A “Bingo” Moment

"I can't go around in this country suggesting that the queen of Denmark is a whore," he said. He being Ahmad Abu-Laban, one of the Islamist "clerics" from Denmark who purposely stirred up the Muslim frenzy over some cartoons published in Denmark. This is an incredibly important and revealing story from the Guardian.

The cartoons provoked a group of Danish imams to tour the Middle East. By February this year, Denmark's centre-right Liberal prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, was dealing with the country's worst crisis since the second world war. Muslim mobs set fire to Danish embassies in Damascus and Beirut, burnt the Danish flag, and boycotted Danish cheese. At least 139 people died.

But one year on there is a strong sense in Denmark that the crisis might just have helped.

All European governments now seem to be grappling with the same problem: how far do they go in accommodating Muslims who do not share the same values of free speech? And as a row over the cancellation of a Mozart opera in Berlin this week - for fear of Muslim attacks - demonstrates, the issues raised by the cartoon row have not gone away.

Ahmad Abu-Laban, the fiery cleric who organised the tour, said he has few regrets - though he admitted he is suffering from rather bad ulcers. "In Denmark I'm a very bad guy," he said. "In fact I was on the bus the other day when a Danish lady came up to me and said: 'You are a very stupid man.' I said: 'Thank you, madam'."

Mr Abu-Laban is the leader of Det Islamiske Trossamfund I Denmark, a radical Islamist organisation based in the colourful Copenhagen suburb of Norrebro. Its premises are in an old warehouse. They include a mosque, library and upstairs meeting room. In the sun-filled courtyard young men unload boxes of dates. Just around the corner is Norrebrogade Street, Copenhagen's answer to Brick Lane in London. Women in headscarves stroll past halal butchers and the Baghdad sweetshop.

According to Mr Abu-Laban, the cartoons a year ago were the "final straw" - and followed a long list of "provocations" aimed at Denmark's small Muslim community. "When I saw the cartoons I said to myself: 'Oh, not again'," he said. "I had a vague feeling that something bad would happen. When we asked the cartoonists for an apology they refused. They were arrogant and unreasonable."

Cartoons

And so the imam - a short man, with a neatly cropped beard, and twinkling grin - took matters into his own hands. He put together a dossier of the 12 drawings originally published by Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper at the centre of the row. But he also included three pieces of unpublished hate mail - showing a dog sodomising a praying Muslim, Mohammad as a paedophile, and a French pig-squealing contestant.

The cleric insists that the ensuing crisis was not his fault. The caricatures were an affront to Muslim dignity, he said, and there were limits in every society to free speech. "I can't go around in this country suggesting that the queen of Denmark is a whore," he said.

But if he doesn't like Denmark why doesn't he leave? "Denmark is a nice country. It's merely that people have this kind of phobia towards Muslims."

Remember the quote at the start of this post? "I can't go around in this country suggesting that the queen of Denmark is a whore." He just did JUST THAT with complete and utter impunity. He knows with utter certainty that there will be no repercussions whatsoever for his words. He knows he is completely and utterly safe from any backlash.

But if you "insult" his beliefs - as he defines insult - he will tour the world to drum up support, instigate riots, cause murder, mayhem and destruction. He will even manufacture evidence (the "pig" picture) if that is what it takes to spark a riot.

This is what we are dealing with folks. This is not Islam. This is Islamism. Secular, temporal ambitions wearing the trappings of a religion as a shield. This man revealed more of what he is all about than he realized. This is what we are up against as a civilization.

FLASH! Trans Fat Causes Global Warming!

Well, okay, that's not exactly what Al Gore supposedly told the UN. But according to Drudge, he did say that cigarettes were a "significant contributor to global warming".

Uh, sure, Al. What the hell are you smoking?

This man seriously wants to be thought of as a contender for 2008? Please. Consider: Every time every person on earth exhales - without a cigarette - they dump a quantity of carbon dioxide into the air. Non-smokers outnumber smokers significantly. Therefore, non-smokers contribute more to global warming than smokers do. A single cow's flatulence is probably more than several cartons of cigarettes in terms of hydrocarbons.

If Gore did say this (Drudge is Drudge and is 0 for 2 here on the Boulevard) this is probably the dumbest thing every said by a global warming extremist. Or right up there. Remarks like this do more to discredit their source than they do to advance any discussion about the topic.

One Too Many Tokes, Dude, Part Two

Okay, what in the heck are they putting into the marijuana in Iowa? A short while ago we brought you this gem about the guy cheerfully wandering past the sheriff's office carrying his freshly harvested pot crop. That was in Polk County, Iowa. Today we have this story from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A man was observed running from the area by police. They got suspicious and stopped him. He just happened to be carrying two pounds of marijuana. They asked him where he had gotten it. And he answered, quite truthfully.

