Thursday, May 05, 2011

The price of border insecurity: Hezbollah operating across the border from San Diego, infiltrating U.S. communities

ABC-10 in San Diego offers another ominous report from the border.

[Hezbollah] has established another home base across the border in Mexico [and] is far more advanced [than Al Qaeda].

"Their operators are far more skilled … they are the equals of Russians, Chinese or Cubans," he said. "I consider Hezbollah much more dangerous in that sense because of strategic thinking; they think more long-term... "They have had clandestine training in how to live in foreign hostile territories," the agent said... [and] Hezbollah is partnering with drug organizations... He told 10News the group receives cartel cash and protection in exchange for Hezbollah expertise.

"From money laundering to firearms training and explosives training," the agent said.

For example, he tracked, along with Mexican intelligence, two Hezbollah operatives in safe houses in Tijuana and Durango... Why have Americans not heard more about Hezbollah's activities happening so close to the border?

...According to the agent, the organization sees the U.S. as their "cash cow," with illegal drug and immigration operations. Many senior Hezbollah leaders are wealthy businessmen, the agent said.

"The money they are sending back to Lebanon is too important right now to jeopardize those operations," he said... The agent said the real concern is the group's long-term goal of radicalizing Muslim communities.

"They're focusing on developing … infiltrating communities within North America," the agent told 10News.

Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) reinforces the necessity for a U.S.-Mexico border fence.

We have evidence that Hezbollah is active in Mexico... Recently, there was an explosion that killed several people in Mexico. The bomb used was an improvised explosive device like those seen in the Middle East. Hezbollah and the Mexican drug cartels are working in tandem. This is not good news for Americans.

Given Eric Holder's tacit support of terrorism -- from his pathetic law firm to his insistence that terrorists be tried in civilian courts -- perhaps we know why Operation Gunrunner was funneling weapons to points south.

Because he wanted them there.

It's time to build a damn fence already. It's downright criminal that the one thing the federal government is supposed to do -- protect American sovereignty -- it won't do.


Hat tip: TrendingRight.com.

Larwyn's Linx: The Obama Administration’s cloud of confusion explained

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Nation

The Obama Administration’s cloud of confusion explained: RWN
Why Bush Didn't Get Bin Laden: Dr. John
Navy SEALs Deserve The Credit: IBD

Project Gunrunner update: The fit hits the shan: Malkin
Texas Representative Gains Majority Support for TSA Bills: NewAm
Bachmann on defending defense spending: Foundry

The Stunning Ignorance of the House GOP Intel Chair: Sundries
The Intellectual Dishonesty of Nancy Pelosi: Commentary
Texas gets the cold shoulder from the President: IBD

Economy

Bin Laden Is History — Debt Is the Real Threat: PJM
States rising up to fight Obama land grab: Malkin
Editorials: When unions flex, taxpayers feel it: OCR

Hey, McConnell: DeMint Better Get That Finance Post: Cubachi
Weekly Featured Profile: John Lumpkin: Loudon
Some Thoughts on Federal Rental Housing Assistance: Cato

Climate & Energy

The EPA’s War on Energy Producer Range Resources: RWN
Why The F*** Is Anyone Selling Marcellus Shale Property To Hugo F***ing Chavez?: CBullitt
Obama To Global Warming Moonbats "Just Wait Till My Second Term": Lid

Media

How Obama Bungled the Aftermath of the OBL Mission: AT
Euro Kooks React to the Death of Bin Laden: PJM
The Cost of Feeding TOTUS: Hot Air

Color of Change Claims It Runs MSNBC’s Programming Decisions: BigJourn
War Dog Helped in Mission To Kill Osama: RWN
Obama won't release bin Laden dead photo (until just before 2012 election): BlogProf

Alan Colmes lies about Donald Rumsfeld claiming that waterboarding didn’t help get Osama Usama bin Laden: FAM
President Obama and the Masked Face of Justice: AT (Cary)
Obama Won’t Release UBL Death Photos; Palin Urges Release of Photos ‘As a Warning to Others’: RSM

World

Squandering Our Victory: BlackFive
Blue Falcon Alert: BlackFive
Inside bin Laden’s lair with SEAL Team Six: ArmyTimes

Federal Judge Allows Suspected Hezbollah Imam Back Into US Despite DHS Objections: Lid
Repeat 1990s?: The Fate of Afghanistan and US Foreign Policy: Kesler
Michigan: Honor Killing, Step-Daughter Murdered for not following Islam: Creeping

SciTech

Assange: Facebook is an 'appalling spy machine': CNet
College Football Bowl System Apparently Warrants DOJ's Attention: Consumerist
FCC chief to Congress: Leave Net neutrality alone: CNet

Cornucopia

Bin Laden Is Dead & We're Mad As Hell: YouTube
Risky/Not Risky; Attending/Not attending; Dougie/not Dougie: MOTUS
Man Tells Cops Drug Dealer Gave Wrong Change: TSG

Image: Photos from the Bin Laden Compound
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Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Obama Won't Show You These Pix, But I Will [Dan from New York]

Dan from New York:

Photos taken by a Pakistani security official who entered the compound after the early morning raid on Monday, show two men dressed in traditional Pakistani garb and one in a t-shirt, with blood streaming from their ears, noses and mouths.

