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.
Islamist flag often seen in various locations during the Arab Spring, "No god but God."
Armstrong and Desrosiers posit seven characteristics of revolutions for students of World History to study. They are:
1. The economic crisis immediately preceding the revolution
2. The elite and other classes
3. Spread of revolutionary ideas among the intelligentsia
4. Goals of the revolution and major revolutionaries
5. Establishment of dictatorship
6. National mobilization in response to foreign hostility
7. Main legacy of the revolution
In the concluding paragraph they state:
"Were the events of the Arab Spring the beginnings of true social revolutions in the Middle East? In America, many speak of the 1% vs. the 99%: some wonder if Marx is being validated in contemporary society? Are members of the Occupy Wall Street movement the vanguard of some new revolutionary movement?" (pp. 45-46, Armstrong and Desrosiers)
However, the authors do not attempt to apply the seven characteristics of revolution to either the Arab Spring or the Occupy movement. The application of their ideas is suggestive at best, if not argued. Nonetheless, if you do attempt to apply their ideas to the respective movements, they do not apply at all. It is possible to argue that there was a financial crisis in the U.S. in 2008, thus, point #1 may apply here; however, no one seriously contends that an economic crisis tipped off the Arab Spring; it may safely be stated that political unrest reached a bubbling over point which erupted.
In Tunisia on December 17, 2011, a street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi protested the harassment he had suffered at the hands of police by committing suicide by setting himself ablaze. Since then, the governments of Tunisia and Egypt have been overthrown. A civil war has broken out in Libya. The king of Jordan has dismissed his cabinet and protests have taken place in Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran.
What happened?
A revolutionary crisis seems to have gripped most of the Middle East so we may responsibly inquire into its motivating factors. The "Khilafah Conference (USA) 2011 - (Revolution in the Muslim World: From Tyranny to Triumph" Khilafah [Caliphate] Conference America 2012 - Revolution: Liberation by Revelation) more accurately identifies the motivating factors, and they are religious sensibilities, a characteristic that can be evasive when analyzing contemporary political movements.
If not a revolution in the definition of the authors, clearly there is a considerable movement afoot, one which I have identified as profoundly religious. In the Khilafah Conference video the Islamist revolution unites the Ummah. Ummah is an Arabic term denoting a grouping of individuals constituting a larger community with a single identity. The term is often translated as "community" or "people". For the community the revolution is assured with Aqeedah which refers to those matters which are believed in, with certainty and conviction, in one’s heart and soul. Opposition is to be found in non-Muslims or the Mushrikun which means polytheists, pagans, idolaters, and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah.
A Hizb ut-Tahrir video promoting the Islamic caliphate in Europe during 2011 asserts the same point.
The Arab Spring then is a religious revolution, not based in financial or economic difficulties although clearly chaotic conditions may be exacerbated by these issues.
Any number of recent debates in Egypt have taken up the points outlined above:
Debates in Egypt center around whether Egyptians should eliminate the Jews with the Caliphate, or remain content in their own territory, Egypt.
EGYPTIAN TV PANEL DEBATES CLERIC’S CLAIM THAT JERUSALEM WILL BE CAPITAL OF THE CALIPHATE, Safwat Higazi
Egyptian Sociologist States The Muslim Brotherhood Is "the seed of an Islamic caliphate"
Saadudin Ibrahim notes: "Of course, in 2012, this sounds like sheer fantasy, but all the major enterprises in history began as an idea. Some of ideas died while still in the cradle, while others developed."
Tareq Sweidan of the Muslim Brotherhood states that first there will be the "oppressive Kingship," the Egyptian army in control, but thereafter, will be "Khilafah upon the Prophetic method." The hadith Sweidan discusses prophesies the Khilafah Rashida ("rightly guided" Cf. www.alislam.org/library/books/Khilafat-e-Rashida.pdf). Sweidan proposes an active promotion of the Khilafah Rashida.
Hassan al-Banna, the movement’s founder, “felt the grave danger overshadowing the Muslims and the urgent need and obligation which Islam places on every Muslim, man and woman, to act in order to restore the Islamic Caliphate and to reestablish the Islamic state on strong foundations.”
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader Qaradawi advocates establishing a "United Muslim Nations" as a contemporary form of the caliphate.
One of our afternoon panelists commented that sometimes people tend to posit a simplistic victim-oppressor analysis. We examine the past and determine who has been victimized and who is oppressed. Some educators perform this exercise in the case of Egypt, and the Middle East generally: i.e., Mubarak, bad, what he is replaced with, good. This analysis suggests that if the Muslim Brotherhood replaces Mubarak this could be a good thing. But as I consider covering the Caliphate in my World History classes I am reminded of what is stated in, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens.
