AIRPORT TRUTHS NOT LIES

DOUG & LAURIE ON THE TSA & MEDIA COVERUP OF FACTS FRI NOV 26-HRS 1-2-3
http://therothshow.com/show-archives/november-2010/

Proof Positive that the government rates body scanner resisters as Non-Islamic DomesticTerrorists By Doug Hagmann Friday, November 26, 2010
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/30401 (LINKS DIC)

My report DHS & TSA: Making a list, checking it twice has apparently stirred a lot of controversy. It has also been met with skepticism and denials about its actual existence. Some find it difficult to believe that our government would actually label anyone who opposes the use of naked body scanners and aggressive airport pat-downs as domestic extremists.It is unfortunately obvious that there are many people who are living in a state of denial or blissful ignorance. We are living in a time when our government can issue an official 86-page report about the mass murder of 13 people at Fort Hood by a man who shouted Allahu Akbar before he began pumping bullets into innocent bystanders yet never once mention Islam, Muslim or the Islamic ideology that allegedly motivated the attack.Alternatively, the government has labeled anyone opposing abortion, illegal immigration, or members of the alternative media as domestic extremists.Such designations were made infamous by the leaked MIAC Memo, a shortened reference to the strategic report issued by the Missouri Information Analysis Center dated 20 February 2009. Careful research will show that the memo, which was a law enforcement work product that was actually limited in its intended dissemination, was rebuffed by DHS officials and later retracted. Government officials downplayed its intent after the publication went viral.It was defended as a training aid that was overblown and taken out of context.

Subsequent assurances have been made by the federal government that no such designations exist, at least not in the context of surveillance or other oversight measures of anyone but enemies who pose actual threats to our homeland. These assurances have been parroted by the corporate media shilling for Napolitano and others, who further imply that assertions to the contrary are nothing but conspiratorial nonsense that have no basis in fact. Visits to politically polarized Internet forums and web sites will find pundits and posters disparaging anyone who would fall for such conspiratorial nonsense. They demand proof through publication of the existence of closely guarded and classified memos, lists, and documents that detail such designations. Absent of such proof, they vociferously contend that it simply does not exist.To provide insight to those who are concerned over the direction our current leadership is taking our national security, perhaps we should refer to DHS source document IA-0233-09 dated 26 March 2009 titled Domestic Extremist Lexicon.It is an eleven-page document prepared by the Strategic Analysts Group and the Extremism Radicalization Branch, Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division.Arranged in alphabetical order, the preface clearly states that that the lexicon addresses the nature and scope of the threat that domestic, non-Islamic extremism poses to the United States, and specifically names such groups and provides a definition for each.A perusal of the threat identified found the following on page two:Carefully note that the intentionally definition of alternative media includes any information source outside of the corporate media.

Next, take a look at an entry on page three of this document:Perhaps one of the more interesting threats is listed on page four, which states that any act of civil disobedience (including protests) is considered a domestic threat to the United States:To those who remain skeptical that the DHS under the direction of Janet Napolitano, does not classify individuals or groups who would protest the recently enhanced security screening procedures implemented at U.S. airports as non-Islamic domestic terror threats to the U.S. are either in a perilous state of denial or ignorant of the current focus of our homeland security .Indeed, threats to the security of the United States exist within our country. Some have walked or driven in across the border. Others, we’ve voted in or have been appointed by those who have been elected. In any case, it would appear that Big Sis is looking in all the wrong places. I contend that it is by design.

OBAMA'S AIRPORT SECURITY ABUSES DICTATED BY MUSLIM GROUP
By NWV News writer Jim Kouri Posted 1:00 AM Eastern
November 23, 2010 2010 NewsWithViews.com

Obama said counterterrorism experts have told him that the current procedures are the only ones that they think can effectively guard against threats such as last year's attempted Christmas-day bombing. On Saturday while in Libon, Portugal, President Barack Obama told reporters that he asked security officials whether there's a less intrusive way to screen U.S. airline passengers than the pat-downs and body scans causing a holiday-season uproar.

Obama claims his security team told him there wasn't.

Passengers at some U.S. airports must pass through full-body scanners that produce a virtually naked image. If travelers refuse, they can be forced to submit to an thorough patdown of their bodies, including of clothed genital areas and breasts, by security officers of the same sex as the passenger.Obama claims that he's told the U.S. Transportation Security Administration: You... have to think through, are there ways of doing it that are less intrusive. At this point, Obama said counterterrorism experts have told him that the current procedures are the only ones that they think can effectively guard against threats such as last year's attempted Christmas-day bombing. Either [President] Obama is being deceived or he's doing the deceiving. Any cop worth his salt will tell you there are definitely alternatives to this intrusive and time consuming nonsense,said former police detective and expert in interview and interrogation Mike Snopes.The fact of the matter is that the Obama administration is bowing to the demands of groups such as CAIR and others who don't want Muslims to be inconvenienced, said Snopes.Truth be told, there are alternatives to the current heavy-handed security measures being used at U.S. airports: Psychological profiling and transactional analysis.

A PROGRAM KICKED TO THE WAYSIDE

The Council on American Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, began 2010 by complaining about a new security training program Transportation Security Administration security officers assigned to the nation's airports.The CAIR leadership had released a statement that claimed the TSA's airport security directives amount to the profiling of Muslims.According to TSA officials, security officers at major airports across the country would be trained to use casual conversation to flush out possible terrorists. Instructors would first teach officers what suspicious behaviors to look for in travelers. These can include nervousness, wearing a big coat in the summer or reluctance to make eye contact with law enforcement. Then, the officers carry on a supposedly casual conversation with passengers in hopes of spotting possible terrorists or to determine whether further scrutiny of a passenger is required. This would have been a welcomed program by those in law enforcement who've said for years that psychological profiling should be used by airport security staff. While representing the staff and membership of the National Association of Chiefs of Police at lectures or during media interviews, this writer often discusses the need for upgrading the training of airport security staff with part of that upgrade to include psychological profiling.Most police officers and investigators are familiar with the concept since it's used during the interrogation and interview process to detect deception on the part of the subject. Without going into too much detail, interrogators or interviewers, while questioning a subject about the matter at hand, are observing body language, eye contact, breathing, physical characteristics such as dry mouth or profuse perspiration, and other criteria.

