June 24, 2004

Zarqawi: We will fight 'Until Islamic rule is back on Earth'

A recording supposedly made by the mastermind of bombings and beheadings in Iraq threatened to assassinate Iraq's interim prime minister and fight the Americans "until Islamic rule is back on Earth."

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's recording was found yesterday on an Islamist website, where previous recordings and threats have been found.

In the audiotape, the speaker thought to be al-Zarqawi told Iraq's interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, that "we will continue the game with you until the end." The speaker said "we will not get bored" until "we make you drink from the same glass" as Izzadine Saleem, the Iraqi Governing Council president killed last month in a car-bombing claimed by al-Zarqawi's group.

"We will carry on our jihad against the Western infidel and the Arab apostate until Islamic rule is back on Earth," the voice said.

Too many people are concerned with how people "feel" and whether or not we are being politically correct.

It's hard to be politically correct when someone is trying to kill you.

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Nancy Pelosi & Beaker: Separated at Birth?

I'm still wiping tears from my eyes....

(Help Damon find an "in-print" home; call or write your local newspaper and ask them to carry Day By Day today!)

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June 23, 2004

OJ's favorite love song

Anybody remember Ray Parker, Jr's "(I Still Can't Get Over) Loving You?"

Girl, I cant forget cause it's not over yet
I still can't get over lovin' you
Every breath you take, I'll be watchin' you, girl
Cause I still can't get over lovin' you, mmm

There's no way that this thing is through, no
[I still can't get over] Not yet, I ain't through lovin' you
I'm gettin' mad [Lovin' you], girl, don't you ever try to leave, no, no
[I still can't get over] It'll be the last thing you'll ever do, oh

Actual lyrics!

I wonder if OJ and Ray compared notes...

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George Bush thinks you have lost your mind

The Bush Administration is set to unveil a sweeping initiative next month that recommends that every single American citizen be screened for mental illness.

The New Freedom Initiative, according to a progress report, seeks to integrate mentally ill patients fully into the community by providing "services in the community, rather than institutions," the British Medical Journal reported.

The initiative began with Bush's launch in April 2002 of the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, which conducted a "comprehensive study of the United States mental health service delivery system."

The panel found that "despite their prevalence, mental disorders often go undiagnosed" and recommended comprehensive mental health screening for "consumers of all ages," including preschool children.

The commission said, "Each year, young children are expelled from preschools and childcare facilities for severely disruptive behaviors and emotional disorders."

Schools, the panel concluded, are in a "key position" to screen the 52 million students and 6 million adults who work at the schools.

Translation? "You and your children are crazy until proven not; and we're gonna screen your kids -- at school -- whether you like it or not."
Eli Lilly, manufacturer of one of the drugs recommended in the plan, has multiple ties to the Bush administration, BMJ says. The elder President Bush was a member of Lilly's board of directors and President Bush appointed Lilly's chief executive officer, Sidney Taurel, to the Homeland Security Council.
My question is whether they are going to try to take your children from you if you choose not to permit them to be screened; not to mention what happens to you if you choose not to be screened yourself.

No official word on this entire mess from the Administration...yet.

Stay tuned.

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Is NOTHING sacred to these lowlifes?

My God, just how low can these predators sink?

When the body of Kim Sun-il was found 35 km west of Baghdad toward Falluja at 5:20 p.m. (10:22 p.m. Korean time) on June 22, it was discovered that a booby trap had been installed in his body.

“A booby trap was placed in Kim’s body,” reported CNN, quoting Pentagon sources. A booby trap is an explosive device, which is designed to blow up on contact. It appears that Iraqi insurgents were hoping to kill coalition forces or rescuers recovering Kim’s body. Outrage at the brutality of a terrorist organization that abducted Kim exploded after people learned that Kim’s body had been booby-trapped.

I'm completely speechless. When you think they have committed the most heinous attrocity one can commit to a single human being, they sink even lower. And all in the name of their "god."
UPDATE: The video of Kim's beheading has started circulating: http://www.hostinganime.com/iraqnews2/ - As with the two prior cases (Berg & Johnson), the video is beyond brutal to watch; WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK.

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"Religion of peace," my ass...

A Swedish site glorifying Al Qaeda includes a post with a link to a video of Muslim kids reenacting the decapitation murder of Nick Berg.

From a discussion thread titled Al Qaeda for Kids, posted with a comment in Swedish (“Salam aliykom. Look how cute!”), here’s a death cult video that breaks new ground in loathsomeness, as
smiling, laughing Muslim children reenact the savage beheading of Nick Berg.

Muslim kids play “Holy Warrior.”

And in order to play-act the decapitation of Nick Berg, these children must have studied the actual video.

Things like this make it awful damn hard to be mindful that "most Muslims aren't like this."

