Would someone care to explain what happened yesterday at http://michellemalkin.com/">the University of Oklahoma?

Here's the press report.

One person was killed in an explosion near a packed football stadium at the University of Oklahoma on Saturday night in what authorities said appeared to be a suicide.

The blast, in a traffic circle about 100 yards from Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, could be heard by some in the crowd of 84,000, but university President David Boren said no one inside the stadium was ever in danger.

"We are apparently dealing with an individual suicide, which is under full investigation," Boren said in a statement. There was no information about the person who was killed, and no reports of any other injuries.

A police bomb squad detonated explosives found at the site of the blast. The area near the stadium was searched by bomb-sniffing dogs.

Hold on -- more than one bomb, and the one detonating in the parking lot of a packed stadium. Doesn't this raise red flags for anyone else. The police expalantion sounds totally bogus!

And then there is this from Free Republic -- not my favorite source, but potentially intersting.

To: bahblahbah

I just got home from the game. They are calling it a suicide bomber and they found another bomb unexploded. One of my son's fraternity brothers was within about 30 yards of the blast and felt the heat on his face outside the science hall which is also near the stadium.

The police were interviewing him and one of the girls that was over at the fraternity (I park there) because she saw two men run in the stadium after the explosion and separate.

It was so loud. I told my son and daughter along with my son's friend that it sounded like a bomb. We didn't have any confirmation until the girl behind us got a call as it had scrolled across the screen.

Last I heard, they were looking for two more suspects, they blew up the second bomb, have bomb dogs all over campus going through the buildings that were open, and they couldn't tell if the person blown up was a man or woman.

Our news has very few details other than FBI is on the scene. Think every Norman cop from the looks of it is on the campus. We had to exit through the east and north sides and walk around as they had the south oval closed off from Lindsey to the Library.

What a scarey situation -- it was so freaky to hear that loud explosion and then absolutely zero news but we could see police cars all around from where we sit in the stadium. Didn't hear a word until the 4th quarter when the lady behind us received a call!

Uh -- this sounds really suspicious IF ACCURATE.

What I want to know is who the bomber was. Is he a foreign Muslim student? Is that why there is no name released yet?

And by the way, what about this report from last week, pointed out by Liberty?

On September 26, 2005 an Oklahoma University student pleaded guilty to bringing an explosive device to the airport. In August he was arrested after police found an improvised pipe bomb in his backpack. He told officials he had forgotten the device was in his bag. He faces up to a year in prison and up to $100,000 for the charge

Are these two incidents somehow connected?

UPDATE: Then again, maybe there is less to this than meets the eye -- except for the fact that suicide by explosive is unusual outside of the context of a terrorist attack. Why did John Henry Hinrichs III kill himself, and why did he choose this method and this location?

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I'm a supporter of the war in Iraq. And while anti-American moonbats like Cindy Sheehan may think I don't care about the lives of soldiers who die in this war, I'd argue that my upbringing in a military family is the key reason that I do care about those deaths.

Each death is a tragedy, no matter how right or noble the cause.

Cpl. David Kreuter had a new baby boy he'd seen only in photos. Lance Cpl. Michael Cifuentes was counting the days to his wedding. Lance Cpl. Nicholas Bloem had just celebrated his 20th birthday.

Travis Williams remembers them all all 11 men in his Marine squad all now dead. Two months ago they shared a cramped room stacked with bunk beds at this base in northwest Iraq, where the Euphrates River rushes by. Now the room has been stripped of several beds, brutal testament that Lance Cpl. Williams' closest friends are gone.

For the 12 young Marines who landed in Iraq early this year, the war was a series of hectic, constant raids into more than a dozen lawless towns in Iraq's most hostile province, Anbar. The pace and the danger bound them together into what they called a second family, even as some began to question whether their raids were making any progress.

Now, all of the Marines assigned to the 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment, based in Columbus, Ohio, are gone except Williams. They died in a roadside-bomb set by insurgents on Aug. 3 that killed a total of 14 Marines. Most of the squad were in their early 20s; the youngest was 19.

"They were like a family. They were the tightest squad I've ever seen," said Capt. Christopher Toland of Austin, Texas, the squad's platoon commander. Even though many did not know each other before they got to Iraq, "They truly loved each other."

All that is left are photos and snippets of video, saved on dusty laptops, that run for a few dozen seconds. As they pack up to return home by early October, the Marines from Lima Company including the squad's replacements sometimes huddle around Williams' laptop in a room at the dam, straining to watch the few remaining moments of their young friends' lives. Some photos and videos carry the squad's adopted motto, "Family is Forever."

The sacrifices of these young men must not be in vain.

I urge you to read about the lives of 11 American soldiers, ended too soon by Islamist terrorist swine, and of their comrade left behind.

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I like fur, and have no problem with it being worn.

At the same time, i have no problem with those whose moral/philosophical beliefs lead them to refuse to wear fur and to oppose others wearing it. I think they are misguided, but I respect their right to voice such belieft.

What I do not respect is their right to terrorize and threaten those of us who do not buy in to their belief system.

Sadly, that is precisely what has happened to Elle Macpherson, who is trying to get out of a contract to be a contract to promote fur.

Elle Macpherson is trying to get out of a $2.3 million contract to promote fur after receiving a threat from animal rights activists.

The 42-year-old model, who signed on as the new "face" of Blackglama mink in July, believes she will be terrorised by anti-fur extremists.

She has asked her lawyers to negotiate the cancellation of her contract with the US fur manufacturer, despite the fact the new autumn campaign has already been shot and is set to run in the world's leading fashion magazines.

Her decision comes in the wake of increasingly fierce campaigns by anti-fur crusaders, whose latest target was yesterday's Roberto Cavalli show in Milan. As the Italian designer sent models down the runway, a protester from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals briefly claimed front of stage, waving an anti-fur placard.

Macpherson, a mother of two, recently received a letter from PETA vice-president Dan Matthews, warning that she would become a "target" for agreeing to promote Blackglama.

"By making yourself the new face of fur for Blackglama you are also making yourself a top target for PETA and animal activists around the world," Mr Matthews wrote. "When you take money from such a violent industry you also must carry their baggage."

Ms. Macpherson says she fears for the safety of herself and her children, based upon threats of violence made against htem.

I think it is high time that we start rounding up the so-called "animal rights" activists who make such threats of violence and house them along side the al-Qaeda terrorists with whom they morally share so much in common.

Posted by: Greg at 12:11 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Talk about an outrage! How could this guy even be considered for the position of chaplain with the New York City Fire Department?

An imam slated to be sworn in Friday as the second Muslim chaplain in Fire Department history said he questioned whether 19 hijackers were responsible for the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and suggested a broader conspiracy may have brought down the Twin Towers and killed more than 2,700 people.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Imam Intikab Habib, 30, a native of Guyana who studied Islam in Saudi Arabia, said he doubted the United States government's official story blaming 19 hijackers associated with al-Quaida and Osama bin Laden.

"I as an individual don't know who did the attacks," said Habib, 30, a soft-spoken man who immigrated to New York in July 2000 after spending six years in Saudi Arabia getting a degree in Islamic theology and law. "There are so many conflicting reports about it. I don't believe it was 19 ... hijackers who did those attacks."

Asked to elaborate on his reasons for doubting that story, he talked about video and news reports widely disseminated in the Muslim community.

"I've heard professionals say that nowhere ever in history did a steel building come down with fire alone," he said. "It takes two or three weeks to demolish a building like that. But it was pulled down in a couple of hours. Was it 19 hijackers who brought it down, or was it a conspiracy?"

Actually, that isn’t true. There are not that many conflicting reports – virtually the whole world agrees that the attack as a bin Laden production. Heck, Osama himself claims responsibility. The only folks who deny that the attack was an Islamist production are those with an anti-American or anti-Semitic (or both) agenda.

Questioned about who he believed was responsible for the attacks, Habib said he didn't know. He said, however, that he did not expect to raise his doubts with rank-and-file firefighters -- nor did he share them two weeks ago when he participated in several Sept. 11 memorials on behalf of the Fire Department.

