Ok has been while + Glasgow airport (even if its in paisley) car bomb attack

Well appears take something as horrible as a car bomb to bring me back to blogging Well it appears luckily that nobody was hurt, even those in the car were apparently caught alive (if badly burned). Still too early to say what happened, but unfortunately it appears to be deliberate and intentional attempt to kill.

Was a bit shocked, only used airport last week and family in it yesterday.

BBC has more information here on this

I am moving to Rosemary's Thoughts, others will stay

As some of you may know, I have stretched myself past the limit. So I have started a site called Rosemary's Thoughts. I am going to be consolidating each site that I have so that I only have to write it once. Please continue to visit here, as there are many other writers who put their hard work into trying to keep you informed. If you like my work, you know where to find me. (It is going to take a while for me to get up and running, because I am going to be trying pull up everything I've ever written. Ugghh!) Have a great day!

Speak their language

Cross-posted at Rosemary's Thoughts.

Politics:

So, they want illegal aliens to move ahead of all the people waiting for years to come here, but they did it the proper way, eh? Do you feel as though there is nothing you can do? Do not fret!

I want to hear those phones a'ringing! Go get 'em, guys. We'll bring them to their knees. When they come with hands out this time, you know exactly what to do. Hand them the name of this bill, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, in the size of a check!

Hat tip: Bryan from HotAir.

'A Chance' says PM Olmert

Cross-posted at Rosemary's Thoughts.

I just got through with a conference with Miri Eisin, Foreign Press Spokeswoman for Israeli PM Ehud Olmert' office, and I have more question than answers, I'm sorry to say. I could not hear the questions being asked of her after her initial press conference, so it may just be a misunderstanding.

There was a meeting yesterday with President Mubarak, PM Abbas, King (or President) Abdullah from Jordan and PM Olmert in the efforts of taking an opportunity out of this madness (the civil war in the Gaza Strip) and turning it into a chance to move forward with the 2 state solution. She kept repeating that PM Olmert, she and the others were not going to allow the terrorists to define them, but that the moderates were going to take control and define themselves and their destiny.

They were going to move forward-cautiously of course-with diplomacy. It is going to be a process with a vision of peace at the end of the rainbow. What happened in Gaza was horrific, but this opens the door to opportunity and they are going to walk through it.

There are three main articles that came up. They are:

1. Abbas fired Hamas' elected officials from the government, and now Abbas is working with an emergency government.

2. There will be 250 Arab prisoners, some will be Fatah, released from Israels prisons. The criteria for their release will be that they must not have blood on their hands and they must admit that Israel is NOT the cause of the suffering for the Arabs in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. They had brought it on by themselves by their own actions, their own choices, their own doing (or lack thereof).

3. Abbas has said to the Arabic world, in Arabic (very important because they sometimes say one thing in English and another in Arabic) that he renounced the violence of Hamas, he believed in a 2 state solution living side by side with Israel in peace, and he recognizes Israel. (I'm not sure of the last one. I can hardly read my notes!)

She also talked about the atmosphere produced so the talks could move forward. She stated that it would be a good idea to widen the scope of the dialogue. They are going to meet again next month, since the new emergency government is only around 10 days old.

Then the questions started. I could not hear the questions, but I could hear the answers. Maybe that is where the confusion comes. The first answer was indeed unique. For the first time, there were no, "Yes, BUT's" in their conversation.

Then she said they would give access to the West Bank! This way they could have freedom of movement. (Do you know who else could have freedom of movement, dear?) They also recognize the emergency government as the ruling government. (How long have we been called occupiers, although the government is in Iraq is elected?) However, access and free movement are very important to human beings. (I just pray it is not a mistake.)

There shall never be a compromise with terrorists such as Hamas and others. As to the money that has been held back due to the Hamas government, that shall be released just as soon as they can both agree on a way that is best for the people's humanitarian needs. There are dozens of truckloads per day being delivered everyday, but the Left press will not write about this. (It bothers me that facts are not disclosed, no matter what the situation.) Also, they both want to make sure the money goes to the moderates and not to the terrorists.

