Right Pundits

Breaking story from the UK.

Eight suspects were rounded up for their participation in planning an “Iragi style” kidnap and beheading plot. Sky News has this story:

Kidnap And Beheading Plot
Updated: 12:52, Wednesday January 31, 2007

The eight people arrested by terror police in Birmingham were allegedly planning an Iraq-style kidnapping and beheading in the UK.

Sky’s Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt says they intended to post a video of the hostage being tortured and killed on the internet.

Their target was a British Muslim soldier in his twenties who is now under police protection.

The soldier, who has not been named, had served with UK forces in Afghanistan.

His abduction would have mirrored the kidnappings of the British hostages Ken Bigley and Margaret Hassan by Iraqi insurgents.

The suspects were detained under the Terrorism Act after a six-month surveillance operation involving officers from two forces.

One of the sealed-off roads It is believed they are being held in Coventry. Two are thought to be males aged 31 and 29. The latter has been named locally as Amjad Mahmood.

More details will be given at a press conference at 3pm. You can watch it live on Sky News online.

Brunt said officers feared the alleged plot was “coming to fruition”.

The fact the aim was apparently not to cause mass casualties, as in previous terror attacks, signalled a “chilling” change in tactics.

The suspects had been tracked in a combined police operation led by the Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit.

They were supported by officers from the West Midlands police and the Metropolitan Police.

Officers swooped on 12 addresses in the Sparkhill, Washwood Heath, Kingstanding and Edgbaston areas of Birmingham at 4am.

Van is towed away West Midlands police said the eight were held “on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000.

“Twelve addresses have been secured and sealed off… and all are currently being searched.”

The statement warned: “We are mindful that communities, locations or individuals don’t become a target as a result of recent events.

“Hate crime will not be tolerated and we will take robust action where necessary.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “This operation is a reminder of the real and serious nature of the terrorist threat we face.”

Today’s arrests come after police detained a total of five people in anti-terror raids in Manchester and Halifax, West Yorkshire, last week.

Full story here.

A liberal member of the California Assembly will introduce legislation this week to ban spanking in California. We’re not talking about a feel-good bill that only applies to public schools or public places. State Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, plans to put a virtual nanny into every private home.

The new law would make it illegal to spank children 3 years old or younger. The monstrous parents who disobey the Super-nanny statute in their homes could go to jail for a year and face a $1,000 fine.

So in the future, when your 3-year old chases a ball into the street for the twelfth time, you are expected to politely explain the error without hurting his feelings, increase his daily dose of Riddlin, and schedule eight more sessions of publicly funded therapy.

Liberals know how to raise your child best. Just ask Sally Lieber. Pay no attention to the fact that she doesn’t have any children of her own — such experiences aren’t necessary for expert parenting by a State Super-nanny. After all, Lieber is versed in the most advanced methods, academic techniques and theories about the matter. She understands what your child needs because, well, she once read a psychology book.

To twist a Robert Frost passage, this is a socialist road that should be less traveled. While liberal legislators in California have succeeded in filling the public school curriculum with politically correct experimental mush, the option exists to escape with your children into private schools. But when the state converts every private home into a public commune, what is the option to escape such madness? There is no alternative but to raise children in your home.

Winston Churchill famously said “Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains.” So in Churchill’s world, no liberal is mature enough to procreate. For better parenting, therefore, consider the cheeky notion that responsible reproduction should wait for the sensible conservative awareness that maturity hopefully brings.

I often pity the children of liberal social experimentation and the multitudes of uninformed parents who absorb the unproven theories. Not only do these children have to confront the challenges that all kids face growing up, they must also overcome the damage inflicted by their parents, many of whom read flawed parenting books brought to you by the new social order. And overcoming the spineless confusion later must be a very tough road indeed for these poor kids.

Many of the Social Engineers are willing participants in single-family households and consider that fact as merely inconvenient to child raising. They fill their kids with drugs because modern theories don’t allow for boys being boys. They spoil and soften kids with carrots only, when carrots and sticks are proven to build more responsible adults.

They experiment with each dubious new theory that they read in the bathtub, ignoring the collective wisdom produced by generations of experience. Curiously in the new child-raising playbook, the child’s fragile feelings are elevated to supremacy above even his own best interest. You see, only an abominable parent would cause a thumb sucking two year old to cry after he dashes in front of a car.

I am saddened when watching the potential train wrecks look adoringly into the eyes of dimwit parents. The kids won’t know any better until they are a Churchill 30, and meanwhile the public schools just reinforce the mess by following the moral relativist curriculum.

