Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
How Obama Can Restrict the 2nd Amendment
1. Without Congress, Obama can tighter the definition of “sporting purposes” when inspecting assault weapons for import and thus constrict the 2nd Amendment.
2. ATF can obtain information from gun shops in border states to report customers who purchase two or more domestically made assault weapons within five business days.
3. Toughen licensing requirements on gun dealers to secure their inventories.
All of these bureaucratic measures do not need new laws, Congress, or the approval of the people.
Obama has proven consistently in an election year that he can find executive means to sidestep Congress. He can easily avoid the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by executive fiat.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Why Our Politics Cannot Be Freed from Religion, Ivan Strenski
The debate about the relationship of politics and religion in the United States is set on the wrong course, Ivan Strenski, distinguished professor of religious studies at UC Riverside, claims in this presentation. Professor Strenski follows the development of the theology of political leadership from the Roman era through the Medieval to the present times and understand the sources of our dedication to republican constitutionalism. [8/2009] [Humanities] [Show ID: 16933]
Legion
Image
Civ
Rome
Combat Strength
13
Ranged Strength
0
Move
2
Cost
75
Production Cost
390
Gold
56
Military Might
56 Resource
1 Iron
Tech
Iron Working
Obsolete
Gunpowder
Tech Era
Classical
Upgrade
Longswordsman
Note
Can build roads
Cf. http://civilopedia5.com/units/roman_legion.html
CAL STATE STUDENTS SMASH GLASS DOOR IN PROTEST OF $500 TUITION HIKE
CAL STATE STUDENTS SMASH GLASS DOOR IN PROTEST OF $500 TUITION HIKE
Protests over a small tuition increase at Cal State University led to a violent scene on Wednesday. The drama started at a Board of Trustees meeting, where members were poised to discuss a $500 tuition increase — a 9 percent hike that would bring the total cost per year to attend the institution to about $7,000.
In a 9-6 vote, the CSU board voted to raise tuition by $498 per student, changing the tuition for full-time CSU students from $5,472 in the 2011-2012 school year to $5,970 for 2012-2013 before campus-specific fees, according to a press release from the CSU chancellor’s office.
With campus-specific fees included, the total cost for undergraduate students would average $7,017 per student annually.
Are the actions of the protesters justified? Are they correct in being so angry over the increase in tuition?
Watch the chaos, below (caution: violence):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMZzaEXHQMA&feature=player_embedded
Friday, July 27, 2012
JEWISH SUMMER CAMP IN PENNSYLVANIA "TERRORIZED"
Camp Bonim in Wayne County was targeted according to District Attorney Janine Edwards. Mark Trail, 21, and Cassandra Robertson, 18, both of Wayne County, were two of the suspects. A caretaker called Honesdale, Pa., police after the group's first intrusion at the Camp on July 14, according to the affidavit.
The original source of the story.
Five arrested, accused of terrorizing Jewish camp in Pennsylvania
SHARIA TRUMPS THE 1ST AMENDMENT: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL REPEATEDLY REFUSES TO ANSWER WHETHER DOJ WILL ADVANCE PROPOSAL TO CRIMINALIZE SPEECH AGAINST ANY RELIGION
Thomas Perez, the Department of Justice official, promised that the DOJ would do better for Muslims.
The non-commital answer by Perez was in response to a question asked by Rep. Trent Frank (R-AZ): “Will you tell us here today that this Administration’s Department of Justice will never entertain or advance a proposal that criminalizes speech against any religion?”
Batman Bomber Billboard
CALDWELL, Idaho (KBOI) - A Caldwell billboard is raising questions as it compares the deadliest bomber to accused Colorado killer, James Holmes.
‘A FILTHY RELIGION’: TSA WORKER FIRED FOR ANTI-MUSLIM FACEBOOK POSTS
‘A FILTHY RELIGION’: TSA WORKER FIRED FOR ANTI-MUSLIM FACEBOOK POSTS
Thursday, July 26, 2012
FBI REPORT: MAJORITY OF ANTI-FAITH HATE CRIMES ARE ANTI-JEWISH
FBI REPORT: MAJORITY OF ANTI-FAITH HATE CRIMES ARE ANTI-JEWISH
In sum, there were 1,409 hate crimes motivated by religious bias. Of these anti-faith crimes, 65.4 percent were against Jews (or anti-Jewish), 13.2 percent were against Muslims (or anti-Islamic), 4.3 percent were anti-Catholic, 3.8 percent were anti-multiple faiths, 3.3 percent were anti-Protestant, 0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc. and 9.5% involved other religions.
Representative Mike Kelly got a standing ovation in blistering attack on regulatory red tape and Washington’s culture of control
Representative Mike Kelly, speaking on the House floor today, managed something very rare in the history of the institution – he got a standing ovation. Applause is usually forbidden in the house, but Kelly‘s blistering attack on regulatory red tape and Washington’s culture of control.
The executive branch has admitted to have abused and violated Constitutional prohibitions on unlawful search and seizure
The admission comes in a letter from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declassifying statements that a top U.S. Senator wished to make public in order to call attention to the government’s 2008 expansion of its key surveillance law.
“On at least one occasion,” the intelligence shop has approved Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to say, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court found that “minimization procedures” used by the government while it was collecting intelligence were “unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.” Minimization refers to how long the government may retain the surveillance data it collects. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution is supposed to guarantee our rights against unreasonable searches.
Something You Can't Say in the U.S.: Dubai police chief 'Muslim Brothers plotting overthrow of Gulf states'
Dubai police chief warns of "international plot" against Gulf states, says Iran, Syria and MB must know Gulf is a red line.
Top Immigration Officials Describe Border Chaos Resulting From Obama's Amnesty Policy
Sen. Sessions hosted a press conference today with top officials from two unions that represent U.S. immigration law enforcement agencies.
ICE agent Chris Crane is President of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, the union representing America's more than 7,000 ICE agents and personnel. Border Patrol agent George McCubbin, III is President of the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing America's more than 17,000 border agents and personnel.
From Sen. Sessions' remarks (forthcoming in a video tomorrow):
"The Administration claims it has diligently enforced immigration law and that the border is 'more secure than ever.' But those on the front lines know this to be untrue. They see the violence, chaos and lawlessness. They have lost confidence in the leadership of their agencies...
As you will hear today, this administration has engaged in a sustained, relentless effort to undermine America's immigration laws. They have handcuffed and muffled those charged with protecting the public safety and the integrity of our borders. Such action has not only weakened our security but our democracy...
All Americans, immigrant and native born, will have a better future if our nation remains unique in the world for the special reverence it places in the rule of law and fairness in our immigration system."
Robert Spencer Receives Death Threat
Shortly after Robert Spencer interviewed Pamela Geller about "Islamophobia" on his ABN show on July 23, ABN received this death threat. .
Here's a transcript of the death threat:
"Now listen to me, asshole: if you ever disrespect my belief, I'm going to personally find ya, ok? If you ever disrespect Islam ever again, I'm going to personally find you all, ok? Take what I'm saying very fucking seriously, ok? And I fucking mean it. I'm going to personally find you all, ok? Your life will be a fucking nightmare. Take what I'm saying very fucking seriously. And start to learn how to respect other people's belief system. This is not freedom of speech. You're being a fucking dickhead. I'm going to personally find you, if I ever see your fucking ass. Don't be disrespectful of other people's belief system, ok? Fucking asshole dickhead. I'm gonna find you. You'll see it. You'll fucking die."
HARRY REID IN 1995 ABOUT AUDITING THE FED, SOUNDING LIKE RON PAUL
Yesterday, the House voted 327-8 to pass Ron Paul’s “Audit the Fed” bill. But the legislation is dead on arrival in the Senate, thanks to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who has vowed not to allow the Senate to vote on it. But it wasn’t always this way with Reid.
Reid championed the legislation, according to watchdog govtrack.us.
In the video of the 1995 speech, Business Insider writes, Reid sounds a lot like Paul:
“I have sponsored legislation every year that would call for an audit of the Federal Reserve system. I offer that amendment every year, every year it gets nowhere,” Reid says. “I think it would be interesting to know about the Federal Reserve. I think we should audit the Federal Reserve — it‘s taxpayer’s money that’s being used there. But we don’t do that.”
“People just don’t care about the Federal Reserve. Maybe it‘s because it’s a subject that’s not very interesting — it’s not pornography, it’s not murder, it’s not an issue that deals with the Wild West.”
LANDMARK CASE: GOVERNMENT ARGUES THAT ISLAM IS POLITICAL
"The Detroit Transit Authority (SMART), a government entity, argued before the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that our "Leaving Islam" ad was political because Islam is political."
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2012/07/landmark-case-us-government-argues-that-islam-is-political.html
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Review Comment: Robert Spencer’s Did Muhammad Exist? An Inquiry into Islam’s Obscure Origins
Yes, Mr. Spencer is correct. Note that the reviewer states--without attribution:
"Luxenberg’s work has been widely panned by the larger scholarly community as being methodologically faulty."
Since the reviewer states Luxenberg has been "widely panned," is it too much to ask that he identify sources?
Mark Brumley • a day ago • parent − "How embarrassing for you that in a review criticizing my work for faulty methodology, mistaken analysis, etc." Hmm. I can see pros and cons re: the review--I haven't read the book yet although I have read others on the thesis, which is problematic, to say the least. Whether Bob overcomes problem remains (for me) to be seen. Let's say I am skeptical. Even so, I can understand, Bob, why you're not too keen on the review. But is it really "embarrassing" that the apostrophe was wrongly placed and if so, it is any more than a slight editorial embarrassment? And is it really relevant to the assessment of the reviewer's analytical skills? Really?
