Saturday, June 30, 2007

I Got The Interview!

On Friday, June 29, 2007, I attended a lecture given by Dr. Tawfik Hamid at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. The lecture was entitled "Radicalization of Young Muslims." Following the lecture, I got up my nerve and asked Dr. Hamid if he would be willing to be interviewed on The Gathering Storm Radio Show. He graciously agreed! The interview is HERE.
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I also managed to get another interview for that same broadcast: Clare M. Lopez (Bio here) of The Intelligence Summit. Recently, Ms. Lopez, along with Ambassador Richard Carlson and Colonel Bill Cowan, taped a radio segment called "Danger Zone" for Washington, D.C.'s WMAL (630 AM). The show will air on Sunday, July 1, 2007, and should be available on line after it airs.

I will be posting a review of Dr. Hamid's lecture in a few days. His strategy to curb the violent practice of Islam centers around using a concept called "the relativity of Koranic verses."

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/30/2007 04:00:00 AM  

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Friday, June 29, 2007

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Lifestyle

(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)

This time of year, many are planning their annual vacation, or if they're lucky, they have already taken their annual vacation. At the end of this summer, Mr. AOW and I are planning to visit friends when we take our annual road trip. We can hardly wait!
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But in addition to visiting friends for vacation, many of us have "a dream vacation." Mine is to return to the Hawaiian Islands, where I've vacationed twice before, albeit back in the mid-1980s. If I won the lottery tomorrow, it's off to Hawaii I'd go, with particular attention to Maui! Afterwards, I'd spend a month in Australia, a place I've never visited. After that, I'd head for the ruins at Machu Picchu.




QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What is your dream vacation?

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/29/2007 11:00:00 PM  

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Thursday, June 28, 2007

Happy Anniversary, Warren & Wife!

May your special day be one filled with memories, both past and present!
The Wedding Song (There Is Love)

He is now to be among you at the calling of your hearts.
Rest assured this troubadour is acting on his part.
The union of your spirits here, has caused Him to remain.
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name,
There is love. There is love.

A man shall leave his mother and a woman leave her home.
And they shall travel on to where the two shall be as one.
As it was in the beginning is now and till the end.
Woman draws her life from man and gives it back again.
And there is love. There is love.

Well then what's to be the reason for becoming man and wife?
Is it love that brings you here or love that brings you life?
And if loving is the answer, then who's the giving for?
Do you believe in something that you've never seen before?
Oh there's love, there is love.

Oh the marriage of your spirits here has caused Him to remain.
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name.
There is love. There is love.


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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/28/2007 10:00:00 PM  

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Weekly Radio Show: June 29

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, of which I am 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, June 29: This week's scheduled guest for the bottom of the hour will be Timothy Birdnow of The New Birdblog and formely of Birdblog. In addition to his blogs, Timothy also writes articles for American Thinker; an index of his articles is HERE.

I may be phoning in to the show from The Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where I'm scheduled to attend a lecture by Dr. Tawfik Hamid, Muslim reformer and author of The Roots of Jihad. HERE is Dr. Hamid's web site, and HERE is Google-search information.

Friday's lecture runs from noon-2:00 PM, EDT. If I can nab Dr. Hamid for an interview in the first half hour of the show, I will! In any case, I plan to call in with an immediate report on the lecture.

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

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 @ 6/28/2007 06:09:00 PM  

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Wednesday, June 27, 2007

What Is GWB Thinking Of?

Today, President Bush is scheduled to speak at the Washington D.C. Islamic Center, which has ties to Wahhabism. Here, at Vigilant Freedom/910 Blog, in "Sir, Have You No Shame?" is what Baron Bodissey of Gates of Vienna had to say about what our President is doing today (emphases mine):
President Bush has been seduced by the dark side of the Force.

That’s the only explanation I can think of.

He will speak tomorrow at the Washington Islamic Center, the most prominent Saudi-funded mosque in Washington DC. Not to mince words, it’s a Wahhabist mosque.

The speech is at 11:30 AM, so time is short.

Dymphna [also of Gates of Vienna] posted on this topic earlier this afternoon, in an
open letter to the President. [Read it!]

Bloggers: we need to blog on this, and have our readers light up the phones at the White House tonight and tomorrow.

Readers: see the contact info at the bottom of this post. The important phone numbers are 202-456-1414 (voice) and 202-456-2461 (fax).

The Administration claims to want to shut down terrorist groups. The groups represented at the President’s speech include CAIR, MPAC, ISNA, etc., which are known cover groups and fronts for the architects and funding sources of the Muslim Brotherhood and related Islamic terror groups. The President must state his firm commitment to shutting down these terror groups.

The President must make the point that Islam as it is practiced by many of these groups is not a religion, but a political ideology which seeks to dominate the rest of us by force.

The groups invited to and/or sponsoring this event must disavow Hamas, Hizbullah, etc. specifically and by name and not just utter generalized mealy-mouthed condemnations of “all kinds of terrorism”. Those who will not join in such a denunciation are de facto apologists and supporters of the jihad groups.

The leaders of these groups have not addressed the criminal and immoral attacks on civilians by Islamic suicide bombers and terrorists. This must change. They must publicly and clearly denounce these attacks as unacceptable and un-Islamic.

Any effort to implement the above changes is routinely denounced as “racism” and “Islamophobia”. The President must make clear that opposing political Islam is not any of these things; it is an honorable, patriotic, and morally justified enterprise in defense of human liberty.

These groups must be compelled to acknowledge that extremist and violent Islam is a real, widespread, and serious problem, and not just a figment of the “infidel” imagination. They must be seen publicly to join in the movement to denounce and resist it.

The Islamic groups which encourage their followers not to cooperate with the police, the FBI, and other law-enforcement agencies are not just being unhelpful, they are breaking the law.

The groups involved in this event have routinely denounced the “Zionist lobby”. It should be stated explicitly that this is an unacceptable attack on the pluralism of American society.

The focus on Israel as the putative cause of all Islamic violence must stop.

We call on President Bush to state publicly and forcefully that the Muslim Brotherhood, which is behind many of these “charities” and lobbying groups, is a dangerous, violent, and subversive entity which threatens the security of the United States and the entire Western world. It must be delegitimized and put beyond the pale of acceptable social action.

Contact info:

George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington D.C. 20500

voice: 202-456-1414
fax: 202-456-2461
e-mail: president@whitehouse.gov

Get on it, folks! Let the President know that his dhimmitude is unacceptable.

Addendum: HERE is the speech, "President Bush Rededicates the Islamic Center of Washington."

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/27/2007 06:25:00 AM  

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Monday, June 25, 2007

The Danes Burn MTP In Effigy

Gates of Vienna has the video and story. CLICK HERE.

[END OF THIS POSTING]

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/25/2007 08:59:00 PM  

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Sunday, June 24, 2007

How Civilized They Are! Not! (Addendum at the Bottom)

It's the cartoonifada and the Pope-ifada all over again. Take a look at this and the reaction on the part of Muslims around the world to the knighting of Salman Rushdie.

A few sample photos are posted below, but you just have to go to the above link to read and to see the details!
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The full story. Worth your time.

If Muslims are going to be so enraged over cartoons and knighthood, just how are they going to fit into Western civilization? They aren't if they continue to push to dictate respected and time-honored aspects of Western life, including satire, knighthood, and freedom of speech. For more thoughts along those lines, read Mark Alexander's essay "Keep Your Powder Dry!..."