Hitchens states that the Koran is a rehash of Jewish and Christian myths. Islam, with no Reformation, and no internal self-critical tradition, is the least adjusted world religion to the obvious contradictions of living in the modern world with a pre-modern mindset. Any historical example to critically examine the claims of Islam has resulted in repression (p. 125). The accounts of Muhammad (d. 632) "are hopelessly corrupted into incoherence by self-interest, rumor, and illiteracy" (p. 127). "The first full account of his life was set down a full hundred and twenty years later by Ibn Ishaq, whose original was lost and can only be consulted through its reworked form, authored by Ibn Hisham, who died in 834" (p. 129). In addition, there is no way of determining how the competing accounts and traditions were collated and edited to form the text of the Koran. We are left with conjecture and hearsay as to the actual message of Muhammad.
The chaotic manner in which the Koran was assembled gave rise to the more pressing issue of succession, a controversy characterizing Islam and one in which Muslims have never solved. Continuously Islam has strenuously opposed critical examination of the Koranic text. The apparent unity of Islam masks a great insecurity and anxiety about the text not shared by other religious traditions (p. 126). "But Islam when examined is not much more a rather obvious and ill-arranged set of of plagiarisms, helping itself from earlier books and traditions as occasion appeared to require" (p. 129). With its lack of originality Islam nonetheless demands obeisance from non-believers yet "there is nothing--absolutely nothing--in its teachings that can begin to justify such arrogance and presumption" (p. 129).
The primary issue of a critical and scholarly account of Islam based on the Koran requires a similar willingness, as Jews and Christians have allowed and benefited from, to examine the Scriptural claims to objective, scholarly examination. The consensus of religious obscurantism though has precluded "free inquiry and the emancipating consequences that it might bring" (p. 137).
Meanwhile, rogues, terrorists, mullahs, and misguided Islamists predominate and prey unmolested upon unwary victims.
As a result, the question of authority looms large since there is no program to critically examine the Koran, religion poisons everything, but an institution could politically unify Islamists.
The Caliphate
It is important to understand what the caliphate is, its place in Muslim majority societies, and its significance historically, over time.
The cornerstone of Islamic theology, the caliphate, or khilafah, is the central, authoritarian government that was implemented after the death of Muhammad by his disciples in 632 AD. It derives its authority from and governs by Shariah law, and is presided over by a “caliph,“ or ”successor” who holds both legislative and spiritual power.
Per the tenets of Islam, this “state” is not limited to encompassing only Muslims across Muslim lands, rather, the goal is to ultimately establish a global caliphate that would mandate people of all walks to embrace Islam or to at least to submit to being governed by Islamic law. The khilafah is also the form of government endorsed by the Muslim Brotherhood.
In March 1924, reformer and president of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, constitutionally destroyed the “Khilafah State.” Today, an organization dedicated to the reestablishment of a global caliphate, Khilafah.com, stated that Ataturk’s move marked the end of “an illustrious era of Islamic rule” and that, since then, “the dark shadow of the West has engulfed the world.”
Prince Orhan Aal Othman, the Grandson of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II, blames Theodore Herzl, the Jewish Zionist, as the cause of the Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Caliphate
#3250 - Prince Orhan Aal Othman, Grandson of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II: Herzl Was the Cause of the Fall of the Ottoman Empire
Transcript
http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/3250.htm
To illustrate what Islamists believe regarding Islam and the caliphate, consider the following passage from one of their sources:
"We assert, without compromise, that it is only by the establishment of the Khilafah State, that the practical solutions of Islam can once again provide a real alternative for the entire world. The ‘Clash of Civilisations’ first discussed by Samuel Huntington is real and inevitable. We endorse the notion that there is a civilisational difference between Islam and the West and that the problem for the West is Islam and the problem for Islam is the West. By arguing this, we also maintain Islam, as a universal ideology, came for all of humankind, Muslim and Non-Muslims, and as such it is only Islam that serves as a Rahma (mercy) for all mankind."
Khilafah.com goes on to assert that “the only challenge” to encroaching Western dominance “must come from Islam.” Thus, to Islamists, the caliphate is vitally important in their fight against Western democracy and to ensure the adoption of Islam and the implementation of Shariah law across the world.
