Good ol' Cindy Mckinney has now sent the message that politicians in Washington are better than our heroes in law enforcement. And the slogan these double standard goofs will use to get by with this obvious outrageous behavior will be "Don't you know who I am!?" So the next time I get pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt or speeding I will just bug my eyes out and yell, "Don't you know who I am!?" But I, unlike Cindy, will be laughed at. And do not forget this so called lady admitted to hitting the officer. Since I do not own a bullet proof vest and already have enough holes in my body, I think I will skip that suicide line. And the answer to Cindy's question according to Cindy is, " I am black." No Cindy, you are an elitist, pompus idiot who believes the rules only apply to "others."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060617/ap_on_go_co/mckinney_scuffle
WASHINGTON - A grand jury declined Friday to indict Rep. Cynthia McKinney in connection with a confrontation in which she admitted hitting a police officer who tried to stop her from entering a House office building..."I am relieved that this unfortunate incident is behind me," McKinney said in a statement Friday night. "I accept today's grand jury finding of 'no probable cause' as right and just and the proper resolution of this case."...
McKenna did not recognize her as a member of Congress and asked her three times to stop. When she ignored him, he tried to stop her. McKinney then hit him.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
American Troops In Shackles In The USA
These bravemen are being presumed guilty, not innocent. The supposed inncident may or may not be true, but to be in chains and held in a cell 23 hours a day? These are not men that were found on a battlefield killing US soldiers, nor are they men that strap bombs around themselves and walk into a crowd of women and children shouting death to the infidels and praise be to allah and blow away small babies and their mothers who hold them.
Instead these are men that signed on the line because they wanted to protect what some Americans not only take for granted, but have twisted and preverted into pure hatred for all things American. Freedom.
These few believe in freedom of and from everything. It is the "Do whatever makes you feel good" mentality." And it has slowly been killing America for nearly forty years.
There was recently a rally for these eight servicemen who are being held at camp Pendleton. Michael Savage posted pictures on his web site with permission to post. Here is a picture, link to a Michelle Malkin article and a line....http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/michellemalkin/2006/06/14/201116.html
The men are in solitary confinement, locked in 8'x8' cells at San Diego's Camp Pendleton, as investigators probe an April 26 incident involving the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment, 1st Marine Division. They are behind bars 23 hours a day; family members can only see them through inch-thick Plexiglas. Military blabbermouths have told the press that the service members are suspected of kidnapping and shooting a man in the Iraqi town of Hamdaniya. The Iraqi man's family reportedly came forward seeking payment for his death as media hysteria set in over the separate alleged atrocity in Haditha.
Super Highway To Destruction
A buddy of mine sent me an e-mail about this massive superhighway that will connect central Mexico to Canada. Trucks would be allowed to pass through our borders being checked electronically. The Non profit group who is organizing this destruction of our national border is NASCO. The have received 2.5million dollars from the USDOT. Here is a line and a link...
http://www.nascocorridor.com/pages/about/about.htm
"North America’s SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc., is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing the world’s first international, integrated and secure, multi-modal transportation system along the International Mid-Continent Trade and Transportation Corridor to improve both the trade competitiveness and quality of life in North America.
The NASCO Corridor encompasses Interstate Highways 35, 29 and 94, and the significant east/west connectors to those highways in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Corridor directly impacts the continental trade flow of North America. Membership includes public and private sector entities along the Corridor in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
From the largest border crossing in North America (The Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Canada), to the second largest border crossing of Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, extending to the deep water Ports of Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico and to Manitoba, Canada, the impressive, tri-national NASCO membership truly reflects the international scope of the Corridor and the regions it impacts."
Of course El Jorge is silent about this impending disaster,
"As incredible as this plan may seem to some readers, the first Trans-Texas Corridor segment of the NAFTA Super Highway is ready to begin construction next year. Various U.S. government agencies, dozens of state agencies, and scores of private NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have been working behind the scenes to create the NAFTA Super Highway, despite the lack of comment on the plan by President Bush. The American public is largely asleep to this key piece of the coming “North American Union” that government planners in the new trilateral region of United States, Canada and Mexico are about to drive into reality."
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?print=yes&id=15497
This superhighway will further erode our national identity and open up a potential pipe line of terrorism. It is also a sure bet that wages of truck drivers and their supporting labor will be kept low.
This appears to be one more nail in the coffin of what was a fiercly independant and self reliant nation. God help us.
http://www.nascocorridor.com/pages/about/about.htm
"North America’s SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc., is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing the world’s first international, integrated and secure, multi-modal transportation system along the International Mid-Continent Trade and Transportation Corridor to improve both the trade competitiveness and quality of life in North America.
The NASCO Corridor encompasses Interstate Highways 35, 29 and 94, and the significant east/west connectors to those highways in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Corridor directly impacts the continental trade flow of North America. Membership includes public and private sector entities along the Corridor in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
From the largest border crossing in North America (The Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Canada), to the second largest border crossing of Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, extending to the deep water Ports of Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico and to Manitoba, Canada, the impressive, tri-national NASCO membership truly reflects the international scope of the Corridor and the regions it impacts."
Of course El Jorge is silent about this impending disaster,
"As incredible as this plan may seem to some readers, the first Trans-Texas Corridor segment of the NAFTA Super Highway is ready to begin construction next year. Various U.S. government agencies, dozens of state agencies, and scores of private NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have been working behind the scenes to create the NAFTA Super Highway, despite the lack of comment on the plan by President Bush. The American public is largely asleep to this key piece of the coming “North American Union” that government planners in the new trilateral region of United States, Canada and Mexico are about to drive into reality."
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?print=yes&id=15497
This superhighway will further erode our national identity and open up a potential pipe line of terrorism. It is also a sure bet that wages of truck drivers and their supporting labor will be kept low.
This appears to be one more nail in the coffin of what was a fiercly independant and self reliant nation. God help us.
The I.C.E. Age
It has been along time coming and it is barely scratching the surface, but the raids today by ICE is a marvelous sight. They are arresting many illegals who have been deported yet returned and many that have been convicted of sex and gang crimes. And I am praying this snowballs into a full blown all out round up of those who have chosen to not only break our laws by coming here without permission, but those who also continued to break laws after arriving. And I do not want to hear from the nay sayers who will cry about rights being violated; How about our rights as Americans to have non law breaking immigrants allowed into our country? Tax dollars spent on illegals are tax dollars stolen. Plain and simple. And there is no right of liberty or the pursuit of happiness if you illegally entered this country. And illegals have the right to life, in their own country and in ours but just so the can be deported. ABC news just released an article and here is the link&line...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/wireStory?id=2076450
"The operation has caught more than 140 immigrants with convictions for sexual offenses against children; 367 known gang members, including street soldiers in the deadly Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13; and about 640 people who had already been deported once, immigration officials said. The numbers include more than 720 arrests in California alone.
More than 800 people arrested already have been deported.
"This is a massive operation," said Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for immigration enforcement or ICE, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. "We are watching the country's borders from the inside."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/wireStory?id=2076450
"The operation has caught more than 140 immigrants with convictions for sexual offenses against children; 367 known gang members, including street soldiers in the deadly Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13; and about 640 people who had already been deported once, immigration officials said. The numbers include more than 720 arrests in California alone.
More than 800 people arrested already have been deported.
"This is a massive operation," said Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for immigration enforcement or ICE, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. "We are watching the country's borders from the inside."
Friday, June 09, 2006
The ACLJ, The Anti ACLU
This wonderfull organization led by Jay Sekulow is doing a terrific job of protecting our country from the communist founded ACLU. Their web site http://www.aclj.org/ list the many cases that are not only being fought, but that are being won. From partial birth abortion, parental notification, cross removals, Ten Commandmet displays, equal access, land use and zoning....
And I will leave you this quote from Roger Baldwin, founder of the ACLU,
"I am for socialism, disarmament, and, ultimately, for abolishing the state itself... I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and the sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.”
And I will leave you this quote from Roger Baldwin, founder of the ACLU,
"I am for socialism, disarmament, and, ultimately, for abolishing the state itself... I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and the sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.”
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Awesome Performance
Get this video and more at MySpace.com
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=747285741&n=2
Monday, May 15, 2006
No White Straight Men Allowed in California's Public School Curricula
If one reads SB 1437 it isn't hard to imagine were this will lead our public schools. It is an open invation to write out the Founding Fathers, past and current presidents, scientist and so on. And replace them with others that will emphasize their sexual orentation. Or even worse, it will become a fishing expedition that will attempt to identify a historical figures' sexual preference long after death and with out the possibility of defending themselves. If you don't believe this will happen, just ask Honest Abe, he is already under attack. I work for a public school and teachers on both sides of the political spectrum are more than upset. One of my friends spouse teaches 1st grade and she says she will leave the profession before she introduces an innocent 6 year old to homosexual discussions.
Public schools are not a lab for a small, vocal minority. It is a sad day when a few Americans would rather teach that same sex relationships are acceptable and christianity and patriotism are not. And what is interesting is that the Islamic faith understands this.
