Written By Robert Spencer

Western news articles about female genital mutilation routinely assert that it is solely a cultural practice, not justified by any religion. Yet again and again we see Muslim clerics -- such as Kiai Hajj Amin Ma'ruf, who is not an "extremist" but the head of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, justifying it, and it is sanctioned in Islamic law.

"Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) (by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the bazr 'clitoris' [this is called khufaadh 'female circumcision'])." -- 'Umdat al-Salik e4.3, translated by Mark Durie, The Third Choice, p. 64

"Islamic law permits... http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/01/indonesias-largest-muslim-organization...

VIDEO - http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/01/robert-spencer-and-michael-coren-on-ca...

Written by Patrick J. Buchanan

Second Term Begins With a Sweeping Agenda for Equality,” ran the eight-column banner in which the Washington Post captured the essence of Obama’s second inaugural. There he declared:

“What binds this nation together … what makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Our “union,” Obama went on, was “founded on the principles of liberty and equality.”

Nice prose – and transparent nonsense.

How could the American Union have been founded on the principle of equality, when “equality” is not mentioned in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights or the Federalist Papers? How could equality be a founding principle of a nation, six of whose 13 original states had legalized slavery, and five of whose first seven presidents owned slaves all their lives?

What Obama preached... http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/obama-has-hijacked-the-american-revolution/

Written By CARLI TEPROFF AND SCOTT HIAASEN

Hasib Kuric, a homeless immigrant from Bosnia, has a deal with the owner of the Exxon station on South State Road 7: Kuric can sleep in a U-Haul truck out back if he keeps watch over the place.

Just before midnight Monday, Kuric tried to do his part and alert the clerk about a pair of masked men he saw outside the store of the Hollywood gas station. But before he could tell the clerk to watch out, one of the would-be robbers began shooting at Kuric in the aisles of the store — and the clerk was firing back from behind the counter with his own gun.

The gunman was killed, shot in the face by clerk Leonard Carr. Kuric, miraculously, was unhurt.
“He saved my life,” Kuric said Tuesday as he sat under a tree near the store, still trying to absorb what happened the night before. “We are brothers now. We were reborn on the same day.”

Carr, 45, of Miami, said he was “too shook up” to talk about the incident Tuesday.

By late Tuesday... http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/15/3183760/two-robbers-shot-dead-in-h...

If you've ever attended a Friends of NRA event or purchased a ticket for one of our drawings, THANK YOU. Over the 20 years of this program, your support has enabled us to pool those dollars and award over 28,000 grants totaling $200 million to local and national programs that teach safe firearms handling and respect for the liberties provided under the Second Amendment -- including law enforcement training, JROTC marksmanship skills, hunter education, Refuse to be a Victim self defense courses, Women on Target instructional clinics, Boy Scout sports, the Eddie Eagle GunSafe program, and more.

We couldn't do it without you, whether you are an event volunteer, a business that supports us with product donations or cash contributions, or someone who purchases an event ticket or raffle ticket. You are a champion of the Second Amendment... http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=kgaoj9gab&v=001rZH4ue...

They will most likely be used against genuine pro-democracy protesters and/or Israel, but we are not supposed to think about that. "Higher strategic interests" are involved here.

"Military source: US arms deal continuing despite lawmakers' objections," from DPA, January 13:

Egypt's negotiations with the US to acquire F-16 aircraft and M1A1 Abrams tanks are proceeding smoothly, a senior Egyptian military source has said.
The source added that the negotiations are proceeding regardless of statements made by political opponents of US President Barack Obama, in what may have been an oblique reference to calls by US Congressman Vern Buchanan for the suspension of this deal over what he described as the “dictatorship of President Mohamed Morsy.”

He also said... http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/01/us-negotiating-to-sell-f-16s-and-tanks...

By Emily Miller

Anti-gun politicians are wasting no time while the Newtown, Conn., school shootings are still fresh in Americans’ minds. The White House task force on gun violence will issue recommendations on Tuesday, and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said President Obama might bypass Congress and implement unpopular gun-control measure through executive orders.

In advance of this extraordinary move, Mr. Biden met Thursday with representatives from gun owners’ groups, including the National Rifle Association and National Shooting Sports Foundation. NRA President David Keene told The Washington Times, “We were very disappointed, though not surprised, that the meeting was just what we suspected it would be: a perfunctory meeting with groups like the NRA, designed simply so the vice president could say, ‘I met with them.’”

