Anyone who has spent time reading my ramblings already knows that I have maintained a dismal outlook for Afghanistan’s future.  In the past, I’ve chronicled my debate with “NATO-guy” who claimed that NATO had the situation under control (not!).  And consistently, I’ve expressed my serious concern that Afghanistan was on the brink.  I am far from the only one who saw this coming.  Today, Doug Farah’s post at the Counterterrorism Blog, NATO and Afghanistan-The Cost of Failure, expresses my thoughts.  Farah also covers this more deeply on his own blog here.

Looking at the beginning and the end of this post:

Few in NATO, including U.S. leaders, appear willing to face the fact that the war in Afghanistan is growing to be one of the longest in our history and could be one of the costliest. Not just in economic terms, but because no one has been willing to commit the resources to win the war, despite the fact it was nearly won four years ago. The cost of not finishing the job is staggering.

AND

Pakistan, a nuclear nation, and Afghanistan, are really where al Qaeda and radical Islam are entrenched. It is, in my opinion, where the next attack will originate from, and should be of equal worry to Europe. If the senior al Qaeda leadership are safe enough there not to have to be on the move, what is to stop them?

Worried about the future? I am! The facts have shown from the beginning that the job in Afghanistan was left undone when our resources were diverted to Iraq. And yet, I supported and continue to support the removal of Hussein and his sons from power in Iraq and believe, despite the recent Basra/Baghdad battles.  Afterall, I’m “just” an observer.  Making these decisions is way above my pay grade…in fact, since I’m not a government employee, I don’t have a pay grade.

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One of the most memorable films in my opinion was the Killing Fields.  It told of the genocide in Cambodia at the hands of the Khmer Rouge used as a backdrop to relate the story of Sidney Schanberg and his Cambodian friend, Dith Pran who later became a photographer for the NY Times.  Here is the New York Times story on Mr. Dith’s passing.

He had been a journalistic partner of Mr. Schanberg, a Times correspondent assigned to Southeast Asia. He translated, took notes and pictures, and helped Mr. Schanberg maneuver in a fast-changing milieu. With the fall of Phnom Penh in 1975, Mr. Schanberg was forced from the country, and Mr. Dith became a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian Communists.

Many people reading this are too young to remember the horrific images of the Killing Fields. His story and his discussion of the Khmer Rouge titled “The Last Word: Dith Pran“ is shown here.  Few actually know the story of friendship, dedication, and bravery of Schanberg and Dith.

At his death, Mr. Dith was working to establish another, still-unnamed organization to help Cambodia. In 1997, he published a book of essays by Cambodians who had witnessed the years of terror as children.

Dr. Ngor, the physician turned actor who had himself survived the killing fields, had joined with Mr. Dith in their fight for justice. He was shot to death in 1996 in Los Angeles by a teenage gang member.

“It seems like I lost one hand,” Mr. Dith said of Dr. Ngor’s death.

Mr. Dith nonetheless pushed ahead in his campaign against genocide everywhere.

“One time is too many,” he said in an interview in his last weeks, expressing hope that others would continue his work. “If they can do that for me,” he said, “my spirit will be happy.”

Yes, one time is too many. One holocaust is one too many. Yet, we had the Holocaust during World War II, we had the Killing Fields, Bosnia and Rwanda, and we now have Darfur.

The point of all of this is perspective.  Do you cry for humanity because of the inhumanity that it has perpetrated?  I cry everyday.  Never forget those who have perished in the Holocaust, never forget those who died in the Killing Fields, and never forget those who have died and will die in the holocausts beyond Dith Pran’s imagination.

Dith Pran, Khmer Rouge, Killing Fields, Pol Pot, Sidney Schanberg

2 Comments »

How odd!  My previous post features a group of adolescent girls called the Cactus Cuties singing the Star Spangled Banner (if for some reason the video disappears, here is a link to it).  Then I come across a post on another blog where the comments devolve into a “debate” over free speech and the ACLU.  What I find interesting is how the general populace blends fact and belief and bias so seemlessly.  My country, my rights…my belief in patriotism.

24 Responses to “The Cactus Cuties Sing The National Anthem”
Richard Lovell Says:
March 2nd, 2008 at 5:21 pm
The performance was very refreshing, I am 73 years young and I know the meaning of patriotism.
Thanks,
rbl

Mister Prickly Says:
March 2nd, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Chills. Tears. Pounding heart.

Wow. Just … wow.

Denis Says:
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:27 pm
I am a proud card carrying member of the ACLU and I thought this performance was absolutely stirring and it swelled my own pride as an American — just goes to show that you can want to defend the Bill of Rights and still love America.

mindy a Says:
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Beautiful

Jay Says:
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Well whatadya know Denis? Nice to know you are a patriot. I bet that even an America hater could appreciate the talent involved here.

Denis Says:
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
Hey, Jay. It’s true that anyone can appreciate great singing and this is the best, amazing in light of the ages of the girls involved. Great tune, too.

