Sunday, April 30, 2006

UK - "At last our lefties see the light"

So says Christopher Hitchens writing in the Times (UK).

I hope he's right. Read it but here's his conslusion.

The “Euston Manifesto” keeps it simple. It prefers democratic pluralism, at any price, to theocracy. It raises an eyebrow at the enslavement of the female half of the population and the burial alive of homosexuals. It has its reservations about the United States, but knows that if anything is ever done about (say) Darfur, it will be Washington that receives the UN mandate to do the heavy lifting. [As always]

It prefers those who vote in Iraq and Afghanistan to those who put bombs in mosques and schools and hospitals. It does not conceive of arguments that make excuses for suicide murderers. It affirms the right of democratic nations and open societies to defend themselves, both from theocratic states abroad and from theocratic gangsters at home.

I have been flattered by an invitation to sign it, and I probably will, but if I agree it will be the most conservative document that I have ever initialled. Even the obvious has now become revolutionary. So call me a neo-conservative if you must: anything is preferable to the rotten unprincipled alliance between the former fans of the one-party state and the hysterical zealots of the one-god one.


Too bad the BBC doesn't understand that.
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UK - A BBC future from planet bonkers

That's what Bryan Appleyard thinks, writing in The Times (UK).

It's a good article and Bryan makes some good points but I think there's a lot more going on here.

The BBC have finally awoken to the threat the Internet poses to it. With broadband and PCs becoming more widespread, faster and cheaper, what's available on the net is exploding. You can now watch TV and movies on demand with virtually no loss of qality - 24/7. Further, you get to select what you watch. These used to be decisions the BBC made - no longer.

What really scares the BBC is losing the megaphone - the news. It started with blogs and bloggers or what's now called "citizen media". Blogs are no longer limited to just the written word. Now we have "vlogs" or video blogs and podcasting. Think of one as TV news and the other as radio news.

Some of these are getting very professional. Check out Michelle Malkin's Hot Air broadcasts and Instapundits Podcasts. Yes, that's Glenn doing a telephone interview with Bill Frist, the Senate Majority leader. No MSM needed.

That's the BBC's greatest fear. The BBC will no longer be able to force its left wing agenda on the world. It's power to do that is already being eroded by bloggers like myself, Biased BBC, The American Expat, Adloyada and others you can find on the left sidebar.

How worried is the BBC? This worried.

I'm not sure if the conference is to demonstrate that bloggers are "Digital Assassins" or if it's a BBC recruiting drive for "Digital Assassins". I'd bet on the latter.

One things clear, the BBC has seen the future and it knows it cannot survive in its current form. For as Bryan notes:

But the truth is, for all the triumphalism of his lecture, his position was weak and he knew it. He played the only card he had if the gorilla was to stay in the room and not be replaced by some smaller, less imperial ape. The licence-fee deal comes this summer. It will be the last, and it won’t survive the decade.


Thank God for that.
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UK - Is legalising drugs the only answer?

It's not the only answer and that's where most people, including this reporter, make their mistake. I'll give the reporter credit for at least broaching the subject but in the end he fails miserably in his argument.

The criminal gangs could choose to undercut the state price. Or they could respond by selling more potent versions of the drugs addicts crave.


That's true and similar things are done with alcohol and nicotine today. But the shops accross the country are well stocked and sell tons of both. This suggest that the majority of the public understand the dangers of buying unknown products from street dealers. You're always going to find some who will take a chance but they are in the minority.

The state could keep the price so low it would be hard for the street dealer to sell lower. The dealer could sell more potent versions but they would probably have to be more expensive. Faced with that, most people would probably opt for the safer, cheaper, albeit less strong state version.

Next the reporter thinks legalization would boost other crime.

History suggests gangs tend to diversify. People-smuggling is already taking a grim toll among young women from eastern Europe. Legalising drugs would put rocket boosters under that repulsive trade in slave prostitutes.


The vast profits from the drug trade help fund the human traffic trade; one illegal trade is easier than the other. So, in fact, legalizing drugs could help cut down on human trafficing. There's no doubt that criminals will branch out if one trade is lost to them. I'm not convinced human trafficing is one of them.

Here's his conclusion.

Legalisation is not the catch-all solution proponents imagine, but there remains a possibility that it might dent the drugs trade more than endless efforts to catch other Mr Bigs who run operations more sophisticated than Gorman’s. It is a debate worth having, although proponents of legalisation might perhaps care to note that Dutch politicians who pioneered some of the most liberal drugs laws in Europe are now seeking to tighten them after discovering that liberalisation was leading to increased drug usage.


The reporter cites no statistics or gives any references for his claim, so it's hard to elvaluate it. But here's an anology I use.

Nicotine is the most addictive substance known to man and yet its consuption has been cut from 60% down to 25% all the while the drug has remained legal. How was this achieved? The medical hazards were well researched and published, nicotine ads were banished, nicotine was de-glorifed by TV and movies, negative effects of smoking ads were aired and there was an education campaign on the dangers of nicotine - nicotine became uncool. All of the money saved from law enforcement, court time and prison costs, could go into similar campaigns.

Add to all of this, the fact that legalization would see the vast majority of dealers disappear and drug money would no longer go to terrorists. While criminals and terrorists may "branch out" into other crimes, the police, courts and prisons would be free to devote their time to these more serious crimes. We'll all be better off this way.
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UK - BBC News a turn off

The Times (UK) reports.

FOR the first time, the BBC has revealed the shows that the public really is happy to watch — and the Ten O’Clock News, Michael Palin’s documentaries and Little Britain do not make it on to the list.

What gives viewers a glow are classical music and nature documentaries rather than shows with highly paid presenters.

News, current affairs, comedy and classic drama, cited by the BBC to justify its licence fee, failed to figure in the Appreciation Index (AI) top 10.


And the BBC's audience share continues in steep decline.

But we still have to pay for their left wing drivel.
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Iraq - Zarqawi running out of suicide bombers

So he wants to form his own Army.

THE leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is attempting to set up his own mini-army and move away from individual suicide attacks to a more organised resistance movement, according to US intelligence sources.

Faced with a shortage of foreign fighters willing to undertake suicide missions, Zarqawi wants to turn his group into a more traditional force mounting co-ordinated guerrilla raids on coalition targets.


So, how's that working out? Not good, not good at all.

The attacks raged for "hours", an Iraqi police official said, estimating that between 400 and 500 rebels took part.


The result?

At least 21 Iraqi insurgents and seven soldiers have been killed in fighting in the city of Baquba during which at least 43 insurgents were captured.


It would seem Zarqawi's army is no match for Iraq's army.

Meanwhile, Zarqawi's commanders are being killed or captured in droves.

Baghdad - Two key members of the Al Qaeda network were killed and captured in separate operations in Iraq over the past two days, US and Iraqi security sources reported Friday.

Al Qaeda's regional leader in the city of Samaraa, Hammad Al Takhy, was killed on Friday morning, while on Thursday, Al Qaeda leader Abdel Qader Makhul was captured near Tikrit, the sources said.
[...]

The operation in Samaraa came a day after the raid at a village 20 kilometres south of Tikrit, led to the capture of local Abdel Qader Makhul, Al Qaeda's chief of the Salah el Dein governorate on Thursday night by Iraqi forces.

The operation came only three days after the killings of two Al Qaeda leaders - one chief and his deputy - who were said to be the regional leaders in the area of Al Jazeera. They were killed only two days after the release of Abu Musaab el Zarqawi's latest video recording.

In a separate incident, Iraqi armed forces arrested the chief of an armed Islamist organization along with two other members of the group on Thursday, Iraqi security sources said. The three were apprehended near the city of Telafar.