Enjoy.

More dead terrorists, please.


Democrat Incompetence Not So Funny In Illinois Where Vendors Are Begging the State to Borrow More So It Can Pay 9-Month Old Invoices

If Democrats weren't in power, they'd be useful only as comic relief. Their failed entitlement programs, their locust-like destruction of economies big and small, their misery-inducing wealth redistribution schemes... everything they touch turns to fecal matter. Which makes Illinois an especially interesting laboratory.

Resource One Office Furnishings and Design was Illinois’ largest metal office furniture supplier in 2000, and the company attracted the state itself, which wanted the company to design and make custom-made office furniture for state agencies.

But when the economy tanked in 2009, so did [the] furniture business. And that same year, the state started falling behind on its payments to its vendors... In 2010, the state owed Resource One about $500,000 and payments were at least nine months past due. To keep the business afloat, Mannschreck and his business partner, Cindy Davis, took out loans from banks.

...How much does Illinois owe? Well, for example, it owes:

* $50 million to St. John’s Hospital
* $25 million to Memorial Medical Center
* $2.1 million to Springfield ARC, an advocacy organization that deals with intellectual and development disabilities

Illinois’ Comptroller Office has more than 200,000 unpaid vouchers dating back to November 2010 totaling $4.2 billion. The unpaid bills are expected to double at $8.3 billion by the end of June...

“That number includes payments due to our small businesses, schools, hospitals, not-for-profit and social service agencies,” Hahn said. “It is unacceptable and needs to change, which is why (the comptroller) continues to push for spending reforms as the only way to regain our fiscal footing.”

...“We think immediate action is needed — small business, health care providers, units of local governments, school districts, universities and others who are owed money by the state should not be expected to be the de facto bank for the state of Illinois,” the chamber's Plummer said. “We support short-term bonding to pay off past-due bills.”

...Service providers, hospitals and businesses are hanging on a financially thread... “We appreciate (the state’s) business, but we don’t have deep pockets and we just have to be paid,” said Mannschreck, the business owner. “If the state doesn’t pay on time, it affects the ability to buy and get products manufactured. Manufacturers also need money. It’s kind of a house of dominos.”

My advice: keep voting Democrat, drones.

Those out-of-control public sector union bosses can really use the extra money. The private sector lives to support government; that's what Democrats believe and that's why you, the citizen, should support higher taxes to make things right for the union bosses.


Is There Really a 'Gold Bubble'? Maybe Not.

Brett Arends, writing at MarketWatch, refutes the notion that gold is in a speculative "bubble". He does so by comparing the current spike in gold prices with other speculative run-ups in recent history.

Gold is in a bubble. Anyone will tell you that. They've been saying it since gold was about, oh, $500 an ounce.

But it's a funny kind of a bubble. It's the only one I've encountered where so few people seem to own the asset in question... During the dot-com bubble, you met lots of people with tech stocks. Taxi drivers told you what dot-coms they owned.

During the housing bubble you met normal, ordinary people who were trading up to expensive homes using adjustable-rate mortgages, buying new condos off plan to flip, and cashing out their fictional "equity" through a refinance mortgage.

But who actually owns gold? I keep hearing about the gold bubble, but every time I ask people if they own any themselves, they say, "no, no, of course not, it's a bubble."

Some bubble...

[The accompanying chart] compares the bull market in gold with the last two undisputed "bubbles," namely tech stocks and housing. It shows the gold price since 2001, the Nasdaq Composite COMP from 1989 to 2001, and Standard & Poor's index of Homebuilding stocks from 1995 to 2007.

The picture is pretty remarkable.

If gold is a "bubble," it doesn't look like it's peaked yet. Indeed it looks like it might be just about to enter its big, blow-off phase.

Gold is a quirky investment, to be sure, and I'm about the last person to advise anyone on anything when it comes to financial matters.

But one thing is certain: the administration's policy of "Quantitative Easing" (or, as I like to call it, "Quantitative Bankrupting of America's Future") has unleashed the Treasury's printing press like nothing ever seen in world history.

Trillions in cash has materialized from thin air as the Treasury Department issues IOUs and the Federal Reserve purchases them on the open market. Which, by the way, enriches Goldman Sachs (and other so-called "primary dealers") with tens of millions of dollars in needless commissions each month.

Until the money-printing stops, until the deficit spending is brought under control, and until the dollar is rescued from the most radical administration in American history, I would hold some precious metals like gold.

It's a hedge against governmental stupidity -- and heaven knows we need it now more than ever.


President Obama: We Can't Release Photos of Bin Laden Lest We Be Perceived as Doing the Icky Shuffle on Bin Laden's Body

Stunningly, the Obama administration has reversed course and decided not to release photographs of Osama Bin Laden's corpse. And the President used a handsome gridiron analogy to get his point across.

Via White House press secretary Jay Carney, Obama lectures that we “don’t need to spike footballs” and echoed GOP Rep. Rogers’ line that OBL is not a “trophy.”

