Not Enough

I've commented before on cases where convicted sex offenders have re-offended; usually after receiving incredibly lenient sentences.

Today's story involves the police search of the home of an offender already in prison for possible human remains. The body, if it exists, is being linked to events that transpired 30 years ago- policed received the tip off in an anonymous letter.

What caught my eye about the story was not that though, it was this-

The paedophile, Leslie Ford-Thrussell, 72, is currently serving a 12-year jail term for 36 offences including seven counts of rape.

Among the offences was one count of gross indecency with a child.

Ford-Thrussell who was convicted in 2004, also admitted to taking and making obscene images.

All that and he's only been given a 12 year sentence? I Googled his name and turned up some other details of his crimes-

Leslie Ford-Thrussell, began a 12-year jail term last week for committing 44 sex crimes on children aged between six and 13.

The pervert, 70, raped and indecently assaulted his victims over a 17-year period and videotaped many of the abuses.

Written in 2004 the story comments that he will be at least 78 when he's released- meaning that he's eligible for release after serving 8 years of that 12 year sentence.

From the same newspaper but a different story comes this-

Leslie Ford-Thrussell, 70, attacked nine children aged 13 and under and filmed himself performing lewd acts in front of them.

Ford-Thrussell, of Walton Green, New Addington, was convicted of 37 child sex crimes at Croydon Crown Court on Friday, including seven counts of rape and 23 counts of indecent assault committed between 1986 and 2003.

His string of disgusting crimes were committed over a 17 year period and focused on children- and he might serve only eight years inside?

If this country's laws made any sense at all he would never see the outside of prison again. How many more times will we have to hear of children being attacked by convicted sex offenders before the message gets through- they have forfeited their right to exist in our society.

Hezbollah Murders

This particular story nearly bypassed me as I didn't catch it on my usual travels around the blogosphere. Luckily though, Blogs for Bush covered it.

Several suspected spies were shot dead in the southern Lebanese port of Tyre, witness said on Thursday.

Passengers on board an evacuation ship told medical doctor Boris Buck from the German city of Munich that they had seen members of the Lebanese Shi'ite Hezbollah group or their sympathisers killing 18 Lebanese people during the night.

The victims were suspected of helping the Israeli air force pick out targets.

I guess the rest of the MSM is too busy building their case that Israel "deliberately" targets civilians, especially women and children, to notice a story like this. They seem to be quite busy ignoring as much evidence as possbile that Hezbollah are a bunch of murderous terrorists to do justice to something like this.

Why all the coverage of the deaths caused by Israel but the story that 18 Lebanese people were murdered by Hezbollah on mere suspicion of being spies gets virtually nothing?

What bias?

Enter The Kettlebell

I finally got a copy of Pavel's new training book Enter The Kettlebell. I haven't finished reading it yet but it's having a big impact on my training. Due to my last bout of back pain in the past few weeks I've been forced to start from scratch again. Luckily this time I seem to have kept most of my strength- but my endurance was hit hard. That's what I get for trying not to move at all for about a month I guess.

One of the biggest changes is relearning to do the clean. In Russian Kettlebell Challenge I learned to absorb the "thump" of the kettlebell coming to a rest at shoulder height with a slight dip of the knees. Well, things have changed- incorporating lessons learned from training sessions the new technique is now to keep the body braced for the impact. It seems like a simple little change but I'm still getting used to it a few weeks on. I find that when I get towards the end of a session and I'm tired that I'll slip back into the old, ingrained habit of the knee-dip. I'm hoping that there aren't more technique changes for me to discover later in the book!

Another big change in ETK is that there's a set routine to follow. One of the recommended sessions is the "man maker"; a series of swings interspaced by jogging for twelve minutes. I haven't done that yet; I avoid running like the plague, an effort to protect my back. I'm going to have to think about an alternative- perhaps set my bike up on the turbo trainer instead?

The other is a five minute set of Get Ups. Oh my! I've never done Get Ups before, it was just an exercise that didn't seem to appeal to me. How wrong I was. I spent one or two sessions practicing the movement; the exercise involves lying flat on your back with the kettlebell in one hand lifted up as if you've just pressed it. You then have to rise smoothly to a standing position, come back down, pass the KB to the other hand and repeat for five minutes. The first time I did the workout my shoulders burned with the effort. It's very hard indeed- and I've discovered that I love doing them, it's a tremendous work out.

Anyway, for the past few weeks I've been sticking to basics, interspacing sessions of Get Ups with those based on swings, cleans, the military press and just a few snatches. All of these using my light 16kg KB and keeping the reps up, trying to improve my stamina a bit. The result is that I've dropped 9lbs of weight in the space of three weeks- and that's with a pretty lousy diet, I've been eating out much more than usual lately. Conclusion- kettlebells work.

A few days ago I was supposed to be having a rest day but in the evening I was feeling restless so I decided to have a quick workout. Feeling like it would be short and sweet I grabbed my 32kg KB for the first time in months and proceeded to do some sets of swings. The first few felt clumsy but I soon got used to the extra weight and I ended up training for maybe fifteen minutes, ending up by doing a couple of sets of snatches with the 16kg KB. The heavy bell had me pretty much worn out so those snatches weren't easy. I was expecting to feel a little stiffness from that but it amazed me just how much impact it did have- my thighs felt like blocks of wood the next day and my obliques...well, let's just say that I haven't ever been quite so aware of them. And there's another advantage of KB training- no need to worry about crunches!

Metamorphosis

Right before our very eyes Hezbollah are, apparently, metamorphosising from a terrorist organisation to...well, no news what exactly they are yet. I'm sure it'll only be a short time before the MSM starts calling them freedom fighters or some such nonsense. I wonder how long before other terrorist groups are elevated to the same level as nation-states?

The United Nations’ #2 man, Mark Malloch Brown, says it is “not helpful” to call Hizballah a terrorist organization.

The [Australian] government is on a collision course with its Muslim advisory group over its claim that Hizbollah should not be considered a terrorist organisation.

In a rebuff to Washington, the European Union will not add the Islamist Hezbollah movement to its list of terrorist organizations, the EU president says.

I guess Al Qaeda will soon be along to start firing rockets at random into Israel in order to have their terrorist status rescinded too.

Qana Confusion

Outside of the mainstream media and the Liberal/Left, questions are still being asked about what happened at Qana. The initial claim that sixty were killed has now been downgraded- the current death toll is twenty eight. Which seems odd considering all the press busy taking photographs of the casualties being removed. Perhaps they got confused in their count by the constant parading of the dead children?

There are also questions about the timing of the building collapse. While the IDF maintains that there was a gap of some seven hours between the attack and the collapse, there are different reports from the inhabitants of the village-

Residents' accounts say only 10 minutes went by between the strike and the collapse.

Is that so? Because according to another story, also from Haaretz-

The survivors spoke of two bombings; one at 1 A.M., and the second some 10 minutes later. However, what appeared to the survivors as a second bombing may have been the sound of the building coming down. None of the survivors said that the building only collapsed several hours later.

Notice, the very leading "may have been". Yeah, it may have been the building coming down, or it could have been another strike- or an explosion of Hezbollah munitions within the building. None of the people there may have said that the building came down several hours later- but did they say it didn't? Supposition is all well and good but right now there seems to be too much confusion to make any definite claims. What does bother me is this meme which seems to be spreading-

Ibrahim Shalhoub described how he and his cousin had left to find help following the strike on the building. "It was dark and there was lots of smoke," he said. "No one could do anything until morning. I could not stop crying; I couldn't help them."

