Atlas Shrugs

Kofi Annan, STFU!

Danish daily attacks Annan
COPENHAGEN. Denmark’s largest daily Jyllands-Posten, which was the first to publish controversial cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, yesterday lambasted UN Secretary - General Kofi Annan for a speech criticizing Danish
integration of Moslem immigrants.

Is it possible that someone in Eurabia is calling out Coffee Enema? SHOCKA!
Illustration hat tip, ihillary
Meanwhile in Pakistan;

Children chant DEATH! and rally against cartoons
KARACHI: About 5,000 children chanting “Hang those who insulted the prophet” rallied against caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) on Tuesday, with some torching an effigy of the Danish premier and coffins representing Denmark, Israel and the United States.

And Annan is encouraging this?.........This man should be tried at the UN war crimes tribunal at the Hague but they're still backed up with Slobodan Milosevic (is it five years or six - another great UN achievement.)

Arab lawmakers call for ban on offenses against Islam
Atlas calls for ban on Islamic  offenses against the Jews and the West

A Manifesto Slams Islamic Totalitarianism

Heads are gonna roll...........no pun intended. From Agora;

Salman Rushdie, Ayaan Hirsi Ali et al Slam Islamic Totalitarianism

This just in, stay tuned as the story develops. I think we’ll be seeing people die in the coming days. You know, from "reactions"….

MANIFESTO:

Together facing the new totalitarianism

After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.

We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.

The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.

Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man’s domination of woman, the Islamists’ domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.

We reject « cultural relativism », which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of "Islamophobia", an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.

We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.

We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.

12 signatures

Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Chahla Chafiq
Caroline Fourest
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Irshad Manji
Mehdi Mozaffari
Maryam Namazie
Taslima Nasreen
Salman Rushdie
Antoine Sfeir
Philippe Val
Ibn Warraq

Michelle Malkin has their bios here

Attention New Yorkers: rally for solidarity with Denmark this Friday from noon to one.

Address: Outside the Danish Consulate at One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 885 Second Avenue.

Taxes: Where do you live?

The ten states with the most business-friendly tax systems this year are: Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, Texas, Delaware, Montana and Oregon.

The ten states with the least hospitable business tax climates are: New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Ohio, Vermont, Maine, Kentucky, Nebraska, Iowa and Arkansas. Read all of the study results here.

Listen, I know I have to move, my tax burden is intolerable. The tax climate in New York is so hostile, the sale of a family owned business was the most desirable option. New York is owned and operated by the Democratic party machine. It is a nightmare. The Republicans are not even a minority party here, they are nonexistent.
And while we are on the subject of New York and speaking of Slavery Taxation, go here and here

A Candle for Ilan Halimi

Ilan Halimi, the 23 year old Jew brutally tortured and killed in Paris by the new Nazis, Islamic barbarians filled with anti -Semitic hatred, must not be forgotten.  He was an unwitting front-line soldier in the war Jews now wage  the world over to protect ourselves and our families from those who would take up the cause of Hitler in our day.  Please light a virtual candle in his memory by going to the following website here

All over the world, decent people should be  taking to the streets to express their outrage at the new onslaught on Jews and civilization. That is not happening.

The total absence of official European reactions, either at an institutional and/or mass media and public opinion level, and foremost the absence of a collective reaction from the part of the European civil community- or the worldwide Jewish community -- to this racially motivated homicide in the heart of Europe, is something that leaves us numb and without words.  Hat tip Naomi Ragen

Only in America

UK: Straw tells tycoon not to plot against Putin Reuters 
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has threatened to kick London-based Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky out of the country if he plots to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin, the foreign office said on Tuesday.

Apparently you can only get away with that treason (actually any kind of treason) in America and brag about it in the Washinton Post........just ask George Soros.
Oh yeah, money laundering is cool too here in the Good Ole US of A here

Jewhating Jews

These are the same Jews that were the trustees in the death camps. Ignore them,  they are the enemy.

AARON KLEIN: LEFTIST U.S. JEWS OPPOSE ANTI-HAMAS LEGISLATION

Mad Hot off the Presses Net ~ Bush White House Reads the Blogs

The White House has acknowledged the power of the blogs as I have here, here and here - it's been one Gutenberg moment after another. I am not surprised by this. The blogs have become the tail wagging the dog. Apparently the White House agrees. How lovely to see Presidential acknowledgment -- mad hot, eh?

