The techniques used against the most stalwart al-Qaida members, such as Abu Zubaydah, included one terrifying procedure referred to as “the attention grasp.” As described in horrifying detail in the Justice Department memo, the “attention grasp” consisted of:
“(G)rasping the individual with both hands, one hand on each side of the collar opening, in a controlled and quick motion. In the same motion as the grasp, the individual is drawn toward the interrogator.”
The end.
And that’s not all! As the torments were gradually increased, next up the interrogation ladder came “walling.” This involves pushing the terrorist against a flexible wall, during which his “head and neck are supported with a rolled hood or towel that provides a C-collar effect to prevent whiplash.”
People pay to have a lot rougher stuff done to them at Six Flags Great Adventure.
As the memo darkly notes, walling doesn’t cause any pain, but is supposed to induce terror by making a “loud noise”: “(T)he false wall is in part constructed to create a loud sound when the individual hits it, which will further shock and surprise.” (!!!)
The CIA’s interrogation techniques couldn’t be more ridiculous if they were out of Monty Python’s Spanish Inquisition sketch:
Cardinal! Poke her with the soft cushions! …
Hmm! She is made of harder stuff! Cardinal Fang! Fetch … THE COMFY CHAIR!
So you think you are strong because you can survive the soft cushions. Well, we shall see. Biggles! Put her in the Comfy Chair! …
Now — you will stay in the Comfy Chair until lunchtime, with only a cup of coffee at 11.
Further up the torture ladder — from Guantanamo, not Monty Python — comes the “insult slap,” which is designed to be virtually painless, but involves the interrogator invading “the individual’s personal space.”
I will spare you the gruesome details of the CIA’s other comical interrogation techniques and leap directly to the penultimate “torture” in their arsenal: the caterpillar.
In this unspeakable brutality, a harmless caterpillar is placed in the terrorist’s cell. Justice Department lawyers expressly denied the interrogators’ request to trick the terrorist into believing the caterpillar was a “stinging insect.”
The most fiendish method of torture ever devised by the human mind.
Finally, the most savage interrogation technique at Guantanamo was “waterboarding,” which is only slightly rougher than the Comfy Chair.
Thousands of our troops are waterboarded every year as part of their training, but not until it was done to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — mastermind of the 9/11 attack on America — were liberal consciences shocked.
As non-uniformed combatants, all of the detainees at Guantanamo could have been summarily shot on the battlefield under the Laws of War.
Instead, we gave them comfy chairs, free lawyers, better food than is served in Afghani caves, prayer rugs, recreational activities and top-flight medical care — including one terrorist who was released, whereupon he rejoined the jihad against America, after being fitted for an expensive artificial leg at Guantanamo, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.
Only three terrorists — who could have been shot — were waterboarded.
Using EIT on 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed disrupted “dozens” of planned al-Qaida attacks and saved hundreds and thousands of lives.Waterboarding 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed led to information that prevented a similar attack on Los Angeles.
For how the terrorists at Guantanamo Bay are treated (to free Qurans, Game Boys, laptop computers, air conditioning, exercise equipment, vocational training, plenty of good food), see The Horrors of Holiday Club Gitmo.
There, you can also witness what REAL TORTURE, NOT BY THE AMERICANSlooks like:
JOHOR BARU: A DNA analysis centre will be set up here to cater to the needs of the southern region, said Chemistry Department director-general N. Hithaya Jeevan.
The centre, expected to begin operations by the middle of next year, will ease the workload of the forensics department as DNA analysis could be done faster, he said, adding that it could help police solve criminal cases quicker, too.
Hithaya explained that analysis done at its headquarters in Petaling Jaya took a longer time because it is the only such centre in Peninsular Malaysia now.
“Analysis that takes a month or longer to be processed in Petaling Jaya can now be obtained in two to three weeks if done in Johor Baru,” he told reporters after launching the department’s 100th year celebration at the Johor branch here yesterday.
The centre would cost about RM1.5mil to RM2mil to set up, he said, adding that it would also help to lower the cost of DNA analysis, as inter-state travelling was not required.
He explained that one of two blocks would be upgraded and the DNA analysis centre would be set up in the renovated block, adding that renovations were expected to begin next month.
Hithaya said Johor received about 15 cases requiring DNA analysis a month.