Robert Spencer • 2 days ago − How embarrassing for you that in a review criticizing my work for faulty methodology, mistaken analysis, etc., you persistently misplace the apostrophe in "Qur'an." Not a ringing testimony to your own attention to detail or analytical skills.
Ed.: Robert Spencer - Thanks for pointing out the misplaced apostrophe. That correction has been made.
Muhammad: Man or Myth? July 23, 2012 A review of Robert Spencer’s Did Muhammad Exist? An Inquiry into Islam’s Obscure Origins J. Mark Nicovich, Ph.D.
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/1497/muhammad_man_or_myth.aspx
‘FORCED UNIONIZATION’: SEIU COLLECTS UNION DUES FROM DISABLED KIDS’ MEDICAID CHECKS
‘FORCED UNIONIZATION’: SEIU COLLECTS UNION DUES FROM DISABLED KIDS’ MEDICAID CHECKS
Should parents be forced to join the SEIU union to care for their children?
Forced To Join a Union: SEIU Getting Money From Michigan Medicaid Checks: MyFoxDETROIT.com
Refresher Course on Gun Control
Refresher Course
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=138bcab384d98090&mt=application/vnd.ms-powerpoint&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3Dfd25038e49%26view%3Datt%26th%3D138bcab384d98090%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbSnuQ8142-ILJLPZZHw14OkD95__w&pli=1
HOMELAND SECURITY: WHITE HOUSE WILL CONTINUE TO PROMOTE MEMBERS OF ISLAMIST, DESIGNATED TERRORIST GROUP
Napolitano was justifying the government’s decision to invite Hani Nour Eldin — an Egyptian parliamentary member elected as a member the Islamic Group (Gamaa Islamiya), which has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department — to the White House to meet with high-ranking Obama administration and State Department officials.
‘AUSCHWITZ-LIKE CONDITIONS’: U.S. GENERAL ACCUSED OF MASSIVE AFGHAN COVER-UP TO PROTECT OBAMA DURING ELECTION YEAR
US military officers accused one of the highest-ranking US commanders in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General William Caldwell, of trying to cover up a horrifying scandal at a taxpayer-funded hospital in Kabul to limit bad news in an election year, the AFP reports.
Colonel Mark Fassl, who testified Tuesday, said he was shocked when Lt. Gen. William Caldwell cited the then-upcoming 2010 congressional elections as the reason not to investigate the hospital.
The general reportedly said at the time: “How could we … make this request with elections coming? He calls me Bill.”
Col. Fassl said he believed the “he” in that statement was a reference to Obama.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
WOULD THE HOUSE ONLINE ANTI-PIRACY BILL LEAD TO INTERNET CENSORSHIP?
WOULD THE HOUSE ONLINE ANTI-PIRACY BILL LEAD TO INTERNET CENSORSHIP?
If you were a legislator, would you vote for or against this bill? Why or why not?
Here’s an explanation of how Protect IP (and subsequently SOPA) would work from the perspective of Fight for the Future, a group opposing the bill:
PROTECT IP Act Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
ENRAGED MAN ATTACKING U.S. FLAG-BEARER DURING OBAMACARE OBAMATAX PROTEST
The group, Tradition Family and Property (TFP), was protesting in northern Little Rock, AR, on July 17, the group’s website says. Sometime during the protest — with cameras rolling — a man approached the group and eventually attacked.
Burka Wearing Kids Buy Liquor
TORONTO - Three liquor stores recently sold booze to a 14-year-old boy whose identity was hidden because he was wearing a full-length burka and face veil at the time, a Sun News Network exclusive has found.
World History I: Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Chapter Overviews
Early Greek civilization consisted of many small, independent city-states. Trade led to Greek colonies, and Greek civilization gradually spread throughout the Mediterranean world.
Section 1 Early Civilizations in Greece
The Minoan civilization flourished on the island of Crete from 2700 B.C. to 1450 B.C. Most historians believe it was destroyed by the Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland. The Mycenaean civilization consisted of powerful monarchies that flourished between 1600 B.C. and 1100 B.C. After the collapse of this civilization, Greece entered a period known as the Dark Age. Food production decreased, and the population declined. At the same time, Greeks sailed extensively on the Aegean Sea and settled on islands and in Asia Minor. Iron replaced bronze in the making of tools and weapons. During the eighth century, the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, and Homer wrote his famous epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, chronicling the Trojan War.
Section 2 The Greek City-States
By 750 B.C. independent city-states became the focus of Greek life. Trade and the search for new farmland led to colonies throughout the western Mediterranean and the spread of Greek culture. Trade also produced a new group of wealthy individuals who resented the power of the aristocrats. The new rich, along with many peasants, supported the rise of tyrants who seized power from the aristocrats. When the rule of tyrants declined, some city-states became oligarchies. In Sparta, a military state, a small group of men decided what issues to place before adult male voters. In Athens, aristocratic rule dissolved into political strife between peasants and aristocrats. Leadership shifted between reform-minded aristocrats and tyrants, until land reform and an assembly served as the foundations of Athenian democracy.
Section 3 Classical Greece
As the Greeks spread throughout the Mediterranean, they came into conflict with the Persians. Although Athens itself was partly destroyed in a war, Greece emerged victorious, and Athens became the center of power of a Greek empire. Pericles was the dominant figure in Athens and undertook the rebuilding of the city. During the Age of Pericles, the Greek empire expanded. At home, a direct democracy flourished, in which all adult male citizens could vote. A woman's primary role was to be a good wife, mother, and manager of the household. Distrust between Athens and Sparta led to the Great Peloponnesian War. After Athens was badly defeated, Sparta, Athens, and Thebes struggled to dominate Greek affairs.
Section 4 The Culture of Classical Greece
Religion was central to daily life in Greece. The Greek religion focused on performing rituals to gain the favor of the Greek gods. To learn the will of the gods, Greeks made use of oracles. Greek drama developed during this period. Classical Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, devoted themselves to rational thought as a means of understanding the nature of the universe. Aristotle also created the foundations of Western science. Herodotus and Thucydides wrote the first histories in Western civilization with their lengthy works on the Persian and Peloponnesian wars respectively. Classical Greek art, which sought to express eternal ideals, is reflected in temples and sculptures.
Section 5 Alexander and the Hellenistic Era
In 359 B.C., Philip II came to the throne in Macedonia and built a powerful army. He longed to unite Greece and Macedonia. Fearful of Philip's intentions, the Greeks formed a defensive alliance, but they were defeated. Philip's son Alexander, who became known as Alexander the Great, within a few years defeated the Persian Empire and expanded his empire as far east as modern Pakistan. Although Alexander's empire was short-lived, it was successful in spreading Greek culture in the region. During the Hellenistic Era, Greek colonies thrived in Southwest Asia, and important works of science, philosophy, art, and architecture were produced throughout the Hellenistic world.
Student Web Activity Lesson Plans Alexander the Great
Introduction
Alexander conquered a large amount of territory in a remarkably short time. Despite his many invasions and conquests, he gained the respect of many of those he conquered by showing respect for local cultures and rulers. Although his empire was short-lived, it left an enduring Greek cultural imprint on the civilizations that had been conquered. In this activity students will learn more about Alexander's life and conquests.
Lesson Description Students will explore a Web site about Alexander the Great to read about Alexander's conquests of Persia and India. They will answer four questions about what they have read and will then write a fictional Indian or Persian newspaper article reporting on local reactions to Alexander's conquest.
Instructional Objectives
The learner will be able to sequence Alexander’s conquests and successes in Persia and Egypt.
The learner will be able to analyze the complexities of Alexander's motivations as a leader.
Alexander the Great
Introduction
Alexander conquered a large amount of territory in a remarkably short time. Despite his many invasions and conquests, he gained the respect of many of those he conquered by showing respect for local cultures. Although his empire was short-lived, it left an enduring Greek influence on the civilizations he conquered. In this activity you will learn more about Alexander's life and conquests.
Destination Title: Alexander the Great
http://faq.macedonia.org/history/alexander.the.great.html
Directions
Scroll through the Website and read the information.
Take notes as you scan the text.
Use the information you found to answer the following questions.
1. What is the legend of the Gordian knot?
2. Give an example of Alexander's attempts to blend Greek and Persian cultures.
3. What did Alexander do when he found the Persian King Darius, his main opponent, dead? Analyze the reasons for his actions.
4. How did Alexander treat important local rulers, such as Porus, a powerful Indian leader?
5. Write a short newspaper article from an Indian or Persian perspective reporting on local reactions to Alexander's conquest. As you "report," take into account as many consequences of the invasion as you can identify from your reading.
Suggested Answers
Student Web Activity Answers
1. Legend had it that the person who could untie the Gordian Knot would rule the world. Alexander is said to have slashed the Gordian Knot, unraveling it.
2. Alexander married a Persian woman. He also established programs to teach the Persians about Greek and Macedonian cultures, and he encouraged marriage between his officers and Persian women.
3. When the emperor Darius was killed by his own men, Alexander executed the men and gave Darius a royal funeral. Alexander’s actions show respect toward the Persian ruler, but they also suggest that Alexander wanted to win over the support of the Persians.
