Another Islamic insult to New York....

A committee in New York has given the 'green light' for a group of Muslims to build a mosque adjacent to the site of the 9/11 world Trade Center attack. The crux of it is that they have to right to do so, as distasteful as it may be.

Having the "right" to do something however doesn't mean that it is the right thing to do.

Technically, I have the right to spout off pro-Nazi propaganda in front of a synagogue during the high holy days, but it would be extremely insensitive and horribly divisive to do so. The Imam who is in charge of this evolution and his crew say that they hope to bridge the gulf between Muslims and non-Muslims by building a mosque at the site near 'ground zero'. This is an obvious lie when you look at the anger and resentment to this project.

No bridges of understanding are being built and none will be if this plan continues. It may even set back relations.

The Cordoba Institute folks could have built a mosque anywhere but chose this particular site.

Why?

They had to know that they would cause problems, and they have for many who lost friends and relatives. If you look at what this attack did to the nation and to the city of New York in particular and how people view the area where the attack occured, you can understand why people view this place with reverence akin to what one might feel looking upon war graves on a battlefield. This construction would be analogous to the Muslims building the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Jews have suffered that insult for centuries. Christians have also been equally denigrated by conversion (read: violation) of their holy sites, too. The Saint Sofia Basilica, in Constantinople, the greatest church in the Eastern Empire was "converted" to a mosque in 1453 at the fall of the Byzantine Empire, then into a museum by a secular Turkey. This was a tremendous loss to all of Christendom, especially the Eastern Orthodox faith for many centuries.

Building at ground zero is just another Muslim insult to the non-Muslim world. It is a finger in the eye of the survivors and those who lost friends and loved ones. There is no other way to view it.

Perhaps political, and economic pressure can be brought to bear on the people who are making this happen. Perhaps the unions who control many aspects of construction, transportation and other "services" can make things difficult and therefore "persuade" the Muslims to build elsewhere.... anywhere but there. Or the Mayor and city agencies who grant building and use permits can be convinced via the political process to shut this project down.... Come on New York!! Get with the program and stand up for yourselves and let these people know that with 'rights' there are responsibilities, and one of these are to be a "good neighbor".

Muslims having a place to meet and to gloat about 'jihad', to have a place to pray for our destruction and the souls of those who are killing our young men and women as well as those who are allied with us in our struggle against these Islamic terrorists, and locating that place next door to what is essentially the largest 'war grave' in that War on Terror", is just plain wrong.

People of New York: Rise up and be heard!!!

Help them 'see the light', and demand that they who are advocating this project, shelve their plans forever, and behave as the sensitive, bridge building 'good neighbors' they claim to be.

Obama's "Katrina"...

Why is anyone surprised by the lack of leadership during this ecological catastrophe?

I'm certainly not. I fully expected this to happen when the oil rig burned and sank...

I fully expected the E.P.A. to thwart Gov. Jindal in his attempts to save his coastal waters by denying him the permission to build sand berms to protect sensitive coastal habitats from the oil slick on the grounds that the berms MIGHT cause harm to the areas that were the construction was to take place. The absurdity of the argument is self-evident in light of what we know from the aftermath of spills in places like Prince William Sound, Alaska. The Eco-socialist of the E.P.A. are incompetent, didactic and reflect their boss's attitude and management style.

Obama and the “Cabal” have been behind the power curve from day 1. They have been disconnected from everyone from the beginning and now it is almost criminal just how unresponsive “The Regime” is. They haven’t had a formal press conference in over 200 days and have failed to be accountable to anyone for their actions. When Obama does leave the West Wing, he only ventures into friendly territory or in front of sycophantic crowds. Now it seems that he lacks any semblance of macro-leadership and now even liberal Democrat apologists like James Carville are getting fed up with the ineptitude. The federal response could have been so much more proactive than it has been. Even the Governor of Louisiana is to the point of risking jail an the hands of the Obama E.P.A. in order to do what what needs to be done to prevent further oil hitting the shoreline by building sand berms in violation of federal directives. If the feds think things are bad now, just wait until the Gulf Stream gets a hold of that slick and it ends up moving out of the gulf, past Florida, on the the beaches of south Florida and the Keys, then up the Atlantic coast… Somebody needs to impeach this idiot for incompetence and step in to do something before the slick reaches the Jersey Shore….

The pot calling the kettle black.....

