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SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Hakimullah Mehsud and another Taliban leader Wali-ur-Rehman have been killed in an armed clash erupted during the Tehreek’s Shura meeting. At the meeting Hakimullah Mehsud was appointed as TTP Chief.

Sex Symbols: Messages Hidden In Jewelry Jewelry may hide a secret message about some child molestors. Some pedophiles are wearing symbols of their sexual attraction to kids as part of a bigger movement to justify who they are and what they want. Pendants in the shape of a heart, for young girls, or a triangle, for young boys, are being worn by some pedophiles to show their preference as part of a pro-pedophile movment. They want people to believe they are not monsters, but people with natural sexual feelings toward children. “I think they believe they are coming out the...

Teheran park 'cleansed' of traces from nuclear site By Con Coughlin, Defence and Security Editor (Filed: 06/03/2006) Iran's Revolutionary Guards have taken the extraordinary step of cutting down thousands of trees in Teheran to prevent United Nations inspectors from finding traces of enriched uranium from a top-secret nuclear plant. News of last month's cleansing operation comes as the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board meets in Vienna today to decide whether Iran should be reported to the United Nations Security Council for failing to comply with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. According to western intelligence sources, more than...

THE Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ordered the creation of Planet of the Apes-style warriors by crossing humans with apes, according to recently uncovered secret documents. Moscow archives show that in the mid-1920s Russia's top animal breeding scientist, Ilya Ivanov, was ordered to turn his skills from horse and animal work to the quest for a super-warrior. According to Moscow newspapers, Stalin told the scientist: "I want a new invincible human being, insensitive to pain, resistant and indifferent about the quality of food they eat." In 1926 the Politburo in Moscow passed the request to the Academy of Science with the...

Wary of public anger over Stanley Tookie Williams' pending execution, local leaders on Friday called for peace if the Crips gang co-founder is put to death next week for four shotgun murders in Los Angeles County. Authorities have received reports of possible plans to commit violence if Williams is denied clemency, calling the threats a "credible concern."

"One ring to rule them all" – Those are the words that echo in my head as I watch the Israeli opposition to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to leave Gaza and portions of the West Bank. As an American Jew who has visited Israel over a dozen times, I have a natural enthusiasm and empathy for the Zionist project. However, like many, I believe that Israel's current geopolitical course is unsustainable. As I watch the attempt of settlers to hold onto settlements scattered through Gaza and parts of the West Bank, I am forced to conclude that a segment...

Breaking - just got a call from an associate here in Washington. Some kind of explosion at the FBI building in DC. Monitor.

The family members of the Palestinian suicide bomber who carried out Thursday's attack in Jerusalem said they are proud of their son. The terrorist's father, Munir Ja'arah, described the bombing as a "heroic operation," and said the family supports his son's decision to launch the attack. "My son is a hero and we are proud of what he did," said Ja'arah, who lives in the Dehaishe refugee camp near Bethlehem. "The crimes of the Israeli occupation push young Palestinians to carry out such attacks." He was speaking as scores of Palestinians arrived at his home to "congratulate" him on the...

We broke the news in October 2003 that Mustafa Abu Sway, a visiting Palestinian professor at Florida Atlantic University, is “known as an activist” in Hamas, a group on the U.S. government’s terrorism list. We also revealed that his salary is being paid by the U.S. taxpayer (via the Fulbright exchange program).Our little scoop met with yawns or with disbelief. Abu Sway himself denounced our article as a “witch hunt.” FAU ignored the revelation (“we have no reason to take any action”). The hometown Palm Beach Post published four skeptical responses, including an editorial insisting that “there is no...

A measure of Islamic fundamentalists’ success in controlling society is the depth and totality with which they suppress the freedom and rights of women. In Iran for 25 years, the ruling mullahs have enforced humiliating and sadistic rules and punishments on women and girls, enslaving them in a gender apartheid system of segregation, forced veiling, second-class status, lashing, and stoning to death. Joining a global trend, the fundamentalists have added another way to dehumanize women and girls: buying and selling them for prostitution. Exact numbers of victims are impossible to obtain, but according to an official source in Tehran, there...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - The first female Hamas suicide bomber was given a hero's funeral Thursday, a day after killing four Israeli border guards, and Israel sealed the Gaza Strip to review security at border crossings. The closure prevented thousands of Palestinian workers from getting to their jobs in Israel and a nearby industrial zone. The workers, among the few with jobs in the impoverished region, worried life would only become more difficult — but few were willing to openly blame militants for their new hardship. Top Israel army commanders met at the Defense Ministry Thursday to consider a...

We Americans see terrorism as a symptom of problems within the Islamic religion and the Arab and Islamic cultures generally. We have become fairly expert about what is wrong with them, and have yet to ask ourselves, "Is their culture and their religion the only one that has gone wrong?" It is time we do ask - for so long as we persist in seeing the problem as theirs alone, the solution will elude us. America and Islam are convulsed today in a Jihad of unprecedented proportions. But it has nothing to do with Islamic terrorism or the arrogant exercise...

CLEVELAND - A prominent Islamic clergyman was arrested Tuesday on an indictment alleging he concealed links to groups that committed terrorist attacks against Jews when he applied for U.S. citizenship a decade ago, officials said. Imam Fawaz Mohammed Damrah, who leads the Islamic Center of Cleveland, Ohio's largest mosque, is accused of withholding information on his membership or affiliation with several groups, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, U.S. Attorney Gregory White said. White said the indictment did not allege that Damrah, a Palestinian, committed any terrorist activities. The indictment did not specify what type of support Damrah may have provided...

