A prominent cleric, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawy, said modern science had at last provided evidence that Mecca was the true centre of the Earth; proof, he said, of the greatness of the Muslim "qibla" - the Arabic word for the direction Muslims turn to when they pray.
From his blog which Perfunction read and excerpted so you don't have to!Still I’m disinclined to apologize because I hear the demand for a general apology as a howling mob with an impossibly broad demand, and on top of that I’m not sure what exactly I’d apologize for. The ’68 Convention? The Days of Rage? Bombing the Pentagon? Every one of these can be unpacked and found to be a complicated mix of good and bad choices, noble and low motives.
Even when true, the words are mortifying. They are the end not only of a dream, but of a life. The apology in general is uttered, and suddenly you die.
What do they have to do to get the left to believe them?The messages in words and bombs indicate that al-Qaeda remains determined to fight on the Iraqi front, which Zawahiri once again called “the fortress” of al-Qaeda’s terror campaign and will keep directing resources towards this purpose.
But at the same time, the vocal anger and frustration reveal that al-Qaeda continues to lose allies and ground and that time on the long run is not on its side. Above all it means that those of us determined to fight terrorism must not lose resolve in this critical battle.
Al-Qaeda has made the Iraqi front its physical center of gravity, and so it’s exactly the place where we must fight, and win.
Pajamas Media notes changes in al Qaeda tactics and promises of a push that might corresponding with al Sadr's press on the government make make things rough between now and the election.
DKK
“You have a real choice in this election. Either Democrat would be better than John McCain. And all three of us would be better than George Bush,” Obama said.
In 2006 there was a study done. 36% of owners say they were very happy. If they own a gun, 36% said very happy. 9% were not too happy. Meanwhile those who didn't own guns, only 30% of people without guns were very happy. 16% -- that's double -- were very unhappy. Less than 15% of gun owners spent their time feeling outraged at something that somebody has done. I'm sorry. No, no, no, I'm sorry. 15% less than those who didn't own a gun spend their time worrying about something that somebody had done, something they were pissed off about. Gun owners are happier.
Now, why is that? Self-reliance. Self-reliance. Here's the question. Those in need have to take care of themselves. In 2004 gun owners were 10 percentage points more likely than nongun owners to agree, that those in need have to take care of themselves. So I'm not running to religion. I'm not running to my gun. I have my religion because it makes me a stronger person. It helps me make sense of the world and my place in it and it helps guide me and helps me understand the failures and the successes that I have, to keep them both in check. My gun is my way of protecting myself, my family and my property. It is my right because I'm not going to wait for the police. I'm not going to wait for something. If somebody's in my house and they are trying to hurt my family, I will take care of it unless the police are there. It doesn't make me bitter. It makes me stronger. Those who are bitter are those who feel alone and the Government has abandoned them.
Engler, the former Michigan governor, says that NAFTA is the solution, not the problem. Had the US applied NAFTA to the rest of its trade, our imbalance would have dropped from $155 billion since 2000 to a mere $25 billion.
But Hamas says:Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that Hamas — the Islamic militant group that has called for the destruction of Israel — is prepared to accept the right of the Jewish state to “live as a neighbor next door in peace.”
Hot Air calls Carter a useful idiot for the terrorist organization Hamas.Hamas is ready to accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders but “it will not recognise Israel,” the Islamist movement’s exiled chief Khaled Meshaal told a news conference Monday.
“We accept a Palestinian state within the June 4 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital — a sovereign state without settlements — as well as the right of Palestinian refugees to return, but without recognition of Israel,” he said.
The Afghan Army and police forces should be able to secure most of Afghanistan by 2011, allowing international forces to start withdrawing, according to the U.S. commander of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, General Dan McNeill.
And our "friends" the Saudis are balking at increasing production. So while they continue to screw with us on oil ... let's be sure to respond here in this country by:Neal Boortz, Nealz Nuze.
- Refusing to drill in ANWR for more oil in the very portion of ANWR that was set aside for the purpose of drilling for more oil.
