Human Shields

Here's another glowing example of the Palestinians using human shields, as they prepare for the festivities with Israel's "Operation Summer Rains" in Gaza.

Is there no depth to this depravity?

Thanks to Little Green Footballs (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/) for the photo.

What's All The Fuss?

This was sent to me in an email. I can't verify the original poster, so I'll leave it off. If anyone can point to the author, I'd be happy to give credit.

*** Update 04-Jul-06 ***

Located via Google search at http://americandaily.com/article/8987 - from a Doug Patton column of June 6, 2005. I've adjusted the balance of the post to reflect exactly what's on that page, as opposed to its earlier, edited, version:

I don't care! (June 6 2005: Ask Me if I Care About 'Mishandling' of Koran)
By Doug Patton (08/30/2005)

First, Newsweek pulled a Dan Rather on us, running a fabricated story just because they wanted it to be true. They told the world that an American guard at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention center had ripped pages from a prisoner's Koran and flushed it down a toilet. As a result, innocent people died when practitioners of Islam rioted in protest in Afghanistan.

Oops, said Newsweek, it seems we can't back up our story. Oh well, it's probably true; we just can't prove it. (Isn't it convenient for Newsweek that the media now have "Deep Throat" to talk about so they can revel in their glory days and divert our attention from their criminal negligence.)

The lie heard round the world about the flushed Koran has caused convulsions in the Bush Administration and forced the Pentagon to launch an investigation of unfounded allegations contained in an unsubstantiated story. The results of said investigation are now in, and it seems there are at least five incidents of "mishandling" of the Koran at Gitmo.

Well, guess what? I don't care!

Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001? Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet? Well, I don't. I don't care at all.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia.

I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling, slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

I'll care when Clinton-appointed judges stop ordering my government to release photos of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, which are sure to set off the Islamic extremists just as Newsweek's lies did a few weeks ago.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts that I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and -- you guessed it -- I don't care!

And now for something completely different...

From one of my favourite middle-eastern blogs (Rantings of a Sandmonkey) at http://www.sandmonkeyblog.com/


This is an actual true story that was reported in the egyptian newspapers:

A Taxi driver was driving in Cairo at night when this old man who had a white beard and was dressed all in white stopped him and asked him to take him to a certain destination. The Taxi driver agreed and started conversing with the old guy, who was both friendly and courteous. Two other men signaled to the taxi to stop and the driver decided to pick them up as well, since the destination was on the way of the old guy's destination. After they boarded the taxi and he started driving again, he leaned on the old guy and said :" I hope you don;t mind me picking them up!", to which the old man said "Not at all, they are on my way anyway!". And that's when the 2 guys sitting in the back asked the driver: "Hey, driver, who are you talking to exactly?"

The driver replied, "to the old man sitting next to me of course!"

The two guys in the back looked all confused and said to the driver: "But the seat next to you is empty! There is no one sitting there!"

The astonished driver looked at the old man sitting next to him, who leaned over and with a strong hollow voice said: "They are right. They can not see me!"

The driver, getting all nervous, asked: "Why can't they see you?"

"Cause I am Azrael, the angel of death, and I am suppsoed to collect your soul in the next 10 minutes!", the man replied calmly. "If I were you, I would find the nearest mosque and go pray to god to forgive me for my sins right now!"

The man, terrified out of his wits to be sitting next to the angel of death and knowing that he is going to die in the next few minutes, stops the car at the nearest mosque he sees, runs out of it, and heads inside where he starts praying profiously for god's firgiveness. After being done with his prayers, he feels all calm and collected and ready to meet his maker, and steps out of the mosque to head back to his car and his impending doom…

..to find that the car, along with the two passengers and the man who said he was Azreal, was no longer standing there!

According to the papers, this is the third guy who fell for the same con in Egypt, leaving his car in the care of three strangers after one of them convinces him that he is the angel of death, and it was used before in both Saudi and in Jordan!

