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Averting WWIII - momentarily

From the Associated PressObama seeking lawmakers’ approval for Syria strike

President Barack Obama says he has decided that the United States should take military action against Syria in response to a deadly chemical weapons attack.

But he says he will seek congressional authorization for the use of force.

He says congressional leadership plans to hold a debate and a vote as soon as Congress comes back in September.

Obama says he has the authority to act on his own, but believes it is important for the country to have a debate.

Our newest neo-con cowboy (read clown) knows damn good and well the polls are showing America does NOT want us going into Syria. 

And how about that line – “Obama says he has the authority to act on his own.” Those are becoming eleven of the most frightening words you will find and way over used!

The last time America was “allowed” to have a debate was on Obamacare and we all know how that turned out despite America categorically rejecting it. Perhaps “part” of the truth is a little thing called money?

Pentagon Can’t Afford Syria Operation; Must Seek Additional Funds
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Tags: War For America; Syria To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the Patriot's Corner. Thanks!

Made You Laugh — The Sequel

Enjoy!


For those who just can't get enough:




Tags: Pets, Anthropomorphism, Cats vs Dogs, Animal Behavior, General Lunacy To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the Patriot's Corner. Thanks!

Meeting at UC Irvine to Have a Bust of Raoul Wallenberg Placed on Campus





Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


A Useful Life Lesson - In the Time it Takes to Cook an Egg

Oscar Wilde once said that:

"Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."

In large part this axiom is correct. However, it should not discourage anyone from attempting to impart some small bit of tried-and-true wisdom that each of us usually has to share. The following video is one of the few exceptions to Wilde's maxim that I have ever encountered online.


None of the usual half-empty, half-full horse hockey. Just a chunk of solid advice on how to sort out what often can be some seriously confusing goals in life. I'm happy to note that most people here will anticipate the secondary stages of what happens to the jar. How the professor assigns importance to those stages is another matter entirely and few will guess it correctly.

If you found this video useful, please consider sharing it with others that you love and care about; above all, children and teenagers. In this modern world—where style is continually allowed to triumph over substance—there are few better lessons to teach youth. Especially one that we can share with such ease.



Tags: Life Lessons, Wisdom, Priorities, Viral Video, Work Smarter Not Harder To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the Patriot's Corner. Thanks!

Snowden - Russian Spy

There are a whole lot of crickets living at the White House. This one's nameplate reads - Snowden. Presumably some ambitious reporter asked someone at the White House for comment and I just missed it.

08/02/2013 Edward Snowden asylum means he was likely a Russian spy all along
The Edward Snowden ruling by the Russian immigration authorities is just a little too clever by half.

It smacks of a long term deal based on the fact that Snowden was quite likely spying for Moscow from day one while he was at the NSA.

Now he will be living in Russia and, no doubt, will be heavily debriefed by his masters as to the working of American intelligence. The Russians can hardly believe their luck.

They had fallen far behind the Chinese in infiltrating American spy networks and technology innovations. Now they have knowledge of every available method that America was using against them. More HERE.

Now this. And crickets from the White House - 

From Accuracy In Media - NSA Leaker "Outed" as Russian Agent 

The media have been given important new information in the case of NSA leaker Edward Snowden and don't seem to know what to do with it. Snowden has been "outed" by the Russians as their agent.

The Washington Post reports that "Before American fugitive Edward Snowden arrived in Moscow in June--an arrival that Russian officials have said caught them by surprise--he spent several days living at the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong, a Moscow newspaper reported Monday."

In other words, the Russians were in on the deception all along. It was an example of what the old Soviet KGB called "disinformation." The Russians wanted people to believe that Snowden was a whistleblower desperately searching for a place to go. Continue HERE.



Tags: Snowden To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the Patriot's Corner. Thanks!

University of California Whitewash




Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Over the years, I have often reported on the on-going investigations by the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights as to complaints of anti-Semitism on the University of California campuses. Principal among these was the complaint lodged against UC Irvine in 2007. It may be summed up by stating that the source of the complaints are incidents and speech that have arisen during the periodic anti-Israel events staged by the various chapters of the Muslim Student association and the Students for Justice in Palestine.

Now to the relief of the various campus administrations and Palestinian activists, the DOE has concluded that the complaints are baseless-or to be more exact- are covered under First Amendment protections. Previous findings held that complaints were not filed in a timely manner, or that Jews were not protected as a religion under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, or that there was no finding of discrimination as to nationality-specifically, no Israelis had been victimized. And on it went.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-uc-jewish-20130828,0,6127004.story

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/28/5687439/feds-reject-uc-berkeley-anti-semitism.html

Up until a few years ago, when Ken Marcus was the head of OCR, there was hope that the complaints would bear fruit. Alas, Marcus has long since been replaced by people with a different mindset, so this finding is hardly surprising.

