Snapped Shot

It seems that "Li'l" Kim Jong-il has gone missing.

Can you find him?

(For bonus points, see if you can find Osama, too!)



Be sure to share this with your friends! Together, we can find Kimbo!

(Hat tip to About.com's Political Humor department for the original "Where's Osama" graphic!)

Mike Hornbrook, a CBC journalist on the ground in Lebanon, has popped in here at Snapped Shot, and informs us (unofficially—this is not a statement endorsed by the CBC) from on the ground in Lebanon, that there are no indications that Hezbullah is handing out counterfeit money:

With all respect to bloggers who sometimes discover things missed by mainstream media, this story about Hezbollah handing out counterfeit $100 bills is completely insane!

Unlike any of them, I am on the ground in Beirut reporting for CBC News and have checked it out. We could not find a single person complaining about phony money. Furthermore, the very idea shows a profound ignorance of Lebanon and Hezbollah. Lebanon is a major banking center, every bank has counterfeit scanners and other tools for detecting counterfeits. Not just the banks either, every money-changer and supermarket also has a scanner next to the cash register. From personal experience I can tell you they check out $100 USD bills very very carefully, phonies would be detected in an instant. This would bring outraged complaints from people in desperate circumstances that would be a huge embarassment to Hezbollah. No such scandal has emerged because the phony money story is itself phony. The people circulating the story are doing it for their own reasons, but as a journalist I can tell you they are absolutely, totally wrong.

UPDATE 12:03 EST: Sticky Notes informs us via e-mail that Myrtus notes that Hezbullah doesn't seem to be getting this cash from banks. This might be significant, or it might not—I can easily imagine private Saudi-owned jets ferrying suitcases full of cash around the Middle East. Plus, as Myrtus notes, Hezbullah is not designated a terrorist organization by Europe, so you know Euro-dollars are flowing there pretty freely. Sorry, SN, but I don't see anything in here that would support the counterfeiting story...

(In a brief update shortly thereafter, Sticky Notes directed us to the actual article, which says that, "[t]he money is widely believed to have come from Iran, the main backer of the group, but Salameh said Hizbollah's action did not violate Lebanon's laws, adding that the central bank was ready to answer any international inquiries.")

UPDATE 13:06 EST: Just noticed Sticky Notes' excellent article on Korean supernotes. Food for thought.

Keep on reading the full article for my take on the story, if it does turn out that these are real bills.

UPDATE 14:11 EST: Got a followup e-mail from Mike. He wants to make sure we're aware that he's not speaking officially for the CBC, so let me duly note that up front. He also says that he was investigating the story after reading about it in David Frum's article. Check out the full article for details.

UPDATE 1-SEP-2006 15:21 EST: Sticky Notes has continued to do an excellent job tracking "supernotes" and the Axis of Evil. Here's a good Lebanese blog that's tracking the progress of this story, with good background on Hezbullah's activities. To date, nobody but Allahpundit has really acknowledged our information from Mike Hornbrook. I'll do my best to follow up with Mike on everyone's questions in the mean time. Continue reading »

...it appears that the enemy wears a uniform. (h/t Powerline)

Israeli video journalist Itai Anghel went into Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon with the Nahal Brigade and shot 25 minutes of riveting house-to-house combat footage with a night vision lens. The Hezbollah fighters wore Israeli uniforms.

So, to recap, sometimes they wear no uniform, and other times, they wear the uniform of the force they're fighting against. It should be noted that both are violations of the Geneva Convention!

... or is it wishful thinking? Notice the background.



It seems that Ali is absolutely obsessed with this motif. Here's another shot, with Kofi adorned with a crown!



And in this one, Kofi is quite angelic!

Those dastardly Israelis are at it again.

Of course, notice the smaller headline, "Hezbollah minister touts prisoner swap." Touts prisoner "swap?" As I recall, he actually rejected the UN's call to unconditionally release the Israeli troops which were held prisoner, by saying (and I quote verbatim), "There will be no unconditional release."