The fact that the Red Cross in Tyre was informed of the incident only in the morning is another reason why assistance was late in arriving. The director of the Red Cross office in the city, Sami Yazbek, said that he received word of the incident only at 7 A.M.

The implication is that the building was brought down by the airstrike but nothing could be done unitl morning. Interesting that the Red Cross didn't hear anything until 7 a.m. Sunrise in Lebanon occurs at about 5:50 a.m. And if Lebanon is anything like the other parts of the world that I've been too it will begin getting brighter before that. Amazingly enough too, there are also things which can create light- torches, candles, laterns, matches even. Surely some of these devices would have enabled people to notice that a large building had fallen down during the night, allowing them to alert the Red Cross?

Or perhaps Hezbollah had to get there first to arrange the site?

Whatever the facts of the matter are it's important to remember that the IAF are investigating what happened. Because the Israeli forces don't deliberately target women and children in their attacks. Perhaps errors were made and there were no Katyusha rockets being launched from next to that building- but that's the point, isn't it? Errors. It might turn out to be a ghastly mistake but, unlike Hezbollah and their ilk, those civilians weren't the target that Israel was trying to hit. It seems like an obvious thing to say and yet I still see so-called peace protestors marching around with Hezbollah flagsa draped across their shoulders- when Israel kills civilians during war, it is a mistake- when Hezabollah do the same, it is deliberate.

And yet still the "peace" activists denounce Israel.

UPDATE- The IDF investigation into the attack seems to be concluded-

Two missiles, the only one of which exploded, hit the building on July 30. The army said that they had operated according to information that "the building was not inhabited by civilians and was being used as a hiding place for terrorists." Had they known that civilians were in the building, the attack would not have been carried out.

No word on when the building came down and I'm sure we'll never have an independent investigation into the remains of the building itself to see just what was inside.

There is also this to consider-

Paul Conneally, the Irish national who is deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Israel and the Palestinian Authority and is the person assigned to deal with Lebanese matters, said he could not say exactly how many bodies were taken out and how many died there. He had no information about whether anyone had autopsied the bodies to determine the causes of death.

So, the Israelis thought the building was empty and that's why it was targeted. Will we ever know any more about the timeline of events at the building? What was inside? What was the exact cause of death of the children paraded before the world's press? Where were the men of the village? Are they Hezbollah? Why was help not called for when it might have done some good? Were there rocket launchers near the building at the time of the attack?

Hezbollah's Rockets

It seems as if the IDF action against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon is starting to take effect- the number of rockets fired at Haifa has been halved. It seems too that their stock of Zelzal

rockets has been reduced by two-thirds. It's not all good news though-Three weeks ago, Hizbullah had 13,000 short-term rockets. After firing 1,500 rockets Israel, and additional 1,500 destroyed by the IDF, the organization still has 10,000 rockets that can reach the frontline. The rockets have a diameter of 107 and 122 millimeters.

So there are 10,000 rockets in terrorist hands in Lebanon still. Good work by the UN (in the region since 1948) and the Lebanese army. Is it any wonder that Israel has been forced to resort to taking military action to defend themselves? No one was doing it for them. Can any other country in the world honestly say that if terrorists were firing rockets at their cities and towns with impunity from just beyond their borders they too would do nothing about it?

It is believed that Hizbullah members received an order to fire between 100 and 120 'normal' rockets a day. On Monday for example, 157 such rockets were fired, a fifth of them fired north of the Litani River, a fact which testifies to the difficulties of the rocket launchers targeting Israel.

War On Guns

David Codrea's War on Guns is a must read blog- even if the Second Amendment is not an issue close to your heart. The reason is that he has an ongoing series of stories called "We're the only ones..." detailing firearms mishaps committed by law enforcement officers and also the outrageous way in which LEOs are frequently treated differently by the judicial system. Don't believe that the United States has a protected class of person, treated entirely differently under the law than Joe Average? You're in for a shock.

A Philadelphia School District police officer...grabbed a 3-year-old boy by the throat after the child accidentally squirted his car with a water gun on 17th and Tasker.

Police said Bradley threw the boy to the ground and smashed his water gun before re-entering his home and allegedly retrieving an unregistered firearm.

Neighbors said he threatened them with the .38 caliber handgun...

But after hearing, a judge threw out the most serious charges, leaving only misdemeanors.

This is just the latest in a long line of stories that War on Guns covers almost daily. Do you honestly think that YOU would be facing misdemeanour charges if you assaulted a three year old child and threatened your neighbours with an unregistered firearm?

Trivial Foot Stamping

The world just seems to be getting crazier and crazier every day. Is it contagious?

Here in Northern Ireland, DIY chain B&Q has caused a storm in a teacup by issuing staff with new work uniforms displaying the Olympic Emblem containing the Union Jack- the chain is a sponsor of the British team. All staff have complete freedom of choice over whether they want to wear the new shirts or not.

What could be the cause of the fuss, I hear you cry? A British store sponsoring the British team and issuing staff in part of Britain with a shirt displaying the British flag. Where's the problem?

Well, a Sinn Fein Assembly member, a Ms Ruane, has complained to the chain, claiming that staff who chose not to wear the new uniform could be subject to "sectarian harassment" (as if no one in Northern Ireland can tell what part of the community the people they work with come from). She claimed that the company's decision displayed "ignorance". Right.

Ian Paisley Jr responded-

"I welcome the fact that B&Q are standing by their decision on this. I think it only reflects on Catriona Ruane. Coming up to our Olympics in London, this is the sort of thing which has to be welcomed and encouraged."

B&Q has issued a statement too, "they were proud to support and sponsor the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic team."

What's wrong that such a simple thing as the entirely voluntary supporting of the national team in the Olympics makes some people have a temper tantrum? If this is how people act over such a trivial matter, it's little wonder that the world's in the shape it is today.

I Stand With Israel

The banner in the top right corner is available from Jack Lewis.net- it's incredibly easy to add to Blogger.

History Repeating

Look how far we've come since the time of the Nazis.

The Mosaic Religious Community has advised its Jewish members against speaking Hebrew loudly on the streets of Oslo or wearing Jewish emblems.

It comes after a Jewish man wearing a kippah, or yarmulke, was assaulted on an Oslo street Saturday. The Mosaic Religious Community wants its members to be careful.

Talk about progress.

No Hate Crime?

The Muslim who murdered one woman and injured five others in a shooting in Seattle will not be charged under Federal hate-crime laws. Instead, he will face murder and attempted murder charges.

Witnesses reportedly heard Haq declare he was an American Muslim. Police have said Haq's statements indicate the shootings were a hate crime.

So the police say it, what's wrong then? Could it be something to do with this?

A law-enforcement source, who is a member of the Seattle Joint Terrorism Task Force and familiar with the investigation, said Haq was not a practicing Muslim.

No, no Muslims here- and just ignore what the suspect himself said when he identified himself as a Muslim American. Possibly he was just a little confused. Of course if a man identified himself as a Christian and then attacked members of another religion, you can be positive that he wouldn't face any hate crime charges- not if he didn't regularly go to church anyway. That makes all the difference doesn't it?

And all that stuff about the way he "then entered the premises and made several statements indicating anger at Jews." Nope, that can't be a hate crime either- he just said he was angry, not that he hated them, right?

I wonder what they would be charging a white man who went into a centre for black people, said he was angry with them and began shooting. Surely that wouldn't qualify as a hate crime if this doesn't?

