Displaying posts published in

2012

THE ISLAMIC PARADISE OF THE NEEDLE AND POWDER: DANIEL GREENFIELD

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/01/27/the-islamic-paradise-of-the-needle-and-powder/print/

The Islamic Paradise of the Needle and Powder Posted By Daniel Greenfield

The world’s largest drug field was formerly in the Bekaa Valley where the land is warm and moist. Reflecting the poor state of agriculture in the Muslim world, some of the most arable land in Lebanon where the Romans raised acres of wheat was turned over to cannabis and opium production. In the ’90s the situation was so bad that 80 percent of the world’s cannabis came out of the valley. The valley helped finance the PLO, Hezbollah and the Syrian army which invaded Lebanon partly to get in on the drug trade.

The Clinton Administration cut deals with the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Syrian occupation of Lebanon to try and cut down on production. Officially production went down, unofficially the party never really stopped.

STEVE EMERSON: The New York Times Collaborates with Hamas Front Group to Suppress the Truth

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.11310/pub_detail.asp
Highlights:
The New York Times cites the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a credible source, while continuing its policy of never mentioning that CAIR was founded by the Muslim Brotherhood, and operates as a Hamas support group.

* NYT also suppressed the facts that CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator 2007 Holy Land Foundation conspiracy trial, which resulted in the FBI cutting off all formal contact with the group and that an FBI official has described CAIR as a “front for Hamas.”
* NYT primarily relies on two sources for comments: Zead Ramadan of CAIR-NY, and Faiza Patel, of the Brennan Center of Justice, but which the Times deliberately fails to mention that both of whom represent organizations that have repeatedly refused to condemn Hamas and other Islamic terrorist groups or have blamed the FBI for fabricating Islamic terror plots.
* An IPT investigator videotaped Ramadan at a press event refusing to answer her questions as to whether Hamas is a terrorist organization.
* The Times cites CAIR’s Zead Ramadan as a legitimate source of criticism of the film but fails to report that Ramadan contributed $1,000 to Viva Palestina, an organization led by noted anti-Semite George Galloway, that supports Hamas financially and politically, in 2010.
* Patel of the Brennan Center has long been a critic of law enforcement’s attempts to counter terrorism, even denouncing the NYPD’s operation that resulted in the arrest of accused lone-wolf jihadist Jose Pimentel, charged with plotting to bomb U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
* The Times failed to report that their only two sources for their story–CAIR and the Brennan Center, who are made to seem independent and impartial are actual apologists for Islamic terrorist groups. In fact, the Times failed to report that the Brennan Center received CAIR’s “Safe While Free” Award in 2009.
* The Times failed to report one actual flaw in the film but based its demonization of the film based largely on emails it did not disclose that it received from CAIR, a Hamas front group

ANNA MAHJAR-BARDUCCI: ISLAMISTS TAKE OVER TUNISIA….SEE NOTE PLEASE

JASMINE REVOLUTION? SORT OF FITTING…THE FRAGRANT FLOW IS THE NATIONAL FLOWER OF BOTH INDONESIA AND PAKISTAN….THOSE OTHER BASTIONS OF DEMOCRACY IN ISLAM…..RSK

http://www.stonegateinstitute.org/2788/tunsia-islamists-taking-over

In the aftermath of the Tunisian Jasmine revolution, Salafists, as in Egypt, are taking advantage of the new freedoms to be a threat to the growth of democracy. Islamist groups are now flourishing and are trying to transform Tunisia into an Islamic emirate. For now, they did not manage to take over big cities, however they are expanding their control over the Tunisian town of Sejnane with its 5000 inhabitants, located in the country’s northwest. According to Tunisian media, a group of about 250 individuals managed to “talibanize” Sejnane , imposing their hardline Islamic rule, without being in any way contravened by the country’s security forces.

Famous for its pottery artifacts, Sejnane is not different from many other Tunisian towns, in its sidewalk cafés, small shops, a few mosques and dusty roads. However, in Sejnane about 80% of the population lives under the poverty line; unemployment is almost 60% with no sign that this situation may get any better. In this environment, for the last few months a group of Salafists, most of them young, have been imposing Islamic law .

