NYC MOSQUE AND PROPERTY RIGHTS

I am for property rights, but you have to support it in a contextual way. I wonder about Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf and his plan to have the grand opening of the mosque on September 11, 2011... What kind of activities will be held linked to the mosque when you have a person who says this about Hamas and has published a book with the title, "The Call From the WTC Rubble: Islamic Da'wah From the Heart of America Post-9/11" (in Arabic: Seruan Azan Dari Puing WTC: Dakwah Islam di Jantung Amerika Pasca 9/11).

Here is an excerpt from Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury's article, Rauf and his mosque at Ground Zero:

The Ground Zero mosque plan is more than a little reminiscent of a program initiated by Rauf's late father in 1965. That year, Muhammad R. Abdul Rauf moved to New York to plan and head a huge Islamic Cultural Center that took decades to realize. He bought prime Manhattan real estate at 96th St. and 3rd Ave - roughly two thirds of a city block - apparently with $1.3 million in funding from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Libya. The late Rauf long retained some of that land in a personal trust. But when construction started on the $17 million mosque in 1984, it had received funding from 46 Islamic nations. By 2010, the enormous Islamic complex had added another two buildings. Since 1984, its founders-envisioned apartment unit has been restricted to Muslims alone.

Whenever Feisal first considered building a mosque across from Ground Zero, he had the idea firmly in mind by 2004, when he wrote What's Right with Islam. The book was translated into many languages. In Indonesia's Bahasa, its title translates as "The Call from the WTC Rubble." Rauf promoted the book in December 2007 at a Kuala Lumpur gathering of Hizb ut Tahrir – a terror outfit banned in Germany since 2003, and also outlawed in Bangladesh, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, among other places - and ideologically akin to the Muslim Brotherhood. Both seek to replace the U.S. Constitution with Islamic law [Sharia], and eventually impose Islam and Sharia law worldwide. Most North American Muslim Brotherhood organizations avoid widely publicizing that aim. The Hizb Ut Tahrir however, at a July 2009 Khalifah conference at a suburban Chicago Hilton, openly promised to replace capitalism with Islam and Sharia law. (WeeklyBlitz.net, May 29, 2010.)

You could find several cases of links between leading people of mosques in Sweden and terrorist groups. Read my posts, TERRORIST LINKED TO MOSQUE IN STOCKHOLM and AL SHABAAB MEETING IN GOTHENBURG. From the article, Swedes recruited by Somali terror group:

Somali Islamic insurgency group Harakat al-Shabab Mujahideen ("Movement of Warrior Youth"), better known as Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, is thought to have recruited dozens of Swedish youth to engage in terrorist acts, according to Göteborgs-Tidningen. ...

At a mosque - a converted food hall - in Gothenburg's Gamlestan quarter, a Danish-Somali man who tried to assassinate Kurt Westergaard, the Danish cartoonist who drew the controversial Muhammad cartoon published in Jyllands-Posten, tried to recruit followers, according to a Danish newspaper.

"There are no supporters of al-Shabab here," mosque spokesman Abdi Fatah Shidane told Göteborgs-Tidningen.

Young men in Sweden are brainwashed, trained and recruited by terrorists on Somali terrorist movement al-Shabab, according to an informant who spoke to the paper. One recruit was arrested in connection with death threats against Danish People's Party leader Pia Kjærsgaard. (TheLocal.se, May 5, 2010.)

It is important that the resistance against the building of the mosque is based on rational arguments and that you prevent that the demonstrations against it will be hijacked by "dark elements" (read: collectivists) as it happened in Gothenburg, Sweden. I think that Dr. Leonard Peikoff and Amy Peikoff have given the best arguments for not having a mosque in New York city, near Ground Zero.

Check out Bosch Fawstin's piece, TOWERING Over islam.

Image source: fawstin.blogspot.com

UPDATE: Read The Devastating Symbolic Attack On America by The Charlotte Capitalist.

UPDATE: 07/01/10:

Go to The Rule of Reason blog and read The Insidious Ground Zero Mosque by Edward Cline.

My post has been picked up Zimbio.