And unfortunately it isn’t enough for these social engineers to damage their own children. They are so sure of the madness that they come after your kids as well.

And that’s why Sally Lieber is introducing a nanny-state bill in California this week. Parents and legislators who engage in such liberal social experimentation should be spanked for their impetulent behavior.

You can read more in the Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News, and LA Times Blog

See also Black Prof, USA Today Blog, All-encompassingly, Slate

I hate to be the one to say “I told you so�…but, I told you so in a post a couple of days ago when I wrote:

The Iranians have been supplying combat expertise, advisers, munitions, explosives, and financing to the Shiite militias in order to keep Iraq destabilized since the beginning or the war in Iraq. Now, as predicted, the Iranians are in the process of installing a satellite government in Baghdad in order to complete goal of forming an Iranian/Iraqi coalition government.

After reading the following article, it appears that I was right on track.

(Excerpts from PRNewswire article)
Alireza Jafarzadeh, an expert on Iran and the man responsible for breaking the news in August 2002 about Iran’s nuclear weapons program, says he has detailed information showing that “agents on Tehran’s payroll involved in violence and death squads hold prominent positions in the Iraqi government and National Assembly.” Jafarzadeh’s recently published book THE IRAN THREAT: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis (Palgrave Macmillan) exposes just how much of Iraq is under Iran’s thumb.

Jafarzadeh, a leading authority on Iran, its political position, its government, and policies, indicated that these efforts by Iran to place its agents in the Iraqi government form a part of Tehran’s larger plan to export its revolution, and that Tehran will do almost anything to destabilize Iraq. He also indicated that Iran is fueling the Iraqis with bombs and weapons that are killing American soldiers, which is why the U.S. is having such a difficult time “winning” this war.

According to Jafarzadeh, “Iran is determined to succeed on three fronts. First and foremost, on the Iraqi front, where Iran is aggressively escalating its influence and presence in Iraq. Secondly, the nuclear front; nothing will deter them on this point. Finally, Iran wants to step up terrorism in the region.” He sums up, “Iran is a country to be reckoned with. But one thing is for certain: the United States will never win the battle with the military or negotiations.”

So it seems that the Islamic Revolution has not only spread to Iraq, but has already managed to insert itself into the fragile and unstable Iraqi government. This certainly explains how the Iranians were able to so easily make arrangements to start providing the Iraqi security forces training, equipment and advisers, and to assume major responsibility for the reconstruction of Iraq.

One thing for the Iranians to seriously consider is the fact that those convoys of Iranian military vehicles would make for some mighty fine target practice for our fighter jockeys.

[tags]iran,iraq,infiltration,tehran,iraqi+government,ahmadinejad[/tags]

Taxpayers dollars literally going to the toilet. I’m sure there are Islamic laws privacy laws about bathing, dressing and all manners of a daily routine in prisons that are not amenable to life behind bars. THEY ARE IN PRISON!

London Prison Changes Direction of Toilets in Respect to Islamic Law

Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Fox News

Toilets in one London prison are getting a face-lift — or rather, a change in direction — to accommodate Muslim inmates who can’t use them while facing Mecca, a British newspaper reported.

Government officials ackowledged using tax dollars for the changes to the facilities, but maintained that moving the toilets was part of “on-going refurbishment,” according to an article in The Sun.

Click here to read the original report.

Islamic code prohibits Muslims from facing or turning their backs on the direction of prayer when they use the bathroom. Muslim prisoners complained of having to sit sideways on toilets so as to not break code.

[Note added by MBT: GOOD GRIEF! I can't imagine a worse problem]

Faith leaders in the government pressured officials to approve turning the toilets 90 degrees at HMP Brixton in London.

A Muslim American rights worker commended the London prison system for their actions, but said the problem, so far, doesn’t appear to be an issue in the U.S.

“There have been very significant and numerous complaints at U.S. prisons on issues of regulating hygiene and respect for dietary laws,” said Ibrahim Ramey, director of human and civil rights work for Muslim America Society. However, Ramey said he was unaware of any specific complaints regarding the direction of toilets in U.S. prisons.

Story here.

Due to all of the unrest in the Middle East right now the need for America to become energy independent has been a hot topic lately. One of the most talked about ways to decrease our dependence on foreign oil is the domestic production of ethanol fuels. People all over the country are investing billions of dollars into the production of ethanol, but is this the right direction for the United States to go in?

