Sunday, September 30, 2007

Divorce — Saudi Style

From this source, via a posting at Covenant Zone:
RIYADH: A Saudi man divorced his wife for watching alone a television programme presented by a male, an act he deemed immoral, the Al Shams newspaper reported on Saturday.

The man, whom the paper did not identify, ended his marriage on the grounds his wife was effectively alone with an unrelated man...
Weird, just plain weird. And downright absurd.

Here we have a couple with modern technology in their home and still applying the legalism of Wahhabism as applied to a television set.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/30/2007 08:47:00 AM  

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Saturday, September 29, 2007

School Clubs

Apparently a high school here in Virginia will allow on campus all sort of clubs, but not a pro-life one. Excerpt from this article in the September 29, 2007 Washington Times:
STAFFORD, Va. (AP) — A Colonial Forge High School student has filed a lawsuit against Stafford County's public-school system for refusing to let her start a pro-life club.

[...]

Colonial Forge Principal Lisa Martin denied the request for the club, saying it doesn't relate to the curriculum.

[...]

"That strikes me as a weaselly way to avoid creating a controversial club," George Mason University law professor David Bernstein said....
The law suit was filed in federal court on September 12. The Alliance Defense Fund is representing the student at no cost and is also asking that the school district pay legal fees. Information about this case, from ADF's web site (emphasis mine):
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit Wednesday after a Virginia school denied official recognition to a student pro-life club but granted official recognition to student groups that focus on other issues.

“Christian and pro-life students cannot be treated as second-class citizens on campus. The student we represent wanted to start a pro-life club at her school, just as other students have been allowed to start their own clubs, yet school officials denied her and not the others,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. “Under the law, school officials cannot discriminate on the basis of an arbitrary decision about the worthiness of the club’s subject matter.”

The student, who attends Colonial Forge High School, wanted to start a pro-life student club on campus and applied for her club to become officially recognized by the school. Officially recognized student clubs enjoy privileges such as access to the school newspaper, bulletin boards, and the public announcement system, as well as being able to participate in student activities programs and club fairs.

Stafford County School officials denied the student’s application, stating that her pro-life club “does not meet the standard of a direct curricular link.” But no policy exists that requires clubs to be curriculum-related, nor are there any guidelines that govern how such a determination is made.

The Stafford County School granted official recognition to other student groups that do not appear to have a “direct curricular link” on campuses within its district, including Young Democrats, Students Against Destructive Decisions, and Key Club.

“Because of the lack of a clear policy outlining how student clubs are granted official recognition, certain school and district officials have been given unaccountable discretion to determine which clubs are approved and which are not,” Cortman explained. “Their denial of this pro-life student club is inconsistent and unconstitutional.”...
For what it's worth, I predict that the case may never reach court. Typically, schools will do almost anything to avoid the legal loop. From the article in the Washington Times article:
...Schools spokeswoman Valerie Cottongim said school officials do not comment on pending litigation.

Stafford County School Board chairman Robert Belman also declined to comment because the entire board has not discussed the matter. He said he expects the board to take up the issue soon in a closed meeting....
Pity that the meeting will not be an open one. If it were, taxpayers would find out just how many weasels sit on the school board.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/29/2007 08:31:00 AM  

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Friday, September 28, 2007

Weekly Radio Show: September 28 (Updated At The Bottom!)

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, which WC and I cohost. The show broadcasts live every Friday for one hour at noon, Pacific Time.

The call-in number is (646) 915-9870.

Callers welcome!

Friday, September 28: Our interviewee this week at the bottom of the hour is The Merry Widow of The Merry Widow blog, which presents a Christian view of events, near and far.

The Merry Widow will be discussing with us the North American Union, developments about which she has been following for some time. She will provide background on the NAU and will bring us up to date with the latest happenings occurring under the radar of most mainstream media sources.

----------------------------
The Merry Widow's profile is HERE. Additionally, The Merry Widow's ancestors have been here since 1625. Her ancestors or those of her late husband fought in every single war in which our nation was ever engaged, so she has a proprietary interest in the path which America is taking today.

Update @ 7:38 P.M, on Thursday, September 27: We are now expecting Christine of The Center for Vigilant Freedom and Frank Gaffney, founder and president of the think tank Center for Security Policy, as our interviewees for the first half hour of the show. The topic of discussion for that portion of the show will be The Law of the Sea Treaty.

If you are unable to listen live to the radio show, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/28/2007 01:00:00 AM  

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Thursday, September 27, 2007

What The Blogosphere Can Do (With Addendum From The WaPo)

Check out this news at The Center for Vigilant Freedom. Excerpt:
...Esam Omeish of the Muslim American Society will step down from the Virginia Commission on Immigration, to which he was appointed by [Virginia] Governor Tim Kaine....
Read the whole thing.

Addendum: Article from the September 28, 2007 edition of the Washington Post (emphases mine). Be sure to watch the videos!
A prominent Northern Virginia surgeon and Muslim activist appointed by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to a state immigration commission was forced to resign Thursday after videos surfaced of him referring to the "Israeli war machine" as well as statements he made seven years ago in support of the "jihad way" in the Middle East.

Last month, Kaine (D) appointed Esam S. Omeish, chief of the division of general surgery at Inova Alexandria Hospital, to a 20-member panel that is spending six months examining whether Virginia needs to do more to curtail illegal immigration.

On Thursday, videos surfaced showing Omeish, who is also president of the Muslim American Society, giving speeches about Israel's relationship with its Arab neighbors.

After reviewing the videos, which were brought to Kaine's attention by a caller to his live monthly radio program, Kaine asked for Omeish's resignation from the Virginia Commission on Immigration.

"Dr. Omeish is a respected physician and community leader, yet I have been made aware of certain statements he has made which concern me," Kaine said in a statement. "Dr. Omeish indicated he did not want this controversy to distract from the important work of the commission."

The resignation could be embarrassing for Kaine as he tries to respond to calls to do more about illegal immigration. Republicans are using the overall issue to try to win votes in this fall's campaign for control of the General Assembly.

Kaine has taken a measured approach, placing blame on the federal government's failure to secure the borders and enact immigration reform. He has said he wanted the 20-member immigration commission, which the General Assembly created this year, to develop recommendations. House and Senate leaders appointed 10 members of the committee; Kaine appointed the other 10.

Omeish, of Fairfax County, is also on the board of directors of the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church. He graduated from Georgetown University. He was unavailable for comment.

In
one of the videos,...Omeish is shown speaking in August last year at a rally on the Mall in opposition to Israel's invasion of Lebanon that summer. Omeish demands that Israel release Lebanese political prisoners and condemns President Bush's use of the phrase "Islamic fascism."

"The invasion of Lebanon, the destruction of its infrastructure and the deliberate targeting of civilians during the barbaric and disproportionate Israeli war machine is indeed criminal and must end now," Omeish says on the video.

In another
video,...Omeish is speaking at a "Jerusalem day" rally in Lafayette Square. In the clip, dated Dec. 22, 2000, he urges the crowd to stand with Muslims fighting in the Middle East.

"We, Muslims of the Washington metropolitan area, are here today in subfreezing temperatures to tell our brothers and sisters that you have learned the way, that you have known the jihad way is the way to liberate your land," Omeish says. "And we, by standing here today despite the weather, we are telling them we are with you. We are supporting you." The clip shows 38 seconds of Omeish's speech, so the context of his remarks about jihad are unclear.

The Washington-based Investigative Project on Terrorism, which tracks what it thinks are radical Muslim groups, posted both videos on YouTube.

Omeish told the Associated Press late Thursday that his comments in the videos were taken out of context and that his reference to "the jihad way" was not a call for violent attacks.

"In Islam, jihad is a broad word that means constant struggle -- struggling spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, physically -- in all respects. So my words were in support of people who are resisting occupation and people who are trying to . . . remove oppression from their land," Omeish said.

