Israel's Mossad Murder Iranian Nuclear Scientist & FBI Creates Then Arrests Muslim Terrorists???

UPDATE: 4:45 PM Nov.30, 2010

Police/ FBI Entrapment :Another Muslim American turned into a Terrorist Wannabe by FBI



The FBI is obviously quite pleased with itself over its arrest of a 19-year-old Somali-American, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who — with months of encouragement, support and money from the FBI’s own undercover agents — allegedly attempted to detonate a bomb at a crowded Christmas event in Portland, Oregon. Media accounts are almost uniformly trumpeting this event exactly as the FBI describes it. Loyalists of both parties are doing the same, with Democratic Party commentators proclaiming that this proves how great and effective Democrats are at stopping The Evil Terrorists, while right-wing polemicists point to this arrest as yet more proof that those menacing Muslims sure are violent and dangerous.

"It’s impossible to conceive of Mohamud having achieved anything on his own. Before being ensnared by the FBI, the only tangible action he had taken was to write three articles on “fitness and jihad” for the online magazine Jihad Recollections. At least based on what is known, he had no history of violence, no apparent criminal record, had never been to a training camp in Afghanistan, Pakistan or anywhere else, and — before meeting the FBI — had never taken a single step toward harming anyone. Does that sound like some menacing sleeper Terrorist to you?"

The FBI successfully thwarts its own Terrorist plot by Glenn Greenwald,Salon.com Nov. 28, 2010


Are these bombings in Iran tied to the Israelis. Is this just another murder by the Mossad and possibly with the help of the CIA or black ops by the military. If there is enough proof should Obama speak out against Israel finally. Or will Israel if guilty of these crimes manage to once again get away with murder .


Israel's Mossad Behind Killing of Iranian Nuclear Scientist: Report
By Al BawabaNov. 29.2010 via Information Clearing House.

-- An Iranian nuclear scientist was killed on Monday and another university professor and his wife were hurt in two separate car blasts in Tehran. News agencies reported "unknown terrorists" detonated the cars of Dr. Majid Shahriari and Prof. Fereydoun Abbasiin in separate locations in the capital on Monday morning, IRNA reported.

Shahriari was killed immediately, but Abbasi and his wife suffered injuries and were transferred to hospital.

The two were professors at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. Fars news agency said Israel and the US stand behind the explosions.

A prominent Iranian nuclear scientist has been killed and another wounded in two bomb attacks in Tehran. Reports suggest they were targeted in two different locations. Both by men on motorcycles who attached bombs to their cars. RT talks to Kian Mokhtari is a journalist and broadcaster in Tehran.

Bomb kills Iran's top nuclear scientist RT TV

Glenn Greenwald comments and analyzes the latest case of a would be Muslim terrorist. Greenwald argues that Mohamed Osman Mohamud case is one of possible FBI entrapment. The key evidence purportedly proving that it was not a case of entrapment is conveniently missing.

But his criticism is not just limited to the FBI but to an environment in which the media over and over again fails to do its job by asking the tough questions or doing some investigation of their own into these cases. Instead the media just accepts whatever those in authority tell them in these cases.

And the media is also not interested in discovering what the motives are of these individual wannabe terrorists. Is it merely "Jihad" to spread Islam and to kill "Infidels" there is little interest in economic , political or as a matter retaliation for what America and the Western Nations are doing in these various Muslim and 3rd World Countries.

Such motives are ignored or are just too difficult for the public or journalist and Media stars to understand or such motives just do not fit with the prevailing narrative.

The FBI successfully thwarts its own Terrorist plot by Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com , Nov. 28, 2010

The FBI is obviously quite pleased with itself over its arrest of a 19-year-old Somali-American, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who — with months of encouragement, support and money from the FBI’s own undercover agents — allegedly attempted to detonate a bomb at a crowded Christmas event in Portland, Oregon. Media accounts are almost uniformly trumpeting this event exactly as the FBI describes it. Loyalists of both parties are doing the same, with Democratic Party commentators proclaiming that this proves how great and effective Democrats are at stopping The Evil Terrorists, while right-wing polemicists point to this arrest as yet more proof that those menacing Muslims sure are violent and dangerous.

What’s missing from all of these celebrations is an iota of questioning or skepticism. All of the information about this episode — all of it — comes exclusively from an FBI affidavit filed in connection with a Criminal Complaint against Mohamud. As shocking and upsetting as this may be to some, FBI claims are sometimes one-sided, unreliable and even untrue, especially when such claims — as here — are uncorroborated and unexamined. That’s why we have what we call “trials” before assuming guilt or even before believing that we know what happened: because the government doesn’t always tell the complete truth, because they often skew reality, because things often look much different once the accused is permitted to present his own facts and subject the government’s claims to scrutiny. The FBI affidavit — as well as whatever its agents are whispering into the ears of reporters — contains only those facts the FBI chose to include, but omits the ones it chose to exclude. And even the “facts” that are included are merely assertions at this point and thus may not be facts at all.

It may very well be that the FBI successfully and within legal limits arrested a dangerous criminal intent on carrying out a serious Terrorist plot that would have killed many innocent people, in which case they deserve praise. Court-approved surveillance and use of undercover agents to infiltrate terrorist plots are legitimate tactics when used in accordance with the law.

But it may also just as easily be the case that the FBI – as they’ve done many times in the past — found some very young, impressionable, disaffected, hapless, aimless, inept loner; created a plot it then persuaded/manipulated/entrapped him to join, essentially turning him into a Terrorist; and then patted itself on the back once it arrested him for having thwarted a “Terrorist plot” which, from start to finish, was entirely the FBI’s own concoction. Having stopped a plot which it itself manufactured, the FBI then publicly touts — and an uncritical media amplifies — its “success” to the world, thus proving both that domestic Terrorism from Muslims is a serious threat and the Government’s vast surveillance powers — current and future new ones — are necessary.

There are numerous claims here that merit further scrutiny and questioning. First, the FBI was monitoring the email communications of this American citizen on U.S. soil for months (at least) with what appears to be the flimsiest basis: namely, that he was in email communication with someone in Northwest Pakistan, “an area known to harbor terrorists” (para. 5 of the FBI Affidavit). Is that enough to obtain court approval to eavesdrop on someone’s calls and emails? I’m glad the FBI is only eavesdropping with court approval, if that’s true, but certainly more should be required for judicial authorization than that. Communicating with someone in Northwest Pakistan is hardly reasonable grounds for suspicion.

”

...there are ample facts that call into question whether Mohamud’s actions were driven by the FBI’s manipulation and pressure rather than his own predisposition to commit a crime. In June, he attempted to fly to Alaska in order to work on a fishing job he obtained through a friend, but he was on the Government’s no-fly list. That caused the FBI to question him at the airport and then bar him from flying to Alaska, and thus prevented him from earning income with this job (para. 25). Having prevented him from working, the money the FBI then pumped him with — including almost $3,000 in cash for him to rent his own apartment (para. 61) — surely helped make him receptive to their suggestions and influence. And every other step taken to perpetrate this plot — from planning its placement to assembling the materials to constructing the bomb — was all done at the FBI’s behest and with its indispensable support and direction.

It’s impossible to conceive of Mohamud having achieved anything on his own. Before being ensnared by the FBI, the only tangible action he had taken was to write three articles on “fitness and jihad” for the online magazine Jihad Recollections. At least based on what is known, he had no history of violence, no apparent criminal record, had never been to a training camp in Afghanistan, Pakistan or anywhere else, and — before meeting the FBI — had never taken a single step toward harming anyone. Does that sound like some menacing sleeper Terrorist to you?

Finally, there is, as usual, no discussion whatsoever in media accounts of motive. There are several statements attributed to Mohamud by the Affidavit that should be repellent to any decent person, including complete apathy -- even delight -- at the prospect that this bomb would kill innocent people, including children. What would drive a 19-year-old American citizen -- living in the U.S. since the age of 3 -- to that level of sociopathic indifference? He explained it himself in several passages quoted by the FBI, and -- if it weren't for the virtual media blackout of this issue -- this line of reasoning would be extremely familiar to Americans by now (para. 45):

Undercover FBI Agent: You know there's gonna be a lot of children there?

Mohamud: Yeah, I know, that's what I'm looking for.

Undercover FBI Agent: For kids?

Mohamud: No, just for, in general a huge mass that will, like for them you know to be attacked in their own element with their families celebrating the holidays. And then for later to be saying, this was them for you to refrain from killing our children, women . . . . so when they hear all these families were killed in such a city, they'll say you know what your actions, you know they will stop, you know. And it's not fair that they should do that to people and not feeling it.

We hear the same exact thing over and over and over from accused Terrorists — that they are attempting to carry out plots in retaliation for past and ongoing American violence against Muslim civilians and to deter such future acts. Here we find one of the great mysteries in American political culture: that the U.S. Government dispatches its military all over the world — invading, occupying, and bombing multiple Muslim countries — torturing them, imprisoning them without charges, shooting them up at checkpoints, sending remote-controlled drones to explode their homes, imposing sanctions that starve hundreds of thousands of children to death — and Americans are then baffled when some Muslims — an amazingly small percentage — harbor anger and vengeance toward them and want to return the violence. And here we also find the greatest myth in American political discourse: that engaging in all of that military aggression somehow constitutes Staying Safe and combating Terrorism — rather than doing more than any single other cause to provoke, sustain and fuel Terrorism.

UPDATE: A very similar thing happened last month when the FBI announced that it had arrested someone who was planning to bomb the DC Metro system when, in reality, “the only plotting he did was in response to instructions from federal agents he thought were accomplices.” That concocted FBI plot then led to the Metro Police announcing a new policy of random searches of passengers’ bags.

Meanwhile, in Oregon, the mosque sometimes attended by Mohamud wasvictimized today by arson. So the FBI did not stop any actual Terrorist plots, but they may have helped inspire one

Note I came across the Greenwald article via IslamophobiaToday.com.

