CDR Salamander: She was fired for you: You really need to read it all , but let this pull quote motivate you: By the time the investigation into Mr. Alvarez was under way, Ms. Ca...
Friday, July 20, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Bulgarian press names bomber: Mehdi Ghezali:RELEASED FROM GITMO
From: The Times of Israel
Bulgarian media on Thursday named the suicide bomber who blew up a bus full of Israeli tourists, killing five Israelis and a local bus driver, in the Black Sea resort of Burgas on Wednesday as 36-year-old Mehdi Ghezali.
Ghezali reportedly arrived in Bulgaria five weeks before the bombing and arrived at the airport via taxi, Channel 2 reported. He was also reportedly given the bomb by someone else, but no further details were provided.
There was no independent confirmation of the veracity of the information. The reports surfaced soon after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had publicly accused Hezbollah, directed by Iran, of responsibility for the bombing. The Prime Minister’s Office made no comment on the reports.
The Bulgarian reports, rapidly picked up by Hebrew media, posited various versions of how the bomber had detonated the bomb, including the suggestion that the bomber had not intended to die in the blast, but may have wanted to place the bomb on the bus and flee.
Ghezali has a Wikipedia page, which describes him as a Swedish citizen, with Algerian and Finnish origins. He had been held at the US’s Guantanamo Bay detainment camp on Cuba from 2002 to 2004, having previously studied at a Muslim religious school and mosque in Britain, and traveled to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, it says. He was taken into custody on suspicion of being an al-Qaeda agent, having been arrested along with a number of other al-Qaeda operatives.
Weekly Standard: Sweden Pressured Suicide Bomber's Release From Gitmo
From: The Weekly Standard
With a black baseball cap pulled tight over a mop of stringy long hair and a patchy, close-cropped beard, Mehdi-Muhammed Ghezali looked more like a Metallica roadie than a disciple of Ayman al-Zawahiri. He addressed the scrum of reporters in a clipped, heavily accented Swedish and accused the American government of wrongly detaining him for three years and "physically and mentally" torturing him. A book about his experiences was in the works; a documentary crew, cobbling together a film about American human rights abuses, had requested an audience; and his legal team was plotting a lawsuit against Donald Rumsfeld.
It was 2004, and Ghezali was a free man.
In late 2001, Ghezali, a Swedish national, had been detained during the battle at Tora Bora, Afghanistan, handed over to the American military, and sent to the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. According to his lawyers, he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although he spoke none of the local languages, Ghezali told his captors, in the midst of the Taliban's retreat into the mountainous hinterlands of Afghanistan, he had crossed that country's border with Pakistan to study Islam.
After an intense lobbying effort by Swedish prime minister Göran Persson--and a vague promise that the country's intelligence services would keep a watchful eye on him--Ghezali was delivered to Sweden (on the government's private Gulfstream jet). The Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter noted that Ghezali had achieved "rock star status" upon returning to his homeland, a native victim of America's rapacious imperialism. And after two-plus years in isolation, the emotionally fragile former prisoner would be happy to discover "that a majority of Swedes were glad that he was home."
With a black baseball cap pulled tight over a mop of stringy long hair and a patchy, close-cropped beard, Mehdi-Muhammed Ghezali looked more like a Metallica roadie than a disciple of Ayman al-Zawahiri. He addressed the scrum of reporters in a clipped, heavily accented Swedish and accused the American government of wrongly detaining him for three years and "physically and mentally" torturing him. A book about his experiences was in the works; a documentary crew, cobbling together a film about American human rights abuses, had requested an audience; and his legal team was plotting a lawsuit against Donald Rumsfeld.
It was 2004, and Ghezali was a free man.
In late 2001, Ghezali, a Swedish national, had been detained during the battle at Tora Bora, Afghanistan, handed over to the American military, and sent to the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. According to his lawyers, he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although he spoke none of the local languages, Ghezali told his captors, in the midst of the Taliban's retreat into the mountainous hinterlands of Afghanistan, he had crossed that country's border with Pakistan to study Islam.
After an intense lobbying effort by Swedish prime minister Göran Persson--and a vague promise that the country's intelligence services would keep a watchful eye on him--Ghezali was delivered to Sweden (on the government's private Gulfstream jet). The Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter noted that Ghezali had achieved "rock star status" upon returning to his homeland, a native victim of America's rapacious imperialism. And after two-plus years in isolation, the emotionally fragile former prisoner would be happy to discover "that a majority of Swedes were glad that he was home."