However, the Washington-based CAIR officials claimed that the new guidelines, under which anyone traveling from or through 13 Muslim-majority nations will be required to go through enhanced screening techniques before boarding flights, will disproportionately target American Muslims who have family or spiritual ties to the Islamic world and therefore amount to religious and ethnic profiling.Under these new guidelines, almost every American Muslim who travels to see family or friends or goes on pilgrimage to Mecca will automatically be singled out for special security checks -- that's profiling,said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.While singling out travelers based on religion and national origin may make some people feel safer, it only serves to alienate and stigmatize Muslims and does nothing to improve airline security, he said.We all support effective security measures that will protect the traveling public from an attack such as that attempted on Christmas Day,added Awad.But knee-jerk policies will not address this serious challenge to public safety.However, security experts believe that the measures are reasonable and necessary in order to enhance airport and airline protection and safety.Look, I don't buy it. The fact is, what I say is do smart screening. Ethnicity is one of the factors that should be included in the profile. After all, what is profiling? You're extrapolating the common characteristics of the terrorist attacks. 100% of all the terrorist attacks against the United States last year were carried out by Muslim jihadists. So, if that's the one common denominator, let's include that in the mix. That at airports would trigger a secondary inspection in which case the bomber on Christmas Day this year, maybe have they found the bomb, said the respected terrorism expert Steven Emerson, founder and director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism.Are you going to inspect 98 year old ladies from Sweden in wheelchairs because we're trying to distribute the risk among 300 million Americans when the risk category is really spread 99 to 1 million people? No I don't buy it. Let's be smart about this,added Emerson, who is a consultant for several media and law enforcement organizations.

Israeli security agents and police have used this method for screening people at airports and security checkpoints for years with much success. In a commentary distributed by CAIR challenging calls for profiling, Awad suggested alternatives to faith-based security checks: First look at behavior, not at faith or skin color. Then spend what it takes to obtain more bomb-sniffing dogs, to install more sophisticated bomb-detection equipment and to train security personnel in identifying the behavior of real terror suspects.But law enforcement officials and security professionals believe that to treat everyone equally is like grade school discipline.It's ridiculous. Because a few extremists who are Muslims perpetrate terrorist attacks on planes, everyone must be inconvenienced and harassed? That's like elementary school when a student misbehaves and the teacher punishes the entire class by keeping them all after school,said former intelligence officer and NYPD detective Sid Franes.The Israeli security people are trained to use profiling -- they also look at body language, listen to voice patterns, check eye contact and other facial indicators of deception,said Franes.During an interview, Texas Governor Rick Perry suggested that instead of having security officers groping little old ladies at airports, why not have them deployed at the U.S.-Mexico border to protect Americans.

Gate Rape of America Comment on this article at Canada Free Press
By Douglas J. Hagmann NOV 22,10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSQTz1bccL4&feature=player_embedded

At the same time that the federal government is mandating the physical and constitutional violation of air travelers at our airports, they are prohibiting law enforcement officers in Arizona from asking for proof of identity and citizenship from those they suspect as being illegal aliens.

22 November 2010: They could not have planned it any better, initiating enhanced screening procedures right before the busiest travel time of the year. Our visceral reaction, outrage and chants of don’t touch my junk are understandable and warranted, but tend to overshadow our visibility of what’s really taking place, which is vastly more than meets the eye.The media seems to be stuck on reporting the more salacious aspect of TSA agents having a collective case of the touchy-feelies while the underlying motives of our government are barely addressed. Yet that’s exactly where we need to be looking. We need to identify and understand what is taking place behind the snappy sound bites and outrageous video snippets. We also need to understand why these things are happening so we will not be surprised at what is likely to happen next.As I wrote last week, the current TSA measures have very little to do with security. It is becoming much more apparent that the Department of Homeland Security itself, at its uppermost levels, has little to do with actual security. At the same time that the federal government is mandating the physical and constitutional violation of air travelers at our airports, they are prohibiting law enforcement officers in Arizona from asking for proof of identity and citizenship from those they suspect as being illegal aliens. They are also planning to remove the token presence of National Guard troops from our southern border by the end of February. So much for security.

This entire scenario would be difficult to reconcile in logical terms, or to simply laugh off and blame it on the inefficiency of government, until you probe deeper into their agenda.The American people are being carefully and deliberately conditioned to accept the stripping away of our Constitutional rights, a process in the making for nearly a century. To see how far this conditioning has progressed, just look at how many people are willing to be groped, fondled, nuked, and subjected to other forms of degrading tactics by agents of the federal government for the mere illusion of security. They reason that if it will make air travel safer to have their genitalia fondled, that it is a necessary evil. Well, they are only half correct; it is indeed evil, but not necessary.At what point will these grope-a-dopes draw the line and consider the actions of the government a provocation? When will people begin to connect the dots of the globalist agenda and become non-compliant?

I believe that is the larger question being raised by the puppeteers behind the proverbial curtain.The erosion of our rights has been in progress for decades and under multiple administrations, but with this administration in particular, there is more to it. Rather than ending this madness, the Obama administration has instead ramped up the very tactics that had progressives calling George Bush a criminal. Why? It seems that people cannot understand that under the umbrella of globalism, political party is irrelevant. Both sides drink from the same trough.To see it as some do, which is some sort of political payback against the American people for the midterm elections results is, in my opinion, purposely myopic. It is much larger than that.The continuity of criminalizing non-criminal behavior of free citizens while giving a pass to others transcends political parties and is an integral component of social conditioning. Although it did not begin with Obama, he is integral in accelerating the implementation of the global power elite’s goals and objectives. Like the sand in the top of an hourglass appears to flow faster as it reaches its end, so too does the agenda of the proponents of a new world order. We are now at that point in time.It would be a mistake to believe that this administration is merely mishandling the current throw-down between the TSA and airline passengers at the boarding gate. It is not being mishandled, but carefully crafted into organized chaos designed to elicit social unrest. Anyone refusing to comply with the increasingly oppressive federal rules will be considered domestic terrorists, much like we’ve seen with individuals and groups concerned with our Constitution, second amendment rights, and pro-life causes.