I hope you’re not implying that I hate America because I support the ACLU. I love America. And if you ask me what I love about, I’ll say the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. If anyone on your forum has a problem with that, I’d ask “Well, okay, what do YOU love about America?” After reading your response, then I’d decide which of us is the better American.

CatHouse Chat Says:
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:42 am
Amen. Amen, and WELL DONE!…

Now, THIS is truly “talent on loan from God!” (KittiPurrs to the Emperor and Stop the ACLU…)…

Wil Golden Says:
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Thank you.

R D P Says:
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:20 pm
The video is no longer up. Denis, what about freedom of speech? Does the ACLU allow us regular Americans to have opinions, or will ya’ll tell us those, too? I don’t think that the ACLU is as American as you propose. Just because YOU say they are more American than I am doesn’t mean thet you are right. You just keep thinking that only liberals are good Americans, I say any American who loves his/her country is a good American. The ACLU doesn’t dictate our standards, nor does it speak for me.

Denis Says:
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
RDP,

My postings are all visible and can be cut and pasted into your subsequent postings. Would you kindly identify that section in my posts (and include them word for word in your own, with quotation marks) where I suggest that “only liberals are good Americans.” If one of my liberal friends (and I have several) told me that, I’d call him/or an idiot.

I am in favor of free speech, including yours. Even though we obviously disagree about some fundamental issues, if anyone (including the ACLU) tried to compromise your ability to speak your mind, I would denounce them at the top of my lungs, even though I disagree with you.

Are you reacting to what I posted or to your own views of liberals? I would quote a line from “The Killer Angels” — “only a peawit judges by the group.” I take people as I find them — one at a time. I’ve known too many highly intelligent conservatives not too respect them and value their opinions.

Let me tell you how I got on this forum in the first place (which, thanks to you, I’ll be leaving soon). I saw this video on another source and it moved me deeply. I Googled “Cactus Cuties” to learn more about how something so incredible came to be, and it led me to this site.

If you don’t think I’m a good American based on what I’ve written in this forum, you can shove it. If anyone were to suggest that you weren’t a good American because of what you’ve written, I would tell them to shove it.

Is that clear or have I used any words you don’t understand?

Public School Teacher Says:
March 5th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Denis, you stated, “I am in favor of free speech, including yours”

Then why can’t I pray in school?

This is my right - but the ACLU has fought to say that it impedes against others rights and in doing so has impeded my right to freedom of religion.

Denis Says:
March 5th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Dear Public School Teacher,

I don’t have a problem with you praying in school. I know the ACLU has a problem with it, but I sure don’t.

Having said that, I WOULD have a problem with you requiring your students to join you in prayer. I think that would be using your power as a teacher to shove your own personal beliefs down the throats of your students, who are politically weak and not able to say no to you. Would you require your students to join you or do you just want to be able to do it as an individual?

As a person who’s job it is to prepare teachers (I’m a professor of reading and social studies education), I wouldn’t approve of teachers praying out loud during class time for the simple reason that it disrupts the flow of the instructional day. I don’t have a problem with it for freedom of speech issues. I have a problem with it, during instructional periods only, because it’s bad teaching. If one of my students had a lesson that was going badly and stopped in the middle of it to pray for divine intervention, I would read him/her the riot act. It doesn’t have anything to do with my support or opposition to this student’s beliefs — again, it’s just bad teaching practice. (Think of what would happen with the kids in the class if a Muslim teacher stopped a lesson in the middle to get on his rug and pray.)

On the other hand, I think that praying before lunch (for example) should be your absolute right, even if it’s out loud or in front of the students. I know that’s not the ACLU’s position but I think the ACLU is wrong about this. I think the ACLU is wrong about lots of stuff.

Because you’re a teacher, I would be very interested in your response.

Thanks, Denis

Public School Teacher Says:
March 5th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I would agree with your analysis of this issue. It would be bad teaching to engage in prayer in the manner that you have outlined. I am glad to hear that you do disagree with the ACLU on this matter. My biggest issue with the ACLU is that the always choose “civil rights” that seem to try and hush christian beliefs, but have never offered to go to court for a chirstian whose rights have been violated in similar fashion. This to me is a double standard and therefore comes across as if the ACLU actually has an agenda, though they claim they don’t.

Thanks for the response and keep training good teachers. We really need them.

Thanks,
Public School Teacher

Denis Says:
March 5th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Dear Public School Teacher,

Thanks so much for your very gracious response. I have to admit that I think more highly of the ACLU’s former traditions than of their current positions (which sometimes border on the bizarre). For example, I remember one time (I think this was in the 70’s) when the ACLU came to the defense of a white supremacist. Personally, I don’t like white supremacists, but loved the notion that defending personal freedom of expression was more important than consideration of whatever the person was expressing.

This reminds me of a part near the end of the movie “The American President” where the Michael Douglas character (the president) says during a press conference (I took it from the script off the web):
“You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating, at the top of his lungs, that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free, then the symbol of your country can’t just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest.” Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.”

