US Judge Agrees to Grant Asylum to Ex-Israeli Spy

US judge agrees to grant asylum to ex-Israeli spy

By ELLIOT SPAGAT , reprinted in Anti-Mullah

SAN DIEGO—An immigration judge tentatively granted asylum Wednesday to the son of a Hamas founder who turned his back on his father's terrorist group and became a spy for Israel.

The ruling came after the federal government abruptly dropped concerns that Mosab Hassan Yousef was a terrorist threat.

Yousef, 32, was greeted by a small group of cheering supporters as he left an immigration detention center where the 15-minute hearing was held under heavy security.

He had argued that he would be killed if he was deported because he spied on Hamas for Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency and abandoned Islam after becoming a Christian.

"I will keep fighting the ideology that is behind terrorists because I know how they think," he told reporters in the parking lot. "I know that this is the real danger that is facing liberty, facing freedom, facing humanity."

The Department of Homeland Security initially denied Yousef's asylum request in February 2009, saying he had been involved in terrorism and was a threat to the U.S.

Kerri Calcador, a government attorney, gave no explanation in court Wednesday for the sudden change in the U.S. position.

Yousef said he could not explain the turnaround. His attorney Steven Seick said he was "totally surprised."

Four months ago, Yousef published memoirs in which he claimed to be one of Shin Bet's best assets while working as the Green Prince, a reference to his Hamas pedigree and the Islamists'


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In recent weeks, Yousef rallied support from members of Congress, national security experts and Christian groups.

Former CIA Director James Woolsey said deporting Yousef would discourage other potential spies.

"It is not an exaggeration to say that such an action would set us back years in the war on terrorism," Woolsey wrote in a letter released by Seick. "Mosab's deportation would be such an inhumane act it would constitute a blight on American history."

Immigration judge Rico Bartolomei said Yousef will be allowed to remain in the U.S. after he is fingerprinted and passes routine background checks.

Homeland Security said in a previous court filing that Yousef "discusses his extensive involvement with Hamas in great detail" in his recent memoir.

The filing cites a passage in which Yousef identifies five suspects in a 2001 suicide bombing to a Shin Bet official and admits driving them to safe houses.

The filing was not specific about the threat Yousef might pose to the U.S.

Yousef has said his spy work for Israel required him to do anything he could to learn about Hamas, and neither he nor Israeli officials knew the five people were suspects in the bombing when he gave them rides.

"Yes, while working for Israeli intelligence, I posed as a terrorist," Yousef wrote on his blog last month. "Yes, I carried a gun. Yes, I was in terrorist meetings with Yassir Arafat, my father and other Hamas leaders. It was part of my job."

Gonen Ben Itzhak, a retired Israeli intelligence officer who once supervised Yousef, had traveled from Israel to be the first witness at Wednesday's hearing. The judge, however, made his ruling before Itzhak took the stand.

"Basically, I wanted to say that Mosab was not a terrorist," Itzhak said later. "He was not affiliated with Hamas."

Israel has not commented on Yousef's claims, though members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee wrote to him this month to thank him for his work for Shin Bet.

In his book, Yousef describes growing up admiring Hamas and hating Israel. He said he bought machine guns and a handgun in 1996, but the guns didn't work and he was arrested by Israeli forces before he killed anyone.

Yousef says he started working with Shin Bet after witnessing Hamas brutalities in prison that left him disillusioned. He gravitated toward Christianity after his release in 1997, joining a study group after a chance encounter with a British tourist at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem.

He says he joined his father Sheik Hassan Yousef at many meetings with Palestinian leaders and reported them to Shin Bet. His father, a senior Hamas leader who is serving a six-year sentence in an Israeli prison, disowned him in March.

Yousef was free during his asylum case, settling in San Diego after coming to the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2007. He said he wants to become a U.S. citizen and pursue a master's degree in history or geography.

Palestinian Nazi Flotilla March

“Peace Activists” From Gaza Flotilla Flying Nazi Flag (hat tip Weasel Zippers)

The Mufti's dream lives............ then as now, the leftist/Islamic genocidal alliance.

Will Obama maintain his malevolent "neutrality?"

Louis Farrakhan's Hate Campaign Versus Jews

Disgusting. Radical Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan sent a letter to Jewish leaders asking them to repair the damage they have caused blacks for centuries.
The Washington Examiner reported:

Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan has written the leaders of more than a dozen major U.S. Jewish groups and denominations seeking “repair of my people from the damage” he claims Jews have caused blacks for centuries.

Farrakhan sent the letter along with two books from the Nation of Islam Historical Research Team that the 77-year-old minister said prove “an undeniable record of Jewish Anti-Black behavior,” starting with the slave trade and Jim Crow laws.

“We could charge you with being the most deceitful so-called friend, while your history with us shows you have been our worst enemy,” he wrote.

Farrakhan has long accused Jews of wrongdoing in speeches, but he has rarely addressed Jewish groups so directly in writing.

The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group which distributed copies of the letter, said in a statement Tuesday that Farrakhan’s “anti-Semitism is obsessive, diabolical and unrestrained. He has opened a new chapter in his ministry where scapegoating Jews is not just part of a message, but the message.”

Atlas Shrugs

Palestinians Denied Basic Human Rights in Lebanon

Today's Golden Oldie is a Dry Bones cartoon I did 20 years ago this month. Back in June 1990 we were trying to figure out how to absorb a flood of Jews from Russia pouring into the Jewish State. "Jews returning to the Land of Israel" is called "Aliya". It is Hebrew for "Going up". * * * Arab refugees are not welcomed in Arab states the way that Jewish refugees are welcomed by the Jewish state. The Arab world is divided into a set of bickering kingdoms, dictatorships, and theocracies. They are united only through the device of an agreed-upon common enemy; the Jews and the Jewish State. Their lip-service to Arab unity does not extend to welcoming Arab refugees as their brothers and sisters.

Consider the following, from an AFP report out of Lebanon just two days ago:

Palestinian refugees seek basic rights in Lebanon
June 27, 2010

BEIRUT — "Thousands of Palestinian refugees gathered on Sunday outside UN headquarters in Beirut to demand basic civil rights in Lebanon, such as a choice of jobs and ownership of property.

The protest organised by Palestinian and Lebanese non-government organisations was initially due to be held outside the parliament building in downtown Beirut.

"The police outside parliament usually ban any protest there," said Maher Shehadeh, one of the Palestinian organisers. So the protesters gathered instead several hundred metres (yards) away outside the UN headquarters.

Maher said 6,000 people were taking parting in the peaceful protest.

The Palestinians travelled in buses from Lebanon's 12 refugee camps for the Beirut gathering organised by Palestinian and Lebanese non-governmental organisations.

