Character Approved and Arrested

Shepard Fairey, the "artist" behind the ubiquitous Obama posters has been quite busy of late.

He's been seen getting sued by the Associated Press for copyright infringement (a case I wish would go on ad infinitum because both sides deserve to lose, but one that Fairey would prevail because it was a fair use and there is sufficient differences between the original photo and the poster to merit separate consideration).

He's been character approved by USA Networks.

And now, he's been arrested on outstanding warrants for graffiti.

Shepard Fairey was in Boston on Friday night for an event kicking off his exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art.

Police said they had warrants on Fairey from last month after he allegedly tagged property in Boston with graffiti based on his Andre the Giant street art campaign.

It was unclear if Fairey was being held on Saturday.

Gawker notes that this is like the 15th time he's been arrested on such charges, which include vandalism.

Character approved indeed.

Just Another Day In Gaza

Hamas takes over hospitals, fires kassams on Israel, and one of its leading goons sticks his head up in his first appearance since before Operation Cast Lead.

Now, as for the hospitals:

According to Palestinian news agency Ma'an, the Palestinian Health Ministry claimed that Hamas members expelled them and full medical teams from hospital wards despite the serious security situation.

A communiqué put out by the ministry said that "following the unilateral cessation of Israeli aggression against our people, the Ministry of Health, along with all the Palestinian people, was shocked to discover that Hamas militias have returned to their old ways and have expelled all the medical staff responding to the calls of the homeland (to continue their work.) Unfortunately, these same militias used the medical centers, especially in a number of hospitals, converting them into centers for interrogation, torture, and imprisonment."

This is the same situation as during Operation Cast Lead when Hamas not only entered those hospitals for refuge from Israeli airstrikes, but its goons went through the hospitals seeking out those it considered collaborators with Israel and executed them in cold blood.

Hamas cares nothing for the lives of their fellow Arabs, and are concerned instead on its war with Israel. Anything that furthers its war aims is acceptable; whether it is civilian casualties, extrajudicial executions, war crimes, calls for genocide, and violating the Geneva Conventions at every opportunity. It's who they are and what they do.

The Hamas thug caught attempting to bring millions of dollars and euros into Gaza via Egypt apparently got the money from Iran.

Meanwhile, Hamas says that there's no deal for Gilad Shalit, after other reports indicated that there was a deal in the works. That's the same report I've commented upon for years now. Hamas has no intention of releasing Shalit unless Israel empties its prisons of hundreds of terrorists.

And lo and behold, we've got ourselves a flying pig alert: the UN is going to investigate Hamas child abuse. It's so long overdue that I wonder what took them so long. Of course, I don't have much faith in the UN actually acting on its findings because the Arab countries will do all they can to block action.

Porktastic! Compromise Reached On Pork Stimulus Package

Even Jimmy Dean would be offended by the offal Congress is ramming through without so much consideration and deliberation as one should expect on a bill that is expected to cost over $1 trillion when all is said and done.

The fact is that no one even knows what the final tally is for the bill. The House version was passed with $819 billion. The Senate version claims to spend $780 billion. The media reports that a "bipartisan group" managed to "cut" more than $100 billion in add-ons to the bill that Senators added, but that group was mostly Republicans who wanted to cut the amount by hundreds of billions below the House level; they failed miserably given that there is so much pork and so little stimulus in this bill.

In fact, all the money being peeled off the bill now will likely be reinserted in the conference version once the Senate passes its version of the porkfest. In other words, the bill will grow from the House version.

Make no doubt, the Democrats have the votes to pass this without the need for a single Republican. They want Republican cover so they can claim bipartisanship, but the 60 votes they claim necessary is only to avoid a filibuster on a vote of cloture to bring the bill up for a vote on the floor. That's the only weapon the GOP has left to stem the tide on this mess, and I don't see them doing it, even though it would be prudent of them to do so if only to go line by line and delete hundreds of billions of pork and unwarranted add-ons that should rightfully belong in standard appropriations bills.

Yet, that cloture vote is so close that they need to get Ted Kennedy off his sickbed to cast what could be the deciding ballot.

The Congressional Budget Office figures that this bill is a porkfest that will lead to much woe down the road, but it is a stimulus package. It's a government stimulus package, since government will grow by leaps and bounds while the private sector continues to shrink under the weight the government.

The Pirate Whisperer

Via John McCartney comes this article written about a negotiator who deals with the Somali pirates to secure the release of the ships and crew:

Andrew Mwangura has the underground world of African piracy wired. Somali pirates trust him. Warlords respect him. And human-rights activists admire him for putting his neck on the line to keep sailors safe on the lawless high seas. “Andrew gets vital first-hand intelligence,” says Cyrus Mody, who runs the London-based Maritime Bureau of the International Chamber of Commerce. “If a ship is running low on food or there’s been some disaster, he often knows about it first.”

Unfortunately for Mwangura, an ex-journalist who lives in a shack without running water on the beach in Mombasa, the Kenyan government doesn’t see him as a hero. On February 4, prosecutors put the 45-year-old Mwangura on trial for exposing the secret of a Ukrainian freighter that was hijacked last fall while carrying $30 million in Russian arms. Although the shipment was part of a secret, back-channel deal to arm Sudan in violation of a United Nations arms embargo, Mwangura is the one accused of breaking the law. The government has charged him with releasing “alarming information.” Says the activist, “They have no evidence. What I said was the truth.”

It takes quite the testicular fortitude to go into the den of thieves as Mwangura has done to negotiate the release of the crews and ships, and he agrees that the problem resides in the fact that the maritime industry believes that paying off the pirates is acceptable costs of doing business rather than the lawless act that deserves military justice under the Law of the Seas. Pirates are no different than terrorists, and yet they're getting a regular diet of ransoms that fund their continued operations.

In the beginning, we went to the shipping companies and said, “Please don’t give them money.” But the ship owners did not understand and kept giving them money. Back then it was less than $100,000. Now they’re taking big money. And we cannot stop them.

Meanwhile, Mwangura provides details I have not seen elsewhere - namely that there are seven clans of Somali warlords involved in the piracy and that the pirates have become more sophisticated in their attacks on shipping, including the use of decoy boats.

That comes as Somali piracy netted their biggest haul to date; $3.2 million for the release of another ship. The US Navy took no action for fear of putting the more than 100 other crewmembers still held by Somali pirates.

The situation in Somalia continues close watching.

Kings County Hospital Psych Unit Cited By DOJ

The City of New York operates Kings County hospital and the psychiatric unit, which was the scene of multiple instances of abuse and failure to care for patients, including the infamous case of Esmin Green:

After a yearlong investigation, the Department of Justice portrayed the unit at Kings County Hospital Center as a nightmarish place where patients were not treated for suicidal behavior, were routinely subdued with physical restraints and drugs instead of receiving individualized psychiatric treatment, and were frequently abused by other patients.

The details are laid out in a 58-page report to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg that was made public on Thursday.

The investigators found that the psychiatric service operated like a prison. The report said that instead of meaningful treatment and diagnosis, the patients received frequent visual checks by the staff, and that even when patients were supposedly under watch, violence and attempted suicides occurred.

Among the most serious incidents the report documented were an October brawl among six patients that left one needing surgery, and an autistic patient being forced to perform oral sex in November. The report also included allegations that a woman was raped and that a 14-year-old was forced to engage in oral sex by a 16-year-old.