Salafist gangs of young individuals have begun terrorizing people, in search of “disbelievers.” There have been countless episodes of intolerance and violence — including a man beaten after the mosque service for having argued that tobacco was not haram (forbidden); another man wounded in his leg while buying cigarettes; a wine vendor having his fingers broken; and a young girl attacked at school for not wearing a veil.

SOEREN KERN: EUROPEANS INCREASINGLY CONVERTING TO ISLAM….SEE NOTE PLEASE

Europeans Increasingly Converting to Islam

DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY…SO WHAT ABOUT LIAM AL-NEESAM AND ALL THE OTHER CONVERTS TO ISLAM….DREW BARRYMORE IS BECOMING JEWISH….SO GO KNOW……RSK
http://www.stonegateinstitute.org/2790/europeans-converting-to-islam

Irish actor Liam Neeson says he is thinking about becoming a Muslim after undergoing a spiritual awakening in Turkey.

Neeson, who was born into a Roman Catholic family in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, told the London-based newspaper The Sun that he was impressed by the religious atmosphere in Istanbul while filming a movie in the city.

He said: “The [Islamic] call to prayer happens five times a day, and for the first week, it drives you crazy, and then it just gets into your spirit, and it’s the most beautiful, beautiful thing. There are 4,000 mosques in the city. Some are just stunning, and it really makes me think about becoming a Muslim.”

Neeson is just one of hundreds of thousands of Europeans who are trading their Christian heritage for the supposed exoticism of Islam. The surge in conversions is contributing to the mainstreaming of Islam in Europe and contributing to the Islamization of the continent.

In Britain, the number of Muslim converts recently passed the 100,000 mark, according to a survey conducted by an inter-faith group called Faith Matters. The survey revealed that nearly two thirds of the converts were women, more than 70% were white and the average age at conversion was just 27.

The survey, conducted by Kevin Brice from Swansea University in Wales, asked converts for their views on the negative aspects of British culture. They identified alcohol and drunkenness, a “lack of morality and sexual permissiveness” and “unrestrained consumerism.”

MICHELLE OBAMA: MR. AND MRS. CRANKYPANTS….SEE NOTE PLEASE

http://townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/2012/01/27/mr_and_mrs_cranky_pants

THE FIRED INSPECTOR GENERAL MALKIN REFERS TO IS GERALD WALPIN…HIS FIRING WITHOUT CAUSE OR EVIDENCE WAS THE FIRST SALVO BY OBAMA AND THE DOJ IN THEIR SYSTEMATIC ABUSE OF THE SYSTEM AND ETHICS…….RSK

“It’s the Illinois press that has long documented Mrs. Obama’s ties to the Chicago machine. It’s Kantor herself who spotlighted the first lady’s internecine warfare with her husband’s Cabinet. And from her meddling in everything from the AmeriCorps inspector general firing case to her aggressive, Big Labor-backed push for a publicly subsidized food police corps, Michelle Obama has been openly expanding her East Wing fiefdom in Marie Antoinette-like fashion.”

So, it turns out that the cool cat billed as “No Drama Obama” by his sycophants is actually quite the drama queen. While the White House publicly pretends to ignore conservative detractors of his administration, Chief Touchy-Touchy seems to be personally consumed by our critiques. Yes, mine included.

On Wednesday, the president had himself a mini-“Toddlers and Tiaras”-style meltdown with Arizona GOP Gov. Jan Brewer after landing in Phoenix for a post-State of the Union dog-and-pony show. As Brewer told pool reporters on the scene, Obama took umbrage at Brewer’s recent memoir. She minced no words on the cover: “Scorpions for Breakfast: My Fight Against Special Interests, Liberal Media, and Cynical Politicos to Secure America’s Border.”

CAROLINE GLICK: OBAMA…OF COURSE HE’LL DEAL WITH IRAN….LATER

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0112/glick012712.php3?printer_friendly
In truth, American Jewry’s diffidence towards taking a stand on Iran, or recognizing Obama’s dishonestly on this issue specifically and his dishonestly regarding his position on US-Israel ties generally, is not rooted primarily in American Jews’ devotion to Obama. It isn’t even specifically related to American Jewry’s devotion to the political Left. Rather it has to do with American Jewish ambivalence to Israel .
European and American perfidy in dealing with Iran’s nuclear weapons program apparently has no end. This week we were subject to banner headlines announcing that the EU has decided to enact an oil embargo on Iran. It was only when we got past the bombast that we discovered that the embargo is only set to come into force on July 1.

