He sent an intimidating letter to the Islamic Peace Academy, a charge states.

A Tulsa man is charged with a hate crime for allegedly sending an intimidating letter to the Islamic Peace Academy and posting a video online showing him desecrating a Quran, court records show.


Jesse Quinn Harrison, 33, was charged Tuesday with one count each of transmitting a threatening letter and malicious intimidation or harassment - what Oklahoma statutes call a hate crime.

According to the charges, Harrison is accused of sending a nine-page letter to the Islamic Peace Academy in Tulsa "with the intent to intimidate."

He also made a video that shows him "smearing pork on the Quran and an Islamic religious figure and grilling those items," according to the charge.

The charge states that the video was made to "produce violence directed to others because of their religious beliefs."

A man with the same name and Tulsa address as those listed on the charges posted on Facebook a YouTube video that matches the one described in the charges.

The 5 1/2-minute video, posted to YouTube on Oct. 1, is attributed there to a "Rockwell Porter" - a name the charges list as an alias for Harrison.

The video, which doesn't show its creator's face, intersperses images of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States with the grilling of a Quran, a picture of an Islamic figure and two pork chops. Once the items are grilled, they are stacked on a bun and given to a dog.

The Merle Haggard songs "The Fightin' Side of Me" and "Okie from Muskogee"
play in the background.

At the end of the video, a memorial to Michele Heidenberger, a flight attendant who died when terrorists crashed her plane into the Pentagon, is shown on the screen.

According to the charges, Harrison also uses Heidenberger's name as an alias.

The video and a brief anti-Islamic message were posted by Harrison's account on several additional Facebook pages, including those of the White House and the FBI.

On a Dec. 15 Facebook entry, Harrison threatens to "march on the Tulsa Islamic Mosque" on New Year's Eve.

The charges allege that the crimes occurred between Sept. 17 and Dec. 20.

A warrant for Harrison's arrest also was issued Tuesday.

No one was home Thursday evening at the address listed for Harrison on the charges and on Facebook.

A neighbor said Harrison has not been at the residence since last week.

A spokeswoman for the Islamic Society of Tulsa would not comment Thursday.

Muneer Awad, executive director of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he didn't know any details of the case, but he said more hostile rhetoric toward Islam has recently worked its way into the mainstream.

"The rhetoric has not helped," Awad said. "It has forced people to take an extreme stance."

However, he said that although any threat should be taken seriously, cases such as Harrison's are on the fringe.

Many non-Muslims in Oklahoma have good relationships with the Muslim community, he said.

"Whenever instances like this come up, we always have friends from the non-Muslim community to help," Awad said.