Later in the questioning period, they declared there would not be any benchmarks, ultimatums, or the such. This is what people looking in from the outside do not understand. You cannot do such a thing, especially with a government that is only 10 days old!

At the meeting yesterday, Mubarrak said that what Hamas did was create 'a coup'. Abbas agreed, basically, because he said the same thing at a later date. Abbas also declared it was totally unacceptable. However, it is too soon to expect any elections in the West Bank.

There were questions about trust (many questions). The answer was rather usual. Trust must be built, even if it is with your enemies of old. What alternative is there? (Fight back?)

Iran was mentioned, Syria was mentioned, Russia was mentioned, and I have no answers for you. My fault. I was writing as fast as I could! I did happen to catch one comment. Israel has an economy that surpasses that of the EU! I wish I knew those numbers. Now that's something new I could really sink my teeth into.

Let us pray for Israel and her neighbors countrymen and women. (Notice I did not say governments?) Pray for peace, understanding, forgiveness and readiness.Let us also pray that Israel realizes that the more the give, the more the Arabs will consider this weakness. I know most of the Israelis have hearts of peace, and they want the war to stop. Sometimes you have to have take other paths, sometimes you don't. Let us pray this is one of those times you don't, but if it is? Let us pray they have the chutzpah! (Yes, I am an Israel supporter. You can't even sue me! Hahaha.)

H/t: Israel Project.

Iraqi politicians agree deal on sharing oil, says Kurd Minister

I came upon this fantastic article (if it is true) today over at Matt Drudge's site. Here is a portion:

Written by: Michael Howard in Sulaymaniya.
Thursday June 21, 2007
The Guardian.

Iraq's Kurdish leaders said last night they had struck an important deal with the central government in Baghdad over a law to divide up Iraq's oil revenues, which is seen by the Bush administration as one of the benchmarks in attempts to foster national reconciliation.

Ashti Hawrami, the minister for natural resources in the Kurdistan regional government, told the Guardian the text had been finalised late last night after 48 hours of "tough bargaining" with Baghdad. The deal represented "a genuine revenue sharing agreement" that was transparent and would benefit all the people of Iraq and help pull the country together, he said. [Continue reading.]

I have also included many of the other stories links. If you are interested in some of the articles, you may find a link to that story that is no longer on the first page. lol. Have a great day.

Trident II D5 Successful Launch of Two-Missile U.S. Navy Test

Lockheed Martin-Built Trident II D5 Successfully Launched in Two-Missile U.S. Navy Test in the Atlantic

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 16 - The U.S. Navy conducted a successful test launch yesterday, May 15, of two Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missiles (FBMs) built by Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT). The Navy launched the unarmed missiles from USS Tennessee (SSBN 734) in the Eastern Range in the Atlantic Ocean.

With this two-missile Follow-on Commander Evaluation Test, the Trident II D5 missile has achieved 119 consecutive successful test launches since 1989 - a record unmatched by any other large ballistic missile or space launch vehicle. The launches are part of a continuing series of operational system evaluation tests conducted by the Navy to assure the safety, reliability, readiness and performance of the Trident II D5 Strategic Weapon System, as required by the Department of Defense's National Command Authority and conducted under the testing guidelines of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

A new test missile kit design was used for the first time in the test. Produced by Lockheed Martin, the new design uses a combination of custom military and commercial-off-the-shelf components. The kits convert operational missiles into test configurations and contain range safety devices and flight telemetry instrumentation.

"Consistent with every test launch conducted by the Navy's Strategic Systems Programs, this test was important to ensuring the reliability and credibility of the Fleet Ballistic Missile," said Tory Bruno, vice president of Strategic Missile Programs, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "This test had added significance because the new test missile kits extend the effectiveness of the Navy's rigorous testing program."

