Monday, October 29, 2012

VHP to support Leh bandh against forcible conversions of Buddhists




Jammu, Octo Oct 28 (IANS) The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Sunday announced its support to a call for a shutdown of Leh Monday. The civil society of Buddhist-majority Ladakh has called for a strike to protest the "forcible conversion of Buddhists by the Muslims".
Twenty-six Buddhists of Zanskar tehsil in Kargil district allegedly converted to Islam last month.
VHP state president Rama Kant Dubey said: "Forcible conversions of these Buddhists in Zanskar area of Kargil were done at behest of the Muslim community, against the wishes of Buddhists. There is criminal silence of the administration against the people who compelled the Buddhists to embrace Islam. It shows the connivance of the administration."
Dubey questioned why no action was taken against officials despite a protest lodged by the VHP and the Buddhists of those areas.
According to Muslim community leaders, "a few Buddhist families in Zanskar in Kargil district converted to Islam of their own free will without any force or coercion last month".
This led to communal tension in Zanskar. Both communities clashed last week resulting in damage to property and injury to protestors. The administration had to impose a curfew Oct 24.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Rohingya Muslims flee Myanmar unrest as death toll rises

(indianexpress.com)

A new wave of sectarian violence in western Myanmar has left five people dead and dozens injured in recent days, triggering another exodus of Muslims to emergency camps, officials said today.
Hundreds of homes have been burned in the fresh outburst of unrest in Rakhine state, where Buddhist-Muslim clashes have killed at least 95 people since June and displaced tens of thousands, according to the authorities.
"At least five people have been killed and about 80 people injured in four days since October 21 in four townships," said Rakhine state spokesman Myo Thant.
Houses were also torched in another town today morning, he told AFP by telephone from the Rakhine state capital Sittwe.
"Soldiers are now helping to provide security," he added.
Tensions remain at boiling point across Rakhine state with a curfew in force in many areas, while tens of thousands of Muslim Rohingya languish in basic camps.
Hundreds more Rohingya have arrived in the state capital Sittwe by boat this week to seek shelter in the camps.
The UN refugee agency estimated that more than 1,000 displaced people had reached Sittwe in recent days.
"Many more are supposed to be on their way," said spokeswoman Vivian Tan in Bangkok. "These people are all coming to the IDP (internally displaced person) camps close to Sittwe, which are already overcrowded."
About 75,000 people are estimated to be uprooted in Rakhine state, mostly Rohingya.
There have been a series of protests by Buddhists in Myanmar against the stateless Muslim group, long considered by the United Nations to be one of the most persecuted minorities on the planet.
Myanmar's 800,000 Rohingya are viewed as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh by the Myanmar government and many Burmese -- who call them "Bengalis".
But Bangladesh has turned away Rohingya fleeing the violence.
The bloodshed has cast a shadow over widely praised reforms by President Thein Sein, including the release of hundreds of political prisoners and the election of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to parliament.
Rights groups fear that the real death toll may be much higher than the official toll.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Sharia courts ‘as consensual as rape’, House of Lords told


(telegraph.co.uk)

MUSLIM women in Britain are being forced to “live in fear” because of the spread of unofficial and unregulated sharia courts enforcing Islamic rules, the House of Lords was told.
Sharia courts ‘as consensual as rape’, House of Lords told
One study estimated that there are around 85 Sharia bodies operating in Britain Photo: Paul Grover
By John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor
 20 Oct 2012
Rulings by informal religious “councils” and tribunals are sometimes no more “consensual” than rape, peers were told.
The warnings came in the first ever full Parliamentary debate on the subject in the UK.
Baroness Cox, the independent peer and Third World campaigner, last year tabled a private member’s bill in the Lords setting out plans to rein in a network of unofficial self-styled “courts” which apply Islamic principles.
One study estimated that there are around 85 Sharia bodies operating in Britain, although there is no official estimate.
They include legally recognised arbitration tribunals, set up primarily to resolve financial disputes using Islamic legal principles but which have taken on a wider range of cases.
There is also a network of informal Sharia “councils”, often operating out of mosques, dealing with religious divorces and even child custody matters in line with Islamic teaching.
The bill, which had its first full debate yesterday, would make it a criminal offence for such bodies to style themselves as courts or those chairing them to pose as judges.
It would also limit the activities of arbitration tribunals and explicitly require them to uphold equality laws including women’s rights.
Baroness Cox told the House of cases she had encountered including a woman who had been admitted to hospital by her violent husband who had left her for another woman but still denied her a religious divorce so she could remarry.
Another woman was forced to travel to Jordan to seek permission to remarry from a seven-year-old boy whom she had never met because she had no other male relatives, she said.
A third who came to see her was so scared of being seen going in that she hid behind a tree whole another told her: “I feel betrayed by Britain, I came to this country to get away from all this but the situation is worse here than in my country of origin."
Baroness Cox said: “These examples are just the tip of an iceberg as many women live in fear, so intimidated by family and community that they dare not speak out or ask for help.”
Meanwhile Baroness Donaghy added: “The definition of mutuality is sometimes being stretched to such limits that a women is said to consent to a process when in practice, because of a language barrier, huge cultural or family pressure, ignorance of the law, a misplaced faith in the system or a threat of complete isolation, that mutuality is as consensual as rape.”
Lord Carlile, the legal expert, was among those backing the bill but the Bishop of Manchester urged caution arguing that it could end up “stigmatising those individuals in communities it is aiming to help”.
And Baroness Uddin, the first female Muslim peer, said it would be viewed as “another assault on Muslims”.
Lord Kalms, the businessman, claimed that self-styled Sharia courts had already reached far beyond mediation to areas such as criminal law.
“To my knowledge, none of these cases has ever received police attention or investigation, and this is a scandal for which the police, among other authorities, must be held responsible,” he said. 

Saturday, October 20, 2012

US court rules-Fort Hood shooting suspect can be forcibly shaved

(Fox News)



Oct 19, 2012 5:00 AM EDT
A U.S. Army appeals court ruled Thursday that the suspect in the Fort Hood shooting that killed 13 people can have his beard forcibly shaved off before his murder trial.

The U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals' opinion issued Thursday upheld the military trial judge's decision to order Maj. Nidal Hasan to appear in court clean shaven or be forcibly shaved, according to a release from Fort Hood.

Hasan has said he grew a beard because his Muslim faith requires it, despite the Army's ban on beards.

The court also ruled that Col. Gregory Gross, the trial judge, properly found that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not give Hasan the right to have a beard while in uniform at trial. The court specifically upheld Gross' previous ruling that Hasan did not prove his beard was an expression of a sincerely held religious belief. The appeals court said that even if Hasan did grow a beard for a sincere religious reason, compelling government interests justified Gross' order requiring Hasan to comply with Army grooming standards.

