May 2009 Archives

Hurrah! It is way past time that Muslims began to resist the fundamentalists openly. I resist the Jewish and Christian fundamentalists who try to pressure me to become more like the ancients, but time has moved on and while I still find my faith relevant in modern life, I am not going to live in a tent and fish from a plank in the sea. I am going to go forward with my life and keep my faith in God intermixed with my secular life.

Fight for what is right. If the Muslims want to continue to claim to be the religion of peace, they need to stop their members from acting otherwise and discrediting that claim. Jews and Christians have. Mostly. There are a few nuts, but they tend to stay hidden so they are not ridiculed to the point of suicide. I think that this could work well in the case of reforming Islam.

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/197788.php

Will June 30th be the day which goes down in history when Muslims in the West finally had enough from the Islamist traitors in their midsts and began to clean house? Or is this just a one time deal where the Muslim community in Luton had enough of the bad press and just wanted Omar Bakri Mohammad's followers to shut up because they don't enjoy being in the lime light? Hope springs eternal, or so they say:

The latest violence erupted as arguments raged between fellow Muslims shortly after Friday morning prayers in the Bury Park area of the town...

As the radical Muslims began to set up their stall, they were surrounded by a crowd shouting 'we don't want you here' and 'move on, move on'...

Angry words were exchanged and scuffles broke out between members of both groups, with the extremists shouting 'Shame on you' and 'Get back to your synagogue'.

The moderates chanted 'Out, Out, Out', and after an uneasy stand-off, police officers were able to persuade the extremist group to leave the area.

Awesome.

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/national/dpgo_HOA_Asks_Vet_to_Remove_Bumper_fc_20090528_2518563

DALLAS - Frank Larison is a disabled veteran with more than 14 years of service, including more than a year of combat duty in Vietnam.

The 58-year-old former Marine now finds himself under attack by his Dallas homeowners association for displaying seven decals on his vehicle supporting the Marine Corps.

"To me, it's being patriotic, and it shows that I served," the veteran told FOX 4.

The board says the decals are advertisements that violate HOA rules, and must be covered or removed.

Otherwise, the homeowners association for The Woodlands II on The Creek --- where Larimore has lived for eight years --- says in a letter it will tow the car at Larimore's expense. The board also threatens to fine him $50 for any future incident.

Larimore says the decals, ranging from the Marine emblem to Semper Fi slogans, aren't advertisements for anything. "You can't buy freedom," he reasoned.

I have been busy with work, then moving to a new home, getting really sick, having an MRI and other tests, finishing the move, finally getting cable again, and then dealing with finishing moving while still being sick. I am surviving. Following the news was still easy, Commenting or posting was more difficult due to the lack of internet. Going to the McCafe for WiFi was ok, but not something I recommend for posts.

Things are returning to normal and I hope to start posting more soon. If there is something you would like an opinion about just let me know.

Thanks to those who have written to ask about where I have been. Here are some things to read.

'Power' move by male students ruffles U. of C.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-u-of-c-mens-groupmay19,0,4707353.story

Jessica Pan, president of Women in Business and a fourth-year student, questioned whether Men in Power's goals were being met by existing student groups.

"I'm not sure we really need another student organization that focuses on pre-professional development for men," Pan said, noting that, in just the area of business, there were five or six students groups that were gender-neutral.

Similarly, Ali Feenstra, a third-year student and a member of the Feminist Majority, questioned Men in Power's utility.

"It's like starting 'white men in business' -- there's not really any purpose," she said.

So, let me get this straight. There are five or six students groups that provide aid for all genders, so there is not a need for a group that concentrates on males - but there is a need for many groups that concentrate on promoting women.

This is so stupid that only a liberal could produce "logic" like this.

I am glad this group exists. Either more groups need to exist like this or fewer other biased groups. Like the feminists say, there are plenty of gender neutral groups. Or are they saying that women are so weak and lame that they need to be given extra help to survive in the world?

Countering the Military's Latest Fad: Counterinsurgency
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-u-of-c-mens-groupmay19,0,4707353.story

When Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced Monday that he was dismissing Gen. David McKiernan as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and replacing him with Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, he signaled his support for an intellectual movement that in a few short years has come to dominate military thinking in Washington. Both McChrystal and his new No. 2, Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, Gates emphasized, have a "unique skill set in counterinsurgency."