tulsaworld.com/articleid=20101231_11_A15_ATulsa470729

As sheriff’s investigators probe the blast set off Saturday by a distributor of legal explosive targets, nearby residents have expressed concern, while the man responsible is apologetic and said there was no malicious intent.
More than 100 calls reporting an explosion were made to 911 about 9:05 p.m. Saturday. A search and investigation were launched, revealing the cause to be a larger mix of a legal exploding target detonated at the distributor’s home near Wolverine and Bryan roads.
The cause of the commotion was a 40-pound explosive target, said Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Capt. Travis Palmer.
Jeremy Kinnamon, who is a distributor, said this is also his hobby. The 40-pound batch had been pre-mixed for a fun day of shooting, but the group didn’t show up, he said, and darkness came fast. The batch had to be detonated for him to remain legal, he said.
“I am apologetic to people...It was never intended to be a prank or malicious, or to cause such a disturbance,” he said. “In order for it to be legal, it has to be mixed and set off on site.”
Kinnamon, who typically uses 5- or 10-pound targets per shot, said this was the most he’s ever used at the property; he said he couldn’t have let the mixture sit overnight.
While he could have made two 20-pound targets or four 10-pounders, he said several blasts might have caused more problems; he said the time of day seemed to be more of a factor.
The target is a two-part binary explosive, he said, consisting of ammonium nitrate and aluminium oxide. Once combined, it has to be detonated.
“There’s a lot of laws and rules,” he said. “It wasn’t ‘Let’s shake the world.’”
Kinnamon said exploding targets are used as part of marksmanship improvement and a small amount — similar to a can of snuff — is placed behind the bulls eye of a long-range target.
The targets can only be detonated with a rifle that shoots at least 2,400 feet per second, he said. There’s no fire at detonation, but there is a boom and smoke letting the shooter know he’s hit the bull’s eye, he said. Kinnamon said some also use the product to blow up beaver dams.
As part of this investigation, the sheriff’s office contacted federal authorities with the ATF — the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — and the state fire marshal’s office for any possible violations of the law, but there appeared to be none, Palmer said.
But many residents have expressed concern about the startling blast.
Robin Mikles, who lives within a one-mile radius of the area, said, “It literally shook our house — the noise was huge. It really scared us.”
They also went outside and noticed “black smoke rising in the air.”
Mikles said she wishes she would have had more of an idea what was going on, but her home didn’t have any damage.
“I hope they don’t do that large of an amount...It’s unnerving,” she said.
Fred Gouker, who resides about one-fourth of a mile from the site, had no damage at his home.
“It did rattle the house very good — the windows rattled,” he said. “It definitely got our attention.”
While he was unaware of Kinnamon’s business in these targets, Gouker said if it’s legal to do, then he’s not really worried. Gouker said he had heard two smaller explosions in the day.
As part of the probe, Palmer said a few residents have reported cracked windows and walls, and even a few pictures being knocked off walls because of the incident.
One resident said she heard a “horrendous boom,” and it caused a piece of siding under a porch to become unattached, resulting in some insulation falling from the attic.
The woman said they normally hear gunshots because they live outside the city limits, but she was surprised by this incident. She said the neighbor shoots often, “but never to this extreme.”
Kinnamon said he was 150 feet away when he shot the suspended target in the middle of his 250-acre property. He said his home’s six-foot windows were unaffected and pictures hanging on his walls didn’t fall. Other homes are at least 400 to 800 yards away, he said, so he doesn’t know what to say to those who have said they have damage.
“My intention was not to scare or upset anyone,” he said.
But in the future, he said, “I’d be happy to tone it down.”
Kinnamon told The News-Star he plans to make a public apology, and said for future events, he will let law enforcement and the public know there may be noise in that area.
He said he keeps in regular contact with the ATF and other agencies on a regular basis; he said the products for these types of targets are sold at gun shows.
While Palmer said the ATF found nothing illegal about the incident because of Kinnamon’s business, deputies were still investigating this matter Wednesday and awaiting word from the FBI.
Once the investigation report is complete, it also will be turned over to the local District Attorney’s office for review concerning state laws, Palmer said.
“We will turn it over to the DA and let them decide,” Palmer said.
Watch for updates.

Copyright 2010 The Shawnee News-Star

A rite of passage in Israel, when one turns 18, is being drafted into the military. Men serve three years and women normally serve half that long. Officers (men or women) are signed for an additional year, for the privilege of attending the Officers' Training School. Some (men and women) then remain in service as a vocation and are entitled to early retirement at the age of 40, at which time they typically embark on a second career.

This was the way the system used to work. After completing the matriculation exams, a young person, fresh out of high school, would undergo exams and screening, go through boot camp, and start the most influential period of one's life. These soldiers and their commanders are entrusted with the safety and security of the Jewish Homeland. They carry out the policies of the Israeli government. Whatever the composition of the ruling coalition, the military is there to execute its decisions, with the goal of defending the Jewish State.

Once, if a person did not serve as everyone else, he would be ostracized from society. The chances of getting a job dissipated, life was unbearable. The exceptions were the ultra-orthodox Haredi Jews who do not serve men study at Yeshivot (religious seminaries) and women are to be married at a very early age and raise children. In the Jewish state, this exemption became an entitlement, causing a rift between the secular and religious sectors, the former enraged by the lack of equal burden under the law.

Over the past 20 years, things have changed. First, there was a massive immigration from the former Soviet Union, followed by immigration from Ethiopia. With an ever-increasing number of enlistees among the new immigrants, the military could afford to become more "selective." That proved to be a mistake. It happened at the same time that another worrying trend emerged: a new fashion not to serve. Various teen idols avoided service; a phenomenon that gained more and more acceptance, until matters reached a critical level that could no longer be ignored. Last year, the military began fighting this phenomenon and named it a top priority.

Second, a segment of the religious sector had the courage to stand against the tide and declare that serving in the Jewish army of the Jewish state is a privilege and a duty. First God, then Country: not mutually exclusive rather both a reflection of the same belief in the God of the Hebrews and His promise to His people. In the military, all meals are kosher, time is given for the daily prayers, the Sabbath and the Jewish holidays are all strictly observed and most importantly if not I for myself (and my countrymen), who is?