Many wonder how a regime in Germany could have rounded up and sent six million Jews to their deaths. Well, this is exactly how. It begins through conditioning, involves nationalization, and relies heavily on the conditioning and on the malaise of the people. “They” are the power elite – the globalists, who do not view themselves as Americans and don’t care about national sovereignty and care less about state sovereignty.Under previous administrations, we’ve seen the likes of Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski and countless others who were appointed to cabinet positions or advisors with designs on a one world government and consolidation of power among the global elite. Now, take a good look at who Barack Obama has chosen as czars, advisors and appointees. Look at what has been advanced within the last two years under Obama.In addition to the social component, there is a large economic component to this madness as well.Under Obama, the nation’s health care industry has essentially been nationalized, and facing financial difficulties, the government became heavily involved in the auto industry to the point of de-facto nationalization. Why not the air travel industry, which in 2007, was responsible for generating just over $1.3 trillion in economic activity, or 5.6% of the total U.S. economy. The airline industry employed over 11 million Americans who earned about $396 billion.The enhanced screening at our airports is not helping the airline industry, a vital part of our economy and infrastructure, but hurting it. This nonsense has the capacity to deliver a death blow to the airline industry. Could this be part of the larger agenda? Just look at the history over the last two years, and I believe the answer will become quite evident.Meanwhile, take a look back at the airports across the country, as tens of thousands will be huddled in confined areas just to board a plane for the Thanksgiving holiday. It is a recipe for disaster. But a planned one that should not surprise anyone who is paying attention.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010DHS & TSA: making a list, checking it twice
By Douglas J. Hagmann, Director

23 November 2010: Following the publication of my article titled Gate Rape of America, I was contacted by a source within the DHS who is troubled by the terminology and content of an internal memo reportedly issued yesterday at the hand of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. Indeed, both the terminology and content contained in the document are troubling. The dissemination of the document itself is restricted by virtue of its classification, which prohibits any manner of public release. While the document cannot be posted or published, the more salient points are revealed here.The memo, which actually takes the form of an administrative directive, appears to be the product of undated but recent high level meetings between Napolitano, John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and one or more of Obama’s national security advisors. This document officially addresses those who are opposed to, or engaged in the disruption of the implementation of the enhanced airport screening procedures as domestic extremists.

The introductory paragraph of the multipage document states that it is issued in response to the growing public backlash against enhanced TSA security screening procedures and the agents conducting the screening process.Implicit within the same section is that the recently enhanced security screening procedures implemented at U.S. airports, and the measures to be taken in response to the negative public backlash as detailed [in this directive], have the full support of the President. In other words, Obama not only endorses the enhanced security screening, but the measures outlined in this directive to be taken in response to public objections.The terminology contained within the reported memo is indeed troubling. It labels any person who interferes with TSA airport security screening procedure protocol and operations by actively objecting to the established screening process, including but not limited to the anticipated national opt-out day as a domestic extremist. The label is then broadened to include any person, group or alternative media source that actively objects to, causes others to object to, supports and/or elicits support for anyone who engages in such travel disruptions at U.S. airports in response to the enhanced security procedures.For individuals who engaged in such activity at screening points, it instructs TSA operations to obtain the identities of those individuals and other applicable information and submit the same electronically to the Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division, the Extremism and Radicalization branch of the Office of Intelligence & Analysis (IA) division of the Department of Homeland Security.

For any person, group or domestic alternative media source that actively objects to, causes others to object to, supports and/or elicits support for anyone who engages in such travel disruptions at U.S. airports (as defined above) in response to the enhanced security procedures, the [applicable DHS administrative branch] is instructed to identify and collect information about the persons or entities, and submit such information in the manner outlined [within this directive].It would appear that the Department of Homeland Security is not only prepared to enforce the enhanced security procedures at airports, but is involved in gathering intelligence about those who don’t. They’re making a list and most certainly will be checking it twice. Meanwhile, legitimate threats to our air travel security (and they DO exist) seem taking a back seat to the larger threat of the multitude of non-criminal American citizens who object to having their Constitutional rights violated.As I have written before, it has nothing to do with security and everything to do with control.

Why Airline Security Doesn’t Work
By Daniel Greenfield Thursday, November 25, 2010

Three men go on a camping trip. On the way there they’re told by a park ranger to be careful because their campsite is located near some dangerous animals. What dangerous animals? The park ranger won’t say, because that would be profiling. Just keep in mind, he tells them, that people who camped there in the past never made it back alive.As the sun goes down, they pick up their hunting rifles and stand watch for dangerous animals. But they don’t know what dangerous animals, they’re watching out for. And they don’t want to profile. So they keep watch for crickets as much as for bears, and for deer as much as for mountain lions. A rabbit, an owl or a bullfrog all equally frighten them out of their wits. They open fire on mosquitoes and stand watch against monstrous raccoons. By the end of the night, they can hardly see anything or react to danger. That morning, a pair of mountain lions stroll lazily into their camp and find them snoring away.This little story illustrates why we can’t do things this way. Because it’s stupid and it’s suicidal. Human survival is based on recognizing threats, not on reacting to all stimuli because one of them might be threatening, but we don’t want to single it out and make it feel bad. If we actually did things that way, we’d all be dead by now.There are three stages to coping with a threat. First you have to recognize the threat. Second, you have to formulate a plan for dealing with the threat. Third, you have to implement the plan.

So far we haven’t even made to the first stage. We haven’t recognized the threat. At the airline security level, we insist that the threat is completely random. Anyone at all could be a terrorist. There’s no specific ideology or countries that are sources of terrorism. Instead terrorism is like some sort of disease. Anyone at all could be a carrier. And so we have to watch out for everyone. All the time. And like those hunters, we’re either on alert all the time or we’re completely apathetic. We’re either security manic or security depressive. We go from letting everyone pass to strip searching everybody. There’s no rational approach to danger, because we don’t have a rational plan. We just go from 0 to 60 every time there’s a new threat.

Since we failed the first stage, we can’t move on to the second stage. We can’t recognize the threat, so every plan we formulate to deal with is doomed from the start. Instead of addressing a known threat, we go down a lot of blind alleys. Technology keeps getting abused as a shortcut in another episode of security theater, as new machines are bought and installed. But technology is dumb. Machines are a tool, not a plan. Like any tool, they can let us do more. But like all tools, they’re only as smart as the people using them. And the people using them are trained to be dumb.Dumb is the only policy that can exist in the absence of intelligent threat recognition Dumb is the only policy that can exist in the absence of intelligent threat recognition. To be smart you have to make it to the second stage. When you can’t even identify the threat, then you’re hopelessly stuck on stupid, no matter what your IQ might be, or how many diplomas are hanging on your wall. And if you’re just a glorified security guard following a dumb policy, then the outcome is going to be really dumb. Technological solutions to terrorism driven by ‘dumb’ policy are a dead end. No machine can defeat a human being, because the human being can step outside the box and cheat. Any automated security approach might work 99 times out of a 100, but it won’t work 100 times out of a 100. Because it has a weakness. And that weakness is inflexibility. Every automated solution has a way around it. It’s just a matter of finding it and exploiting it.When human beings play a game of cat and mouse, they think about what their opponent will do. Machines can’t think. Neither can bureaucracies. They can only enact policies. And when those policies are dumb in addition to inflexible, then the bureaucracy is no better than a machine. And a machine can be beaten. The people we’re up against don’t have to think about what we will do. They know what we will do. All they have to do is find a way around it. Then in response to their latest attempt, we look for a way to close the hangar, after the plane has already flown away.

