A day in the life of a Moderate Muslim

BK blogged As most of you may know, RN, HS and I were verbally attacked this past Saturday by an elderly white couple. When news of the incident reached CAIR National, and furthermore that I, as a CAIR employee was one of the victims, I was told to issue a press release. So here it is. I have issued many press releases in the past, but it definitely felt weird writing one about myself :)

Also, I wanted to hear Don's comments about the incident. As someone who works for CAIR, my job and my efforts solely focus on promoting a positive image of Islam, condemning any violence wrongfully associated with it, and building bridges between mainstream society and Islam.

I have mixed emotions about CAIR. I have seen them doing some very good work, and then I have seen them stand up for some pretty extreme people. It is my assumption that they stand up for Muslims regardless of what they do. If I was a Muslim myself, I would find that good, since I would have someone to protect my rights. As a non Muslim, I would wish they would focus on protecting those that follow true Islam, and that they would speak out against the very small group that have hijacked that honorable faith, and misrepresent what is said in its Holy Book, the Qu'ran.

What happened to us was very, very wrong. And if I get the chance to send a message to those who used such harsh and unnecessary words with us, it would simply be this: Shame on you.
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In the Name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

AZ MUSLIMS ACCOSTED BY 'UNITED 93' VIEWERS
Women told: 'Take off your f***ing burqas and get the f*** out of this country'

That is totally wrong.

(PHOENIX, AZ, 5/2/06) - The Arizona office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ) reported today that several young Muslim women were verbally abused by two people who said they recently saw the movie "United 93" about one of the planes hijacked on 9/11.

The people that hijacked those planes and flew them into buildings also hijacked an honorable monotheistic faith. I dont recall anything in my Holy Bible about Islam, but if we look at their holy book, We are all "People of the Book" (or ahl al Kitâb) Surat Al 'Imran, 64 (Qur'an 3:64) says "O People of the Book! Let us rally to a common formula to be binding on both us and you: That we worship none but God; that we associate no partners with Him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than God."

The three Muslim women say a white middle-aged couple approached them on April 29 at the Desert Ridge Marketplace in Scottsdale, Ariz., and asked whether they were Muslim. After learning that the women were in fact Muslims, the couple indicated they had seen "United 93" and then said: "Take off your f***ing burqas and get the f*** out of this country. We don't want you in this country. Go home". Two of the three women are native- born American citizens.

I wonder if they were even wearing Burquas. I doubt it, if the couple had to ask if they were Muslims. My guess is they just had on hijabs (head scarves). My mother used to wear a head scarf, to protect her permanent wave, when she was alive; is it ok for a Christian woman to do that, but not for a Muslim woman to wear one because her faith requires it? A jew wears a yarmulka (or skull cap) in synagogue (and elsewhere) because his faith requires it. I believe a Muslim wears a skull cap for the same reason. Interestingly in the Christian faith we remove any headcovering when we enter a church. To tell the truth, I dont know why we do it one way, and both of the other monotheistic faiths do it exactly the opposite way. Since we all worship the God of Abraham I dont know why he wants to see our heads, but not the heads of Jews or Muslims, but I guess that is His business.

However whatever the three ladies were wearing, I would think that was their business.

"The couple's verbal abuse had obviously been prompted by their associating all Muslims with those who took part in the 9/11 terror attacks," said CAIR-AZ Office Manager Bushra Khan, who was one of those accosted by the couple. "The best way to prevent this type of stereotyping and intolerance is to educate ordinary Americans of all faiths about Islam and Muslims."

Khan said CAIR launched several post-9/11 educational campaigns to promote mutual understanding. CAIR's campaigns included a "Not in the Name of Islam" public service announcement rejecting terrorism and religious extremism, the "Explore the Quran" campaign offering free copies of Islam's revealed text to Americans of all faiths, the "Explore the Life of Muhammad" initiative, which offers free DVDs and books about the life and legacy of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, and the recently concluded "Explore Islamic Civilization and Culture" campaign that distributed materials about Islam to more than 8,000 public libraries nationwide.

I wonder if CAIR would be able to persuade the Saudi's to at least allow Christians in that country to have their own Holy Bibles.

A recent CAIR survey showed that just two percent of Americans said they were "very knowledgeable" about Islam. Some 60 percent of respondents said they "are not very knowledgeable" or "not at all knowledgeable" about Islam.

Have they run a similar survey among Muslims in this country, to see how knowledgable they were about Christianity and Judaism?

SEE: CAIR: American Public Opinion About Islam and Muslims.: Summary   Detailed Results (both PDF files)

A similar poll by the Washington Post and ABC News found that one in four Americans "admitted to harboring prejudice toward Muslims." That survey indicated that 46 percent of Americans have a negative view of Islam.