"However, UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal, in a statement, said: “This campus values the free and open expression of ideas, and we diligently safeguard our students' civil rights. We are, therefore, pleased that these allegations have been thoroughly investigated and dismissed.”

"UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake said in a statement that “UC Irvine’s Jewish student community is vibrant, growing, and actively engaged in a wide variety of activities on our diverse campus. We are pleased that these allegations have been dismissed and believe very strongly in our carefully and actively nurtured culture of inclusion.”


I find the above comments highly offensive. Here is why:

"You can take the Jew out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the Jew."
-Washington DC-based Mohammed al Asi at UC Irvine in 2001

"You Jews, you'all the new Nazis!"
-Amir Abdel Malik Ali
At UC Irvine 2010

"Rupert Murdoch-straight up Zionist Jew!"
-Amir Abdel Malik Ali
at UC Irvine 2006

This picture appeared on the MSU Apartheid Wall in 2008. I witnessed it and photographed it myself.

All of the above occurred during the Muslim Student Union Union-sponsored week of events at UC Irvine in May of the above years. There are many more which have been documented on this site.

Of course, it is not surprising that the LA Times would give the last word to the crowing of two pro-Palestinian supporters.

"Rebecca Pierce, a recent graduate of UC Santa Cruz and member of the Committee for Justice in Palestine, said in a statement that she and others felt “vindicated that the DOE has rejected this attack on our freedom of expression, and we will continue to advocate in accordance with our values regarding human rights and social justice.”
But activists involved in pro-Palestinian causes on campus also questioned why the probes took so long, with the one at Irvine started in April 2008, the Santa Cruz one in March 2011 and Berkeley, September 2012. Berkeley-based attorney Liz Jackson, who works with the Center for Constitutional Rights, said the delays have created a chilling effect, making some students afraid to participate in political actions. She said she deplored any anti-Semitic remarks made on campuses but that it is wrong to depict UC as having an anti-Jewish climate."
I wouldn't really call this a disappointment because our side gave up the ghost a few years ago that these complaints were ever going to amount to anything given the current climate. The out-going UC president, Mark Yudof, himself Jewish, never supported the idea that anti-Semitism was a problem on his campuses and showed a cavalier disinterest in the problem passing it off as free speech. His successor, the politically-correct Janet Napolitano will be no improvement. In a nutshell, the administration of the University of California and the various chancellors have been intimidated and cowed into submission by the various MSA chapters. Nobody wants to appear to be Islamophobic. As for anti-Semitism, nobody cares.

DHS Weapons Procurement Manager, Ayo Kamathi, Advocates Mass Murder of Whites and Jews

Hat tip: 1389 Blog


Kamathi's website, War on the Horizon, includes footage where Ayo "the Irritated Genie" Kamathi states, "in order for Black people to survive the 21st century, we are going to have to kill a lot of whites – more than our Christian hearts can possibly count". [emphasis added]

In a remarkable turn of events, it required protests by the "extreme left wing", über Liberal, pro-minority SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center) Hatewatch website before action finally was taken against this genocidal, racist, mass murder-advocating rectal cavity. This, despite how fellow employees at DHS (Department of Homeland Security) stated, "Everybody is the office is afraid of him,” and “afraid he will come in with a gun and someday go postal."

The Hatewatch article notes:

Kimathi works for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division of Homeland Security. Because it is a law enforcement agency, the supervisor said, employees are required to obtain official permission in writing for any outside activities, such as working a second job at McDonalds, running the bingo game at church, or volunteering at the Red Cross.

Kimathi obtained official permission but only by misrepresenting the true nature of his endeavor. He told management that it was an entertainment website selling videos of concerts and lectures. He called it simply WOH, never saying that WOH stood for War on the Horizon.

“If he had adequately and truthfully described his group,” the supervisor said, “I can’t imagine for a minute he would have been granted permission.”

Kimathi also spreads his message of pending race war and genocide and his disgust with “the smallhates (white so-called ‘jews’) and the white homos like Gay Edgar Hoover” in a series of videos and speeches he gives around the country.

The enemies’ list on WOH rivals that of President Richard Nixon’s in terms of length. It includes, among others, Rev. Al Sharpton, Lil Wayne, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, who he calls “Colon,” and even President Obama, “a treasonous mulatto scum dweller … who will fight against reparations for Black people in amerikkka, but in favor of fag rights for freaks in amerikkka and Afrika.”