BILL NUMBER: SB 1437 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Kuehl
FEBRUARY 22, 2006
An act to amend Sections 51500, 51501, and 60044 of the Education
Code, relating to prohibited instruction.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1437, as introduced, Kuehl School instruction: prohibition of
discriminatory content.
Existing law prohibits instruction or school sponsored activities
that reflect adversely upon persons because of their race, sex,
color, creed, handicap, national origin, or ancestry. Existing law
prohibits the State Board of Education and the governing board of any
school district from adopting textbooks or other instructional
materials that contain any matter that reflects adversely upon
persons because of their race, sex, color, creed, handicap, national
origin, or ancestry.
This bill would revise the list of characteristics included in
these provisions to include race or ethnicity, gender, disability,
nationality, sexual orientation, and religion.
Existing law prohibits a governing board from adopting
instructional materials that contain any matter reflecting adversely
upon persons because of their race, color, creed, national origin,
ancestry, sex, handicap, or occupation, or that contain any sectarian
or denominational doctrine or propaganda contrary to law.
This bill would revise the list of characteristics included in
this provision to include race or ethnicity, gender, disability,
nationality, sexual orientation, religion, and occupation.
This bill also would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to
those provisions of existing law.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 51500 of the Education Code is amended to read:
51500. No teacher shall give instruction nor shall a school
district sponsor any activity which that
reflects adversely upon persons because of their race or
ethnicity , sex, color, creed, handicap, national
origin, or ancestry gender, disability, nationality,
sexual orientation, or religion .
SEC. 2. Section 51501 of the Education Code is amended to read:
51501. No textbook , or other instructional
materials shall be adopted by the state board or by any governing
board for use in the public schools which
that contains any matter reflecting adversely upon persons
because of their race or ethnicity , sex, color,
creed, handicap, national origin, or ancestry gender,
disability, nationality, sexual orientation, or religion .
SEC. 3. Section 60044 of the Education Code is amended to read:
60044. No instructional materials shall be adopted by any
governing board for use in the schools which
that , in its determination, contains:
(a) Any matter reflecting adversely upon persons because of their
race or ethnicity , color, creed, national origin,
ancestry, sex, handicap, gender,
disability, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, or
occupation.
(b) Any sectarian or denominational doctrine or propaganda
contrary to law.
Public schools are not a lab for a small, vocal minority. It is a sad day when a few Americans would rather teach that same sex relationships are acceptable and christianity and patriotism are not. And what is interesting is that the Islamic faith understands this.
BILL NUMBER: SB 1437 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Kuehl
FEBRUARY 22, 2006
An act to amend Sections 51500, 51501, and 60044 of the Education
Code, relating to prohibited instruction.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1437, as introduced, Kuehl School instruction: prohibition of
discriminatory content.
Existing law prohibits instruction or school sponsored activities
that reflect adversely upon persons because of their race, sex,
color, creed, handicap, national origin, or ancestry. Existing law
prohibits the State Board of Education and the governing board of any
school district from adopting textbooks or other instructional
materials that contain any matter that reflects adversely upon
persons because of their race, sex, color, creed, handicap, national
origin, or ancestry.
This bill would revise the list of characteristics included in
these provisions to include race or ethnicity, gender, disability,
nationality, sexual orientation, and religion.
Existing law prohibits a governing board from adopting
instructional materials that contain any matter reflecting adversely
upon persons because of their race, color, creed, national origin,
ancestry, sex, handicap, or occupation, or that contain any sectarian
or denominational doctrine or propaganda contrary to law.
This bill would revise the list of characteristics included in
this provision to include race or ethnicity, gender, disability,
nationality, sexual orientation, religion, and occupation.
This bill also would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to
those provisions of existing law.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 51500 of the Education Code is amended to read:
51500. No teacher shall give instruction nor shall a school
district sponsor any activity which that
reflects adversely upon persons because of their race or
ethnicity , sex, color, creed, handicap, national
origin, or ancestry gender, disability, nationality,
sexual orientation, or religion .
SEC. 2. Section 51501 of the Education Code is amended to read:
51501. No textbook , or other instructional
materials shall be adopted by the state board or by any governing
board for use in the public schools which
that contains any matter reflecting adversely upon persons
because of their race or ethnicity , sex, color,
creed, handicap, national origin, or ancestry gender,
disability, nationality, sexual orientation, or religion .
SEC. 3. Section 60044 of the Education Code is amended to read:
60044. No instructional materials shall be adopted by any
governing board for use in the schools which
that , in its determination, contains:
(a) Any matter reflecting adversely upon persons because of their
race or ethnicity , color, creed, national origin,
ancestry, sex, handicap, gender,
disability, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, or
occupation.
(b) Any sectarian or denominational doctrine or propaganda
contrary to law.
Planned Parenthood or Planned Master Race?
I got into a very interesting debate today over the founder of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. During this discussion I made the claim that she was an elitist who believed that only certain types of babies should be allowed to be concieved and that only certain people should be able to procreate. Well after being told I was a knuckle draggin' cave dweller I calmly asked my coworker to read some of the articles that Maggy wrote. And I remind you that the discussion of abortion being right or wrong was not the point. About two hours later my friend found me and said, "I never realized what the lady believed." While we agreed to disagree on the right vs. wrong of the issue, we did agree this lady was evil. Here is the article from the LOC. Oh, the defenition of Eugenics...The study of improving a species by artificial selection; usually refers to the selective breeding of humans. http://wilde.acs.its.nyu.edu/sanger/documents/show.php?sangerDoc=143449.xml "While I personally believe in the sterilization of the feeble-minded, the insane and syphilitic, I have not been able to discover that these measures are more than superficial deterrents when applied to the constantly growing stream of the unfit. They are excellent means of meeting a certain phase of the situation, but I believe in regard to these, as in regard to other eugenic means, that they do not go to the bottom of the matter. Neither the mating of healthy couples nor the sterilization of certain recognized types of the unfit touches the great problem of unlimited reproduction of those whose housing, clothing, and food are all inadequate to physical and mental health. These measures do not touch those great masses, who through economic pressure populate the slums and there produce in their helplessness other helpless, diseased and incompetent masses, who overwhelm all that eugenics can do among those whose economic condition is better."
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Time To Blockade Cuba
Looks like it time to place a blockade around Cuba again. China will be searching for oil in and around the island. This is unacceptable. Thanks to Jimmy Chan Carter China has its claws in the Panama Canal. If they are allowed to have a fanancial and natural resource interest in our backyard, then we will have a national security issue in the near future. The chances are slim to none that we will see this blockade from our current president or our congress anytime soon. For the most part our elected officials are against sealing our borders during this time of war. Many of these politicians refuse to allow anyexploration or production of our own natural resources.
And it is time for Castro to go. President Bush to his credit removed a killing and torture machine named Saddam. And Castro isn't any better. Just ask anyone who has lived under his rule. His political opponents occupy a prison cell or a grave. He has a special prison just for gays and HIV infected people. His Hollywood friends do not seem to mind. Here is a link to a very interesting article about the Chinese and Cuba deal.
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/default.aspx
Complaining that energy-hungry China could gain access to oil "within spitting distance" of the United States, Sen. Larry Craig, an Idaho Republican, has introduced legislation that would seek an exception to the trade embargo for U.S. oil companies so they could drill in Cuba.
U.S. companies are barred from exploring for oil in communist Cuba under trade sanctions enforced against President Fidel Castro's revolutionary government since 1962.
Legislators from Florida, where anti-Castro Cuban exiles have political clout, seek to block Cuba drilling near the Florida coastline and penalize executives of foreign companies that help Cuba look for oil and gas.
China's giant oil and gas company Sinopec Corp. signed an agreement last year to produce heavy oil with CUPET in Cuba's westernmost Pinar del Rio province from on-shore wells.
And it is time for Castro to go. President Bush to his credit removed a killing and torture machine named Saddam. And Castro isn't any better. Just ask anyone who has lived under his rule. His political opponents occupy a prison cell or a grave. He has a special prison just for gays and HIV infected people. His Hollywood friends do not seem to mind. Here is a link to a very interesting article about the Chinese and Cuba deal.
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/default.aspx
Complaining that energy-hungry China could gain access to oil "within spitting distance" of the United States, Sen. Larry Craig, an Idaho Republican, has introduced legislation that would seek an exception to the trade embargo for U.S. oil companies so they could drill in Cuba.
U.S. companies are barred from exploring for oil in communist Cuba under trade sanctions enforced against President Fidel Castro's revolutionary government since 1962.
Legislators from Florida, where anti-Castro Cuban exiles have political clout, seek to block Cuba drilling near the Florida coastline and penalize executives of foreign companies that help Cuba look for oil and gas.
China's giant oil and gas company Sinopec Corp. signed an agreement last year to produce heavy oil with CUPET in Cuba's westernmost Pinar del Rio province from on-shore wells.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
An Elvis Moment
This was taken in 1974 I believe. Still one of the classy acts ever in entertainment.
Dear Mr. President....
