Theodore's World

Have a wonderful birthday Darth and many more. All the best wishes for you!
~ Chrissie and Team Theodore

FBI Warns of Possible Hezbollah Revenge in U.S.
Los Angeles Times
State and local law enforcement receive an intelligence bulletin to watch for retaliation by the Lebanese militia group, which has vowed to avenge the death of its leader.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security sent a bulletin Friday to state and local law enforcement authorities advising them to watch for potential retaliatory strikes by Hezbollah, one day after the Lebanese militia group vowed to avenge the death of a top commander by attacking Israeli and Jewish targets around the world.

“While retaliation in the U.S. homeland is unlikely, Hezbollah has demonstrated a capability to respond outside the Middle East to similar events in the past,” said the intelligence bulletin sent to about 18,000 state and local law enforcement officials late Friday afternoon.

The FBI also said it was intensifying its domestic intelligence-gathering efforts to identify any potential Hezbollah threats in the United States in the aftermath of Tuesday’s car-bomb assassination of Imad Mughniyah in Syria.
On Wednesday, the FBI sent a confidential internal bulletin to its 101 Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the country warning of the possible domestic consequences of Mughniyah’s killing. As part of that effort, FBI officials at headquarters told the bureau’s field offices and multiagency task forces to increase monitoring and surveillance of suspected Hezbollah operatives and to conduct fresh interviews with sources and informants about the U.S.-designated terrorist group, according to two FBI officials.
U.S. authorities have long described Hezbollah as the “A-Team” of terrorism, with far more discipline than Al Qaeda, vast financing from the government of Iran, and a global network of sleeper operatives who could be called on to launch an attack at any time. Various federal investigations and prosecutions have uncovered dozens of Hezbollah fundraisers and supporters in the United States, but few people are believed to be actual “bomb throwers,” according to a senior FBI counter-terrorism official who focuses on Hezbollah.

“My understanding has always been that Hezbollah would never strike in the United States unless they believed that we participated in an operation against them,” said Bob Pertuso, a former FBI special agent assigned to the Detroit Joint Terrorism Task Force from 2000 to 2004 who specialized in Hezbollah investigations. “So if they believed we assisted in the operation against Mughniyah, I would say they would strike in the United States.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Well, this would be the best time to slip something through ( I pray they don’t) what with the Liberals in Congress opting to walk out on the Republicans in order to allow the FISA laws to lapse while they’re on vacation. The Libs have dropped our guard. Hey, what’s a few thousand Americans dead when there’s political power to be won?
If an attack happens the libs will say it never would have taken place if it weren’t for Bush’s policies.

Islam convert seeks a seat in Congress
Washington Times
INDIANAPOLIS
A convert to Islam stands an election victory away from becoming the second Muslim elected to Congress and a role model for a faith community seeking to make its mark in national politics.
Political newcomer Andre Carson is the Democratic nominee in a March 11 special election to succeed his late grandmother, Julia Carson, representing Indiana’s 7th District.
She died in December of lung cancer, and her grandson is seeking to fill out the rest of her sixth term, which expires at year’s end.
If Andre Carson wins the Democratic-leaning Indianapolis district over a freshman Republican lawmaker and a longshot Libertarian candidate, he would join Rep. Keith Ellison, Minnesota Democrat, as the only Muslims elected to Congress.
Mr. Carson, 33, said he doesn’t believe his religious identity hurts him politically even while American Muslims struggle to gain acceptance. Polling last summer by the Pew Research Center and Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found 29 percent of Americans held unfavorable views of Muslim Americans, a higher percentage than shortly after September 11, 2001.

“I think it’s more of an advantage,” Mr. Carson said. “It’s a platform to address ignorance. It’s a platform to really show that this campaign is about inclusion of all races and religions.”

However, Mr. Carson said his faith doesn’t drive his stands on issues, other than instilling the values that have shaped his life and led him to public service. He said his decision-making is based on his constituents’ needs.

“For me, the religion piece, it informs me. You need to respect people” regardless of their race, religion or gender, said Mr. Carson, who is black. “That is the foundation I go by.”

Mr. Carson’s grandmother raised him in a Baptist church and enrolled him at an inner-city Catholic school, where he entertained the idea of becoming a priest. As he grew older, he became interested in Islam, reading the poetry of the Sufi mystic Rumi and “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.”
He converted to Islam more than a decade ago and began attending prayers at Nur-Allah Islamic Center, a predominantly African-American Sunni mosque.