He'd just burglarized a business and stolen it from there.

Bradley Robison, 18, of Cedar Rapids, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and failure to affix a drug tax stamp.

When police found him with the marijuana he said he had stolen it from a nearby business that he had just broken into, court records show.

Linn County Attorney Harold Denton said it doesn't matter how Robison got the marijuana — only that he had it.

"If you steal it, you steal it and you possess it," Denton said. "It's a double whammy."

Robison was caught by officers after they saw him running from the area early Tuesday morning, police said.

A burglary charge was being considered but had not been immediately filed.

The investigation also led to a possession with intent to deliver charge being filed against Ruban Rivas, 36, no address given, for allegedly having the marijuana at the business that Robison broke into, court records show.

So now we have two data points that prove pot makes you stupid, but that Iowa pot makes you really, really stupid. Really, dude. It must be global warming.

Naval Air Station Lakehurst

BubbaB, one of the regulars around here, had no idea that the US Navy actually had an active airship program until he read about the discovery of the wreck of the USS Macon off the California coast. I've known about the airship program for just about forever, I think. It's one of those odd things I picked up somewhere along the way. So with the wonders of the world wide web (courtesy of Al Gore) I dug up some information on NAS Lakehurst, the large airship facility the Navy used to have in New Jersey. Here's some good information about airship tactics as they evolved. (Bonus, they have specs for the USS Macon ZRS-5). And finally, here's the US Navy photo page on the USS Macon.

Your history lesson for the day. There will be a test.

Anchovies Protest European Fishing Ban

Millions of anchovies protested the European Unions ban on fishing for them by committing mass suicide. The juveniles flung themselves ashore since they no longer had any real reason to exist.

The fish, all juveniles, were found stranded along large stretches of Colunga beach, 35 miles east of the port city of Gijon, a normally pristine seaside landscape in the verdant province of Asturias.

"More than three tons have been found so far, and our main — untested — hypothesis at the moment is that they tried to flee from predators and accidentally beached," said Luis Laria, chief coordinator of a marine protection unit working with the government.

Laria said a European Union moratorium on fishing anchovies along the northern Atlantic coast of Spain and the western coast of France has been in place for two months. Less rigorous fishing restrictions had been used for the previous two years.

Their only real dream was to someday to be picked off a pizza. Now they have nothing. Poor little fellas just couldn't take it.

UPDATE: I have been informed by a friend that if the EU had simply provided elementary job retraining for these poor creatures that none of this would have happened. Yet another failure of socialism. It's time to take my friend back to the home now. His day pass is up.

Zawahri Joins Daily Kos With Video Diary

I swear, this is exactly, word-for-word, something you would read every, single day on Daily Kos or HuffPo. Unbelievable. Zawahri has released the video that was promised and it may as well be a video version of Kos.

"Can't you be honest at least once in your life, and admit that you are a deceitful liar who intentionally deceived your nation when you drove them to war in Iraq," al-Zawahri said in a portion of the video released by the Washington-based SITE Institute.

Al-Zawahri also criticized Bush for continuing to imprison al-Qaida leaders in prisons, including al-Qaida No. 3 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind who was captured in Pakistan in March 2003.

"Bush, you deceitful charlatan, 3 1/2 years have passed since your capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, so how have you found us during this time? Losing and surrendering?" he said, according to the SITE Institute.

"What you have perpetrated against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other Muslim captives in your prisons and the prisons of your slaves in Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and elsewhere is not hidden from anyone, and we are a people who do not sleep under oppression and who do not abandon our revenge until our chests have been healed of those who have aggressed against us," the Virginia-based IntelCenter quoted the message as saying. "And we, by the grace of Allah, are seeking to exact revenge on behalf of Islam and Muslims from you and your soldiers and allies."

Wow. Just wow. We've seen this before, of course. Guess he finally picked just the right material.

UPDATE: Here's the SITE Institute's coverage - it's a little more extensive then the AP report that was written partially based on it.

Good Riddance

Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) has resigned in the wake of the disclosure that he had sent sexually explicit internet messages to congressional pages under the age of 18.

Saying he was "deeply sorry," Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned from Congress today, hours after ABC News questioned him about sexually explicit internet messages with current and former congressional pages under the age of 18.

A spokesman for Foley, the chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, said the congressman submitted his resignation in a letter late this afternoon to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.

Investigate this man at once. As in right now.

