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August 31, 2006

U.S. Muslim Leaders Finally Realizing Threat from Within?

American Muslim leaders are starting to realize the threat that comes from within the Muslim community.

"This sentiment of denial, that sort of came as a fever to the Muslim community after 9-11, is fading away," said Muqtedar Khan, a political scientist at the University of Delaware and author of "American Muslims." "They realize that there are Muslims who use terrorism, and the community is beginning to stand up to this."

It's about time, though I'm skeptical.  However, it is encouraging to read statements like this:

"Here in Central Florida, talking to most people, they are literally upset by the actions of Muslims — or so-called Muslims — overseas in Europe and the Middle East, because they say, `We wish they would come and see how we're doing here,'" Musri said. "We know who the real enemy is — someone who might come from the outside and try to infiltrate us. Everybody is on the lookout."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060831/ap_on_re_us/muslims_threat_within_2

August 29, 2006

Hummer Says You are Inferior...Now Buy One

Ladies, are you feeling inadequate? Your kid was cut off at the slide? Go out and spend $32,800 on a Hummer H3, for it will surely solve all your problems. Get your girl on.

Oh and gentlemen, embarrassed about buying vegetables and tofu instead of red meat? For 32,800 you can restore the balance (of your manhood that is).

It is a fact, the original tagline was "restore your manhood", but Hummer revised it due to complaints, though the commercial still airs.

I am neither a woman, nor a vegetarian. In fact, I'm probably the guy buying all the red meat in the tofu commercial. That doesn't matter, because the commercial still doesn't appeal to me.

There is an increasing trend of brazen belittling the consumer. Commercials have always had the stench of marketing through condescension, but I've never seen it so flagrant.

Adholes, a blog about the advertisement industry, highlights how the Tofu commercial is insulting to vegetarians. Marc Lefton writes:

As a vegetarian and someone who hangs out with one, this commercial could not stereotype or insult us any more. Plus, what's the idea - that because we do something constructive we need to balance ourselves out and do something destructive?

Source: http://adholes.com/postings/1992ac59cc88c56d9dc6ea0769265020

Mr. Lefton and I probably couldn't be further apart on the spectrum. I have no problem with SUV's, drive what you want to drive, but we both share a disdain for the ad.

So, Hummer, who exactly was your target audience?

As commercials continue to insult us, I just can't imagine how the people making the decisions feel comfortable with their products.

 

August 27, 2006

Fox Crew Freed

Fox News journalists Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig were freed today.  This is terrific news as I, and most, feared they were going to me murdered.

Michelle Malkin has al of information on how the release developed.

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005815.htm

 

August 25, 2006

Nagin: Ground Zero a Hole in the Ground

New Orleans mayor, Ray Nagin, in defense of his inability to clean his flood ravaged city in a timely manner decided to use Ground Zero in New York as a comparison, calling it a "hole in the ground".

On a tour of the decimated Ninth Ward, Nagin tells Pitts the city has removed most of the debris from public property and it's mainly private land that's still affected - areas that can't be cleaned without the owners' permission. But when Pitts points to flood-damaged cars in the street and a house washed partially into the street, the mayor shoots back. "That's alright. You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed and it's five years later. So let's be fair."

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/24/60minutes/main1933092.shtml

As a New Yorker, who witnessed the attack on our country, I'm disturbed that this man doesn't have the decency to respect those who were killed on September 11. To say it needs to be "fixed" leads me to believe he thinks it was broken, not destroyed in an attack by jihadists whose goal was to kill as many people as possible.

Perhaps Nagin doesn't consider the human loss at Ground Zero, and that may be why he left his people in New Orleans stranded while he hid in a hotel.

The fine people at Hot Air have some choice comments for Mayor Nagin.

August 24, 2006

What's That in Your Bag? Umm...

You're at the airport, getting ready to go through a security checkpoint and when the guards find an object in your baggage that resembles a grenade, but in actuality is your penis pump, you say it is a bomb because you don't want your mother, who is traveling with you, to know you own one.

