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Of course, that would just be the shape of things to come in an Islamic state: Bark at the uppity kuffar to put them back in their place.

"Key Jewish Group Rejects Ground Zero Mosque," from the Associated Press, July 30:

The nation's leading Jewish civil rights group has come out against the planned mosque and Islamic community center near ground zero, saying more information is needed about funding for the project and the location is "counterproductive to the healing process." The Anti-Defamation League said it rejects any opposition to the center based on bigotry and acknowledged that the group behind the plan, the Cordoba Initiative, has the legal right to build at the site. But the ADL said "some legitimate questions have been raised" about funding and possible ties with "groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values." "Ultimately this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right," the ADL said in a statement. "In our judgment, building an Islamic center in the shadow of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain -- unnecessarily -- and that is not right." The Cordoba Initiative did not comment Friday.

Here, the AP stringer uncritically regurgitates the mosque proponents' claims about themselves:

Based in New York, Cordoba aims to improve relations between Islam and the West by hosting leadership conferences for young American Muslims, and organizing programs on Arab-Jewish relations, building civil society in the Muslim world and empowering Muslim women. The mosque and community center would be located two blocks from the lower Manhattan site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Cordoba purchased the property for $4 million and planned to build a 13-story, $100 million Islamic center, of which the mosque would be a part. Cordoba's director, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, has not disclosed the funding sources for the project. But Sharif El-Gamal, the CEO of the company that owns the property, has said the project's backers were committed to transparency and would work with the attorney general's watchdog Charities Bureau.

... and disclose the funding sources? Or just line up some photo ops?

A city community board voted overwhelmingly last spring to back the project even as it drew emotional opposition from some local residents and relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg supports the mosque's construction. Disagreement over the project has become a national issue, drawing opposition from former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin, among others. The ADL, one of the most prominent groups in American Jewish life, is known for its advocacy of religious freedom and interfaith harmony. Its position on the mosque was met with shock and condemnation by several groups.

Time to dust off the "I, for one, welcome our new overlords" meme:

Jeremy Ben-Ami, head of J Street, the dovish, pro-Israel group, said he would hope ADL would be at the forefront in defending the freedom of a religious minority, "rather than casting aspersions on its funders and giving in to the fear-mongerers." The Rev. Welton Gaddy, head of the Interfaith Alliance, a Washington advocacy group, said he read the ADL statement "with a great deal of sorrow." "As an organization that for nearly 100 years has helped set the standard for fighting defamation and securing justice and fair treatment for all, it is disappointing to see the ADL arrived at this conclusion," Gaddy said. The Council on American-Islamic Relations urged ADL to retract its statement. Abraham Foxman, national director of the ADL, defended his position. In a phone interview, he compared the idea of a mosque near ground zero to the Roman Catholic Carmelite nuns who had a convent at the Auschwitz death camp. In 1993, Pope John Paul II responded to Jewish protests by ordering the nuns to move. "We're saying if your purpose is to heal differences, it's the wrong place," Foxman said of the mosque. "Don't do it. The symbolism is wrong."

It sure is wrong. On so many levels. And the symbolism is just the start of what's wrong.

Putting nuclear materials in cigarettes! So thaaaaat's why they're so unhealthy! "Iranian Official: Marlboro Tainted with Pig Blood & Nuclear Matter," from Iran's PressTV, July 30 (thanks to Jeff):

(TEHRAN PRESS TV) - An Iranian official says some of the most popular cigarette brands are contaminated with nuclear substances when smuggled into the country.

The article linked above, via the Salem News, included the bit about pigs' blood in their headline. It's unclear where that came from -- and where it went.

"Some of the most famous cigarette brands worldwide including Marlboro, which accounts for the bulk of smuggled cigarettes [into the Islamic Republic] are tainted with [hazardous] nuclear materials," Mehr News Agency quoted Mohammad-Reza Madani from the Society for Fighting Smoking as saying on Friday.

What happens if you smoke them while consuming Pop Rocks and Coca-Cola? I mean, while we're dealing in urban legends and all...

