This one is open for debate. You decide. What caused this mysterious contrail off the coast of California?
Foreign Policy
Court order blocks Okla. amendment on Islamic law
reported by AssociatedPress
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Monday to block a new amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution that would prohibit state courts from considering international or Islamic law when deciding cases.
U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange handed down the order after an Oklahoma man filed a lawsuit claiming the amendment stigmatized his religion and would invalidate his will, which he said is partially based on Islamic Law, also known as Sharia Law.
“My constitutional rights are being violated through the condemnation of my faith,” said Muneer Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Oklahoma. “Islam was the target of this amendment. This amendment does not have a secular purpose.”
The measure, State Question 755, was approved with 70 percent of the vote in the Nov. 2 general election. The judge’s order prevents the state Election Board from certifying the results of that vote, which it had planned to do Tuesday afternoon.
The order will remain in effect until a Nov. 22 hearing on a preliminary injunction.
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Oklahoma Bans Sharia Law
by Connie Hair
Voters have passed an amendment to the Oklahoma state constitution to ban the use of Islamic Sharia law in the state courts by an overwhelming 70% of the vote. The amendment also bars judges from using foreign law in rendering decisions.
Seen as a pre-emptive strike, Oklahoma now joins Louisiana in blocking Sharia law, a draconian legal doctrine that does not recognize the most basic human rights as measured by any Western standard.
As previously reported on HUMAN EVENTS, free speech rights are under assault worldwide through violence, threats of violence, and Sharia-compliant “incitement” laws.
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Broder’s Brainstorm
By Patrick J. Buchanan
Though Obama “may lose control of Congress,” says columnist David Broder, he “can still storm back to win a second term in 2012.”
How does Broder suggest Obama go about it?
“Look back at FDR and the Great Depression. What finally resolved that economic crisis? World War II.”
Conceding the prospect of a new war is “frightening,” Broder goes on to list the rich rewards of Obama’s emulating FDR.
“With strong Republican support in Congress for challenging Iran’s ambition to become a nuclear power, (Obama) can spend much of 2011 and 2012 orchestrating a showdown with the mullahs. This will help him politically because the opposition party will be urging him on. And as tensions rise and we accelerate preparations for war, the economy will improve…
“(T)he nation will rally around Obama because Iran is the greatest threat to the world in the young century. If he can confront this threat and contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions, he will have made the world safer and may be regarded as one of the most successful presidents in history.”
Cynicism aside, what is wrong with Broder’s analysis?
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Multiculturalism: Political Correctness Run Amok
by Ken Connor
“We … take our form-freedom balance in government for granted as though it were natural. There is form in acknowledging the obligations in society, and there is freedom in acknowledging the rights of the individual…. There is a balance here which we have come to take as natural in the world. It is not natural in the world. We are utterly foolish if we look at the long span of history and read the daily newspapers giving today’s history and do not understand that the form-freedom balance in government which we have had in Northern Europe since the Reformation and in the countries extended from it is unique in the world, past and present.”
Francis Schaeffer, “The Abolition of Truth and Morality”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel set the tongues of pundits wagging this week when she declared that multiculturalism has “utterly failed” in Germany. Multiculturalism is, of course, one of the sacraments Secularism. It is the idea that people from dramatically different cultures can peacefully coexist as a unified society within a state or nation notwithstanding that they order themselves very differently within society and cling to radically different–and often conflicting–world views. Multiculturalism is the fruit of “cultural relativism” which maintains that all cultures are equally valid, no one being better than another. Cultural relativism, in turn, is the outgrowth of “relativism,” which asserts that there is no such thing as universal truth and that all ideas are equally valid and depend on the circumstances in which they are applied.
Not surprisingy, the political correctness police went into high dudgeon in the aftermath of Ms. Merkel’s speech, suggesting that her comments represented some kind of ominous foreshadowing of a German nationalist resurgence (allusions to Hitler’s Third Reich are perfectly permissible rhetorical tools for liberals, though off limits to conservatives). Their goal was to squelch any thoughtful debate of the premise advanced by the Chancellor. If they could demonize her position, that would have a chilling effect on the willingness of anyone else to embrace it or, perhaps, even to discuss it. In the western world of the 21st century it is no longer fashionable to take pride in one’s national heritage, and patriotism is equated with parochialism.