UPDATE- Looks like this report was false- he has been charged under the hate-crime law.

Haq also is charged with five counts of attempted first-degree murder in the wounding Friday afternoon of five women at the federation's downtown offices; one count of first-degree kidnapping, involving a teenage girl who was briefly taken hostage; one count of first-degree burglary for allegedly entering a locked facility to commit a crime; and one count of malicious harassment under the state's hate-crime law.

Hezbollah At Work

A letter to German paper Die Tagesspiegel from a Lebanese Shia with thanks to LGF-

I lived until 2002 in a small southern village near Mardshajund that is inhabited by a majority of Shias like me. After Israel left Lebanon, it did not take long for Hezbollah to take have its say in other towns. Received as successful resistance fighters and armed to the teeth, they stored rockets in bunkers in our town as well. The social work of the Party of God consisted in building a school and a residence over these bunkers! A local sheikh explained to me laughing that the Jews would lose in any event because the rockets would either be fired at them or if they attacked the rockets depots, they would be condemned by world opinion on account of the dead civilians. These people do not care about the Lebanese population, they use them as shields, and, once dead, as propaganda. As long as they continue existing there, there will be no tranquility and peace.

You'd think that if Hezbollah did care at all for the people of Lebanon they would know that hiding amongst them offers no protection from Israeli counter-attack: and that they would abandon using the tactic out of concern for those around them. If they cared.

Qana

HotAir is reporting that the situation at Qana in Lebanon might not be as clear cut as the media is currently portraying it. The IDF attack took place sometime before 0100hrs while the building collapsed at 0800hrs. There is speculation that the collapse may have been caused by Hezbollah explosives stored there. Then there's the news that 150 rockets have been fired from Qana into Israel and the video which appears to show rockets being fired from possibly the same building.

I've been relying on the MSM all day for my news as I've been away from home; and the skin-deep coverage just doesn't compare to what can be found online- even at MSM sites. Surprisingly, the Sky News coverage is remarkably unbiased. As a Lebanese official was being interviewed tonight the anchor asked about when the Israelis kill civilians it is by accident and when Hezbollah do it, it is on purpose. The official ducked the question, insisting that the death toll was so large now that no comparisons could be made any more. Shame the reporter didn't think to ask what the official thought the death toll would be in Israel if Hezbollah had access to more modern and efficient weapons than the Katyusha.

CNN is now reporting that Israel is suspending air operations for 48hrs while they investigate what happened at Qana; and it is allowing UN officials to move into southern Lebanon to help evacuate civilians there. And Israel has also called the attack a "tragic mistake"; that may not be of any comfort to the families of the dead but it's more than the families of those killed by Hezbollah could ever expect to receive. Could you ever imagine Hezbollah doing the same thing? Oh, right- their intention is to deliberately target civilians. Shame that this seems to have been overlooked by all of those clamouring for Israel to stop fighting back.

Where were the peace activists all this time when Israel was being daily targeted by rocket attacks and suicide bombers? I don't remember any of them calling for the UN to stop the violence then, I don't recall any pressure for the Security Council to take action, no comments by world leaders agonising that something should be done to stop the killing. Bloody hypocrits.

Hezbollah Attacks UN

I wonder when the UN and Kofi will get around to condemning Hezbollah? I don't think I'll hold my breath waiting.

Neither the mainstream media nor Kofi Annan have mentioned it, but Hizballah has attacked UNIFIL observers twice this week.

Details at LGF.

Beirut Situation

This is really strange- while the BBC and their ilk continue to repeat again and again that the Israelis are destroying Lebanon, the entire country seemingly reduced to rubble overnight, the facts seem to be somewhat different.

"Beirut largely unscathed as Israel targets Hezbollah strongholds".

Vital Perspective also states the following-

"Over the past 24 hours, more than 110 missiles fired by Hezbollah have landed in Israel, including one which landed in a hospital in Nahariya. The IDF carried out over 60 aerial attacks in the same time frame against Hezbollah structures, posts and headquarters, including some used for storage of weaponry, a number of rocket launchers, including a launcher that was used to launch rockets at Afula, trucks and containers that carried weaponry, several Hezbollah weapon storage facilities, several rocket launching sites in southern Lebanon and routes used by Hezbollah to reach these sites. During the day, the IDF also continued firing artillery into southern Lebanon, targeting terror infrastructure in southern Lebanon along the border."

So what exactly is so disproportionate about Israel's response?

Pesh-Kabz

I just bought myself a new pocket knife, picking up a real bargain from eBay. It's a Columbia River Knife and Tool Nealy Pesh-Kabz folder. It's a lovely little item- the Zytel grips feel superb in the hand and the knife itself fills the palm really well. It also features CRKT's LAWKS system- an extra safety catch to ensure that the blade stays open no matter what punishment is beign inflicted on the locking mechanism. I'm not sure if it's essential for my own use, but it is comforting to know that it's there to stop the knife accidentally closing on my fingers.

The interesting thing about the knife is the blade grind- the section of blade at the tip is full thickness; you can see this a little in the photo but it doesn't really give the full impression. The idea behind the grind is to provide the knife with full strength for piercing/stabbing. It's apparently an old Persian design, originally intended for defeating chain mail. On the flip side of the handle is a curvy clip; again this is credited as being a Persian design but it looks a little more Art Deco to my uneducated eye.

In any event it's a solid little knife which stands out a bit from the crowd. And as it doesn't appear to be on CRKT's website any more it may be discontinued. If that's the case, I'd recommend picking one of these up before they're all gone.

Global Warming Spreading

Okay, own up- who's been burning coal and driving SUVs on Pluto?

The last official planet which comprises our solar system is appearing to warm up, according to astronomers. Astronomers aren't sure why this is occurring, as the planet has been steadily moving away from the sun for nearly a decade.

Normally, the planet is so cold that all but a very minimal amount of atmosphere is forced to freeze and remain on the surface. However, observations are suggesting that the planet's atmosphere remains at least as dense, indicating the warming.

Quick, someone call Al Gore!

Police Shame

This is an horrendous story, particularly in light of my previous entry where three police officers turned up to question the parents of a toddler who kicked a ball against the fence of an off-duty colleague for "causing a disturbance". Seems that they can spring into action when one of their mates calls in, but when it's a member of the public it's a different matter altogether. And no, this isn't an isolated incident either.

The family of a three year old girl who was abducted and then repeatedly sexually assaulted are filing a civil action against the police for failing to protect their daughter.

The girl's mother said she was angry that the police had not immediately arrested Sweeney after she told police his name and where he lived in a frantic phone call moments after her child was snatched.

Despite the fact that the police had the necessary information to get to the kidnapper's home, probably before even he did, they failed to take any action. Instead the predator had time to drive the child back to his home and repeatedly attack her. He was only caught later after a police patrol caught him running a red light. And that's not all.

A senior inspector and a superintendent from South Wales Police now face a misconduct panel for failing in their duties. A third officer involved in the case has since retired and will face no further action.

A "misconduct panel". Sounds awfully lenient for such a colossal screw-up. The Independent Police Commission rejected the notion that had police responded immedaitely to the call from the girl's mother that the sexual assault could have been been prevented- which is odd considering that they were given the man's name and address immediately. They didn't even have to do any police work- just go to his house. Instead the IPC noted deficiencies and inadequacies- and then went on to praise the local force for their "positive response" to this light criticism. And why the hell should a third officer escape any responsibility for failing to do his job simply because he's retired? Instead of throwing the book at these pathetic individuals it seems like they'll get off with little more than a black mark in their records.

