie up the House with numerous partisan `investigations' and perhaps even an attempt to revive impeachment proceedings...all atthe expense of the war effort. And forget about appointing any reasonable judges to the Federal bench or the Supreme Court. Even worse would be his senate counterpart, Patrick Leahy (d-VT).

Charley Rangel(d-NY) would take over the House Ways and Means committee...can you spell tax increase? Not to mention attempting to de-fund the war, as he's hinted.

The House Intelligence Committee is even more problematical. Slated for the Chairmanship if there's a Democratic majority in the House is a federal judge who was impeached for accepting a bribe, Rep. Alcee Hastings.

Other Democrats slated for influential committee chairmanships include Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), John Dingell (D-MI) and George Miller (D-CA).

Another thing many of the congressmen I mentioned have in common, by the way, is their utter disdain for and consistent voting records against Israel, even when it comes to fairly inocuous resolutions of general support for its right to defend itself.

John Dingall famously remarked that he saw no reason for the US to take sides with Israel against Hezbollah, Wrangel, Abercrombie and Miller have a long history of anti Israeli votes and Conyers actually hosted the famous WhiteHouse `basement meeting' where the most vile anti-Semitic canards and outright lies were circulated. It's also no coincidence that Dingall and Conyers hail from Michigan, with substantial Muslim constituencies.

Aside from being morally despicable, these votes undercut a loyal ally and weaken us in the War aginst Jihad.

All of them voted against the Patriot Act, against the NSA wiretapping of terrorists and against virtually every bill authorizing expenditures for military weapons systems. Their idea of Natinal security is a throw back to the Clinton years and America's vacation from history, a vacation we can no longer afford.

You know,if you read this site that I'm hardly a water carrier for the Bush Administration or the GOP. But the issues are so clear cut, both in domestic and foreign policy that the idea of giving people like this the kind of control they would have with either a House or Senate majority is equivalent to letting the inmates take over the asylum.

And it might just get a number of us killed.

I would hope that average Americans would look at the balance sheet, evaluate what's there an dthe possible coat of changing hamstringing our leadership just now and come out in favor of the Republicans, even if it's just a bare majority. President Bush would be able to claim victory even if his party loses seats, so long as it retains a bare majority in the House and Senate.

And if Lieberman wins his senate seat in Connecticut as an independent, as it appears he will, the Democrats will have to think about the fact that they abandoned him because he remembered, and they forgot that, whatever else, politics is supposed to stop at the water's edge.

In any case, vote.

Australia's rape friendly Imam ignores ban and preaches anyway

Last week's big story was the row over a sermon by Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali, Australia's chief Mufti that essentially compared rape victims to uncovered meat and said they were asking to be raped.

After a widespread outcry, this foul little man agreed with the board of Sydneys' Lakemba Mosqueto take three months off from preaching as outraged politicians called for his resignation.

Guess what? Today,Australia's rape friendly cleric preached just like normal! And to the widespread applause of hundreds of supporters.

The 65-year-old Egypt-born Imam appeared for noon prayers at the mosque Friday M and preached for two hours...after which the worshippers cheered him and carried him on their shoulders.

Must of done another sermon on how the Jews are Satan and how 9/11 ws justified revenge on oppressors or something.

A whole slew of Australian politicians, including PM John Howard, warned Australia's Muslims that supporting this kind of outrage was going to send a message to non-Muslims in Australia and affect how they viewed Muslims in Australia.

Apparently they now have their answer.This was a clear message from Muslim Australia to the rest of the country.

And a wake up call, loud and clear.

I hope they're paying attention.

Short takes, 11/03/06

Short takes is Freedom Fighter's way of cramming a lot into a small space..kind of like the young gentleman above. Here's a brief rundown of some of today's matters of interest:

• Russia continues to block any meaningful UN sanctions against Iran, and today submitted extensive changes to soften and shorten a proposed U.N. draft resolution.

"The Russians gave us a complete line-in, line-out version of edits," said U.S. Ambassador John Bolton. "We will distribute our line-in, line-out text later this afternoon."

Sounds like more gridlock to me. I doubt, in the end, that anything meaningful will come of it.

