Answer: very cool! Kaboom: Video of Spy Satellite Getting Shot Down.

It’s very good that this shootdown worked, because Plan B was to send a bunch of rowdy oil-riggers led by Bruce Willis to attach explosive charges to the satellite, and that could only have meant one thing that none of us wanted: the continuation of Ben Affleck’s movie career.

In a previous post, I lamented the fact that there is no Patton around today to inspire and lead us. Boy, was I wrong…

Just reading it made me ready to fight, I can only imagine what hearing it was like.

We could sure use a Patton now.

The only thing missing from this photo that would make it better is someone pouring a bucket of salt water over the creep.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the contrariness of John Derbyshire, who writes for, among other things, National Review. Today is a case in point. In a short and sweet post, John elegantly sums up the problem for the western world, and our seeming inability to do anything about it.

Pakistan is nuclear, but not yet fundamentalist.  Iran is fundamentalist, but not yet nuclear.  The chance that both things will go on being true for much longer is, I should guess, vanishingly small.

Time to start stocking up on canned foods and lead underwear (to protect future generations). And all those Y2K shelters, better oil the hinges and clean ‘em out. I’m heading down to the sporting goods store for some ammo…

Rich Lowry at National Review Online has a run-down of some of the hard lessons of Iraq. It’s hard to disagree.

We blew it.

UPDATE: The NRO site is acting up. I fixed the link (I think). Let me know if you have problems getting to the article.

BaconBlaster: A new bacon-flavored, pig oil spray. Get yours today.

Former prime minister of Malaysia: “No such thing as a moderate muslim.”

“There is no such thing as a moderate Muslim,” he said. “We are fundamentalists in Malaysia. We follow the true teachings of the religion and the true teachings do not teach us to bomb and kill people without reason.”

And the reason is… [cue drumroll]…

Israel.

Mahathir, who is known for his frequent barbs against what he has called Western double standard, said he believed even the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the US were at root linked to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.

It’s such a convenient excuse to blame everything on Israel. I think I’ll adopt the tactic myself.

“Honey, I would have taken the garbage out sooner if not for the unwarranted oppression of the pure and innocent Palestinian people by those Israeli dogs.”

“Why, yes, Officer, I was speeding and swerving all over the road because Israel continues to exist. Damn them!”

“Sir, if you wish me to enter the express lane with less than fifteen items, I suggest you do something about the bloody Israelis.”

Yes. Blaming Israel can be fun! And when that no longer works, I’ll move on to blaming Bush.

IOL: 700 Taliban trapped by Nato offensive

Nato and Afghan forces used artillery and air strikes overnight to keep up pressure on an estimated 700 Taliban trapped by an offensive that the alliance claims has killed at least 200 militants in southern Afghanistan, Nato said today.

700 Taliban trapped? Sounds like a job for Daisy Cutter!

I’ve been railing about the lack of accuracy in the media regarding the war in Lebanon for a few days now. In the course of my ranting, I’ve linked to sources of similiar viewpoints and analysis to support my argument. I now offer the words of Melanie Phillips, who takes these very same circumstances and concludes that the old media is, for all intents and purposes, the enemy within.

Seldom have I found a more quote-worthy commentary than hers, especially when she asks the question “Why does the media persist in it’s lack of accuracy and honesty with regard to Israel and the islamists?”:

But the big answer is that the western media transmit the lies of Hezbollah because they want to believe them. And that’s because the Big Lie these media tell — and have themselves been told — about Israel and its place in history and in the world today has achieved the status of unchallengeable truth. The plain fact is that western journalists were sent to cover the war being waged against Israel from Lebanon as a war being waged by Israel against Lebanon. And that’s because that’s how editors think of the Middle East: that the whole ghastly mess is driven by Israel’s actions, and that therefore it is only Israel’s aggression which is the story to be covered. Thus history is inverted, half a century of Jewish victimisation is erased from public consciousness, victims are turned into aggressors and genocidal mass murderers turned into victims, and ignorance and prejudice stalk England’s once staunch and stalwart land.

