What ISIS Did in Palmyra

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogstop.com


Hat tip Revoltes en Europe

Viewer warning: Graphic images

A week or so ago, ISIS captured the Syrian town of Palmyra, a site noted for its antiquities and Roman columns. Of course all that pre-dated the birth of Islam, so according to ISIS, it must be eradicated. Most observers expect the columns to come down soon while other treasures have already been smashed.

Now ISIS has used the Roman structures as a backdrop for their latest massacre, the execution of 25 captured Syrian soldiers. The video produced by ISIS with great pride comes from the French blog, Revoltes en Europe. (Warning: They are graphic.)

The title in French reads, "Muslims of the Islamic State kill 25 Syrian soldiers. Those who are sensitive should refrain (from watching). The video has been hidden from view on orders by the media."

http://revoltes-en-europe.over-blog.com/2015/07/les-musulmans-de-l-etat-islamique-tuent-25-soldats-syriens-dans-le-theatre-romain-de-palmyre-syrie-ames-sensibles-s-abstenir-video-o

I have said it before, and I will repeat: This is something that has no place in the West.  It should be isolated in the Middle East, where it is perfectly at home.

Lois Lerner Saga: IRS and DOJ Violated the Law

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Judicial Watch has obtained more documents that show that Lois Lerner, her agency (IRS) and DOJ were working to go after conservative political groups criminally. More specifically, the IRS gave tax-payer income tax returns to the FBI-in violation of the law.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2015/07/07/reconfirmed-irs-tried-to-get-conservative-groups-criminally-prosecuted-illegally-shared-info-with-doj-n2022245?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad

As I have said before, when I was a DEA agent, I often had occasion to work with IRS's Criminal Investigation Division as they often investigated drug traffickers and their illicit cash transactions/proceeds. However, it was illegal for them to provide me with income tax returns for suspects.

Indictments should follow in this mess. Unfortunately, who is going to indict and prosecute? DOJ?

Black Churches Burning?

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Frontpage Magazine and Michelle Malkin


A couple of nights ago I was watching CNN International from London (much more to the left of their US counterparts). They were reporting the burning of a black church in Greeleyville, South Carolina. I was pretty taken back especially when I heard the next day that 6 black churches have been burned in the South just since the shooting in Charleston. That was reported by the New York Times. I thought to myself:, "Are we really getting this bad that we are returning to the bad old days? Is there really that much white hatred for black people in America? What happened to the New South? Have I been wrong about my own perceptions?"

Not so fast.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/259322/fanning-flames-another-black-church-arson-hoax-michelle-malkin

At this point, it appears that the Greeleyville church fire was caused by lightning.

Don't get me wrong; one case of a racist arson against a black church is one too many. However, it appears that some very prominent news organizations have taken a story and run with it before the facts have come in. We have seen it with Treyvon Martin. We have seen it with Michael Brown.

Those CNN news anchors over there in London are sitting there crowing that America is a racist country. They are no better than the clowns that you see on MSNBC. They ought to be paying attention to their own country, which is collapsing all around them.

This is a dangerous business these irresponsible journalists are engaging in. Tensions are high enough in this country and false stories like this only fan the flames. How irresponsible is it to take a church that was apparently struck by lightning and before the embers have died out, talk about white racists burning down black churches before you know that is the case. Again: If some white racist yahoo sets fire to a black church, I want the police to catch the guy and throw him in prison for a few decades.

This is another example of why Sean Hannity talks about the death of American journalism.

Memorial Day Weekend in Baltimore: 28 Shot-9 Dead

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Gateway Pundit



"Let's move back to Cleveland."



Freddy Gray is dead and buried. Six police officers are charged in his death in what can only be described as a lynch mob atmosphere. Certain people have promised more riots in Baltimore if the cops are not convicted.

Yet what goes under the radar in this sordid tale is the fact that Baltimore is out of control. Shootings and deaths are skyrocketing. Over this Memorial Day weekend, 28 people were shot and 9 are dead. Too bad Baltimore's most famous resident, Edgar Allen Poe, isn't still around. He would have plenty of tales to weave.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/05/where-are-the-protesters-28-shootings-in-baltimore-9-fatal-over-holiday-weekend-video/


And the city leaders of Baltimore, the activist hacks in the Justice Department, and the liberal media want us all to believe that the cops are the problem. Well, as far as I can determine, the cops didn't shoot anybody in Baltimore this weekend. I wrote about the problems in the city a couple of weeks ago-not that I am some kind of rocket scientist for figuring out what many others have.

The same disease that affects Baltimore affects many other big US cities like Philadelphia, Detroit, Clevelend, Chicago and Los Angeles to name the most obvious examples. And what do they have in common? They have all been run for decades by Democrats, who wring their hands and plea for peace on the streets while finding others to blame-like the police. They can't face up to the real cause of this bloodshed- breakdown in the inner city families and lack of positive male role models. Until they come to terms with that reality, the problems will just continue and more cops will be blamed.

How convenient.

Our Insane Immigration Policy

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Creeping Sharia


The below report is not only troubling, it is outrageous. With a clear and present danger of Islamic terrorism in our own country, our government is rushing pell-mell in an insane drive to bring more and more Muslim immigrants into this country. Never mind 9-11. Never mind the Boston Marathon massacre. Never mind the numerous FBI interceptions of would be jihadists. Never mind those who have left the US to join the Jihad with the clear intent to bring it back to our shores.

Our government continues to actively sponsor a flood of Muslim immigrants to this country.

https://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2015/05/12/nearly-two-million-immigrants-from-muslim-countries-since-911/

It pains me to say this because I am married to an immigrant, and I generally support immigration-something that has benefited our country immeasurably.

But something has gone horribly wrong.

