Imam Mahdi Bray seems to be "in the news" a bit these days as a result of the "Imams-on-a-Plane" incident [see my earlier post] and his interview with Michelle Malkin on the Laura Ingraham radio show. Here's a video I made earlier this year of a short talk I had with the Imam in front of the Israeli Embassy here in Washington DC. The "protest" in the pipe at the time was directed against the Israeli government. It was at the start of their incursion into Gaza as a response to the kidnapping of Cpl. Shalit. We chatted shortly after the formal "protest", which was sponsored in part by our old pals and commie-poseurs at ANSWER. I really wish the Imam [who seems at least in person to be a decent enough bloke] wouldn't hang out with those thugs. I say that the Imam seems to be a "decent enough bloke" ... and perhaps that's simply because we're both Virginia "homeboys" and share some sort of bizarre semi-Southern, Shenandoah Valley based commonality. There are those who disagree with my assessment. Please check this LINK at Jihad Watch for more information on the Imam. Perhaps I'm being naive ... I don't know. That's why I'm posting the video. I report, you decide. While I agree with almost nothing he says in the video, I must say that he comes across (to me) as sincere and is frankly a breath of fresh air when compared to most other people I meet at these events. I usually either have to deal with smug T-Shirt emblazoned "philosophers" and coffee-shop leftists, "Che"-wearing poseurs, ANSWER thugs, grim-faced radical Islamists and al-Qaida types or (worse) completely clueless middle-aged or teenage (there's almost no in-between) suburban "concerned citizens" and Code Pinkers who would be better off learning the actual lessons of Vietnam and the 1960s as opposed to their own romanticized versions of those lessons. It can be quite draining.

WOW.

"Speeding toward pale, icy Dione, Cassini's view is enriched by the tranquil gold and blue hues of Saturn in the distance. The horizontal stripes near the bottom of the image are Saturn's rings. The spacecraft was nearly in the plane of the rings when the images were taken, thinning them by perspective and masking their awesome scale. The thin, curving shadows of the C ring and part of the B ring adorn the northern latitudes visible here, a reminder of the rings' grandeur."

Click HERE for high res. Click HERE for Cassini-Huygens home page and more photos.

Fellow-Travellers arrive at Reagan National Airport. Imam Omar Shahin of Tucson AZ managed to cobble together an "inter-faith" pray-in today at Reagan National Airport ... early. 8:15 am. I had to get up at 5:30 am to make it in time for this. For this. **** UPDATE **** Here's the video! [Requires Flash] [click the "play" button] I'm uploading to YouTube and will post that when processed. **** UPDATE **** Here's the YouTube version: The things we do to keep you informed. It [the "pray-in"] was a classic example of modern media manipulation and propaganda ... hardly anything there was actually what it seemed to be. I'll be posting one of my own videos on that subject later ... for now I'll leave you with a few photos. There was, of course, the standard media-swarm. G-d forbid they miss an opportunity to display their "courage" and "concern". More on that in the video. I swear that one of these day's I'll point my video camera into this crowd and allow you all a quick snapshot of the type of things these guys talk about. On the other hand, it's probably just about what you'd expect so why bother running the risk of becoming a pariah. Still. A lot of my old friends showed up ... among them Imam Mahdi Bray, who is the executive director of the Muslim American Society (MAS) Freedom Foundation. I have to admit that I have a grudging affection for Imam Bray ... I'm spoken to him and have seen him at a number of these protest rallies ... and he does seem to be a genuine fellow of peace and a devout Muslim. Perhaps I'm being naive, given his reputation elsewhere ... but I've never ... personally ... detected any animosity from him nor have I heard first-hand anything beyond what I could classify as more than just common left-wing spittle [which, perhaps, I've become just too used to]. Too bad he hangs out with these types and ANSWER thugs. I suppose it's a living. A devilishly handsome bloke, though. This guy showed up, too. "Rabbi" Arthur Waskow. He's a Reconstructionist. I know that doesn't mean much to the non-tribal readers. Frankly, it doesn't mean much to the tribe, either. It's all very confusing. Suffice to say that it qualifies as "Jewish", but just to the left of Unitarian.