A bold statement, to be sure. But I have yet to hear the old media offer a reasonable explanation for their silence regarding the Huzbullah propoganda machine.

Phillips then goes on to draw some conclusions which are similarly hard to argue with:

Certain conclusions are now inescapable. First, hatred of Israel and the irrationality associated with that hatred have now reached unprecedented proportions within Britain and the west. Second, with a few honourable exceptions the mainstream media are no longer to be believed in anything they transmit, either in words or pictures, about the Middle East. It is only the blogosphere which is now performing the most elementary disciplines of journalism: to aspire to objectivity, to separate facts from prejudices, to apply basic checks to claims being made by partisans to a conflict, and to be particularly wary of those with a proven track record of lying. Third, the mainstream media must now be regarded as active accessories to the war being waged against the free world and therefore as a fifth column in that world – an enemy within. Fourth, the impact of the lies and distortions transmitted by the mainstream media in inflaming the already pathological hatred of the west within the Arab and Muslim world is incalculable. Fifth, the mainstream media’s vilification, demonisation and delegitimisation of Israel, based on outright fabrications and malevolent distortions, is imperilling the very existence of the country that is the front line of defence of the free world. Sixth, that vilification is also imperilling the safety and well-being of Jewish communities around the world, subject now to the double victimisation of attack by Islamists and attack by non-Muslims for belonging to a Jewish people that refuses to submit passively to a second attempt at genocidal slaughter and instead fights to defend itself.

I recommend you read the whole thing. The only sure defense against a complicit media is an informed populace.

Melanie Phillips is the author of Londonistan, a book I plan on reading very soon.

And excellent column by Caroline Glick in the Jerusalem Post on the utter failure of the media in the aftermath of the recent events in Lebanon. Definitely worth a read.

As each day passes, the governments, formal and informal legal apparatuses, and media of free societies show themselves to be less and less capable of contending with the information operations conducted against their societies by subversive forces seeking their destruction.

As each day passes it becomes clear that the responsibility of protecting our nations and societies from internal disintegration has passed to the hands of individuals, often working alone, who refuse to accept the degradation of their societies and so fight with the innovative tools of liberty to protect our way of life. The vigilance of just a handful of bloggers brought us the knowledge of the corruption of our media and the network of global NGOs that we have come to rely on to tell us the “objective” truth.

At the very least, we should look upon the media with the same amount of distrust that we reserve for politicians. They have proven themselves incapable of presenting reality, or of spotting even the absurdly obvious.

Did Israel attack two ambulances on purpose in Lebanon? Zombietimes doesn’t think so, and he has the evidence to prove it. If you’ve got about 45 minutes, you might wish to read how the lazy media fell for another shoddy piece of Huzbollah propoganda and used it to hand a huge public relations victory to the islamists.

Not a single reporter or editor doubted the story for a second. Or if they did, they certainly didn’t inform readers of their doubts. Why did the media swallow the story hook, line and sinker? In their zeal to bash Israel, did they allow themselves, consciously or unconsciously, to be duped by Hezbollah supporters into broadcasting propaganda as news? Or is the media so eager to jump on any fresh scandal that they simply switch off their critical thinking and become absolutely credulous of any juicy tale thrown their way?

If you don’t have the time, here is the short version: “Hey reporters, missiles usually cause fire and destruction, and they normally explode outwards! Ya frickin’ morons.”

If I were paranoid, I might be worried by:

1. Iran turns U.N. nuclear inspectors away from a nuclear facility at Natanz.
2. At the same time, Iran is conducting military maneuvers all across the country.
3. August 22 (tomorrow) is significant to some crazy Islamists

But, of course, any connection between these news items and recent events is absurd.

