Blacklash and Moonbeams

A convenience store in Glasgow owned by a "man of Pakistani descent" was vandalised by persons unknown who "set a fire" and the Al AP's Tariq Panja is there on the scene to triumphantly declare that it is a confirmed sighting of the Bigfoot of journalism: The Inevitable anti-Muslim Backlash.

Ignoring the fact that the identity and motives of the vandals are completely unknown to the reader, Mr. Panja not only claims that this is part of a wave of anti-Muslim attacks and implies that the BNP is behind it, he even manages a marvelous bit of alchemy by mixing in one alleged bit of graffiti at a mosque and less than two-dozen unspecified incidents that turn a vandalised shop into "fire-bombed businesses" (note both the plural and escalation of the offence) without need to cite any specifics.

Imagine if, during the Falklands War, the AP had turned a Saturday night dust-up at the Argentine Steak House in Aberdeen into an anti-Argentinian pogrom and you get the idea.

No Respect

The AP's Thomas Wagner puzzles over why all those doctors became involved in a terrorist plot and for all his research and pondering cannot come up with a single common denominator as to what could cause these professional men to plant car bombs in London and Glasgow. Could it be a religious motive. No, of course not. Don't be silly.

It is enough to make one show genuine sympathy for the Jihadists. I mean, here they are shouting from the rooftops that they're a load of crazed Muslim fanatics dedicated to establishing a worldwide Caliphate and have sworn war to the knife against any infidel or fellow Muslim who does not subscribe to their twisted brand of Islam and you can't even get the Western elite to give you a look in. What do you have to do to be taken seriously as a power-hungry megalomaniac around here?

The Australian Connection

In the wake of last week's bombing attempts in London & Glasgow, Australian authorities are carrying out raids and are questioning five more doctors with (if you read the BBC) nothing in common beyond being doctors.

By a staggering coincidence, at least one is named "Mohammed", so I suspect that they are not Methodists

We Have Met The Enemy And He is...

The Prime Minister Mr. Gordon Brown has finally stood up and addressed the threat of radical Islam by leaping boldly into action and... banning any use of the words "Muslim" and "War" in connection with the war being waged against us by radical Muslims.

Gordon Brown has banned ministers from using the word “Muslim” in ­connection with the ­terrorism crisis.

The Prime Minister has also instructed his team – including new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith – that the phrase “war on ­terror” is to be dropped.

The shake-up is part of a fresh attempt to improve community relations and avoid offending Muslims, adopting a more “consensual” tone than existed under Tony Blair.

Start as you intend to continue, I suppose.

Meanwhile, the BBC has finally found something to link together the perpetrators of the recent bombing attempts; they all worked for the NHS.

It's as I've always suspected. Now we must ask ourselves why does the National Health Service hate us?

Now We Are Eight

The bombing arrest toll has risen to eight.

It also brings the number of doctors under arrest to three.

Update: Make that five doctors. This is starting to slip into surrealism.

Update: Six doctors and arrests in Brisbane. Surrealism achieved.

Net Widens

Two more men have been arrested in connection with the recent bombings, bringing the total to seven. The BBC describes the suspects as "not thought to be of British origin," so I presume that they are Lithuanian Buddhists.

Also reported, one of the people arrested in Cheshire is named "Mohammed." What are the odds?

Update: The connection between the Glasgow and London bombings is more of a unity, according to CNN:

Authorities suspect the two men who rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into Glasgow's airport on Saturday are the same people who parked two car bombs in central London a day earlier.

Damn It, Jim; I'm a Doctor, Not a Jihadist!

Five people from Glasgow to Cheshire to Liverpool have been arrested in Britain in connection with the recent bombing attempts with more to follow over the next few days.

Interestingly, two of the five are physicians.

So much for the "poor and disenfranchised" theory of Jihadism.

Still, it's perplexing that we keep finding so many people from such diverse backgrounds and over such a wide area of the country involved in terrorist attacks. I keep looking at the news reports for something that they all have in common, but it still remains a mystery.

Glasgow Attack

Two "Asian" men rammed a Jeep Cherokee into the main terminal at Glasgow airport with the vehicle bursting into flames. The men in the car and two others are reported to be under arrest by Strathclyde police. Eye witnesses say that this was no accident and that the driver deliberately swung the car into the entry way. According to Sky News, one witness said that the men were "throwing petrol around".

Who is behind this attack, what their motive might be, whether it is part of some larger events, if it is related to the failed London bomb attacks, if there is some religious element (Heaven knows what), or if anyone named "Mohammad" is involved remains an utter mystery and will remain so for as long as the major media outlets can manage.

Update: Sky News is now reporting that only two men have been arrested.

Update: Witness tells Sky News that one of the suspects shouted "Allah" while attacking a policemen.

Update: Fox News has reported that Britain's threat level has been raised to "critical", meaning that another attack is thought imminent. The BBC confirms.

Update: The BBC is reporting that two people have been detained in Cheshire in connection with the bombings in Glasgow & London. Looks as if the two incidents are part of the same plot.

Update: The Jihadist who was taken to hospital in critical condition from severe burns was wearing a suicide bomb belt.

Update: CNN reports that there may be a third Jihadist in the Jeep. Also, the burns of the bomb belt terrorist are explained:

Witness Jackie Kennedy told the BBC that after the crash, a passenger in the Jeep doused himself with fuel from a can and ignited it, then got out of the vehicle. Airport police used fire extinguishers on him, and he fell to the ground, she said.

"I realized that this was obviously deliberately done -- the fact that the guy was in flames and seemed to be enjoying himself, even smiling," Kennedy told the BBC.

How anyone can read this and think it's no problem if these madmen get their hands on nuclear weapons is beyond me.