• The jihad in East Africa is heating up, as I predicted. The Somali Islamists say they will strike first, both against what's left of the interim Somali government and their ally, Christian Ethiopia. Want to bet they're getting arms from Iran? At the same time, the jihadi government in the Sudan is stepping up its offensive in Darfur. If successful, the jihadis will be able to attack Ethiopia from the North as well as the East, as a prelude to striking through East Africa. The United States has already warned its citizens of potential suicide bombings in neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia.
  
  

• The Thais have caved in to jihad,unfortunately. The new Prime minister has promised more government acquiensence to Muslims in the three Southern provinces, even to the extent of allowing sharia law.

Kudos to the Bush Administration for cutting off their military aid needed to fight the Muslim insurgency.

• The EU has warned Turkey over its potential membership, having just issued a report critical of political and human rights reforms in the country. Turkey has become increasingly Islamist under the Erdogan regime. I guess, just maybe, they're having second thoughts on bringing a Muslim nation into the Eu club with full access to the borders.
  

• Judgment day looms for Saddam Hussein as a verdict is expected this Sunday, ending this longstanding judicial farce. The Iraqi government has cancelled all military leaves in expectation of violence once the verdict is announced.
  

• Iran test-fired 3 new missiles in the Persian Gulf
  today and warned that this should be a clear message to the US not to conduct any more military exercises in the area.

"Our enemies should keep their hostility out of the Persian Gulf," said Adm. Sardar Fadavi, the deputy chief of the Revolutionary Guards navy.

Anybody still think that `diplomacy' is going to fix this?

The brave Palestinian warriors escape - hiding behind women

Can you guess which ones are Hamas `warriors' in drag?



The standoff at the mosque in Beit Hanoun ended today, as the brave, ferocious Palestinian fighters did what they always do..hide behind women and children.

Hamas radio issued a call for women to act as human shields around the besieged terrorists who were trapped in a mosque by the IDF, as I related yesterday. They figured, rightly, that the Israelis would hold off from shooting at them before they got in position to aid the terrorist's escape.Several hundred women went to the mosque and allowed the brave Palestinian warriors to flee.

At least two of the escaping gunmen were disguised as veiled women. Several women were shot, and at least one was killed, but it's not certain at this point who did the shooting, especially since Palestinian gunmen were firing on the IDF from inside a crowd of civilian `protesters' at the scene after loudspeakers across Gaza called on people to come to demonstrations after Friday prayers to express `solidarity' with Beit Hanoun. By late morning, two rallies were already in progress in Beit Hanoun, and gunmen in the crowds were firing at IDF soldiers.

The IDF went into Beit Hanoun in an attempt to end the ongoing Palestinian rocket fire on nearby Israeli communities.

One of the grimly humorous aspects of this is the horror evidenced by the racist BBC and the usual outlets at the IDF actually surrounding a mosque and firing on genocidal terrorists holed up inside it. None of these people had a single thing to say about the Palestinians burning and desecrating synagogues in Gaza after the Israelis retreated. Or for that matter, about the Palestinian desecration of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Hams Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh had the gall to crow over this and "saluted the women of Palestine ... who led the protest to break the siege of Beit Hanoun." Haniyeh urged U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to witness firsthand "the massacres of the Palestinian people," and appealed to the Arab world to "stop the ongoing bloodshed."

In seperate actions, IDF forces operating in the Balata refugee camp in the city of Nablus inSamaria (the West Bank) last night killed two jihadis, members of the al Aksa Brigade, who were planning a car bomb attack. The bomb was exploded safely by IDF sappers. The IDF also went in Bethelehem today after an officer in the Border Police's elite Yamam unit was moderately wounded Friday evening by Palestinian gunmen.

The Beast continues to eat its own.

Kerry Insulted the wrong people

After getting considerable flack from his own party (including, reportedly, a phone call from Mr. Bill himself) John Kerry issued a belated `apology'for his remarks. I put that in quote marks because, essentially, what this arrogant, self-serving elitist actually said was: `Hey, I'm sorry you got upset, but it's not like I said anything wrong, really.'

For another perspective on this, Ronald Griffin, the father of Iraq hero Kyle Griffin decided to weigh in with the appropriately titled: `Shame on Him'.

I hope you take the time to read it. G-d only knows Mr. Griffin is not going to be given a forum to appear on CBS News, The View or the Today Show. And you won't see this in the New York Times.