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CHRISTI HIMMELFAHRT

Did you see a strange "unidentified flying object" on "Christi Himmelfahrt" / Ascension Day?


Darwin & The Naked Apes / Children of Evolution

Related: My post, CHRISTI HIMMELFAHRT AND JERRY FALWELL.

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T.G.I.L.F

From my post, T.G.I.F:

In the Swedish calendar, Good Friday is called "Long Friday." I think that the word long is more suitable than good. It's nothing good with this Friday at all. But luckily the secularization has emerged and the market forces have taken over, so nowadays you could conduct some business, eat at a restaurant, go to the movies, et cetera. I have learned that people from an older generation had a hard time to come up with something fun to do during this day. This day was totally "dead" (if you don't mind the pun) and the only thing you could do was to sit at home and wait for the next day to come. (EGO, 04/09/04.)

Morris is taking a nap and I am watching Lasse Hallstrom's movie, Chocolat.

Check out Friday Ark #289 at The Modulator.

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LENT TIME

How will you celebrate Easter? I will watch Lasse Hallstrom's movie, Chocolat. I will take some time and go through my post, FOOD FOR THOUGHT, and plan for the future.

Please listen to my Easter greeting.

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NEW REVOLUTION IN IRAN?

Here is an excerpt from Melik Kaylan's article, Iran On The Brink:

Iran's turning point might come this week or in a month when the Nawrouz (Iranian new year) celebrations kick in, and no amount of nuclear enrichment claims will change things in the long run. On Bahman or Revolution Day (Feb. 11) the regime appeared to have won the numbers game against protesters, having bribed and bused in street-loads of pro-government supporters and stifled opposition turnout. Even then, according to various sources, protests erupted in disparate neighborhoods and massively in provincial cities. State television had to dub away outbursts of anti-government chanting registered on tape during its own rallies. (Forbes, February 12, 2010.)

Do Not Read This

More cartoons by Cox & Forkum on Iran.

Related: My post, HELP IRAN ELECTION DOT COM.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Iran Tweets Engulf Twitter (blogs.wsj.com)

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BANNED IMAGES OF MUHAMMAD

Have you seen the "banned images" of Muhammad? For more information, read the following:

• Duke Professor Finishes Yale's Job, Prints Mohammed Images in New Book; FIRE Co-signs Statement of Principle by Adam Kissel.

• Muhammad: The "Banned" Images: by Eugene Volokh.

In 2008, under the glare of the controversy over the Danish cartoons, one of Flemming Rose’s few appearances on an American campus was sponsored by Dr. Gary Hull, director of the Program on Values and Ethics in the Marketplace at Duke University. Dr Hull has for five years taught and supervised the Power of Ideas, one of Duke’s most popular honors programs. In late 2001, he made national news when he posted an article calling for a strong military response to the 9/11 attacks. Duke pulled his website, but reinstated it after the action gained wide publicity. (About page - MuhammadImages.com)

"If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter." — George Washington

Related: My post, MUHAMMAD CARTOON CONTROVERSY: ONE YEAR LATER.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Greg Lukianoff: Duke Beats Yale: Censored Images of Muhammad Finally Printed in New Book (huffingtonpost.com)

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Offering Peace of Mind

A company says on its home page:

You've committed your life to Jesus. You know you're saved. But when the Rapture comes what's to become of your loving pets who are left behind? Eternal Earth-Bound Pets takes that burden off your mind.

We are a group of dedicated animal lovers, and atheists. Each
Eternal Earth-Bound Pet representative is a confirmed atheist, and as such will still be here on Earth after you've received your reward. Our network of animal activists are committed to step in when you step up to Jesus.

We are currently active in 20 states and growing. Our representatives have been screened to ensure that they are atheists, animal lovers, are moral / ethical with no criminal background, have the ability and desire to rescue your pet and the means to retrieve them and ensure their care for your pet's natural life.

We currently cover the following states:
Maine,New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana ... and growing.

Our service is plain and simple; our fee structure is reasonable.
For $110.00 we will guarantee that should the Rapture occur within ten (10) years of receipt of payment, one pet per residence will be saved. Each additional pet at your residence will be saved for an additional $15.00 fee. A small price to pay for your peace of mind and the health and safety of your four legged friends.