Kaine appointed Omeish to the immigration panel because the governor wanted the group to be diverse and include a Muslim representative, administration officials said. The legislation establishing the panel also required that at least one member be a medical professional. Kaine said he will replace Omeish with another Muslim.

Omeish is on the board of directors of the Dar Al Hijrah center, one of the Washington area's oldest and largest mosques. It was scrutinized after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At Inova Alexandria, Omeish was the surgeon on call after the Pentagon attack.

The FBI and the federal 9/11 commission concluded that two of the Sept. 11 hijackers briefly worshiped at the mosque after one of them befriended its imam in San Diego. FBI officials have said they found no evidence that the imam, who has since resigned and left the country, had prior knowledge of the attacks.

In 2005, Omeish joined a group of moderate Muslim clerics in the United States in denouncing Islamic terrorism overseas.

The Islamic center is closely affiliated with the Muslim American Society. Several of the group's founders had been active in the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement that started in Egypt in the 1920s and advocates a purer, more restrictive form of Islam in the Middle East.

Before the videos surfaced, Del. C. Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) had written a letter to Kaine on Tuesday expressing concern about Omeish's links to the Muslim American Society.

"There are many of our fellow Muslim citizens who value our democratic institutions and constitutional guarantees," Gilbert wrote. "The origins, affiliations and goals of the Muslim American Society, however, should be a matter of grave concern to all Virginians."

Before he saw the videos, Kevin Hall, Kaine's spokesman, dismissed Gilbert's letter as xenophobic. After Omeish resigned, Gilbert praised Kaine for acting swiftly to remove him.

"I would hope that the governor's staff was vetting candidates for state commissions a little better, but I am certainly pleased the governor himself has taken action," Gilbert said.

Hall said the governor's office carefully scrutinizes appointees to state commissions. "But I think it is fair to say that YouTube was not part of the vetting process in this case," Hall said. "It certainly will be from here on out."
Dr. Omeish will be holding a press conference today, September 28, 2007, at 11:00 AM. Taquiyya alert!

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/27/2007 07:10:00 PM  

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Colossal and Premeditated Abuse of Women in America by Muslims



By Cassandra (USA)
Author of Escape! From An Arab Marriage:
Horror Stories of Women Who Fled From Abusive Muslim Husbands


What is normal for one culture is not necessarily normal for another. Neither is what might be considered “normal” the equivalent of “sameness”. So, while any given culture promulgates practices that are “normal” for that specific culture, those same practices will not necessarily be the “same” or “normal” from culture to culture.

Individuals within a given culture are presented with, and conditioned from the time they are children to use, the societally preferred way to think, to do things, to manage their environment, and to perceive the world around them by their parents, by the schools they attend, by the religious precepts they are taught, and by the culture’s governing bodies. This conditioning is usually lifelong and consistently reinforced. As a result, these preferred ways seem “right”, especially when an individual finds himself in an environment unlike the one in which he grew up. To follow the ways of the culture he came from, to the extent that it is possible, helps him to feel that he is in control of his own situation and to maintain his own self-image. While he may make an effort to adapt to his new environment in order to wend his way successfully in society and will often fit in quite well as a result, he will always find the way in which he was brought up to be “the way it should be” and to be the most comfortable manner in which to live life. The traditional way to do things is considered the best way simply because it is the most familiar.

The above is especially true where relations with the opposite sex are concerned, especially in cultures with a long history. The Muslim male’s behavior patterns, no matter where the individual may be living, are prime examples.

* * * * *

The practices of degradation, exploitation, humiliation, subjugation, and physical abuse of women by Muslim men have been, and still are, time-honored traditions since the 7th century.

Muslims’ abominable treatment of the fairer sex was established by Muhammad and copied by his Beduoin Arab followers. They swept across Arabia and into neighboring countries, butchering the male inhabitants, looting and stealing their belongings, and taking their women and children captive to be raped, sodomized, forced into slavery, and shipped off on in droves to the harems and households of the wealthy men of the day.

Muhammad based his “right” to the above behavior on conveniently timed justifications which he passed off as “revelations” on the subject. Because he was ruthless in eliminating anyone who disagreed with him, his followers let him get away with this practice.

After Muhammad died, the bits of bone and leaf and other materials upon which Othman wrote his utterances (Muhammad was an illiterate trader), were organized by him into what are today called the suras of the Qur’an. They were arranged by length, the longest being first, rather than by chronology.

It is the suras concerning women in this collection of statements, and in the thousands of comments and analyses called the Hadith by Muslim jurists and philosophers based on the words of Muhammad, which began the institutionalization of relegating women to the status of non-persons to be used and exploited in any way Muslim males chose. Those jurists and philosophers who hated women took every opportunity to craft ever more limitations on how women were to be thought of, how they were to be treated, and what they were and were not allowed to do.

The following are “authorities” of that express the prevailing opinion of Muslim males from Muhammad’s time until today. Because it is forbidden to question or analyze the Qur’an and the Hadith, these statements, set forth 14 centuries ago, remain unchanged and written in stone to this day.

Sura al-Baqarah 2:23: Your women are a tilth to you to cultivate so go to your tilth as ye will, and send good deeds before you for your souls, and fear Allah, and know that ye will one day meet Him.

Sura an-Nisa 4:34: As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them, refuse to share their beds, and beat them.

Sura an-Nisa 4:24: And all married women are forbidden to you save those whom your right hand possesses (captives).

Sura al-Baqarah 2:222: They question thee concerning menstruation. Say it is an illness, so let women alone at such times and go not unto them till they are cleansed.

These are called in Islam the “golden rights and provisions for all Muslim women:”

The right to be treated as diseased and as sex toys
The Qur’an – 2:222; Sahahi Bukhari -3.31.172

The right to be used as a sowing field
The Qur’an – 2:223

The right to enjoy another husband after the third divorce from the previous husband (hilla marriage)
The Qur’an – 2:230; Sahih Bukhari – 8.73.107; Sahih Bukhari - 7.63.187

The right to engage in Islamic prostitution through Mut’a marriage
The Qur’an – 4:24;Sahih Bukhari – 8.3246, 3247, 3248;
Sahih Muslim – 8:3252, 8:3253, 8:3258

The right to be treated as impure or as a drunkard
The Qur’an – 4:32; The Qur’an – 16:92

To uphold the inalienable superiority of men over women and the right to be beaten by husbands—no questions asked
The Qur’an - 16:92; Sunaan Abu Dawad - 11.2142; Abdur Rahman – 1 DOI, the recognized authority on Sharia in his book, Women in Society”

To uphold the right of the husband to have four wives at any time and any number sex-slaves for all times; in case of objection by any wife, the husband can beat her
The Qur’an – 4:3; Sunan Abu Dawad – 30.2.13; The Qur’an – 23:5-6, 70:29-30

The right to be treated as a dog, a pig, a monkey, or an ass
Sahih Bukhari – 1.9.490, 493, 498 Sahih Muslim – 4.1039;
Sunaan Abu Dawad – 11.2155; Mishkat ul-Masabih – vol 2, p.114, Hadis no. 789

The right of ordinary women to be treated as crows
Ghazali – vol 2, p. 34

The right of a Muslimah to be stupid and to become a servant
Sahih Bukhari – 1.6.301; Ghazali – vol 2, p. 34

Muslim women forfeit their right to travel alone
Sahih Bukhari – 2.20.192, 193; Sahih Bukhari – 3.29.85, 4.52.250
Abdur Rahman 1 Doi, the recognized authority on Sharia in his book, “Women in Society

Women must keep their sexual organs ready at all times for the husband to enjoy them unhindered at any time—night or day
Sahih Bukhari – 4.54.460, 7.62.81; Sahih Muslim – 8.3367, 3368;
Ghazali – vol 2, p. 43

