Good source for formulas for skin care:
http://www.snowdriftfarm.com/form_basic.html
How To Make Infusions
How to Make an Oil Infusion
Making an oil infusion is a very simple process, but you must use a good quality oil.
I like to use olive oil and jojoba oil. It is advisable to know where your herbs
came from...of course, homegrown is always best. I think of it in terms of making a tea with oil, instead of water.
Take 2 cups of dried herb and place in a crockpot. Cover with vegetable oil.
With crockpot set on low, allow to infuse for 2 hours. You might also try the window sill method, wherein you decant the oil of choice over the herbs in a glass bottle or jar and allow to set in a sunny window sill for about one week. Once infused, strain oil through a fine filter. I use a wire mesh strainer lined with unbleached coffee filters or muslin. It is best to work with dried herb as then you do not have to worry about the potential
of bacteria forming as you do with fresh greens. Fresh greens contain water, and as we all know, water is the basis of life -- including bacteria's life.
Herbal Water Infusions
Here are a few infusions you might consider trying when you have the proper herbs at hand.
An infusion is similar to a tea. Pour boiling water over an herb/s and allow it to steep. This will extract the active ingredients. Keep your infusions covered while steeping to keep the loss (through evaporation)
of important elements to a minimum.
Mint Cleanser
a wonderful skin stimulant!
2 tspns fractionated coconut oil
1 tspn mint infusion
1/4 tspn apple cider vinegar
Mix the oil with the mint infusion and vinegar. Shake.
Leaves skin soft and refreshed. Great during hot, humid weather.
Lemon Balm Infusion This mild infusion is good for oily skin. Rinse skin 3x daily.
Fennel Cleansing Lotion Good for all skin types.
1 tspn fennel infusion (1 c. boiling water to 1 tbspn crushed fennel seed)
1 tspn honey
2 tbspns buttermilk
Mix together and smooth lotion over skin to cleanse.
Rub gently. Wipe off with cotton ball soaked in fennel
infusion only (no honey/buttermilk). Pat dry.
March 3, 2006 Anti-Terrorism News
(Iraq) Gunmen kills dozens of Iraqi Shiites
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1583765.htm
Dozens of suspected Sunni insurgents have attacked a small town near
Baghdad, killing at least 25 people. Police have recovered the bodies of
21 mainly Shiite Muslim migrant workers.
Gunmen kill 18 workers east of Baghdad
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/03/03/iraq.main/index.html
Iraqi capital under daytime vehicular curfew
U.S. Intel: Qaeda Plotting 'Big Bang'
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/02/iraq/main1364828.shtml
U.S. officials tell CBS News that intelligence has picked up reports
that al Qaeda in Iraq is planning "Big Bang," spectacular attack against
either single high-profile target or multiple targets simultaneously
(Jordan) Prison riots show al-Qaida sympathy
http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060302/NEWS/60302027/1001
Libya Frees All Jailed Muslim Brotherhood Members
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=78643&d=3&m=3&y=2006&pix=world.jpg&category=World
(Israel) Terrorist Kassam Rockets Smashes into Strategic Installation
http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=99600
Suicide car bomb attack in Afghanistan, Canadian casualties feared
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/March/subcontinent_March131.xml§ion=subcontinent
(Spain) Massacre suspects could stay in custody for two years
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=81&story_id=28083&name=Massacre+suspects+could+stay+in+custody+for+two+years
Hamas leaders visit Moscow
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2068123,00.html
Hamas: No Intention to Recognize Israel
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/RUSSIA_HAMAS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=INTERNATIONAL
Iran: New Explosion in Ahwaz
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.271507371&par=0
Iran Can Build Nuclear Bomb Within 5 Years — Russian Think Tank
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/03/03/iranrally.shtml
How a 9/11 conspirator gave himself away
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/02/moussaoui.school/index.html
Flight managers explain the many red flags raised by Moussaoui
Anatomy of Attack on Pakistan's U.S. Consulate
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1680848
Blast so powerful that it blew 3-ton armored U.S. car 40 feet into air
and into Hotel parking lot, and caused six-foot crater in cement
Commentary (UAE Ports Issue): Ports and pitchforks
http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060302-092216-5892r.htm
Bill Clinton gave advice to UAE officials on ports
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-port4648092mar03,0,6420466.story?coll=ny-top-headlines
Ex-president told ports firm to submit to a review, referred execs to
PR company that backs Sen. Clinton.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\03\03\story_3-3-2006_pg721
Friday, March 03, 2006
Lahore on high alert
* Security arrangements made for US Consulate, British Council, Iranian
Consulate, other buildings and installations
* Lahore's entry, exit points sealed, police checking people entering
city
* Law enforcement personnel start arresting religious activists after
12:00am on Friday
By Shahnawaz Khan
LAHORE: Law enforcement personnel have declared Lahore on high alert
after
Thursday's suicide bomb attack in Karachi and the opposition's strike
call
after Friday prayers against the publishing of caricatures of Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH) by Danish newspapers.
Special arrangements have been made for security within and surrounding
the
US Consulate, British Council, Iranian Consulate and other buildings
and
installations in coordination with security officials already present
at the
buildings.
The city's entry and exit points including railway stations have been
sealed
and officials concerned are checking people entering Lahore in groups.
Lahore's law enforcement personnel will start arresting religious
activists
(who may create trouble in Lahore) after 12:00am on Friday.
Punjab Law Minister Basharat Raja said on Thursday that nobody had been
arrested so far in connection with the strike call. "Nobody will be
allowed
to violate the law and disturb the peace. Security forces will punish
all
violators," he added.
Separately, Lahore Police has set up its security control room in the
Capital Police Chief's (CPC) office. The CPC also called a meeting on
Thursday to look through the police plan for security in the city on
Friday.
Nayab Haider, Lahore Police spokesman, told Daily Times that
authorities had
deployed more than 9,000 policemen across the city to keep a check on
violence. Similarly, more than 3,000 Rangers personnel had also been
deployed to support the police, he added.
Authorities had doubled security at all foreign high commissions,
consulates
and installations in Lahore, he said, adding that senior police
officials
were in contact with foreign representatives in this regard.
He said authorities had called in more than 200 special Punjab
Constabulary
commandos trained in riot management to keep the strike in control.
The spokesman said authorities in Lahore had arranged for rubber
bullets,
batons, safety shields and teargas canisters along with gasmasks from
the
Multan and Faisalabad divisions and Punjab Constabulary. He said all
policemen had been ordered to punish people indulging in violence,
especially on The Mall and other important locations.
Similarly, many plainclothesmen and policemen with video cameras would
also
be deployed to monitor law and order, he added.
Special instructions have also been issued to all shopping malls,
restaurants, hotels and recreational areas to arrange for special
security
arrangements besides police presence. The administrations of the
above-mentioned buildings have started searching people and cars being
parked on the premises.
Special lists of religious as well as political activists have been
given to
officials concerned. The Bomb Disposal Squad, Civil Defence, Rescue
1122 and
Fire Brigade officials' leave has been cancelled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How sad that this is happening all over the world.
Note the video camera, can we do nothing that is not on film today?
Pray that our President stays safe today.
Long but must read...
Total war: Inside the new Al-Qaeda
Last week’s desecration of a Shi’ite shrine moved Iraq towards civil war. Abdel Bari Atwan, who has had unique access to Osama Bin Laden, explains why Al-Qaeda wants to divide Islam.
Osama Bin Laden, who had been sitting cross-legged on a carpet, placed his Kalashnikov rifle on the ground and got up. He came towards me with a warm smile that turned into barely repressed laughter as he took in the way I was dressed.
I had been kitted out in baggy trousers, a long shirt and a turban for my clandestine journey to his hideout in southern Afghanistan. The turban in particular made me feel self-conscious, as I had never worn such a thing in my life.
I spent three days with Bin Laden in Tora Bora, the only western-based journalist to spend such a significant amount of time with him, before or since. I talked at length to him, slept next to him in his cave and shared his modest food.
Listening to him during that visit 10 years ago I realised he was no ordinary figure, but it didn’t occur to me for one moment that this polite, soft-spoken, smiling and apparently gentle person would become the world’s most dangerous man, terrorising western capitals, inflicting hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of damage on the United States, threatening its economic stability and embroiling it in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
As I had been eating so badly since coming to Afghanistan I was looking forward to our first meal. I’d imagined we would feast on roast deer or goat. When I saw what was available at the Eagle’s Nest, as his base was called, I thought chicken was perhaps a more likely dish.
It was still a great surprise to discover that dinner on the first night consisted of Arab-style potato chips soaking in cottonseed oil; a plate of fried eggs; salty cheese of a variety long extinct even in the villages of upper Egypt; and a bread bun that must have been kneaded with sand, as my teeth screeched and ground whenever I chewed it.
After a few bites I pretended that I did not usually eat dinner for health reasons.
Another meal featured Bin Laden’s favourite, bread with yogurt and rice, served with potatoes cooked in tomato sauce. Animal fat floated on the surface, and I could hardly force it down my throat. Afterwards I was sick under a pine tree outside the cave. I was puzzled by Bin Laden’s chosen path. What motivates this man, from a well-known and honourable family in possession of billions, to lead such a comfortless life in these inhospitable and dangerous mountains, awaiting attack, capture or death at any moment, hunted by so many regimes?
We spoke about his wealth, and while he avoided saying exactly how much he was worth he acknowledged he still managed an extensive investment portfolio through a complex network of secret contacts. But this wealth, he said, was for the umma (the global Islamic community).
“It is the duty of the umma as a whole to commit its wealth to the struggle,” he said. “The umma is connected like an electric current.” (Surprising imagery for a man who would wish to take us back 1,500 years.) I discovered that, in contrast with the primitive accommodation, the base was well equipped with computers and up-to-the-minute communications equipment. Bin Laden had access to the internet, which was not then ubiquitous as it is now, and said: “These days the world is becoming like a small village.”
This modernity was quite at odds with the austerity recommended by the more extreme forms of Islamic fundamentalism and in particular that of his hosts, the Taliban. One of his aides laughed and said the base was “a republic within a republic”.
The next day Bin Laden took me on a guided tour, sporting the Kalashnikov so dear to him. (He told me it had belonged to a Soviet general killed in one of the Afghan jihad battles.) We walked through the trees and he explained that he loved mountains. “I would rather die than live in a European state,” he declared.
He told me about past Al-Qaeda attacks on the Americans — including the 1993 ambush on American troops in Mogadishu, which he said had been wrongly blamed on the Somali warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid.
More attacks were in the planning stages, he said, and he emphasised that these “operations” took a long time to prepare. He hinted at a strike at the Americans on their home territory, but I confess I did not register the enormity of what he implied when he came out with an unforgettable statement: “We hope to reach ignition point in the not-too-distant future.”
Bin Laden also explained his long-term anti-American strategy. He told me he knew he would never be able to defeat America on its own soil using conventional weapons. He had another plan, one that would take years to reach fruition.
“We want to bring the Americans to fight us on Muslim land,” he said as we walked through the woods in the high mountains at Tora Bora. “If we can fight them on our own territory we will beat them, because the battle will be on our terms in a land they neither know nor understand.”
We are witnessing part of that plan now, in the battlefields of Iraq, which has become a breeding ground for the most ruthless and militant Al-Qaeda fighters we have seen. In the process we are discovering the new face of Al-Qaeda, as a movement involved in bloody sectarian strife against fellow Muslims.
Paradoxically, the strike on American home territory in September 2001 was a setback to Bin Laden’s long-term plan. Al-Qaeda lost support among more moderate Muslims, who sympathised with the victims. It lost its safe haven and training camps in Afghanistan. And, crucially, there was dissent within the movement itself.
Some inner-circle Al-Qaeda members left as a result of what they considered to be a catastrophic decision, according to Abu Qatada, a radical cleric believed to be Al-Qaeda’s spiritual leader in Europe. (He is currently fighting a deportation order in Britain.) They predicted the US would respond with unparalleled ferocity.
Abu Qatada told me that the September 11 attacks were also opposed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who in 2001 was still a relatively obscure Jordanian associate of Al-Qaeda. Zarqawi was soon to shoot into the limelight as the central figure in this story. For, two years on, the arrival of 150,000 US troops in Iraq in March 2003 created exactly the turning point in Al-Qaeda’s history that Bin Laden had dreamt of.
Iraq is in many ways a better base for Al-Qaeda than Afghanistan. It provides an Arabic-speaking environment and culture. Geographically it is the heart of the region. In Islamic terms it is as important as Saudi Arabia and Palestine.
Furthermore, Al-Qaeda’s supporters in Iraq are the minority Sunni Arabs who have been marginalised by the aftermath of the occupation, isolated from the state institutions in a rather humiliating manner, and are eager for revenge and the resumption of power.
With chilling beheadings, Zarqawi rapidly emerged as the most ferocious insurgent chieftain — though he only became the official leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq after a long wrangle with Bin Laden over attacks on the Shi’ite majority.
Militarily, Al-Qaeda has since been increasingly hardline and ruthless in Iraq, demonstrating indifference to “collateral damage”. Zarqawi has long been waging an anti-Shi’ite campaign with the express intention of fomenting the sectarian strife we are now witnessing.
