Muslim ban on women wearing pants in Indonesia

"They're delicate creatures"

From Eric Dondero:

Ahh, boy. Can you imagine an American politician making a statement such as that. That's what one Indonesian official is quoted as saying. Seems the ban on women on scooters is more extensive than originally thought. As CNN reports, one Indonesian province may ban women from wearing pants altogether.

Documents emerge: "Moderate" Muslim may have been a key player in the 9/11 attacks

Anwar al-Awlaki - “a new generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West,” -- New York Times editorial, Oct. 19, 2001

by Eric Dondero

Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch writing at David Horowitz's Front Page was way ahead of the game. Actually, one of his readers "Carolynn," tipped him off and deserves a great deal of credit.

From Front Page, December 23, 2012, "Flashback: Anwar al-Awlaki Leading Muslim Prayers on Capitol Hill, 2002":

In 2002, PBS produced a documentary on the life of Muhammad, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet. I wrote in a National Review article at the time that the documentary presented an “attractively packaged, sanitized version of Islam.” It features Islamic apologist Karen Armstrong; Daisy Khan, the deeply deceitful “moderate” who shot to national prominence in the Ground Zero mosque controversy, and others of that ilk.

But now Jihad Watch reader Carolynn has alerted me to the fact that it is also noteworthy for capturing the slain jihad terror mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki, who was in contact with Major Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood jihad mass murderer; Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Christmas underwear jihadist; and others, leading Muslim prayers on Capitol Hill. Screenshots above show the minute mark where you can see him in the video.

Pentagon rolled out the red carpet for al-Awlaki in 2002, as a "new generation" of moderate Muslim leader

And then there's this. Keep in mind Spencer wrote this 13 days ago, Dec. 23:

Awlaki was widely reputed to be a “moderate” at the time, but that’s just the point. One of the supposed “gotcha” quotes that Leftists and Islamic supremacists like to use against me is one in which I said that there is “no distinction in the American Muslim community between peaceful Muslims and jihadists.” This video, however, shows that to be absolutely true: no one was getting up and walking out on al-Awlaki, or saying he shouldn’t be preaching or leading the prayers.

Now a stunning new revelation by Fox News early this morning. Fox, America's largest most-watched news network busts the story wide open and confirms all the facts revealed, and the dots connected by Spencer a mere 13 days ago: "Radical American Cleric May Have Booked Pre-9/11 Flights for Hijackers":

The FBI suspected within days of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that the American Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki may have purchased tickets for some of the hijackers for air travel in advance of the attacks, according to newly released documents reviewed exclusively by Fox News.

The purpose of these flights remains unclear, but the 9/11 Commission report later noted that the hijackers had used flights in the lead-up to the attacks to test security and surveillance.

The heavily redacted records – obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of information Act request – suggest the FBI held evidence tying the American-born cleric to the hijackers just 16 days after the attack that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.

“We have FBI documents showing that the FBI knew that al-Awlaki had bought three tickets for three of the hijackers to fly into Florida and into Las Vegas, including the lead hijacker, Mohammad Atta,” Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, told Fox News.

He added that the records show the cleric, killed in September 2011 by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen, “was a central focus of the FBI's investigation of 9/11. They show he wasn't cooperative. And they show that he was under surveillance.”

Al-Awlaki arranged flights for Muhammed Attah, other 9/11 hijackers

And then there's this:

One FBI investigative report known as a 302 summarizes the bureau’s investigation of Al-Awlaki’s Visa transactions. While heavily redacted, the document indicates a credit transaction for “Atta, Mohammed -- American West Airlines, 08/13/2001, Washington, DC to Las Vegas to Miami," the document says. The mid-August flight, according to the Joint Congressional Inquiry into 9/11, which first investigated the attacks, was one of Atta’s numerous and crucial surveillance flights.

"On August 13, Atta flew a second time across country from Washington to Las Vegas on a Boeing 757 (seated in first class) returning on August 14 to Fort Lauderdale," the 9/11 report reads.

The FBI documents also show a credit card record for a “Suqami, S. ----Southwest Airlines, 07/10/2001, Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando.” Satam al-Suqami was one of the muscle hijackers on American Airlines Flight 11, which slammed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.

