zTruth

Jillian Holzbauer Frazier - CAIR Oklahoma's unlikely new spin-master tackles Islamophobia

Within a month of being hired for a newly created position as CAIR Oklahoma's communication director, Jillian Holzbauer Frazier tackled Islamophobia In an opinion piece published by a liberal Tulsa paper - who pretty much just publishes what CAIR gives them - titled Extreme rhetoric can nurture violence.

Holzbauer Frazier implied what appears to be legitimate concerns expressed by three public officials was extreme rhertoric.  U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann who merely inquired about possible Muslim Brotherhood infiltration into our government and simply asked how people are vetted if they have ties to it.  Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Ill who stated there are radical Islamists who want to kill Americans and Oklahoma Rep. Rex Duncan who helped bring to a vote of Oklahomans a constitutional amendment that would not allow foreign law, which also included sharia law - the law used by a number of Islamic countries - to be considered in state court decisions.  This amendment passed overwhelmingly in the fall of 2009. It was CAIR Oklahoma's new director, Muneer Awad, who within days of moving here, sued the state.   I should point out Muneer Awad recently became the director of CAIR New York although the CAIR Oklahoma website makes it a point to state he still lives in the state. 

New York Muslim leaders tell community not to talk to police on terror concerns!

New York Muslim leaders are flexing their collective muscle to encourage Muslims NOT TO COOPERATE with law enforcement who are charged with protecting a city that has been attacked twice by terrorists who practice the Islamic faith.   According to liberal Huffington Post NY Muslims Angry Over Spying: 'Don't Call NYPD' For Terror Concerns.

Interesting video: NYC Muslim Day Parade

Video:

 

9/11 truther, Faiz Khan, a close associate of GZM Imam Feisal Rauf!!!

(Pictured Faiz Kahn above left - source Justice for 9/11)

The Investigative Project, which has one of, if not the largest, database on political Islam and terrorism activity in the U.S. wrote a disturbing article about the relationship Imam Feisal Rauf has or had with a fellow Muslim and 9/11 truther!

Faiz Khan, a physician who claims to have been a first responder after the September 11 attacks, is a founding member of the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth and is on the advisory board of the Muslims for 9/11 Truth.

...Khan also helped form ('98 IRS form 1023) the American Sufi Muslim Association in 1997 with Rauf, a group now known as the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA). ASMA and Rauf's Cordoba Initiative are leading the mosque effort in lower Manhattan.

Khan has led Friday prayers at the Al Farah Mosque, where Rauf is the imam, for years. That practice continued at least through December – after the mosque proposal was unveiled -- when Khan was cited and photographed in an article in the German magazine Der Spiegel on the project.

Khan said he was no longer an ASMA officer and had not preached at Rauf's Al Farah mosque "for several years now..."

Kahn claimed he hasn't spoken to the Rauf's for several years now despite a collection of photos of Kahn leading prayers at the old Burlington Coat Factory titled Praying to Allah at Ground Zero that accompanied the December article; A New Manhattan Mosque Hopes to Heal where prayers has recently started in the building that was "half-destroyed" on 9/11. As you may recall some of the leftist new media reported prayers had been conducted there for several years.  And, Imam Feisal Rauf, Daisy Khan and 9/11 truther Faiz Kahn are quoted in the article.   Fox News reports Kahn has preached twice from the new site (see below)!

Khan's bio on the Muslims for 9/11 Truth 2010 advisory board page, linked above, states he "conducted Friday prayers for seven years at Rauf's Al-Farah Mosque in TriBeca, Manhattan."  And, now he conduct prayers at the Islamic Center of Long Island and other NY area mosques now.

screen shot taken 9/13/10:

Khan was a contributor to the book 9/11 & American Empire: Christians, Jews, and Muslims Speak Out Vol. 2

IPT tried to contact Imam Rauf and his wife, Daisey Khan, but they did not respond.  I'm sure they are hoping for more cover from Islamophobia accusations that are hurled by the leftist media and their shills. 

Did I mention Michael Moore is helping raise money for the Park51 project?  He even wrote on his website last Saturday (9/11) that he wants this mosque to be built right on the grounds of ground zero!  And, get this - CNN (sic) actually interviews this man.  And, they wonder why they have so few viewers.