All four incidents occurred after the highly publicized death of Esmin Green, a Jamaican immigrant with a history of depression, who collapsed on the floor of the emergency waiting room after waiting nearly 24 hours to be seen. A surveillance video showed Ms. Green, 49, lying on the floor for nearly an hour; during that time, a guard came in to check on her by wheeling his chair along, and another staff member prodded her with a foot.

The Esmin Green death is far more egregious than just that; there are allegations that hospital workers falsified records to cover up their horrible treatment.

This is government health care in a nutshell for those who think that our current private health care system is broken.

Afghan Apostasy Death Watch

Two people in Afghanistan face a death sentence under Islamic law for venturing to translate the Koran in a way that the mullahs deem to be apostasy.

The pocket-size translation of the Quran has already landed six men in prison in Afghanistan and left two of them begging judges to spare their lives. They're accused of modifying the Quran and their fate could be decided Sunday in court.

The trial illustrates what critics call the undue influence of hardline clerics in Afghanistan, a major hurdle as the country tries to establish a lawful society amid war and militant violence.
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The book appeared among gifts left for the cleric at a major Kabul mosque after Friday prayers in September 2007. It was a translation of the Quran into one of Afghanistan's languages, with a note giving permission to reprint the text as long as it was distributed for free.

Some of the men of the mosque said the book would be useful to Afghans who didn't know Arabic, so they took up a collection for printing. The mosque's cleric asked Ahmad Ghaws Zalmai, a longtime friend, to get the books printed.

But as some of the 1,000 copies made their way to conservative Muslim clerics in Kabul, whispers began, then an outcry.

Many clerics rejected the book because it did not include the original Arabic verses alongside the translation. It's a particularly sensitive detail for Muslims, who regard the Arabic Quran as words given directly by God. A translation is not considered a Quran itself, and a mistranslation could warp God's word.

'Zalmai is an infidel. He should be killed'
The clerics said Zalmai, a stocky 54-year-old spokesman for the attorney general, was trying to anoint himself as a prophet. They said his book was trying to replace the Quran, not offer a simple translation. Translated editions of the Quran abound in Kabul markets, but they include Arabic verses.

Sharia dictates that those who do not adhere to Islamic law are apostate. Death is the sentence. Given that many Muslims in this part of the world are uneducated and merely memorize the Koran, anyone attempting to use a koran that doesn't directly copy the Arabic verses is setting themselves up for charges of apostasy, regardless of whether it is warranted or not. This has as much to do with the lack of education as it does with religion.

UNRWA Suspends Food Shipments In Gaza

That's right folks. You read that correctly. UNRWA has suspended aid shipments to Gaza because Hamas has been stealing the humanitarian aid.

The seizure of the 200 tons of supplies took place Thursday night and in response, UNRWA officials informed the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration that it was suspending its deliveries to the Gaza Strip until further notice. The supplies confiscated included flour and other basic commodities.

The transfer of 40 truckloads of humanitarian supplies - some 800 tons - planned for Sunday has already been canceled.

It was the second time this week that Hamas stole UN supplies transferred to the Gaza Strip for impoverished Palestinians.

The first incident took place Tuesday evening when armed Hamas police broke into a Gaza warehouse packed with UN humanitarian supplies and seized thousands of blankets and food packages.

This isn't the first time this has happened; it's the first time this month and it's the first time that UNRWA has suspended its shipments.

Hamas will use this to further its agitprop campaign, but the fact is that Hamas steals any and all aid entering Gaza and resells it to support its terror operations and infrastructure. It has its hands in the smuggling tunnel operations, where it not only gets a piece of the action from all manner of products entering from Egypt, but allows it to bring in its weapons and materials for making rockets and mortars.

Israellycool and Muqata have more, including that another mortar shell was fired into Israel from Gaza this morning. That's even as the Israelis transferred 175 Million NIS to Gaza today to the Palestinian Authority.

Yet, Turkey is contemplating launching an investigation into war crimes carried out by Israel. The Islamists demand that if Israeli leaders enter Turkey they be detained. No word on when Turkey will investigate proven instances of Hamas war crimes. As it is, the human rights groups admit to not caring about Hamas war crimes because they're so open and obvious it isn't worth their time.

Actually, the real reason they don't focus on Hamas is because they know that Hamas will never ever listen to them and would just as soon as murder those human rights folks who enter Gaza as they would anyone else. The only ones who have any chance of imposing justice on Hamas are the Israelis, and they do a fairly decent job of it when the politicians get out of the way and let the IDF mete out the justice that Hamas so dearly craves.

With Israel, US and other nations, AI and the other human rights groups are able to cajole and pressure those governments into taking actions that appear to protect human rights - but even there, those groups actually undermine human rights by equating terrorist actions with that of legitimate national security and responsibility of sovereign nations to protect their citizens from terrorist attacks from groups that hide behind women and children.

They are reprehensible in their focus and by ignoring the Hamas war crimes, crimes against humanity, and repeated calls to genocide, misogyny, etc. are actually enabling Hamas to propagandize openly and obviously without any criticism from the very groups that should be at the forefront.

The same goes for these so-called paragons of virtue who claim that they will go after Israeli officials for war crimes if they step foot in their countries. Turkey's actions against the PKK comes to mind when I think of hypocrites. It's not like Turkey is raining roses down on PKK camps inside Iraq or inside Turkey. They're attacking them and killing them and civilians in the process. The world yawns at that, but Israel defending itself against barbaric terrorists? That must stop. It's another day in Israeli double standard time.

Obama Blasts Critics and Uses the Fear Card

President Obama is getting a wee bit testy these days because everything isn't exactly going to his plan. His cabinet nominees have this nauseating tendency to avoid paying their tax obligations or reporting their income properly. His stimulus plan is receiving strong opposition because people see for the porkfest it is.

He claims that people are basing their opposition on phony and debunked economic theories.

"Don't come to the table with the same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create this crisis," the president said at the House Democrats' annual retreat in Williamsburg.

"We're not going to get relief by turning back to the very same policies that, for the last eight years, doubled the national debt and threw our economy into a tailspin," he said. "We can't embrace the losing formula that says only tax cuts will work for every problem we face, that ignores critical challenges like our addiction to foreign oil, or the soaring cost of health care, or failing schools and crumbling bridges and roads and levees.

"I don't care whether you're driving a hybrid or an SUV -- if you're headed for a cliff, you've got to change direction."

The Democrats welcomed the president with frequent interruptions for applause as he took on criticisms of the bill.

Obama said he valued "the constructive criticism and healthy debate that's taking place around this package," but added that speedy passage of the bill was essential.

"We're not moving quickly because we're trying to jam something down people's throats," he said. "We're moving quickly because if we don't, the economy's going to keep getting worse."

Really? How about the theory he's resting his entire plan on - that massive government deficit spending will reduce the effect of the recession or keep it from getting worse. It seems that his theory has been debunked as well; folks who have studied FDR and the Great Depression note that FDR's spending plans and economic policy actually made the Depression last longer and more severe.

Obama's modeling his plans on FDR. He's throwing the money around in ways that drunken sailors could only dream.

Obama has an obligation to show us what his plan will do for America not only in the next nine months, but in the future when the bill comes due for his outrageous spending.