RennaW hits the nail on the head in her rejoinder to Obama’s admonishment about spiking footballs: “Said the guy who said ‘I won’…and spent $150 million on [his] inauguration.”

Oh, and stupidity isn't limited to just one side of the aisle.

Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, says the picture could inflame anti-U.S. sentiments around the world and hamper intelligence cooperation with the United States. He says conspiracy theorists won’t be persuaded no matter what the U.S. does.

Let me get this straight, Mr. Rogers -- if that is your real name -- releasing the Bin Laden death photos could inflame anti-U.S. sentiment to the point where extremists could fly planes into buildings, killing thousands of innocent civilians?

Really?

Release the damn photos already. Appeasement of extremism breeds extremism. Killing terrorists dissuades terrorists.

Release the damn photos. The gorier, the better.


Larwyn's Linx: 7 Minutes Vs. 16 Hours: How The Media Reports Delay

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Nation

7 Minutes Vs. 16 Hours: How The Media Reports Delay: Ace
Brennan and the bin Laden story bungle: Malkin
Allen West Chuckles at Code Pink Hecklers: Shark

Holder Grilled on Project Gunrunner: HotAir
Yes, The Operation To Kill UBL Was Legal And Constitutional: OTB
A Former SEAL Calls the Show: EIB

Obama’s unity call: Show, don’t tell: Malkin
Obama's Office Bravery: RWN
Daniels on the Verge: NRO

Economy

Can We Rely on Inflation Expectations?: Cato
Treasury: Debt Limit Not a "Constraint" on Debt: ATR
Cali: Crime For Hotels to Use Flat Sheet Instead of Fitted: AllAm

Rand: Expect More Oppo to Raising Debt Ceiling: Cubachi
Rep. Allen West: End Aid to Pakistan: RSM
Sharia to be taught at U. of Montana: Creeping

Climate & Energy

‘Why does my gas cost $4.00 per gallon?’: RedState
Al Gore Silent on Loss of Climate Change Activist Bin Laden: JWF
INSANITY: Bromwich Grasps At Double Regulation On Offshore Oil: HayRide

Media

The Left and the Liberals’ Hypocrisy over the Death of Osama Bin Laden: PJM
Even more details on the OBL photos: CNN
Joan Rivers Drops F-Bomb on Red Carpet: 'Stop Campaigning' and 'Take Care of the F----- Country': NB

Skulking Towards bin Laden: Obama Overridden by Military and Intel Officials in Takeout of OBL?: Atlas
ABC Not Interested in Whether Enhanced Interrogation Helped Kill bin Laden: NB
Note To White House: Just Tell The Truth: RWN

Government-sponsored media’s latest mission creep: Malkin
Who’s Really Responsible For The Death Of Osama Bin Laden? (Graphic): RWN
Rebutting Jesse Kornbluth’s rebuttal re his original Andrew Sullivan article: Bookworm

World

Preparing for Ragnarök: GoV
Where is Adnan Shukrijumah? We’re looking at you, Pakistan.: Malkin
Portugal Negotiates $116 Billion Bailout Loan, Bond Market Yawns: Mish

Osama Bin Laden and Dangerous Double Games: PJM
OBL's Death a Victory for the Adults: AT
British NHS gives puberty blocker to 12-year old children considering sex change: BlogProf

How Obama Bungled the Aftermath of the OBL Mission: AT
CIA Chief Leon Panetta: Yes, Intelligence From Waterboarded Detainees Was Used to Track Down Bin Laden: WZ
Was it Legal for the US to Kill Bin Laden? [With Hilarious Jamie Gorelick Quote]: Washingtonian

SciTech

The Joy of Researching the Health Benefits of Sex: WSJ
Report: DOJ asks for more info on AT&T/T-Mobile deal: CNet
Lime Wire's day of reckoning is here: CNet

Cornucopia

Weekend at Osama's: SHN
Warning: Eye Candy makes your butt look big : MOTUS
Taiwanese Take on Osama bin Laden's Demise: Moonbattery

Image: Primordial Slack
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QOTD: "Let Me Say Something About Bush and Cheney: For the last four years, they have known they broke KSM and this other high value target and got the names of Osama's couriers... They have only stated elliptically, without specifics, that "important information was learned."

They were called liars every time they said this.

At any time, they could have exposed their critics as the anti-American, terrorist-coddling hyperpartisans they were, by revealing this crown jewel of American intelligence... But they didn't... They allowed their names to be slurred on a daily basis in order to preserve the secret. To allow Obama to capitalize on the information they procured.

Well. ...The secret is out now. ...It's time for credit to be taken and apologies to be granted -- or apologies to be forced and shamed out of people." --Ace

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Bin Laden Death Photo: Well, At Least This One Doesn't Look Fake

O.G. relays this photo of what is presumed to be UBL's carcass before it was dispatched to the deep.

I can't verify its authenticity but, then again, I can't not verify its authenticity either. The most recent Drudge flash casts doubt, stating: "The images, being described as 'graphic', are bound to stir emotions in the east and the west, and will likely become the most viewed photographs in modern history... One image shows a bullet wound to his head above his left eye. "

Update: O.G. observes that this photo matches the description "if it's flipped, dumbass."

Ooooooh.


