Free Muslims against Terrorism are asking all people to sign a petition.  This is very encouraging to me.  This does not mean we should let our guard down in the slightest.  It only means we may be getting some allies. The complete petition is below.  I found it via Jihad Watch:

Sign Petition to Punish Religious Leaders who Preach Violence and Justify Terrorism

November 30, 2004
Freemuslims.org

Sign Petition to Punish Religious Leaders who Preach Violence and Justify Terrorism

The Free Muslims Against Terrorism (Free Muslims) have partnered with progressive Arabs and Muslims to hold religious leaders accountable for justifying violence and encouraging terrorism.

The Free Muslims are petitioning the UN Security Council and the United States government to establish an international tribunal to prosecute religious leaders, including clerics who issue “fatwas” which are religious opinions, edicts, rulings and conclusions that incite violence and justify the use of terrorism. These religious leaders are especially dangerous because some of their followers consider their opinions to be gospel.

This petition is a follow up to the recently adopted UN Resolution 1566 that reads in part:

“…[A]ll members of the Security Council to consider and submit recommendations… on practical measures to be imposed upon, individuals … involved in or associated with terrorist activities…bringing them to justice through prosecution or extradition, freezing of their financial assets….”

It is crucial to hold these religious leaders accountable because most terrorists who kill in the name of Islam rely on the fatwas and conclusions of these religious leaders to convince themselves that they are going to heaven after their death.

The Following is an example of a Fatwa that encourages terrorism:

• Sheikh Yousif Al-Qardhawi issued a Fatwa permitting the killing of “fetuses” (unborn) Jews, because (according to him) when Jews are born and grown-up they will join the Israeli army. Furthermore, on September 3, 2004, (at the Egyptian Journalist Union) Al-Qardhawi issued a fatwa to kill all American civilians working in Iraq. And on July 3, 2004, he issued another fatwa permitting the killing of Muslim intellectuals as being apostates, claiming that Islam justifies the killing of such apostates.

These extremist clerics continue to issue fatwas that incite terrorism under the false umbrella of Islam. Join us in stopping these religious leaders by signing this petition requesting the U.N. to create an International Tribunal to prosecute them.

This petition has been organized by Dr. Jawad Hashim (Iraq’s former Minister of Planning), Lafif Lakhdar (A Tunisian Intellectual), and Dr. Shakir Al-Nabulsi (A Jordanian writer and author). The Free Muslims Against Terrorism has joined this effort and we seek 20,000 people to sign this petition. More than 3000 people have already signed.

All people are invited to sign this petition by sending your name, profession, country of residence and nationality to Jmhashim@hotmail.com and cc: President@freemuslims.org. Write “petition” in the subject line.

For more information Visit www.FreeMuslims.org

If anyone ever complains about the U.S. not fighting WW III by the rules of war remind them of all the weapons and fortifications found in Mosques.  Michelle Malkin has the most succinct posting on this topic I've seen so far:

BAGHDAD - A mosque raided by security forces in southern Baghdad contained a workshop to rig suicide car bombs, with seven vehicles ready for terror attacks, an Iraqi Defense Ministry official said Sunday.

Car bombings and remote-controlled roadside blasts have become routine in the Iraqi capital in recent weeks, including a blast Sunday that wounded two U.S. soldiers...National guard forces raided the Sunni Muslim Al Yassen Mosque in the southern Baghdad area of Abu Dshir on Saturday, said Gen. Saleh Sarhan of the Defense Ministry. In addition to seven cars rigged with explosives, the guardsmen found 30 rocket-propelled grenades, high-powered rifles, mortars and remote control detonators, Sarhan said.

Churches loose their special status once they are used by enemy combantants.  Converting them into a SCAD (Smoking Crater of Ash and Dust) is fine with me.  If it saves just one American life it will be worth it.

I got a call from Barb about 6:30 this morning.  Joy had just died.  Barb and her sisters had spent the night at the nursing home with their mother and were with her when she died.

See also Xenia's posting.

I picked up sister-in-law Susan at the Spokane airport today.  She started talking about politics, the war, etc. and I expressed my concerns about another attack on U.S. soil.  She wanted to know what she and her family could do to prepare for such an event.  Earlier today I had heard an advertisement on the radio from DHS.  I haven't really looked at it very close yet, but I'm sure the people behind http:/www.ready.gov have put more thought into how to prepare than I have.  I suggest that website as a good first effort at being prepared.  In my quick look through the site I didn't see any mention of a generator, firearms, or a geiger counter however.  I have all of those in my collection of materials for personal homeland security but those are somewhat expensive items and perhaps beyond the level of committment some people are comfortable making..

Kim du Toit has a rant up today about the TSA.  Lots of good comments too.  I've been working on and off for a while on a research/white paper on airport security.  It's almost done and I think it's time to start letting people take a look at it and give me some feedback.  My biggest concern at this point is how to deal with FREDS.  The conventionally armed hijacker is an annoyance but not a serious threat if we set up the proper environment.  Since this is reality we are taking about the laws of physics, chemistry, and economics must be obeyed.  Please read and if you have any ideas that I incorporate I'll be glad to give you credit.  Long term I hope to do a full blown research paper with government money and access to classified reports.  But I want to have some novel ideas that have a reasonable chance of being successful before I approach it from that direction.

Now... I'm off to the airport to pick up my sister-in-law Susan who wants to see her mother one last time before she dies.  At least I don't have to go through airport security to do that and can 'carry' for the entire trip there (Spokane) and back.

Columnist John Railey wrote an opinion piece asking for 'compromise' and 'common sense' in regards to gun control.  I responded with the following:

-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Huffman 
Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2004 2:13 PM
To: 'jrailey@wsjournal.com'
Subject: "Common sense" gun control.

