Pledge of Allegiance to Islam? Start Shutting Down the Mosques

From Atlas Shrugs:

On Dar al Hijrah’s web site: All mosque members are required to “pronounce and sign a Pledge of Allegiance to Islam and Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center Constitution as prepared by the Board.” A pledge of allegiance to Islam.

Why aren't these fortresses shut down? Why are we allowing these enemy military installations to operate freely on American soil as they plot our demise? For years I advocated for monitoring the mosques but we have now gone way beyond that.

Dar al Hijrah is the mosque/fortress that wet nursed respected imam Al Awalki - the spiritual leader of the Fort Hood jihadi and the testicular bomber.

And this pledge of allegiance is consistent with Islamic teaching. You cannot serve anyone or anything above allah. The Constitution and the Koran are incompatible. They will tell you differently - taqiya (deception to advance Islam) - but ask former Muslims who have read the Koran in arabic (not the whitewashed versions used to con the infidel).

Spencer on Al Awlaki

Both Hasan and Abdulmutallab were linked to the New Mexico-born, Yemen-based Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who boasted in October 2009 that Yemen would soon become a center of the global jihad – and has been doing his best to bring that about by preaching violence and hatred against Jews and Christians for years.

Al-Awlaki has also recently decried the cartoons of Muhammad that caused worldwide riots after being published in a Danish newspaper in late 2005. He characterized the cartoons as “one of the worst events or incidents of cursing Muhammad. In fact it might be the worst in our history.” He warned that the cartoonists, “by committing blasphemy against our beloved Muhammad have actually walked straight into a hornet’s nest, and that the dust of this will never settle down.”

http://www.hijrah.org/mosque/aboutus/Constitution Section II - Requirements for Membership (hat tip Paula)

Every regular member shall pronounce and sign a Pledge of Allegiance to Islam and Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center Constitution as prepared by the Board.

Gitmo Inmates To Sue To Stay In Gitmo?

Apparently:

Buried in a blog item by Newsweek's ace reporter Michael Isikoff is a bombshell. Appararently lawyers for Guantanamo detainees want to keep their clients in Guantanamo, rather than transfer them to the Obama administration's proposed new prison in Illinois:

But the final irony is that many of the detainees may not even want to be transferred to Thomson and could conceivably even raise their own legal roadblocks to allow them to stay at Gitmo.

Falkoff notes that many of his clients, while they clearly want to go home, are at least being held under Geneva Convention conditions in Guantánamo. At Thomson, he notes, the plans call for them to be thrown into the equivalent of a "supermax" security prison under near-lockdown conditions.

"As far as our clients are concerned, it's probably preferable for them to remain at Guantánamo," he says.

The strident left-wing critiques of the Guantanamo facility have all centered around the fact that detainees there are horribly mistreated and conditions unbearable. But when push comes to shove, it would seem concerns about Guantanamo are overblown, and the prisoners there know that being held under the Geneva conventions outside the U.S. is much preferable to a maximum security prison in the U.S.

For more, Michael Goldfarb has more thoughts on this and the rest of Obama's Guantanamo plans at The Weekly Standard and Jennifer Rubin also has some valuable insight over at Commentary.

What will Obama do about this? The torture! The torture!

I wonder if Karl Rove put them up to this?

Obama takes responsibility, avoids accountability (like Bush), says we win by avoiding siege mentality

Funny I thought we won by creating a lot of dead bodies among our enemies.

And since he clearly sees advantage in CALLING this a war(today), perhaps he should ACT LIKE IT. War with these people from Nigeria, Yemen, Pakistan, Waziristan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Maghreb, Yemen, Kuwait, UAE, Indonesia....etc.

I"m sorry, but as a relative said today, Obama seems to be a guy who thinks if others perceive him to be a tough guy at war, then that's what he is.

He is the image he builds.

I'd like to discuss this further, but I have to go out in the forest to wait to hear a tree fall, since if I am not there, there will be no sound.

I'm glad Obama said we are at war. We are. But now he much match action to words worldwide, in every way, besides Miranda, that is

Why Won’t the MSM Cover Islam? What Are They Afraid Of?

From Andrea Colon at Big Journalism:

There are many things on the World Wide Web that are not suitable for public viewing but that should be required viewing for journalists and political figures to alert them to the horrors that exist in some parts of the world. This should not be to incite but rather to rinse away their naïveté in dealing with a hostile culture and our potential enemies.

It is apparent that the mainstream media has no interest in covering stories that shed an unfavorable side of Islam and, frankly, this smacks of cowardice.

The elite will instead claim that the “vast majority” of Muslims are peace-loving and are just as horrified at the acts of a small number of radical terrorists. That may very well be true but even a fraction of a billion is a very large number and that number is growing and gaining influence around the world thanks to the stupidity and cowardice of what should be called the “lamestream” press and those in our government today.

While I like the idea behind Ms. Colon's article here (and congrats to Breitbart on his new site Big Journalism), the truth is, these facts about the Islamic world, these truths, these images SHOULD INCITE us.

They should incite us to want to kill.

Not to kill the next Muslim you see. But, to be sure, when a just human being is confronted with great injustice, he ought to be incited to kill the perpetrators of the injustice.

For instance, who among us would not like to have stood next to Adolf Hitler and choked the fucking life out of him?

And, this stuff about perhaps it being true that only a minority of Muslims are in agreement with Jihadism. That's crap. Maybe only a minority in the West. MAYBE.

But, in the Muslim world, it is the mainstream. That's why Jihadism and Jew-hatred and America-hatred is on their TV. That's why they elect Sharia-governments to represent them. That's why Jihadism is taught in their schools, their universities.

Enough of the equivocating language. It makes you look silly. Worse than silly.

Clearly, we do not know which Muslims among us support this kind of extremism. So, at this time it is impossible to know who to kill. But, one day, something will happen that will smoke them out, and then, it will be up to the government to kill them.

And, this is why not only should we be incited, but we ought to incite right back. We ought to incite Muslims, because it will smoke out the extremists. And, when the extremists are smoked out, then the ones who attempt to stand in the awkward middle will be left to decide what to do. They will have to make a decision.

These things have to happen. The time for equivocation has long since passed. Jihadism, Sharia, the stoning of gays, apostates, and adulterers, the incitement to genocide of Jews and Infidels, these are not acceptable. And, that should be stated in the most extreme of terms.

SUPPORT GEERT WILDERS

GEERT WILDERS' trial is two weeks away (it is scheduled to take place January 20, 2010). Geert is on trial in Amsterdam for "inciting hatred against Islam." This is our final opportunity to give him our support. (For more information about Geert's trial, read an Update on Geert Wilders, watch an Interview With Geert Wilders, or read this article on what Wilders is charged with and why.)

Go to Citizen Warrior's site to find out what you can do.

WAY...OT.. but too good to ignore ..complaints to the FCC about Adam Lambert

SURE, I AGREE THEN - CLOSE GITMO

Howie at Jawa Report has a great idea on how to handle the Gitmo detainees:

After reading this Bloomberg story about Gitmo inmates being released and returning to the battlefield to fight or even blow themselves up on Baby Jesus's birthday, I think I may have have determined that we've overlooked a crucial and economic solution to the problem.

Most if not all of these men were captured "out of official uniform". Under the Geneva Convention that makes them all spies and they may be be er uh, shot.

The site above prices 7.62 mm rounds at 5.99 per 20 rounds.

