[1/31/07]

[Allan Wall] 12:02 am [permalink]
Despite Mexican Meddling, Texas Does the Right Thing Consulates have their legitimate functions, but Mexican consulates in the United States are utilized to subvert American immigration law. Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican official in charge of Mexican-U.S. relations has even called consulates “beachheads”.

The latest example was reported in the Associated Press article “Mexican Consulate Says Police Profiled Illegal Immigrants" (sic) (Associated Press January 30th, 2007 ).

Here’s what the article reported: [go to full post at Vdare]

[1/30/07]

[Mediacrity] 12:01 am [permalink]
Bethlehem Christians Break Silence on Muslim Oppression One of the media's biggest Christmas stories, year after year, is how the poor poor Christian Arabs of Bethlehem are being treated nasty by the big bad Israelis. The IRIS blog today points out that the true story, which is Muslim oppression of Bethelehem Christians, is finally coming out.

Click here for the IRIS blog entry. Shove that in the local media's face next time you read one of their patented stories on "Israeli oppression where Jesus was born." [go to Mediacrity blog]

[1/29/07]

[Julia Gorin pundit/comedian] 12:05 am [permalink]
Publishing Industry to Help Breed Homegrown Islamists An entertainment industry newsletter I receive reports that Muslim Girl Magazine debuts this month.

The bi-monthly lifestyle magazine is targeted to American Muslim girls 14-18 yrs old and aims to challenge the stereotypes of Muslim girls in the US and will feature teen girls that are proud of both being an American and a Muslim…

According to a study of US Muslim teen girls commissioned by the magazine, this group is not too different from the average US teen girl in terms of what they like (e.g. TV, internet, shopping, videogames, the phone etc). With that said, there are some differences — for example, Muslim girls report they get their news from Al Jazeera, socialize at IslamiCity and among the things they do outside of school is study the Qur’an…

Good. It’s important to challenge the stereotypes that people have of Muslim girls. Because here I was thinking that they watch Al Jazeera, hang out at IslamiCity and study the Koran in their spare time.

(Meanwhile, it’s nice that we’re creating a world within a world for them, which will breed the same problematic mentalities that afflict the countries they left.) [Gorin Glob]

[1/26/07]

[Daniel Pipes] 12:01am [permalink]
Carter's Apartheid: The Middle East Quarterly has just posted My Problem with Jimmy Carter's Book, a review by Kenneth W. Stein of Jimmy Carter’s Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. Stein, you may recall, is the former Middle East Fellow at The Carter Center whose December 5, 2006 resignation from the center made international news.

As the press release explains:

In the review, Stein documents not only the historical inaccuracies that permeate the book but also Carter’s falsification of conversations. Stein served as Carter’s aide and note-taker during the former President’s Middle East trips and meetings with foreign leaders, retaining copies of his notes. He juxtaposes those with relevant passage of Carter’s book to show their differences. Stein also explores the evolution of Carter’s views, and highlights the former president’s lasting grudge toward the late Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, whom Carter blames in part for his 1980 election defeat.

[1/25/07]

[Daniel Pipes - author, activist, activist] 12:01am [permalink]
My Debate With London Mayor Ken Livingstone It all began with a faxed letter from Ken Livingstone, mayor of London, arriving out of the blue on April 4, 2006:

I will be hosting a conference to discuss the thesis of the "clash of civilizations" first popularized by Professor Samuel Huntington's book, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. I would like to invite you to debate this thesis with me at the opening session of the conference, which will be held 10am-1pm on Saturday, 10 June 2006.

The conference was twice delayed, before finally taking place two days ago, on January 20, 2007. It was quite an event, held in the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, across the street from Westminster Abbey. The mayor told me in a private chat before the event that when he conceived of the event two years ago, he wondered if anyone would show up. He need not have worried; the Greater London Authority's website indicated there had been "an unprecedented demand" for tickets and several days in advance of the event shut the ticketing. One organizer on the mayor's staff told me that the audience numbered about five thousand and that over 150 media had registered for the conference.

The mayor and I each invited a seconder to help us make our arguments: he chose Salma Yaqoob, a councillor in Birmingham, and I chose Douglas Murray, the London writer. Due to the large crowd, the event started a half hour late but even truncated, it still went for slightly over two hours.