Canada - The "Torture" Nation

Thanks for the "heads up" on this from http://jihadwatch.org/

From today's Toronto Star (http://www.thestar.com):

Terror suspects 'tortured,' lawyers say

Tiny solitary cells under constant illumination, a mere 20 minutes of fresh air daily, and beatings at the hands of guards are indicative of the "torture" endured by some of the 17 people accused of plotting terrorist attacks in Canada, lawyers for the group said Monday.

The allegations of "cruel and unusual punishment" came as the court imposed a blanket publication ban on the legal proceedings, preventing the public from learning of any further evidence in a case of stunning allegations that has captured headlines around the world.

The treatment of the suspects, accused of plotting a number of terrorist strikes in Ontario that allegedly included bombings and taking senior politicians hostage, "constitutes torture," lawyer Rocco Galati said outside the court.

"That torture includes being kept in a room that's lit 24 hours a day, being woken up every half-hour, being beaten by the guards, on and on and on," said Galati, who represents Ahmad Mustafa Ghany, a 21-year-old health sciences graduate of McMaster University.

Ok, let's juxtapose that to the al-Qaeda manual found at(http://www.disastercenter.com/terror/
Al_Qaeda_Manual_Eighteen_LESSON.htm):

UK/BM-176 TO UK/BM-180 TRANSLATION
Lesson Eighteen PRISONS AND DETENTION CENTERS

IF AN INDICTMENT IS ISSUED AND THE TRIAL, BEGINS, THE BROTHER HAS TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE FOLLOWING:

1 . At the beginning of the trial, once more the brothers must insist on proving that torture was inflicted on them by State Security [investigators ]before the judge.

2. Complain [to the court] of mistreatment while in prison.

3. Make arrangements for the brother ’s defense with the attorney, whether he was retained by the brother ’s family or court-appointed.

4. The brother has to do his best to know the names of the state security officers, who participated in his torture and mention their names to the judge.[These names may be obtained from brothers who had to deal with those officers in previous cases.]

5. Some brothers may tell and may be lured by the state security investigators to testify against the brothers [i.e. affirmation witness ], either by not keeping them together in the same prison during the trials, or by letting them talk to the media. In this case, they have to be treated gently, and should be offered good advice, good treatment, and pray that God may guide them.

6. During the trial, the court has to be notified of any mistreatment of the brothers inside the prison.

I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea.

Courage

It takes a great deal of courage to turn to people you don't know personally to ask for their help.

Just think - if people in the Black community in Toronto asked the police for their help - instead of perpetually "seeing nothing", would we have the same kind of carnage in the city that we've seen over the past few years?

If the Chinese community in Toronto were more forthcoming with their problems, would we have an "Asian Crime Unit" in the Metro Police trying to unravel Chinese organized crime?

Well, would we?

Let us, then, turn to the Muslim community in Toronto. I've had no shortage of things to say about these folks over the past few days, have I? Well, along comes Shahina Siddiqui, president of the Islamic Social Services Association. She's been to Ottawa to say, "We're not here to say we don't have an issue."

From the Toronto Star: "Of course we have an issue," she told a news conference on Parliament Hill. "But we can't deal with it ourselves. We're part of the Canadian society and so we demand that the Canadian society come forward, help us root out this."

Well, I can't say as I like the way she put it, but put it she did.

Is it a red herring? Perhaps some more posturing of the "victim culture"? How come none of the imams came up with this? Will the marginalized youth(s) listen to her?

I can only hope for two things: 1) She is successful in getting the help her community needs, and 2) those giving the help don't pussy-foot around the issues in doing so.

I'm going to keep an open mind on this - for now. I don't think I can be blamed for looking at it with a slightly jaundiced eye, though.

Hello? Any "moderate muslims" out there?

Great. Here's your chance to respond to Al-Ghurabaa, the successor group to Al-Muhajiroun in the U.K., reposted here in its entirety:


There is no Room for Freedom in Islam

Despite the insistent pleas of some apologetic sections of the Muslim community and their distorted claims that Islam ‘represents freedom’ and ‘tolerance’. The fact of the matter is that there is no room for freedom in Islam whatsoever, in fact Islam calls for the complete opposite, and end of all freedoms and the enslaving of all people to their lord.

