Is The Judge In The Al-Arian Terror-Financing Case Trying To Avoid Handing Down an Opinion?

That's Going to be Some Order.

(IPT).U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema made a pledge a year ago today.She would decide whether the criminal contempt case against Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operative Sami Al-Arian would be dismissed or go to trial. Prosecutors charged Al-Arian in 2008 after he repeatedly refused to speak to a federal grand jury investigating terror financing in Northern Virginia despite a subpoena and judges' orders.

Al-Arian says he was absolved of complying with any subpoena in his 2006 plea agreement for conspiracy to provide services to the PIJ.There is nothing in Al-Arian's plea agreement alluding to anything close to his claim, prosecutors argue.

And nothing was mentioned when he entered his plea before a federal magistrate in Tampa. The argument has been denied by appellate courts for the 4^th and 11^th circuits.Brinkema canceled a hearing on the matter at the 11^th hour last year.

"The Court finds that a hearing on these issues is not necessary," she wrote. "The parties have fully briefed their positions and the Court is working on an opinion which addresses all relevant issues."That's funny, because Brinkema said something very similar in cancelling a hearing 18 months earlier:

"Because the parties have fully briefed the facts and legal contentions raised in the defendant's Motion to Dismiss the Indictment and have previously argued similar issues before the Court, additional oral argument will not aid the decisional process …  

The Court will issue a written opinion on the motion in the near future."That was 919 days ago. The court has been silent.

Al-Arian is confined to house arrest at the home of one of his children in Northern Virginia, either the victim of a misguided prosecution or as a man who got away with breaking the law.Brinkema clearly doesn't like the case, but can't dismiss it based on the merits. She has written twice that an order is coming.  

Given the time that has passed, it's fair to ask whether she ever intended to act. Is that the proper behavior for a federal judge?

 Read the full story here.

Gibson Guitar (Republican Donor) Targeted - Martin Guitar (Democratic Donor) Not Targeted

From Will at The Other News:

In recent months, the U.S. government has dispatched heavily armed federal law enforcement officers to raid Gibson Guitar factories—American guitar factories!—in Tennessee for violations of the Lacey Act, a federal statute that makes it a crime to import some tropical hardwoods in violation of foreign laws.

Condemning this “overreach” by the feds, Gibson chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, reported that “armed people came in our factory…evacuated our employees, then seized half a million dollars of our goods without any charges having been filed.”

In total, U.S. government agents have seized more than $1 million of rosewood, ebony, and finished guitars from Gibson factories in Memphis and Nashville in raids in 2009 and August 2011, Juszkiewicz said. 

Welcome to 21st-century green protectionism, Obama Administration–style.And apparently not just protectionism but green cronyism is afoot, too, since other reports indicate that the Obama Administration is enforcing the Lacey Act in an arbitrary and selective manner.

John Hinderaker reports on the Powerline blog that “Juszkiewicz is a Republican donor, while the CEO of one of his principal competitors, C. F. Martin and Company, is a Democratic donor.” Martin reportedly uses the same wood, but Justice Department hasn’t raided them, leading to speculation that the Obama Administration is sending a warning to Republican businessmen that they had better not oppose his re-election lest they face criminal investigations.

Read the full story here.

Really? Bwahahahaha! - Bring It On, Motherfucker

Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad:Western action against my country would cause an "earthquake" that would "burn the whole region"

 
From Will at The Other News:

(TheTelegraph). In his first interview with a Western journalist since Syria's seven-month uprising began, President Assad told The Sunday Telegraph that intervention against his regime could cause "another Afghanistan". 

Western countries "are going to ratchet up the pressure, definitely," he said. "But Syria is different in every respect from Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen. The history is different. The politics is different.

"Syria is the hub now in this region. It is the fault line, and if you play with the ground you will cause an earthquake … Do you want to see another Afghanistan, or tens of Afghanistans?"Any problem in Syria will burn the whole region. If the plan is to divide Syria, that is to divide the whole region."

Thousands of anti-government demonstrators took to the streets in two Syrian cities on Friday to demand the imposition of a Libyan-style no-fly zone over the country. According to the United Nations, at least 3,000 civilians, including 187 children, have been killed during protests against the regime. Thousands more have been imprisoned.

The government says 1,200 members of the security forces have also died.President Assad admitted that "many mistakes" had been made by his forces in the early part of the uprising, but insisted that only "terrorists" were now being targeted."We have very few police, only the army, who are trained to take on al-Qaeda," he said. "If you sent in your army to the streets, the same thing would happen. Now, we are only fighting terrorists. That's why the fighting is becoming much less."