4. Alexander treated many of his defeated enemies with great respect. Following the capture of Porus, Alexander allowed Porus to continue to govern. Alexander even granted Porus an additional province.
5. Students' newspaper articles will vary but should include details on Alexander's conquests mentioned on the Web site.
References
Interactive Maps
Classical Greece and the Mediterranean basin, 800-500 B.C.E.
http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0078799813/195015/map09.html
Early Greek civilization consisted of many small, independent city-states. Trade led to Greek colonies, and Greek civilization gradually spread throughout the Mediterranean world.
Section 1 Early Civilizations in Greece
The Minoan civilization flourished on the island of Crete from 2700 B.C. to 1450 B.C. Most historians believe it was destroyed by the Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland. The Mycenaean civilization consisted of powerful monarchies that flourished between 1600 B.C. and 1100 B.C. After the collapse of this civilization, Greece entered a period known as the Dark Age. Food production decreased, and the population declined. At the same time, Greeks sailed extensively on the Aegean Sea and settled on islands and in Asia Minor. Iron replaced bronze in the making of tools and weapons. During the eighth century, the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, and Homer wrote his famous epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, chronicling the Trojan War.
Section 2 The Greek City-States
By 750 B.C. independent city-states became the focus of Greek life. Trade and the search for new farmland led to colonies throughout the western Mediterranean and the spread of Greek culture. Trade also produced a new group of wealthy individuals who resented the power of the aristocrats. The new rich, along with many peasants, supported the rise of tyrants who seized power from the aristocrats. When the rule of tyrants declined, some city-states became oligarchies. In Sparta, a military state, a small group of men decided what issues to place before adult male voters. In Athens, aristocratic rule dissolved into political strife between peasants and aristocrats. Leadership shifted between reform-minded aristocrats and tyrants, until land reform and an assembly served as the foundations of Athenian democracy.
Section 3 Classical Greece
As the Greeks spread throughout the Mediterranean, they came into conflict with the Persians. Although Athens itself was partly destroyed in a war, Greece emerged victorious, and Athens became the center of power of a Greek empire. Pericles was the dominant figure in Athens and undertook the rebuilding of the city. During the Age of Pericles, the Greek empire expanded. At home, a direct democracy flourished, in which all adult male citizens could vote. A woman's primary role was to be a good wife, mother, and manager of the household. Distrust between Athens and Sparta led to the Great Peloponnesian War. After Athens was badly defeated, Sparta, Athens, and Thebes struggled to dominate Greek affairs.
Section 4 The Culture of Classical Greece
Religion was central to daily life in Greece. The Greek religion focused on performing rituals to gain the favor of the Greek gods. To learn the will of the gods, Greeks made use of oracles. Greek drama developed during this period. Classical Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, devoted themselves to rational thought as a means of understanding the nature of the universe. Aristotle also created the foundations of Western science. Herodotus and Thucydides wrote the first histories in Western civilization with their lengthy works on the Persian and Peloponnesian wars respectively. Classical Greek art, which sought to express eternal ideals, is reflected in temples and sculptures.
Section 5 Alexander and the Hellenistic Era
In 359 B.C., Philip II came to the throne in Macedonia and built a powerful army. He longed to unite Greece and Macedonia. Fearful of Philip's intentions, the Greeks formed a defensive alliance, but they were defeated. Philip's son Alexander, who became known as Alexander the Great, within a few years defeated the Persian Empire and expanded his empire as far east as modern Pakistan. Although Alexander's empire was short-lived, it was successful in spreading Greek culture in the region. During the Hellenistic Era, Greek colonies thrived in Southwest Asia, and important works of science, philosophy, art, and architecture were produced throughout the Hellenistic world.
Student Web Activity Lesson Plans Alexander the Great
Introduction
Alexander conquered a large amount of territory in a remarkably short time. Despite his many invasions and conquests, he gained the respect of many of those he conquered by showing respect for local cultures and rulers. Although his empire was short-lived, it left an enduring Greek cultural imprint on the civilizations that had been conquered. In this activity students will learn more about Alexander's life and conquests.
Lesson Description Students will explore a Web site about Alexander the Great to read about Alexander's conquests of Persia and India. They will answer four questions about what they have read and will then write a fictional Indian or Persian newspaper article reporting on local reactions to Alexander's conquest.
Instructional Objectives
The learner will be able to sequence Alexander’s conquests and successes in Persia and Egypt.
The learner will be able to analyze the complexities of Alexander's motivations as a leader.
Alexander the Great
Introduction
Alexander conquered a large amount of territory in a remarkably short time. Despite his many invasions and conquests, he gained the respect of many of those he conquered by showing respect for local cultures. Although his empire was short-lived, it left an enduring Greek influence on the civilizations he conquered. In this activity you will learn more about Alexander's life and conquests.
Destination Title: Alexander the Great
http://faq.macedonia.org/history/alexander.the.great.html
Directions
Scroll through the Website and read the information.
Take notes as you scan the text.
Use the information you found to answer the following questions.
1. What is the legend of the Gordian knot?
2. Give an example of Alexander's attempts to blend Greek and Persian cultures.
3. What did Alexander do when he found the Persian King Darius, his main opponent, dead? Analyze the reasons for his actions.
4. How did Alexander treat important local rulers, such as Porus, a powerful Indian leader?
5. Write a short newspaper article from an Indian or Persian perspective reporting on local reactions to Alexander's conquest. As you "report," take into account as many consequences of the invasion as you can identify from your reading.
Suggested Answers
Student Web Activity Answers
1. Legend had it that the person who could untie the Gordian Knot would rule the world. Alexander is said to have slashed the Gordian Knot, unraveling it.
2. Alexander married a Persian woman. He also established programs to teach the Persians about Greek and Macedonian cultures, and he encouraged marriage between his officers and Persian women.
3. When the emperor Darius was killed by his own men, Alexander executed the men and gave Darius a royal funeral. Alexander’s actions show respect toward the Persian ruler, but they also suggest that Alexander wanted to win over the support of the Persians.
4. Alexander treated many of his defeated enemies with great respect. Following the capture of Porus, Alexander allowed Porus to continue to govern. Alexander even granted Porus an additional province.
5. Students' newspaper articles will vary but should include details on Alexander's conquests mentioned on the Web site.
References
Interactive Maps
Classical Greece and the Mediterranean basin, 800-500 B.C.E.
http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0078799813/195015/map09.html
Muslim Bites Boy: Claims Cultural Misunderstanding
http://www.ksat.com/news/Spring-man-accused-of-biting-boy-11/-/478452/15660644/-/14610gv/-/index.html
SPRING, Texas - A man is charged with injury to a child after he was accused of biting an 11-year-old boy on both cheeks.
Chris Sigler said his son was riding his go-kart through their Spring neighborhood when Abdus Sattar, 70, bit his son on both cheeks.
Obama to Cede America's Sovereignty, Gun Control by U.N.
The UN Arms Trade Treaty that has been identified by observers as a flagrant threat to the Second Amendment and which Obama is determined to sign has its roots in a 1961 State Department memorandum which explains how the United Nations will oversee “complete disarmament” of the American people under the ruse of preventing war. The UN Arms Treaty has caused so much controversy because it outlines a plan to target “all types of conventional weapons, notably including small arms and light weapons,” according to Forbes’ Larry Bell.
Former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton also warns that the agreement “is trying to act as though this is really just a treaty about international arms trade between nation states, but there is no doubt that the real agenda here is domestic firearms control.”
Monday, July 23, 2012
Egyptian Actors Pranked on Candid Camera Turn Violent When Told TV Channel Is Israeli MEMRI
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2012/07/egyptian-actors-pranked-on-candid-camera-turn-violent-when-told-tv-channel-is-israeli.html
CATHOLIC CHURCH PAID TO SEND OBAMA TO ANTI-CATHOLIC RADICAL ALINSKY-FOUNDED GROUP’S COMMUNITY ORGANIZING TRAINING
CATHOLIC CHURCH PAID TO SEND OBAMA TO ANTI-CATHOLIC RADICAL ALINSKY-FOUNDED GROUP’S COMMUNITY ORGANIZING TRAINING
A book, No Higher Power: Obama's War on Religious Freedom, by Phyllis Schlafly and American Spectator journalist George Neumayr exposes never-before-seen documents that show that the Catholic Church supported, and gave monies to, Obama in the 1980s to attend a community organizing training with the Saul Alinsky-founded Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF).
Obama received support from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), an arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
"In the 1980s, the Catholic archdiocese of Chicago contributed to the training of Obama in the very Alinskyite radicalism that would culminate in such anti-religious measures as the HHS mandate. In fact, in the course of writing this book, we met a source who once had access to copies of documents from the archives of the Chicago archdiocese. This source supplied us with never-before-published copies of invoices, checks, and letters that confirm the Church’s support for the man who would one day seek to destroy its religious freedom.
In a series of appendices, we have reproduced the check and invoice showing that the archdiocese of Chicago paid for Obama’s plane trip to a conference in Los Angeles run by the Industrial Areas Foundation, the community organizing group founded by Alinsky."
Obama Calumet Reimbursed
Then, a follow-up note shows a memorandum from the Campaign for Human Development (the name given to the group before “Catholic” was later added in), which confirms a travel payment to the then-community organizer.