That was written by Aaron Sorkin, the guy who wrote “The West Wing” — one of the most liberal guys around, but obviously in favor of free speech.

This is where it gets tricky. You might despise the notion of flag burning and despise the people that engage in such behavior. But, if you really believe in free speech, you’ve got to defend their rights.

I don’t see the difference between defending the rights of a citizen to burn a flag and defending the rights of a Christian to practice his/her religion, again, as long as it’s not being imposed on others.

Many of the teachers I deal with struggle with the fact that they’re not supposed to “do Christmas” in the schools anymore!! The way around this is to do a unit on culture where you present Christian traditions, Jewish traditions, Muslim traditions, etc. and compare and contrast. And I think that it’s okay for you, as a teacher, to say to your students “I’m a Christian, so I believe in Christmas.” This should be absolutely be protected, your legal absolute right. I think someone saying, “I’m a Christian, so YOU should believe in Christmas” should not be protected.

I apologize for taking my stumbling into this forum to express myself. To tell the truth, I don’t get a chance to talk to folks of a different political perspective and I really miss the back and forth. I find that, regardless of political persuasion, we have a lot more in common that either “side” would expect. Thanks so much for the opportunity to talk to you.

By the way, my students and I deal with these kinds of issues all the time. Any examples of how creative teachers get around some of these ridiculous restrictions would be appreciated.

Denis

Freddy Says:
March 6th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
It makes me want to cry with happiness for my country. So moving.

Greg Says:
March 7th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
I hate to intrude on this All-American Slugfest about which of you is the most American of Americans, but I’d sure like to know who the Texas Cuties are. I get a lot of videos and a lot of comments on how sweet they are (and of course whether the ACLU is more American than the John Birch Society), but little on the subject of the video–the Texas Cuties. For God’s sake people, relax, holster your jingoism and listen to the music. Those girls would be embarrased to see whe comments offered in exchange for their lovely Anthem performance.

former republican Says:
March 7th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Denis,

Well, that makes at least 2 of us that got to this site after hearing this moving performance of our National Anthem, & googling to try to find out how such a wonderful tribute came to be.

And that makes at least 2 of us here that supports the ACLU’s tireless efforts to protect our fundamental American values & liberties.

In this challenging time, when so many seem to seek refuge in the mirage of “Big Brother” security measures, and in a time when we have adopted pre-emptive waging of war into our formal National Security policy, and when so many who rhetorically claim to be “small government conservatives” have now adopted “unitary executive” theory and support the destruction of habeas corpus . . . . . . the ACLU’s patriotic work is more needed than ever before.

. . . . just as is our beloved National Anthem.

These girls beautiful rendition brings tears to my eyes.

Karl Says:
March 8th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I received this in an email today. Without question, the best singing of the national anthem I have ever heard. I listened to it many times and it moves you more each time. WOW…..just WOW.

Denis Says:
March 9th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Hi all,

I did some research on this and found that there’s a movement afoot to replace the Star Spangled Banner as our national anthem (and, no, it’s not the ACLU that’s leading the charge on that one

The rationale is that the Star Spangled Banner is hard for some people to sing. I think it’s an amazing anthem partially BECAUSE it’s hard to sing — you get the full range of emotions out of something like an octave and a half of musical range. The high notes wouldn’t seem so high (and stirring) if you didn’t have to reach for them. Anyone who thinks the Star Spangled Banner should be replaced should be sent this video link.

By the way, a previous poster was frustrated that he couldn’t find out more about the Cactus Cuties, but Jay was thoughtful enough to post the “To Learn More About Them” link at the time of this page.

Denis

Norm Says:
March 9th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
The ACLU only defends the parts of the Bill of Rights that it agrees with. It’s happy to let the Second Amendment just fade away in a cloud of twisted words.

Norm

Bryana Says:
March 10th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Your performance was amazing. You should be proud of yourselfs. You all have very beautiful voices and you will be my idle for a while.

i hope that you all will sing more songs that people can enjoy. thanks so much. ilove you……no homo….

JonErickson Says:
March 11th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I found this site by seeing and hearing the Cactus Cuties on a daily blog sent by a friend and googeling. I am not a particularly patriotic person but I am simply blown away by the singing. I did a little stroll around the blog here and through a couple of links. I also read with interest the comments above. I visited the ACLU site and found the reference to a bunch of cases the ACLU has addressed, definding religious freedom and particularly Christian freedom in schools, public and business.

http://www.aclu.org/religion/govtfunding/26526res20060824.html I thought it was most interesting.

My dad was a school administrator and always said, “I have no problem with prayer in school, AS LONG AS I GET TO WRITE THE PRAYER.” Someone would invariably say, “How come you get to write the prayer?” and he would reply, “If not me, then NOT ANYONE.”

Jon

Ed Darrell Says:
March 14th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Then why can?t I pray in school?