Drudge reports here on comments made by President Bush and his top advisers on the importance of blogs, and what the CBS memo scandal showed about mainstream media. President Bush said, “the amazing thing about this world we live in is that there’s a kind of free-flowing, kind of bulletin board of ideas and thoughts out there in the ether space, sometimes landing on somebody’s desk and sometimes not, but always available. It’s a very interesting period.“ 

BUSH CHEERS DECLINE OF MAINSTREAM MEDIA, RISE OF ALTERNATIVE PRESS

ROVE SLAMS DAN RATHER: NOT A 'SERIOUS' REPORTER

President Bush, for the first time, is hailing the rise of the alternative media and the decline of the mainstream media, which he now says “conspired” to harm him with forged documents.

“I find it interesting that the old way of gathering the news is slowly but surely losing market share,” Bush said in an exclusive interview for the new book STRATEGERY. “It’s interesting to watch these media conglomerates try to deal with the realities of a new kind of world.”

[STRATEGERY was ranked #5 on AMAZON.COM's sales chart early Tuesday morning.]

For example, journalist Dan Rather left the anchor chair at CBS News after Internet reporters revealed he had used forged documents to criticize Bush’s military record in September 2004. The forgeries, which Bush now calls a conspiracy, ended up helping his reelection campaign, he acknowledged in the Oval Office interview.

“It looks like somebody conspired to float false documents,” the president tells author Bill Sammon. “And I was amazed about it. I just couldn’t believe that would be happening [and] then it would become the basis of a fairly substantial series of news stories.”

He added: “Then there was a backlash to it. I mean, a lot of people were angry that this could have happened. A lot of Americans are fair people and they viewed this as patently unfair. So in a funny way, I guess it inured to our benefit, when it was all said and done.”

The episode, known as “Memogate,” inoculated Bush against further scrutiny of his National Guard record for the duration of the presidential campaign.

Developing...

Rove said Rather’s eagerness to broadcast obviously forged documents proves he is “no serious reporter.” As for Rather’s insistence, to this day, that the documents are real, Rove said: “That’s really bias.”

Memogate has helped accelerate the decline of the mainstream media, generally defined as CBS, NBC, ABC, The New York Times and other establishment news outlets. “I think what’s healthy is that there’s no monopoly on the news,” Bush said. “There’s competition. There’s competition for the attention of, you know, 290 million people, or whatever it is.

Having long been pilloried by the mainstream media, Bush now finds the rise of the alternative media nothing less than revolutionary.

“It’s the beginning of the twenty-first century; it also happens to be the beginning of—or near the beginning—of a revolution in newsgathering and dissemination,” he said. “Not in news making—that tends to be pretty consistent.”

Rove considers Memogate a watershed in the rise of the alternative media.

“The whole incident in the fall of 2004 showed really the power of the 'blogosphere',” he said in his West Wing office.

“Because in essence you had now, an army of self-appointed experts looking over the shoulder of the mainstream media and bringing to bear enormously sophisticated skills,” he added.

Still, Rove cautioned that the Internet’s political potential has a darker side.

“There is so much ugliness and viciousness and fundamental untruths that the blogosphere transmits,” he lamented. “It also is a vehicle for ugly rumors, for scurrilous personal attacks, an avenue for the creation of urban legends which are deeply corrosive of the political system and of people’s faith in it.”

Yes Mr. Rove but the Army of Davids stand at the ready to correct and address those very inaccuracies. KOS, Kos kidz, DU will always spew their invective but at least there is an immediate counter balance. They may have George Soros and his Air America slush fund, but we have right. We have fact, truth and now we have an important means of communication to get the word out there. We are the messengers, think Paul Revere.

The trend is undeniable...According to a new study released from Outsell today, the research and advisory firm based in Burlingame, Calif., found that  newspapers are lagging as the dominant source for national information.  28% of those surveyed said they get their national news from online sites (and this is just the beginning of the revolution -- just the beginning.) 71% of those surveyed said they get their national news from broadcast news shows and cable TV, while only 33% said they get it from newspapers.