"The largest tobacco companies in the world use various tricks in order to keep their markets and increase their sales," Madani added. He went on to add that the company responsible for the production of the tainted cigarettes is the "Philip Morris International, which is led by Zionists (Israelis)," and sells Marlboro outside the US. The Iranian official also referred to a confidential report released a few years ago, in which the contamination of the "Philip Morris" cigarettes was confirmed. He called on the Iranian Tobacco Company to adopt better supervisory measures regarding the distribution of cigarettes in the country. "Philip Morris" is an international tobacco company with market demand in over 160 countries. Its main brands include Marlboro, L&M, Longbeach, Philip Morris, Bond Street and Chesterfield.

There is a virtually unlimited need, and an unlimited demand for health care the world over. It is a perpetually scarce and costly resource. So, what better way to spend it than in submission to Islamic mores?

Not that the taxpayer-funded virginity "Mulligan" is new to the U.K. This has been going on for a number of years now.

But along with the matter of resources, this practice enables the non-engagement of the issues of honor killing and penalties enshrined in Islamic law. Indeed, for all parties involved in the transaction, there is much to be swept under the rug.

"NHS pays for Muslim virginity operations," by Tim Stewart and David Pilditch for the Express, July 30 (thanks to Twostellas):

AN INCREASING number of Muslim brides are having controversial pre-marriage "virginity repair" operations. Taxpayers funded 116 hymen replacements on the NHS between 2005 and 2009, official figures revealed. There were 30 operations in 2009 - up 25 per cent from 24 in 2005, it emerged yesterday.

You'll want to read this next part sitting down:

Private clinics report a huge surge in demand for the procedure, costing between £1,800 and £4,000. It means the taxpayer has forked out up to £400,000 over the four years to fund the half-hour operation. Doctors say the trend is driven by young Muslim women under pressure from future husbands or relatives who insist they should be virgins. Gynaecologist Dr Magdy Hend charges £1,850 for hymenoplasty at his Regency Clinic in Harley Street. He said: "In the past, we would do one or two a week. Sometimes now we get two or three a day. Demand has tripled." Imam Dr Taj Hargey, chairman of the Muslim Educational Centre in Oxford, said it was "disappointing" that Muslim women in this country felt the need to resort "to subterfuge surgery". The NHS says it does the operation only for "clinical need".

Dear NHS: I've decided I want my tonsils back. Can you hook that up, too?

Of course, given Pakistan's ongoing double game, there is always the question of whether the groups are banned as in "banned," or banned as in "just lay low for a bit or consider changing your name."

"Suspected Islamists Shoot Five Christians to Death in Pakistan," from Compass Direct News, July 29 (thanks to Twostellas):

SUKKUR, Pakistan, July 29 (CDN) -- A dozen masked men shot five Christians to death as they came out of their church building here on July 15, two months after a banned Islamic extremist group sent church leaders a threatening letter, relatives said. Pastor Aaron John and church members Rohail Bhatti, Salman John, Abid Gill and Shamin Mall of Full Gospel Church were leaving the church building after meeting to discuss security in light of the threats they had received, said the pastor's son, Shahid John. "As we came out of the church, a group of a dozen armed gunmen came and opened fire at us," said Shahid John, who survived a bullet in his arm. "Fear struck the area. The police arrived 45 minutes after the incident, and we waited for over 45 minutes for the ambulance to arrive." Besides Shahid John, five others were wounded in the attack. In May church leaders received a letter from Islamic extremist group Sip-e-Sahaba (formerly Sipah-e-Sahaba until it was banned) warning the Christians to leave the area, said Kiran Rohail, wife of the slain Rohail Bhatti. "It said to vacate the land, Christians are not welcomed here, they are polluting our land," Kiran Rohail said. The Sip-e-Sahaba and Sunni Tehrik extremist groups are both linked with an area madrassa (Islamic school) whose students had been threatening the church since 2008, Christian sources said. "In 2008 a group of Muslim students started making threats for the church to vacate the land, as there are only 55 Christian families living in the area," said the pastor's widow, Naila John, who also lost her son Salman John in the attack. The masked gunmen of July 15 had young physiques like those of students, Christian sources said, and their manner of attack indicated they were trained extremists....

