Doug Ross @ Journal

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Motivational Poster o' the Day

From Bernie:

Select Headlines From Our Allies in the Middle East

Saudi polygamy journos on blasphemy trial
Egyptian authorities are looking into possible blasphemy charges against two journalists over an article that called for a religious edict to allow female polygamy, UAE daily Gulf News reported on Tuesday... [they have] caused outrage after writing that if Muslim men are allowed four wives then women should be allowed four husbands as well, Gulf News reported... A member of the Egyptian parliament has filed a lawsuit over an article and some clerics called it provocative and anti-Islamic, according to the BBC.

Saudi sex bragger sentenced to 5-yrs in jail
A Saudi man whose televised boasts about his sex life outraged the country's conservatives was sentenced to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes on Wednesday, his lawyer said... Mazen Abdul Jawad, a 32-year-old airline sales clerk, was convicted by a Jeddah court on Sharia law-based charges relating to immoral behaviour... Three friends who appeared on the show with him were given two-year terms and 300 lashes each, while a cameraman who helped film the episode was sentenced to two months in jail.

Bahrain group calls for 'Koranic' divorce
A Bahrain group is calling for reforms to ensure that divorced women in the country get alimony, rightful custody of their children and a roof over their heads without agonising court battles... The association will highlight the Koranic concept of divorce later this week at a seminar that aims to bridge the gap between between law and reality in divorce cases and find solutions to practices that oppress women.

Inspirational Letter of the Day (with Subliminal Book Mention)

This letter-to-the-editor was published today in the Island Packet of Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Keep the faith, America; elections can right ship

It appears the only difference between ACORN and the Democratic Congress is the price of their corruption.

ACORN can buy a vote from a wino in the street for $10, whereas it takes hundreds of millions to buy a senator's vote. It didn't take long for President Barack Obama and his supporters to totally infect Washington with their Chicago culture of corruption. How is this "hope" and "change" working out for you?

Sometimes you just need to make a mistake in order to appreciate the consequences of your actions. Now that the obvious disaster of putting liberals in charge of the country is so apparent, we can use this experience to make sure it never happens again.

The year 2010 will begin America's road to recovery as we begin replacing those politicians whose only concern is themselves. It won't be complete until 2012 when we can rectify the biggest mistake of them all, but it will come.

It is a shame that the voters in this congressional district won't get in on the fun of kicking out these liberals. At least we will get the joy of returning Rep. Joe Wilson. He should probably be the next Speaker of the House since his speech, even though it was just two words, was probably the most honest and insightful words spoken in Congress all year.

Keep the faith, America. To err is human, to repair divine.

Bill B.
Bluffton

It would appear Ms. Malkin's book has become an intrinsic part of the language. And Bill could be a speechwriter, methinks.

Update: Check out the comment from Rainman McTroll! It's awesome!

Corruption in the democratic party? You are a f***ing MORON! There is MORE corruption in the republican/racist party, widely known to all. Where the F*** do you get your facts? Oh, never mind, you believe that we were all created from a rib from a man. Evolution doesn't exist, it's all just radical talk! Look at the science d***head!

Erudite, concise, well-spoken -- yes, it's a typical Democrat voter, trying to deflect an incredible 9:1 Democrat:Republican ratio in Judicial Watch's 2009 Most Corrupt Politician Awards.

Obama on ObamaCare: 'I was against it before I was for it'

Dan from New York:

At the time, it looked mighty sweet and refreshing, so America drank the Kool-Aid in '08. We need to drink the antidote in '10, or it's gonna kill us.

Hang on to this clip and put it in a safe place where you can find it next year. I remember how hard it was to locate that old footage of Barney Frank and Andrew Cuomo setting the table for the last Democratic debacle they blamed Republicans for - the great financial meltdown of 2008.

Related

Exclusive First Look: New Airport Full-Body Scan Images

Coming soon to an airport security line near you: stunning, crystal-clear images that capture every detail of the subject's body, with private parts carefully masked out for "Joe the Plumber"-level security.

These images were produced recently during a test in Oahu's airport.

Machines like this one promise to enhance transportation safety even higher than the current "system worked like clockwork"-level.

Idea: Reliapundit.

Is that a Hockey Stick in your graph, or you just happy to see me?

