AN ALMOST LAUGHABLE TAQQIYA CAMPAIGN

Some Muslim groups are trying to lie/obfuscate what jihad means:

US Muslims launched an advertising and social media campaign Friday in the hopes of reclaiming the word jihad from extremists who insist on equating the spiritual quest with terrorism.

How can they do that when "jihad" means holy war in Arabic? What a disgrace. And it's all being done in response to Pamela Geller's anti-jihad campaign:

It was sparked by a series of hateful ads calling Muslims "savages" and urging people to "defeat jihad" that were plastered on buses and trains in New York, Chicago and San Francisco.

Interesting that they won't say who published the ads, nor will they mention the vandalism that was committed on the anti-jihad ads when posted. And CBS isn't making things any better with their own hostile coverage:

The group that posted inflammatory ads at New York City subway stops and Metro-North stations earlier this year plans to put up more ads.

Pamela Geller with the American Freedom Defense Initiative said the group has purchased space beside the roughly 220 clocks that hang above subway platforms in stations throughout the city.

The ads depict the twin towers engulfed in flames and a quote attributed to the Koran: “Soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers.”

“I hope that these ads will increase awareness and start a dialog,” Geller told 1010 WINS. “Clearly, there is a prohibition on discussing this matter and those of us that dare to speak of it are marginalized and demonized and it’s sort of killing the messenger.”

For now, with the way US Muslims continue to be dishonest about the meaning of jihad, it doesn't look like there will be a dialogue. Come to think of it, if CBS and the AP are going to defame the ads as nothing other than "inflammatory" than they're not interested in a dialogue either.

Update: the International Business Times gives an ambiguous description of what jihad means:

In Arabic, jihad literally translates to “struggle.” It is used in the Koran to refer to a religious duty of multiple definitions, including internal struggles, the struggle to build a good Muslim society and the struggle to defend Islam through military force if necessary. It’s that last meaning that has led to widespread association with jihad as meaning “holy war.”

This article is just as dishonest as Islam itself. And, they even rely on a trash heap like the BBC for some "understanding". The word may have several meanings, but "duty to wage war on unbelievers" is one of the first and foremost among them that they don't have the courage to acknowledge honestly.

FBI: JEWS 5x MORE LIKELY TO BE VICTIMS OF A HATE-CRIME THAN MUSLIMS

• 63.2 percent were victims of an offender’s anti-Jewish bias.
• 12.5 percent were victims of an anti-Islamic bias.

IOW: MUSLIMS CRYING ISLAMOPHOBIA SHOULD STFU.

SAD, SICKENING NEWS OUT OF CONNECTICUT

THE SHOOTING IN CONNECTICUT WAS HORRIFIC. SO SO SO SAD. SICKENING.

MY DEEPEST CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS.

TOO BAD THERE WAS NOT A SANE ARMED PERSON CLOSE BY WHO COULD HAVE KILLED THE MURDERER BEFORE HE TOOK SO MANY YOUNG SWEET INNOCENT PRECIOUS LIVES.

As William S. Burroughs once said, “After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn’t do it.”

Posted at 1:49 pm by Glenn Reynolds  

 People don’t stop killers. People with guns do.

Posted at 2:39 pm by Glenn Reynolds    

[Glenn Harlan Reynolds (born August 27, 1960) is Beauchamp Brogan Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee...  

As a law professor, Reynolds has written for the Columbia Law Review, the Virginia Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Wisconsin Law Review, the Northwestern University Law Review, the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, Law and Policy in International Business, Jurimetrics, and the High technology law journal, among others. 

Reynolds also writes articles for various publications (generally under his full name, Glenn Harlan Reynolds): Popular Mechanics, Forbes, The New York Post, The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He has written for the TCSDaily.com, Fox News, and MSNBC websites as well. [HE EARNED HIS LAW DEGREE AT YALE.]

WE NEED BETTER MENTAL/EMOTIONAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTHCARE IN THE USA. 