"Working is a right," "We want to live in dignity," read placards carried by the protesters.

"I have the right to own property," said another, summing up the frustration of the tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees who live in dire conditions in Lebanon."

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) lists almost 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, a country of four million inhabitants.

But Lebanese and Palestinian officials say the actual number may be as low as 250,000 as UNRWA does not strike off its list those who move to other countries.

The majority of UNRWA-registered refugees live in dire conditions in the camps across and are denied basic civil rights."

Dry Bones

EIRUT — Thousands of Palestinian refugees gathered on Sunday outside UN headquarters in Beirut to demand basic civil rights in Lebanon, such as a choice of jobs and ownership of property.

The protest organised by Palestinian and Lebanese non-government organisations was initially due to be held outside the parliament building in downtown Beirut.

"The police outside parliament usually ban any protest there," said Maher Shehadeh, one of the Palestinian organisers. So the protesters gathered instead several hundred metres (yards) away outside the UN headquarters.

Maher said 6,000 people were taking parting in the peaceful protest.

The Palestinians travelled in buses from Lebanon's 12 refugee camps for the Beirut gathering organised by Palestinian and Lebanese non-governmental organisations.

"Working is a right," "We want to live in dignity," read placards carried by the protesters.

"I have the right to own property," said another, summing up the frustration of the tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees who live in dire conditions in Lebanon.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) lists almost 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, a country of four million inhabitants.

But Lebanese and Palestinian officials say the actual number may be as low as 250,000 as UNRWA does not strike off its list those who move to other countries.

The majority of UNRWA-registered refugees live in dire conditions in the camps across and are denied basic civil rights.

Under Lebanese law, Palestinian refugees can not own property or hold most white collar jobs (doctors, engineers, lawyers, architects) and are stuck in low-paid employment.

They are also denied social security and medical aid in state hospitals.

"There are 10 to 15 of us who live crammed in our room. Our children have no future and those who are sick end up dying at the doors of hospitals," said Mahmud Rashid, a farmer from Rashidiyeh camp in south Lebanon.

Oum Rabih Ghneim who accompanied her husband to the protest from northern Lebanon said their home in the Nahr al-Bared camp was destroyed during deadly fighting between Islamists and the Lebanese army in 2007.

"We are not even allowed to buy a one-room apartment," in the northern port city of Tripoli, she said.

Sunday's protest came days after heated debate in parliament among MPs who support granting broader rights to the refugees, including the right to obtain social security, and others, including Christians, who expressed reservations.

Many politicians fear the permanent resettlement of refugees in Lebanon arguing that it would tip the fragile demographic balance in the country, where 64 percent are Muslim and 35 percent Christian.

Copyright © 2010 AFP

More Mohammadanism in the White House

White HOUSE abandons the 96% of Nepalese who are not Muslims for the 4% who are.

Naomi Ragen writes, "In Nepal, a small mountainous country in the Himalayas, Muslims make up about 4% of the population. Hindus make up 80%. So of course the US government is reaching out to the Nepalese Muslims and only to the Muslims. Don't the vast majority of the Nepalese - who are 96% non-Muslim - count for anything? In what alternate universe are US policy makers living?"

From the Himalayan:

DeLisi in mosque

KATHMANDU: US Ambassador to Nepal Scott H DeLisi said his country was committed to further engagement with the Muslim community in Nepal for cementing mutual relations and interests. Addressing a special event organised by Madrasa Islamiya School in Ghantaghar today, DeLisi said, "I am delighted that we have begun to build this relationship and I look forward to expanding our outreach programme in the months and years ahead."

Earlier, the US Embassy had organised the outreach programme for the country's Muslim community in December 2009, reaching more than 3,000 individuals in 19 areas. Stating that such contact between Nepali and US communities was a must to better know each other, DeLisi said he had served in Pakistan with a predominantly Muslim population.

"I have seen the strengths and challenges of Muslim communities first hand. Through our outreach, I hope to learn more and expand mutual understanding and partnership with the Muslim community in Nepal," he mentioned.

The outreach campaign was organised in collaboration with the Teacher Educators' Society, Nepal (TESON) to support dialogue with local Muslim communities, with whom the US Embassy historically had limited contact.

The US envoy said, "Our goal is not only to tell you about the United States but also hear from you about your challenges here. We know that we should understand your concerns and your hopes if we are going to be effective partners."

Atlas Shrugs

Death to Christians in Indonesia

The global jihad rages on.

Religion of peaceniks. I guess it all depends on what your definition of peace is. Perhaps Obama can help explain the definition. After all, this is the country of his youth. He did grow up on the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia. I wonder whose side he's on in this jihad .......... let's ask the Nepalese.

Indonesia: Nine groups of Misunderstanders of Islam threaten war over "Christianization" Jihad Watch

Enraged over rumors that Muslims have been baptized, a new coalition of nine Muslim groups is trying to mobilize every mosque in Bekasi -- numbering in the hundreds -- to go to war against the Christians. But surely the Vast Majority of Peaceful Muslims in those mosques will put a stop to this, won't they? Won't they? "Muslim Groups Talk War Over 'Christianization,'" by Ulma Haryanto in the Jakarta Globe, June 28 (thanks to Nicolei):

In a move that could add to already simmering religious tensions in Bekasi, a new group calling itself the Bekasi Islamic Presidium is planning a roadshow aimed at persuading every mosque in the city to prepare for the possibility of "war" against "Christianization."

The group, consisting of nine members representing different Islamic organizations in the city, was formed on Sunday, the last day of the Bekasi Islamic Congress at Al Azhar Mosque that was convened to address the so-called Christianization problem.

Among its recommendations is the formation of Islamic militant groups, or laskar, within each mosque and the drafting of Shariah-based policies by the Bekasi administration.

"All Muslims should unite and be on guard because ... the Christians are up to something," Mur­hali Barda, head of the Bekasi chapter of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), told the Jakarta Globe.

"Apparently they want to test our patience. We are planning to invite them for a dialogue to determine what they really want. If talks fail, this might mean war," he warned.

Murhali claimed that a certain Christian foundation had been relentlessly baptizing groups of people in the city, which has seen a number of religious conflicts in recent months.

"The last one was on Wednesday. A number of buses were seen dropping off people, some wearing jilbabs, at a house in Kemang Pratama district in Bekasi. When our people interrogated the security guard, he said they came from Jakarta and were there to be baptized," he said.

UPDATE: Obama is giving them 160 million for ........ climate change and "schools."

Atlas Shrugs

Starbucks Presents: Sarah McLachlan, Live from the Commons

Muslim Attacks Two Israelis in Berlin Disco

Two Israelis hurt at club in what police call an anti-Semitic attack. in a Berlin disco because of their nationality. The spokesman said the attack prompted the police to issue a statement terming the attack as “anti-Semitic.”