Addendum: From this source:
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A group of hardline Pakistani Muslim clerics said on Thursday they had bestowed a religious title on Osama bin Laden in response to a British knighthood for author Salman Rushdie.

The Pakistan Ulema Council gave bin Laden the title "Saifullah", or sword of Allah, in response to the knighthood awarded to Rushdie last week for services to literature....
[Hat-tip to Redneck's Revenge for this addendum]

Will infidels go rioting in the streets over Muslims' honoring of OBL? I doubt it.




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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/24/2007 10:09:00 AM  

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U.S. Aid To Saudi

The House has the right idea. Will the Senate and the President fall into line?
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From this article:
WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Friday to prohibit any aid to Saudi Arabia as lawmakers accused the close ally of religious intolerance and bankrolling terrorist organizations.

The prohibition, reflecting persistent tensions with the kingdom after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, was attached to a foreign aid funding bill for next year that has not yet been debated by the Senate.

It also faces a veto threat from the White House because of an unrelated provision.

[...]

In the past three years, Congress has passed bills to stop the relatively small amount of U.S. aid to Saudi Arabia, only to see the Bush administration circumvent the prohibitions....
Read it all.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/24/2007 09:50:00 AM  

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My Mustang

My midlife crisis:




The story is HERE.

[END OF THIS POSTING]

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/24/2007 07:47:00 AM  

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Saturday, June 23, 2007

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Politics

(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)

Recently, Rudy Giuliani released a list entitled "12 Commitments to America," along with a petition to sign. [Hat-tip to Cassandra, recent interviewee on The Gathering Storm Radio Show and author of Escape! From An Arab Marriage: Horror Stories of Women Who Fled From Abusive Muslim Husbands, for sending me the link below]
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Here is the list, with numbers added by me to facilitate discussion of the points:
1. I will keep America on offense in the Terrorists' War on Us.

2. I will end illegal immigration, secure our borders, and identify every non-citizen in our nation.

3. I will restore fiscal discipline and cut wasteful Washington spending.

4. I will cut taxes and reform the tax code.

5. I will impose accountability on Washington.

6. I will lead America towards energy independence.

7. I will give Americans more control over and access to healthcare with affordable and portable free-market solutions.

8. I will increase adoptions, decrease abortions, and protect the quality of life for our children.

9. I will reform the legal system and appoint strict constructionist judges.

10. I will ensure that every community in America is prepared for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

11. I will provide access to a quality education to every child in America by giving real school choice to parents.

12. I will expand America's involvement in the global economy and strengthen our reputation around the world.
Petition to Join Rudy

At the moment, polls show that Rudy Giuliani is the leading Republican contender and possibly the only Republican who can defeat any of the Democratic candidates mentioned so far.



QUESTION OF THE WEEK (in two parts):
(1) What is your opinion of the above 12 points? (2) How do you feel about Rudy Giuliani as the 2008 Republican nominee for President?

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/23/2007 09:00:00 PM  

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Friday, June 22, 2007

Photo Site

AOW'S PHOTOS

Just something I've been playing around with.

I have yet to learn how to edit my photos. **sigh**

[END OF THIS POSTING]

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/22/2007 08:23:00 AM  

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Thursday, June 21, 2007

CAIR Objects To SANE

SANE stands for the Society of Americans for National Existence.

Follow-up to The Gathering Storm Radio Show of June 15 (Please ignore my techie kerfluffles during the first several minutes), when WC and I interviewed David Yerushalmi of SANE: CAIR is whining about The Mapping Shari'a in America Project.

I can't say what needs to be said any better than WC has in this posting. Excerpt:

In a response to an Insight Magazine article on a new project by the Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE) called Mapping Shari’a in America, CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations and "unindicted co-conspirator" in a plot to fund the terrorist group Hamas) called SANE a ‘hate group” and accused them of advocating "adherence to Islam" be punishable by 20 years in prison.

If you read the Insight article you will see that nothing is further from the truth....
Read the rest.

Apparently, Mapping Shari'a and SANE have gotten on CAIR's nerves. Good!

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/21/2007 05:40:00 AM  

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Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Two Brits Speak Out About Islam

[Hat-tip to Brooke for the following videos]





Follow-up to the above video:






At his web site, UK blogger Lionheart posts about the situation in the United Kingdom. Excerpt from one of LionHeart's recent postings "The Horror of 21st Century Britain":
Within the gates of Great Britain we have an alien Islamic Kingdom who live completely contrary to British society who believe it is their duty to enforce Islam upon the land and people of this Country.

There are approximately 3 million Moslems living the length and breadth of the United Kingdom.

Within that 3 million there is an army of foot-soldiers who are conducting Jihad on a daily basis with Al Qaeda’s Afghani Heroin. There are gangs of Moslem rapists and murderers walking the streets terrorising our society. There is also an army of Al Qaeda trained terrorists from the training fields of Pakistan/Afghanistan and there are Islamic preachers all over the country who are preaching hate and holy war against us and our society to their British born Moslem audience.

MI5 have said that they are following between 3 to 4000 terrorists, 200 networks and 30 actual plots to kill innocent British civilians.

It does not take Einstein to work out that there is a considerable threat facing the innocent people of Great Britain and the very future of this Nation.

[...]

Our government, security services and the police are powerless to prevent this Nation wide Moslem army from conducting its daily destruction and degradation of Great Britain. The British people cannot say nor do anything through fear of imprisonment so we have to just sit back and watch the destruction of our country and children’s futures at the hands of this internal Islamic enemy....
Exaggeration? Before you decide, take a close look at LionHeart's site. He often has links to news articles in addition to his essays.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/20/2007 06:28:00 AM  

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Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Dr. Tawfik Hamid Coming To Washington, D.C.

Dr. Tawfik Hamid will be speaking in Washington, D.C., on Friday, June 29, 2007. I received and accepted the following invitation via Andrew Whitehead, Director, Anti-Council on American-Islamic Relations (Anti-CAIR):
The Hon. Rick Santorum

and

The Victory Coalition

cordially invite you to a public lecture

“Radicalization of Young Muslims”

by Dr. Tawfik Hamid

Friday, June 29, 2007

12 to 2 p.m.

The lecture will be at The Ethics and Public Policy Center

1015 Fifteenth Street NW

Suite 900

Washington, D.C. 20005

Lunch will be served.

Dr Hamid is a former member of Jema’a Islameia, an Islamic extremist group, and a former associate of Ayman al-Zawaheri, Al-Qaeda’s second in command. He is a lecturer and author of The Roots of Jihad, as well as several articles, including “How to End ‘Islamophobia’” in The Wall Street Journal, and “The Development of A Jihadist's Mind” published by the Hudson Institute.

For more information and to RSVP contact Simone Lorenzo

at slorenzo@eppc.org or 202.682.1204.

Please RSVP before Wednesday, June 20.
More information about Dr. Tawfik Hamid: ------------------------------

Excerpt from this source, an essay by Tawfik Hamid, and subtitled "Sadly, mainstream Muslim teaching accepts and promotes violence" (emphases mine):
...Women are stoned to death and undergo clitorectomies. Gays hang from the gallows under the approving eyes of the proponents of Shariah, the legal code of Islam. Sunni and Shia massacre each other daily in Iraq. Palestinian mothers teach 3-year-old boys and girls the ideal of martyrdom. One would expect the orthodox Islamic establishment to evade or dismiss these complaints, but less happily, the non-Muslim priests of enlightenment in the West have come, actively and passively, to the Islamists' defense.