First deployed in 1990, the D5 missile is currently aboard 12 Trident II Ohio-class submarines. The three-stage, solid-propellant, inertial-guided ballistic missile can travel a nominal range of 4,000 nautical miles and carries multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Sunnyvale, Calif., is the prime contractor and program manager for the U.S. Navy's Trident Missile. Approximately 2,400 Lockheed Martin Space Systems employees, principally in California, Georgia, Florida, Washington and Utah, support the design, development, production, test and operation of the Trident strategic weapon system.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2006 sales of $39.6 billion.

Media Contact: Lynn Fisher, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, 408-742-7606; Lynn M. Fisher.

Source: Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

Web site: www.lockheedmartin.com.

Technorati tags: lockheed martin, us navy, trident submarine, fleet ballistic missile, strategic missile program, trident II, Department of Defense, ohio-class submarine, Navy News.

Europeans March Against Islam On September 11, 2007

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

*A Hat Tip to Britney British, the Winston Churchill of the Internet, at "God Help Britain" who has tried to wake up Britain and the world to the threat posed by Islam against Western Civilization.

STOP ISLAMISATION OF EUROPE (SIOE) DEMONSTRATION 11th SEPTEMBER OUTSIDE THE EU PARLIAMENT

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
NO SHARIA HERE!
DEMOCRACY NOT THEOCRACY!

Watch The Video: "Europe Under The Hammer"

These are the rallying cries that people all over Europe are shouting far and wide to Islamists both within Europe and in other countries who seek to impose Sharia law upon European citizens.

It is not only to Muslims, who seek to expand Islam across the whole of Europe, that Europeans are saying “Enough” it is also to our politicians who connive with Islamists to establish Sharia law by stealth.

From building regulations to burial rights, the majority of Europe’s population is increasingly expected to adhere to Sharia law.

“Hate” laws now make it a crime to speak out against Islam even though it is just another totalitarian political system.

Our free speech, which has been gained over many centuries by defeating tyrannical regimes through many bloody wars, is now being removed solely to protect Muslims from being offended. Nobody has the right to not be offended.

SIOE is a Pan-European movement determined to not merely stopping the surreptitious Islamisation of Europe, but reversing it.

The first step in this reversal is a march comprising people, from many European countries, all demanding that all non-Islamic European nations remain non-Islamic and a halt to encroachment of Sharia law.

Anders Gravers (Founder of SIOE Denmark and leader of the political party SIAD) said: “We do not believe in the concept of ‘moderate Muslims’. The evidence points to Islam being the opposite of moderate. The heart of Sunni Islam is Saudi Arabia and the centre of Shia Islam is Iran. No rational person can describe these two countries as ‘moderate’; at least not when compared to European values. We now have children in Danish schools being forced to eat Halal meat so that Muslim pupils are not offended. What next? Are Danish women to be stoned to death for being raped as they are in Iran? Or are people to be beheaded for leaving Islam as they are in Saudi Arabia? No! We will not allow Europe to become a huge Saudi Arabia or Iran”

Dr. Udo Ulfkotte (Founder and president of the non-profit charity "Pax Europa") said: "We clearly feel the pressure of Islamisation in Germany. German police and courts are more tolerant to Muslims than to non-Muslims. One of the highest German courts (Bundesgerichtshof) has just downgraded the punishment for Islamists who publicly declare and ask for violent Jihad in Europe. Unacceptably, some judges have quoted the Quran and not German law in court cases. Polygamy, once illegal in Germany, is now permitted only for Muslim men, who may even claim state benefits for their wives.

German life is changing to appease Muslims. For example, Christian crosses in our public institutions are being removed and there are separate swimming times for Muslims in supposedly public pools (which non-Muslims’ taxes pay for).

German Muslims demand a quota for "positive reports" from the German media, but they kick out the religious group Bahai from an inter-religious conference because they refuse to accept them within the "dialogue".

All this was once described as hypocrisy, but is now actually promoted by our feeble politicians.

