Pages

Sunday, September 30, 2012

And then, from the dep’t. of understatement ..


With tax increases approaching, households (especially those without holdings of equities)

so after 2007-today how many households have ‘holdings’ of ‘equities’?

are not in a strong position to absorb the tax increases slated to kick in on January 1st 2013

AEI:
092812income
Real disposable income — “the amount of income at the disposal of households after accounting for inflation and taxes,”as Reuters puts it— fell 0.3% in August after ticking up 0.1% in July. That was the first decline since November.
Bad news. But even worse news is that this measure of income has gone absolutely nowhere during this recovery, up just 0.3% since June 2009.
So who’s ready for the fiscal cliff? Not most Americans. This from RDQ Economics: “With tax increases approaching, households (especially those without holdings of equities) are not in a strong position to absorb the tax increases slated to kick in on January 1st 2013 unless the Congress and the President take action on the fiscal cliff. ”
Also out this morning was an uglyChicago Purchasing Managers report. Again RDQ:
The Chicago purchasing managers’ index was weaker than forecasts declining to 49.7 in September from 53.0 in August.  The new orders index fell to 47.4 in September from 54.8 in August, the employment index weakened to 52.0 from 57.1, and the production index dropped two points to 55.4.
BOTTOM LINE:  A rather disappointing report on Midwest manufacturing conditions as the Chicago purchasing managers’ index fell below the breakeven 50 level for the first time since September 2009.  Moreover, the decline in the index was driven by a weak reading on new orders and slower employment growth.  To some extent this index may be catching up with other regional manufacturing surveys, which have shown weaker conditions on manufacturing growth than this survey in recent months.  However, with the decline in the index driven primarily by orders and employment, it is hard to be optimistic about a recovery in the national ISM in September and we look for that index to slip to 49.0 on Monday from 49.6 in August.  This report had something of a stagflationary feel to it as prices paid rose to 63.2, which was the highest reading since April.
But Obama leads Romney across the swing states?
Nations die by SUICIDE, I hear.

Infidel Babe Of The Week Realizes Obama Might Not Have Israel's Back

Oh man, I am in LOVE.

This video got my attention from minute one.

Obama The First



UNPRECEDENTED!

From Director Blue:


• First President to Violate the War Powers Act (Unilaterally Executing American Military Operations in Libya Without Informing Congress In the Required Time Period - SourceHuffington Post)
• First President to Triple the Number of Warrantless Wiretaps of U.S. Citizens (SourceACLU)


• First President to Have His Attorney General Held in Criminal Contempt of Congress For His Efforts to Cover Up Operation Fast and Furious, That Killed Over 300 Individuals (SourcePolitico)
• First President to Issue Unlawful "Recess-Appointments" Over a Long Weekend -- While the U.S. Senate Remained in Session (against the advice of his own Justice Department - Source: Heritage Foundation)



• First President to publicly announce an enemies list (consisting of his opponents campaign contributors; and to use the instrumentalities of government to punish those on the list - Source: Heritage Foundation)
• First President to Attempt to Block Legally-Required 60-Day Layoff Notices by Government Contractors Due to His Own Cuts to Defense Spending -- Because The Notices Would Occur Before the Election. (SourceNational Journal)

• First President to Intentionally Disable Credit Card Security Measures (in order to allow over-the-limit donations, foreign contributions and other illegal fundraising measures - Source: Power Line)


• First President to send 80 percent of a $16 billion program (green energy) to his campaign bundlers and contributors, leaving only 20% to those who did not contribute. (SourceWashington Examiner)
• First President to issue an Executive Order implementing a "Racial Justice System", a system that tries to achieve "racially equivalent outcomes" for crimes (SourceDaily Caller)


• First President to Move America Past the Dependency Tipping Point, In Which 51% of Households Now Pay No Income Taxes (Source: Center for Individual Freedom)


