Tribal clashes have left at least 16 people dead and more than a dozen injured in an area northwest of the Yemeni capital, local officials and tribal sources said on Saturday. Violence, sparked by land disputes, erupted last week in four separate incidents in the Monabeh area of Sa'dah province, about 260 kilometers (160 miles) northwest of San'a, the officials said.
Tribal fighting is common in Yemen, an impoverished country at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula that has long been awash in small arms. Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were used in the latest fighting, the sources said. Nine people were killed and eight injured in clashes between the Botain and the al-Ayash tribes. On-and-off fighting between the two tribes abated last March after reconciliation efforts from authorities, but erupted against last week. It wasn't clear why. In a separate feud, four people from the al-Kathir and al-Mohammed tribes were killed and six injured. Three other people were killed in two further incidents. Officials said some of the clashes were continuing.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2005 15:33 ||
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A survey conducted on 100 single women aged between 18 and 24 showed that 50 percent of them were ready to marry rich men as old as their fathers, Al-Watan daily reported.
The report said half the women surveyed preferred an older, richer man because "they are morally and financially ready to handle the responsibilities of a house and wife."
Thirty percent of women preferring old men said they did not trust younger men while 20 percent said older men "treat women with maturity and respect".
Seventy-five percent of those surveyed said they prefer a rich man, according to the survey.
Sara Badi, an 18-year-old high school student, told Al-Watan: "I cannot live with a man who depends on a job salary only, because I don't believe in the idea that two people need to build their future together."
Rawya Sharaf, a 20-year-old university student, said she would not marry a man who could not provide "a dream house, diamonds, honeymoon in one of the international capitals and a maid and driver". and a pony!
#2
why not, if you are going to be treated like a dog, and "young love" ...make that "love" has little meaning in your society, why not have the money to buy things and impress people and have a husband with 50 concubines to keep him busy.
#3
why not, if you are going to be treated like a dog, and "young love" ...make that "love" has little meaning in your society, why not have the money to buy things and impress people and have a husband with 50 concubines to keep him busy.
#7
Saudi girls just seem to find out early,
how to open doors
with just a smile.
A rich old man, and she won't have to worry,
She'll dress up in a burqa
and go in style.
Sheikh Saleh Al-Asheikh, minister of Islamic affairs, endowments and call and guidance, has called upon Muslims to make all-out efforts to defend the teachings of the Holy Qur'an. "We have to use all legitimate means to defend the holy book," he said.
The Arabian definition of "legitimate" being pretty fluid...
In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, the minister said the enemies of Islam have been targeting charitable societies for memorization of the Holy Qur'an all over the world by describing them as breeding grounds of terrorism. "The Qur'an schools run by these charitable societies are the lighthouses of the Muslim ummah and should not stop their activities (under pressure)," Al-Asheikh said.
Lose the madrassahs and you've lost your indoctrination centers...
He emphasized that defending the Qur'an and the Sunnah (the teachings of the Prophet) is the duty of all Islamic governments and organizations as well as every Muslim individual. The minister denied closing down any Qur'an school in Saudi Arabia for extremist activities. "Al-Hurriya Charitable Foundation was shut for organizational reasons and not for supporting terrorism as claimed by some people," he said.
"Us Soddies don't support terrorism. We support... ummm... something else."
He said the Supreme Commission for Relief Works Outside Saudi Arabia will set up its board of directors shortly. Al-Asheikh said the Kingdom will continue to send Islamic preachers to foreign countries during summer holidays. "These preachers will be under the direct supervision of the government and include well-known Islamic scholars," he explained.
"We intend to continue subverting the entire world. We've got the money, so we think we can do it."
The minister lambasted those who attack the Qur'an and try to defile it. He said the enemies of Islam not only target Muslim nations and governments or their economic and political interests they also started defiling Islamic sanctities. "We have seen people desecrating the Qur'an while some others have authored imitations of the holy book and urged believers to follow them," he said. He said the machinations of the enemies of Islam have now come to the open. "They make overt and covert attacks against the Qur'an. Their aim is to change the holy book and prevent people from following it. All Muslims must come forward to defend the Qur'an," he added.
Sounds like a call to arms to me...
Al-Asheikh's statement follows reports last month about the desecration of the Qur'an by US officials interrogating prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. The incident drew condemnation and protests from Muslims all over the world. The consultative Shoura Council has called upon the United States to apologize to Muslims if the reports about the Qur'an desecration were true. The Shoura said it considered the desecration of the holy book as an attack against Muslims and a violation of international law and conventions.
Hyperbole and hysteria are excellent propaganda weapons, aren't they?
The council warned America against hurting the feelings of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims and emphasized the importance of respecting the beliefs of other people to avoid conflicts. "Islam is a great religion with a large number of followers all over the world and is known for its long history as well as humane and just teachings," the Shoura said in a statement.
The United States hasn't warned the world's Mooselimbs about hurting the feelings of Americans. Perhaps we should, though I have no idea who'd organize the anti-Muslim street demonstrations and the Koran burnings.
One of the very first thoughts that occurred to me in the wake of 9-11, as the Arabs were dancing in the streets and hollering "Death to America", and the Chomskies and Zinns were blaming attacks on us on us, was "Why is it always incumbent on us to be nice to them? Why is there no reciprocal obligation?" There has been no answer to that question, and as a result my feelings toward the Muslim world range from cautious acceptance, through mild revulsion, through derision and ridicule, to stunned anger coupled with the overwhelming desire to kill them in droves.
Sheikh al-Sheikh falls into the latter category, even though he hasn't personally cut anyone's head off that I know of. In a just and logical world, his remarks would at least be deserving of a stern diplomatic note followed by a chill in relations, but my guess is that either the remarks aren't going to be noticed at the State Department, or they're going to be glossed over.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
nise fred.
ima ushully purdy eezy goin but thisn defend em korran crap is put me overn em edje.
thinkerin to meeselfs dont do sumthin stoppid nex tyme ima see em korran
#3
His fanbelt is intracranial and two sizes too tight.
Posted by: ed ||
06/04/2005 0:42 Comments ||
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#4
The only thing keeping me from taking a sh*t on a koran and posting pictures of it for the world to see is that I don't want to spend money to buy one.
#5
let's get the fuel cells - or that solar energy we were discussing the other day...faster please! And let's wipe that smile of the faces of these spoiled brats. The sooner the better.
#6
No prob, BH. Get your free Qur'an from CAIR, while supplies last! I wonder what I'm gonna do with mine. I'm a pre-menopausal female with several assault rifles. Any ideas? :)
Posted by: ST ||
06/04/2005 1:51 Comments ||
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#7
//Posted by ST 2005-06-04 01:51|| Front Page|| Comment Top //
#8
muck4doo, LOL. I should add, technically, they're my husband's assault rifles. But the Glock .45 is mine.
What I meant was, should I go the Maxi-Pad option with my free Koran, or should I take it to the range and ventilate it? It's a serious dilemma. "An attack against Muslims and a violation of international law and conventions"? I mean, I'd like to commit a heinous act of war. What would y'all recommend? ;)
Posted by: ST ||
06/04/2005 2:22 Comments ||
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#10
Unless it's an awfully small volume, ST, the pad route strikes me as more than a tad uncomfortable. I mean, why should you have to suffer? Although it would be the more artistic choice... but still. How about getting an aroused dog to relieve his urges on it instead? Or accidentally leave it in the pig's pen for a week or so, then find it when you muck out (not you mucky -- you prefer the combination of cows and guns!) You can always ventilate it later, but realistically that would just be to make you feel better, not do something truly heinous. ;-)
#12
So, is taking the Koran in to the bathroom for reading material whilst doing your business an act of war?
Not gonna crap on it or flush it. Got one of those low-flow jobbers in the swingin' penthouse, and besides, sticking stuff in the john and flushing it lost its charm for me after I hit first grade. It's all about...um....education here. Yeah, that's it.
I think I need guidance from Al-Aska Paul if he's around. Am I gonna get a fatwa on my ass if I take that free Koran into "the library"?
(Note to ST - Man, that would be one damn thick maxipad! How the hell could you walk with something like that?)
