Talking With Terrorists

Can we arrest them right now?

A group of British MPs held a private meeting with senior members of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian government in defiance of Britain’s ban on contact with the militant Islamic movement.

British ministers and officials are banned from meeting members of the Palestinian cabinet because London categorises Hamas as an international terrorist group.

One of the group, Richard Burden, the Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield, defended the meeting on the grounds that opening dialogue with Hamas was the best way to make progress in the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

No, really- can we have them arrested and charged immediately?

Emperor Chavez

This is not good news.

A congress loyal to President Hugo Chavez approved a law Wednesday granting him authority to enact sweeping measures by decree.

Chavez, who is beginning a new six-year term after winning recent elections, said the legislation will be the start of a new era of "maximum revolution" during which he will consolidate Venezuela's transformation into a socialist society.

What are the odds he'll actually stand down at the end of his current term? Are we looking at another would-be Castro?

Tactical Lever Gun

Mad Ogre points to a revived thread over at THR on the merits of the lever gun as a "tactical" weapon for home or self-defence. I've got to say that it's pretty weird to hear some of the posters there complain about the lack of capacity on a lever gun compared to their ARs. Are you really going to need 30 rounds to defend your home against an invader unless civilisation has fallen? Sure there's a place for ARs, AKs and the like but it seems to me that asides from the sheer pleasure of shooting 99.9% of people are never going to need to pull the trigger on their evil black guns in anger. Just to show my bias here, but right now if I had the choice between a shiny new tactical, tricked out AR and an old-fashioned wooden stock, bolt action Mosin Nagant 91/30, the Mosie would win hands down.

Anyway, in my opinion the lever gun makes a fine choice of home defence weapon. What's not to like about traditional looks and calibres like .357 or .44 magnum or the venerable "thuddy thuddy"? I guess a handgun might be the prime choice of weapon for the close confines of a home but I'm more of a rifleman than a pistolero (from my limited experience of weapons anyway)- and the lever gun is the one time when being a southpaw wouldn't put me at a disadvantage; with the loading gate on the right side of the gun it'd be easier for me to keep the gun on target while I top up.

Modern Policing

Here's the story- a woman was stopped by police and then arrested. After spending a night in the cells she went to hospital where she gave birth to a premature child who died only a minute later. She's in the process of suing the police because the police officers who arrested her repeatedly ignored her pleas for help. Now, here are the details-

A police videotape released Tuesday shows Sofia Salva telling police officers numerous times on Feb. 5, 2006, that she was pregnant, bleeding and needed to go to a hospital.

After the ninth request, a female officer asked: "How is that my problem?"

The officers stopped Salva after they saw her affixing a fake temporary tag on the back windshield of her car. After the officers tell her why she was arrested, Salva is seen telling the officers she is having a miscarriage and is bleeding.

Schnell, who has worked for the department for less than two years, walks away from the car and tells his partner: "She just gave me a line of excuses. She said she's bleeding. She said you can check her."

The officers made Salva sit on the curb as they searched her car, purse and grocery sacks. Salva again tells the officers that she is bleeding and asks them to check her underwear and says she wants to go to the hospital.

"Well," Spencer said, "that will be something you can take care of when we get done with you."

After a drawn-out process to get Salva's identifying information, Salva is clearly upset."I have a baby in my stomach and I'm bleeding and I open my underwear for you to see."

"Stay seated!" Schnell yelled.

"If I die here, will you take care of me?" Salva said. "If I die here?"

"Fair enough," Schnell said.

After Salva is handcuffed, she again tells Schnell she is bleeding.

"I don't doubt that you're possibly bleeding, but you got a lot more problems with us," Schnell said.

The arrested woman also claims to have repeatedly asked for medical help during her overnight stay in the jail- her pleas apparently went unanswered.

The next morning, jailers let her go to a hospital after she passed a large blood clot. Salva delivered a premature baby boy, who lived for one minute.The department's legal adviser said the tapes of Salva's time in jail had been recycled before it became aware of Salva's claims.

There's a growing distrust of the police from ordinary, law-abiding citizens because of stories like this which seem to be repeatedly endlessly; and time and again, the police officers in question are treated like some sort of privileged class by the courts (when it does actually go to court). Until such a time comes when the police decide to crack down hard on any transgressions by officers- in a very public manner- the distrust and ill-feeling will merely continue to grow and grow.

New Blogger

A bit of a change to my blog- finally managed to transfer from the old to the new system. Like being able to post images without using Hello, the labels are pretty neat (fighting the urge to go back through my archives and edit all my posts now) and, well, that's about all I've noticed really.

I wonder how long it will take me to get used to my new page- and not think that I've typed in the wrong address?

Flight of Fantasy

This remarkable image is Wonder Woman in warrior guise, drawn by Travis Charest. He's an artist I'm not all that familiar with but a quick look around the Comic Art Fans website at his work shows that I'm about to become a big fan.

Taxpayers Fund Suicide Bomber?