The appeals court also upheld previous contempt of court findings against Hasan. Starting in June, he showed up to court for pretrial hearings with a beard six times, and was fined $1,000 for each instance.

Hasan's attorneys have said they will appeal the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which means Hasan's court-martial remains on hold.

Hasan, 42, faces the death penalty if convicted in the 2009 attack on the Texas Army post that killed 13 and wounded more than two dozen others.

Friday, October 19, 2012

US Army Bows to Islamists, Sacks Lt. Colonel

(RadicalIslam.org)

Thu, October 18, 2012
by:  Meira Svirsky




Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Dooley’s career has been effectively destroyed by General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, various complicit members of the Pentagon and the military and, most of all, political correctness on the part of the U.S. government.

Col. Dooley, who was awarded the Bronze Star, the fourth-highest combat decoration, is a West Point graduate and highly rated armor officer who served in Iraq, Germany, Bosnia and Kuwait. He was, until recently, the instructor of a course to fellow officers on the dangers of radical Islam at the Joint Forces Staff College (part of the National Defense University).

His downfall came at the hands of 57 Islamic groups who began complaining a year ago that the U.S. military and intelligence counter-terrorism training instructors and materials were anti-Islam.

Included the group of complainers was both CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) and ISNA (Islamic Society of North America). Both CAIR and ISNA were named as unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Terror Funding Trial, largest ever terror-funding trial in U.S. history. Both are listed by the Muslim Brotherhood -- whose publicized doctrine is to destroy American from within -- as two of it “working organizations.”

As a direct result of the complaints by the Islamic groups, the U.S. government instituted broad, sweeping reviews and eventual purges of its counter-terrorism training materials. Islamic groups were allowed into the FBI and other institutions to approved or disapprove the materials. The Pentagon complied with the review, as did all of the branches of U.S. armed forces.

At that time, the Pentagon found no fault in any of its courses or instructors. Col. Dooley’s course, which he began teaching in 2010, had been taught the same way since 2004. All the material for the course was approved by the university. In his evaluations from last year, Col. Dooley was referred to as a superb officer.

Yet changes were being made. Representatives
Dooley in combat
 from the government, including John Brennon, the chief counter terrorism advisor, instituted new terminology in the "War on Terror." No longer were Al Qaeda fighters called "Islamic extremists;" they became simply “extremists.” Gone was any mention of the ideology driving their "extremism."

The Islamic groups also demanded that employees who promoted (in their opinion) "biased" training about these "extremists" be "effectively disciplined."

However, Col. Dooley’s course was not singled out until close to six months later when one of his students lodged a complaint to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. It was then that Col. Dooley’s course was suspended. Ironically, the complaint was not even about Col. Dooley, but about a guest lecturer he had brought in.

The guest lecturer had been talking about "what if" scenarios, a common way the military strategizes: Envision a potential scenario and figure out how to deal with it.

In this case, the guest lecturer asked what would happen if Islamic extremists gained control of Pakistan's nuclear weapons and began destroying U.S. cities. How should the U.S. respond?

The faculty handbook at the university where Col. Dooley was teaching his course says that students and faculty are to express opinions "free of limitations, restraints or coercion by the university or external environment."  Further, it states that "no subject or issue is considered taboo."

In a particularly telling passage, the handbook says that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (i.e., Gen. Demsey) directs the university to "establish a

climate of academic freedom within the university to foster thorough and lively academic debate, and to examine national security issues. To continue to craft the best possible national security policy for the United States and offer the best possible advice to U.S. leaders and students, the faculty of the university must be free to examine policy from all viewpoints."

Still, a new review of the government’s counter-terrorism training materials and instructors was ordered by Gen. Dempsey on April 24, 2012. At a press conference the next day, a spokesman singled out Col. Dooley and told reporters that his course was "inflammatory."


Gen. Martin Dempsey
In May, an internet site called Wired "broke" the story about the government’s focus on Islamic terrorists in their counter-terrorism training materials. They had obtained some of Col. Dooley’s course materials and accused him of advocating a "total war" against Islam.  In the article, Marine Lt. General George Flynn, Gen. Dempsy’s deputy for joint force training, told Wired that Dooley’s course was teaching that "Islam had already declared war on the West. It was inflammatory."

The site published a briefing by Col. Dooley in which he said, "Political Correctness is killing us: How can we properly identify the enemy, analyze his weaknesses, and defeat him, if we are never permitted to examine him from the most basic doctrinal level?"

The same day the Wired story broke, Gen. Dempsey excoriated Col. Dooley at a press conference, referring to him as "the individual."

At the press conference, Gen. Dempsey said, "It was just totally objectionable, against our values, and it wasn’t academically sound … academically irresponsible."

One month later, a general on Demspey’s staff at the Penatgon ordered Dooley to be removed as an instructor "for cause." The university was ordered to produce a negative officer evaluation report on Dooley.

In the military, this is known as a "career ender."

Dooley hired Richard Thompson, president of the non-profit Thomas More Law Center, to represent him in an appeal against the negative report.

In an interview with the Washinton Times, Thompson said the Pentagon is trying to appease the Muslim Brotherhood.

"What happened here was this whole idea of political correctness deterred the ability of our military to speak frankly about the identity of the enemy. Once you allow political correctness to overwhelm our military, then we are really going to have an impact on our national security," Thompson is quoted as saying.



The Times reports that the negative officer evaluation report, issued on August 29, prompted two Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee to send a letter to Gen. Dempsey last week asking why such harsh action was taken.

The newspaper obtained a copy of the letter which read, "Since [the Depart. Of Defense] had already directed [National Defense University] to cancel the [course], and LTC Dooley was then relieved as its instructor, we would like to know why the [Defense Dept.] was compelled to further discipline LTC Dooley by jeopardizing his reputation and his future in the service. It is our understanding that LTC Dooley did not violate any established University practices, policies or [Defense Dept.] regulations to merit a negative [officer evaluation report]."

The letter was signed by Reps. Thomas J. Rooney (R-Fla) and Duncan Hunter (R-Ca).

Further, Thompson told the Times that Dooley had made it clear that the presentations were not official U.S. policy. Thompson also said that he is considering filing a civil suit in the U.S. District Court against Gen. Dempsey.



