Dead Man Walking Nun Gives Explosive Testimony on Boston Bomber's Private Remorse

Before the defense rested its case during the penalty phase of the surviving Boston Bomber's trial,  Attorney Miriam Conrad called to the stand Sister Helen Prejean, C.J.S. to testify about Dzhohkar Tsarnaev's character. The 76 year old nun gained renown for her book Dead Man Walking (1994), that has been made into a movie (1996) an opera (2000) and a play  written by Tim Robbins (2002).  Dead Man Walking chronicles insights of the mindset of convicted murderers drawn from interacting with two prisoners on death row. The experience lead Sister Prejean to become an ardent anti-capital punishment activist.

Sister Prejean met with Tsarnaev five times since early March 2015. Sister Prejean testified that the 21 year old Tsarnaev brother seemed genuinely sorry for his actions. In fact, Prejean quoted the Boston Bomber: "No one deserves to suffer as they did." Prejean purported that Tsarnaev's "face registered" what he was saying as "absolutely sincere".  CNN reporter Deborah Feyerick claimed this was nothing short of explosive testimony.



It's a pity that Dzhohkar Tsarnaev chose not to take the stand during the guilt phase, in which he was convicted on all 30 counts, nor during the penalty phase, so that the people could discern if it was real remorse or crocodile tears delivered through an earnest activist. Boston Bombing victims in the gallery shook their heads during claims that Tsarnaev was remorseful.

One revealing threat of testimony which was quickly quashed was when Sister Prejean started to speak about comparative religions.  Sister Prejean noted that the Catholic Church had become more and more opposed to the death penalty. The prosecution objected on that point (as they had been chary about an anti Capital Punishment advocate testifying in the first place).  Defense Attorney Conrad interjected "Let me stop you right there".

 Was this a quick acquiescence to an inevitable objection or did the Defense not want to be too explicit in revealing their hand to the jury on Prejean's presence? Defense experts note that if one juror objects to the death penalty, then the Defense achieves its objective and Tsarnaev gets a life sentence without parole.  It is thought that someone of Sister Prejean's stature might be able to influence the jury.

Another ancillary aspect of Sister Prejean's testimony was playing to the look of innocence.  Prejean testified that when she first met Tsarnaev: "I walked in the room, I looked at his face and said, 'Oh my God, he's so young!'" .  This played into the defense argument about youthfulness and impressionability.  It echoes the Tiger Beat style cover of Rolling Stone.  This innocent impression lends more sympathy then the fact that Tsarnaev was convicted of mounting a jihad inspired attack to punish American which killed three people and wounded 264 people.

Although it is understandable that an anti-Capital Punishment advocate like the Sister Prejean would want to testify on behalf of the Boston Bomber, it strains credulity that Tsarnaev's defense would rely on hearsay of remorse rather than have the convicted criminal show his true self up on the stand.

After eight days of testimony which called upon 44 witnesses, the defense rested its case after Sister Prejean's testimony.  The twelve jurors will begin deliberations on Wednesday to determine if Tsarnaev would be in line for a lethal injection or serving a life sentence (presumably at Supermax) without possibility of parole.

Guardians of Free Speech or Vanguards of the Dhimmitude?

The Mainstream Media loves to trumpet the trope that they are Guardians of First Amendment rights for Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press.  However, the timorous self-censoring displayed by major media outlets in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo terror attack in Paris exposes this ideal as an intellectual chimera.

CNN Senior Editorial Director Richard Griffin issued an internal memo which dictated that the media outlet not show images that could be considered offensive to Muslims.  The Politico released Griffin's email:

Although we are not at this time showing the Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Prophet considered offensive by many Muslims, platforms are encouraged to verbally describe the cartoons in detail. This is key to understanding the nature of the attack on the magazine and the tension between free expression and respect for religion. 

Video or stills of street protests showing Parisians holding up copies of the offensive cartoons, if shot wide, are also OK. Avoid close-ups of the cartoons that make them clearly legible.

It's also OK to show most of the protest cartoons making the rounds online, though care should be taken to avoid examples that include within them detailed depictions of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons.

NBC News mimicked this tact by guiding their outlets to neither show headlines nor cartoons which could be deemed insensitive or offensive.