**** UPDATE: 11/29 **** I've just been informed that our friend Waskow here has left the already wacky Reconstructionist movement and has merged into the barely sentient "Jewish Renewal" movement [which, frankly I had never even heard of] ... talk about a slide into darkness. This is the best they could get? This is sort of like getting Jim Jones to stand up as a representative of the Vatican.

He definitely needs talit-wearing lessons. I assure you ... it's an art and this "rabbi" doesn't have the beginning of a clue. Here's a link to his web site. About what you'd expect. He's a friend of Cindy Sheehan's so I suppose that makes him a good Jew to keep around, just in case. Like now ... when they actually need one. Hold the phone! Who is this distinguished, full-bearded gentleman stepping up to the mike in his expensive suit? Could it be the Reverend Graylan Hagler of the United Church of Christ? What's that he's saying about America? What's that he's saying about the Jews and getting along together? My word, but he seems to be a reasonable bloke! Mon dieu! It is! It is the Rev Hagler! Now, where have I seen him before? Ah ... now I remember ... more on that [later] in the video. Heh. It pays to go to more than one of these.

This was a video I made on February 24, 2006 in front of the Danish Embassy in Washington DC. We were meeting together to express solidarity with Denmark and free-speech during the "muslim cartoon" insanity. At the end of the rally, Hitchens got up to give a short address and I decided to test the video setting on my new Sony MegaPixel. I posted the video and it quickly spread around the net ... it was my first attempt at "videoblogging" and, luckily, I hit a home-run. I've finally given up on Google Video and am now, one by one, transferring all of my archived videos over to YouTube. I don't know what I was thinking ... that when Google purchased YouTube they would somehow merge their databases? Perhaps that's in the works but I certainly haven't been notified. As it now stands, YouTube is the standard for web-video and that isn't likely to change any time soon. That's where all the viewership is and all the action. Funny, when I made this video ... just February of this year ... YouTube didn't even exist.