There are 4 major elements that are accelerating the defeat of al Qaeda in Iraq. The Iraqi army is now able to fight on its own and is taking the lead, citizens are increasingly turning in al Qaeda terrorists, local terrorists have delcared war on Zarqawi and the new Iraqi government will be seated in the next two weeks.
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US - Third World veto leaves UN in budget crisis

The Telegraph reports.

Third world nations have blocked a sweeping United Nations reform package that is backed by the West, in an acrimonious showdown that has left the troubled organisation heading for a budget crisis in June.

Britain and the United States condemned the vote, late on Friday night, that scuttled proposals by the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to overhaul the world body in the wake of the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal.


They don't want to lose this cash cow.

Here's what Annan was proposing.

Last month Mr Annan put forward detailed reform plans. He sought more financial oversight, simplified hiring and firing procedures, career planning, staff buyouts, a modern information system and flexibility in assigning staff.

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US - "The Save Darfur Coalition's Fantasy"

Yesterday there was an ani-war march in New York. Tens of thousands were said to have attended; a substantial drop from the 1/2 million or more that attended in years past. Some of that drop in support may stem from the fact that people now know that the anti-war movement is led by Communists. But there may be other forces at work as well.

Just the other day George Clooney called for "action" on Darfur. What he meant by "action" was marches, speeches and more talk.

The Save Darfur Coalition is advocating something similar. Will it work?

Then again, the use of unilateral U.S. military power isn't the solution most Darfur activists have in mind. Even as western Sudan burns, Darfur advocates such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi argue that the United States must employ its military power only on behalf of--and, more important, in concert with--international organizations such as the United Nations. The Save Darfur Coalition, a leading umbrella group for organizations bent on action, intends to save Darfur not by urging the Bush administration to launch air strikes against Sudan's murderous militias but by petitioning the White House to bolster funding for African Union peacekeepers and to lobby the United Nations.

But will the African Union put a halt to the killings in Darfur? Absolutely not. Its Arab members have stymied the force at every turn. Will the United Nations solve the crisis? That seems extremely unlikely as well. The organization amounts first and foremost to a collection of sovereign states, many of them adamantly opposed to violating Sudan's own sovereignty. Can NATO save the day? Not really, given the fears of entanglement expressed by its European members. As in Bosnia before it, the victims of Darfur can be saved by one thing and one thing alone: American power.


Read the rest.

There were some interesting signs at the anti-war march yesterday. It would seem some on the Left are starting to realize just how impotent the UN really is. If you see someone with one of these signs ask them two questions: 1) Why do the people of Darfur deserve to be saved but not the Iraqi people and 2) Are they advocating that the US invade? Here's the sign:

Iraq - Iraqi forces taking over

Kuwait News Agency Reports.

BAGHDAD, April 29 (KUNA) -- The Iraqi Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its forces arrested 120 armed men, among them a member of Al-Qaeda and four foreigners.

The ministry said the arrests were the result of last week raids.

A statement by the ministry also said weapons and explosives were seized during the operations.


Have you noticed that more and more, it's Iraqi forces that are capturing or killing the terrorists in Iraq? See here, here, here and here.

And Iraq's new government will be completed in the next few weeks.

There is much work ahead but progess is surely being made.
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Saturday, April 29, 2006

Iraq - Bush, Saddam and 9/11

President Bush has never said that Saddam was behind 9/11. Further, Bush has never said that Saddam supported the terrorists who carried out the attacks on 9/11. That doesn't stop MSM from trying to put words into the Presidents mouth or fabricating a video that purports to show Bush saying Saddam was behind 9/11.

Bush has said that Saddam supported terrorists including al Qaeda. That has proven to be the case.

Kieth Olbermann of MSNBC selectively edited some videos to try and make it look like Bush said Saddam was behind 9/11. If you listen carefully, or read the transcript from Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, it's clear Bush was warning that another 9/11 could be far worse if the terrorists obtained WMD from Saddam. Here's the relevant part:

"And this Congress and the American people must recognize another threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of Al Qaida. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own.

Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained.

Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans, this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known."


It's perfectly clear that Bush was not linking Saddam to 9/11. Bush was warning that the next 9/11 terrorists might be armed with Saddam's WMD.

I used Olbermann's own video to prove how he was fabricating the news. This was my first try at this, so apologies for the quality.

Also on Olbermann's video you'll hear a reporter try and set Bush up with some bogus allegations. In one question the reporter says that Bush said Iraq had bought Uranium from Niger; referring the 16 words the left claim Bush lied about. Two independant investigations found that Bush did not lie.

Here are those 16 words.

“The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa .”


It was Wilson not Bush who lied.


Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Now listen to this ABC news recording from 1999. As you listen, remember, the White House and Government officials mentioned were the Clinton White House and Democrats.

Quite and eye opener, huh? Now that Bush is in the White House, MSM and the Democrats have done a 180 degrees and they deny Saddam and bin Laden worked together or that Saddam harbored terrorists. But as you just heard from ABC News, they sang a different tune when Clinton was in charge.

That's the left wing media for you.
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Sweden - Muslims call for Islamic laws

The Swedish Muslim Association wants Sharia law.

Sweden's largest Muslim organisation has demanded that Sweden introduce separate laws for Muslims, according to Swedish television. Sweden's equality minister Jens Orback called the proposals "completely unacceptable".

The Swedish Muslim Association, which represents around 70,000 Muslims in Sweden, has sent a letter to all Sweden's main political parties suggesting a number of reforms, SVT's Rapport programme reported.

The proposals include allowing imams into state (public) schools to give Muslim children separate lessons in Islam and their parents' native languages. The letter also said that boys and girls should have separate swimming lessons and that divorces between Muslims should be approved by an imam.


In Britain 40% of Muslims want Britain to be ruled by Islamic law.

So, what's living under Islamic law like? Not good.

Even without Islamic law, that hasn't stopped Muslims from turning Britain into an Islamic state.
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Iran - Can they be stopped?

Not by the UN.

Iran has ignored a UN Security Council call to suspend all nuclear fuel enrichment, a report by the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog has concluded.

Mohamed ElBaradei's report said that Tehran had done little to answer questions over its nuclear intentions.


Well, that's certainly not true. Iran has told the UN its not going to stop, the UN can't do anything about it and Iran will ignore any resolutions anyway.

Guess whose side the BBC is on?

The UN wants the research halted amid Western fears - denied by Iran - that Tehran might develop nuclear weapons.


It's just the West's crazy fears despite Iran's repeated claims its going to wipe Israel off the map.

So, what has the UN been doing about it?

"After more than three years of agency efforts to seek clarity about all aspects of Iran's nuclear programme, the existing gaps in knowledge continue to be a matter of concern," his report said.

"Any progress in that regard requires full transparency and active co-operation by Iran."


Which Iran has already told you they are not going to give.

Tic. Tic. Tic.
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Iraq - Thirty die in Iraqi city battle

This BBC report shows how the Iraqi security servcies are improving.

The attacks raged for "hours", an Iraqi police official said, estimating that between 400 and 500 rebels took part.


The result?

At least 21 Iraqi insurgents and seven soldiers have been killed in fighting in the city of Baquba during which at least 43 insurgents were captured.


The bad guys lost.

Note some of the tacits the terrorists used.

In one of Thursday's attacks, gunmen reportedly pulled up at a checkpoint posing as a wedding party in a convoy of vehicles, one of which was decorated with ribbons and flowers.

They then sprayed the checkpoint with bullets, a security source told AFP news agency.


Remember that next time an innocent civilian is accidentally killed.
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UK - BBC: Bloggers 'Digital Assassins'

In an attempt to "stage" a conference about bloggers to fit their agenda, the BBC sent out an interesting questionaire. Despite the £50 pounds to attend the conference, it seems few are taking up the offer. No wonder. Look at the title of the conference.

'Digital Assassins'


And the questionaire?