Meira Svirsky is the content coordinator of RadicalIslam.org, the former managing editor of The Daily Texan and the former editor of UTmost magazine.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Over 2500 women converted to Islam in Kerala since 2006, says Oommen Chandy


(India Today)

September 4, 2012 | 13:45 IST
HOME

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy
The shrill debate over love jihad is back again following a spate of recent incidents. On June 25, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy informed the state legislature that 2667 young women were converted to Islam in the state since 2006.

On June 27, the state high court ordered the Kozhikode City Police Commissioner on June 27 to probe an alleged case of "love jihad" in which a 20-year-old Hindu girl eloped from a hospital in Kochi with a Muslim boy after the girl's parents filed a habeas corpus petition. On July 19, Deepa Cherian (31) a former Christian housewife converted to Islam was arrested for allegedly delivering SIM cards to a key terror suspect languishing in prison.

Chandy gave the figures related to conversions in state legislature as a written answer to an unstarred question raised by K K Latika, a CPI(M) legislator. According to Chief Minister a total number of 7713 persons were converted to Islam during 2006-2012 as against 2803 conversions to Hinduism. Interestingly he said no statistics was available as to the number converted to Christianity during the period. Among those converted to Islam during 2009-12, as many as 2667 were young women of which 2195 were Hindus and 492 were Christians. As against this number of young women converted during 2009-12 to Christianity and Hinduism were 79 and two respectively.

Chief Minister said there was no information regarding the original religions of women who converted to Hinduism and Christianity.

However Chandy said that there was no evidence for forced conversions in the state and the fears about love jihad were baseless. "We will not allow forcible conversions. Nor will we allow to spread hate campaign against Muslims in the name of love jihad" said Chandy in response to Lathika's demand for inquiry into forcible conversions.

Hindu and Christian groups are up in arms again repeating their long-standing demand for a thorough investigation into the phenomenon of "love jihad" in which Muslim youths allegedly lure young women from other communities to convert to Islam feigning love.

"Love Jihad in Kerala is part of global Islamisation project" said Global Council of Indian Christians. In 2009 Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) had stated that more than 2600 young Christian women were converted to Islam since 2006. KCBC's Vigilance Commission for Social Harmony had called Christians to be on guard against the phenomenon.

Rahul Eswar of the Kerala's Hindu Parliament, an umbrella organisation of various Hindu groups called for an immediate inquiry into the phenomenon. "The state police's attempt in 2009 was to suppress facts about this phenomenon. This will lead to communal flare-ups. Forced conversions undertaken by Islamists will be cited by Hindu fanatics to establish their legitimacy" warned he.

Organisations like BJP, Hindu Aikyavedi etc too have called for inquiry and lambasted the state government's policy to whitewash the issue under pressure from Muslim League. Hindu groups have pointed out growth in Kerala's Muslim population rate has been double that of Hindus and Christians. Hindus, Muslims and Christians form 55, 25 and 19 percent respectively in Kerala's population of 3.33 crore.

Cherian, a former Christian housewife was arrested in Kochi for allegedly providing two SIM cards to V Noushad - her boyfriend according to the police - who is interred in Ernakulam sub jail in connection with a drug peddling case. Naushad allegedly handed over the cards to T. Nazir suspected to be a top Lashkar-e-Tayeba operative in South India who also is languishing in the same prison in connection with a number of terror cases including the bomb blasts in Bangalore.

According to the police Cherian who was in Dubai with her husband and children had become friendly with Noushad who was working as a bus driver there. She allegedly left her family and returned to India with Noushad subsequently and got converted to Islam. According to police Noushad is suspected to have faked involvement in a narcotic case in order to get lodged in the jail and assist Nazeer who is alleged to have made many international calls using the SIM card.

"Love Jihad" had kicked up much dust in 2009 in Kerala and Karnataka after Hindu groups like Hindu Aikyavedi and Sree Rama Sene began campaign against alleged attempts to lure young women by Muslim youths feigning love and using them for immoral or terror activities. The issue acquired serious attention when the state high court ordered asked the police to inquire into the allegations related to love jihad. This followed the complaints filed by the parents of two Hindu college girls saying their two Muslim college mates had cheated them into converting to Islam by promises of love. But the state police after investigation had informed the court that though there were complaints about attempts to convert by feigning love that there was no evidence for the existence of an organisation named love jihad in the state. After this the court withdrew its order to inquire into the issue.

In another case in 2009 Karnataka Police too had informed the Karnataka high court that there was no evidence for the prevalence of love jihad in that state. This led to the fizzling out of the campaign by Hindu and Christian groups about the phenomenon in both states.

Muslim groups condemned the repeated attempts to spread hatred against Muslims in the name of a non-existent love jihad. Muslim League, second largest constituent in the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) government has strongly denied occurrence of any forced conversions.

"Love Jihad is a myth being perpetrated by interested groups to vilify Muslims. How can any one use force in a state like Kerala where all religions, media and civil society in general are so vigilant? The conversions could be voluntary or the result of inter-religious marriages" said Abdurehman
Randathani, MLA and League's secretary.

"It reminded of the racist propaganda in the US some time ago against blacks who were accused of luring white women. It is an attempt to demonise the Muslims" Umer Tasneem, Muslim scholar and English professor at the Calicut University. He smells a rat in Chief Minister Chandy, a Christian, not revealing the statistics of conversions to Christianity. "Why only conversion to Islam evokes emotions? Conversions to other groups are seen spontaneous".

Eswar too says Christians still lead in organising conversions. "A single major evangelist in Kerala has officially admitted of receiving more than Rs 1000 crores last year as financial contributions from abroad. Pentacoastal Missions in Kerala have converted lakhs of persons in last 5 years giving allurements" says Eswar.

According to top sources in police as many as 15 lakhs have been converted to Christianity in the last 20 years as per official statistics provided by the State Converted Christian Corporation. "Muslims have only two institutions and Hindus only one who have the authority to convert. But every Christian church has this right" said a top police official.

According the Christian Persecution Update, a website run by Bangalore-based Christian group, Cherian was only the latest victim of Love Jihad also called Romeo Jihad, a global project by Islamist groups to lure women from other communities feigning love to make them accomplices in immoral or terror activities.

"It is a serious issue. We should seriously address it so that no tension is created in Kerala between communities" warned Fr Paul Thelakat, spokesperson of the Syro Malabar church, the largest Catholic church.

Myanmar Government blocks Muslim support group



Monks lead protests against OIC opening an office.
October 16, 2012

 


Monks led protests in Yangon and other cities yesterday (photo by Daniel Wynn) Yangon:
The government yesterday said it would not allow the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to open an office in Myanmar following protests by thousands of Buddhist monks and laypeople.