Campaign for Human Development and Obama
Reimbursement
Southwest
Schlafly and Neumayr continue, providing more on the close relationship between Alinsky and Church officials:
"Alinsky had always targeted churches for radical infiltration, and to a certain degree he succeeded. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) was the Alinskyite branch of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops which had offices in dioceses across the country. It was founded in 1969 by priests and bishops close to Saul Alinsky, such as Monsignor John Egan, who sat on Alinsky’s Industrial Areas Foundation board. The group was originally called the Campaign for Human Development, with “Catholic” added later as its socialist work began to draw criticism.
Alinsky had initially won favor with some in the Archdiocese of Chicago by appearing to be an advocate of justice for the poor. In the 1950s, in fact, Alinsky received tens of thousands of dollars from the Church to “study” poverty and racism."
Cf. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/new-books-ironic-claim-catholic-church-paid-to-send-obama-to-an-alinsky-founded-groups-community-organizing-training-see-the-documents/
Sunday, July 22, 2012
HARVARD PROF. PREDICTS EU CRISIS WILL CONSUME AMERICA…AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
HARVARD PROF. PREDICTS EU CRISIS WILL CONSUME AMERICA…AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
Harvard University history professor Niall Ferguson says that Americans should be paying more attention to the eurozone crisis. He believes that the issues facing Europe are going to make their way to the U.S.
Writing in The Daily Beast, Ferguson explains why we should be paying close attention:
The first reason is that, with American consumers still in the doldrums of deleveraging, the United States badly needs buoyant exports if its economy is to grow at anything other than a miserably low rate. And despite all the hype about trade with the Chinese, U.S. exports to the European Union are nearly three times larger than to China.
Indeed, the EU and the U.S. economies account together for about “half the entire world GDP and for nearly a third of world trade flows,” writes the European Commission website.
Consider the $240 billion that the U.S. made from exports to the EU and compare that to the $91.1 billion that the U.S. made from China. It would stand to reason that a total collapse of the eurozone could have disastrous economic repercussions in the U.S.
And Ferguson has more to say.
Europe’s problem is not just that governments are overborrowed. There are an unknown number of European banks that are effectively insolvent if their holdings of government bonds are “marked to market”—in other words, valued at their current rock-bottom market prices.
His fear is that, because of the existence of our present global economy, some U.S. financial institutions will naturally be affected by the euro banks collapsing. Consider the fact that some of the biggest U.S. banks have some sort of “exposure” to euro bonds and banks. If the euro banks become “effectively insolvent,” this will affect the U.S. banks that have investmenst in those bonds.
A more timely example: “MF Global, run by former Goldman Sachs CEO Jon Corzine—just blew up because of its highly levered euro bets,” writes Ferguson. Now imagine the fallout of Mf Global but on a much larger scale involving major banks. That’s what Ferguson is worried about.
And although these are all valid points, Ferguson goes on to say that that’s not even the worst of American concerns. He continues writing:
…what is happening in Europe today could ultimately happen here. Just a few months ago, almost nobody was worried about Italy’s vast debt, which amounts to 121 percent of GDP. Then suddenly panic set in, and Italy’s borrowing costs exploded from 3.5 percent to 7.5 percent.
Today the U.S. gross federal debt stands at around 100 percent of GDP. Four years ago it was 62 percent. By 2016 the International Monetary Fund forecasts it will be 115 percent. Economists who should know better insist that this is not a problem because, unlike Italy, the United States can print its own money at will. All that means is that the U.S. reserves the right to inflate or depreciate away its debt. If I were a foreign investor—and half the debt in public hands is held by foreigners—I would not find that terribly reassuring. At some point I might demand some compensation for that risk in the form of … higher rates.
Athens, Rome, Washington … The shortest route from imperial capital to tourist destination is precisely this death spiral of debt.
Marines, USMC as Cops
Minnesota Army National Guard Captain Pete Hegseth joined ‘Real News’ to discuss the usefulness of this force:
BATMAN SHOOTER AS 18-YEAR-OLD PRESENTING AT SCIENCE CAMP
The 18-year-old was speaking at Miramar College in San Diego. His presentation is on “temporal illusion,“ which he defines as ”an illusion that allows you to change the past.”
He was one of the few students who had been awarded a federal grant to study behavioral science.
GUN RANGE OWNER THOUGHT BATMAN SHOOTER SEEMED ‘BIZARRE’
Glenn Rotkovich, owner of the Lead Valley Range in Byers, Colo., told Fox News it wasn‘t Holmes’ actual application that seemed strange — it was the voicemail message Rotkovich reached when trying to follow up with him.
Misleading Webster Commission FBI Report on the Fort Hood Islamist Massacre
WEBSTER COMMISSION FBI REPORT ON FORT HOOD MASSACRE WHITEWASHES ISLAMISM
This report bends over backwards to exculpate Islam:
"The FBI's report on terrorist acts in the U.S. between 1980 and 2005 identified 318 events (including bombings, arson and malicious destruction, and shootings); only 7% of those events were attributed to Islamic extremists."
On that page, as part of their excuse for not catching Hasan sooner, the report points out, without any hint of irony, that "He was a religious person."
Now here's the best part: this same report, on page 11, highlights some FBI's successes in catching terrorists. Sixteen names are listed:
• Antonio Martinez
• Mohamed Osman Mohamud
• Farooque Ahmed
• Shaker Masri
• Zachary Chesser
• Mohammed Mahmood Alessa
• Carlos Eduardo Almonte
• Hosam Smadi
• Michael Finton
• James Cromitie
• Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari
• Colleen LaRose
• Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif
• Walli Majahidh
• Waad Ramadan Alwan
• Mohanad Shareef Hammadi
This report bends over backwards to exculpate Islam:
"The FBI's report on terrorist acts in the U.S. between 1980 and 2005 identified 318 events (including bombings, arson and malicious destruction, and shootings); only 7% of those events were attributed to Islamic extremists."
On that page, as part of their excuse for not catching Hasan sooner, the report points out, without any hint of irony, that "He was a religious person."
Now here's the best part: this same report, on page 11, highlights some FBI's successes in catching terrorists. Sixteen names are listed:
• Antonio Martinez
• Mohamed Osman Mohamud
• Farooque Ahmed
• Shaker Masri
• Zachary Chesser
• Mohammed Mahmood Alessa
• Carlos Eduardo Almonte
• Hosam Smadi
• Michael Finton
• James Cromitie
• Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari
• Colleen LaRose
• Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif
• Walli Majahidh
• Waad Ramadan Alwan
• Mohanad Shareef Hammadi
Now of course ten of these are obviously Arabic, Muslim names. But the other six aren't obviously identifiable, so perhaps the report simply reflects political correctness. On the other hand, a bit of research is revealing.
• Antonio Martinez converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Hussain: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/13/AR2010121305708.html
In other words, sixteen out of the sixteen were Muslims. It is misleading to refer to only 7% Islamists described in Chapter 1, is it?
• Zachary Chesser converted to Islam and changed his name to Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee: http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/CHESSER%20FINAL%20REPORT(1).pdf
• Carlos Eduardo Almonte converted to Islam and changed his name to Omar: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bloodlust_of_tjUWgKCSnGMpRDcz9eUBXJ
• Michael Finton converted to Islam and changed his name to Talib Islam: http://www.globaljihad.net/view_news.asp?id=1096
• James Cromitie converted to Islam and changed his name to Abdul Rahman: http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2010/nyfo101810.htm
• Colleen LaRose converted to Islam and changed her name to Fatima: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/10/colleen-larose-jihad-jane-charges
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Another Doctored Image For Obama
Most of the analysis here is speculative however it does appear to be a black hand rather than Anne's hand in the photograph.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Batman Tragedy
Update: 7 January 2013
The first public testimony has been given about the tragedy.
The shooter "was dripping in sweat and his pupils were wide open."
Prosecutors did not indicate why Holmes’ pupils were dilated.
An officer noted that the shooter seemed “very, very relaxed” and didn’t seem to have “normal emotional reactions” to things. “He seemed very detached.”
At one point, an officer asked the shooter if anyone had been helping him or working with him. “He just looked at me and smiled … like a smirk,” the officer recalled.
The officer added: "I dragged him a few feet away. He was completely compliant. Normally there's a muscular tension. In his case he was very, very relaxed. "It was like there weren't any normal emotional responses to anything."
Click to enlarge
A silver lining takeaway: “Looking closely at the ammunition and equipment involved, it becomes clear that last Friday’s attack could have been much worse.”
One difference is to identify who was the accomplice of the shooter, so far, there is no information on who that could be.
Witnesses: Colorado Massacre Shooter Had Accomplice
Aerial shots indicate multiple shooters outside the emergency exit and that blood traced back to the theater.
Who else was involved in the shooting?
Another consideration is that there may be two individuals involved which appears possible given the differences in appearances between the released pictures. To wit: consider the differences in the photographs.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHToljppecTAxGic33BSg14R96xJHKauYU8XzysDfhFJ_1qanPSp8cACHp9bgX2kOnG6mlMZGHyyvg_vTagk9l3jat_luyMzoQzpnRmqnVMGryxBNrTDbIKSFfSBsRsb8C95oli25gquPN/s1600-h/clip_image003%25255B5%25255D.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHToljppecTAxGic33BSg14R96xJHKauYU8XzysDfhFJ_1qanPSp8cACHp9bgX2kOnG6mlMZGHyyvg_vTagk9l3jat_luyMzoQzpnRmqnVMGryxBNrTDbIKSFfSBsRsb8C95oli25gquPN/s1600-h/clip_image003%25255B5%25255D.jpg
Recently, the suspect noted on Match.com that he had "middle-of-the-road" political views." The slandering that he could associated with the TEA Party then is a complete fabrication.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9419299/Batman-Colorado-shooting-James-Holmes-fixated-by-altered-states-of-mind.html
First court appearance
The shooter was earmarked by the federal government some time ago as a person of interest.