For example, Sheik Ahmad Abu Quddum, of the Jordanian Tahrir Party, states that jihad will spread Islam, and non-Muslims will be second-class citizens in the coming Caliphate
Those who closely follow the words and deeds of terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda will recall that establishing a global caliphate founded upon Islamic law has been among the militants’ most fervently declared goals.
Hamas MP and Cleric Yunis Al-Astal: The Jews Were Brought to Palestine for the 'Great Massacre' through which Allah Will 'Relieve Humanity of Their Evil'
Yunis al-Astal, the cleric in question, told his listeners that “Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our Prophet Muhammad. Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam…”
Al-Astal preached in June of 2010 that it was the duty of Palestinian women to martyr themselves by becoming homicide bombers.
"When jihad becomes an individual duty, it applies to women too, because women do not differ from men when it comes to individual duties," he said in a June 23, 2007 interview. Al-Astal also called Jews "the brothers of apes and pigs" who should "taste the bitterness of death” in the interview.
The parliamentarian returned to this slur recently, saying that Rome “has planted the brothers of apes and pigs in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam.”
Writing for the New York Sun in 2005, Daniel Pipes noted that the Islamists who assassinated former Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat in 1981 adorned their holding cages with banners that read: “caliphate or death.” He continued:
Bin Laden spoke of ensuring that “the pious caliphate will start from Afghanistan.” His chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, also dreamed of re-establishing the caliphate, for then, he wrote, “history would make a new turn, God willing, in the opposite direction against the empire of the United States and the world’s Jewish government.” Another Al-Qaeda leader, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, publishes a magazine that has declared “Due to the blessings of jihad, America’s countdown has begun. It will declare defeat soon,” to be followed by the creation of a caliphate.
While some might argue that there is a difference between the Muslim Brotherhood and state-recognized terrorist organizations, consider that the Brotherhood is no innocent lamb. Founded by an Adolf Hitler admirer, the Islamic militant group is the predecessor of Hamas, Hezbollah and even al Qaeda, and is often cited as a parent to each of the terrorist groups.
One of the reasons some believe the Muslim Brotherhood is a moderate group is via its seemingly extensive community service work. It operates under the veneer of a socially-conscious organization focused on youth-outreach, school and mosque development, and even the coordination of sporting events for the “good” of the community.
Once examined under a more discerning lens, however, the true colors of the Muslim Brotherhood emerge. Of the militant Islamist group’s dual identity, scholar Martin Kramer stated: “On one level, they operated openly, as a membership organization of social and political awakening. Banna preached moral revival, and the Muslim Brethren engaged in good works. On another level, however, the Muslim Brethren created a ‘secret apparatus’ that acquired weapons and trained adepts in their use. Some of its guns were deployed against the Zionists in Palestine in 1948, but the Muslim Brethren also resorted to violence in Egypt.
Kramer goes on to explain that the Brotherhood enforced their own moral teachings “by intimidation, and they initiated attacks against Egypt’s Jews.”
My final installment as a review of this issue will be posted tomorrow; it will review contemporary analysts who react to the thought of a Caliphate.
Finally, however, for my in-class final version I will need Islamist examples akin to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mother Teresa to present examples of peace within the Islamist tradition.
In "Egypt: How Obama Blew It," by Niall Ferguson, in Newsweek, 13-02-2011, the Egyptian revolution and the coming Caliphate was analyzed.
An army in control is not a democratic, liberal, revolution. Moreover, Obama was taken completely by surprise. The only organized organization is the Muslim Brotherhood advocating sharia law and the restoration of the Caliphate. Any appearance of a liberal, peaceful, democratic revolution is extremely unlikely. The Egyptian revolution is most similar to the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979. Almost all revolutions are characterized by internal chaos and foreign aggression.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmr1uUZae6Q
In a 2011 interview Niall Ferguson spoke with The Telegraph about what he believes the world may look like in ten years.
His two key points to consider for the Middle East include:
Tiny possibility we get western-style democracies in the Middle East
More alarming to think about a "restored caliphate"
Victor Davis Hanson and Peter Berkowitz analyze the causes of Middle Eastern events (including the role of social networking), rise of the Caliphate, and discuss possible outcomes for the Middle East states enmeshed in popular unrest. They evaluate the implications for Israel and conclude with an assessment of Obama's handling of these events and how the United States should respond to the ongoing unrest.