Greenwald: FBI Thwarts its Own Terrorist Plot Islamophobia Today Nov. 29, 2010

Recently a case regarding a 19 year old Somali-American accused of attempting to blow up a Christmas event in Oregon has garnered national attention. The arrest fits a familiar pattern in which individuals are encouraged, supported and financed by the FBI to detonate bombs. Did the FBI stay within their limits when pursuing the Somali-American, or did they cross over the boundary into entrapment?

Glenn Greenwald has an excellent piece that questions this arrest and highlights for the umpteenth time the motive behind these “attacks,” a motive that is obfuscated quite often by politicians, the media and anti-Muslim activists

.



and so it goes,
GORD.

Roman Catholic Priest Hires Hitman & Anti-Abortion GOP Legislator Brandishing Handgun Outside Abortion Clinic

Thanksgiving in USA another way for Americans to take solace in the Myths of American exceptionalism and America as God's chosen nation. The American Myth includes the belief that God is on America's side and any who dare criticize or oppose American policies are therefore anti-American and by definition anti-God or anti-Christianity. The US government and the Mainstream Media no matter how horrible and unjust US policies are they insist upon the "Goodness of America". Unfortunately it is America's "Darkside" that leaves the biggest impression on the peoples of other nations. We know that Americans in general believe that America can do no wrong since whatever it does is blessed by God. So we get the spectacle of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney , Karl Rove etc. still strutting around boldly and defiantly defending the most egregious policies of their eight years of power.

The Mainstream Media and a large swath of the American people defend the past and/or present policies of the US government whether it be the use of the death penalty or the torturing and abuse of POWs to the invasion of sovereign nations and the killing of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis or the slaughter of Native Americans or the enslavement of a few million black slaves or using American backed death squads in Central America or in Iraq or ignoring the suffering of their own citizens whether traumatized Iraq veterans or the homeless and the poor or those left to suffer after Hurricane Katrina or the BP oil spill or the wanton destruction of Mountain Top Removal Mining in which mountains and forests and rivers and streams are destroyed all in the name of profit . We are told that we shouldn't be picking on America or its past or its present . But America to outsiders is like a rogue elephant lumbering about the globe creating even more misery rather than less.




I Couldn't Find It in My Heart to Celebrate Thanksgiving by Russell Simmons at Huffington Post , Nov. 28, 2010

I personally don't celebrate Thanksgiving because I don't cherish the invasion, killing, enslavement and impoverishment of indigenous Americans, and the ritual annual slaughter of millions of innocent animals at the alter of our great nation's founding, and the madness of "Black Friday" that our founders, both political and spiritual, would have detested

As an act of kindness and friendship, in the beautiful New England autumn of 1621, members of the Wampanoag tribe, who for thousands of years had inhabited the land around Plymouth, Massachusetts, offered a thanksgiving feast to the newly arrived Pilgrims who had come to "settle" the Americas. It was a bond that quickly developed as the Native Americans taught the Pilgrims tools of agriculture which enabled them to survive in their new found homeland. Unfortunately, history would not remember this friendship well, and the suffering of our native people is a deep scar our country has yet to heal. For the tribes who were "lucky" enough to survive the massacres, killings and hard dirt reservations we have placed them on, I write this piece for you.

...We have to be constantly awake and aware of our history and make decisions based on an acute, enlightened awareness of reality. The Buddha reminds us not to follow the masses but instead to check deep inside ourselves and see if what our teachers tell us is true. Christ turned over the tables in the Jerusalem Temple that included burnt offerings that were desecrated by commercialism and hypocrisy


...We somehow pushed aside the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis and Afghans since 2001. ... We somehow pushed aside the death of Haitians from cholera, Africans from malaria and Cambodians from drowning. We no longer can afford to push these harsh truths aside, as our world becomes more connected everyday, we must stand together not with just our countrymen and women, but citizens from all countries.

and here's an update of Israel's Ongoing collective punishment of the peoples of Gaza:

Israel continues the illegal and immoral collective punishment of the people of Gaza . America still continues to support Israel unconditionally no matter how many innocents are left to suffer because of their draconian inhumane treatment of the people of Gaza and the Palestinians in general.

Israel claims though it will stop the building of new settlements in the West bank in return for another large supply of arms from the USA. And yet we know very well the Settler's Movement gets its support from the Israeli government and the IDF. Settlers kill Arabs, destroy their homes and their Olive groves etc. with impunity. Of course Israel will from time to time to appease the Americans and other allies with a temporary crack down on settlers but it is just for show. The Israeli government has though no real intention of giving up its illegally occupied territories or treating Palestinians as equals.

What would happen if a Muslim country herded the non-Muslim citizens into Ghettos and restricted their freedoms and even their freedom of movement, freedom of association, freedom of speech the freedom to protest , the freedom to defend themselves when attacked etc.

Israeli Government Documents Show Deliberate Policy to Restrict Food to Gaza by: Saed Bannoura ,International Middle East Media Center | Report Nov. 6, 2010

In 2007, when Israel began its full siege on Gaza, Dov Weisglass, adviser to then Prime-Minister Ehud Olmert, stated clearly, “The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.” The documents now released contain equations used by the Israeli government to calculate the exact amounts of food, fuel and other necessities needed to do exactly that.

The documents are even more disturbing, say human rights activists, when one considers the fact that close to half of the people of Gaza are children under the age of eighteen. This means that Israel has deliberately forced the undernourishment of hundreds of thousands of children in direct violation of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

This release of documents also severely undermines Israel's oft-made claim that the siege is "for security reasons", as it documents a deliberate and systematic policy of collective punishment of the entire population of Gaza.

Gisha's director, in relation to the release of documents, said, "Israel banned glucose for biscuits and the fuel needed for regular supply of electricity – paralyzing normal life in Gaza and impairing the moral character of the State of Israel. I am sorry to say that major elements of this policy are still in place."

And story of Priest hiring hit-man to kill person accusing him of sexual abuse gets little time in the Mainstream Media - what if this had been a Muslim preacher an Imam. Well Fox News, Limbaugh, O'Reilly , Glenn Beck et al would go ballistic condemning all Muslims of being violent Jihadists based on the actions of one Muslim or a group of Muslims.
Meanwhile no one thinks that because of such actions of a Catholic priest that all Catholics are as depraved as he is.

John Fiala, Texas Priest, Charged With Hiring Hitman To Kill Teen Who Accused Him Of Sexual Abuse at Huffington Post Nov. 23, 2010

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest has been arrested on charges that he solicited a hit man to kill a teenager who had accused him of sexual abuse. Authorities said John Fiala first offered the job to a neighbor, who blew the whistle and helped police arrange a sting. They said Fiala got as far as negotiating a $5,000 price for the slaying before investigators moved in.

The 52-year-old clergyman was arrested Nov. 18 at his suburban Dallas home and jailed on $700,000 bond. In April, he was named in a lawsuit filed by the boy's family, who accused Fiala of molesting the youth, including twice forcing him to have sex at gunpoint.

The abuse allegedly took place in 2007 and 2008, when Fiala was a priest at the Sacred Heart of Mary Parish in the West Texas community of Rocksprings, a rural enclave known for sheep and goat herding.

The family's lawsuit also named the Archdiocese of San Antonio and Archbishop Jose Gomez, alleging that church leadership should have known Fiala was abusive.

Meanwhile GOP legislator lurks about Planned Parenthood offices brandishing a hand gun. It is not clear if he was going to kill his girlfriend who secretly went for an abortion or if he was intent on killing staff at the Planned Parenthood centre.
Why wasn't this story on the front page and discussed ad nauseum on Fox News and CNN. The thing of it is is that he was not a Muslim or even a liberal, a Democrat or a progressive so the story gets little play. Besides Fox News uses an inordinate amount of time attacking groups such as Planned Parenthood which they see as anti-Christian and unAmerican.

Anti-Abortion GOP Legislator Cuffed for Brandishing Handgun Outside Abortion Clinic Julianne Escobedo Shepherd | Sourced from AlterNet , November 26, 2010

A Republican legislator in Minnesota has been stripped of his leadership duties after lurking near a Planned Parenthood clinic with a loaded handgun.


On November 16, State House Rep. Tom Hackbarth was picked up by cops after a security guard outside the St. Paul clinic saw him acting suspicious... and brandishing a handgun. According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, cops handcuffed him and kept his weapon because of his "stalking-like behavior” and ”harassment or terroristic threats." The Planned Parenthood was closed and the legislator later said it was all a big “misunderstanding.” But his explanation was no less nefarious than the implications: Hackbarth was there to spy on a woman he'd been seeing who he suspected of lying to him. He told officers at the scene that he was “jealous”, but later backtracked.

"It's not like I was really jealous, but you know how you meet this person and you really like her, and she's saying all the right things, but you think she's feeding you a line of bull----? She's giving you all this ... and you want to figure out what's going on. Well that's what I did," he said in a telephone interview in which he readily talked about the incident but questioned its newsworthiness. "Sure enough, she lied to me and I'm done with it."

Stalker-like behavior indeed. Hackbarth's position chairing the House Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee has been suspended

and so it goes,
GORD.

William S. Burroughs Thanksgiving Prayer And "Wounded Knee Massacre" & Rush Limbaugh Attacks Obama's Thanksgiving Proclamation

Happy Thanksgiving America???Yes this past week was Thanksgiving Day in the USA and the beginning of their Holiday Season. And once again Americans revisit their highly inventive Myths about their history in which the Colonialists were angelic peace loving tolerant souls rather than the rapacious , greedy materialistic , religious fanatics that many of them actually were.

When will America grow up and come to terms with its real history instead of inventing more Myths about American righteousness and Exceptionalism.
So who are the real savages who kill murder with impunity.