#13
Gah! TW, I was going to tear out pages, silly! Pages would also be good for TP. However, animal toys, pens, and cages do have their merits. And you're right, it'd have to be pigs, but there aren't any around here. Oho. How bout I fry it in bacon grease? That oughta blow Al-Asheikh's fan belt right off!
Posted by: ST ||
06/04/2005 2:49 Comments ||
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#14
Looks like someone beat you to the fan belt, ST.
#18
So I went to "Ask an Imam" to see about DB's BBQ sauce. I don't know about pig fat, but you better not be feeding your cat anything haraam, but Listerine is okie-dokie.
Posted by: ST ||
06/04/2005 3:20 Comments ||
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#23
Dang - now this is the way to kick off a weekend!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/04/2005 9:06 Comments ||
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#24
Good eye, Sea. The hyper-religious types, the imams, mutawas, and self-anointed have a different sort of dress code. The hallmarks are no fan belt, short(er) thobes (like high-water pants, heh), sandals instead of shoes, growing some sort of beard, dying the beard with henna, etc. Small things, but after a short time, they stick out like a sore thumb to you.
Note that he's sporting the heavily starched, perfectly pressed, center-line ridge - it's all the rage, doncha know. Note that it hoods the face and ask yourself if you want wankers wearing this gear to be driving cars. Heh. There's a definite Klingon sort of thing going on with that ridge, not to mention the behavioral similarities.
#26
Sea, thanks for the link! He's got more rules & reg's than the guvmint!
I think I might do the environmentally sensitive thing and recycle it after I finish reading it. Hmmm.....the Sierra Club & their buddies would love it. ;)
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) - About 10,000 opposition protesters chanted ``Freedom!'' and carried pictures of President Bush as they marched across Azerbaijan's capital Saturday, urging the government of this U.S. ally to step down and allow free parliamentary elections this year. How dare they mention "freedom and President Bush in the same sentence???"
The massive rally in Baku was the largest opposition demonstration in the former Soviet republic since October 2003, when one person died and nearly 200 were injured in clashes between police and demonstrators protesting vote-rigging in the presidential election. Paging Jimmy Carter...
Tensions have been building steadily in this oil-rich Caspian Sea nation in the run-up to parliamentary elections set for November, leading some observers to predict that Azerbaijan could see a massive uprising similar to those that toppled unpopular regimes in other ex-Soviet nations of Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan during the past 18 months. And it borders Iran, and Iran's north western territories have a large Azeri population...
[...]
Posted by: True German Ally ||
06/04/2005 15:59 ||
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#1
A truly unusual use of GW's portrait, especially by moslems.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/04/2005 21:45 Comments ||
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Turkey's President Ahmet Necdet Sezer yesterday vetoed a government-sponsored law reducing penalties for unauthorized schools teaching the Qur'an, arguing that it infringed on the secularist principles of the Muslim-majority country. The provision was part of a package of amendments to the Turkish penal code, spearheaded by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), a conservative movement with Islamist roots. The article, which would have enabled those convicted of opening and running illegal educational institutions to escape with a fine rather than a jail term of up to three years, triggered accusations that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is condoning religious fundamentalism.
It sure looks like a camel's nose, doesn't it?
Islamist activists in Turkey often run schools teaching the Qur'an, where — free from government control — they are accused of breeding religious hard-liners.
Takes money to run a school. Golly, I wonder where the dough comes from?
Sezer, a staunch secularist who has often clashed with the government, said in a statement that he had returned the law to Parliament for reconsideration because it "is encouraging the opening of illegal educational institutions." The principle of secularism "is the cornerstone of the values on which the Turkish Republic is founded," he said. "It is obvious that the country's unity in the future will be endangered by the perverted mindsets of citizens educated in illegal separatist and religious educational institutions," he said. The Parliament will now review the law, and if it passes it for a second time unchanged, Sezer has no other option but to approve it. He can, however, ask the Constitutional Court to annul the legislation. The controversial provision was introduced by the AKP as a last-minute change to a package of penal code amendments during a parliamentary debate last week.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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This is a very readable and enjoyable description of what a biased news organization looks and sounds like. Do yourself a favor and read it all.
Edited for the conclusion...
Few with a grip on reality believe that there is a cabal at BBC House wringing their hands and plotting the renationalization of the coal industry or state-mandated racial sensitivity training for all 6-year-olds. But there is little doubt that, as Mr. Aitken puts it, a center-left groupthink dominates at the BBC and colors its entire output. It's not deliberate. It's worse. The producers just can't imagine that someone could possibly oppose European integration or any of the other left-wing causes because to them, and their friends, these are self-evident truths. It simply doesn't even occur to them that reasonable people could disagree with them.
The influence of this groupthink goes far beyond the BBC and now permeates the cliquish world of British broadcasting in general. Almost everyone in the television business has worked for the BBC at some point, sipped the Kool-Aid, and now carries the torch of institutional leftism. With few exceptions, every newscast in the country looks and sounds like a knockoff of the Ten O'Clock News, and the nation is not better for it.
Mr. Aitken is said to be the first BBC insider ever to come out of the conservative closet, and he is now putting his opinions into book form. He says that he tried to convince his bosses at the BBC of the problem, going to the trouble of documenting the bias for its Board of Governors, but none of them could be bothered.
If for nothing else, Mr. Aitken deserves high accolades for his contribution to the lexicon and his willingness to challenge a status quo that serves no one except the people who perpetuate it.
The good folks chronicling events at this "news" service are here.
#2
There is a US book out several years ago - "Bias", I think, that came to the same conclusion. Plus, as the new church of the inquisition, they are ALL on a hunt for SIN! There's SIN, I tellya, right here in River City!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/04/2005 11:46 Comments ||
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#4
Oh how I miss the Cold War era BBC World Service! Listened to them on the shortwave whilst stationed in West Germany '86-'89. They had a mission then, now they are no better than Air Amerikka (tm) World Domination Service. This is Bodyguard reporting to you 12 miles south of the DMZ, TDC South Korea.
The Pentagon on Friday released new details about mishandling of the Quran at the Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects, confirming that a soldier deliberately kicked the Muslim holy book and that an interrogator stepped on a Quran and was later fired for "a pattern of unacceptable behavior." They were just playing a game of "kick the can koran". Boys will be boys.
fred thisn geterin redickyoolus. ima getin redy do em salootes evrtime em alla or korran or muhamed is menshend fro feer sumone in teh meediya in gonner yoos it gaynst me ifn im dont.
Posted by: ed ||
06/04/2005 0:41 Comments ||
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#3
As far as using it for toilet paper, I find the paper in the qur'an a bit harsh on the ole' pooper. I prefer to line the pig trough with it instead. The pig shit tends to soften it up a bit and the pigs seem to enjoy wallowing in it.
By the way, I have a pig named elmer who can oink the word "allah".
#6
This story -- and its prominence; it's at the top of the AP top story feed -- is the absolute nadir of media/leftist stupidity. No wonder our military is kicking their butts on the field of public opinion.
#7
ima getin redy do em salootes evrtime em alla or korran or muhamed is menshend fro feer sumone in teh meediya in gonner yoos it gaynst me ifn im dont
Maybe it reall7y is time to do the opposite - stand up and tell the Muslim world to EARN respect - and shoot back at any sumbitch wants to do something about it.
#8
At the Rantapalooza we whould have a Koran available for everyone to honor as they deem appropriate.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/04/2005 8:21 Comments ||
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#9
Mrs Davis is on to something.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/04/2005 9:12 Comments ||
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#10
How about a new deal? Every time they burn our flag or stomp on the contitution we kill everyone at the rally. Soulds fair.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
06/04/2005 9:17 Comments ||
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#11
Self confession: In 1994, I let a hellious fart within a 30-mile radius of the Koran. Yes, I realize now that it was a mistake, that the Koran has feelings too, but it was due to eating bean soup.
I have since sworn off eating bean soup and living on the same planet as that where the Koran exists. So far, so good.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/04/2005 9:36 Comments ||
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#12
In the same article they alledge that: "a two-word obscenity was written in English on the inside cover of a Quran."
Which two? Doesn't really matter, but it amuses me to contemplate the righteous Jihadi's reaction to them.
#13
Seems I woke up one morning and the "qur'an" (what the fuck does that mean?) had become the entire world's sacred cow. You can't talk about it. You can't look at it. You can't handle it. And never, ever piss it off.