Dear President Bush:
I'm about to plan a little trip with my family and extended family, and I would like to ask you to assist me. I'm going to walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and I need to make a few arrangements. I know you can help with this. I plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Vicente Fox, that I'm on my way over?
Please let him know that I will be expecting the following: 1. Free medical care for my entire family. I don’t plan on paying the hospitals or doctors a dime.2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not. 3. All government forms need to be printed in English. 4. I want my kids to be taught by English-speaking teachers. 5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history. 6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school with the Mexican flag flying lower down. 7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch. 8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services. 9. I do not plan to have any car insurance, and I won't make any effort to learn local traffic laws. 10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from Pres. Fox to leave me alone, please be sure that all police officers speak English. 11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals. 12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, and don’t enforce any labor laws or tax laws. 13. Please tell all the people in the country to be extremely nice and never say a critical word about me, or about the strain I might place on the economy.
14. I will take most of the money that I make in Mexico and forward it to my family in the USA to help the Mexican government shrink their economy by making them print new money, just like the Mexicans here force us to print new food stamps , new currency, etc.
15. If I can’t find a job I am sure that the Mexican welfare system will welcome me with open arms just like the American government does for the Mexicans here.
16. If I get in a car wreck I will simply drive off without stopping so that should ease the burden on the police.
I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all the people who come to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that Pres. Fox won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely. However, if he gives you any trouble, just invite him to go quail hunting with your Vice President. Thank you so much for your kind help.
Yours truly,
AN AMERICAN TAXPAYER
I'm about to plan a little trip with my family and extended family, and I would like to ask you to assist me. I'm going to walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and I need to make a few arrangements. I know you can help with this. I plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Vicente Fox, that I'm on my way over?
Please let him know that I will be expecting the following: 1. Free medical care for my entire family. I don’t plan on paying the hospitals or doctors a dime.2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not. 3. All government forms need to be printed in English. 4. I want my kids to be taught by English-speaking teachers. 5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history. 6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school with the Mexican flag flying lower down. 7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch. 8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services. 9. I do not plan to have any car insurance, and I won't make any effort to learn local traffic laws. 10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from Pres. Fox to leave me alone, please be sure that all police officers speak English. 11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals. 12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, and don’t enforce any labor laws or tax laws. 13. Please tell all the people in the country to be extremely nice and never say a critical word about me, or about the strain I might place on the economy.
14. I will take most of the money that I make in Mexico and forward it to my family in the USA to help the Mexican government shrink their economy by making them print new money, just like the Mexicans here force us to print new food stamps , new currency, etc.
15. If I can’t find a job I am sure that the Mexican welfare system will welcome me with open arms just like the American government does for the Mexicans here.
16. If I get in a car wreck I will simply drive off without stopping so that should ease the burden on the police.
I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all the people who come to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that Pres. Fox won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely. However, if he gives you any trouble, just invite him to go quail hunting with your Vice President. Thank you so much for your kind help.
Yours truly,
AN AMERICAN TAXPAYER
Monday, April 24, 2006
World Net Daily ran an article on the group Islamic Thinkers Society that is reminiscent of the pre WWII Nazi party. During the 1930's there was a very active American Nazis party here in the states. So while these 8th century thinkers excercise their right of free speech, bought and paid for with American blood and guts, just be prepared for their actions. Of course our media buried this story faster than a log in the litter box.
http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49865
A New York rally by the Islamic Thinkers Society outside the Israeli consulate yesterday featured chants of "The mushroom cloud is on its way! The real holocaust is on its way!"
The demonstration by the Queens-based group was monitored by the Investigative Project on Terrorism whose members noted signs including "Islam will Dominate" and a picture with an Islamic flag flying over the White House.
The chants were in Arabic and translated by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, headed by Steve Emerson, a former reporter for CNN.
Here are some excerpts from the chants:
Leader (in Arabic): "With our blood and our lives we will liberate al Aqsa!"
[The rest also respond in Arabic:] "With our blood and our lives we will liberate al Aqsa!
Israeli Zionists What do you say? The real Holocaust is on its way"
"Takbeer!"
Response: "Allahu Akbar!"
"Takbeer!"
Response: "Allahu Akbar!"
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
How Is This An Issue?
I can not believe this issue exsist. I realize how large the armed services are, but someone of authority needs to handle these types of cases. If our government can hand out billions for overseas aid, we should certainly take care of our servicemen and women
washingtonpost.com For Injured U.S. Troops, 'Financial Friendly Fire'By Donna St. George His hand had been blown off in Iraq, his body pierced by shrapnel. He could not walk. Robert Loria was flown home for a long recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he tried to bear up against intense physical pain and reimagine his life's possibilities.The last thing on his mind, he said, was whether the Army had correctly adjusted his pay rate -- downgrading it because he was out of the war zone -- or whether his combat gear had been accounted for properly: his Kevlar helmet, his suspenders, his rucksack.But nine months after Loria was wounded, the Army garnished his wages and then, as he prepared to leave the service, hit him with a $6,200 debt. That was just before last Christmas, and several lawmakers scrambled to help. This spring, a collection agency started calling. He owed another $646 for military housing."I was shocked," recalled Loria, now 28 and medically retired from the Army. "After everything that went on, they still had the nerve to ask me for money."Although Loria's problems may be striking on their own, the Army has recently identified 331 other soldiers who have been hit with military debt after being wounded at war. The new analysis comes as the United States has more wounded troops than at any time since the Vietnam War, with thousands suffering serious injury in Iraq or Afghanistan."This is a financial friendly fire," charged Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, which has been looking into the issue. "It's awful." Davis called the failure systemic and said military "pay problems have been an embarrassment all the way through" the war.Army officials said they are in the process of forgiving debts for 99 of the 331 wounded soldiers, all now out of the military. The other cases have not been resolved, said G. Eric Reid, director of the U.S. Army Finance Command. Complex laws and regulations govern the cancellation of debts once soldiers leave the service, he said.Part of the problem is that the government's computerized pay system is designed to "maximize debt collection" and has operated without a way to keep bills from going to the wounded, Reid said. In the past seven months, a database of injured troops has been created to help prevent that. Now, he said, the goal is to make "a conscious decision . . . on the validity of that debt" in every case.Early this year, the Army reported that, in looking at a two-month period, it had identified 129 wounded soldiers -- still active in the military -- who had debts. Those were resolved. But the Army cannot pinpoint the full number of wounded active-duty troops with debts.The House Government Reform Committee has for several years been looking at pay problems among service members. Last spring, the committee asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate debt among the war's wounded and whether troops were being reported to collection and credit agencies. The findings are due early next year.Although efforts are being made to correct such problems, Rep. Todd R. Platts (R-Pa.) said that for some troops, "we've so mismanaged their pay that . . . we've sent debt notices while they're still in combat, in harm's way." Hounding wounded troops is unfathomable, he said. "For even a single soldier, this is unacceptable," he said.At the root of the problem is an outdated Defense Department computer system, which does not automatically link pay and personnel records. This creates numerous pay errors -- and overpayments become debts, said Gregory D. Kutz, the GAO's managing director for forensic audits and special investigations. "They've been trying to modernize it since the mid-1990s," he said. "They have been unsuccessful."No one can say how many troops have pay problems across the military, Kutz said, but the GAO has found that, in certain Army National Guard and Reserve units, more than 90 percent of soldiers have had at least one overpayment or underpayment during deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Steps have since been taken to improve the system, but the problem will not be eliminated, Kutz said, until the larger computer system is reengineered.Typically, troops get a boost in pay while in combat. When they come home, the system can take extra weeks to catch up with the change, and some people are overpaid. For wounded troops -- still adjusting to their injuries and changed futures -- a debt notice can be another bitter discovery."It was like I was being abandoned. I was no good to the military anymore," recalled Loria, who served more than five years. "They figured the pay glitch was my fault and I was going to pay for it."Loria was a combat engineer in Iraq in February 2004 when he rushed out with other soldiers to rescue a comrade wounded by a roadside bomb near Baqubah. After helping load the soldier onto his Humvee, Loria started to drive away. A second bomb exploded."My whole body hurt," he said, "and I felt like I was on fire." He noticed that his hand and lower arm seemed to be hanging off to the side.A week later, Loria awoke in a hospital bed at Walter Reed, his wife watching over him. He had to learn to walk again, and, worse, he had to accept that "I was never going to do something that required two hands." Still, he said, he tried to remember that others died in Iraq and that "so many people in Walter Reed were 10 times worse off than myself."After he left the hospital, his financial trouble started. First, his wages were garnished. "I was missing car payments and phone bill payments and everything else," he said. Then, when he was leaving the military, shortly before Christmas, his debts were laid out: $2,200 in travel related to follow-up hospital treatment, $2,400 for combat-related pay he should not have collected and several hundred dollars more for military gear that went missing after his injury.The full force of his debt hit as he was trying to get to his family in New York for the holidays. "I had a quarter-tank of gas, three cats in my vehicle and no money whatsoever," he said.His outraged wife, Christine Loria, called the local newspaper in Middletown, N.Y., which published an article, and New York lawmakers became involved: Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles E. Schumer and Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey (D). Within a matter of days, the debts were cleared, and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner donated $25,000 to Loria.Months later, home with his wife and stepson, Loria was stunned to receive a call from a collection agency. He owed $646 for housing: nine days of rent, damaged window blinds, a broken refrigerator tray."They