Middle East Quick Hits

Israel announces that it will release 100 prisoners in honor of Ramadan.

How come no one is calling on Hamas or Hizbullah to release Shalit, Goldwasser or Regev in honor of Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur?

Double Standard much?

Then again, Israel is arresting more Palestinians these days in sweeps of Gaza looking for terrorists responsible for firing rockets into Israel.

Syria says that Israel didn't bomb nuclear facilities or any other facilities for that matter in a curious incident last week. There are reports that Israel did strike at nuclear facilities linked to North Korea located in Syria or at the missile defense systems set up nearby. Syria is up to no good, and North Korea may be providing assistance in setting up Syria with nukes.

Al Qaeda continues threatening tribal leaders in Iraq who are working with the US. That's going to be counterproductive for al Qaeda as killing tribal leaders is only going to further separate al Qaeda from those it seeks to lure over to its Islamist ideals. Al Qaeda's heavy handed Islamist views actually turned those tribes off to al Qaeda and into the arms of the American forces, who can and do go after al Qaeda. With the tribes providing intel and openly assisting in the security efforts, al Qaeda is on the run. Al Qaeda hopes to cow those tribes into submission by killing tribal leaders, but I think that the terrorist group has seriously miscalculated.

Iran's puppet Sadr has resigned from the Shi'ite coalition. He's being marginalized inside Iraq, and his forces have been marginalized by US and Iraqi forces.

Ahmadinejad is on his way to the UN once again, and he's going to go on a world tour with [T]hugo Chavez. No surprises there. They're two peas in a pod - which should be launched into space without oxygen. Ahmadinejad continues to threaten Israel and issues statements calling for its destruction.

Is Elizabeth Edwards Running For President?

You know, it's interesting that Elizabeth Edwards gets far more press than her husband. She just came out opposing the MoveOn.org ad smearing General David Petraeus. It's the right call, but is it surprising that John Edwards didn't make that statement himself? This is a pattern over the past several months.

You'd have to wonder which one of them is actually running for President the way things are going. I suspect it's intentional since Johnny boy doesn't exactly inspire a whole lot of confidence in anything more than his hair care regime. Either that, or John Edwards actually supports the MoveOn.org position vis-a-vis the claims that Gen. Petraeus was cooking the books to support the Administration's policy on Iraq.

The thing is that so many Democrats are beholden to MoveOn.org and the money and grassroots organizing that flows from that relationship. If they burn bridges with MoveOn, they may lose a significant vocal minority that holds sway among Democrats who are key during primary season - the ones who actually vote.

The Agitprop Campaign Continues

Al Qaeda is real busy these days pumping out propaganda videos. The latest one is direct from Al-Qaeda’s chief in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid, also known as Sheikh Said. He'll be surrounded by imagery from 9/11 and supposedly reveal the rationale for the 9/11 attacks.

HT: Stop the ACLU.

The Juice Is Squeezed in Vegas

OJ Simpson is being investigated in relation to a robbery at a Las Vegas casino - although it is possible he was reclaiming items that were originally his.

Las Vegas police confirmed early Friday morning that O.J. Simpson has been questioned after someone alleged that he was involved in a theft at Palace Station casino.

The person alleged that sports memorabilia had been stolen, but neither Simpson nor several others who were questioned have been arrested or charged in connection with the incident, said police spokesman Jose Montoya.

FOX5 News has interviewed a man, Thomas Riccio, who claims to have witnessed the incident which sparked the allegations. Riccio said he works for Universal Rarities, an auction house based in California, and that a customer had contacted him about one month and claimed to have "personal possessions" that had belonged to O.J. Simpson. The customer claimed to have confiscated the items from Simpson because Simpson owed them money, Riccio told FOX5 News.

Riccio said he had met O.J. Simpson previously and contacted him about the items. "He had said that it was stolen from him," Riccio said.

Riccio said he met with the potential customer Thursday night in a Palace Station hotel room. While surveying the items, Riccio said Simpson entered the room with several others and reclaimed the items in question. While someone reported the act as a theft, Riccio implied that Simpson believed the items were rightfully his own. Simpson did not use force when entering the room and was unarmed, and never acted violently during the ordeal, Riccio said.

The primary reason OJ Simpson was found not guilty for the murder of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown was Johnnie Cochran's legal wizardry and the famous line: "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit." That's precisely what the jury did.

Johnnie Cochran passed away in 2005.

While OJ hasn't been arrested as yet, the situation is certainly murky. Simpson claims that the items were stolen from him and he simply reclaimed them. Law enforcement will have to sort things out and will have to determine whether the items in question were in the rightful possession of the other person and whether Simpson was within his rights.

People Eating Tasty Pets

Zimbabwe's misery continues so long as Robert Mugabe remains in power. Because the situation is so dire - with hyperinflation running rampant and no food available, people are resorting to eating their pets to survive.

Pets are being slaughtered for meat in shortage-stricken Zimbabwe and record numbers of animals have been surrendered to shelters or abandoned by owners no longer able to feed them, according to animal welfare groups.

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it could not feed surrendered animals or find new homes and was being forced to kill them and destroy the corpses.

Vets have run out of the drug used put down the animals and are relying on intermittent donations from neighboring South Africa. One veterinary practice was waiting for supplies to destroy about 20 animals, and on Friday could neither feed them adequately nor fatally inject them.