In the print medium, the Associated Press applied an internal policy of "not moving deliberately provocative images" so it removed Charlie Hebdo images from their database. However, it only took the Associate Press 27 years and an embarrassing exposure by the Washington Examiner for the same standard to be applied to Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ" (1987).   Was this because a crucifix dipped in urine and displayed as art is not deliberately provocative? Do elitist editors think that anti-Christian imagery is not provocative but that they dare not offend adherents to the Prophet Mohammad?  Or does publishing some provocative pictures might put their lives on the line by radical terrorists?

The New York Daily News covered the source material which provoked these three Islamic terrorists to assassinate twelve French citizens by pixillating the Prophet Mohammad's image.

Stephane Charbonnier posing with satirical cover pixillated in NY Daily News {photo FRED DUFOUR/AFP}

As Mark Steyn remarked, the New York Daily News put Mohammad in the witness protection program with their editorial sensitivity, yet the editors did not obscure the hook nose caricature of a Jew which shared the frame. So much for sensitivity or avoiding provocative pictures.

It is galling that the media outlets are proud as a peacock as being protectors of Free Speech while acting in a duplicitous and cowardly manner.  While these Charlie Hedbo pictures are provocative, they are no longer a polemic point of view but now are a news story. None the less, the major media acts in a Milquetoast manner towards the prophet Mohammad.  No wonder why they can derisively known as the "Lamestream Media".

In 2013, Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) sought to limit who can be a journalist. Feinstein argued that a federal shield law should only apply to "real reporters".  But what if these paid journalists refuse to report the news?

These pusillanimous journalists should review what dhimmitude means.  This second class citizenship of non-Muslims acknowledges the dominance of sharia law and does not allow anything to offend those within the Dar-Islam.   Self-censorship so as not to give offense to Muslims is a major step in accepting those social shackles.

In Paris, many protesters to the Charlie Hebdo atrocity carried pencils to symbolize that the pencil is mightier than the sword and that they are not afraid. The cartoon of the Twin Tower of Pencils links terrorism from America's 9/11 attack to the Parisian terrorism.  Sadly this cartoon has another connection.  American news networks stopped showing the terrorist planes hitting the World Trade Center except briefly during the 9/11 anniversary to supposedly not to show provocative images. Of course, such horrific footage might remind people about the consequences of unchecked terrorism.  

The Story of NORAD and the Santa Tracker

A family tradition in my youth was worshiping at a Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve and driving around nearby neighborhoods with wonderful holiday light displays while listening for NORAD reports on Santa Claus' whereabouts.  As a jaded grown-up, I presumed that these reports were performance shtick on a long media night.  Little did I know that the reports were real and that a typo and the good cheer of an Air Force colonel brought joy to the world.

During the 1950s, America was engaged in a Cold War with the Soviet Union which threatened to become hot at any moment. School children of the era was raised to be prepared to duck and cover at any given moment due to a sneak nuclear attack from the enemy.  Soon, Sputnik's successful launch made watching the skies even more important.

In Colorado Springs,Colorado at  the Continental Air Defense Command    a.k.a. CONAD (the predecessor to the North American Aerospace Defense Command or NORAD), there was a red telephone on the commander's desk which had a secret telephone number known only by a four star General at the Pentagon, which would have been used to convey news of an enemy aerial attack.

However, in December 1955, the CONAD commander's red phone rang and the voice on the other line was a little voice which asked "Is this really Santa Claus".  At first the Colonel was upset at what he thought was a crank call, but when he heard crying, the straight laced Colonel changed his demeanor.  The CONAD commander ho-ho-hoed and asked the caller if he had been a good boy.  Afterwards, the Santa Colonel asked to speak to his mother.

It seems that a copy for a Sears Roebuck newspaper ad had a misprint, so "Santa's private phone" number not connecting to Toyland but was actually the secret military number for what is now NORAD. Colonel Shoup delegated a few airman to act like Santa Claus for kiddie red phone callers.

Col. Shoup's daughter,  Terri Van Keuren, recounted: "It got to be a big joke at the command center. You know, 'The old man's really flipped his lid this time. We're answering Santa calls".  So much so, on Christmas Eve 1955, airmen modified the big glass board used to track air flights and included a drawing of a sleigh and eight reindeer coming from the North Pole.

