Do Iraqis Have Free Will?
As 2006 draws to a close, I want to acknowledge a debt to Theodore Dalrymple. At a time of mental floundering for answers to the world's problems, I came upon Baron Bodissey's site, The Gates of Vienna. After reading for hours I said silently, "Thank you, thank you". The articles had to do with America's role in the world today, and the rise of Cultural Marxism. Suddenly everything fell into place. I knew what I had to do. My big plan to retire was put aside. And I began this blog. Since then, I have met remarkable people who have shared their insights with me, and I have found my nexus. It all began with a blog by the Baron, called, "The Emperor is Naked". It's called the 910 Group Forum, and I invite anyone who wants to get involved with preserving their civilization to join us there. If you are reading this, you have skills enough and all it takes to join is for you to say "yes". Our life is always about the choices we make. Free will really comes down to this: [YES] / [NO].
One thing I know, is that I will never forget saying yes, when I read Fjordman (his blogging name). It changed my life. And I know when I look back over the next year as events unfold in Iraq, and the world, I am going to remember this next article.
h/t Augean Stables
FROM City Journal - Eye on the News
Theodore Dalrymple
Do Iraqis Have Free Will?
Not according to liberals.
18 December 2006A headline in the British liberal newspaper, the Guardian, caught my eye recently: IRAQIS CAN’T BE BLAMED FOR THE CHAOS UNLEASHED BY INVASION. The writer was that newspaper’s veteran foreign correspondent, Jonathan Steele (another immortal headline to one of his articles, in May 2002, read: NEW YORK IS STARTING TO FEEL LIKE BREZHNEV’S MOSCOW).
Let us grant, for argument’s sake, the article’s premise: that American policy in Iraq has been naive, rash, foolish, precipitate, and culpable. Yet still it would not follow that “Iraqis can’t be blamed” and so forth, unless one also believed what not even the severest critics of the Bush administration have alleged—that the American army, or other agents of the American government, have desired, planned, and even executed the ongoing terrorist attacks in Baghdad.
The only other explanation of the non-culpability of Iraqis would be that they were not really full members of the human race—in other words, that they did not reflect upon their circumstances and act upon their reflections in the way that the fully responsible and therefore potentially culpable Americans do.
The headline makes clear that double standards are about to apply, double standards that are not flattering to the Iraqis’ capacity for independent action, despite the evident wish of the author to display as conspicuously as possible his sympathy with them by means of exculpating them. Forgive them, he invites all men of goodwill, for they know not what they do.
Like hell, they don’t. Not even the most ardent, anthropomorphic dog-lover credits his pet with a fully developed moral sense, and he therefore regards its misdemeanors with an indulgence that he would not extend to a ten-year-old child. The author regards Iraqis as if they were in the same moral category as pets: for can one really say that people who travel to a different part of the city to explode bombs, resulting in scores of deaths of people chosen merely because they are (most of them) of a different religious confession, do not appreciate what they are doing, any more than a dog appreciates what it does when it knocks over a precious porcelain vase?
Is there anything in the American invasion, however deeply ill judged you might consider it, that makes these bombings as inescapable as the weather, and that therefore renders those who carry them out wholly blameless? Is not a prerequisite for these bombings that those who carry them out consciously decide to do so? And if it is not wicked to kill people in this fashion, it is difficult to know what is wicked. Not the Iraqis, but some of the Iraqis—presumably a small minority—can take blame to a very considerable extent for the chaos in Iraq.
Dare I say it: the inability to take seriously the culpability of men and women who, as a matter of policy or tactics, kill large numbers of passers-by and bystanders is a hangover of the late Victorian imperial sensibility, which viewed much of the world’s population as intellectual and moral minors. Special pleading of the kind encapsulated in the headline is not a manifestation of broadmindedness or generosity but of deep-seated arrogance.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
Sunday, December 31, 2006
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Bush Administration Still Sabotaging Expedited Removal Law
On a discussion at the 910 Group Forum today, the subject of Immigration reform and border laws came up. I said I would provide some background information on the court review system in our government. As long as I'm posting it,as it is rather long for a forum, I decided to go ahead and make a blog of it.
First, a Report prepared by the Majority Staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security:
When you've digested that, please go straight to Mr. Juan Mann of VDare, who knows more about this dangerous situation than anyone I know. Juan Mann [email him] is an attorney and the proprietor of DeportAliens.com. Heh, no subtlety there. He writes a weekly column for VDARE.com and contributes to Michelle Malkin’s Immigration BLOG.
Hear it in his words...
There is a dangerous misconception lurking in America’s growing public consciousness about immigration law enforcement. From the man on the street to the halls of Congress, the fatal error persists in the belief that if only current immigration laws were just enforced, the illegal alien invasion of these United States would be over for good. All would be well if we put the legal mechanisms in place into effect . . . right?Juan Mann of VDare has been following this for years. For more than you want to know about it, go here: Juan Mann Articles .
Wrong.
Few Americans even recognize that there’s any problem at all with HOW the federal government goes about deporting illegal aliens and criminal alien residents. Securing the Arizona desert was a piece of cake in comparison — remember that the volunteer Minuteman Project showed the world that they could do it in a month!
So what’s the problem?
It’s too many lawyers, too much litigation and a four-letter word called EOIR. The problem that hides in plain sight in the current immigration "catch and release" controversy is the litigation bureaucracy of The Executive Office for Immigration Review. The EOIR is a little-known federal agency within the U.S. Department of Justice. It comprises the nationwide U.S. Immigration Court system and its appellate body, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in Falls Church, Virginia. The EOIR is the centerpiece of a largely unknown de facto stealth permanent amnesty and non-deportation program for illegal aliens and criminal alien residents.
According to its web site, EOIR was created on January 9, 1983, through an internal Department of Justice (DOJ) reorganization which combined BIA with the immigration judge function previously performed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Besides establishing EOIR as a separate agency within DOJ, this reorganization made the Immigration Courts independent of INS, the agency charged with enforcement of federal immigration laws." But the hidden truth about the EOIR is that America’s deportation process for illegal aliens and criminal alien residents is designed for failure. What starts out as deportation becomes perpetual litigation - and relatively few deportable aliens ever leave. With the complicity of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the EOIR litigation bureaucracy forms the concealed piece in the puzzle of institutionalized mass immigration sponsorship by the federal government.