This segment of modern orthodoxy, usually described by the type of yarmulkas worn by the men ("Knitted Yarmulka"), has become dominant. A very high percentage (some say a majority) of all elite units comes from this segment of society. The "Knitted Yarmulkas" replaced the members of the Kibbutzim of yesteryears, becoming what Israelis call "the salt of the land," its essence, prime and best examples.

With the new generation of draftees this week, motivation to serve in the most elite combat units is at an all-time high. Many compete for every available spot. Morale is high. Just three years ago, the military failed in the Second War in Lebanon. The blow was so rough that to this very day, comparisons are being made to that bitter failure, to the mistakes and faults that led to Israel's loss of deterrence.

One of the lessons learned was soldiers should not be carrying cell phones. The cost in human life was grave and soldiers can, actually, be on the front line without reporting home every few minutes. Another lesson was officers at all levels should not be interviewing on local and international media silence is immensely important. The Israel Defense Forces ("IDF") follow a clear hierarchy. There is one face and voice, although multiple languages may be used. Another "discovery" was that there must be a censor whose guidance and supervision lead to saving lives instead of disseminating classified information. Seemingly, "Military 101" had to be re-learned.

There were other problems: Logistics fell behind those forces at the very front, causing shortages previously unforeseen. Equipment taken out from warehouses was either not functioning properly or in less than desirable condition. Many reserve units did not train or were trained to fight a different scenario (urban vs. open warfare, for instance). Complaining aside, these were short-term obstacles that could be overcome. Israel is very good at improvising, and she learns and improves especially when the toll is heavily felt.

Since the issues that surfaced three years ago were symptomatic of an inner, much deeper problem, we must tie them into the rampant avoidance of service and ask if the IDF has lost its lure? The answer, one finds, is that the IDF continues to offer the following unique propositions:

a) The IDF is a melting pot it is an army of all the people, those from rich and poor homes, religious and secular backgrounds, different shades of skin color, smart and slow, disabled and healthy, courageous and hesitant. Service pushes all through a mixer, treating them equally, placing the same demands and entrusting the same great responsibilities regardless of creed, ethnicity, or other labels or affiliations;

b) The IDF is a singular pivotal point in a young person's life. Mandatory military service in the IDF creates a thinking, responsible citizen who has paid dues to society and is ready to assume a different role as an adult. In the United States, a youngster attends four years of college following high school graduation. Compare the person with a Bachelor's degree with the person who finished military service, and you will find the latter more reliable, more responsible, with more practical abilities to face life;

c) The IDF is an army of all of Israel. By necessity and design, it is ISRAEL. Each family of this tiny country surrounded by enemies has a son, a daughter, a father or grandfather, a brother or uncle, a niece or a granddaughter who serves, thus creating an extended network;

d) The IDF is an army that is responsible for every one of his members. People often wonder why did Israel release hundreds of terrorists to get back body parts of two soldiers (for which she went to the Second War in Lebanon), or why is she discussing the possible release of a thousand more terrorists for one twenty some year old Gilad Shalit held in captivity in Gaza. Shalit's captors have not allowed access to the International Red Cross even once for close to four years.

For Jewish people, saving the life of one amounts to saving the whole world. For an Israeli, there is an unspoken promise that every parent can sleep quietly knowing the son or daughter will always come back from the front, that Israel will ensure this happens. Indeed, every child in Israel knows the name of Gilad Shalit, the symbol of all that is wrong with Israel's enemies and the aspiration of Israel for peace, normalcy and sanity;

e) The IDF is the embodiment of Jewish thought and wisdom, of honor and sense of humanity. The cleanliness of virtue, the pristine innocence of deeds, the ability to tell your soldiers "follow me" and lead, the knowledge that no soldier is left behind at the battlefield and the code of honor which is part of the IDF's DNA are the founding blocks of the Israeli military.

The strength of these pillars is evident in the respect the IDF enjoys both by fellow professionals from around the world and from those who are at its mercy. They, more than anyone else, know that if the roles were reversed, murder for the pure enjoyment and exemplary effects (causing sheer fear and subjugation), killings without even a thought for human life, raping and maiming for the utter satisfaction and complete disrespect to other human beings would be rampant;

f) The IDF is Israel's future, for it enables Israel to focus on innovation and creativity, to flourish and thrive, to grow and succeed in the harshest of environments (climate, lack of resources, human enemies, etc.). By providing the deterrence and safety net, the IDF allows citizens not in active service to live their daily lives in the most unlikely and currently unfriendly of places their eternal homeland. The IDF is the cement, the building blocks, the embodiment of past, present and future of Israel.

