zTruth

U.S. to join the U.N. Human Rights Council

The U.S. will join the U.N. Human Rights Council, you know the one that just passed a resolution to make defaming religion, specifically Islam, a crime. 

"The Obama administration decided Tuesday to join the U.N. Human Rights Council, reversing a decision by the Bush administration to shun the United Nations' premier rights body to protest the influence of repressive states, according to U.N. diplomats and rights activists.

The United States will participate in elections in May for one of three seats on the 47-member council, joining a slate that includes Belgium, Norway and New Zealand. New Zealand has offered to step aside to allow the United States to run unchallenged, according to a U.S. official..."

Now, will the U.S. support the resolution that asks governments to make it a crime to criticize Islam?

The Washington Post

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Also see:

The Sword of Islam, the Pen of the UN The New American

The new threat to freedom of expression

Christian Science Monitor - ‎Mar 30, 2009‎

The UN passage of a resolution barring defamation of religion, especially Islam, should be a wake-up call. By Paula Schriefer Washington - "In the future ...

CSW decries passing of UN defamation resolution ChristianToday

UN urged to reject bar on defamation of religion

Reuters - ‎Mar 25, 2009‎

The OIC resolution says "Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism" and calls on UN member states "to combat ...

Volunteer AND get paid by the government?

Now that's change you can believe in.

"The House of Representatives easily passed legislation Tuesday to strengthen national community service efforts by boosting funding for thousands of volunteers in fields ranging from clean energy to health care and education.Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, recently renamed to honor the Massachusetts senator's sponsorship of the measure, passed the House by a vote of 275-149. Democrats supported it almost unanimously; a strong majority of Republicans were opposed.

The Senate passed identical legislation Thursday by a vote of 78-20. President Obama, who spent several years working as a community organizer, is expected to sign it into law shortly.

...The bill is expected to cost roughly $6 billion over the next five years."

CNN

Ten minutes of fluff at CNN

I just randomly picked 10 minutes to track what both CNN and Fox News reported on just now.  I began to notice how seriously CNN was in the tank for President Obama a few months before the election.  It is so bad now,  I can hardly stand to watch this biased channel anymore:

CNN  1:18 PM CT

Why America loves Michelle Obama (snippet)

North Dakota Flood update story  Reynolds Wolf

Weather report

Money segment on financial debt

     personal questions answered

Next we will see how the Brits are securing the G 20 summit

 break for commercial

10 minutes up.

Fox News  1:28.5 PM:

President Obama arriving in London for G20 summit tension rising, context, analysis and breaking news

   commercial break

Dows in good shape today.  ...Award in smoker trial...

London arrival of President Obama.  Facing a stern first test overseas.  A lot really riding on this summit...

The economy has declined since the last summit...

Push back from Germany...French President more regulation needed or he may walk out.  Will fingers point at the U.S.?

Tone is the U.S. the problem. 

Global financial regulator?

Lot of history at G20 summit...1933 summit in London was a fiscal with a new Democratic president.

What we are seeing is European wanting more tighter policies...

10 minutes up

Of course, this was just 10 minutes out of a 24 hour news day and it really doesn't prove anything.  BUT I have noticed how soft CNN is on President Obama.

Update 2:31 PM:

I thought I would do 10 more minutes on CNN to give them another moment:

Dick Cheney accused of orchestrating assassins overseas...There is a list..  Hersch says a military hit squad...Cheney's attempt to undermine Obama's authority with Israel...

Commercial break

Hit squads CNN reported - have gotten a response from the military - all units in the arm forces report through a chain of command up to the president and NOT the vice president.

Did Cheney diss Obama in Israel?

CNN Rick Sanchez asks Wayne Slater, Dallas Morning News about the rebuttal from the military.  When you listen to that - does someone really know?   He implies the military is not telling the truth...

Sanchez implies Cheney may have had a much control as the president...

Let's talk about the 2nd part -- Cheney talked to the Israel negatively about presient-elect Obama.  Normally, you would never think he would do this but it is consistent with Cheney...

10 minutes up

WOW!  No fluff there but a real character assisnation taking place.
 

Update 4/1/09 10:40 am CT:

I'm going to turn on the TV and do 10 more minutes at CNN, so here goes:

tax on tobacco - that's unfair to us who are poor - a video I reporter

Live from London now, there is the man who threatens to walk out..

we will monitor this news conference.

commercial break

Bernie Madolf story -- ceasing a custom made boat, an antique, more properety will be ceased later on today.

Look at those who are venting their anger at the G20

A brush with royalty, President Obama on the world stage

another commerical break

The Obama Justice Dept will drop the case against Rep. Ted Stevens in Alaska

we asked what you all think about this - people hate this decision...

We, the citizen have come to expect this from our government..more citizens criticism given.

30 minutes away from President Obama's visit with the Queen so we have pagentry and oppostion for you.

He has been meetng behind closed doors with leaders...

10 minutes up

Well, that wasn't so bad.

 

Iran official: America, change or you may be forced to change

Ali Akbar Javanfekr is the presidential advisor for press affairs to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and in an opinion piece carried by the LA Times he wrote that while President Bush was hated around the world, he was one of the most honest American presidents because he deeds and words matched. 

First, Mr. Javanfekr let's clarify what you said. President Bush was largely hated by Islamists and the left, and not by everyone.  Millions of Americans appreciated immensely his efforts to make the world a safer place.  Over time, this appreciation will likely grow in the face of our ever-evolving enemies that follow a strict and twisted religious edict and not a nation.

From the LA Times:

"...Mr. Obama's recent message to Iran on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, contained some encouraging signs -- and some negative ones.

...The U.S. has a long history of interfering in Iran's domestic affairs --. (Z: In other words we are merely the victims of your cruel country)

...For all these reasons, Mr. Obama's claims of responsibility and honesty must ultimately be put to the test.

Mr. Obama's efforts to replace aggressive rhetoric in official U.S. statements with the language of peace and mutual respect is a step forward. If this change of tone is also manifested practically in the official policies of the U.S., it will be an important step toward remedying the impaired image of the U.S. in the eyes of other nations.

Mr. Obama expressed his country's willingness to see our Islamic Republic take its true position in the international community. This new approach by the United States is appreciated, but we would note that Iran already occupies a distinguished position in the international community. President Ahmadinejad is one of the most beloved dignitaries in the world, and freedom-loving nations in all corners of the Earth love Iran.

The policies of previous U.S. administrations led to a rise in hatred, anger and worries. In all corners of the world, it is worth noting, the only flags being set ablaze belong to the U.S. and the occupying Zionist regime.

President Obama has proclaimed a policy of "change," and the American people have embraced it. But to remedy its image in the world, the U.S. needs to truly change its past methods.

Change is mandatory for the U.S. administration. For as history demonstrates, either you change, or you are forced to change."

 

Was that a veiled threat based on a belief that America is now weaker?

Taliban terrorist chief threatens attack on Washington

A terrrist chief in Pakistant is now threatening attacks on America:

"Pakistan's most wanted militant on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a deadly police academy assault and threatened to attack the US capital in retaliation for a series of air strikes.

Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, for whom the United States has posted a five-million-dollar reward, said there would be more attacks after Monday's raid on the Lahore police training school that left 12 people dead.

"We claim responsibility for the attack," Mehsud, blamed for the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"This was in retaliation for the ongoing drone attacks in the tribal areas. There will be more such attacks."

"Very soon we will take revenge from America, not in Afghanistan but in Washington, which will amaze the entire world," Mehsud warned.

Mehsud, who was accused by the former government of masterminding Bhutto's killing, heads the feared Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

...The US State Department has branded him a "key al-Qaida facilitator" in the semi-autonomous South Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

]The Times of India

China expands reach into Argentina with monetary swap

China feels strong enough these days to offer up the idea of a world currency thanks to the billions we buy from them in cheap goods and the billions they loan us. 

Now they have entered into a monetary deal in a Latin America country for the first time:

"Argentine officials are hopeful that a new currency swap deal with China will bolster confidence in the peso while giving the monetary authority greater power to defend the currency.

"This should boost confidence," said an Argentine Central Bank official who asked for anonymity. "Even if none of this money is ever used, its mere existence should serve to boost confidence in the currency."