In its latest bulletin to donors and supporters, the SPCA said it launched an awareness campaign on "the ethical and moral issues regarding the killing and consumption of trusted companion animals."

"But in the face of starvation and the burgeoning number of stray and abandoned animals the moral issues become far more complex and we should not be too hasty in our condemnations when animals and people are suffering equally," it said.

One animal rights activist, who asked not to be named out of fear of arrest, called the situation "too ghastly for words.

Mugabe's voodoo economics is a path of misery, and yet there are others intent upon following his prescription for disaster, including [T]hugo Chavez in Venezuela. This is what Venezuelans may have to look forward to in a few years if Chavez enacts similar policies.

Hsu Got What?

You have got to be kidding me that a judge thought that $5 million bail is sufficient to keep Norman Hsu from running again. He's already gone on the lam twice. The first time was to avoid being sent to prison for grand theft in 1992, and he was a fugitive for 15 years.

He was only arrested again after being at the side of Sen. Hillary Clinton and other leading Democrats in the past month. When he was supposed to appear for a bail hearing, he ran a second time. Hsu was captured in Colorado after he apparently attempted suicide on an Amtrak train.

A new bail hearing was underway over the past 24 hours. The judge determined that $5 million was appropriate.

Are you kidding me?

He twice jumped bail and is clearly a flight risk. He's unstable and his lawyers clearly cannot control their client to keep him on a very short leash. If there was an instance of requiring a higher bail, this was it.

The prosecutors had initially demanded a $50 million bail in light of Hsu's history, while the defense team claimed that such a bail was "ridiculous." Hsu's lawyers also said that they were willing to waive extradition so that he could return to California to face the music on the original charges.

The sums of money circulating around Hsu are staggering - and I'm not talking solely about the campaign contributions:

Hautzinger also told the court, Hsu may have no trouble paying a lower bail.

"Our sheriffs office tells me, the defendant had a checkbook in his possession when he was arrested that reflected a $6 million dollar balance in that checkbook at least," said Hautzinger.

The New York District Attorney is now investigating Hsu for defrauding a New York investment fund out of $40 million dollars and today in court the prosecutor said he heard Hsu was also the target of an investigation of a possible scam in Southern California.

"Orange County authorities are on the verge of filing charges on a very similar alleged scam involving $33 million dollars with 50 different investors," said Hautzinger.

Somehow I don't think that's all to that story. The more investigations produce information, the more questions there are about Hsu. Also, in light of the New York investigations, one has to wonder where all that money went, and how Hsu enriched himself with that money. Suitably Flip is flabbergasted over the setting of bail in this case. If a checkbook shows $6 million, then setting bail below that amount provides more than ample opportunity to pay the bail and run again, despite the defense team's claims that Hsu is too ill to run again.

It would not be unreasonable to conclude that Hsu kept some portion of that money for himself in addition to the $6 million in the one discovered checkbook, meaning that bail could easily be satisfied, putting Hsu back on the street.

Also, there is no word about the passport issue - has he turned it in?

Meanwhile, Flip continues running the numbers on various politicians who have claimed to return monies related to Hsu, and he keeps running into discrepancies between what the politicians say is being returned (and returned to whom exactly if Hsu is a criminal and the money is tainted?) and what FEC records show as being contributed to the politicians?

Walking the Walk

While we get nonsensical ravings from Elizabeth Edwards over how she'll give up buying tangerines to save the environment, or listen to Al Gore pontificate on carbon emissions as he's caught stepping off a Gulfstream IV private jet that pumps out more emissions on a single flight than most people do in a year, I'm undertaking a far more comprehensive move to go green.

I've bought a house in Radburn, New Jersey. I know what you're thinking. How is buying a house a green step?

Well, the first step is knowing where Radburn is and what makes it a pretty special community. It was one of the first planned communities in the US and it was specifically designed to minimize the need for driving cars. Indeed, the layout is conducive to walking, not driving. You could go from your house to the community pool and school without ever having to cross a street. Everything is designed to minimize the need to drive, and indeed the streets in the development are narrower than you'll find in most suburban communities because cars are not emphasized in the plan.

Cars are almost an afterthought in the community, and the area's motto is "A Town For the Motor Age." That compact design means that it emphasizes a communal feeling and you can actually walk to most basic services. Driving is not required.

We were attracted to the area because of its close proximity to New York City, while maintaining a bit of a suburban feel.

I will be able to walk to the train which is just over a quarter mile away. Previously, I had to drive two miles, park in a commuter lot, and then walk 10 minutes to the station. Not having to drive and find parking is a big improvement and will also mean I'm not driving as much - big bonus there.

As for the house itself, it has a brand new oil burner, which means that it's about as efficient as one can get for that kind of heating system.


The house needs a new roof, and I'll pick one of the lightest colors available so that it reflects back most of the sun's heat and energy instead of absorbing it - reducing energy needs during the summer. That's a decision that will last 20-30 years, so you will see an ongoing energy savings with a simple color choice. If you have to install a new roof, choosing the lightest color available is an energy saver and a no-brainer.

A new insulated garage door will also make the house airtight. Right now, there are beautiful wooden carriage doors on the house, but they're not exactly airtight and are probably original to the house. Replacing those doors with a two inch insulated door with weatherstripping will cut down on energy bills. Replacing other doors at some point will further improve the look of the house and improve our home's comfort.