The third individual, identified in the records is a “W. al-Sheri -- National Airlines, 08/01/2001, San Francisco to Las Vegas to Miami.” This appears to be either Waleed al-Shehri or Wail al-Shehri. The two brothers were also muscle hijackers, according to the 9/11 Commission report.

Awlaki infiltrated the Bush administration in 2002; Muslim operatives in the Obama administration?

The first obvious question that arises from these newly discovered documents, is why are the documents so "heavily redacted"? What are the Feds concealing from us? Other names perhaps associated with the 9/11 attacks of individuals who are now deemed "moderate Muslims"? Individuals perhaps that are associated with the Obama administration?

Keep in mind, that til this day, the Los Angeles Times refuses to release the video tape of Barack Hussein Obama giving a toast at a dinner to suspected terrorist, Rashid Khalidi (photo above). From Glenn Beck's TheBlaze, Sept. 20, 2012, "LA TIMES REAFFIRMS IT WILL NOT PUBLISH MYSTERIOUS OBAMA, KHALIDI RECORDING":

The release of the hidden camera Mitt Romney video this week is reminding some conservative bloggers of a talked-about story four years ago, and they’re now asking if and when another potentially explosive videotape will see the light of day.

Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit writes:

Say, where’s that Obama/Khalidi tape? Why won’t the L.A.Times release it? Oh, who am I kidding? They won’t release it because it would make Obama look terrible. What other reason can there be?

The Daily Caller writes:

Speaking of secret tapes, remember Rashid Khalidi? The LA Times hopes you don’t.

Daily Pundit writes:

So sure, I want to hear the “misssing” two minutes of the incomplete video. But you know what I’d really like to see? The video of Obama praising Rashid Khalidi to the skies currently being suppressed by the hack propagandists at the Los Angeles Times.

Non-interventionists, left-libertarians, Pat Buchananites with a little egg on their faces

Obviously these new documents are an embarrassment for a number of individuals and groups. Of course, the liberal media, NY Times, PBS, and the whole alphabet soup of networks. Once again Fox News has scooped them all, on a story that they probably prefer remained untold. And the appeasors of Islam in the Democrat Party, including a great many on Capitol Hill need to be confronted on these new findings. Congressional hearings called by brave hawk Republicans?

But what about some elements on the American right, and the soft on Islam wing of the libertarian movement?

Ron Paulists, Pat Buchanan Paleo-conservatives, the Jesse Ventura/Alex Jones 9/11 Truther crowd, and non-interventionists in general now have some explaining to do. Seems their line, that "not all Muslims support Jihad on the West," is a tad bit optimistic. Keep in mind these groups are vicious opponents of Robert Spencer, Horowitz and our friend Ayn Rand individualist Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs.

But it's not just the Paleos. It's the NeoCons too. Their policy of appeasement of the Arabs, working with them, particularly "our friends the Saudis." Their efforts over the years to increase our foreign aid budget to friendly Arab nations from keeping them from turning radical. It would appear now, that the whole notion of a non-radical Muslim is suspect. Awlaki, a supposed non-radical who "we could work with", has now been discovered to be a key player in the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, DC and a plane that went down in the fields of western Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 Americans.

Those who diss Robert Spencer as an extremist, write Fox News off as some silly "wingnut" network, and castigate those of us in the pro-defense wing of the libertarian movement who call for a toughening of the War on Islamism, now have some serious "'splainin'" to do.

More at FoxNewsReporting, "The secrets of 9/11 revealed" May 4, 2012.

Obama's jobless 'recovery' continues as unemployed jumps by 164,000

Release...

Jan. 4, 2013, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement responding to today's unemployment report:

"With the number of people unemployed jumping by 164,000, it is clear that the economy under Obama's stewardship continues to struggle. Supposedly the recession ended in June 2009, but more than three years later, the economy is still shedding jobs, with 22.4 million who cannot full-time work, and another 5 million who have given up looking all together.

"Moreover, labor force participation remains very low at 63.6 percent, as Baby Boomers engage in early retirement and young people fail to enter the workforce. If the labor force participation rate had remained steady at the 65.7 percent level when Obama entered office, today's unemployment rate would have come in at 10.7 percent, and the underemployed rate at 17 percent. This is a depression. We're still dead in the water.