I'm not making this up.

Cook County prosecutors say a 29-year-old man traveling with his mother desperately didn't want her to know he'd packed a sexual aid for their trip to Turkey. So he told security it was a bomb, officials said.

Madin Azad Amin, 29, of Skokie, was stopped Aug. 16 after guards found an object in his baggage that resembled a grenade, prosecutors said.

When officers asked him to identify it, Amin said it was a bomb, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto.

He later told officials he'd lied about the item because his mother was nearby and he didn't want her to hear that it was part of a penis pump, Scaduto said.

Source: http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/08/24/D8JMSCT01.html

Where to begin? I mean, this is wrong on so many levels. Of all the things to say, of all the lies, bomb is the best you can come up with!

Is this in your carry on? And why do you need this on a trip with your mother?

What's worse, your mom finding out you have a penis pump or claiming it is a bomb, getting arrested, having to admit it is a penis pump and now not only does your mom know but so does everyone else!

Oh man.

August 23, 2006

Bin Laden has Approval to Kill 10 Million Americans

In November 2004, it was reported that Osama bin Laden secured religious approval to use nukes against Americans.

Osama bin Laden now has religious approval to use a nuclear device against Americans, says the former head of the CIA unit charged with tracking down the Saudi terrorist. The former agent, Michael Scheuer, speaks to Steve Kroft in his first television interview without disguise to be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, Nov. 14 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Source: http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/04_Nukes/041112.UBL.approval.html

After almost two years it seems they've come up with an acceptable number of American deaths, that being 10 million.  Jihad Watch has the details on the Saudi cleric's permission.

I wonder, does bin Laden go around looking for the best deal?  Surely there is another Islamic cleric willing to go to 15 million 20 million?  How do they come up with this number?  Is there some Excel spreadsheet that formulates these numbers?

What do you think the reaction would be if the Pope approved 10 million Muslim deaths?  Or even ten.

August 22, 2006

Katrina, Harry and Billy Zabka

I watched Spike Lee's documentary on hurricane Katrina last night and I have to say it was painful to watch the horrors my fellow Americans had to endure. Watching Harry Belafonte praise Hugo Chaves was also difficult.

Yes Harry, let's get Hugo in to run things. Good pal of Fidel Castro, Moammar Khadafy and Saddam Hussein.

Not to be outdone, I pick up the August issue of GQ and find that magazine pimping Lee's movie, practically salivating over any anti-administration comments. Add another magazine to the shit list.

The same issue has a piece on the top 12 dickhead characters in a movie (Billy Zabka as Johnny in The Karate Kid was the winner) and as a sub story, picked 10 real-life guys who would make "great movie dicks". Guess who was on that list? President Bush. Is it that hard thinking up material?

Michael Barone: Our Covert Enemies

I read Michael Barone's column in The New York Sun last night and tabbed it for a post.  This morning I saw that Power Line already had, so take a look at their comments and read the article.

Our covert enemies are harder to identify, for they live in large numbers within our midst. And in terms of intentions, they are not enemies in the sense that they consciously wish to destroy our society. On the contrary, they enjoy our freedoms and often call for their expansion. But they have also been working, over many years, to undermine faith in our society and confidence in its goodness. These covert enemies are those among our elites who have promoted the ideas labeled as multiculturalism, moral relativism and (the term is Professor Samuel Huntington's) transnationalism.

Source: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelBarone/2006/08/21/our_covert_enemies

 

August 20, 2006

Jeffrey Lichtman's Transformation

Criminal defense attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, had some insightful commentary on the 77WABC radio station website. He explains his transformation from a die hard Democrat to a Republican voting conservative.  Read the full commentary at the link below.

What I think might be interesting to you out there, is how I became transformed, really, from a dyed in the wool liberal, a registered Democrat who has never voted Republican in his entire life for any candidate in any race, who defends people charged with federal crimes - which means I basically spend my days fighting the government - how I became conservative on the issues of foreign policy and the wars in Iraq, and Israel.

