Snapped Shot

What, you mean Saddam really did provide support for Islamic terrorists? (h/t Charles)

No duh—and do notice that I'm not linking to a particularly conservative source on that last point.

Still, it looks like the book might make for some pretty interesting reading. Or a good gift for any family's cantankerous blogger. Winkity-wink.

It would seem that the United States government is bringing charges against Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein, who has been under arrest in Iraq since 2006. Much of what happened to Hussein came about before I began my foray into blogging, so rather than rehash all of it, I'll point you to the experts for the background on his situation. I will note that there are a significant number of photographers (i.e., a majority thereof) in the Palestinian territories that I think would fit the same general description as Hussein. They have crossed over some figurative line, and are no longer "covering" the news. Rather than being impartial, they are doing nothing more than repeating verbatim the propaganda of the anti-Western elements of the terrorist world. While one could certainly argue that they are well within their rights to side with hostile terrorist groups, I think it is absolutely a crime that their propaganda continues to be carried on the West's news wires as fact. If these reporters were working for Nazi Germany, do you think the Associated Press would have carried their work as eagerly as the AP does that of the Palestinian terrorists?

I will say this:—It would seem that terrorists the world over have yet another reason to fear the name of Dr. Rusty Shackleford. Congratulations, Rusty! Keep up the great work!

As promised, here are what the experts are saying: Michelle Malkin, Bryan Preston, LGF, Dan Riehl, Sweetness & Light, Pat Dollard, Stop the ACLU, Powerline Blog, Gateway Pundit, Confederate Yankee.

Full background here.

For some good examples of Palestinian photojournalists aiding and abetting sworn enemies of the West, see Kevin Frayer, Mohammed Salem, Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, Mohammed Ballas.

One should always do their best to ensure minimal access to make changes to public-facing systems.

A rule which was apparently ignored by some protest group in Oregon.

Big kudos to AOSHQ for their stunning victory over internet calendars! I'm reposting the screenshot of the calendar below, as the server is acting a bit dodgy right now. I echo Ace's dire warning: If you do make it through to the calendar website, do not click on any of the event links. Trust me on this.

Update: Schadenfreude, x2. Or, as Aceitler puts it, Lebensraumen!

It's not like these folks don't have what's coming to them.

I just noticed that Michael Weiss linked to me in a recent article over at Slate. Thanks for the link, Michael! My apologies for not noticing it sooner!

Bloggers respond to Al-Quds Day and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for a new Jewish state in Canada or Alaska. Also, Kim Jong-il is an "Internet expert."

...

Conservative Brian C. Ledbetter at Snapped Shot offers a gallery of protest photos and writes: "Notice that Al Quds Day falls on the last Friday of Ramadan, a day in which all Muslims are encouraged to go to their mosques for prayer. It is in these mosques that the 'Islamic public' is so easily whipped into a rage by their radical imams. So, in effect, this is the largest canned protest of the year."

Wow, also proud to say that I've made an appearance in the Fernley (Nevada) Leader. I guess I haven't been paying attention to Ye Olde Referrer Logs lately:

And, Collins can always change step and rewrite the ad: Brian Ledbetter, blogging at www.snapped shot.com, has suggested "Help Susan Collins tell MoveOn to Move On--to Canada. The nation will be a better place." The ad then becomes an acceptable parody, not using MoveOn's trademark, and chances are it's not only Republican maniacs who will second the thought. The New York Times, somewhat belatedly, published an article by David Herszenhorn on October 12 entitled "Liberal Base Proves Trying to Democrats."

Apparently, my congratulations are also due to the folks over at IMAO, who have made the pages of the New York Times:

Playing off other caricatures, comments on sites like imao.us mention Dumbledore’s “purple robe with glittery silver stars” or winkingly allude to the Hogwarts “policy of Don’t ask, don’t spell.”

One commentator posted: “Oh, who cares? The whole bloody lot of them were gay as far I’m concerned. All those hours of movies and not a single car chase, shootout or kung fu fight.”

... Or, two good ways to make friends with Jihadis, brought to us by Al Salibiyyah. Thanks for the fun, DJM!

Rusty and An American First have brought up a photo that seems oddly reminiscent:



Mario, how did that totally unscathed plastic doll manage to find its way into the middle of a burned-out pile of rubble, without becoming a melted lump of goo?

This is most likely much ado about nothing, but it's still amusing to see nonetheless... And it feels great to have my first chance to hit the fauxtography tag in a long time.