Despite the many journalists and video cameras, and despite the GLA having recorded and simultaneously transcribed the event, and despite two and a half days having passed since it took place, there has been – quite to my surprise – not a single media account of the debate, nor a video made available, nor a transcript. (This reminds me in a way of my University of California-Berkeley talk three years ago, which created quite a stir but had zero media coverage.)

There have, however, been a number of blog accounts – interestingly, every one of them sympathetic to Murray and myself; it would seem that the mayor's supporters took a pass on reporting the event. In alphabetical order by author, here are are the fullest and most interesting accounts that I have located (the list will be updated as needed):

• Sharon Chadha, "Clash of Civilizations?" SharonChadha.com, 21 January 2007.
• Gandalf, "Clash of Civilizations." UpPompeii.com, 21 January 2007.
• Graham, "A Very Civilised Clash." Harry's Place, 22 January 2007.
• Jonathan Hoffman, "Daniel Pipes survives Livingstone's Lions' Den." Adloyada.com, 21 January 2007.
• David Pryce-Jones, "Debating Clash." National Review Online, 20 January 2007.
• Beila Rabinowitz and William A. Mayer, "Dr. Daniel Pipes and Douglas Murray Triumph over ‘Red' Ken Livingstone in London Debate." PipeLineNews.org, 22 January 2007.

In anticipation of the video to follow, here are a couple of pictures from the event, one of Ken Livingstone speaking, and one of me; from left to right, the sequence is Douglas Murray, myself, Gavin Esler (the moderator, a BBC television host), Ken Livingstone, and Salma Yaqoob.

[1/24/07]

[Joel Rosenberg - novelist] 12:15 am [permalink]
Democrats Seek To Bar Bush From Attacking Iran: Readers of this weblog know I believe that 2007 is the Year of Decision. If President Bush and Congressional leaders are serious about stopping Iran from going nuclear, they are going to have to move decisively this year. After all, 2008 is an election year and 2009 is the start of a new administration. By then it could be too late. President Bush moved in the right direction last week by refusing to appease Iran and Syria in a new round of pointless negotiations; by committing more than 21,000 more troops into Iraq; by ordering a second U.S. carrier battle group to the Persian Gulf; and by prepositioning more Patriot missile batteries and other armaments to the Gulf region. But now Congress is taking a dangerous step in the wrong direction.

"Democratic leaders in Congress lobbed a warning shot Friday at the White House not to launch an attack against Iran without first seeking approval from lawmakers," reports the Associated Press. "'The president does not have the authority to launch military action in Iran without first seeking congressional authorization,'" Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told the National Press Club...."Last week, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., challenged the president's ability to make such a move. In a letter to Bush, Biden asked the president to explain whether the administration believes it could attack Iran or Syria 'without the authorization of Congress, which does not now exist.' Meanwhile, Lee Hamilton, the Democratic co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday that the U.S. must try to engage Iran and Syria in a constructive dialogue on Iraq because of the countries' influence in the conflict."

Don't the Democrats realize just how serious the nuclear threat is from Iran? Don't they understand the apocalpytic theology driving Ahmadinejad? The Democratic leadership appears to be tying the President's hands for short term political gain -- because they can. They are making a serious mistake, and it could cost us dearly.

[1/23/07]

[Mediacrity] 12:01 am [permalink]
Clint Eastwood's Politically Correct Pap Here's a movie to put on your "don't see" list: "Letters from Iwo Jima," Clint Eastwood's politically correct humbug.

In this movie the Japanese are the good guys and the U.S. Marines are the bad guys. The Marines shoot prisoners casually and the Japanese give their last dose of morphine to a U.S. POW. While the movie shows Japanese killing a captured American, it is done as hot-blooded retaliation for use of flame-throwers.

In fact, as was pointed out in the Free Republic a few weeks ago, the scene with the compassionate treatment of Americans was totally fictional. Japan's brutality toward POWs, including American POWs on Iwo Jima, and civilians everywhere is a matter of historical record. Remember the Bataan Death March? The Rape of Nanking?

