Merry Christmas. To all.

Problem uncovered.

An overwhelming number of Britons believe religion does more harm than good
while non-believers outnumber believers by nearly two to one, an ICM poll
suggested.

Now solve it.

Global Orgasm Day

I first spoke of it here. Now, today, it has finally arrived. I am so psyched! There is a fly in the ointment (yeah, think it), I have had a migraine all day. Think the wife is channeling me?

Gothic Window

Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery

Al Queda wins one for the Democrats

Howard Dean takes credit.

In a portion of the tape from al Qaeda No. 2 man, Ayman al Zawahri, made
available only today, Zawahri says he has two messages for American
Democrats.

"The first is that you aren't the ones who won the midterm elections,
nor are the Republicans the ones who lost. Rather, the Mujahideen -- the Muslim
Ummah's vanguard in Afghanistan and Iraq -- are the ones who won, and the
American forces and their Crusader allies are the ones who lost," Zawahri said,
according to a full transcript obtained by ABC News.

Zawahri calls on the Democrats to negotiate with him and Osama bin
Laden, not others in the Islamic world who Zawahri says cannot help.

"And if you don't refrain from the foolish American policy of backing
Israel, occupying the lands of Islam and stealing the treasures of the Muslims,
then await the same fate," he said.

Treasures? Nobody said anything about treasure!

Read more at Red State.

Blogs suck

As the unofficial, unpaid and unknown nonagent for a certain Mr. Dave Burge it is my distinct honor to inform you he is still skulking in an alley near you.

Here

Political Correctness defined

A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and
rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth
the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

Why little man Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is upset

Thanks to an anti-freedom group for the map showing why the little guy and his imams are upset with the US.

Iran blusters well, but a two front confrontation, diplomatic or military, may be beyond their abilities which is why Iran is bluffing big. As they put pressure on Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, Pakistan and the others, the US is working to isolate them by the same means.

For a starting point the US has troops and bases in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kirgizstan, Diego Garcia, Oman, and Afghanistan. The US is working with other countries in the region.

Will entreaties of "nuclear power" by Iran to oil based economy countries be enough to tip the balance to them?

Looking at the recent voting in Iran I don't think it's just the little guy that is nervous in Iran.

Merry Christmas and thanks to the troops

Go here and say thank you to our troops for protecting us.

Go here to tell Chucky what you think of his very low esteem of our troop.

James Baker does to Israel and US what he did to Reagan

Baker accused of skirtingU.S. sanctions on Saddam

You see, it's just business, but good advice is to not leave finger prints on the knife or the back.

A note from Nancy Pelosi with a P. S.

100 Hours: Honest Leadership and Open Government

During the first 100 legislative hours of the 110th
Congress, Speaker-designate Pelosi and the Democratic Leadership have pledged to
pass key measures affecting the everyday lives of all Americans. One of
these is a series of proposals to clean up Washington and severing unethical
ties between lawmakers and lobbyists. We will start by banning travel and gifts
from lobbyists, getting tough on special interest earmarks, and ending the
abusive processes that have destroyed democracy in the House of
Representatives.

WHY PROPOSAL IS NEEDED:
Americans are paying for the cost of corruption in Washington with skyrocketing prices at the pump, spiraling drug costs, and the waste, fraud and no-bid contracts in the Gulf Coast and Iraq, for Administration cronies like Halliburton.

· The cozy relationship between Congress and special interests has resulted in lobbying scandals, such as those involving Republican super lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In this scandal, former Rep. Bob Ney pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit fraud -- accepting all-expense-paid trips to play golf in Scotland and accepting meals, sports and concert tickets, while providing legislative favors for Abramoff’s clients.

· The scandal of former Rep. Duke Cunningham pleading guilty to accepting bribes from defense contractors in return for his help in securing defense contracts pointed up the damage of the earmarking special projects that has exploded in the Republican Congress.

· Republicans permitted a Congress in which lobbyists write the bills, 15-minute votes are held open for three hours, and entirely new legislation is crammed into signed conference reports in the dead of night.

BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR PROPOSAL: Reform
proposals have been introduced by both Democrats and Republicans.

