Threats force liveleak.com to pull Fitna

Terrorist threats have forced liveleak.com to pull the movie Fitna. Since this was in response to a direct threat and wasn't disguised as anything else, I place no blame on them for their decision.

But the terrorists will be hard-pressed to intimidate everyone who has mirrored the film. It can currently be found here, here, and here. The last of these, on YouTube, requires that you register as a user and affirm that you're over 18, because of gruesome images. Update: multiple links here, Wikileaks link.

Human Hour -- March 29, 8 PM

At 8 PM tonight, I'll make sure every light in my house is on, celebrating human productivity and our long rise out of darkness.

Why then? Because some "lovers of the environment" -- which in this case means haters of people -- have proclaimed it as "Earth Hour" and affixed to it the slogan -- I'm not kidding -- "Let there be dark." Their demand is that everyone turn off all lights for an hour in both homes and businesses.

The meaning of Earth Hour is that to save "the environment," we must give up enlightenment, give up our eyes, give up that which makes us human. It's that our needs, our lives are unimportant. It's the ball of dirt under our feet, not the minds which understand and change it, that matters. Will this give criminals a freer hand? Will it result in accidents and injuries? That only matters if you care about humans, rather than Gaea.

But I don't want to do this as a knee-jerk reaction. I'll be doing it as an affirmation. Whatever problems we have, light, not darkness is the solution. Knowledge, not ignorance. Independent thought, not the herd mentality. Investigation, not shutting our eyes.

Turn your lights on tonight! Turn the haters' hour of darkness into an hour of light and hope. Celebrate Human Hour!

Fitna

The anti-Islam film Fitna is online at pvv.nl. I hope that lots of people will link to it as an answer to Network Solutions' cowardice and religious fanatics' attempts at intimidation. But its actual value is something to evaluate separately, now that it's available.

It's available with either English or Dutch soundtracks and subtitles. As a critique of the Quran, it doesn't seem to offer much. It quotes a few verses, but doesn't build any real analysis on them. In some cases, the accompanying scenes give a misleading interpretation to the verses. Mostly the film shows scenes of terrorists attacks, threatening demonstrations, and dead bodies. One of its most chilling moments is an interview with a small Muslim girl who innocently parrots the line that Jews are pigs.

It's an effective presentation on those who worship a bloodthirsty demon of their invention and call him Allah, and it's true that these people can find a lot of support in the Quran for their evil. But it's billed as a "film about the Quran," and it offers little depth there. I don't think it's too boastful to say that the critique which I posted to this blog in 2004-2005 contains a more substantive analysis (part 1, part 2, part 3, conclusion).

That's the first half of the film, and I almost stopped there and and let this post stand on that much watching. But the second half gets nastier, citing Muslim population growth statistics in Europe and implying that this will lead to a theocratic state in the Netherlands. The clear implication is that Europe's Muslims are just as inclined to violence as the ones portrayed in the film. This is a serious error, forgetting that cultural influences can strongly change the way people practice their beliefs. There is a real danger from those who love violence and hate infidels, but the way to fight them is by standing firm against threats and challenging the ideas behind them, not by defining a segment of the population as the enemy.

Now we're back to normal

Barack Obama is still a true Democrat, whatever good qualities he may have. He's promising bailouts for the mortgage crisis, a technique which punishes the frugal and rewards those who lend and borrow recklessly. He attacked individual responsibility, condemning the "you're on your own" society. For him, the problem with the Bush administration is that it doesn't spend enough money. It isn't clear whether he intends to finance his bailout, coming on top of gigantic government deficits, with a massive tax increase or by further increasing the deficit.

Still, unlike Clinton, he hasn't declared he's going to install himself as "commander in chief of the economy" the day he steps into office.

Malware exploiting Tibet sympathies

F-Secure reports that pro-Tibet groups have been receiving e-mail with malicious attachments:

Groups working for freedom of Tibet all over the world have been targeted. These emails have been sent to mailing lists, private forums and directly to persons working inside pro-Tibet groups. Some individuals have received targeted attacks like this several times a month.
 
The mails are almost always forged to look like they would be coming from trusted persons or organisations, making it more likely they get opened by the recipient.
 