Unfortunately that is understandable, because the main things they read about in the paper are what people that call themselves Muslim are doing to innocent people. I personally believe that those people, who I call Islamoterrorists, have hijacked the Muslim faith just as they hijacked airplanes to fly into buildings, but we need see more moderate Muslims stand up and say what true Islam believes.

In Islam the word jihad means struggle. If all I knew was what the MSM says, I would assume that it means that Islam is in a continual struggle with all other faiths, and that it was not just acceptable, but required, that all Muslims had to try to kill every Jew and Christian they could reach. Actually I believe that for most Muslims, jihad refers to the inward spiritual struggle to attain perfect faith, but if I am right, then we need for organizations like CAIR to shout as loud as they can the real meaning of Jihad.

If all I knew was what I read and hear in the MSM I would think that Islam allows people to become suicide bombers and kill innocent people, even Muslims, an even promises them that doing so is how they get into Heaven (Paradise). Well Jesus tells me that it is wrong to kill innocents, so if all I knew was what the MSM tells me, I would assume that all of Islam was bad.

But I don't believe everything I hear in the MSM, and in reading the Muslim's Holy Book I see: Surat an-Nisa,093 (Quran 4.93) says "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him." Now that sounds more like it. It does not get them into Heaven, it gets them into Hell. But where do the clerics find a basis for telling them it gets them into Heaven?

Surah 9:111 says "Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who fulfilleth His covenant better than Allah? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph."

That sounds pretty bad, doesn't it. Especially if you just read the hilighted parts. But let us look at the rest.

"Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who fulfilleth His covenant better than Allah? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph."

First this verse does not say kill everyone you think God/Allah wants dead. Do you think that He does not have the power to take anyone He wants, when and how He wants?

Then this offer is made to those who fight in the way of God. What way is that? Well it is covered in the Torah and the Gospel as well as in the Qur'an. The Torah is the first five books of our Old Testament, and in it are the Ten Commandments, one of which is "Thou shalt not murder", so maybe it means if you are attacked you may defend yourself, and if you are killed you will see God. But not if you kill people for personal gain. And there are many places in the Gospel of Jesus where He says peace is the answer. He does recognize that occasionally violence may be necessary. Luke 22:36: He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one." But is certainly not the first choice, and it is not the way you get to Heaven (as their own Quran indicates, that will get you a special place in Hell. I am not sure how many virgins will be there waiting for you, but I would not count on 72. In fact having 72 wives, and 72 mothers in law, sounds like Hell to me.)

The Post's report on the poll findings quoted experts who say negative attitudes about Islam are "fueled in part by political statements and media reports that focus almost solely on the actions of Muslim extremists."

CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 32 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CONTACT: Bushra Khan, 602-262-2247, officemanager@cairaz.org

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Voting mandatory

Betsy Newmark A British think tank has come up with a truly stupid idea, one so dumb that I expect that some liberals will soon be endorsing it here in the U.S. They propose that Britain make mandatory for people to vote and thus stop the decline in voter participation.

What is the penalty if you do not vote? Do they take you off the voter rolls?

I suspect that the Institute for Public Policy Research, which bills itself as the "UK's leading progressive think tank" and is proud of how past research they've done has formed the foundation for the Labour Party's positions on issues, is more interested in increasing voter turnout for that party than voter turnout overall. And, if the UK is anything like the U.S., lower voter turnout is more prevalent in low income and less educated folk, those who are more likely to vote for the more liberal candidate who promises them more government largesse.

I would rather have voters have to pass a test in order to vote. Perhaps ask them 5 questions that someone must answer to become a citizen, and you must answer 2 or 3 right in order to vote.

In the United States, we have so many ways that people can participate in politics other than voting. They can sign petitions, participate in demonstrations, write letters to politicians, donate money, or helping campaigns.

Or become blogers.

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In Saudi Arabia, a Resurgence of Sufism

WaPo reported The centuries-old mawlid, a mainstay of the more spiritual and often mystic Sufi Islam, was until recently viewed as heretical and banned by Saudi Arabia's official religious establishment, the ultraconservative Wahhabis. But a new atmosphere of increased religious tolerance has spurred a resurgence of Sufism and brought the once-underground Sufis and their rituals out in the open.

I don't know that much about Islam, but I would think that it is a good sign Saudia Arabia is becoming more tolerant of different interpretations of Islam.

Analysts and some Sufis partly credit reaction to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States for the atmosphere that has made the changes possible. When it was discovered that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, the kingdom's strict Wahhabi doctrine -- which had banned all other sects and schools of thought -- came under intense scrutiny from inside and outside the country. The newfound tolerance Sufis have come to enjoy is perhaps one of the most concrete outcomes of that shift.

I hope that the Sufis are not as violent.

"This is one of the blessings of September 11. It put the brakes on the [Wahhabi] practice of takfir , excommunicating everyone who didn't exactly follow their creed," said Sayed Habib Adnan, a 33-year-old Sufi teacher. The government "realized that maybe enforcing one religious belief over all others was not such a good idea."