All 198 remaining detainees can be effectively dealt with for 59.99 + shipping and handling. (less if you're willing to use a smaller round)

That is all.

Jihadism As A Form of Yoga

Counterterrorismblog:

al Qaeda has the initiative in attacking US national security
By Walid Phares

In 2001, one would-be shoe bomber forced millions of travelers to take off their shoes. In 2006, terrorists planned to bring down aircraft on transatlantic flights by smuggling liquid explosives onto planes. They were thwarted but they succeeded in preventing passengers from bringing liquids into airline terminals.

Lesson number one: In this terror war, the jihadists have the upper hand. They are the ones who choose to use a new weapon and they are also the ones who – by using simple logic -- have refrained from using the same terror weapons more than once. In fact, since September 2001, Al Qaeda’s Terrorists have avoided rushing into the cockpit of an airliner with box cutters. Does this mean we were successful in deterring the terrorists? Of course: as long as we can prevent them from using the 9/11 methods, they won't be naïve enough to repeat the same strategy. So is the US winning the fight with Al Qaeda by using these specific measures? No, we are simply protecting our population until the war is won. But winning is not measured by surviving potential copycat attacks.

Instead, this confrontation will be won by striking at the mechanism that produces the jihadists. And on that level, no significant advances have been made either under the previous administration nor under the incumbent one. For, as President Obama admitted late last month after a near-terror attack on Northwest Flight 253, there is a "systemic failure" in our defense against the jihadi terrorists.

In my analysis, it has to do with the refusal by decision makers -- based on the opinion of their own experts -- to attack the factory that produces terrorists and instead to wait until the jihadists show up at our country's ports of entries.

In an imaged vision, the US has been fending off the Jihadi operations inside its own trenches and often behind its own lines of defense. Preventing Al Qaeda’s zombies from killing our airline pilots and flight attendants by securing cabin doors with steel and installing machines to detect liquid, creams and potential explosives is like fighting an invading army inside our own trenches and neighborhoods with bayonets. If anything, it means that our strategists have no way to remotely detect this threat and they can't even decide what is and isn't a threat until it actually strikes us or is a few inches from us. It is a pretty ironic situation when the grand narrative of US official strategies is that we are fighting terrorists or extremists (pick your word, it has the same conclusion) in Waziristan, Afghanistan, and beyond, so that our defense perimeters are thousands of miles away.

So are we wrong to institute any of the security measures? No, we need to take all possible measures to secure the population, but we also need to take them in the framework of a grand strategy to defeat the threat. And in this regard we do not have one. The jihadists are monitoring our actions, our measures and I do assume also are comfortably spying on us and looking into the deepest of our security mechanisms. After the Nada Prouty and Nidal Hasan penetration cases no one can convince me that neither Hezbollah nor Al Qaeda haven’t deployed more agents throughout our national security apparatus. The enemy knows our defense strategy, and some would argue that they are already inside our walls. As we are learning -- constantly and dramatically -- the so-called “isolated extremists” are not that isolated and those believed to be "lone wolves" are in fact part of a much greater, well-camouflaged packs. The jihadists are way ahead of our security measures -- even though we need to apply them nevertheless.

In the wake of the Abdulmutalib terror act the Obama administration announced that any traveler flying into the United States from foreign countries will receive tightened random screening, and all passengers from "terrorism-prone countries" will be patted down and have their carry-on baggage searched before boarding U.S.-bound flights. The list includes Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria as well as those traveling from Nigeria, Pakistan and Yemen. But here is the problem: In the jihadi war room, this was duly noted. Thus, the next human missiles will be selected from the “other” countries, and there are many countries where combat Salafis are indoctrinated and readied: Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Indonesia to name a few, by the way all U.S. allies. Even better, the jihadi strategists could task recruits with German, British, French as well as Australian and Canadian passports to wreck havoc in our cities. The past year has shown us that the jihadis can also emerge from North Carolina, Illinois, New York and other states all across the land. Most likely the “emirs” of Al Qaeda will recommend dumping the use of powder to blow up planes, and soon another Zawahiri tape will rail at us for spending millions on a path they won't use for a while.

As we move to implement our mammoth security measures, the swift men of jihadism are already mapping out the endlessly open areas of our underbellies. In strategic terms we’re not even going anywhere near that direction, it is a dead end. The Al Qaeda jihadists will keep coming, each time from a different direction, background, with a new tactic. And they will surprise us. Unfortunately, that is the price of a national security policy that identifies terrorism as a “manmade disaster” and jihadism as form of yoga.

Thursday Nooner!

Joe Pass

All the Things You Are

THE MALIA/SASHA/JENNINGS CHALLENGE: SOMEONE SEND KEVIN JENNINGS, THE FISTING CZAR'S PORN TO THE WHITE HOUSE!

From the Astute Bloggers:

Gateway has even more on the Kevin Jennings Scandal.

Unreal.

Not just criminal, but positively evil.

For President Oama to tolerate Jennings speaks volumes.

Here's an idea/challenge:

SOMEONE get copies of all these books & pamphlets, and Fedex them to Malia and Sasha Obama at the White House.

If the Obama's object, then they expose Barack as a hypocrite and a phony.

If they are not suitable for his daughters, then Jennings is not suitable for the job, and must resign or be fired.

If the Obama's think these books & pamphlets are suitable - well... that speaks volumes, too.

HEY AL, HOW'S THAT GLOBAL WARMING GOING FOR YOU, DUDE?

From the Astute Bloggers:

WINTER IS ONLY 2 WEEKS OLD AND EUROPE IS A TOTAL MESS: HUNDREDS DEAD

BBC HAS THE ROUND UP.

• AND CHINA IS RATIONING POWER.

• AND THIS YEARS ORANGE BOWL WAS THE COLDEST IN HISTORY.

DESPITE EVER-INCREASING AMOUNTS OF MAN-MADE CO2 SPEWED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE.

AGW = BS.

And, in related news, two men in Fairbanks, Alaska created a huge 4000 lb. ice sculpture that breathes smoke. It's gotta be seen to be believed, kind of like Gore himself.

Christian Evangelical Taken Off Florida Flight for Threatenind Jews

Absolutely testing security and response now.

What the fuck is it with Detroit bound Northwest flights?

Newsmax:

Fla. Cops: Man Threatening Jews Taken off Flight
Thursday, 07 Jan 2010 08:29 AM

Police say an airline passenger in Miami proclaimed "I want to kill all the Jews" before officers forced him off a Detroit-bound plane.

Miami-Dade police said in a statement Thursday that 43-year-old Mansor Mohammad Asad of Toledo, Ohio, was arrested. He faces several charges including disorderly conduct.

Police say a taxiing Northwest Airlines flight turned around at Miami International Airport late Wednesday. Authorities say witnesses told them Asad was loud, disruptive and claimed to be Palestinian.

The Transportation Security Administration says three of his companions were also taken off the plane and questioned. The plane departed after a search.

A phone number for Asad rang unanswered. Police didn't return a message.

Delta Air Lines owns Northwest.

And, Barack And Michelle Think America Is a Racist Country?

Check this out. Here's a KFC Commercial from Australia:



Now, here's another fried chicken commercial from Korea:



Wow. Just wow.

Where would Koreans get the idea that black people can be tamed by tossing them fried chicken? And, what is the point of this commercial? That a wise Korean should take KFC with him when he vacations on islands which might contain wild black natives?

WTF?