The Arab Spring may be analyzed more correctly, according to Hanson and Berkowitz, as bereft of Western-style liberal democratic ideas in favor of Islamist characteristics. First-hand evidence on the ground confirms this impression. Abu George, a Christian resident of Aleppo's Aziza district stated: "We saw what happened to the Christians in Iraq. What is going on in Aleppo is not a popular revolution for democracy and freedom. The fighters of the so-called Free Syrian Army are radical Sunnis who want to establish an Islamic state." The prominent Middle Eastern historian Bernard Lewis has pointed out that in Egypt for example the language of Western-style democracy has only recently been translated, there are no Arabic equivalents for these words, and Islamist Middle Eastern countries have produced "zero" democracies in a thousand years. It seems unlikely that the Arab Spring will result in a Western-style democracy. The ordinary person on the street in Egypt will more likely result in a regime that is anti-Semitic, anti-American, and an Islamist motivated regime. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is analogous to the Jacobins during the French Revolution.
During transitional times technology is often acclaimed as the harbinger of the revolution as Marx argued that the telegraph encouraged revolution. Today, Twitter, and social media is viewed by progressives as indicative of the one-world ideal global governance that they envision, likewise, the social media that is used by Islamists is interpreted as countering the nation-state in favor of the Caliphate.
The extent of the Abbasids Dynastic Caliphate, 750 - 1258 A.D.
Khilafah Conference Map
Iran has called for a Unified Muslim World Coalition, or a Caliphate.
The term caliphate "dominion of a caliph ('successor,')," (from the Arabic خلافة or khilāfa, Turkish: Halife ) refers to the first system of government established in Islam, and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah (nation).
According to Berkowitz and Hanson, American policy should re-assert the decades old, bi-partisan, Truman Doctrine affirmed through the Bush administration which was to promote a freedom agenda. Obama has abandoned the bi-partisan, historic American principled approach to Middle Eastern policy. Obama's transformation in U.S. policy will most likely promote the two examples of theocratic regimes in the Middle East: Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the Saudis invited Iran for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting, 5 August 2012.
The Caliphate is unlikely to be workable in practice but the death and destruction that will accompany the aspirations of those who favor a Caliphate will be catastrophic.
Cf. http://www.aina.org/news/20120802194350.htm
Cf. Victor Hanson and Peter Berkowitz -- Revolution in the Arab World
Monday: Introduction to Major Revolutions in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa; Teaching
Peace and Revolution in the classroom
Tuesday: Young Perspectives on Peace & Revolution; Teaching Level Breakout Sessions
Wednesday: Peace & Revolution through the Arts; The Role of Faith & Spirituality
Thursday: Science & Technology; International Video-conference
Friday: Final Group Presentations; Best Practices and Implications for the Future
A detailed finalized agenda will come in your resource binder.
Assignments:
1. Everyday participants are expected to blog about the days’ activities. An email will be sent to you inviting you to the online blog. Please accept the invitation. A gmail account is necessary to join the blog.
2. Participants will be responsible for completing a unit of lesson plans and activities which they will use in their classrooms. Groups of 3-4 will complete a “unit.” Groups will be decided on the first day and based on area of interest and/or grade level. The units should comprise of at least 3 lesson plans and two activities. Groups will present their units on the last day of the institute. Groups are encouraged to use visual aids to effectively share their ideas to the other groups. A final written version of the unit is due Friday August 17th.
Samples of earlier Lesson Plans:
http://www.ceas.sas.upenn.edu/lessonplans.shtml
"Helping Students Analyze Revolutions"
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=138e91c5002bcba9&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3Dfd25038e49%26view%3Datt%26th%3D138e91c5002bcba9%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26realattid%3Df_h5ebjerz0%26zw&sig=AHIEtbRZQAz4Ua_OMkUSup3dDgy6QEih6w&pli=1
Bill Ayers Says Promote The Violence That Already Exists To His Revolutionaries
http://blogsmithconsulting.blogspot.com/2012/06/bill-ayers-says-promote-violence-that.html
Are We in Revolutionary Times?
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/303037/are-we-revolutionary-times-victor-davis-hanson#
US CALIPHATE CONFERENCE AMERICA 2012 -- REVOLUTION: LIBERATION BY REVELATION
OCCUPY: AMERICAN SPRING – THE MAKING OF A REVOLUTION
‘THIS IS REVOLUTION NOT REFORM’ — OCCUPY WALL STREET ORGANIZER TO ‘EXCITED’ AL SHARPTON: WE ARE ANARCHISTS AND REVOLUTIONARIES,‘THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF A REVOLUTION IN THIS COUNTRY’
Khilafah Conference (USA) 2011 - Revolution in the Muslim World: From Tyranny to Triumph
Khilafah Conference (USA) 2011
Revolution in the Muslim World: From Tyranny to Triumph
June 26th 2011
Hizb ut-Tahrir America
http://hizb-america.org/khilafah-conference-2011
Trailer for the Khilafah Conference in the UK 9th July 2011
Trailer for the Khilafah Conference to be held in the UK on the 9th July 2011 which will present the Islamic Vision for the Ummah against the backdrop of the unfolding events in the Arab world.