Last Wednesday’s bombing of the Shi’ite golden mosque at Samarra was in all probability the work of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The Shi’ite majority have most to gain from maintaining stability, but by bombing their most sacred shrine Zarqawi has finally unleashed the threat of civil war. Previous attacks had failed to provoke the retaliatory Shi’ite violence that has claimed more than 130 — mostly Sunni — lives since the mosque attack.
Zarqawi’s rationale is threefold.
First, civil war will prevent the Sunni minority from joining the current political process. He has denounced democracy as heretical on the grounds that it makes man obedient to man instead of Allah.
Second, civil war will unseat the “heretic” Shi’ite leaders, render the country ungovernable and ensure the failure of the US project.
Third, Zarqawi is mindful of the huge reserves of Sunni military support in neighbouring countries — both on a national level and among the individual mujaheddin pouring into Iraq to aid their beleaguered brethren struggling against the Iran-backed Shi’ite militias.
Civil war in Iraq could rapidly spread through the region. Many Sunni leaders are already unnerved by the growing influence of Iran in Iraqi internal affairs, and sectarian tensions have been brewing in several countries including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
Zarqawi’s language towards the Shi’ites is vitriolic. In a letter to Bin Laden dated June 15 2004 he describes them as “the lurking serpent”, claiming that “they can inflict more damage on the umma than the Americans”.
He elaborates: “These are people who have added to their heresy and atheism with political cunning and a burning zeal to seize upon the crisis of governance and the balance of power in the state . . . whose new lines they are trying to establish through their political organisations in collaboration with their secret allies, the Americans . . . they have been a sect of treachery and betrayal through all history and all ages.”
Initially Bin Laden was opposed to attacks on Shi’ites and urged Zarqawi to avoid civilian deaths. Zarqawi baldly states in his letter that if Bin Laden will not endorse an anti-Shi’ite campaign, he will not join Al-Qaeda.
Bin Laden apparently changed his mind. Any doubts he might have had about the legitimacy of targeting Shi’ite Muslims or the collateral deaths of Iraqi citizens have since been swept away in the relentless flood of bloody attacks unleashed by his latest ally.
How did Zarqawi become such a powerful and pivotal figure? He is a former street thug from a ghetto in the Jordanian city of Zarqa, 15 miles northeast of Amman. He was nicknamed “the Green Man” because of his tattoos. His real name is Ahmad Fadil al-Khalayilah — “Zarqawi” simply means “the one from Zarqa”.
The turnaround in his character seems to have happened towards the end of the 1980s, when he developed an interest in radical Islam — perhaps through contact with Palestinian refugees living near his home — and set off for the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan.
There he fell under the spell of a Palestinian religious scholar known as Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi. Back in Jordan following the Afghan wars, both men were jailed after Jordanian police found them in possession of weapons.
Zarqawi became a prison Islamist leader, meting out violent punishments to anyone who dared disobey him. He gathered a following of hundreds of the most hardened criminals in Jordan.
Many sources testify to Zarqawi’s physical and mental resilience. He lost all his toenails under torture and endured 8½ months of solitary confinement.
Released under an amnesty in 1999, he resurfaced in Afghanistan, where he led his own movement, separate from Al-Qaeda. He fled with his men in late 2001 to avoid the American reprisals for September 11.
To understand what happened next, and to see how this obscure figure has emerged to such prominence, we have to look at the strange world of pre-invasion Iraq.
In enclaves in the Kurdish north, close to the Turkish and Iranian borders and beyond Saddam Hussein’s jurisdiction, several Sunni organisations opposed to Saddam’s secular regime had set up base. Jordanian contacts in one of these, Ansar al-Islam (Supporters of Islam), smoothed the way for Zarqawi to establish his own camp.
Ansar al-Islam is an important footnote to the invasion of Iraq. Much has been made of a possible connection between it and Al-Qaeda in the course of US intelligence efforts to link Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden.
I met its leader, Mullah Krekar, in Oslo last year and he vigorously denied Al-Qaeda had helped it in any way. He said he had personally asked Bin Laden for financial help and had been turned down. (It must be added that many sources dispute this was their last meeting.)
Like Zarqawi, many Arabs fleeing American retaliation in Afghanistan after 9/11 found refuge with Ansar al-Islam. But then came an unexpected development. According to Dr Muhammad al-Masari, a Saudi specialist on Al-Qaeda’s ideology, Saddam established contact with the “Afghan Arabs” as early as 2001, believing he would be targeted by the US once the Taliban was routed.
In this version, disputed by other commentators, Saddam funded Al-Qaeda operatives to move into Iraq with the proviso that they would not undermine his regime. Sources close to the Ba’ath regime have told me that Saddam also used to send messengers to buy small plots of land from farmers in Sunni areas. In the middle of the night soldiers would bury arms and money caches for later use by the resistance.
According to Masari, Saddam saw that Islam would be key to a cohesive resistance in the event of invasion. Iraqi army commanders were ordered to become practising Muslims and to adopt the language and spirit of the jihadis.
On arrival in Iraq, Al-Qaeda operatives were put in touch with these commanders, who later facilitated the distribution of arms and money from Saddam’s caches.
Most commentators agree that Al-Qaeda was present in Iraq before the US invasion. The question is for how long and to what extent. What is known is that Zarqawi took a direct role in Al-Qaeda’s infiltration. In March 2003 — it is not clear whether this was before or after the invasion began — he met Al-Qaeda’s military strategist, an Egyptian called Muhammad Ibrahim Makkawi, and agreed to assist Al-Qaeda operatives entering Iraq.
Makkawi is a shadowy figure. Little is known about him except that he used to be a war strategies expert in the Egyptian army. His greater strategy for Al-Qaeda, revealed on a jihadist website, is to “expand the (Iraqi) conflict throughout the region and engage the US in a long war of attrition . . . create a jihad Triangle of Horror starting in Aghanistan, running through Iran and southern Iraq then via southern Turkey and south Lebanon to Syria”.
With his new role as Al-Qaeda facilitator Zarqawi rapidly gained importance. Newly arrived Arab recruits were dependent on him for contacts and local knowledge, and — as the anti-American insurgency developed after the invasion — he provided the intelligence for co-ordinated attacks that were instantly more effective than random independent operations. As a result he effectively became the emir of the foreign jihadis in Iraq.
I believe that his aim was to drag the Shi’ites into a civil war. His choice of provocative targets bears this out: he was almost certainly behind the massacre of 185 Shi’ite pilgrims who were killed in Karbala and Baghdad in March 2004.
Zarqawi was in negotiations with the Al-Qaeda leadership for nearly a year before they finally announced an alliance and created “Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers” (Iraq) in 2004. Already established as a formidable leader, he waited to negotiate from a position of strength over his insistence on an anti-Shi’ite campaign.
Perhaps he would have preferred to usurp Bin Laden as leader of Al-Qaeda, but he had the strategic sense to realise this was not going to be possible and therefore decided to submit. He needed Bin Laden’s blessing and the Al-Qaeda name to bring him thousands of new recruits from all over the world (not just from Arab countries).
Al-Qaeda needed him, too. At the time of the new alliance its fortunes were lagging. The attacks on Afghanistan and increased security measures the world over had seen its numbers dwindle; its 2003 attacks in Saudi Arabia had hit its popularity in the kingdom.
A new presence in Iraq, especially with such a high-profile, magnetic (if terrifying) leader as Zarqawi, promised a new lease on life. The Al-Qaeda leadership was not to be disappointed.
Zarqawi’s agenda was to prove even more radical than that of the Al-Qaeda leadership; in May 2005, firmly under the Al-Qaeda banner, Zarqawi declared that “collateral killing” of Muslims was justified under “overriding necessity”. He brought a new level of psychological terror to operations with his ferocious reputation.
In July last year his old spiritual mentor, Maqdisi — still in jail in Jordan — questioned Zarqawi’s attacks on civilians, especially women and children, and his targeting of Shi’ites. Zarqawi responded with an internet posting asserting that “al-Maqdisi is being lured into the path of Satan”.
What of the future? Bin Laden remains unchallenged as Al-Qaeda’s spiritual leader, but his fugitive status has created a vacancy for an overall military commander. This will almost certainly be filled by Zarqawi: a recent communiqué from Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers referred to him as the “most likely emir of the organisation in the Middle East and North Africa”.
Here I would like to introduce just one more name. When I first walked alone into Bin Laden’s dimly lit cave 10 years ago, a man was there to meet me; I was astonished to recognise him as a red-bearded Syrian writer I knew quite well from London, Omar Abdel Hakim, also known as Abu Musab al-Suri, a specialist on jihad and Islam.
We spoke for a few moments and I learnt that he had left Spain, where he had both citizenship and a wife, to join Al-Qaeda. Later he was to join the Taliban, and became its leader Mullah Omar’s media adviser. “Come,” he said, leading the way into another cave. “The sheikh is waiting for you.”
I heard from him again in 1998 when he gave me a detailed account by telephone of an angry confrontation between Mullah Omar and a Saudi delegation, which asked the Taliban leader to cede Bin Laden to the United States because he was a terrorist.
The visitors, led by Prince Turki of Saudi intelligence, flew to Kandahar in a private jet. They were heatedly ordered to leave by Omar, who was enraged by their request that a Muslim government would seek to deliver a fellow Muslim to an “infidel state”.
Suri was one of the key figures who, like Zarqawi, opposed the 9/ll attacks. They have since become close collaborators. The Syrian is said to be an Al-Qaeda recruiter.
Zarqawi has maintained connections in Europe for many years, and these are nurtured by Suri, who is believed to control several Al-Qaeda groups in the West. Both men are suspected of involvement in the attacks on Madrid and London claimed by “Al-Qaeda in Europe”.
The new generation of Al-Qaeda leaders is in place – with Zarqawi and the Suri among them – and the organisation has become even more hardline as a result. The new ruthlessness about relentless violence directed at a wide range of targets in Iraq is clearly designed to shock and terrorise their enemies. But Iraq has now become a platform from which to launch international operations.
Al-Qaeda is not only attempting to destabilise the western world, but the whole of the stagnated Middle East.
© Abdel Bari Atwan 2006 Extracted from The Secret History of Al-Qa’ida by Abdel Bari Atwan published by Saqi Books at £16.99. (www.alsaqibookshop.com).
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=15900
May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire. ~Irish Blessing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RECIPES: Learn to make Spotted Dog for St. Pat's Day!
http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/irishrecipes.html
I had not read about the green arm bands before, is this the school that the graduating class muslims wore the green for the Palestine jihadi's?
granny
~~~~~~
Dear Editor,
Although I was unable to get into the February 28th University of
California, Irvine (UCI) event to watch the unveiling of the Danish
cartoons and the panel discussion on terrorism (I was told by security
that the hall was filled to capacity), I did have an opportunity to
closely observe the mob of protestors demonstrating against the
event. Amongst those chanting "Allah Aqubar" and holding signs
such as "Mohammed Protector of Women" and "Young Republicans =
the new KKK", were a noticeable number of people wearing green
arm bands nearly identical to those worn by Hamas suicide bombers
in the Middle East. Apparently this is not the first time these
armbands have been worn by students on the UCI campus. To learn
that there are people right here in my own backyard who openly
display support for a terrorist organization like Hamas was a real
wake up call.
I'd gone to the event in defense of my right to free speech, and my
right to see the Danish cartoonists' message without fear of violence
or intimidation. What I came away with was the realization that my
right to free speech and my right to life were under a much more
immediate threat.
Debi Ghate
Manager, Academic Programs
Ayn Rand Institute
Copyright © 2006 Ayn Rand® Institute. All rights reserved.
Op-eds, press releases and letters to the editor produced by the Ayn Rand Institute are submitted to hundreds of newspapers,
radio stations and Web sites across the United States and abroad, and are made possible thanks to voluntary contributions.
http://www.aynrand.org
This essay will surprise you, explains the nazi/commie tie, maybe, as Marx was a german, several other surprises.
granny...
My Hero! Your
Hero! Our Hero! Whose Hero?
Usually, heroes are well and clearly identified with certain countries;
heroes broadly defined so to say. So if I throw the name of Mark Spitz
you
will think USA, if I mention the name of Winston Churchill, you will
think
the UK, if I throw in the name Charles de Gaulle, you will think
France,
Mahatma Gandhi, you will think India and generally you will be right.
Unfortunately, some heroes get pulled and pushed around, long after
they are
pushing up daisies. Let us take a look at some of the rather
interesting and
amusing incidents.
The first time I came across such a situation was when I read Don
Camillo by
Giovanni Guareschi, wonderful writer, absolutely brilliant book. I very
strongly recommend this book; it's about the perpetual war between Don
Camillo, a catholic village priest in the Po River Valley in Italy, and
the
communist mayor, Peppone. For those who want to compare, think of him
as an
Italian PG Wodehouse. Anyway, I am digressing from the point. In one of
the
stories, there is a fight between Don Camillo's and another village
about a
local hero, and Don Camillo wins the fight because he finds a hidden
treasure trove of 16th century birth's and death's register, notes that
show
the hero was born in his village, and victoriously brings the statue of
the
hero home from the other village.