Other than the few summary removal provisions implemented at ports of entry, the deportation of foreign nationals in the United States is largely voluntary. The lengthy EOIR system of hearings and appeals enables illegal aliens and criminal alien residents to remain in the United States both legally and illegally for years, often in perpetuity.
The EOIR and the DHS bureaucracy enable thousands of detained aliens facing deportation to be released back to the streets on an immigration bond or paroled out of federal custody during the EOIR hearing process - giving them the option of disappearing back into the United States regardless of the outcome of their Immigration Court hearings. The lack of physical security on the land border exposes the EOIR process for the charade that it is. Deported aliens just walk back in. The EOIR literally makes a federal case out of every illegal alien and criminal alien resident in deportation proceedings by offering a litigation gateway to the federal circuit courts of appeal, and, sometimes, even to the U.S. Supreme Court. After reviewing Immigration Court decisions at the Board of Immigration Appeals (its appellate body) the EOIR system offers automatic federal circuit appellate court review for the deportation of every illegal alien and every criminal alien resident in the United States.
A quick look on the DOJ's website,
where we learn just how immune from oversight they are.
EOIR INSULATED AS A SEPARATE AGENCY OF DOJ
Background Information right off DOJ's website:HMM .. FURTHER INSULATION
United States Department of Justice
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) was created on January 9, 1983, through an internal Department of Justice (DOJ) reorganization which combined the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA or Board) with the Immigration Judge function previously performed by the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) (now part of the Department of Homeland Security). Besides establishing EOIR as a separate agency within DOJ, this reorganization made the Immigration Courts independent of INS, the agency charged with enforcement of Federal immigration laws. The Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO) was added in 1987.
EOIR is also separate from the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related UnfairEmployment Practices in the DOJ Civil Rights Division and the Office of Immigration Litigation in the DOJ Civil Division.
And to finish off this introductory glimpse of where your tax dollars are spent on your behalf:
Office of the Chief Immigration Judge:
Organization
As an office within the Department of Justice, EOIR is headed by a Director who reports directly to the Deputy Attorney General. Its headquarters are located in Falls Church, Virginia, about 10 miles from downtown Washington, DC.
Goals
EOIR's primary mission is to adjudicate immigration cases in a careful and timely manner, including cases involving detained aliens, criminal aliens, and aliens seeking asylum as a form of relief from removal, while ensuring the standards of due process and fair treatment for all parties involved. In support of this mission, EOIR has identified certain goals and initiatives intended to:
* Increase productivity and timeliness of case processing by setting appropriate
standards, streamlining procedures, and implementing staff-generated recommendations.
* Implement the case processing goals of the Institutional Hearing Program, rendering a final decision in each criminal alien case prior to the alien's release from incarceration.
* Improve customer service by providing easier access to information through expanded use of technology (e.g., automated telephone systems and Internet). EOIR is responsible for adjudicating immigration cases. Specifically, under delegated authority from the Attorney General, EOIR interprets and administers federal immigration laws by conducting immigration court proceedings, appellate reviews, and administrative hearings. EOIR consists of three components: the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, which is responsible for managing the numerous immigration courts located throughout the United States where immigration judges adjudicate individual cases; the Board of Immigration Appeals, which primarily conducts appellate reviews of immigration judge decisions; and the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer, which adjudicates immigration-related employment cases. EOIR is committed to providing fair, expeditious, and uniform application of the nation's immigration laws in all cases.
What a load of crap. Remember the name: EOIR. So there you have it. Not a very encouraging picture, is it? It should be evident to even a casual observer of the political process that we can expect no relief from our politicians. None.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
It's Time To Take Back Our Educational System
Our educational system is in trouble, from top to bottom. It's not just that the PC brigade is constantly on the attack. Our teachers are stymied at every turn by administration officials who are under the leftist sway of the NEA, who want NO standard of moral values to be used as a guide for educating our young ones. They want the playing field leveled flat, kind of like the surface of the moon. At the university level the faculties are rife with agenda-driven professors, whose leftist leanings preclude an open, diverse campus. These sowers of totalitarian ideas have been aiding and abetting the multicultural fanatics for too long. Our universities have been empowering tenured professors who have been falling into *moral turpitude* for the better part of 30 years. Among the courses singled out as being part of the "Dirty Dozen" are Occidental College's The Phallus, which explores phallologocentrism, lesbian phalluses and Latino phalluses, as is a course at the school titled Blackness, which elaborates on a "new blackness," "critical blackness," "post-blackness," and an "unforgivable blackness," which all combine to create a "feminist New Black Man." Also noted by the YAF is Queer Musicology at the University of California-Los Angeles, which looks at how "sexual difference and complex gender identities in music and among musicians have incited productive consternation" during the 1990s; Native American Feminisms at the University of Michigan; and Swarthmore College's "Nonviolent Responses to Terrorism."
David Horowitz at FrontPage Mag has been chronicalling these patterns in our classrooms for years. He has taken on the Leftist professors in a unique battle which has revealed a cultural Marxist take-over of many of our colleges and universities all across America:
* We have dared to challenge the educational establishment and identify as “political indoctrination” the curricula of radicalism that tenured leftists are imposing on our students under the pretext of providing them with an education; and we have identified as “dangerous,” those professors who use the classroom to propagandize for America’s enemies in a time of war.
- David Horowitz
A recent study by the Young America's Foundation has revealed some disturbing patterns of inquiry.
Young America's Foundation
December 19, 2006
The Dirty Dozen: America’s Most Bizarre and Politically Correct College Courses
Occidental College’s The Phallus ranked the most bizarre class of ’06 -’07
HERNDON, VA – As college costs soar through the roof—averaging above $31,000 a year for tuition, room & board—today’s college students study adultery, the male genital, and Native American feminism. The Dirty Dozen highlights the most bizarre and troubling instances of leftist activism supplanting traditional scholarship in our nation’s colleges and universities.