In response to 9/11, we obsessively focused on preventing anyone from carrying sharp objects onto domestic flights. Every time the terrorists tried something, we responded with new ‘dumb’ security regimes. We banned liquids in carry on luggage, made fliers take off their shoes and now we run passengers through naked scanners. When the terrorists think of something else, we’ll have to ban that too or find some new way to inconvenience and humiliate anyone who exercises the privilege of flying. As plans go, this is as dumb as buying a bulletproof vest, 6 months after you’ve been shot.Our security agencies are actually pretending that this hopelessly reactive approach is a plan. It’s not a plan, it’s a high tech buzzword rich version of Keystone Kops. We don’t have a plan. We have an approach. And our approach is to try and interdict weapons and bombs that terrorists might try to smuggle on board. Since we’re focusing on the tools, not the terrorists—everyone is a suspect. Imagine if after every stabbing, we disregarded the physical description of the perpetrator, and instead went after everyone who owns a knife. An hour later, there would be thousands of angry citizens arrested for having kitchen knives, bread knives, boxcutters and anything with a blade. And then the police department would be doing things, the same way that the TSA operates now.

The problem isn’t knives or bombs. It’s Muslim terrorists
The problem isn’t knives or bombs. It’s Muslim terrorists. The knives or bombs are just some of the tools they use. But it’s the terrorists who are the threat, not the tools. By now we know that explosives can be smuggled in liquid containers and shoes and powder and body cavities and countless other ways. Even if everyone actually flew naked and without luggage, there would still potentially be a way to blow up a plane, including surgical implants. The TSA has not actually stopped a single act of terrorism. All it has done is inconvenience and humiliate travelers.Saddled with a political taboo against identifying Muslim terrorists as the threat, security agencies have been left with no choice except to focus on the tools. If we don’t know anything about the attacker, then we have to think about the weapons. But from a security standpoint, it’s not possible to reliably interdict a weapon before it’s used. Not when the weapon can be almost anything at all.Law enforcement exists to interdict perpetrators during a crime or to capture them afterward. Trying to prevent a crime from being carried, when we can’t even identify the potential perpetrators, and to do so only based on outdated information about the potential weapons they might use, while trying to screen them from among tens of thousands of other people, without actually slowing down airline travel or inconveniencing anybody—is functionally impossible. Such a system will always be broken from the start. And it won’t accomplish any of its goals.Liberalism created a taboo against identifying criminals, blaming the tools they used, rather than the men themselves. This led to the farce of Gun Control which insisted that guns are to blame for violent crime in urban areas, not the residents themselves. The UK is living out the Gun Control fantasy, and now it’s busy fighting Knife Crime and asking residents to turn in their knives. Security cameras are everywhere. There’s a national DNA database. Everything short of Minority Report’s Pre-Crime psychics is in play, and yet violent crime in the UK is worse than it is in the US.

The TSA’s policies aid and abet the same fantasy, that it’s not Muslim terrorists we should be worried about, but bottles of liquid, shoes and personal privacy. But bottles of liquid and shoes don’t blow up planes, Muslims do.The first stage of fighting terrorism is to identify the terrorists. We haven’t done that The first stage of fighting terrorism is to identify the terrorists. We haven’t done that. The second stage is to formulate a plan for fighting them. Instead we’ve formulated a plan to try and stop them from doing the things they tried to do six months ago. The third stage is to implement the plan. Since we don’t have a plan, we just randomly terrorize people in the hopes that the terrorists will be so impressed by our security theater that they’ll give up and go away, and if they don’t, then at least none of the bureaucrats and politicians in the loop will be held responsible for the next 3,000 dead.We can stop the terrorists and keep America safe. And we can do it without treating everyone who flies like a criminal or demand that fliers accept the unacceptable. But to do that we have to go through those three stages. We have to identify the problem, formulate a plan for dealing with it and implement that plan. To do that requires going back to the beginning and remember why we’re at war.We weren’t attacked by boxcutters in 9/11. We were attacked by Muslims who were acting in the name of Islam. They were not lone gunmen. And their creed goes beyond a few men living in caves in Afghanistan. They did what they did, because their religion and their bible commanded them to do it. This is the enemy. Every mosque on our soil is another base for terror. Every Muslim at the gate is another potential terrorist. You may not like hearing that, but those are the facts.In the 1930’s most Europeans did not like hearing that they would soon have to fight another World War. All educated and moral people back then knew that wars were bad. The real enemy was the government and the capitalists who wanted to make the working class fight another war. So they denied it for as long as they could. Until the enemy was at their gates and the bombs were falling on their cities. Their politics blinded them to the threat. Just as they blind us today. And the blind are vulnerable. When violence happens, the blind have to suspect everyone and grope everyone. Because they can’t see who their enemies are.Right now our security setup is blind, deaf and dumb. It’s three little monkeys in a row. One who can’t see any evil. One who can’t hear any evil. And one can’t speak out and identify any evil. Only when it can see, hear and speak—will we have any shot at fighting the terrorists, instead of terrorizing our own.

Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful for what was, what is and what is yet to come What was NOV 24,10

I’m so thankful our country and freedom was divinely inspired by God not Obama or the UN. From the start of our American rumble back in the days of Columbus we have seen God’s miraculous hand on our creation and development. Although it is desperately politically incorrect and annoying to liberals,Columbus wrote in his own journals he was led by Christ to go toward America.Also very annoying to liberals, the vast majority who filled the Halls of congress and the White House over hundreds of years were Christians.It is most clear that God himself wanted America to happen…..but don’t listen to me, Obama says we aren’t a Christian nation.HmmmI’m so thankful that we wrestled through and conquered the evil of slavery, moved boldly forward in race relations and realized that women can vote. We finally discovered that ALL people matter no matter who they are.I’m so thankful that American patriots and visionaries penciled the unique and treasured U.S. constitution and Bill of Rights among other amazing documents. For the first time with any country in history, these documents sanctified our freedom,rights and protection under God.These are not living and flowing documents but rock solid Captain of the Ship documents.I’m thankful for the unique kind of achievement,passion and compassion demonstrated within the heart of the average American.I’m proud that so many millions of our people have thought freedom and life worthy of fighting and even dying for.It is as if the very spirit and bone marrow of the average American dreams big,tries something and fails,then tries again and succeeds.The bottom line is we keep running the race, through the good times and hard times.There is evil in the world and real Americans will stand against it no matter what.I believe America has become over the many decades a leader among nations because we have been a nation in large part submitting to the living God of the Holy Bible,not Islam or powerful dictators and personalities.We have gotten our passion and compassion from the Bible, where we define our worth and freedom as a gift from God to be protected, treasured and fought for.In too many countries and traditions to count, people are nothing but numbers and producers to be maneuvered to secure power and profit. Not in America.

What is

I’m so thankful I survived a near fatal motorcycle accident in 2005, where first responders say I only had 2 minutes to live at the scene. I crashed on my head when a deer jumped on me, causing me to break almost everything in my face and severely damaging my brain. I’m thankful I wanted to learn to walk again, talk again and read again and I’m even more thankful I could work on those things every day for months and years. I saw good days and bad days but there was progress.I’m so thankful my husband stayed by me when I looked like Frankenstein, drooled and repeated myself regularly until my brain healed up. I’m thankful for a second chance at life and my career. The road back has not been easy but I am a Christian and fighter…hmmm……I must be an American.I’m relieved and so thankful that the conservatives won back the House. America is angry, alarmed and afraid of this Internationalist, socialist/communist in the White House. Thankfully we aren’t focusing our emotions on race wars and diversions as his people charge, but the real direction of change for America, which is booting Obama and the progressive liberals right out of the White House and congress. We must never vote wanna be leaders like this into leadership again.

What is to come

We must dream big again

Our country and economy has been hit horribly but we will survive by continuing to snap out of our lethargy, depression, distractions and stupor. We will heal up again by doing the following:

1) Remember who we are and how we survived before

2) Seek our Lord in the Holy Bible for guidance and direction

3) Boldly define evil and stand against it always

4) Protect and cherish our constitution and freedom from internal as well as external threats

Finally, this Thanksgiving season I urge you all to think outside the box, put on that bold and courageous entrepreneurial spirit again and try something new in your life. Jump into a new business idea. Research, plan and implement it. You can do it. Others can make a huge difference by getting out of yourself and your own suffering and serving others. Make a huge difference in someone’s life who doesn’t even deserve it…..forgive, and see what can happen.Have a glorious and hopeful Thanksgiving where ever you are. Thank God for your very life and a chance to fix what is broken. Thank you all for reading my articles and for listening and contributing to my radio show. Help me spread the word about my show www.therothshow.com and join me on line Mon-Friday from 3-6pm PAC. I always have riveting guests, take on the issues and will take your calls.

There is nothing secure for America while Obama is in office By Laurie Roth NOV 25,10

Obama and his sea of anti Constitutional advisers are using numerous bills, conditions and events to do 4 things to Americans – Condition – train – punish and transform us into a Communist style Regime. We are to be brought down. THAT IS THE GOAL OF THIS ADMINISTRATION.How do they do it?

They have to test us

How will the people respond to chaos, false accusations and insults while we watch the shredding of our constitution freedom? We have seen the egregious assault and sell out orgy regarding the crammed Health Care bill against health and the American people. The lies, taxes and constitutional betrayals are too many to count. It is a full on assault against our rights to have choices in Health care, have insurance or not have insurance. This bill is filled with threats, fines, taxes, rationed controls and Government manipulation. It is not American at all but an Obama test and transformation! As I have looked deeper into the vat of horror and insults in the Health Bill, I see a theme, reflecting the philosophy of Obama and his sold out minions. He has written about and spoken on his agenda to transform and change America over his radical and volunteering career. We know Obama is a fan and even taught from radical, Saul Alynsky’s book, Rules for Radicals and studied radicals like Clyde and Piven and his own redistribution of wealth Father from Kenya. His belief system is vividly clear by now. It is evident he represents a bold challenge and assault to America. This is not another Democratic shift to the left but a dangerous, world view clash with America.With the Health care bill Obama has been testing us to see how we would respond to extreme chaos, out of control costs, taxes, threats and fines. Would we take it or would we fight it and how would we fight it? Over 20 plus law suits from States later, the fight is on.

Obama is testing then hopefully training us, (while always punishing us), to slowly boil in water like the frog, and eventually take it. He sees us screaming and yelling but has planned all along to go to such an extreme with the intention of appearing like the problem solving savior and backing up a bit eventually. Obama and the progressive goal all along has been to dramatically push our Health care system into the toilet and back up 20-30% after all the law suits and insurance coverage failures.Dr. Elaina George said on my radio show that all along Obama has intended for the Health care bill and system to fail by introducing such chaos and expense to Health care. This would finally get the American people to submit and come begging to the Government for its version of Health care.Frank Salvato, editor of www.newmediajournal.us also stated on my show just this week that Obama has always intended with a variety of issues to go too far to test and train the American people to take it, while expecting to back peddle a small percentage, making the American people feel like they have won. Really he will have won since moving us 50-75% in the direction of total control was his goal all along, not 100%

What about the TSA and groping nightmare?

Our 4th amendment rights against Government search and seizure are totally being violated with the theatre of the absurd TSA security procedures in Airports across the country. It is a known fact by now that the nudie security machines are radiation risks to all who walk through, especially pregnant women. Oh well, since abortion is so protected and loved by this administration, a few mutated babies here and there shouldn’t matter. The Mom’s can always abort them. In addition, we also know they don’t discard all the nude images of our bodies as they say. Some TSA workers have been caught making fun of body parts already. The workers are groping between your underpants, genitals and even requesting to have Prosthetic breasts taken out. Naturally, some of the photos, especially of big breasts, small penises, and recognized travelers will eventually end up on U Tube or somewhere else on the Internet.Law suits are flying, airports are starting already to opt out, per the advice of Rep. John Mica of Florida who has contacted over 150 airports telling them of the 2001 law he helped write which allows them to do their own private security and opt out of TSA. Obama has had a sea of advisers say that there is no other way to create enough security at Airports other than nudie scanner machines and extreme pat downs. That position is incompetent, a bold faced lie and increases the danger to the American people as they fly. The real security that would not violate our 4th amendment rights and actually protect us from radical Muslims would be El Al like profiling and questioning, along with metal dictators and further security, only as needed with suspicious individuals. Since Obama is a total kiss up to Islam that won’t happen and Muslims will continue to have special treatment while we are violated, waiting in longer lines and risking Islamic terrorists actually getting on planes. I hardly believed my ears the last few days when I heard CAIR and Nepolitano exploring the idea now of Islamic women wearing the traditional Hijab garb, actually searching themselves and reporting to the TSA official if there was anything foreign or dangerous lurking within their robe.For Nepolitano or CAIR to even be talking about a Muslim searching themselves is a bold and vivid invitation for female Muslim terrorists to suddenly where the hijab and magically avoid finding bombs strapped up there privates.