Kimathi’s former supervisor said among his duties at DHS and ICE is speaking at various vendor events. He’s one of the agency’s public faces. It is his job to advocate for small business owners “white, black, historically disadvantaged, disabled veteran-owned, everybody,” the supervisor said.

“He fights for the little guy,” the supervisor said. “And he’s very good at it. He has a commanding presence. He’s very suave. It’s almost as if he has a split personality.”
[emphasis added]

In reality, Kimathi isn't the one with a "split personality". When it comes to Blacks, his behavior is boringly predictable and entirely unsurprising to anyone who pays attention to the BGI (Black Grievance Industry) and Race Realism discussions in general. It is the usual MSM (Main Stream Media) suspects like ABC, NPR, USA Today, Newsweek, the New York Times and NBC that exhibit the true "split personality" when it comes to reporting on overt racism in America. As usual, all of them were deafeningly silent over the presence of this outrageously bigoted Black supremacist within their beloved Obama's administration.

Eric "My People" Holder, Van Jones and a host of other Obama appointees all demonstrate a knee jerk hatred of White culture and it would likely require torture in extremis before they or any major media outlet admitted it, if even then.



Tags: Genocide, Black Supremacy, Anti-White Hate Groups, Anti-Semitism, Obama Administration Sheltering Black Racists, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the Patriot's Corner. Thanks!

What is the Proper Sentence for Nidal Hasan?




Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


We will shortly know what the military jury decides should be the fate for Nidal Hasan, death or life imprisonment. Surprisingly, many are guessing that the jury will decide that life imprisonment with no possibility of parole is a harsher sentence than the death that Hasan apparently craves. After all, in his paralyzed condition, life in a cell trapped in a wheelchair and having to wear diapers for another 40 or so years is nothing to look forward to. Hasan thinks that with a death sentence, he will achieve martyrdom and go to Paradise, where he will be entertained by 72 virgins.

There are 13 jurors. If only one of them decides that Hasan would suffer more with a life sentence, that's what it will be. It must be unanimous for death.

Personally, I support the death penalty for premeditated murder and if this case doesn't merit the death penalty, few do. There is no worry that just maybe an innocent man has been convicted. He proudly admits it and was captured in the act anyway.

Were I to believe that Hasan's vision of martyrdom and paradise was true, I would say give him life imprisonment and let him rot to death in ignominy. However, I don't believe that for one moment. On the other hand, we have seen too many cases where life imprisonment turns into eventual freedom. In the case of the Blind Sheikh, we had been worrying about Egyptian president Mohammad Morsi pressuring President Obama to release this evil man who is sentenced to life in a US prison for plotting terror acts against us. (Fortunately, that worry has been removed courtesy of the Egyptian military.) Who is to say that some future president may find it expedient to placate some Middle East dictator-or hostage-taking terrorists- and turn Hasan loose?

In addition, even with a death sentence, appeals will take several years. Since it is only military and federal courts involved here, the process probably won't take as long as state-originated appeals do. Timothy McVeigh may be a closer template. Hasan will still have to spend some years sitting in his wheelchair and soiling his diaper before justice is administered.

Assuming most of his victims and their survivors want to to see the death penalty applied here, I think that is the fitting punishment. He has gotten his trial and the world has seen that we have a justice system that works better than any other-imperfect as it is.  Hasan will eventually learn that his soul is not going where he thinks it is.

Made You Laugh!

Enjoy.




Tags: Talking Animals, Hungry Dog, Funny To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the Patriot's Corner. Thanks!

Muslim Brotherhood Supporters Using 4-Finger Salute





Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Hat tip Vlad Tepes



                              The new international sign of support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt


A  protest was held in yesterday Ottawa, Canada by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Note the use of the 4-finger salute that was used. The same salute was used the day before by Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Gaza. The Gaza group was parading through town with weapons as well. Vlad Tepes has video of both events.

http://vladtepesblog.com/2013/08/24/muslim-brotherhood-stage-protest-in-ottawa-canada-pretend-to-demand-democracy-and-sharpen-their-taqyyia/

In addition, last night in Santa Monica, California a group of counter-jihad activists had a table (lawfully) set up on the Third Street Promenade during the evening hours. For some strange reason, the Promenade was flooded with Muslims last night, several of whom engaged our friends. Four older men who came up to the table made it a point to show their yellow caps with the 4-finger hand sewn on as a sign of support for the Muslim Brotherhood.