Sneak Peek: Time Magazine Cover - Bin Laden Special Issue

Via @Koblin.

I'd prefer the real photo, no matter how gruesome.


Hat tip: TrendingRight.

Dems' worst nightmare: Terror Wiretaps plus Invasion of Iraq plus Rendition plus Waterboarding Led to Bin Laden

Go ahead and say it: Dick Cheney rocks.

1. 2003: Enhanced Interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad Results in the Nom De Guerre of bin Ladin's Courier...

2. 2004: Enhanced Interrogation of al-Qahtani Confirms the Nom De Geure of bin Ladin's Courier...

3. 2006 (?): Enhanced Interrogation of an Al Qaeda Captured in Iraq, Ghul, Produces the Real Name of the Courier...

4. 2006-2009: NSA Begins Furiously Intercepting Any And All Communications Made By Anyone "al-Kuwaiti" Has Ever Known...

5. Late 2010 (?): al-Kuwaiti Places a Very Ill-Advised Phone Call... "[conversing] with someone who was being monitored by U.S. intelligence... the courier [then] unknowingly led authorities to a [bizarre] compound in the northeast Pakistani town of Abbottabad..."

6. 2011: Surveying Abbottabad, We Grow Confident We've Found Bin Ladin's Hideout...

7. April 29-May 1 2011: Obama's Team Tells Him They Have High Confidence Bin Ladin (or at Least His Most Trusted Courier) is In the Compound, and Obama Agrees, and Orders the Raid; On May 1 It's Executed By SEAL Team 6...

8. May 2011: Begin a Disinformation Campaign To Convince the Public That 2003-2008 Never Happened...

Which leads to commenter Dan disclosing the new, MSM/DNC-approved timeline (not that they're trying to politicize this, mind you).

1. 1/21/09 OB gathers his inner circle and tells them that there is this real bad guy that Bush totally forgot about and didn't care that he secretly murdered 3,000 people early in Bush's administration and OB wanted him found ASAP.

2. 2/14.09 OB kicks out Bush incompetent an replaces him with super sleuth Leon Panetta because of his vast experience in espionage and fabulous motivational skills.

3. 2/15/09 OB tells Panetta that I'm 95% confident OBL is in Pakistan, probably somewhere just North of Islamabad in a house with high walls and maybe three stories and two security gates.

4. 2/21/09 OB tells Panetta that he intercepted a call from a guy who is really close to OBL and to drop everything else and totally focus only on him.

You know, a bigger man would humbly thank President Bush, Vice President Cheney, SecDef Rumsfeld, and all of our brave military and intelligence personnel for capping Bin Laden.

But then a bigger man wouldn't be a Narcissistic, Marxist ideologue with a penchant for parties, endless campaigning and golf.


Cartoon: The incomparable Michael Ramirez. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Exclusive Photos: Osama Bin Laden Was Read His Miranda Rights! [Biff Spackle]

Cub Reporter Biff Spackle provides these snapshots of the takedown.

Larwyn's Linx: Confirmed: the Trail Began With Enhanced Interrogation

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Nation

Confirmed: the Trail Began With Enhanced Interrogation: Ace
Jackpot: U.S. finds data on Bin Laden's computers: Hot Air
When the Left thought SpecOps were outlaw assassins: Ace

Inside the Raid That Killed Bin Laden: CNS
Why Bin Laden's Death May Benefit GOP in '12: AT
Yes, SEALs were in on it, but all hail Obama's office bravery: LAT

Federalist Papers described how Democrats would destroy us: RWN
That was then. Now assassination is good.: Instapundit
Seal Team 6: How Did They Get To Bin Laden?: Instapundit

Economy

Sarah Palin on the California Central Valley’s water issue: Cubachi
34,448 Illegal Immigrants Spared Deportation: JW
Dodd-Frank Gets Risk Rules Wrong: AEI

White House Visitor Logs ‘Riddled with Holes’: BG
Inflation Hysteria?: Mish
6 Signs the Silver Market Has Gone Nuts: SmartMoney

Climate & Energy

"Transportation Opportunity Act" Moves Towards Freeeway Tolls, Pay-Per-Mile: TAC
Liberal Energy Policy: Make All the Lights Go Out: RWN
Obama's Energy Sec. Wants Gasoline Prices To Be Three Times Higher: AllAm (12/2008)

Media

Left Celebrates UBL's Death in Unity and Patriotism and Not A Trace of Political…*snort*: Sundries
MSM Uses Palin’s Own Children as Political Weapons Against Her: BigJournalism
Then: Dems Say Politicizing 9/11 Is Wrong. Now: Obama To Take Victory Lap At Ground Zero: Ace

Meanwhile: The Terrorist Next Door: Malkin
Do Not Go Back to Sleep, America: PJM
AP Provides The Viewpoint From An Al-Qaeda “Ideologue” On Osama: RWN

John Podesta: Put Up Or Shut Up: BG (Breitbart)
Dear Deathers. This Is An Even Stupider Conspiracy Than Usual. Signed Everyone Else: RWN
FAIL FLASHBACK: Obama & Biden Insist “Waterboarding Is Not Effective”: GWP