Legacy media has relentlessly marketed the incipient recovery, the end of the recession and the successful culmination of Democrat austerity measures. That last part was a joke. No better evidence of these campaigns are today's headlines highlighting "stable" housing prices:

WaPo: ...U.S. home prices were unchanged in October, according to the widely watched Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller indexes released on Tuesday, indicating stabilization in the hard-hit housing sector...

LAT: "On a month-to-month bases, we are certainly slowing down in terms of the numbers we had seen previously," said Michael D. Larson, a housing analyst with Weiss Research. But "the story remains the same: Housing is not in some huge epic rebound, but nor is it falling apart anymore -- stabilization is clear."

Of course, it takes a special kind of journalistic prowess to omit and ignore the real story of the day.

Fannie Mae: Delinquencies Increase Sharply in October
Fannie Mae reported today that the rate of serious delinquencies - at least 90 days behind - for conventional loans in its single-family guarantee business increased to 4.98% in October, up from 4.72% in September - and up from 1.89% in October 2008.

Now that right there is whatcha call a real hockey stick....Just more evidence of the growing delinquency problem, although it is important to note these stats do include Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) loans in trial modifications (and the trial modification periods have been extended again).

What this really means is that the various central-planning efforts of the big government Democrats -- from Fannie Mae, to the FHA, to HAMP -- represent a stunning series of increasingly costly failures that our children and grandchildren will have to somehow pay off. With interest.

As for analysis, you need not wait for legacy media to catch up. In short, the biggest predictor of mortgage defaults is negative equity. The more underwater you are on your loan, the better chance you have of walking away from the home. The fact that more loans (even in HAMP) are going late indicates a deflationary housing spiral is still underway. Foreclosures hurt home values; lower valuations lead to more folks underwater; which leads to more foreclosures... ad infinitum.

And despite all of these many and varied failures, legacy media looks askance while helping to sell the same big government, Politburo-style plans to nationalize one-sixth of the economy. I can't wait for the Harvard Case Study on the death of the liberal media. At this rate, it could be ready by the fall semester of 2011.

Crack Pro Journalist Andrew Sullivan Writes Brilliant Missive on TMZ Hoax Then Clogs Toilet Trying to Flush Down Memory Hole

Sy Hersh was right! So says the scion of The Atlantic's stellar lineup of conspiracy-minded commentators not named McArdle. Upon spotting the TMZ photo purporting to show JFK cavorting with a boatload of beautiful, nekkid women, Sullivan lept into action.

Now, it turns out that it took the Inter-tubes about 15 minutes to determine the print was a Photoshop-special, with all the authenticity of a Ming Dynasty boom-box. But there was no stoppin' crack pro journalist Andi Sullivan!

His book, "The Dark Side Of Camelot", was one of his best: scenes of simply staggering sexual shenanigans, rampant abuse of power, close connections with the mafia, nepotism up the whazoo. And now we have some photographic evidence - courtesy of TMZ.com - of the Kennedy lifestyle, when feminism was still at bay and powerful rich men could fill their yachts with a variety of sexual objects. Take a look at this scene from the mid-1950s. And Tiger: you were born too late:

William Jacobson asks the salient question: What if Sarah Palin had done this?

Because, after all, Palin's "odd lies" represent a "cover-up" the depths of which only a man with Sullivan's pulse-pounding detective experience and vast network of like-minded pro journalists could plumb. Such as, what's up with Trig, dude?

If there's a journalistic award for self-inflicted tomdouchery, Sullivan's a lock.

Hat tips: Legal Insurrection, via Michelle Malkin.

Larwyn's Linx: Napolitano Must Go — Now

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Judicial Watch Announces Most Corrupt Politicians of 2009 Awards (Rangel Quote: 'You Like Me, You Really Like Me!')

