The White House Party Crashers (With Addendum)

(Note to family and friends: The most recent update on Mr. AOW is here)


Check out this information (hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance, citing the blog American Power):

...[I]t turns out that Tareq Salahi, the polo-playing intruder, is a Palestinian nationalist with ties to the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) , a pro-Palestine lobby demanding the "right of return" for all Palestinian refugees and their descendants. The "right of return" has long been considered the backdoor to Israel's destruction. But not only that: ATFP President Ziad Asali is an America-basher who blamed 9/11 on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Asali was a lead U.S. official to PLO terrorist Yassir Arafat's funeral in 2004. And in a position paper in 2007, the ATFP called for a power-sharing agreement at the Palestinian Authority, which would have included the State Department's designated-terrorist group, Hamas.

A little something the lamestream media is avoiding telling about Salahi. Heh.

Anonymous aptly commented to the post at Infidel Bloggers Alliance:

...If they had any relationship of any sort to any type of Christian right organization, it would have been out front and center immediately....

Read the entire post over at Infidel Bloggers Alliance.

Addendum, November 29 @ 7:28 AM): The Salahis and and BHO go way back, to 2005. Excerpt:

...So, while earlier speculation at this blog suggested that the state-dinner security breach posed a terrorist danger to the president, the First Family, and guests (a conclusion later bolstered by expert commentary on the gatecrashers), it's becoming increasingly clear as well that the Salahi affair is resurrecting long-buried questions of Barack Obama's ties to hardline anti-American and anti-Israel organizations, some with real ties to violent extremists in the Middle East....

Read the entire post from American Power HERE.

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Hajj 2009

(Note to family and friends: The most recent update on Mr. AOW is here)

The usual: chants calling for death to America and death to Israel.

Also note the following (hat tip to Jihad Watch, citing AFP):

..."We need all Muslims, Sunni and Shiite, to be unified and focus on important issues: Al-Aqsa (mosque in Jerusalem), the occupation of Palestine, the problems in Iraq, the Afghan occupation, and the fighting between brothers in Yemen. We need be purified from all infidels."...

And we have this news as well:

Investigations into Iran's nuclear programme will reach a "dead end" unless Tehran starts to co-operate, the UN nuclear chief has warned.

Mohamed El Baradei told governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that there had been no movement on issues that needed to be clarified....

"Investigations...will reach a 'dead end'"? The dead end of trying to reason with Iran's leaders was reached long ago.

Has Tehran cooperated with the West since the Iranian Revolution of 1979?

Only a fool would believe that such cooperation is even possible.

And this morning's "news" prattles on about the couple who crashed the state dinner at the White House and the shopping crowds on "Black Friday."

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Happy Thanksgiving!

(Note to family and friends: The most recent update on Mr. AOW is here)


Truly, our blessings are too numerous to count!

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.

For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.

(Psalm 100:4-5)

"Thanksgiving" by Edgar Guest:

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Mr. AOW Is Coming Home!

(This post stuck here a few days. Please scroll down)

Previous posts about Mr. AOW's stroke of September 15 are here, here, here, here, and here.



After ten long weeks!

Mr. AOW and I know that we have a lot of difficult times ahead of us. We must keep in mind how bad off he was just a month ago, when he couldn't sit up or swallow thin liquids or even consistently know where he was. Both of us would like for recovery to be more rapid. We'll just have to be patient and persistent in our efforts.
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Our living room has been converted into a sick room, complete with a hospital bed expected to arrive this week. Everything else is in place. And Mr. AOW is on fewer medications now than before the stroke!

For the past several days, I've been receiving training at the nursing home, especially as to how to transfer Mr. AOW from wheelchair to bed and vice versa. I use a gait belt, and my weak back is surviving the physical strain without frequent changes in my medication.

Transferring in and out of the car is well nigh impossible for the two of us to accomplish at this point, so we'll be relying on handicapped taxi and other similar services to go on outings, including but not limited to doctors' appointments. Mr. AOW needs to know that there is indeed a world outside a medical-care facility! It's so very easy for a patient and the family to get sucked into the vortex of a medical-care facility. Talk about another reality and disorientation, particularly in a nursing home!

The doctor expects that Mr. AOW will walk again, but "not for a long time." At this point, Mr. AOW is doing special exercises to recover sitting and standing balance, the steps necessary before walking upright. The recovery of use of the left arm and hand is less certain but not impossible. The stroke began in the hand, so the hand would be last to recover.