- Refuse to tap the known reserves of oil and natural gas off the West coast of Florida because, after all, we certainly don't want tourists in Florida to catch sight of a drilling rig 25 miles off shore now do we?
- Refuse to develop ways to use the oil shale from the Western United States.
- Refuse to develop coal gasification techniques.
- Refuse to build any more refineries in the United States.
- Listen to the anti-nuke moonbats and continue to delay building some nuclear power plants.
And while we're doing all of these things let's make sure to keep the subsidies for ethanol at a ridiculous high so that we can take more land out of food production to grow more corn to be turned into an alternative fuel. We burn more than a gallon of fossil fuels to produce a gallon of ethanol .. so this sounds like a good bet to me!
Oh ... and let's continue to call the Saudis our friends and kiss their sandy butts at every possible opportunity.
And what is the purpose of this extra bureaucratic level? To harass people with HSAs. Nothing more.
(...)
At the end of the day, we can thank Representative Pete Stark, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. It is Pete Stark's main goal as a politician to bring government-run healthcare to this country. He actually once compared these Health Savings Accounts to "weapons of mass destruction" because they introduce more individual choice into the healthcare marketplace.
And these are the people that you want to allow to provide your healthcare in the future.
Sorry to steal the entire thing, it is just too good. However he does have an update of one of his song parodies!How Democrats wound up where they are today.
Can we screw it up? YES WE CAN!
Democrat 1: Wow, look at the great choice we have this year. There’s the black one and the pink one. And of course, the white one.
Democrat 2: Yes, the white one.
[They laugh and both grab the white one and toss it over their heads.]
D1: Republicans have 5 choices.
D2: Yes, it must be difficult for them.
D1: They cannot decide on whether to go with white or white or white or white or white.
[They both laugh and laugh and laugh.]
D2: Yes, it should be a good year. Just like 2006.
D1: Between the war going badly and the economy going south, this should be the year we take back the White House.
D2 (Sings): Happy Days Are Here Again!
[They both laugh and laugh and laugh.]
D1: And Republicans will be fighting among themselves until May at least.
[They both laugh and laugh and laugh.]
D2: Meanwhile, our candidate will be picked by Super Tuesday and will be able to begin the fall campaign while they bicker among themselves.
[They both laugh and laugh and laugh.]
D1: Our candidate — no matter which one we pick — will make history.
D2: Yes, it is a win-win situation. They agree on everything, so there is no bickering over the party’s platforms.
D1: We’re united.
D2: They’re divided.
[They both laugh and laugh and laugh.]
D1: So which one will it be?
D2: Let’s go with the pink one.
D1: Really? I thought we’d go with the black one.
D2: Well, maybe next time.
D1: Why?
D2: Well, she earned it, putting up with Elvis for all those years.
D1: Yes. Well, she also carries a lot of baggage with her. The Republican Attack Machine will have a field day with her.
D2: But she’s strong. She survived their attacks for 16 years.
[They both laugh.]
D1: Yes, but don’t you think Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton is a bit much?
D2: Maybe, but don’t you think it is time for a pink one?
D1: Oh sure, it is time. Still, it is also time for a black one.
D2: And a pink one.
D1: Too bad we cannot get a black and pink one.
[They both laugh.]
D2: But she’s paid her dues, like I said. She was the co-president.
D1: Like he hasn’t paid his dues.
D2: What do you mean?
D1: I mean, come on. He’s the black one.
D2: Well, it’s not like he descended from slaves. His father was a Kenyan. In fact, his family owned slaves.
D1: Well, so did a lot of presidents.
[They both laugh.]
D2: Well, he won South Carolina. But so did Jesse Jackson.
D1: What does that mean?
D2: Nothing. Nothing. Just saying.
D1: Yea, well I’m just saying that she won New Hampshire by crying.
D2: She did not cry. Her eyes welled up.
D1: He’s taking all the blue states. Party loyalty.
D2: So did Dukakis and Gore and Kerry. She’s taking all the red states. Opportunity.
D1: He’s ahead in the popular vote.
D2: Only if you don’t count Michigan and Florida.
