Boston Bombing Suspects in Firefight with Police

If you thought all the confusion and misidentifications were dramatic, things just got crazier. More bombs, lots of shots fired, suspect in custody and another on the run in Watertown all after killing an M.I.T. security officer. Once again things are confusing and unclear though we now have names: Mike Mulugeta and Sunil Tripathi. Incorrect info. Dzhokar and Tamarlan Tsarnaev are the correct names.

Somehow I don’t think they are Tea Party activists.

BREAKING 2nd NIGHT

6:00 PM CST: Shots fired in Watertown, families being evacuated from one street. 20-30 shots fired. Suspect is down.

He in a boat on a trailer in a back yard. Robot being brought in to search for explosives.

6:25 PM CST: From the scanner stream… He’s still moving in the back of the boat. Police are having trouble getting fields of fire cleared to avoid a blue on blue. Police dogs are being coordinated so only one will go after him if he runs.

6:56 PM CST: Two flashbang grenades have been used after seeing a possible small fire on the boat. No movement by the suspect in reaction. This is after he’d been seen sitting up more than once. A negotiator may be brought in. Tsarnaev is on his back not moving.

7:30 PM CST: Not much happening other than the suspect has been seen moving his arms and is covered in blood. State police chopper did illuminate with Midnight Sun spotlight, plus the police are irked that somehow the downlink video has shown up on the Net. Not sure if that really has happened or if it is the scanner audio being out there that is the problem.

It has been surreal following this via the streamed scanner. Time for me to head out, maybe this will be over by the time I come back home.

FINAL

Arrived to see friends play at a local American Legion to see the news go by on the TV that they captured Tsarnaev alive about a half hour after I last posted. I doubt they get much useful intel out of him since it was his brother that got the training. I am concerned that he didn’t get his Miranda rights and since he is a citizen, that’s flat out wrong. He’s not a foreign combatant and must be treated with the rights that are due to him, no matter how evil he is.

Previous postings after the fold.

Further Confusion and Fallout

UPDATED 12:20 PM CST: CNN is saying a suspect has been identified in the bombings. Also, more ricin packages sent to President Obama and Republican Senators.

With things still trickling out about the Boston Marathon bombing, we have another terrorist tactic being trotted out again. Mail to a United States Senator has been verified as containing ricin, a deadly poison made from castor bean plants. This particular method of trying to kill someone was last seen in 2001 and it sounds like it is unrelated to the bombings. There has been some question as to whether the government was correct about the identity of the culprit last time, so conspiracy theorists have new grist for the mill.

Meanwhile, we know a little more about what happened in Boston. Pressure cookers packed with black powder and probably ball bearings were used for the bombs. This is a method favored in Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan by Muslim terrorists which hints at a jihadi. In those circles there has been a call to hit sporting events lately.

Nobody has stepped forward to claim responsibility. To me this suggests a lone wolf though the idea that drone kills and such have driven terrorists further underground to the point where they don’t take credit intrigues me. This would show a level of intelligence and restraint previously unseen which would be a very bad thing. I’d rather it be a lone wolf.

It doesn’t matter if it is a lone wolf or an organized operation at this point because the government is acting like they have zero leads. While not reassuring for the public, it could be ruse so that they can track down the terrorist. At least I hope that’s the case.

What’s worse than the horror of the explosions is how the media is behaving. There has been a desperation to make out the culprit as being a white male right winger rather than simply report the news. Even if that does turn out to be the case, there is more than just a bias showing. There’s a desire for it to be thus that overrides factuality and demonstrates how hopelessly divided the nation is becoming. It is also begetting a backlash.

So score one for the bomber whatever his political, religious, or ethnic motivations may be. He’s helped make things politically worse on the national stage.

In other words, he succeeded despite all the feel good that Bostonians have rallied together stories.

Terrorism Hits Boston Marathon?

I checked in on Yahoo and saw that two bombs have gone off at the Boston Marathon today. The use of trash cans and backpacks have been reported, which sounds like a classic lone wolf bomber, but it is very early yet. Other reports say a suspect is in custody. As is usual not much is really known with talking heads and Internet denizens speculating all over the place.

There are deaths and many injured, that much has been confirmed.