Not that it really matters, but I read this piece of shit in college. It's not even good literature, let alone "sacred".
Deep down in their inferiority complex ridden hearts, these bastards know that. Reaction? "Kill the infidel!"
#15
The WaPo article this am noted (about the fourth para, I was almost ready to move on) that 15 detainees also desecrated the Koran. That's one for each protester killed, IIRC.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/04/2005 11:24 Comments ||
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#16
I'm going to say something: I don't believe in desecrating a holy book, mine or someone else's, whether by design or by mistake.
I'm going to say something else: joking about desecrating a Qu'ran is getting old around here.
On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 = jaywalking and 10 = beheading an innocent hostage, mishandling a Qu'ran is a 0.01. The soldiers shouldn't do it, particularly since they have a set of guidelines in place. If I were the officer in charge, a trooper who did that would get his ass chewed and might lose his weekend pass.
And then that would be the end of it.
The MSM has completely lost perspective of this issue with its endless, breathless reporting. Who provided the Qu'ran to the prisoners in the first place? We did, along with hot food, medical care, and clean clothing. We're not ogres, and the few instances of torture are just that: few. They deserve to be punished because each one tars our national reputation.
And it's our reputation at Rantburg on the line with the endless stream of jokes about using the Qu'ran for toilet paper, having pigs eat it, etc. We know that these inmates are a bunch of sad mooks who have no respect for others.
We don't need to imitate them.
I want their holy book treated with the same respect as mine. I want reciprocity. I want them to get that message and get it good. It doesn't help if we treat their book with disrespect.
We're better than that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2005 12:42 Comments ||
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#17
Hello? It's a book, you idolatrous bastards...
#20
Steve, if I may play devil's advocate. Movies, cartoons, and shared acceptance of mocking the enemy played a significant role in maintaining domestic morale during WWII. Not every Japanese and German deserved to be insulted as a monkeyface or a kraut, but we did it anyway. And we won.
The jihadis read the Qur'an as a manual for war, and it makes as much sense to give them access as it would to have given captured SS copies of Mein Kampf. Yet we're being forced to watch the MSM use our good intentions to destroy good will won with American blood. Our morale is important too, and we've earned a little fun at the enemy's expense. I don't think any of us intend to actually poop on a Koran, so I think venting some verbal steam is within bounds.
Posted by: ST ||
06/04/2005 15:06 Comments ||
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#21
I think we should extend this campaign of counter-terrorist brutality and intimidation by desecrating various pop-lefty icons as well as the Koran.
We can burn Che and Mumia t-shirts, urinate on Chomsky's books, demolish VW buses, flush shredded birkenstocks down eco-friendly toilets, put Lynn Stewart's panties on Howard Zinn's head, feed Michael Moore DVDs to pigs, put obscene lyrics to the melody of Kumbaya, draw horns on photos of Ho Chi Minh......
By all indications, this will break their spirit and force their surrender.
#22
The media go apeshit over abuse of the Koran and yawn at or support Bible abuse for one simple reason: Christians do not riot, chop people's heads off, or issue fatwas over second and third hand accounts of books being mistreated.
They don't yet anyway, but our Rovian incitement machine is naturally looking in that direction.
I am in the Mecca of Fundyism, Lubbock, so the opportunities here are endless. There is even a small colony of sacrificial moonbats (associated with the university) to feed the first wave of bonfires, lynchings, and public beheadings.
My alternate-world post from a while back addressed this:
(Al Socialist Press) Lubbock, Texas, the near future:
Enraged Fundamentalists Battle Troops, Police Over Desecration Report
During a sermon today at the Mount Antioch Baptist Bible Church, the Reverend Dr. Joe Bob Yarnell called for a "Holy Crusade" in response to unconfirmed media reports that a Texas Tech coed had desecrated a Bible during a graduation party/orgy at a local fraternity house.
An enraged crowd of protestors poured from the church, overwhelmed police lines, and rampaged through a nearby neighborhood. A number of Volvos and Volkswagens were burned in the streets. Two ACLU lawyers, rushing to the scene to ensure that Christian rights were respected, were lynched and their bodies hung from lampposts.
The protestors then advanced toward the Texas Tech campus, gathering strength from other churches along the way. The crowd set fire to offending facilities, and battled police and hastily called-up National Guard units.
Suspected infidels were hounded through the streets and many were shot or burned at hastily erected stakes in public parks.
Several dozen head-shops, Starbuck's franchises, XXX video stores, and intimate apparel outlets were burned to the ground, and many other businesses were looted.
"The Buy-Bull is the sa-kerd word o' Gawd and we ain't lettin' no goddamned hippie fornicators des-ser-cate it. We got titty bars and honky-tonks for that!" declared one rioter protestor as he torched a pile of Playboy magazines outside a looted 7-11 store.
The protest was finally quelled by airborne troops who landed by parachute near the Civic Center. At least 65 people were killed and local hospitals report hundreds of injuries.
"We are naturally sensitive to the concerns of the Christian Community in the protection of its sacred texts," declared Texas Tech president Jon Whitmore in a Sunday evening statement. "We feel their pain at this horrid allegation and we promise that the alleged graduation party incident will be fully investigated and those responsible, if any, will be punished to the fullest extent of the speech and conduct code."
I don't want reciprocity at all. This would imply equality. The old PC argument that "all cultures are equal" and all deserve "equal respect" is a load of horse shit.
Some cultures are inherently inferior to others, and demostrably so. Think of the picture of starving indians in the streets of Calcutta, for example, as healthy fat cows go meandering down the street. That's not culture, it's gross idolatry and stupidity.
This is about the most non-pc blog I've found, and I'd kinda like to keep it that way. Stir the pot. Fan te flames. Rake a little muck. The free and often shocking excahge of opinions, however offensive is a strength of the US, not a weakness.
#28
We have the moral high ground, I think we need to seize the rhetorical high ground and stop inciting enemy sympathizers by apologizing every time they pretend offense.
The current war is a global crusade (yes, a crusade) against superstition, idolatry, and medievalism.
These evil practices, and the complicity of the institutional media, are perfectly summarized in this bizarre media frenzy over the fetishistic taboos of a backward and violent cult.
Steve, I believe you're missing the point. It is not the disapproval of desecration that bothers us, it is the maniacal violence and the absolutely bizarre media frenzy that accompany it. I'll buy the reciprocity idea when Christians riot over the desecration of a Bible, when the bastage who produced "Piss Christ" is beheaded on video, and when disrespect for the Bible or the Torah is front-page news all over the world. Until then, we must not let ourselves be intimidated by the enemy's pretense of extraordinary sensitivity.
Giving in to this Islamo-fascist outcry is equivalent to reviving, and endorsing, the old Polynesian practice of killing someone for touching a chief's head, or legalizing Aztec-style human sacrifice.
Moral equivalence is a satanic notion, leading to the equality of all human behavior, an end to all progress and a reversion to Stone Age barbarism.
#29
All I can say is I'm soooooofucking tired of Islam's holy book in all its' printings and forms being held as sacrosanct whilst Paleo pigs piss in the Church of the Nativity and emerged alive as rock stars among their fellow subhumans. We can rise above this shit, but I think we need to let the ignorant masses and their controlling authorities know what real desecration is: a glass smoking field around Mecca the next time they pull shit. I'm not apologizing for my anger or disgust, either. These mooks need to suffer consequences for inciting against the Great Satan.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/04/2005 18:45 Comments ||
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#30
Frank, AC and others: my demand for reciprocity is essential for us to force the Muslims into civil behavior. I'm not asking Christians to riot over Piss Christ, I'm demanding that Muslims stop rioting every time someone handles a Qu'ran with one hand instead of two.
And I want us to lead by example: a truly superior, enlightened society doesn't desecrate the holy books of another faith, nor does it riot when some mook desecrates ours. There is no moral equivalence here: I'm demanding that they come up to our standards. To do that, we have to adhere to our own standard.
The transgressions over Qu'ran handling at Gitmo are, as I said, really minor -- a 0.01 on the 0 to 10 scale. I want us firmly pegged on the '0' position, and I'm demanding that Muslims strive for that same position.