According to statements from two male Israelis aged 18 and 22, a Palestinian man was responsible for the assault. He asked the 22-year-old Israeli about his nationality, who replied that he is a citizen of Israel.

The Palestinian perpetrator choked the 22-year-old and punched him in the face. A Berlin police statement said that as the 18-year-old Israeli rushed to help his friend he was also struck by the Palestinian.

The assault took place in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain, a location popular among young Germans and Israelis for its lively bar and club culture.

The Palestinian fled the disco and tossed a beer glass at the 18-year-old Israeli. The police spokesman told the Post that the authorities are searching for the alleged assailant. In a bizarre twist, the disco's 43-year-old bouncer used pepper spray against the two Israelis,who eventually fled to their hotel and notified the police about the assault. The injured Israelis received treatment in a hospital.

The number of attacks on Jews in Germany has risen dramatically in June. Dr. Juliane Wetzel, a controversial member of a federally funded commission devoted to researching and combating anti-Semitism, prompted criticism by suggesting Israel is partially responsible for the attacks.

Atlas Shrugs

BP Slick Covers Dolphins and Whales.mov

Muslim Invasion by Intimidation at Lilburn, Georgia

Once unnoticed, the reality is impossible to avoid. The country is under siege. And as long as you submit and subdue yourselves to Islam and stay quiet, you won't be harassed, but fight Islamic supremacism and ........it's war.

Peaceful Georgia neighborhood requires around the clock police patrols after mosque expansion denied

An update on the Lilburn mosque - a replica of a shrine to a Muslim holy warrior in Iraq (where more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed). When expansion plans were denied, the harassment of infidels began, the legal jihad kicked in, and apparently the Islamic intimidation has continued. ROPMA.

Lilburn’s Hood Road carries new Gwinnett into old Gwinnett. The mile of asphalt begins with a mosque at U.S. 29 and turns into a byway of houses, trees and gardens.

But now, when the sun goes down, tension grows in this tidy, middle-class neighborhood.

Some residents opposed to a mosque expansion on Hood Road say for the past seven months, they’ve been the frequent targets of harassment, mostly by those they describe as “Middle Eastern men”. But a founder of the mosque says the claims are unfounded and the city’s mayor, who lives on Hood Road, hasn’t witnessed anything unusual.

Nonetheless, residents have reported vehicles traveling the road at night with occupants yelling, making obscene gestures, snapping photos, even confronting two women in their driveway.

Since November, when city leaders ruled against a local Muslim congregation’s plans to expand, the Lilburn Police Department has received 21 calls of suspicious activity along Hood Road.

Lilburn police officials say they have investigated every claim and patrolled Hood Road around the clock for two months starting in April, when reports started to escalate.

Still, residents say, the harassment is real. Some have installed security camera systems. Others are carrying guns.

“A lot of people are locked and loaded because they don’t know what’s going to happen,” resident Angel Alonso, 46, said. “We have a feeling somebody is going to get hurt.”

Residents say the harassment started Nov. 18, the same day the Lilburn City Council rejected the congregation’s proposal for a 20,000-square-foot mosque, cemetery and gym at U.S. 29 and Hood Road. The council’s decision has since sparked a federal religious discrimination lawsuit against the city.

n November, more than 400 residents packed the Gwinnett County courthouse to protest the rezoning. They argued it would pose traffic and parking problems and run afoul of the city’s land-use plan.

After the meeting in Lawrenceville, resident Janie Hood said she was followed and boxed in on U.S. 29 by a van and sport utility vehicle full of “Middle Eastern” males, according to a police report. The vehicles were pulled over. Hood didn’t pursue the matter further, the report said.

But Hood said she didn’t drop it. Since March, she said she has spoken three times to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office, which is investigating.

Now the 56-year-old Hood, whose father and grandfather built Hood Road, won’t sleep at her house at night, not since an attempted break-in in late December, she said. And on April 23, Hood said five vehicles pulled in front of her property. Two to three men exited and approached, according to a police report. Hood’s daughter, Christi Nichols, who feared for her safety, grabbed a firearm and told the men to leave, the report said.

“It’s getting worse and worse,” Hood said. “All we get from the Police Department is, ‘Stay in your house.’ We will stay in our house, but we should haven’t to.”

Atlas Shrugs

The Evil Ministers, Rabbis, Priests and Mullahs at Work

Maxwell Anderson's screenplay of the W. Somerset Maugham story. Joan Crawford. Walter Huston, William Gargan.

The pleasures of the flesh confront the discipline of the Lord's teachings in this screen adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's story Miss Sadie Thompson. Sadie Thompson (Joan Crawford) is a sassy streetwalker who lands in Pago Pago in the South Pacific after an epidemic grounds the ship on which she's booked passage. Sadie's shapely legs, free spirit, and quick wit soon attract the attention of a group of American soldiers stationed on the island; while most are motivated by simple lust, the naive Sgt. O'Hara (William Gargan) falls head over heels for Sadie, thoroughly unaware of her checkered past and shameful profession. Rev. Alfred Davidson (Walter Huston), a fire-and-brimstone preacher bent on bringing salvation to the soldiers, is fully aware of Sadie's occupation and moral code, and is determined to convince her to change her ways. Sadie slowly but surely is softened by Davidson's conviction, but the preacher soon finds himself affected by her sensual presence; O'Hara also learns the truth about Sadie, but hatches his own plan to reform her -- marriage. While a box office failure in 1932, Rain has gone on to become a cult favorite, thanks to Crawford's vivid performance as Sadie and director Lewis Milestone's adventurous visual style. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Liar, Liar, Pentagon Pants on Fire

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is committed to passing an emergency war supplemental before the July Fourth recess, Roll Call reports.

Let us be perfectly clear, as President Obama might say. There is no "emergency" requiring the House to throw another $33 billion into our increasingly bloody and pointless occupation of Afghanistan before we all go off to celebrate the anniversary of our Declaration of Independence from foreign occupation.

This fact - that there is no emergency requiring an immediate appropriation - is absolutely critical, because the claim that there is some "emergency" requiring an immediate infusion of cash, otherwise there will be some new apocalyptic catastrophe, is the means by which the Pentagon and the White House hope to dodge two sets of questions about the war supplemental urgently being asked for by Democratic leaders in the House.

Secretary Gates has complained that if the war money is not approved by July 4, the Pentagon might have to do "stupid things" like furlough civilian Pentagon employees. I am not in favor of furloughs, even of Pentagon employees (can we furlough someone who approves breaking into Afghans' homes in the middle of the night and killing pregnant women?), but as "stupid" goes, furloughing Pentagon employees doesn't hold a candle to laying off public schoolteachers, which is the likely consequence of allowing the Pentagon and the White House to dodge their critics in the House.

