Monday, July 31, 2006

BREAKING NEWS! Castro relinquishes power!


From here:
Castro Relinquishes Power To His Brother (pictured at left)

(AP) HAVANA Fidel Castro has temporarily relinquished presidential power to his brother Raul due to illness. More to come...


UPDATE***
From here:

HAVANA (AP) -- Fidel Castro temporarily relinquished his presidential powers to his brother Raul on Monday night and told Cubans he underwent surgery.

The Cuban leader said he had suffered gastrointestinal bleeding, apparently due to stress from recent public appearances in Argentina and Cuba, according to the letter read live on television by his secretary, Carlos Valenciaga.

"The operation obligates me to undertake several weeks of rest," the letter read, adding that extreme stress "had provoked in me a sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obligated me to undergo a complicated surgical procedure."

Castro said he was temporarily relinquishing the presidency to his younger brother and successor Raul, the defense minister, but said the move was of "a provisional character." There was no immediate appearance or statement by Raul Castro.

The elder Castro asked that celebrations scheduled for his 80th birthday on Aug. 13 be postponed until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Castro said he would also temporarily relinquish his duties as first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba to Raul, who turned 75 in June and who has been taking on a more public profile in recent weeks.

In power since the triumph of the Cuban revolution on Jan. 1, 1959, Castro has been the world's longest-ruling head of government. Only Britain's Queen Elizabeth, crowned in 1952, has been head of state longer.

The "maximum leader's" ironclad rule has ensured Cuba remains among the world's five remaining communist countries. The others are all in Asia: China, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea. (READ MORE)



This may not in and of itself be good news:
Castro Ruz, Raúl

Rank: Army General
DOB: 06/03/31
Province: Oriente
Education: Social Sciences (undergraduate)
Position: Minister of Armed Forces, Second Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, First Vice-President of the Council of State


Raúl was born on his father's plantation in Birán, in the northern portion of the province of Oriente, on June 3, 1931. He is the fifth of seven children of Angel Castro y Argiz and Line Ruz Gonsález de Castro.Raúl attended the Jesuit school Colegio Dolores in Santiago de Cuba and later also Jesuit school Colegio Belén in Havana. Later as a student at the University of Havana. Raúl's interests in politics became evident, He was a member of the Juventud Socialista (Socialist Youth), an affiliate of the Moscow-oriented Partido Socialista Popular, Cuba's Communist Party. In 1953, while still a student at the University of Havana, Raúl made his first trip behind the Iron Curtain. He has gone to participate in the World Youth Congress in Vienna, and visited the Soviet bloc capitals of Bucharest, Budapest, and Prague. Upon his return, Raúl began to get involved in his brother's struggle against Batista's government. The younger Castro, then, supposedly broke off from the communist organization to join his brother's fight, and did so with enthusiasm, saying that "the government has to be overthrown so that the revolution can begin." He agreed with Fidel's view that "reform in Cuba could not be accomplished by constitutional means" but by overthrowing the oppressive government. On July 26, 1953, Raúl accompanied his brother and 160 followers in an attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The attack was a dismal failure; Raúl and Fidel were captured and many of their followers were executed. Both brothers were imprisoned and Raúl was given a 13-year old sentence but released in a general amnesty in May of 1955. Although a disaster, the Moncada raid gave birth to Fidel's 26th of July Movement. After his release from prison Raúl went to Mexico with Fidel to form and organize the movement. Late in 1956 Raúl, Fidel, and 80 revolutionaries left Mexico in a yacht named Granma and landed in Oriente province. Most of the rebels were killed but the Castro brothers managed to escape to the Sierra Maestra mountains along with 12 others.

In the mountains, the Castro brothers gained support and Raúl--on February 27, 1958--gained the rank of Major. He took some supporters and established a second front in the Sierra Cristal mountains in Northeastern Oriente. Named after underground leader Frank Pa’s (who was murdered in July 1957), Raúl's "Frank Pa’s Second Front" grew to a force of several hundred men. During his stay in the mountains, Raúl Castro gained a reputation for being "the most hot-headed, impetuous, and violently anti-American" of the rebels, and possessing a killer instinct. He reportedly matched the Cuban dictator "terror for terror". In the summer of 1958, he kidnapped 47 Americans and 3 Canadians, ranging from engineers employed at the Moa Nickel Company to American servicemen stationed at Guantánamo Base. It was reported that Fidel disapproved of the kidnappings and ordered Raúlto release the hostages. Raúl did not comply. He kept the captives to negotiate with the Americans, and also because he knew that Batista would not plan any attacks while there were American citizens present in his camp. When the U.S. agreed to Raúl's demands, he released the prisoners, on July 18, 1958. The kidnappings had made headlines all over the world and new accusations of communism were hurled at Raúl. On assaults, the rebels had won. Raúl Castro then decided to marry his fiancée, Vilma Espín, who had fought alongside him in the mountains (under the name of Deborah), and was reported to be his "political mentor." They were married on January 26, 1959. She was the daughter of an upper-class rum distiller, and held a chemical engineering degree from MIT.