Both Mr. AOW and I are so grateful for the excellent care he received while in the nursing home! I fought to get that facility for his care, and my efforts paid off. I even fought with the nursing home as to getting him released: having power of attorney and advanced medical directive in place prevented the health-insurance company and the nursing home from forcing us to keep him there as a long-term care resident. A word to the wise: take care of getting those papers in place before the unexpected illness strikes.

We are trying to get into place some services from a home health care agency. Mr. AOW still needs more therapy and an occasional checkup from an RN.

He is worried that he'll have to stay alone, trapped in the living room while I'm at work Tuesdays through Thursdays. One of my friends will do tactile-sequencing therapy every Thursday, but I need to get the other two days covered with regard to checking on Mr. AOW's status and giving him his lunch.

The doctor does expect that Mr. AOW will sleep a lot. The brain needs that sleep for rewiring.

The past ten weeks have seemed like a lifetime for both of us.

Life is good! My husband is coming home in time for Thanksgiving!

Update on November 27 @ 6:00 AM

Yesterday, I wheeled Mr. AOW four doors down our street for our traditional Thanksgiving feast with our dearest neighbors. The folks there lifted Mr. AOW and transport chair up the few steps and into the house. For the first time in over ten weeks, Mr. AOW sat at a formal table and ate a formal meal, complete with china, crystal, and silver flatware. He was able to participate in some of the table conversation without going off track and cracking unrelated joke after joke.

I cannot express how much being able to take part in yesterday's Thanksgiving dinner meant to both of us!

I admit it. I cried afterwards, as did Mr. AOW. For weeks, we thought that a day such as yesterday would never come again.

Both of us slept like logs last night. His first night home, neither Mr. AOW nor I got much sleep.

As for Mr. AOW's recovery, the nursing home and the health-insurance company dropped the ball, and we have no home health care coming in until Sunday, if then. An RN is supposed to pay a visit to check Mr. AOW's vital signs. I'm glad that I had the foresight to buy a glucose meter and a blood pressure cuff. So far, so good.

I will need to venture out today on "Black Friday" [Ugh!] to buy a new arm sling. The sling we were using broke yesterday in one of our struggles from commode chair to bed.

I will also need to call the medical-supply company to come to the house to repair the hospital bed. The part which raises the foot of the bed quit working within a few hours of Mr. AOW's arrival home. **sigh**

Update on November 30 @ 3:37PM

The home health care agency has begun doing evaluation visits. Yesterday, the registered nurse came, today the occupational therapist. The latter is going to focus on the arm and hand. At long last! Previously, therapists have ignored the arm and hand! The physical therapist is due to come on board soon. Once all the therapists are in place, Mr. AOW won't be home alone so much. That coverage will come as a blessed relief.

Also today, thanks to information from one of my homeschool clients, I've found a nearby, just-opened pharmacy which delivers and specializes in home care. This pharmacy carries most of the supportive medical supplies we need, and I've established contact there.

To be honest, the past five days have been exhausting and an emotional roller coaster for both Mr. AOW and me. The biggest stress for both of us is the bathrooming, resulting in the constant humming of washer and dryer. One of my homeschool clients has graciously offered to get us two more sheet sets so that my back can get some rest from the constant treading up and down the stairs to and from the laundry room.

Update on December 7 @ 9:09 AM:

Although I'm still exhausted, Mr. AOW and I are getting into a better routine now. Mr. AOW is also getting stronger, i.e., showing more use of the left leg and having less pain from muscle spasms in both the arm and the leg.

Best of all as far as I'm concerned, bathrooming skills are coming back on board.

Mr. AOW didn't get his outing yesterday to watch the Redskins vs. Saints football game at our local VFW because of the snowfall on Saturday. The ramp was simply too treacherous until late in the day.

One of my former clients stopped by yesterday afternoon and brought us some banana-nut cake as well as some groceries I requested. After shoveling off the ramp and cleaning off the cars, I was too exhausted to venture out to the grocery store.

One matter of great concern: Mr. AOW's blood pressure has started running too high. This morning the top number was 190! I am now waiting for a call back from the family doctor to see if these medications can be tweaked. When Mr. AOW first came home, his blood pressure was under control better than it is now.

Update on December 12 @ 5:30 AM:

On Monday, following my phone call, the family doctor prescribed an additional medication for blood pressure. Mr. AOW's blood pressure is now under control! His pressure was running dangerously close to stroke level, but no more. We are grateful to have an excellent, long-standing family doctor who responds immediately to our calls for help!

