The Tyrant Tapestry Continues to Unravel

But who or what who will replace the despot? It does no good to exchange one bloody-minded master for another one even more evil. Decisions, decisions. Mubarak, Gadafo or Assad on one hand or some mad mullahs and Sharia law on the other. In Egypt Mubarak is gone, in Libya Gaddafi is hanging on, Bahrain is in a bind, Tunisa is in turmoil, Jordan is jumpy and Yemen is becoming unhinged. And now the situation in Syria is getting more serious.

Damascus was alive with rumors Thursday, April 14 that President Bashar Assad and his family were preparing to flee to Saudi Arabia. They were, sparked by the discovery that several high-ranking Syrian officials and army officers were evacuating their families from the capital to Persian Gulf emirates.

US intelligence officials also disclosed that Iran was secretly helping Assad crack down on his own people, providing gear to suppress crowds and assistance in blocking and monitoring protesters' Internet and cell phones.

Those officials did not refer to the Iran-backed Hizballah's active aid in the government crackdown. However, as the anti-government demonstrations pervade dozens of Syrian towns, even the second largest Aleppo, Assad is relying for survival less on the army and police and increasingly on the 10,000-strong armed Shabbiha gangs drawn from the Assad tribe of the minority Alawite community and trained in urban combat by Hizballah and Iran. In normal times, the Shabbiha are regularly employed by the Iran-Hizballah arms and drug smuggling rings.

Tens of thousands of people hit the street yesterday as another round of protests rocked Damascus.

Reporting from Beirut— Antigovernment demonstrations sweeping Syria appeared to have crossed a threshold in size and scope, with protesters battling police near the heart of the capital and the protest movement uniting people from different regions, classes and religious backgrounds against the regime. Tens of thousands of people turned out across the country Friday, dismissing minor concessions offered a day earlier by President Bashar Assad. The demonstrators called for freedom, the release of political prisoners and, in some instances, the downfall of the government, echoing demands for change across the Arab world.

[...]But it was the spread of large-scale protests into new corners of Damascus, the capital, and Assad's seat of power, that underscored the growing depth of the protest movement.

Three-in-One

I'm playing catch-up so here's fine rant to kick off the day. Stop paying taxes, stop feeding the war machine, we want peace says Celente:



Here's a not so fine rant - a hate-filled Egyptian lawyer has said that sexual harassment of Israeli women by Arab men is a legitimate means of resistance and protest. She (yes, it's a 'she') doesn't even draw the line at rape. Depressingly sad.



Finally, just so our Kissing Cousins have a feel for what we're going through over here -

THIS

THIS

THIS

"This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leased out, I die pronouncing it,
Like to a tenement or pelting farm:
England, bound in with the triumphant sea
Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame,
With inky blots and rotten parchment bonds:
That England, that was wont to conquer others,
Hath made a shameful conquest of itself."

It's enough to reduce a grown man to tears.

Why It's Called The Death Penalty

It's not called the death deterrent, it's called the death penalty as in: "do this and we kill you." And for the most part it works every time it is used. When the death penalty is applied in the proscribed manner, the offending party doesn't do "this" again ... ever. When states decide that it's really not such a bad thing to off their residents, they abolish the death penalty. So why we are we surprised when a Canadian citizen shops around for a state where he can off his ex-girlfriend and not pay the same penalty he handed her for ditching him?

A 20-year-old Canadian man methodically stalked and tracked a Westmont woman before killing her Wednesday night in Oak Brook — even stopping to reload his gun and continue shooting during the attack.

DuPage County Judge Michael Wolfe denied bail Thursday for Dmitry Smirnov of Surrey, British Columbia, who is charged with the first-degree murder of Jitka Vesel, 36.

In court Thursday, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said Smirnov met Vesel in 2008 through an Internet dating site. After they met, Smirnov moved to the United States.

Following the natural course of internet romance, the relationship went south and Smirnov went north, back to Canada. To tell the truth, what does a 34 year old woman want with an 18 year old boy? ... Oh, right. Nevermind.

After returning to his Vesel-less homeland, Smirnov starts to harass his ex-lover in 2009. She in turn filed a criminal complaint against him. Smirnov obviously doesn't take nyet for an answer.

