Here is the “ManCrunch” Super Bowl ad that has everyone so upset. I have seen it, and I think its kind of stupid. It has nothing to do with being homophobic, I just think its lame because I am not gay, and it doesn’t make me want to purchase the product.

It occurs to me that ManCrunch.com is just looking for free publicity and a law suit. I would bet money that they don’t even have the financial ability to pay for the ad if CBS was to run it. Ed

Tweet This Post 

John Travolta in a file photo next to one of his personal aircraft

John Travolta piloted a plane laden with aid supplies and Scientologists to Haiti today to bolster the US-based group’s disaster relief effort.

The actor and leading Scientologist flew his own Boeing 707 to the capital, Port-au-Prince, and helped unload six tonnes of ready-to-eat military rations and medical supplies. “We have the ability to actually help make a difference in the situation in Haiti and I just can’t see not using this plane to help,” he said.

The delivery came as impatience with food distribution sparked a small riot in front of the national palace and President Rene Preval announced he would move into a tent in solidarity with hundreds of thousands left homeless by the magnitude 7 quake on 12 January.

Aid continued building up at the airport with planes and helicopters landing and departing every few minutes. The jumble of US troops, western aid workers, Chinese rescue teams, UN staff and wounded Haitians turned even more eclectic with the overnight arrival of Travolta.

The actor, who has a pilot’s licence, flew from Florida accompanied in the cockpit by his wife, Kelly Preston. He compared the mission to their visit to New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. “We were there right away, with this aeroplane, because you know we have the ability and the means to do this so I think you have responsibility on some level to do that.”

There is a backlog of at least 800 aircraft awaiting permission to land at the overloaded airport, which can handle just 130 flights daily, prompting recriminations from some aid agencies

The Church of Scientology has dispatched several hundred “volunteer ministers” in yellow T-shirts to other disasters, including September 11. They use a process called “assist” in which the power of touch purportedly reconnects nervous systems shaken by trauma. Since last week several hundred have fanned across Port-au-Prince. “Our volunteers are coming from all over. From Puerto Rico, Mexico, the US, everywhere,” said Frank Suarez, from Puerto Rico, as colleagues set up a camp at a gymnasium. “The need is huge here.”

The group, which critics say is a cult peddling quack treatments, has received a mixed reaction to the light “touching”, through clothing and bandages, of fractures and infection.

“All the patients are happy with the technique,” a volunteer named only as Silvie told AFP. “But some doctors don’t like the yellow T-shirts. It’s a colour thing.”

One US doctor, who declined to be named, said it was more a credibility thing. “I didn’t know touching could heal gangrene.”When asked about the Scientologists, an Oxfam spokesperson said: “All aid agencies need to co-ordinate and ensure help that is given reaches benchmark standards and follow best practice.” Delays continued to hamper the response to a disaster which, according to the Haitian government, has killed more than 150,000 and left 3 million needing aid.

Only 10,000 of a needed 200,000 tents have arrived, leaving many to shelter under grubby sheets in settlement camps. The president, who lost his home in the quake, said he would move into a tent on the lawn of the collapsed national palace.

A daily handout of rice and soy oil in front of the palace degenerated into chaos on Monday when 4,000 people overwhelmed Uruguayan UN troops in charge of the distribution.

“Whatever we do, it doesn’t matter – they are animals,” one soldier, who declined to be named, cried in Spanish, as he tried to hold back the crowd with a shield.

The troops, who did not speak French or Creole, waved pepper spray and fired rubber bullets in the air from atop an armoured vehicle.

They carried off a pregnant woman who vomited and collapsed amid the chaos. After the troops had withdrawn, the crowd jostled over 50 rice sacks left behind. Those too slow or weak for the struggle were left to pick up the remaining rice grains from the street.

Tweet This Post 

Trust me, the Christmas day bomber has hurt Obama. Polls show that people are now more concerned about national security than health care. This was exactly what Obama DIDN’T want. Distractions from his socialist agenda. Obama has ignored national security from day one, choosing instead to turn America into France, a nation of cowards. Obama’s poll numbers continue to plummet, and democrats are now beginning to defect and announce that they will not seek re-election. Keep up the good work Obama. JD

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House was poised to release a report on Thursday that top aides said will shock Americans about security lapses that allowed a Nigerian man to come close to blowing up a Detroit-bound airliner on December 25.