He received a $26,000 stipend and his tuition was paid for at the highly competitive program in Neuroscience at the University of Colorado in Denver.
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/07/24/james-holmes-received-26k-grant-from-bethesda-based-national-institutes-of-health/
He was studying neuroscience under a grant from the National Institutes of Health, only one of six people annually selected for the honor.
Federal support and research into bright young kids has long been of interest to the Federal government. While at Harvard Ted Kaczynski, the Unibomber, also garnished the attention of Federal researchers. That experiment did not end well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski
As an 18-year-old the Batman suspect was speaking at Miramar College in San Diego. His presentation is on “temporal illusion,“ which he defines as ”an illusion that allows you to change the past.”
We know now that he needed psychiatric help.
Psychiatrist Called Threat-Team About Aurora Shooting Suspect James Holmes
The suspect came to the attention of the threat assessment committee at the University of Colorado but no further action was taken because he left the school more than a month before the attack.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/james-holmes-psychiatrist-schools-threat-assessment-team/story?id=16908862
Eyewitnesses report his strange appearance before committing himself to the theater.
Holmes was wearing jeans and sneakers and described himself as a local student, Allen said. But Allen also said he noticed something strange about Holmes' eyes.
"His eyes were fluttering and blinking," Allen said. "It was really weird. I didn't know if he was high or what, but those eyes kept fluttering."
Two others who witnessed the incident, Ashley Jones, 25, and Rosando "JR" Causus, a maintenance man at 1733 Paris Street, independently confirmed Allen's story.
Perhaps most tellingly, the neuroscience students was not grounded.
"The neuroscience graduate was adopted and Mrs Holmes, 58, and husband Robert, 61, a software developer, raised him as one of their own."
As a sign of his disaffection, last fall, Holmes began a four-year doctoral course in neuroscience at a University of Colorado medical campus in Aurora, a Denver suburb. He would be studying the mechanics of the brain, the ways that electrical signals transmit thoughts and sensations. Holmes was part of a small group of first-year students who met together numerous times a week for classes in a small conference room.
Five of the students formed a close bond over their shared classes and workload, and their concerns about being accepted to their preferred research laboratory — a ritual that happened at the end of the first year. But Holmes didn’t share in that bond, one student said. Holmes spoke only when prompted in class, and spoke almost never outside of the classroom.
“I was always trying to get into his head,” said one fellow neuroscience first-year. “If no one had ever said anything to him, he wouldn’t have said a word” all year.
The student, who asked not to be named because the university has asked students not to speak to the media, said that Holmes often was the first to arrive at class, riding from his nearby apartment on a BMX bike more fit for an adolescent. But once class began, he had a habit of daydreaming.
“It’s like you’re interrupting” another train of thought that Holmes was pondering, the student said.
When Holmes was required to speak in class, he often spoke in a monotone, but he sprinkled his presentations with attempts at humor, little puns and jokes. In the hallways, Holmes would join — when prompted — in grousing about assignments and required reading. He often smiled when he spoke and gave his classmates good marks when they had to review each other’s work. The classmate remembers no hint of anger or edge.
But Holmes volunteered little information about his life outside the classroom. The student could remember just one personal detail that Holmes revealed without being asked: During a conversation about football, he said he was a San Diego Chargers fan.
After classes, Holmes was always the first to leave. His fellow students assumed he was just sequestered in his off-campus apartment.
“I always just figured he liked being alone,” the student said.
Four months ago, when Holmes allegedly began stockpiling ammunition and explosives, his behavior in class didn’t seem to change. Then came early June, when all first-year students must face a demanding oral exam. The exam came and went, and the other students didn’t hear how Holmes did. Then they got word that he had sent an e-mail to administrators, saying he would leave school. His classmates were not told a reason.
A few days after that, the student saw Holmes walking across a campus food court and wondered why Holmes was still on campus.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/explosives-removed-from-james-holmess-apartment-and-destroyed-officials-say/2012/07/22/gJQAL9XN2W_print.html
The tragedy has centered on the theater but important questions remain unanswered.
How did the FBI anticipate the attack on the movie theater?
FBI theater attack warning issued on May 17, 2012
Hallmarks of a False Flag: Colorado University Held Identical Drill on Same Day as Aurora Theater Mass Shooting, Mind Control, and Multiple Suspects
http://theintelhub.com/2012/07/23/hallmarks-of-a-false-flag-colorado-university-held-identical-drill-on-same-day-as-aurora-theater-mass-shooting-mind-control-and-multiple-suspects/
Colorado Batman shooting shows obvious signs of being staged. For example, the lamestream narrative does not deal with an obvious question: How does an unemployed medical student afford $20,000 in weapons gear?
The unemployed alleged shooter has:
"In the last 60 days Mr. Holmes had purchased four guns at local gun shops, Chief Oates said. And through the Internet, he bought more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition: more than 3,000 rounds for the assault rifle, 3,000 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition for the two Glocks, and 300 rounds for the 12-gauge shotgun."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/us/shooting-at-colorado-theater-showing-batman-movie.html
A decent AR-15 rifle costs $1,000 or more. The shotgun and handgun might run another $800 total. Spare mags, sights, slings, and so on will run you at least another $1,000 for three firearms. The bullet-proof vest is easily another $800, and the cost of the bomb-making gear is too difficult to guess. With all the specialty body gear, ammunition, booby-trap devices and more, I'm guessing this is at least $20,000 in weapons and tactical gear, much of which is very difficult for civilians to get in the first place.
The FBI and ATF are on scene. FBI agents and police discovered his flat was booby-trapped when they used a camera at the end of a 12-foot pole to look inside.
In addition, where does an unemployed medical school drop out get the training to deploy sophisticated booby traps, tactical body armor, weapons systems and more?
One of the most important considerations is the timing of the event coming as it does just a week before a U.N. Agreement which would curtail the Second Amendment in favor of international gun controls.
Both the FBI and the Justice Department has supplied guns so it may not be surprising if there is a connection found here as well.
The Aurora Police Department has their own SWAT team and has handled explosive devices.
In a recent Aurora case, "the Arapahoe County Bomb Squad responded and took possession of the devices."
In this recent tragedy, neither the Aurora SWAT team nor the County Bomb Squad are handling the investigation and have pulled back to await Federal agencies.
Michael Bennet, Senator from Colorado, reports that about $15 million dollars has been spent on Aurora.
Entity: Buckley Air Force Base Project Name: Land Acquisition Location: Aurora, Colorado Amount Requested: authorize and appropriate $9,900,000
Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado is surrounded by a growing community. To ensure mission capabilities and safety, Buckley Air Force Base would like to acquire roughly 122 acres of land immediately adjacent to the base to permanently protect the clear zone and eliminate any potential hazards to the flying mission. The purchase of this land is critical to the safety of flying missions and to meeting anti-terrorism and force protection requirements. As development continues in the surrounding community, pilots at Buckley face a more difficult task of successful take off and landing. Providing funds for land acquisition will better protect our pilots and better enable Buckley to meet its responsibilities.
Entity: Colorado Air National Guard, Buckley Air Force Base Project Name: Weapons release complex upgrades Location: Aurora, Colorado Amount Requested: authorize and appropriate $4,500,000
Funding would allow Buckley Air Force Base and the 140th Fighter Wing of the Colorado Air National Guard to expand its weapons release complex. A weapons release complex is a facility in which munitions and ordinances are maintained. The existing facility is undersized, and National Guard officials worry it is becoming a hazardous environment for them to meet mission requirements and cannot provide adequate training to maintenance personnel.
http://www.bennet.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=973a8a51-35ae-4f8f-b5a0-e0d3e56fd128
The first public testimony has been given about the tragedy.
The shooter "was dripping in sweat and his pupils were wide open."
Prosecutors did not indicate why Holmes’ pupils were dilated.
An officer noted that the shooter seemed “very, very relaxed” and didn’t seem to have “normal emotional reactions” to things. “He seemed very detached.”
At one point, an officer asked the shooter if anyone had been helping him or working with him. “He just looked at me and smiled … like a smirk,” the officer recalled.
The officer added: "I dragged him a few feet away. He was completely compliant. Normally there's a muscular tension. In his case he was very, very relaxed. "It was like there weren't any normal emotional responses to anything."
Aurora police seized four prescription bottles and immunization records when they searched theater-shooting suspect James Holmes' apartment in July, according to newly obtained filings in the murder case against Holmes.
The modus operandi of the Batman tragedy is similar to the 2011 Norway attacks. The 2011 Norway attacks were two sequential attacks on 22 July 2011. The first was a car bomb explosion in Oslo. The second attack occurred less than two hours later at a summer camp on the island of Utøya in Tyrifjorden, Buskerud.
In the Aurora attack, the suspect booby trapped his apartment, which was discovered before it could harm anyone but it appears that was the original intent; then, the shooter entered the theater and attacked.
Rather than an obsession with the Joker, despite the red hair, the suspect's real model was Robocop given his armor and preparation.
Click to enlargeOne difference is to identify who was the accomplice of the shooter, so far, there is no information on who that could be.