Counterinsurgency is king. Once the province of graduate students and historians of the conflicts in Vietnam and Algeria, this resurgent doctrine of how to wage a type of unconventional war has become the lens through which the American defense establishment analyzes what happened in Iraq, what to do now in Afghanistan, and the very future of warfare.

I have always felt that the army needs to concentrate on the large military issues while the Marines are the experts in counter-insurgency and small wars. It is true too! The Marines have always been the ones who fought in the small wars overseas while the Army provides the major power that can come behind and destroy or occupy things that the Marines can't handle.

The Army has always been jealous of the Marines. They have tried repeatedly to destroy them, and when that fails, they try to find reasons to marginalize them. They are so jealous that they constantly form elite units to emulate the Marines, like the Rangers.

It will never end that the Marines are the envy of the Army. That is why the Army is going to abandon its primary job and try to be the Marines. Then they can finally get rid of the competition.

Insurgents continue white phosphorus attacks

http://www.centcom.mil/en/press-releases/insurgents-continue-white-phosphorus-attacks.html

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (May 19, 2009) - Today, militants continued to attack International Security Assistance Force personnel using white phosphorus munitions.

In Gayan District, Paktika province, insurgents mortared an ISAF combat outpost with white phosphorus and high explosive rounds. No injuries or damage were reported.

This past week, two other cases of enemy white phosphorus use have been recorded in Regional Command-East, following the 11 May release of 38 declassified instances of insurgent white phosphorus access and misuse against personnel.

On May 16, ISAF troops in Bamiyan discovered a large cache of various ordnance, including nine 82mm white phosphorus mortar rounds. The rounds, which were photographed as evidence, were collected for destruction.

I remember not too many months ago when the Muslims and the Peaceniks all decried the legal use of WP to legally destroy Hamas government buildings that had been cleared of people. Just because people might have tried to sneak back and been hurt. Now, these same Muslims are using this weapon illegally to attack Israel and now NATO forces.

Where is the outcry from the Left about the illegal use of these weapons? Where do the terrorists get access to military grade mortar rounds?

Terrorism is outside of the Laws of War, Using WP against live targets is outside the Laws of War. Is that why they are allowed to use it this way? While Western forces are not?

Nowhere to turn - The shifting trends of suicide attacks
http://www.janes.com/news/security/jir/jir090528_1_n.shtml

The University of Chicago professor was largely correct in this assertion. However, since 2005 the use of suicide attacks has expanded considerably, and the motivations for the tactics have diversified.

Therefore, while Pape's thesis remains broadly accurate, the use of suicide tactics has changed over the years. As data from Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre (JTIC) since 1998 demonstrates, religious ideological motivations have become more common as opposed to political nationalist motivations and non-democratic states have also been targeted.

Learning about the tactics of the the terrorists is always important for those who wish to counter them. Since it appears that suicide attacks are becoming more common, because it has been proven many times that conventional attacks can not beat a well trained military, we must learn more about how to identify and stop this threat before it kills too many more people.

Check out places like:
http://www.iacsp.com/
http://www.serviammagazine.com/
http://www.smgicorp.com/
http://www.atabonline.org/joomla/index.php
http://www.homelandsecurityssi.com/

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/286727.php

-A single worker with two jobs making $20,000 a year at each job will get a $400 boost in take-home pay at each of them, for a total of $800. That worker, however, is eligible for a maximum credit of $400, so the remaining $400 will have to be paid back at tax time -- either through a smaller refund or a payment to the IRS.

The IRS recognized there could be a similar problem for married couples if both spouses work, so it adjusted the withholding tables. The fix, however, was imperfect.

- A married couple with a combined income of $50,000 is eligible for an $800 credit. However, if both spouses work and make more than $13,000, the new withholding tables give them each a $600 boost -- for a total of $1,200.

There were 33 million married couples in 2008 in which both spouses worked. That's 55 percent of all married couples, according to the Census Bureau.