On Friday alone, however, opposition groups claimed that 40 people were killed by the regime, and government troops shelled a district of Homs, a centre of opposition.Seventeen soldiers also died in overnight clashes with suspected army deserters in the city, which foreign journalists are forbidden to enter.Syria was condemned yesterday by Arab League foreign ministers for its "continued killings of civilians".

The number of protesters appeared to fall earlier this month, but has increased again after the death of Col Gaddafi gave opposition groups new heart. A general strike affected much of the southern part of the country.President Assad insisted that he had responded differently to the Arab Spring than other, deposed Arab leaders.

"We didn't go down the road of stubborn government," he said. "Six days after [the protests began] I commenced reform. People were sceptical that the reforms were an opiate for the people, but when we started announcing the reforms, the problems started decreasing e_SLps This is when the tide started to turn.

This is when people started supporting the government."Some Damascus-based opposition leaders say the reforms, which include laws ostensibly allowing demonstrations and political parties, are a start, but not enough. However, the leaders of the main protests say they are meaningless and President Assad must go."The problem with the government is that their dialogue is shallow and just a tool to gain time," said Kadri Jamil, of Kassioun, a Damascus-based opposition group.

"They have to act to begin real dialogue because the security solution has failed. We have one to two months before we pass the point of no return."One Homs-based opposition activist said: "Killing people is not an act of reform. We aren't calling for economic or even political reform under Assad, but for the departure of this bloodstained president and free elections."

President Assad said: "The pace of reform is not too slow. The vision needs to be mature. It would take only 15 seconds to sign a law, but if it doesn't fit your society, you'll have division … It's a very complicated society." 

He described the uprising as a "struggle between Islamism and pan-Arabism [secularism], adding: "We've been fighting the Muslim Brotherhood since the 1950s and we are still fighting with them."

In interviews in Damascus, some without government minders, secular Syrians and members of the country's substantial Christian and Alawite minorities said they supported the Assad regime for fear of their positions under a new government. Those attending a large demonstration in support of the regime last Wednesday did not appear to be coerced, according to independent observers.However, interviews, even some with minders present, revealed widespread and vocal discontent over corruption and living standards.

Read the full story here.

Tahrir Square, a step forward, if you hate clitorises

Savage behavior, inculcated thru ignorance, passed down and then defended as proper.

FGM forever!

The New Republic:

Ali, a 34-year-old Cairo businessman who asked that his real name not be used, is weighing whether or not to circumcise his 12-year-old daughter. Female circumcision, or female genital mutilation (FGM), as it also known, involves removing part or the entire clitoris. In more severe forms of the procedure, the labia minora is removed and the vaginal opening is stitched up. Ali’s wife has told him about her own experience; describing her story to me, he said, “It is her most terrible memory.” He has heard discussions on television of potential harm the procedure can cause, but he feels a responsibility to protect the chastity of his daughter until she is married. Three thousand years of tradition instruct him that circumcision is the best means to this end. And, in the post-Mubarak Egypt, there are fewer and fewer voices offering an alternative view. The decades-long movement to stop FGM has become a casualty of the power struggle in Egypt.

The campaign to end FGM in Egypt was fighting an uphill battle before the revolution. Although FGM was outlawed in 2007 after a 12-year-old girl died from the procedure, the practice is still widespread. Despite efforts to reduce it, the number of girls aged 15 to 17 who underwent FGM only dropped from 77 percent in 2005 to 74 percent in 2008, according to the 2008 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS). EDHS also showed that 91 percent of all women in Egypt between the ages of 15 and 49 have undergone FGM. The practice is common not only among Muslims, but also in the Christian community, which constitutes 10 percent of the Egyptian population. A sanitized version of FGM has gained increased prevalence in recent years, presenting additional challenges. In 1995, only 45 percent of all FGM operations were conducted by doctors; by 2008, the percentage had risen to 72 percent. A young woman working as a maid and living in Cairo, who asked to be referred to only as Ayesha, did not even know that FGM is illegal. Her mother had put her through the procedure, and she told me that she would do the same. (Experts have found that the practice is mostly perpetuated by mothers making decisions for their daughters.) “Unless someone can show me what is wrong with it I don’t think there is any reason to change,” she said.

The New Republic which is now WELL left of center needs to be congratulated for this report, for even though they try to ameliorate this hideous set of facts, they DO go ahead and lay it out, but you have to KNOW THE PLAYERS. Naturally the OFFENDER OF CAUSE HERE?

THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

In addition to the general shrinking of U.N. and NGO funds and efforts, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood as one of the strongest political forces attempting to fill the void left by Mubarak’s departure presents potential obstacles to the campaign to end FGM. While the Muslim Brotherhood does not have an official position on FGM, the group has, in the past, opposed a complete ban on the practice. “Nothing in Islam forbids circumcision,”said Saad El Katani, the leader of the Brotherhood in parliament in 2008. Some members of the Brotherhood have argued that opposition to a complete ban does not indicate support of the practice, but they generally don’t speak out against it.

For instance, Manal Abul-Hassan, a female leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who plans to run for parliamentary elections in November, told me that FGMis “not halal(permissible) and it’s not a haram (forbidden).” She does not favor its complete ban and disagrees with the U.N. characterization of FGM as a human rights violation.

Saudi royal offers $900,000 reward for capture of Israeli soldiers

Netanyahu has CLEARLY underestimated the number and quality of bloodthirsty pricks.

This is a SALUTARY lesson for us all.

THERE IS NO POINT REDEEMING A CAPTIVE IN THIS WAY.

A Saudi royal offered a $900,000 reward to anyone who captures an Israeli soldier, on Saturday. Prince Khaled bin Talal, the brother of business tycoon Walid bin Talal, told the Saudi-based broadcaster Al Daleel that the captive would then be released in exchange for Arabs held in Israeli prisons.

Khaled’s offer comes days after the prominent Saudi cleric, Awad al-Qarni, put $100,000 on the head of every Israeli soldier.

Al-Qarni’s statement - posted on Facebook - was severely criticized, and messages posted online even warned of death threats.

Khaled told the broadcaster: “My offer also comes in response to the threats made against Sheikh al-Qarni.”

The Saudi offers follows the recent deal between the Israeli government and Hamas, when Israel agreed to release 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit.

Here’s some advice, Bibi, these guys have to come up with gay photos on Facebook. THEN DISAPPEAR.

UTTERLY.

Kibbee in Al Hudaydah

So sorry, but this is what they compel.

Hamas Website: "We shall knock on heaven's doors with the skulls of Jews"

From Independent Media Review Analysis:

PMW: Hamas: "We shall knock on heaven's doors with the skulls of Jews"
Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin
December 2, 2002
PALESTINIAN MEDIA WATCH
phone: 972- 2- 625-4140 fax: 972-2- 624-2803
visit our website, click here: http://www.pmw.org.il
for further information, contact PMW Director, Itamar Marcus

"We shall knock on heaven's doors with the skulls of Jews" - Hamas
By Itamar Marcus

The Palestinians have reported that recent talks between the Palestinian
Authority and the Hamas have led to a strengthening of cooperation. Indeed
numerous terrorist attacks have been executed by joint Hamas - PA terror
teams. Given the increased PA cooperation, the political messages of the
Hamas take on greater significance. The following two items now appear on
the Hamas website. The first describes the killing of Jews as the way to
Islamic heaven and the second deals with the religious question as to
whether a woman terrorist may dress without the traditional Islamic garb
when the Islamic garb hinders her ability to commit terror acts.
1. A picture on the "art page" carries the title: "We shall knock on
heaven's doors with the skulls of Jews".

Below these words, an ax is crashing down on the words "the Jews". On the ax
are the words "Al-Kassam" the name of the Hamas terrorist unit. The face is
of arch terrorist Immad Akkel, who planned and executed more than 13
terrorist attacks.

2. Religious law question in the "Religious Law Corner"
"Must the female suicide seeker [Istishehadiya -Palestinian term for
suicide bomber] about to execute an operation, dress in accordance with the
Sharia [Moslem religious law], knowing that if the operation is to be in an
Israeli area... the woman will be exposed?"

Answer: "The question of the hijab [woman's head-covering] is not open to
discussion. This is a commandment and obligation a Jihad warrior may not
forgo. A second point is that in our streets and cities, occupied by the
Jews [all of Israel is considered 'occupied'], our sisters may walk about
dressed in their Shar'i clothes, even with veils on their faces and wearing
gloves. The third point, and it is very significant, is that our sisters,
the Jihad warriors, can deceive the Jews by wearing clothes of the type worn
by the so-called religious Jewish women which is acceptable under the
Sharia. Onward the Shahid [Death for Allah] convoy!"

Brother Jack McDuff
The Honeydripper

Austrian Judge: Europe Will Be the Battlefield for New Religious Wars

From Will at The Other News:

There is an astonishing article about Islam in "Kriminalpolizei", an Austrian magazine for professionals from various branches involved in dealing with criminality: police, judges, academics, etc. It is written by Alfred Ellinger, founder of the "Vereinigung österreichischer Kriminalisten" [Association of Austrian Criminologists], which publishes the magazine. Ellinger is also a criminal judge and vice-president of the Eisenstadt Regional Court.  