"This, despite trillions of dollars fiscal and monetary 'stimulus' by the government that was supposed to get the economy back on track.

"The American people have every right to be outraged at this pathetic performance, and now it is time for Congress to chart a new course. With the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world, a sinking dollar, and a regulatory environment that would make Soviet Russia blush, the U.S. is rapidly becoming a terrible place to do business.

"Unless the cost of doing business here can be reduced, through lower taxation, reining in new health care, labor, and environmental regulations, and sound money, a robust economic recovery will continue to allude policy makers."

More information getliberty.org

Delving into the numbers

by Clifford F. Thies

The stock market reacted positively to the latest budget deal, perhaps because the way that the government avoided the fiscal cliff was less worse than other politically-possible options.

The government's labor market report just released is neither good nor bad. The economy remains stuck at a high rate of unemployment. The number of jobs grew, but not at a rate that would lower the unemployment rate, and the unemployment rate was unchanged from a slightly revised figure of the prior month.

ADP's jobs report released a couple days ago shows divergent trajectories for jobs in the small business sector and the medium and large business sectors. Jobs shrank in the small business sector, while they grew in the medium and large business sectors.

The index of leading indicators has been on the upswing, having passed through a rough spot at mid year.

Business confidence is improving and can now be said to have reached neutral. Consumer confidence is also improving but has shown considerable volatility. Long-term expectations, however, continue to deteriorate.

The Federal Reserve stands ready to buy U.S. Treasuries in whatever quantities are needed to keep interest rates low. There is a lot of inflation being worked into the money supply and it's just a matter of time before prices start to rise.

The price of energy continues to moderate, driven by huge discoveries and advances in our ability to extract energy. The falling price of energy is currently off-setting the gathering inflation.

Over in Europe, where they fell into a double-dip recession, there now appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel. Of the PIGS, Portugal may be the first to start to recover.

The U.K. and Japan, like the U.S., continue to run Greek-like deficits. But, unlike Greece, they are not in crisis because of the fact they can monetize their debt. Look for the inflation to get underway in all three.

In the emerging markets of the world - the BRICs - economic growth is strengthening. This and the falling price of energy are the two most positive forces in the global economy right now.

In the submerging markets of the world (e.g., Argentina, we do not yet have an acronym) - economic conditions continue to decline, along with worsening or bad political conditions.

Dr. Thies teaches statistics and econo-metrics at Shenandoah Univ. in VA.

Just released... Back up again

7.8% for the month of December

From Eric Dondero:

The spinmeisters are trying their best. Bless their little hearts.

Our friends at Pundit Press, are early on the story, "Unemployment Jumps to 7.8%; MSM Pours on the Praise for a 'Strengthening Economy'":

So unemployment is up and numbers are somehow doing better? Leave it to the Main Stream Media to spin it. From the AP via Yahoo:

Robust hiring in manufacturing and construction fueled the December gains. Construction firms added 30,000 jobs, the most in 15 months. That likely reflects additional hiring needed to rebuild after Superstorm Sandy and also solid gains in home building that have contributed to a housing recovery. Manufacturers gained 25,000, the most in nine months. Even with the gains, hiring is far from accelerating. Employers added an average of 153,000 jobs a month last year, matching the monthly average in 2011. Employers added 1.84 million jobs in 2012, the same as the previous year.

The very latest from Token Libertarian Girl: Let's win the culture for Liberty!

We need to recognize, younger female voters have no time for boring economics or that "philosophy crap"

From Eric Dondero:

This one's a doozie. Promise, it's well worth your 2 minute investment. You might remember Julie Borowski from June of last year with her smash hit video denigrating actress Lena Dunham. In her latest, Lena Dunham excoriates the women's movement, crass commercialism, and the female gender in general.

Writes the hipster libertarian Hammer of Truth blog:

Miss Julie Borowski — the latest cute blonde “token” libertarian girl — has been slaving away in front of the YouTube audiences for well over a year and racking up over a million views in the process.

Borowski has previously lamented the lack of women libertarians on her blog. She writes, “Women are more likely to visit popular culture websites and connect with their peers on social media.