D1: He didn’t campaign there.
D2: Neither did she.
D1: But her name was on the ballot in Michigan, not his.
D2: But she still got more than half those votes.
D1: But he’s ahead in money.
D2: But not by much.
D1: *cough* Norman Hsu.
D2: *cough* *cough* Tony Rezko.
D1: Geraldine Ferraro.
D2: Jeremiah Wright.
D1: Let’s not fight like this. The Republicans have chosen a candidate. It is time for us to settle on one. Fight the real enemy.
[They both laugh.]
D2: Agreed. How about a Dream Team of Pink/Black.
D1: Why does the black one always have to get to the back of the bus?
D2: Only because he’s the younger, less experienced one.
D1: Yes, he did not have the experience of voting for the war.
D2: But he later said, when we were winning, he did not know how he would have voted.
D1: Let’s not fight like this. The Republicans have chosen a candidate. It is time for us to settle on one. Fight the real enemy.
D2: You already said that.
D1: Just trying to be nice. Look, it is a close race but she cannot win the nomination. Let’s just pick the black one and begin concentrating on November.
D2: He cannot win the nomination either.
D1: He’s ahead in popular vote.
D2: So was Al Gore.
[D2 laughs. Not D1.]
D1: He might have won if the pink one helped more.
D2: She was running for the Senate. She had her own battle to fight.
D1: Yes, just like in Bosnia.
D2: What’s that supposed to mean?
D1: Oh nothing. Just going through her war record.
D2: Well his combat experience consists of listening to Bill Ayers talk about his bombs.
D1: You had to go there, didn’t you?
D2: Go where?
D1: You had to bring up Bill Ayers. Hey, how about those terrorists your husband pardoned?
D2: Yea? Well what about Tony Rezko?
D1: Marc Rich.
D2: Well, at least pink knows enough to wear a lapel pin and know enough to cross her heart when they sing the national anthem.
D1: Patriotism? Starting a war isn’t patriotic, it is suicide.
D2: Michelle did Princeton, Harvard, knocked down $300 grand a year as a hospital PR person, had her husband elected to the Senate and won a few primaries before she was proud of the country.
D1: Pink is starting to sound like a Republican.
D2: Beats sounding like an ingrate.
D1: Ingrate? You mean N-grate. Why don’t you just call them the N-word and be done with it.
D2: What? Where do you get that?
D1: From you, you witch.
D2: Chauvinist.
Republican 1: Pass the popcorn.
Republican 2: Buttered or kettle?
R1: Either, I’m not hard to please.
R2: Me neither.
For those who have forgotten or weren’t born yet here is a list of a few of the activities. Just think if this were happening today:
7 October 1969 – Bombing of Haymarket Police Statue in Chicago, apparently as a “kickoff” for the “Days of Rage” riots in the city October 8–11, 1969. The Weathermen later claim credit for the bombing in their book, “Prairie Fire.”
8 October-11, 1969 – The “Days of Rage” riots occur in Chicago in which 287 Weatherman members from throughout the country were arrested and a large amount of property damage was done.
6 December 1969 – Bombing of several Chicago Police cars parked in a precinct parking lot at 3600 North Halsted Street, Chicago. The WUO stated in their book “Prairie Fire” that they had did the explosion.
27 December-31, 1969 – Weathermen hold a “War Council” meeting in Flint, MI, where they finalize their plans to submerge into an underground status from which they plan to commit strategic acts of sabotage against the government. Thereafter they are called the “Weather Underground Organization” (WUO).
13 February 1970 – Bombing of several police vehicles of the Berkeley, California, Police Department .
16 February 1970 – Bombing of Golden Gate Park branch of the San Francisco Police Department, killing one officer and injuring a number of other policemen.
6 March 1970 – Bombing in the 13th Police District of the Detroit, Michigan. 34 sticks of dynamite are discovered. During February and early March, 1970, members of the WUO, led by Bill Ayers, are reported to be in Detroit, during that period, for the purpose of bombing a police facility.
