Monday, December 28, 2009

Monday's musings

WHERE DO TERRORISTS COME FROM UPDATE:
Specifically, whither the Nigerian terrorist who attempted to blow up a plane in Detroit?:
"As a member of an uppercrust Nigerian family, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab received the best schooling, from the elite British International School in West Africa to the vaunted University College London....Nigerian officials say his interest in extremist Islam prompted his father to warn U.S. authorities. As Abdulmutallab was being escorted in handcuffs off the Detroit-bound airliner he attempted to blow up on Christmas Day, he told U.S. officials that he had sought an extremist education at an Islamist hotbed in Yemen. A portrait emerged Sunday of a serious young man who led a privileged life as the son of a prominent banker, but became estranged from his family as an adult. Devoutly religious, he was nicknamed "The Pope" for his saintly aura and gave few clues in his youth that he would turn radical, friends and family said."

Our progressive friends have too often lectured us concerning how terrorism arises out of poverty and ignorance. Yet looking at the backgrounds of real terrorists reminds us of just how false that old cliche is.
And by the way, it's clear now to everyone that Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano stepped in it again with her recent comments:
"Mr. Obama’s remarks to reporters were the first public comments he has made since arriving here Thursday and the first since a Nigerian man tried to set off explosives aboard a flight approaching Detroit on Friday. Questions about how the man slipped through the security system have been compounded by the Obama administration’s assertion over the weekend that “the system worked,” a judgment it reversed Monday. Just hours before the president’s appearance, his secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, appeared on NBC’s “Today” show to recalibrate the assessment she and another top official offered on Sunday. Ms. Napolitano said her remark had been taken out of context and that the thwarted bombing in fact represented a failure of the nation’s aviation security system. “Our system did not work in this instance,” she said. “No one is happy or satisfied with that. An extensive review is under way.”

The fact is, of course, that her statements were not "taken out of context", and that's why she's again had to backtrack. Don't be surprised if Secretary Napolitano is out of job by the time 2010 is over.

NFL DIARY:
Jets 29, Colts 15: Well, I would have loved to see the Colts go unbeaten...but I really can't argue with the logic of Jim Caldwell and Bill Polian. Peyton Manning and the starters played into the 3rd quarter, and played pretty well. But there was no point in getting somebody hurt, and that's why they were removed even though the final outcome of the game was still in doubt. The main goal has to be winning the Super Bowl, not going 16-0. As the Patriots learned in '07, going unbeaten but not winning the big one hurts...a lot. I think the starters played long enough yesterday to stay sharp. I hope they play long enough to accomplish that in the season's final game, too.
Meanwhile...49ers 20, Lions 6. The Lions just flat-out have a long, long way to go, in most phases of the game. Drew Stanton, the starter for yesterday's game, is their 3rd starting QB this year, and he couldn't move the team, either.