snapped shot

Mahmoud learns a new trick, courtesy a rather creative angle by the ISNA photographer:

via Dollard, we see what an Islamist get-out-the-vote campaign looks like (in England). Emphasis on the "out," of course:



Ah, diversity:—What hallowed treasures shall you bring to our shores next?

Also playing at:

Gates of Vienna, The Brussels Journal

I dunno about you, but they feel something like this to me:

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From the Who saw that coming? file, it would appear that the pulpit we mentioned a few days ago is now being targeted by outraged Turks. [Ed.:—Okay, maybe not "Turks," so much as they're "Practitioners of the Religion of Peace."] Of course, rather than dealing with the problem (i.e., people who constantly rage against inanimate objects), Belgian authorities have decided that treating the symptoms is sufficient:

Since Friday, we have received threats while the authorities in Belgium, which has a large population of Turkish immigrants, fear that the pulpit and the church may be attacked. The Belgian press reported today that the police is guarding Dendermonde’s Our Lady church to prevent vandalism to church and pulpit.

While it's good to see that the Belgian government is taking steps to protect an historic church, it is genuinely heartbreaking to see Europe so afraid of actually confronting the root of the problem—A complete and utter inability to speak out against the destructive tendencies of the Religion of the Perpetually Offended. Notice, however, that the Belgian government has plenty of time to speak out against the "real" aggressors here:

According to the Belgian press the pulpit controversy has been deliberately caused by [the Brussels Journal], which is being described as “pretending to be neo-conservative” but run by “neo-fascists.” Piet Buyse, the mayor of Dendermonde, told the media that he deplores that the pulpit “figures on websites which aim to provoke negative reactions from Muslims.” The mayor said that the depicted man represents an unbeliever and may also be Luther or Calvin.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of negative reactions:





Update: If you'll allow me, here's a really brief summary of what's going on. I would've said this earlier, but it hadn't occurred to me yet. (I know, I can be a real slowpoke sometimes.)

• Church and pulpit built shortly after Crusades Battle of Vienna
• Church sits largely unnoticed for centuries, until
• Tourist runs across "interesting" pulpit, takes picture of it, and posts picture to his blog
• Picture on blog sits idly by, largely unnoticed for 2 years
• Blogger receives hate mail for daring to post the picture, then posts and ridicules letter (once a blogger...)
• Photo and a long-winded condemnation are printed in the front page of a radical Turkish newspaper
• Death threats ensue, leading to
• Inanimate object protected by police, who
• Lay the blame for all of this outrage at the foot of our poor tourist.

Seriously—why bother with comedy, when reality is so much funnier?

Update 2: For all of the serial outrageists that are demanding the removal of this pulpit, I present a gift.

See Also:

Ace of Spades HQ, Atlas Shrugs, DogfightAtBankstown, Hot Air, The Jawa Report, Tizona's Weblog, Stable of Zionist Hore #2, This Goes to 11, Pat Dollard, QubeTV, FreeRepublic, Pierre Legrand’s Pink Flamingo Bar, A Fine Mess, Born Again Redneck (Awesome!), Jihad Watch, The Bellicose Augur

I washa my hair, over under over, over under over:



Not sure if I should put a Content Warning on this or not. You'll know why once you see the video.

(Lulzy h/t to Bash for finding this sheer brilliance first!)

Here's one of those stories that's just good enough for the nightly news tabloids. A Palestinian who was waiting for medical treatment had reportedly died, and the blame was quickly laid at the feet of the "heartless" Zionist "blockade" of the Gaza Strip. Here's how it was covered by Ynet at the time, for example:

A Palestinian father of six who was diagnosed with a brain cancer died at Gaza's Shifa Hospital on Wednesday while waiting for an entry permit to Israel, where he was set to undergo brain surgery and receive chemotherapy treatment at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. ... "The Shin Bet is continuing its harmful policy against cancer patients," Yaron said, "we are very concerned for the fate of 12 others who have requested entry to Israel for treatment."

You'd think that with such a bulletproof story, there'd be absolutely zero chance of any sort of problem here, right? After all, the story is about a known cancer patient who local sources "know" has died—And our beloved news-gatherers would definitely have seen to check the facts out for themselves, wouldn't they?

In this case, it would seem that our vaunted fact-checkers have, in fact, not done their homework:

Muhammad al-Harrani, a father of six from Gaza diagnosed with cancer who reportedly died while waiting for a permit to enter Israel, miraculously "came back to life." [Ed.:—Set "Spin Cycle" to high much?] This was not the result of a miracle, but rather, just part of the tactics used by al-Harrani's family in a bid to secure a permit for him.

...

On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, al-Harrani’s story was published. His family reported to the “Physicians for Human Rights” organization that he died. “The sick man could not withstand the wait for the permit,” claimed Ran Yaron, Director of the Occupied Territories Department who blamed the Shin Bet for adopting cruel policies against cancer patients.

However, the next day, the organization discovered that al-Harrani was still alive. Members of group estimated that his brother, who reported the death, “killed” him so he does not report to the questioning session.

“This is a rare case where a family member knowingly provided false information to the organization,” Physicians for Human Rights said. “Usually, the organization receives information from the families and from the hospitals, but in this case the information was received from the family and was not confirmed by the hospital."

Shin Bet issued the only response appropriate in a disturbing case like this:

Meanwhile, the Shin Bet sent the organization an angry response: “We view these harsh accusations on your part with great severity; not even a minimal inquiry into the facts was conducted.” The Shin Bet noted that due to the suspicion of his involvement in terror activities, al-Harrani was indeed called in for a security check, and it was indeed postponed by a week.

For those of you who might have seen this story on your evening news program, don't hold your breath for a correction.

(h/t Alouette)

A glimpse at the surreal world that is Iran. Can any of you imagine Pat Robertson supervising our Army with this much attention?



Iran: A theocracy. The United States? Still not.