And then today I was reminded of it again, when I read that Afghanistan
vociferously complained to Pakistan that all of Afghanistan's old
heroes,
like Mahmud Ghaznawi, Ahmad Shah Abdali and Shahabuddin Ghauri, were
used to
name various Pakistani missiles. As it so happens, the reason for
Pakistan
to name their missiles after these great men, was because these chaps
were
rampaging marauders, who butchered, raped, robbed and pillaged across
India,
and Pakistan wanted to send a message to India (very subliminal
message,
NOT). Be that as it may, Afghanistan's Information Minister Sayed
Makhdum
Rahin has sent a letter to the Pakistani Government complaining that
these
chaps were actually Afghan Heroes, and they (ahem! And I quote), "Their
names should be bracketed with academic, cultural and peace-promoting
institutions, not with tools of destruction and killing and...had
spread
knowledge and civilisation from Afghanistan to the subcontinent of
India." I
think the Indians may disagree, but that's not the point.
I can just imagine the shock and consternation when this letter landed
on
some Pakistani minister's desk. Here we are, symbols of national
identity,
named after some deep seated atavistic desire for military might and
rampaging, and you take that away? How COULD they? Mind you, Pakistan
doesn't treat its own home-grown heroes properly. Think about another
hero,
a real bona-fide Pakistani hero, Professor Abdus Salam, winner of the
1979
Nobel Prize in Physics, was hounded because someone declared him a
Kafir
(non-muslim) and the poor chap had to leave. Well, given the huge
number of
Nobel Prize winners in Pakistan, you could easily lose one or two
without
missing much. Apparently, he was invited back to Pakistan to give a
lecture
after winning the Nobel Prize, but he didn't following violent threats
by a
religious party. So home grown heroes are chased away, and then you go
about
borrowing some from neighbouring countries who, in turn, moan about
misuse
of their heroes.
It is almost like the example of Moses. One of the most famous
law-givers in
world history, but do Egyptians think of him as a home grown hero?
Nope, he
is Israel's son. Israel gives lots of examples of this sort nearer to
our
time. Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, former Minister of Defence and Israel
Labour
Party chairman - was born in Iraq; David Levy, former Minister of
Foreign
Affairs - came from Morocco; Silvan Shalom, Minister of Foreign Affairs
-
was born in Tunisia;; Mordechai Eliyahu, former Sephardic Chief rabbi
of
Israel - came from Iraq; Shlomo Ben-Ami, academic and former Foreign
Affairs
Minister of Israel - originated from Morocco; Shaul Mofaz, Israeli
Minister
of Defence was born in Iran and Moshe Katsav, current President of the
State
of Israel also came from Iran What do you think of these heroes being
considered as heroes in their country of birth? I think Iranian
President
Ahmadinejad will have an apoplectic fit.
Take a peek at India, celebrating and even borrowing some national
heroes
from outside, not that there is any paucity of any home-grown and bred
Indian hero's. Not by a long shot! Any time any chap has any Indian
blood in
him, he is definitely taken on board and chests are thumped. Forget the
Indian born / origin Nobel prize winners, think of the latest heroine,
Dr.
Kalpana Chawla, the lady astronaut who died in the Challenger space
shuttle
crash. While born in India, she became a naturalised American citizen,
but
hey, there was a feeling of pride back in India for her to be an
authentic
Indian heroine.
Here's another example, one which you all know and will recognise.
Albert
Einstein, the famous physicist. He originally had German nationality,
and
then he took up Swiss nationality. He gave up his nationality because
he did
not want to be drafted into the German Army (at 17, if you were German,
you
would be forcibly drafted into the German Army and he was a committed
and
declared pacifist). Then after reconsidering and getting caught up into
the
Weimar Republic's dreams and promises, he took up German citizenship
again.
Then again came the time that the Brown shirts were being heavy handed
and
Jews started to get targeted. So he again gave up German nationality,
renounced it and took up American nationality (while, all the time,
keeping
the Swiss nationality), and the rest is history. The amusing bit is,
all
three countries - Germans, Swiss and Americans consider him to be one
of
theirs. He is ranked 10th of the 100 greatest Germans of all time
according
to a recent survey while we all know how well the Americans think of
dear
old Albert.
Another German, Karl Marx, also falls roughly in this area. Karl Marx,
was
rated to be the 4th greatest German of them all in the above mentioned
survey (ZDF November 2003). While saying that, no prizes for guessing
who
else thought Karl Marx was the bees' knees? An entire ideologically
based
swathe of nations (the communist bloc) took him and his ideas as their
founding hero. Never you mind, that he was actually born in London, UK
-
just to complicate matters. So if the same logic is applied as Albert
Einstein, then the Brits should also have claimed Karl Marx as one of
their
own. Which, as it turns out, it happened with someone else (just to
confuse
you some more). Max Born, a German born physicist, was awarded the
Nobel
Physics prize in 1954 for "his fundamental research in quantum
mechanics,
especially for his statistical interpretation of the wave function..for
the
coincidence method and his discoveries made therewith". The Germans
claim
him from his birth-place, but since he took up British citizenship
after
escaping the Nazi Jewish hunt, he ranks amongst the British heroes.
A worse state was in reserve for Paul Epstein, a brilliant
mathematician and
scientist with too many national identities and no nest to call his
own.
Born in Russia, studied in Germany. He couldn't take up a job in post
war
Poland (the Russian district where he was born went into Poland) as he
had a
German education. He could not teach or work in Germany, as he was
considered Polish by virtue of his birth. Russia refused to consider
him and
anyway, it was too dangerous for him to work there. He could not get a
job
in Switzerland, and since French, Belgian and English scientists had no
contact with Germany, they couldn't sponsor him. He got fired from his
German university as he was a Jew and finally, the tragedy was that the
Gestapo was after him, and not wanting to throw himself to their tender
mercies, committed suicide. Here's an unsung hero, I guess.
Let us take the final example, and this is the funniest, most amusing
of the
lot. This is to do with an entire country. There is a country called as
"the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or (FYROM)". It came into being
after
Yugoslavia imploded and individual states started to emerge. When I
hear
Macedonia, I think of Alexander the Great, his illustrious father,
Philip of
Macedon, but to cut a long story short, this little statelet, called
itself
as Republic of Macedonia. The Greeks immediately went up in flames,
claiming
that the Republic of Macedonia was an upstart, Macedonia as a land area
is
much bigger than that small statelet, the flag which the republic chose
was
a Greek national symbol (showing the emblem of Philip's dynasty), and
the
language in the constitution was expansionary and can provoke
separatism in
neighbouring countries. Then the United Nations stepped in with a
typical
compromise. They called the Republic of Macedonia as FYROM. Very
confusing
issue and it has effectively frozen the debate. With FYROM being
considered
for EU membership, the issue is still rumbling on. Greece refuses to
allow
FYROM to join the EU under any name which has Macedonia in it, while
FYROM
refuses to abandon the name Macedonia. I bet that left you scratching
your
head, it made my hair hurt after I recovered from the stomach ache left
after laughing my head off.
I shouldn't end this essay without looking at it from the other
perspective.
People who call themselves heroes and when somebody else reads about
this
classification, they choke on their tea. Take a look at this quote from
every body's favourite dictator, Idi Amin of Uganda who proudly
claimed, "I
am the hero of Africa". Even the Ugandans would gibber at the very
thought
of Idi Amin being the hero of Uganda, let alone all of Africa. A couple
of
additional self proclaimed African hero's are Muammar Abu Minyar
al-Qaddafi
of Libya and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Both love to thump their pigeon
chests, both have run their countries to ground, both love to be
thought of
as heroes and both are considered to be utter dastards by the world.
Another
one is Mulayam Singh Yadav of India, who calls himself a hero, but has
turned out to be your garden variety of corrupt politician
unceremoniously
turfed out of his government accommodation and his seat of power. How
the
mighty have fallen indeed.
My editor reminded of the quote by Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), British
philosopher who said, "Hero worship is strongest where there is least
regard
for human freedom." On the other hand, we need heroes when we are
growing
up, they may have feet of clay but they show us the heights which we
all can
reach; they define mankind's self actualisation heights. Then again,
some
are so great, that nations fight over them. It is indeed an amazing and
amusing situation, to see people fight over their heroes.
All this to be taken with a grain of salt!
Also available at
http://piquancy.blogspot.com/2006/03/my-hero-your-hero-our-hero-whose-hero.html
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5983_1640992,004300140003.htm
http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2006/tr20060303-12601.html
This is an interesting news interview with General Casey,
who is in Iraq.
It is today's report.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1589780/posts
Shia-Sunni tensions are growing in the U.S.
Winston-Salem Journal ^ | March 3 2006 | Omar Sacirbey
Posted on 03/03/2006 10:18:54 PM MST by jmc1969
When Fatima Pashaei, a Shiite Muslim of Iranian descent, and Atif
Qarni, a Sunni Muslim whose parents emigrated to the U.S. from
Pakistan, married six years ago, it was a joyous event.
"Our parents were just happy we were marrying Muslims. Everything
else is sort of secondary," said Pashaei, 24, still married to Qarni and
living in Manassas, Va., with their 3-year-old son.
Divisions have widened worldwide since the golden dome of the
Al-Askariya Mosque in Samarra, Iraq, was blown up Feb. 22. Two
descendants of Islam's Prophet Muhammad are buried there, making
it one of Shiite (also called Shia) Islam's holiest shrines.
"For a lot of people, this is one of the most tragic events in the history
of the Shia," said Mohamed Sabur, co-director of the year-old Qunoot
Foundation, a Shiite advocacy group in Washington. "Things were bad
under Saddam, but you never would have seen him do this."
Although the Muslim-on-Muslim killing has yet to reach the United
States, many Shiites say they believe that the hatred already has,
even before the recent violence in Iraq.
When Shiites marched in New York on Feb. 5, they were met by
protesters claiming to be from a group based in Brooklyn calling itself
the Islamic Thinkers Society, which denounced the ritual and passed
out fliers condemning Shiites as heretics.
The animosity has created a climate of intimidation in which many
Shiites are now uncomfortable praying in Sunni mosques, even in the
U.S., said Kazimi, 23.
Although Shiite history has translated into an ethos of bearing
suffering with patience, the patience of many Shiites in the United
States and abroad is running out.
(Excerpt) Read more at journalnow.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1589671/posts?page=18
MNF investigates reports on Al-Zarqawi's arrest
nearby Fallujah
KUNA ^ | March 3 2006
Posted on 03/03/2006 5:50:38 PM MST by jmc1969
The Multi-National Force (MNF) on Friday announced it is investigating
reports on Abu Mosab Al-Zarqawi's arrest nearby Fallujah.
An MNF officer did not confirm or deny the arrest, noting that the US
forces are still investigating the reports.
Meanwhile, an MNF major said the force, based upon intelligence
reports, executed Monday a number of arrest operations 45
kilometers northeast of Fallujah to capture key Al-Qaeda officials,
Al-Zarqawi's assistants, and others involved in providing logistic
support for foreign fighters and suicide attackers in Fallujah and
Ramadi.
The major added that 61 people were arrested in the operation, which
was announced before, among them were major Al-Qaeda leaders in
Iraq, while quantities of weapons and ammunitions were seized and
destroyed in the operation.
Meanwhile, sources in the Iraqi Army said that Al-Zarqawi could be
among those arrested in the operation on Monday.
(Excerpt) Read more at kuna.net.kw ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1589712/posts
Police plan attempted murder charges in UNC
hit-and-run case (Update on Islamic terror at UNC)
Myrtle Beach Online via Associated Press ^ | Fri, Mar. 03, 2006 | EMERY P.
DALESIO
Posted on 03/03/2006 7:00:40 PM MST by indcons
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - A recent University of North Carolina graduate
faces attempted murder charges after a sport utility vehicle raced
through a popular campus gathering spot Friday, hurting nine people
and scattering startled bystanders.
Six people - five students and a visiting scholar - were treated at UNC
Hospitals, though a hospital spokesman said none was seriously
injured. Five were released Friday and the sixth wasn't expected to be
admitted to the hospital, the university said in a statement. Three
other people declined treatment at the scene, police said.
Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, 22, who graduated in December as a
psychology and philosophy major, was being held Friday by campus
police. They intend to charge him with nine counts of attempted
murder and nine counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to
kill, said Capt. George Hare of the UNC Department of Public Safety.
The FBI joined the case because Taheri-azar, a native of Iran,
"allegedly made statements that he acted to avenge the American
treatment of Muslims. The ongoing investigation will work to confirm
this," said Special Agent Richard Kolko, an FBI spokesman in
Washington.
Taheri-azar called police to surrender and then awaited officers on a
side street about two miles away from campus, Chapel Hill police
Capt. Brian Curran said.
"He kind of gave himself up," said Officer Herbert Bryant of the
university's Department of Public Safety.
A bomb squad from the State Bureau of Investigation spent about 4
1/2 hours at Taheri-azar's apartment in nearby Carrboro at the
request of police before declaring the building safe. Taheri-azar
"encouraged the checking of his apartment" with comments made
after he was arrested, Carrboro police spokesman Capt. Joel Booker
said.
"He said it almost in a baiting type of way," Booker said.
Local authorities declined to say what they found in Taheri-azar's
apartment or to discuss a motive. Investigators continued to search
the apartment Friday night for other evidence, Booker said.
"As far as delving into his motives and things like that, we're in the
process of developing that in our investigation," Hare said.
The incident happened just before noon near the center of campus at
the area known as The Pit, a sunken, brick-paved area surrounded by
two libraries, a dining hall and the student union. It does not have any
easy access points for vehicles and can't be reached without
deliberation.