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
EPA Mandates Use of Nonexistent Fuel
FRom: Madison Project
It’s bad enough that government regulations and environmental legal defense groups have prevented us from building oil refineries for over 30 years. It’s even worse when the existing ones are forced to blend fuel mixtures that don’t exist.
We are all painfully aware of the Soviet style mandate that requires 10% of petroleum to be comprised of ethanol. This unconstitutional mandate has killed jobs, driven up the cost of fuel and food, lowered gas mileage, and damaged car engines – all to benefit corporate cronies in Big Ag. This odious fuel source is primarily made from corn. But since 2010, the EPA has mandated the blending of more than 20 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel into the nation’s fuel supply.
We are all painfully aware of the Soviet style mandate that requires 10% of petroleum to be comprised of ethanol. This unconstitutional mandate has killed jobs, driven up the cost of fuel and food, lowered gas mileage, and damaged car engines – all to benefit corporate cronies in Big Ag. This odious fuel source is primarily made from corn. But since 2010, the EPA has mandated the blending of more than 20 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel into the nation’s fuel supply.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Obama’s FBI is gathering intelligence on the pro-life movement?
From: LifeSiteNews.com
The federal government appears to be making a concerted effort to to gain intelligence on the pro-life movement, according to some of the movement’s most prominent leaders.
Jill Stanek has revealed that on July 13, FBI agents Conrad Rodriguez and William Sivley paid a visit to her son-in-law, Andy Moore, reportedly pressuring him to expose the inner workings of the right-to-life movement and making veiled threats to separate him from his wife and family through imprisonment or deportation.
The feds questioned Moore after the Southwest Women’s Surgery Center, a Dallas abortion clinic, complained that Moore used a bullhorn on one occasion during a peaceful protest. Upon learning this violated a local noise ordinance, Moore stopped using the bullhorn.
The abortion mill also claimed Moore was “too aggressive” and had trespassed on its property – something Moore denies and which he says the clinic made no attempt to prove.
Stanek wrote that the agents – who said their department also investigates hate crimes such as those committed by white supremacists – asked “inappropriate questions clearly aimed at intimidating Andy, while also launching into a fishing expedition about me.” Agents reportedly asked her son-in-law whether Stanek had inspired his activism, whether she trained him, and if he got his ideas from her.
They also asked, “What affiliations do you have including church groups?”
Stanek said the agents were most interested in getting him to name other pro-lifers who he believes are overly “abrasive or aggressive.”
The federal government appears to be making a concerted effort to to gain intelligence on the pro-life movement, according to some of the movement’s most prominent leaders.
Jill Stanek has revealed that on July 13, FBI agents Conrad Rodriguez and William Sivley paid a visit to her son-in-law, Andy Moore, reportedly pressuring him to expose the inner workings of the right-to-life movement and making veiled threats to separate him from his wife and family through imprisonment or deportation.
The feds questioned Moore after the Southwest Women’s Surgery Center, a Dallas abortion clinic, complained that Moore used a bullhorn on one occasion during a peaceful protest. Upon learning this violated a local noise ordinance, Moore stopped using the bullhorn.
The abortion mill also claimed Moore was “too aggressive” and had trespassed on its property – something Moore denies and which he says the clinic made no attempt to prove.
Stanek wrote that the agents – who said their department also investigates hate crimes such as those committed by white supremacists – asked “inappropriate questions clearly aimed at intimidating Andy, while also launching into a fishing expedition about me.” Agents reportedly asked her son-in-law whether Stanek had inspired his activism, whether she trained him, and if he got his ideas from her.
They also asked, “What affiliations do you have including church groups?”
Stanek said the agents were most interested in getting him to name other pro-lifers who he believes are overly “abrasive or aggressive.”
Americans Joining Disability Now Outpacing Americans Finding Jobs
From: The Weekly Standard
A new chart set to be released by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee details an alarming fact: In the last three months, more Americans have joined disability than have found a job:
A new chart set to be released by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee details an alarming fact: In the last three months, more Americans have joined disability than have found a job:
Gaza Christians protest 'forcible conversions'
From: Haaretz Daily Newspaper
Dozens of Gaza Christians staged a rare public protest Monday, claiming two congregants were forcibly converted to Islam and were being held against their will.