Women have the right to breast-feed an unrelated bearded man to make him haram (forbidden to her in marriage)
Sahih Muslim – 8.3424, 3425, 3426, 3427, 3428

Women are slaves (prisoners) and men are their masters (owners)
Ghazali – vol 2, p. 33; Hedaya – p. 47

Islamic marriage is about sex for money (prostitution)
Sunaan Abu Dawud – 11.2105, 2.11,2106; Milik’s Muwatta – 28.4.12;
Sunaan Abu Dawud – 11.2126; Hedaya – p. 44

If a woman wishes to get rid of her tyrannical husband she must refund the ‘sex money’ (Mahr) she received from him during marriage
Sahih Muslim – 7.63.197, 198, 199; Sunaan Abu Dawud – 12,2220;
Malik’s Muwatta – 29.10.32

Women have the right to undergo female circumcision (FGM)
Sunaan Abu Dawud – 41.5251

Women are slaves and infidels—they are not fit to join the moral police force
Ghazali – vol 2, p.186

A husband has the right to have sex with his wife by force (the right to rape)
Hedaya – p. 141

Women are cheap—you can have sex with a woman by simply teaching her how to recite a few verses from the Qur’an
Sahih Buhkari – 6.61.547, 548; Ghazali – vol 2, 31

Barren women should be confined at home—they are fit only to be in the house-prison
Ghazali – vol 2, p. 24; Sunaan Abu Dawud – 3.29.3911

A woman has no say when her husband decides to add more wives in his harem; she can’t even ask her husband to divorce her
Sahih Bukhari – p. 141

A wife has the right to decorate her husband when he goes out to have sex with his other wives
Sahih Bukhari – 1.5.270

A woman should never be selected or elected as a ruler
Sahih Bukhari – 5.59.709; Ghazali – vol 2, p. 34

Muslim women uphold the right of Islamic Jihadists to rape captive women right in front of their vanquished husbands
The Qur’an – 4:24; Sahih Muslim – 8.3371, 3373, 3374, 3377;
Sunaan Abu Dawud – 2.11.2150, 8.77.598

Women are devils; they are as dirty and filthy as private parts are
Sahih Muslim – 8.3240, 3242; Ghazali – vol 2, p. 26, vol 2, p. 43

Fear the company of women—they bring bad luck
Sahih Bukhari – 7.62.30, 31; Bukhari – 4.52.110, 111;
Malik’s Muwatta – 54.821, 22; Sahih Muslim – 36.6603. 6604;
Ghazali – vol 3, p. 86, 87

Women have very little intelligence—their own testimony is inadmissible in rape cases; in other matters their testimony is half to that of a man
The Qur’an – 4:14, 2:282; Sunaan Abu Dawud – 3.40.4662

Women are less human—they get one-third of blood money, no booty (for Jihad) for them
Malik’s Muwatta – 43.64b; Sahih Muslim – 19.4458

Women are worse than dead persons—they cannot follow a bier
Sahih Muslim – 4.2039

Men should always oppose women
Ghazali – vol 2, p. 34

Women are easily expendable—a divorced woman gets no maintenance or alimony from her ex-husband
Sahih Muslim – 9.3519, 3522

A woman has the right to stay at home solely to provide sex to her husband
Hedaya – p. 54

A woman becomes a harlot when she wears perfume
Mishkat al-Masabih – vol 2, p. 255

Muslims grow up with these unchallenged opinions which have engendered, for 1,400 years, the attitude that men are ordained to be “superior” and treated as ‘gods” in their own households. Women are considered “inferior” from birth.

It is drilled into the women that their bodies are shameful to the family, that the family honor rests on the purity of those shameful bodies, and they are to be obediently submissive to and subjugated by their male relatives at all times. Even the slightest suspicion of a woman’s contact with any unrelated male will earn her a death sentence in order to save the family “honor”.

Is it any wonder that Muslim men feel free to subject American women to the same depraved treatment? After all, abuse, degradation, and the killing of women are the “manly” things to do.

When you and I look as an American woman or girl, we see a person with beauty, intelligence, an open and lively expression which shows a joy of living on her face, and a sense of self-respect and dignity in the way that she carries herself. And we rejoice at what we see.

When a Muslim male looks at an American woman or girl, he sees an inferior being dressed in jeans and a color-coordinated top that reveals her figure and very likely bare arms, a mass of uncovered bright hair, and that she walks with pride, joy of living, self-respect, and self-assurance. He also observes that she has the nerve to look him straight in the eye, speak to him as though he is her equal, and that she does not hesitate to contradict him or tell him “No.” if she feels like it. And he hates her and her freedom deep inside even while all he can think about is raping her on the spot to “teach her a lesson about the proper place of women”. He also considers her a slut and a “whore” because she doesn’t scuttle around in a black shroud with nothing showing but her eyes.

Muslim males hate American women or any other women who have self-respect and are accomplished in their own right because they are anathema to Muslim males who desire to have all women degraded, terrified, psychologically traumatized, available for sex on command, and endlessly pregnant with their babies—that is, when they are not cooking or cleaning.

There is very little that gives Muslim males more pleasure than taking out their frustrations, inadequacies (which includes very small penises, according to a nurse), and lack of competence at just about everything on the women in their household who are not allowed to defend themselves. It makes the males feel like they are “in control” and that they are “real men”.

This would be especially true in the case of American women who would not hesitate to snicker and point the instant they observed the undersized fungus between the Muslims’ legs.

There is an added political element that makes abuse of American women by Muslims of even wider civilizational significance than was originally perceived because . . . Everything jihadi Muslims in particular do in the United States is to further the successful destruction of American freedoms and the replacement of our Constitution with their detestable, backward, woman-hating Sharia (Islamic law).

A key point in the Muslim war strategy to overthrow America by the year 2020 is Point 9 which states,
“Accelerate Islamic demographic growth. Muslim men must marry American women and Islamize them (10,000 annually). Then divorce them and remarry every five years—since one cannot have the Muslim legal permission to marry four at one time. This is a legal solution in America”.
In other words, Muslim men coming to the United Sates are to be on the prowl for naïve and therefore gullible American women who haven’t a clue about what Muslim men normally do to women they have under their control (because the women are terrorized on a daily basis). When they find these women, they charm them and tell them everything every woman wants to hear about being the most wonderful creature in existence until the women finally believe them. At that point, the males pressure their prey every day to marry them and live happily ever after as soon as possible.

Only there is no “happily ever after”.

The instant the women become wives of these Muslims, their new husbands pressure them to sign citizenship and permanent residence papers for them so these guys can stay indefinitely, set up terrorist cells, and possibly bring their endlessly extended families here to become citizens as well. But they never tell their wives all of this.

The new husbands also begin criticizing the way their wives dress, think, and act. The wives are told that because they are now wives of Muslims, they need to convert to Islam, cover themselves in shrouds from head to foot (no hair can show!), obey their husbands from morning ‘till night and beyond, stop associating with their ‘infidel” families and friends, quit their jobs if they are working, stay home, and have babies. And if the wives tell their husbands where they can go, the husbands proceed to beat them up within an inch of their lives, threaten to kill them if they tell anyone what has been done to them, and then repeat the process almost on a daily basis until the wives are so terrified they cannot think straight, much less summon the courage to leave and go home to their birth families.

Somewhat later, the husbands will have all joint bank accounts put in their names only so that their wives have no operating funds. If their wives own property, these “flowers of Muslim society” will also terrorize them until the wives either sell their property or take out huge mortgages on it and hand the money over to their husbands which leaves the wives with nothing—no home, no money, and no assets to fall back on.

When they have children, a new chapter in the lives of American wives of Muslims begins. Once the children are no longer nursing and can get around on their own somewhat, the mothers of these children are at risk at any time of having their children abducted without warning and taken back to the Middle East where they will have no chance of ever seeing their mothers again, much less of ever being returned to them. Their mothers are left high and dry, desolate and bereft of their children for as long as they live.