President Barack Obama, in 3 p.m. EST (8 p.m. British time) remarks, was set to outline steps the U.S. government is taking to try to shore up airline security, mindful of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States involving hijacked airliners.

The White House was due to release a declassified review of what went wrong to allow the Christmas Day bombing attempt in which Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, is accused of trying to detonate explosives sewn into his underwear.

By releasing the review, Obama may be seeking to limit the political damage to his administration ahead of expected congressional committee reviews of the attempted attack.

Republicans have sought to portray the Democratic president as weak on national security issues. Obama already has acknowledged a security “screw-up” in the December 25 incident.

White House national security adviser James Jones told USA Today of the report: “Once people read it, I think, there’s a certain shock to it. … The man in the street will be surprised that, you know, these correlations weren’t made.”

What was shocking, said another official, was the fact that various strands of intelligence were available that, if put together properly, would have made clear that the bombing suspect should have been put on a “no-fly” list preventing him from boarding.

“We know what happened, we know what didn’t happen, and we know how to fix it,” Jones said. “That should be an encouraging aspect. We don’t have to reinvent anything to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Among the lapses was the fact that Abdulmutallab’s father had gone to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria and told officials that his son had taken up radical views. This information was never properly acted upon.

A top Yemeni official said on Thursday that Abdulmutallab was recruited by al Qaeda in London and met a radical American Muslim cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, in Yemen. Awlaki has been linked to the gunman who killed 13 people at the Fort Hood army base in Texas in November.

‘A FEW ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS’

An Obama administration official said on Thursday that Customs and Border Protection officers had planned to question Abdulmutallab upon arrival in Detroit, acknowledging that they had found a record about him in an intelligence database.

“They were going to ask him a few additional questions after he landed before allowing him admission into the country,” the official said, noting that no new information about Abdulmutallab had emerged while the plane was airborne.

The official said Abdulmutallab would not have been barred from boarding the plane in Amsterdam or selected for additional screening because he was not on any of the government’s watch lists.

“We had in our possession information that likely could have prevented or disrupted the incident on the 25th of December from happening,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Despite the security lapses and miscues, there has been no sign of any staff shake-up looming, although Obama has heavily criticized the “intelligence community” and said there must be accountability.

The Nigerian suspect was indicted on Wednesday in Detroit on charges of attempted murder and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction to kill the 300 people on board the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

Tweet This Post 

MIAMI—An airline passenger who yelled “I want to kill all the Jews” on a Detroit-bound plane was arrested on disorderly conduct and other charges, but authorities said Thursday the incident didn’t appear terrorism-related.

Mansor Mohammad Asad, 43, of Toledo, Ohio, was arrested Wednesday night after a taxiing Northwest Airlines flight returned to a gate at Miami International Airport, Miami-Dade police said. After a confrontation with officers, Asad was charged with threats against a public servant, disorderly conduct and resisting an officer without violence.

FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said there were no indications the incident was connected to terrorism. The bureau was initially brought in to look into the disturbance but is no longer involved in the investigation and is treating the case as a local matter.

The disturbance came the same day as military jets escorted a commercial jetliner bound for Hawaii back to the Portland, Ore., airport because of a disruptive passenger. The FBI said there was no known terrorism link in that case. The passenger, identified only as a 56-year-old man from Salem, Ore., was released.

Asad’s son, 27-year-old Mickey Asad, told The Associated Press that his father suffered from bipolar disorder and was in and out of mental institutions when he was younger.

“He’s far from a terrorist,” said the younger Asad. “He just lost his temper. There’s no excuse, but someone had to have pushed his button”

Mansor Asad, who owns an appliance store in Toledo, was returning home from a vacation in Miami with his sister and his 14-year-old daughter.

His son said his father has a short temper and extensive criminal record. He also said his father had been doing better in recent years. “This is such a strange turn,” he said.

Asad was being held pending a Friday bond hearing, with his arraignment date scheduled for Jan. 27. Court officials said Asad asked a judge for 24 hours to hire an attorney.

Witnesses told investigators who boarded the plane that Asad was loud, disruptive and claimed to be Palestinian. His son said he was an American citizen of Palestinian descent.

