"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the atmosphere."

–Thomas Jefferson, letter to Abigail Adams, 1787

Laura Fygi
It's Crazy

The SAS must be getting rusty. I hope they killed every fucking "captor" in the place. With extreme prejudice.

The Blaze:

Afghan Captors Kill British Aide Worker During Rescue Attempt
Posted on October 9, 2010 at 3:12pm by Scott Baker

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The British foreign secretary says a female British aid worker abducted in eastern Afghanistan was killed by her captors during a rescue attempt.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a Saturday statement from London that the aid worker was killed Friday night during an operation to free her.

Linda Norgrove and three colleagues were kidnapped in eastern Kunar province on Sept. 26 after being ambushed. Police fought a gunbattle with the kidnappers near the attack site before the assailants fled.

Hague’s statement expressed “deep sadness” that Norgrove “was killed at the hands of her captors” during the rescue attempt.



THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan (AP) — President Hamid Karzai visited volatile southern Afghanistan on Saturday to meet with scores of tribal elders, as four Italian troops were killed in an insurgent ambush in the west.

Gen. David Petraeus, top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry accompanied Karzai, who is expected to rally support among residents for international forces and the Afghan government.

More than 200 tribal leaders from around the troubled province of Kandahar assembled to see the president.

Afghan Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak and Turyalai Wesa, governor of Kandahar, were among the group visiting restive Arghandab district. Karzai’s half brother Ahmad Wali Karzai — a key provincial power-broker — was among the entourage.

The region where Karzai visited Saturday is one of the province’s deadliest. He and the other officials visited Kandahar’s famous Baba Sahib shrine.

Kandahar is the scene of NATO’s Operation Dragon Strike, targeting the Taliban in their southern strongholds. The operation aims to rout insurgents from areas they have long controlled.

Violence continues unabated in many areas in Afghanistan. The focus of the war, which entered its 10th year last week, has been on the south, but coalition troops are fighting resilient militants in both the east and north.

Gen. Massimo Fogari, a spokesman for Italy’s Defense Ministry, said four Italians were killed in an ambush Saturday in western Farah province and another was wounded seriously.

A roadside bomb exploded as a 70-vehicle convoy passed by insurgents, and then soldiers came under small-arms fire.

“Four soldiers were killed in the explosion and one was injured,” Fogari told Sky Italia. “It’s an ambush typical of the asymmetrical war that is being fought in Afghanistan.”

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he was saddened “by the tragic ambush.”

“We are grateful to all Italian soldiers who, in various missions around the world, allow our country to keep its international commitments in support of peace and against any form of terrorism,” Berlusconi said in a statement.

The deaths brought to 24 the number of NATO forces killed this month. At least 2,012 NATO service members have died since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, according to an Associated Press count.

NATO says Afghan and international forces are focused on removing the mid- to senior-level Taliban leaders in Kandahar.

More than 21 Taliban leaders have been captured in the last month, arrests NATO hopes will strengthen governance and allow development projects to take hold in the province, the coalition says.

Karzai’s southern visit comes a day after a powerful blast at a mosque packed with worshippers killed at least 20 people — including a provincial governor — in Taluqan, capital of northern Takhar province. Thirty-five others were wounded in the brazen attack.

The bomb targeted and killed Mohammad Omar, governor of neighboring Kunduz province, and came just days after he publicly warned of escalating threats from Taliban and foreign fighters across the north.

No group claimed responsibility, but the Taliban have targeted Omar previously.

Meanwhile, NATO and Afghan forces killed two senior Taliban leaders and two other fighters after raiding a compound in eastern Afghanistan, the military alliance said Saturday.

Mullah Hezbollah, who operated in Wardak province, died in a gunbattle during an operation Thursday night, NATO said. Another Taliban leader, Qari Sulayman, was also killed along with the two other insurgents in the raid.

Sharia law being used in Germany in Muslims' domestic disputes

A leading law professor has contradicted Chancellor Angela Merkel’s statement that Sharia law was not practiced in Germany, saying a variety of Sharia-based rulings were being made all the time.

“We have been practising Islamic law for years, and that is a good thing,” Hilmar Krüger, professor for foreign private law at Cologne University, told Der Spiegel magazine.

Family and inheritance rulings were often made according to Sharia law, he said, listing a range of examples. 