Update 1/04/10:  video:  in 2006, said 9/11 was a covert operation:

 

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Also see:

Associate of NYC Mosque Imam Calls 9/11 Attacks an 'Inside Job ...    Sep 13, 2010 ... Faiz Khan -- who has preached at least twice at the former Burlington Coat Factory building, the site of the proposed mosque -- was for ...

Muslim Perspectives on 9/11 speech (Chicago 9/11 Conference June 2006) given by Kevin Barrett and Faiz Khan.  Khan starts his talk about his conspiracy theory about 9/11 at the 25:10 minute mark

911 Revealing The Truth  Faiz Khan is a Muslim scholar and educator as well as an M.D. with a dual specialty in emergency and internal medicine. He has been living and working in ...

Imam Faiz Khan, MD  By Imam Faiz Khan, M.D., 9/11 First Responder and Co-Founder, MUJCA-NET [Muslims gone Bad] + [Incompetent/overwhelmed Surveillance] = 9/11 ...

Other posts on GZM

Who is funding the Ground Zero Mosque?

Rep. Pete King was on Fox News a couple of days ago and raised legitimate questions about the proposed ground zero mosque:

There was also a boisterous debate this week from the public who argued this building should be designated a landmark a historic building; Ground Zero Mosque & Landmarks Preservation Commission (Part 1) (video) and not be torn down.   CAIR New York Board President Zead Ramadan called the opposition (video) to the mosque Islamophobia at the meeting (yawn). 

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Also see:

Exclusive: Ground Zero Mosque Imam's Radical Connections

NBC, CBS reject ad against ground zero mosque

Dr. Zhudi Jasser Discusses The Ground Zero Mosque

Must read: More about Imam Feisal, leader of proposed Ground Zero mosque

Failed Times Square bomber pleads guilty - warns of more attacks

This afternoon in New York City Faisal Shahzad plead guilty for the failed Times Square bombing and said he would plead guilty 100 times more and warned of more attacks:

The Pakistani-born Connecticut man arrested who attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in a New York court on Monday.

Faisal Shahzad was indicted on 10 counts, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, and said he planned to plead guilty to all 10 charges.

He told the judge he wanted to "plead guilty and 100 times more." He also warned that unless the U.S. leaves Muslim lands, "We will be attacking U.S." 

I believe this may have been the first attack in the U.S. facilitated by the Taliban.

College professor stabbed by Saudi national Muslim graduate student

Last Friday,  Binghamton University (Binghamton, New York) anthropology professor emeritus Richard T. Antoun was stabbed to death by a Saudi national graduate student, Abdulsalam al-Zahrani, in his own office. 

Antoun latest book  titled "Understanding Fundamentalism: Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Movements was written in  2006.  He specialized in comparative religion, including the social organization of tradition Islamic law.

Antoun was scheduled to participate in a seminar at a Jewish temple the next day.

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Also see:

Binghamton University killing: Al-Zahrani asked about a transfer 30 minutes before stabbing

Binghamton Religion Professor Richard Antoun Killed by Saudi Student Abdulsalam al-Zahrani, Say Cops

...Pena says he recalls their roommate sitting on the sofa and suddenly blurting out, "I just feel like destroying the world." According to Sukho, al-Zahrani claimed there were students spying on him and he was being persecuted because he was Muslim.

New York terror suspect under constant FBI watch

Naiz Khan is a New York coffee cart operator linked to Najibullah Zazi, who was recently arraigned on terror charges in New York.  

Khan is under constant FBI watch, according to ABC News who tailed him to the ABC studios for the interview:

"...He (Khan) was also in Pakistan at the same time as Zazi last year...When he sat down with ABC News at its New York studio, where four teams of undercover agents followed him and sat outside unit he left before following him home, Khan said he saw Zazi at the local mosque, Masjidi Hazrat I Abubakr, Sept. 10. He said Zazi told him he had come to New York from Colorado because he had "a coffee truck problem for the permit" he owned in New York.