The Information Ministry cited the office of President Thein Sein in an announcement yesterday that said a new office run by the Saudi-based organization would be “contradictory to the aspirations of the people.”

Monk-led protests were held in four cities yesterday, including Yangon, marking the latest tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar. This follows deadly rioting in Rakhine state in the west of the country, which started in June.

State press had said previously that the OIC would open a temporary liaison office in Myanmar so it could carry out humanitarian work in minority Muslim Rohingya areas of Rakhine, where hundreds of homes were burned to the ground during the violence.

Monks in Yangon shouted, “OIC, get out” during a protest march between Shwedagon Pagoda – the most revered Buddhist site in Myanmar – and the City Hall. Similar protests were held in Mandalay and Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine.

“We don’t want to have anything to do with the OIC, which is an Islamic organization,” said one Buddhist monk protesting in Yangon. “We are worried that its presence will create more racial and religious violence in our country.”

The OIC, which strongly condemned the recent violence between Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar, includes 57 member countries and seeks to be the voice of the Muslim world.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Creation of Bosnian Muslim State Led to Ethnic Cleansing of 440,000 Catholics

(Courtsey:-FP Magazine)

October 14, 2012 
In the late 90s the trendy thing to do was to agonize over the fate of Bosnian Muslims and all the terrible horrors that the PoorMuslims (TM) were experiencing in Sarajevo. Ethnic cleansing was the word of the day and the Serbs were the new villains of the hour.
Steven Spielberg even managed to make the ultimate liberal thriller, The Peacemaker, starring  George Clooney racing against the clock to stop a Serb terrorist from launching a nuclear attack on New York City. (This proved to be a very timely film to make in 1997. Four years before Muslim terrorists (Shhh they don’t exist) launched a real attack against New York)

NATO carved out a Bosnian Muslim state by bombing a bunch of Serbian Christians, civilians and non-civilians, Billy Clinton didn’t really care. And ethnic cleansing became an actual thing… just not ethnic cleansing of Muslims. Mohammed’s last command to his followers was to drive the Jews and Christians out of Arabia. And as Muslims have expanded their reach, they have religiously been keeping their unholy prophet’s command.

Christians are massively leaving post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina amid mounting discrimination and Islamization, according to a new report released Friday, October 12.
There are just 440,000 Catholics left in the Balkan nation, half the prewar figure, the group said.
Puljic reportedly complained that while dozens of mosques were build in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, no building permissions were given for Christian churches.
“The cardinal already waits 13 years on permission to build just a small church,” Church in Need said.  Authorities so far refused to return hundreds of nationalized church buildings, despite a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights to do so, according to Christian officials.

But that is what you get when you create another “moderate” Muslim state. Muslims may demand the right to build mega-mosques in London, Tennessee and right next to Ground Zero, but they don’t reciprocate. Islam has no notion of human rights… only Muslim rights.  Or rather the rights of Muslim men over all sorts of inferior types like women and non-Muslims. Create a Muslim state and you get discrimination against non-Muslims. It’s how the religion works.
In published remarks, Van Rompuy made clear that giving Bosnia-Herzegovina a “European perspective”, the code word for eventual European Union membership, “is the only way to overcome the crisis”.

How has the European perspective worked out for the millions of Muslims in France, Germany and the UK?
Are Muslims getting a European Perspective or are Europeans getting a Muslim Perspective? 

US judge explains decision on anti-Islam ads in Metro


(wjla.com)
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge who ordered D.C.'s public transit system to put up pro-Israel ads that equate Muslim radicals with savages said Metro officials voiced reasonable safety concerns but failed to consider other alternatives when they delayed displaying the messages.
U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer issued a 17-page opinion Friday explaining an earlier decision that ordered Metro to display the ads, which were proposed by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, an advocacy organization harshly critical of Muslim radicals and run by blogger Pamela Geller.
The judge's initial ruling came without explanation last week in a one-page order.The group contracted to display four 43-by-62 inch dioramas on subway platforms with the message: "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad."The same ads began running last month in some New York subway stations, and after Collyer's order, went up in a handful of Metro stations this week.Metro officials had delayed putting up the ads, with officials saying they were concerned the messages could provoke hostile reactions and violent disputes in light of the tumultuous response in the Middle East last month to the video, "Innocence of Muslims," which denigrated the prophet Muhammad.The organization sued, prompting Collyer's ruling.Collyer said she was sympathetic to Metro officials' safety concerns and agreed that the transit system "certainly presents a compelling government interest in the safety of its passengers and employees."But, she said, Metro officials erred in being "too open-ended" in postponing the placement of the ads, a delay "not tied to the waxing or waning of anti-American sentiment or danger and not based on any objective evaluation of necessity." That decision restricted the group's First Amendment rights more than was necessary.

She also said Metro had failed to consider displaying the messages in locations other than the subway station platforms and could have distanced itself from the ad's messages by placing its own disclaimers alongside the anti-jihad ads.

"While, indeed, the contract was for advertising in the illuminated dioramas on subway platforms, a content-neutral and less restrictive answer to concerns about disputes on the platforms would surely have been to put the ads elsewhere in one of (the transit system's) numerous other advertising venues," Collyer wrote.

Also on Friday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced its own advertising campaign on Metro in response to the anti-Muslim ads.

One of the ads quotes the Quran: "Show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant."








Friday, October 12, 2012

Court asks Govt why Vadra-DLF deals should not be probed

(Courtsey:-NewsBharati.Com)


Source: Agencies      Date: 10/11/2012 

Lucknow, October 11: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court Thursday asked the central government to reply why allegations against Robert Vadra made by Arvind Kejriwal should not be investigated.$img_title
The court, which was hearing public interest litigation (PIL) by activist Nutan Thakur, fixed Nov 21 as the next date for hearing. The PIL sought a thorough probe into the charges levelled by Kejriwal and his colleagues. In her petition, Thakur told the court that she had also sent a letter to principal secretary in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) but was sure that it would not be responded to.
The PIL also says that despite denials by both the parties, some basic questions on how Vadra's wealth grew from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 300 crore in three years remains yet to be unanswered.
On Monday, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the government can't act on the allegations on private deals entered into between Robert Vadra and DLF unless there is specific charge of corruption, which is established.
"We cannot probe private deals without specific allegations or quid pro quo," Chidambaram said while replying to questions at the annual Economic Editors' Conference.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Kumar Ketkar's funny request to court for halting legal action

Kumar Ketkar creating trouble to Express Group by shirking his responsibility.