NOT MORE GUN LAWS.

WHEN GUN VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY TWISTED PEOPLE ERUPTS, GOOD PEOPLE MUST NOT DISARM.

NECHEMYA WEBERMAN'S CULTISTS SEEK REVENGE ON HIS VICTIM AND HER SUPPORTERS

The New York Daily News reports that the followers of convicted child abuser Nechemya Weberman in the Satmar sect of Williamsburg are continuing in the demonization of his victim and her family:

Backers of convicted child molester Nechemya Weberman have wreaked vengeance upon the teenage victim’s family and her sympathizers, sources told the Daily News.

Since Weberman was convicted on 59 counts of sexual abuse Monday, his supporters in the insular Satmar Hasidic sect have told customers to boycott the victim’s parents’ businesses, pulled advertising dollars from an Orthodox radio show and spat at an anti-molestation activist.

“It’s getting serious,” a law enforcement source told The News.

Meanwhile, the pervert’s posse took out a two-page spread in the Williamsburg-based Satmar community’s largest newspaper in an effort to raise $1 million for an appeal.

“The entire community is sitting on that defendant’s bench God forbid,” reads the two-page spread in the Der Yid newspaper. “In the coming weeks we must come up with a million dollars to be able to continue pursue the case to rescue the ‘scapegoat’ Nechemya.”

Sources close to the case say the unnamed group hopes to hire famed criminal defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, who helped get O.J. Simpson acquitted of murder.

Man, the Satmar really make me sick. And if they're going to turn to Dershowitz, or he takes the case, that'll be one more reason to look in shame upon a pretentious attorney like him.

The victim testified during the trial that after she filed a February 2011 criminal complaint against the prominent counselor, her father’s business listing operation started bleeding clients, her nieces were kicked out of their yeshiva, and three men stormed her husband’s restaurant to rip off its kosher certificate. The restaurant is now shuttered.

Women also began to shun her mother’s side business selling Mary Kay cosmetics.

“Some have gone. And some have come,” the mother shrugged.

After the guilty verdict, a text message began circulating in the community. Translated from Yiddish by The News, it reads:

“Please send around to at least 10 people. If you’re going to (name redacted) to make your face . . . you are a part of killing the Jewish Nation and five kids are home without a father,” referring to Weberman’s children.

Excuse me? Jews who commit crimes against other Jews and think being religious/Haredi/Satmar means never having to say they're sorry are the ones killing it, not the victims. And it's the pervert dad's fault if his kids are now left without a father who set a bad example for them before he went to prison. It's awful to think what mindset these children will develop in the future so long as they're raised under the Satmar's idea of what passes for education.

“The pressure — it’s unbelievable,” the victim’s mother told The News on Thursday. “I can’t take it anymore.”

This is why the victim's family have to leave that awful sect behind and start developing their business and jobs in other neighborhoods, societies and communities where it's more open and less insular.

Zev Brenner, a radio personality who hosts a popular show called “Talkline” that caters to Orthodox Jews, said he already lost one sponsor, and is fighting to keep others.

His crime? He interviewed Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes about the case.

“We had the DA on and we had the victim’s husband [after the verdict],” Brenner said. “One person is not happy about it and won’t advertise.”

Brenner said his program, which has been on the air for 31 years, tries to be impartial, but reporting on the high-profile trial has been tough, he said.

“He has a vocal group of supporters,” Brenner said on the convicted perv. “People are upset.”

For all the wrong reasons, I'm afraid. I do believe this is another guy who should be moving shop to a more sensible neighborhood, away from these perv-worshiping thugs. The idolatry in motion here is chilling. The victim is still going to need a lot of support from the more sensible Jewish communities in the US to deal with these lunatics. At least this does give a clearer picture of just how screwed up the Satmar sect really is.