In other words, the BBC wants as many people as it can find who play with gadgets, can't follow a linear narrative, don't have any friends, have a weird authority complex, and who would never listen or respect anything put out by the BBC in the first place.


So, does the BBC see us bloggers as "Digital Assassins"? Paul Reynolds must have rung some alarm bells with this BBC article.

For many in the "mainstream media", as bloggers call us, weblogs are at best a nuisance and at worst dangerous.

They are seen as the rantings and ravings either of the unbalanced or the tedious.


So dangerous in fact that, "many" at the BBC must feel we're "Digital Assassins". Paul, it would seem, is not part of that group.

My experience over the past few months has led me to an opposite conclusion.

I regard the blogosphere as a source of criticism that must be listened to and as a source of information that can be used.

The mainstream media (MSM in the jargon) has to sit up and take notice and develop some policies to meet this challenge.


Instead of meeting the challenge it would appear the BBC, acting out of fear for its monopoly of the megaphone, want to portray bloggers as "Digital Assassins". As Paul reports, the BBC have no clue about blogs and he gives us a clue to what this conference is really all about.

They might, as the BBC has, develop a policy towards their own employees setting up such sites (no political opinions etc), but they have nobody monitoring the main blogs and have little idea how to respond to any criticism on them.


Since the BBC consider us "Digital Assassins", it's clear this conference is about how to defend themselves rather than how to incoporate bloggers into their reporting as Paul occassionally does. It seems the BBC listented to only half of what Paul had to say. This half.

The other role of the blogs is to criticise and attack.

And here they have shown their power in a way that ought to make big media organisations also take notice.


Paul goes on to discuss how bloggers exposed and brought down Dan Rather and Eason Jordon. Both deservedly so.

But in reporting and quoting me, Paul shows something else the BBC fears from bloggers - the truth.

Of course, one has to remember that most blogs have political agendas. Many of them are on the right of the spectrum. But it is not that hard to discount the opinionating and pick out the facts.

The photo of the unused school buses in New Orleans came by way of a site called the USS Neverdock, so-called because it is always in action, I suppose.

It is run from Scotland by Marc Landers, who once served in US Naval Intelligence. He still fires with all guns.

"My motivation is to expose the bias in the BBC's reporting," he told me. "We are at war unlike any we've been in before and facing an enemy who wants one thing - to wipe out western civilization. The BBC, through its biased reporting, has sided with the enemy."


The school buses Paul is talking about were the flooded and unused buses the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, failed to evacuate citizens with as his disaster plan called for. Up till then the BBC had hailed Nagin as a hero. The BBC's reporting on Katrina was so anti-American that even the Prime Minister was moved to criticize it.

Paul goes on to give us a further glimpse into the mindset of the BBC as regards to blogs. Make no mistake, the BBC is definitely afraid of bloggers and considers us the enemy.

And with the growth of blogs, such detailed criticism is being made more and more often as the sniper fire from the bloggers targets individual stories and interpretations.

If the MSM does not respond, it will suffer. The same is even truer of businesses, whose products can be disastrously damaged by web-based attacks.

If the criticism is fair it must be answered, directly to those making it. Remote, computer-generated responses are counter-productive.

And mistakes must be quickly corrected. If the criticism is unfair, then the MSM has to know about it early on and develop defensive tactics.


Then there's this:

Richard Sambrook, head of the BBC World Service and Global News Division (who runs a blog himself) accepts that the BBC needs to do more.

"The BBC should proactively engage with bloggers. This is a new issue for us.


"Sniper fire", "defensive tactics", "proactively engage" "Digital assassins" - sounds like war to me.

I prefer Glenn Reynolds Army of Davids.

Either way, it's a war MSM are losing.


Here are some links to the questionaire. Note this:

"As I am looking for a large number of Digital Assassins ...

The conference is on the 3rd of May. Call it a mercenary recruitment drive for BBC "Digital Assassins".
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Egypt - Former BBC reporter arrested for false reporting

Judging by this, they could lock up a bunch more here in the UK.

Here's the BBC report.

The Cairo bureau chief of TV channel al-Jazeera has been charged with false reporting and released on bail after more than a day in custody.

Police had questioned Hussein Abdel Ghani over his coverage of the Sinai bombs earlier this week.

The interior ministry said the journalist had falsely reported a blast in eastern Sharkia province.


Here's how the BBC describe Ghani.

Mr Abdel Ghani, who worked previously for the BBC's Arabic service and has reported for al-Jazeera from Cairo since 1997, said he was bundled into a van in Dahab and driven away.


If memory serves me correctly, al Jazeera was formed from the BBC's Arabic service. And to show how closely the two work together, the BBC hired the editor in chief of al Jazeera - to train their jounalists.

The charity BBC World Service Trust confirmed that Mr Helal was joining to work on a variety of media training projects over the next two years.


Perfect! A left wing, anti-American, anti-war propaganda organization (the BBC) and a pro terrorist organization with the same views. In fact, it's hard to tell the difference between the two.
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UK - BBC: "a vast left-liberal propaganda vehicle"

That's what Stephen Pollard thinks. Welcome to the club Stephen!

The BBC is now little more than a vast left-liberal propaganda vehicle, whose income is derived through the threat of jail for anyone who does not pay. Mr Prescott’s affair is indeed a disgrace. But the biggest disgrace of all is the existence of a BBC which wouldn’t tell us about it.


Boy, you got that right!

There's lots more so read the whole thing.

More proof of what Stephen's saying here.

I like this comment Stephen left to his post.

As for the idea that I “claim to be left-wing but hold no discernible left-wing views”; I make no such claim. When it became clear that the mainstream left opposed the overthrow of Saddam’s tyranny and believed that America had 9/11 coming, I realised that I did indeed have no discernible left-wing views.

If wanting to promote freedom and defend the values of Western civilisation is right wing, I happily accept that label.

Stephen Pollard


So do I and wear it proudly.
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UK - BBC: Will the real Snoop Dog stand up

The BBC's anti-Americanism is well documented. So when I read the BBC headline on Snoop Dog's troubles at Heathrow, I was a bit puzzeled.

"Rapper Snoop Dogg freed on bail"


Curious way to start the report I thought. You'd think it would read something like "American gansta rapper arrested" or "American rapper rips Heathrow". At least something to futher portray the "ugly American" theme.

But instead of using the incident to bash America the report makes it sound almost as if Snoop was the victim.

US rapper Snoop Dogg has been released from police custody following a fracas at London's Heathrow Airport.

The delay means he has been forced to cancel a gig in Johannesburg on Thursday night as part of South Africa's Freedom Day celebrations.


You see? The mean old police did their job by enforcing the law and caused Snoopy to be delayed - it's the police's fault. Nevermind that 30 people were involved in the near riot which injured 7 police officers.

Here's how the BBC report the incident.

The star and five others were arrested on suspicion of affray and violent disorder and held in custody overnight.

Police said 30 people were involved in a disturbance in a business lounge at Terminal 1 on Wednesday.

Seven police officers were left with minor injuries after the incident, which is alleged to have ensued after members of the rapper's entourage objected to being turned away from the facility.


Innocent till proven guilty no doubt but these are Americans we're talking about - usually fresh meat for the BBC. But for some strange reason the BBC seem to be defending Snoopy. Here's how the BBC describe him:

Snoop Dogg, real name Calvin Broadus, started his career in the early 1990s as a rapper and has since branched out into acting, starring in the remake of Starsky and Hutch.


A squeeky clean "rags to riches" kind of guy, eh? You'll see differently in a minute.

To cap things off, the BBC seem to not only defend Snoopy, they go further and promote him by hosting a video of him rapping.

I'm not complaining that for once the BBC didn't use any excuse to bash America. The BBC did report that Snoopy is an American and that those arrested were all Americans. It just struck me that the BBC seemed to be defending Snoopy.

This report tells a completely different story.

