Snapped Shot - Round-up

Prayers for Hapkido!

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:41:26 -0500

A blogging friend I've known for a couple of years now has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. His operation is scheduled for tomorrow, so if all y'all who are observant could say a brief prayer for him, I'd appreciate it greatly!

I wish you a speedy recovery, Hap!

Just In Time, Too!

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:49:00 -0500

Man, I can't believe I got this incredible once-in-a-lifetime offer right in time for me to share the great news with you:

From: "Senator Abubakar Balarebe" <mailfile1@konin.lm.pl>
Subject: Your Payment Notification
Date: Mon, 19 May 2008 16:52:45 +0100
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000

FROM THE DESK OF SENATOR ABUBAKAR BALAREBE
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY
SANATE CHIARMAN ON FOREIGN DEBT PAYMENTS
NATIONAL HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
WUSE II ABUJA - NIGERIA
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

Attn: Beneficiary

Payment Notification
=========================

This is to draw your attention that your unpaind and overdue funds Ten Million, Five hundred United State Dollars Only ($10,500,000.00usd) lying in suspense account with the Central Bank of Nigeria is in line of payment.

In respect to this payment, one Mr. Thomas Mick submitted an application that you authorized your funds to be paid to him on your behalf with a report that you are now paralyzed as a result of the ghastly motor accident you had some months back.

After processing the application of Mr Thomas Mick himself which he made known to us that he came from you, he succeeded in getting some required documents as to make sure that we effect this transfer asquickly as possible without any further delay but the only problem now is that we dictated a lot of irregularities associated with his application towards your previous file and we will appreciate it if you answer the following question.

(1) Did you at any time delegate any body not even from your family to claim your fund on your behalf?

(2) Were you involved in a motor accident?

(3) Are you aware or related to one Mr. Thomas Mick from your country?

Also the delay in transferring the funds is due to the request for a power of attorney authorizing him to pursue this payment on your behalf. He asked for a week so as to submit the document, but up till now we have not received any of the documents from any of you. Why? please forward us the power of attorney by a return E-mail: so that we can have the funds released to him if you truly asked him to claim the said funds on your behalf. Reply to my personal email address mrabubakar.balarebe@gmail.com anwsering
those question to enable me note if you truly instructed this payment to him before we take the next action or you can also call me on my direct number +234-808-4183877.

Once all clearifications has been gotten your transfer will be effected via our Apex bank which is the Central Bank of Nigeria to your account or that provided above by Mr. Thomas Mick.

Anticipating your prompt response.

SENATOR ABUBAKAR BALAREBE
SANATE CHIARMAN ON FOREIGN DEBT PAYMENTS
NATIONAL HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
WUSE II ABUJA - NIGERIA
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

That's pretty funny, because I definitely don't remember being in a ghastly motor accident. And I certainly don't remember it being bad enough to leave me paralyzed. But hey, what the heck? I reckon now's the perfect time to transfer my power of attorney right on over to some random Gmail account.

Speaking of which, does anybody else find it odd that the Federal Republic of Nigeria can't seem to afford its own e-mail system?

Update: Wow, Israeli PM Ehud Olmert is getting in on the action, too? Times must be tough for ol' Almost-Convicted.

Postville Raid Update

nospam@example.com (captainfish) — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:18:58 -0500

Just when you thought things were looking up for removing illegals from this country because of the arrest of almost 400 illegals at the Postville Agriprocessing plant.

Think again...

Meanwhile, lawyers for immigrant workers arrested in the raid at a meat packing plant in Postville said they've reached an agreement with federal authorities that will keep the workers in Iowa.

The Des Moines Register reported that the agreement was reached late Friday.

It will allow 83 workers detained during the raid at the Agricprocessors Inc. plant to stay in the state at least until their administrative bond hearings are held. The lawyers said that could be six months or more.

Those workers were detained but not charged. They include 62 who were released on humanitarian grounds.

The attorneys said they want to make sure the workers aren't shipped to other states and given new attorneys. They said that could hamper the workers' rights to a vigorous legal defense.