He is using fear to drive Congress to pass this legislation despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the spending isn't stimulus but pork and massive spending increases that wont take effect until well after the recession is over.

No critics are talking about just providing tax cuts; President Obama is making strawman arguments that obscure his real intentions.

Obama rejected calls for more tax cuts and significant slashing of the bill's more than $800 billion price tag, and said complaints the package was a spending bill rather than a stimulus bill were off base.

"What do you think a stimulus bill is?" he said. "That's the point."

No, a stimulus bill is one where the spending is to occur when and where it's needed; not to fund every pet project under the sun, which is precisely the case with this porkfest.

Obama warns that if the porkfest isn't passed, things will get much worse. Imagine if FRD said that the only thing we have is fear itself. That's Obama's case in a nutshell.

UPDATE:
Consider the Japanese example. Japan engaged in a massive spending program to lift the country out of a recession. Only problem - it didn't work.

Japan’s rural areas have been paved over and filled in with roads, dams and other big infrastructure projects, the legacy of trillions of dollars spent to lift the economy from a severe downturn caused by the bursting of a real estate bubble in the late 1980s. During those nearly two decades, Japan accumulated the largest public debt in the developed world — totaling 180 percent of its $5.5 trillion economy — while failing to generate a convincing recovery. Now, as the Obama administration embarks on a similar path, proposing to spend more than $820 billion to stimulate the sagging American economy, many economists are taking a fresh look at Japan’s troubled experience

Which failed economic theories are we talking about? Obama wants people to think that the GOP and his critics are pushing failed economic theories, when we can see with great abundance that Obama's spending plan has been tried before and has failed miserably.

And yet, Obama wants us to believe that the porkfest be passed now (actually on Monday because he and his fellow Democrats are whooping it up at a lavish retreat this weekend and can't be bothered with the day to day business of running the country - and yet they railed on at length over businesses that do the same (hold retreats and company gatherings).

Rich Lowry has it right, Obama is using faith based economics to demand passage simply because he won. More to the point, Don Surber notes that Obama is fast becoming Eric Cartman before our eyes - that we must respect his authoritay. If you don't like what Obama says, tough. That's his position, and he's sticking with it even as most Americans don't want to see the bill passed in its current form.

Slublog at Ace has more.

UPDATE:
Via joel comes this funny video: Stimulis: Because all economies have performance issues

Another! Obama Nominee With Tax Troubles?

At the rate we're going, President Obama will out every last major domo in DC as a tax cheat. That's change we can be proud of.

Sadly, that's not his intent.

He's simply chosen a bunch of nominees who can't pay their taxes. The latest? Hilda Solis, whose husband had tax liens on his business for the last 15 years.

The husband of President Obama's Labor secretary nominee paid about $6,400 Wednesday to settle tax liens that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years against his business, the Obama administration told USA TODAY this afternoon.

The disclosure came shortly before a scheduled 2 p.m. meeting of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which will vote on Rep. Hilda Solis' nomination as labor secretary. The hearing was postponed; no reason was immediately revealed.

Los Angeles County records showed 15 outstanding state and county tax liens against Sam Sayyad and his auto repair business, totaling $7,630. Two other liens worth $981 were released in 1999 after Sayyad repaid the taxes owed, according to county records.

Solis' financial disclosures list Sayyad's business, Sam's Foreign and Domestic Auto Center, as one of the couple's main assets, worth between $50,000 and $100,000. The disclosure form Solis filed after her nomination also lists bank accounts containing between $250,000 and $500,000.

Solis and Sayyad were unaware of the liens until USA TODAY asked about them Tuesday, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said. He said Sayyad paid about $6,400 to Los Angeles County on Wednesday to settle the liens, but he plans to appeal.

Vietor said Sayyad believes he had already paid all of his taxes in full. He said Solis had no reason to know of the liens because her husband's business is a sole proprietorship.

That last bit will depend on how their taxes were prepared and what Solis knew of her husband's business operations.

The Senate may finally get around to holding hearings on Solis today, even though Solis hasn't exactly been forthcoming over her role in American Rights at Work, a pro-union group. She was the Treasurer of the organization, but claims that she wasn't involved in direct lobbying. Given that lobbyists for an organization relies upon the Treasurer appropriating money for such actions, Solis and her supporters are reaching.

The White House has already said that she wouldn't recuse herself from decisions on Card Check even though ARW lobbied for it. At the same time, Solis didn't disclose her uncompensated service with ARW for three years, which he claims was an unintentional oversight.

What is it with all these Democrats claiming unintentional oversight when it comes to paying taxes, ethics rules, and law and order.

You'd think that they're saying one thing and doing another.

You'd be right.

They are.

Populist Claptrap Has Real World Consequences

Let's limit executive compensation (not retroactively and limited only to those companies that received substantial federal assistance - leaving the door open to a huge grey area of companies that received some aid but which will continue their compensation packages unaffected by the demands to limit them).

Let's keelhaul companies that received federal funds who then engage in corporate events around the nation, including in Las Vegas or Miami.

That's the chant coming from DC these days and many of those calls cut across the political spectrum.

Is anyone actually paying attention to what happens when those executives get high levels of compensation or companies spend on conventions in places like Las Vegas? Wells Fargo was going to have a corporate event in Vegas, but they've canceled it in the face of public pressure. Did anyone care that it would hurt the Vegas economy, which is already one of the hardest hit regions in the country as the real estate market there imploded? Hardly. The money spent by Wells Fargo employees in Vegas goes to restaurants, hotels, and all other ancillary services in Vegas - an economic stimulus that will now be absent courtesy of the "public outcry". How many millions of dollars of lost tax revenue will occur because Wells Fargo employees aren't renting cars or hotel rooms or spending their money on trinkets or food in Vegas to say nothing of lower casino revenues because there will be that many fewer people spending money in the casinos?

Airlines are suffering because business travel is being scaled back, which means fewer flights, and which in turn means that there's increased pressure to cut workforce that is being idled by lower demand.

Executive pay limits will sharply harm the New York metro economy warns Kathryn Wylde of the Partnership for New York:

Wylde says the Obama salary cap will lead to a critical brain drain – China and the United Arab Emirates have already come to poach Wall Street talent. She also says lower salaries in the financial industry will mean dramatically lower tax revenues for the city and state.

"We also depend heavily on the financial services industry to fund our economy and our tax rolls," said Wylde. "Last year 20 percent of our income taxes in the states – 12 percent in New York City came from Wall Street."

Limiting compensation means other countries will benefit from talent poached domestically, to say nothing of the actual loss of jobs around the city from people who benefit from those executives and those who receive bonuses from the financial services industry. The City and State are already billions in the hole because those financial services companies imploded and sharply limited bonuses as their companies went belly up or started conserving money to have more cash on hand.

At the same time, Congress has no such caps on its own compensation. It can vote itself a raise, even though it is completely undeserving of one. Congress regularly increases its own pay, despite having a rating lower than that of former President Bush. Yet, you have members of Congress demanding caps on compensation.

How about capping Congressional compensation at $75,000 as a sign that Congress can tighten its belt just like the rest of us who are struggling to make ends meet without getting crunched by a crushing tax burden? It's not like Congress is going to starve; there are more than a few millionaires and multimillionaires among the bunch, not counting those who evaded taxes and squirreled away money that no one knows about - Charlie Rangel, I'm talking about you.