• First President to Increase Food Stamp Spending By More Than 100% in Less Than Four Years(Source: Sen. Jeff Sessions)


• First President to Abrogate Bankruptcy Law to Turn Over Control of Companies to His Union Supporters (Source:Wall Street Journal)
• First President to Propose Budgets So Unreasonable That Not a Single Representative From Either Party Would Cast a Vote in Favor (SourcesThe HillOpen Market)
• First President Whose Economic Policies Have the Number of Americans on Disability Exceed the Population of New York (SourceCNS News)


• First President to Sign a Law Requiring All Americans to Purchase a Product From a Third Party (Source: Wall Street Journal)
• First President to Sue States For Enforcing Immigration Laws Passed by Congress (SourceThe Arizona Republicnewspaper)
• First President to See America Lose Its Status as the World's Largest Economy (SourcePeterson Institute)


• First President to Endanger the Stability of the Electric Grid by Shutting Down Hundreds of Coal-Fired Plants Without Adequate Replacement Technologies (SourceNational Electric Reliability Corporation - PDF)


• First President to Openly Defy a Congressional Order Not To Share Sensitive Nuclear Defense Secrets With the Russian Government (SourcesABC NewsRep. Michael Turner)


• First President to send $200 million to a terrorist organization (Hamas) after Congress had explicitly frozen the money for fear it would fund attacks against civilians (SourcesAmerican ThinkerThe Independent [UK])


THE SPANISH LANGUAGE MEDIA DOES THE AMERICAN MEDIA'S JOB

It seems like quite a promotion, but it seems like they ought to now be considered the Mainstream Media Chiefs now.

Es una promotion grande, pero estes gentes a los Univision ahora son los jefes de las MSM.

I'm going to be motivated to really, truly learn Spanish after this.

Tengo fuerza apprender Espanol, antes estes cosas.

I don't know if I got that right, but at least I tried.

From Townhall:

Fast and Furious: Univision Brings a Face to Countless Murdered Victims in Mexico

The stories often lost in the horrific aftermath of Operation Fast and Furious are about the countless and faceless murder victims in Mexico left behind as a result of the lethal program. In September 2011, Townhall reported the Fast and Furious death toll in Mexico as 200, that number has since jumped to what former Chihuahua Attorney General Patricia Gonzales Rodriguez describes as "surely thousands." Tonight, Spanish language television network Univision is expected to air a bombshell investigative report finally putting a face on innocent Mexican citizens used as collateral damage and killed south of the border as a result of the reckless decisions by the Holder Justice Department.
Who are the human faces of the U.S. government's botched "Fast and Furious" gun-walking operation?
Often lost amid the rancor in Washington are the stories of dozens of people killed by guns that flowed south as part of the undercover operation, and later slipped out of view from U.S. officials. Univision's Investigative Unit (Univision Investiga) has identified massacres committed using guns from the ATF operation, including the killing of 16 young people attending a party in a residential area of Ciudad Juárez in January of 2010.
Additional guns, previously unreported by congressional investigators, found their way into the hands of drug traffickers across Latin America in countries such as, Honduras and Colombia, as well as the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. A person familiar with the recent congressional hearings called Univision's findings "the holy grail" that Congress had been searching for.


One of the most famous murders carried out with Fast and Furious weapons in Mexico was the killing of Mario Gonzales Rodriguez, the brother of Patricia Gonzales Rodriguez. The blood soaked crime scenes are endless.
Fast and Furious guns have befouled at least 200 crime scenes. Among them:
Members of the La Familia drug gang fired at a Mexican Federal Police helicopter on May 24, 2011, wounding three officers and forcing it to make an emergency landing near Michoacán in western Mexico.
Five days later, four more helicopters attacked La Familia. The gang returned fire, striking all four choppers and injuring another two government agents.
The police prevailed, killing eleven cartel members and arresting 36 — including those suspected of targeting the first chopper and its passengers.
Mexican authorities say La Familia possessed heavy-duty body armor and 70 rifles, including several Fast and Furious weapons.
Two weapons purchased by Fast and Furious targets were recovered in Sonora on July 1, 2010, and tied to a “Homicide/Willful Kill — Gun,” the U.S. Justice Department revealed last September 9.
Two Fast and Furious guns were linked to a February 2010 assassination conspiracy against Baja California’s then–police chief, Julian Leyzaola.
Four Fast and Furious guns were found on January 8, 2010, and connected to a “kidnap/ransom.”
Attorney General Eric Holder hasn't admitted much throughout the process of the Congressional Oversight Committee investigation into the scandal, but he has admitted people will die for years to come as a result of the program.



