Theo Van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker and relative of the Van Gogh, was killed today.  He had made a film about Islamic violence against women which was declared blasphemy by Muslims.  His next film was about anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn.  Some reports say the attacker tried to cut off his head after he had been shot several times.  This assassination was similar to some of the training I saw in the al Qaeda training tapes.  The perp was caught after a shoot-out with the police.

College Republicans with a table in front of a student union building were attacked:

Derek Wray, President of the SFSU College Republicans, told Front Page Magazine that an angry mob of Palestinian students attacked the club’s table, as well as individual members of the Republican club who were handing out pro-Bush/Cheney campaign materials.  According to  Wray, campus police were nearby, but “just stood around watching and, instead of protecting the College Republican students from the mob that was pouring drinks on our table and materials, and even physically assaulting our members, only suggested that the campus Republicans leave rather than arrest those responsible for the violence.”

I put her pictures up in the same album with Kim’s Halloween pictures.

We got five trick or treaters this year.  Then a couple Tri-Delta ‘sisters’ showed up asking for donations for Ronald McDonald house (I think that was it, Barb talked to them).

It turns out he was referring to U.S. States.  Not nation states.

The tape of Osama bin Laden that was aired on Al-Jazeera on Friday, October 29th included a specific threat to “each U.S. state,” designed to influence the outcome of the upcoming election against George W. Bush. The U.S. media in general mistranslated the words “ay wilaya” (which means “each U.S. state”) to mean a “country” or “nation” other than the U.S., while in fact the threat was directed specifically at each individual U.S. state. This suggests some knowledge by bin Laden of the U.S. electoral college system. In a section of his speech in which he harshly criticized George W. Bush, bin Laden stated: “Any U.S. state that does not toy with our security automatically guarantees its own security.”

The Islamist website Al-Qal’a explained what this sentence meant: “This message was a warning to every U.S. state separately. When he [Osama Bin Laden] said, ‘Every state will be determining its own security, and will be responsible for its choice,’ it means that any U.S. state that will choose to vote for the white thug Bush as president has chosen to fight us, and we will consider it our enemy, and any state that will vote against Bush has chosen to make peace with us, and we will not characterize it as an enemy. By this characterization, Sheikh Osama wants to drive a wedge in the American body, to weaken it, and he wants to divide the American people itself between enemies of Islam and the Muslims, and those who fight for us, so that he doesn’t treat all American people as if they’re the same. This letter will have great implications inside the American society, part of which are connected to the American elections, and part of which are connected to what will come after the elections.“

If this is true then New York City and Los Angles are not likely to be subject to attacks from al Qaeda as I had suggested a few days ago.

So it would seem to me this is a pretty clear endorsement for Senator Kerry from Osama bin Laden.

Kim stopped by last night so Barb could fix her hair in rag curls.  She dressed up as an angel for work today and wanted the hair to look the part.  It sure was nice to have her home and talking to us.  We went in to her work (KFC) this morning and took some more pictures.  As we left I noticed the bumper sticker we had given her after our visit to Las Vegas was on her car.  And then found the other sticker we had given her on her steering wheel.

Yesterday after geocaching at Winchester State Park Barb and I visited the Taj Mahal to drop off a few target bodies and make sure things were ready for the winter.  I took some pictures of Barb watching the grass grow and a few other things.  The grass is growing and everything looks good for Boomershoot 2005.  I still have a bunch of 8” target bodies in our garage but we have more than enough for the next boomershoot stored away in the Taj.  It started snowing while we there so I’m glad we got there before it got any later in the year.

Barb and I had never been to Winchester State Park before.  Yesterday we went for a drive, took a few pictures, walked around the entire lake, and found a geocache.  It is a very nice park. Far nicer than what I expected.

Reuters and several other sources report censorship is alive and well in China.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China shut 1,600 Internet cafes between February and August and imposed $12.1 million worth of fines for allowing children to play violent or adult-only games and other violations, state media said.

Of 1.8 million Internet bars inspected, 18,000 were ordered “to stop operation for rectification,” Xinhua news agency quoted Zhang Xinjian, deputy director of the Culture Ministry’s market department, as saying.

“Porn, gambling, violence and similar problems have adversely affected the healthy development of the Internet in China,” Zhang was quoted as saying.

The crackdown comes amid a nationwide push to limit violence and pornography on the Internet that has seen the government shut down hundreds of Web sites it deemed unsavory.

China has some 87 million Internet users, over 50 percent of whom are under 24 and approximately 18 percent are minors.

It is my understanding they also block sites from entering the country which they find to be unacceptable.  I wish I could find out which sites they were.  I’m curious if boomershoot.org is among them.