UPDATE: Others: STACLU, TMV, A Blog For All, La Shawn Barber, Riehl Worl View,

Dan Riehl's post disturbed me a lot. He noticed a lot of partisan commentary from the left on this (I will NOT link them, it is enough that Dan did). The first commenter on his post said "one down 13 to go". Is this what this political situation in this country has become? Is this how low we have fallen? Do you honestly care more about this guy's political party than the fact that he is finally gone? You care more about the seat he vacates than you do about the children he may have harmed?

Really? That is all this means is another seat in the House and a chance to bash the other party? That is, in a way, even more sick than this guys apparent behavior. I do not give a damn thing about this guy's party affiliation. I don't care about anything else but that the proper authorities investigate as soon as possible. If politics means so damn much to you that your humanity is gone, then you are a very, very sad person indeed.

Shame on you.

Pajamas Media Interviews Lieberman

Roger Simon conducted a video interview with Joe Lieberman that reveals a few interesting things about the man and about the state of party politics in general. The video is available now and really should be watched if you have time.

Clang, Clang, Clang Goes The Jimmy

Empty pot continues making noise. Jimmy Carter continues his bash-a-thon.

The former president told a crowd of about 300 on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno today that the nation is more sharply divided that it has ever been as a result of Bush's policies.

The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, he says he's deeply embarrassed that the American government now stands convicted around the world as one of the greatest abusers of civil rights. He continued the theme in a dinner speech to 700 at a Democratic fundraiser tonight, saying every past president has been a supporter of human rights, until this one.

Yeah, up until now past presidents have rarely made any public statements about current or former presidents, either. They've actually had a little class. Lord knows Jerry Ford could have had a whale of a time bashing your execrable performance in the office, Jimmy. It wouldn't have been any challenge at all finding things to criticize, either. But then, empty pots just have to keep clanging, don't they, Jimmy?

Robert Heinlein - Right Again

Robert Heinlein, the late science fiction writer accurately predicted a number of different technological advances, one example being "Waldos" or remote manipulator arms. Another of his concepts is coming true in Japan right now: The powered suit that he envisioned in Starship Troopers (the book, not the execrable mess that Paul Verhoeven puked up on the big screen, starring Doogie Houser, GI). In the book, the powered suit was used for war, the Japanese are perfecting it for a peaceful purpose. They are developing it as a way for health care workers to lift patients.

Driven by portable batteries, micro air pumps and small body sensors that pick up even the slightest muscle twitch, the Stand-Alone Wearable Power Assist Suit is designed to help nursing home workers lift patients of up to 180 pounds while cutting the amount of strength required in half, project researcher Hirokazu Noborisaka told LiveScience today.

At Wired Magazine's NextFest new-technology forum here, researchers demonstrated walking and lifting weights in the 66-pound suit, which was developed at the High-Tech Research Center of Japan's Kanagawa Institute of Technology.

"When I wear it, I don't feel that it's heavy at all," said project team member Hiroe Tsukui after stepping out of the power suit. "The sensors can tell the muscle power needed to lift an object."

A network of sensors track the wearer's upper arms and legs and waist-muscle activity, then relay the data to an onboard microcomputer that regulates air flow into a series of inflatable cuffs which expand to amplify lifting strength. The suit supports its own weight and carries a battery lifetime of about 30 minutes.

All of which is not to say that there is not still interest in powered armor.

Making Nuclear Power Safer And More Efficient

Researchers at MIT have unveiled a new fuel fabrication process for uranium fuel in Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR). The new process will make the fuel about 50% more efficient while actually greatly reducing the operating temperature of the fuel. This is actually very, very slick.

Researchers say their new technology should be ready for commercial use in existing reactors in about 10 years.

In a nuclear reactor, the fission of uranium atoms provides heat used to produce steam for generating electricity.

Already, one pickup truck full of uranium fuel in a nuclear reactor can supply a city with enough electricity for a year. The MIT scientists believe they have found a way to make the fuel go even further, boosting output by about 50 percent.

Uranium fuel typically is formed into cylindrical ceramic pellets about half-inch in diameter. The pellets look like a smooth, black version of food pellets for small animals.

Pavel Hejzlar and Mujid Kazimi of MIT recently completed a three-year project for the U.S. Department of Energy, along with scientists from Westinghouse and other companies. The researchers looked at how to make fuel for pressurized water reactors more efficient while maintaining safety margins.

About two-thirds of the 103 reactors operating in the United States are pressurized, using high pressure to prevent the water from boiling.

The scientists changed the shape of the fuel from solid cylinders to hollow tubes, adding surface area that allowed water to flow inside and outside the pellets, increasing heat transfer.