Former Loksatta(Marathi daily) editor Kumar Ketkar has filed his written statement to Khed court requesting halting legal action against him,started by Dapoli court.In a funny and entertaining letter submitted to Khed court Ketkar has made few ridiculous claims which clearly shows that HE was never prepared to face any type of legal actions against him for his baseless,venomous articles against Indian judiciary and Hindu organisations. HERE is gist of his claims.
1) Complainant has not placed the evidences before court which proves that the said article was written by ME (That means Kumar Ketkar)
2) There is no organisation with name Sangh Parivar,so no question of it's defamation arises.(It means Ketkar was calling shots against NON-EXISTANT entity !!!)
3)  " No action should be taken against me as I had been conferred with prestigious PADMASHRI award".(Ketkar totally lost his consciousness regarding his PADMASHRI award while lodging serious allegations against Indian Judiciary !!! )
4) Complainant is making mental harassment by filing the case against me,SO it should be stopped.(But Ketkar forgot to clarify under which circumstances he targeted Indian Courts and Judicial apparatus)

     Kumar Ketkar's written statement before court clearly shows that he is trying to drag Loksatta newspaper-his former employer to court by avoiding his responsibility  for articles written under his editorship.

Britain ends 10-year boycott of Narendra Modi with envoy visit

(DNA)

Published: Thursday, Oct 11, 2012
Ending a 10-year boycott of Narendra Modi imposed after the 2002 riots, the UK on Thursday said it has decided to resume engagement with Gujarat, prompting the chief minister to welcome the move as "better late than never".

The British government has asked its envoy to India, James Bevan, to visit Gujarat and meet Modi and other senior figures in the state to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest, explore opportunities for closer cooperation and secure "justice for the families of the British nationals killed in 2002".

"Der aaye, durasta aaye (Better late than never)!! I welcome UK govt's step for active engagement & strengthening relations with Gujarat. God is Great," Modi tweeted, reacting to Britain's Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire's statement.

Earlier in a statement here, Swire said he has asked the British High Commissioner in New Delhi to visit Gujarat. "This will allow us to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest and to explore opportunities for closer cooperation, in line with the British Government's stated objective of improving" bilateral ties with India, he said.

"The UK has a broad range of interests in Gujarat. We want to secure justice for the families of the British nationals who were killed in 2002. We want to support human rights and good governance in the state. "We also want to provide the best possible support to British nationals who live in, work in or visit Gujarat; and to the many Gujaratis who now make up one of the most successful and dynamic communities in the UK," he said.

As part of its commitment to strengthen ties with India, the UK has an interest "in ensuring that we provide a full and consistent range of services across the whole country. "I feel that active engagement will help further these interests. We will consider in the light of the high commissioner's visit how best to take forward our relationship with Gujarat," Swire said.

Lord Swraj Paul, leading NRI industrialist welcomed the British government's decision, saying it was long overdue. "Modi is a democratically-elected leader of Gujarat, not once but twice. I am glad that the British government has decided to engage with the Gujarat chief minister," Paul said.

Post-Godhra riots, the UK took a policy decision not to have active engagement with Gujarat. Modi, since 2003, has not visited Britain.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Congress should stop defending Vadra, order fair probe: BJP


(Indian Express)
In the wake of fresh charges levelled by social activist Arvind Kejriwal against Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, BJP today demanded Congress and UPA ministers stop defending him and order a fair, free and comprehensive inquiry into his business dealings.

BJP alleged Congress has not gone for any proper inquiry or ensured that the guilty are brought to book in several scams, including the Commonwealth Games and the coal mines allocation scandal and even tried to sheild the culprits.

"Till today, no tangible steps have been taken by the government to control corruption even though Congress president Sonia Gandhi had given a five-point sutra to her chief ministers at Burari", BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.

She maintained Kejriwal has quoted some Punjab and Haryana High Court judgements which deal with the nexus between DLF and Haryana government as well as Vadra.

"But Congress is not going to take any step. Investigations are too much to expect. More so when the Finance Minister himself has come out in defence of a person, though calling him a private person, on these serious allegations," Sitharaman said.

BJP insisted Vadra is a "politically exposed person" and all his high volume transactions should have been monitored as per the rules.

"Why is it that Congress has rushed to his defence instead of probing the whole matter. This is getting murkier. We demand a comprehensive inquiry.... It is high time Congress stops running away from an investigation... We want a fair and free probe," Sitharaman said.

Kejriwal "Cong agent", making charges to serve his ambitions: BJP

Miffed at activist Arvind Kejriwal stealing the show at a BJP programme yesterday, the opposition party today alleged he is levelling charges against parties and individuals as a part of his strategy to serve his political ambitions.

BJP General Secretary Vijay Goel, who had welcomed Kejriwal to the stage at a party protest programme yesterday, did not mince words to express his anger against the social activist's behaviour.

Kejriwal had spoken against BJP from the dais and asked what the Opposition had done to check the "wrongdoings" of the Sheila Dikshit government in Delhi.

"BJP has always opposed the hike in power bills. We have held demonstrations in all parts of Delhi. We held a protest in which 2,000 RWAs participated.... Who is Kejriwal to ask us what we have done in the last three years? He has entered the protests just three days back and restored two power connections and he thinks he is leading the movement," Goel fumed.

The BJP leader alleged Kejriwal is a "Congress agent" and his criticism of the opposition party is aimed at weakening the agitation against the "unjustified" hike in

power bills of the people.

When it was pointed out that Kejriwal had "exposed" how Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's business relations with realty major DLF and hence could not be acting at the behest of Congress, Goel only repeated his

charges.

"Yes, he is attacking political parties and individuals as he is starting a political party," Goel said in reply to a question.

He demanded a public apology from Kejriwal for attacking BJP at yesterday's public meeting.

Asked why BJP had supported Anna Hazare's agitation and backed Kejriwal too in the past but is now so opposed to him, Goel said "when something is right, we will support it but when something is wrong we will speak against it."

He ruled out Kejriwal being a threat to prospects of BJP in the Delhi assembly polls due next year.

BJP insisted it has been in the forefront of fighting against the hike in electricity bills of the people.

Clearing the air on yesterday's incident, Goel said Kejriwal and around 30-50 of his supports came to the venue where BJP members were agitating against power bill hike. "We had not invited him. He came to the dais on his own and said he would like to speak for two minutes. Out of courtesy, we allowed him," Goel said.

Unholy nexus between DLF, Haryana govt: Arwind

(ZEENEWS)
New Delhi: In a fresh attack on Robert Vadra, Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday that there was a malafide nexus between DLF and the Haryana government and a direct beneficiary of the same was the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. 