Or I'm going to have to kill them. Sorry, but they don't get to live in a world where it's okay, based on their religion, to kill me. That's what this rioting over the Qu'ran is about in the end, when you get down to the most basic position: their morality says that it's okay to riot, pillage and murder if they're somehow offended. I don't want that right, I want that brought to an end. There's two ways to do that: one is learn and cooperate ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2005 19:26 Comments ||
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#31
Fair enuf, Dr Steve
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/04/2005 19:28 Comments ||
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#32
I am also heartily sick of this non-issue, but looking on the bright side, every story that gets published both highlights the lunacy of Islam and decreases the MSM's credibility in the eyes of reasonable people.
Otherwise, as an atheist, as far as I am concerned, a religion is just an ideology. I consider legal protection of any form or symbol of an ideology a very bad thing. Our only protection against ideologies is the right the criticise them, and that includes protesting against their symbols in this case the Koran.
#33
"Or I'm going to have to kill them."
I'm thinking that's pretty inevitable considering that many of their leaders are working from a paradigm that they are the righteous, chosen people and you are the vile lowly infidel, unworthy of life itself. Either you join them in their cult of 7th century thugocracy or you will be their target, eventually nuclear. You wouldn't tolerate a Nazi revival; you shouldn't tolerate this festering 7th century disease either.
Posted by: Tom ||
06/04/2005 21:05 Comments ||
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#34
Hmm, Steve, with all due respect, leading Islamofasists by example sounds like a liberal wet dream. The only example they want is for us to squat and ask how much do you want?
The Islamofasists want only one thing, kill the infidels. This moaning and groaning about the Karen is all pigshit propaganda. As the DoD report stated, the "true believers" at Gitmo pissed on their own Karen, torn out pages, etc. Did the Islamofasists get ticked off by that? Noooo!
The MSM is playing into the Islamofasists hands in their attempts to demean President Bush. They have hyped up the Karen to the point of obsurdity. Attempting to equivicate is a fool's errand.
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/04/2005 22:41 Comments ||
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#35
Oh, and when the soldier kicked the Karen, did he score one point or three?
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/04/2005 22:45 Comments ||
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It's a goddam book, people - humans made the paper, ink, and glue, and printed and bound the book.
If you want to believe the words and thoughts in the book are holy, knock yourselves out. But to believe each and every koran printed by humans is somehow holy is idiocy. It makes you look like the backward, ignorant fools you are.
I'm trying to decide whether it's worth wasting the money on one just so I can kick it and tear it into little tiny pieces. Then flush it. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/04/2005 23:25 Comments ||
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#38
"And I want us to lead by example: a truly superior, enlightened society doesn't desecrate the holy books of another faith..."
Well, we can lead all we want, and bust our balls trying to be a pure as the driven snow; but the real problem here is that the people we're trying to lead are most certainly not in any mood to follow.
The don't want us to respect them: THEY WANT US TO BOW DOWN BEFORE THEIR HATEFUL DEITY, OR DIE. And they fervently believe they can make us do exactly that.
Frankly, I think we're wasting our time if we try to lead by example; we'd accomplish far more by intimidating them-- by imposing harsh, brute consequences for their actions-- into questioning, then abandoning, the path they have been following.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/04/2005 23:44 Comments ||
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#39
Don't think there's need to confirm that the Talibans blew up the Bamiyan Buddhas to smithereens.
More "descration" will be likely because their drivelling always increases.
It's a BOOK. Man printed it, bound it, distributed it. It didn't fall out of the sky from "Allah".
Here we are taking the moral high ground while Islamic terrorists invent new ways to exploit our restraint.
And AC...your comments are right on the mark: "Giving in to this Islamo-fascist outcry is equivalent to reviving, and endorsing, the old Polynesian practice of killing someone for touching a chief's head, or legalizing Aztec-style human sacrifice. Moral equivalence is a satanic notion, leading to the equality of all human behavior, an end to all progress and a reversion to Stone Age barbarism."
Barbara Ferguson, Arab News Following accusations of mistreatment of the Qur'an in the Guantanamo prison in Cuba, and recognition of widespread ignorance about Islam's holy book by many Americans; CAIR, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, has responded by offering free Qur'ans. More than 6,000 Americans have already requested the free copies of Islam's holy book since CAIR launched the "Explore the Qur'an" campaign on May 17. "Calls are coming into our headquarters at the rate of three-to-five calls-per-minute since publication about the campaign in USA Today and the Wall Street Journal newspapers," said Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR.
CAIR's telephone message mailbox becomes completely filled "at least once an hour, which reflects a desire by ordinary Americans to better understand Islam and Muslims," Awad said, adding that many are calling to congratulate them on their initiative. "This fact about American society needs to be told in the Muslim world. People here respect the Qur'an and would like to learn about it, and the acts of a few should not obscure the reality of the general Americans society — which is good, tolerant and accepting of others," he said. Those who have requested free Qur'ans include a police officer who works with the Muslim community, Christian religious leaders who wish to explain Islam to their congregations and Americans of all faiths who just wish to learn more about Islam's revealed text, he said.
I'm just guessing here, but judging by the content of today's Green Truth, it looks like the beginning of a new propaganda offensive by the Learned Elders of Islam. I'm wondering if something's happened that we haven't noticed that makes them think they've got the upper hand in the WoT, or if the jihad party's coming out on top in the behind-the-scenes minueting. Keep an eye out for princes departing this vale of tears in unfortunate accidents in the coming weeks...
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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I'm suping up the toilet just for this occasion.
Posted by: ed ||
06/04/2005 0:37 Comments ||
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Flushable or non-flushable?
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/04/2005 0:55 Comments ||
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#5
"I'm just guessing here, but judging by the content of today's Green Truth, it looks like the beginning of a new propaganda offensive by the Learned Elders of Islam. I'm wondering if something's happened that we haven't noticed that makes them think they've got the upper hand in the WoT, or if the jihad party's coming out on top in the behind-the-scenes minueting. Keep an eye out for princes departing this vale of tears in unfortunate accidents in the coming weeks"
Huummmmm....should be interesting..Muslim Murder Inc. has been braying about the new wave comming for some time now...maybe they'll try and outdo themselves, terrorist acts in several countries on a given day?
If they do manage to pull it off, it could wake some of the sleeping sheep.(silver lining)
?free korans....you get what you pay for, and I ain't buying.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
06/04/2005 1:43 Comments ||
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#6
I'll forego the free Koran in lieu of your org roundly and publicly condemning your fellow Muslims for their condoning and support of terrorism.
#11
I can't wait! Soon young jihadis in crisp white robes will be going door to door on their peaceful mission. Accompaniyed by their faithful transportation device Clyde of the dessert, upon which they can ride.
#12
Lets see,umh, 280 million people in the US times the cost of printing (say $1 a copy using toliet paper) and that comes to a lot of mullah (no pun intended). Why don't we all order one and see if Soros picks ups the tab?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
06/04/2005 11:15 Comments ||
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#13
I like Jack's idea. If they're free, we could bankrupt the bad guys!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/04/2005 11:31 Comments ||
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#14
Do you really want those folks to have your mailing address?
Posted by: billy hank ||
06/04/2005 18:47 Comments ||
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#15
Maybe I'm just a conspiracy-besotted paranoid, but I wonder how accurate the translation is. If you've ever read a Jehovah's Witness Bible, you notice they have their own translation and that key passages are different.
Update 2
Nine of Israel's top business executives and 11 heads of three leading inquiry companies — including Modiin Ezrahi - are in custody suspected of complicity in a massive computerized commercial espionage conspiracy.
Sunday, May 29, the Tel Aviv magistrate lifted a gag order on the case code-named Horse Race. The prosecution is reported to have located a state witness.
Michael Haephrati, who was arrested with his wife in London Thursday, May 26, is suspected of designing the illegal raider software called Trojan Horse for the three inquiry firms,
They offered clients business intelligence on their rivals, some of whom trade on the stock exchange, by illegally planting spy software in the targeted computers and downloading their classified data.
Clients under suspicion of accepting the offer include Volvo Motors importers, Yes satellite TV, Pelephone and Cellcom cell phone license- holders. Their senior officers are in custody.
Their victims included Orange (Partner) cell phones, Hot cable TV, Strauss-Elite, Champion Motors, Mei Eden mineral water, Ace DIY, and Zoglobek sausages.