Will they take the next step and accept all People of the Book (Qur'an 3:64)

When Adnan moved to Saudi Arabia from his native Yemen four years ago, Sufi gatherings were often clandestine, sometimes held in orchards outside the city, or in basements and without microphones, for fear of drawing attention. "I couldn't wear this," he said, pointing to his turban. "Or this," he said, pulling at his white cotton overcoat. "Or I would be branded a Sufi. You couldn't even say the word 'Sufi.' It was something underground, dangerous, like talking about drugs."

Sufis here say they are not a separate sect or followers of a separate religion, but adherents to a way of life based on the Muslim concept of ihsan . Muhammad explained ihsan to the angel Gabriel as "worshiping God as if you see Him. Because if you don't see Him, He sees you." Another Sufi characteristic is a strong belief in the power of blessings from the prophet, his close relatives and his companions.

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Ramadi battle kills 100-plus insurgents

CNN U.S. and Iraqi troops killed more than 100 insurgents last week in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, a U.S. Army officer said Monday. Two Iraqis also died in the fighting, said Col. John Gronski, commander of the U.S. Army's 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 28th Infantry Division. No Americans were killed.

100 insurgents, 2 Iraqis, 0 Americans killed. I wonder what this does to Zarqawi's plan to change to an army confronting the American and Iraqi armies, rather than killing innocent civilians (which made him unpopular). He has a choice: unpopular or dead.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to reach out to insurgents, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said he has been meeting with seven armed groups in hopes of agreeing a deal to include them in Iraq's political process.

Ballots are better than bullets

None of these groups include people loyal to al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to a statement issued Sunday from Talabani's office.

I think the Grand Ayatollah Sistani is going to have to take care of that little popinjay

"These groups who are holding talks with the president are those who believe in a prosperous Iraq. Their will to fight America has waned," said a spokesman in the president's office.

If they are going to fight, they want someone easier to fight.

A source close to Talabani said the meetings have been under way for some time. The groups are realizing that Americans are not their true enemy, the source said, and that they have been "fighting the wrong enemy." "[These groups] are coming to the realization that one day the Americans will leave -- and that the most important thing is an Iraq that is free from Iranian influence," the source added.

Absolutely

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Vast majority believes Iraq mission not accomplished

CNN. Three years after President Bush declared major combat over in Iraq, Americans have strong doubts that the United States will fulfill the promise of his "Mission Accomplished" backdrop, a poll released Monday found.

The Mission Accomplished banner was on a ship, returning home, and it referred to the Navy's Mission, which involved the use of several air craft carriers flying a number of bombing missions every day. That mission was accomplished. Those carriers are no longer where they were, and very few, if any, bombing missions are flown today.

The CNN poll, conducted April 21-23 by Opinion Research Corporation, found that only 9 percent thought the U.S. mission in Iraq had been accomplished, while 40 percent believed it would be complete someday.

The rest must believe the Dems and the MSM will have their way, and pull us out before the mission is accomplished, so that Iraq can become a failed state. Which is totally stupid, since those same Dems and MSM think the Democrats will take over the government, and the Dems are totally unprepared to fight the sort of battle that they would then be faced with,

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Osama Needs More Mud Huts

Fareed Zakaria wrote in Newsweek Global Islamic terrorism is the product of scattered groups. It has much less support in the Muslim world than people think.

Then why must Hirsi Ali leave her home.

Imagine if a few months after September 11 someone had said to you, "Five years from now, in the space of a single week, Osama bin Laden will issue a new call for worldwide jihad, the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq will threaten a brutal, endless war, and there will be two terror attacks in Egypt." Chances are you would have been quite unnerved. Yet the most striking aspect of last week's news was the reaction to it—very little. Radical Islamic terror made big, violent and scary moves and—whether you judge it by media coverage, stock-market movements or international responses—the world yawned.

European countries are making some concessions in response to the violence they are seeing in their countries, and not throwing the violent people, ant those that encourage the violence, our of their countries.

Al Qaeda Central, by which I mean the dwindling band of brothers on the Afghan-Pakistani border, appears to have turned into a communications company. It's capable of producing the occasional jihadist cassette, but not actual jihad. I know it's risky to say this, as Qaeda leaders may be quietly planning some brilliant, large-scale attack. But the fact that they have not been able to do one of their trademark blasts for five years is significant in itself.

Just as when you are up to your ass in aligators it is hard to think about draining the swamp, it is hard to plan major acts of terrorism when your protectors, the Taliban, have been driven from power, and when there are troops from several countries trying to find what mud hut or cave you are hiding in.