Who came up with this shit?

h/t Discarded Lies

Euro Politician, Oskar Freysinger, Warns Against the Inevitable Islamic Demographic Takeover

Meet Oskar Freysinger, an MP with the Swiss People's Party. I do not know much about him, so any readers comments would be appreciated.

I do appreciate the sentiments he expresses here in this video, on his role of warning against the Islalmic threat. He says,

"That's the problem. However hard one warns, he is told, 'Oh no, that's not so serious. You are exaggerating.'" One does not like much to face such truth, because the unpleasant side effect of truth is that, once you know, then you have a moral duty upon what you know ... I must take action."

This video is just one of ten parts. If you'd like to watch more, go here.

The thing about reporting on European politicians is I don't understand their politics, their histories, their animosities, their lexicons, etc. So, I have no idea what to think of them.

I read on Wikipedia that Oskar Freysinger's "political creed" is:

Belonging to the UDC is seeking Truth.
Belonging to the UDC is avoiding highways of easiness, revolt against the softened tar of dominant though (...)
So that marxist chienlit has its political counterweight[

I have no idea whether Oskar Freysinger pronounced this to be his creed, whether it was just part of a much larger, more coherent, manifesto, whether he wrote it himself, or shared in the writing, nor whether the translation is accurate. But, if the translation is accurate, then that is some stilted fucking language, and the guy sounds a bit dubious to me. Additionally, any party which defines itself solely by what it stands for is problematic at best. Fascist at worst.

So, what do people know about Freysinger and the Swiss People's Party?

Do any of you care?

The "shock" of the new security report on Xmas bombing

Genl James Jones is warning about Americans being shocked by the report on the Christmas moron bomber.

Is there anyone shocked that this guy could get on a plane with a crotch bomb?

We can't profile so single, young males from muslim nations with muslim nations' stamped visas (on a lost passport never presented) is equal in every way to my wife.

We don't believe it's a war, so minimum wage, low bid, minimum cost contracted employees in too few numbers guard the gates. Guard the luggage? Guard access to runways? Too few analysts watch over hastily constructed databases, and listen, read, and warn over a galatically huge volume of data, and media.

We are afraid to affront (Gitmo) and cause more upset (see Nigeria's pissed off response). Is there anyone who BELIEVES such strictures will stay?

We conduct ourselves in the area of the seminal activity of man caused disasters resulting in overseas contingency operations so that we neither cause casualties (can't take out that house if ANYONE besides Haqqani is there) and offense, nor receive them, but if we have to choose, we'd rather receive casualties than cause them.

We see all inimical adversaries of any degree, commercial, philosophical, military, cultural and religious with a response of DIALOG AND ENGAGEMENT, carefully leaving to distant visage any talk of some kind of action, leaving these adversaries over dinner more worried about a supernova wiping out earth.

Were I in a cave near Qandahar, planning a raid in the Sudan, watching a demonstration in Tehran, digging a tunnel in Gaza, looking at finances for my new Borei class subs, boring a hole in a mountain near Qingdao for my new SLBM class weapons while signing new contracts with Walmart, reverse engineering Russian supersonic missiles in Pyongyang for sale in Tehran or ANYWHERE, contracting for SU-35's in Caracas, watching the needed by NATO convoys of supplies of fuel, and ammo go by near Khyber .. I would be filled with confidence, and the knowledge that I can go even further than I am afraid to, if I want to be bold, and one way or another kill, pressure and outlast.

Is there thus any shock we are not prepared to do what it takes to stop a euchered moron filled with hate for the godless as the pointy end of the spear of religious empire builders with no recognizable conscience? Does it matter if they represent 'real' Islam?

Shock?

The shock is in Qom, Mecca, Isfahan, Gaza, and Swat. All their predictions are coming true. Allah is delivering us to them.

He is rendering us stupid.

This Week On The Gathering Storm

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, hosted by WC and Always On Watch. The show broadcasts live every Friday beginning at noon, Pacific Time.

The call-in number is (646) 915-9870.

Callers welcome!

Our scheduled guest this week is Sammy Benoit, aka Yid With Lid.

Listen to the January 8, 2010 edition of The Gathering Storm Radio Show, live or later, by CLICKING HERE.

UPCOMING SHOWS:
January 15: Midnight Rider and Az Zaqqum
January 22: IQ al Rassoli

Comments of the Week

We seem to have acquired a brand new anonymous fan somewhere along the way.

Quite the thoughtful and garrulous person he/she/it has been leaving happy uplifting little comments all along the way. Dropping them like breadcrumbs so he/she/it can find his/her/its' way back to their dark dank damp festering oozing little pustule of a hole when finished.

Here's a few of his/her/its' most insightful moments the last few days. . .

"It is a free country. Give everybody a gun.why not. give the oppressed guns. give blacks guns.give the hispanics guns. welcome back wild wild west.. guns. give guns to everybody. yeah..yeah..make my day."

"Evil doers and scum of the earth will love to see the fall of a truely democratic elected government like iran. well they think they are truly democratic government, who the hell are you scums of the earth to say that they are not.they have a right to govern their country as they see fit. A government by the people for the people, just like US and UK. to the mullah you are nothing but faeces as you love nothing more than to pit one nation against another.to spread hatred among mankinds. in the mullah profiling system your behaviour fits nicely with rabid dogs. look into your hearts the filths come directly from the hearts. "

"butt holes..really show your levels of educations. i bet all barely passed high schools and thanks to xerox. take everything literally and out of context, these are the kind distorted intepretations that daily we are getting, It shows why you are peddling hatred. what do you do with rabid dogs? you put them down, right. mentally sick people have behaviours need rectification, in the west they see psychological treatments. it is the behaviours not the people he wants to eliminate. like wise the quranic instructions were applicable to peace loving muslims when they were forced to defend their lives and communities under attacked by idols worshippers. everyone has a right to self preservation. butt holes.. "

"You racist bigots. what is wrong with hispanics or blacks manning the machines? they are american like your ugly faces. profile my foot. when they are applied against your bloated bodies then you all cry like idiots. so it is okay to use scanner on other human beings but not on you or your mother or your girlfriends? It is okay to blo up iraqis or afghans and not okay for them to blo you up? uncultured wankers"

"Now we see what these rabid, hatred peddlars are doing..used to be black against white, hispanics against black, then jews against moslems. then non gentile against jews. congratulations to all scums of the earth. you have confirmed your dwelling in hell.."

"Those people wearing yarmulke are arabs disguised as gentiles nad could be having too much mucous in their mouth and spitted towards a wall not towards nuns or priests. Yeah keep on spitting ..carry on spitting. how do you feel like this time round being on the receiving end?"

"it is a free country butt holes ..why do you need profiling? everyone is free to do what they wanna do. they can come and go as they please."

"Hatred peddlars spare a thought to those who perished. Your rabid minds are indicative of your black holes. Japan is the only country to have suffered atomic bom attacks. About 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki. Guess which country is the only country that dropped the boms twice."

"butt holes be honest..you just hate him because he is black...not because of his foreign policies..dont kid yourself, the policies have been there since god knows when and nobody gives a hoot about it dont try to twist the facts. nobody like to side with self proclaimed police of the world being tossed off by yeahmules fagots."

"yeahmules jerk off..it is a free country ..dont be hypocritical fagots. they are free to do whatever they like whenever they please."