If they weren't then why don't we hear CAIR and other Muslim groups denouncing crap like this?

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Yes, Virginia, there IS a "Liberal Media"

(Help Damon find an "in-print" home; call or write your local newspaper and ask them to carry Day By Day today!)

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June 22, 2004

Gypsy Jackson doesn't want to dump felons from voter rolls

Jesse Jackson accused FL Governor Jeb Bush of conductiong "disenfranchisement schemes" by asking local officials to remove felons from voter rolls.

"This is a typical South (tactic), denying the right to vote based on race and class," Jackson told those at a rally in Miami. "You see classical voter disenfranchisement. These schemes to deny or suppress voters are not new schemes."
In most municipalities, convicted felons are not permitted to vote legally.

Jackson, in an appearance in Miami this week, said that his Rainbow-PUSH Coalition would conduct voter registration drives and turnout drives across the state in retaliation to Bush's "tactics."

Bush responded angrily, callng Jackson "past his prime."

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South Korean Hostage Kim Sun-il Beheaded

Korean hostage Kim Sun-il has been decapitated by terrorists holding him in Iraq.

Kim Sun-il had been held hostage by suspected Al Qaeda-linked abductors, who originally said they'd kill him Tuesday but then extended that deadline during negotiations, according to Ahmed al-Ghreiri, an employee with the NKTS security firm that is acting as an intermediary.

But his captors apparently changed their mind and executed Kim anyway, Al-Jazeera reported.

Those gutless bastards. Damn.

Kim's body has been found by US forces west of Baghdad.

Al Jazeera reportedly has a video tape of the murder, which they have not broadcast yet.

The pan-Arab station said it had received a videotape showing that Kim Sun-il had been executed.

Al-Jazeera, which had not broadcast the tape, said the execution was carried out by the al-Qaida-linked group Monotheism and Jihad.

My prayers go out to Kim's family in this terrible time.

5P ET Update: Based on the initial web releases of videos of the Nick Berg and Paul Johnson beheadings, any video of Kim Sun-il's decapitation -- if it is leaked to the web -- most likely will show up at either Northeast Intellegence Network, Consumption Junction (NSFW), or Ogrish (NSFW).

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Afghan solution to terrorist actions: Quid Pro Quo.

From Reuters (via OTB):

Afghan soldiers beheaded four Taliban fighters after guerrillas cut off the heads of an Afghan interpreter for U.S.-led forces and an Afghan soldier, a government commander said on Tuesday.

The interpreter and the soldier were beheaded after becoming separated from a patrol of Afghan and U.S.-led foreign troops in the Arghandab district of the southern province of Zabul on Monday night, Namatullah Tokhi, commander of the government’s 27th division in the province, told Reuters. He said government troops later captured and killed four Taliban guerrillas in the same way. “They cut off their heads with a knife, so when our forces arrested four Taliban, we cut off their heads too.”

Perhaps the folks in the Pentagon need to take some notes.

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Sheriff expands jail video probe

Beleagured Fulton County Sheriff Jackie Barrett is on the hot seat once again, this time over a music video produced at the Fulton County Jail last week.

A music video for rap artist "T.I." (23 year-old Cobb County work-release inmate Clifford Harris) was produced in the maximum security wing of the downtown Atlanta facility, and during the time that the video was being produced, ostensibly without Barrett's knowledge, a prisoner who was being booked in slipped OUT of the jail.

Clifford Harris, who goes by the stage name "T.I.", is part of a work release program in Cobb County, officials confirmed Friday. He is assigned to work at AtlantaÂ’s LaFace Records from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. daily and the rest of time, he is in custody. He was convicted on drug charges and a probation violation.

Cobb CountyÂ’s sheriff gave him special permission to go the Fulton County Jail from 6 p.m. Thursday until 6 a.m. to tape the video. Fulton County Sheriff Jackie Barrett said she was unaware of the filming.

Barrett said that the video production had nothing to do with the escape of 23-year-old Cara Williams. Williams, who was taken to the jail wearing hospital scrubs, ducked down a staff corridor while she and eight other women were being walked to the intake room Thursday night.

"What we know right now about the escape is really more a factor of not having enough staff to watch the number of inmates. We had 125 inmates in the back (being booked) last night," Sheriff Barrett said, adding that four staffers were doing the booking when normally eight are on duty.

Got all of that straight? Well I'm glad someone does.

Barrett is looking at firing a number of employees, starting with Lt. Dwayne Turner, who arranged for the artist's use of the jail, and Chief Deputy Caudell Jones, who is the uncle of the artist.

Five other deputies face dismissal for allowing Clifford Harris, also known as rapper "T.I.," to make the video, which also featured eight prisoners and a few guards.