Officers didn’t find any weapons or explosives on Asad, who police said was agitated and aggressive at times, according to an arrest affidavit. Authorities used a stun gun to subdue Asad on the jet bridge after he charged at an officer with fists clenched. He also chanted in a foreign language and threatened officers during a search.

“I’m not afraid of you cops, I’ve gotten in fights with cops in Ohio and broke their arms in three places,” he said, according to the affidavit. “I’ve broken skulls too!”

The affidavit noted that alcohol didn’t appear to be a factor during the incident.

The Transportation Security Administration said three of Asad’s companions were also taken off the plane and questioned. The plane later departed without incident after a search using police dogs.

Delta Air Lines owns Northwest.

Tweet This Post 

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Another two-ton ice sculpture of former Vice President Al Gore is back in front of a Fairbanks liquor store.

“Frozen Gore” is a dig at Gore’s beliefs about climate change.

The first statue went on display last year. This year’s version is hooked up to the exhaust of a pickup truck to make it appear Gore is spouting hot air.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the smoke drew laughs from a crowd Tuesday as a Gore speech on climate change played over a loudspeaker.

The sculpture was commissioned by two businessmen, Craig Compeau and Rudy Gavora, who want Gore to discuss global warming in Fairbanks.

Tweet This Post 

Apparently to prove that the US is filled with Muslim hating Yahoos, ABC went on the hunt to find “Islamophobia” in America and the result is “Witness to Discrimination: What Would You Do?” Since they didn’t really know where to find any, ABC News decided to create their own prejudice against Muslims by hiring an actress to put on Muslim dress and get “confronted” by a Muslim hating coffee store server — also an actor hired by ABC. Then, they rolled the cameras, opened the doors to the public and, viola, ABC “found” prejudice in America. How hard is it to “find” something that you invented in the first place? Let’s find out…

ABC is “shocked” to find that their little manufactured moments revealed how some customers reacted. “Bystanders Turn Away When Muslim Actor Hired By ‘Primetime’ Encounters Hostility,” ABC proclaimed.

ABC begins their report assuring us all that “Islamophobia” is rampant in America.

The Sept. 11 attacks, the Iraq war and suicide bombings worldwide have changed not only the way we live but the way we look at those around us, especially Muslims. “Islamophobia” has entered the American vernacular, and the anti-Muslim attitudes and prejudice it describes remain common.

Prejudiced attitudes against Muslims “remain common”? Does it really? Is ABC telling us that Muslims are being widely discriminated against in this country since 9/11?

Well, ABC may be claiming this is so, but the FBI sure isn’t. According to Investor’s Business Daily, the FBI has found that anti-Muslim crimes in the USA is not so “common” as ABC wants to make us believe.

Not only are anti-Islamic hate crimes way down, but they’re a fraction of overall religious hate crimes. The overwhelming majority of such crimes target Jews, something CAIR and other Muslim groups don’t seem all that concerned about.

In 2006, a whopping 66% of religiously motivated attacks were on Jews, while just 11% targeted Muslims, even though the Jewish and Muslim populations are similar in size. Catholics and Protestants, who together account for 9% of victims, are subject to almost as much abuse as Muslims in this country.

So, how the heck did ABC find all this “Islamophobia” in America? They created it out of whole cloth and then stepped back to see people “react” to it.

ABC’s production crew outfitted The Czech Stop, a bustling roadside bakery north of Waco, Texas, with hidden cameras and two actors. One played a female customer wearing a traditional Muslim head scarf, or hijab. The other acted as a sales clerk who refused to serve her and spouted common anti-Muslim and anti-Arab slurs.

ABC then filmed the outcome of their set-up, their entrapping situation, and reported that… gasp… there is prejudice in America. But, even at this they only found one guy that expressed any measure of support for the anti-Islamic sentiment. And even that lone guy was more in favor of a business owner being permitted to run his business how he wanted to run it.

What ABC apparently found most “shocking” was that most regular folks would simply turn away, essentially trying to ignore the situation. ABC seemed to read this as some sort of inherent racism on the part of the stunned customers.

Even though people seemed to have strong opinions on either side, more than half of the bystanders did or said absolutely nothing. This is a familiar reaction for many Muslims such as Javed. “I was shocked because when these things happen to me in real life … I never see what happens after I walk out of that store,” she said. “I would try to justify … that they probably didn’t hear it … when I watched it, I realized, no, they hear it and they see it and they’re okay with it.”