"Seriously scum, you need a brain scan. there is tumour in your head.your fuckin perversion and delirium is bordering madness.you are confused between pentecost and pentecostal. call a spade a spade..pedophiles should be sent to china upon conviction and lined up against the wall..dont you have a kid..have you seen a cockerel shaggin another cockerel..it must be your upbringing.."

"yahmules..just because he is black , a moslem and speaks his mind off then he is a jihadi..dont be a hypocrite..face it, you are peddling hatred among mankind.. well you get what you deserve. ha.ha..just hope that yahmules dont walk around in brixton during daytime.they hate you too. the feeling is mutual."

Isn't he/she/it purulently delightful!?

Just a few suggestions for this wonderful little pus-sucker. . .

1)Lay off the crack.

2)Learn to construct a coherent sentence.

3)Get yourself a thesaurus and dictionary. Learn to use them.

4)Please be a little more creative in your cussing because really, dude, you're not shocking anyone here one bit. Pastorius and I run circles around you daily.

5) For fucksake please learn to type. If you can navigate a keyboard well enough to find us on the internet you can certainly learn proper spacing and some basic grammar. The occassional error or typo is one thing but my dog does better than you.

6)Find yourself a mate. Anyone know any lonely randy goats out there?

Yahmule. . .

Sarah Palin will headline first-ever Tea Party Convention

From Weasel Zippers:

CS Monitor Almost 1-1/2 years since she shook up American politics with her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is set to headline another landmark political event: the first-ever Tea Party Convention next month in Nashville, Tenn.

On its face, the gig would seem a step down for Ms. Palin, one of conservative America’s most popular and polarizing figures (not to mention major thorn in the side of the Obama White House).

But with an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll ranking a generic “Tea Party” as more popular than either Democrats or Republicans, and Palin herself rivaling the charming Mr. Obama in poll popularity, many experts see the Tea Party event as a potential milestone for a mounting, even transformational, force in US politics.

Fistgate XIV: Jennings Personally Pushed Books That Encouraged Children to Meet Adults at Gay Bars For Sex

From Gateway Pundit:

If you thought that we were through writing about Barack Obama’s dangerous Safe Schools Czar because it’s a new year you would be wrong. This story just gets freakier and weirder and the fact that the mainstream media completely ignores this dangerous man working in the Office of Safe and Drug-free Schools makes the story even more scandalous. You’d think the AP could peel away a few of its reporters from Going Rogue to investigate this radical czar. This avoidance by the democratic-media complex won’t keep us from reporting the truth. Our goal of protecting children is greater than our desire to protect a political party.

Kevin Jennings’ was the founder, and for many years, Executive Director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) until he left his post in 2008. GLSEN maintains a recommended reading list of books for children that the radical organization believes all kids should be reading. The books on the list promote all kinds of radical ideas from child rape, to first graders having sex to the joys of prostitution.

Recently it was discovered that these books were not only on GLSEN’s reading list but that Kevin Jennings personally promoted several of these books during his career. One of the books he promoted encouraged children to go to gay bars for sex with adults to see if they like it.
Mass Resistance Blog reported:

Jennings had recommended these books himself in his 1994 high school reader Becoming Visible (published by porn publisher Alyson Books). On p. 278 in his Questions/Activities section for Chapter 17, he wrote:

15. Other resources for reading are Bennett Singer’s Growing Up Gay, Ann Heron’s One Teenager in Ten: Writings by Gay and Lesbian Youth, Aaron Frick’s Reflections of a Rock Lobster: A Story of Growing Up Gay, and Paul Monette’s Becoming a Man. Films include Robert King’s The Disco Years and Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, based on Jeanette Winterson’s autobiographical novel.

These questionable books (haven’t looked at the films yet…) have been described by Linda Harvey in 2002 (also here), NARTH (late 1990s), and more recently at Gateway Pundit/BigGovernment.com (Dec. 2009)…

NARTH reported on One Teenager in Ten:

Some of the Alyson publications, including One Teenager in Ten …encourage teens to, among other things, go to gay bars and have sex with adults to see if they like it.” Further, One Teenager in Ten “contains a lesbian teen’s explicit account of her affair with a teacher.”

This is proof that Jennings was promoting reading material that encouraged children to go to adult gay bars for sex for over 20 years.

There’s much more to come.

Valerie added this:

Maybe it’s time to send open copies of some of this stuff to the National Enquirer. They seem to be the only newspaper interested in dealing honestly with the strange habits of prominent Democrats.

Humpday Blues

The Mannish Boys

Boarder Town Blues

Don’t Pop the Champagne Corks Yet

Fox News reports:

As top Dems abandon their posts, Republicans are cautiously upbeat about chances of taking Senate seats. Sen. Chris Dodd, who has represented Connecticut for more than three decades in Congress, announced Wednesday that he will not run for re-election in November.

Dodd joined two other prominent Democrats Wednesday in ditching plans to run for office in the fall.

So – should we be cheering?

Not necessarily. This news worries me.

The Democrats today are a new political beast willing to commit political suicide over the last year to jam their Progressive agenda down America’s throats - consequences to the Party be damned. Democratic Senators and Congressmen and Governors are seeing the hand writing on the wall and are dropping out of races in their States and Districts.

This is not necessarily good news for Republicans.

I would rather face a dangerous WOUNDED beast than a healthy unknown one - one that will try to spoof Independents again with words like moderate or conservative Democrat. And that’s what Republican contenders could very well be facing in November.

We know now, watching the arrogance of ALL Democrats in Congress, that there is no such thing as a moderate or conservative Democrat. But the new beasts running in 2010 will try to pull the wool over the voter’s eyes once again.

I hate to be a party pooper but don't pop the Champagne Corks Yet on the news that prominent Democrats are dropping like flies.

Wednesday Nooner!

Horace Silver

My Soul is My Computer

This Week On The Gathering Storm Radio Show

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, hosted by WC and Always On Watch. The show broadcasts live every Friday beginning at noon, Pacific Time.

The call-in number is (646) 915-9870.

Callers welcome!

Our guest this week we be Yid with Lid to shower us with his prognostications. Az Zaqqum – Islamic Humor
January 22: IQ -Who Authored the Koran

Our Health-Care System And The Nanny State

The essay below relates an aspect of my personal experience in dealing with our health-care system when Mr. AOW had a serious stroke last fall. He remained in medical-care facilities from September 15 to November 25.

No doubt about it, when Mr. AOW was released from the inpatient hospital stroke rehabilitation center on October 16, he was unable to be cared for at home. In addition to being completely paralyzed on the left side (limbs and trunk), his sense of balance was completely awry: he could fall forward, backward, or to either side at any given moment. His brain didn't know what direction up was! He also suffered from mental confusion. For example, he said, "I know I'm in the hospital here in Virginia, but I feel like I'm in California."

In fact, in spite of the ninety days of coverage supposedly provided by the health-insurance plan the hospital refused to keep Mr. AOW any longer than two weeks or to release him to home. Instead, the hospital and the nursing home teamed up to release him only to a skilled nursing facility, which costs a minimum of $350 per day.

At both the rehab hospital and the nursing home, both of which were in-network facilities of Mr. AOW's health-insurance plan, I was repeatedly advised to obtain Medicare and Medicaid. This mandate, in spite of the fact that Mr. AOW was not eligible for Medicare at the age of fifty-nine and has always had health insurance for, lo, three decades!