"My position as a chaplain is that whoever did it, it's a tragic incident," he said. "I feel sorrow for the families who lost loved ones and for the firefighters who died in it. Whoever did it, it was a very wrong thing. It's always wrong to take an innocent human life."

Sorry – not good enough. If you cannot even acknowledge the fact that your co-religionists murdered hundreds of firefighters in the name of Islam, then you do not belong with FDNY. You are the moral equivalent of a Holocaust denier, and the city has a responsibility to reject you as unfit to serve.

UPDATE: Good news! The defender of Islamist terrorists has stepped aside.

Now letÂ’s deport him. There is no place for terrorist apologists in this country.

Posted by: Greg at 12:13 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Does CAIR want to call this racial profiling?

When FBI agents walked into Mahmoud Maawad's spartan apartment at 3557 Mynders # 5 on Sept. 9, they found a desk, chair, computer and a Koran.

They also found an airline pilot's uniform, a chart of Memphis International Airport, and instructional DVDs, including one called "How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act."

A federal magistrate Thursday ordered Maawad, a 29-year-old University of Memphis student from Egypt, jailed until his trial on charges of wire fraud and fraudulent use of a Social Security number.

"The specific facts and circumstances are scary," Asst. U.S. Atty. Steve Parker said, arguing against Maawad's release.

Since Maawad can't get a Social Security number, "he can't get a pilot's license, and can't go to flight school," Parker said. "But he wants to get behind the wheel of an aircraft."

Parker said "we don't know either way" if Maawad is a terrorist or connected to any terror groups.

U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Thomas Anderson ruled that Maawad be held without bond.

Oh, yeah – he’s here on an expired visa.

Sound familiar?

(Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin)

Posted by: Greg at 12:16 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Look at what the people that Cindy Sheehan and other Leftoids call "freedom fighters" and the moral equivalent of our Foundng Fathers did in the town of Tel Afar.

When the terrorists took over the city, McMasters said, they replaced all the imams from the mosques with Islamic extremist laymen; replaced all teachers from the schools with people who "preached hatred and intolerance"; and kidnapped and murdered large numbers of people, "including a Sunni Turkmen imam and a city councilman who was shot about 30 times to the head in front of his family.

"The enemy here did just the most horrible things you can imagine," McMasters said, "in one case murdering a child, placing a booby trap within the child's body and waiting for the parent to come recover the body of their child and exploding it to kill the parents."

Would someone explain to me why the Saddamites paints the US as the attrocity-committing bag guys because of unintended collateral damage, but won't point out this sort of gross evil when it is committed intentionally by terrorists?

(Hat Tip: Jawa Report

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Lest you think that the friendly Islamofascists at CAIR don't want to impose Ssharia law on unwilling women and men here in America, look at this entry from Robert Spencer's JihadWatch.

What happens if a woman shows up for a CAIR photo-op without a hijab? No problem! They'll just Photoshop one on!

Seeing is believing -- and the pictures (both versions) are up at JihadWatch. Not only was one of the speakers at the press convference given a Photoshop hijab, so werre two women just standing in the audience!

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It seems that the Gitmo hunger strike is growing.

Military officials have characterized the protest as a "fast" of prisoners aimed at grabbing attention, and say it involves 128 prisoners. They say its significance is exaggerated by their lawyers.

Weir said no detainees are in danger of dying and that the military's treatment is preventing them from losing critical nutrition. Of the 18 people hospitalized, 13 are being force-fed through nasal tubes and five are being given intravenous hydration.

Hey – their bodies, their choice. I’m opposed to stopping any enemy of the United States from committing suicide -- provided they are not taking innocents with them. Just call me “pro-choice”.

Posted by: Greg at 01:03 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Jonah Goldberg points to this little gem from the latest al-Qaeda communiqué.

"Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, Allah willing. And this time, don't count on us demonstrating restraint or compassion," the tape warns. "We are Muslims. We love peace, but peace on our terms, peace as laid down by Islam, not the so-called peace of occupiers and dictators."

Restraint? Compassion? Really?

Sounds to me like these terrorists accept the notion of Islam as a religion of peace – provided that it is an Islamic peace extorted through murder and mayhem, imposed upon those to cowardly to fight back.

For that reason alone, we must institute a full-blown Crusade Against Islamic Terror.

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After all, how could one possibly see anti-Semitism in this?

As the last IDF soldiers were heading out of the Gaza Strip early Monday morning, thousands of celebrating Palestinians took to the streets and made their way to the abandoned Jewish settlements.

Palestinian bulldozers began on Monday afternoon to knock down the synagogues left in Gaza.

In Neveh Dekalim – formerly Gush Katif's urban center – Palestinians set fire to what was just last month a yeshiva.

Gunmen from several Palestinian factions stormed through the settlement. One group planted a flag from the ruling Fatah movement on the roof of the yeshiva, while others set a fire inside.

Flames also shot skyward from the synagogue building in the isolated settlement of Morag in southern Gaza.

I guess the “drive the Jews into the sea” mentality is still prevalent, even when the Israelis unilaterally give into the demands of the Palestinians.

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The design of the memorial to the Heroes of Flight 93 has caused a furor. A.M. Siriano offers this analysis of what is wrong with the design -- not merely the inclusion of a Muslim crescent, but also of a structure that mimics a Muslim minaret!

I can think of no greater affront to American honor than to slap a blatantly Islamic symbol across a 9/11 memorial, but that is exactly what is in the works. The winning entry for the Flight 93 National Memorial, unveiled on September 7th, just four days before the fourth anniversary of 9/11, includes both the Islamic symbol of the Crescent--the "Crescent of Embrace"--and, more carefully disguised, a minaret-like structure called the "Tower of Voices" whose chimes continually "celebrate a living memory of those who are honored." Just who is being honored is in question.

The Los Angeles-based architect who submitted this disgraceful design is Paul Murdoch, who insists that no connection to Islam was intended, that his memorial is "not about religion, per se," but is to be a spiritual, sacred place open to all. So is this much ado about nothing? ...a mere coincidence?

If you believe that, then you don't understand the nature of artists, which is what architects are. (Try to debate with them that they are not; you will get an earful.)

The inclusion of symbols of the malign theology that led to the deaths of the passengers and crew of Flight 93, as well as of so many other Americans on 9/11 is unacceptable.

Especially because of what will not be included at Ground Zero.

But let's imagine that Murdoch had, by naïve coincidence, incorporated a giant Cross in his designs, and nearby a building that looked something like--by sheer chance, mind you--a cathedral. Imagine the atheistic outcry from the left!

The fact is, that very thing has already happened, at Ground Zero itself, when a Cross of Steel was found amidst the rubble and hoisted high for the faithful to come and offer prayers. Some folks, like me, wanted to see that Cross become a permanent fixture of the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan (it never mattered to us if it was a natural or supernatural manifestation, only that it was a worthy and comforting symbol). The American Atheists and other groups killed the proposal with little trouble. The Cross, discovered by a Christian, Frank Silecchia, now resides on "the high walkway over West Street." How's that for a weak testimony to the Christian heritage upon which this country was founded?

Yes -- the symbol of the faith of so many of the honored dead of 9/11 will not be inculded at the site of their deaths -- but the symbols of their murderers will be included at another 9/11 memorial.

I urge those responsible to scrap the current Flight 93 memorial plan and to go back to seek another design.

(More on Flight 93 Memorial here and here.

Posted by: Greg at 11:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Originally Posted on September 11, 2004

So many died that horrible day.

One was my classmate at Washington and Lee University, Commander Robert Allan Schlegel.

I would love to tell you he and I were close. That would be a lie.

I would love to share stories of great times together. I don't have any.

What I can tell you is that I remember Rob Schlegel as a good guy, a friend of some friends. I remember him as being a bright guy, sitting a couple rows over and a couple seats back in a US History class. One of those classmates you later wish you had gotten to know when you had the chance.

Rest in Peace.

May all all the victims of September 11 and the many men and women of our armed forces who have died fighting terrorism since that day rest in peace.

And let us not forget those heroes who still live.

Posted by: Greg at 05:59 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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The detention of Jose Padilla is consistent with federal statutes, Supreme Court precedent, , the US Constitution, and customary international law. He may be held until al-Qaeda is defeated -- just like is done with a POW.

