Charles - You Da Man!

(cough) LGF Cycling Jerseys (cough)

Calm, shrewd, and witty? Anil will be enraged.

LGF, world's best blog. And with a classy readership too!

The site that fact-checks your ass!

Damn. And after all that hard work we've done making everyone else think we're scary, bigoted warmongers.

This compliment from the Asia Times is going to ruin LGF's reputation.

Very cool, and good to see.

Today the Asia Times, tomorrow the New York Times (a favorable mention in a MoDo column).

Very nice! Maybe I'll bookmark 'em.

Heh - I used to work at Asia Times back when it was still a print newspaper!! (I did graphics, the charts and info-graphs.) It was one of the best jobs I ever had... it was definitely one of the best places to work in all of Bangkok.

"props" to Pansak Vinyaratin & Mr. Sondhi. Yo!

Charles,

What a lovely compliment!

Charles, you are really something special. Well done to you, and to the LGFer's that participated in that thread. You guys rule.

Very nice. Congrats to everyone. Now, how can we start getting some more traction with the media? We have yacked our way into a general concensus. We are a like-minded group with resources. All we seem to do is sit and wait for trolls or some more red meat from Charles. I'm tired of reading, let's figure out some plans for expanding our community and educating others as we have educated ourselves. Any ideas?

#4 BigBad
It should be amended to read, "The site that fact-checks your ass, with CLASS!"

I always start my day the LGF way!!!

Uh ... has anyone verified that the comment was actually from someone on the Asia Times staff? We could probably use a little fact checking here before trumpeting this about.

Yes, it was us ... honest!

Charles is a techie. But you don't have to be a techie to be able to tell where a comment comes from. The software logs the IP address of the person that left the comment. Then you simply do a WHOIS check to see where that IP originates.

If Charles says it's from the Asia Times, then someone at the offices of the Asia Times left that comment.

Fact-checking is all well and good, but you shouldn't assume that Charles would publish a post like this one without making sure it's real. That's a little insulting, Kurt. Give the guy a bit more credit than that.

Kurt wrote:

Uh ... has anyone verified that the comment was actually from someone on the Asia Times staff? We could probably use a little fact checking here before trumpeting this about.

The IP address of the comment was in Bangkok, and they also left the email address of the editor at the Asia Times. With this much, I assumed it was real, but I just sent an email to the editor to double-check. (I emailed them about the hoax, too, by the way.)

Oh, and ... I know this the same way I know that you, Kurt, also posted that next comment pretending to be from the Asia Times.

#11
Frank:

How about a spin off site of LGF...like lgfreaders.com or something. Have a passwd protected directory where verified LGF readers can go and post articles that they have found. Each reader would have to be verified by Charles and given a specific user/pass. Right off the bat, there could be roughly 5-10 people, then as charles decides to add more users he can do so.

Oh, and ... I know this the same way I know that you, Kurt, also posted that next comment pretending to be from the Asia Times.

Priceless! Charles--you rule!

Oh Kurt, could you be more lame?

Kudos to Charles, of course, but we should also be cheering the Asia Times for having the class to give credit where credit is due.

Hey! This is terrific. More evidence "they" are reading this site. All the more reason not to let the extremists rule here. Gotta save lgf's reputation. ;-)

I would love to know the number of lurkers, world wide, lgf has.

And that, in turn, is one outstanding example of how a classy newspaper gracefully handles a boo-boo.

Would that the New York Times learned such class!

Im still stuck on this lgfreaders.com bit. Frank that was a good idea. Charles, any ideas? Anyone else, any ideas?

Helpful advice from Secularia:

All the more reason not to let the extremists rule here.

Oh, come on. Just because the State Department trolls this site doesn't mean they rule it.

#16 - Meryl. Why would you find it insulting? I wouldn't be surprised to find out Charles had checked his logs or that he got a direct email as well from the person that left the comment, and that it checks out. But I saw no evidence of any of that and from what I've seen, Charles usually supports his assertions with data. If I can't question the validity of this without being considered insulting, then there is a problem here.