Ethanol proponents would have us believe that their product is the greatest thing since sliced bread. The pro-ethanol crowd is marketing their product as a way to become energy independent, help end global warming, and reduce pollution, but it’s just not as simple as all of that. The list below illuminates some problems that we are going have to come to terms with if ethanol is going to become the fuel of our future.

(Information from CalGasoline.com)

1. Ethanol is listed as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

2. The cost of Reformulated Gasoline with ethanol will increase 3-6 cents per gallons compared to RFG with MTBE.

3. Spills of pure ethanol or gasoline containing ethanol from leaking storage tanks can create a benzene plume up to 150% larger than a spill from a non-ethanol fuel.

4. Ethanol cannot be shipped by pipeline because of its high affinity for water posing significant distribution costs and hurdles for gasoline blenders.

5. According to a study by Cornell University, for every gallon of ethanol produced, 1.4 gallons of energy is consumed in the process, compared to 0.15 gallons used in the manufacture of gasoline.

6. It takes 1.5 gallons of ethanol (E-85) to drive as many miles as one gallon of gasoline.

7. Every gallon of ethanol removes 53 cents from the Federal Highway Trust Fund because of a special tax break for producers.

8. Ethanol increases the vapor pressure of gasoline by 1 psi. resulting in higher evaporative emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds, while tailpipe emissions of Acetaldehyde increase 150%.

9. Ethanol permeates the hoses and lines of automobile fuel systems resulting in a 50% increase in VOC emissions for pre 1995 cars.

10. Ethanol dissolves oxide scale from the walls of pipes and tanks, subjecting the systems to internal corrosion, which leads to leaks.

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Liberal ones, I assume from this AP story:

Pelosi Reaches Out to Blogging CommunityBy ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer
55 minutes ago

WASHINGTON – Shortly after her swearing-in as the first female House speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi took time to field questions from a few dozen Internet bloggers on a conference call that was off limits to mainstream media.

Last week, Pelosi’s aides arranged for bloggers to question two Democratic House leaders on another conference call shortly before President Bush’s State of the Union speech.

Pelosi also hired a full-time staff member this month dedicated to blogger outreach, and is making plans to launch a blog of her own. The day she was sworn in, bloggers were given special accommodations at the Capitol _ and fed lunch _ to cover the event.

It’s all evidence of the newfound attention bloggers from left-leaning Web sites are commanding on Democratic-run Capitol Hill, especially from the new speaker, a San Franciscan with an appreciation for the power of the Internet and grass-roots activism.

Schooled by evidence of what Internet-driven politics can accomplish _ from fueling Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in 2004 to propelling Ned Lamont to victory over Joseph Lieberman in Connecticut’s Democratic Senate primary last year _ Pelosi and other politicians have realized bloggers are too important to ignore.

“They’ve gone from an initial writing blogs off, then moving to skepticism, then moving to, ‘OK, maybe we can find a way of working with these guys,’” said John Aravosis, who runs Americablog.com.

“It’s a power base and it’s influential and it’s an opportunity. And you know what? It exists,” Aravosis added. “It should only scare you if you’re on their bad side.”

Blogs also are a way for Pelosi and others to communicate directly with a politically engaged audience, without filtering by traditional media. She promoted the Democrats’ agenda for their first 100 legislative hours in a posting on Huffingtonpost.com.

Democrats, in turn, credit bloggers with helping marshal successful opposition to President Bush’s 2005 plan to overhaul Social Security by adding private accounts, a fight Pelosi led.

“It’s a mistake to think that these people just sit behind their machines and don’t do anything other than talk to each other and send money,” said Joe Trippi, who managed Howard Dean’s Internet-driven campaign. “These people are very active in their precincts, in their communities.”

Friendly bloggers can help defuse attacks. Liberal bloggers rose to Pelosi’s defense when she was criticized after the November election for employing nonunion workers at her vineyard. Thinkprogress.org trumpeted Pelosi’s side of the story: Growers are prohibited by law from meddling in union contract issues before workers vote to organize.

Republicans are stepping up their involvement with blogs as well, and Pelosi’s aides are planning new media training sessions for Democratic lawmakers and aides partly to expand use of blogs _ one more sign that Congress’ presence in the blogosphere will only grow.

“The speaker will be blogging,” promised Karina Newton, Pelosi’s director of new media.

“She understands the power that the netroots have.”