"The exceedingly important question before us is whether the President of the United States possesses the authority to detain militarily a citizen of this country who is closely associated with al Qaeda, an entity with which the United States is at war," Judge Michael Luttig wrote. "We conclude that the President does possess such authority."

Lest anyone forget a rapidly approaching anniversary, these people are making war upon us and trying to kill us.

(Hat Tip -- Michelle Malkin)

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Well, the Ditch Bitch revealed what she thinks of the parents of every dead soldier who disagrees with her in her online diary -- hosted by Daily Kos.

I have been silent on the Gold Star Moms who still support this man and his war by saying that they deserve the right to their opinions because they are in as much pain as I am. . . . How can these moms who still support George Bush and his insane war in Iraq want more innocent blood shed just because their sons or daughters have been killed? I don't understand it. I don't understand how any mother could want another mother to feel the pain we feel. I am starting to lose a little compassion for them. I know they have been as brainwashed as the rest of America, but they know the pain and heartache and they should not wish it on another. However, I still feel their pain so acutely and pray for these "continue the murder and mayhem" moms to see the light.

So what it comes down to is that there is only sympathy and respect if they agree with the Ditch Bitch. Otherwise they are "brainwashed" "continue the murder and mayhem" moms.

Which means that Ditch Bitch believes, ultimately, that her son Casey was a murderer.

So much for honoring the troops -- and Casey's memory.

But then again, we know which troops she supports -- the ones connected to al-Qaeda who killed her son, not the ones who Casey considered his brothers in arms.

Posted by: Greg at 12:38 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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This is one of the most shocking stories IÂ’ve ever encountered. It is shocking because of the false nature of the claims, the use of a child in the hoax, and the fact that no one picked it up over two years. It is almost impossible to know where to begin.

I suppose I should start with the admission of the campus paper at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale.

It was a heart-rending story--a blonde waif, her mother dead, entrusted to the care of a family friend while her father fought with the 101st Airborne in Iraq. The youngster was intelligent, friendly and engaging, and developed close bonds with many of the newsroom staff.

Then a week ago came the news that her father had been killed in Iraq.

Every war casualty leaves a trail of pain, but the story of a 10-year-old girl losing her only parent to the war is particularly poignant, and the Chicago Tribune showed interest.

In the course of checking out the details, a troubling problem appeared: The story wasn't true. What began as a nightmarish possibility became impossible to deny. There was no record with the Department of Defense of the death.

The father who was called Dan Kennings was not killed in Iraq. We checked with central command in Baghdad. There was no Dan Kennings in the 101st Airborne. No Dan Kennings in the entire Army.

We checked with Cathy Gramling, media relations officer at Fort Campbell, Ky., who in turn checked with the Army Human Resources Command.

"We cannot find a record of a Dan Kennings on active duty or having been killed in Iraq," Gramling said.

Holy crap!

You see, the paper had been running stories by and about this little girl and her father for the last two years. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes BrennerÂ’s reaction.

"Looking back on it now, it makes so much sense. I don't know how I could have been such an idiot," said Michael Brenner, the former Daily Egyptian reporter who first wrote about Kodee, and then spent two years staying in contact as a close friend of her and her purported aunt and guardian, who said her name was Colleen Hastings.

Brenner now knows the names to be false, the friendship was a lie, and that hours of telephone interviews and conversations he thought he was having with the girl were actually with the woman. "I was thoroughly convinced."

The relationship between "Kodee"' and the Daily Egyptian started in spring 2003, when Brenner wrote a feature story about Kodee's pain at the departure of her father, identified as Dan Kennings, and included excerpts of a letter she purportedly wrote to him:

"Don't die, OK dad? ... You should find Saddam and run him over with your tank ... I love you and don't die. Love, Kodee."

Another published letter, purportedly by Kodee, asked: "Are you still coming home dad? I'm still here without you ... Hey dad I dug a fox hole. It is regulashin ... Can you kill all the bad guys now so Air Force One can bring you home?"

People wee truly taken with this cute kid with a dead mother and a father in Iraq. How could you not be? The letters sounded genuine, and everybody assumed it was a true story. Unfortunately, the folks assuming included Brenner, who admits he didn’t check out the facts as closely as he should have. Its just that decent people don’t make up stuff like this – and certainly don’t use kids this way.

And then the big lie was exposed by the Chicago Tribune, which wanted a story on how this precious little girl would go on having lost both parents.

On Saturday morning, cars began pulling into the gravel parking lot of a one-story American Legion hall in Orient, Ill., about 30 miles northeast of Carbondale, for a memorial service. Hastings and Kodee got out of a red Pontiac Grand Am, the little girl wearing an Army uniform shirt that hung down to her knees.

People inside the memorial service said both Hastings and Kodee were in tears. A video showed Kennings in his fatigues speaking with a group of children at a church, and there was a scrapbook filled with pictures of Kennings straddling a tank cannon or huddling with other soldiers.

Tribune reporters continued asking questions, and some students and a faculty member were growing increasingly hostile because of suggestions that Kennings did not exist. By Tuesday night, however, Brenner was pacing nervously outside a Dairy Queen in Carterville, Ill., talking to Hastings on his cell phone. He handed the phone to a Tribune reporter, and Hastings said she would come to the Dairy Queen and listen to questions.

Brenner, 25, said he was still convinced of Kennings' existence and defended Hastings for trying to protect a little girl.

Hastings pulled into the parking lot in the same red car she'd driven to the memorial service. She was told that the military denied Kennings' existence and that the name Colleen Hastings appeared in no public-records databases in Illinois. She was asked for a driver's license and for a death certificate for Kennings. With each question, Hastings shook her head no.

After Brenner spoke to her for a minute alone, she drove off.

State records show that the car is registered to a woman living in Marion, and on Wednesday a reporter was there looking for the woman's granddaughter, Jaimie Reynolds.

When she came out of the house, Reynolds was the same woman who had been at the Dairy Queen as Colleen Hastings.

Sitting on the back porch and wearing a long-sleeved Southern Illinois University shirt, her face flush from crying, Reynolds admitted that she had pretended to be Hastings. She said that Kennings was an invention, and later explained that those who met him actually had met Trovillion, the acquaintance who believed he was acting in a film.

She said, and the Tribune confirmed, that she had been a radio and television production student at the university. She graduated in 2004, putting her there alongside the very people she was deceiving.

Reynolds acknowledged the little girl is the daughter of friends and said she persuaded the parents to let her bring the child to Carbondale regularly by saying she was filming a documentary about a soldier killed in Iraq.

"We told her it was for a movie," Reynolds said.

Reynolds now claims that Brenner was in on the plot from the beginning, a charge that he denies.

And as the local paper in Carbondale notes, the motive for the hoax is quite murky.

The Daily Egyptian's general manager said the motive behind the entire Kodee story may be the biggest riddle yet to unravel.

"There is still confusion over what the motive may have been," Speere said.

However, he added that he didn't think money was the motive.
However, in many of Kodee's columns it was noted that her father had to pay $2 per minute to phone home from Iraq and the father's personal e-mail, a Yahoo account, was listed.

It will be interesting to see how much money, if any, these frauds got from good-hearted people.

It appears that the fake Kodee and her family were duped as well, if the Chicago Tribune's story is to be believed (though you have to wonder why the parents didn';t ask more questions sooner if they were not a part of the whole scheme).

On Thursday, 10-year-old Caitlin Hadley sat between her parents on a couch in her mom's office, retelling the two-year odyssey that began with her belief that she was going to be the star of a documentary film about a little girl named Kodee.

"It was sort of weird, but I had a lot of fun," Caitie said.

Her father, Richard Hadley, is a pastor at a Nazarene church in Montpelier, Ind., and her mother works for the church's regional office. Both said they felt they'd been scammed by Reynolds.

"I just realized that I didn't know this girl," Tawnya Hadley said. "In the profession that my husband is in, we move and meet new people all the time. What if she'd never brought Caitie back? We feel like we're idiots."

The Hadleys lived in Buffalo, Ky., during most of the time Reynolds was making the four- to five-hour drive from Carbondale to pick up Caitie and bring her to southern Illinois.