It doesn’t look like an Al Qaeda style operation and reminds me of the Olympics bombing in Atlanta…

…and as soon as I typed that, the rumor that a 20 year old Saudi national is in custody. Like I typed before, it is early. That would go against the talking head speculation that it is domestic terrorism connected to Patriot Day or anti-tax groups.

UPDATE: Cell phone service is being shut down to prevent further bomb detonations. Precaution or do the authorities know something?

UPDATE: Now the Boston PD says they don’t have anyone in custody and cellphone companies say there is service in the Boston area but that it is under heavy load. Total confusion.

UPDATE: I think it is going to be awhile before we know a lot. In the mean time, I feel the frustration of not being able to do anything other than pray for those killed and injured along with their friends and loved ones. Also, the police, EMT's, and those that helped on the scene go through a lot dealing with such carnage. Please keep them in mind too.

The Media Used to Love Presidential Scandals

Until Obama was elected, that is. One of the uglier cover ups in U.S. history has been playing out since September 11 of this year. The 9/11 anniversary attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya gets more upsetting with every new bit of information that comes out. Ostensibly caused by an anti-Muhammad film on YouTube, that story has been torn to shreds and now looks like it was put in place to protect the failure of the administration to protect our ambassador.

But it is worse than that, we now know. The attack was known to be a terrorist attack and we had special forces who could have intervened and saved Ambassador Stevens. They were ordered to stand down even when they had the enemy in their sights. Repeated requests for support and help were turned down.

In the past, this would be enough for the mainstream media to raise hell until heads rolled. Now they are actively participating in the cover up, with Candy Crowley in the second presidential debate being a prime example.

We have a government that can’t be trusted. We also have a news media that can’t be trusted. That’s a bleak place to be in and doesn’t bode well for the country.

Yet what sticks in my head is the realization that this administration has no desire to protect its citizens or soldiers. Assassination lists are fine with them, but actually protecting the people? I thought they could at least be relied on for that. Sadly, I don’t think they care one whit and only care about their political careers.

This should be bigger than Watergate, bigger than Iran-Contra, and bigger than Monica Lewinsky. I guess American lives don’t have any value anymore.

Not Something You See Everyday in the Middle East

In Libya, protests against the murders of American diplomat Chris Stevens resulted in a crowd attacking an Islamist militia headquarters. I had been aware of smaller groups protesting earlier in the week, but this is quite a surprise. It gives me some hope that Libya may pull it together in the end rather than disintegrating. As Totten points out, it is quite a contrast to Egypt.

Standing up to terrorists needs to be a priority around the world and good people should not allow evil to go unchecked. Frankly, it all needs to be done locally by local people in the first place. Let this be the start of something good, I pray.

Odds and Ends 9-15-2012

It baffles me that certain movies are not out on Blu-ray or took many years to get issued, such as Lawrence of Arabia. Having obtained a minty used copy of the special edition DVD set of The Right Stuff and watching it last night, I can’t understand why there is no Blu-ray of it. It is a stupendously beautiful looking and sounding movie that deserves the full high definition treatment. It also is the shortest over three hour movie I have ever watched. By watched, I mean repeatedly over the years.

While I like my Iview Cypad 7” Android based tablet, I do need more horsepower. The Google Nexus was a disappointment in my view, since it has no HDMI out or memory card slot. The new Kindle Fire HD 7” looks terrific, but still lacks the slot and leaves you tied to Amazon’s proprietary store. Even with that, it is the current top candidate for a replacement. Ainol, a Chinese manufacturer, has a new tablet, the Novo 7 Fire, that has everything I want, but there are some early technical problems involving overheating. Its specs beat both the Nexus and Fire HD, so if they work out the difficulties, that is the one I would like to get.

After many years, Black Mesa rolled out yesterday. Black Mesa is a mod for the Source engine that recreates much of the original Half Life with all the bells and whistles of newer technology. I did a short run as far as the highly annoying jumping the crates level and have to say the wait was worth it. The attention to detail is simply amazing and the voice acting isn’t bad at all. There is a possibility they may do the Xen levels later, but hardly anybody liked those. I can’t wait to get into the fire fights and see how they are executed.