Judicial Watch has announced its prestigious Most Corrupt Politicians of 2009 Awards and, disappointingly for Howard Dean, Democrats only batted 90%. The top ten:

1. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT): This marks two years in a row for Senator Dodd, who made the 2008 “Ten Most Corrupt” list for his corrupt relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial, a scandal which still dogs him. In 2009, the scandals kept coming for the Connecticut Democrat. In 2009, Judicial Watch filed a Senate ethics complaint against Dodd for undervaluing a property he owns in Ireland on his Senate Financial Disclosure forms. Judicial Watch's complaint forced Dodd to amend the forms. However, press reports suggest the property to this day remains undervalued. Judicial Watch also alleges in the complaint that Dodd obtained a sweetheart deal for the property in exchange for his assistance in obtaining a presidential pardon (during the Clinton administration) and other favors for a long-time friend and business associate. The false financial disclosure forms were part of the cover-up. Dodd remains the head the Senate Banking Committee.

2. Senator John Ensign (R-NV): A number of scandals popped up in 2009 involving public officials who conducted illicit affairs, and then attempted to cover them up with hush payments and favors, an obvious abuse of power. The year’s worst offender might just be Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign. Ensign admitted in June to an extramarital affair with the wife of one of his staff members, who then allegedly obtained special favors from the Nevada Republican in exchange for his silence. According to The New York Times: “The Justice Department and the Senate Ethics Committee are expected to conduct preliminary inquiries into whether Senator John Ensign violated federal law or ethics rules as part of an effort to conceal an affair with the wife of an aide…” The former staffer, Douglas Hampton, began to lobby Mr. Ensign's office immediately upon leaving his congressional job, despite the fact that he was subject to a one-year lobbying ban. Ensign seems to have ignored the law and allowed Hampton lobbying access to his office as a payment for his silence about the affair. (These are potentially criminal offenses.) It looks as if Ensign misused his public office (and taxpayer resources) to cover up his sexual shenanigans.

3. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): Judicial Watch is investigating a $12 million TARP cash injection provided to the Boston-based OneUnited Bank at the urging of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank. As reported in the January 22, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal, the Treasury Department indicated it would only provide funds to healthy banks to jump-start lending. Not only was OneUnited Bank in massive financial turmoil, but it was also "under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives' use." Rep. Frank admitted he spoke to a "federal regulator," and Treasury granted the funds. (The bank continues to flounder despite Frank’s intervention for federal dollars.) Moreover, Judicial Watch uncovered documents in 2009 that showed that members of Congress for years were aware that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were playing fast and loose with accounting issues, risk assessment issues and executive compensation issues, even as liberals led by Rep. Frank continued to block attempts to rein in the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). For example, during a hearing on September 10, 2003, before the House Committee on Financial Services considering a Bush administration proposal to further regulate Fannie and Freddie, Rep. Frank stated: "I want to begin by saying that I am glad to consider the legislation, but I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis. That is, in my view, the two Government Sponsored Enterprises we are talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis. We have recently had an accounting problem with Freddie Mac that has led to people being dismissed, as appears to be appropriate. I do not think at this point there is a problem with a threat to the Treasury." Frank received $42,350 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 1989 and 2008. Frank also engaged in a relationship with a Fannie Mae Executive while serving on the House Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

4. Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner: In 2009, Obama Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner admitted that he failed to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes from 2001-2004 on his lucrative salary at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization with 185 member countries that oversees the global financial system. (Did we mention Geithner now runs the IRS?) It wasn’t until President Obama tapped Geithner to head the Treasury Department that he paid back most of the money, although the IRS kindly waived the hefty penalties. In March 2009, Geithner also came under fire for his handling of the AIG bonus scandal, where the company used $165 million of its bailout funds to pay out executive bonuses, resulting in a massive public backlash. Of course as head of the New York Federal Reserve, Geithner helped craft the AIG deal in September 2008. However, when the AIG scandal broke, Geithner claimed he knew nothing of the bonuses until March 10, 2009. The timing is important. According to CNN: “Although Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders on Tuesday that he learned of AIG's impending $160 million bonus payments to members of its troubled financial-products unit on March 10, sources tell TIME that the New York Federal Reserve informed Treasury staff that the payments were imminent on Feb. 28. That is ten days before Treasury staffers say they first learned ‘full details’ of the bonus plan, and three days before the [Obama] Administration launched a new $30 billion infusion of cash for AIG.” Throw in another embarrassing disclosure in 2009 that Geithner employed “household help” ineligible to work in the United States, and it becomes clear why the Treasury Secretary has earned a spot on the “Ten Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington” list.