It's nothing you don't already know if you are here in the Atlas sphere but it is still a  delicious read never the less.

Uh, can I get my White House Press credentials now?  I wanna sit next to Helen Thomas and whisper sweet objectivist musings in her good ear.

UPDATE: Speaking of power blogging, my partner in crime , Confederate Yankee is  guestblogging over at the Washington Post here - you go Bob

More Powerblogging - stuff you just won't see in the MSM- Poland Introduces "Martyrs of Our Time" Ad Campaign  here

More Good Can Come from the Dubai Port Deal: END ISRAEL BOYCOTT, DEAL BREAKER

I stand behind my original call of the Post deal with Dubai here and here and here.
It is not a security detail, good economic deals make good friends and the more Arab friends we have in the war on terror the better.
Vital Perspective points out that Dubai Ports World Participates in Arab Boycott of Israel

Dubai Ports World, the company involved in the UAE port deal, participates in the Arab boycott against Israel.

"Yes, of course the boycott is still in place and is still enforced," Muhammad Rashid a-Din, a staff member of the Dubai Customs Department's Office for the Boycott of Israel, told the The Jerusalem Post in a telephone interview. U.S. law bars firms from complying with such requests or cooperating with attempts by Arab governments to boycott Israel. The U.S. Department of Commerce lists the UAE anti-Israel boycott requirement as a "prohibited boycott condition in an invitation to bid" under examples of boycott requests from the UAE that has been reported to the Office of Antiboycott Compliance. The "prohibited boycott condition" reads:

"Documents to accompany tenders [include] the declaration and Israel boycott certificate. It states the tenderer must accompany his offer with the following, written signed declaration. "We declare that we are a company which is not owned by any companies that have violated the approved rules of the boycott and that we do not own or participate in companies that are in violation of the approved rules of the boycott. Further, we do not have, nor does any of the companies that are considered to be a parent company or a branch of ours, any dealings with any Israeli party, whether directly or indirectly." Furthermore, a certificate issued by the Israel boycott office in UAE confirming that neither the supplier nor the manufacturer are blacklisted, should also be accompanied."

In one instance, according to a Department of Commerce press release, a New York-based exporter paid a $13,500 fine for violating the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The antiboycott provisions of the EAR prohibit U.S. persons from complying with certain requirements of unsanctioned foreign boycotts, including furnishing information about business relationships with or in Israel. In addition, the EAR requires that U.S. persons report their receipt of certain boycott requests to the Department of Commerce.

Importers to the UAE, however, need to comply with the terms of the boycott. In the Frequently Asked Questions area of the Jebel Ali Free Zone Area website, six documents are listed that are required in order to clear an item through the Dubai Customs Department. One of them, called a Certificate of Origin, " is used by customs to confirm the country of origin and needs to be seen by the office which ensures any trade boycotts are enforced ."

Clearly their boycott of Israel would have to end. That's a deal breaker. No fines, no violations, no bullshit. NO BOYCOTT. And that would be a good thing. Changing the way they do business would be a good thing. And yes, we would have to enforce it.

Israel is a great nation. This decades long boycott must be broken. This is how we do it.

UPDATE:But now Little Green Footballs  has even more info to suggest that DP is not de facto much of a boycotter  --hat tip Kahn;

Here’s a report at Globes Online that appears to contradict the Jerusalem Post story we noted earlier today: Dubai Ports World uses Zim connection in US deal.

Dubai Ports World, the company involved in the UAE port deal, participates in the Arab boycott against Israel.

"Yes, of course the boycott is still in place and is still enforced," Muhammad Rashid a-Din, a staff member of the Dubai Customs Department's Office for the Boycott of Israel, told the The Jerusalem Post in a telephone interview. U.S. law bars firms from complying with such requests or cooperating with attempts by Arab governments to boycott Israel. The U.S. Department of Commerce lists the UAE anti-Israel boycott requirement as a "prohibited boycott condition in an invitation to bid" under examples of boycott requests from the UAE that has been reported to the Office of Antiboycott Compliance. The "prohibited boycott condition" reads:

"Documents to accompany tenders [include] the declaration and Israel boycott certificate. It states the tenderer must accompany his offer with the following, written signed declaration. "We declare that we are a company which is not owned by any companies that have violated the approved rules of the boycott and that we do not own or participate in companies that are in violation of the approved rules of the boycott. Further, we do not have, nor does any of the companies that are considered to be a parent company or a branch of ours, any dealings with any Israeli party, whether directly or indirectly." Furthermore, a certificate issued by the Israel boycott office in UAE confirming that neither the supplier nor the manufacturer are blacklisted, should also be accompanied."