World

Reminder: Group that Killed Bin Laden was Smeared as Dick Cheney's 'Assasination Ring': WklyStd
Thoughts on the Killing of Osama bin Laden: Pipes
How Osama bin Laden died: Details of the commando raid that killed the world's most wanted man: LAT

Osama is Dead; Obama’s Foreign Policy is Still Dangerous and Perverse: RedState
More on bin Laden, Pakistan, etc.: Ledeen
'Cheney's assassination squad' just killed bin Laden: WashExam

On Bin Laden, Muslim Brotherhood Makes Different Statements in English and in Arabic: PJM
Time Out of Joint: Western dominance, Islamist terror, and the Arab imagination: BosRev
Predictable: Hamas condemns killing of bin Laden. Reminder: CAIR supports Hamas!: BlogProf

SciTech

How Tweet it is: Twitter and the bin Laden story: Malkin
Bin Laden death sends Internet traffic soaring: CNN
RIM Wants To Help Manage Your iPhone: Forbes

Cornucopia

Don’t Let the Symbolic bin Laden Death Knock The Real Issues Off The Front Page: iOTW
Bin Laden Gets His Virgins: AllAm
Bin Laden Ignored Own "Hiding Places" Rules: TSG

Image: Jalopnik
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QOTD: "One Arny veteran who was a longtime operative involved in numerous similar aerial black ops across that region was apprised of the Obama administration's account of the mission... He said two themes struck him: First was the ability of Bin Laden to live in comfort some 60 miles from Pakistan's capital.

The other theme that struck this career soldier, who participated in the hunt for Bin Laden, could perhaps be expected in political Washington the year before a presidential election... But it was that such an inherently complex military team operation was being framed by Obama aides to steer way too much credit to the spectators in the White House and away from the unidentified operatives and their vast military support network." --Andrew Malcolm

Monday, May 02, 2011

Bin Laden Double-Tap Prompts Redesign Effort at WTC Memorial

Biff Spackle relays two artist's conceptions.

BEFORE


AFTER

Before you get angry with Biff, remember: UBL was buried at sea with full honors.

This display is purely decorative.


NPR: Obamacare Will Swamp Emergency Rooms With "Insured" Patients

If you want to see the preview trailer of Obamacare, just visit Massachusetts.

In its stab at universal coverage, now four years old, Massachusetts has seen these consequences: overcrowded ERs, longer waiting times to see doctors, more than 50% of primary care doctors closing practices to new patients, and the highest health care premiums in the nation.

So much for lowering health costs and expanding access. And all of this in state with more primary care physicians per capita than any other state, in a state with fewer uninsured than any other state, and in a state with an individual mandate and a health plan said to be a model for Obamacare.

[NPR reports] “Hospital emergency rooms (ERs), the theory goes, get overcrowded because people without health insurance have no place else to go. But that's not the view of the doctors who staff those emergency departments, says NPR.

The real problem, according to a new survey from the American College of Emergency Physicians, isn't caused by people who don't have insurance -- it's caused by people who do, but still can't find a doctor to treat them.

• A full 97 percent of ER doctors who responded to the survey said they treated patients "daily" who have Medicaid (the federal-state health plan for the low-income), but who can't find a doctors who will accept their insurance.

• At the same time, 97 percent of ER doctors also said they treat patients daily who have private insurance and primary care doctors, but whose primary care doctors sent them to the emergency room for care... because the patient's need for care arose during a time when that private doctor's office was closed.

• Since these insured patients are more -- not less -- likely to use the emergency department, 89 percent of physicians in the survey said they believe the number of visits to emergency rooms will increase as the new health law is implemented.

The money quote, one often repeated by -- uhm -- rational observers, is this:

"Having health insurance doesn’t guarantee access to care. Period."


Man, But These Mass Murderers Are Hard to Please

Dan from New York:

Let this be a lesson to our current President. A Muslim man kills thousands of your countrymen, then you treat his remains with undue respect, and in the Muslim world what does it gets you?

Islamic leader condemns bin Laden sea burial


CAIRO (Reuters) – The head of Egypt's prestigious seat of Sunni Muslim learning, al-Azhar, condemned U.S. troops' disposal of the body of Osama bin Laden at sea Monday as an affront to religious and human values.

Muslims set great store by interment in permanent graves on land and accept burial at sea only in cases where the body cannot be preserved intact aboard ship until it reaches shore.

"The Grand Imam, Dr Ahmed El-Tayeb, the sheikh of Al-Azhar condemned the reports, if true, of the throwing of the body of Osama bin Laden into the sea," according to a statement released by al-Azhar, which is respected around the world by many Sunni Muslims as a seat of religious learning.

The procedure "contradicts all the religious values and human norms," it said: "The Grand Imam asserted that it is forbidden in Islam to deform the dead, regardless of their beliefs. One honors the dead by burying them."

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said bin Laden's body was dropped into the sea from the deck of an aircraft carrier after troops killed the al Qaeda leader in Pakistan. One said this was done to prevent his grave becoming a shrine. Another said Islamic customs had been respected.

A prominent Egyptian Islamist lawyer also condemned the U.S. move and said bin Laden should have been buried in his native Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally and home to Islam's holiest sites.