The Battle of Big Ideas, Part 1: CONSTRAINED vs. UNCONSTRAINED
To keep these messages coming go to http://www.declarationentertainment.com
Before you can build a political house, you have to know what materials you have on hand. In Part 1 of The Battle of Big Ideas, Bill looks at the two visions of Mankind that Thomas Sowell has labeled "Constrained" and "Unconstrained," and the examples of their twin Revolutions: the Constrained American Revolution and the Unconstrained French Revolution.
Victor Hanson and Peter Berkowitz -- Revolution in the Arab World
Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and military historian, professor of classics, and the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is the author of numerous books, the most recent of which are Makers of Ancient Strategy: From the Persian Wars to the Fall of Rome, which Professor Hanson edited, and The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern, a volume of his essays.
Peter Berkowitz is the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
He is also cofounder and director of the Israel Program on Constitutional Government, has served as a senior consultant to the President's Council on Bioethics, and is a member of the Policy Advisory Board at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
"The Revolutionaries' Revenge" by Sally Zelikovksy
Islamism (Islam+-ism; Arabic: إسلام سياسي Islām siyāsī, "Political Islam", or الإسلامية al-Islāmīyah) is a set of ideologies holding that Islam is "as much a political ideology as a religion"[Esposito, Political Islam: Beyond the Green Menace by John Esposito, vii]. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary (see below). Leading Islamist thinkers emphasize the enforcement of Sharia (Islamic law); of pan-Islamic political unity; and of the elimination of non-Muslim, particularly Western military, economic, political, social, or cultural influences in the Muslim world, which they believe to be incompatible with Islam.[Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism by DALE C. EIKMEIER From Parameters, Spring 2007, pp. 85-98. Accessed 6 February 2012].
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamist
Arab Spring
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring
The "Khilafah Conference (USA) 2011 - Revolution in the Muslim World: From Tyranny to Triumph" (http://youtu.be/KRMGhasUlWc)
Ummah is an Arabic term denoting a grouping of individuals constituting a larger community with a single identity. The term is often translated as "community" or "people" (http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3424503216.html?key=01--2160D527E1B106B170F021C046F01333554354F3E34710F720F0B60651B617F1371197357)
Aqeedah which refers to those matters which are believed in, with certainty and conviction, in one’s heart and soul (http://islamqa.info/en/ref/951).
non-Muslims or the Mushrikun which means polytheists, pagans, idolaters, and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah (http://sarasohaib.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/what-is-an-al-mushrikun/)
Islamic caliphate in Europe during 2011 asserts the revival of the Caliphate.
Rodney Brossart is charged with "felony terrorizing and theft of property charges and a misdemeanor criminal mischief charge."
The most interesting aspect of this case is the use of the word "terrorizing," as in terrorist for rather more prosaic crimes. Since the Judge characterized the infractions as terrorist activities, even when they obviously do not involve a terrorist, or terrorism, the door is wide open for American citizens to be spied upon without warrant. Brossart's lawyer argued that law enforcement's "warrantless use of [an] unmanned military-like surveillance aircraft" and "outrageous governmental conduct" warranted dismissal of the case which the Judge did not find convincing. John Villasenor, of the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution, says the legality of domestic drone use likely stems from two Supreme Court cases that allow police to use "public, navigable airspace" for evidence gathering.
Adam M Smith is an Adjunct Lecturer at Eller College in Arizona and he also is the CFO of Vante, a catheter manufacturing company.
The college students that Smith sees off in the distance and speculates are getting ready to stage a sit-in, were most likely waiting to get into the movie theater they were standing in front of.
He tells the young woman working the window, “This is a horrible corporation with horrible values.”
He also goes out of his way to stress ,”I’m a nice guy, by the way… totally heterosexual. Not a gay in me, I just can’t stand the hate.”
The director, Khaled Youssef, made the explosive statements on Al-Kahera Wal-Nas TV in Egypt on Monday.
#3516 - Egyptian Film Director Khaled Youssef: The Muslim Brotherhood Might Make Us Miss the Days of Hitler Al-Kahera Wal-Nas TV (Egypt) - July 30, 2012 - 01:28
At a hearing yesterday into the Webster report into the bureau’s intelligence failures leading up to the Fort Hood massacre, in which Major Nidal Hasan was accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32 in Texas, links were made between Hasan and Al-Awlaki.
