So the UAE/Dubai Ports illegally boycott Israel...

What a surprise!! Let's just let them control our ports- what is the worst that can happen?!! Dubai ports firm enforces Israel boycott By MICHAEL FREUND Jerusalem Post Newspaper The parent company of a Dubai-based firm at the center of a political storm in the US over the purchase of American ports participates in the Arab boycott against Israel, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The firm, Dubai Ports World, is seeking control over six major US ports, including those in New York, Miami, Philadelphia and Baltimore. It is entirely owned by the Government of Dubai via a holding company called the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCZC), which consists of the Dubai Port Authority, the Dubai Customs Department and the Jebel Ali Free Zone Area. JPOST.COM HIT LIST See JPost.com's hottest articles this past week [click here] "Yes, of course the boycott is still in place and is still enforced," Muhammad Rashid a-Din, a staff member of the Dubai Customs Department's Office for the Boycott of Israel, told the Post in a telephone interview. "If a product contained even some components that were made in Israel, and you wanted to import it to Dubai, it would be a problem," he said. A-Din noted that while the head office for the anti-Israel boycott sits in Damascus, he and his fellow staff members are paid employees of the Dubai Customs Department, which is a division of the PCZC, the same Dubai government-owned entity that runs Dubai Ports World. Moreover, the Post found that the website for Dubai's Jebel Ali Free Zone Area, which is also part of the PCZC, advises importers that they will need to comply with the terms of the boycott. In a section entitled "Frequently Asked Questions", the site lists six documents that are required in order to clear an item through the Dubai Customs Department. One of them, called a "Certificate of Origin," "is used by customs to confirm the country of origin and needs to be seen by the office which ensures any trade boycotts are enforced," according to the website. A-Din of the Israel boycott office confirmed that his office examines certificates of origin as a means of verifying whether a product originated in the Jewish state. On at least three separate occasions last year, the Post has learned, companies were fined by the US government's Office of Anti-boycott Compliance, an arm of the Commerce Department, on charges connected to boycott-related requests they had received from the Government of Dubai. US law bars firms from complying with such requests or cooperating with attempts by Arab governments to boycott Israel. In one instance, according to a Commerce Department press release, a New York-based exporter agreed to pay a fine for having "failed to report in a timely manner its receipts of requests from Dubai" to provide certification that its products had not been made in Israel. The proposed handover of US ports to DP World has provoked a political storm in Washington, where Republicans and Democrats alike have expressed hostility to the plan, citing national security concerns. In an attempt to stave off opposition, DP World agreed over the weekend to a highly unusual 45-day second federal investigation of potential security risks.

Saudis and Egyptians will support Hamas...

Our "Friends" The Saudis Posted by bulldogpundit/Ankle Biting Pundits "Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime." - President George W. Bush, September 20, 2001 Given the above quote from President Bush, today's announcement by the Saudi Foreign Minister that the Saudis will continue funding Hamas should officially put the Saudi's on the wrong side of our war on terror. Of course they've been on that side for a number of years now. I've said many times before the 2004 election that if Democrats wanted an issue on which it could legitimately get to the President's right on national security they should have hammered on the President's close relationship with the Saudis, who are neither our allies nor our friends. If the President ever had any doubts about the Saudis true colors, their refusal today to isolate this government made up of unrepentant terrorists should remove them. Egypt, another faux "ally" also decided yesterday to continue funding Hamas. Given that we give Egypt about $2 billion a year in aid, perhaps we should offset that amount with whatever they send to Hamas." Great news, now that Iran is going nuclear, Iraq falling into pieces, the "moderate" Arabs supporting Hamas, we are giving the UAE the keys to our ports. Makes sense...