IDF moves into Gaza

In a controlled incursion into Gaza, the IDF went into the North Gaza town of Beit Hanoun today, surrounding the town and gathering the residents for questioning.

As I write, the IDF has encircled two mosques in Beit Hanoun and are demanding the surrender of 50-60 armed Palestinian terrorists trapped like rats inside, most of them members of Hamas’ `special intervention force' and the allied Popular Resistance Committee.

According to the Palestinians four jihadi gunmen were killed in two separate incidents today, one in Beit Hanoun and one west of Jabalia. They were members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – the military wing of `moderate' Abbas' Fatah and Hamas.

Over 20 jihadis have been permanently taken out of circulation by the IDF since the new offensive - dubbed `Operation Autumn Clouds' began. The offensive is designed, yet again, to try and halt the flow of heavy weapons into Gaza and to end the qassam rocket fire into Israel. yesterday, one of them scored a direct hit on a house an injured an Israeli woman.

According to the IDF, there were several gun battles between terrorists and the IDF forces this afternoon and evening. In some of the firefights, the Palestinians attempted to launch antitank missiles, similar to what the IDF faced in Lebanon.

Some of these are Russian in origin, the Metis-M9, and have been supplied by Russia to Hezbollah via Iran and Syria.

In a seperate development, Hamas has begun to fire rockets from the Palestinian occupied parts of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) at Israeli targets.The Salah a-Din Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees announced that it had fired a short-range Nasser 1 rocket (a qassam) at the Israeli community of Migdalim, just east of Ariel in Samaria.

There has been a lot of talk inIsraeli intel circles about the Palestinians smuggling rockets and heavy weapons from the wide open Gaza borders to the Palestinian areas of Judea and Samaria...closer to Israel's main population centers.

As I wrote almost three years ago, walls may help in the short term, but inthe long term they're useless. It's too easy to breach them, shoot over them or tunnel under them.

Hamas is trying to to establish bases to launch missiles in Judea and Samaria similar to what exists along the Gaza Strip security fence. It's just a matter of time before that becomes a reality for the Israelis to deal with.

The Israelis pulled out of Gaza with idea that the Palestinians might just decide, for once to forego violence and concentrate on making the lives of their people a little better. What's happened since should be a real lesson to anyone who still thinks that what these people want is a peaceful state living next door to Israel!

Eventually, the Israelis are going to have to stop the flow of weapons where in begins..in Gaza, which will mean a major offensive strike. And that will not sit well with proponents of a second Arab Palestinian state.

Saudi envoy slams US role in Middle East

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Turki al-Faisal was in rare form yesterday.

Essentially, what he had to say was `give us the Jews and there will be peace'!

OK, he didn't put it quite that way, but his meaning was pretty clear.

According to him, it's all Israel's fault that US standing in the Middle East is at an all-time low and that can be helped only by pressing Israel to relinquish all occupied Arab land and Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

"We want you to remain friends with Israel," Saudi Ambassador Turki al-Faisal said during a question and answer session. "But that friendship should be used to push Israel" to relinquish the land the Arabs lost in the 1967 Six-Day War and provide the Palestinians with a state they have been denied for more than a half-century, the prince said.

Of course, the Palestinians and the intransience of the other Arab nations would have absolutely nothing to do with that denial, now would it?

"The United States is the only one that can deliver," the ambassador said. "The basic interest of the United States is for peace to reign in our part of the world."

In remarks he prepared for delivery to the National Council on US-Arab Relations, a private group of pro-Arab lobbyists, Prince Turki said, "It is no secret that US standing in the Middle East is at an all-time low."

(A note on NCUAR - it's classified as a 501c `charitable organization' by the Feds and gets major corporate funding from the oil companies and the Saudis.)

In the prepared text of his speech, distributed to reporters at the luncheon, he said, "It is not a matter of military strength or a shift in rhetoric, but rather a matter of basic understanding of the needs of the people who are affected by US political decisions."

He added, "If the US is going to help itself, its policy needs to change in the Middle East."

"No one has put his foot forward," the ambassador said in rejecting "excuses that won't do" such as waiting for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, to actually control Palestinian terrorism and end the violence before launching negotiations.