You can pray in school. You can’t pretend to anoint your faith for the children, however. Those kids, like the Cactus Cuties, have religious rights, too. Who are you to substitute your judgment about God for the Cactus Cuties’ judgment? Why would you want to?

What’s so difficult to understand about that?

Ed Darrell Says:
March 14th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Norm, STACLU has never defended most of the Bill of Rights. Only the ACLU — ONLY the ACLU — defends all ten amendments, regardless who attacks them. No other group.

Those who oppose the ACLU oppose the Bill of Rights. Never forget that only the ACLU defends the Bill of Rights alone.

Quite a statement on what people believe and what they understand…and what the facts really are when you peal away some of the biases.

ACLU, Cactus Cuties

2 Comments »

Stolen from my blogo’friend AC McCloud’s Fore Left! post, A Rare Treat.  And as he notes, the singing of our National Anthem is often a moment to cringe…so often, it is butchered.  Not this time.

And he had snatched this from Right Truth. This needs to be preserved on this blog as well.

National Anthem

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End of 1st Q ‘08, so its time for observations again.  Scouting around some of the “usual suspects” on the Internet, much of what I see is “happy talk.”  Despite all of this “happy talk,” it is way too early to declare victory!  At least one unjaded opinion (mine) sees a number of opportunities for disappointment - Pakistan (where I may have been wrong about the transition from Musharraf), Iraq with the post surge upsurge in sectarian violence, Iraq with the trembling of the Maliki gov’t, and still in Afganistan where the resurgence of the Taliban continues and I maintain doubt about Karzai’s future.

The degree and level of Iranian involvement in all of this is still at the root of the discussion about what is really going on.  There are some very reputable experts who see the non-transparent imprint of Iran on what is happening in Iraq today (watching the shoooting war outbreaking in Baghdad and Basra) while others less expert seem to consider al Sadr to be the culprit (while I do not question the role of Iran in all of this, there is also no doubt that al Sadr plays a role, and his Mahdi Army remains a threat worse than al Qaeda - according to Maliki).  In time, we will see the residual effects of the troop surge.  We will also see if the Maliki gov’t can stay power, or worse, what will happen if it fails.  We will witness the impact of Bhutto’s assassination, Musharraf’s electoral loss and the seating of a new government in Pakistan, a Muslim nuclear power.  And finally, we will see the impact when Karzai’s gov’t falls and the Taliban regain their foothold in Afghanistan.

For convenience (mine), I’m simply going to list a few readings:

Taliban declares start of new Afghan offensive-Web

The Taliban announced the start of a spring offensive in Afghanistan, promising “painful strikes” to force all enemy soldiers to leave, according to a Web message seen by a U.S.-based monitoring service on Thursday.

NATO-led forces have conducted wide-ranging offensives in southern Afghanistan to disrupt the insurgents ahead of spring, which each year heralds a surge in violence as the snows melt and fighters emerge from their mountain hideouts.

The Web message entitled “Taliban declares beginning of spring offensive in Afghanistan” was from Mullah Bradar Akhund, who styles himself deputy emir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, according to a translation by the SITE Institute terrorism monitoring service seen in London.

Taliban again threaten spring offensive

The Taliban says it will use new techniques and draw on years of fighting experience to again increase attacks in Afghanistan this spring.A statement attributed to Taliban senior commander Mullah Bradar also warns Afghans working with the government to quit their jobs or risk being targeted.

Bradar said the Taliban is aiming to collapse the government of President Hamid Karzai. He said the militants would continue their attacks until the government is ousted and U.S. and NATO forces withdraw.

U.S. and NATO military officials dismiss the idea of a Taliban spring offensive and say the only offensive that will take place this year in Afghanistan is one by Western and Afghan troops.

Taliban increasingly turns to suicide bombings

Suicide bombing used to be a subject of debate among the Taliban, as they struggled to decide whether the tactic was too extreme, but the frightening new reality in Afghanistan is that the radicals appear to be winning that argument within the Taliban ranks.

None of the 42 insurgents surveyed by The Toronto Globe and Mail were willing to express any reservations about suicide bombings when confronted by a researcher with a video recorder, and many of them boasted that they were ready to volunteer for such missions themselves.

Some Taliban have previously argued that it’s cowardly to wear an explosive vest, because it prevents an insurgent from fighting his enemy face-to-face. Others suggested that the carnage among civilian bystanders that often results from a suicide blast alienates ordinary Afghans from the insurgency. A Taliban faction even took out an advertisement in one of Kandahar’s weekly newspapers in 2006, blaming recent suicide bombings on foreign fighters and promising to stop the attacks: ”We will punish them,” the advertisement said.

The Impact of Pashtun Tribal Differences on the Pakistani Taliban

Though members of militant Islamic groups such as the Pakistani Taliban and other jihadis have almost the same anti-United States and pro-al-Qaeda worldview, they are not especially disciplined when it comes to organizational matters. Difficulty in this area explains the existence of so many extremist factions operating under different leaders and commanders who sometimes express conflicting opinions on domestic and international issues.

