In the name of Allah

Posted by Mustang with the permission of Always on Watch

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) recently published an al-Qaeda training manual, discovered by The Metropolitan Police in the home of a terrorist in Manchester, England. To read the manual, click on the link (above) to read it as a PDF document. There are several chapters, but I have decided to include only a few snippets — enough to wet your appetite to learn more about the people we are dealing with. I have made a comment after each quotation.

“The confrontation that we are calling for with the apostate regimes does not know Socratic debates, Platonic ideals, nor Aristotelian diplomacy. But it knows the dialogue of bullets, the ideals of assassination, bombing, and destruction, and the diplomacy of the canon and machine gun.”

Now with respect to the foregoing statement, I have to assume that these people are either (1) pathological liars, (2) consummate propagandists, or (3) sadly misinformed about the chronology of Arab hostility. Except for the most ideological, anti-democratic, and ignorant, everyone else is clearly aware that Arab terrorists, professing a belief in this so-called “peaceful religion,” hijacked airliners, murdered passengers, murdered athletes while they were sleeping in their beds, blew up embassies and innocent passers-by, attacked American peacekeepers in Lebanon, detonated explosives outside of barracks and housing facilities of innocent westerners working in Arabia, attempted to sink a United States Naval Vessel, ambushed soldiers who were engaged in a mission to feed the starving, and flew aircraft filled with innocent passengers into the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and a field in Western Pennsylvania. Any Arab who proclaims that westerners do not observe the fundamental principles associated with civilized societies, given the above series of murderous incidents, is either mentally deficient or utterly delusional.

“Islamic governments have never been, and will never be established through peaceful solutions and cooperative councils. They are established as they always have: with pen and gun, by word and gun, by tongue and teeth.”

The amazing part of the foregoing paragraph is that it follows the first series of accusations. I do not think I have ever seen a more contradictory series of statements in my entire life (other than, perhaps, the Democratic Party platforms (1964—2004). I must confess that I am presently leaning toward the conclusion that Arabs are simply unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood — which makes them pathological liars.

“Military Organization Requirements

The military organization dictates a number of requirements to assist it in confrontation and endurance. These are:

> Forged documents and counterfeit currency
> Apartments and hiding places
> Communications means
> Transportation means
> Information
> Arms and ammunition
> Transport”

Ah. So the religion of peace seeks to destroy non-believers, Christians, and the People of the Book through deceitful means? I’m shocked. And what is the mission of the soldiers of Peace?

“The main mission for which the military organization is responsible is [sic]

The overthrow of the godless regimes and their replacement with an Islamic regime.
Other missions consist of the following:

> Gathering information about the enemy, the land, the installations, and the neighbors.
> Kidnapping enemy personnel, documents, secrets, and arms.
> Assassinating enemy personnel as well as tourists.

> Freeing the brothers who are captured by the enemy.
> Spreading rumors and writing statements that instigate people against the enemy.
> Blasting and destroying the places of amusement, immorality, and sin; not a vital target

> Blasting and destroying the embassies and attacking vital economic centers.
> Blasting and destroying bridges leading into and out of the cities.

Well then, in the name of Allah, these people seek to make war upon the “enemy,” which of course is any non-believer of Islam, and those who do but who just happen to get in the way because, after all, the murder of a fellow Muslim is excused when in the course of holy war.

Naturally, being of average intelligence, I am having a difficult time understanding the mind-set of people who think that somehow, God will be merciful to them when they behave with such impunity against the laws of God. They are certainly throwbacks to barbarianism, and it is hard to imagine that they have any redeeming value whatsoever. The significance of this “training manual” is that it has been part of the program of terrorism for much longer than the three decades of recent contemporary history. We should only expect the worst from those who do not hesitate to blow up school buses full of children, or who dance in the streets in celebration of the murder of more than three-thousand innocent souls. They are vermin — fit only for extermination. If they want to meet Allah, our military forces must continue to be committed to accelerate that meeting. Those of us who are living peacefully at home also have an important responsibility: We must vigorously watch over our communities and our neighborhoods (including our schools and shopping centers) because these barbarians have made it clear that even our children are the “enemy.” For a glimpse at just how dedicated Arab terrorists are in infiltrating democratic societies to do their evil work, please take a look at this recent report from the Center for Immigration Studies.

Or, is it just me?

XPost: Social Sense

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My Road Trip And My Guest Blogger

It's time for my end-of-summer road trip in the Mustang GT convertible. For the time my husband and I are cruising the back roads of our beautiful nation, this blog will be managed by my friend Mustang of Social Sense.

My friend Mustang, retired from active Marine Corps service and a former high-school teacher, is a versatile writer. I know that he'll do an excellent job here at Always On Watch while I'm out on the road.

My guest-blogger will be doing all the work here while the wind blows through my hair.

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Planned Utopia

From time to time, I hope to feature some of my homeschool students' work here on this blog. The author of this essay is seventeen years old and recently won honorable mention in a nationwide contest sponsored by C-Span. A political conservative and a Christian with a talent for writing satire, he has submitted this essay as the first student work presented here.

Planned Utopia

I have many reasons to thank God for my life. I thank Him for my home, my parents, my cars, my musical instruments, my food, and my electronics. I also thank Him for one thing in particular – for not living in a planned community. Planned communities started to grow in the 1960’s during the uprise of socialism. One of the most famous planned communities, Reston, Virginia, is twenty minutes from my home. In Reston the iron fist of the neighborhood associations maintains tight control over the social order.

The most recent experiments of planned communities originated in the 1960’s when socialism became popular. While hippies were gaining attention in the media and forming communes, planned communities started to dot the landscape with wannabe Frank-Lloyd-Wright style houses located on streets with occultlike names such as Talisman Drive, Babylon Crest, and Satan Wood Drive. At the Nineteenth Century Brook Farm Experiment one of the first documented planed communities, the residents tried to create Utopia, a community where everyone would live in perfect agreement.

Reston, a planned community, about ten miles west of Washington, D. C., was proposed by urban developer Robert E. Simon, Jr. After studying famous cities in Europe, Simon decided to design his own planned community using socialistic principles to make the architecture buildings and neighborhoods look “aesthetically balanced.” Simon incorporated a set of rules called “covenants,” rules so restrictive that the residents could improve only the exterior of their home by cutting the grass of their own yard. After making up all of these “laws,” Simon and the others who were helping him with his “little experiment” decided to name the city. They came up with the terribly original idea of sticking the three initials of his name “RES” in front of the overused term for town, “ton,” which equaled Reston. This added another town in Northern Virginia using the term “ton” along with Fairlington, Huntington, Newington, Ballston, Shirlington, Clifton, Oakton, and Lorton, to name a few. But Reston was different because it had its own town center where yuppies could drive around with John Kerry stickers on their bumpers as these cruisers searched for the perfect cappuccino. Simon named one of the lakes Lake Anne, after his first wife, and another lake after Henry David Thoreau, the naturalist who encouraged civil disobedience in order to repeal unjust laws.

The neighborhood associations police their planned communities to insure the rigid enforcement of the covenants. They determine precisely what kinds of modifications may be applied to an individual’s property. Modifications not allowed when living in a single-family dwelling include remodeling the home, adding an addition, replacing windows or doors, installing a skylight, painting the exterior with an unauthorized color, building a screened porch or tree house, placing a kiddy pool in the back yard, fencing the yard, placing patio furniture outside (Where else is patio furniture put?), setting up a child’s swing set, displaying lawn ornaments, owning more than three cars, and parking a car older than a 1993 model in the driveway (unless it is deemed an antique by the Division of Motor Vehicles). On the other hand, actions allowed when living in a single-family dwelling in a planned community include mowing the yard, cleaning the gutters, clearing the yard of debris, and watering the flowers or grass.

When I first saw Columbia, a planned community in Maryland, and observed street names like Peace Chimes Court, Encounter Row, and Commitment Court, I thought “Gee, maybe I would like to live here. All the buildings and neighborhoods appear ‘aesthetically balanced’!” I wondered about the absence of yard ornaments and the lack of remodeled homes when at least thirty years had passed since the original construction. Then I realized these residents must adhere to a one pound manual of strictly enforced covenants.

To me, all this planning of communities seems to be another way to infuse Marxism and socialism into our culture. Why do I care that I don’t have the right color of shutters on my house? Why do I care that my address plate doesn’t match my neighbor’s? Why do I care that the neighbor next door to me has a 1992 Ford Escort on blocks and a ten foot inflatable snowman in his front yard? I do not care because these issues are none of my business. The way for me to strictly obey the covenants of a planned community is very easy – I DON’T LIVE THERE!

Submitted by A.N.

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Beware Of The Phish

According to an August 28, 2005 article in the Washington Post, phishing scams are becoming more difficult to detect. "Phishing" refers to a type of email which sends a "something's wrong" message which appears to be coming from a financial institution. The user is instructed to log onto a Web site which appears to be valid. If the user provides a password or other financial information, scammers use that information to perpetrate fraud and identity theft.