Shame on you, Clint Eastwood. [go to Mediacrity blog]

[1/22/07]

[Streetsweeper's Sweepings] 12:05 am [permalink]
Upcoming Amazing Grace and The Last Sin Eater: "What a Friend We Have in Hollywood" by Cal Thomas - “Can Hollywood make friends with evangelicals?” asks Brian Lowry in a column for Variety, the show business magazine. A better questionmight be, “Can evangelicals make friends with Hollywood?”

After years of cursing the darkness about profanity, nudity and violence coming out of what collectively is called “Hollywood” -- whether the films are produced there or elsewhere -- evangelicals and others who like quality films are beginning to develop and produce their own. Two of the better ones will be released next month. [full article at Human Events]

[1/19/07]

[Julia Gorin pundit/comedian] 12:05 am [permalink]
Thinking Outside the Hoax After last week’s article An Embryo a Day Keeps the Doctor Away was published, I heard from reader James Kelly, a biotech writer and director of The Cures 1st Foundation, Inc. in Colorado. Mr. Kelly, who debated Christopher Reeve about embryonic stem cell research and wrote an excellent article on the subject in NRO, emailed the following:

Ten years ago I was paralyzed by a spinal cord injury, causing me to study the science of SCI (spinal cord injury). Five years ago I began to actively oppose the global embryonic stem cell and human cloning charade — because I’d rather not sit in this wheelchair for the rest of my life to serve biotech and pharmaceutical financial agendas. To expose the truths of these issues I’ve written articles in The Seoul Times, National Review Online, and Human Events.

The embryonic stem cell and cloning charade is a colossal farce. If so many weren’t suffering and dying while having their trust betrayed it would be a joke — but since we’re paying for it with our money, lives, and futures, I’ve had a hard time writing in your present [fully justified] tongue-in-cheek style.

Thank you for putting the embryonic stem cell and ‘therapeutic’ cloning farces in perspective.

Even though Mr. Kelly is paralyzed, he isn’t interested in having his tax dollars fund dead-end research (pun intended). Why is this such a difficult concept for others to grasp? [Gorin Glob]

[1/18/07]

[Laura Mansfield - author, Strategic Translations] 12:01 am [permalink]
Insights derived from the 2006 Al Qaeda Yearbook The copies of the 2006 Al Qaeda Yearbook arrived yesterday, and I spent much of the evening looking through the book. (If you've already ordered your copy, I'll be shipping it out today.)

You've heard the saying "You can't see the forest for the trees" as well as its inverse "You can't see the trees because of the forest".

The Yearbook brings all of that home with a resounding thud.

There is something about having all 500,000+ words of Al Qaeda for one year in one document that brings new perspective.

The index (nearly 50 pages of index is provided) is especially valuable in review of the As Sahab-provided translations, which were available for most of the tapes.

What becomes apparent as I review the "concordance" of phrases, words, and names is that Al Qaeda uses multiple translators, each with their own preferred Qu'ranic quotes, and each with their preferred "English version" of the Qu'ran. In some tapes, the translator is clearly using British English; in others he is using American English.

The spelling between names jumps out. There are four different spellings of Shaykh Umar Abdel Rahman's name in the As Sahab translations. What makes this information compelling is that these spellings and such as consistent within each tape transcript, leading to the conclusion that these transcripts were created by different individuals.

This compilation opens up a whole new area of analysis.

I am very excited about this - I'm sure my highlighter pens are going to get a good workout.

You can order Qaeda 2006 Yearbook can be found at http://www.lauramansfield.com/j/yearbook.asp

The Al Qaeda 2006 Yearbook: A Complete Reference and Translation of Al Qaeda Messages in 2006

LauraMansfield.com announces the release of "The Al Qaeda 2006 Yearbook: A Complete Reference and Translation of Al Qaeda Messages in 2006".

The year 2006 was an especially prolific one for As Sahab, the media production department of Al Qaeda. During the course of the year, they released nearly three dozen messages. Of these, Six were messages from Osama Bin Laden, 17 were messages from Al Qaeda second-in-command Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri, one was from Azzam the American, and the remaining were various Al Qaeda lesser known Al Qaeda personalities or videos of operations in Afghanistan.