There is a centre in Kuching while the third centre in Penang is expected to begin operations by the middle of this year.
A new branch of the Chemistry Department would be opened in Kota Baru in June, he added.
Then again, recalling how the JB police didn’t even care to visit the crime scene to eveb look see, even just hours after I was robbed, where they would have found huge drops of blood from the robbers…
Hoosier Army Mom requested that I take a look at this thing called the ‘Freedom of Choice Act’ (FOCA). Having no idea what it is, I had to read up a bit.
From Hoosier Army Mom’s blog post, which also covers something called the ‘U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child ‘(UNCRC), here’s what I gleaned…
On FOCA:
1) FOCA stands for the Freedom of Choice Act.
2) President Obama made a promise to Planned Parenthood (the top abortion business and, ironically in light of Obama’s support, known anti-Black racists) that the first thing he would do as president is sign this act.
3) FOCA would take away every restriction on abortion nationwide.
1) It is a treaty which creates binding rules of law. It is no mere statement of altruism.
2) Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.
3) A murderer aged 17 years, 11 months and 29 days at the time of his crime could no longer be sentenced to life in prison.
4) Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion. [Think about it: your 4 year old daughter embracing Free Love philosophy.]
5) The best interest of the child principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision. [And we all know how capable and upstanding government workers can be.]
6) A child’s “right to be heard” would allow him (or her) to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed. [Supreme Court case: Junior vs Parents on Right to hourly cocaine-laced ice cream.]
7) Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure. [The definition of which being subject to government worker’s judgment and government review of course.]
8 ) Christian schools that refuse to teach “alternative worldviews” and teach that Christianity is the only true religion “fly in the face of article 29″ of the treaty. [What was I saying about Free Love philosophy again?]
10) Children would have the right to reproductive health information and services, including abortions, without parental knowledge or consent. [Gonna need that every few months with the Free Love thing going on.]
JOHOR BARU: Members of the public and two policemen overpowered a parang-wielding robber and his accomplice after they slashed a 62-year-old man on his hand in an attempted robbery in Taman Sri Tebrau.
Johor police chief Deputy Commissioner Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said the armed assailant and two others approached the victim as he was about to alight from his parked car and slashed him, forcing him back into his car.
“Members of the public alerted the police and tried to help the victim, but the assailant started threatening them,” he said.
However, when the police arrived, the group helped the policemen to overpower two of the suspects, while one got away in the incident on April 23.
DCP Mohd Mokhtar said that the suspects, aged 24 and 28, have prior convictions.
He said both men have been remanded to assist in investigations
It may actually be the best option to run or fight when confronted by JB criminals, since they have repeatedly proven to hurt you anyway if you just surrender.
Even in the case above, the robbers wounded first, and demanded later.
But make sure you know what you’re doing and have the capability for such action.
Now anyone who has followed my blog knows that I haven’t thought very highly of our current Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then just recap that he…
Now, the cynic and skeptic and paranoid is suspicious, and warns that this could all be a public relations ploy that is designed to keep critics’ guard down. It remains to be seen whether all these advances are genuine, or merely the enthusiastic efforts of a naive honeymoon period (much as Badawi tried, and failed, to budge the entrenched establishment).
Honestly, some of his recent moves seem to be the exact opposite of his purported pre-PM actions (the banning, then reinstatement of Harakah and Suara Keadilan for example).
What would seal the deal for me? If PM Najib really ticks off UMNO! That would solidly prove to us all that PM Najib really is working for the best for all Malaysian!!!
Isn’t it fabulous how Obama has reconciled with our enemies and put fear into the hearts of Americans? Does any image illustrate so neatly the wrongheadedness of the Obama administration than Americans scrambling in terror from Air Force One? – Tantor
And now, two months after their idiocy, they finally release their own photos to prove how much it was worth the taxpayer money and panic.
A jumbo jet being chased by a F-16 fighter jets buzzed Lower Manhattan this morning, panicking New Yorkers, many of whom were forced to evacuate their office buildings.
It was not a terrorist attack, however, but a photo opportunity for Air Force One, sources told the Post.
President Obama was in Washington at the time, but the low-flying 747 circling the Statue of Liberty was one of the planes used as Air Force One, sources said.
The NYPD and the city were notified of the planned flight, but did not share that information with Mayor Bloomberg and other New Yorkers, many of whom said they were terrified.