Don Oldenburg writes the following in the Washington Post:

"Don't get me started on spam. But the other day, scanning the dregs of my spam filter, there was this one that stood out from the hundreds of unsolicited commercial e-mails that pitch porn, get-rich-quick schemes, cheap pharmaceuticals, urgent business proposals and sure-thing investments. All no-brainer deletes. Click, click, click.

"But this one stopped me cold. It raised images of stressed-out and distraught military families stunned by the message that their bank accounts had been breached (all the more troubling after last week's news that someone had indeed hacked an Air Force nonfinancial database containing 33,000 Social Security numbers). Recipients could follow the message's instructions, click on a link to a Web site, and divulge their passwords and confidential information.

"Only, that urgent notice isn't from their bank. It's from a crook.

"You probably knew that already. Those daily spams, supposedly from eBay, AOL or PayPal? Saying your account has been corrupted? If you don't have eBay, AOL or PayPal accounts, they're easy rip-offs to recognize. Click, click, click. Gone.

"But if your thoughts are halfway around the world, in a war zone where every day is a life-or-death matter for a loved one, and your bank is the Armed Forces Bank, then just maybe you get fooled this one time. Just takes once. Low-life scammers count on it -- all the way to the bank.

"'It's big business. And it is hard to track and really hard to shut down,' says David Jevans, chairman of the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), an association of more than 1,100 companies and law enforcement groups worldwide trying to eliminate online fraud and identity theft scams." Phishing is becoming more sophisticated: "Over the past couple of years, phishing has become one of the top consumer crimes. A Gartner Inc. report in June estimated that 1.98 million Americans were victimized from May 2004 to May 2005 by phishing scams that stole $2.4 billion from their checking accounts. And APWG's phishing reports indicate that reported scams in 2005 have almost doubled in some months over last year's. They're such a threat that the new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary has added the term 'phishing' to its pages.

"'The Armed Forces Bank scam is part of a growing trend in phishing to focus on smaller financial institutions, such as credit unions, smaller banks and insurance companies,' Jevans said.

"'Basically, they are spreading out to smaller companies that are not as prepared to deal with it. There is a lot of testing out there to see who has systems that they can cash in on. . . . They're trying to stay ahead of spam filters, phishing filters, and they're trying different social engineering techniques.'

"In the Armed Forces Bank scam, the crooks mutated the message at least six times -- about every five or six days -- which the APWG says is business as usual...."

More information about phishing scams is available here and here, and in the archives here. These sites are worth bookmarking.

And remember this caution from the article in the Washington Post:

"Keep in mind that practically no legitimate companies contact customers via e-mail asking for private information. So the best advice? Click, click, click -- gone."

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Gang Warfare In The D.C. Suburbs

Less than four blocks from my house, located in a sedate and established neighborhood, stands a community of affordable garden apartments. There, in June of 2005, an elderly couple was mugged by a group of young Latino males. The attackers' description fits that of gang members.

The robbery of that elderly couple did not receive much publicity. In fact, only we locals knew the sketchy information as the newspaper didn't give the attack anything beyond a brief mention. We locals have no doubt, however, that the attack was indeed gang-related.

For a few years, all of us in my neighborhood have seen gang graffiti on the sides of buildings and on the bike paths, as well as on the interstate overpasses and underpasses which crisscross this portion of our county. We have also noticed the occasional pair of running shoes dangling from the overhead telephone lines. Only recently did I know that such dangling shoes can be a sign of gang activity--a bit of information I mentally filed away for later use.

Within the last few weeks, attacks by gang members have become material for headlines. And as I suspected, at least some of these gang members are illegal immigrants.

In the Sunday, August 14, 2005 edition of the Washington Post, above the fold appeared the headline "Anti-Gang Strategies Lack Unity: Regional Data Urged as Threat Rises." The article begins as follows:

"Six months after he served more than a year in jail for disposing of a body in a gang-related killing in Montgomery County, Nelson Bernal was back on the streets, lying in wait outside a county high school-- preparing, police say, to attack members of a rival Latino gang.

"Police say he stabbed David Gamero in the head, chest and abdomen and Juan Quito Jr. in the lower back in the parking lot of Springbrook High School on Aug. 5. According to a county prosecutor, the attackers shouted, 'Mara Salvatrucha!'

"Bernal, 24, is back in jail, along with seven other suspects in the high school stabbing, and immigration authorities said they plan to deport him. They didn't take that step in 2004, when local officials alerted them that he was a convicted felon and in this country illegally.

"Bernal, an El Salvador native, lived and committed crimes in Maryland and Virginia....

"Bernal's case shows that gang members can slip through the hands of law enforcers. 'In 2004,' [Montgomery State's Attorney] Gansler said, 'federal immigration officials were notified that [Bernal] was an illegal alien who had been convicted of a felony. Federal agencies informed local authorities that he was going to be deported. Clearly he was not.'

"Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Dean Boyd, informed about Gansler's assertion late Friday, said, 'There is no way I can verify or disprove the allegation.' He added, however, that the division routinely detains and deports illegal immigrants who violate the law.

"He said that since Bernal's arrest last week on attempted murder and other charges, federal authorities have filed an immigration detainer for Bernal and plan to deport him after his legal proceedings in Maryland are completed."

Now the federal authorities plan to deport Bernal? After his legal proceedings for the recent charges? What wasn't he deported during that one-year stint in jail--a stint at the taxpayers' expense?

The Washington Post article concludes with these words:

"In the sweltering heat of the construction site, Bernal, also known as Alfredo Sanchez, occasionally would take off his T-shirt to cool down. That's when Francisco Rodriguez saw the letters tattooed across his stomach: 'MS.'

"During the last few years that Sanchez worked for Rodriguez framing houses, that was all the boss knew of his employee's affiliation with Mara Salvatrucha. Sanchez never talked about his gang life, Rodriguez said, or about much else in his private life.

"'He was quiet; he didn't talk much. He worked hard,' said Rodriguez, 38, of Hyattsville. 'He was never disrespectful to me or anyone else who worked here.'"

How wonderful that Bernal was cooperative on the job! Perhaps he did not want his employer to check on his immigration status. But elsewhere Bernal was more than uncooperative. Remember how the Washington Post article began? Bernal has a conviction for the illegal disposal of a human body. And if recent reports are correct, he also has a penchant for wielding a knife.

From the same edition of the Washington Post come these figures from a few jurisdictions in the D.C. area:

"Alexandria [city in Virginia]: Twenty gang crimes reported from January 2004 through July 31 [2005]. The offenses have been felonious assaults...

"Arlington [county in Virginia]: In 2004, there are 200 gang-related criminal incidents, the majority of which were thefts and destruction of property, followed by assaults, woudings and cuttings. Through June [2005], there were 91 gang-related incidents.

"Fairfax [county in Virginia]: 316 gang-related crimes in 2002; 595 gang-related crimes in 2003.

"Montgomery [county in Maryland, where Bernal was arrested]: 314 [gang-related crimes] in 2004; 122 for the first half of 2005."

Statistics are unavailable for Washington, D.C. I guess that the D.C. statisticians are busy tabulating their data.

I have a bit of personal experience with gang activity in my neighborhood. In the mid-1990's, my neighbor's son, as evidenced by bandanas and other garb, became involved in a gang, though not a Latino one. My husband and I had to put up with goings-on such as nuisance vandalism, petty thefts, liquor bottles strewn along our property line, drug deals on the street corner and outside our bedroom window, and a bullet's puncturing the headlight of my show-quality, candy-apple-red 1985 Chrysler Fifth Avenue. That last caused me to arm myself on a daily basis, just to walk back and forth from my house to my vehicle.

When my neighbor's son, whom I have known since the day he was born, finally decided that gang life wasn't the lifestyle he wanted--the turning point was witnessing the gang murder of one of his best friends at the local high school during the course of the school day--he turned in some of his gang buddies to the police. He was whisked away to a safe house, and police patrols became a regular presence on my street until the case came to trial. My neighbor's son, now an adult, has since been in trouble with law enforcement, but as far as I know, he's free of participating in the gang scene which now plagues even middle-class and elite developments.

From what I have read in the daily newspapers and have heard on the evening news, problems with gangs, primarily MS-13 and the South Side Locos, affect communities all across our nation, with some areas having more problems than others. How long before someone you know gets hurt or murdered, or is otherwise impacted?

According to this D.C.'s Channel 9,

"There are an estimated ten-thousand [MS-13 gang] members in the U.S. many in the Washington suburbs."

Ten thousand? In just the D.C. suburbs? What an astouding number!

The week of August 22, the Washington Times reported that federal authorities have made numerous gang-related arrests in the D.C. metro area:

"Early morning police raids yesterday in Silver Spring and parts of Prince George's County netted nine of the 19 MS-13 members who have been indicted in the most serious federal crackdown on the street gang to date.