"I see everyone kind of part because there's a car coming through and
the next thing I know, I'm on his windshield," sophomore Jeff
Hoffman, his arm in a bandage, told the campus newspaper, The Daily
Tar Heel.
Student Nicholas Altman was talking on his cell phone when he heard
someone scream.
"I turned around and there was a white SUV. It looked like it hit a
couple of people. One person in particular went over the hood," he
told WRAL-TV.
On a sunny, cool day like Friday, the Pit is a busy center of campus
activities, with students perched along the walkways and steps.
Friday's noontime crowd included a gathering of candidates for Black
Student Movement elections.
"He slowly came in, and I thought he was going to stop or something,"
sophomore Scott Wilson, a candidate for BSM vice president, told The
Daily Tar Heel. "But then he sped right through."
The incident came a week after a UNC dormitory resident adviser was
killed when he and another student crashed through a dorm window,
falling four stories onto the concrete below. The second student
remains hospitalized in fair condition.
[there are links in the comments to more info.granny]
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htterr/articles/20051209.aspx
The Traveling Terrorist Training Camp System
December 9, 2005: Despite the loss of training camps in Afghanistan in
late 2001, al Qaeda still manages to run a training program. While it
has long (before 2001) used the Internet to distribute training
manuals, there is still a need for hands- on training. This is
especially true for explosives, and bomb making. By 2002, some of the
training courses had been re-established in remote areas of
Afghanistan, and just across the border in Pakistan.
There were also terrorist training camps in Pakistani Kashmir (for
preparing men to operate across the border in Indian Kashmir), but al
Qaeda was, as much as possible, kept out of these camps. That's
because, while the Pakistani government was willing to fight al Qaeda,
it could not go after the Islamic terrorists fighting in Indian
Kashmir, and being trained in Pakistani Kashmir. So al Qaeda was, more
or less, kept out of the camps used by the Kashmir bound Islamic
terrorists.
But up in the mountain villages along the Afghan border, individual al
Qaeda bomb and operations experts held quick, and clandestine, courses
for Afghans, Pakistanis, as well as men from Arabia and Southeast
Asia. Although their were some losses, when Pakistani police, or CIA
operatives, caught a class in progress (and inflicted casualties), the
system has worked. The "traveling terrorist training camp" idea has
spread to Southeast Asia as well. It has not, apparently, shown up in
Europe or North American yet, largely because of the need for a really
remote area for the testing of student bombs. The West is also a
difficult for Islamic terrorists to move about unnoticed.
The hunt for the traveling terror instructors continues, although many
of the faculty captures are not publicized for one reason (they are
sometimes snatched in countries that would otherwise leave them alone)
or another (it's important to keep the trainers disappearance secret
so that you can more easily chase down other terrorists.) The
traveling training system does not educate nearly as many terrorists
as did the system of fixed camps in Afghanistan before 2002. But many
future attacks will be traced back to skills acquired on the run after
2001.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/12/21/013.html
Wednesday, December 21, 2005. Page 3.
Group: Russians Dug Iranian Tunnels
By Thomas Wagner
The Associated Press
LONDON -- An Iranian exile group claimed Tuesday that Tehran has
secretly
built a network of tunnels and underground facilities with the help of
two
Russian scientists in an effort to conceal parts of its atomic and
missile
programs.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran said the facilities
concealed
nuclear equipment, research workshops, and nuclear and missile
command-and-control centers. It said the information was based on
sources
within the Iranian establishment, but did not identify them.
"The Iranian Resistance has now received information about 14 locations
where these tunnels and underground facilities have been built near
Tehran,
Isfahan, Qom and some other cities," said Hossein Abedini, a member of
the
group's foreign affairs committee.
Speaking to reporters in a conference room in Parliament, Abedini said
Iran
had used front companies and technology imported from other countries
for
the tunnel construction project.
He also claimed the Iranian Tunneling Association -- which he said was
founded in 1998 by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's current president --
"has
played a vital role to cover up the regime's nuclear- and
missile-related
tunnel construction project."
He said two Russian scientists, whom he identified as "Andrei Kridiko"
and
"Lakht," had "cooperated with the Iranian regime in building these
secure
facilities." He did not provide any other information about the
scientists.
Russia is helping Iran build a nuclear reactor in Bushehr, a project
that
Tehran says is intended strictly for electricity generation. The United
States, however, accuses Tehran of using the project as part of an
effort to
build atomic weapons.
Officials in Moscow made no immediate comment about the claim. Russia
has
denied previous allegations that its citizens were involved in
developing a
nuclear program in Iran.
Copyright
2005 The Moscow Times. All rights reserved.
Granny is laughing, she can't find the N.C. muslim links, but is finding other good things hiding in the old emails.....
Select Homeland Security accomplishments for 2005
Under new leadership, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
introduced a
comprehensive, risk-based agenda in 2005 to change the department's
practices, operations, and organizational structure. Many changes
under
this review have been implemented, including the creation of a
department-wide policy office, a strengthened role in the intelligence
community, the ability to conduct joint operations across the
department,
and a renewed focus on planning and preparedness. The following are
select
accomplishments over past the year:
Secretary Chertoff made it a top priority to strengthen border
security,
interior enforcement and reform the immigration process. DHS has
improved
existing border operations, established international partnerships, and
developed new approaches to control our borders.
* Secure Border Initiative Drastically Reduces Detention Times. Under
this comprehensive strategy for controlling the border and enforcing
immigration laws, Secretary Chertoff expanded Expedited Removal
throughout
the border as well as the number of countries whose nationals qualify,
which
cut their detention time in half; initiated a "Catch and Return"
policy;
authorized the completion of a fence near San Diego that languished in
litigation for a decade; expanded the use of military-proven
technologies
like the UAV, Stryker and sensors; and increased the frequency of
deportation flights. This strategy is further supported by the
President's
budget, which includes funding for 1,000 additional U.S. Border Patrol
agents and 2,000 new detention beds.
* Arizona Border Control Initiative Bolsters Resources in Tucson
Corridor. The second phase of this successful initiative included an
additional 534 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents
permanently
assigned to the Arizona border, a 25 percent increase. These agents
were
supplemented by 200 agents and 23 aircraft temporarily assigned to the
Tucson sector. The initiative coupled with Operation ICE Storm, a human
smuggling initiative, has resulted in more than 350 smugglers
prosecuted in
total, millions in illicit profits seized and a significant decrease in
homicides according to local authorities.
* Security and Prosperity Partnership Creates Common Security
Approach. The United States, Canada and Mexico entered into this
trilateral
partnership to establish common approaches to emergency response,
improving
aviation, maritime, and border security, enhancing intelligence
sharing, and
facilitating the legitimate flow of people and cargo at our shared
borders.
* Operation Community Shield Nets 1600 Gang Members. U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) introduced this unprecedented partnership
with
law enforcement at all levels around the country to combat dangerous
criminal gangs like MS-13. In less than a year, ICE agents have
arrested
more than 1,600 illegal immigrant gang members, who now face criminal
prosecutions or are in removal proceedings.
* Immigration Backlog Cut by 2.8 million. U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services refined processes and automated their services to
reduce the backlog of applications for immigration services and
benefits
from 3.8 million cases in January 2004 to approximately one million in
October 2005.
The Department of Homeland Security is committed to secure trade and
travel.
DHS is aggressively working with foreign partners to achieve our common
security goals while finding new ways to facilitate the flow of
legitimate
international commerce and travel.
* US-VISIT to Complete Deployment of Biometric Entry System. By the
end of this year, US-VISIT will have fully implemented the biometric
entry
portion of the US-VISIT system at 115 airports, 14 seaports and 154
land
ports of entry. US-VISIT has processed more than 44 million foreign
visitors
and detected 950 individuals with a criminal history or immigration
violations.
* Passport Requirements Strengthened. As part of a multi-layered
approach to increasing the security of our citizens and visitors by
helping
to ensure the integrity of their travel documents, DHS imposed
requirements
establishing that all Visa Waiver Program travelers must have a
machine-readable passport to enter the United States. Visa Waiver
Program
countries are now also required to produce new passports with digital
photographs as of Oct. 26, 2005.
* Global Customs Security Standards Adopted. CBP led the World
Customs Organization to unanimously adopt a framework of standards to
secure
and facilitate global trade. CBP's Container Security Initiative
(CSI),
which identifies and screens high-risk maritime cargo containers before
they
are loaded on vessels to the U.S., is currently operational at 42
foreign
ports worldwide. Approximately 75 percent of cargo containers headed to
the
U.S. originates in or are shipped from CSI ports.
* TSA Revises Prohibited Items List. TSA revised the "Prohibited
Items" list so officers can spend more time checking for explosives and
conducting targeted screenings, adding unpredictability to the
screening
process at airports and enhancing aviation security. TSA also developed
several pilot programs to improve security at checkpoints at all modes
of
mass transportation. Following the bombings in London, TSA activated
rail
inspectors ahead of schedule in order to inspect 148 mass transit
operations
centers and facilities as well as police and emergency centers.
* Announced 10-Fingerscan Standard for Foreign Visitors. DHS
announced the strengthening of the US-VISIT program by requiring
10-fingerscan collection with continued use of verification during
later
entries, to ensure the highest levels of accuracy in identifying people
entering and exiting our country.
DHS has a unified strategic direction that establishes measurable
priorities, targets, and a common approach to developing needed
preparedness
and incident communication capabilities. DHS has provided resources,
training, and funding to support the job of those who stand on the
frontlines of community protection - our first responders.
* Largest Terrorist Attack Drill in History Preformed. DHS conducted
the third Top Officials (TOPOFF) exercise since the department was
established. The week-long exercise, which included international
participation from Canada and the United Kingdom, was the largest full
scale
terrorist simulated exercise in the nation's history. Collectively the
department, through its Office of State and Local Government
Coordination,
has conducted more than 400 exercises at the national, state, and local
level.
* $2 Billion Awarded to State and Local Governments. DHS awarded more
than $2 billion in grants to state and local governments to support
various
prevention, protection and response initiatives.
* Standard First Responder Training Developed. DHS established a
National Incident Management System (NIMS) standard curriculum to
ensure
first responder training is widely available and consistent among all
training providers. More than 725,000 first responders completed NIMS
training nationwide.
* Counterterrorism Training. DHS provided counterterrorism training to
more than 1.2 million emergency response personnel from across the
country
on a range of incident response issues, including incident management,
unified command, and public works protection/response, and training on
weapons of mass destruction.
* Secure Data Sharing Network Established. DHS deployed the first
phase of the Homeland Secure Data Network (HSDN) to 56 governmental
sites,
providing a unified system and program that enables the sharing and
protection of secret-level data between our federal partners.
* Sharing Intelligence Information. The Office of Intelligence and
Analysis provided state and local governments and the private sector
with
more than 1,260 intelligence information products on threat information
and
protective measures that can be taken to remain vigilant.
* Secret Service Operation Taps Network to Arrest 28 Globally. U.S.
Secret Service conducted "Operation Firewall," in which the Secret
Service
became the first agency ever to execute a Title III wire tap on an
entire
computer network. This global operation resulted in 28 arrests in
eight
states and six foreign countries. These suspects stole nearly 1.7
million
credit card numbers.
* Community and Individual Preparedness. The department's Ready
campaign, one the most successful campaigns in the Ad Council history,
topped $465 million in cumulative donated media support and more than
1.9
billion web site hits. The department's Citizen Corps program, which
promotes grassroots community preparedness, expanded its service to
more
than 69 percent of the total population to ensure that citizens are
prepared
and capable of handling disasters or threats of all kinds.
One of the greatest challenges for the department in 2005 was in
response to
the extensive devastation brought about by the most active storm
seasons on
record. Support came from every component of the department.
* 33,000 Rescued by U.S. Coast Guard. In the wake of Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, the Coast Guard saved over 33,000 lives in search and
rescue operations. Coast Guard men and women employed their Continuity
of
Operations Plans and demonstrated deep commitment to the missions of
search
and rescue, protection of natural resources, and providing a safe,
efficient
marine transportation system.
* 23,000 Victims Airlifted from New Orleans Airport. At Louis
Armstrong New Orleans International Airport more than 700
transportation
security officers and federal air marshals helped evacuate more than
23,000
victims.
* 273,000 Sheltered. Working through the American Red Cross, Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supported the nation's largest-ever
sheltering operation, with more than 273,000 evacuees cared for. In
addition, Red Cross and FEMA funded housing for 85,000 families in
emergency
hotel housing.
* 653,000 Families Receive Rental Assistance. FEMA has provided
rental assistance to more than 653,000 families who were displaced as a
result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. FEMA and federal partners have
removed more than 55 million cubic yards of debris in the Gulf States
region; approved $392 million in Community Disaster Loan Assistance and
$205
million in unemployment insurance; and provided roughly $5.2 billion in
direct assistance to victims of Katrina and Rita.
For more information on DHS, please visit http://www.dhs.gov.
This is one of the articles I was thinking of, Laura Mansfield.com will have the one she wrote on the sorority.
It is in N.C.
My computer is fighting me tonight.
granny
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/12/11/for_muslims_seeking_si
sterhood_fledgling_sorority_may_be_answer/
For Muslims seeking sisterhood, fledgling sorority may be answer
By Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times | December 11, 2005
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Tottering on stilettos, Amira Shalash, a freshman at
the
University of Kentucky, tossed back her long, tousled hair and tugged
at the
neckline of her sweater, which had slipped off her shoulder.