American Imperialism from Wounded Knee to Mi Li to Abu Ghraib and Fallujah
Wounded Knee Massacre 1890



The claim is that that many of the early settlers left Europe to find a place where they could freely practice their religion . They claimed the other European Christians were persecuting them. But many of these early settlers were part of a rather conservative intolerant Christians sects which had tried to foist their beliefs on everybody and not just practice their own faith without interfering with the religious faith and practices of others. Other settlers arriving in the 18th and 19th century were being oppressed and dispossessed driven off of their lands as part of ethnic cleansing as the British did in the Highlands of Scotland known as the Highland Clearances or when they kicked the Irish off of their lands and left to starve by the Brits and their Scottish collaborators and quislings .

William S. Burroughs "Thanksgiving Day Prayer



and now Rush Limbaugh who claims the Europeans did not invade the Americas . Is Limbaugh saying then what? the European settler/invaders asked the Native Americans for permission to land and to take over two continents from the Arctic circle the tundra down to the southern most tip of South America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Limbaugh seems to want to imply that the Native Americans were not then or now the equals of these superior Europeans who had the Christian God who is also the God of Capitalism on their side.

Rush Limbaugh Rips Obama's Thanksgiving Proclamation (AUDIO) by Adam J. Rose, Huffington post, Nov. 25, 2010




Limbaugh thinks the number of Native Americans killed by the Europeans is an insignificant number. But we know historically the War against the Indians lasted for over five centuries. The number of Native Americans killed is estimated at tens of millions.

The Christian Europeans characterized the Native peoples as backward as heathens who refused to become Christians.They were further demonized as vicious savages who were the spawn of Satan who deserved to be wiped off of the face of the earth. The European Settler invaders characterized native Americans as having less regard for human life than did the Europeans. And sometimes the Native Americans tried to fight back. They were the desperate insurgents fighting to protect their lands and their way of life. Limbaugh and others of his ilk are dismissive of the wrongs done to Native Americans over the centuries.

Once the native Peoples had been ethnically cleansed til only a remnant was left were forced onto "Reservations" which often were void of suitable arable land for growing crops or having little or no game to hunt or fish.

Limbaugh suggest the current native Americans are somehow being coddled by the US government. Or he suggests the Native Americans are still taking advantage of the European settlers with their Gambling Casinos and their government subsidized "Reservations".

Limbaugh also is critical of the Native Americans because he believes they were basically socialists and communists who held property in common . Again he sets this up to prove the Capitalism and mercantile system and even the use of slaves was an improved system over whatever system Native Americans had. So he would argue in the competition of market shares and exploitation of natural resources the Native Americans didn't have a clue and so were the "Losers" who should stop whining about having lost on a fair and even playing field. So were the thousands of massacres of Native Americans all justified and nothing for the European settlers to feel a little guilty about. No of course not .

In Iraq for instance the Indigenous peoples of Iraq Limbaugh and other American conservatives argue that they lacked gratitude for being invaded/ liberated by the Noble and unselfish Americans. But America had no legal or moral right to invade Iraq and then slaughter a half-million to one and a half million Iraqis. Yes 9/11 was a great tragedy and an evil act but the Iraqis and Saddam had nothing to do with the 9/11 terrorist attack.

Now Limbaugh , the Christian Zionists, the Neocons and Neoliberals are all gung ho to attack Iran and slaughter a couple of million more people based upon the erroneous belief that Iran is a direct imminent and present danger to the USA.
This belief is based in part upon the notion that Iran nor any other country has a right to control their own natural resources and to be concerned with its own interests before the interests of Americans. This belief is also based upon a belief in American exceptionalism and that America is God's chosen Nation and is the New Jerusalem or The City on the Hill. But many other nations make or have made similar claims such as the British when they had their Empire they believed they were the chosen people who were a source of benevolence to the various peoples of the world. Of course the peoples of the various nations didn't quite see it that way as the Brits invaded and conquered one nation after another slaughtering any who dared to resist. This can also be said about the various colonial powers of Europe ie french, Spanish, Dutch, German, Portuguese etc.


Rush Limbaugh Rips Obama's Thanksgiving Proclamation (AUDIO) by Adam J. Rose, Huffington post, Nov. 25, 2010

Rush Limbaugh tried to rain on Barack Obama's Thanksgiving Day parade, lashing out against a proclamation issued by the president to honor the national holiday and the story behind it.

He also went on the war path against Native Americans, calling for a look at the "scoreboard" of number of people killed since European settlers arrived, and insisting that "a bunch of Native Americans scammed us" in the deal to purchase Manhattan.

As found in the show's transcript, Limbaugh interprets Obama's version of events:

We were the invaders. The Indians are minding their own business. We were incompetent idiots. We didn't know how to feed ourselves. So they came along and showed us how, and that's what Thanksgiving is all about. Now, he says nothing about the Constitution in his Thanksgiving proclamation, because he's got a problem with it ... Every cliche that is wrong about Thanksgiving shows up in his proclamation

Obama did acknowledge George Washington, who declared the first nationally recognized Thanksgiving when the Constitution was enacted. Limbaugh didn't further clarify why the document from 1787 required a mention, even though the holiday's roots are generally traced back to at least 150 years earlier and it wouldn't become a regular national holiday until more than 75 years later.

Insisting that he thought the presidential proclamation seemed like a "phony," "parody," "hoax" and "prank," Limbaugh then offered his own interpretation of the holiday's significance:

[Obama] said that Thanksgiving is about the Indians saving us, with their agriculture and everything else. The true story of Thanksgiving is socialism failed. Of course we showed them gratitude! We shared our bounty with them, not because we didn't know how to make it. It was because we first failed as socialists. Only when we turned capitalists did we have plenty. The Indians didn't teach us capitalism.

Limbaugh punctuated his pre-Thanksgiving show with shots at Native Americans, joking that Obama had said their "rich culture continues to add to our Nation's heritage ... at their casinos and on their reservations." He immediately made it clear he was making that last bit up.

The host also argued that more people have been killed from lung cancer, "thanks to the Indian-invented custom of smoking tobacco," than from the arrival of Europeans and their wars and diseases. "Where are our reparations?" asked the well-known cigar smoker.

And despite his problems evaluating the recent Manhattan real estate market, Limbaugh had another look at the one from 1626. "We got shafted when we bought Manhattan," he claimed, saying that European settlers initially paid a Long Island tribe that didn't own the land, then had to repurchase it from the actual owners. "We got scammed ... we got hosed ... we paid for Manna-hata twice because a bunch of Native Americans scammed us."

In the long run, there hasn't been much buyer's remorse on behalf of the settlers.

As agitated as the conservative commentator was over Obama's buckle-hat tip to Native Americans, Media Matters notes that another well-known conservative named Ronald Reagan did the same in his 1981 proclamation:

On this day of thanksgiving, it is appropriate that we recall the first Thanksgiving, celebrated in the autumn of 1621. After surviving a bitter winter, the Pilgrims planted and harvested a bountiful crop. After the harvest they gathered their families together and joined in celebration and prayer with the Native Americans who had taught them so much. Clearly our forefathers were thankful not only for the material well-being of their harvest but for this abundance of goodwill as well.

and so it goes,
GORD.

USA Still A "Safe Haven" For Nazis War Criminals American Interests Come Before Morality As Usual !!!

UPDATE: 2:48 PM Nov. 27, 2010



Nazi, Ford
German diplomats award Henry Ford, center, with their nation's highest decoration for foreigners, the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, in July 1938. (AP Photo)

"During World War II, Mr Faber was a member of the firing squad of the Westerbork concentration camp, a member of the Waffen-SS and a member of the Sonderkommando Feldmeijer death squad." from Bavaria: Nazi extradition of War Criminal Mr. Faber requires fresh evidence nov. 26, 2010 at Radio Netherlands

an aside GORD: Belonging to these organizations was not mandatory and those who belonged took an active part in mass murder of Jews, Roma, Homosexuals, political dissidents and insurgents and anyone else who defied the Nazis .


“America, which prided itself on being a safe haven for the persecuted, became...a safe haven for persecutors as well,”

...the report cites several cases when the Justice Department officials were the ones who concealed the facts about the Nazi past of applicants for entry into the US.
from "The USA – a “safe haven” for Nazis" Global Research.ca Nov. 16, 2010

The US defended and protected Nazis thugs who were War Criminals and not simply scientists who happen to work for the Nazi Party. Many of them worked enthusiastically for the Nazis. We know that the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld thugs themselves see nothing wrong with protecting such criminals but is Obama also going to defend the US decision to give aid and comfort to Nazi War Criminals . Or are we supposed to accept that because the events occurred some 70 years ago it no longer matters. One wonders if Jewish Americans agree with such policies .

The US government is uninterested in bringing to justice or just naming names of those who helped the Nazis whether they were scientists, industrialists , CEOs of US, British or German corporations such as Henry Ford,or George W. Bush's grandfather or Mercedes or Faber etc.How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power Guardian UK, Sept. 2004
also see: Books of The Times; Daimler-Benz and Its Nazi History By HERBERT MITGANG Pub: August 23, 1990 Mercedes in Peace and War German Automobile Workers, 1903-1945 By Bernard P. Bellon, NY Times

and on Henry Ford and the NAZIS see for instance: Ford and GM Scrutinized for Alleged Nazi Collaboration, By Michael Dobbs Washington Post, November 30, 1998

Three years after Swiss banks became the target of a worldwide furor over their business dealings with Nazi Germany, major American car companies find themselves embroiled in a similar debate.

Another proud moment in American history actually helping Nazi war criminals avoid justice Finally there is what appears to be concrete proof - not long ago to accuse America of such a crime was considered just a wild tin foil hat brigade Conspiracy Theory.And its another bit of history that Fox news will call a lie or find some way to defend even the indefensible. Blaming it on the Soviets and the Cold War or whatever doesn't really cut it. These thugs were war criminals who should have had to face justice.