Here is a website that is promoting the symbol (Pakistaniyan)

http://www.pakistaniyan.com/2013/08/what-is-happening-in-egypt-and-why.html

Here is an explanation which one of my sources obtained from Facebook:

Copied from a Facebook Page:
"Rabaa” meaning four or the fourth in Arabic has become the sign of anti-coup protests in #‎Egypt worldwide. It is the symbol of war against military regime & support for those who were martyred while protesting against military coup. The massacre on August 14 near Masjid #‎Rabia of anti-coup protesters in Egypt tried to voice their demands to the world by raising their four fingers. Rabaa al-Adawiya Square is around 180 feet wide road and almost 6 miles long & it was fully decorated by the gathering of anti-coup protesters, it is as famous as #‎Tahrir Square in Cairo due to resistance of hundreds of thousands of anti-coup protesters going on for more than two months. It has witnessed one of the gravest massacres of recent years. Let’s all change our DP to #‎R4BIA to show solidarity with our #‎Egyptian brethren."


The same Muslim Brotherhood that is burning Christian churches in Egypt and attacking Coptic Christians.

Don't let anyone tell you the Muslim Brotherhood isn't spreading its agenda to North America. It most definitely is and has been for a long time. Here's hoping the current military government crushes them.

Persecution Update 25 August 2013




IRAN: Christian Female Incarceration Rate Increases CHINA: Churches Raided as Shouwang Pastors Remain under House Arrest PHILIPPINES (Mindanao): Christian Villages Attacked

Persecution Update keeps you informed of what is going on in our world concerning persecuted Christians. (Info from Voice of the Martyrs Canada.) Download entire Quicktime movies for showing to your group or church from swordandspirit.com, the Human Rights page.


Tags: Iran, China, Philippines, Persecution of Christians To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the Patriot's Corner. Thanks!

Fort Hood Terrorist, Nidal Hasan, Found Guilty on all 45 Counts!


Rest in Peace Good Americans and Know that Justice will be Done

FORT HOOD, Texas — Guilty, on all 45 counts.

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was found guilty by unanimous vote Friday of opening fire in a crowded clinic here on Nov. 5, 2009, killing 13 people and injuring 31 others, as well as shooting at the police officer who took him down.

The verdict was unanimous on all charges; Hasan could be sentenced to death for the crimes.


I sincerely hope that the death penalty will be imposed by way of firing squad. A date with Mr. Needle is far too good for this oxygen thieving waste of skin. Thank goodness that the military has its own, far more appropriate, code of justice.

Even more dead-jihadi-licious is how the verdict for this misogynistic, Islamo-fascist slime bag was handed down by a woman!

The judge, Col. Tara Osborn, again reminded those in the courtroom that no outbursts of any kind are allowed, and those inside heeded the warning. Still, many had tears in their eyes or relieved smiles on their faces as they left quietly after the verdict.

Hasan did look up at the president as she read the verdict, then looked back down, glancing up again briefly as Osborn said the sentencing phase will begin Monday at 9 a.m.


Lest we forget, it is vital to remember the craven, cowardly words of the Army's top officer, General George Casey:

“Our diversity, not only in our Army, but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse,”

As blogger par excellence, Takuan Seiyo, is fond of noting:

“Diversity” is like Tabasco – add a ¼ spoonful to your grits, and you have a more lively and interesting dish. Add half a cup of the hot sauce, and you need an ambulance.

It is equally important to recall how the entire 86 page Pentagon report on the Fort Hood massacre never once contains the word "Islam".


Clearly, this traitorous rat bastard has no shame or sense of disloyalty to the troops he ostensibly leads.


Tags: Nidal Hasan, jihad, terrorism, Muslims, Islam, Sharia Law, Koran, Anwar al-Awlaki, Fort Hood, domestic terrorism, General George Casey, Diversity, Takuan Seiyo, Multiculturalism, Political Correctness, Muslims in the Military To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the Patriot's Corner. Thanks!

Two white punk cowards beat Black Veteran to death.......no, other way around so bury the story.

As these black on white crimes go under reported or just plain ignored, it is up to us, those of us who are true conservatives or anyone is is interested in the TRUTH, to see these crimes for what they through the prisms of truth, to report these crimes to you, the readers of sites like the 'Corner. It is very obvious that the Obamanazi regime has the Goebbels like MSM shut down when it comes to reporting crimes that are race based, fueled by revenge against whites for the Zimmerman verdict or where the perpetrators are black and the victims are white. From the Mona Wilson trial(she murdered a young white boy by beating him, smothering him and burning his body with a blow torch) to the latest one out of Spokane, Washington where two black cowards beat to death an 89 year old white man, Delbert Belton who just happened to be a VETERAN. Had this been two white punk cowards beating a black man to death, it would be all over the MSM and Brian Williams would be pissing on himself with joy at reporting the death of another poor black person.