We do not want the slavery to our desires, money, women, man-made laws, Tony Blair etc like that offered by a free and democratic society, rather the Muslims believe in Islam, which is the total submission to Almighty Allah exclusively by worshipping Him (swt), obeying and following his commands and declaring complete intolerance, hatred, disassociation from Shirk (associating partners with Allah) and all of its people (i.e. all Jews, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, atheists etc).

The west calls for freedom of belief, to believe as you wish and worship as you wish and change your Deen as you wish. There is no space for this fallacy in Islam; in the Shari’ah it is well known that we have been ordered with “the one who changes his Deen, [to] kill him.” And although under an Islamic authority nobody will be forced to embrace Islam, we do not accept for people to walk with their idols and crosses in the streets publicly, nor to build any new places of worship (though they may keep their existing ones).

Another favourite of the west is the personal freedom to dress provocatively, to walk naked in the streets harming everybody in their way, freedom to look at pornography ‘as long as it is not children’, freedom to drink themselves into a frenzy until they are drunk and begin to steal, rape, kill and beat their wives and children. To the point that “the Home Office has suggested that nearly a half of all violent crimes are alcohol related and a staggering 19,000 sexual assaults are also alcohol related.”

This is the fruits of freedom! How people live with this corruption in the name of freedom I will never understand! Allah (swt) ordered us to stay far away from alcohol and all other intoxicants cutting off all of these ills from the root. Islam ensures that nobody feels the urge to exercise any ‘freedom’ to walk naked or dress provocatively or even to freemix let alone to destroy marriages and lives with fornication and adultery.

And besides these and other freedoms to steal, cheat, extort etc in the name of ‘interest’ and ‘profit’ we have the famous freedom of speech and expression, boasted and ‘courageously’ defended recently throughout Europe. So what is this ‘great’ concept of freedom of expression?

Strange… upon examination we find that it is nothing more than an excuse to lie, cheat, slander, backbite, swear, insult, mock and even defame all people in the name of this grand privilege to speak your mind. No, there is no room in Islam for this kind of evil concept, there is no freedom to lie, no freedom to slander, no freedom to swear, no freedom to insult any prophet and the prophet (saw) said, “whoever insults a prophet, kill him.”

So we find that the freedom that people worship is nothing more than an excuse to follow desires and corrupt societies, do you not think that Britain would be much better if the people were honest, trustworthy, decent people who did not swear, nor lie, nor slander each other, if they were not drunken rapists, criminals and adulterers like today but instead were sober and faithful HETERESEXUAL husbands and wives? Verily Britain will be so much better when governed under the Islamic rules in the coming days inshaa Allah.

- - -

So, any takers, "moderate muslims"?

Here's Your "Broad Strata"

Thanks to Michelle Malkin at http://michellemalkin.com

(She's got more pictures there)

The "Broad Strata"

From the Globe and Mail:

From an unmarried computer programmer to a university health sciences graduate and the unemployed, the 17 suspects charged in a foiled terrorist plot represent a “broad strata” of Canadian society.

“Some are students, some are employed, some are unemployed,” RCMP assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell said Saturday.

- - -

Have we become so terrified of being labelled "racist" (or any other like adjective) that we can no longer call a "spade a spade" (are we allowed to say that anymore?).

Some might be students, some have varying degrees of employment, but all are (alleged) Islamic extremists.

There. Somebody had to say it.

Mr. McDonell - take note. Unless you're willing to properly identify the enemy to the public, then that enemy has already won.

Good on you, Stephen Harper

From the National Post:

In Ottawa, Harper appeared to take the news in stride.

"I can live with these threats as long as they're not from my caucus,'' he joked.

- - -

Just wait for the wailing about how this is "no laughing matter".

Sputtering (Redux)

I suspect that I'll be doing a lot of this (sputtering) over the next little while as the people involved in the terrorism arrests go through varying degrees of posturing.

Here's a snippet from today's Toronto. (Emphasis mine):


Gary Batasar, the lawyer for Steven Vikash Chand, alias Abdul Shakur, told reporters outside the building his client was accused of wanting to decapitate Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“The allegations, as you reported, are quite serious, including storming and bombing of various buildings,” Batasar said.