New York City Council committee pass resolution for Muslim holidays in schools

The New York City Council Committee on Education voted to approve a resolution to add Muslim holidays to the school calendars:

"...Whereas, It should be noted that according to the Coalition, other localities with growing Muslim populations have incorporated Eid Ul-Fitr and Eid Ul-Adha into their school holiday calendar; and

Whereas, Such localities include Dearborn, Michigan and several New Jersey cities and townships including Irvington, Atlantic City, Trenton and Paterson; and

Whereas, New York City is a diverse and dynamic locality in which tolerance and acceptance are central values, and incorporation of Eid Ul-Fitr and Eid Ul-Adha as public school holidays would serve as an important embodiment of this tolerance and acceptance; and

Whereas, Assembly Member Michael Benjamin and Senator Bill Perkins have introduced State legislation (A.8108/S.5837) that would require the New York City school district to close schools on the first day of both Muslim holidays; and ...

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York City Department of Education to incorporate the Muslim holidays of Eid Ul-Fitr and Eid Ul-Adha as observed school holidays in the school calendar for the city school district of the city of New York, and calling upon the State legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign into law, A.8108/S.5837, an Act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring that Eid Ul-Fitr and Eid Ul-Adha be school holidays in the city school district of the city of New York.

Republicans regain control of New York Senate!

In a surprise move, two Democrats helped shift the balance of power in the New York Senate today. 

The State Senate was rocked today when two Democratic renegade senators broke from the party ranks and joined a surprise -- and successful -- move by Republicans to retake control of the 62-member chamber.

...The coup was watched from a back room by Rochester billionaire B. Thomas Golisano, the owner of the Buffalo Sabres, who had helped -- with $4 million of his own money -- the Democrats take control in last fall's elections. But Golisano recently said he has been stung by the Democrats, who he blamed for crafting a state budget that hiked taxes and hit upstate especially hard. Golisano recently moved his legal residence to Florida to save millions in income taxes.

"We were quite unhappy with the way the Democrats responded to some of the commitments they made to reform, both budgetary and process," Golisano said in an interview in Espada's Capitol office an hour after the Senate floor coup..."

New York City jihadist terror plot uncovered; four arrests made

Four Muslim men have been arrested in New York City for plotting to bomb a synagogue and Jewish community center and shooting down military planes with stinger rockets.  Three of the men had converted to Islam while in prison and are home grown terrorists:

"...The men were also charged with plotting to shoot military planes located at New York's Air National Guard base at Stewart airport in Newburgh, New York, with stinger surface-to-air guided missiles, the statement said. Newburgh is about 60 miles (96 km) north of New York City.

The four men, identified as James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen, were arrested after buying an inactive missile and inert explosives in a sting operation run by the FBI and other agencies, the complaint said.

Cromitie said if he died a martyr, he would go to "paradise" and that he was interested in doing "something to America," the complaint said. Last July, he told the informant he wanted to join Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based group Washington designates as a terrorist organization, to "do jihad," according to the complaint.

Representative Peter King, a New York Republican, said the suspects planned to undertake their attack on Wednesday using a car bomb outside the synagogue.

Tonight was the night the attacks were being carried out," King told CNN.

He said the four men were born in the United States and were all Muslim, one born Muslim of Afghan descent and three who converted in prison..."

Reuters

Update 5/21/09:  NY Terror Suspects Appear in Court, Accused of 'Chilling Plot' ABC News

"...The men -- at least three of whom appear to be recent radicalized converts to Islam, according to law enforcement sources -- all lived near the city of Newburgh, N.Y., about 60 miles north of New York City...Cromitie, the suspected ringleader, allegedly planted the bombs and the remaining three suspects served as lookouts, Kelly said. The entire operation only took about 20 to 25 minutes, and authorities arrested the suspects as they returned to their car.

Mosque officials discuss terror suspects, suggest entrapment Lower Hudson Journal news

"...Salahuddin Mustafa Muhammad, the head imam of Masjid Al-Ikhlas, said James Cromitie and Payen were loosely affiliated with the mosque; they occasionally attended Friday prayers there.

Over the past several months, and maybe more than a year, a man had been coming to the mosque and mingling with members, and offering them $25,000 to become involved in some unspecified activity, he said.

Muhammad said the arrest and investigation were a classic case of entrapment..."

Man who broadcasted Hezbollah TV in New York goes to prison

In New York, a man who broadcasted Hezbollah TV from his rooftop and backyard was sentenced to prison on April 24th:

"A Staten Island man has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for broadcasting a Hezbollah television station from his home.

Javed Iqbal, 45, pled guilty in December to providing material aid to a terrorist organization.

