The Scriptorium

Some of the worst sex offenders in the country are housed at the new “civil commitment center” at the McNeil Island Correctional Facility in Washington State. While these felonious perverts no doubt fed their perversion with a diet of base and violent pornography, their new digs feature a $100,000 artistic planter and a $60,000 mural. Who paid for the $160,000 of art at the sex predatorium? The taxpayers of Washington State.

You see, by state law one-half of one percent of any new state construction project has to go for art. If your jaw just dropped, you read it right. One-half of one percent of ANY new state construction must be spent on art. This includes new prisons. The state lawmakers need to rethink this. Why in the world should the taxpayers pay $160,000 so child molesters and rapists can look at something pretty?! Why is it such a an enormous undertaking for our state senators and representatives to use a little common sense. If they want the prisoners to look at fine art, let the money come from their salaries!

KOMO-TV Commentary

Adam Keiper created a video of different scenes from the election in Iraq yesterday. It’s an excellent video, and an emotional one if you take great joy in seeing the Iraqi people free to vote for the first time. (hat tip Michelle Malkin)

View video here

When you run a Christian website, this kind of news is always disconcerting, but not all that surprising. We’ve received threats at Contender Ministries on occasion. I know the media would consider what I’m about to say intolerant, but it is simply a fact. The threats we have received have come only from Muslims. I’m not saying we don’t get hate mail from others, believe me we do, but the only e-mailers to threaten us were upset about the profile of Islam on our website. To be fair, some of the more polite e-mails we get are from Muslims as well.

If anyone dared to investigate what goes on in chat rooms, on websites, and on messageboards, I’m quite positive they’d find these kind of threats aren’t as uncommon as most of us think they are. The Counter terrorism blog points out a New York Sun Article covering a website that’s devoted to tracking Christians like us and posting pictures and addresses for those they disagree with. The article begins:

A radical Islamic Web site systematically tracks Christians on PalTalk.com, an Internet chat service on which a New Jersey man received a death threat two months before he and his family were murdered. The password protected Arabic Web site, at the address www.barsomyat.com, features pictures and information about Christians who have been particularly active in debating Muslims on PalTalk.

One page from barsomyat.com features a group of photographs of a Syrian Christian, “Joseph,” who now lives in Canada. Barsomyat.com’s users have posted personal information about Joseph, including his brother’s parole status, and make clear that they are actively trying to track down his current address.

I’ve always worried more about this kind of an attack on our freedoms than I have the intrusions into our personal freedoms from our government. In government we still have the power to force change, and there are many organizations at our disposal for fighting any infringement on our constitutional rights. But, how do you exercise your constitutional right to free speech when there are Muslim websites tracking you for the purposes of revenge? This is a real threat to our freedoms, and it’s one the media will cover up in the interest of political correctness. We’ve seen in the recent murder of a Coptic Christian family in New Jersey that the media sees dirty looks and tension between Muslims and Christians as a bigger cause for concern than a viciously murdered family of four, or a website tracking Christians who disagree with Islam.

Several articles from the New York Times, AP, Reuters, and others ran articles warning that anti-Muslim bias was on the rise in New Jersey. Consider the paragraph below from the Sun article in light of our warning from the liberal press.

Subscribers also post explicit warnings to Joseph. One comment states, “Know, oh Christian, that you are not far from us and you are under our watchful eyes!” Another user remarks, “Laugh, oh Chrisitan, and soon you will see a big hit.”

Which concerns you more, dirty looks or death threats? The media is too occupied policing dirty looks and “rising tensions” to notice those who are celebrating the murder of four innocent Egyptian Christians.

One user posted a photograph of Hossam Armanious and wrote, “This is a picture of the filthy dog, curser of Muhammad, and a photo of his filthy wife, curser of Muhammad. They got what they deserved for their actions in America.”

I think I detect a little anti-Christian bias here, or maybe some rising tentions.

Please forgive the light blogging the past couple of days. Ben and I have both been sick. We’re feeling better today and have enjoyed watching images on television of Iraqis dancing in the streets as they have free elections for the first time. Some are projecting 72% of Iraqis will vote in this election. Others have reported 60%. Either number is better than the turnout seen in U.S. or UK elections. The U.S. saw only 59% of registered voters actually make it to the polls in the last election. So much for the doomsday scenarios of Kennedy, Kerry, Boxer, and all the other leftist complainers.

There have been some suicide bombings and some casualties since the polls opened, but nothing even close to the warnings we heard from the anti-war flip floppers in Congress. It hasn’t stopped Kerry from continuing his negative spin, however. His response on Fox News this morning sounded much like most of his campaign speeches. He doesn’t believe todays election should be viewed as a success, because the real success would be to come together with other nations, heal wounds, and form a broad coalition. In other words, this election is making Kerry look bad, so let’s go back to talking about the “global test”.

Last night while we were watching the election coverage and reading some of the Iraqi blogs, we noticed the Seattle P.I.’s headline for their first article covering the election. The headline read, “Iraqis Vote, Turnout Low in Some Areas”. The article’s first paragraph stated that there were a number of attacks on polling places resulting in casualties, and the rest of the article had the same negative tone. Obviously they were looking for any negatives and were desperate to avoid any positive coverage of the election. By this morning they must have realized their headline was a little too obvious. It was changed to, “Iraqis Brave Attacks, Turnout High”. I imagine most of the Old Media is facing a similar dilemma. There is no way to spin what’s happening in Iraq today to benefit the left. Even John Kerry’s attempt sounded lame and transparent. As Iraqis dance in the streets and at the polls, there are quite a few Democrats wondering how their going to reconcile all their warnings and criticism with what everyone is seeing on their televisions. They could always take the DU approach and hope that it’s all an evil Rovian-style plot to fool the Americans and elect the insurgency to power.

I’m not kidding about that DU theory. They’re so sickened by the success their seeing on TV, they cant’ watch it anymore and they’re creating new realities for themselves. One DUmmie let the cat out of the bag and exposed this fellow DUmmies for who and what they are. Read this post and see if it doesn’t make you ill. They are actually taking the side of the insurgency. It’s their hope that the terrorists still have a plan to defeat the U.S. and toss out this “sham of an election”. And these people actually act offended if you call them unpatriotic! Go figure.

Here are a few of the Iraq blogs that are coving the election today:

The Mesopotamian

Hammorabi

Diary From Baghdad

Iraqi Humanity

Baghdad Dweller

Democracy In Iraq

Free Iraqi

Friends of Democracy

This is why scientists are fearful of speaking out about the problems inherent in the theory of evolution. They stand to lose their jobs and be ostracized by the scientific community. If a scientist does dare print the evidence against evolution, evolutionists never attempt to counter with scientific evidence or answers to the holes in their theory. They dismiss any criticism as unscientific and chalk it up to religious zealotry. That’s because they have no answers. The only option they have for shutting down any discussion of the bad science behind evolution is to shut down the scientist and ruin his career. If evolution really is such a sound and provable theory, what are they so afraid of? One of the first questions asked of someone who has the guts to print an article on Intelligent Design is always, “Is he a fundamentalist Christian?” If the answer is yes, the problem is solved. No proof necessary. Just slap on the fundamentalist label, do a little drive by tar and feathering, and file a lawsuit if they threaten to release facts into the public education system.

