Friday, May 13, 2011
Also likened feared terror group to Jewish 'totalitarians' in Israel
 Eboo Patel |
JERUSALEM – President Obama's faith adviser, Eboo Patel, compared al-Qaida to what he called Christian "totalitarians" in the U.S. and Jewish "totalitarians" in Israel, WND has learned.
In February 2010, Obama named Patel to his Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
Patel, a Muslim activist from Chicago, is the founder and executive director of Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, which says it promotes pluralism by teaming people of different faiths on service projects.
In an October 2009 article in a Newtopia Magazine, a liberal cultural publication, Obama's faith adviser made the controversial comparison. The article was adapted from the text of a speech given by Patel to the Interfaith Education for a Global Society Conference in New York City in January 2002.
Stated Patel: "The problem is that we live in a time when the Muslim totalitarians are dominating. Why? Because they are building powerful institutions that propagate their interpretation of Islam – just as the Christian totalitarians in America have powerful institutions; and the Jewish totalitarians in Israel have powerful institutions; and the Hindu totalitarians in India have powerful institutions.
"What do I mean by institutions?" asked Patel. "Lobbying groups that pass policies, political organizations that get people elected, television and radio and magazines and publishing houses which articulate ideas, schools and universities, youth organizations and women's groups, bodies which raise and distribute money."
Patel then stated, "Al-Qaida is a network of institutions. Schools and mosques which teach 8-year-olds a certain ideology; organizations which lead them to Afghanistan; training camps which make them soldiers; manuals which offer advice on the prayers to whisper while engaging in violence. The religious identity – which is to say, the ways of being, believing and belonging in relation with the transcendent – of too many young Muslims is being shaped by these institutions."
Patel explained his reference to Christian "totalitarianism" stems from a piece by New York Times Foreign Affairs columnist Thomas Friedman who wrote that World War III will be fought against "religious totalitarianism."
"Religious totalitarianism is not just the belief that one religion is right," added Patel, "but also that there is only one correct interpretation of that religion and everyone should practice it or else."
Patel failed to explain that so-called Muslim totalitarians, like al-Qaida, use terrorism to spread their belief system.
Hamas 'happy' with Obama's $900 million pledge
"We are very happy with this decision," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, speaking by cell phone from Gaza. "In the first place, this money will go toward reconstructing efforts."
Barhoum said he expects the money to be tightly controlled. He said the funds are likely to be delineated to the Palestinian Authority and to the United Nations Relief and Work Agency, or UNWRA, which administers aid to millions of Palestinian "refugees" in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Hamas has a close relationship with UNWRA; the agency openly employs a large number of Hamas members, including some of the group's most senior terrorists.
The U.S. aid has not yet been officially approved by Congress. The package is expected to be formally announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she attends an international Gaza donors conference in Egypt next week. A U.S. official reported the money will not reach Hamas but will go instead to nongovernmental organizations, most notably UNWRA. Still, the terrorist organization controls the Gaza Strip. Any reconstruction efforts in the territory are likely to bolster Hamas.
Why Don't We Hear About Soros' Ties to Over 30 Major News Organizations?
When liberal investor George Soros gave $1.8 million to National Public Radio , it became part of the firestorm of controversy that jeopardized NPR’s federal funding. But that gift only hints at the widespread influence the controversial billionaire has on the mainstream media. Soros, who spent $27 million trying to defeat President Bush in 2004, has ties to more than 30 mainstream news outlets – including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Associated Press, NBC and ABC.
Prominent journalists like ABC’s Christiane Amanpour and former Washington Post editor and now Vice President Len Downie serve on boards of operations that take Soros cash. This despite the Society of Professional Journalists' ethical code stating: “avoid all conflicts real or perceived.”
This information is part of an upcoming report by the Media Research Centers Business & Media Institute which has been looking into George Soros and his influence on the media.
The investigative reporting start-up ProPublica is a prime example. ProPublica, which recently won its second Pulitzer Prize, initially was given millions of dollars from the Sandler Foundation to “strengthen the progressive infrastructure” – “progressive” being the code word for very liberal. In 2010, it also received a two-year contribution of $125,000 each year from the Open Society Foundations. In case you wonder where that money comes from, the OSF website is www.soros.org. It is a network of more than 30 international foundations, mostly funded by Soros, who has contributed more than $8 billion to those efforts.