"Isn't it enough that they killed him and displayed their joy to the world?" Montasser al-Zayat told Al Jazeera television. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a moral obligation to demand that it bury Osama on its land."

Yes, I'm sure they'll get right on that.


Photos: Bin Laden's 'Shocking' Hideout Was Discovered Thanks to Emperor Chimpy McBushitlerburton

ABC has the complete, "exclusive" slide-show that highlights the decidedly non-cavern-like opulence of UBL's last abode.

CNS News reports that senior intelligence officials were "shocked" by what they saw of the compound.

The first step on the trail was information about a courier, who had been a protégé of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11 attacks... "Detainees [in Gitmo] also identified this man as one of the few al Qaeda couriers trusted by bin Laden,” the senior administration official said. “They indicated he might be living with and protecting bin Laden.”

After first positively identifying this courier and then ultimately discovering the unusual compound where he and his brother lived in Abbottabad, Pakistan, U.S. intelligence officials believed they may well have discovered the hiding place of Osama bin Laden.

When we saw the compound where the brothers lived, we were shocked by what we saw--an extraordinarily unique compound... we had high confidence that the compound harbored a high-value terrorist target...[we] assessed that there was a strong probability that the terrorist that was hiding there was Osama bin Laden.

...One courier in particular had our constant attention. Detainees [in Gitmo] gave us his nom de guerre or his nickname and identified him as both a protégé of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of September 11th, and a trusted assistant of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, the former number three of al Qaeda who was captured in 2005... Detainees also identified this man as one of the few al Qaeda couriers trusted by bin Laden. They indicated he might be living with and protecting bin Laden. But for years, we were unable to identify his true name or his location.

Four years ago, we uncovered his identity, and for operational reasons, I can’t go into details about his name or how we identified him, but about two years ago, after months of persistent effort, we identified areas in Pakistan where the courier and his brother operated. Still we were unable to pinpoint exactly where they lived, due to extensive operational security on their part. The fact that they were being so careful reinforced our belief that we were on the right track.

Then in August 2010, we found their residence, a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a town about 35 miles north of Islamabad. The area is relatively affluent, with lots of retired military. It’s also isolated from the natural disasters and terrorist attacks that have afflicted other parts of Pakistan. When we saw the compound where the brothers lived, we were shocked by what we saw -- an extraordinarily unique compound. The compound sits on a large plot of land in an area that was relatively secluded when it was built. It is roughly eight times larger than the other homes in the area.

When the compound was built in 2005, it was on the outskirts of the town center, at the end of a narrow dirt road. In the last six years, some residential homes have been built nearby. The physical security measures of the compound are extraordinary. It has 12- to 18-foot walls topped with barbed wire. Internal wall sections -- internal walls sectioned off different portions of the compound to provide extra privacy. Access to the compound is restricted by two security gates, and the residents of the compound burn their trash, unlike their neighbors, who put the trash out for collection.

The main structure, a three-story building, has few windows facing the outside of the compound. A terrace on the third floor has a seven-foot wall privacy--has a seven-foot privacy wall... It’s also noteworthy that the property is valued at approximately $1 million but has no telephone or Internet service connected to it. The brothers had no explainable source of wealth.

Intelligence analysts concluded that this compound was custom built to hide someone of significance. We soon learned that more people were living at the compound than the two brothers and their families. A third family lived there--one whose size and whose makeup matched the bin Laden family members that we believed most likely to be with Osama bin Laden. Our best assessment, based on a large body of reporting from multiple sources, was that bin Laden was living there with several family members, including his youngest wife.

Everything we saw--the extremely elaborate operational security, the brothers’ background and their behavior, and the location and the design of the compound itself was perfectly consistent with what our experts expected bin Laden’s hideout to look like. Keep in mind that two of bin Laden’s gatekeepers, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Faraj al-Libbi, were arrested in the settled areas of Pakistan...

Consider the key aspects of this story:

• Gitmo detainees provided the critical intelligence regarding the courier.

• Interrogations of these detainees revealed the salient details.

• This data was uncovered during the Bush administration (in 2007, actually).

President Obama, of course, specifically omitted thanks of President Bush, Vice President Cheney, military brass, intelligence officials and others whose post-9/11 policies were viciously opposed by the Left and which led directly to this opportunity. Mark Levin notes:

For now, let me say not only how proud I am of our brave heroes in the military and intel services, but how troubling I found the president's comments last night. Not one word about General David Petraeus, not one word about CIA Director Leon Panetta. And even now, the White House is leaking information to the media aimed at building up Obama while diminishing the contribution of others. Well, he mentioned Panetta, but what I meant is, he did not praise or thank him, same with Petreaus... [and] Obama's single mention of Bush during his speech last night had nothing to do with all of Bush's efforts.

As Michelle Malkin points out, the President and his minions are now taking credit for the very policies they opposed.

Last night, I noted that much of the intelligence gathered that led to discovering bin Laden was developed by the detainees detained under the Bush administration at facilities like the one Obama wanted to shut down... Those facilities, US officials are now reporting, included the CIA secret prisons reviled by the Left, outed by the Washington Post, and condemned by... wait for it... President Obama.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Progressivism. But we already knew that.