The career of a prominent researcher at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington is in jeopardy after he published a peer-reviewed article by a leading proponent of intelligent design, an alternative to evolutionary theory dismissed by the science and education establishment as a tool of religious conservatives.

Richard Sternberg says that although he continues to work in the museum’s Department of Zoology, he has been kicked out of his office and shunned by colleagues, prompting him to file a complaint with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. . . . .

WorldNetDaily

A Scriptorium reader, J.W., points out this Reuters article that seems not to have the typical Reuters bias, and actually exposes the severe problem we have in the U.S. with sexually transmitted diseases. Although, they obviously avoided any mention of abstinence being the only 100% effective way to fix the problem.

Unsafe sexual activity in the U.S. is three times higher than any other developed country. I was actually surprised to hear that it’s that much higher in the U.S. than in France or the UK. This is what permissive lifestyles, the homosexual lobby, and liberal sex education in our schools has gotten us. Unfortunately, these kinds of statistics have been around for a long time and they are consistently ignored. It’s more important to secularists to remove all moral values and make what has always been immoral and self destructive behavior into something that is normal and accepted.

It’s been a well known fact for many years that homosexuals have a far higher occurrence of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS than do heterosexuals. Yet homosexuality is promoted and encouraged in our schools and treated as a special class by our government without any mention of this risk.

Smoking has caused a similar strain on our health care system. In response, our government has run ad campaigns discouraging smoking, schools teach children the danger inherent in smoking, sin taxes have been added to tobacco products to discourage their use, and the tobacco industry has paid out billions to cancer victims. Have you ever heard a teacher, the government, or the media mention the risks involved in engaging in homosexual sex? Rarely. At the most you will hear them proclaim that condoms will solve our problems. We’ve been pushing condoms at kids for years. It hasn’t worked. They just have more sex earlier and with more people, increasing their chances of getting an STD or AIDS.

The problem for liberals is, you can’t convince the world that homosexuality is normal and natural, and at the same time point out the dangers to one’s health from engaging in it. Similarly, you can’t fight against morals and social values while at the same time pointing out the consequences of permissive lifestyles, multiple sex partners, and unsafe sex. Rising rates of HIV AIDS, STD’s, and abortions will never stop rising if it’s taboo to even discuss the problem or point out the cause and effect relationship between our society’s moral decline and the rising burden of sexually transmitted diseases. I fear the problem will have to get much worse before it’s addressed.

Reuters Article

If you’ve been following the media coverage of the family of Coptic Christians that were brutally murdered in their home in New Jersey, you may have noticed that most of the MSM is working hard to either debunk any evidence that points to a Muslim hate crime, or trying to make the poor, misunderstood and persecuted Muslim community look like the victims. Take this headline from the Daily Southtown for example:

Slaying spurs new wave of anti-Muslim bias

What about the 4 dead people that may have lost their lives because of a wave of anti-Christian bias?

Jihad Watch points out that in much of the local New Jersey media, Christians who express concern about the possibility that the murders were motivated by religious hatred are labeled Islamophobes, a term used to silence anyone who says anything negative about the religion of peace.

A Philadelphia Inquirer article leads off with the headline “Motive eludes investigators in killing of Jersey City family“. An ongoing investigation does not mean that the investigators are unable to find a motive. It means they need to investigate the possible motive. Investigators have admitted that religious hatred is one possible motive that they are investigating. The article also includes the standard “blame the victim” tactic. “Concern from Christians causes tensions” the writer laments. How about, “four dead people leads to concern from Christians”?

ABC News chimes in with N.J. Deaths Spark New Anti-Muslim Bias. The ABC article decries the dirty looks directed at Muslims, and the anti-Muslim sentiment that is washing over the city. Funny, I’ve never heard the media refer to anti-Christian and anti-Jewish sentiment in such dramatic terms. Especially tragic and distressing, the article complains, is that Muslims have been reaching out to all faiths in the community. Oh, well then it couldn’t have been a Muslim who followed through on their threat to kill this Christian family. The entire article tries to portray anti-Muslim sentiment as the real tragedy here. I wonder if they are aware that anti-Christian sentiment is washing over several Muslim websites who are celebrating these deaths as the beginning of something great in America. I don’t think I like the way they are reaching out to other faiths.

I wish the media would report things like this more often. I hope, as the blogosphere grows and more people start turning to the internet for their news, the media will be forced to end their selective reporting. They’ll still have the liberal, anti-war, hippie crowd, but I don’t think they watch a lot of news – too many facts involved in something like that. Even the old media throws in a few facts once in a while, accidentally of course.

Seattle barber Ammar Alshukry is one in a million. Literally.

He’s one in a million Iraqis outside the country, scattered around the world, who can vote Sunday.

“We have to vote,” he says as he cuts Bob Russell’s hair at Neva’s Barbershop in Seattle’s Ravenna neighborhood.

Ammar and his family from West Seattle will drive down to Los Angeles to do just that.

“It’s going to be an emotional moment, a really nice moment of my life,” says Ammar.

It’s something this man who escaped Iraq 14 years ago always dreamed about.

“Iraqi people never had that before,” says Ammar.

What they’ve never had, is what many of us take for granted: to vote, in a free election. And to know our vote counts.

With the prospect of freedom and democracy in his homeland, there’s hope for a better life, for his two brothers and two sisters who still live there. They’ll be heading to the polls.

Ammar worries about them, and the threat of violence.

“Yes I worry about my family, my friends, so I hope when they go out there, they’re not going to have a bad day there,” says Ammar.

Today is a good day. A good day because Ammar Alshukry knows soon he will do something unimaginable just a few years ago.

Komo 4 News Seattle

I’m definitely even less hopeful now that the Oil for Food report due to come out soon will be an accurate and honest report of who was involved in one of the largest scandals in history. Volker, the person appointed to head up the investigation, appears to have a conflict of interest. Why are we only finding this out now? The fact that Volker is an advisor to a French firm involved in the scandal seems like something that should have been pointed out before he was chosen to investigate himself and the organization that he has a long history of actively supporting and defending.

Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve who is heading up a U.N. investigation of the oil-for-food scandal, is an adviser to a company linked to a French oil firm that benefited from the United Nations program.

According to Fox News, Volcker has been a paid adviser and is now an unpaid adviser to a firm linked to Total, which did nearly $2 billion of business under the oil-for-food program.

Since 1987, Volcker has been an adviser to and close friend of billionaire Paul Desmarais of the Canadian company Power Corporation. Fox says the company confirms Volcker is a member of its international advisory council. Power, along with a Belgian firm, shares control of a company called GBL. GBL is the largest single shareholder of Total. . . . . .

Worldnet Daily Article

Yet another example of the historical accuracy of the Bible. A Canadian archaeologist has unearthed information proving the existence of the Bible’s Kingdom of Edom, and contradicting the popular belief among Bible critics that it couldn’t have existed during the time the Bible says it does. I happen to believe carbon-14 dating is bad science for many reasons. However, it seems logical to me that further evidence will be found at this site to support an earlier date for the Kingdom of Edom. Unfortunately, this discovery will likely get about as much attention as do the temple artifacts discovered on the Temple Mount. Any archaeological find that supports the Jews’ rightful claim to the Holy Lands and puts the “occupier” label in doubt is either conveniently ignored or denied as a fraud, hoax, or bad science. If temple period artifacts are routinely destroyed and hidden without any protest from Israeli politicians, this too will be ignored, if not silenced and “debunked” in the interest of appeasing the Palestinian Authority and the rest of the world.