When I pointed out to the hospital and the nursing home that Mr. AOW and I had too many assets to qualify for either Medicare or Medicaid, I was advised to liquidate all those assets that Mr. AOW and I had spent a lifetime accumulating, go bankrupt once those assets were consumed by medical care, and become beneficiaries of the Nanny State. By the way, all assets were on the table, including retirement accounts (IRA's).

Looking back, I realize that both the hospital and the nursing home anticipated that Mr. AOW would always be a resident of the nursing home, never mind that he was admitted there for stroke therapy and not as a long-term resident.

After Mr. AOW made substantial progress after several weeks in the nursing home, the day arrived when I informed the health-insurance company and the nursing home that I would be bringing Mr. AOW home in a few weeks. The representative from the health-insurance company again advised me to seek out Medicaid coverage. Talk about having their needle stuck!

Once we established that Medicaid was not an option and that I was indeed determined to bring Mr. AOW home, I was threatened: "We'll have to report you to adult protective services."

So, how did I bring Mr. AOW home without getting arrested? I had in place the necessary paperwork: complete power of attorney and the advanced medical directive, both of which documents gave me conseiderable legal power. I also had on my side our family physician, who was willing to sign the release orders. This last is very important! Had I not placed Mr. AOW under the care of the family physician, the nursing-home physician could have refused to release Mr. AOW, thus forcing us into bankruptcy.

Also of help was a bit of name dropping, specifically, the name of my husband's personal attorney, famous as "the attorney of attorneys." Were he called in, he would own the nursing home by the time he was finished! At that point, the nursing home, recognizing the kind of legal proceedings they could be up against, agreed to starting the necessary paperwork for Mr. AOW's release from the nursing home. The one requirement: that Mr. AOW receive occasional visits from a registered nurse.

I have learned there is some truth in what some of my older relatives used to say: "Once I go into the hospital, I'll never come back home." Hospitals and nursing homes do have the power to hold patients and their families hostage.

Via the necessary legal documents and before illness strikes, arm yourself in advance so that you don't become a victim of the health-care system's trying to push you and your family under the care of the Nanny State. Believe me, the health-care system will try hard to push you in that direction!

And what would have happened under ObamaKare?

They came on in the same old way: DC IMAM - XMAS ATTACK WAS THE MOSSAD, CIA

One of the great things about Arab historians and imams, they are always finding new facts, like the Israelis breaking all those treaties with the indians.

Washington, DC Imam Abdul Alim Musa on Iran's Press TV: The Attempted Christmas Day Plane Bombing is the Work of the U.S. Government, Mossad; 'The No-Fly List - The Man [Obama] is Lying Through His Teeth, I'm On [it], If I Take 10 Flights in the U.S., I'm Held Up, I Miss Five of Them'

Following are excerpts from a TV debate with Abdul Alim Musa, imam of the Islam Mosque in Washington, DC, and George Mason University professor Jack Goldstone.

Musa is the founder and head of the As-Sabiqun organization in Washington, DC, which serves to "support the unique needs of Muslims living in the U.S." According to the As-Sabiqun website, Musa converted to Islam while in prison, and is a supporter of Iran's Islamic Revolution, having visited Iran on multiple occasions.

The website also states that Musa's main inspirations are Malcolm X, Sayyed Qutb, Hasan Al-Banna, and Ayatollah Khomeini, among others. Imam Musa is a regular speaker at college campuses across the U.S. He claims that he is often accused of antisemitism, but defends himself as being anti-Zionist. In October 2001, he appeared at the National Press Club at an event aired on C-SPAN, in which he disputed the official story of what occurred on 9/11.[1]

The following debate aired in English on Press TV on January 5, 2010.

