The Arrogance of Our Enemies

For those of you who haven't heard, the FBI is looking for two men in a photo posted at Michelle Malkin's site, among others, who took multiple trips on Washington State Ferries and who seemed to take an unusual interest in the structure and workings of the boats. So unusual that they created enough suspicion that crew members snapped the picture that got the FBI looking. The Seattle Post-Intellect refused to publish the photo, under the pretense that it would violate them men's civil rights. No such reluctance for the Duke LaCrosse players, but hey, they were obviously guilty, right? So in today's Seattle Times, we get treated to this offensive piece of crap:

For Arabs and Muslims across the Puget Sound area, a rise in the nation's threat level or a bombing halfway around the world often can mark a period of unease.

Yeah. The same is true for ALL of us.

In the years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, leaders in that community say incidents of profiling and harassment have ebbed and flowed -- increasing when Muslims are linked to news of the day.

There are two appropriate resonses to this. The first is to cut to the chase and call BULLSHIT right now, since much of the Puget Sound is populated by liberal nutroots far to busy wallowing in their own self-righteous guilt over being white to bother profiling anyone else. The second would be to say in a world where acts of violence, generally by exploding things, are committed by middle-easterners on an almost daily basis, common sense would dictate some extra scutiny and yes (gasp!) profiling.

Now the FBI's release of photographs of two men of unknown origin, who the agency says were observed acting suspiciously aboard as many as six different Washington ferry routes in recent weeks, is creating new worries in the community.

If their origin is unknown, then why are the arab-americans worried?

Muslim- and Arab-American leaders are upset that the FBI didn't consult them -- as it has done in other instances -- before releasing the photos on the Internet and to news organizations. They worry that the action may fracture the relationship the agency and the community have carefully built.

EXCUSE ME??? We have to ask self-appointed representatives of a community if they know some one first??? How would we know who to ask if their origin is unknown???

The FBI has stressed that the release of the photos is a rare move, taken only after it had exhausted other efforts to identify the men. The agency also has said the men's actions could be innocuous, but it needs to question them.

Maybe the FBI did not come with its hat in its hand because it did not know who to ask??? Or maybe they simply woke up and realized that the caliphate has not yet been established and they don't have to ask any certain segment of the population before publishing photos of persons they'd like to talk to!

The photos were snapped by a ferry captain last month after crew members alerted him to suspicious activity. The men seemed inordinately interested in the operation of the vessel, took photographs of the interiors of the boats and went into areas tourists and commuters don't normally go, the FBI has said. The agency has received many tips but has not yet found the men.

Yep. Typical tourist activity. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Dozens of Muslims and Arabs have complained to community leaders about the photographs. The fallout has led to a meeting planned today between Muslim- and Arab-American community leaders and law-enforcement officials.

"We need to get some type of apology from them and figure out how to get back to where we were," said Rita Zawaideh, head of the Arab-American Community Coalition.

WTF? I mean, WTF??? Excuse me? Where's my apology for your people flying planes in skyscrapers in NYC? Who the Hell do you think you are to come to my country and act all indignant when "your" people behave badly and it reflects on all of you??

Community leaders also expect to raise questions about another recent incident. On Aug. 12, leaders say half a dozen men of South Asian and Middle Eastern descent were stopped and questioned for up to six hours as they left a ferry in Seattle following a trip to the Olympic Peninsula. Those men contacted Zawaideh to report the incident as profiling.

What were they doing that got them stopped? I'm fairly certain that the authorities didn't question them for shits and giggles. They really have other things to do than harrass people for no reason at all.

David Gomez, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Seattle office, said he was aware of an incident in which five or six ferry passengers were questioned, but wasn't clear whether it was the same one.

Zawaideh said she met with FBI officials about the August incident three days before the agency released the photos of the two men. But the FBI didn't bring up that subject.

Which, the last I looked, was their prerogative. That whole "Don't discuss ongoing investigations with people who don't need to know" stuff.

"Why not ask us then and we would have had a way to ask people in the community," she said.

Maybe they don't trust you. That whole 'taquilya' thing kinda puts in doubt anything that might tumble from your lips, doncha know?

Gomez said the agency needs to address certain sensitive issues, but "people in those communities have to get over this sensitivity toward feeling victimized."

Keep speaking sense like that, and you'll get assigned to some unpleasant duty soon.

Many passengers have been stopped and questioned recently, as the ferry system has stepped up security once the FBI concluded the men might be watching the system. The stops are based on activities, not skin color, Gomez said.

The Horror!

