Although the group says it disavows violence, more than one criminal case related to the San Diego Minutemen is now pending in the California courts. In one case now coming to trial, John Monti of Bellflower, a Los Angeles suburb, is charged with seven misdemeanors, including three counts each of battery and interfering with a person's civil rights, stemming from an incident linked to the Minutemen. Monti, who drove down to San Diego from the LA area for a Minutemen protest in November 2006, reportedly harassed, threatened and provoked a physical confrontation with a group of day laborers lined up at the intersection of Rancho Penasquitos Boulevard and Carmel Mountain Road. Monti told police the laborers threatened him when he started taking their photo with a digital camera. Jeff Schwilk, founder of the San Diego Minutemen, issued a statement saying Monti is not a member of any Minutemen groups. (KGTV, San Diego, Sept. 19)

From the New York Times, Sept. 19:

Settlements Do Not Deter 9/11 Plaintiffs Seeking Trials
Families of 14 of the people killed in the planes hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, have settled their lawsuits, but relatives of other victims said yesterday that they would continue fighting in court to address their questions about how Islamic terrorists bypassed airport security, commandeered four jets and killed thousands of people.

Like the similar claims being made about Iran arming its Sunni-extremist deadly enemies in Iraq, this strikes us as utterly improbable. Recall that before 9-11, Iran was on the brink of war with Afghanistan, over the Taliban's ethnic cleansing of Shi'ites. There is also an Orwellian aspect to these claims given the now-forgotten reports of US-Iran cooperation in the 2001 campaign against the Taliban. But I guess we're not supposed to talk about that. From wire services, via the Baltimore Sun, Sept. 22:

From the front page of the New York Times, Sept. 22:

At State Deptartment, Blog Team Joins Muslim Debate
WASHINGTON — Walid Jawad was tired of all the chatter on Middle Eastern blogs and Internet forums in praise of gory attacks carried out by the "noble resistance" in Iraq.

Female genital mutilation—or "circumcision," as its apologists call it—has been banned even in Eritrea, as it faces US accusations of harboring Islamist terrorists. We recently noted the irony that the US has launched criminal prosecutions over the practice, even as it deports immigrant women who have fled it back to their native countries. Prestigious Islamic clerics have condemned the practice as a barbaric cultural tradition that is not sanctioned by Islam. Yet its apparent tenacity even in Egypt, among the most modernized countries in the Islamic world, is astonishing and frightening. From the Malta Star, Sept. 21:

No comment. From Reuters, Sept. 17:

DUVANNY YAR, Russia — Sergei Zimov bends down, picks up a handful of treacly mud and holds it up to his nose. It smells like a cow pat, but he knows better. "It smells like mammoth dung," he says.

We have predicted again and again that Washington will goad Israel into throwing the first punch at Iran—thereby allowing US elites to shill the blame for the adventure off on the Jews as they jump in with massive air power to "protect our ally." Now, it seems, David Wurmser has stated this stratagem openly. Steven Clemons, writing for Salon Sept. 19, portrays a struggle within the administration between pragmatists who have got Bush's ear at the moment and hardline neocons around Cheney who are still gunning for Iran. He presents lots of inside dish (one wonders where he heard it all), including this extremely ominous gem:

James Freedman writes for the Fayetteville Free Weekly, via Jewish Journal, Sept. 14:

A shul grows in Dixie—Insha'Allah
With Wal-Mart attracting a huge number of minority religious groups to Arkansas, it is not surprising that Fayetteville is becoming increasingly diverse. And while this ongoing change is felt in many ways, the most distinct may be the recent push by Temple Shalom to build the first synagogue in the history of the city, and the fact that the pro bono builder is a Muslim.