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2326.htm. "90% of the Bombing Plots... [are] Done By and With the Help and Aid of Mossad and the United States Government" Interviewer: "Imam, I guess this is something that most people didn't expect to hear on Christmas Day." [...] Abdul Alim Musa: "Right. I am just going to go straight to the point. If you go back for the last 20 years, from the first World Trade Center bombing in '93... This is our view, from those who... We said it then, and we say it now, and this is the belief in the Muslim world: 90% of the bombing plots - or this plot or that plot - we believe is done by and with the help and the aid of Mossad, and the United States government. This is our experience." "Whoever This Guy Is, from Nigeria - We don't Believe He Has Any Ties With Islam" Abdul Alim Musa: "We believe that whoever this guy is, from Nigeria - we don't believe he has any ties with Islam. If you talk about the World Trade Center bombing - all of these things are done... I can give you two quick reasons, and it will solve the problem. Number one - to blame these things on Muslims. You get the Patriot Act, you get the anti-terrorism bill, you get a right to what they call stop, put a freeze, on the global Islamic movement, which has been spreading, growing, and developing. You get a chance to launch missiles, to kill, and to put a freeze on the Islamic movement. But the Islamic movement is only the first target. "The second target is the American people, because as you see, you have a systematic crash of the economy in America, headed downhill. Eventually, it affects everybody. Eventually, it affects the general American people. They want to have all the guns, and they want to have terrorism acts, they want to have everything - not for the Muslims, because we are a small minority - but for the American people, who do not put up with high taxes, and starving to death..." "Al-Qaeda, Bin Laden, and All That - Those Are U.S. Friends" Interviewer: "Wait a second, did you say that America may have played a role in this?" Abdul Alim Musa: "No, we said they definitely did." Interviewer: "Definitely played a role?" Abdul Alim Musa: "Yes, definitely. This is our belief. We've said this. We have... I didn't bring them all... We have 'CIA Patterns of Deception,' 'Zionist Control of Media,' 'Babylon the Great'- these are years old - 'Bush the Unifier'... Our belief has always been, since 1993, and we've done TV programs on it - that the United States government... Who do you talk about? You talk about Al-Qaeda. Where did Al-Qaeda come from? Al-Qaeda, Bin Laden, and all that - those are U.S. friends." "American History is a History of Robbing and Stealing, and Setting Up People" Interviewer: "But why would the U.S. do this to its own people?" Abdul Alim Musa: "In order to control them." Interviewer: "Jack, what do you think? Jump in here." Abdul Alim Musa: "In order to control them. This is not new. The Maine - remember the Maine? How did the U.S. get Mexico? How did they get... How did they get California, Arizona, and all of that? They set up the Mexicans." Jack Goldstone: "Let's stay focused on the present." Abdul Alim Musa: "Yeah, that's what we're saying. We're showing how history... The American history is a history of robbing and stealing, and setting up people in order to get what they want." Jack Goldstone: "Well, I don't want to try and defend all of America's governments through all of history, because we've done some things that certainly we're not proud of now." Abdul Alim Musa: "Right." Jack Goldstone: "But it's hard to accept that Al-Qaeda, today, in the Arabian Peninsula, in the Maghreb, in Afghanistan, and in Pakistan, is working at the behest of the U.S. government." Abdul Alim Musa: "Who would they be working at the behest of, then, if it wasn't...?" Jack Goldstone: "They claim that they are working to create an Islamic caliphate. They claim that their enemy is all Western countries, and all Arab leaders who are supported by Western countries." Abdul Alim Musa: "Where did they come from? Where did Al-Qaeda come from? Let's go back to Afghanistan. Bin Laden - all of these people - were developed through the United States government, British intelligence, and Saudi money. "They brought them in, with new tanks, weapons, everything, to crush the real Afghani... Rabbani, Hekmatyar, and those people. They [the U.S.] brought the Taliban in to crush him, and bring in a type of Islam that was offensive to everybody - harsh, beating women, closing schools. That was to turn people against Islam. There are no accidents, I'm sorry. There are no accidents in Afghanistan, no accidents in Pakistan, no accidents in Iran. For the last 25 or 30 years, it's all been skillfully planned - all of it." Jack Goldstone: "The conspiracy theory described by our friend is appealing, because..." Abdul Alim Musa: "Is it true or not?" Jack Goldstone: "I don't believe that it's true." Abdul Alim Musa: "Which part don't you believe - so we can get it clear? We don't want to leave people up in the air." Jack Goldstone: "I don't..." Abdul Alim Musa: "Which part is not clear?" Jack Goldstone: "I don't believe that the United States today is directing Al-Qaeda." Abdul Alim Musa: "What I said about Al-Qaeda, its beginning, its development... When did the United States get mad at Al-Qaeda and Taliban? When did they get mad at them? Jack Goldstone: After 9/11." Abdul Alim Musa: "Okay... Then, instead of bombing Afghanistan, they should take the CIA people that developed them and put them in jail, instead of killing the people of Afghanistan - if that was even partially true, right? If they developed the group, and they went bad, why don't they put the CIA in jail? Why would they kill or slaughter the people of Afghanistan?" Jack Goldstone: "That is a reasonable question, and I don't have an answer that will convince you." Abdul Alim Musa: "No, convince the people, don't worry about me. The people need to know some..." Jack Goldstone: "What the people need to know..." Abdul Alim Musa: "Is the truth." Jack Goldstone: "...is that it is very difficult for pious Muslims to believe that Muslims could be responsible for acts of terrorism. Islam is a religion of peace." Abdul Alim Musa: "Iraqis lived together for a thousand years as Muslims - Sunnis and Shiites. The Shiites supported the rebellion against British colonialism in 1920 and 1921. This was a fatwa given from Najaf. When the Americans get there, all of a sudden, we have suicide bombings - of Shiites bombing Sunnis, and Sunnis bombing Shiites, to destroy the country. The people of Iraq feel like these are outside forces." The Killers of Nicholas Berg "Looked Like Americans" Abdul Alim Musa: "Even when the young brother - that guy, his name was Nick Bird [sic] or something - years ago, he was captured and killed - you know, on TV, and what have you... We looked at the guys - they had the pictures of the so-called "terrorists" on the Internet. The guy's chest was sticking out like this. Only one of them probably spoke Arabic. They looked like Americans. One thing was sure - two of them were wearing gold, and Muslim men do not wear gold - especially so-called fundamentalists. They were wearing gold. Muslim men do not wear gold. Muslim women can wear gold, but Muslim men generally wear silver. "I'm trying to tell you that we talk about... A conspiracy theory is supposed to be way out... We're talking about real bombings. Anywhere you take... If you talk about Mumbai, if you talk about all of these... These are people that are not well known in the Islamic movement. "Now, I'm saying this because I go to Pakistan, I've been to Afghanistan, I go to Iran. I have been knowing the people for thirty years, that are involved in the Islamic movement. None of us know, none of us! I talked with one of the main brothers here in the area, an Arabic-speaking brother. I said: 'Do we know any Al-Qaeda?' He said: 'I ain't never seen one.' And I asked him, because we had been to conferences all over the world. Neither one of us know any Al-Qaeda, and we are supposed to be the most revolutionary Muslims in the United States. I have never seen them. This is not conspiracy theory - this is the bombings and killings in Iraq and the bombings... This person, from Algeria [sic] - what does it do on Christmas Day? It says: 'Look at these evil Muslims.'" Interviewer: "It's a message..." Abdul Alim Musa: "It's a message that these Muslims are evil. It gives the United States the justification for Yemen, for even northern Nigeria, for anybody. And the people are doing it. Why is this young rich guy all of a sudden going to blow up something? "The no-fly list - the man [Obama] is lying through his teeth. I'm on the no-fly list. If I take 10 flights in the U.S., I'm held up. I miss five of them." Interviewer: "Why are you on a no fly list?" Abdul Alim Musa: "Because they don't like what I say." "Who Broke Every Treaty With the Indians? It Was the American Government! The Israelis and the Americans!" Abdul Alim Musa: "I remember 1898, I remember the Maine, where the U.S. battleship was blown up and, not sunk, but almost, in Havana Harbor. It gave the U.S. the ability... By the way, they had Navy already in the Philippines when it happened. But that gave the U.S. the excuse to, to take the Virgin Islands, to take the Philippines, and all of that. "And then, I remember reading about Mexico. You know, poor Mexico... The invasion of Mexico, when they got to California. They got Arizona, they got New Mexico. They had already just stolen Texas. The Gulf of Tonkin - some people forget the Gulf of Tonkin. You know. This is dealing in the Vietnam era, when they blamed North Korea, or someone, for firing on an American ship. It never happened, but they just bombed the place to smithereens because of that. "I'm saying the U.S. government has a history of this. And Mossad, the Israeli intelligence, also have a history of setting people up. I'm saying, as an active Muslim, and knowing Muslims all over the world, and I've been to most of these countries and spent time in them - Islam, right now, is trying to call people to a better world. That's what we're doing - right in south-east Washington. This stuff that comes up on the news every week is benefiting someone else, and is not benefiting Islam. And we look at the pattern of behavior - who has done this before? Who broke every treaty with the Indians? It was the American government! The Israelis and the Americans! They want a clamp-down. They want loose... not tight enough... They have plenty of security. "Osama bin Laden supposedly praised the bombing here, right? Now I've just had my regular one or two years of Arabic. When they translated what he said, there's one thing that they missed. They said: "Allah be blessed.' This is insanity. Muslims don't say that. In Christianity, you can say 'blessed be God,' but in Islam, you cannot - a human being cannot bless God. It's 'Allah be praised.' I'm telling you..." Interviewer: "So you're saying there's a translation mix-up?" Abdul Alim Musa: "Not translation! I'm saying that they're stooges, they're stooges... Remember, this is Osama Bin Laden, a rich Saudi that's been working with them, and they [Al-Qaeda] said: 'We are happy that the bombing went down.' And for that, they invade Afghanistan - for him being happy. Who is his being happy? What is his being happy about the bombing have to do with slaughtering people in Afghanistan? I'm trying to say this - is it... We are not on the defensive. "We've been not saying this outside much, but I am personally tired of the United States doing these things, and people not standing up. In America, I am not going to be quiet any more. We know that this is not done by us, because of the pattern of behavior and what Islam demands. It's done by somebody else. We would say, the United States government, the CIA, and Mossad. They are the ones you should look for. "Israelis, white Americans, have never forgiven anybody for anything, if it happened 50 years ago, 100 years ago, right? The Israelis are chasing down Nazis that can't even walk. Can't hardly talk, slobbering in the mouth - right today. But how many black people are chasing around South Africans, right? After what they did, right? How many of us are saying: 'You lynched us'... The same time during the Holocaust, we used to get lynched every day, regularly. When I grew up, this was common conversation. I'm born in Arkansas. This was common. You don't see none of us going around saying: '60 years ago, 70 years ago, you guys lynched us.' Except Americans and Europeans! They always say: Mau Maus are bad. They killed 55 British. The British killed 155,000 Mau Maus, and the Mau Maus are uncivilized." Endnote: [1] http://www.sabiqun.net/imam_musa.html

Father of Northwest ball bomber integral to rise of sharia, wahabbism in Nigeria

From Atlas Shrugs:

The Muslim father who was alarmed by his son's "extremism" was ..........uh, an extremist himself. Which goes to show you the intellectual dishonesty of these deceptive terms. Extreme is code for religious or pious. What this man and his son did according to Islamic teachings is praiseworthy, 72 raisins in the queue worthy.