Mr. AOW had a breakthrough session with the PT fellow on Thursday and was able to sit unsupported on the edge of the bed for thirty minutes. He also was able to stand with a quad cane, shift weight to the left leg, and keep his balance. These achievements were very emotional for him, and he teared up with tears of joy. Maintaining standing balance with the dangling left arm is difficult but not impossible if the left arm is cradled in a sling. Walking is a complex neurological process, but a few shuffling steps are on the horizon. Once those shuffling steps take place, Mr. AOW can get into the shower chair.

Bathrooming bedside is still an issue. I'll spare readers the details. Suffice it to say that the Brat Diet was necessary because the washer and dryer were running overtime. One of my clients will be bringing yet another set of sheets today so that I have a supply of clean sheets for quick bed changes. I've had a few meltdowns myself in the wee hours of the morning when I've had to do load after load of laundry just to keep up with decent hygiene.

Mr. AOW has some vision issues. On Tuesday, December 15, we'll venture out to the ophthalmologist via handicapped taxi. Mr. AOW is long overdue now for another glaucoma check.

Mr. AOW is staying awake a lot more now. He is getting stronger! He still has some difficulty knowing what day of the week it is; once he sleeps for a while, he awakes thinking it is the next day. His alertness and cognizance have improved enough now for him to play along with various game shows on the Game Show Network, Mr. AOW's favorite TV channel.

Today, one of my former clients is coming over: fried chicken with sides and a fiber-optic Christmas tree for the end table. Mr. AOW has insisted on our having some kind of Christmas tree with lights here in the living room. We don't have room for our usual big tree trimmed with all the many ornaments we've accumulated over the years. Of course, this year I won't be hosting the annual Christmas Eve family buffet and sing-a-long. Weather permitting, Mr. AOW and I will go to a cousin's house for Christmas Eve and our neighbors' house for Christmas dinner.

Mr. AOW's biggest psychological problem: almost all of his friends neither call nor visit. Both he and I are disgusted with their lack of attention. He and I were always "there" for them!

Turn the page ....

This Week on The Gathering Storm

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, hosted by WC and Always On Watch. The show broadcasts live every Friday beginning at noon, Pacific Time.

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

Callers welcome!

Our scheduled guests this week are IQ al Rassooli and Warren, for the first and second half hour respectively.
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Listen to the November 27, 2009 edition of The Gathering Storm Radio Show, live or later, by CLICKING HERE.

UPCOMING SHOWS:
December 4: IQ al Rassooli
December 11: Nonie Darwish
December 18: IQ al Rassooli
December 25 and January 1: No show those dates

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Essential Government Services?

How do you define "essential government services"? The issue of that definition will play a big part in the next budget in Fairfax County.

Check out this letter to the editor, from the November 22, 2009 edition of the Washington Post:

Parks and libraries are essentials

I applaud the Nov. 15 Metro article "Fiscal outlook grim for 2 Fairfax agencies," alerting Fairfax County residents that the public library system and the Park Authority are being asked to submit proposed budgets for fiscal 2011 with 15 percent cuts.

I do not share County Executive Anthony H. Griffin's opinion that these two agencies' services are "discretionary." Resources and services provided by parks and libraries attract new residents and visitors to Fairfax County, and both agencies have seen an increase in users over the past year. It is shocking that the county is choosing not to protect and manage such valuable resources.

It is time for Mr. Griffin and the County Board of Supervisors to seriously discuss and implement ways to generate increased revenue rather than putting all of their effort into cutting services.

Kathi McNeil, Alexandria

The writer is president of the Friends of Huntley Meadows Park.

The article referenced in the above letter to the editor is HERE. Please read the entire article to get a full picture of some of the cuts proposed for other agencies, including public safety agencies, in this time of a $318 million shortfall for the coming fiscal year. Apparently, Ms. McNeil is concerned about the following portion:

"The reality is that there is no requirement or mandate to provide many of the library and park programs being offered like there is with our other services," [Fairfax County Executive] Griffin said. "Parks and libraries are essentially discretionary programs. And we have to look at it in the context of, if they don't get cut, what does?"

Real-estate owners and taxpayers are already groaning under the load of real-estate taxes, and the rate of foreclosures is high enough already. Furthermore, even though assessments of property values were lowered this year, the rate of taxation was jacked up so that most property owners are paying the same amount in taxes as two years before, previous to the housing-market crash. Indeed, many property owners are faced with the situation of having no equity or greatly reduced equity in their homes, essentially trapping home owners and even renters in Fairfax County. The increase in homelessness is also a matter of concern. A lot of Northern Virginia residents have tightened their belts as far as their belts will go!