Two days ago, a Seattle Times photographer, who is white, was stopped and questioned after taking photographs near the Mukilteo ferry terminal.

Go figure.

The FBI didn't take the photos of the two men to the Arab- and Muslim-American community because the agency doesn't know if the men are Middle Eastern, Gomez added.

Apparently, the community did, hence the outrage.

"That seems potentially prejudicial to me, and in some ways worse than simply putting [the photos] out the way we did," Gomez said. "It is not us saying these guys look Middle Eastern."

Speaking sense, using logic? No future in the government for you, Gomez.

Zawaideh countered: "They're not saying these men are Arabs, but insinuating they are."

Because I said so. Don't worry about corroboration. Its just the man, being prejudicial.

This all comes at a time when some local Muslim and Arab-American leaders say they've seen a new spike in discrimination complaints.

Because they know that they can effectively blind us with them.

The concerns over profiling following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks had begun to ease about three years ago, they say. But with each new incident tied to Muslims or Arabs -- bombings in the London subway or a raising of the terror alert -- has come a rash of new complaints.

Maybe if another group was behind this asshatery, they wouldn't be subject to scrutiny.

Both Zawaideh and S. Arsalan Bukhari, president of the Seattle chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), say their organizations have been receiving more reports lately involving allegations of discrimination.

CAIR can kiss my sausage-eating ass. They simply are the advanced unit for the caliphate-hunting wanna-bes who are busy blowing things up the world over. Here's a clue for you, you rock-worshipping savages: If God wanted the rest of us dead, he wouldn't need you to blow us up or chop off our heads. Being the ruler of the Universe does have its perks.

Bukhari said he's heard of delays at the border, as well as cases of people being asked questions at the airport and searched so thoroughly they missed their flights.

Like my lily-white, multi-generation American self who was singled out for the TSA's 'special attention' two years ago when I flew out of Sea-Tac back to Michiganistan for my father's funeral? Nope. Your plantive bleats didn't even budge the needle on the Give-A-Damn-O-Meter.

Aziz Junejo, who hosts a cable TV show on Islam and who writes a column from the Islamic perspective for The Seattle Times, said a group of Muslim kids who were planning a trip to the Olympic Mountains this weekend phoned to ask if he thought they should take the trip.

And?

"I said: 'I would stay off the ferry if I were you.' "

What does he know that we don't?

Time to Unsheath the Clue Bats

I came back to the office with my lunch and found this story waiting for me.

AMSTERDAM - A Roman Catholic Bishop in the Netherlands has proposed people of all faiths refer to God as Allah to foster understanding, stoking an already heated debate on religious tolerance in a country with one million Muslims.

WTF? I mean WTF?

Bishop Tiny Muskens, from the southern diocese of Breda, told Dutch television on Monday that God did not mind what he was named and that in Indonesia, where Muskens spent eight years, priests used the word "Allah" while celebrating Mass.

Great. Another "let's subordinate our culture to that of others" knucklehead.

"Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn't we all say that from now on we will name God Allah? ... What does God care what we call him? It is our problem."

Uhhh, Bishop Tinybrain? God is God and "Allah" ain't him. "Allah" is an excuse for 13th century misfits to take acting up to the next level and start killing people for refusing to pray to a rock.

Call me crazy, but I think that Pope Benny might have a thing or two to say to this guy.

Almost There

I am soooooo ready to get on the plane Friday morning and fly to SOCAL with my beautiful wife. A weekend with her and the Mouse. No kids, and get to do the stuff we can't do with them. A nice dinner at the Blue Bayou on Saturday night, and then I fly back here Monday morning for a week of solo parenting while she works at her plant there. Is there a cure for vactionitis?

It Was Only A Matter of Time

I've been waiting for this. Modern American 'Victimhood' at its finest.

NEW YORK - A member of the Rutgers women's basketball team has sued Don Imus and CBS, claiming the radio personality's sexist and racist comments about the team damaged her reputation.

College wasn't that long ago. I don't believe this for a second.

Kia Vaughn filed the lawsuit alleging slander and defamation of character in state Supreme Court in the Bronx Tuesday, the same day Imus settled with CBS Radio in a deal that pre-empts his threatened $120 million breach-of-contract lawsuit against CBS. The settlement allows him to make a comeback bid at a new station.

Good for him. Pilloried at the alter of political correctness, he deserves the chance to return.

Vaughn's lawsuit, believed to be the first by a player in the case, says Imus and his former co-host Bernard McGuirk, along with CBS Corp. and CBS Radio, are legally responsible for damage done to her character and reputation. There is no dollar amount listed in the suit.