Another simple and cheap solution is to install CFLs around the house. I've been using CFLs around our apartment, and we'll be using them a whole lot more in the house. I'll be putting them in as necessary. I also intend to get an energy audit by PSE&G to further improve the house. Automatic thermostats are going in and my carbon footprint will go down considerably.

I'll be checking all the plumbing fixtures and putting in low-flow shower heads - which will reduce the water consumption and hot water heating costs. A new water heater will be needed at some point, and while I've considered a tankless system, which would save a considerable amount of energy costs because you don't have to keep the tank of water warm until it's needed, I think we'll go with a high efficiency standard water heater with the 15 year warranty since they provide a good balance between efficiency and cost.

All these things, excepting the roof, are relatively cheap to do, and will save a boat load of money and reduce emissions considerably.

Can you say the same about Edwards or Gore? I doubt it. They'll continue jetting around the country and emitting COx in far greater quantities than I could do in several years. They could do us all a favor by ceasing their campaigning and pontifications - just do it for the environment.

Obama To Surrender Before Becoming President

"I am here to say that we have to begin to end this war now," the Illinois senator said in excerpts from a speech he was to deliver later in Iowa. The excerpts were released by his presidential campaign.

He said he would immediately begin to pull out troops engaged in combat operations at a pace of one or two brigades every month, to be completed by the end of 2008.

Wait, am I missing something? When is the 2008 election? November, 2008? When is the new President sworn in? JANUARY, 2009!!! So, Barack Hussein Obama would start pulling out troops BEFORE BECOMING COMMANDER IN CHIEF!!! This is pandering to the utmost degree. And it is sad that the news articles reporting the speech don't question the facts. Shouldn't a Presidential candidate know when his job starts? In fact, Barack Hussein Obama doesn't care when he pulls out troops. He just wants to show that he is taking a stand for the democratic fateful. He doesn't care if his speeches make sense or if they are grounded in reality. It wasn't more than a few weeks ago that he said he would attack Pakistan.

Six Years Later

This posting will remain at the top of my page until further notice.

It has been six years since that fateful morning. Dawn rose over the New York metro area and it was a gloriously bright and sunny morning. The sky was blue without a cloud in the sky. Lower Manhattan's skyline was dominated by the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. They were gleaming in the sun. The news from around the day was the usual mix.

Shortly before 9:00 AM, everything changed. First one plane hit one of the towers. Then a second plane struck the other tower. The sky across Lower Manhattan was already full of smoke that belched from the Towers along with the sight of people falling and jumping from the World Trade Center. Papers from offices within the towers were flung into the sky and debris was falling all over the place.

Firefighters and police officers from all over the City instinctively headed to the Towers, knowing that they would be called upon to help rescue those in harm's way. Both towers, hit by airplanes going at full speed, were aflame and no one knew how many were trapped in the buildings. We feared the worst, and even then, it couldn't prepare us for what came next.

First one tower collapsed. Then the other.

In the minutes after the collapses, one could barely comprehend what was just witnessed. One moment, the towers were there. The next - they, and everyone within, were gone.

The Towers could each hold tens of thousands of people, and no one knew for sure just how many had managed to escape. In the hours and days following the collapses, we feared that the toll could be over 10,000, and then with a sigh of relief saw that the toll shrank to under 3,000. It was still more than we could bear.

While the crisis was unfolding in Manhattan, we would hear on the radio and watch on television of other hijacked planes. In total, four planes were hijacked - the two that hit the Towers, one that would hit the Pentagon, and one that would crash in Shanksville, PA.

In total, more than 3,000 people were killed by Islamic terrorists who hijacked four airplanes, destroyed the entire WTC complex, damaged the Pentagon, left a brutal scar in Shanksville, PA, and inflicted billions of dollars in damage on the US and local economies.

It was a black day. It was also a day of great heroism and supreme sacrifice.

The scars are still present to this day. The memories of that grim day remain with those who saw and smelled and felt it in person and the millions who witnessed the events on television or heard them unfold on radio.

Lower Manhattan still has an empty skyline. The global war against the terrorists continues - with some successes and some failures. There are days when one can see hope and other days when you have to wonder whether we have the fortitude and persistence to fight and win.

Last year, I wrote of the ongoing problems in building in and around Lower Manhattan. After 241 entries in my Battle for Ground Zero series, I finally felt that I could retire that series and begin writing about the rebuilding. Steel for skyscrapers is going up at Ground Zero. Where there was only the intermittent sound of PATH trains running through Ground Zero in past years, there are now the sounds of construction crews bringing in loads of concrete or steel for use in the transit center, museum/memorial, and the Freedom Tower.

The real estate market in Lower Manhattan has grown as other companies flock to Lower Manhattan. Goldman Sachs is busy building a new building across from Ground Zero, and other companies, including Larry Silverstein, are putting up new buildings.

The lower levels of the Freedom Tower are taking shape as the foundations and sub levels are being formed. The cranes that will lift the tower into position are in place.

Architecture critics continued to take potshots at the Freedom Tower, though they have been more approving of the other towers that will be built at Ground Zero by some of the most famous architects in the world, including designs by Sir Norman Foster, Richard Rodgers, and Fumihiko Maki. The Eastern Side of Ground Zero will be remade into a row of gleaming glass towers, each distinctive as landmarks in their own right.