The formation of an umbrella organization, Tehrek-e-Taliban-Pakistan (Movement of Pakistani Taliban, or TTP) on December 14, 2007, was meant to bring the different Taliban groups operating in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) into one formation and improve their coordination (The News International [Islamabad], December 15, 2007). Its spokesman, Maulvi Omar, a shadowy figure using a fake name, claimed that 27 Taliban factions operating in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) were part of the movement. Nobody was surprised when Baitullah Mehsud, amir of the Taliban in the territory populated by the Mehsud Pashtun tribe in South Waziristan, was named as leader of the TTP. He was the most powerful among the Pakistani Taliban commanders and it was natural that he would lead the organization.

PLEASE NOTE AND REMEMBER HERE MY CONSISTENT AND LONG TERM CAUTION ABOUT TRUSTING THE PASHTUN

Al Qaeda’s Resurgence

FOUR YEARS AGO, HIS WORDS WOULD have represented an almost unquestioned consensus view. In late January, the State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator, Dell Dailey, described al Qaeda’s top leadership as isolated, saying that they have “much, much less central authority and much, much less capability to reach out.”

He is not alone in this assessment. In July 2007, Stratfor’s Peter Zeihan argued that while a few thousand people may claim to be al Qaeda members, “the real al Qaeda does not exercise any control over them. . . . The United States is now waging a war against jihadism as a phenomenon, rather than against any specific transnational jihadist movement.” The most prominent proponent of this view has been Jason Burke, a reporter for London’s Observer and the author of Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam. By the time that book hit newsstands in 2003, Burke was already arguing that the “nearest thing to ‘Al-Qaeda,’ as popularly understood,” only existed for a five-year period, and the battle of Tora Bora in December 2001 showcased “the final scenes of its destruction.” Now, Burke contends, we are “in a ‘post-bin Laden’ phase of Islamic militancy.”

Unfortunately, all these men are wrong–and we will fight the war on terror less effectively if we continue to harbor mistaken assumptions about the al Qaeda network. It is important not to overstate what the terror group’s leadership needs to do to remain relevant. Even if the central leadership’s role is limited to connecting terrorist nodes–pairing skill sets, financing, and operatives–it can transform terrorist groups from disunited regional problems into cohesive adversaries capable of threatening Western societies. Moreover, the safe havens that al Qaeda’s leaders have gained in recent years magnify their lethal capabilities.

There are so many moves left in this chess game that no one can adequately predict the outcome, no matter how much they wish to project a positive one [just my opinion].  Wearing rose colored glasses is a fashion statement…putting your head in the sand can do two things.  It can keep you from seeing what is going on around you…and it can get your head shot off when you finally lift it to see how the world has changed, despite the happy talk.

3 Comments »

Another example of a picture being worth 1000 words…or “just” $5000 for piece of mind.

3 Comments »

The recent Pew Research poll reveals quite alot about the American electorate.  Sure, its only a minority of voters, but when 10% of voters still believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim I believe that it clear shows that the American public is either overly influenced by the rumor mongering on the Internet, or more simply, is basically stupid.

Who Thinks Obama is Muslim? (Directly from the Pew Research Report)

A Pew Research Center News Interest Index survey earlier in March found that 79% of the general public had heard rumors that Obama is Muslim, and 38% had heard “a lot” about this. The current survey finds that most voters have no misconceptions about Obama’s religious beliefs - 53% say that he is Christian. But one in ten believes Barack Obama is Muslim. Roughly a third (34%) say they don’t know what his religious beliefs are, though 9% say the reason they don’t know is that they’ve heard different things about his religion, not that they haven’t heard about it.

Notably, the impression that Obama is Muslim crosses party lines: 14% of Republicans, 10% of Democrats and 8% of independents think he is Muslim. Within both parties, ideology is a major factor: 16% of conservative Republicans believe Obama is Muslim, compared with 9% of moderates and liberals. And 13% of conservative and moderate Democrats believe Obama is Muslim, compared with just 5% of liberal Democrats.

The impression that Obama is Muslim varies by education, region, and religious background. Voters who did not attend college are three times as likely to believe Obama is Muslim when compared with voters who have a college degree (15% vs. 5%). And voters in the Midwest and South are about twice as likely as those in the Northeast and West to hold this belief. Nearly one-fifth of voters (19%) in rural areas say Obama is Muslim, as do 16% of white evangelical Protestants.

But there is little difference by age, gender or race in terms of voters’ likelihood of thinking Obama is Muslim. Most notably, about as many black (10%) as white (11%) voters believe he is Muslim.

There is little evidence that the recent news about Obama’s affiliation with the United Church of Christ has dispelled the impression that he is Muslim. While voters who heard “a lot” about Reverend Wright’s controversial sermons are more likely than those who have not to correctly identify Obama as a Christian, they are not substantially less likely to still believe that he is Muslim. Nearly one-in-ten (9%) of those who heard a lot about Wright still believe that Obama is Muslim.