On Robert Vadra's links with DLF, he said that the son-in-law of the Congress president was given 50 percent stake in the company that was given permission for SEZ. He added that Vadra sold the stake back to DLF after a year. "If this does not prove the link then what does," he asked. 

"Unitech and County Heights bid were higher but were ignored," he revealed. Attacking the Congress government in Haryana further he Kejriwal said, "The land was acquired illegally after saying that it was for public purpose." He accused that the financial dealings were not transparent and said that the Haryana government had manipulated the bidding process. 

He asked the Haryana government to submit a white paper on the dealings with DLF. "Part of land given was protected forest land and DLF's six proxy companies bought directly from the farmers," he further added. 

The IAC had alleged on October 5 that Vadra had bought properties worth over Rs 300 crore between 2007 and 2010 with an interest-free unsecured loan of Rs 65 crore from realty major DLF.

They claimed the properties were given at undervalued rates in exchange of favours allegedly received from Congress state governments in Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi. 

DLF had on Saturday denied it had advanced any unsecured loan to Vadra, or sold its assets to him at throwaway prices, or that there was a quid pro quo in the transactions. 

However, Arvind Kejriwal has more up his sleeves. He said that he had more to expose but will do so on November 16. 

Meanwhile the Congress questioned the intentions of Kerjiwal and his team and doubted the authenticity of the papers that were shown to the media by them. Speaking to the press Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said, "I condemn this personal attack by them. If there is any truth to the matter then Haryana government will look into it. Also Kejriwal should go to the court and not gain cheap publicity," he said. 

Rohingya Muslims attacked in Burma after attacks on Buddhists in Bangladesh


(Courtsey:-UCANews)

Muslim homes burned after attacks on Buddhists in Bangladesh
October 8, 2012

Yangon:
Fresh unrest broke out in Rakhine state yesterday against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Houses in Sittwe, the provincial capital, were set ablaze by angry Buddhists, who were prevented from burning down the town’s largest mosque by police. The houses belonged to Muslims evacuated to refugee camps outside the town, following sectarian clashes between the two communities several months ago.

The violence is thought to be in response to recent attacks on
Buddhist villages and temples in neighboring Bangladesh.

“We wanted to burn down the largest and oldest mosque in the town because we are so angry at the Rohingyas’ attacks against Buddhist monks,” said Ba Tun Aung, a Sittwe resident.

He said Buddhists in Rakhine state have applied for permission to a stage protest today.

According to Rakhine state attorney-general, Hla Thein, the situation in Sittwe is presently calm, but police have blocked major roads leading to mosques and Muslim homes to prevent further arson attacks.

In Yangon, protests against the anti-Buddhist attacks in Bangladesh occurred over two consecutive days last week in front of the Bangladeshi embassy. Protesters were planning to take to the streets of the city again today.

The Bangladesh government has accused the Rohingya refugees of being responsible for last week’s incidents, which occurred after an alleged anti-Muslim photo showing a burned Qu’ran was posted on Facebook.


Anti-Muslim protesters in Myanmar are now pointing to a photo depicting a young model on top of a reclining Buddha image. The protesters, who include monks, allege the photo was created and distributed on the internet by Muslims to insult Buddha.

Arvind Kejriwal to elaborate on his allegations against Robert Vadra and DLF today.

Courtsey:-NDTV
 October 09, 2012 10:12 IST

New Delhi: Activist-turned politician Arvind Kejriwal is expected to elaborate more on his allegations against Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and real estate giant DLF at a press conference later today. Despite the government ruling out an inquiry into the business deals between DLF and businessman Robert Vadra, Mr Kejriwal has said he stands by his accusations against them.

"DLF granted favours to Shri Robert Vadra. What favours did Haryana government grant DLF? How is DLF reply a bunch of lies? Will speak tomorrow at 5 pm," he tweeted yesterday, after Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that at this stage, an inquiry cannot be ordered by the government into the business deals between DLF and Mr Vadra.

"Transactions between two private individuals cannot be questioned on the basis of some imputed or implied act of corruption," Mr Chidambaram said.
The deals have been described as illicit by activists Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan, who launched an anti-graft political party last week.

Mr Kejriwal and Mr Bhushan had suggested that Mr Vadra used Congress' black money into his property purchases, estimated by the activists to be worth Rs. 500 crore today.
Mr Kejriwal and Mr Bhushan have accused DLF of gifting an interest-free loan of 65 crore as well as discounted apartments in some of the company's fanciest housing projects in Gurgaon in Haryana, just across the border from Delhi. The activists allege that in return for the sweetheart deals, the Congress, which is in power in Haryana, released land reserved for public interest projects to DLF, and that the developer was given express-lane clearances and permissions.

Mr Vadra has described the allegations as "defamatory" and an attempt by the activist-politicians to get "cheap publicity." The Congress has made similar accusations, describing the activists as "political upstarts" looking for attention before elections are held in states like Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

DLF has also explained that it gave neither discounted apartments nor unsecured loans to Mr Vadra, and stressed that it has not received any undue favours because of its transactions with Mr Vadra.

Continuing to defend Mr Vadra, the Congress yesterday asked why the activists didn't file a court or police case if they have evidence of financial irregularities against him. When asked why the Congress is defending a private individual, Rashid Alvi, a spokesperson for the party, said, "This attack, which was done purposely, was not an attack on an individual person. This was an attack on the Congress party."

Law Minister Salman Khurshid said that Mr Kejriwal has forced the Congress to react by linking Mr Vadra to Sonia Gandhi in his allegations.

"If he (Mr Kejriwal) had been just mentioned Robert Vadra, then we would not have replied. But he said Robert Vadra, who is directly related to Sonia Gandhi. So we have to reply on the behalf of Sonia Ji. She is the sole reason of what we are and where we are. The Congress chief is everything for us and we can even die for her," Mr Khurshid said yesterday.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Germany: "Islamists Want to Bring Jihad to Europe"

(Courtsey:- Gatestoneinstitute)
by Soeren Kern
August 21, 2012 at 5:00 am

The report also states that over 100,000 native Germans have converted to Islam in recent years.

German Intelligence Chief Gerhard Schindler has issued a warning saying that Europe is at great risk of terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists.

In a wide-ranging interview with the German newspaper Die Welt, Schindler said the German foreign intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), is particularly concerned about the threat posed by homegrown terrorists, individuals who are either born or raised in Europe and who travel to war zones like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia or Yemen to obtain training in terrorist methods.

Schindler said: "A particular threat stems from Al Qaeda structures in Yemen. They want to bring Jihad to Europe. Among other tactics, this involves the 'lone wolf' model, which involves individuals who are citizens of the targeted country and who go abroad for training. We know that this is strategy is currently high on Al Qaeda's agenda, and we are accordingly attentive."