Update: Seems out of the 390 people arrested, 7 will be deported after all.
Continue reading "Postville Raid Update"

Another Raid, Another Sad Story

nospam@example.com (captainfish) — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:14:49 -0500

The Immigration authorities, who barely can barely enforce illegal immigration most times, seemed to have found that one business that hired illegals as a major component of its entire workforce. But yet, the media and some townspeople feel that it was these illegals who were at fault and it was their town that will be harmed the most.

Monday's raid on the Agriprocessors plant, in which 389 immigrants were arrested and many held at a cattle exhibit hall, was the Bush administration's largest crackdown on illegal workers at a single site. It has upended this tree-lined community, which calls itself "Hometown to the World." Half of the school system's 600 students were absent Tuesday, including 90 percent of Hispanic children, because their parents were arrested or in hiding.

Now, one would think that following the law and arresting illegals was a good thing. That reopening jobs for people legally in this country is something that we all can get behind. But, no, not to these people...

"I like my job. I like my work. I like it here in Iowa," said Escobedo, 38, an illegal immigrant from Yescas, Mexico, who has raised his three children for 11 years in Postville. "Are they mad because I'm working?"

"They don't go after employers. They don't put CEOs in jail," complained the Postville Community Schools superintendent, David Strudthoff, 51, who said the sudden incarceration of more than 10 percent of the town's population of 2,300 "is like a natural disaster -- only this one is manmade." He added, "In the end, it is the greater population that will suffer and the workforce that will be held accountable."

Continue reading "Another Raid, Another Sad Story"

What a Bummer!

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:13:26 -0500

Man, if I get any more news like this in my inbox, I'm just going to be crushed, I tell ya:

To: snappedshot
Subject: Your link has been rejected at Pakistan Web Directory
From: Faraz Ahmed <info@businesslinksdirectory.net>

Dear snappedshot.com,

We are sorry! We could not approve your link snapped shot · now in ap-approved text mode in
the directory. Please read our submission guidelines or resubmit your site later.

Thank you,
Directory Staff

http://webdirectory.pakistans.pk

Melanie Phillips ♥s Snapped Shot?

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:14:35 -0500

Yours truly got a kind mention in an article by Ms. Melanie Phillips, an acclaimed author, syndicated columnist and blogger for the British magazine Spectator. ("Champagne for the brain," it claims.) I'm speechless, really:

But it is the photo-journalists’ website Snapped Shot which produces the really important evidence in this case about about notable discrepancies in the pictures. Key is that Shana was supposedly killed by darts from an anti-personnel weapon; yet the picture sequence shows that the car in which he had been travelling subsequently burst into flames; and it took time for the bodies to be shown on the ground in front of the burning car. Snapped Shot speculates that the evidence suggests Shana may have been killed instead by recoil from an anti-tank weapon – ie, a friendly fire killing by Hamas -- and the car was set on fire to destroy the evidence of what had really happened. Is this yet another full-blown media 'fauxtography' scandal -- with Reuters once again in the manipulated frame?

Just to clarify, I am not a photojournalist, and all of the information presented in the article she referenced was speculation, as I'm also not an expert in military technology. Fortunately for us, a number of readers who are such experts provided their insights in the commentary following the article, providing a much clearer picture of what might have actually happened.

Of course, I'm still waiting on the edge of my seat to see what the IDF reveals as a result of their internal investigation. While the questions surrounding the cause of Fadel Shana's death are pretty much answered, there are still some serious questions surrounding it—Most importantly, why did the IDF tank crew feel sufficiently threatened to fire off an anti-personnel round?

Time will tell, with any luck. Until then, I hope that Ms. Phillips and other authors of her calibre continue to research this mystery!

Others mentioned: Aussie Dave (Israellycool), The Elder of Ziyon, Richard Landes.

Mad Libs @ 50?

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:21:24 -0500

doubleplusundead reminds us that today is the 50th birthday for the game that is loved by English teachers far and wide!

I'm not even going to try writing one over here, so you'll have to jump over to Zombieland for a good example. I can't wait to see what Frank J can come up with to celebrate, too!

I (Ceiling Fan) U

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:13:07 -0500

This gentleman certainly has interesting priorities on what possessions he is electing to take with him when preparing to leave the Pakistani refugee camp that he has presumably been staying at. I reckon the weather where he's going will be getting a bit toasty?