Wal Street Journal Asia

The two nations agreed to a three-year currency swap totaling 70 billion yuan, ($10 billion).

China's state news agency, Xinhua, reported earlier Monday that Argentina could use the deal to pay for Chinese imports in yuan. But the Central Bank official said the deal's main goal is to restore confidence in the Argentine government's ability to manage the value of the peso..."

France may walk out of G20 summit!

President Obama may face tough challenges at Thursday's G20 meeting.  Many leaders from left-leaning European countries have blasted Obama's massive spending plans. 

The BBC reports today France may actually walk out of the meeting:

"France will walk away from this week's G20 summit if its demands for stricter financial regulation are not met, the finance minister has told the BBC.

Christine Lagarde told HardTalk that President Sarkozy would not sign any agreement if he felt "the deliverables are not there".

Strengthening financial regulation will be one of the key issues at the G20.

France wants a stronger global financial regulator than the US and the UK would like.

If France were to leave the summit, it would be a blow to both UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US President Barack Obama..."

BBC

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Also see:

G20: Economic snapshot

Islamic finance pushes for role in G-20 agenda

Saudi Arabia prepared to contribute more to IMF

Young Saudi activist to advise G20 leaders

 Brown Retreats From Calls for Fiscal Stimulus in UK

A NEW WORLD POWER

G20 summit will show the shift of power from U.S.-led economic order towards emerging market nations (Z: one writer's perspective)

Action Alert America! Support OK HB 1645 ban on headcoverings for driver license ID photos

An Oklahoma bill to ban all headcoverings for driver's license photo IDs has been assigned to the transportation committee in the Oklahoma Senate.  Earlier, the bill passed overwhelmingly in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

Now, three very controversial national Islamic organizations; the Islamic Society of North America, CAIR and the Islamic Circle of North American have asked Muslims and their partners on the left, across the nation, to call, write and e-mail the senators on this committee in order to prevent this bill's passage out of the committee.  Additionally, the Islamic Human Rights Commission, an NGO with Special Consultative Status at the U.N., has also gotten involved!  See my previous post on this here.

We need to pull together to counter their unfair political pressure!  Although the agenda for the committee meeting tomorow doesn't list this bill, your help is  needed to encourage your support for this bill.  The chair, at his discretion and judgment, could let the bill die without bringing it up for a vote in the committee and this is what we don't want to happen.

Morocco expels 5 Christians missionaries!

Here's a good example how Islamic countries keep their Islamic power and stifle freedom of religion:

"Authorities have expelled five Christian missionaries from Morocco on the grounds that they were illegally inciting Muslims to convert, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.

The missionaries were caught Saturday during an assembly with Moroccan Muslims in Casablanca, the North African kingdom's economic capital, and have been sent to Spain by boat, the Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the official MAP news agency.

"Numerous pieces of evangelical propaganda material were also seized," including video cassettes in Arabic that advocated conversion to Christianity, the statement said.

A senior Interior Ministry official said the missionaries were four Spaniards and a German woman. He insisted Morocco has nothing against the Christian faith, but that authorities felt the missionaries had gone too far.

...Several Evangelical Christians have been charged or detained in recent months in neighboring Algeria, and authorities throughout North Africa have become increasingly wary of an apparent push by some Protestant churches in this overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim region."

President Obama may meet with president of Syria; state sponsor of terror

Change is coming to America, the majority voted for it, so here we go.  Part of that change may include talks with states that sponsor Islamic terrorism.  Several of the lead terror instigators of Hamas operate out of Damascus, Syria and we all know about Syria's support of Hezbollah:

"U.S. President Barack Obama is considering meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad this summer, a United Arab Emirates-based newspaper reported yesterday.

The Al Khaleej daily based its report on Arab diplomatic sources in Cairo. They told the paper the United States was weighing holding the meeting, the first of its kind in nine years, as a measure to advance the Middle East peace process.

...The meeting would likely be held on the sidelines of a G8 summit in Rome in June. The last time U.S. and Syrian presidents met was in 2000, when Bill Clinton met with Hafez Assad, the current Syrian leader's late father, in Geneva..."

Haaretz

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EU parliamentarians meet Mashal in Syria

International Middle East Media Center - ‎Mar 14, 2009‎

A number of European parliamentarians met in Syria on Saturday with Khalid Mashal, head of the Hamaspolitical bureau, and demanded EU countries enage in dialogue with the movement...

 

PA asks EU not to contact Hamas

PRESS TV - ‎Mar 24, 2009‎

On March 14 a delegation from the British parliament urged the UK to end its boycott of Hamasafter meeting with its political leader Khaled Mashaal in the ...

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta!

View of Fargo flood from helicopter

Good video: 

2.40 minutes by USA Today

Snow anyone?

An unusual snow storm hit Oklahoma today. In Tulsa nearly 4-6 inches has fallen already! I love it.

 

What was it?

Cool video:

"Under radar" effort made to get Muslims hired by the Obama administration!

Considering Muslims are a mere 1 to 3 percent of the total population in the U.S. it is mind-boggling the amount of effort they exert to influence our government and seek accommodations for themselves.  But, despite their small numbers here,  we must not forget world-wide they are strongly supported by the larger Muslim Ummah which out-numbers Americans 3 to 1.

Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah wrote an article for the Chicago Tribune in which she reported effort were made to get Muslims hired by the Obama administration:

"In a bid to get more Muslim Americans working in the Obama administration, a book with resumes of 45 of the nation's most qualified—Ivy League grads, Fortune 500 executives and public servants, all carefully vetted—has been submitted to the White House.

The effort, driven by community leaders and others, including Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), was bumped up two weeks ahead of schedule because White House officials heard about the venture, said J. Saleh Williams, program coordinator for the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association who sifted through more than 300 names.

"It was mostly under the radar," Williams said. "We thought it would put [the president] in a precarious position. We didn't know how closely he wanted to appear to be working with the Muslim American community."

...A White House aide confirmed the Obama administration had received the resumes, noting that it is "not unusual" for the administration to consider lists of job candidates suggested by constituent groups. Obama is off to a good start, said Ellison, the first Muslim member of Congress—the second being Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.).

"He's done a lot, and I believe he will do more," Ellison said, adding that "I identify with the impatience. I want to see things happen faster."

Some hope Atty. Gen. Eric Holder will reverse Bush administration actions such as the FBI's decision to break formal ties with CAIR because it was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case involving the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation.

"We're hoping that once Eric Holder puts the department in order and places people in different positions, we can re-establish what were very positive relations [with the FBI] in our 15-year history," said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper.

Hartford Courant

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Also see:

Congressional Muslim Staffer Association (CMSA)  Facebook page

11/19/2008:  Congressional Muslim Staffers Association (CMSA) Requesting Resumes for 111th Congress

06/03/2006:  Muslim Staff Members on Mission to Educate Congress - New York Times  

USATODAY.com - Muslim congressional aides taking stand  

Kneeling on sheets they've spread over the floor and facing east toward Mecca, they are members of the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association, ...

 

Other writings by: Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah:

(H/T IPT) 

Title	Publication	Date
A rare look at secretive Brotherhood in America	Chicago Tribune	September 19, 2004
Hard-liners won battle for Bridgeview mosque	Chicago Tribune	February 8, 2004

U.N. Council ignores mass petition - OIC and Islamic countries wins!

Islamic countries, through the OIC, have won again with the adoption of a defamation of religions resolution for the 2nd or 3rd year in a row calling for criminal prosecution of those who criticize religion down to the local level. 

Where is the outrage from President Obama, our American leader who should stand strong for the principles of human rights and freedom?

This is very bad news for freedom, especially in weaker countries where it will be easier now for Islamists to move in and try to take over parts of these countries since to criticize their actions would be considered defaming Islam.  Over time, their goal will be to take over all the country.  Other countries, who want the U.N. to be more powerful (President Obama?), can be in peril, as well. 

This won't happen overnight but stayed tuned:

"The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a “defamation of religions” resolution (note: which only mentions Islam) on Thursday, ignoring a mass petition signed by over 180 non-government organizations from more than 50 different countries.