call and they call and they call," he said. "They're nasty to me." Sometimes, he said, he feels outraged. "I don't know how much you want from me. I already gave you one arm and a part of a leg."As Loria battled with bill collectors, Ryan Kelly, 25, took his problems to the GAO. He did this at the suggestion of a friend and fellow volunteer at the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit program in Roanoke for injured troops.Kelly had been wounded in Iraq in July 2003, when his Humvee was blasted by a roadside bomb. "It blew my leg pretty much clean off," he said.Like Loria, Kelly spent months at Walter Reed, recovering and learning to walk again without his lower leg and foot. The Army staff sergeant struggled with questions about his future. Because he had been injured as a reservist, he was told, there was no guarantee he could deploy to Iraq again. "I didn't want to stay in the Army if I was just going to be a warm body, filling a slot," he said.When Kelly left the military last year, he recalled, "it was an intense, emotional time." He thought little of the final two checks totaling $2,700 because he was owed vacation and travel pay, he said. Later, he was bewildered as pay stubs continued to come in the mail, each blank except for a notation of a $2,230 debt.Frustrated, Kelly called the Disabled Soldier Support System, a unit where a counselor told him the Army had mistakenly paid him for an extra 22 days. But Kelly said he was told it would all work out well because the military owed him for his leave and travel. A few weeks later, he said, "I got a check, and I thought, 'Oh, that's nice.' "But after he and his wife moved to Arizona, he received a bill for $2,230 -- with the threat of a referral to a collection agency. "I was pretty speechless," he said.When Kelly called the GAO, he learned that the debt was already listed on his credit history."What benefit is the Army getting, aggressively going after disabled service members for $500 or $1,000 or whatever? Why not give injured service members a little leeway?"That sentiment is common.Tyson Johnson, 24, of Prichard, Ala., was stunned after being struck by a mortar round in Iraq to find a bill waiting for him when he came home from the hospital. It was for $2,700, the bonus he had been given when he enlisted."I definitely felt betrayed, because I went over there and almost lost my life," said Johnson, a corporal when he was injured. His debt was resolved after his story made news. "I really didn't need more stress."Sgt. Gary Dowd, 28, was caught in an ambush 30 miles north of Tikrit, Iraq, in 2003 and suffered multiple injuries, losing his left hand and forearm.After 13 months of treatment, he retired from the Army early this year. Shortly afterward, he received a letter at his home in Tampa asking him to repay $600 for a survivor-benefit insurance plan he had opted out of when he signed his deployment papers.There was no number on the bill to call -- no way to protest. "I was pretty irked that they thought I owed them something," he said. "I feel like I've given them enough."Although Dowd feels there is no ill intent, he said, "I do wish that once they realized they had an injured service member, they would flag them and say: 'This guy has been in the hospital. He's going through enough already.' "
washingtonpost.com For Injured U.S. Troops, 'Financial Friendly Fire'By Donna St. George His hand had been blown off in Iraq, his body pierced by shrapnel. He could not walk. Robert Loria was flown home for a long recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he tried to bear up against intense physical pain and reimagine his life's possibilities.The last thing on his mind, he said, was whether the Army had correctly adjusted his pay rate -- downgrading it because he was out of the war zone -- or whether his combat gear had been accounted for properly: his Kevlar helmet, his suspenders, his rucksack.But nine months after Loria was wounded, the Army garnished his wages and then, as he prepared to leave the service, hit him with a $6,200 debt. That was just before last Christmas, and several lawmakers scrambled to help. This spring, a collection agency started calling. He owed another $646 for military housing."I was shocked," recalled Loria, now 28 and medically retired from the Army. "After everything that went on, they still had the nerve to ask me for money."Although Loria's problems may be striking on their own, the Army has recently identified 331 other soldiers who have been hit with military debt after being wounded at war. The new analysis comes as the United States has more wounded troops than at any time since the Vietnam War, with thousands suffering serious injury in Iraq or Afghanistan."This is a financial friendly fire," charged Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, which has been looking into the issue. "It's awful." Davis called the failure systemic and said military "pay problems have been an embarrassment all the way through" the war.Army officials said they are in the process of forgiving debts for 99 of the 331 wounded soldiers, all now out of the military. The other cases have not been resolved, said G. Eric Reid, director of the U.S. Army Finance Command. Complex laws and regulations govern the cancellation of debts once soldiers leave the service, he said.Part of the problem is that the government's computerized pay system is designed to "maximize debt collection" and has operated without a way to keep bills from going to the wounded, Reid said. In the past seven months, a database of injured troops has been created to help prevent that. Now, he said, the goal is to make "a conscious decision . . . on the validity of that debt" in every case.Early this year, the Army reported that, in looking at a two-month period, it had identified 129 wounded soldiers -- still active in the military -- who had debts. Those were resolved. But the Army cannot pinpoint the full number of wounded active-duty troops with debts.The House Government Reform Committee has for several years been looking at pay problems among service members. Last spring, the committee asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate debt among the war's wounded and whether troops were being reported to collection and credit agencies. The findings are due early next year.Although efforts are being made to correct such problems, Rep. Todd R. Platts (R-Pa.) said that for some troops, "we've so mismanaged their pay that . . . we've sent debt notices while they're still in combat, in harm's way." Hounding wounded troops is unfathomable, he said. "For even a single soldier, this is unacceptable," he said.At the root of the problem is an outdated Defense Department computer system, which does not automatically link pay and personnel records. This creates numerous pay errors -- and overpayments become debts, said Gregory D. Kutz, the GAO's managing director for forensic audits and special investigations. "They've been trying to modernize it since the mid-1990s," he said. "They have been unsuccessful."No one can say how many troops have pay problems across the military, Kutz said, but the GAO has found that, in certain Army National Guard and Reserve units, more than 90 percent of soldiers have had at least one overpayment or underpayment during deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Steps have since been taken to improve the system, but the problem will not be eliminated, Kutz said, until the larger computer system is reengineered.Typically, troops get a boost in pay while in combat. When they come home, the system can take extra weeks to catch up with the change, and some people are overpaid. For wounded troops -- still adjusting to their injuries and changed futures -- a debt notice can be another bitter discovery."It was like I was being abandoned. I was no good to the military anymore," recalled Loria, who served more than five years. "They figured the pay glitch was my fault and I was going to pay for it."Loria was a combat engineer in Iraq in February 2004 when he rushed out with other soldiers to rescue a comrade wounded by a roadside bomb near Baqubah. After helping load the soldier onto his Humvee, Loria started to drive away. A second bomb exploded."My whole body hurt," he said, "and I felt like I was on fire." He noticed that his hand and lower arm seemed to be hanging off to the side.A week later, Loria awoke in a hospital bed at Walter Reed, his wife watching over him. He had to learn to walk again, and, worse, he had to accept that "I was never going to do something that required two hands." Still, he said, he tried to remember that others died in Iraq and that "so many people in Walter Reed were 10 times worse off than myself."After he left the hospital, his financial trouble started. First, his wages were garnished. "I was missing car payments and phone bill payments and everything else," he said. Then, when he was leaving the military, shortly before Christmas, his debts were laid out: $2,200 in travel related to follow-up hospital treatment, $2,400 for combat-related pay he should not have collected and several hundred dollars more for military gear that went missing after his injury.The full force of his debt hit as he was trying to get to his family in New York for the holidays. "I had a quarter-tank of gas, three cats in my vehicle and no money whatsoever," he said.His outraged wife, Christine Loria, called the local newspaper in Middletown, N.Y., which published an article, and New York lawmakers became involved: Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles E. Schumer and Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey (D). Within a matter of days, the debts were cleared, and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner donated $25,000 to Loria.Months later, home with his wife and stepson, Loria was stunned to receive a call from a collection agency. He owed $646 for housing: nine days of rent, damaged window blinds, a broken refrigerator tray."They call and they call and they call," he said. "They're nasty to me." Sometimes, he said, he feels outraged. "I don't know how much you want from me. I already gave you one arm and a part of a leg."As Loria battled with bill collectors, Ryan Kelly, 25, took his problems to the GAO. He did this at the suggestion of a friend and fellow volunteer at the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit program in Roanoke for injured troops.Kelly had been wounded in Iraq in July 2003, when his Humvee was blasted by a roadside bomb. "It blew my leg pretty much clean off," he said.Like Loria, Kelly spent months at Walter Reed, recovering and learning to walk again without his lower leg and foot. The Army staff sergeant struggled with questions about his future. Because he had been injured as a reservist, he was told, there was no guarantee he could deploy to Iraq again. "I didn't want to stay in the Army if I was just going to be a warm body, filling a slot," he said.When Kelly left the military last year, he recalled, "it was an intense, emotional time." He thought little of the final two checks totaling $2,700 because he was owed vacation and travel pay, he said. Later, he was bewildered as pay stubs continued to come in the mail, each blank except for a notation of a $2,230 debt.Frustrated, Kelly called the Disabled Soldier Support System, a unit where a counselor told him the Army had mistakenly paid him for an extra 22 days. But Kelly said he was told it would all work out well because the military owed him for his leave and travel. A few weeks later, he said, "I got a check, and I thought, 'Oh, that's nice.' "But after he and his wife moved to Arizona, he received a bill for $2,230 -- with the threat of a referral to a collection agency. "I was pretty speechless," he said.When Kelly called the GAO, he learned that the debt was already listed on his credit history."What benefit is the Army getting, aggressively going after disabled service members for $500 or $1,000 or whatever? Why not give injured service members a little leeway?"That sentiment is common.Tyson Johnson, 24, of Prichard, Ala., was stunned after being struck by a mortar round in Iraq to find a bill waiting for him when he came home from the hospital. It was for $2,700, the bonus he had been given when he enlisted."I definitely felt betrayed, because I went over there and almost lost my life," said Johnson, a corporal when he was injured. His debt was resolved after his story made news. "I really didn't need more stress."Sgt. Gary Dowd, 28, was caught in an ambush 30 miles north of Tikrit, Iraq, in 2003 and suffered multiple injuries, losing his left hand and forearm.After 13 months of treatment, he retired from the Army early this year. Shortly afterward, he received a letter at his home in Tampa asking him to repay $600 for a survivor-benefit insurance plan he had opted out of when he signed his deployment papers.There was no number on the bill to call -- no way to protest. "I was pretty irked that they thought I owed them something," he said. "I feel like I've given them enough."Although Dowd feels there is no ill intent, he said, "I do wish that once they realized they had an injured service member, they would flag them and say: 'This guy has been in the hospital. He's going through enough already.' "
It WAs OK?