[...]

It is vital to grasp that traditional and even mainstream Islamic teaching accepts and promotes violence. Shariah, for example, allows apostates to be killed, permits beating women to discipline them, seeks to subjugate non-Muslims to Islam as dhimmis and justifies declaring war to do so. It exhorts good Muslims to exterminate the Jews before the "end of days." The near deafening silence of the Muslim majority against these barbaric practices is evidence enough that there is something fundamentally wrong.

[...]

...[M]any non-Muslim, Western intellectuals--who unceasingly claim to support human rights--have become obstacles to reforming Islam. Political correctness among Westerners obstructs unambiguous criticism of Shariah's inhumanity. They find socioeconomic or political excuses for Islamist terrorism such as poverty, colonialism, discrimination or the existence of Israel. What incentive is there for Muslims to demand reform when Western "progressives" pave the way for Islamist barbarity? Indeed, if the problem is not one of religious beliefs, it leaves one to wonder why Christians who live among Muslims under identical circumstances refrain from contributing to wide-scale, systematic campaigns of terror.

[...]

Progressives need to realize that radical Islam is based on an antiliberal system. They need to awaken to the inhumane policies and practices of Islamists around the world. They need to realize that Islamism spells the death of liberal values. And they must not take for granted the respect for human rights and dignity that we experience in America, and indeed, the West, today.

Well-meaning interfaith dialogues with Muslims have largely been fruitless. Participants must demand--but so far haven't--that Muslim organizations and scholars specifically and unambiguously denounce violent Salafi components in their mosques and in the media.
Muslims who do not vocally oppose brutal Shariah decrees should not be considered "moderates."...
Read the entire article.

The author is Dr. Tawfik Hamid, author of the book The Roots of Jihad. His online biographical sketch states the following (emphases mine):
Born in Egypt to a secular Muslim family, Tawfik Hamid joined the extremist Islamic Group GI when he was in Medical School . His colleagues in the terror movement included Al Zawaherri, then a friend with whom Tawfik used to pray, and now the number 2 person of Al Qaeda.

Eventually Dr. Hamid questioned the feelings of hatred and impulses to violence that his participation in extremist Islam was fomenting within him. He became a physician, and also a scholar of Islamic texts. When he began to preach in Mosques to promote a message of peace instead of violence and hatred, however, he himself became a target of the Islamic extremists who had been his friends. They threatened his life, forcing him and his family to flee Egypt , and then Saudi Arabia. As Dr. Hamid says "The powers of darkness were overwhelming and I was forced to emigrate with my family to the West seeking freedom."

From his insider understanding of terrorist mentality, Tawfik predicted the Sept. 11th, Madrid, and London attacks. Now his mission has become "to speak out against radical Islam, a cancer that is spreading with frightening rapidity across the globe today."...
It appears that Dr. Hamid is qualified to speak of the subject of which he's written in the above commentary, which serves as a reality check as to what the real Islam is.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/19/2007 05:00:00 PM  

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Just For Fun

(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)

Most of the time, I think about serious issues. But everybody needs a break! Therefore, for this question of the week, I have chosen a one-question quiz from Blogthings. I make no claim as to the science underlying this quiz. My results are given below:

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

Your Brain's Pattern

Your brain is always looking for the connections in life.
You always amaze your friends by figuring out things first.
You're also good at connecting people - and often play match maker.
You see the world in fluid, flexible terms. Nothing is black or white.



QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
What were the results of your quiz?

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/19/2007 04:50:00 PM  

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Weekly Radio Show: June 22

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, of which I am 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, June 22: This week's scheduled guest for the bottom of the hour will be Brooke of the NeoCon Command Center blog. Regular readers here are already familiar with Brooke's excellent site.

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If you are unable to listen live to the radio show during which Wc and I will be interviewing Brooke, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/19/2007 06:00:00 AM  

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Monday, June 18, 2007

Terrorist Attacks In The Philippines

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

Is this information making the news?------------------------

From this source:
Nine Dead in Philippine Bus Bombing

MANILA, Philippines, June 16--The death toll from a bus bombing in a southern Philippine town rose to nine Saturday, after three wounded people died in hospital
overnight, police said.

The blast Friday in Bansalan, Davao del Sur province, came about five minutes after a bomb went off inside a bus owned by the same company in another southern city, causing little damage and no injuries, AP reported.

At least 14 other people were wounded in the Bansalan blast.

Extortion appeared to be the likely motive since a group has been demanding 2 million pesos ($40,000) in “protection money“ from the People’s Transport Corp., which operates the buses, regional police director Chief Superintendent Andres Caro II said.

Last week, an explosion ripped through another bus and wounded 11 people in Matalam township in nearby Cotabato province.

The criminal group, however, could have links to al-Qaida-related terror cells responsible for other bombings in the country, Caro said.
"Protection money"? Would that be jizyah?
Jizyah is the extra tax imposed on non-Muslims (Dhimmis) who live under Muslim rule according to the Qur'an and hadith:
Qur'an 9:29

Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold forbidden that which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

Khalid bin Al-Waheed (Muslim General, 632AD)

"I call you to God and to Islam. If you respond to the call, then you are Muslims: You obtain the benefits they enjoy and take up the responsibilities they bear. If you refuse, then you must pay the jizyah. If you refuse the jizyah, I will bring against you tribes of people who are more eager for death than you are for life. We will then fight you until God decides between us and you." (Al Tabari, Volume XI)
Once a land is conquered by Islamic armies the ruler can impose a taxation on those non-Muslims who will not convert to Islam.

Jizyah is paid as a sign of submission and gives Dhimmis some legal protection in return. Dhimmis usually are not allowed to carry arms to protect themselves or serve in the army. If the conquered do not wish to pay or convert, their fate may very well be slavery (and possibly rape) or death.

The amount of the Jizyah tax and the way it was collected varied from time to time and from place to place, but when imposed, the forced payment of Jizyah greatly stimulated the conversion of non-Muslims into Islam....
More information about jizyah.

Dated June 16, 2007, the following is a travel warning from the United States Department of State:
This Travel Warning updates information on the security situation and reminds Americans of the risks of travel to the Philippines. Terrorist groups and radical insurgents continue to plan multiple attacks throughout the Philippines. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning for the Philippines dated March 23, 2005.