How about we enact a law demanding that every politico and nominee is subjected to an IRS audit annually just to be sure who's reporting what and these pretentious politicos can call for tax hikes even as we learn that they're evading their tax obligations often for years at a time (Tom Daschle, I'm talking to you; Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, you too!)

Rep. Barney Frank is complaining that President Bush did little to limit executive compensation, which tells you all you need to know about the disdain Frank and his fellow leftists have for the market setting compensation rates. He'd much rather have the government pick and choose the compensation. Frank is also seeking to impose the executive compensation restrictions retroactively.

People may be cheering about the idea that executive compensation will be limited, but why is the government any better at arbitrarily and capriciously setting compensation than it is at managing our roads, infrastructure, schools, or anything else that it has its hands on? It isn't. It is just another peg towards government intrusion into your pocketbooks and your liberty.

Hamas Bagman Caught By Egypt

Hamas continues to try and fund its operations in Gaza globally, but it still takes guys crossing the border with suitcases full of money to distribute to Gazans to buy their support for just a while longer.

Egypt caught one of these bagmen at the border.

Egyptian officials on Thursday detained a senior Hamas official who was carrying nine million dollars and two million euros in cash at the Rafah crossing with Gaza, a security official told AFP.

Border official had held up a six-member delegation on its way back from truce talks in Cairo after insisting that they search their bags.

The officials allowed five members to cross, but detained Gaza-based Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha, who was carrying 10 million dollars and two million euros.

"There are contacts with the finance ministry to decide whether to allow the money in," the official said.

Where did the money come from, who raised it, and for what purposes is the money going to? As I noted, Hamas is likely going to use the money to buy support among Gazans - paying them for damages done to their homes by Hamas' ongoing war with Israel (albeit a fraction of the cost of the damage done to Gaza by Hamas' ruinous thugocracy) and to pay for the influx of weapons and equipment for that war. (HT: NJDhockeyfan at LGF)

Meanwhile, the UN now admits that its prior claims that Israel shelled its UNRWA school were incorrect. They're blaming the mistake on a clerical error. That's not an error; it's a feature of the UNRWA system, where every such instance is automagically attributed to Israel's actions, and not to Hamas, who continues using UNRWA facilities as human shields and Hamas knows that UNRWA will blame Israel for damage done to their facilities, rather than Hamas who initiated the conflict.

Iran Continues Playing Obama For a Fool

I see that Iran is jerking Obama's chain again. Now they're saying that they wont talk with the Zionist Obama.

"The Zionists brought Obama to power to help America pass through its current challenges," said the representative to the Revolutionary Guards in northwestern Zanjan province, cleric Hojjatoleslam Ali Maboudi.

"Any government has 'red lines' and our 'red lines' are rejecting the arrogant policies of America and the Zionist regime."

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ultimate authority over policy in the Islamic Republic, has yet to comment on Obama's presidency or his offer to extend a hand of peace if the Islamic Republic would only "unclench its fist."

The leader has representatives to many institutions and regions whose comments can give an indication of views prevalent among Iran's leadership.

"Opposing the Zionist regime and defending oppressed people are among the pillars of the Islamic revolution and Iran and America's relationship will not change because of Obama taking office," Maboudi said.

I guess they're waiting for Obama to grovel a bit more, or perhaps throw Israel under the bus before acting. Iran continues to support Hamas and continues its genocidal rhetoric directed at Israel, so if they can get the US to alter its support for Israel, they'll see that signal as one that supports the Iranian regime in Tehran that has been hellbent on Israel's destruction.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's thuggish leader, wants the world powers to be more humble; which is to say grovel at Iran's feet and submit to Iran's worldview or else. It's yet another da'wa - a threat and a promise. Iran has no interest in negotiating away its nuclear program, not when it continues to work towards a working missile system and its enrichment program continues churning out enriched nuclear materials that with enough time can result in weapons grade uranium.

I expect Obama to do just that - not only signal that he's throwing Israel under the bus, but will make statements that will show Obama's willingness to throw US national security under the bus in the name of "diplomacy". Let us just ignore the decades of Iranian-backed terrorism against the US, the acts of war by Iran against the US beginning in 1979 that remain unanswered to this day, and the backing of proxy armies throughout the Middle East that seek to attack our allies and our strategic interests.

It comes even as Russian officials say that the Bushehr reactor is going to be online before 2010 - in other words: this year. The Europeans, who are already within range of Iran's longest range missiles, are feeding the problem, by cozying up with Iran with trade deals that provide the cashflow Tehran needs to complete its plans.

Obama has no plan to deal with that outcome either, and talking without preconditions isn't going to avert Iran becoming a nuclear power.

Obama Cans Another Nominee

This time, President Obama has asked retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni to withdraw his name from consideration to be U.S. ambassador to Iraq. No reason was given at present.

Obama's nominations have hit a brick wall in the last few days over tax troubles. I have no idea why Obama would can Zinni's nomination, but it can't be good.

HT: Sister Toldjah, who notes that Obama's transition has gone off the rails given that they have repeatedly green lighted tax cheats and those with ethics problems for high ranking posts in the Administration.

UPDATE:
Let's also not forget that Obama's nominee for the number two slot at Housing and Urban Development has an ethics flap of his own.

UPDATE:
Via the Washington Times article, they note that Christopher Hill, the outgoing assistant secretary of State for East Asia, was getting the job.

Jihad's Latest Recruitment Tool: Rape

Well, we knew that the Islamic terrorists were barbaric, but their depravity continues to know no bounds. I guess I'm culturally insensitive because I find that raping women and men to coerce them into becoming suicide bombers is so beyond repugnant that words actually fail me.

The idea is that the jihadis would target people and coerce them into becoming suicide bombers because the rape victim becomes so scarred and shamed and are told that the only way to rehabilitate their image is to become a jihadi and blow themselves up for martyrdom.

In Iraq, The Times of London notes the following:

Samira Ahmed Jassim, 51, is accused of recruiting more than 80 women to become human bombs, including 28 who carried out attacks.

She has apparently confessed to helping to organise the rape of young women. She would then play on the shame associated with victims of rape in Iraqi society to convince the women to become suicide bombers as their only means of escape, according to a prison interview with the Associated Press.

It was not possible to verify independently the claims of using rape as a means to turn women into suicide attackers.

The apparent confession was broadcast widely on Iraqi media with a video of Jassim, nicknamed “the mother of believers”, talking about her alleged crimes.

Major-General Qassim al-Moussawi, a Baghdad security spokesman, said that her arrest on January 21 by Iraqi security forces was a significant breakthrough. "It definitely has an effect if the person in charge or the recruiter is killed or arrested,” he told The Times, when asked of the impact of Jassim’s capture.

That's even as Weasel Zippers found a video showing that jihadis admitted to raping young men so as to induce them to become suicide bombers:

"The sexual act on young recruits aged between 16 to 19 was a means to urge them to commit suicide operations."

The paper claims that "intense social stigma and fear of more gay sex attacks leaves Muslims prepared to die."

Rape and homosexual acts are punishable by death under Sharia law.

A suspected terrorist bomber killed in an attempted attack on a security installation in the Tizi Ouzou province of Algeria last month may have been raped, an autopsy revealed.

The jihadis use Islamic law to threaten rape victims into doing their bidding. This is the scourge that the West faces.

It's beyond sick.