The growth of these courses gobbles up tons of money and resources and ignores scholarship from conservatives. For instance, books and speeches from the late Milton Friedman and Ambassador Jean Kirkpatrick are rarely studied in the classroom, yet leftist works are prevalent in college classrooms nationwide. Scores of courses were researched from hundreds of the nation’s leading schools. The Dirty Dozen is the worst of the worst. This year, we have also included a dishonorable mentions category—courses that could’ve easily made the list.
When one examines these classes, keep in mind that a recent study found that only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment, but more than half can name at least two family members of “The Simpsons.” The Washington Post reports that only 31 percent of college grads could read and comprehend complex books, while The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that 40 percent of college students need remedial work in math and English. Are we really putting our educational resources to the best use?
Young America’s Foundation Spokesman Jason Mattera remarks, “The Dirty Dozen demonstrates that professors still have an obsession with dividing people on the basis of their skin color, sexuality, and gender. They also can’t seem to shake off a strong admiration for Karl Marx and his murderous ideology—apparently the 100-plus million totalitarian regimes have murdered over the years is not enough?!”
For rest of story GO HERE
FOX News also has some interesting and revealing tales...as well as Scott Norvell's lead-in to the YAF's story.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
By Scott Norvell
The good folks at the Young America's Foundation have singled out several American universities for offering coursework that it says supplants traditional scholarship with left-wing ideology and politically correct activism.
Read on...
*From Wikipedia: "Moral turpitude is 'conduct that is inherently based, vile, or depraved, and contrary to the accepted rules of morality and the duties between persons or to society in general'"
Ummm yep, that that about sums it up. Our once-liberal professors have fallen into a narcissistic cess-pool, and now are full-blown Marxists - out to destroy all vestiges of decency in our culture. This rot is systemic.
They need to be stopped.
- No Apology
Monday, December 25, 2006
D’oh! More know Simpsons than Constitution
Associated Press
CHICAGO - Americans apparently know more about “The Simpsons” than they do about the First Amendment.
Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment.
But more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family, according to a survey.
The study by the new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just one in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms.
Joe Madeira, director of exhibitions at the museum, said he was surprised by the results.
“Part of the survey really shows there are misconceptions, and part of our mission is to clear up these misconceptions,” said Madeira, whose museum will be dedicated to helping visitors understand the First Amendment when it opens in April. “It means we have our job cut out for us.”The survey found more people could name the three “American Idol” judges than identify three First Amendment rights. They were also more likely to remember popular advertising slogans.
It also showed that people misidentified First Amendment rights. About one in five people thought the right to own a pet was protected, and 38 percent said they believed the right against self-incrimination contained in the Fifth Amendment was a First Amendment right, the survey found.
The telephone survey of 1,000 adults was conducted Jan. 20-22 by the research firm Synovate and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
I thought we might all benefit from a refreshing-the-memory look at these rights of ours.
From The Lawful Path
Bill of Rights
Amendments 1 thru 10 to the
Constitution for the United States of America
Ratified December 15, A.D. 1791
Preamble
Congress of the United States
begun and held at the City of New-York, on
Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.
THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.
RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.
ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
If we don't know what our rights as U.S. citizens are, how will we fight to insure we don't lose them?
The Freedom Museum
http://fanningtheflames.blogspot.com/
http://www.constitutioncenter.org/explore/Welcome/index.shtml
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
-No Apology
Friday, December 15, 2006
DR. SANITY'S PRACTICAL GUIDE TO VICTIMHOOD
Shining a psychological spotlight on a few of the insanities of life
Read on...Thursday, December 14, 2006
DR. SANITY'S PRACTICAL GUIDE TO VICTIMHOOD
Getting It and Keeping It!
INTRODUCTION
Victimhood has, as is usual these days, been in the news recently. From thepatheticheroic attempts of John ("it was only a joke") Kerry to paint himself a "victim" of the "Republican attack machine" for hisignorantbrilliant remarks about US military personnel; to the flying imams ongoing claims of oppression and victimhood as theyextort money and publicityseek suitable compensation from their terrible ordeal even as theydeliberately undermine airport securityexpose the evils of racial profiling and Islamophobia--the victimhoodscamsopportunities are neverending.
If you have any doubts about the power and sanctity that can be yours if victimhood status can be officially confered upon you; or of the endless moral benefits of being "oppressed"; just consider that even a mean SOB like Saddam Hussein can be deemed a victim of American oppression--just ask Ramsey Clark how that is done! Or that, for the sake of the Palestinians--the most publicized and creative perpetual victims in all of history-- a group of "experts" are busy right at this very moment trying to prove that the entire world has been bamboozled by a clever Jewish conspiracy regarding the Holocaust! Those darn Jews!
The Holocaust Deniers are particularly noteworthy in the annals of victimhood, and demonstrate a degree of unsurpassable cleverness because they have managed to take the actual victims of a horrific episode in world history and twist that history to turn those real victims into oppressors! Surely one of the most magnificent applications of the new victimhood rules.
In the quasi-religious cult of victimhood that is part of today's leftist dogma, "victimhood" has been identified as the key quality deserving of attention and pity. This is in part because many on the political left have an intense narcissistic need to see themselves as "champions of the oppressed", hence the constant need to find and maintain an oppressed class of people to champion. But it also dovetails nicely into the the Marxist dialectic that underlies that ideology. The world is divided up into two groups, you see: the oppressors (i.e., white, male,heterosexual, Republican, Americans or Israelis) and the oppressed (everyone else).