Witnesses: Colorado Massacre Shooter Had Accomplice
Aerial shots indicate multiple shooters outside the emergency exit and that blood traced back to the theater.
Who else was involved in the shooting?
Another consideration is that there may be two individuals involved which appears possible given the differences in appearances between the released pictures. To wit: consider the differences in the photographs.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHToljppecTAxGic33BSg14R96xJHKauYU8XzysDfhFJ_1qanPSp8cACHp9bgX2kOnG6mlMZGHyyvg_vTagk9l3jat_luyMzoQzpnRmqnVMGryxBNrTDbIKSFfSBsRsb8C95oli25gquPN/s1600-h/clip_image003%25255B5%25255D.jpg
Recently, the suspect noted on Match.com that he had "middle-of-the-road" political views." The slandering that he could associated with the TEA Party then is a complete fabrication.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9419299/Batman-Colorado-shooting-James-Holmes-fixated-by-altered-states-of-mind.html
First court appearance
The shooter was earmarked by the federal government some time ago as a person of interest.
He received a $26,000 stipend and his tuition was paid for at the highly competitive program in Neuroscience at the University of Colorado in Denver.
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/07/24/james-holmes-received-26k-grant-from-bethesda-based-national-institutes-of-health/
He was studying neuroscience under a grant from the National Institutes of Health, only one of six people annually selected for the honor.
Federal support and research into bright young kids has long been of interest to the Federal government. While at Harvard Ted Kaczynski, the Unibomber, also garnished the attention of Federal researchers. That experiment did not end well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski
As an 18-year-old the Batman suspect was speaking at Miramar College in San Diego. His presentation is on “temporal illusion,“ which he defines as ”an illusion that allows you to change the past.”
We know now that he needed psychiatric help.
Psychiatrist Called Threat-Team About Aurora Shooting Suspect James Holmes
The suspect came to the attention of the threat assessment committee at the University of Colorado but no further action was taken because he left the school more than a month before the attack.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/james-holmes-psychiatrist-schools-threat-assessment-team/story?id=16908862
Eyewitnesses report his strange appearance before committing himself to the theater.
Holmes was wearing jeans and sneakers and described himself as a local student, Allen said. But Allen also said he noticed something strange about Holmes' eyes.
"His eyes were fluttering and blinking," Allen said. "It was really weird. I didn't know if he was high or what, but those eyes kept fluttering."
Two others who witnessed the incident, Ashley Jones, 25, and Rosando "JR" Causus, a maintenance man at 1733 Paris Street, independently confirmed Allen's story.
Perhaps most tellingly, the neuroscience students was not grounded.
"The neuroscience graduate was adopted and Mrs Holmes, 58, and husband Robert, 61, a software developer, raised him as one of their own."
As a sign of his disaffection, last fall, Holmes began a four-year doctoral course in neuroscience at a University of Colorado medical campus in Aurora, a Denver suburb. He would be studying the mechanics of the brain, the ways that electrical signals transmit thoughts and sensations. Holmes was part of a small group of first-year students who met together numerous times a week for classes in a small conference room.
Five of the students formed a close bond over their shared classes and workload, and their concerns about being accepted to their preferred research laboratory — a ritual that happened at the end of the first year. But Holmes didn’t share in that bond, one student said. Holmes spoke only when prompted in class, and spoke almost never outside of the classroom.
“I was always trying to get into his head,” said one fellow neuroscience first-year. “If no one had ever said anything to him, he wouldn’t have said a word” all year.
The student, who asked not to be named because the university has asked students not to speak to the media, said that Holmes often was the first to arrive at class, riding from his nearby apartment on a BMX bike more fit for an adolescent. But once class began, he had a habit of daydreaming.
“It’s like you’re interrupting” another train of thought that Holmes was pondering, the student said.
When Holmes was required to speak in class, he often spoke in a monotone, but he sprinkled his presentations with attempts at humor, little puns and jokes. In the hallways, Holmes would join — when prompted — in grousing about assignments and required reading. He often smiled when he spoke and gave his classmates good marks when they had to review each other’s work. The classmate remembers no hint of anger or edge.
But Holmes volunteered little information about his life outside the classroom. The student could remember just one personal detail that Holmes revealed without being asked: During a conversation about football, he said he was a San Diego Chargers fan.
After classes, Holmes was always the first to leave. His fellow students assumed he was just sequestered in his off-campus apartment.
“I always just figured he liked being alone,” the student said.
Four months ago, when Holmes allegedly began stockpiling ammunition and explosives, his behavior in class didn’t seem to change. Then came early June, when all first-year students must face a demanding oral exam. The exam came and went, and the other students didn’t hear how Holmes did. Then they got word that he had sent an e-mail to administrators, saying he would leave school. His classmates were not told a reason.
A few days after that, the student saw Holmes walking across a campus food court and wondered why Holmes was still on campus.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/explosives-removed-from-james-holmess-apartment-and-destroyed-officials-say/2012/07/22/gJQAL9XN2W_print.html
The tragedy has centered on the theater but important questions remain unanswered.
How did the FBI anticipate the attack on the movie theater?
FBI theater attack warning issued on May 17, 2012
07/20/2012
DHS Warned About Threats In Movie Theaters
DHS Warned About Threats In Movie Theaters
The Department of Homeland Security in a May 17, 2012 memo, warned that American movie theaters were increasingly likely targets for terrorist attacks, primarily because they packed many people into one tightly confined place.
An early April 2012 suicide bombing of a theater in Somalia and a violent extremist communication advocating attacks on US theaters highlight terrorists’ continued interest in attacking such venues. Although we have no specific or credible information indicating that terrorists plan to attack theaters in the United States, terrorists may seek to emulate overseas attacks on theaters here in the United States because they have the potential to inflict mass casualties and cause local economic damage.
Hallmarks of a False Flag: Colorado University Held Identical Drill on Same Day as Aurora Theater Mass Shooting, Mind Control, and Multiple Suspects
http://theintelhub.com/2012/07/23/hallmarks-of-a-false-flag-colorado-university-held-identical-drill-on-same-day-as-aurora-theater-mass-shooting-mind-control-and-multiple-suspects/
Colorado Batman shooting shows obvious signs of being staged. For example, the lamestream narrative does not deal with an obvious question: How does an unemployed medical student afford $20,000 in weapons gear?
The unemployed alleged shooter has:
"In the last 60 days Mr. Holmes had purchased four guns at local gun shops, Chief Oates said. And through the Internet, he bought more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition: more than 3,000 rounds for the assault rifle, 3,000 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition for the two Glocks, and 300 rounds for the 12-gauge shotgun."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/us/shooting-at-colorado-theater-showing-batman-movie.html
A decent AR-15 rifle costs $1,000 or more. The shotgun and handgun might run another $800 total. Spare mags, sights, slings, and so on will run you at least another $1,000 for three firearms. The bullet-proof vest is easily another $800, and the cost of the bomb-making gear is too difficult to guess. With all the specialty body gear, ammunition, booby-trap devices and more, I'm guessing this is at least $20,000 in weapons and tactical gear, much of which is very difficult for civilians to get in the first place.
The FBI and ATF are on scene. FBI agents and police discovered his flat was booby-trapped when they used a camera at the end of a 12-foot pole to look inside.
In addition, where does an unemployed medical school drop out get the training to deploy sophisticated booby traps, tactical body armor, weapons systems and more?
One of the most important considerations is the timing of the event coming as it does just a week before a U.N. Agreement which would curtail the Second Amendment in favor of international gun controls.
Both the FBI and the Justice Department has supplied guns so it may not be surprising if there is a connection found here as well.
The Aurora Police Department has their own SWAT team and has handled explosive devices.
In a recent Aurora case, "the Arapahoe County Bomb Squad responded and took possession of the devices."
In this recent tragedy, neither the Aurora SWAT team nor the County Bomb Squad are handling the investigation and have pulled back to await Federal agencies.
Michael Bennet, Senator from Colorado, reports that about $15 million dollars has been spent on Aurora.
Entity: Buckley Air Force Base Project Name: Land Acquisition Location: Aurora, Colorado Amount Requested: authorize and appropriate $9,900,000
Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado is surrounded by a growing community. To ensure mission capabilities and safety, Buckley Air Force Base would like to acquire roughly 122 acres of land immediately adjacent to the base to permanently protect the clear zone and eliminate any potential hazards to the flying mission. The purchase of this land is critical to the safety of flying missions and to meeting anti-terrorism and force protection requirements. As development continues in the surrounding community, pilots at Buckley face a more difficult task of successful take off and landing. Providing funds for land acquisition will better protect our pilots and better enable Buckley to meet its responsibilities.
Entity: Colorado Air National Guard, Buckley Air Force Base Project Name: Weapons release complex upgrades Location: Aurora, Colorado Amount Requested: authorize and appropriate $4,500,000
Funding would allow Buckley Air Force Base and the 140th Fighter Wing of the Colorado Air National Guard to expand its weapons release complex. A weapons release complex is a facility in which munitions and ordinances are maintained. The existing facility is undersized, and National Guard officials worry it is becoming a hazardous environment for them to meet mission requirements and cannot provide adequate training to maintenance personnel.
http://www.bennet.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=973a8a51-35ae-4f8f-b5a0-e0d3e56fd128
America’s Most Biblically-Hostile U. S. President
America’s Most Biblically-Hostile U. S. President
When one observes Obama’s unwillingness to accommodate America’s four-century long religious conscience protection through his attempts to require Catholics to go against their own doctrines and beliefs, one is tempted to say that he is anti-Catholic. But that characterization would not be correct. Although he has recently singled out Catholics, he has equally targeted traditional Protestant beliefs over the past four years. So since he has attacked Catholics and Protestants, one is tempted to say that he is anti-Christian. But that, too, would be inaccurate. He has been equally disrespectful in his appalling treatment of religious Jews in general and Israel in particular. So perhaps the most accurate description of his antipathy toward Catholics, Protestants, religious Jews, and the Jewish nation would be to characterize him as anti-Biblical. And then when his hostility toward Biblical people of faith is contrasted with his preferential treatment of Muslims and Muslim nations, it further strengthens the accuracy of the anti-Biblical descriptor. In fact, there have been numerous clearly documented times when his pro-Islam positions have been the cause of his anti-Biblical actions.