The war funding proposal has been sitting in the inbox for six months. What kind of "emergency" is that? The $33 billion represents about five percent of the gargantuan Pentagon budget. The Pentagon can live with a little more delay, while we get answers to some urgent questions.

The first set of questions the Pentagon and the White House want to dodge can be crudely summarized as: now that we've dumped McChrystal, what the hell are we doing in Afghanistan?

Yesterday, 30 members of the House sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi, demanding that the questions about the war raised by Michael Hastings' Rolling Stone article be answered before the House votes on the Pentagon's request for more money.

According to Hastings' article, "Instead of beginning to withdraw troops next year, as Obama promised, the military hopes to ramp up its counterinsurgency campaign even further." A senior military official says, "There's a possibility we could ask for another surge of U.S. forces next summer," (emphasis added) which is a pants-on-fire contradiction to the promises made when the last increase of forces was announced. Meanwhile, McChrystal's Chief of Operations, Maj. Gen. Bill Mayville, said: "It's not going to look like a win ... This is going to end in an argument." If it's going to end in an argument anyway - Mayville is surely right - why shed more blood? Don't we have a right and obligation to demand a straightforward and concrete accounting of what the additional bloodshed is purportedly going to achieve?

Ninety-eight Members of the House - almost a quarter - have now signed on to legislation demanding that President Obama establish a timetable for military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Shall the House not debate establishing a timetable for military withdrawal before voting on more money for pointless killing?

The second set of questions the Pentagon and the White House want to dodge can be crudely summarized as: what the hell is the federal government doing about Main Street's economic crisis? While it is not the responsibility of the Pentagon to do something about Main Street's economic crisis, it is the obligation of the Pentagon to defend more Pentagon spending as the best use of public resources, at a time when states and local governments are looking at mass layoffs of public employees, including schoolteachers.

This is the question that House Appropriations Chair Rep. David Obey (D-Wisconsin) put on the table when he said he would sit on the war appropriation until the White House acted on House Democratic demands to unlock federal money to aid the states in averting a wave of layoffs of teachers and other public employees.

But on money to save teachers' jobs, the White House is still Absent Without Leave, hiding behind the purported threat of a Senate filibuster, just as it did on the public option for health insurance. If it fought for teachers, the White House could win. But it isn't fighting, because unlike the war funding, teachers' jobs are not a White House priority.

If we want this to change, Obey has to be able to make good on his threat. And that means the House has to be willing to call the Pentagon's bluff.

Truthout

Keep Your Hands off Social Security

The Social Security Trustees' Annual Report on the program's finances comes out Wednesday, delayed from March by the health bill. It will be turned into a marketing tool by advocates of cutting Social Security to reduce the national debt.

Among those, the president's newly appointed National Commission on Fiscal Reform (the "debt commission") is threatening to strangle the economic lifeblood of seniors by denying the solvency of Social Security and then using the solvent funds for other purposes.

It's an illusion that cutting Social Security would reduce the deficit. If the new report does not point out that the money seniors have given to Social Security keeps it solvent through 2043, and after that 80 percent funded, it's a propaganda fraud for defunders.

Moreover, that future shortfall is only a blip - a point missed by nearly all media. After the Baby Boomers reap their Social Security benefits, since those Boomers have had the fewest children ever (2.1 per couple vs. the current 2.7 rate), the system will return to full solvency because it will pay benefits to fewer people.

To cut a national deficit by cutting Social Security, which does not have a deficit, is theft from seniors who have paid in. If a bank told a customer, "Sorry. We've spent your money on other items," would anyone accept that or say: "Fine, you made money on my money but you still owe me mine. Pay up."

The debt commission is littered with politicians and industry CEOs who have a history of wanting to scale back Social Security benefits. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., told us in an interview, "The commission is loaded with billionaires who want to convert Social Security's money to business."

Commission Co-chairman Erskine Bowles is linked to Wall Street as a Morgan Stanley board member, and Honeywell CEO David Cote to the defense industry, both of which would benefit from Social Security's money. Will these captains of industry stand up for people who need Social Security the most? Or look for ways to transfer its money to defense and stocks?

Co-chairman Alan Simpson, along with Dave Camp, Judd Gregg, Tom Coburn and Mike Crapo, made statements supporting cutting or privatizing Social Security. Sen. Richard Durbin told "bleeding-heart liberals" to be open to Social Security cuts. Alice Rivlin co-authored a 2005 report titled Restoring Fiscal Sanity that advocated $47 billion in entitlement cuts, including an "increase in the retirement age under Social Security."

Why could the administration not appoint former Connecticut Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly, president of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security? Or Al Gore, who famously said he would protect Social Security in a "lockbox"? Or expert "policy wonk" Bill Arnone, a partner at Ernst & Young, co-author of the firm's retirement planning guide, a spokesman for the positive economics of Social Security?

The program remains indispensable in enabling the 38 million senior citizens over 65 nationwide and 3 million in Florida to live their lives in dignity. Without Social Security, nearly half of Americans age 65 or older would be below the poverty line. For two-thirds of the elderly, Social Security provides the majority of their income. For one-third, it provides nearly all.

We need the courage of the late Florida Congressman Claude Pepper. In 1978, when Commerce Secretary Juanita Kreps suggesting raising the retirement age, Rep. Pepper and House Social Security Chairman James Burke ran over for a meeting, and Rep. Pepper said they would "fight it to our death." Ms. Kreps suddenly said the proposal hadn't been drawn up.

The debt commission has plenty of options. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the military needed to cut its "gusher of defense spending." Congress could also scale back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy to the levels they were under President Clinton and could get rid of tax breaks for U.S. corporations doing business overseas. The deficit needs to be cut, but not at the cost of our seniors.

During a 2006 speaking tour, every time President Bush spoke of his plan to privatize Social Security, his approval ratings dropped. His advocacy of cuts helped cost Republicans the Congress. While up a hair recently, the market has lost 20 percent since 2000. Voters knew that would have meant 20 percent less food on the table for seniors or money for electricity. President Obama should not let the commission make the same mistake, or this time it will cost him and his party.

Robert Weiner was chief of staff of the House Select Committee on Aging, chaired by the late U.S. Rep. Claude Pepper, and a senior public-affairs director in the White House. Jonathan Battaglia is policy analyst at Robert Weiner Associates.

All republished content that appears on Truthout has been obtained by permission or license.