As President Obama continues his deliberations about the future of our young men and women in Afghanistan, I am reminded of the following observation: As long as the burden is not felt and shared by all Americans, as long as we neither understand nor appreciate the sacrifices of our young men and women, they should not be in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Every fallen soldier, a precious life extinguished, is wasted if most Americans assign little if any price for the sacrifice made. Americans on the front lines overseas are willing to give their lives to uphold all that we take for granted so that others, their fellow Americans, can continue their daily lives. A day will come and by necessity we will return to these hostile faraway lands, but then the burden will be shared more equally by all, not only by some.

Israeli society provides an inspiring example how to turn a terrible necessity one of having to protect oneself for one's continued existence into a benefit to the society at large, educating, preparing the individual for a meaningful life and letting one know that with rights come obligations.

May our young men and women come back home soon, may Israel continue to be strong, as it is the last fort standing and protecting the West. May there come a day that Micah's prophecy becomes reality: "and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." (4:3)

In the series "Postcards from Israel," Ari Bussel and Norma Zager invite readers throughout the world to join them as they present reports from Israel as seen by two sets of eyes: Bussel's on the ground, Zager's counter-point from home. Israel and the United States are inter-related - the two countries we hold dearest to our hearts - and so is this "point - counter-point" presentation that has, since 2008, become part of our lives.

Islamic Tactics of Taqqiya teaches Muslims to practise Deception , Fraud & Double Standards to spread Islam :-

Whatever US may do to help Muslims and Arabs , they will always blame America for their problems.

Muslims always use double standards to cheat Non Muslims.

Even Koran Teaches the Islamic Tactics of Taqqiya which allows muslims to use deception to spread Islam.

Oil Rich Gulf Muslim countries are spreading their money on buying latest Military hardware , F-16 , Machine guns , War ships and offcourse secret program to build nuclear weapons.

This enormous amount of money and resources could be used to resettle " so called Palestinian Muslim Brethren " in the empty lands of Sinai desert ( Egypt) or in Rub al Khali area of Saudi Arabia .

Arabs will pay and reward to families of suicide bombers but they are not willing to invest in modern & carrer oriented education in middle east. and the education which is provided by Saudi Funded Wahabi Schools and seminraies will only help muslim children to become Suicide Bombers , Terrorists , Murderers or Clerics.

Wahabi Islam / Militant Islam / Jihadist Islam / Radical Islam is infact mainstream Islam which is practised or atleast supported by 99 % of Muslims in the world. so Islam is Islam and its dangerous , there is no sense in fooling ourselves by classifying Islam into categories.

A Time will come when West ( or infact rest of the world ) will have to collide with Islam head on.

There will be no more options left .

Remember the fact that Islam and Freedom cannot coexist peacefully.

Islam is biggest threat to humanity and its more dangerous than Hitler led Nazi Germany or Stalin led Soviet Union.

We have to realise and prepare to fight and win the long war against Islam.

The Middle East war is not now and never was a conflict between Israelis/Jews on the one hand and Palestinians on the other. In fact, the Arab-"Palestinians", while currently the perpetrators of most of the anti-Jewish atrocities, were never a very important part of the conflict. In fact, before about 1970, virtually no one in the world considered the Middle East conflict to be one between Israelis and Palestinians.

The term "Palestinian" itself had referred to Israeli Jews back in the 1940s, and had been slowly deconstructed and redefined to refer to the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza. The Middle East Conflict was always a war by Arabs against Jews, not a conflict between Israelis and "Palestinians." The war was repackaged as a conflict between Jews and Palestinians as a public relations gimmick by the Arab fascist regimes. These regimes had never had any interest in "Palestinians," in creating a "Palestinian" state, or in "Palestinian nationalism" before 1967. That is because Palestinian nationalism did not and DOES NOT exist. The Palestinians were a regional group of Arabs having virtually no cultural nor national distinctive traits separating them from Syrians, Lebanese, and Jordanians. They are all basically Arabs!.

The bulk of what are called "Palestinian Arabs" are members of families who migrated into the Land of Israel beginning in the late 19th century. Palestinian nationalism is a mislabeling of Arab nationalism. Arab nationalism exists, although it is closely bound up with Islamic nationalism and even Islamism. Palestinian nationalism, however, is a phantom. It is nothing more than genocidal hatred of Jews!

