"My Tehran For Sale" Actress To Be Jailed And Lashed

What happens to an actress In Iran if the ruling mullahs and other religious conservatives dislike a film you were involved with: you get flogged and jailed, of course.

Marzieh Vafamehr, Iranian actress and wife of screenwriter and director Nasser Taghvai, was sentenced to a year in jail and 90 lashes for a film she starred in entitled "My Tehran For Sale". 

An Iranian/Australian co-production, apparently it tells the story of a young woman, also named Marzieh, who lives in Tehran under the current regime. Also an actress (and mime), she is banned from her theatre work by Iranian officials, which forces her to live a double life in order to nurture her artistic needs.  The film explores just what that secret life means in urban Tehran, something that many Iranian youth are forced to do these days.

Life imitating art and vice versa.

However, one does have to remember that this is what the Iranians wanted back in the late 1970s. 

All I have to say is: Be careful what you wish for!!

Source: TelegraphUK

Joke of the day: 72 Virgins Surprise

Gotta love this!

Pakistan Doctor Who Helped CIA Find Bin Laden Charged With Treason

Instead of being hailed as a hero, the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA in its hunt to kill Osama Bin Laden will be  charged with 'high treason'.  So says a government commission assigned to investigate the U.S. operation that ultimately killed Bin Laden. Dr. Shakil Afridi, who set up a vaccination programme that was tasked with trying to get DNA samples from Bin Laden family members, could face the death penalty for ridding the world of the most wanted man on the planet. But it's quite obvious the Pakistanis see things quite differently. 

I'm sure a lot of the anger has to do with the fact that the Bin Laden raid was a covert operation that took the Pakistanis by surprise, and the panel was more than likely set up to save face for their monumental ineptitude.  But had the government been apprised of the situation, Bin Laden would probably still be alive somewhere today.  Pakistan's spy agency- Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has oft been accused of supporting the Taliban's Haqqani Network, and I would venture to say it was well aware of Bin Laden's residency in Abbottabad. His fortified mansion was smack dab in the middle of a military town, and approximately 75 from Islamabad, the capital. And yet he lived there for five years!  How could they not have known?  We finally caught up with him after ten long years,  but rest assured  it took that long to find him because the Pakistanis wanted it that way.

Thankfully there are some, like the good doctor, willing to put their lives on the line to rid the world of terrorism.  But most Pakistanis are perfectly content to live alongside the violence, embracing their backwards Sharia law and their Blasphemy law, and taking steps back into the dark ages alongside their Afghan brothers. 

They are not our friends, and yet we continue to send them aid, and that's not likely to change any time soon.

Who knows what will happen to Afridi and his family. The U.S. has been attempting to pressure the Pakistanis into letting them come to the U.S. but,  so far, they'd rather charge him with treason.

Sources: Al Jazeera, CNN, GuardianUK

Yes, Virginia, Al-Qaeda Exists- Latest Issue Of Al-Qaeda's 'Inspire' Magazine

There are actually fools who don't believe that Al-Qaeda exists, or that it's a CIA fabrication. I personally know some of them, and those same people believe 9/11 was a conspiracy.  I'm not quite sure who they think rammed those planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, and what entities are responsible for all the ongoing violence and savagery.  But  they refuse to acknowledge that evil exists in the form of religious Islamic extremism, and would rather blame the U.S. government (mostly under G.W. Bush's tenure) for all the ills of the world. 

I guess they haven't seen Al-Qaeda's slick online English language magazine, Inspire, downloadable from the various jihadi sites that post it.  The latest issue (#7) that Blazing Catfur downloaded and posted here, is worth a look, for all the doubters.  Then again, I'm sure they will claim it too is a fabrication.

Not sure what will happen with future issues since Anwar Al-Awlaki was offed, as Inspire was his pet project, but I'm sure someone will carry on the legacy.  There will always be another roach looking for his 72 virgins, or willing to inspire others to get their 72.

The latest edition was a special 9/11 edition. The editor in chief Yahya Ibrahim says:


As for conspiracy theories, there's a particularly interesting article about Iran's stance on the issue:

The Iranian government has professed on the tongue of its president Ahmadinejad that it does not believe that al Qaeda was behind 9/11 but rather, the U.S. government. So we may ask the question: why would Iran ascribe to such a ridiculous belief that stands in the face of all logic and evidence?