Women who are in polygamous marriages legal in their countries of origin can make claims of their husbands in Germany regardless of the fact that their marriages would not be lawful here. They can claim maintenance from their husbands and a share of an eventual inheritance, said Krüger.

German judges often refer to Sharia, as the Federal Social Court in Kassel did a few years ago when it supported the claim of a second wife for a share of her dead husband’s pension payments, which his first wife wanted to keep all to herself. The judge ruled they should share the pension. 

In another case, the Administrative Appeals Court in Koblenz granted the second wife of an Iraqi living in Germany, the right to stay in the country. She had already been married to him and living in Germany for five years, after which the court said it would not be fair to send her to Iraq alone. 

A judge in Cologne ruled that an Iranian man should repay his wife’s dowry of 600 gold coins to her after their divorce – referring to the Sharia which is followed in Iran. 

Erlangen lawyer and Islam scholar Mathias Rohe told the magazine that the use of laws from various countries was an expression of globalisation. “We use Islamic law just as we use French law,” he said. 

While Canada, for example, does not recognise any foreign laws, the German legal structure allows some to be upheld – as long as they do not contradict the constitution.

Europeans Are Getting Pissed

• Across The Atlantic, Another Mosque Splits A City.New York is not the only city divided over the building of a mosque. In the French Mediterranean port of Marseille, construction of a large mosque is being hotly debated. Even though the cornerstone has already been laid, the project is far from being accepted by everyone.The controversy reflects the deeper tensions simmering beneath the city's surface.France's oldest and second largest city, founded by Phoenician sailors in 600 B.C., Marseille has absorbed waves of immigrants throughout its history and is now a melting pot of cultures.Many people say the mix of politics, immigration and history makes Marseille an explosive place. Only last week, the premier of a film on the Algerian War brought hundreds of angry protesters into the streets declaring that it was anti-French.Djellil sits in a café where the Arab language news channel Al Jazeera plays in the background. He says that like him, many young Muslims are now rejecting a French identity and turning toward the values and religion of their countries of origin.The faces of the Frenchmen, who are Catholic and Jewish, are deeply tanned and wrinkled, attesting to a lifetime spent under the Mediterranean sun. They say they are against the mosque, but their objections seem to be about more than religion."They come here and then they live in their own world," he says. "They absolutely do not want to integrate. Look at these crazy burkas and things like that. How can we be expected to love them?"Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

• HT:TundraTabloids.Ian Buruma in Turkish "Today's Zaman" disparages rise of Islam critical parties in europe.The Tundra Tabloids finds it odd that a British writer for aTurkish paper (Todays' Zaman) bemoans the political state of affairs in Europe which sees the rise of Islam critical parties, while completely ignoring the fact that it's the influence of Islam as a religious/political in Turkey under the AKP, which has directly influenced and underlined the positions promoted by these same parties he disparages in his column.Writing in the Today's Zaman, professor Ian Buruma, of Bard college, makes mention of the Dutch Freedom Party of Geert Wilders, the Danish People’s Party, led by Pia Kjaersgaard, and Jimmy Akesson’s Sweden Democrats, in saying that they "claim to be the defenders of Western civilization against its main enemy: Islam." Interestingly enough, Buruma, without exception, fails to note the reasons why these political leaders, and their parties, have become relevant in today's European political landscape. He fails to mention that it's the valid threat of the erosion of these European civil liberties, such as the freedom of speech and the gradual chipping away at their liberal democracies and the destruction of their cultural heritage as a whole, being ignored by the political self anointed elite, that has given life to these new political parties.Note how he takes aim at the American Tea Party movement, a movement by the way, that's founded on the strict observance of the US constitution, as a member of the "populist club", but an Obama administration, who's president ran a campaign that included his own fake presidential seal, an iconic photo of "hope & change", mass faintings in the crowds of his true believers who left these events thinking that they wouldn't have to fill their gas tanks anymore or even pay their rent, .... somehow doesn't quite qualify as one.Ian Buruma is a left-wing ideologue who finds it more important to bolster his fellow socialists in Europe and in the US (Obama and like ilk) than in addressing the actual truth behind the rise of these parties, his refusal to admit anything about the present AKP's role in highlighting European fears of Islam, should not go unnoticed.Read the full story here .click here for comments.