Our latest guest is Ambassador Charles Hill, former advisor to Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Schultz.  Mr. Hill claims that US Presidents over the past two decades have been completely inept in foreign policy.  Bush 41 and Clinton tried to get international issues off their back in order to regain control of the news cycle and stake their claim as domestic policy presidents.  As a result, we lost our focus and understanding of our position in the world, completely missing the rise of Islam and now, failing to strategically face it.

Islamists are just like Communists, Hill argues, hoping to spread their way of thinking to the world, overtake the present world order, and set in place their values and structures.

Many will agree with Hill’s accusation that President Obama has no appreciation for American exceptionalism, meaning Mr. Obama must not actually understand America.  Everything about the history of the United States, its promotion of individual freedoms and democracy, is exceptional.

Hence Hill suggests a reading list for the President.  He insists the President read Virgil’s Aeneid, saying “Obama is like Aeneas – things happen to him, he doesn’t make things happen.”

Watch the full video below.

Follow @UncKnowledge on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

An update on this story. The nature of the interaction with mosque officials is entirely too typical: When approached about specifics, respond with lofty generalities; repeat as necessary, and people who still won't back down are automatically Islamophobes, naturally. "Sheriff's office to probe Islamic burial," by Mark Bell for DNJ.com, July 30 (thanks to Twostellas):

Rutherford County's Sheriff's Office will investigate questions regarding a burial at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro's new site on Veals Road. Maj. Chuck Thomas told The Daily News Journal on Thursday that the office will "look into some concerns that were brought to our attention." A group of about two dozen people requested an investigation in a letter and petition presented to Sheriff Truman Jones earlier this week. "Who is it that's buried here?" group spokesperson Laurie Cardoza-Moore said in a press conference Thursday. "Is it a child? Is it an adult? Is it male or female? There are environmental issues. Was there a casket used?" The group is also concerned about the burial permit that was issued by the Rutherford County Planning Department. Cardoza-Moore said the permit was approved for one person to be buried on the site, notarized and dated May 18. But, the group claims the body was buried before that permit was even approved. "It's our understanding the burial took place on the 17th," said Cardoza-Moore. Murfreesboro Police have said they gave a funeral escort to the site on May 19, the day after the permit was issued. Thomas said the sheriff's office will look into the matter. "We will make sure that the death certificate was obtained and ... that all the laws and rules were followed," Thomas said. The leader of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Imam Ossama Bahloul, didn't talk to a WSMV reporter on camera about the issue, but reacted by saying: "We want to be a good neighbor and want to reside in peace."

Body dumps don't build good neighborly relations.

He went on to say, "We wish everyone in the city the very best."

That's swell, but again, how 'bout that burial issue?

Islamic leaders had applied for a conditional use permit for a full cemetery on site, but later withdrew that request....

So is it just kind of a cemetery? Half a cemetery? A hemi-demi-semi-cemetery?

The DCCC has thrown their support behind state Rep. Cedric Richmond.

Rangel will use the coming weeks to engage in his first aggressive campaigning since 1994.

She has the most unusual résumé of any serious statewide candidate in 2010.

Republican James Lankford has won the endorsement of third place finisher state Rep. Mike Thompson.

In the early stages of the Shirley Sherrod controversy, the media began to craft the narrative Shirley Sherrod was the embodiment of the term “post-racial.” Then on July 22nd on Anderson Cooper 360, this happened:

SHIRLEY SHERROD: I think he [BREITBART] would like to get us stuck back in the times of slavery. That’s where I think he would like to see all black people end up again. And that’s why…

COOPER: You think — you think he’s racist?

SHERROD: … I think he’s so vicious. Yes, I do.

Cooper, dumbfounded by Sherrod’s comments, did not muster any type of a challenge to Sherrod.