In one instance, according to a Department of Commerce press release, a New York-based exporter paid a $13,500 fine for violating the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The antiboycott provisions of the EAR prohibit U.S. persons from complying with certain requirements of unsanctioned foreign boycotts, including furnishing information about business relationships with or in Israel. In addition, the EAR requires that U.S. persons report their receipt of certain boycott requests to the Department of Commerce.

Importers to the UAE, however, need to comply with the terms of the boycott. In the Frequently Asked Questions area of the Jebel Ali Free Zone Area website, six documents are listed that are required in order to clear an item through the Dubai Customs Department. One of them, called a Certificate of Origin, " is used by customs to confirm the country of origin and needs to be seen by the office which ensures any trade boycotts are enforced ."

Clearly their boycott of Israel would have to end. That's a deal breaker. No fines, no violations, no bullshit. NO BOYCOTT. And that would be a good thing. Changing the way they do business would be a good thing. And yes, we would have to enforce it.

Israel is a great nation. This decades long boycott must be broken. This is how we do it.

UPDATE:But now Little Green Footballs  has even more info to suggest that DP is not de facto much of a boycotter  --hat tip Kahn;

Here’s a report at Globes Online that appears to contradict the Jerusalem Post story we noted earlier today: Dubai Ports World uses Zim connection in US deal.

Hillary's "Jihad" Is Union Payback$$

Remember this?

Hillary Clinton going jihad over school vouchers over at Malkin

Download and watch the video (Windows Media file).

Money quote:

 

"First family that comes and says 'I want to send my daughter to St. Peter's Catholic ' and you say 'Great, wonderful school, here's your voucher,’… Next parent that comes and says, 'I want to send my child to the school of the Church of the White Supremacist ...' The parent says, 'The way that I read Genesis, Cain was marked, therefore I believe in white supremacy. ... You gave it to a Catholic parent, you gave it to a Jewish parent, under the Constitution, you can't discriminate against me….So what if the next parent comes and says, 'I want to send my child to the School of the Jihad? ... I won't stand for it." The whole story here

John Fund's "Swillary";

The former First Lady went on to speculate about "what [happens] if the next parent comes and says, 'I want to send my child to the School of the Jihad?'" Declared Mrs. Clinton: "I won't stand for it."

This is absurdist demagoguery. Federal law prohibits the transfer of any funds to organizations that advocate hatred or violence against any group. Beyond that, federal Pell grants have long financed college students at many private and religious schools with little controversy. Last time anyone checked, none of the money had gone to colleges advocating white supremacy, though admittedly some schools do harbor some incredibly narrow-minded liberal faculty.

 

Now remember this:

Politics Is the Labor They Love

[...]Now new government data show just how skewed its priorities have been.

Last year, unions were for the first time required to file more detailed reports on their expenditures and internal operations to comply with the 1959 Landrum-Griffin Act, which until recently had been largely ignored or circumvented. The new data are eye-opening. They showed that in 2005, the AFL-CIO spent $49 million on direct political activity, a whopping 27% of its budget. At the same time, it spent only $30 million, or 16.5% of its budget, to represent workers in contract negotiations and to protect their collective bargaining rights.

Don't expect these revelations to embarrass the giant labor federation into changing its priorities. Rather than pledge to reorient its activities more towards the daily needs of members, the AFL-CIO is announcing at its annual convention in San Diego this week that it will become a partner with the National Education Association, the most politicized union of all. The NEA is set to allow its local affiliates to join the AFL-CIO, although a merger at the national level isn't in the cards yet.