Earlier, DEBKAfile reported:
Michael Haephrati, 41, and Ruth Brier-Haephrati, 28, were arrested by Scotland Yard in London on an Israeli extradition warrant and remanded in custody in Brixton and Holloway prisons until a further hearing on June 3.
Apart from "unauthorized modification of the contents of a computer" between December 12, 2004 and February 28 this year, the charges against the couple are subject to an all-inclusive Israeli court gag order.
In professional intelligence literature, this locution usually refers to industrial espionage by the illegal invasion of computers. The offense most often takes the form of an unauthorized "mirror" planted in a target's computer to download its contents to another computer. The kind of software used is not new; it derives from the PROMIS program developed in the United States in the 1980s to help the US Justice Department and the FBI crack financial crime cases. The targets of PROMIS and its offspring never know they are raided, their firewalls penetrated and their passwords cracked.
Over the years, many intelligence agencies, including Israel's, upgraded the earlier PROMIS, and developed better protective software against these silent invaders. Some of their experts ended up on the world market, notably in the US, India, Russia, and probably Israel too. They can be found selling their expertise to security and financial companies - or even to organized crime. The illegal practitioners are known in professional parlance as "black hat hackers."
Corporate America has suffered vast losses, estimated in many billions of dollars, from such hackers who are contracted by rival businesses to lift their customer lists, the contents of their contracts, their marketing strategy and financial situation. It is believed that most victims decide not to complain to the police for fear of publicity that would ruin their business and undermine their stocks. The soundless black hat hackers often as not get away with their crime. Indeed, many are hired by victimized business to trace the intruders and strengthen its security. The underground hacker will then come in from the cold and become a "white hat hacker."
The Scotsman reports that before he was arrested on the Israeli extradition warrant, Michael Haephrati, who also has German nationality, was questioned by detectives from the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit on a "separate matter." He was released by the unit on police bail Wednesday, May 25, pending further inquiries into allegations of "offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990." Later, he was detained by Scotland Yard on the extradition matter.
British legal experts told DEBKAfile that the UK National Hi-Tech Crime Unit's inquiry indicates Haephrati is also suspected of computer offenses in Britain as well as Israel. The British can be expected to insist on precedence for their inquiry and legal proceedings before handing him over to Israel. This could hold up the Israeli process for many months.
The suspect's sister Shifra Hephrati, a playwright who lives in Tel Aviv, is in London to look after the couple's six-year old child, Emma.
Asked after the Bow Street hearing about her brother, she said, "We didn't know anything about what he was doing except that it was something important. "
The mystery deepens.
Posted by: too true ||
06/04/2005 20:00 ||
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Giver me back my FlighsSim elser I'll crash my Spad into your poorly rendered control tower.
KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 (AFP) - Malaysia's highest court has strengthened harsh security laws which allow for indefinite detention without trial, saying there is no time limit for authorities to act after an alleged offence. Critics said that the Federal Court's ruling Thursday raises the prospect of people being taken into custody years or even decades after the alleged offence was committed.
The Federal Court passed down the judgement on three laws, including the notorious Internal Security Act (ISA), under which people can be held for alleged security, criminal and drug trafficking offences. The move follows media reports that several prisoners were freed because their detention orders -- which must be signed by the home minister or his deputy -- were not processed quickly enough. "It is not the function of the court to create such a limitation period or procedural requirement," Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad, one of three judges on the ruling panel, was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
The judgement was made in an appeal hearing for Lee Kew Sang, 47, who was detained in September 2003 over his alleged participation in a gang fight in February that year. Lee's involvement in a Chinese triad gang in the 1980s when he was a teenager was also cited by the prosecution.
You're lucky, Lee, you could have been in a 'crossfire'.
His lawyer R.R. Mahendran argued the detention order was issued too long after the alleged offence but the appeal was dismissed. The judgement now means that anyone can be picked up and put back in detention even though they have committed no offence for years, Mahendran told AFP, adding his client had not been a gang member for decades. "Twenty-five years may have gone by and the person may have reformed. But if for some reason, he makes a statement the government is not happy with, the prime minister can detain him based on the past offence," he said.
He's got a point.
Although Lee was detained under the criminal prevention act, the judges delivered their ruling for the ISA and the drug trafficking acts as well.
Mahendran said he intended to petition a different panel of Federal Court judges because of the wide-ranging implications of the judgement.
The ISA, originally designed to combat a communist rebellion half a century ago, allows for two-year detention periods without trial, which can be renewed indefinitely. Critics charge that the law, which has been used to arrest more than 10,000 people since 1960, is used to crush political dissent. The government maintains it is an essential tool against terrorism.
Government figures released in February show Malaysia is holding 102 people in detention under the ISA, more than 80 of which are suspected Islamic militants. Don't for one moment think that it's aimed at jihadists as much as a catch-all, one size fit-all, lazy men's law that's long been employed.
#1
Article: Government figures released in February show Malaysia is holding 102 people in detention under the ISA, more than 80 of which are suspected Islamic militants.
This isn't such a big deal, given the small number of people held.
Al Jacinto, Arab News Former rebel leader-turned-politician Muslimen Sema yesterday warned that the August elections in the five-province Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao could be bloody again because of the proliferation of illegal weapons in the hands of political warlords and supporters. "Unless the authorities seize all these weapons, I see the elections to be very bloody," said Sema, a senior leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and now mayor of Cotabato City.
Sema said thousands of illegal weapons are believed in the hands of mostly politicians in the autonomous region that comprises the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan plus the cities of Cotabato and Marawi. Aside from political warlords, many illegal weapons also found their way into the hands of rebel groups, gun syndicates and lawless elements, Sema said. "This scenario is very scary; there are tens of thousands of illegal weapons out there and the government must act swiftly to prevent hostilities before and during elections in the Muslim autonomous region," he said.
Sema suggested the postponement of the polls until the authorities could guarantee a peaceful and honest elections. Aside from Sema, the MNLF under Hatimil Hassan, also called on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to scrap the elections because of security concerns.
Let a Mooselimb get close to an election and you can just about guarantee he wants to scrap it.
This article starring:
HATIMIL HASAN
Moro National Liberation Front
MUSLIMEN SEMA
Moro National Liberation Front
Moro National Liberation Front
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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The same leaders who have been arming the muzzies and calling for civil war are now asking GMA to disarm them and pospone the elections? Guess the warlord muzzies are afraid of losing their stranglehold on the people. What they need to do is dissolve the ARMM, jail the two faced MILF leaders and other like Wahibe "I'll send an ambulance for you" Akbar and then allow the people to vote.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
06/04/2005 8:47 Comments ||
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Malaysia's Islamic party invited the nation's most charismatic opposition figure, Anwar Ibrahim, yesterday to galvanize opposition parties into an alliance to challenge the ruling party's 48-year grip on power. Malaysia's disparate opposition parties see Anwar, freed from jail last year, as their best hope yet to mount a serious challenge to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's multiracial coalition, which has ruled since independence in 1957. Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), an opposition force until it was crushed in 2004 polls, is ready to accept Anwar into the opposition fold, party chief Hadi Awang told the PAS faithful. "He has charisma and credibility that can strengthen us," Hadi said at the PAS annual assembly in the party's stronghold, the northern state of Kelantan. "We accept him as a leader."
The blunt-speaking bearded cleric also dismissed the government's anti-corruption drive as mere rhetoric and called on Badawi to immediately lift a political ban on Anwar. Unless he is pardoned by Malaysia's king, Anwar is banned from standing for office until April 2008 due to his criminal record. The government is expected to call a poll before then. Anwar, jailed in 1999 on what he called trumped-up charges of corruption and sodomy, has said PAS should soften its Islamic image to woo non-Muslim voters. Anwar, lecturing in Washington and Oxford this year, was unavailable for comment yesterday.
But Hadi, 57, told the assembly that PAS would not compromise on its struggle to turn Malaysia into a strict Islamic state. "PAS is at a critical crossroads. I would like to remind you that our struggle is based on the Qur'an," he told about 3,000 party members. PAS in theory wants Malaysia to be an Islamic state based on Shariah law.
Guess that leaves out all the non-Islamists then, doesn't it?
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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Ibrahim just doesn't have the facial plumage to be a proper holy man. In Pakistan, he'd be some madrassa's designated bitch.
