Not sure what to make of this. Over the 4th July Ellison spent time in Kenya with Obamas grandma. This from Star Tribune:
The 10-day journey, which ended Monday, culminated in a July 4th reception at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Nairobi, Kenya, where Ellison met Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama, the grandmother of presidential candidate Barack Obama.
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for this conversation.
Also Ellison Let Obama have it after he asked a Muslim to be removed from a stage when he was speaking. Refresh your memory here. According to the Minnesota Independent Ellison confronted Obama about it.
Fox News reports this morning that Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison scolded Barack Obama at a recent Congressional Black Caucus meeting after Obama workers moved two women in traditional Muslim garb from the stage before a recent Obama appearance. Ellison, an avid Obama supporter, then gave Obama the women's phone numbers; they subsequently received apologies by phone from the candidate himself.
Sounds like it was a heated exchange: "One key lawmaker who was present described the exchange between Obama and Ellison as 'cordial' but 'direct.'... However, congressional sources indicated that Ellison’s exchange with Obama was so intense that CBC Chairwoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., had to intervene and attempted to gavel down Ellison."
"...So, Iran is not a threat. That's what regional and even Western states have said. They say Iran is ready for talks. Don't raise hue and cry against Iran. Oh! the world's liars! Oh the liar Israel! Oh the liar White House! If you wish to attack Iran, we will give you a response that will make you regretful..."
"All know that [Iran's war games this week] is a legal exercise, carried out within borders and territories of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Many in the world have condemned claims that the war games are illegal.... As to the claims that the war game is a threat, it should be said that the Islamic Republic of Iran has gained part of its power, and is in stage of obtaining some other part of its power in terms of military technique, industry, and knowledge. You (enemies) should admit the Islamic Republic of Iran's power... this [refusal to do so] means that they (enemies) do admit it implicitly, while explicitly raising hues and cries against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran's conduct is clear over the past 30 years. To where it has been a threat?..."
He continued, "While we will never wage war on any country, we are fully prepared to defend our territorial integrity and deliver a devastating response to aggressors... The enemy must realize that we have excelled in the fields of science, industry, technology, and military."
He added that Iran's missile capabilities would only be used to safeguard the country's security and stability.
He stated that "in the past three decades, the Islamic Republic has proven its high regard for international regulations as it has neither invaded any country nor threatened any state."
Elsewhere in his sermon, Ayatollah Kashani said Iran was ready to talk over its nuclear issue, and emphasized Iran's inalienable right to peaceful nuclear technology and its commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, saying, "Iran and Europe are ready for talks now. Iran accepts the NPT overall. The peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program is fully clear."
Guarding against penetration by terrorist agents and sympathizers should be a top concern of public agencies, but it's not. Guarding against charges of job discrimination is.
Multiculturalism and political correctness have made it easier for the terrorists to use Arabs and Muslims to infiltrate the government and steal security secrets.
In the latest example, a former city 911 operator faces multiple felony counts for allegedly searching the names of friends and relatives on the FBI's terrorist watch list.
Nadire P. Zenelaj, an ethnic Albanian, says she's being singled out because she is Muslim. "I feel they targeted me because of my religion," she said.
No, she was investigated for looking up classified information on her confederates. At least one of the 227 names she checked was on the terrorist watch list, according to Rochester, N.Y., police.
A D.C.-area cop recently was convicted of doing the same thing.
Federal prosecutors say Fairfax County Police Sgt. Weiss Rasool, an Afghan immigrant, tipped off a fellow mosque member that he was under FBI investigation. When agents went to arrest the terrorist target early one morning they found him and his family already dressed and destroying evidence. They knew they had a mole and worked back through the system to find Rasool.
Thanks to post-9/11 data-sharing, local police like Rasool — as well as first responders like Zenelaj — now have access to classified FBI files on terror suspects maintained with the NCIC, or National Crime Information Center system.
Prosecutors said Rasool's actions "damaged the integrity of the NCIC system and jeopardized at least one federal investigation."
That's not all. In May, the Energy Department had to revoke the security clearance of an Egyptian-born nuclear physicist because of "conflicting allegiances." The FBI questioned Moniem El-Ganayni, also a Muslim prison chaplain, for allegedly inciting inmates to carry out jihad against the U.S., charges he denies.
Still, such questioning should've taken place before El-Ganayni got acccess to nuclear secrets. It's likely his extracurricular activities would have been enough of a red flag to bar his employment.
Same goes for an EPA toxicologist who turned out to be an al-Qaida fundraiser.
Waheeda Tehseen would never have been hired at all if the feds hadn't cut corners on her background check. Not only did Tehseen's husband work for Pakistani intelligence, but she lied about her U.S. citizenship on her government application. EPA missed it.
Then there's the case of Hezbollah spy Nadia Prouty. The Lebanese immigrant also lied about her citizenship and was hired anyway by both the FBI and CIA.
The good news is, these moles were caught. But they should have been screened out before they could ever get in and do damage.
Debbie Schlussel has this unique story. (WARNING THE THREATS SENT TO HER ARE VERY GRAPHIC)
A couple of weeks ago, Mohamad Fouad Abdallah a/k/a "Mike" pleaded guilty to sending me anti-Semitic rape and death threats during the Israel-Hezbollah War in 2006. Read the entire plea agreement here--I've posted the three most important pages below.
Abdallah, a Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah supporter--and apparently, Hezbollah member--from Dearbornistan, didn't like my writing about the many Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah supporters in Dearborn. And so he decided to settle things the way the Islamic world settles 'em: threatening to rape and kill me. A refresher on what he sent me (you'll notice the important/offensive subject lines were left out of the plea agreement for some inexplicable reason):
Of course, he told the FBI he "didn't mean it and was sorry," which is what they all say, when they get caught.