The White House press pool was denied any access to the meeting. Earlier in the day, the media was allowed in the room to hear the veep address hunting and shooting groups, where he called for “totally universal background checks, including private sales,” a ban on “high-capacity” magazines, and funding for research into “what kind of weapons are used most to kill people.” There’s no need to waste taxpayer money on such a study as the FBI already tracks this information. In 2011, there were 12,664 people slain in the United States. The top weapons of choice were: handguns (6,620), knives (1,694) and fists or feet (728). Although the White House wants to ban rifles with certain “military-style” features, rifles of every type were used in just 323 homicides.

The assault is also... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/14/gun-owners-under-assault...

by Larry Correia

I didn’t want to post about this, because frankly, it is exhausting. I’ve been having this exact same argument for my entire adult life. It is not an exaggeration when I say that I know pretty much exactly every single thing an anti-gun person can say. I’ve heard it over and over, the same old tired stuff, trotted out every single time there is a tragedy on the news that can be milked. Yet, I got sucked in, and I’ve spent the last few days arguing with people who either mean well but are uninformed about gun laws and how guns actually work (who I don’t mind at all), or the willfully ignorant (who I do mind), or the obnoxiously stupid who are completely incapable of any critical thinking deeper than a Facebook meme (them, I can’t stand).

Today’s blog post is going to be aimed at the first group. I am going to try to go through everything I’ve heard over the last few days, and try to break it down from my perspective. My goal tonight is to write something that my regular readers will be able to share with their friends who may not be as familiar with how mass shootings or gun control laws work.

A little background for those of you who don’t know me, and this is going to be extensive so feel free to skip the next few paragraphs, but I need to establish the fact that I know what I am talking with, because I am sick and tired of my opinion having the same weight as a person who learned everything they know about guns and violence from watching TV.

I am now a professional... http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/an-opinion-on-gun-control/

There are approximately two million defensive gun uses (DGU's) per year by law abiding citizens. That was one of the findings in a national survey conducted by Gary Kleck, a Florida State University criminologist in 1993. Prior to Dr. Kleck's survey, thirteen other surveys indicated a range of between 800,000 to 2.5 million DGU's annually. However these surveys each had their flaws which prompted Dr. Kleck to conduct his own study specifically tailored to estimate the number of DGU's annually.

Subsequent to Kleck's study, the Department of Justice sponsored a survey in 1994 titled, Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms (text, PDF). Using a smaller sample size than Kleck's, this survey estimated 1.5 million DGU's annually.

There is one study, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which in 1993, estimated 108,000 DGU's annually. Why the huge discrepancy between this survey and fourteen others?

Dr. Kleck's Answer
Why is the NCVS an unacceptable estimate of annual DGU's? Dr. Kleck states, "Equally important, those who take the NCVS-based estimates seriously have consistently ignored the most pronounced limitations of the NCVS for estimating DGU frequency. The NCVS is a non-anonymous national survey conducted by a branch of the federal government, the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Interviewers identify themselves to respondents as federal government employees, even displaying, in face-to-face contacts, an identification card with a badge. Respondents are told that the interviews are being conducted on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice, the law enforcement branch of the federal government. As a preliminary to asking questions about crime victimization experiences, interviewers establish the address, telephone number, and full names of all occupants, age twelve and over, in each household they contact. In short, it is made very clear to respondents that they are, in effect, speaking to a law enforcement arm of the federal government, whose employees know exactly who the respondents and their family members are, where they live, and how they can be recontacted."

"It is not hard for gun-using victims interviewed in the NCVS to withhold information about their use of a gun, especially since they are never directly asked whether they used a gun for self-protection. They are asked only general questions about whether they did anything to protect themselves. In short, respondents are merely give the opportunity to volunteer the information that they have used a gun defensively. All it takes for a respondents to conceal a DGU is to simply refrain from mentioning it, i.e., to leave it out of what may be an otherwise accurate and complete account of the crime incident."

"...88% of the... http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcdguse.html

Written By AWR HAWKINS, Breitbart.com

According to the FBI annual crime statistics, the number of murders committed annually with hammers and clubs far outnumbers the number of murders committed with a rifle.