· Exit polls showed that 42 percent of voters called corruption an extremely important issue in their choices at the polls. [CNN, 11/8/06]

· A number of these proposals are bipartisan, including a bill by Rep. Shays and Meehan (H.R.5677), by Sens. McCain and Leiberman (S. 2128), and Reps. Hefley and Udall (H.R. 4988).

PREVIOUS ACTION ON PROPOSAL:
Lobbying and government reform has been debated and passed by the House and Senate in 2006.

· On May 3, 2006, the House passed the Republicans’ anemic package of reforms (H.R. 4975), after extensive hearings on a range of these topics. The Senate reform proposal (S.2349) passed on March 29, 2006, but the Congress failed to reconcile the two versions.

· During those debates, Democrats proposed a tough, “far more robust version of lobbying reform” that was voted on twice and nearly passed the House with 16 Republicans supporting them. [Washington Post, 4/25/06; Vote #118, 5/3/06]

P.S. to my bella donna San Francisco treat;

- 40 of the 45 members of the Senate Democrat Caucus have taken money from Abramoff, his associates, and Indian tribe clients.

- Jimmy Carter taking bribes to write his latest anti-Semitic love fest for dead buddy Arafat all for his beautiful, and needed, Presidential Library

- An independent counsel who investigated possible tax violations by former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros charged that the Clinton administration thwarted his efforts to get to the truth.

- U.S. Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) is under criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for possible bribery in exchange for promoting business deals in Africa and a cool $90,000 in his freezer

- Rep Maxine Waters for benefiting her family in numerous business deals

- Former Democat Gov. Donald Siegelman of Alabama was charged in a "widespread racketeering conspiracy" that includes accusations he took a bribe from former hospital executive Richard Scrushy for a key state appointment.

- Frank Ballance - a former Democrat Rep. from North Carolina was sentenced to four years in federal prison for conspiring to divert taxpayer money to his law firm and family through a charitable organization he helped start.

- Rep. Alan Mollohan (WV) - $200 million + to himself and his business buddies it appears

- Rep. John Murtha (PA) – This is the guy that put scam back in abs and steers millions of wasted taxpayer money to his district friends.

- Rep. Alcee Hastings (FL) – Impeached for a $150,000 bribe

- Raymond Reggie, a New Orleans political Democratic consultant and fund-raiser who is Senator Kennedy's brother-in-law was sentenced to a year in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to bank fraud charges.

Update: 12/20/06

- We must not forget the Fords of TN. A new day, a new indictment. Read here.

Almost finished. Starting the interior trim. soon.

Powell against the Powell Doctrine

Matt at Weapons of Mass Discussion has a very good point about presidential candidate General Powell doing a Kerry on himself.

Iraq economy exploding

Of course Newsweek and other media couldn't discuss this during the election. They were making their green in the Green Zone reporting on everything they saw at the local watering hole while their trusted "stringers" sat around making stories up.

How will the left continue to deny this? They'll just twist facts into lies and pat themselves on the back for exposing another failing of Amerika and the appointed Bush regime.

Real-estate prices have risen several hundred percent, suggesting that Iraqis
are more optimistic about the future than most Americans are.

Not just real estate, but consumer goods are availible as never before and salaries have risen sharply as oil revenues will probably exceed projected profits. New business is popping up every where.

Flash! Newsweek thinks "trickle down" economics works. In Iraq. not here.

The whole story reads like a "this can't be happening, but it is" revelation by the reporter. DU and Kos are weeping.

Read the rest here.

Update: 12/20/06

Fruited Plains asked the obvious (for him) question, what if we are winning? An interesting read!

Battlefield's 'Doc' now in a nation's care

Read this. It is America. It is what our enemies are not.

I am stunned.

CAIR VS the locals in the Columbus Dispatch

AIRPORT WASN'T GUILTY OF DISCRIMINATION
Published: Wednesday, November 29,
2006
EDITORIAL & COMMENT 10A
Last Wednesday's Dispatch article "U.S.
investigating why 6 Muslim clerics were pulled from flight" struck a nerve. From
what I have read, the security personnel at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport
acted reasonably and responsibly under the circumstances. They should be
commended for taking appropriate actions in response to a "combination of
circumstances ... (that appeared) suspicious," particularly because they, I am
certain, carefully weighed the consequences of their actions if their suspicions
proved incorrect against the risk that there was a real threat.