Moreover, bin Laden's latest appeals have a very changed character. His messages used to be lyrical, sharp and highly intelligent. They operated at a high plane, rarely revealing anything about Al Qaeda's operations. In fact, intelligence agencies looked for small signs—an offhand reference, an item of apparel—to reveal where Al Qaeda would strike next. Bin Laden's most recent appeal is a mishmash of argument and detail, and seems slightly crazed. He has broadened his verbal attacks against the "Zionist-Crusaders" to include the United Nations and China. The latter he condemns because it "represents the Buddhists and Pagans of the world."

He has not been able to intimidate the US, maybe he thinks the Chineese will be frightened of him, and let him set up shop there.

Like Hitler crazily declaring war on the United States after Pearl Harbor, bin Laden is adding to his slew of formidable enemies: China was the only major world power that was unconcerned about him. (And his reference to the United Nations as a "Zionist-Crusader tool" would surely surprise most Israelis.)

That is certainly true. The UN has certainly not been a friend to Israel.

Bin Laden also makes some plaintive appeals to Muslims to rise up and attack the "crusaders" in the west of Sudan. This shows desperation because there are no "crusaders" in Sudan. The troops there are African Union peacekeepers. But more interestingly, the victims in Darfur are Muslim.

He does not care. Zarqawi learned that the Iraqis don't appreciate him killing other Muslims, but Osama has not learned that yet.

Bin Laden's real objective appears to be to support the government in Sudan—which once housed him—as it brutally exterminates tribes that oppose it. What does this have to do with Islam?

What does anything he says have to do with true Islam? He is looking for a country to house and protect him.

Most revealingly, bin Laden makes a parochial appeal for foreign aid, to help those Qaeda supporters in Waziristan who have been rendered homeless by Pakistani Army attacks. That suggests he and his friends are having a rough time. Strip away the usual hot air, and bin Laden's audiotape is the sign of a seriously weakened man.

Betsy Newmark blogged As Zakaria sees it, here we have the leader of the worldwide terrorist movement doing a telethon pitch for money for more mudhuts.

Add to that, a story that Captain Ed discusses about how Zarqawi is making a move away from terrorist attacks to forming an army to fighting more of a guerrilla war against the American and Iraq forces in Iraq. It's dawning on the guy that the terrorist attacks on civilians are not winning friends for him in the country.

Remember that he went to terrorist attacks on people going to work or buying dinner because they were stymied in their abilities to attack the military forces. Now he's returning to the first tactics that weren't working for him previously. This is not a sign of strength.

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Calling All Moderate Muslims

In an earlier post I asked "Why don't moderate Muslims speak out about things the radicals do." BK from My Rubix Cube replied Moderate Muslims are speaking out, all the time, but the problem is that mainstream media doesn't care to listen to us.

My response was I would recommend you get a blog and speak out there. Let some of us know about it, and we can link to your blog when something comes up.

I would like to go one step further. If you are a Moderate Muslim with a blog, and

• if you frequently blog about your faith, and how consistent it is and is not, with what the Jihadists are saying
• if you believe that Jihad refers to the struggle within the soul, to do what Allah would have you do,
• if you defend the faith from critics with words, not violence,
• if you believe that Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all "People of the Book" (or ahl al Kitâb) as Surat Al 'Imran, 64 (Qur'an 3:64) says "O People of the Book! Let us rally to a common formula to be binding on both us and you: That we worship none but God; that we associate no partners with Him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than God."
• if you can accept Christians and Jews as Surat al-Baqara, 136 (Qur'an 2:136) says Say ye: "We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them:" and Surat aal-E-Imran, 3 (Qur'an 3:3) says It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the criterion (of judgment between right and wrong)."

then I invite you to let me know. You can email me here if you would like for me to contact you for a comment whenever I post something about Islam, and if your blog supports trackbacks, and if you frequently post criticisms if the acts of the violent Jihadists, and you would like to be included, I am willing to set up a blogroll of Moderate Muslims, and encourage other bloggers to use it.

I am a Christian, and I take great pleasure in having Jesus Christ as my personal saviour, and I have absolutely no intention of changing my faith, nor do I proseletize and attempt to persuade others who are comfortable in their faiths to reject them and embrace mine. However I deeply respece Jews and moderate Muslims who worship the one true God, but who do not use violence to oppose those whose faith differs from theirs.

I expect to see both Jews, who follow the laws set down in the Torah, and Muslims, who follow the Five Pillars of Islam, in Heaven when I get there. I do not expect to see suicide bombers who kill innocents, because as their own Holy Book proclaims Surat an-Nisa,093 (Quran 4.93) says "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him."

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New Microsoft Browser Raises Google's Hackles

NYT With a $10 billion advertising market at stake, Google, the fast-rising Internet star, is raising objections to the way that it says Microsoft, the incumbent powerhouse of computing, is wielding control over Internet searching in its new Web browser.