End of an Era: Fortunoff Anticipating Liquidation

The venerable New York area company is preparing to shutter its remaining stores and liquidate its assets. The jewelry and home furnishings store simply couldn't deal with the recession and bad business decisions; it was in the market segment that exposed them to the worst of the recession - jewelry and home furnishings.

Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that Fortunoff had closed its flagship Manhattan store on 57th Street and is making plans to liquidate its merchandise. The chain may file for bankruptcy protection soon, said people with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be identified because the discussions are private. Lori Rhodes, a spokeswoman for Fortunoff's owner NRDC Equity Partners LLC, declined to comment.

"What are the two worst sectors in retail right now? Jewelry and home. They're in both," said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a retail consulting firm based in New York City.

Fortunoff has two stores in Paramus and one in Wayne. It has a yard and home store on northbound Route 17 in Paramus and a jewelry and gift store at the Paramus Park mall. The company has a full-size Fortunoff jewelry and home store at the Wayne Towne Center mall in Wayne.

The home store on Route 17, if vacated, would join more than a half-dozen empty furniture sites within a 3-mile radius of the intersection of Routes 4 and 17. Furniture stores often are difficult to re-lease to anything other than another furniture store. They are designed with a maximum of showroom space and a minimum of parking space, because furniture stores aren't considered high-traffic retail. The nationwide housing slump has hit furniture retailers hard and created a greater supply of vacant stores than there is demand.

Chuck Lanyard, president of retail real estate brokerage The Goldstein Group of Paramus, said he still is making deals to put furniture stores in some of the empty spaces, as chains from other parts of the country see an opportunity to move into New Jersey. Ashley Furniture just signed a lease to move into part of a vacant Levitz store on southbound Route 17, Lanyard said.

The Fortunoff store on Route 17 also could be easier to rent, Lanyard said, because it appears to have a higher parking-to-square-foot ratio than other furniture stores.

NRDC has reportedly been trying to find a buyer for the chain, with no luck. NRDC, which also owns the Lord & Taylor department stores, bought Fortunoff a year ago after it sought bankruptcy protection.

Lord and Taylor had been planning to shut the 57th Street store, but plans to sell Fortunoff jewelry in the Lord and Taylor chain will not happen.

Rahm Emanuel: Illegal Apartment Dweller?

Don Surber found this story on Gawker, and it once again points out that President Obama continues to work on making this the most unethical Administration ever. We now learn that Emanuel has been living in an illegal apartment in Washington DC.

Apparently a private investigator tracked down where he was living, and it is the basement of Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut.

There's just one problem. DeLauro lives in a one-family that is zoned to prohibit renting the basement. He's been living in an illegal apartment.

Sheesh.

And that's on top of the fact that he treats his Chicago home as the office of a charitable group to avoid paying property taxes, has Freddie Mac issues, and was closely involved in the Tim Mahoney mess in Florida.

Obama sure knows how to pick them.

Ynetnews Now Realizes Propaganda Doc Supported Al Qaeda?

Ynetnews published the following report today on Mads Gilbert, the Norweigian propaganda doctor who appeared on a video purporting to show a resuscitation effort that bordered on farce, and who appeared in dozens of photos showing him tending to patients at a Gaza hospital - mostly children, during Operation Cast Lead.

It notes the following:

Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert entered the Gaza Strip several days before Israel launched its military offensive there. In the course of the operation Gilbert spoke to numerous media outlets, presented himself as "an objective physician" and repeatedly condemned the IDF's actions in Gaza.

However, it recently became known that Gilbert might have been less impartial than he claimed to be. The only Western doctor allowed into the Strip during the fighting is a member of the Norwegian socialist party Red, and a man who in the past expressed support for al-Qaeda's September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

That's utter nonsense. It didn't recently become known. It was known since Foxnews published that news on January 8, 2009 and made public here on this blog, Confederate Yankee, and at LGF and elsewhere from the moment that propaganda video was first published. That was nearly a month ago.

Gilbert continues giving agitprop interviews in which he claims that of the hundreds of patients he treated, only two were fighters. How exactly does he know this to be the case? After the first day of airstrikes, Hamas was not wearing uniforms and blended in with the rest of the population. Hamas hid behind womens skirts and childrens' cribs. They were indistinguishable from the rest of the population but for the mortars and rockets fired at Israel, the guns that they carried, and their use of human shields.

The UN Admits Hamas Stealing Its Supplies

It's not the first time this has happened, but when Hamas comes in and raids entire warehouses of humanitarian aid, the UN is going to have to say something.

Hamas police in Gaza have seized thousands of blankets and food parcels meant for needy residents, UN spokesman Chris Gunness said Wednesday.
A Pelestinian man carrying a...

A Pelestinian man carrying a bag of flour given through UNRWA's aid program [illustrative].
Photo: AP
Slideshow: Pictures of the week

Gunness said the policemen raided a UN warehouse in Gaza City, snatching 3,500 blankets and over 400 food parcels - supplies meant for 500 Palestinian families. He said the incident took place on Tuesday evening and that it marked the first time Hamas had seized UN aid.

In a statement released Wednesday, UNRWA condemned the theft "in the strongest terms," and demanded that it be "returned immediately." The statement added that the organization "has a strict system of monitoring aid delivery and ensuring that its assistance reaches only the intended beneficiaries," and that officials were present "taking all possible steps to avoid its diversion."

Israel has charged that Hamas routinely confiscates supplies meant for needy Gazans.

A Hamas government spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Gunness has repeatedly sided with Hamas and claimed that Hamas didn't steal supplies in the past and that Israel had regularly targeted civilians and UNRWA facilities. This puts his prior statements at odds with the facts.

Hamas has been stealing supplies all along and reselling them to Gazans so that the terrorist group can raise money for its war against Israel.

A number of reports from the Strip paint a picture of very difficult humanitarian conditions, not least because of Hamas itself. The suspicion is that the group's operatives have seized control of any supplies passing through the crossings – including those sent by Israel and international organizations.

Reports say Hamas takes a cut out of all aid that arrives, including flour and medicine. Supplies intended to be distributed without gain among the population is seized by the group and sold to the residents, at a profit to the Hamas government.

One such incident was recorded Monday, when a convoy of trucks carrying supplies through the Kerem Shalom crossing was opened fire upon and seized by Hamas gunmen. Similar incidents occurred with trucks carrying fuel.

This is what you get when you provide humanitarian aid to a terrorist group who controls a region with an iron fist and which considers its jihad against Israel paramount over any humanitarian concerns.

The situation in Gaza is dire because Hamas makes it so, and UNRWA facilitates such actions by looking the other way as the terrorist group operates freely in the refugee camps, hires Hamas thugs as support staff, and is so thoroughly penetrated by Hamas, that it is not much more than a propaganda outfit for Hamas.

As much as the UN would protest otherwise, they have admitted that there is no way to check the background of those they hire, which means that Hamas is on the payroll and does have access to UNRWA facilities.

As Kenneth at LGF notes, UNRWA facilitates terrorism through its operations, and perpetuates the Palestinian refugee situation simply by defining refugee differently than the other UN agency responsible for refugees, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). UNRWA defines refugees to include the descendants of any original refugee, meaning that there are millions more people who are considered refugees than otherwise. It also provides a permanent bureaucracy since there is no incentive to end the operations since you have a constantly growing population.