...Prosecutors said he broadcast a Hezbollah TV station to recruit followers and suicide bombers. They say the setup earned him as much as $28,000 a month.

NY1 (see video)

Breaking: Shooting in Binghamton, New York; hostages taken and fatalities reported

In Binghamton,  New York, 74 miles south of Syracuse, a shooting has taken place at the American Civic Association where a number of hostages were taken around 10:30 AM ET.  The shooter is reported to be an Asian male with a high-powered rifle.  Fatalities and injuries are being reported.

Around 20 hostages or people have come out of the building and are being questioned by authorities.  There are reports the SWAT team is being readied and FBI hostage negotiators have been called in.

As far as it is known at this moment, the shooter is still in the building.

Caution:  Facts often change as more information is learned.  More to come.

Update 12:47 PM CT:  SWAT team advised the people inside (26?) to have their hands over their head as they enter the building).

It is raining and hundreds of law enforcement huddled under trees and stuff.

The lady who owns a business right across the street said she did not hear anything.  She said the building is always busy on Friday with classes.  All types of refugees use this building.

Update 12:51 PM CT:  ABC News is reporting 13 fatalities.  The lady in the building mentioned above also confirmed she was told by the police that 13 were dead because she asked a policeman who came and asked her if she wanted to be evacuated.  This has not been confirmed by authorities.

Two people have been brought out in handcuffs not sure if these are the shooters or what.

Update 1:03 PM CT:  A news conference is scheduled for 3:30 PM CT.  It is being reported police are now walking around the front of the building which appears that the shooter(s) were apprehended or are dea but nothing has been confirmed by officials.

Update 1:17 PM CT:  Translator services were being asked by authorities.  15 dead mentioned by one source on Fox News - think it was a local reporter.

Update 1:29 PM CT:  The most serious injuries were probably taken to the level one trauma center at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.

Update 1: 35 PM CT:  The local ABC News affiliate is reporting "the lone gunman" has killed himself.

Most reports state 13 dead - not 15.

All law enforcement units have been released per local scanner reports.

ABC News Binghamton, New York

Binghamton Shooting Gunman Takes His Own Live

HULIQ - ‎7 minutes ago‎ (2.06 PM CT)

Police scanners in Binghamton NY confirm one gunman has taken his own life, all emergency vehicles except for ambulances have been released. ...

 

Update 3:26 PM:  Gunman was 41 year-old Jiverly Voong (Wong), aka Linh Phat Voong,  from nearby Johnson City, N.Y.  He may have been laid-off from IBM.

 

 

(Binghamton Police Department/AP Photo)

Update 4/4/09:  The gunman was as named above but he did not work for IBM or have a high-powered rifle.  He lived in Union, N.Y not Johnson City.  He was reported frustrated by his poor English language shills

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

World Trade Center's first attack was 16 years ago today

There will be a memorial service today to mark the date of the first attack on the WTC when a car bomb was detonated below Tower One.  Six people died and 1,000 were injured.

It happened on a Friday when Islamic terrorism hit American soil for the first time.

How many Americans have completely erased this date from their minds?

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Also see:

FBI Press release on the attack

National September 11th Memorial and Museum

Director of FBI warns of possible U.S. terror attacks

Its time for another reality check on our national security risks from the head of the FBI who spoke yesterday at the Council of Foreign Relations.  This assessment appears not to speak well for the Religion of Peace followers and their ability to rein in Islamic extremists with their own Muslim community:

Photo credit FBI

"FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III today warned that extremists "with large agendas and little money can use rudimentary weapons" to sow terror, raising the specter that recent attacks in Mumbai that killed 170 people last year could embolden terrorists seeking to attack U.S. cities.

At a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Mueller said that the bureau is expanding its focus beyond al-Qaeda and into splinter groups, radicals who try to enter the country through the visa waiver program and "home-grown terrorists."

"The universe of crime and terrorism stretches out infinitely before us, and we too are working to find what we believe to be out there but cannot always see," Mueller said.

One particular concern, the FBI director said, springs from the country's background as a "nation of immigrants." Federal officials worry about pockets of possible radicals among melting-pot communities in the United States such as Seattle, San Diego, Miami or New York.