The Arab assaults and aggressions against Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1968, and 1973 had nothing to do with Palestinians. The Palestinian terror campaign would itself be easy to suppress today and eradicate if the Middle East conflict were really a Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israel would simply obliterate the terrorists and expel their supporters to Syria and Lebanon. The Middle East war continues because it is really an Arab-Israeli war, not an Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is also in large part a war between barbarism and civilization. In many ways an Islamic religious jihad against the Jews.

HISTORY of Israel & "Palestine"

Matt Stone and Trey Parker have received death threats for exposing Mohammed in the 200th episode of Southpark

The above clip is from South Park’s 200th episode, which has reprised the role of the Prophet Muhammad, in a political parody of the fact that every religion can be made fun of without riots breaking out except for Islam.

In the episode, the children meet Tom Cruise at a chocolate factory where he is packing bundles of fudge into boxes. They ask him why he’s “packing fudge”, which angers Cruise and leads him to bring a lawsuit against South Park. The only way that Cruise will drop the suit is if the town brings the Prophet Muhammad to South Park.

The whole point of the show is to lampoon the double standards applied to Islam and other religions in the media. There is a scene involving the “Super Best Friends”, that features every religious figure acting as super heroes, including Buddha, who does lines of cocaine on a table as Jesus is speaking. For the scenes of Muhammad, the image is blacked out by a large “censored” graphic.

Eventually, Muhammad agrees to appear in South Park in a bear mascot costume so as not to offend Muslims. But this, apparently, still managed to upset Muslims. Despite the point of the cartoon being a farcical exaggeration of Islamic intolerance, reality managed to disprove that it was an exaggeration at all.

An Islamic group posted a video on YouTube today condemning the South Park episode, and calling for attacks on the creators. They posted images of Matt Stone and Trey Parker, followed with images of others who have dared to insult Islam, including a picture of the murdered Theo Van Gogh with a knife sticking out of his chest. In the video the speaker said that whosoever insults Islam shall be met with the sword, and that once the followers of Islam have taken up the sword against someone, there shall be no negotiation that causes them to change their mind.

This could properly be termed an official “fatwa” against the creators of South Park.

“We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show,” the group said on its website. “This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality that will likely happen to them.”

South Park has managed to illustrate that not only does Islam not have a funny bone, but that it is a dangerously violent and extremist faith that is so intolerant that it actually manages to chill something as unserious as a cartoon notorious for portraying Satan as being in a homosexual relationship with Saddam Hussein.

CNN asks rhetorically whether South Park has gone “too far” this time. But, of course, it hasn’t gone far enough. The fact remains that we allow our fear of radical Islam to keep us from publishing portrayals of the prophet in the media, lest we inflame the delicate sensibilities of people for whom the concept of humour seems to have been surgically removed at birth.

No one has questioned the freedom of Muslims to believe that the Prophet Muhammad cannot be depicted, but to impose that view on the rest of the world isn’t an opinion any longer. It’s tyranny. South Park cleverly illustrates just how far that tyranny has spread, when a cartoon about a bear representing the prophet can compel Muslims to threaten murder.

Very Nice Gem To My Blogger Collection =)

By popular demand, a comprehensive list of expired Obama statements...

HEALTH CARE MANDATES

STATEMENT: “We've got a philosophical difference, which we've debated repeatedly, and that is that Senator Clinton believes the only way to achieve universal health care is to force everybody to purchase it. And my belief is, the reason that people don't have it is not because they don't want it but because they can't afford it.” Barack Obama, speaking at a Democratic presidential debate, February 21, 2008.

EXPIRATION DATE: On March 23, 2010, Obama signed the individual mandate into law.

HEALTH CARE NEGOTIATIONS ON C-SPAN

STATEMENT: “These negotiations will be on C-SPAN, and so the public will be part of the conversation and will see the decisions that are being made.” January 20, 2008, and seven other times.

EXPIRATION DATE: Throughout the summer, fall, and winter of 2009 and 2010; when John McCain asked about it during the health care summit February 26, Obama dismissed the issue by declaring, “the campaign is over, John.”

RAISING TAXES

STATEMENT: “No family making less than $250,000 will see any form of tax increase.” (multiple times on the campaign trail)

EXPIRATION DATE: Broken multiple times, including the raised taxes on tobacco, a new tax on indoor tanning salons, but most prominently on February 11, 2010: “President Barack Obama said he is “agnostic” about raising taxes on households making less than $250,000 as part of a broad effort to rein in the budget deficit.”