Unfortunately, as near as I can tell, whenever and wherever governments have tried to restrict access to weapons of any type they do not succeed in making the average person any safer.  There are basically two ways to look at the problem. 

1) Compare geographically and politically similar areas during the same time frame which have different laws regarding weapons.  Examples would be Washington D.C. (handguns banned) versus nearby Virginia (both concealed and open carry of handguns is legal).
2) Compare the situation before and after a weapons law is passed.  Did the crime rate change for the better when the laws were more restrictive.  Examples include the "Assault Weapons Ban", the passage of laws against handguns in D.C. and laws making the concealed carry of weapons easier or more difficult.

Both methods come up empty if you are looking for successful (in terms of making the average person safer) gun control.  However there are numerous examples where gun control has enabled genocide (Germany, Soviet Union, China, Rwanda, etc.)

So the question is, "What is 'common sense' in regards to 'gun control'?"  The only answers I come up with are that gun control means being able to hit your target and the individual maintains complete control of their own guns.

Regards,

Joe Huffman
----
http://blog.joehuffman.org
http://www.boomershoot.org

We got a call from the nursing home where Barb's mom, Joy, lives today.  She is ill and fading fast.  They said it could be just hours or maybe days but the end is near.

We made all the phone calls and then went to be with her for several hours.  Barb and Xenia read to her and James stroked her head for a long time.  Her body is in such bad shape and her mind has slowly faded since she had the tumor removed and then all the strokes.  It's time for her to go but it's still hard on us.  Especially so soon after Karen died.  This has to be really really hard on Grace.  Grace is Karen's mother and Joy's sister.  She was here today visiting Joy and left before we got the news.  She will be back from the Tri-Cities tomorrow.

I've finished reading American Jihad by Steven Emerson except for the appendices which I am part way through.  The author appears to be a moderate in comparison to some people but still the facts he presents are compelling and very scary.  I've been reading Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch and doing research on my own as well.  We, non-Muslims and many Muslim moderates, are in a battle to the death against the extremists.  There are numerous Islamic scholars who advocate the complete extermination of all infidels:

Al-Qaeda has adopted a broader interpretation of the religious command concerning the killing of infidels. It is considered an absolute command that does not depend on political circumstances, the need or will to take revenge, or a wish to liberate Muslim lands from infidel rule. Saif al-Din al-Ansari, in an article in al-Qaeda's official periodical, presented the new, comprehensive concept of total extermination of Islam's enemies based on the Quranic verse: "And that He may purge those who believe and deprive the unbelievers of blessings" (Al-Imran, 142). According to al-Ansari, this is the way Allah deals with infidels, who are doomed throughout history to total extermination through various types of death, as was the fate of the people of Noah, Hod, Saleh, Lot, Midian, and Pharaoh. Al-Ansari asserted that the extermination of infidels is a permanent Islamic law and unchangeable fate for infidels that is as relevant today as it was in past generations. According to al-Ansari, "Just as the law of extermination was applied to the infidel forces among the nations in previous days and no one could escape it, so it will be applied to the infidel forces in our day and no one will escape it. Namely, similar to the fate of the Thamoud and 'Ad peoples [two pagan Arab peoples which, according to Islamic tradition, were exterminated due to their rejection of the words of the Prophet], so the American state, the Jewish state, and all other infidel countries will certainly be destroyed.

They don't just justify the killing of military and police but even pregnant women because the child could grow up to be a solider and attack a Muslim.  And it's beyond “justification”, it is a duty to do “good works”.  The killing of infidels is how many Muslims show their faith.

One might think that here in the middle of the U.S. this doesn't really affect us that much.  Sure, we got hit on 9/11, but that was a long time ago and it's really all about the mid-east and Israel.  But according to American Jihad because the U.S. has such a tolerance for speech, religion, and economics they operate with far greater freedom in our country than any other.  Their home countries have far less tolerance for them than we do.  The U.S. is now the worldwide leader in Islamic Jihad fundraising and “education“.  They raise millions of dollars in funds that go to Hamas, al- Qa'ida, Hizballah, and others that use the funds for weapons and operating expenses for their warriors.  They sometimes claim the money goes to widows and orphans and that is sometimes true.  The widows and orphans of the warriors that died in battle or were suicide bombers.  By taking care of the families of the warriors they enable more warriors to take up their cause.  Emerson reports that at least 80% of the Islamic “educational” and “charity” organizations in the U.S. have direct ties to extremist Islamic organizations.  They may have started out benign but they have been taken over by the extremists.

I have concluded we are now in the middle of World War III. It's not just the middle east.  It's not just about Isreal.  It's not because we are in Iraq.  This fight won't go away even if we were to give up Israel completely.  Even if we were to withdraw from foriegn soil completely they would still attack us.  Our culture is a corrupting influnence to their young and we must convert to Islam or die.  Other nations are also becoming aware of it.  Read about the Swedes, the Dutch, and the Germans.  And surely you know about Austrailia, Spain, Thailand, the Philippines, Russia, Sudan, and of course Israel.  Here is a map showing all the countries with recently confirmed Jihad activity

Red indicates Jihad activity

If they have made a mistake in their Jihad it is that they have attacked too many places at once.  There are roughly a billion Muslims world wide.  If only one percent want Jihad then that is still 10 million willing to kill and die for their beliefs.  It is is 10% then it is 100 million.  And whatever the number they are in our midst and they will strike on our soil again.

The berserk hunter incident in WI is a real tragedy but that doesn't justify the anti-freedom crowd going berserk.  Here is a snippet:

"Over the years, we have seen that these military-style, semi-automatic assault rifles are the guns of choice for cop-killers and mass murderers," said Jeri Bonavia, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort. "There is no good reason for hunting with a spray-fire gun, capable of `hosing down' a target area. Military-style guns, such as the SKS, do not belong on our streets or in our fields and woods."