Caitie said that when she and Reynolds were with other people, Reynolds told her they were "filming." Caitie was to pretend to be Kodee, and "she said I needed to act like a tomboy because Kodee was a tomboy."

Caitie's understanding was that everybody she met in Carbondale was in the movie, which was being filmed by hidden cameras. So when they went into the Daily Egyptian newsroom the first time, she pretended to be Kodee and believed that the reporters and editors were playing along as characters.

"I met all the people she had in the movie," Caitie said. "We were always on camera, but I didn't see any cameras."

As Caitie's involvement continued, the Hadleys began asking why the documentary had not been finished.

About a month ago, after a long silence, the Hadleys heard from Reynolds.

She said a new group of students wanted to finish the documentary, and they needed to borrow Caitie again for a memorial service because Dan Kennings had been killed in Iraq.

The parents agreed, and Reynolds drove Caitie down for one last experience.

***

In her home in Indiana on Thursday, Caitie reflected on Jaimie Reynolds, the woman who during the past two years became like a "big sister" to her.

"I feel sad for her," Caitie said. "And I feel like she betrayed me."

Yes, Caitie, these folks betrayed us all – especially the men and women in uniform and their families. I hope that some way is found to punish these people for what they did to you and to them. It was terribly wrong.

(Personal note – The connection between my family and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale stretches back over half a century. Many of my family members are proud SIU Salukis, though none were associated with the Daily Egyptian. Two are former faculty members, but none in journalism. And yes, I have taken classes there, though I graduated with both a BA and an MS from another state university in Illinois.)

NOTE: Edrahe at The Busch Stadium III Photo Blog provides a great set of bulletpoints, since you can't understand this game without a scorecard.

MORE ON THIS STORY FOUND AT Michelle Malkin, Resistance is Futile, Angry in the Great White North, Florida Masochist, Doc Rampage, Harleys, Cars, and Girls, Salient Points, Florida Cracker, With Cheese, It Comes In Pints, Brainster's Blog, Getting Nothing But Static From MSM, Out of the Box, My Yellow Country Teeth and Tim Blair.

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I love these stories.

When Chris Yanez wanted to take his girlfriend out for a special dinner to celebrate their one-year anniversary, he chose the venerable restaurant Canlis, perched high above Lake Union.

Yanez, a soldier returning from Iraq, knew the dinner would be pricey. What he didn't expect is that it would be free. And he also didn't expect that when he walked out, the place would be in tears.

Before going to dinner Wednesday night, Yanez, a reservist who spent a year in Iraq as a machine-gunner, put on his green dress Army uniform, the one he was proud to wear. With his girlfriend, Liz Coleman, on his arm, he walked into Canlis, where owner Mark Canlis found the couple a special table with a panoramic view of the lake and the city.

"I was a captain in the Air Force, so I have a soft spot there," Canlis said.
A few minutes later, a man at a nearby table — who wanted to remain anonymous — walked up to the restaurant owner. "I was noticing the young soldier and saw them looking at the menu," he told Canlis. "I know he was looking at prices and I know this is a special thing, so I would like to take care of part of their bill."

Then another family, the Greenbergs, said they, too, wanted to help pay for the meal. By the end of the night several patrons had, unknown to Yanez, offered to pay for the young couple's meal. With Canlis also sharing the costs, the $150 bill evaporated.

Yanez and Coleman were sharing a peach-cobbler dessert when Canlis walked up with a piece of molten chocolate lava cake.

"There's folks in this restaurant who don't think you should have to share a dessert," Canlis told the couple. "And they don't think you should pay the bill."
Coleman burst into in tears. Tana Greenberg, whose family helped pay the bill, said she, like several other patrons, was wiping her eyes.

"This brought out the patriotism in all of us," she said. "It was just the right thing to do. We're sending our kids over there and they're dying to uphold our beliefs. We just said this couple should not have to buy their meals. It was showing our belief in the uniform and what it stands for."

There is more to this story. You se, this isn’t the first time this has happened – and one time it was the restaurant staff that paid the bill. So if you find yourself out in the Seattle area, this would be the place to go for dinner.

Posted by: Greg at 12:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Cindy Sheehan claims her rage is directed at George W. Bush. I believe she believes that. I also believe she is wrong.

She claims to speak for her son – but by all accounts (except hers), her son volunteered for military service, voluntarily reenlisted, and volunteered for the mission on which he was killed.

So at whom is Cindy Sheehan REALLY pissed off?

It should be obvious – she is angry at Casey Sheehan.

Sigmund Freud had a concept he called “projection, which has been defined as a defense where the ego deals with unacceptable impulses and/or terrifying anxieties by attributing them to someone in the external world.

In many ways I think that explains the behavior of the media’s current patron saint, Cindy Sheehan, whose hate rhetoric aimed at President Bush is really meant for someone else who she can’t admit even to herself is her real target. To do so would represent one of those “unacceptable impulses” Dr. Freud was talking about.

In this case it could well be that Cindy Sheehan is projecting her rage at George Bush when the one she really despises is her late son Casey, who died as a hero in Iraq, precisely because he did die a hero in Iraq.

The more I listen to Cindy Sheehan and consider her past actions and her past words, it occurs to me she has always been a liberal, sheÂ’s always been anti-military, and sheÂ’s always been anti-Republican. It appears that she raised Casey in such an environment, yet despite that what does he do? He not only joins the military engaged in a war she bitterly opposes, but to add insult to injury when his enlistment runs out, he re-enlists although he knew that by so doing it meant he would be sent to Iraq where a war his mother despises is being fought.

Think about that. What Casey did was to reject not by words but by deeds his motherÂ’s most closely-held beliefs.

I’ve expressed this view a few places around the net, though not in anywhere near the depth that Michael Reagan does. Cindy Sheehan is conflicted that her son (who I do not doubt she loved with every decent passion that accompanies motherhood) rejected her beliefs and became an American hero – how can she hold close the memory of her first-born child while rejecting all that he chose to become? And so she directs her anger at the most convenient, most safe target out there – the President of the United States, whose policies (and whose election) she has always rejected. And in doing so, she can stuff her words and her ideology into the mouth of her dead son, and make herself believe that she is really speaking what her son believed – even though his every action shows that he rejected his mother’s politics and pacifism.

Get help, Cindy. If you don't do something about the misdirected anger that goes along with your grief, you are going to be permanently scarred by it.

Posted by: Greg at 12:06 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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I love the outrageous twisting of morality here.

Five Palestinians were killed by IDF gunfire after midnight Wednesday during a raid to capture fugitives in Tulkarm.

The army said that soldiers of an elite Duvdevan unit surrounded a coffeehouse and called on the fugitives inside to surrender. Soldiers fired warning shots in the air, after which the fugitives as well as other gunmen on the scene opened fire at troops.

A firebomb and an explosive device were thrown at troops. In the exchange of gunfire four Palestinians were killed and a fifth died shortly after of his wounds.

Palestinians claim that only two of the dead were fugitives affiliated with the Islamic Jihad while the other three were teenagers, ranging in age from 16 to 18.

The Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades have threatened to exact a "painful revenge" for the deaths of the five Palestinians.

"This episode will not pass without a response," Islamic Jihad leader Muhammad al-Hindi said Thursday morning.

A Hamas spokesman said the revenge could take a variety of forms "in order to teach the enemy a lesson," Army Radio quoted.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei condemned an Israeli raid that killed five Palestinians in the West Bank as a "brutal crime."

"The brutal crime in Tulkarm shows that Israel does not want calm," Qurei said outside his office.

Israel takes out a group of terrorists, but is somehow the bad guy. The terrorists start shooting, but the alleged “innocent bystanders” are somehow the fault of the Israelis and not the terrorists.

Hamas must be crushed, for the sake of world peace. By any means necessary.

Posted by: Greg at 02:05 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I fully respect the right of folks to protest -- even against the war in Iraq. I even acknowledge their right (though not the propriety) of their use of the most vile of slogans .

But I think a line is crossed when the anti-War anti-American demonstrations are held outside military hospitals.