This reference guide includes the videos and audios produced and released by As Sahab in 2006.

The "Yearbook" is heavily indexed, with extensive footnotes, and is over 600 pages long.

It includes a full color video reference guide for each of the 2006 videos. This guide provides a valuable reference for visual identification of the videos.

The "Yearbook" is available with or without a DVD containing each of the videos released in 2006 by As Sahab.

The "Yearbook" is in stock and is available for immediate shipment.

It can be ordered at http://www.lauramansfield.com/j/yearbook.asp

[1/17/07]

[Joel Rosenberg - novelist] 12:15 am [permalink]
Founder of Knesset Christian Allies Caucus, Dies of Cancer Dr. Shtern's passing is a real loss for the State of Israel and for the Christian community that loves Israel and wants to bless her. He was a kind and brilliant man who -- despite his upbringing in godless, Communist Moscow -- came to develop a real love for evangelical Christians and a deep and genuine desire to build bridges to them. He was greatly liked and widely respected by evangelical and Messianic Jewish leaders inside Israel and around the world.

I first met Shtern, a doctorate in economics who emigrated to Israel in 1981 from the Soviet Union, at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. in February of 2004. He had recently launched the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus and was leading a delegation of Israeli legislators to strengthen ties to evangelicals and to reduce Israelis' suspicions of evangelical motives vis-a-vis the Jewish State. He believed that Christians were among Israel's best friends and wanted to do everything he could to enhance relations and help Israelis feel more comfortable with millions of Christians around the world eager to "bless Israel in the name of Jesus."

We had dinner together in Tel Aviv in November of 2005 with a group of evangelical leaders from Canada that Lynn and I had brought over as part of forming The Joshua Fund. I also interviewed Shtern for Epicenter about where he thought Vladimir Putin was taking Russia and why Putin was building military and nuclear ties with Iran (see p. 115-116). Last November, I had hoped to visit him when I was in Israel and give him a copy of the book, but was informed that his cancer was rapidly worsening. He and his family have been in my prayers ever since.

Several Joshua Fund board members and I had the privilege of attending the 3rd anniversary of the Caucus inside the Knesset last week. We learned then that Shtern had slipped into a coma and was not expected to recover. He was honored there by Jews and Christians alike for his many accomplishments. MK Benny Elon, Israel's former Minister of Tourism, is now serving as Interim Chairman of the Caucus. But Yuri Shtern will be impossible to replace and sorely missed. May his tribe increase.

[1/16/07]

[Mediacrity] 12:01 am [permalink]
The Times Trashes O'Reilly The New York Times has only reviewed a Bill O'Reilly book once. That was in 2004, when it slammed his "O'Reilly Factor for Kids" in a hatchet job entitled, "The Pinhead Factor." It has reviewed none of O'Reilly's other books even after they became best-sellers.

In Sunday's New York Times Book Review [online version] there is finally a "review," if you can call it that, of O'Reilly's "Culture Warrior." It also review a favorable new book about O'Reilly by Marvin Kitman. Even though he is self-identified as a liberal, Kitman believes he has been maligned in an unjustified fashion. The Times will simply not let just comments pass without showing its sneering liberal bias in full flower.

The Times book review says snidely that the Kitman book wants to turn O'Reilly "into a towering figure in some ways reminiscent of Edward R. Murrow, whose legend, we are told, was built on the “opinionated positions he took in his news reports.”

No good, says reviewer Jacob Heilbrunn. He thinks O'Reilly is a a "thug, fraud, gasbag, windbag and demagogue." Heilbrunn attributes those adjectives to unnamed "detractors" but obviously embraces them himself.

He then turns briefly to O'Reilly's new book "Culture Warrior," which is supposedly also the subject of this book but Heilbrunn has only potshots here too. It "offers the trademark bluff and bombast that make up his pronouncements."

This polemic disguised as review ends by saying "No matter what this apostle of mediocrity and banality says, sparkling water and George Clooney are not menaces to the American way of life."