My congratulations are due to Dr. Rusty Shackleford, who was featured in a TWT article about fighting Jihadi websites:

The blogger who goes by the name "Rusty Shackleford" at the Jawa Report, mypetjawa.mu.nu, is currently focused on bringing down a blog called "Inshallah Shaheed" (http://inshallahshaheed.muslimpad.com) that features pictures of the downing of an Apache helicopter and several beheadings.

It's not the first time that this site was driven underground by "Mr. Shackleford" and replaced by a screen shot of a blue AK-47 rifle — the symbol used by some bloggers to indicate "pwning" or owning a site.

"I just keep chasing them," "Mr. Shackleford" said.

Inshallahshaheed responded to the latest shutdown with a post that said: "They can attack us 100 times if they want."

"In the end, they will see us coming from many different positions to continue the media Jihad of speaking the truth. So let them bite their nails in frustration. We say to them: Perish in your rage, O filthy disbelievers!" said Inshallahshaheed, whose name means "a martyr, God willing."

Asked why he does it, "Mr. Shackleford" said, "Because my wife won't let me go shoot them."

... the irreplaceable Cox and Forkum. Don't leave now, guys! If you quit cranking out your masterpieces, then the terrorists have already won!

This is preposterous, if true:

In Florida, a hospital chaplain was fired for praying in Jesus' name. It has now become more common to forbid praying in Jesus' name ... they have forbidden Staunton City Council and Augusta Board of Supervisors from doing so ... a Navy chaplain was fired for doing it ... now a hospital chaplain.

There are a few more details here and a PDF copy of his termination letter here. If the hospital's claims are true, he may have been negligent in some of his other duties, which would provide a reasonable justification of his termination—but that would be assuming that the hospital didn't "inflate" the warning letter for good measure.

Off the cuff, it does sound like he may have been acting in a bit more confrontational manner than I would expect a chaplain to act. It's one thing to pray in the name of Christ when you're praying with a group of Christians, but to do so purposefully in front of non-Christians seems like it would be somewhat ineffective witness, unless he were asked by one or more members of the board he was praying before specifically to do so—such as if he were doing so before a town council, for instance.

In other news, I am always happy to see the ACLU getting smacked around. Could not have happened to a more deserving bunch!

I've generally been skeptical of Rowan Williams, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, as he's tended towards the wishy-washy side of liberal Episcopalian Christianity in some of his past acts. In light of that history, his latest action truly surprises me:

Labour's latest equality law will deprive Christians of the right of free speech, the Church of England has warned.

The Single Equality Bill could force vicars to conduct weddings for sex-change brides, deprive Christians of the right to oppose homosexuality and make church schools promote gay lifestyles in lessons, said the Archbishops' Council.

Church charities may also be barred from saying grace before meals or displaying crucifixes, it claimed.

The CofE document - endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams - warned that the Bill attempts to suppress freedom of speech and "amounts to an enforced secularism that fails to respect religious belief at all".

Update 9/11/07: Looks like the clock has been passed by time yet again. Here's to the next time you fall on the correct side of the issue, your Holiness.

Wantonly throwing billions of dollars at causes celebré is bound to lead to abuses. You know, like this?

But when AIDS activists are asked if the militant's claim of AIDS funds being misused is true then a new story emerges. Given the dangers, no one is willing to give any answers on camera. But off camera they tell the real reason.

At present there are about 50 NGOs working under Manipur AIDS Control Society and Manipur has the highest percentage of HIV+ people in the country.

So their work is to reach out to the state's 27,000 patients most of them dependent on government funds for treatment.

The plight of Manipur is so big in the map of AIDS activism that the state receives huge funds from the world over, including grants from the Bill Gates Foundation.

And this is where the militants come in. They have realised that there is huge money in AIDS and started demanding big haftas or bribes without which they don't let NGOs do any groundwork.

It would seem that when you're trying to re-stock a depleted population of fish, it's probably a good idea to do it with the right species.

No word on how much of your hard-earned tax money was wasted on this mess. Not that the Associated Press would ever deign to actually ask such investigative things.

... against forming tax-free non-profits for the sole purpose of instructing people on how to break the law.

(It comes as no surprise to see that this is happening in Massachusetts—though with groups like CASA de Maryland, I'm sure it's going on around here, too.)

When will we, as a nation, have the guts to stand up and put lawbreaking groups like this in their place? Are we past the point in our national existence where We, The People want to have any say in our governance?

I'm thinking that it's about time we hold a national referendum on reforming our government. Our Judiciary has been a clear and present danger to our nation's peaceful existence for the past 70 years, and it's about time that we start thinking outside the box on ways to fix it.