The AFL-CIO's John Sweeney, who called the deal the group's most important step "since the merger of the AFL and CIO in 1955," is obviously trying to combat the impression of a union in decline. Despite the loss of dues income from the departing affiliates, the AFL-CIO announced plans to spend $40 million on the mid-term elections this year, all but a small pittance of which will go to Democratic candidates.

Given the rate at which it's abandoning the traditional role of organized labor in favor of political activism, the AFL-CIO might as well drop the pretense and merge with the Democrats to form an honest-to-goodness Labor Party. At least that would represent truth in advertising. Wall Street Journal Political Diary, Paid Sub Only

Google feeling the Pain

Google can say what it wants, the blogosphere's anti-Google campaign definitely hurt them, oh yeah. Today's WSJ;

More Punishment for Google
Google CFO George Reyes told CNBC that the Internet search engine's revenue growth rate was slowing to an "organic" pace and that recent efforts to milk more revenue out of search technology had gone about as far as they could go. Organic may be a desirable trait in food, but not so much in revenue growth, and Google's shares dropped 8%. Not so long ago, Google was the darling of Wall Street, with analysts trying to outdo each other with ever-higher price targets for Google's skyrocketing shares. But Google's honeymoon ended in an ugly way after the company reported disappointing earnings in its latest quarter, and its shares -- which once seemed on the fast track to $500 -- have fallen 17% in less than a month to about $360. Truth be told, the idea that Google's revenue growth is slowing is hardly earth-shattering. But Google's high stock price targets hinged on the hope that new innovations and products would keep the runaway growth of its earliest quarters continuing for years to come.

Bolton on UN Reform

AMBASSADOR BOLTON: "Yes, I do have a broader strategy, it's to institute an ongoing pattern of reform that will be self-sustaining. We've said repeatedly that reform is not a one-night stand. It's a continuing process it's perpetual. And I think the importance of pursuing the reform on as many fronts as we can, as far and as fast as we can, is part of that. People have to appreciate that the reforms we are seeking are very far-reaching, and that that means not just a little change here, and a little change there, but fundamental change across the board. So that's the strategy, and by talking about all these issues, we help underline them."

It's why I love Bolton, he walks the walk and talks the talk. Bah dah bing, Bah dah boom. After he cleans up the UN, send him over to clean up and clean out the State Department.

Illustration done by my favorite cyber artist ihillary

The Danish Prime Minister on the Danish Muhammad Cartoons

UPDATE: Danish PM welcomes EU statement on Mohammed cartoons

Over at Agora;  The Danish Prime Minister was interviewed Sunday about the recent events:

Excerpts: "People die during violent demonstrations in Pakistan, and places rarely heard of. And with typical self-centered narcissicism, in Denmark it is interpreted as a matter of Danish immigration policy and Danish integration policy. Noone even knows about these things in the streets of Pakistan - to be frank, I think this kind of criticism is beyond the pale," [...]

But that’s not how your statements has been interpreted. They’ve been interpreted as you distancing yourself from the cartoons.

"That’s right, but what I said was only that I wouldn’t draw those cartoons, and for that I have various personal reasons. But it is very important here to underline precisely what that statement covers, because some have apparently interpreted it as me saying that I would forbid others to do so. And that is precisely not what I meant, and that distinction is very, very important. Everybody in the debate says with great gravity that we must guard Freedom of Speech and that everybody has the right to print whatever they like. "But…" they then say - and that means that they don’t really mean that. That is where they lose their grip, in my opinion." [...]

How is that attained?

"Well, that can only be attained by accepting that Freedom of Speech means that everything can be scrutinised and is up for debate. I will, to take an example, never accept that Sharia can’t be examined critically. It mustn’t be so that just because someone says it’s sacred, it’s not to be the object of discussion. There’s been a lot of talk about people being offended, but you’ve got to ask yourself what is most offending - a few cartoons or two boys that have been hung in Iran or women that are stoned to death or have their hands chopped off. It’s important to keep the right perspective."

What would you say?

