Weekend Humor (Or Not)

But not so funny, particularly on the heels of Friday's news of the downgrade of the United States credit rating (Click directly on the image below to enlarge it):


On a very serious and somber note, watch the following video from the Wall Street Journal:

It's a Djinn

Watch out, it will tempt you to look at an Un-emBurqa'd woman, and then you will convert to the Western Religion of Pornography and Drinking.

MSNBC:

31 US troops die in Afghanistan; many from unit that killed bin Laden
7 Afghan commandos are also killed; Chinook crash appears to be deadliest single incident in the decade-long war

KABUL, Afghanistan — A NATO helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Saturday killing 31 U.S. special-forces troops, including more than 20 Navy SEALS from the unit that killed Osama bin Laden, and 7 Afghan commandos.

It was the deadliest single combat incident for American troops in 10 years of war, according to an American official.

The operators from SEAL Team Six were flown by a crew of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regimen, according to U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because families are still being notified of the loss of their loved ones.

One source said the team was thought to include 22 SEALs, three Air Force air controllers, seven Afghan Army troops, a dog and his handler, and a civilian interpreter, plus the helicopter crew.

The sources thought this was the largest single loss of life ever for SEAL Team Six, known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group.

A brief statement from the presidential palace said the helicopter had crashed in central Wardak province, an area west of Kabul. The volatile region is known for its strong Taliban presence.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai "shared his deep sorrow and sadness" with U.S. counterpart Barack Obama and the families of the U.S. and Afghan victims, the statement said. Obama, who learned of the deaths while at Camp David, mourned the deaths of the 7 Afghan soldiers killed, and issued a written statement saying Americans' thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who perished.

The crash is a reminder of the "extraordinary sacrifices" being made by America's military and its families, Obama wrote.

The Taliban claimed to have shot down the troop-carrying Chinook helicopter during a firefight. The Islamist group also said in a statement that eight insurgents had been killed in the battle.

NBC News quoted a Taliban spokesman as claiming the U.S. troops were attacking a compound that was housing militants when the aircraft was brought down. However, the Taliban has been known to make exaggerated claims in the past.
Read more »

Moderate Muslims

From my friend Reliapundit at The Astute Bloggers:

MOHAMED WAS A THIEF A LIAR A PEDOPHILE AND A GENOCIDAL TERRORIST.

AND THE KORAN - SUPPOSEDLY A REVELATION - IS LETTERED WITH RACIST, MISOGYNIST, AND ANTISEMITIC FILTH - NOT TO MENTION HISTORICAL ERRORS.

IF THE SO-CALLED PROPHET OF ISLAM WAS SO EVIL AND SO VIOLENT - A MAN WHO COULDN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SATAN AND GABRIEL...

AND IF EMULATING HIM MAKES YOU A "GOOD MUSLIM"...

THEN ALL THE JIHADO-TERRORISTS IN THE WORLD ARE "GOOD MUSLIMS"...

AND MOST OF THE MUSLIMS IN THE WORLD ARE BAD MUSLIMS.

Go read the whole thing.

A dangerous new trend

Apparently, there is a new trend in America these days. A new trend that goes well beyond slouching drawers and gangster rap.

It's called "Beat Whitey Day". It's also known as "Beat Whitey Night" as those of us who live or visited Milwaukee, have discovered.

On the night of July 3rd at a popular park here, a mob of black youths (as the media coins them), decided that the fireworks show needed an after party.

[about 60 youths robbed and beat up people who were attending the fireworks display at the Kilbourn Reservoir Park late Sunday. The injured were White; the attackers were African American.]

The response by the media and police was as expected. Downplay the "racist" aspect of this. One well known black commentator at the Journal Sentinal had the gall to call them "knuckleheads", misguided youth. You know, the kind of kid who steals candy bars or skips class.

All of the victims have been shaking their collective heads. Asking the question; What if this had been a group of white people beating on blacks?

We all know the answer to that. We have witnessed the outrage when a few white kids beat up black kids.

A month and 2 days later, we had the Wisconsin State Fair.

[Unprecedented violence on the opening night of the Wisconsin State Fair by rampaging youths prompted extraordinary measures Friday: The head of the fair implemented new rules to keep unattended teens off the grounds at night, and Gov. Scott Walker ordered the State Patrol to help keep order.


The violence left workers and patrons of the fair in West Allis shaken and reminded many of the mob-like disturbances that occurred over the Fourth of July weekend in Milwaukee.

The trouble at the fair started around 7 p.m. Thursday in the midway area, where amusement rides are located, when fights broke out among black youths, said Tom Struebing, chief of the State Fair Police. Those fights did not appear to be racially motivated.