And by the way, the FBI believed Abdallah was involved in Hezbollah. They raided his residence and seized his computer. FBI Special Agent Mark Green, who is the Hezbollah intelligence guy at the Detroit FBI (among other things), participated in the raid and interview of Mr. Abdallah.
But Mr. Abdallah got off easy. Unlike non-Muslims who send far more benign e-mails to Muslims, Mr. Abdallah was offered a very lax deal: He gets to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, rather than the multiple felonies he should get and would get if he weren't a member of the protected and favored "Religion of Peace (and Rape and Death threats)". A felony would have been important because it would be the only thing keeping this Hezbo from legally owning and possessing firearms. But why protect Americans from this Islamic criminal, when we can help him out in his mission?
These kids are very scary and there are 80 more Americans at this madrassa... And we consider Pakistan our allie and they are allowing this to go on! I dont think so. Its time for us to demand Pakistan put a stop to these jihadist hot beds.
Two American Children Escorted from Taliban Madrassa by American Consulate in Karachi for Flight to NYC
"Karachi Kids" Documentary Spurs Action
Two American children were escorted by the American consulate officers in Karachi, Pakistan Tuesday night Pakistan time and boarded a flight to Dubai, UAE and then boarded a direct flight to NYC, Noor Elahi Khan and Mahboob Elahi Khan are expected to arrive in Atlanta on a Delta flight this afternoon at 4:30 PM.
The two brothers have been in a Pakistani madrassa for four years and are the focus of a newly released documentary entitled "The Karachi Kids".
"I have been working for months to secure their exit from the Madrassa and from Pakistan," said Imran Raza, writer, director and executive producer of the Karachi Kids documentary. "This is great news, but we need to get the other American children out of there, now. There are nearly 80 other Americans currently at this Jamia Binoria madrassa -- that teaches Deobandism -- the religion of the Taliban. Our government, and the Pakistani government, has more work to do to get the other American children out of there."
Raza discovered the two children from Atlanta while filming a documentary about madrassas. He returned to the madrassa three times in four years to film their transformation in the hands of the radical mullahs. Children in the documentary film "The Karachi Kids" describe beatings and human rights violations for those who reject the radical teachings of their Taliban masters. Children from California and Georgia are interviewed in the film from inside the madrassa and discuss coming back to the United States to spread extremism within our borders.
The headmaster of the Binoria madrassa personally recruits American children to his institution during Ramadan, and says on camera that: "We work on altering the mindset of the students we are training, so when they return to their home countries, their mindset is such that they will work on altering the minds of others. That is why I'm appealing to you that at least 1000 to 2000 boys come to us so we can train them and they will go back to their home countries and do the work and make people understand." The headmaster of the Binoria madrassa also states that he has already graduated 100 American children from his madrassa.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) will present a single Article of Impeachment against President Bush Thursday afternoon.
Kucinich is accusing Bush of fraudulently obtaining support for an attack on Iraq by creating a false case for war.
Last year, Kucinich tried to force a vote on the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney, saying Cheney should be impeached for “high crimes and misdemeanors,” because he “purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify” military force against Iraq.
The Article of Impeachment will be presented in the House of Representatives between 3:30 pm and 4 pm Eastern time, followed by a press conference.
Last Sunday Chaudhry Rashid, a Pakistani immigrant living in Clayton County, Georgia, strangled his daughter to death. According to police, Rashid explained to them that he had killed his daughter, Sandeela Kanwal, in order to restore his family’s honor, which she had sullied by planning to divorce the husband to whom she had been given in an arranged marriage. Clayton County Police spokesman Tim Owens explained: “Apparently she and the father had argued over the marriage and the fact that it was arranged, and at some point during the altercation he did end up killing his daughter.”
The family appears to have adhered to traditional Islamic mores. A neighbor noted: “I would see the young lady outside every once in a while dressed in the traditional Muslim gear.” Added another: “The father, he would pray at certain times of the mornings and evenings.” And indeed, honor killing most commonly occurs among Muslims. While there is no direct sanction given in the Qur’an or Islamic law for it, the practice is encouraged by the shame/honor culture that Islam has created. A transgression of the moral law is not seen only as a sin to be somehow expiated by the individual who committed it, but as a blot upon the honor and purity of the family of the victim – and that blot inheres in the sullied purity of the victim, not the perpetrator.
“Honor killings” are distressingly common throughout the Muslim world. Phyllis Chesler reports that “in 1997, in Cairo Egypt, twenty-five-year-old Nora Marzouk Ahmed’s honeymoon ended when her father chopped off her head and carried it down the street. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘the family has regained its honor.’ Nora’s crime? She had eloped.” And “in 2002, in Tehran, an Iranian man cut off his seven-year-old daughter’s head after suspecting she had been raped by her uncle. ‘The motive behind the killing was to defend my honor, fame, and dignity.’ Some people called for this man’s death under Islamic law, but ironically, only the father of the victim can demand the death sentence.”
Islamic clerics are partially responsible for the strong association of this practice with Islam. One notorious example of this association came in the relatively moderate Muslim country of Jordan in 2003, when the Jordanian Parliament voted down a provision designed to stiffen penalties for honor killings. Al-Jazeera reported with unintentional irony that increasing penalties for honor killings would destroy families: “Islamists and conservatives said the laws violated religious traditions and would destroy families and values.”
