Sudden Jihadi Syndrome in Seattle

The antique media reportage of the shooting at a Jewish center in Seattle has been shameful. The response from the various authorities to the shooting has been even worse.

Following Friday's shooting at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, Seattle's finest have bent over backwards not to mention that the shooter, Naveed Avzal Haq, is a Muslim:

When asked if the suspect was Muslim, Kerlikowske said at a news conference, "you could infer that that was his background."

The FBI, too, was quick to soft-pedal Haq's background:

Laura Laughlin, special agent in charge of the Seattle FBI office, said Haq was a U.S. citizen.

In order to not make the point, Seattle police have stepped up security...at Seattle's mosques and synagogues. Never mind that no infidels have barged into any mosques lately and opened fire on innocent Muslims.

Some more choice quotes from the various news sources:

At a news conference on Friday, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels said, "This was a purposeful, hateful act as far as we know, by an individual acting alone. ... This is a crime of hate."

"There was a political element to it, but we believe this was the action of one person and not an organization," Seattle assistant police chief Nick Metz said at a news conference Friday.

Haq's lawyer, Larry Stephenson, told The Seattle Times that he thought Haq was single and unemployed, and that Haq had a misdemeanor lewd conduct charge pending in Benton County. Haq had been accused of exposing himself in a public place, Stephenson told The Times.

Haq's parents were shaken by his arrest in the shootings, the lawyer said.

"I talked to his father, and his mother is crying, and they don't know what is going on," Stephenson said. "They are very, very shook up.

Very, very shook up by his arrest, apparently, but not the shootings.

Sources:

FOXNews.com and Reuters, Agence France Press and AP via Yahoo News.

The language of xenophobia

Ahmadinejad waves to well-wishers through the
window of his heli--uh, I mean, rotating wings

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has decreed that foreign words be stricken from every day use in Iran.

In this FoxNews.com version of the story, it's said that pizzas will now be known as "elastic loaves" and chats will be called "short talks".

In this AP release via Yahoo News, helicopters become "rotating wings" and mobile phones are "companion phones".

This makes me wonder what an appropriately Persian word is for "batshit loonball jew-hating genocidal maniac".

Editor talks tough; reader gets a case of the vapors

About two weeks ago, the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star ran an editorial suggesting that the UN wasn't tough or serious enough about fighting terrorism. The editor used some pretty strong words in describing what such an international body should be doing:

...it's time for nations to reunite in a parallel organization--a coalition of the ready, willing, and able devoted to cleansing the earth of diseases disguised as men.

A few days later, FLS reader Joe Sucha agreed, and in his letter to the editor took Democrats and the liberal media to task for undermining the Bush administration's efforts in combatting terrorism:

What it does not address is not only our own colossal failure to vigorously support this administration's efforts to win this war, but the openly treasonable actions of prominent Democrats and the liberal media who blatantly undermine this administration's exhaustive efforts to succeed.

They are more intent on destabilizing the administration than protecting our country and its citizens.

A cold, tall mojito from the Pool Bar to Mr. Sucha. You go, Joe.

Joe also went on to quote the cleansing line from the editorial, which proved to be too much for poor Tres Seaver, who wrote in a letter published today:

The Free Lance-Star's high quality of text editing could not have allowed a typographical error of such magnitude as promoting "cleansing the earth of diseases disguised as men" in a July 13 editorial ["The nations united"], about the need to deal more forcefully with terrorists.

I cringed upon reading that phrase, but chalked it up to the editorial writer's propensity for apocalyptic speech.

But then see what you have wrought! You have inflamed poor Joe Sucha to pile on in his letter to the editor ["Democrats and liberal media do real harm to our country," July 17] with his interpretation of the problem.

To the Free Lance-Star's credit, they stuck to their guns in today's editorial:

But if "cleanse" violates anyone's sensibilities, we're happy to substitute "extirpate," "erase," "rub out," "rid the planet of," "obliterate," or "send packing to Hell." The object of--one trusts--every civilized person's blackest regards, terrorists themselves are avid practitioners of genocide. They hate and kill the innocent based on creed and national origin, as any number of bereaved Russian parents and Indian orphans--not to mention Sept. 11 mourners--will bear witness. Only a lack of means prevents terrorists from doing what Hitler and Pol Pot did.