"The case marks the first known time that the federal government has prosecuted members of MS-13 for being part of a criminal organization, using a law that was created to break up the Mafia.

"'MS-13 is an organized crime gang group," said Rod J. Rosenstein, U.S. attorney for Maryland....

"At least seven of the MS-13 members are thought to be illegal aliens, because they did not have Social Security numbers, a law-enforcement official said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials placed detainers on at least three of the gang members so that if they are ever released they will be deported.

"ICE took 14 illegal aliens who were associates of the gang members into custody during the raids yesterday and began the deportation process.

"The youngest gang member was 18, and a law-enforcement official said most of the gang members indicted were in leadership positions within MS-13 in Maryland.

"All 19 face the same charge of 'conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13.' They all face the same maximum sentence of life for crimes including six murders, five attempted murders, beatings, kidnappings, drive-by shootings and obstruction of justice.

"U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said, 'The violent activities of MS-13 represent a serious threat to the safety of our communities. We're going to fight violent gangs with the same proven strategies and partnerships that have been successful in our efforts to confront organized criminal enterprises in the past....'"

Again quoting from the article in the Washington Times:

"Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler said the federal charges are superior to the state charges because in a state case, a jury often cannot be told if a defendant is a gang member, because it would be considered prejudicial."

In previous trials, revealing that the defendant is a gang member has been considered prejudicial? No wonder, then, that the trials of gang members have been such charades. In many such cases here, the trials of gang members have been nothing but revolving doors.

According to this August 26, 2005 article in the Washington Post,

"Many of the pending local charges -- including a state murder charge against Zelaya -- have been dropped in deference to the federal prosecution. Others, including a first-degree murder charge pending in Prince George's Circuit Court against Everec Alvarez-Chacon, 28, might be dropped for the same reason, law enforcement officials said."

With the recent steps taken this week, we now have what may be an effective start on reining in gang activities here in the suburbs. But members of these gangs are often juveniles, and some attend the public schools here; with some frequency, parents who are notified by the school administration do not respond because of inadequate English skills or out of fear regarding the parents' immigration status. Furthermore, convicted juveniles usually serve their time (in jail or on probation) and have their records expunged upon release. At least some who are released resume their activities in gangs. ICE also needs to monitor what goes on in juvenile court.

Two questions:
(1) Is this new strategy on the part of federal authorities too little, too late?
(2) Since many of these gangs have roots in Latin America, what is this nation going to do about controlling our borders?

Note: For additional information on gangs in the D.C. area, please see Northern Virginiastan.

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According To Michael Graham

Michael Graham now has a job. That didn't take long, did it?

Nevertheless, a few aspects of Graham's firing from WMAL still need exploring. A few days ago, Michael Graham wrote on the matter of his dismissal from WMAL in an article which I found buried in my inbox.

Some excerpts from "How To Get Fired" by Michael Graham:

"If I had called the Catholic Church a haven for pedophiles because I believed their doctrine of priestly celibacy caused pedophilia, I would still have my talk-radio job today.

"If I had called the Christian faith a terror-sponsoring organization because of abortion-clinic and Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph, I would still be an employee of the ABC Radio Company. I know, because I hear these arguments made in the media nearly every day....

"When I was suspended without pay a month ago, my smartest and closest friends told me, 'Graham, relax. This is all going to blow over. They are never going to fire you over this. C'mon-this is CAIR we're talking about!'

"And it's true that few public advocacy groups have as little legitimacy or credibility as the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Some of their members have been jailed for terrorism. Others have been deported. They are still reluctant to criticize Hamas and Hezbollah, and it took them three weeks after 9/11 to condemn Al Qaeda!"

Graham is correct about CAIR's connections to Hamas . In the exact words from an article in WorldNetDaily,

"CAIR is a spin-off of the Islamic Association For Palestine, identified as a 'front group' for Hamas by two ex-FBI counterterrorism chiefs."

For additional information as to why CAIR may be reluctant to condemn two organizations which have been designated as terrorist in orientation, see Matthew Epstein's testimony before the United States Senate Judiciary Committe Subcommitte, Saudi Support for Islamic Extremism in the United States.

Continuing now with Graham's commentary:

"Here's the bizarre part: I started my on-air conversation about the unique, tragic relationship between Islam and terrorism on the day of the second London subway bombing. No one at ABC Radio objected to my comments.

"I repeated the comments on Friday. Again, no problem. Same thing on Monday. Tuesday, I spent my entire three-hour show – at the request of ABC management – talking about modern Islam as a terrorist organization.

"And for that, I was suspended and fired. What happened? How did the words that were insignificant one Thursday suddenly become unforgivable the next?

"It was all about CAIR. Late that Monday they sent out press releases, called advertisers, complained of my 'hate radio' to ABC. By Thursday, ABC had capitulated and suspended me, and CAIR immediately sent out a press release insisting ABC hadn't gone far enough and I had to be fired. Eventually, I was.

"Meanwhile, more listeners stood by me, not a single advertiser pulled their ads..."

What's that? Not a single advertiser pulled ads? ABC must have had an attack of conscience, then. I thought that talk radio usually based their hire-and-fire decisions on the ratings factor and on the financial support of the sponsors. Wasn't Graham hired by WMAL in the first place because he already had a reputation for outspoken controversy? I believe that WMAL enjoyed the ratings which Graham delivered--until he "crossed a line," apparently. Who drew that line? CAIR?

Later in his article, Graham continues:

"Think about this: Dan Rather went on the air with a story based on a fake Air National Guard memo, lied about the steps taken at CBS to 'authenticate' it, and after he was caught dead in a lie, still maintained that the bogus story was true…and he kept his job!

"I gave an honest, reason-based opinion about the challenges facing Islam, quoted facts, polls and public comments accurately – and I was fired...."

Michael Graham is already employed elsewhere, and his dismissal from WMAL has received some attention from the mainstream media.

I'm guessing that the Michael Graham story will soon fade away. Americans' memories are notoriously short.

What has CAIR learned from the Michael Graham story?

Will the power of CAIR soon fade away? Not without a push.

Now, before you go thinking, "There goes AOW again! She a real Janie-One-Note. She's repeating herself and writing another blog article about Michael Graham," read the following August 24, 2005 information from Michael Graham's web site:

"I almost choked on my Irish Breakfast tea this morning while being interviewed by Jimmy Barrett at WRVA in Richmond, VA. He told me that CAIR is now saying they never demanded I be fired and that they had nothing to do with ABC's decision. Well, that's interesting. Let's rewind the tape to Friday, July 29th, the day after I was suspended:

"DC Radio Host Suspended Over Anti-Islam Remarks; CAIR Applauds WMAL's Move, Says Graham Should Be Fired

"7/29/2005 10:40:00 AM

"To: National Desk

"Contact: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726 or ihooper@cair-net.org, Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441 or rahmed@cair-net.org, both of the Council on American-Islamic Relations

"WASHINGTON, July 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today applauded a Washington, D.C., radio station's decision to suspend without pay a talk show host who stated repeatedly that 'Islam is a terrorist organization.'

"CAIR said WMAL-AM morning host Michael Graham should be fired for his Islamophobic remarks, for other statements made before and after the most recent controversy and for his refusal to apologize for those comments.

"OK.....what am I missing here?

"...Apparently CAIR believes that the mainstream media are so in the bag that CAIR can deny the existence of their own press releases and get away with it...."

Readers, you will have to chose whom to believe--Michael Graham or CAIR, an organization with ties to Hamas. Your call.

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Brainstorm This: Stop CAIR

A commenter to the previous article said the following: "I think CAIR sucks, and it is time WE brought them down."

A few possible ways to do that:

1. The blogs

2. Print and start dropping business cards as shown here, but change the lead-in to "Learn the truth about CAIR." Then add some links from wherever; Daniel Pipes is one source. Also, see here, here, and here. (Those last three are from the inimitable Mr. Beamish, who left the URL's in a comment to a previous article)

3. Contact political representatives, DHS, the media, etc. Don't stop!

4. Regularly visit CAIR's web site. See what the current strategies are. Counter those. For example, when I see that CAIR is after a newspaper, I contact that newspaper and furnish the editor(s) some appropriate links and quotes about CAIR. I've noticed recently that CAIR is promoting using public-library gatherings to promote CAIR's agenda. Are these gatherings going to go unopposed?

5. We need a champions in the media--champions who are willing to risk exposing CAIR. Who might that champion be?

6. An Counter-CAIR lobby group?

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head. Other ideas? The above list is not comprehensive.

Brainstorming is important, but implementation is even more important.

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Analyze This

Here, in its entirety, is CAIR's official statement about the firing of Michael Graham from WMAL Radio:

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/22/05) - A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today applauded a Washington, D.C., radio station's decision to fire a talk show host who stated repeatedly that "Islam is a terrorist organization."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said media reports indicate that WMAL-AM fired host Michael Graham last Friday after he refused to retract his anti-Islam statements, make an on-air apology and conduct additional outreach efforts to the Muslim community and others offended by his words.