It wasn’t an attack, or even a drill — it was a government sponsored photo op.
The Pentagon did tell local authorities about the startling fly-over that sent a Boeing 747 and a F-16 fighter screaming over New York’s scarred skyline, but officials said they couldn’t share the information with the public. They couldn’t even share the information with the mayor.
Mayor Bloomberg said he was “furious” and criticized both the feds and his own administration for failing to issue a simple warning to the public in a city that is still somewhat traumatized by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
“The good news is it was nothing more than an inconsiderate, badly conceived and insensitive photo op with the taxpayers’ money,” Bloomberg said.
“It’s completely asinine after 9/11 to do that,” said Keith Mercantine, who witnessed the chaos in Jersey City. “I saw ambulances out here with pregnant women.”
White House Military Office director Louis Caldera issued a brief statement.
“Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision,” he said. “While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, its clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused.”…
Via Gateway Pundit, it seems the White House knew the stunt would cause panic, and did it anyway!
In a memo obtained by CBS 2 HD the Federal Aviation Administration’s James Johnston said the agency was aware of “the possibility of public concern regarding DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft flying at low altitudes” in an around New York City. But they demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor’s office and threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out.
“To say that it should not be made public knowing that it might scare people it’s just confounding,” Sen. Charles Schumer said. “It’s what gives Washington and government a bad name. It’s sheer stupidity.”
John Leitner, a floor trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange Building, said about 1,000 people “went into a total panic” and ran out of the building around 10 a.m. after seeing the planes whiz by their building, near the World Trade Center site.
Another reader who responded to msnbc.com’s request for photos said: “Video? Picture? Who the heck had time for that?!?!?! We were all too busy getting the heck out of the building!
“A coworker, whose desk faces the window, all of a sudden had this huge jumbo jet in his face,” wrote Jenny Espinosa. “This poor kid freaked. One woman who works in our building, and is pregnant, had a panic attack and almost collapsed.”
Among the workers who left their buildings were some at The Wall Street Journal.
Kathleen Seagriff, a staff assistant in the news rooms, said workers heard the roar of the planes and then saw them from their windows.
“They went down the Hudson, turned around and came back by the building,” she said. “It was a scary scene, especially for those of us who were there on 9/11.”
Via Michelle Malkin, who has a link to a video of the plane buzzing the Statue of Liberty:
New York City officials notified some businesses but not all city agencies or the general public.
The U.S. Air Force, which operates the president’s plane, said the “aerial photo mission” involved an F-16 fighter jet escort and one of the Boeing 747s designated as Air Force One when the president is aboard. Obama was not on board.
An administration official says a presidential Boeing 747 and a fighter jet flew low near ground zero in New York City Monday because the White House Military Office wanted to update its file photo of the president’s plane near the Statue of Liberty.
Using military resources for a cheap photo-op. Scaring the pants off the public. Exploiting 9/11 imagery for self-aggrandizement. Keeping secrets and causing mass panic.
Um, can you imagine if a GOP administration did this?
An FAA spokesman, Jim Peters, defended the event, calling it “a planned, pre-approved military flight over New York to take photos.” He said it was “pre-coordinated with everyone involved, including the city.”
Except that an FAA memo specifically warned officials that if they released information about the flights to the public or the press, they’d be violating the law.
Come on, who’s surprised? The White House-engineered photo-op of low-flying Air Force aircraft that caused terror in New York City this week epitomizes the Age of Obama. What better way to mark 100 days in office than with an appalling exercise in pointless, taxpayer-funded stagecraft.
The superficiality, the unseriousness, the hubris, the obliviousness to post-9/11 realities: They were trademarks of the Obama campaign and they are the tattoos on his governance.
He never leaves home without his teleprompter. All the Obama world’s a stage. Or a world ready to be staged.
So, is it any wonder he would staff his White House Military Office with a clueless paper-pusher who saw nothing wrong with spending inordinate government resources – and recreating 9/11 havoc — to update Air Force One publicity shots? And who planned, believe it or not, to do the same in Washington, D.C., next month, where 53 passengers and 6 crew members on board American Airlines Flight 77, and 125 military and civilian personnel inside the Pentagon were murdered by the 9/11 jihadists?
All for some damned publicity shots.