Now, if Charles has checked it out, and says "yes, it checked out, O doubting one", I'm prepared to accept that.

Now, post #15 of mine ... that was cheeky. And I probably do owe an apoplgy for that. Apology.

For the record, I'm a techie too. And it's not hard to forge packets, so even a WHOIS query is not definatively accurate. But I do not realistically think anyone would have gone to that effort. What brought the question up in my mind, and is why I asked, is that normally comments like the one purportedly from Asia Times Online, are made via direct email to the website author and not via a posting to a comments thread where it can potentially go unnoticed. It's an odd (not impossible) way to do this so I question it.

The team’s only as good as the coach. Keep up the good work Charles.

Imagine Osama's Heaven
It's easy if you try
No laws but Allah's
That you don't dare defy.
Imagine all the people
Suffering Shari'a law.

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
No kuffirs left to kill or die for
A planet cleansed of Jews
Imagine all the people
"Living" under Dar al-Islam

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join Little Green Footballs
Before the world submits as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for doubt or reason
A Muslim brotherhood of man
Imagine all you people
Shari'a for all the world

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join Little Green Footballs
Before the world submits as one.

To Charles and all the "calm, shrewd and witty" posters here - hearty congratulations!! You earned it.

Wordwarp (28):

A Lennon fan? Then you might want to check out my Ode to Ted Kennedy.

Congrats, gang! That was an excellent thread to which I did not contribute (I was too blown away with the possibility and couldn't breathe, as someone said) but you all did such a good job I felt so much better after reading it.

And kudos to Asia Times for not only taking the hit with grace and publishing the retraction immediately the next day but for being gracious and giving a hat tip to the LGF fiskers who deconstructed and defused that one. Well done to everyone, Asia Times included!

That's the value that LGF has; it's creator's ability to get the arcane items of news or the sensitive stuff the mainstream won't touch and;
for LGF readers to deconstruct the disinformation that gets circulated in the atmosphere, whether by design and deliberate PR or through the rumour mill which, like a funhouse mirror, distorts the original story through each and every retelling.

LGFers take the story, or occasionally an individual poster, and hammer at the inconsistencies until the logic and truth finally emerge. More than anything else you guys do, this is your most valuable contribution to the war effort. By aiming always for the TRUTH, and accepting nothing less, and debunking myth and wishful thinking, LGFers can almost always find the pearl in the oyster. Never change!

As Shakespeare said: "To thine own self be true--thou can'st not then be false to any man".

30 Raj --

excellent, love that song. john was without a doubt the best beatle, but his politics, and marcuse's, now happily belong in my pre-9/11 youth.

nice fisking of betty thomas, btw --

this quote in particular was astonishing:

Thomas pounced. "Remind the politicians you interview that you pay them, that they are public servants. Remember every question is legitimate. And don't give up. There's always a leak. There's always someone who's trying to save the country," she said.

Ever since Daniel Ellsberg, treason has been elevated to patriotism. Up is down, right is wrong, good is evil.

Congratulations Charles. I'm sure a compliment like this goes a long way to washing Anil, Rasheed, Arab News, and the rest of the trolls that regularly take unjustified shots at LGF back into the gutter.

I'll second Ben Samuels' post (#9). I never worked at Asia times (I lived quite a bit south of Bangkok), but I know people who have worked for them, and they all said similar sorts of things (and the ones I knew were freelancers who did a lot of whinging).

Just in case someone at Asia Times is still reading. Sawasdee ka from the US to the other Land of the Free!

#22, another site i frequent has something that shows, for each article, the lurker to poster ratio. Something weirdly fascinating.

The Asia Times should inform why their star columnists - Pepe Escobar - has been writing about a coverup of American troop losses in Afghanistan. In my opinion, the U.S. military and government couldn't cover up these alleged losses, even if they wanted to.

However, I have to admit that Escobar has contributed some great material. Last November he interviewed Arif Jamal (from Lahore, Pakistan, "arguably the leading Asian expert on Jihad"). Some exerpts are worth posting.

PE: "What is the true meaning of jihad?"