No, sir, they weren’t necessarily “OK with it.” For most people who aren’t confronted with such situations on a daily basis, the shock of the altercation will leave them stunned, bewildered, and unable to act very quickly to such a situation. This is human nature, not any innate “Islamophobia.” Most people just fear getting themselves involved in any sort of altercation. It’s called the “flight” reaction. Many people just want to shrink from trouble and run away to preserve themselves.

In any case, even as ABC tried to pretend that everyone hates Muslims in America, even their own report revealed people who stood up for the young “Muslim” woman that they thought was being discriminated against.

So, in the end, what we have here is ABC sensationalizing a “racism” that doesn’t exist at the sort of so-called high rates that they are trying to make us all believe it is happening. ABC wanted to find “Islamophobia” so it went out and created it.

No wonder they “found” it, huh?

Tweet This Post 

Virgil Goode should be commended for his candor and honesty. Keith Ellison should be publicly flogged and run out of town on a rail. JD

Virgil Goode sparks a nationwide controversy with a letter sent to a hundred of his constituents.

It said in part, “If American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.” The letter went on to say, “I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America.”

His e-mail was in response to Representative-Elect Keith Ellison’s decision to take the oath of office using a Koran instead of the Bible. Ellison, who is from Minnesota was born and raised in America and converted to Islam. Goode’s office received dozens of complaints about Ellison’s decision to use the Koran.

Goode’s letter has some Muslim groups asking for Goode to apologize, but those calls aren’t coming from around here.

In Rocky Mount, Goode’s hometown, there are streets and buildings named for his father, Virgil Goode, Sr. In this part of the Commonwealth, you aren’t likely to hear any criticism of the congressman.

“The people of Franklin County love Virgil,” said Sue Wallis of Boones Mill.

At Hazel’s Beauty Salon, they cut Goode some slack.

“I think Virgil would not do anything that he did not think was right for his people,” said Hazel Jones, the owner of the shop. “I think he’s trying to protect his people.”

Wallis added, “I think Virgil is an honest man and he tells things like he feels.”

Over at The Franklin Restaurant, the food was steaming and so were the opinions.

“This country was founded on Christian religion, not Muslim religion,” said, Fred Stump of Boones Mill.

Once again, people think Goode is justified.

“He’s right. I don’t want them in here,” said Dot Weiss of Ferrum. Her husband, Harry, said, “We have a culture, it’s not very old, but by god it’s ours. And if they can’t respect it then stay away.”

Goode will not apologize for the letter.

He was re-elected to his sixth term in 2006 with 59-percent of the vote.

Tweet This Post 

“We are going to put down our bowl of rat dropping soup and come out of our caves and get you, pope!!!!” Get a load of these terrorists. They don’t have a pot to piss in but their still willing to go out on the proverbial limb and threaten the pope. JD

CAIRO, Egypt — An al-Qaida-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were “doomed,” as protesters returned to the streets across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence.

The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, issued a statement on a Web forum vowing to continue its holy war against the West. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified.

The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as “the worshipper of the cross” saying “you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. … We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (killed by) the sword.”

Islam forbids drinking alcohol and requires non-Muslims to pay a head tax to safeguard their lives if conquered by Muslims. They are exempt if they convert to Islam.

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, meanwhile, shops, businesses and schools shut down in response to a strike call by the head of a hard-line Muslim separatist leader to denounce Benedict. For the third day running, people burned tires and shouted “Down with the pope.”

Protests also raged in Iraq, where angry demonstrators burned an effigy of the pope in Basra, and in Indonesia, where more than 100 people rallied in front of the heavily guarded Vatican Embassy in Jakarta, waving banners that said the “Pope is building religion on hatred.”

The pope on Sunday said he was “deeply sorry” about the angry reaction to his speech last week in which he cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman” and referred to spreading Islam “by the sword.”

Benedict said the remarks came from a text that didn’t reflect his own opinion.

“I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect,” he said during his weekly appearance before pilgrims in Italy.

The statement of regret — the pope’s second in two days — helped ease some tensions.

In Turkey, where outrage against Benedict’s remarks had been swift, Catholic bishops decided Monday that no changes were necessary in his upcoming visit in November – his first to a Muslim country, Vatican spokesman George Marovic said.