Red Sox Watch

Magic number: 62

Yeesh...Red Sox have lost two straight and the Evil Empire has won four in a row, putting them just a half game out of first.

C'mon guys...let's see some pep out there!

Whistleblowers, or narcissistic traitors?

A former staffer at NSA has been subpoenaed for his alleged role in leaking classified information relating to NSA surveillance programs. As it happens, Russ Tice, the accused leaker, is a member of National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (who'd have thought that "whistleblowers" had their own "coalition"?), the member roll of which contains a considerable list of "former" this and "retired" that. I read "former" and "retired" as "fired" and "forced out" respectively. Or possibly just plain disgruntled.

Notable among the "formers" is one Dan Ellsberg, listed as "Former Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (ISA), DOD". You may recall that one Daniel Ellsberg was responsible for the "Pentagon Papers" leak to the New York Times during the Vietnam war. Are they the same Danny Boy? I'm not sure, but it seems likely.

While some may find their willingness to martyr themselves admirable, I find it merely criminal. This Tice guy signed enough non-disclosure paperwork to gag an elephant, yet he suddenly feels persecuted because he's chosen to break the law.

Whistle-blowing? Bullshit. This is nothing more than politically motivated self promotion. And nothing less than illegal disclosure of national security information.

Besides, no group with a worthwhile agenda calls itself a "coalition".

Update 29 Jul 2006 @ 08:45: According to this ABCNews.com item from January, Tice was dumped by NSA for being a head case:

The NSA revoked Tice's security clearance in May of last year based on what it called psychological concerns and later dismissed him. Tice calls that bunk and says that's the way the NSA deals with troublemakers and whistleblowers.

Well, yeah, you'd have to be crazy to want the terrorists to win.

Light posting lately

I wish I could say it was because I've been on vacation, but it's mainly because I've been way too busy with work (the work that pays the bills, that is). Hopefully I'll get some more posts up when things slow down a bit.

Hizballah's puppetmasters in Tehran

As the fighting between Israel and Hizballah in Lebanon continues, the calls for a cease fire are becoming more strident. Of course, "cease fire" in this case is Hizballah Jihadi lingo for "let me catch my breath, reorganize and rearm and get more money from our masters in Iran".

A cease fire accomplishes nothing and merely delays the inevitable. What would the world be like today if the Allies listened to some third party's call for cease fire and negotiations with the Axis powers during World War II?

A player often overlooked in the current conflict is Iran. While Israel's detractors are calling her reaction to Hamas' and Hizballah's aggression "disproportionate", Ahmadinejad and his mad Mullahs in Tehran are dishing out cash and support to Hizballah and Hamas, and cackling with glee. This is just the distraction to Iran's nuclear program they desired and actively sought.

Does anyone think that it was mere coincidence that both Hamas and Hizballah executed cross-border incursions into Israel to kill a few Israeli soldiers and capture a few more, both operations occurring within days of each other? Back in April, Iran gave Hamas $50 million in funds after most countries cut off funding. There's not an infidel's chance in Mecca that this money came with no strings attached. So Hamas takes the money, and dutifully increases rocket attacks against Israel, then snatches an IDF soldier and stashes him in Gaza.

Hizballah, which has always been under control of Iran's Mullahs, then sneaks into Israel, killing eight IDF soldiers and grabbing two more. Any thinking person would have to seriously doubt that Hizballah was merely inspired by the Hamas operation.

This whole episode is of Iran's making. The world must see through this and stop blaming Israel for taking steps to defend her borders.

Robert Fox: Weak and muddled

The First Post is carrying an opinion piece by Robert Fox on Israel's strategy against Hizballah which starts off as fairly insightful, but quickly veers off into the land of hand-wringing and bed-wetting--over the fates of Hizballah, Syria and Iran. Fox offers nothing but fretting over Israel's intentions in the middle east and stops just short of diving under a bed with his hands over his ears screaming "Make the bad man go away!".