In an interview with the Christian Science Monitor, Univision points out that ATF needed people to get killed in order to reach their goals.
“Americans have been getting a lot of information about the possible cover-up in the Justice Department, the tragedy of Brian Terry getting killed, but what about the Mexicans?” says Miami-based Gerardo Reyes, Univision’s director of investigative reporting, in an interview Saturday with the Monitor.
“The sinister part of this, and I know it sounds very hard, is that the success of this operation depended in part on the fact that the guns were used in Mexico to kill,” says Mr. Reyes. “In order to reach the target of the operation, which was identifying the drug traffickers who were using the guns, [ATF agents] were waiting for the guns to be used. And how are guns used in Mexico? Killing people. I talked to an ATF agent who said there was no other way to explain it.”

The report by Univision couldn't come at a worse time for the Obama administration. If the issues of transparency and Mexico come up (which they will) in the presidential debates between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama starting next week, Obama will have some serious explaining to do. The trust with Mexico has been severely damaged as a result of this program and Univision's report tonight will further show this to be true.
Univision reporter Jorge Ramos asked President Obama last week why he hadn't fired Attorney General Eric Holder, Obama responded by saying he had full faith in confidence in his attorney general even after Fast and Furious. Obama was also caught lying about the program in an effort to distract away from its lethal consequences and effect on the Hispanic community.

The special will air Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET on Univision.

"A majority of Americans now define success as not falling behind”


Obama’s American dream
Obama’s version of social and economic justice
Obama, spreading it around
Obama’s fair shot
National Journal:
HEARTLAND MONITOR POLL

Struggling To Advance

A majority of Americans now define success as not falling behind. They worry that fundamental changes in the economy are making it more difficult for them—and their children—to get ahead.

The road still rises. But the climb is steeper, and the falls are more frequent.
That’s the view of prospects for upward mobility in the modern American economy that emerges from the latest Allstate/National JournalHeartland Monitor Poll. Although an overwhelming majority of Americans still define the U.S. as “the land of opportunity,” nearly as many agree that getting ahead is more difficult for workers today than it was for previous generations. Only about one in five Americans say they have been able to get ahead consistently in their lives; many more say they have moved forward somewhat but faced intermittent reversals. And while a plurality of adults believe they have more opportunity to advance than their parents did, Americans are much more uncertain that the next generation will have greater opportunities than their own—with whites far more pessimistic than minorities.
Infographic
In all these ways, the survey captures systemic strain between the bedrock American belief that anyone who works hard enough can succeed and the uneasy sense that persistent, and perplexing, headwinds in a globalized economy are making it harder for workers to get ahead. It suggests that new realities are compelling the public to reexamine old assumptions about achievement from several angles, including the value of a college education and the definition of success. In one striking finding that reflects the years of economic uncertainty punctuated by high unemployment and foreclosure rates, a slim majority of Americans now say they define getting ahead as not falling behind—not losing ground or falling into debt—rather than the more traditional definition of enjoying steady increases in pay and income. “The global economy has changed so much that I think holding on is going to be the reality in the future,” says Vada Martin, a service-sector worker from Bedford, Pa., who responded to the survey. “There is so much competition [in the world], it’s going to be harder to maintain the lifestyle we’ve been accustomed to.”
The money lines:
Amid these profound concerns, more-immediate assessments of the economy’s trajectory show little change from the most recent Heartland Monitor Poll conducted in May. Compared to then, the share of Americans who say that the country is on the right track has ticked up only slightly, while the percentage who believe that their personal financial situation will improve over the next year remains virtually unchanged, and the number who believe that the overall economy will brighten has actually declined slightly. Even so, the survey shows President Obama opening a solid 50 percent to 43 percent advantage over Republican nominee Mitt Romney among likely voters, in part because significantly more voters believe Obama will advance policies that benefit all Americans.
What’s clear in the poll, though, is that many Americans feel the economy is experiencing fundamental changes beyond the reach of any president to reshape quickly, or perhaps at all. 