Don't tel me they default to the MSN search instead of Google search. Isn't that surprising. NOT!!!

Google, which only recently began beefing up its lobbying efforts in Washington, says it expressed concerns about competition in the Web search business in recent talks with the Justice Department and the European Commission, both of which have brought previous antitrust actions against Microsoft.

The good old American way. Sue the bastards.

The new browser includes a search box in the upper-right corner that is typically set up to send users to Microsoft's MSN search service. Google contends that this puts Microsoft in a position to unfairly grab Web traffic and advertising dollars from its competitors.

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Why don't moderate Muslims speak out?

Why don't moderate Muslims speak out about things the radicals do. Could it be because of this item in Pakistan's Daily Times Anyone reporting an honour killing case to the police or filing a case with the court will be killed by the jirga (tribal court) since the publicising of such cases has brought a bad name to the area, Malik Faiz Muhammad, a member of the Nihag-Wari jirga in Upper Dir, said on Friday.

So the jurga (tribal court) authorized an honour killing, and promises to kill anyone that notifies the police, because it might bring a bad name to the area? If the person reporting it was a good Muslim, would the jurga still kill him? Surat an-Nisa,093 (Quran 4.93) says "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him."

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Seeking out the suicide bombers

BBC NEWS Anti-terrorist experts are floundering about trying to understand Islamic suicide bombers in the UK and the rest of Europe.... The conference sought to assemble "the puzzle that will help us better understand what determines and motivates the actions of individual jihadists." The puzzle however remained frustratingly in pieces.

They are illiterate people who are not able to read and think for themselves. Some cleric read them Surah 9:111 which says "Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. Who fulfilleth His covenant better than Allah? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph." and tells them that if they kill in the name of Allah, they will go directly to Paradise, but let us read that Surah more closely. Note it says they shall fight in the way of Allah. What is Allah's way? If he wants someone killed, can't he do it himself? Let us read further. binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an. So it is something in the Torah (the first five books of the old testament) and in the Gospel of his Son Jesus. Well let us set aside the Torah and the Quran, I can guarantee you that nothing in the Gospel of Jesus justifies Suicide Bombers. And the clerics that pull the wool over the eyes of the people they are trying to get to become Suicide Bombers, to blow themselves up, killing innocent people, in the hopes of killing someone the cleric does not like, certainly does not tell them about Surah 4.93 which says "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him."

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Celebrate tolerance, or you're dead

Macleans.ca Over in Sweden, they've been investigating the Grand Mosque of Stockholm. Apparently, it's the one-stop shop for all your jihad needs: you can buy audio cassettes at the mosque encouraging you to become a martyr and sally forth to kill "the brothers of pigs and apes" -- i.e. Jews.

That is nice. And in a major house of worship for the "Religion of Peace".

So somebody filed a racial-incitement complaint and the coppers started looking into it, and then Sweden's chancellor of justice, Goran Lambertz, stepped in. And Mr. Lambertz decided to close down the investigation on the grounds that, even though the porcine-sibling stuff is "highly degrading," this kind of chit-chat "should be judged differently -- and therefore be regarded as permissible -- because they were used by one side in an ongoing and far-reaching conflict where calls to arms and insults are part of the everyday climate in the rhetoric that surrounds this conflict."

And are you stupid enough to think that they will solve the conflict that way?

In other words, if you threaten to kill people often enough, it will be seen as part of your vibrant cultural tradition -- and, by definition, we're all cool with that. Celebrate diversity, etc. Our tolerant multicultural society is so tolerant and multicultural we'll tolerate your intolerant uniculturalism. Your antipathy to diversity is just another form of diversity for us to celebrate.

This is a lot of what piles up at the south end of a horse facing north. They are just to frightened of Muslims to let them get by with this sort of stuff. They need to understand that if they dont get people like that out of their country, they will no longer have a country.

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L.A. mayor picks NFL talks over immigrant boycott

Reuters reported Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles' first Latino mayor in the modern era, will skip huge pro-immigration rallies planned for Monday to meet with pro football officials in Dallas, leaving organizers feeling like "a ship without a captain."

He is smart. He knows that he could not be re-elected with just the Latino vote, and for him to look like he was responsible for something the organizers have said is a desire to cause severe disruptions to the city, would have been STUPID.

Oscar Sanchez, an organizer of the Great American Boycott in Los Angeles, said the mayor's office previously told the group he would speak at a downtown Los Angeles rally on Monday -- then backed out. Instead, the mayor will be in Dallas speaking with National Football League officials about the possibility of bringing a team back to Los Angeles.

The White Male vote must be bigger than the Latino vote

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Al-Qaeda leader plans an Iraq army

Sunday Times The leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is attempting to set up his own mini-army and move away from individual suicide attacks to a more organised resistance movement, according to US intelligence sources.