Isn't it about time that the millions of dollars of American taxpayers' dollars stopped being given to the Palestinians?

A Palestinian suicide bomber killed three people in a bakery in the Red Sea resort of Eilat, one of Israel’s most popular holiday spots, in the first such attack in the Jewish state in nine months, police said.

Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and the previously unknown “Army of Believers” claimed joint responsibility for the bombing.

As LGF points out- the Al-Aqsa Brigade are part of Fatah, Abbas' bunch of thugs. The same Fatah that this recently happened to-

The US government plans to transfer $86.4 million to the security forces of embattled Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the coming days, senior Washington officials said on Friday.

That certainly worked out well didn't it? I wonder if that money- belonging to the people of the United States- might have been better spent?

Cracks in the wall

Lately I've been feeling somewhat disillusioned- the world seems to be very rapidly heading towards an unpleasant implosion. Kevin over at Smallest Minority seems to be in a similar mood.

A big part of the problem is the way that the Constitution in the US is being eviscerated these days. It really does seem that the people in charge either don't give a damn about the document or else they're too blinded by their own agenda to understand simple terms like "shall not be infringed" or "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech", etc, etc.

I'm not an American citizen but the US is important to me- and to watch the way it's changing at the moment is painful. Seems to me that a group of people who can actually read and understand the Constitution need to come along and repeal a whole bunch of laws that clearly and plainly run counter to it.

But what are the odds of that ever happening?

Feast

I just saw this horror movie and I can't recommend it highly enough- it's funny, fast-paced, well-scripted, well-acted, gruesome, scary and really, really enjoyable.

If you like horror movies at all, you're sure to enjoy this.

Dhimmi Police

So, once again the idea of the British police sharing anti-terrorist intelligence with the Muslim community of Britain has raised its head.

The police are considering proposals to share intelligence and information with Muslims before launching anti-terror operations.

The plans, announced by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, are part of a wider vision to engage more with British Muslims whose support police need in fighting terrorism.

At a conference on Islamophobia, Sir Ian told his largely Muslim audience that combating the threat of extremism and terrorism was something his officers could not do alone.

Amazing. Funny that no one even suggested sharing intelligence with the Catholic community before launching anti-IRA raids a few years back. The very idea would have been laughed at, despite the fact that that community remained pretty much closed-mouthed about terrorist activity. No, when non-Muslim groups are involved, the police and intelligence services just get on with their jobs as best they can. No one would dream of offering any non-Muslim community such special, privileged treatment.

And it seems that the police are also going to cease their "stop and search" tactics because it's "alienating" the Muslim community- so if cops see a Muslim man acting suspiciously, and perhaps carrying a bulging backpack or wearing a thick coat in the summertime, they probably won't be able to check to see if he is in fact on his way to blow up some innocent civilians. No, police are considering only stopping people they have "prior intelligence" on, and not on their appearance. Yep, the risk of offending some thin-skinned people sure is more important than stopping bombs being detonated in public places.

Again, police and army roadblocks and car searches- and searches of backpacks, handbags, and shopping bags-were all tactics used to prevent the IRA and the like from carrying out bombings here in Northern Ireland. So why the double standard now?

President For Life?

Here's an unpleasant development- Hairy Hobbit highlights H.J. Res 8, a proposal to repeal the 22nd amendment, removing limitations on the number of terms that a President may serve. The proposal has been made by New York Democrat...no, not that one... Jose Serrano.

Slippery slope?

Contradiction

Michelle Malkin and Bryan Preston are safely back from their stay in Iraq. Malkin's Vent on the trip is here. I've been reading Preston's write up of the trip too and was particularly struck by these two, entirely contradictory, passages.

First this- "Underlying that, Islamic principles don’t foster individual freedom so much as they command modes of behavior, and that culture informs every single aspect of life in Iraq. An Iraqi federal police colonel who lives a very secular lifestyle underscored this to me when he said, in a meeting with US Army troops present, that if Ayatollah Sistani tells him to fight the Americans who are currently training his forces to take on the terrorists, then he will fight us. Islamic loyalty would trump common sense and any notion of freedom, since he knows full well that taking on the US Army would result in his own death and more destruction in his country."

And then, a little later, this - "Communities like Al Salam and Khadimiyah in Baghdad prove that at the end of the day most Iraqis value security and the chance to have a normal life above any notions of jihad and sectarianism, and we can work with most Iraqis to make their country safe."

Evidently this is not the case if a secular officer would turn his gun on his current colleagues of so ordered. He values jihad above security and a normal life. Given that, and the fact that he was prepared to admit that right in front of American troops, there seems to be a certain disconnect between Preston's assertions that most Iraqis value a comfortable life above jihad and his own personal experience of being told that current loyalties, love of country and even self-preservation mean less than the duty to conduct jihad.

Artillery 2.0

The US Army is attempting to make "dumb" artillery shells smart via the addition of a nothing more than a screw-in nose cone.