A Joint Terrorism Task Force led by the FBI, for instance, continues to investigate a group in Minneapolis after one young man last fall flew to Somalia and became what authorities believe to be the first U.S. citizen to carry out a suicide bombing. As many as a half-dozen other youths from that community in Minnesota have vanished, alarming their parents and raising concerns among law enforcement officials that a dangerous recruiting network has operated under the radar..."

Washington Post

2008 Muslim Day Parade in NYC revisited

There have been many Muslim protests in America, Canada and Europe supporting Gaza in the last couple of weeks.  The one yesterday in New York City became violent, as I mentioned earlier.

In doing research for information on these protests, I stumbled across a picture from the 2008 Muslim Day Parade in New York City held last October:

 

More pictures at Atlas Shrugs

Muslims hurled shoes at picture of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Earlier this week I reported how Hamas-supporter Razi Hashmi, the director the CAIR-OK, tried to intimidate U.S. Representative Mary Fallen into silence for her support on Israel. 

This could be a coordinated effort by CAIR and other Islamic organization nationwide to call attention to officials who publicly support Israel:

"In New York Jan. 7, more than 100 protestors stood in freezing temperatures outside City Hall waving Palestinian flags and chanting, “Free, free Gaza.” They hurled their muddy footwear at a large portrait of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

And in Los Angeles Jan. 5, Muslim groups lambasted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for meeting with Israeli consulate officials and Jewish leaders and saying he supported Israel’s actions in Gaza. Backing him were Los Angeles City Council members Wendy Greuel, Janice Hahn, Jack Weiss and Dennis Zine.

Muslim leaders held a press conference at the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California and blasted Villaraigosa for taking sides on a war happening 6,000 miles away.

The Council issued a statement saying that it felt “betrayed by the mayor’s one-eyed perspective on the tragedy of colossal proportions in Gaza.”

“Why is the mayor of Los Angeles dragging himself and his constituents into international conflicts in the Middle East?” asked Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a national Muslim advocacy group."

In New York, Muslims and Arab Americans were disappointed that Mayor Bloomberg, who is Jewish, went on a four-day visit to Israel last week and met with government officials there.

“Our mayor has abandoned and terrorized us,” said Noha Arasa of the Legal Aid Society, who spoke at the New York rally. “While he failed to provide employment, housing and education for all New Yorkers, he gives $50 million to Israel, year after year, again and again, to destroy Palestine.

“For that, Mr. Bloomberg, you deserve my house slippers. Shame on you!”

Are the true colors of some American Muslims emerging? 

Are they being bolstered by a new president they feel is more sympathetic to them?

New American Media

--Dozens of protestors gathered Wednesday at City Hall to denounce Mayor Michael Bloomberg's support of Israel in the Gaza conflict.

The mayor has repeatedly said Israelis have a duty to defend themselves against Hamas.

New York City Councilman Charles Barron says Bloomberg is misrepresenting his city.

"He doesn't speak for all New Yorkers. And we need to be politically strong. Don't be afraid to stand up and say that Israel is wrong. There should be an immediate cease-fire, an immediate withdrawal from Palestinian territory, an immediate ending of the blockade," said Barron.

"When he goes to Israel to show his support and unconditional love towards the Israelis, I think it sends a double-standard message to the New Yorkers that he is the mayor of certain people," said one protestor.

The protest came three days after Bloomberg made a one-day trip to Israel.

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See also:

Video NY1

Al-Awda New York 

Bloomberg's Israel Visit Irks NY Muslims  Islamonline

"I couldn't believe that Mayor Bloomberg…who has no business, no power over international foreign policy, would even go to that measure of supporting Israel," Linda Sarsour, a NYC Muslim resident, told IslamOnline.net.

New York City is home to more than a million Muslims."

Protesters Throw Shoes At Bloomberg Picture  wcbstv

The First Line of Universal Identity"

What is up with the governor of New York?  Does he sound a bit like a power hungry dictator? 

In Syracuse, New York a hearing was held Wednesday about his ill-conceived driver license plan for illegal foreign nationals.  Several Court Clerks have said they will refuse to issue driver licenses to illegals.

..."A total of 31 county clerks have gone on record against the proposal.  Giving clerks the platform at the hearings is Assembly republican leader James Tedisco, who's already threatened to sue the governor over the license plan.