But I'm sure she has a figure in mind. One with LOTS of zeros.

Vaughn was humiliated, embarrassed and publicly mocked for the comments, the lawsuit claims. Her attorney, Richard Ancowitz, said: "The full effect of the damage remains to be seen."

BULLSHIT BULLSHIT BULLSHIT.

"This is about Kia Vaughn's good name," Ancowitz said. "She would do anything to return to her life as a student and respected basketball player _ a more simple life before Imus opened his mouth on April 4."

Who? Honestly, I wouldn't know her if I bumped into her on the street. I don't believe she is being prevented from being a student or respected as a Basketball player.

Imus referred to the basketball players as "nappy-headed hos" on his nationally syndicated radio program in April, becoming the target of heated protests. He was fired shortly after.

While every male rapper in the universe continued to put the word "Bitch" and "Ho" in every utterance that fell from their lips, thus demonstrating a flagrant double standard, since there is no question that they mean it when they say it.

'Ho' is a slang term for a prostitute. After the comments were made, Vaughn said at a news conference: "Unless they've given 'ho' a whole new definition, that's not what I am."

Well, at least maybe you weren't before suing and holding a press conference.

A telephone message left for Imus' attorney was not immediately returned Tuesday. There was no phone listing for McGuirk in the New York area. A spokeswoman for CBS Radio declined to comment, and CBS network spokesman Dana McClintock did not immediately return a message. MSNBC said it hadn't seen the lawsuit.

Because any appropriate comment would have resulted in more faux outrage.

Rutgers women's basketball program spokeswoman Stacey Brann said that the university had no comment on the lawsuit and that she didn't know whether other players had sued.

At least not until someone asked her about it.

Vaughn, who was a center, had spoken out about Imus on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in April. She said that the comments overshadowed her team's amazing season, one the coach has called the most rewarding of her career.

I guess all that hard work didn't mean a thing. Its all about something some old guy said. Waaaaaaa!

"Our moment was stolen from us," Vaughn said then. "Instead of us coming here to enjoy what we accomplished and how far we came, we had to sit back and look at media asking questions about what he said."

Yeah, because you were forced to show up and talk to those mean media types. Perhaps you should sue them, since they are the ones who decided that this was somehow a story.

Life on Hold

I seem to spend far more time than I want on hold with the government. Doesn't matter which branch or agency. Tem minutes here, an hour there. It all adds up.

Power to the Poofters!

Al-Reuters has an interesting story today.

Hundreds of Italians protested in the northern Italian city of Treviso on Saturday after the city's deputy mayor called for the "ethnic cleansing" of homosexuals from the area.

One might question his choice of terms, since being a deviant doesn't qualify as an ethnicity.

The protesters gathered outside city hall to demand Giancarlo Gentilini's resignation, some wearing pink triangles like the ones homosexual men had to wear in Nazi concentration camps.

How nice of them to identify themselves. I'm guessing it probably wasn't necessary.

Prosecutors were also looking into the deputy mayor's comments to see whether they might warrant a criminal investigation, Italian media reported on Saturday.

"Ittttssss aaa crriimmeee!" whined the limp-wristed queens of Italy.

"Today's protest, which is joined by hundreds of people, will not be the last. It will be the first in a long series," said Aurelio Mancuso, the head of gay rights group Arcigay.

Arcigay? Why don't you nmae yourselves some thing a little less stupid, like "Rights for Rump Rangers" or "Fear the Frantic Fudge Packers"?

A member of the right-wing Northern League party, Gentilini said on Wednesday he was so fed up with gays having sex in a car park that he was going to order police to carry out "ethnic cleansing" of homosexuals.

Deviants publically being deviant, and he has a problem with it? The horror!

"I will immediately give orders to my forces so that they can carry out an ethnic cleansing of f," Gentilini told a local television station, in comments later posted on Web site YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6soZnWfUgdo

Cool. A floor show.

"The f must go to other (cities) where they are welcome. Here in Treviso there is no chance for faggots or the like."

San Fransicko is always looking for a good few sphincters.

His comments were roundly condemned, with some members of his own far-right party siding with angry ministers in centre-left government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi.

Because we can't have politicans, especially european ones acting like they have a pair. That would be wrong.

Some lawmakers accused Gentilini of breaking Italian law by inciting hatred, violence and discrimination against homosexuals.

Can't make a decent car that doesn't cost a bazillion dollars, can't make laws that make sense.

