Blackmail? Not a Terrorist?! No way!

Even as Libya burns, on its way to either being the New Egypt, or not, and while we wait some news is coming out about Gaddafi and his terrorism buddies... apparently he wasn't ready to bring a home a national terrorist hero that could possibly overshadow him: Lockerbie Bomber Reportedly Blackmailed Qaddafi to Secure Release

A former Libyan official says Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi blackmailed Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi into engineering Megrahi’s release from a Scottish prison by threatening to reveal that the dictator ordered the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, according to The Telegraph.

Really? Qaddafi/Gaddafi/Ghadafi was worried people would think his hands were clean on that? Who? Certainly not anyone who watches these kinds of things happen and pays even the slightest attention to their geography. Well maybe his nurse still believe he is clear. Oh wait, I think I read she quit today... and that she's aiming to be the next hoodia pitchgirl/distributor.

Anything has got better than nursing Qaddafi.

Union Thugs threaten to break FNC's Mike Tobin's neck

Baby Joseph

Are hospital patients prisoners?

A battle waged that shouldn't have been fought in one of our northern neighbor's hospitals. The Battle over Baby Joseph. On one side, the hospital where he was a patient felt he was in a vegetative state with no hope of recovery. In a move not dissimilar to a recent case in Texas, his doctors advised the parents that the best solution would be to remove the baby's respirator and let him die.



His parents asked to instead take their baby home with them where he could die there with them, at home, in their arms. The hospital refused, and also refused the baby be transferred to any other facility. I don't claim to know the laws of Canada, but when did patients become prisoners? Prisoners that family members, in this case, parents, are not allowed to transfer, move or even question medical treatment? I suppose we should all just be grateful that medical researchers keep giving us working to give us a better anti wrinkle cream with one hand while they ask us to ignore what their other hand is doing.

Terry Schiavo's brother Bobby Schindler flew to Ontario to offer his assistance to Joseph's family. Bobby's obvious and tragic experience in forced end-of-life matters was most assuredly something Joseph's family would have been interested in hearing.

And the most recent update from the story:

One-year-old Joseph Maraachli of Windsor, Ontario, who was to have his life support removed Monday at 10 am. against his parents’ wishes, will now not die on the day that Ontario residents celebrate as Family Day. A hustle by pro-life and anti-euthanasia groups resulted in a change in legal counsel, which has led to at least a temporary stay of removal of the child’s ventilator.

Whenever God brings Baby Joseph home, why shouldn't the parents be the ones to decide where that happens if the hospital is correct and it's a medical certainty?

Countdown

Image courtesy... where else? Doomsday Dot Com

The probability that the U.S. will be hit with a weapons of mass destruction attack at some point is 100 percent, Dr. Vahid Majidi, the FBI’s assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, tells Newsmax:

Such an attack could be launched by foreign terrorists, lone wolves who are terrorists, or even by criminal elements, Majidi says. It would most likely employ chemical, biological, or radiological weapons rather than a nuclear device.

zawahiri,weapons,mass,destruction,fbi,kessler,wmd,chemical,biological,dirty,bomb,nuclearAs it is, Majidi says, American intelligence picks up hundreds of reports each year of foreign terrorists obtaining WMD. When American forces invaded Afghanistan, they found that al-Qaida was working on what Majidi calls a “nascent” weapons of mass destruction effort involving chemical and biological weapons.

In every other case so far, the reports of foreign terrorists obtaining WMD have turned out to be unfounded. However, Majidi’s directorate within the FBI investigates more than a dozen cases in the U.S. each year where there was intent to use WMD.

Those familiar with the recently video-gone-viral know that WMDs are already here, it's just a matter of where & when:



We don't live in San Diego anymore but that doesn't make me feel any safer. San Diego, after all, is just a jumping off point for any terrorist with a weapon. It's growing increasingly difficult to watch the news and see the orchestrated chaos and riots worldwide. They're occurring everywhere from Wisconsin to Yemen to Egypt to Bahrain to Tunisia and beyond. Those who like to be prepared Just In Case are buying silver, storing food and water and networking with friends on how to stay in touch in case such a thing hits our country on any kind of mass scale.

In the meantime I've been chasing the kids around the house with my camera capturing them in the not-screaming/crying/whining modes. Is it too early to print up some Photo Christmas Cards?

My Presidential Pick... post 2012

Because we generally have lived under mediocre, squishy Congressmen, we've taken to adopting a couple of Congress critters who represent ALL Americans and not just their own constituents (or own interests).

