The Amboy Times

Avast! It's Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Aarrrrg! This be the official website, Talk Like A Pirate Day.

The Examiner be turnin' Pirate as well!

If you are a Facebook fan, you can convert your language to pirate-speak under your account settings. It might throw people off, but once they find out it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day 2010, they may follow suit.

Get your Pirate on for International Talk Like a Pirate Day 2010 by watching a great pirate movie

* Hell Harbor(1930)

* Pirate Treasure(1934)

* Treasure Island(1934)

* Captain Blood(1935)

* China Seas(1935)

* Captain Kidd(1945)

* The Spanish Main(1945)

* Pirates of Monterey(1947)

* Peter Pan(1953)

* Fair Wind to Java(1953)

* The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd(1953)

* Prince of Pirates(1953)

* Raiders of the Seven Seas (1953)

* Pirates of Tripoli(1955)

* The Buccaneers(1956)

* Davy Crockett and the RIver Pirates(1956)

* The King's Pirate(1967)

* Blackbeard's Ghost(1968)

* The Light at the Edge of the World(1971)

* Treasure Island(1972)

* Il Corsaro nero(1976)

* The Pirates of Penzance(1983)

* Treasure Island(1985)

* Shipwrecked(1990)

* Treasure Island(1990) (TV)

* Hook(1991)

* Treasure Planet(2002)

* Peter Pan(2003)

* Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl(2003)

* Captain Sabertooth(2003)

* Pirates(2005)

* Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest(2006)

* Pirates of the Great Salt Lake(2006)

* Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End(2007)

* Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge(2008)

* Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides(2011)

* Pirate Latitudes(2011)

Enjoy International Pirate Day 2010!

"Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" Cartoonist goes into Hiding

Islam means submission, and Islamists are here to destroy our way of life as we know it. That is what the List of things that offend Muslims is all about. Whether it's a cartoonist in Seattle or a filmmaker in the Netherlands, the Islamists are not interested in engaging in civil dialogue and will continue to silence any opposing voice by any means necessary. So add Molly Morris to the List who, like Salman Rushdie is forced into hiding for simply having an opinion.

So much for freedom of speech.

At the urging of the FBI, Molly Norris, the Seattle-based illustrator and cartoonist whose satirical drawing marking "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" resulted in death threats, global protests and impassioned debate about religion and censorship, has been forced to change her name and abandon her former life as a result of her controversial cartoon.

The news that Morris had, out of concerns for her safety, decided to go into hiding was first reported in the Seattle Weekly today, a paper where Norris' cartoons had regularly appeared:

The gifted artist is alive and well, thankfully. But on the insistence of top security specialists at the FBI, she is, as they put it, "going ghost": moving, changing her name, and essentially wiping away her identity. She will no longer be publishing cartoons in our paper or in City Arts magazine, where she has been a regular contributor. She is, in effect, being put into a witness-protection program -- except, as she notes, without the government picking up the tab.

Norris originally posted her tongue-in-cheek cartoon announcing May 20 as "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" on her website, which no longer seems to be operating. It was dedicated to the creators of the Comedy Central animated television series "South Park" after one of their episodes was censored for its portrayal of the Islamic prophet. 

(...)

In June, despite her renunciation of the event spawned by her cartoon, Norris was placed on a hit list by Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaida-linked figure who has been tied to the Fort Hood, Texas, massacre as well as the failed bombing in Times Square, the New York Daily News reported. Shortly thereafter, the FBI contacted Norris.

"We're hoping the religious bigots go into full and immediate remission," the Seattle Weekly said about Norris' need to go into hiding, "and we wish her the best."

Koran Burner Loses his Job

I've already posted that I think that burning any book is a bad idea. I would prefer that Fenton read violent verses of jihad from the Koran to illustrate why building a Mosque near the place where worst attack in America took place. But I also believe that Ground Zero protester Derek Fenton has a right to protest without losing his livelihood.

(...)

NY Daily News-Derek Fenton's 11-year career at the agency came to an abrupt halt Monday after photographs of him ripping pages from the Muslim holy book and setting them ablaze appeared in newspapers.

Fenton, 39, of Bloomingdale, N.J., burned the book during a protest on the ninth anniversary of Sept. 11 outside , the controversial mosque slated to be built near Ground Zero.

(...)

Several neighbors in Fenton's town stood up for his right to express himself with flames.

"Good for him for burning the Koran," neighbor Jacqui Marquez, 40, said. "Everybody's entitled to their opinion ... by firing him, they're sending a message that there's no freedom of speech. They're completely wrong for doing this."

"He's a family man," neighbor Randy McConnell, 43, said. "He loves his kids and he loves trains. I don't agree with what he did, but he shouldn't lose his job over it. That's his right."

If Fenton was fired for burning the Koran while off-duty, his First Amendment rights probably were violated, Chris Dunn of the New York Civil Liberties Union said. "The Supreme Court has recognized a constitutional right to burn the flag. As reprehensible as it may be, burning the Koran would be protected as well.