“Semi-automatic assault rifle” is a contraction in terms.  All assault rifles are capable of fully automatic fire (even if only in burst mode).  I think what Bonavia meant was “assault weapon”.  However even that is questionable because the recently expired “assault weapon ban” did not cover the SKS.  By the definition used in Federal law it was not an assault weapon without some serious modification.  Furthermore it cannot be used to “spray-fire” (whatever that means) any more than any other semi-auto gun commonly used for hunting.

Their ignorance and hysteria would be fodder for a comedy routine if there weren't so many people that took them seriously..

20 minutes ago the AP reported that Rossi won by 42 votes even though the Secretary of State web page doesn't show the result yet.

The Drudge Report currently says “WASHINGTON GOV WINS BY 29 VOTES!“ but the link (as of this minute) shows results that differ by 1487 votes.  I wondered what was going on and realized that not all the counties have reported in and probably several hadn't when Drudge wrote his headline but he didn't realize it.  Currently gun owner hating Christine Gregorie is ahead by 1487 votes.  Kitsap county is the only county that hasn't reported in.  Kitsap will most likely give it to Rossi.  Yeah!!!!

How do I know this?  In the original count Rossi was up by 262 votes.  So far in the recount Gregorie has gained 1274 votes and Rossi has gained 1089 votes.  A difference of 185 votes.  Since the delta is only 185 more for Gregorie Kitsap County must have gone for Rossi before.  I'm predicting a Rossi victory by about 75 votes.

You heard it hear first folks.

(Hope I don't have “egg on my face” in a few hours).

Both of these items came to my attention today.  First they are pushing towards a national ID card scheme. 

I've talked about national ID cards at length including it's fatal flaws.  The facts don't stop people from wanting the politicians to “do something“ and from the politicians taking advantage of the situation even though ID cards cannot make things any better.  People don't realize the risks they are taking and that you can't get something for “free“.  To me it's blindingly obvious that either it can't work as they claim or that they will end up with something intolerable.  They even know it -- they just haven't put it together.  For example Home Secretary Mr. Blunkett said:

Suggestions of Big Brother-style surveillance are ludicrous.

Then later in the article it says:

Blunkett believes the cards, containing unique data such as fingerprints or iris scans, will enable authorities to better crack down on immigration abuses, pre-empt terrorist attacks and keep track of criminals.

How can you “pre-empt terrorist attacks and keep track of criminals“ without “Big Brother-style surveillance“?

Second they are giving the government emergency powers and the power to declare an emergency.  Commentators Kim duToit and Philip Johnston are particularly harsh on them claiming things like:

1. government can do pretty much anything it wants in the event of an emergency;
2. government will decide what constitutes an emergency; and
3. there's no way the citizenry can gainsay any of it.

And:

Government will take the most sweeping and draconian powers ever bestowed upon a British government in peacetime, reserving the right to suspend the foundations of our liberties, such as habeas corpus and the Bill of Rights, when it judges that an emergency has occurred.

I tried to read it but got lost in the definitions and references to numerous subsections and previous law.  The bottom line may not be any worse that some of the things we have in this country but at least we don't have a national ID card and we do have our firearms to use as a last resort if a tyrant does decided to take advantage of the excess powers.

A few weeks ago I reported on the naive gun control idea of putting tiny serial numbers on bullets and their casings.  A few days later I obtained more information which didn't help their case much.  Today I ran across the web site of the technical people behind this idea.  As a quick side note the following was found on their web site which is data that I have desired for some time:

In 1992, approximately 5.4 billion bullets were sold in the US alone. It is safe to assume that this number is trending upward. We estimate that 8-10 billion bullets were sold in the US in 2002.

More to the point are the technical details and the picture of a bullet with a serial number:

They put the same serial number on the bullet many times to increase the chances of one being readable after the bullet has been fired.  Also of interest is the tests they have done.  The tests are not nearly as rigorous as those claimed by the California Department of Justice.  I presume California did their own tests and these people didn't post those results.

These people still live in a fantasy world.  Here is one of answers to a “FAQ“ (ACS means Ammunition Coding System):

The ACS can be circumvented by any of the following methods:

• Someone could cast their own bullets and load them themselves.
• A person could buy a coded bullet, disassemble it, file the number off, and reassemble the cartridge/bullet combination.
• Someone could buy a lifetime supply of ammunition before the ACS goes into effect.

However, we would argue that the person who is going to hold up the corner convenience store is unlikely to do any of these things. Since the vast majority of gun crimes are crimes of passion, few people will ever consider a premeditated attempt to circumvent the proposed system.

In one sentence they are talking about holding up a “corner convenience store” and the next they are claiming the ammo serial numbers won't be circumvented because “the vast majority“ of crimes committed with firearms are “crimes of passion”.  Do they think hold ups are crimes of passion?  And crimes of passion are usually easily solved because of the lack of planning.  In the case of crimes that are difficult to solve (well planned) the ACS will be circumvented.  In the cases where ACS will help, no help is really needed.

Another option for people wanting to circumvent it would be to use the coded ammo for practice and only use their supply of unencoded ammo for normal “carry”.  They also don't address the hand loader that buys bullets by the thousands (I buy them in boxes of up to 2500) and puts them in brass casing that have been reloaded many times and often picked up off of the range fired by someone else multiple times.  California's approach to the handloader is to make them exempt from the requirement which would be a major security hole.  And assuming that they could put serial numbers on every bullet and shell casing in this country other major security holes in this scheme are the black market that would be created in stolen ammo and ammo smuggled in from other countries.