Overall, the impression that Obama is Muslim has at most a slight impact on his fortunes in November - mostly because so few voters hold this belief in the first place. Moreover, Obama is only slightly less competitive against John McCain than Clinton is among the minority who believe this about him. Among the 10% of voters who say he is Muslim, 35% would still choose Obama over McCain in a general election matchup, while 61% would vote for McCain. These same voters would also choose McCain over Clinton, but by a smaller 52% to 42% margin.

Storm Comment: I believe that America needs a healthy dose of reality.  Finding reasons to not vote for Obama (or Mrs. Clinton) are easy.  To resort to fabricated “facts” spread around the Internet by people who have no other proof of the allegations than some other blogger wrote it (”it” being something that they want to believe) shows the fundamental ignorance of American society.

Obama is a Muslim, Pew Research

4 Comments »

Again?  More like still!%@#*&!.  In Ciudad Juarez, just over the El Paso Texas border, 200 people have been murdered this year alone (22 on Easter Weekend).  Behind all of this violence in ”El Chapo,” the head of the Sinaloa drug cartel.  In total, the murder count is over 700 in 2008.  All of this is happening in spite of the Calderon anti-drug initiative, proving, perhaps that nothing will stop the drug lords from continuing to kill each other and innocent bystanders along with law enforcement officers in their insane spree of violence.

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is such a nice guy though.

Police say Mexico’s most wanted man, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who leads a consortium of traffickers from the Pacific state of Sinaloa, has taken his fight for control of smuggling routes to Ciudad Juarez, targeting the dominant Juarez cartel amid a much lighter army presence there than in other cities.

Look at that face!

WANTED

(Aliases: El Chapo, Chapo Guzman, El Rapido)

DOB: December 25, 1954
POB: Mexico
Nationality: Mexican
Citizenship: Mexico
Height: 5 feet 8 inches
Weight: 165 pounds
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown

Of course there is hope along with unsubstantiated speculation that El Chapo has been killed in Guatemala during a gunbattle outside a water park in Teculutan, a drug-trafficking stronghold in northeastern Guatemala.

Let is be so, but as with other terrorists, the likelihood of the terror ending even if the head of this snake is chopped off is limited.

Ciudad Juarez, El Chapo, El Paso, pipsqueak

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If you look at the “selected” front pagers at Real Clear Politics this morning, you’ll find one “contributor” represents 1 of every 4 entries.  Now ask yourself if that is statistically likely.  If you think that it is, then you are stuck on stupid.  Why does it matter?  It doesn’t really.  Its just an obvious manipulation of the system…if its not obvious to you, then it should be now. Did I say “manipulation?” There is a lot stronger word for it.

But now that you’re here, I’d appreciate it if you’d read a few of my more serious entries like these (click on each one please):

Breast Augmentation Gone Bad
Terrorists Across the Border
Domestic Terrorism - The Next Threat
Saddam and Israel

More statistically unlikely events are likely to occur. Statistically speaking, this is stupid.

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A very large percentage of you will never see anything like this (or care for that matter).  I am not interested at all in this one (I don’t even understand the subject).  For the uninitiated, this is what a request for a proposal from the government looks like. Without DARPA and other programs like it, this Nation’s technical and scientific requirements would go unmet. Some still do (go unmet).

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency often selects its research efforts through the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) process. The BAA will appear first on the FedBizOpps website, http://www.fedbizopps.gov/, and Grants.gov website at http://www.grants.gov/. The following information is for those wishing to respond to the BAA.

DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of Quantum Entanglement Science and Technology (QuEST). Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in the fundamental understanding of quantum information science related to “small” quantum systems. Specifically excluded is research which primarily results in incremental improvement to the existing state of practice or knowledge.

Considerable progress has been made in recent years in understanding the fundamentals of quantum information science on both experimental and theoretical sides. In spite of this progress, many fundamental issues remain unresolved and many fundamental challenges remain. The objective of the QuEST program is to identify and address the most important outstanding challenges and opportunities, both experimental and theoretical, related to “small” coherent quantum systems, and resolve or exploit them to enable revolutionary advances in the field. In this context, “small” refers to quantum systems with minimal quantum resources (e.g. number of coherent qubits, entanglement, quantum memory, etc.). Results of such research are expected to lead to revolutionary advances in quantum information science and technology.

It takes alot of experience to even understand how to write these things. My work isn’t anywhere near as complex as this subject matter. But, welcome to my “day job.”  Any questions?

BAA

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An 18 year old Florida student, had everything to live for…and alot going for her.  She had a near perfect grade point average and was planning to be a doctor.  But for some reason, she felt that she needed “perfect breasts.”  Now, as a result of a reaction to the anethesia, she’s dead.  Maybe I don’t get it.  Sadly, I think this is a statement on our society, and makes me wonder what her parents were thinking, allowing her to have this elective surgery.  Stephanie Kuleba died from complications of surgery to breasts…I removed the picture from this article out of respect (but looking at the picture, I’ve got to wonder what’s wrong with her looks).