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

I wasn’t invited! Were you McCain, Joe or Hellbelly? None of our furry friends at Hedgehog.com were either I bet!

Whether you’re a veteran handicapper or just go to the track once in a while to watch the ponies run, you will more than likely be saddened to hear that Barbaro was put down this morning after a long battle with complications related to multiple breaks in one of his rear legs at the start of the Preakness race last year.

(USA Today/AP article)
Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was euthanized Monday after complications from his breakdown at the Preakness last May.

“We just reached a point where it was going to be difficult for him to go on without pain,” co-owner Roy Jackson said. “It was the right decision, it was the right thing to do. We said all along if there was a situation where it would become more difficult for him then it would be time.”

Roy and Gretchen Jackson were with Barbaro on Monday morning, with the owners making the decision in consultation with chief surgeon Dean Richardson.

It was a series of complications, including laminitis in the left rear hoof and a recent abscess in the right rear hoof, that proved to be too much for the gallant colt, whose breakdown brought an outpouring of support across the country.

“I would say thank you for everything, and all your thoughts and prayers over the last eight months or so,” Jackson said to Barbaro’s fans.

I just saw this in Haaretz. It is an interesting perspective of all the violence in the Middle East, and in particular, the Islamic areas.

A Special Place in Hell:
The silence when Arabs kill other Arabs

By Bradley Burston

In the newsroom, we wait for it every morning, hoping that it won’t come.

Then it does. Same time, every morning. The first notice from the wire service is as economically laconic as it is horrifying. A car bomb. A bus bomb. A truck bomb. An open market. A mosque. Dozens feared dead. Some days, scores.

The world can live with it. The world has nothing to say about it. Many Americans, even those who want an immediate end to the U.S. military presence, can live with it.

Perhaps most troubling, Muslim holy men can live with it.

“It’s hard to know what’s more disturbing: the barbaric sectarian murders by Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq, or the deafening silence with which these mass murders are received in the Muslim world,” Thomas Friedman wrote in the New York Times last week.

“Where is the Muslim Martin Luther King? Where is the ‘Million Muslim March’ under the banner: ‘No Shiites, No Sunnis: We are all children of the Prophet Muhammad.’”

Closer to home, in the space of a long weekend, 24 people were killed in fighting between Hamas and Fatah gunmen, among them a two-year-old and a six-year-old.

Spiritual leaders have done little to calm tension. In fact, it may be argued that if there is one element in the Holy Land that has kept compromise at arm’s length, it has been the uncompromising radical rigidity of influential religious figures.

Where, indeed, are the clerical voices preaching for rapprochement, for understanding, for compromise?

….

“For a Muslim Martin Luther King to emerge, Muslim discourse would have to shift away from the focus on power and glory and include taking responsibility as a community for our own situation.”

And, lest we for a moment conclude that we Jews are not a part of this …

On neither side do mainstream religious movements and spiritual figures campaign for peace, exhort for compromise, hand down clerical rulings that favor peace, that help to forge peace, or force peace.

For 40 years, we have had rabbis from Brooklyn issuing blanket bans absolutely prohibiting so much as an inch of compromise in the territories.

For decades, we have had radical rabbis excusing, interpreting, justifying, explicating human rights abuses against Palestinians.

The intifada marked a low point for religious Judaism, with a new mitzvah proclaimed in street signs urging total war against the Palestinians, and yeshiva students skipping class to pass out bumper stickers calling for the full might of the IDF to be unleashed in the territories.

Holy men have failed the Holy Land.

Holy men have ruined the Holy Land.

A holy man who sanctifies killing, who lobbies for war, is not fighting God’s war. He is fighting God.

That holy man’s word is not God’s word. The moment the holy man mixes religion and war, he declares war on religion.

The moment the holy man mixes religion and politics, he casts a decisive vote against religion itself. Religion cannot co-opt politics. Outward appearances notwithstanding, when religion and politics meet, religion is always the loser. Politics by its nature always corrupts religion, bending it into something else. Breaking the good in it. Milking the bad in it.

Our holy men have failed us. All of us. We need prophets, and are stuck with self-adoring politicians.

Our holy men have failed God. May God have mercy on us. May God find some way to replace them.

Unfortunately, many of the “Holy People” in this country turn what should be a religious-based plea for peace into an anti-Bush or anti-US rant. I thought this was an interesting perspective in a Jerusalem-based Jewish newspaper.

The whole article can be found here

The comments posted below the article are interesting as well.