I don't think O'Reilly ever said anything of the kind, but dishonesty as well as bias are daily fare at this once great newspaper. This review is Exhibit A. [go to Mediacrity blog]

[1/12/07]

[Joe Armendariz - politician ] 12:05 am [permalink]
Who Will Rescue California From Schwarzenegger? Governor Schwarzenegger has prescribed a new health care proposal that will require everyone living in California, including those who came in through the back door, to have health insurance, at an estimated cost of $12 billion. What ever happened to "rescuing California"?
 
If this proposal becomes law, someone will need to rescue California from Arnold. The Democrats love this plan and so does Barbara Streisand and Sean Penn.
 
In addition to covering illegal aliens, Schwarzeneggers proposal requires employers with 10 or more employees, provide full medical coverage for their full time employees. However, this aspect of the Governor's plan begs this question: if you are an employer in California with 9 employees, why hire a tenth employee? Or, conversely, if you already have ten employees, why not downsize to, oh, I dont know, 9 employees?
 
This big-government proposal, if adopted by a Democrat Legislature, who must think they've died and gone to heaven, would without a doubt increase the cost of health care in California and the cost of doing business as well. And if you doubt this statement consider the feature in the Governor's proposal that calls for a special 2% tax on the GROSS income of doctors and a special 4% tax on the GROSS revenues of all hospitals in California.
 
Oh yeah, it also calls for a "significant" increase in Medi-Cal reimbursement rates. This part of the plan comes under the section titled  robbing Peter to pay Peter.  
 
If the cost of health care goes up in California, the cost of doing business in California goes up as well. This is especially troubling in light of the obnoxious fact that operating costs in the state's manufacturing sector already exceed the operating costs, for the same sector, in every other state in the nation by roughly 24%.  
 
Somebody really needs to rescue California...  

We can all agree that our state's health care system is sick. Indeed, it is borderline terminal. However, Schwarzenegger's proposal attempts to turn economic reality on its head. After all, unless we think what is ailing the state's health care system is not enough government regulations, price controls and other politically motivated mandates, then the Governor's medicine, no matter how well intentioned the doctor might be, will only end up making the patient sicker.

[1/10/07]

[Julia Gorin pundit/comedian] 12:05 am [permalink]
Ignoring Science The other day, the following item appeared on OpinionJournal’s “Best of the Web”: “The Gay Science?”

A frequent complaint about social conservatives is that they are “antiscience” because in some cases (most notably embryonic stem cell research) they oppose scientific inquiry for moral reasons. But here, courtesy of the Times of London, is a case of social liberals who are antiscience for reasons of ends rather than means. That is, there are some things they do not think we should know:

Scientists are conducting experiments to change the sexuality of “gay” sheep in a programme that critics fear could pave the way for breeding out homosexuality in humans…It raises the prospect that pregnant women could one day be offered a treatment to reduce or eliminate the chance that their offspring will be homosexual…

The research, at Oregon State University in the city of Corvallis and at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, has caused an outcry. Martina Navratilova, the lesbian tennis player who won Wimbledon nine times, and scientists and gay rights campaigners in Britain have called for the project to be abandoned…

It is an article of dogma among gay-rights activists that sexual orientation is entirely biological in origin and that it is immutable. If one accepts these premises, it is harder to sustain the premise that homosexual conduct is immoral or that gays should not be protected by antidiscrimination laws. But what if science determines that there are elements of environment or even choice at play?

This is hardly the first example of social liberals ignoring science. It happens every time we learn just how much more sentient “fetuses” are than we thought, thanks to daily advances in our modern technology. Nor do they pay much mind to the science that points toward a link between abortion and breast cancer. They also don’t like the science that demonstrates an increased risk of cancer from taking the birth-control pill. I’m sure we could come up with a dozen other examples.

They only like science that promotes population control — whether that be through embryo destruction, any kind of birth control, or promoting homosexuality — which doesn’t cause children. In particular, they like the science of embryonic stem cell research. Even though that science so far has done little more than grow folks a Siamese twin in their heads. That’s science’s way of telling us: not a good road to go down. But if, as I’ve written before, discarded embryos are as magical as they believe, perhaps they will be what cures homosexuality one day.