This also shows the disingenuous public pose of the US governments concern over the Holocaust . Like the Vatican and other nations the US showed little concern over the fate of European Jewry. In the public they shed rehearsed tears while behind the scenes defending and protecting these butchering thugs. So America's posture as being a superior moral force in the world is once again shattered and shown to be mere nonsense. But what can one expect when American thugs such Lt. Caley of Mi Li fame or Oliver North who helped the so called Contras butcher and murder innocent civilians to terrorize the Nicaraguans to bring down a popular government the US did not like or the enabling of Death Squads in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala , Chile etc. In Iraq they let loose "Shia Death Squads" and on and on goes the American hypocrisy as Obama continues with the criminal and immoral policies and practices of the Bush /Cheney thugocracy as some have called it.


Secret papers reveal Nazis given 'safe haven' in US
A secret United States government report has offered fresh evidence that the CIA granted Nazi war criminals a "safe haven" in the US after the Second World War. at the Telegraph.co.uk Nov. 2010



USA helped Nazis after WW2 NewsofAP , Nov. 14, 2010

The notorious Nazis and their collaborators were given a "safe haven" in America by the CIA after World War II...citing a declassified report of the US government.

'The New York Times' said that the 600-page report contains details of decades of clashes with other nations over war criminals here and abroad, and provides new evidence about 24 of the most notorious Nazi cases of the last three decades.

"America, which prided itself on being a safe haven for the persecuted, became -- in some small measure -- a safe haven for persecutors as well," according to the US Justice Department report.

The report cites help that CIA officials provided in 1954 to Otto Von Bolschwing, an associate of Adolph Eichmann, who had helped develop the initial plans "to purge Germany of the Jews", and later worked for the CIA in the US. (PTI)

The USA – a “safe haven” for Nazis by Boris Volkhonsky at global Research.ca Nov. 16,2010

...Among the cases is, for example, the case of Otto Von Bolschwing, a former associate of one of the most notorious Nazi war criminals Adolf Eichmann, who masterminded and personally executed the plan “to purge Germany of the Jews”. Von Bolschwing, it has been revealed, helped Eichmann to develop the plan. After World War II he was granted access to the US and worked for the CIA. The report states that CIA officers were informed of Von Bolschwing’s Nazi past and even debated what should be done if Von Bolschwing were confronted about it — whether to deny any Nazi affiliation or “explain it away on the basis of extenuating circumstances.”

Another revealed case concerns Arthur L. Rudolph, a Nazi scientist who ran the Mittelwerk munitions factory. He was brought to the United States in 1945 for his rocket-making expertise under Operation Paperclip, an American program that recruited scientists who had worked in Nazi Germany. Later, Rudolph was highly honored by NASA and credited as the father of the Saturn V rocket.

The report says that Justice Department investigators found evidence that Rudolph was much more actively involved in exploiting slave laborers at Mittelwerk than he or American intelligence officials had acknowledged.

And cases like this are numerous. The most striking fact is that overtly the US officials have for decades urged other countries to prosecute former Nazi war criminals, but, as it turns out, covertly were using them for various purposes citing the “national interests”. The report reveals that quite a number of Nazis were granted free access to the US and later used for intelligence and other purposes, although government officials were well informed of their past.

“America, which prided itself on being a safe haven for the persecuted, became...a safe haven for persecutors as well,” says the report.

... why was the report kept secret for four years after it was initially compiled in 2006? And why, when sued by David Sobel, a Washington lawyer, and the National Security Archive under the Freedom of Information Act, the Department did provide Mr. Sobel with only a partial copy with more than 1,000 passages and references deleted based on exemptions for privacy and internal deliberations?

One of the explanations is simple: the report cites several cases when the Justice Department officials were the ones who concealed the facts about the Nazi past of applicants for entry into the US.

But actually, the reason is much deeper. The report clearly shows the level of the overall American (without any distinction between agencies) complicity and deception in such operations.

... It is universally acknowledged that the very notion of “human rights” is far above any political or other practical considerations. The US is trying hard to present itself as the leading proponent of human rights in the world. But the “NY Times” revelations show that when it comes to designing a nuclear warhead, or providing substantial intelligence data, or any other issue, much more earthly than the “human rights”, but bearing directly on the “national interests”, the very notion of “human rights” may easily be forgotten. The notorious “double standards” are once again at work.

...But the fact that America’s image has once again been tarnished remains unquestionable.

Germany and Bavaria refuse to give up a Dutch Nazi War Criminal now living in Germany. Ah the Germans still refuse to come to terms with their Nazi past. A recent poll of young adults in Germany seem to show that they have little or no knowledge of the Holocaust or worse still they believe it is all an exaggeration part of "a Jewish Conspiracy" to discredit Germany ??? -
Meanwhile in Germany and throughout Europe Neo-Nazism and racist and anti-Immigrant groups are on the rise. These groups are somewhat hysterical in their condemnation of various immigrants such as Muslims, the Roma (Gypsies) and other visible minorities from the Middle East, Africa or Asia etc. Odd that these are also associated with the vocal and sometimes violent European Islamophobes EDL & BNP & SIOE: Stop The Islamization of Europe etc. who are befriended by American and Canadian and Australian Islamophobes such as Pam Geller, Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch & SIOA : Stop The Islamization of America and David Horowitz, Daniel Pipes, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Michelle Malkin, Michelle Bachmann and Laura Engles, Limbaugh, Beck and O'Reilly, Sean Hannity & Fox News and Rupert Murdoch etc. etc. etc.

Ah yes Nazi war criminals are still at large but most Europeans, Americans , Canadians etc. don't want to hear about it . Even those who claim to not be anti-Semitic and who believe in supporting the state of Israel unconditionally who will shed "crocodile tears" over the Shoah and yet erroneously argue that all the Nazi war criminals were taken care of at Nuremberg. They deny that the allies and institutions such as the Catholic Church helped thousand to escape justice by way of an underground railway as it were referred to as the "Rat Line".


Bavaria E.xtradition Of Nazi War Criminal requires fresh evidence,via
© Radio Netherlands Worldwide Nov. 26, 2010

.

Bavaria's justice ministry says it needs fresh evidence to consider a request from the Dutch authorities to extradite a convicted Dutch war criminal now living in Germany. Klaas-Carel Faber, 88, is one of the most important Nazi war criminals still at large.

"In 2004 the Netherlands tried to make Mr Faber serve his sentence in Germany. The request was rejected on the basis of a 1957 ruling, which dropped the charges against him for lack of evidence. To review the decision, the Netherlands would have to submit new and important evidence", according to a spokesperson for Bavaria's justice ministry.

Germany's federal justice minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, has urged Bavaria "to look for alternative solutions." One of the options the minister recommends exploring is whether Mr Faber can serve the remainder of his prison sentence in Germany.

Bavaria's authorities are responsible for the matter because Mr Faber is a resident of that German state. Previous attempts to have him extradited all failed. The Dutch Public Prosecutor has now issued a European arrest warrant, a procedure which has not yet been tried.

During World War II, Mr Faber was a member of the firing squad of the Westerbork concentration camp, a member of the Waffen-SS and a member of the Sonderkommando Feldmeijer death squad.

In 1947, a Dutch tribunal sentenced him to death for killing at least 11 people at Westerbork and for assisting the enemy in wartime. A year later, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. In 1952, Mr Faber escaped from a top-security prison in the Dutch town of Breda and fled to West-Germany.

As a former member of the SS, Mr Faber was able to obtain German citizenship. Germany usually refuses to extradite citizens.

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide

and so it goes,
GORD.

Spanish Priest arrested with 21,000 images of child porn; what if he were Muslim? (IslamophobiaToday.Com)

UPDATE: 4:43 PM , Nov.26, 2010.



Adil Basharat dies after being beaten by group- random act of violence or Racism?
Killed for being Pakistani or for being Muslim?

Boy injured in Deanshanger group attack dies BBC News.co.uk, via Islamophobiatoday.com,Nov. 21, 2010

A 16-year-old boy critically injured in an attack in a Northamptonshire village has died in hospital.

Adil Basharat, of Milton Keynes, was assaulted in Stratford Road, Deanshanger, at 1100 GMT on Friday.

He died in Milton Keynes General Hospital on Sunday morning. Police said they had received no indication that the attack was racially motivated.

and from Daily Mail BBC star's son sees friend, 16, stabbed to death outside school gates By Daily Mail Reporter 22nd November 2010

BBC radio presenter Liz Kershaw has spoken of her horror after her son's friend was beaten and stabbed to death.

Adil Basharat was assaulted at the gates of Kingsbrook School in Deanshanger, Northamptonshire, on Friday morning.

Kershaw said it was not the first time Adil had been targeted, claiming he had faced racist taunts in the past.

Four men have been charged with his murder. The teenager, from Milton Keynes, was with friends who could only watch on helplessly as he was attacked.

Victim: Adil Basharat was beaten and stabbed at the gates of Kingsbrook School in Deanshanger, Northamptonshire, on Friday morning. Four men have been charged with his murder

It is interesting to say the least that Islam and all Muslims are saddled with the collective guilt by the actions of a extremist minority of Muslims. If some Muslims are terrorists than the untutored non-Muslims argue that all Muslims are at root and heart evil nasty anti-Christian anti-Western Anti-American would be terrorists.

So if a number of Catholic Priests or protestant ministers are involved in child pornography and or the sexual abuse of children should all Catholic Priests and all Ministers and Pastors etc. be held accountable for the few. Or to put it more emphatically are all Christians potentially at least Pedophiles.

One can multiply these examples easily such as if some white Christian Americans are " White Supremacists" are we to conclude that most if not all White Christian Americans are fanatically racist.
Or if some Americans are Islamophobic believing that all Muslims are evil or potentially dangerous should we then conclude all or most Americans are Islamophobic. We would need overwhelming proof to make such a claim.