In an exchange of 19 emails Hasan told al-Awlaki that he advocated using suicide bombers and that he believed it was OK to kill civilians to which al-Awlaki replied that Hasan should keep his contact details handy.
EGYPTIAN PRES. CANDIDATE: OSAMA BIN LADEN A MARTYR WHO SPOKE ‘THE WORD OF TRUTH WITH POWER’
A recent video featuring Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, an Egyptian candidate for president, adds to the concern that a virulent anti-American will be elected.
And Usama bin Laden—may Allah be pleased with him—may Allah take great mercy upon him. I ask Allah to accept him with the righteous and the martyrs, O Lord. Do not imagine that a martyr is only someone with whom you’ve always agreed throughout your life. If you had a different point of view from him, and then he was killed, this would not negate his martyrdom. Now this man (i.e. bin Laden) had religion wealth, and he was able to spend millions in the path of Allah, and speak the word of truth with power. However, he preferred to sacrifice his flesh, his offspring, his family, and his wealth, and go to the front lines to work in the path of Allah. The most glorious among us are always the martyrs. May Allah have mercy on him. The testimony which he obtained was a great fortune. I suppose that he—and Allah is his judge now—is among those of whom it is said, “If only my people knew,” Allah-willing. May Allah take great mercy upon him, and I ask Almighty Allah that the Muslims may soon be able to avenge him, as well as all of the martyrs of Islam, such as ‘Abdallah ‘Azam, Ahmad Yasin, and others, O Lord.
“With respect, there have been — and the Ababziar matter would be one I would refer to that’s currently being adjudicated in the criminal courts — from time to time, and we are constantly working against different and evolving threats involving various terrorist groups and various ways they may seek to enter the country.”
Obama’s DOJ had claimed Judicial Watch was not entitled to attorney’s fees since “none of the records produced in this litigation evidenced any political interference whatsoever in” how the DOJ handled the New Black Panther Party case. But United States District Court Judge Reggie Walton disagreed. Citing a “series of emails” between Obama political appointees and career Justice lawyers, Walton writes:
“The documents reveal that political appointees within DOJ were conferring about the status and resolution of the New Black Panther Party case in the days preceding the DOJ’s dismissal of claims in that case, which would appear to contradict Assistant Attorney General Perez’s testimony that political leadership was not involved in that decision. Surely the public has an interest in documents that cast doubt on the accuracy of government officials’ representations regarding the possible politicization of agency decision-making.”
…
“In sum, the Court concludes that three of the four fee entitlement factors weigh in favor of awarding fees to Judicial Watch. Therefore, Judicial Watch is both eligible and entitled to fees and costs, and the Court must now consider the reasonableness of Judicial Watch’s requested award.”
The New Black Panther party members threatened voters with a billy club and intimidated voters outside a Philadelphia polling station.
Townhall’s Katie Pavlich also provides video of DOJ whistleblower Christian Adams on Fox News, who resigned over the case:
Fox News Monday during “American Live with Megyn Kelly featured a Rasmussen Report released Sunday found that just 14 percent of Americans expect that today’s children will be better off than their parents, with 65 percent of Americans participating in the telephone survey believing they will not be better off. Another Rasmussen Reports poll released last week showed similarly dismal results from Americans on long-term optimism about the U.S. Economy, with only 31 percent of American adults believing that the U.S. economy will be stronger in one year, 35 percent predicting a weaker economy by next year and 18 percent saying it will be about the same. These statistics opened discussion moderated by Kelly Monday between conservative radio host Mike Gallagher and Democratic Party strategist Simon Rosenberg.
"Apparently, according to the Obama campaign, In 1981 — the year Obama transferred from Occidental College to Columbia University — Obama visited his mother and sister Maya in Indonesia. After that visit, Obama traveled to Pakistan with a friend from college whose family was from there. The Obama campaign says Obama was in Pakistan for about three weeks, staying with his friend’s family in Karachi and also visiting Hyderabad in Southern India."
DOES CALIF. TOWN’S 10-HOUR PER DAY AIRPLANE SURVEILLANCE ‘RAISE SERIOUS CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS’?
The Fourth Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Are the people secure against unreasonable searches? Are there particular descriptions of what is to be searched?
Watch this debate on the topic (Note: The portion of the segment on this topic is from start to 3:05):
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.
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]
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?
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.
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?”
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, 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 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.
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."
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."
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.”
"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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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."
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.
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.