Of course, Prince Turki wasn't really talking negotiations - he was pushing the Saudi peace plan, which calls for the Israelis to pull back to indefensible borders, give up half of Jerusalem, create Jewish refugees from areas in Judea and Samria that were actually purchased through the Jewish National Fund prior to 1948 and swamp what's left of Israel with millions of descendants of Palestinian `refugees.'

Want to really negotiate a just, lasting peace, Prince Turki? Try this on for size. Here's a real peace proposal for the Middle East

It's not easy being single

It's not easy being a single girl these days...especially if you're a giraffe. Just ask Ruthie, the Qalqilya Zoo's resident female giraffe.

"I don't know who named her Ruthie," said chief veterinarian Sami Hadjar, "I got her six-seven years ago. She was born in 1995, we paid 15,000 dollars to bring here from South Africa. We also brought her a mate, named Brownie."

Brownie apparently passed away during the Intifada in April 2002, panicked by the noise and the shock during Operation Defensive Shield.

The Qalqilya Zoo was given to the Palestinians by the Israeli Civil Administration in the late 1970's ( part of the evil, brutal Israeli occupation). Since then, it's continued to maintain good relations with Israli zoos, especially the Ramat-Gan Safari.

"An adult giraffe costs 20,000 dollars," says Hadjar, at a loss for what to do for a mate for Rosie, "who has that kind of money these days? So I called the Ramat-Gan Safari and they said 'sure, no problem, send Ruthie over for a few months, our males will know what to do.' But their condition was that they weren't to be held responsible if Ruthie became ill. We said no and asked to bring one of their giraffes here, they said no."

So that's where it stands...it's all about the liability and the legalities.

And you think your love life stinks?

Another European minister weighs in on the Islamic femme mask

Swedish Integration Minister Nyamko Sabuni











First Britain, than Italy..and now Sweden.

Today, Sweden's new Minister of Integration Nyamko Sabuni said that Islamic headscarves had the effect of “isolating” Muslim schoolgirls.


"Where in the Muslim scripture does it say that children shall wear a headscarf? Nowhere. The purpose of a headscarf is for a woman to hide her charms from men whom she could marry," said Sabuni, who fled to Sweden from Burundi when she was 12.

"The headscarf is a means of isolating the girl from her surroundings," she said.

There are over 400,000 Muslims now living in Sweden in a population of 9 million, or about 4.4%.

Sabuni, interestingly is an apostate ex-Muslim who was raised in Islam. She became Sweden’s first black cabinet minister after the September elections that brought a center-right government to power in Sweden after 12 years of Social Democratic rule.

As Integration Minister, she's been rather controversial so far. She backs compulsory genital exams for high-school girls to prevent or find evidence genital mutilation. She also supports a required level of Swedish before citizenship and a ban on religious schools. And she wants the hijab and the full veil banned until after age 15, the Swedish age of consent.

Groups like Sweden's Muslim Association are, of course, agin' all this, screaming Islamophobia.

"I am convinced that with better proficiency in Swedish language and more jobs, the feelings of being discriminated against will diminish," Sabuni said.

Weekend Monkey Interviews Senator Kerry

Hoo, primates! Have I got an exclusive for you today! Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts had been busily campaigning for his fellow jackasses Dems, but apparently his schedule opened up when a few appearances got cancelled and he was kind enough to agree to do an exclusive interview yesterday with yours truly for Weekend Monkey's own Real Banana:



Hiya Senator,thanks for dropping by!




         Thanks, Weekend Monkey..nice to see you again..


Oh, you remember that party? I'm surprised...you and Teddy seemed pretty out of it.

Let's get to the real poop, Senator. Lots of people are attacking you for what you said yesterday about the troops in Iraq being a few bananas short of a full bunch. What would you say to them?


 Hey, it was a joke that didn't come off. People should get over it already..and anyhow, I was really talking about Bush and those other ReThugs that never wore the uniform, `cause I'm through being Mr. Nice Guy and I'm not taking these right wing sleaze attacks by idiots like Rush Limbaugh any longer and this comes right out of the Republican text book because they're afraid to debate anybody and I'm sick and tired of them picking on me because I'm not gonna stand for it anymore and anyway Bush is the idiot that deserves to apologize I still can't believe I lost to that moron . Did you know I served in VietNam?



Yeah, I heard something about it. You got medals, didn't you?