Americans feel this way because leaders, and I include Mr. Clinton, whose ‘not even me’ is a message of dispiriting disappointment, HAVE FAILED TO LEAD.

There are only two questions to answer to lead effectively.
What do we have to do?
How do we do it?
Obama will win by breaking Americans belief in the American ideal. His success is our failure.

1979: Valerie Jarrett's Father Wrote Of Khalid al-Mansour's Funding of Black American Youth College Education

Let me state right from the beginning, the reason this is important is not because there is something wrong with anyone funding education for Black Americans.

The reason it is important is because we have heard that Khalid al-Mansour had funded Obama's college education, though until now, there had been no corroborating evidence.

Here you go, Obama's college education was funded by Saudi money.

Shocking 1979 column by Valerie Jarrett's Father-in-law; not good for Obama

From Barrack Now:

This post should begin with a cast of characters because it's growing increasingly necessary when talking about the subject of Barack Obama's past. In this case, a man named Frank Miele at theDaily Inter Lake has unearthed an incredible find that could help close some loops, connect some dots, and put some pieces together. That find involves a 1979 column penned by Vernon Jarrett, the father-in-law of Barack Obama's closest advisor, Valerie Jarrett.

THE CAST
  • Frank Marshall Davis: Confirmed member of the Communist Party USA and writer. Worked in Chicago until he moved to Hawaii in 1946. Wrote for publication sympathetic to CPUSA known as the Chicago Defender. A heavy influence on Barack Obama's young life for several years.  CPUSA ID Number was 47544.
  • Vernon Jarrett: Began working at the Chicago Defender in 1946. Became a colleague of Davis and worked with him on at least one Communist cause in 1948.
  • Valerie Jarrett: Daughter in-law of Vernon and thought to be Barack Obama's closest and most trusted adviser. Born in Iran, where she lived until the age of five. Appears to have befriended the Obama family after hiring Michelle before the first lady married Barack.
  • Percy Sutton: Former attorney for Malcolm X who revealed during a television interview in 2008 that years earlier, he had been approached by a man named Khalid al-Mansour, a former Black Panther, and asked to use his influence to help get Barack Obama into Harvard. Sutton also divulged that al-Mansour represents one of the richest men in the world. This is believed to have been a reference to Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal.
  • Khalid al-Mansour: Formerly a Black Panther who carried the name Donald Warren. Converted to Islam and found a lucrative career advising members of the Saudi Royal family, in particular Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Videos of al-Mansour on YouTube indicate he is virulently anti-Semitic.
  • Prince Alwaleed bin Talal: Very wealthy Saudi Prince who has a strong business mind and extremely familiar with western culture. Second-largest shareholder of Newscorp., the parent company for Fox News. It is believed that his influence is responsible for Fox's overall weak coverage of radical Islamic individuals and groups.
Now, onto Miele's discovery. He writes about the discovery of Vernon Jarrett's 1979 column that appeared in the St. Petersburg Evening Independent. In the column, Jarrett quotes heavily from an interview he did with none other than Khalid al-Mansour. What were they talking about? Well, funneling Saudi money to black college students, of course:
So far as I know, this 1979 column has not previously been brought to light, but it certainly should be because it broke some very interesting news about the “rumored billions of dollars the oil-rich Arab nations are supposed to unload on American black leaders and minority institutions.” The columnist quoted a black San Francisco lawyer who said, “It’s not just a rumor. Aid will come from some of the Arab states.” 
Well, if anyone would know, it would have been this lawyer — Donald Warden, who had helped defend OPEC in an antitrust suit that year and had developed significant ties with the Saudi royal family since becoming a Muslim and taking the name Khalid Abdullah Tariq al-Mansour. 
Al-Mansour told Jarrett that he had presented the “proposed special aid program to OPEC Secretary-General Rene Ortiz” in September 1979, and that “the first indications of Arab help to American blacks may be announced in December.” Maybe so, but I looked high and wide in newspapers in 1979 and 1980 for any other stories about this aid package funded by OPEC and never found it verified. 
You would think that a program to spend “$20 million per year for 10 years to aid 10,000 minority students each year, including blacks, Arabs, Hispanics, Asians and native Americans” would be referred to somewhere other than one obscure 1979 column, but I haven’t found any other word of it.
Of course, what this means is that if Khalid al-Mansour, Percy Sutton, and Vernon Jarrett are all to be taken at their word, their accounts - which span over nearly 30 years - all make sense when taken together.