Schindler's comments came just days after Spanish authorities arrested three suspected al Qaeda terrorists who were allegedly plotting an airborne attack on a shopping mall near Gibraltar, the British overseas territory on the southernmost tip of Spain.

Schindler's warning also comes amid the backdrop of a high-security court trial of four suspected Al Qaeda members which began in the German city of Düsseldorf on July 25. German public prosecutors say the defendants -- three home grown Islamists born in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and one Moroccan national -- were planning to stage a "sensational terror attack" in Germany.

Also known as the "Düsseldorfer Cell," the defendants are also accused of plotting to assassinate the former commander of German Special Forces (KSK Kommando Spezialkräfte) as well as to attack the US Army base in the Bavarian town of Grafenwöhr.

German authorities began monitoring the group in early 2010, when the American Central Intelligence Agency alerted German police to the fact that the Moroccan, Abdeladim el-Kebir, 31, had entered Germany after having been trained at an Al Qaeda camp in Waziristan along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in 2010.

German public prosecutors say El-Kebir, also known as Abi al-Barra, was the ringleader of the Düsseldorfer Cell and, following orders from an unidentified senior Al-Qaeda operative, in November 2010 began working on a plot to blow up public buildings, train stations and airports in Germany. After several months of surveillance by German police, El-Kebir was arrested in April 2011.

Before his arrest, El-Kebir also recruited three accomplices he knew from his student days in the German city of Bochum: a 32-year-old German-Moroccan named Jamil Seddiki, a 21-year-old German-Iranian named Amid Chaabi, and a 28-year-old German named citizen Halil Simsek. The three were arrested in Germany in December 2011.

Prosecutors say that Seddiki was in charge of producing explosives while Chaabi and Simsek were responsible for communications with the al Qaeda leadership.

During testimony in court, it emerged that all four defendants led inconspicuous lives. Simsek, for example, who was born in the German city of Gelsenkirchen, earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Bochum. He had wanted to become a German police officer but his application was rejected for medical reasons. Chaabi, who was born in Bochum, was studying Information Technology at the University of Hagen when he was arrested. Seddiki, a high school graduate, was working as an electrician.

Prosecutors have compiled 260 ring-binders containing evidence gathered by investigators; the prosecutor's arraignment runs to 500 pages. The main accusation against the men is that they set up a terrorist cell and prepared to commit murder.

Federal Prosecutor Michael Bruns told the court that the defendants "planned to carry out a spectacular and startling attack" in Germany and that the defendants "wanted to spread fear and horror."

The trial is expected to run for 30 days; a verdict is expected in November. If the four accused men are found guilty, they face up to ten years in prison.

(In November 2011, a federal court in Brooklyn, New York indicted el-Kebir on charges of conspiring to provide Al-Qaeda with explosives and training. If extradited and convicted, el-Kebir faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.)

Underscoring German officialdom's anxiety over home grown Islamic terrorism, the German state of Lower Saxony recently published a practical guide to extremist Islam to help citizens identify tell-tale signs of Muslims who are becoming radicalized.

Security officials said the objective of the document is to mitigate the threat of home-grown terrorist attacks by educating Germans about radical Islam and encouraging them to refer suspected Islamic extremists to the authorities -- a move that reflects mounting concern in Germany over the growing assertiveness of Salafist Muslims, who openly state that they want to establish Islamic Sharia law in the country and across Europe.

The 54-page document, "Radicalization Processes in the Context of Islamic Extremism and Terrorism," which provides countless details about the Islamist scene in Germany, paints a worrisome picture of the threat of radical Islam there.

According to the report, German security agencies estimate that approximately 1,140 individuals living in Germany pose a high risk of becoming Islamic terrorists. The document also states that up to 100,000 native Germans have converted to Islam in recent years, and that "intelligence analysis has found that converts are especially susceptible to radicalization…Security officials believe that converts comprise between five to ten percent of the Salafists."

Soeren Kern is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Vadra storm exposes double standards in Cong leadership

(Courtsey:-Rediffnews)
Renu Mittal in New Delhi


Congress leaders going all-out to defend Sonia Gandhi's  son-in-law has left several red faced, with leaders privately speaking of unfair practices in the party, reports Renu Mittal.
Almost the entire Congress party and a number of ministers in the United Progressive Alliance government including Finance Minister P Chidambaram  have been fielded by the leadership to defend Robert Vadra the son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi. Vadra has been targeted for possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and has been accused of carrying out big business dealings with DLF for a quid pro quo.


On the face of it, party leaders are defending Vadra as it involves the first family of the Congress party, but underneath there is a simmering resentment at the double standards of the leadership. Sonia Gandhi has made it a point to ask any leader against whom charges of corruption have surfaced to put in their papers and step down, with the party refusing to defend the person in any way at all.
Senior leaders point out that in Vadra's case, however, there is an all out attempt to involve the party fully, even as the party has had no connect with him and he is not even a member of the Congress party. This has led to red faces, with leaders privately speaking of unfair practices in the party.
When former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao was running from pillar to post for his legal cases, there was no attempt by the party to come to his help. Instead, he was left to his own devices despite the fact that he was the Congress prime minister for a full five year term.
Closer home, leaders give a number of examples to establish that she has ruthlessly tried to safeguard her image by removing anyone against whom public charges have been made. The most glaring example is that of Natwar Singh (former cabinet minister) whose name was made public in the oil scam with Iraq.
The evidence against him was flimsy as well as a part of the alleged conspiracy by the United States to remove him as the then external affairs minister of India  as he did not suit the United States ideology. Natwar Singh was known to be the closest person to Sonia Gandhi addressing her by her first name. But he was asked to resign along with being booted out of the party. He still remains out of the Congress and remains busy with his writings.
Ashok Chavan  former Maharashtra  chief minister, was sacked before you could blink your eyes, for having had two flats in Adarsh society and now there is a case of seven flats in one particular society.
A similar fate befell Shashi Tharoor  the first-time MP and minister who was called and told to put in his papers over his friend Sunanda receiving sweat equity. He was charged with using his influence as a Union minister to help his friend. Later he was asked to resign, after which he married Sunanda Pushkar and he is now busy attending parties and social events.
Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi  was shown the door when allegations against him surfaced in the Commonwealth games  and the same thing happened to Ajit Jogi who was Chattisgarh chief minister.
Congress leaders are taking the plea that Robert Vadra is a businessman, who has a right to live his life and that his business is independent of the politics of his mother-in-law and 10 Janpath. But Congress leaders apart from others are also asking the question; why is the party being made to defend him particularly since most of these allegations have already come in the public domain in a financial paper at the beginning of the year and Robert Vadra has admitted to most of it.
What may be a tricky issue for him and DLF to answer is how a public limited company like DLF gave unsecured loans to a private company since it is public money which is at stake. According to the rules, the board of governors can give permission for this, but then politically it can be an issue of impropriety which can be used against Vadra.
Politically, the disclosure of Vadra's wealth and his real estate and other portfolio, which certainly looks impressive, has served the purpose of putting Sonia Gandhi in the dock since sources say that most of the charges are based on facts and documents. Kejriwal has challenged the Congress to file a defamation case against him, saying he will face it. But within the Congress, the defenders will be remembered as the real loyalists in the future.
Vadra, who is away from the country and is said to have been in Australia  when the disclosures came on Saturday, has tweeted, "Thanks so much for your concern. I am fine and can handle all the negativity." He has further added, "(I have)lost people I loved. What can be worse?"