Posted by: ed ||
06/04/2005 0:56 Comments ||
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Ah, but the Minister of Propaganda Information should always be telegenic and, er, approachable. Not too scary for the dhimmi press.
#3
Anwar is an Islamist. This is how he rose through the ranks - he used to be the head of ABIM, an Islamist youth movement in Malaysia. Al Gore loved this guy, but his beliefs make Mahathir's look tame. Mahathir says things just to shore up his support because his credentials among Islamists suck. This is why Mahathir consistently got majorities from the non-Muslim voters in Malaysia - he would say one thing and do another.
Anwar actually believes the things that Mahathir says, but his credibility among Islamists is so solid that he doesn't have to say them out loud for them to support him. The reason Anwar's facial hair is so thin, is not because he's a moderate - it's because he can't grow any more of it. Moderate Muslims in Malaysia are like Mahathir - they shave all their facial hair off. Note that Anwar's wife wears a head covering. Mahathir's wife doesn't. From what I've read, Malaysia's non-Muslim minority is pretty leery of Anwar because the man is good at hiding his true beliefs.
NEW DELHI - India has offered to assist its southern neighbour Sri Lanka redesign its air-defence network after allegations that Tamil Tiger rebels have acquired at least two aircraft, a report said on Friday.
New Delhi told visiting Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga it is willing to consider all proposals from Colombo, including training Sri Lankan personnel or guidance and advice in designing air defences, the Indian Express daily reported. Colombo will send a team of senior defence officials to India to discuss the technical details, it said.
The offer was made during talks in New Delhi late Thursday between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kumaratunga, who is on a three day-visit to India.
Kumaratunga's government charges that the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have built an airstrip in the north and possess at least two light aircraft. European truce monitors say they have seen the airstrip from the air but have been denied access by the rebels to investigate allegations they have aircraft. "Those two aircraft, if they have any, represent a very serious threat," Monitoring Mission chief Hagrup Haukland said last week, adding that the issue could re-ignite the war between the Tigers and government troops.
India, which once armed and trained the Tigers, warned last month that they were acquiring aircraft. "We are concerned about the LTTE having built an airstrip and having two aeroplanes, and there's news about more coming," India's Foreign Minister Natwar Singh said.
The Indian Express, quoting unnamed sources, said India would also help provide Sri Lanka, which has focused more on maritime than air security, with radars to improve its air-space coverage.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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Since India considers the LTTE a terrorist organization, how about the IAF just bombing the rebel airstrip and aircraft ?
Why the kid glove treatment for the Tigers?
Posted by: john ||
06/04/2005 9:11 Comments ||
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#2
Don't think the airstrip is a concern because of two Tamil aircraft. Sri Lanka probably more concerned it'd be used for airborne logistics. Waters off northern Sri Lanka are pretty much blockaded now.
#3
So these reports over the aircraft is scare mongering?
Still, in the post 9/11 world, suicide terrorists+aircaft is a big no.
A single pass by an Indian Flanker with its cannon firing should neutralize these aircraft for good.
Posted by: john ||
06/04/2005 17:44 Comments ||
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#5
No, I don't think it's scare mongering. The Czech aircraft can be rigged for close air support. I doubt that Sri Lankan patrol vessels have much in the way of anti-air defense. That's one way to open holes in the blockade. The airstrip could also be used for resupply and/or delivery of other aircraft.
A cynical part of me sees a rather... convenient opportunity for India to offer assistance to an island it considers part of its sphere of influence.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned today U.S. pressure on Lebanon could lead to turmoil and urged the Lebanese to unite and reject Washington's demands. Speaking during a meeting to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the death of Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, he said: "The Americans will push the country to strife if it doesn't go along with their priorities, agenda and arrangements. They want strife (in Lebanon)."
Nasrallah's statements come as more than 300,000 voters from Sidon, Tyre and Jezzine will head to 634 polling stations on Sunday to elect their representatives in the South, after the completion of all administrative and security preparations. Politicians and citizens' rejection of the controversial pro-Syrian 2000 electoral law and the uncontested victory of some candidates in Sidon and Jezzine have prompted Christian voters to boycott the polls and Sunnis to participate without enthusiasm.
Shiites will be predominantly taking part in the elections, especially as the elections are viewed by the Amal Movement and Hizbullah as a referendum on the role of the resistance and the Shiites on the political scene. This is why Shiite voters are enthusiastic, as the elections will allow them to enhance their standing. But some Shiite figures such as Riad Asaad and leftist groups object to such a classification and are running in the elections to object to what they call the hegemony and confiscation of voters' will.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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Nasrallah nullification policy should be in effect, by any means possible, to stunthezbollah's crawling back to influence in nat'l Leb politics. Once their $ patrons Iran and Syria leave them high and dry, they'lll try to foment civil war again
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/04/2005 19:27 Comments ||
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Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday postponed legislative elections set for July 17, provoking a furious reaction from Hamas, which had hoped to score a major success at the polls. Abbas "decided to annul the previous decree fixing July 17 as the election date," a Palestinian Authority statement said. "A new date will be set by decree following consultations with the different Palestinian movements and the adoption of a new election law by the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC)," it said, referring to the parliament.
The move prompted anger among some MPs, with PLC deputy speaker Hassan Khreishe threatening to resign in protest. "Along with other MPs in the PLC, I am considering resigning following Mahmoud Abbas' decision to delay the elections," Khreishe told AFP.
The delay drew a bitter response from Hamas, which had been expected to win a substantial political powerbase in its first ever legislative elections after doing well in local polls earlier this year. "Abbas's postponement decision was unilateral. He did not consult with Palestinian movements," said a statement from Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. "This decision shows the Palestinian Authority is not serious about its commitments. It risks causing chaos and giving a negative impression about the Palestinian nation because it obeys when the Americans and Israel multiply their calls for an electoral postponement," it said. The leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) also slammed the decision, saying it contravened agreements reached between Abbas and the factions during talks in Cairo in March.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2005 13:40 ||
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Long text about the differences between Christianity and islam regarding "Holy war" and violence, on a religious basis (sorry for atheists or agnostics).
Not strictly news, but interesting nonetheless, even if RBers are already well aware of theses facts. Too bad it doesn't include the medieval christian "Just war", from St Thomas d'Aquin among others, which was indeed the first "law of war" preventing violence on non-combattants.
#2
Yes, the text indeed contains a few graphic stills of the morbid videos of Nick Berg and Paul Johnson (IIRC)'s decapitation, but I didn't really think it could shock a reader already aware of such fine islamic practices. I apologize, sorry if it offended anyone.
It's politcally correct and acceptable to think of all Christians as blind following kooks. Kinda funny since most of the people we know here in the good ol' USA, consider themselves to be Christians in one way or another. It's something like 90+% And most of them are quite normal.
Dismissing the teachings of Christ is a bit like dismissing Ghandi or Martin Luther King. He just offered a better way to fight evil and injustice. A way that harnessed the good in people in this world, and provided a united force against power and tyranny that the powerful simply could not fight.
I was wondering the fever swamps of the Democratic Underground yesterday, just for fun, and it's clear that the left intends to repackage their socialist agenda in the terms of Christianity. I think they will be successful with this. In a way, I'm kind of all for it, as the message of Christ is so positive and so powerful that what they will really do is just expose more people to the ideals that stand the test of time.
For those so mired in Christian bigotry that you can't grasp my point, look at my point this way instead: how bad would it be to expose Children to the ideals of Ghandi or King - even if the pupose of that was to sell Tide or get a politician elected? Sure, the bum may get elected, but the children are left with the knowledge that is currently tranforming the East with successful revolutions against tyranny.
Was Jessie Jackson able to pervert the ideals of Martin Luther King? In the short run, yes he was. He promoted the lower road, he promoted bigotry and hatred. He claimed to speak for King, but he rarely used his words. Kings words are as powerful today as they were in 1960. Jackson will be soon forgotten.
So, will the liberals succeed in repackaging their failed agenda of socialism through the Christian Church? The only thing that is clear is that they will try.
I may be just looking for a silver lining, but I have to think, more power to them. It's like teaching children to read and write in the hopes that you can have them read and write the message you want the world to hear. You'll be successful in your goal. But don't be surprised when they use the power you gave in other ways that you did not intend.