AJ: "Jihad literally means 'holy struggle'. But in common parlance, when people use the word jihad, it means jihad in the way of Allah - or 'holy war.' Prophet
Muhammed stressed the concept of jihad all his life. And he fought jihad more than 20 times in his own life. The real objective of jihad in the life of Mohammed was to defeat the infidels and establish an Islamic state in Mecca, Medina and the Arabian island later on. This essential meaning of jihad remains even today. The main objective of jihad even today is to defeat the infidels and establish Islamic states all over the world. Muslims believe that the Earth belongs to Allah and they should establish the system of Allah on Allah's earth. The infidel system must go."

PE: "What are the rewards of waging jihad?"

AJ: "Prophet Mohammed also offered a lot of incentives for those who would wage jihad in their lives. The mujahideen were assured of entering Paradise before the first drop of their blood fell to earth. The Holy Scriptures of Islam also say that houris (beautiful virgins of the Koranic Paradise) come down to Earth to take the spirit of the mujahid who is about to die before the first drop of his blood falls to earth. The martyrs are promised 72 houris in Paradise. These houris are more beautiful than all the beauties of the world combined. I have studied more than 600 wills of Pakistani mujahideen who were fighting in Kashmir. There is hardly any will that escapes this concept. All th mujahideen have mentioned the houris as an important iincentive for waging jihad. The paradise with houris is the prime objective of these mujahideen."

PE: "What is the Koranic view of 'infidels' especially Christians and Jews?"

AJ: "In the beginning Prophet Muhammed did try to evolve alliances with Jews of the Arabian island against the non-believers. But they did not prove long-lasting. And ultimately the Jews, Christians and non-believers were bracketed in the same fashion by the Prophet. Prophet Muhammed wanted to establish an Islamic state in the Arabian island. It was not possible by evolving alliances with non-Muslims in those days. They Holy Koran is very clear about Jews and Christians; it very clearly says in several places that Jews and Christians cannot be friends with Muslims. The mujahideen today are propagating this concept from every available pulpit. Prophet Muhammed also asked to throw Christians and Jews out of the Arabian island. And this is the foundation of the concept of jihad of Osama bin Laden. Osama's contention is that it is un-Islamic to have the Christians and Jewish army of the United States of America in the Arabian island. He wants them out. Many of his close associates say that if the American troops leave Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Laden can be convinced to appear before an Islamic court of law. This shows that his jihad is based on the saying of Prophet Muhammed. A big problem is that jihad has intensified the hatred between Muslims and Christians and Jews."

PE: "Could we say that Osama's jihad is a misinterpretation of jihad, according to Prophet Muhammed?"

AJ: "I don't think it is a misinterpretation of the Islamic concept of jihad. It may be a narrow interpretation of the concept."

(sections by-passed)

PE: "The concept of jihad itself was elaborated in seventh century Arabia. In your opinion, what is the relevance of such a concept to the 21st century?

AJ: "Jihad as we know it now started only after the CIA and ISI (Inter-Service Intelligence of Pakistan) started jihad in Afghanistan. Before that, jihad was a dormant concept, and Muslims were waging mostly nationalistic struggles. In the last two decades, jihad has come to mean 'armed struggle.' After the collapse of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European empire, jihad has been adopted by the have-nots in Muslim countries. And these have-nots are waging a sort of class struggle against the Western haves. Jihad has become a sort of thermonuclear bomb in the hand of the have-nots in Muslim states. So if Marx were alive today he would say that the new class struggle is the Islamic have-nots against the Western haves. Probably Marx would not agree with this because he was in favor of a class struggle without the involvement of religion. But this is one form of class war, yes."

PE: "Who is entitled to start and wage a jihad?

AJ: "According to the Holy Scriptures, it is the Commander of the Faithful - the Amir ul-Munimeen - who is entitled to declare jihad. But in the absence of a commander-in-chief any Muslim can wage jihad. The Holy Scriptures say that jihad will continue until the Day of Judgement. This means that the mujahideen will not revert to ordinary life. You cannot simply abandon jihad. Once you get training to wage jihad, and you wage jihad, you only change locations, but you have to continue the struggle. That is why the mujahideen from Afghanistan were directed to Kashmir."

