Palestinian Journalist Calls Obama ‘Uncle Tom’
Abdel Bari Atwan is Editor-In-Chief of London based Al Quds Al Arabi, an Arab language daily newspaper published since 1989. He is a frequent guest on the BBC, known for making controversial, anti-Israeli statements and provoking heated exchanges with adversaries.
On his personal blog, he has criticized President Obama for daring to suggest that Palestinians must acknowledge Israel's right to exist:
We thought he’d understand the Palestinians’ suffering under Israeli occupation, their humiliation at checkpoints and the whole racist infrastructure of the Zionist state.
But we were wrong. He has broken our trust and dashed our hopes, reminding us instead of Uncle Tom (from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin) – the black servant whose subservience to his white master overcame his humanity.
Barack Hussein Obama surprised us with his speech in Jerusalem when he demanded the Palestinians recognise Israel as a Jewish state and urged the Arab states to recognize Israel. People who deny Israel’s right to exit, Obama reasoned, are like people who deny the Earth and the sky.
If an Israeli journalist called President Obama an "Uncle Tom'" because he called for Israel to recognize the Palestinian's right to their own state, there would be an outcry from the media and the political left. The journalist and the publication would be condemned. Will there be a condemnation of Mr. Atwan or will he get a pass because he is part of a politically correct protected group?
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Pro-Abort Catholic Joe Biden Says He Must Attend Mass for Pope Francis or "I’ll Lose My Soul"
Not that bizarre utterances are anything new to this Vice President....
Life News reported:
Vice-President Joe Biden has put his foot in his mouth again, this time with regard to the controversy over his leading the American delegation to attend the installation of Pope Francis as the new Pope.
Never mind that Vice President Joe Biden has been rebuked by his own bishop over his pro-abortion views, President Barack Obama chose him to lead the delegation. That decision prompted an outcry from Catholics and pro-life non-Catholics alike because of Biden’s longstanding pro-abortion record. Some pro-life advocates have called for Biden to be prohibited from receiving communion at any ceremony for Pope Francis.
Now, Biden has said he plans to attend the celebratory Mass. He confirmed he will be attending a reception tonight with the presidential delegation to the inaugural mass with American officials based in Rome. Biden says he has to attend “or I’ll lose my soul.”
Biden’s comment came as he met at the Villa Aurelia with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, according to reporters on the scene.
I would submit that if he were really worried about the status of his soul, he would have a different stance on abortion, and he certainly would not support an HHS Mandate that forces religious people to violate their consciences. It's nothing less than a travesty that a supporter of a policy that infringes on the religious liberties of American Catholics would be leading the American delegation to attend the installation of our new Pope.
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Arkansas Editor Posts List Of Concealed Carry Permit Holders Online
On Feb. 19, the Arkansas state legislature passed legislation protecting the names of concealed carry permit holders from being released under state Freedom of Information Act requests. On Feb. 22, Arkansas Lt. Gov. Mark Darr signed the bill into law.
In the time between the passage of the legislation and its being signed into law, Arkansas Business editor Gwen Moritz took advantage of her one last chance to post the names of concealed permit holders for all to see.
The outcry over the publication of the names was go great, that Arkansas Business quickly took the list down.
In its place, this was posted:
Editor's Note:
At the request of a number of licensees who were concerned that they might be targeted by criminals, Arkansas Business has voluntarily removed a link to a spreadsheet of concealed carry licensees generated by the Arkansas State Police on Friday morning before the information was exempted from the State Freedom of Information Act. However, the spreadsheet will be available by request. If you want a copy email GMoritz@ABPG.com
British NHS Gathering Private Health Information Without Notifying Patients
The National Health Service (NHS) in Great Britain has taken steps to pull together private patient information regarding cholesterol numbers, pulse rate, family health history, and smoking and drinking habits into a central database for analysis.
Called the "Everyone Counts" initiative, the program requires General Practitioners (GPs) to hand over records on their patients without telling the patients first.