The Department of State urges American citizens to consider carefully the risks of travel to the Philippines and continues to warn against all but essential travel throughout the country in light of heightened threats to Westerners. The Department also continues to urge Americans who choose to travel to the Philippines to observe vigilant personal security precautions, and to remain aware of the continued potential for terrorist attacks, including those against U.S. citizens. Terrorist groups, including Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf Group, continue to plan multiple attacks throughout the Philippines, as do some radical insurgents who have broken away from Moro groups. Explosive devices have been placed in shopping malls, on public transportation, at airports and port facilities, in places of worship, and in other public areas resulting in numerous casualties and deaths. No area of the Philippines is immune from the possibility of a terrorist attack, although the southern island of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago are particularly affected. One of three bombs that exploded on February 14, 2005 was planted on a bus near an upscale commercial district of Makati, Metro Manila, killing four people. In December 2005, the U.S. Embassy closed its public services for two days in response to threat information. Travelers should be aware that since security has increased at official U.S. facilities, terrorists might seek softer targets. Such targets could include, but are not limited to, places where Americans and other Westerners might live, congregate, shop or visit, including hotels, beach resorts, clubs, restaurants, shopping centers, businesses, housing compounds, transportation systems, places of worship, schools, or public recreation events....
The worldwide jihad proceeds, and the mainstream media choose not to cover the events in detail, except for the occasional story such as this. Excerpt:
MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines' chief negotiator with Muslim separatists has resigned and a new man has been chosen for the post, the government said on Saturday, raising doubts about the resumption of talks in Malaysia next month.

Silvestre Afable's resignation came at a time when the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were close to restarting talks on a proposed ancestral homeland for 3 million Muslims in the south of the country.

[...]

The government officials gave no reason for Afable's decision to quit the peace panel, where he has served since the two sides agreed to return to negotiations after hostilities erupted in February 2003.

But one of his colleagues on the panel told Reuters: "He was getting frustrated because he was not getting enough support from the president and from her security officials.

"He felt there were some people in the Cabinet who were not serious in finding a lasting solution to the Muslim rebellion in the south."


The government has been talking with Muslim rebels to end nearly 40 years of conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people and displaced 2 million in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country.

Talks over the size and wealth of a proposed Muslim homeland have been stalled since September 2006 although backroom negotiations continued, resulting in a breakthrough in December when Manila agreed to grant Muslims the right of self-determination.
We can see how well that bit of appeasement has worked.

[Hat-tip to Dinah Lord, who posted information about recent events in the Philippines, here and here]

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/18/2007 09:08:00 AM  

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Jade Anniversary

(Stuck toward the top through the weekend. Scroll down for other postings)

This weekend, Mr. Always On Watch and I will have been married for 35 years. Hard to believe!
Not long ago, Mr. Always On Watch had a bad moment, got all honked off for a reason yet to be determined, and went out to sleep in his truck, which was parked in the back yard. Mrs. Always On Watch had the bed all to herself and slept just fine, knowing that she had the high ground on this particular argument.

This chart provides a listing of wedding anniversary gifts by year. According to the list, my husband and I have made a lot of progress and have now arrived at our jade anniversary.

The qualities of jade, from this source:
In ancient China and Egypt jade was used as a talisman to attract good fortune and friendship. Worn as an amulet it is believed to protect one from evil while traveling and to promote wisdom and ensure a long life.

Helps to protect the kidney, heart, larynx, liver, spleen, thymus, thyroid and strengthens the body. Jade is known as a symbol of love and virtue.
Several months before Mom passed away, my parents celebrated their 35th anniversary. For the big celebration, my husband and I bought them a beautifully carved jade bird imported from China — a gift which they proudly displayed on a special shelf in their living room.

Now that jade bird graces the dining room here, so I'm not going to hold Mr. AOW to buying me a jade gift. After all, I already have my 35th-anniversary gift, and it only partly involves jade. My most important anniversary gift is the relationship Mr. AOW and I share — never mind that recent night he stormed out to sleep in his truck.

Readers here should consider this posting as a light-blogging alert for this weekend, although I'll be hanging around on the web until the last minute before we leave. Mr. AOW and I plan to hit the road for a day or two to celebrate our special day. We might head for Steubenville, Ohio, and join in the fun at The Dean Martin Festival. We've participated before. A good time!

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/14/2007 05:50:00 AM  

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CAIR's Money Trail

Check out this posting by Atlas Shrugs and the information she found in Investors Business Daily! Excerpt:
[L]and records unearthed by Paul Sperry, author of “Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington,” show that exactly one year after 9/11 — as its dues were drying up — CAIR signed over the deed to its Washington headquarters to a United Arab Emirates-based foundation headed by the ruler of Dubai.

Sheikh Mohammed Al-Maktoum’s foundation put up almost $1 million for the property, and recently pledged $50 million more to help CAIR build larger headquarters, replenish its legal war chest and fund a nationwide pro-Islam propaganda campaign.

The New York Times earlier this year confirmed that “wealthy Persian Gulf governments” — including the UAE and Saudi Arabia — were backing CAIR. “CAIR has raised some suspicion by accepting large donations from individuals or foundations closely identified with Arab governments,” the story said.

We also know from federal court records that CAIR received startup cash from the Holy Land Foundation, which the government has shut down as another Hamas front. Several of its founders — including a senior CAIR official — go on trial next month in Texas for allegedly funneling millions to Hamas for suicide-bomb operations.
Follow the money trail.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/14/2007 05:49:00 AM  

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Follow-up: Iftekhar Murtaza

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

Follow-up to this posting, "Murder in Anaheim," from this source, on June 14, 2007:
Murtaza appears in court

A former boyfriend is charged with killing his ex-girlfriend's father and sister and attempting to kill her mother.

FULLERTON – Iftekhar Murtaza is no longer just a “person of interest.”

He's now an accused killer, charged on counts of murder in the deaths of his former girlfriend's father and sister and on a count of attempted murder in the beating of her mother.

Three weeks and two days after the crimes that have drawn nationwide media attention, Murtaza, 22, appeared Wednesday in an Orange County courthouse for the first time, just hours after the District Attorney's Office filed charges against him. No bail was set.

The Van Nuys man's next scheduled court appearance is July 6.

The charges have been anticipated since last month, after Murtaza was picked up as a “person of interest” at a Phoenix airport on his way to Bangladesh. Murtaza was returned to Anaheim earlier this week, and Wednesday was the deadline for filing charges.

In the Fullerton courtroom, an expressionless Murtaza stood in a beige cage during a brief hearing.

Handcuffed, he talked quietly to his appointed attorney, Bryan Harris of the Orange County Public Defender's Office, before moving behind dark glass away from the cameras that lined the small room. He quietly stated his birth date to the judge and answered “no” when asked if he had an attorney.

The judge granted Harris's request to postpone the arraignment until next month, when Murtaza could enter a plea.

After Wednesday's hearing, Harris said another public defender will later represent Murtaza. He declined to comment about Murtaza's reaction to the charges.

Murtaza's attorney for the Phoenix extradition hearing said his client is innocent and had a round-trip ticket to visit his ailing grandmother in Bangladesh.

Law-enforcement officials say they thought Murtaza lashed out against the family members of his former girlfriend, Shayona Dhanak. The family opposed the couple's relationship mostly because Murtaza is Muslim and Dhanak is Hindu, the officials say in court papers.

Murtaza was accused of killing Shayona Dhanak's father, Jayprakash Dhanak, and her older sister, Karishma Dhanak, as well as attempting to kill her mother, Leela Dhanak.

The mother was found beaten outside the family's burning Anaheim Hills home on May 21.

“She has not recovered enough to talk about this case,” said Susan Kang Schroeder, the District Attorney's Office spokeswoman.

About five hours after the house fire, authorities found the burned bodies of Jayprakash Dhanak and Karishma Dhanak near an Irvine bike trail, a few minutes' drive from Shayona Dhanak's dorm room.