The small but noisy demonstration showed the increasingly desperate situation facing the tiny minority.
Protesters banged on a church bell and chanted, "With our spirit, with our blood we will sacrifice ourselves for you, Jesus."
Gaza police say the two are staying with a Muslim religious official at their request, because they fear retribution from their families converting to Islam. Two mediators said the two - a 25-year-old man and a woman with three children - appeared to have embraced Islam of their free will. Forced conversions have been unheard of in Gaza before.
Since the Islamic militant Hamas seized power five years ago, Christians have felt increasingly embattled, but have mostly kept silent.
There are growing fears among Gaza Christians that their rapidly shrinking community could disappear through emigration and conversions.
Their numbers appear to have shrunk from some 3,500 to about 1,500 in recent years, according to community estimates. They are a tiny minority among 1.7 million Palestinians in Gaza, most conservative Muslims.
"If things remain like this, there'll be no Christians left in Gaza," said Huda Al-Amash, mother of one of the converts, Ramez, 25. She sat sobbing in a church hallway alongside her daughters, Ranin and Rinad, and a dozen other women. "Today it's Ramez. Then who, and who will be next?"
Christians said the main reason for the shrinking numbers is emigration, since there are few jobs in Gaza.
Changing faith is a deeply traumatic affair in the Arab world, where religion is strongly interwoven with people's identities and tribal membership.
To convert often means to be ostracized by the community.
The two converts, Al-Amash, and Hiba Abu Dawoud, 31, could not be reached for comment. Abu Dawould took her three daughters with her, further enraging the community.
On Monday, groups of men and women stood in groups in the square of the ancient Church of Saint Porphyrius, angrily chanting," Bring back Ramez!" One man angrily hit the church bell.
"People are locking up their sons and daughters, worried about the ideas people put in their head," said Al-Amash's mother, Huda.
Dozens of Gaza Christians staged a rare public protest Monday, claiming two congregants were forcibly converted to Islam and were being held against their will.
The small but noisy demonstration showed the increasingly desperate situation facing the tiny minority.
Protesters banged on a church bell and chanted, "With our spirit, with our blood we will sacrifice ourselves for you, Jesus."
Gaza police say the two are staying with a Muslim religious official at their request, because they fear retribution from their families converting to Islam. Two mediators said the two - a 25-year-old man and a woman with three children - appeared to have embraced Islam of their free will. Forced conversions have been unheard of in Gaza before.
Since the Islamic militant Hamas seized power five years ago, Christians have felt increasingly embattled, but have mostly kept silent.
There are growing fears among Gaza Christians that their rapidly shrinking community could disappear through emigration and conversions.
Their numbers appear to have shrunk from some 3,500 to about 1,500 in recent years, according to community estimates. They are a tiny minority among 1.7 million Palestinians in Gaza, most conservative Muslims.
"If things remain like this, there'll be no Christians left in Gaza," said Huda Al-Amash, mother of one of the converts, Ramez, 25. She sat sobbing in a church hallway alongside her daughters, Ranin and Rinad, and a dozen other women. "Today it's Ramez. Then who, and who will be next?"
Christians said the main reason for the shrinking numbers is emigration, since there are few jobs in Gaza.
Changing faith is a deeply traumatic affair in the Arab world, where religion is strongly interwoven with people's identities and tribal membership.
To convert often means to be ostracized by the community.
The two converts, Al-Amash, and Hiba Abu Dawoud, 31, could not be reached for comment. Abu Dawould took her three daughters with her, further enraging the community.
On Monday, groups of men and women stood in groups in the square of the ancient Church of Saint Porphyrius, angrily chanting," Bring back Ramez!" One man angrily hit the church bell.
"People are locking up their sons and daughters, worried about the ideas people put in their head," said Al-Amash's mother, Huda.
Muslims Barred IOC from Honoring Murdered Israelis
From: Israel National News
An Olympics official admitted that Muslim countries blocked the "One-Minute of Silence" campaign to honor the 11 murdered Israeli athletes, one of the widows said.
Ankie Spitzer, whose husband Andre was one of the athletes massacred in the Munich Games n 1972, told the European Jewish Press that Jacques Rogge, president of the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, told her that his “hands were tied” by the admission of 46 Arab and Muslim members to the International Olympic Committee.
She replied, “My husband’s hands were tied, not yours.”