In the wake of the revolution, ú began to punish Batista supporters. After he became head of the Armed Forces he directed the execution of nearly 100 officers and soldiers of the Batista Army and ordered them buried in a mass grave near Santiago de Cuba. In 1959 Raúl was named Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, giving him ministerial rank and complete control in reorganizing the armed forces. He build up the army into a highly professionalized modern military establishment closely modeled on the Soviet Armed Forces and equipped with the latest Soviet Equipment. The army's motto: "At your orders, commander-in-chief--for no matter what, no matter where, and under all circumstances." He also made military service for training in the Soviet Union. In 1969 he completed an advanced course in military studies taught by Soviet experts. In March of the same year he asked that soldiers be trained "to exhibit friendship with the sister armies of socialist countries; especially the Great Soviet Army, whose representatives work at the side of our officers and also harvest the fruits of our common efforts."

As commander of Cuba's two military intelligence organizations, Raúl directly thwarted numerous counter-revolutionary activities. It was he who led Cuban land forces against exile forces in the Bay of Pigs invasion of April 17, 1961. He cleaned the presence of the Guantánamo Naval Base in Cuba a "cancer" and a permanent focus of provocation. During the 1960's, it was Raúl who played a major role in transforming the framework of the Cuban government into a "Soviet-like single political party" structure. His power was consolidated with his positions as the 2nd Secretary of the Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) and Vice-Premier. It was Raúl who arranged for the deployment of Soviet long-range missiles in Cuba which resulted in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. In the 1970's and early 1980's he has visited the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and has been invited as observer to the Warsaw Pact Manuevers. In the early 1970's, when Raúl was promoted to First Vice-Premier, he was also given the new military rank of division commander, which is equivalent to that of General. He is also a member of the Secretariat and the Politburo of Cuba's Communist Party. He was on of the principal figures in the move toward a more Sovietized bureaucratic order and has long enjoyed Moscow's confidence as a politically reliable Cuban leader and as a competent administrator.
But Raul will not be without his opposition:
MIAMI, May 23 -- Political intrigues don't come any more epically scaled than this one: the future of Cuba after the inevitable death of Fidel Castro, the world's longest-reigning head of state and an American government nemesis like few others.

The singular obsession that consumes the exile community here only grows more passionate as Castro, 78, ages. It tends to crescendo at the tiniest hint of vulnerability, such as the fall last year that broke his kneecap and arm, erupting in banner headlines and talk-radio vitriol in Miami. Castro has named his brother Raul, who is five years younger, to succeed him. But a Cuban exile daredevil who once flew missions over the island to drop human rights leaflets wants to get in the way.

ose Basulto, president of Hermanos al Rescate, or Brothers to the Rescue, plans to announce Tuesday afternoon that he is offering $1 million for information leading to the indictment of Raul Castro on charges of drug trafficking and of murdering four Brothers to the Rescue pilots and passengers whose two small planes were shot down by Cuban MiG fighter planes off the island's coast in 1996.

The offer is intended to publicly pressure the U.S. government into resurrecting investigations of long-standing claims of criminal wrongdoing. But -- more important -- it also is intended to weaken Raul Castro and his allies politically and to complicate or even make illegal his succession.

"It would throw a wrench in the machinery," Basulto said of the hoped-for indictment.

Basulto already has enlisted influential figures. Guy Lewis, a former U.S. attorney in Miami who prosecuted Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega and was instrumental in the indictment of three Cuban airmen for the Brothers to the Rescue shoot down, said in an interview Monday that "there is significant evidence" in the public record to warrant indicting Raul Castro in connection with drug trafficking and the shoot-down or, at the very least, to prompt law enforcement to further investigate.

Evidence surfaced in the Brothers to the Rescue investigation, Lewis said, that Raul Castro was at the top of the chain of command that ordered the civilian group's planes shot down. During the Noriega trial, Lewis said, witnesses testified that Raul Castro facilitated cocaine smuggling to the United States. Drug kingpin Carlos Lehder has implicated Raul Castro in testimony in other cases. And a former hit man -- now in a Colombian prison for a political assassination -- who worked for drug kingpin Pablo Escobar told Spanish television network Television Espanola this month that Raul Castro was the Medellin cartel's contact for drug shipments to Miami. (Read the whole thing).


Additionally, Raul may have a lot more difficulty pounding his iron fist than did Fidel:
Nonetheless, most Cuba experts doubt Castro's death will bring an immediate transition toward more democratic government. Instead, they say, Raul Castro is most likely to follow his brother as the next leader of Cuba. "There are a few academics out there who assert that inevitably the reformers will win the post-Fidel struggle. I don't think so," says Juan del Aguila, a political scientist and Cuba expert at Emory University in Atlanta. "There is no reformist political faction in evidence now." Any would-be reformers among Cuba's top officials who call for liberal democracy would be purged, he says. "They would immediately become nonpersons."

Brian Latell, a retired Cuba expert at the Central Intelligence Agency, agrees that Raul Castro will probably emerge as Cuba's new leader. He makes the point in his new book, "After Fidel: The Inside Story of Castro's Regime and Cuba's Next Leader." But Mr. Latell says Raul Castro will not have the free hand that his brother has enjoyed in defending the revolution at the expense of the Cuban people. "After Raul takes over there will be a very, very widespread and deeply based pent-up demand for change - for political, social, and economic decompression," Latell says. "I think Raul is going to have to deal with that. Those are going to be among his gravest challenges."