“For me, what appealed to me about Islam was the universal aspect of Islam,” he said. “All faiths teach universality. But with Islam, I saw it regularly in the [mosques], the praying, the different races.”

After Julia Carson died Dec. 15, Louis Farrakhan delivered a eulogy at her funeral, leading some local political bloggers to question Andre Carson’s ties to the controversial Nation of Islam leader.
He said the ties barely exist: His mosque is not affiliated with the Nation of Islam. He said he approves of some of the group’s work, including fighting drug use in Indianapolis.
Unlike many U.S. Muslims, Mr. Carson said his faith rarely has become an issue for others in his civic life or law enforcement career that included a stint with an anti-terrorism unit of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
Mr. Carson and Mr. Ellison spoke by telephone recently, and the Minnesota congressman who took office 13 months ago said he advised Mr. Carson to emphasize broad concerns such as the economy, the war in Iraq and global warming.

“These things don’t have any particular religion or color or race,” Mr. Ellison said.

Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council, said both men built their political base by gaining the confidence of Democratic leaders, not by running on their religion.
However, he said they need to demonstrate their faith to Muslim youth and show that civic engagement among Muslims is healthy.

“It counters any sense of isolation or alienation,” Mr. Al-Marayati said.

Corey Saylor, legislative director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Mr. Ellison’s 2006 election marked a breakthrough for U.S. Muslims seeking national office.

“Post-9/11, there was a sense in the community that it would be hard for a Muslim to get elected,” Mr. Saylor said.

He predicted immigrant Muslims will join black Americans like Mr. Ellison and Mr. Carson on the national political scene. Sons and daughters of Muslims who arrived in the United States from Asia and Africa are energized politically and working on campaigns, he said.

“We see people starting to build up the civic resume that will get them elected to public office,” Mr. Saylor said. “Give them five or 10 years.”

Even if Mr. Carson wins the special election next month and serves the remainder of his grandmother’s term, he almost immediately will face a challenge to hold the seat. The May 6 Democratic primary for the seat’s next full term has attracted several candidates.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Please God help us and don’t let Islam take over our country.
I have noticed with most things that are bad like the things the left does, they do it inch by inch. They worm their way into things, vote on things that change our country drastically little by little.
One Muslim, Keith Ellison ( just one of his many names) get’s elected and now here is a second one wanrting to get elected as well. One at a time then one day those with their head in the sand will say when did all this happen. How did we get so many Muslim’s in political offices of power over ‘we the people’ .
If I remember right Political Correctness began back in the 60’s. I have spoken before how I heard my Dad talking about it at home one evening and I asked him what does it mean. He explained it to me and said it will be something that in the future will be destroying American. It will take away much of our freedom of speech.
This is the same thing, getting Muslims in power……..one at a time, easing them in on Capitol Hill.

Explosives Found in Capitol Hill Gunman’s Truck
National Terror Alert
Explosives have been found in the impounded pickup truck driven by the man discovered carrying a loaded shotgun on Capitol Hill last month, U.S. Capitol police told FOX News.
Michael Gorbey, 38, of Rapidian, Va was arrested in late January, and at the time police said there was a suspicious substance in his green pickup truck parked near the corner of North Capitol and D streets in Washington, D.C.
The truck was impounded at the Government Printing Office garage on Capitol Hill, not far from where the incident unfolded.
Police executed a search warrant Friday.
Kimberly Schneider, a police spokeswoman, said Gorbey could face additional charges.

Wild Thing’s comment…….
That truck look like something a hippie would drive? Iti just needs some big flowers painted on it and a peace sign.

Democrats defy Bush on spy program and immunity By Taking 12-day Recess)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) for complete article
The Democratic-led House of Representatives defied President George W. Bush on Friday and recessed without replacing an expiring spy law with one that would shield telephone companies from lawsuits.
With the temporary law set to expire on Saturday, Bush accused Democrats of undermining U.S. security. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer denied it and accused Bush of election-year fear-mongering.
Hoyer said he and fellow Democrats were reaching out to Republicans, and hoped to soon agree on a bill to replace the expiring law passed by Congress in August that expanded the power of U.S. authorities track suspected terrorists without a court order.

“We will not, however, be stampeded,” Hoyer said.

Bush met with congressional Republican leaders at the White House on Friday morning and took aim at House Democrats.
“When they come back from that 12-day recess, the House leaders must understand that the decision they made to block good legislation has made it harder for us to protect you, the American people,” Bush said.

“We expect now to get a good bill to my desk — which is the Senate bill — to my desk as soon as possible,” Bush said before he departed on a six-day trip to Africa that he had considered delaying to try to resolve the stalemate over the eavesdropping bill.