"Rapper arrested at Heathrow"


That's at least the headline I would have expected from the BBC.

Compare how they report the story to how the BBC reported it.

A mini-riot erupted at Heathrow airport after rapper Snoop Dogg and a 30-strong entourage clashed with police in a departure lounge.

The men - mostly minders - apparently turned violent after being refused entry to a first-class lounge, smashing up a duty free shop, throwing bottles and attacking officers.

It took riot police over an hour to arrest the "20-stone men", who were then led out in handcuffs, with one shouting: "This is how it goes down in LA." [...]

Six men, including the 34-year-old American rapper, were arrested. A Heathrow worker, who took photos from his mobile phone, said: "There were all these huge, 20-stone men smashing up display cabinets and throwing people around. I saw Snoop Dogg on the ground, with four riot police trying to put him in handcuffs. His minders were throwing bottles at people.

"There were 15 riot vans and eight police cars outside, with dog sniffer units. They were throwing the policemen around like pillows. Then the police used pepper spray on them."


And their description of Snoopy is vastly different than the BBC's.

Snoop Dogg, real name Calvin Broadus, is a former drug dealer and gang member. He comes from one of LA's most notorious areas and has been accused of several crimes during his life - including murder, although he was acquitted.


Some might say it's not so much a case of the BBC defending Snoopy, but rather, a case of this report attacking him. But given the BBC's well documented anti-Americanism, their "promoting" of Snoopy seems very odd. Is it a case of political correctness gone to far? Given that the BBC not only defended him but actually promoted him by hosing his rap video, the BBC's report raises some eyebrows.

via Biased BBC.
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Islam - "Celebrate tolerance, or you're dead"

Mark Steyn has some thoughts.

Over in Sweden, they've been investigating the Grand Mosque of Stockholm. Apparently, it's the one-stop shop for all your jihad needs: you can buy audio cassettes at the mosque encouraging you to become a martyr and sally forth to kill "the brothers of pigs and apes" -- i.e. Jews. So somebody filed a racial-incitement complaint and the coppers started looking into it, and then Sweden's chancellor of justice, Goran Lambertz, stepped in. And Mr. Lambertz decided to close down the investigation on the grounds that, even though the porcine-sibling stuff is "highly degrading," this kind of chit-chat "should be judged differently -- and therefore be regarded as permissible -- because they were used by one side in an ongoing and far-reaching conflict where calls to arms and insults are part of the everyday climate in the rhetoric that surrounds this conflict."

In other words, if you threaten to kill people often enough, it will be seen as part of your vibrant cultural tradition -- and, by definition, we're all cool with that. Celebrate diversity, etc. Our tolerant multicultural society is so tolerant and multicultural we'll tolerate your intolerant uniculturalism. Your antipathy to diversity is just another form of diversity for us to celebrate.


Read the rest.
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Saudi Arabia - Bra burning in the Kingdom?

Not exactly. But this article illustrates how far behind the Western world the Muslim world is.

It is hailed as a major step forward for women's emancipation in Saudi Arabia: in the coming weeks they will enjoy the right to buy lingerie from female shop assistants.


But they've a long long way to go.

Women were denied the vote in last year's local elections. But they are being elected to professional guilds.

"We thought men would never vote for us and that it would be mission impossible," said one of the women elected, Madani Al-Hassoun. Like many pioneering women in Saudi Arabia, she emphasised the need to move cautiously. "We have to go steadily and respect the tradition," she said.

King Abdallah has publicly floated the idea of abolishing the ban on women driving cars but the roads remain an all-male preserve.


In Saudi Arabia, women can't drive or vote, gays are persecuted, Christians are persecuted and Bibles are banned. Tell me again how Islam is the religion of peace and tolerance.
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Friday, April 28, 2006

US - The nuance of Robert Fisk

Tim Blair has this.

Fisk’s points are all very simple. Zarqawi is just a figurehead whom we just are encouraged to loathe, who, at the end of the day, is not a person whom we need to worry about. Although he is a problem for all of us (Fisk, too). The West bestializes Zarqawi, although he is genuinely a bad guy (no doubt about it). It is wrong for us to paint the Middle East as a fight between good and evil, although Bin Laden and Zarqawi are monstrous. We created Zarqawi, although he created himself, and we helped, although he used to exist as a fantasy figure created by American propaganda. The media perpetuates these myths every time it blames Zarqawi, although he is to blame, and it would be absolutely wrong for reporters to ignore the things he is to blame for. Zarqawi’s existence supports American propaganda, but his continued existence is also a severe blow to American credibility.

You stupid Blairites all are just too dumb to understand nuance.


Are Fisk and John Kerry twins?
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Iraq - What's John Kerry's position on the war?

That depends on what day it is and which way the political wind is blowing. You don't have to take my word for, just watch and listen to Kerry for yourself.


Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Iraq - More infighting from the anti-war crowd

Harry's Place has a report on attacks on Iraq Body Count - from the Left!
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UK - 59% support a halt to immigration

That's according to a new YouGuv poll.

It found that 59% of people supported a halt to all further immigration to the UK - one of the BNP's main pledges - when they were not told of the far-right group's association with the policy.

Among those who were told that it was a BNP commitment, support for the policy was only 48%.


Which is why the Left and Muslims cry racist and bigot at anyone who advocates a sensible immigration policy. They want to portray those that support such policies as BNP supporters.

Peter Kellner, chairman of YouGov, commented: "The results demonstrate that the BNP is tapping into some widely-held views, but that the party suffers from a negative image. If the BNP were able to erase this view, it could make significant gains in the upcoming local elections. This may explain what is happening in certain localities where the BNP now polls strongly."


And that is the last thing we want.

The Left better make up their minds, do they want sensible immigration policies, or, do they want to see the BNP gain in the polls.

Even without the BNP the poll suggests 48% favor tighter immigration.
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UK - Ministers look at fast-track deportations

Yeah, right. Just like Blair said he would deport the Muslim Imams of hate. That was right after the 7/7 Muslim terror attacks on London. That's almost a year ago and to date not one has been deported.

This Guardian report deals with ..."hundreds of foreign criminals who were released without being considered for deportation"...

The real question should be, why were they allowed in in the first place?

While the British media has been having a field day with America's attempts to control illegal immigrants, Britain is not immune from the problem

As police continued their attempts to trace hundreds of foreign criminals who were released without being considered for deportation, ministers were yesterday considering ways of improving removal procedures between the UK and other countries, particularly Jamaica and Nigeria, whose nationals make up a significant proportion of the foreign prison population - more than 130 of the prisoners freed recently came from there. However, there is concern that any initiative might fall foul of human rights legislation.


When are people going to start standing up for our human rights?
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Iraq - Iraqis ignore Zarqawi, turn in al Qaeda

Earlier I posted about local Iraqis ignoring Zarqawi's call to arms.

Here's another report showing Iraqis have turned their back on Zarqawi.

Iraqi security forces captured the leader of the al-Qaida organization in Salahudin province in northern Iraq on Thursday, a local security source told Xinhua on Friday.

"An Iraqi security force stormed a village in Dujla area, some 150 km north of Baghdad, and captured Abdul Qadir Makhol, a leader of al-Qaida terrorist organization in the province," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi forces launched the attack at 6:00 p.m. (1400 GMT) and were acting according to intelligence received from local residents, the source said.

Makhol's capture came after Iraqi security forces killed two al-Qaida leaders in the province, including the leader (Ameer) of the Jazeera area and his assistant, three days ago.

On April 25, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, made an unprecedented appearance in a video, criticizing the new Iraqi government. He also warned U.S. President George W. Bush of more attacks to come.


What stands out about these reports, is that local Iraqis are informing on al Qaeda to Iraqi security forces who are carrying out the attacks without US assistance.