Source: http://www.wabcradio.com/Article.asp?id=122761&spid=

Rocks Over Bananas

I was told recently, that some television news show had a segment on the influence of brand names on children, specifically when it comes to food.

It's bad enough that a friend of mine has two nephews, aged between 8-11, who refuse to use any ketchup other than the McDonalds packets of ketchup. But now, apparently in this news piece, kids were given the choice of eating either a banana or a rock. The rock was adorned with stickers of cartoon characters, and the banana was just, well a banana. All but one kid picked the rock…to eat! Now you might think they didn't know it was a rock, but they were told, 'you can't eat a rock' and some replied 'yes I can!'.

I can't find any resources on the story but I'll keep looking. I'd be interested to know the ages of the kids and how many they tested, but any way you peel it, our kids want to eat rocks.

**UPDATE**

Reader JenW was kind enough to find the background info on the story.  It was a Dateline piece called Food Fight.

So finally, to see just how far these characters could sway kids, we asked: what would they rather have for breakfast? A banana or... a rock? We decorated the rock this character stickers this time.

It seemed pretty clear companies can count on Scooby-Do when they’ve got some work to do. An overwhelming majority went straight for the rock.

Source: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14415766/

A big thanks to JenW.

August 19, 2006

Connecting

The greatest thing about this here world wide web, is connecting with people I would never have connected with otherwise.

Reading Michelle Malkin's site I discovered a wonderful and intelligent woman, Karol, a guest blogger for Michelle and author of her own site Alarming News. I encourage you to take a look.

It is these such encounters that make this fun, exciting and completely worth the effort.

If you're here because of Karol's mention of me, then welcome, have a look around and feel free to contact me.

'86 Mets

I'm off to see the Mets play the Colorado Rockies this evenings in what should be a special night.  The Mets are going to have a ceremony honoring the 20th anniversary of the 1986 World Series team.

Let's go Mets!

August 16, 2006

Sergeant Thomas

Since September 11, 2001 a man who helped rescuers at Ground Zero and played a vital role in locating the two Port Authority officers featured in the movie "World Trade Center" was only known as Sergeant Thomas.  Sergeant Thomas went on to help with the recovery for over two weeks and then vanished...until now.

Thomas, 32, reemerged last week to recount the role he played in the rescue of Port Authority police officers Will Jimeno and Sergeant John McLoughlin, who were entombed beneath 20 feet of debris when the twin towers collapsed.

Now a father of five, Thomas had been out of the Marine Corps for about a year when the terrorists struck. He was dropping a daughter off at his mother's Long Island home when she delivered the news.

``My mother insisted it must be an accident," he said. Thomas believed differently.

Rushing to his car, he dug in his trunk, retrieved his Marine uniform and put it on.

Minutes later, he was speeding toward Manhattan, eventually finding himself on the West Side Highway following a convoy of police cars. He had just parked when one of the towers collapsed.

``All I saw was ash. Ash coming in my direction," Thomas said.

As it billowed around him, he knelt by the side of his car and pulled his shirt up over his mouth. Then, he got up and ran at the center of the cloud.

``Someone needed help. It didn't matter who," he said. ``I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a Marine, and all I could think was, `My city is in need."'

ref: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles...

 

August 15, 2006

How MAC Cosmetics Sells Product

This is how MAC Cosmetics chooses to sell its products.  I suppose if you're an "intimidated, frightened, right-wing Republican thin-lipped bitch" they'll still take your money.

http://www.maccosmetics.com/whats_new/plushglass_video.tmpl?ngextredir=1

 

Here is a rough transcript of what Sandra Bernhard says in the commercial. It truly was painful listening to it.

Yes I get it, it's about my lips. You're always ready to move on with your lips. I mean, these are lips that reflect the 60's…Flint, Michigan. Hotness, sexiness.

You got in your Pontiac station wagon and you drove cross country and you saw the world as it was. The little highways and byways. The evolution of music and the radio.

This little mouth was here, in New York City, eating a Belgian waffle.

