Medical marijuana clubs under fire from AG .

Medical marijuana clubs under fire from AG .

Feds: Marijuana busts still possible

Feds: Marijuana busts still possible

Toronto school defends Muslim prayers in cafeteria

By RON CSILLAG

Religion News Service


TORONTO – A majority-Muslim public school in Toronto is defending its policy of allowing an imam to lead Friday prayers in the cafeteria, saying students who leave school for prayers at a mosque typically don’t return to school.


Christian and other prayers are disallowed in the public school system.


For the past three years, some 300 Muslim students at Valley Park Middle School have been allowed to use the school cafeteria for their Friday prayers. Before the policy change, school officials say students would leave classes early and not return.


“I think it’s important to note the prayer isn’t conducted under the auspices of the board,” Jim Spyropoulos, a superintendent for inclusive schools with the Toronto District School Board, told the Globe and Mail newspaper. “This was the best solution that avoided compromising instructional time.”


The issue is “about religious accommodation,” Shari Schwartz-Maltz, a school district spokeswoman, told The Canadian Press.


Those explanations have not placated angry parents, who are lighting up radio call-in shows and blogging furiously — particularly since Christian and other prayers are disallowed in the public school system.
In an unlikely alliance, Canadian Hindu Advocacy, the Jewish Defense League and the Muslim Canadian Congress have voiced strong opposition to the arrangement.


Islamic groups are “imposing their view” to “spread their ideology,” Ron Banerjee, director of Canadian Hindu Advocacy, told the Globe and Mail.


The Muslim Canadian Congress has asked for the services to be halted or closely monitored to avert the spread of radicalism.


The board noted that there have been no complaints about the arrangement until it was highlighted recently by by a right-wing blogger.

Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars/2011/07/canadian-school-bars-christian-prayers-but-allows-muslim-prayertime-in-cafeteria.html#ixzz1S6UbPHzY

BURKE: Political correctness gone mad at Ground Zero

We can have a Ground Zero Mosque, but not a memorial that actually memorializes 9/11

By Michael Burke

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The Washington Times

Illustration: WTC sphere

 

This Sept. 11, the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks upon America, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg will dedicate the massive, $600 million National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center. What Americans have not been told is that this “memorial” will remake Ground Zero so that it does not acknowledge 9/11.

Instead of acting as a constant reminder of the attacks, a symbol for us and future generations of the evil that struck, the death and destruction it caused and the heroism and sacrifice in response, the memorial will wipe out all evidence and memory of the attacks.

Replacing all reminders of the attacks will be two immense “voids” with gigantic subterranean waterfalls designed to express exclusively, as per architect Michael Arad, the continuing “absence in our lives caused by these deaths.”

About 500 trees will be planted upon the site. They are, we are told by memorial officials, “traditional symbols of the rejuvenation of life.” They also will eradicate all trace and memory of what stood there for 30 years and its destruction on Sept. 11.

The cause of “these deaths,” how these people came to be absent - that is, 9/11 - has been deemed irrelevant and even contrary to your memorial “experience.”
The memorial is not about that; it’s about you.

Cities and towns across America have humbly requested a segment of the twisted steel of the WTC to feature in their own modest Sept. 11 memorials. The only memorial where one is not welcome is the “national” memorial at Ground Zero. Those iconic remnants, exactly because they are iconic, are considered far too gauche for the jury of intellectuals and artists who chose the design.

The National September 11 Memorial at the WTC will not include the iconic WTC “Sphere” - again, exactly because it is iconic. “The Sphere” stood in the center of the WTC plaza for 30 years as a symbol of world peace. On 9/11, though badly damaged (a piece of one of the planes tore through it) it survived the attacks in place and was embraced by many Americans as a symbol of the nation’s strength and resiliency.
That is why it cannot be returned.

It sits at Battery Park, about a half-mile from Ground Zero, where it was installed March 11, 2002, the six-month anniversary of the attacks, as a “temporary” memorial. Battery Park is undergoing its own renovations, and “The Sphere” will have to moved.

One 9/11 anniversary at Ground Zero, Mr. Arad told me that returning “The Sphere” would be “didactic.” That is, it would tell us what to think.

Somehow disposing of it is not telling us what to think.

This is like banishing the USS Arizona from the USS Arizona Memorial.