Stephen Gash (Founder of SIOE England) said: “Appeasement of Islamists has become ridiculous. Non-Muslims are expected to be buried facing Mecca and to sit on toilets facing away from Mecca because cemeteries and new homes have to conform to Muslim sensitivities. Toy pigs are banned from offices and Christmas lights must now be called ‘Winter Festival lights’ so as not to offend Muslims. None of these oppressive measures were even contemplated when Jews were the only ones who could possibly be offended by pigs and ‘Merry Christmas’.

Absurdly, to criticise Islam results in accusations of ‘racism’. Well, I’ve always considered racism as being the lowest form of human stupidity, but Islamophobia to be the height of common sense.”

Charlotte Westergaard (SIAD board member) said: “The biggest danger comes from our own politicians who promote Islamic values at the expense of our own values. The way things are going all European non-Muslim citizens will be paying the Jizzya tax to Muslims as they did during the days of the Ottoman Empire. Of course the politicians believe they will be exempt – until the local Imam knocks on their door.”

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Excellent Background Information On The Creation of SIOE by "Gates of Vienna"

President Fred Thompson

I have generally favored Rudy Giuliani for the Republican presidential nomination, because I like proven war time leadership, but Fred Thompson, a man with a varied career as a lawyer, a senator, and an actor, has been rapidly gaining on Giuliani in polls of Republican voters, even though he hasn't officially declared his candidacy. The reason is that Thompson offers more conservative views on issues like abortion—while nearly matching Giuliani in his statements on the threat of Islamic terrorism.

To get an idea of Thompson's appeal, here is a terrific speech he gave today in London. Note how, well, presidential he seems. But note particularly the promise that Thompson is holding out. In a sense, it is the promise of starting over again in the War on Terrorism, being able to make a case for the war in Iraq and for a relatively strong policy against Iran—a central implicit topic of his remarks—but without any close association with the errors and eroded credibility of the Bush administration.

What Thompson offers, in effect, is the promise that a relatively hawkish war policy can survive the political implosion of the Bush administration.

"Remarks to Policy Exchange in London," Fred Thompson, RealClearPolitics, June 19 Differences of party and domestic policy are incidental, compared to the bigger considerations that define Britain and America as allies. On both sides of the Atlantic, what matters most are the commitments we share, and the work we are called to do in common. This work is based upon the principles we hold—primarily, the right of free people to govern themselves. We also believe that the rule of law, market economies, property rights, and trade with other nations are the underpinnings of a free society.

When historians of the modern era speak of the great democracies, of civilization and its defenders, that's us they're talking about—we and our democratic friends across Europe and beyond….

Often the cause of our grief is a misplaced trust in the good intentions of others. In our dealings with other nations, people in free countries are not the type to go looking for trouble. We tend to extend our good will to other nations, assuming that it will be returned in kind. No matter how clear the signals, sometimes in history even the best of men failed to act in time to prevent the worst from happening.

The United States and the United Kingdom have learned this lesson both ways—in great evils ignored, and in great evils averted. We learned it from a World War that happened and, in the decades afterward, from the World War that didn't happen….

Many in Europe simply have a different view from that of the United States as to the threat of radical Islamic fundamentalism. They think that the threat is overblown. That despite September 11th, and July 7th and other attacks in Europe and elsewhere, America is the main target and therefore the problem is basically an American one. The fact that no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq at a particular point in time resolves the matter for them. Also, they see no meaningful connection between terrorist groups and countries like Iran….

However, most Americans feel differently. We understand that the Western world is in an international struggle with jihadists who see this struggle as part of a conflict that has gone on for centuries, and who won't give up until Western countries are brought to their knees. I agree with this view. I believe that the forces of civilization must work together with common purpose to defeat the terrorists who for their own twisted purposes have murdered thousands, and who are trying to acquire technology to murder millions more….

Though there are many moments in British political history from which leaders today can take instruction, there is one in particular that I've always admired in the career of Sir Winston Churchill.

It was when Neville Chamberlain died in November 1940. In memorializing in the House of Commons his longtime adversary, Churchill pronounced the bitter controversies put to rest….