As I said in an earlier posting the only thing this scheme could really succeed at are “... to demonize and increase the expense for people exercising their inalienable rights.“

Last night Xenia had her drama presentation for the locals before going to the district competition in Orofino today.  She and Meghan did really well.  Barb and I were very proud of her.  This morning I got up at 5:15, dressed and took her to the bus waiting at the school to take her to Orofino.  She didn't bring a coat but I didn't notice until we were half way there.  It was cold, about 30 F.  We we got out of the van I took off my coat and put it on her.  I had other coats at home I could wear today.  I dropped her off and had just left when she called to tell me “I love you Daddy!“.  Uh, oh.  What does she want?  She had left her script at home so I drove back home, got the script and drove back to the high school.  She and Meghan were waiting for me and grabbed the script and thanked me profusely.  I finally got back to bed about 6:15.  Barb was waiting for me. 

We woke up again about 9:30 when James was taking his shower and leaving to play some sort of role playing game with his friends.  We went back to sleep after a short while and didn't wake up until after 11:00.  I got up ate some food and brought Barb, still waiting in bed, some food.  We finished that off and with an empty house and no pressing business and an empty house stayed in bed snuggling until nearly 13:00.  We finally got up and did some errands and went for a walk.  Almost the entire day to ourselves.  We finished the walk a little before 17:00 in the dark at the arboretum.

Xenia called as we were driving away from the arboretum.  She was back in town.  She and Megan did well at district are going to the state competition next month.  They came in 4th out of 21 in their category.  More pride from Barb and I.

Kim called a few minutes ago from her work at KFC.  She asked what we have planned for tomorrow.  “Nothing much that I know of.  Why?”  She said she missed us and wanted to get together and do something.  About a year ago Kim had told us that when she turned 18 she was going to move away and not tell us where she was for at least six months.  It was pretty tough to hear that because although we had our fights we still really loved her and liked being around her (most of the time).  She didn't really move away without telling us where she was at.  But she did move out right away.  She is only about half mile away from home and works basically at the bottom of the hill from us.  We don't get to see her as often as we would like but we don't push it.  She has friends and activities she likes to do with them.  Parents are pretty boring in her circle of friends.  Things haven't been entirely easy for her and it's pretty clear she has been “learning about reality“.  Maybe she is entering the stage where she realizes her parents aren't quite as stupid as she thought they were.  It really felt good to hear that she wanted to see us.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow with her.

I'm probably too easily amused, but from the first time I saw this intersection nearly three years ago I thought this was just incredibly funny.

Click on the picture for a higher resolution view.

What is accomplished by not having a sign that shows where the road straight ahead leads to?  Sure, it's weapons grade plutonium processing facility and nuclear power plant.  So what?  Anyone that might be interesting in attacking it is going to know that even if there isn't a sign saying:

Nuclear Plant Ahead
Proceed with Caution
Snipers at Play

<Shrug>  Whatever.  It still makes me smile every time I drive by.

I shot the .30 caliber match today.  The rules from Neaderpundit are:

Hang two targets side by side. Shoot one cold shot at one target. Use the other target to shoot five shots to improve your aim, if needed. Then, one hot shot in the first target.

My results are in (click on the picture to get a higher resolution view).

Not nearly as nice as I had hoped.  But it's not totally embarrassing either.  Other photos are here.  And YES five bullets did go through the paper on the left.

I was asking around today for a copy of the paper that has Karen's obituary in it.  Gina, one of my favorite co-workers, offered to get it for me and asked the name of the person.  It turns out Gina knew Karen and had seen the obiturary. 

Pictures from funeral to prove my point but the bottom line is that a lot of people thought well of Karen.  There was a big turnout at the funeral and I heard numerous people comment on that.

1. Neanderpundit has posted the rules for a .30 caliber (or greater) postal match. 
2. At the last IPSC match Don Wood told me about a .22 LR match the Lewiston Pistol Club is going to be doing.

I'll probably be doing both.  If you don't have Don's email address and would like to participate in the Lewiston match let me know and I'll have Don get in touch with you.

I've spent enough time knocking the whiners to become a whiner myself.  This will be my last post on the subject unless something really different and interesting comes up on the topic (like a mass suicide pact or something).  And this post will take a different viewpoint than most of my previous posts about them.

My opinion is the The Whiners are guilty of nothing more than what nearly everyone does.  They believe what they want to believe.  They create straw men and shoot them down to “prove” their points.  They want to believe they are “enlightened” and therefore their opponents must be unenlightened.  They create some sort of caricature of what they believe their opponents must be (red necked, bigoted, southern hicks that would still own slaves if they could) and then tell the world how much better they, the enlightened, are than everyone else.  Gun owners are especially looked down upon by the “enlightened” elite. This attitude has been around for a long time and is why I subtitle my blog with “Ramblings of a red-necked, knuckle-dragging, Neanderthal”.  It wasn't until this election when the “enlightened” lost the election in such a big way that they really got vocal about things.  It's always hard to reexamine long held beliefs and admit you were wrong and an election isn't the best way of winning friends and influencing people.  Elections are about giving power to someone.  And if you have been vigorously opposing the ideals your opponent promotes then it is going to be very, very difficult to change your mind.  Changing behaviors can be somewhat facilitated by force (the government) but not changing minds.  To change their minds we need to show them we aren't brutish thugs, that we can articulate intelligent ideas, and that we, as individuals, do have compassion.  Rubbing their noses in the mud and laughing at them isn't going to help the situation. 