As a frequent traveler to Israel, I note that if the Muslim imams were traveling from Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, reputably the safest in the world, they would have
immediately and without hesitation been singled out for special scrutiny,
because the security personnel there engage in profiling, a common-sense
practice that is unacceptable here.

I read with amazement the comments of Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who stated that he hoped the incident would "raise awareness ... that praying as a Muslim and flying as a Muslim should not trigger any fear and any prejudice." What sort of fools does he take us for?

To the Muslim leadership around the world, which is so adept at inflaming the Muslim masses, and whose tepid condemnations of acts of terrorism committed in the name of Islam exacerbate the "fear and prejudice" they bemoan, I say the incident in Minneapolis is a good example of reaping what you sow.

RICHARD L. LEVINE

Bexley

AIRLINE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST MUSLIM CLERICS
Published: Sunday, December 10, 2006
EDITORIAL & COMMENT
04B
I respond to Richard Levine's Nov. 29 letter "Airport wasn't guilty of
discrimination." Six imams, who had passed through the airport security checks
and boarded a US Airways flight in Minneapolis, were regarded as suspicious by a
passenger, who alerted a flight attendant.

The men were handcuffed, removed from the plane, detained and questioned for several hours. Then, despite their being innocent and completely cleared by federal officials, US Airways and some other airlines refused to allow them to purchase tickets for other scheduled flights home.

Many of the rumors and inaccurate information surrounding the
alleged suspicious behavior of the men have been proved to be false. For
example, contrary to what some media reports stated, all had roundtrip tickets
and luggage. The incident boils down to overreaction by a passenger and the
airline to Muslim men on the aircraft and their observance of routine prayers
prior to boarding. In America today, those who encourage this type of religious
profiling stoke the flames of anger and fear. Then they call for people to act
on prejudice and institutionalize bigotry in the form of ethnic and religious
profiling. But sanctioning witch hunts and a Ku Klux Klan-like mentality will
not lift up this nation, nor will it make us safer.

We have worked very hard in this country to set standards of decency and personal conduct that respect each individual. Some of the memories of racial and ethnic profiling in our nation's history bring us shame and disbelief as we wonder why we allowed it. Others bring pain as the blight of racism has not been purged from us
collectively, and we know it.

But we try. Because when prejudice exists in the eye of the beholder, any innocent activity can seem sinister. This was illustrated clearly in these recent events. Three men prayed in a side area of the airport waiting room. Two large men asked for seatbelt extenders. A blind man moved his seat to be near an acquaintance. These brought out handcuffs, the FBI and wild rumors circulating in the media.

At an interfaith pray-in near the US Airways ticket counter at Washington National Airport, Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center of Philadelphia explained why he would not fly on US Airways until they apologized and recompensed the imams.

If we believe in the values America has stood for, we must stand together to be a just nation and recognize the humanity of each individual. We must give each person equal protection under the law, and we must stand against racial, ethnic and religious profiling and discrimination.

ASMA MOBIN-UDDIN

PresidentCouncil on
American-Islamic Relations, Ohio ChapterColumbus

Airport stunt orchestrated to garner sympathy
Saturday, December 16, 2006

I am writing about Asma Mobin-Uddin’s Sunday letter "Airline discriminated against Muslim clerics."

Her letter is filled with untruths and gratuitous references meant to convince readers that the six imams were mistreated. Mobin-Uddin stated twice that only "a passenger" was suspicious of their behavior. Not one, but many passengers were unnerved, according to witnesses and the police, by the six imams chanting loudly with shouts of "Allah" or "Allah Akbar" before they even boarded their flight.

Again, not just one, but many passengers inside the plane were suspicious
because of their statements mentioning terrorism and independently moving their
seat assignments to a configuration that reflected those of the 9/11 murderers,
i.e., two in the front row first-class, two in the middle of the plane on the
exit aisle and two in the rear of the cabin.

The six imams, according to police reports and witnesses, spoke English and Arabic, criticizing President Bush and the war in Iraq, and spoke of al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden as they wandered the cabin, according to those on board who spoke Arabic. Three of the imams requested seatbelt extensions, which they placed on the floor next to their feet. The seat belt extensions can be used as weapons, according to air
marshals.