As it is, black on white crime does not suit the race baiting, want to fuel a race war agenda of Obama and his fascist regime. The comments from the masters of the BGI about black on white crime is as disgusting as Obama's "If I had a son" comment. These are all Obama and Moochelle's sons and daughters. Every last one of them. There will be a flash point and a massive race war WILL BE ignited. This regime is just doing all it can to have an excuse, any excuse to declare martial law and invade our homes, businesses and pack as many of us off to 'camps' as possible. I cannot help but think LBJ and his 'Great Society' of entitlements helped sow the seeds of what we are living through now. The parallels to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zuma and Mugabe are there for any of us to see and know this, why would anyone NOT be a legal concealed carry person these days?

From Sundance and The Last Refuge or The Conservative Treehouse.


*******************


ENOUGH ! – Yet Another SICK “Thrill Kill” – This Time An 89-year-old Veteran In Spokane Washington – Delbert “Shorty” Belton

An 89-year-old World War II Veteran, Delbert “Shorty” Belton, was walking into his Eagles Lodge to play pool with his friends.    In a random unprovoked attack two 16 to 19-year-old black males jump him last night and beat him unconscious.   He died this morning from his injuries. 

Delbert-Belton
SPOKANE, Wash. -  WWII veteran Delbert Belton survived being wounded in action during the Battle of Okinawa only to be beaten and left for dead by two teens at the Eagles Lodge in Spokane on Wednesday evening.

Witnesses say the Belton was in the parking lot of the Eagles Lodge at 6410 N. Lidgerwood, adjacent to the Eagles Ice-A-Rena, around 8 p.m. Wednesday when the two male suspects attacked him as he was about to head inside to play pool.

Police responded with K-9s to track the suspects’ scent but were not able to locate them.
It does appear random. He was in the parking lot, it appears he was assaulted in the parking lot and there was no indication that he would have known these people prior to the assault,” Spokane Police Major Crimes Detective Lieutenant Mark Griffiths said.
Belton died from his injuries Thursday morning at Sacred Heart Medical Center.
“Shorty,” as he was known by his friends at the Eagles Lodge, served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific during WWII and was shot in the leg during the Battle of Okinawa. He went on to work at Kaiser Aluminum at the company’s Trentwood plant for more than 30 years. Belton’s wife passed away several years ago.

He loved playing pool, even though he claimed he was no good at it and had been a member of the Eagles Lodge for the last four months. In addition to playing pool he loved working on cars.

Shorty was Ted Denison’s best friend of 23 years; the two played pool occasionally and worked on cars daily.

“He was always there for me when I needed him,” Denison said. “We’d joke back and forth. We were always having fun, some sort of fun.”

He was the kind of nice old man who’d become your friend in minutes.
[...]   “I don’t understand how somebody could do this. I really don’t,” Denison said.

Homicide-Suspect-1
Homicide Suspect #1

Homicide-Suspect-2
Homicide Suspect #2

DIRECT Link to pictures of the suspects CLICK HERE

Spokane police are looking for two male suspects in the attack. They said the suspects are African Americans between 16 and 19 years old. One suspect was described as heavy set and wearing all black clothing. The other was described as being about 6 feet tall and 150 pounds. There was no description of what clothing the second suspect was wearing other than a silk do-rag.  (read more)

Source is here.


Tags: BGI - Black Grievance Industry, CRS, Cultural Marxism, Day By Day Trayvon Lies - The Story, Death Threats, Dept Of Justice, media bias, Polar Bear Hunting, Police action, Political correctness/cultural marxism, Racism, Thrill Kill, Trayvon Martin To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the Patriot's Corner. Thanks!

Why is the Media Burying the Coptic Christian Story?




Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com

I invite the reader to go to the web pages of all the national news networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox. I have just done so, and it is clear that only Fox News is paying any attention to the attacks against Coptic Christians in Egypt.

This is our news media. If they don't like a story, or it doesn't fit into their world view, they bury it or ignore it altogether. As of today, we have over 60 Christian churches attacked and burned in Egypt, and only Fox news finds that newsworthy? Why is it that even educated readers have to go to Fox or the blogosphere to be kept up-to-date on what is happening to the Copts in Egypt? Ever since the Copts became a minority in Egypt, they have been subject to discrimination and abuse in varying degrees. Under the rule of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, it became open season. Since the military coup, they are being blamed and the attacks have increased by Brotherhood supporters. The Brotherhood is denying responsibility just as they deny responsibility for all the violence, but the Investigative Project on Terrorism has come up with an internal document in which the MB gives its blessing to the attacks.