I congratulate all the brave men and women who made this operation possible. We salute you.


Hat tip: TrendingRight.

Larwyn's Linx: Osama Bin Laden Swims With the Fishes

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Nation

Osama Bin Laden Swims With the Fishes: Malkin
More Operational Details Emerge: NRO
All About Obama: Who’s politicizing bin Laden kill?: Malkin

Quantitatively accelerating American collapse: Steyn
Dearborn: First U.S. Sharia-Compliant Muslim Enclave?: Bostom
Bachmann: Won't Rest Until Obamacare Dead: Cubachi

Gov. Brewer signs bill authorizing security fence: NewAm
Man Arrested for Reading the Bible: RWN
Cain: Government's role isn't picking winners and losers: Cubachi

Economy

About Those Oil 'Subsidies'...: AT
How Smartest President Ever Becomes One-Termer: Comment
'There's no precedent to support this': RWN

Defining 'American': MNR
La Raza Mob Shuts Down Tucson School Board Meeting: GWP
The End of the American Social Welfare State: BigGovt

Property Taxes: an ATM for the Government: Mish
Thank you, Governor Kasich!: FreedomWorks
Left Wing Hypocrisy On Gas Prices: Strata

Climate & Energy

Good News! PowerShift 2011 Climate Alarmists Plan To Walk The Talk!: RWN
CO2 and Tornadoes: Coyote Blog
Detroit Free Press on $5/gas: All is Well! All is Well!: BlogProf

Media

When Jimmy Carter Is your best-case scenario, you're in trouble: Reynolds
Hollywood Began Its Campaign To Re-Elect Obama Last Night: LegalIns
Anti-Terry Jones Riot in Dearborn; MSM Bias on Display: Patterico

Okay, Let's Decline: Hanson
2008: Pelosi blames high gas prices on “oil men in the White House”: IHTM
Gay Man Charges Jesse Jackson With Harassment and Discrimination: Most Media Mum: NB

Audience erupts in laughter when liberal stooge calls Paul Krugman a “Nobel Prize-winning economist”: IHTM
Chris Matthews throws his panties and room key at President Obama: IHTM
Take Your Racerism and Shove It!: Zilla

World

UBL in Pakistan: The End of the Trail?: Belmont Club
Counterterrorism isn't hundreds of thousands of troops stationed indefinitely in distant lands: Cato
Illiterate Children Reciting the Koran on Film: NewsReal

The American Soviet: Hanson
Terror Bomb Rips Through Popular Cafe in Morocco Killing 16, Mostly Westerners: Atlas
Michael Bloomberg: Let New Immigrants Into America As Long As They Agree To Live In Detroit: Mediaite

Raid that got bin Laden was culmination of years of work, Sr. Admin officials say: WashExam
Crowd celebrates Bin Laden's death for hours outside the White House: WashExam
Hitler Informed of Usama's Death: Jawa

SciTech

Local Twitter users capture raid on bin Laden: CNet
From Abbottabad, Live-Tweeting the bin Laden Attack: WSJ
Think the cloud isn't risky? Ponder these numbers: CNet

Cornucopia

This week in Automotivators: RWN
Bridal Path: C&S
Photo Bomb of the Century: Sondrakistan

Image: via Ed Driscoll
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: TrendingRight.com

QOTD: "Pimco (which has now dumped US Treasuries) estimated last month that, under QE2, 70 per cent of the US Government’s debt is being bought by the Federal Reserve... In other words, under the 2011 budget, every hour of every day, the federal government spends $188 million it doesn’t have, $130 million of which is “borrowed” from itself." --Mark Steyn

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Photos: Terry Jones visits Dearborn, Michigan; Muslim Protesters Get Their Tolerance On (Police in Riot Gear Forced to Respond)

Yesterday, controversial Pastor Terry Jones visited Dearborn, MI City Hall to give a speech about Islam, the Koran, Sharia law, the Constitution and free speech.

An overhead view depicts protesters on the far side and Jones and his supporters nearest to City Hall (nearest to us in this view).

Hundreds of protesters "broke through the [police] barricades and ran across the street" to confront the Jones contingent. They began throwing things at Jones, who had walked down the steps of City Hall towards them.

Terry Jones' supporters were on the other side of the barricade, some holding American flags.

Police unsuccessfully attempted to coerce the protesters to retreat.

At this point, police in riot gear were deployed.

An overhead view shows the line of armored-up police officers.

Police had Jones return to the podium at which point he resumed his speech.

The show of force finally persuaded protesters to retreat to the other side of Michigan Ave.

Several protesters were arrested, presumably for throwing bottles or rocks.

As Aaron Worthing points out, legacy media did its best to cover for the anti-free speech barbarians.

The New York Times called the crowd "boisterous". The Detroit News reported that Jones had "egged protesters on". The Detroit Free Press simply stated that "tempers flare[d]".

Which is why legacy media is called legacy media.


Hat tip: Michelle Malkin.

Survey: Nation's Unemployed Cheered by President Obama's Comedic Stylings at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

When the going gets tough, the tough 'lead from behind'. In this case, the President invested his time wisely in preparing music videos and a lengthy monologue at the White House Correspondents' dinner.