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.
Huntington, Samuel P., The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order;
Info World: Information Technology News, Computer Networking & Security;
Information Week: Business Innovation Powered by Technology:
Infostor: The Leading Source for Enterprise Storage Professionals;
Infrastructure Insite: Bringing IT Together;
Insurance Technology: Business Innovation Powered by Technology;
Integrated Solutions: For Enterprise Content Management;
Intel Premier IT: Sharing Best Practices with the Information Technology Community;
Irwin, Robert, Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and Its Discontents;
Jeffrey, Grant R., The Global-Warming Deception: How a Secret Elite Plans to Bankrupt America and Steal Your Freedom;
Jewkes, Yvonne, and Majid Yar, Handbook of Internet Crime;
Johnson, Chalmers, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire;
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Judd, Denis, The Lion and the Tiger: The Rise and Fall of the British Raj, 1600-1947;
Kagan, Donald, The Peloponnesian War;
Kansas, Dave, The Wall Street Journal Guide to the End of Wall Street as We Know It: What You Need to Know About the Greatest Financial Crisis of Our Time--and How to Survive It;
Karsh, Efraim, Islamic Imperialism: A History;
Kasser, Rodolphe, The Gospel of Judas;
Katz, Solomon, The Decline of Rome and the Rise of Medieval Europe: (The Development of Western Civilization);
Keegan, John, Intelligence in War: The Value--and Limitations--of What the Military Can Learn About the Enemy;
Kenis, Leo, et. al., The Transformation of the Christian Churches in Western Europe 1945-2000 (Kadoc Studies on Religion, Culture and Society 6);
Kepel, Gilles, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam;
Kiplinger's: Personal Finance;
Klein, Naomi, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism;
KM World: Content, Document, and Knowledge Management;
Koestler, Arthur, Darkness at Noon: A Novel;
Kostova, Elizabeth, The Historian;
Kuttner, Robert, The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity;
Lake, Kirsopp, The Text of the New Testament, Sony Reader;
Laur, Timothy M., Encyclopedia of Modern US Military Weapons ;
Leffler, Melvyn P., and Jeffrey W. Legro, To Lead the World: American Strategy After the Bush Doctrine;
Lendon, J. E., Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity;
Lenin, V. I., Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism;
Lennon, John J., There is Absolutely No Reason to Pay Too Much for College!;
Lewis, Bernard, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror;
Lewis, Bernard, What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East;
Lifton, Robert J., Greg Mitchell, Hiroshima in America;
Limberis, Vasiliki M., Architects of Piety: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Cult of the Martyrs;
Lipsett, B. Diane, Desiring Conversion: Hermas, Thecla, Aseneth;
Livingston, Jessica, Founders At Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days;
Livy, Rome and the Mediterranean: Books XXXI-XLV of the History of Rome from its Foundation (Penguin Classics);
Louis J., Freeh, My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton, and Fighting the War on Terror;
Mackay, Christopher S., Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History;
Majno, Guido, The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World;
Marcus, Greil,Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes;
Marshall-Cornwall, James, Napoleon as Military Commander;
Maughm, W. Somerset, Of Human Bondage;
McCluskey, Neal P., Feds in the Classroom: How Big Government Corrupts, Cripples, and Compromises American Education;
McCullough, David, 1776;
McCullough, David, John Adams;
McCullough, David, Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt;
McLynn, Frank, Marcus Aurelius: A Life;
McManus, John, Deadly Brotherhood, The: The American Combat Soldier in World War II ;
McMaster, H. R., Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam;
McNamara, Patrick, Science and the World's Religions Volume 1: Origins and Destinies (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution);
McNamara, Patrick, Science and the World's Religions Volume 2: Persons and Groups (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution);
McNamara, Patrick, Science and the World's Religions Volume 3: Religions and Controversies (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution);
Meacham, Jon, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House;
Mearsheimer, John J., and Stephen M. Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy;
Meier, Christian, Caesar: A Biography;
Menzies, Gaven, 1421: The Year China Discovered America;
Perrett, Bryan, Cassell Military Classics: Iron Fist: Classic Armoured Warfare;
Perrottet, Tony, The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Olympic Games;
Peters, Ralph, New Glory: Expanding America's Global Supremacy;
Phillips, Kevin, American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush;
Pick, Bernhard; Paralipomena; Remains of Gospels and Sayings of Christ (Sony Reader);
Pimlott, John, The Elite: The Special Forces of the World Volume 1;
Pitre, Brant, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper;
Plutarch's Lives, X: Agis and Cleomenes. Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. Philopoemen and Flamininus (Loeb Classical Library®);
