Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:51 AM | Comments (31)
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I have been told to prepare for a repeat of the Carter years, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind. We're screwed:

President-elect Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice.

But that's not good enough for Democrats: more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 04:45 AM | Comments (96)
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There have been Prop 8 protests here in L.A. every day since Tuesday. In fact, last nightÂ’s march went right past my apartment just after 12-midnight. From what I hear more are planned. So far, the next steps for gay marriage appear to be as follows:

(1) Push for churches to lose their tax-exempt status.
(2) Call blacks the n-word.
(3) Harass Mormons.
(4) Equate opposition to gay marriage with bigotry.

So letÂ’s clear a few things up. First, these folks donÂ’t represent all gays, nor do they represent all people who want to legalize gay marriage. Do not make the mistake of thinking that gay marriage is inextricably linked to harassment of Mormons and blacks. It is not. And many gays (I would hope most gays) understand that Christians and blacks do not deserve the harassment they are getting from a few rowdy loudmouths who are being indulged by the drama-starved media.

Second, minority groups are often mistakenly portrayed as being composed of nothing more than their loudest proponents. It tends to distort outsiders' understanding of the group. Not all gays are even in favor of gay marriage. Some take a libertarian view, others believe it’s enough to have civil unions, and some are dying (literally, in many cases) to prevent “heteronormativity” from overwhelming their counterculture deviance. There will be backlash against gays for the behavior of the protesters and these poor souls, who had nothing to do with it, are caught in the middle. (See also: Christian gays, like myself, and black gays, boy mustn’t they feel like dirt right now.)

For that matter, the vast majority of the 14,000 gays who got married this summer were not parties to the lawsuit which temporarily legalized marriage, nor were they present for Gavin Newsome’s “Whether You Like It Or Not” speech. In other words, they are victims of nothing more than hope, collateral damage from the blow which was struck against judicial activism and a braying jackass in San Francisco. So please, do not tar a whole community for the behavior of relatively few.

Third, notably absent from these protests has been anything remotely resembling advocacy. The point of modern protest is simply to tell others how very, very emotional the protesters are. So itÂ’s a tantrum. Ignore it and the little screamers will tire themselves out.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 10:14 PM | Comments (293)
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Kidnapping an American engineer working in Afghanistan probably seemed like a good idea at the time to a bunch of terrorists. Then the SEALs showed up to get him back.

“He had captors who thought we wouldn’t be able to deal with that terrain,” the special operations officer said.

That, the officer added, was a mistake. Seven years of experience in Afghanistan have enabled U.S. special operators to adapt to the unforgiving landscape.

“The terrain is really not a challenge any more,” he said. “It slows you down, but it slows them down, too.”

Nevertheless, the kidnappers apparently felt secure enough in their mountain lair to stay put for an extended period, rather than move their captive every day or two.

...“I don’t know what I said in English, but whatever I said I said it rather loudly evidently, because they said ‘Quiet!’ ”

The hostage’s aim was to quickly let the operators know who he was, but he understood their unease at the level of volume. “Sound carries so far, and they’d worked so hard to come down quietly across the mountain, and here I am shouting,” he said.

Nevertheless, “They knew who was who,” the engineer said. the SEALs quickly demonstrated that, aiming their silencer-equipped weapons to shoot and kill the kidnapper in the room before he could fire a round. The engineer said he heard the sounds of the operators shooting and killing a guard posted outside.

The SEALs turned to the now former hostage and told him they were there to take him back.

“I was in favor of that, 100 percent,” he said. “I was very surprised, very amazed and very happy.”

Cost of training a team of SEALs: Millions of dollars

Ammunition for their weapons: Thousands of dollars

Saving an American citizen and killing the bad guys? Priceless

H/T: OP For

Posted by: DrewM at 08:45 PM | Comments (76)
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Only $1000 for a stack of Obie win headline NYT papers. Get'em while they're hot. Cheap at twice the price.

Prepare to own a spectacular piece of history. Own an original copy of the "New York Times November. 5, 2008" Full and unread. Future generations of America and around the World will read this historic event in text books during their history classes. You will give future generations a piece of history!!

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 05:54 PM | Comments (112)
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The Change? The first major hit from Al Qaeda on U.S. soil in over 7 years.

OSAMA bin Laden is planning an attack against the United States that will "outdo by far" September 11, an Arab newspaper in London has reported.

And according to a former senior Yemeni al-Qaeda operative, the terrorist organisation has entered a "positive phase", reinforcing specific training camps around the world that will lead the next "wave of action" against the West.

The warning, on the front page of an Arabic newspaper published in London, Al-Quds Al-Arabi - and widely reported in the major Italian papers - quotes a person described as being "very close to al-Qaeda" in Yemen.

Is the Yemeni credible? The blogosphere's renowned expert on Yemen, Jane Novak, says yes.

It's, like, 1976 all over again.

Update Some commenters are expressing their belief that Bin Laden is dead. That may very well be true. But it doesn't matter what we believe. What matters is what they believe.

See you next Open Blog.

Posted by: Open Blog at 03:36 PM | Comments (206)
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Three of the Bali Bombers went "carbon-neutral", as an unnamed tipster put it.

I'm crying hot tears of "fuck them".

Three hundred and seventy victims, over two hundred dead.

Some expressed concerns that by doing so we create a state-sponsored 'expressway to martyrdom'.

I say, open up the autobahn. Martyrdom doesn't look so good when you're pale and squeaking 'allahoo' to the executioner.

thanks to an unnamed tipster with a cool smoking jacket.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 03:23 PM | Comments (43)
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Because Malor's out doing something else and didn't post one.

Posted by: Open Blog at 12:43 PM | Comments (33)
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And just like that, dissent is no longer the highest form of patriotism, but rather a jailable offense.

Thanks to C.In.Az, via incognito.

Posted by: Ace at 11:43 AM | Comments (315)
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Tolerance.

Posted by: Ace at 11:39 AM | Comments (56)
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