Freakazoid 'church' gets cleaned out

I posted this a few days ago about the fundamentalist freaks in Kansas being sued for their disgraceful invasion of a military funeral. Well, they lost.

The father of a fallen Marine was awarded nearly $11 million Wednesday in damages by a jury that found leaders of a fundamentalist church had invaded the family's privacy and inflicted emotional distress when they picketed the Marine's funeral.

The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned later in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress to the Marine's father, Albert Snyder of York, Pa.

Snyder sued the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified monetary damages after members staged a demonstration at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.

The defense said it planned to appeal and one of the church's leaders, Shirley Phelps-Roper, said the members would continue their pickets of military funerals.

Church members believe that U.S. deaths in the war in Iraq are punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

That ought to put that so-called church out of business.

Study: 25% of Britain's mosques promoting hatred

The Telegraph has this item about the study, and the Daily Mail has this one. Both article cite a study by the Policy Exchange in which more than 100 British mosques were visited and at which a quarter of those mosques made hate literature available. From the Telegraph piece:

Extremist literature that encourages hatred of gays, Christians and Jews can be easily found at many of Britain's mosques, according to a new survey.

Researchers for the centre-Right think tank Policy Exchange claims it found the literature in a quarter of the 100 mosques and Islamic institutions they visited.

Many of the publications allegedly called on British Muslims to segregate themselves from non-Muslims and for unbelievers to be treated as second-class citizens wherever possible.

The literature also allegedly contained repeated calls for gays to be thrown from mountains and tall buildings and for women to be subjugated.

The spin was quick, but feeble:

Dr Yunes Teinaz, of the London Central Mosque, said: "Any book or literature like this found in the mosque will reflect the views of the author and not at all the view of the mosque." [Then why is it in the mosque? --ed.] He added that the bookshop in the mosque was not run by the mosque, but was a franchise.

Iqbal Sacranie, a former secretary general of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, criticised the report. He said: "The majority of Muslims will totally dismiss this because it is written by the Policy Exchange, who have an agenda to denigrate the mainstream of Islam in this country. [Well, yeah, if by "denigrate" you mean "report the facts". --ed.]

The Daily Mail's article goes on to identify the source of the material as our 'friends' in Saudi Arabia:

Extremist literature calling for the execution of gays and the oppression of women is being distributed in British mosques.

Researchers found radical or hate-filled books and pamphlets at a quarter of the 100 Islamic religious institutions they visited.

They said much of the literature is linked to agencies of the Saudi Arabian government.

Maybe that "tiny minority" isn't so tiny, after all.

Pattern recognition

The recent successes in Iraq's Anbar province has been due in large part to local tribal sheiks turning on al Qaeda in Iraq and siding with US forces and the elected Iraqi government. Now it appears that this pattern is about to repeat itself in Afghanistan, where the Afghan government is close to turning an Afghan tribal militia leader, formerly allied with the Taliban, to its side.

An Afghan tribal leader is in talks to defect from the Taliban and take thousands of armed tribesmen with him to fight alongside British forces in southern Afghanistan.

The Daily Telegraph has learned that the Afghan government hopes to seal the deal this week with Mullah Abdul Salaam and his Alizai tribe, which has been fighting alongside the Taliban in Helmand province.

Diplomats confirmed yesterday that Mullah Salaam was expected to change sides within days. He is a former Taliban corps commander and governor of Herat province under the government that fell in 2001.

This almost certainly involves a promise of some level of political power for Mullah Salaam and his cronies, so it remains to be seen what the long-term effect of this alliance will be. But the short-term effect will not be good for the Taliban.

Red Sox watch

Awesome.

Most startling stat: Terry Francona is 8-0 in World Series games. Mike Lowell rocks, but Francona is the real MVP.

And to all those zombie followers of the Evil Empire who said we'd have to wait another 86 years: STFU.

Vlaams Belang and the great blog divide

I've been watching with interest over the past few days an increasing number of posts about Vlaams Belang, a Belgian right-wing party. A number of anti-jihad, right of center bloggers have been posting with some frequency on the question of whether VB is a neo-Nazi wolf in sheep's clothing or simply a party of conservative policy in the American sense.

Pamela at Atlas Shrugs and Charles at Little Green Footballs, bloggers who've in the past seem to have had a friendly relationship, are nearly at digital blows on the topic. While I'm on the fence myself about VB, I think Pamela's charge against Charles was over the top while Charles' response was measured and reasonable. And Charles has enough facts to cast suspicious light on VB.

Hot Air appears to be on the anti-VB side (though you'll have to read between the lines and in the comments to come to that conclusion) while Baron Bodissey at Gates of Vienna seems more sanguine about VB's motives.