I’m just saying, if I were paranoid…

Providing proof that peace activists have difficulty dealing with reality, a crazy woman who prompted the diversion of a flight from London to DC on Wednesday was more than (as politely described in the media) just a little claustrophobic:

A self-described peace activist responsible for the diversion of a London-to-Washington flight Wednesday acted bizarrely for hours, made references to al Qaeda and hijack training flights, and was restrained by two passengers after she urinated in the aisle.

    Catherine C. Mayo, 59, a Vermont woman who also lives part time in Pakistan, was charged yesterday in federal court with interfering with a flight crew.

    United Flight 923 was forced to make an emergency landing at Boston’s Logan International Airport under escort by two military jets.

    “She’s got some very serious mental health problems,” said Page Kelley, Mrs. Mayo’s attorney, who described her client as “just barely lucid.”

In other words, she’s a typical peace activist…

Just kidding. Really. Some of my favorite peace activists are lunatics.

A couple days ago we were informed that eleven Egyptian exchange students were missing. The men, between 18 and 22 years old, had entered the U.S. on visas but had not shown up at Montana State University, where they were scheduled for classes.

That was odd. I assume people on visas go missing all the time. But here was group of men (young muslim men) who had attracted the attention of the FBI. We were informed, however…

FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko said there is no threat associated with the men.

That makes sense. I mean, the FBI is the perfect entity to put out an alert for young men who pose no threat whatsoever.

Then, yesterday two young muslim men were arrested and charged with actively supporting terrorism when they were found with airplane passenger lists, airport security checkpoint information, a large amount of cash, and 12 cell phones in Dearborn, Michigan.

Abulhassan and Houssaiky admitted buying about 600 phones in recent months at stores in southeast Ohio, said sheriff’s Maj. John Winstanley. The men said they sold the phones to someone in Dearborn, a Detroit suburb.

Investigators going through the car after the pair were pulled over in Marietta, about 90 miles southeast of Columbus, also found a map that showed locations of Wal-Mart stores from Ohio through Kentucky, Tennessee and into North and South Carolina, Vessels said.

Phones? Big deal! Well, maybe so.

The phones — which do not require purchasers to sign a contract or have a credit card — have many legitimate uses, and are popular with people who have bad credit or for use as emergency phones tucked away in glove compartments or tackle boxes. But since they can be difficult or impossible to track, law enforcement officials say the phones are widely used by criminal gangs and terrorists.

Law enforcement officials say the phones were used to detonate the bombs terrorists used in the Madrid train attacks in March 2004.

Hmmmm. Well, maybe there’s nothing to these stories. It’s just a big misunderstanding…

Then again, maybe there is something going on.

LONDON – British authorities said Thursday they thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up several aircraft heading to the U.S. using explosives smuggled in carry-on luggage. Security was raised to its highest level in Britain, and carry-on bags were banned on all flights.

And Nero fiddled while Rome burned…

The world appears to be going crazy these days, as I noted recently. Apropos of the conditions as I see them, I have created a new category in Almost Daily called “World War III”.

There has been a lot of talk among the chattering classes of the dawning realization that the so-called “War on Terror”, aside from being unwinnable (just how does one defeat “terror”?), should really be named “The War on Islamic Fascism” since that is the primary foe.

Additionally, there was recently a spate of punditry referring to the current conflict(s) as “World War III”.

I believe we are, in fact, engaged in a world war. The virus of Muslim jihad is spreading worldwide. It must be countered, and it must be defeated. Recent events have shown that jihadis cannot be reasoned with; cannot be bought off; cannot be appeased. Muslim Jihadis offer western civilization a choice of two options:

1. Submission
2. Death

The sooner we in the West come to this realization, the better equipped we will be to fight and survive.

Am I being too dramatic? Perhaps.

Is such pessimism warranted? I wish it were not, but I can’t ignore the lessons of history as I see them; and every piece of evidence indicates that this foe is relentless and will not stop until it either achieves victory or is killed.

So that’s why I created this category. We are, I believe, in the early stages of World War III. Wake up, people, because it’s us or them.