I sure did. Wanna see? Hey, lookie here... I got medals from both sides in that war. Three Purple hearts PLUS a Red Star and a Legion of Comrades Award AND a Hero of the Vietnamese Revolution with three forked tongues for disinformation. I got that one for telling the US Senate that we were murdering and torturing all those civilians back in `71 and the Winter Soldiers stuff. Even Jane doesn't have one of these babies, Monkey.


Wooo! Shiny! Betcha never threw that one away...





 No way, Weekend Monkey. Hey, there's a whole wing of the War Museum in Hanoi dedicated to me!



Wow! You really were a war hero!






Damn straight. The NVA didn't do that for just anybody.


Senator, why do you think people are so angry with you?




 
Sheer jealousy, Weekend Monkey. They know they'll never look how I look or have what I have. When you get in public life like me, Monkey, you learn not to be envious of people and their accomplishments.

I see what you mean.






Senator, is Bush really a moron?





He sure is, Weekend Monkey. Would you believe he doesn't even know which fork you use for oysters? The guy needs handlers just to get his shoes on the right feet!


I read somewhere he got better grades in college than you did...what's up with that?





.........



It was the right wing attack machine Weekened Monkey, they must have gotten into the computers and fixed the machines, just like in Ohio you know there's all kinds of evidence that shows that Diebold fixed those voting machines to say `Bush' no matter who you voted for and it was only a matter of a few thousand votes and I would have been President which I surely deserved to be I still can't believe I lost to that idiot but what are you going to do..Did you know I served in Vietnam?

Ummmm...yeah, yeah, Vietnam.





Besides, that doofus had to do things like run a baseball team and muck around getting his hands dirty pretending to be a no-neck oil driller out in Texas to get by. I didn't have to do any of those things. Like for instance, look how I got my money. You think Bush could have ever married money like I did? Not only once, but twice? I mean, he looks like one of your relatives, Monkey..no offense.

None taken. So that's the secret of your success, marrying rich women? I've always wondered how you do that. It beats workin', I gotta say. Could you give me a few pointers?




Well...for one thing, you gotta move in the right circles, be seen at the right places. And once you pick your target out, you gotta be careful not to move in too quickly and be too obvious about it or you'll scare `em off..that's the mistake I made with Fonda. And always always do a Dun & Bradstreet before you make your move..trust me on that one! And clothes, Monkey. The bee-yitchiz love a sharp dressed man. The right wardrobe is essential.


Check this out! When you're frontin' like this, they can't help giving up the moo-lah and the keys to the SUV!





Wow, Senator...you are truly the Mac Daddy with those threads!No wonder you had those women in the palm of your hand!



Anyway, Senator, thanks for dropping by.




My pleasure, Monkey. Thanks for letting people to see the real me for a change.








Well. that's it for this week's column, primates! Keep those e-mails coming to: WendMonkey@Yahoo.com

Iran and Hezbollah prepare to go head to head with the West

While we were all watching the purile antics of Senator Kerry, there have been a number of interesting developments out in the real world.

For a start, the White House formally accused Syria, Iran and Hezbollah of plotting to overthrow Lebanon's Siniora government.

White House spokesmouth Tony Snow cited "mounting evidence that the Syrian and Iranian governments, Hezbollah, and their Lebanese allies are preparing plans to topple Lebanon's democratically elected government."

Truth is,Iran's proxy Hezbollah, as Sheik Nasrullah famously said is Lebanon. President Michael Aoun has been in the Syria's pocket for quite some time, and Hezbollah and their sister militia, Amal control enough of the Lebanese government to veto any actions they want to. The WAPO article linked makes reference to Hezbollah demands for early elections in order to establish a national unity government eith `veto power.' In actuality, they already have that..and early elections are just designed to finish the process of an Iran/Hezbollah takeover.

Snow also mentioned the stalled UN tribunal over the assasination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri in 2005.

"Any such effort to sideline the tribunal will fail, however, for the international community can proceed with establishing it no matter what happens internally in Lebanon," Snow said.

Umm-hmmm. Sure they will. Ri-ight.

Meanwhile the IDF has caught some flak (sorry!) for overflying Hezbollah positions, with both the UN and the Lebanese government complaining. However, the flights are continuing, and they've revealed some interesting intel.