Ignoring the clear and close link between of honor killing and Islamic culture, however, the mainstream media searched for explanations elsewhere. CNN consulted Ajay Nair, associate dean of multicultural affairs at Columbia University, to see if honor killing was a “South Asian” problem. Certainly not, explained Nair: “My immediate reaction was that this is an anomaly in the South Asian community. This isn’t a rampant problem within South Asian communities. What is a problem, I think, is domestic violence, and that cuts across all communities.”
Also ignoring the incidence of honor killings in Jordan, Egypt, Iran, Gaza and elsewhere (including among Muslim immigrants in Germany, Britain, Canada, and Texas), the Chicago Tribune attributed it to the cultural rigidity of Pakistani and Indian immigrants, and even dragged in the crowned heads of Europe: “Such cultural unions serve as social contracts among South Asians and other communities, where a marriage agreement is more about families joining forces than about two people finding love—akin to the arranged marriages of European royalty…”
To this Warner Todd Huston of NewsBusters trenchantly responded: “Last I checked my history books common Europeans didn’t go around killing their daughters for marrying ‘wrong’ and neither did their ages old Monarchs.”
In line with the widespread acceptance of this practice in Islamic culture, when he appeared before a judge, Chaudhry Rashid insisted: “I have done nothing wrong.” Speaking to the judge, he demanded prison food prepared according to Islamic requirements, and declared that he would refuse pork in any form. It was a clear indication of the strength of his commitment to Islam, even as the mainstream media remained determined not to notice any such commitment.
The price of this politically correct refusal to confront the ugly realities of the Islamic link to honor killing will be, quite simply, more honor killings. No one will call upon Islamic groups to do something about this practice. No special scrutiny will be focused upon Muslims in the United States, or any studies undertaken about how honor killings can be prevented. No one will examine the question of unrestricted Muslim immigration in light of this problem. While learned analysts search for clues in South Asian cultural habits and the practices of European royalty, more young women will be murdered by their Muslim fathers, husbands, and brothers to cleanse their family’s honor. These young women are the ultimate victims of political correctness.
Hopefully this will lead to better awareness of the Copt's dire situation in Egypt. "American Egyptian Coptic Christians to organize a peaceful demonstration, on July 16, 2008, in front of the White House, to protest violent attacks against Coptic Christians in Egypt," contact: Mounir Bishay, 310-641-3387
MEDIA ADVISORY, from the Christian Newswire, July 10: Coptic Organizations in America along with activists from Egypt, the Middle East, Europe and the United states, will conduct a peaceful demonstration in front of the White House on Wednesday July 16, 2008, from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm. The purpose is to convey, to world's opinion and international human rights organizations, recent incidents of persecution, discrimination and marginalization inflicted on Coptic Christians of Egypt by the Egyptian government and Muslim extremists.
The Copts of Egypt are the largest Christian minority in the Middle East. They number about 15% of Egypt's population of 80 million. Not a month passes by without their churches, homes and businesses being attacked. According to a study made by Ibn Khaldoun Research Center in Cairo, over 240 major attacks against the Copts took place during the period from 1972- 2003. Magdy Khalil, a writer and researcher, estimates that as a result of these attacks more than 4000 Copts were killed or injured. This, in addition to damages to Coptic properties that could exceed hundreds of millions of dollars, during the last three decades alone. Hundreds of Coptic girls are abducted and forced to embrace Islam while security forces act as accomplices and helpers of the criminals.
The winners, for a change, would be the low-skilled unemployed, living just about anywhere -- if they were willing to move. Of the 12 million illegal immigrants, about 8 million are employed, mostly in low-skill jobs. The U.S., meantime, has about 22 million less-educated jobless adults, many of them blacks and legalized Hispanics, according to a 2008 report from the Center for Immigration Studies, a research group based in Washington, D.C.
Economists say if these people agreed to bone meat or install insulation, they could earn 6% to 10% more than the deported workers, as wages rose to lure new workers. That could mean $18,000 to $30,000 in pay a year.
And the economy? Short term, the effect of lost manpower and spending by illegal immigrants would be "devastating" or cause "some temporary dislocation," depending on whom you ask.
[...]
Some schools might even offer smaller classes. Steven Camarota, the research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, calculates that 3.3 million children, or 6% of school kids, have at least one undocumented parent. It costs about $10,000 per year to educate a child. So if all these kids left the U.S., too, it'd save $33 billion, Camarota says. "It could take a lot of pressure off the school system," he adds. Of course, some near-empty schools would have to close.
What about taxes? Would the average American family get any relief? That's hotly debated. Camarota reckoned in 2004 that the federal government would save $10 billion net a year if all illegal immigrants were expelled. That's the difference between what the illegal workers pay in income and payroll tax and what they and their kids collect in federal benefits. However, some economists insist that just the opposite is true.
I was Brooklyn bound - or so I thought. I took the subway to see a fellow alumna of New York's High School of Music and Art (as today's LaGuardia High School for the Arts was then called). I looked forward to the nostalgic reunion. I hadn't been in NYC for ages, and catching up with an old classmate seemed an indispensable component of walking down memory lane.
What's more, Kathy still lives at the same address in the cozy middle-class neighborhood where I sometimes visited her way back then. It was common for the house-proud Irish to keep property in the family, and hence I'd soon reenter the two-story red-brick home in whose wood-paneled rec-room we occasionally whiled away hours.
But when I climbed up the grimy station stairs and surveyed the street, I suspected that some supernatural time-and-space warp had transported me to Islamabad. This couldn't be Brooklyn. Women strode attired in hijabs and male passersby sported all manner of Muslim headgear and long flowing tunics. Kathy met me at the train and astounded me by pointing out long kurta shirts as distinguished from a salwar kameez. She couldn't help becoming an expert.