Then around the closing time of 11 p.m., witnesses told the Journal Sentinel, dozens to hundreds of black youths attacked white people as they left the fair, punching and kicking people and shaking and pounding on their vehicles.

------

Witnesses’ accounts claim everything from dozens to hundreds of young black people beating white people as they left State Fair Thursday night. Authorities have not given official estimates of the number of people involved in the attacks.

“It looked like they were just going after white guys, white people,” said Norb Roffers of Wind Lake in an interview with Newsradio 620 WTMJ. He left the State Fair Entrance near the corner of South 84th Street and West Schlinger Avenue in West Allis.

“They were attacking everybody for no reason whatsoever.” “It was 100% racial,” claimed Eric, an Iraq war veteran from St. Francis who says young people beat on his car. “I had a black couple on my right side, and these black kids were running in between all the cars, and they were pounding on my doors and trying to open up doors on my car, and they didn’t do one thing to this black couple that was in this car next to us. They just kept walking right past their car. They were looking in everybody’s windshield as they were running by, seeing who was white and who was black. Guarantee it.”

------

Eric, who asked Newsradio 620 WTMJ not to use his last name, talked about the incidents that happened as he, his wife and a neighbor left the fair Thursday.

“We exited at the Schlinger and 84th exit, and we walked south about a block, and then went up and got our car, came back up and around down Schlinger. When we made a left hand turn, we were stopped in traffic. I looked toward the bridge, right before you get on the freeway, and all I saw was a road full of black kids, jumping over people’s cars, jumping on people’s hoods, running over the top of them.”

Eric then claimed that he saw hundreds of young black people coming down a sidewalk.

“I saw them grab this white kid who was probably 14 or 15 years old. They just flung him into the road. They just jumped on him and started beating him. They were kicking him. He was on the ground. A girl picked up a construction sign and pushed it over on top of him. They were just running by and kicking him in the face.”

More here.

13 people, including 7 cops were injured. One of the cops is still in the hospital and one of the injured civilians will need surgery.

These are only 2 of the recent examples here in Milwaukee. There have been more.

This is taking place all over the country. Chicago, Philidelphia, Iowa, Florida and New York are only a few examples.

Someone is going to die. Guaranteed.

Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, where are you?


I had a long conversation with my oldest daughter (32) who is half black. She is disgusted by this. The blacks she works with, are disgusted by this.

Where in the hell are the black leaders in this city? This country? Aren't they disgusted by this too? Or, as we all here suspect, they will use this as an example of what whitey has caused.

This is a race issue alright.

Seems the race problem has done a flip over the fence, to the other side.

The insolence of assertions

Someplace around here was the assertion, by Damien II (I think, not sure) that after a generation muslim reproductive rates fall to whatever society they are in, thus Mark Steyn et al are total morons seeking yadda yadda yadda.

Since we all:

1) SHOULD BE SCEPTICS

2) ALWAYS BENEFIT FROM 'PROOFS'

3) INCREASE OUR GRAVITAS

Let's please try to make a habit of posting URL backups so that we know reality is being asserted, and that we can all judge the 'fact' site and assertion in the full light of day.

I have NO IDEA if muslim birth rates drop to the same as the society they are in or not.

I hope that is right, because it would be a marker of ASSIMILATION. IMHO

But I remain a sceptic, so Damien II if that was you, please let's have the URL, otherwise it's just a claim

The next time you tell your wife/lover you love her : HERE IS THE BAR TO MEASURE YOURSELF AGAINST

Compared to this, EVERYTHING else is total bullshit.

TOTAL BULLSHIT.

HERO: Hideaki Akaiwa

This is Hideaki Akaiwa. When the Tsunami hit his home town of Ishinomaki, Hideaki was at work. Realising his wife was trapped in their home, he ignored the advice of professionals, who told him to wait for the army to arrive to provide search and rescue.

Instead he found some scuba gear, jumped in the raging torrent - dodging cars, houses and other debris being dragged around by the powerful current, any of which could have killed him instantly - and navigated the now submerged streets in pitch dark, freezing water (MARCH, the north pacific, night, remember?) until he found his house. Swimming inside, he discovered his wife alive on the upper level with only a small amount of breathing room, and sharing his respirator, pulled her out to safety.

If he had waited for the army, his wife of 20 years would be dead.

Oh, and if that’s not enough badassery for one lifetime, Hideaki realised his mother was also unaccounted for, so jumped back in the water and managed to save her life also.

BTW, here’s the town

Should We Snatch Pakistan’s Nukes?