The suicide attacks are just ticking off the Iraqi citizens, who then turn in the terrorists, and they are running out of people willing to commit suicide. Apparently someone read Quran 4.93

Faced with a shortage of foreign fighters willing to undertake suicide missions, Zarqawi wants to turn his group into a more traditional force mounting co-ordinated guerrilla raids on coalition targets.

This is fantastic news. If we meet his army in the battleground, we will destroy him. His army can't even compete with the Iraqi army.

Al-Qaeda is sending training and planning experts to help to set up the force and infiltrate members into Iraq with the assistance of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the sources said.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard did not do that well against the Iraqi army when Saddam was in charge. Do they think they can do better against our army?

Jihad Watch blogged Al-Zarqawi planning to set up an Al-Qaeda army in Iraq with help from Iran's Revolutionary Guards. What's that? A Sunni group getting help from Shi'ites? Don't they realize that the learned Western analysts have told us that Sunnis don't work with Shi'ites? Al-Zarqawi must be some kind of simplistic Islamophobic propagandist with a magpie's knowledge of Islam garnered from armchair reading.

He certainly does not know that much about Islam. He has been killing innocent Iraqis (Muslims) and Surat an-Nisa,093 (Quran 4.93) says "If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him."

Marc blogged Faced with a shortage of foreign fighters willing to undertake suicide missions, Zarqawi wants to turn his group into a more traditional force mounting co-ordinated guerrilla raids on coalition targets. So, how's that working out? Not good, not good at all. The attacks raged for "hours", an Iraqi police official said, estimating that between 400 and 500 rebels took part. The result? At least 21 Iraqi insurgents and seven soldiers have been killed in fighting in the city of Baquba during which at least 43 insurgents were captured. It would seem Zarqawi's army is no match for Iraq's army. Meanwhile, Zarqawi's commanders are being killed or captured in droves. There are 4 major elements that are accelerating the defeat of al Qaeda in Iraq. The Iraqi army is now able to fight on its own and is taking the lead, citizens are increasingly turning in al Qaeda terrorists, local terrorists have delcared war on Zarqawi and the new Iraqi government will be seated in the next two weeks.

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Who Blew the Big Blow

Big Lizards blogged The easiest way to present the charges of incompetence, bureaucratic entanglement, and screw-ups from the Senate Homeland Security Committee's report on Hurricane Katrina is to post a couple of charts. Each of these charts was taken from the 20-page Executive Summary of the committee's report; I have included the page number of each "attaboy" or accusation entered on these charts, for those obsessive enough to double-check me.... Particularly noteworthy is the comparison of the "net evaluation" of each of the three branches of government;

And isn't it interesting how this analysis differs from what the MSM said.

I define this as the number of accusations of failure combined with the number of accolades for success for a net failure or success score. Here are the figures:

• City of New Orleans: 12 failures + 1 success = 11 net failures;
• States of Louisiana and Mississippi: 11 failures + 2 successes = 9 net failures;
• Federal agencies: 10 failures + 6 successes = 4 net failures;
• White House: 1 failure + 2 successes = 1 net success.

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Hirsi Ali, the Hunted

Peaktalk - HIRSI ALI, THE HUNTED Just to show how far Dutch tolerance goes: Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s neighbors have sued the Dutch state in order to get her to be removed from the apartment complex in which she is living under police protection.

She is the Somali-born Dutch legislator who lives under constant death threats by Islamic radicals because she speaks out about what they are doing and is an outspoken advocate for the rights of Muslim women. She is the author of The Caged Virgin : An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam. According to The Mercury News She would like to see a Muslim Reformation of the kind that remade European Christianity in the 16th century. Muslims need "to develop a different relationship, a different concept of God, of what God means," she says - not just total submission to God's will but "a dialogue with God." Such a reformation is more likely to emerge from the West, she said, because for reformers in Muslim societies "there is always the fear of being killed, of being shunned by your community, of being exiled, jailed, tortured.". The American Jewish Committee recently awarded this Muslim the AJC Moral Courage Award.

The request was initially rejected, but following an appeal a higher court has now ordered Hirsi Ali to leave her house within four months, I translate:

The court considers in its ruling that the neighbors have been put into a situation that has contributed to them feeling less safe in their own house. That feeling is extended to the communal living spaces of the apartment complex, but also to their own apartments. The court argues that this is a severe violation of one’s private life (as per Article 8 of the European Treaty for Human Rights).

A few things. Firstly, it should be noted that Hirsi Ali is now booted out of her own house by virtue of the European Treaty for Human Rights which does indeed supersede Dutch law. Many cases are adjudicated by referring to this treaty, but given the subject matter here I would say: Euroskeptics, go knock yourselves out.

Secondly, and this is the one that really bothers me, is that somehow Hirsi Ali’s neighbors self-interest runs so deep that they are prepared to use the court system to throw someone whose life is in danger out of her own house. It goes like this: we’re tolerant, we support free speech and a critical attitude, but if it comes too close to our front porch, sorry, we are no longer interested.