In addition to the utter tragedy and loss, two things strike me about this.

● She just made everybody’s day by having a good attitude about life.”
● The “senior” parking spot where she would pull up in her white Lexus was shrouded with flowers, teddy bears and photos.

Is this what our American society has come to? Is it driven by television shows like Extreme Makeover as this particular article suggests? A family friend is quoted as saying that the surgery was “very personal.”

The family’s attorney, Roberto Stanziale, told WPBF that the teen began having problems about one hour into the operation, which he said was meant to fix a breast deformity.

Malignant hyperthermia, a condition where the body heats up to dangerous levels is what killed her.  There is nothing to make light of here.  I question the values of society, regardless of any “deformity,” the desire for a “perfect body” steals a young life.  I just don’t get it.  Such a waste!

malignant hyperthermia, Stephanie Kuleba

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Well, I was busy for alot of the day, and never got to write this.  Doug Farah at CTBlog (and his own blog) beat me to it.  Its time for all of the people arguing to relax the border wake up to the very real danger.  I’ve written about this so many times before!  In this case, 3 Afghan men with legal Mexican passports tried to enter the U.S.

Three Afghani Muslim men caught posing as Mexican nationals last month while en route to Europe were part of a human smuggling operation and carried what are now believed to be altered but genuine Mexican passports for which they paid $10,000 each, Indian investigators told The San Antonio Express-News.

The key point is this: “At issue to some U.S. national security experts is whether another of Mexico’s embassies and consulates abroad might be implicated in selling travel documents to people from countries like Afghanistan where terrorist organizations are active…”

Here’s more for the disbelievers and those who want to have an open border!

Travelers from Islamic countries carrying passports that are valid but altered with fake names and photographs are among the most difficult to detect, he said. In the black markets of human smuggling, real national passports with embedded security bar codes rank among the most valuable travel documents because they enable their bearers to more easily slip through airport inspections.

“If you’ve got a Mexican passport you’ve already crossed the bridge,” Conway said. “And you can become part of the flood of people who cross into the U.S. If terrorists wanted to exploit the infrastructure in place, they can. It’s there.”

We are dealing with a very persistent enemy…they have multiple faces and skin colors…they come from many different countries…

So, here is the question for the moment: HAVE TERRORISTS CROSSED? (the U.S.-Mexican border). Of course they have!…Border security critics assert no terrorist has ever crossed; they would be wrong.

…the heart of a central question regarding just how much of a national security threat is posed by a small category of border-jumping migrants known in homeland security agencies as “Special Interest Aliens.”

Terrorists across the border???

According to unearthed intelligence reports, court records, interviews with federal agents and a variety of open sources, other border jumpers that can be publicly tied to terrorism since Al-Qaeda began its international bombing campaign against American targets in the mid-1990s are:

– Kuwaiti national Nabil al-Marabh. Listed as number 27 on the FBI’s list of Most Wanted Terrorists for alleged links to the 9-11 hijackers and other plots…

– Palestinian Gazi Ibrahim Abu Mezer. Found guilty of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction after authorities uncovered his 1997 plot to bomb a New York City subway…

– Ahmed Ressam. Convicted of plotting the 1999 “millennium” bomb attack on the Los Angeles International Airport after he was caught trying to cross into Washington State in a car loaded with explosives and bomb components…

– Algerian Abdelghani Meskini and Abdelhakim Tizegha. Convicted of charges related to the thwarted 1999 “millennium” plot…

– Mohmoud Khalil and Ziad Saleh. Among a group of men, including members of the designated terrorist group Hamas, arrested in January 2005 in connection to a wire fraud, trademark violations and alien smuggling investigation…

– Ahilan Nadarajah and Saluja Thangaraja. Reputed members of the Tamil Tigers caught at the Mexico border in 2001 after being smuggled through Thailand, South Africa and Brazil en route to Toronto Canada…

Close the freakin’ border! Control the documents…make them more secure than they are…or will be under the current regulations and guidelines.

And here is the point…

One territory where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet, known as the “Tri-Border” region, home to tens of thousands of Arab immigrants, has been under unrelenting scrutiny by American intelligence services since 9-11.

The U.S. Treasury Department in December designated nine people and two organizations in the Tri-Border region it says “provided financial and logistical support to the Hezbollah terrorist organization.” A department fact sheet accuses some of the men of trafficking in weaponry, another of running Hezbollah front businesses in Chile. Another man is named as an expert in illegally acquiring Brazilian citizenship and bogus Paraguayan travel documents.

I don’t know how many times I have written about the Tri-Border region…or about so many of the other issues relating to illegal immigration. We’ve got a problem here, and now, more than 6½ years after the attacks of September 11th, we are still playing politics with immigration.