Robert Greenwald: Support Grayson's Peace Party

"Extremely intelligent black woman" calls for assassination

exterminate white people

Bush vs. Grayson: CongressmanWithGuts.com

GULF-OIL-VOLCANO-A DEADLY BUBBLE

Joe Henderson - Once I loved

NTEB: Muslim Leader Admits Islam Not a Religion of Peace

Judge in oil spill case sells energy stocks - Disaster in the Gulf - msnbc.com

Judge in oil spill case sells energy stocks - Disaster in the Gulf - msnbc.com

Huckabee: Geithner "might as well be wearing an adult diaper, waving a white flag, and saying, 'America gives up' " | Media Matters for America

Huckabee: Geithner "might as well be wearing an adult diaper, waving a white flag, and saying, 'America gives up' " | Media Matters for America

Christians Arrested in Dearborn, MI (David Wood, Nabeel Qureshi, etc)

Dearborn Police: Defending Islam against the Constitution

Neo Nazis March anti-Jews in Vienna

It seems fitting that the Muslims would kick off their Jewish genocidal campaign in Austria, land of Hitler's youth and rise power.

Hurry Up Harry caught the whole goosestepping, blood lusty march by the Muslims calling for the annihilation of the Jews and exalting the anti-Christ himself, Hitler. Good luck with Europe. Good luck with a Jew-less continent overrun with warlike Muslims.

I wonder how torsion is in the new Europe..............

Jew Hate March in Vienna Hurry up Harry

f neo-Nazis would march in Vienna with a poster proclaiming “Hitler wake up”, the left-liberal Viennese weekly Falter would not describe this as “strange demand”, but ask why the police allowed this slogan (a criminal offence in Austria) to be shown unhindered in public. But when it reported a demonstration organized by anti-imperialist “activists” on June 1st, they found the demand “Hitler wake up” only “strange”.

The big pro-Hamas demonstration in Vienna on June 4th was different from demonstrations in other European cities. One of its main speakers was Omar al Rawi, a Social Democratic (SPÖ) member of Vienna’s local parliament (Wiener Landtag), who is also “Integrationsbeauftragter” (officially responsible for the integration of foreigners) belonging to the Muslim religious community of Austria. Omar al Rawi, who is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, spoke in front of about 10,000 demonstrators shouting “Israel – murderers” who waived “Israel – child killer” banners.
Atlas Shrugs

OBAMA DOESN'T WANT YOU TO SEE THIS

Islamic Law Comes to Dearborn

Islamic Law Comes to Dearborn Pamela Geller, Human Events

Is it illegal to preach Christianity to Muslims in America now?

Acts 17 Apologetics, a Christian evangelistic group, was banned from passing out fliers at this year’s Arab Festival in Dearborn, Mich., but they went to the festival anyway and ended up getting arrested.

On Saturday, I got this message from David Wood of Acts 17: “Muslims threatened to kill Nabeel [Qureshi, an ex-Muslim and David’s colleague] and me if we showed up again at Arab Fest in Dearborn, so we went there yesterday. They didn’t kill us. Instead, police arrested us and we got to spend a night in jail (along with two others who were video recording us).”

Wondering if they were arrested for passing out fliers in defiance of the ban, I asked David about the ban. He answered, “Yes, we’re banned from handing out literature, but we didn’t do that. We followed the rules, and still got thrown in jail. They flat out lied about us. We can prove they lied with the video footage (just like last year), but the police took our cameras and won’t let us have the footage. There’s major oppression of anyone who criticizes Islam.” Last year, Nabeel, David and friends went to the Arab Festival and filmed a video that went viral. It is amazing to see in that video what happened in America. It was free speech under siege.

Nabeel and David were harassed and intimidated, aided and abetted by law enforcement. Said David and Nabeel: “The conclusion of this video is a mob of festival security attacking our cameras, pushing us back, kicking our legs, and lying to the police. We ask you, is it a coincidence that the city with the highest percentage of Muslims in the United States is the city where Christianity is not allowed to be represented (let alone preached) on a public sidewalk?”

Read the rest of my article here.

Honor Killing - USA

Feroz Mangal and Khatera Sadiqi were shot by Khatera's brother as they sat in a parked car at the Elmvale Acres shopping plaza .

Decoy Jews

Dear G-d in heaven, look what it has come to.

Dutch police use 'decoy Jews' to stop anti-Semitic attacks Telegraph hat tip Urban Infidel

Dutch police are to use "decoy Jews", by dressing law enforcers in Jewish religious dress such as skullcaps, in an effort to catch anti-Semitic attackers.

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Lodewijk Asscher, Amsterdam's mayor, has ordered the new decoy strategy to cut the number of verbal and physical attacks on Jews, amid fears that anti-Semitic "hate crime" is on the rise.

"Jews in at least six Amsterdam neighbourhoods often cannot cross the street wearing a skullcap without being insulted, spat at or even attacked," according to local reports.

Police in the Dutch city of Gouda have claimed the use of officers disguised as apparently frail old age pensioners has helped cut street crime.

"If we receive several reports of street robbery in a certain location, we send out the granny. That soon quietens things down," said a spokesman.

Secret television recordings by the Jewish broadcasting company, Joodse Omroep, broadcast at the weekend, have shocked Amsterdam, a city which prides itself on liberalism and which is home to the Anne Frank museum.

The footage showed young men, often of Muslim immigrant origin, shouting and making Nazi salutes at a rabbi when he visited different areas of the Dutch capital.

Honor Killing

Another young woman tortured and murdered to add to the gruesome gallery..... The horror of these young girls, terror stricken victims, who live in homemade concentration camps, is given the imprimatur of the West in its complicit silence -- the urbane face of bloodthirsty savagery. The West looks away and more girls lead desperate, brutal lives. The "Feminists" look away, and pretend it is outside the realm of women's rights -- leftist tools of Islamic jihad. These useful idiots are on someone's payroll, or they fear Islam. Either way, get out of the way. Shame on all of you for failing our women, our children, our girls, our very way of life. How dare they throw away our superior culture with both

When we die as martyrs - Palestinian Children

Muslim Slaughters Five-Year-Old Boy Like a Goat

Obama says, respect it! Obama says, redirect all foreign policy and massive aid to Muslim countries. Obama says, relinquish American sovereignty to the OIC-driven international law. Obama grovels to this barbarism and savagery.

Five-year-old Ukrainian boy slaughtered by Muslim shouting "Allahu akbar" Jihadwatch

And authorities are worried that this horrific slaughter will "ignite tension" -- instead of calling upon the Muslim community to renounce once and for all any and all teachings involving any kind of violence against Infidels. "Ukrainian Boy, 5, Slaughtered 'Like a Goat' by Religious Fanatic," from NewsCore, June 22 (thanks to DJM):

A 5-year-old Ukrainian boy was slaughtered by an alleged religious fanatic as he played in a sandpit with his friends, Pravda reported Tuesday.