Giggling, her friends -- who wear hijabs, traditional Muslim head
scarves --
teased her that she was not dressed modestly enough.
The nine young women were gathered to learn about the nation's first
Islamic
sorority.
The motto of Gamma Gamma Chi: ''Striving for the pleasure of Allah
through
Sisterhood, Scholarship, Leadership, and Community Service."
The sorority, based in Greensboro, N.C., hopes to establish its first
campus
chapter at the University of Kentucky.
Continued at link.
Subject: RE: For Muslims seeking sisterhood, fledgling sorority may be answer
The Greensboro location for the HQ is not entirely coincidental...
Greensboro
http://taurus:8200/newswatch/news_details.asp?concept=SURVEIL&markup=1&line=9&page=1&maxdate=030701+192942&mindate=000000+000001&name=AP/ap_alerts_crime/2003/Jun/30/D7S0GGT81.txt
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/eheyman/Application%20Data/ORION/Magic/report.xml#IDAKQM2B-BACK
6/26/2002: jihad in north carolina
In Greensboro North Carolina, Muslim immigrants are trying to organize a boycott of "Jewish" products, lying about history, and praising jihad. The Arab News slaps one of their trademark anti-Semitic fantasy headlines on the story:
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=16406
"Tide turning against Zionist Jews."
[Dr. Kaukab Siddique, Ameer of Jamaat al-Muslimeen, gave the Juma' khutba at the Islamic Center of the Triad on June 21, 2002. He spoke to a masjid packed with immigrants from Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon. The Khutba was covered by a reporter from Greensboro's biggest newspaper.]
The main points of the Khutba were as follows: [The Qur'anic text for the Khutba: The Qur'an says about the Jews:
'And they took riba (interest on loans) though they were forbidden to do so, and they devoured the wealth of mankind wrongfully - We have prepared for those among them who are rejectors of truth, a grievous chastisement.'
The Ameer then issues the standard proclamations of Muslim tolerance. They don't force anyone to become Muslim, they respect all places of worship, Jews are welcome in Muslim countries.
2. All the wars are going on in MUSLIM lands. We are not trying to take anyone's land. We simply want to liberate lands which are ours: Kashmir, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Palestine are all our lands. We stand AGAINST OPPRESSION to liberate these lands and we have every right to do so.
3. In PALESTINE the source of the problem is that in 1948 the Jews TOOK OUR LAND by force. If we keep this fact in focus, it will become very clear that as long as Palestine is under occupation, the struggle to liberate it will continue.
But never mind this glorification of violence and distortion of history, because the Ameer makes it clear once again that Muslims are very tolerant.
4. We are not against the Jews as a collective. In fact throughout our history, we have given refuge and peace to the Jews. When the crusaders were killing the Jews, the Muslims provided security to the Jews. There has always been a small indigenous Jewish community in Palestine which has lived in peace with the Palestinians, Muslims and Christians.
"The Crusaders! They're the bad ones who killed Jews! Why, they were so evil we're still talking about them a thousand years later! We're not against the Jews!"
Time for a heaping spoonful of insanely exaggerated paranoia:
i. Remember that you cannot appease the Jews who run this country by being quiet and humble. They will pursue and persecute you whether you are hiding in a corner of the mosque or staying away from all activity and hiding in your home.
"Infidel! Why do you keep saying we are against the Jews?"
Then our tolerant, loving Muslim preacher lavishes praise on the Holy Land Foundation. Never mind that it was shut down by the US government for funneling money to terrorist organizations.
ii. Look at HOLY LAND FOUNDATION, BENEVOLENCE and GLOBAL (Muslim charities helping widows and orphans). These were pro-Bush, non-political people never disturbing the Jews in any way but they have been targeted and victimized.
So being non-political will not help. iii. Muhammad Mustafa (pbuh) was the most peaceful of men. None of us can be as kind, generous and sensitive to human suffering as he was. Yet the oppressors not only forced him to leave Makka but would not leave him alone even in Madina.
This kind, generous, sensitive man is also on the State Department's list of Identified
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/2001/6531.htm
Terrorists and Groups.
6. Pakistani women used to scare their children of cats. TODAY PAKISTANI WOMEN ARE SENDING THEIR CHILDREN TO JIHAD IN KASHMIR. Same with Palestinian women. Our Palestinian sisters have put males to shame with their tremendous sacrifices against the Jews. In America, our struggle is that of IDENTITY, SELF-RESPECT, COMMUNICATION and ORGANIZATION. In these areas, our communities are very weak. Unless immigrant women stop spoiling their children and start participating in community activity, the enemy will undermine us by luring away our families while we are in the mosque by ourselves.
Wake up, America. This is a call to jihad. Yes, it's couched in terms that give it some deniability if the infidels ask troublesome questions-but the Jewish conspiracy ranting leaves no doubt of the true intent. Those who glorify Palestinian suicide bombers and Pakistani jihadis are our enemies. If you live in or near Greensboro, I suggest you keep a very close eye on this place.
Islamic Center of the Triad 7 Terrace Way Greensboro, NC 27403 (336) 856-2870 ============================
Badi Ali is head of the Islamic Center of the Triad.
From: http... http://www.adl.org/terrorism_america/saying_111601.asp
"Justice and Peace for Afghanistan. Added 11/08/01. A new organization, based in Maryland and headed by Palestinian-born North Carolinian Badi Ali, has defined itself in opposition to Muslim-American organizations that have supported U.S. efforts against terrorism.
According to New Trend Magazine, Badi Ali has urged the officers of organizations such as CAIR and AMC to 'resign if they want to be considered Muslims.' Ali criticizes them for supporting an attack on an Islamic country." =======================
Shaikh Omar Abdel Rahman Continues to Suffer in Prison
Lexington Area Muslim Network lexington@leb.net
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Wed, 19 Apr 2000 11:16:38 -0400
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From: Dr. Kaukab Siddique --KSidd37398@aol.com
COMMITTEE TO FREE SHAIKH OMAR 'ABDEL RAHMAN ------------------------------------------- (Reformulated)
The spiritual leader of Egypt's primary Islamic movement, al-Gamaa' al-Islamiyya, is languishing in an isolation cell located in the USA's gulag in faraway Rochester, Minnesota. He is being held in solitary confinement and an attempt is being made to cut him off from relatives, attorneys, friends, the Muslim community, the Egyptian community and humanity at large.
His rights are being violated to such an extent that last year he was beaten up by a prison official while he was using the toilet.
While the Islamic world gives the highest respect to this man of God, the U.S. is denying him his basic rights as a human being. (At the end of 1999, New Trend magazine, America's most widely distributed Islamic publication carried out a survey of its readers to select the top five Muslim men of the 20th century. Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman was chosen among the top five by this highly educated and well-read audience.)
In view of the silence of the supposed 'leaders' and the complete neglect by the media, Jamaat al-Muslimeen International decided to reformulate the Committee to Free Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman. A basic framework has been laid down, building on the work done by the original Committee. We are now calling on the Muslim, Egyptian, Arab, African, Human Rights and Prison Reform communities to join the Committee to Free Shaikh Omar Abdel Rahman (SOAR), to give it national and international depth.
The basic originators of the new Committee are as follows:
1. Abdeen Jabara (legal advisor) (New York)
2. Ahmed 'Abdel Sattar (paralegal to Shaikh Omar) (Staten Island)
3. Nabil el-Masri (close legal associate of the Shaikh) (New Jersey)
4. Sis. Uzema Khan, Islamic activist (Glen Ellyn, Illinois)
5. Mustafa Ali, Islamic activist (San Antonio, Texas)
6. J. Hudlin, Jr., Africanist activist (Omaha, Nebraska)
7. Salahuddin Abdullah, Ameer Jamaat al-Muslimeen USA (Denver, Colorado)
8. Abu Talib, West Indian activist and media person (Brooklyn)
9. Shaikh Abdus Sattar al-Dahir, human rights activist for Iraqi children (Louisiana)
10. Imam Badi Ali, media person, Palestinian rights activist (North Carolina)
11. Imani Mahdi, Black political prisoners' activist (Washington, DC)
12. Athar Masood, youth organizer (Chicago)
Dr. Kaukab Siddique, activist for women's rights, is the convenor of the new Committee.
(Founder of the original Committee: Sis. Nadrat Siddique)
************************************************************ Clarification 1: Those who join the Committee to Free Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman need not be of any specific faith. Their concern should be justice, freedom and humanity.
Clarification 2. Even those who do not agree with the Shaikh's interpretation of Islam, or with various aspects of it, can join the Committee, if they do not support any oppressive government.
Clarification 3. No funds will be collected for the Shaikh or for his attorneys. Funds will be used to generate support for the human rights of the Shaikh and for his ultimate freedom through peaceful means.
Clarification 4. Those who want to join the Committee should apply to the Convenor. They will be recognized and identified as part of the Committee after their application has been accepted. Each member must pay at least $10 per month to be in good standing with the Committee.
Clarification 5. Members of the public can support the Committee through distribution of its literature and related literature and through donations without joining the Committee.
Clarifications 6. DONATIONS are badly needed but must be without ANY strings attached. The Committee will work through its internal discussions and not through any external pressures. ************************************************************
Donations and applications should be sent to:
Jamaat al-Muslimeen, P.O. Box 10881, Baltimore, MD 21234, USA--- Phone and fax: 410-638-5965--- email: ksidd37398 or Lsattar ************************************************************
Resources immediately available:
Shaikh Omar's pre-sentencing statement (in Arabic) (3 audio tapes $3 each)
The Story of Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman by A.B. Dawjee (South Africa) (audio tape $5)
International Focus on the Plight of Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman (South Africa) (radio 786 interview with Prof. Muhammad al-Masri and Dr. Kaukab Siddique) (audio tape $5)
The 'Abdel Rahman Report by Nadrat Siddique (newsletter) (who is Shaikh Omar? plus sequence of events leading to his sentencing) (a must read for those who want to join the Committee) ($2)
Recitation of the Qur'an by Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman (will move you to tears of resolution, from the heart) (various audio tapes, $3 each)
and much more to come.
Order from Jamaat al-Muslimeen, P.O. Box 10881, Baltimore, MD 21234, USA ====================
Friends say Sudanese no terrorist
http://www.sudan.net/news/news.html
Latest News From Sudan At Sudan.Net
News Article by TWSJ posted on September 22, 2002 at 15:21:47: EST (-5 GMT)
Friends say Sudanese no terrorist Pilot being held on immigration charges
By Michael Biesecker The Winston Salem Journal September 22, 2002
GREENSBORO -- Friends of a Sudanese pilot jailed on immigration charges while authorities investigate possible links to terrorism say they believe that he is innocent and that he is being unfairly targeted because he is Muslim and can fly an airplane.
Law-enforcement officials say they are trying to determine whether Mekki Hamed, 30, is an al-Qaida operative who planned to crash an airplane into an American target. The FBI arrested Hamed on Sept. 13 and charged him with making false statements while applying for a U.S. visa. He was being held at the Forsyth County Jail last night.
Members of the Islamic Center of the Triad said yesterday that Hamed, a former pilot for the Sudanese national airline, drove a cab in Greensboro for about two years. He was taking college classes and working to bring his wife to this country, they said.
'He is just a cabdriver,' said Badi Ali, the president of the Islamic center. 'He came here for no other reason than to find a better life.'
Hamed, who usually attended Friday services at the mosque, was described as modest and likable. Ali said that Hamed's father is a high-school principal in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.
'He is a soft-hearted, hard-working man with a good reputation,' Ali said. 'Unfortunately, Muslims across the nation are having to deal with events like this. We are guilty until proven innocent.'
Men from the mosque met yesterday to discuss ways to help Hamed, who they said is not an especially devout Muslim and had shown no signs of being anti-American. Some collected money for a legal-defense fund and hired a lawyer for him. Hamed's friends say that he left Sudan, a poor African nation wrecked by years of civil war, with the hopes of earning a pilot's license here. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks quashed that dream, they said.
'He knew that as a Muslim he probably wouldn't be allowed to fly,' said Jamal Omer, a Sudanese immigrant who worked with Hamed at United Yellow Taxi. 'He was going to school for engineering. They got the wrong guy.'
There are about 2,000 Sudanese living in Greensboro, and Omer said that about two-thirds of the cabdrivers for Yellow Taxi are from Sudan - many of whom held professional positions back home. Degrees from oversees universities are often not recognized in the United States.
'There are doctors driving cabs here,' said Omer, who has a Sudanese law degree. 'We drive cabs because you can set your own schedule and go back to school.'
Friends say that Hamed took classes at Guilford Technical Community College before enrolling at N.C. A&T State University in spring. Hamed was living in an inexpensive apartment off West Market Street with three other Sudanese cabbies. No one answered the door at the apartment yesterday.
Omer said that the arrest had sent shock waves through the Sudanese community and that Hamed's roommates are living in fear that they might be deported. Since Hamed was arrested, some wives have urged their husbands to shave their beards to better blend in.
A detention hearing for Hamed is scheduled for 2:30p.m. Monday at the Ward Federal Building in Winston-Salem. Though he has not been convicted of any crime, officials denied permission for him to be interviewed.
Omer A. Omer, a program manager for a group that helps African immigrants, said that many who hope to immigrate to the United States don't tell the full truth on visa applications.
