World, National and State News 12.12.07

WORLD
M. Zuhdi Jasser was interviewed by Kathryn Jean Lopez over at NRO. This interview is posted in three sections at NRO. Here is the first one, A Muslim American, the second one, Dr. J CAIRs, A jihad against jihad, and the third one is yet to be released. This is fine article, and I recommend you read it.

The Vets for Freedom debated in England last night. Unfortunately, I just opened the email. There is an article, however, letting our elected officials know of the importance of funding our troops before they leave for another one of their vacations.

American troops are winning.
By Pete Hegseth
December 11, 2007

However, the more things change in Iraq, the more they stay the same on Capitol Hill. For the past month, with a few off-handed exceptions, Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill has largely refused to acknowledge success. They are stuck in the talking points of June, and stuck on a narrative of failure.

Despite the incredible progress made by our military — which has opened the door for real and sustainable political progress in Iraq — the Democratic leadership continues to insist that we de-fund the war and bring the troops home no matter what. Beholden to entrenched and noisy anti-war interest groups, the Democrat leadership in Washington seems willing to cut-off much needed funding, placing our brave troops in harms way. [Read the whole editorial.]

This editorial isn't hard hitting, just factual. Maybe that's why it isn't getting the play that it should...

I don't know about you, but this next article concerns deeply:

Saudis give big to U.S. colleges.
"There's a possibility these campuses aren't getting gifts, they're getting investments," said Clifford May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. "Departments on Middle Eastern studies tend to be dominated by professors tuned to the concerns of Arab and Muslim rulers. It's very difficult for scholars who don't follow this line to get jobs and tenure on college campuses.

"The relationship between these departments and the money that pours in is hard to establish, but like campaign finance reform, sometimes money is a bribe. Sometimes it's a tip."

The $40 million gift from the Saudi donor, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, was the latest in a tradition that started in the 1970s — Muslim donors pumping millions of dollars into American universities to fund Islamic studies, hire faculty specialists in Islam and fund books and seminars on the world's second-largest religion. [Continue reading.]

What the hay?! Thanks for the tip, M. Zuhdi Jasser, MD.

For this next op-ed, here are words of one of the authors: "My sincere hope is that this op-ed will help serve as a sort of "political reconciliation" in our own country. It is time to put aside petty partisan differences, and rally behind the need for success in Iraq and in the Long War." I couldn't have said it better.

Getting Beyond Stalemate to Win a War.
By John Batiste and Pete Hegseth.
Saturday, December 8, 2007; Page A17

Congress has been entangled in a war-funding debate that pits war "supporters" against antiwar "defeatists." With all sides seemingly entrenched, a stalemate looms. The Pentagon, meanwhile, will soon begin stripping money from its training budget to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Our military men and women deserve better than partisan politics; they deserve honest assessments of our nation's performance in fighting the Long War. [Read the whole article.]

It is about time, too. Thank you, Vets for Freedom.

M. Zuhdi Jasser has written another article in The Middle East Quarterly about the Flying Imams. He exposes them in a way only another Muslim could.

Exposing the "Flying Imams".
Creating intermediaries in order to claim false mandate remains the root of the imams' strategy. Organizations such as the National American Imams Federation and the Assembly of American Muslim Jurists exist to impose hierarchy and, from that self-appointed hierarchy, to establish the mandate to speak on behalf of the entire Muslim community. The Islamic Society of North America, an un-indicted coconspirator in the United States of America vs. Holy Land Foundation et al. terrorism financing trial,[28] formed a Leadership Development Center to train and indoctrinate imams.[29] On March 7, 2007, it announced a leadership certifying program for imams in conjunction with the National American Imams Federation.[30] [Continue reading.]

No World News would be complete without an article from Michael Yon.

Infrastructure to MRAPs.
Al Qaeda, in particular, however, has made a point of destroying as much critical physical and human infrastructure as possible. Despite spending enormous energy trying to win their war in Iraq, it seems safe to say that al Qaeda has lost or will lose in Iraq. Yet even on the ropes, al Qaeda is still dangerous. They still blow up bridges and attack power stations. But so many groups have turned on al Qaeda that they are having a difficult time just breathing. They are still present and dangerous, but even Ansar al Sunhah has turned against them. When a group as crazy as Ansar al Sunnah turns against al Qaeda, AQ must be evil.

Even criminal gangs—like local mafias—who feed off the chaos al Qaeda drags around like a fetid shadow, are now feeding information about them to American forces. [Continue reading.]

