TailOverTeaKettle.com

I guess that’s it’s fashionable to treat certain world leaders as children, unable to be held accountable for their words because they just don’t know better.

This week, we hear the reports of Iran’s leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, spout off again questioning the Holocaust, threatening violence on any European country who dares to support Israel, predicting the end of the “fake regime” of Israel, and celebrating the “victory” of Hezbollah.

I don’t hear Jimmy Carter condeming these remarks. Instead, the phrase “Axis of Evil” in the State of the Union address is being blamed for everything from North Korea nukes to ring around the collar.

As the stateman Carter has explained on Larry King’s show last month:

We had some enemies to begin with but as you well know in past years, for instance, countries like Jordan and Egypt were our strongest possible supporters in the Islamic world. And now the latest public opinion polls there show that less than five percent, in one case only two percent of the people look with favor on America.

So, we’ve kind of alienated a lot of people around the world that would have been with us. And, I don’t think there’s any doubt that right after 9/11 our country was more united than it had been maybe since Pearl Harbor and we had almost unanimous support around the world to join in with us in a unified commitment to combat terrorism.

Now the world is divided with us and Great Britain on one side and the rest of the world pretty much, certainly the Islamic world condemning American policies. So, I think if we can make some progress on getting out of Iraq and make some progress for the first time in five years in attempting to bring a resolution to the Mid East peace process that will heal very quickly some of the problems that have been created.

If only we could get them to like us.

If I am to believe Ahmadinejad, then not only would that entail running from Iraq, but also dismantling Israel and “sending millions of Israelis… back to their countries of origin.”

Or should we just ignore the ultimatums and rantings of this man, after all, he can’t be blamed for anything he says or does since being referred to as part of the “Axis of Evil”?

              

Some pretty cool stuff: Scientists create cloak of invisibility.

In effect the device, made of metamaterials — engineered mixtures of metal and circuit board materials, which could include ceramic, Teflon or fiber composite materials — channels the microwaves around the object being hidden.

When water flows around a rock, [co-author David R.] Smith explained, the water recombines after it passes the rock and people looking at the water downstream would never know it had passed a rock.

The cloaking has to be designed for specific bandwidths of radiation.

In this case it’s microwaves, and someone measuring them wouldn’t be able to tell they had passed around an object. The hope is to do the same for light waves.

Looking at a cloaked item, Smith explained: “One would see whatever is behind the cloak. That is, the cloak is, ideally, transparent. Since we do not have a perfect cloak at this point, there is some reflection and some shadow, meaning that the background would still be visible just darkened somewhat.

As they say - “If you can hide something from microwaves, you can hide it from radar — a possibility that will fascinate the military.”

              

Don’t you know? The economy is terrible! Stock Market is up, consumer prices down, unemployment lower, oil prices far reduced over the summer. Isn’t that awful?

Monday the Associated Press released a story which ran in papers under a number of fairly depressing headlines:

• Democrats Favored When Economy Uncertain [Editor’s Note: can someone please explain exactly when the economy is ever ‘certain’?]
• Economic uncertainties give Democrats a boost
• Democrats can handle economy better, poll suggests
• Voters favor Democrats in handling uncertain economy
• Democrats Favored Amid Uncertain Economy
• Economic jitters benefit Dems.

I know that the writers are not the same people who write the headlines. But these don’t even seem to connect fully to the story. Anyway, once more, this is a story primarily reporting the results of an opinion poll. Regardless of the topic of the poll, this is something that immediately rubs me the wrong way. I don’t particularly care what a majority of 300 Americans care about on any topic, and I especially resent it being reported as “news”. I can see why it’s a favorite of reporters, however. You neither have to dig for facts nor do research. The whole “story” is about what some people “feel”. So you can throw in whatever other collection of loosely related thoughts you’d like along with the poll results. It’s not like anyone can correlate the information anyway.

In this case, the central theme of the article by Jeannine Aversa: “With the Nov. 7 elections looming, 59 percent of voters believe Democrats would do a better job handling the economy, while 39 percent prefer Republicans _ the party that controls Congress and the White House.”

The data from this poll are not yet available, so we can really not see much more about the poll questions or responses other than what was reported in this article. Despite what the headline writers seem to be suggesting, it doesn’t seem that the respondants necessarily thought the economy was “uncertain”. But just that Democrats would do a better job. Somehow.

“Wait a second!” you say. “Didn’t the Dow cross 12,000 just today?” Well, there’s an easy answer to the fact that times are good. Just look for bad stuff to come in the future!

Never mind that gasoline prices have started dropping, that the value of their 401(k)s rises with each new Dow Jones industrial average record, and that the interest rates on their credit cards and adjustable mortgages have leveled off for now.

“Even though the economy is doing well by some indicators, voters are still nervous about the economy,” said Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Fordham University.

“They watched gas prices come down but watched them go up just as precipitously not too long ago. The stock market is doing well but that doesn’t mean it can’t come crashing down in days. Voters are reluctant to be overly confident about economic trends,” he said.