“Man-caused disaster.” That’s a perfect description of the Scare Force One torture photo op that took place this week, and an apt summary of the last 100 days. Say cheese.
The report was prepared at the request of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) while Democrats were in the minority. (Waxman is now chairman ofthe committee).
Entitled “THE COST OF PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE PRESIDENTIAL POLITICAL TRAVEL,” the report was clearly intended to criticize President Bush and Vice President Cheney’s extensive travel around the country to campaign for Republicans in the midterm elections.
It reads in part: “This report assumes that flight operating costs are $56,518 per hour for Air Force One and $14,552 per hour for Air Force Two. These figures are based on the perhour cost figures cited by GAO for fiscal year 2000, adjusted for inflation.”
After asking for ideas to cut federal spending this past weekend in his weekly YouTube Address, the Obama White House freaked out New York City residents by sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz Ground Zero and the Statue of Liberty on Monday morning for a photo-op.
The cost of the morning photo-shoot was $328,835. (Bloomberg)
Michelle Malkin takes them to task again in a syndicated column:
My column today follows up on the taxpayer-subsidized photos of the Scare Force One flyover that the White House doesn’t want us to see. Look how the administration responded to press questions yesterday:
At the daily press briefing, a reporter asked Mr. Gibbs why the White House had not authorized release of the photographs.
“I’ve watched CNN. I didn’t notice a lack of archival material from that flight,” Mr. Gibbs said.
“No, from inside the plane,” a reporter replied. “The photos they took, we haven’t seen those.”
“I don’t know where those are,” Mr. Gibbs said.
Greatest Transparency Ever!
This story is not going away.
The selective transparency of Barack Obama
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009
Sunlight is for suckers. The New York Post reported on Tuesday that the White House will not release the $328,835 snapshots taken of the president’s Boeing VC-25A that buzzed lower Manhattan. The entire world has seen news and amateur photos and videos of the incident. But if President Obama has his way, taxpayers won’t be able to see the flyover photos they paid for with their own money.
This will make for an interesting response to my Freedom of Information Act requests. After the bizarre mission caused distress and panic among countless New York City residents who were intentionally left in the dark about the photo-op stunt, I filed two public records requests with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Staff FOIA Requester Service Center. The first one requests any and all communication — including e-mail and other public records and including any and all correspondence between the White House Military Office, Department of Defense, and other agencies — related to the planned federal aerial mission over New York City on April 27, 2009. Specifically, I requested all public records related to and including the flight manifests, and related to the origin of the request for the mission. The second filing requests any and all photos taken during the planned federal aerial mission approved by the White House Military Office.
What rationale could they possibly use to stifle public disclosure? National security? These were glamour shots to enhance the Air Force One photo portfolio. That’s no secret. The White House ‘fessed up on that. Withholding the photos serves only one purpose: protecting the backsides of those involved in this botched p.r. mission.
From Day One, President Obama has demonstrated a rather self-serving selectivity when it comes to transparency. The Obama White House rushed to reverse an 18-year ban photographing the flag-draped coffins of troops arriving back on American soil. And at the behest of the American Civil Liberties Union, his administration is set to release at least 21 classified photographs by May 28 showing detainee abuse in prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Openness in government is fine if it hurts America’s reputation, but not if it harms Obama’s.
JOHOR BARU: An 80-year-old grandfather was brutally slashed by robbers on motorcycles even after he handed over his cash and a Seiko watch to them.
A bleeding Ang Siow Kee staggered back home to his family who rushed him to the hospital where he was admitted for three days.
The octogenarian required 23 stitches for two slash wounds to his scalp caused by the parang attack at about 5.15am on April 22.
He was on his way to the bus stop to go to town to meet his friends, just as he had done two to three times a week for the past 20 years.
Siow Kee said he was a few metres away from his house along Jalan Kasa 7 in Taman Sentosa when two men set upon him, holding a parang and demanding money.
Terrified, he quickly handed over his wallet containing RM200 and his watch.
Still, the robbers slashed him three times and sped off, leaving him bathed in blood.
His son, hawker Ang Ah Hiang, 48, said he had a terrible shock on seeing his father coming home with blood streaming down his face and body.
“Blood was all over the road and in the house. We rushed him to two nearby clinics, both of which refused to treat him because of the severity of his injury.”