She's now a member of a fast-dwindling minority because "people are running away. We're among the last holdouts of our generation. My kids have fled."
Pakistani and Bangladeshi groceries lined the main shopping drag, and everywhere stickers boldly beckoned: "Discover Jesus in the Koran." An unremarkable low-slung building on the corner of Kathy's block was now dominated by an oversized green sign identifying it as Masjid Nur al-Islam (the Light of Islam Mosque) and announcing that "only Allah is worthy of worship and Muhammad is his LAST prophet." Here too Christians were urged to "turn to the Koran" if they were "genuinely faithful to Jesus."
It wasn't hard to identify the remaining non-Muslim residences. Kathy's was typical. A huge American flag fluttered demonstratively in the manicured front yard, accompanied by a large cross on the door and an assortment of patriotic/jingoistic banners.
"We're besieged," she explained. "Making a statement is about all we can do. They aren't delighted to see our flag wave. This is enemy territory."
LEST I judge her paranoid, Kathy began regaling me with what she knew about the mosque a few doors down her street, still as tree-lined as I remember but somehow less pretty and tidy, even vaguely grubby.
Kathy had compiled a bulging dossier of press clippings and computer printouts about the masjid that grew in a once heavily Jewish area. Until the mid-1990s, its imam was the late Egyptian-educated Gulshair el-Shukrijumah, dispatched by the Saudis as a Wahhabi missionary in 1985 and financed by them thereafter. His disciple, Clement Rodney Hampton-El, an explosives specialist, possibly helped assemble the bomb detonated in the '93 World Trade Center attack. He was convicted of plotting to blow up the UN, FBI headquarters and the Holland and Lincoln tunnels. Gulshair acted as interpreter for Omar Abdel-Rahman, the "Blind Sheikh" now serving life for the first WTC bombing, conspiring to use explosives at other NYC landmarks and colluding to assassinate US politicians.
Nabbed operational commander of the 9/11 plot, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, fingered Gulshair's eldest son Adnan as having been designated by al-Qaida and personally approved by Osama Bin-Laden to lead new terror assaults and serve as successor to Muhammad Atta, with whom Adnan was connected. Adnan received flight training and is dubbed "Jaffar the pilot." He was likewise linked to "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla, Hamas and al-Qaida fund-raiser Adham Hassoun, and terrorist Imran Mandhai (convicted of conspiring to bomb the National Guard armory, South Florida electrical substations, Jewish-owned businesses and community centers, and Mount Rushmore).
This guy just confuses me... What this civilian source be for?
“We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set,” he said Wednesday. “We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded.”
A homosexual man who has a blog on Sen. Barack Obama's campaign website is suing two major Christian publishers for violating his constitutional rights and causing emotional pain, because the Bible versions they publish refer to homosexuality as a sin.
Bradley LaShawn Fowler, 39, of Canton, Mich., is seeking $60 million from Zondervan and another $10 million from Thomas Nelson Publishing in lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the Grand Rapids Press reported.
Fowler filed his claim against Grand Rapids-based Zondervan Monday, alleging its Bibles' references to homosexuality as a sin have made him an outcast from his family and contributed to physical discomfort and periods of "demoralization, chaos and bewilderment," the paper said.
[...]
Fowler's blog on Sen. Barack Obama's campaign website features a post titled "Unleashing America from Injustice," in which he says he "was completely distraught after discovering the term-homosexual-was added to the bible, in 1976, and then removed, in 2001 and 2006, without any consideration to the many victims who committed suicide or were murdered because of their sexual preference of homosexuality."
The Obama campaign notes the opinions expressed in its community blog section "in no way should be interpreted as endorsed or approved by the campaign."
On a separate personal blogsite, Fowler features his related book, written under the name "Bradley-Almighty," which, he boasts, contains "astounding research from within the pages of the bible, that will change the face of religion across the globe."
Titled "365 Reason's to Study the Bible," he says his "debut book" takes the reader "on a journey through time, as he shifts swiftly, yet gracefully, through the pages of religious history, slowly exposing hidden secrets bible publishers have fought- feverishly to keep hidden from the general public for centuries. An avalanche of secrets that are keeping millions around the world enslaved today."
Fowler cites his interview with a newspaper called Michigan Front Page in which he said, "Lack of sincerity from bible readers has helped this conspiracy go on this long.
Baby-faced Hamza Bin Laden — just 16 but already dubbed the Crown Prince of Terror — also ranted in his evil ode that the US and our other allies must be wiped out.
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The teen declared in his demented ditty to fanatics: “Accelerate the destruction of America, Britain, France and Denmark.”
He continued: “Oh God, reward the fighters hitting the infidels and defectors. Oh God, guide the youth of the Islamic nation and let them assist with the fighters’ plans.
“God, be pleased with those who want to go for jihad — and blind those who are watching and want to capture them.”
The vile verses, by the youngest of the al-Qaeda warlord’s 18 sons, appeared on an extremist website to mark three years since the 7/7 London suicide bombings killed 52 innocents. The poem urged: “Grant victory to the Taliban over the gangs of infidels.”
His words — believed to be recited by the lad himself — accompanied a short video clip featuring old footage of his dad.
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A short introduction announced: “We now offer you a new poem by Sheikh Hamza Bin Laden, may God protect him.” Hamza — thought to be hiding on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border — is Bin Laden’s only son by his Saudi wife.
Respected terrorist expert Chris Dobson said: “Despite his youth he is emerging as Bin Laden’s likely heir.” Tory MP Patrick Mercer, a member of the Home Affairs Committee, said: “The sins of the father are being visited upon the son. We now have the Crown Prince of Terror taking up his father’s mantle.”