Combine this with the flood of illegal immigrants and this is tantamount to a country losing its sovereignty. It also places the lives of American citizens in grave danger.

Is there anybody in Washington with any common sense?

The Media is Demonizing the Targets of the Garland Attack

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


The dust has barely settled over Garland, Texas, and already the liberal media is going into overdrive to demonize not the two shooters who died trying to barge their way into the center where they would have killed possibly scores of people, but the organizers of the Draw Mohammad cartoon event. The number one target is Pam Geller. The below article by NPR is typical:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/05/04/404158281/5-things-to-know-about-the-organizers-of-mohammed-cartoon-contest

We should also note that the media is largely using the Southern Poverty Law Center as a source of attack. The SPLC has done some good work in the past in identifying truly hateful people and organizations. The problem is that they have a liberal bent and have singled out some people and organizations erroneously. I think Geller and her organization is one example.

First of all, there has to be a distinction made between criticizing Islam, sharia law, and the jihadists who seek to do us harm and Muslims as people. Thus, I think it is off the mark to charge the American Freedom Defense Initiative as being, "anti-Muslim".

Furthermore, instead of blaming the targets of the attack because their cartoon contest was offensive to Muslims, these critics should be saying, "It's only a cartoon". In other words, how does drawing cartoons justify deadly violence?

"Because it is blasphemous," say the critics.

Yes, it is, but so is showing an "art" exhibit with Christ on a crucifix dunked in a jar of urine or showing the Virgin Mary encased in elephant dung. Christians are highly insulted by that. Mormons are insulted by a play called, "The Book of Mormon" that insults the Mormon religion. Yet that is all called art, and we were reminded that it falls under freedom of expression. Christians and Mormons were told to get over it. And we did. Nobody got killed, and there were no riots. No museums or theaters were burned down.

But political correctness dictates that Geller, Robert Spencer, Geert Wilders and the other near-victims in Garland be criticized because they mocked the Prophet Mohammad. Yet it must be pointed out that this was a reaction to the fact that Islamic organizations had recently held a "Stand by Our Prophet Day" at the same site in Garland as a reaction to the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.

Maybe that was offensive too.

Let us be honest. Even the liberal left knows there is a fundamental difference between how Christians, Mormons and other religions react to being insulted or mocked and the way Muslims do *(not all Muslims, of course). We know that insulting Islam results in some Muslims becoming very violent-murderously violent. Does that mean that we must all become silent and not discuss what is happening around the world? Must we remain silent when Christians are the object of genocide in the Middle East? Must we remain silent as we witness the beheadings? Can we not freely discuss the problem and the causes, to say nothing about the threats we face? If we decide that cartoons are off-limits, what's next-pointing out that there are violent verses in the Koran?

Here is how I have handled the Mohammad cartoon question on this site: On the one hand, I have not shown Mohammad cartoons, nor have I reproduced Charlie Hebdo's cartoons. What I have done is show cartoons that have come out as a response to the Paris massacres. Below is an example.




That cartoon does not insult anybody but the violent jihadists, and I am perfectly comfortable with it. No apologies are warranted or forthcoming.

Reasonable people can disagree on the wisdom of showing Mohammad cartoons. The right to do so in America is not negotiable. But there can be no tolerance for anyone thinking they can conduct murder and mayhem in this country over the issue. This is America. We have the First Amendment. Once we give that up, America is gone.

It's Not the Police Who Have Failed Baltimore

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


This article first appeared in Eagle Rising.


Whatever the facts of Freddie Gray's death, a few things are becoming clearer by the day. Baltimore's biggest problem is not the police. It is their political leadership.

First of all, it's hard to say black Baltimoreans have been the victims of a racist system when you have a black mayor, a black chief of police, black city council members and 40% black cops. Add to that our African-American president and both of his attorneys general, Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch.

Baltimore is a tough, working-class city and not a place where you go walking around at night. Once you have visited the beautiful Inner Harbor, things get gritty fast. Tonight, I heard reports that there are some 35,000 abandoned buildings in the city. This city is in a sad state of affairs.

First of all, the city's mayor has failed in her responsibilities, both with her order to the police to stand down on the evening of April 27 and not even don their riot helmets. An added disgrace was her public statements about allowing the ones who wanted to destroy things to have their space, She then denied she said it even though it is clearly on videotape. Today, shielded by the ever-ready Al Sharpton, she glumly refused to answer questions from Fox's reporter Leland Vittert glaring at him as Sharpton and her entourage pushed Vittert back. Indeed, Baltimore's politicians-and Elijah Cummings have reacted angrily to the presence of reporters.

What we are seeing in Baltimore is a testament to the political failure of big city Democratic dominance. Look at other cities like Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago and other places-dominated by the Democrat party for decades. They are failed cities, with the arguable exception of Chicago with its combination of glitter mixed with South Side gang murders off the charts, a problem Rahm Emanuel and his predecessors have been unable to stem.  The same statement could be made about Los Angeles. You want to see how a beautiful city like San Francisco can deteriorate under the weight of the thousands of homeless people roaming the streets? Take a walk through downtown San Francisco. When did it become depressing to walk around the City by the Bay? (Of course, you can escape all that by going to Golden Gate Park, where you can stroll down Nancy Pelosi Drive.)

In addition, many of the above cities have had black mayors, black aldermen/ women, black city council members, and black police chiefs. Where has been the improvement in the lives of the inner city residents?  The question I ask is why black voters never hold the Democratic party accountable whether they are white, black, Hispanic politicians or otherwise.

If the Baltimore police were guilty of malfeasance or negligence in the death of Mr Gray, let the facts come out. Letting people riot, burn and injure police officers is unacceptable. In addition, it is hoped that the public will take a second look at how Democrats are running these big cities