The stranger strolled up to little Viktor Shemyakin before pointing to a tree and saying: "Look, there is a bird up there."

When the youngster glanced upward the maniac plunged a knife into his throat, Pravda said.

The June 18 killing has threatened to ignite tension in the town of Dneprovka, in Ukraine's Crimea region, after it emerged that the 27-year-old knifeman was a suspected Muslim fanatic, the Russian online newspaper reported.

The victim's three-year-old sister Lena Shemyakina and her five-year-old friend were among a group of young children who witnessed the horrifying attack.

Viktor's mother, named only as Angelina, heard their screams and ran out of the house to find her child lying in a pool of blood.

Police arrested the prime suspect, named by Pravda as Server Ibragimov, three hours later at his parents' house, where he was reportedly hiding in the loft.

He allegedly confessed to the crime, telling police that he was ordered to kill the boy by spirits.

"The man screamed Allahu Akbar (Arabic for 'God is great') when killing the boy, "said a shocked local. "The kid was slaughtered like a goat."

Other residents of the town said that the man had serious mental health issues.

Atlas Shrugs

Ingrid Haebler: Nocturne in A flat major, Op. 37, No. 1 (Chopin)

Louisiana Teaparty Celebrates Lifting of Moratorium

Executed Political Prisoner Shirin Alam Hooli & her letter ''I am Hostag...

"How Republicans Would Govern"

Angle: Unemployed are "Spoiled"; It's not my job to fight for Nevadans' ...

A Setback for Tidal Energy Project in Nova Scotia

So calm is the solar farm as its grid of thousands of panels bask gloriously in the sun. Quiet. Serene. You can almost smell the Tropicana suntan lotion. Wind turbines have it a little harder with unpredictable gusts and changing wind direction putting immense stress on blades, gears and other compenents. But of all these renewable sources, those that must rest in the ocean have it the toughest. Storms. Pounding waves. Salt. And who knows what else?

It’s why it comes as no surprise when attempts to capture the energy of our oceans don’t go as planned. The latest news comes out of Nova Scotia, where the province’s power company and partner OpenHydro Tidal Technology are trying to capture tidal energy in the Bay of Fundy. OpenHydro recently placed a 400-tonne, six-storey turbine in the Bay of Fundy, home of some of the most awesome and powerful tides in the world. Earlier this month, the two companies discovered that the harsh ocean environment had broken two of the turbine’s blades. The massive 1-megawatt machine is now scheduled to be removed sometime this fall. We’ve seen this story before with demonstration projects from Verdant, Pelamis Wave, Finavera and others. It’s not the technology doesn’t work, it’s that we haven’t been able to prove the technology can last for 20 or more years in service. The ocean is unforgiveable, as builders of offshore oil platforms and offshore wind projects known. That said, this is exactly why these demonstrations and pilot projects are so important. Unless we can test the many news wave, tidal and riverbed designs entering the market, we’ll never learn how to improve their designs. Computer modelling and simulations can’t replace real-world testing.

Alternative Energy Blog

He's Obama, he's Black, so Shut Up

I received this message on Twitter from a black female, “Lloyd Marcus “F--- you!”, in response to my opposition to Obama. This woman is obviously a non thinking racist who refuses to take an honest look at her black idol president.

She has chosen to ignore Obama's long list of offenses of shredding the Constitution, governing against the will of the American people and using Chicago thug tactics.

All this black woman knows is Obama is the chosen one and he is "black". So shut up! Whites who dare to criticize or question Obama are racist and blacks who “don't get it” are Uncle Tom traitors to their race.

One would think such small minded racist thinking would be limited to the uneducated, non achievers and welfare entitlement junkies.

Unfortunately, I personally know highly educated and successful fellow blacks who feel the same about Obama as the knucklehead who sent me the “F--- you!” note.

Frustrated, I keep fighting the urge to confront my usually rational, wise and intelligent black associates, “What is the matter with you? Have you become brain dead?”

Then, reality hits me. No amount of truth about Obama will change the minds of these poor racist souls who have become disciples of their Grand Holy One, His Obamaness.

Next they will sell all they own, shave their heads, dress in black tunics and wait for the mother ship to arrive and fly them all to a utopia known as “The Black Planet”.

Admittedly, I am having a little fun at their expense. However, the Bible does tell us that when people want to believe a lie, no amount of truth will change their minds.

Jesus told a parable about a rich man who ended up in hell. He asked God to send someone to warn his brothers so they would not suffer his fate. God told the rich man the gesture would not work because his brothers would never believe the truth.

I am encouraged that more and more blacks are awaking from their “let's put a black guy in the White House, Obama, night of the living dead” trance.

They are saying, “Dear Lord, this is not the hope and change I voted for!”

Sadly, there will always remain a racist America hating element who will faithfully worship Obama no matter what. I pray that we America and Freedom loving patriots will out number them at the polls in November.

Lloyd Marcus (black) Unhyphenated America.

Anti-Mullah

The Ethnic Cleansing was from Kosovo

This is what our sons and our daughters fought for when Bill Clinton sent our troops into Bosnia to fight for the Muslims and kill the Christians.

Yes, we fought our allies in World War II, the Serbians, to pave the way for a militant Islamic state in the heart of Europe.

Serbs were once the majority in Kosovo, but today Kosovo is 97% Albanian. Who, then, was being “ethnically cleansed”? Within months of Albanians getting their NATO assistance against Serbia, they were on to Macedonia, where they now use the same arguments: that they’re being discriminated against and frozen out of jobs even though they hold government office and occupy the western half of the country as Greater Albania marches on, with U.S. blessing.

The “policy of repression, of ethnic cleansing, of systemic rape, pillage and murder” that Walker cites about Belgrade far better describes how the Albanian hyper-nationalists whom we side with were running the province for three decades leading up to Milosevic’s crackdown. But that’s been the trick all along: invert what was done to Serbs with what was done “by” Serbs, as Daniel Greenfield wrote for the website “Israel e-News” upon Kosovo’s independence: “Kosovo and the Palestinian Authority are both triumphs of terrorism, victories by racist nationalists whose aim has always been religious and ethnic cleansing, who have nevertheless managed to portray the countries they have torn to shreds as racist nationalists practicing ethnic cleansing.” (more here)

And now the US is supporting an independent state for Muslims in Kosovo, in the heart of Europe.

You can't make this stuff up.

Atlas Shrugs

United Nations Defines Censorship as a Human Right

The United Nations believes that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has a “human right” to impose censorship on the media to “promote (Muslim) religious tolerance.” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will even hand over funds for the OIC to ensure that strict censorship on the media will be enforced when reporters shed a negative light on radical Islamic militants that include, Osama bin-Laden, al-Qaeda, the Taliban, al-Shabaab (Somalia) and Abu Shayaff (the Philippines).