GERMANS WORRIED ABOUT ISLAM IN NEW SURVEY

Gatestone Institute finds some good news in Germany, but also bad news concerning what the Turks who live there think:

Germans are overwhelmingly mistrustful of Islam and Muslim immigration, according to a new research survey, which concludes that the image of Islam in Germany is "devastating."

The findings -- which corroborate the conclusions of other recent studies -- show a growing divide between ordinary Germans, who are concerned about the consequences of mass immigration from Muslim countries, and Germany's political elites, who are determined to build a "multicultural" society at any cost.

The 28-page study, "Fear of the East in the West" [Die Furcht vor dem Morgenland im Abendland], was produced by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research, and was published by the center-right German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on November 21.

Those who participated in the survey were asked to choose which of 21 statements about Islam most closely reflect their own views.

The research shows that more than half of the German population believes that Islam is prone to violence (64%); has a tendency toward revenge and retaliation (60%); is obsessed with proselytizing others (56%); and strives for political influence (56%).

More than 80% of Germans believe that Islam deprives women of their rights, and 70% say Islam is associated with religious fanaticism and radicalism.

As for Muslims in Germany:

The 103-page study, "German-Turkish Life and Values" (abridged version in German here), was jointly produced by the Berlin-based INFO polling institute and the Antalya, Turkey-based Liljeberg research firm, and was released to the general public in August 2012.

The study found that Islam is becoming an increasingly important component of the value structure of Turks in Germany, especially among the younger generation of Turkish-Germans, who hold religious views that are more radical than those held by their parents.

Almost all Turks surveyed (95%) said it is absolutely necessary for them to preserve their Turkish identity, and 62% said they would rather be around Turks than around Germans. Only 39% of Turks said that Germans are trustworthy.

At the same time, 87% of those surveyed said they believe that German society should make a greater effort to be considerate of the customs and traditions of Turkish immigrants.

Of those Turks surveyed, 72% believe that Islam is the only true religion; 18% say Jews are inferior people and 10% say Christians are inferior. Most Turks (55%) believe that Germany should build more mosques.

Arguably the most sobering finding of the study is that 46% of Turks say they hope that Germany will one day have more Muslims than Christians.

It's still too high a number. But at least there's some good omens here, that Germans are beginning to wake up and recognize that the religion the nazis once collaborated with when Haj-Amin el-Husseini was the Mufti is something that's very dangerous to them as well as to Jews.

MUSLIMS IN HEBRON RIOT WHEN TEENAGE HOODLUM SHOT DEAD AFTER THREATENING SOLDIER

He may have done it with a fake gun, but it was metallic and very real looking, and there was no way anyone could have been certain it wasn't. Here's the report:

A Border Guard officer shot and killed a Palestinian youth Wednesday after he threatened troops stationed near the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron, with what later turned out to be a toy gun.

An initial inquiry derived that the Palestinian walked up to the troops stationed at the checkpoint and pulled a gun on one of the officers. A female Border Guard officer noticed the event and fired at him, killing him. [...]

"At about 6:30 pm a Palestinian youth arrived at a Border Guard post near the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. When one of the soldiers asked him to present identification, the youth attacked him, pulling a gun and holding it to the soldier's head.

"A female Border Guard officer standing at the post saw what was going on and opened fire. The youth was critically injured and rushed to a local hospital, where he died of his wounds."

According to the statement, "A riot followed the incident, but was controlled by the troops at the scene. A military sapper later determined that the weapon was a metal toy gun. The Judea and Samaria Police are looking into the matter."

'I only had seconds to react'

The soldier who shot the teen recounted the event: "I saw the Palestinian pull a gun out of his back pocket and hold it up to the other soldier. I knew I only had a few seconds so I cocked my weapon and looked for the right angle – so not to hurt the soldier."

According to the soldier, she was a few yards away, at the checkpoint post, during the incident. "He (the soldier) asked a Palestinian teenager for his ID. I stepped out to fill out a checkpoint report and I saw the Palestinian attack the soldier and take out a gun."