When Col. Shoup saw this modified big board, he exclaimed: "What is this?".  His subordinates apologized and insisted that they were just making a a joke.  Shoup pondered the predicament for a bit and then telephoned a radio station with the message: "This is the Commander at the Combat Air Center, and we have an unidentified flying object.  Why, it looks like a sled.".  Hence the tradition began.

Now kids can call 1-877 HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) to talk to NORAD staff about Santa's exact location.  The internet tracker for the big man in red began in 1998 with the SantaCam.  At noradsanta.org, people can view the SantaCams from around the world as well as understand NORAD's main mission. Last year, "Operation Feel" had F-18 fighter jets escorting Santa and his sleigh, which led CNN reporters questioning if the US military had taken possession of Santa Claus.  Of course, these reporters failed to report on "Operation Noble Eagle" with the Royal Canadian Air Force escorts over their territory or how these videos infuse some of NORAD's primary mission to girls and boys along with the spirit of the season.






Colonel Shoup died in 2009.  But even in his 90s, Shoup proudly carried a briefcase which he treated like had top secret information that contained letters thanking him for having a good sense of humor in allowing NORAD to track Santa.



h/t: NPR
      NORADSanta.org 

Sean Penn Cruz-ing for a Political Bruising (sic)

That Maui Wowie from 1982 must have been pretty chronic to inspire such pearls of wisdom to seek the to commit Congress-critters with whom Penn disagrees into insane asylums.  And to suggest that the Executive Branch has such authority makes Mr. Hand's one-on-one history tutoring moot.

Of course, Fast Times on Richmond High was a 1982 movie, and Sean Penn was play acting a stoner surfer there who had delusions of grandeur.  This recent appearance on Piers Morgan was meant to be taken seriously and Sean Penn was playing himself.

Penn was promoting his activism for Haiti.  But in the same breath of supporting his altruistic cause, he chooses to insult the electorate and the Tea Party while slandering Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).

 [T]he way peoples perception of political positions are, is a direct reaction to their lack of, of their education which is a huge problemthat we're dealing with in the country.

and between of an uneducated people and the solipsism of people like Ted Cruz and their party.

 It's a poisonous thing and these things with what we talked about with, you know, this is why this period of time, this is one of the things that's so fascinating to me in Haiti.

Penn's political pronouncements with Piers Morgan do not sound very coherent.  But he was not on a script and TOTUS (Teleprompter of the United States) was otherwise occupied.

But I hate to break it to the activist/actor but if you are trying to raise funds for Haiti, you are insulting many of the people who AEI's Arthur Brooks argues are the most charitably inclined as individuals.  But maybe after Penn's  J/P HRO group received $8.75 million from the World Bank for Haitian relief, maybe he does not need more friends.

After Penn's "Crazy" diatribe on Piers Morgan Live,  people can figure out who got wasted.  Res ipsa loquitur-- the fact speaks for itself.

A Hub of Strange Activity Around the Boston Bombing

One of the nicknames for the city of Boston is “The Hub” as Bostonians consider themselves living in “The Hub of the Universe”.   Alas, after the Boston Marathon Bombing, it has become the hub of strange activity.   The race of government investigators to find those responsible for exploding two IED bombs that currently have killed three people and severely injured at least 150 has been conducted over a strange path indeed.

On the one hand, it is wise to remember in breaking news stories that initial reports are often wrong and the fog of war can obscure the truth.  Yet on the other hand, the Fort Hood shootings and the Benghazi bungle has shown how the Obama Administration will consciously publicize false stories, obstruct the truth and deny responsibility when it comes to linking the White House to foreign inspired terrorism during President Obama’s watch. 

Initial reports indicated that along with the two bombs that exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, officials reported that there were five undetonated bombs scattered throughout the marathon route.  Officials later denied that report.  Additionally, Boston Police were tipped off to look for a Yellow Penske Truck with unidentified drivers but dark skinned wearing black clothes which attempted to deliver medical supplies earlier in the day but had been turned back.  Police later dismissed that tip.

In its quest for information about the Boston Bombings, the media focused on one of the two hospitals treating terror victims which had a significant cordon of security.  Reports centered around a young Saudi man as a “person of interest” who was being treated for burns on the hand.  These injuries were different from other blast injuries which involved lacerations to the lower extremities.  