For instance some critics of Islam disingenuously argue they respect or love all Muslims but hate the religion. But it is by way of the religion Islam that Muslims define themselves as Christians also define themselves by their particular religious beliefs.

Should all Christians be saddled with the guilt of Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust/Shoah because the majority of those murdering the Jews were in fact Christians.

Should all Jews bare the guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus. Because the Pharisees of Jerusalem condemned Jesus to death does this mean all Jews then and throughout history should carry that guilt. Of course many Christians do not blame Jews for Jesus 's death .

According to various readings interpretations of the Passion Of Christ the role of the Pharisees can be characterized in several different ways. They can be characterized as merely being instruments of God who have a part to play in this religious drama. The Crucifixion of necessity must take place so Jesus can by his blood redeem humankind . Others would instead put the blame for Jesus' death on the heads of the Romans since the Pharisees did not have the authority to insist on the death penalty. In order to make their religion more palatable for the Romans instead the Jews were cast as the killers of Jesus.

But again if the entire event of Jesus arrest, trial, and crucifixion are predestined by God then neither Jews or Romans can be held responsible for the crucifixion. The other way to put it is that Jews, Romans and all of mankind is collectively guilty for Jesus' execution. To blame Jews or Romans would appear to miss the point of the story. This is all part of the arc of the story of Jesus' Life and death.

Spanish priest arrested with 21,000 images of child porn; what if he were Muslim? Islamophobia Today, Nov. 25, 2010

Spain was largely free of the high-profile child sex abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church in many European countries and the United States… until now. Even more men of the cloth are found to be involved in sexual child abuse. A Spanish Catholic priest was arrested with 21,000 images of child porn on computersin his church.

To be fair, it should be obvious that hoarding pornography of any sorts, especially children, is against the formal teachings of the Catholic Church. “If the accusation is true, this is something that hurts us deeply, that we sincerely regret and that we reject unreservedly,” the diocese said. Just because some criminals belong to a faith does not mean that faith endorses criminal behavior. Reasonably open-minded people can understand that.

But what if he were Muslim?

Expect no fairness from the anti-Muslim conflict-o-sphere. Child porn is a tenet of Islam, we’d be told. We’d see another repeat of the whole child bride fiasco, echoing again and again the tired “Muhammad is a pedophile” smear.

But was Muhammad’s marriage to the young but post-pubescent Aisha unusual for 7th century Arabia? Nope. As Colin Turner of the University of Durham Middle East Studies department points out:

A marriage between an older man and a young girl was customary among the Bedouins, as it still is in many societies across the world today. It was not unheard of in Muhammad’s time for boys and girls to be promised to each other in marriage almost as soon as they were born, particularly if the union was of direct political significance to the families concerned. However, such marriages were almost certainly not consummated until both parties had entered adulthood, which Arabs in the 7th century tended to reach at an earlier age than Westerners today. It is highly unlikely that Muhammad would not have taken Aisha into his bed until she was at least in her early teens, which was wholly in keeping with the customs of the day, and in context not in the least improper.

[Turner, C. (2006). The messenger. Islam: the basics(pp. 34-35). London: Routledge.]

But wasn’t Muhammad some sexual pervert that couldn’t control his libido? False. As Aisha herself testified:

Narrated Aisha: “The Prophet used to kiss and embrace his wives while he was fasting, and he had more power to control his desires than any of you.”

[Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3 Book 31 Number 149]

But wasn’t Muhammad a violent misogynist who beat women and children all day? Wrong again. As Aisha again testifies:

Narrated Aisha: “The Messenger of Allah never struck a servant or a woman.”

[Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 41 Number 4786]

عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، عَلَيْهَا السَّلاَمُ قَالَتْ مَا ضَرَبَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم خَادِمًا وَلاَ امْرَأَةً قَطُّ

Now, do these same anti-Muslim bloggers know (or care) that Christian sources record that Joseph married the Virgin Mary when he was 90 and she was 12? Probably not.

A year after his wife’s death, as the priests announced through Judea that they wished to find in the tribe of Juda a respectable man to espouse Mary, then twelve to fourteen years of age. Joseph, who was at the time ninety years old, went up to Jerusalem among the candidates…

[Catholic Encyclopedia, St. Joseph]

Will these same anti-Muslim keyboard warriors accuse Joseph of being a pedophile and Christianity of being a religion of pedophilia? Not likely. So what is at play here? As George Readings observed, “This attempt to aggressively apply a modern British definition of pedophilia to seventh century Arabia strikes me as a sign of severe anthropological illiteracy…”

Anthropological illiteracy indeed! But who has time for troublesome scientific principles and scholarly analysis if you rely on “closed information systems based on pretend information” and your anti-Muslim canards fit so neatly into your supremacist ideological view of the world?

Note: This article is part of our “What if they were Muslim?” series. In this series, we examine the double standards used by anti-Muslim activists when discussing religious extremism in Islam as compared to other religions. We reject using extremists of any religion to justify prejudice, stereotypes, and hostility towards all members of that religion. Period.

Example of islamophobia from Brad Schaeffer who compares the building of a Mosque at Ground Zero New York as equivalent to the Carmelite Nuns building a convent near Auschwitz. The death of 3,000 Americans does not compare to the genocidal murder of 6 million Jews. 9/11 took place in one day while the oppression and ghettoization of Jews was ongoing in Europe for at least a thousand years if we date the attacks on European Jews back to the first Crusade. Hitler was just taking the hatred and marginalization and demonization of European Jews to what he considered to be its logical conclusion that is the Final Solution.

And if we just stick to the Third Reich then the attacks on German Jews began in 1933, then ginned up in 1937 by the Nazis Action known as Kristallnacht and then moved to the Final Solution in 1941.

What most Westerners Europeans and Americans and Canadians refuse to admit to the fact that our respective governments did little or nothing to save European Jewry.
The allies refused to take in more Jewish refugees from 1933 to 1945 and in fact these governments set up blockades to prevent Jews trying to escape the ongoing slaughter in Germany and throughout Europe including Eastern Europe and the Pale in Russia. Christians in general were for the most part anti-Semitic though CNN, the History Channel or Fox News or other Media outlets promulgate the Big Lie that the reason for WWII was to save European Jewry which is historically factually nonsense. The Brits , USA, Canada and a hundred other nations refused to take in even one Jew. If these nations had been able to overcome their own anti-Semitism Hitler would probably never instituted the Final Solution since he believed that most nations were anti-Semitic and he was doing their dirty work for them.

Of course these days the anti-Muslim gang are busily rewriting history arguing that anti-Semitism is not a n indigenous European prejudice but in fact was promulgated and originated from the Middle East that is Muslims and Arabs .
This is just more nonsense Europeans had been discriminating against and ghettoizing and murdering Jews for centuries.
Even after the Second World War there were still many countries reluctant to take in Jewish refugees. For many their anti-Semitism continued even after the Shoah/Holocaust.

But these days it is not Jews but Muslims and Arabs and immigrants from outside the West who are now seen as different, dangerous as undermining Western Civilization and Christianity.


Schaeffer repeats all the racist incendiary tropes, cliches, and shibboleths in just a few lines to attack Islam and all Muslims.

In his view Islam and all its believers are guilty by association isn't this what was said about Jews if Pharisees killed Jesus deicide than all Jews carry that guilt (blood libel ) Since those who took part in the 9/11 terrorists attack were Muslims then he believes it is logical to conclude that all Muslims including Muslim Americans are at least untrustworthy or even potential terrorists.

So if some Christians are guilty of some great sin such as the Bloody Crusades , the pogroms against their fellow citizens who happen to be Jews or slaughtering Native Americans which by the way they are once again celebrating during "Thanksgiving" their holiest Holiday . But uberconservatives such as brad Schaeffer would argue America has never done wrong to anyone. In other words the Native Americans whom they slaughtered and the Africans who were enslaved had it coming. He might even have defended the actions of American soldiers who massacred whole villages in Vietnam as they did at at Mi Li or those Native Americans at Wounded Knee who were butchered men, women, children . America's Motto for several centuries was "The only good Indian is a dead Indian". Later it became interchangeable with the people of the Philippines, or the Cubans ,or the Iraqis or Palestinians, or Arabs or Muslims or the Pashtun.

So are all Americans to be held guilty for whatever crimes have been committed by its governments or by the US Military or by a group of private American either domestically or abroad.
Are all Americans to be held accountable for the policies of George W. Bush , Dick Cheney et al.Though of course there are those Americans who feel compelled to defend their government or their military no matter what. They see this blanket defense of their governments past and present as part of being patriotic.


Ground Zero Mosque Developer An NBC “Person Of The Year” Posted by Brad Schaeffer at Andrew Breibart Big journalism Nov 24th

It seems like just as the Ground Zero mosque controversy was receding, NBC has decided to stoke the flames of passion again by naming the project’s developer Sharif El-Gamal a “Person Of The Year“. Gee, NBC once again demonstrates how far out of touch it is with mainstream America? There’s a shock.

In a statement that just reaks of either pathological denial or cynical parsing, Gamal insists that “Not once have I held my faith accountable for the horrific events of 9/11. I am an American. I am an American who has a specific belief system, and my belief system, in order to be a Muslim you have to be a good Jew and a good Christian.” Whatever that even means.

( Note: he misses the point that what Gamal is saying is that Islam is a continuation of Judaism and Christianity and therefore all three traditions culminate in the Prophet Muhammad being the last of the Prophets of Jehovah/God/ Jaweh/Allah. For Muslims Christians and Jews must be respected because they are the "People of the Book" that is the Bible. Muhammad was given as it were the last chapters of the Bible. GORD)

...Personally, I don’t think being a good Catholic means I have to be a good Muslim or good Jew and I wouldn’t hold anyone else’s faith so accountable to mine. Still, his emphatic belief that Islam had nothing to do with 9/11 would probably come as a surprise to the men screaming “Alluhu Akhbar!” as they went full throttle in their blood-splattered cockpits and in the name of their Islamic god obliterated the lives of 3,000 innocent Americans that morning.