As news of this program has seeped out to the public, the outcry has been enormous.
Ross Anderson, professor of Security Engineering at Cambridge University, said: "It is unbelievable how little the public is being told about what's going on, while GPs are being strong-armed into handing over details about their patients [without] making a fuss."
Although those behind the Everyone Counts program say the information will only be pooled for analysis and then discarded, GPs are "required to send monthly updates on their patients to a central database."
How can you update discarded information?
DREAM Act Advocate’s Family Detained, Quickly Released
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained DREAM Act advocate Erika Andiola’s mother and brother because of a deportation order dating back to 1998. After a tearful plea on YouTube and outcry on social media both were released on Friday morning.
Ms. Andiola said her mother was on her way to Mexico when the bus driver received a phone call to turn around.
“My mom was on the way to Mexico,” Andiola posted on Facebook. “She said the driver turned around when she received a call. She was really confused.... They told her that the reason why she was returning was because her daughter was mobilizing the whole country to get her to come back.”
Now an ICE spokesman said the case needs to be reviewed and the department has to make sure they work within President Barack Obama’s policies.
“Initial review of these cases revealed that certain factors outlined in ICE’s prosecutorial discretion policy appear to be present and merit an exercise of discretion,” said Barbara Gonzalez, ICE press secretary. “A fuller review of the cases is currently ongoing. ICE exercises prosecutorial discretion on a case-by-case basis, considering the totality of the circumstances in an individual case.”
Ms. Andiola shot to fame in 2010 when ABC’s Dianne sawyer interviewed her after a federal judge blocked key portions of Arizona’s immigration laws. Many think her activism made her family prime targets for ICE.
In the end, though, it seems the government was just doing their job and following the law.
President Obama said immigration reform would be a top priority in his second term. Will this national outrage finally persuade him and Congress to tackle the issue?
Democrat Mayor Puts Armed Police In NJ Schools
Lucky for Marlboro, New Jersey mayor Jonathan Hornik he's a Democrat. Were he not, it is hard to see how his segment this afternoon with CNN's Don Lemon would have been so civil. Lemon, just one of many CNN gun-control hysterics, actually treated with respect someone who agreed with the NRA's proposal to place armed guards in schools. I was expecting the kind of confrontational fireworks that most certainly would have come had Hornik been a Republican.
Quite a media world we live in when it's worth noting every time a guest not towing the liberal line is treated with civility on CNN. Anyway…
Hornik says the idea to place an armed police officer in all nine of his schools didn’t come from the NRA. It was something he decided to do in the wake of the Newtown murders based on the recommendation of local law enforcement:
Last week, Marlboro, NJ decided to arm security officers in its nine public schools after Newtown, Conn., school massacre. Local police recommended the measure to boost school security and it was approved for a 3-month trial period by the school board, Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik said. The decision made national news and caused an outcry in some quarters. Hornik said he received many critical emails, mostly from people outside the town.
The move came before the National Rifle Association on Friday recommended that schools across the country employ armed police officers in response to Newtown. The proposal drew harsh criticism from New York education officials and politicians, with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg describing it as a “shameful evasion of the crisis facing our country.” Hornik, a Democrat, said his decision wasn’t prompted by the NRA and he believes in gun control.
“I’ve got liberals [mad] at me. I’ve got the conservatives [mad] by saying the NRA is ridiculous,” Hornik said . “I’m not a lunatic, trust me. I’m not someone who can just sit there and hope that our children will be safe in our schools.”
“I do not support the NRA,” he added.
Hornik might not support the NRA, but he most certainly supports putting the safety of schoolchildren above political expediency. That, of course, is heresy in most left-wing circles, especially when the end-result affirms a position taken by an outfit the media considers evil, like the NRA.
Hornik is also making the NRA's idea a better one. The NRA's suggestion that placing armed guards in all 100,000 or so public schools is a good one until you get to the part about the federal government funding and overseeing the program's implementation. The last thing we need are 250,000 more unionized federal employees.