Such pressures alone won't be enough to force democratic reforms, Latell says. "My guess is that [Raul] is going to adopt a Chinese model, remaining tough politically - no democracy, no opposition parties - but [pushing for] a fairly wide economic opening," he says.

"Of course it is a slippery slope," the retired intelligence officer says. Raul Castro "knows what happened in the Soviet Union so he's going to have to be very careful."
The story is, as they say, developing.

Exposing Murtha...

A great video from Censure Murtha.com

Why we must elect a Republican House this November...

Representative John Dingell (D-MI) appeared on a Detroit television program Sunday alongside Republican Congresswoman Candice Miller. After Dingell said he would not take sides in the current Israeli - Hezbollah conflict, the host asked “so you’re not against Hezbollah?” Rep. Dingell replied with a resounding “no.” Here’s the audio:




If the Democrats take control of the house in November, Dingell will be the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He's one of the eight Dems that did not vote for a resolution supporting Israel. This potential committee chairman has despicably chosen a terrorist organization over a strong American ally.

Thirst for power knows no boundaries...Hatch willing to sacrifice innocents...

Always the political opportunist, Mike Hatch, noting Bush's veto for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, seized the moonbat standard and ran with the soundbite of using taxpayer money to fund aborting children in the name of pseudo science:

Attorney General Mike Hatch said Sunday that he will propose spending $100 million of state money over 10 years on embryonic stem cell research, if he is elected governor.

Hatch said at a news conference at the State Capitol that President Bush's recent veto of expanded federal funding for stem cell research has created a void that states must fill.

Make no mistake about it. Mike Hatch wants to use Minnesota's taxpayer monies to fund what can only be described as macabre Mengelian pursuits on the most innocent among us.

Stem cell "research" as it stands now involves nothing less than the destroying--killing--of a human embryo-- a human life in its earliest form--to harvest stem cells which have shown not so much as a hint of a promise of utility in curing human maladies:
The DFL endorsed candidate for governor said Minnesota should be a leader in such research. Hatch cited the promise of stem cell research to cure diseases such as Alzheimer's and diabetes.
There is not now nor has there been any credible promise of a cure for Alzheimer's using embryonic stem cells!!! Aside from the fact that there is no known way to grow a stem cell into a brain cell, embryonic stem cells have not been tested on human beings for the simple reason that they are unstable, and create cancerous tumors when injected into mice!

Adult stem cells, on the other hand, show the greatest promise, and are the most stable of stem cells.

Make no mistake about it. The motive to continue to destroy human embryos (again--a human life in its earliest form) is not for scientific, but for political purposes! The end game in all of this is to de-humanize embryos, so as to continue to make such heinous (yet profitable) practices as abortion and human organ farming all that much more palatable.

Mike Hatch knows this. But, like many other of the leftists out there, he is more than willing to kill innocents in the name of political gain.

(Filed under defense of life)

You just never know who you might meet...

Hey there, single ladies! Forget E-Harmony! Forget Match.com. Who needs your butt-in-ski "matchmaker" Aunt Suzie--when there's Friendster! On Friendster you can meet all kinds of interesting people, like Naveed, whose passions include any kind of music (other than country or heavy metal), going out, hanging out with friends... oh yes, and did I mention shooting up Jewish community centers?

Unfortunately, as his profile indicates, Naveed didn't have many friends:


Naveed: This couch was comfortable

This couch was comfortable (Now there's a great line if I ever read one)

Male, 30, Single

Last Login : More than 3 weeks

Interested in Meeting People for: Dating Women, Friends, Activity Partners

Location: Pasco, WA

Hometown: Cleveland,Tri-Cities,Troy,Philadelphia, Seattle

Friendster Member Since: Feb 2004

More about Naveed

Schools (Other):

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Columbia Basin College, Washington State University

College/University:
Columbia Basin College, Attended 2000 - 2004, Class of 2004, Other, prerequisites

Occupation:
Electrical Engineer

Companies:
Parsons, Fluor Federal Services

Affiliations:
none

Hobbies and Interests:
exercising, biking, going out and eating with friends, hanging out.

Favorite Books:
After college I decided not to read anymore

Favorite Movies:
Meet the Parents, Shawshank Redemption, Saving Private Ryan, Happy Gilmore, The Pink Panther movies

Favorite Music:
just about anything except country and heavy metal.

Favorite TV Shows:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The Conan O'Brian Late Late Show. And some shows on Comedy Central.

About Me:
Exercising is a passion for me. I like to stay in shape and I like biking. Being opinionated is not me but I lean on the liberal side. I don't do anything real crazy, like ice climbing or bungee jumping (but he does like killing Jews). That would require getting off land, which I don't like to do. Finally, I like cats, but currently I have no cats. (I guess the cats wouldn't play with him, either)

Who I Want to Meet:
A person who has a sense of humor and is easy going like myself. (heh) A woman of the world, but not a worldly woman. I'm not sure what that means. It just sounded good. Last but not least, people with felonies need not seek my company. (heh--pretty hard to live with himself now, I'd guess)


Naveed's Testimonials

No Testimonials Yet (although I'm sure that Naveed will have plenty of time for some testimonials while awaiting his coming execution)

If you find this profile offensive, please report it to us and we will take appropriate action (Just like Naveed?)


So come on there, swinging bachelorettes--take a chance on "swinging" Naveed (heh--he may just be swinging on the end of a rope).