5. Attorney General Eric Holder: Tim Geithner can be sure he won’t be hounded about his tax-dodging by his colleague Eric Holder, US Attorney General. Judicial Watch strongly opposed Holder because of his terrible ethics record, which includes: obstructing an FBI investigation of the theft of nuclear secrets from Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory; rejecting multiple requests for an independent counsel to investigate alleged fundraising abuses by then-Vice President Al Gore in the Clinton White House; undermining the criminal investigation of President Clinton by Kenneth Starr in the midst of the Lewinsky investigation; and planning the violent raid to seize then-six-year-old Elian Gonzalez at gunpoint in order to return him to Castro’s Cuba. Moreover, there is his soft record on terrorism. Holder bypassed Justice Department procedures to push through Bill Clinton’s scandalous presidential pardons and commutations, including for 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican terrorist group that orchestrated approximately 120 bombings in the United States, killing at least six people and permanently maiming dozens of others, including law enforcement officers. His record in the current administration is no better. As he did during the Clinton administration, Holder continues to ignore serious incidents of corruption that could impact his political bosses at the White House. For example, Holder has refused to investigate charges that the Obama political machine traded VIP access to the White House in exchange for campaign contributions – a scheme eerily similar to one hatched by Holder’s former boss, Bill Clinton in the 1990s. The Holder Justice Department also came under fire for dropping a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party. On Election Day 2008, Black Panthers dressed in paramilitary garb threatened voters as they approached polling stations. Holder has also failed to initiate a comprehensive Justice investigation of the notorious organization ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which is closely tied to President Obama. There were allegedly more than 400,000 fraudulent ACORN voter registrations in the 2008 campaign. And then there were the journalist videos catching ACORN Housing workers advising undercover reporters on how to evade tax, immigration, and child prostitution laws. Holder’s controversial decisions on new rights for terrorists and his attacks on previous efforts to combat terrorism remind many of the fact that his former law firm has provided and continues to provide pro bono representation to terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. Holder’s politicization of the Justice Department makes one long for the days of Alberto Gonzales.

6. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)/ Senator Roland Burris (D-IL): One of the most serious scandals of 2009 involved a scheme by former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to sell President Obama’s then-vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. Two men caught smack dab in the middle of the scandal: Senator Roland Burris, who ultimately got the job, and Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, emissaries for Jesse Jackson Jr., named "Senate Candidate A" in the Blagojevich indictment, reportedly offered $1.5 million to Blagojevich during a fundraiser if he named Jackson Jr. to Obama's seat. Three days later federal authorities arrested Blagojevich. Burris, for his part, apparently lied about his contacts with Blagojevich, who was arrested in December 2008 for trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat. According to Reuters: “Roland Burris came under fresh scrutiny…after disclosing he tried to raise money for the disgraced former Illinois governor who named him to the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama…In the latest of those admissions, Burris said he looked into mounting a fundraiser for Rod Blagojevich -- later charged with trying to sell Obama's Senate seat -- at the same time he was expressing interest to the then-governor's aides about his desire to be appointed.” Burris changed his story five times regarding his contacts with Blagojevich prior to the Illinois governor appointing him to the U.S. Senate. Three of those changing explanations came under oath.

7. President Barack Obama: During his presidential campaign, President Obama promised to run an ethical and transparent administration. However, in his first year in office, the President has delivered corruption and secrecy, bringing Chicago-style political corruption to the White House. Consider just a few Obama administration “lowlights” from year one: Even before President Obama was sworn into office, he was interviewed by the FBI for a criminal investigation of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s scheme to sell the President’s former Senate seat to the highest bidder. (Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and slumlord Valerie Jarrett, both from Chicago, are also tangled up in the Blagojevich scandal.) Moreover, the Obama administration made the startling claim that the Privacy Act does not apply to the White House. The Obama White House believes it can violate the privacy rights of American citizens without any legal consequences or accountability. President Obama boldly proclaimed that "transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," but his administration is addicted to secrecy, stonewalling far too many of Judicial Watch's Freedom of Information Act requests and is refusing to make public White House visitor logs as federal law requires. The Obama administration turned the National Endowment of the Arts (as well as the agency that runs the AmeriCorps program) into propaganda machines, using tax dollars to persuade "artists" to promote the Obama agenda. According to documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, the idea emerged as a direct result of the Obama campaign and enjoyed White House approval and participation. President Obama has installed a record number of "czars" in positions of power. Too many of these individuals are leftist radicals who answer to no one but the president. And too many of the czars are not subject to Senate confirmation (which raises serious constitutional questions). Under the President’s bailout schemes, the federal government continues to appropriate or control -- through fiat and threats -- large sectors of the private economy, prompting conservative columnist George Will to write: “The administration's central activity -- the political allocation of wealth and opportunity -- is not merely susceptible to corruption, it is corruption.” Government-run healthcare and car companies, White House coercion, uninvestigated ACORN corruption, debasing his office to help Chicago cronies, attacks on conservative media and the private sector, unprecedented and dangerous new rights for terrorists, perks for campaign donors – this is Obama’s “ethics” record -- and we haven't even gotten through the first year of his presidency.

8. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): At the heart of the corruption problem in Washington is a sense of entitlement. Politicians believe laws and rules (even the U.S. Constitution) apply to the rest of us but not to them. Case in point: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her excessive and boorish demands for military travel. Judicial Watch obtained documents from the Pentagon in 2008 that suggest Pelosi has been treating the Air Force like her own personal airline. These documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, include internal Pentagon email correspondence detailing attempts by Pentagon staff to accommodate Pelosi's numerous requests for military escorts and military aircraft as well as the speaker's 11th hour cancellations and changes. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also came under fire in April 2009, when she claimed she was never briefed about the CIA's use of the waterboarding technique during terrorism investigations. The CIA produced a report documenting a briefing with Pelosi on September 4, 2002, that suggests otherwise. Judicial Watch also obtained documents, including a CIA Inspector General report, which further confirmed that Congress was fully briefed on the enhanced interrogation techniques. Aside from her own personal transgressions, Nancy Pelosi has ignored serious incidents of corruption within her own party, including many of the individuals on this list. (See Rangel, Murtha, Jesse Jackson, Jr., etc.)

9. Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and the rest of the PMA Seven: Rep. John Murtha made headlines in 2009 for all the wrong reasons. The Pennsylvania congressman is under federal investigation for his corrupt relationship with the now-defunct defense lobbyist PMA Group. PMA, founded by a former Murtha associate, has been the congressman's largest campaign contributor. Since 2002, Murtha has raised $1.7 million from PMA and its clients. And what did PMA and its clients receive from Murtha in return for their generosity? Earmarks -- tens of millions of dollars in earmarks. In fact, even with all of the attention surrounding his alleged influence peddling, Murtha kept at it. Following an FBI raid of PMA's offices earlier in 2009, Murtha continued to seek congressional earmarks for PMA clients, while also hitting them up for campaign contributions. According to The Hill, in April, "Murtha reported receiving contributions from three former PMA clients for whom he requested earmarks in the pending appropriations bills." When it comes to the PMA scandal, Murtha is not alone. As many as six other Members of Congress are currently under scrutiny according to The Washington Post. They include: Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN.), James P. Moran Jr. (D-VA), Norm Dicks (D-WA.), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), C.W. Bill Young (R-FL.) and Todd Tiahrt (R-KS.). Of course rather than investigate this serious scandal, according to Roll Call House Democrats circled the wagons, "cobbling together a defense to offer political cover to their rank and file.” The Washington Post also reported in 2009 that Murtha’s nephew received $4 million in Defense Department no-bid contracts: "Newly obtained documents…show Robert Murtha mentioning his influential family connection as leverage in his business dealings and holding unusual power with the military.”

10. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY): Rangel, the man in charge of writing tax policy for the entire country, has yet to adequately explain how he could possibly "forget" to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income he earned from his off-shore rental property. He also faces allegations that he improperly used his influence to maintain ownership of highly coveted rent-controlled apartments in Harlem, and misused his congressional office to fundraise for his private Rangel Center by preserving a tax loophole for an oil drilling company in exchange for funding. On top of all that, Rangel recently amended his financial disclosure reports, which doubled his reported wealth. (He somehow “forgot” about $1 million in assets.) And what did he do when the House Ethics Committee started looking into all of this? He apparently resorted to making "campaign contributions" to dig his way out of trouble. According to WCBS TV, a New York CBS affiliate: “The reigning member of Congress' top tax committee is apparently ‘wrangling’ other politicos to get him out of his own financial and tax troubles...Since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him.” Charlie Rangel should not be allowed to remain in Congress, let alone serve as Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and he knows it. That’s why he felt the need to disburse campaign contributions to Ethics Committee members and other congressional colleagues.