The other thing it would mean is that Barack Obama is beholden to Saudi money in a very personal and substantial way. It will have meant the Saudis put him in the White House and such a deal doesn't come without steep payment.

The words of al-Mansour and Jarrett in 1979 - coupled with the words of Sutton in 2008 - also suggest that if a man so beholden to the Saudis ever became president, we might see the rise of fundamentalist Islam all over the Middle East and an administration hostile toward Israel.

Here is that Percy Sutton interview from 2008, in which he talks about having been contacted by Khalid al-Mansour circa 1988, only 9 years after al-Mansour told Vernon Jarrett about just such a plan:

Cannonball Adderley & Miles Davis
Autumn Leaves


Saturday, September 29, 2012

The Thirty Bad Sharia Laws



The shariah laws listed in Thirty Bad Shariah Laws – however culturally insensitive it may seem to hear – need to be rejected, because they are aggressive and oppressive, not peaceful or benign. These practices are themselves intolerant or fail to respect all humans with full dignity.
They are extreme and thus deny life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Therefore, these harmful shariah laws are wrong. They (should) have expiration dates on them – back in the seventh century.

This list of shariah laws is intended to be read by judges, lawyers, legislators, city council members, educators, journalists, government bureaucrats, think tank fellows, TV and radio talk show hosts, and anyone else who occupies the “check points” in society; you initiate the national dialogue and shape the flow of the conversation in society.

You are the decision and policy makers. As intellectuals, you believe the critics of shariah exaggerate (and maybe some are guilty of it). They’re just “Islamophobes.” Ignore them. Islam is a worldwide religion, after all. It deserves respect. You are also thorough relativists who believe in tolerance for all religions, in all their parts.

At first glance, this is a commendable outlook. You like what Thomas Jefferson said, “But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my legs.” It is a true that beliefs that do not harm us monetarily or physically should be tolerated. Shariah has positive aspects to it – or, rather, they do no damage in those two ways. Therefore, parts of shariah should be tolerated in a religiously diverse society like America.

The Five Pillars are examples. They are part of shariah – divine Islamic law, which traces its origins ultimately back to the Quran (or Koran) and Muhammad’s example or life, the sacred traditions, which were eventually written down in the hadith. None of those five rituals and policies picks our pockets or breaks our legs, if the five are done privately or in the mosque.

Unfortunately, however, this list is not about the harmless parts in shariah, but the ones that are incompatible with the modern era. Even Thomas Jefferson had his limits. He sent the marines to take back captured American merchant sailors and to open up the trade routes that were hampered by the Muslim Barbary pirates in North Africa, who had sold the captives into slavery or demanded ransoms. Do the elites have any limits?