The 9/11 memorial will not identify Christine Lee Hanson, who died with her parents when United Airlines Flight 175 was slammed into the South Tower, as being “age 2.” This might convince you that the American victims were “innocent” and the foreign terrorists “guilty.”
That would be telling us what to think.

Story Continues →

Brave Muslim Betrayed by Obama Takes Rap for Bin Laden Kill

By Debbie Schlussel

Shakil Afridi is the rare pro-American Muslim who risked his life for America and might lose his life for it.  Today, this medical doctor who helped the U.S. confirm that Osama Bin Laden was the guy living in that crappy Paki mansion . . . well, he sits in a Pakistani prison awaiting his fate, after he was arrest by the pro-Bin Laden ISI.  He committed the ultimate crime of helping the evil great Satan America assassinate Islam’s greatest hero, Bin Laden.  And, per usual, we betray the Muslims who truly risk everything to do the right thing. . .  and we befriend those Muslims (the majority) who would slit our throats in an instant, given the opportunity.

Barack Obama & CIA’s Pannetta (Now SecDef) Betrayed Dr. Shakil Afridi

Since Dr. Afridi’s role in the Bin Laden kill was so important–and since he holds a senior government health post in Pakistan–it’s obvious that this man’s life would be in danger thereafter.  So why didn’t Barack Obama, the CIA, and others involved make plans to evacuate the doctor with them or otherwise secrete him out of the country?  Perhaps he didn’t want to go.  But that’s unlikely, since he’d have to know that once he was found out it, the whole country would want to kill him.  I do know, from my own experience representing the few moderate Muslims who actually exist and risk their lives to help the U.S. that we generally betray them (read about what America did to my Muslim clients, here and here), preferring to hug the HAMASniks at CAIR Action Network and “former” terrorists like Imad Hamad of ADC, who urged Detroit Muslims to go to a memorial service for the late leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.

And one thing is certain:  if we don’t get Dr. Afridi out of Pakistan, he will die, either at the hands of the government or at the hands of his countrymen, most of whom love Bin Laden and are enraged that we killed him on their soil and did it so skillfully and stealthily. The full names of nurses who helped him in getting Bin Laden’s DNA from the crappy Paki “mansion” are now being leaked all over anti-Semitic, extremist Paki websites. These people will be murdered for helping us.

More:

Pakistani authorities have jailed a doctor who worked for the CIA before the raid that killed Osama bin Laden to create an elaborate plot to get DNA samples from those living at the al-Qaida leader’s compound, as part of U.S. efforts to verify that bin Laden was there.

The doctor, Shakil Afridi, who holds a senior government health post in Pakistan, used nurses, who were able to gain entry to the residence on the pretext of giving vaccinations to children living there, according to Pakistani and U.S. officials and local residents. . . .

The doctor’s detention has added to the tension, and American authorities are thought to have intervened on his behalf. . . .

The doctor apparently is the only person still under arrest. His story provides previously unknown details about the lengths the CIA went to as it tried to confirm suspicions that bin Laden was hiding in the compound.

The doctor’s role was to help American officials know with certainty that bin Laden was in the compound, according to security officials and residents in Abbottabad, all of whom spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they feared government retribution. . . .
The doctor was tasked with collecting DNA samples from those living in the house. A sample from any of the bin Laden children or grandchildren could be compared with DNA extracted from bin Laden’s sister, who died last year in a hospital in Boston.

Let’s say you were one of the infinitesmally small number of Muslims who would really risk their lives to help the West. Let’s say you read about Dr. Afridi rotting in a Paki jail hellhole and likely to face death, especially if he is released to freedom to the ire of his jihadist countrymen. After learning about his fate, would you still risk your life to help America?

This isn’t how we get Muslim spies and friends to help us, that’s for sure. It’s how we get them to turn away.

From: http://www.debbieschlussel.com/39821/brave-muslim-betrayed-by-obama-takes-rap-for-bin-laden-kill/

Fordson teacher involved in suit fired

By Katie Hetrick
Press & Guide Newspapers

DEARBORN — Dearborn Public Schools has fired one of two former Fordson teachers suing the district for religious discrimination and harassment.

Bryan Purcell was terminated after he failed to show up for a personnel hearing on May 23. Details of why the math teacher was fired are protected under privacy laws, and public school board records do not give any clues, although minutes from the public portion of the meeting include an e-mail Purcell submitted to the board.

In the e-mail, he called the allegations a “mountain of fiction” and continued to assert that since Imad Fadlallah became principal at Fordson High School in 2005, FHS administrators have systematically tried to force non-Arab and non-Muslim faculty out of the school.