Hopefully Judicial Watch won't sue me for copying the entire article. If so, I'll just claim Eric Holder told me to do it.

Tinpot Dictator Threatens Toyota with Expulsion from Banana Republic Due to Product Line Deficiencies (and Non-Centralized Planning Board)

Your favorite Tinpot Dictator continues to move Venezuela inexorably closer to complete despotism. Having nationalized a whole swath of industries, Hugo Chavez has threatened Toyota Motor Corporation with expulsion due to its failure to make models to serve Das Volk, including:

...an all-terrain model of 4x4 vehicles used for public transport in poor and rural areas... The fiery socialist, in a speech late on Wednesday, also said he would not hesitate to expel and expropriate plants from other Asian and U.S. automobile companies operating in Venezuela if they failed to share technology with locals.

"What's this that Toyota doesn't want to make the 'rustic' model here?" Chavez said, during a ceremony in Caracas to hand owners the keys to economically produced cars that Venezuela's government has imported from Argentina...

...Chavez ordered his Trade Minister Eduardo Saman to carry out a "severe inspection" of Toyota, and warned other companies they must start sharing technology with Venezuelans.

"You tell the people at Toyota that they have to produce this model and we are going to impose a quota, and if they don't meet it, we will punish them," he told Saman, adding that the state would not hesitate to expropriate Toyota's facilities and pay appropriate compensation.

President Obama responded with an offer to mass-produce the 2011 Chevrolet Chavez, a 4x4 off-road camping bus-slash-SUV with driver's side gun-port, wine rack and eight-track tape deck, which has been described by reviewers as 'rustic'.

Update: Charlie Foxtrot: "Does it make me a bad person that when I read your tweet 'Toyota threatened with expulsion from Banana Republic' I immediately wondered what the UAW was making Obama do now?"

It's Official: Every Christmas is 'Thank an ACLU Lawyer Day' -- Turns Out NWA 253 Attack Planners Were Released from Gitmo in 2007

Ace fired up the skull for this report while Gabriel Malor optimistically predicts, "If true, I'd say this is the nail in the coffin for Gitmo North."

Gabriel still thinks the glass is half full when, in fact, it's full of one half of a binary explosive composite.

Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the al Qaeda plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet over Detroit were released by the U.S. from the Guantanamo prison in November, 2007, according to American officials and Department of Defense documents. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the Northwest bombing in a Monday statement that vowed more attacks on Americans.

American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an "art therapy rehabilitation program" and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials.

Perhaps they used some Project Runway coursework to craft the exploding undershorts.

Update: The Jawa Report has been all over the "art therapy" recidivism meme for well nigh a year now. Perhaps someone could alert JaNo.

Update II: Anonymous commenter asks "Did Eric Holder's law firm have a hand in getting this [guy] off?" Hmmm...

NWA 253: Who Was The Mystery Videographer -- and Was He Able to Send His Video Back to Al-Qaeda?

Fascinating snippet from WTMJ 620 radio in Milwaukee ("Oconomowoc Family Survives Terrorist Attempt"):

...They were sitting about 20 rows behind Abdulmutallab, in a center aisle with her husband and daughter a row ahead of her and their two new adopted children, a six-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy.

Her daughter said that ahead of them was a man who videotaped the entire flight, including the attempted detonation.

"He sat up and videotaped the entire thing, very calmly," said Patricia. "We do know that the FBI is looking for him intensely. Since then, we've heard nothing about it."

"We heard what sounded like an electrical pop to me. Everybody looked above their seats, kind of like startled, panicked. Shortly thereafter, we heard the screams. We could not see what was going on. We were too far back. We heard shouting, and you could hear the mayhem happening.

At that point, two flight attendants ran at full speed to get fire extinguishers...

The obvious implication is that the mystery videotaper was there as part of the Al Qaeda team. His job, presumably, was to document the attempt in the event if failed to come off "successfully":

• Was the bomber detected ahead of the planned detonation and, if so, how?