I sure wish I had a ceiling fan that big for my house. That'd be one excellent way of dealing with our Potomac Basin dog summers that we get around here!

Change, Obama Style

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:52:50 -0500

You know, when Obama hit the campaign trail touting his ability to "change" Washington, I had no idea that he meant doing so by jailing his political opponents:

“What I would want to do is to have my Justice Department and my Attorney General immediately review the information that’s already there and to find out are there inquiries that need to be pursued. I can’t prejudge that because we don’t have access to all the material right now. I think that you are right, if crimes have been committed, they should be investigated. You’re also right that I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of Republicans as a partisan witch hunt because I think we’ve got too many problems we’ve got to solve.

(h/t Ace)

They'll Beat You Up... for Peace

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:06:23 -0500

Nothing amuses me more than seeing anti-war "peace" groups resorting to violence and intimidation to get their point across. And now, thanks to a tip from Warner Todd Houston, I've discovered that there is an entire website that is devoted to documenting these pro-peace bullies, one incident at a time.

After all, it's not like the Internet was invented for porn or anything...

Peace Thugs? Consider yourselves blogrolled!

Line of the Day

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:24:59 -0500

In response to Palestinian plans to walk through Israel's "apartheid" wall, Soccer Dad writes:

Maybe he should make a daring escape from the tower of self-pity.

Haha, that would be a feat I'd pay to see! Keep up the awesome blogging, SD!

Correction: SD writes to inform me that the Line of the Day was actually written by Judeopundit, one of his co-bloggers. In that case, "awesome job" to JP—and keep up the excellent blogging anyway, both of ya's!

Beer, Books, and Cigarettes

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:01:19 -0500

This sounds like just the store for our good friends over at Ace's pad:

"Пиво, Учебники, Сигареты"—Everything a blogger needs in one convenient place!

Many thanks to Серёжа for teh funneh.

Unintended (but Good) Consequences

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:53:36 -0500

Michael Totten makes a positive difference in the world, completely by accident.

One more story you probably won't be hearing from your typical evening news program.

Iran ♥s Gateway Pundit

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:01:07 -0500

Awww, how cute—It would appear that the "Zionist-loving-scumbag" Gateway Pundit has made a new friend!

Keep up the great work, Jim!

Whither Fair Use?

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:12:00 -0600

Maybe I should ask myself for permission to post this, too?

Okay, so for the next little while, I'm going to be going back through this blog's archives and flagging all of the stories that are demonstrably within my legal "fair use" rights for the wire service photos. I'm composing this list mostly for my own reference, so if you're not interested, feel free to pass it on. (I'll be blogging on current news as soon as I'm caught up with what's going on in the world, of course.)

For those of you who don't care about piddly little things like "fair use" and "article lists," I present this offering—The classic Atari game "Pole Position," played with humans. It will hopefully keep you entertained until this blog is able to get back on track with current events:

(With thanks to my buddy Ian for the excellent inspiration.)
Continue reading "Whither Fair Use?"

PDNPhoto on Snapped Shot

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:07:00 -0600

I was very pleased to read Photo District News blogger Daryl Lang's take on my whole situation. A highlight:

Had Ledbetter decided to fight the AP, things could have gotten very interesting. I wasn't familiar with Snapped Shot until this weekend, but I can see why it got on the AP's nerves. It tended to post large numbers of AP photos, sometimes with just a few words of commentary, and leave them up indefinitely. The site's venom-spitting nastiness toward photographers and editors surely did it no favors.

On the other hand, in my quick perusal of the site's archive, all the images I saw were displayed in the context of a critique. You could argue this is fair use. Lots of Web sites (including this one) will run photos they do not have permission to display as part of a commentary about the photos.

Be sure to jump to the source to read the rest. And Daryl, if you have a problem with me reproducing this snippet here, please contact me (sorry, still quite gun-shy over here).

For those of you who are interested (or at least, those of you that I haven't put to sleep yet), I'll follow up with some commentary beyond the fold.
Continue reading "PDNPhoto on Snapped Shot"

Bawwwwwwwwwwwww

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:41:26 -0600

Poor little Al Gore, refusing to endorse any of the Democratic candidates in this year's elections.