The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the current home of hundreds of wounded veterans from the war in Iraq, has been the target of weekly anti-war demonstrations since March. The protesters hold signs that read "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton."

The anti-war demonstrators, who obtain their protest permits from the Washington, D.C., police department, position themselves directly in front of the main entrance to the Army Medical Center, which is located in northwest D.C., about five miles from the White House. Among the props used by the protesters are mock caskets, lined up on the sidewalk to represent the death toll in Iraq.

Code Pink Women for Peace, one of the groups backing anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan's vigil outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford Texas, organizes the protests at Walter Reed as well.

Yeah, that's right -- they are protesting wounded vets in a military hospital. So much for all the rhetoric we hear about the anti-war anti-American protesters being concerned about the troops.

And given Sheehan's prominent association with the sponsor of the Walter Reid demonstrations, it is simply one more reason to question whether she really gives a damn about American men and women in uniform. If she cannot bring herself to denounce this particular activity by Code Pink and cut her ties with a group that would engage in such tactics, then I think we have to question her commitment to anything other than an agenda which supports the killers of her son.

Posted by: Greg at 11:15 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I came across this interesting piece by the Canton Repository columnist this morning before breakfast. I think it raises a good point, but also needs a response because of a number of assumptions the writer makes.

ItÂ’s disturbing, this gang-tackling of anyone who dares to question the handling of the war in Iraq.

In recent weeks, Cindy Sheehan has been called “the scum of the earth,” a traitor, and other choice epithets that only a gangsta rapper could love.

SheehanÂ’s protest in Crawford, Texas, has been equated with her dancing on the grave of her dead soldier son. A few folks have even expressed glee upon hearing that SheehanÂ’s husband recently filed for divorce.

ItÂ’s only a matter of time before sheÂ’s blamed for her motherÂ’s recent stroke.

Now hold on, Ms. Goshay. Is it your contention that Cindy SheehanÂ’s right to free speech is so sacrosanct that no one has the right to criticize her words or question her actions? You object to name-calling, but give Sheehan a pass on calling the president a murderer, a terrorist, a war criminal, and a member of a crime family. As far as her motherÂ’s stroke goes, the closest IÂ’ve seen to such an accusation against Sheehan is that her actions may have increased her motherÂ’s stress. On the other hand, IÂ’ve seen any number of Sheehan supporters suggest that George W. Bush and Karl Rove used the CIA to poison the stricken woman. I guess that is acceptable, though.

And let’s be honest here – there is something unsavory about a mother using her dead son as a prop to make a political point. Especially when doing so puts her on the same side as those who really killed her son.

It’s being argued that Sheehan’s actions are hurting our troops because it provides just the spark needed by the insurgents. Doubtful. It should be clear by now that roadside bombings in Baghdad are not incumbent upon how Americans feel about the war. Terrorists don’t give a damn what we think, and they certainly don’t need an anti-war protest 6,000 miles away to feel “emboldened.”

They would kill Cindy Sheehan as quickly as they did her son, because sheÂ’s an American.

I’ll agree with your assessment that the terrorists would kill Sheehan as quickly as they killed her son (or nearly 3000 innocents on 9/11), which should be reason enough to discount the woman’s rantings. But one of the lessons of Vietnam is that a war abroad that is being won on the field of battle can be lost in the streets of America if the enemy can manage to “wait out” the resolve of the American people. If you don’t believe that, check out General Giap’s memoirs.

But criticism of Sheehan is no longer about the rightness or wrongness of her protest.

ItÂ’s about her.

Half true – it is about her credibility. To the degree that questioning he credibility is “about her”, then I agree. So what? Discerning individuals are supposed to consider the credibility of a source when evaluating an argument. Especially when that source is claiming to have an indisputable and unquestionable moral authority.

Syndicated columnists have been on the front lines of the smear offensive, questioning not only SheehanÂ’s loyalty, but her very sanity.

They argue that her protest is no longer about her dead son. They’re right — just as Terri Schiavo’s situation evolved from a private family issue to a national discourse on the right to life.

People who want Cindy Sheehan to shut up and go away forget their history. History may love Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford now, but both admired Adolf Hitler and were vocal critics of AmericaÂ’s foray into World War II.

Bowing under public pressure, Woodrow Wilson won re-election in 1916 by vowing to keep America out of Europe’s war — a promise he couldn’t keep.
Before it was over and done, some Vietnam veterans protested against their own war.

Fine. WhatÂ’s your point? Protest is fine, as is opposition to war. But there is a question of time and manner. Once the war begins, the method of opposition needs to be muted in order to not give aid and comfort to the enemy.

As for questioning Sheehan’s sanity – most of us who have done so have done so respectfully, suggesting that she is still so overwhelmed by her grief that she may not be thinking straight. A fuller examination of her words and activities have led me to conclude that she is not crazy or overwrought – rather, her associations with convicted terrorist mouthpiece Lynn Stewart and a host of anti-American groups lead me to draw the conclusion that it is not simply the war she opposes, but the United States.

Among those leading the charge are Bill O’Reilly, who labeled Sheehan’s behavior “treasonous,” and Michelle Malkin, who once suggested that John Kerry may have earned his Purple Hearts by wounding himself.

HereÂ’s a theory: Perhaps Kerry and Sen. Chuck Hagen shot each another.
Columnist David Horowitz said Sheehan has joined an “unholy alliance” that is threatening to undermine the mission, which has become “an epic battle for freedom.”

If itÂ’s so epic, why are we and the British practically the only ones fighting it?

Why arenÂ’t other Middle Eastern countries who claim to love freedom throwing in with us?

How can we dog the French when Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia wonÂ’t help rescue a neighbor from the clutches of terror and despotism?

How many sheiks and princes were fighting alongside Casey Sheehan on the day he was killed?

Malkin did not accuse Kerry of intentionally shooting himself – she argued (as did one of those present when the wound occurred) that one of Kerry’s wounds was caused by blowback from his own weapon, not the enemy. Since you are so concerned about the accuracy and honesty of statements made by partisan columnists, you might want to engage in in a bit of accuracy and honesty yourself.

The rest of the argument isn’t worth dignifying – after all, most of us were taught at a very young age that one should do the right thing, even if everybody else is doing something else. I’m sorry your family, church, and school failed to pass that bit of wisdom on to you.

The central question is not whether Cindy Sheehan is right or wrong, or even if the war is right or wrong; the central question is, does she have a right to free speech, or not?

Even Bush, commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the object of SheehanÂ’s increasingly caustic wrath, defends her right to have an opinion.

Cindy Sheehan is being lambasted as anti-American, but whatÂ’s more American than speaking your mind?

Sure, Charita, Cindy Sheehan has a right to speak. But freedom to speak is not freedom from criticism. Making one’s opinion known does not exempt you or it from criticism, not even from harsh criticism. You should know that – for your column is nothing but criticism of Sheehan’s critics.
And as for your final question, I’d like to ask you in return – do you think that a Klan rally is the height of Americanism? Or do you think that the message and the messengers deserve scorn?

Posted by: Greg at 01:21 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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SheÂ’s back!

Cindy Sheehan, the anti-American mother of an American hero, is headed back to Camp Dhimmi outside of Crawford in search of another 15 minutes.

Cindy Sheehan, the 48-year-old California mom whose anti-war protest has sparked international interest and plenty of controversy, will likely return to her post near President Bush's Central Texas ranch late Wednesday afternoon after a week-long absence.

Michelle Mulkey, a spokeswoman for the peace movement that Sheehan triggered just outside the town of Crawford, said Tuesday afternoon that Sheehan was expected to be back at her makeshift campsite near the Bush ranch sometime after 5 p.m.

ItÂ’s time for the media to make the point that this woman is giving aid and comfort to the folks who actually killed her son via her anti-American rhetoric

Posted by: Greg at 01:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The American Legion passed Resolution 3 at the groups annual convention.

"The American Legion fully supports the president of the Untied States, the United States Congress and the men, women and leadership of our armed forces as they are engaged in the global war on terrorism and the troops who are engaged in protecting our values and way of life.

Do America’s veterans have sufficient credentials to satisfy the anti-war anti-American activists of their moral authority to speak on the issue?