The pot calling the kettle black - OR - California’s governing entities and elites are hypocritical LOSERS

In the wake of the Arizona anti-illegal immigrant law, many cities, towns and individuals in my former home state of California have made great protest of said law citing the potential for racial profiling as well as other “humanitarian” concerns. In the customary and inflammatory rhetoric one expects from the leftists that seem to dominate there, Californians, from the political elite in all the major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, as well as media, sports and entertainment denizens have weighed in on just how terrible this new Arizona law is and how boycotts and protests should be carried out against Arizona and her business interests both in the state and without. No greater has been the noise coming from the Hispanic community, who seem to be engaged in completely balkanizing huge swaths of the American southwest, that support of their criminal (illegal) brethren who are sapping the very life and wealth of the areas they call home, all for the sake of selfish and do I dare say racial reasons.

What is most interesting is that Arizona is not the only state with a law that requires local and state law enforcement to ascertain immigration status. Nor has this been a new idea.

It seems that there is another bastion of racism for the liberals to rail against..... Another place where lawmakers in days gone by recognized the need of local and state law enforcement to do just that, enforce the law, because the Federal Government was failing to do so.

“That hideous, racist enclave!” you say.....

“Where is this fascist, racist place and who is in charge of it?” you ask?

Well, it’s the Golden State of California.

Arnold will be soooo proud.....

it seems that California Penal Code Section 834b reads very much in practice how Arizona’s new and much hated law reads. Take a look.....

California Penal Code Section 834b

(a) Every law enforcement agency in California shall fully
cooperate with the United States Immigration and Naturalization
Service regarding any person who is arrested if he or she is
suspected of being present in the United States in violation of
federal immigration laws.
(b) With respect to any such person who is arrested, and suspected
of being present in the United States in violation of federal
immigration laws, every law enforcement agency shall do the
following:
(1) Attempt to verify the legal status of such person as a citizen
of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted as a permanent
resident, an alien lawfully admitted for a temporary period of time
or as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of
immigration laws. The verification process may include, but shall not
be limited to, questioning the person regarding his or her date and
place of birth, and entry into the United States, and demanding
documentation to indicate his or her legal status.
(2) Notify the person of his or her apparent status as an alien
who is present in the United States in violation of federal
immigration laws and inform him or her that, apart from any criminal
justice proceedings, he or she must either obtain legal status or
leave the United States.
(3) Notify the Attorney General of California and the United
States Immigration and Naturalization Service of the apparent illegal
status and provide any additional information that may be requested
by any other public entity.
(c) Any legislative, administrative, or other action by a city,
county, or other legally authorized local governmental entity with
jurisdictional boundaries, or by a law enforcement agency, to prevent
or limit the cooperation required by subdivision (a) is expressly
prohibited.


So it seems that if Californians were to actually follow the laws on their books, and that is a BIG if, they would have the authority to do exactly what Arizona is actively doing to rid itself of illegal aliens or at least make a dent in the problem by making things decidedly uncomfortable for them especially if they run afoul of the local or state authorities.

So where is the protest over California’s statute? Why aren’t the denizens of La Raza running amok in the streets protesting? Because the people of California and indeed many other liberal enclaves have been cowed and browbeaten into inaction. They have been lead to believe they would be labeled racist if they went after the illegal aliens in this country. They have been told it would be inhuman or unconstitutional or some other ridiculous notion

It is just a matter of following the law, and California won’t.

Arizona will and that is what seems to piss-off the Marxist/Socialist/Liberal illegal alien lovers.....

I will be booking my next vacation to Arizona.... where they appreciate the law.

We will soon loose access to the "High Ground"

I am a real "Space Junkie" from way back... I remember sitting in my grandmother's living room watching Neal Armstrong taking the first steps on the moon and her remarking that she had gone from a "horse and buggy to the moon" in her lifetime. Seeing the space program dying a bit at a time has been hard for me and now that we as a nation are essentially broke financially, it seems almost inevitable that we will loose our edge over the rest of the world in space technology. It sticks in my craw to rely on Russia to get our Astronauts into orbit and perhaps beyond. China is coming on strong and soon the E.U. and India will have viable manned programs on their own sooner rather than later. The "no bucks, no Buck Rogers" axiom seems to be our future. As hateful as it is, we may just have to wait for commercial companies, companies like Boeing, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and others, to step up and do what NASA and the political savants in Washington who decide operational imperatives and budgets could not do: create a viable, commercially sustainable and growing space presence that will not be subject to political whim and mismanagement that seems endemic in the NASA administration and in the halls of power in Washington. Perhaps, someday, we will have leadership worthy of our dreams and aspirations as we once did when we went to the moon inside of a decade. It is clear that there is none to be found in either NASA or in Washington now, nor does any appear to be on the horizon. How pathetic...