And, to add even more misery to already abused lives, if any of these wives were forced to convert to Islam and leave it to return to their own religion, they will have to live in fear of being killed for their return to their original faith. Islamic law requires that anyone who leaves or rejects it is considered apostate and must be killed at the first opportunity by any ‘good Muslim’ at any time.

The Muslim husbands will return to the United States under other names, move to other parts of the country, establish new identities, and repeat the process at least five times as directed. If the husbands do not leave the States, they will demand that all children they father be raised as Muslim since this helps swell the Muslim population in this country, and they will fight the mothers for custody of these children for years until the children are 18 and free of such coercion.

Muslims figure that they are going to gain control of the United States one way or another. If they cannot do it by force of arms, they will try to do so by overwhelming population numbers accomplished by forced conversions and by breeding little Muslims.

American women do not matter to them except as tools to be used to gain citizenship, steal other people’s property, and to increase the Muslim population.

The solution? Stay as far away form Muslim men as possible and warn all your friends to do the same. Spread the word everywhere, as far and wide as possible. If they want to hear it from someone with personal experience, send them to me.


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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/27/2007 07:19:00 AM  

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Observation And Some Speculation

Yesterday, LA Sunsett made the following comment, related to this posting about Ahmadinejad's appearance at Columbia University:
Although I applauded the castigating introduction by the President of the University, I found it interesting that the lectern had Columbia University covered up. Normally, they would have proudly displayed this emblem, but this time they did not.

Did anyone else notice this?
Check the podium in this video.

Because of LA Sunsett's comment, last night I took a look at Columbia University's logo. Click directly on the image below to enlarge it:


Do you see what I see? Three crosses. Could the presence of those crosses be the reason that Columbia University's logo was shrouded when Ahmadinejad spoke there?

Or maybe the usual logo on the podium is the following one:

The motto reads In lumine Tuo videbimus lumen, which is a paraphrase of "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9b).

Psalm 36:9 reads as follows in its entirety: "For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light."

You can read all of Psalm 36 HERE.

Now, perhaps I'm way off base with my suspicions as to why that podium at Columbia University was covered up a few days ago. Or maybe I'm not. You decide.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/27/2007 06:47:00 AM  

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Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Rewriting History (Updated)

According to an article in the September 26, 2007 edition of Telegraph.co.uk, other races and cultures should be included in historical accounts, starting with the role played by the Turks in the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Read the article.

Did Allah send the storm, too, in answer to pleas from the Turks, thus making Great Britain a land rightfully belonging to Muslims?
...The Armada was blown north up the east coast of England and attempted a return to Spain by sailing around Scotland and out into the Atlantic, past Ireland. But very severe weather destroyed a portion of the fleet, and more than 24 vessels were wrecked on the north and western coasts of Ireland...

Will the next call be for a change to the British flag, which prominently features a cross at its center? After all, according to Trevor Philips, chairman of the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights, the Turks played an important role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Perhaps a crescent and star should be added so that Muslims feel more included. Or perhaps replacing the cross on the flag will make them feel even better. Sure, let's take that step in the name of inclusionism — never mind historical realities.

Multiculturalists desire to rewrite history so that the new account subverts and denies Western culture. What I don't understand is why it's just fine for any culture other than our Western one something to be proud of. For example, speaking of the realities of Islamic history elicits cries of "Racist!" and "Islamophobe!" Perhaps a commenter can explain that conundrum to me?

Update 1: Eye On The World also posted about the same article in the Telegraph. Commenter Najistani left the following comment there:
"The Islamic terror began in ‘the terrible summer of 1625’ when North African corsair slave raiders invaded and devastated the southern coasts of England, and for a short while even raised the green battle standard of Islam over English territory that had engraved upon it the terrible promise “The gates of Paradise are under the shade of swords .” From the coast of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Southern Ireland the Islamic slave raiders murdered and stole away entire villages to be sold into slavery in the Islamic Empire of the East." Source

AND

"North African pirates abducted and enslaved more than 1 million Europeans between 1530 and 1780 in a series of raids which depopulated coastal towns from Sicily to Cornwall, according to new research.

Thousands of white Christians were seized every year to work as galley slaves, labourers and concubines for Muslim overlords in what is today Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, it is claimed.

Scholars have long known of the slave raids on Europe. But American historian Robert Davis has calculated that the total number captured - although small compared with the 12 million Africans shipped to the Americas in later years - was far higher than previously recognised.

His new book, Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500-1800, concluded that 1 million to 1.25 million ended up in bondage."
Source

Those who forget the past are condemned to relive it. The Northern pedophile rings are only the beginning. Prepare for the re-establishment of Muslim white slavery in the 21st century.
Update 2: Check out this posting on the topic of revisionist history at Lone Voice. Worth your time!


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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/26/2007 07:38:00 AM  

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Ahmadinejad At Columbia

The picture at the right shows a grinning Ahmadinejad and was taken some time ago. But the photo could well have been taken yesterday in New York City after his doings yesterday at Columbia University. In today's Washington Post, Anne Applebaum writes as follows (emphases mine):
...Ahmadinejad's agenda...differs from that of the traditional autocrat. His goal is not merely to hold power in Iran through sheer force, or even through a standard 20th-century personality cult: His goal is to undermine the American and Western democracy rhetoric that poses an ideological threat to the Iranian regime. Last winter, when he invited a host of dubious Holocaust-deniers to discuss the Holocaust in Tehran, he claimed that it was in order to provide shelter for the West's "dissidents" -- that is, for Western thinkers "who cannot express their views freely in Europe about the Holocaust." This week, he declared that his visit to New York would help the American people, who have "suffered in diverse ways and have been deprived of access to accurate information." Thus the speech at Columbia: Here he is, the allegedly undemocratic Ahmadinejad, taking questions from students! At an American university! Look who's the real democrat now!

This sort of game is both irritating and dangerous, particularly when it is being played by a man whose regime locks up academics for the " crime" of organizing academic conferences and regularly arrests the Iranian equivalent of the students who listened to him speak yesterday. Iran is experiencing an unprecedented wave of political executions and death sentences -- more than 300 since January, according to the Boroumand Foundation...

[...]

...[T]he university should have demanded genuine reciprocity. If the president and dean of Columbia truly believed in an open exchange of ideas, they should have presented a debate between Ahmadinejad and an Iranian dissident or human rights activist -- someone from his own culture who could argue with him in his own language -- instead of allowing him to be filmed on a podium with important-looking Americans. Perhaps Columbia could even have insisted on an appropriate exchange: Ahmadinejad speaks in New York; Columbia sends a leading Western atheist -- Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens or, better still, Ayaan Hirsi Ali -- to Qom, the Shiite holy city, to debate the mullahs on their own ground.

I realize that isn't likely. But neither is it likely that this past week's free-speech-vs.-nasty-dictator debate, complete with sputtering New York politicians and puffed-up university professors, achieved much either. On the contrary, it focused attention in the wrong place.

Instead of debating freedom of speech in Iran, here we are once again talking about freedom of speech in America, a subject we know a lot more about. Which is exactly what Ahmadinejad wanted.
Check out the end of his speech, which I found at Little Green Footballs:



Ahmadinejad's final words were "Best of luck to all of you." And just what is this man's definition of "luck"?

As this posting at the Center for Vigilant Freedom states the following about Ahmadinejad's speech:
[H]e seems quite pleased with himself...
Despite Bollinger's antagonistic introduction, Ahmadinejad won the propaganda skirmish and Columbia served the position of pawn yesterday in what amounted to a perversion of the concept of free speech.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/25/2007 07:21:00 AM  

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Sunday, September 23, 2007

FEATURED QUESTION: The Economy

Note: Now that classes have resumed for the new term, I've decided to go to FEATURED QUESTION instead of QUESTION OF THE WEEK. Featured Questions will appear at intervals of my own choosing, no more than once a week and probably more infrequently.