The latest from Rep Pence was a home run in my book even if it fails or is blocked by activist legislators or judges: The Republican-led House on Friday backed a yearslong effort by Rep. Mike Pence to cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood.

Halleluia! (That should get all you atheists riled up.) Being that Planned P'Hood probably never saw a loss in their existence it stands to reason they can exist without a government handout. And I don't want to hear that tired argument that they a profitable business (you do realize how SICK this statement is, right? profiting off the killing of babies?) because they serve a need that if it didn't exist would have left them in the red all these years.

Any honest person knows that they exist because they cater to a lie that the selfish hang onto and that is exactly what they sell. The only thing they worry about is when they do lose their funding, and don't have that "profit" anymore... that they will be unable to obtain any sort of real healthcare job because what they are practicing isn't really healthcare... and those people performing procedures... generally aren't really doctors.

Just ask one of their former directors, Abby Johnson, who said she quit the company when she watched a 13 week old fetus fight for its life during an ultrasound abortion. That preborn baby was not a clump of tissue. And that preborn baby did not win its fight.

Hawaii is so... yesterday

You have to admire people who are able to live their lives by living their dreams. On the other hand... whatever happened to common sense?

Somali pirates hijacked a yacht with four Americans on board in the Arabian sea off the coast of Somalia.

The Quest is the home of Jean and Scott Adam, a couple who has been sailing around the world since December 2004, according to a website the Adams keep.

A U.S. military spokesman at Central Command in Florida said: "We're aware of the situation and we continue to monitor it."

Matt Goshko, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, which oversees Somalia, said preliminary reports indicate there are four U.S. citizens aboard the Quest.

With the news coming out of the region for the past several years, one would think that sailing a yacht off the coast of Somalia would be something most people wouldn't do. Especially Americans on a yacht. Just recently our own Navy had to rescue a gigantic trade ship from Somali pirates by killing two of them.

Sailing around the world sounds like a blast. But I'm thinking I'd rather go shopping at all-day mattress sales than sail my yacht anywhere near Somalia.

Et tu, USC?

Yikes. And they can't even blame Obamacare.

Somehow, even though every donor organ is tagged TO its recipient with a tracking system much like newborn babies and their mothers, USC gave a kidney to the wrong person. Luckily, the blood type was a match so as of now, nothing adverse has been reported by the screw-up. And what a screw-up! The reason that donor organs and recipients are tagged together with matching data is because a girl was once erroneously given the wrong organs and died.

Most people don't realize that not any old organ can go into any old person. All kinds of things are taken into account and practically apply, notably blood types. But USC staffers aren't most people and those working in the organ transplant program are even less able to be labeled as "most people".

Adverse reactions or not at this time... if the donor and family are sue-happy and things continue as they are, expect that to be the next headline. And hopefully this doesn't cause people who otherwise would see needed medical help at USC to resort to seeking aid from their medicine cabinets alone.

Yes, Scientologists are THAT creepy

Image courtesy: Stuff Unemployed People Like

When I used to live in Southern California, I used to see the above scene all the time on the streets surrounding the touristy areas. Made sense because although most of the citizens I knew had never sat down to test their stress with the Dianetics peddlers, we all knew that is exactly what was happening: a push to buy a self-help book.

Who knew what was really behind that innocuous little scene?

This month, one of Scientology's celebrity members, Paul Haggis, outed the chu- er, group, ... and gave up much more insider info than they have sued entire countries for. Haggis is the director of such much-lauded films as "Crash" and "Million Dollar Baby", so this was no ordinary "Scientology is weird" bomb drop.

Just reading the first page left me stupefied... and I'm one of those people who has actually read up on the dark side of Scientology and taken quite a bit of it with a grain of salt.

Haggis explained to Davis that, for the first time, he had explored outside perspectives on Scientology. He had read a recent exposé in a Florida newspaper, the St. Petersburg Times, which reported, among other things, that senior executives in the church had been subjecting other Scientologists to physical violence. Haggis said that he felt “dumbstruck and horrified,” adding, “Tommy, if only a fraction of these accusations are true, we are talking about serious, indefensible human and civil-rights violations.”

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/02/14/110214fa_fact_wright#ixzz1EPkJ3PRK

For all those who think they are just a bunch of cult weirdos who wear equestrian helmets while praying to space globs shot out of volcanos... read it.

They are even creepier... and scarier, than you thought.

Are you ready for some ... Strikes?

Image courtesy Manifest Liberty

Okay, so that's not a picture of a striking Wisconsin Democrat (believe it or not), a celebrating post-Mubarak Egyptian, or even an NFL football player. The latter hasn't even gone on strike yet but reading stories like this one makes me wonder if we're in for it.