Or, wait for OBL's friendster page.

(h/t Sid)

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Will justice be done in Seattle?

Reader Sid sends me this:

Sound Politics is really doing very good coverage of
the recent terrorist attack in Seattle, Washington
USA.

http://www.soundpolitics.com

This article in particular is a must read.

King County Prosecutor Maleng Must Seek Death Penalty
For Jew-Killer Haq

http://soundpolitics.com/archives/006579.html

Please Contact the King County Prosecutor

norm.maleng@metrokc.gov

And King County Executive Sims who hasn't even
expressed much outrage regarding this yet.

ron.sims@metrokc.gov

Travelling down that long river in Egypt...

Leftists are a clueless lot. They are incredulous at defeat; incredulous that their message is rejected by voters; incredulous that people would actually reject their philosophy. Anytime they lose an election, it couldn't be because of their ideas. Rather, it is due to trickery by Karl Rove, voting machine fraud, you name it. Every electoral loss by a leftist is considered a stolen election.

And I'm not just talking about the U.S. here... our neighbors south of the border are experiencing it as well:

MEXICO CITY — Tens of thousands of supporters of Mexico's leftist candidate gathered in the capital Sunday for what they hoped would become the nation's largest-ever street protest, demanding a vote-by-vote recount of an election they claim was marred by fraud.

It was the third rally convened by presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador since the July 2 vote and there were concerns he might radicalize his followers, who have so far been peaceful and orderly.

Lopez Obrador's aides say they expect 1.5 million to 3 million people to attend the demonstration. While his supporters and city police have sometimes exaggerated crowd estimates, the former mayor has previously drawn hundreds of thousands into the streets.

Hell hath no fury like a moonbat scorned.

A primer on the price of oil...

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Religion of peace? Don't "believe" it.

Ever wonder why Hezbollah could never be trusted to keep a truce?

Ever hear of al-Taqiyya?

Try reading here:
Assallamu `Alaykum,
Assallamu `Alaykum,

Today, I would like to present the concept of "al-Taqiyya" in the following exposition. This topic is as thorny as previous ones have been, and many people have experienced great difficulty in trying to understand it. I pray to Allah (SWT) that this discussion will help loosen some of the intellectual rust that has accumulated over the years in many peoples' minds. The interminable negative propaganda that people are bombarded with on a daily basis serves to nurture feelings of animosity and disbelief towards the Shia; additionally, it may promote the explicit denial of proven facts and truths. Nonetheless, you owe it to yourself to
search for the truth; and, indeed, Allah (SWT) has commanded that you do. As such, it is your prerogative to believe or reject everything that the Shia claim; but my plea is that the next time you hear a discussion about the Shia in your Mosque, or any place else, please remember my posts, and question the person who is discussing the topic. Only then, will you see my point, In Sha' Allah (SWT).

I intend to demonstrate and prove that the concept of "al-Taqiyya" is an integral part of Islam, and that it is NOT a Shi'ite concoction.

As usual, the two perspectives, the Sunnis and the Shia, will be presented to maintain a level of fairness and integrity in the reporting of this topic.


============
Introduction
============
The word "al-Taqiyya" literally means: "Concealing or disguising one's beliefs, convictions, ideas, feelings, opinions, and/or strategies at a time of eminent danger, whether now or later in time, to save oneself from physical and/or mental injury." A one-word translation would be "Dissimulation."

The above definition must be elaborated upon before any undertaking of this topic is to ensue. Although correct, the definition suffers from an apparent generalization, and lacks some fundamental details that should be construed:

First, the CONCEALMENT of one's beliefs does NOT necessitate an ABANDONMENT of these beliefs. The distinction between "concealment" and "abandonment" MUST be noted here.

Second, there are numerous exceptions to the above definition, and they MUST be judged according to the situation that one is placed in. As such, one should NOT make a narrow-minded generalization that encompasses all situations, thereby failing to fully absorb the spirit of the definition.

Third, the word "beliefs" and/or "convictions" does NOT necessarily mean "religious" beliefs and/or convictions.

With the above in mind, it becomes evident that a better, and more accurate definition of "al-Taqiyya" is "diplomacy." The true spirit of "al-Taqiyya" is better embodied in the single word "diplomacy" because it encompasses a comprehensive spectrum of behaviors that serve to further the vested interests of all parties involved.


==================================
al-Taqiyya According to the Sunnis
==================================
Some Sunnis assert that al-Taqiyya is an act of pure hypocrisy that serves to conceal the truth and reveal that which is the exact opposite (of the truth). Furthermore, according to those Sunnis, al-Taqiyya constitutes a lack of faith and trust in Allah (SWT) because the person who conceals his beliefs to spare himself from eminent danger is fearful of humans, when, in fact, he should be fearful of Allah (SWT) only. As such, this person is a coward.