In Egypt and across the Middle East, a new holocaust is developing, and the world remains silent. Our own administration has nothing to say as they incredibly side with the Brotherhood. The UN is silent. The EU is silent.

And our news media, with the notable exception of the much-maligned Fox News, is silent. This is beyond shameful.





"Five Things I Learned About Mohammad"





Gary Fouse
fousesquawk
http://garyfouse.blogspot.com


Cross-posted from the Orange County Register

Tonight, PBS is broadcasting a 3-hour program entitled, The Life of Mohammad, hosted by Rageh Omar,
a Somali-born British journalist. Yesterday, Cathleen Falsani wrote the below article advertising the program. The article is entitled, "Five Things I learned About Mohammad". It appears in the paper's Faith and Values section. The text is below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Falsani: 5 things I learned about Muhammad 
 
On Tuesday evening, PBS will air “The Life of Muhammad,” an 
exceptionally fine documentary series about the life and legacy of the 
founder of Islam. 
 
Hosted by Rageh Omaar, a veteran Somali-born British journalist and 
war correspondent who is Muslim, the three-hour documentary paints a 
vivid picture not only of the Prophet Muhammad — who, according to 
prevailing Islamic custom, cannot be depicted in any fashion — but of 
the varied understandings of his life, teaching, and legacy. 
 
Journalist and author Rageh Omaar, host and narrator of the three-part 
PBS series, "The Life of Muhammad," which airs Aug. 20 nation-wide. 
 
Filmed on location in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, and elsewhere, 
the documentary, which was made for the BBC where it aired in 2011, 
succeeds where predecessors have failed by incorporating sweeping 
landscapes — physical and spiritual — with a breadth of knowledge from 
Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars (more than a dozen by my count, 
including some of the preeminent names in their fields, including 
Karen Armstrong and Tariq Ramadan) whose own perspectives run the 
gamut from orthodox and mystic, to skeptic and even detractor. 
 
Divided into three parts — “The Seeker,” “Holy War,” and “Holy Peace” 
— the film opens inside Omaar’s hotel room where he is preparing for 
the haj — the pilgrimage to Mecca that is one of the Five Pillars of 
Islam. Omaar tells us he made his first haj as a boy with his family 
30 years earlier. 
 
It is this human, personal touch from the host that helps make the 
documentary all the more compelling. 
 
“Like most Muslims, the first human name I heard was not that of my 
mother or father,” Omaar says, “but of Muhammad.” 
 
As is the Islamic custom, shortly after he was born in Somalia in 
1967, someone whispered the words of the Shahada — the Muslim 
statement of faith that says, “There is no God but Allah. Muhammad is 
his messenger” — into Omaar’s ear. 
 
“Fourteen-hundred years ago a man born here, in Mecca, in Saudi 
Arabia, changed the course of world history,” Omaar says, adding that 
he wants to explore the “many complexities” of Muhammad’s life and 
times and how they “still affect today’s world. I want to uncover the 
real Muhammad.” 
 
Robustly researched and beautifully filmed, combined with Omaar’s 
inviting demeanor and assuring gravitas, “The Life of Muhammad” is 
well worth watching. It is a vivid corrective to the fear and 
misinformation that surrounds Islam and its 1.3 billion adherents 
worldwide. 
 
Muslims are no more a monolith than Christians and Jews, and their 
understanding of their own doctrines and theology are as dynamic as 
any held by their Christian and Jewish cousins — all monotheistic 
“People of the Book,” whose stories overlap throughout history and 
continue to do so today. 
 
Most viewers will learn a lot about the Prophet and Islam. And even 
those of us who have studied Islam likely will walk away with at least 
a few new gems of information and perspective. 
 
Here are a few of mine: 
 
1. Muhammad was an orphan. 
 
His father died before he was born, and his mother (who had placed him 
with a Bedouin wet nurse as an infant and reunited with him several 
years later) died when he was about 6. He then went to live with a 
grandfather, who also died, before he finally came under the 
protection of his uncle, Abu Talib, who would be among Muhammad’s 
closest companions until his death. 
 
Interestingly, while he was an ardent supporter of his nephew, 
according to the film, and despite Muhammad’s best efforts to persuade 
him, Abu Talib never converted to Islam. “The most direct, the most 
unequivocal statement in the Qur’an, is that there is no compulsion in 
religion — no ifs, ands or buts,” scholar Merryl Wyn Davies, director 
of London’s Muslim Institute, says in the film. “Unless you make a 
free, willing choice for faith, you cannot be held accountable for 
your actions thereafter. That is the essence of what Islam is about.” 
 