• Europe turns right! AMSTERDAM -- Whatever happened to the good Europeans, those nice folks in small northern countries who liked to think of themselves as the world champions of liberty and tolerance?Of course, many liberal Europeans are still alive and well. But first in Denmark, then in the Netherlands, and now in Sweden, illiberal, populist parties stirring up fear of immigrants -- specifically Muslim immigrants -- have managed to gain enough power to set, or at least influence, their countries’ political agendas.These parties are not confined to Scandinavia and the Low Countries, but are part of a global wave of anger against political elites, who are blamed for all of the insecurities that come with global economics, the financial crisis, and living in more ethnically mixed societies. The psychology behind the Tea Party in the United States and the anti-immigrant parties in Europe is similar, even if their policies vary.Modern European populists don’t wear black shirts, or indulge in street violence. Their leaders are youngish men in sharp suits, who don’t use the language of race, but that of freedom and democracy.The Dutch Freedom Party (whose only member is its leader, Geert Wilders), the Danish People’s Party, led by Pia Kjaersgaard, and Jimmy Akesson’s Sweden Democrats claim to be the defenders of Western civilization against its main enemy: Islam. They talk about Western liberties, including freedom of speech, but Wilders wants to ban the Quran and the burqa, and a Danish member of parliament has called Islam “a plague upon Europe.”Did you know that Geert Wilders has left the VVD in 2004, because the VVD wants to admit Turkey to the EU and Wilders is unconditionally opposed to this?Read the full story here.Click here for comments.

Well, Go Live There, Then, You Shitwad

Prince Charles: Indian Slum a Role Model For Western Cities

The man who would be slumdog?

(News.com.au) –BRITAIN’S Prince Charles has cited the Mumbai shantytown setting for the film “Slumdog Millionaire” as a role model for sustainable living in Western cities, a report said Saturday.

The 61-year-old heir to the British throne writes in a new book being published next week that the Dharavi slum is better and more instinctively organised than many Western towns, London’s Daily Telegraph said.

In the book, called Harmony, Prince Charles contrasts the “fragmented, deconstructed” housing estates of Western nations with the “order and harmony” of the dusty potters’ colony featured in the Oscar-winning movie.

The exaggerated Al Qaeda threat, in the Mahgreb, Yemen, Lebanon,

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Gertz and others...

Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb using sheer fear for control in Algeria

CAIRO -- Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb has sought to consolidate control over designated areas of Algeria.

Algerian security sources said the Al Qaida Organization has sought to dominate several areas of eastern and central Algeria. They said AQIM has intimidated farmers and businessmen to pay protection money to finance the insurgency campaign against the government in Algiers.

"They are very cruel and bold and do not fear anybody," a security source said. "When they send a warning to people, it is obeyed."

The AQIM extortion campaign was said to have helped finance insurgency attacks.

On Sept. 1, at least four people were killed and 30 others injured in an Al Qaida suicide bombing of a military convoy near the northern town of Zemouri. Later, AQIM claimed that 25 soldiers were killed.

AQIM was said to operate throughout provinces in eastern, central and southern Algeria. In Algeria's southern Sahara Desert, the sources said, the Al Qaida network controls villages near the border with Mali and Mauritania to support smuggling and attack missions.

Pro-Al Qaida, Gulf-financed Sunnis fomenting unrest in Lebanon

NICOSIA -- Lebanon is monitoring Sunni plans to increase unrest against Iran.

Security sources said Sunni groups supportive of Al Qaida were being funded to foment unrest in northern Lebanon against the mullah regime in Teheran. They said the groups were preparing violent demonstrations in the Sunni city of Tripoli during the scheduled visit to Lebanon by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Oct. 13.

The sources said the Sunnis appeared to be receiving funds from Gulf Cooperation Council states and training from Egypt and Jordan for the anti-Iranian campaign. They said some of the Sunnis were also battling Hizbullah efforts to establish its own insurgency network in northern Lebanon.

Capture of towns by Yemenis galvanized Saudi military training

ABU DHABI -- Saudi Arabia has reported the acceleration of military training in wake of its war with rebels from neighboring Yemen.

Officials said all arms of the Saudi military were implementing plans to intensfy combat and support training by 2011.They said the effort would stress combat skills, joint operations as well as intelligence and reconnaissance skills.

"Efforts are under way to modernize the various branches of the armed forces in the coming days," Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled Bin Sultan said.