Nigeria declared Saturday it had put down an armed uprising by an Islamic movement seeking to create a Muslim state in Africa's most populous nation, after running battles that killed at least eight people. Two police officers and at least six of the militants died in five days of clashes in three towns in predominantly Islamic Yobe state, including the capital, Damaturu, said Ibrahim Jirigi, a state government spokesman. Details of the fighting in the remote northeastern region had been difficult to obtain. The uprising, by a largely university-based Nigerian student group preaching Islamic revolution, stood as one of the...

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. -- A Grant County man has been charged with trying to kidnap his sister from her Sedro-Woolley home in what police believe was an attempt to punish her for marrying outside her Muslim faith. Khalil Nassar, 21, and a 24-year-old acquaintance, Antonio Cortez, were charged Wednesday with attempted kidnapping, said Robin Webb-Lakey, a Skagit County senior deputy prosecutor. Nassar also was charged with felony harassment. The two men told police they were simply planning to visit Nassar's sister, according to an affidavit signed by Sedro-Woolley Police Sgt. William Tucker and filed in Skagit County Superior Court. Nassar...

Florida's Jihad ConferenceBy Joe KaufmanFrontPageMagazine.com | December 17, 2003 During the holiday season this year, an Islam for Humanity conference will be held near Disney World on the campus of the Universal Heritage Foundation, a 31-acre Islamic propagation center located in Kissimmee, Florida. The three day conference will commence on December 19, 2003, which “coincidentally” marks the beginning of Hanukkah. The timing is not to be confused with the objective -- highlighting peace and brotherhood will not be the conference's priorities in marking the holiday season. Originally listed as “Specially Invited Guests” were ex-Presidential candidate and Green Party leader, Ralph Nader, and Shaikh Abdur-Rahman Al-Sudais, the chief...

Saudi Arabia has banned the importation of female dolls and teddy bears, giving merchants three months to dispose of such stock, a state-guided newspaper reported Wednesday. Interior Minister Prince Nayef ordered the ban which was relayed around the country by the national Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Al-Riyadh said. The daily gave no reason for the ban, which could not be confirmed with government officials Wednesday. The ban singled out stuffed-animal toys and dolls of brides. It made no mention of male dolls and it was not clear if these were banned as well. The order also prohibited the importation...

I am a great fan of the Professor's story of the War of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings is wonderfully written; the last time I read it I found myself reading aloud to myself. The language rings and shimmers. Professor Tolkien agreed with his many critics that the story was too short. The Professor was correct in this, I believe. Another thousand pages would have rounded out the story nicely. I have a question, important to me that I wish the Professor had answered about Orcs. What were Orcs really like? Jackson gives his opinion in Towers where...

I am a great fan of the Professor's story of the War of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings is wonderfully written; the last time I read it I found myself reading aloud to myself. The language rings and shimmers. Professor Tolkien agreed with his many critics that the story was too short. The Professor was correct in this, I believe. Another thousand pages would have rounded out the story nicely. I have a question, important to me, that I wish the Professor would have answered about Orcs. What were Orcs really like? Jackson gives his opinion in Towers...

A Tolkien Virgin: Of the coming of Men into the Westby Mark-Edmond The Journey Continues And so the stage is set. We have Elves, whose story this has been primarily for the last 150 some odd pages. We have the Dwarves, who dwell primarily in the mountains in the East. And now, we have Men added to the mix. Let's not forget the common threat in the far North, Morgoth and his armies of Orcs, Balrogs, and fire-drakes. To be honest, this chapter didn't strike me as particularly interesting aside from the general introduction of Men to the story....

All about Orcs by George Lashkhi Orcs are creatures mostly interesting to me. There are several issues concerning them, namely, their origin (dubious thing, you know, with Tolkien changing his mind about it), do they have free will, and, in this case, are to be considered sinners on their own behalf or just puppets of Morgoth/Sauron and therefore blameless, what is their lifespan etc. Most of what I ever had to say about the subject is placed at The Barrow Downs, but is scattered in several threads. I'll try to gather all there is worth of posting as [an...

A Tolkien Virgin: Of the Sindarby Mark-Edmond The Journey Continues Wow, this chapter is chock full of stuff. Three major things: the Naugrim (Dwarves) and Sindar meet/Menegroth is constructed (we'll call that one). The Nandor are reintroduced and settle in Ossiriand (two). And, the first war with the Orcs takes place (number three for this chapter). Tolkien amazes me because he's able to say so much with so few words. In a few paragraphs he brings to life the nuances and idiosyncrasies of the Naugrim and their relationship with the Elves. The Naugrim are hesitant to teach foreigners their own...

LOS ANGELES - "Catch Me If You Can" couldn't catch up with "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." The "Lord of the Rings" sequel took in $48.9 million during its second weekend for a 12-day gross of $200.1 million, becoming one of the speediest films ever to cross the $200 million mark, according to studio estimates Sunday. Its weekend average of $13,508 per theater had "Two Towers" fulfilling predictions that it would outperform its predecessor, last year's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." "This film is the story of the holiday season," said Paul...

Real orcs don't do windows While doing some research on the Uruk-hai, I came across an interesting fact: there were no Uruk-hai when Tolkien first wrote the chapter which introduced them. He hadn't conceived of them by that point. The original title for the chapter was "An Orc-raid".Well, that doesn't sound very exciting, does it? In fact, by the time Tolkien had reached this point in the story, Uruks (much less Uruk-hai) had yet to appear.Hang on, as Harry Potter might say. Let's back up a bit, and start over.While most people know that "orc" rarely occurs in The Hobbit...