• How would the crew and passengers react once the fuse was lit?

• What methods would those aboard use to defeat the threat if indeed the bomb failed to ignite?

In other words, Al Qaeda presumably wanted to learn from any failure by taping the entire incident.

And if the mystery taper was able to deplane and transmit the video back to Al Qaeda, it represents another major tactical failure for Janet Napolitano and the Obama administration's "War on Man-Made Disasters".

Update: Ace has a few other points-of-view -- including the fact that the mystery dude could have been trying to live-blog the entire incident, "successful" or not:

...Perhaps it's a back-up plan -- if the bombing fails, this guy can still probably get off the plane, and upload the video for the world's horror, thus completing the important terror step in terrorism, even minus the actual mayhem and death... [and] f this plane had Go-Go in-flight internet... maybe he was periodically streaming video to some server in Dubai or something.

Hat tip: Drudge Report. Linked by: Hot Air, Michelle Malkin and Patterico (who prods us to use the newfangled term 'videographer' as opposed to 'videotaper'. What-ever.). Thanks!

Iran on Monday: Ashura Over, But Protests and Clashes Continue; Obama Foursome Pulls Off Victory in Oahu Golf Scramble

Update: Refresh this page for running news bulletins, below.

• Today & tomorrow there will be protests against disrespect of mourning day of Ashoora
• The Regime's Arrest Strategy
• Reports from Iran say--Mousavi family warned by Gov. officials not to hold a funeral.
• No Regime has ever killed people on #Ashura in the history of #Iran, until yesterday
• Clashes in Haft Tir Sq. Dec. 28
• Breaking, shortage of jail space in iran
• Peiknet:Khamenei under immense pressure to retreat demanded by recent Intel&Nat;'l security reports&letter;.Reports also identify plain cloths as a special unit of IRGC Intel,which is undr direct Supervision of Vahid,special secretary of SL&Chief;of staff of Mojtaba's office Aftr the attack on Jamaran, SL received harsh & critical calls demanding his surrender,to which he answered:
"I'm ready to martyrdom." Which was countered by "Right now the place of martyrdom is in the streets"
• It is out of imagination, it was not a simple day, it was bloodshed day. IRG had massacred pple in the street RG ~~~IRG Damn to you
• Iranian Military Moves to Support the 'People's Revolution'
• National Iranian Armed Resistance Forces (NIRU) declares their existance in Iran - Statement
• Events moving vry fast Tehran 2day. Raffers up 2 something w/ rebel army ldrs but I know not wht.
• Iran crisis in sign language
• Reports: There Was a Secret Meeting of Top PMs & Security Council Memebers Today
• These filty basijis and pasdaran are like cancer, feeding of the body of Iran
• Clashes with special guards around Jomhuri and Valiasr st.
• 28Dec18:50 | Tear gas at 7 Tir Squar
• "Bloody Ashura" "The Great Massacre of Iran" done by Ali Khamenie (Supreme Leader)
• 28Dec19:00 | Mobile Network is Shut Down in Central City (UNCONF)
• At least 10 anti-government figures have been arrested in Iran, in a crackdown launched a day after at least eight people were killed in fierce clashes in Tehran and other cities... Those rounded up included two outspoken critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, three aides to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, and two aides to reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami, opposition websites said... The raids are certain to further antagonise the opposition, which has staged frequent protests since President Ahmadinejad was returned to power in a disputed June vote.
• Iran Ayatollah: 'I Am Convinced that the Regime Will Collapse'

Caution: Graphic Images: Though the Ashura religious ceremony may be over, protests and clashes continue in Iran.

Police fired teargas on Monday to disperse supporters of reformist leader Mirhossein Mousavi who gathered to express their condolences over his nephew's death in an anti-government rally, an Iranian opposition website said.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council said eight people were killed on Sunday in anti-government protests across Iran that erupted during the religious festival of Ashura. Iran's Health Ministry said over 60 people had been injured in Tehran.

The deaths and scale of confrontations may signal a volatile new phase in which security forces loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei try to crush the reformist movement.

"These are the hardest clashes we've seen since June," said a Western diplomat in Tehran, referring to demonstrations after the disputed presidential election, adding that bitterness over the deaths may spark fresh protests and a harsh state reaction.