As infuriating as it is, the police are not the only ones to blame. As always seems to be the case with stories about paedophiles, the scumbag in question here had a record-

Sweeney had already been convicted of sexually assaulting a six-year-old child when he snatched the girl. He was jailed for life but his licence period for the earlier attack had expired just days before he struck again.

What the hell was he doing out on the streets where he had the opportunity to molest another young child? How many times do we have to hear about sex offenders attacking people again before the message gets through that they have no place in our society? Let's just take a moment here- Sweeney, the one responsible for this little girl's ordeal, had previously been convicted of indecently assaulting a six year old girl. How long did he get for that crime? Well, he was released early from a mere three year sentence. So, by the age of twenty four he was back out on the streets and capable of committing his most recent crime. How long will he serve now, with a repeated attack on a three year old, at least his second crime? Will life actually mean life now? Of course not.

In June, he was again jailed for life after admitting four charges of kidnap, three of sexual assault and one of dangerous driving.

John Reid, the Home Secretary, criticised the judge after he told Sweeney he could apply for parole after five years and 108 days but Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, said the law had been applied correctly.

The family is due to meet the Attorney General this week to demand tougher sentences for child sex offenders.

So in less than six years he could be back out on the streets. There had been an effort to get his sentence referred to the Court of Appeal but it failed.

Attorney General Lord Goldsmith has decided not to challenge the minimum sentence of a man who sexually abused a three-year-old girl.

Lord Goldsmith will not ask the Court of Appeal to review the sentence because he has concluded it is not "unduly lenient".

So a repeat child sex offender could be out after kidnapping and assaulting a three year old in less than six years and that isn't unduly lenient? What planet is this guy living on?

While the Home Secretary criticises the judge, the judges criticise the government- for setting the sentencing guidelines that they are working by in the first place. Perhaps now the government will be forced to take action to make sentencing tougher- a hell of a lot tougher- for those who prey on the most vulnerable segment of our society.

Police Action

Not the first time that we've heard of this kind of story coming from the UK. I guess it's more important to make sure that an off-duty officer is afforded peace and quiet than to go out and, say, catch some actual criminals.

THREE uniformed cops quizzed a stunned mum and dad for 15 minutes — after their tot kicked a ball at a neighbour’s fence.

Why am I not surprised?

Dead West

I came across the Dead West graphic novel quite by accident, not really knowing what to expect. The back cover blurb is as follows-

"I'm going to kill him."
"You can try, but in this town nothing stays dead for long."
"Well then...in that case I'll just have to hurt him real bad."

As the title suggests, it's a Western complete with a Clint Eastwood "man with no name" character- with poncho- a bounty killer on the trail of a "fat man". Unluckily for him, his quarry leads him into a town overrun by zombies, the undead brought to life by an Indian's lust for vengence on the white men who killed his tribe.

The art work is uneven- some of the characters look so much alike that it's sometimes hard to recognise one from the other- but it's better than a lot of what passes for comic book art these days. It's average, nothing special, save for the odd frame here and there. The zombies do look good though.

The story itself is patchy- there's not a whole lot of character development and many of the characters are little more than blanks. In no time at all the town is overrun by zombies and some of the townsfolk are holed up, waiting patiently for their own end. One nice touch is that the zombies are slow during the day, but faster at night. A fair bit of six gun action then ensues, not all of it illustrated as well as it might have been. At times it felt like I was plodding through the book, not carried along by it.

Having said that, there is something likeable about it. Something I can't quite put my finger on. Perhaps it's the setting and the unusual zombie mythos, but despite its failings, I do like this book. In any event, Dead West is certainly no worse than many of the mainstream offerings coming from Marvel or DC these days.

It could do with being a little longer, stretching the story out over two or even three books to give the characters more time to grow on the reader; as it stands, there's little there to empathise with. None of the characters are that engaging. We all know the Clint Eastwood character from the movies and this one is not really different at all but there's little there to make him remotely likeable. It seems to me that the story needed to be bigger in scope, to give him a chance to prove himself, and to give the reader more time to get involved. A bit more action would have been nice too. If it had been up to me, the bounty killer and his prey would have conducted a few chases/gunfights through the zombie-infested town.

I'd give it a solid 3 out of 5. If you're a fan of zombies though it's certainly one to check out.

Guns and the Press

A couple of stories leapt out at me today.

The first is from Clayton Cramer's blog where he details the way in which USA Today falsified a news account to remove a reference to the fact that a man on a rampage with a knife was stopped by a citizen and his privately held firearm. In the USA Today story the knife-weilder was "tackled", not stopped by a man with a gun. Cramer also stresses that the AP source for the story on USA Today also referenced the gun; so this isn't a case of accidental misreporting but a clear attempt to deceive the public with false information. Where I come from, that's called lying. The story has since been updated with a little thing called the facts, no doubt following complaints.

The second is from The Other Side. Kim du Toit fisked a piece about the dreaded "cop-killer" FN Five.Seven handgun. The NY1 story reported statistics by Queen's District Attorney Richard Brown, who claimed that the recently introduced gun was responsible for the deaths of 425 cops between '94 and '03.
Kim du Toit checked the "facts" and send off an email challenging the claims (the gun in question was only introduced in 2000 and only then to LEOs). To his surprise, and mine I might add, NY1 responded, admitting that the statistics made no sense and they also removed the story from their website, to their credit. They said that they had given credit to the information, seeing as how it had come from law enforcement.

So there we have it- two obvious instances of deliberate attempts to decieve- to lie- to the public on the issdues of guns; once by a major news outlet and once by a District Attorney. While the stories have since been corrected I have to wonder how many people will only have seen the original stories; and taken them at face value? The damage has already been done.

UPDATE - Kevin at Smallest Minority has much more on the subject.

Hezbollah's American Victims

Michelle Malkin's Vent is a must see today, particularly given the battle currently raging in the Middle East.

Airport Checks

LGF reports on Muslims boycotting Glasgow airport because of anti-terror searches and checks. Amazing that Muslims might be singled out for extra attention in an effort to prevent Muslim terror attacks. Sadly the response is this-

Strathclyde Police said it was looking at training to raise awareness of cultural and religious sensitivities.

Of course, a few years ago I used to fly fairly frequently from Northern Ireland to England. I was a young guy with cropped hair in, if I say so myself, very good shape (this was during my military service)- every single time I went through airport security on both sides of my flight I was asked to step out of the line and given closer attention by the security officers on duty. Back then the threat to Britain was coming from the IRA and their ilk so it made sense to focus attention on people like me. I'd have been appalled if our security service were pulling aside French or Australian travellers; it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. And yet this is precisely the sort of attitude that Muslims would like us to adopt now, usually on the grounds that to single out Muslim travellers is somehow "racist".

Strathclyde police never tried to be "culturally or religiously sensitive" to travellers from Northern Ireland (and on my last visit to Glasgow, the security desk set up to keep an extra eye on travellers coming off the plane was empty). Why on earth should they be given extra training to be sensitive now? Were they given training to be sensitive to any other terrorist threat? Are Muslims a special class of person that deserve and require extra-special treatment that other citizens are not entitled to? I don't think so.

Is it "undignified" to be pulled aside and given a bit of security attention? From personal experience, I can tell you that it is not. At worst, it's a minor inconvenience- and it was one that I was quite happy to put up with knowing that the best effort was being made to prevent another terrorist atrocity occurring.

