Mattsapundit

As David Benzion is discussing right now, Steve Emerson of the Counterterrorism Blog doubts the sincerity of the CAIR-endorsed “fatwa” which supposedly condemns terrorism. It turns out the “fatwa’s” issuers have significant ties to global Islamic terrorism.

Emerson writes:

This morning a group of American Islamic leaders held a press conference to announce a fatwa, or Islamic religious ruling, against “terrorism and extremism.” An organization called the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) issued the fatwa, and the Council on American - Islamic Relations (CAIR) organized the press conference, stating that several major U.S. Muslim groups endorsed the fatwa.In fact, the fatwa is bogus. Nowhere does it condemn the Islamic extremism ideology that has spawned Islamic terrorism. It does not renounce nor even acknowledge the existence of an Islamic jihadist culture that has permeated mosques and young Muslims around the world. It does not renounce Jihad let alone admit that it has been used to justify Islamic terrorist acts. It does not condemn by name any Islamic group or leader. In short, it is a fake fatwa designed merely to deceive the American public into believing that these groups are moderate. In fact, officials of both organizations have been directly linked to and associated with Islamic terrorist groups and Islamic extremist organizations. One of them is an unindicted co-conspirator in a current terrorist case; another previous member was a financier to Al-Qaeda.

Read it all.

Matt Bramanti | July 29, 2005 at 5:32 pm
Posted to Uncategorized, International, National, Islamofascism

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HCAD is squirming:

Harris County property owners who protest their tax appraisals routinely lose because they face illegal obstacles, a lawsuit filed by a Houston firm that helps people challenge their appraisals contends.

The lawsuit, filed Monday by O’Connor & Associates, alleges that Harris County’s appraisal review board, which weighs protests, does not act independently of the Harris County Appraisal District, which appraises property.

Jim Robinson, Harris County’s chief appraiser, said the lawsuit is without merit and that review panels reduce appraised values in 70 percent to 80 percent of cases brought before them.

The plaintiff argues that the appraisal district has inappropriate influence over the process of challenging appraisals, including controlling the scheduling of hearings, and fails to provide advance copies of its evidence, as required by law.

“Some (appraisal review board) panels ignore the property owner’s evidence of unequal appraisal even under circumstances where the district presents no evidence at all,” the lawsuit says.

O’Connor & Associates is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent protest hearings until it ensures the protection of property owners’ rights.

Full disclosure: While in college, I worked at O’Connor for three summers. (I don’t work there now.) I represented property owners in about 2,500 hearings, and I can attest that the ARB’s actions raise serious doubts about its independence.

The law requires the appraisal district to make all its evidence available to the property owner 14 days before the hearing. Lately, the district has been introducing new evidence — heretofore unseen by the property owner — during the hearings, with no objections by the ARB.

In most cases, ARB members are fair and reasonably impartial. But in many cases, the body effectively serves as an extension of the appraisal district, and that’s just wrong.

Pat O’Connor is a tenacious, smart guy who knows pretty much everything there is to know about tax appraisals. I get the feeling HCAD is running scared on this one.

Matt Bramanti | July 29, 2005 at 2:00 pm
Posted to Uncategorized

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Helen Thomas is threatening suicide:

Veteran wire reporter Helen Thomas is vowing to ‘kill herself’ if Dick Cheney announces he is running for president.

The newspaper HILL first reported the startling claim on Thursday.

“The day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I’ll kill myself,” she told the HILL. “All we need is one more liar.”

In a completely unrelated story, I sent some jack to the RNC with the specific request that it be applied to the veep’s presidential campaign.

I’m hoping she does the deed in some spectacular way. Any hack can chase a fistful of Valium with a fifth of vodka. Helen can do better. I’m hoping for something beginning with a hail of gunfire and ending with a fiery plunge into the icy Potomac.

Matt Bramanti | July 29, 2005 at 1:36 am
Posted to Uncategorized

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Whoops:

A man chasing down a pair of suspected robbers says his situation went from bad to worse when he dialed 911 for help.

TJ Huntley says he watched as two men broke into his car and stole his wallet and laptop computer. It happened while he was jogging at Clear Brook City Park. His cell phone records show he called for help, not once but four times in five minutes. And, he was transferred to a Harris County line every time.

“The last thing I expected was having to argue with dispatch on sending an officer out to catch two bad guys who just broke into my car,” Huntley said.

Not only that, he claims the county dispatcher hung up on him twice. Huntley chased the suspects as long as he could, for about 15 minutes. The two suspects got away.

This is better than any ad the NRA could dream up.

Matt Bramanti | July 27, 2005 at 11:41 am
Posted to Uncategorized

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The Chronicle is ostensibly a newspaper, right? One would think its editors would follow the news.

One would be horribly wrong:

The thunder and fire of what appeared to be a nearly flawless launch Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida served notice that NASA’s commitment to station Americans permanently in space and eventually to take them well beyond Earth’s orbit is back at full throttle and soaring upward.

Appeared nearly flawless to whom? Every news outlet in the English-speaking world is discussing the damage to the orbiter in today’s launch. A piece of foam insulation sloughed off the external fuel tank (fortunately missing the orbiter), and another piece of debris struck — and damaged — the Shuttle’s critical heat shield.

Here’s a smattering of headlines.

Drudge:

HOW SERIOUS?

AP:

NASA Probes Shuttle Debris After Launch

Reuters:

NASA sends shuttle to space, debris fears arise

Considering that seven astronauts were incinerated the last time this scenario happened, how the hell can someone consider the launch “nearly flawless?”

Also, this paragraph struck me as a complete non sequitur:

Fittingly, the first woman to command a shuttle mission, 48-year-old retired Air Force Col. Eileen Collins, is directing her second flight aboard the retooled Discovery.

How is that fitting? Once we’ve established that a woman can command a shuttle — and Col. Collins established that — why make a gender issue out of it?

Matt Bramanti | July 27, 2005 at 2:05 am
Posted to Uncategorized

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Heh:

The following is a statement of James P. Hoffa on the Teamsters disaffiliation from the AFL-CIO:

Good afternoon. This is an historic day. I join my brother Andy Stern and the great SEIU in a joint announcement.

I am here today to announce that the General Executive Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has unanimously voted to withdraw our membership from the AFL-CIO.

That muffled sound you hear is Jimmy Hoffa spinning in his grave end zone.

For the record, the International Brotherhood of Bloggers, Local 713 — of which I am the president, sergeant-at-arms and sole member — wholeheartedly supports the dissolution of the AFL-CIO.

Every now and then I’ll see a bumper sticker that says “Unions: The People Who Brought You Weekends.” I’m never quite sure if that’s a pro-union or anti-union message. It just as easily could’ve been “Unions: The People Who Slashed Productivity by 28.6%.” Just a thought.

Matt Bramanti | July 25, 2005 at 4:04 pm
Posted to Uncategorized

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