I found this on the American Thinker site. Read and enjoy.
Under Clinton, NY Times called surveillanceJanuary 12th, 2006
The controversy following revelations that U.S. intelligence agencies have monitored suspected terrorist related communications since 9/11 reflects a severe case of selective amnesia by the New York Times and other media opponents of President Bush. They certainly didn’t show the same outrage when a much more invasive and indiscriminate domestic surveillance program came to light during the Clinton administration in the 1990’s. At that time, the Times called the surveillance “a necessity.”
“If you made a phone call today or sent an e-mail to a friend, there’s a good chance what you said or wrote was captured and screened by the country’s largest intelligence agency.” (Steve Kroft, CBS’ 60 Minutes)
Those words were aired on February 27, 2000 to describe the National Security Agency and an electronic surveillance program called Echelon whose mission, according to Kroft,
“is to eavesdrop on enemies of the state: foreign countries, terrorist groups and drug cartels. But in the process, Echelon’s computers capture virtually every electronic conversation around the world.”
Echelon was, or is (its existence has been under-reported in the American media), an electronic eavesdropping program conducted by the United States and a few select allies such as the United Kingdom.
Tellingly, the existence of the program was confirmed not by the New York Times or the Washington Post or by any other American media outlet – these were the Clinton years, after all, and the American media generally treats Democrat administrations far more gently than Republican administrations – but by an Australian government official in a statement made to an Australian television news show.
The Times actually defended the existence of Echelon when it reported on the program following the Australians’ revelations.
“Few dispute the necessity of a system like Echelon to apprehend foreign spies, drug traffickers and terrorists….”
And the Times article quoted an N.S.A. official in assuring readers
“...that all Agency activities are conducted in accordance with the highest constitutional, legal and ethical standards.”
Of course, that was on May 27, 1999 and Bill Clinton, not George W. Bush, was president.
Even so, the article did admit that
“...many are concerned that the system could be abused to collect economic and political information.”
Despite the Times’ reluctance to emphasize those concerns, one of the sources used in that same article, Patrick Poole, a lecturer in government and economics at Bannock Burn College in Franklin, Tenn., had already concluded in a study cited by the Times story that the program had been abused in both ways.
“ECHELON is also being used for purposes well outside its original mission. The regular discovery of domestic surveillance targeted at American civilians for reasons of ‘unpopular’ political affiliation or for no probable cause at all… What was once designed to target a select list of communist countries and terrorist states is now indiscriminately directed against virtually every citizen in the world,” Poole concluded.
The Times article also referenced a European Union report on Echelon. The report was conducted after E.U. members became concerned that their citizens’ rights may have been violated. One of the revelations of that study was that the N.S.A. used partner countries’ intelligence agencies to routinely circumvent legal restrictions against domestic spying.
“For example, [author Nicky] Hager has described how New Zealand officials were instructed to remove the names of identifiable UKUSA citizens or companies from their reports, inserting instead words such as ‘a Canadian citizen’ or ‘a US company’. British Comint [Communications intelligence] staff have described following similar procedures in respect of US citizens following the introduction of legislation to limit NSA’s domestic intelligence activities in 1978.”
Further, the E.U. report concluded that intelligence agencies did not feel particularly constrained by legal restrictions requiring search warrants.
“Comint agencies conduct broad international communications ‘trawling’ activities, and operate under general warrants. Such operations do not require or even suppose that the parties they intercept are criminals.”
The current controversy follows a Times report that, since 9/11, U.S. intelligence agencies are eavesdropping at any time on up to 500 people in the U.S. suspected of conducting international communications with terrorists. Under Echelon, the Clinton administration was spying on just about everyone.
“The US National Security Agency (NSA) has created a global spy system, codename ECHELON, which captures and analyzes virtually every phone call, fax, email and telex message sent anywhere in the world,”
Poole summarized in his study on the program.
According to an April, 2000 article in PC World magazine, experts who studied Echelon concluded that
“Project Echelon’s equipment can process 1 million message inputs every 30 minutes.”
In the February, 2000 60 Minutes story, former spy Mike Frost made clear that Echelon monitored practically every conversation – no matter how seemingly innocent – during the Clinton years.
“A lady had been to a school play the night before, and her son was in the school play and she thought he did a-a lousy job. Next morning, she was talking on the telephone to her friend, and she said to her friend something like this, ‘Oh, Danny really bombed last night,’ just like that. The computer spit that conversation out. The analyst that was looking at it was not too sure about what the conversation w-was referring to, so erring on the side of caution, he listed that lady and her phone number in the database as a possible terrorist.”
“This is not urban legend you’re talking about. This actually happened?” Kroft asked.
“Factual. Absolutely fact. No legend here.”
Even as the Times defended Echelon as “a necessity” in 1999, evidence already existed that electronic surveillance had previously been misused by the Clinton Administration for political purposes. Intelligence officials told Insight Magazine in 1997 that a 1993 conference of Asian and Pacific world leaders hosted by Clinton in Seattle had been spied on by U.S. intelligence agencies. Further, the magazine reported that information obtained by the spying had been passed on to big Democrat corporate donors to use against their competitors. The Insight story added that the mis-use of the surveillance for political reasons caused the intelligence sources to reveal the operation.
“The only reason it has come to light is because of concerns raised by high-level sources within federal law-enforcement and intelligence circles that the operation was compromised by politicians—includingmid- and senior-level White House aides—either on behalf of or in support of President Clinton and major donor-friends who helped him and the Democratic National Committee, or DNC, raise money.”
So, during the Clinton Administration, evidence existed (all of the information used in this article was available at the time) that:
-an invasive, extensive domestic eavesdropping program was aimed at every U.S. citizen;
-intelligence agencies were using allies to circumvent constitutional restrictions;
-and the administration was selling at least some secret intelligence for political donations.
These revelations were met by the New York Times and others in the mainstream media by the sound of one hand clapping. Now, reports that the Bush Administration approved electronic eavesdropping, strictly limited to international communications, of a relative handful of suspected terrorists have created a media frenzy in the Times and elsewhere.
The Times has historically been referred to as “the Grey Lady.” That grey is beginning to look just plain grimy, and many of us can no longer consider her a lady.
William Tate is a writer and researcher and former broadcast journalist. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Under Clinton, NY Times called surveillanceJanuary 12th, 2006
The controversy following revelations that U.S. intelligence agencies have monitored suspected terrorist related communications since 9/11 reflects a severe case of selective amnesia by the New York Times and other media opponents of President Bush. They certainly didn’t show the same outrage when a much more invasive and indiscriminate domestic surveillance program came to light during the Clinton administration in the 1990’s. At that time, the Times called the surveillance “a necessity.”
“If you made a phone call today or sent an e-mail to a friend, there’s a good chance what you said or wrote was captured and screened by the country’s largest intelligence agency.” (Steve Kroft, CBS’ 60 Minutes)
Those words were aired on February 27, 2000 to describe the National Security Agency and an electronic surveillance program called Echelon whose mission, according to Kroft,
“is to eavesdrop on enemies of the state: foreign countries, terrorist groups and drug cartels. But in the process, Echelon’s computers capture virtually every electronic conversation around the world.”