6 March 1970 – “bomb factory” located in New York’s Greenwich Village accidentally explodes. WUO members Theodore die in t. The bomb was intended to be planted at a non-commissioned officer’s dance at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The bomb was packed with nails TO INFILICT MAXIMUM CASUALTIES UPON DETONATION.
30 March 1970 – Chicago Police discover a WUO “bomb factory” on Chicago’s north side. A subsequent discovery of a WUO “weapons cache” in a south side Chicago apartment several days later ends WUO activity in the city.
10 May 1970 – Bombing of The National Guard Association building in Washington, D.C..
21 May 1970 – The WUO under Bernardine Dohrn’s name releases its “Declaration of a State of War” communique.
6 June 1970 – The WUO sends a letter claiming credit for bombing of the San Francisco Hall of Justice; however, no explosion actually took place. Months later, workmen in this building located an unexploded device which had apparently been dormant for some time.
9 June 1970 – Bombing of The New York City Police Headquarters .
27 July 1970 – Bombing of The Presidio army base in San Francisco. [NYT, 7/27/70]
12 September 1970 – The WUO helps Dr. Timothy Leary, break out and escape from the California Men’s Colony prison.
8 October 1970 – Bombing of Marin County courthouse. [NYT, 8/10/70]
10 October 1970 – Bombing of Queens traffic-court building . [NYT, 10/10/70, p. 12]
14 October 1970 – Bombing of The Harvard Center for International Affairs [NYT, 10/14/70, p. 30]
1 March 1971 – Bombing of The United States Capitol . ” [NYT, 3/2/71]
April, 1971 – abandoned WUO “bomb factory” discovered in San Francisco, California.
29 August, 1971 – Bombing of the Office of California Prisons . [LAT, 8/29/71]
17 September 1971 – Bombing of The New York Department of Corrections in Albany, NY [NYT, 9/18/71]
15 October 1971 – Bombing of William Bundy’s office in the MIT research center. [NYT, 10/16/71]
19 May 1972 – Bombing of The Pentagon . [NYT, 5/19/72]
18 May 1973 – Bombing of the 103rd Police Precinct in New York
28 September 1973 – Bombing of ITT headquarters in New York and Rome, Italy . [NYT, 9/28/73]
6 March 1974 – Bombing of the Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare offices in San Francisco
31 May 1974 – Bombing of The Office of the California Attorney General.
17 June 1974 – Bombing of Gulf Oil’s Pittsburgh headquarters .
11 September 1974 – Bombing of Anaconda Corporation (part of the Rockefeller Corporation).
29 January 1975 – Bombing of the State Department in (AP. “State Department Rattled by Blast,” The Daily Times-News, January 29 1975, p.1)
16 June 1975 – Bombing of Banco de Ponce (a Puerto Rican bank) in New York .
September, 1975 – Bombing of the Kennecott Corporation .
October 20, 1981 – Brinks robbery in which several members of the Weather Underground stole over $1 million from a Brinks armored car near Nyack, New York. The robbers murdered 2 police officers and 1 Brinks guard. Several others were wounded.
1981 “Guilty as hel*. Free as a bird. America is a great country,” Ayers said when interviewed by David Horowitz.
September 11, 2001 “I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.” Ayers is quoted in NYT article
Rudolph and Ayers are unrepentant domestic terrorists. They are evil. Decent people detest them. And if someone were to take money from Eric Rudolph, or get a start in politics from an endorsement in Eric Rudolph’s home, if someone were chummy with Eric Rudolph and kept moving in the same circles with him, that person would rightly be detested as well.
Why doesn’t the same logic apply to Bill Ayers, and to his friend Barack Obama?
Here’s a partial answer: this is bigger than Obama. Much of the radical-left community of Chicago have thrown in their lot with Ayers and Dohrn and given them esteem and comfort. A lot of Chicago society is complicit in insulating Ayers and Dohrn from their execrable pasts. To admit the truth about what Ayers and Dohrn’s status means involves admitting much more about the historical relationship between the Left and radical violence than America is ready to acknowledge.
Michelle Malkin does the comparision and Chicago political lesson.
DKK