Hezbollah has completely re-established itself in Beirut’s Shiite Dahya district, two months after its military centers were flattened in the Lebanon war. It's now a closed, closely guarded Hezbollah military zone. UNIFIL doesn't veen dare go near it.

The Israelis also noted Hezbollah’s rebuilt bunker system, foundations for new rocket launchers and the rebuilding of intelligence and surveillance positions along the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Delivery of Iranian-Syrian weapons shipments to Hezbollah has been stepped up since the Israelis withdrew, in violation of UN Resolution 1701..but who's complaining, right? The new weaponry includes ground-to-ground missiles, anti-air, anti-tank and land-to-sea missiles. Hezbollah's aresenal is fairly close to being completely restocked.

Iranian and Syrian arms convoys are proceeding down Lebanon’s highways in broad daylight, without UNIFIL doing a thing to stop them.Al they're good for is rattling around in their white 4X4's and smoking dope with the locals.

This eventually will lead to the complete takeover of Lebanon by Iran-backed Hezbollah and pro-Syrian/Iranian factions. They are looking forward to adding Lebanon to the Shiite bloc.

Also, in the event that there any kind of clash between the US and Iranian forces massed in the Persian Gulf or in Iraq, Hezbollah has the ability to open up a second front with a fresh offensive against Israeli cities.

That buildup of Iranian and US naval forces in the Persian Gulf goes on unabated, by the way...the US now has the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower, and its accompanying carrier strike group en route to the region. They passed through the Suez Canal on Monday, Oct. 30, and arrived in the Red Sea on Tuesday, Oct. 31.

The USS Enterprise and its carrier strike group are there as well.

Two US aircraft carriers with their accompanying strike groups inthe Red Sea and en route to the Gulf could signal some major fireworks.

Another interesting little fact is that US Intelligence director John Negroponte is on hand. He was in Saudi Arabia over the weekend, in Cairo on Tuesday, and is in Israel today, November 1.

We now have a substantial fleet either in the Persian Gulf or en route. In addition to the Enterprise and the Eisenhower, there's the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima.

I've seen some reports that another amphibious assault ship, the USS Boxer, will arrive in the Gulf by the beginning of next week, together with its strike group. The USS Boxer is currently taking part in joint US-Indian naval maneuvers, dubbed Malabar ’06, which includes amphibious landings of marines....

For Iran's part, they are apparently planning to launch what the mullahs call the 'Great Prophet 2' Wargames tommorrow, November 2nd.

Tehran's announcement was made by the Commander-in-Chief of Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Major-General Seyed Yahya Rahim Safavi. The maneuvers will involve Iran's navy, air force, army and its Baseji Islamic reservists, and will expand not only to include the Persian Gulf but the Sea of Oman...where Iran is also attempting to exert its influence.

And while the last set of `games' was defensive, these will be both offensive and defensive.

I wouldn't be surprised if this was the beginning of Iran's final preparation for all out war.



Stay tuned...

Who says our troops don't have a sense of humor?

Some of the grunts let Senator Kerry know who the real idiot is...

Watcher's Council Nominations, 11/01/06

Every week, the Watcher's Council nominate two posts each, one from the Council members and one from outside for consideration by the whole Council. The complete list of this week's Council nominations can be found at our fearless leader's site Watcher of Weasels


1. J O S H U A P U N D I T: Rats in the Kitchen: A Parable This week, I chose to relate a cautionary tale on dealing with a hostile invasion in one's territory and how one deals with it...draw your own conclusions. One interesting reaction I got concerned how one tells the harmless rodents from the harmful ones, and the rodents from the pets...the answer of course, is not to hide behind sophistry but to merely looks at their actions.


2. Gates of Vienna: Female Genital Mutilation in Georgia: Who is the Perp? Dymphna examines a case of Islamic genital mutilation in Georgia that occured when the child was at the tender age of two.

3.Done With Mirrors: You Would Weep Callimachus comes up with a gem. He relates the story of
William Eaton, who captured the city of Derne in the fiefdom of the Barbary Pirates with a handful of marines against all odds during America's early 19th century confrontation with them over the piracy of American ships and the enslavement of our sailors - only to be forced to withdraw after `diplomacy', leaving his Arab allies who had backed the US to the mercy of the Tyrant of Tripoli.

Callimachus likewise relates this to our abandonment of the Vietnamese and the proposed abandonment of the Iraqis. Well done, Calli...