"Human rights protect people, not ideas," responded L. Bennett Graham, Becket Fund representative to the U.N., in a statement after the resolution was passed. "The passage of this resolution by the Human Rights Council is a disaster for people of all faiths."

...Critics of the defamation of religions resolution warn that it could be used to legitimize anti-blasphemy laws and intimidate human rights activists and religious dissenters. Instead of protecting adherents of religions, including those of religious minorities, the resolution protects religions themselves, they say.

“Unfortunately these resolutions seek to undermine the very principles we were celebrating just last December with the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said U.K.-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide advocacy director Alexa Papadouris. “They attack freedom of expression and freedom of religion and seek to protect powerful governments at the expense of often powerless individuals.”

The OIC rejected the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and created their own Sharia-compliant onein 1990 which is tied to the principles of the Koran, the Sunnah, and the sharia protecting Islam over individuals rights.

The OIC is a forming caliphate and is a danger to the entire world.

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Also see:

Z: Organization of Islamic Conference meets strong opposition

The OIC & the UN: Islamophobia and "defamation of religion".

The draft declaration recommends that local, national and international laws and human rights covenants be reviewed and amended as necessary so that "defamation of Islam" is made a criminal offence, losing the protection it has long enjoyed under the "pretext" of "freedom of expression, counter terrorism or national security". It recommends that legal instruments be established to punish offenders -- that is, those who "defame" Islam by associating it with violence, human rights abuses or terrorism.

World Jewish Congress Blasts UN Vote Threatening Freedom of Expression

Z: Ambassador Susan Rice: UN is indispensable  1/30/09 (May God help us...)

Z: Other posts on the OIC

Thousands pay tribute to four Oakland, CA police officers.

 

Story and photo credit:  Oakland Tribune

Foreign fighters increasing in Somalia

There is an article today from a reporter in Nairobi, Africa which seems to confirm there are a number of white foreign jihadists (Americans?) in Somalia:

" Egged on by Osama bin Laden and drawn in by Ethiopia's pullout, foreign jihadists have flocked to Somalia in recent months, joining forces with local fighters to turn the country into an Al-Qaeda haven.

Somalia now shelters an estimated 450 foreign fighters who are working with the Shebab, a home-grown hardline Islamist group that has spearheaded a bloody insurgency since 2006.

...A young man who talked to me said he was from Morocco but the group leader is called Mohamed and he is a white American," a local shop owner who said his life would be in danger if his name was published told AFP.

Residents say many white men are among the newly-arrived Islamic fighters in Baidoa, a town 250 kilometres (155 miles) south of Mogadishu where the country's transitional parliament normally sits.

"These white men are heavily armed with hand grenades and machine guns. They sometimes come to the mosque and pray with us," resident Ahmed Hasan said.

"They are more disciplined than local fighters, they look very religious, but I don't know why they are here, there is no jihad now that the Ethiopians have left," said 28 year-old Mohamud.

One of the pictures featuring prominently on the Shebab website's gallery of "martyrs" is that of "Abu Horriya" (Father of freedom), a Hispanic American also known as the "Seattle Barber" who was killed in combat in 2008.

His real name is Ruben Shumpert and he was once jailed on gun and counterfeiting charges. He was also wanted for showing jihadist videos to children in his Seattle hair salon..."

AFP

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Also see:

3/27/09:  FBI Searching for Missing Somali Men from Minnesota

12/2008:  Seattle Jihad Barber killed in Somalia fighting for al Qaeda

2006:  Seattle case raises questions about war on terror - CNN.com 

Oklahoma HB 1645 results in calls to action by national Islamic organizations!

Oklahoma HB 1645 would ban all head-coverings for driver's license photos.  It is currently assigned to the Transportation Committee in the Senate after being passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives.

As the law stands now anyone can wear a head-covering for their photo as long as your hairline is not covered up, including a baseball cap worn backwards.

I'm OK with the law because it puts us all on the same page.  Likewise, HB 1645 also puts us all on the same page; no head-coverings, period.  However, for security reasons, I can see the point to have one's hair exposed for this photo ID.

What I really have a major problem with is that three national Islamic organizations, CAIR, the Islamic Society of North American and the Islamic Circle of North America, have stuck their noses into Oklahoma legislative business and issued a call to action to Muslims across the nation to flood this committee with phone calls and e-mails.  See here, here and here.

CAIR also created a form letter with the ACLU for Oklahomans to use to try to defeat this bill and they have written U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

In addition to these national organizations, the UK's Islamic Human Right's Commission (IHRC) has joined the effort by posting the alert issued by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund.  IHRC is an NGO with Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations!  Sikhism is not Islam so I don't understand why the IHRC picked it up.  Personally, I've never seen a Sikh is Oklahoma,  but that's neither here or there.

Two of the three national Islamic organizations, the Islamic Society of North America and CAIR were named unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas terror funding trial.  The Islamic Circle of North America is just as controversial (see below).  

Oklahomans should take great offense that these Islamic organizations are interfering in Oklahoma legislative affairs.

So in my own small to counter the efforts of these very controversial organizations, I will put out out an "Action Alert" early next week calling for national help to support the bill with all the information you will need. 

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Also see:

List of Unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Hamas terror funding trial:

ATTACHMENT A  (CAIR: Sec III, #11, ISNA: Sec VII, #3)

Proof of ICNA's relationships with Jamaat-e-Islami and Hamas and more  

Oct 5, 2007 ...Screen 2: At the time of the money transfer to Hamas, the Islamic Circle of North America(ICNA), the American arm of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), ...

 

Islamic Circle of North America  discoverthenet

 

Muslim Brotherhood

CAIR and Company

Islam in Oklahoma

 

Suicide bomber kills 48 in a mosque in Pakistan

More bad news for the "Religion of Peace" today.  In northwest Pakistan, someone blew themself up in a mosque where, at least, 48 people were killed.

In an explosion yesterday, 10 people were killed in a restaurant in western Pakistan.

Did you know in Islam one of the sure ways to paradise is to die while fighting for the sake of Allah?  However, I would think doing this in a mosque among fellow Muslims would be considered not paradise worthy.  

Since 9/11,  12,948 Islamic terror attacks have taken place around the world.  The number and scope of these attacks are unprecedented in history.

From the article:

"...Pakistanis are pulling bodies out of what is left of the mosque in the town of Jamrud, near the Afghan border.

Pakistani officials say the attack came while the mosque was filled with people for Friday prayers.

Officials say dozens of people have been injured.

The bombing is the latest violence to strike Pakistan's northwestern Khyber region, where al Qaida and Taliban militants are active..."

VOA News

Also see:

Judging People to Be Dwellers of Paradise or Hell  Islamonline

Islamic school raided in Bangladesh: explosives and weapons found

One more story that doesn't speak well for the "Religion of Peace."

"Bangladesh soldiers raided an Islamic religious school on Tuesday as part of countrywide hunt for islamist militants and seized a cache of arms and explosives stored there by suspected Islamist militants, police said.

The elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) force raided the Green Crescent Madrasa at a village near Bhola district town, 350 km (219 miles) south of the capital Dhaka, following an intelligence tip, a police officer told Reuters by telephone from the scene.

"The raid is still continuing," said police inspector Mohammad Sohrab Ali. Two suspected Islamist militants from the madrasa were detained, he added.

The government has been conducting a sweep for members of outlawed Islamist groups, which it suspects may have been involved in the mutiny at the Dhaka headquarters of a paramilitary unit last month.

The February 25-26 mutiny killed nearly 80 people, mostly army officers commanding the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troops, and raised fears of more violence to come..."

Reuters

Organization of Islamic Conference meets strong opposition

Islamic countries, through the Organization of Islamic Conference, are trying to impose Sharia Law on non-Muslim countries through the U.N. as it pertains to criticizing Islam.

Today a group of 187 NGOs from 50 countries launched their campaign against this assault on freedom.

No religion should EVER be above criticism:

"UN Watch, Freedom House, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and the International Humanist and Ethical Union and 183 other non-governmental organizations from more than 50 countries around the world today called on U.N. member states to reject a "pervasive and mounting campaign" by Islamic states to ban criticism of religion under international law. (See joint NGO statement below.)