Engineers and architects are still learning the lessons of the 9/11 attacks, and are working to build better and safer skyscrapers and structures. One of the first built after 9/11 in Manhattan, 7WTC, includes wider emergency staircases that are spaced further apart and are reinforced to protect them from damage such as those within the Twin Towers suffered. Nova's program will air on September 11.

That isn't to say that all is well at Ground Zero. There are strong financial and real estate interests who don't want to see new towers built that would eclipse their buildings in Midtown with amenities and competitive prices.

The costs for construction threaten the grand designs of those designing the structures at Ground Zero. Calatrava's signature transit hub, which was estimated to cost $2.2 billion may again be revised to accommodate price increases on steel and other construction materials. Estimates now suggest the final price tag may be $500 million to $1 billion higher because of the higher cost of materials. The increased costs are due to high demand for steel around the world, and in the New York metro area in particular as major projects abound.

Then, there is the star crossed Deutsche Bank building to deal with. That building continues to inflict pain and misery. Two firefighters were killed in a seven-alarm fire because of multiple failures - by the FDNY to inspect the building or follow its fire plans, careless smokers, and possible negligence by the companies involved in the deconstruction of the building that was badly contaminated by the collapsing Twin Towers and exposure to the elements. Criminal investigations are underway and three fire officers have been reassigned to desk duty for their acts and omissions.

Just days later, two more firefighters were badly injured when a pallet jack fell from the upper floors and crashed into a shed at the base of the building.

The Deutsche Bank building is in the background of that last photo, and you can see the scaffolding and plywood forms on the upper floors.

Deconstruction of the building must proceed in order for construction of the other towers to proceed, which threatens the tight schedules for construction throughout Ground Zero.

Workers at Ground Zero continue to be dogged by medical ailments, and reports continue to come in about how firefighters and others who worked on the Pile have suffered from respiratory ailments. Asthma rates are higher among Ground Zero workers who worked on the Pile (especially in the early days of the relief and recovery efforts) than the general population.

A new survey of Sept. 11-related illnesses has found an alarming increase in asthma _ 12 times higher than normal _ among those who toiled on the toxic debris piles of ground zero.

The study was released Monday by the New York City Department of Health, based on responses gathered by the World Trade Center Health Registry.

The data show 3.6 percent of the 25,000 rescue and recovery workers in the registry reported developing asthma after working at the site _ more than 12 times the expected figure for adults over a similar time period.

We must do all we can to avoid treating them as the American version of the Chernobyl liquidators. Indeed, the Village Voice reports that there are some 52 ailments that have been connected with 9/11, the collapses, and the subsequent fires and cleanup/recovery efforts.

There are also questions over the Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center that has provided medical care for thousands of workers. In particular, there are questions over data collection that could yield critical information as to causes of ailments or prevalence and claims that it may have yielded to union pressures to find linkages. Politics trumping science.

Yet, claiming that you'll get better care in Cuba than in the US does no one any good, and those workers who went along with Michael Moore's medical tourism to Havana, should have known better. Politics trumping science - yet again.

Lest we forget, the death toll from 9/11/2001 continues to rise.

And it keeps rising: two more cops who worked at Ground Zero died of ailments linked to the WTC collapse last week, according to their families.

One has to wonder whether those who have died since the attacks will have a place of honor in the memorial for their injuries and illnesses sustained in the attacks and the aftermath. Construction of the memorial in New York City is finally underway, and fundraising has gotten a boost since Mayor Bloomberg took the helm of the project. The memorial will also include two of the distinctive steel tridents that formed the exterior base of the Twin Towers.

The massive steel tridents, standing up to nine stories tall, have been chosen as the iconic symbols that will be seen by millions of visitors expected to arrive at the World Trade Center Memorial after it opens in late 2009.

Since the early days of planning for the memorial, designers had been urged to include an iconic artifact as part of the public plaza at the memorial, said Alice Greenwald, director of the World Trade Center Museum.

The New York Historical Society is putting the finishing touches on a 9/11 exhibition, which will feature hundreds of artifacts, including parts from the planes that were purposefully crashed into the Twin Towers.

The exhibition in the society, at West 77th Street and Central Park West, is another in its History Responds series of shows, programs and screenings related to 9/11. More than 150,000 visitors have attended 16 previous exhibitions there exploring aspects of the terrorist attacks.

Nine of the 10 objects in the show are in the society’s collection (the landing gear is on loan from the New York State Museum in Albany), and all have been displayed at the society before, though never so carefully and never with the photography collection.

The artifacts “are presented so differently now,” Dr. Kushner said. “Six years after, we are coming to them with very different eyes.”

Things aren't going quite so well for the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville either. Questions continue to swirl over the appropriateness of the use of a crescent in the memorial and its orientation on the site that evokes the Muslim symbol.

This year, the families of victims will still be able to walk down into the Pit at Ground Zero to pay their respects, even though Mayor Bloomberg first stated that such a move would be impossible because of construction. This caused quite a kerfuffle, but it was resolved for this year. Next year - such a visit to bedrock will be impossible because construction at the site will make it impossible. Those families will have to realize that such memorialization at Ground Zero will be impossible until the Memorial is finally built, which is still several years away from completion.

The New York Times also notes tribute fatigue - that there are some people who think that the time to grieve at Ground Zero has past.