Flash forward to yesterday, and AC360 went on record to admit that he had erred by allowing Sherrod to deliver such provocative remarks unchecked, and said that he’d handle the situation differently if he had the opportunity again. Still, a good-faith Nexis search indicates that Cooper has not adequately alerted his viewership that Andrew Breitbart had in fact granted Shirley Sherrod her redemption in both the originally released footage of her speech to the NAACP audience and in his write-up that accompanied the video. We would appreciate it if he would broaden the contextual frame of the story to include that bit of information that has not been adequately conveyed by the media up until this point.

After his mea culpa, Cooper did something completely unexpected. He, along with reporter Joe Johns, aired the viral video clip of Charles Sherrod, Shirley’s Civil Rights legend husband delivering some choice remarks of his own:

CHARLES SHERROD: Finally, we must stop the white man and his Uncle Toms for stealing our elections. We must not be afraid to vote black. We must not be afraid to turn a black out who votes against our interest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So, is this taken out of context the way Shirley Sherrod’s comments were taken out of context?

JOE JOHNS: It doesn’t appear to be. Apparently, he said what he meant, meant what he said.

Anderson Cooper not only owned up to a mistake, but granted this revealing footage (that turned up originally on conservative blogs) of Sherrod’s husband a broader audience. This is solid journalism, and hopefully others will take his lead.

American Thinker offers some interesting background on Shirley Sherrod.

The Thinker quotes from veteran Democrat Pol Willie Brown on her firing by the Obama Administration:

“This past Sunday, in his weekly column for the San Francisco Chronicle, ‘Willie’s World,’ veteran black politico Willie Brown confirmed that ‘there is more to the story than just [Sherrod's] remarks.’ ‘As an old pro,’ Brown acknowledged, “I know that you don’t fire someone without at least hearing their side of the story unless you want them gone in the first place.’ Brown observed that Sherrod had been a thorn in the USDA’s side for years, that many had objected to her hiring, and that she had been ‘operating a community activist organization not unlike ACORN.’ Although Brown does not go into detail, he alludes to a class action lawsuit against the USDA in which she participated some years ago.” The Thinker goes on to describe Sherrod’s involvement in the Pigford case,  in which black farmers charged racism and won a settlement from the Department of Agriculture.  Sherrod and her husband were beneficiaries of the suit. “More to the point, out of about $1 billion paid out so far in settlements, the largest amount has gone to the Sherrods’ New Communities Incorporated, which received some $13 million. As Time Magazine approvingly reported this week, $330,000 was ‘awarded to Shirley and Charles Sherrod for mental suffering alone.’ Unwittingly, Charles Sherrod shed light on the how and why of the settlement in a speech he gave in January 2010. As he explained, New Communities farmed its 6,000 acres successfully for seventeen years before running into five straight years of drought. Then, according to Sherrod, New Communities engaged in a three-year fight with the USDA to get the appropriate loans to deal with drought. Said Sherrod, ‘They were saying that since we’re a corporation, we’re not an individual, we’re not a farmer.’ Nevertheless, the Sherrods prevailed, but the late payments ’caused us to lose this land.’ In other words, the bureaucratic delay over taxpayer-funded corporate welfare payments cost them their business.
Then, thanks to their ‘good lawyers,’ said a gleeful Sherrod, who seems to have fully recovered from his mental suffering, the Sherrods successfully sued the government for ‘a large sum of money — a large sum of money.’ While saying this, he made hand gestures suggesting $15 million. The land itself was admittedly worth no more than $9 million.”
The Thinker goes on to note that Sherrod and her husband have apparently been awarded an FCC license for a radio station.  Their message? “Sherrod gave this talk to announce that the FCC had awarded New Communities a radio station in Albany, Georgia, still another race-based corporate welfare boondoggle. Before the award of this station, he added, the Sherrods ‘had no means of communicating with our people.’ The ‘our people’ in question, of course, are black people. With this new voice, the Sherrods will help ‘stop the white man and his Uncle Toms from stealing our elections. We must not be afraid to vote black.’”