To win them over we need to take a different approach.  Show them the benefits of freedom and the error of the Principles of the Democrat party.  It is my opinion that, now more than ever, we have a golden opportunity for generating cognitive dissonance among certain Democrat voters.  If they believe that the Republican party is the party of "Hitler", is evil, is going to create an evil theocracy, is going to subjugate women, and is likely to exterminate gays then it is imperative that they acquire untraceable firearms and ammo and learn to use them.  Either that or it's time to leave the country.  In either case we win.  If they believe the current political winners are evil or perhaps the following “right-wing extremists“ will be then they should be able to see the risks of giving the government too much power.  If they don't think that then they shouldn't be complaining now.  If they do think that then they should push for reductions in the power given to government.  They should become more liberatarian (deliberately written with a little 'l') in their thinking.  In either case we win.

Let's turn this whole situation into a win-win scenario for us and a lose-lose scenario for the anti-freedom bigots.

It's that time of year.  National Ammo Week.  National Ammo Day being November 19th.  I purchased some bullets for reloading today.  I'll be reloading about 400 rounds this week.  How many rounds will you purchase this week?

As much as I take offense by all the rhetoric of the bigots in the cities telling me how stupid and ignorant I am and how they are going to build up their political party and wipe us out in some future election I find a perverse consolation in the fact that bin Laden will be detonating his nukes in their living room rather than in my backyard.  See these articles for hints on that possibility:

• CIA Agent: Nuke Attack Surely Coming  Former CIA agent Michael Scheuer told CBS “60 Minutes”’ Steve Kroft Sunday that the U.S. fumbled 10 chances to kill or capture terror chief Osama bin Laden before 9/11. Now he is convinced that the international outlaw will attack the U.S. homeland with some sort of nuclear weapon of mass destruction.  "Their intention is to end the war as soon as they can and to ratchet up the pain for the Americans until we get out of their region. ... If they acquire the weapon, they will use it, whether it's chemical, biological or some sort of nuclear weapon," said Scheuer.
• New accounts from al-Qaeda to attack the U.S. with weapons of mass destruction
  A key al-Qaeda operative seized in Pakistan recently offered an alarming account of the group's potential plans to target the U.S. with weapons of mass destruction, senior U.S. security officials tell TIME. Sharif al-Masri, an Egyptian who was captured in late August near Pakistan's border with Iran and Afghanistan, has told his interrogators of "al-Qaeda's interest in moving nuclear materials from Europe to either the U.S. or Mexico," according to a report circulating among U.S. government officials.
  
  Masri also said al-Qaeda has considered plans to "smuggle nuclear materials to Mexico, then operatives would carry material into the U.S.," according to the report, parts of which were read to TIME. Masri says his family, seeking refuge from al-Qaeda hunters, is now in Iran.

• Former FBI Consultant: Al-Qaida Plans Multiple Nuclear Strikes  Former consultant for the FBI an organized crime and international terrorism and a seasoned investigative reporter, Paul L. Williams reveals the potential for nuclear terrorism on US soil in this shocking expose. Based on the findings of US, Israeli, Pakistani, and British intelligence, Williams describes how the theft of tactical nuclear weapons from Russian arsenals have in all likelihood made their way to al Qaeda cells throughout the United States in preparation for the next terrorist attack.
  
  According to Williams, reliable sources indicate that these bombs may already be in the possession of al Qaeda operatives in such major cities as New York, Washington, Miami, Chicago, Las Vegas, Houston, and Los Angeles. In addition, bin Laden has recruited former Soviet scientists and technicians to maintain these weapons and recharge their nuclear cores so that they may be deployed immediately on his command. In 2001 he issued a statement boasting of his intent to have America experience a "Hiroshima."

After the elitists get visited by mushroom clouds and the survivors get looted, they just might undergo an attitude adjustment towards the country bumpkins bringing them food, water, medical care, shelter, and physical protection in the form of the guns the elitists weren't able to confiscate and destroy.

I'd been reading this general theme in a lot of places recently but Jane Smiley really spells it out with The unteachable ignorance of the red states.  A few paragraphs follow to give you a taste:

The error that progressives have consistently committed over the years is to underestimate the vitality of ignorance in America. Listen to what the red state citizens say about themselves, the songs they write, and the sermons they flock to. They know who they are—they are full of original sin and they have a taste for violence. The blue state citizens make the Rousseauvian mistake of thinking humans are essentially good, and so they never realize when they are about to be slugged from behind.

... they [Republican politicians] tell you that you are the best of a bad lot (humans, that is) and that as bad as you are, if you stick with them, you are among the chosen. This is flattering and reassuring, and also encourages you to imagine the terrible fates of those you envy and resent. American politicians ALWAYS operate by a similar sort of flattery, and so Americans are never induced to question themselves. That's what happened to Jimmy Carter—he asked Americans to take responsibility for their profligate ways, and promptly lost to Ronald Reagan, who told them once again that they could do anything they wanted. The history of the last four years shows that red state types, above all, do not want to be told what to do—they prefer to be ignorant. As a result, they are virtually unteachable.

Third, and most important, when life grows difficult or fearsome, they (politicians, preachers, pundits) encourage you to cling to your ignorance with even more fervor. But by this time you don't need much encouragement—you've put all your eggs into the ignorance basket, and really, some kind of miraculous fruition (preferably accompanied by the torment of your enemies, and the ignorant always have plenty of enemies) is your only hope. If you are sufficiently ignorant, you won't even know how dangerous your policies are until they have destroyed you, and then you can always blame others.

The reason the Democrats have lost five of the last seven presidential elections is simple: A generation ago, the big capitalists, who have no morals, as we know, decided to make use of the religious right in their class war against the middle class and against the regulations that were protecting those whom they considered to be their rightful prey—workers and consumers. The architects of this strategy knew perfectly well that they were exploiting, among other unsavory qualities, a long American habit of virulent racism, but they did it anyway, and we see the outcome now—Cheney is the capitalist arm and Bush is the religious arm. They know no boundaries or rules. They are predatory and resentful, amoral, avaricious, and arrogant. Lots of Americans like and admire them because lots of Americans, even those who don't share those same qualities, don't know which end is up. Can the Democrats appeal to such voters? Do they want to? The Republicans have sold their souls for power. Must everyone?