My aside;( Schaeffer is upset and angry and bitter that these men cried out to their God and tried to dress up their vicious crime by giving it a religious veneer. Yet he probably like other Christians sees nothing wrong with US soldiers calling upon their God as they butcher or abuse and torture Iraqis or Afghans etc. As General Boykin and Cheney & Rumsfeld Bush etc. believe their Christian God is more powerful than the God of Islam. Muslims would argue as Muhammad did that they were the same God who created the world and created Adam and Eve etc.

The other thing is that it is disingenuous and a matter of willful ignorance or just being unaware of the violence preached in the old testament-to enter a town and murder men, women and children including infants and to kill all the livestock to prove their loyalty and obedience to Jahweh .

In some cases the Israelites were told they could enslave whole peoples to put them to work and for the women to be used as concubines -of course these sections are dismissed or overlooked or are reinterpreted by most Christians and Jews. Of course in the USA there are literally tens of millions of American Christian Evangelicals who believe non-believers that is those who reject Jesus deserve death or at least be relegated to second class citizenship. GORD.)

A key ingredient to being taken seriously in any discussion is to at least appear to be in command of the issues at hand. Certainly if Gamal’s implorings that he is above all an American are to be taken at face value, then he should understand one of the cornerstones of our society is to show some respect for your fellow citizens and to avoid giving unnecessary offense. Heck, we in the non-grievance community are constantly reminded of this core tenet and are swiftly rebuked as racists, bigots and ignoramuses should we stray outside the narrow lines of p.c. sensitivities. If Gamal sincerely cannot understand why the mosque’s location is offensive, then perhaps his intuition about his country is a little less honed than he would like to think. Personally, I ain’t buying it.

As for Matt Lauer, the job of a journalist is to ask tough questions. So I’m hoping against hope that he had the intestinal fortitude to inquire about the radical Imam Rauf and his influence on the mosque’s message; about Pope John Paul II’s decision to move a convent away from Auschwitz despite its legal right to be there out of respect for the feelings of those most directly effected by that place and why Gamal cannot do the same; about why fanning the flames of resentment by placing the mosque so close to where so many died at the hands of Islamic fanatics is so vitally important to its sponsors; and how could Gamal possibly think his project coming to fruition will help Muslim-Western relations…or is that a goal he really cares about at all?

and so it goes,
GORD.

Anti-Muslim Thugs In UK Smashing Windows & Urinating On Mosque & Bush Angry Facts Hurt His Agenda & Bombing Iran

Anti-Muslim Demonstrators and EDL ramp up hatred against all Muslims while claiming only to be against "Muslim Extremists" if so why toss bottles at a Mosque and then urinate on the side of the building. These are the sort of thugs , goons and racist Islamophobes such as Pam Geller and Robert Spencer et al have praised.

What if this had been a church or a synagogue attacked by anti-Semites or anti-Christians it would be a different story. The Islamophobes, Christians and the community would be up in arms but since it was a mosque not a peep out of these people or even from the general public or UK or US media.

One wonders if the Media and politicians preparing the public for an anti-Islam Kristallnacht? At which time the Muslims will be blamed for just because they dare to be openly Muslim.

The Media for instance ignored the speech given by the Grand Mufti in mecca to some three million Muslim during Haj condemning Islamic terrorists pronouncing a fatwa if effect against them stating that Islam , Muhammad , the Quran , the Hadith does not support the use of terrorism. See: Top Saudi cleric slams Western occupations during Hajj sermon Nov 15, 2010 note headline ignores Grand Mufti's condemnation of violence by Muslims.




Beer thrown at mosque following Kingston protest march by martin George, Nov. 22, 2010 Via Islamophobia Today

Masked men threw bottles of beer and urinated on a mosque following a march against Muslim extremism.

Bacon was also left on cars near Kingston Mosque during the attack by a group of 10-15 youths on Sunday.

Kingston Mosque claimed baseball bats were also used in the incident on East Road, but this was not confirmed by police.

However officers did recover two pieces of wood near the scene.
Rizwan Khaliq, spokesman for the Kingston Muslim Association, said: “Under the pretence of protesting against extreme elements within the Islamic faith, a group of masked men congregated outside the mosque shouting obscenities at the mainly elderly congregation inside.

“They urinated against the mosque walls, threw beer-bottles, and used baseball bats to smash windows.

“It is a miracle that nobody was injured and only superficial damaged was caused.

“Such despicable actions have no place in our community and it is something that we must all unite against.

“All decent folk must come together and unite against the hate agenda – which has no place in our community.”

Muslims are forbidden from eating pork by the Koran.

Earlier on in the day about 60 people holding Union Jacks and a large wooden poppy had chanted “Muslim bombers off our streets” as they marched through Kingston.

The protest had appeared to pass off peacefully and the crowd had dispersed from Clarence Street by 12.15pm.

Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Greenslade said police were investigating any link between the attack on the mosque and the march.

Thanks to the Islamophobes and other religious bigots attacks on Mosques are on the rise in a number of countries.

Attacks on Mosques, Synagogue Hurt Religious Freedom in Bulgaria - US State Dept Report
Society | November 18, 2010

and:

German Muslim leader urges better protection of mosques
21 November 2010

Berlin, Nov 20, IRNA -- A German Muslim leader on Saturday called for better protection of mosques across the country in the wake of the latest arson attack on Berlin's largest mosque, IRNA office in Berlin reported.

Talking to reporters, the Chairman of the Central Council of Muslims Aiman Mazyek said, 'Rarely does a week go by without an attack on a mosque.'

'The current terror hysteria exacerbates this climate ... and strengthens those people who plans such attacks,' he added.

Mazyek was referring to Friday's arson attack on the Sehitlik mosque, the fourth of its kind on the worshiping house over the past six months.

The Muslim activist lambasted also Berlin's interior senator, Ehrhart Koerting for suggesting that Arabs based in Germany were potential terror suspects.

Mazyek urged Koerting to step up the protection of mosques in Berlin instead of making such 'imprudent' statements.

Meanwhile Bush complains that the facts did not suit his agenda of attacking Iran. Bush expected the Intelligence Community to confirm his belief that Iran was building nuclear weapons.Even if that meant making stuff up -cooking the Intel .

The mainstream Media in US still refusing to criticize former president Bush.
And by the way where is Obama's condemnation of Bush- we are still waiting.

And so Bush continues to defend An illegal and unnecessary war in Iraq and the abuse and torture of thousands of POWs combined with summary executions and the creation of Shia Death Squads. While he defends his actions the Media takes him at his word in their successful attempts to re-write American history and especially the legacy of their hero George W. Bush.

Bush Lies - Not Just To Us, But To Himself, By Ray McGovern via Information Clearing house ,Nov. 23, 2010

--Why should George W. Bush have been "angry" to learn in late 2007 of the "high-confidence" unanimous judgment of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies that Iran had stopped working on a nuclear weapon four years earlier? Seems to me he might have said "Hot Dog!" rather than curse under his breath.

Nowhere in his memoir, Decision Points, is Bush's bizarre relationship with truth so manifest as when he describes his dismay at learning that the intelligence community had redeemed itself for its lies about Iraq by preparing an honest National Intelligence Estimate on Iran. As the Bush-book makes abundantly clear, that NIE rammed an iron rod through the wheels of the juggernaut rolling toward war.

Nowhere is Bush's abiding conviction clearer, now as then, that his role as "decider" include the option to create his own reality.

The Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) has missed that part of the book. And hundreds of Dallas "sheriffs," assembled to ensure decorum at the Bush library groundbreaking last week, kept us hoi polloi well out of presidential earshot.

But someone should ask Bush why he was not relieved, rather than angered, to learn from U.S. intelligence that Iran had had no active nuclear weapons program since 2003. And would someone dare ask why Bush thought Israel should have been "furious with the United States over the NIE?"

It seems likely that Bush actually dictated this part of the book himself. For, in setting down his reaction to the NIE on Iran, he unwittingly confirmed an insight that Dr. Justin Frank, M.D., who teaches psychiatry at George Washington University Hospital, gave us veteran intelligence officers into how Bush comes at reality - or doesn't.

"His pathology is a patchwork of false beliefs and incomplete information woven into what he asserts is the whole truth... He lies - not just to us, but to himself as well... What makes lying so easy for Bush is his contempt - for language, for law, and for anybody who dares question him.... So his words mean nothing. That is very important for people to understand." [See Consortiumnews.com's "Dangers of a Cornered Bush."]

and on attempts to manufacture consent for a war against Iran -US Gov't still creating false intel or misrepresenting and exaggerating Intel to defend its desire to bomb Iran. Is Obama and Clinton & Biden also making stuff up as Bush did and so they are unable and unwilling to condemn the actions of George W. Bush

Were Fake Documents Planted to Encourage an Attack on Iran? Documents at the center of the case against Iran show telltale signs of fraud. By Gareth Porter at truthout.org Via Alternet.org, nov. 22, 2010

The drawings of the Iranian missile warhead that were said by the IAEA to show an intent to accommodate a nuclear weapon actually depict a missile design that Iran is now known to have already abandoned in favor of an improved model by the time the technical drawings were allegedly made. And one of the major components of the purported Iranian military research program allegedly included a project labeled with a number that turns out to have been assigned by Iran's civilian nuclear authority years before the covert program is said to have been initiated.

The former head of the agency's safeguards department, Olli Heinonen, who shaped its approach to the issue of the intelligence documents from 2005 and 2010, has offered no real explanation for these anomalies in recent interviews with Truthout.