"Not just no- but HELL no!" says Rep. Sue Myrick

That is the full memo from Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina to the White House regarding the proposed UAE port purchase. The White House political leadership seems to have gotten together in a sealed room after the last elections with the intent to swing the 2006 midterms to the Democrats. That is the only explanation for the continued incompetence seen from some of the political operatives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Hmm- the one issue that the GOP bests the libs on is national security. So let's have our strategic ports run by the Arabs!! Great thinking... I pray that the GOP Legislative Branch does their duty and blocks this sale, and then overturns a veto. That is the only way the Republican party will not be gutted in the upcoming midterms..

Happy Birthday GDub!!

As well as my law school alma mater being 22-1 this season (!!) today we have something else to celebrate regarding the father of our country. Contrary to popular belief, today has never been designated "President's Day" by the Federal Government. Today is, rightly, the observation of the February 22nd birthday of George Washington. Originally, February 22nd was a big holiday for this country. We should continue to remember and honor our first President through the observation of his birthday as a national holiday.

The shame that is Albert Gore Jr....

http://www.powerlineblog.com/ The adage that "politics stops at the water's edge" has apparently long since been laid to rest. At the least, we need a new adage counseling American politicians not to defame their country or grovel before the potentates of the homeland of many of America's enemies. Yesterday former Vice President Gore spoke before a "mainly Saudi audience" on day two of the Jeddah Economic Forum: "Gore laments U.S. abuses against Arabs." The AP reports: Former Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment. Gore said Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions. The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida's hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications. "The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake," Gore said during the Jiddah Economic Forum. "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States." Gore told the largely Saudi audience, many of them educated at U.S. universities, that Arabs in the United States had been "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable." "Unfortunately there have been terrible abuses and it's wrong," Gore said. "I do want you to know that it does not represent the desires or wishes or feelings of the majority of the citizens of my country." That's what Gore wants them to know. I want them to know that Gore's impulse to defame his country before a foreign audience for fun and profit does not represent the desires or wishes or feelings of the majority of citizens of my country. I want them to know that the American people support the enforcement of America's immigration laws, especially against those suspected of having a possible terrorist connection. I want them to know that when 15 of the 19 perpetrators of September 11 were found to have been Saudi citizens, the American people wanted the Saudi government to take responsibility for its role in the attack on the United States and take every action necessary to ensure that it never happens again.

Shocker! Iran and Syria behind latest riots...

Getting Back on Subject With Iran and Syria By Mark Noonan at 03:38 AM www.blogsforbush.com All those riots about cartoons? Just a bunch of misdirection, as Secretary Rice notes: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday accused Syria and Iran of deliberately inciting Islamic outrage over the publication of cartoons in a string of European newspapers that mocked the prophet Muhammad. Both countries have seen violent demonstrations targeting the diplomatic missions of Denmark, where the cartoons were first published, and other European nations -- part of a string of recent angry protests across the Muslim world. Political leaders in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon have tried to tamp down the unrest, Miss Rice said, while the authoritarian regimes in Damascus and Tehran had not. "Iran and Syria have gone out of their way to inflame sentiment and to use this to their own purposes," she told reporters. "The world ought to call them on it." Syria wants to get off the subject of Lebanese assasinations. Iran wants to get off the subject of nuclear weapons. Generic Islamo-fascists want to continue to fan the flames of hatred as the pool of willing suicide-dupes starts to dry up in Iraq...I've read stories that the cartoons, themselves, where honed and added to in an effort to make them even more offensive to Moslem sensibilities. In other words, what we've got here is a gigantic set-up engineered by our enemies in the War on Terrorism, and we have to stop playing their game. There must be no hand-wringing over these protests - they aren't, after all, real protests. They are street theater organized by our enemies to grap the attention of western media and give the impression, throughout the world, that the Moslem world is uniformly outraged by a few cartoons. Step back and think for a second and you instantly realise that human beings don't get this worked up over drawings...but people with a politico-military agenda will orchestrate things to make it seem as they wish it to be. This is nothing - and now lets get back to the subject of Iran's nuclear ambitions and Syria's murderous ways in Lebanon.