2. Muhammad’s first wife, Khadijah, asked him to marry her. 
 
When Muhammad was about 25, he agreed to work for Khadijah, a widow 
who was a successful merchant, accompanying some of her wares on a 
trade caravan. When he returned, she asked him to marry her. Even 
today it’s unusual for a woman to ask a man to marry her, but in 
7th-century Arabia it would have been absolutely unheard of, according 
to the film. 
 
Muhammad and Khadijah were married for nearly 25 years and together 
had four daughters. Although polygamy was the custom at the time, 
Muhammad didn’t take another wife until after Khadijah died. She was 
the love of his life, according to the film, his first convert and is 
considered the “mother of Islam.” 
 
3. There are no memorials, statues or even plaques marking Muhammad’s 
birthplace. 
 
Although historians and scholars believe they know precisely where 
Muhammad was born, in Mecca on June 6, 632 A.D., there are no markers 
celebrating the site as a sacred or even special place. According to 
the film, any signs or markers with Muhammad’s name have been removed 
over the years in an effort to ensure that Muhammad is not worshipped 
or venerated in any way. Muhammad was not the son of God or divine — 
he was just a man, a fact that he insisted be made clear in his 
lifetime and after. 
 
Worshipping Muhammad or anyone other than Allah — the one true God — 
is considered the very worst kind of sin. 
 
In accordance with the prevailing tradition in Islam against depicting 
Muhammad or any of the prophets before him (including Abraham, Moses, 
and Jesus), the film does not include any dramatic reenactments of 
Muhammad’s life or any historical artwork that shows the prophet 
without his face covered by a veil. 
 
4. Muslims haven’t always prayed toward Mecca. 
 
Among the many mosques and houses of worship Omaar visits in the film 
is the Masjid al-Qiblatain (or “Mosque of Two Qiblas”) in Medina, 
Saudi Arabia. Qibla is the Arabic term for the direction Muslims face 
when they pray five times daily (another of the Five Pillars of 
Islam.) The Mosque of Two Qiblas is so named because it has two arched 
alcoves indicating the direction of prayer — a large one facing in the 
direction of Mecca and a second, smaller one facing toward Jerusalem. 
 
It was in this mosque that, while leading prayer, Muhammad is said to 
have received a revelation from God telling him to change the 
direction Muslims faced during prayer. According to the film, in the 
revelation, God told Muhammad to pray toward Mecca and the Kaaba — the 
large black cube that the Qur’an (the Muslim holy book) says was built 
as the first building for humans to worship Allah — rather than 
Jerusalem, as was the custom among Muhammad’s followers, as well as 
among Jews and Christians. From that day forward, no matter where they 
are in the world, Muslims face toward Mecca when they pray. 
 
5. An “Islamic state” probably doesn’t mean what you think it means. 
 
One of the most fascinating chapters in the film deals with the 
so-called “Constitution of Medina,” which is said to have been written 
by the Prophet Muhammad himself as the basis for the very first 
Islamic state in Medina. While there are varying historical and 
religious opinions about who wrote it, when and why — the film does an 
excellent job presenting various sides of the debate — the document 
was an agreement between the Muslims in Medina and the pagans, Jews, 
Christians and others who lived there at the time and made up what 
Muhammad described as the “ummah” or “community. 
 
While “ummah” is often used today to describe an exclusively Muslim 
community, the film says that’s not what Muhammad intended. In fact, 
the constitution of the first “Islamic state” defined the rights given 
to non-Muslims as explicit members of the community, including a 
statement that said the “security of God” is equal for all groups, and 
that non-Muslims were not obligated to take part in “religious wars.” 
 
One of the scholar-commentators in the film, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, 
the Pakistani-born Anglican bishop of Rochester, England and author of 
“Islam: A Christian Perspective,” has one of the best lines in the 
film. Commenting on the Medina constitution, he says, “When people 
today say to me, ‘We would like to create an Islamic state here or 
there,‘ I say to them, ‘Will it be like the first one? And if not, why 
not?” 
 
Contact the writer: cfalsani@ocregister.com 
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Comment: With all the superlative adjectives, looks like this will be one of the greatest 
cinematographic ventures since Technocolor was invented. 


I would not expect the Orange County Register to run an article criticizing Islam or 
the prophet-even in the editorial section. Yet, at the same time, this article is so 
hagiographic in nature as to be historically misleading if not downright false. The timing 
could not have been more ironic with over 60 churches in Egypt having been attacked and 
burned to the ground-to say nothing of all the other attacks against Christians and 
non-Muslim minorities across the Islamic world.