======================================
Sunni Sources in Support of al-Taqiyya
======================================
The following exposition will Insha Allah demonstrate the existence of al-Taqiyya in the Quran, Hadith, the Prophet's (PBUH&HF) custom, and the companions' custom. As usual, Sunni books will be used to further the argument. This is in keeping with the commitment to reveal the truth by showing that the Sunnis reject the Shia's arguments, while THEIR OWN books are replete (full) with the SAME ideologies that the Shia uphold! Although some Wahhabis staunchly argue their aforementioned statements, and aggressively defame the Shia and refute their doctrines, they have failed to explain the validity of their argument vis-a-vis the existence of these SAME doctrines in their own books, as has been demonstrated in ALL the past posts about the Shia. Those who think that they are the true protectors of the custom of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) and the only guardians of the Islamic Faith, how can they explain their own rejection of that which they are supposed to protect? Rejecting al-Taqiyya is rejecting the Quran, as will be shown shortly.

Let's Begin...

Reference 1:
-----------
Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti in his book, "al-Durr al-Manthoor Fi al-Tafsir al-Ma'athoor," narrates Ibn Abbas', the MOST renowned and trusted narrator of
tradition in the sight of the Sunnis, opinion regarding al-Taqiyya in the Quranic verse: "Let not the believers take for friends or helpers unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, (they) shall have no relation left with Allah except by way of precaution ("tat-taqooh"), that ye may guard yourselves ("tooqatan") from them....[3:28]" that Ibn Abbas said:

"al-Taqiyya is with the tongue only; he who has been COERCED into saying that which angers Allah (SWT), and his heart is comfortable (i.e., his TRUE faith has NOT been shaken.), then (saying that which he has been coerced to say) will NOT harm him (at all); (because) al-Taqiyya is with the tongue only, (NOT the heart)."

NOTE: The two words "tat-taqooh" and "tooqatan," as mentioned in the Arabic
Quran, are BOTH from the same root of "al-Taqiyya."

NOTE ALSO: The "heart" as referred to above and in later occurrences refers to the center of faith in an individual's existence. It is mentioned many times in the Quran.


Reference 2:
-----------
Ibn Abbas also commented on the above verse, as narrated in Sunan al-Bayhaqi and Mustadrak al-Hakim, by saying:

"al-Taqiyya is the uttering of the tongue, while the heart is comfortable with faith."

NOTE: The meaning is that the tongue is permitted to utter anything in a time of need, as long as the heart is not affected; and one is still comfortable with faith. (Read the whole thing)



(Filed under Religion of Peace?)

Thursday, July 27, 2006

The democrat insurgency

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean on Wednesday called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki an "anti-Semite" for failing to denounce Hezbollah for its attacks against Israel.

Al-Maliki has condemned Israel's offensive, prompting several Democrats to boycott his address to a joint meeting of Congress and others to criticize him. Dean's comments were the strongest to date.

"The Iraqi prime minister is an anti-Semite," the Democratic leader told a gathering of business leaders in Florida. "We don't need to spend $200 and $300 and $500 billion bringing democracy to Iraq to turn it over to people who believe that Israel doesn't have a right to defend itself and who refuse to condemn Hezbollah."

If this isn't the most blatant case of the pot calling the kettle black, nothing is. Just the other day, no less than seven democrats refused to back a resolution that would in fact back the same thing that Dean is condemning Al-Maliki for refusing to back.

And why does Dean never condemn the French or Germans or other democrats, for that matter, for refusing to recognize that Israel has the right to defend itself?!? Instead, they insult a leader of a country that is an ally in our fight against radical islamofascists, knowing full well that our soldiers shed blood giving birth to that democracy, and knowing full well that any slap to the face of Iraq is a direct slap to Bush and to our war effort.

Such blatant hypocrisy knows no bounds in the democrat party.


The long and the short of it is simple, and I do not say it lightly:

The leadership of the democrat party have become enemies of the State.

The democrats have taken their jihad beyond the political. No longer can they separate the good of their nation from their political objectives, for to them, the United States ceased being "their nation" when Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, and even more specifically when Bush won the Presidency in 2000. Since then, to the democrats, the United States itself as a nation has become synonymous with and inseparable from the Republican party, and, as an arm of the Republican party (in their eyes), its best interests are to be defeated at all costs.

Rather than being able to separate political party from the nation which the party governs, the democrat party has in effect declared themselves to be the insurgency--an enemy of the United States, which they see as having been "unjustly" taken away from them. Therefore, what is good for the United States is good for their enemy (the Republican Party) and bad for them; and what is bad for the United States is bad for their enemy(the Republican Party), and good for the democrats. Never mind that they cut off their collective nose to spite their collective face, and perhaps even lose a war and even innocent lives in a terrorist attack in the process; for the ends certainly justify the means. I mean, what's a little collateral damage in the fight to regain control of what they consider to be their country?

This democrat insurgency will no doubt continue, in their minds, in full force until such time that they are finally in power; when the United States will, in their eyes, once again magically turn into a good nation beyond reproach.

This line of thinking is as foreign to the minds of conservatives as Greece is to outer Mongolia; but given the liberals' constant barrage of attacks on our nation and constant undermining of our national security during a time of war, one can come to no other conclusion:

The liberal democrat left have declared war on the United States of America.



(Filed under the fifth column)

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Stick a fork in Rowley?

From Roll Call:

Dan Rasmussen

Roll Call

July 26, 2006

National and Minnesota Democrats seem about ready to walk away from Coleen Rowley's ill-fated campaign to unseat Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) — just as her campaign manager recently did.

Many in the party had hoped that Rowley's national fame — Time magazine named her Person of the Year in 2002 for being a whistle-blower at the FBI — would make her an exciting, appealing candidate in an otherwise Republican-leaning district. But now some state Democrats say Rowley's first run for political office is going so badly that they're turning their sights on damage control.