RECESS APPOINTMENTS

STATEMENT: Then-Senator Obama declared that a recess appointment is “damaged goods” and has “less credibility” than a normal appointment. August 25, 2005.

EXPIRATION DATE: March 27, 2010: “If, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis.”

BORDER SECURITY

STATEMENT: “We need tougher border security, and a renewed focus on busting up gangs and traffickers crossing our border. . . . That begins at home, with comprehensive immigration reform. That means securing our border and passing tough employer enforcement laws.” then-candidate Obama, discussing the need for border security, speaking in Miami on May 23, 2008:

EXPIRATION DATE: March 17, 2010: The Obama administration halted new work on a "virtual fence" on the U.S.-Mexican border, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Tuesday, diverting $50 million in planned economic stimulus funds for the project to other purposes.

GUANTANAMO BAY

STATEMENT: Executive Order stating, "The detention facilities at Guantánamo for individuals covered by this order shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order." January 22, 2009.

EXPIRATION DATE: November 19, 2009: "Guantánamo, we had a specific deadline that was missed."

MILITARY TRIBUNALS

STATEMENT: “Somebody like Khalid Sheik Mohammad is gonna get basically, a full military trial with all the bells and whistles.” September 27, 2006

EXPIRATION DATE: Ongoing. “President Obama is planning to insert himself into the debate about where to try the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, three administration officials said Thursday, signaling a recognition that the administration had mishandled the process and triggered a political backlash. Obama initially had asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to choose the site of the trial in an effort to maintain an independent Justice Department. But the White House has been taken aback by the intense criticism from political opponents and local officials of Holder's decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian courtroom in New York.”

RECOVERY.GOV

STATEMENT: “We will launch a sweeping effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called recovery.gov.” – President Obama, January 28, 2009

EXPIRATION DATE: “More than two months after some of the funds were released, [Recovery.gov] offers little detail on where the money is going… The government [spent] $84 million on a website that doesn't have a search function, when its purpose is to ‘root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government.’” April 2, 2009

Eighteen from his first 100 days:

1. "As President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."

2. "I will make sure that we renegotiate [NAFTA]."

3. Opposed a Colombian Free Trade Agreement because advocates ignore that "labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis."

4. "Now, what I’ve done throughout this campaign is to propose a net spending cut."

5. "If we see money being misspent, we're going to put a stop to it, and we will call it out and we will publicize it."

6. "Yesterday, Jim, the head of Caterpillar, said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off."

7. "I want to go line by line through every item in the Federal budget and eliminate programs that don't work, and make sure that those that do work work better and cheaper."

8. "[My plan] will not help speculators who took risky bets on a rising market and bought homes not to live in but to sell."

9. "Instead of allowing lobbyists to slip big corporate tax breaks into bills during the dead of night, we will make sure every single tax break and earmark is available to every American online."

10. "We can no longer accept a process that doles out earmarks based on a member of Congress's seniority, rather than the merit of the project."

11. "If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime."

12. "Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe the United States has to be frank with the Chinese about such failings and will press them to respect human rights."

13. "We must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights."

14. "Lobbyists won’t work in my White House!"

15. "The real gamble in this election is playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expecting a different result."

16. "I'll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we'll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills."

17. "Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days." Obama is 1-for-11 on this promise so far.

18. A special one on the 100th day, "the first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing I'd do."

And a list from of promises that expired during the campaign:

Monday, November 03, 2008

IRAQ

STATEMENT: “Based on the conversations we’ve had internally as well as external reports, we believe that you can get one to two brigades out a month. At that pace, the forces would be out in approximately 16 months from the time that we began. That would be the time frame that I would be setting up,” Obama to the New York Times, November 1, 2007

EXPIRATION DATE: March 7, 2008: Obama foreign policy adviser Samantha Power, to the BBC: “You can’t make a commitment in whatever month we’re in now, in March of 2008 about what circumstances are gonna be like in Jan. 2009. We can’t even tell what Bush is up to in terms of troop pauses and so forth. He will of course not rely upon some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or as a US senator.”

Also: July 3, 2008: "My 16-month timeline, if you examine everything I've said, was always premised on making sure our troops were safe," Obama told reporters as his campaign plane landed in North Dakota. "And my guiding approach continues to be that we've got to make sure that our troops are safe, and that Iraq is stable. And I'm going to continue to gather information to find out whether those conditions still hold."

STATEMENT: On June 14, Obama foreign policy adviser Susan Rice called the RNC’s argument that Obama needed to go to Iraq to get a firsthand look "complete garbage."