Author and internet terror expert Neil Doyle warned: “There’s been a rising level of extremist chatter online about attacks on Britain. The comments will add fuel to that.” Jacqui Putnam, who survived the 7/7 attacks, said: “It’s deeply distressing. He should be doing what any boy his age in any culture should be doing and finding out about life in a normal way.”
The Muslim Council of Britain also blasted the poem, branding al-Qaeda “mass murderers”.
When Fawaz Damra was deported in early January 2007, he left a sizable leadership void at the Islamic Center of Cleveland, the largest mosque in Ohio where he had served as imam since 1991. Damra was convicted in June 2004 for failing to disclose his ties to three terrorist organizations when he applied for U.S. citizenship and was also named an unindicted co-conspirator in Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami al-Arian’s terrorism trial. The pair had been captured on video tape raising funds for the terrorist organization and recorded on FBI wiretaps discussing raising funds for the families of suicide bombers. Damra had also been caught lecturing his congregation on how Jews were “the sons of monkeys and apes.”
Prior to coming to Cleveland, Damra was one of the three founders of the al-Kifah Refugee Center, the U.S. recruiting office for the Maktab al-Khidamat, a bin Laden-financed precursor to al-Qaeda. He also served as the imam of the al-Farouq mosque in Brooklyn that served as the hub of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing plot and the home of now-convicted “blind sheikh” Omar Abdel-Rahman.
Since Damra’s forced departure, two potential successors have rapidly come and gone. The first intended successor, Mohamad Altabaa, who was hired from another area mosque, was quickly given the heave-ho for being too moderate. Now, however, the Cleveland mosque has settled on a permanent replacement, Egyptian cleric Sayed Ahmed Abouabdalla, who seems qualified to pick up where Damra left off.
Just weeks into his new position, Abouabdalla is already being hailed as a great interfaith leader by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, even though by its own admission Abouabdalla barely speaks English (a translator was needed for his interview with Plain Dealer reporter David Briggs) and has a short track record as a religious leader in the U.S. (his most recent position was as part-time imam for the Islamic Cultural Institute in St. Clair Shores, Michigan).
But considering what happened with Abouabdalla’s most immediate predecessor, Ahmad Alzaree, last October (more on that episode below) you might think that the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the rest of the media would be more cautious, or at least more diligent in researching the background of its newfound interfaith paragon, who, it should be noted, is replacing its old interfaith paragon, Fawaz “Jews are sons of monkeys and apes” Damra.
One element in the Plain Dealer’s recent coverage of Abouabdalla’s background that passes without the slightest bit of apparent investigation is the fact that he continues to serve as a faculty member of the Islamic American University (IAU) in Dearborn, Michigan. Of the 19 courses offered by IAU this summer term, Abouabdalla teaches 14 of them.
And apparently he thinks every child needs to be bilingual.. He thinks that America being an English only country is ridiculous. This has no respect for our borders, language or culture.
Apparently when Obama was studying Islam he learned Arabic. He still remembers a prayer he used to say: "Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent." Source
TEHERAN - Iran's parliament is set to debate a draft bill which could see the death penalty used for those deemed to promote corruption, prostitution and apostasy on the Internet, reports said on Wednesday.
MPs on Wednesday voted to discuss as a priority the draft bill which seeks to "toughen punishment for harming mental security in society," the ISNA news agency said.
The text lists a wide range of crimes such rape and armed robbery for which the death penalty is already applicable. The crime of apostasy (the act of leaving a religion, in this case Islam) is also already punishable by death.
However, the draft bill also includes "establishing weblogs and sites promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy", which is a new addition to crimes punishable by death.
Those convicted of these crimes "should be punished as "mohareb' (enemy of God) and "corrupt on the earth'," the text says.
Under Iranian law the standard punishments for these two crimes are "hanging, amputation of the right hand and then the left foot as well as exile."
The bill -- which is yet to be debated by lawmakers -- also stipulates that the punishment handed out in these cases "cannot be commuted, suspended or changed".
Internet is widely used in Iran despite restrictions on access and the blocking of thousands of websites with a sexual content or deemed as insulting religious sanctities and promoting political dissent.
Blogging is also very popular among cyber-savvy young Iranians, some openly discussing their private lives or criticising the system.
Human rights groups have accused Iran of making excessive use of the death penalty but Teheran insists it is an effective deterrent that is carried out only after an exhaustive judicial process.
The number of executions soared last year to 317 amid a campaign which the authorities said was aimed at improving security in society, and was sharply up on 2006 figures when Amnesty International recorded 177 executions.
All legislation in Iran has to be rubber-stamped by a conservative clerical watchdog before it is written into law. The Guardians Council vets bills to see if they are in line with the constitution and Islamic law.
Milan, 7 July (AKI) - The President of the northern Italian city of Milan, Filippo Penati, has triggered widespread debate with a controversial proposal to fine Muslims who pray on the streets outside the city's mosque.
According to authorities, the number of people praying on the sidewalk creates traffic and obstacles for pedestrians in the area surrounding the Viale Jenner mosque, a converted garage.
"Article 190 of the law regarding the obstruction of streets should be applied immediately," said Penati.
"I do not know or understand why the law has not been applied before," he said.
"The municipality of Milan should apply the law and fine transgressors, not to limit their freedom of worship, which should be guaranteed for all, but prayer carried out on the sidewalk is forbidden by the laws of our country."
The Viale Jenner mosque, or cultural Islamic centre, can only hold 4,000 faithful. Those who cannot fit inside bring their Islamic prayer mat and lay it on the street outside the mosque and close to passing cars.