I guess this means he's going to pack up his Internets and go home crying? At least it gives me an excuse to use this classic:

As true today as it was back then.

Ace Of Spades: CPAC Blog of the Year!

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:41:46 -0600

Wow! That's really good news, Ace! Congratulations!!

Prince Purveyor of P.C. Pounced by Pun

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 09:24:03 -0600

One of the world's greatest purveyors of the notion of Political Correctness has been caught telling an ethnically-incorrect joke? Hang 'im, I say:

"Blimey! Did I say that?"
London Mayor Ken Livingstone faces controversy today after it emerged he made a joke about Muslims in a magazine interview.

Mr Livingstone was asked by a journalist to tell a joke and responded with a story that name-checked Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie, Yasser Arafat and Shia Muslims in general.

According to today's Evening Standard, Mr Livingstone made the joke during his first mayoral campaign in 2000 in an interview for the now-defunct magazine The Face.

Journalist Alex Needham asked him: "Can you tell us a joke?" The then independent candidate responded with a gag in decidedly dubious taste.

"Salman Rushdie was on a train and it pulled into a station," said the future mayor.

"He saw Yasser Arafat and his entourage of bodyguards and was so overcome with the emotion of seeing his great hero, he raced to embrace him.

"But the bodyguards weren't very well versed in modern literature and had no idea who he was.

"So they shot him dead, thus proving the value of that old adage: never go for a Shi'ite while the train is in the station."

In more public moments, Mr Livingstone has gone to considerable lengths to court the Muslim community.

Yeesh, Red Ken—if you're gonna tell a whopper, you could at least make it funny. (h/t camerakid4000)

In related news, the Archbishop of Canterbury has decided that the Anglican Church will be going shari'a. Sooner, rather than later.

Dr Rowan Williams told Radio 4's World at One that the UK has to "face up to the fact" that some of its citizens do not relate to the British legal system.

Dr Williams argues that adopting some aspects of Sharia law would help maintain social cohesion.

For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court.

He says Muslims should not have to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty".

In an exclusive interview with BBC correspondent Christopher Landau, ahead of a lecture to lawyers in London later on Monday, Dr Williams argues this relies on Sharia law being better understood. At the moment, he says "sensational reporting of opinion polls" clouds the issue.

He stresses that "nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that's sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states; states; the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women as well".

But Dr Williams says the argument that "there's one law for everybody... I think that's a bit of a danger".

Rowan, you might want to check on how well that whole "social cohesion" thing worked out for the Bosnians. Nice to see the Beeb cheer him dutifully on, though.

See-Also: Dhimmi Watch, Jawa Report, Hot Air, One Lone Voice, Infidel Bloggers Alliance, Last of the Few, CAMERA Snapshots (no relation), Sweetness & Light, Lionheart, dogfightatbankstown, Tim Blair, Al Salibiyyah, Aussie Dave, Pat Dollard, Brussels Journal, The Friar, Babalu.

Heh, I noticed that busywolf has kicked a joke into ye olde Comments section. You know what that means—Bring 'em if you've got 'em!

Mega Followup Alert: Be prepared to bring a half-pound of duh, folks. And more here. I'm sure the Telegraph is shocked, I tell ya!

Bad News, Daniel-san

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:10:46 -0600

NNNnoooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Looks like Osaka's gone broke. I can't imagine that would be a good thing...

(Who's next, Taxachussetts? California?)

Rage Collision

nospam@example.com (Brian C. Ledbetter) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:55:26 -0600

I'm not sure if this was caused by a problem on Louai Beshara's camera, some kind of network issue he encountered while uploading it to the wire services, or Yahoo!'s legendary stability, but the result is pretty funny nonetheless. And besides, it's not like one can really tell the difference between all the ragin' these days.

Palestinian refugees chant slogans during a demonstration against the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk, January 21. The UN Security Council was to meet in emergency session on the humanitarian crisis triggered by Israel's crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip in response to the firing of rockets into the Jewish state. (AFP/Louai Beshara)