"She's running the single worst campaign that could be run," said one state Democratic insider. "I'm worried that if she's running a weak race in the 2nd it's going to hurt the statewide candidates. What's going to get people to turn out and vote Democratic?"

(Filed under elections)

More Good News in Iraq...

In from Centcom:
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Marines from Regimental Combat Team 5’s, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, and soldiers from 2nd and 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, rescued three Iraqi hostages in an intelligence-driven operation July 23.

The three were personal assistants and bodyguards to Dr. Rafa Hayid Chiad Al-Isaw, an Iraqi government official in Baghdad.

“We are extremely pleased we were able to recover these three Iraqi citizens,” said Col. Larry D. Nicholson, commanding officer for RCT-5. “The safety of Iraqi citizens to move freely about their own country without fear is a priority for U.S and Iraqi forces and we will continue to assist the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police in ensuring their citizens have a future that is free of terrorism.”

The three were held captive by al-Qaeda insurgents in a spiderhole complex for 27 days. The hostages were beaten with electrical cords, bitten and threatened with their lives at gunpoint by their captors. (And Teddy Kennedy has the cajones to moan about Club Gitmo??--ed) They were treated by Coalition Forces medical personnel.

The three were taken hostage by al-Qaeda insurgents west of Zaidon, a rural area south of Fallujah. They were rescued near Fuhaylat, southwest of Fallujah.
Also recovered nearby was a significant weapons cache, including a fully-assembled suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device. Marines also recovered IEDs and IED-making material, mortar tubes and round, artillery rounds, machine guns, bulk explosives, anti-tank mines, rocket-propelled grenades and launchers, AK-47 assault rifles, small-arms ammunition and video cameras.
And from here:
7/25/2006

BALAD – Iraqi Army forces conducted a pre-dawn raid in Baghdad on July 25, capturing six targeted insurgents, all of whom are believed to be involved in ‘death squad’ activities.
As coalition force advisers looked on, Iraqi forces raided an objective in southwest Baghdad consisting of four separate buildings and captured the cell leader and five other key members of an insurgent ‘punishment committee.’

Iraqi forces also seized two AK-47 assault rifles, one pistol, and one set of body armor.

The operation occurred without incident; there were no Iraqi or coalition force casualties.
And yet more good news, this time from Afghanistan:
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – A Coalition patrol killed seven extremists on July 25 after they attacked Coalition forces in the Garmser District of Helmand Province.

There were no Coalition casualties in the fight. The Coalition unit received small arms, rocket-propelled grenade, machine gun and sniper fire from a group of extremists. The Coalition force returned fire, killing five insurgents


Later in the same area, insurgents fired small arms at an Afghan National Army mortar team, with a Coalition embedded tactical training team attached. The combined unit responded with machine gun fire and killed the remaining two insurgents.


“If enemy extremists fire upon Coalition forces, we will respond with deadly accuracy,” said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, Combined Joint Task Force -76 spokesman. “If they attack Afghan civilians, we will respond just as forcefully. We remain committed to engaging any threats to the peaceful future of the Afghan people.”


Afghan National Security forces continue to maintain a strong presence in the area of Garmser and provide security that will enable reconstruction and humanitarian aid projects to be delivered that will improve the lives of the Afghan people.


(Filed under Heroes)

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

La Joke Du Jour...

Elephants are cool.

In the mid 1990's, a man was on holiday in Kenya. While he was walking through the bush, he came across an elephant standing with one leg raised in the air.
The elephant seemed distressed so the man approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot. There was a large thorn deeply embedded in the bottom of the foot.
As carefully and as gently as he could he removed the thorn and the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather stern look on its face, stared at him. For a good ten minutes the man stood frozen -- thinking of nothing else but being trampled.
Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away.

For years after, the man remembered the elephant and the events of that day. One day the man was walking through the zoo with his son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to where they are standing at the rail. It stared at him and the man couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant.

After a while it trumpeted loudly; then it continued to stare at him. The man summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. Suddenly the elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of the man's legs and swung him wildly back and forth along the railing, killing him.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.

And in another blatant attempt to usurp parental authority...

The democrat's leftlonging to continue to worship at the altar of abortion continues.

From here:

Democrats seek changes to abortion bill


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Confidants like grandparents or ministers who help pregnant teens should be protected from prosecution under a bill headed for Senate passage that would punish anyone who takes girls across state lines to end their pregnancies, Democrats said Tuesday.

"We should not criminalize the grandparents or clergy members to whom a teen in trouble might turn for help," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who plans to introduce an amendment to protect such confidants from prosecution.

But Republicans, reopening the abortion debate ahead of this fall's midterm elections, say Congress must defend the parents' right to know when their children seek abortions. The bill, sponsored by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., would exempt parents and the teens from prosecution but punish anyone else who helps them seek an abortion in another state with fines and up to a year in jail.

This all goes along with the liberal mentality that all children are wards of the state, and the state knows best. Especially when it comes to ending one life for the convenience of another.


Have you ever seen any group so hell-bent on the destruction of life?


(Filed under Defense of Life)

Monday, July 24, 2006

The human toll...of Murtha's madness...