From Will at The Other News:

Given the growing anxiety in security circles about the future of Pakistan, it should not be surprising that plans have been developed to snatch Pakistan’s nukes should the country fall into chaos, or under the influence of Islamists. Indeed, there are some reports that the U.S. special forces are conducting drills to do just that, should it become necessary.But this isn’t like 24. This would be an amazingly difficult operation. Where precisely are the nukes? According to Pakistani nuclear scientist Pervez Hoodboy,

”They are said to be hidden in tunnels under mountains, in cities, as well as regular army force and army bases.” 

But he warns,” A U.S. snatch operation could trigger war; it should never be attempted. An American attack on Pakistan’s nuclear production or storage sites would be extremely dangerous and counterproductive,” the physicist said. “By comparison the bin Laden operation [into Abbottabad] involved only minor risks. Even if a single Pakistani nuke (out of roughly 100) escapes destruction, that last one could be unimaginably dangerous.” 

There are so many unknowns with this type of operation. Will the nukes be dispersed? How well defended? How will we transport them? What are the implications if we attempt to destroy them? No easy answers. And yet, an Islamist Pakistan with nukes? Talk about a nightmare.

So if a crisis erupts, what will it be: snatch operation, or no snatch operation? 

"To Snatch or not to snatch,that is the question.Read the full story here. 

The Future

Ever So Lonely

Sheila Chandra

God Must Be A Boogie Man

Joni Mitchell, from the album "Mingus"

"Play that weird minor chord".



He is three
One's in the middle unmoved
Waiting for the other two
To the one attacking, so afraid
And the one who keeps trying to love and trust
And getting himself betrayed
In the Plan, The Divine Plan
God Must Be a Boogie Man

The Lakes of Canada

The band is Innocence Mission

Imagine That Someone Would Accuse Wafa Sultan of "Selling Out Her Culture" For This Appearance on Arab TV

Because of this appearance on Arab TV, Wafa Sultan lives under constant threat of death, and she lives in hiding.

And, Damien CQ says she is "selling out her culture."

What is wrong with that man?

DOWNGRADED!

You better hold fast. . .

John Galt:

S&P Downgrades United States of America from AAA to AA+ with a Negative Outlook
By John Galt

August 5, 2011 20:21 ET

Will link the S&P story when it is available as their webpage has blown up. Headline only for now.

FULL TEXT OF STATEMENT FROM STANDARD & POORS:

United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To ‘AA+’ On Political Risks And Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative

We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’ and affirmed the ‘A-1+’ short-term rating.

We have also removed both the short- and long-term ratings from CreditWatch negative.

The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics.

More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011.

Since then, we have changed our view of the difficulties in bridging the gulf between the political parties over fiscal policy, which makes us pessimistic about the capacity of Congress and the Administration to be able to leverage their agreement this week into a broader fiscal consolidation plan that stabilizes the government’s debt dynamics any time soon.

The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. We could lower the long-term rating to ‘AA’ within the next two years if we see that less reduction in spending than agreed to, higher interest rates, or new fiscal pressures during the period result in a higher general government debt trajectory than we currently assume in our base case.

Rating Action

On Aug. 5, 2011, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’. The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. At the same time, Standard & Poor’s affirmed its ‘A-1+’ short-term rating on the U.S. In addition, Standard & Poor’s removed both ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed on July 14, 2011, with negative implications.

The transfer and convertibility (T&C) assessment of the U.S.–our assessment of the likelihood of official interference in the ability of U.S.-based public- and private-sector issuers to secure foreign exchange for debt service–remains ‘AAA’.

Rationale

We lowered our long-term rating on the U.S. because we believe that the prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and the related fiscal policy debate indicate that further near-term progress containing the growth in public spending, especially on entitlements, or on reaching an agreement on raising revenues is less likely than we previously assumed and will remain a contentious and fitful process. We also believe that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration agreed to this week falls short of the amount that we believe is necessary to stabilize the general government debt burden by the middle of the decade.

Our lowering of the rating was prompted by our view on the rising public debt burden and our perception of greater policymaking uncertainty, consistent with our criteria (see “Sovereign Government Rating Methodology and Assumptions,” June 30, 2011, especially Paragraphs 36-41). Nevertheless, we view the U.S. federal government’s other economic, external, and monetary credit attributes, which form the basis for the sovereign rating, as broadly unchanged.

We have taken the ratings off CreditWatch because the Aug. 2 passage of the Budget Control Act Amendment of 2011 has removed any perceived immediate threat of payment default posed by delays to raising the government’s debt ceiling. In addition, we believe that the act provides sufficient clarity to allow us to evaluate the likely course of U.S. fiscal policy for the next few years.