While Muslim groups complain about the treatment, none of them seem to express a similar sentiment- how refreshing it would be to hear a major Muslim group publically state that they understand why security services have to pay special attention to Muslim travellers in the fight against Islamic terrorism, and that it's an inconvenience that they are happy to put up with as a show of their support for the battle against terrorism.

Explanation

Gee, I guess I need to go order a Liberal-approved tin foil hat. There I was thinking that mass protests favouring Islamic terrorists were a clear sign of the Left's inherent anti-semitism. In fact, it's all a fiendishly cunning plot by Karl Rove to smear Libs. Of course! How could I have been so foolish?

“I came to the conclusion that the hostile comments about Israel on these liberal blogs are not coming from true liberals. Most of the anti-Semitism comes from racism and most of the racism I have experienced has come from the far right, not the left.

“So my conclusion is that the bloggers who violently hate Israel and see it in black and white terms are not really liberals. They may even be anti-Semites, but they are not representative of the liberal community that was so active in achieving racial and ethnic equality. It is a contradiction for a true liberal to be an anti-Semite."

In that case, Karl Rove's mind control machine must be working overtime.

Lebanon-Israel Border

I've been meaning to post this for a few days now but just haven't found the time for one reason or another.

Democracy Arsenal has a piece up about a UN report on what's been happening on the Lebanon-Israel boder.

- Since the withdrawal 6 years ago, there has been a steady stream of violent flare-ups, including deadly missile and mortar attacks by Hezbollah that have provoked Israeli retaliation.

- For its part, Israel engaged in no violent provocations but ignored repeated entreaties by the UN to cease flyovers into Lebanese territory that were prohibited under the terms of their withdrawal.

So, the UN protests Israeli flyovers but does absolutely nothing about Hezbollah rocket attacks. Makes it crystal clear why Israel doesn't want to have anything to do with a return to the status quo, where they are castigated for committing non-violent acts and Hezbollah get free reign to fire rockets at civilian targets.

The UN needs to sort out its priorities fast. As every day passes they provide more and more evidence of their own inconsequentiality in the modern world.

Also from the UNFIL report are these comments-

However, near the Blue Line the authorities have, in effect, left control to Hizbollah. Its members worked in civilian attire and were normally unarmed. They monitored the Blue Line, maintained public order and, in some villages, provided social, medical and education services.

The Government of Lebanon continued to maintain the position that, as long as there is no comprehensive peace with Israel, the Lebanese armed forces would not be deployed along the Blue Line. Areas along the Blue Line were monitored by Hizbollah through a network of mobile and fixed positions. Sometimes, Hizbollah acted as surrogate for the civil administration by extending social, medical and educational services to the local population. On several occasions, Hizbollah personnel restricted the freedom of movement of UNIFIL and interfered with its redeployment.

Double Standards

Funny, I don't remember any mass protests of "hundreds of thousands" of people against Hamas and Hezbollah firing rockets indiscriminately at civilian targets in Israel.

The phrase "anti-semitism" springs to mind.

The great Red-Blue gulf in America is beginning to become apparent elsewhere in the world as the divide grows between those who would confront evil and those who prefer to appease it.

It's sad that in this day and age of so-called acceptance and tolerance that those on the Left who shout so loudly for anti-discrimination are the same people so so rabidly espouse the ideals of anti-semitism. They cannot dare condemn Islamic terrorists who have no qualms about deliberately murdering women and children time and again, who think nothing of indiscriminately bombing innocent people as they go about their daily business- yet when Jewish Israel dares to defend itself against terrorist attack, these are the people demanding "peace" and "ceasefire".

Where were they when the Islamic terrorists blew up Israelis who were out shopping or having a meal? Where were the mass protests against the abhorrent murder of eight months pregnant Tali Hatuel and her young daughters? Why then did they not rush to the streets en masse to demand that Hamas stop the terror? Where were they when nearly two hundred children were murdered by Islamic terrorists at Beslan? Where were they when hostages were having their heads sawed off on video camera to cries of "Allah Ackbar"?

I'm sick to death of the double standards- coming out to protest the actions of America and Israel while failing to condemn a single barbaric act committed in the name of Islam. If they really want peace then they have to be prepared to condemn all the violence- the fact that they do not, tells me that peace is not what they want at all.

.45 Colt

MadOgre has posted a few pieces on his idea for a new shooting sport- essentially Cowboy Action without the fancy dress. It's certainly an appealing concept- although I can see the appeal for the CAS guys and gals who go the whole hog. In any event one of the commenters at his site offered some criticism of the .45 (Long) Colt for defensive shooting. That old round might not be new-fangled and "tactical" but it's ceretainly a manstopper. Recently Box O' Truth tested some cowboy guns and the .45 Colt performed admirably. A 250-grain flat point round nose at 900fps easily met the 12" goblin penetration requirement; and it left a .45 sized hole to boot. A single action wouldn't be my first choice for a home defence gun but a double action .45 Colt wouldn't go amiss. Here's a perfect example of the .45 Colt- a Smith and Wesson Mountain Gun from Collectors.

Business Cards and FTP

War on Guns has a post up about private businesses being advised to prohibit citizens from lawfully carrying concealed weapons on their person in Kansas. David responded by placing a Word document online to enable you to print out a card to give to such businesses; advising them exactly why you are taking your dollars to their competitors.

In a follow up post he provided a copy of the document to print your own cards out via Rapidshare- and he also asked if anyone could mirror the file for when the Rapidshare link expires. I decided to put a copy of the business card up in my own webspace. You can get the Word file here.

It's been a while since I did anything with that webspace and when I went to upload the file with Dreamweaver 4 (yeah, I'm old school) I discovered that the program refused to connect via FTP. All of the settings are exactly the same as the last time I used it so I'm at a loss to explain the failure to perform. In any case, I went looking for an ftp client; I'm happy enough doing what basic things I need to do with Dreamweaver and upload the site files with another program.

I was quickly able to find a neat Firefox extension called FireFTP, a client that opens up right in a Firefox tab. which is very handy indeed. Setting it up is as easy as pie and it's a pleasure to use on my old, slow PC. I'd definitely recommend it if you need a free FTP client. Oh, and it's only a 100kb to download too.

And don't forget about the business cards too. As David says, "Without meaning to reopen an old debate, gun owners should react to businesses that do this with their wallets. Profit margins are generally pretty slim, and if you let a business owner know you have chosen his competitor and are going to make a personal commitment to warn other gun owners, you'll probably see some behavior modification."

Flight of Fantasy

Time for another superb illustration from Adam Hughes. This time it's his version of Catwoman. One of the best things about many of AH!'s cover art is the excellent colouring; I'm not sure who does that particular work but he's very, very good.

B-Movie

I stumbled across this while browsing for some other info on IMDB- a TV movie called Alien Fire which is listed as being still in production.

Here's the plot summary-Alien creatures emerge from the sun and attack Earth.

Is it bad that I actually want to see this?

Bakri's Terror

You have to laugh. Omar Bakri, preacher of hate, leaves Britain to avoid prosecution and flees to Lebanon. Now, the man who once called for the British State to be replaced by an Islamic tyranny is begging the British to take him to safety.

He also went to Beirut harbour yesterday morning to try to board a UK warship taking British nationals to safety, but was turned away because he does not have a British passport.

HA!

BBC Bias

I watched the BBC news coverage of Bush's veto on the TV last night and the report gave the very definite impression that he had not banned federal funding of stem cell research but actual stem cell research itself. It's a common tactic in the debate but it was so blatant that I was surprised. The BBC's bias seems to be becoming more and more evident as time goes on.