Can you rally handle it? I mean, when you think about it can you handle these lips? There I am, with this mouth, with these lips, lips that represent sexuality first and foremost.

Oh she's freaking me out! She's scaring me! If you're some little freaked out, intimidated, frightened, right wing, republican, thin lipped bitch…

If I had thin lips, I can never express myself the way I'm able to express myself, with a kind of passion. Sexy…powerpout…loudmouth!

A little hyaluronic acid from a roosters comb…cock-a-doodle-do

Full bodied lips. Sexy in seconds, full and sexy. It all comes together from the inside out. Buxom, full and flushy, shapely, spicy, ample, plump…seeking...pucker.

Are you ready to be grabbed, thrown down on a bed and ravaged? Kissed and loved and adored for the responsibility you created.

I'm talking about MAC plushglass, volumizer, powerpout, and color.

 

Crikey!

**Update**

Looks like they edited the video taking out the idiotic venom.  I'd like to see them get rid of her as a spokesperson, better yet, the brainiac at Estee Lauder's marketing who thought this was ok. 

 

**Update**

The link above doesn't lead to the video anymore but I found it on Youtube

 

All You Need is a Headline

Since most people will just read a headline and not the whole article, you can learn a lot about how a journalist or the institution they work for wants you to feel about the content.  7 Deadly Sins and  Hot Air have a perfect example of misleading headlines.

Headline: Rockets hit Lebanon despite cease-fire

What impression does that leave in your mind? That the rockets hitting Lebanon came from somewhere other than Lebanon, right? Which would be Israel. So the head implies that Israel has violated the cease-fire by firing rockets into Lebanon. That’s how I read it.

 But that ain’t what happened.

Quote Source: http://hotair.com/archives/2006/08/14/misleading-headline-of-the-day-rockets-hit-lebanon-despite-cease-fire/

It was Hezbollah who actually fired the rockets.

August 10, 2006

Massive Terror Plot Thwarted

A massive terror plot was stopped early this morning in London. The goal was to simultaneously detonate explosives during flight on aircraft between the United Kingdom and American destinations.

Early reports say approximately twenty arrests were made in connection to the plot.  The explosives were to be smuggled aboard as had luggage into possibly six to ten airliners.  If this hadn't been stopped, the casualties could have been enormous.

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said the plot was thought to have involved a series of "waves" of simultaneous attacks, targeting three planes each time.

He also said the plan "revolved around liquids of some kind".

"Officials say the explosives would have been sophisticated and extremely effective," our correspondent said.

Quote Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4778575.stm

Hot Air covered the story throughout the night.

Ace looks at this as it relates to the Patriot Act.

Questions that arise:

Was it a good idea to rtry to repeal the Patriot Act?

If the names came from America-- what y'all think of NSA wirefuckingtaps now? Kind of nice to know the people a terrorist is calling, huh? You can round them up in a hurry, eh?

If one of these bastards wouldn't give up his allies, would it have been justified to use "coercive interrogation practices" on him?

Shall these bastards necessarily be tried in civilian courts? Are they really deserving of the full protections of law? They don't really seem to be "British citizens" to me, no matter what their passports say.

Quote Source: http://ace.mu.nu/archives/190104.php

Also curious is the timing of this event with the missing Egyptian students.

August 08, 2006

Iran and the Apocalypse

In today's Wall Street Journal, Bernard Lewis writes an op-ed piece on the "apocalyptic worldview of Iran's present rulers". With this worldview in mind, August 22 is a significant date.

In Islam, as in Judaism and Christianity, there are certain beliefs concerning the cosmic struggle at the end of time -- Gog and Magog, anti-Christ, Armageddon, and for Shiite Muslims, the long awaited return of the Hidden Imam, ending in the final victory of the forces of good over evil, however these may be defined. Mr. Ahmadinejad and his followers clearly believe that this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the U.S. about nuclear development by Aug. 22. This was at first reported as "by the end of August," but Mr. Ahmadinejad's statement was more precise.