These telltale indicators of fraud bring into question the central pillar of the case against Iran and raise more fundamental questions about the handling of the Iranian nuclear issue by the IAEA, the United States and its key European allies.

and so it goes,
GORD.

Maddow- POLITICO Making Up Stuff Siding With The Right Meanwhile Bush Repeating Lies About iraq and Torture

the two most essential lies -- among the many -- in his new memoir are that he had a legitimate reason to invade Iraq, and that he had a legitimate reason to torture detainees.

Quote by Dan Fromkin Huffington Post

Politico moving to the far right. Joining what they believe will be the winning side.



Meanwhile Bush and his Media cronies are rewriting history to ultimately create the impression Bush was one of America's greatest presidents.
He should instead be indicted and incarcerated.
As Dan froomkin illustrates that Bush committed at least two major crimes: Invading Iraq without just cause and authorizing the use of torture. Both did nothing to enhance America's security and has had a negative effect on America's reputation.

The Two Most Essential, Abhorrent, Intolerable Lies Of George W. Bush's Memoir by Dan Froomkin Huffington Post, Nov. 22,2010

WASHINGTON -- These days, when we think of George W. Bush, we think mostly of what a horrible mess he made of the economy. But his even more tragic legacy is the loss of our moral authority, and the transformation of the United States of America from global champion of human rights into an outlaw nation.

History is likely to judge Bush most harshly for two things in particular: Launching a war against a country that had not attacked us, and approving the use of cruel and inhumane interrogation techniques.

And that's why the two most essential lies -- among the many -- in his new memoir are that he had a legitimate reason to invade Iraq, and that he had a legitimate reason to torture detainees.

Neither is remotely true. But Bush must figure that if he keeps making the case for himself -- particularly if it goes largely unrebutted by the traditional media, as it has thus far -- then perhaps he can blunt history's verdict.

It may even be working. Extrapolating from the response to the book, former vice president Dick Cheney on Tuesday told a crowd gathered for Bush's presidential library groundbreaking in Dallas that "judgments are a little more measured than they were" and that "history is coming around."


and so it goes,
GORD.

War is a Lie and Olbermann Blasts Ted Koppel's Article Bemoaning The Loss Of Journalistic Objectivity

More over, while Fox may be such, we are not doctrinaire. I cannot prove it, so I'll estimate it here and if I'm proved wrong I'll happily correct it: but my intuition tells me I criticized President Obama more **in the last week** than Fox's prime-time hosts criticized President Bush in eight years.

To equate this network with Fox, as Mr. Koppel did to accuse us of having our own facts is another manifestation of a dangerously simplified understanding of modern news. This guy says the moon is a planetary fragment orbiting the Earth; this other guy says it's actually the body of the late Vince Foster have them both on and let them debate. It's fair and balanced.

And to the charge that a bunch of bean-counters seized upon a business opportunity: I have been here for every moment of this network's evolution. It began in 2003 when slowly, one fact at a time, we began to challenge the government's rationalization for the war in Iraq.

above Quote by Keith Olbermann from: from transcript of Olbermann's Special Comment on Ted Koppel's article bemoaning the end of Journalistic Objectivity. Via Truthout.org



Paul Jay at Real News Network interviews David Swanson author of the recently published book "War Is A Lie"

Politicians, governments and those in power lie to their citizens to convince them of going to war . He applies this thesis to almost all wars throughout history. This might be a bit of overstatement as Paul Jay appears to believe .But he is right that more often than not wars are not necessary.



Note Swanson points out I believe correctly that WWII was not a war fought to save European Jewry. In fact the USA and Canada and other countries did nothing to help European Jews.

and in a related story on lying and deception by governments and those in authority.

Olbermann in this special comment points out that real journalist who care about the truth may from time to time point out when a government or others in authority are making dubious assumptions and are out to deceive the American people in general.

For example Vietnam was a war America could not win. The loss of the war was not the fault of Jane Fonda and the liberals.
Watergate was not a scandal created by the media and liberals to unfairly attack Nixon. Nixon had rather engaged in criminal and unethical actions .

Bush Cheney and the Neocons with the help of a spineless media sold Americans on going to war with Iraq based upon lies, falsehoods, deception, fraudulent evidence, facts ripped from their context. And now they are treating Bush and Cheney et al as unsung heroes. This is Obama's fault for not going after these war criminals and traitors to their country and their people.

Now the GOP, much of the Media including Fox, CNN, ABC, CBS and President Obama 's advisers want to sell Americans on going to war with Iran based upon questionable and dubious decontextualized facts.

This notion of objectivity and that there are not just two or more opinions on any story but that they are all of equal value is nonsense. If it were so then the Holocaust debunkers should be given equal time no they shouldn't. Hitler massacred some 6 million Jews not ten thousand or a million but rather close to 6 million.
And by the way Hitler did not invent anti-semitism or even prejudice against the Roma/Gypsies or other ethnic groups or those who were not heterosexual- and nor did the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem as Robert Spencer , Pam Geller and the their ilk would have Americans believe.

And FDR was not as evil and destructive as Hitler or Stalin or Lenin as Glenn Beck would have people believe . Of course he goes further and labels and smears Obama as being a Fascist, a Socialist, a Nazi, a Maoist , a collectivists etc.

Or for instance these hysterical bigots would have Americans believe that the 9/11 attacks are somehow equivalent to the Holocaust or the Armenian Genocide or the Invasion of Poland by Hitler .

And who in America speaks for or feels some bit of sadness over the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis as the result of the illegal immoral unjustified invasion of Iraq.

And now they want to take America and the Western nations into an unjustified war in Iran based upon propaganda and hysteria and lies and fraudulent evidence. And such an attack on Iran is being pushed not just by American Neocons and Neoliberals and other believers in the sanctity of the American Empire but also by Israel and Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations especially those that are predominately Sunni Muslim who happen to dislike Iran in part because it is a Shiite Nation.

Odd there is all this anti-Iranian propaganda when the 9/11 terrorists were primarily Saudis and Al Qaeda had been supported by the Saudis and others to help fight against the Russians in Afghanistan. The Taliban and other extremist groups in Afghanistan were ostensibly financed by the USA and other nations to defeat the Soviets in Afghanistan. Well surprise they fed the beast until it turned on those who thought they were the ones calling the shots.

As Olbermann rightly points out like most of the US Media Ted Koppel as a journalist failed the American people in his unwillingness to question the Bush administrations policies regarding invading Iraq or its use of torture and its on going lies and deception to further its own narrow agenda.

Special Comment: False Promise of "Objectivity" Proves "Truth" Superior to "Fact"

Thursday 18 November 2010

by: Keith Olbermann, Countdown via Truthout & Youtube



also see:

Saturday 20 November 2010
New Afghan War Plans Could Cost US Taxpayers an Extra $125 Billion
Ben Arnoldy, The Christian Science Monitor: "'As leaders at the NATO summit in Lisbon meet this weekend to discuss strategy in Afghanistan, US war planners have been signaling that troop withdrawals set to begin in 2011 will be mostly symbolic and that the handover to Afghan forces in 2014 is "aspirational".... Such could cost American taxpayers handsomely at a time when deficit cutting has gripped Washington. According to one estimate, softening those deadlines could add at least $125 billion in war spending - not including long-term costs like debt servicing and health care for veterans."
Read the Article Truthout.orgNov. 20,2010


Nine Years Too Long
Lt. Col Barry Wingard, Truthout: "In 2002, my client, Kuwaiti citizen Fayiz Al-Kandari, was captured by Pakistani forces and sold to the United States military. Since that time, he has been confined without charge at America's notorious island prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for almost nine years."
Read the Article, Truthout.org

and a message from Truthout.org



and :US Wants to Widen Area in Pakistan Where It Can Operate Drones
Read the Article at The Washington Post

and : Exclusive Report: Evidence of Iran Nuclear Weapons Program May Be Fraudulent 18 November 2010 by: Gareth Porter, t r u t h o u t | Report

Dear Readers,

Will the war in Afghanistan ever end? Last December, President Obama told us he'd begin a significant withdrawal of troops from the country in 2011. Yet, in the lead-up to this weekend’s NATO summit, the administration changed its tune, admitting that many troops will likely remain in Afghanistan even after 2014. This extension will no doubt mean the tragic loss of thousands more American and Afghan lives. It’ll also mean $413 billion in remaining war costs - on the backs of struggling taxpayers.

Since the beginning, Truthout has been exposing the injustice of our endless war in Afghanistan. We were one of the few news outlets that never bought the "good war" line; even in the run-up to the 2008 election, we spoke the truth about Afghanistan - and we’re still doing it today. We bring you on-the-ground reporting on the lives of Afghan civilians from Kathy Kelly and David Smith-Ferri, war-profiteering investigations from Nick Mottern and Dina Rasor, and hard analysis from people like Robert Naiman, Ray McGovern and William Rivers Pitt.

Afghanistan may be "old news," as far as the mainstream media is concerned, but Truthout will never accept this blindness. As long as the death and destruction continues, we will continue bringing the tragedies of war to light.


However, in order to keep doing this crucial work, we must make our monthly budget. Can we count on you to support this effort?

We need to raise just over $6,000 more by tomorrow night to meet our fundraising goal. If you value Truthout’s services but haven’t already donated, please make a contribution and help us get there.

and so it goes,
GORD.

Bryan Fischer God Honors Those Who Inflicts Massive Casualties & Robert Spencer is Dismissive of Saudi Muslim Cleric's Condemnation of Terrorism

Sunday Sermon Bryan Fischer argues that Christianity is not a religion of pacifism because God honors those who kill the most in His name???
Note he talks about the feminization of the medal of honor which puts him the Doug Coe The Family 's attitude towards Christ that he wanted his followers the Christians to kill as many non-believers as possible.
Compare this to Hitler's belief that the Jesus who was angry and destructive in the Temple in Jerusalem is the real Jesus not the one who says turn the other cheek.