Echelon was, or is (its existence has been under-reported in the American media), an electronic eavesdropping program conducted by the United States and a few select allies such as the United Kingdom.
Tellingly, the existence of the program was confirmed not by the New York Times or the Washington Post or by any other American media outlet – these were the Clinton years, after all, and the American media generally treats Democrat administrations far more gently than Republican administrations – but by an Australian government official in a statement made to an Australian television news show.
The Times actually defended the existence of Echelon when it reported on the program following the Australians’ revelations.
“Few dispute the necessity of a system like Echelon to apprehend foreign spies, drug traffickers and terrorists….”
And the Times article quoted an N.S.A. official in assuring readers
“...that all Agency activities are conducted in accordance with the highest constitutional, legal and ethical standards.”
Of course, that was on May 27, 1999 and Bill Clinton, not George W. Bush, was president.
Even so, the article did admit that
“...many are concerned that the system could be abused to collect economic and political information.”
Despite the Times’ reluctance to emphasize those concerns, one of the sources used in that same article, Patrick Poole, a lecturer in government and economics at Bannock Burn College in Franklin, Tenn., had already concluded in a study cited by the Times story that the program had been abused in both ways.
“ECHELON is also being used for purposes well outside its original mission. The regular discovery of domestic surveillance targeted at American civilians for reasons of ‘unpopular’ political affiliation or for no probable cause at all… What was once designed to target a select list of communist countries and terrorist states is now indiscriminately directed against virtually every citizen in the world,” Poole concluded.
The Times article also referenced a European Union report on Echelon. The report was conducted after E.U. members became concerned that their citizens’ rights may have been violated. One of the revelations of that study was that the N.S.A. used partner countries’ intelligence agencies to routinely circumvent legal restrictions against domestic spying.
“For example, [author Nicky] Hager has described how New Zealand officials were instructed to remove the names of identifiable UKUSA citizens or companies from their reports, inserting instead words such as ‘a Canadian citizen’ or ‘a US company’. British Comint [Communications intelligence] staff have described following similar procedures in respect of US citizens following the introduction of legislation to limit NSA’s domestic intelligence activities in 1978.”
Further, the E.U. report concluded that intelligence agencies did not feel particularly constrained by legal restrictions requiring search warrants.
“Comint agencies conduct broad international communications ‘trawling’ activities, and operate under general warrants. Such operations do not require or even suppose that the parties they intercept are criminals.”
The current controversy follows a Times report that, since 9/11, U.S. intelligence agencies are eavesdropping at any time on up to 500 people in the U.S. suspected of conducting international communications with terrorists. Under Echelon, the Clinton administration was spying on just about everyone.
“The US National Security Agency (NSA) has created a global spy system, codename ECHELON, which captures and analyzes virtually every phone call, fax, email and telex message sent anywhere in the world,”
Poole summarized in his study on the program.
According to an April, 2000 article in PC World magazine, experts who studied Echelon concluded that
“Project Echelon’s equipment can process 1 million message inputs every 30 minutes.”
In the February, 2000 60 Minutes story, former spy Mike Frost made clear that Echelon monitored practically every conversation – no matter how seemingly innocent – during the Clinton years.
“A lady had been to a school play the night before, and her son was in the school play and she thought he did a-a lousy job. Next morning, she was talking on the telephone to her friend, and she said to her friend something like this, ‘Oh, Danny really bombed last night,’ just like that. The computer spit that conversation out. The analyst that was looking at it was not too sure about what the conversation w-was referring to, so erring on the side of caution, he listed that lady and her phone number in the database as a possible terrorist.”
“This is not urban legend you’re talking about. This actually happened?” Kroft asked.
“Factual. Absolutely fact. No legend here.”
Even as the Times defended Echelon as “a necessity” in 1999, evidence already existed that electronic surveillance had previously been misused by the Clinton Administration for political purposes. Intelligence officials told Insight Magazine in 1997 that a 1993 conference of Asian and Pacific world leaders hosted by Clinton in Seattle had been spied on by U.S. intelligence agencies. Further, the magazine reported that information obtained by the spying had been passed on to big Democrat corporate donors to use against their competitors. The Insight story added that the mis-use of the surveillance for political reasons caused the intelligence sources to reveal the operation.
“The only reason it has come to light is because of concerns raised by high-level sources within federal law-enforcement and intelligence circles that the operation was compromised by politicians—includingmid- and senior-level White House aides—either on behalf of or in support of President Clinton and major donor-friends who helped him and the Democratic National Committee, or DNC, raise money.”
So, during the Clinton Administration, evidence existed (all of the information used in this article was available at the time) that:
-an invasive, extensive domestic eavesdropping program was aimed at every U.S. citizen;
-intelligence agencies were using allies to circumvent constitutional restrictions;
-and the administration was selling at least some secret intelligence for political donations.
These revelations were met by the New York Times and others in the mainstream media by the sound of one hand clapping. Now, reports that the Bush Administration approved electronic eavesdropping, strictly limited to international communications, of a relative handful of suspected terrorists have created a media frenzy in the Times and elsewhere.
The Times has historically been referred to as “the Grey Lady.” That grey is beginning to look just plain grimy, and many of us can no longer consider her a lady.
William Tate is a writer and researcher and former broadcast journalist. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
This is an Invasion
This article from www.sbcsun.com/ is proof that our president should seal the borders. Not all people come here to work and many are criminals. If I am not mistaken shots fired from one country and enters another country is an invasion.
2:49 p.m. January 10, 2006
LOS ANGELES – Federal officials have warned U.S. Border Patrol agents that they could be the targets of assassins hired by immigrant smugglers, according to a confidential memo obtained by the San Bernardino County Sun newspaper.
"Unidentified Mexican alien smugglers are angry about the increased security along the U.S./Mexico border and have agreed that the best way to deal with U.S. Border Patrol agents is to hire a group of contract killers," the Department of Homeland Security said in a Dec. 21 Officer Safety Alert. The alert states that the smugglers intend to bring members of the Mara Salvatrucha street gang – known as MS-13 – into the country to perform the killings, The Sun reported Tuesday.
Federal officials consider MS-13, with an estimated 30,000 members in 33 states, to be one of the most dangerous gangs in the country. It was formed in Los Angeles by immigrants from El Salvador.
The safety alert was based on an FBI report. An FBI spokesman in Washington said he could not comment.
Michael Friel, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said he could not comment directly on the confidential memo but recalled that agents' lives have been threatened before.
"It's no surprise that these smugglers, these criminals, would be threatening our agents," Friel said. "And that would be a huge mistake on their part if they try."
On Tuesday, the agency issued a statement saying it takes seriously the risks of securing America's borders.
"Border Patrol agents and CBP officers are prepared to respond appropriately to threats either against the country or themselves," the statement said. "Border Patrol agents and CBP officers have received various types of threats in the past and have worked diligently with their law enforcement partners to address these threats ... The difficult and sometimes hazardous duty of securing our borders is CBPs first and foremost responsibility."
Border Patrol officials say assaults on agents increased significantly during the past year.
On Dec. 30, in an incident that strained U.S.-Mexico relations, an agent shot and killed an 18-year-old man who allegedly threw a large rock at him near the wall separating Tijuana and San Diego.
Last week, agents in Texas reported two separate incidents in which they were shot at from the Mexican side of the border.
T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a 6,500-member union, said the DHS alert proves agents' lives often are at risk.
"MS-13 has shown that its members have very little regard for human life," he said. "Some of the atrocities they have committed are truly unspeakable, and it worries me to know that our agents on the line are now the targets."
2:49 p.m. January 10, 2006
LOS ANGELES – Federal officials have warned U.S. Border Patrol agents that they could be the targets of assassins hired by immigrant smugglers, according to a confidential memo obtained by the San Bernardino County Sun newspaper.
"Unidentified Mexican alien smugglers are angry about the increased security along the U.S./Mexico border and have agreed that the best way to deal with U.S. Border Patrol agents is to hire a group of contract killers," the Department of Homeland Security said in a Dec. 21 Officer Safety Alert. The alert states that the smugglers intend to bring members of the Mara Salvatrucha street gang – known as MS-13 – into the country to perform the killings, The Sun reported Tuesday.
Federal officials consider MS-13, with an estimated 30,000 members in 33 states, to be one of the most dangerous gangs in the country. It was formed in Los Angeles by immigrants from El Salvador.
The safety alert was based on an FBI report. An FBI spokesman in Washington said he could not comment.
Michael Friel, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said he could not comment directly on the confidential memo but recalled that agents' lives have been threatened before.
"It's no surprise that these smugglers, these criminals, would be threatening our agents," Friel said. "And that would be a huge mistake on their part if they try."
On Tuesday, the agency issued a statement saying it takes seriously the risks of securing America's borders.
"Border Patrol agents and CBP officers are prepared to respond appropriately to threats either against the country or themselves," the statement said. "Border Patrol agents and CBP officers have received various types of threats in the past and have worked diligently with their law enforcement partners to address these threats ... The difficult and sometimes hazardous duty of securing our borders is CBPs first and foremost responsibility."