About two weeks ago, Smirnov decided to leave Canada, returning to the United States, Berlin said. He first stopped in Seattle to buy a .40-caliber handgun and ammunition.

Smirnov arrived in Chicago last weekend, using the Internet to locate Vesel’s home, Berlin said. He then used a GPS tracking device, which he glued to Vesel’s car, to track her movements via the Internet, Berlin said.

He was waiting for Vesel when she went to her car in the parking lot of the Windsor Office Park in Oak Brook, Wednesday night.

[...]Berlin said Smirnov had done research on the Internet to determine if Illinois had the death penalty, deciding to go through with Vesel’s murder when he discovered it does not.

Apparently Smirnov took this advice from Smokey and the Miracles. I wonder if he took the time to shop for prison accomodations, particularly w/r/t shower facilities?

Needlesss to say I was a little surprised at Washington's laws that allow Canadians and other non-citizens to purchase/possess handguns.

Revised Code of Washington Title 9 Chapter 9.41.175 Alien possession of firearms — Possession without license — Conditions.

(1) A nonimmigrant alien, who is not a resident of Washington or a citizen of Canada, may carry or possess any firearm without having first obtained an alien firearm license if the nonimmigrant alien possesses:

((a) A valid passport and visa showing he or she is in the country legally; ((b) If required under federal law, an approved United States department of justice ATF-6 NIA application and permit for temporary importation of firearms and ammunition by nonimmigrant aliens; and ((c)(i) A valid hunting license issued by a state or territory of the United States; or (ii) An invitation to participate in a trade show or sport shooting event being conducted in this state, another state, or another country that is contiguous with this state.

(2) A citizen of Canada may carry or possess any firearm so long as he or she possesses:

(a) Valid documentation as required for entry into the United States;

These stipulations do not apply to concealed carry for which a permit is required. Still, it is easier for a Canadian to legally purchase a pistol in Washington than it is for a resident of NY to purchase a pistol in his own state.

Update: It is easier than you think to track someone via GPS. For $25 you can purchase this tracker.

Ambassador El Diablo

The people you see in the picture above are the result of Mexican drug lords "right sizing" their consumer base by removing their heads. At least that's what the ambassador from Mexico thinks.

The editorial should be better headed "Let's Call Mexico's cartels what they are: very violent, well-financed transnational criminal organizations."

These transnational criminal organizations, which operate in both our countries, are not terrorist organizations. They are very violent criminal groups that are well-structured and well-financed. They pursue a single goal. They want to maximize their profits and do what most business do: hostile takeovers and pursue mergers and acquisitions. They use violence to protect their business from other competitors as well as from our two governments' efforts to roll them back. There is no political motivation or agenda whatsoever beyond their attempt to defend their illegal business.

Misunderstanding the challenge we face leads to wrong policies and bad policy making. If you label these organizations as terrorist, you will have to start calling drug consumers in the U.S. "financiers of terrorist organizations" and gun dealers "providers of material support to terrorists." Otherwise, you really sound as if you want to have your cake and eat it too. That's why I would underscore that the editorial page should be careful what it advocates for.

Arturo Sarukhan, Ambassador of Mexico to the U.S., Washington, D.C.

Thank you Ambassador Arturo Asshat for regurgitating your El Presidente's palaver. Nothing like having a third world dungheap take a snot-encrusted finger out of their nose and wave it under yours. Calling a vicious criminal enterprise an "illegal business" is like calling a serial rapist a "non-board certified gynocologist."

I am so sick and tired of Mexican officials trying to put a happy face on the slaughter and mayhem plaguing their hopelessly corrupt nation. There's just no way to put lipstick on this cerdo. Here is a Dallas Opinion Blog that says pretty much what I think-

Unlike Pablo Escobar's Colombian reign of terror in the 1990s, the Mexican cartels are engaged in serious insurgent campaigns. Armed with military infantry weapons, their gunmen use complex small-unit tactics that differ from the usual "pray and spray" methods beloved by criminals. Cartels run training camps for assassins on the border. They attempt to agitate the populace against the Mexican military through political subversion. And they control towns and neighborhoods that the military tries to retake through force.