You have to go online to the BBC's website to discover the actual facts of the story. Such a shame that they couldn't have been quite so straightforward with the huge TV audience they get. The TV report not only fudged the details of the story but they also failed to mention at all some other pertient details-

Two other less controversial bills received unanimous backing from the Senate, and were signed into law by President Bush.

One encourages stem cell research using cells from sources other than embryos, and the other bill bans the growing and aborting of foetuses for research.

Of course, they fail to mention that stem cell research can freely be carried out by scientists in the US, just not with federal dollars.

Crime Report

War on Guns reports on the case of an illegal immigrant who shot two young brothers, aged only three and six years old. He had entered the US after being deported to Mexico on his relase from prison-

after spending 15 months of a two year sentence for killing an apartment manager.

Two years for murdering someone? And only serving fifteen months of that sentence? Little wonder that he didn't waste any time in sneaking back into the country after receiving such a ridiculously lenient sentence. Afterall, he had been arrested seven times in the past few years on weapons and gang-related charges. What on earth is there to act as a deterrent to him to not commit any more crimes? If he only gets fifteen months for murdering a man, how long can he expect to do for "merely" wounding two small children?

Flying The Flag

Every year, in the weeks around the 12th of July, many parts of Northern Ireland burst with patriotic colour- red, white and blue bunting lines the streets and Union Jacks and our own Ulster Banner are displayed from homes, shops and tied to lamp-posts.

While I'm not at all interested personally in the marches of the Orangemen and the accompanying bands, it is nice to see the flags on display. One thing that I may have mentioned before, and which seems quite apt at the moment, is the tendency of some Loyalist areas to also fly the flag of Israel. I'm not sure why it began but it seems to me to show a solidarity with another nation beset by terrorist problems- a people constantly under attack by terrorist gun and bomb. And there's also a certain amount of admiration- while the old RUC would stand back and let the rioters throw their petrol bombs, we would watch the Israeli police and military on TV deal with similar problems in a much more direct manner. When I was growing up, I can remember hearing many of those around me advocating similar tactics be used over here. Our police and Army always seemed to be so much more reluctant to actually do anything.

In the same way, there are Nationalist communities around the country where Palestinian flags are flown- along with some murals too. Why this show of support for the Palestinians? Well, it may have something to do with the fact that they identify with what they suppose to be an oppressed people, or it could be that Middle Eastern terrorists have a long history of supporting the IRA with arms and training. I had been hoping to get some photos but I haven't been fit for the drive lately. Perhaps in a few weeks I'll be able to get out and about with my camera.

In the meantime, here's a quick snap I took of an Israeli flag on display in a village not far from where I live; the image is a little blurred because I had to use the less than perfection digital zoom on my camera. The flag above it is a UVF one.

I also found a link displaying some Nationalist murals- one calling Yasser Arafat a "peacemaker" and another showing a PLO and IRA terrorist holding an RPG aloft together; the slogan is "One Struggle". Also take note of the graffiti scrawled on a wall; "Penta-Gone". That was put up by Nationalists the day after 9/11.

Moral Authority

From LGF comes this story of Howard Dean claiming that the situation in Israel is really all the fault of the Republicans; if the Democrats were in power, Hamas and Hezbollah would not be kidnapping, murdering and firing rockets. He then goes on to provide proof of this argument-

"We would have had the moral authority that Bill Clinton had when he brought together the Northern Irish and the IRA."

The moral authority of backing a process that put a still armed and active terrorist organisation into local government you mean?

And, just to show Howard Dean's incredible grasp of the situation, the IRA mostly are Northern Irish too. Clinton didn't need to do any "bringing together", the IRA terrorists are citizens of Northern Ireland already, ignoring our legal and political framework in favour of guns, bombs, murder and intimidation to get their way.

Sure sounds like the Dems idea of moral authority to me.

New Stuff

After the joys of getting a monitor which actually displays colours that aren't shades of black, I was forced to buy myself a new mouse. Not a blogworthy event really- but the process of buying it opened my eyes a little. I was going to just buy a new keyboard and mouse set- and I had my eye on a nice wireless Microsoft Comfort Curve affair. Online it would cost me £30- compared to £50 at the local PC World retailer. Bargain, I thought. Until I factored the cost of shipping the items from the UK mainland here to Northern Ireland. Unlike shipping to anywhere in the mainland for about £4, it costs me £12, a trifle steep for such simple items.

So I went into town and checked out Currys, part of a national retailer chain. Boy, was I in for a shock. Quite apart from the fact that their line was small and consisted of 90% miniscule laptop mice, the price was outrageous. For a simple MS Optical Wheel Mouse their price was £19.99. Online I can get that for less than £7. So even with preposterous shipping costs, it still works out cheaper- is there any justifcation for such a ridiculous mark-up? I used to work building and fixing PCs so I know the way that pricing works, but this is beyond the pale.

In the end I bought myself a black MS Comfort Curve keyboard, opting to offset the shipping by not going the wireless route- and as my wife pointed out the kids would quickly make a wireless anything vanish rapidly from its place on my desk. The only bonus to the extortionate shipping cost was that I placed the order late Thursday afternoon and I had them in my hand Friday morning. And the MS Comfort Curve keyboard is very nice indeed- pluged it in with the PC still running and it picked it up no problem- the Media Player buttons, the Web browser and Outlook launch buttons all worked flawlessly with no need to go searching for updated drivers.

And it was cheaper than buying in town. More and more, shops are becoming places where I browse for items that I'll buy online.

Checking In

It's been two years today since I started this blog- though it seems like much, much longer. I haven't been able to post recently because my back pain's been quite bad. Bad enough that I can't really sit in front of my PC for any length of time. THe bad spot (hopefully) seems to be passing though, so with any luck I'll be able to start posting more frequently in the days to come.

In the meantime, I've just been to the cinema, with the aid of some rather pleasant medication, to see Pirates of the Caribbean- Dead Man's Chest. Personally I thought it was marvellous, much more entertaining than the first movie. It also has some very Cthonic elements; Davy Jones looked like a refugee from Innsmouth (and the make-up was superb, even with that visage you could tell is was Bill Nighy doing the acting) and the Kraken was reminiscent of Cthulu itself.

I'm really looking forward to the third film At The World's End.

UPDATE- Missed this when I first looked at the Wiki entry, but you can read Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft online.

Custom Grips

I picked up this picture at the 1911 Forum. It's a Kimber 10mm Eclipse Custom alongside a Ka-Bar Warthog knife. Those distinctive grips dressing the 1911 are made from Mammoth tooth. They not only look great but I love the very idea of them. You can get your own set here.

Sold Out

The DUP, elected in a landslide win, refuse to cooperate with Sinn Fein/IRA in Northern Ireland's local government; they do not want to share government with a still armed and active terrorist organisation, whose spying activities led to the end of the last government we had. Rather than praise them and put pressure on Sinn Fein/IRA to really disarm and disband, Tony Blair thinks it's a better idea to threaten the DUP.

In a work plan statement viewed as chiefly directed at the DUP, Mr Blair and Mr Ahern warned that if the parties failed to agree a devolution deal by November, Assembly salaries would cease and the new arrangements would be introduced.

The reference to "partnership arrangements" was generally interpreted as the British and Irish governments working more closely together to strengthen the North-South element of the Belfast Agreement.