As the new Iraqi government takes office and the Iraqi security forces get stronger, watch for this kind of activity to escalate. The handwriting is on the wall for Zarqawi and al Qaeda in Iraq.
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Iran to UN: We don't "give a damn to such resolutions"

There, that clear enough for you?

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's president said on Friday his country would pay no attention to international calls to halt its nuclear work, hours before the U.N. atomic watchdog reports on whether Tehran has met U.N. Security Council demands.

"Those who want to prevent Iranians from obtaining their right, should know that we do not give a damn to such resolutions," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a rally in northwest Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is widely expected to tell the council and the agency's board on Friday that Iran has not stopped enriching uranium or fully answered IAEA queries as the U.N. body asked a month ago.


Hell, the Iranians have been telling the world that for months now.
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Iraq - Zarqawi's call to arms falls on deaf ears

CQ reports on how Iraqis are ignoring Zarqawi's call to arms.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi appeared on video earlier this week, exhorting Iraqi Sunnis to join the insurgency and defeat the United States. Today the Iraqis gave an answer to one of his lieutenants, only the message will not get hand-delivered, thanks to the Iraqi security forces:

Iraqi commando forces acting on a tip raided a house where Hamid al-Takhi and the two other insurgents were hiding in Samarra, a city 60 miles north of Baghdad, said police Capt. Laith Mohammed. All three were killed in a gunbattle.

Mohammed said al-Takhi had been responsible for many insurgent attacks against coalition forces and civilians in the area.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq — the country's most feared insurgent group — appeared in a video earlier this week trying to rally Sunni Arabs to fight Iraq's new government and denouncing Sunnis who cooperate with it as "agents" of the Americans.


Apparently, Zarqawi needs to hone his presentation skills. In an area heavily populated by the same Sunnis that he called to terrorism, the Iraqi security forces got hot intel on a key member of the insurgency and adeptly canceled his ticket. That speaks volumes for two reasons. First, the Iraqi civilians didn't buy Zarqawi's nonsense, not while his lunatics blow up everyone in sight, and they have reacted by giving out better and more useful intelligence to security forces. Second, this appears to have been an exclusively Iraqi operation. The emergence of the new Iraqi Army and police forces show the country's increasing ability to stand on its own.


And there's more signs the Iraqi security forces are operating on their own.

Add to this, the Iraqis have almost completed forming their new government, and it's clear things are moving in the right direction.
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US - Democrats like zombies

Well, that's what Bob Hope thought. Who am I to disagree with Bob Hope?


Get this video and more at MySpace.com

US - Clooney urges action on Darfur

After loudly criticizing our liberation of Iraq, which saved millions and ended a brutal dictators regime, Clooney now wants action on Darfur.

Here's what Clooney had to say about Iraq.

But the point is. We’re picking on people we can beat, you know, and we’re saying 'okay, we’ll go get them.’ Now, there’s no question about te fact that Saddam Hussein is a jerk, he’s a rat, so are a lot of these guys. The question is are we going to try and negotiate, are we going to try and talk to these people and find out ways without jumping in and killing people first.”


The mind boggles at the ingnorance displayed in that one paragraph.

We're "picking on" people we can beat? Is Clooney suggesting we "pick on" Russia? Is trying to end the suffering of millions of innocent people, stopping the spread of terrorism and WMDs, and bringing a murderous dictator to justice, "picking on" someone?

Saddam gassed over 5000 innocent men, women and children and invaded Kuwait. But to Clooney that makes him merely a "jerk" and a "rat". A jerk and a rat is someone who cheats on his wife and makes his date pay for the meal.

As for negotiating, isn't that what we did at the UN for over 12 years?

Now Clooney wants us to to take action on Darfur.

"What we cannot do is turn our head and look away and hope that this will somehow disappear, because if we do, they will. They will disappear. And an entire generation of people will be gone," Clooney said at a press conference.

"Then only history will be left to judge us," said the actor, who returned earlier this week from a tour of the Darfur region in southern Sudan and Chad.


Why doesn't Clooney's humanity extend to the Iraqis? I'm glad he's speaking out about the genocide in Darfur but why the different treatment? Why is he worried about how history will judge us over Darfur and not Iraq?

So what does Clooney say we should do about Darfur?

But Clooney said a louder public outcry would encourage governments around the world to do even more, and urged broad participation at rallies to be held Sunday in San Francisco and Washington.

"The president wants to put a stop to it, the Congress want to put a stop it. What they need now is the American people and the world's populations to help them, to tell them that it matters that much to them."


Talk. Clooney doesn't say what we should do if they don't listen.

Or is Clooney advocating a pro-war march? Nah. Heaven forbid we should actually do something to stop the genocide in Darfur.

That's the Hollywood limo liberals for you, all talk and no action.
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Iraqi forces kill 49 gunmen, arrest another 74

Note, that's Iraqi forces not US forces.

BAGHDAD, April 27 (KUNA) -- Iraqi forces killed 49 gunmen and arrested another 74 in the eastern Iraqi province of Dyali, said Thursday Iraqi army Major General Ahmad Al-Awad.

Al-Awad said that Iraqi soldiers carried out an operation in retaliation to gunmen's attacks against Iraqi police and army locations.

Al-Awad noted the Iraqi forces were still chasing other gunmen.

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US - Muslim cabbies refuse fares with alcohol

They should have their taxis permit revoked then.

A growing problem at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport is making it difficult for some air passengers to catch cabs.

Some [Muslim] cab drivers are refusing to take passengers because they are carrying alcohol, such as bottles of wine or cases of beer, which conflicts with their religious beliefs.


Will they refuse a fare if they find out their Jewish?


I remember a similar incident where Muslim truck drivers were refusing to deliver alcohol. I asked at the time would they refuse to deliver pork next?

The government needs to put a stop to this quick.
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US - Air America crashes in New York

This is good news for everybody.

Air America Radio will lose its New York flagship station, WLIB-AM, on Aug. 31. While the left-leaning radio network’s original lease for the Inner City station ran out March 31, AAR managed to get an extension which only lasts until Aug. 31, according to an informed source.


Bye bye moonbats.
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Thursday, April 27, 2006

US - Service member takes on Demorats

Here's a video of a combat veteran taking two Congressional Democrats to the wood shed. You won't see this on MSM.


Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Iraq - Interview with terrorist: Video

I saw this a long time ago but it's still funny.


Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Australia - Zarqawi tape authentic, says Fisk

But he claims Zarqawi isn't real. Even those on the Left are starting to question Fisk's sanity.

TONY JONES: I'm surprised to hear you say some of these things because isn't it he himself who put these images on the Internet, including make a beast of himself by earlier putting on the Internet images of him with a mask on beheading Nicholas Berg, for example?

ROBERT FISK: Well, no. I mean, we don't know that that was Zarqawi. If indeed it was, then he is obviously the monstrous figure we make him out to be. At that time you'll remember the Americans said they believed the voice was that of Zarqawi, but we didn't have any evidence of the voice on the tape. You know, the issue is, are we in fact creating these creatures for ourselves to hate or are they creating themselves? In other words, are we being promoted by these people? Are these people being put before us as caricatures, if you like, to hate or are they people who are there to be hated by us in order to make the, you know, them and us, evil/good caricatures, which George W. Bush has laid out before us?


Fisk doesn't even know the difference between good and evil - a beheader from a beheaded.

Read the rest as Fisk gets more insane.
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Sweden - Muslims prevent Muslims from integrating

A disturbing report from Sweden.
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US - Lunacy of Juan Cole: The BBC's "expert"

John Fund exposes the lunacy of Juan Cole; the BBC's go to man on the Middle East.