Lt. Dwayne Turner acknowledged arranging the 23-year-old hip-hop star's use of the maximum-security wing of the jail. But Turner insisted that he had permission from Jones to shoot a documentary.

"He said, 'OK, go ahead,' " Turner said Monday. "He actually cut me off before I could give him all the details."

Jones has said Turner told him he wanted to bring a wayward nephew into the jail for some "scared straight" counseling similar to what the Sheriff's Office does for television judge Glenda Hatchett. The jail occasionally allows Hatchett's TV crew to fly juvenile delinquents to Atlanta to talk with inmates about staying out of trouble.

Barrett is in hot water with members of the Fulton County Commission over other escapes from the Fulton County Jail, as well as for mishandling of department funds. An ongoing investigation into the funding issue is ongoing.

Many people, both supporters and detractors of Barrett alike, are calling for her resignation. She has been in office since 1994.

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June 21, 2004

And now, it's "Saddam's Torture Videos"!

While we keep hearing about how awful Abu Ghraib has been because of the American soldiers who got out of hand there, we really need to keep the stories in context (which is something the left doesn't want you to do).

Saddam Hussain had people tortured at that prison for the heck of it. Not only that, he had some of the sessions videotaped. And thanks to the wonder of the internet (and some directions pointed by Jim Taranto), you, too, can see for yourself the horror of "Saddam's Torture Videos."

The American Enterprise Institute presented the videos in public at the beginning of the month in Washington, and while I think the videos are not suitable for anyone to see (let alone the weak of constitution), you can certainly look for yourself.

The videos include depictions of decapitation, amputation of fingers one-by-one, tongues hacked out with razor blades, all to the tune of Saddam's henchmen wailing his praises.

You can download Saddam's attrocities from the American Enterprise Institute. Don't say I didn't warn you!

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CT Gov. Rowland to resign tonight

According to a Hartford Courant report, Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland will announce his resignation from office during a televised speech tonight at 6P ET, amid a growing federal corruption investigation and a growing movement to impeach him.

Lt. Governor Jodi Rell will take the reins of the state's highest office on July 1.

Evidence presented during the past two weeks in televised hearings had established what newspapers had reported: Rowland had accepted a variety of favors from state contractors and close aides in violation of state ethics laws.

In the case of businessman Robert V. Matthews, Rowland had accepted a total of more than $50,000 in inflated rental payments and an above-market purchase price on the governor's Washington condominium.

At the time, Matthews was seeking state economic aid for several ventures.
47 year-old Rowland is a third-term Republican. He is not expected to vacate the governor's mansion immediately, but plans are being coordinated with Rell.

There is no word on how Rowland's resignation will affect the ongoing grand jury investigation into his actions.

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June 20, 2004

AQ to S. Korea: Get out of Iraq or we'll behead hostage

Here we go again, dammit! The so-called brave cowards of Al Qaeda have threatened to decapitate yet another hostage.

This time, the victim is from South Korea. 33 year-old Kim Sun-il works for a trading company, doing business in Iraq. It is no known when or how he was abducted.

Al Jazeera television broadcast a tape from the terrorists today, which showed Sun-il kneeling in front of three masked and armed thugs.

The tape insists that Sun-il will be beheaded at sundown on Monday if South Korea has not announced an immediate withdrawl of their forces from Iraq. South Korea presently has 600 troops on the ground in Iraq and plans to send another 3,000 as part of the Western Coalition.

South Korea does not plan to change their troop plans.

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"Criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot..."

The Dark Knight is coming. And it looks like they got it right...

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June 19, 2004

NYT Book Review on Bubba's book: "Sloppy; Dull."

In tomorrow's edition, the New York Times Book Review excoriated Bill Clinton's My Life, which is being released this weekend to much pomp and circumstance.

The book, which weighs in at more than 950 pages, is sloppy, self-indulgent and often eye-crossingly dull — the sound of one man prattling away, not for the reader, but for himself and some distant recording angel of history.

In many ways, the book is a mirror of Mr. Clinton's presidency: lack of discipline leading to squandered opportunities; high expectations, undermined by self-indulgence and scattered concentration.

While Dan Rather, who interviewed Mr. Clinton for "60 Minutes," has already compared the book to the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, arguably the most richly satisfying autobiography by an American president, "My Life" has little of that classic's unsparing candor or historical perspective. Instead, it devolves into a hodgepodge of jottings: part policy primer, part 12-step confessional, part stump speech and part presidential archive, all, it seems, hurriedly written and even more hurriedly edited.