Marovic said the trip was expected to go on as planned, and the bishops had discussed the details of a religious ceremony the pontiff is to lead in Istanbul.

However, State Minister Mehmet Aydin, who oversees the religious affairs in Turkey, said he expected Turkish authorities to cancel the visit if Benedict does not offer a full apology.

“We are expecting the authorities to unilaterally cancel this visit. The pope’s coming to Turkey isn’t going to foment the uniting of civilizations, but a clash of civilizations,” he said.

The secretary-general of the Turkish HUKUK-DER law association submitted a request to the Justice Ministry asking that the pope be arrested upon entering Turkey.

The appeal by Fikret Karabekmez, a former legislator for the banned pro-Islamic Welfare Party, called for Benedict to be tried under several Turkish laws, among them obstruction of freedom of belief, encouraging discrimination based on religion, and inciting religious hatred.

A prosecutor in the ministry will evaluate the request and decide whether to open a case.

Angry reactions also persisted in other corners of the Muslim world, where many demanded more of an apology by the pope than Sunday’s statement of regret.

“Muslims have all this while felt oppressed, and the statement by the pope saying he is sorry about the angry reaction is inadequate to calm the anger – more so because he is the highest leader of the Vatican,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on national television in Pakistan the pope had apparently forgotten it was Christianity that was spread by the sword during the Crusades.

Elsewhere, protesters rallied in the city of Muzaffarabad, in the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir. “His apology is not sufficient because he did not say that what he said was wrong,” said Uzair Ahmed, from Pasban-e-Hurriyat, a Pakistani political group.

Even in China, where the government exerts tight controls over religious activities, a top religious official said Benedict had insulted the nation’s Muslims.

“This has gravely hurt the feelings of the Muslims across the world, including those from China,” Chen Guangyuan, president of Islamic Association of China, was quoted as saying in an interview with the Xinhua news agency.

In the Middle East, where Muslims threw firebombs at seven churches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the weekend, Christian leaders posted guards outside some churches.

“We are afraid,” said Sonia Kobatazi, a Christian Lebanese, after Mass at the Maronite Christian St. George Cathedral in Beirut, Lebanon, where about a dozen policemen carrying automatic weapons stood guard.

Christians — a minority in the Mideast that varies from nearly 40 percent in Lebanon to tiny communities in the Gulf states — generally live in peace with the majority Muslims. But relations are sometimes strained and outbreaks of violence have occurred in recent years. Some worry the flap over the pope will lead to a new round.

The protests and violence have stirred up memories of the fury over cartoons that were published in a Danish newspaper of the Prophet Muhammad. Angry demonstrations took place in many countries, and some of the violence was directed at Western targets and Christian churches.

Tweet This Post 

Mel Gibson …. I can’t believe the flap that the Hollywood Jews are making over Mr. Gibson’s statements while being arrested for drunk driving. I will admit that his statements were inappropriate, but Isn’t Mr. Gibson entitled to his own opinion, especially when it is based on his religious beliefs?

Most Christians believe that the Jews killed Jesus Christ. I’m no religious scholar, but there are a billion or so people out there that read a book that tells them to kills all infidels. They so strongly believe in their religion that they are willing to blow themselves up in the name of Allah. They will even fly airplanes into buildings like guided missiles.

Now I have heard condemnation of terrorists, but nothing is said publicly about the religion or the leaders of these
rouge nations that support and condone suicide missions to kill christians and jews.

Ari Emanuel of Endeavor Talent Agency said ” People in the entertainment community need to demonstrate that they understand how much is at stake by professionally shunning Mel Gibson.” Now the way I got it figured, Either Mr. Emanuel doesn’t make money off of Mel Gibson or he is simply one of the dumbest Jews in Hollywood.

Let’s set the record straight here. Jews, Catholics, Protestant, Baptist and Muslim alike will continue to finance and distribute Mel Gibson’s movies because they make millions if not billions of dollars. Let’s not forget that no one would finance “The Passion of the Christ” so Mr. Gibson paid for it himself or at least found the financial backing himself. It made $375,000,000.00 in theaters before being released on DVD.

So who would be the fool here? The Jew for not being able to swallow his pride and finance Mel? Or the idiot that would base his business decisions on what a drunken fool says?