Its interesting that Fenton could have burned the Flag, or even the Bible and not fear for his job at all.

Remembering 9/11

Here's my 2996 post from last year. If you haven't read about Project 2,996, please go see it.

John P O' Neill was born on February 6, 1952, in Atlantic City, New
Jersey. At an early age, he professed a desire to become an FBI agent. Staying true to his dream, O' Neill obtains a master's degree in forensics and starts out as a fingerprint clerk for the FBI. While in his first year of college, John marries his high school sweetheart, Christine O' Neill.  By 1976 ,  O' Neill is a full fledged FBI agent.

After 15 years of experience, O' Neill is promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Chicago field office. O' Neill established the Fugitive Task Force in an effort to increase communication skills between the FBI and local agencies.

In 1995 he returned to the Nation's capital and took charge of counter-terrorism. The World Trade Center had been bombed a few years before and the man behind the attack, Ramzi Yousef, was the most wanted terrorist of the time. O'Neill continued to gather information on Islamic terrorists and was noted for his communication skills. 

""In a (11/96) speech at the Explosives Detection Symposium and Aviation Security Technology Conference in New Jersey, O'Neill tells the audience that "interesting times lie ahead" and that the main terrorist threat now comes from transnational groups not backed by national governments. He also warns, "We see the intent is for a large number of casualties.""  Read the rest.

Related posts: September 11 victims list,

Michelle Malkin 9/11 remembrance: Set your alarms and steel your resolve

Woman Honor Thyself September 11, 2010

AOW Never Forget

Burn a Koran Day

It's not too often that I agree with Pres Obama, but I'm with him on this one.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is exhorting a Florida minister to "listen to those better angels" and call off his plan to engage in a Quran-burning protest this weekend.

There is never a good day to burn a book, and there is never sufficient reason to burn any book anytime. Not because it offends people or increases the risk of a terrorist retaliation, but simply because burning books is just wrong. Freedom of speech is an essential part of being an American. The right to express yourself freely is our best hedge against oppression. It is precisely the book burning mentality that the Islamists are promoting. In this case, we shouldn't fight fire with fire.

"If you don't want a man unhappy politically, don't give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none." Fahrenheit 451

Adding to the List

It's been a while, and I'm sure there are many I've missed, but here's an update to the List of Things that offend Muslims.

Disney  employee's uniform

A Muslim employee is refusing to wear a hat and bonnet that Disney provided in place of a head scarf, which she wants to leave on at work for religious reasons. Imane Boudlal, a restaurant hostess at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, last week in a press conference accused Disney of religious discrimination for refusing to let her wear a hijab, a head scarf, in public view. The job and costume options remain available to Boudlal, if she wants to come back to work.

World Cup Soccer

The militia group al Shabaab, which controls most of south and central Somalia, has declared the World Cup un-Islamic and banned watching the games on television. By al Shabaab's logic, the World Cup interferes with the militant group's "jihad," to overthrow the government, because young Somalis are too busy watching the games to fight on their behalf.

A statue of Javanese puppetry figure Bima.

Purwakarta, West Java. Clerics of the Indonesian Ulema Forum staged a mass demonstration outside the local administration’s office on Friday, demanding that they remove the district’s statue of Javanese puppetry figure Bima.

In a speech, KH Abdullah Joban, chairman of the forum’s Purwakarta chapter, urged the administration to demolish the statue, claiming “it is against the city’s Islamic identity”.

(...) 

The demonstration comes less than two months after the Bekasi administration in West Java pulled down the 17-meter-tall “Tiga Mojang” (“Three Girls”) statue, which took a year and at least 50 people to build, at a cost of Rp 2.4 billion ($268,800).

Rape Victims and their "Satanic skirts"

In a speech on his website, Sheikh Feiz Mohammad described Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, as ''this Satan, this devil, this politician in Holland'' and said his head should be chopped off for denigrating Islam. Sheikh Feiz Mohammad gained notoriety for a speech in Bankstown in 2005 when he said a rape victim had no one to blame but herself for wearing ''satanic skirts''.

A Disco called Mecca

The inauguration of a discotheque called Mecca in Spain infuriated Muslims in the country and raised questions about the position of Muslim workers offered jobs in the controversial place.

French First Lady Carla Bruni

A spokesman for the French government on Tuesday condemned recent comments by an Iranian government daily calling France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy "immoral" and a "prostitute" and claiming she "deserved to die."

70 years ago: The London Blitz

Lest we forget.

Rare color footage of the bomb damage inflicted on London during World War II has surfaced on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Blitz.

The dramatic footage shows the destruction of several London landmarks, including the flagship John Lewis store on Oxford Street. The film was released Monday by Westminster Council to mark the start of the devastating German bombing campaign that began September 7, 1940, and continued until May 1941.

The film was found in the attic by the family of an air raid warden who shot it on the home movie equipment in use in the 1940s. The footage also shows wartime leader Winston Churchill visiting bomb sites to assess the damage.

Related:

BBC-Blitz to be commemorated at London service 70 years on

Eyewitness to History-The London Blitz, 1940