The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy. Despite this year’s wide-ranging debate, in our view, the differences between political parties have proven to be extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting agreement fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently. Republicans and Democrats have only been able to agree to relatively modest savings on discretionary spending while delegating to the Select Committee decisions on more comprehensive measures. It appears that for now, new revenues have dropped down on the menu of policy options. In addition, the plan envisions only minor policy changes on Medicare and little change in other entitlements, the containment of which we and most other independent observers regard as key to long-term fiscal sustainability.

Our opinion is that elected officials remain wary of tackling the structural issues required to effectively address the rising U.S. public debt burden in a manner consistent with a ‘AAA’ rating and with ‘AAA’ rated sovereign peers (see Sovereign Government Rating Methodology and Assumptions,” June 30, 2011, especially Paragraphs 36-41). In our view, the difficulty in framing a consensus on fiscal policy weakens the government’s ability to manage public finances and diverts attention from the debate over how to achieve more balanced and dynamic economic growth in an era of fiscal stringency and private-sector deleveraging (ibid). A new political consensus might (or might not) emerge after the 2012 elections, but we believe that by then, the government debt burden will likely be higher, the needed medium-term fiscal adjustment potentially greater, and the inflection point on the U.S. population’s demographics and other age-related spending drivers closer at hand (see “Global Aging 2011: In The U.S., Going Gray Will Likely Cost Even More Green, Now,” June 21, 2011).

Standard & Poor’s takes no position on the mix of spending and revenue measures that Congress and the Administration might conclude is appropriate for putting the U.S.’s finances on a sustainable footing.

The act calls for as much as $2.4 trillion of reductions in expenditure growth over the 10 years through 2021. These cuts will be implemented in two steps: the $917 billion agreed to initially, followed by an additional $1.5 trillion that the newly formed Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is supposed to recommend by November 2011. The act contains no measures to raise taxes or otherwise enhance revenues, though the committee could recommend them.

The act further provides that if Congress does not enact the committee’s recommendations, cuts of $1.2 trillion will be implemented over the same time period. The reductions would mainly affect outlays for civilian discretionary spending, defense, and Medicare. We understand that this fall-back mechanism is designed to encourage Congress to embrace a more balanced mix of expenditure savings, as the committee might recommend.

We note that in a letter to Congress on Aug. 1, 2011, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated total budgetary savings under the act to be at least $2.1 trillion over the next 10 years relative to its baseline assumptions. In updating our own fiscal projections, with certain modifications outlined below, we have relied on the CBO’s latest “Alternate Fiscal Scenario” of June 2011, updated to include the CBO assumptions contained in its Aug. 1 letter to Congress. In general, the CBO’s “Alternate Fiscal Scenario” assumes a continuation of recent Congressional action overriding existing law.

We view the act’s measures as a step toward fiscal consolidation. However, this is within the framework of a legislative mechanism that leaves open the details of what is finally agreed to until the end of 2011, and Congress and the Administration could modify any agreement in the future. Even assuming that at least $2.1 trillion of the spending reductions the act envisages are implemented, we maintain our view that the U.S. net general government debt burden (all levels of government combined, excluding liquid financial assets) will likely continue to grow. Under our revised base case fiscal scenario–which we consider to be consistent with a ‘AA+’ long-term rating and a negative outlook–we now project that net general government debt would rise from an estimated 74% of GDP by the end of 2011 to 79% in 2015 and 85% by 2021. Even the projected 2015 ratio of sovereign indebtedness is high in relation to those of peer credits and, as noted, would continue to rise under the act’s revised policy settings.

Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act. Key macroeconomic assumptions in the base case scenario include trend real GDP growth of 3% and consumer price inflation near 2% annually over the decade.

Our revised upside scenario–which, other things being equal, we view as consistent with the outlook on the ‘AA+’ long-term rating being revised to stable–retains these same macroeconomic assumptions. In addition, it incorporates $950 billion of new revenues on the assumption that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for high earners lapse from 2013 onwards, as the Administration is advocating. In this scenario, we project that the net general government debt would rise from an estimated 74% of GDP by the end of 2011 to 77% in 2015 and to 78% by 2021.

Our revised downside scenario–which, other things being equal, we view as being consistent with a possible further downgrade to a ‘AA’ long-term rating–features less-favorable macroeconomic assumptions, as outlined below and also assumes that the second round of spending cuts (at least $1.2 trillion) that the act calls for does not occur. This scenario also assumes somewhat higher nominal interest rates for U.S. Treasuries. We still believe that the role of the U.S. dollar as the key reserve currency confers a government funding advantage, one that could change only slowly over time, and that Fed policy might lean toward continued loose monetary policy at a time of fiscal tightening. Nonetheless, it is possible that interest rates could rise if investors re-price relative risks. As a result, our alternate scenario factors in a 50 basis point (bp)-75 bp rise in 10-year bond yields relative to the base and upside cases from 2013 onwards. In this scenario, we project the net public debt burden would rise from 74% of GDP in 2011 to 90% in 2015 and to 101% by 2021.