Talks are underway to move the prayer hall to the larger 'Vigorelli' stadium and cycle track.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- California is making it mandatory for cars to be labeled with global warming scores, figures that take into account emissions from vehicle use and fuel production.
The law requiring the labels goes into effect at the start of next year for all 2009 model cars, though its expected the labels will be popping up on cars in the coming months.
The labeling law forces cars for sale to display a global warming score, on a scale of one to 10, which is based on how vehicles in the same model year compare to one another. The higher the score, the cleaner a car is. The score takes into account emissions related to production of fuel for each vehicle as well as the direct emissions from vehicles.
The score will be displayed next to the already-required smog score, which also rates cars one to 10 for how many smog-forming emissions they emit. For both scores, an average vehicle will have a score of five.
California is the first state of pass such as law, and a similar law will take effect in New York for 2010 model year vehicles. Global warming scores will be included on the state's DriveClean website.
While this law is intended to help consumers take into account emissions while purchasing cars, a proposed law in the European Union would require E.U. public sector bodies put a price on emissions.
A law endorsed by the European Parliament's Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety would make governments put a monetary cost on the emissions of vehicles they plan to purchase, and add that to expense calculations. The law would exclude certain types of vehicles, such as ambulances and fire trucks.
Only the USA TODAY would make this sound like a sad story.
Some states are making it harder for illegal immigrants to attend college by denying in-state tuition benefits or banning undocumented students.
In the past two years, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma have refused in-state tuition benefits to students who entered the USA illegally with their parents but grew up and went to school in the state. That represents a reversal from earlier this decade, when 10 states passed laws allowing in-state rates for such students.
This summer, South Carolina became the first state to bar undocumented students from all public colleges and universities.
North Carolina's community colleges in May ordered its 58 campuses to stop enrolling undocumented students after the state attorney general said admitting them may violate federal law.
"The new trend is to kick illegal aliens out of college altogether," says William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee, which opposes taxpayer subsidies for undocumented immigrants.
Josh Bernstein of the National Immigration Law Center, an illegal-immigrants advocate, says sweeping anti-immigration bills are "a very serious threat" to the overall illegal population.
Apparently illegal immigrant rights group CHIRLA seems to think it is ridiculous for people without a social security number to not be able to get student aid. They have made this video about it.
I also found it very troubling that my local public library carried the following video on dvd! This video basically teaches illegals how to make it has hard as they possibly can for law enforcement. This video is called Know Your Rights. You should check to see if your local library has it. This is absurd. Heres the video:
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia | The Bush administration is accusing the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of providing cash and refuge to the militant Islamist group Hezbollah of southern Lebanon.
An investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) names Venezuelan diplomat Ghazi Nasr al Din and Venezuelan-Arab businessman Fawzi Kanan as key links between the two.
"It is extremely troubling to see the government of Venezuela employing and providing safe harbor for Hezbollah facilitators and fundraisers," said Adam Szubin, political affairs director of OFAC.
Mr. al Din has served as charge d'affaires at the Venezuelan Embassy in Syria and as director of political affairs at the embassy in Lebanon.
The Treasury Department made the accusations in a June 18 statement, which summarized an investigation of Venezuelan-registered businesses that are thought to be laundering money for Hezbollah.
The department also froze assets of Mr. al Din and Mr. Kanan and banned them from conducting business in the U.S. or with U.S. citizens and residents.
"Assets the designees hold under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions in property or interests in property blocked under the order," the Treasury statement said.
Treasury's report said Mr. al Din brought two Hezbollah parliamentary representatives to Venezuela in 2006 to "solicit donations" and open an "Islamic community center."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has denied any connection between his government and the militant Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon.
The same report mentions the businessman, Mr. Kanan, who heads two travel agencies in Venezuela's capital, Caracas, as a "significant provider of financial support to Hezbollah."
Here is Durbins latest comments on the troops: "There will be a lot of talk about patriotism over this Fourth of July weekend and many senators will rightfully praise our military, he added. But true patriotism means honoring the men and women in uniform who defend our freedoms -- not just with words and flag lapel pins, but with actions befitting their great sacrifices.
Another top British barrister has called for elements of Islamic Sharia law to be introduced into the UK.
Former chairman of Britain's Bar Council Stephen Hockman QC said last week that "It is vital and inevitable that sharia will become part of British law in some shape or form.
"Given the world situation and our own substantial Muslim population it is vital that we now look at ways to integrate Muslim culture into our own traditions... Otherwise we will find that there is a significant section of our society which is increasingly alienated, with very dangerous results."
His comments follow similar remarks from Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers (England and Wales most senior judge) who said that Sharia could play a role in family and financial matters for Muslims. Lord Philips had discussed how elements of Sharia had been misrepresented and misunderstood by the press and public: "Severe physical punishments" he said, were unacceptable, but the Islamic system could be used for mediation or "alternative dispute resolution."
Earlier this year, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams claimed that the introduction of certain elements of Sharia law into British life were "unavoidable."
Hockman praised the Archbishop's stance, adding that the "virulent reaction" from politicians and the media (he could have added the public) showed "how necessary this work is" and said that people in authority should speak out in favour of Sharia.
Hockman also said that elements of Sharia should be written into English law, and said that a committee of barristers and politicians should be created to study how this might be achieved.
It is difficult to avoid the feeling that one has dozed off and awakened in some surreal parallel universe. The Archbishop of Canterbury - a leader of the established Church - calling for the introduction of the legal system of a rival religion? Two of the country's leading lawyers demanding that an alien legal system be written into English law - and one adding the dire threat of "very dangerous results" should we refuse to allow this?
srael and the US would not dare to attack Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in an interview with a Malaysian media outlet on Monday.