“There’s an allegation that my client personally indicated that he wanted to behead the prime minister of Canada.”

Batasar said the synopsis of accusations provided by the Crown included allegations that the group wanted to “storm the Parliament buildings” and “take politicians hostage.” It also indicated that the CBC building in downtown Toronto was a potential target.

The synopsis also alleges Chand indicated “he would personally like to behead Stephen Harper,” Batasar said.

He said the group also allegedly planned to behead the hostages if their demands - the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and the release of Muslim prisoners - weren’t met.

Batasar accused those authorities, as well as the U.S. government and President George W. Bush, of trying to instil fear in the public.

“It appears to me that whether you’re in Ottawa or Toronto or Crawford, Tex., or Washington, D.C., what is wanting to be instilled in the public is fear,” he said.

“That’s precisely why everyone is here today, and that’s unfortunate.”

The lawyer chastised Harper for expressing “happiness” that the suspects had been arrested over the weekend.
- - -

Ok. Take a deep breath. Let's take this a bit at a time, shall we?

Better?

Good, 'cause here we go...

We have an individual who, it is alleged, wanted to "behead the Prime Minister", "storm the parliament buildings", and "take politicians hostage". All this from his lawyer's mouth.

And what's the next thing out of that mouth?

An accusation that CSIS, the US Goverment, and George W. Bush himself are behind some kind of sinister plot to "instill fear in the public". If that wasn't idiotic enough, this yahoo proceeds to tell us that he's pissed that Harper's happy about the weekend arrests.

Here we go with the victim culture again.

That any man would stand up and say these things should make him ashamed - ashamed to be a man and ashamed to call himself a Canadian. It disgusts me, and should equally disgust every Canadian in the World.

The spokesmen (how come there are no spokeswomen?) of the Muslim community - as their members are hauled in and out of courtrooms around the world - want to convince us that some kind of Kristallnacht is upon them.

Well, there are some serious flaws in that argument. First and foremost, the difference between German Jews of the 30s and Canadian Muslims today is that our government hasn't passed laws against them, we haven't boycotted their shops, we haven't restricted their economic or religious activities, we haven't forced them to carry special identity cards, and we haven't relocated them.

Quite the contrary, actually.

Canadians and their governments have, over the past several decades, taken people from all over the world, and not just allowed - but encouraged - the maintaining of their respective cultures once they got here.

That jihadists would spring from this is a slap in the face to us all. To have a lawyer preach to us on the courthouse steps about how unfair it all is is just another slap.

This begs all sorts of questions, doesn't it?

Criminals?

We are treating the arrested alleged terrorists as possible criminals, and not as the (psuedo) military types they are. I wonder if this is the right approach?

As far as I'm concerned, if these boys want to go out an play soldier, then they should be handed over to the military for prosecution (and punishment, if found guilty).

Bunging up our already over-burdened criminal justice system isn't the way to go here.

Young Offenders

Take a look at http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/pal-child-abuse/

If you were able to stomach all 122 pictures, then you're a better man than I.

Where am I going with this?

Here: Five of the seventeen people arrested in the terrorist roundup were, what we call in Canada, "young offenders". For those of you from elsewhere, that means that they're under 18 and cannot be identified. Further, and unless they're tried as adults in adult court, the most they'll receive for their crimes - assuming they're guilty - is a slap on the wrist and an expunged record.

Working under the premise that radical Islamists will use every freedom we have to their own perverted advantage, my causes for concern start with the recruitment of underage individuals into the jihadist mindset. Therein the reference to the pictures above.

The age for young offenders must be dropped, and it must be dropped now if were are to have any kind of proactive response to what's happened to our country. We simply cannot have "young offenders" waiting out their time plotting what they're going to do when they get out of their minimal sentences.

Funding

One of the local Muslim "leaders" was on the radio today.

He was asked his opinion as to why some young men would take the jihad path as opposed to fitting into society like everyone else.

He blamed it on lack of funding for youth programs.