Unfortunately at this time we are not equipped to accommodate all species and must limit our services to dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, and small caged mammals.

Thank you for your interest in Eternal Earth-Bound Pets. We hope we can help provide you with peace of mind.

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AL SHABAAB MEETING IN GOTHENBURG

I am reading in the local newspaper (Gothenburg's Post) that the spiritual leader of Al-Shabaab, Xasaan Xuseen, will attend a meeting at the Bellevue Mosque in Gothenburg. According to the newspaper, his mission for the visit is to collect money and recruit new members.

In the news: EU sends warning to Somali militants. [Via Terror Free Somalia Foundation.]

The Swedish special envoy to the Somali Peace Process, Mr Joran Bjallerstedt, ruled out any quick-fix measures in the rehabilitation of Somalia.

In a subtle warning to the militia, Mr Bjallerstedt dismissed them as “having no idea beyond the overthrowing the legitimate government.”

He noted that with the collapsed infrastructure in Somalia, the Al Shabaab militia would find it hard to run the country should they overthrow the government.

“... these insurgents will just cause problems within small territories in Somalia, they cannot manage the whole country,” he said. (July 1, 2009, Daily Nation.)

Related: My post, TERRORIST LINKED TO MOSQUE IN STOCKHOLM.

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HELP IRAN ELECTION DOT COM

I am planning to add a green overlay to my Twitter avatar. For more information, go to www.HelpIranElection.com.


Do Not Read This

John Cox is in the news:




Meanwhile, in Berlin...


Mir Hossein Mousavi

Related: My post, FROM ZORO TO SHIITE IN IRAN.

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ASCENSION DAY

Have you seen some strange "unidentified flying object" today? Here is an excerpt from Mary Ellen Synon's post, How 'you have Thursday off' translates into 23 languages:

A lot of eurocrats had already started a week's holiday when the fire alarm went off -- according to today's European Voice, 'the building was less crowded than usual, with many staff having taken the week off because the Commission is closed tomorrow, Ascension Day, and Friday.'

So, got that? Many European countries mark Ascension Day with a Thursday holiday. The Commission expands it to a two-day holiday, making a long weekend. Which staff just naturally expand into a week's holiday.

Though I don't really mind that much. As long as most of the Commissioners -- only Barroso and nine of the 26 commissioners were in the building on Monday -- and a big chunk of the eurocrats are drinking in Italian nightclubs or tanning on French beaches instead of making laws in Brussels, our national liberties are that much safer for a few days. (May 20, 2009, The Daily Mail.)

Related: My post, CHRISTI HIMMELFAHRT AND JERRY FALWELL.

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NEWSPEAK IS NOT KOSHER

What's up with this kind of newspeak?

Israeli Health Minister Yakov Litzman has been updating a nervous public on the swine flu epidemic - and he started by renaming it for religious reasons.

"We will call it Mexican flu. We won't call it swine flu," said Mr Litzman, who belongs to the ultra-religious United Torah Judaism party.

Pigs are considered unclean under Jewish dietary laws. Muslims also do not eat pork for similar reasons. (04/27/09, Israel renames unkosher swine flu, BBC News.)

Image source: Flickr by Fabio Rex Too. Via Jack Yan.

Allison Benedikt is asking the following important question: Mexican Flu? (But What Would Rabbi Gamaliel Call Baconnaise?) [Editor's comment: I will come back to Baconnaise in my next post. In the meantime, please have a bacon & ham toast and a drink!]


A Priest, a Minister and a Rabbi walk into a bar from CRT/tanaka on Vimeo.

Luckily the health ministry changed its mind before Mexico started a "war" against Israel.

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VALENTINE AND PINK CHADDI

How did you celebrate Saint Valentine's Day? I hope the "Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women" had a jolly good time, sending pink chaddis to Pramod Muthalik...

Next year, you should be able to buy a special gift for your Valentine. I will tell you more in the near future... I think the product has a great market potential.