This is an interesting fact, particularly amid the Democrats' feverish push to ban many different rifles, ostensibly to keep us safe of course.

However, it appears the zeal of Sens. like Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) is misdirected. For in looking at the FBI numbers from 2005 to 2011, the number of murders by hammers and clubs consistently exceeds the number of murders committed with a rifle.

Think about it: In 2005, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 445, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 605. In 2006, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 438, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 618.
And so the list goes, with the actual numbers changing somewhat from year to year, yet the fact that more people are killed with blunt objects each year remains constant.

For example, in 2011... http://nation.foxnews.com/gun-rights/2013/01/03/fbi-more-people-killed-h...

Written by Erica Ritz

Back in November, the Russian news outlet Pravda (formerly the official press of the USSR), surprised everyone when it published a scathing opinion column labeling President Obama a “Communist without question promoting the Communist Manifesto without calling it so.”

And they appear to have done it again, this time weighing on in the gun control debate currently gripping the United States.

Written by Stanislav Mishin, the opinion piece, titled “Americans, never give up your guns,” begins:

These days, there are few few things to admire about the socialist, bankrupt and culturally degenerating USA, but at least so far, one thing remains: the right to [bear] arms and use deadly force to defend one’s self and possessions.

Mishin has rocked... http://www.theblaze.com/stories/russian-news-outlet-pravda-prints-surpri...

"Syria rebels 'beheaded a Christian and fed him to the dogs' as fears grow over Islamist atrocities," by Nick Fagge for the Daily Mail, December 30 (thanks to Robert):

Syrian rebels beheaded a Christian man and fed his body to dogs, according to a nun who says the West is ignoring atrocities committed by Islamic extremists.

The nun said... http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/12/myjihad-in-syria-islamic-supremacist-r...

by Mike Opelka

The debate on gun control is only gaining momentum. On Thursday, Senator Diane Feinstein outlined her plans to introduce sweeping legislation that includes fingerprinting and registration of all those who currently own so-called semi-automatic “assault” weapons.

Those in favor of a total ban on firearms often point to countries like England and Australia where firearms are banned or virtually impossible to possess. A look into the statistics might offer some clarity, though, about how safe such a move actually makes a country.

Let’s start at home. From 2009 to 2011, homicides overall declined slightly according to a 2011 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report, with a corresponding drop in homicides by firearms.

In fact, the... http://www.theblaze.com/stories/will-banning-guns-stop-homicides-stats-f...

Super-modern, powerful and almost noiseless Russian nuclear submarine Vladimir Monomakh has been put in water to become the third ship of the Borei project. The cruiser is about to begin sea trials and mooring to become fully operational in 2013.

­Vladimir Monomakh was laid down at Russia’s largest shipbuilding complex Sevmash, located on the shores of the White Sea in the town of Severodvinsk in northern Russia on March 19, 2006 – the 100th anniversary of the Russian submarine fleet.

­Borei-class submarine
Length: 170 m
Beam: 13.5 m
Draught: 10 m
Test depth: 450 m
Displacement:
14,720 tons surfaced
24,000 tons submerged
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h)
Complement: 107 (55 officers)
Armament: 16-20 × Bulava SLBMs
6 × 533 mm torpedo tubes

It belongs to a class of missile strategic submarine cruisers with a new generation of nuclear reactor, which allows the submarine to dive to a depth of 480 meters. It can spend up to three months in autonomous navigation and, thanks to the latest achievements in the reduction of noise, it is almost silent compared to previous generations of submarines.

The submarine is... http://rt.com/news/russian-noiseless-borei-submarine-106/

By James Gattuso and Diane Katz

It seems that no aspect of American life can escape government regulation. In the past year, regulators drafted rules that addressed everything from caloric intake to dishwasher efficiency.

Most of these rules increase the cost of living, others hinder job creation, and many erode freedom. Not all regulations are unwarranted, of course, but increasingly, the rules imposed by the government have less to do with health and safety and more to do with whether government or individuals get to make basic pocketbook and lifestyle decisions that affect them. And it is not just the regulators who are to blame. Congress writes laws that give unelected bureaucrats the broad powers they wield.

Today we bring you 10 of the worst regulations from 2012:

1. HHS’s Contraception Mandate

The Department of... http://blog.heritage.org/2012/12/28/morning-bell-the-10-worst-regulation...