According to Fox News, “concerns about censorship were raised after the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which has tremendous sway in the United Nations, successfully pushed through a resolution that creates a watchdog to monitor how religion is portrayed in the media.”

The OIC claims it will enforce religious tolerance by ensuring that the (Muslim) religion is not mocked. An incident occurred when Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed instigated Islamic riots. Yet, the United States and the European Union members on the council voted against the resolution, worrying that it will censor the press and assault freedom of expression.

As reported by Fox, “the resolution now opens the way for the Human Rights Council to select a special investigation on religious freedom to “work closely with mass media organizations to ensure that they create and promote an atmosphere of respect and tolerance for religious and cultural diversity.”

The UN loves to use irony when implementing new policies. Mr. Ban appointed a so-called “Human Rights Council,” to be the media watchdog to impose censorship. Meanwhile, the UN hires and appoints investigators to seek and punish whistle-blowers and aid in cover-ups of corruption by initiating “sham” investigation inquiries. The UN also hosts “Transparency Summits,” even though Mr. Ban is notorious for hiding internal UN documents from public scrutiny.

Lola Albright - How High the Moon

Broken Border: Ft. Hancock, TX: Feds Abandon Americans to Mexican Violence

Pamela Geller, The Post American Presidency, in the Washington Post Book Review - Atlas Shrugs

Pamela Geller, The Post American Presidency, in the Washington Post Book Review - Atlas Shrugs

Hate speech or Free speech? Geert Wilders on trial

Arab Festival 2009: Sharia in the US

Dems' Political Landscape Not Improving

Dems' Political Landscape Not Improving

Maritime Martyrs: The truth about the Mavi Marmara

Killing a Muslim Who Converts to Christianity is not a Crime

A group of Afghan Christian refugees, who escaped to India to save their lives, describe the hardships they face in their homeland, where Muslim converts to Christianity are put to death. They call on the international community to put pressure on the Afghan government to spare those sentenced to death.

We have no business over there where our military engagement sanctions this religiously mandated unspeakable barbarity. The central tenet of our great nation is freedom -- of religion, from religion, to religion, etc. Our freedom campaign, here in the states, is under constant attack as offensive. Why? Protecting a minority from supremacism is offensive?

Asia Times

Atlas Shrugs

We have lost our way.

Afghanistan: Muslim Converts to Christianity Convicted and Sentenced to Death… Weasel Zippers

Why are American troops (who are overwhelmingly Christian) fighting and dying for an Islamic regime that executes people simply because they’ve converted to Christianity?…

New Delhi (AsiaNews)– VijayKumar Singh, from the India Bible Publishers and the Delhi Bible Fellowship, has launched an appeal to the Christians of India and the world to pray and express their support for Afghan Muslim converts to Christianity who were convicted on conversion charges and sentenced to death on 31 May.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Sing said, “We need Christians’ help all over the world to stop the Afghan government from arresting Dari-speaking Afghan Christians and condemning them to death by public execution.

Afghans consider their country to be 100 per cent Muslim. A local TV station, Noorin TV, recently broadcast a documentary showing photos and videos of secret “Afghan Christian Converts”, which revealed names and showed the faces of alleged Afghan Christian converts. This was enough to spark riots and demonstrations throughout Afghanistan with protesters demanding strong action to enforce the Afghan constitution, based on Sharia, arrest the culprits, and execute anyone who renege his or her religion in favour of another.

A number of prominent public figures also spoke out on the matter, calling for immediate action. One lawmaker even said that killing a Muslim who converts to Christianity was “not a crime”.

WHEN THEY LIE - Alan Grayson

Apologize to BP?

When BP CEO Tony Hayward testified before Congress this morning, many expected to hear him apologize for the disaster his company has caused. Instead, GOP Congressman Joe Barton was the one saying he was sorry -- to BP.

In his opening statement, Barton, the top Republican on the committee overseeing the oil spill and its aftermath, delivered a personal apology to the oil giant. He said the $20 billion fund that President Obama directed BP to establish to provide relief to the victims of the oil disaster was a "tragedy in the first proportion."

Other Republicans are echoing his call. Sen. John Cornyn said he "shares" Barton's concern. Rep. Michele Bachmann said that BP shouldn't agree to be "fleeced." Rush Limbaugh called it a "bailout." The Republican Study Committee, with its 114 members in the House, called it a "shakedown."

Let's be clear. This fund is a major victory for the people of the Gulf. It's a key step toward making them whole again. BP has a responsibility to those whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated by the disaster. And BP oil executives don't deserve an apology -- the people of the Gulf do.

Stand with us to show that the American people support holding BP accountable -- and we won't apologize for doing so.

Rep. Barton and Republicans like him don't understand that the real tragedy is what's happening to the people in the Gulf Coast. They're the ones who deserve his apology -- not BP.

But big oil knows exactly who its allies are. And if Republicans win control of the House, Rep. Barton could be chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- overseeing regulation of the oil and gas industry.

Notably, companies like Halliburton -- the folks responsible for cementing the Deepwater Horizon rig -- are directing their political committees to deliver thousands of dollars to GOP candidates this cycle. Barton himself has received more than $100,000 from the oil and gas industry this election cycle.

Barton should apologize to the people of the Gulf and he should step down as the highest-ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Adding your name to our open letter is one of the best ways you can show him and other Republicans that they weren't elected to defend big oil.

Sign the open letter today:

http://my.barackobama.com/NoApologies

Thanks,

David Plouffe

Rep. Joe Barton Apologizes To BP For $20 Billion Claims Fund

President Maddow's Fake Oval Office Address on BP Oil Spill & Energy

The Thin Man Trailer (Powell, Loy)

Jon Stewart Bashes Obama as Hypocritical Enemy of Civil Liberties

Jon Stewart Bashes Obama as Hypocritical Enemy of Civil Liberties

Death Row - Iran

#IranElection #HumanRights I'm Habibollah Golparipour, a Kurdish Activist sentenced to DEATH in Iran. I was charged with being a Mohareb. Please do whatever you can for Habibollah! Be his voice! Write letters, sign the petition (http://bit.ly/bvfhNI) do whatever you possibly can! NOT ONE MORE EXECUTION! Free Iran!

Caught on Tape - Police Officer Punching Woman Resisting Arrest

Eleventh Grader Strangled in Honor Killing

At least Aqsa's murderers won't go free, as did Amina and Sarah Said's murdering father and brother, Yaser and Islam Said. Aqsa's father and brother have pleaded guilty to her cold blooded, pre-meditated murder. Aqsa, dear one, can now rest in peace.