...And where is the National Public Radio table? (Cheering.) You guys are still here? (Laughter.) That's good. I couldn't remember where we landed on that. (Laughter.) Now, I know you were a little tense when the GOP tried to cut your funding, but personally I was looking forward to new programming like "No Things Considered" -- (laughter) -- or "Wait, Wait...Don't Fund Me." (Laughter.)

Of course, the deficit is a serious issue. That's why Paul Ryan couldn't be here tonight. His budget has no room for laughter. (Laughter.)

...Donald Trump is here tonight! (Laughter and applause.) Now, I know that he's taken some flak lately, but no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald. (Laughter.) And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter -- like, did we fake the moon landing? (Laughter.) What really happened in Roswell? (Laughter.) And where are Biggie and Tupac? (Laughter and applause.)

...You know, in the last months, we've seen journalists threatened, arrested, beaten, attacked, and in some cases even killed simply for doing their best to bring us the story, to give people a voice, and to hold leaders accountable. And through it all, we've seen daring men and women risk their lives for the simple idea that no one should be silenced, and everyone deserves to know the truth.

For a minute there, I thought he was talking about the brave souls at The San Francisco Chronicle.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Larwyn's Linx: Bill Clinton: Supremes Could Smoke Obamacare

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Nation

Bill Clinton: Supremes Could Smoke Obamacare: RedState
Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave: King
White House distances Obama from new fundraising group: Politico

‘A Government of Laws, and Not of Men’: The Electoral College: NMJ
NRA CEO calls for Holder's Resignation: Blaze
Gas Pump Sticky Note Campaign Gaining Steam: NiceDeb

How Paul Ryan Won the Recess: WklyStd
Obama DOJ will challenge Missouri's Anti-Sharia law: Atlas
Cain Wins 2012 Presidential Forum in Manchester, NH: RSM

Economy

The Middle Class Problem: Hayward
California Democrats and Chicago Mobsters: ProWis
Fired for Being a Republican: GWP

What Was And Is No Longer: EternityRoad
Templates: ProWis
Detroit's Piteous Worker State: RWN

Gov. Brown Tells Cheering CA Unions 'You've Got a Friend': Mish
Amish Milk: The Latest Target of the Obama Regulatory State: Foundry
N.J. Turnpike Tells Union Toll Workers ‘Take It Or Leave It’: RS

Climate & Energy

Obama's Other Hand: EPA Methodically Shutting Down Coal Mining Operations: IBD
Think Progress Doubles Down On AGW Caused Tornadoes: RWN
So you still think that global warming has nothing to do with religion?: BrutHon

Weekly Address: Hey, Let’s Blame Oil Companies For High Prices!: RWN
Global Warming Alarmists Politicize Tornado Tragedy: BigJourn
Israel's gas supply under threat: GloPost

Media

Mainstream Media's Paradise Lost: AT
Tea Partier to MSNBCer: Media That Blame All Criticism of Obama on His Skin Color Are 'Racers': NB
Shockingly, Harvard Says It Can't Verify Reports Showing They Wanted Obama's Dad Deported: LstRef

“The Enigma, Part 1: Strange Bedfellows”: Loudon
Breitbart Punches Back on Maher’s ‘Real Time’: Breitbart
Dept. of Ignorance: We Don't Know Our Schools Either: NBC LA

Happy Birthday, Marizela: Malkin
Time to Dig In and Help the People of Dixie: RWN
Keynes Vs Hayek, Round 2: SDA

Boston Globe Reporter Hid Information on Obama’s Father From the Public For 2 Years: GWP
CNN's Holmes: More Divorces Are 'a Sign That the Economy Is Getting Better': NB
SNL’s Seth Meyers Rips Into Trump At The White House Correspondents’ Dinner: Mediaite

World

Why is the Obama administration trying to save Iran's puppet regime in Syria?: BRubin
‘Funny’ Anti-Gaddafi Cartoons Reveal Rebel Racism, Anti-Semitism: PJM
U.S. Treasury: China Has Decreased Its Holdings of U.S. Debt: CNS

Jimmy Carter Denounces America From North Korea: MB
‘Here’s to al-Qaeda’: ProWis
Syrian Agents Assault and Detain American Diplomat: AmSpec

SciTech

Abortion Boosts Breast Cancer Risk 193% Study Finds, Giving Birth Lowers It: LifeNews
'Clippy' alive? Sighting raises questions, fears: CNet
Triton 36,000 submarine to plumb ocean's deepest depths, comes in yellow: Engadget

Cornucopia

Time Magazine Obama Reagan Cover Parodies: SlapBlog
Royal Wedding in 60 Seconds: Blaze
Michelle Obama: Royal Wedding Crasher?: MOTUS

Image: The Blaze: ''What the…?! – British hat edition"
Sponsored by: TrendingRight.com - What's happening in conservative news RIGHT now!

QOTD: "An administration truly dedicated to transparency would not require journalists to be 'in the tank' as a condition of being in the pool." --San Francisco Chronicle Editorial - 'Administration exercises its control freak streak'