Sample:

Not content with that outburst, Cole put this dose of paranoia on the public record two days later, about the invaluable translation service, Memri.org:

"MEMRI was founded by a retired Israeli colonel from military intelligence, and co-run by Meyrav Wurmser, wife of David Wurmser. David Wurmser is close to the Likud Party in Israel and served in Douglas Feith's Office of Special Plans in the Pentagon, where he helped manufacture the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and was linked to al-Qaeda. David Wurmser, who wants to get up American wars against both Iran and Syria, then moved over to Vice President Dick Cheney's rump national security team.

"MEMRI is funded to the tune of $60 million a year by someone, and it is a sophisticated anti-Arab propaganda machine."


Memri threatened to sue Cole for libel. I wrote about the matter, disapproving of the libel suit, but pointing out:

"[T]he best-endowed think tank in Washington, Brookings, which employs 142 scholars in a handsome building on Massachusetts Avenue, has a budget of some $40 million. Is it really possible that Yigal Carmon and his half-dozen ill-paid translators could be spending 50% more than Brookings? Fortunately, it takes about 90 seconds to get the answer.

"As a tax-exempt organization, Memri is obliged to publish an income tax return revealing details of its income and expenditures. ... The return shows that Memri’s budget in 2002 was a touch less than $1.75 million.

"Confronted with this number, an apparently embarrassed Cole subsequently suggested that Memri has secreted vast sums in its Tel Aviv offices. Um, right. US taxfilers are obliged to disclose their global incomes or face heavy penalties. If Memri were raising vast sums worldwide, it would have every reason to boast about its accomplishment and no reason to conceal it."

Cole's work fits well with in the Angry Left blogosphere. It might even deserve to be reprinted in The Nation on a week when the fact-checkers were on strike. But Yale's motto is Lux et Veritas, light and truth. It would make a strange home for a man whose stock in trade is error verging on libel, tinged with obsessive delusions about, ahem, "neocons."


Cole is an example of the "experts" the BBC use.

More on the BBC's wingnut here.
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Canada - CAIR exposed

David Frum reports on Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recent losses in the courtroom and their ties to terrorism.

CAIR bills itself as a Muslim civil rights groups and is often quoted by the left wing media.

More evidence against CAIR here.
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UN rewards terrorists

How much support does the UN give to terrorists? Far more than you can imagine.
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UK - BBC supporting Palestinian terrorists

This BBC report is a good example of the BBC supporting Palestinian terrorists.

Here's the BBC headline: "Israeli attack on Gaza kills one".

Note how the headline frames the whole report to show Israel as the aggessor. It was Israel who attacked and it was Israel who killed "one". Without a label you are meant to believe that Israel attacked without provocation and killed "one" Palestinian. And the first paragraph reinforces that image.

Israel has launched an air strike in the Gaza Strip, killing one Palestinian and wounding two others, medics said.


Then the BBC does a little he said she said dance without giving you much hard information as to who was killed and what prompted the "attack". For that you need to go here.

Here's what prompted the "attack":

The vehicle hit in the strike, according to IDF and Palestinain sources, functioned as a mobile Kassam launcher, and caused an enourmous explosion after it was hit.

The IDF confirmed that the targets were Islamic Jihad operatives who were on their way to fire Kassam rockets at Israel. According to IDF sources, the same squad had fired Kassams at Ashkelon and other Isareli targets in the past.


In other words, the Israelis acted in self defense.

So who was killed?

The Islamic Jihad men were identified as Wael Nassar, 27, and Ahmad Abu Najam, 23, senior field operatives in its military wing.


Now you know why the BBC left out those details.
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UK - Training Imams

The Times (UK) reports on the need to train Imams who preach in Britain.

It's what some are calling "counter-radicalisation".

From the sound of this, the sooner the better.

MUSLIM students training to be imams at a British college with strong Iranian links have complained that they are being taught fundamentalist doctrines which describe nonMuslims as “filth”.

The Times has obtained extracts from medieval texts taught to the students in which unbelievers are likened to pigs and dogs. The texts are taught at the Hawza Ilmiyya of London, a religious school, which has a sister institution, the Islamic College for Advanced Studies (ICAS), which offers a degree validated by Middlesex University.

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UK - Muslim Council of Britain of gays

Harry's Place has the story.

Nice to see not all on the Left support Islam's abuses.
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US - Al Qaeda link in Utah?

ABC reports.

According to a copyrighted article in the Salt Lake Tribune, counterterrorist agents arrested five men on Wednesday. One of the men was aprehended in the Cottonwood Heights area of Salt Lake, and the other for men were arrested in California.

The men were arrested and idicted as part of an investigation into the U.S. connections of a suspected senior al-Qaida operative imprisoned in Iraq, according to the Tribune article.


For some reason the Tribune article has been removed but you can read part of it here.
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Iraq - A Dagger to al-Qaeda

A somewhat positive editorial from the Washington Post no less!

THE APPEARANCE of an al-Qaeda video on the Internet more often than not is a sign of good news in the war on terrorism. Tuesday's posting by Iraqi commander Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is the latest example: The 34-minute show by the newly unhooded extremist is in part a bid for advantage in factional feuding that has curtailed al-Qaeda's visibility and effectiveness. More important, the terrorist acknowledges that the agreement of Iraq's leading Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties on the country's first permanent postwar government last week was, as he bluntly put it, "a dagger in the heart." The Zarqawi movement has spent the past several years trying to ignite a sectarian war between Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites; the new "unity" government, if it takes hold, could be the turning point toward defeating that strategy.


As more and more progess is made in Iraq, watch for MSM to try and switch to the right side of history; which helps explain the Posts attack on Joe Wilson and defense of Bush.
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Islam - Jihadis use media as a weapon

An Arizona State University study reveals.

I's not that Jihadis merely "use" the media, the media are willing participants - just as they were during Vietnam.

A comparison of the Jihadis media war plan with actual media events, shows the left wing media are working with the Jihadis.

The texts that were studied reveal three strategic goals for communication and media in jihadi operations, according to Corman.

“First, they must legitimate their movement by establishing its social and religious viability, while engaging in violent acts that on their face seem to violate the norms of civilized society and the tenets of Islam. Second, they aim to propagate their movement by spreading messages to sympathetic audiences in areas where they want to expand. Third, they seek to intimidate their opponents,” write the researchers.


In America and Canada, the Jihdis achieve their first goal via organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). CAIR bills itself as a Muslim civil rights group and is often quoted in the media as an authoritative source on Muslim issues. This, despite CAIR's well documented links to terrorism.

Here in the UK, the Jihadis and the media use the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) to achieve the same goal. Here again, both are billed as Muslim civil rights groups and the leaders are often quoted and appear regularly on TV. This again, despite the MCB's and the MAB's links to terrorism.

By masquerading as Muslim civil rights groups and aided by the complicit left wing media, the Jihadis are able to portray themselves as the victim and the West as the aggressor.

The Jihadis second goal is achieved with the aid of the left wing media by ignoring the evils of Islam and portraying the West as evil. So complicit are the left wing media in helping the Jihadis achieve their second goal, they actually fabricate stories. For example:

On the 18th of March, The Times was caught out with bogus story on Abu Ghraib. Then on the 3rd of April we learn the Times was caught out with a fake story from Iraq. Next NYT admits it lied over bogus claims that minorities were cannon fodder in both the Vietman and Iraq wars.

Here in the UK, the BBC is blatant in its support for the Jihadis. Just check out that link as there's too much to quote here. But I'll draw your attention to a few of the links in that post.

The BBC produced and aired a program, "The Power of Nightmares" which made these claims:

The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams were not true, neither are these nightmares.

In a new series, the Power of Nightmares explores how the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organised terrorist network is an illusion.

It is a myth that has spread unquestioned through politics, the security services and the international media.


Who does the BBC blame for this "myth"? "At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neo-conservatives and the radical Islamists."

The BBC went further and hired the editor and chief of Al Jazeera to "...to work on a variety of media training projects over the next two years." The results of that training are all too clear.