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Chilean Miners Rescued *BREAKING*
After 69 days trapped nearly half a mile below ground, all 33 miners were safely brought back to the surface. At the pace of nearly 45 minutes per man, hope continued from start to finish.
Earlier this year, August 5 the men became trapped when the mine they were working in collapsed. Fearing the worst, and taking around 13 or so days to drill a hole to their location, hope became a frantic all hands on deck fight to reach the men when the recieved a note from the bottom stating all 33 were healthy and doing okay.
Before being reached, they were rationing themselves to two spoons of tuna, half a biscuit and half a glass of milk every 48 hours. Also, they limited their battery use for lights and only used machinery to help dig into the collapsed area into a spring of water.
Congratulations are in store for all the men and women that helped with the rescue efforts, the families of those who were trapped, and the President of Chile for every effort he did to honor the respect of life.
Why is America Exceptional?
by Matthew Spalding
In 1776, when America announced its independence as a nation, it was composed of thirteen colonies surrounded by hostile powers.
Today, the United States is a country of fifty states covering a vast continent. Its military forces are the most powerful in the world. Its economy produces almost a quarter of the world’s wealth. The American people are among the most hard-working, church-going, affluent, and generous in the world.
Is America exceptional?
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The ‘Islamophobia’ Weapon
by Robert Spencer
“The Muslim world is going through an unprecedented difficult and trying time,” said the Secretary General of the 56-state Organization of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, on Friday.
One might reasonably have thought that he was referring to the recent increase in violent jihad incidents in the West, perpetrated by Muslims who explained and justified their actions by reference to Islamic texts and teachings. But no, Ihsanoglu was exercised about “Islamophobia,” the invented term Islamic supremacists use to try to stifle realistic analysis of the global jihad in all its manifestations.
“We are facing daunting challenges and severe hardships,” Ihsanoglu complained. “Islam and Muslims are under serious attack, and Islamophobia is growing and becoming more rampant and dangerous by the day.”
It is not at all established that “Islamophobia” really is growing. In fact, the FBI has recently released data establishing that hate crimes against Muslims are comparatively rare. But if there is any actual suspicion of or negative feelings toward Muslims in the United States, it is solely and wholly the responsibility of Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood jihadist; Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Christmas underwear jihadist; Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, who killed one soldier and murdered another in a jihad shooting outside a military recruiting station in Little Rock, Ark.; Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square jihadist; Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and Osama bin Laden on 9/11; the London jihad bombers of July 7, 2005; and so many others.
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Obama’s Disconnect
A big defining moment for any president and their administration is foreign policy. It can either make or break them. It’s impact is greater than many people give credit to. And, for the Obama administration it is proving to be a very difficult task to manage.
With the yet to be released book by Bob Woodward, Obama’s Wars, it is a telling picture as to the lack of direction, understanding and experience. Namely the quarrelling back and forth between members and even Obama, also show a lack of leadership within the administration.
The direction Obama displays for his foreign policy is shady to say least. It appears that every decision is made to foster his image. Many comments and statements point only to a ME mentality. Even when he has said that he would rather be a great one term president, saying that he wants to get out of Afghanistan quickly to so not to loose all the Democrats support say another thing.
If Obama was to really campaign his first term through, he would really focus on his foreign policy. Foreign policy impacts everything from the economy to national security. Our national security is impacted when we are deploying troops in excess of 100 other countries. It also impacts it in a way that opens the nation to other terrorist threats. Something that Obama has said we could absorb like we did with 9-11.
The arrogance in making a statement like that shows a total disconnect from reality. It is that very attack that has pushed us to the edge. The occupying of the Middle East region, in some opinions, is the very reason we were attacked. An attack that has put a heavy strain on the economy by trying to fund the war efforts. That isn’t to focus all of America’s economic woes on war funded efforts, but it certainly hasn’t helped.
Muslim Hate Crimes
by Ted Nugent
I don’t support burning the Koran anymore than I support someone holding a blow torch to a Michael Moore fraudumentary film. If you don’t want to read the Koran or watch Moore’s fraudumentaries, then don’t.
This beautiful thing we call the First Amendment is the essence of life. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion is something much of the Muslim world knows little about or respects, which is similar to their abject lack of basic understanding of tolerance, love and peace.
Facts are facts. Muslims in the Middle East have zero respect for other religions. In the Saudi Arabia city of Mecca, all other religions beside Islam are banned. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion are squelched and outlawed in the name of Islam. It appears many in the Muslim world are stuck in year 4.
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