Our revised scenarios also take into account the significant negative revisions to historical GDP data that the Bureau of Economic Analysis announced on July 29. From our perspective, the effect of these revisions underscores two related points when evaluating the likely debt trajectory of the U.S. government. First, the revisions show that the recent recession was deeper than previously assumed, so the GDP this year is lower than previously thought in both nominal and real terms. Consequently, the debt burden is slightly higher. Second, the revised data highlight the sub-par path of the current economic recovery when compared with rebounds following previous post-war recessions. We believe the sluggish pace of the current economic recovery could be consistent with the experiences of countries that have had financial crises in which the slow process of debt deleveraging in the private sector leads to a persistent drag on demand. As a result, our downside case scenario assumes relatively modest real trend GDP growth of 2.5% and inflation of near 1.5% annually going forward.

When comparing the U.S. to sovereigns with ‘AAA’ long-term ratings that we view as relevant peers–Canada, France, Germany, and the U.K.–we also observe, based on our base case scenarios for each, that the trajectory of the U.S.’s net public debt is diverging from the others. Including the U.S., we estimate that these five sovereigns will have net general government debt to GDP ratios this year ranging from 34% (Canada) to 80% (the U.K.), with the U.S. debt burden at 74%. By 2015, we project that their net public debt to GDP ratios will range between 30% (lowest, Canada) and 83% (highest, France), with the U.S. debt burden at 79%. However, in contrast with the U.S., we project that the net public debt burdens of these other sovereigns will begin to decline, either before or by 2015.

Standard & Poor’s transfer T&C assessment of the U.S. remains ‘AAA’. Our T&C assessment reflects our view of the likelihood of the sovereign restricting other public and private issuers’ access to foreign exchange needed to meet debt service. Although in our view the credit standing of the U.S. government has deteriorated modestly, we see little indication that official interference of this kind is entering onto the policy agenda of either Congress or the Administration. Consequently, we continue to view this risk as being highly remote.

Outlook

The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. As our downside alternate fiscal scenario illustrates, a higher public debt trajectory than we currently
assume could lead us to lower the long-term rating again. On the other hand, as our upside scenario highlights, if the recommendations of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction–independently or coupled with other initiatives, such as the lapsing of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for high earners–lead to fiscal consolidation measures beyond the minimum mandated, and we believe they are likely to slow the deterioration of the government’s debt dynamics, the long-term rating could stabilize at ‘AA+’.

On Monday, we will issue separate releases concerning affected ratings in the funds, government-related entities, financial institutions, insurance, public finance, and structured finance sectors.

IT'S INTERNATIONAL BEER DAY!

I wonder if she'd marry me?

CHEERS, INFIDELS!

(We'll return to our regular programming of whiskey and dark eyed wimmen tomorrow.)

The Doobie Brothers
Nobody

Cheers, AoW & WC

Lynyrd Skynyrd
That Ain't My America

You can take your change on down the road and leave me here with mine.

Train Wreckovery

While Nero danced barefoot in the Rose Garden of The People's House and the Senate skeedaddled for home because they have been working so hard and miss their Pomegranate trees and Cowboy Poetry Rome continued to burn.

They are trying to turn 117,000 created jobs and 9.1 % unemployment as a "small silver lining".

Bullshit.

The number reflects what I've been saying for months.

The "99ers" have begun reaching the end of their benefits in greater numbers. And when that happens they are no longer counted as unemployed.

The media and talking heads are trying to say it's because they have given up looking for work and are non longer counted, which is a a blatant lie, seemingly used to misdirect blame and attention. Far easier to say "these people don't want to work" than "the government is not doing enough to create an atmosphere for job growth."

The truth is they are still trying to find work. Like me, still unable to get reemployed, still trying, but no longer collecting unemployment benefits. I no longer count as unemployed.

And we're competing with college graduates who can't find work either.

Workforce participation is shrinking and is at it's lowest level since 1983.

I hope the Congresscritters come back with great stories about How We Spent Our Month Long Summer Vacation. I'll be spending mine watching Clueless Leader pivot toward jobs without trampling the flowers while dribbling the ball and trying not to drop his cake.

The cake so many others don't get to eat.