What is the significance of Aug. 22? This year, Aug. 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to "the farthest mosque," usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind.

Quote Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115500154638829470.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep

In my June 23 post, Iran's President Prepares for Apocalypse, I quoted an LA Times article on how different religious groups were preparing for the apocalypse. I specifically highlighted how Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been preparing for the return of the Muslim messiah, Mahdi. I encourage you to re-read that post in the context of Mr. Lewis' piece.

August 07, 2006

Reuters Credibility at Zero

This story keeps growing.  The Reuters photographer has been dropped an all his photos have been withdrawn as a second photo has been found Photoshopped. 

Here are some links to sites covering the details:

Michelle Malkin

Hot Air

Wizbang

The Jawa Report

August 05, 2006

Possible Photo Doctoring at Reuters

Little Green Footballs and Hot Air are posing about Reuters possibly doctoring photos to make Israeli bombing look far worse that it really is.  There is speculation whether this was just some desperate photographer needing to send something to the home office or one with a more political motive.  Nevertheless, makes you wonder about some of these images we're being overloaded with everyday.

UPDATE

This story has gathered a lot of attention.  Michelle Malkin posed the "picture kill" from Reuters, while Randy at RightWinged has fantastic coverage.

UPDATE

Reuters admits to altering photo.

Reuters withdraws photograph of Beirut after Air Force attack after US blogs, photographers point out 'blatant evidence of manipulation.' Reuters' head of PR says in response, 'Reuters has suspended photographer until investigations are completed into changes made to photograph.' Photographer who sent altered image is same Reuters photographer behind many of images from Qana, which have also been subject of suspicions for being staged.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3286966,00.html

 

August 04, 2006

Where Are All the Hurricanes?

Hurricane season isn't turning out to be the storm-fest many predicted. So much for the fire and brimstone.

Thursday, hurricane researcher William Gray at Colorado State University said the season won't be as bad as he had predicted. Gray and his forecast team reduced the number of expected hurricanes from nine to seven and said a monster storm like Katrina is unlikely.

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060804/a_hurricanes04.art.htm

 The story also warns there is "plenty of time for devastating storms to develop".  There's hope yet!  I'm sure the media will figure out some other way of trying so scare you senseless.

August 01, 2006

Qana Deaths Staged?

Evidence is beginning to reveal that the building collapse killing 52 civilians in Qana, Lebanon after an Israeli air strike may have been staged.  This ties in with the IDF stating yesterday that it may have not been responsible for the deaths in Qana.

There is an unexplained gap of about seven hours between the one Israeli air strike that hit the Qana building housing the civilians, which took place around 1 A.M. Sunday, and the first report that the building had collapsed, said the chief of staff of the Israel Air Force, Brigadier General Amir Eshel. Speaking at a press conference at the Kirya military complex in Tel Aviv last night, Eshel said that of three Israeli air strikes on Qana early Sunday, only the first strike hit the building in which the civilians were staying. The other two hit areas at least 400 meters away.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/744426.html

Jihad Watch details the evidence below, and posts that a Lebanese website is blaming Hezbollah for the Qana deaths.

National Public Radio's correspondent reported that residents of that building had left and the victims were non-residents who chose to shelter in the building that night. They were "too poor" to leave the down, one resident told CNN's Wedeman. Who were these people?

What we do know is that sometime after dawn a call went hour to journalists and rescue workers to come to the scene. And come they did, in droves.

While Hezbollah and its apologists have been claiming that civilians could not freely flee the scene due to Israeli destruction of bridges and roads, the journalists and rescue teams from nearby Tyre had no problem getting there.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/012476.php

Also related, a recent Newsbusters post on a rescue worker who may have set up casualty scenes for photos.

What becomes apparent is that the same “rescue worker” is in all of these pictures, and that it appears he is involved in “posing” victims of this unfortunate incident. Furthermore, it is possible that this same individual has been doing this for some years, as a picture is shown of the same man involved in similar activities back in 1996.

http://newsbusters.org/node/6668