Canadian archeologist Russell Adams’s interest is in Bronze Age and Iron Age copper production. He never intended to walk into archeology’s vicious debate over the historical accuracy of the Old Testament — a conflict likened by one historian to a pack of feral canines at each other’s throats.

Yet by coincidence, Prof. Adams of Hamilton’s McMaster University says, he and an international team of colleagues fit into place a significant piece of the puzzle of human history in the Middle East — unearthing information that points to the existence of the Bible’s vilified Kingdom of Edom at precisely the time the Bible says it existed, and contradicting widespread academic belief that it did not come into being until 200 years later.

Their findings mean that those scholars convinced that the Hebrew Old Testament is at best a compendium of revisionist, fragmented history, mixed with folklore and theology, and at worst a piece of outright propaganda, likely will have to apply the brakes to their thinking. . . .

The Globe and Mail

The Evangelical Underground is hosting the first ever Evangelical Blog Awards. They’ll be taking nominations until February 14th for the different award categories. Be sure to check out the categories and specifics, and send in a nomination for your favorite evangelical blogs. Nominations for the award can be sent to eblogawards@gmail.com

It looks like Tony Blair isn’t finished making demands in return for his support in Iraq. So far he’s used his support to put the EU in a lead role in the Middle East Peace process, and now he’s moving on to some of the U.N. resolutions and treaties the U.S. has consistently disagreed with. Further support from the UK will depend on the U.S. response to global warming, the Kyoto Protocol, and other similar treaties. Perhaps this is the reason for Bush’s sudden support for the U.N. Law of the Sea Treaty, or LOST. Everyone of the treaties the UK wants us to support are designed to hurt the U.S. economy, redistribute wealth and, in the case of LOST, undermine our national sovereignty. See here, and here for the gory details on the Law of the Sea Treaty.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday that the United States must do more to deal with the concerns of the rest of the world if it expects support for its own policies, and he cited global warming as a prime example.

“If America wants the rest of the world to be part of the agenda it has set, it must be part of their agenda, too,” he told the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, a gathering of 2,500 world political and business leaders.

Blair and French President Jacques Chirac – who appeared on a video link – urged the world’s richest nations to provide billions of dollars to help developing countries combat AIDS, poverty and natural disasters. . . . .

Winston Salem Journal

The Shroud of Turin is much older than suggested by radiocarbon dating carried out in the 1980s, according to a new study in a peer-reviewed journal.

A research paper published in Thermochimica Acta suggests the shroud is between 1,300 and 3,000 years old.

The author dismisses 1988 carbon dating tests which concluded that the linen sheet was a medieval fake.

The shroud, which bears the faint image of a blood-covered man, is believed by some to be Christ’s burial cloth. . . . . .

BBC Article

We’re not allowed to teach any kind of morality or right from wrong in our schools, but if a 9 and 10 year old scare another kid with stick figures, they get arrested and charged with felonies. It’s hard to believe that in the United States children are being arrested for thought crimes. Maybe this is public education’s interpretation of “no child left behind”. Throw them all in jail and don’t leave any of them behind….and if they have special needs, make sure it’s a felony charge.

Two boys, ages 9 and 10, were charged with felonies and taken away from school in handcuffs, accused of making violent drawings of stick figures.

The boys were arrested Monday on charges of making a written threat to kill or harm another person, a second-degree felony.

The special education students used pencil and red crayon to draw primitive stick figure scenes on scrap paper that showed a 10-year-old classmate being stabbed and hung, police said.

local6.com

This weekend $9,000 worth of damage was done to a pro-life display of crosses at Louisiana State University, and the police are doing next to nothing to catch those who did it. Ever notice when a hate crime is committed against Christians it never makes the news and is never investigated or prosecuted the way hate crimes are against other faiths, pro-abortion activists, or homosexuals?

In Washington state we recently had an abortion facility burn down. Before an investigation had even begun, our Senator was writing letters and demanding that those responsible be arrested, charged, and punished. This was even before anyone knew whether the fire was caused by arson.

The cost of the damage at the LSU display is such that this should be prosecuted as a felony. However, the police department anticipates issuing charges of criminal mischief – a misdemeanor. This is not the first time the display has been vandalized and I’m sure it won’t be the last with charges like that being the only consequence for doing so. An officer also witnessed the act and apparently wasn’t too keen on catching the vandals.

With the number of hate crimes being committed at the parade ground (there’s quite a history of it), you would think the police would be policing the area or trying to catch these criminals. You’d be wrong. Their only suggestion was that people who want to put up controversial displays should raise enough money to have security. I guess the police are only there to protect and serve those who don’t have unpopular opinions.

The group that owns the display is considering a law suit against the police department if they continue to ignore the crime and do nothing about it. I hope they do. Christians are not second class citizens in this country, and the LSUPD needs to learn this.

The Reveille

A plane was forced down last night in San Antonio carrying 4 Chinese illegals and a Mexican pilot who rented the plane from a Texas flight school. Since this story hit the local news Freepers at Free Republic have been tracking down information on the plane, pilot, and the illegals aboard the plane. It’s quite the coincidence that this comes right after the Boston dirty bomb scare that involved a hunt for 4 Chinese illegal aliens. The news is already reporting that Homeland Security finds no connection to terrorism in this incident, but there are still quite a few coincidences that make that standard media statement a little hard to believe.

The owner of the plane is Afzal Hameed, President and co-owner of Alpha Tango Flight School. The FBI has been keeping tabs on Alpha Tango since Sept. 11. Interestingly, one of the clients Hameed had as a student was Al Qaeda operative Abdul Hakim Murad who was convicted of plotting to blow up U.S. airliners in 1995. Alpha Tango also caters to Saudi Arabian flight students. The school is mentioned in this Washington Post article from 2001 warning that terrorists had been using flight schools in the U.S. to train for terror plots.

It all just seems a little too coincidental to not be related to the recent Boston plot investigation. Even if this turns out not to be related, why the sudden increase in Chinese illegals coming across the border, and why are connections still being found to the same terrorist supporting flight schools? As one FReeper put it, the Chinese are just crossing the border to do the dirty bombing that Americans aren’t willing to do.

Other Articles:
Houston Chronicle
Fox News
WOAI
CNN
MSNBC
KSAT
Reuters

Other blogs:
Free Republic Thread
Michelle Malkin

The activist judges in our high court have let stand a lower court ruling that deems pro-life license plates in South Carolina unconstitutional. The argument being upheld here boils down to a ban on offending people in public or engaging in free speech without presenting both sides (unless of course your point of view is a liberal one). Planned end-Parenthood argued that the plates were offensive to abortion supporters, and engaged in “viewpoint discrimination”. It’s a dangerous game when courts base law on who they feel is offensive and who they feel has a right to free speech. The first amendment guarantees freedom of expression and speech to everyone. It does not guarantee, as the pro-aborts are arguing, that you only have free speech if you don’t disenfranchise someone else by not voicing their point of view. This blog takes a Christian viewpoint on abortion and doesn’t present Planned end-Parenthood’s point of view. I must be unconstitutional. Ban offensive blogs!!

Planned end-Parenthood has every right to seek a license plate that supports abortion, but they chose to use our liberal courts to deem those who disagree with them as offensive and unworthy of the same free speech rights they demand for themselves. It’s a sad day in this country when the words “Choose Life” are offensive and can be legally eliminated from public view.