"It is a vivid corrective to the fear and misinformation that surrounds Islam and its 1.3 
billion adherents worldwide." 
Really? Tell that to the Coptic Christians in Egypt who are huddled in fear as we speak. Are they so 
misinformed?
“The most direct, the most unequivocal statement in the Qur’an, is that there is no 
compulsion in religion — no ifs, ands or buts,” scholar Merryl Wyn Davies, director
of London’s Muslim Institute, says in the film."
True, that statement does appear in the Koran, but so do others written later that call it into 
question. In many parts of the Islamic world, forced conversions are going on even today. 
"Muhammad and Khadijah were married for nearly 25 years and together
had four daughters. Although polygamy was the custom at the time, 
Muhammad didn’t take another wife until after Khadijah died. She was 
the love of his life, according to the film, his first convert and is 
considered the “mother of Islam.” 
Misleading?
"While “ummah” is often used today to describe an exclusively Muslim 
community, the film says that’s not what Muhammad intended. In fact, 
the constitution of the first “Islamic state” defined the rights given 
to non-Muslims as explicit members of the community, including a 
statement that said the “security of God” is equal for all groups, and
that non-Muslims were not obligated to take part in “religious wars.”
Too bad the writer did not go into detail about what the conditions of dhimmitude were, which 
includes the part that they must feel subjugated to Islam.
This is quite similar to the current textbook controversy in our schools as to how Islam is 
presented to our children. Again, in the interests of harmony and the sensitivities of Muslim 
schoolchildren, I wouldn't expect schools to attack Islam or any other religion.Yet, if it is
necessary to present such a misleading narrative in this area, perhaps, it would be better to
leave the subject alone. If we want to be well-informed on this subject, it is certainly possible
to read the Islamic texts, study the complete life of Mohammad, and follow world events.

Jihadists Target Egypt's Christians

by AF Branco, Editorial Cartoon
by Gary Bauer: The chaos that has gripped Cairo since the removal of Muslim Brother President Mohamed Morsi spread throughout Egypt this weekend. The death toll from the violence surged past 800. This morning Islamist militants executed more than two dozen police recruits in the Sinai Peninsula.

The headlines have focused on the fighting between the Egyptian military and the Muslim Brotherhood. Virtually ignored is the increasing ferocity of the jihad against Egypt's Christian population. Dozens of churches, Christian businesses, schools and homes have been ransacked and burned.

The Christian Science Monitor reports that a mosque in Al Nazla incited violence during morning prayers, telling Muslims, "Your brothers … are being killed by Jews and Christians." Surely the mosque's leaders knew the charge was false. But the mob was whipped into a frenzy and churches and Christian families were under siege all day long.

According to a British media report a Catholic school in the Cairo suburbs was attacked. The cross was ripped from the gate. The classrooms were burned and the nuns were "paraded" through the streets "like prisoners of war." The black flag of Al Qaeda has been raised over numerous churches.

Sadly, the western media and Washington's political elites have expressed more concern about the treatment of the Muslim Brotherhood. Members of Congress are demanding that the U.S. suspend aid to the Egyptian government battling the radicals. The Obama Administration is urging the interim government to negotiate with the Muslim Brotherhood, but he has made no demands that the Muslim Brotherhood stop attacking Christians.

Meanwhile the king of Saudi Arabia is standing with the Egyptian military against the Muslim Brotherhood. Something is terribly wrong when the president of the United States appears more sympathetic to Muslim extremists than the king of Saudi Arabia. The BBC reported over the weekend that the U.S. foreign policy, reputation and credibility are "in tatters."

It's not surprising that media and political elites are silent about the plight of Christians in Egypt. But it is mystifying and heartbreaking that so few pastors find this a worthy topic to discuss from the pulpit.

Christianity in Egypt predates Islam by centuries. Egypt's Coptic Church traces its founding to Saint Mark who was martyred in Alexandria. Over the years, I've heard Christian leaders and believers say, "Well, Gary, this is what the Lord promised us would happen." And they stop there.

Yes, Jesus tells us that those who follow him will be persecuted by the world. But it is a theological fallacy to conclude that believers are to be silent in the face of such persecution. The Christian faith also teaches that evil will quicken as we approach the end of history. That fact does not pardon us from our obligation to fight that evil.

If your pastor did not mention the persecution of our Christian brothers and sisters in Egypt this Sunday, I would ask you to respectfully request that he speak up soon. The plight of Christians in Egypt is a reminder that as Islam advances, so too does the threat to religious liberty. Wherever Islam obtains majority status, religious minorities are not only in legal danger, but also in physical danger.
-------------
Gary Bauer is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of theCampaign for Working Families

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