Listed below in chronological order are
(1) numerous records of his attacks on Biblical persons or organizations;
(2) examples of the hostility toward Biblical faith that have become evident in the past three years in the Obama-led military;
(3) a listing of his open attacks on Biblical values; and finally
(4) a listing of numerous incidents of his preferential deference for Islam’s activities and positions, including letting his Islamic advisors guide and influence his hostility toward people of Biblical faith.
1. Acts of hostility toward people of Biblical faith:
April 2008 – Obama speaks disrespectfully of Christians, saying they “cling to guns or religion” and have an “antipathy to people who aren't like them.”1
February 2009 – Obama announces plans to revoke conscience protection for health workers who refuse to participate in medical activities that go against their beliefs, and fully implements the plan in February 2011.2
April 2009 – When speaking at Georgetown University, Obama orders that a monogram symbolizing Jesus' name be covered when he is making his speech. 3
May 2009 – Obama declines to host services for the National Prayer Day (a day established by federal law) at the White House. 4
April 2009 – In a deliberate act of disrespect, Obama nominated three pro-abortion ambassadors to the Vatican; of course, the pro-life Vatican rejected all three. 5
October 19, 2010 – Obama begins deliberately omitting the phrase about “the Creator” when quoting the Declaration of Independence – an omission he has made on no less than seven occasions. 6
November 2010 – Obama misquotes the National Motto, substituting “E pluribus unum” rather than “In God We Trust” as established by federal law.7
January 2011 – After a federal law was passed to transfer a WWI Memorial in the Mojave Desert to private ownership, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the cross in the memorial could continue to stand, but the Obama administration refused to allow the land to be transferred as required by law, and refused to allow the cross to be re-erected as ordered by the Court.8
February 2011 – Although he filled posts in the State Department, for more than two years Obama did not fill the post of religious freedom ambassador, an official that works against religious persecution across the world; he filled it only after heavy pressure from the public and from Congress. 9
April 2011 – For the first time in American history, Obama urges passage of a non-discrimination law that does not contain hiring protections for religious groups, forcing religious organizations to hire according to federal mandates without regard to the dictates of their own faith, thus eliminating conscience protection in hiring. 10
August 2011 – The Obama administration releases its new health care rules that override religious conscience protections for medical workers in the areas of abortion and contraception.11
November 2011 – Obama opposes inclusion of President Franklin Roosevelt’s famous D-Day Prayer in the WWII Memorial. 12
November 2011 – Unlike previous presidents, Obama studiously avoids any religious references in his Thanksgiving speech.13
December 2011 – The Obama administration denigrates other countries' religious beliefs as an obstacle to radical homosexual rights. 14
January 2012 – The Obama administration argues that the First Amendment provides no protection for churches and synagogues in hiring their pastors and rabbis. 15
February 2012 – The Obama administration forgives student loans in exchange for public service, but announces it will no longer forgive student loans if the public service is related to religion. 16
2. Acts of hostility from the Obama-led military toward people of Biblical faith:
June 2011 – The Department of Veterans Affairs forbids references to God and Jesus during burial ceremonies at Houston National Cemetery. 17
August 2011 – The Air Force stops teaching the Just War theory to officers in California because the course is taught by chaplains and is based on a philosophy introduced by St. Augustine in the third century AD – a theory long taught by civilized nations across the world (except America). 18
September 2011 – Air Force Chief of Staff prohibits commanders from notifying airmen of programs and services available to them from chaplains. 19
September 2011 – The Army issues guidelines for Walter Reed Medical Center stipulating that“No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading materials and/or facts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.” 20
November 2011 – The Air Force Academy rescinds support for Operation Christmas Child, a program to send holiday gifts to impoverished children across the world, because the program is run by a Christian charity. 21
November 2011 – The Air Force Academy pays $80,000 to add a Stonehenge-like worship center for pagans, druids, witches and Wiccans. 22
February 2012 – The U. S. Military Academy at West Point disinvites three star Army general and decorated war hero Lieutenant General William G. (“Jerry”) Boykin (retired) from speaking at an event because he is an outspoken Christian. 23
February 2012 – The Air Force removes “God” from the patch of Rapid Capabilities Office (the word on the patch was in Latin: Dei).24
February 2012 – The Army orders Catholic chaplains not to read a letter to parishioners that their archbishop asked them to read.25
3. Acts of hostility toward Biblical values:
January 2009 – Obama lifts restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, forcing taxpayers to fund pro-abortion groups that either promote or perform abortions in other nations.26
January 2009 – President Obama’s nominee for deputy secretary of state asserts that American taxpayers are required to pay for abortions and that limits on abortion funding are unconstitutional. 27
March 2009 – The Obama administration shut out pro-life groups from attending a White House-sponsored health care summit. 28
March 2009 – Obama orders taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research. 29
March 2009 – Obama gave $50 million for the UNFPA, the UN population agency that promotes abortion and works closely with Chinese population control officials who use forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations.30
May 2009 – The White House budget eliminates all funding for abstinence-only education and replaces it with “comprehensive” sexual education, repeatedly proven to increase teen pregnancies and abortions.31 He continues the deletion in subsequent budgets. 32
May 2009 – Obama officials assemble a terrorism dictionary calling pro-life advocates violent and charging that they use racism in their “criminal” activities. 33
July 2009 – The Obama administration illegally extends federal benefits to same-sex partners of Foreign Service and Executive Branch employees, in direction violation of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. 34
September 16, 2009 – The Obama administration appoints as EEOC Commissioner Chai Feldblum, who asserts that society should “not tolerate” any “private beliefs,” including religious beliefs, if they may negatively affect homosexual “equality.” 35
July 2010 – The Obama administration uses federal funds in violation of federal law to get Kenya to change its constitution to include abortion. 36
August 2010 – The Obama administration Cuts funding for 176 abstinence education programs.37
September 2010 – The Obama administration tells researchers to ignore a judge’s decisionstriking down federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.38
February 2011 – Obama directs the Justice Department to stop defending the federal Defense of Marriage Act.39
March 2011 – The Obama administration refuses to investigate videos showing Planned Parenthood helping alleged sex traffickers get abortions for victimized underage girls.40
July 2011 – Obama, against advice from senior officers, allows homosexuals to serve openly in the military, reversing a policy originally instituted by George Washington in March 1778.41
September 2011 – The Pentagon, against advice from senior officers, directs that military chaplains may perform same-sex marriages at military facilities in violation of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. 42
October 2011 – The Obama administration eliminates federal grants to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for their extensive programs that aid victims of human trafficking because the Catholic Church is anti-abortion.43
4. Acts of preferentialism for Islam:
May 2009 – While Obama does not host any National Day of Prayer event at the White House, he does host White House Iftar dinners in honor of Ramadan ( a Islamic Holy Month). 44
April 2010 – Christian leader Franklin Graham is disinvited from the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer Event because of complaints from the Muslim community. 45
April 2010 – The Obama administration requires rewriting of government documents and a change in administration vocabularyto remove terms that are deemed offensive to Muslims, including jihad, jihadists, terrorists, radical Islamic, etc. 46
August 2010 – Obama speaks with great praise of Islam and condescendingly of Christianity. 47
August 2010 – Obama went to great lengths to speak out on multiple occasions on behalf of building an Islamic mosque at Ground Zero, while at the same time he was silent about a Christian church being denied permission to rebuild at that location. 48
2010 – While every White House traditionally issues hundreds of official proclamations and statements on numerous occasions, this White House avoids traditional Biblical holidays and events but regularly recognizes major Muslim holidays, as evidenced by its 2010 statements on Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hajj, and Eid-ul-Adha. 49
October 2011 – Obama’s Muslim advisers block Middle Eastern Christians’ access to the White House. 50
February 2012 – The Obama administration makes effulgentapologies for Korans being burned by the U. S. military, 51but when Bibles were burned by the military, numerous reasons were offered why it was the right thing to do.52
NAPOLITANO PROMOTES ISLAMISM, UNAWARE OF CLASSIFIED DOC LEAK, WH TERROR GROUP VISIT
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) yelled at Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday over her refusal to answer simple questions about a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council who stands accused by some members of Congress of leaking classified information to make Texas look like “Islamophobes.”
The man in question is Mohamed Elibiary, appointed by Obama and allegedly affiliated with the Islamic Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt.
Last month, Hani Nour Eldin, a member of Egypt’s parliament, was granted a visa and invited to attend several meetings with high-ranking White House and State Department officials, some in the executive mansion. Eldin is also a member of Gamaa Islamiya, a radical Islamic group currently listed as a designated terrorist organization.
