Springtime in Islamberg

This comes from American Congress for Truth and Brigitte Gabriel. BOY DO I HAVE QUESTIONS!!!

Springtime in Islamberg

Radical Muslim paramilitary compound flourishes in upper New York State
Islamberg also has a website with photos: http://www.islamberg.org/
By Paul L. Williams Ph.D., (author of THE DAY OF ISLAM) With the able assistance of Douglas Hagmann, Bill Krayer and Michael Travis

Friday, May 11, 2007 http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/paul-williams051107.htm

Situated within a dense forest at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains on the outskirts of Hancock, New York, Islamberg is not an ideal place for a summer vacation unless, of course, you are an exponent of the Jihad or a fan of Osama bin Laden.

The 70 acre complex is surrounded with “No trespassing” signs; the rocky terrain is infested with rattlesnakes; and the woods are home to black bears, coyotes, wolves, and a few bobcats.

The entrance to the community is at the bottom of a very steep hill that is difficult to navigate even on a bright sunny day in May. The road, dubbed Muslim Lane , is unpaved and marred by deep crevices that have been created by torrential downpours. On a wintry day, few, save those with all terrain vehicles, could venture forth from the remote encampment.

A sentry post has been established at the base of the hill.

The sentry, at the time of this visit, is an African American dressed in Islamic garb – – a skull cap, a prayer shawl, and a loose fitting shalwat kameez. He instructs us to turn around and leave. “Our community is not open to visitors,” he says.

Behind the sentry and across a small stream stand dozens of inhabitants of the compound – – the men wearing skull caps and loose fitting tunics, the women in full burqa. They appear ready to deal with any unauthorized intruders.

The hillside is blighted by rusty trailers that appear to be without power or running water and a number of outhouses. The scent of raw sewage is in the air.
The place is even off limits to the local undertaker who says that he has delivered bodies to the complex but has never been granted entrance. “They come and take the bodies from my hearse. They won’t allow me to get past the sentry post. They say that they want to prepare the bodies for burial. But I never get the bodies back. I don’t know what’s going on there but I don’t think it’s legal.”

On the other side of the hill where few dare to go is a tiny village replete with a make-shift learning center (dubbed the “International Quranic Open University”); a trailer converted into a Laundromat; a small, green community center; a small and rather squalid grocery store; a newly constructed majid; over forty clapboard homes; and scores of additional trailers.

It is home to hundreds – – all in Islamic attire, and all African-Americans. Most drive late model SUVs with license plates from Pennsylvania , New Jersey , New York , Ohio , South Carolina , and Tennessee . The locals say that some work as tollbooth operators for the New York State Thruway, while others are employed at a credit card processing center that maintains confidential financial records.

While buzzing with activity during the week, the place becomes a virtual hive on weekends. The guest includes arrivals from the inner cities of New York , New Jersey , and Pennsylvania and, occasionally, white-robed dignitaries in Ray-Bans from the Middle East .

Venturing into the complex last summer, Douglas Hagmann, an intrepid investigator and director of the Northeast Intelligence Service [my interjection here–he is also heard periodically on KathleenKeating.com], came upon a military training area at the eastern perimeter of the property. The area was equipped with ropes hanging from tall trees, wooden fences for scaling, a make-shift obstacle course, and a firing range. Hagmann said that the range appeared to have been in regular use.

Islamberg is not as benign as a Buddhist monastery or a Carmelite convent. Nearly every weekend, neighbors hear sounds of gunfire. Some, including a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, have heard the bang of small explosives. None of the neighbors wished to be identified for fear of “retaliation.” “We don’t even dare to slow down when we drive by,” one resident said. “They own the mountain and they know it and there is nothing we can do about it but move, and we can’t even do that. Who wants to buy a property near that?”

Islamberg’s Grocery Store

The complex serves to scare the bejeesus out of the local residents. “If you go there, you better wear body armor,” a customer at the Circle E Diner in Hancock said. “They have armed guards and if they shoot you, nobody will find your body.”