[Scott: What the heck! Is this country’s healthcare totally socialized already?!!!]
He said his father finally received treatment at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital.
They were speaking at a press conference at their home organised by Johor Baru City Councillor Rodney Soon.
Soon urged the police to start operations at the police beat base along Jalan Songket 2, which was completed six months ago.
He added that he would assist the family to make a police report in the next few days.
The following is a chronological account of the controversy surrounding Miss California Carrie Prejean’s remarks on what marriage means to her, with links to coverage and videos.
Personally, I feel that she has become more famous than if she had denied her own convictions and pandered to political correctness, and actually won the Miss USA title. God bless you, Carrie!
————————————–
First, Miss California, Carrie Prejean is asked during the Miss USA contest to pick a judge who will ask her a question. She chooses Perez Hilton, who asks her about her views on states legalizing gay marriage. She answers honestly that she believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman. She is cheered by the audience for her answer.
Perez Hilton: “Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?”
Carrie Prejean: “Well I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. Um, we live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage and, you know what, in my country and in, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there. But that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think that it should be between a man and a woman.”
Then, Perez Hilton ratches it up, taking back his apology and saying on an interview that he actually meant to call Carrie Prejean a ‘c*nt’ rather than a ‘b*tch’. Video at the Michelle Malkin and Moonbattery links.
Meanwhile, Carrie Prejean has no regrets about the way she answered, and says that God was testing her faith. See here for why she might have said that.
FOXNews.com: “How are you feeling today?”
Carrie Prejean: “Honestly, happy. This happened for a reason. By having to answer that question in front of a national audience, God was testing my character and faith. I’m glad I stayed true to myself.”
While Perez Hilton (who was not the target of insults) rants and raves and spews more vile epithets, the classy Carrie Prejean says that she is praying for Perez Hilton and feels sorry for him. Video at the link.
“I can only say to him that I will be praying for him. I feel sorry for him, I really do,” Prejean said. “I think he’s angry, I think he’s hurt. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. He asked me specifically what my opinion was on that subject and I gave him an honest answer… It (the Perez question) was obviously a test of my faith. A test of my character; my person. And, I am blessed to be here right now.”
Then, Carrie Prejean again says in another a video interview that she feels sorry for Perez Hilton. She doesn’t think it’s right that she was penalized for her personal views. See ADDENDUM at bottom of the page for reference for her ‘majority of the people in my state agreed with me’ remark.
Carrie Prejean: “I wasn’t concerned about any other state except my state. A majority of the people in my state agreed with me. They believe a marriage should be between a man and a woman and I was marked down because of my opinion. And, I don’t think that’s right.”
Meanwhile, pro-gay Hollywood types jump into the fray by releasing a video attacking those who do not support homosexual marriage, with a fistful of anti-Christian remarks thrown in. Video at the link.
With the way some in Hollywood have piled on Miss California Carrie Prejean since Sunday’s Miss USA pageant, one might think the 21-year-old college student had called for a tax on botox, instead of speaking out against gay marriage.
First, Perez Hilton called her a “dumb [expletive]” in a self-produced video on his Web site.
Then Tinsletown took to Twitter, as the likes of Shanna Moakler, Giuliana Rancic, Holly Madison and Heidi Montag Tweeted their outrage.
Moakler, who is co-chair of the Miss California pageant, Twittered “I agree with Perez 100 [percent].”
E! News anchor Giuliana Rancic Twittered on Tuesday that “I know i’m a journalist, and i should be objective … but she is an ignorant disgrace and she makes me sick to my stomach.”
Michelle Malkin includes a summary of the whole hoo-hah for reading by the general public in a syndicated column. It seems that Perez Hilton spews his hate on Larry King as well, and that the Miss USA organizers have chosen to support him over Carrier Prejean.
$%^&*!!: Civility and tolerance in the Age of Obama
Celebrity leech/trash blogger Perez Hilton took to the Internet and TV airwaves to humiliate a beauty pageant contestant who gave what he considered an “offensive” answer about gay marriage. Hilton, inexplicably serving as a judge of the Miss USA contest, had asked Miss California Carrie Prejean whether she supported the legalization of gay marriage. Prejean respectfully answered: “I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.” President Obama, by the way, defines marriage the same way Carrie Prejean does.