"It’s an attempt to gut the concept of human rights of its original meeting, which is to protect individuals from harm or state control, not to shield a set of beliefs from critical inquiry," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, an independent human rights monitoring organization.

"Our freedoms of speech and religion are facing a combined assault by multiple regressive resolutions this week at the U.N. Human Rights Council, and proposed provisions for next month’s Durban 2 conference that endorse the Islamic proposal to change a core UN treaty on racism."

Within the letter, which is linked below these bullet items should be reviewed:

Alarmed by the draft resolution on freedom of expression circulated by Egypt, whose amendments seek to restrict, not promote, protections for free speech;

Alarmed by the recently-announced initiative of the U.N. “Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards” to amend the International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) by adding a protocol on “defamation of religions”;

Alarmed by provisions in the latest draft outcome document of the Durban Review Conference that, through coded language and veiled references, endorse and encourage these anti-democratic initiatives;

1. Call upon all governments to oppose the “defamation of religions” resolution currently tabled at the UN Human Rights Council, and the objectionable provisions of the freedom of expression resolution;

2. Call upon all governments to resist the efforts of the “Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards” to alter the ICERD;

3. Call upon all governments not to accept or legitimize a Durban Review Conference outcome that directly or indirectly supports the “defamation of religions” campaign at the expense of basic freedoms and individual human rights.

You can read who signed the letter here

Update 3/26/09 4:10 PM:  UN body adopts resolution on religious defamation:

A United Nations forum on Thursday passed a resolution condemning "defamation of religion" as a human rights violation, despite wide concerns that it could be used to justify curbs on free speech in Muslim countries.

The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted the non-binding text, proposed by Pakistan on behalf of Islamic states, with a vote of 23 states in favour and 11 against, with 13 abstentions.

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Also see:

Other posts on the OIC

Former CAIR director forms organization to lobby Florida legislators!

CAIR was started by two former officials of Mousa Abu Marzook’s Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) in America. in 1994, Omar Ahmad and Nihad Awad, left this organization and started CAIR. They are still in top leadership positions today. 

Marzook at the time was the global head of Hamas, and the purpose of the committee was to raise funds for Hamas from within America. He lived in the U.S. around 14 year in the 80s and early 90s.  This man earned a doctorate degree here and could have had a great life in America but he had an Islamist agenda to help destroy Israel and bring Islamic rule over Israel through Hamas.

He was arrested upon arriving back in America in 1995 but Israel did not seek to bring him to justice for a number of terrorist attacks he was suspected of coordinating, for reason I don't fully understand.

Today Marzook (i.e., Musa Abu-Marzuq; Sa'id Abu-Marzuq and other such names) is the current Deputy Political Bureau Chief of HAMAS, operating in exile out of Damascus, Syria.

Sami Al-Arian also helped set-up IAP with Marzook.  He is still in America and is awaiting trial but seeks to get the latest charges dismissed with a lot of help from the left.  He will eventually be deported where he might join Marzook and help run Hamas.

CAIR's former director in Florida, Ahmed Bedier, often spoke about Arian, for example,  here, here, here, and here.  On his blog, he denied he was his spokesman.

Bedier left CAIR Florida last year and formed a new organization called United Voices for America.

In the short clip below you can hear him say the government should fear us.

However, you should watch it in full context (see video below) which was posted yesterday to counter the American's Against Hate video.  But in the scope of CAIR's troubling history, does it really change anything? 

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Also see:

Video commercial for Florida Capitol Day (notice how impactful and well-done it is)

Remarks of Jerry Gordon at Anti-Terror Coalition press conference, Tallahassee, Florida 3-10-9

Florida’s New CAIR

FrontPage magazine.com - ‎4 hours ago‎

In truth, one cannot separate CAIRfrom Hamas or terrorism, just like one cannot separate Ahmed Bedier from CAIR or Sami Al-Arian. Neither CAIR nor Bedier ...

 

Hamas chief hails Obama approach BBC News

 

CAIR’s War on Truth

Family Security Matters - ‎Mar 16, 2009‎

In August 2008, Awad spoke at a forum on the case of Sami Al-Arian, who pled guilty in 2006 to conspiring to provide goods or services to the Palestinian ...

Fla. Muslims at Capitol, lawmaker blasts leader

Sun newspapers - ‎Mar 10, 2009‎

Hasner and other speakers at the afternoon news conference pointed to what they called Bedier's role as an "unofficial spokesman" for Sami Al-Arian, ...

Mousa Marzook  IPT

Sami Al-Arian IPT

March IAP 2000 archive:

The Legitimacy of Palestinian Resistance: An Islamist Perspective

President Obama's live online Town Hall meeting to start at 11:30 A.M. today

President Obama has opened up the White House website for the submissions of questions from ordinary citizens.  Those questions have been voted on and the President will answer the most popular at 11:30 AM ET today.

One caveat, you have to sign up with your name and other information in order to submit you question or even vote.

You can watch the town hall meeting at this link at White House website.

The idea seems brilliant and should be done on a weekly basis BUT it could be just a ploy for President Obama to sell his visions.

England's Daniel Hannon chews out PM Gordon Brown

Video:

Daniel Hannan, MEP for South East England, gives a speech during Gordon Brown´s visit to the European Parliament on 24th March, 2009.  This video has been viewed over 600,000 times.  Brown gets quite a verbal whipping.

Check out Hannan's blog, too, at the London Telegraph.

"Man-caused disasters" the new term for Islamic terrorism!

Unbelievable. Words cannot adequately describe the absurdity of what is going on with the Obama administration's decision not to identify Islamic extremism in any way except to point out their new Sharia-compliant language will pump-up the Islamists and jihadist venomous work with renewed passion.  Under Islamic law, a Muslim cannot call any attention or discuss what these people do or they will be considered blasphemous for defaming Islam. 

Our government has given them exactly what they want and probably didn't even realize it.  The reasons why I couldn't sleep for 2-3 weeks after Obama was elected are becoming very apparent.  

Britain did something similar in 2007 although not nearly as stupid.  Today, Britain's threat of another Islamic attack is growing and is severe.  It's so bad they have trained 60,000 civilians to help spot suspicious terrorist activity.

From the Shawn Hannity showon March 19th:

"The language police in the Obama administration have struck again! First they got rid of the term "War on Terror," then they threw "enemy combatants" overboard. Now it's the word "terrorism" itself!

The force behind this change is Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, who told the German newspaper Der Spiegel that she's not going to use the word "terrorism" because it perpetuates the politics of fear. Instead, she'll call terrorist murders "man-caused disasters."

According to the secretary, "I did not use the word 'terrorism,' I referred to 'man-caused' disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur."

Madam Secretary, if you can't even call it by its name, how exactly do you plan to protect us against it? Shying away from the word "terrorism" in an effort to be politically correct is cowardly, not courageous..." 

Just a nuance, Secretary?  This amounts to veiling of the truth and is stunning.

And if that's not bad enough, the preferred phrase for the Global War on Terror will now be "Overseas Contingency Operations" as revealed in a leaked memo from the Pentagon!

Think about the next time the president awards the Medal of Honor to someone who fearlessly gave their life in Iraq or Afghanistan to save other troops. The Medal of Honor award letter might say something like this: 

"Sgt. Joe Smith, bravely sacrificed his life to save his fellow comrades when a man-caused disaster affected their truck during an overseas contingency operation."  He selflessly threw himself over his fellow troops to save 5 of them at the time of the man-caused disaster."

That will be a meaningful letter for the family, won't it?  

Perhaps, no medals will be given out during mundane contingency operations.

On-line Al-Qaeda recruiting manual found by West Point Researchers

Troubling:

"For months now, counterterrorism officials have seen signs that al-Qaida has been looking for new and innovative ways to recruit terrorists, including a new manual that has surfaced on the Internet.

Researchers at West Point recently stumbled on the 51-page manual while they were visiting a jihadi chat room, called Ecles. It's a Web site that allows members to have interactive discussions, post videos and download manuals. Ecles is the second most popular jihadi chat room on the Web, and al-Qaida often posts things there. Because of that, it is a place counterterrorism analysts track regularly.