Following its European colleagues, the Obama administration announced it is also ratcheting up its sanctions against Iran� in two months. Sometime in late March, the US will begin sanctioning Iran’s third largest bank.

At the same time as the Europeans and the Americans announced their phony sanctions, they reportedly dispatched their Turkish colleagues to Teheran to set up a new round of nuclear talks with the ayatollahs. If the past is any guide, we can expect for the Iranians to agree to sit down and talk just before the oil embargo is scheduled to be enforced. And the Europeans — with US support — will use the existence of talks to postpone indefinitely the implementation of the embargo.

THE FAILURE OF THE ARAB SPRING: MARTIN PERETZ ****

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | A year has passed since liberal America and the liberal opinion class, in particular, went ecstatic over the Arab debut into the modern world. I know that my standing in that class is suspect. So, being a bit flummoxed myself by the not altogether dissimilar developments in the vast expanse from the Maghreb to Mesopotamia, I conquered my doubts and made a slight stab for hope. But I quickly realized that I was wrong and left the celebration. The true-believers are still there, mesmerized by some ideological mirage or preferring to look on the brighter side of things.

For example, Nicholas Kristof found some Muslim Brothers who promised that even Copts and the ancient Coptic Church, among the first of history’s Christian fellowships, have no reason to fear their party’s electoral strength. “Conservative Muslims insisted that the Muslim Brotherhood is non-discriminatory and the perfect home for pious Christians—and a terrific partner for the West.” Yes, he actually wrote this silliness. One 24-year old Salafist he cites went reassuringly specific: “…under Salafi rule, diplomatic relations with Israel would continue unchanged and ties with America would strengthen.” Alas, less than three weeks after Kristof published his daffy attestations, the Jerusalem Post reported on an Al-Hayat dispatch saying that the deputy head of the Brotherhood, Rashad Bayoumi, pledged that his movement would not, would never recognize Israel—“This is not an option, whatever the circumstances, we do not recognize Israel at all. It’s an occupying criminal enemy.” What this means is that, more than three decades after Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin signed a more-or-less successful peace treaty, the agreement negotiated by Jimmy Carter might just be submitted to a reckless electorate. At best! And at worst? You figure it out.

Of course, there are some coyer journalists, commentators, and television personalities who have not dallied too long (and certainly not that long) over the democratic prospect in Arab Islam or, for that matter, in the world of Islam in general. The narrative is actually repetitive and, if not repetitive, simply too grim. And if it’s really grim, like in Syria, no reporters are allowed to or no reporters want to risk it. Which is why every story about Syria is datelined Beirut.

A few years back there was a rush of programs by American colleges and universities to set up “international” outlets in Arab countries for their own students and for students from other institutions, both American and foreign. The most successful were situated in the emirates. But even these never reached their numerical goals. As for their intellectual aims, who really knows what they were? But even in the rich little kingdoms, soon to be marbled up with extensions of the Louvre and the Guggenheim, American educational establishments confronted serious practical and conceptual difficulties from the beginning. Already near the outset of these ventures Tamar Lewin wrote in the New York Times Feb 10, 2008 of the unavoidable (and unavoided) challenges they faced. The downward spiral of the regional economies exacerbated these problems. Syracuse, Cornell Medical College, New York University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Michigan, George Mason, and Carnegie Institute of Technology were among those exposed to questions about whether a degree from, for instance, N.Y.U. Abu Dhabi is a degree from N.Y.U. at all. The answer is obvious. Some five years ago, Yale University decided to avoid the problem altogether. It has cooperative research programs all over China and elsewhere. Otherwise, it is an institution in New Haven, Connecticut. Anyway, the Middle East neighborhood is now too agitated for schools to do long-term planning. Just a few Sundays past, an article in the New York Times reported that a host of such programs are canceling. Anyway, Cairo is not Florence. I don’t know which is more interesting. But you can get killed in Egypt—or, as three American college students from Georgetown, Indiana, and Drexel have already learned, at least get yourself arrested for doing nothing. Chalk up one success for American diplomacy: It was able to get the trio released.