Drone strikes in Pakistan, Afghanistan disrupted Euro-terror plots

U.S. intelligence officials said Al Qaida's No. 3 official was involved in planning for a major terrorist attack in Europe but the planning was disrupted by stepped-up drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

More than 10 drone strikes were carried out over the past week in remote regions of Pakistan based on intelligence reports of meetings between Al Qaida leaders and foot soldiers being prepared for the European attacks.The officials said Illyas Kashmiri, a former Pakistan special forces commando, was behind the latest terrorist attack plot and the stepped up drone strikes were aimed at killing him, although it is not clear they were successful in that objective.

Hamas agents believed in U.S. seeking dual-use components

WASHINGTON -- Hamas is believed to have sent operatives to the United States to acquire weapons for the war against Israel.

Officials said authorities have been monitoring suspected Hamas agents assigned to obtain weapons and advanced dual-use equipment from the United States.

They said the weapons were being purchased through organized crime cells, sometimes in cooperation with the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah.

"It is not clear whether any sophisticated equipment has been smuggled from the United States, but there have been some serious attempts," an official said.

On Sept. 7, a Palestinian was arrested and charged with purchasing a large amount of weapons for shipment to the West Bank. The Palestinian, believed linked to Hamas, attempted to procure 300 M-16 assault rifles, 9mm pistols and Israeli-designed Uzi submachine guns.

The Palestinian, identified as Abdul Aziz Hamayel, has been detained in Miami.

A criminal complaint in U.S. federal district court asserted that Hamayel, a resident of southern Florida, had also been seeking to purchase silencers and grenades.

"Hamayel contacted the confidential source to discuss the weapons and explosives he was requesting for purchase," the complaint said.

Hamayel was said to have been working with Hamas-related cells in Jordan for the weapons shipment to the West Bank. Officials said he was arrested on Aug. 29 when he arrived in Miami on a flight that originated in Amman.

Related articles

• Rocket Fired At British Embassy Vehicle In Yemen (nytimes.com)
• Militants attack two Western targets in Yemen (reuters.com)
• Yemen attack underlines growing al-Qaeda influence (telegraph.co.uk)
• Gunman shoots dead Frenchman in Yemen (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Pakistan to World: "What Al Qaeda? USA is lying, exaggerating"

Pakistan accuses the White House of exaggerating Al Qaeda terror threat

By Daily Mail Reporter

Critical: Pakistan's High Commissioner to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan

The U.S. has been accused by a top Pakistani diplomat of exaggerating the terror threat from Al Qaeda for political ends.

Intelligence officials also suggested the White House has tried to 'stitch together' rumours of attacks to ramp up security fears.

The U.S. warned last weekend of an increased risk of terrorist attacks in Europe and possibly an assault on transport infrastructure.

Security agents in Britain, France and Germany also warned Al Qaeda terrorists were planning a Mumbai-style atrocity in Europe.

Britain raised the terrorism alert level in its advice from travellers to Germany and France to 'high' from 'general' but the home level was kept at 'severe'.

France also issued an extreme warning, claiming an attack in Britain was 'very likely' - particularly in top tourist sites such asTrafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus or London transport.

But Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's high commissioner to Britain, claims the U.S. warning was a bid to justify drone attacks in his country.

And he also raised the prospect Washington was trying to show its strength ahead of next month's mid-term congressinal elections.

Mr Hasan told the Guardian: 'I will not deny the fact that there may be internal political dynamics, including the forthcoming midterm American elections.

'If the Americans have definite information about terrorists and Al Qaeda people, we should be provided that and we could go after them ourselves.

'Such reports are a mixture of frustration, ineptitude and lack of appreciation of ground realities.'

European intelligence experts have also questioned the likelihood of a co-ordinated plot targeting Britain, France and Germany.

'To stitch together [the terror plot claims] in a seamless narrative is nonsensical,' one source told the paper.

A British man, who had been tasked with leading an Al Qaeda group in the UK and others were killed by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan on September 8.

They had been heard talking about a 'commando-style' attack on prominent European sites.

Intelligence sources admit Jihadi recruits are travelling to Pakistan to train but insist the plan was nowhere near being put into action.

This nuance would put a very different slant on U.S. drone attacks because it would mean they are not actually being unleashed to tackle an imminent threat.

The European officials told the Guardian that Washington was the 'driver' behind the leaking of possible plots, which intelligence agencies had been aware of for months.

U.S. - Pakistan tensions have also been ramped up after two Pakistani soldiers were killed by mistake in a helicopter attack near the Afghan border.

American pilots mistook the troops for insurgents they were pursuing and later apologised for the error on September 30.