Just the filenames of some of the recent malicious attachments tell a lot:
 
  UNPO Statement of Solidarity.pdf
  Daul-Tibet intergroup meeting.doc
  tibet_protests_map_no_icons__mar_20.ppt
  reports_of_violence_in_tibet.ppt
  genocide.xls
  memberlist.xls
  Tibet_Research.exe
  tibet-landscape.ppt
  Updates Route of Tibetan Olympics Torch Relay.doc
  THE GOVERNMENT OF TIBET.ppt
  Talk points.chm
  China's new move on Tibetans.doc
  Support Team Tibet.doc
  Photos of Tibet.chm
  News ReleaseMassArrest.pdf
  Whole Schedule and Routing for Torch Relay.xls

Without more information, it's hard to tell whether this really is political warfare, or whether it's just the usual criminals taking advantage of a currently popular cause. But certainly anyone getting attachments like these should check carefully whether they're from known sources and exercise all standard precautions.

Bin Laden commands, Network Solutions obeys

Network Solutions just gave a big boost to Bin Laden's latest threats, suspending a website that was planning to host a movie which is strongly critical of Islam.

Network Solutions, like many providers, has an Acceptable Use Policy which can easily be stretched to allow termination of any site, prohibiting "objectionable material of any kind or nature." In this case, terrorists object, so off the site goes.

Network Solutions has in effect told mass murderers that their methods work.

Oh, and by the way, Network Solutions doesn't find Hizbollah "objectionable":

Domain ID:D849804-LROR
Domain Name:HIZBOLLAH.ORG
Created On:06-Feb-1998 05:00:00 UTC
Last Updated On:07-Dec-2006 06:17:10 UTC
Expiration Date:05-Feb-2009 05:00:00 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Network Solutions LLC (R63-LROR)
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:20739530-NSIV
Registrant Name:NO FIRST NAME NO LAST NAME
Registrant Organization:Hizbollah
Registrant Street1:ATTN insert domain name here
Registrant Street2:care of Network Solutions
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Herndon
Registrant State/Province:VA
Registrant Postal Code:20172
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.570708878
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:q75sv55u4aw@networksolutionsprivateregistration.com
Admin ID:16826304-NSIV
Admin Name:Hussein Beydoun
Admin Organization:Hadeelnet
Admin Street1:ATTN insert domain name here
Admin Street2:care of Network Solutions
Admin Street3:
Admin City:Herndon
Admin State/Province:VA
Admin Postal Code:20172
Admin Country:US
Admin Phone:+1.570708878
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:x97ex6ej4wg@networksolutionsprivateregistration.com
Tech ID:5358805-NSI
Tech Name:Network Solutions, LLC.
Tech Organization:Network Solutions, LLC.
Tech Street1:13200 Woodland Park Drive
Tech Street2:
Tech Street3:
Tech City:Herndon
Tech State/Province:VA
Tech Postal Code:20171-3025
Tech Country:US
Tech Phone:+1.188864296
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech FAX:+1.5714344620
Tech FAX Ext.:
Tech Email:customerservice@networksolutions.com
Name Server:NS81.WORLDNIC.COM
Name Server:NS82.WORLDNIC.COM

DHS to punish New Hampshire defiance

The Department of Homeland Security is, in contradiction to plain fact, pretending that Montana has applied for a Real ID extension and has withdrawn its threat to impose punitive measures on the people of that state starting May 11. However, it still intends to punish New Hampshire by choking Manchester Airport with secondary screening for all state residents.

What's the reason for the attack on New Hampshire? One theory is that "DHS seemed to not like the tone of the letter." States are expected to grovel to avoid being treated as foreign countries. However, Montana hasn't particularly groveled.

Another reason may be that New Hampshire's Senator Sununu has co-sponsored a bill to repeal Real ID.

A third possibility is that DHS still entertains hopes of extorting compliance out of New Hampshire. State Senator Ted Gatsas introduced a bill and got it through the Senate, ordering the governor to request a Real ID extension. It's very unlikely that the House will approve the bill, but DHS has nothing to lose by holding a club over New Hampshire's people for a while longer.