Posted by: Greg at 01:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The American Legion passed Resolution 3 at the groups annual convention.

"The American Legion fully supports the president of the Untied States, the United States Congress and the men, women and leadership of our armed forces as they are engaged in the global war on terrorism and the troops who are engaged in protecting our values and way of life.

Do AmericaÂ’s veterans have sufficient credentials to satisfy the anti-war anti-American activists of their moral authority to speak on the issue?

Posted by: Greg at 01:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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What would happen if Reed were a neo-con and the rest of the group were liberal peceniks?

Pat over at Brainster's Blog imagines the chaos.

It is worth the read -- and this weeks nomination for the Watcher's Council.

Posted by: Greg at 01:23 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Thanks for the nomination; it was an honor to be considered with all those excellent posts!

Posted by: Brainster at Fri Aug 26 09:42:26 2005 (hEScd)

2 You are welcome -- and I have to be honest in saying that I'm surprised that there was not more of a vote for you. After all, your post was clever and creative in a way that all of the others were not.

And then again, that may have been the problem.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Fri Aug 26 12:03:41 2005 (R6+yj)

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WMAL Radio caved in to pressure from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington D.C based terrorist front group with roots in Hamas, and fired Michael Graham for making arguably true comments about Islam and its connection to terrorism. Having first endured a three-week suspension, the ABC Radio station demanded additional outreach and apologies, which Graham refused as a matter of integrity.

A Washington, D.C., radio station has fired a talk show host who was criticized by an American Islamic civil rights group for claiming that "Islam is a terrorist organization."

"The First Amendment and I have been evicted from ABC Radio in Washington, D.C.," said Michael Graham, who had hosted a mid-morning talk show on WMAL until he made such comments on the air as "Islam is a terrorist organization," "Islam is at war with America," "The problem is not extremism. The problem is Islam," and "We are at war with a terrorist organization named Islam."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) demanded on July 25 "that I be 'punished' for my on-air statements regarding Islam and its tragic connections to terrorism," Graham said in a statement released to the press.

Graham sounds like someone who is a straight shooter when he is on the air. Here’s hoping that someone in the radio industry will pick him up.

If we are lucky, maybe Dan Patrick from KSEV Radio here in Houston will see about picking him up to fill the mid-morning slot after Laura Ingraham takes O’Reilly’s place. I think we’d love him here in Houston.

UPDATE: Michael Graham in his own words.

Posted by: Greg at 01:19 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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WMAL Radio caved in to pressure from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington D.C based terrorist front group with roots in Hamas, and fired Michael Graham for making arguably true comments about Islam and its connection to terrorism. Having first endured a three-week suspension, the ABC Radio station demanded additional outreach and apologies, which Graham refused as a matter of integrity.

A Washington, D.C., radio station has fired a talk show host who was criticized by an American Islamic civil rights group for claiming that "Islam is a terrorist organization."

"The First Amendment and I have been evicted from ABC Radio in Washington, D.C.," said Michael Graham, who had hosted a mid-morning talk show on WMAL until he made such comments on the air as "Islam is a terrorist organization," "Islam is at war with America," "The problem is not extremism. The problem is Islam," and "We are at war with a terrorist organization named Islam."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) demanded on July 25 "that I be 'punished' for my on-air statements regarding Islam and its tragic connections to terrorism," Graham said in a statement released to the press.

Graham sounds like someone who is a straight shooter when he is on the air. HereÂ’s hoping that someone in the radio industry will pick him up.

If we are lucky, maybe Dan Patrick from KSEV Radio here in Houston will see about picking him up to fill the mid-morning slot after Laura Ingraham takes OÂ’ReillyÂ’s place. I think weÂ’d love him here in Houston.

UPDATE: Michael Graham in his own words.

Posted by: Greg at 01:19 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Another local hero has died in the crusade against jihadi terrorists.

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Phillip George of Pasadena, who would have celebrated his 23rd birthday on Sept. 3, was killed Wednesday in Afghanistan.

His family was notified late Thursday that George was killed in battle in eastern Afghanistan, where he had been stationed with the 2nd Battalion since late May. Details of how he was killed were not available Friday from the U.S. Defense Department.

George was a 2000 graduate of Clear Lake Christian School in southeast Houston, and had been an active member of Alta Vista Baptist Church in Pasadena.

Phillip's father, a KBR-Halliburton employee working to help rebuild liberated Iraq, will be flown to Germany to accompany his son'ts body home.

I think that Lace Corporal George's sister pays the highest tribute to her brother.

"He loved being a Marine," Sara George said. "This was exactly what he wanted to do. He was also a dedicated Christian. He was serving both God and country."

His sister said George "had close friends in the military, and they were all like family. He was, in a way, a little bit shy. But he was the strongest person I've ever known. He stood up for what he believed in. He wasn't swayed by other people."

"That carried over into his being a Marine," she said. "He was loyal to his friends, to his platoon members. He was fighting for them, too."

May God grant him eternal rest, and may perpetual light shine upon him.

May God grant the George family comfort in their time of loss.

And may God grant safety and victory to his brothers and sisters in arms as they fight for freedom against those who would extinguish it.

Posted by: Greg at 02:38 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Two US warships were attacked by al-Qaeda forces this morning. The terrorists also attacked Israel.

Katyusha rockets were fired at two U.S. warships in Jordan's Red Sea Aqaba port on Friday, narrowly missing their targets, and Jordanian security officials said they believed al Qaeda was involved in the attack.

The rockets hit a warehouse, a hospital and the nearby Israeli port of Eilat. The only casualty was a Jordanian soldier on guard duty at a warehouse, who was killed.

Jordanian security officials told Reuters most initial indications pointed to the involvement of al Qaeda, which has been blamed in recent years for several plots to launch attacks on Western targets and government installations.

"We believe al Qaeda was behind this," a security source said.

Jordanian Interior Minister Awni Yarfas told Reuters the rocket launcher was a crude device, which appeared to indicate its users "had not properly prepared for the attack."

The White House condemned the attack.

"We strongly condemn all attacks like these and are investigating in cooperation with Jordanian officials," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.

"The U.S. will always make every effort to support and defend our servicemen and women in harm's way, as they protect the American people," he said.

Jordanian security forces later sealed off the derelict Shalala quarter of Aqaba, overlooking the port, and carried out house-to-house searches, security officials said.

Responsibility has been claimed by al-Qaeda, in particular the same sub-group that attacked several Egyptian hotels last month.

Neither of the ships, USS Kearsage and USS Ashland, were hit. Both immediately left port.

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Another one bites the dust!

Good news from Saudi Arabia – more dead jihadis.

Al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia was killed Thursday during clashes with police in the western city of Medina, the Interior Ministry said.

Saleh Mohammed al-Aoofi was among six al-Qaida-linked militants reported killed during police raids on numerous locations in that holy city and the capital, Riyadh, Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki told The Associated Press.

Peace will come when the last of these terrorist sumbags lies rotting in the sun, with vultures and wild pigs stripping the flesh from their carcass.

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Another one bites the dust!

Good news from Saudi Arabia – more dead jihadis.

Al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia was killed Thursday during clashes with police in the western city of Medina, the Interior Ministry said.

Saleh Mohammed al-Aoofi was among six al-Qaida-linked militants reported killed during police raids on numerous locations in that holy city and the capital, Riyadh, Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki told The Associated Press.

Peace will come when the last of these terrorist sumbags lies rotting in the sun, with vultures and wild pigs stripping the flesh from their carcass.

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Stars and Stripes reports this story.

From rubble to avenging angel: The U.S. Navy is using steel from the World Trade Center in a new ship, according to the Navy.

Ten tons of steel from the World Trade CenterÂ’s twin towers will be used in the construction of the USS New York, according to a Navy official.

The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock is slated to be commissioned in 2008.

“USS New York will ensure that all New Yorkers and the world will never forget the evil attacks of September 11, and the courage and compassion New Yorkers showed in response to terror,” said New York Gov. George Pataki at the ship’s 2002 naming.

The response of WTC 9/11 survivors and the families of those who died is particularly moving.