The Freedom and Justice Party is an Islamist political party in Egypt with ties to the radical Muslim Brotherhood. The party won 47.2 percent of all seats in Egypt’s lower house of parliament and praised the election of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi.
In October 2011, Patrick Poole of PJ Media reported that Texas Department of Public Safety were concerned about a report that Elibiary may have gotten access to sensitive and classified information and that he reportedly shopped it out to the media
CSPAN clip
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/gop-rep-yells-at-janet-napolitano-for-claiming-shes-unaware-of-classified-doc-leak-wh-terror-group-visit/
GOHMERT: Are you saying before this Congress right now, that as Secretary of Homeland Security, that it is a lie that Mohamed Elibiary downloaded material from a classified website using the secret security clearance you gave him? Are you saying that’s a lie?
NAPOLITANO: I’m saying that is in accurate. That is correct.
GOHMERT: All right. What is inaccurate about it?
NAPOLITANO: A number of things. First of all, we have several people on the Homeland Security Advisory Committee that are Muslim [Moos-lum]. They’ve been helping Law Enforcement for a long time. Mr. Elibiary, himself, was recognized by the FBI…
GOHMERT: I didn’t say anything about that so if you…could confine your answers to what I said and what you find misleading in it…
NAPOLITANO: One of the things I find misleading in it is that he somehow downloaded classified documents.
GOHMERT: So you’re saying that the State and Local Intelligence of Community of Interest Database is not classified?
NAPOLITANO: I’m saying that he…as far as I know…he did not download classified documents.
GOHMERT: One of the games that gets played by some people who come up here and testify is that they have somebody not provide them with adequate information so that they can come in her and say “so far as I know,” “not to my knowledge,” that kind of thing, and they obscure the truth.
Has Elibiary’s status on Homeland Security Advisory Council changed?
NAPOLITANO: No.
GOHMERT: It did not bother you that he did access information?
NAPOLITANO: Uh…he accessed some information. What bothers me, quite frankly, is the allegations made against anyone who happens to be Muslim.
GOHMERT: Well, the allegations are not because he is Muslim…[snip]…this administration seems to have a hard time recognizing members of terrorist groups who are allowed into the White House. You are aware of that happening, aren’t you?
NAPOLITANO: Absolutely not.
GOHMERT: The evidence speaks for itself. Obviously you are kept in the dark on a lot of these things.
Are you aware of what the Freedom and Justice Party is in Egypt?
NAPOLITANO: Uh, Representative
(someone cuts in and finally asks Napolitano to answer the question)
NAPOLITANO: Yes
GOHMERT: Are you aware that Mr. Elibiary’s Foundation, which has now had their charter pulled because they failed to provide the information that the government requires to keep their 501(3)c status…are you aware you aware that that Foundation was called the Freedom and Justice Foundation?
NAPOLITANO: Representative, I’m not going to get into a debate about some of this…
GOHMERT: I’m asking you if you know simple facts…I don’t want a debate. This is a question and answer. Are you aware of that being the name of Elibiary’s Foundation that has now lost it’s 501(3)c status pulled.
NAPOLITANO: The insinuation…
GOHMERT: Can you answer the question – there’s no insinuation. Please answer just the question.
NAPOLITANO: Mr. Representative, with all respect, I believe you are insinuating that I and members of my staff…
GOHMERT: I’m not insinuating anything. I’m asking a direct question…The question is very simple. Are you aware of his Freedom and Justice Foundation
(someone interrupts and says “let me say to the Gentlemen from Texas, I don’t think he’s going to get a different answer)
GOHMERT: Then I ask the assistance of the chairman to direct the witness to answer the question, as asked. It’s very simple. It’s yes or no.
(someone says “we’ll give the witness the opportunity to give a final answer. Yes.)
NAPOLITANO: Mr. Chairman, I would just like to say for this Committee…
GOHMERT: That does not sound like a yes or no
GOHMERT: The answer is non-responsive.
NAPOLITANO: Mr. Chairman, I didn’t know this was a court with rules of evidence. I was hoping I could explain my answer.
GOHMERT: Mr. Chairman, my question was a yes or no question. Anything but a yes or no answer…and the reason there are rules of evidence so that witnesses don’t just go off on a lark – avoiding the question.
Gohmert’s time expired.
Napolitano speaks again and says “the insinuation that I and my staff would allow someone who is a terrorist to infiltrate…”
GOHMERT: I have not insinuated that Elibiary is a terrorist…he’s a very nice gentleman. I’ve met him a couple of times…there’s no such insinuation.
That the Secretary of Homeland Security would come in here and make such an allegation that …
The man in question is Mohamed Elibiary, appointed by Obama and allegedly affiliated with the Islamic Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt.
Last month, Hani Nour Eldin, a member of Egypt’s parliament, was granted a visa and invited to attend several meetings with high-ranking White House and State Department officials, some in the executive mansion. Eldin is also a member of Gamaa Islamiya, a radical Islamic group currently listed as a designated terrorist organization.
The Freedom and Justice Party is an Islamist political party in Egypt with ties to the radical Muslim Brotherhood. The party won 47.2 percent of all seats in Egypt’s lower house of parliament and praised the election of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi.
In October 2011, Patrick Poole of PJ Media reported that Texas Department of Public Safety were concerned about a report that Elibiary may have gotten access to sensitive and classified information and that he reportedly shopped it out to the media
CSPAN clip
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/gop-rep-yells-at-janet-napolitano-for-claiming-shes-unaware-of-classified-doc-leak-wh-terror-group-visit/
GOHMERT: Are you saying before this Congress right now, that as Secretary of Homeland Security, that it is a lie that Mohamed Elibiary downloaded material from a classified website using the secret security clearance you gave him? Are you saying that’s a lie?
NAPOLITANO: I’m saying that is in accurate. That is correct.
GOHMERT: All right. What is inaccurate about it?
NAPOLITANO: A number of things. First of all, we have several people on the Homeland Security Advisory Committee that are Muslim [Moos-lum]. They’ve been helping Law Enforcement for a long time. Mr. Elibiary, himself, was recognized by the FBI…
GOHMERT: I didn’t say anything about that so if you…could confine your answers to what I said and what you find misleading in it…
NAPOLITANO: One of the things I find misleading in it is that he somehow downloaded classified documents.
GOHMERT: So you’re saying that the State and Local Intelligence of Community of Interest Database is not classified?
NAPOLITANO: I’m saying that he…as far as I know…he did not download classified documents.
GOHMERT: One of the games that gets played by some people who come up here and testify is that they have somebody not provide them with adequate information so that they can come in her and say “so far as I know,” “not to my knowledge,” that kind of thing, and they obscure the truth.
Has Elibiary’s status on Homeland Security Advisory Council changed?
NAPOLITANO: No.
GOHMERT: It did not bother you that he did access information?
NAPOLITANO: Uh…he accessed some information. What bothers me, quite frankly, is the allegations made against anyone who happens to be Muslim.
GOHMERT: Well, the allegations are not because he is Muslim…[snip]…this administration seems to have a hard time recognizing members of terrorist groups who are allowed into the White House. You are aware of that happening, aren’t you?
NAPOLITANO: Absolutely not.
GOHMERT: The evidence speaks for itself. Obviously you are kept in the dark on a lot of these things.
Are you aware of what the Freedom and Justice Party is in Egypt?
NAPOLITANO: Uh, Representative
(someone cuts in and finally asks Napolitano to answer the question)
NAPOLITANO: Yes
GOHMERT: Are you aware that Mr. Elibiary’s Foundation, which has now had their charter pulled because they failed to provide the information that the government requires to keep their 501(3)c status…are you aware you aware that that Foundation was called the Freedom and Justice Foundation?
NAPOLITANO: Representative, I’m not going to get into a debate about some of this…
GOHMERT: I’m asking you if you know simple facts…I don’t want a debate. This is a question and answer. Are you aware of that being the name of Elibiary’s Foundation that has now lost it’s 501(3)c status pulled.
NAPOLITANO: The insinuation…
GOHMERT: Can you answer the question – there’s no insinuation. Please answer just the question.
NAPOLITANO: Mr. Representative, with all respect, I believe you are insinuating that I and members of my staff…
GOHMERT: I’m not insinuating anything. I’m asking a direct question…The question is very simple. Are you aware of his Freedom and Justice Foundation
(someone interrupts and says “let me say to the Gentlemen from Texas, I don’t think he’s going to get a different answer)
GOHMERT: Then I ask the assistance of the chairman to direct the witness to answer the question, as asked. It’s very simple. It’s yes or no.
(someone says “we’ll give the witness the opportunity to give a final answer. Yes.)
NAPOLITANO: Mr. Chairman, I would just like to say for this Committee…
GOHMERT: That does not sound like a yes or no
GOHMERT: The answer is non-responsive.
NAPOLITANO: Mr. Chairman, I didn’t know this was a court with rules of evidence. I was hoping I could explain my answer.
GOHMERT: Mr. Chairman, my question was a yes or no question. Anything but a yes or no answer…and the reason there are rules of evidence so that witnesses don’t just go off on a lark – avoiding the question.
Gohmert’s time expired.
Napolitano speaks again and says “the insinuation that I and my staff would allow someone who is a terrorist to infiltrate…”
GOHMERT: I have not insinuated that Elibiary is a terrorist…he’s a very nice gentleman. I’ve met him a couple of times…there’s no such insinuation.
That the Secretary of Homeland Security would come in here and make such an allegation that …
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