The new fuel design also is much safer because it reaches an operating temperature of about 700 degrees Celsius, much lower than 1,800 degrees for conventional fuel and further from the 2,840 degrees melting point for uranium fuel.

Amazing. Something that simple and elegant will provide better efficiency and make it safer at the same time. These guys are good.

Venezuela And Nigeria Cutting Oil Production

Venezuela and Nigeria have announced they will be cutting oil production by a combined 170,000 barrels per day. The largest share of the cuts are from Nigeria.

An OPEC spokesman told AFP the decisions were made voluntarily by each country, insisting they were not imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"Venezuela has formally informed OPEC that it will be cutting voluntarily production by 50,000 barrels a day as of 1st of October," OPEC spokesman Tarek Amin said Friday.

"Nigeria will cut their production by five percent, which is around 120,000 barrels a day. These are both voluntary cuts, these are not cuts made by the Organization."

This is an interesting development. The speculation is that this is because of the recent price slump.

They’re Coming For Your Chicken

The junk science voodoo pronouncement of the day: CARCINOGENIC CHICKEN. RUN! HIDE!

The Washington-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) filed suit in California "to compel the restaurants to warn unsuspecting consumers" through in-store posters and menu messages.

The group said every sample of grilled chicken products from the seven national chains "tested positive for a dangerous carcinogenic compound called PhIP" during analysis at an independent laboratory.

PhIP is one of a group of carcinogenic compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) that are found in grilled meats. In 2005, the US government officially added HCAs to its list of cancer-causing agents, the doctors' group said.

"Grilled chicken can cause cancer, and consumers deserve to know that this supposedly healthy product is actually just as bad for them as high-fat fried chicken," PCRM president Neal Barnard said in a statement.

"Even a grilled chicken salad increases the risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer and other forms of this lethal disease," he said.

Aside from McDonald's and Burger King, the chains named in the lawsuit were Chick-fil-A, Chili's, Applebee's, Outback Steakhouse and TGI Friday's.

The California Restaurant Association, which represents the major chains in the richest US state, dismissed the doctors' lawsuit as groundless and politically motivated.

"The PCRM are anti-meat advocates who want to limit consumer choice and limit access to healthy dining options, which grilled chicken most definitely is," association spokeswoman Jordan Traverso told AFP.

"There's no evidence that the small amount of PhIP that comes out from cooked grilled chicken poses a health risk to humans," she said, stressing that undercooked chicken was far more dangerous.

This is complete and utter nonsense. It is another attack of junk science spread through the media via lawsuit. The biggest problem with a lot of these issues is that the ability to detect incredibly small traces of certain substances does not mean that those substances pose any risk whatsoever. The measuring equipment is getting so sensitive that at some point soon they will be able to detect a single molecule of anything in anything else. Then we'll just have to ban everything.

Hell, let's cut out the middle man and ban physicians committees. It will just be easier.

Hamster Hijacker!

This is a very ominous turn of events. A hamster has forced an airliner to land at Innsbruck, Austria. The rodent took over the flight, but appears to have eluded searchers trying to find him.

INNSBRUCK, Austria - It wasn't "Snakes on a Plane," but an Austrian Airlines jet made an unscheduled stop Friday after a passenger sneaked a hamster aboard and the rodent escaped. The flight from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to the southern Austrian city of Graz made a stop in Innsbruck so officials could search for the hamster and make sure it didn't gnaw through any wiring, the airline said.

It said the flight was diverted after a passenger notified the crew that he had brought a hamster aboard and had lost track of it. Passengers were ordered off the plane, and some were taken by bus to Graz. It was not immediately clear how many people were aboard.

By midafternoon, a search of the aircraft still had not turned up any sign of the hamster, authorities said.

This is the DB Cooper of hamster hijackers! What we need to know is how much ransom the rodent made off with!

But It Kept His Leg From Falling Asleep

Police in Jay, Oklahoma obtained a search warrant for Harper's Used Cars and Body Shop after undercover officers made several drug buys at the establishment. They weren't having much luck finding the stash until they search the owner's artificial leg.

JAY, Okla. - Sheriff's deputies have arrested a Grove man on drug charges after finding crystal methamphetamine inside his prosthetic leg. Larry Clinton Harper, 64, was arrested at his business, Harper's Used Cars and Body Shop, last week.

During a search, deputies found drugs inside a sock-like covering inside Harper's prosthetic leg, said Delaware County Sheriff's Capt. Larry Barnett.

"They just tumbled out, and he just laughed," Barnett said. "He said he thought he was pulling the wool over our eyes, but we had the last laugh."

I wonder if it made his leg any faster?