At Cousins, a watering hole in nearby Deposit, a barfly, who didn’t wish to be identified, said: “The place is dangerous. You can hear gunfire up there. I can’t understand why the FBI won’t shut it down.”

Islamberg is a branch of Muslims of the Americas Inc., a tax-exempt organization formed in 1980 by Pakistani cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, who refers to himself as “the sixth Sultan Ul Faqr,” Gilani, has been directly linked by court documents to Jamaat ul-Fuqra or “community of the impoverished,” an organization that seeks to “purify” Islam through violence.

Though primarily based in Lahore , Pakistan , Jamaat ul-Fuqra has operational headquarters in New York and openly recruits through various social service organizations in the U.S. , including the prison system. Members live in hamaats or compounds, such as Islamberg, where they agree to abide by the laws of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, which are considered to be above local, state and federal authority. Additional hamaats have been established in Hyattsville, Maryland; Red House, Virginia; Falls Church, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; York, South Carolina; Dover, Tennessee; Buena Vista, Colorado; Talihina, Oklahoma; Tulane Country, California; Commerce, California; and Onalaska, Washington. Others are being built, including an expansive facility in Sherman , Pennsylvania .

Before becoming a citizen of Islamberg or any of the other Fuqra compounds, the recruits – – primarily inner city black men who became converts in prison – – are compelled to sign an oath that reads: “I shall always hear and obey, and whenever given the command, I shall readily fight for Allah’s sake.”

In the past, thousands of members of the U.S. branches of Jamaat ul-Fuqra traveled to Pakistan for paramilitary training, but encampments, such as Islamberg, are now capable of providing book-camp training so raw recruits are no longer required to travel abroad amidst the increased scrutiny of post 9/11.

Over the years, numerous members of Jamaat ul-Fuqra have been convicted in US courts of such crimes as conspiracy to commit murder, firebombing, gun smuggling, and workers’ compensation fraud. Others remain leading suspects in criminal cases throughout the country, including ten unsolved assassinations and seventeen fire-bombings between 1979 and 1990.

The criminal charges against the group and the criminal convictions are not things of the past. In 2001, a resident of a California compound was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of a sheriff’s deputy; another was charged with gun-smuggling’ and twenty-four members of the Red House community were convicted of firearms violations.

By 2004 federal investigators uncovered evidence that linked both the DC “sniper killer” John Allen Muhammed and “Shoe Bomber” Richard Reid to the group and reports surfaced that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was captured and beheaded in the process of attempting to obtain an interview with Sheikh Gilani in Pakistan .

Even though Jamaat ul-Fuqra has been involved in terror attacks and sundry criminal activities, recruited thousands of members from federal and state penal systems, and appears to be operating paramilitary facilities for militant Muslims, it remains to be placed on the official US Terror Watch List. On the contrary, it continues to operate, flourish, and expand as a legitimate nonprofit, tax-deductible charity

So, WHY THE HELL ISN’T THIS ON THE US TERROR WATCH LIST?????? WHO IS KEEPING IT OFF THE LIST????

And, again, just WHO are the Congressional representatives of these areas???? Any of them happen to be running for President in ’08 and may be perhaps trying to shove this under the rug?

And, WHY are these criminals allowed to work with confidential credit card information at a credit card processing center maintaining financial records??? That sets off HUGE red flags in MY brain!

I would STRONLY suggest that ALL the Representatives for these inclusive states be contacted, as well as the FBI, and DEMANDS be made to PUT THIS GROUP ON THE WATCH LIST AND DO IT NOW. You will find a link to contact information at the top left of the front page of this site.

The inclusive states are: New York, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado, Oklahoma, California, Washington and Pennsylvania.

And defeatocrats have the nerve to say there’s no danger here in the United States from jihadists! What freakin’ planet are they living on?

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Springtime in Islamberg

This comes from American Congress for Truth and Brigitte Gabriel. BOY DO I HAVE QUESTIONS!!!