In some cases, a religion does indeed pick our pockets and break our legs. Each item in the list has one or more back-up articles. Readers should click on them to find out that the thirty points come right out of original Islam and are not invented out of thin air. Each back up also has a section on modern Islam, mentioning Muslims – too few – who advocate reform.

And if readers would like to see various translations of the Quran, they may go to the website quranbrowser.com and type in the references. If readers are in doubt about the meaning of a verse, they may go to the tafsir (commentary) written by Ibn Kathir (d. 1373), one of the most authoritative and highly regarded classical commentators in the Sunni world, at qtafsir.com; or the readers may search through the modern commentary by Sunni Indo-Pakistani religious scholar and politician Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi (d. 1979) at englishtafsir.com.
1. The mosque and state are not separate. To this day, Islamic nations that are deeply rooted in shariah, like Iran and SaudiArabia, do not adequately separate the two realms, giving a lot of power to courts and councils to ensure that legislation does not contradict the Quran (never mind whose interpretation). Most of the laws listed below come from this confusion. Back-up article: Mosque and State 
5. A woman captive of jihad may be forced to have to sex with her captors (now owners). Quran 4:24 and especially the sacred traditions and classical law allow this. The sacred traditions say that while out on military campaigns under Muhammad’s leadership, jihadists used to practice coitus interruptus with their female captives. Women soldiers fighting terrorists today must be forewarned of the danger.  
6. Property can be destroyed or confiscated during jihad. Quran 59:2 and 59:5 discuss those rules. Sacred traditions and classical law expand on the Quranic verses. Modern Islamic law officially improves on the Quran: see Article Three of the 1990 Cairo Declaration of Human Rights, which is nonetheless based on shariah, but it outlaws wanton destruction of property. Would there be any conflict between old Islam and modern Islam in a war today? Back-up articles: Jihad and Qital and The Quran and the Sword 
7. Jihad may be waged to collect spoils. Quran 8:1, 8:7, 8:41, and 48:20 show this clearly. Early Islam followed the old Arab custom of raiding caravans, but as its military grew, the raids were elevated to jihad. The spoils of war were coveted. Which Islam would prevail in a war today – the old oneor the modern one? 
8. A second-class submission tax, called the jizyah, must be imposed on Jews and Christians (and other religious minorities) living in Islamic countries. Quran 9:29 offers three options to Jews and Christians: (1) Fight and die; (2) convert to Islam; (3) or keep their religion, but pay a tribute or submission tax, the jizyah, while living under Islam. In Islamic history, vanquished Jews and Christians became known as dhimmis. This word appears in Quran 9:8 and 9:10, meaning a “treaty” or “oath,” but it can also mean those who are “condemned” “reviled” or “reproved” (Quran 17:18, 17:22; 68:49). The word “submission” in Quran 9:29 can also be translated as “humiliation,” “utterly humbled,” “contemptible” or “vile.” It can mean “small” as opposed to “great. Islamic nations today still seek to impose this second-class religion tax. Back-up articles: Jihad and Qital and The Quran and the Sword 
9. Slavery is allowed. It is true that freeing slaves was done in original Islam (Quran 5:89 and 24:33), and the Quran says to be kind to slaves (Quran 4:36), but that is not the entire story. In addition to those verses, Quran 4:24, 23:1-7; 33:52 allow the institution. Muhammad owned slaves, even one who was black (so says a sacred tradition). He was militarily and politically powerful during his later life in Medina, but he never abolished slavery as an institution. Officially, Islamic nations have outlawed slavery (Article 11, which is still based on shariah). That proves Islam can reform on at least one matter. Can it reform on the other shariah laws? And we are told that “no other nation or religious group in the world treated slaves better than the Muslims did.” The back-up article and next two items in this list contradict that claim. The legacy of slavery still runs deep in Islamic countries even today. 
10. A male owner may have sex with his slave-women, even prepubescent slave-girls. See Quran 4:24 and 23:1-7; but it is classical law that permits sex with prepubescent slave girls and describes them as such. Some Muslim religious leaders and others still advocate this practice, taking the slaves as concubines (though sex with prepubescent slave-girls is another matter).  
11. Slaves may be beaten. That’s what sacred traditions and classical laws say. See Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism, and Slavery  
12. Apostasy laws, including imprisonment or execution, may be imposed on anyone who leaves Islam (an apostate). Normally this is a prescribed punishment, but it is also political, since it is about freedom of religion. Surprisingly the Quran does not cover punishing apostates down here on earth, though in the afterlife they will be punished. Does this modern Islam can reform old Islam? Quran 4:88-89, 9:73-74, and 9:123, read in that sequence, might deal with earthly punishments. Mainly, however, the sacred traditions and classical law permit harsh treatment for anyone who leaves Islam. Islamic courts and laws still impose these punishments today, or religious scholarstoday argue for the law. 