BLOGGER FJORDMAN QUESTIONED IN BREIVIK'S MURDEROUS OSLO RAMPAGE

From Tundra Tabloids:

NRK Anders Behring Breivik idol – blogger Fjordman – is currently being questioned by police. It confirms police attorney Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby to NRK

Published Today 15:31. Updated 3:55 p.m. today.

- He has been in questioning today at the police house in Oslo, he said.

Police have previously said they wanted to interrogate the person behind the online identity Fjordman.

The Islamic enemy blogger mentioned several times in the Behring Breivik’s manuscript, and mass murderer called Fjordman today’s best writer.

Status as a witness

Fjordman has previously stated to NRK that he wants to help the police if he can shed light on the terrorist attacks 22 July.

Today he showed up at the police station in Oslo.

- He has been in questioning today at the police house in Oslo after we assured us that we had the man with the right identity, say police lawyer Kraby to NRK.

Police Attorney Pål-Fredrik Hjort Kraby confirmed to NRK that the man behind the Islam-critical blog Fjordman has been questioned in Oslo today.

Photo: Øyvind Bye Skille / NRK

 

- What he said in interviews?- We do not want to go into detail about what he said, but he had status as a witness and we had a long and straightforward explanation from him on the questions we had, say Kraby.

The police would rather not talk about who the mystery blogger is. Neither the name, age or residence they go out with.

Fjordman has previously stated to NRK.no that he fears for his life if his identity is known.

Fjordman center for police

Fjordman is Behring Breivik’s ideological inspiration, but blogger even says he strongly opposes terrorist acts.

Yet the police at the man as an important witness in the case.

- When he entered in this so-called manifesto, it is clear that he is central to us. He is especially key when he added the weight he is by the defendant, and we will examine what impact the person may have had on the accused, said Kraby.

Fjordman is referred to as a hero figure in the so-called anti-jihad community on the Internet.

Blogger thinks it’s just a matter of time before the mass immigration of Muslims will lead to full civil war in Europe.

He is also convinced that Western elites are using immigration as a weapon to achieve a new global world order.

Extensive investigation

Police Attorney Kraby will not say whether they look at Fjordman as part of a larger right extreme networks in Norway, but says that they follow up the track from Behring Breivik’s writings.

- From the information set forth in the so-called manifesto, there is reason to investigate further, but after hearing there was no reason to change his status as a witness, said Kraby.

Police have also created a special unit investigating blogs and other social media Behring Breivik named in the document.

So, they don't consider him to be a suspect. They do not consider him to be anything more than a witness, which he was, in the sense that, according to Fjordman himself, Breivik DID contact him at one time.

Teaching children to die as political tools

Eli Hertz on Myths & Facts writes about how the alleged palestinians run a culture of turning their children into pointless sacrifice for jihad:

What kind of a society consciously and purposely sacrifices its own youth for political gain and tactical advantage? Suicide bombers are an escalation of a small-arms war introduced during the first Intifada (1987-1993 Palestinian’s uprising) and championed by Palestinian leaders, even prior to Arafat’s arrival from Tunis in July 1994. Today the overwhelming majority of Palestinian Arabs nurture a blind hatred of Israel. They created a cultural milieu of vengeance, violence and death - preparing their children to be sacrifices in a death cult. Proud parents dress up their toddlers not in clown costumes, but with suicide belts,1 and countless others celebrate their children’s deaths with traditional sweet holiday cakes and candies.

Protecting our children is a universal trait that unites the Family of Man. But in Palestinian society, that standard has been turned on its head

Around the world, children are precious gifts to their parents and keys to the future. The loving care we invest in our own children is a human trait that unites different cultures: rich and poor, traditional and hi-tech. The toughest job parents have is to raise their children while making everyday sacrifices and decisions for them. We hug them, love them and watch them grow up, praying that they will come to no harm, and doing everything we can to ensure that.

From the poorest barrios in South America to the most wretched slums of Cairo, parents strive to make sure there is food for their children and money for their children’s education. Parents everywhere walk a fine line between the need for parental guidance and youthful independence, setting rules for what their children can and cannot do, trying to ensure that their children will not make mistakes that endanger them. Parents raise their children with the hope that they will grow into happy, responsible, caring, and contributing members of society. That is what unites the Family of Man from Caracas to the Caucuses, from Timbuktu to Katmandu.

It is clear that in Palestinian society something has gone dreadfully wrong. Children in Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza are turned into ‘self-destructing human bombs’ capable of carrying out casualty terrorist attacks in the struggle between Palestinians and Israelis - a phenomenon whose seeds can be traced to the first Intifada.