The controversy began last month when Graham stated: 1. "Islam is a terrorist organization." 2. "Islam is at war with America." 3. "The problem is not extremism. The problem is Islam." 4. "We are at war with a terrorist organization named Islam." Other listeners said that Graham even encouraged a public "backlash" against Muslims. (Graham later claimed he meant a backlash of social pressure, not violent attacks on Muslims.)

In response, CAIR initiated a public campaign against WMAL and the station's advertisers after receiving complaints from listeners who heard Graham make those anti-Islam remarks. While WMAL initially stood behind Graham, it changed its position after hundreds of people responded to the group's action alerts by contacting the station and its sponsors.

"Just as Michael Graham has the right to hold bigoted views, so, too, does our society have the right to live free of hatred and incitement," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. "We are saddened that Michael Graham would not take responsibility for his hate-filled words, but we do welcome WMAL's action as a step toward reducing the level of anti-Muslim bigotry on our nation's airwaves."

Awad thanked local Metropolitan-D.C., interfaith and community leaders and the many people in America and worldwide who contacted WMAL and its advertisers to express their concerns over Graham's bigoted comments.

CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 31 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. To read CAIR's Mission, Vision Statement and Core Principles, go to: http://www.cair-net.org/default.asp?Page=About

- END -

And here is an excerpt from an August 23, 2005 Washington Post article :

"[Graham's] comments drew complaints and prompted an organized letter-writing campaign against WMAL and its advertisers by a Muslim group, the Council on American-Islam Relations (CAIR) of Washington. The protests led several advertisers to ask WMAL to stop airing their ads during Graham's weekday show, although the station says it didn't lose any advertisers amid the controversy.

"In a statement yesterday, Graham blamed CAIR for his firing and defended his comments: 'As a fan of talk radio, I find it absolutely outrageous that pressure from a special interest group like CAIR can result in the abandonment of free speech and open discourse on a talk radio show.'

"Graham, in an interview last night, said he and the station had reached an agreement on terms of his return last week, but the station called back to withdraw. 'It was a done deal,' he said. 'They revoked it because, after further consideration, it didn't contain an apology. And I will not apologize for something that is true.'

"Chris Berry, WMAL's president and general manager, disputed Graham's characterization, saying in an interview that no one involved in this decision ever had any contact with anyone from CAIR.' Instead, he said, Graham was terminated because he violated station policy and disregarded 'management direction' to redress it.

"Officials at WMAL, which is owned by the Walt Disney Co., had initially declined to take disciplinary action against Graham, defending his comments as part of the overheated rhetoric of talk radio. But that stance began to change as complaints about Graham's remarks mounted.

"Graham, 43, is one of several conservative talk hosts featured on the station. WMAL (630 AM) also carries Rush Limbaugh's and Sean Hannity's nationally syndicated radio shows. Graham's WMAL show is not syndicated.

"The station had hoped to work out an agreement that would return Graham to the air, Berry said, but it was evident by early yesterday that Graham would not agree to the station's terms...."

WMAL Radio broadcasts the slogan "Where America comes first." So, just for a refresher, check this for information about the origins of CAIR, and see if the founders and the officers of CAIR think that America comes first.

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Michael Graham

Mr. Beamish has notified me that Michael Graham is scheduled to be in the no-spin zone tonight which airs on the Fox News Channel, 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., EDT. Will CAIR also be represented?

More information, dated August 23, 2005, about Michael Graham here.
Excerpt:

"The First Amendment and I have been evicted from ABC Radio in Washington, DC.

"On July 25th, the Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded that I be 'punished' for my on-air statements regarding Islam and its tragic connections to terrorism. Three days later, 630 WMAL and ABC Radio suspended me without pay for comments deemed 'hate radio' by CAIR.

"CAIR immediately announced that my punishment was insufficient and demanded I be fired. ABC Radio and 630 WMAL have now complied. I have been fired for making the specific comments CAIR deemed 'offensive,' and for refusing to retract those statements in a management-mandated, on-air apology. ABC Radio further demanded that I agree to perform what they described as 'additional outreach efforts' to those people or groups who felt offended.

"I refused. And for that refusal, I have been fired...."

Read more at the above "here" link.

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The [Muslim?] Origins Of Project Hope

Project Hope and Harmony, not yet a nonprofit organization although filing papers for that status are said to be planned, is the organization which insisted that Herndon, Virginia build a center for day laborers. This center will operate at taxpayers' expense and will not check on the immigration status of day laborers who utilize the site.

From the August 20, 2005 edition of the Washington Post comes a bit of information about the origins of Project Hope:

"On a frigid winter day two years ago, Mukit Hossain drove past a 7-Eleven in Herndon and noticed a large group of men, some wearing only sweat shirts, shivering like leaves in the parking lot.

"Something made him stop and ask what they were doing. In broken English, one man explained that they were looking for work. With their chances as bleak as the weather at 3 in the afternoon, Hossain asked why they did not just give up and go home.

"'We don't have much of a home to go to,' Hossain recalls the man telling him.

"From that encounter, a charity was born that ultimately has led to a government-sanctioned day-laborer site that has generated national attention.

"Hossain called a meeting of civic and religious leaders, many of whom had worked quietly for years helping day laborers learn English, find housing and get medical care. He proposed that they join forces and collaborate under a name with a distinct mission: Project Hope and Harmony, whose sole goal would be to create and run an orderly site for itinerant laborers...."

Mukit Hossain, who immigrated to the United States from Bangaladesh some thirty years ago, is a successful businessman here in the United States. According to a PRWEB Press Release:

"Mukit will assume the position of Exe VP & COO on June 1, 2004. Most recently, he has served as the President of ContinewTechnology. Prior to ContinewTechnology, Mr. Hossain served at Teleglobe Communication Company as a senior executive in charge of ‘access’ development, and subsequently, for global buildout of web-hosting, collocation and POP facilities. Before that, he held several executive level positions in charge of Program Management, Marketing, Network Planning, Data Services and Partnership Management at WinStar Communications. He arrived in the DC area with an assignment to start the local telecom venture of LCI (now part of Qwest) – from business/product definition to implementation. Mr. Hossain entered the CLEC industry via his assignment to develop market strategy for Teleport Communication Group (TCG – now AT&T Local). Mr. Hossain also served in technical and marketing positions for Telecommunication and IT services at Ameritech and GTE. Mr. Hossain has Bachelors degrees in Economics, Mathematics and Philosophy from Duke University and a Masters degree in Economics with emphasis in Econometrics and Business Management from North Carolina State University."

He is, then, eminently qualified to have organized Project Hope.

Returning now to the above-cited article in the Washington Post:

"For Hossain, helping immigrants, most from Central and South America, is a Muslim issue. Charity is one of the five pillars of Islam. So he raised money from Muslim businessmen in Herndon to buy 400 winter coats for the laborers, brought them food through another charity he started, called Food Source, and even rounded up day laborers to attend a Thanksgiving dinner at an Iraqi restaurant where falafel, not turkey, was served.

"'I consider them my neighbors,' said Hossain, an immigrant from Bangladesh who came to the United States 30 years ago to attend Duke University....

"Hossain wants to buy bicycles for the day laborers so they can get to the site without taking shortcuts across private property. The All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center, a large mosque in Sterling, has offered to provide a van to transport workers to and from the site...."

A Google Search of Mukit Hossain pulled up lots of information about Mukit Hossain. One Google hit contained this blunt comment:

"Hossain and the other Muslims working with Project Hope and Harmony have been accused of trying to justify illegal immigration, but their commitment to the issue has remained strong."

Another hit stated this:

"The War on Terror suffered another setback when the 'Virginistan' Senate honored Mukrit Hossain, an Islamist who has used his 'charitable' work - for Da'wa and to undermine the interests of the United States. Hossain has not only parlayed giving food and coats to illegal migrants into a federally funded exercise in Da'wa (Islamic propagation), he has assisted those who broke the law with legal aid to help them fight to stay in the US . Hossain exploits his 'charitable' work for furthering his Islamist agenda,and openly proclaims this to be his political mission as well....Hossain is also active in MAS, the Muslim American Society, the group which is in the forefront of campaiging for the release of jailed presidental assassin wannabe Omar Abu Ali. MAS also lauded Hossain as a 'supporter' of their organisation which is directly linked to ICNA and by extension Al Qaeda. The trustee of MAS's Islamic American University is Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi who proclaimed that Muslim women have an Islamic duty to become suicide bombers."

A third Google hit produced this:

"Perhaps most outrageous of all is that the FAITH 'charity' -Foundation for Appropriate and Temporary Immediate Help- which Hossain is being lauded for which helps illegal migrants get around American law and enables him to expose them to Islam, is registered at 500 Grove Street an address which was raided by law enforcement because 'it housed more then 100 interlocking Muslim organisations... which gave material aid to terrorists.' Besides Hossain and FAITH's activities in recruiting illegal migrant converts to Islam, one must also conclude that the potential for these people to become terrorist operatives is just as likely."