I suppose Yahoo! didn't consider "Lebanon refuses prisoner release" to be as compelling a headline, but instead prefers to wallow in their traditional Israel-bashing.

Figures.

I'm sure that the many leftist editors at newspapers worldwide will follow in lock-step, reporting on the actions of what they can only see as the world's most oppressive regime.

On a side note, at least the Associated Press has discovered that Lebanon Hezbullah does not want peace with Israel. (Does this mean that the war-mongers in Hezbullah represent the entire nation of Lebanon now?) Oh, and it also seems that our favorite Man in Red is riding in on his High Horse to stand up to Israel those dastardly Zionists, and America those Yankee gringos. I'm sure he's gonna stick it to the Man, maaaaan!

If the press would show as much "solidarity" with the truth as they do with Chavez, Lebanon, and Syria The Axis Of Evil, perhaps they'd be able to reverse their attrition in readership. After all, who wants to read that they are The Source Of All The Evil In The World^tm every time they pick up the paper? Not most Americans, apparently.

That only leaves me to speculate that the Press is more dedicated to World Socialism (ed: Oops, wrong link!) than they are to profit. This might be admirable in some circles, but a majority of Americans are apparently tired of it.

UPDATE 18:42 EST: Just as a reminder, the UnTIEd Nations is in no position to cast stones at any nation. Until that organization bunch of tinpot dictators reins in its own internal CORRUPTION, that is.

(As a further update, I am going to throw in a WHAMMY! for good effect. Nothing represents cash-yoinking quite as well as Kofi & Co do!)

The Boston Globe has discovered that it's regular practice for textbook publishers to lie in order to promote politically-correct quotas (h/t FreeRepublic):

Houghton Mifflin's ploy was recently described by reporter Daniel Golden in a Wall Street Journal story on the lengths to which publishers go to get images of minorities and the disabled into grade-school textbooks. A Houghton Mifflin spokesman claimed that able-bodied models are presented as handicapped only as a last resort. But according to one of the company's regular photographers, the deception is the norm. At least three-fourths of the children portrayed as disabled in Houghton Mifflin textbooks actually aren't, she told Golden. In fact, publishers have to keep track of all the models they use for such pictures, so that a child posing as disabled in one chapter isn't shown running or climbing a tree in another.

Yes, Virginia, lying takes more effort than telling the truth. Which, of course, means I get to post the obligatory:

I always love seeing the aftermath of leftie protests. The litter and trash they leave behind always brings a smile to my face, considering how environmentally-conscious they tell us they are. I suppose charges of environmental destruction only stick when they're levied against Big Evil Conservatives, huh?

Caption: Banners left by demonstrators, addressed to U.N Secretary-General Kofi Annan, are seen on the ground outside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas headquarters during the meeting of Abbas and Annan in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Wednesday Aug. 30, 2006. Annan demanded Wednesday that Israel lift its closure of the Gaza Strip and open crossing points there. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
Continue reading »

The Cash-bollah money scandal rolls on, with these latest entries, sent in from Aita al-Shaab from AP photographer Sergay Ponomarev. These bills look more "lived in" than the bills in the previous stories. Has Hezbullah learned from their past mistakes? Are these more convincing fakes? Or, as some are wondering, are these bills 100% legit?

As usual, I'll let you decide. View the full story for all of the latest pictures from the wires.

Last updated 16:41 EST (Added photograph by Eric Gaillard/Reuters) Continue reading »

Christopher Anderson, a photographer who has recently been in Lebanon, has posted a photo-essay of his best work in the region. One of the slides in his presentation, though, reveals a truth that we bloggers have been discussing for a while now (myself excluded, of course, since I'm a relative newcomer at this):—There is no "freedom" of press access in Lebanon. Specifically, Chris states that, "Hezbollah is paranoid about spies. They do not allow free access to the area of Dahiya in southern Beirut where a lot of destruction is taking place. Instead, they organize rediculous guided tours for the press. I join one of these tours otherwise known as a 'gang bang.'"