EXPIRATION DATE: On June 16, Obama announced he would go to Iraq and Afghanistan “so he can see first hand the progress of the wars he would inherit if he's elected president.”

DEBATES

STATEMENT: May 16, 2008: "If John McCain wants to meet me, anywhere, anytime to have a debate about our respective policies in Iraq, Iran, the Middle East or around the world that is a conversation I’m happy to have."

EXPIRATION DATE: June 13, 2008: Obama campaign manager David Plouffe: “Barack Obama offered to meet John McCain at five joint appearances between now and Election Day—the three traditional debates plus a joint town hall on the economy in July [on the Fourth of July] and an in-depth debate on foreign policy in August.”

IRAN

STATEMENT: “We can, then, more effectively deal with what I consider to be one of the greatest threats to the United States, to Israel, and world peace, and that is Iran,” Obama speaking to American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Chicago, March 5, 2007

EXPIRATION DATE: “Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny...They don’t pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us.” – May 20, 2008

STATEMENT: Question at the YouTube debate, as the video depicted leaders of the countries, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea?....."

"I would," Obama answered. July 27, 2007

EXPIRATION DATE: May 10, 2008: Susan E. Rice, a former State Department and National Security Council official who is a foreign policy adviser to the Democratic candidate: “But nobody said he would initiate contacts at the presidential level; that requires due preparation and advance work.”

JEREMIAH WRIGHT/TRINITY UNITED

STATEMENT: "I could no more disown Jeremiah Wright than I could disown my own grandmother."

—Barack Obama, March 18, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: on April 28, 2008, cut all ties to Wright, declaring, “based on his remarks yesterday, well, I may not know him as well as I thought.”

STATEMENT: Obama said that his church, “Trinity United "embodies the black community in its entirety" and that his church was being caricatured on March 18, 2008.

EXPIRATION DATE: On May 31, 2008, Obama resigned his membership at Trinity United Church.

JIM JOHNSON

STATEMENT: Criticism of running mate vetter Jim Johnson loan from Countrywide was "a game" and that his vice-presidential vetting team “aren’t folks who are working for me.” June 10, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: June 11, 2008, when Obama accepted Johnson's resignation.

FISA

STATEMENT: Obama spokesman Bill Burton on October 24, 2007: “To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.”

EXPIRATION DATE: June 20, 2008: “Given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as president, I will carefully monitor the program.”

NUCLEAR ENERGY

STATEMENT: “I am not a nuclear energy proponent.” Barack Obama, December 30, 2007

EXPIRATION DATE: The above statement actually was the expiration date for his previous position, “I actually think we should explore nuclear power as part of the energy mix,” expressed on July 23, 2007; the above statement expired when he told Democratic governors he thought it is “worth investigating its further development” on June 20, 2008.

NAFTA

STATEMENT: Tim Russert:: Senator Obama . . . Simple question: Will you, as president, say to Canada and Mexico, "This has not worked for us; we are out"?

Obama: “I will make sure that we renegotiate, in the same way that Senator Clinton talked about. And I think actually Senator Clinton's answer on this one is right. I think we should use the hammer of a potential opt-out as leverage to ensure that we actually get labor and environmental standards that are enforced. And that is not what has been happening so far.” February 23, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: June 18, 2008, Fortune magazine: “Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified,” he conceded, after I reminded him that he had called NAFTA "devastating" and "a big mistake," despite nonpartisan studies concluding that the trade zone has had a mild, positive effect on the U.S. economy.

Does that mean his rhetoric was overheated and amplified? "Politicians are always guilty of that, and I don't exempt myself," he answered.

"I'm not a big believer in doing things unilaterally," Obama said. "I'm a big believer in opening up a dialogue and figuring out how we can make this work for all people."

PUBLIC FINANCING

STATEMENT: “If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.” Also, a Common Cause questionnaire dated November 27, 2007, asked “If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?”, Obama checked, “Yes.”

EXPIRATION DATE: June 19, 2008: Obama announced he would not participate in the presidential public financing system.

WORKING OUT A DEAL ON PUBLIC FINANCING

STATEMENT: “What I’ve said is, at the point where I'm the nominee, at the point where it's appropriate, I will sit down with John McCain and make sure that we have a system that works for everybody.”Obama to Tim Russert, Febuary 27.

EXPIRATION DATE: When Obama announced his decision to break his public financing pledge June 19, no meeting between the Democratic nominee and McCain had occurred.