Springtime in Islamberg

Radical Muslim paramilitary compound flourishes in upper New York State
Islamberg also has a website with photos: http://www.islamberg.org/
By Paul L. Williams Ph.D., (author of THE DAY OF ISLAM) With the able assistance of Douglas Hagmann, Bill Krayer and Michael Travis

Friday, May 11, 2007 http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/paul-williams051107.htm

Situated within a dense forest at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains on the outskirts of Hancock, New York, Islamberg is not an ideal place for a summer vacation unless, of course, you are an exponent of the Jihad or a fan of Osama bin Laden.

The 70 acre complex is surrounded with “No trespassing” signs; the rocky terrain is infested with rattlesnakes; and the woods are home to black bears, coyotes, wolves, and a few bobcats.

The entrance to the community is at the bottom of a very steep hill that is difficult to navigate even on a bright sunny day in May. The road, dubbed Muslim Lane , is unpaved and marred by deep crevices that have been created by torrential downpours. On a wintry day, few, save those with all terrain vehicles, could venture forth from the remote encampment.

A sentry post has been established at the base of the hill.

The sentry, at the time of this visit, is an African American dressed in Islamic garb – – a skull cap, a prayer shawl, and a loose fitting shalwat kameez. He instructs us to turn around and leave. “Our community is not open to visitors,” he says.

Behind the sentry and across a small stream stand dozens of inhabitants of the compound – – the men wearing skull caps and loose fitting tunics, the women in full burqa. They appear ready to deal with any unauthorized intruders.

The hillside is blighted by rusty trailers that appear to be without power or running water and a number of outhouses. The scent of raw sewage is in the air.
The place is even off limits to the local undertaker who says that he has delivered bodies to the complex but has never been granted entrance. “They come and take the bodies from my hearse. They won’t allow me to get past the sentry post. They say that they want to prepare the bodies for burial. But I never get the bodies back. I don’t know what’s going on there but I don’t think it’s legal.”

On the other side of the hill where few dare to go is a tiny village replete with a make-shift learning center (dubbed the “International Quranic Open University”); a trailer converted into a Laundromat; a small, green community center; a small and rather squalid grocery store; a newly constructed majid; over forty clapboard homes; and scores of additional trailers.

It is home to hundreds – – all in Islamic attire, and all African-Americans. Most drive late model SUVs with license plates from Pennsylvania , New Jersey , New York , Ohio , South Carolina , and Tennessee . The locals say that some work as tollbooth operators for the New York State Thruway, while others are employed at a credit card processing center that maintains confidential financial records.

While buzzing with activity during the week, the place becomes a virtual hive on weekends. The guest includes arrivals from the inner cities of New York , New Jersey , and Pennsylvania and, occasionally, white-robed dignitaries in Ray-Bans from the Middle East .

Venturing into the complex last summer, Douglas Hagmann, an intrepid investigator and director of the Northeast Intelligence Service [my interjection here–he is also heard periodically on KathleenKeating.com], came upon a military training area at the eastern perimeter of the property. The area was equipped with ropes hanging from tall trees, wooden fences for scaling, a make-shift obstacle course, and a firing range. Hagmann said that the range appeared to have been in regular use.

Islamberg is not as benign as a Buddhist monastery or a Carmelite convent. Nearly every weekend, neighbors hear sounds of gunfire. Some, including a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, have heard the bang of small explosives. None of the neighbors wished to be identified for fear of “retaliation.” “We don’t even dare to slow down when we drive by,” one resident said. “They own the mountain and they know it and there is nothing we can do about it but move, and we can’t even do that. Who wants to buy a property near that?”

Islamberg’s Grocery Store

The complex serves to scare the bejeesus out of the local residents. “If you go there, you better wear body armor,” a customer at the Circle E Diner in Hancock said. “They have armed guards and if they shoot you, nobody will find your body.”

At Cousins, a watering hole in nearby Deposit, a barfly, who didn’t wish to be identified, said: “The place is dangerous. You can hear gunfire up there. I can’t understand why the FBI won’t shut it down.”