(Each "Featured Question," an idea which I gleaned from A Republic If You Can Keep It, will remain toward the top of the blog until the next question appears. The previous Questions are HERE and HERE. Please scroll down for recent postings)

Due to a variety of causes, the United States economy appears to be on a downturn, perhaps a serious one. Please read this excerpt from a September 16, 2007 front-page article in the Washington Post:
Sunbelt City in Grasp of Housing Undertow
Ripple Effect Could Be National Omen


FORT MYERS, Fla.-- To understand how the housing bust may ripple through the broader American economy, look beyond the countless for-sale signs that dot this middle-class city. Instead, stop by Boater's Landing, where salespeople sit idle, hoping someone will once again want to buy a boat.

Or visit the women answering phones at the local United Way, which is dealing with a flood of aid requests from the unemployed, whose numbers have nearly doubled in a year. Or talk to the Shevlins, a real-estate agent and a carpenter, whose combined incomes dropped from $350,000 to less than $60,000 in two years.

Across this city, even businesses that have little to do with real estate are reeling. Unemployment is up, sales are down and redevelopment ambitions have been scaled back.

The Sun Belt city of Fort Myers saw real estate and construction grow to dominate its economy, accounting in recent years for nearly one out of every four jobs. That meant the housing downturn hit swiftly here, making it a kind of early and extreme indicator of what might happen to the U.S. economy as a whole.

The effect could be less dramatic in places like Washington, where government contracting and other industries may provide a cushion. What the Federal Reserve is trying to determine, as it decides Tuesday how much to cut a key interest rate, is to what degree the rest of the U.S. economy will behave like that of Fort Myers.

Economists increasingly believe the housing downturn and related problems in mortgage lending will slow the U.S. economy. Barely a month ago, most economists viewed a recession as a distant possibility. Now they think there is more than a 1-in-3 chance that one is on the way -- or even has already begun in cities like this.

"We are in a real estate recession," said Laurance Baer, manager of the Fort Myers-based Baer's Furniture chain, where sales are plummeting. "And we have an economy that's much more tied to real estate than anyone realized." ...

[...]

The major question is whether areas like Fort Myers have gone through the worst or if they are still heading downward. There are signs of both. It could take two years to sell all the houses currently on the market, and a Manpower Inc. survey of businesses found that a third planned to reduce their employee count in the fourth quarter.

Still, some real estate agents say a few buyers are returning, attracted by cheap prices, a potentially optimistic sign.

"The sooner the excessive prices correct, the sooner these markets can get back to growing again," said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wachovia. "It's just painful while it's happening."



QUESTION OF THE MONTH (in two parts): (1) Do you see signs of the housing-market downturn and other signs of economic downturn in your area? (2) What is your economic forecast for the United States, including outlook and possible remedies?

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/23/2007 04:00:00 AM  

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Saturday, September 22, 2007

Blinded By The Light

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

We're hearing more and more about the bad driving-skills and the behind-the-wheel antics of illegal immigrants. I predict that sooner or later you or someone you know will be directly and adversely affected by the hordes of illegals on our highways and byways. I hope that your or your friends' encounters will not be as bad as what happened the other day to a group of al fresco diners in the Midwest.From this September 19, 2007 article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
A driver whose SUV plowed into a crowd of lunchtime diners outside a restaurant in downtown Clayton on Tuesday told police he had been blinded by a bright light.

Clayton police Capt. Steve Grenier said police cited the driver, who lost control while making a left turn from westbound Maryland Avenue onto southbound Central Avenue just before noon.

The vehicle, a white Ford Expedition, crossed the sidewalk and ended up in a sunken outdoor dining area at Il Vicino, pinning two diners beneath it and injuring a third, said Clayton Fire Chief Mark Thorp.

[...]

The driver, Sergio Lopez, 23, who has a post office address in Collinsville, is an illegal immigrant from Mexico, said Clayton Police Chief Thomas Byrne. Lopez suffered minor injuries in the crash.

Lopez, who spoke little English and did not have a valid U.S. drivers license, told police he was blinded by a bright light as he attempted to turn.

He was cited for operating a vehicle with no license, having no proof of insurance and making an improper turn.

Immigration Customs Enforcement has issued a federal detainment order on Lopez, and he was to be held at the St. Louis County Justice Center upon his release from the hospital.

Lopez owns the SUV...
Check out his vehicle:



As Bob McCarty mentioned at his site, the above is a fine-looking vehicle, complete with that expensive etching or custom decal on the front windshield.

As is the case in so many stories like this one, the driver who lost control of his vehicle is a repeat offender, with more than the above-mentioned incident on his driving record. From this article in the September 20, 2007 in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
The illegal immigrant whose SUV ran into diners outside a Clayton eatery this week had been involved in a crash in St. Louis less than two months ago.

City police records indicate that the driver, Sergio Lopez, 23, caused a collision July 26 on South Kingshighway near Southwest Avenue while driving the same SUV.

Eleanor Sanford, 80, said Wednesday that an SUV had turned in front of her from a gas station parking lot, hitting her car and sending it spinning. She was shaken but not seriously hurt.

The driver sped off, Sanford said, and police tracked him through a license plate that fell off. "He just hit us and took off," she said.

She said she did not connect her wreck with Tuesday's high-profile Clayton incident until reporters called her about it Wednesday.

[,,,]

Lopez was cited in her case for driving with no driver's license, improper license plates, no insurance and failing to yield to an emergency vehicle.

The report does not indicate any police awareness that Lopez was in the United States improperly....
The police had no awareness of Lopez's immigration status? Isn't it time to give local law enforcement the power to enforce our immigration laws? Instead, the governor of New York has proposed the following:

From this article in the September 22, 2007 edition of the Washington Times:
New York's governor announced yesterday that illegal aliens will soon be able to get state driver's licenses, drawing a strong rebuke from families of victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks who said he is opening a window to another attack.

The new rules reverse a 2002 policy designed to correct one of the flaws identified after the terrorist attacks — easy access to driver's licenses, which allowed illegal aliens to blend into society and would-be terrorists to avoid detection. But Gov. Eliot Spitzer said he thinks the state can have both secure driver's licenses and a system that draws illegal aliens into the system rather than punishing them.

The governor expects the plan to reduce insurance costs, and he said the reality is that illegal aliens are already here and that "allowing them the opportunity to obtain driver's licenses in a responsible and secure manner will help increase public safety."...
I don't quite follow that bit about reducing insurance costs. If any reader here can explain how that aspect works I'd appreciate being enlightened. Returning now to the article,
Backers of the new rules said they are designed to make illegal aliens' lives easier while weeding out fraudulent driver's license requests.

The new policy will apply only to those with a valid foreign passport, which officials hope will cut down on fraud. Machine-readable passports can be scanned at the Department of Motor Vehicles once the policy goes into effect, but non-readable passports will be sent to a central processing office to be checked.

Applicants will also have to show other documents, though the state is not yet releasing a full list of the 14 documents that will be accepted. A combination of documents will be required to prove identity.
And just how accurate will the vetting of these identities be? Record-keeping in a lot of countries, including those south of our border, isn't terribly accurate. Doesn't matter, I suppose, because

New York first will invite more than 150,000 people to reapply who used to have licenses but had to give them up because they no longer qualified under the 2002 policy. Months later, other New Yorkers who never had a license and don't qualify under the current rules will be allowed to apply.
Toward the end of the article in the Washington Times, a retired INS official makes the case as to how difficult the New York proposal is going to be in practical application:

...Michael W. Cutler, a retired Immigration and Naturalization Service agent, said it opens a loophole for fraud and that it's tough enough to verify U.S.-issued birth certificates, much less foreign documents.
Over at his blog and on the telephone with me on the air on the radio, Beak has mentioned the difficulty in dealing with paperwork from a foreign country. Maybe the governor of New York should do some research on the web.