“This a pattern of harassment and the hostile work environment he created has continued under Youssef Mosallam, and in fact, the harassment has been stepped up,” Purcell said in the email.

Fadlallah retired last summer and was replaced by Mosallam as principal.

Purcell’s attorney, Debbie Schlussel, said Purcell would fight his dismissal under the state’s teacher Tenure Act.

“It is obvious that the dismissal is pretextual, discriminatory, and retaliatory, and we intend to fight it all the way,” Schlussel said via email.

Schlussel, an ultra conservative commentator who calls the city “Dearbornistan” on her website, also said the suit against the district is ongoing. She declined in the email to provide additional comment because the case is still pending in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

Schlussel filed the suit in September on behalf of Purcell and Georgene Stergalas, a marketing teacher. Both the Fordson High School teachers said school administrators had harassed them because they were neither Arab nor Muslim.

Both claimed in the suit that administrators tried to drive them out by reassigning them to less desirable courses, putting troublemaking students in their rooms, and scheduling them to teach two classes at the same time in different areas of the building, among several other allegations.

When the suit was filed, both teachers had taken medical leave because of the stress caused by the situation. Purcell had taught in Dearborn for 10 years and Stergalas for 16.

Stergalas is now teaching at Dearborn High, said Brian Mustonen, Dearborn Public School’s communications coordinator. He confirmed the suit is still making its way through the courts.

School administrators have said since the beginning that the suit has no merit. Previous claims against Fadlallah had been unsubstantiated, they noted.

However, the suit was similar to one filed in 2009 by ousted wrestling coach Gerald Marszalek. He claimed he was forced out of his coaching job after 35 years because Fadlallah did not like that a volunteer assistant wrestling coach was doing Christian outreach work outside of school.

That suit was eventually settled out of court, the district said.
From: http://www.pressandguide.com/articles/2011/07/12/news/doc4e1c8aabbf25e615913007.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Obama says he cannot guarantee Social Security checks will go out on August 3

By Corbett B. Daly

 

.

President Obama on Tuesday said he cannot guarantee that retirees will receive their Social Security checks August 3 if Democrats and Republicans in Washington do not reach an agreement on reducing the deficit in the coming weeks.
"I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue.

Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it," Mr. Obama said in an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley, according to excerpts released by CBS News.

The Obama administration and many economists have warned of economic catastrophe if the United States does not raise the amount it is legally allowed to borrow by August 2.

Lawmakers from both parties want to use the threat of that deadline to work out a broader package on long-term deficit reduction, with Republicans looking to cut trillions of dollars in federal spending, while Democrats are pushing for a more "balanced approach," which would include both spending cuts and increased revenue through taxes.

The Debt Limit fight: A primer

Democratic and Republican lawmakers are expected to hold another round of negotiations with Mr. Obama at the White House Tuesday afternoon on long-term deficit reduction, though talks have yielded little results to date.

Mr. Obama told Pelley "this is not just a matter of Social Security checks. These are veterans checks, these are folks on disability and their checks. There are about 70 million checks that go out."

The interview will air Tuesday evening on the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley.

Mr. Obama's comments followed remarks from the Senate's top Republican, who said Tuesday that he did not see a way for Republicans and Democrats to come to agreement on meaningful deficit reduction as long as Mr. Obama remains in office.

"After years of discussions and months of negotiations, I have little question that as long as this president is in the Oval Office, a real solution is probably unattainable," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in remarks on the Senate floor.

Still, McConnell said Republicans would "do the responsible thing" to avoid default, suggesting that a deal on the debt ceiling could be reached without a "real" deficit reduction package.

"The president has presented us with three choices: smoke and mirrors, tax hikes, or default. Republicans choose none of the above. I had hoped to do good, but I refuse to do harm. So Republicans will choose a path that actually reflects the will of the people, which is to do the responsible thing and ensure that the government doesn't default on its obligations," he said.

Mr. Obama has repeatedly said he wants a deal that would allow the U.S. to avoid confronting the issue again until after the 2012 elections and vowed on Monday that he would "not sign a 30-day or a 60-day or a 90-day extension."

"This the United States of America and, you know, we don't manage our affairs in three-month increments. You know, we don't risk U.S. default on our obligations because we can't put politics aside," Mr. Obama told reporters at the White House yesterday.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20078789-503544.htm