There were reports that the “person of interest” was cooperating with authorities.  The police conducted a search in Revere, Massachusetts (where several of the 9/11 bombers lived) and several bags of evidence were taken.  

There was some controversy about labeling the individual as a “person of interest”.  Commentators with police background noted that once a person is categorized as a suspect, it tips off others who are involved and begins to institute legal protections for the suspect which can kill cooperation and inhibit a quickly moving investigative dragnet.  Since the Saudi person of interest comes from a prominent Saudi family, the tortured lexicon in not calling him a suspect may be to avoid embarrassment to these international elites, the Saudi government or an embarrassment to the Obama Administration. 

Yesterday was a strange day in the Lamestream Media.  Major news organizations like CNN and Fox News were reporting at 1:30 EDT from tips from high placed police sources that a suspect in the Boston Bombings was going to be arrested.  CNN’s John King reportage revealed that it was a “dark skinned man, but he did lingustical gymnastics so as not to report that he was foreign or a Muslim.  



The media expected a 1 PM FBI briefing on the impending arrest that was delayed five times then cancelled.  It is strange that two prominent media sources were burned with this explosive information. 

But putting these strange events in the Hub can best be understood by breaking the Bostonian conceit that it is the Hub of the Universe.  Events our nation's Capital, the  District of Calamity (sic) may have severely impacted the Boston Bombing investigations.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry had a photo op scheduled with a Saudi counterpart.  At the last minute, the meeting became a closed door meeting and the photo op was explained away as a scheduling mistake.  It is strange that Foggy Bottom would have set up a photo op for a scheduling mistake. 

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama had an unscheduled meeting with the Saudi Ambassador.  It was a “walk by” meeting, so as not to have it on the White House schedule.  The procedure is for a lower level Executive Branch official to have a meeting with an open office door and the Chief Executive walks by and notices someone and then has a closed door meeting.

What makes these instances of Executive Branch minutia relevant is how the story changed in Boston.  Sudden, there was no suspect that was going to be arrested.  In fact, the Saudi who had been a person of interest was suddenly slated to be deported.  





This repatriation to the Saudi Arabia for  20-year-old Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi was being framed as being close to his family.  But  Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi comes from a prominent Saudi family which may be supporters of Wahabbism (the sect of Sunni Islam that inspires Al Qaeda).  So the young Saudi with powder mark burns on his hands would be an embarrassment to the Saudi Kingdom and might cause a diplomatic fissure with the United States. Such a white glove treatment for suspicious Saudis is not unprecedented as President Bush let bin Laden family members flee America immediately after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001 

A hospitalized Abdul Rhaman Ali Albabi [photo: Okaz]

When Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi was considered a person of interest, an event file was created.  According to ICE, the reason is under section 212 3B — “Security and related grounds” — “Terrorist activities”.   Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi ‘s visa had been revoked and he had submitted to voluntary departure.  But before these public papers were classified and he was quietly shuffled off to Saudi, The Blaze exposed the situation and officials are reconsidering their strategy.   But the Saudi newspaper Okaz reports that the Saudi consulate has been assured that all Saudis have been cleared, including Alharabi and Nura Kahlid Saleh al-Ajaji

The Lamestream Media has been openly rooting for the Boston Marathon Bombings to be attributable to a White Male or the Tea Party.  Soon after the dust settled on the terror attacks, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews allowed speculation that  the violence is linked to the right wing since it was Tax Day and Patriots Day.  Salon had a headline that “Let’s Hope the Boston Bomber Is a White American” because it would set back the cause of liberalism for amnesty and gun control.   

So if the reports  about the linkage with the Saudis and dark skinned males are accurate, it does not fit the narrative which the Obama Administration would approve.  The Fort Hood shootings in  November, 2009 where 13 people were killed and by US Army Major (and self proclaimed Soldier of Islam) Abdul Malik Hassan who shouted “Allahu Ackbar” (God is Great) during the attack was simply an instance of workplace violence since terror only happens during President George W. Bush’s Administration.  This convenient conceit keeps those killed and injured from being given Purple Hearts or qualifying for combat benefits.   And the attack the US Benghazi Consulate on September 11, 2012 was due to a YouTube video because the Obama Administration had Al Qaeda on the run in the run up to re-electing President Obama.