"My Life" reads like a messy pastiche of everything that Mr. Clinton ever remembered and wanted to set down in print; he even describes the time he got up at 4 a.m. to watch the inaugural ceremonies for Nigeria's new president on TV. There are endless litanies of meals eaten, speeches delivered, voters greeted and turkeys pardoned. There are some fascinating sections about Mr. Clinton's efforts to negotiate a Middle East peace agreement (at one point, he suggests that Yasir Arafat seemed confused, not fully in command of the facts and possibly no longer at the top of his game), but there are also tedious descriptions of long-ago political debates in Arkansas over utility regulation and car license fees .

Part of the problem, of course, is that Mr. Clinton is concerned, here, with cementing — or establishing — his legacy, while at the same time boosting (or at least not undermining) the political career of his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton. He does a persuasive job of explicating his more successful initiatives like welfare reform and deficit reduction, but the failure of his health care initiative, overseen by Mrs. Clinton, is quickly glossed over, as is the subsequent focus of his administration on such small-bore initiatives as school uniforms and teenage smoking.

Bubba seems to have forgotten rule number one: tell an engaging story.

Of course, his friends on the Democratic side of the aisle will quickly gloss over this oh, so important review from the Nation's leading book review publication, and focus on the televised ass-kissing from Oprah Winfrey this coming Tuesday, and the softball interview by Dan Rather on tomorrow night's 60 Minutes.

Sorry, Bubba. Sounds like your wife even writes better than you do.

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June 18, 2004

AQ beheads hostage Paul Johnson in Saudi Arabia

Word just in from Fox News & the BBC.

Arabic television network al-Arabiya said Paul Johnson had been executed, while an Islamist website showed photographs of the apparent beheading.
Those bastards!

That "Instant Win" button I talked about yesterday is looking more and more appealing...

(More coverage from Wizbang, OTB, The Command Post and others)

UPDATE 2:50P ET: One link to the terrorists' statement regarding Johnson, along with the pictures is at http://www.hostinganime.com/neda3/sout/.

Traffic there, from what I understand, has been very heavy. I'm sure that site'll disappear by the end of dinner tonight.

According to Reuters, the body of Paul Johnson has been recoverd in the Saudi capitol of Riyadh; Al Qaeda is claiming responsibility for Johnson's murder.

These are links to the photos of the decapitation from multiple sources. THE IMAGES ARE VERY GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING. THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING.

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Pay no attention to the all the people finding jobs...

That loud banging noise you're hearing right now is me smacking my head repeatedly against the wall. Read this, and you, too can join me in smacking your head...

The economic expansion has not been equal. Minorities lag behind whites in employment and earnings more than two years after the 2001 recession officially ended.

African-Americans in particular have taken a big hit: suffering higher and longer unemployment than whites and dropping out of the labor force more rapidly. Black teen unemployment rose to 32.5% in May. Even in such areas as Washington, D.C., where unemployment is low and construction is surging, willing workers far exceed steady jobs.

Just damn.

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Esther: The Artist Formerly Known as Madonna

 
Madonna, in an interview with ABC News to be aired on tonight's 20/20, says she's taking a new name: Esther.

The new name is tied to her increasing religious belief in the Kabbalah, a Jewish mystic sect.

She says that the change in her name is in no way a slam against her mother, whom she was named after at birth.

"I wanted to attach myself to another name," she said according to excerpts from the interview released by ABC on Thursday. "This is in no way a negation of who my mother is. ... I wanted to attach myself to the energy of a different name."
Message to Maddie: "It's been done already. It didn't work for Prince, I don't think it'll work for you either. But thanks for playing."

The interview with ABC's Cynthia McFadden airs on tonight's 20/20 at 10P ET/PT.

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You know you've made it when an Warhol-ish homage is done for you

The artsy types have glommed onto Abu Ghraib as post-modern art.

Of all the images to have come out of Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib Prison over these past few weeks, the one that has apparently captured the imagination of the masses is the picture of the shrouded figure standing on a box, wired to God-knows-what.

The picture has shown up across the globe, from a gallery in San Francisco (where the curator was punched solidly in the face by someone who objected, as evidenced by her black eye), to the New York subway Warholesque poster pictured here.

Why this image above all the rest? It is far from the most violent, but easily the most graphic. You need less than a second's glance to know exactly what it is. The triangle of the hood silhouettes sharply against the hot pink or chartreuse background of a fake iPod ad. Andy Warhol himself could not have done better. It holds its own on murals meant to be read from far away. It plays well against the Statue of Liberty. It suggests Christ on the cross. And, best yet, the hooded figure in the photograph is on a pedestal. It is already an icon.

As a symbolic shape, the hood is almost as strong as a cross. The difference is that the hood has generally been the sign of the persecutor, not of the victim. It is the uniform of the executioner, the sheet of the Klansman, the mask of Death. Until now.

Anyone want to take bets on how soon the image will show up on t-shirts as the newest fashion icon across America?
(Courtesy The Politburo)

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