My son Doug took this picture in Iraq the other day:

According to Doug, he says, "Nice little girl, I spoil her!"

I keep on thinking, how our soldiers have fought and continue to fight to give little girls like this a future, to the point of giving their very blood to the cause. Then I think of how this little girl will never have the chance to grow up in a free society if tunnel-visioned opportunistic dupes like Murtha get their way.

Our soldiers are the last, greatest hope for a free society in Iraq and for Iraq to be a shining beacon of freedom in an otherwise oppressive middle east.

That's what my son is fighting for.

And that's why John P. Murtha must go!

(Filed under Murtha Must Go!!, the fifth column, heroes)

My kind of town?

Chicago, chicago that toddling town
Chicago, chicago Ill show you around - I love it
Bet your bottom dollar youll lose the blues in chicago
The town that billy sunday could not shut down

On state street that great street I just want to say
They do things that they dont do on broadway - say
They have the time the time of their life
I saw a man and he danced with his wife
In chicago, my home town
Apparently, Sinatra will soon be rolling in his grave. If he's not doing so already:
CHICAGO (AP) -- If you're a cell phone-using, goose liver-eating, cigarette-smoking, fast food-loving person, Chicago might not be your kind of town.

In this city that once winked at Prohibition, members of the City Council are trying to crack down on things they deem unhealthy, immoral or just plain annoying.

A proposal that would restrict fast-food chains from cooking with artery-clogging trans fat oils got a public airing last week, and in the past year alone aldermen have banned smoking in nearly all public places and the use of cell phones while driving.

In April, Chicago became the first U.S. city to outlaw the sale of foie gras, a goose liver delicacy that is decried by animal-rights activists because it is created by force-feeding birds to fatten up their livers.

Critics, including the mayor, wonder if the City Council has suddenly deemed itself the behavior police.

"We have children getting killed by gang leaders and dope dealers," an angry Mayor Richard M. Daley said earlier this year. "We have real issues here in this city. And we're dealing with foie gras? Let's get some priorities."

Aldermen say they are addressing real problems and protecting their constituents. And they deny the proposals are diverting their attention from major issues like a city budget crunch.

And in the biggest duck of responsibility I've ever seen:
"The fact that there may be greater wrongs to address doesn't mean we cannot also address what we might also view as lesser wrongs," said Alderman Joe Moore, who led the effort to ban foie gras.
Some in the Chicago power structure are seeing the folly of their ways, albeit too little, too late:

Alderman Burton Natarus, who has sponsored a host of noise ordinances aimed at turning down the volume on street musicians, construction workers, boom boxes and motorcycles, agreed with those who argue the council is sticking its nose where it doesn't belong.

"I think we are trying to control people's behavior too much," said Natarus, who regrets voting for the foie gras ban. "We are trying to itty-bitty regulate every facet of somebody's life."

Welcome to liberalism, Natarus.

Welcome to liberalism.

The "no duhhh" headline of the day...


In a fit of handwringing by the Star & Sickle...


DFL could lose lock on attorney general's office

For decades, the state's top legal post has been in DFL hands. But with the DFL in disarray, the GOP or others could surprise.
Break out the hankies, moonbats... it's all over but the crying.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Score another for the good guys...

This just in from CENTCOM:


Title:

TWO IRAQI FORCE RAIDS IN BAGHDAD NET FOUR INSURGENTS

Release Date:

7/21/2006

Release Number:

06-07-02P

Description:

BALAD – Iraqi security forces conducted two separate operations in Baghdad on July 20, capturing four insurgents who may be involved in ‘extra judicial killing,’ or EJK cells.

The first operation by Iraqi security forces, a raid on back-to-back objectives in southwest Baghdad, netted three primary targets. The first individual was a key insurgent leader believed to plan and coordinate insurgent operations in Baghdad. The second is allegedly involved in financing operations and supplying weapons to insurgents. And the third is believed to be involved in kidnapping Iraqi citizens, Iraqi police and Iraqi soldiers for ransom to finance insurgent activities. He is also allegedly involved in murdering kidnapping victims and participating in attacks against coalition forces.

Iraqi forces also seized three AK-47 assault rifles and three nine millimeter pistols.

During a second raid in southern Baghdad, Iraqi Army forces captured an individual known to deal improvised explosive devices, or IEDs and small arms to insurgent groups.

Coalition force advisers were on hand during both operations, and both occurred without incident.

No Iraqi or coalition forces were injured during the operation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT MULTINATIONAL CORPS PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT MNCI-PAO-VictoryMainJOC@iraq.centcom.mil.

Score!

On calling a spade a spade...

PA. Congressman Rick Santorum hit the nail on the head in defining our enemy:
Islamic Fascism the Enemy, Not Terror, Says Santorum
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
July 21, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - The United States is not fighting a war against terrorism so much as a war against Islamic fascism, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) said Thursday. But a spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations said Santorum's argument only empowers "extremists."
And just how does it "empower" extremists, CAIR? By making the "poor widdle muswim extwemists" "mad" because we're rightfully labeling them the enemy? Does not doing so decrease the amount of beheadings and bombings of innocent people, CAIR? Your organization is none better than Koffi Annan's corrupt United Nations!

Rick Santorum goes on to squarely define our enemy:
"Some say we're fighting a war on terror. That's like saying World War II was a war on blitzkrieg. Terror, like blitzkrieg is a tactic of war, used by our enemy," said Santorum at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. "It is not the enemy.