A local mayor working with the local police department, however, is exactly how this could/should be done. Hornik also told CNN's Lemon that the added security is being paid for out of school funds, and heaven knows that if there is any government institution bloated with money, it's our public school system. In fact, it is hard to imagine any public school system not being able to cut a little bloat here and there in order to afford another employee or two, especially an employee with the training to bring down a cold-blooded murderer almost immediately.
It is also smart for Hornik to let the world know his schools are now protected by firearms. Unlike "gun-free zones" that advertise a building full of sitting ducks, an "armed zone" can work as a deterrent.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
Report: Obama Chucks Hagel
After outcry about the possibility of former Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) becoming the new Defense Secretary, the Obama administration has reportedly decided to back off the prospective pick. According to National Journal, a senior Obama administration official said it was “fair” to say that Obama would be looking at other candidates. The new media took a lead part in exposing Hagel’s anti-Israel, isolationist record.
Both Democrats and Republicans have come down hard on the possible nominee; his record is isolationist and anti-Israel. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said that it would be a “very tough confirmation process” for Hagel; Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said it would be a “challenging nomination” process.
This is the second potential Obama nominee to go down in flames thanks to Obama’s penchant for choosing radicals to staff his second term cabinet.
Malaysian Muslims Want to Ban Elton John Concert, Decry Singer’s ‘Values’
Elton John won't be performing this week in Malaysia if one of the country's political parties has a say in the matter.
Nasruding Hassan Tantawi, head of the youth wing of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic party (PAS), said the concert "must be cancelled."
"Artists who are involved in gay and lesbian activities must not be allowed to perform in Malaysia as they will promote the wrong values," he said.
Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia, where almost two-thirds of the 28 million population are Muslim, and is punishable by caning and up to 20 years in prison....
Malaysia has a history of banning performers who are regarded as being gay and lesbian advocates. In 2011, Lady Gaga's concert was cancelled after the Malaysian authorities said her song 'Born This Way' promoted homosexuality.
John is openly gay, actively raises money on behalf of gay and lesbian issues, and married his long-term partner David Furnish in 2005.
We await an outcry from the gay and lesbian community over this hateful proposition.
TIME Honors Sandra Fluke as ‘Person of the Year’ Finalist
Just when you think Time magazine can’t make any more of a mockery of itself, they nominate Sandra Fluke, contraception advocate extraordinaire, as a candidate in their Person of the Year 2012 poll:
Fluke, of course, is the condom rights advocate turned Georgetown Law School martyr who testified before Congress about the hardships encountered by young female law school students who couldn’t afford to pay for their own birth control pills. Rush Limbaugh ripped her, prompting faux outcry from the left, all the way up to President Obama, who seized on the incident as proof that the right was waging some sort of war on women, as opposed to a battle against pathetic dependency on government. Obama called her personally, then used her as a campaign surrogate.
Leave it to Time to make her its Person of the Year. Of course, in the year of the dependent American voter, they might be right.
Women Banned From Iranian Universities
As female students head back to universities in the U.S. and elsewhere this time of year, Iranian officials are actively working to limit the number of females pursuing a BA or BS in their country. In what The Telegraph has described as an "officially-approved act of sex-discrimination," female students have been barred from "more than 70 university degree courses" in Iran.
In other words, the nation that still has laws for stoning adulterers on the books, which hangs practicing homosexuals from the gallows, and which maintains "morality police" to enforce skirt length, head coverings, etc., for females, has now decided there's no need for women to pursue higher education in a significant number of disciplines.
The outrage from the West and from Iranian women is palpable. With Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi leading the outcry against the new rules by "demanding a UN investigation."
Supporters of the law, senior Iranian clerics among them, believe female access to higher education has resulted in "declining birth and marriage rates." And these are things they simply will not tolerate.