The BBC's defense correspondent, Paul Adams, complained that the BBC were reporting the exact opposite of what he was reporting back to them from Iraq.

"I was gobsmacked to hear, in a set of headlines today, that the coalition was suffering 'significant casualties'. This is simply not true," Adams said in the memo.

"Nor is it true to say - as the same intro stated - that coalition forces are fighting 'guerrillas'. It may be guerrilla warfare, but they are not guerrillas," he stormed.


I'm not sure if the BBC's veteran reporter, John Simpson needed any training. John Simpson calls al Qaeda the "resistance", says Iran is a "democracy" and says the 7/7 Muslim terrorists were "misguided criminals".

Actually, the BBC doesn't call them Muslim terrorists. In fact, the BBC have censored the words Muslim and terrorists from their reporting. The only time the word Muslim is used by the BBC is to portray them as victims or in a good light.

The UK's Guardian newspaper went so far as to hire a Muslim reporter with links to terrorists, to write a sympathetic article on the 7/7 Muslim terrorists

And when reporting on the anti-war movement, none in the media inform the public that the movement is led by communists. Which is important given the Communists link up with Islamists, ala George Galloway and his Respect party.

The Jihadis, again aided by the left wing media, have totally succeded in their third goal of intimidating their opponents. The Muhammad cartoon episode is proof positive of that.

If we're to defeat the Jihadis and win the global war on terror, we must defeat the left wing media.

More evidence against the media can be found in these posts:

The Case Against the BBC.

The Case against the New York Times.

Fake media reports.

The Islamization of Britain.
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Saudi Arabia - "counter-radicalisation" program

Here's another tactic that might be used in the war on terror.

Seeking to fight Islamic extremism with Islamic theologians, the Saudi authorities say they successfully re-educated some 400 out of 700 extremists and released them from prison.

The Islamic "counselling" programme is part of what British experts regard as Saudi Arabia's "model counter-terrorism campaign".

Senior officials, including the MI5 chief, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, have visited the kingdom to devise a similar "counter-radicalisation" strategy for Britain.

Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries where the fight against terrorism has yielded real success with a softer approach.


We certainly need to do all we can to fight terrorism but simply relying on "a softer approach" isn't the answer as the Saudis well know.

Saudi security forces say they have killed or captured 25 out of 26 people on their original 2003 list of "most wanted" terrorists, including successive local leaders of al-Qa'eda.

Similarly, only four people on a follow-up list of 36 wanted militants are believed to be still at large in the kingdom. The rest have been killed, captured or fled, mainly to Iraq.

"Every day their numbers and capability and resources are less and less," said Gen Mansour al-Turki, spokesman for the Saudi ministry of interior, "We feel that terrorism in Saudi Arabia has been degraded.

"We are helped by the fact that our response to attacks is very fast. Every cell that carries out a terrorist attack does not get to plan another."


It's clear you need both a hard and soft approach.
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Iraq - Coalition Forces Kill 12 Terrorists

and more.
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US - Democratic campaign workers jail time

for trying to deprive some Republicans of their right to vote.

(AP) MILWAUKEE A judge admonished a congresswoman's son and three other Democratic campaign workers for interfering with voters' civil rights as he sentenced them to jail Wednesday for puncturing the tires of some Republican vans on Election Day 2004.

Judge Michael B. Brennan exceeded the recommendation of prosecutors in sentencing the four men to jail time ranging from four to six months for misdemeanor property damage.

"Voter suppression has no place in our country," Brennan told the defendants in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. "Your crime took away that right to vote for some citizens."

The Republican Party wanted to use the vans to transport voters to the polls during the presidential election.

The men, including the son of U.S Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, had pleaded no contest in January to misdemeanor property damage in a plea agreement with prosecutors who recommended no jail time.


The Democrats can't win on ideas so they have to cheat.

Reminds me of the Democrats moaning about voter fraud in Ohio during the last Presidential election. The Democrats funded their own investigation which found, surprise suprise, voter fraud was committed "overwhelming by Democrats".
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US - "Our Rotten IntelligenCIA "

The Wall Street Journal looks at McCarthygate.

The deepest damage from these leak frenzies may yet be to the press itself, both in credibility and its ability to do its job. It was the press that unleashed anti-leak search missions aimed at the White House that have seen Judith Miller jailed and may find Ms. Priest and Mr. Risen facing subpoenas. And it was the press that promoted the probe under the rarely used Espionage Act of "neocon" Defense Department employee Lawrence Franklin, only to find that the same law may now be used against its own "whistleblower" sources. Just recently has the press begun to notice that the use of the same Espionage Act to prosecute two pro-Israel lobbyists for repeating classified information isn't much different from prosecuting someone for what the press does every day--except for a far larger audience.

We've been clear all along that we don't like leak prosecutions, especially when they involve harassing reporters who are just trying to do their job. But then that's part of the reason we didn't join Joe Wilson and the New York Times in demanding Karl Rove's head over the Plame disclosure. As for some of our media colleagues, when they stop being honest chroniclers of events and start getting into bed with bureaucrats looking to take down elected political leaders, they shouldn't be surprised if those leaders treat them like the partisans they have become.


Read the whole thing.
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US - "Progressive" media crashing and burning

Here's the link to the Drudge report but I'll quote at length because he sometimes moves the link.

'PROGRESSIVE' MEDIA STALLS: 'AIR AMERICA' IN AUDIENCE PLUNGE NYC, 'DAILY KOS' BOOK SELLS ONLY 3,600 COPIESWed Apr 26 2006 11:39:51 ET

Left-leaning new media has hit turbulence at the marketplace, newly released stats show.

A book hyped by major media as documenting a progressive revolution of "blogs" and political power, DAILY KOS 'CRASHING THE GATE,' has sold only 3,630 copies since its release last month, according to NIELSEN's BOOKSCAN.

[NIELSEN claims only 2,062 copies of DAILY KOS have been purchased at the retail level; the rest coming through 'discount' outlets. The NIELSEN figures do include online sales from AMAZON.COM, and others.]

Meanwhile, the just released radio Winter Book [Jan-Mar 2006] from ARBITRON shows AIR AMERICA in New York City losing more than a third of its audience -- in the past year!

Among all listeners 12+, it was a race to the bottom for AIR AMERICA and WLIB as mid-days went from a 1.6 share during winter 2005 to a 1.0 share winter 2006.

During PM drive, host Randi Rhodes plunged to 27,900 listeners every quarter hour, finishing 25th place in her time slot, down from 60,900 listeners every quarter hour in the fall.

A network source says the radio ratings released today do not reflect the overall growth of the broadcast.

"The demos are better, and listeners trust AIR AMERICA to give them the real truth on issues and the Bush presidency," says the insider.

Developing...


Remember, of the 15 candidates "screw them" Kos endoresed and raised over $500,000 for, not one, not a single one was elected.

Things are much worse for Air America than they let on. Just look at the search results from my blog.

Add to this the New York Times stock price is half what it was four years ago and the shareholders recently revolted against the Times board. I don't blame them, there's a lot to revolt over.
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Pakistan - 'Honour motive' probe over attack

Need I ask what word is missing from this BBC report?

Police in Karachi say a 14-year-old girl who survived being shot five times may have been the victim of an attempted "honour killing".

Noor Jehan was allegedly shot by relatives after being declared guilty of adultery under an ancient tribal tradition in southern Pakistan.

She was left in a roadside ditch but she managed to crawl her way to help.

Hundreds of women are killed every year in Pakistan in the name of "honour", usually related to marriages.


By the way, the missing word is "Muslim".
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Wednesday, April 26, 2006

US - Media waking up to Islam's abuse of women?