All of these are blogs I read regularly and for which I have immense amounts of respect. I only hope that a permanent schism doesn't develop over this within the anti-jihad blogosphere. As for me, I'll have to learn more before deciding which side I'm on. But right now, VB doesn't look too good.

Red Sox watch

It appears my misgivings about starting Ortiz at first instead of Youkilis were unfounded. That's why Terry Francona is Boston's manager and I'm not.

The Sox did it again last night, beating the Rockies 10-5 and putting the series at 3-0 Boston, one win away from closing the deal. At one time Boston was up 6-0 and the game became more interesting than was comfortable when the Rocks closed to 6-5. But Boston drove a stake in Colorado's heart in the late innings.

What I really have liked this post-season has been the contributions of the rookies. With guys like Pedroia and Ellsbury playing more like seasoned vets and the actual seasoned vets on the team playing well and looking healthy, it's hard not to be bullish on Boston's chances in upcoming seasons.

This just in: Aliens testing secret weapons on Italians

Game over, man. Game over!

Villagers [in Canneto di Caronia on Sicily --ed.] had been baffled for years over the way their toasters and TVs regularly burst into flames. But now the mystery has been solved.

[ ... ]

Locals were quick to blame supernatural forces, with the Vatican's chief exorcist attributing the fires to demons.

But in an interim report leaked to the Italian media yesterday, the civil protection department says the most likely cause is 'aliens testing secret weapons'.

I want to believe.

Image makeover

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson: Death metallurgist, airline pilot

No...I'm not kidding.

NAACP outdated, out of touch

The NAACP has shown, yet again, that they're as outdated as their name. Having failed to advance the cause of "colored people", they long ago became just another left-wing political action committee.

When Overstock.com founder Patrick Byrne said during a debate on school vouchers that minority kids who drop out of high school may as well be "burned" or "thrown away", the local Salt Lake NAACP chapter was quick to demand an apology. Here's what Byrne actually said:

Right now, 40 percent of Utah minorities are not graduating from high school. You may as well burn those kids. That's the end of their life. That's the end of their ability to achieve in this society if they do not get a high school education. You might as, [well] just throw the kids away.

Clearly, Byrne was saying that with the disadvantages minorities already have, dropping out of high school eliminates whatever opportunities minorities might have enjoyed. One would think that an organization presumably concerned with minority advancement would be cheering Byrne's remarks. One would be woefully mistaken.

Jeanetta Williams, a voucher opponent and president of the NAACP's Salt Lake branch, said the videotaped comments shocked her and she believes Byrne meant that minorities who don't graduate should be burned or thrown away.

Of course, Jeanetta Williams doesn't really think that. If she did, her English language skills could use a bit of polishing up. As a left-wing political action committee, the NAACP is opposed to school vouchers and this was merely an opportunity for her to attack one who favors the program, the fact that many minorities could benefit from such a program notwithstanding.

The NAACP no longer works for the "advancement of colored people"...they're nothing more than a wing of the Democratic Party.

Randi Rhodes: Blackwater burned San Diego...so they could move there

It's no secret that Air America's Randi Rhodes has one of the more fevered minds of the remaining air personalities at far left-wing Air America. But her latest is, well, judge for yourself.

I started just doing Google searches to try and figure out. You know, arson, arson, it was like crazy trying to figure out why is that being downplayed? Why is that, you know, just a small part of the story? [The arson angle is all the media has been talking about the past couple days. --ed.] And you know, every time I look for it what comes up, believe it or not, is that Blackwater wants to move to San Diego and build this giant complex in San Diego right where most of the evacuations are taking place and you know.

You just know wherever there is fire, this administration will be out there doing what it does best and that is fanning the flames, you know. It just spooks me, I can’t explain to you how creepy this whole thing is that you know, you’ve got these fires. Some of them are thought to be the work of arsonists and in the same breath you’ve got a community that’s on fire that just recently protested Blackwater West. Just recently said no to Blackwater and apparently you don’t do that.

I mean, I don’t even know what to think. You know, nobody is saying Blackwater set the fires, that is nobody that doesn’t want their house burned down. Nobody is saying that, but it is all so bizarre that this is America and you have to sort of sit there and wonder … arson, same place Blackwater West wants to be, people protesting. And then you find out that some of the guys that used to work for Blackwater are now in Schwarzenegger’s administration.

It’s all so creepy.

Make sure you follow the link to NewsBusters for her listeners' comments. Yes, Randi. It's all so very creepy.

Hat tip: LGF

Islamist militants denounce al-Jazeera--for NOT censoring Bin Laden video

If one were looking for a sure sign that there's trouble in the ranks of the global jihad movement, look no further.