The grim situation outlined above is one faced throughout all counties in Northern Virginia and throughout the United States. And Ms. McNeil is stressing over libraries and parks? She must be living in an ivory tower!

Ms. McNeil, how do you propose to raise county revenues without taxing property owners even more? Reality check, please.

I love the public library, as my regular readers know, the parks not so much as I rarely use them. But if it comes to a choice between reduced services at libraries and parks or another increase in real-estate taxes, I choose the former.

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Your Sunday Funny

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post.

Via a link at this posting at Right Klik, a little satire for this Sunday:



source

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised to see BHO bow to the Burger King. After all, BHO is infatuated with bowing to heads of state, never mind that it is not American to bow to royalty.

And check out this reaction from the Chinese people:

BEIJING (AP) - State media heralded President Barack Obama's maiden trip to China as a triumph, but ordinary Chinese were largely shielded by their government from his most critical remarks and activists were disappointed by the measured tone of those they did hear.

One blogger even pined for the tough line taken by former President George W. Bush.

"Like a star rushing from one show to another, Obama has come and gone, without stirring the slightest ripples," blogger Zhao Dezhu wrote in an online post.

Zhao, who writes a popular blog and twitters under the name Hecaitou, said the visit made him miss Bush who "couldn't speak with flowery language and even made grammatical mistakes but spoke as plainly as an American farmer."

Obama, by contrast, speaks "with sweet but empty words."

Nevertheless, on goes BHO bowing and scraping to the leaders of foreign nations. Reaching out and all that.

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Setting The Stage For A Mistrial Or An Acquittal?

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post.

(With a hat tip to Texas Fred)

According to this article:

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama predicted that professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be convicted and executed as Attorney General Eric Holder proclaimed: "Failure is not an option."

Texas Fred comments:

Khalid will be represented by the best we have to offer, and WE, the U.S. taxpayers, will be the ones paying for it. And don’t think for one minute that this story will not be used as a part of the defense. “U.S. President suggests GUILT of my client your Honor, and the President has influenced and tainted the opinions of ALL possible jurors!”. I would bet on it. In fact, I would be shocked if a defense attorney didn’t use that as an opening gambit to try and get ALL charges dropped and have Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and his cronies, freed.

[...]

If ever there was a time in U.S. history where the true allegiance of the POTUS could be brought into question, this is it....

Read the rest of Texas Fred's post HERE.

Both BHO and Holder are lawyers. Surely they realize the possible legal consequences of their statements!

So, why are BHO and Holder issuing such statements?

To reassure the American people that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be convicted even as more and more Americans voice disapproval of a civil trial for the 9/11 terrorist?

Or is there some other reason for the statements of presumed guilt and conviction, a dangerous combination pre-trial?

When I first heard of BHO's and Holder's statements, this information about Charles Manson's trial sprang to my mind:

On August 4, despite precautions taken by the court, Manson flashed the jury a Los Angeles Times front page whose headline was "Manson Guilty, Nixon Declares," a reference to a statement made the previous day when U.S. President Richard Nixon had decried what he saw as the media's glamorization of Manson. Voir dired by Judge Charles Older, the jurors contended that the headline had not influenced them. The next day, the female defendants stood up and said in unison that, in light of Nixon's remark, there was no point in going on with the trial. On October 5, after being denied the court's permission to question a prosecution witness whom the defense attorneys had declined to cross-examine, Manson leaped over the defense table and attempted to attack the judge. Wrestled to the ground by bailiffs, he was removed from the courtroom with the female defendants, who had subsequently risen and begun chanting in Latin. Thereafter, Older allegedly began wearing a revolver under his robes.

Yes, Charles Manson and his murderous cohorts were still convicted. But that time in American history wasn't as poisoned by political correctness and mea culpas as today in the Twenty-first Century.

I again pose the question: Why are BHO and Holder issuing such statments in advance of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's trial?

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This Week On The Gathering Storm

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post.

Listen to The Gathering Storm Radio Show, hosted by WC and Always On Watch. The show broadcasts live every Friday beginning at noon, Pacific Time.

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

Callers welcome!

Our scheduled guest for the first half hour is General Paul E. Vallely (RET) and for the second half hour, Allan Goldstein (aka Snark Twain).
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Listen to the November 20, 2009 edition of The Gathering Storm Radio Show, live or later, by CLICKING HERE.