This is a powerful read. Michael has been to Iraq and Afghanistan without the aide of any big press. He does it all by our contributions, so you may want to think of slipping him a small (or large) donation when you're there if you enjoy his writing. Thank you. :)

NATIONAL

I believe this great group of bloggers belong in this category, because they certainly do their best to shed the light on one of the most incidious organizations operating in this county, the ACLU. Stop the ACLU has done extensive work, and they willingly share it with us so that we are able to alert our readers as well. Check out these latest posts:

ACLU
Disappointed: FISA Court Denies Access to Wiretap Records.
Writing for the court, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates refused. Releasing the documents would reveal closely guarded secrets that enemies could used to evade detection or disrupt intelligence activities, he said. Sources could be outed, targets could be tipped off and diplomatic relations could be damaged.

“All these possible harms are real and significant and, quite frankly, beyond debate,” Bates wrote. [Read the whole article]

This one is hysterical. It also has a reaction from the ACLU. Now for the next article:

ACLU Claims Religious Test 'Proposed as a Necessary Qualification' for President.
If you can’t win your issue by the strength of your argument… then lie. Apparently that is the tactic of the ACLU if a recent “ACLU’s Diary” entry on the DailyKos by T. Jeremy Gunn is any indication. With all the talk of religion surrounding the various candidates for the GOP nomination for president lately it has obviously been driving our ACLU Director of Freedom of Religion and Belief out of his gourd. (Though, one is excused for thinking that his title is a bit misleading for it should probably be a Freedom from Religion and Belief, but be that as it may…) Gunn goes off half cocked over the supposed forced imposition of religion on the campaign for president. [Read the entire article.]

This is scary. They are supposed some big time constitutional lawyers? They should read the constitution again. THERE IS NO RELIGIOUS TEST. Yikes!

The National Center for Public Policy Research has sent out a press release to make us aware of an injustices and intimidation happening in Ohio by the NAACP's local chapter. Here is an exerpt:

Black Activists Renew Condemnation of Local Ohio NAACP Chapter for Interference in School Play.
Washington, D.C. - Members of the Project 21 black leadership network have renewed criticism of the Butler County (Ohio) chapter of the NAACP and its executive director over the group's new call for federal intervention into a local school district. The NAACP is protesting a student presentation of the Agatha Christie play "And Then There Were None."

Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie says the local NAACP chapter chairman, Gary Hines, deceived him when Hines told Massie that he is not trying to intimidate Lakota administrators or its school board. Hines repeatedly insisted to Massie that he was not attempting to have the play canceled. Massie considers Hines' request for federal intervention a contradiction of this assertion. [Read the entire press release.]

Sounds rather uncouth to me, as if anyone cares. OMG! You may believe this next article, but how did we get here?

Democrats Vote Yes to Ramadan, But No To Christmas.
War on Christmas? Bah!

From the office of GOP Rep. Steve King:

Congressman Steve King reacted this morning to the nine “NO” votes on his resolution to honor Christmas and the Christian faith. The vote shocked Capitol Hill observers because votes on similar resolutions honoring the holidays of Islam and Hinduism passed without any NO votes. [Please read the entire article.] There is also a video. Unbelievable.

LOCAL.
Boy, is this one a doosey:

California Budget Deficit Reaches $14 Billion, Growing.
Friends:

Six weeks after the legislature passed, and the Governor signed a "balanced budget"—in September, 2007, the deficit ballooned to $6.1 billion.

Then a month ago, the Finance Department announced the deficit was $10 billion.

All along, the California Political News and Views believed the two year budget deficit would be $20 billion.

Last night the Department of Finance announced that the deficit is now $14 billion...and could grow. We still have six and a half more months before the end of the fiscal year. We still believe the deficit will reach $20 billion. [Read the entire article.]

This is serious, because the state of California's economic well-being or recession effects the entire United States. If you want to know what it is like to live under total democrat control, look no further than California. I have an inclination to run for office, just to save our state! We'll see...

What irony. I just looked at my email and found this: California Piglet Book for California! You can go to that link and read all the hard work Citizens Against Government Waste and The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation have put into collecting this data. Wow.

Posts I've trackbacked to at Linkfest: Dumb Ox Daily News, Big Dog's Weblog, The Bullwinkle Blog, Adam's Blog, and Leaning Straight Up, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Also, I've trackbacked to these sites: ACLU Disappointed: FISA Court Denies Access to Wiretap Records, ACLU Claims Religious Test ‘Proposed as a Necessary Qualification’ for President, Scrooges on the Hill: Saying no to Christmas resolution and Democrats Vote Yes to Ramadan, But No To Christmas.

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