The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill to replace the “Protect America Act.” But House Democratic leaders refused to bring it up for a vote, and Bush and his fellow Republicans along with some Democrats rejected a brief extension of the law.

And this………………..
When the Clock Strikes Midnight, We Will Be Significantly Less Safe
The Democrats’ FISA talking points are nonsense.
National Review
Andrew McCarthy good article, click to read entire article

“According to top Democrats, the expiration of the Protect America Act (PAA) when the clock strikes midnight is no big deal. Our ability to monitor foreign threats to national security, they assure us, will be completely unaffected.
This is about as dumb a talking point as one can imagine. And it is just as demonstrably false.
Think for a moment about Tuesday’s crucial Senate bill overhauling our intelligence law that Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to allow the House to consider before recessing Friday .”

“Right now, we are permitted to collect foreign-to-foreign communications absent probable cause that the target is an agent of a foreign power. As of 12:00 A.M., we will no longer be permitted to do that. It is absurd to suggest that this huge drop-off in collection will have no impact on our security.”

“There are ever larger numbers of potentially hostile operatives who are galvanized by jihadist ideology without necessarily being connected to a known terrorist organization. Casting a broad surveillance net to collect intelligence overseas is how we detect and thwart any threat they may pose. It’s how we protect Americans in the homeland and on the battlefield.
As of midnight, that net is gone.”

Wild Thing’s comment…….
Well midnight last night has come and gone and the House Democrats are enjoying their 12 day vacation.
The House Democrats severely crippled the United State’ ability to gather intelligence from our foreign enemies as they let the 1978 Foreign intelligence Surveillance Act run out at midnight. The possible ramifications of this remarkable abdication of responsibility could well be literally, explosive. Without a reauthorization, wiretapping, listening in on the enemy overseas will now require obtaining a warrant each time such surveillance is undertaken, bogging investigations down in a thick and ugly mire of legal complication.
Pelosi wants an American city nuked in order to damage the Republicans. She is that evil. I am not saying that will happen, but it does leave the door open and ties the hands of those wanting to do their jobs.

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Wild Thing’s comment……..
The word ‘Change’ has been the mantra for this election. It is one thing to use the word but they are using it to cover all topics, all issues and not saying anything else. Just yell out ‘CHANGE’ and the audience screams back “Yes we can”. Just yell out ‘CHANGE ‘ and we are supposed to know how much that covers in what a person plans on doing TO our country and TO US as citizens.
It is lazy campaigning if you ask me. We are not electing a cheerleader, an advertising executive nor a used car salesman that needs to use some kind of slogan to get my attention. But that is what it has come down to in this election. The dems being the principle ones using it more then anyone else. I guess the mentality of the left can only handle slogans and not complete thought. How many times have we heard lately they don’t even know why they are voting for B. Hussein Obama other then his energy, he is young and he promises change.
It’s been my observation that Obama supporters seem to be content for him to spout empty phrases while they cheer enthusiastically at each new offering. But what are they cheering? There’s very little substance. And what little there is, is quite troubling, certainly nothing to cheer about.
Obama is merely this year’s tired old retread on a gimmick that has brought the democrats some measure of success in the past. In 1972, voters went to the polls to vote for a guy they knew very little about. That brought us the malaise years, the incredibly destructive Carter administration.
Once again in 1992, we were offered up another governor this time from Arkansas that voters knew very little about. That year they voted in the slickmeister, perhaps the closest thing to a (dixie) mafia stooge we’ll ever get. Where do you begin to describe those years, watching the democrats defend a guy for all the ‘gates’, ( Chinagate, filegate, travel gate etc.) the death list into the 70’s or something when they finally left office. And that isn’t even all of it that they did.
Here we are again with an unknown. The guy offers up some great speeches if he was a motivational speaker, it’s just that they’re calorie free. It’s as if his supporters see him as some modernistic version of Yoda. When he speaks they close their eyes and rely on the Force. The question is, which side is that Force on? Is it the Alican Skywalker Force, or the Darth Vador Force?
Folks need to read about Obama. If ever there was a guy that folks should get to know before voting, this is the one. The vacant see him as a benevolent sage, but I’m thinking it will turn out to be a more like Derth Maul. The vacant hammer of this year’s left.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Thank you to all 101st Airbourne! This is such a wonderful video and we are all so proud of you.