The truth, Chris, shall set you free. By admitting that there is no freedom of the press in Lebanon, perhaps you'll earn the condemnation of your fellow brainwashed propagandists, but the fact of the matter is that what you have said is true.

Sticky Notes and Allah Pundit have noticed that Katie Couric seems to be on the Adnan Hajj^tm diet. Chalk one up for good old-fashioned airbrushing, CBS!

(In light of Ace's commentary, I'd like to point out that it's possible that the "modified" photograph is merely the result of an inept attempt to "squeeze" it to fit into a particular print format, rather than being a deliberate slimming. Knowing the history of Madison Avenue airbrushing, though, I'd still tend to defer to Occam's Razor to explain the manipulation. And, for the record, that's two Wikipedia links in one sentence! Talk about nuking my own credibility!)

UPDATE 30-AUG-2006 14:09 EST: Har har!

Some "militants" from the Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade were apparently shot dead by the Israeli Army yesterday. Immediately following their deaths, their bodies were turned into a macabre display by the Pallywoodians and their eager supporters in the press. Check out these two photos:—In the first photo (on the left), only one body is visible, laying in a pool of, presumably, his own blood. In the second photo (on the right), the "relatives and neighbors" who "care so deeply" about these two "militants" have moved a second body into the scene, to provide a more dramatic shot of grieving to the press.

As usual, I've posted all of the wire images to this article. Be sure to check out all of the dramatic acting.

UPDATE 10:10 EST: Allah Pundit suggests that I'm reading the pictures backwards—i.e., there were originally 2 bodies there, and one of them was taken away. He's probably right, of course, but to my defense, I'll say that I posted the photos here exactly in the order they appeared on the wires... (It's still a bit odd, though—the body in the red shirt is partially underneath the body in the white shirt. Why take that one away first?)

Note that the scene was shot by two photographers. It's likely that Madji Mohammed got there first, further supporting Allahpundit's suggestion. I'm duly updating the article title from a statement, to a question.

Curses! Foiled again!

UPDATE 16:16 EST: I found some higher-resolution photographs of these events on Getty, for reference. Poster captainfish points out that there are some objects which could be shell casings next to the bodies, though no weapons seem to be present in the pictures. Does this mean that our "mourners" carried the weapons away before summoning the press?

UPDATE 16:26 EST: I've done my best to rearrange the photos in chronological order, instead of wire order. No telling as to whether or not this is correct, though, as the EXIF data doesn't appear to be present in the wire images. Continue reading »

Blogger Conservative Truth recounts a very telling ordeal at a "Family Values" meeting at her local mosque. The principle of Taqqia suggests that it is acceptable for Muslims to lie to non-Muslims, in the interest of converting them to Islam. Of course, the end result of this philosophy is generally that what is spoken in Arabic will be the diametric opposite of what is spoken in English. For more case-studies of Taqqia, check with the experts.

To nobody's surprise, the United Nations will NOT be stopping arms shipments from Syria to Hezbullah.

The United Nations peacekeeping force to be deployed in Lebanon is facing further criticism after the admission that its forces will not even be allowed to intercept shipments of arms to Hezbollah from Syria.

Speaking in Brussels before heading to the region, Kofi Annan, pictured below, the UN Secretary-General, confirmed that the 15,000-strong force will not meet Israeli demands to police the routes used by the militia to smuggle missiles from Syria.

"Troops are not going in there to disarm - let's be clear," he said. Instead, the Unifil force will only carry out interception missions if asked by the Lebanese government - which has made no such request. Syria, meanwhile, accused by Israel of re-arming Hezbollah during the recent conflict, has said the deployment of any UN forces near its border would be considered a "hostile act".

International condemnation? Still waiting.

RightWinged and Allahpundit have spotted another Adnan Hajj photo which might have been doctored. I'd concur with Allahpundit's interpretation of events, though—it's more likely that the color balance was adjusted by an editor at this point, than Adnan himself doing the tweaking. The photo's not nearly as dramatic as the one he got dinged for the first time, and he didn't add any smoke to this one, but he definitely seems to have quite an appetite for destruction!