WELFARE REFORM

STATEMENT: “I probably would not have supported the federal legislation [to overhaul welfare], because I think it had some problems." Obama on the floor of the Illinois Senate, May 31, 1997

EXPIRATION DATE: April 11, 2008: Asked if he would have vetoed the 1996 law, Mr. Obama said, “I won’t second guess President Clinton for signing” it. Obama to the New York Times.

GAY MARRIAGE

STATEMENT: "Barack Obama has always believed that same-sex couples should enjoy equal rights under the law, and he will continue to fight for civil unions as president. He respects the decision of the California Supreme Court, and continues to believe that states should make their own decisions when it comes to the issue of marriage.” – campaign spokesman, May 5, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: June 29, 2008: “I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states… Finally, I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks.” — letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club

PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION

STATEMENT: "Now, I don't think that 'mental distress' qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term." – Interview with Relevant magazine, July 1, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: July 5, 2008: “My only point is that in an area like partial-birth abortion having a mental, having a health exception can be defined rigorously. It can be defined through physical health, It can be defined by serious clinical mental-health diseases.” statement to reporters.

DIVISION OF JERUSALEM

STATEMENT: "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided." — speech before AIPAC, June 4, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: June 6, 2008: "Jerusalem is a final status issue, which means it has to be negotiated between the two parties" as part of "an agreement that they both can live with." – an Obama adviser clarifying his remarks to the Jerusalem Post.

By Michelle Malkin • March 23, 2010

Posted in: Barack Obama

For the past few days, we’ve been scouring the web searching for the top 13 reasons why Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are superior to table-based layouts when designing a website. Some web designers swear that table-based layouts are better than CSS-based layouts, while others believe that table-based layouts are ancient history and XHTML combined with CSS is the only real solution to coding a web site’s visual layout. Since we’re one of those CSS die-hards, we’ve compiled a list of 13 reasons why CSS-based layouts are superior to table-based layouts.

Note: CSS cannot be used on its own to create a website – CSS is merely the tool used to style a web site’s visual information. HTML or preferably, XHTML, must be used to define the structure of a website. In addition, tables are perfect for tabular data, however, that’s about all they are good for nowadays.

The List

1. Faster page loading


2. Lowered hosting costs


3. Redesigns are more efficient


4. Redesigns are less expensive


5. Visual consistency maintained throughout website(s)


6. Better for SEO


7. Accessibility


8. Competitive edge (job security)


9. Quick website-wide updates


10. Easier for teams to maintain (and individuals)


11. Increased usability


12. More complex layouts and designs


13. No spacer gifs

By PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press Writer –

CAIRO – Al-Qaida's American-born spokesman on Sunday called on Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces to emulate the Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood.

In a 25-minute video posted on militant Web sites, Adam Gadahn described Maj. Nidal Hasan as a pioneer who should serve as a role model for other Muslims, especially those serving Western militaries.

"Brother Nidal is the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes," he said.

Gadahn, also known as Azzam al-Amriki, was dressed in white robes and wearing a white turban as he called for attacks on what he described as "high-value targets."

Gadahn grew up on a goat farm in Riverside County, California, and converted to Islam at a mosque in nearby Orange County.

"You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage," he said, an assault rifle leaning up against a wall next to him.

Gadahn has been wanted by the FBI since 2004 and two years later was charged with treason. There is a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.

He has in the past posted videos and messages calling for the destruction of the West and for strikes against targets in the United States. His location is unknown, but he is believed to be somewhere along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Hasan has been charged in the Nov. 5 shooting that killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas. The 39-year-old Army psychiatrist remains paralyzed from the chest down after being shot by two civilian members of Fort Hood's police force.

"Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role-model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers," Gadahn said.

In the latest video, Gadahn said those planning attacks did not need to use only firearms like Hasan, but could use other weapons. "As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a limited budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon."

Gadahn said fighters should target mass transportation systems in the West and also wreak havoc "by killing or capturing people in government, industry and the media."

He recommended finding ways to shake "consumer confidence and stifle spending" and noted that even unsuccessful attacks, such as the failed attempt to bomb a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day, can bring major cities to a halt.

"I am calling on every honest and vigilant Muslim in the countries of the Zionist-Crusader alliance in general and America, Britain and Israel in particular to prepare to play his due role in responding to and repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam," Gadahn said.

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Adam Gadahn Should Be Fair Game for an Oklahoma Grown JDAM. Can’t Wait for the Day This Traitor is Sploded.