Rather than insisting that the police throw her out of her house, why dont they insist the police throw the Islamists threatening her out of the country. If they win here, they will just be back with further demands for capitulation from the Dutch authorities.

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Dana Priest Responds to Criticism of Secret Prisons Story

E&P printed Bennett either doesn't understand the law or is purposefully distorting it. He keeps saying that it is illegal to publish secrets. It is not.

Let's find out. Indite Dana Priest for printing what she printed, and the NYT reporter for printing about the wiretaps of Al Qaeda talking to their cells in the US, and let us see whether they go to jail or not. And if they don't let us strengthen the law.

There is a category of secrets that is illegal to publish--names of covert operatives, certain signal intelligence and nuclear secrets--but even with these, prosecution is possible only under certain circumstances.

Would you expose those if you did not think you would be prosecuted?

Beyond that though, he seems to be of the camp that the government and only the government should decide what the public should know in the area of national security.

Certainly if something is classified, it is not up to the press to decide it should be declassified.

In this sense, his views run contrary to the framers of the Constitution who believed a free press was essential to maintaining not just a democracy, but a strong, vibrant democracy in which major policy is questions are debated in the open.

Freedom of the press was to protect the opposition seeking to state its case, not to allow reporters to declassify government secrets. That is treason.

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St Luke's Reneges: Andrea Clark's Life Is Still In Jeopardy

Right Wing News I've just spoken with Andrea's sisters, Melanie Childers and Lanore Dixon, today, as well as Andrea's lawyer, Jerri Ward.

Unfortunately, St. Luke's has reneged on the deal. Lanore told me that about 20 minutes before Andrea was supposed to be moved to the Illinois facility, St. Luke's told the family the move was off. It seems that St. Luke's decided at the last minute that Glenshire Nursing & Rehab Centre in Illinois isn't equipped to care for Andrea, which is a bit puzzling, since Lanore told me they helped set up the transfer in the first place.

If the Illinois facility does not plan to kill her in the next week, they are better equiped to care for her than St Luke's is.

Did St Luke's refuse to transfer, or did they just withdraw their agreement to cover the cost.

If the former, then can they prove she would have died sooner in Illinois than in Houston? And if the latter, do they think that the bad publicity they will now receive will cost them less than the transportation cost sending her to Illinois?

This means that Andrea's life is still in danger. Jerri tells me that the hospital has only promised, in writing, to not pull the plug on Andrea on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. But, from Tuesday on, they're reserving the right to pull her life support at any time after giving "reasonable" notice to the family. Is there such a thing as "reasonable" notice that you're about to end an innocent woman's life against her wishes and the wishes of her family?

In any case, on Tuesday, the hospital has a meeting scheduled about Andrea and the one sliver of good news is that the family says they have a doctor with privileges at St. Luke's who is willing to go in and argue that Melanie is not medically futile. Whether that will make a difference is impossible to say at this point.

The bottom line here is that according to Andrea Clark's family, St. Luke's has not lived up to their end of the bargain and has only agreed in writing to extend Andrea's life one day beyond the old deadline of Sunday. That is absolutely outrageous, especially given the way that St. Luke's bragged about taking care of this issue to the Houston Chronicle, in an article that came out BEFORE the deal was cancelled

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DOJ jails Spam King

Valleywag reports Local hacker "Memehacker" IMed in with a scoop on Alan Ralsky, the famed "Spam King" covered by the Observer and the Detroit News. Here's the breaking story:

Valleywag: Tell me the scoop in three sentences.

Memehacker: Alan Ralsky is currently being held by the feds and his file is sealed for the next 72hrs by the DOJ. We are concerned that he is going to narq out the entire network since they have enough on him to send him to jail. This means hackers, spammers, anyone who has worked in spam legally or illegally for the last 5 years at least. The DOJ wants to do a dragnet, they have the top dog, but they want the whole system as well.

Wag: How many people could be in trouble?

MH: There is a risk of a huge network collapse in the hack scene. I couldn't estimate since I don't know who he has worked with, but it's a lot of people. Think of a huge pyramid with him at the top. He is one of the few people that has knowledge of a large part of the hackscene network.

Wag: What were Ralsky's biggest crimes? How would I explain this guy to my mom?

MH: Ralsky is known as the Spam King. He is one of the biggest spammers out there, his network and spamlists are huge. He is not afraid to use shady methods to bypass filters and to acquire new lists. He has been known to use the hack scene to help him spam and to get him new lists to work with.

Wag: What does he get out of ratting everyone out? And why didn't he do it in 2005 when he was raided?

MH: If he can cut a deal with the DOJ he may get a reduced sentence or even full immunity.