"The term 'ethnic cleansing' evokes tragic chapters of history which have brought death and suffering to millions of people," Family Minister Rosy Bindi was quoted as saying by Italy's ANSA news agency.

True, but see above.

"Nobody, and certainly not somebody with public responsibility, is authorized to use such language."

Because words may cripple! How dare you speak something that the nancyboys don't like!

Prosecutors obtained a recorded copy of Gentilini's remarks on Friday to see whether they broke the law, but no criminal probe was under way, Italian media reported.

No probe was under way? Give it time. The Pink Swastikas are sure to hunt him down!

Am I Blue

Can't say why exactly. Things are going much better at home. I get to go away next weekend for a trip with the love of my life. The boys are doing well. I just don't feel great about work at the moment. I'm not sure why, other than the uncertainty of working in a small office. The sun still rises in the east. Politics is still the Theatre of the Absurd. Bills still come in the mail. Yet my job satisfaction is at a two year low at the moment. I guess it will pass.

The Reason Why Law Is What I Do And Not Who I Am

This pretty much sums it up. If I had it to over again, I don't think I'd even go to law school. I'm going to go play with my kids now. You have yourself a nice day, ya hear?

More Fun with Doctors

When to see my doc again last week. Blood Pressure was 163/93. I let him talk me in to taking something for it. I've been "enjoying" some of the interesting results. Not.

Golf Lesson No. 3

For anyone who cares, lesson 3 started well, but got a lot harder. I started---cold---with my 6 iron, set up, and hit it straight as an arrow for 150 yards. My teacher was standing behind me. His reaction? "Damn, Blackiswhite! You've had an hour of instruction and walked out here and did that cold. Moved up to the driver. Had some fun with it. Then came chipping. *^%$@!%^##$$$##

Next week? Putting.

Somehow I knew my shortgame would suck.

Golf Lesson No. 2

Nice evening, not too hot, not too bright. Hit with the 9 iron for a while, switched to the 6 iron. got very consistent very quickly. Before long, I was knocking them out about 125 yds, straight as an arrow. with a nice loft. If I screwed a shot up, I almost always knew why. The hardest part was keeping my shoulders level. I had nice clubhead speed, and when I connected right, I knew it.

Another of the best movies ever.

I think Dick would probably enjoy this movie. "Popcorn!"

One of the best movies ever.

Everything about this movie rocks...dialogue, story, costumes, performances. Best line? "Do you always know why you things?"

You don't like it? You can take your flunky and dangle.

Sunday

I love this song, and they sing it well. Have a good a Sunday.

Whew!

I am tired. Last night I was ready to shut the TV off and grab some Zs when I happened on to "Thank You For Not Smoking". Two minutes, and I ended up watching to the end. It's what I call a trainwreck movie. You don't like the characters, yet you just can't stop watching, same as a train wreck.

Got up by 8, went to the South Hill Wal-Mart, to get Mrs. BiW's Oil Changed. Bought the sheet sander that Dick said I needed. Came home, put laundry in the wash, sanded the spackle, applied the super-lightweight spackle, took the seats out of the van, took a bunch of stuff from the garage to the Goodwill. Stopped by the other house, can't see where Mom made any progress moving out ...ggggrrrrrrrrrr. Came home, swithced the laundry, went to McClendon's, bought 12 yards of beauty bark, came home, trimmed, and mowed the yard, finished the weeding, and put the beauty bark down. I could use another 4 to 6 yards, but it'll do for now. Then I got out the power washer, cleaned the sidewalk, which was really bad, and half the driveway, which wasn't much better, then took apart a bunch of the cheapo furniture that had been in the garage, showered, went to my in-laws, got their mail, then came home, cooked a steak and my last twice-baked potato, washed it down with a Hornsby's, and I will shortly do the laundry (Folding, Ironing, Putting it away, vacuum, and maybe clean the bathroom so she will just relax when she gets home tomorrow afternoon. Or not. Any way, the pix should speak for themselves.

Closing minutes of a long week

He sat next to the open patio door, listening to the gentle rain fall from the grey skies. He missed the thunderstorms in the midwest. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't accurately describe the experience to people who had lived in this state their entire lives. He remained convinced that nothing demonstrated the sheer power of nature more effectively than a good, house-shaking, window-rattling thunderstorm. From the black and threatening clouds, the wind that forced decades-old trees to bow before it, to the occaissional, unatural stillness and errie green skies that preceeded the tornados that such storms sometimes spawned, Washington simply had nothing to compare to it. When the infrequent thunderstorm did come through, its tame nature and distant thunder seemed to be a pale immitation of the real thing, an ersatz show of power, yet it was more than enough to frighten the natives.