"I know what my personal preference is. I get most offended by seeing two teenagers hanging from the gallows in Iran, and I want the freedom to say that," says the Prime Minister. "By any means available, we must ensure that no man is persecuted or discriminated against solely because of his religion. That means that we must reject anti-semitism, islamophobia, anti-christianity and ensure that all men have protection for their right to believe whatever they want. That is an essential part of the answer. And that, I think, can be done in good manners, to say that we must be allowed be allowed to question everything and be critical, while protecting all people of all faiths against discrimination and persecution. I would even say that if that was something that could be agreed on universally, it would be a beautiful thing. That would also mean that Christians were guaranteed equal opportunities in Moslem countries."

PBS 9PM Tonight

Generally I despise the left wing bias of PBS and can't for the life of me understand why our hard earned taxpayer dollars still fund an enterprise that has 800 free market channels. That  notwithstanding, Madahar writes;

Because of the bias, I normally don't endorse PBS programming; however, WSJ goddess Dororthy Rabinowitz touts this as a fair and informative program about the 1970 hijackings of 4 airliners to Beirut airport.

3 planes were pirated to Beirut. The 4th plane was an El Al flight from Europe, whose pilot RESISTED THE HIJACKERS, threw the plane into a sharp dive, allowing onboard El Al security the chance to execute the Muslim animals on the spot. Yashir Koach! The plane landed safely in Tel Aviv.

A tourist shot video of the scene, and it will be shown tonight.

Sorry Sean, although a night without Colmes is a gift.

MSM Paints Osama Bin Laden like a Big Ole Fuzzy Teddy! Awww

The mainstream media speaks of Osama Bin Laden with respect, affection and deference. The Washington Post attribute great military victories to Dracula in his cave and assigns him near great statesman status.

This mass murdering pig gets fabulous worldwide press and our President Bush, working his ass off to fight Radical Islamic extremism, making the hard choices to keep America free, and enacting foreign policy to liberate oppressed peoples living under the boot of totalitarianism for centuries is treated like a pariah. Tearing into his gut at every bump in the road. Teaching political freedom to peoples that have never tasted it, who only know the power of fear, is an enormous challenge. But, what, I ask is the alternative?

You tell me, what is wrong with this picture? And before your answer,  imagine it was your mother (or lover, or sister)  flinging herself out of the World Trade Center, trading the lesser of horrible deaths.

Outlook: On Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda Washington Post

Osama bin Laden 's plan -- to use terrorism to trigger an Islamic reawakening that will challenge Western dominance of world events and assure the ascendancy of Sunni extremists -- is moving forward, at at an alarming rate. Hiding out somewhere on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, bin Laden is surely watching with satisfaction at events unrolling across the world --  from violent protests over published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad to Hamas's rise to political legitimacy in the Palestinian territories.

Bin Laden 'likes hugs not kisses 'BBC News 
Australia's "Jihad Jack", convicted of receiving al-Qaeda funds, says Osama Bin Laden prefers hugs to kisses.

Bin Laden compares U.S. tactics to Iraq's Contra Costa Times
Osama bin Laden promised never to be captured alive and declared the United States had resorted to the same "repressive" tactics used by Saddam Hussein, according to an audiotape purportedly by the al-Qaida leader that was posted Monday on a militant Web site.

Osama a "polite, humble" man The Hindu News
SYDNEY: Osama bin Laden is a polite, humble and shy man who doesn't mind being hugged.

Bin Laden a man with a soft side, says Thomas Sydney Morning Herald
THE former Melbourne taxi driver convicted this week of receiving cash from al-Qaeda has told of his meetings with Osama bin Laden and how the world's most-wanted man had a softer side. -

Australian terror convict says Osama loves beer, Islam Reuters Osama bin Laden does not like to be kissed and described himself as a reluctant Muslim who loved beer.

Euroweenie Union Pays Blackmail Money to Hamas

So the EU can't get enough cartoon violence, train bombings, murder, mayhem, dhimmitude....I have NO pity, NONE for the disappearance of the cradle of Western Civilization -- Europe dba Eurabia.
They disgust me............savages. Giving aid to the most vile terrorists makes you as vile and barbaric. Pigs.
It's EXTORTION MONEY, but Eurabia, my dears, it will never be enough.

EU TO RELEASE AID TO PALESTINIANS / HAMAS

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union threw the Palestinians a short-term aid lifeline on Monday to help stave off imminent financial collapse, despite the appointment of a leader of the Islamist militant group Hamas as prime minister.