It seems the father was in CYA mode when he threw his son under the bus. And the son, BTW, Obama is still calling a "suspect".

The taqiya (lies to advance Islam) that comes after they attack, impose sharia, advance Islamic supremacism serve only to keep us dhimwitted kaffirs in the dark. Until I see Muslims speak up and out against this jihad and expunge their texts of this hate and incitement to violence, I will remain unconvinced that there is any real difference between passive and active Muslims. Except in practice.

You have to wonder if Dr. Mutallab is tight with Obama's pal, Raila Odinga whom Obama campaigned for and supported in his violent, vicious, and failed bid for President of Kenya. Odinga signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Shiekh Abdullah Abdi, chairman of the National Muslim Leaders Forum of Kenya, to impose sharia should Odinga's violent campaign succeed.

Creeping Sharia has this editorial from Modern Ghana today:

Op-ed: Father of Northwest bomber integral to rise of sharia, wahabbism in Kenya

While it’s not clear who wrote this piece found at the ModernGhana.com website, it makes some bold yet unsurprising suggestions – that the father of the jihadist who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas day threw his son under the bus to protect himself and his own Islamist interests. Unclear who wrote it, but worth presenting with the hopes that the media, bloggers will delve further into Umaru Abdul Mutallab’s background. Excerpt below, but read it all, NIGERIAN MUSLIM JIHADIST AND AL QAIDA TIES STARTED LONG AGO WITH ALHAJI MUTALLAB ,,.THE FATHER AS A LEADER OF SHARIA MOVEMENT IN NIGERIA:

Like all of the muslim Northern Nigerian leaders, DR. Mutallab the father of the terrorist who is now shedding crocodile tears because he is one of the leaders who groom the Wahabism in Nigeria. Alhaji Dr. Mutallab the father also groomed Sharia law in Katsina State, Alhaji DR. Mutallab Groom Sharia in Kaduna State,Alhaji Dr. Mutallab groomed Sharia in Kano State, Most of the extremism Ulama in Northern Muslim Nigeria are benefactors of Alhaji Mutallab, Dr. Mutallab groomed extreme Muslim businesses in Saudi Arabia, He has extreme business in Dubai and he has extreme religious business in Yemen and he has business and property in Yemen. Alhaji Mutallab is the owner of the only Islamic Bank in Nigeria, Alhaji Mutallab has ties and interest in almost all the extremist muslim religious groups in Nigeria. He is a top leader of the Sharia movement COUNCIL in Nigeria. This guy is dangerous and he has gotten it hot and thats why he is running from pillar to post because he destroyed Nigeria with his corrupt ways and his muslim jihadist ideas for long time.

Dr. Mutallab the father of the terrorist was just covering his ass because he does not want to loose his investment in the Westen World and he does not want his family to be place on the no fly list as he wants to still enjoy his vacation and western women and western wine and drinks in Engalnd, Europe and America while still using extremism and corruption to maintain their corrupt hold in Nigeria by stealing from their people, thats thats why he reported his son to America, because he and most of the Muslim leaders in Nigeria knows more and they are part of the sponsors of world wide jihadism wahabism from Saudi Arabia, Sudan,Dubai, Yemen, Nigeria, Somalia, Pakistan etc.

Nigeria has failed and it is ready for disintigraion either by internal implosion caused by their Wahabbi terrorist extremist muslim Saudi Arabia leaning, Dubai and Yemen leaning corrupt, inept, selfish, ethnic warlords.The mental sickeness of Northern Nigeria leadership since its inception as a nation by their leadership destroying the fabrics of the nation which has unemployment at 80%,kidnapping and all sorts deadly criminal activities among the highest in the world and all its infrastructure 50 years behind the world standard despite it has secured close to 500 Billion dollars in oil sales in the last 30 years but it was all stolen which has left Nigeria healthcare system, educational system and all its infrastructure at the same level as Afghanistan and somalia and declining even more fast.

Cameras Didn't Work At Newark

TSA Apparently Didn't Know Number For Continental To Get Other Footage

Thousands of people found themselves bunched together inside Newark Liberty International Airport after a security breach prompted the closing of a terminal for several hours Jan. 3, 2010.
It's a tale of shocking ineptitude: CBS 2 has learned a series of missteps unnecessarily added to the mayhem at Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday. The six-hour delay stranded thousands of people, creating extreme crowding and chaos.

The mistakes made at the airport give new meaning to the term "domino effect." It was a cascading series of missteps that cry out for action.

The sign at the Transportation Security Administration screening post at Newark read: "Premises Under Constant Video Surveillance."

What is should add is: "If We're Lucky."

That's because CBS 2 has learned that when an unidentified man breached a secure area at Newark on Sunday night, delaying thousands of passengers for hours, the TSA cameras weren't working.

That's right – they weren't even recording, sources said, and needed a reboot, which the agency apparently didn't ask for. That set off a chain reaction of even more missteps that caused needless chaos and inconvenience for several thousand hapless passengers.

With the cameras inoperable, the TSA tried to get a second set of surveillance video from Continental Airlines. But the TSA apparently didn't know the correct telephone number and the specific procedures to get the footage. That caused a two hour delay in identifying the intruder and closing the airport to look for him.

When they finally got the footage, they couldn't find the intruder, discovering later that he had slipped out another entrance 20 minutes after he arrived.

"The question I would ask is should there be an independent camera system there. Who should be responsible for the law enforcement?" said Sen. Frank Lautenberg.

U.S. engagement has not worked: Syria-Iran ties remain strong

Is anyone else shocked? How many Americans are as naive as this administration? Or is this admin SO CYNICAL they just sold engagement to dumb and naive Americans because they understood Americans thirsted for innocent reasonableness?

GERTZ:

LONDON -- The shifting sands in Syria's geopolitical neighborhood has strengthened its ties to Iran, a relationship that is unlikely to be affected by Western incentives.

A report by the International Crisis Group asserted that Syria would not sever its strategic alliance with Iran. ICG, regarded as close to the European foreign policy establishment, said the regime of President Bashar Assad would try to balance relations with Iran and Turkey.

"Teheran remains a valued and indispensable partner, especially in a context of regional uncertainty," the report, titled "Reshuffling the Cards: Syria's Evolving Strategy," said. "The long relationship provides military assets and security cooperation, as well as diplomatic leverage in dealing with Western and Arab countries."

The report said Syria's relationship with Iran has enabled Damascus to resist neighboring Iraq and pressure by other Sunni regimes. ICG said Teheran has also benefited the Assad regime, beset by economic woes and regional tension.

"As long as Syria's environment remains unsettled, in short, it will maintain strong ties to Iran; at the same time, it will seek to complement that relationship with others -- Turkey, France, and now Saudi Arabia -- to broaden its strategic portfolio and to signal a possibly different future," the report said.

ICG said little was known of the decision-making within the Assad regime.

The report cited Assad's roots in the Alawite minority, hated by the Sunni majority and fearful of being seen as capitulating to either Israel or the West.

"From Syria's vantage point, there is good reason to cling to the status quo," the report said. "For almost four decades, it has served Damascus well. Despite a turbulent and often hostile neighbourhood, the regime has proved resilient. It has used ties to various groups and states to amass political and material assets, acquiring a regional role disproportionate to its actual size or resources. One does not readily forsake such allies or walk away from such a track record."