You can see part of the video I talked about yesterday on Fox news now.  ABC showed it last night but I wasn’t where I could view it or record it at that time.  Another video is out.  This time it is Osama bin Landen.  Reports on it are available in several places each with a little different take on it:

• CNN
• Fox News
• LA Times
• Seattle P.I.
• Wired News

His one message of potential interest is:

Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands and each state which does not harm our security will remain safe.

I believe he is referring to ‘state’ as in ‘nation state’ because he also talks about Sweden not being attacked by al Qaeda.  In general my take on the video is that he is just thumbing his nose at Bush saying, “You haven’t got me yet.”.  You could also take this as a backing down from his previous letter to America and saying, “Let’s call it a truce.”  But keep in mind that under Islam there is nothing wrong with lying to non-Muslims.

I’ve been following the story pretty closely and the best report I have seen so far is the one from the Christian Science Monitor.

The most interesting parts to me were the following:

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – A new videotape that has surfaced in Pakistan threatens a massive attack against the United States by a purported American member of Al Qaeda. It is not yet known if the tape is an authentic Al Qaeda production, but it bears enough resemblance that some experts are taking the tape seriously.

The chilling 75-minute digital videotape, seen by a Christian Science Monitor reporter in Pakistan, where it was obtained by ABC News, shows a high degree of sophistication and bears the logo of Al Qaeda’s video production house, As-Sahab.

…

“Allah willing, the streets of America will run red with blood, matching drop for drop the blood of America’s victims,” says the speaker, who calls himself Azzam al Amriki (or Azzam the American). “What took place on September 11th was but the opening salvo in the global war on America.”

The next attacks, he adds, “could come at any moment.”

…

“As-Sahab is an Al Qaeda propaganda outfit and engages in psychological warfare,” says Bruce Hoffman, an expert on terror at the RAND Corp. in Washington. “Given the hype of the US election in general, that the jihadists claim credit for affecting the outcome of the Spanish elections, and the heightened chatter that intelligence agencies acknowledge, I’m surprised we haven’t seen something like this sooner.”

…

The tape, delivered to ABC in Islamabad last Sunday by a courier who was paid a $500 transport fee, contains a lengthy Q&A session between “Mr. Amriki” and an off-camera interviewer. It ends with his warning, which cuts off abruptly when the tape runs out.

Analysts at Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI, say the tape is genuine, explaining the material bears the same “signature” as previous As-Sahab video releases, which are unique in the world of jihadi video for their sophisticated editing techniques.

It features the same gold logo that appeared, among other places, in a 2003 statement from Mr. bin Laden.

There’s also simultaneous Arabic subtitling – a complicated and time consuming process to put together – and a scrolling message across the bottom of the screen (similar to the news tickers on CNN and Fox) that was featured on a recent statement from al-Zawahiri.

Also of extreme interest is this claim from Drudge:

A top goverment source said from Washington that ABC withheld the final 15 minutes of the tape from the feds — the portion of the tape where the man warns of retribution for Americans electing Bush and Cheney.

“The FBI did not see the last 15 mins,” the source claims.

And

ABC NEWS TO AIR TERROR TAPE ON WORLD NEWS TONIGHT AT 6:30 EST

The way I read it is that most likely it is a from the source claimed (al Qaeda) and that chances are good that is it just a mostly empty threat.  But still, I’m advising friends to stay out of D.C., New York, and Los Angles in the near future.  One person asked for my opinion on when the most likely time the attack would occur.  This is just a guess on my part, but I would guess within the next two weeks or during the State of the Union speech in January.

ABC News reports:

Israel, fearing it will be blamed for any further deterioration in Arafat’s condition, said Thursday it is ready to lift its travel ban and allow Arafat to leave.

…

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said a Palestinian Authority without Arafat could become a partner for peace. “We always said we would be willing to talk to a Palestinian leadership that would be willing once and for all to bring an end to the bloodshed,” Shalom told Israel Radio.

Good news all the way around as near as I can tell.

Monash University researchers released a study “Firearm Related Deaths: the Impact of Regulatory Reform” and it made big news in Australia.   None of the stories below include input from critics of the study.

• The Australian
• The Herald Sun
• The Age requires username a username (MolonLabe works) and password (MolonLabe).
• News.Com.Au
• The Daily Telegraph
• The Advertiser
• The Courier-Mail

GUN law reforms in the past 25 years have led to a 65 per cent drop in gun-related deaths in Victoria, a study has found.

The study, by the Monash University Accident Research Centre, showed the annual average frequency of firearm-related deaths fell by 65 per cent from 1979 to 2000, with suicide deaths down 54.5 per cent and gun assault deaths down by half.

…

The centre’s injury prevention chairwoman, Professor Joan Ozanne-Smith, said Victoria was a world leader in gun law reform. She said a handgun buyback established in 2000 after shootings at Monash University that year had furthered the downward trend.