13. Blasphemy laws, including imprisonment or execution, may be imposed on critics of Islam or Muhammad. These verses should be read in historical sequence, for they show that as Islam’s military power increased, the harsh treatment of mockers and critics also intensified, as follows: Quran 3:186, 33:57-61, 9:61-66, 9:73 and 9:123. Sacred traditions, classical laws, and historical Islam are unambiguous about the punishments, recording the people, often their names, who were assassinated for mocking Muhammad and the Quran. Islamic nations and pockets of Islam in non-Muslim countries still impose thesepunishments today. 
 18. Homosexuals may be imprisoned, flogged, or executed. Surprisingly, the Quran is not all that clear on this subject, but the traditions and classical laws are. Islamic nations to this day still impose those punishments, and religious leaders stillargue for harsh punishments. Back-up article: Homosexuality 
20. Adulterers may be stoned to death. The verse that says to stone adulterers to death went missing from the Quran, so says Umar, a companion of Muhammad and the second caliph (ruled 634-644). But he left no doubt that this penalty was done under Muhammad’s direction, and the sacred traditions and classical laws confirm it. But a few rules of evidence must be followed, like confession of the adulterer or four eyewitnesses. In some interpretations of the law, if a woman is raped, but cannot produce four just and pious men who witnessed it, then she is slandering the alleged rapist (or gang rapists) – never mind that the four just and pious eyewitnesses did nothing to stop it, but stood there and watched it. Some modern Islamic nations still do this, and religious and legal scholars argue for it.  
22. A woman inherits half what a man does. Quran 4:11 says it, and the hadith (traditions) and classical law confirm it. Modern Islamic nations still do this, and religious leaders still argue for it. Back-up article: Women’s Status and Roles 23. A woman’s testimony in a court of law counts half of a man’s testimony, since she might “forget.” Quran 2:282 says it in the context of business law. But the hadith (traditions) explains that women’s minds are deficient; classical law expands this curtailment to other areas than business. Modern Islamic nations still do this, and religious scholars still argue for it. 
24. A man may legally and irrevocably divorce his wife, outside of a court of law, by correctly pronouncing three times “you are divorced.” Quran 2:229 says this, and the traditions and classical law explain and confirm it. A judge in a modern Islamic country will ensure that the husband did not speak from a fit of irrational rage (anger is okay) or intoxication, for example. Then the court will validate the divorce, not daring to overturn it, since the Quran says so. Sometimes this homemade and irrevocable divorce produces a lot of regret in the coupleand manipulation from the husband in Islam today. 
25. A wife may remarry her ex-husband if and only if she marries another man, has sex with him, and then this second man divorces her. Quran 2:230 says this, and the traditions and classical law confirm it. Supposedly, this rule is designed to prevent easy divorce (see the previous point), but it produces a lot of pain, in Muslims today. 
26. Husbands may hit their wives. Quran 4:34 says it, and the traditions and classical law confirm it. There is a sequence of steps a husband follows before he can hit her, but not surprisingly this rule creates all sorts of abuse and confusion in Islamic society today.  
27. A man may be polygamous with up to four wives. Quran 4:3 (and 33:50-52) allow this, but only if a man can take care of them. The traditions and classical law confirm it. Modern Muslims still push for this old maritalarrangement even in the USA, and many Islamic nations still allow it. But someMuslims are fighting polygamy. The hadith (traditions) paints a picture of Muhammad’s household that was full of strife between the wives. 
28. A man may simply get rid of one of his “undesirable” wives. Quran 4:128 says this. The traditions say about the verse that the wife whom Muhammad wanted to get rid of was “huge” and “fat.” She gave up her turn to his favorite girl-bride Aisha. He kept the corpulent wife. There is heartbreak in Islam today. 
29. A mature man may marry a prepubescent girl. Quran 65:1-4, particularly verse 4, assumes, but does not command, the practice. The hadith says Aisha was six years old when she was engaged to Muhammad (he was in his fifties), and their marriage was consummated when she was nine. The hadith indicate she was prepubescent at nine. She never did bear him any children. Classical law says a father may give away his prepubescent daughter, but she also has a few rights. Officially many Islamic nations have raised the legal marriage age, but pockets in the Islamic world still follow this old custom. The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia okaysmarriage to ten-year-old girls. Work is still needed to be done for the rights of girl brides, particularly for their sexual health.
GO READ THE WHOLE THING AT JIHAD WATCH.