So when the West Point analysts discovered a step-by-step primer called "The Art of Recruiting Mujahedeen," it got their attention. On one level, the manual might be an early indication that al-Qaida is trying to identify new sleeper terrorists. On the other hand, the book is so basic it seems to suggest al-Qaida is getting desperate for new members.

Here's how the manual, as translated by the CIA, suggests a recruiter build a rapport with a recruit:

"This stage lasts approximately three weeks," it says. "You must do something important at this stage. You must identify his interests and relations with people and how he spends the whole 24 hours, meaning you study him secretly to be reassured about your choice."

This section touches on such things as being nice to the recruit. It suggests the recruiter pretend to be his friend, perhaps even buy him small gifts. It ends with a questionnaire to assess progress. "Is the recruit anxious to see you?" it asks. You get one point for "no" and three points for "yes." Does he accept your advice and respect your opinion? It reads a little like one of those relationship quizzes in women's magazines. "If you have received less than 10 points, you are on the wrong path, repeat the stages from the beginning. From 10 to 18, you are on your way..."

More at NPR

Today is National Medal of Honor Day!

Unfortunately too many of us do not know this day exists. 

Consider adding this date to your cell phone calendar reminder for next year (it always on the 25th of March).  Then tell everyone you know!

From  Home of Heros there are some suggestions for this day:

"National Medal of Honor day is celebrated in some communities, however for the most part the occasion comes and goes with little notice.  As a patriotic American there are a few things YOU can do to commemorate this day:

FLY YOUR FLAG with pride and patriotism on this day.

REMEMBER OUR HEROES.  As a gesture of your appreciation, why not take just a few moments in the week prior to National Medal of Honor Day to mail a "Thank You" card to one of our living Medal of Honor recipients.  You can find a list of the living as well as information on writing to them among the pages of this site.

INFORM YOUR LOCAL MEDIA.  Most newspapers aren't even aware that this special day exists.  Why not tip your local media to the occasion.  Before you do, check out our database for Medal of Honor recipients from your city and state as well as any who might be buried in your city.   This information can give your media a "local angle" that can increase the probability that they will consider doing a story to remind Americans of our heroes.

Consider doing something in your local schools, or even on a civic level, if there is a Medal of Honor recipient living near your location.  Visit our site on SCHOOL IDEAS for more information on school assemblies.

If there is a Medal of Honor recipient buried in your home town, get a school class, scout troop, or other youth organization to "adopt a grave site".  You can read in our SCHOOL IDEAS pages how one school in Pueblo has used just such a program as a part of their Social Studies program."

My heart felt thanks goes out to the all military heroes in Oklahoma and our nation!  Many sacrificed their lives so we may live in freedom.

God Bless you all.

Oklahoma Medal of Honor Recipients 

 

H/T Little Green Footballs

Oklahoma Recovery & Reinvestment Web site

The new Oklahoma Recovery and Reinvestment Web site is up and running.

The plans are that you will be able to see where the $2.6 billion dollars Oklahoma got from borrowed foreign money, (i.e., Communist China) will be spent. 

A mere $31 million is targeted for us worker-bees while nearly half of the money is allotted to health and human services.  Note in this section, as well as others, they did NOT break down the amount each category in the state got but rather list the total national appropriation.  When you click on the more information links, most of them don't work.

Well, once they get the kinks worked out, and decide exactly where the money is to be spent, this ought to give the Oklahoma economy a good kick in the butt, don't you think?

In the meantime, I was told about a young mother that got laid-off, who now has FREE healthcare for themselves and their children (not cobra - too expensive even with Obama paying 65%), plus a $100 increase a month in their unemployment benefits above what it use to be (paid monthly up to a year now thanks to Obama) and free lunches for their kids.  There are probably other free things they are getting, too, like food stamps and housing assistance, as well.

I ask you what real incentive does she have to go to work?

Health insurers offer incentives to Congress

The health insurance industry, quaking in their boots on fears some of them could be driven out of business by the federal goverment,  is now all of a sudden willing to ease restrictions on pre-existing conditions:

"The health insurance industry said Tuesday that it was willing to end the practice of charging higher premiums to sick people if Congress adopted a comprehensive plan that provided coverage to all Americans.

The industry’s flexible position on the issue came as a surprise to lawmakers, and could make it easier to reach an agreement in Congress because it narrows the issues on which insurers are ready to fight the Democrats who control Congress and the White House.

Insurers said they were still staunchly opposed to creation of a new government-run health insurance plan, which, under many Democratic proposals, would compete directly with private insurers.

...In their letter to Congress, Ms. Ignagni and Mr. Serota said that if Congress enacted an enforceable requirement for everyone to carry health insurance, “we could guarantee issue of coverage with no pre-existing condition exclusions and phase out the practice of varying premiums based on health status in the individual market.”

However, the two executives said that insurers wanted to retain the right to charge different premiums based on the age, place of residence and family size of subscribers."

New York Times

Razi Hashmi's Action Alert for Oklahoma Muslims

Oklahomans may be interest in what I found on the blog of CAIR-OK Director and Hamas shill, Razi Hashmi:

"The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) and the American Civil Liberties Union in Oklahoma (ACLU of OK) today called on Oklahomans who are concerned with constitutionally-protected religious freedoms to contact their state senators about proposed legislation that would ban religious headwear in driver’s license and other identification card photos.

...IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always be POLITE and RESPECTFUL)

1. CONTACT YOUR STATE SENATORS and urge him or her to ensure that religious freedoms continue to be protected by the U.S. Constitution. This will ensure that Americans do not view Oklahomans as divisive and opposed to interfaith dialogue and the many contributions by its diverse citizens. Contact Your Elected Officials:

Call the Oklahoma State Capitol switchboard at 405-521-3356 and ask for your representatives’ office.

2. CONTACT the Transportation Committee Chairman, to ensure that the Oklahomans’ First Amendment Rights of religious freedoms are protected. (Find Suggested Talking Points Below).
Copy to: info@ok.cair.com and acluok@acluok.org

Senator Cliff Branan (R-40) Phone: 405-521-5543, E-Mail: branan@oksenate.gov

Sample Talking Points:

- All Oklahomans should be concerned when there is a chance for violations of any religious liberty.
- If the purpose for such a bill is to clearly identify an individual, then one should be photographed wearing what one would wear every day regardless if it is headwear or glasses.
- The Department of Public Safety already has a policy for religious exemptions on headgear, and this bill is unnecessary.
- Oklahomans should not tolerate such blatant attacks on minority faiths.
- Ensure all Oklahomans’ First Amendment Rights are protected. Urge your State Senator to vote No on HB 1645. Request a religious and medical exemption to the bill.

3. CONTACT Oklahoma State Senators from the Transportation Committee to inform them about the HB 1645.
Copy to: info@ok.cair.com and acluok@acluok.org

Senator Bryce Marlatt (R-27), marlatt@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5626
Senator Randy Bass (D-32), bass@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5567
Senator Brian Bingman (R-12), bingman@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5528
Senator Randy Brogdon (R-34), brogdon@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5566
Senator Bill Brown (R-36), brownb@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5602
Senator Sean Burrage (D-2), burrage@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5555
Senator Harry Coates (R-28), coates@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5547
Senator Judy Eason-McIntyre (D-11), easonmcintyre@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5598
Senator Earl Garrison (D-9), garrisone@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5533
Senator Connie Johnson (D-48), johnsonc@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5531
Senator Ron Justice (R-23), justice@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5537
Senator Debbe Leftwich (D-44), holland@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5557
Senator David Myers (R-20), ingraham@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5628
Senator Mike Schulz (R-38), schulz@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5612
Senator Joe Sweeden (D-10), sweeden@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5581
Senator Charlie Wyrick (D-1), wyrick@oksenate.gov, (405) 521-5561

4. WRITE letters to the editor, OP-EDs or blogs to educate Oklahomans and other Americans about this infringement on our civil liberties.