Maybe it's the actor in me that admires this scene so much. It's a moment that no script-writer could improve upon. I am struck by its spirit, the magnanimity and generosity of the man...the willingness to let old arguments go, and move on to great objectives held in common.

We in this alliance have had our own share of hopes mocked and plans upset. And now it is time to shake off the disappointments, to let go of controversies past, and to press on together toward the great objectives.

The Iranian Tet Offensive

It is 1968 all over again with a weakened presidency and growing public unrest with the direction of the World War III against Islam, so Iran opens the summer vacation season with its own version of the Tet Offensive.

Most commentators on the Hamas takeover of Gaza are missing the real story. They miss it for the same reason that they have missed the real story in Iraq. They miss it because they think they are looking at a civil war—Sunnis versus Shiites in Iraq, Hamas versus Fatah in Gaza—when the real story is a regional war, with Iran at its center.

The Islamist takeover of Gaza is really the first stage in Iran's new summer offensive against the West.

The Hamas takeover was not factional rivalry that spun out of control. It was clearly a deliberate, planned military campaign. In the Gaza town of Khan Yunis, for example, Hamas fighters destroyed the headquarters of the Fatah-controlled security forces by detonating a one-ton bomb buried in a tunnel under the building. This is more than a civil war: it is a carefully planned, well-executed revolutionary putsch against the Palestinian Authority.

What happened after the Hamas military victory is even more telling. Stories have been filtering out about Fatah supporters being rounded up into prison camps, of Fatah fighters being bound and thrown off of high-rise rooftops or subject to summary executions in the street. Having taken power by brute force, Hamas is making it clear that it intends to rule by fear. Summing up all of these events, a spokesman for Hamas declared, "The era of justice and Islamic rule have arrived."

This should all be familiar. The same kind of "justice" and Islamic rule arrived in Iran in 1979—and now Iran has finally managed to export its Islamic Revolution into the Sunni Arab world. Gaza is now an outpost of Iranian-inspired totalitarian Islamic rule.

And there is a good possibility that this won't stop in Gaza. Fatah is a leftover of the old era of the quasi-secular nationalist Arab "strongman." But Fatah's strongman Yasser Arafat is dead, both literally and metaphorically: his type is losing out, in the Muslim world, to the revived Islamist movement represented by Hamas. One side in this conflict is tired and dispirited—while the other is fanatically devoted and believes that it has the forces of history on its side.

While jubilant Hamas fighters stormed the last remaining Fatah redoubts in Gaza, Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas responded by calling for new elections. The overall sense coming from Fatah spokesmen is not one of defiance or resolve, but a sense of resignation and despair. "There is no future for us," one Fatah supporter told the New York Times, while a Palestinian Authority official concluded, “We Palestinians are writing the final chapters of our national enterprise.” It should be no surprise to hear that hundreds of Fatah officials have already fled to Egypt. Fatah is a sinking ship, and the rats who make up its crew are deserting it. At this rate, Fatah will ultimately lose, not only Gaza, but the West Bank as well.

Seeing Fatah thugs dragged into the streets and shot by a rival gang of terrorists may not cause us to shed any tears—it couldn't happen to a more deserving group of people—but we shouldn't be deceived into thinking of this as a purely internal, factional struggle. During the first Palestinian intifada, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, most of the people killed by Palestinian terrorists were other Palestinians—those who were considered "collaborators" or advocates of peace with Israel. It was necessary for Arafat to eliminate all Palestinian opposition, so that he could take over the Palestinian territories (with our help, alas) and use them as a base from which to attack Israel.

This time, it is Iran—the main financial, military, and ideological sponsor of Hamas—that is seeking to take over. So, too, in Lebanon, where Iran's satellite, Syria, is also using factional fighting as an excuse to liquidate opposition—as in the latest assassination of an anti-Syrian politician. Syria seeks to break Lebanon between a new Sunni Islamist uprising in the north and the Shiite Islamist Hezbollah militia in the south—all with the goal of reasserting Syrian and Iranian control.