But the 25-nation bloc made sure most of the 120 million euros ($142 million) would bypass the Palestinian Authority, sharpening pressure on Hamas to moderate its radical policies when it takes over government responsibility.

"Today I have announced a very substantial package of assistance to meet basic needs," European External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said after EU foreign ministers discussed how to respond to the impending formation of a government by Hamas, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist and espouses armed struggle.

The Europeans are lost. Morally, socially bankrupt. The dark  continent.

Iraq Update: A Soldier's Account

Reader John Galt sent this on to me;

Special deliveries made to special groups

By Polli Barnes Keller
Gulf Region North
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Children in Dohuk are happy to receive special delivery from Lana Aziz. (GRD Photos by Polli Barnes Keller)

Mosul Iraq - After years of tyranny and war, the children of Iraq have almost nothing and are very grateful for each gift they receive. Lana Aziz, an Iraqi citizen and junior engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), coordinates the collection and distribution of shoes and school supplies for Iraqi children. With each gift she gives to a needy child, she also gives joy and hope to their lives.

Through her childhood, Aziz watched as American organizations sent clothing and items to local churches in her community. She watched as the goods were distributed and noticed some didn't make it to the families that needed it the most. Dismayed at the lack of support for American generosity and the misdirection of goods, Aziz decided if she could, she would do something about it.

While on assignment in the local villages, she noticed the children lacked proper shoes for the cold environment. This gave her the idea to collect shoes for the needy and make sure they were distributed to those who truly needed them.

In July 2005, Aziz put the word out through co-workers, friends and family that she was collecting shoes. Word spread quickly and before she knew it, shoes came rolling in. Church groups from the States, Aziz's family, and friends of friends rose to the challenge and collected approximately 150 pairs of shoes, which Aziz distributed in Dohuk, Erbil, and Sulaymaniyah. The collection effort was a huge success and well received by those in need.

Now, almost seven months later, packages again began arriving addressed to Aziz. She opened the boxes and was happily surprised to find not only shoes for the children, but school supplies and toys, as well. Aziz's response to the unexpected generosity was, "If they send it, I will deliver it!"

Word travels fast when there is good news to spread and the story of Aziz delivering goods to schools last year made it all the way to Texas and Utah. Donations came not only from Aziz's family members, but also from friends' families, friends of friends, churches, schools and large corporations. Contributors included Southwest Airlines' Maintenance and Engineering Department in Dallas, Texas; Hewlett Packard in Richardson, Texas; and the second grade class from the William Penn Elementary School in Salt Lake City, Utah. Aziz received toys, school supplies, candy and shoes.

A school principal in Dohuk (left), Lana Aziz (center), and Lt. Col. Greg Gunter, GRN Deputy Commander (right), discuss the delivery of donations to the school. ( GRD Photos by Polli Barnes Keller)

Early in January, she and Lt. Col. Greg Gunter, USACE Gulf Region North Deputy Commander, traveled to two schools located in Dohuk and delivered the goods.

"It was an honor to take part in such a noble and worthwhile effort initiated by Ms. Aziz. It was heartwarming to see that the generous gifts sent from within Iraq, as well as the United States, found their way to the children at these two schools," said Gunter.

The second grade class in Utah received photographs of their delivered donated goods.

The second grade teacher commented, "My students and I were ecstatic when we put your photos on the big screen and saw our red Christmas houses! Seriously ... we went crazy!"

She added, "What a joy it was to actually see our school supplies and cards in the hands of those beautiful Iraqi children!"

In one year of employment with USACE, Aziz moved up within the ranks from interpreter to junior engineer. She graduated from Mosul University in 2004, with a degree in Computer Engineering and worked part time for the U.S. Embassy on Forward Operating Base Courage.

 

TERROR TRAINING CAMPS: Terrorists in U.S. 'training for war'

From the land of terror enablers Schumer (LEAVE AL QAEDA'S PHONE CONVERSATIONS ALONE!) and Hillary (NO PORT DEAL)............terrorist training camps. I wonder how much payola they received from these terrorists? WHERE IS THE OUTCRY CHUCKIE? Why isn't Hillary shouting JIHAD over this -- as opposed to school vouchers (which would give poor kids a shot at a good education)?