Podhoretz, Norman, World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism;
Posner, Gerald, Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK;
Potter, Wendell, Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans;
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Price, Monroe E. & Daniel Dayan, eds., Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the New China;
Profit: The Executive's Guide to Oracle Applications;
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Putnam, Robert D., Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Community;
Quintus of Smyrna, The Fall of Troy;
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Redmond Channel Partner: Driving Success in the Microsoft Partner Community;
Redmond Magazine: The Independent Voice of the Microsoft IT Community;
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Roberts, Ian, The Energy Glut: Climate Change and the Politics of Fatness in an Overheating World;
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SC Magazine: For IT Security Professionals;
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Scholastic Instructor
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Starr, John Bryan, Understanding China: A Guide to China's Economy, History, and Political Culture;
Stauffer, John, Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln;
Steyn, Mark, America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It;
Strassler, Robert B., The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories;
Strassler, Robert B., The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War;
Strassler, Robert B., The Landmark Xenophon's Hellenika;
Strategy + Business;
Streete, Gail, Redeemed Bodies: Women Martyrs in Early Christianity;
Sullivan, James, The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved the Soul of America;
Sumner, Graham, Roman Military Clothing (1) 100 BC-AD 200;
Sumner, Graham, Roman Military Clothing (2) AD 200-400;
Suskind, Ron, The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11:
Swanston, Malcolm, Mapping History Battles and Campaigns;
Swiderski, Richard M., Quicksilver: A History of the Use, Lore, and Effects of Mercury;
Swiderski, Richard M., Quicksilver: A History of the Use, Lore, and Effects of Mercury;
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels;
Syme, Ronald, The Roman Revolution;
Talley, Colin L., A History of Multiple Sclerosis;
Tawil, Camille, Brothers In Arms: The Story of al-Qa'ida and the Arab Jihadists;
Tech Briefs: Engineering Solutions for Design & Manufacturing;
Tech Net: The Microsoft Journal for IT Professionals;
Tech Partner: Gain a Competitive Edge Through Solutions Providers;
Technology & Learning: Ideas and Tools for Ed Tech Leaders;
Tenet, George, At the Center of the Storm: The CIA During America's Time of Crisis;
Thackeray, W. M., Vanity Fair;
Thompson, Derrick & William Martin, Have Guitars ... Will Travel: A Journey Through the Beat Music Scene in Northampton 1957-66;
Tolstoy, Leo, Anna Karenina;
Trento, Joseph J., The Secret History of the CIA;
Twain, Mark, The Gilded Age: a Tale of Today;
Ungar, Craig, House of Bush House of Saud;
Unterberger, Richie, The Unreleased Beatles Music & Film;
VAR Business: Strategic Insight for Technology Integrators:
Virgil, The Aeneid
Virtualization Review: Powering the New IT Generation;
Visual Studio: Enterprise Solutions for .Net Development;
VON Magazine: Voice, Video & Vision;
Wall Street Technology: Business Innovation Powered by Technology;
Wallace, Robert, Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda;
Wang, Wallace, Steal This Computer Book 4.0: What They Won’t Tell You About the Internet;
Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization;
Warren, Robert Penn, All the King's Men;
Wasik, John F., Cul-de-Sac Syndrome: Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream;
Weber, Karl, Editor, Lincoln: A President for the Ages;
Website Magazine: The Magazine for Website Success;
Weiner, Tim, Enemies: A History of the FBI;
Weiner, Tim, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA;
West, Bing, The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq;
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence;
Wilcox, Peter, Rome's Enemies (1) Germanics and Dacians;
Wise, Terence, Armies of the Carthaginian Wars 265 - 146 BC;
Wissner-Gross, What Colleges Don't Tell You (And Other Parents Don't Want You To Know) 272 Secrets For Getting Your Kid Into the Top Schools;
Wissner-Gross, What High Schools Don't Tell You;
Wolf, Naomi, Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries;
Wolf, Naomi, The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot;
Woodward, Bob, Plan of Attack;
Woodward, Bob, The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House;
Wright, Lawrence, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11;
Wright-Porto, Heather, Beginning Google Blogger;
Xenophon, The Anabasis of Cyrus;
Yergin, Daniel, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, & Power;
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A tax on toilet paper; I kid you not. According to the sponsor, "the Water Protection and Reinvestment Act will be financed broadly by small fees on such things as . . . products disposed of in waste water." Congress wants to tax what you do in the privacy of your bathroom.
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