I hope he does not get full immunity, but if he can expose an entire network a reduced sentence might be ok. Give him probation for the rest, and if he begins spamming again, let him then serve the remainder of the term.

I don't know how much he has to offer them, but taking out a network as large as his would definitely give him some bargaining power. I believe this is still the same case as 2005, they just didn't have enough on him back then to really scare him. Shutting down his network is a lot less scary than jailtime, which was all they could do back then. We assume that it is more this time since the DOJ sealed the case. They don't do that unless they are planning to do something during that time.

Wag: How many people would get burned? How bad could the fallout be?

MH: It depends on who did what for him, or what he knows about people. I couldn't estimate, but currently a lot of people are very scared. It's not just about spamming, he knows stuff about other various activities in the hack scene.

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Unleashing the unfathomable power…

The Anchoress blogged Lots of people emailed me about these obnoxious and appalling cartoons depicting Jesus - on the cross - with an erection, and him kissing (presumably Judas) with more erections.

Yes, they are offensive. Yes, the cartoons fill me with revulsion. But Dean Esmay has the response, and because I agree with every word of it, I’ll just let him relay it:

“…as a classical liberal, I support their right to do so.

However, as a Christian, I’m deeply offended by this obscene mockery of my Lord and Saviour. So in response, I’m going to unleash my religion’s most powerful weapon:

I forgive them.”

God is Just and Merciful - I’ll trust Him to sort it all out. Meanwhile, it is probably good to pray for a soul who can even come up with such ideas in the first place.

This is a good example of the difference between the Islamists and Christians. The Islamists would burn embasies and businesses, and threaten to behead the cartoonists. This is because they are so weak in their faith that they feel violence is the only answer. But Dean and the Anchoress understand what Christ said, and while they are revolted by the cartoons, they forgive the cartoonist, and leave any further response to God. The Islamists may view that as weakness, but it is not. It takes a lot of strength to forgive someone who offends you as much as these cartoonists have. And the Islamists will see that strength first hand when Christ returns for the Final Battle.

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Global Jihad

Caroline B. Glick wrote on JWR The nature of the war being waged against Israel changed, perhaps irreversibly this week. Processes that have been developing for more than four years came together this week and brought us to a very different military-political reality than that which we have known until now.

The face of the enemy has changed. If in the past it was possible to say that the war being waged against Israel was unique and distinct from the global jihad, after the events of the past week, it is no longer possible to credibly make such a claim.

I never thought there was a difference

Four events that occurred this week — the attacks in the Sinai; the release of Osama bin Laden's audiotape; the release of Abu Musab Zarqawi's videotape; and the arrest of Hamas terrorists by Jordan — all proved clearly that today it is impossible to separate the wars. The new situation has critical consequences for the character of the campaign that the IDF must fight to defend Israel and for the nature of the policies that the incoming government of Israel must adopt and advance.... But today everything has changed. Israel, like Egypt and Jordan, is under the gun. Bin Laden himself made this clear in his tape this week. By placing Hamas under his protection, bin Laden made three moves at once. First, he announced that the Palestinians are no longer independent actors.

One wonders whether the Palestinians will accept that fact.

Second, he defined the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority as a part of the liberated Islamic lands where al Qaida can feel at home.

They need some place to call home, because the Iraqis certainly are not welcoming them.

Third, he hitched a ride on the Palestinian issue which is more popular in the Islamic world than the Iraq war, where al Qaida is apparently on the road to defeat. For his part, Zarqawi already announced his plan to go back to his old war and work to topple the Hashemites (and destroy Israel) last November, after he commanded the Amman hotel suicide bombings. Back then Zarqawi announced that Jordan was but a stop on the road to the conquest of Jerusalem.... In his manuscript, Adel laid out al Qaida's intentions for the third stage of the jihad. He explained that the organization needed new bases and was looking for a failed state or states to settle in. Darfour, Somalia, Lebanon and Gaza were all identified as possible options. As the American author and al Qaida investigator Richard Miniter puts it, "US forces together with the Kenyans and the Ethiopians have pretty much prevented al Qaida from basing in Somalia or Darfour. That left only Lebanon with all its problems with its various political factions, overlords and the UN. But then suddenly, like manna from Heaven, Israel simply gave them the greatest gift al Qaida ever received when Ariel Sharon decided to give them Gaza."

It was not a gift, out of his generous heart. He just found that it did not make sense to send a lot of military to die defending a handful of settlers.

Israel, he explains, provided al Qaida with the best base it has ever had. Not only is Gaza located in a strategically vital area — between the sea, Egypt and Israel. It is also fairly immune from attack since the Kadima government will be unwilling to reconquer the area.

Kadima is unlikely to want to reconquer Gaza, but now that there are no Jewish settlements there, it may decide to just carpet bomb the entire area, as a response to the rocket attacks.

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