Prosecutors added special circumstances to the murder charges, alleging the killings took place during kidnappings – meaning Jayprakash Dhanak and Karishma Dhanak were killed after being taken, Schroeder said.

Murtaza could face the death penalty.

Police said they are looking for at least one other person connected with the crimes. Witnesses reported seeing at least two people fleeing the Dhanaks' home during the fire.
Comments there are interesting too.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/14/2007 05:00:00 AM  

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Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Wiezie: A Pig Story

Regular readers here know how inordinately fond I am of pigs. See this previous posting.

Now comes a pig story from the Washington Post!

Picture caption from this June 12, 2007 article in the Washington Post:
This is Wiezie, a Vietnamese potbellied pig who spent some time under a porch at 13th and G streets NE. (By Timothy Moyer -- Washington Humane Society)

Full article below:
One morning last month, Elizabeth Perry walked past a house at 13th and G streets NE and said to herself, "That has got to be the ugliest dog I've ever seen."

But it wasn't a dog sprawled out underneath the house's front porch. It was a pig. A big pig.

There was a time when pigs were common in Washington, but those bucolic days are long gone, and Elizabeth decided that now wasn't the time to resurrect them. Besides, the pig didn't look healthy. Its belly was an avalanche of avoirdupois; its facial features were lost in folds of fat. It resembled a bloated, porcine Shar-Pei: a Shar-Pig.

Elizabeth called animal control and reported a pig under a porch.

"She was like, 'Ma'am are you drunk?' " said Elizabeth, 35, a Foreign Service officer who lives nearby. "It was 7 in the morning. I wasn't drunk. I said, 'I don't think it's legal to take a pig into the District, and if it is legal, it's not being kept in a humane way.' "

The pig was there when Elizabeth got off work that afternoon. And it was there the next day. And the next day. And the day after that.

The pig became the talk of the neighborhood. The house already was. The collection of young roommates living there seemed not to show the kind of pride in their rented home that others in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood wished they would.

And now there was a pig.

Elizabeth wondered what was taking the city so long to remove it. During one of her phone calls, a humane society representative told her the people in the house were watching the pig for someone else.

"You mean pig-sitting is okay?" she asked.

Mitchell Battle of the Washington Humane Society said his people went to the house to speak to the people tending the Vietnamese potbellied pig.

"They said the owners were out of town and they were keeping the pig for them," Officer Battle told me. Officer Battle gave them 10 days to relocate the pig. "When we went back, they'd returned it. It was gone."

Chris Babor, 28, a bartender, lives in the pig house. He said the pig belongs to his bartender friend Janet Hamric, 38.

"When I brought her here, I didn't know they were illegal in D.C.," Janet said. She and her pig, Wiezie (named after golfer Michelle Wie), had been living in a condo in Rockville. Neighbors complained, and the pig had to go. The G Street porch was like a porcine refugee camp.

"I've never seen so many funny reactions from so many different people," Janet said. "Granted it's not the most common thing. I didn't think it was that out there. Then again, who knows? Maybe it is too out there."

Janet disputes that Wiezie is grotesquely overweight. "She's just stout," she said.

She does regret not leash-training the pig. "Getting her around is difficult," she said. To get Wiezie from Rockville, Chris and Janet put the pig on a blanket and carried her to a rented U-Haul truck.

Chris said Wiezie bestowed temporary celebrity status on him and his four roommates. Many police officers visited them. "They just wanted to see the pig," he said.

Janet is currently house-hunting, searching for lodging that will accommodate her, Wiezie and her dog, Chuck. "Something will come up," she said. "It always does."

Until then, Wiezie is residing temporarily in Prince George's County.

"She's got an acre to roam around on," Janet said. "Granted, she uses about 10 square feet."
Oink! Oink! Souey!

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/13/2007 06:54:00 AM  

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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

FBI Press Conference Warning Of Nuclear Strike On America

June 11, 2007:
...Our roadmap is clear. We must start with the source: we must secure loose nuclear material. We must share intelligence about those who wish to buy and sell such material, and we must stop those who do. Most importantly, we must stand strong together, for nuclear terrorism is a global threat that requires a global response.

By some estimates, there is enough highly enriched uranium in global stockpiles to construct thousands of nuclear weapons. And it is safe to assume that there are many individuals who would not think twice about using such weapons.

The economics of supply and demand dictate that someone, somewhere, will provide nuclear material to the highest bidder, and that material will end up in the hands of terrorists.

Al Qaeda has demonstrated a clear intent to acquire weapons of mass destruction. In 1993, Osama bin Laden attempted to buy uranium from a source in the Sudan. He has stated that it is Al Qaeda’s duty to acquire weapons of mass destruction. And he has made repeated recruiting pitches for experts in chemistry, physics, and explosives to join his terrorist movement.

Bin Laden is no small thinker. Prior to 2001, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed – the mastermind of the September 11th attacks – suggested flying a small plane filled with explosives into CIA Headquarters. As noted by the 9/11 Commission, bin Laden reportedly asked him, “Why do you use an axe when you can use a bulldozer?”

If 9/11 was the “bulldozer” of which bin Laden spoke, we can only imagine the impact of a full-scale nuclear attack.

Unfortunately, Al Qaeda central is not our only concern. We face threats from other terrorist cells around the world, and from homegrown terrorists who are not affiliated with Al Qaeda, but who are inspired by its message of hatred and violence.

Several rogue nations – and even individuals – seek to develop nuclear capabilities. Abdul Khan, for example, was not only the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, he peddled that technology to North Korea, Libya, and Iran. Khan was one of many to prove that it is indeed a seller’s market in the so-called atomic bazaar....
And from France 24 News:
Security experts from around the world meeting here Monday warned of the threat of a terrorist nuclear attack, and called for renewed efforts to crack down on black market sales of nuclear and radioactive material.

[...]

The meeting, lasting nearly a week, will include conferences on smuggling trends and detection of nuclear material around the world, border security, improvised nuclear devices and "dirty bombs," bombs that spread radiation.

Experts said there is a strong possibility of a terrorist nuclear attack on the United States following the September 11 attacks.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a publication that operates the "Doomsday Clock" to signal the chances of a nuclear catastrophe, currently has the clock set at five minutes to midnight.

Scientists at the bulletin last year moved the hand forward from seven minutes to midnight, saying that the likelihood is high because of terrorists on suicide missions looking for spectacular strikes.
[Hat-tip to Pastorius of Infidel Bloggers Alliance]

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/12/2007 08:32:00 AM  

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The Decline Of CAIR?

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

From this article in the June 12, 2007 Washington Times:
Membership in the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has declined more than 90 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks, according to tax documents obtained by The Washington Times.

The number of reported members spiraled down from more than 29,000 in 2000 to fewer than 1,700 in 2006. As a result, the Muslim rights group's annual income from dues dropped from $732,765 in 2000, when yearly dues cost $25, to $58,750 last year, when the group charged $35.

The organization instead is relying on about two dozen donors a year to contribute the majority of the money for CAIR's budget, which reached nearly $3 million last year.


[...]

CAIR listed contributors in its Form 990 filings with the Internal Revenue Service, but the IRS redacted all the names before releasing the documents.