No matter. Hilton immediately lambasted Prejean as a “dumb b*tch” in a viral YouTube video he taped after the pageant Sunday night. He apologized the next morning for the attack, then retracted his apology, then escalated his divisive rhetoric. On Tuesday afternoon, Hilton told an MSNBC female anchor that he was thinking of an even more vulgar epithet – the “c-word” – as he listened to Prejean’s answer. The female anchor said nothing. Basking in his new role as thought and speech enforcer, Hilton told CNN’s Larry King that beauty pageant contestants must bow to the tolerance mob: “Yes. I do expect Miss USA to be politically correct.”
And apparently, the Miss USA organizers agree. Instead of apologizing for pageant judge Perez Hilton’s vile behavior, the pageant director of the Miss California contest, Keith Lewis, sent a note to Hilton throwing Prejean under the bus: “I am personally saddened and hurt that Miss CA USA 2009 believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman…Religious beliefs have no place in politics in the Miss CA family.”
Some of Carrie Prejean’s fellow Miss USA contestants say that she should have been more ‘politically correct’, i.e., ought to have lied in order to win.
The Miss USA contestants from the four states that allow same-sex marriage say Miss California should have been more politically correct and socially aware when she was asked for her thoughts on the issue during the nationally televised pageant on Sunday.
Miss Massachusetts Alison Cronin told FOXNews.com she was “shocked” when Carrie Prejean, 21, told Miss USA judge and celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton that she believes marriage should be “between a man and a woman.”
“It’s really hard to think that people still think that way,” Cronin said. “But at the same time, there’s a lot of girls in pageants who wear their religion on their sleeve. If that’s what she thinks, I give her credit for expressing that, but that’s not how I feel.”
Cronin, 22, said she supports gay marriage.
Miss Connecticut Monica Mary Pietzrak, called Prejean a “wonderful girl” but said she should have been more conscious of the national audience.
“In general, when you’re answering a question like that, you have to be politically correct about it,” Pietzrak told FOXNews.com. “I would’ve answered differently to help accommodate all beliefs. It’s a decision between two individuals, and not just a man and a woman.”
Pietzrak said she doesn’t share Prejean’s view that marriage should be limited to opposite-sex couples. “I don’t personally agree with that, but people have a choice to do whatever they want.”
Miss Iowa Chelsea Lynn Gauger, 20, said her state, whose Supreme Court just this month declared a legislative ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, is ahead of the country.
“Being from Iowa, I’m proud to say that our state has interpreted the Constitution to say that gays have the right to marry,” Gauger said. “Whether you agree with [Prejean] or not, to be on national television and say exactly how you feel, it does take strength and faith.”
“People have blown it out of proportion,” Gauger added. “I don’t think people are thinking what it would be like to be up there like she was. It’s sad that people can’t just keep their feelings to themselves.”
Miss Vermont Brooke Werner, who said she was shocked by Prejean’s statement, acknowledged the high-pressure situation that many, including Miss California herself, thought cost her the crown.
“Everyone has a right to their own actions,” Werner said. “But I totally disagree with Carrie. I have a very different perspective on gay marriage and I would have never said what she said.”
Cronin said if Prejean had answered differently, she might be taking promotional tours this week instead of defending her comments.
“Had she gone the other way with the question, she might have won,” Miss Massachusetts said. “I’m surprised that she would say it, knowing the demographic she was speaking to.”
But Prejean’s decision not to compromise her beliefs was admirable, Cronin said.
“She would’ve made herself look more like an idiot if she changed her mind,” she said. “You got to be able to back up your opinion and not become wishy-washy. Good for her for standing by it.”
And here’s what the owner of the Miss USA contest, Donal Trump has to say – that basically, Perez Hilton put Carrie Prejean in a no-win situation.
The owner of the Miss Universe franchise finally addressed the scandal surrounding his Miss USA pageant to FOX News Thursday, saying that he has received thousands of calls and letters, the majority of which support Miss California’s comments on gay marriage.
Many have argued that the answer cost Prejean the crown. But Trump disagreed, congratulating Dalton and saying that she deserved to win.
“I am very honored that she won,” Trump told FOX News. “She really did a fantastic job … She was doing well on every single card and she really did answer also a very, very tough question very well.”
But Trump defended Prejean as well, disagreeing with Perez Hilton’s assertion that it was the worst answer in the history of the Miss USA pageant.