So when they finally find and isolate the gay gene, they can look for it in developing embryos, weed them out, and use those embryos for therapy. How’d that be? A stem cell cure for homosexuality! If anyone is still gay after that, it’s obviously a choice (tsk tsk!). [Gorin Glob]

[1/9/07]

[Mediacrity] 12:01 am [permalink]
Stacking the Deck at The NY Times The side by side articles Sunday on page ten of the New York Times, both by Steven Erlanger, are excellent examples of the Times's blind spot toward Palestinian violence and doubledealing, and the newspaper's tendency to overemphasize Israeli "misdeeds."

The article on the left, a "news analysis," describes the supposed slipshod performance of Ehud Olmert. He is described in this article as a bumbling, dumb, schlimazel who is kicked around by the renegade Israeli military. Olmert is violating the road map to peace, please note.

The article on the right describes how the valiant Mohammed Abbas is taking on Hamas, which has created something called the "military police." No mention is made of the road map or the fact that the very existence of the terror group Hamas in the government spits in the eye of the road map.

Two articles, both by the same reporter, showing both ends of the same pattern of bias. If there is a better example of the Times tilting its coverage of the Middle East, I cannot find it. [go to Mediacrity blog]

[1/8/07]

[Laura Mansfield - author, Strategic Translations] 12:01 am [permalink]
Lee's Life for Lies: Islamic Army of Iraq releases another propaganda video The Islamic Army of Iraq has just released a video that may very well be the most powerful piece of enemy propaganda to emerge from the Iraqi jihadist groups.

The video, entitled Lee’s Life for Lies, is clearly stamped with the Islamic Army in Iraq logo, and purports to tell the story of an American “Marine” who was killed in Iraq in an ambush of his HUMVEE.

The Islamic Army in Iraq is the group that released the two Juba Sniper videos showing American servicemen being shot by the so-called Baghdad Sniper. In fact, some of the scenes used by the Islamic Army in the Juba Sniper 2 video, released in October 2006, are reused in this video.

The video presents a compelling and emotional tale, in a documentary quality production. It claims to use as the basis of its content a flash drive that was found when Army Specialist Lee K. Tucker was killed when his HUMVEE was attacked. It shows the video from his birthday celebration with fellow servicemen in Iraq, as well as many photos of him.

In an attempt to gain credibility, the video shows certificates and awards received by Lee for performance in the military, including an “Outstanding Service Award” from the US Army. (Images of these videos were apparently found on the “flash” drive.)

It then has a voice, that it implies belongs to “Lee”, that reads a letter that he has written home for the holidays where he denounces the war in Iraq. He talks about he and his fellow servicemen committing acts of murder and rape, and discloses rampant drug use. The letter ends with “Lee’s” death.

The Islamic Army of Iraq spokesperson then proceeds to explain the “position” of the Islamic Army in Iraq, and the “difficulties’ the group encounters in discerning those US servicemen who mean no harm to the people of Iraq, and those who do. He explains that they don’t really want to kill Americans.

Then, the spokesman interviews an “anti-war activist” who is identified on the screen as “John Smith” from “New York”. “Smith” explains the anti-war movement position in detail.

There’s one big problem with the video: it’s presented as fact, but it is largely fiction. It’s basically unadulterated hogwash, designed to manipulate both American public opinion and the morale of the US service personnel serving in Iraq.

For starters, Lee K. Tucker was not killed in a HUMVEE attack in Iraq. The US Military confirmed that he’s very much alive. We’ll have more on that shortly. The Islamic Army describes him as a Marine, but the documentation they provide to support this indicates he is in fact in the US Army.

At this point, it appears that the Islamic Army of Iraq managed to get their hands on the “flash drive”, and basically stole the identity of SPC Lee K. Tucker, exploiting it for the creation of this video.

This isn’t uncommon. Just a few weeks ago, the Ansar al Sunnah Army reported that they had killed an American Marine, David Leddy, and posted his military ID cards as proof. A little checking showed Leddy was alive and recovering from battle injuries in the hospital.

Clearly, the Islamic Army of Iraq intends to capitalize on the propaganda value of this video, and intends widespread distribution.

Like they did for the Juba Sniper video, the IAI has set up a special website as well as a blog for this video. The domain, lee-flash.com, is registered to the same individual who is the owner of record for the jubaonline.org, the domain used for the Juba Sniper video.