Titled "Between Dialogue and Jihad", the article goes over the doctrines and history of Islam with unusual candour. It concludes with a resounding wake-up call for Europe.Let us indulge in no illusions. 

Europe will be the battlefield for a major struggle between the order of Islam and its enemies. 40% of the population in Arab countries is under 14 years of age. 15 million Muslims are already living in Europe today and the ageing of Europe is unmissable.

The Muslim threat was beaten back in Castile, Southern France and, finally, in front of Vienna. But today the border between Europe and the Islamic world is porous, and the threat to Europe is clear. ... 

If Europe does not very quickly abandon its utterly failed immigration policy, the vision of a "multicultural society" and a misguided tolerance in dealing with hate-filled Islamists, the constantly repeated calls for "dialogue" and "tolerance" will lead to undreamt-of problems and new politically-motivated wars of religion in our cities.

Read the full story here.

You're Kidding Me?Loaded Guns On Planes “Not A TSA Issue”

 
If this is not a TSA issue, then I guess we should all pack heat next time we fly. That way we can protect ourselves.

From Will at The Other News:

In the latest scandal to rock the perpetually inept Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a loaded gun slipped through “security” at a major U.S. airport and the agency claims there was no system breakdown because it was not its duty to intercept the weapon.This may lead Americans to wonder who is responsible for securing the nation’s transportation system.  

After all, Congress created the monstrous TSA, with 50,000 employees, to protect mainly aviation after the 2001 terrorist attacks. In the name of security, travelers go through a circus-like routine that includes invasive pat-downs, body scanners, removing shoes and giving up liquids to board a plane.

Packing a loaded weapon into a checked bag is another story. It happened over the weekend at Los Angeles International Airport while TSA agents napped through the process.  

The loaded .38-caliber handgun was subsequently discovered by airport ramp employees when it fell out of a duffel bag as they were about to load it, according to California’s largest newspaper.Here is where it gets really good. 

TSA officials claim they are not required to screen for loaded weapons in checked luggage and an agency spokesman played if off as an “issue” for someone else to deal with.

Here is the direct quote from the TSA official published in the paper’s follow-up story on the incident: “It may be an issue for some agency or the airline, but it's not a TSA issue. Our mandate is to screen baggage for explosives."

Inevitably, this has ignited fury among local police and lawmakers since it’s illegal to transport a loaded or unloaded gun in an airplane without properly declaring it. Rules and regulations for the transportation of firearms and the penalties for violating them are even posted on the TSA’s website. “These regulations are strictly enforced,” the TSA asserts on its website.

“Violations can result in criminal prosecution and civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.”But who is strictly enforcing the regulations? A congresswoman, who represents Los Angeles and sits on the House Committee on Homeland Security and the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, is demanding answers. In a letter to Administrator John S. Pistole, Congresswoman Janice Hahn asks “if TSA is not enforcing its own regulations about loaded firearms in luggage, who is?”

Hahn also mentions how “troubling” it is that ten years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, an undeclared, unsecured and loaded firearm escaped detection in baggage screening.These sorts of lapses are par for the course for the TSA, which has virtually unlimited resources and unconditional support from Congress and the White House.

The agency has made headlines over the years for guns and bombs regularly getting past screeners during random tests at major airports, failing to meet federal standards by not screening cargo and passengers on hundreds of thousands of planes that fly over the U.S. annually and approving background checks for a dozen illegal immigrants working in sensitive areas of a busy U.S. airport.

A few months ago a federal report blasted a $212 million TSA screening program, known as Passenger by Observation Techniques (SPOT), that promised to detect terrorists at U.S. airports. Instead the TSA’s highly specialized Behavior Detection Officers failed to stop terrorists from boarding planes on at least 23 occasions, according to congressional investigators who conducted the probe.

Read the full story here.

OT for Saturday... a moment caught behind someone

Sometimes you just want to look.

A moment which strikes something.

Can you just get the hint of the perfume trailing?

From ‘les deux filles’

Permalink

• Reblogged from les deux filles francaise
• Source emmeline-et-juliette

OWS coup takes place in LA?

natashavc:

Around 8 p.m. on Wednesday night, the 300 people who have been occupying the lawn of Los Angeles City Hall for the past three weeks split themselves into two hostile camps.