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday refused to hear an appeal by pro-life groups in favor of “Choose Life” specialty license plates in South Carolina.

The license plates were ruled unconstitutional by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in a case brought by Planned Parenthood.

The abortion provider filed the case because it found the message offensive.

Continue Article Here

A similar case is being heard in New York and will likely come to the same discriminatory conclusion. Eleven other states also have “Choose Life” plates. . . . . .for now.

See also here, here, and here.

Here we go again. After stalling the confirmation of Condi Rice so that Klu Klux Klan Byrd could raise objections to a “colored” Secretary of state, the Senate is finally preparing to confirm her tomorrow. But, not before Babs Boxer and Senator KKK Byrd are given an hour each to rant endlessly about her failures, the quagmire in Iraq, and all the lies, lies, lies. Obviously, the Democrats in the Senate completely missed the lessons of the last election. Senator Dashhole was famous for this kind of obstructionism and petty grandstanding. That’s why he’s now home growing a beard, getting fat, and chatting with Algore.

The always biased AP offers a reason for the slowdown in Condi’s confirmation. The AP writes, “President Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq in March 2003 and postwar violence that is taking a rising toll of U.S. casualties are the main causes of the slowdown.” The very next sentence comes much closer to the truth – “Rice was supposed to be confirmed last week, but Democratic critics insisted on an opportunity to air their views on the Senate floor.

Besides KKK Byrd’s racism, grandstanding is the only reason Rice has not yet been confirmed. Every Democrat who spoke at the last lynching admitted that Condoleeza was well qualified for the job. They just wanted their time in front of the cameras to bloviate for the gullible, liberal masses, and malign the character and integrity of our next Secretary of State. It’s kind of like voting for the 87 billion before you vote against it. Condi is well qualified for the job and will definitely be confirmed, but they need to debate it more, carefully study the situation, and speechify for hours on end before they go ahead with the decision they’ve already made.

I hope the Dems continue down this path of obstructionism, whining, and retaliation. This childish behavior coupled with Dean’s possible nomination as the next head of the DNC, will be the beginning of the end for the “progressives”. I’m glad they’re calling themselves progressives now, but it works better as an adjective in their case, as in “progressively stupid”.

Condoleezza Rice is no longer on a fast track to Senate confirmation as secretary of state, but the slowdown appears to be temporary as Democratic foes of the war in Iraq line up to have their say.

Nine hours have been set aside Tuesday for debate, divided equally between Democrats and Republicans. On Wednesday, a brief series of statements is expected — and then the vote to put her in charge of U.S. diplomacy.

“We are talking about the safety and security of this country, so I very much and very quickly want to move with Secretary Rice,” Senate Republican leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said. He said he was disappointed by the delay and was confident the Senate would confirm her on Wednesday. . . . . .

Associate Press Article

UPDATE:After Boxer’s vicious attacks on Rice during the confirmation hearings for Rice, Boxer is now claiming to be the victim in that exchange!! Don’t read the full article without a bucket handy. it’ll make ya wanna hurl.

Most of you have probably heard by now about the Left’s new conspiracy theory. The Washington Post first reported that the Defense Department created a new Intelligence organization to be used in cooperation with Special Forces units and to provide translators and interrogators that were in high demand. Considering the failures of the CIA over the last decade, intelligence gathering within the military on the ground sounds like a good idea to me. However, when you attach the name Rumsfeld to anything it immediately becomes a power grab and a secret intentionally hidden from the American people in order to break laws and abuse people. It’s not important that this new intelligence gathering capability is directly responsible for the capture of Saddam Hussein.

It turns out the Post was wrong. There is no new organization that reports directly to Donald Rumsfeld. The DOD has been working however to improve human intelligence. According to a spokesman for Rumsfeld, Defense Human Intelligence Service has been working to be what he called “more focused and task-oriented for the global War on Terror.” He says the information gathered is made available to U.S. military commanders, sometimes for use in missions involving special forces.

Liberals want to have it both ways. They want to complain that we haven’t captured Bin Laden, and they point to it as a failure of this administration. But, it’s a scandal if we improve our methods of tracking him down and capturing him. The 911 Commission recommended just such an improvement in our intelligence gathering in it’s report last year (You know…. the one Demonrats insisted Bush wasn’t listening to or acting on fast enough).

To really bring home the hypocrisy, Representative Traucher of California said that while she fully supports improving the ability of our men and women to fight the war, this new intelligence gathering unit raises questions that may require hearings. What’s to question Ms. Traucher? The 911 report said it was needed, it helped our forces capture Saddam Hussein, and it provides much needed translators, interrogators, and on the ground intelligence to our troop commanders. It already has improved the troops ability to fight the war.

You can read more about the evil, secret, Rumsfeld plot here, here, here, and here. Captain Ed points out errors in the CNN and Washington Post articles here.

When U.S. troops pulled Saddam Hussein from a hole in the ground a year ago, the capture was described afterward as the work of a team of conventional and special operations troops.

Nothing was said about an assist from an intelligence unit that the Pentagon created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to expand the military’s ability to collect human intelligence – information from spies as opposed to listening devices or satellites.

The unit’s existence was revealed by The Washington Post on Sunday.

Pentagon officials said Monday that the unit, called the Strategic Support Branch, had a hidden hand in interrogations and other aspects of the clue-sifting work inside Iraq that narrowed the search for Saddam and led eventually to the cramped underground chamber where he was hiding.

The Post said the unit also has been used in Afghanistan and other undisclosed locations. In addition to interrogation, it provides linguistic help and close-in surveillance of targets. . . .

Seattle P.I.

Israel has learned from history that a peace agreement with Hamas and Islamic Jihad is not a legitimate path to peace. They’re wisely continuing the security wall that has prevented many terrorist attacks in the areas where it’s complete.

The peace agreement being negotiated by Abbas is called a hudna in Islam. Honest reporting explains just how a hudna works:

Hudna has a distinct meaning to Islamic fundamentalists, well-versed in their history: The prophet Mohammad struck a legendary, ten-year hudna with the Quraysh tribe that controlled Mecca in the seventh century. Over the following two years, Mohammad rearmed and took advantage of a minor Quraysh infraction to break the hudna and launch the full conquest of Mecca, the holiest city in Islam.

As for Hamas, they have proven time and again their commitment to a tactical hudna — replenishing their strength during the quiet periods, then returning with increased deadliness. As recently documented by The Washington Institute, Hamas agreed to no less than ten ceasefires in the past ten years, and after every single one returned freshly armed for terror. Hundreds of Israeli citizens have paid for these hudnas with their lives.

Reuters typical bias reporting on Israel’s resumed construction of the security wall starts out this way:

Israel resumed building one of the most controversial parts of its West Bank barrier, deep in occupied land, in a move Palestinians said Monday clouded new President Mahmoud Abbas’s efforts to revive peacemaking.

Oh, you mean THIS effort – the one where Israel gets to release hundreds of murderers from prison and promise to no longer defend itself? One only needs to read what the Koran has to say about peace agreements to predict the outcome of a “truce” with Hamas and the rest of the terrorists.