'They know if they disclose everything they won't be allowed in,' said Omer A. Omer, who is not related to Jamal Omer. 'That doesn't make them terrorists.'
'We understand that these are sensitive times,' Omer A. Omer said. 'But if you knew (Hamed) you would know that he is not involved with those people (in al-Qaida). We believe this must be a horrible mistake, but if the evidence proves us to be wrong, we will be the first to condemn him.' ==============
Badi Ali, president of the Islamic Center of the Triad, said Hamed attended services, called juma, on Fridays at the mosque off High Point Road. Ali called him a 'well-disciplined, polite, modest, likable man with a sense of humor.' Hamed told Ali that his family is well-known in his hometown of Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. His father is principal of a high school and a noted scholar.
'(Hamed) came to this country for one reason and one reason only: to earn a better life,' said Ali. 'The media is sensationalizing these incidents with a green light from the administration.' =======================
Islamic Center Of Greensboro
336-851-1014 2101 Patterson St Greensboro NC 27407
Islamic Center Of The Triad 336-856-2870
7 Terrace Way Greensboro NC 27403 =============================
Here's some free advice for the folks at the 'Islamic Center of the Triad' in Greensboro, North Carolina: you can say 'we have nothing against the Jews' all you want, but you really undermine your argument when you say
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=3368
things like this: We are against the Jews because they have usurped Palestine and they take interest on loans and have built up the exploitative economic structure of economy (World Bank/IMF) built on interest-bearing loans....Remember that you cannot appease the Jews who run this country by being quiet and humble. They will pursue and persecute you whether you are hiding in a corner of the mosque or staying away from all activity and hiding in your home.
http://damianpenny.blogspot.com/2002_06_23_damianpenny_archive.html#78263286
==================================== Badi Ali is the president of the Islamic Center of the Triad and the newly formed "Justice and Peace for Afghanistan" in Greensboro. Ali, who is Palestinian, said a government anti-terrorism task force interviewed him on Sept. 18 because it suspected he had been in New York. He said he gave them proof he was not, though he declined to give details about the interview.
"It's rough being an Arab (and Muslim) now," said Ali. He said that his wife and his children have stayed in their homes since the attacks. "Bashing is so big during such a difficult time, and there is still the notion that we have no morality. One of my friends, his son does not want to go to school anymore, it is so bad.
"I have become the usual suspect . I have been here 20 years, and I promised to abide by the United States law. This country gave me more rights than any other country. They gave me the right to vote, the right to speak freely. I did not receive such treatment in another country."
============================= 'Tide turning against Zionist Jews' Dr. Kaukab Siddique
The immigrant community in North Carolina has taken a proactive role in devising a program to respond to the daily attacks on Islam which the media are carrying out.
The Islamic Center of the Triad in Greensboro is sympathetic to the plight of Muslim immigrants and wants non-Muslims to understand the plight of the Palestinian people who are constantly occupation and attack. Imam Badi Ali has built a good relationship with the local media and works around the clock to respond to news coming out of the middle east.
With his help, the local community has issued a BOYCOTT LIST of businesses which help Israel in its aggression.
[Dr. Kaukab Siddique, Ameer of Jamaat al-Muslimeen, gave the Juma' khutba at the Islamic Center of the Triad on June 21, 2002.
He spoke to a masjid packed with immigrants from Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon.
The Khutba was covered by a reporter from Greensboro's biggest newspaper.] [this is part one, from after 2001 it appears]
With his help, the local community has issued a BOYCOTT LIST of businesses which help Israel in its aggression.
[Dr. Kaukab Siddique, Ameer of Jamaat al-Muslimeen, gave the Juma' khutba at the Islamic Center of the Triad on June 21, 2002.
He spoke to a masjid packed with immigrants from Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon.
The Khutba was covered by a reporter from Greensboro's biggest newspaper.]
The main points of the Khutba were as follows:
[The Qur'anic text for the Khutba: The Qur'an says about the Jews:
'And they took riba (interest on loans) though they were forbidden to do so, and they devoured the wealth of mankind wrongfully - We have prepared for those among them who are rejectors of truth, a grievous chastisement.' (4:161)
1. We Muslims must communicate with the people among whom we live and work. The Jewish-Zionist propaganda campaign against us has largely failed, so we still have an opportunity to reach out and communicate. We must let Americans know that:
1a. Islam forbids compulsion in religion. We are not trying to force any Christian, Jew or Hindu anywhere to become a Muslim. We believe that only Allah makes Muslims and faith is entirely a spiritual, inner phenomenon. It cannot be forced.
1b. We respect all places of worship and are duty bound to defend not only mosques but also churches and synagogues.
1c. Muslims ruled India for hundreds of years but we are still a minority in India. In Egypt, Muslims have ruled for 1400 years but a Coptic Christian minority continues to flourish there. In both cases there is evidence that Muslims do not force people to become Muslims.
2. All the wars are going on in MUSLIM lands. We are not trying to take anyone's land. We simply want to liberate lands which are ours: Kashmir, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Palestine are all our lands. We stand AGAINST OPPRESSION to liberate these lands and we have every right to do so.
3. In PALESTINE the source of the problem is that in 1948 the Jews TOOK OUR LAND by force. If we keep this fact in focus, it will become very clear that as long as Palestine is under occupation, the struggle to liberate it will continue.
4. We are not against the Jews as a collective. In fact throughout our history, we have given refuge and peace to the Jews. When the crusaders were killing the Jews, the Muslims provided security to the Jews. There has always been a small indigenous Jewish community in Palestine which has lived in peace with the Palestinians, Muslims and Christians.
4a. We are against the Jews because they have usurped Palestine and they take interest on loans and have built up the exploitative economic structure of economy (World Bank/IMF) built on interest-bearing loans.
5. WHAT CAN IMMIGRANTS IN AMERICA DO?
i. Remember that you cannot appease the Jews who run this country by being quiet and humble. They will pursue and persecute you whether you are hiding in a corner of the mosque or staying away from all activity and hiding in your home.
ii. Look at HOLY LAND FOUNDATION, BENEVOLENCE and GLOBAL (Muslim charities helping widows and orphans). These were pro-Bush, non-political people never disturbing the Jews in any way but they have been targeted and victimized.
So being non-political will not help. iii. Muhammad Mustafa (pbuh) was the most peaceful of men. None of us can be as kind, generous and sensitive to human suffering as he was. Yet the oppressors not only forced him to leave Makka but would not leave him alone even in Madina.
5a. BATTLE OF THE MEDIA IS MOST IMPORTANT. Create your own media. Imam Badi Ali constantly issues bulletins, flyers, advice columns. That's your media.
Every mosque should have its media openly discussing issues. LEARN FROM THE BLACK COMMUNITY. The ADL and the New York Times tried to stop the Million Man March because it was led by Farrakhan but failed because the Black community has hundreds of its own little publications.
5b. BOYCOTT JEWISH PRODUCTS which fund Israel. Imam Badi Ali has issued a whole list of businesses supporting Israel. Take the list with you wherever you go. DO NOT FUND THE KILLING OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN WITH YOUR OWN MONEY. IMMIGRANTS ARE VERY WEAK IN WOMEN'S STRUGGLE.
6. Pakistani women used to scare their children of cats. TODAY PAKISTANI WOMEN ARE SENDING THEIR CHILDREN TO JIHAD IN KASHMIR. Same with Palestinian women. Our Palestinian sisters have put males to shame with their tremendous sacrifices against the Jews. In America, our struggle is that of IDENTITY, SELF-RESPECT, COMMUNICATION and ORGANIZATION. In these areas, our communities are very weak. Unless immigrant women stop spoiling their children and start participating in community activity, the enemy will undermine us by luring away our families while we are in the mosque by ourselves. ======================
Vol.66/No.38 October 14, 2002
North Carolina: FBI arrest sparks protest
BY STEVE WOLF
GREENSBORO, North Carolina--Mekki Hamed, a driver for the United Yellow Taxi Association here and a part-time student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, was arrested September 11 by FBI cops, who, according to the Associated Press, said they were 'trying to determine if he is an al Qaeda operative.' The arrest was not made public until September 19. Mekki, 30, was born in the Sudan, where he trained as a pilot.
At a federal hearing on the case in Winston-Salem, Mekki was charged only with falsifying U.S. visa applications. About 40 supporters attended the September 23 hearing. The federal magistrate refused to release him on bail.
'We know he is innocent. We know him very well. He's a young guy, very kind and very decent,' Jamal Omer told the press. Omer has worked as a taxi driver with Mekki for the past two years.
Co-workers, friends, and political activists organized 'Friends of Mekki' as soon as they found out about the arrest. According to Badi Ali, a member of the group and president of the Islamic Center of the Triad, where Mekki attends Friday services, 'We knew we had to act quickly.' The group has raised money for his defense.
'The situation is worse now,' Ali said in an interview. 'But we cannot let this intimidate us. We must defend our civil rights.'
In an attempt to smear Mekki, two U.S. government officials told AP, on condition of anonymity, that the federal government is investigating whether Mekki was plotting to use a plane as a weapon.
Omer explained that although Mekki had been a pilot in the Sudan, 'after September 11, he said it would be very unpopular for a Muslim to become a pilot here. He gave up on being a pilot.'
Abdul Hamed, a coworker at United Yellow Taxi, said, 'Mekki was mostly interested in his family, his wife. He made less than $100 a day driving a cab. The charge that he is al Qaeda is not true.'
Like many immigrants, Mekki was hoping to become a permanent U.S. resident by entering government-organized immigration lotteries. According to several co-workers, U.S. authorities charge that Mekki had entered the lottery several times, each time using a slightly different spelling of his name, to increase his chances of winning.
'Everybody has got some little detail wrong with immigration,' said another taxi driver who asked to remain anonymous, referring to the bureaucratic and confusing regulations of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. 'If they charged everybody like they are charging Mekki, there would be no immigrants here.'
Connie Allen, Socialist Workers candidate for U.S. Senate from North Carolina, denounced the harassment. 'Mekki should be released and all charges against him dropped,' she said. 'This is an attack aimed not just at Arab or Muslim workers in the U.S., but at intimidating any worker from opposing U.S. government actions here and around the world.'
Cynthia Brown for U.S. Senate P.O. Box 51995 * Durham, NC 27717 * (919) 403-7216
cb4ussenate@earthlink.net
www.cynthiabrownforsenate.org
http://www.cynthiabrownforsenate.org/
'Committed leadership with a vision to heal, unite, and serve so EVERYONE COUNTS!'
Contact: Badi Ali (336) 508-0012
MUSLIMS FOR BETTER NORTH CAROLINA ENDORSES CYNTHIA BROWN IN U.S. SENATE CAMPAIGN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 2, 2002 Greensboro, North Carolina
A major Triad Muslim organization, Muslims For Better North Carolina, today gave its endorsement to U.S. Senate candidate Cynthia Brown, running in the Democratic Party primary. Spokesman for the group, Badi Ali, called on the Muslim community to give Brown their full support.
"Cynthia Brown is the only candidate in this race to recognize the historic roots of injustice in Palestine and elsewhere in the Middle East that have fueled the fires of terrorism," said Ali. "She recognizes that waving a flag and dropping bombs will not end terrorism. Only the establishment of justice will do that."
Brown has openly criticized the Israeli invasions of Palestinian territory and called for a complete cut-off of U.S. aid and a boycott of Israeli products. In a speech last month before a large gathering of Arab Americans in Raleigh, Brown said, "Most Americans do not understand that millions of Palestinians--refugees from 1948 and their children and grandchildren--have been living, for the past 35 years, under a cruel and illegal occupation by the Israeli military. I would like to believe that if most Americans understood this history, they would support the Palestinian people and believe, as I do, that the struggle to end the occupation is necessary and just, that the Palestinian struggle for freedom is necessary and just, and the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state is necessary and just."
Brown has also been highly critical of the U.S. 'war on terror,' arguing that it inflicts further suffering on civilian populations and doesn't address the root causes of terrorism. Addressing a rally at the end of September, before the U.S. launched its attack on Afghanistan, Brown said, "Something is wrong with the idea of creating more death and destruction as a response to the horrible and devastating events of September 11....When you exploit and abuse others, you create fertile ground for social unrest and terrorism. I do not support the idea that the United States government should indiscriminately do to other innocent women, children and men what was done to American citizens a little more than two weeks ago. The senseless loss of innocent lives that would be lost in war is not an 'acceptable loss' no matter where those lives are lost."
Muslims For Better North Carolina was recently formed to promote a shift in U.S. foreign policy toward justice for Palestinians and an end to the expanding U.S. plans for war. The group has not yet endorsed any other candidates for public office.
Muslims For Better North Carolina is planning to host a fundraising dinner for Brown in Greensboro in the near future.
Mr. Badi Ali Islamic Center of the Triad Greensboro, North Carolina
The Islamic Society of North America contact
Mr. Ali sent an evaluation form back saying that they took part in the NR/DI by conducting an education program for 30 children/youth and that it was a new area of education for them. They publicized with the poster. He requested (and we sent) the NR/DI video to encourage further discussion at the Center. In our follow-up letter, we encouraged Mr. Ali to invite a speaker to the Center and referred him to our website for a list of choices.
We subsequently requested information about the children's reactions and invited them to submit written material, from the children, to the NR/DI.