Ridiculous indeed!

H/T: Blazing Catfur

[Snip] 9/11 was neither the beginning of the war between the Muslims and the West nor was it the end. It was merely an episode in a long, protracted war that started at the time of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم and will end with al-Malĥama, the epic battle mentioned in the hadith. [snip]

Afghan's Karzai Gives Up On Taliban- Blames Pakistan For Harboring Militants

After years of trying to negotiate peace with the Taliban, Afghan's President Hamid Karzai has come to the conclusion that the whole effort is pointless.  What I want to know is what took him (and everyone else, including our fearless leader) so darn long?! 

The violence has never stopped, regardless of the  efforts  to bring the Taliban to the table, fruitless as they were.  The Taliban even scoffed at our efforts back in 2009 to reach out.  Afghan civilians are as much a target as NATO soldiers and Afghan officials, but it took an alleged 'peace emmisary' to blow up former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, in his own home to boot,  for  Karzai to finally realize it 'aint ever gonna happen. I never thought it would, violence is far too ingrained in that segment of society. The Taliban will never give up its goal of returning that country to full Taliban leadership.  They don't want things to progress into the 21st century, they want life to return to the same dark ages when Sharia was law, and women remained barefoot, pregnant and covered up, at home.

And Karzai isn't just blaming the Taliban for the lack of progress, he's joined the U.S. in condemning Pakistan for what he believes to be collusion, and actually threatened to go to the international community if Pakistan doesn't do something about harboring militants.  Yeah, good luck with that.

Afghan  Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi actually believes Pakistan's spy service- Inter-Services Intelligence agency- (ISI) was somehow involved in the assassination of Rabbani. 

"Without any doubt, ISI, is involved in this."

I'm sure he's right, and there are many who would concur, including U.S. officials who believe that the ISI has ties to the insurgents for various reasons.

Critics have accused the Pakistani government of protecting Taliban leaders to maintain good relations with the group in anticipation of Western forces' eventual withdrawal from the country — an allegation denied by Pakistan. Many analysts also believe the ISI's alleged support for insurgent groups is an attempt to promote Pakistan's interests in Afghanistan and counter the influence of archenemy India, which Karzai plans to visit this week.

Of course, Pakistan's official response to Karzai and Mohammadi's accusations were met with quite a different reaction then when General Mullen recently accused them of some of the same things.  Of course, the Pakistanis categorically denied any involvement in the killing of Rabbani-  then again they deny everything even though most of the Taliban leadership reside in Pakistan and  Osama Bin Laden was living high on the hog smack dab in a fortressed mansion in Pakistan for years. But, in this case, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani called Karzai a brother and a friend and called the whole thing a misunderstanding, saying,

"If any intelligence sharing or any cooperation is required, God willing, we will provide that," Gilani said in his hometown of Multan, Pakistan. "We will help them, but they cannot doubt us."

Doubt us?  The one thing about lying is that you can tell me you aren't lying but that doesn't mean you aren't.. It's actually allowed in Islam- it's called al-Taqiyya.

Like the Palestinian situation, I don't see much hope of resolution. Too many factors and issues that will never be resolved, at least in my lifetime.

Ron Paul and ACLU Condemn Killing Of American-Born Hate Preacher Anwar Al-Awla

It looks like one of our Predator drones finally snagged  Islamist terror Imam Anwar al-Awlaki, along with Samir Khan of al-Qaeda's internet magazine "Inspire".  Both of them were born in the U.S. and were instrumental in inspiring others to jihad. Al-Awlaki's hate sermons were directly responsible for inspiring Major Nidal Malik Hasan (the Fort Hood Massacre) and the Christmas underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

In spite of the fact that al-Awlaki was indirectly responsible for the deaths of innocent people, and won't be missed,  the condemnations are starting to roll in. And from sources as diverse as Ron Paul (there are actually people eager to vote for him in the 2012 presidential election!)  and the more obvious American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Paul called it an "assassination", the ACLU a 'dangerous' precedent-  I call it good fortune, and what took so long.