Nevertheless, he enjoyed the tranquilizing effect that the soft, light rain was having on him. In the neighboring trees, he heard a night bird trilling, and he sat silently as the wind blew up around him, cloaking him in the scent of the wet earth.

He considered how much had happened in the last month and a half. It still seemed strange to him that he could feel something other than anger and irritation. It was stranger still that he frequently did. Of course, it had been so long, that even though he was feeling things again, it did mean that he knew exactly what he was feeling. The hardest thing for him was the clarity. He really wasn't prepared for the abilty to understand some much of what was going on around him, or how much he was actually responsible for it. Even though he had faith that it would, with time and work, all turn out better in the long run, that didn't stop the niggling little doubts from popping up like daisies in the field of his days as they streched out before him. But like any nuisance, they faded. He smiled. A miracle in itself.

He took another pull on the beer. The craft brews of the Northwest were pretty good, but there were times, he would surrender a testicle for an icy Molson.
He thought about how nice it would be to just go to the ocean. The roar of the waves crashing into the shore were a sound he never tired of. He shivered a little as the sun sank lower into the horizon, somewhere behind the clouds. Soon he'd have to go into the empty house. He knew it was temporary. She and the kids would return in just a few days, and he knew that she actually wanted to come home. That didn't make the evenings any easier. They never were when she was gone. Maybe he'd listen to the stereo for a while. The music kept awakening things in him that he thought long dead. He sighed, got up, and went back inside to meet with himself for a while.

Friday Night at Home

Tried to go to the Spanaway Wal-Mart and get Mrs. BiW an oil change for her car before she comes back. They're remodeling. The Oil and Lube Center was closed. Stopped at the Albertsons, got salad shrimp, cukes, vine tomatoes, romaine lettuce, black olives, blue cheese and Ken's Greek Salad Dressing. Oh, and a six pack of the new Hornsby's Crisp Apple Hard Cider. I may be alone here tonight, but I had a good dinner.

A window into chapter X

He shifted uncomfortably in his chair as the pastor wound up his sermon. It had been a long day already. He and children left the house ten minutes before the start of church. He had waited, knowing that she wasn't going to arrive before they left. Not after the argument they had the prior evening, and the distant looks betraying an unmistakable anger that he could no longer identify with. When she left the house to go to her friend's, it had a feeling of permanence that felt like a spear through his spirit.

Nevertheless, he awoke, fed and dressed the children, and came to church. He knew the name of the demon plaguing him for the last decade, finally. He wasn't afraid to say it out loud and call him out. He had done that earlier in the service, and now felt as if a great weight was released from his soul. It didn't make it any easier to listen to the sermon, which seemed to be an encyclopedic litany of the many ways he had failed, as husband, father, and man, but at the same time, he realized that knowing was half the battle, and he could do things correctly moving forward.

He heard the buzzing of his phone in the bag before him, which had been set to vibrate. He leaned forward and seruptiously opened the new text message. It was from her. Three simple words. "I am home."

He quietly shut the phone, and put it back into his bag. He couldn't help wondering who would be greeting them when they came home. The wife and mother, or the woman who acted like an angry stranger. He pondered this as he rose, and bowed his head for the closing prayer.

His phone buzzed against his side as they pulled into the driveway. The kids, seeing the other car in the driveway, couldn't wait to get out of the car, run through the garage, and bound up the steps and into the house. When he was half way up the first flight of stairs, he could feel that something was different. He could hear her, hugging the children, and talking to them about their morning. As he turned on the landing, he looked up, to find her looking down at him. He was surprised to find that it was a soft look, as if colored by affection not displayed in some time. When he reached the top of the stairs, she stepped forward, into his arms, and hugged him tightly. He looked down, she reached up, and before he could say anything, her lips pressed hard against his, as she cradled the back of his head in her hand, her fingers running through his short, bristle-like hair. When it was done, they both drew back, and regarded each other. She said, in a quiet voice, "I want to come home."

Obligatory Kid Pics.

You don't like it, go see Dick. He has a bag of sand you can pound. My page, whatever I wanna do.

Thursday Project

OK, so I bit off more than I could handle in one evening. The two smaller front beds are weeded and ready for beauty bark. I'll finish the other one tomorrow. After all, its gonna rain again. (This is the Puget Sound, you know.)

Oh, and the spackle I put in the was last night started to crack. Any ideas? (Dick, that means you.)