I hope not. I don't really have a dog in the fight, but chances are if a union is involved, I'm rooting for the other guy. This time I'm just hoping "my team" trades their secret weapon they're to stupid to capitalize on to somewhere like Arizona so I can find a team to be proud of rooting for.

One thing's for sure... whatever the outcome, I won't be lying around eating from a chocolate strawberries bouquet if "my team" doesn't make some serious changes.

Can an owner be fired?

Sigh.

Life lessons

In a few short months I'll be celebrating a decade of living with diagnosed multiple sclerosis. A strange thing to celebrate I know, but I keep trying to appreciate life, and since my diagnosis I've come to enrich my life with my children, taking up baking for my family (with a vengeance) and working towards helping others wherever I am able.

Recently reporter Selene Branson suffered what many speculated to be an on-air mini stroke or perhaps even an MS attack. I've been asked if I have ever experienced anything like this. My answer was yes... I experienced something that was suspected to be the result of a new medication. But the good news for the reporter has been that the followup story is that she experienced a migraine.

I've never experienced a migraine of that sort and am certainly no expert on the matter. But if such a thing happened to me, chances are I'd be booking passage on the next Norwegian cruise line with my husband and kids to get in some much needed R&R.

Cliques... not just for kids

My daughter's class had a Valentine's day class party and I sent along the above cookies, with the added benefit of the edges being rolled in red jimmies, for the festivities. One for each child, individually wrapped, with extras included for the teacher and the homecoming room moms.

When my daughter came home, she informed me that her class was instructed to take the cookies home and eat them later, because they already had too many sweets to eat. The winner? Store-bought sugar cookies. They even sent home the printed Valentine's Day napkins I sent along, because I appreciate that kids need napkins. Even at school Pretty much always.

It turns out that they have a "designated mom who likes to bring the cookies" at the homeroom parties and even though she well, buys her goodies at the supermarket, that's who they're sticking with.

I wasn't exactly trying out for the Homeroom Baker gig, but really? Has it really come to this: You're not on the Approved Baking List So Your Cookies Aren't Allowed. Sigh.

Maybe next time I'll just send all the kids individual Valentine's Day roses and omit those extras just for them.

the United Hates

I'm having a hard time following the logic of the feel-good hopeful conservatives around me who see Wondrous Things Afoot over in Egypt since Mubarak's departure. I'd describe the end of his rule as a resignation, but somehow his exit was announced for him. Not a day later... you know... "all of the sudden"... he was in a coma.

More like Strange Things Afoot.

Yes, I am told we should all be delighted that Mubarak the Evil Dictator is gone, that the one ruler in the Middle East who acknowledged Israel as a state and who mostly embargoed Gaza from weapons is gone... in favor of the bastion of tolerance the Muslim Brotherhood. The man is / was the second coming of Mugabe. And now he is a footnote thanks to those "anti-Government protesters" who flooded the streets of Cairo and Alexandria.

..."anti Government protesters"... Did you know that Egypt had a Tea Party? Me neither.

Anyway, isn't this fantastic! Let us all weep in the streets at our long-standing belief that if only someone had taken Mubarak out long ago and replaced him with a DEMOCRACY ...

Shoot. Pesky logic again.

If anyone is feeling especially nostalgic, or perhaps just in need of some education, they can pull up some old videos of Iran circa 1979 and see how these kinds of things turn out in the middle east.

My suggestion to do just that isn't going over too well with the warm & fuzzy conservatives... they're relishing in the thought of things like those oppressed Egyptians having things like Levi Jeans, baseball, KFC, Pepsi... all that stuff that free democratic countries have. Oh shoot. They already have those judging by the piles of pictures in Time and Yahoo and the Atlantic.



I mean, check it out. They even have CHE!



Maybe the one thing they were lacking was the right to work some of those seriously in-need healthcare jobs.

Ah well. It's a magical time over there in Egypt.

Hey, has anyone seen King Tut's statue?

Dig your man... again

Image courtesy: Comics Bulletin

Stephen King fans everywhere were thrilled to discover that the epic novel The Stand was being made into a full-length movie.

In 1993.

This latest news that the book is being made into a movie, again, is being met with a bit of skepticism from most Stephen King fans as they think back to previous King adaptations and sigh "They just don't ... get it."

Granted the miniseries that was made was camp. But Stephen King is camp. Even when dealing with something as serious as the apocalypse.

I know many of those same fans would rather spend their time cleaning out an old home dehumidifier than watching yet another remake of one of King's works that was actually ... enjoyable to watch and not so abysmally awful you could barely remember it 10 mins later.