You can’t make this stuff up in a B horror movie.

It has never been one issue at a time with Obama. It is a shot gun type assault on America with the intention every time, regarding travel, Health care, Environmental manipulation/cap and trade, financial stimulus bills, taxation, kiss up to Islam, Airport security extremes and other national security failures. Obama has only 4 goals…..TEST, CONDITION, PUNISH AND TRANSFORM AMERICA AWAY FROM ANYTHING WE HAVE EVER KNOWN.What must America do until Obama and the rest of the dangerous progressives are thrown out?

Be angry and be grumpy but do something

We are at a stage with Health care and now this TSA nightmare where we can’t back down. Call your local and regional airport and tell them to opt out and follow Rep. Mica’s proper suggestion, or else you and everyone you know won’t be traveling with them. You will choose other transportation until this is straightened out. We all must stand and not back up for Obama’s training and conditioning plan. He and Nepolitano are already talking about the Nudie scanners being used for metro travel and trains. Doug Hagmann www.homelandsecurityus.com called it on my radio show weeks ago and said this horror of security will soon be everywhere, including schools and malls. Take your stand and don’t back down at all on this one!

Elections will be coming up again in the next few years

Organize behind conservatives state and federal who will go against Obama in 2012. We need the voter turn out of the century because as you know the left will lie, cheat and steal whatever elections they can. The conservatives need everyone to vote! Protest on all attack fronts by being in regular touch with your Mayor, Governor, Representative and Senator. Keep them on track.The new congress will start to clean this all up but they can’t do it without a lively, angry and focused American people the next few years. Obama will continue to play with executive orders, his czars from hell and treaties. Expect in the days and months ahead, Obama will submit to some reinstated tax cuts, some compromise with health care and some compromise with TSA. Remember, where he plans and wants to compromise to will be his intended plan all along.

Hope for America

Obama did not count on the Tea Party movement turning into a well funded, angry bunch of Americans 100 million plus strong. We all gave him a gift at the Mid terms. His Communist training plans have been a little thwarted. Let us turn his thwarted and stalled plans into flattened pavement.We will.AMERICA MUST NOT BE TRAINED AND AMERICA MUST NOT COMPROMISE ON ANY LEVEL.

Syrian FM warns of war with Israel - Four days after Knesset approval of referendum law, Walid Moallem says full return of Golan Heights is not negotiable.He adds that all sides will lose if new war breaks out in region Roee Nahmias Published: 11.26.10, 09:49 / Israel News

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem on Friday warned of the ramifications of a war with Israel. There is no doubt that closing the horizons to peace may lead to a possible war. This option always exists in our region, as Israel usually outrageously evades the commitment to peace, he told Russian newspaper Moscow News.

Pointing Finger

I want to stress that a new war will not result in a winner and loser, the Syrian foreign minister added.Everyone will lose because the existing advanced military technology can cause great damage, even for the side with huge military power.Moallem was asked about the chances for peace negotiations with Israel, four days after the Knesset approved a law requiring the government to hold a referendum on any withdrawal from territories under full Israeli sovereignty. The negotiations on the Syrian channel are possible as far as we are concerned if there is a partner which seeks peace – something which does not exist at the moment. The negotiations must take into account a full return to the Golan up to the June 4 1967 border. This matter is not negotiable, and is the basis for a dialogue on the other issues stemming from it.Damascus harshly criticized the newly approved referendum law on Tuesday. A Foreign Ministry source told the official SANA news agency that the decision amounts to contempt of international law and the position and desire of the entire international community, which confirmed in the past and still maintains that east Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan Heights are occupied Arab territory.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/11/25/general-visit-scene-nkorea-attack/
North Korea Warns It's on Brink of War Amid New Artillery Fire
Published November 26, 2010| Associated Press

YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea – North Korea warned Friday that U.S.-South Korean plans for military maneuvers put the peninsula on the brink of war, and appeared to launch its own artillery drills within sight of an island it showered with a deadly barrage this week.The fresh artillery blasts were especially defiant because they came as the U.S. commander in South Korea, Gen. Walter Sharp, toured the South Korean island to survey damage from Tuesday's hail of North Korean artillery fire that killed four people.None of the latest rounds hit the South's territory, and U.S. military officials said Sharp did not even hear the concussions, though residents on other parts of the island panicked and ran back to the air raid shelters where they huddled earlier in the week as white smoke rose from North Korean territory.Tensions have soared between the Koreas since the North's strike Tuesday destroyed large parts of this island, killing two civilians as well as two marines in a major escalation of their sporadic skirmishes along the sea border.The attack — eight months after a torpedo sank a South Korean warship further west, killing 46 sailors — has also laid bare weaknesses in South Korea's defense 60 years after the Korean War. The skirmish forced South Korea's beleaguered defense minister to resign Thursday, and President Lee Myung-bak on Friday named a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the post.

After an unprovoked shelling on Tuesday by its tempestuous neighbor to the north, South Koreans and members of the U.S. military evaluated damage to the island of Yeonpyeong on Friday and consider the country’s the next move. President Barack Obama pledged the U.S.’s support, saying, the United States will stand shoulder to shoulder with South Korea.Retail Group Predicts Biggest Black Friday Ever Politicians Who Own Stakes in Airport Scanner Companies Teenagers adrift in Pacific for 50 days reach land North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il, Son Visit Artillery Base Hours Before Hit on South Korea Deficit Hit Men Target NASA's Post-Shuttle Plans The heightened animosity between the Koreas is taking place as the North undergoes a delicate transition of power from leader Kim Jong Il to his young, inexperienced son Kim Jong Un, who is in his late 20s and is expected to eventually succeed his ailing father.Washington and Seoul have pressed China to use its influence on Pyongyang to ease tensions amid worries of all-out war, and a dispatch from Chinese state media on Friday — saying Beijing's foreign minister had met with the North Korean ambassador — appeared to be an effort to trumpet China's role as a responsible actor and placate the U.S. and the South.The U.S., meanwhile, is preparing to send a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to South Korean waters for joint military drills in the Yellow Sea starting Sunday.The North, which sees the drills as a major military provocation, unleashed its anger over the planned exercises in a dispatch earlier Friday.The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war, the report in the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.