Iran's official news agency, IRNA, reported that Ahmadinejad spoke in Kuala Lumpar, where he is to attend the sixth Summit of the Eight Islamic Developing Countries (D8).
"Not only the US and Israel, but a hundred others like them cannot attack Iran and they know it themselves," the Iranian president was quoted as saying.
He went on to say that US President George W. Bush "has many satanic and inhuman wishes, including confrontation with Iran," and that "none of his wishes have come true."
Maybe this finally will put this to rest. This from LGF:
AJ Strata spent more time on the Barack Obama birth certificate “forgery” story than it deserved, to prove that (as I’ve been repeating ad nauseam) it’s a big nothing, and the document is genuine: The Obama “Forged Birth Certificate” Myth Is Busted.
Sorry, folks, but this is not going to be another Rathergate. Let’s just bury this wish-fulfillment fantasy and get on with things.
A young undercover city detective spent four years in the shadowy world of terrorist wanna-bes - taking part in jihadist discussions and training in parks in the dead of night - to get a handle on the homegrown threat.
At great personal risk, he participated in everything from prayers at a mosque to martial arts training under cover of darkness to watching jihadist videos, with many of the activities laced with talk of killing, according to a source familiar with the undercover's investigations.
His experiences paint a vivid portrait of the potential for local terror. While the picture is in no way indicative of the city's Muslim population as a whole, it provides insight into its most radical element.
The detective spent his time interacting with informal groups of youths and men who shared extremist views - and his experiences illustrate what police say is the potential for radicalization of some elements in the community.
He reported that after prayers at a neighborhood mosque, there were often private classes that included discussions about bombing different areas.
The men discussed violent jihad in bookstores, private houses and on buses en route to paintball and shooting-range events.
He was invited to join in "bonding" activities like working out at a gym and martial arts training in parks at night, during which the group discussed ideological justifications for killing Westerners.
He also watched military movies and jihadist videos with groups of young men in private homes. During one such evening, one man got so excited he punched a wall.
The detective reported that some youths became extremists after they traveled to their home countries; others went on the hajj - the pilgrimage to Mecca - and came back fired up by imams who encouraged violence as a religious obligation.
Others, after visiting relatives abroad, became enraged at their family's living conditions and blamed the U.S. for supporting nondemocratic governments.
First there is this profile which is called "Socialist" it says the following: "Why I support Barack Obama: I have contributed to the Obama campaign because I think he is the closest candidate to help start a social revolution in the Untied States; Although the Socialist Party will be watching him like a hawk."
They also have this blog posted: "On March 17, 2007, the 4th anniversary of the start of the most recent criminal invasion of Iraq, the Socialist Party USA will join the tens of thousands of people from around the country who will descend on the Pentagon in a mass demonstration to demand: U.S. Out of Iraq Now!
Join the SPUSA contingent at this march. Infomrational can be foudn on our anti-war campiagn website www.sp-usa.org/campaigns/anti-war.html"
Another person with the profile New York Socialist has this to say: "As a socialist, I strongly identify with Barack's message of hope and change for the masses of working people; I believe he sees the beauty in the philosophy "people before profits"."
A Socialist from Greece has this to say on Obamas site: "My name is Antonis Konstantoudakis and I leave in Greece. I am a member of the socialist youth party of PASOK and all my life i am fighting for the socialist liberal ideas in Greece! I talk to many young people, the youth of Greece, the liberal democratic youth of Greece, and everyone wants Obama for the next presidenent of the US, since we all believe that he will make the change all people in the whole world wish for! He is diferent, not a part of the system and near our ideas and hopes and dreams! This campaign is not only for the US, it involves the whole world... we are tired of wars made from the "dictators" like BUSH and we need something new, we need someone strong and someone tha will bring peace and hope to the whole world, we need Obama to be president!"
At least four people were killed and six wounded in ‘S’ada as a 14-year-old boy detonated an anti-personnel mine that he was carrying outside a government complex, local media reported.
This is the first time a child has been used and it remains unclear whether or not he knew he was going to die, sources at the Yemen Times told The Media Line.
Saturday's attack came after government forces and local rebels loyal to the Houthi tribe were involved in heavy fighting over the weekend.
Sources at the Yemen Times also reported that, for the third day running, the state air force has been targeting areas of combat in ‘S'ada. The planes are hovering continually and hitting places where even the government military is present.
The soldiers were killed because of either engaging with the Houthis in combat or their proximity to the Houthi camps. Dozens of military soldiers are reported dead because of the air force attacks.
In the six-and-a-half years that the U.S. government has been fingerprinting insurgents, detainees and ordinary people in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa, hundreds have turned out to share an unexpected background, FBI and military officials said. They have criminal arrest records in the United States.
There was the suspected militant fleeing Somalia who had been arrested on a drug charge in New Jersey. And the man stopped at a checkpoint in Tikrit who claimed to be a dirt farmer but had 11 felony charges in the United States, including assault with a deadly weapon.
The records suggest that potential enemies abroad know a great deal about the United States because many of them have lived here, officials said. The matches also reflect the power of sharing data across agencies and even countries, data that links an identity to a distinguishing human characteristic such as a fingerprint.
I think the audio version makes a much more immediate impact” than the print version of his memoir, said conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, who’s already played audio excerpts from the book on his syndicated radio show. “It turns out to be very jarring to many ears to hear Obama talking about his youthful adventures, his attitudes on race.”
In “Dreams from My Father,” Obama tells the story of his multi-racial background, childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, college career in Los Angeles and New York, and years as a community organizer in Chicago, before entering Harvard Law School in 1988. The abridged audio version was released in May 2005 after Obama entered the Senate and was already being mentioned as a presidential candidate. It won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.