The Times piece wasn't the first, or the only one. Andrea Peyser mentioned this in her op-ed in the NY Post. More of my coverage on that here. Gothamist reports on September 7 that Channel 7 News will switch to regular programming following the moment of silence on this September 11 and it will not carry the reading of the names on its regular broadcast. It is had been the first network to make that decision. [see update below]

Then, there's the whole issue of conspiracy theories. Loons and nutcases have been claiming that there was a conspiracy on 9/11 by shadowy government forces that blew up the towers - that the planes alone did not destroy the WTC, that explosives brought down 7WTC, and other similar fanciful theories. Screw Loose Change has been chronicling the Troother movement, which claims that the 9/11 Commission whitewashed the facts and how and why the towers collapsed. All these conspiracy theories do is hurt the families of those who lost loved ones on 9/11 and thereafter - they're poor attempts at trying to come to grips with the incontrovertible fact that Islamic terrorists have wanted to destroy the WTC since 1993, and succeeded on the morning of 9/11 by hijacking aircraft and crashing them into the Twin Towers. The damage from the airplane impacts caused fatal damage to the towers. The collapse of 7WTC is especially ripe for conspiracy theories because it collapsed hours after the Twin Towers were felled by the planes.

The attack on the Pentagon is claimed to have been nothing more than an unmanned vehicle or car bomb, despite clear evidence that a jet plane was purposefully crashed into the building.

And the number and type of conspiracy theories continues to multiply and get even more bizarre with each passing day.

It's especially worrisome when you get big media outlets, actors and actresses, and members of Congress pushing these insanities - they get pushed closer into the mainstream, despite the utter lack of evidence to support them. Those Members of Congress are catering to the fringe, all in the name of politics, and they're pushing facts and logic out of the way - demagoguery in a most overt form.

Carl in Jerusalem, meanwhile, notes the solemnity that went along with remembering those lost in the attacks on the sixth anniversary according to the Jewish calendar - the 23rd of Elul, which actually occurred on September 6, 2007. It is one of the most moving stories I've read of that day and the aftermath.

And the fate envisioned by The Onion for the Islamic terrorists responsible for the terrorist attacks and ensuing carnage is still not enough.

UPDATE:
Gothamist has more on the downtown revival that has remade Lower Manhattan since the 9/11 attacks. There are now more residential developments to go along with the surge in commercial properties going up. That doesn't include work at Ground Zero proper.

Also, Channel 7 has changed its mind on broadcasting the memorialization of names at Ground Zero tomorrow. See here. I've corrected text above.

The issue of memorialization and when to stop with the public reading of names is a very tricky and sensitive one. The public reading is a very vivid and tangible reminder of what happened on 9/11/2001. At some point, I expect that people will no longer read the names in public and life will get back to "normal." I don't know if that's right or wrong - everyone grieves in their own way and it is not up to me to say how someone should or should not remember lost loved ones.

UPDATE:
The City of New York has opened a new website to host 9/11 related health issues as a one-stop guide.

Welcome to 9/11 Health, a public information web site developed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). This site provides the latest information about scientific research and services for people who may have health problems related to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Spanish, Chinese and Polish language translations of the material found here are now underway and will be posted in the near future. DOHMH welcomes visitor feedback and plans to provide additional enhancements to this web site over time.

UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin has a moving tribute and includes video and other photos. Lorie at Wizbang has a huge post of links and references to others who have marked the passing of time.


Six Meat Buffet has gone dark today to honor those who died.

Others remembering the 9/11 terrorist attacks and what has passed since that awful day [ed: updating throughout the AM]: Carl in Jerusalem, Below the Beltway, bRight and Early, Blue Star Chronicles, Don Surber, Sister Toldjah, Radical Ron at JWF, Brendan Loy, Ann Althouse, Instapundit goes in his archives to link back to his postings from that horrible day, Val and his friends at Babalu have a series of posts on 9/11, Vinnie at the Jawa Report, Fausta, Pajamas Media's David Rusin, Gateway Pundit, AJ Strata, Macranger, Shaun Mullen at The Moderate Voice, Bryan at Hot Air, Gaius at Blue Crab Boulevard, The Florida Masochist, California Yankee, Captain Ed, Gina Cobb, Charles at LGF, James Joyner notes Osama's latest missive on 9/11,

My friend and coblogger Legalbgl wrote this last year in remembrance of Donna Bernaerts-Kearns as part of the 2,996 tribute.

Jammie takes a look at what DKos has posted.

Rudy's campaign website has gone dark for 9/11.

Thanks to Gothamist, Hot Air, song and dance man, legalbgl and zombie for links and photos. Photos taken by lawhawk are noted where appropriate.

September 11 6 Years Later -- And a Tribute to Daniel Thomas Afflitto

No one in this country needs to be reminded that today is the sixth anniversary of 9/11/01. New York, D.C., America and indeed the world changed on that day, never to return to the innocence we enjoyed. After nine years of attacking America and American interests, after previously attacking the World Trade Center, after attacking a United States Navy vessel, the U.S.S. Cole, al Qaeda finally got America's attention. Unfortunately 2,996 innocent victims had to die for us to release that we are at war.