Men are more likely to look at “nerdy” websites that discuss views that are outside of the mainstream like libertarianism.” [It's] because libertarianism is not yet mainstream and part of popular culture.”

We'll take this opportunity to announce that we just launched a brand new site, to help win over the culture for liberty. It's intended to appeal to low-information voters, mostly females, who like Julie says, care more about fashion, and commercialism, rather than preserving their own personal liberties. You'll see some of the same articles there that appear here at LR, only slightly dumb-downed, less wordy, more flashy and appealing to the eye.

Give it a view. Add it to your daily favorites. And why not sneak it onto the favorites bar of that teenage daughter of yours, who's completely clueless about politics, thinks Obama's "cool" or something, and rolls her pretty little eyes, every time Dad talks about "liberty." Here's the link: Gongoolooza.

Islam meets the Nanny-State: Women on scooters in Indonesia must now sit side-saddle

Sitting with legs spread could "provoke the male driver"

From the Sydney Herald-Sun:

A CITY in Indonesia's Islamic law stronghold of Aceh will ban women passengers from straddling motorbikes, describing the position as "improper".

The move comes after leaders from the country's only province ruled under strict sharia law drafted a series of new bills, including banning women from wearing tight trousers, and allowing the stoning of adulterers and the flogging of homosexuals.

Under the new law, women in Lhokseumawe city, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, will have to sit "side-saddle" with their legs dangling off to one side.

"Women sitting on motorbikes must not sit astride because it will provoke the male driver. It's also to protect women from an undesirable condition," Mayor Suaidi Yahya told AFP on Wednesday.

Editor's note - Interestingly, they avoid banning women from driving scooters with a burka or hijab, for being visually-impaired and a threat to other drivers. (photo credit - mid-day-sun.blogspot)

Bio-fuel Bonanza!

by Clifford F. Thies

It's to save the planet, you know.

This story first broke on December 3, 2012, although the incident occurred in 2010 and would not have ever come to light except for an unrelated investigation. It has now gone viral.

A company named Bioversel, or is it Verdeo, or Great Lakes Biodiesel, or maybe it's Einer Canada, was engaged in "earning" biofuel credits for importing and exporting biofuels, which it could "trade" in the government-sponsored market for biofuel credits, you know, like trading in carbon credits.

To earn credits for importing, it sent a train-load of biofuel from Canada to the United States; and, to earn credits for exporting, it sent a train-load of biofuel from the United States to Canada. In fact, the same train-load, back and forth, back and forth, twenty-four times during the second half of the month of June 2010, earning a total of $6 million of biofuel credits.

So far, so good. But, then came a misstep. The company, under one of its many names, attempted to sell some product in Europe claiming that it originated in the U.S. when it really originated in Canada (or, was it the other way around), in order to avoid some kind of tax. The Canadian government then started to investigate the company, and then somebody tipped off the Canadian Broadcasting Company about the great train robbery, and now the company, whatever its name, is all over the internet and in deep trouble.

And, who knows how many other shady deals the company has been involved in. This investigation is only now getting underway.

This makes the fourth big robbery of the American taxpayer in the cause of saving the planet through biofuels. In June of last year, Rodney Hailey of Maryland-based Clean Green Fuel, was convicted of selling $9 million worth of fraudulent credits to traders and oil companies. Last month, Jeffrey Gunselman of Absolute Fuels of Texas, pled guilty to the sale of more $40 million worth of invalid credits. And, in a still on-going investigation, Philip Rivkin of Green Diesel of Texas was indicted last Spring for trading 60 million fake credits.

But, you know this avalanche of fraud and bankruptcy, from Solyndra to A123 to Abound Solar to Beacon Power, Ener1, Fisker, Nevada Geothermal, etc., etc., not to mention the sinkhole that is the Chevy Volt, and now biofuel credit scams, it's to save the planet. These are the green business people. The good guys. Not the evil Wall Street investment bankers who took advantage of the hapless government when it was trying to promote home-ownership.

It's difficult enough for the government to keep fraud under control in the private sector. But the problem tends to cascade and possibly even threatens the entire economy when the government facilitates fraud through its subsidy and guarantee programs.