Oh.  An interesting point about Ms. Smiley is that she is John Ross's (if you don't know who John Ross is then you must be one of the ignorant people in favor of gun control) second cousin.  Mr. Ross gently confronts her and explains things to her here.  My favorite part is when he says this:

... I couldn't help feeling as if I were reading a paper written by a French aristocrat in 1789 who had narrowly escaped to England just before the blade of the guillotine had fallen on her neck.  Or something penned by one of the higher-up Communists in 1989, right after the Soviet Union collapsed.

Ross has it right.  In essence, we have been telling the elitists for years and years what the problem is with their policies (in particular gun control) and they dismiss us without even looking at the evidence.  I've literally had several different elitist liberals tell me “I disagree with you.”  When pressed for evidence they just say, “I disagree with your data.”.  No evidence of their own to offer, no rational argument, just, “I disagree.”  And they call us ignorant.  Now they lost an election in a big way and the best they can come up with is that we are ignorant.  Smiley and her ilk are bigots and it's time they were told that to their faces.  And they should thank us for voting them out of power rather than being forced to use guillotines.

And if you think I am being harsh read this link before you start calling me names.  These people say things like:

... country, an archaic synonym for stupid that should be revived in our post-2004 election world

From Drudge (this link probably won't last long):

Osama bin Laden now has religious approval to use a nuclear device against Americans, says the former head of the CIA unit charged with tracking down the Saudi terrorist. The former agent, Michael Scheuer, speaks to Steve Kroft in his first television interview without disguise to be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, Nov. 14 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

..

Even if bin Laden had a nuclear weapon, he probably wouldn't have used it for a lack of proper religious authority - authority he has now. "[Bin Laden] secured from a Saudi sheik...a rather long treatise on the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the Americans," says Scheuer. "[The treatise] found that he was perfectly within his rights to use them. Muslims argue that the United States is responsible for millions of dead Muslims around the world, so reciprocity would mean you could kill millions of Americans," Scheuer tells Kroft.

Scheuer says bin Laden was criticized by some Muslims for the 9/11 attack because he killed so many people without enough warning and before offering to help convert them to Islam. But now bin Laden has addressed the American people and given fair warning. "They're intention is to end the war as soon as they can and to ratchet up the pain for the Americans until we get out of their region....If they acquire the weapon, they will use it, whether it's chemical, biological or some sort of nuclear weapon," says Scheuer.

Keep in mind that the clerics have also given permission`to kill all Jews in Israel too.  That includes those not yet born--pregnant woman are valid targets because their children will grow up and be in the Isreali military.  And also that since Osama wrote an open letter to the U.S. telling us to convert to Islam or else prepare to fight that we have been given our chance to submit.  We have not converted to Islam so now was can be legitimately killed.  The Islamic extremists recognize no law except the law of their religion.

Sleep well.

Almost a month ago I did my typical jousting with a windmill by writing a letter to a newspaper about a gun 'debate' they had.  Today I received an email saying my letter was approved and was posted. 

There were 23 feedback items total.  Only one was in agreement with the ignorant writer of the editorial.  They just wrote, “I agree” and nothing more.  The rest were detailed and essentially accurate in all details.  I'm extremely annoyed that they took three and half weeks to post the feedback.  LONG after anyone reading the paper would notice it.  Media bias?  I suspect so.  I wrote to them to ask:

-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Huffman [mailto:JoeH@joehuffman.org]
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 2:13 PM
To: 'Indiana Statesman'
Subject: RE: Feedback Moderation (Indiana Statesman)

Thank you for posting my feedback.  However, I find it difficult to hide my annoyance at the long delay in doing so.  95% of the feedback you received and posted was pro-freedom and pointed out the ignorance of the anti-freedom position presented.  Was the delay in the approval of the feedback due to the pro-freedom position?  Is it the position of the Indiana Statesman that the pro-freedom position is to be suppressed by delaying the availability of that viewpoint until virtually no one will see it?

-joe-
----
http://www.joehuffman.org
http://www.boomershoot.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Indiana Statesman [mailto:vfeedback@indianastatesman.com]
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 1:26 PM
To: indianastatesman@joehuffman.org
Subject: Feedback Moderation (Indiana Statesman)

The feedback you recently submitted to Indiana Statesman has been approved by the moderator, and is active on the site.

Review of your feedback:

Topic:      Gun Control
Name:       Joe Huffman
Email:      indianastatesman@joehuffman.org
Location:   Moscow, Idaho
Occupation: Research Scientist
Comment:
            It would help the debate if the debaters did some basic
            fact checking.  For example:

[snip]

            
            I could go on for pages on all the errors in fact and
            logic found in this debate but the above should be
            sufficient to encourage a bit more research before
            putting words to print.

If you have any questions regarding this, please forward this e-mail to vfeedback@indianastatesman.com.

If you received this e-mail in error, or you were not the originator of this post, then please contact us at vfeedback@indianastatesman.com.

Thanks for your participation.

- Indiana Statesman

I have been reading the U.S. news media accounts of the battle in Falluja with a fair amount of interest but nearly all acounts were the same.  But thanks to Kim du Toit I got a pointer to a British account of the battle.  The difference is amazing.