It happened because Arab communities within the civil jurisdiction of self-rule under the Palestinian Authority (which includes 97 percent of the Arab residents in the West Bank and 100 percent of those in Gaza) foster a culture that prepares children for armed conflict, consciously and purposely putting them in harm’s way for political gain and tactical advantage in their war against Israel. The PA buses children to violent flashpoints far from their neighborhoods and Arab snipers often hide among the young during battle, using children as human shields. Teenaged perpetrators of suicide attacks have become the norm.2

No society that truly loves its children would want to turn them into sacrifices for the sake of jihadism. But to say that in Cairo it's different is flawed - if even there, children are raised upon Islamofascism and its brand of socialism, and refuse to recognize how its structure is the very reason they've got problems, then there's no true love there either.

Now, look at the following from this NYT article (via The Blaze) about girls in the Hasidic Jewish community who suffered from anorexia. I personally think it's a bit sensationalized, as could be expected from such a crappy paper, and it doesn't take into consideration that if you know where to look, there are Arab girls who could suffere the same problems, but if there's one thing that is correct here:

By the time her rabbi came to visit her, she was emaciated. He told her that she must attend a treatment program that met on Saturday, the Jewish day of rest, even if she had to violate religious rules by riding in a car to get there. She could even eat food that wasn’t kosher.

“That’s when I realized it was a matter of life and death,” Ms. Feigenbaum said in an interview. “My rabbi does not take Jewish law lightly. But he told me the Jewish laws are things God wanted us to live by, not die by, and that saving a life takes precedence over all of them.”

Yes, that's correct. The customs in Judaism are to live by, NOT to die by. The same goes with Christianity. On the other hand, it seems that in Islam, religion is put above ALL else. But is that truly what God wants of Muslims? And how did Muhammed, a man who bore only daughters and never had a son to take up his barbaric reign, know that God would want him to lead the kind of dark stained life he did? In the case of that tyrant Muhammed, one could say he was merely a foul fantasist and know-it-all of the worst kind.

And that kind of uppity mindset is just what's destroying societies adhering to Islam.

Benny Goodman Quartet
Moonglow

Sarah Vaughan
Round Midnight

Diana Krall
The Look Of Love

Dave Worley
Awful Beautiful Life

CNET:

White House: Need to monitor online 'extremism'
by Declan McCullagh

A White House terrorism strategy released today says Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks aid in "advancing violent extremist narratives" and should be monitored by the government.

The 12-page strategy (PDF), which outlines ways to respond to violent extremism, promises that: "We will continue to closely monitor the important role the Internet and social-networking sites play in advancing violent extremist narratives."

President Obama said in a statement accompanying the report that the federal government will start "helping communities to better understand and protect themselves against violent extremist propaganda, especially online."

While much of the White House document is focused on al Qaeda--which The Washington Post recently reported is on the "brink of collapse"--it also talks about domestic terrorists, neo-Nazis, anti-Semitic groups, and a broad "range of ideologies" that promote radicalization.

Today's announcement may signal that monitoring of social networks will broaden beyond the U.S. Department of Homeland Security already does. Depending on the details, it could also raise concerns about how to balance Americans' privacy rights with desire of security agencies to collect and analyze information that is, more or less, publicly available.

In June 2010, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed publicly (PDF) that its agents were permitted to create accounts on social-networking sites in some situations.

DHS's National Operations Center "will monitor activities on the social-media sites" using search engines, aggregators, and other tools, last year's announcement said. "The NOC will gather, store, analyze, and disseminate relevant and appropriate de-identified information to federal, state, local, and foreign governments, and private sector partners..."

In addition, the Electronic Frontier Foundation unearthed documents showing that DHS officials were sending "friend" requests to people applying for U.S. citizenship. DHS conducted extensive monitoring of social networks during Obama's inauguration.

In 2009, CIA investment arm In-Q-Tel invested in Visible Technologies, which monitors millions of posts on social-networking Web sites, Wired reported. Tax collectors, too, are "nabbing scofflaws by mining information posted on social-networking Web sites," according to The Wall Street Journal, and the FBI has previously supported legislation that would allow federal police to monitor the Internet for "illegal activity."

This move toward monitoring social networks hasn't been without controversy. A New York Times editorial suggested these techniques may go too far: "If government agents are joining social networks under false pretenses to spy without a court order, for example, that might be crossing a line."

It's also not been limited to the United States.

In 2009, the U.K. Home Office announced it would monitor all conversations on social-networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Twitter, and Skype, in a crackdown on terrorists' use of the Internet. So has the Chilean government. And, of course, some repressive regimes have simply blocked Web sites completely.