Many say that this is retribution for “Passion” and the way it depicted Jews. I saw the movie and I didn’t see anything that the Jewish community saw when they looked at the “Jew” characters in the movie. Perhaps the people that did all of the complaining are simply seeing themselves as the stereotypical Jew? I don’t know but I did notice that virtually all of the people that were complaining about Mr. Gibson’s depiction of Jews in the local papers and trade magazines had Jewish surnames.

So Lets review: Mel Gibson is an anti-Semite. Mel Gibson is an achoholic. Hollywood is primarily financed by Jews, by their own admission. Ari Emanuel is an idiot. Jews seem more preoccupied by what Mr. Gibson said than the war in Lebanon…..

Remember, when right is wrong and wrong is right, we are all doomed.

John De Gennaro

Tweet This Post 

By JENNIFER QUINN , 08.10.2006, 06:28 PM

British police thwarted a terrorist plot Thursday to blow up 10 U.S.-bound jetliners with a peroxide explosive – a nearly simultaneous strike over the Atlantic that could have killed thousands of people and rivaled the carnage of 9/11.

In raids across England, authorities arrested 24 people based partly on intelligence from Pakistan – moving quickly because U.S. officials said the bombings could have been only days away.

The scheme bore the hallmark of al-Qaida. The bombs were to be assembled on the aircraft using a peroxide-based solution and detonated by a power supply from a camera, a digital music player or other electronic device, two American law enforcement officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Britain asked that no information be released.

The close call shifted attention once more to Britain’s Islamic community just over a year after the London transit attacks. Three Britons of Pakistani descent and a Jamaican convert to Islam carried out those deadly bombings with a peroxide explosive that can be made using ordinary ingredients such as hair bleach.

The arrests in Britain, coupled with up to three arrests in Pakistan, triggered security alerts at airports across the United States and Europe. Passengers stood in line for hours and airport trash bins bulged with everything from mouthwash and shaving cream to maple syrup and fine wine.

“We want to make sure that there are no remaining threats out there, and we also want to take steps to prevent any would-be copycats who may be inspired to similar conduct,” said U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. ABC News reported that authorities were urgently hunting five more suspects, quoting unidentified U.S. sources who had been briefed on the plot.

Experts said the nature of the plot could herald a new age of terrorism where attackers have access to explosives that are easy to carry and conceal. Emergency security measures quickly implemented on Thursday provided a stark vision of the possible future of air travel.

Mothers tasted baby food in front of airport security guards to prove it contained no liquid explosives. Liquids and gels were banned from flights. Travelers repacked their luggage in airports, stowing all but the most necessary items in the hold.

Although plots to blow up airliners using liquid explosives are not new – such an attempt was foiled more than a decade ago – the U.S. government has been slow to upgrade its security equipment at airport checkpoints to detect explosives on passengers.

U.S. authorities did not say how long the security measures would last. “We are taking the step of preventing liquids from getting into the cabin to give us time to make adjustments,” Chertoff said.

The raids in Britain on Thursday followed a monthslong investigation, but U.S. intelligence officials said authorities moved quickly after learning the plotters hoped to stage a practice run within two days, with the actual attack expected just days after that.

The test run was designed to see whether the plotters would be able to smuggle the needed materials aboard the planes, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Security experts warned it was possible attackers could hide their bomb ingredients in containers for talcum powder or medicine bottles and then assemble the weapon once behind a locked restroom door.

“This nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation,” President Bush declared.

The plane bombings could have come just ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks carried out by al-Qaida. The terror group’s leader Osama bin Laden and his No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, are believed hiding along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and have repeatedly issued tapes threatening new attacks.

In Pakistan, an intelligence official said the arrest of an Islamic militant near that border several weeks ago played a role in “unearthing the plot.” The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said some suspects arrested in Britain were linked to al-Qaida.

A senior Pakistani government official, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the matter, said “two or three local people” suspected in the plot were arrested a few days ago in the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Karachi.

U.S. counterterrorism officials said United, American, and Continental airlines bound for New York, Washington and California were targeted by the terrorists. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the individuals plotted to detonate liquid explosive devices on as many as 10 aircraft bound for the United States.

French Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy said the group “appears to be of Pakistani origin,” but did not give a precise source for the information. Britain’s Home Office refused comment.

A British police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said the suspects were “homegrown,” though it was not immediately clear if all were British citizens. He said authorities were working with Britain’s large South Asian community.