Mexico's cartels are evolving distinct political aims. La Familia is exemplary in this regard. Using social services and infrastructure protection as levers in rural areas and small towns, they are building a social base. In urban areas, they are funding political patron-client relationships to extend their reach. Reinforced by corruption, propaganda, political marches and demonstrations, as well as social media such as "narcocorridos," such activity helps to shape the future conflict.

Congratulations Ambassador, you've managed to ignore a large scale, weapons grade Weatherman faction that is working up a big head of steam right in your own livingroom.

Miranda Warnings For Zucchinis?

The nut cases are in charge of the asylum. They want to give ants, grasshoppers, snakes, pelicans and rhubarb the same rights as human beings.

UNITED NATIONS — Bolivia will this month table a draft United Nations treaty giving "Mother Earth" the same rights as humans — having just passed a domestic law that does the same for bugs, trees and all other natural things in the South American country.

The bid aims to have the UN recognize the Earth as a living entity that humans have sought to "dominate and exploit" — to the point that the "well-being and existence of many beings" is now threatened.

The wording may yet evolve, but the general structure is meant to mirror Bolivia's Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, which Bolivian President Evo Morales enacted in January.

Nasty, Tricksy Hippies, We Hates Them

I wonder if any of these women have any children that they allowed to exit their womb alive?

H/T Weasel Zippers

Please! Please! Please! Tell Me It Isn't So!

What do you do with Somali Pirates
What do you do with Somali Pirates
What do you do with Somali Pirates
Err-lie in the morning.

Give 'im a kiss and say you're sorry
Pat 'im on the arse and feed 'im halal
Light his cigarette and bid him Godspeed
Earl-lie in the morning.

I just can't believe this.

When a Royal Navy warship captured a crew of Somali pirates, it seemed like a rare chance to strike back at the ruthless sea gangsters.

The 17 outlaws were armed with an arsenal of AK 47s and rocket-propelled grenades, and had forced hostages on a hijacked fishing vessel to work as slaves for three months.

But instead of bringing them to justice, the British servicemen were ordered to provide the pirates halal meals, medical checks, cigarettes – and in one case even a nicotine patch – before releasing them in their own boats.

[...] Commander David Wilkinson, Cornwall’s captain, said: ‘This team admitted their intention was to commit piracy activities.’

But after compiling the evidence against them and submitting it to his superiors he was ordered to ‘set up arrangements for putting them ashore in Somalia’.

Before being freed, the pirates were given a medical check-up in accordance with UK law and food which included a halal option to take into account religious needs. After showing they were compliant, some were given cigarettes, and one was given a nicotine patch on medical advice because his tobacco withdrawal had caused his heart rate to soar.

Close to shore, the British servicemen set them free in two skiffs which they had earlier seized.

No more, I beg you, no more!

Commander Wilkinson added that he believed the order to free the pirates was the ‘right decision’ because he was not convinced bringing them back to the UK would have been a deterrent.

He also said he was unconvinced that they had enough evidence to convict the pirates – even though they were heavily armed, were carrying hostages and had confessed.

I'm gobsmacked.

Trump Isn't The Only One Asking Questions

Isn't it amazing that the media has completely ignored anything and everything that might disparage the reputation/legend of Obama? Charley the ChiTown cop sent me this.

I think it is remarkable that, within a week of Tiger Woods crashing his Escalade, the press found every woman with whom Tiger has had an affair in the last few years, with photos, text messages, recorded phone calls, etc. and, they not only know the cause of the family fight, but they even know it was a wedge from his golf bag that his wife used to break out the windows in the Escalade. They know which wedge! Not only that, each and every day, they've been able to give America more updates on his sex-rehab stay, his wife's plans for divorce, and the dates and tournaments he will play in.

Obama has been in office for two years now, and this same press: still cannot find any of his childhood friends or neighbors, or locate any of Obama’s college papers, or grades or how he paid for a Harvard education, or which country issued his visa to travel to Pakistan in the 1980's, or Barry Soetoro, or even Michelle Obama’s Princeton thesis on racism. They just can't seem to find them!!!