A North Korean official boasted that Pyongyang's military precisely aimed and hit the enemy artillery base as punishment for South Korean military drills — a reference to Tuesday's attack — and warned of another shower of dreadful fire, KCNA reported in a separate dispatch.China also expressed concern over any war games in waters within its exclusive economic zone, though the statement on the Foreign Ministry website didn't mention the drills starting Sunday. That zone includes areas south of Yeonpyeong cited for possible maneuvers, though the exact location of the drills is not known.China strongly protested an earlier round of drills in the region but has been largely mute over the upcoming exercises. Beijing could be withholding direct criticism to avoid roiling ties with South Korea and the U.S. and to register its displeasure with ally North Korea.The North Korean government does not recognize the maritime border drawn by the U.N. in 1953, and considers the waters around Yeonpyeong Island its territory.Yeonpyeong Island, home to South Korean military bases as well as a civilian population of about 1,300 people, lies only 7 miles (11 kilometers) from North Korean shores and is not far from the spot where the South Korean warship sank in an explosion in March.Gen. Sharp said during his visit to the island that Tuesday's attack was a clear violation of an armistice signed in 1953 at the end of the three-year Korean War.We at United Nations Command will investigate this completely and call on North Korea to stop any future attacks, he said Friday.

Washington keeps more than 28,000 troops in South Korea to protect its ally from aggression — a legacy of the Korean War that is a sore point for North Korea, which cites the U.S. presence as the main reason behind its need for nuclear weapons.
Dressed in a heavy camouflage jacket, army fatigues and a black beret, Sharp walked down a heavily damaged street strewn with debris from buildings. Around him were charred bicycles and shattered bottles of soju, Korean rice liquor.AP photographers at an observation point on the northwest side of Yeonpyeong heard explosions and saw at least one flash of light on the North Korean mainland.There were no immediate reports of damage. Only a few dozen residents remain on Yeonpyeong, with most of the population of 1,300 fleeing in the hours and days after the attack as authorities urged them to evacuate.Many houses were blackened, half-collapsed or flattened, the streets littered with shattered windows, bent metal and other charred wreckage. Several stray dogs barked as they sat near destroyed houses. A group of South Korean marines carrying M-16 rifles patrolled along a seawall as the sun rose from the ocean.On Thursday, the South's president ordered reinforcements for the 4,000 troops on Yeonpyeong and four other Yellow Sea islands, as well as top-level weaponry and upgraded rules of engagement.He also sacked Defense Minister Kim Tae-young amid intense criticism that Yeonpyeong was unprepared for the attack and that the return fire came too slowly. Lee named former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Kim Kwan-jin to the post, the president's office announced Friday.Despite the criticisms, South Korea assured a meeting of the European Olympic Committees on Friday that it would be able to ensure security at the 2018 Winter Games if it's picked. The chair of the Pyeongchang 2018 bid committee presented their case Friday in Belgrade.Lee, dressed in a black suit, visited a military hospital in Seongnam near Seoul Friday to pay his respects to the two marines killed in the North Korean attack.Lee laid a white chrysanthemum, a traditional symbol of grief, on an altar, burned incense and bowed before framed photos of the two young men. Consoling sobbing family members, he vowed to build a stronger defense.I will make sure that this precious sacrifice will lay the foundation for the strong security of the Republic of Korea,he wrote in a condolence book, according to his office.Foster Klug reported from Seoul. AP photographer David Guttenfelder on Yeonpyeong, and writers Kwang-tae Kim, Kelly Olsen and Jean H. Lee in Seoul and Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this report.

Defiant North Korea fires artillery warning shots By FOSTER KLUG and LEE JIN-MAN, Associated Press - NOV 26,10

YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea – A defiant flash of North Korean artillery within sight of the island that it attacked this week sent a warning signal to Seoul and Washington: The North is not backing down.The apparent military drill Friday came as the top U.S. commander in South Korea toured Yeonpyeong island to survey the wreckage from the rain of artillery three days earlier. As a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier headed toward the Yellow Sea for exercises next week with South Korea, the North warned that the joint maneuvers will push the Korean peninsula to the brink of war.South Korea's government, meanwhile, struggled to recoup from the surprise attacks that killed four people, including two civilians, and forced its beleaguered defense minister to resign Thursday. President Lee Myung-bak on Friday named a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the post.Tensions have soared between the Koreas since the North's strike Tuesday destroyed large parts of Yeonpyeong in a major escalation of their sporadic skirmishes along the disputed sea border.The attack — eight months after a torpedo sank a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors — has laid bare Seoul's weaknesses in defense 60 years after the Korean War. Lee has ordered reinforcements for the 4,000 troops on Yeonpyeong and four other Yellow Sea islands, as well as top-level weaponry and upgraded rules of engagement.The heightened animosity between the Koreas comes as the North undergoes a delicate transition of power from leader Kim Jong Il to his young, inexperienced son Kim Jong Un, who is in his late 20s and is expected to eventually succeed his ailing father.