Raids were carried out at homes in London, the nearby town of High Wycombe and in Birmingham, in central England. Searches continued throughout the day, and police cordoned off streets in several locations. Police also combed a wooded area in High Wycombe.

Hamza Ghafoor, 20, who lives across the street from one of the homes raided in Walthamstow, northeast of London, said police circled the block in vans Wednesday and that they generally swoop into the neighborhood to question “anyone with a beard.”

“Ibrahim didn’t do nothing wrong,” Ghafoor said, referring to a suspect. “He played football. He goes to the mosque. He’s a nice guy.”

The British government raised its threat assessment to its highest level – critical – which warns that a terrorist attack could be imminent. The U.S. government, following suit, raised its threat assessment to red alert, also its highest level, for commercial flights from Britain to the United States.

Associated Press Writers Pat Milton and Tom Hays in New York, Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington and Jay Lindsay in Boston contributed to this report.

Tweet This Post 

Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat who represents Glendale and Burbank, called for a Government Accountability Office investigation of the Internal Revenue Service practices regarding the tax-exempt status of churches and other houses of worship.

Schiff requested a report from the IRS on its practices following reports that All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena was under investigation after an anti-war sermon given by the Rev. George Regas in 2004. Schiff joined two other members in a bipartisan request for a formal investigation. Walter Jones, a North Carolina Republican, and Joseph Pitts, a Pennsylvania Republican, also signed the letter.

I say it’s about time. Most people in America don’t realize it, but most of these so called “religious organizations” are making more money than Fortune 500 corporations. They have money rapped up in mutual funds, investments in real estate and property building, foreign investment markets etc. They then hoard their money and live like kings. Case in Point. Jesse Jackson. This piece of excrement lives in one of the nicest communities in all of Illinois. Jesse Jackson has multiple homes in several parts of the country, and he doesn’t even have a church!!!

I can’t see any reason for religious organizations that make money like any other business to NOT pay taxes. These are FOR PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS!!! Countless thousands of people are living like royalty off of the backs of the suckers that line up like lemmings and hand their hard earned money over to charlatans and snake oil salesman.
These “religious organizations” are ripping off the government and the people of the United States. The least they can do is pay taxes like the rest of us.

Tweet This Post 

Here is a dissent filed by Judge Samuel Alito in 2000 that
shows his strong support for the First Amendment right to
free exercise of religion.

The case involved a kindergarten student whose Thanksgiving
poster was removed from his public school because the poster
thanked Jesus. It was another outrageous example of the
courts imposing an unconstitutional secular mandate.

The kids were encouraged to make the posters expressing
their thanks during the Thanksgiving season. But this
one child’s poster was removed because the child wanted
to thank Jesus.

The 3rd Circuit Court upheld the school’s actions.

But Judge Alito “stood on the wall” in opposition and
filed a blistering dissent that stated,

“Public school students have the right to express
religious views in class discussion or in assigned
work.“

Alito added:

“this was quintessential viewpoint discrimination.“

Click here to read a full report on this case, and
Judge Alito’s dissent:

Judge Alito’s dissent

It is my opinion that:

1. Judge Alito is the RIGHT MAN to sit on the Supreme Court

2. The LEFT will do everything it can to defeat Alito

Watch and see.

kf6hqc

Tweet This Post 

This is the new Dojak Blog. Here is what I intend to do with this site. I want to point out on an almost daily basis how the weak and apathetic in our society are responsible for what is now going on within the body politic. This is your fault mother f*&%er!!! All of you that sit on your fat ass and cry about how your vote doesn’t make any difference and the “who cares anyway” crowd. I am going to do a PODcast from this site as well. It will be about news of the day, politics and why illegal immigration needs to be stopped. I also intend to ruin as many political careers as possible Starting with David Dreier, Congressman of the 26th district (where I live) of California. For those of you that don’t know, A bunch of us dopey Californians got together and in a grass roots effort nearly unseated Mr. Dreier in one of the most conservative districts in California. And get this…. We ran a lesbian Democrat againt him!!! For those of you that are not familiar with Mr. Dreier, he is the chair of the House Rules Commitee, which makes him the third most powerful man in Washington. So here it is, I hope you will enjoy my tirades and contribute as much as you can.

Regards;
John De Gennaro

Tweet This Post