UPCOMING SHOWS:
November 27: IQ al Rassooli and Warren
December 4: IQ al Rassooliand Yoni
December 11: Nonie Darwish
December 18: IQ al Rassooli
December 25: No show that date

Turn the page ....

Video: Hindu Girl Speaks Out Against Islam & Pakistan

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post.

Hat tip to Infidel Bloggers Alliance:



In his commentary, Pastorius says:

In a world where adults cook up labyrinthine nuance in response to clear cases of Jihad like Mumbai, Ft. Hood, and Beslan, we need a child to tell us the truth.

This girl is the future leader of India, well, if she's the future Joan of Arc of India.

Yes, the girl is angry, and that rage is ugly.

But maybe not so ugly as she cites history and appeals in desperation for some sanity for survival.

In any case, having genocide being waged against you and yours has a way of creating a lot of anger.

And when that anger is unleashed with force behind it, the world sees a worldwide war.

Appeasement and blindness to a threat have consequences.

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Islam And The Right

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post.

I direct you to this post over at THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS. Excerpt below the fold:

Frank Rich writes today about the logical inconsistency between the position that the Army and intelligence agencies were in the wrong for not having rooted out Hasan and the position that McChrystal's strategy will work in Afghanistan. He's wrong in thinking that most of us who live in reality and are therefore appalled by the failures of the Army and the intelligence community support McChrystal's strategy - myself, Robert Spencer, and Andrew McCarthy being a few who do not - but he is absolutely correct in stating that McChrystal's strategy will fail, just as attempts to reform Hasan failed.

McChrystal's strategy hinges upon the idea that we can community organize the Afghans into regarding the Taliban as heretics and rejecting them on that basis. McChrystal thinks that he can employ takfiri logic to discredit takfiris, which is destined to fail because it relies upon a contrived interpretation of Islamic doctrine. McChrystal believes that presenting the Taliban as a heretical group which kills other, more moderate Muslims will lead the Afghans to choose his kafir interpretation of Islam over their fundamentalist one. He fails to take into account not only Islamic dogma and its history of exclusively regressive reforms, but Afghan culture and sociology. Afghans don't "choose." Afghans are tribal Muslims who think and act as groups, who follow traditional Islamic dogma and the traditions of their elders, and who believe that their fates are predestined by Allah, so any and all individual initiative taken on behalf of anyone but Allah is a non-starter. They do not see things from their own individual points of view, let alone those of blue-eyed kafirs from the Great Satan. We may be able to win their hearts, but forget about their minds.

We would have better success getting Afghans to reject the Taliban on democratic grounds as shoddy political leaders under whom the trains run habitually late. We won hearts in Iraq when Iraqis rejected Al-Qaeda's interpretation of Sharia...Muslims rejected al-Qaeda as municipal leaders, not as Muslims. We also won hearts in Iraq by annihilating al-Qaeda with the Surge. Muslims like a winning horse. They don't root for the underdog, nor do they understand those who do. They run with the strongest tribe, which we have to be anyway if we are to win in Afghanistan. We have to either annihilate the Taliban or forget about getting Afghans on our side and just let them sort out their problems.

I don't think Afghanistan is worth saving, nor do I think any nation-building efforts will be worthwhile in the end....

Read the entire post HERE. Jdamn posted the piece, and Reliapundit, the site owner, added counterpoint, answered again by Jdamn.

My view in a nutshell....In 2000, I voted for GWB precisely because he opposed nation building. In 2004, I voted for GWB, in part because I wanted him to be correct about reforming the Moslem world. Is it possible to reform the Moslem world? It seems to me that such is the question at the heart of America's policy with regard to "The War on Terror" (a term I loathe). Frankly, I have my doubts about that kind of reform. As for reform by osmosis, it surely didn't work with Hasan, the Fort Hood jihadist, who had all the privileges and rights of growing up in a free society and still turned against the ideals of freedom.

Your opinion?

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CAIR Stoops To Yet Another Low

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post.

CAIR is using the Fort Hood massacre to promote a fundraiser. Excerpt from the CAIR letter below the fold, from this source:

We need financial help to meet these crises and push back against those who seek to score political points off the Muslim community in the wake of the Fort Hood tragedy.

Also note this paragraph:

Our tone and immediate response is paying off. Major media acknowledged the strong statement that American Muslims issued condemning the Fort Hood attack. On CNN, Anderson Cooper reported that CAIR “reacted to the shooting spree, condemning the attack in the strongest terms possible.” ON MSNBC’s Hardball, Chris Matthews noted that CAIR was “quick to condemn the massacre.”

The letter is signed by Nihad Awad, CAIR's National Executive Director.