The political left proudly stands in solidarity with the oppressed victims of the world; and it is worth noting that their stance is particularly ego-gratifying if those they champion are undeserving victims (i.e., similar to Alfred P. Doolittle's "undeserving poor"-- who have needs as great as the most deserving of victims; in fact, their needs are even greater! )
So, for the edification of her readers, Dr. Sanity has decided to reprint the following excerpts from her never-to-be-published book (without permission, of course); hot off the presses of Worlwide Victimhood, Inc. (WWV); a wholly owned subsidiary of Dr. Sanity Enterprises, a multinational conglomerate:
A SHORT COURSE ON HOW TO BE A VICTIM
Chapter I: THE ADVANTAGES OF VICTIMHOOD
This brief guide is for those searching for an expedited pathway into the exalted status of Victimhood. Becoming a victim --as we all have learned from famous TV stars, prominent politicians; religions, races, and even nations--is an advantageous state of being in many ways, several of which are:
You are not responsible for what happened to you
You are always morally right
You are not accountable to anyone for anything
You are forever entitled to sympathy
You are always justified in feeling moral indignation for being wronged
You never have to be responsible again for anything
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Ordering imams off flight was a reasonable act
I know many of you have been following the imam's at the Minneapolis Airport story. So have I, and I have no doubt that this was a deliberate ruse by Islamists to soften our resolve to stand up to bullying by jihadists. This only hurts the countless other Muslims who want to assimilate here in America. I truly hope US Airways doesn't fold on this. Anyway, here is the story:
for the rest of the story go here.Ordering imams off flight was a reasonable act
US Airways' treatment of the six imams on Flight 300 on Nov. 20 is being widely portrayed as a discriminatory act against pious men who were just practicing their religion. The imams' only mistake was "flying while Muslim," charges the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation. "If up to now [Americans] don't know about prayers, this is a real problem," said Omar Shahin, one of the six and president of North American Imams Federation, whose conference the group had attended in Bloomington.But the incident involved far more than prayers. A "suspicious" pattern of behavior unfolded that day, according to the airport police report, handwritten witness statements attached to that report and US Airways spokeswoman Andrea Rader.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
America Not Going Down The Toilet
Why does it seem like the X Gens just want to drag us down into the pit with them?
Someone recently said the Leftists have but one goal, and that is to not be envied. So they defer or deny their own values - a sacrifice or offering to the multicultural ghost who haunts us all: the so-called victims - and anyone bold enough to stand on high moral ground and point to the fact that there is moral degeneration dragging America down are laughed at, marginalized.
The so-called down-trodden minorities have bought this notion of victimhood, and have embraced the Racial Inequality Syndrome. Its roots are in the Civil Rights movement and now it's called Social Promotion, under various guises, from children being passed up through the school systems, without the burden of having to acquire skills to deal with the world; they were offered racial, quota-based hiring and college admissions guidelines, and they said "YES". Same thing in Housing, student loans, college financing. They are pretty much sold on the idea that it is the white man, descendents of slave owners (notwithstanding the fact that most of them have that same slave owners blood running in their veins) - who are responsible for their predicament, and thus owe reparations to them. Now, I'm not here to rag on blacks. The Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of America keep fanning that fire, under the banner of racial profiling. There are reasons enough for their predicament. I'm not one of them.
I was born and raised in the South, and if there were any plantation-owning despots where I came from (the Mississippi Delta) they lived in England, or someplace else. We were working people; my parents survived the Great Depression like everyone else of their time helping each other out, my Dad working when he could find work. My Mother always had her garden, and as kids, we helped her. It was fun. After serving in the US Army, I went to college (Ole Miss) on the Montgomery G.I. Bill, and by working in the work-study program. And my mother and sister helped me out when they could. I earned my degree. I sold my car in order to be able to pay the tuition my last semester. Didn't think twice about it. Was glad I had the old VW Bug to sell. I learned from my parents that if you want something, you must save for it, plan for it, work for it, sacrifice for it. These values were simply a part of the community where I grew up. You suit up, show up. We were a fairly typical family; some had more, some less. There was no welfare. Charity, yes. Welfare, no.
But meanwhile, the leftists- under Antonio Gramsci's fond gaze- have added to their list of aggrieved: feminists, gays, etc, and are now in the process of adding the latest victim to their rolls: the poor, religious Muslim. Remember, the Leftists are avoiding the position of being envied. They point the finger and shout: "Racist"- "Bigot"- "Muzzlers of the Muslims" - "homophobe". Puts the white guys on the defensive. The conservatives, who do want everyone to come up to a level of responsibility which ensures a peaceful, lawful community are painted as "elitists" - when it's actually the other way around: it's the elitists like George Soros who are trying to bring America down.
But the biggest difference in this latest victim is: they want to kill us, dominate us, take away our way of life. And the Leftist, Democrats can't wait to give away the store. Moderate, schmoderate, I don't want to hear how moderate you are, unless you are willing to stand on the line, and fight the wahhabi Islamists. The Islamists are liars, cheats, who have a world-vision in which there is no room for anyone else. To me, that sets them apart. I've studied, and continue to study CAIR's tactics. I also know that they are related to various terrorist organizations, like Hamas, and have been tried and convicted here in the US for those same ties to terrorist activities. And I've also got my eye on the ACLU, a communist-inspired organization of degenerate lawyers, who work ceaselessly to bring our nation to its knees.
I have blogged on this subject, emailed my friends on this very topic, and puzzled long over it. So, when I read this piece of information by Jack Wheeler, I was frankly relieved to hear what he has to say.
This is what Jack Wheeler at To The Point said recently. I will point you to the site, but unfortunately for me, it is a paid subscription site, so I glean what I can from the non-subscription part of his outstanding site.
Want to know why America's culture is not -- not -- going down the drain, why our cultural values are going to start getting BETTER and not WORSE? You must read this excerpt from "The Curse of the Xers" ... "Over the coming years, young Millennials (or Generation Y as some insist on calling them) will be pouring out of their teens and into their twenties to seize control of popular culture away from Xers. Say goodbye and good riddance to crotch-grabbing it's-cool-to-be-a-smartass sleaze. Say hello to music you can actually listen to (i.e., that's actually music), TV shows you can let your kids watch, and baseball caps worn normally. Trust me on this. American culture has not disintegrated, we're not going to keep heading down into a bottomless cultural barrel. We're in the bottom of a generational cycle that our country has gone through before and will again. Our nightmare of degeneracy will soon be coming to an end. Just remind yourself, though, before the next spectacle of Xer cynical ridicule drives you apoplectic, of all the Xers risking their lives right now in Iraq and Afghanistan so that we have the luxury and freedom to get mad at what's wrong with our culture. Some day years from now, one of them may need to become another Patton or Eisenhower, and we'll be quite thankful Xers are who they are."