UNRWA helps millions fewer people than UNHCR, and yet has a vastly larger budget per capita and has far more people on the payroll than UNHCR. Hamas has exploited this situation time and time again, and the UN has sat back and complained about Israel's actions.

The problem resides first and foremost with Hamas, but the UN is also responsible for facilitating the crisis.

Russian About Face On Logistical Support For Afghan Operation?

Instapundit notes that the Russians are about to pull the rug out from under the US and NATO in their ongoing Afghan operation.

Russian news agencies are reporting that the government of Kyrgyzstan will close Manas Air Base, a vital conduit for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

RIA-Novosti quotes Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev as saying that his government "has made the decision to end the term for the American base on the territory of Kyrgyzstan." (The RIA-Novosti news report, which followed a press conference in Moscow, has not been translated into English; the Associated Press has a summary.)

It was only a few days ago that it was reported that President Bush had negotiated deals allowing access to bases in Central Asia to support the Afghan campaign; a vital necessity given that the Pakistani supply routes are coming under attack on a daily basis by the Taliban and have been cut repeatedly (including today when the Taliban blew a major bridge).

The negotiated deal between the US and the Russians as reported by the AP story noted that several routes were being considered.

U.S. officials have said one likely new route is overland from Russia through Kazakhstan and on through Uzbekistan using trucks and trains. Another possible route is through Azerbaijan across the Caspian Sea to the Kazakh port of Aktau and then through Uzbekistan.

Has Russia done an about face? It certainly appears that they're twisting the screws and testing President Obama.

Curiouser and curiouser.

UPDATE:
Instapundit links. Thanks!

Photo of the Day

 

Zion National Park's Kolob Canyon.

Breaking: Daschle Withdraws Nomination

It took him long enough. Tom Daschle has withdrawn his name from consideration to be President Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services.

It's about time.

The only sadness and regret Daschle is feeling is that he was caught for being a tax cheat. If he had not been nominated, his tax bill would have gone unnoticed.

UPDATE:
Don Surber makes an excellent point: Daschle's next bit of public service should be from behind bars for breaking the law.

As Mark Levin pointed out last night, Al Capone was thrown in prison for felony tax evasion, and Daschle evaded paying taxes but somehow Obama overlooked all that and nominated him to a Cabinet position. Chicago rules.

UPDATE:
So, Obama now takes credit for nominating a bunch of tax cheats. He says he screwed up.

"It's important for this administration to send a message that there aren't two sets of rules — you know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes," Obama said near the end of a day of jarring developments, little more than 24 hours after he had said he was "absolutely" committed to Daschle's confirmation.

Gotcha.

You're only sorry because not only were you caught, but your nominees had to commit hari kari. If you were committed to one set of rules, you wouldn't have let any of these folks near the nomination; your team of vetters knew and picked up on the tax problems, and you still approved them.

That goes to your judgment - the lack thereof.

Another Obama Nominee With Tax Problems Withdraws

President Obama keeps digging up nominees for high profile positions that have significant tax issues. First it was Tim Geithner. Then it was Tom Daschle.

Now, we find out that Nancy Killefer has withdrawn her name from consideration as the Chief Performance Officer.

President Barack Obama's nominee to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government has withdrawn, the White House said Tuesday.

"Nancy Killefer has decided to withdraw her nomination, and we accepted her withdrawal," said Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman.

The 55-year-old executive with consulting giant McKinsey & Co. was expected to explain her reasons for pulling out later in the day.

Killefer was the second major Obama administration nominee to withdraw and the third to have tax problems complicate their nomination after President Barack Obama announced their selection.

Killefer's problem? Tax liens against her property totaling $946.69.

That's more than a hundred thousand dollars less than the taxes owed by Daschle. In fact, it's less than 1% of Daschle's overdue tax bill.

Tom Daschle should go and he's even lost the support and backing of the New York Times.

The Obama Administration has so far backed Daschle, despite his tax problems, and that speaks volumes as to Obama's disdain for upholding the law. Obama and his fellow Democrats talked about how there was a culture of corruption in Washington, but we now know that they really wanted to replace the GOP culture of corruption with their own.

The GOP rolled over and approved Geithner, and they may well approve Daschle, despite their tax problems. These people broke federal tax law, and yet are getting off with barely a slap on the wrist for it. Daschle would not have amended his tax returns had his name not come up for consideration as a nominee. In other words, but for his nomination, his tax evasion would have continued.

UPDATE:
Instapundit and Michelle Malkin both wonder if anyone in the Obama administration pays taxes. Given the propensity of their nominees to not pay taxes over a period of years, it certainly does raise that question. None of these problems happened overnight either. These people failed to pay their taxes over a period of years, or had the tax problems going back for years, and the Obama Administration still nominated them. That's telling in and of itself.

UPDATE:
Hot Air notes that Republican Senator Jim DeMint has called for Daschle to withdraw his name from consideration (video provided as well).

UPDATE:
Apparently Daschle wasn't that sentimental.



UPDATE:
In addition to the property tax lien, the real issue is that she didn't pay employment taxes on household help.

Prominent Bangladeshi Calls For Extermination of Jews

Not only was Mohammad Asafuddowlah a prominent politician and business leader in Bangladesh, but he's a newspaper editor and gets to set the agenda and tone in political circles.

Apparently his version of peace and mine differ sharply. He prefers the peace that comes as the result of genocide and the annihilation of all Jews on the face of the earth:

A former senior official and newspaper editor from Bangladesh told a television audience last week that Adolph Hitler should have been more thorough when it came to the Jews. The TV host seconded the opinion.

As reported by the editor and publisher of the Weekly Blitz, peace activist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, Mohammad Asafuddowlah said, "My soul bleeds when I recall the recent atrocities against the people of Gaza. And if I was a young man, I would have gone to Gaza with a weapon to exterminate Israel."

It is not just Israel's extermination Asafuddowlah seeks, however. "Now I believe that what Adolph Hitler did during the Holocaust was absolutely correct. He should have done this more extensively, to eliminate the total Jewish population from the world," he added.

Abdul Hye Sikder, the host of the TV program on which Asafuddowlah appeared, reacted to the genocidal statements with agreement, echoing the sentiments. Sikder, Choudhury reports, was at one time a leading activist of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Assafuddowlah has been described by Bangladesh's New Age newspaper as "one of the finest civil servants of Bangladesh and a personality crowned with many qualities." He served in the public sector for 35 years, as chairman of state-run corporations and director-general of various government ministries. He was also the editor-in-chief of The Bangladesh Today, a leading English-language daily.

And he's got lots of people who agree with him.

These are the same people who would also declare that the Holocaust didn't happen or that the number of Jews murdered wasn't as high as claimed. The Holocaust revisionism goes hand in hand with the calls for a renewed genocide against the Jews and to finish the job of Hitler and the Nazis.

UPDATE:
The original story is here.

Hamas Continues Rocket Attacks

It's another day in Gaza, and Hamas continues its assault on Israelis with still more rocket attacks. They hit Ashkelon and other Israeli communities within range of their kassam and Grad rockets.

Where's the international condemnations? Where's the demands that Hamas leaders be hauled before courts to face trials for war crimes? You get nothing but crickets when Hamas attacks, but Israel's actions to defend itself from such terrorists gets international dander up and calls for Israel to be keelhauled.