On one extreme there is MSNBC:

As battles go, Fallujah has been a big disappointment to the U.S. military, which had wanted to draw the Iraqi insurgents into a cataclysmic mistake: a “fair” fight. Not that any officer relished the prospect of a Stalingrad- or Hue-like street-to-street, house-to-house blood-letting. But the alternative has even less to recommend it: a continuing series of roadside bombings and mortar and grenade ambushes that bleed American forces and frustrate efforts to secure Iraq ahead of January’s elections.

Unfortunately, from a military standpoint, the latter, less attractive option is the reality, and the choice was never the U.S. military’s to make. Iraq’s insurgents, with weeks to react as U.S. forces gathered and postured about what was about to happen in Fallujah, decided against turning it into al-Alamo. They saw the folly of taking on the Americans on their own terms, and they did what intelligent, determined guerrilla movements have always done in the face of overwhelming force: They faded away and lived to fight and kill and maim another day

On the other extreme is the Daily Telegraph:

American troops scored one of their biggest successes in the battle for Fallujah when an estimated 70 foreign fighters were killed in a massive precision artillery strike on a building in a mosque complex.

Military intelligence officers were last night trying to confirm that a "high-value target" or HVT died in the attack. The man is suspected of being a key lieutenant of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, and responsible for marshalling hard-line insurgence from other Arab countries.

...

A Humvee from Phantom troop fitted with a Long Range Acquisition System (LRAS) was moved to within two kilometres of the mosque, well inside its maximum range of 15km, to get a second opinion on what was happening. "The strike was so sensitive that it took more than an hour to approve it," said Maj John Reynolds, operations officer for 2-2. "Normally it happens in minutes."

American tanks engage insurgents on the streets of Fallujah
Lt Prakash was asked to provide a grid co-ordinate, accurate to within a metre, to minimise the chance of hitting the mosque, about 50 metres from the building.

At about 3pm, the higher authorisation came through and Lt Col Pete Newell, commanding 2-2 and with the call-sign Ramrod 6, gave the order to fire a barrage of 20 155mm high-explosive shells from howitzers about three miles away from the mosque.

Specialist James Taylor, manning the LRAS, watched the burst of shells hit.

"They landed on the left side of the building and I saw three bodies fly into the air," he said. "It was awesome."

Lt Prakash radioed that the rounds were right on target and requested 10 more to ensure maximum killing effect.

"One of the men was in a sniper position on the building," said Lt Prakash. "I saw him fall off, hit the ground and bounce up. There were about five bodies that went three, four, five storeys up in the air. I'd already counted between 40 and 50 men going into that building. There were men running out, coughing and doubling over. The second lot of rounds took them out and all those who had been crossing the road.

Yes, I know completely different focus.  One is talking about the big picture and one is talking about the mechanics of one skirmish.  But my point is that MSNBC is entirely negative and that there are some very positive results available to report if they wanted to report them.  I mean 70 enemy, including a HVT, were precisely killed from afar without them even knowing they were in danger is as Specialist Jame Taylor says, “Awesome”.

Nice idea.

I sent them the following email:

From: Joe Huffman
Sent: Thu 11/11/2004 4:59 PM
To: reservations@helpthemleave.com
Subject: Where do I send my money?

I realize you are probably overwhelmed with donations and you are non-profit, but if you get low on money let me know and I'll pay for at least one passenger -- two if I get to decide who and whether they leave.

-joe-

http://blog.joehuffman.org

P.S. I realize your site is a joke, but if you were to take into reality I would stand behind my promise.

Yesterday the Dutch had a gun (and hand grenade) battle with terrorist suspects in The Hague:

Dutch special forces yesterday stormed an apartment in The Hague and arrested two suspected terrorists, ending a violent 14-hour standoff that came amid mounting tensions in the Netherlands following the murder of the film-maker Theo van Gogh.

Officers mounted a pre-dawn raid on the block in a mainly immigrant area only to be beaten back with small arms fire. At least one grenade was thrown, seriously injuring two police officers.

More than 200 soldiers descended on the neighbourhood, sealing off several blocks, evacuating locals and stationing snipers on nearby rooftops.

Airspace above the area was closed to small aircraft and a tense standoff ensued until nightfall, when units finally overran the apartment to the sound of gunshots.

Over 200 soldiers for two suspected terrorists.  I like those odds.  Give the terrorist 'suspects' zero hope of getting away.  That isn't my favorite part of the article though.  Referring to the suspect in the van Gogh murder:

The immigration minister, Rita Verdonk, said Van Gogh's murder "raises doubts, doubts about whether we have been too lax. Natives and immigrants in the Netherlands cannot look away and excuse radicalism, but must reject it and act against it."

She added: "The suspect carried documents on him that show clearly he was driven by the same evil power that was behind the attacks on New York and Madrid: the all-destroying hatred of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism."

The more I read the more I am convinced we are in a fight for our lives against Islamic extremism.  They have religious justification for killing non-believers and are acting on it.  This fight is just as serious as the fight against fascism (Italian, German, and Japanese) in WWII.  Their methods are different because of cultural differences but they are just as real a threat as anything we have ever faced.  I believe they are making some serious errors however.  They are attacking people in so many countries (Spain, Israel, United States, Netherlands, Russia, Thailand, Philippines, etc.) all at the same time that they will cause the non-Muslim nations (and many of the Muslim nations as well) to overcome differences and cooperate in an unprecedented manner.  In addition the attacking of all these targets all over the globe spreads their resources much thinner than need be.  It makes our task of stopping them harder but the chances of them actually acomplishing their goals (implementing Islamic law for everyone) is reduced.

The Dutch are now awake and are paying attention.  Who is next?  And what do we do to stop the attacks?  Drawing them into Iraq for extermination looks like the best available solution to me.