Schumer and Clinton are comfortably ensconced in the pocket$ of  corrupt unions (it's their bread and butter).) It is incumbent upon them to enable the deeply embedded corruption and featherbedding practices that have become  a way of life at our  port facilities. Perhaps a new management firm might shake things up, save money and perhaps even enhance security.

The day America hands the reins of power over to the Dhimmicrats, is the day we've signed our own warrants. Just look at what the left is up to here.

By their acts, ye shall know them. And so we know them.

Probe finds terrorists in U.S. 'training for war'

Neighbors of Muslim encampment fear retaliation if they report to police

The Pakistani terrorist group Jamaat ul Fuqra is using Islamic schools in the United States as training facilities, confirms a joint investigative report by an intelligence think tank and an independent reporter.

A covert visit to an encampment in the Catskill Mountains near Hancock, N.Y., called "Islamberg" found neighboring residents deeply concerned about military-style training taking place there but frustrated by the lack of attention from federal authorities, said the report by the Northeast Intelligence Network, which worked with an Internet blogger, "CP," to publish an interim report. (Entrance to Hancock, N.Y., encampment (Courtesy Northeast Intelligence Network))

The neighbors interviewed, who asked not to be identified, said they feared retaliation if they were to make a report to law enforcement officials.

"We see children – small children run around over there when they should be in school," one neighbor said. "We hear bursts of gunfire all of the time, and we know that there is military-like training going on there. Those people are armed and dangerous." Read it all

Why aren't Chuckie and Shrillary SHUTTING THESE TERROR CAMPS DOWN? So busy busy busy Chuckie is ~~ attempts to kill off the Alito and Roberts SCOTUS nominations, whining about Al Qaeda surveillance, and now screeching about the NON SECURITY issue of Dubai managing port operations (NO SECURITY INVOLVED).

Read the whole article and  begin to understand how dangerous the left is to our national security. I want these camps closed down.

Members have been known to go to Pakistan for paramilitary training, but the investigation found evidence the U.S. encampments offer such training so members don't need to risk traveling abroad amid increased scrutiny following the 9-11 attacks.

The report says Jamaat ul-Fuqra members have "purchased isolated rural properties in North America to live as a community, practice their faith, and insulate themselves from Western culture. The group has established rural encampments that U.S. authorities allege are linked to murder, bombings and other felonies throughout North America."

U.S. authorities have probed the group for charges ranging from links to al-Qaida to laundering and funneling money into Pakistan for terrorist activities. The organization supports various terrorist groups operating in Pakistan and Kashmir, and Gilani himself is linked directly to Hamas and Hezbollah. hat tip Tom P

And where is this in the investigative press? When did the media abandon their role as watchdog and become the lazy bullhorn of the far left?

"An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery. A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself." —Joseph Pulitzer 

Hamas....what you don't know can kill you

Hamas, bought and paid for by Iran.  A product of the West's propensity to turn the other cheek.

Nicole Sadighi, an Iranian journalist and an advocate of non-violent movement for democracy in Iran, speaks of the Islamist culture of death here:

Islamic radicalism hails martyrs and jihadists as champions of Islam. They celebrate death and have no respect for life. Ultimately, do they not proclaim the role of martyrdom and jihad as the epitome of Islam? They rejoice in the deaths of their sons and daughters in suicide escapades more than they do when they were born to them. Death is their motivation, inspiration and salvation. Without it they have no meaning; they have no reason; no purpose.

From Honest Reporting; Much has been written about Hamas following its victory in recent Palestinian elections. Some have attempted to sanitize the organization's murderous past and its clearly stated ideological intentions. But how much do you know about the Hamas? Try this quiz by clicking on the graphic below, forward it to relatives and friends and be prepared to challenge the media if it fails to acknowledge the real nature of Hamas - a deadly terrorist organization.

Berlusconi to explain Russia's Hamas policy to Bush AFP
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will try, during a meeting this week with US President George W. Bush, to shed light on Russia's policy toward the radical Palestinian group Hamas, a US magazine reported. 

Huh?