Al-Jazeera, the controversial Arab satellite channel, has been denounced for siding with the “crusaders” after it broadcast a message from Osama bin Laden that made him appear unusually humble.

In his latest missive, bin Laden admitted that al-Qa'eda's organisation in Iraq had made mistakes and called for unity among Muslims.

“Some of you have been lax in one duty, which is to unite your ranks,” said bin Laden, in a taped message.

“I advise myself, Muslims in general and brothers in al-Qa'eda everywhere to avoid extremism in men and groups.”

[ ... ]

Islamist militants vented their fury with al-Jazeera for drawing attention to these setbacks and broadcasting bin Laden's words of humility.

A stream of abusive and threatening messages was posted on the channel's website.

"God fight al-Jazeera”, read one message, adding that the station was a “collaborator with the Crusaders”.

Another protest said: “Al-Jazeera directors have shamefully chosen to back the Crusaders' side and the defenders of hypocrites and the thugs and traitors of Iraq.”

One furious message called al-Jazeera a “miserable fly in the rubbish” and said: “Your day will come, vile one. As long as we live you won't be safe, Jazeera.”

Divide and conquer.

Freakazoid 'church' in court over military funeral mockery

I hadn't heard that the Westboro Baptist Church was being sued for making a circus of a military funeral, but it's about time.

The father of a Marine killed in Iraq took the stand in his invasion of privacy suit against a fundamentalist church that pickets soldiers' funerals, saying protesters carrying signs at his son's burial made him sick to his stomach.

Albert Snyder said Wednesday he had hoped for a private funeral for his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder.

"They turned this funeral into a media circus and they wanted to hurt my family," Snyder testified. "They wanted their message heard and they didn't care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside."

Snyder is suing the Westboro Baptist church, whose members have picketed the funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming the deaths are punishment for the country's tolerance of homosexuality. The York resident is seeking unspecified monetary damages in the case for invasion of privacy and intent to inflect emotional distress as a result of the Topeka, Kan., church's protest at his son's funeral in Westminster in March 2006.

The church's protests have inspired several state laws and a federal law about funeral protests, but the Maryland suit is believed to be the first filed by the family of a fallen serviceman.

Asked Wednesday about a sign that read "Thank God for dead soldiers," Snyder said he thinks about it daily.

If you haven't seen the evil, hate-spewing Shirley Phelps before, watch this Fox News interview in which Julie Banderas eats her alive. Phelps appears a little more than 4:00 into the clip.



These fundamentalist freakazoids have been destroying the dignity and solemnity of military funerals with their protests over homosexuality and I hope the lawsuit cleans 'em out.

Daily Kos diarist: End the war by converting to Islam

I rarely, if ever, post anything I see at Daily Kos. While Kos himself has declared himself the mainstream voice of the Democratic party, I think a lot of Democrats think otherwise. Case in point:

While it appears from more than one point of view that the War in Iraq and the War on Terror are situations from which we may never be able to extricate ourselves, from the mountains of Pakistan comes a very simple solution: convert to Islam.

Before we reject this out of hand, lets seriously consider it for a moment: Osama Bin Laden promised the wars would be over if Americans convert to Islam.

This may sound like a lot to ask from the most religious country in the industrialized world. But of all the Christians in America today who profess to be religious, how many of us are seriously devout?

How many of us are really just religious lightweights, happy to simply go to church every Sunday, attend church socials, knock back a drink or two every Christmas and not worry ourselves about the deeper implications of our faith?

Given the way most of us pay any real attention to the tenets of our faith, life really wouldn’t be that different if we were to exchange one faith for another. The prayers would be different, but we would recite them just as mindlessly as we do today. The sermons would in all likelihood be exactly the same, and we’d continue to snore through them.

Sure, there are a few people here and there who take religion seriously, but they are in such a small minority that their protests can be easily ignored.

All in all, converting to Islam would be a small price to pay for an end to the killing and maiming of our sons and daughters, not to mention the billions of dollars we could put to better use than fighting this perpetual war.

So let’s do away with our religious pretences, adopt Islam as our new faith, add a few extra holidays to our calendar, and get down to the real business at hand: pumping oil.

I suppose that last line is there to give the diarist an out to say it's satire, as the lefties are wont to do when caught out in the open making their more outrageous statements. But a lot of the commenters, who apparently are far more sane than the diarist, don't seem to be taking it as a joke.

Given that the poll the diarist included, in which it asks whether the reader would convert to Islam, only offers "Yes" as a possible answer, I'm inclined to think it's pure snark. But with the Kossacks, one never knows.

Hat tip: Hot Air headlines