ADL in Concert against Hate. Living in Washington can indeed be fun and interesting ... from time to time. When I'm not, that is, stumbling over crazy fishwives with bullhorns shouting squeaky inanities in front of the White House. At times I do manage to avoid all that and take in some of the really positive offerings on display in DC. They do exist. Tonight was one of those real treats and an opportunity to rub shoulders with honest History, both from the past and in-the-making. Tonight was the annual "ADL in Concert Against Hate" at the Kennedy Center. My wife, Julia, and I were privileged to attend. Tonight the ADL honored four people with their annual Ina Kay Award, recognizing "individuals for extraordinary acts of courage in confronting intolerance and injustice, extremism and terrorism." I was extremely honored to meet once again with Simon Deng and thank him ... again ... for speaking out against the Muslim Jihad of Racial and Religious Extermination currently underway in the Sudan against both blacks and Christians ... especially Christian blacks, but the odd Muslim black is often thrown into the fire as well. Islam is, as we are all constantly reminded after all, an egalitarian religion. He gave me a hug. A good one. At the age of 9, Simon was kidnapped and sold as a slave to an Arab Muslim family in northern Sudan. Yes, this still happens. His first day with his new "family" he was shown a photograph of a man who had his hands and feet chopped off. His masters explained to him that that was what was in store for him if he escaped. Yep. 9 years old. "Religion of Peace". Through a fortuitous coincidence, and after many years in captivity, he managed to make his plight known to a traveler from a village near to where he was born. The traveler found his family, who were naturally astonished to discover their son still alive. A cousin managed to help him escape. Simon has since become an American citizen and has dedicated his life to fighting slavery and bringing awareness to the rest of the world of the genocidal Jihad happening to his people today. Tomorrow, too. His story is one we should all remember. Another recipient of the Award was Ruth Halimi, the mother of Ilan Halimi who, you may remember, was brutally murdered by a gang of Muslim thugs in Paris, February 2006. Here she is pictured [right] with her daughter. Ilan was kidnapped and tortured for weeks merely because he was a Jew. His body was left on the roadside, naked and severely burned by, among other things, acid. He was found, but died on the way to the hospital. He was 23. Ruth Halimi has become a forceful voice in France against anti-Semitism and terrorism. In that environment among the growing hordes of the coming Eurabia, hers is an example of truly undaunted courage. Ruby Bridges was another of tonight's honorees. Perhaps you remember her from the famous Norman Rockwell painting "The Problem We All Live With", pictured here. In 1960, a Ruby Bridges was 6 years old and became the first black child to integrate the New Orleans public school system. I myself was but a wee nip of 5 ... but I remember clearly the turmoil of those heady days ... and this situation in particular. We were both starting school at about the same time, after all. Ruby [pictured here, center] was not well received her first year. In fact, all 500 of the school's white parents withdrew their children rather than have them endure the unendurable ... and actually attend Elementary school [sing songs, listen to stories, paste, and draw and color flowers and rainbows and horseys] with a girl sporting her skin color. Hard to believe now, but 46 years make a lot of difference at times. Additionally, all the school's teachers resigned rather than face the appalling task of actually teaching her ... all except one. Mrs. Barbara Henry [left, in the floral dress] who remained with Ruby, and taught her for the entire year, just the two of them alone in her classroom. Alone in the entire building as it turns out. The entire school year. I had the honor of speaking with both and shaking their hands. How often does one get the chance to do that? A further honoree, not pictured here [I couldn't for the life of me get a decent photo of the woman who was there to represent him, Stephanie Chang] was Vincent Chin who was brutally murdered in June of 1982 in Detroit because he was an Asian. At the time, the US car industry was going through one of its periodic depressions due to forced unprofitability because of insane Union [UAW] demands; and Japanese car makers ... and by extension Asians as a whole ... were the community scape-goats -- a perception encouraged by the United Auto Workers union itself. The UAW, in their zeal, in fact organized "official" anti-Japanese "PR events" like the smashing of Japanese-made cars with sledge-hammers and baseball bats. The UAW distributed bumper-stickers with slant-eyed smiley faces on them. The list goes on. Vincent was killed by two unemployed UAW autoworker thugs, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz. They beat him to death with a baseball bat, crushing his skull. Probably a left-over from a "PR event". One witness said that they swung the bat like a major-league player going for a home run. Oh, and ... not that it makes much difference, but just for the record ... Vincent's parents were Chinese. And he worked for GM. For a variety of reasons, the court system was unable to bring the murderers to justice. Ooops ... I'm sorry, I forgot ... as I recall they were fined something like $3700 and given 3 years probation in the initial trial. Quoth the judge: "These aren't the kind of men you send to jail . You fit the punishment to the criminal, not the crime." I think they also had to pay court-costs. My guess, close to $700 more ... give or take. His mother, a legal immigrant, became a tireless voice against bigotry and formed the American Citizens for Justice. Following the aquittal of Ebens and Nitz from Federal charges on a technicality after years of court battles, she moved back to China ... yes, China ... in disgust and dispair. Bravo, UAW ... bravo.