“Drivers licenses are a first line of universal identity.  It’s the way we get into all our areas of security.  We can't give that up,” said minority leader Tedisco.

Immigration lawyer Sharon Ames offered the only support for the Spitzer plan at the public hearing.  "It's not going to give them any legal status.  It's not going to change Homeland Security's position of deporting them if they're here illegally.  What it's going to do is provide a database so that the government can locate people, track people."

Tedisco's tough line has apparently touched off a fight with Spitzer.  In a front page exclusive, headlined "Road Rage," the New York Post reports the governor is pulling $300,000 in health care funding for Tedisco's assembly district."

The Washington Times quoted Governor Spitzer as saying:

"The rabid right that wants to pile on and use this to demagogue the issue will not carry the day in New York state."

DMV Commissioner David J. Swarts defended the plan Monday as a way to get hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants already in New York into the state data base. Spitzer said that will make the streets safer for drivers, reduce auto insurance rates, and provide a better tool for law enforcement and homeland security to track illegal immigrants. He noted several homeland security and law enforcement experts support it.

"Fear is a major element in the misrepresentation of this issue," Swarts told senators. He described Republicans' criticism as "hysterical rhetoric" that was "deliberately misstated."

Something this important should have been completed by the legislature. The way the Governor and his people are mud-slinging inflammatory words back at the people who are opposed to his order is quite worrisome and show a total lack of leadership.  Sounds like Spitzer is full of himself. His plan may be more about getting a certain percentage of those illegals to mark on their application that they are a citizen so they can register to vote. His actions will dilute the worth of citizens.  Totally shameful.

Former Principal of Arabic Public School to Sue

Debbie Almontaser resigned under fire as principal of the first public arabic school in New York this summer after she was quoted defending the use of the word “intifada” as a T-shirt slogan.

Today she submitted her application to become the principal of KGIA, again!

"I have also asked my lawyer to begin preparing a lawsuit against the D.O.E. for violation of my constitutional rights.

The New York Times reported Debbie Almontaser, presented herself as the victim of an anti-Arab “smear campaign” from conservative newspapers and blogs and of pressure from city officials.

Yesterday, Ms. Almontaser said that Education Department officials had forced her to speak to the reporter and then, not satisfied with her answer, demanded that she write an apology.

Melody Meyer, another spokeswoman for the Education Department, said that neither the mayor’s office nor education officials had threatened to close the school. “Preserving the school has been our priority throughout,” she said. “Ms. Almontaser was never forced to speak to reporters, make statements or otherwise act against her will.”

Gov. Spitzer's New License Policy is an Issue of Recklessness

I'm sure glad I don't live in the state of New York where up to a million illegal foreign nationals will be able to get a driver license something generally considered a privilege earned by a legal citizen.  Has the governor of New York gone competely mad here?   Why would you give someone who has invaded our country illegally an ID that is accepted by the airlines to get on a plane?  What a friggin idiot.

Spitzer was sworn into office Jan. 2007

"GOP leaders have said the governor is helping terrorists to board airplanes and appealing to Democrat-friendly immigrants to sway elections. But immigrant groups and unions have praised Spitzer for recognizing the crucial role undocumented workers play in the economy.

"No amount of fear-mongering and extremist rhetoric will prevent us from doing what is morally and practically correct," Spitzer said. "None of their claims have any merit." Newsday

In an emergency meeting in Albany, the New York Association of County Clerks voted against the policy change because they believe they will be aiding and abetting illegal foreign nationals and it is a very real security concern. 

"This is not the right time" for the policy, said Putnam County Clerk Dennis Sant. "We're in war and we're at war with terrorists that came in here and attacked our state and the greatest city in the world, and we got to put a stop on this."

Spitzer's policy has increasingly come under fire from Republicans and county clerks after he announced it last month. Assembly Republicans are threatened to sue, while Senate Republicans plan to pass legislation to thwart the plan.

The clerks' line in the sand may also set up a court fight with the Spitzer administration, which has vowed to implement the policy in December and has warned clerks that as agents of the state, they need to comply.

"The law is pretty clear that county clerks are required as agents for the commissioner of motor vehicles to fulfill that responsibility and comply," said state DMV Commissioner David Swarts, former Erie County clerk.

The new policy, which goes into effect in December, doesn't require approval by the legislature.  Yikes.