5. SHARE this important alert with your colleagues, friends and family. Post to personal blogs.

6. Oklahoma residents only - sign this letter or write your own and send it to your Oklahoma state senator. CAIR-OK and ACLU-OK have prepared a letter to address Oklahoma State Senators.

http://www.cair.com/Portals/0/pdf/Anti-Hijab-Bill-Petition.pdf

CONTACT: CAIR-OK Executive Director Razi Hashmi, 405-248-5853, E-Mail: rhashmi@cair.com; CAIR-OK Chairperson Lobna Hewedi, E-Mail: lhewedi@cair.com; ACLU-OK Legislative Counsel Tamya Cox, ACLU Deputy Director C.S. Thornton; 405-524-8511; E-Mail: acluok@acluok.org

- PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE -"

Click here to listen to a radio interview with CAIR-OK and ACLU of OK representatives on the bill. Do you see the amount of effort CAIR is putting forth here?  What are you going to do about it on your end?

There is a lot of good information and contacts from Hashmi that all Oklahomans can use to use to express their views on this issue.  Go for it, my friends.

Apathy, today, my fellow Americans can get you screwed.

Update 3/26/09:  This action alert is also on CAIR's website

-----

Also see:

Oklahoma Muslims Asked to Challenge Anti-Hijab Legislation (note on the bottom right of this website it refers to what appears to be the parent website:  hamasna.org)  HAMASNA?  What is this?

 

New York to eliminate 8,900 state jobs!

Liberal states have had liberal spending habits, right?  So it's not too surprising in New York that nearly 9,000 state jobs will be eliminated. 

What led to this action by the governor was that unions refused to give any wage concessions, which seems like a rather foolish move on their part:

"Gov. David Paterson will reduce the state work force by 8,900 positions -- through a combination of layoffs and attrition -- after public employee unions declined to go along with concessions to help balance the state's budget.

The decision to lay off government workers, the first time since the budget crisis of the early 1990s, came after a breakdown in discussions with unions over Paterson's plan to freeze state salaries and have workers take a one-week furlough, among other cost-saving steps.

"This is not a decision that has been reached lightly. However, given the fact that savings through labor concessions were not achieved, Governor Paterson was forced to make this difficult decision for the good of the entire state," Dennis Whalen, the governor's director of state operations, said in a memo this afternoon to state agency commissioners.

The job cuts, to begin this summer, will save $481 million over two years, according to Jeffrey Gordon, a spokesman for the governor's budget division.

Word of the work force reductions came just a few hours after Paterson said the state's deficit had swelled by another $2.2 billion to $16.2 billion -- the largest in state history. The state's next fiscal year starts next Tuesday..."

Buffalo News

EU presidency says U.S. and UK economic plans on the "road to hell"

Concerns about spending trillions of borrowed foreign money by the U.S. government to spend its way out of a serious economic recession isn't just affecting Americans who find it very worrisome.  Now criticism has spilled into Europe:

"Barack Obama and Gordon Brown's plans to increase spending on economic recovery have been described as "a road to hell" by the European Union presidency.

Internal European divisions are growing over the Prime Minister and US President's strategies to fight the economic crisis just one week before a critical G20 summit in London.

Mirek Topolanek, the Czech prime minister who is running a caretaker EU presidency after the collapse of his government on Tuesday, highlighted European splits over fiscal stimulus plans promoted by Mr Obama, with Mr Brown's support.

Mr Topolanek warned the European Parliament that the Obama administration's stimulus package and financial bail-out "will undermine the stability of the global financial market".

...Writing in newspaper articles published across Europe on Wednesday, Mr Obama implicitly criticised countries, such as Germany, France and the Czech Republic, that are opposed to further stimulus measures..."

Telegraph

Obama lawyer argues for ban on Tariq Ramadan!

Great news coming from the Obama administration:

"A lawyer arguing on behalf of the Obama administration on Tuesday echoed Bush administration policies to back a decision to deny one of Europe's leading Muslim intellectuals entry to the United States.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jones told a U.S. federal appeals court panel that they should uphold a decision to bar Swiss Muslim Tariq Ramadan, an Oxford University professor and a vocal critic of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, from entering the United States.

Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, had hoped Tuesday's arguments would see a reversal of Bush administration policies that they argue exclude foreign scholars from visiting the United States due to their political beliefs.

"Consular decisions are not subject to litigation," Jones told the three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, broadly arguing the courts have no power to examine visa denials. The ACLU argued against a judge's ruling in late 2007 that upheld Ramadan's ban.

Ramadan is the grandson of Hasan al-Banna, an Islamist thinker and activist who in 1928 founded the Muslim Brotherhood, which opposed secular and Western ideas.

...The ACLU argued the government was using the provision more broadly to deny entry to people whose political views they did not approve of..."

Reuters

Montana plane that crashed was issued a safety directive by the FAA

 

 Dr. Erin Jacobson and his wife Amy are shown in a November 2008 photo with their children. Son Jude, 1, is on Jacobson’s lap. At bottom left is Taylor, 4, and Eva, 3, is at right. All were killed in Sunday’s plane crash in Montana

  An airplane that crashed and cost the lives of 3 young families was issued a FAA safety directive 12 days before the crash reports ABC News.  Whether or not this had anything to do with the crash, which it probably didn't, is unknown at this point:

An undated photo shows Dr. Michael Pullen, right, Dr. Vanessa Pullen, left, and their children Sydney, 9, front left, and Christopher, 7.  They were on the plane.  Vanessa and Amy are sisters.

"Just 12 days before the fatal crash of a Pilatus PC-12 killed 14 people in Montana, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an airworthiness directive on the plane, requiring that a safety inspection be performed to check for a problem that could reduce the effectiveness of the plane's controls.

The directive is not effective until March 30th, at which date the owner would be required to do the inspection within 150 flight hours.

 Prior to the FAA directive, the plane's manufacturer sent out a service bulletin in January and the European Aviation Safety Agency issued its own directive in late February. ...Investigators are closely examining issues of weight because the plane was carrying more passengers than licensed for. While seven of the passengers were children, balance of weight or a sudden shift in weight, in addition to if the plane was overweight, could all be potential contributing factors to the crash..."

An undated photo of Dr. Brent Ching, left, his wife Kristen, right, and their children Hailey, 5, and Caleb, 3.

source of photos:  The Press Enterprise

-----

Also see:

Montana plane crash shatters 3 families

U.S. ready to take on the Mexican drug cartels!

This is good news:

"Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg and Deputy Attorney General David Ogden laid out details of what the White House calls a "comprehensive response to the situation along the border with Mexico."

"Department of Justice stands ready to take the fight to the Mexican drug cartels," Ogden said in a White House briefing with reporters.

Noting President Obama's concern about the "increased level of violence," particularly in cities along the U.S.-Mexico border, the White House also said that the United States will invest $700 million for collaborative efforts with Mexican law enforcement and the judicial system, and that the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and Treasury Department "are all ramping up personnel and efforts directed at the Southwest border."

ABC News

Woman arrested for driving in Mecca

Wonderful news from the birthplace of Islam about how this religion treats its women:

"Police in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca Wednesday arrested a woman for violating the country's ban on women driving, according to the Saudi English-language daily Arab News.

The woman, whose nationality and name were not released but who was described as being in her 20s, attempted to flee when she realized police had spotted her driving, Saudi authorities said.

"The woman tried to escape when she saw a police car and in the process hit another car, which was slightly damaged," Maj. Abdul Mushin Al-Mayman, a police spokesman, told Arab News. According to the spokesman, the woman was turned over to the Saudi Prosecution and Investigation Commission for investigation..."

CNN

-----

Also see:

Note how periodically the Saudi's put out press saying they are going to let women drive:

Hardline Saudi clerics urge TV ban on women, music

The Associated Press - ‎Mar 22, 2009‎

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A group of Saudi clerics urged the kingdom's new information minister on Sunday to ban women from appearing on TV or in ...

 

Saudi Women Must Still Buy Their Bras And Undies From Men

Huffington Post - ‎Mar 16, 2009‎

Although Saudi Arabia has the strictest gender segregation in the world, only men are hired as sales staff in most retail stores. ...

Saudis order 40 lashes for elderly woman for mingling

CNN International - ‎Mar 9, 2009‎

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism and punishes unrelated men and women who are caught mingling. ...