Romney vows U.S. renewal; Obama has big money month

(Courtesy:-Washington Times)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Opening the campaign’s last month, Mitt Romney ticked off indicators of economic misery Saturday night to suggest that a drop in unemployment hasn’t reversed what ails the nation. President Barack Obama’s campaign and Democrats posted an impressive fundraising haul, easing the party’s concerns that he would face a significant money disadvantage in the crucial closing days.FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2012, file photo President Barack Obama speaks about manufacturing and jobs during a visit to Intel Corporation's Ocotillo facility in Chandler, Ariz. The economy is weak and the job market brutal. Nearly 13 million Americans can't find work; the national unemployment rate is 8.1 percent, the highest level ever three years after a recession supposedly ended. A divided Washington has done little to ease the misery. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
Romney rallied in battleground Florida the day after the government reported an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent in September, breaking a 43-month streak of joblessness of 8 percent or higher The report also risked breaking Romney’s stride, gained in a strong debate performance days earlier.
Persistently high unemployment, long after the recession’s official end, has been a leading threat to Obama’s re-election and the improvement came as a marked relief to the Obama campaign and a tricky development for his Republican rival.
Romney told an evening rally in Apopka, Fla., that with poverty, the food-stamp rolls and gas prices up, incomes down, college graduates struggling to find work and millions of people who’ve lost jobs no longer trying to get new ones, it’s clear Obama doesn’t know how to fix the economy. “I know how, and I will get the job done.”
Bolstered by the Democratic National Convention, Obama and his party Saturday reported a combined take of $181 million for September, their best fundraising month of the campaign and just short of their record of $190 million in the 2008 campaign, also in September. Romney’s campaign has not released its report for the month yet.
It was oddly quiet one month out. Obama took time off for a 20th anniversary celebration with his wife, Michelle, postponed from the day of the first presidential debate last week. They dined at Bourbon Steak in the Georgetown section of Washington. Romney devoted time to preparing for the next debate, Oct. 16 in Hempstead, N.Y., before his rally.
But the money machine was grinding relentlessly. Republican running mate Paul Ryan scheduled an evening fundraiser in Milwaukee, Wis., and neither party let up in their appeals for cash for the frantic final weeks ahead. Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden go head-to-head in a debate Thursday in Danville, Ky.
“There is exactly one month left to go until Election Day,” Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in an email pitch. “The stakes are too high for us to take our foot off the gas now.” The president was scheduled to launch a lucrative and celebrity-studded fundraising swing to Los Angeles and San Francisco on Sunday and Monday followed by a campaign rally in battleground Ohio.
Republicans and Romney himself have seemed invigorated by his spirited leadoff debate performance against a subdued president, which played out for a huge national TV audience, estimated at more than 67 million, just as voters at-large are tuning in to the campaign.
But then came the jobless report Friday. Obama seized on the good news, “a reminder that this country has come too far to turn back now,” while Romney had little choice but to play down its significance.
“By any rational measure, it’s crystal clear we’re in the middle of a jobs crisis,” Romney said in a fundraising message to supporters. “My priority is jobs. And from Day One of my presidency, I will lead us out of this crisis.”
Defensive after the debate, Democrats contended Romney talked a good game but at the expense of the truth. A new TV ad by the Obama campaign, called “Dishonest,” carries on the post-debate theme that Romney grossly misrepresented his own positions as well as Obama’s on taxes. Online videos were posted by the campaign with the mantra, “Romney won’t tell the truth,” about Medicare, energy, taxes and more.
The latest fundraising report showed Obama and the Democratic National Committee improving on their take of about $114 million in August, when Obama gained a narrow edge in the money race after trailing Romney and Republicans for three straight months.
The Romney campaign has refused to release its September fundraising numbers, which are due Oct. 20, or say if they will make them available early as has become custom.
Aides have suggested that fundraising suffered in the final weeks of the month as polls found Romney falling behind Obama. Following Romney’s debate performance, they were privately optimistic the numbers would improve to help fuel a television advertising blitz over the campaign’s final month in as many battleground states as possible.
The president said in a series of messages on Twitter, the online social network, that more than 1.8 million people donated last month, including about 567,000 who had not given money before in 2008 or 2012. About 10 million people have donated to the campaign. Obama’s campaign, the DNC and various fundraising entities supporting the president have now raised about $835 million, putting the campaign in striking distance of raising $1 billion for the season.
The Romney campaign was releasing a TV ad featuring a woman who says she voted for Obama in 2008 but is supporting the Republican today. “Why Mitt Romney?” she asks. “Being a woman, you think about your children, and you think about their future. And what I want to think about is a future that has jobs. That our economy’s growing again. That’s important to women and it’s important to me.”

Pat Condell hits out at rioting by Muslims on "Innocence of Muslims" Film


We don't care if you're offended, and we never will. Get used to it.

US warns citizens not to travel to Pakistan
http://dawn.com/2012/09/20/us-warns-citizens-not-to-travel-to-pakistan/

Al-Qaeda threatens attacks on US diplomats
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/18/innocence-of-muslims-protests_n_1892...

US ambassador and three staff killed in film protest
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/us-ambassador-chris-stevens-an...

Fatwa issued against "Innocence of Muslims" film producer
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/lebanon/9549664/Fatwa-is...

Turkish PM thinks Islamophobia is a crime against humanity
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/142051/pm-erdogan-islamophobia-should-be-re...

Pakistan calls in the army to control riot at US embassy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19660294

Pakistan declares holiday in response to prophet film
http://india.nydailynews.com/newsarticle/505a0060c3d4ca3763000004/pakistan-de...

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