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.....

No great nation has shown themselves more pitiful than Russia....

Pravda, the “official” news organ of the old Soviet Union and the presently officious news organ of the new Russian Federation has been busy wielding their poison pens at a new target, Canada.

Not satisfied with letting the sports chips fall where they may and choosing to engage in their customary contrarian behavior, the Russians, via that press organ has been busy voicing a continual and demeaning diatribes against Canada and her Olympic efforts. They have questioned and commented on everything from the viability of Vancouver as a site for the games, to suggesting that the recent tragic death of Georgian luge rider Nodar Kumaritashvili was somehow Canada’s fault. They have even used the awarding of a gold medal for men’s figure skating to American, Evan Lysacek, instead of to their “golden boy” Yevgeny Plushenko, as fodder for criticism of Canada, even though the Canadians had no part in that decision.

I know that Canada and Canadians are perfectly able to stand and defend their own honor.

They don’t need me to do so here on their behalf.

They certainly have done so admirably enough for as long as they have existed as a nation and as a people. They have sent their sons and daughters to war in honorable defense of freedom and justice in two world wars. As an American of Canadian decent, I have a special feeling for the land and the people of the “great white north” who I call friend as well as family. When I read or hear someone pronounce scurrilous and unwarranted remarks toward those I feel some kinship to, I feel need to speak up.

Pravda’s recently assertions that Canada was in the “shadow of the United States”, and that by virtue of being our next door neighbor, that made Canada a “skinny weakling” of a nation. They also made the follow on remark that Canada was a mere “colonial outpost” to Great Britain. The sum total of these assertions was that neither the city of Vancouver nor Canada as a whole had any business hosting an event like the Olympics, something, incidentally, they have done twice before successfully. Strange that Russia questions it now since they attended the games in both Calgary and Montréal and have done well in both venues.

When did Canada or specifically Vancouver become such a terrible place to host an Olympiad?

This poisonous op-ed probably began to truly coalesce when the Russian found they were not doing as well as they hoped they would. The “medal count” was beginning to look decidedly lopsided toward North American teams and athletes. My guess is that this dissatisfaction needed a target. Canada, or specifically, the city of Vancouver and her Olympic organizing committee became that easy target. Knowing that the United States, quintessential target of all Russian/Soviet ire, would just laugh and inquire if the Russians would like some cheese with their whine, decided to stick it to Canada instead.

Let’s analyze:

Russia is the largest country on the planet with a land area approximately 7 million sq. km. larger, and a population 75% larger than Canada. But for all that vast size and population, it is Russia who has manifested the inferiority complex.

Canada, like Russia, is a polyglot nation. Both nations are made up of many peoples from all over their respective geographical areas. The difference is that Canada is made up of immigrants who voluntarily have made the choice to become Canadians and to become part of a free society based on the rule of law and on the traditions of fair play, economic and political freedom. Russia is a nation who’s history is covered in blood, and steeped in tragedy not only for her own indigenous Slavic peoples but of those who her rulers have conquered and subjugated over the last millennia. Rarely have Russians known a period of history where the political landscape was not controlled by despots or oligarchs or a period when the populace was not ravaged by war or in the throws of economic misery. I have yet to see lines of people at the Russian borders begging entry to their country, but I have seen lines at Canada’s ports of entry populated by those who wait patiently, and with hope for the future to enter and begin their new lives as Canadians.

As an American, I expect to be hated, envied, reviled and generally put down and upon by Russia and her ‘state controlled media’. For them, it is politic and sport. We have been rivals too long and both countries are too different politically or economically to get along and play nice with each other. There is too much history that they refuse to lay down and let go of to allow it. It is Russia who has a vast pool of talent to draw upon. When compared to Canada, the large athletic training infrastructure from the Soviet era could be utilized to increase their haul of Olympic medals. Blaming Canada for the lack of success (medals) is just wrong. It shows a lack of national pride and a lack of good sportsmanship.

It also shows a lack of class and graciousness, which elements most people in the know, see as hallmarks of the Canadian national character.