She said she fired three shots. "I knew that if I did anything wrong the other soldier could get killed. I know this was the mission – that I had to do it for my friend."

According to the young soldier, fear made way to focus. "I think it was the adrenalin. The other soldier said that he owes me his life. But there's no heroism here. This is what we're trained to do."

Border Guard Commander Amos Yakov said that the officer who shot the teen "Acted with professional resolve to end the event and I commend her for it. This is exactly who we expect our troops to act – this is what we train them for."

And there was no way to know that the gun wasn't real. The boy may have even decided to become a shahid (martyr) and risk death for the sake of jihad. In that case, he knew perfectly well what he was getting into.

Update: the soldier received death threats online but is unfazed:

By Thursday morning, pro-Palestinian forums were awash with un-pixilated photos of N (whose identity in Israel is blocked from publication by the military censor) with her full name included. A number of these forums, including at least one Facebook page, were flooded with threats and calls for revenge against the border patrol officer.

When asked if she was worried about the death threats she said “I managed to take a look at them here and there but I’m not afraid. Of course they’d write things like this so I’d feel bad about what happened but I know I did the right thing. This is what they taught us, to fire at the terrorist in order to neutralize them, fake gun or not.”

N, who serves in the Hebron area as a Border Patrol commander, said she was showered with compliments by commanding officers and that although she is supposed to finish her service in a year and a half, after last night she is considering reenlisting and applying to be an officer.

With tensions high in the West Bank after the incident, which followed a series of violent encounters between Israeli security forces and Palestinians this week, N said she is not afraid that someone will try to hurt her out in the field or in her civilian life.

“This is our mission and if we face a threat we know how to deal with it. All of us, the police, border police, IDF, we’re all in this together to protect the Jewish residents and our country. Maybe there are threats here or there but it doesn’t bother me.“

I'm glad she's not scared of those cowards. I hope she'll go on to get a major promotion to a high-ranking official.

UH-OH: LOOKS LIKE EGYPT WILL COLLAPSE ECONOMICALLY - AND BE THRUST INTO CIVIL WAR - BEFORE ITS NEW "CONSTITUTION" TAKES EFFECT

HERE'S WHY:

"ARAB WINTER" - IMF postpones $4.8 billion loan to Egypt, PM calls for ‘social dialogue’. 

"ARAB WINTER" - IMF postpones $4.8 billion loan to Egypt, PM calls for ‘social dialogue’.(AA).The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has postponed a $4.8 billion loan to Egypt after linked economic belt-tightening steps were suspended. 

I HAVE FRIENDS WHO JUST RETURNED FROM AN EGYPT DEVOID OF TOURISTS - AND TOURISM IS 60% OF THEIR ECONOMY.

THEY CANNOT SURVIVE WITHOUT AID - AND AID IS SLOWING.... AND MIGHT BE SOON STOPPING.

THE TIPPING POINT IS FAST APPROACHING - WHEN THEY RUN OUT OF FOOD; (EGYPT MUST IMPORT BASIC FOODS).

WHEN THE SHELVES ARE EMPTY, EGYPT WILL DESCEND INTO MADNESS AND MAYHEM AND START TO LOOK MORE LIKE SYRIA DOES NOW (AND THEN MORE LIKE TALIBAN-CONTROLLED AFGHANISTAN) THAN EITHER JORDAN OR IRAQ...

THERE WILL BE LOOTING... RIOTS... AND THEN PILLAGING OF OPPONENT'S NEIGHBORHOODS AND VILLAGES....

(AND NOTHING CAN STOP IT AT THIS POINT, FOR IF THE ARMY STAGES AN ANTI-MORSI COUP THEN THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD WILL INST GATE A CIVIL WAR.)

WHAT LITTLE EGYPT HAD OF REASON, HAS NOW MADE ITS COMPLETE EXODUS FROM EGYPT, AND LIGHT IS FADING FAST....

... darkness spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt... [...]  there's a loud wailing in Egypt ... and not a house without someone dead...