Pakistan closed a key border crossing in an apparent reaction, which militant gunmen have exploited by attacking stranded and rerouted Nato trucks.

Mr Hasan claims fears are growing in Pakistan that the U.S. could bolster its drone attacks with a bombing campaign using fixed-wing aircraft.

He warned increasing anger could spill over into violence aimed at the thousands of American who are currently stationed in his country.

Fears of a Mumbai-style plot were sparked after Ahmad Sidiqi, an Afghan informant said to have known 9/11 mastermind Mohammed Atta, told U.S. interrogators about the plot.

Sidiqi said Ilyas Kashmiri, an Al Qaeda commander linked to the 2008 attacks in Mumbai in India that left 174 people dead, had told him that teams had already been sent to Europe to launch similar assaults.

In France, 12 suspects were arrested this week after they were found with a huge arsenal of guns and ammunition to launch an attack anywhere in Europe.

The men were held after their phone numbers were found on the mobile phone of a suspected terrorist arrested in Italy at the weekend.

They are also believed to have been recruiting young men willing to travel to Afghanistan to fight coalition forces.

A spate of attacks by militants and warnings about the increasing strength of Islamic extremism have ramped up fears there could be a new strike.

Tony Blair, now a Middle East envoy, recently warned that the West is being 'outspent and outmanoeuvred by Islamic extremists'.

A U.S. official told the Guardian: 'Our allies have been briefed on the nature of the threat and the intelligence that led to the travel alert and everyone understands this cannot be taken lightly. To try to ascribe any political motivation is misguided and irresponsible.'

My response:

AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON.

This entire war WORLDWIDE can be lost in Pakistan

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• MI5 hunts terror cell in Britain following al-Qaeda boast (telegraph.co.uk)
• Mumbai-style attack cells 'already in Britain' al-Qaeda chief claimed (telegraph.co.uk)
• You: Obama accused of exaggerating terror threat for political gain: Wajid Shamsul Hasan (nation.com.pk)
• Senior bin Laden aide killed in recent Predator strike (longwarjournal.org)
• Obama Accused of Inflating EU Terror Threat (cbsnews.com)
• Drone attacks in Pakistan 'linked' to Europe terror plot (topinews.com)
• Pakistan: Two Germans Died in Strike (online.wsj.com)
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Connecticut Bomb suspect has similar case pending

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From New Haven Register:

NEW HAVEN — A Branford man arrested after police discovered a pipe bomb, shotguns, rubber gas masks and other items inside his Mercedes late Tuesday had been arrested earlier this year on bombmaking charges in East Haven.

John Iannucci, 38, was held at New Haven police headquarters for most of the day on a host of weapons and explosives charges. The arrest could likely complicate his current court case.

He is due in court Oct. 22 on the East Haven charges of illegal possession of explosives and illegal bomb manufacturing. He was free on $25,000 bail when he and a second man, identified as Jessup Bollinger, 27, were detained Tuesday night in the city’s Fair Haven section.

They each were held in lieu of $500,000 bail Wednesday.

“Nobody knows their motive” for having a pipe bomb, said police spokesman Officer Joe Avery, “or what they were intending to do with it.”

The bomb squad detonated the homemade device early Wednesday.

New Haven police received an anonymous call Tuesday night about a car containing rifles in the area of Grand and Clinton avenues. Responding officers found Iannucci’s Mercedes on Clinton Avenue. Officers observed ammunition inside and ordered the men out at gunpoint.




A search revealed two shotguns, gas masks, costume-quality SWAT gear, a propane tank and one pipe bomb, which prompted the bomb squad to be called out, police said.

A four-block area was closed as a precaution, but no evacuations were reported.

The incident Tuesday was reminiscent, at least insofar as there allegedly being a bomb in Iannucci’s car, of a February incident in East Haven.

The investigation revealed circumstantial evidence that Iannucci drove around East Haven with homemade explosive devices, blowing up stop signs. Police say Iannucci almost accidentally blew himself up in February. He claimed to police he was stopped at a stop light on North High Street when an unknown individual threw something into his car. When he picked it up to throw it back out, it blew up, he told police.

Evidence showed differently, a detective concluded, and Iannucci was arrested on bomb and explosives charges. At the time, he lived on Ann Street in East Haven but New Haven police say he now lists an address in Branford.