In 2001, 26 contributors gave more than $1.6 million; in 2002, 26 gave more than $2.6 million; in 2003, 24 gave more than $2 million; in 2004, 20 gave more than $1.4 million; in 2005, 19 contributed $1.3 million.
One has to wonder who those deep-pocketed donors are and if those donors have anything to do with the following:
In 2004, a federal grand jury returned a 42-count indictment against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and seven officers for raising money for Hamas, money laundering and falsifying tax returns. The Holy Land trial begins July 16 in Dallas, and CAIR is listed among 300 new co-conspirators filed May 29 [2007] in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

According to the government's trial brief, filed May 29, CAIR is an entity "who are, and or were, members of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood's Palestine Committee and/or its organization."

Mousa Abu Marzook, a former CAIR official, "has been since 1995, a specially designated terrorist and Hamas leader," the brief said.
Predictably, CAIR is complaining:
Mr. Ahmed called the Justice Department's brief "a McCarthyite political move that allows the government to smear major American Muslim groups, including hundreds of mosques representing hundreds of thousands of ordinary Muslims nationwide, without any evidence being offered in a court of law and without legal recourse for those defamed."

"It is unfortunate that the Justice Department apparently violated its own guidelines, which indicate that such lists are to remain sealed to prevent unfair and un-American labeling of those who are not facing any criminal charges," Mr. Ahmed said.
Apparently, CAIR represents few American Muslims, despite the organization's being quite prominent on news interviews and as advocates for Muslim rights in certain cases (i.e., that of the six praying imams). The above-cited article also contains information indicating that CAIR is full of taqiyya, although the Washington Times doesn't use the term:
CAIR constantly notes in its press releases that it cooperates with federal law-enforcement activities and claims to conduct sensitivity training for Homeland Security officials. A February press release from CAIR's Chicago office says it met with Homeland Security immigration officials and made an agreement to "conduct sensitivity training to [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers and possibly prison personnel."

Homeland Security officials deny such claims and a check of the Office of Management and Budget Watch database of government contracts since 2000 shows CAIR has never been awarded a grant or a government contract.
"The department does not have a formalized relationship with that particular organization," said one Homeland Security official speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Might a not-formalized relationship be an informal one? After all, government officials and representatives from federal law-enforcement sometimes attend CAIR banquets and other events at which CAIR provides sensitivity training. Also, consider this, from May 7, 2007, as listed on CAIR's web site:
CAIR-CT TRAINS FBI AGENTS ON ISLAM

(NEW LONDON, CT, 5/7/07) - Representatives of the Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CT) recently offered diversity and sensitivity training on Islam and Muslims to officials at the New Haven office of the FBI.

The hour-long training included information on basic Islamic beliefs and practices.
The above is just one example. Here are some more, with links for CAIR chapter involvements (According to CAIR a partial listing including Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Arizona, California, Kentucky, St. Louis, and San Antonio) and the following bulleted list:
• Recently received a letter from the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement highlighting the positive working relationship between the department and CAIR-FL
• Conducted sensitivity trainings for the FBI in Orlando and Jacksonville
• Held a joint press conference with the FBI and several other law enforcement agencies seeking information on a person wanted for questioning
• Participated in an 8-week Police Community Relations Leadership Program with the Miami Dade Police Department
• In collaboration with the FBI, FDLE, BSO and several other law enforcement agencies, coordinated a forum with state Islamic leaders
• Participated in several town hall meetings with FBI, FDLE, and U.S. Attorney's office discussing the issues of security and liberty
Uncontracted relationships, I suppose. Then, again, the information comes from CAIR's web site, which isn't exactly the epitome of veracity.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/12/2007 08:13:00 AM  

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Monday, June 11, 2007

CAIR's Membership Down

Excerpt from a little tidbit in the June 11, 2007 Washington Times:
Membership in the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has declined more than 90 percent since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

[...]

The organization...is relying on about two dozen individual donors a year to contribute the majority of the money for CAIR's budget, which reached nearly $3 million last year.
Tomorrow the Washington Times is supposed to release additional details.

[Hat-tip to Raven]

[END OF THIS POSTING]

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/11/2007 09:09:00 PM  

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Weekly Radio Show: June 15 (*Updated!)

(Stuck toward the top for a few days. Please scroll down)

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, of which I am 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, June 15: This week's scheduled guest, *beginning at 10 minutes after the hour, will be Dave Gaubatz:
20 years on Active duty (USAF/12 years AFOSI Active Duty Special Agent)

3 plus years 1811 U.S. Federal Agent

1st U.S. Civilian Federal Agent in Iraq (2003)
Specialized in Counter-terrorism & Counter-intelligence

U.S. State Department trained Arabic linguist
Dave Gaubatz is the director of the Mapping Shari'a in America Project. Also see SANE (Society of Americans for National Existence). Just this week, Mapping Shari'a and SANE held a press conference in Washington, D.C.

*Additional update below!

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

Excerpt from the article which goes along with this picture:
Hundreds of Islamic centers in the United States have become a hot-bed of extremist activity; they promote violence, terrorism and hatred against America.

“Our initial investigation has concluded there are between 400 to 500 radical Islamic centers in the U.S.,” said David Gaubatz, the director of counterintelligence and counterterrorism for the Society of Americans for National Existence. “In those places, they preach an extreme version of Islam that says America and the West is the enemy. They espouse violence, hatred and the need for terrorism.”...
Read the entire article "Private undercover team exposes nationwide network of radical, anti-U.S. Islamic centers."

If you are unable to listen live to the radio show during which I'll be interviewing Dave Gaubatz, you can listen to recordings of the radio broadcasts later by CLICKING HERE.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/11/2007 11:32:00 AM  

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Coming To Washington, D.C.: Mapping Shari'a

From this source:
SOCIETY OF AMERICANS FOR NATIONAL EXISTENCE (SANE)

ANNOUNCES

MAPPING SHARI’A IN AMERICA PROJECT

Washington, DC – The Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE) will hold a news conference on Wednesday, June 13, at 10:30 am, in the Hughes Room on the Second Floor of the Willard InterContinental Washington Hotel, 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20004-1010, to announce the launch of its Mapping Shari’a in America Project.

The project will collect information about America’s 2,300-plus mosques and associated day schools, provide information to both law enforcement officials and the public, and test the proposition that Shari’a amounts to a criminal conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government.

The speakers will be:

David Yerushalmi, the President of SANE.

Dave Gaubatz, Director of the Mapping Shari’a Project.

About SANE: The Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE) is a non-profit 501c3 organization based in Arizona with offices in New York. SANE is a membership organization with thousands of members from all over the US. SANE is dedicated to preserving and strengthening America’s national existence by probing a new and deeper discussion of the issues others fear or just avoid.
Contacts:

Cindy Page or David Yerushalmi

801-760-3901 or 646-262-0500

Email = contact@mappingsharia.us

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/11/2007 11:30:00 AM  

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Another Genocide (By Default)

(All emphases by Always On Watch)

Photo credit
Caption: "Gonga Petro perches on a rock in the Yaeda Valley, where the Hadzabe still hunt with hand-hewn arrows."
The left is forever pointing out the evils of Western colonialism but, for the most part, is silent about the Arab extermination of African tribes.

Excerpt from this article, which appeared in the June 10, 2007 edition of the Washington Post:
YAEDA VALLEY, Tanzania -- One of the last remaining tribes of hunter-gatherers on the planet is on the verge of vanishing into the modern world.