#4
The one thing that will get them is that Christian morality generally leads toward respect for each individual as and end in himself, not as a means to someone else's end. Indeed, the Sovereign Individual was an outgrowth of Christian thought.
And thats whats going to hook the left: they are ultimately collectivists who sacrifice individuals at the command of the "boss" for the ends of others. In Christianity, that decision is left to the individual. And ultimately it will dismantle socialism.
It is not proven, but it is pretty obvious (at least in a prima facia way) that the decline of Christianity helped ease the path for the rise of fascism, socialism and communism in Europe, and the strong base of Christianity in the US prevented it.
Hisham Abu Taha, Arab News It's official — Israel murdered 15 innocent Palestinian policemen in retaliation for the deaths of six soldiers in an attack by Fatah gunmen three years ago. The report in the Maariv newspaper, confirmed by senior Israeli security sources, was the latest public challenge to the Jewish state's official insistence that its forces have abided by a strict code of ethics in battling the Palestinian intifada.
After gunmen from the Palestinian faction Fatah killed six soldiers at a checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Ramallah on Feb. 19, 2002, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon approved stepping up the scale and variety of retaliations. "The feeling was that this would be 'an eye for an eye'," an ex-soldier who took part in the shooting spree told Maariv. Eighteen Palestinians were killed in various retaliatory attacks, including 15 policemen shot while manning their checkpoints near Ramallah and Nablus, another West Bank city. "'We are going to liquidate Palestinian policemen at a checkpoint in revenge for our six soldiers that they killed'," the ex-commando quoted his commander as ordering the troops.
At one of three checkpoints raided the Palestinians managed to return fire, but caused no Israeli casualties, Maariv said. "The moment we knew we were going to eliminate them, we no longer saw them as human," another former commando said. Hours after the death of the six Israeli soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint called Ein Arik, the commander of an elite reconnaissance unit, "Yael," assembled his soldiers and told them that they were being asked to avenge the six combat engineers, a staff sergeant in the Yael unit, who was only identified as D, told Maariv. Another soldier in the unit, identified as R., said the commander told them they would be targeting a Palestinian police post. "He said that our mission was to get there and kill them," Maariv quoted the soldier as saying. The two soldiers said their unit attacked a Palestinian post north of the town of Ramallah.
R. said seven or eight men were at the post, drinking coffee, and that only two were in uniform and armed. After soldiers opened fire on the post, the Palestinians scattered, and only three remained in shooting range. "We began to liquidate them," said R., adding that soldiers pumped one Palestinian policeman full of bullets after he had already been fatally hit. The newspaper said at least two Palestinian police were killed.
A paratrooper reconnaissance unit, meanwhile, was ordered to attack two Palestinian police posts near the Balata refugee camp on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus, soldiers told Maariv. The newspaper quoted one paratrooper as saying the order was to kill everyone at the post his unit targeted. Seven policemen were killed by Israeli Army fire near Nablus on that day, Feb. 20, 2002, according to the newspaper. The newspaper said in its headline that a total of 15 Palestinian police were killed in various revenge operations, but the report only detailed nine deaths. The newspaper also quoted soldiers as saying they had filmed some of the killings. The army said it had no knowledge of such a video. Maariv's interviewees, whose names were withheld for what the newspaper called legal reasons, said they decided to come forward as part of "Breaking the Silence", a campaign by former soldiers to expose alleged Israeli abuse of Palestinians.
"This vengeance operation has never been investigated regarding the legality or morality of the act," Maariv said. The army said in a statement in response to the Maariv report that its forces attacked "checkpoints manned by Palestinian policemen who facilitated the passage and actively assisted terrorists."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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And the Paleos haven't ambushed another checkpoint after that. Good job Israel.
Posted by: ed ||
06/04/2005 0:52 Comments ||
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What are the Israelis supposed to? Wait for the Paleos to investigate and hand over the perps?
#3
Someone should read the story. No one steps forward to be identified, not even "senior Israeli secutity officials." The story has all the earmarks of a smear, most notably, no named sources.
Not even the Jerusalem Post has this story.
The soldiers now shooting their mouths off are part of an anti-Israeli Army group. The same folks who tried to invoke an erstwhile strike against the IDF amoungst reservists.
And Maariv is a suspect publication. They gotta be pro-labor. These were the same folks who wrote the Sharon bribery scandal story last year, an "scandal" so serious that the Ministry of Justice declined to charge Sharon with anything. There are very little in the way of verifiable facts, but a ton of agenda, I suspect.
This is just an Arab/Islamic smear. Take what you read with a rather large grain of salt.
Also, why would an Israeli goverment official "admitting" murder be an "challenge to the Jewish state’s official insistence that its forces have abided by a strict code of ethics in battling the Palestinian intifada?" If anything, this story, if true, shows the obverse.
As a personal matter, I don't believe the thrust of the story: Revenge killing.
#5
these "innocent" cops were more than likely spotters for the mortar attacks that killed the Isreali children a week before. "A little more to the left, Aziz!". Innocent my ass.
Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on Iraqis to emulate the European Union and reject federalism, which he said would divide the country. Speaking on behalf of Sadr, Sheikh Salah al-Ubaidi told Muslim faithful in Kufa, south of Baghdad, that in Europe: "You can find a unified constitution under way, a unified currency and a united continental market despite the fact that they are different nations." Although he did not run in January's elections, Sadr recently re-emerged from the political shadows and is seeking to reinvent himself as the man who can pull his country back from the brink of chaos.
Somehow I can't see the Boy Mullah emerging as Iraq's man on horseback... Or maybe I can. Boulanger was a flop, too, wasn't he?
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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Interior Minister Bayan Jabr dismissed accusations that a Shiite militia has played a leading role in assassinating Sunni Arab clerics. Jabr said in an interview that more mosques and clerics from the country's majority Shiite community have been attacked than those belonging to the Sunni minority. Jabr is a top member of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the country's largest Shiite party known by its acronym SCIRI, and has served as a senior official in the party's militia, the Badr Brigade, before joining Iraq's first postwar Cabinet in 2003. When asked about allegations against the brigade made by Sunni Arab clerics and repeated by lay Sunnis, Jabr said a police investigation has produced nothing to suggest involvement by the Shiite militia. "Terrorists" rounded by security forces have, instead, confessed to killing clerics from both sides to stoke sectarian strife, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian Authority leader Mahmud Abbas, speaking after a routine medical checkup in Amman, said on Friday he planned to create the post of vice president for the authority. Speaking to reporters shortly after his return from Jordan, Abbas said: "I will make a vice president under me. This issue is important and necessary. We must create this position."
Seeing as the last two presidents have been so effective ...
He would put the idea to the Palestinian Legislative Council (parliament) and the cabinet, as well as other governing bodies, to see the scramble test their reactions.
Commenting on his landmark summit with US President George W. Bush at the White House last week, Abbas appeared much encouraged by the support shown by the US leader but said the Palestinians needed to see promises turn into realities. "There are many important theoretical results but we are waiting to see what is implemented on the ground," he said.
Not that you'll actually do anything yourself ...
At the summit, Bush gave a solid vote of confidence to the Palestinian leader after spurning contact with his late predecessor Yasser Arafat. "President Bush told me important things about the Gaza withdrawal and said it would not be the last withdrawal," Abbas said.
"He also said there must be a connection between (a withdrawal from) Gaza and (from) the West Bank, and that there must be a connection between the Gaza withdrawal and the roadkillmap," he said, referring to the Mideast peace blueprint.
Abbas also said that Bush had expressed himself in favour of an Israeli pullback to the lines before the start of the Palestinian uprising, which erupted in September 2000. "If they (Israel) want to change the border between us, there is already a border which was laid down in 1949," he said, referring to the internationally-recognised armistice line, known as the Green Line.
Which the Paleos never really seemed to accept over the years, but it's impolite to point that out ...
"He said any change (to the borders) needs agreement in final negotiations," Abbas said, adding that Bush also reiterated his position that Israel must stop building settlements in the West Bank.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan-controlled Kashmir - Moderate Indian Kashmiri separatist leaders on Friday called for legislators in the Indian and Pakistani zones to draw up a joint plan to peacefully end the row over the divided Himalayan state. A nine-member delegation, including seven from the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), arrived Thursday in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan's sector, on the first such trip since they launched their campaign against Indian rule in Kashmir in 1989.