Last year I took part in one of the most stirring tributes to those victims -- Project 2,996. I wanted to follow up on my tribute to Donna Bernaerts-Kearns with another tribute, however, because of several personal issues involving Project 2,996's founder Dale, this herculean effort to coordinate tributes to all 2,996 victims, was not undertaken this year. I Therefore take it upon myself to memorialize one of the victims. I am selecting, at random, Daniel Thomas Afflitto.

Daniel was a partner and head of the equities department at Canter Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of the WTC. According to his father, Daniel initially believed the building had been bombed, called home and told his wife, Stacey, 'We've been bombed and I'm going to get out of here. I love you and give a kiss to my son for me,'
Those were the last words his wife, Stacey, ever heard from him.

Daniel, a graduate of Wayne Hills High School in New Jersey and St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, was described by family and friends as an extremely hard and dedicated worker, arriving at work at 8:00 am and routinely working 12 hour days.

From descriptions I have read on the internet, words like fun loving and life of the party do not do justice for Daniel. According to one website:

Daniel Afflitto loved to show off his large new house in Manalpan, N.J. There was the tree-trimming party, the barbecues, and over Labor Day weekend, a luau, complete with pina coladas and a hula dancer. "His was the place where everyone went, to take a swim, watch a game, and hang out on the patio," said his father, Joseph T. Afflitto.

On September 11, 2001, Daniel was 32 years old. He had one son, Daniel, then seven months old. Only a the day before the attacks Daniel guessed that his wife was pregnant with their second child. This was confirmed two days after his death. In addition to his two kids, his wife Stacey, Daniel was survived by his mother, Eleanor; his father Joseph; his brother, Joseph Jr.; his sister-in-law, Lisa; three nieces; his in-laws, Pat and John Rizzo; his brother-in-law, John Rizzo, and his sister-in-law, Dianna Rizzo.

In reading about Daniel he reminds me a lot of myself. Both hard working, I frequently put in 12 hour days at work, although he seems to have achieved more professionally than I did by age 32, we both love to host parties at home (Daniel even living only one town away from where I live), and both seem to enjoy life and all that it brings. Daniel even had a seven month old, while my daughter is just now 6 months. How tragic for his kids to grow up not knowing their father. How tragic for this world to go on without Daniel and his thirst for life.

Zero Tolerance

I've long railed against the Israeli government and its ongoing failure to deal with the incessant rocket attacks by the Palestinian terrorists who operate in Gaza and then hide among the civilians living there or send kids to retrieve the rocket launchers in the cruel and purposeful attempt to lure Israelis into killing kids for propaganda purposes in the media war against Israel.

Well, today's major rocket attack against Israel must result in Israel taking action beyond threatening Hamas and the terrorists. Heck, the Sderot day care attack last week should have been the last straw, but it wasn't.

60+ Israelis were injured in the latest barrage. The PRC claimed responsibility, but the PRC is another name for Hamas. The rockets were fired from Beit Hanoun.

If I were a betting man, I wouldn't put odds on a major military response, but then again, I wouldn't want to be buying real estate in Beit Hanoun either. Israel will likely take a limited response including airstrikes or artillery while minimizing ground forces.

Clinton's Hsu's To Lose?

This is something I noted early on - while Hillary Clinton was one of the biggest recipients of Hsu's money (ultimate source still unknown), other candidates couldn't take advantage of the situation because they too had taken money from him.

However, this is interesting news nonetheless: Hillary is returning all Hsu tainted money. That's more than $850,000.

Who actually is getting that money if it's being returned?

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign announced tonight that it would return approximately $850,000 to about 260 donors who had been recruited or tapped by Norman Hsu, the disgraced Clinton campaign fundraiser who recently fled arrest and is now under investigation for his fundraising practices.

The Clinton campaign also disclosed tonight that it had decided to begin running criminal background checks on its bundlers — the dozens of individuals who raise hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors on behalf of a candidate, as Mr. Hsu had done for Mrs. Clinton. A Clinton adviser said that “vigorous additional vetting” of the bundlers, including the criminal checks, would begin this week, and that the campaign was hiring additional staff for that purpose.

Mr. Hsu’s mounting legal problems have created the Clinton campaign’s first major in-house controversy. While Mr. Hsu donated $600,000 to an array of candidates over the last three years, he had become first and foremost a Clinton fundraiser for this presidential cycle — one of the so-called “Hillraisers,” who held events for Mrs. Clinton and aided her in the highly competitive money race with a leading Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

If I were the FEC and DOJ, I'd be looking into those 260 individuals and see whether the money was a pass through from other sources.

Two NJ Democrats Resign From Assembly Over Corruption Arrests

This is how you report on political corruption cases. You clearly state who is involved and their political affiliation - and it's all done in the first two paragraphs.

Two Democratic state legislators arrested last week on federal corruption charges have resigned, legislative officials said.

Assemblymen Mims Hackett Jr., of Orange, and Alfred Steele, of Paterson, resigned Monday, leaving their Assembly seats four days after they were charged with alleged bribe-taking in the awarding of public contracts. Each sent resignation letters to the Assembly clerk, said Assembly Democrat spokesman Joe Donnelly.

But as Hackett and Steele vacated their seats — even as their lawyers said they expected to plead not guilty — others wondered why party leaders haven't also demanded resignations from two senators indicted earlier this year on federal corruption charges.

The resignations, however, raise questions over why two other indicted Democrats were not forced to resign: Wayne Bryant and Sharpe James. Only a smattering of calls have been made for their ouster - Gov. Corzine was silent on the indictments of Bryant and James, but made it clear that he wanted Hackett and Steele gone by today. Curious.