THE MARXIST MISSION TO DESTROY AYAAN HIRSI ALI: PHYLLIS CHESLER

The Marxist Mission to Destroy Ayaan Hirsi Ali http://www.phyllis-chesler.com/1066/marxist-mission-destroy-ayaan-hirsi-ali The feminism I once championed — and still do — was first taken over by Marxists and subsequently “Stalinized.” It was then conquered again by Islamists and “Palestinianized.” I and a handful of others maintained honorable minority positions on a host of issues. In time, women no […]

NO SHIP NAMED FOR JOHN MURTHA!

http://www.nomurthaship.com/
No Murtha Ship!
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus plans to honor the late Congressman John Murtha by giving his name to the Navy’s new LPD (Transport Dock Ship), to be launched in 2013.
In doing so, Sec. Mabus is breaking the Navy’s tradition of naming its San Antonio-class amphibious transports after American cities. He is also honoring a man who:
1) was one of the most corrupt members of the U.S. Congress, and
2) called our Marines murderers who killed Iraqi women and children “in cold blood.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-was-investigating-rep-murtha-for-corruption-new-records-show/2011/10/18/gIQAtZ8PvL_story.html By Carol D. Leonnig, Published: October 18

Several months before Rep. John Murtha died, the FBI was moving to expand its ongoing investigation of the powerful lawmaker into a full public corruption probe, newly released records show.
ON ABSCAM

John Murtha (D-PA) was one of the Congressmen videotaped[7] in an encounter with undercover FBI operatives.[8] Although never indicted or prosecuted, he was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the scandal.

In November 1980, the Justice Department announced that Murtha would not face prosecution for his part in the scandal. The U.S. Attorney’s Office reasoned that Murtha’s intent was to obtain investment in his district. Full length viewing of the tape shows Murtha citing prospective investment opportunities that could return “500 or 1000” miners to work. In July 1981, the House Ethics Committee also chose not to file charges against Congressman Murtha, following a mostly party line vote. The resignation later that day of Republican E. Barrett Prettyman, Jr., the panel’s special counsel, has been interpreted as an act of protest.[11]

Murtha remained prominent in Congress, and was re-elected by his constituency 13 times over the course of 26 years before his death on February 8, 2010.[12]

BYRON YORK: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED WITH THE GINGRICH ETHICS CASE? GINGRICH WAS EXONERATED!SEE NOTE PLEASE

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/article/what-really-happened-gingrich-ethics-case/336051

THE GOP CIRCULAR FIRING SQUAD HAS JUST GOTTEN DOWN TO A SHOWDOWN IN THE SMEAR CORRAL. AND THE NEOCONS HAVE PLACED SO MANY BETS ON ROMNEY THERE IS A SUDDEN FLURRY OF NICELY WRITTEN, WELL ARTICULATED SCREED IN ALL THEIR OUTLETS. WILL THESE TWO QUALIFIED CANDIDATES BLODDY EACH OTHER SO MUCH THAT AN OBAMINATION WILL OCCUR IN NOVEMBER?…..RSK

The Romney campaign has been hitting Newt Gingrich hard over the 1990s ethics case that resulted in the former Speaker being reprimanded and paying a $300,000 penalty. Before the Iowa caucuses, Romney and his supporting super PAC did serious damage to Gingrich with an ad attacking Gingrich’s ethics past. Since then, Romney has made other ads and web videos focusing on the ethics matter, and at the Republican debate in Tampa Monday night, Romney said Gingrich “had to resign in disgrace.”

In private conversations, Romney aides often mention the ethics case as part of their larger argument that Gingrich would be unelectable in a race against President Obama.

Given all the attention to the ethics matter, it’s worth asking what actually happened back in 1995, 1996, and 1997. The Gingrich case was extraordinarily complex, intensely partisan, and driven in no small way by a personal vendetta on the part of one of Gingrich’s former political opponents. It received saturation coverage in the press; a database search of major media outlets revealed more than 10,000 references to Gingrich’s ethics problems during the six months leading to his reprimand. It ended with a special counsel hired by the House Ethics Committee holding Gingrich to an astonishingly strict standard of behavior, after which Gingrich in essence pled guilty to two minor offenses. Afterwards, the case was referred to the Internal Revenue Service, which conducted an exhaustive investigation into the matter. And then, after it was all over and Gingrich was out of office, the IRS concluded that Gingrich did nothing wrong. After all the struggle, Gingrich was exonerated.