So there you are. A man who believes this is just a generational thing, just as we saw generational differences when we took over from our parent's generation. Is he on to something? Or is it just too simplistic a notion? One wonders just what the "gen Y" will do. Too bad I won't be around to see it. But that's not for me to know.
In Washington DC it's just politics as usual. If this is just a Leftist thing, why did the Republic-ans stand by and let it happen?
The name of the game today is Western Values. I just have to suit up, and show up.
-No Apology
Monday, December 11, 2006
Cair is Hamas Shill
In light of the recent incident in Katy, Texas, and the airport incident in Minneapolis, I'm am running this story in full (for pictures of convicted CAIR founder, go to PipeLineNew.org). CAIR is nothing but a HAMAS front, whose terrorists are known throughout the world. HAMAS, whose goal is establishing sahri'a law in the US, has organizations in over 40 states. It's time to send them packing.
h/t PipeLinenews.org
Founder Of Texas CAIR - Ghassan Elashi's Sentencing Proves Group's Terror Ties
December 5, 2006 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org -
Flush with millions of dollars of Saudi funding and emboldened by the election of their candidate, Minneapolis Wahhabist Muslim convert Keith Ellison to Congress, the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR] has been moving ever more aggressively to wage cultural jihad against American society.
CAIR's goal?
Nothing less than the replacement of the U.S. Constitution with sharia - Islamic law.
CAIR's MO?
Manipulation of events [often creating them out of whole cloth, expressly for that purpose] employing a generally accommodative media to establish the impression that Islamophobia is pervasive in America, thus justifying the organization's existence as a group uniquely qualified to deal with such "discrimination."
CAIR then brings to bear its not inconsiderable legal assault team to brow-beat and intimidate private citizens, civic institutions as well as governmental entities into adopting a "speak, see or hear no evil," attitude to the organization's radical Muslim agenda at the risk of being labeled anti-Muslim bigots.
This is a clever and effective policy in present day America [itself a battlefield in its own distinct but related internal culture war pitting progressive secularism against traditional values] where critical thinking skills have been over-run by an intellectually deficient, kumbaya form of multiculturalism, where submission to the supporters of terror [dhimmitude] is deemed preferable to being labeled Muslim haters.
Under this template CAIR has become the defacto spokesman for North American Islam.
This has happened despite the tremendous discontinuity between CAIR's make-nice public pronouncements and the malevolence that lurks at its heart.
While it was almost completely ignored by the media the October 13 sentencing of Ghassan Elashi on 21 charges of terrorism, should represent a huge crack in CAIR's public persona, if only for the simple reason that Elashi was the founder of the Texas Chapter of CAIR, though his ties to terror go far beyond that.
Ghassan Elashi's 6 year sentence is the least of his legal worries right now because he is scheduled to go on trial, along with seven co-defendants again on July 16, 2007 before U.S. Chief District Judge A. Joe Fish [Texas] in a much more serious terror case, that of U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.
The Holy Land case is of great importance in that Ghassan Elashi is being charged with engaging in a conspiracy in which the now defunct [shut down by the Treasury Department's anti-terror funding investigation, "Operation Greenquest"] faux charity he created, the Holy Land Foundation was allegedly being used to fund Palestinian terrorism.
The Infocom prosecution is instructive as a case-book study in terror incorporated.
Infocom was a Texas based company, established in 1992 which engaged in the selling of computer systems, networking, telecommunications and internet services primarily to customers in the Middle East.
The company specialized in providing web hosting services to Islamist organizations such al-Jazeera but had a very large radical Muslim clientele here in the United States which included the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR], the Islamic Society of North America [ISNA], the Islamic Association for Palestine [IAP] and the American Muslim Society [AMS].
The company was owned and operated by Ghassan Elashi [VP Marketing] and his four brothers - Bayan - CEO, Basman - logistics manager, Hazim - manager of personal computer systems and Ishan [aka "Sammy"] - systems consultant.
The Elashi brothers and many members of their immediate family were named in the indictment that centered on them selling restricted products to federally designated terrorist entities as well as individual terrorists, specifically Mousa Abu Marzook.
Marzook is a high ranking director of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. He currently residing in Syria and his official title is Deputy Chief of Hamas' Political Bureau. Marzook is married to one of the Elashi brother's cousins, Nadia so the relationship between the Elashis and Hamas is far more than commercial, its familial.
Marzook was deported to Jordan from the United States in 1997 because of his terrorist ties. Israel had originally asked to have him deported for purposes of prosecution, but due to a combination of threats, subtle and not so subtle by Hamas it was decided that Jordan would be less problematic for all concerned.
Marzook is the key to understanding Elashi and by extension, CAIR.
In 1981 Marzook founded the Islamic Association for Palestine [IAP] in Texas. The purpose of the organization was to act as a public relations clearinghouse for Hamas. The IAP's corporate officers included Nihad Awad as President and Omar Ahmad as Press Attaché. The IAP also employed Ibrahim Hooper.
When it became obvious that IAP's mission had been compromised because of its close linkage to Hamas, CAIR entered the picture - a more media friendly kinder-gentler IAP, albeit with the same mission - so it is by no means coincidental that all three of IAP kingpins now hold equally important leadership roles in CAIR - actually to be precise, they are CAIR's founders - Nihad Awad is currently the Executive Director of CAIR, Omar Ahmad is Chairman of CAIR's Board of Directors and Ibrahim Hooper is CAIR's spokesman.CAIR was conceived as a shill for Hamas - even before it officially existed as a legal entity.