”Dreams from My Father” has been widely acclaimed as an introspective and insightful read far from the anodyne campaign-oriented books politicians often produce, traits that Obama’s critics believe make it ideal for use against the candidate.
In a passage describing his high school experience in Hawaii, for example, Obama explains the allure of drugs: “I kept playing basketball, attended classes sparingly, drank beer heavily, and tried drugs enthusiastically… If the high didn’t solve whatever it was that was getting you down,” Obama intones, “it could at least help you laugh at the world’s ongoing folly.”
While many voters already know that Obama used drugs as a young man, they haven’t heard the senator describe his drug use in those terms, or in his own voice. Nor have they heard him extensively quoting from the first sermon he heard from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., his longtime clergyman who he renounced during the primary, saying that “The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago."
In one excerpt from the audio book that Hewitt played on his show in March, Obama alters his voice to mimic Wright’s, and repeats passages from a sermon decrying a society “where white folks’ greed runs a world in need.” Later Obama says of Wright’s preaching, “I found the tears running down my cheeks.”
Hewitt said that on his radio show he’s been careful to play book clips in their entirety, not just in snippets that can give the wrong impression. It’s possible that the audio clips could be used in political ads, but that’s not his intention, he said.
Visit Islam In Europe for the full stories. Here are the highlights.
* Tahira Bibi, a Danish-Pakistani woman living in Pakistan, was shot dead by her brother in law. The woman's family accuses the husband, who lives in Denmark, of instigating the murder. A close friend, however, says the couple had a good relationship and spoke several times a day. She also says Tahira kept up with Danish news on the net The police in Pakistan concur and say that they don't believe the brother in law's 'excuse' of honor murder. They would like to interrogate the father, but he is currently not planning to travel there.
Tahira had taken her two daughters to Pakistan in order to get to know their family there. They will now be returned to the father. (see more here in Danish: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Danish right-wingers as well as the Muslim Council of Denmark want the government to research the problem of 'honor' murders and see what can be done.
'Honor' murders were discusses extensively on the news. Though this was not the case here, there are apparently Danish women being held abroad against their will.
* In Norway a father and son are charged with killing Vian Bakir Fatah (31), ex-wife and mother. Vian Bakir Fatah, who had converted to Christianity and had a Norwegian boyfriend, had shown up for a reconciliation meeting with her ex-husband after which he killed her.
* In Norway, a father and his brother in law were sentenced for the abduction and forced marriage of a daughter, who was 14 at the time. In Italy a 15 year old jumped out of her parent's balcony to escape a forced marriage. The girl survived and told interviewers she wanted to be Italian. This story followed that of last week, where a girl from Liege was killed in the same circumstances. In both cases, the question is: were they trying to commit suicide, or were they trying to run away and couldn't leave through the door?
* Police in the UK say that women fleeing forced marriage and 'honor'-related are betrayed by doctors, public servants and police. This can sometimes happen unwittingly, when people are not aware of the grave dangers these girls face, but in some case, the girls are betrayed by people who know exactly what they're doing.
Mosques
* In the Czech Republic the Muslim community is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its first mosque. Meanwhile, the plans for the Grand Mosque of Marseilles were unveiled this week.
* In Rotterdam, a dispute between mosque members and the administration over building financing has led to an appeal to the municipality to intervene. A protest outside the mosque on Friday developed into scuffles and disturbances (NL), as well as an attack on the car of the person responsible for the building. The protest ended with a prayer outside.
* Ahmed Marcouch, mayor of Slotervaart (Amsterdam), says that mosque 'Sunday schools' practice corporal punishment and teach their students to hate the West. To combat the problem he wants to investigate the mosque schools, and to make bring Islam teaching into public schools.
Terrorism
* The war against terrorism was hit twice this week: The American group Human Rights Watch accused French anti-terrorism measures of being illegal. In Sweden an acquitted terrorism rendition deportee was awarded millions in damages.
* In Switzerland terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists are the greatest security threat.
* Members of Italy's Muslim community met in Rome to discuss ways of combating Islamic extremism.
Sharia
* The public prosecution in Amsterdam decided not to prosecute Geert Wilders while the Jordanian court accepted the lawsuit against him, leaving Wilders with a possible international arrest warrant. His troubles in the Netherlands are not over either.
* The British Lord Chief Justice said in a lecture at London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel that he supports Sharia arbitration, though he rejects Sharia courts. His comments came in support of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had earlier this year that adoption of some aspects of Sharia law in Britain was 'unavoidable'.
Miscellaneous
* In Lancashire a Muslim female councillor says she's been subjected to a hate campaign by Muslim men. In Oslo a local politician who looks like an immigrant also attracts unwanted attention from Muslim men, who in the best case, feel they can tell her what to do.
* Muslims participated in Oslo's gay parade for the first time.
* The application of an asylum seeker who had converted to Christianity in Norway was rejected. Authorities strongly suggest he convert back to Islam.
* The father who removed a crucifix at a French Catholic clinic came to apologize, after his imam and community leaders did so.
* A local Muslim politician in Scotland complained about a police ad featuring a black puppy, leading the police to apologize. The dog, Rebel, had been used by the police for a few months in order to encourage contact with the public. Scottish Muslim groups denied the ad caused any offense. Meanwhile, British police are to take extra precautions when using search dogs in Muslim houses.
Wait a minute I thought "Bush lied" about Saddam and the nukes? hmmmm. I guess not.
The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program — a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium — reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.
The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" — the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment — was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.
What's now left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 12 miles south of Baghdad — using teams that include Iraqi experts recently trained in the Chernobyl fallout zone in Ukraine.