Back in May 2005, Hugh Fitzgerald of Jihad Watch did a bit of analysis on MAS, the head of which is Mahdi Bray:

"A convert to Islam, Mahdi Bray is not one of those, like Ibrahim Hooper, who has attained national prominence. He is a tireless worker at the local level, however, and in his dual presentation of self, or presentation of dual selves, most instructive. Soft-spoken and smiling and all sweet reason, and with a comfortably American voice, when addressing Infidels, he becomes something quite different for Muslim audiences, where he has been known to chant-and-rant, as in his call of support for Hamas before a crowd in Washington, or whipping up a crowd to show up at a courtroom to mock the proceedings which involved charging a Muslim with plotting to kill the American President. He is also careful, at the local level, to carry out all those carefully-calibrated and well-publicized deeds of supposed charity – to earn Infidel goodwill – that are described as being so useful in the conduct of Da’wa at Muslim sites.

"In his last appearance in the Boston Globe, some months ago, he is seen in a photograph (he made sure there would be a Globe photographer handy) helping to lift a box of donated food for the poor, which we are naturally supposed to believe is disinterested Muslim charity, but zakat, of course, can only be given to Infidels for the sake of promoting Islam....

"The list of those he has chosen to vocally defend is instructive...

"In October 2000 he appeared at a demonstration called in support of Hamas and Hizbullah:

“In American Jihad, [Steve] Emerson notes that when Abdurrahman Alamoudi of the American Muslim Council, who is now serving a 23-year prison sentence for a terrorism financing conviction, encouraged the Muslim crowd at an October 2000 rally cosponsored by MPAC to declare their support of the jihad terror groups Hamas and Hizballah, 'MPAC’s Political Advisor, Mahdi Bray, stood directly behind Alamoudi and was seen jubilantly exclaiming his support for these two deadly terrorist organizations.' This was just three weeks after Bray 'coordinated and led a rally where approximately 2,000 people congregated in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.' Emerson reports that 'at one point during the rally, Mahdi Bray played the tambourine as one of the speakers sang, while the crowd repeated: "Al-Aqsa [Mosque] is calling us, let’s all go into jihad, and throw stones at the face of the Jews [sic]."

"Mahdi Bray was at another demonstration in December of that same year:

"On December 22, 2000, MPAC's Mahdi Bray organized a rally in Lafayette Park outside the White House to celebrate a 'Worldwide Day for Jerusalem.' In Arabic, the crowd responsively chanted with the emcee, 'Khaybar, Khaybar oh Jews, the Army of Muhammad is coming for you!' Posters calling for 'Death to Israel' and equating the Star of David with the Nazi swastika were openly displayed and anti-Semitic literature calling for the destruction of the Jews and Israel was distributed. Members of the crowd burned the Israeli flag while marching from the White House to the State Department.

"And here is some testimony before Congress about Mahdi Bray:

"United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

"Terrorist Recruitment and Infiltration in the United States: Prisons and Military as an Operational Base.
"Statement of J. Michael Waller Annenberg Professor of International Communication Institute of World Politics

"Before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 14 October 2003

"Appendix 2: Key Organizations Involved in Muslim Prison Recruitment
"National Islamic Prison Foundation (NIPF) – Contact: Mahdi Bray; 1212 New York Ave. NW, Suite 525, Washington, DC 20005. This is the same address as the American Muslim Council (AMC).
"• Specifically organized to convert American inmates to Wahhabism.”

Is there a comprehensive list of groups which have funded, or are funding, Project Hope and Harmony, defined in the Washington Post as "an umbrella group, not a nonprofit organization." How closely tied is Project Hope to the Muslim American Society? And why should any group--of whatever civic or religious persuasion--be allowed to promote illegal immigration within the United States?

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Announcing The Truth Project

Visit The Truth Project: Promoting the Dissemination of the Truth about Islam.

The site's purpose is an informative one, and comments to the blog there are not enabled for comments. The site provides contrasting quotations from Muslims and Infidels, what you can do to combat the Islamification of free societies, and a start on a book list for you to utilize in your own research.

Those wishing to submit comments or book reviews may do so by accessing the email address in the profile window. See "About Me" on the right sidebar; then click on "View My Complete Profile."

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Herndon Town Council Approves Center

According to this article in the August 18, 2005 edition of the Washington Times, the taxpayer-funded center for day laborers has been approved:

"The Herndon Town Council last night approved a proposed center for immigrant day laborers on a 5-2 vote.

"On Tuesday and again last night before voting after 11 p.m., the council heard testimony from scores of residents, most of whom oppose the application filed by Project Hope and Harmony, a group of community leaders and churches seeking to curb problems associated with day laborers loitering at one of the town's 7-Eleven stores.

"Project Hope and Harmony wants to open a trailer at the town's police station for day laborers who now congregate at the 7-Eleven. The center would provide restrooms and offer English classes and access to social workers to day laborers, who include legal immigrants and illegal aliens.

"Project Hope and Harmony is looking for private donations and has applied for a grant from Fairfax County.

"The county has set aside $400,000 in taxpayer funds from its $3 billion annual budget to address the day-labor problem in Herndon, Annandale, Culmore and Springfield. It has yet to grant the funds to any group, and officials are still reviewing applications....

"The [planning] commission [a few weeks ago] voted 4-3 against recommending the proposal after the majority of residents who spoke said they opposed it.

"Mayor Michael O'Reilly supports the center, and he said before the meeting yesterday that he was looking forward to suggesting some restrictions on the application.

"He said he would prefer a regulated site over the current gathering place, which prompts complaints from residents that workers litter, urinate in public and harass women....

"Groups such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform and Judicial Watch have threatened to sue the town if it approves the day-laborer center, saying it would encourage illegal immigration."

Will the just-approved center be a place in which immigration status is regularly checked? Based on much of the news coverage I've seen, the center will serve legals and illegals, alike.

The controversy over the Herndon Center may have significant repercussions for other areas in the United States. And the cost of cheap labor just got more expensive--on the taxpayers' backs.

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Ghost Buster Dies

I used to wonder at my older relatives custom of reaching for the obituary section before examining the rest of the daily newspaper. But I find that the older I get, the more frequently I check the obituary page. So far, I'm not checking the obits the minute the newspaper hits the front lawn. Once in a while, however, that section of the daily paper holds something of interest, even if I didn't personally know the departed one.

Probably because I grew up watching Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone and definitely because I've read so many of Stephen King's novels, I've been curious about the paranormal most of my life. Therefore, a recent obituary title in the Washington Post caught my eye: Psychology Expert Robert Baker; Unmasked Ghostly Apparitions, excerpted below:

"Robert A. Baker, 84, a University of Kentucky psychology professor emeritus and a leading ghost buster' who worked on the premise that 'there are no haunted places, only haunted people,' died Aug. 8 at his home in Lexington. He had congestive heart failure.

"Dr. Baker was foremost a skeptic, believing that one could not assume from the start that unusual phenomena -- ghosts, UFO abductions, lake monsters, remembrances of past lives -- were real. In books and scholarly articles, he argued that they could be explained as mental states, that abductions by aliens, for example, were hallucinations -- or 'waking dreams' -- that occur in the twilight zone between fully awake and fully asleep....

"Dr. Baker worked more than 60 cases, volunteering his time to visit those who called the university's psychology department or found him through his writings and reputation.

"He often worked with [former Pinkerton detective] Joe Nickell, a senior research fellow at the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, a group based in Amherst, N.Y., whose members have included Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov and B.F. Skinner....

"As a young man, he also grew disillusioned with ghosts after two acquaintances tracked down mysterious moans in a cave, reputedly haunted. A cracked boulder had been transforming gusts of wind into an eerie noise."

My one adventure with investigating a haunting was marginally more exciting than a wailing rock. When I was barely a teenager, my mother, grandmother, and I paid a summer visit to relatives living on the outskirts of Chattanooga, Tennessee. After several days of doing the usual things, my same-age cousin and I decided to become Nancy Drew types and solve a case. Having heard about the deserted shack up one of the nearby pig trails, late one night my cousin and I grabbed flashlights, sneaked out, and did a little ghost-busting of our own. Disappointment! What we found was a stash of glass jugs--a sort of storage unit for a moonshine operation. My cousin and I hurried out of there. We might have been young and foolish, but we knew what was good for us--and what wasn't. I was a grown woman before I shared that little story with my mother, who told me that I should have known better than to go exploring at night in moonshine territory.

Returning now to Dr. Baker's obituary:

"During World War II, he was an Army Air Forces cryptographer, and he began reading hungrily about human psychology during those years. 'I resolved that the only thing that could save man from himself was a fully developed science of human behavior,' he wrote.

"He graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1948 and the next year received a master's degree in psychology there. He received a doctorate in psychology from Stanford University in 1951.