Noting the sinister ties CAIR has to Hamas, counter-terrorism expert Matthew Epstein testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism in 2003:
"Future CAIR leadership was present at the infamous "1993 Philadelphia meeting" which FBI documents describe as "a meeting in the United States among senior leaders of HAMAS, HLFRD [Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development] and IAP." According to FBI documents, the meeting was attended by future CAIR board chairman Omar Yahya Ahmed and future founding board member of the Texas CAIR chapter Ghassan Elashi."
Matthew Epstein/Investigative Project, testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security, September 16, 2003.
The FBI thought this 1993 meeting was so important in understanding Hamas' ties to potential domestic terror that they wiretapped the event and provided the following analysis:
"The overall goal of the meeting was to develop a strategy to defeat the Israeli/Palestinian peace accord, and to continue and improve their [HAMAS] fund-raising and political activities in the United States...The participants decided that for fund-raising purposes, the United States theater was very valuable to them. They stated they could not afford to lose it. In the United States, they could raise funds, propagate their political goals, affect public opinion and influence decision-making of the U.S. Government.[emphasis added] It was mentioned that the United States provided them with a secure, legal base from which to operate. The democratic environment in the United States allowed them to perform activities that are extremely important to their cause. In discussing financial matters the participants stated a belief that continuation of the Holy War was inevitable.
It was decided that most or almost all of the funds collected in the future should be directed to enhance the Islamic Resistance Movement and to weaken the selfrule government. Holy War efforts should be supported by increasing spending on the injured, the prisoners and their families, and the martyrs and their families."
CAIR was created the following year and organized along the lines discussed during the Philadelphia meeting; establishing the organization as an agent of holy war - jihad - against America.
You have Hamas' Mousa Marzook, Infocom, the Holy Land Foundation and Texas CAIR's Ghassan Elashi and Omar Ahmed, Nihad Awad and Ibrahim Hooper all engaged in furthering the agenda of the Palestinian terror organization Hamas and working in close proximity -ideologically, corporately and physically - to each other.
This establishes a chain of associations that should have proved fatal to CAIR long ago, only the reluctance of the media stands in the way of CAIR crumbling under the weight of its history.
Ghassan Elashi is the fifth, though arguably the most high level CAIR official to run afoul of U.S. terror prosecution, others include: 
Bassem Khafagi - former director of Community Relations for CAIR, plead guilty to bank and visa fraud and has been deported to Egypt. According to Fox News, "The FBI said Khafagi is a founding member of the Islamic Assembly of North America, a charity that purports to promote Islam...Federal investigators said the Islamic Assembly has funneled money to activities supporting terrorism and has published material advocating suicide attacks on the United States."
Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer - former communications & "civil rights" specialist for CAIR, according to AP "Royer...admitted helping members of the conspiracy join the militant Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks. He pleaded guilty to the use of a firearm in a crime of violence and aiding and abetting the carrying of an explosive during commission of a felony. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison."
Rabih Haddad - CAIR fundraiser, deported as a terror funder via his work for Global Relief Foundation an organization he helped found.
Siraj Wahhaj - CAIR advisory board member, named as an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the "Blind Sheik" Omar Abdel Rahman 1993 World Trade Center bomb plots by US Prosecutor Mary Jo White. Rahman is serving a life sentence.
CAIR continues to aggressively stoke the holy war/jihadist mentality outlined in the above noted 1993 Philadelphia terrorist strategy meeting. Towards that end they have befriended, campaigned for and raised a considerable war-chest for Congressman Keith Ellison, who is doing CAIR's bidding by insisting on taking the oath of office on the Quran and are pursuing a boycott and other nuissance legal action against McDonalds merely because of the restaurant's Jewish ownership.
CAIR is also party to innumerable "discrimination" lawsuits, the most public of which is the imam controversy with U.S. Air at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport.
Ringleader of the imams, Omar Shahin - who has serious ties to al-Qaeda - as noted in our December 1 piece Imam's Minneapolis Airport Stunt - Cultural Jihad was recently interviewed by Pacifica Radio's ultra-lefty Amy Goodman [this item forwarded to us by Beila Rabinowitz, Director of MilitanIslamMonitor.org] during which he admitted that CAIR was covering the imam's hefty legal costs.
IMAM OMAR SHAHIN: "Actually, CAIR is taking care of our case legal-wise. So if they contact us through CAIR, I'm not aware of that. But CAIR, Mr. Nihad Awad, is taking care of this case."Left unchecked, CAIR is positioned to wreak tremendous damage. Given the current drift of legal thought, adoption of hate crime statutes similar to those which are sending alleged "islamophobes" to prison in Europe are not that far off.
Adoption of such and consequent damage to the First Amendment would be only the most visible evidence of the organization's not-so-clandestine holy war.
Countless police departments, governmental agencies, schools, courtrooms, private employers and even military institutions have been dragged into grab-your ankles positions of dhimmitude by CAIR's muliticultural thought police, in training sessions mostly sanctioned by ignorant do-gooders who have an abysmal lack of understanding of the group promoting these tactics or the threat that radical Islam represents.
CAIR has been guileful in adopting the motifs and themes of America's civil rights movement because they afford the organization plausibility in matters that bear no relationship to the indignities that American blacks suffered.
Defeating CAIR is not only desirable it is essential and doing so really comes down to demystifying it.
Until decision makers are made to realize the group's origins, philosophy, terror ties and the unbelievably obvious manipulation of process it employs - using foreign funded legal assault teams to take advantage of constitutionally guaranteed freedoms in an effort to ultimately destroy them - we are essentially defenseless against the group's continuing jihad.
When are we going to get it - these guys are evil. Why do we allow Democrats to pander to these monsters?
One thing I know, though it pains me to say it: On the matter of standing up to the Jihad, there will be no help from the politicians, none at all. They are in fact, the problem. Red or Blue, makes no difference. Jihad is a fact here in America. Folks, it is up to you and me to make a stand. I began when I started this blog. But it is not enough. We have to take the fight to the Islamists.
-No Apology
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Because They Hate
Brigitte Gabriel is a couragous woman.
This video was
taken at a speech at Heritage.org. If you've not seen it, perhaps you should forego one TV re-run, and watch this. I just watched it, and though there was nothing on the video that I didn't already know, it has its own power, which comes through her.