Ira Grudberg represents Bollinger in an unrelated East Haven case, and said Wednesday he would represent the 27-year-old in the new case. He said he didn’t have enough information yet to comment.

East Haven police said Iannucci suffered hand and torso injuries in the Feb. 26 incident there. His silver Mercedes sustained significant damage to its interior, and investigators recovered pieces of the device and a packet of gunpowder in a medical bag containing insulin, police said.

In that time frame, East Haven police had received reports of stop signs being damaged near Iannucci’s home by exploding objects, witnesses stated, thrown from a silver Mercedes. Residue on the signs matched residue recovered in his car.

When police searched Iannucci’s home, they seized jars of aluminum and Tannerite, which when mixed form an explosive, police said.

“We had him ... trying to throw explosives out the window of his car,” said East Haven Chief of Police Leonard Gallo. “This man’s a danger to society. ... The man’s a threat. We’ve already arrested him and done our job.”

Iannucci and Bollinger face charges of manufacture of bombs, possession of a weapon in a vehicle, possession of explosives and storage/transportation/use of explosive agents. Bollinger also is charged with criminal possession of a firearm.

Remember who the political class is, and who everyone else is

1. Generally speaking, when it comes to important national issues, whose judgment do you trust more, the American people or America's political leaders? Those in the mainstream say the American people; those in the political elite say political leaders.

2. Some people believe that the federal government has become a special-interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests. Has the federal government become a special interest group? Mainstreamers say yes; the political elite says no.

3. Do government and big business often work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors? Mainstreamers say yes; the political elite says no.

75% of the polled public answered this one, way, 14% the other.

Here's more happy news..Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters now say they are angry at the policies of the federal government, with 43% who are Very Angry. Thirty-two percent (32%) don't share that anger, with 14% who are Not At All Angry.

69% of Americans who answered above as the mainstream believe every tax increase should require VOTER APPROVAL.

74% of those in the political class from above, do not.

85% of Americans in the mainstream believe the parties should pay for their own primaries and conventions only 45% in the political class agree.

76% in the mainstream believe Congress is overpaid..guess what those in the political class think?

70% of ALL AMERICANS REGARDLESS OF PARTY AFFILIATION believe big business and big government generally work together against the interests of the investors and consumers. Mind boggler... 71% of democrats believe this, and 69% of republicans, and 69% of those who are neither R or D.

A majority of mainstream Americans believe tax increases hurt the economy. A majority in the political class believe the opposite.

So much for principle..how about issues...

Secure Border ..66% of likely voters (large than the mainstream) say it is "very important" to secure the border only 32% of the political class (which includes those businessmen who go thru the revolving door of academia, think tanks and govt positions..can anyone say Paulson or Geithner?) agree.

What about illegal aliens already here?

Likely voters are evenly split on whether this is an important part of immigration reform (this compulsory voter believes it is, BUT ONLY AFTER THE BORDER IS SECURED), however 74% of the political class consider this as important as securing the border.

Now let's finish with the words of Simon Johnson of the IMF who has said that since the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which repealed part of Glass Steagall (begun in 1977, by J. Carter who considered FDR's bank protective mortgage redlining to be racist), and 1997's NAFTA - those enriched as a result are NOT average Americans. Johnson says that the power gained by those so enriched allowed the political class itself to become "mesmerized by Wall Street, always and utterly convinced that whatever the banks said was true". Banks which now after 1999 as a result of that bill now existed as mergers of commercial and investment banks. Johnson claims that these interests are now powerful enough to give the "financial sector a veto over public policy"

Anyone else wondering what men like Hubert Humphrey, Henry Jackson, Gerald Ford, and Tip O'Neill would make of this?

The difference, of course is that the constituency these men served is NOT the constituency served by the leaders today.

Related articles

• Are you in the political class? (professorbainbridge.com)
• The Great Divide (powerlineblog.com)
• Bind Them From Mischief With the Chains of the Constitution (redstate.com)
• Shocker: Political class backs spending while voters oppose (hotair.com)
• Poll: 68% of Americans say political class doesn't care about what they think (americablog.com)
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God's Strange Sense of Humor: Sends Stogie to Work With Muslim Accountants

God's Strange Sense of Humor: Sends Stogie to Work With Muslim Accountants

This post is from my friend Stogie. I have had strange happenings like this in my life as well, though I can not write about them because they are too personal.

I am glad to post Stogie writing here, because he expresses the way I feel as well.