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PRAISE DARWIN

What do you think of this kind of X-mas celebration in Whitehall, Ohio?


Image source: Freedom from Religion Foundation, Inc.

Related: My post, CHARLES DARWIN 200 IN 6 DAYS.

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MERRY YULE LOG POST

I wish my fellow bloggers, friends and readers a Merry Yule! Do you know where the X-mas tradition is coming from?

Put another Yule log on the fire, have a Solstice D'hiver beer in order to celebrate the "rebirth" of the sun. If you want to understand why it is appropriate for an atheist to celebrate Christmas, read Robert Tracy's post, Merry Christmas! Check out Hot For Words for an explanation of the words, Christmas, Xmas, and Santa Claus.



I have created a Xmas playlist on iLike.

• White Christmas by Bing Crosby
• Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer by Ella Fitzgerald
• Equinoxe Part 5 by Jean Michel Jarre
• Cool Yule by Louis Armstrong
• Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by Frank Sinatra

Super-powered by iLike

Talking about music, I will listen to Radio Dismuke's New Year's Eve/Day Broadcast Schedule.

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OPEN ELECTION THREAD

Are you in a voting dilemma? Check out the election edition at The Rule of Reason. Both presidential candidates are talking against individualism. McCain is putting "country first" and Obama is explicitly attacking selfishness. Here is an excerpt from Alexandra Marks's article, Sacrifice theme returns to US politics. Both McCain and Obama cite the need for selflessness and service.

Not since President John Kennedy urged Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country” has the rhetoric of sacrifice sat this well with the public. Concern that the US confronts a huge crisis in the form of a global financial meltdown, plus an untapped desire since 9/11 to help the nation more, makes the public more receptive to the idea that sacrifice can be noble instead of just inconvenient. (The Christian Science Monitor, November 2, 2008.)

I recommend you listen to Dr. Leonard Peikoff's podcasting show of October 20 and his answer to the question regarding the election and watch Marina "Hot For Words" discussing the origins of some political words on the O'Reilly Factor show.



Related: My post, MTV CHOOSE AND LOSE ON MYSPACE.

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HOUSE AND LAND OF SAUD

I am going through my notes from the 8th lecture of Powell History. It is a bit strange that a land is named after a family. From this lecture I learned that the people of Saudi Arabia don't feel any nationhood and it has been an ongoing battle between religious groups and the House of Saud. America got involved in Saudi Arabia when they found oil in 1938 and the start of the Arabian American Oil Company. This was a crucial timing due to the anticipation of WWII. American foreign policy has made Saudi Arabia into a feudal vassal state. The U.S. is defending the Saudis and in return the royal family is sending oil to America.

House of Saud

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MJOLNIR THURSDAY

It is time to vent... Please vote in the poll on George W. Bush's job rating. 60 days left for the poll and 138 days left in office.

And now is the time to use Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, and "crush" something evil. [Editor's note: Read "The pen is mightier than the sword."] It looks like Ted Kaczynski, a.k.a the Unabomber, is still an avid reader of The Washington Post. From Justin Zaremba's article, Unabomber Upset over Cabin Exhibition:

Kaczynski said he learned of the cabin's use when he saw it in an advertisement in the Washington Post for the Newseum.

Incidentally, it was the Washington Post, who in conjunction with the New York Times, shared the cost and published the Unabomber’s 35,000-word manifesto in 1995. After reading the published manifesto, Kaczynski’s brother realized that the bomber may in fact be his brother and informed the FBI as to Kaczynski’s identity and whereabouts. (TheCelebrityCafe.com, 08/13/08.)

Read the entire letter on The Smoking Gun site.

Have you seen the new "signal" from God? From Pedestrian signal boxes' religious message upsets non-believers:

Prisma Teknik AB, the Swedish company behind the pedestrian signals, openly admitted last week that the hand was meant as a hidden symbol for God. In fact, the company says it has never made any secret of the fact.

"We want to show that there is only one way to reach God and that is up and through Jesus", CEO Jan Lund told The Local. (TheLocal.se, 08/20/08.)

[Editor's comment: What do you think Plato would say?]