“Miss California has done a wonderful job, that was her belief … It wasn’t a bad answer, that was simply her belief.”
Trump added that Prejean’s question was “a bit unlucky,” arguing that no matter how she answered the question “she was going to get killed.”
All the way across the Atlantic ocean, Alan Duncan,a member of the Tory Party of the United Kingdom, insults and jokes about killing Carrie Prejean.
Shadow leader of the House of Commons Alan Duncan was appearing on BBC comedy show “Have I Got News For You” when he made the gaffe.
Mr Duncan, who had earlier in the show revealed his ambition to become Home Secretary, was discussing American Beauty Queen Carrie Prejean’s belief that same sex marriages were wrong.
And the MP called her a “silly b***h” and said “If you read that Miss California is murdered you will know it was me”.
The comment has provoked outrage among viewers with complaints being filed with the BBC and the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
The Rev George Hargreaves, leader of the Christian Party said today “Mr Duncan has crossed the line. A senior politician suggesting, even as a joke, that it is OK that Ms. Prejean should be murdered for her Evangelical Christian views is totally unacceptable.
A tabloid website posts revealing pictures of Carrie Prejean without her consent and mocks her Christian faith:
With partially nude photos of her popping up on Web sites questioning her Christian credentials, Miss California USA Carrie Prejean has fired back, claiming the racy pictures are just modeling shots and vowing to continue her battle against same-sex marriage.
“I am a Christian, and I am a model,” Prejean said in a statement released overnight to the media. “Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos. Recently, photos taken of me as a teenager have been released surreptitiously to a tabloid Web site that openly mocks me for my Christian faith. I am not perfect, and I will never claim to be.”
…The Web site thedirty.com claimed that it had six pictures of Prejean. As of Tuesday morning, it had posted one on its site. The picture shows Prejean wearing nothing but a pair of revealing pink panties and smiling over her shoulder at the camera. Her breasts are covered by her arm.
The picture was deemed too racy to be shown on the TODAY Show.
Carrie Prejean sues Miss California contest for religious discrimination:
Carrie Prejean’s attorney, Charles S. LiMandri announced today that the former Miss California USA is filing a complaint in the Superior Court of California against Miss California USA officials Keith Lewis and Shanna Moakler, and publicist Roger Neal. The complaint cites damages to Miss Prejean including libel, public disclosure of private facts, religious discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Miss Prejean was fired from her role as Miss California USA in June of this year, following several months of controversy over her answer at the Miss USA pageant regarding same-sex marriage. Lewis claimed Miss Prejean’s termination was due to a violation of contract. Miss Prejean’s complaint will refute that allegation, and demonstrate that both the chronology and factual evidence clearly show she lived up to all her contractual obligations, but was fired, harassed and publicly attacked solely due to her religious beliefs.
And Perez Hilton draws vulgar graphics onto Carrie Prejean’s photo in response (American Power link 1 below).
A reminder of what homosexual marriage supporters are like when it comes to discourse with their opponents:
Separation of church and hate… Is what the fence is doing.
The scene of this ‘peaceful, tolerance-promoting protest’ is Carrie Prejean’s California, by the way. The state’s voters recently passed Proposition 8, restricting the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman, by 52.24% to 47.76%. So in giving her honest answer, she was reflecting the beliefs of a majority of her home state.
His opponent is Daz Bones, code name Mr. 1. His entire body has the properties of solid steel, and not just steel, but steel blades.
Due to the fact that his very limbs are his weapons, Mr. 1 doesn’t fight like a traditional swordsman so much as an ‘unarmed’ martial artist – using kicks, hand strikes and Capoeira/acrobatic spins to engage the opponent.
Pit these two very unconventional swordfighting styles against one another, and you have a unique matchup, which I present to you along with play by play narration below the fold!
Hah! I got it in at last. Eat this, global warming hysterians!
I re-added the links to news and science sites in the citations (in non-bolded links below), as Malaysiakini removed them. They left in some of the links as they saw fit, however (in bolded links below).
Allow me to respond by citing five simple facts about global warming that are seldom heard.
1. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis[pages 5-8], only 1~2% of the atmosphere is made up of greenhouse gases. Of that amount of greenhouse gases, only 3.62 percent of it is carbon dioxide.