From the Stogmeister:

On Wednesday I responded to a Craig's list ad for a senior CPA for audit and tax, so responded to it.  The poster of the ad called me, gushing over my extensive resume, and asked me to come in and talk to him.  I did.  I knew from his name and accent he was Indian, but did not know that he was a Muslim until I sat down in front of his desk.  He had a beard, and there was a Muslim newsletter laying on his desk.  It was then that I silently spoke to God:  "You really have a strange sense of humor!"

He was a young guy who is facing his third tax season and needs some help.  I found him personally likeable, so said I'd come back the next day and do some work for him and see how it goes.

Today he introduced me to some of his associates, all Muslims.  One was a client; the other was a marketing consultant, complete with white knitted cap, and the other was an employee, a young man who has passed the CPA exam but has no experience.  I found all of them to be very likeable, cheerful and possessing a healthy sense of humor.  They seemed totally accepting of me and I returned their friendliness.

My new associate took me to lunch at an Indian restaurant.  When we returned to the office, he did his afternoon prayers right there in the office, bowing towards Mecca in the middle of the floor.  I didn't mind.  I almost told him to pray for more business, but thought the better of it.

I don't know where this is going to lead, but I will stick with them for awhile, and sincerely try to help them.  I figure God has his reasons for this association and I want to see what they are.  I suspect the lesson to be learned is that, although Islam is a violent, oppressive and cruel ideology, many of its adherents are innocents, sincerely trying to do the right thing and live productive lives.  Many Muslims are decent people. 

Go read the whole thing.

Official: Tractor-trailer surrounded in Conn.

BRANFORD, Conn. (AP) - A town official in Connecticut says police and FBI agents have surrounded a tractor-trailer possibly carrying explosives.

Branford first selectman Anthony DaRos said Friday that police have told him that authorities are holding the semitrailer at a travel stop on Interstate 95. He did not say which direction the truck was headed or what happened to the driver.

The Hartford Courant reports that state troopers took the driver and a passenger into custody at gunpoint, then began searching the truck.

Branford is about 80 miles north of New York City.

Gunman dressed in black opens fire at Carlsbad elementary school, injuring two students

UPDATE - PROPANE TANK ALSO FOUND NEAR SUSPECT - BOMB SQUAD HAS BEEN CALLED OUT

UPDATE - MAN WAS RANTING ABOUT THE PRESIDENT
UPDATE - MAN WAS NOT RANTING ABOUT THE PRESIDENT - SUSPECT HAS BEEN ID'D (at bottom)

Carlsbad is a nice little area north of San Diego.

From the LA Times:

A gunman dressed in black opened fire outside an elementary school in Carlsbad on Friday afternoon, wounding two students before being tackled by construction workers, officials said.

The students suffered graze wounds and were being treated by doctors, officials said, and a bomb squad was called to examine a propane tank found in the suspect's car.

Shortly after noon, the suspect rolled up to the school in his car, said Lt. Kelly Cain of the Carlsbad Police Department. Armed with a .357-caliber handgun, Cain said, the suspect stepped onto the sidewalk next to the school playground and started firing wildly.

Construction workers nearby witnessed the incident and tackled the gunman, Cain said. 

[Updated at 2:15 p.m.: Construction worker Carlos Partida told 10News in San Diego that after the gunman opened fire at the playground, he got into his truck and was able to knock the suspect down with the vehicle before the man was tackled by other workers.]

[Updated at 2:40 p.m.: Ed Willins, who was nearby when the incident occurred, said he saw the construction workers tackle the suspect.

"They were on him immediately," he said. "They administered a little street justice on him before the cops got there."]

After the incident, parents were notified and came to pick up their kids, officials said.

-- Tony Perry in Carlsbad

Photos: The scene after the school shooting.

From the Associated Press:

Terry Lynn told KNSD-TV he looked out his window to see a man park his van, jump over a fence at Kelly Elementary School, walk across a field, and fire a .357 Magnum revolver toward a crowd of children.

"He was saying something about the president, he was ranting," Lynn said.

Interesting that somehow this shooting had been made out to be an anti-Obama lunatic, when it wasn't. A witness had said it was. Same witness said the man was carrying a Jack-o-Lantern. He apparently was not.

Why would someone lie about stuff like that? Or, if they weren't lying, how is it they misperceived the situation in such an extreme manner. Weird, huh?