Usually the Left and the left wing media ignore the abuses of Islam, including their abuse of women. Here at least one reporter is finally speaking out.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, the new Saudi ambassador to the United States, came to town last week to make a speech and addressed everything but one important issue. He talked about Iraq, Iran, Israel, the Danish cartoons, the "peaceful and tolerant" message of Islam and the need for economic progress in the Islamic world, but did not mention one word about the pitiful status of women in some Islamic countries.

In Pakistan, women are raped, battered and murdered with seeming impunity. Last December, for instance, a man named Nazir Ahmed slit the throats of his three daughters and murdered their 25-year old stepsister to assuage, as he put it, their honor. His stepdaughter, he claimed, had committed adultery and he didn't want his daughters to "do what their eldest sister had done," he explained, "so they should be eliminated." According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent organization, only half of cases like this even make it to court. In the first 11 months of 2005, there were 260 "honor" killings of women in Pakistan. In Jordan, according to the Arab Human Development Report, 20 women are murdered each year for "honor."


The same thing happens all over Europe as well.

As usual, the reporter can't help but take a swipe at Bush.

President Bush talks a lot about spreading democracy throughout the world; too bad his version of democracy doesn't include vocal lobbying for women's rights. He is so worried about obtaining oil or propping up bankrupt allies, such as President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, that he refuses to put his money where his mouth is. How cowardly.


Well, Ms. Hunter, when's the last time you heard a Democrat speak out against the abuses of Islam, their intolerance to gays, other religions and the abuse of women? When's the last time you read or heard the left wing media speak out against Islam's abuses? Sure Bush and other Republicans should speak out - we should all be speaking out loud and clear.

By Ms. Hunter's logic the Democrats and left wing media are cowards as well. But you already knew that.
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US - New York Times: "Stuck on dumb"

Stuck on dumb and lying too. Which is why their stock, as well as their credibility, is at rock bottom.
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US - Washington Post trapped by logic

Mary McCarthy's friends say she says she is not the CIA leaker who leaked to Dana Priest.

If that's true, Dana Priest wouldn't have a confidentiality pact with McCarthy.

With me so far?

So why doesn't Dana Priest acknowledge that McCarthy was not the source for her story? Because that would be an admission that there are other CIA Democrat moles.

On the other hand, McCarthy's friends could be lying or McCarthy herself. One things sure, someone's lying and the Post is up to its neck in it.

Just One Minute has some thoughts.
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Islam - Al Qaeda jihad vs US long war

An interesting comparison by Paul Reynolds of the BBC.

In it he notes some declarations bin Laden made in his latest tape. Note this one in particular.

Iraq is the central struggle. "The epicentre of these wars and attacks is Baghdad"


Bush and bin Laden both know that, it's a shame the Democrats don't.

Paul also notes how wide ranging in nature bin Laden's declarations are and calls them "striking". They're not at all striking if he'd been paying attention to what's happening around the world or read my blog.

We are at war with militant Islam. Unless all Muslims want to be painted with that same brush they need to speak out and reform Islam.

Paul then lays out the US plan. In order to implement such a wide ranging shake up at the Pentagon, changes had to be made from top to bottom - changes some generals didn't like. Hence the attacks on Rumsfeld now that the generals are retired.

Paul has this to say at the end.

"And of course the lesson from the Cold War is that it was not won by military means, though military strength certainly played a key role. It was won by one system collapsing."


More precisely one state collapsing - the Soviet Union.

Such is not the case in the war against militant Islam. We are not fighting one state with several supporting states. We are fighting a religion planted in many states. As Paul notes...

The document does allude to this at the end by stating: "The United States will not win the war on terrorism... by military means... simultaneous, effective interaction with civilian populations will be essential to achieve success."


In other words, we have to work on getting Muslims to reform Islam, have governments stop appeasing Muslims, admit multiculturalism doesn't work and rid the media of left wing Islamic supporting propagandists - like the BBC.
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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

US - CIA: Leaking At All Costs

Back in November 2005 The Weekly Standard had this to say:

THE CIA'S WAR against the Bush administration is one of the great untold stories of the past three years. It is, perhaps, the agency's most successful covert action of recent times. The CIA has used its budget to fund criticism of the administration by former Democratic officeholders. The agency allowed an employee, Michael Scheuer, to publish and promote a book containing classified information, as long as, in Scheuer's words, "the book was being used to bash the president." However, the agency's preferred weapon has been the leak. In one leak after another, generally to the New York Times or the Washington Post, CIA officials have sought to undermine America's foreign policy. Usually this is done by leaking reports or memos critical of administration policies or skeptical of their prospects. Through it all, our principal news outlets, which share the agency's agenda and profit from its torrent of leaks, have maintained a discreet silence about what should be a major scandal.


They have to ignore the CIA scandal, it's the source that feeds their liberal agenda.

As this IHT article demonstrates, CIA leaker McCarthy's leak was well timmed.

BUCHAREST, Romania, Dec. 6 - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was pelted with questions on Tuesday about covert prisons and a mistaken, secret arrest, as she grappled with what has become an incendiary issue in Europe. She declined to answer most of them in two European capitals.

Europe has been roiled by reports that the United States maintained secret jails for terror suspects in Europe, and by residual anger over the American practice of rendition, or secretly transferring terrorism suspects to the custody of third countries, including some outside Europe that routinely use torture.

The anger has made it harder for Ms. Rice to repair already strained relations with many European nations at odds with American policy on Iraq, like Germany, where she met in Berlin with the new chancellor, Angela Merkel, hoping for a fresh start. But the issue confronted her repeatedly.


Despite the fact that there are two reports that show no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the US, the left wing media still protect the CIA leakers.
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Islam - Osama v Hamas; Hamas v Osama

I love it when Muslim terrorists feud.
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US - John Kerry on dissent

Wrong as usual.

John Kerry:

No wonder Thomas Jefferson himself said: “Dissent is the greatest form of patriotism."


The Jefferson Library:

There are a number of quotes that we do not find in Thomas Jefferson’s correspondence or other writings; in such cases, Jefferson should not be cited as the source. Among the most common of these spurious Jefferson quotes [is]:

* "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."


At least Kerry is consistently wrong.
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Israel - Holocaust rememberance day

is today. Warning! Graphic images.
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US - Media protecting the Democrats

While the left wing media are downplaying CIA leaker McCarthy's connections to the Democrats and hailing her as a hero, we should remember, this isn't the first time the media has gone to bat for Democrats.
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US - CIA leaker McCarthy's web

Wonder if any of the left wing media will show this:

via Gateway Pundit

UK - Muslim 'must pay for visa checks'

Seeing as how us non-Muslims are paying with our lives, it seems a small price to pay. But that doesn't stop the BBC from playing the race card.

A Muslim student had to pay extra for security checks when applying for a visa to visit the United States, because his name was Mohammed.

Mohammed Umar Haleem Khan, 22, was told by US Embassy officials that "a lot of bad people" shared his name.


Well, we only have Khan's word for that now don't we? And if it did happen, it is, sad to say, the truth.

Interesting how the BBC only find the word "Muslim" when it wants to portray them as the victim and not the villian.

The terrorist linked MCB had this to say:

A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain Inayat Bunglawala said: "This is a worrying incident and seems to fit a recent pattern whereby the USA appears to be treating all Muslims as potential terrorists just because of their religion.


Hmmm. Since all the terrorists so far have been Muslims, it's a safe bet potential terrorists are Muslims as well.

If you do a Google search of Muhammad+terrorist you'll get the expected results. But do one using the string Khan+terrorist. I'd be more worried about that if I was Khan.

Once again all of this is our fault.

"US Embassy officials ought really to have had the training to cope with basic elements of Muslim culture which would help prevent these kinds of unfortunate situations."


Well, if the "basic elements of Muslim culture" weren't bent on destroying us non-Muslims, there'd be no need for these "unfortunate situations". Not to mention terrorist attacks.

Search this site using MCB for more on the organization. And see here for much more.
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Brain Bliss