And most significantly for proponents of anthropogenic global warming, only 3.4% of that carbon dioxide is emitted by human activity. That is to say, even if all human activities were immediately shut down tomorrow, 96.6% of the carbon dioxide would not be affected.
[Which also means that only 0.28% of the greenhouse effect is human-caused.]
2. The wavelength of radiation that carbon dioxide absorbs is not only very narrow, it is also already mostly absorbed by other gases – such as the water vapour the writer mentions.
And this is also affected by the law of diminishing returns – once carbon dioxide and other gases absorb all this radiation, then adding more carbon dioxide does not have any effect – the radiation is already being absorbed in full. (Source: Page 13 of this PDF)
3. Historical data shows that temperature always rises first, followed 800 years later by carbon dioxide levels. This is the reverse of what global warming theory claims.
4. How is temperature measured, anyway? Nasa relies mostly on ground-based measuring instruments. However, many of them are placed in reallystupidlocations where they are exposed to a lot of temporary heat.
You should really take a look at the hilarious photos of temperature sensors placed in hot car parking lots, next to air-conditioner exhaust vents, inches from exposed light bulbs, and near flaming barbeque grills.
Don’t you think this biases the temperature measurements towards the hotter end of the scale?
5. Global warming? What global warming? Where? Where? Does anybody even read the news anymore, or are they content to parrot decades-old talking points about melting ice caps and rising oceans? Extra credit to you if you know that:
The oceans have been cooling since 2003. (Source: Nasa)
Arctic ice is back to 1979 levels, meaning no net melting has occurred in 30 years. (Source: Daily Tech)
The melting scare in recent years might have been caused by scientists having undermeasured the amount of ice by 500,000 square kilometers due to a sensor glitch, as they now bashfully admit. (Source: Bloomberg)
Antarctic ice is at the highest levels ever recorded. (Source: Heartland Institute)
[And it is proven that the ice is expanding! (Source: The Australian)]
It snowed in Saudi Arabia during their coldest winter in 30 years. (Yes, it snowed in the Desert Kingdom!) (Source: Arabian Business.com)
It snowed in Iraq for the first time in 100 years. (Source: Reuters)
In 2009, it snowed in the United Arab Emirates for the second time in history. When was the first time? In 2004. (Source: Associated Free Press and Terra Daily)
China had its coldest winter in 100 years. (Source: Reuters)
Pakistan had its coldest temperatures in 70 years. (Source: The Indian Express)
Australia had its coldest summer in 50 years. (Source: Bloomberg)
Mumbai, India had its coldest winter in 40 years. (Source: India News)
Takijistan, formerly part of the Soviet Union, had its coldest winter in more than 25 years. (Source: npr)
There was record cold in Vietnam. (Source: Earth Times)
A rare snowfall occurred in Jerusalem. (Source: BBC)
All this chill is probably why the fearmongers’ language has gradually been shifted to ‘climate change’ instead of ‘global warming’. So do tell me, how does the alleged carbon dioxide heating up the planet cause all this cooling climate change?
Finally, the writer insinuates that there are ‘forces bent on denying the scientific evidence related to climate change’, that is, ‘businesses whose profits depends on humankind continuing unabated on this downward path, and the politicians funded by these businesses.’
Tell that to Al Gore, head cheerleader of global warming doom-saying – whose film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ was officially ruled by the British High Court to be unscientific and one-sidedly political.
[Addition: Two thirds of people no longer believe that global warming is human caused!]
Don’t naively believe everything a pundit claims. Heck, don’t even believe what I am saying – go and check it all out for yourselves. All the above facts are backed up by citations from legitimate news sources that can be viewed here.
Free thinking, but not a Free Thinker.
A Christian and a scientist, but not a Christian Scientist.
Believing in a universal church, but not a Catholic.
Trying to be a saint in these latter days, but not a Latter Day Saint.
A witness for Jehovah, but not a Jehovah's Witness.
Sumitted to God, but not a Muslim.
Seeking knowledge, but not a Gnostic.
Rational in thinking, but not a Rationalist.
Upholding humanity, but not a Humanist.
A supporter of liberation, but not a Liberal.
A supporter of democracy, but not a Democrat.
Acknowledging the importance of social values, but not a Socialist.
Seeking and valuing truth, but not a Truther.
THE SCOTTTCAST 