A Short Comment on the Embassy Attacks

Weakness is never a virtue and never, ever respected in the long run. What we are seeing in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen is the end result of trying to appease evil. Nothing good can come of that, so I expect a lot more to happen now that the United State is perceived as weak.

I have always advocated spreading democracy and republicanism to all states on all continents. Once I believed that it would encourage peace, but then I grew up and ceased being a teenager. Now it is because I believe that everyone must have their chance and be judged upon their resulting behavior.

Does that sound ominous? It should.

The Obama state department has been an abject failure since the beginning, insulting allies and cozying up to people who genuinely hate the West. Fear of offending our enemies and a perverse desire to offend friends has been a hallmark of this administration. So it was only a matter of time before the chickens came home to roost.

Al Qaeda and their associates coordinated the initial attacks on 9/11/2012 with the hope they would spread. Killing Osama bin Laden turned out to be as meaningless as I expected. This is a much bigger movement than one man.

Watching the media rally around the President and try to make Romney a bad guy for making a rational, not to mention needed, statement about the groveling message from the Egyptian embassy staff has been a depressing sight.

Once again, I repeat that weakness is not a virtue.

Finding Brett Kimberlin

Today is a day about defending freedom of speech and exposing a man who will go to any lengths to suppress information about what he has done, including threatening people. That man’s name is Brett Kimberlin and I do not expect you to take my word on it. Instead, I will give you links to search engines for you to explore for yourself:

Google

Bing

Ask

Check them out and come to your own conclusions about who Brett Kimberlin is and why this is important.

Blogger Flees Home Due to Left Wing Activist’s Threats

That is a pretty sensational headline and sounds inflammatory, doesn’t it? It also happens to be true. Beyond the idea of having to go on the run for your own safety reflecting the decay of America, this is a fascinating story of how a convicted terrorist and conman became influential in the Democratic Party. His nonprofit (for whom, I ask) has been heavily funded by some big name leftists such as the Tides Foundation, the Heinz Family, and Barbara Streisand.

I suggest people read up on Brett Kimberlin and ponder just how dysfunctional our society has become when people like him are allowed out of jail and into positions of influence. There has been a call to blog about him on Friday, but I felt the need to jump the gun in this case.

And people wonder why firearms sales are up.

UPDATED

The story gets worse as another blogger reveals how he has been harassed by Kimberlin and his cronies, including having an armed SWAT team sent to his house by placing a fake murder call to 911.

Basically everyone who posts about this thug are risking their livelihoods, if not their lives. While I am not even a small fry and will not be noticed, it does not matter. Unlike others, I really have nothing to lose, so I really appreciate what the bigger bloggers are doing by tackling Kimberlin.

Gaddafi Is Dead

According to the latest news, it really appears to be him. Warning, graphic pictures at the link. The gold plated .45 seems to be a strong identifier to me and it looks like him despite all the damage.

It has been a long time coming for this certifiable lunatic. I remember when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up and the Berlin disco bombing for that matter too. The world is a better place with him and his son gone, but I have a bad feeling about Libya.

After watching Egypt slide following their revolution, this one looks even messier. Islamic extremists will be looking to take power and one way or the other, they will.

For the moment, at least there is the potential of change for the better for the Libyan people. It is up to them now.

Fear of Change

Walter Russel Mead has a must read on the Oslo attacks up at The American Interest. Go read it.

Another Tim McVeigh but in Norway

With the body count soaring in Oslo to 92 at the latest count, it appears that nationalism has finally reared its ugly head in Europe. Not that it has been hiding, but the neo Nazi types haven’t been blowing things up or shooting people in this manner. Unfortunately, nationalism is always just under the surface in xenophobic Europe – especially in the North.

The media is wanting to make it out to be a Christian fundamentalist motivation for Anders Behring Breivik, but I think they’ll find it more to be a reaction to Muslim immigrants. I’ve known Norwegian Americans who are extremely racist and view the Northern European stock to be superior to all other races. So I might be a bit biased there.

Ever since I became aware of the lack of assimilation by foreign immigrants of Muslim descent in Europe, I’ve been concerned. Europeans, despite their vaunted championing of human rights, have not been socially welcoming to the hired help. Instead of using the “melting pot” concept of integration, the newcomers where essentially confined to ghettos. That’s never worked out well anywhere for increasing tolerance, understanding, or more importantly -- upward mobility in a society.