Sura 8:59-70 The Noble Koran
“If thou take them in war, then, by the example of their fate, scatter those who shall follow them – that they may be warned: Or if thou fear treachery from any people, throw back their treaty to them as thou fairly mayest, for God loveth not the treacherous. And think not that the infidels shall escape Us! The shall not weaken God….O Prophet! stir up the faithful to the fight. Twenty of you who stand firm shall vanquish two hundred: and if there be an hundred of you they shall vanquish a thousand of the infidels, for they are a people devoid of understanding….No prophet hath been enabled to take captives until he had made great slaughter in the earth. Ye desire the passing fruitions of this world, but God desireth the next life for you. And God is mighty and wise.”

Koran (Qu’ran) 8:55-57
‘Lo, the worst of beasts in Allah’s sight are the ungrateful who will not believe.’

‘Those of them with whom you made a treaty and then at every opportunity they break their treaty and they keep not duty to Allah, If you come on them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, so that they may remember.’

Throughout Islam’s history treaties have been used as opportunities to build up a Muslim army and prepare for war. This same tactic has been seen in Israel several times. Hamas may sign a truce, but they come back stronger than ever with an endless supply of suicide bombers.

The MSM acts as if this promise to behave somehow satisfies the Palestinians obligations under the road map. And, so goes the double standard – Israel must act, but the PA only need talk and make promises.

The U.N. seems to think it has succeeded in becoming a global government, and their work toward eliminating national sovereignty is finished. Their treaties just keep getting bolder. If they’re not trying to take private property away to create their global biospheres, they’re trying to make a global database of gun owners.

I own several guns, some for self defense and some for target practice and fun. I don’t hunt because I don’t like the taste of wild meat, and I believe in not shooting things you’re not going to eat. Unless of course rodents are destroying farmer’s fields, and then I’ll help out. In the U.S., our second amendment affords us the right to keep and bear arms. It does not require us to be tracked by Kofi Annan and have the U.N. monitor our ammunition purchases. We have our own gun control laws and our own angencies to enforce those laws. We don’t need the unelected, anti-American, scandal ridden U.N. collecting names and tracking us.

Arms control activists urged U.N. treaty writers on Monday to approve a system for tracking small arms sales around the world, saying it was easier to track lost airline luggage than a machine gun.

Amnesty International, Oxfam International and the International Action Network on Small Arms called for a legally binding global marking and tracing treaty covering small arms and ammunition at the start of a two-week U.N. conference weighing how to deal with the problem.

“A piece of lost luggage can be traced from San Francisco to Sierra Leone within hours, yet deadly weapons disappear without trace on a daily basis,” said Jeremy Hobbs, the director of Oxfam International.

A report by the three groups found that while weapons and ammunition often carry serial numbers, there is no worldwide system to record the information and make it available worldwide. . . . .

These are probably the same people who cry foul at the mention of a national ID card, the patriot act, or a database to track terrorists. Maybe while the U.N. is at it they can create a tracking system for those who have abortions. I’m sure in that case it would suddenly become a civil rights issue.

Reuters

Political Correctness is getting out of control. Now Planned end-Parenthood is taking South Carolina to court over optional designer license plates that read “choose life”. They argue that it discriminates against pro-abortionists. Don’t all license plates discriminate against someone? South Carolina also offers college license plates. Wouldn’t a license plate for Benedict College discriminate against those who went to Anderson College? Where does it end? The black and yellow plates discriminate against those who hate the color black.

If the plates in question were pro-homosexual plates and someone sued, the left, including Planned end-Parenthood would be screaming free speech. Why don’t they design their own plates? There are so many options to choose from – “Have you killed a baby today?”, “choose death”, “Terminate Non-Viable Non-Living Tissue Masses”.

Similar cases in other states have been thrown out, however this case is the first to favor abortionists in the lower court rulings. After they succeed in censoring license plates, they’ll move on to license plate frames. Mine would really tick them off. It reads “In case of rapture, this car will be unmanned”. I’m sure that discriminates against almost everyone in some way.

South Carolina’s Choose Life license plate is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. State officials are asking the high court to uphold the plates from a First Amendment challenge issued by abortion advocacy groups upset that the plates favor one side of the abortion issue.

On Friday, the nation’s top court is expected to consider whether to take on dozens of lawsuits, including an appeal of a ruling striking down the law that saved the life of Terri Schiavo.

South Carolina officials hope their appeal of a decision overturning a bill authorizing the plates is one of the cases the top court considers.

Passed in 2001, the measure would allow state residents to spend $70 on the specialty plates and part of the funds would go to groups that help women find alternatives to abortion.

However, shortly after the measure took effect, Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit contending that the plates discriminate against those who support abortion. . . . . .

Life News

The homosexual lobby has insisted that legalizing homosexual marriage will not lead to the legalization of polygamy or polyamory. There are many polyamorous groups in Colorado and across the country that would disagree. Group marriages will most certainly follow if the definition of marriage is changed. As will group divorces and seriously messed up children.

One polymorist from this article summed up the belief that all “alternate lifestyle” activists have in common when he said, “The United States has remained stuck on monogamy for too long.” If we lose the battle against homosexual marriage the perversion found in this article will not be far behind.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Misty slept with her husband. Vince climbed into her bed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. And Sundays? Misty had Vince’s wife all to herself.

The kids, meanwhile, stuck to their own mattresses.

Life was good in the “quad.” Two couples, several kids, one house, five years and lots of scheduled sex – first in Boston, and then in Lakewood.

The quad broke up in 1999, when Vince Botinelly, 50, looked up an old flame, thereby straying outside of the de facto group marriage and having, in essence, an “affair.” . . . .

The Denver Post

This is what happens to countries that abandon morals and religion for secular humanism. Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville understood this when he traveled to America a half century after the U.S. declared its independence to study what made America great. What did he conclude was the reason for America’s success and France’s decline? In his own words:

“The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.”

“I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors…; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.”

This article describes the results of what de Tocqueville saw even then.

IT IS official: the French are a nation of depressed pessimists, wracked with self-doubt and unable to see a positive future.

This gloomy portrait of the current state of Gallic morale – or rather the lack of it – was made public yesterday in a damning report by France’s prefects, the country’s top administrators.

“The French no longer believe in anything,” the report said. “That is the reason that the situation is relatively calm, for they believe that it is not even worthwhile expressing their opinions or trying to be heard any more.”

The country’s 100 prefects went on to use the words “lifelessness”, “resignation”, “anxiety” and “pessimism” to describe the attitudes they believe prevail in France today.

The report, which is dated December 2004 but has only just been made public, would appear to be contradicted by the three days of strikes launched by public sector workers this week.

However, analysts point to the fact that disillusionment and apathy are so great that not even France’s formerly powerful unions were able to predict the turnout for the strike. Opinion polls show that 65 per cent of the French support the strikers, leading observers to say that the country is showing its discontent by proxy via the strikers.

“It’s a fact: France and the French are pessimists,” said Alain Duhamel, a respected French commentator.

He said: “The French doubt themselves and worry about the future. They do so more than the citizens of neighbouring countries, even when those neighbouring countries are doing less well than we are and have a more negative future ahead. . . . . . .

The Scotsman

In response to the Oil for Food scandal, the U.N. has released a report that blames the donor for the corruption of humanitarian aid programs. First the U.S. is stingy, and now they give so much money to relief efforts that they make it impossible for the U.N. to avoid stealing the money and turning reconstruction efforts and aid programs into corrupt feeding frenzies for the elitist slobs at the U.N.