From the LA Times Blog:

Authorities late Friday identified the alleged gunman in a Carlsbad, Calif., school shooting that left two young girls with minor injuries as Brendan L. O’Rourke, 41, thought to be a transient.

O'Rourke was booked on six counts of attempted murder and numerous weapons violations, police said. He is being held at the San Diego County jail in Vista.

Construction worker Carlos Partida, who was remodeling the school kitchen in the beachside community 30 miles north of San Diego, said he saw a man jump over the school fence and start firing a gun at children. He said the gunman appeared to be reloading and trying to leave the scene when Partida jumped in his truck and rammed the man, knocking him down.

Partida said the gunman, who was wearing a black, hooded sweatshirt and black pants, had been screaming incoherently. Authorities later discredited initial reports that the gunman was ranting about President Obama.

Some witnesses said the gunman was carrying a gasoline can and others said it seemed to be gasoline can decorated like a Halloween jack-o’-lantern. The bomb squad was called to examine a propane tank found in the gunman's car.

From CBS:

News 8 has learned O'Rourke has a valid security guard's license issued by the state of California, but that license does not permit him to carry a gun.

Records show O'Rourke has previous addresses and relatives in Illinois. He currently lives in the Canyon Creek Apartments on Garrison St. in Oceanside, records show. Neighbors in the complex described O'Rourke as a loner with a temper. Resident Vickie Roe-Mitchell told News 8 she has called police on O'Rourke in the past for his erratic behavior.

"I'm not surprised.  I'm kind of scared of him," Roe-Mitchell said.  "He'd scream out things like, 'I'm going to burn your eyes out.  I'm going to kill you.'"

A preliminary background check Friday night showed several minor traffic violations in Illinois, but no felony criminal history in either California or Illinois under the name Brendan L. O'Rourke. However, Carlsbad police officers reported that O'Rourke initially gave them three different names during questioning. 

Read more »

Tarja Turunen
Until My Last Breath

I've never thought Afghanistan or Iraq had ANY resemblance to Vietnam until THIS MOMENT

I swear if we don't commit to victory, or get the hell out IMMEDIATELY, I'll end up doing what I did in 1969. Every man or woman hurt until we decide on THE COURSE, and stop DICKING AROUND is wasted. Barack Obama has lead us into a SHAMBLES. Fight the war, Obama, or line up the C-5's and C-17's and pay the jizya.

ABC:

Report: US Contractors Hired Iranian Spies, Taliban, Warlords To Guard US Troops In Afghanistan

Senate Investigators Say Chaotic Security Contracts Pose 'Grave Risk' To US Troops

By MATTHEW COLE

Oct. 7, 2010 --

A scathing Senate report says US contractors in Afghanistan have hired warlords, "thugs," Taliban commanders and even Iranian spies to provide security at vulnerable US military outposts in Afghanistan. The report, published by the Senate Armed Services Committee, says lax oversight and "systemic failures" have led to "grave risks' to US forces, including instances where contractors have employed Afghan subcontractors who were "linked to murder, kidnapping and bribery, as well as Taliban and anti-coalition activities." The chairman of the committee, Sen. Carl Levin, D.-Michigan, said the report was evidence that the US needs to reduce its reliance on contractors. "We need to shut off the spigot of US dollars flowing into the pockets of warlords and power brokers who act contrary to our interests," said Sen. Levin. The committee reviewed roughly 125 unclassified Department of Defense security contracts between 2007 and 2009, and found that there are some 26,000 private security contractors operating in Afghanistan, the majority of whom are Afghan nationals. The review found "systemic failures" of the military oversight for contracts, including the hiring of what Levin called "many too many" security contractors who had been improperly vetted, improperly trained or were not provided weapons.

In some cases, companies were awarded contracts though they had no ability to provide the services needed. In those cases, companies then quickly hired local nationals without proper vetting or security checks. The chaotic system left US facilities and personnel vulnerable to attack. The report found that some Afghan security guards simply walked off their posts at remote forward operating bases.

This is a ROYAL JOKE. We have no idea what we are doing because we are talking about leaving in a year and trying to look serious, but no one is buying and the govt in Afghanistan is negotiating with the Taliban so they don't end up hanging from the 1 or 2 street lamps in the nation from a piano wire around their ankles, while our allies the Pakistanis use their CIA (ISI) to help the Taliban fight us.

We have no will to win at the top and THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.

This is what always happens.

As wrong as he was about some things.....

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