Culture clashes are always fraught with friction, but in Europe it has always involved violence on a large scale at some point. Pogroms against Jews, the Nazi extermination of minority groups, and the ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia are recent examples of an old story there. My fear is that one day we will see ethnic clashes in the old countries that end up bringing back fascist governments.

Right now I’m hoping this butcher was a sole actor and that it wasn’t an organized conspiracy. Governments in the West have their hands full enough with Islamist extremists.

Once again, I find myself only being able to pray for people that have gone through something horrible.

UPDATED

It looks like Breivek hated a lot of people, not just Muslims. He also hated Nazis and Marxists, lumping them all together while having neo-Nazi connections. It is starting to look more like Jarod Loughner rather than McVeigh, but not as obviously crazy. Definitely some serious cognitive dissonance though.

There is also a question of whether his Facebook account was changed after his name was released to include Christian and Conservative on his profile. Lulzsec or Anonymous involved? Hard to tell the way “ends justify the means” has gotten to be a standard in our world.

Interpol will be setting up a task force on non-Islamic terror and some are getting paranoid over it. If they haven’t been tracking the white supremacists and nationalists already, what in the world is wrong with them? While it may be used as a political weapon (what isn’t these days?), there has been a clear need for this for years if not decades. At least we keep an eye on ours over here, despite them being a fading threat since the Oklahoma City bombing.

Massive Explosion in Oslo, Norway

One dead and several injured according to early reports. My suspicions is that it will be found to be Islamist terrorists behind the blast which appears at first glance to have been a car bomb.

Such is the fate of those who appease. Norway and Sweden have ceded control of large urban areas to Muslim militants for years now with no entry orders to their police forces. For all the politically correct teachings out there, the simple reality is that only strength is respected. That is a sad truth about human beings that can’t be ignored for long. So showing weakness will always be taken advantage of.

I expect more of these attacks to ramp up by the end of the year across the world. Why? The debacle in Libya has exposed just how weak the West really is. Meanwhile, President Obama has a lower approval rating in the Middle East than President Bush did. Only the “strong horse” is given respect and the current administration is viewed as being very weak.

Interesting times, interesting times…

UPDATED

The body count is rising as an apparently related shooting at a socialist youth group camp associated with Norway's Labor Party happened several hours after the bombing. Initial reports are confused (the usual with this kind of event) and the shooter may be blond and blue eyed. If true, that could indicate a home grown jihadi, or worse yet, the beginnings of reactionary violence by white supremacist types.

Terrorism and Fort Hood

UPDATED

The media reaction to Nidal Malik Hasan’s attack on his fellow troops in Fort Hood has been disturbing to me.  Political correctness is acting like a lens distorting reality the way a funhouse mirror warps a reflection. As more facts emerge about Hasan, it is clear he was a jihadi. Someone just snapping from stress by proxy (what a ludicrous excuse) doesn’t try to contact al Qaeda months before shooting a bunch of American soldiers.  He doesn’t give away his belongings first and he doesn’t frequent strip joints like the 9/11 hijackers did.  Hasan did exactly that.


Many Islamic fundamentalists believe all your sins are forgiven on martyrdom, so they tend to party in forbidden ways.  That looks hypocritical to Western eyes, but it simply points out one of our cultural differences with the Islamic world.  Over at Forbes, Tunku Varadarajan has a must read piece on our problems facing what he dubs “going Muslim.”

UPDATED:
CNN proves the distorted lens by rearranging a wounded soldier's quote to make it look like he was unsure if Hasan yelled "Allhu akbar." Mudville Gazette has the details.

It isn’t like Hasan was the first to go on a killing spree in the name of Islam after 9/11. Next week on Tuesday the “D.C. Sniper” will be executed.  Seven years ago, John Allen Muhammad and his accomplice Lee Malvo  killed 10 people. Do people even remember this?  I wonder.

A big part of the problem is how the political left and their lapdogs in the media have depicted the war on terror.  J.R. Dunn at The American Thinker puts it better than I can.  I agree with him that relativism has done a great deal of damage:  allowing corruption to flourish and weakening our will to defend ourselves. Everything depends on the American people waking up.