The painting

Because it was positioned over the philosophical section of the library of Pope Julius II, The School of Athens shows the greatest philosophers, scientists and mathematicians of classical antiquity. Plato and Aristotle, the Greek philosophers that were considered most important, are standing in the center of the composition at the top of the steps. Plato is holding his Timaeus. Aristotle is carrying a copy of his Nichomachean Ethics. Their gestures correspond to their interests in the philosophical field — Plato is pointing upwards towards Heaven and Aristotle is gesturing towards the earth. (The School of Athens - Answers.com)

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DISINTEGRATED IRAQ

It is not strange that Iraq ended up like quagmire as it is today, if you look at a history without something connecting the population. The only stable group was the Jewish population, but they were put in exile in 1948. Britain started out to protect its interest in the region after the occupation of the three main cities (Basrah, Baghdad and Mosül) that had belonged as provinces of the Ottoman Empire. First the British wanted to secure the oil sources in Iran and the privileged trading position, but then it gradually gave in and gave the Iraqis pseudo-independence step by step. The only thing that the Iraqis could rally for, was the resentment against the British and the Western world. A form of nationalism called Pan-Arabism came out of this situation.

It is clear from the lecture that Iraq has had a slow development and came too late. The only glimmer of hope was governor (1869 - 1871) Midhat Pasha.

Somewhat related: My post, DECK OF CARDS.

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FROM ZORO TO SHIITE IN IRAN

If you haven't looked into the possibility to listen to individual lectures yet, you should do it soon before the course is finished. I will catch up, writing two new posts during next week. Lecture 7 is on Iraq and 8 is on Saudi Arabia.

As you know, I have written several posts on Iran during the years. I see the mullahs as the most dangerous religious leaders in the world at the moment.


State of War

After listening to lecture 6, The Roots of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I must admit that I see the progression from ancient Persia to today's Iran in a different light. I have been pretty optimistic that the old Shah supporters and believers of Zoroastrianism had some chance to get back in power, but after listening to the lecture, I have to conclude it is an internal mystical element that will hinder a positive outcome. You probably guessed it, the ancient history of Persia and the Shia religion. The Iranians are continuously looking for a figurehead to take the role of leader of the "nationhood". But to say it bluntly: The ancient Zor(r)o type will automatically lead to Shi(i)te... [Editor's comment: Not the best way of playing with words, but I had to... ;)]


Mohammad Khatami

One important incidence that I think has a crucial importance for today's messed up situation regarding the oil supply is the nationalization of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company by the Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in 1951.

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CAVE MENTALITY IN AFGHANISTAN

With Afghanistan's history of being a "highway of conquest" from 600 BC to the occupation by the Soviet Union between 1979 - 1989, it has been dominated by a foreign power in one way or another. The irony of history is that Afghanistan got some kind of independence during the World War I & II.

I learned from the fifth lecture that researchers haven't found the source and origin of the Afghan people. Compared with the Ottoman Empire and its reorganization in 1839, Afghanistan was far behind in development. Great Britain instituted the Simla Manifesto in 1838 as an excuse for invading Afghanistan. The British argued that it had to invade Afghanistan in order to protect India as a safety measure.

Here is an excerpt from Scott Powell's post, Afghanistan: Higway of Conquest:

What is the relevance of this background to the present? Afghanistan has never become a true state, and it has constantly lived in subordinacy to outside powers. As a result of its history as a “highway of conquest,” as one historian put it, and its recent subordination to Britain and the Soviet Union, Afghanistan really only exhibits one cultural constant: a desire for independence. You often hear people say that the Afghans are “freedom lovers.” This is a misrepresentation. The people who live in Afghanistan are “self-determination lovers”–and with good reason! But these are not the same thing. (Powell History Recommends, 05/07/08.)

The geopolitical situation is bad and the culture of tribalism has been established since the split of the Pushtun tribe due to the imposed Durand Line in 1893. The border near Pakistan is still a messy area and the question is if Osama bin Laden is hiding in a cave in this neighborhood. President Hamid Karzai is belonging to the Durrani tribe of ethnic Pashtuns.


Hamid Karzai

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