BIBLICAL Proportions-U.S. Cicadas hatch after 13 years underground
Their haunting chirrup strikes fear into the heart of every gardener.
For thirteen years this cicada hoard has lain dormant in its underground lair, awaiting the right time to strike. And it appears that that time has come.
Even at this very moment, billions of the winged insect are crawling from their exoskeleton cages, ready to suck the sap out of every plant, tree and bush that gets in their way.
Invasion: Cicadas feed by attaching a nodule onto a branch and suck the nutrients from its juicy core while females lay their eggs in tree twigs, which hatch after six to eight weeks
But they are here to breed, laying eggs in the twigs and branches of trees as they call out to mates with their deafening song.
THE CICADA LIFE CYCLE
While most cicadas go through a life cycle of between two and five years, the North American species - Magicicada - has a much longer cycle of 13 to 17 years.
Scientists believe this long dormant stage evolved as a means to outlive predators, such as the circada killer wasp and praying mantis, whose own life cycle if a far shorter two years.
Cicadas spend most of their lives as nymphs underground at depths of between 30cm and 250cm.
They survive by feeding on root juice which they obtain using their strong hind legs for digging.
During the final nymphal stage, they dig a tunnel to the surface, climb out and shed their skin on a plant. Cicadas then set about mating.
Females cut slits in the bark of trees where they leave their eggs after mating, until hundreds are built up.
After the eggs hatch, the newborn nymphs fall to the ground and then burrow underground - and the life cycle starts again.
The red-eyed army has already reached the southern states of America, prompting many farmers to cover their crops with heavy protective netting.
Hundreds queue for food after Spanish earthquake
LORCA, Spain, May 12 (Reuters) - Hundreds of people queued for food aid in the Spanish town of Lorca and wandered the streets wrapped in blankets on Thursday after an earthquake killed eight people and injured more than 120.
Thousands of residents of the town slept on the street overnight, unable to return home after the 5.1 magnitude quake on Wednesday evening destroyed masonry and building facades, crushed cars and littered streets with bricks.
Many of Lorca's 90,000 residents were waiting for housing inspectors to give them the green light to enter buildings.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said 800 military and civil guard personnel were in Lorca, 370 army tents had been sent, and a camp hospital had been set up.
"We've activated all aid measures with maximum speed," he said live on television, pledging to rebuild damaged water mains and roads quickly and to visit the town on Friday.
The number of fatalities was revised down to eight, including one teenage girl, from an earlier report of 10. More than 120 people were injured, three critically, officials said.
Food distribution points were set up in parks and troops set up temporary tent shelter for 3,000 people made homeless by the quake, which hit at 6:46 p.m. (1446 GMT) on Wednesday.
Toxic contamination of the Gulf environment
Many locals argue that living in close proximity to - and eating seafood from - the Gulf is risky and disagree with federal agencies' claims that the Gulf is now safe.
In response to their oil disaster last summer that released at least 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP admitted to using at least 1.9 million gallons of widely banned toxic Corexit dispersants (which have been banned in 19 countries) to sink the oil.
The dispersants contain chemicals that many scientists and toxicologists have warned are dangerous to humans, marine life, and wildlife.
Oil, and what many Gulf residents believe is a residue generated by the effect the dispersants have on BP's oil, continue to wash ashore.
Read more at Aljazeera
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Owner Of House Used In The Underground Railroad Says He Won't Sell To Developers
NBC Action News
LAWRENCE, Kansas - It’s not unusual for perfect strangers to just drop by Dennis Dailey’s Lawrence home, and the former University of Kansas professor doesn’t mind it at all. In fact he likes sharing the history of his home, especially with the African American families who stop in.
Dailey’s home used to be a stop on the Underground Railroad.
'There’s joy and tears it’s just a amazing experience to watch them relate to what the underground railroad means to them," Dailey said.
The Miller House was built in 1858 by anti-slavery activist Robert Miller.