Border Patrol officials say assaults on agents increased significantly during the past year.
On Dec. 30, in an incident that strained U.S.-Mexico relations, an agent shot and killed an 18-year-old man who allegedly threw a large rock at him near the wall separating Tijuana and San Diego.
Last week, agents in Texas reported two separate incidents in which they were shot at from the Mexican side of the border.
T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a 6,500-member union, said the DHS alert proves agents' lives often are at risk.
"MS-13 has shown that its members have very little regard for human life," he said. "Some of the atrocities they have committed are truly unspeakable, and it worries me to know that our agents on the line are now the targets."
Great Link
This article and link was sent to me by I friend. It is headed straight for my "Favorites."Wednesday, July 13th, 2005EXCLUSIVE: Saddam Trained 4,000 Terrorists; ...and... Coalition Bases Being Turned Over to Iraqis
Move America Forward - From Baghdad, Iraq
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 13, 2005 CONTACT: Mark Washburn at Mark@MoveAmericaForward.org or (916) 441-6197
Iraqi General: Saddam Harbored 4,000 Terrorists on War’s Eve
* “Voices of Soldiers” Truth Tour Obtains Exclusive Briefing from Iraqi General on Status of Iraq Security Forces
* 18 Coalition Bases Have Been Turned Over to Iraqi Forces
(SACRAMENTO) – The “Voices of Soldiers” Truth Tour organized by Move America Forward (website: www.MoveAmericaForward.org) and RighTalk Radio Network (www.RighTalk.com) has learned in an exclusive briefing that Saddam Hussein harbored approximately 4,000 terrorists in Iraq in the six months leading up to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Iraqi Lt. General Abdul Qader Jassim told the “Voices of Soldiers” Truth Tour delegation that these Iraqi-trained terrorists were designed to undermine Iraq’s enemies, most specifically Israel and Iran. Jassim also said that many of these same individuals are believed to be involved with or assisting the terrorist insurgents seeking to undermine the current Iraq regime.
Lt. General Abdul Qader Jassim reported that recruiting, training and equipping Iraqi forces has progressed significantly with Iraqi security forces about 60% of where they need to be to assume complete control in Iraq’s defense and protection of its people from terrorist attacks.
Also during the briefing, U.S. Col. Ben Hodges announced that as of today 18 Coalition Bases have been turned over to Iraqi Forces. There are an additional 91 Coalition bases that still need to be turned over to the Iraqi’s, Col. Hodges said.
The briefings by Iraqi Lt. General Jassim and U.S. Col. Hodges lasted approximately 2 hours and took place in Baghdad, Iraq.
“Saddam Hussein was operating as one of the world’s largest sponsors of terrorism before Coalition Forces put him out of business,” said Howard Kaloogian, Co-Chairman of Move America Forward.
“We are closer to winning the war on terrorism because of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and anyone who doubts that needs only look to see how determined Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are to see us fail here,” Kaloogian said.
The “Voices of Soldiers” delegation includes talk show hosts from around the country as well as the leadership of Move America Forward who have been filing live reports on the situation in Iraq to radio stations and networks covering the entire nation.
“We’ve been talking to soldiers and Marines who are fighting on the front lines of the war against terrorism. Universally, they have told us they are proud to serve their country and believe their efforts in Iraq are an important part of winning the war against terrorism,” said Melanie Morgan, Co-Chair of Move America Forward and also radio host on KSFO 560 AM (San Francisco).
The group will be traveling throughout northern Iraq speaking with U.S. Troops throughout the week.
“We’re giving our troops a chance to talk to the American people, because there is no better source for accurate and honest assessments as to the progress being made in Iraq. And so far, we’ve found that everyone has been more than willing to tell the American people things are better than you might be hearing from certain media outlets,” Morgan said.
The purpose of this trip is to provide a means for the men and women of the U.S. military serving in Iraq to have their voices heard – direct and unfiltered. The talk show hosts will broadcast live from Iraq – with broadcasts streamed at www.RighTalk.com
Last week the group received an extensive briefing on conditions in Iraq, the status of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and other national security issues from officials at the U.S. Central Command, based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Brigadier General John Custer (CENTCOM’s #2 official and top Intelligence Officer) led the briefing.
“There are some people, quite frankly, seeking to undermine the U.S. military and would like nothing better than to lose the war on terror. They are suggesting our trip is somehow paid for by the U.S. Government or taxpayers and at the direction of the Bush White House – and that is completely untrue,” said Lt. Col. Buzz Patterson, a host with the RighTalk Radio Network, bestselling author and board member of Move America Forward.
“We’ve paid our own way to get here, because we felt like our guys and gals serving in the military deserved to have their voices and opinions communicated directly to Americans without the biased reporting of the mainstream media. Our troops are being used as pawns for political expediency and it’s disgusting” Patterson said.
The radio talk show hosts currently in Iraq include: Melanie Morgan (KSFO 560 AM - San Francisco, CA); Michael Graham (WMAL 630 AM – Washington, D.C.); Mark Williams (KFBK 1530 AM – Sacramento, CA); Martha Zoller (WDUN 550 AM – Atlanta/Gaineville, GA); Lt. Col (Ret.) Buzz Patterson (National – RighTalk Radio Network); Brad Maaske (providing live reports to the Ray Appleton Show on KMJ 580 AM – Fresno, CA).
More information on the “Voices of Soldiers” Truth Tour can be found at www.VoicesOfSoldiers.com and www.MoveAmericaForward.org
Move America Forward - From Baghdad, Iraq
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 13, 2005 CONTACT: Mark Washburn at Mark@MoveAmericaForward.org or (916) 441-6197
Iraqi General: Saddam Harbored 4,000 Terrorists on War’s Eve
* “Voices of Soldiers” Truth Tour Obtains Exclusive Briefing from Iraqi General on Status of Iraq Security Forces
* 18 Coalition Bases Have Been Turned Over to Iraqi Forces
(SACRAMENTO) – The “Voices of Soldiers” Truth Tour organized by Move America Forward (website: www.MoveAmericaForward.org) and RighTalk Radio Network (www.RighTalk.com) has learned in an exclusive briefing that Saddam Hussein harbored approximately 4,000 terrorists in Iraq in the six months leading up to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Iraqi Lt. General Abdul Qader Jassim told the “Voices of Soldiers” Truth Tour delegation that these Iraqi-trained terrorists were designed to undermine Iraq’s enemies, most specifically Israel and Iran. Jassim also said that many of these same individuals are believed to be involved with or assisting the terrorist insurgents seeking to undermine the current Iraq regime.
Lt. General Abdul Qader Jassim reported that recruiting, training and equipping Iraqi forces has progressed significantly with Iraqi security forces about 60% of where they need to be to assume complete control in Iraq’s defense and protection of its people from terrorist attacks.
Also during the briefing, U.S. Col. Ben Hodges announced that as of today 18 Coalition Bases have been turned over to Iraqi Forces. There are an additional 91 Coalition bases that still need to be turned over to the Iraqi’s, Col. Hodges said.
The briefings by Iraqi Lt. General Jassim and U.S. Col. Hodges lasted approximately 2 hours and took place in Baghdad, Iraq.
“Saddam Hussein was operating as one of the world’s largest sponsors of terrorism before Coalition Forces put him out of business,” said Howard Kaloogian, Co-Chairman of Move America Forward.
“We are closer to winning the war on terrorism because of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and anyone who doubts that needs only look to see how determined Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are to see us fail here,” Kaloogian said.
The “Voices of Soldiers” delegation includes talk show hosts from around the country as well as the leadership of Move America Forward who have been filing live reports on the situation in Iraq to radio stations and networks covering the entire nation.
“We’ve been talking to soldiers and Marines who are fighting on the front lines of the war against terrorism. Universally, they have told us they are proud to serve their country and believe their efforts in Iraq are an important part of winning the war against terrorism,” said Melanie Morgan, Co-Chair of Move America Forward and also radio host on KSFO 560 AM (San Francisco).
The group will be traveling throughout northern Iraq speaking with U.S. Troops throughout the week.
“We’re giving our troops a chance to talk to the American people, because there is no better source for accurate and honest assessments as to the progress being made in Iraq. And so far, we’ve found that everyone has been more than willing to tell the American people things are better than you might be hearing from certain media outlets,” Morgan said.
The purpose of this trip is to provide a means for the men and women of the U.S. military serving in Iraq to have their voices heard – direct and unfiltered. The talk show hosts will broadcast live from Iraq – with broadcasts streamed at www.RighTalk.com
Last week the group received an extensive briefing on conditions in Iraq, the status of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and other national security issues from officials at the U.S. Central Command, based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Brigadier General John Custer (CENTCOM’s #2 official and top Intelligence Officer) led the briefing.
“There are some people, quite frankly, seeking to undermine the U.S. military and would like nothing better than to lose the war on terror. They are suggesting our trip is somehow paid for by the U.S. Government or taxpayers and at the direction of the Bush White House – and that is completely untrue,” said Lt. Col. Buzz Patterson, a host with the RighTalk Radio Network, bestselling author and board member of Move America Forward.