I’ve written about this many times before:
Terrorists Have Been Arrested at Texas Border
Breaching America: Iraqi Chaldean Christian Granted Asylum
Chaldean Christians - Aliens in Search of Religious Freedom
Border Security - The Danger of Illegal Immigration from Islamic Countries - Part 4
Border Security - The Danger of Illegal Immigration from Islamic Countries - Part 3
Border Security - Breaching America: The Latin Connection

border security, Hezbollah, immigration, State Department, Tri Border region

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It is not beyond belief that the next terrorism threat is domestic, and its from the radical right.  American political history foretells this possible threat upon the transition from a conservative Republican to a liberal Democrat adminstration.  This has occured 3 times before; in 1932, 1960 and 1992 when, within 2-3 years, the U.S. experienced upsurge of radical right-wing, paramilitary movements.

Those who have read here for any time know that I have called for a return to the American Middle.  Whether or not that middle re-emerges depends largely on the degree of political polarization that has already occurred and whether any new Administration can move the extreme ends of the spectrum back toward the center.  There are those who clearly do not even believe in the existence of the middle.  I dispute that belief.  And yet the polarization of America cannot be more evident than in what we now see in this country.  To a degree I attribute this to fear…of the unknown and the misunderstood…people grasping for the straws of hatred filtered images of September 11th and crutched by militant language shielded by the anonymity of the Internet.

In each case, these angry movements spun off terrorist cells that plotted assassinations and bombings. Significantly, these upsurges characterize only the shift from conservative to liberal administrations. Paramilitaries remain few in number and marginal under GOP administrations.

Yes, this danger lurks…no longer so far beneath the surface that it cannot be seen by the general public.  While he and I do not always agree, my blogbuddy Snooper wrote a few months ago, Why Left and Right Must Unite…Part 2 in which he kindly referred to two of my posts: The “American Middle” - Recapturing the Country from the Extremes and A Nation Divided by Opinion and Personal Ideology. Why is this important? Because he and I do not always agree, and yet, from different (not saying opposite because of our many points of agreement) perspectives, we both fear that the polarization of America is rushing toward a dramatic split based on political ideology greater than any previously experienced.

In the 1930s, as in the 1960s and 1990s, conservative critiques painted liberal administrations as not just naive or weak but actively treacherous, plotting to sell out the country to its enemies. Facing such a threat — however imaginary — radicals resorted to the age-old American tradition of taking up arms to resist tyranny. Witness the very name of the Minutemen.

Could it happen again? Imagine a scenario in which a Democratic administration withdrew from Iraq, and conservatives denounced the betrayal of sacrifices made by the armed forces. Then consider all the personnel who have cycled through private security companies in Iraq and elsewhere, whose knowledge of military organization and weaponry could make them an effective nucleus of a new militia movement. If a disintegrating economy were fueling popular fear and unrest, the elements would be in place.

I personally see (and fear) the dramatic split in American society. The disagreements are so obvious…we talk of freedoms…we talk of rights…but we do not talk about or seek common ground. Instead, we are allowing our differences…or race, of religion, or expression and of political attitude…do exactly what bin Laden and his cohorts (and other terrorists of the jihad) seek to accomplish…a rending rather than a blending of American society.  Yes, as Snooper wrote, “we must avert another American civil war.”  My question is who and how?

american terrorism, radical right

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It bears repeating that Hussein was a provocateur of terrorism.  Revelations from the Iraq Perspectives Project continue.  Among them are that his intelligence agency had gathered information on dozens of targets inside of Israel, even being aided by Arafat’s Force 17 security force.

In addition to the detailed collection of intelligence on potential Israeli targets, the documents also show that Saddam’s intelligence was following closely the links between Iran and Hezbollah and the potential that such ties could provide Iran to operate in the territories and in North Africa

He also is known to have met with Arafat on April 19, 1990. In a video tape of that meeting, Saddam threatened to assassinate then president George Bush.

“We may not be able to reach Washington, but we could send someone with an explosives belt to Washington,” Saddam told Arafat, three months before the invasion of Kuwait. “We can send people to Washington. A man with an explosives belt could throw himself on Bush’s car.”

He is also reported to have told Arafat that he intended to launch surface-to-surface ballistic missiles against Tel Aviv and that he possessed chemical weapons that “have been successfully employed” against Iran - and he would not hesitate to also use them against Israel. So, all of the spin continues to spin.

You can read a bit more in a previous post, Connecting the Dots of the GWOT - Avoiding the Spin.  The partial quoting of the report from the Institute for Defense Analysis continues.  Even by some otherwise intelligent people.

Arafat, chemical weapons, Hussein, iraqi perspectives project

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With all of the discussions relating to illegal immigration and our porous borders, the relationship to terrorism remains a developing issue.

For just a brief walk on the “lighter side of terrorism” (is there really a lighter side of terrorism??? - well anyway).  Think that’s all?

Consider that someone actually spent alot of time creating this stuff. Consider that someone spent alot of time creating and spreading the Zotob virus and its variants.

Of course, there once was H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds.”

Here is the story.

And now we take you back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Now, for those of you who want(ed) and real discussion of illegal immigration and terrorism, maybe go to one of those wannabee sites.

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