Remember USAF Hero Marc Ficcara

From the milblog community I came across the tragic story of Sgt. Marc Ficcara. He served in USAF and after being deployed to Iraq and returning to the States came to the aid of a woman in Washington DC- and was then murdered in her defense. The crime is unsolved and there has not been much media coverage. Could you please publish on this important story? I did not personally know Marc but many in the area did- he was based at Andrews AFB. I forwarded you a message (see below) from his father who must be in tremendous pain and feeling powerless to get things moving. I know the milblog community can help bring media attention to this case!! "My name is Howard (Skip) Ficarra. Marc was my son. My wife (Edie) and I are devastated at the loss of our son, and can not understand why nothing to this date has surfaced. Not one solid lead. I have talked to the local police, and the OSI, and as of yet ....NOTHING! ....I will be speaking with them again tomarrow, and hopefully they will have some infomation for me. Its not over till its over, and I have just begun. I need all the help I can get to help solve the murder of my son. If there is anyone out there with any information, I pray they will cantact the police and the OSI. I will not rest until these punks are behind bars. Thank you Lt..Thank you for your support and prayers. Please continue to help keep this story in the headlines any way that you can. Feel free to contact me anytime at skipficar@netzero.net

Let's not forget Marc Ficarra..

Man Beaten in Adams Morgan has Died Police say 34-year-old Air Force Sgt. Marc Ficarra was punched outside a bar on January 21st after he came to the defense of his wife and a friend who were being harassed by a group of men. That is the news brief from WMAL in Washington. We can not let this hero be forgotten and must bring those responsible to justice. We need to contact Washington media and the Air Force to not give up in tracking the guilty. Please contact: skipficar@netzero.com

Why isn't Media standing with Denmark?

From Mark Levin: National Review Online "The gutless American media refuse to publish the 12 cartoons that are supposedly causing rioting in certain parts of the world. Are those cartoons not news? Besides, they're all over the Internet. As best as I can tell, but for the Philadelphia Inquirer, the American media, which claim to believe in a free press, have done nothing to show solidarity with their European colleagues, who've shown far more principle and guts and are under assault. The New York Times happily publishes NSA secrets for the enemy and the rest of the world to read, but won't run the cartoons. The Washington Post publishes a cartoon (showing a soldier without limbs) demeaning to American soldiers but also won't run the other cartoons. The Big Media in this country like to talk about a free press, the need for shield laws, and so forth. But when put to the test, as they are today, they cower. They self-censor because they don't want to be criticized by the PC crowd, despite the fact that the cartoons are being used by hate-mongers to encourage violence. The Big Media have done a lousy job reporting what’s really going on here, but they can’t run enough photos and footage of flag- and embassy- burnings without real context. 02/05 04:26 PM Where Were the Riots? Below are some cartoons that have appeared in Arab newspapers. The source: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. (Go here.) Keep in mind, that there is much more of this — not just in government run Arab newspapers, but in their textbooks and other parts of their society. Al-Hayat al-Jadida, the official Palestinian Authority journal March 22, 2000 The Pope exclaimed 'Peace on Earth' while the Satanic-looking Jew calls out 'Colonies on Earth.' "In the Lebanese Daily Star in 2000, four consecutive drawings show how Sharon, with a Star of David on his lapel, becomes Hitler with a moustache, and on his lapel, a swastika. The cartoonist Jabra Stavro, born in Beirut, has won many prizes." "Blood-drinking Jews are frequently shown by Al Ahram, one of Egypt's leading dailies. On 21 April 2001, it printed a cartoon showing an Arab being put into a flatting mill by two soldiers wearing helmets with Stars of David. The Arab's blood pours out and two Jews with kippot and Stars of David on their shirts drink the blood laughingly."

Those happy Muslims..

Apparently it is okay to chop off unbelievers heads, blow up innocent civilians, kidnap journalists, elect terrorists to run entire governments and proclaim your desire to rule the world. But heaven forbid someone publishes a CARTOON. Now that is going to far...