So, here's Blair's tough on terrorism stance; submit to the threat of a return to a bombing and murder campaign in order to make it seem as if he's actually accomplished anything here. Other than appeasement, that is. And to top it all off, he ignores the sovereignty of Northern Ireland in favour of permitting the Republic of Ireland (a completely different country with its own political system) to have a greater say in what we do. Here it is in plain language; the unelected (by the citizens of N. Ireland) leaders of a foreign nation will have a say in how we conduct our business. I guess you could say it's like Mexico being given a say in how California is run.

And all of it against the wishes of the vast majority of the people of my country. I'll let DUP leader Ian Paisley have the last word-

"The situation remains that IRA/Sinn Féin are a terrorist organisation. They have not conformed to the principles of democracy."

Postcards

I read on comic artist blog Sun of Gelatometti that Warner Brothers has devised a way for its employees to thank the men and women of America's armed forces on July 4th- they've handed out postcards for them to write messages on, and the cards are then being sent on to Iraq.

The guys at Gelatometti, including Jim Lee, have drawn on their cards- and they've posted the images they've created. Rich Friend, who wrote the original post on the subject, has created more than one card- and he's posted those images at his own blog here. I think it's a great gesture- both from Warner Brothers and the artists who have chosen this unique way to express their thanks.

Fallen Marines

I've had zero time today to see what's happening online but I did notice that the seven Marines charged with murder in Iraq story is getting a fair bit of attention. Google News and the like however are giving absolutely no coverage to this announcement from the DoD-

The Department of Defense announced today the death of four Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Cpl. Christopher D. Leon, 20, of Lancaster, Calif.

Lance Cpl. Brandon J. Webb, 20, of Swartz Creek, Mich.

Pfc. Christopher N. White, 23, of Southport, N.C.

Staff Sgt. Benjamin D. Williams, 30, of Orange, Texas

Leon died June 20 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan.

Webb, White, and Williams all died June 20 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. They were all assigned to 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

While the media focuses their attention on the alleged misdeeds of a few, it's worth taking the time to remember the sacrifices being made by many more brave Marines- sacrifices that the media doesn't seem to find newsworthy, unless their covering the latest "casualty milestone". So spare a thought for these fallen warriors and the pain that their families must be feeling right now.

Grandpa Murtha

I'm a big fan of Michelle Malkin's Vent on HotAir. Todays installment about Murtha and his delusional plan to fight terrorists in Iraq from Okinawa. I guess it didn't occur to him to consider the Stryker and foot patrols that US forces carry out there.

Anyway, Malkin compares Murtha to Grandpa Simpson, complete with a little clip of the grumpy old man- and I'll never, ever be able to see Murtha again without thinking about the elder Simpson.

Complaining Cop

A senior police officer is attacking changes to the law by government ministers-

A CHIEF constable launched a stunning assault last night on the government's criminal justice policy, accusing ministers of making it up to please the News of the World [ed- tabloid newspaper].

Reeling from a string of crises, the Home Office disclosed at the weekend that ministers are now studying a law that could allow English parents to know when a convicted sex offender was living nearby.

Of course it doesn't even occur to the cop that the fact that the papers are crying out about this sort of thing is because parents don't want paedophiles living near to them. I guess he'd rather the government ignored public opinion? The News of the World has actually been campaigning for a change to the law for six years, proposing that parents should be allowed to know the location of child abusers. Given that many of these scum are likely to offend again and shouldn't be out on the streets anyway, I can't see any reason to oppose such a law. So it makes life tough for them to find housing? Maybe they should have thought about that before they began abusing children.

And it was the News of the World that revealed that sixty sex offenders were placed in government-approved hostels overlooking schools. And then there's this-

The latest controversy comes on the back of a new Ofsted report which accuses many schools of ignoring checks designed to protect children from paedophiles.

The cop is complaining that his job is tough because of constant changes to policy coming from the Home Office. My advice to him is to suck it up- hopefully many more changes will be coming soon.

The Home Office has insisted that Mr Reid was "rebalancing the criminal justice system in favour of the victim" and had already announced several reviews to improve public protection.

About time too.

Sinking Fast

I had to ask, didn't I?

The chairman of the British Commission for Racial Equality is in favor of “positive discrimination” to increase the number of Muslims in the police force

And,

EVER WONDERED what our schools are teaching children about terrorism? To judge by some of the material in an education pack being used in my London borough, the questions might include: could al-Qaeda poison your burger? Did the American Government stage the September 11 attacks? And what lessons for the Middle East can you learn from arguing with your mum?

When the Walthamstow Guardian asked if the 9/11 attacks should be used as a teaching tool, one educationist said the pack was not about “preaching” to children, but about providing “impartial and unbiased information” and “letting them make sense of it”.

That would be information such as: “The terrorists had shown that, despite America’s size and military power, careful planning and complete faith could defeat them.”

And a brace of posts from Smallest Minority-

Pupils have been banned from throwing paper planes to one another - in case they get injured.

And,

Bereaved families could have the homes of dead relatives seized under new laws that allow the state to commandeer empty properties.

Local councils will be able to take control of inherited homes if they are left vacant for more than six months.

UPDATE- And how could I miss this one too, the feather in the cap of all of the above.

A MAN accused of holding racist banners that called for a terrorist attack has had charges against him dropped.

Omar Zaheer was arrested over a protest in February in London against newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, but the Crown Prosecution Service said yesterday that there was insufficient evidence for the case to proceed.

Kos Misleads

LGF has a post about Kos' defence of his "screw them" comments. Here's the part that caught my eye-

What I can do is I can say the fact is the reason, the context for that quote was solidarity with my brothers and sisters in arms, Marines and soldiers. I wore combat boots. I served during the first Gulf war and people are making a choice between private armies and mercenaries.

Actually, Kos didn't serve in the Gulf War, he was just in the Army at the time the war was raging; he sat that confict out safely in Germany. But you wouldn't know that from reading this interview.

Charity

It's not often that you can find a celebrity who puts their money where their mouth is but Angelina Jolie seems to be one of them.

The actress also acknowledges to Cooper that she gives a third of her income to charity and jokes, "Yeah, well, I had a stupid income for what I do."

Good for her.

Anti-Terror Consultation

I hesitate to ask, because the British government will no doubt be quick to furnish an answer, but can once-Great Britain sink any lower than this?

The police are considering a proposal to let selected British Muslims examine the intelligence used to mount anti-terrorism raids before they take place.

So what makes Muslims a special case? I don't recall any efforts to tell the Irish community in London before any action was taken against IRA terrorists.

The review of the raid includes members of the Muslim Safety Forum-

Azad Ali, its chairman, said fresh measures, such as British Muslims being able to advise the police on their intelligence and how to act on it before any raid, must be found.

The MSF is the same group that walked out of talks with police when the revealed that they were going to arrest British Gitmo prisoners upon their return to the UK-

MSF chairman Azad Ali, who is also a member of the Islamic Forum Europe, told Blink the group were "seriously considering" their relationship with the police.

He's also the chap who made this response to Home Office Minister Hazel Blears comments, "The threat is most likely to come from those people associated with an extreme form of Islam or who are falsely hiding behind Islam"-

Azad Ali, Chair of the MSF said, "The MSF has always maintained that the Police are targeting the Muslim community - we now have the green light for the Police to carry this out even further with the blessing of Hazel Blears, the Police Minister."

"Not one terror related charge has been brought as a result of discriminatory stop and searches. To date, this practice has motivated and provided justification for a right wing onslaught of violence and stigmatisation against innocent members of the Muslim community - recent evidence links the increase in hate crimes against Muslims with the Governments 'War on Terror'." By endorsing discrimination and Islamophobia, Minister Blears words can only further alienate and marginalise the UK's most victimised community.