Oh, okay. They did find one. His golfing buddy that just got jacked up for messing with a hooker. But what about his past? There are so many questions that beg to be explored and the media refuses to participate. I guess only conservatives and Republicans are entitled to a media anal exam. Well, there are people who are delving into the President's past, and they are hitting veins of gold. From the Canada Free Press:

The unraveling of Barry Soetoro, a/k/a Barack Hussein Obama II

To those who are now speaking out about the Obama eligibility matter, I can think of no better statement than the one uttered by a very frustrated Officer John McClane, played by Bruce Willis in the movie “Die Hard.” In order to get the attention of a police officer oblivious to the carnage taking place inside of the Nakatomi Plaza building after making a very cursory inspection and finding nothing amiss, McClane tosses the body of a terrorist from an office window window onto the windshield of the police cruiser and fires at the police car, yelling “Welcome to the party, pal.”

Indeed. It's like visiting your crazy Aunt Nancy two months after her husband died and finding his carcass still parked in the parlor. The stink and the flies would drive ordinary humans out of their minds, but the dems keep on smiling, pouring tea and asking you if Medicare covered your mother's trips to the specialist for that nasty rash.

If it were only Uncle Frank in the parlor this might be funny. But like "Arsenic and Old Lace," there are other bodies, long dead, buried in the basement.

Doug Hagmann & Joseph Hagmann run the Northeast Intelligence Network, a multi-state licensed private investigative agency. They have been using their investigative expertise to develop a dossier on Obama, a dossier that has some compelling, and disturbing, revelations.

The first report examines Obama's eligibility to be a candidate. The second report reveals the Democrat's deliberate campaign to obfuscate the difficulties surrounding Obama's perceived ineligibility to be a candidate for President of the United States. In view of the questions regarding his "natural-born" status, just how did Obama get the certification needed to prove his eligibility for the Office of the President? Simple:

An investigation into this issue found that only the chairperson of each party (the party’s national convention that nominates the candidate) has to sign an “Official Certification of Nomination,” which is the recognized legal instrument that affirms that the party’s candidate meets all of the eligibility requirements to hold the office of President. In the case of Barack Hussein OBAMA II, that responsibility fell with Ms. Nancy PELOSI. It is a surprisingly simple process that is completed following the official nomination of the candidate for office, and is usually filed immediately after the close of the party’s convention.

In the case of Barack Hussein OBAMA, PELOSI signed the affirmation of eligibility in her capacity as Chair of the Democratic National Convention along with Alice GERMOND, the Secretary of the Democratic National Convention. Her signature, affixed and notarized to this legal instrument, was viewed as “sufficient documentation” by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) “that both OBAMA and BIDEN were duly nominated and met the Constitutional eligibility requirements,” according to an official interviewed by this investigator at the FEC in Washington, DC. According to this FEC official, “no further verification was required or performed at any level [within the FEC].”

Beautiful. Make that two gibbets on the gallows please. Let's see just how far Pelosi's face and neck can really stretch. Returning to the Northeast Intelligence Networks:

... we should address two rather curious statements made by Mr. Trump during one recent interview. When talking about his investigators in Hawaii who are looking into Obama’s birth certificate issue, he stated that “you wouldn’t believe what they’re finding.” Mr. Trump also stated that in his experience on Wall Street, he is familiar with frauds of all types, and has seen some very sophisticated frauds over the years. Well, we do have a very good idea of what is being found or verified as having been scrubbed from the records.

In our investigation, we found that the scrubbing and altering of records pertaining to Obama began well before he became an Illinois state senator in the 1996 election cycle. The “scrubbing” or alteration of records did not begin or end with Obama, but also extended to his mother and other associates as well. In fact, a very large and extremely relevant part of the investigation of Barry SOETORO, or Barack Hussein Obama II as he is known, revolves around his parents, step father, and grandparents. and extends from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii and other points across the globe.

The stove is getting hotter but is Obama getting cooked? From his reckless disregard for what he says to the press, incessant vacations and uncontrolled spending, I think that he knows his chances for re-election are slim and that he will do as much damage as he can before he is thrown out.

The Religion Of Peace In Action

No matter where they go, Muslims somehow manage to make friends and influence people by reaching out to non-believers. With firearms.

Another Muslim convert reads the Koran and decides that unarmed innocents must die. From Jihadi Watch:

One of the shooter's sisters told the police, in testimony, that Wellington started to go to a mosque in Rio. In his letter, he describes the conflict: "I made mistakes with my family but I changed with the Koran and they do not trust me."