Actually, it's not so curious. Bryant and James are political powerhouses, and demanding their ouster would upset key constituencies that might affect Corzine and other NJ Democrats down the road.

Welcome Home; Now Leave

Pervez Musharraf is going to make an already difficult situation worse by this:

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan from a seven-year exile on Monday, hoping to campaign against the country's U.S.-allied military ruler, but was immediately charged with corruption and deported to Saudi Arabia hours later.

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On his arrival from London, black-uniformed commandos surrounded Sharif's plane; he was taken into custody and charged, then then spirited to another plane and sent to Jiddah, where he was whisked away in a convoy from the airport, sirens blaring, witnesses said.

Sharif's deportation sidelines a powerful political enemy of the general, but it is likely to deepen Musharraf's growing unpopularity and reinforce public perceptions that he is an authoritarian ruler ahead of presidential and legislative elections.

The Supreme Court ruled last month that the two-time former premier, whose elected government was ousted by Musharraf in a 1999 coup, had the right to return to Pakistan and that authorities should not obstruct him.

Musharraf's grip on power has faltered after a failed attempt to oust the country's top judge ignited mass protests, but he still plans to seek a new five-year term in office by mid-October.

Sharif's followers have clashed with police and thousands have been arrested for protesting in the streets of Islamabad.

Meanwhile, police used tear gas and batons against Sharif supporters near the airport Monday morning and arrested 635 of them, the sources said.

Federal Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said those taken into custody would be released soon.

Ahead of his arrival, the Pakistani government arrested at least 3,000 Sharif supporters, including members of parliament, police sources said. Most of those arrested were in Punjab province, a stronghold of support for Sharif, police sources said. Also arrested early Monday were Pakistan Muslim League Chairman Zafar ul Haq and Acting President Jawaid Hashmi.

A government official said the arrests occurred because the government has banned public rallies. Security around Islamabad's airport was also tightened, police sources said.

Bill Roggio has more.

ScottScam Reloaded

Today promises to be an interesting day for The New Republic as Bob Owens via Pajamas Media and Michelle Malkin level fire at TNR and the editors for their ongoing failure to deal with the Scott Thomas Beauchamp affair in a forthright and upstanding manner.

TNR fails to acknowledge the story is about their failure to fact check in any meaningful way prior to publication and then the story became about them and their editorial decisions by lying and obfuscating facts and evidence.

TNR claimed that the Army muzzled Beauchamp and prohibited him from speaking to the media, while the Army has repeatedly stated that Beauchamp is free to talk with whoever he sees fit - and that he's chosen not to talk about the matter although in the course of the Army investigation they found not a single instance where another soldier could corroborate Beauchamp's stories. See-Dubya notes that if this were the case, someone on the Left would be pointing out the free speech implications of such a move.

There has been nothing but an eerie silence over the whole matter as though TNR and the Leftists would simply wish the whole matter disappear because the exposure as a fabulist would undermine their position about the war in general.

Another Osama Video Forthcoming?

It certainly looks that way. This one appears to be directly related to the 9/11 attacks and will include the martyr video of one of the hijackers. That kind of video should dismiss some of the insane conspiracy theories, as these hijackers revel in the heinous violence they're about to bring down upon the country at the Twin Towers, the four airliners, and the Pentagon. They're doing so out of their compulsion to Islam and jihad.

People in the intelligence community who have seen the tape feel it is directly related to the 9/11 anniversary since the al Qaeda leader introduces the prerecorded martyr video of one of the 9/11 hijackers, Waleed al Shehri.

Waleed al Shehri was one of the hijackers on American Airlines flight 11 that crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

UPDATE:
Allah at Hot Air pulls out old al Qaeda video from the archives and notes that al Qaeda has martyr videos in their own archives that they can tout for years to come. They've done this before, and they'll continue doing it until we eliminate them.

UPDATE:
Paul at Wizbang notes that the video release is timed to coincide not only with the 9/11 attacks, but would have come in advance of the testimony given by General Petraeus to Congress. This is propaganda to try and change American public opinion - in particular the public opinion of Democrats who are on the fence.

Al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq are self identifying themselves as such. Michael Totten, who is currently embedded in Iraq, interviewed a US Army Colonel who bristles at the whole idea that the US is inventing al Qaeda as a threat in Iraq:

Some in the United States are unconvinced that Al Qaeda was really at the center of the conflict in Anbar. So I asked Colonel John Charlton how the Army knows Al Qaeda is really who they have been dealing with. He was supremely annoyed by the question.

“We know it’s Al Qaeda,” he said. There is no controversy whatsoever about this in Iraq. My question seemed to him as if it had come from another planet. “They self-identify as Al Qaeda. We didn’t give them that name. That’s what they call themselves. We have their propaganda CDs which have Al Qaeda written all over them.”

It’s not a dumb question, though, if a substantial number of Americans aren’t sure what’s going on in a bottomlessly complicated country eight or more times zones away. And not everyone who underestimated Al Qaeda’s presence is a fool.

Osama and al Qaeda made Ramadi and Anbar the center of the fight for Iraq, and they're losing bigtime.