NR/DI staff sent a questionnaire for Musad Marie, who led the youth event.
Mr. Marie responded to the questions. He and Mr. Ali provided the information to the NR/DI along with some essays from the children about nuclear weapons issues. We will use these essays to promote further learning and encourage discussion on the topic. The essays will be posted on the NR/DI website and have been incorporated into a program pamphlet.
Updated July 1999
Islamic Federation, Inc.
3710 Brady St. Greensboro, NC 27415 (336) 274-9735
'Muslims are not terrorists. Muslims are not evil. People think that Muslims don't believe in Jesus, whereas they believe that he was a prophet. People think that Muslims don't believe in the hereafter, whereas they have a lot of information about the Day of Judgment.' Khalil Abdul-Rahman
OFFICERS: Imam: Khalil Abdul-Rahman President: Abdul-Letif Shabazz The mailing address is P.O. Box 14487, Greensboro, NC 27405.
MISSION: Give dow-ah (calling people to the worship of God) - go into the community and invite people to the mosque and do the five daily prayers.
SPEAKERS: Contact Jamal At-tajari at 334-0289 or Badi Ali 913-0877 (beeper).
BACKGROUND: Started in 1972, but it was founded in 1975 as the first mosque in Greensboro (there was no other organized Islamic group before 1972).
NATIONAL AFFILIATION: Islamic Shura Council of North America, for the immigrant population; Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), for the indigenous population;
Imam WD Mohammed Ministry and Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin.
MEMBERSHIP: Twelve people.
MISCELLANEOUS: Asallamu 'Alaikum is a greeting used between Muslims in a religious setting. _____
Area Palestinian groups protest violence in Israel
By Nick Maheras
Area Palestinians and Muslims took their protest over the recent eruption of violence in Israel to a street half a world away in Greensboro Tuesday.
They conducted a similar protest Monday in Greensboro. Badi Ali, chairman of the N.C. Islamic Committee for Palestine, said demonstrators turned out throughout Monday and Tuesday in front of the federal courthouse in Greensboro.
More demonstrations are planned for this week, or next, in Greensboro and in High Point, Ali said.
The protests took on an ugly tone Monday as Ali burned an Israeli flag.
"As a Muslim and as a Palestinian, we have a responsibility to support our brothers and sisters in Palestine with everything we can," Ali said.
"We are trying several demonstrations all over the state and taking collections trying to help our brothers and sisters."
Ali was born in a small village in the West Bank, where much of the worst unrest and violence broke out between Israelis and Palestinians last week.
"I have brothers, sisters, family, relatives there," he said. "I left when I was three."
Ali said his group has networked with other Islamic and Palestinian groups throughout North Carolina and the Triad.
"We have to join forces to combat this genocide," he said. "Being silent offers support to the Israeli criminals who are killing our children.
"If we were in Palestine at this time, we would be throwing rocks at the Israeli soldiers."
Ali reflects the hardline Muslim position on Jerusalem and control of the holy sites in the city.
"Jerusalem belongs to us - the Muslims - period," he declared.
"This is a holy place. We will never give up. We will never submit. We will never surrender our holy sites to the Israelis."
The trouble began two weeks ago after former Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem with a sizable military escort.
At last count, 88 people have been killed in the violence - most of them Palestinians.
The Temple Mount is considered the holiest site in Judaism. It is where the Wailing Wall, the last remaining wall of the Jewish temple, stands today. It is also, however, the side of the Al Aqsa mosque, the third holiest shrine of Islam.
Rabbi Jerome S. Fox of B'nai Israel Synagogue said Sharon's visit - although he had every right to make it - was ill-advised.
"What he (Sharon) did was provocative," said Fox. "I think he did it for his own political reasons.
"I wish he hadn't done that, but the reaction seems incredibly extreme also."
Fox clings to hope for peace in the Middle East.
"I'm very sad about the loss of life," he said. "Obviously, the rioting is going to set back the peace process.
"Israel didn't want this. Israel will stop doing it the minute they (Palestinians) stop rioting. Rioting and throwing stones can kill also."
Fox said he doesn't understand how Palestinian parents could allow, much less encourage, their children to participate in rock-throwing, rioting and demonstrations.
Rabbi Fred Guttman of Greensboro's Temple Emanuel referred requests for comment to Marilyn Chandler, executive director of the Greensboro Jewish Federation.
"Together, let us search our souls for peace," she said in a statement. "At this time of sorrow and conflict, we stand in somber solidarity with the people and government of Israel.
"Any loss of life, any threat to life, is a cause for our mourning."
Chandler criticized the actions of the Palestinian Authority, the governing body of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"We deplore the use of violence and exploitation of children by the Palestinian Authority to achieve political gains," she said.
"We urge, instead, that the Palestinian Authority accept the offer to return to the peace table. We call on all people of goodwill to support the peace process." --------------
U.S.A. was a free country but over 40 years just about the entire major media have fallen into Jewish/Zionist hands. Even regional and local papers are finding it difficult to keep independent journalists on their staff. One such journalist, AULICA RUTLAND, managed to survive for a while at Greensboro's major (only) newpaper The News-Record.
Quite unaware of what Jewish power in this country means, she started reporting the viewpoint of the Arab community in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Attractive, clear thinking, honest, typical southern belle, Ms. Aulica had no idea what was in store for her when she started reporting on the activities of Imam Badi Ali and finally even covered Dr. Kaukab Siddique's Khutba at the Islamic Center of the Triad.
The Siddique Khutba and the boycott movement led by Imam Badi Ali was noticed by the Jewish Federation. No direct linking evidence has been collected yet but soon after, the News-Record SUSPENDED Ms. Aulica.
Soon after that, on July 12, she was questioned about her 'ties with the Arabs' and FIRED. The Jews have struck again. They are indeed, in the words of David Irving, traditional enemies of the truth.
New Trend urges readers to call, email or write the News-Record (politely) and demand that Ms. Aulica be reinstated. The information for messages is as follows:
A North Carolina Qaeda Cell?
One of Osama bin Laden's most trusted lieutenants was once a student in the Tarheel State. Now local Muslims fear their community is being targeted for special investigation
By Joseph Contreras and Ed Caram NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE
Dec. 20 - Are the Feds taking a special interest in the Islamic community of Greensboro, N.C., and environs? It sure seems that way to some prominent Muslims living in the state's so-called Triad area. IN SEPTEMBER, federal agents arrested a 30-year-old Sudanese taxi driver named Mekki Hamed Mekki on immigration violations in Greensboro. A former airline pilot for Sudan's national carrier, Mekki yesterday pleaded guilty to three minor immigration infractions in a Winston-Salem, N.C., federal district court, and the plea bargain deal was immediately sealed on the presiding judge's orders.
Last month federal authorities also arrested a 36-year-old Moroccan national named Abel-Ilah Elmardoudi at the Greyhound bus terminal in Greensboro. Elmardoudi was said to be passing through town while en route to the Houston area, and within days of his arrest he was extradited to Detroit to face charges of falsifying immigration documents and providing material support to terrorist organizations along with three other men.
Elmardoudi has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
It may be purely coincidental, but NEWSWEEK has learned that a former member of Greensboro's Muslim community is one of bin Laden's most trusted and dangerous lieutenants. Khaled Shaikh Mohammad has been described by U.S. officials as a principal architect of the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, and prior to joining the ranks of Al Qaeda he spent nearly four years as an engineering student at two North Carolina schools in the mid-1980s. The Kuwaiti-born Mohammad enrolled at Chowan College 100 miles northeast of the state capital of Raleigh in the spring of 1984 and then transferred to North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro later that same year to pursue his studies. Now 37, Mohammad received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from A&T at the end of 1986.
It didn't take long for the twentysomething graduate to plunge into terrorist activities, say U.S. officials. By the early 1990s, Mohammad was living in Manila with a nephew named Ramzi Yousef and cutting a strange figure as a cell-phone-toting playboy going by the name of Abdul Majid.
The Feds allege that the two men played key roles in planning the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in lower Manhattan and later hatched a plot in 1995 to blow up a dozen U.S. commercial jetliners in the skies over the Pacific.
That latter project went awry when some of their colleagues accidentally blew up the Manila apartment where they were mixing explosives. Yousef was arrested by Filipino authorities and is now serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison. Mohammad eluded capture, however, and remains at large, one of the world's most wanted men with a $25 million U.S. State Department reward on his head.
If Mohammad's North Carolina interlude has led investigators to focus special attention on the Triad region that encompasses Winston-Salem, High Point and Greensboro, the Feds aren't saying. Don Causey, the head of the local FBI office, has acknowledged contacting people in the community 'to discuss issues germane to the Middle East' that include terrorism-related matters, but he won't comment on whom they speak with and for what specific reasons. One area Muslim who says he was recently visited by FBI agents accuses the bureau of unfairly targeting the Triad's 10,000-strong Islamic community as a supposed 'rallying point for Muslim opposition to the repressive policies of the U.S. administration.'
'[We] are easy scapegoats for all these problems,' says Badi Ali, the Palestinian president of a Greensboro mosque called The Islamic Center of the Triad. 'We are becoming the usual suspects in all searches, and I feel like we are living in a Third World country where the secret police can interrogate and arrest us and build a case based on secret evidence.'
That said, there is yet another North Carolina connection to the murky world of Islamic extremism. According to U.S. officials, Abdul Hakim Ali Hashim Murad, a Kuwaiti-born childhood friend of Khaled Mohammad's imprisoned nephew Ramzi Yousef, took flying lessons at the now defunct Coastal Aviation school in New Bern, N.C., in the early 1990s. Coastal Aviation specialized in offering accelerated training to pilots seeking multiengine and instrument ratings for commercial flights, says its former owner Paul Proctor. Murad was arrested in the Philippines in 1995 along with Yousef and later convicted in a New York court of conspiring to sabotage the U.S. airliners plying Pacific Ocean routes.
Murad is also behind bars in an undisclosed federal penitentiary. Khaled Mohammad doesn't seem to have left much of an impression on his professors during his stint at North Carolina A&T, a onetime land-grant college established for black students at the height of Jim Crow segregation in 1891. None of eight members of the mechanical-engineering faculty from that era who were contacted by NEWSWEEK remember him, no picture appears in the university's student yearbooks and the only mention of Mohammad is contained in the May 1987 list of B.Sc. graduates from his department.
According to Guilford County police records in Greensboro, Mohammad was involved in a traffic accident in August 1984 that led to his conviction on charges of failing to reduce his speed and a civil-suit judgment ordering him to pay more than $10,000 in damages to the motorist and a passenger riding in the vehicle he crashed into. Mohammad never paid out the money, his driving license was suspended and in January 1986 Mohammad was stopped by police and subsequently convicted of driving without a valid license. He also incurred a speeding infraction in nearby Burke County around that time.
By the end of 1986, Mohammad had completed his course work and seems to have left North Carolina shortly thereafter-apparently never to resurface again on any government agency's radar screen inside the Tarheel State. (c) 2002 Newsweek, Inc.
(7/1/2003): (AP) N.C. bakery owner accused of stealing competitor's recipes
By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press Writer PHILADELPHIA
Mazen Fathi Said wanted to earn some dough, prosecutors say, by cooking up a scheme to bake bread with stolen recipes.
Said, 30, the owner of a small Greensboro, N.C., bakery is accused of entering a commercial bakery in suburban Philadelphia five times over a two-day period, surreptitiously sneaking off with two three-ring binders containing confidential recipes worth millions of dollars and later returning in the guise of a production line inspector to get more details about the process.
Said allegedly walked into the Morabito Baking Company in Norristown from an unlocked door in the early morning hours of June 14 and stole 66 recipes from the bakery, which distributes bread to 28 states and provides products for the Carnival cruise line. He entered the bakery three additional times that morning, videotaped the interior and left with a lab coat and a hair net, prosecutors said.
On June 15, prosecutors say, he returned through a sliding garage door around 3:40 a.m. and pretended to inspect rolls on the production line.
'The working theory, of course, is that he was going to utilize these recipes to try to duplicate the success of Morabito and raise a little dough,' Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor said at a news conference Monday.
A Morabito employee, Gordon McCoy, later told police that Said approached him, identified himself as 'Mike' and said he wanted to open a bakery 'down south,' according to an affidavit of probable cause. Said then offered to pay for his flight if the employee would teach him how to make a certain type of roll.
Authorities allege that Said made a similar offer by telephone to another company employee, David Wolbert, on June 18. They said he identified himself as the owner of a Greensboro, N.C., bakery and offered to pay Wolbert $700, and cover his airfare and hotel stay, to dispense baking secrets in North Carolina.
'It's an interesting case in the sense that this guy owned another bakery,' said Michael Morabito, the bakery's plant manager. 'He's not some random guy off the street stealing.'
The alleged theft was captured on surveillance videotape. Capt. Gary Hastings of the Greensboro, N.C., police department said investigators compared the video with Said's North Carolina driver's license and a mug shot from a previous arrest.
Said was arrested at his business, Famous Pita Bakery, last week. He has been charged in Pennsylvania with theft of trade secrets, burglary and related offenses, Castor said.
A man who answered the phone at Famous Pita Bakery, who identified himself as Said's brother but declined to give his name, said Said had been 'set up.' He said his brother was targeted in part because of his Middle Eastern heritage but declined to elaborate.