First, there's the warning that Hamas and Hizballah have powerful friends:

Hezbollah, like Hamas, has many state allies and sponsors who help with weaponry, tactics, training and morale-boosting propaganda. But it is not entirely dependent on its state supporters. It will not be destroyed by Israel trashing Lebanon in the short term, or attacking Syria and Iran in the longer term. It will likely survive as a grassroots organisation and its perceived persecution - even martyrdom - will boost the calls to jihad from the mosques of Bradford to Jakarta.

All true, but so fucking what? What's so bad about a grassroots (read: underground and hiding) organization with no more rockets and missiles to lob indiscriminately into Israel? Fox then goes on at length extolling the military hardware of Hizballah, and almost sounds like he's masturbating over thoughts of Hizballah's al-Fajr 5 rockets and Mirsad UAVs wreaking havoc on Israeli civilians and the IDF:

In the past week Hezbollah has employed a new arsenal of ground-launched rockets, among them the al Fajr-5 with a range of up to 50 miles and new Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, principally the Mirsad 1.

It was a Mirsad that struck the Israeli gunboat in the Mediterranean on Friday night. The ship was bombarding the Lebanon coast when it was hit by the drone packed with conventional explosive. The Israeli defence ministry announced that four crew had been killed, and then imposed a news blackout.

And then in true leftist, BDS-afflicted, anti-American form, he lays blame for the current crisis on Bush:

The problem today is that there is no Henry Kissinger, or James Baker, or Madeleine Albright for that matter, with their hands on the levers of power. The present crisis shows a glaring lack of engagement and influence on the part of Washington, and this, I fear is the biggest flaw in Israel's thinking.

Any US plan to help Israel deal with Syria and Iran, with Hezbollah as the casus belli, is hardly likely to clear the ground. How can a weakened and muddled Bush administration, after pitching its allies into ill-considered wars of choice in Iraq and Afghanistan, now persuade us that fighting Syria and Iran are wars of necessity?

OK...maybe it can be argued that Iraq was a "war of choice". But Afghanistan? Right...in the same way World War II was a "war of choice".

Weakened and muddled, indeed.

Britain bans 'Saved Sect'

Five weeks ago, I wrote about a group in Britain called the "Saved Sect", which had all the appearances of an Islamic extremist group. The item on their site I found the most disturbing was this call to Islam for the people of Britain:

O people of Britain, we invite to Islam, to accept it as the truth and to worship and obey Allah exclusively and not associate partners with Him. If you accept, then Allah promises you contentment in this life and Paradise in the Hereafter. If you decline, Allah promises you misery in this life, and severe punishment in the Hereafter. The decision is yours O people of Britain.

It was the political-military practice of early Islam to first extend a call to Islam to a nation before waging war on it.

It was announced yesterday that the Saved Sect has been banned under Britain's anti-terrorism laws. Of course, banning an organization isn't the same as rounding up and deporting its members, but it's a start.

Does Israel stand alone?

Something is seriously wrong with the world's governments and the antique media's reporting of the events in the middle east. To wit:

• Hamas terrorists based in Gaza execute a raid on Israel, killing IDF soldiers and capturing one. Israel responds by moving into Gaza. Israel draws near-universal condemnation.
• Hizballah terrorists based in Lebanon execute a raid on Israel, killing eight IDF soldiers and capturing two. Israel responds by hitting Hizballah targets in Lebanon. Israel draws near-universal condemnation.
• Israel issues warnings and uses precision weapons to minimize collateral damage. Hizballah indiscriminately lobs Syrian missiles that spray ball bearings in every direction into population centers in an effort to maximize civilian casualties. Israel gets accused of using "banned weapons" against civilians.

See the pattern here? Does anybody else think something's wrong with this picture?

Putin questions Israeli goals

Russian President Vladimir Putin (who's still a closet commie) said he thinks Israel is 'pursuing wider goals' in their actions against Hamas and Hizbollah, implying Israel has some sinister agenda beyond securing the return of their kidnapped soldiers.