The widow has been conducting an uphill battle to convince the International Olympics Committee to remember the slain athletes with one minute of silence before the opening of the Games in London next week.
It never has done so since the murders 40 years ago.
Spitzer gained support for her effort from several countries, including the United States, Britain, Australia, Belgium and Germany. A letter appealing for the minute of silence was signed by 140 Italian legislators, to no avail.
Spitzer called the Olympics “a corrupt organization, led by greed rather than the Olympic spirit. She added, “The IOC’s refusal is pure discrimination – greed and anti-Semitism.”
An Olympics official admitted that Muslim countries blocked the "One-Minute of Silence" campaign to honor the 11 murdered Israeli athletes, one of the widows said.
Ankie Spitzer, whose husband Andre was one of the athletes massacred in the Munich Games n 1972, told the European Jewish Press that Jacques Rogge, president of the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, told her that his “hands were tied” by the admission of 46 Arab and Muslim members to the International Olympic Committee.
She replied, “My husband’s hands were tied, not yours.”
The widow has been conducting an uphill battle to convince the International Olympics Committee to remember the slain athletes with one minute of silence before the opening of the Games in London next week.
It never has done so since the murders 40 years ago.
Spitzer gained support for her effort from several countries, including the United States, Britain, Australia, Belgium and Germany. A letter appealing for the minute of silence was signed by 140 Italian legislators, to no avail.
Spitzer called the Olympics “a corrupt organization, led by greed rather than the Olympic spirit. She added, “The IOC’s refusal is pure discrimination – greed and anti-Semitism.”
Monday, July 16, 2012
Barack Obama: You're Successful? Thank Big Brother!
A future commentary is forthcoming, but enjoy this crap for the moment.
Seminole, Florida Residents Protests Removal of Flags From Fire Trucks
From: TBO.com
Seminole residents gathered Sunday afternoon in protest after firefighters were told to remove flags from their trucks.
Waving U.S. flags, the residents gathered just north of 70th Avenue on 113th Street in support of the firefighters, who were told by city officials that they were violating U.S. code by incorrectly displaying the flags.
"It's beyond unpatriotic," Seminole resident Rod Bullock said. "There's a lot of blood on that piece of cloth, and to tell these gentlemen they can't fly it every time they go into battle – and they go into battle – they should be able to have that flag."
Following a citizen complaint, fire department administrators say they warned the firefighters several months ago that they were flying the flag incorrectly by hanging them out of their truck windows.
According to United States code, the "Flag Code" – adopted 70 years ago – states the staff of the flag shall be firmly fixed to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.
Officials say they will allow the firefighters to display the flags, as long as they follow the code. But some residents were still angered by the decision.
"While we do not believe the act of one of our employees to display a flag was meant to be disrespectful, the flag was removed," Seminole Fire Rescue spokeswoman Alison Shanabrook said.
That didn't ease the anger for some residents who say the flags should still be displayed.
"I'm sorry it offends them," Seminole resident Katherine Durst said. "They can look away the next time firefighters come to save their lives."
Added Dave Dabney: "I think to come back with a compromise or a solution instead of a mandate to remove them would have been a much better thing to do."
Waving U.S. flags, the residents gathered just north of 70th Avenue on 113th Street in support of the firefighters, who were told by city officials that they were violating U.S. code by incorrectly displaying the flags.
"It's beyond unpatriotic," Seminole resident Rod Bullock said. "There's a lot of blood on that piece of cloth, and to tell these gentlemen they can't fly it every time they go into battle – and they go into battle – they should be able to have that flag."
Following a citizen complaint, fire department administrators say they warned the firefighters several months ago that they were flying the flag incorrectly by hanging them out of their truck windows.
According to United States code, the "Flag Code" – adopted 70 years ago – states the staff of the flag shall be firmly fixed to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.
Officials say they will allow the firefighters to display the flags, as long as they follow the code. But some residents were still angered by the decision.
"While we do not believe the act of one of our employees to display a flag was meant to be disrespectful, the flag was removed," Seminole Fire Rescue spokeswoman Alison Shanabrook said.
That didn't ease the anger for some residents who say the flags should still be displayed.
"I'm sorry it offends them," Seminole resident Katherine Durst said. "They can look away the next time firefighters come to save their lives."
Added Dave Dabney: "I think to come back with a compromise or a solution instead of a mandate to remove them would have been a much better thing to do."
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