Saudi Arabia to Allow Women to Drive - With Conditions

AINA - Mar 20, 2008
On March 17, 2008, Alarabiya.net reported that the Saudi Shura Council has recommended allowing women to drive. The recommendation follows recent efforts by ...

 

Abdullah Wins Applause for Assurance on Women Driving

Arab News - Oct 15, 2005
He noted that women drive on the Kingdom’s deserts and in rural areas. ... Even though Saudi Arabia benefits from high oil revenues, the high prices had ...

 

Car licence in sight for Saudi women

guardian.co.uk - Feb 13, 1999
Saudi Arabia may soon allow women to drive, which could be the most significant advance for women since girls were allowed to go to school in the 1960s. ...

 

Behind the veil. (life and customs of Muslim women) (Cover Story)

Free with registration - Scholastic Update - AccessMyLibrary.com - Oct 22, 1993
In Saudi Arabia, for example, women are not allowed to vote, drive cars, or travel without permission. The radical Islamic movement itself is controversial ...

American and British goverment severe ties with large Islamic organizations

Last fall five Muslim defendants were found guilty of sending millions of dollars to the terror group Hamas through the largest Muslim charity in America, the Holy Land Foundation.  A number of Islamic organizations and individuals were named as unindicted co-conspirators in the case, including CAIR, the North American Islamic Trust and the Islamic Society of North American.  Each are large national organizations not just small one or two person groups.

Individuals named included Jamal Badawi, the person chosen by the Islamic Society of Tulsa to represent them as their Quranic expert, Yusef Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and a pediatrician in Ponca City, Dr. Ahmad Agha, to name a few.  In total nearly 300 Islamic organizations and individuals were identified.  No one has been removed from the list.

The names of unindicted co-conspirators are not usually made public unless the government believes the public has an overwhelming need to know.  In this case, the government made the correct decision to inform us of the extensive Islamist network in our country.   

Following the guilty verdicts the FBI made a decision not to outreach to CAIR anymore, since its beginnings were tied directly to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. How strong their alliance to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas is today the 64 million question.  This issue has not been resolved fully to satisfy the FBI, at this point. 

Conclusion?  There appears to be a large and extensive Islamic network in place in the U.S.

Now, let's go across the ocean to Britain, a major ally, where today the government severed ties with the largest Muslim group there - the Muslim Council of Britain:

"The government has suspended ties with Britain's largest Muslim group and demanded that one of its leaders should be removed from office for allegedly supporting violence against Israel.

...The launch tomorrow of Contest 2, the government's revised counter-terrorism strategy, comes after ministers decided to stop engaging with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB).

The council's deputy secretary-general, Daud Abdullah, signed a declaration last month that the government and critics of the MCB have interpreted as calling for violence against Israel and condoning attacks on British troops.

The declaration followed a meeting in Istanbul of clerics and other Muslim leaders from around the world to discuss strategy after Israel's attacks on Gaza..."

Isn't it interesting, yet quite alarming, these large national Islamic organizations the American and British governments once felt vital to build better Muslim relations have resulted in severed ties?

It's a major wake up call.

Britain trains tens of thousands of civilians to spot terrorists

Here's another warning about the seriousness of the Islamic terror threat Britain faces and the extraordinary steps they are taking to fight it which was announcement by Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday:

"Gordon Brown today warned that al-Qaida remains the biggest security threat to the UK, as he revealed that tens of thousands of civilians have been trained to deal with terrorist attacks as part of a new strategy to combat extremists.

Writing in the Observer, the prime minister previewed what he said was a "world-leading" counter-terrorist framework to be published on Tuesday. The immediate threat of terrorist attack justified a "relentless pursuit of terrorists and disruption of their plots".

..."Tens of thousands of men and women throughout Britain – from security guards to store managers – have now been trained and equipped to deal with an incident and know what to watch for as people go about their daily business in crowded places such as stations, airports, shopping centres and sports grounds."

Guardian

Former CAIR chairman, Parvez Ahmed, visited by the FBI!

Parvez Ahmed use to be the chairman for CAIR, an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas infrastructure in America.  He resigned last year due to differences in direction between his vision and those that have been at CAIR since its inception.

In an article in the Fayetteville Observer last Thursday, Ahmed revealed the FBI visited him seeking more information why he resigned:

"In January 2009, the Federal Bureau of Investigation told Fox News that it is severing ties with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a leading American Muslim organization. A month later, I was surprised to see an FBI agent stop by my office in Jacksonville, seeking reasons for my resignation as CAIR chairman.

My reasons for departure were no secret. In a June 2008 interview with my local newspaper, I said that, to better serve the interests of its constituents, CAIR must empower a new generation of leaders who will foster greater accountability, transparency and professionalism. I had hoped that my departure would help move young talent into positions of leadership.

The election of N.C. Sen. Larry Shaw to succeed me took eight long months, yet there are no visible signs of revitalization to make the organization a more effective voice in the American sociopolitical discourse.

Despite my substantive disagreements with the organization, I find the FBI’s decision to cut off relations with CAIR unfortunate and unnecessary. I can only hope that this move does not represent a going back to COINTELPRO, an FBI covert operation of the 1960s that was aimed at subverting organizations struggling for racial equality.

...The FBI’s rather abrupt move to cut off its relationship with CAIR is just as misguided as a statement by a coalition of Muslim groups calling on American Muslims to “consider suspending all outreach activities with FBI offices.” Limiting “formal contacts” or “suspending outreach” sends the wrong message at a time when the way forward, locally, nationally and globally, is sustained dialogue and diplomacy, even among those at political loggerheads."

Ahmed doesn't think the FBI should have cut off relations with CAIR but what did he really mean when he said CAIR needed greater accountability, transparency and professionlism?

Somalian man returns to Minnesota - had change of heart for jihad

The FBI is investigating who recruited young Somalian men from Minnesota and elsewhere to be jihadists in Somalia. 

Now, it has been learned that at least one young man has returned to America:

"...Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, said Saturday that the 22-year-old man was recruited for jihad before a change of heart led him to return in recent months. Jamal wouldn't confirm the man's identity, saying that he and his family fear for their safety and are in hiding. Others identified him only as Kamal.

The disappearances of perhaps a dozen young men from the Twin Cities have traumatized and divided the local Somali community.

Jamal also wouldn't say why the man went to Somalia or how he financed the trip, but said he apparently returned because "his expectation was not what he wanted when he went over there. ... I think he simply didn't like what he saw over there."

Jamal said the man has met with FBI investigators but is not in jail.

FBI special agent E.K. Wilson declined Saturday to comment about the development or the status of the travelers "because of the ongoing investigation," he said..."

Minnesota Star Tribune

Terror-supporter George Galloway banned in Canada but not the U.S.!

Former Palestinian Hamas premier Ismail Haniya (R) poses for a picture with George Galloway

Last week British MP George Galloway made headlines when he was banned from entering Canada because of his support for the Islamic terror organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah. 

On his website today it states he is here in the U.S. this week talking at various colleges to our children! 

George Galloway's Siege-Buster Tour of America 2009

These are the tour dates as we have them – no exact details of times and venues yet, will let you know as soon as we have them confirmed.

Join George on the Siege-Buster Tour of America

Monday 23 March Columbia/NYU.
Tuesday 24 March Rutgers University
Wednesday 25 March Pennsylvania University
Thursday 26 March Michigan University
Friday 27 March Hope Benefit, Dearborn Michigan
Saturday 28 March Atlantic University
Monday 30 March Toronto plus more Canadian cities over the next four days
Sunday 5 April San Jose
Monday 6 April Orange County
Tuesday 7 April Anaheim

(links to schedule added by Z)

(Flyer below is from the president of Hope Benefit Facebook page.  Note they will host Galloway at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn.

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Also see:

Video:  George Galloway Supports Hamas Terrorism

(posted on an anti-George Galloway channel on YouTube 1/2009)

Tariq Ramadan: You cannot call Hezbollah a terrorist group!

Tariq Ramadan, the grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, has been trying to gain entry into the United States to live since 2004.

At the American University of Beirut last Thursday, Ramadan charged that America bans all democratically political groups who disagree with it.  He also shilled for Hezbollah!