"However, it is our impression that aside from seeking to return the abducted soldiers, Israel is pursuing wider goals," he said at a midnight news conference after a dinner opening the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations. He did not elaborate.

I'll elaborate for him: Their wider goals are survival of their nation you dolt!

PS: Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days. I was traveling on business and the schedule got a bit hectic.

More death courtesy of the RoP

It's being reported that seven explosions have struck the train system in Mumbai (Bombay), India. The AP currently reports at least 20 dead, but Fox News Channel is now reporting a death toll of at least 80.

Of course, the AP can't quite bring itself to say who may be responsible or indeed what may have even happened:

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for what appeared to be bombings, but the blasts came in quick succession — a common tactic employed by Kashmiri militants that have repeatedly targeted India's cities.

Those "Kashmiri militants" are not Amish.

Update @ 11:05 EDT: The AP article now states more than 100 dead.

Update @ 11:10 EDT: The train bombings may have been timed to coincide with grenade attacks in Srinagar in Kashmir.

The European politburo

The First Post is carrying an appropriately scathing piece comparing the European Commission to the communist structures of the Cold War era.

Think about it: the Evropeyskiy Soyuz, like the old USSR, is run by an unelected politburo of 25 commissioners. These commissioners rule through five-year plans, rubber-stamped by a powerless parliament. They are ferried about in limousines. They have special passports to whisk them through airports. There are even special shops reserved for senior apparatchiks.

No wonder the Eastern European communist parties led the pro-EU campaigns in their home countries: they must have felt they were coming home. It is like the horrible closing scene of Animal Farm: you look from man to pig and pig to man, and it is impossible to tell which is which.

Read it all.

Baltimore theater shooting update

It seems I'm not the only one questioning what really drove Mujtaba Rabbani Jabbar (a Muslim) to execute Paul Schrum (a Jew) in a movie theater in Owings Mills, MD last month.

Militant Islam Monitor appears to have the most complete compilation of commentary on this incident with entries from Daniel Pipes' blog and Reason Online. Julia Gorin at Republican Riot also has a short entry on the incident.

I'm leaning more and more to thinking it's another case of Sudden Jihadi Syndrome (SJS), but we'll never know for sure by the way the drive-by media is reporting it.

Italia!

I was having drinks last night with four colleagues, each of whom are from a different country--Australia, Germany, South Africa and Sweden. Of course, they're all big soccer fans and their prime concern was where to watch the World Cup final match between France and Italy.

Since we weren't far from San Francisco, I suggested finding a bar or cafe there in Little Italy since there would likely be a good atmosphere for the game. Talk about an understatement.

This was the scene after Italy won the game in a free kick shootout.

I shot a few more pictures with my phone, which I'll post once I can get back on my computer. This mobile blogging thing is pretty cool, but it's hell on the thumbs.

Edited to remove Verizon's spam.

Best roadhouse in Half Moon Bay

Another great stop in Half Moon Bay is Old Princeton Landing. At least I think that's the name of the place.

This bar is one of a dying breed. It's a no-frills gin mill with a good beer selection and an unusual clientele. The regulars are a mix of sinfully rich techies, bikers and the occasional fisherman/woman.

There's a picture of Neil Young on the wall playing in a bar, which just happens to be the same bar.

Edited to remove Verizon's spam.

Best beer in Half Moon Bay

Whenever I go to Half Moon Bay, I have to stop at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. Setting aside for a moment that they make a spectacular hefeweizen, the food and atmosphere are great, too.

I spent two weeks in HMB about five years ago, and I pretty much lived on their beer and steamed clams. The clams are served in a white wine-based broth that can't be beat.

Edited to remove Verizon's spam.

Half Moon Bay

On the road once again visiting the corporate mother ship, and I thought I'd take a ride over to Half Moon Bay. HMB is on the coast a little bit south of San Francisco, and is one of my favorite parts of the country.

No moonbats yet, but plenty of boats. There are usually a lot of surfers about, but the surf is pretty weak today.

Edited to remove Verizon's spam.