Fischer: God Honors Those Who Inflict “Massive Casualties” Because “Christianity is Not a Religion of Pacifism” by kyle at Rightwing Watch via Loonwatch & Islamophobia Today, Nov. 18, 2010

Fischer says inflicting “massive casualites” is Christian. He cites massacres in the Old Testament as his proof. Does this mean Christianity is a violent religion that supports massacres? Imagine if a Muslim had said what Fisher said.
Fischer: God Honors Those Who Inflict “Massive Casualties” Because “Christianity is Not a Religion of Pacifism”

Bryan Fischer responds to the latest outrage he has provoked with his recent blog post decrying “the feminization of the Medal of Honor.”

As he typically does in these situations, Fischer reacts by accusing everyone else of intentionally misrepresenting his point and then proceeds to “clarify” it by reiterating his position in such a way that it makes the extent of his extremism all the more obvious, as if the problem was that somehow people just misunderstood him the first time.

And so we end up with posts like this in which he explains that all he was saying was that we as a nation need to start honoring soldiers who kill lots of people because such actions are greatly pleasing to God:

The Scriptures certainly know nothing of such squeamishness. Remember what drove King Saul into a jealous rage was when the women of Israel commemorated David’s exploits in song:

“Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7).

And this was not the last of David’s exploits in just wars. He went down to the town of Keilah where he “fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow” (1 Samuel 23:5).

Then he went after the Amalekites, and we are told that “David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who mounted camels and fled” (1 Samuel 30:17).

Again, “David did as the LORD commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer” (2 Samuel 5:25).

Further we read in 2 Samuel 8, “David defeated the Philistines and subdued them…he defeated Moab…David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah…David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians…and the LORD gave victory to David everywhere he went…and David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt…and the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went” (vv. 1,2,3,5,6,13,14).

And this, remember, was “the man after (God’s) heart” (1 Samuel 13:14).

Christianity is not a religion of pacifism. Remember that John the Baptist did not tell the soldiers who came to him to lay down their arms, even when they asked him directly, “what shall we do?” (Luke 3:14).

War is certainly a terrible thing, and should only be waged for the highest and most just of causes. But if the cause is just, then there is great honor in achieving military success, success which should be celebrated and rewarded.

The bottom line here is that the God of the Bible clearly honors those who show valor and gallantry in waging aggressive war in a just cause against the enemies of freedom, even while inflicting massive casualties in the process. What I’m saying is that it’s time we started imitating God’s example again.

I guess you could say that Fischer is more of a Psalm 137 Christian than a Matthew 5 Christian.

">Robert Spencer’s “Fuzzy Math” Islamophobia Today Nov. 19

No Muslim can do any good for “Police Blotter Scholar” Robert Spencer. During the Hajj, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, the top cleric there, gave a sermon to the 2.5 million pilgrims declaring that there is no room for terrorism and extremism in Islam:

Saudi Arabia’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh, called on worshippers in a midday sermon to espouse moderation and said Islam would survive what he described as attempts to defame the faith.

Delivering the Haj sermon at Namira Mosque at Mount Arafat, he said Allah Almighty endowed us with hosts of blessings and boons; guidance of Islam is one of them, adding Islam is not a theoretical religion; instead, it is a practicable code of conduct.

Al Sheikh said Islam is based on justice and equity, which admits of no terrorism, extremis [sic] and injustice.
This is big news. The top cleric in Saudi Arabia told millions of Muslim pilgrims that their religion has no place for terrorism and extremism. It should put to rest the claims of those who say, “Where are the Muslim condemnations against terrorism?” If you care to look, they are everywhere.

But, for the “Police Blotter Scholar,” that is not enough. No. He chooses to focus on the chants of a small number of pilgrims – from among 2.5 million – to negate the powerful message of the sermon:

It is doubtful that anyone there noticed any contradiction. When Sheikh Abdul Aziz al Sheikh began condemning terrorism and extremism, most of his hearers probably thought he was referring to the actions of America and Israel.
No, Spencie. He was not referring to “America and Israel,” but terrorism in general. That was quite clear. But, for Spencer, the wrong-headed chants of a few pilgrims > (“is greater than”) the sermon of the top Saudi cleric denouncing terror in the name of Islam during a most holy time and a most holy place. The actions of a few misguided Muslims represents the whole. This is Spencer’s “fuzzy math.”
And they call him a “Scholar”…

Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes Make Clear That Glenn Beck, with His Incendiary Rhetoric and Wild Inaccuracies, Will Be the Face of Fox News Rupert Murdoch is gloating at the profits he expects to make with the venomous Beck as the channel's flagship host. by Sarah Pavlus at Media matters Via Alternet.org.November 19, 2010 |

To those Fox News journalists who are reportedly "worried about the prospect that Beck is becoming the face of the network": Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes have picked a side in this fight -- and it's not yours.

In an October New York Times Magazine profile of Beck, Mark Leibovich -- who noted the "[o]ff-the-record sniping shoots in both directions" and could be related to upcoming contract negotiations -- reported: "But the friction is evident in many areas." In addition to reporting -- like Kurtz -- that some Fox News journalists felt Beck's inflammatory rhetoric undermined the network, Leibovich introduced a new twist: Ailes' support for Beck may have been flagging.

Ailes, Leibovich wrote, "has generally been supportive of Beck," but he's also "complained about Beck's hawking his non-Fox ventures too much on his Fox show" and has been "vocal around the network about how Beck does not fully appreciate the degree to which Fox News has made him the sensation he has become in recent months."

With his ratings in a slump, advertisers dropping like flies, and the reported sniping from Ailes, it seemed possible that Beck's influence at Fox might wane.

Then Rupert Murdoch stepped in.

When asked at the News Corp. annual shareholders meeting later that month about Ailes' reported frustration with Beck's use of Fox News airwaves to promote his own brand and interests, Murdoch dismissed such concerns, saying, "I don't know whether you watch Fox News, but Mr. Beck is the least of our stars who take liberties in promoting their interests."

And Murdoch was unfazed when asked at the meeting about reports that nearly 300 advertisers are boycotting Glenn Beck, responding, "That's not true. ... Maybe four or five who have been moved over to Mr. O'Reilly's program. No one has taken any money off the channel."

But perhaps most surprising was Murdoch's unprompted praise for Beck in a November interview in his native Australia, which was paired with some trash-talking aimed at Fox News ratings giant Bill O'Reilly. O'Reilly's "easy" treatment of now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in an interview was "disgraceful," Murdoch said...

Report Finds Fox News Gives Free Publicity to 2012 GOP Candidates--$40 Million Worth By Sarah Seltzer | Sourced from Alternet
Posted at November 19, 2010

It's bad enough that TLC and ABC's "Dancing with the Stars' are already giving Sarah Palin--who is seriously mulling a 2012 run--tons of exposure and airtime.

But far more dangerous is the fact that "Fair and Balanced" Fox news has potential presidential contenders on its payroll and on its shows as guests around the clock, day in and day out.

And a new report from Media Matters says that all that publicity amounts to $40 million dollars worth, for free. The figure they've come up with is gaining mainstream attention. The AP reports exactly how the study was done.

Media Matters looked at the airtime of Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and John Bolton, all paid contributors who frequently give commentary on the network. The fifth was Mike Huckabee, who as host of his own weekend show logs the most time on Fox.

Using current advertising rates, Media Matters calculated that the five had received at least $40 million of free airtime.

There is no comparison with other networks, as all the currently-buzzed-about challengers as of the moment are the folks mentioned above.

But in the past, presidential contenders like Pat Buchanan have taken leaves from their media contracts when running for office. The question remains which if any of the FOX contributors will do the same.

"Essentially, there is a Fox News primary going on," Ari Rabin-Havt, Media Matters vice president, told the AP. "There never has been a network that has so dominated a political process," he said.

And yet people continue to claim that Fox news is biased, but not partisan

-----------------------------------------------
">Robert Spencer’s “Fuzzy Math” Islamophobia Today Nov. 19

No Muslim can do any good for “Police Blotter Scholar” Robert Spencer. During the Hajj, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, the top cleric there, gave a sermon to the 2.5 million pilgrims declaring that there is no room for terrorism and extremism in Islam:

Saudi Arabia’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Sheikh, called on worshippers in a midday sermon to espouse moderation and said Islam would survive what he described as attempts to defame the faith.

Delivering the Haj sermon at Namira Mosque at Mount Arafat, he said Allah Almighty endowed us with hosts of blessings and boons; guidance of Islam is one of them, adding Islam is not a theoretical religion; instead, it is a practicable code of conduct.

Al Sheikh said Islam is based on justice and equity, which admits of no terrorism, extremis [sic] and injustice.
This is big news. The top cleric in Saudi Arabia told millions of Muslim pilgrims that their religion has no place for terrorism and extremism. It should put to rest the claims of those who say, “Where are the Muslim condemnations against terrorism?” If you care to look, they are everywhere.

But, for the “Police Blotter Scholar,” that is not enough. No. He chooses to focus on the chants of a small number of pilgrims – from among 2.5 million – to negate the powerful message of the sermon:

It is doubtful that anyone there noticed any contradiction. When Sheikh Abdul Aziz al Sheikh began condemning terrorism and extremism, most of his hearers probably thought he was referring to the actions of America and Israel.
No, Spencie. He was not referring to “America and Israel,” but terrorism in general. That was quite clear. But, for Spencer, the wrong-headed chants of a few pilgrims > (“is greater than”) the sermon of the top Saudi cleric denouncing terror in the name of Islam during a most holy time and a most holy place. The actions of a few misguided Muslims represents the whole. This is Spencer’s “fuzzy math.”
And they call him a “Scholar”…