Add to this the continuing Iranian support for insurgents in Iraq and new evidence that Iran is providing weapons and training to the Taliban in Afghanistan—an act of war against the United States, not to mention the entire NATO alliance—and we can see the whole regional picture. In Lebanon, Iran has used Hezbollah to establish a base against Israel on the north, which is now matched by Gaza as a base against Israel on the South. Iraq is under siege from both sides, with Syrian and Iranian support pouring in to both Sunni and Shiite terrorist gangs—while Iran has now begun to strike out eastward against the US and NATO in Afghanistan.

In short, Iran is bent on regional domination, and it is advancing on all fronts.

This is exactly the picture that emerged during Iran's last summer offensive: Hezbollah's rocket war against Israel in July and August of last year. The only thing that has changed in our strategic position since then is that things have gotten worse: Iran has been emboldened to make further advances, while a Democratic victory in the US election has reassured Iran and Syria that America will eventually retreat and abandon the region to their control.

If we're not going to surrender to this Iranian onslaught—if we're not going to forget the lessons of September 11 and allow terrorist-sponsoring Islamist regimes to metastasize across the Middle East—we need to start fighting back immediately.

Tired, discredited, and possibly broken by his failures in Iraq, President Bush seems to have given up on providing any leadership against the Iranian threat. Fortunately, we still have Joe Lieberman, who has established himself as the only political figure willing to lead in this crisis by declaring that we should start an air war against Iran in retaliation for its acts of war against US troops in Iraq. What is really new in Lieberman's declaration is that he has proposed the use of military force against Iran, not as potential future measure to pre-empt Iran's nuclear weapons program, but as an immediate act of retaliation in response to the war Iran is already waging against us.

Our enemy in that war is already on the offensive in the farthest-flung corners of its would-be empire, from the Mediterranean to the Himalayas—but it is vulnerable at the center. There is still time for an air war against Iran itself, targeting terrorist training camps, nuclear facilities, assets of the Iranian Revolution Guard, and the gasoline supply lines that keep the Iranian economy moving, all with the aim of bringing down the regime.

It's that—or surrender the greater Middle East to a nuclear-armed Islamist empire headed by Iran.

Sen. Sessions Releases List of 20 Loopholes in the Sen. Immigration Bill

Courtesy of Senator Jeff Sessions, Alabama

Sen. Sessions Releases List of 20 Loopholes in the Senate Immigration Bill

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) released a list of 20 loopholes in the comprehensive immigration bill today which reveals that the bill is fatally flawed and will not establish a functioning immigration system in the future.

The list of loopholes includes flaws effecting border security, chain-migration and assimilation policies. The list exposes the lack of serious attention given to ensuring that the legislation fixes America’s failed immigration system.

“I am deeply concerned about the numerous loopholes we have found in this legislation. They are more than technical errors, but rather symptoms of a fundamentally flawed piece of legislation that stands no chance of actually fixing our broken immigration system,” Sessions said. “Many of the loopholes are indicative of a desire not to have the system work.”

For example, one loophole in the “enforcement trigger” fails to require the U.S. VISIT system – the biometric border check-in/check-out system established by Congress in 1996, but never implemented – to be fully functioning before new worker or amnesty programs begin. Without the system in place, the U.S. has no method of ensuring that workers and their families do not overstay their visas.

Another flaw in the legislation prevents the benefits of merit-based immigration from taking full effect until 2016. Until then, chain migration into the U.S. will actually triple, compared to a disproportionately low increase in skill-based immigration. As a result, the merit-based system in the bill is only a shell of what it should have been.

A third loophole in the bill allows immigrants to avoid demonstrating a proficiency in English for more than a decade. Illegal aliens are not required to learn English to receive full “probationary benefits” of citizenship. Passing a basic English test is only required for the third Z-visa renewal, twelve years after amnesty is granted.

Sessions will highlight many of the loopholes contained in the list this week during Senate debate on the immigration bill.

For a full list of the 20 loopholes << Link Here >>.