John Ross has a nice article on Democrats and guns.  He is suggesting the same thing I did yesterday with lots of examples and careful reasoning.  He takes a while to get to the point but it's sound logic.  A sample:

       "Mom, you yourself admit that people like me with our guns aren't any problem at all.  All the candidates you like that lost on Tuesday would've won if they vigorously supported the Second Amendment.  Why do almost all Democrat politicians today want to disarm honest, taxpaying adults?  Why is that one thing so all-important to them? Why? You believe in pro-choice as a freedom issue.  You oppose mandatory waiting periods for abortions.  Why won't your pro-choice candidates oppose waiting periods for guns?  If they did, they'd be more likely to get elected or re-elected, pass the pro-choice legislation they want, and keep abortion available, safe, and legal.  Isn't that the most important thing to them and to you?  Isn't it much more important than taking away my guns?" She nodded, so I went on.

        "Would you expect a black voter to ever vote for a candidate who had repeatedly and consistently voted for bills that would let cafes segregate their lunch counters once again?" I asked.

        "Of course not," she answered.

        "Then how can you hope people like me might support John Kerry, when he voted for every antigun bill put in front of him, and against every progun bill, in the last 20 years?  Why do John Kerry, Claire McCaskill, Tom Daschle, and all the other Tuesday losers want to disarm me?  Can you imagine Harry Truman wanting to disarm honest adult Americans?"  My mother admitted she could not.

 

Ms. Chang wrote one of the two books I have on the rape of Nanking--one of the best examples against gun control I have.  The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Iris Chang, the prominent Chinese American author and journalist who fueled an international protest movement against Japan with her incendiary best-selling book, "The Rape of Nanking," was found dead from an apparent self- inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said Wednesday.

Chang, 36, of San Jose was found in her car by a commuter about 9 a.m. Tuesday on a rural road south of Los Gatos, according to the Santa Clara County sheriff's office.

...

Author of three books and many articles and columns, Chang's most famous work was her controversial 1997 book, "The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II," which described one of the war's worst atrocities.

Japanese army troops massacred many Chinese in Nanjing (then called Nanking) in late 1937 and early 1938, and Chang not only believed that the horrible event was in danger of being forgotten but also accused Japanese society of collective denial about it.

I don't have the books with me right now, but if I recall correctly it wasn't just “many Chinese”.  It was 300,000 over a six week period.  They had decapitation contests where the Japanese used their swords to lop off the heads of as many civilians as they could find within a certain time period.  The Japanese newspapers reported on the results of the contests with pride.  They tied up women and gang raped them before killing them.  They took pictures of their civilian atrocities, many of them extremely graphic, sent them home, and sometimes even had them made into postcards.

I just have to laugh at these people. 

NEW laws banning high street shops from selling assault knives, machetes and other weapons could be introduced by the end of next year.
Sales of replica guns will also be banned because they can be converted into useable firearms.
First Minister Jack McConnell has been in talks with chief constables on how to combat the rising level of knife crime, which is at its highest level for 10 years.
There will also be tougher sentencing powers for knife assaults, and a proposal to give police random stop and search powers is being considered.
The age at which young people can buy household knives and axes may also rise from 16 to 18.

You can't successfully ban something which has a market and especially if it can be made in nearly every home.  Have you seen any success in banning pot?  And how about banning firearms in the UK?  Has that been successful? Knives are far easier to build in your home than firearms yet these jokers think this is going to accomplish something other than make them a laughing stock.

And the only 'benefit' of the 'random' stop and search powers will be that of taking another step closer to becoming a police state.

I'm all for pushing the Democrat party into extinction, but before I work on that project I want to give them some advice just to make the fight fair. Of course I'm a nobody and lot of pundits and political analysts have been offering advice to the Democrat party, it's just that no one has offered what I think would be easiest and most effective change in their position. James Carville for example said this:

But yesterday, Mr. Carville said not only was it a great comeback, but coupled with the 2002 congressional-election losses, it shows it's time for Democrats to engage in a major re-examination.

"We can deny this crap, but I'm out of the denial. I'm about reality here," Mr. Carville told reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. "We are an opposition party, and as of right now, not a particularly effective one. You can't deny reality here."

He said he is considering writing a book about what direction Democrats should go.

One possibility, he said, was to embrace a reform-oriented, anti-Washington agenda. That would require the ability of members of Congress to reject pork projects for their districts and stake the party's fortunes on fiscal discipline.

I'm sure Carville's advice would be helpful -- it would make me more inclined to vote for a Democrat. But I would like to suggest something else. It has been said that the south was lost on "Guns, gays, and god". If the Democrats were to take just one of those issues they could make significant inroads. My suggestion is to (surprise!) take the gun issue away from the Republicans. It's easy to defend too -- it is a constitutionally protected right. The other two, gays and god, are much more difficult to defend with the highest law of the land. Hammer the Republicans with their support of NFA 34, GCA 68, and the Brady Act. Demand the removal of the 'F' in the ATFE.  What would you say if that agency was called the Alcohol, Tobacco, Printers, and Explosives?  Firearms are given just as much protection by the constitution as printers!  Demand the "evil Republicans" explain what part of "shall not be infringed" they don't understand. Get the ACLU behind you. The ACLU has long been an advocate of the most freedom supporting view of The Bill of Rights -- except for the 2nd Amendment. It's time to change that inconsistency. Do that and you pick up several states in the south and probably a couple in the west too.

I won't be telling you again. Unless you change your ways it's a political genocide that is on my agenda.

It turns out some of the Kerry supporters are “emotionally paralyzed, shocked and devastated”.  One even bought a shotgun and committed suicide.  Boca Raton News has the best story on it that I have seen so far:

More than a dozen traumatized John Kerry supporters have sought and received therapy from a licensed Florida psychologist since their candidate lost to President Bush, the