[SNIPPETS FROM EXODUS]

MORE PROOF OUR YOUTH ARE BECOMING IDIOTS

BBC:

Almost one in every three pedestrians crossing the road are using their mobile phone, a US study suggests. Of more than 1,000 people crossing 20 different roads in Seattle, 10% were listening to music, 7% were texting and 6% were having conversations, on phones the journal Injury Prevention reports. 

The texters were four times more likely to ignore red lights or fail to look both ways before crossing.

AND THEY HAVE NEVER READ THE BIBLE OR SHAKESPEARE.

BUT THEY LOVE OBAMA.

IDIOTS.

IT'S THE END OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION.

RABBI ROSENBERG'S ATTACKER TURNS HIMSELF IN TO POLICE

The man who attacked rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg with bleach in Williamsburg the other day has surrendered to the NYPD:

A man accused of throwing bleach at a Williamsburg rabbi who advocates for sexual-abuse victims in the neighborhood's Satmar Hasidic community was arrested on Wednesday afternoon, New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

Escorted by his lawyer, Meilech Schnitzler, 36 years old, turned himself in to police at the 90th precinct stationhouse in Williamsburg a day after Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg was doused with a cup of Clorox, Mr. Kelly said. He was charged with assault, menacing, criminal mischief and criminal possession of a weapon. He was awaiting arraignment Wednesday afternoon.

Mr. Rosenberg, 62, runs a website and hotline that encourages victims of sex abuse in the Hasidic community to come forward and report the crimes to the police, and he has been ostracized by the Jewish community as a result.

The attack against Mr. Rosenberg comes as tensions remain high in the Satmar community after Nechemya Weberman, a prominent counselor in the insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, was found guilty of repeatedly sexually abusing a girl under his care over a three-year period starting when she was 12.

I'm glad the defendant here has wisely turned himself in. But while they do mention this is pertinent to the Satmar community, I don't like how they simply say "Jewish community" here. It's not the Jewish community that's shunned him, it's just the Satmars who have. The victim received plenty of support at this trial from other Jewish community members.

Prosecutors have complained about intimidation in the Satmar community, with some of the tactics at issue during Mr. Weberman's trial. Authorities have kept in close contact with Mr. Weberman's victim and her family since the trial, providing her with higher level of protection than most victims because of the community backlash in the case, a law-enforcement official said. [...]

The lead prosecutor on the case, Kevin O'Donnell, said on Monday that several of the victim's supporters told the district attorney's office that they received phone calls and messages from friends asking whose side they were on in the trial. "Anybody stepping forward out of their community to come to our office runs the risk of being ostracized and pretty much being removed from the community," he said.

They really shouldn't be reluctant to make an exodus from such a community if this is how they're going to act. Of all the ultra-Orthodox sects that could be disrespectful of law and order, they top the list. There's plenty of other sects with more common sense they could journey to instead, and I think it's high time they do.

BREAKING NEWS: MORAN'S GIRLFRIEND SMASHED HER OWN FACE AGAINST GARBAGE-CAN IN ATTEMPTED FALSE FLAG ATTACK ON MORAN

MORAN'S SON DIDN'T SMASH HIS GIRLFRIEND'S FACE INTO A GARBAGE-CAN.

HIS GIRLFRIEND SMASHED HER OWN HEAD INTO IT IN A FALSE FLAG ATTACK ON MORAN.

POST OF THE DAY: "We have a country where the young don’t know Shakespeare and haven’t read the Bible, and their lives are almost wholly unconnected with the past."

DINOCRAT:

There are more than a billion smartphones in use today, for example. We have a country where the young don’t know Shakespeare and haven’t read the Bible, and their lives are almost wholly unconnected with the past.  

No wonder that things are so messed up.

IT'S ONE REASON THE FUTURE IS BLEAK.

HOW DID IT HAPPEN?

THE POSTMODERN LEFT TOOK OVER THE MEDIA AND THE ACADEMY AND WON THE CULTURE WAR.

THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE CREATING "THE NEW MAN".

THE USSR - AND ITS CROOKED GENOCIDAL TYRANTS & APPARATCHIKS PROVED - THAT YOU NEVER TRULY CREATE "A NEW MAN".

BUT YOU CAN MAKE HIM IGNORANT AND HATE HIS OWN NATION AND HIS OWN CULTURE AND HIS OWN CIVILIZATION.

THIS IS ONE REASON WHY WE'RE DOING SUCH AN AWFUL JOB FIGHTING ISLAMIZATION AND RAMPANT OUT-OF-CONTROL ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION - AND CREEPING SOCIALISM: 

THE LEFT HAS DISABLED OUR ZEAL TO DEFEND OUR CULTURE FROM INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL THREATS.

MENENDEZ, THE MEDIA AND IMMORAL ELECTION RIGGING

SICKENING FROM START TO FINISH.

US ARMY'S NEW DHIMMI HANDBOOK SAYS NOT TO SPEAK NEGATIVELY ABOUT TALIBAN

Judicial Watch (via The Jawa Report) warns that a new military manual is in the works, demonstrating just how low the Obama adminstration will go in appeasement to Islam:

Here is a strong indicator that the Obama Administration’s crusade to appease Islam has gone too far; a new U.S. military handbook for troops deployed to the Middle East orders soldiers not to make derogatory comments about the Taliban or criticize pedophilia, among other outrageous things.

It gets better; the new manual, which is around 75 pages, suggests that Western ignorance of Afghan culture— not Taliban infiltration—is responsible for the increase in deadly attacks by Afghan soldiers against the coalition forces.

The soon-to-be-released Army handbook is still being drafted, but a mainstream newspaper got a sneak preview and published an article that should infuriate the American taxpayers funding the never-ending war on terror. The manual is being created because someone with authority bought the theory that cultural insensitivity is driving insider attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

[...] The draft leaked to the newspaper offers a list of “taboo conversation topics” that soldiers should avoid, including “making derogatory comments about the Taliban,” “advocating women’s rights,” “any criticism of pedophilia,” “directing any criticism towards Afghans,” “mentioning homosexuality and homosexual conduct” or “anything related to Islam.”

The part about women's rights becoming taboo is particularly disturbing, and goes way against everything a democratic country stands for. There is fortunately some objections being raised to this outrageous Orwellian manual in the military. I know that if I were in the army, I'd sooner resign than sacrifice my beliefs and morale for this kind of atrocious cowardice. I hope Congress is going to comment on this, which would give them something to make a credible argument from.

NON-ORTHODOX JUDAISM SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED IN ISRAEL

A Zionist Orthodox rabbi took a trip abroad and came back with the following discoveries:

After returning from a trip to the U.S., Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, one of Israel's most prominent Zionist Orthodox rabbis, said that steps should be taken to welcome non-Orthodox Diaspora Jews, as a way to fight growing assimilation and loss of Jewish identity abroad.

Cherlow wrote that Torah and Zionism no longer play the roles in the identity of Diaspora Jews that they once used to.

He said that many non-Orthodox Diaspora Jews do not want to identify with Israel "because of the occupation, the racism, the control of another people by force."

Boy, look at what assimilation led to - leftism! Not that it's entirely relevant to the main issue, but it's still something to be worried about, and if you look at how Satmar and Neturei Karta think and act, it's not just a problem with non-Orthodox sects. Even some Orthodox, or more precisely, ULTRA-Orthodox, buy into the narrative that delegitimizes half of Israel's territory in favor of the lie of a "palestinian Arab people".

Now, here's the direct part to ponder:

Cherlow explained that another part of the problem is that many non-Orthodox Diaspora Jews do not feel wanted in Israel.

"In Israel, the religious movements to which they belong are not recognized and also those who do not affiliate with any movement do not want to identify with a state where there is a religious monopoly," he wrote. "Their conversions are not recognized, nor are their prayers (Women of the Wall), etc.”