And note this too-

Although there are 2 million Muslims in the UK, it is clear that Hazel Blears and the Home Office did not consult with any Muslim group, specifically the MSF who are specialists in Muslim safety and security, prior to making their offensive statement. The MSF will be in contact with Hazel Blears office and will be initially demanding a meeting for her to explain her actions, and to establish proper bilateral relations so these unproductive incidents can be avoided in the future.

As the MSF already meets regularly with police, chances are Azad Ali or one of his compatriots will be one of the "chosen few" informed prior to any police anti-terrorist action.

So British national security depends on anti-Islamic terrorist information being shown to members of the Muslim community before they can do anything. Certainly sounds like it will help with speedy decision making and an ability for the security services to do their job rapidly and efficiently.

Subway Attack

I wonder what the ACLU will have say about this- afterall, they were the ones who were opposed to the NY police searching bags on the subway.

Al-Qaeda terrorists came within 45 days of attacking the New York subway system with a lethal gas similar to that used in Nazi death camps.

Of course the first thing that sprang to mind when I read this was the chemical weapon that police were searching for in the Forest Gate raid in London. We haven't heard any more from the press about the informant who passed the tip to the intelligence service, but what if he was telling the truth about the weapon, and just got the location wrong?

U.S. intelligence got its first inkling of the plot from the contents of a laptop computer belonging to a Bahraini jihadist captured in Saudi Arabia early in 2003. It contained plans for a gas-dispersal system dubbed "the mubtakkar" (Arabic for inventive). Fearing that al-Qaeda's engineers had achieved the holy grail of terror R&D — a device to effectively distribute hydrogen-cyanide gas, which is deadly when inhaled — the CIA immediately set about building a prototype based on the captured design, which comprised two separate chambers for sodium cyanide and a stable source of hydrogen, such as hydrochloric acid. A seal between the two could be broken by a remote trigger, producing the gas for dispersal. The prototype confirmed their worst fears: "In the world of terrorist weaponry," writes Suskind, "this was the equivalent of splitting the atom. Obtain a few widely available chemicals, and you could construct it with a trip to Home Depot – and then kill everyone in the store."

Clench Your Fists

CNN is reporting that a grand jury has decided not to indict Cynthia McKinney; so go ahead, punch a cop- it must be entirely legal in the United States now. It's not like she comes from some sort of protected class that can do what they want regardless of what the law says, just because they work in Congress. Right?

One set of rules for everyone.

Of course.

Racism

Okay, here's the story. Frederic Rouzaud, managing director of Cristal champagne, was doing an interview with The Economist. He was asked about the affection that certain rappers have for his brand of tipple. He replied that he viewed it with "curiosity and serenity". The interviewer continued, asking if the association for his refined and expensive item and the "bling lifestyle" could be detrimental to the brand. This was his reply-

"That's a good question, but what can we do? We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business."

Immedaitely rapper and Jay Z sprang into action, pulling Cristal champagne from his clubs and his own private stock. Overly sensitive, you might say? Well, wait until you hear exactly why he pulled the brand-

"I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various brands including The 40/40 Club nor in my personal life."

Racist? Come on, the only racism being displayed here is surely by Jay Z: he's implicitly stating that to be a rapper you have to be black. I'm immediately going to boycott his products and, if I had any, I'd take them out my own personal CD collection!

I guess it must be a slow news day at CNN- this took up a whole page in their entertainment section. What, they couldn't have donated that space to the important news that Billie Piper is leaving Doctor Who at the end of the season?

F-22

This fantastic image of an F-22 is currently serving as my desktop wallpaper. Many other superb images just as stunning as this one are available at the Air Force Link website. I guess the AF guys managed to pull themselves away from sipping pink gins by the pool long enough to take some awesome photos.

EU Overlords

There are many, many reasons which can be found for getting rid of the bureaucratic monstrosity that is the EU- but this one will do for now. Due to a European directive, a substantial amount of Dutch farmland, claimed from the sea over 230 years ago, is to be deliberatley flooded; to reverse the disappearance of mudflats and salt marshes. What's particularly galling is that the land is being flooded to offset damage to the mudflats which will be caused by the widening of a shipping channel. So if one bit of land is needed and it causes environmental damage, the EU will seize someone else's land to return it to a "natural" state. So, let's say someone wants to build a factory on a forest- are the homes nearby to be demolished to grow more trees to replace them? That appears to be the EU logic for this act.

The families who live on this land are understandably upset and they are appealing the decision with the Dutch parliament; their chances of success are slim- the MPs apparently agree that mudflats are more important that the established ecosystems and working farms which have existed for more that two centuries.

Here's the rub though- even if the Dutch do decide that this farmland is more important than mudlfats, they have very "little say in the matter". The reflooding has been imposed by the EU Habitats directive and the EU Birds directive.

In other words, the unelected bureaucrats of the EU have more power over what happens to farmland in Holland than the Dutch themselves. All those old jokes about the EU being a fourth Reich suddenly don't seem so funny anymore.

As Kim du Toit points out, the EU is not the only nightmare organistion with such powers-

So if a developer has built some houses on reclaimed land next door to the Everglades, and UNESCO were to decide that the land really belongs to the Everglades, the homeowners would probably get the same shaft as the De Feijter family [Dutch farmers] in Holland.

Wonderful Barsoom

Wow. In honour of my new monitor which makes everything seem so crisp and fresh and bright, here's a link to an amazing big picture of Mars. To give you an idea of how dark my monitor was, I'm surprised to see that the War on Guns blog has a background pattern to the page; I thought it was just black. There has been a lot of oohing and aahing today as we discover how things are supposed to look on my PC.

By the way, did I mention that it was a big picture?

Aria

The monitor I've been using has been around since I first got my PC, back in '98. It was a 17" Belinea. Over the past months I've noticed that it seemed a tad dark and after a lot of "putting it off", I finally decided to get a replacement; well, in the end my wonderful wife bought me said item.

Great googally moogally! I had no idea my old monitor was so worn out; credit to Belinea though, it sure lasted a lot longer than I thought it would. The internet suddenly seems such a bright and cheery place; at last I'll be able to look at pictures and movies on my PC and see such trifling things such as details, colours, and what's actually happening in those scenes not set in perfect brilliant daylight!

The reason I'm writing this is to heartily recommend the website Aria, a UK supplier of computer components. My wife bought the monitor yesterday at lunchtime; and it arrived this morning. From the mainland. And it was an incredible bargain to boot.

So if you live in the UK- anywhere in the UK- and you need anything computer related, do be sure to check out Aria.

Warning To Australia

Recently released cleric Abu Bakar Bashir (aka Ba'asyir) has given a press conference. When asked if he had a message for John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, he said,

"I think John Howard should convert to Islam. If he wants to be saved from hell, he needs to convert to Islam and God willing, he will be forgiven by Allah."

He also gave a warning to all Australians to never try fighting Muslims-

"Maybe with God's permission, they can kill us, but they certainly can't beat Islam." He then warned the journalists present not to twist his words.

There's no link to a text story but ABC also has an audio file of Bashir calling Noordin Mohammad Top, one of the Bali bomb attack planners, a "defender of Islam". The same thing he calls Osama Bin Laden.

The JI, the terrorist group responsible for the Bali bomb, and the group to which Bashir was convicted of conspiring with, are still recruiting and training members. Top has apparently threatened more terrorist attacks in video tapes siezed by the authorities in Indonesia.