"He then became a staff scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory, which conducted military research. In 1953, he joined the Human Resources Research Office at Fort Knox, where his work included finding ways to improve soldiers' alertness during guard duty.

"At Fort Knox, he also worked as an assistant at mental hospitals and began hunting ghosts. In 1969, after budget cuts there, he left for the University of Kentucky. He spent the first four years as psychology department chairman. He retired in 1988....

"He died on the 52nd anniversary of his marriage to Rose Paalz 'Dolly' Baker, who survives, along with six children and seven grandchildren."

He died on his wedding anniversary? Is that creepy, or what? Cue the theme music from The Twilight Zone.

Dr. Baker was also a prolific writer. Among his many books are Missing Pieces: How to Investigate Ghosts, UFOs, Psychics & Other Mysteries (1992); They Call It Hypnosis (1990), in which he criticized the validity of that technique; and Hidden Memories: Voices and Visions From Within (1992);and Mind Games (1996), in which he questioned the overruse of various psychotropic medications; he also edited Child Sexual Abuse and False Memory Syndrome (1998). I see some interesting books on that list. Maybe the public library has some of the titles.

One day, I hope to have a great collection of obits. Before retiring from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, my stepfather-in-law treated many celebrities in their final days. When one of his patients passed on, he saved the Los Angeles Times obituary of each of his famous patients, who included Lucille Ball*, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Marlon Brando, and others whom I can't think of right now. The file is fat, with lots to explore.

My stepfather-in-law has intimated to me that I can have his unique collection. What a treasure! I can add his collection to my stash of related items: letters I received from Thomas Harris, author of The Silence of the Lambs, and Red Skelton, just to name two. I'll need to visit and photograph all those dead celebrities' graves to make the collection complete, however.

I really don't expect to hear from any of those dead celebrities because I believe that Robert Baker made the case for doubting the paranormal. Still, the paranormal remains a fascinating subject. The universe is filled with many mysteries, even if Robert Baker, like Harry Houdini before him, debunked paranormal happenings.

And I hope that after I get that collecion from my father-in-law, I'm not one of those whom Dr. Baker termed "haunted people." I'm almost certain that I'll be safe. Almost.


*Hat Tip to Gindy, who reminded me the other day of Lucille Ball.

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Immigration Advocates Need A Reality Check

Here in its entirety is a piece from the August 11, 2005 editorial page of the Washington Post:

Mr. Kilgore's Nativism

"With a gratuitous blast at illegal immigrants, Jerry W. Kilgore, the Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, has injected a nativist note into the campaign. Struggling in the latest statewide poll and evidently grasping for an issue to excite his conservative base and make inroads in Northern Virginia, Mr. Kilgore injected himself into a local dispute in the town of Herndon, in western Fairfax County: He announced his opposition to the town's efforts to establish a publicly funded gathering spot for day laborers, many of them illegal immigrants, who work in the area's booming construction industry. In Mr. Kilgore's view, providing such a site for Hispanic laborers, who currently await work in the parking lot of a convenience store, would 'undercut our laws and our stability by rewarding those who . . . are in this country illegally.'

"Well, we certainly wouldn't want to see Herndon's day laborers subvert Virginia's stability. But it's hard to see how the commonwealth is safer or how its laws are more secure, with the workers clamoring for construction jobs and disrupting traffic in front of a 7-Eleven, as they do now.

"Then again, if we read Mr. Kilgore correctly, he'd like to see all undocumented immigrants given the boot. As Virginia's attorney general, the title he held until earlier this year, he supported legislation that would give local police the authority to detain illegal immigrants after they've been arrested for another crime -- loitering, say -- and turn them over to federal officials. Mr. Kilgore seems to care little that police officers, who lack the training, time and resources to act as immigration agents, are opposed to the idea; they're actually busy with local crime. Nor does he explain how Northern Virginia, which has virtually no unemployment, would furnish itself with construction crews, landscapers, janitors, child-care workers and short-order cooks and fill dozens of other positions in the absence of the very immigrants he so badly wants to deport.

"The federal government's failure to seal the borders and enforce immigration laws is a legitimate subject for debate, and a number of states have been forced to deal with the consequences of that failure. But Mr. Kilgore is not adding a constructive voice to the debate. He is simply on the prowl for a wedge issue, and hopes he's found one in immigrant-bashing. Uninvited, he stepped into the dispute in Herndon several days after a conservative radio talk show host, broadcasting from Sacramento, urged listeners to deluge Herndon Town Hall with so many phone calls protesting the proposed day-laborer site that they would "melt the switchboard." In an ugly response, listeners did just that, peppering their calls and e-mails with expletives denouncing the immigrants and the town officials who would help them. Herndon officials were forced to unplug the phones.

"Given the passions unleashed in this dispute, perhaps the temptation to fan the flames with a naked appeal for votes was simply too strong for Mr. Kilgore. But he should have summoned the strength to resist it. Virginia's most pressing problems -- including transportation, education and health care -- will require all of the next governor's energies. It would be nice if candidates for governor showed they could focus on the big issues rather than play politics with bitter and emotional local disputes."

A gratuitous blast at illegal immigrants? Does the Washington Post editorialist have any personal knowledge of the situation in Herndon? Has the author of the above editorial had any personal experience with what residents of Northern Virginia have to put up with, not only at day-laborer loitering sites but also in long-established residential neighborhoods?

The following quotation from an anonymous commenter--who has personal experience as to the impact of immigrants in an established neighborhood--appeared at "The American Street And Illegal Immigration":

"In northern Virginia, it is more than just five or six [people] in one house. Think about 19 people in an 1000 sq ft rambler with one kitchen and one bathroom. Wall to wall beds. That was not in my neighborhood, but in my development.

"We original neighbors in my neighborhood believe the house across the street is now a 'safe house' for illegals. We watch them come and go - many, many people. They have constructed a building in the back yard - which the county supervisor inspected and stated that, in his judgement, it was for living quarters, because of the doors, insulation, etc.

"Those people moved in on a Saturday. Tuesday morning there was a wide band of red paint spray painted the full length of the street-side of my husband's white pickup. We have lived here for more than 30 years without incident.

"There are always 14 vehicles, at least three of which are commercial, parked on the street in front of the house which is situated on a slow curve, giving more room than other homes have for street parking. AND, there are two people who, in the morning, park their cars in front of that house - one person gets into one of the white commercial vans. The second person walks to a house two doors down the street and joins another person in a commercial vehicle at that house and they drive away. Of course, one person who drives the second van in front of my house lives in the 'illegal safe house.' I reported the first white commercial van to the president of the company of the business. One white 'signed' van was promptly replaced with two 'no sign' white commercial vans. How is that for cooperation?

"A few days ago, my daughter and I arrived home in one vehicle followed by her fiance in another vehicle to find no parking places in front of our house - on our side of the street! People were, of course, standing around talking in the yards of the house across the street and next door. Since there was a party next door, I asked if they knew who the cars belonged to. They moved one so we could park one of our vehicles on the street in front of our house!!! We pulled two vehicles as far as we could into the driveway so that my husband could get most of his truck into the drive when he arrived. I called him on his cell to let him know the situation and to ask that he not cause a scene. We do have to live here until we are ready to sell to some more of their kind.

"AND, before my neighbor sold, she took her son to kindergarten orientation in the neighborhood. The staff at the school HUNTED for an English welcome package. After some time, they thrust a Spanish package in his hands and told him to enjoy. My neighbor was able to get the county to agree to enroll her son in the school in the neighborhood they were moving into several miles away. She transported him daily for eight months - more than 20 miles.

"That is the joy of living around illegal immigrants. They come in and 'slumify' the neighborhood. As we drive into the neighborhood, daily, we see more junk added to the yards of our wonderful neighbors - welcomed by the government - (who I am sure helped them buy their house!!!!!)"

The anonymous commenter, who has such personal observations, has clearly delineated the reality in Northern Virginia. And based on the second commentary, I definitely see an education issue and likely a health issue as well.

Certainly the hordes to which the commenter refers are in violation of local zoning laws. Or don't the local zoning laws apply to certain residents of a neighborhood?

Via email, the following comment from Bob shows that problems with illegal immigration are not restricted to Herndon, Virginia:

"I think this has been festering for the last 40 years and needs to be addressed. When local law officers catch a load of illegals, the Feds will not pick them up. Tennessee has a growing problem with Mexicans illegally working in the state. We have brought this on by having the 'wealth redistribution theory' welfare system that has been pushed by the Liberal Democrats ever since LBJ and his 'Great Society' programs. It grows like a cancer and no one realizes what is happening until it becomes terminal to our way of life. This is one of the reasons that I am a conservative, active, Republican."

Would someone please tell the editors of the Washington Post to read the above commentary penned by Anonymous and the note from Bob? The editors need to get in touch with reality!

Note: For NY Girl's commentary on immigration, go here. Her article provides more evidence that the problem in Northern Virginia is more than a local problem. In fact, the matter of illegal immigration may be the hot-button issue of the 2008 National Election.