Born in Lebanon of Christian parents, she witnessed the relentless onslaught into Lebanon by the Islamists of Syria, the PLO, Iran, and Saudi petro-dollars. By Hamas, by Hezbollah. And she is an American now, speaking out, telling us in America, "You better wake up". And she's right. Another thing she said was... The "moderate muslims" have claimed that the extremists have hijacked their peaceful religion of Islam. She asks: "Well, where are they and why aren't they speaking out?"
Have YOU seen any peaceful, moderate muslims out protesting that the rabid wahhabi imams have come in and taken over their mosques? Have you seen any moderate muslims out protesting the rioting and killing of a nun in Somalia over the Pope's almost casual reference to the violence of Islam. Have you seen any concerted effort on the part of moderate muslims to confront the violent extremists? Because all over America, the wahhabi extremists are taking over the mosques, right in the heartland of the good, old USA. And they are preaching to the muslim youth of these so-called moderate muslims, death to America, death to America. CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, puts on its concerned, patient face and is suing anybody who looks at a muslim the wrong way.
The ACLU, as usual, has their back. CAIR, with the blessing of Democrat (naturally) Keith Ellison, wants to make it a hate crime to even speak out against Islam. If you say you are a moderate Muslim who believes that the extremists have hijacked your peaceful religion of Islam, PROVE IT. Otherwise, shut up, and let us deal with the problem. Germany was full of good citizens who didn't necessarily believe Jews should be treated so shabbily, and you know, exterminated en masse. Lot of good it did the Jews. We are at war.
Brigitte Gabriel also founded the American Congress for Truth website . And she recently wrote a book, Because They Hate, (A survivor of Islamic Hate Warns America). (see picture)
I spend much of my days working for the 910 Group Forum. If you have an interest in joining the fight against a muslim take-over of our schools, our government, our country - this would be be a good time to get involved. We need all kinds of people, with a whole range of skills needed. Also check out our new blog, The 910 Group Blog.
The staff is swamped with people wanting to get in (really), so be patient - they will get to you, but security - yours and ours - is tight. No strip-searches, but they will vet you. The wait is worth it, because we have a very dedicated staff, some professionals, some like myself not professional, but nevertheless have a fire in the belly. I look forward to seeing you on the forum. My forum name is: no.apology.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
'Christmas' makes a comeback in public spaces
Public Nativity Scene on the Boston Common.
Part of the problem is misinformation, with cities and schools often unsure about what is constitutional. Of course, the ACLU is trying it's best to convince us we are wrong.By Jane Lampman Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
In the MonitorWednesday, 12/06/06
Who doesn't hanker for a return to a "real sense of Christmas" during the holiday season? Particularly after this year's Black Friday spree in which some shoppers walloped each other over discounted products. Everyone, of course, has their own take on what that involves. Is it a happy, if rowdy, opening of presents on Christmas morning? A family tree-trimming tradition or favorite holiday concert? Perhaps it's a quiet pondering of the biblical Christmas story. Or a sharing of a meal with the less fortunate.
To some long distressed by the secularization of the holiday - and particularly by the disappearance of the word "Christmas" and its religious symbols from the public domain - there is reason for cheer in 2006.
Signs have appeared of a "return of Christmas" in the culture. Big-time retailers including Wal-Mart, Macy's, Target, and Kohl's have responded to demands to resurrect a "Merry Christmas" theme in their stores. More cities are approving the inclusion of nativity scenes in holiday displays on public property. And film studios are releasing movies with a genuine biblical theme.
I am happy to report that in spite of the degenerates in the ACLU, Christmas is alive and well - and flourishing. It must really gall the Godless and faithless to have to face the fact that Americans like the Spirit of Christmas, and know, instinctively, that to let go of Christmas, is to smother that place in the soul which soars to unimaginable heights. No, we will keep Christmas. Go pick on Kwanzaa, if you insist on saving us from ourselves. This next article written by Reverend Jesse Peterson two years ago, it is obvious the the ACLU has not let up in its relentless pursuit of crucifying Christmas. Have a look at this:
Kwanzaa -- Racist Holiday from Hell
By Reverend Jesse Lee PetersonFrontPageMagazine.com
December 29, 2004
While public officials, schools, and the ACLU worked overtime this year to ban every vestige of Christmas from the public square, the recently invented holiday known as Kwanzaa is gaining in popularity among black Americans. These occurrences are not unrelated.
In an earlier time, blacks held a strong faith in God. But over the past 40 years, the black community has largely let God slip away. Sure the community has maintained the outer trappings of religion, but the solid morality at its core is nearly gone.
Enter a God-hating black racist named Ron Karenga. Born Ron Everett on a poultry farm in Maryland, Everett invented Kwanzaa in 1966, based on an African harvest festival (though it takes place during the Winter Solstice!), and celebrating the first Kwanzaa with his family and friends.
Calling himself “Maulana” (Swahili for “Master Teacher”), Karenga became a black nationalist at UCLA, and formed his group, the United Slaves (US) for the purpose of igniting a “cultural revolution” among American blacks. US members followed Karenga’s “Path of Blackness,” which is detailed in his Quotable Karenga: “The sevenfold path of blackness is think black, talk black, act black, create black, buy black, vote black, and live black.”
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When once asked why he designed Kwanzaa to take place around Christmas, Karenga explained, “People think it’s African, but it’s not. I came up with Kwanzaa because black people wouldn’t celebrate it if they knew it was American. Also, I put it around Christmas because I knew that’s when a lot of bloods would be partying.” (em mine)
So, Kwanzaa is a made-up, racist "holiday", by a black snake-oil salesman with a dark past, which I won't even get into. To read all about the scam, go to FrontPage Mag.
The intent of the Left is to make the strong, weak - make us doubt ourselves and what we hold true. It's the only way the multicultural ideology will work. If the Gramscian's hegemony isn't halted, America in it's zeal to push the "diversity" idea, will end up, balkanized, at each other's throats in diversity hell. Worse, the Islamists will simply walk in, take over our government, and begin to establish Shari'a law. Oh wait. Crap, they're already doing that, aren't they?