Thirty years ago, a group of mothers who had lost children to drunk drivers organized a group called MADD. They had a legitimate beef. There were too many drunks on the road.

To Americans at the time, drinking and driving was a national pastime. We would routinely take risks that are unheard of today. More than one state would actually allow you to have an alcoholic drink in your hand while  you were behind the wheel. (The joke was that in Texas, it was mandatory.)

The MADD lobbying and national awareness effort was quite successful, and within a few years, drunk-driving accidents had been reduced. Terms like “designated driver” started to sweep the national zeitgeist. The comedy boom of the eighties (where I cut my chops) was fueled in part by the crackdown, since comedy made it possible to be entertained in a bar, without becoming profusely incoherent.

But then something strange happened. The Mothers didn’t stop being mad. Rather than celebrate their happy victory, they cracked down even harder. They promoted seat belt laws and roadblocks. In 2000 they lobbied to get the legal blood alcohol down to 0.08% ; a level that most competent drinkers could handle safely. Comedian Doug Stanhope once joked that he was a better driver at 0.08% than his grandmother was completely sober.

Meanwhile the percentage of drivers getting arrested kept increasing, to the point where the stigma of a DUI conviction was no longer negative. At cocktail parties, people will sometimes play a strange version of Liars Poker, where they compare each other’s court recorded BAC, to see who has the highest.

The negative side of the tighter enforcement has been met with contempt for the law. Since 2000, studies indicate that alcohol related traffic incidents have actually been increasing, after decreasing for two decades. In a truly Kafkaesque twist, MADD leaders started getting arrested for DUIs.

And still the Mothers rage on. (In fact they’re not even really mothers anymore, the CEO of MADD is a man.) In a recent article, the future of MADD is laid out, a zero tolerance for alcohol, (which could lead to the arrest of people using mouthwash, cough syrup, or cookie dough ice cream with a little too much vanilla extract). A big clue to their continued existence is also suggested: the 30 million dollars that is paid out in salaries. Once you start raking in some serious cash, it’s hard to close up shop.

The same thing happened with the NAACP. Once a necessary organization, the National Association for Advancement of Colored People advanced colored people so far, that we can’t even call them colored people. They advanced through Jim Crow, through desegregation and eventually into the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and now the highest office in the land. They have also advanced in sports and the arts, and right now Oprah Winfrey is the richest self-made woman in the world.

How much further can you advance? It seems to me, that when three out of five letters in your acronym no longer apply, you should probably disband. Because all that is left for you to do now, is embarrass yourself. The Tea Party / Shirley Sherrod debacle is a great example of what happens when a group has grown far past it’s successful mission.

The NAACP is today as pathetic today as Hugh Hefner– patriarch of a revolution that ended forty years ago; looking as natural in pajamas as any other man of his age and health; although his claim of virility seems forced and almost laughable.

He sends fundraising appeals on behalf of several area Dems, including Melancon and Meek.

In this week’s edition of Coffee and Markets, featuring The New Ledger’s Francis Cianfrocca, we’re talking about the latest GDP numbers, Fannie and Freddie, and the challenges facing small businesses with Congressman Kenny Marchant of Texas. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment.com and Stephen Clouse and Associates.

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You can subscribe to the podcast by following the links above, and if you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

TNL: The New New Economics
BusinessWeek: The Schizophrenic Economy
TNL: CBO’s New Report on Deficits
WSJ: The Democratic Fisc
Bloomberg: Few Solutions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
TNL: Risk and Regulation

For Washington Senate candidates Paul Akers and Clint Didier, it’s been a struggle to convince national Republicans that GOP frontrunner Dino Rossi isn’t twice the candidate that each of them is.

She will stump for Karen Handel's campaign for governor on the eve of her runoff against Nathan Deal.

Progressive Democracy for America activists selected Beth Krom as their favorite candidate in her bid to oust GOP Rep. John Campbell from his seat in the historically Republican 48th District.

Angle remains closely competitive with Reid despite weeks of attacks from the Democrat.