Detectives from Norristown and Greensboro said they recovered the two missing binders, a Morabito lab coat, a road map from Virginia to Norristown, packaging labels and ingredient bags and the videotape that Said allegedly recorded.
Said was being held in Greensboro, N.C., on $2 million bail. An extradition hearing is scheduled for July 10.
The bail amount was set at that amount, Castor said, because 'court personnel' in North Carolina were investigating whether Said had possible ties to money-laundering and terrorist organizations. He is believed to have at least one passport for a Middle Eastern country and is considered a flight risk. Castor said he was told that Said was planning a trip abroad.
The bakery estimates that its recipes would be worth $30 million if sold on the market. The formula books contain recipes for products including 'Wonder Subs,' Red Lobster Bread, Challah Egg Wash and Pan Wheat Hoagie.
It could not immediately be determined whether Said had an attorney.
http://taurus:8200/newswatch/news_details.asp?concept=SURVEIL&markup=1&line=9&page=1&maxdate=030701+192942&mindate=000000+000001&name=AP/ap_alerts_crime/2003/Jun/30/D7S0GGT81.txt
(7/1/2003): Theft of secret recipes lands Triad man in jail
6-28-03 By AMY WOLFFORD, Staff Writer News & Record
How far would someone go for the perfect loaf of bread?
Greensboro police say surveillance videos at the Morabito Bakering Co. provide one answer: On a recent Saturday morning at the family bakery in Norristown, Pa., a man is observed stealing a blue binder with 30 of the company's secret bread recipes from a desk at the Morabito Baking Co..
He then picks up a black binder with 30 more secret formulas -- this time for rolls -- off a nearby table.
After the books are safely his van, he steals a white lab coat worn by bakery supervisors.
Before the night of June 14 is over, the man -- identified by police as Greensboro bakery owner Mazen Fathi Said -- is dressed in full Morabito uniform, videotaping images of machinery and products inside.
The next night, police say, Said returned. This time he wanted to talk to employees, according to Norristown Detective James Angelucci. Said identified himself as Mike, a New Yorker interested in opening a bakery in the South. He offered one employee $700 and airfare to show him how to make rolls.'It was very brazen,' Angelucci said.
Said, 30, owns Famous Pita and Bakery at 3704-C Alliance Drive. Greensboro police arrested him Thursday at his bakery, charging him with 60 counts of stealing trade secrets, two counts of burglary, and one count each of impersonating a private employee, trespassing and criminal solicitation.
At Said's first appearance in Guilford County District Court on Friday, prosecutor Chad Garrett said the formulas -- which have been perfected over seven decades -- could be worth as much as $90 million.
Said is being held on $2 million bond. Guilford County court records signed by Magistrate Linda Williamson show Said's bond was high, in part because of 'possible links to money laundering for terrorist organizations.
' However, Angelucci, FBI offices in Charlotte and Philadelphia, and Greensboro police say they knew of nothing that would link Said, who has an Israeli passport, to terrorist acts. Williamson declined to comment.
Said's attorney, Jan Pritchett, said this is not the first time someone in the Said family has been incorrectly linked to terrorism. He said Said's brother, Maher, faced a misdemeanor charge last year and had an initial high bond after someone said he was a cousin of Osama bin Laden. Court records show Maher Said of Greensboro was found innocent of assaulting a female and released.
Mazen Said, of 2502 Timber Lane, appeared in court Friday via a video hookup. He pleaded not guilty and unsuccessfully asked Guilford County District Court Judge Susan Bray to reduce his bond to $5,000. Said wanted to talk to his attorney before deciding if he should waive extradition and will return to court next month.
Pritchett was not at the hearing, but said afterward: 'A jury of 12 people will likely have reasonable doubt to his guilt. There will be a vigorous defense.' He would not elaborate.
Michael Morabito III, who manages the family bakery, said this wasn't the first time Said had contact with companies owned by his family.
Days before the theft, Said called on one of Morabito's sales managers, saying he was friends with a Virginia distributor and that he wanted to distribute Morabito's products himself in North Carolina.
continued.....
Days before the theft, Said called on one of Morabito's sales managers, saying he was friends with a Virginia distributor and that he wanted to distribute Morabito's products himself in North Carolina.
The territory was already spoken for, Morabito told him. Morabito asked the Virginia distributor, who he would not name, if he knew Said. 'He said, 'This is a guy with a bakery going after customers we're presently serving. Be careful,'' Morabito said.
Morabito also knew Said had approached his father, who owns Topos Mondial, a bakery equipment company in Pottstown, Pa., hours after the theft and said he wanted to buy a rebuilt bread machine for $450,000.
Michael Morabito grew suspicious of Said, so he sent the company's surveillance video to the Virginia distributor, whose son knew what Said looked like. They identified him as the thief, Morabito said.
On Friday, Greensboro detective Ken Rickard confiscated 500 cookie labels that Said ordered in April from Kwik Kopy Printing on Wendover Avenue, but had not paid for, owner Don Dempsey said.
Dempsey said Said wanted a label from New York-based Elite Cookies reprinted with his Greensboro bakery address. Said led Kwik Kopy employees to believe he was moving the company, so they didn't question him -- until he refused the $195 order and learned of his arrest Friday.
Anthony Karayannis, owner of Elite Cookies, said he didn't know Said.
Back in Pennsylvania, Morabito said he's just happy to have his secret formulas locked up in a police evidence room -- and not in the hands of someone who might copy his recipes or sell them to a competitor.
'All the heartache we've had for the last two weeks has been lifted,' he said
http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:3bfBr_q2UskJ:www.news-record.com/news/local/gso/baker28.htm++%22Mazen+Fathi+Said%22 &hl=en&ie=UTF-8
http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:3bfBr_q2UskJ:www.news-record.com/news/local/gso/baker28.htm++%22Mazen+Fathi+Said%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Local baker says rival stole his bread and butter Espionage, Philly-style: A N.C. man wanted the secret to a better hoagie, authorities say.
By Michael Currie Schaffer Inquirer Staff Writer
Industrial spies in Bavaria heist automotive designs. In the Silicon Valley, they take computer programs.
And around here, apparently, hoagie-roll recipes. An underhanded search for a better bun, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor said yesterday, helps to explain why Mazen Fathi Said was being held on $2 million bail last night. Said, who operates a small bakery in Greensboro, N.C., has been arrested on charges of burglary, theft of trade secrets, and related offenses stemming from what Montgomery County prosecutors said were five uninvited visits to Norristown's Morabito Baking Co. during a 24-hour period that began June 14 at 4:21 a.m. According to law-enforcement documents, Morabito cameras videotaped the 30-year-old Said swiping three-ring binders containing 66 recipes used at the 71-year-old family-owned plant, which distributes dinner rolls and other breads under a variety of names in 28 states. A few minutes later, another camera spied Said stealing a Morabito uniform lab coat, the documents said. Shortly afterward, Said was seen videotaping the Morabito facilities. And early the next morning, according to the document, Said was back at the bakery, chatting up an employee and offering to fly him down south in exchange for lessons on how to make rolls. Said, who allegedly later called another Morabito employee with a similar offer, was arrested after Norristown and Greensboro police officers executed a search warrant at his home and business, Famous Pita Bakery in Greensboro, and found the videotapes, uniform lab coat, Morabito ingredient bags, and the recipes.
Those recipes, Castor said, are worth $30 million. Plant manager Michael A. Morabito III figured that Said likely 'wanted to get into the hoagie-roll business because it's a growing business.' The Norristown plant, at 757 Kohn St., presented a challenge to the would-be competitor, Morabito said. 'He was upset that we could send our rolls 700 miles down there and still beat him.'
Morabito's recipes are valuable, he said, because they involve exclusive products designed over the years to meet the specialized needs of chains such as Wonder Bread, Carnival Cruise Lines, and Dan Marino's restaurants.
The firm's biggest seller, Spolettini, a sourdough-based dinner roll, is shipped 95 percent baked so that customers can eat the rolls warm. In the case of hoagies, a specialized machine called the Winkler String Line enables Morabito bakers to create a blunt-edged roll, which is popular elsewhere in the country. (Philadelphians, however, prefer the tapered roll, Morabito said.)
According to Castor, North Carolina authorities deemed Said a flight risk with possible connections to money-laundering and terrorist organizations. Said's attorney, Jan Pritchett of Greensboro, could not be reached for comment yesterday. A man who identified himself as Said's brother, Feraz Said, answered the phone at the accused's home last night.
Feraz Said called the terrorism allegations 'a set-up' that stemmed from prejudice against Arabs. Feraz Said said his brother, an Israeli Arab from Nazareth, has been in America for more than a decade and in Greensboro for six years. 'This is big-time ridiculous,' he said. 'Charge him the way you charge everybody - equal. Why do you have to involve terrorism? Why do you have to involve money laundering?' 'That 'possible links' could be just the judge trying to justify the 2 million, or it could be something else,' said Castor, who said his officers would turn over useful information to federal authorities.
To Morabito, though, the robbery looks like an obvious case of spying on the competition - and not a well-executed caper at that. One key mistake, according to Morabito: When Said asked one of the Morabito staffers to teach him to make the rolls, he said he wanted to make a 'Wonder Hoagie,' the company's term for the sandwich roll it made for Wonder Bread. 'There's no way you would use that word unless you had my book,' Morabito said. Said first came to the company's attention about a year ago, when Morabito's North Carolina distributor sent word that a local had been talking about competing in the growing hoagie-roll business, Morabito said. More recently, he said, Said had been trying to buy bakery equipment from a Pottstown firm called Topas Mondial. What he apparently did not realize was that Topas Mondial, like the Morabito plant, is owned by Morabito's father, Michael Morabito Jr.
The Monday after the break-in, Morabito said, Said again called Topas Mondial, asking to buy a $750,000 device crucial to industrial hoagie-roll production. Morabito said only 16 such machines exist in the country, and he suspected Said learned about it from his alleged visit to the plant. Castor said an extradition hearing is scheduled for July 10 in Greensboro. He said he expected Said to be in custody until then.
Date Collected: 11/8/2002 Source:
http://taurus:8200/newswatch/news_details.asp?concept=SURVEIL&markup=1&line=9&page=1&maxdate=030701+192942&mindate=000000+000001&name=AP/ap_alerts_crime/2003/Jun/30/D7S0GGT81.txt
_____ Subject: For Muslims seeking sisterhood, fledgling sorority may be answer
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/12/11/for_muslims_seeking_sisterhood_fledgling_sorority_may_be_answer/
For Muslims seeking sisterhood, fledgling sorority may be answer
By Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times | December 11, 2005
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Tottering on stilettos, Amira Shalash, a freshman at the University of Kentucky, tossed back her long, tousled hair and tugged at the neckline of her sweater, which had slipped off her shoulder.
Giggling, her friends -- who wear hijabs, traditional Muslim head scarves -- teased her that she was not dressed modestly enough.
The nine young women were gathered to learn about the nation's first Islamic sorority.
The motto of Gamma Gamma Chi: ''Striving for the pleasure of Allah through Sisterhood, Scholarship, Leadership, and Community Service."
The sorority, based in Greensboro, N.C., hopes to establish its first campus chapter at the University of Kentucky.
[this article has been cut and the balance will be at the above link] Please forgive me for any mistakes, by now, I cannot see where to put the line breaks, for awhile, I thought I would have to give up, but this is the end. granny
I found this, while checking for the North Carolina articles that I posted, am also thinking about all the shootings at the North Carolina Malls and what else are we missing?
Of course, I am still thinking about the jihadi that tried to kill the people with his SUV in N.C......
Above this post are 4 posts of old N.C. articles, about terrorists and muslims.
granny
Fri, 16 Dec 2005 14:08:37 -0500
Subject:
Stolen Radioactive Material in North
Carolina
National Bio/Chem/Nuclear Weapons
NORTH CAROLINA: Officials searching for stolen radioactive material
STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina officials are searching for two
stainless steel tubes containing radioactive material stolen last week
from
a locked vehicle outside a Statesville restaurant.
The so-called sealed sources, used for quality assurance and testing of
equipment in nuclear medicine facilities, contain two millicuries of
Americium 241 in two stainless steel tubes, which are mounted in a
container
about the size of a 35-mm film canister. The stainless steel tubes are
marked with yellow caution labels.
Officials with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural
Resources' radiation protection section said if handled improperly,
prolonged exposure to the tubes could pose a health and safety risk.
Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc., which owns the vehicle, will be
cited
for failing to immediately report the theft, state officials said.
Siemens is offering a $1,000 reward for the return of the tubes. Area
residents are advised to stay at least five feet away from the
containers
and call police if they find the tubes.
(c) 2005. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
I wonder why Russia picked up a N.C. Mall shooting? Take a look at the news link for this.
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=shooting%20at%20mall%20North%20Carolina
Goes all over the U.S.
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=theft%20of%20radioactive%20material%20North%20Carolina
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=theft%20of%20explosives%20in%20North%20Carolina
Davey, looks as tho Russia is/was selling weapons to North Carolina.
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=illegal%20rocket%20launcher%20North%20Carolina
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=illegal%20weapons%20in%20North%20Carolina
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=person%20arrested%20middle%20east%20name%20in%20north%20carolina
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=bomb%20%20north%20carolina
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=theft%20weapons%20north%20carolina
http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=airplane%20stolen%20north%20carolina