Instead, we're treated to reports claiming that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire? Seriously? Are you kidding me? Hamas has no intention of adhering to a ceasefire. They want Israel to cease, while Hamas gets to fire. That's as Hamas has done for years on end, and Hamas has briefly halted its attacks only after Israel pounds Hamas leaders for a time.

Israel's political leaders are still engaging in the feckless behaviors that enabled Hamas to fire on Israeli communities without fear of consequences. Foreign Minister Livni says that she'd call for a renewed Gaza operation if the rockets continue hitting Israel. Memo to Livni: they are still hitting Israel. By calling off Operation Cast Lead early, Hamas got to not only declare victory, but Israel failed to deal a crippling blow to Hamas leadership and its weapons caches. The Israeli military hammered Hamas positions for weeks, but Hamas gets to crawl out from behind the skirts of women and the cribs of children to attack again. Israel still hasn't fully regained its deterrence factor against Hamas, because Israel's leadership considers a certain level of violence as acceptable.

Rafah residents were warned that Israel may be preparing to launch air strikes against the area along the border. As I've repeatedly noted, Israel's humanitarian gesture to warn civilians along the border fails miserably because Israel gives Hamas ample warning to either get out of the way of the impending air strikes, or to load up the area with civilians so as to maximize the civilian body count. It is counterproductive.

NJ Transit Does It Again

I've railed on about the Secaucus boondoggle for years now. That white elephant cost taxpayers and commuters hundreds of millions more than originally estimated because NJ Transit had to build a gold plated facility that is severely underutilized.

Now, we learn that NJ Transit spur line to the new Giants Stadium/Xanadu complex is costing far more than it should have, and that had NJ Transit opted for a different route it could not only have saved millions of dollars, but it would have avoided purchasing land that is part of a Superfund site.

But that did not stop the state from making the site the cornerstone of a $182 million project to bring rail service to Giants Stadium, Xanadu and the rest of the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

A review of the rail project shows that the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority in December 2006 spent $6.2 million to buy 56 acres of the site from its current owner, Honeywell International.

At about $108,000 an acre, that's roughly five times the price the state charged a private developer for 785 acres of contaminated land at the nearby EnCap Golf project site.

Six alternative routes considered for the rail line, built as a spur off NJ Transit's Pascack Valley Line, would have allowed the state to buy much less land — only about 3 acres — and avoid Superfund-style contamination.

Additionally, all of the competing rail alternatives would have been built off the much more widely used Bergen Line, which also would have served Pascack Valley riders.

The state says the Honeywell option, with its proximity to the Pascack Valley Line, was the most cost-effective and useful for New Jersey mass-transit users. They also note that their deal with Honeywell makes the Morristown-based conglomerate solely responsible for the costs of the cleanup.

Someone was profiting from that choice, despite the fact that it makes little sense for the trains to operate from the Pascack Valley line and not the Bergen line.

The link project was originally supposed to cost $150 million. Its current cost is $182 million, and growing. Here are the alternatives.

Even as the project was being debated in 2005, there were questions over how and why this particular right of way was chosen.

This is the way NJ Transit does business. They are not fiscally responsible, and despite their claims that the route chosen was the best and most cost effective choice and that alternative routes might have not been cost effective for obtaining easements and/or necessitated construction of elevated rail lines, the cost for obtaining the easements is significantly higher than it should have been. Why did the state pay far more for the Honeywell land purchases, than private developers received for the Encap deal? That raises questions about both deals; namely that the developer in Encap got a sweetheart deal and/or NJ Transit got gouged in the Honeywell deal.

UPDATE:
EnCap has declared bankruptcy after failing to reorganize. It also means a boon to lawyers:

The end of the bankruptcy case, EnCap attorneys have warned, could lead to years of expensive and time-consuming litigation among more than a dozen entities, with at least 200 unsecured creditors now left to look to parties other than EnCap for compensation.

The hearing began with attorneys for the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission and insurance giant AIG telling Winfield that negotiations had broken down over a disputed $148 million insurance policy to finish cleanup of the landfills at the EnCap site. That led the commission for the first time to side with Wachovia Bank — which wants to foreclosure on the property — in asking the judge to dismiss the case.

Iran Launches Satellite Into Orbit? North Korea Next?

The BBC and other outlets are reporting that Iran successfully launched a satellite into orbit. France is concerned.

The BBC report notes several earlier satellite launches, but doesn't note that Iran has repeatedly run into technological problems, including multiple failures of its rocket and missile systems. The Times of London notes that the claims have yet to be independently verified and that it's not clear whether today's missile launch resulted in a successful insertion of a satellite into orbit.

It is only a matter of time before Iran succeeds in mating its missile technologies and its nuclear technologies. The world had been burying its head in the sand for far too long, and the IAEA has been useless in stopping Iran's relentless pursuit of nuclear technologies, despite their repeated threats to destroy Israel. It will have catastrophic results since Iran is pursuing a strategy that cannot be deterred by assured destruction since Iran's regime is focused on its ideological goals, which is to fulfill religious prophesies.

At the same time, North Korea is planning on testing a missile capable of reaching the United States. That test is a few months away, but the saber rattling is clearly evident.

It looks like the bad guys are out to test President Obama early and often, and Obama's diplomatic strategies are only encouraging such actions.

UPDATE:
MSNBC reports that the Pentagon tracked the launch as did the Israelis:

A senior U.S. defense official in Washington said the U.S. military detected the launch of a missile into space. But it was not confirmed whether the missile was carrying a satellite, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak about the intelligence.

'Not surprised'
In Jerusalem, the head of Israel's Space Agency, Zvi Kaplan, said initial reports show that a satellite was launched.

"From what I have been investigating it is true," he said. "We are not surprised because in this day and age of information and technology and with Iranian scientists studying abroad they can obtain the knowledge."

Obama Stands By Tax Cheats

What is it that Tom Daschle has on President Barack Obama? Why would President Obama send a message to all American taxpayers within weeks of the April 15 deadline for taxes that it's okay if his top advisers are tax cheats who have repeatedly failed to pay their income tax?

He says that he stands by Daschle, who failed to report more than $100,000 in income over a period of years. There's no excuses for that. He had income. He failed to report it to the IRS, and had it been anyone but a politician, they would have been hammered hard by the IRS with penalties and interest, to say nothing of an audit to determine whether income was not forthcoming in prior years.

This follows a string of other prominent Democrats to have failed to report their income and evaded paying taxes for years on end. Apparently groveling and apologies are sufficient to overcome tax problems that would put most Americans into serious hot water.

That includes Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who is now overseeing the IRS, and Rep. Charles Rangel, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee and who sets tax policy.

By their actions, Democrats show complete and utter disdain for all Americans when they not only fail to pay their taxes, but how they cover for their own when they are exposed as tax cheats. Where are the calls for Rangel to step down, or for Daschle's nomination to be sunk because of the tax problems? Democrats voted overwhelmingly to confirm Geithner despite the tax problem, and it looks like they're on their way to do the same with Daschle.

It's wrong, and the Democrats are showing their true colors - utter disdain for the American people.

UPDATE:
Hypocrisy, thy name is Daschle.

Also, since when exactly is tax evasion a glitch? It seems that it was actually an intention to evade taxes, not a harmless mistake.

UPDATE:
The NY Times puts together four experts and queries them on how they would handle the Daschle mess and whether it's instructive on their moral character and whether it is a disqualifying act.