Although officials are publically poo-pooing leads about the other undetonated bombs and the rogue Yellow truck lead, those do fit into a pattern typical of Palestinian terrorism. Walid Shoebat, a former Palestinian terrorist turned Evangelical Christian, suggests that Boston Bombing had the hallmarks of a knockout terror attack.  It uses IEDs to inflict maximum human suffering. The staggered explosions to stampede, terrorize and injure the innocent when killing first responders.  And the turned away Penske truck with medical supplies mimics  Hamas tactics to target first responders and use ambulances as tactics of terror. 

Before jumping to conclusions, it would be wise for the facts to shake out.  Unfortunately, experience has taught that the Obama Administration and the compliant Lamestream Media are happy to shun inconvenient truths.  And the hub of strange activity around the Boston Bombing has done nothing to dispel this perspective. 

Strange days indeed. 

Are You Ready to Rhetorically Rumble?

[L] Ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D-NY) and [R] Glenn Beck at "The War of the Words"

                  In the left corner, with blue colors
                  is the ex Empire State Attorney General who went after Wall Street,
                 the one time Champion of the New York Gubernatorial Mansion
                 After personal expenditures to the Empire Club were exposed,
                 he left public service to host a prime time show on CNN and now Al Gore's Current TV.
                 Let's hear it for Client Number 9-- ELIOT SPITZER!

In the right corner, with the red colors is a self-described rodeo clown,
who's life spiraled downwards until he became a Latter Day Saint.
He went from doing a light-hearted morning zoo radio show
into what some have likened to Network's Howard Beale.
He abruptly left a successful cable news show
to establish his own internet television, radio and publishing empire.
Let's hear it for "The Blaze"-- GLENN BECK! 

LET’S GET READY TO  RUMBLE!

With less than a month before the Presidential Election, this is the equivalence of the drive to the World Series for political junkies.  While I look forward to the main event in the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates this month, there are two warm ups that should appeal to the general public.

Tonight at 10 PM EDT, Dish Network (and on Dish's Facebook page) is going to broadcast “The War of the Words” between former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (D-NY) and Glenn Beck.



On October 6th, Comedy Central’s Daily Show faux news host Jon Stewart will take on Fox News Channel’s Grand Poobah Bill O’Reilly at George Washington University in what is ironically billed as  the  “Rumble in the Air Conditioned Auditorium.”.  That 90 minute clash before a sold out Lisner Auditorium will be broadcast pay-per-view to be streamed live online.



Half of the profits from the event will be donated by Stewart and O’Reilly to a number of charitable causes.

Anecdotal evidence points to enthusiasm from low information voters for these infotainment debates. With the nation being at the cusp of another recession, America's foreign policy collapsing in a tinder box world, it seems sad that news commentators, either comedic or serious, attract more attention than the official Presidential Debates.

But maybe these events might break through the sunny side focus of the elite liberal media and reach new audiences.  After all, it is remarkable that Univision's hard hitting debate questions to President Obama  on broken immigration promises as well as their investigation on 'Rápido y Furioso' not only made headlines but exposed Hispanic viewers to how many Mexicans were killed by Attorney General Eric Holder's flawed "Fast and Furious" operation.

For those who deride Beck as being a boob for not having gone to college, this will be a chance to see if he can think on his feet and can cite facts.  Many Daily Show viewers hold Jon Stewart and his writing team in high esteem for his comedic commentary on the news.  The rumble with O'Reilly will demonstrate how  Stewart does debating on his own for more than one segment.

Personally, I was dubious about the Stewart/O'Reilly match up as it paired up two partisan poppinjays.  But it might be worthwhile after all as the event will be anchored by E.D. Hill of (CNN and formerly of Fox News Channel) who developed a hard hitting but humorous reputation for covering news.

Sometimes the clashes of ideological titans can be less of a bang and more of a whimper.  Sean Hannity loves to book friends who are on the far left but for me it sounds more like schmoozing than substance.  O'Reilly thinks highly of himself and his No Spin interviews, but his tete-a-tetes with President Obama have seemed more like political softball than bean-ball.

Here is hoping that low information voters get exposed to some election issues rather than ad hominem attacks and that they stay engaged to make informed opinions as they exercise their franchise which so many American servicemen have died to protect.