The problem with issuing licenses to illegals goes further:
[Cutler] also said a driver's license is the key to being able to live undetected in the U.S. and that Mr. Spitzer's new rules will aid illegal aliens trying to do that.

"It's almost a de facto sanctuary," Mr. Cutler said. "Driver's licenses enable people to do more than drive. They establish people's identity when they write a check, do banking, get on airplanes."
As I see it, licensing illegals threatens both our personal safety and our national security. Doesn't the governor of New York understand the can of worms he proposes to open?

Now, I admit that I may have a personal stake in my position. I myself was rear-ended by an immigrant driver behind the wheel and, as a result, have suffered a permanent disability, albeit a minor one compared to other disabilities out there. Was that driver who ran up my tail pipe an illegal? Possibly, because he got his driver's license before 9/11, before the state of Virginia cracked down on illegals' ability to get driver's licenses. He also behaved peculiarly at the scene of the accident. I can't provide more details because the law suit and any possible settlement are pending.

In part because of what happened to me and in part because of stories such as those in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other similar stories I hear on the nightly news, I have to wonder if any group is keeping statistics on the damage which illegal immigrants behind the wheel are doing to citizens and to those who are legally present in our nation. I'm guessing that those statistics would be revealing as to another cost tied to illegal immigration.

[Hat-tip to Bob McCarty Writes, where I found the articles from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/22/2007 08:43:00 AM  

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Friday, September 21, 2007

Buying The United States

Photo: Dubai Towers
On the heels of this week's QUESTION OF THE WEEK comes this September 21, 2007 article in the Washington Post.

Excerpt (emphases mine):
NEW YORK, Sept. 20 -- Middle Eastern governments announced a series of billion-dollar deals Thursday that would give them stakes in financial institutions at the heart of Western capitalism, raising concerns in Washington about sensitive foreign investments.

Under a complex three-way deal, the stock exchange owned by the government of Dubai would acquire a 19.9 percent stake in the Nasdaq Stock Market, becoming the first government in the Middle East to own a substantial interest in a U.S. exchange.

Separately, Carlyle Group of the District said it was selling a 7.5 percent share of its general ownership to an investment group owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, which like Dubai is part of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates. The Qatar Investment Authority, a government investment fund, said it bought a 20 percent stake in the London Stock Exchange.

[...]

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who heads the congressional Joint Economic Committee, called on Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. to investigate the deal.

"At this early stage this deal gives me pause," Schumer said in a statement. "While I am and have been a big proponent of foreign investment in the United States, we must still be careful of the kinds of investments made in our critical infrastructure, financial exchanges, utilities, and other areas that are vital to the operation and security of our country."

Schumer said the Dubai exchange "is majority owned and controlled by the government of Dubai, which has previously been cited as a nexus of terror financing, money laundering, and a potential crossroads for shipping and trading for Iran in their quest for nuclear materials and technology."...
On Wednesday, September 19, 2007, the print edition of the Washington Post contained an eight-page, packed-with-color-photos advertising section entitled "Dubai: Where the Future Begins." The section is designed to appeal to tourists and investors. According to the article on page 6, "The entrepreneurs [are] helping to make the emirate the most valuable piece of land on the planet." Maybe such is the future. If so, it doesn't bode well for the United States. The OPEC nations of the Middle East are awash in big bucks as the price of oil has now topped $83 per barrel.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/21/2007 09:02:00 AM  

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Thursday, September 20, 2007

Christians Persecuted In The UK

Hat-tip to Michael for emailing me the link to this video from Dispatches, about 50 minutes in length and worth your time. At the above link, click on the arrow at the bottom right to adjust the size for playing the video, and turn on your speakers.

The blurb from Google video is below:

Dispatches investigates the violence and intimidation facing Muslims who convert to Christianity ... all in Britain. Dispatches reporter Antony Barnett meets former Muslims who now live under the threat of reprisals from their former communities. Many are still living in fear.


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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/20/2007 08:56:00 AM  

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Wednesday, September 19, 2007

CAIR's Threat




I'm in a hurry to get ready to leave for work, so I have time only to post this link. Read the story for yourself.

[END OF THIS POSTING]

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/19/2007 10:07:00 AM  

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Pity The Cheaters?

The school forced the students to cheat? Puhleeze! What happened at Hanover High involved a lot more than taking a peek at a fellow student's paper.

Excerpt from this September 19, 2007 article in the Boston Globe (emphases mine):

HANOVER, N.H. - Academics is serious business in this well-to-do town, where life revolves around Dartmouth College. Ivy League credentials rank alongside Subaru wagons and restored farmhouses as status symbols, and high school students are expected to excel and land acceptances to prestigious universities.

So, as final exams loomed and pressure built last June at Hanover High School, some students hatched a scheme for acing the tests: One evening after school was out, a group of students entered the school building, authorities say. While some stood sentry in hallways, others entered a classroom and used stolen keys to break into a teacher's filing cabinet and steal exams for advanced math honors, advanced math, Algebra II, and calculus. Five days later, another group stole chemistry finals. In total, some 50 students are suspected of participating in the thefts, either helping to plan them or receiving answers from stolen exams.

Parents of the accused are furious and frantically trying to reduce charges to violations that carry no criminal penalties, penalties they say could harm their children's chances of attending college or securing employment. The scandal has divided the community, with some residents laying blame squarely on the nine accused students - dubbed "the Notorious Nine" - while others have questioned whether the intense competitiveness of 750-student Hanover High forced students into positions of having to cheat....
Predictably, the lawyering-up has already occurred.

And the incident involved a lot more than this:



Information from the school's web site, if my search is correct:
Hanover High School is an active learning community that provides broad academic and co-curricular programs. We engage students’ minds, hearts, and voices so that they become educated, caring, and responsible adults.

All students are given the opportunity and encouragement to use their

• MINDS to pursue excellence, academic challenge, and personal success.

• HEARTS to respect and care for the emotional and physical well-being of themselves and others, and for the environment.

• VOICES to contribute to the democratic process and the common good.
What is your view? Is the school being too harsh in filing criminal charges against the students?

[Hat-tip to Raven, who sent me the link to the article in the Boston Globe]

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/19/2007 08:55:00 AM  

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Weekly Radio Show: September 21

(This posting stuck toward the top for a few days. Please scroll down)

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, which WC and I cohost. The show broadcasts live every Friday for one hour at noon, Pacific Time.

The call-in number is (646) 915-9870.

Callers welcome!

Friday, September 21: Special show!

Our interviewee this week is Foe Hammer of Foehammer's Anvil. He will be on the air for the full hour because our previous thirty-minute interview with him did not afford us enough time to cover what this expert is able to share with us. Join us for an in-depth discussion with a fearless blogger who pulls out all the stops as he pursues his calling in the counter-jihad!

----------------------------

Foe Hammer's state-of-the-art blog carries the header "Truth, not Islam" and just below states the following: Welcome to the Anvil. You’re about to enter the fight in a way that most are too afraid to even discuss. This is not a site for the faint-hearted infidel, so if the idea of discovering the truth about Islam and the ‘Long War’ frightens you, turn back now. Otherwise, come on in and make use of the information here, participate, learn and educate. Frequenters of Jihad Watch often see Foe Hammer's fearless comments there.

If you are unable to listen live to the radio show, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/19/2007 01:00:00 AM  

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Tuesday, September 18, 2007

What A Nice Surprise!

Today, I came home from work to find that Joy, one of my dearest friends and a parent with whom I go way back (1980?), had left a comment at one of Raven's posts:
Joy says
Hi, I am a friend of Always on Watch. Loved your pictures. I am forwarding your pics to my daughter who lives in Europe. I bet she will want to go to the islands before she comes home. Thanks. Don’t you just love Always? She taught both my daughters in a Christian school and she changed my youngest daughter’s life - the one in Europe. She “turned her around” in school - simply with understanding her, giving her responsibility, and trusting her with the responsibility. Enjoyed your pictures. Joy

September 16th, 2007 #
Moments such as these give a teacher so much encouragement and a sense of fulfillment.