“We’ve paid our own way to get here, because we felt like our guys and gals serving in the military deserved to have their voices and opinions communicated directly to Americans without the biased reporting of the mainstream media. Our troops are being used as pawns for political expediency and it’s disgusting” Patterson said.
The radio talk show hosts currently in Iraq include: Melanie Morgan (KSFO 560 AM - San Francisco, CA); Michael Graham (WMAL 630 AM – Washington, D.C.); Mark Williams (KFBK 1530 AM – Sacramento, CA); Martha Zoller (WDUN 550 AM – Atlanta/Gaineville, GA); Lt. Col (Ret.) Buzz Patterson (National – RighTalk Radio Network); Brad Maaske (providing live reports to the Ray Appleton Show on KMJ 580 AM – Fresno, CA).
More information on the “Voices of Soldiers” Truth Tour can be found at www.VoicesOfSoldiers.com and www.MoveAmericaForward.org
Good vs Evil: Good Wins
An article from The American Thinker.com which makes for a great read. And yes for those who like to complain it is from a right sided view. The Passion of the Left: Hating Christians January 21st, 2006 "If viewers happened to be tuned into CSPAN several weeks ago, they were in for quite a spectacle. CSPAN was re-airing a conference that took place in May of 2005 with the ominous title, “Examining the Real Agenda of the Far Religious Right.” Sponsored by the New York Open Center, the conference was anything but open-minded. Instead, participants launched into a litany of complaints against the so-called Christian Right that bordered on bigotry. I half expected it to end with a pitchfork armed mob breaking down the doors of a local church. Perusing the Open Center’s website, one will find the sort of New Age psychobabble melded with eastern mysticism and apocalyptic environmentalism that is common on the left these days. Having been taught by multiculturalism to hate their own western religious background, they turn instead to the east. It just goes to show you that people need to believe in something. Those who run the Open Center obviously believed they were enlightened in holding their anti-Christian confab, but elitist would be more like it. Every time a speaker referred to a particular Christian belief or quoted a remark they found particularly inflammatory, the audience snickered knowingly, as if to say, “what a fool.” Obviously, the secular fundamentalists of the Open Center consider themselves far more reasonable than those nutty Christians. But judging by the level of paranoia expressed at the conference, I wouldn’t bet on it. At one point, a speaker spoke about the need “to save democracy” from the “Christian Right,” to which the audience broke out in applause. An associate professor of comparative studies equated the zeal of the “Christian Right” with that of “suicide bombers.” A former Pentecostal minister gave a presentation titled, “Christian Jihad,” while someone claimed to unveil, “The Real Hidden Religious Agenda: The Theocratic States of America.” For those suffering under such delusions, evangelical Christians are indeed the biggest threat to America and the entire world for that matter. Meanwhile, actual threats from a different religion go unnoticed. Not once during the conference was it mentioned that the real suicide bombers are Islamists who have been killing innocent civilians all over the world. Call me crazy, but isn’t the zealot who’s actually acting on his beliefs just a tad scarier than the one who’s simply talking about it? Anyway, in a democratic society, belief does not equal theocracy. Islamists on the other hand, are actively pushing a system that hearkens back to the 7th Century and they’re not taking no for an answer. To compare this approach to that of American citizens simply exercising their democratic rights is beyond ludicrous. The conference attendees seemed particularly concerned with Christians who believe literally in the Book of Revelations, The End Days, The Rapture, Armageddon and so on. They labeled such beliefs Dominionism and decried its real or imagined influence. They spoke menacingly about Tim LaHaye’s “Left Behind” series and referred to its “surprising popularity.” The fact that 82% of the country is Christian seems not to have come under consideration. Much like those who lament the popularity of conservative talk radio as if it weren’t simply a case of supply and demand, the Left is simply in denial about the nature of their country. Lest it be thought that Christians were the sole objects of wrath, “Neoconservatives” or in other words Jews, were also reviled. Apparently, it’s the Christians and the Jews that are the problem. The funny thing is that’s exactly what the Islamists are always saying. And that’s exactly why some of us are so concerned with maintaining that bulwark of Western civilization, the Judeo-Christian alliance. At precisely the time that Jews, Christians and all those interested in advancing democracy should be banding together in the face of a fascistic and totalitarian threat, the Left would have us hasten our demise. It’s no coincidence that as Christianity has declined in the West, Islam has been ascendant. Whether through demographics in Europe or ideological sway in America, Islam is clearly on the rise. In an ironic twist you couldn’t make up if you tried, the attacks of 9/11 seem actually to have helped this along. The number of Muslim converts is growing, with disaffected secularists being ripe for the picking. Meanwhile, Saudi money continues to pour into the coffers of U.S. institutions and to taint future generations with the stain of Wahhabism. The left flank in the battle against Christianity certainly hasn’t been neglected. The fact that President Bush is a man of faith has upped the ante for the left and they’ve been in anti-Christian overdrive ever since his election. While organizations such as the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State were doing damage long before Bush’s presidency, the campaign to erase Christianity from American public life has reached new heights in the past six years. This combined with the encroachments of Islamism has led to an ideological battle in which Christianity finds itself on the defensive. Although almost a year ago, the attitudes expressed by leftist attendees at the Open Center conference have if anything magnified in the time since. A recent article by Bill Moyers demonstrated the same anti-Christian fervor, complete with references to the “rapture index.” Moyers’ main bone of contention is that evangelical Christians somehow threaten environmentalism. Never mind terrorism, it’s the specter of global warming we should be worried about. Then there’s the new television show, The Book of Daniel, which portrays an Episcopal priest and his family as a collection of druggies, perverts and sociopaths. When NBC’s Nashville affiliate chose not to run the show due to the large number of complaints from viewers, those on the left immediately cried, “censorship.” To them, not publicizing one of their pet projects is tantamount to banning it. Yet Christians are not taking the abuse lying down. Groups such as the American Center for Law and Justice, The Alliance Defense Fund and others have had great success tackling the legal front. The recent hoopla over the “war on Christmas” was really generated by the Left, which is simply outraged that Christians are now fighting back. Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation have jumped into the fray as well, demonstrating that Christians are not alone in this struggle. The secularists’ attempts at bullying are in fact starting to have the opposite effect and Christianity in America is now stronger than ever. I certainly hope so, for in civilizational battles, those that cease to believe in anything tend to fall by the wayside. And if people aren’t willing to fight for their civilization, there’s always someone waiting in the wings that is." Cinnamon Stillwell is a columnist for SFGate.com and a staff writer for the New Media Alliance. cinnamon@cinnamonstillwell.com Cinnamon Stillwell
It Is about the Politics of Death
With the new president in Iran calling for the death of all the Jewish people, most of our Jewish politicians only seem to care about protecting abortion. Chuck Schumer Di Fi, Babs Boxer and ect are silent. Here is an article from My Way News.
Jan 15, 10:14 AM (ET)By NASSER KARIMI
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran, whose president has denied the Holocaust, said Sunday it would hold a conference to examine the scientific evidence concerning Nazi Germany's extermination of 6 million Jews.
Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has recently provoked global condemnation for saying the Holocaust is a "myth" and calling for Israel to be wiped from the face of the earth. Iran further alarmed Western countries last week by restarting its research at a nuclear facility after a two-year freeze.
"It is a strange world. It is possible to discuss everything except the Holocaust," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters. "The Foreign Ministry plans to hold a conference on the scientific aspect of the issue to discuss and review its repercussions."
Asefi did not say where or when the conference would be held or who would attend.
Earlier this month, the Association of Muslim Journalists, a hard-line group, proposed holding a similar conference.
But Asefi said he was not aware of the association's wishes. He said the conference he announced was planned and supported by the ministry.
On Saturday, Ahmadinejad urged the West to be open-minded enough to allow a free international debate on the real aspects of the Holocaust.
Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., has said he understood Iran was considering a conference to call into question the evidence that the Nazis conducted a mass murder of European Jews during World War Two.
Jan 15, 10:14 AM (ET)By NASSER KARIMI
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran, whose president has denied the Holocaust, said Sunday it would hold a conference to examine the scientific evidence concerning Nazi Germany's extermination of 6 million Jews.
Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has recently provoked global condemnation for saying the Holocaust is a "myth" and calling for Israel to be wiped from the face of the earth. Iran further alarmed Western countries last week by restarting its research at a nuclear facility after a two-year freeze.
"It is a strange world. It is possible to discuss everything except the Holocaust," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters. "The Foreign Ministry plans to hold a conference on the scientific aspect of the issue to discuss and review its repercussions."
Asefi did not say where or when the conference would be held or who would attend.
Earlier this month, the Association of Muslim Journalists, a hard-line group, proposed holding a similar conference.
But Asefi said he was not aware of the association's wishes. He said the conference he announced was planned and supported by the ministry.
On Saturday, Ahmadinejad urged the West to be open-minded enough to allow a free international debate on the real aspects of the Holocaust.
Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., has said he understood Iran was considering a conference to call into question the evidence that the Nazis conducted a mass murder of European Jews during World War Two.
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