"In World War II we fought Nazism and Japanese imperialism. Today, we are fighting against Islamic fascism," he said.

Santorum labeled Islamic fascism "truly evil" and added that it poses "as big a threat today as Nazism or Soviet Communism."

"Islamic fascism is the great test of this generation," he said

Amen, Mr. Santorum. Amen.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

She is certifiably delusional...

Helen Thomas has made up a world of her own, in which the U.N. has come up with a resolution for a cease-fire in Lebanon (which it hasn't), and that a unilateral cessation of hostilities on Israel's part will stop Hezbollah from killing (which it won't). Tony Snow masterfully handles the Hezbollah "Quisling Queen" with ease, though. View the whole video here.

Monday, July 17, 2006

Man, this is huge!!...

More encouraging news I have not heard in a long time (emphases mine):

Yes, world, there is a silent Arab majority that believes that seventh-century Islam is not fit for 21st-century challenges. That women do not have to look like walking black tents. That men do not have to wear beards and robes, act like lunatics, and run around blowing themselves up in order to enjoy 72 virgins in paradise. And that secular laws, not Islamic Shariah, should rule our day-to-day lives.

And yes, we, the silent Arab majority, do not believe that writers, secular or otherwise, should be killed or banned for expressing their views. Or that the rest of our creative elite - from moviemakers to playwrights, actors, painters, sculptors, and fashion models - should be vetted by Neanderthal Muslim imams who have never read a book in their dim, miserable lives.

Nor do we believe that little men with head wraps and disheveled beards can run amok in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq making decisions on our behalf, dragging us to war whenever they please, confiscating our rights to be adults, and flogging us for not praying five times a day or even for not believing in God.

More important, we are not silent any longer.

Rarely have I seen such an uprising, indeed an intifada, against those little turbaned, bearded men across the Muslim landscape as the one that took place last week. The leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, received a resounding "no" to pulling 350 million Arabs into a war with Israel on his clerical coattails.

The collective "nyet" was spoken by presidents, emirs, and kings at the highest level of government in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, and at the Arab League's meeting of 22 foreign ministers in Cairo on Saturday. But it was even louder from pundits and ordinary people.

Perhaps the most remarkable and unexpected reaction came from Saudi Arabia, whose foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, said bluntly and publicly that Hezbollah's decision to cross the Lebanese border, attack Israel, and kidnap its soldiers has left the Shiite group on its own to face Israel. The unspoken message here was, "We hope they blow you away."

The Arab League put it succinctly in its final communique in Cairo, declaring that "behavior undertaken by some groups [read: Hezbollah and Hamas] in apparent safeguarding of Arab interests does in fact harm those interests, allowing Israel and other parties from outside the Arab world [read: Iran] to wreck havoc with the security and safety of all Arab countries."

As for Hezbollah and its few supporters, who have pushed for an emergency Arab summit meeting, the response could not have been a bigger slap in the face. Take a listen:

* Abdul Rahman al-Rashed, the general manager of Al-Arabiya, possibly the most influential Arab opinion-maker today, was categorical yesterday: "We have lost most of our causes and the largest portions of our lands following fiery speeches and empty promises of struggle coupled with hallucinating, drug-induced political fantasies." As for joining Hezbollah in its quest, his answer was basically, "you broke it, you own it."

* Tariq Alhomayed, editor in chief of the Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, stuck the dagger in deeper: "Mr. Nasrallah bombastically announced he consulted no one when he decided to attack Israel, nor did he measure Lebanon's need for security, prosperity, and the safety of its people. He said he needs no one's help but God's to fight the fight." Mr. Alhomayed's punch line was, in so many words: Go with God, Sheik Nasrallah, but count the rest of us out.

Several other Arab pundits, not necessarily coordinating their commentary, noted that today Sheik Nasrallah has been reduced to Osama bin Laden status, a fugitive from Israeli justice, sending out his tapes from unknown locations to, invariably, Al-Jazeera, the prime purveyor of Mr. bin Laden's communications.

All in all, it seems that when Israel decided to go to war against the priestly mafia of Hamas and Hezbollah, it opened a whole new chapter in the Greater Middle East discourse. And Israel is finding, to its surprise, that a vast, not-so-silent majority of Arabs agrees that enough is enough. To be sure, beneath the hostility toward Sheik Nasrallah in Sunni Muslim states lies the deep and bitter heritage of a 14-century Sunni-Shiite divide, propelled to greater heights now by fears of an ascendant Shiite "arc of menace" rising out of Iran and peddled in the Sunni world by Syria.

The sooner this is settled the better.

Did you ever--in your lifetime--ever think you'd see a piece like this? And that the Arab League would take the side of Israel with regard to an Arab-Israeli conflict???

This is huge. This could represent a turning point toward true world peace. I could be wrong, but talk of WWIII could have played a major part in this fascinating turnaround of middle eastern policy on the part of Arab nations. Not that we still don't have twits like Iran and Syria to contend with, but with this news, they too, have been put on notice that the majority of their Arab brethren do not want to take that dark walk back into the middle ages!

During a time when all hope seemed lost, I hope and pray that this indeed proves to be a positive turning point in world relations.

HUZZAH!!