Count me in. Especially if they make it a la Lord of the Rings -- as a trilogy.

1. Apocalypse Captain Tripps
2. Survivors
3. The Final Battle

Root Cause

The news stories coming out of Egypt are really something else. With the violence and days of "unrest", aka riots, come reports of western media figures being attacked by the crowds. Well-known leftist Anderson Cooper of CNN fame found himself brutally beaten with his head hit and kicked "ten times." Greg Palkot and his cameraman Olaf, who also were famously kidnapped and released in Iraq, also found themselves at the mercy of the mob and landed in a Cairo hospital to recover from "grave injuries". Another well known war-reporting face, one of the more apologetic of Islam fanaticism on any network, Amanpour also reported on the crowds' turn:

"An angry mob surrounded us and chased us into the car shouting that they hate America. They kicked in the car doors and broke our windshield as we drove away,” Amanpour said

Perhaps if all these Muslims-can-do-no-wrong media types actually read up a little on their attackers... maybe starting with The Muslim Brotherhood: A History, Part One , they might learn that their college-views are slightly... ok, who am I kidding. WAY skewed.

Ah wait, I spoke too soon. ABC News journalist Christiane Amanpour landed an exclusive interview with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday after she went to his palace to speak to someone else.

Ah-huh. "Hi, I'm here to speak to Al'abd... well hi Mr President fancy meeting you here in your own palace..."

I think it's time I went looking for an easy personal loan to start building that bunker. Because sure enough these medidiots are determined to bring sharia law and its followers home.

Signs

I especially like the big Xes that are the street lights. Is that a photo or a poster?

Wait, Did You Cash the Check?

In the "So much for your leftist standards" department, raving moonbats Fergie and Jamie Foxx performed at a private dinner party thrown by Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones and attended by former President George W Bush and his wife Laura Bush:

Jerry Jones threw a party for NFL owners on Thursday night at Cowboys Stadium, and while the guest list was pretty A-list when it comes to the sports world, the surprise musical act was pretty top of the line, too.

Taking the stage at an invitation-only event held by the Cowboys owner were Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx and Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, ... Dallas’ new favorite sports fans, former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura were in attendance, too.

The two sang a duet, but did not give any clues as to what Fergie would be performing during halftime on Sunday.

Hilarious.

Jamie Foxx, after all, agreed with Kanye West that "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

Fergie, who famously wet herself on purpose onstage with an electronic muscle stimulator but really didn't, is/was a member of the Black Eyed Peas who riled up crowds to "Vote Bush Out!"

Jamie and Fergie, performing a duet together. Outta sight.

What truly committed members to The Cause these two celebrities are.

I'm hoping the t-shirt above was in the goodie bag given to partygoers.

Dirty Hands, Dirty Deeds

Wikileaks. The more that comes out from the massive document dump, the less I hear the shrill declarations from the left of what a treasure Wikileaks is.

It's reading news stories coming from the documents like this latest one that really keeps me drinking coffee late into the night: 'Al-Qaida on brink of using nuclear bomb'.

Thousands of classified American cables obtained by the WikiLeaks website and passed to The Daily Telegraph detail the international struggle to stop the spread of weapons-grade nuclear, chemical and biological material around the globe.

At a Nato meeting in January 2009, security chiefs briefed member states that al-Qaida was plotting a program of "dirty radioactive IEDs", makeshift nuclear roadside bombs that could be used against British troops in Afghanistan.

As well as causing a large explosion, a "dirty bomb" attack would contaminate the area for many years.

The briefings also state that al-Qaida documents found in Afghanistan in 2007 revealed that "greater advances" had been made in bioterrorism than was previously realized. An Indian national security adviser told American security personnel in June 2008 that terrorists had made a "manifest attempt to get fissile material" and "have the technical competence to manufacture an explosive device beyond a mere dirty bomb".

I know we've heard 'on the brink before', when we're speaking about Iran for example. But Al Qaida needs a lot less to hurt us and they can get it here a lot easier. A quick and dirty jump over the border could lead to a quick and dirty dirty bomb strike in the heart of our country wherever they feel they are sure to cripple our collective psyche and will to fight back.

We can all wish that we were fighting our enemy over "there" to keep them from attacking us here. Let's pray we never have to fight that war here as our friend Israel does daily. Especially if that war turns nuclear. Bless our troops for keeping us safe.

I'm thinking that sending a soldier a new nikon rifle scope in a care package would maybe help to keep them safe... and keep those nuclear couriers from getting out.