For Patrick Cartier Sr., the ship is an honorable way to remember his son, James Marcel Cartier, who was killed when the South Tower collapsed.

“You’ve got the very soul of the event in that mangled steel, and all of that steel which housed all the people fell along with them and they were all consumed in that terrible fireball and that collapse,” the New York City man said.

Using the steel for the new ship would capture the spiritual essence of those who died in the World Trade Center, Cartier said.

“If you would you use that steel, it would almost be a resurrection,” he said.

New York City firefighter Bill Butler also praised turning the steel from the World Trade Center into a fighting vessel.

“It’s a great testament to the strong will of the people who died that day,” said Butler, who was in the North Tower when it collapsed.

Butler was in a stairwell on the fourth floor when he heard what he said sounded like two freight trains roaring by in opposite directions.

It took him five hours to get out of the collapsed tower, he said.

Butler said the New York Fire Department supports U.S. troops. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them every single day and we appreciate them defending our freedom, and we’re doing our best on the homefront,” he said.

This will truly be “America’s Ship”.

Posted by: Greg at 02:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Some anti-American Americans will go to any lengths to draw moral equivalency between terrorists and the US government. Take this response to Star-Tribune columnist Kate Parry, who criticized her own paper for failing to call terrorism terrorism.

When a wedding party of 40 people is wiped out by a misplaced American bomb, these people are just as dead as if a suicide bomber waded into the group and blew himself up. The survivors and their families suffer and grieve just as long and just as hard. How much of a difference, in practical terms and in terms of morality, is there between the two methods of killing the innocent?

Dean DeHarpporte,

Eden Prairie.

Dean fails to recognize, of course, that his letter contains the essential difference between the two. I wonder if Dena would treat poaching deer the same as hitting a deer that runs in front of his car on a dark road, or does he only see the dead deer -- motive and intentionality be damned. A homicide bombing is a fully intentional criminal act of cold-blooded murder, while the other is a sad and accidental twist of fate.

(HAT TIP – Media Blog)

Posted by: Greg at 02:02 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I understand the need for vigilance, but i think that situations like this are simply absurd.

Ingrid Sanden's 1-year-old daughter was stopped in Phoenix before boarding a flight home to Washington at Thanksgiving.

"I completely understand the war on terrorism, and I completely understand people wanting to be safe when they fly," Sanden said. "But focusing the target a little bit is probably a better use of resources."

The government's lists of people who are either barred from flying or require extra scrutiny before being allowed to board airplanes grew markedly since the Sept. 11 attacks. Critics including the American Civil Liberties Union say the government doesn't provide enough information about the people on the lists, so innocent passengers can be caught up in the security sweep if they happen to have the same name as someone on the lists.

That can happen even if the person happens to be an infant like Sanden's daughter. (Children under 2 don't need tickets but Sanden purchased one for her daughter to ensure she had a seat.)

"It was bizarre," Sanden said. "I was hugely pregnant, and I was like, 'We look really threatening."'

Sarah Zapolsky and her husband had a similar experience last month while departing from Dulles International Airport outside Washington. An airline ticket agent told them their 11-month-old son was on the government list.

They were able to board their flight after ticket agents took a half-hour to fax her son's passport and fill out paperwork.

"I understand that security is important," Zapolsky said. "But if they're just guessing, and we have to give up our passport to prove that our 11-month-old is not a terrorist, it's a waste of their time."

Now let's be sensible here. We know, just based upon simple logic, that no baby is going to be a terrorist. They may squall and scream in flight (which might seem almost as much of a pain as a hijacking) , but they are unlikely to be carrying explosives. We certainly know that an 11-month old is unlikely to take a crewmember hostage, or do more than projectile vomit during turbulance.

Why are these terror tykes delayed? Because they have a name somewhat similar to someone else.

How common is this?

The Transportation Security Administration, which administers the lists, instructs airlines not to deny boarding to children under 12 - or select them for extra security checks - even if their names match those on a list.

But it happens anyway. Debby McElroy, president of the Regional Airline Association, said: "Our information indicates it happens at every major airport."

The TSA has a "passenger ombudsman" who will investigate individual claims from passengers who say they are mistakenly on the lists. TSA spokeswoman Yolanda Clark said 89 children have submitted their names to the ombudsman. Of those, 14 are under the age of 2.

And those are the kids who have had complaints filed on their behalf. How many more "terrorist twos" are there out there?

Posted by: Greg at 02:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Two men returning from Canada fromt he US were arrested by Canadian authorities with handguns and ammunition strapped to their bodies.

Ali Dirie, 22, and Yasin Mohamed, 23 -- both Canadians from the Toronto area -- face weapons-related charges and are in police custody in Niagara Falls, Ontario, according to a police statement. Ontario's Provincial Weapons Enforcement Team and the Niagara Regional Police Service are investigating.

Detective Sgt. Shawn Clarkson, of the Niagara Regional Police Service, would not say what led border officers to search the men.

The men's vehicle underwent a routine search at about 5:40 a.m. at Peace Bridge, which links Buffalo, New York, with Fort Erie, Ontario.

Interesting, isn't it, what one detail is omitted from the description of these perps. I'll bet you can figure it out from their names. You don't suppose ther emight be a connection to violent extremism in the group that was omitted, do you?

Posted by: Greg at 06:49 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 Well, the ACLU can't touch them over there.

Posted by: mcconnell at Sun Aug 14 13:37:58 2005 (CQ3Yp)

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Did you hear about the new ideas bouncing around TSA regarding who is to be searched and what items can/can't be taken on a plane?

The TSA memo proposes to minimize the number of passengers who must be patted down at checkpoints. It also recommends that certain categories of passengers be exempt from airport security screening, such as members of Congress, airline pilots, Cabinet members, state governors, federal judges, high-ranking military officers and people with top-secret security clearances.

The proposal also would allow ice picks, throwing stars and bows and arrows on flights. Allowing those items was suggested after a risk evaluation was conducted about which items posed the most danger.

If approved, only passengers who set off walk-through metal detectors or are flagged by a computer screening system will have to remove their shoes at security checkpoints. The proposal also would give security screeners the discretion to ask certain passengers "presenting reasonably suspicious behavior or threat characteristics" to remove their shoes.

The proposal also would give screeners discretion in determining whether to pat down passengers. For example, screeners would not have to pat down "those persons whose outermost garments closely conform to the natural contour of the body."

Now some of this is just common sense. Miss Hottie in her spandex outfit is not likely to be carrying anything that you cannot already see -- why pat her down, other than for a cheap thrill? On the other hand, Betty bint Burqa might need to be that pat down (or better yet, a full cavity search) to make sure she is not carying anything dangerous.

On the other hand, I don't see why it is a good idea to let folks carry throwing stars and ice picks in the cabin. And I would really like that crossbow to stowed away with the checked luggage, thank you very much. But yeah, let on the nail clippers, knitting needles, and 1 1/2 inch swiss army knives that fit on a keychain.

And as for exempting "members of Congress, airline pilots, Cabinet members, state governors, federal judges, high-ranking military officers and people with top-secret security clearances", I take extreme exception to the proposal. Sure, let the military folks on without a serious search, but I want all those politicians and judges to be subjected to the highest level of security procedures not reserved for Islamists wearing suicide belts and waving machine guns. After all, if they are going to make these laws and regulations that inconvenience the common citizen, they should be subjected to the full measure of these requirements EVERY SINGLE TIME they get on a plane to ensure that they are aware of the burden us common folks face.

Posted by: Greg at 03:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've not said anything on this site about the Cindy Sheehan situation up in Crawford. She is entitled to her beliefs, no matter how wrong I believe them to be.

My respect for her son's sacrifice has led me to respectfully avert my gaze from the sorry spectacle she is making of herself. Grief can, after all, cause people to do and say irrational things. I have therefore remained mute on the subject (save for one comment satirizing a post by John Aravosis over at Americablog).

But members of the Sheehan family are speaking out, in a statement issued through The Drudge Report.

Our family has been so distressed by the recent activities of Cindy we are breaking our silence and we have collectively written a statement for release. Feel free to distribute it as you wish.