I have a solution to the problem. The stingy United States needs to stop flushing money down the U.N. toilet. Problem solved. No large sums of money, no temptation for the immoral, power hungry, globalists at the U.N. If they want to blame the money for their morally bankrupt and corrupt organization’s woes, we can illiminate that problem in a hurry.

The ravages of modern warfare are too often compounded by ill-conceived and expensive post-war reconstruction projects that fuel a “feeding frenzy” of corruption and profiteering, according to a U.N.-funded report.

The report, citing graft from Liberia and Bosnia-Herzegovina to Lebanon and Afghanistan, said the overwhelming international response after wars was simply to pump large amounts of money into rebuilding programs without proper control.

“What is difficult enough to try to manage in times of peace becomes even more problematic in post-war situations where the sheer scale of works…and the weakness of public oversight create opportunities for the corrupt of historic proportions,” it said. . . . . . .

Associated Press

You hear a lot of the more loony liberals screaming “vote fraud” and ranting that the election was stolen. As evidence they present long lines and not enough voting machines in Ohio. Then they conveniently ignore the fact that the districts with long lines were controlled by Democrats and the election officials were all Democrats. If there were long lines, they need to take it up with their own party.

While the liberals are whining about long lines in Ohio, they ignore the vote fraud investigation in Wisconsin where Kerry won by a very narrow margin. They ignore the tires that were slashed on Republican buses used to take people to the polls. They ignore the St. Louis official arrested for plotting to kill an election whistle blower.

Democrats have had plenty of time to become aware of the vote fraud by their own party in several states. The St. Louis election fraud was exposed as early as November , and the New York Daily News reported Democrat vote fraud in Florida BEFORE the election was even held. Even your typical liberal, who avoids any news they don’t like as if it were the plague, has no excuse for being completely oblivious to the fraud coming from their own party.

Maybe liberals would like to take a break from whining about having to stand in line in Ohio, and read up on the state level vote fraud in Washington state where dead people voted, mystery ballots appeared, and more people voted than are registered to vote in Washington. After losing two recounts, the Democrat candidate for Governor finally double counted enough votes to win by 129 votes – the exact number of convicted felons who were allowed to vote illegally! Attention all whining Democrats! THIS is what election fraud looks like. You were not disenfranchised. You simply didn’t succeed in cheating as you hoped you would. Get over it. George Bush is the President. He won because John Kerry is a traitorous loser and most people recognized that. Live in the now, and move on.

Yet another biased article on Iraqi prisoner abuse from the London Independent. Have you noticed how little press the recently released pictures of prisoner abuse by British troops in Iraq is getting? You hear no cries of outrage, no demands for full investigations, and no calls for Tony Blair to be impeached. The Independent has provided us with the answer for this mystery.

Does the behavior of US troops look worse simply because American society is more open, as some claim? It is beginning to look that way, especially when it emerged last week that five Danish soldiers, including an intelligence officer, have also been charged with abuse.

Because American society is more open??!!! Wow, this is a first. We’re usually referred to in the British press as fundamentalist, Christian, prudes. I guess they couldn’t hardly print the facts here though, could they? America isn’t more open, it’s more hated and despised by jealous, arrogant, socialist elites, most of whom work for the MSM.

More from the fair and balanced Independent:

The Americans, meanwhile, were shamed by the shocking photographs of prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, for which one soldier has just been sentenced to 10 years. Congressional and journalistic investigations in the US have made a convincing case that Abu Ghraib was the product of an “anything goes” mentality that came from the top down, and which ran from Guantanimo Bay through Afghanistan to Iraq. No evidence of a similar attitude has been discovered here.

Congress never made a convincing case of any such thing. The evidence in fact proved that no such order had come from those in command. One prison, with 10 morons who couldn’t follow orders and who had a history of bad behavior gave the media the ammunition they were looking for. Journalists probably did come to the conclusion that the orders for the abuse came from the top, but that wasn’t due to any investigation, unless you’re referring to the same kind of investigative techniques used by CBS.

Neither has there been any evidence that this abuse is common wherever you find U.S. troops. The writer pulled that straight from his rear end, and I’m sure he knows that. Only days after the pictures of British troops were released, however, the author can conclude that no such permissive attitude exists in Britain. Do a little study of British society and culture and tell me if anyone really believes that. You won’t find many “values voters” there.

On a side note, the article states that Danish troops have also been charged with abuse. I’ve seen nothing reported in the media on this. No surprise.

Independent Article

This just seems so sick and wrong to me. As part of Sharon’s “Give away more land” deal (aka Gaza Pullout), several thousand Jews will be forced from their homes. So, the Palestinians blow up buses, continue to launch missiles into Israeli towns, and teach their children to kill Jews and destroy Israel, and in return Israel gives them more land and hands over Israeli homes to the Palestinians.

I can’t blame these Jewish “settlers” for wanting the houses torn down when they leave. Why reward terrorism further. I can’t imagine having to leave my home and watch Muslim terrorists move in, hoist a Palestinian flag, and celebrate victory. Isn’t it enough that they have missiles lobbed at them daily and suicide bombers trying to blow them up? Why should the same people who are killing them also get their land and homes? When has negotiating and making concessions to terrorists every worked? The Quran spells out clearly that treaties are only to be respected and adhered to until your army is large enough to attack and destroy the enemy. While they are preparing, Israel will be giving away land and leaving itself with indefensible borders. Not smart.

In this much-battered border town, Ibrahim Abu Shatat has seen two homes flattened by Israeli military bulldozers, and for the past year, his family of 10 has lived in a storage room at Rafah’s soccer stadium. Just a couple of miles away, several thousand Jewish settlers live in compact but comfortable middle-class houses set among sand dunes near the Mediterranean beachfront. . . . . .

The New York Times

Okay, so this is a couple days too late. It took that long for the bulging vein in my neck to return to normal. By now we’ve all heard of the wasted protests (no work, no school, no spending money) on inauguration day. Up here in the Seattle area, the local “progressives” were no different. They made a name for themselves with the WTO riots, so they know how to throw a tantrum, by golly. What REALLY got my dander up was an encounter at Seattle Central Community College. While evacuating the classes (any excoose to not lern fur a day is a gud thing), the mob encountered two Army recruiters. The witless, brainless, treacherous simpletons decided to vent their anger at these soldiers. While a simple “Thank you for your service to our country” would have gone over better, the SCCC stu-dunce screamed at the recruiters and destroyed their Army brochures. Eventually, security had to escort the recruiters away while the government-handout free-lunch-clubbers cheered and jeered. Remember who these people voted for.

The Olympian

Muslims in Texas are upset over a form sent by an association of Christian Parochial schools. The form was sent in response to the Islamic schools request to join the Texas Association of Private Parochial Schools. Joining the association would allow the Islamic school to compete in sports and participate with other parochial schools in Texas. The application sent by the association asked a simple question. “The Koran clearly tells you not to mix with (and even eliminate) the infidels. Christians and Jews fall into this category. Why do you wish to join an organization whose membership is basically in total disagreement with your religious beliefs?”