Purported Al Qaeda Video Shows Prisoners Burned Alive
Fox News
Al Qaeda’s latest display of terror has made its way onto the Internet, showing horrifying images of what appear to be prisoners in Iraq being doused with an inflammatory liquid and then burned alive.
The video, which appears to have been posted first on Google last December in an alleged anti-Al Qaeda Web film, shows five insurgents standing behind three blindfolded prisoners kneeling at the edge of a burning pit.

“And now that we have captured these scums who committed this dreadful crime, we will burn them with this fire,” the Al Qaeda leader says in Arabic. “The same fire which they committed their crime with.

“And I swear by God almighty that, I swear by God almighty that we will have no mercy on them,” he continues. “Allahuakbar, Allahuakbar.”

As he speaks, two of the insurgents pour liquid on the blindfolded prisoners. Then they push the bound men into the pit, where they are engulfed in flames.
According to the summary — in Arabic and German — included in the nearly 15-minute video posted on Google, many of the clips were found in Diyala, Iraq. The makers of the film say that the originals were “passed to us by others.”

Wild Thikng’s comment…….
These Al-Qaeda idiots join up for the killing – the more sadistic the better. They use thee videos for their training. We are not dealing with human beings they are something that belongs in the depths of hell. And it is an outrage that our electied leaders do not leave PC out of this war and leave our military alone to fight this enemy in any way they can. Instead they worry about being nice to the enemy and like Obama, Pelosi etc. want to do to sit down and talk to them.

Soldiers from the 552nd Military Police Company, from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, say a group prayer in Mosul before entering the city to search passenger vehicles for weapons and bomb-making materials Feb. 14. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Patrick Lair)

Sgt. Angela Mathern and Vinny, a bomb-detection dog, both of the 51st Military Police Detachment, from Ft. Lewis, Wash., walk through traffic in downtown Mosul during a search of random vehicles for weapons and bomb-making materials Feb. 14. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Patrick Lair)

Soldier and Vinny, a bomb-detection dog, both of the 51st Military Police Detachment, from Ft. Lewis, Wash., inspect a cargo truck in downtown Mosul during a search of random vehicles for weapons and bomb-making materials Feb. 14. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Patrick Lair)

An Iraqi policemen walks by a storefront in downtown Mosul as Iraqi police and U.S. Military Police conducted random searches of vehicles in Mosul for weapons and bomb-making materials Feb. 14. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Patrick Lair)

Coalition Forces Soldier and Vinny, a bomb-detection dog, both of the 51st Military Police Detachment, from Ft. Lewis, Wash.,inspect a cart carrying propane tanks in downtown Mosul during a search of random vehicles for weapons and bomb-making materials Feb. 14. Soldiers from the 552nd Military Police Company, based out of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, provide security. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Patrick Lair)

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)
FISA: High Noon at Midnight Friday
by Andy McCarthy
The Corner National Review

“In today’s article, I catalogue some of the problems with the Senate bill which would overhaul FISA — while explaining that the bill absolutely must be passed by the House or our foreign intelligence collection is going to collapse. It would be unconscionable for Democrats to allow that to happen while our nation confronts an enemy hell-bent on reprising 9/11 and while we have 200,000 men and women in uniform relying on the continuing flow of information from our intelligence services.
Well it looks like the unconscionable is about to occur. I am hearing from several sources that the House is planning to recess on Friday without taking up the Senate bill. That would mean the lapse of our surveillance authority at midnight.
This is a game of roulette with our national security, spearheaded by the Democratic leadership in the House, which is following the lead of the party’s two presidential contenders, Sens. Obama and Clinton. Both of them voted against the emergency authorization last summer, and Obama voted against the Senate bill on Tuesday (Clinton did not bother to vote). Make no mistake. The MoveOn.org crowd is calling the shots on that side of the aisle.
President Bush has to keep pounding this, as does Sen. McCain. This is not politics, folks. For grown-ups, this is life and death.”

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Wild Thing’s comment……..
So let’s see within the next 48 hours or the current stopgap measure, the Protect America Act, will expire. (The Senate bill is bipartisan)
If that happens, the current statutory authority for the intelligence community to monitor foreign terrorists overseas will end. The CIA and NSA, under a secret FISA court ruling Americans have not been permitted to review, would be required to seek probable-cause judicial warrants to surveil terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere around the globe. That impossible burden — bringing tens of thousands of enemy communications under FISA’s arduous legal procedures, all for the benefit of alien enemies who have no right to privacy protection under American law — would shut down intelligence collection.
Obama voted against it and Mrs. Clinton didn’t even show up!