School friends of Aqsa Parvez say they knew that one day they'd be told the 16-year-old would be fighting for her life.

Aqsa's school chums at Applewood Heights Secondary School say she wanted to break free from the cultural restraints imposed by family.

Friend Dominiquia Holmes-Thompson, 16, said Aqsa told her something could possibly "happen."

"She was scared to go home," she said.

Aqsa had recently been staying with a friend and wanted to return home

Aqsa had recently been staying with a friend and wanted to return home to get her belongings, friends said.

'REGULAR CLOTHES'

They said this year the Grade 11 student began taking off her hijab, a traditional headscarf, as she headed to school and put it back on when she returned home.

Friends said her father allowed her to wear "regular clothes," but only if she wore the hijab.

"She wanted to dress like us," said one girl. "To be normal."

"Yes, we were really worried" about Aqsa returning home to get her clothes, Dominiquia said.(more here)

Atlas readers did a righteous thing for Aqsa and victims of honor killings worldwide in planting the Aqsa Parvez memorial grove in American Independence Park in Jerusalem, after discovering that Aqsa was lying in an unmarked grave in accordance with the dictates of Islam. (Honor victims shame the family.)

Father and son plead guilty to murdering Aqsa Parvez The Star (hat tip Marinka)

Muslim teen’s death prompted debate over hijab

In a stunning development, Aqsa Parvez’s father and youngest brother admitted on Tuesday they strangled her in her bedroom.

Muhammad Parvez, 60, and son Waqas, 29, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 16-year-old Mississauga high school student’s death on the morning of Dec. 10, 2007.

At the time, Aqsa’s death sent shockwaves through the GTA prompting heated debate on the hijab, the challenges of integration for newcomers, and whether or not her death was the GTA’s first crime of honour or a horrible case of domestic violence.

Atlas Shrugs

We Will Not Submit to Islam

We Will Not Submit!

June 16, 2010, New York, N.Y., – by El Marco

On Sunday, June 6th, a multi-ethnic, multi-racial coalition of Americans opposed to Islamic violence and intolerance rallied at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.

9/11 families were joined by immigrants from India, Russia, Egypt, Israel, Africa, Iran and Europe to show opposition to the construction of a mega-mosque at Ground Zero. Others flew in from overseas to speak or just to share their particular ethnic communities’ experiences at the hands of moslems.

These are parents and spouses of firefighters killed on 9/11. The rally took place just a minute’s walk from Ladder 10 Firehouse, where their loved ones were stationed for duty that terrible day. Ladder 10 lost seven firefighters.

These are parents and spouses of firefighters killed on 9/11. The rally took place just a minute’s walk from Ladder 10 Firehouse, where their loved ones were stationed for duty that terrible day. Ladder 10 lost seven firefighters.

These are parents and spouses of firefighters killed on 9/11. The rally took place just a minute’s walk from Ladder 10 Firehouse, where their loved ones were stationed for duty that terrible day. Ladder 10 lost seven firefighters.

Crowd estimates ranged from 5,000 (NYPD) to 10,000. The crowd overflowed the police barrier enclosures that ran the full length of two city blocks. This photo shows the enclosure in front of the stage at the intersection of Liberty and Church Streets. The second enclosure ran the length of the next block and can be seen on the other side of the traffic lights.

Human Rights Advocates Protest Ground Zero Mosque

Hindu human rights activists Narain Kataria, Prasad Yalamanchi and unidentified friend came from Mississippi and Chicago with banners and flyers highlighting the radical statements of imam Rauf and his jihadist roots.
After the World Trade Center attack, Islam consolidates its victory.

Bumbling Bloomberg Confronted by ground Zero Mosque

Photo credit: El Marco

It takes a special kind of stupid, a deluded delusion, or perhaps being hardwired for denial, that the Mayor of New York City would surrender to the enemy in the war of ideas by insisting on a triumphal mosque on the burial ground Ground Zero. It's wrong. Period. It is an insult, a humiliation to the victims, their families, to America. It is an Islamic pattern to build giant mosques on the cherished sites of conquered lands. This is the final victory for the 911 jihadists.

In the following exchange, it is clear Bloomberg is uncomfortable with his own position, and rightly so. Americans are repulsed by this Islamic flag of conquest, as was made clear by the close to ten thousand great Americans who showed up to the SIOA protest against the monster mosque on June 6th (we will be back out there marching on City Hall September 12th). Video highlights here.

Bloomberg can stop it. He controls the landmarks commission; he could easily do the right thing and keep his politically correct hands clean at the same time.

Shelomo Alfassa confronted the Mayor over the mega mosque at Ground Zero, and the Mayor exploded. While attending the June 15, 2010 annual invitation-only Jewish Heritage Dinner at Gracie Mansion, the New York City mayor's symbolic home, Alfassa had an astonishing and unforeseen run-in with Mayor Michael Bloomberg regarding the proposed controversial mosque at Ground Zero.

"MR. MAYOR, NO MOSQUE AT GROUND ZERO!" The mayor's face immediately became somber. He quickly disregarded his elderly constituent and in a serious tone, while staring me directly in the eye, leaned forward, pointed to my face and said matter-of-factly, "If we don't let them build a mosque, we won't be able to build a temple!" Some in the crowd gasped. I quickly responded, "But we don't need a temple-that's not the issue, a mosque is a symbol of jihad victory." While still standing in the crowd and amongst his staffers, which attempted to shuffle him away, the mayor suddenly lurched forward, walked right up to me and with a perturbed voice and stern eyes, said what sounded like "we need to allow it." "But mayor, this is my field of study, and I am telling you, they are building it as a symbol of victory over us." At that time the mayor's staff shuffled him away but not before the mayor looked back at me, obviously annoyed that I raised the subject with him in public. His staffer also asked me to "just drop it" as the mayor was whisked away.

I was in emergency management for 15 years. For several years I was a deputy commander of a federal emergency response team which existed to respond to terrorist attacks. I was also one of the rescue workers at Ground Zero. Today, I am an historian and my field of study includes life in Islamic Spain. What the mayor does not understand, is that a practice associated with conquering Islamic armies was the construction of a mosque at the location where their triumphant battle was won.

There is a New York based Islamic organization seeking to build a mosque at the site of the 9/11 attack-an attack which was carried out by 19 Muslim hijackers who considered their mission holy war. A Muslim house of prayer, cemented in the ashes of catastrophe at the foot of New York's lost Twin Towers, would be a symbolic victory flag for Muslims who seek the destruction of America. The mayor needs to realize that no matter how the construction of a mosque at 'Ground Zero' may be perceived by well-meaning Americans, the construction of a mosque on the spot where Al-Qaeda brought jihad to the United States will unquestionably represent victory
Atlas Shrugs