“There’s something like a 75 per cent reduction in firearm deaths since 1979 (up to 2002) which is quite remarkable, and we think this is a model for the rest of the world,” she said.

…

Given present trends, it was conceivable that gun-related deaths could be eliminated in the future, Professor Ozanne-Smith said.

The study appears to be well done with the assumptions given.  However there is a major assumption which is totally bogus.  That assumption is that if you reduce the number of injuries or death that occurring using a particular type of tool that you have accomplished something useful.  It appears they even include legitimate self-defense shooting by police and private citizen in their statistics.  I know it’s difficult to distinguish from the truly tragic but there are some firearms injuries and deaths that are justifiable and even praiseworthy.  Any legitimate study should at least make an effort to account for the benefits of firearms ownership.  Furthermore, if you look at the overall homicide rate and include more recent data you will find it was essentially unchanged while the propagandists claim a nearly 30% reduction in “firearm related deaths by assault”.  I wasn’t able to quickly find stats on suicide but in other countries there has been no significant decrease in the overall suicide rate after firearms have been restricted. 

So what is the point of restricting firearms if there is no overall benefit in tragic death and/or injury prevention?  The only point I can think of is something hinted at in some of the articles:

Researcher Stuart Newstead said a colleague witnessed the shooting deaths of two students at Monash’s Clayton campus in October 2002 and many staff members and students were touched by the shooting.

The researchers most likely are indeed ‘touched’.  Typically people wishing to restrict firearms have an emotional involvement and, perhaps even with the best of intentions, don’t see the entire picture.

Yassar Arafat has been ill for a couple weeks now.  But earlier today he lost consciousness.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, 75, has lost consciousness, Israeli public radio reported, quoting Palestinian sources.

He lost consciousness “several hours ago”, it said.

Arafat’s senior adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina, meanwhile, confirmed that a team of doctors was examining the veteran Palestinian leader.

I don’t have any particular wish for Arafat to die but I would celebrate his removal from power.  I just wonder what the impact will be if he does die.  I would like for Israel to solve their conflict in some manner.  Arafat has been an obstacle in this for decades and maybe this will be an opportunity for Israel to make some progress.  If they can solve the problem that will be one less obstacle for us when dealing with Muslims.

Late last week and this weekend I started hearing rumors of  “something big” about to happen newswise.  It was my impression it would happen on Monday.  Nothing materialized. I wonder if this is it. Drudge reported the following:

In the last week before the election, ABCNEWS is holding a videotaped message from a purported al Qaeda terrorist warning of a new attack on America, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The terrorist claims on tape the next attack will dwarf 9/11. “The streets will run with blood,” and “America will mourn in silence” because they will be unable to count the number of the dead. Further claims: America has brought this on itself for electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda.

My further wonder is if they are planning to detonate a nuke.  My advice is to stay out of D.C., New York, and possibly Los Angles for a couple weeks.  Again, it appears they don’t understand how to motivate us in a way to achieve their goals.  An attack of this nature will not inspire us to let them have their way.  More likely is that we will be inclined to “go medival” or do a Dresden on them.

From the Washington Times:

BAGHDAD — Leaders and supporters of the anti-U.S. insurgency say their attacks in recent weeks have a clear objective: The greater the violence, the greater the chances that President Bush will be defeated on Tuesday and the Americans will go home.
    “If the U.S. Army suffered numerous humiliating losses, [Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John] Kerry would emerge as the superman of the American people,” said Mohammad Amin Bashar, a leader of the Muslim Scholars Association, a hard-line clerical group that vocally supports the resistance.

    Resistance leader Abu Jalal boasted that the mounting violence had already hurt Mr. Bush’s chances.
    “American elections and Iraq are linked tightly together,” he told a Fallujah-based Iraqi reporter. “We’ve got to work to change the election, and we’ve done so. With our strikes, we’ve dragged Bush into the mud.”

Apparently our enemies don’t believe Kerry when he says, “When I am President, I will fight a tougher, smarter, more effective war on terror. We will hunt down, capture, and kill the terrorists wherever they are. “

I believe if we show weakness and retreat from engaging the Islamic extremists and creating a “shining beacon“ of freedom in the Mideast they will be emboldened.  If this happens they will be better able to pursue their agenda of converting the world to a theocratic Islamic state.  And as the above news story demonstrates the hard-line clerics believe John Kerry is their best hope to douse that beacon and further the Islamic extremist agenda.

We stayed less that a quarter mile from the Flamingo Hotel and walked by several times.  But we were there a week earlier than the outbreak occurred.

Remember children, wash your hands after using the bathroom and before eating.

Those that have forgotten it was the October issue.  Here is just the article of interest.  As with virtually all press coverage things aren’t exactly correct but in this case they are close enough that I’m not going to complain.