London bombings, one year later

Commuters and transit workers stop to observe two minutes
of silence on the anniversary of the London bombings in
this AP photo.

Today marks the first anniversary of the 7/7 Islamic terrorist attacks in London that claimed 52 lives and injured many, many more.

Never again.

Calderon takes Mexico election

In what's looking like a Latino version of Bush/Gore 2000, Mexico's conservative presidential candidate Felipe Calderon appears to have scratched out a victory over leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Taking a page from the Al Gore playbook, Obrador said "We cannot recognize or accept these results". To complete the Al Gore/American Democratic party effect:

Lopez Obrador angrily claimed the election last Sunday was plagued with irregularities and pledged to challenge it in Mexico's electoral court.

He also called a rally of supporters in Mexico City's vast central square for Saturday, raising fears of street protests and unrest as well as weeks of legal wrangling similar to that which followed the U.S. presidential election in 2000.

Not that such moves helped Gore any, but like Gore, it'll keep Obrador's name and face in the news for a little while longer.

Venezuela's pinko prez Hugo Chavez must be starting to feel a bit like komrade Markos "Kos" Moulitsas in his record for backing candidates. "Kos" is a Democratic activist whose record in backing "progressive" candidates for office is something like 0-100,000.

4th of July fireworks

Submitted for your perusal...our annual backyard fireworks.

The three levels of Bush Derangement Syndrome

Over at Anti-Strib, there's a pretty damned funny item on the three levels of BDS. The following pictures from the article are funny enough, but you have to read the whole thing.

Level 1 BDS sufferer: Very angry but can utlimately be
calmed and brought to reason.


Level 2 BDS sufferer: Many celebrities and MSM
journalists fall into this category.

Level 3 BDS sufferer: These cases are so advanced,
the victim starts taking on the appearance of the index patient,
Michael Moore.

Water lillies

I've been trying to get water lillies other than white ones to bloom in my water garden for a few years now. This year I tried again and got lucky. This pink one wasn't there yesterday, but is in full bloom today.

No harm, no foul? Not exactly...

New York Times editor Bill Keller has been making the rounds defending his decision to publish details of the Bush administration's anti-terrorism financial tracking program. At the core of his defense is his opinion that no damage was done to national security because some terrorists and organizations that back them have resorted to lower tech methods of moving cash.

But even Keller doesn't claim that the program has no value, and in fact the article cites instances in which the program has resulted in the arrest of terrorist financiers. In Keller's own words:

It's not our job to pass judgment on whether this program is legal or effective, but the story cites strong arguments from proponents that this is the case. While some experts familiar with the program have doubts about its legality, which has never been tested in the courts, and while some bank officials worry that a temporary program has taken on an air of permanence, we cited considerable evidence that the program helps catch and prosecute financers of terror, and we have not identified any serious abuses of privacy so far.

However, one consequence of publicizing the program may prove more damaging than anything the bad guys may have learned. Last week, the Washington Post reported that a civil liberties group in Britain had "...asked governments around the world to block the release of confidential financial records to U.S. anti-terrorism authorities."

Unfortunately, this is likely to be the first of many such groups to do so. In fact, I'd bet on self-serving groups such as moveon.org to jump on the band wagon and file suit to halt the program.

Every reasonably intelligent person on earth knew that international financial transactions were being watched. But now that the Times has painted the program with an Orwellian brush, it's become fair game for the loonball left to put a stop to it.

The First Post: America not dead yet

In Europe, it's become popular to bash America and anything American. In what psychologists might describe as a classic case of projection, conventional wisdom holds that we're a nation in decline morally, socially and economically.

Over at The First Post, William Langley disagrees.

The article describes efforts in Britain to reduce crime and improve social woes by consulting with Bill Bratton, former NYC police commissioner and now chief of the LAPD. He is largely credited with the reduction in crime in New York, and is now doing the same for Los Angeles. According to Langley:

We keep asking him how to tackle crime, and when he tells us to encourage civic responsibility, be merciless on minor offenders, and build more prisons for serious ones we choose to ignore him.