Is this now the catch-all for all society's ills? No funding for the basketball court? Take a look at most of these terrorists. They don't seem so poverty-stricken to me.

But hey - you know all that money that could have gone to "youth programs"? Well, I guess we're now going to have to spend 100s of millions on protecting ourselves from you assholes now.

Terrorist Arrests In Toronto

I first read of this last night. I browse over to several media sites during the course of a day, and came across the news of the arrests at the Star's web page (http://www.thestar.com). For those of you that've read this blog prior to today, you know how I feel about the Star, but some of their stuff is so off the wall, it's usually good for a laugh, so I like to visit.

This, however, isn't a laughing matter. I'm absolutely seething about it, and, quite frankly, I don't know what the answer is. Kudos to all levels of law enforcement on this. Three tons of ammonium nitrate could, I think, have brought down the CN Tower and the Skydome in one fell swoop.

There will be those, over the next few days, that will go through the usual introspection in order to determine the "root cause" of 17 (possibly more) people in this country who would plot such a thing. The usual suspects will be out in full force, pointing to poverty, unemployment, marginalization, and racism as the reason behind all this. Quite frankly, and with five of the arrested being "young offenders", it's only a matter of time before someone blames Mike Harris' cancelling a youth program back in '95 too.

I think the only way the "root cause" crowd will ever listen is if the following is stated over and over: The root cause is Islamic fanaticism. The root cause is a collection of nuts that believe the Qur'an is the literal word of God, and they are to "slay the idolaters wherever ye find them..." (9:5).

The root cause is also contained in the rest of 9:5 - "...and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. " Well, I'll leave out the forgiving and merciful part, mostly because it's contradicted many times in the rest of the Qur'an, as least in so far as an infidel such as I.

What else is in the "root cause"?

Well, in general, these guys are pissed that we a) are in Afghanistan, b) recognize Israel, c) aren't under Sharia law, d) haven't signed onto the world-wide Caliphate.

Ok you cowardly jihadists - get this through your thick skulls: a) Afghanistan is only the start of removing your rot from this planet; b) Just because you had Jerusalem before doesn't mean you're getting it back; c) any form of jurisprudence that doesn't recognise the separation of church and state, treats women like second-class citizens, and advocates amputation and flogging ain't gonna fly here; and d) there are 300 million people in North America who won't sign on to this idea. Have you people been to America lately? Those people are armed to the teeth. You thought they were pissed at 9/11? Try it again.

I have never been an advocate for capital punishment - even in Bernardo's case (believe it or not). I'm willing to make the exception for you morons, though.

Have you - the person reading this blog - ever heard of Gen. John J. ("Black Jack") Pershing's answer to terrorism? snopes.com lists it as "undertermined", and even though I think it's an urban legend, point your browser over to http://www.snopes.com/rumors/pershing.htm

On a day like today, the story does my heart good.

Oh, and another thing, and also from the Star today: “I think there are a lot of people here today who should not be involved in this,” said Anser Farooq, a lawyer representing several of the accused. “I think they (the police) cast their net far too wide. We’ve been talking several lawsuits as a result of this action,” he said. "

Well, Anser, you're right. They shouldn't have been involved in this.

And as far as the lawsuit goes, take a look at Cox and Forkum's cartoon at http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=19630

Just like the idiot imam in Calgary taking the Western Standard to the Alberta Human Rights Commission (for printing "the cartoons").

We're onto you. And come hell or high water, we'll figure out a way to deal with you too.

Sins of the Father

Not mine, but our forefathers.

As my blogname might suggest, I was born in 1957.

So let's come to an understanding, shall we?

I didn't inter any Japanese-Canadians during the second war.

I didn't impose a "head tax" on any Chinese immigrants in the 19th/20th century.

I've never screwed a native Indian out of land, nor did I place any of them on reserves.

It's high time our Government stopped falling on its sword. The Government is, after all, an extension of me. Of all of us, for that matter.

Should the Government apologize to these groups on behalf of previous Governments?

Absolutely.

Just don't imply that *I* had anything to do with it.

'Cause I didn't.