The website hosting the video has the following WhoIs information:

owner: Aaron Wilson
email: Whois Privacy and Spam Prevention by DomainTools.com
address: 17216 Saticoy Street Van Nuys
city: Los Angeles
state: Ca
postal-code: 91406
country: US
phone: +01.3142211554

This is a developing story, one that we will continue to update as events warrant.

A copy of the video can be downloaded here.

The press release announcing the video from the Islamic Army of Iraq says:

The Release is based on personal information found on a flash memory device belongs to Spc.LEE KENDEll TUCKER (U.S Marine-590-80-5469), captured after him being wasted during an ambush on his vehicle

LEE him self was an anti-war activist, proving that many of U.S soldiers serving in Iraq are against this war and they have no reason to fight and die

Download, Share, and Discuss the movie ... make your effort to understand and reveal the bunch of American Government lies on which this war was based

We know that there are many good people just like LEE, but we can't verify them, as they are simply soldiers .. carrying weapons and wearing the uniform, so do your best to make sure that good people won't be deployed into "bad" situations .... Do your best to stop the war and get your countrymen out of Iraq

[1/5/07]

[Laura Mansfield - author, Strategic Translations] 12:01 am [permalink]
Zawahiri Alert: Yet another Zawahiri message announced Various jihadist foums this morning displayed a banner announcing the release "soon" of a new message from Al Qaeda second in command Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri.

The banner says this message will address issues in Somalia.

We will update with the video and a translation as soon as it becomes available.

[1/4/07]

[Julia Gorin pundit/comedian] 12:05 am [permalink]
The UK Must be doing Something Right “Anti-terror laws disproportionately affecting Muslims, UK warned” — 11/13/2006

A leading British charity today criticized Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government over its counter-terrorism strategy, warning that the measures were having a disproportionate effect on the country’s 1.8 million Muslim community.

“The actions of ministers, particularly Home Secretary John Reid, could have a ‘boomerang effect’ by alienating the Muslim communities whose trust and cooperation are vital,” the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust said.

It’s like, “Aw gee, you know, we were so going to cooperate with your police and intel investigations to help root out terror from our communities, but if you’re gonna be all like that, forget it — we’re gonna help the terrorists. It was a toss-up and you guys had a 50-50 chance of winning but you lost.”

On the other hand, maybe it wasn’t 50-50 after all:

“Police speak of frustration at limited cooperation from Muslim communities” –UK Guardian, Sept. 2005

And from the AP, Nov. 2005:

A prominent British Muslim warned lawmakers Monday that proposals for tough new anti-terror laws could undermine the Muslim community’s willingness to cooperate in fighting terror…[Abdurahman] Jafar, who is vice chairman of the legal affairs committee of the Muslim Council of Britain, also voiced concern about the plans to lengthen the detention period for terror suspects who haven’t been charged.

He said the legislation risked weakening the wider Muslim community’s commitment to fight terrorism in the wake of the July 7 attacks, which killed 52 commuters and four suicide bombers, who were devout Muslims.

[Gorin Glob]

[1/3/07]

[Daniel Pipes - author, activist, activist] 12:01am [permalink]
Islamists in the Hospital Ward A number of incidents are showing the deep incompatibility of radical Islam with modern medicine. Here are a trio to get this blog going, with more examples to be listed, in reverse chronological order, as they occur:

Muslim visitors refuse anti-bacterial gel: British hospitals offer dispensers with anti-bacterial gel outside wards so that visitors can be sure not to bring in such infections as MRSA and PVL. But the gel contains alcohol, prompting some Muslims to refuse to use the hand cleansers on religious grounds. A National Health Service employee, Theresa Poupa told in December 2006 of her experience visiting a sick relative at the London Chest Hospital:

I could not believe it - the signs are large enough and clear enough but they just took no notice and walked straight onto the ward. I was there almost every day for three weeks and I saw it repeated dozens and dozens of times. When I raised the matter with the nursing staff they just shrugged and said that Muslims were refusing to use the gel because it contained alcohol. They said they couldn't force visitors to use the gel and I understand that — but I was astonished that anyone who didn't wash their hands was allowed onto a ward. I know the dangers that bugs like MRSA can cause. They kill hundreds of patients a year.