Read the entire letter HERE. Be sure to check out the postscript.

May CAIR's resources be strained to the breaking point.

Note to readers: If you need some comic relief, go to the post below.

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The Word "Meep" Is Offensive?

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post.


Please read this story.

Any student who uses the word could be suspended from Danvers High School in Massachusetts! Many parents are just fine with the ban on the word "meep," a word popularized by Beaker on The Muppet Show and the cartoon character Road Runner.



Apparently, a biology teacher felt threatened by the word.

Huh?

You can't make this stuff up.

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Check Out This PowerPoint Presentation: "Hasan on Islam"

(Two posts today. Please scroll down)

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post.

HERE at the Washington Post, watch one of Hasan's presentations. Subscribe to the WaPo web site if necessary so as to view the presentation.

This is a must-see!

Also, be sure to read the continuation of this post.

A commenter at Jihad Watch stated as follows:

In it, [Hasan] claims that Koranic verses of abrogation allow for offensive jihad, and that fighting to establish an Islamic state is condoned by Allah.

See Slide 35.

Also note Slide 49:

Muslims may be seen as moderate (compromising) but God is not.

Apparently, Hasan gave more than one such presentation.

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California: Moslem Rips Crucifix From A Christian's Neck

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post.

From this posting at Jihad Watch:

Police arrested 22-year-old Abdul Walid Hamid of Hayward on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 4, after he reportedly tore a crucifix from a person's neck and scared others at Stoneridge Shopping Center.

Hamid, an employee at a mall kiosk near Starbucks, has been charged with battery, terrorist threats and grand theft.

According to reports, Hamid was yelling "Allah is power" and "Islam is great" while holding a pen in a fist over his head....

Read the rest HERE.

Hamid has requested a public defender and should be appearing in court today.

Will this incident be dubbed a hate crime?

Is there any doubt that if a Christian had so assaulted a Moslem that the incident would be dubbed a hate crime?

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For Veterans Day

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post.

I posted the following last year for Veterans Day and am reposting it again this year:


"The Things That Make a Soldier Great"
by Edgar Guest (1881-1959):

The things that make a soldier great and send him out to die,
To face the flaming cannon's mouth nor ever question why,
Are lilacs by a little porch, the row of tulips red,
The peonies and pansies, too, the old petunia bed,
The grass plot where his children play, the roses on the wall:
'Tis these that make a soldier great.
He's fighting for them all.

'Tis not the pomp and pride of kings that make a soldier brave;
'Tis not allegiance to the flag that over him may wave;
For soldiers never fight so well on land or on the foam
As when behind the cause they see the little place called home.
Endanger but that humble street whereon his children run,
You make a soldier of the man who never bore a gun.
What is it through the battle smoke the valiant soldier sees?

The little garden far away, the budding apple trees,
The little patch of ground back there, the children at their play,
Perhaps a tiny mound behind the simple church of gray.
The golden thread of courage isn't linked to castle dome
But to the spot, where'er it be — the humblest spot called home.
And now the lilacs bud again and all is lovely there
And homesick soldiers far away know spring is in the air;
The tulips come to bloom again, the grass once more is green,
And every man can see the spot where all his joys have been.

He sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call,
And only death can stop him now -- he's fighting for them all.

The following sonnet was written by then tenth-grade homeschool student "A.M." The photo of soldiers in the United States Army was taken in Afghanistan in 2005. These four soldiers are home now!




A Soldier’s Farewell

Belovéd, do not weep for me today,
Nor sigh on the morrow when I depart.
For though I am from thine eyes far away,
My thoughts dwell on thee as the battles start.
Death’s cold embrace might appear a relief
From this hellish battlefield’s roiling sand,
Yet then I dream my death writ on a leaf
And with renewed spirit protect my land.
I shirk not my duty to my country
And will strive to bring liberty to all;
When peace and hope shine through the night ‘round me,
Homeward shall my steps delightedly fall.
For one’s heartstrings in his own country lie
And calls him with more force than battle’s cry.
--Contributed by A.M.
More poetry, some old and some new, for this solemn day

On this Veterans Day 2009, remember to thank a veteran for his service to our nation.

Turn the page ....

Major Malik Nidal Hasan's Business Card

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post.

From this posting at Jihad Watch:



Hasan showed the card at every opportunity!

SoA stands for Soldier of Allah, SWT a glorification following the use of Allah's name.

At the Jihad Watch posting cited above, Hugh Fitzgerald commented as follows:

Here is a question. Did no one who received this card, who read this card, have any idea what the initials SWT mean? No? Why not?