One of these experts seems to think that Tim Geithner, who blamed Turbo Tax for his tax underpayment, should demand that Turbo Tax and other software makers include checks to catch any such underpayments in the future.

The failure of Timothy Geithner and Tom Daschle to pay their full taxes should not disqualify them. Ours is a government of men and women, not saints.

The issue is whether Mr. Geithner’s and Mr. Daschle’s cheating (they’ve paid the back taxes and interest) will lead to systematic change in a system that is strict for wage earners, but lenient for executives, business owners, landlords and investors.

One of the primary obligations of all Americans is to pay their taxes - to fund the operation of the government. Both men failed to carry out that obligation, and blaming Turbo Tax doesn't cut it. The tax code is unnecessarily complex and it does lead to problems in calculating the tax burden, but both men were caught not even reporting income at all. Daschle's income never got included in the first place.

That's troubling.

That he said that he wanted zero tolerance from the IRS when he was a US Senator makes his failing more troubling.

That he only caught his mistake after getting nominated shows that he had no interest in catching his mistakes until he was put into the public eye. That Obama stands behind him shows that there are some illegal acts that Obama is more than willing to overlook as long as it suits him.

Hamas Rockets and Mortars Keep Coming

You still think this is a ceasefire? Israel ceases, but Hamas and the other terrorists in Gaza continue attacking Israel. Israel continues providing humanitarian aid, and Hamas demands Israel make more concessions, all while giving up nothing in return. It's no wonder that talks are foundering.

Rockets and mortars continue slamming into Israel, and Israel has exhibited significant restraint, despite previous statements that they would not tolerate such attacks. They went after one mortar team that was firing mortars into Israel, but that hasn't deterred Hamas or Islamic Jihad one iota.

Interestingly, Egypt has now attacked the smuggling tunnels that are linking Egypt to Gaza across the shuttered border. Israel had repeatedly attacked the smuggling tunnels during Operation Cast Lead, but the Egyptians to date had not done the same.

Meanwhile, all isn't quiet in the West Bank either. Terrorists attempted a mass casualty attack, but were thwarted when Israeli forces killed a terrorist who opened fire on an Israeli checkpoint.

No troops were wounded in the exchange of fire, and no damage was reported.

Following the incident, the army called in sappers to check whether the car in which the gunman arrived had been booby-trapped. Security forces also carried out extensive searches in the area to determine whether the gunman acted alone.

At the same time, the usual suspects are pushing to find war crimes in and among Israel's actions to defend itself from terrorists who routinely engage in war crimes. Today's Hamas war crimes - the mortar and rocket attacks - receive no comment or criticism from the ICC or any other human rights group, despite the fact that each and every mortar attack and rocket attack and suicide bombing attempt is a war crime, and that the Hamas leadership is engaged in war crimes and crimes against humanity by spurring on their followers to kill civilians, targeting civilians and using civilians as human shields, to say nothing of their genocidal intent to destroy Israel and kill as many Jews as possible.

Let's also keep in mind the following when you hear talk about how Gazans are starving and that they don't have access to food or medical care. Both are lies, propagated by Hamas to undermine Israel's right to exist and to undermine its support around the world.



UPDATE:
The Pakistanis are busy fighting with Taliban in Swat, and at least 45 civilians have been killed, 16 Taliban, and four Pakistani security. Where's the international outcry, the war crimes charges, and the demands that Pakistan put down their weapons.

Oh wait, that's only when Israel accidentally kills civilians. When the rest of the world does it to ensure their own security, it's acceptable losses.

The thing is, I don't blame the Pakistani forces for those civilian casualties. The Taliban are to blame for them, as they continue their insurgency against the Pakistani government in Islamabad, and they continue providing aid and comfort to al Qaeda.

This once again highlights the insane double standard that Israel endures to protect itself from jihadis intent to destroy it.

UPDATE:
The NY Times again shows its utter cluelessness.

Palestinian militants on Monday fired two mortar shells from southern Gaza at Israel and Israel carried out an air strike against what the military said were members of the launching squad as they tried to flee in a vehicle, further straining the tenuous two-week-old Gaza truce.

At least one militant was killed and three others were wounded in the strike, according to news reports from Gaza. The mortars directed at Israeli territory fell in an open area, causing no casualties.

The truce faced its most severe test yet Sunday, when Palestinian militants lobbed at least four rockets and a shower of mortars from Gaza into Israeli territory. The Israeli Air Force responded with a nighttime bombing raid on Gaza.

It continues to refer to the "truce" as shaky. No, it doesn't exist. Hamas firing on Israel repeatedly is a sign that it doesn't consider itself bound to uphold a truce, ceasefire, or hudna. Hamas wants war with Israel, and Israel continues to exhibit extraordinary restraint. That restraint is going to get far more people killed because Hamas will take chances and will put more people in harm's way.

Metallica Concert 2009

 

This is the fourth time I've seen Metallica in concert, and it had to be the best stage show they've put on to date. It was also the most intimate showing as this was the first time I've seen them indoors. All the previous times were either at Woodstock '94 or Giants Stadium. I went to the show with legalbgl at the Prudential Center and Metallica rocked the house.

They did a 2+ hour set, including two encores. Thankfully, they did no songs from the albums between the current release Death Magnetic and the Black Album (that would be the forgettable Load, Reload, and St. Anger for those of you who care for such things). It was either the old stuff or the new stuff. The opening song was This is Your Life and they followed it up with quite a few songs off the new album, including Cyanide, The Day That Never Comes, Suicide and Redemption (instrumental), and played a bunch of oldies but goodies including Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning, Justice for All, One, Enter Sandman, Blitzkrieg, and closed with Seek and Destroy.

As you can tell from the photo above (taken from my cell phone, so the image isn't exactly the highest quality), the stage was set in the round, which presents challenges to the performers. Most acts perform with a proscenium stage, so that they're always facing the crowd. Here, James, Roberto and Kirk had to run all over the stage to different microphones to sing and entertain the crowds. Lars' drum kit was on a revolving turntable so he would face a different side of the crowd at different points in the show.

One high point of the show was when James singled out a kid who was in the crowd on the floor who was 10 years old; they ended up bringing him up on stage and Lars treated him to opening up Seek and Destroy - the final song of the night. They gave him drum sticks and that had to be a thrill for the kid.

As for the performances themselves, I tended to think that James Hetfield's voice was starting to drop off just a bit, but legalbgl thought that his voice was as strong as ever. Both of us thought that the opening act, The Sword, was pretty good, but we differed on Machine Head. I didn't go for the thrash sound, but legalbgl liked them.

All in all, it was a great show and you definitely needed to bring ear protection because it got loud - both the crowd noise and the bands. Metallica still knows how to rock after all these years.

It was a solid concert, and the Prudential Center was a great venue at which to see the show. The concessionaires did a great job and were quite personable and the facility had a great sound to it. Besides, you were able to get in and out fairly easily and that's saying something when you had over 10,000 fans streaming in to the concert.

UPDATE:
Legalbgl emailed to inform me that our concert is available online. The full set was:

That Was Just Your Life
The End of the Line
Ride The Lightning
For Whom The Bell Tolls
One
Broken, Beat & Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
And Justice for All
All Nightmare Long
Kirk Solo #1

The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Battery
Kirk Solo #2
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
Blitzkrieg
Hit The Lights
Seek and Destroy