4. Soccer Dad: The best hasbara In a fine essay, Soccer Dad examines the concept of hasbera, a Hebrew word used to describe the stating of Israel's case before the world. I totally agree with him. No nation should have to make a `case' for its survival when surrounded by genocidal enemies. All nations, including ours, live by the sword - and the Israelis would be better served by aggressively asseting their rights rather than by trying to accomodate those who mean it no good.

5. AbbaGav :: Cheney Pimps for Torture? Abbagav cleverly examines the furor over Vice President Cheney's comments on so-called `torture'. One almost wishes that some of these writers could spend a little time with the Islamic fascists they shill for so they could get a dose of what REAL torture consists of. A fine piece of writing by AbbaGav.

6. Right Wing Nut House:ENOUGH IS ENOUGH This week Rick Moran writes on the sleaze surrounding the Virginia Senate campaign between Jim Webb and incumbent George Allen. In particular, Rick is disgusted by Allen's use of XXX rated sections of webb's novels as campaign fodder. I agree with him, but I also must point out that Webb ws perfectly willing to allow a bogus `race card' to be used against Allen, something Webb should have disavowed from Day One. If you willing to sling mud, you shouldn't be surprised when some of it richochets.

7. The Sundries Shack: John Kerry Says Soldiers Just Aren’t That Smart Jimmie Bise writes on Joh Kerry's remarks. One thing, as he mentions, to note in November..if the Democrats win either house, Kerry's influence will be inhanced..in the middle of a war.


8. Rhymes With Right: Gays Win In New Jersey -- GOP Handed Winning Issue Greg looks at the recent NJ Supreme Court decision and its impact on the midterms...

9. ShrinkWrapped: Reproaches of Our Fathers ShrinkWrapped uses the recent Clint Eastwood film, `Flags of our Fathers' as a metaphor to examine changing attitudes on patriotism and country.

10. The Glittering Eye: Day book, October 23, 2006 Dave looks at two aniversaries - the beginning of the Hungarian Revolution against the Soviets in 1956 and the murder of the American Marines and sailors in their Beirut in 1983.

11. The Education Wonks: Enter The Knife: Legislative Buffoonery In Florida EdWonk has harsh words for Florida legislation decriminalizing the possesion of knives on school campuses after a stabbing incident.

12. AMERICAN FUTURE - The Least Bad Choice Is how Marc characterizes his decision to support a GOP majority in both houses. I mostly agree with him..although there are a small number of Democrats who deserve re-election because they are sane on national defence and right onthe War on Jihad. I wish that were true of more of them.

That's this week's lineup..enjoy!

Proof positive education has nothing to do with being `stuck in Iraq': Senator John Kerry!

In the wake of his remarks about the stupidity of troops who `don't get good grades and end up in Iraq' and his absolutely bellicose and unapologetic press converence in Seattle, John Kerry is being forced to cancel a number of scheduled campaign appearences for Democratic candidates. And a number of Democrats running for office have scrambled to distance themselves from him in an effort to stop the fallout.

Kerry was supposed to appear at the Public House on Arch Street to campaign for Pennsylvania Senator hopeful Democrat Bob Casey Wednesday night. He won't be there.

He also cancelled a whole slew of other scheduled appearences in Iowa, Pennsylvania and Minnesota.

Bruce Braley, a Democrat running for Iowa's 1st congressional seat, asked Kerry not to campaign with him tomorrow, the Quad-Cities Times reported. Braley thought Kerry's remarks were inappropriate, the paper said, citing Braley spokesman Jeff Giertz.

In Montana, Jon Tester, the Democratic challenger to incumbent Senator Republican Senator Conrad Burns, also sought to distance himself from Kerry.

"Senator Kerry's remarks were poorly worded and just plain stupid," Tester said in a statement late yesterday....He owes our troops and their families an apology."

In Tennessee, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports today that Democrat Harold Ford Jr., a candidate for the U.S. Senate, said Kerry "needs to apologize to our troops."

Good luck trying to pick up the ball after Kerry fumbled guys...he has to be on Karl Rove's payroll.

President Bush, of course, immediately went after Kerry, demanding he apologize, as did a number of other Republicans.

If anyone is proof positive that a good education has nothing to do with being `stuck in Iraq', it's Senator John Kerry!