In contrast, Assad regards Turkey as a facilitator of Syria's economy. The report said Assad sees Turkey as a means for increased tourism, investment and regional cooperation dominated by Syria.

Syria's President Bashar Assad, right, welcomes Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri at the Teshrin presidential palace in Damascus on Dec. 19. Reuters/Khaled al-Hariri

"Damascus's relationships to Ankara and Teheran differ in ways that are fundamental and that offer instructive insights on both," the report said. "Iran supplies military hardware to Syria, which in turn serves as a corridor for Hizbullah-bound weapons. Other alleged areas of collaboration include Iranian support for Syria's internal security apparatus and the construction of a nuclear facility currently under investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency."

The report said Iran has become a key weapons supplier to Syria in wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992. Still, Teheran has not become Syria's sponsor, and Iranian missiles have not overcome Israel's strategic superiority.

"For Damascus, Teheran remains an indispensable partner in a context of ongoing regional instability and strategic uncertainty," the report said. "The relationship provides much-needed military hardware; diplomatic leverage in dealing with Western and Arab countries. The partnership with Ankara serves separate purposes."

Meanwhile, a report by the American Enterprise Institute said the Obama administration has failed to nudge Syria away from Iran's orbit and toward that of so-called moderate Arab states. Authored by resident scholar and former Pentagon official Michael Rubin, the report said Damascus continues to serve as Iran's facilitator throughout the Levant.

"There is no evidence, however, that the State Department's engagement policy has worked," the report, titled "The Enduring Iran-Syria-Hizbullah Axis." said. "Nor does it appear that Teheran and Damascus have loosened their relations."

The report said Syria continues to proliferate weapons, particularly in allowing Iranian arms to reach Hizbullah in Lebanon. Rubin cited U.S. and Israeli interdictions of Iranian weapons shipments to Syria in 2009.

"The Obama administration would like to move Syria into the camp of more moderate Arab states, but there is scant evidence that Syria is willing to give up its support for terrorist organizations," the report said. "Like Iran, it remains a destabilizing and dangerous force in the region."

"Given both the circumstances and the stakes, it is ironic that U.S. officials continue to accept the fiction of Syrian sincerity," the report said. "As difficult as stopping terrorist supplies may be, the likelihood that proxy groups will voluntarily forfeit their capability is low, and the cost of allowing terrorists to use such arms is high."

The report, released as the White House resumed its dialogue with Damascus, said Iran and Syria continue to employ Hizbullah and other proxies against Israel and other rivals in the Middle East. Syria was also said to have been helping Hizbullah prepare for a new war with the Jewish state.

"Iran may be Hizbullah's chief patron, but Syria is the lynchpin that makes Iranian support for foreign fighters possible," the report said. "While Israel may be the immediate target of the Iran-Syria nexus, the partnership threatens broader U.S. interests."

The report said additional Iranian weapons to Syria might move through Turkey. In 2009, Syria and Turkey increased border cooperation as well as embarked on their first military exercises.

"The Turkish route into Syria may become more important as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan tightens relations with both Teheran and Damascus," the report said.

Tom Friedman - Authoritative Muslim leaders MUST UNEQUIVOCALLY DENOUCE JIHADISM

When these boys start in this way, the Nayef's, Al Saud, Al Sheik's, and Freaks from Qom should take SOME note of the turn

Father Knows Best

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Surely, the most important, interesting -- and, yes, heroic -- figure in the whole Christmas Day Northwest airliner affair was the would-be bomber's father, the Nigerian banker Alhaji Umaru Mutallab.

Mutallab's father did something that, as far as we know, no other parent of a suicide bomber has done: He went to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria and warned us that text messages from his son revealed that he was in Yemen and had become a fervent, and possibly dangerous, radical.

We are turning ourselves inside out over how our system broke down -- and surely it did -- in allowing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the would-be suicide bomber, to board that airliner. But his father, in effect, told us something else: "My family system, our village system, broke down. My own son fell under the influence of a jihadist version of Islam that I do not recognize and have reason to fear."

The Times, quoting a cousin, said the son had sent the father a text message from Yemen in which he declared that "he had found a new religion, the real Islam" and that he was never coming home again. A Feb. 20, 2005, Internet posting attributed to the son and quoted by The Associated Press said: "I imagine how the great jihad will take place, how the Muslims will win ... and rule the whole world, and establish the greatest empire once again!!!"

Finding people with the courage to confront that breakdown -- the one identified by the father, the one that lures young Muslims away from the mainstream into a willingness to commit suicide against innocent civilians as part of some jihadist power fantasy -- is what matters most right now.

Yes, we need to fix our intelligence. Yes, we absolutely must live up to our own ideals, as President Obama is trying to do in banning torture and closing Guantánamo Bay. We can't let this "war on terrorism" consume us. We can't let our country become just The United States of Fighting Terrorism and nothing more. We are the people of July 4th -- not Sept. 11th.

But even if we do all that, no laws or walls we put up will ever be sufficient to protect us unless the Arab and Muslim societies from whence these suicide bombers emerge erect political, religious and moral restraints as well -- starting by shaming suicide bombers and naming their actions "murder," not "martyrdom."

I keep saying: It takes a village. The father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, saw himself as part of a global community, based on shared values, and that is why he rang the alarm bell. Bless him for that. Unless more Muslim parents, spiritual leaders, political leaders -- the village -- are ready to publicly denounce suicide bombing against innocent civilians -- theirs and ours -- this behavior will not stop.

Just last Friday, for example, a suicide bomber set off an explosives-laden vehicle in the midst of a volleyball tournament in the Pakistani village of Shah Hassan Khel, killing more than 100 people. Most were youngsters. No surprise. When suicide bombing becomes legitimate to use against non-Muslim "infidels" abroad it becomes legitimate to use against Muslim opponents at home. And what becomes "legitimate" and "illegitimate" in a community is so much more important than any government regulation.

All too often, though, Arab and Muslim governments arrest their jihadis at home, denounce them privately to us, but say nothing in public. The global leadership of Islam -- like the king of Saudi Arabia or the Organization of the Islamic Conference -- rarely take on jihadist actions and ideology openly with the kind of passion, consistency and mass protests that we have seen them do, for example, against Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

President Obama should not hesitate to call for it -- respectfully but publicly. If he only presses for more effective airport security, which he must, it's a cop-out.

"When you want to foster more responsible behavior in people, you can't just legislate more rules and regulations," said Dov Seidman, the C.E.O. of LRN, which helps companies build ethical cultures, and the author of the book "How." "You have to enlist and inspire people in a set of values. People need to be governed both from the outside, through compliance with rules, and from the inside, inspired by shared values. That is why shame is so important. When we call a banker 'a fat cat' for taking too big a bonus, we're actually being inspirational leaders because we are telling them, 'You are behaving beneath how a responsible human being should behave.' We need to inspire the village to shame those who betray our common values."

Every faith has its violent extreme. The West is not immune. It's all about how the center deals with it. Does it tolerate it, isolate it or shame it? The jihadists are a security problem for our system. But they are a political and moral problem for the Arab-Muslim system. If they won't address this problem for us, I truly hope they will do it for themselves. Eventually, we'll find a way to keep most jihadists off our planes and out of our volleyball games -- but they will have to live with them.