Occupy LA’s decision-making body, the General Assembly, has been responsible for conducting the encampment’s business. As in most other cities, the participating members handle everything from ensuring the nightly meeting take place to doing financial research on Los Angeles-based bankers to cleaning up the trash. But on Wednesday, a large group of dissenters decided to occupy the General Assembly’s usual outdoor meeting space and assert themselves as the new regime. One man, standing at the center of the swirling and increasingly unruly crowd, yelled into a megaphone, “You don’t represent us anymore! We’re taking over! We’re the People’s Forum!” Rumblings of dissent and palpable animosity had been mounting in the camp throughout the afternoon. Informal meetings were held around the clock to hotly debate an issue that had factionalized the camp: weed

THE AWL: The Night Occupy Los Angeles Tore Itself In Two by Natasha Vargas-Cooper

Really? What a shock! Just because you have been taken advantage of doesn’t mean you have the right idea to fix it.

Greed has no fix.

Greed and amorality are human nature.

The Glass Steagall Act, first broken apart by J Carter when he decided the protection placed on the banks - preventing far more chancy loans in geographically, statistically proven areas, known as REDLINING, should NEVER have been touched.

The too big to fail institutions, each and every one, needs to be broken apart. Commissions based on financial products which takes years to be paid out, such as mortgage securities, must take that long to pay out commissions, thus vesting the sales people in sound transactions, and SOUND PRODUCTS.

It’s actually NOT rocket science.

OWS is DESTRUCTIVE. OWS has no clear objective. OWS is being euchred by the very forces who were charged with safeguarding the public in order to get elected again, UNTOUCHED.

The sooner these people are swept away, and in the northeast this appears now to be a divine intervention sometime tonight, the better for the nation.

This is the object of OWS:

(via suicideblonde)

Permalink

• Reblogged from Natasha VC
• Source natashavc

HAMAS praises Israel’s Strength? Check your wallet, but what’s that overheard in Qom?

Wash Times:

JERUSALEM — A senior Hamas official praised the “strength” Israelshowed in a prisoner exchange that swapped more than 1,000 Palestinian convicts for one captured Israeli soldier.

“To do what Israel did shows the value Israeli society places on human life,” Salah al-Arouri, a member of the Islamist militant group’s politburo, said this week on Israel Radio from Damascus, Syria.

“This is a pillar of Israel’s strength — to wage a war to free one man, to free a thousand prisoners for him,” he said, referring to the Jewish state’s efforts to free Staff Sgt. Gilad Schalit from his Hamas captors. “This is the strength of a society and an army.”• Israel Channel Two television quoted columnist K. al-Ahmed, writing in the al-Qabas newspaper in Kuwait, as saying: “I wish I were Gilad Schalit; I wish my country cared so much about me.”• Syrian blogger Soori Madsoos posted online: “I just envy [the Israeli] government because it cares for its citizens. Our government kills us like animals and our Arab neighbors say it’s just an internal matter.”

Mr. al-Arouri’s surprising interview marked the first time a Hamasofficial had agreed to talk with Israeli media. Hamas is dedicated to Israel’s destruction.

Israel Radio interviewer Gal Berger explained to listeners that Mr. al-Arouri, who spoke perfect Hebrew, had spent years in Israeli prisons for terrorist activities, is familiar with Israelis and is at ease speaking with them.

“As someone from the outside, as an enemy, I would prefer that Israelabandon that value, even at the cost of not freeing our prisoners,” Mr. al-Arouri said in Hebrew.

Of course this guy was a negotiator for HAMAS, and was thus in contact with Israelis continuously over this, spent years in Israel jails for terrorism, and speaks Hebrew fluently.

But whether this is Stockholm Syndrome in reverse, taqqiya, and if this guy is never heard from again, it’s an interesting moment, especially since….

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to execute a 1,000-for-1 prisoner exchange last week despite his frequently voiced opposition to such lopsided deals is seen by several Israeli military commentators as an effort to “clear the deck” before possibly undertaking an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Amir Oren, the veteran military analyst for Ha’aretz newspaper, took note of Israel’s exchanging 1,027 Palestinian convicts for army Staff Sgt. Gilad Schalit, who had been captured by Hamas in 2006. Mr. Orenwrote that the price paid by Mr. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak “can be interpreted only in a context that goes beyond that of the Gilad Schalit deal.”

He noted that Israeli leaders in the past have shown a readiness to absorb “a small loss” in order to attain a greater success, generally involving “some sort of military adventure.”

Mr. Oren also noted that, until recently, Mr. Netanyahu had faced opposition to attacking Iran from Army Chief of Staff Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and Mossad intelligence chief Meir Dagan. Both retired earlier this year and have been replaced by men believed to hold a different view on Iran.