The transition has been long underway, but members of the dwindling Hadzabe tribe, who now number fewer than 1,500, say it is being unduly hastened by a United Arab Emirates royal family, which plans to use the tribal hunting land as a personal safari playground.

The deal between the Tanzanian government and Tanzania UAE Safaris Ltd. leases nearly 2,500 square miles of this sprawling, yellow-green valley near the storied Serengeti Plain to members of the royal family, who chose it after a helicopter tour.

A Tanzanian official said that a nearby hunting area the family shared with relatives had become "too crowded" and that a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family "indicated that it was inconvenient" and requested his own parcel.

The official, Philip Marmo, called the Hadzabe "backwards" and said they would benefit from the school, roads and other projects the UAE company has offered as compensation.

But dozens of Hadzabe interviewed deep in the scruffy hills surrounding this valley said that while they are ready to modernize, slowly, they were not consulted on the deal, which is a direct threat to their way of life because it involves hunting.

While they have through 50,000 years survived the coming of agriculture, metal, guns, diseases, missionaries, poachers, anthropologists, students, gawking journalists, corrugated steel houses and encroaching pastoral tribes who often impersonate them for tourist money, the resilient Hadzabe, who still make fire with sticks, fear that the safari deal will be their undoing.

[...]

The Hadzabe are believed to be the second-oldest people on Earth, and they still hunt and gather as a way of life...

[...]

Government efforts over 40 years to forcibly integrate the Hadzabe into modern society have mostly failed. Instead, the Hadzabe seem to have preferred changing at their own pace, adopting bits of modern life over centuries.

A program to move families into a village of metal houses ended with Hadzabe fleeing to the bush after only a few days. "When it rains, those houses make a lot of noise," said Sarah Makungu, who tried them. "In fact, to be honest, we don't want to live in iron corrugated huts, but we would keep our plates and such in there."

The introduction of standard time has also come slowly. "What is the need for time?" Kaunda asked. "You wake up, you get honey. What do you need time for?"

Though some Hadzabe children attend primary and secondary boarding school in the valley, programs to build new schools and provide medical care and water have mostly benefited neighboring tribes and have lured more people to the overpopulated valley.

Missions to spread Christianity have also failed. "We just go to church as if we are pictures," one man said. "Our hearts and minds are not there."

Though the Hadzabe have managed to survive for millennia, Gonga and others said the UAE deal is particularly worrisome because it comes on top of the other pressures they are facing and because the newcomers will be hunting with the support of a government that seems hostile to the tribe's complaints.

"If we had been involved from the beginning, the issue could have been resolved mutually," Gonga said. "We need development, but when things are done this way, it gives us the feeling we are being cheated or used for other people's benefit."

He wondered why this tribe, the Arabs, did not seek his opinions....
Read the entire article.

What Gonga doesn't understand is that Arabs (i.e., Muslims) don't seek the opinions of others. After all, Muslims view themselves as Allah's chosen people and thus entitled to squash all others in their way or, as in this case, elected to take their pleasures wherever they find them.

Gonga and the Hadzabe are learning a very hard lesson, one which they won't be able to tell to their grandchildren if the UAE and Tanzania continue on the same path.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/11/2007 08:38:00 AM  

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Sunday, June 10, 2007

Kosovo Now

Check out Elmer's Brother's posting. EB quotes from Jesse Petrilla's recent visit to Kosovo:
The entire region is an example of the catalyst that all Islamists are trying to create here in America. An all out war where in the end the Muslims have the majority, and the non-Muslims live in fear and dhimmitude. What happened there is the end result, 50 to 100 years ahead of where America is today, that is unless we take action to prevent it from occurring here.
Read it all!

[END OF THIS POSTING]

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/10/2007 09:03:00 AM  

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Saturday, June 09, 2007

Los Manos Blancos En Venezuela

So much for freedom of expression in Venezuela. Chavez is likely to order more of the following:



Hugo Chavez is a brutal Latin American, communist dictator, flat-out lying about his caring a whit about the people:
After Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez turned the popular television station RCTV into yet another government-controlled outlet on May 27, an unusual combination of students, journalists and television stars braved tear gas, fire hoses and rubber bullets to gather in the streets in a show of opposition. The student protests are ongoing, although somewhat smaller. For many students, this is a first entrance into political activism, and it seems to be based more on principle than politics. The students haven't aligned with opposition politicians, although some Venezuelan officials have accused them of doing so....
Complete article HERE.


Learn more about Los Manos Blancos HERE.

You won't get the truth from the mainstream media, which are busy pushing bimbo-of-the-week stories and the leftist agenda. When is the last time you saw anything about Los Mancos Blancos on the evening news?

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/09/2007 10:05:00 PM  

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Resurrect The Immigration Bill?

Article from the June 10, 2007 Washingon Times:
President Bush, stung by Thursday's vote to block the immigration bill, is telling Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to put it back on the Senate's schedule, and the bill's supporters say they think it can be resurrected.
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"I urge Senator Reid to act quickly to bring this bill back to the Senate floor for a vote, and I urge senators from both parties to support it," Mr. Bush said in his weekly radio address. The address is usually aired on Saturday, but the White House released it a day early to insert Mr. Bush, who is traveling overseas, into the public debate over the bill.

[...]

Some senators said the bill will return.

Those who were part of the "grand bargain" that became the bill said they were close to an agreement Thursday night on how to handle amendments when Mr. Reid made the decision to force the procedural vote.

They said they will keep trying, and are counting on Mr. Reid to try again if they can get an agreement.

"If we had taken more time, we would have had an opportunity of reaching a conclusion," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, said at a press conference with other senators who worked on the deal.

But getting an agreement to return to the bill does not guarantee passage. Several amendments had already passed that members of the grand bargain said are fatal to the deal, and senators will have to figure out how to handle those.

[...]

Mr. Bush said senators should accept the immigration deal even though they may not like parts of it....
No, they shouldn't. The overwhelming majority of Americancitizens don't want this bill made into law, to the tune of some 67% against.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/09/2007 07:01:00 AM  

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Weekly Radio Show: June 8 (Updated!)

(Stuck toward the top for a few days. Please scroll down for other postings)

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, of which I am 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, June 8:
Special show!

This week's scheduled guest for the most of the hour is Cassandra, author of Escape! From An Arab Marriage: Horror Stories of Women Who Fled From Abusive Muslim Husbands. Cassandra herself was married to a Christian Arab and to an Iranian Muslim; therefore, she has unique insights. She is presently working on publishing other books about Islam.

Some questions which Cassandra is ready to answer:
How do Muslim men treat women they are not married to?

How do Muslim men treat women they marry?

What are some things a Muslim husband will do to his American wife?

How does a Muslim husband feel about his wife if she is a Christian?

What is a Muslim husband’s attitude about his American born children?

Why is it dangerous to become involved with Muslim men?

Why should you NEVER visit the Middle East as the wife of a Muslim?

Why are the Saudi Muslims the most dangerous men of all to know?

What will a Muslim do to his daughter when she reaches 9 years of age?

How many American women marry Muslims every year on the average?
If you have questions to ask, phone in!