Update 4:20 p.m. PT: Here's some background from a House Homeland Security hearing on July 27, where Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, warned of Internet radicalization:

We're investigating the radicalization of Muslim youth in the United States. Does anybody on this panel disagree with the notion that the radicalization of Muslim youth in the United States poses a threat to our homeland security? I take it by your silence that you agree with the idea that the radicalization of Muslim youth in the United States poses a direct threat to the security and safety of our homeland security. We know that three dozen Americans have left the United States, mostly from Minnesota, to join forces in Somalia, to receive training under al-Shabaab, to receive training by Al Qaida...

And clearly, al-Awlaki is becoming the emerging threat, you know, on the scene, in my judgment. He's radicalizing Muslim youth over the Internet here in the United States. And what easier way to do it? If you can't get into the country with travel documents, why not radicalize people who are already here? [Ed. Note: Anwar al-Awlaki is an alleged al Qaeda leader. Emphasis added.]

The same day, a subcommittee of the House Intelligence Committee held a hearing, where chairman Sue Myrick, a Republican from North Carolina, also stressed Internet radicalization. Referring to Samir Kahn, a U.S. blogger who reportedly moved to Yemen:

You know he was here, we knew it but we really couldn't do anything about it. Now, he's very successful because he's in a country where he can radicalized, he is radicalizing. We have proof of that with our young people. And you know, parents are very concerned about this happening to the young people because as you said the Internet, et cetera, is very easy today for people to get on any site they want to, and you know, be involved.

So, what is it that we can do? ... You know, what can we do and ensure that in the future not only with him but with others, how do we stop this or how can we continue to fight back against what could become homegrown terrorism, none of us want to see, and you know, that happens right here in our own backyard?

Don't cry for Obama

Fools are putting up with Obama, though fewer by the day, and hard-core whores still walk the streets for him; but it looks like my [anonymous] friend who predicted just after Obama's election is going to be right: that Obama will be the first president in American history to commit suicide in office.

Here's a musical interlude for those still sucking for Obama.

"Don't cry for Obama."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgUyDhwDFdU studio (1988)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM5_vyLHWBs live

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY
UNCLE BARRY!

Dude, how was the party?

When I said ‘change we can believe in’ I didn’t say ‘change we can believe in tomorrow.’

We get it, Pinochiobama!

“It’s been a long, tough journey. But we have made some incredible strides together. Yes, we have. But the thing that we all ought to remember is that as much as good as we have done, precisely because the challenges were so daunting, precisely because we we were inheriting so many challenges, that we’re not even halfway there yet. When I said ‘change we can believe in’ I didn’t say ‘change we can believe in tomorrow.’ Not change we can believe in next week. We knew this was going to take time because we’ve got this big, messy, tough democracy,” President Obama said at a campaign fundraiser in Chicago on Wednesday night.

Really?

Is that going to be your story?

Really?

European Union, OIC, United States pledge to "combat intolerance"

In what can rightly be described as a seminal step in relations between the Muslim world and the Western world, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the leading nations of the Western world led by the United States and the European Union agreed Saturday to take concrete steps to combat intolerance, negative stereotyping and discrimination, incitement to violence, and violence against persons based on religion or belief.


...The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had announced the intention of the U.S. State Department to organize a coordination meeting during her participation in the meeting which she co-chaired with the OIC Secretary General, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu in Istanbul on 15 July 2011. The meeting issued a joint statement emphasizing the dire need for the implementation of resolution 16/18.


The resolution 16/18 is precisely the resolution that condemns blasphemy, that is, criticism on Islam.


Will Obama support the blasphemy resolution? It looks like that the correct answer is yes.

Victory for NATO…….!NOT

NYT:

After six months battling a rebellion that his family portrayed as an Islamist conspiracy, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s son and one-time heir apparent said Wednesday that he was reversing course to forge a behind-the-scenes alliance with radical Islamist elements among the Libyan rebels to drive out their more liberal-minded confederates.

Ok so we put this together with Turkey’s ascendant Islamism, Egypt’s ascendant Muslim Brotherhood, Yemen going south, Tunisia experimenting with the 2nd law of thermodynamics, and what do we have?

Is that silence I detect iconic for lack of leadership?

Meanwhile, in Syria, the OTHERS are UNAFRAID. They understand.

Is this all the result of the acceptance of the idea of american decline in a chaotic world in the minds of the leadership of what has become of the democratic party?

Is this the ULTIMATE expression of the results of free trade as implemented?

The core of american power, it’s economy, has been denuded?

Do we have a leadership competent enough to recognize the situation and commit an act?

This Week On The Gathering Storm: Epa!

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, for 30 minutes.

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

Callers welcome!

Our scheduled guest this week is Epaminondas.

Listen to the August 5, 2011 edition of The Gathering Storm Radio Show, live or later, by CLICKING HERE.

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