Wellington makes reference to what could be a group. He reports that he divides time between prayers and reflections about terrorism. "I'm outside of the group but I pray to God every day with my noon prayer, that is the recognition of God, and the other 5 are the dedication to God and four hours every day I spend reading the Koran. Not the book because it stayed with the group but parts that I've copied for myself. And the rest of the time I spend meditating about what I read, and sometimes meditating about September 11th."

I have yet to see a Christian run out and slaughter people after reading and sudying the Gospels. Do we need any more proof that the Koran is a demonic influence? What this young man did is straight from the pit of Hell.

UPDATE: I just ran across this Fox News opinion from psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow who comments on the murderous actions of Muslims protesting the burning of the Koran by a weird ass cultic church in Florida:

As a psychiatrist, I believe it is time to assign to the violent protesters—and, certainly, to the homicidal ones—the correct terminology. These men and women are not religious zealots. They are not political idealogues. They are, quite simply, insane. They are suffering from a psychotic delusion—a fixed and false belief. In this case the fixed and false belief is the belief that burning the paper upon which their religious doctrine has been printed constitutes an offense against God that justifies the death of the individual who has committed that act—or of others affiliated with that individual.

[...] In bringing up this topic, I am aware that great care needs to be taken to not use psychiatry to marginalize, intimidate or attack any group. I do not wish to demonize anyone. Much to the contrary, I literally believe that those who attacked the U.N. compound are being mistaken for evil, intolerant, murderous people, when they are actually severely mentally ill people.

An epidemic of psychotic mental illness in any culture is the just domain of my profession to identify, research and render whatever assistance possible to end. Such an epidemic is fueling the violent protesters in Afghanistan. And epidemics are very hard to contain.

Oh brother. Very well, call it what you will. These people have surrendered themselves whole-heartedly to a delusion fostered by a demonic collection of rambling nonsense. There is no medication for this condition other than a rigorous infusion of the Gospel which actually does change men's hearts and has an incredible amount of documentation to show that it has done so for two thousand years. Or use a bullet.

This psychotic episode, if that's what you want to call it, has lasted for 1400 years. Enough already. Please do not introduce typical liberal psycho-babble in order to describe evil. All you manage to do is get these vicious miscreants even more pissed off.

In Jerusalem

There are idiots, fools and the deranged who think that threats of violence will drive the Jews out of Israel, out of their beloved Jerusalem. Like hemorrhoids these blind fools provide occasional irritation, but their vain imaginings fail to take into consideration the history of the Jews.

The Assyrians and Babylonians did it for a spell. The Romans managed to do it for almost two thousand years. Guess what? The Assyrians, the Babylonians and the Romans are long gone. The Jews are still here.

No nation or people will determine who shall live in Jerusalem.

Only God. And when He says,"The Jews stay," there is no power on Earth sufficient to remove them. I believe we are close to the End of Days. Watch Jerusalem, everything else is a side show.

The Palestinians will drive out the Jews? Feh! They're too busy killing each other.

H/T to IOTW

USS Buck Rodgers

The US Navy has successfully tested a ship borne laser, powerful enough to destroy small craft.

A futuristic laser mounted on a speeding cruiser successfully blasted a bobbing, weaving boat from the waters of the Pacific Ocean -- the first test at sea of such a gun and a fresh milestone in the Navy's quest to reoutfit the fleet with a host of laser weapons, the Navy announced Friday.

"We were able to have a destructive effect on a high-speed cruising target," chief of Naval research Rear Adm. Nevin Carr told FoxNews.com.

The test occurred Wednesday near San Nicholas Island, off the coast of Central California in the Pacific Ocean test range, from a laser gun mounted onto the deck of the Navy’s self-defense test ship, former USS Paul Foster.

Now how cool is that? Full speed ahead and damn the photon torpedos!

In a video of the event, the small boat can be seen catching fire and ultimately bursting into flames, a conflagration caused by the navy's distant gun. Some details of the event were classified, including the exact range of the shot, but Carr could provide some information: "We're talking miles, not yards," Carr said.

The laser set fire to one of the outboard engines of this target craft. A video of the test can be seen here. A laser like this is capable of burning through 20 feet of steel in a second.