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Soldiers Against Cindy Sheehan

Please read this first. Then go here to take a "strong-language" poll at the bottom.

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The Origins Of CAIR

Mr. Beamish and George Mason reminded me of the importance of exploring and revealing the origins of CAIR.

After some searching, I've obtained the information, somewhat buried in a 2003 article :

"...The Wahhabist Saudi government began its ongoing 'colonization' of the West in earnest after World War II, Palazzi [2003 secretary general of the Italian Muslim Association] said, sending students abroad to study.

"Their mission, he said, was to create what was initially called the Muslim Student Federation, then 'after it became rooted in the country, to start creating the local mosques, local organizations and groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations,' or CAIR.
"Though it claims to represent moderate Muslims, Palazzi calls the Washington, D.C.-based lobby group the 'U.S. section of Hamas.'

"... CAIR is a spin-off of the Islamic Association of Palestine, a group identified by a U.S. intelligence official as a front for Hamas. Awad was the group's public-relations adviser, and CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper also was an employee. Awad praised Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini and at a university forum in 1994 declared, 'I am in support of the Hamas movement.'

"Hamas itself has its roots in the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which al-Qaida was born, noted Palazzi.

"The difference between al-Qaida and Hamas is not over belief in the legitimacy of terrorism, but whether terror is to be used as the primary strategic tool or as only one of the possible tools, he said.

"'The leaders of Hamas and Brotherhood accept and promote suicide bombing and terror, but they believe it is not going to work in every circumstance,' Palazzi explained. 'In some cases, it is useful to have a kind of political activity. In some cases it is useful to resort to diplomacy.'

"Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood support terror in Kashmir, Israel and Chechnya, for example, he pointed out, but say that in the West, terror is not the best strategy.

"They say, according to Palazzi, 'We would rather infiltrate the West by our network and take advantage of the role of religious freedom in democratic legal systems and create our legal basis in those countries.'

"The Wahhabi aim, he says, is nothing short of bringing the whole world under its domination."

How is it, then, that our government allows CAIR to operate here in the United States? Why is WMAL Radio allowing CAIR to exert pressure on the broadcasts of Michael Graham and Geoff Metcalf?

Please don't omit reading this by George Mason, who has written an excellent commentary about the efforts of CAIR to silence talk-show hosts on WMAL Radio. It's important!

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CAIR Accuses Michael Graham-Again

An August 9, 2005 article on CNSNews.com:

Attack on Pregnant Muslim Woman Should Be Treated as Hate Crime, Group Says

"(CNSNews.com) - An Islamic civil rights group is calling on law enforcement in Virginia to treat the assault of a pregnant Muslim woman Tuesday morning as a hate crime.

"According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a 23-year-old Muslim woman, who is 8 months pregnant and wears an Islamic head scarf, was attacked by three white men during a morning walk in Arlington, Va.

"'We believe these types of incidents are the direct result of the growing level of virulent anti-Muslim rhetoric Americans are exposed to on the Internet, in newspaper editorial pages and on radio talk shows,' said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, in a press release.

"'Our nation's political and religious leaders must begin to challenge Islamophobic hate-mongers,' added Hooper.

"The men, reportedly driving a pick-up truck, allegedly screamed anti-Muslim and racist slurs at the woman, with one of them shouting, '[various epithets].'

"According to CAIR, the men drove away and then returned as she continued her walk. One of them, wearing military-style clothing allegedly got out of the vehicle, and began shoving the women and preventing her from moving away.

"During the assault, one of the men allegedly shouted, "[various epithets]." The man was then called back to the truck by the others, according to CAIR.

"Hooper pointed to the recent suspension of Washington, D.C., radio talk show host Michael Graham for saying 'Islam is a terrorist organization' as an example of the 'anti-Muslim rhetoric' that has fueled incidents like the one in Virginia.

"Hooper also noted that an Illinois man was arrested last Friday for threatening to bomb CAIR's Capitol Hill headquarters."

Assaults on indivduals are against the law, and those who live by the rule of civil law do not support such attacks. But CAIR may be something other than the civil-rights organization it purports to be. Will somebody please examine CAIR's officers to see what they stand for? According to an article by Daniel Pipes,

"Ibrahim Hooper...told the Minneapolis Star Tribune on April 4, 1993: 'I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future.'"

Mr. Pipes has also provided additional information about other individuals affililiated or formerly affiliated with CAIR:

"Randall Royer, CAIR's communications specialist and civil rights coordinator, was indicted on charges of conspiring to help Al-Qaeda and the Taliban to battle American troops in Afghanistan. He later pled guilty to lesser firearm-related charges and was sentenced to twenty years in prison.

"Ghassan Elashi, the founder of CAIR's Texas chapter, was convicted in July 2004 along with his four brothers of having illegally shipped computers from their Dallas-area business, InfoCom Corporation, to Libya and Syria, two designated state sponsors of terrorism. In April of 2005, Elashi and two brothers were also convicted of knowingly doing business with Mousa Abu Marzook, a senior Hamas leader and Specially Designated Terrorist. He continues to face charges that he provided more than $12.4 million to Hamas while he was running the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), America's largest Islamic charity.

"Bassem Khafagi, CAIR's community relations director, pleaded guilty in September 2003 to lying on his visa application and for passing bad checks for substantial amounts in early 2001, for which he was deported. Khafagi was also a founding member and president of the Islamic Assembly of North America (IANA), an organization under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for terrorism related activities.

"Rabih Haddad, a CAIR fundraiser, was arrested on terrorism-related charges and deported from the United States due to his subsequent work as executive director of the Global Relief Foundation, a charity he co-founded; in October 2002, GRF was designated by the U.S. Treasury Department for financing Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. According to a CAIR complaint, Homam Albaroudi, a member of CAIR's Michigan chapter and also a founding member and executive director of the IANA also founded the Free Rabih Haddad Committee.

"Siraj Wahhaj, a CAIR advisory board member, was named in 1995 by U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White as a possible unindicted co-conspirator in connection with the plot to blow up New York City landmarks led by the blind sheikh, Omar Abdul Rahman.

"Ihsan Bagby, a future CAIR board member, stated in the late 1980s that Muslims' can never be full citizens of this country,' referring to the United States, 'because there is no way we can be fully committed to the institutions and ideologies of this country.'

"Omar Ahmad, CAIR's chairman, announced in July 1998 that 'Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran . . . should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.'"

Should an organization with such connections be crying "Foul"? Are any of the mainstream media willing to cry "Foul!" on CAIR?

Meanwhile, Michael Graham is not broadcasting from WMAL Radio, even though he was supposed to back on the air on Monday, August 8, 2005.

Note: Please scroll down to read about dhimmitude at Virginia Tech.

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Virginia Tech Plays The Dhimmi

The following item appeared in the August 6, 2005 edition of the Washington Post and is quoted below in its entirety:

Program Brings Saudis to Tech

"About 60 faculty members from a Saudi Arabian university are taking courses at Virginia Tech in classrooms separated by gender.

"Virginia Tech officials said administrators from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah asked for the separation to reflect practices at their home institution.

"'This is the way they teach their courses over there, and this is the way they wish their courses to be taught over here,' a Virginia Tech spokesman said.

"The courses are in English instruction, communications, distance learning and Web site development. The program is being offered through a contract between the schools that does not involve state money, the spokesman said."

Compare the above item with this excerpt from the August 7, 2005 edition of the Washington Post:

"...Al Qaeda has become the first guerrilla movement in history to migrate from physical space to cyberspace. With laptops and DVDs, in secret hideouts and at neighborhood Internet cafes, young code-writing jihadists have sought to replicate the training, communication, planning and preaching facilities they lost in Afghanistan with countless new locations on the Internet.

"Al Qaeda suicide bombers and ambush units in Iraq routinely depend on the Web for training and tactical support, relying on the Internet's anonymity and flexibility to operate with near impunity in cyberspace. In Qatar, Egypt and Europe, cells affiliated with al Qaeda that have recently carried out or seriously planned bombings have relied heavily on the Internet.

"Such cases have led Western intelligence agencies and outside terrorism specialists to conclude that the 'global jihad movement,' sometimes led by al Qaeda fugitives but increasingly made up of diverse 'groups and ad hoc cells,' has become a 'Web-directed' phenomenon...

"Among other things, al Qaeda and its offshoots are building a massive and dynamic online library of training materials -- some supported by experts who answer questions on message boards or in chat rooms -- covering such varied subjects as how to mix ricin poison, how to make a bomb from commercial chemicals, how to pose as a fisherman and sneak through Syria into Iraq, how to shoot at a U.S. soldier, and how to navigate by the stars while running through a night-shrouded desert. These materials are cascading across the Web in Arabic, Urdu, Pashto and other first languages of jihadist volunteers.

"The Saudi Arabian branch of al Qaeda launched an online magazine in 2004 that exhorted potential recruits to use the Internet...