When Democrats once ruled ... a long time ago ... in what seems like a galaxy far far away. I'm re-reading James MacGregor Burns' Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom and came across an interesting passage. Roosevelt gave a speech near the end of WWII to the Foreign Policy Association regarding the form and purpose of the proposed new "United Nations" and just what would be needed from it in order to "keep the peace" after the war. He said:

"Peace, like war, can succeed only where there is a will to enforce it, and where there is available power to enforce it. "The Council of the United Nations must have the power to act quickly and decisively to keep the peace by force, if necessary. A policeman would not be a very effective policeman if, when he saw a felon break into a house, he had to go to the Town Hall and call a town meeting to issue a warrant before the felon could be arrested. "So to my simple mind it is clear that, if the world organization is to have any reality at all, our American representative must be endowed in advance by the people themselves, by constitutional means through their representatives in the Congress, with authority to act. "If we do not catch the international felon when we have our hands on him, if we let him get away with his loot because the Town Council has not passed an ordinance authorizing his arrest, then we are not doing our share to prevent another world war ..." emphasis in original

I think that today's Democrats would have called him a "cowboy" and questioned his commitment to privacy and citizen's [in this case criminal's] rights. Still, let's see what they can do with their new toys. Now's their chance to show us all that they are still the grown-up party of Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy, or at least can find their way back to it. I don't hold out much hope. Believe it or not, there were war critics then as well; made worse by the fact that, in 1940, Roosevelt had made a pledge to the mothers of America that their sons would never be sent into any foreign war. He never backed down, though, on his decision to go to war when he did. Roosevelt again:

"I am sure that any real American -- any real, red-blooded American -- would have chosen, as this Government did, to fight when our own soil was made the object of a sneak attack. As for myself, under the same circumstances, I would choose to do the same thing -- again and again and again ..."

Remember, too, that the main focus of the war from the beginning was Germany, the famous "Atlantic First" policy ... against a country totally innocent in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

A cloudy day in DC. I decided to take a jaunt down to the White House today just to check what's going on ... and who did I run into but the ever-present Cindy Sheehan. Had a nice little talk with her, which I'll post below in a low-resolution video. Why "low-resolution" you ask? Simple. I set my camera's video to a low-res setting for a specific purpose and "forgot" to set it back. Chalk it up to experience. Won't happen again. When I got there it was only Cindy, one other Code Pinker and a bull-horn. What more could one want? Interestingly, while Cindy and I were talking she got a phone call from someone telling her that Rumsfeld was resigning, so I got her reaction. In low-res. Sheesh. Soon enough the crowd began to grow by the slow addition of the regular bunch of nuts and hippie geriatrics. It never got larger than a handful. I had a long, enlightening talk with one of them. I'll be posting that, too. In low-res. Ugh. Here's the Cindy video [above]. YouTube FINALLY processed it through. Notice that part of the way through she gets the phone call announcing Rumsfeld's resignation. I'm still processing the other video. Sorry again about the low-res. Won't happen again. [Cripes al'mitey.] **** UPDATE **** Here's a conversation I had with Cindy's "Poet Laureate" Rick Burnley. Apparently there may be a "plan" in the works to re-take power. Plus, the Republican election-theft-squad seems to have been asleep at the wheel on this one. Go figure. Yet, beyond all the crazy rhetoric he seemed a likable enough bloke and claimed to be a veteran, so I'm including the entire video. The poem is priceless and worth the wait.

[One more thing I've got to say to this dude's credit. When I interviewed him he directed his answers to the CAMERA and not to me ... that's real nice and shows a creditable amount of experience and awareness of what's going on vis-a-vis the media. Kudos, dude. Kudos. Nuts ... but kudos.]

**** NEW UPDATE **** Im processing these into YouTube now and will have those versions up as soon as they are available ... that should solve the bandwith issues at least for now.

Golden Night on Saturn

Saturn's B and C rings shine in diffuse, scattered light as the Cassini spacecraft looks on the planet's night side. The southern hemisphere is lit by sunlight reflecting off the rings, while the north shines much more feebly in the dim light that filters through the rings and is scattered on the northern hemisphere.

Cassini-Huygens is currently orbiting Saturn at a distance of over 1.5 billion km from Earth.

Just got back from voting. Here's the video re the Kos reaction to the Iranian anti-Jewish cartoon contest that's floating around the web now ... just in case you haven't seen it yet, that is. Remember the enemy. Get out and vote.