Is this failure not emblematic of the much larger failure, to know a...thing about Islam, to know the texts on which Nidal Malik Hasan relied, the very texts that support fully his view that Infidels are be decapitated, have boiling oil poured down their throats, and so on? The Qur'anic passages -- the passages that every Muslim who claims to be a Muslim is also telling you he believes to part of a text that is the literal Word of God, and so we are entitled to hold him to that, to regard him as thinking, and perhaps someday acting, on that -- are there for all to see. Robert Spencer posted those relevant texts here the other day, for all to see. He could have posted many more. What is wrong with those who claim to be able to instruct and protect us? They cannot properly protect us, or even themselves, if they are going to continue to be wilfully ignorant. They have no claim to authority. They have no claim on us. They are losing authority. They are no longer to be listened to, if they continue to behave, to talk, to act, in this matter of Islam, like fools.

Meanwhile, the probe searching for Hasan's motives continues with Ahmed Faisal heading the FBI investigation. Faisal has been quoted by MSNBC as follows:

"[W]e are now confident that Hasan's faith played absolutely no role in his state of mind leading up to this tragedy. End of subject."

"End of subject?" That's the FBI's attitude?

Sounds like shari'a to me: Under strict Islamic law, filthy infidels are not allowed to investigate Moslems.

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Another Update On Mr. AOW (Updated Intermittently)

Previous posts about Mr. AOW's stroke of September 15 are here, here, here, and here. Please scroll down for political postings.

Yesterday, several members of our local VFW donated their time and labor to construct a ramp so that, when the time arrives for Mr. AOW to leave the nursing home, he can get into our house. The neighbors on my street gawked, but not a single one came over to ask what was going on or to help.

The ramp-building party began around 9:00 AM and ended at dusk. The ramp is all but complete, with only the bottom platform needing some buiding up.

I don't know what Mr. AOW and I would have done without all these volunteers from the VFW!

While the ramp was being constructed, a woman from the VFW and one of my homeschool families came over and helped me move furniture upstairs and from room to room so as to clear the living room to make room for the hospital bed. My house echoes now, and the cats are in shock!

During the day yesterday, one of the certified nursing assistants at the nursing home helped me get Mr. AOW into my car, and Mr. AOW and I went out for a drive I brought him here to the house to see the ramp and talk with his friends. Then, we drove about ten down the road to visit some other friends. Mr. AOW did show momentary confusion during the trip at one point: "Have we passed the juice machine yet?" In just a few short weeks, he's already so confused that he thinks that when he's moving, he must be going down the nursing home's hallway to the juice machine.

As the family doctor and I discussed on Friday morning, Mr. AOW needs to get out of that nursing home the moment that the therapists deem that he's ready to cope at home. I will, of course, be getting the assistance of a home healthcare agency when Mr. AOW comes home.

Until Mr. AOW is released from the nursing home, I will be taking him for non-medical outings as often as possible so that he can "transition" without too much confusion. I am hoping and praying that, once he gets home, he'll become reoriented. We've lived in our home for over thirty-seven years.

Update added November 13 @ 6:15 AM:

Mr. AOW is regaining some control over the left side of his body. If someone helps him to come to a sitting position on the side of the bed, he can maintain that sitting position for a few minutes without toppling over. He is able to maneuver his left leg somewhat in a reclining or a sitting position. Swallowing is greatly improved, and he's now able to consume thin liquids without choking. Unfortunately, the left arm and hand remain paralyzed, but some sensation is returning ever so slowly; the point of permanent paralysis may well be the left arm and hand as the stroke began in his hand.

His vision and mental has improved such that he now is able to keep his cell phone with him in the nursing home. He now can phone friends and family with some accuracy and is able to keep track of the phone.

Mr. AOW is becoming eager to return home! We still don't have a definite release date, however. Early this morning, I left a voice mail with the administration of the nursing home so as to find out when the hospital bed and wheelchair for home should be delivered. I'm still working on devising a proper street-level landing for the wheelchair ramp built last weekend.

I don't want to be caught short with the nursing home's release process because, once the health-insurance company ceases payments for the nursing home, I have a mere twenty-four hours for discharge or start paying $350 a day! That money is better spent for home-care items, including prescriptions. Mr. AOW's prescription coverage on his private policy is minimal ($1500 maximum benefit per calendar year).

The rainy weather we're having the past few days prevents my checking Mr. AOW out of the nursing home for outings. **sigh**

Update added November 18 @ 6:30 AM:

I added some of this update to my post "Islam and the Right."