The contract will be substantial because the precision guidance kits will be made to fit into all existing 155-millimeter artillery shells used by the United States and NATO. The artillery rounds -- 3 feet tall and 10 inches wide -- would receive new screw-on tips, which are actually precision guidance kits that provide new satellite-guidance capability, wings that deploy mid-flight and mini brakes that can help steer the shells in the desired direction. The idea is precision targeting, even though the target may be 20 miles away.

The retrofitting of existing shells is expected to be much less expensive than the manufacture of precision shells.

BAE programs director Jim Unterseher has said that it costs less than $5,000 to manufacture a guided "screw-on" fuze for an existing artillery round, while it would cost "tens of thousands" to make a single "smart" round from scratch.

The advantages are obvious- more precise artillery will mean less rounds needed to harm the enemy and less chance of collateral damage.

Left-Handed Revolver

At long last, a gun manufacturer has created a product for left-handers that is long overdue- a southpaw revolver. Stag introduced a left-hand receiver AR so obviously there's a market here and while semi-autos have long come with ambi controls, the revolver has been an awkward item to operate. Charter Arms have now fixed that.

The Undercover Southpaw is like a mirror image of a traditional revolver with the cylinder release on the proper- that is, the right- side of the gun. So no problems for a left-hander to reload the weapon.

Hopefully, this is a path that more and more gun manufacturers will begin to follow- surely it can't be that risky to pick their biggest selling item and offer a left-handed version? I reckon a good number of left-handed shooters would swap out guns that they already own for a southpaw version.

Staggering Ignorance

Can people really be this stupid?

As he was protesting Guantanamo, we asked whether he condemned Castro's concentration camps and imprisonment of human rights activists. We also asked if he thought the Cuban people deserved to live in freedom. He would only reply: "Castro is such a unique figure" and that "Communism worked under Castro"

We asked Jenny Heinz, another protestor, what she thought of Castro's tyranny. She got agitated and told us that wasn't what she was there to speak about. When finally pressed for an answer she said "I think Castro brought literacy to a lot of Cubans." Another person we spoke to, Tony Palladino, told us he'd "take Castro over Bush anytime." He didn't take me up on my suggestion that he actually move to Cuba.

Loretta Gallion told us that it is "not our business to free and liberate" people. When we mentioned the North Korean gulags, the genocide in Darfur, and other instances of oppression across the globe, and asked if we should intervene in those instances, she replied "I really don't know enough to answer."

Prime examples of being blinded by ideology.

N. Korea Desperate?

Seems like the North Koreans must be in a bad way if they're contacting a German rabbit breeder about a strain of large bunnies for meat.

Karl Szmolinsky has been given a contract by North Korea to supply giant rabbits to help to boost meat production in the reclusive Communist country, which is suffering severe food shortages. The only problem is that such huge rabbits consume vast quantities of food themselves as they grow.

Szmolinsky, from Eberswalde, in the east of Germany, was contacted by the North Korean Embassy in Berlin in October after Robert attracted press coverage. “They want to boost meat production. They’ve arranged for me to go to Pyongyang in April to advise them on setting up a breeding farm,” Szmolinsky, who is 68 next month, told The Times.

He breeds German gray giants, which are among the world’s biggest rabbits, and sells his annual crop of 60 to 80 to other breeders in Germany. He said that an attaché at the embassy came to his home and asked to see his rabbits. The diplomat was so impressed that he placed an order for eight females and four males, which were shipped to North Korea a few weeks later.

Each bunny can give about 15lbs of meat.

Tortilla Costs

The demand for environmentally friendly corn-based ethanol fuel is having some unforeseen consequences; the price of corn in Mexico has risen by 400% in recent months. Corn, of course, is used to make the dietary staple tortillas- and the poor of that country are struggling to cope.

"When there isn't enough money to buy meat, you do without," said Bonifacia Ysidro. "Tortillas," she added, "you can't do without."

Of course, I'm sure that most "greenies" won't be at all concerned about the 53 million or so people
currently living in poverty who are on the verge of sliding into starvation- saving the planet is more important than mere people to them.

RE: Extinction

Staying in the new movie picture vein, here's one from the next installment of the Resident Evil franchise, Extinction. I'm not sure how this one will pan out- Milla Jovovich's character, Alice, still seems to be super-powered (bad ending to the second film I thought) but there's a new director on-board, Highlander's Russell Mulcahy. Given the first two films, I'm not expecting too much- what a waste of source material.

I Am Legend

The first image revealed from the upcoming "I Am Legend" movie starring Will Smith. Based on the book of the same name by Richard Matheson it's previously been filmed twice- once as The Last Man On Earth starring Vincent Price and then again as The Omega Man with Charlton Heston. Looks like this version will be sticking with vampires as the menace. I hope they do the story justice.

US Aids Al Qaeda Supporters

In the annals of governmental stupidity, this decision must rank high.

The United States is going to give $86 million to terrorists who wish Al Qaeda success in attacking America and assassinating our President. (Hat tip: It Shines For All.)

The insanity never stops.