- A single college student with a part-time job making $10,000 would get a $400 boost in pay. However, if that student is claimed as a dependent on a parent's tax return, she doesn't qualify for the credit and would have to repay it when she files next year.

Some retirees face even bigger headaches.

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=96916

Two weeks before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security penned its controversial report warning against "right-wing extremists" in the United States, it generated a memo defining dozens of additional groups - animal rights activists, black separatists, tax protesters, even worshippers of the Norse god Odin - as potential "threats."

Though the "Domestic Extremism Lexicon" was reportedly rescinded almost immediately, Benjamin Sarlin of The Daily Beast recently obtained and published online a copy of the unclassified memo, dated March 26, 2009.

While many of the groups listed in the lexicon - such as Aryan prison gangs and neo-Nazis - may indeed be widely considered extremists, others will likely take offense at being described as a potential "threat."

Are you ready for a second Declaration of Independence? Sign the petition promoting true freedom once again!

For example, the memo defines the "tax resistance movement" - also referred to in the report as the tax protest movement or the tax freedom movement - as "groups or individuals who vehemently believe taxes violate their constitutional rights. Among their beliefs are that wages are not income, that paying income taxes is voluntary, and that the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allowed Congress to levy taxes on income, was not properly ratified."

The report, however, continues in its assessment of tax protesters, asserting that members "have been known to advocate or engage in criminal activity and plot acts of violence and terrorism in an attempt to advance their extremist goals."

Similarly, the lexicon concludes its definition of "black separatists" by asserting, "Such groups or individuals also may embrace radical religious beliefs. Members have been known to advocate or engage in criminal activity and plot acts of violence directed toward local law enforcement in an attempt to advance their extremist goals."

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/an-invention-that-could-change-the-internet-for-ever-1678109.html

The biggest internet revolution for a generation will be unveiled this month with the launch of software that will understand questions and give specific, tailored answers in a way that the web has never managed before.

The new system, Wolfram Alpha, showcased at Harvard University in the US last week, takes the first step towards what many consider to be the internet's Holy Grail - a global store of information that understands and responds to ordinary language in the same way a person does.

Although the system is still new, it has already produced massive interest and excitement among technology pundits and internet watchers.

Computer experts believe the new search engine will be an evolutionary leap in the development of the internet. Nova Spivack, an internet and computer expert, said that Wolfram Alpha could prove just as important as Google. "It is really impressive and significant," he wrote. "In fact it may be as important for the web (and the world) as Google, but for a different purpose.

Tom Simpson, of the blog Convergenceofeverything.com, said: "What are the wider implications exactly? A new paradigm for using computers and the web? Probably. Emerging artificial intelligence and a step towards a self-organising internet? Possibly... I think this could be big."

Wolfram Alpha will not only give a straight answer to questions such as "how high is Mount Everest?", but it will also produce a neat page of related information - all properly sourced - such as geographical location and nearby towns, and other mountains, complete with graphs and charts.

The real innovation, however, is in its ability to work things out "on the fly", according to its British inventor, Dr Stephen Wolfram. If you ask it to compare the height of Mount Everest to the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, it will tell you. Or ask what the weather was like in London on the day John F Kennedy was assassinated, it will cross-check and provide the answer. Ask it about D sharp major, it will play the scale. Type in "10 flips for four heads" and it will guess that you need to know the probability of coin-tossing. If you want to know when the next solar eclipse over Chicago is, or the exact current location of the International Space Station, it can work it out.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518611,00.html

It's been likened to Al Qaeda's "Vanity Fair," a new English-language Internet magazine called "Jihad Recollections" that focuses on the terrorist group, its founder, Usama Bin Laden, and how to commit jihad. It also predicts the demise of the United States.

"This is designed for Americans," says noted terrorism expert Steven Emerson, founder of the Investigative Project on Terrorism in Washington, D.C., and author of the book "American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us."

"It's not for Brits, not for Germans, not for jihadists in the Middle East. It's designed for Americans and it's designed to get them to convert to Islam or to carry out jihad acts of terror," he said.

"What started off as some angry kids in their basement has transformed over the past several years into a robust Al Qaeda propaganda outlet right here in our backyard," says Jarret Brachman, an Al Qaeda specialist and author of the new book, "Global Jihadism."