"[According to Michael Scheuer, former chief of the CIA unit that tracked bin Laden,] 'It used to be they [jihadists] had to go to Sudan, they had to go to Yemen, they had to go to Afghanistan to train,...'"

Or jihadist computer geeks can go to Virginia Tech, now conducting classes in accordance with shari'a law.

Have at it, anti-dhimmitudinal commenters!

Note: Go here for more on Virginia Tech's dhimmitude.

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Confused Fish?

Although my focus is Islamism, I have other interests too.

The following excerpt comes from August 7, 2005 edition of the Washington Post:

"Male fish from the upper reaches of the Potomac River are producing a blood protein normally found only in females, scientists say, seeming to confirm fears that an unknown pollutant is confusing the fish's natural hormone systems.

"This discovery, made by scientists at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, comes on the heels of the finding last year that male fish in the same area were producing eggs...."

Male fish in the Potomac River are producing eggs? Has the world of wildlife gone as wacko as the human world? First, it was the Frankenfish, also known as "The Snakehead"; now scientists are investigating a hormonal upset.

According to the Washington Post article, no particular compound causing this unusual development has yet been identified. But the article says,

"Scientists say the most likely culprits could be nearby chicken farms, which produce manure full of chicken estrogen, and sewage plants, whose output can include hormones that are excreted from the human body."

I suppose that women on hormone replacement therapy need some kind of filter on their toilets. The manure from chicken farms (Perdue?) is another matter altogether.

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Anti-Dhimmitudinal Activism

A commenter left the following at my blog article "Did You Know?" This list is not exhaustive, but it's a start. I'd like all anti-dhimmituders to think about my proposal at the end of the quoted comment, which is in blocked-quotation format below, the only edits being enabled links:

Houghton Mifflin publishes the school texts in question - a specific instance can be read at Daniel Pipes weblog - here

And further discussion about that particular school district's issues were followed with intensity at a blog called "the tears of things" here

The subversion of our children's education through manipulative and deceptive texts must be tackled once and for all.

As for CAIR . . .I visited their website today and noticed that there is a provision on their homepage for 'adopting a library'. This action must be countered with a similar 'adopt a library' program , by providing each of our library's a stack of books by Robert Spencer, Ibn Warraq, Bat Ye'or, as well as some of the many books recommended by Hugh Fitzgerald - such as:

The Koran Its Composition and Teaching and the Testimony It Bears to the Holy Scriptures
Author: Sir William Muir
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 1417948736
Publish Date: 9/1/2004
Publisher: Kessinger Publishing

Mohammed - D.S. Margoliouth
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0-83050-0448
February 1983
Publisher: Gibson Pr

Relations Between Arabs and Israelis Prior to the Rise of Islam - D.S. Margoliouth (Paperback, 1921)
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0-31715-7728
June 1921

Mohammedanism - Christian S. Hurgronje (Hardcover, Reprint, 1981)
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0-83050-0383
June 1981
Publisher: Gibson Pr

Mekka in the Latter Part of the 19th Century - C. Snouck Hurgronje (Hardcover, 1997)
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9-00402-0667
August 1997
Publisher: Brill Academic Pub

The Legacy of Islam - Joseph Schacht (Hardcover, 1975)
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 019821913X
January 1975
Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr

Mohammed and the Rise of Islam - David S. Margoliouth (Paperback, 2003)
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 193195674X
October 2003
Publisher: Ams Pr

Islam and the Psychology of the Musulman. Translated By A. S. Moss-Blundell. With a Preface By Louis Bertrand
Servier, Andre

And if we can find a way to get this translated into a new publication:
Les Arabes et les Berberes w/ subtitle: La Berberie est un pays europeen
Antoine Fattal
Le Statut Legal de Musulmans en Pays' d'Islam
Beirut, 1958.

The author of the e-letter "Did You Know?" has been concerned that our communications and efforts amount to nothing more "preaching to the choir." I, however, have always felt that catharisis is an important undertaking for maintaining my sanity, and the blogosphere affords me that opportunity.

But what about another opportunity? Can we infidels of all persuasions organize a book-donation program? Can we some of us infidels adopt a library, similar to what CAIR does?

Those of us who "get it" are providing valuable moral support to one another. And I love blogging! I would like to reach more people, however. I think that the adopt-a-library program might be one avenue which we can pursue. And donations to institutions such as libraries are tax deductible, too!

I've already reserved a blog site, specifically for the purpose of listing the above materials and other materials as well. This blog site could be a valuable clearing-house for such a book-donation project. But I can't organize and maintain this project all by myself.

Readers, input please!

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The American Street And Illegal Immigration

Contrary to the Washington Post headline "Hate Calls Swamp Herndon Town Hall," WMAL is not fostering hate. I know because, on that particular morning, I was listening to WMAL when Mark Williams, filling in for the suspended Michael Graham [here, here, and here], made an announcement which resulted in a flood of calls to Herndon Town Hall.

The following excerpts are from the abovementioned article in the Washington Post:

"Herndon Town Hall unplugged its phone lines yesterday after listeners of a talk show on WMAL-AM flooded the switchboard with what officials said were hate calls against a proposed day-laborer site.

"The phones began ringing nonstop about 9:30 a.m., officials said, just after a substitute host on 'The Michael Graham Show' called the proposed gathering spot for immigrant workers a 'day-care center for illegal criminal aliens' and urged listeners to complain to Herndon Mayor Michael L. O'Reilly.

"'You need to help . . . Mayor O'Reilly understand he's advocating breaking the law . . . and assisting criminal aliens who are in this country destroying this country, stealing jobs, running drugs, raping people. This is not an approved activity for the mayor of Herndon, Virginia,' host Mark Williams said, according to an audio recording on the station's Web site. Williams broadcast from KFBK-AM in Sacramento.

"He then read aloud the telephone number of Town Hall dozens of times and urged listeners to 'melt that switchboard' and picket O'Reilly's law office a block away."

Such was the flood of calls that the switchboard shut down for several hours. The managers had to pull the plug.

Some people in Northern Virginia, and perhaps elsewhere in the United States, are fed up with the day-laborer situation. Many of us have hesitated to speak out, but with a little encouragement the other day, some citizens decided to make their voices heard. Previous to Mark Williams's broadcast, citizens had turned out in volume for the hearing at the Herndon Planning Commision, and the commission had decided against the day-laborer center. Despite that decision, the matter of the day-laborers center is still unresolved. According to the Washington Post,

"The struggles of the four-square-mile town of 23,000 in northwest Fairfax County to absorb newcomers, many of them in the country illegally, have mushroomed into an emotional debate over immigration policy. The Town Council will vote this month on whether to formalize what has been an informal gathering place at a 7-Eleven parking lot, where about 150 laborers seeking work assemble most days.

"The town's Planning Commission this week narrowly rejected a proposal from a local social service group to build a tax-supported site on the Loudoun border. But the vote was not binding, and the council often differs with the commission."

The congregating of day laborers is, of course, not limited to the town of Herndon. These day laborers congregate around many convenience stores throughout Northern Virginia, and my husband and I, both of us now middle-aged, have had the uncomfortable experience of having to walk through hordes of immigrants just to purchase a morning cup of coffee. Often one or more police cruisers is present, and I sometimes wonder what other law-enforcement matters are going untended because our officers have watch duty at the convenience stores. In fact, several months ago, when I called the police one early weekday morning to report a possible theft from my car here at home, the officer didn't arrive for several hours. Could there be a connection between his delay and the monitoring of day laborers? Maybe, maybe not.

It seems that loitering laws are no longer in force. It used to be that such gatherings were not allowed here in Northern Virginia. In fact, when I was growing, individuals who wanted to do yard work or other odd jobs went door to door to try to find work. They were not allowed to hang around the doors of businesses.

Besides, Mark Williams recent broadcast at WMAL also emphasized that there is a question as to the legal status of many of these day laborers. Apparently, local law enforcement does not address the issue, but they should.

Furthermore, some citizens here are outraged that the proposed Herndon center for day laborers would provide many "creature comforts," including air-conditioning and television, according to what a Herndon friend of mine has told me. Taxpayers in the D.C. suburbs are already overburdened with an outrageous real-estate tax and don't appreciate assuming an additional tax-burden. Believe it or not, some Northern Virginians don't have such comforts in our own homes; for example, I can't run my air-conditioning as high as I would like to because of the expense involved. Government-run programs, however, pass along the burden of those electrical bills to the taxpayers.

Yes, some of the calls to Herndon Town Hall were ugly, but none of the threats materialized. People are angry! And anger about paying taxes is an American tradition. Think of the American colonists, some of whom had reputations as rabble rousers. Had the American colonists lived in our day, would their reaction have been much different? Perhaps the profanities would have been fewer, but the resentment about the tax burden was the same. Remember the Boston Tea Party?

Bottom line: Taxpayers should not have to subsidize a special work-force, especially one which involves illegal immigrants.

And citizens have the right to phone town hall.

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