He said Iran's leadership was under great pressure but showed no sign of losing its grip.

...Jaras said opposition politician Ebrahim Yazdi, leader of the banned Freedom Movement and foreign minister in Iran's first government after the 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed shah, was detained early on Monday at his home.

Jaras said police shot dead four protesters in central Tehran on Sunday and that unrest had also erupted in the cities of Qom, Shiraz, Isfahan, Najafabad, Mashhad and Babol.

The pictures interspersed in the story were captured from a video uploaded moments ago. It was shot yesterday and depicts protesters attacking Basiji militia using nothing more than stones. Shots ring out and at least one protester appears to have been killed (again, a warning over graphic images below).

Positive news from Oahu, however, as President Obama's foursome of Axelrod, Jarrett and Emanuel won the "best ball scramble" (self-reported scores) on Oahu's prestigious Arnold Palmer Course.

May we have the envelope, please? Media Research Center announces its 2009 winners

The Media Research Center recently announced its prestigious 2009 winners of the Best Notable Quotables Awards. These represent "a compilation of the most outrageous and/or humorous news media quotes from 2009".

May we have the envelope, please?

I'll give away just one of the winners:

Melissa Lafsky
"Mary Jo [Kopechne] wasn’t a right-wing talking point or a negative campaign slogan....We don’t know how much Kennedy was affected by her death, or what she’d have thought about arguably being a catalyst for the most successful Senate career in history....[One wonders what] Mary Jo Kopechne would have had to say about Ted’s death, and what she’d have thought of the life and career that are being (rightfully) heralded. Who knows — maybe she’d feel it was worth it.” -— Discover magazine deputy web editor Melissa Lafsky, who formerly worked on the New York Times’s Freakonomics blog, writing at the Huffington Post, August 27.

Larwyn's Linx: Yep, White House Blames Bush for Detroit Terror Attempt

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

Sec. Napolitano: 'The system worked': Cold Fury
Heckuva job, Jannie!: Morrissey
Is the Director of DHS an “Anus Horribilis”?: GoV

When an agenda is more important than the facts: York
Yep: White House Blames Bush for Detroit Terror Attempt: GWP
Thwarted Detroit blast too close for some: Times

Percy Sutton dies; His Obama revelation unmentioned: AT

Economy

The Liberal Plot Against American Education: AT
Gary, Indiana Death Countdown: Chicago Boyz
Morgan Stanley: Interest Rates Set to Soar 40%: Insider

Harvard's portfolio-killer sets course for U.S.: WSJ
Record $118B in U.S. debt auctioned this week: Insider
Brace for Impact: Zero Hedge

Media

Protocols of the Elders of Lake Woebegone: Cold Fury
Year of the Failed Narrative: Driscoll
Should Obama put down his golf clubs?: SIGIS

Andrea Mitchell: Stuck on Stupid: Wizbang
Mark Steyn Asks...: MoneyRunner
Letters: Obama has been a disappointment: Park-Rapids Enterprise

cBS News: Presidential Vacations Are Hard Work: RWN
Too damn big, slow, inefficient and intrusive: BlogCritics
The Obama image: what a difference a year makes: AT

Climate & Energy

To Be Fair, That’s A Lot Of Decline To Hide: Driscoll

World

This Isn’t Good: 21st Century Looks Like a Replay of 20th: BigGovt
Obama just made it easier for International Court to go after American "war criminals": PJM
Crossing into North Korea: PJM

Ashura: a new phase to the revolution: Wolf
Hmm… Israel Calls ALL Ambassadors Home For Special Meeting in Jerusalem: GWP

SciTech

AT&T suspends online iPhone sales in New York City, reasons still unclear: Engadget
FCC member berates Verizon for termination fees: CNet
Apple tablet terrorized by component rumors: Engadget

Cornucopia

Well, actually...: The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks
25 Random 140 Character Thoughts: RWN
Your Late Christmas Present: Jingle Bombs: Denny

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Iran - Protesters set police vehicles and police station on fire; President Obama maintains strict tee-times and cone of silence

Via Twitter and YouTube, more evidence from Tehran that the government is teetering on the brink. In this instance, police vehicles are being torched by protesters.