Thanks, Joy! Your kind words mean a lot.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/18/2007 05:15:00 PM  

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Monday, September 17, 2007

War Memorial Vandalized

The damage to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, upon which are inscribed the names of over 58,000 men and women who perished or remain missing, was not done during the anti-war demonstration of September 15, but rather ten days ago. At first, police declined to call the damage vandalism, but they are doing so now.

From this September 17, 2007 article in the Washington Post:
The unidentified substance that was found splashed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial earlier this month was the result of vandalism, the U.S. Park Police said today.

Sgt. Robert Lachance, a spokesman for the Park Police, said the investigation into the incident is continuing, but the detective on the case had ruled it an act of vandalism. Lachance said he could provide no more details because the probe is still underway.

The oily substance was first reported to police the evening of Sept. 7, National Park Service officials have said. Dark blotches were found along a stone curb at the base of the memorial for most of its length, and at least two of the wall's panels appeared to have had something splashed on them....
Read the rest.

What kind of loser trashes such a place, a shrine to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice? And why would someone desecrate the wall (as we here in the D.C. refer to the memorial)?

The older I get, the less I think of some of my fellow human beings. And certainly I find that I just don't understand certain of them.

Note: If you have time, you might want to explore The Virtual Wall, a beautiful and reverent site.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/17/2007 08:34:00 PM  

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Cindy Sheehan Gladdens Terrorists

Dedicated to all those who just love Code Pink....
Excerpt from this article from WorldNetDaily on September 16, 2007:

Muslim terrorist leaders are "thankful" for the efforts of activist and congressional candidate Cindy Sheehan, stating in a new book [Info about the book is HERE] Sheehan's anti-Iraq war activities and her statements against President Bush "give us hope" the U.S. will change its Mideast policies.

"You [Sheehan] give us hope and you show us that there are different Americans than those whom we know," stated Ramadan Adassi, chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the West Bank's Anskar Refugee Camp.

"This sincere woman says what we've been saying all these last years – Saddam never threatened America or its security. Now Iraq is being decimated and America is losing. Voices like Sheehan's show things can change," said Adassi.

[...]

Terrorist: 'I thank Sheehan from the deep of my heart'

Palestinian terrorist leaders were elated to hear Sheehan blamed the Iraq war on Israel, according to Klein.

In a letter to ABC News' "Nightline" published on the Internet, Sheehan wrote: "Am I emotional? Yes, my first born was murdered. Am I angry? Yes, he was killed for lies and for a neo-con agenda to benefit Israel. My son joined the army to protect America, not Israel."

Responding in "Schmoozing," Ala Senakreh, overall West Bank chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, stated:

"I agree with her completely and thank her from deep in my heart when she dares to tell the Americans that their children are killed for the interests of Israel.

"The American security has nothing to do with the atrocities in Iraq and in Palestine. I tell this noble mother that American soldiers and Israeli soldiers receive common training and share their experience in how to turn these atrocities even more cruel. You are losing your sons not for a better life for you, but for Israeli interests," stated Senakreh.

Abu Hamed, leader of the Al Aqsa Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip, urged Americans to listen to Sheehan.

"I hope that all the Americans will understand what this great mother understood. We hope you do not consider this mother as a humanitarian case who speaks from her own pain, because she is saying the truth. I hope you will take her as a good example."...
Nice, huh? A bunch of moonbats take to the streets of our nation's capital and embolden the enemy, giving them "hope." By the way, whatever happened to her promise last May to cease her anti-war activities?

[Hat-tip to Raven for alerting me to the above article]

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/17/2007 09:11:00 AM  

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Saturday, September 15, 2007

The Dhimmis At The WaPo

Via Jihad Watch (emphases mine):
In "5 Myths About Terrorism" in the [September 11, 2007] Washington Post (thanks to Steve), Alan B. Krueger provides a sterling example of the politically correct myopia that prevents an accurate analysis of the global jihad and Islamic supremacism. And he does so in such a clumsy way that it is remarkable that no one at the paper caught this before it was printed:
4. Terrorism is mainly perpetrated by Muslims.
Wrong. No religion has a monopoly on terrorism. Every major religious faith has had followers involved in terrorism. (Sri Lanka, for instance, has grappled for decades with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist group that pioneered suicide bombing as a terrorist tactic and hopes to create a homeland for the country's mostly Tamil minority, who are largely Hindu.) Although radical Islamic terrorists are the worry du jour because of 9/11 and Iraq, the data show pretty clearly that the predominant religion of a country is not a good predictor of whether its people will become involved in terrorism.

After all, it was not long ago that homegrown villains such as Timothy McVeigh and the so-called Unabomber were the most notorious terrorists. That makes sense; the vast majority of terrorist incidents are local, motivated by local concerns and carried out by natives. Even international terrorist events tend to be local affairs, most frequently carried out by local militants who target foreigners who happen to be in their country. (Just think of last week's foiled plot to attack U.S. targets in Germany.) This suggests that the likelihood of attack by homegrown terrorists is far greater than the threat of another 9/11-style attack by foreigners.
Did you catch that? Terrorism isn't "mainly perpetrated by Muslims" because "no religion has a monopoly on terrorism." This doesn't even establish what Krueger wants it to establish, because the fact that people of all religions have committed terrorist acts doesn't disprove the contention that terrorism is mainly perpetrated by Muslims. If one group is responsible for something, say, 80% of the time, it is mainly responsible for it: you can't point to the existence of the other 20% as if it were proof that the 80% group is not mainly responsible.

Also, it should be obviously absurd to everyone at this point, but of course it isn't, to drag out poor old McVeigh, and the Unabomber to boot, and stack them up as equivalent to the plethora of armed Islamic organizations that can be found all over the planet, and the more the 9,000 terror attacks committed in the name of Islam since 9/11. But of course since the overwhelming majority of those have not been reported by Krueger's friends with any significant mention or exploration of the Islamic texts and teachings that the perpetrators used to justify them, most Americans don't realize that they have anything to do with Islam in the first place -- while every schoolchild knows that McVeigh was a Christian (he wasn't).

Finally, it is in no way relevant to a discussion of terrorism in general, much less Islamic jihad terrorism in particular, to assert that "every major religious faith has had followers involved in terrorism." It's a shame that such superficial analysis is so dominant these days. While the statement may be broadly true, it brushes by the central question: does Islamic theology and tradition contain any elements that encourage its followers to be involved in terrorism? Do other religions? This is a central consideration of my book Religion of Peace?, and it is a question media and policymakers should be asking. They don't, of course, because CAIR and others have mau-maued them into thinking that even to ask such questions promotes "bigotry" and "intolerance," as well as that trumped-up concept "Islamophobia." It never occurs to them that such discussions would actually aid the moderate Muslims they profess to support, being a necessary step toward the self-criticism that would have to be an essential component of any genuine Islamic reform.
Today's WaPo on September 15, 2007, is promoting "7th Heaven," an interfaith game for middle schoolers. Article here. CAIR has approved the game. Sample question:
8. On what two levels does Islam seek to promote peace?
Answer: "Peace within one's self and peace with others."

Apparently, the creators of the game have chosen to ignore the last "revelation" of Allah: Sura 9. An excellent explanation of that Sura is HERE. An explanation of the concept of abrogation of verses is HERE. You can find even more about abrogation HERE.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/15/2007 08:40:00 AM  

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Friday, September 14, 2007

Incident In Dearbornistan (Video Update Added)

The caption at the bottom of the poster reads "The Start of my Personal Jihad (in the US)"

See THIS and THIS.

So what was on the news all day today? O.J. Simpson. Ugh!