Each incident by itself may be small, but taken as a whole this
appears to be an orchestrated effort to purposely trigger suspicion by airline
staff. Mobin-Uddin stated that the six imams were humiliated and taken off the
plane in handcuffs, which the police, the airline and witnesses say did not
happen. Mobin-Uddin used inflamatory phrases such as "witch hunts" and "Ku Klux
Klan-like mentality" and combined them with statements of "the values America
has stood for" and "the blight of racism has not yet been purged from us
collectively" to lead readers to believe that Americans hate Muslims in general
and Arabs specifically.

By manipulating America’s sense of fair play, the Council on American-Islamic Relations foists charges of Islamophobia on Americans to legitimize their fight against "discrimination." The airport stunt was orchestrated.

Mobin-Uddin’s letter is a furthering of this orchestration, using falsehoods to elicit a sympathetic response for Americans to "stand against racial, ethnic and religious profiling and discrimination."

CAIR, a group known to financially and spiritually support terrorist groups
that hate and murder for racial, ethnic and religious differences, now lectures
us, a country that supports all people.

Don’t buy it. It is a lie.

EDWARD JENKINS
Granville

Decision to remove imams from plane was correct one
Saturday, December 16,
2006
· More
letters to the editor (Web only)

I respectfully address Asma Mobin-Uddin’s Sunday letter where she repeated some of the misinformation concerning the US Airways flight in Minneapolis in which six Muslim clerics were removed from a plane and detained for questioning by police and the FBI. They were later cleared.

Mobin-Uddin stated, for example, that the US Airways crew acted on the basis of a complaint from one customer. Let me reiterate that several customers raised concerns about behaviors, which also were observed by the flight crew.

Moreover, the decision to remove the passengers was not based on the fact that they were praying in a terminal, but rather several factors on board the aircraft, all outlined in the police report. The decision to remove the imams for questioning was made in concert with ground security, the US Airways operations center, local police and the FBI.

US Airways does not profile and takes safety and security of all passengers very seriously. We find it unfortunate that she likened our processes to the Ku Klux Klan and witch hunts. Any passengers, regardless of religion, race or creed, acting in the same way would have resulted in the same actions and procedures.

We aren’t perfect, however. The next day, a miscommunication occurred between headquarters and the field crew, which led to the imams not being rebooked the following morning. When we realized that they had been denied boarding that morning, our Minneapolis general manager went through the airport looking for them. By then, they had already booked on Northwest. We did meet them when they arrived in Phoenix.

We consider this primarily a customer-service and security issue
and reiterate that, although we are always concerned when passengers are
inconvenienced, our crew and ground employees made the appropriate call.

VALERIE WUNDER
US Airways Corporate
Communications
Tempe, Ariz.

MSM's war on the War On Terror (WOTWOT)

If the MSM can redefine events, realities and words at will to fit their pitiful little world I believe we must define what they are doing, thus I am calling their campaign to defeat global freedom the war on the War On Terror or WOTWOT.

I've discussed what I think will transpire once the opponents of defeating radical Islam (in its many forms) believe they have gained the upper hand here, here, here, here, here and started here.

Now, the incoming NYT's editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, has this to say:

If he sticks to these fictions about achieving victory and all the other things
that he keep talking about then we may have to change. It really does depend, I
mean, we're going to withdraw our troops from Iraq and we're going to do that
without initiating a fully functioning government that serves as a beacon of
hope for the Middle east. I mean its interesting and very instructive to go back
and look at last year's strategy for success in Iraq strategy included:
defeating terrorists, establishing full democracy in Iraq, an independent army,
and an Iraq that is part of the international economic system, I don't know what
that means. Are they supposed to join the IMF or the WTO I don' t know what the
heck that means. And this kind of burgeoning democracy throughout the Middle
East well none of that 's going to happen, I think that's pretty clear - at
least not in George Bush's timeframe.

Read the rest here. I think he is up to the NYT job, which is not to be confused with forming or expressing a cogent opinion. It is apparent to me that the NYT has told him his opinion and neither care a whit what the facts are.

Just plain wrong III

Mommy, you sure this isn't Rasputin?

John Kerrys their water

John F. Kerry proves once again that he hasn't a clue of what is going on in the world wide struggle with radicalism.

LGF has more. A lot more. Go read it. now.