We’re left to wonder how Dr. Panagopoulos is able to know about the nervous nature of the American voter. It’s a wonder they aren’t more nervous after hearing his “glass-half-empty” worries: the stock market might crash and gas prices might shoot up again. He forgot to mention that fear, famine, plague, and pestilence might become pervasive throughout the Midwest just before Christmas.

I sure don’t know how these 741 voters came to answer the questions about the economy in this way. Maybe a better story would be to find out exactly why people feel this way in light of all of the positive economic conditions.

But the general population shouldn’t be concerned that economic pessimism and wealth-envy is spread by Democratic leadership:

“The Dow is up, but people’s retirements are less secure than ever. This economy is making the super rich richer, and leaving middle-class American families further behind,” countered House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

Democrats: Rooting for economic problems… and shouting “the sky is falling” (or maybe it will be someday soon).

              

Over the last week, there have been quite a few bloggers who sound beaten up and disgusted with the whole political process. It’s easy to feel that way… with the constant drumbeat of opinion polls, and campaign commercials disguised as news stories, and negative campaigning, and politicians who don’t always take the strong stands that we wish that they would.

But, when you think about it, it’s really a blessing. Regardless of the outcome of the elections, it’s a most amazing thing that we can have a government that can peacefully pass power between leaders without bloodshed. It’s easy to forget just how lucky we are to be able to choose those who govern us and give everyone a voice in the direction of the nation. Yes, it can be very frustrating when it feels like the politicians are not listening at times. It’s disappointing when we hear of leaders from both sides of the political spectrum that have human failings and suffer from character flaws. No matter all of this… our freedom to vote is a remarkable gift, and something that many throughout the world do not share.

Don’t be careless with that gift. No matter who you choose to vote for… just be sure to vote on Election Day.

              

The place: the Gwinnett County Courthouse. Imagine coming to the Courthouse in downtown Lawrenceville, Georgia in order to take your marriage vows before a Probate Judge. As one of the couples is preparing to for their wedding, a clerk happens to run the groom’s name into the county system… to discover that he had already been married eight times in Gwinnett County alone!

And such is the story of William James Fairley. Who would have wed number nine that day if the clerk hadn’t stumbled on his name. And it turns out that he’s also pulled the same bigamy stunt in at least one more Atlanta metro county.

The clock read 2:30 p.m. that Friday afternoon. Fairley had just wed a woman from Kenya amid the blond wooden benches in a Gwinnett County courtroom. And marriage records show he must have been in a bit of a hurry. Fairley would pledge his eternal devotion again less than four hours later, this time to a Ghanaian bride in front of the mahogany-stained pews of a Cobb County courtroom. The ceremonies were separated by 40 miles — and one rush hour. [1]

That’s crazy enough, but sometimes it just seems that things come in threes. And so it is with our story, because three serial bigamists have either been arrested or are being sought, for multiple marriages in Gwinnett County: Alvin Lorenzo Murdock, William James Fairley, and Shawnta McBride.

[William] Fairley told police it is easier to get hitched in Gwinnett than other surrounding counties, although he didn’t elaborate as to why, Head said. Three magistrate judges officiated a wedding for Fairley twice, apparently without recognizing the popular groom. [2]

The tally: Murdock: 6 wives; Fairly: 10 wives; McBride: 8 husbands. At least that many. With spouses from west Africa.

If these were “green card” marriages, they weren’t garden variety. Organizers of most marriage frauds match up one willing U.S. citizen with one immigrant seeking legal status, said Rob Rodriguez, assistant special agent in charge at ICE’s regional office in Atlanta. That was the case last month in suburban Washington, where immigration agents arrested 22 people in a marriage fraud sting. Immigrants, mostly from Ghana, paid the masterminds $2,500 to $6,000 for each sham marriage, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. [3]

Some steps are being taken as a result of this rash of fraud - a standard check of the couty records, although it’s not foolproof because the state does not centralize any of the records collection to check across counties.

Gwinnett County is now checking its computer database each time someone applies for a marriage license, to double check whether the man and the woman have been married previously in Gwinnett County. No county in Georgia can tap into another county’s marriage and divorce databases, without going through commercially-available — and fee-based — personal-data background searches. There is no statewide database of marriage or divorce records, similar to the statewide database of birth and death records. [4]

I don’t know if the there is an increased trend for commiting immigration fraud through bigamy throughout the country, but it seems to currently have a fairly healthy trade here in Atlanta.

END NOTES:
[1] Brian Feagans, “12 months, 1 groom, 10 brides”, Atlanta Journal Constitution, 15 October 2006 (Link).
[2] Andria Simmons, “Cops charge second man with bigamy”, Gwinnett Daily Post (Georgia), 30 September 2006 (Link)
[3] Atlanta Journal Constitution, 15 October 2006 (Link)
[4] Jon Shirek, “Bigamy Cases May Be Linked”, WXIA-TV (Atlanta, GA), 14 October 2006, (Link)

              

Both the AP and AJC are reporting that Mohamed Shorbagi, Imam of a mosque in Rome, GA, has plead guilty to providing material support to the Islamic militant group Hamas. Apparently, “some or all” of the money collected for the charity “Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development” was instead sent to Hamas, for the period 1997-2001.

