Month: September 2006

Oh yeah, sure…these guys are ready to talk it out, get it off their chests, and become law abiding citizens in the world.

“You infidels and despotic, we will continue our jihad (holy war) and never stop until God avails us to chop your necks and raise the fluttering banner of monotheism when God’s rule is established governing all people and nations.”

And to think there are Democrats (and a few RHINOS) in power today who believe we can simply leave Iraq and then radical islamists will stop wanting to chop our heads off.

Heh.

Crash your car through a security barricade at the U.S. Capitol, then run into the building as fast as you can.

When you’re in the confines of a space ship orbiting the earth, you don’t want any funky smelling gas coming through the vents.

International space station astronauts pulled an alarm and donned protective gear Monday after smelling a foul odor that turned out to be a chemical leaking from an oxygen vent,
NASA said.

“We don’t exactly know the nature of the spill … but the crew is doing well,” said Mike Suffredini, NASA’s space station program manager. “It’s not a life-threatening material.”

The crew first reported smoke but it turned out to be an irritant, potassium hydroxide, leaking from an oxygen vent, Suffredini said.

The crew donned surgical gloves and masks but did not have to put on gas masks or oxygen masks, Suffredini said.

“Things are calming down,” NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said.

Turns out, the offending odor was Potassium Hydroxide, sometimes known as potash lye. It’s an irritant, and not something you want to fool with. Hopefully, it’ll be cleared up soon.

The Pope quotes a 14th century emperor. Radical Islamists go nutso crazy. Demonstrations, death threats and fires burn in cities worldwide. Two Muslims attack and shoot a helpless nun. She dies.

Why aren’t the Catholics demonstrating, burning effigies of Mohammed, shouting death to Muslims and readying weapons?

Because Catholics are civilized.

The Pope says he regrets saying what he did, but you know, deep down, he’s as sick and tired of radical muslims as we are.

Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that he is “deeply sorry” his remarks on Islam and violence offended Muslims, but the unusual expression of papal regret drew a mixed reaction from Islamic leaders as the Vatican worried about a backlash of violence.

Some Muslim leaders accepted the statement. Others said it wasn’t enough, but urged Muslims to avoid violence after attacks on churches in Palestinian areas and the slaying of a nun in Somalia.

Benedict said he regretted causing offense with his speech last week in Germany, particularly his quoting of a medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of Islam’s founder as “evil and inhuman” and referred to spreading Islam “by the sword.”

He said those words did not reflect his own opinions.

“I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect,” the pope said during his weekly Sunday appearance before pilgrims.

That’d be great Benny, but they’d rather burn the American flag, effigies of you, and chat death slogans than sit down and discuss differences. Nice try though.

The absurdity of the current debate between the White House and members of the Senate is framed nicely today by Richard Miniter of the New York Post.

Think we’re too hard on prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? Think again.

— Detainees are entitled to a full eight hours sleep and can’t be woken up for interrogations.
— They enjoy three meals and five prayers per day, without interruption.
— They are entitled to a minimum of two hours of outdoor recreation per day.
— Interrogations are limited to four hours, usually running two – and (of course) are interrupted for prayers.
— One interrogator actually bakes cookies for detainees, while another serves them Subway or McDonald’s sandwiches. Both are available on base. (Filet o’ Fish is an al Qaeda favorite.)

— Interrogations are not video or audio taped, perhaps to preserve detainee privacy.

Miniter goes on to report that a multi-cell Al-Qaeda network has developed within the camp.

Military intelligence can’t yet identify their leaders, but notes that they have cells for monitoring the movements and identities of guards and doctors, cells dedicated to training, others for making weapons and so on. And they can make weapons from almost anything. Guards have been attacked with springs taken from inside faucets, broken fluorescent light bulbs and fan blades. Some are more elaborate. “These folks are MacGyvers,” Harris said.

Other cells pass messages from leaders in one camp to followers in others. How? Detainees use the envelopes sent to them by their attorneys to pass messages. (Some 1,000 lawyers represent 440 prisoners, all on a pro bono basis, with more than 18,500 letters in and out of Gitmo in the past year.) Guards are not allowed to look inside these envelopes because of “attorney-client privilege” – even if they know the document inside is an Arabic-language note written by a prisoner to another prisoner and not a letter to or from a lawyer.

That’s right: Accidentally or not, American lawyers are helping al Qaeda prisoners continue to plot.

Our hypersensitivity toward interrogation methods on known terrorists is going to ultimately kill all of us, I’m convinced.

Yet, GOP members of the Senate are opposing the President and his need to continue the interrogation process at Gitmo. Why? Because they believe the U.S. is violating terms of the Geneva Convention (Thank you Supreme Court) and if we relax the terms, eventually our own soldiers will be subject to the same relaxed rules. Of course this whole premise falls apart when the U.S. is at war with terrorists who don’t and won’t ever sign on to the rules of the convention.

Senator McCain, Senator Graham, and Senator Warner should spend their time focusing on immigration reform and a compromise with their fellow GOP colleagues in the house instead of grandstanding against the President.

Kinky Friedman (yeah, that’s right) is running for Governor of Texas, and he’s trying to capture the reefer vote.

Kinky Friedman says he favors legalizing marijuana to keep nonviolent users out of prison. If Texas elects him governor, he says, he’ll try to get locked-up pot users released to make room for more violent criminals.

“I think that’s long overdue,” Friedman told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. “I think everybody knows what (U.S. Sen.) John McCain said is right: We’ve pretty well lost the war on drugs doing it the way we’re doing it. Drugs are more available and cheaper than ever before. What we’re doing is not working.”

Friedman, the often irreverent singer, entertainer and mystery writer, is running as an independent in a bid to unseat Republican Gov. Rick Perry, and he’s getting some serious attention.

Kinky is probably right. Legalization could be the way to go, so long as the government poisons the crop before it’s packaged and sold. That’d solve the drug addict problem.

Bush, on the death of former Texas Gov. Ann “Ma” Richards, 73.

“Texas has lost one of its great daughters. Ann loved Texas, and Texans loved her. As a public servant she earned respect and admiration,” Bush said in a statement. “Ann became a national role model, and her charm, wit, and candor brought a refreshing vitality to public life.”

Ann once called George Bush, “some jerk” and she became famous for this remark made during the 1988 Democratic National Convention, a jab made toward George Bush Sr. She quipped…“Poor George, he can’t help it … He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”

Did she deserve such kind remarks today from the President? In George W. Bush’s world, that doesn’t matter. He looked past partisan rancor and complimented Richards’ service, her likability, and her ability to shoot straight. That’s Bush.

Contrast this with the comments made during Sen. Paul Wellstone’s funeral.

Air America is going bye bye…

A few bloggers are on this story. Apparently, a rumor is going around which claims that Al-Qaeda will set off a nuclear attack in the U.S. at the start of Ramadan. That’s only a couple of weeks away.

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