Today the five acre farm still has a country feel though it’s on 19th Street just east of downtown Lawrence.
Ironically the house once hosted Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill.
“He stopped here, he knew the Millers, that’s one of the reasons he didn’t burn the house down I think," said Dailey.
Quantrill raided Lawrence the next day burning down most of the town and killing more than 200. Now the home is a collection of the past and present and Dailey wants to make sure it stays that way even though some people would like to change that.
Dailey said, "A developer came in here and offered us an obscene amount of money and the intent was to bulldoze everything and put up apartments.”
Daily said he’ll turn the place into a park before he lets that happen.
Thousands Stage Counter Demonstration Against LSU Student Who Was Going To Burn American Flag
Fox News
A student’s plans to burn an American flag on the LSU campus were cut short Wednesday when thousands of combative counter demonstrators arrived on scene, prompting police to escort the student to safety.
Crowds wearing red, white and blue and chanting “U-S-A” threw water balloons and ice at Benjamin Haas, a communication studies graduate student, while he tried to read a prepared statement in front of an estimated crowd of 1,500 to 2,500 students and community members.
Haas publicized the event on Facebook and obtained a permit for peaceful protest from the university, according to LSU Media Relations Director Ernie Ballard. But when he found out he also needed a burn permit from the city to set fire to a flag, he decided to read a statement instead – but the rival protesters still would not let up.
“The crowd was following him because he mhttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1076693466498072201oved from one location to another, so I think the police wanted for everyone’s safety involved to escort him out of the area,” Ballard told FoxNews.com.
Horse-mounted police worked their way through the crowds until they were able to escort Haas off the premises in a police cruiser, according to LSU's student newspaper The Daily Reveille.
Haas organized the protest in response to the arrest of fellow LSU student Isaac Eslava, who was charged last week for taking the American flag at the Baton Rouge campus’ historic War Memorial and burning it hours after news of Usama bin Laden’s killing by U.S. Navy Seals.
The 10-by-15 flag burned by Eslava flew atop a 102-foot pole 24 hours a day at the campus and honors all the war dead from LSU. Police said there was about $7,530 worth of damage at the memorial and called it very "coincidental" that the event took place so soon after bin Laden's death.
“I think that (Haas') goal from this protest was to have LSU drop charges (against Eslava) and handle the matter internally,” Ballard said.
Haas said in his statement that he “initially began this flag burning protest to define due process for students and suspected terrorists alike,” The Daily Reveille reported. “Solidarity means standing with those who are treated as guilty until proven innocent, instead of the other day around.”
LSU Chancellor Michael Martin said in a university-wide press release that he was pleased Haas opted not to burn the flag.
“I’m happy that after talking to university officials and realizing how many people are against flag-burning, that he thought better of it,” he said in a statement that appeared to contradict Ballard's explanation for Haas' decision. Officials were not immediately available to explain the contradiction.
Haas' protest was followed by a separate peaceful assembly led by LSU student government president Cody Wells. In front of a crowd gathered around the campus’ flagpole, Wells read the history behind the American flag and led the audience in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing the national anthem.
“My main message behind all of this is that it’s time for my generation and our society to start speaking up so that the minority voice does not always seem like the loudest voice,” Wells said. “(Haas) did have the right to burn the flag, but it was not an honorable thing for him to do and our student body and fellow Louisianans made that very clear today as they rallied on campus to show support for our county.”
Reverend Billy Graham In Hospital Recovering From Pneumonia
Mission Hospital released a statement Thursday morning, saying the 92-year-old rested comfortably Wednesday night and was able to sleep well.
Graham was admitted to the hospital Wednesday after he experienced sweating, coughing and breathing difficulty Tuesday night.
Graham's doctor confirmed Thursday that he has pneumonia and his temperature is normal. According to the hospital, Graham is doing well enough to resume his normal activities, including physical therapy.
Graham is listed in fair condition. A discharge date has not been set.
A hospital official said Graham has been watching television and joking with hospital staff during his stay.
Graham's spokesperson, Larry Ross, said Graham is grateful for the outpouring of love, concern and prayers of people across the country.
Read More From WCNC