Thanks, Cherie

In response to questions regarding the Cindy Sheehan/Crawford Texas issue: Sheehan Family Statement:

The Sheehan Family lost our beloved Casey in the Iraq War and we have been silently, respectfully grieving. We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the the expense of her son's good name and reputation. The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our President, silently, with prayer and respect.

Sincerely,

Casey Sheehan's grandparents, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins.

I think that says about all that needs saying about Mrs. Sheehan.

By the way, is anyone else struck by the fact that there is so little media coverage of survivors who support the war? Could it be that those are the "dog-bites-man" stories and this is "man-bites-dog"?

UPDATE: From the New York Post.

[Cherie Quartarolo's] e-mail was initially sent to San Francisco radio station KSFO and then reported on the Web site of the Vacaville Reporter newspaper in Casey Sheehan's hometown.

The Post e-mailed Quartarolo, and she responded by identifying herself as the aunt and included a copy of her statement.

KSFO talk-show host Melanie Morgan told The Post that she got to know Quartarolo after a July trip to Iraq by conservative radio personalities.

Quartarolo contacted her after hearing her reports praising U.S. troops.

Quartarolo didn't claim to be speaking on behalf of Casey's father, Patrick Sheehan, who is separated from Casey's mother and who has declined to comment on her protest.

(HAT TIP: GOPBloggers)

Posted by: Greg at 06:00 PM | Comments (25) | Add Comment
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Why on earth would the Brits even consider letting this guy back into their country. After all, in addition to urging assaults on their country, he has been a sponge living on welfare benefits for years.

THE British Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, will refuse a request from the extremist cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed to be allowed to return to Britain for a heart operation on the National Health Service.

As ministers finalise their new rules to exclude Sheik Bakri Mohammed from Britain, the cleric said that he should be allowed back from his holiday in Lebanon for an operation to widen an artery that would cost up to pound stg. 8000 ($18,750) if he had to have private treatment.

Officials believe the 47-year-old leader of the al-Muhajiroun group is trying to test the Home Office's promised immigration rules.

Senior officials said that the Home Secretary could exercise leniency if it were a life-or-death matter but a routine operation was unlikely to be grounds for lifting any ban.

One said: "His heart condition was not serious enough to prevent him flying to Beirut last weekend and I am sure they have very fine hospitals in Lebanon where this procedure could be done."

On the other hand, perhaps they could let him back in and give him appropriate medical treatment.

Lard coated stints, perhaps.

Or better yet, just transplant a pig's heart into this jihadi's chest.

Posted by: Greg at 04:50 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 Pig heart? Nah, too extreme. Let's go for replacing defective heart valves with pig heart valves. And ensure that the hospital menu is all pork.

Posted by: mcconnell at Fri Aug 12 15:09:19 2005 (nXE8W)

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I cannot believe the gall of this man -- or the fact that he thinks we are so stupid as to be unable to figure out the difference.

Following the anti-terrorism proposals unveiled on Friday Dr Naseem told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme that he saw "similarities" between Mr Blair's approach to Britain's Muslim community and Hitler's demonisation of Jews early in his time as German Chancellor.

"I think he is not very wise in the way he did it. I am saying he is not handling the situation wisely, because he says one thing at one time and another at another," he said.

"He [Hitler] was democratically elected and gradually he created a bogey identity, that is, the Jewish people, and posed to the Germans that they were a threat to the country.

"On that basis, he started a process of elimination of Jewish people.

"I see the similarities. Everything moves step by step. I am saying these are dangerous times and we must take note of this."

He added that the measures proposed by Mr Blair would be "appropriate" if there was evidence that foreign nationals were in the country fomenting terrorism.

"A government is entitled to take measures to safeguard the country and the nation, but the problem is that the government speaks with so many tongues that one is confused.

"Up to last week, we were given to believe that the terrorists were home-grown, 'clean-skinned' and Muslim.

"The measures being taken are against those who come to this country who are asylum-seekers and they are supposed to be misusing or abusing hospitality.

"Mr Blair told the Cabinet last week that people blame anything but faith, including poverty, discrimination and the war on terror for the bombings, so the message seemed to be that they are blaming everything else, but they should be blaming faith."

Let's see -- can Naseem point to Jews in the 1920s and 1030s preaching hatred of the German people, or of non-Jews in general? Can he point to Jewish terrorist activity, murdering innocent Gentiles at random for the purpose of terrroizing them? I think we all know the answer.

But if Dr. Naseem and his ilk keep it up, we will find it necessary to expel Muslims from Western society for our own protection. After all, Islamist terrorists and their apologists (and I'm not sure which Naseem is) are a a cancer in our midst. If the Muslim community keeps choosing folks like Naseem as leaders and spokesmen to represent their faith to the rest of us, then the community itself is the problem, not just the extremists.

Posted by: Greg at 09:07 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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We keep being told that Islam is a religion of peace -- in fact, some will tell you that the word "Islam" itself means peace (that is a lie -- it means submission). In light of this, some folks have wondered how Islam could take over the world. I mean, what means would this "peaceful" religion use to impose itself on an unwilling world?

DC Watson offers a scenario for an Islamic takeover of the world.

1. Apply for asylum in the West, because the nation you call home is oppressive and barbaric.

2. Migrate to the West, appear to be meek and mild, well-mannered and soft-spoken. Meet with upper levels of your host nation's government, claiming to be an ambassador of pluralism.

3. Then on weekends at Muslim gatherings, promote the implementation of the very same oppressive and barbaric behavior that you claim to have left behind for a better life in the West.

4. When those in your fellowship murder innocent people with airliners and bombs, you throw out a generic public condemnation, making sure that you name no specific names.

5. Disassociate yourselves with the Muslim killers, saying that they are out on the fringe of Islam, and claim that this is only a “tiny minority of extremists” who are committing these crimes -- because killing innocent people goes against the teachings of Islam.

6. No matter how many of your fellow Muslims are convicted of terror crimes, always maintain this story.

7. Oh, and always make sure that you don't let it slip out that no non-Muslim is considered innocent.

8. Always, always, always use religion for protection.

9. Even though your religion is loaded with cutthroats, always compare them to one or two loons from another religion.

10. Even though your book of scripture is chock full of racism and violence, always compare it to the scriptures of other religions, even though you know, like the rest of the world knows, that the believers of these other religions aren't out hacking, bombing, kidnapping and beheading like the believers of yours are.

11. Always remember to play the phony race card. Playing the victim is the best way to keep those who actually worry about hurting your fragile egos from protecting themselves against your deceit and undermining.

12. Remember that every time incitement to violence against non-Muslims slips out of your mouth, always use the excuse that your words were taken out of context. Oh, and be sure to call anyone who challenges you a bigot. Remember, play that phony race card!

You know, this hypothetical plan sounds mighty familiar to me. Does it seem familiar to you?

Posted by: Greg at 05:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The British are going to engage in terrorist profiling in an attempt to safeguard its people.

People from certain ethnic groups are more likely to be stopped and searched on London transport in the wake of the bombings, British Transport Police say.

A force spokesman said communities were not being singled out, but police have to "target the people we think may be involved" in bomb attacks.

The policy has been supported by Home Office minister Hazel Blears.

***

She told BBC News: "That's absolutely the right thing for the police to do.

"What it means is if your intelligence in a particular area tells you that you're looking for somebody of a particular description, perhaps with particular clothing on, then clearly you're going to exercise that power in that way."

She said it was important people were kept informed and those who were stopped were given an explanation.

"I think most ordinary decent people will entirely accept that in terms of their own safety and security," she added.

Consider the common sense nature of that concept. We know the profile of the folks we are fighting. We know that they are among us, ready to kill innocents. it makes sense to give scrutiny to those meeting the profile -- not mass detentions or lock-ups, simply heightened scritiny.

Most ordinary decent people would accept that.

And we know that the usual suspects object -- the ACLU, Muslim groups, liberals in general -- quite loudly to any procedure that doesn't make black grandmothers, Japanese tourists, Congressional Medal of honor winners and babies in diapers subject to the same level of scrutiny as Muhammad Atta's identical twin brother. Scratch that -- they object to any procedure that scrutinizes Atta's twin at all.

Posted by: Greg at 02:05 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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