Washington and Seoul have pressed China to use its influence on Pyongyang to ease tensions amid worries of all-out war. A dispatch Friday from Chinese state media saying Beijing's foreign minister had met the North Korean ambassador appeared to be an effort to trumpet China's role as a responsible actor and placate the U.S. and the South.The North sees the U.S.-South Korean drills scheduled to start Sunday as a major military provocation. Pyongyang unleashed its anger over the planned exercises in a dispatch earlier Friday.The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war, the report in the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.A North Korean official boasted that Pyongyang's military precisely aimed and hit the enemy artillery base as punishment for South Korean military drills — a reference to Tuesday's attack — and warned of another shower of dreadful fire,KCNA reported.China expressed worry over any war games in waters within its exclusive economic zone, though the statement on the Foreign Ministry website didn't mention the drills starting Sunday. That zone extends 230 miles (370 kilometers) from China's coast and includes areas south of Yeonpyeong cited for possible maneuvers, although the exact location of the drills is not known.North Korea does not recognize the maritime border drawn by the U.N. in 1953, and considers the waters around Yeonpyeong Island its territory.Yeonpyeong Island, home to South Korean military bases as well as a civilian population of about 1,300 people, lies only seven miles (11 kilometers) from North Korean shores.The U.S. commander in South Korea, Gen. Walter Sharp, said during a visit to the island that Tuesday's attack was a clear violation of the armistice signed at the end of the three-year Korean War.We at United Nations Command will investigate this completely and call on North Korea to stop any future attacks,he said.Washington keeps more than 28,000 troops in South Korea to protect its ally — a sore point for North Korea, which cites the U.S. presence as the main reason behind its drive to build nuclear weapons.Dressed in a heavy camouflage jacket, army fatigues and a black beret, Sharp carefully stepped down a devastated street strewn with debris and broken glass. Around him were charred bicycles and shattered bottles of soju, Korean rice liquor.

On Friday, Associated Press photographers at an observation point on the northwest side of Yeonpyeong heard explosions and saw at least one flash of light on the North Korean mainland. There were no immediate reports of damage. Only a few dozen residents remain on Yeonpyeong, with most of its population fleeing in the hours and days after the attack as authorities urged them to evacuate.Many houses were burned out, half-collapsed or flattened, and the streets were littered with shattered windows, bent metal and other charred wreckage. Several stray dogs barked as they sat near destroyed houses. South Korean marines carrying M-16 rifles patrolled along a seawall at dawn.About 200 South Koreans held a rally Friday in Seoul to denounce the government's response to the attack as too weak. Similar recriminations have come from opposition lawmakers and even members of Lee's own party, leading to the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Tae-young on Thursday.There also has been intense criticism that Yeonpyeong was unprepared for the attack and that the return fire came too slowly. Lee named former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Kim Kwan-jin to the post, the president's office said Friday.While there is some shock at the extent of the damage the North Koreans were able to inflict, most South Koreans want the threat to be contained, not aggravated, and the government response has been muted and cautious, following an initial angry threat from Lee.The president, dressed in a black suit, visited a military hospital in Seongnam near Seoul on Friday to pay his respects to the two marines killed in the North Korean attack. Lee laid a white chrysanthemum, a traditional symbol of grief, on an altar, burned incense and bowed before framed photos of the two young men. Consoling sobbing family members, he vowed to build a stronger defense.I will make sure that this precious sacrifice will lay the foundation for the strong security of the Republic of Korea,he wrote in a condolence book, according to his office.South Korea assured a meeting of the European Olympic Committees on Friday that it would be able to ensure security at the 2018 Winter Games if it's picked. The Pyeongchang 2018 bid committee presented its case Friday in Belgrade.Foster Klug reported from Seoul. AP writers Christopher Bodeen in Beijing and Kwang-tae Kim, Kelly Olsen and Jean H. Lee in Seoul also contributed to this report.

Financial jihad at Ground Zero By Doug Hagmann
24 November 2010: Prepare to be righteously outraged.

As if it isn’t enough that slumlord and terrorist apologist Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his cadre of associates are rubbing salt in a still-gaping American wound through his plans to erect an iconic symbol of Islamic conquest in the shadows of the former World Trade Center, the Cordoba Initiative (as it was once known) is asking you, the American taxpayer, to subsidize it.An application for a $5 million in federal grant money was reportedly made on or about November 5, 2010 with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) by Sharif El-Gamal, the developer of the Ground Zero mosque and Rauf associate.The LMDC was formed in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks by former Governor Pataki former Mayor Giuliani to help plan the rebuilding and revitalization of Lower Manhattan. It is a joint State-City corporation governed by a 16-member Board of Directors, half appointed by the Governor of New York and half by the Mayor of New York.They have yet to be awarded any funding by the LMDC as the confidential review process is still underway. Nonetheless, the mere fact that El-Gamal and his associates applied for grant money is raising some eyebrows. Congressman Peter King (R-NY), the presumptive new chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee called it absolutely disgraceful, and added that [i]t goes entirely against the spirit of the fund” in an interview with Fox News. It’s an affront to the memory of all those who were murdered on 9-11. There are so many worthwhile projects in lower Manhattan. This shows a gross insensitivity to the most fundamental feelings of New Yorkers and to those murdered on 9-11 it is a slap in the face that is a terrible insult.

The grant application was submitted under the Lower Manhattan Community and Cultural Enhancement Program that is administered by the LMDC. That program was established “to provide up to a total of $17 million in grants through a competitive process to not-for-profit and government organizations engaged in cultural or community programs or projects.The Ground Zero mosque project is asking for nearly a third of the available money. Will they get it? Some of it? All of it? It’s indeed possible, according to research and interviews I’ve conducted this week.A source close to a member of the LMDC General Advisory Council confirmed that an application was submitted and met all of the criteria for consideration. Additionally, the applicants were extremely careful to structure the grant application to include the request for only the portion of the proposed structure that will not be used for religious activities. This source stated that there is serious consideration being given to awarding at least some of the requested funds, although there is some additional financial information needed from the applicants that has yet to be received.In addition to the LMDC grant money, the Cordoba Initiative is actively pursuing additional public funding. As reported by Reuters in an article on August 27, 2010, a spokesman for New York City Comptroller John Liu said that the Islamic Center could qualify for tax-free financing, and that Liu is willing to consider approving the public subsidy.Rauf, El Gamal and the mosque’s backers are attempting to raise at least $70 million in tax-exempt debt to build the center.Regardless of the funding sources, those of us who understand the Islamic playbook must not let the construction of this symbol of conquest happen. Not for our sake or the sake of our families and our future generations.To courteously voice your concerns over the possible grant being awarded to the Cordoba Initiative (now referred to as the park51 Project), you might consider contacting the LMDC directly. Below is their contact information, along with a listing of the present board members.

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation,One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10006,Phone: (212) 962-2300,Fax: (212) 962-2431 / 33

LMDC Board of Directors
Avi Schick, Chairman,John C. Whitehead, Founding Chairman,Lawrence T. Babbio, Jr.
Amanda M. Burden,Robert Douglass,Peter Davidson,Timothy Gilchrist,Robert M. Harding
Caswell Holloway,Thomas S. Johnson,Kate D. Levin,Robert K. Steel,Julie Menin
Kevin M. Rampe,William C. Rudin,Carl Weisbrod,John Zuccotti