Yesterday Mr. AOW said to me, "I wish that somebody besides you would come to see me." So many of his friends have peeled off in the last 9 weeks. **sigh**

In addition, thanks to BHO visiting Mr. AOW in the nursing home has become problematic. The entrance to Mr. AOW's wing at the facility has been closed because of the "H1N1 epidemic," and one has to walk the long way around - through the hall of the dead and dying, a hall complete with a moaner or two. Mr. AOW also has to navigate that hall to get to the dining room, where all the socials and games are held.

Passing time will be easier for Mr. AOW once he comes home. He'll have the cats for company and his favorite television shows to watch when I'm working. Plus, our house is easier to access.

We're hoping that Mr. AOW's father-in-law will be coming for a visit once Mr. AOW's goes to the nursing home. She's in the final months of Alzheimer's.

I noted yesterday that Mr. AOW's tactile need to be touching something soft at all times has subsided somewhat as the feeling has returned on the paralyzed side of his body.

I also noted yesterday another improvement in Mr. AOW's cognitive ability: he actually phone Hoveround to inquire about an electric wheelchair! He's planning ahead in case his walking ability doesn't return soon enough to help us get him up and down the ramp here at home or doesn't return at all. I know that Mr. AOW actually made the inquiry because the company's representative phoned me later.

One more thing....Mr. AOW phoned me yesterday to get him some take-out food from one of his favorite restaurants. Previous to that phone call yesterday, Mr. AOW had never shown interest in getting some different food besides that I regularly bring him: Boost, yogurt smoothies, treats from home, etc.

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Lt. Col. Ralph Peters On The Fort Hood Jihad

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post, a different thread than previously used.

With thanks to SR, one of my friends in the UK:




Your comments welcome.

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Major Malik Nidal Hasan On BHO's Transition Team?

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are now being added to this post, a different thread than previously used.

Bob McCarty writes:

Incredibly, it appears that Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan, the alleged shooter in the massacre that resulted in at least 12 dead and 31 wounded at Fort Hood [on November 5], served on the Homeland Security Policy Institute’s presidential transition task force between April 2008 and January 2009 when Barack Obama was inaugurated as the nation’s 44th president.

Read it all.

According to this,

The task force was not officially affiliated with the White House. It was a project of the Homeland Security Policy Institute, an independent thinktank housed at George Washington University, aimed at drafting policy recommendations for the incoming Obama administration.

[...]

Law enforcement officials became aware of Hasan at least six months ago after "internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats," according to AP.

So far, it appears that Hasan was a lone-wolf jihadist. In many respects, the lone jihadist poses a grave danger.

Just imagine if one were to shoot up a crowded shopping mall! Or a school!

Would our leaders then wake up as to the motive?

At the moment, Hasan's murder spree is being classified as one with unknown motive. Pfffft! According to eyewitness accounts, Hasan shouted "Allahu akbar!" when he opened fire.

Of course, shortly after 9/11, we heard a lot about "What is the motive?" Pffffft, again!

Here in Northern Virginia, we're getting a lot of local media coverage on Hasan as he was born and reared here in Northern Virginia. Would not that mean that Hasan should have been a moderate Moslem, a Westernized Muslim? Well, apparently he was not.

Jihad Watch has additional information about Hasan's upbringing as a lifelong Moslem.

Now we have a lot of dead people, their deaths the direct result of Hasan's planned-in-advance actions. Those actions were based on the tenets of Islam.

Continues political correctness will get a lot of Americans killed! Special screening of Moslems in the West is imperative.

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In 732 A.D., 1000 Years Before The Birth Of George Washington

Note to family and friends: Updates on Mr. AOW are being added to this post, last updated on November 3.

Hat tip to Avenging Apostate for the following video:



Text below the fold:

October 10, 732 AD marks the conclusion of the Battle of Tours, arguably one of the most decisive battles in all of history.

A Moslem army, in a crusading search for land and the end of Christianity, after the conquest of Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, began to invade Western Europe under the leadership of Abd-er Rahman, governor of Spain. Abd-er Rahman led an infantry of 60,000 to 400,000 soldiers across the Western Pyrenees and toward the Loire River, but they were met just outside the city of Tours by Charles Martel, known as the Hammer, and the Frankish Army.

Now, did the Franks, primitive, uneducated, and unsophisticated by our modern standards, believe that Islam is "the religion of peace"? I think not.

Karen has a post about the real Dracula, who fought back against the Turks. Check it out!

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