This question has CAIR in an uproar, and the PC police have gone into overdrive. But, this question is one anyone who has read the Quran should feel compelled to ask. It’s a legitimate question, considering the Quran says the following:

Surah 4:89 tells Muslims to not take Christians, Jews, or pagans as friends, and also orders the murder of those who depart from Islam: “They wish that you reject Faith, as they have rejected (Faith), and thus that you all become equal (like one another). So take not Auliyâ’ (protectors or friends) from them, till they emigrate in the Way of Allah. But if they turn back (from Islam), take (hold) of them and kill them wherever you find them, and take neither Auliyâ’ (protectors or friends) nor helpers from them.”

Surah 9:123 says, “O you who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are close to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who are the Al-Muttaqûn (the pious).”

Why would these Muslim Schools want to associate with the Christian parochial schools in Texas? It’s a good question. Instead of screaming intolerance, answer it. Perhaps if even one Muslim leader spoke out against what these verses from the Quran teach, the question wouldn’t have to be asked.

FOX News

Inauguration protesters went on a rampage last night resulting in $15,000 in property damage. Unfortunately, the groups collective IQ must have been lower than room temperature because they wreaked their havoc on one of the most liberal neighborhoods in Washington. Businesses were hardest hit. According to the terrorists, BIG business is responsible for oppression in this country, thus they were a primary target. It’s understandable. To a liberal being forced to work is a form of oppression. The government is supposed to support them while they have temper tantrums and destroy people’s property.

Protest signs read, “From D.C. to Iraq, with occupation comes resistance.” Isn’t it nice to know we have our own little terrorists right here at home? If you ask me, their punishment was too light. After being arrested, most of them were released after paying a $50.00 fine. I’m sure the business owners who have to clean up after them will be forking out a lot more than that. Someone should encourage these anarchists to join the “resistance” in Iraq. I’m sure the “insurgents” would welcome the nice, white Americans with open arms.

An impromptu demonstration by a crowd spilling from a “counter-inaugural ball” in Adams Morgan late Thursday turned into one of the biggest Inauguration Day disturbances, leaving windows smashed and nearly 80 people arrested.

Self-described anarchists, fans who had attended the punk-rock ball and passersby joined in a melee in the area of 18th Street and Columbia Road NW, where police said they spray-painted buildings with the red “A” anarchists use as their symbol, threw a brick through the windshield of a police vehicle and smashed out glass windows and doors at a police substation and at Riggs Bank and Citibank branches. . . . . .

Washington Post

The State of Illinois has recently signed into law a provision adding “sexual orientation” as a protected class to the law that bars discrimination in the areas of employment and public housing. Pastors in Illinois fear that the new provision will result in churches being forced to hire homosexual who apply for employment.

In most states – even those who have adopted sexual orientation as a protected class – churches have had at least an unofficial (if not official) exemption in hiring practices. However, Illinois may be a battleground state for the rights of churches to employ those who reflect a biblically orthodox Christian lifestyle. Will a Christian Church in Chicago, Wheaton, or East Alton be forced to hire a homosexual as secretary or music director? Only time will tell.

Illinois is the 15th state to prohibit discrimination based on “sexual orientation.”

But IFI Executive Director Peter LaBarbera notes the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Carol Ronen, D-Chicago, is on record stating it should be applied to churches, meaning they would not be allowed, for example, to reject a job applicant who practices homosexual behavior.

Ronen said: “If that is their goal, to discriminate against gay people, this law wouldn’t allow them to do that. But I don’t believe that’s what the Catholic Church wants or stands for.”

Click here for full story from Worldnet Daily

I really love to see this. The liberal bias isn’t so popular anymore. Rathergate probably helped a little too.

CNN hemorrhaged more than half their audience from the 2001 Inauguration, overnights show. The troubled news network only averaged 779,000 viewers during yesterday’s Inauguration coverage from 10am-4pm with just 168,000 of those viewers landing in the coveted 25-54 demo.

Like CNN, MSNBC also suffered major losses, only averaging 438,000 viewers throughout yesterday’s coverage (141,000 in 25-54), down a whopping 68% over 2001 and faring even worse in primetime with just 385,000 viewers.

In contrast, Fox News averaged 2,581,000 viewers from 10a-4p (up 30% over 2001) and their 25-54 demo average of 705,000 came close to CNN’s total coverage ratings yesterday.

DRUDGE REPORT

FROM THE WORLD’S MEDIA ON INAUGURATION DAY:

Al-Quds Al-Arab: The democracy Bush seeks is a bloody one that will claim the lives of martyrs.
[You're right! When Muslims see democracy coming, they tend to blow up]

Kenya’s Nation: Imposing democracy on the weak undermines democracy. It’s not the U.S.’s business to export freedom.
[Ah, but the dictators who oppress the weak are fair game then, right?]

China’s People Daily: Bush goes ahead with the unilateral road. Being morally conceited and militarily aggresive are major elements of American nationalism.
[It's much better than being morally bankrupt. This coming from communist baby killers with the largest human army in the world, and who threaten Taiwan on a daily basis]

CNN: “Here is the president saying there are a lot of monsters over there, and unless we slay those monsters, we can’t be free at home”.
[I don't remember Bush saying that. Must have been in the alternate reality DU'ers visit so often. However, if he's referring to killing Muslim terrorists, I agree.]

Jerusalem Post: ‘Hold on to your hats, this may be the most ambitious presidency ever.’
[Since we're Israel's only ally, that's probably a good thing]

Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po: Bush’s second term will focus on war with Iran, then East Asia, along with pressure on China.
[The word freedom to a communist is synonymous with war]

Malaysia’s Berita Harian: The U.S. will forcefully impose US-style democracy on foreign lands – The U.S. is also afraid of terrorists and more deaths in Iraq.
[No, just on foreign lands where dictators create mass graves, teach jihad to their children, and can't wait to give WMD to terrorists.]

Sydney’s The Australian: Bush and his administration do such small-minded things, and spew demeaning, disgusting innuendo that anyone who does not agree with them is un-American.
[If you believe that freedom and the spread of democracy are small-minded, then you are un-American....and stupid.]

South Korea’s Chungang Ilbo: Bush will escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
[It couldn't have anything to do with NK's nukes, right?]

Russia’s Vedomosti: Afghanistan is now freer than the U.S. (patriot act slam), and soon Iraq will be freer than the rest of the world.
[Finally someone admits that we've been successful in Afghanistan and Iraq. I thought it was a quagmire and thousands of Iraqis were being slaughtered by U.S. troops, though?]

Ireland’s Irish Independent: Bush’s speech had the power of real conviction, and stressed the importance of freedom.
[I guess we're not so small-minded after all]

Germany’s Die Tageszeitung: Bush is a madman and the U.S. is a state bristling with weapons. Bush sends a chill down the spine of anyone unwilling to listen to his madness.
[Coming from the country that produced Hitler.....please. Speaking of weapons and Hitler, where would Europe be if we hadn't been bristling with weapons when you needed us?]

Spain’s La Razon: For his enemies, there is a choice: liberty or oppression.
[I strongly recommend liberty. Bush is a madman you know.]

Italy’s La Repubblica: Bush treats the whole world as his parish.
[Yeah! That's Italy's job. The pope gets to do that!]

Keralanext, India: Angry protesters storm Bush inauguration. Thousands of protesters were seen thoughout the capital, pepper spray was used, and President Bush was “forced” to drive by hundreds of angry protesters, including many angry U.S. soldiers.
[It's a coup! The government was almost overthrown by high school dropouts, hippies, and DUmmies!]

Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza: If his plans are realized, then this will be a conservative revolution that will change America forever.
[He went from small-minded madman to starting a conservative revolution. But what about all those thousands and thousands of protestors that marked the day?]

Cyprus Kharavyi: Under the label of a sick, religious-political doctrine they march against countries longing for their natural resources. Bush also wants to make the entire world a slave to the U.S.
[Freedom and liberty really are sick aren't they. Spreading freedom will create slaves across the globe. That makes sense. Not.]

Turkey’s Milliyet: Iraq is a nightmare, so Bush is declaring new wars and attempting to widen his occupation. Turkey must not be trapped into attacking Iran.
[I thought Iraq was even more free than the U.S. now? Freedom leads to slavery, and occupation. Got it.]

The Toronto Star, U.S: Bush’s speech was unabashedly aggressive.
[A speech about freedom is definitely a sign that world war III is about to break out]

BBC: Bush’s words were “warning bells ringing in foreign capitals”.
[Since they used Syria's capital as an example in this article, I'd have to agree]

Times of London: Asks France and Germany, “what it is about the promotion of freedom that they regard as so alien and objectionable.”
[Finally, a voice of reason! Unfortunately, no good Brit in the UK read past the first sentence.]

Novosti – Russia: A dismal picture has been revealed for the world, the U.S. economy is in the tank, and Americans are very unhappy. Oh…and Bush is worse than Hitler.

[Good news, Dan Rather found a job in Russia]

The Independent-UK: [I couldn't figure out if the Independent was reporting the inauguration or a recap of all the negative news the author could find about Iraq for that day. They switched back and forth from suicide bomber to the inauguration so many times I got whiplash.]

El Diario-Mexico: [According to El Diario the inauguration consisted solely of disgusted protesters who ruined the inauguration and shamed the President. Reason 5,251,000 for securing our southern border.]

The Christians arrested for preaching and protesting homosexuality in public have had their first success in court. The case should have been thrown out, and hopefully it will be, but it’s a step forward to have the bail requirement removed. The police officers who arrested these people need to be held accountable for their obvious bias. If this judge recognizes from video tape of the event that no crimes were committed, then someone needs to question why the cops saw it differently.

The four adult defendants who are part of the “Philadelphia 5,” Christians who have been criminally charged for preaching at a homosexual event last fall, won a court battle today when a judge removed the bail requirement that they stay at least 100 feet away from any homosexual gathering.

“The judge dissolved the bail restriction,” the defendants’ attorney Scott Shields told WND.

Court of Common Pleas Judge Pamela Dembe ruled the bail requirement was an “unusual restriction on a person’s right to speech.”

“We’re gratified with the ruling,” Shields said. “This judge recognized that my clients definitely do have the right to speak freely about any issue they want, especially in the public square.” . . . . .

WorldNetDaily

Jihad Watch has a source who was close friends with the Copt family that was recently murdered in New Jersey. If this source is right, it should be a reminder that we are not immune to the Muslim terrorism and tactics seen in the Middle East.

The media does seem to be covering this story to some degree, but it’s definitely not becoming a front page story. Can you imagine the outrage and wall to wall coverage we would see if this were a Muslim family murdered by Christians? Even unsupported suspicion of such a scenario would be enough to grab headlines in every newspaper and news program. Fox News’ liberal Gretta Vanweirdmouth would probably even give up on the Lacy Peterson show.

Read the Jihad Watch blog entry HERE

PICTURES OF THE NORMAL PEOPLE

Laura and W. Dancing

Being Sworn In

What a beautiful First Lady

The Bush Family

Bush Dances with Army Specialist

Laura gets a rose

Walking down Pensylvania Ave.

The protesters need to talk to this guy

PICTURES OF THE TIN FOIL HAT BRIGADE

Now that’ll get you some votes in 08

This guys poor mother

What do you want to bet this person drove to the protest?

They even wore their tin foil hats

If you throw things at cops and the presidential limo, expect pepper spray

Aren’t anarchists wonderful?

Don’t let your kids grow up to be this guy.

He does look like a Basset Hound

Why is no one clapping for me?

This is who I want running the country

This story just keeps growing. The FBI is now looking for 10 people in connection to the suspected plot against Boston. I hear varying degrees of concern from press interviews and government officials. Most are down playing it, but that’s the standard reaction no matter how serious the threat is. Why panic a bunch of Bostonians if you’re not positive there is a real threat.

Meanwhile, Michelle Malkin points out that 32 Chinese illegal aliens were just released onto the streets in Los Angeles because there is no where to keep them. If we don’t stop these people at the border, and we release the ones we do catch, we shouldn’t be too surprised when a dirty bomb goes off in Boston or some other U.S. city.

The FBI on Thursday added the names of nine Chinese people and one other man to the list of those being sought for questioning about a possible terror plot targeting Boston.

FBI spokesman Joe Parris said the names “were developed as a result of the ongoing investigation” but did not signal that credible evidence has emerged indicating such a plot actually exists.

“Information is still uncorroborated and from a source of unknown reliability and motive,” Parris said.

The names are part of the same anonymous tip that led authorities on Wednesday to announce that they are seeking to question four other Chinese and two Iraqis. The new names bring to 16 the people being sought for questioning. . . . .

Associated Press

So much for Sen. John Kerry’s humble return to politics. On Monday at a breakfast in Boston honoring Martin Luther King Jr., Mr. Kerry took the stage to denounce what he considers wide-spread suppression of voters in Ohio — a state Mr. Kerry lost by a 118,000 votes. “Thousands of people were suppressed in their efforts to vote,” he alleged.

[snip]

it’s curious that Mr. Kerry should use Ohio as an example to trumpet his forthcoming legislation. Apparently, Mr. Kerry sees no evil in Wisconsin, where his margin of victory was 11,000 votes, and where the watchful bloggers at Captainsquartersblog.com have noticed some disturbing irregularities. Milwaukee County, which broke for Mr. Kerry 62 percent to 37 percent, saw voter turnout increase by just under 49,000 votes, or 10 percent, from 2000. For comparison, the national voter increase was 6.4 percent. A portion of that increase can be attributed to the 83,000 people who completed a same-day registration, which is more than 20 percent of all voting-age residents in the county. Blogger Captain Ed is rightly suspicious: “Now, Wisconsinites may procrastinate a bit, but in order to believe that number, you’d have to expect that 20% of the county had moved or became newly eligible within the past two years (after the previous election cycle).” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also reports that now 10,000 of those registrations cannot be verified, or just under the number of votes that clinched the state for Mr. Kerry. . . . . . .

Washington Times

Read more about the Wisconsin voting irregularities here, here, and here.

The outspoken, anti-gun, land wale, Michael Moore, is against guns and criticized gun owners as fanatics in one of his documentaries, but he seems to be fine with guns as long as they are used to protect him. Typical liberal.

Filmmaker Michael Moore’s bodyguard was arrested for carrying an unlicensed weapon in New York’s JFK airport Wednesday night.

Police took Patrick Burke, who says Moore employs him, into custody after he declared he was carrying a firearm at a ticket counter. Burke is licensed to carry a firearm in Florida and California, but not in New York. Burke was taken to Queens central booking and could potentially be charged with a felony for the incident.

Moore’s 2003 Oscar-winning film “Bowling for Columbine” criticizes what Moore calls America’s “culture of fear” and its obsession with guns.

Fox News