Prosecutors say Shorbagi knew that money provided to HLF was actually funneled to Hamas in part because he was a Georgia representative for HLF and he had attended HLF meetings at which high-level Hamas officials made presentations condemning Israel.

Shorbagi also had hosted high-level Hamas officials at the Rome, Ga., mosque at which he served as Imam.

He is said to face up to 15 years in prison as part of the plea agreement.

It goes to emphasize the point that you can not provide any money to a designated foreign terrorist organization or you’re looking at 15 years in federal prison,” [US Attorney David] Nahmias said.

              

The AP is reporting that 11 men were arrested in a raid of an Atlanta warehouse. $14 million worth in more than 70,000 pirated CDs and DVDs and the production equipment were seized.

As reported by the AP:

The men, all West African Muslims, face state and federal charges of illegal reproduction of copyrighted material. Agents said they would also investigate the men’s immigration status.

WSB is also reporting that cocaine was also found at the site.

Quite an operation. It will also be interesting to see who was benefiting from the sale of these counterfeit goods.

              

The BBC is reporting that Dhiren Barot, born in India and a resident of London, has plead guilty to conspiracy to murder for ploting to use a radioactive “dirty bomb” as part of coordinated attacks on financial institutions in the USA, as well as synchronized attacks in the UK.

He’s believed to possibliy have used many names, including Issa al-Britani, Esa al-Hindi, Abu Musa al-Hindi.

Newsweek once referred to Barot as “Bin Laden’s Mystery Man”. As they noted at the time:

In the recently published report by the September 11 commission, Barot is identified under another name—Issa al-Britani, a veteran Al Qaeda operative who was dispatched by September 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to case economic and “Jewish” targets in New York City in early 2001.

Even more intriguing, Barot, as al-Britani, is mentioned in an obscure footnote elsewhere in the report as having been dispatched by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in late 1999 or early 2000 to meet with Hambali, the notorious Asian terrorist who heads Jemaah Islamiah, an Al Qaeda affiliate dedicated to overthrowing the governments of Southeast Asia and replacing them with a pan-Islamic state.

The Times of India added more:

Barot aka al-Hindi also authored a book called The Army of Madinah in Kashmir , narrating his experience fighting Indian forces in Kashmir and describing ways to kill Indian forces in the Valley.

Although he did not appear to have secured financing for his attack and was not captured with bomb-making equipment, this has been a case with much interest because of Barot’s close ties to Bin Laden as well as information about his communications with al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

More from the BBC:

[The Prosecutor] Mr Lawson said this plot was designed to achieve “a number of further and collateral objectives such as to cause injury, fear, terror and chaos”.

He said according to expert evidence, if the radiation project had been carried out, it would have been unlikely to cause deaths, but was designed to affect about 500 people.

Seven other suspects were arrested as part of the plot in 2004. I believe that he’s also been indicted in the USA, not sure if he will also come to trial here now.

UPDATE: This Scepter’d Isle asks a good question: “One wonders what their reaction will be to one of their cause célèbres admitting he is a terrorist.”

UPDATE2: Counterterrorism Blog has an excellent summary of the whole story.

              

Hot Air replays a Fox News report: Arizona 9/11 memorial designers wanted to commemorate hijackers. The summary of one of the commissioners, Paul Eppinger:

Oh, and we also sort of deserved it because of our “total support of Israel.” And the Afghan civilians who were accidentally killed in a bombing run ten months later belong on the memorial because they’re all “part of the tragedy of war, terrorism, hatred, [and] mistrust of everyone else.”

Much has already been made about the moonbat statements which are part of the memorial. Forget just the professor from Arizona State who supposedly ‘fact-checked’ all of the statements, maybe many more of the commissioners had to wear tinfoil hats.

The Gov. Janet Napolitano’s online statement for the memorial reads in part:

As Governor, I charged this Commission with creating a memorial for Arizona the fully encapsulates the loses that America suffered on September 11, 2001. We must always remember the lives that we lost on that terrible day, as well as the strength and compassion that all Americans showed soon afterward. […] Together, we can create a memorial that touches on the loss that we all felt on September 11.

Would you say that this memorial accomplishes that goal? I sure don’t, but I guess it’s a learning experience for everyone.

              

Well, it’s pretty amazing. You may remember the story of Jennifer Wilbanks, better known as the “runaway bride”, for taking flight when she was supposed to be out for a jog. Days later she turned up in New Mexico, told a fake story about being kidnapped and raped, but eventually just admitted that she went on the run because of stress related to her upcoming wedding.

Today we hear that Ms. Wilbanks has filed a lawsuit for $500,000 against her former finance, John Mason. It’s pretty amazing that running away from your wedding, worrying your family and friends, and wasting the time of police in two parts of the country can be heavily rewarded, since she apparently received the cool half million in exchange for selling her story.

Of course, I just told you the whole story, so I’m not sure exactly what the money was actually for… who would really want to read more about that?

But anyway, it sounds like we finally have the answer to why John Mason took her back after her infamous run, a relationship which apparently just ended earlier this year. Based on the lawsuit, it would seem that he figured out how to get control of the money for himself. Don’t know what this says about him… but I guess some measure of revenge is sweet.