To be more welcoming to non-Orthodox Diaspora Jews, Cherlow recommended a reconsideration of rulings on a number of issues, such as conversion.

Speaking as someone whose family once went with the Conservative sect in the US before moving to Orthodox as a default, I would welcome them, though there are some drawbacks to their belief system in recent years that I find dismaying. But for the most part, the Conservative sect in my childhood was not hostile to Israel/Zionism, and that doesn't seem to have changed much.

Recognizing non-Orthodox Judaism in Israel could help to dislodge any hostile mentalities that might stem from the resentment of not being recognized as legitimate here, and sects like Reform wouldn't have as many bad issues then that could be used at ease to cause problems. So I do think steps should be taken to remove some of the most domineering of Haredi rabbis who've monopolized the Western Wall according to their beliefs while demonizing other sects of Judaism, and don't be surprised if their standings on Zionism aren't the reason why they have any issues with non-Orthodox sects.

WHAT'S HAPPENED TO UNITED AIRLINES' POST-9-11 SECURITY COMMITMENTS?

Michael Smerconish reports that United Airlines may have gone back on its security commitments in the structure of their planes:

After 9/11, [Ellen] Saracini was pleased when Congress ordered all cockpit doors reinforced and heartened when United, although not mandated, outfitted its airplanes with secondary doors.

"The secondary barrier is a lightweight wire-mesh door that is locked in place to act as a barrier for when the cockpit door is opened during flight when the crew comes out for a meal or bathroom breaks," Saracini explained to me. "It is not a replacement for a reinforced cockpit door. It is just a door intended to provide enhanced security for a few extra seconds until the cockpit door can be closed."

When United took the lead in this regard, it earned plaudits from the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA). Delaying a hijacker for just five seconds could make a difference, ALPA said in a 2007 report.

But United has changed course. The airline took possession of the first of 50 ordered 787 Dreamliners from Boeing in September, and the aircraft were delivered without a secondary door.

Why the change?

That's the "question of the century," Saracini said. On Oct. 11, she wrote to United CEO Jeff Smisek, seeking an answer. In August, two ALPA representatives raised similar concerns with Smisek. They wrote: "The events of 9/11 showed us that there are significant threats to aviation that should not, that cannot, be ignored. ... Following the tragedy of Sept. 11, United Airlines ... made a commitment to protecting the cockpits so that 9/11 could never happen again. United management established a goal to install 'secondary security barriers ... on all aircraft' and in doing so, set the example for the industry." A union representative told me it did not get a reply from Smisek.

Saracini received a response from Michael Quiello, United's vice president for corporate safety. He expressed sympathy for her loss but did not answer her question. "For security reasons I am sure you can appreciate that we are not able to share all the methods we have in place to meet the ever-changing threats, but please be assured that we are absolutely compliant with all FAA regulations, which include a multitude of cockpit security measures." Quiello offered to fly to Saracini's home and meet with her. [...]

While noting the invitation to meet with Saracini, United said it had no desire to "have the conversation with her through the media."

Saracini is not mollified. But she told me she intends to accept the meeting invitation, so stay tuned.

"This should infuriate everybody," she told me.

Absolutely. Security procedures are completely vital for the safety of the crew and passengers, and if United Airlines is suddenly dropping the security door layers from the plane models they're getting, it should not be overlooked. Anyone thinking of buying a flight ticket with their network may want to reconsider if they're suddenly backtracking on security commitments.

GREEK DEBT BUYBACK MISSES TARGET

NOT GOOD. NOT HORRIFIC, BUT .... SHORT.

RIP RAVI SHANKAR

RIP.

I AM LUCKY TO HAVE SEEN THE GREAT SITARIST PLAY SEVERAL TIMES.

OBAMA'S BROWN-SHIRTS AT IT AGAIN... IN MICHIGAN

HIS TONTON MACOUTE.