In William Buck's version of the RAMAYANA, it says:
The Truth upholds the fragrant Earth
and makes the living water wet.
Truth makes fire burn and the air move,
makes the sun shine and all Life grow.
A hidden Truth supports everything.
Find it and win.
Eleanor Roosevelt said:
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
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Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson is the Founder and President of BOND (the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny, www.bondinfo.org). He is also the author of the book “SCAM: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America”. For more information, please call 1-800-411-BOND (2663), or e-mail bond@bondinfo.org.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Gary and Joseph Nativity Scene - ACLU Version
Thanks to the ACLU who inspired this theme for this year's NEW and IMPROVED nativity scene...
Actually, this is Wild Bill's photoshop'd version of the Young Conservatives of Texas/s upcoming ACLU version of our Classic nativity scene, featuring...Gary and Joseph, with attendant three wise men (who can name them?)
Uh..you'll have to excuse me for a moment - I just threw up on my new pants.
Ok, here's the story...
Conservative Students to Display "ACLU Nativity Scene" AUSTIN, TX –
The Young Conservatives of Texas - University of Texas Chapter announced today that they will be displaying an “ACLU Nativity Scene” on the West Mall of the University of Texas campus on Monday and Tuesday, December 4th and 5th. The group’s intent is to raise awareness on the extremity of the ACLU, and bring to light its secular-progressive efforts to remove Christmas from the public sphere. The display, the first of its kind in the nation, will featurecharacters that are quite a bit different than the standard crèche.
“We’ve got Gary and Joseph instead of Mary and Joseph in order to symbolize ACLU support for homosexual marriage, and of course there isn’t a Jesus in the manger,” said Chairman Tony McDonald. “The three Wise Men are Lenin, Marx, and Stalin because the founders of the ACLU were strident supporters of Soviet style Communism. The whole scene is a tongue-in-cheek way of showing the many ways that the ACLU and the far left are out of touch with the values of mainstream America.”
The scene will also display a terrorist shepherd and an angel in the form of Nancy Pelosi.
“The ACLU and other left-wing extremist groups are working diligently to destroy American’s rights to the free expression of religion,” said Executive Director Joseph Wyly. “We’ve already seen in Chicago an attempt to censor the nativity by a city government this week. It’s just more evidence that there is a War on Christmas being waged by the far-left in this country.”
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Why are we letting these leftist freaks push us around?
"Run now by a radical homosexual, Anthony Romero, the ACLU spends its time and considerable resources suing communities to force the removal of nativity scenes from town squares, crosses from 50-year-old war memorials, suing the Boy Scouts to force them to use homosexual scoutmasters and suing the government over the treatment of terrorists.They have been defending the North American Man-Boy Love Association. I think we understand from the name what this group of degenerates stands for. The ACLU hates Christianity but loves Islam."
The Eastern Arizona Courier
h/t bantheaclu
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Young Conservatives of Texas at UT Austin
November 29, 2006
Contact: Tony McDonald, Chairman 512.923.6893
Kevin Potter, Director of Communications - 469.231.4327
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Muslims Seek Prayer Room at Airport
Same Circus, Different Clowns
By PATRICK CONDON Associated Press Writer
MINNEAPOLIS
Airport officials said Friday they will consider setting aside a private area for prayer and meditation at the request of imams concerned about the removal of six Muslim clerics from a US Airways flight last week.
You gotta give it to these clowns. They know how to play us.
Why do we have to give them a special prayer room? We already have meditation rooms in most airports. Stop giving in to these demands for special treatment. Can't we see that there is no end to this? They are training us to submit - submit to their needs, submit to their ideas, submit to their demands. And, there it is: submit to the will of Allah.A group of Somali clerics met with airport officials Friday and said they would attract less attention if they had a private area for prayer. Devout Muslims pray five times daily, facing the holy city of Mecca.
"When we pray, we don't want a problem. We don't want what happened last week," said Abdulrehman Hersi, an imam at Darul Quba mosque in Minneapolis, referring to six clerics who were barred from a US Airways flight in Minneapolis after drawing the concern of some passengers.
The clerics requested a meeting after both the US Airways incident and a recent flap over Muslim cabdrivers who didn't want to pick up passengers carrying alcohol.
"We are users of the airport, too, and we don't want to get into a situation where Muslims feel we are being marginalized at the airport," said Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul and the meeting's organizer.
Airport officials will accept the group's invitation to visit a mosque, airport spokesman Pat Hogan said.
"I think there's a mutual recognition that it would be helpful for there to be a solid understanding," Hogan said.
What will it take to stand up to this tyranny?
Here piggy, piggy
All snout and tail, the pink and brown pigs contentedly rooting in the wire pen behind Craig Baker's stone shop seem piggishly comic. They're racing pigs, after all, and that's got to be funny.
But few in the sprawling subdivisions along Baker Road are laughing.
These pigs are subtle weapons, here to show the new neighbors — the Katy Islamic Association — they aren't entirely welcome. Tension has been growing in this west Harris County community since September when the Muslim group announced it had purchased 11 acres south of Interstate 10 to build a mosque, school, community center and athletic facilities.
Hard feelings started when Baker met association officials, who, he said, advised him he should move his stone shop.
"They told me it was time for my family to pack up," said Baker, whose family has occupied its land since the early 1800s. "They said a mosque and a marble shop didn't go too good together."
Angered by the perceived insult and aware of Islamic dietary laws banning pork consumption, Baker responded by announcing he would stage weekly pig races on his Muslim neighbors' holiest day of prayer.
Well, the muslims say:
Really? Ah, let's not put it aside. We will see how this plays out. I plan on following this story because - well, because I want to. Expect some heavies to weigh in on this one."We came in with open arms ... ," he said. "There are so many good people in this area, we don't understand why we've gotten this treatment."
He added, "We're not about violence and terrorism. I can understand why people might be nervous. But come meet us. Let's put this petty pig business aside."