Swing State BUYOFF? 1 million Ohioans with Obamaphones


1 million Ohioans using free phone program

 Fees on phone bills pay for $1.5 billion national Lifeline program

ONE OF EVERY TEN OHIOANS WITH A FEDERAL ‘FREE’ CELL PHONE?


A program that provides subsidized phone service to low-income individuals has nearly doubled in size in Ohio in the past year — now covering more than a million people. At the same time, federal officials say they’re reining in waste, fraud and abuse in the program.
The Federal Communications Commission announced recently that reforms have saved $43 million since January and are expected to save $200 million by year’s end. In Ohio, savings are expected to be $2.9 million a year.
The savings were realized in part because the government gave out fewer cellphones to ineligible people and took steps to avoid issuing duplicate phones.
But the size of the program in the state — and profits to the increasing number of cellphone companies involved — has exploded in recent months, according to a Dayton Daily News analysis of program data.
The program in Ohio cost $26.9 million in the first quarter of 2012, the most recent data available, versus $15.6 million in the same timeframe in 2011. Compared to the first quarter of 2011, the number of people in the program nearly doubled to more than a million.
Growth could cost everyone who owns a phone. The program is funded through the “Universal Service Fund” charge on phone bills — usually a dollar or two per bill — and the amount of the fee is determined by the cost of this and other programs.
A growth of $100 million in this program could result in an increased fee of a few cents on the average bill, according to officials from the agency that administers the program. The total cost of the program nationwide was $1.5 billion in 2011, up from $1.1 billion in 2010.
One cannot help but think of the buyoffs of congressmen and Senators, and states with exceptions and bribes for Obamacare.
But there is something far more slimy about it when you just buy off voters with a tacit QUID PRO QUO
Advocates for the poor say this growth is to be expected; eligibility is dependent on having a low income or being in a program such as food stamps or heating assistance, and that population is ballooning, they say.
“I am unable to have a cellphone and I need one for emergencies,” said Aliesa Azbill of Dayton, who is in a work training program at Community Action Partnership. She said the 250 free minutes she gets per month through SafeLink isn’t enough to use it for much more than emergencies.
I have a cell phone and no house phone yet manage to get along with LESS THAN 200 minutes a month usage, NO PROBLEM.
Anyone else have feeling that there is a better way to achieve this result? Such as phones which ONLY dial 911?