HIS ORCS.

THIS THUG MUST BE ARRESTED, TRIED, AND CONVICTED - OR THERE IS NO RULE OF LAW IN MICHIGAN.

UPDATE: HE HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED: TONY CUMMINGS. IF AUTHORITIES FAIL TO ARREST HIM, THEN THERE IS NO RULE OF LAW IN MICHIGAN.

MORE HERE.

RABBI WHO HELPED VICTIM OF NECHEMYA WEBERMAN ASSAULTED AFTER TRIAL

According to this report:

Long time chasidic activist Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg was physically assaulted earlier today by a relative of convicted sex offender Baruch Lebovits, who’s conviction was overturned back in April.

According to a reliable source, Rabbi Rosenberg is currently being treated at a hospital emergency room in Brooklyn, after Lebovits’s relative allegedly threw bleach in Rosenberg’s face. Several high ranking chasidic leaders are blaming Rabbi Rosenberg for numerous arrests and convictions of sexual predators living within the Satmar community, including the conviction of Nechemya Weberman earlier this week. Weberman was an unlicensed counselor who sexually assaulted a teenage girl under his care.

This was not the first time that Rabbi Rosenberg was assaulted. Back in 2008 he was stopped on the street several times at knife point while being warned to shut down his hotline in which he provides information in Yiddish regarding how to protect children from sexual predators. It was around this same time he was shot in the head after not obeying the warnings.

Absolutely chilling. Until now, I usually haven't heard of Haredis being accused of murder, or even attempted, but if this is any wakeup call, there are fanatics out there in the Satmar community who are willing to risk tarnishing their image further by making threats against altruistic people trying to help victims and prevent harm to other potential victims. The police should start beefing up patrols around those neighborhoods in Williamsburg to prevent further crimes like that from happening.

The thugs who commited those violent crimes clearly don't honor the 10 Commandments or any other Jewish laws/Halacha. For them, religion is clearly just a pathetic excuse for power dominance.

Update: here's more news on Rosenberg's site, and in the NY Times.

THE END OF BRITAIN - it's sooner than you think

THE NUMBER OF CHRISTIAN BRITS HAS DECLINED BY 20% IN THE LAST DECADE, AND THE NUMBER OF ATHEISTS HAS NEARLY DOUBLED.

MEANWHILE, THE NUMBER OF ISLAMISTS IS STEADILY INCREASING.... AND MANY ON WELFARE.

THESE TRENDS ARE GEOMETRIC AND THE LINES MEET IN THE NEXT 20 YEARS - THEN.... IT'S OVER.

THEY MAY ACTUALLY HITTING THE POINT OF NO RETURN IN THIS DECADE.

SIGH.

OSLO AND THE WHOLE DANG "PEACE PROCESS" IS OFFICIALLY DEAD

In 1993, Israel signed an agreement with the PLO to make peace in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The accord, known as the Oslo agreement, included the following passage in Article 31: “Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations.”

By essentially unilaterally declaring the existence of an Arab Palestine, the world has abrogated that agreement.

FOR THE ARABS, OSLO WAS ALWAYS JUST A TROJAN HORSE.

THEY DO NOT WANT PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE - NOT WITH ISRAEL AND NOT WITH THE WEST.

LIKE IT OR NOT, IT'S US OR THEM - AND THE TROUBLE IN ISRAEL IS NO DIFFERENT THAN THE TROUBLE IN EGYPT, IRAN, AND SO ON:

THE RISE OF ISLAMISM AND THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CALIPHATE IS A CONFRONTATION THE WEST CANNOT WISH AWAY, OR NEGOTIATE AWAY.

IT IS A 1500 YEAR OLD WAR THAT MUST - AND WILL - BE FOUGHT KINETICALLY, WITH ONLY ONE SIDE SURVIVING.

IS SPAIN ABOUT TO OFFICIALLY BEGIN ENFORCING SHARIA LAW?

FAIAP: YES!