Male refused treatment by female doctors: A 17-year-old male shepherd from Konya, Turkey, referred to only as "A.G.," arrived at the Konya Testing Hospital complaining of swollen testicles. He was sent to get ultrasound tests, but two headscarved (i.e., Islamist) female radiology doctors refused him service. Not receiving proper attention, A.G. later had one of his testicles removed by operation. The case has provoked much attention. The hospital's head of urology, Celal Tutuncu, portrayed the case as very "black and white," and said that action would be taken. Members of the opposition CHP party raised the case in parliament in December 2006. A CHP lawyer, Atilla Kart, noted that "This is the destruction wrought by religious references spilling over into public administration."

Male relatives preventing female patients from being treated by male doctors: So rampant is the problem in France of Muslim husbands preventing their wives and other female relatives from being treated by male doctors (for example, women in labor have not had epidurals because the anesthetist was a man) that Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin reportedly planned in February 2004 to propose legislation to stop this from happening (how he plans to do this is not explained).

[1/2/07]

[Streetsweeper's Sweepings] 12:05 am [permalink]
Michael Long's Movie Picks: Michael Long is a director of the White House Writers Group and has exchanged a few emails with us... here is his list of favorite movies from 2006 as posted at National Review Online

I went to the movies more in 2006 than anybody you know: 128 times. That alone should tell you I’m no highbrow. (I paid to see Van Wilder 2, Scary Movie 4, and Michael Haneke’s French “thriller” Caché — guess which time I wanted my money back?) I say the best way to judge a movie is to ask a few simple questions: Is it fun? Would I see it again? and Will people care about it in 20 years? By that, the best of the year are:

10. Flags of Our Fathers. Clint Eastwood is an efficient director who brings things in on time and under budget — that’s why Hollywood loves him, not because he’s an artist. War stories are most effective when told simply and efficiently; this is a case of material matching the man, which is why it works so well.

9. The Prestige is a creepy, moody thriller about two ambitious magicians who will do anything for their art. It stands out for how its astonishing plot is revealed so clearly, step by step — a rarity for most heavily plotted films.

8. Night Watch (Russia). Horror, fantasy, vampires, ghosts, and an entire nether-world that exists along side us. Plus a killer theme song: “Fearless” by The Bravery.

7. Thank You for Smoking. Smart-funny. The only “thinking” comedy worth seeing this year.

6. The Hills Have Eyes. Best horror flick of the year, with opening credits worth the price of admission — the best since Se7en, set against Webb Pierce’s honky-tonk classic “More and More.”

5. The Departed. Scorsese. Gangsters. Shootin’. Dyin’.

4. Inside Man. The cracklingest heist picture since Dog Day Afternoon. Bonus: Director Spike Lee presents a diverse city as a filmic character instead of as the backdrop for a cardboard complaint about racism.

3. United 93. The drama flows not from music cues and camera moves but from all we know is to come. It’s too bad history isn’t more often told this dispassionately: it would be far more affecting.

2. Jackass Number Two. I laughed till I was sore, just like I did at Jackass Number One. Is it fun? Yes. Would I see it again? I saw it three times. Will people watch this years down the road? Of course.

1. Borat. This is the funniest movie ever made — and it’s not an exposé of racism, either. It’s an opportunity to laugh at 1) ridiculous behavior and 2) how people respond to ridiculous behavior — plus potty jokes and naked wrestling. That’s it. (Confession: I saw this six times. The first time was a month before its release. I waited in line two hours.)

 

YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: The Wicker Man — a pitiless surprise ending; Crank — Die Hard inside a human body; My Super Ex-Girlfriend — sounds stupid but plays funny; Hard Candy — dare-you-to-watch revenge thriller; Mini’s First Time — very black comedy.

AWFUL AND/OR OVERRATED: The Libertine — extra-frumpy Masterpiece Theater episode, except you pay; Running with Scissors — like throwing up, only for two hours; Caché (France) — ever read a book only to discover somebody ripped out the last page? Same deal here; Bobby — Who knew Jesus had another brother?; Little Miss Sunshine — call it a comedy but build it on tragedy and the critics will call you a god. Hell, they might even call you Bobby!