"...The United States should not claim to be pushing for democracy when it bans all democratically elected groups who are critical of it, he noted.

Ramadan, who was speaking before a large audience at AUB said that the United States deals with Muslim-majority nations with the attitude of, "You are bad if you are against me. You are good if you are with me." He added that "this is a colonial mindset."

...On the other hand, all democratic Muslim political groups are critical of the United States, and that's what earns them the label of radical, Ramadan added.

...But Ramadan said that it is not possible to cancel groups who have a popular support base and are part of the country's political and social fabric. "Take Hizbullah, for instance, whether you agree with them or not, they are here, and have people who support them. You cannot call them terrorists. You have to talk with them. And talking doesn't mean you agree with their views, it only means that you recognize the complex dynamics of society. And this is real democracy," he said..."

This man should never be allowed into America!

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Also see:

Rotterdam: Municipality to investigate Ramadan tapes EuropeNews

Tariq Ramadan :: Apologists or Extremists :: The Investigative ... 

ACLU to Present Oral Arguments in Case of Prominent Muslim Scholar ...

 

Canadian Muslim held by the Taliban, begs for her life.

A Canadian Muslim by the name of Khadija Abdul Qahar, who was previously known as Beverly Giesbrecht, is a journalist against the U.S. war on terror.  She operates what appears to be, in part, a pro-jihadist website called Jihad Unspun. 

She has a section for the martyrs of Iraq and a section for Bin Laden's network where she posted an interview with the spokesman for the leader of the Taliban.  Although, there is a disclaimer, she, in fact,  gave a voice to this terrorist group.

Yet, none of this stopped the Taliban from kidnapping her last November in Pakistan and time is supposedly running out for her.  

This post 9/11 Islamic convert begged for help in a recent video in hopes the Taliban will not behead her at the end of the month.

Update 11/17/09:  Vancouver woman still being held captive in Pakistan

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Also see:

Khadija Abdul-qahhar Reporting Live From Pakistan - Muslim Online ...

8 posts - 2 authors - Last post: Oct 30, 2008

KHADIJA ABDUL QAHAAR: Live From Mohmand, Pakistan Aug 26, 2008. By Khadija Abdul Qahaar | J.U.S Islamic Media Center ...

Controversial Islamic Saudi Academy seeks to expand!

The Islamic Saudi Academy, located in Fairfax, Virginia, which is on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., has been in the news in recent years due to the hate material found in its Islamic text books and the fact that a 2005 graduate, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, was convicted for joining Al-Qaeda.  It operates a girl's school and a boy's school.

Now this Saudi-funded school wants to expand.  This is a school that should have never been allowed to be built and funded by Saudi Arabia in the first place. 

"The Islamic Saudi Academy has asked the county for permission to build a state-of-the-art building on one of its two campuses, a 34-acre property near Fairfax City. The increased capacity could draw as many as 200 additional students to the 750-student campus each day, which has sparked concern among neighbors.

But at a public hearing last week, mundane neighborhood concerns were overshadowed by a longstanding dispute over the school's teachings and the perception that it promotes intolerance of other cultures.

...But questions about the school's teachings have lingered. Last week, Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asking for further review after the Associated Press reported that the new textbooks still contain questionable material.

In addition, a federal jury in 2005 convicted one of the academy's graduates, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, of joining an al-Qaida conspiracy to kill George W. Bush. It was one fact critics seized on Wednesday in an attempt to persuade the county to reject the school's expansion plans.

"The Islamic Saudi Academy's purpose is to train young and innocent Muslim children to hate and wage war into the future against our children," James Lafferty, a spokesman for the Traditional Values Coalition, a church lobbying group, said during the hearing..."

Washington Post

60 Minutes interviewer Kroft to Obama: Are you punch drunk?

Video:

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Other recent headlines made by President Obama: 

Obama's Special Olympics comment bothersome York Daily Record

Obama interview: Wall Street was 'out of balance'

Obama Says a Way Out of Afghanistan Is Needed  (didn't he campaign this place is where the real war was?)

Obama ponders Afghan 'exit plan' BBC News

Biden takes Geithner joke to the bank, as Obama's busy defending him

Hamas chief hails Obama approach

Sen. Gregg says Obama budget will bankrupt US

Venezuela's Chavez calls Obama "ignoramus" Reuters

 

Obama Surrenders America to Iran according to Brigitte Gabriele

Brigitte Gabriele's bio

Iran's supreme leader to Obama: Sending holiday greeting and accusing us of supporting terror is not cool

President Obama's odd holiday greeting to Iran's leaders may have backfired. The supreme leader of Iran, speaking from a city that literally means the place of martyrdom, believes the U.S. is now in a position of weakness from his response. 

As the Ayatollah spoke before a crowd they chanted "Death to America".

So what's next Mr. President, an apology, and less support for Israel to appease this tightly fisted nation that seeks the destruction of Israel? 

"Iran's supreme leader is dismissing calls from U.S. President Barack Obama's for a "new beginning" in relations between the two countries.

Speaking in the holy city of Mashhad Saturday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the U.S. is using "the slogan of change," but that he sees no real change in U.S. policy toward Iran.

He also asked how President Obama could congratulate Iranians marking the New Year holiday of Nowruz, but at the same time accuse them of supporting terrorists and seeking nuclear weapons.

Ayatollah Khamenei also used his speech Saturday to list Iran's grievances with the United States from the past 30 years, including U.S. support of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the 1980s and the U.S. downing of an Iranian passenger plane in 1988.

He told the crowd in Mashhad that Iran will continue to watch the U.S. and then judge the country on its actions.

U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Friday the Nowruz message from President Obama is one of several gestures planned by the administration to advance better relations with Iran.  He said the U.S. was looking for a reciprocal gesture from Iran.

VOA

First president to appear on a "talk show" plans to ask citizens to sign pledges for his causes

Does President Obama thinks all he has to do is get on TV and flash his smile and all will be forgotten about the serious mess in Washington?  In the process, he makes a boneheaded statement comparing his poor bowling skills to the Special Olympics.

But that's nothing, the reason he went on the Tonight Show as the San Franscisco paper reports:

"President Obama's appearance on "The Tonight Show" - the first ever for a sitting chief executive - was only a small part of the president's so-called permanent campaign. A bigger move comes Saturday, when Obama will ask 13 million people on his campaign e-mail list to go door-to-door to raise support for his agenda.

The Pledge Project Canvass is an unprecedented effort by a president to reach beyond Congress and tap grassroots supporters for help. Volunteers recruited online by Obama's Organizing for America, a post-election group, will ask citizens to sign a pledge in support of the president's policies on energy, health care and education. Those who pledge will be asked for their e-mail addresses so the Obama-ites can keep in touch.

Islamic bus ads paid by CAIR prompt proposal to restrict religious messages

 

 

 

Photo from CAIR Florida

Another controversial move by CAIR which  attempts to blend Christianity in with Islam which took place in Broward Country Florida last January:

"In the wake of controversial bus ads saying Jesus was a Muslim, Broward County commissioners are considering a ban on advertising religious messages on public transportation and all other government property.

The new policy would still permit churches and other religious organizations to place general ads promoting activities such as services or fairs. An ad saying “Jesus Saves” would be prohibited, but one publicizing the annual festival at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Fort Lauderdale would be allowed.

Broward has had no advertising standards that apply across the board at the port, airport, parks, libraries, government buildings and mass transit. County commissioners will consider the proposal Tuesday, but both sides in the January dispute believe it goes too far.

“This is a knee-jerk reaction from our elected officials to small voices of extremism,” said Altaf Ali of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which bought the ads.

The target of the protest was a $60,000 ad that ran between November and January on 50 buses. It proclaimed, “ISLAM: The Way of Life of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.”

In addition to the prohibition on religious messages, the proposal would ban political ads and ensconce rules that already exist in some government agencies against marketing alcohol, tobacco and adult-entertainment.

County marketing administrators said they spent nine months crafting the policy and that it is not a reaction to the events earlier this year. They said they want a standard policy in place so they can explore advertising opportunities to balance the budget in light of declining tax collections.

Boward Politics

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Also see:

'Islam' bus ads draw criticism

CAIR's Muslim Awareness Campaign of South Florida