Langley goes on to detail the statistics supporting his claim that America is just fine and getting better, and closes with this paragraph:

You feel it everywhere. In the courteousness and generosity of ordinary Americans, and the pride they have in their country. We don't hear much about it, because it doesn't fit our Euro-jaundiced view of what the United States is. And when someone like Bratton offers us a helping hand we prefer to ignore it.

Happy Birthday, America.

'Saved Sect' of Islam explains it all

I was browsing through the web site of Islam's "Saved Sect", which I covered previously here. On their site, they have a page entitled "A Summary of Islam", which is reproduced here in its entirety. I'm not particularly concerned about copyright infringement, since the site owners are kind enough to include this statement on their home page:

© Copyright is prohibited in Islam. Please feel free to copy all of our material. You are not required to mention us as a source.

But I will most certainly mention them as the source. Here's the "Summary of Islam", which I've taken the liberty to mark up with corrections and comments:

Islam is a complete and divine way of life different from all other beliefs, customs and traditions. [I'll say! --ed.] Islam is not like other religions political-military movements; it provides dictates answers to every problem that you could possibly face in your life, for you as an individual or for society. Islam elevates subjugates the human being from the worship of material things to the exclusive worship and obedience of Allah. Here are some of the aspects that Islam deals with:

Religious
The Islamic creed is unique and it is the truth; this means that everything else is falsehood and cannot be accepted. Islam does not accept interfaith as all other beliefs and ways of life are false and cannot be given any credence. The Islamic way of life is superior and never can the superiority of it be surpassed. [This is self-contradictory with the following passage found elsewhere on this same site: "The message of Muhammad taught Muslims (literally those who submit to the One and only Creator and Legislator) to respect the beliefs of the other religions, as Jesus, Moses, Abraham as well as the other Prophets before them were all brothers to one another teaching the same message of the one true God, Allah." --the writer needs to decide if this web site is intended to profess true Muslim thought or if it's supposed to be more taquiyya bullshit. --ed.]

Economic
The Islamic economic system does not accept the concept of usury which is a means of enslaving the people; therefore, it rejects the concept of banks, interest based loans, mortgages, credit cards etc. The Islamic economic system is based upon the principle that all wealth belongs to Allah (God) and our job is to maintain and administer this wealth in order to ensure that it is utilised in the right way. The economic system of Islam ensures that people do not live in poverty and do not suffer like the masses under the greed of the capitalist (kufr) system. [Right...in Muslim countries, where little or nothing is produced, there's little need for banks, mortages, etc. You'll have to work on that "wealth" a little bit, though. --ed.]

Social
Islam lays out clear guidelines for the conduct between males and females in both public and private life. Islam forbids free mixing between the two genders unless done under the etiquettes and guidelines of Islamic law. Islam preserves the family structure and overcomes issues of moral and ethical values. [Sure...rampant inbreeding and pedophelia, honor killings, female genital mutilation...those social constructs work great. For men. --ed.]

Judicial
The Islamic way of life ensures that those who commit crimes are punished and reprimanded according to the divine commands of Allah, and that obedience and submission is to no law except the law and order of Allah, the Commander and Sustainer of all of mankind. [OK, so if Allah is cop, judge, jury and executioner, why has he never been known to be present at anyone's trial? What's that? Oh, a trial...that's where...uh, never mind. --ed.]

Foreign Policy
The Islamic belief transcends boundaries and borders and therefore unites all Muslim countries into one land under the leadership of one person ruling by Islamic law. Islam deals with foreign invaders who occupy lands like Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya, China, Sudan, Niger, Nigeria, Bosnia, Kosovo and Uzbekistan, and deals with all the wounds of the Muslim Ummah (nation). Islam deals with those people or nations that commit aggression and spread their corruption in the world. [And just how does Islam deal with those "invaders"? This looks like an appropriate time to remind the writer that all major world religions predate Islam by at least 600 years or more. --ed.]

If you build it, they will come

A few years ago, I put in a small water garden in the backyard near the swimming pool. We dropped a few water lillies and other plants in, and within a year, a couple of bullfrogs had taken up residence. This is one of them.