Update below:



[Hat-tip to Kevin for the above video. Kevin also has an excellent report]

The arrestee's web page, speakers recommended but not required.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/14/2007 08:52:00 PM  

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Education

(Each "Question of the Week," an idea which I gleaned from A Republic If You Can Keep It, will remain toward the top of the blog until the next question appears. The previous Questions of the Week are HERE. Please scroll down for recent postings)

The September 17, 2007 edition of Newsweek published an article entitled "Come Back, Mr. Chips." This article provides details as to the paucity of males in today's education system, particularly in the elementary and middle grades. The presence of male teachers is at a forty-year low.

Excerpt from the article (emphases mine):


When numerous fellow teachers asked Josh Holt to mentor their students last year at Heber Hunt Elementary in Sedalia, Mo., Holt initially felt a burst of pride. It was his first year at the school teaching health and PE, and he hoped that he had impressed his senior colleagues. But looking around the school, Holt realized there was a simpler reason teachers and even parents asked him to be a "buddy" in the school's program for at-risk kids: he was born with a Y chromosome. "The principal is the only other guy in the school," says Holt, 24. "Some of these kids don't have any men in their lives, and they really need a male role model."

That is increasingly difficult to find in American classrooms. According to the National Education Association, the number of male schoolteachers is hovering at a 40-year low. Only one quarter of our 3 million teachers are men. In elementary schools, the problem is more acute—just 9 percent are men, down from 18 percent in 1981. "If kids do not see males in the classroom, they begin to believe teaching is only for females," says Reg Weaver, president of the NEA. Unless more men become teachers, says Weaver, the shortage will continue to be a self-perpetuating problem.

Although the feminization of the teaching profession has been underway since the 1890s, school administrators say it's becoming a more salient issue as boys fall behind girls in graduation rates and demonstrate more difficulties with reading and writing.

There are several reasons many men find it difficult to enter, and stay in, the teaching profession: the starting salary for teachers is about $30,000, and less in early education. "Right now I don't have a wife, I don't have kids," says Bart Tittle, 24, a preschool teacher in Independence, Mo., who earns about $25,000 a year. "Later in life it's going to be much more challenging."

Another reason men fail to consider teaching is a widely held belief that they lack nurturing skills. Conversely, if a man expresses tenderness or too many traits associated with being female, some parents assume the male teacher is gay. Last fall Justin Smith, a first-grade teacher in North Kansas City, Mo., told the mother of one of his students that he'd be happy to tie a scarf on the child's Halloween costume. A few hours later, the principal notified Smith that the mother had requested her son be pulled from the class because she didn't want her child "taught by a homosexual." "At first I was kind of offended," says Smith, who is straight and married, "but then I realized this was a common stereotype and that I'd just have to let my teaching do the talking for me."

Another problem is that grown men who express physical affection for small children can be accused of being pedophiles. Steve Weber, a preschool teacher in Onamia, Minn., who has been working with special-needs children for nearly 30 years, still remembers the pit that formed in his stomach 20 years ago when a student's mother accused him of molesting her profoundly handicapped daughter. During a meeting to discuss the allegations, the mother burst into tears and blurted out that the child's molester was actually her boyfriend. "I was, like, 'Holy crap!' " recalls Weber, both relieved and horrified. Smith, whose first-grade students often need help undoing buckles or rebuttoning pants when using the toilet, insists they step into the public hallway before he will help them. "It's awkward, but I just have to protect myself," he says.

Educators are taking new approaches to address the shortage. This summer, Indiana University offered a seminal course on men and education. In July, the Pennsylvania state legislature appropriated $1 million to create a statewide version of Call Me MISTER, a recruitment program that began at Clemson University aimed at attracting African-American men. The Borough of Manhattan Community College now runs a mentorship program to help male teachers-in-training find jobs. Roy Fox, an education specialist at the University of Missouri-Columbia, is expanding MEET, or Men for Excellence in Elementary Teaching, a group that gathers on a monthly basis to discuss research and serve as a sounding board to deal with one another's male-specific teaching problems.

Bryan Nelson, the founder of MenTeach.org, says the absence of men in America's classrooms deprives kids. Children need good teachers, male and female, says Nelson....
Beginning in third grade, I had a majority of male teachers, all the way through high school. In fact, I found the male teachers to be more academically demanding than the female teachers — and not as moody, as well. Overall, I found the male teachers to be more effective in the classroom.


QUESTION OF THE WEEK, in two parts: (1) Did you have male teachers during the course of your education, particularly in elementary, middle, and high school? (2) Does the gender of teachers matter to the education and the future success of children?

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/14/2007 01:00:00 AM  

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Thursday, September 13, 2007

The Nice Matters Award

While I was away, Vorzheva of Spanish Pundit nominated me for the Nice Matters Award. I don't know that I'm always nice, but I do try to be civil.

Having received the award, it is my duty to nominate seven lady bloggers to receive the Nice Matters Award. Like "beauty," "nice" is a nebulous word; the meaning in the eye of the beholder.

I couldn't narrow my list down to seven, so I've chosen ten lady bloggers whose blogs I love to visit. Here are my awards, in no particular order:
Cube of The BLog

Eyes

Monica of Grizzly Mama

Gayle of Dragon's Lady Den and Liberal Lunacy

My two sisters, The Merry Widow and Nanc of Long Range and It's Curtains for You...

Jungle Mom of The Jungle Hut

Brooke of Neoconcommand Center

Wild Thing of PC Free Zone

Mountain Mama

Kat of CatHouse Chat
I saw that Angel had already been named, so she's not included in the above list. But she's definitely on my list of nice lady bloggers. I'd also have named Raven, but she's on vacation.

Each you named above is supposed to choose seven lady bloggers to receive The Nice Matters Award. Happy nominating, should you choose to participate!

Addendum: Raven is back home! Take a look at the pictures she has posted.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/13/2007 07:51:00 AM  

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Wednesday, September 12, 2007

When Your Car Is Recalled

My primary vehicle for business has been recalled for a faulty switch. This, for a vehicle which is over ten years old and has over 100,000 miles on the odometer! I discovered the recall notice in a huge stack of mail which had piled up during vacation. Apparently the notice came a day or two after we left for vacation near the end of August.
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From the notice I received (emphasis mine):
[The manufacturer] cannot be confident that over many years in service, the...switch...will not leak, posing the risk of an underhood fire. This condition may occur either when the vehicle is parked or when it is being operated, even if the [switch] is not in use.

[...]

Until you have the recall service performed, park your vehicle away from structure to prevent a potential underhood fire from spreading.
I've taken the precaution of parking my car on the street and away from trees and my house. Unfortunately, parking the vehicle far enough away still places it quite close to my house and to a neighbor's house. In addition, we're in a drought here. If there is an underhood fire, things would get mighty ugly here.

Even worse than the recall for the part is the unavailability of the replacement unit:
Parts to repair the above concern...will not be available until 4th quarter of 2007....
I called the car dealer first thing Monday morning and made an appoinment for today (Wednesday), when I don't have classes, so as to have the switch disconnected. Sure enough, the part is not yet available. If and when it is available,
Your dealer may be able to perform this repair while you wait; however, due to scheduling requirements, your dealer may need your vehicle for a longer period of time.
With my schedule as tight as it is during the school term, Ford had better provide me with a loaner vehicle. I'm self-employed: no work, no pay.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/12/2007 08:22:00 AM  

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Weekly Radio Show: September 14

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, which WC and I cohost. The show broadcasts live every Friday for one hour at noon, Pacific Time.

The call-in number is (646) 915-9870.

Callers welcome!

Friday, September 14: Our scheduled guest this week at the bottom of the hour is GM Roper of GM's Corner.

GM is a licensed professional counselor, and we'll be putting Islam on the couch.

If you are unable to listen live to the radio show, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 9/12/2007 01:00:00 AM  

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