They need to rally - and the latest videos might have been a step in that direction - get attention off the fact that they've been hammered in Iraq, and instead focus on the homefront where a pliant media and a Democratic party that is beholden to the fringe anti-war leftists where they may have a chance to acquire by Democratic party cut and run what they could not by the field of battle.

Al Qaeda may be hoping that the video and mention of leftist pet causes might help tilt public reaction against a continued US presence in Iraq, freeing al Qaeda to continue operations there and planning for the day the US leaves so as to create a safe haven from which to launch further operations against the West and the US.

Hsu's Line Is It Anyway?

Danny has put together a list of puns that are all too easily roll off the tongue and keyboards of bloggers covering the Norman Hsu story. One of mine made the list.

However, much of the credit has to go to Flip, who has been dutifully trying to track down the money. A few media outlets are doing the same, and all are coming up with more questions than answers. Those questions all point to shady sources of money - and still more links to Sen. Hillary Clinton's donors.

And there's links to Chinese gangsters, freemasons, money laundering, and Hot Air has more.

The Hsu mess also has possible implications for Bob Kerrey, the current President of the New School and a possible candidate for Senator of Nebraska. Kerrey had no problem with Hsu and another shady character named as trustees of the New School, and likely didn't bother to see any red flags over money sources as long as the money was rolling in. Indeed, Kerrey recruited Hsu to become a trustee. This news sheds light on other trustees at the New School, and many are movers and shakers in Democratic party circles. However, with Kerrey contemplating the Senate run, Hsu's actions cast a bad light on Kerrey's judgment.

One also has to wonder over what happened on the Amtrak train that resulted in Hsu being taken to a hospital for treatment. Did Hsu suffer an illness, mental breakdown, contemplate suicide, or is he crazy like a fox to set up a possible defense against charges?

UPDATE:
For those who were thinking that Hsu's line of credit extended mostly towards Hillary's direction, there's now more evidence that Hsu was sending the money towards others - Sen. Obama included.

Mark Gorenberg, who now sits on Obama's national finance committee and is one of his biggest fundraisers, said Hsu organized an early 2005 event for the Hopefund and invited him to help raise money.

"He introduced me to Barack Obama," Gorenberg said of Hsu. "He was working on an event for Barack's PAC, and he asked me to help, and I did. Barack came up to San Francisco, and [Hsu] introduced him to a bunch of people."

Obama's campaign, which has donated to charity $7,000 in direct donations that Hsu made to Hopefund and his Senate campaign committee, confirmed last night that Hsu hosted a small event for the PAC in March 2005 in Los Angeles.

"We don't know how much that event raised, but we have received an estimated $19,000 from people who were associated with Hsu in published reports, all prior to Obama becoming a presidential candidate," spokesman Bill Burton said.

"We are in the process of sending these people letters to check the validity of their contributions. When Obama entered the presidential race, Hsu had decided to support Senator Clinton and bundle for her campaign," Burton said.

Obama announced Thursday that he plans to introduce legislation to require congressional and presidential candidates to disclose the identities of bundlers and the amounts they raise.

Gorenberg, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who oversaw California fundraising for Sen. John F. Kerry's 2004 presidential bid, and other members of Obama's national finance committee are committed to raising at least $250,000 each for the campaign.

These bundlers may be no more than bagmen, who are middlemen in influencing American politics from afar. No one knows where all Hsu's money originated. The same goes for the Paws and other contributions funneled by Hsu to Democrats across the country.

Daring Israeli Raid Captures Hamas Thug Responsible For Shalit Kidnapping

Palestinian sources told Ynet that the man was apparently involved in the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

The sources said that the undercover soldiers entered the Gaza Strip, and carried out their operation near the Rafah Crossing. According to the sources, the undercover soldiers were disguised as grocers riding a donkey-pulled wagon. Sources said they disguised force even chatted with locals near the crossing.

According to the report, the undercover soldiers approached a plot of land belonging to Muhawesh al-Kadi, a senior Hamas official who acts as spokesman of the organization’s special security forces in Rafah.

Al-Kadi was working his land when the disguised force approached and kidnapped him. The Palestinian sources reported that the operation went quickly and smoothly. The undercover force left Rafah with al-Kadi, and brought him to Israel.

According to the report, the operation was carried out about 2 kilometers from the security fence, in an area where a large number of Hamas gunmen are stationed.

Hamas officials confirmed that this was one of the Israelis' most daring acts and that troops disguised as Arabs had not entered so deep into the Strip for a long time.

Since Ehud Barak took over as Defense Minister, the Israeli forces have reevaluated their positions on a wide range of issues, including how to deal with the Hamas and Hizbullah holding Israeli soldiers Shalit, Goldwasser, and Regev. Going after one of the top Hamas leaders implicated in the Shalit operation puts pressure on Hamas to deal with Israel in a way it had not expected. It's putting Israel back on an offensive posture. It also gives Israel the opportunity to pump al-Kadi for information about Shalit and other Hamas operation.

Then, there's the speculation over why Israeli planes flew over Syria earlier this week. Why did those Israeli planes fly over? The Israelis aren't exactly saying, but was it to test Syrian air defense systems? Was it a recon mission to evaluate the new Russian systems that Syria and Iran have obtained over the past several years and the Israelis wanted to see what data they could get in overflights?

It does look like that might be part of the plan. It is also a tremendous embarrassment for the Syrians who have been unable to stop Israeli overflights - either through diplomatic channels or by military force.