(646) 915-9870

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



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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/09/2007 03:00:00 AM  

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Thursday, June 07, 2007

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Culture

(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)

Newsweek runs a feature entitled "A Life in Books," in which various prominent individuals list the five books which most influenced their lives, often with two other options to provide at the end, such as "the book you cared most about sharing with your kids" and "a certified important book you haven't read."
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By way of examples, Harold Bloom's choices are here, and James Patterson's are here. You can view others' choices on the right sidebar of either of the two above links. Those polled also gave a brief explanation as to why they chose each book.


QUESTION OF THE WEEK, in three parts:
(1) What would you list as your five (or fewer) books if interviewed for "A Life in Books"? (2) What book would you most like for your children to read or to have read? (3) What certified-important book have you not read?

I'll provide my list in a few days.


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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/07/2007 11:50:00 PM  

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Summer Vacation!

The 2006-2007 school term has ended!
A few grades to average and drop in the mail, and I'm done!
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Actually, vacation doesn't begin until this weekend is over: yard sale on Saturday and piano recital on Sunday.

This summer doesn't look to be all that relaxing because my neurologist has ordered me to adhere to a grueling daily-routine. But I'll still have more time for blogging!

If all goes well, my husband and I will be taking a road trip in late August and/or early September.

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/07/2007 07:08:00 PM  

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Muslim Punk Rock

An item of interest...

Excerpt from this article in the June 11, 2007 edition Newsweek:
Muslim punk rock certainly sounds like an oxymoron, especially since fundamentalist Muslims condemn all music as haram (forbidden). But Diacritical is one of about a dozen Islamic punk-rock bands throughout the country, bands with names like Vote Hezbollah, the Kominas ("bastards" in Punjabi) and Al-Thawra (Arabic for "the revolution")....

Muslim punkers call their brand of music taqwacore—a blend of the Arabic word for piety, taqwa, and "hard-core," the English word for musicians who want to be taken very seriously. "The Prophet Muhammad was all about smashing idols," says Michael Muhammad Knight, a Muslim convert whose 2003 novel "The Taqwacores" is a manifesto for the Muslim punk movement. "And what's more punk rock than that?"

...Muslim punk rockers are fighting a two-sided establishment: one side West, the other Middle East. To them, the war on terror is unequivocally a war on Islam, but they're equally infuriated by Islamic fundamentalists and the bloodshed they foment against Westerners as well as other Muslims. "It's not like I'm choosing sides," says Kourosh Poursalehi, 18, who wears a denim vest with a print of Ayatollah Khomeini on the back—for the shock value....

[...]

Admittedly, these Muslim punks aren't especially devout, at least in the traditional sense. None goes to Friday prayers regularly, but they all say they're deeply spiritual. To them, Islam begins and ends with one's personal relationship with God. After a recent show at a Manhattan bar, Waqar felt the urge to pray. "I went into the men's room, got down on the nasty floor and started praying," he recalls. Nothing says Muslim punk rock more than searching for Allah on the floor of a nightclub bathroom.
One of the bands, the Kominas, is scheduled to perform at ISNA's 2007 Labor Day conference in Chicage.

Audio clip of the Kominas here.

A little information about ISNA:

1. According to this article by Stephen Schwartz, ISNA is
part of the "Wahhabi lobby" that imposes Saudi theology on the majority of American Sunni Muslims.
2. In addition, this recent article (June 7007) mentions ISNA:
Federal prosecutors have named three prominent Islamic organizations in America as participants in an alleged criminal conspiracy to support a Palestinian Arab terrorist group, Hamas.

Prosecutors applied the label of "unindicted co-conspirator" to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, and the North American Islamic Trust in connection with a trial planned in Texas next month for five officials of a defunct charity, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development....
Let's see....One of the above-mentioned bands is named Vote Hezbollah. Maybe there's one called Vote Hamas?

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/07/2007 07:10:00 AM  

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Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Alienating The Base

Excerpt from an article in the May 30, 2007 Washington Times:
President Bush yesterday rebuked members of his own political party for trying to "frighten people" into opposing his immigration bill, prompting a quick backlash from some Republicans.

"Those determined to find fault with this bill will always be able to look at a narrow slice of it and find something they don't like," Mr. Bush said, speaking at a training center for immigration enforcement officials in Glynco, Ga.

"If you want to kill the bill, if you don't want to do what's right for America, you can pick one little aspect out of it, you can use it to frighten people. Or you can show leadership and solve this problem once and for all," Mr. Bush said....
Read the rest of the article.

Now, watch the following video, filmed in March 2007:




And those who find fault with certain provisions in the immigration bill are un-American? Puhleeeze!

[Hat-tip to Wild Thing of Theodore's World]

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/06/2007 08:05:00 AM  

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Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Grover Norquist, The Collector

This is too weird. Expand this posting to read the full article, which appeared in the June 3, 3007 Washington Post.

The Norquist Papers: Either Blank or Empty, Thank Goodness

Recently we called Grover Norquist, the conservative activist and president of Americans for Tax Reform to discuss his love of the late Rex Stout, who wrote 70-plus novels and stories about an obese, orchid-loving detective. Norquist, 50, has read all of them. Turns out, he has other loves as well.

-- Libby Copeland

Grover Norquist [picking up the phone]: Grover Glenn Norquist .

Hi, Grover . . . We had had lunch six months ago, and you and I had spoken about -- I believe it was -- Rex Stout and your love of the Rex Stout series.

The Rex Stout novels are the Nero Wolfe series, who is the New York, 400-pound lover of orchids who spends his time four hours a day working on the orchids and then sitting at home, being a gourmand, while solving murder mysteries.

He is the most famous Montenegrin American in the world.

Do you ever think you'll try your hand at fiction?

That is my goal in life. My goal in life is to get the federal government down to half its present size and under control and then I can write murder mysteries.

How big is your library at home?

My wife says it's too big. I was willing to give up my collection of Eastern European toilet paper, and I was willing to move my collection of airsickness bags out of the house and into the office. But I am arguing that we should still keep the walls looking like a library.

Eastern European toilet paper?

Mm-hmm. I don't know if you've ever seen Eastern European toilet paper. It's pretty odd-looking. I used to have a collection of toilet paper from traveling around the world, and some of it looks like you could use it to sandpaper.

Airsickness bags?

Unused. I have Ariana, which is the Afghan airline.

Have you noticed it seems like airlines are using fewer airsickness bags?

And they go with the plain white ones in the United States and that's unfortunate. They should go back to dramatic colorful ones, the way they do now with those little [electronic card keys] when you go to a hotel room. . . . I have a collection of those.

How many of those do you have?

Not as many as before I got married. I used to have hundreds and hundreds. Now I just kept the best ones.

What about the airsickness bags?

Hundreds. From at least 70 airlines.

What about the toilet paper collection?

Mostly gone to Heaven, unfortunately.

Did you flush it?

I gave some of it away to friends and others just went into the trash.

Do you think your friends appreciated the collection?

Well, I used to bring some of it over to Christopher Hitchens when we'd go over there, because people are always, like, bringing bottles of wine and stuff. I said, 'I'm always using your toilet paper so I thought I'd bring you some to make up for it.'

He appreciated it.

Why do you like collecting things so much?

This is cool stuff.

[At this, Norquist's wife, Samah, is heard faintly in the background.]

Samah Norquist: Define cool.
The above actually appeared in the Washington Post. I'm not making this up!

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posted by Always On Watch @ 6/05/2007 06:40:00 AM  

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