"We must come out with a joint strategy to reap the benefits of sacrifices offered by the Kashmiris to achieve peace in the region," Bilal Gani Lone told a special sitting of the state assembly in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.
Lone, a member of the APHC -- an umbrella group of about two dozen pro-independence parties -- also called for the involvement of Kashmiris in the ongoing peace dialogue between Pakistan and India. Lone said Kashmiris must rise above their political differences to achieve a durable solution to the Kashmir dispute. On Thursday the Kashmiri leaders called for three-way talks between Pakistan, India and Kashmiris.
The separatist leaders were to hold formal talks with Pakistani Kashmir's Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat later Friday evening, a government official told AFP. The Hurriyat leaders are also expected to travel to Islamabad on Saturday for talks with Pakistani leadership.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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GUWAHATI, India - India has put its northeastern border guards on high alert to stop rebels infiltrating from Bangladesh during a crackdown there on Indian guerrillas, a top paramilitary officer said on Friday. "We were formally informed by Bangladesh that they were carrying out operations in their territory against Indian militants," S.C. Srivastava, inspector general of the Indian Border Security Force (BSF), told AFP. "We've put our troops on high alert to prevent fleeing rebels from Bangladesh sneaking into our territory."
New Delhi has repeatedly urged Dhaka to take action against Indian militant camps inside Bangladesh that it says attack Indian targets in the northeast, home to several insurgent groups fighting for autonomy or independence.
Srivastava's statement came ahead of foreign secretary level talks between the two countries in New Delhi on June 20. He said he had no details of the planned crackdown. No immediate comment was available from Bangladesh, which earlier has denied the presence of any Indian rebel bases on its soil.
They're just sweeping up imaginary rebels and terrorists.
India says there could be up to 150 bases belonging to Indian separatist groups in Bangladesh. "We've definite reports of these militant groups running well-entrenched camps, including arms training bases, in Bangladesh," an Indian intelligence official said.
Indian intelligence officials say top leaders of northeastern rebel groups such as the United Liberation Front of Asom, the National Liberation Front of Tripura and the All Tripura Tiger Force are holed up in Bangladesh. "We're happy to find Bangladesh reacting to our pleas and the military offensive currently on vindicates our stand," another senior BSF commander said, asking to remain unnamed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD, June 2 -- Insurgent violence has claimed the lives of 12,000 Iraqis over the past 18 months, Interior Minister Bayan Jabr said Thursday, giving the first official count for the largest category of victims of bombings, ambushes and other increasingly deadly attacks.
You mean it wasn't 100,000? I'm shocked. This works out to about 20 people a day.
At least 36 more Iraqi civilians, security force members and officials were killed Thursday in attacks that underscored the ruthlessness and growing randomness of much of the violence. Thursday's violence demonstrated the ability of insurgents to keep up small attacks despite a week-old security operation in Baghdad billed as the most aggressive yet by Iraq's new government, in office for less than two months. The actions are meant to expose insurgent hideouts in the city, he told reporters from some foreign news organizations, adding, "Within the next few months, we can deal with all of the killings and assassinations."
That sounds a little optimistic.
Interior Ministry statistics showed 12,000 civilians killed by insurgents in the last year and a half, Jabr said. The figure breaks down to an average of more than 20 civilians killed by bombings and other attacks each day. Authorities estimate that more than 10,500 of the victims were Shiite Muslims, based on the locations of the deaths, Jabr said. There have been 1,663 U.S. military deaths since the United States led the liberation invasion of Iraq. Bombings and other terrorist insurgent strikes have killed thousands of Iraqi security force members.
Jabr said the government figures showed that Shiites had suffered the bulk of insurgent attacks. No Sunni Muslim mosques, for example, had been destroyed, he said.
Well of course not. You don't hit your own armories.
Iraq's insurgency is led largely by Ba'athists members of the Sunni Arab minority that was toppled from power with Saddam Hussein. Foreign Arab fighters are largely blamed for the suicide bombings that now claim most of the lives.
Jabr, in some of his first extended remarks to reporters since becoming interior minister, said he saw no legitimacy in the cause of the Sunni Arab fighters. "I have not seen any 'resistance,' " Jabr said in response to a question about clemency for so-called resistance fighters who lay down their arms. "There is terror, and all sides have agreed that anyone raising guns and killing Iraqis is a terrorist."
Give that man a cigar for speaking the unvarnished truth.
Jabr said the new government was trying to reform the Interior Ministry, including expelling officials and officers found to have tortured detainees or others. As an opposition member under Hussein, he said, he had lost 10 members of his family to torture. "I would not accept that anyone practice torture against anyone," he said, adding that he would "personally follow up" on all such allegations.
Jabr also denied reports that members of the Badr militia, Shiite fighters trained in exile in Iran, were complicit in the killing of Sunni clerics last month. Investigation showed that no Badr members were involved, he said. The true killers are "terrorists who are killing Shiite clerics and Sunnis to incite strife," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
and just to keep things in perspective how many did Saddam kill on average?
Along with other human rights organizations, The Documental Centre for Human Rights in Iraq has compiled documentation on over 600,000 civilian executions in Iraq. Human Rights Watch reports that in one operation alone, the Anfal, Saddam killed 100,000 Kurdish Iraqis. Another 500,000 are estimated to have died in Saddam's needless war with Iran. Coldly taken as a daily average for the 24 years of Saddam's reign, these numbers give us a horrifying picture of between 70 and 125 civilian deaths per day for every one of Saddam's 8,000-odd days in power"
Here's another from a LEFTY site:
http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00000635.htm
Since Saddam took over Iraq in 1979 through his ouster in 2003, he supposedly killed some 300,000 citizens (according to repeated Administration assertions). That's roughly 13,000 deaths per year.
The above table covers a period of 20 years, from 1983 to 2003. That's 7,300 days. Divide that number into the table results, and you arrive at a daily average of about 101 civilian deaths a day under Saddam Hussein's regime.
#3
But hey, what's 750,000 people? Nothing, apparently, when weighed against the opportunity to attack Bush and slander the United States military.
Today's Left, transported back to 1941 would plainly would have opposed the war against Germany and Japan because WWII claimed innocent lives. They don't give a CRAP about Iraqi lives no matter how obvious it is that tens of thousands have been saved because of what we've done.
#5
RMcLeod, the Left did oppose WWII, right up to the moment the Soviet Union was invaded. The Left in France actively sabotaged the war effort, the Left in Britain had strong misgivings (and said so), and the Left in the U.S. was part of the isolationist movement.
Once the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, the Left spun 180 degrees (on a dime!) and became vociferous in demanding a full war effort.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/04/2005 2:25 Comments ||
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#6
Thanks for the stats!
There is a bumper sticker that I see frequently around here that says, WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER.
I always want to walk up to them and say, ok...so what IS your answer to prevent the slaughter of millions?
If I had more chutzpa, I'd put a bumper sticker on my car that says:
WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER
let the tyrants slaughter, starve and enslave = what concern of it is mine?
#13
Who cares? A thousand or a million or a billion is all the same same to us! They are only 'mud people' just like the Vietmanese / Cambodians / Afghans / Indians / Africans / .....
Small sacrifice for the Greater Glory of the Holy Elite.....
Posted by: Liberal Left ||
06/04/2005 18:43 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Tribal clashes have left at least 16 people dead and more than a dozen injured in an area northwest of the Yemeni capital, local officials and tribal sources said on Saturday. Violence, sparked by land disputes, erupted last week in four separate incidents in the Monabeh area of Sa'dah province, about 260 kilometers (160 miles) northwest of San'a, the officials said.
Turkey's President 
Following accusations of mistreatment of the Qur'an in the Guantanamo prison in Cuba, and recognition of widespread ignorance about Islam's holy book by many Americans; CAIR, the Washington-based 
Former rebel leader-turned-politician 
Malaysia's Islamic party invited the nation's most charismatic opposition figure, 
Palestinian leader 
It's official — Israel murdered 15 innocent Palestinian policemen in retaliation for the deaths of six soldiers in an attack by 
Radical Shiite cleric 