I question whether another 9/11 would be enough.

Eight Years from 9/11

I remember when the numbers 911 came in for emergency calls and it took awhile to adjust to that, but in the end they became a standard part of the language.  Those numbers took on a whole new meaning eight years ago today. Instead of "nine-one-one" the first thing I think when I see the numbers in "Nine-Eleven."  It is a simple but profound change that affected many others, I suspect.

So I will remember the lives lost that fateful day and most likely will watch United 93 on DVD again.  It is difficult to because of the anger it provokes, but I vowed to never forget that day. Sadly, too many people have fallen prey to insane conspiracy theories or moral relativism regarding the events that cost over 3,000 people their lives.  The evils of Islamic fundamentalism still exist and we are slowly becoming complacent again. The consequences of that will not be good.

9/11: The Aftermath

We now know that El Qaeda believes they were the ones who brought the Soviet Union down. This is predicated on the idea that the war in Afghanistan bankrupted the USSR. So Reagan's policies had no effect? Amazingly dumb thinking on their part. We also know that Osama thought taking down the WTC would devastate the US economy. So much so it would collapse completely. The latest dispatch from El Qaeda talks about how the war in Iraq is bringing our economy to ruination. Once again, amazingly dumb. It also had a call for all Americans to convert to Islam, which makes every one of us fair game if we don't. This shows that they think they have the way to beat us and they are in it for the long term. It is a step towards the global caliphate, when the whole world is forced to convert to Islam.

Yet so many people in America (and the rest of the West) simply don't get it. They think that we are the bad guys, that we are evil and have persecuted the downtrodden Arabs at the Jews behest. Aside from the lunatic fringe conspiracy theories about Jews, there is a hatred of Christians who actually profess their faith while being in public office. I've run into so much hatred and histrionics from leftists that I despair about the Democratic Party ever returning to rationality.

But it isn't just the far left who are wavering, a lot of people in the middle are too. Maybe being overly educated has become a problem. My theory is that we've gotten so civilized, we've forgotten the majority of the world is still barbaric and riven by tribal and regional violence. The presumption is that they think like we do, which they very obviously don't. What seems reasonable to us is insane or corrupt to them; what we consider crazy and violent is considered normal in their circles. Amongst the greatest of mistakes humans make is to think that others think in the same manner they do. You'd think married couples would have figured out this isn't true, given the different ways the sexes think! But it applies to different cultures as well.

It is time to start thinking about the way radical Islamists think and start communicating to them in their own language. Unfortunately, that language is one punctuated by bullets, comma'd by threats, and uses bombs for exclamation marks. Which means we are going to have to become a more hardened people if we are to survive. We'll never love death the way radical Muslims do, so I don't see us becoming blood thirsty by nature. But we must tolerate more civilian casualties on the other side and more military casualties on our side. Otherwise, we'll see a lot more civilian deaths on our side.

The wheels of history are in full motion right now, so I think a lot of very bad things are unstoppable now simply because we have been terribly short sighted in the West. The enemy thinks in the long term and has been patiently maneuvering for decades. That's something we need to learn, how to operate and plan for the long term. That will require a massive change to our culture and those things don't happen overnight. Or, when a massive catastrophe happens. I'd prefer it not to be the latter, so we must remain steadfast and vigilant.

9/11 continued

We managed to tear ourselves away from the TV set as the WTC towers burned and headed to the small clinic in Spring Grove to check in with the family doctor before heading to Gunderson Clinic in La Crosse. When we arrived there, the latest news was that the Pentagon had just been hit by another plane and several others had been hijacked. The Capitol was being evacuated and so was the White House. I turned to my dad and said, "It's war." He agreed and the fear in the rest of the waiting room was tangible. At that point, I felt complete calm as I usually do during times of crisis. Dad and I discussed the idea that we were experiencing the feelings people had when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened.