Of course, this isn't the first time the ACLU has criticized the fact we had al-Awlaki on our "kill or capture" list. In fact Anwar's father, Nasser, solicited the ACLU's help in trying to sue the government to take him off that list, to no avail.  Then again, daddy thought his son was a good "all-American boy" who would love nothing more than return to the U.S. I wonder if pops knew about his penchant for prostitutes.

Interviewed by CNN last year, the educated Yemeni doctor, was convinced his son was innocent and had nothing to do with al-Qaeda:

"He has been wrongly accused, it's unbelievable. He lived his life in America, he's an all-American boy. My son would love to go back to America, he used to have a good life in America. Now he's hiding in the mountains, he doesn't even have safe water to drink."

And when it was common knowledge that Anwar was hiding out somewhere in the southern part of Yemen, with his al-Qaeda cohorts,  papa al-Awlaki thought otherwise: 

"What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al Qaeda, our tribe is protecting him right now."

Although adamant about his son not associating with terrorists, nor being one, nor encouraging others to commit terrorist acts (in spite of proof to the contrary) he does concede that his attitude changed after being incarcerated in Yemen in 2006.

"They put him in jail for 18 months, and I detected a change after he got out of prison. He began to get away from the mainstream, he is a preacher. You cannot tie Anwar to acts of terrorism."

Has papa asked himself why his son was jailed for 18 months? And the further deluded dad seemed to think he could convince his son to give himself up:

Nasser said he would do his best to convince his son to surrender "but they are not giving me time, they want to kill my son. How can the American government kill one of their own citizens? This is a legal issue that needs to be answered."

Terrorism is far from a legal issue. Terrorists do not abide by any laws other than their own, and they happen to be cruel, barbaric and unjust. You lose your right to citizenship when you inspire others to commit acts of terror against your own country.

Good riddance to both of them.

Next!

U.S. Hikers Imprisoned In Iran Leftist Tools: Thank Hugo Chavez & Cindy Sheehan For Release

This is an interesting Wall Street Journal interview with James Kirchick, contributing editor at New Republic Magazine, about the two young American hikers (Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal) held as "Political Prisoners" in Iran for 2 years. Kirchick has some interesting notions about the young men based on some of their comments upon their release from prison, including comparing the U.S. with Iran, and thanking the usual lefty icons.

While neglecting to thank either President Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for helping secure his freedom, Mr. Bauer expressed gratitude toward Hugo Chávez, Sean Penn, Noam Chomsky and Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens).

Read Kirchick's article here: Wall Street Journal article.

And let's not forget Cindy Sheehan, who along with Muhammad Ali (and others) also got kudos. You can read their full statement here. 

Things are often not what they seem to be! 

Muslims No Longer Allowed To Pray On Streets Of Paris

Well, it looks like the information on this video is definitely old since a ban on Muslims praying on the streets of Paris went  into effect last week.

Since France has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe (almost 10% of the French population, and estimated at close to 6 million) Muslims claimed there was not enough room in the mosques for adherents to pray, hence congregating on the streets.  To accomodate the 1,000 or so that have been hauling their prayer mats outdoors, the state will rent to several Paris mosques an empty fire brigade barracks capable of holding 2,000, at least until a new mosque is built.

Not that there's a dearth of mosques in France. As of 2010, there was an estimated 2,000 mosques, although many are supposedly small.  But the leader of the Grande Mosque of Paris would like that number to change- and, of course, built with state funds, which poses a problem in a secular state. I guess he figured that  since there are approximately 40,000 churches, and Muslims account for 10% (and growing) of the French populace, 4,000 would be a goodly number.

One French writer of algerian descent, Nabila Ramdani, balks at the French law that banned state funding of any religious establishment back in 1905.  According to Ramdani, 

The difference is: needs will increase exponentially; whereas Christians, Jews and others would not have as great a need for new space.  Frankly, in a secular nation,  no government monies should be spent on the building of any religious edifice. Let followers fund their own buildings.  That would solve that issue. If a country wants to remain secular, than it needs to stay out of religion.

"Other faiths, including Christians and Jews, all infringe the 1905 law, as they receive funding from the state. So there's no reason whatsoever why Muslims shouldn't enjoy the same kind of funding, even if the money is passed off as cultural money. They should have the same opportunities as other faiths."