PE: "So how do you internalize jihad?

AJ: "Apparently once you start waging jihad, your whole world-view is subordinated to jihad. Everything else is not important. Even if you have to kill innocent people, this is subordinated to the higher purpose of jihad. When you start jihad, it starts dominating you, because it gives you power over the rest of the world. All other things become subordinated to jihad. Even the concept of Islam boils down to jihad for the mujahideen. All other Islamic concepts - even when they are important - become subordinated to jihad. Jihad becomes the ultimate end even for the Islamic belief system...They say jihad is the summit of Islam. So if you have found the summit, you have found the whole thing. This is what they are taught. They believe ihad will bring them honor in the world, they will become powerful. The heroes of the mujahideen have always been generals. No Muslim scientist, or intellectual, or artist has ever become a hero. It is a military tradition that dominates the mujahideen."

"Some influential Muslim scholars say that the great problem with Islam is that unlike Christianity, it did not go through a Renaissance and a Reformation. Something to this effect has been said by the Italian Minister Berlusconi. Regarding your question, I think this is an influence of Christian scholars on Muslim scholars. I think the West developed only after it abandoned Christianity and adopted science. It did not develop because it had Renaissance and Reformation. They developed only after they abandoned Jewish and Christian dogmas and adopted science as a way of life. I think this is the only solution for Muslim societies as well. Unless they adopt science and technology, they will not be able to fight the West."

(Sections by-passed)

PE: "Is there any substantial difference between Deoband (a sub-continental sect of Islam) practiced by the Taliban and Deoband practiced by these religious parties in Pakistan?"

AJ: "There's very little difference. In Pakistan they cannot practice their version of Islam the way the Taliban can in Afghanistan. Given freedom in Pakistan, they would behave in the same way as the Taliban do. And this is exactly what they are striving for. And their influence is of course increasing day by day."

(sections by-passed)

PE: "What is the future direction of jihad?"

AJ: "Jihad has tremendously affected Pakistani society. With increasing poverty, most people have very little to do with their lives. In this uneducated society, they have found a solution - an irrational solution - to their problems. They don't want to labor to find better solutions. They think if they wage jihad all their problems will be solved. It is very interesting: all their problems are worldly, and the solution is spiritual. But when they join jihad, they forget about their worldly problems. The Kalashnikov in their hands gives them respect, power and raison d'etre. Somebody who has nothing in life and nothing to lose, who has been for many years idling away his time in the streets of a Pakistani village, suddenly finds a cause to live for in a jihadi camp. And this gives him not only spiritual power but also practical power over one of the biggest armies in the world. He is almost intoxicated with that power. And he will do everything to retain that power. These guerrillas very often praise themselves for winning against the Soviet Union - a former superpower. They have turned the Indian army - a big conventional army - into a wreck. And they believe they can defeat the sole superpower today - the United States. And they believe they are the intermediaries who can establish the rule of Allah on Allah's Earth."

FIN

In America the principal JIHADI group is the Muslim Students Association (a puppet group of Jamaat-i-Islami, Lahore, Pakistan). At universities all over America, they conduct Friday prayer (salat) with liturgy (khutbah) and then carry out group sessions (jumuah), which degenerate into exhortations of MURDER and GENOCIDE. It is of the utmost importance that the MSA and its master wing, the ISNA, be outlawed and that America be depopulated of their entire membership. These JIHADIS are not merely a component of American diversity; they are in America to destroy American diversity. Again, GENOCIDE is sacramental to all Muslims; it will be practiced by self-proclaimed JIHADIS.

www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=4734#c0 035

It's a congrats to the community.

Thanks, Charles!

NA--While you often post interesting stuff, I have to admit that I scroll right past because your posts are so long. Could you please limit yourself to a paragraph or two with a link, instead? I know I'm far more likely to read a link than a long excerpt in the tiny print of the blog. I think you'd be far more convincing if your posts weren't so damned long.