At Gunderson, it was more of the same, except a flight was reported down in the woods of Pennsylvania. After the tests, we headed home instead of shopping. We got home in time to see the towers collapse, adding new horror to the day. The shock of that happening could be heard in the voices of the reporters and anchors as they realized there wouldn't be anymore rescues. That's when I began to get angry, Bin Laden had finally succeeded, a man we could have killed many times before when the Clinton administration was playing games.

But there was something bugging me already and I discussed it with my parents. It was that I was sure the American public would forget this day due to the complete softness of the Western mind. They'd go back to life as usual once the MTV sized attention span wandered and the political left sued for peace. Even then, it was apparent how contemptibly weak we are as a culture and how the enemy is fully aware of and is using it. We have freedom but not the will to protect it once faced with a long, drawn out war.

Today, we are faced with the Democratic Party doing just what I'd feared, wanting to pull back on everything and talking. Talking hasn't worked with militant Muslims, it has been an abject failure unless backed up by force. Culturally speaking, force is what is admired and respected in Islam, it is an integral part of spreading the religion and can't be separated from it. The war in Iraq was a noble attempt to introduce the virus of western freedoms and culture, but it was done on the cheap. Why? Fear of public opinion and the Democratic Party taking advantage of discontent.

So what does that mean in the overall scheme of things? It means we will not be firm in resolve until we are hit again. Inevitably, we will get hit again because they will not stop attacking until we convert to Islam, or they are utterly broken. To utterly break them will require killing millions at a minimum, or having western ideals corrupt them. Disengagement will only encourage them that they are winning.

Someone Who Gets It

I'm not a fan of Frank Miller's comic book work, I find it overly sexed, overly violent, and overly stylized. Some of his early work was good, but he became a superstar in that industry and I think that leads to a lack of discipline and an increase in excess in artists. That said, he wrote and recorded an essay for NPR that is quite good. I particularly liked this part:

Patriotism, I now believe, isn't some sentimental, old conceit. It's self-preservation. I believe patriotism is central to a nation's survival. Ben Franklin said it: If we don't all hang together, we all hang separately. Just like you have to fight to protect your friends and family, and you count on them to watch your own back.

People don't realize it, but we are in a fight for survival and the odds don't look to good for us. Islam is much closer to world domination than it appears, for it only takes a certain percentage of people in a nation to rule it. They just have to be ruthless, focused, and extremely violent. The rest will follow out of fear, history shows that.

9/11

Like most bloggers on this fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I'm writing about that fateful day. Unlike many Americans, I refuse to ignore the photos, the footage, and the bad memories of the attacks. Those who willfully try to bury it so that they can "heal" are in terrible error, the kind of error that will guarantee defeat in what is really a massive cultural war. I've heard it said that Islamic fundamentalists are a small minority of Muslims, with a conservative estimate of ten percent (likely more). So, what is ten percent of 1.2 billion? That's over one hundred million. This is a war they started long ago and one that will drag on for decades if it continues to stay a low level war. So we must look at those pictures of still living people jumping and falling from the WTC towers, we must look at the wounded and maimed at the embassy bombings, and we must remember if we are to prevail!

Five years ago, my family was preparing to take my mother to the clinic to try to get to the root of her breathing problems. At the time, I couldn't drive and neither could she, so it was up to my dad to be the sole provider of transportation. So there was milling about, as trips to La Crosse were all day affairs with shopping wedged into the schedule. We turned on the DirecTV receiver and tuned into the CBS affiliate we got from satellite. At that time it was the one in New York City and they were showing live footage of the World Trade Center. Apparently a small plane had flown into one of the towers and it was being called an accident. I said it was probably a terrorist attack, as there had been talk of them using private planes loaded with explosives for some time. For some years I'd been keeping track of Islamic terrorists and the failed Millennium plot, the attack on the U.S.S. Cole, and the assassination of the Northern Alliance warlord Massoud a few days earlier had my antenna up. Right away, Osama Bin Laden came to mind with his obsession at destroying the towers being well known.

As we were watching the live footage with the airheaded anchors babbling on, I saw a jet streak into the other tower. I said "That was another plane." Then I began ranting at the idiots on air to shut up and roll back the tape, while telling my parents another plane had hit the WTC. I knew it was Bin Laden and that the first plane hadn't been a small one like they'd said. We watched a little longer and I knew we were at war, one that probably would last the rest of my life.