Islamberg is a branch of Muslims of the Americas Inc., a tax-exempt organization formed in 1980 by Pakistani cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, who refers to himself as “the sixth Sultan Ul Faqr,” Gilani, has been directly linked by court documents to Jamaat ul-Fuqra or “community of the impoverished,” an organization that seeks to “purify” Islam through violence.

Though primarily based in Lahore , Pakistan , Jamaat ul-Fuqra has operational headquarters in New York and openly recruits through various social service organizations in the U.S. , including the prison system. Members live in hamaats or compounds, such as Islamberg, where they agree to abide by the laws of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, which are considered to be above local, state and federal authority. Additional hamaats have been established in Hyattsville, Maryland; Red House, Virginia; Falls Church, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; York, South Carolina; Dover, Tennessee; Buena Vista, Colorado; Talihina, Oklahoma; Tulane Country, California; Commerce, California; and Onalaska, Washington. Others are being built, including an expansive facility in Sherman , Pennsylvania .

Before becoming a citizen of Islamberg or any of the other Fuqra compounds, the recruits – – primarily inner city black men who became converts in prison – – are compelled to sign an oath that reads: “I shall always hear and obey, and whenever given the command, I shall readily fight for Allah’s sake.”

In the past, thousands of members of the U.S. branches of Jamaat ul-Fuqra traveled to Pakistan for paramilitary training, but encampments, such as Islamberg, are now capable of providing book-camp training so raw recruits are no longer required to travel abroad amidst the increased scrutiny of post 9/11.

Over the years, numerous members of Jamaat ul-Fuqra have been convicted in US courts of such crimes as conspiracy to commit murder, firebombing, gun smuggling, and workers’ compensation fraud. Others remain leading suspects in criminal cases throughout the country, including ten unsolved assassinations and seventeen fire-bombings between 1979 and 1990.

The criminal charges against the group and the criminal convictions are not things of the past. In 2001, a resident of a California compound was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of a sheriff’s deputy; another was charged with gun-smuggling’ and twenty-four members of the Red House community were convicted of firearms violations.

By 2004 federal investigators uncovered evidence that linked both the DC “sniper killer” John Allen Muhammed and “Shoe Bomber” Richard Reid to the group and reports surfaced that Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was captured and beheaded in the process of attempting to obtain an interview with Sheikh Gilani in Pakistan .

Even though Jamaat ul-Fuqra has been involved in terror attacks and sundry criminal activities, recruited thousands of members from federal and state penal systems, and appears to be operating paramilitary facilities for militant Muslims, it remains to be placed on the official US Terror Watch List. On the contrary, it continues to operate, flourish, and expand as a legitimate nonprofit, tax-deductible charity

So, WHY THE HELL ISN’T THIS ON THE US TERROR WATCH LIST?????? WHO IS KEEPING IT OFF THE LIST????

And, again, just WHO are the Congressional representatives of these areas???? Any of them happen to be running for President in ’08 and may be perhaps trying to shove this under the rug?

And, WHY are these criminals allowed to work with confidential credit card information at a credit card processing center maintaining financial records??? That sets off HUGE red flags in MY brain!

I would STRONLY suggest that ALL the Representatives for these inclusive states be contacted, as well as the FBI, and DEMANDS be made to PUT THIS GROUP ON THE WATCH LIST AND DO IT NOW. You will find a link to contact information at the top left of the front page of this site.

The inclusive states are: New York, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado, Oklahoma, California, Washington and Pennsylvania.

And defeatocrats have the nerve to say there’s no danger here in the United States from jihadists! What freakin’ planet are they living on?

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John Edwards Supports the Troops? Sure He Does–Just Like I’m a Nappy Headed Ho (Unless That’s What You Consider Red Hair/Green Eyed Irish to be)

This one is from my friend Lew at Right In A Left World. Lew, like Snooper at Capitalism or Socialism…You Decide, is a Vietnam Vet–an honorable one, unlike John Kerry.

As a certified paralegal, working for an ethical attorney (no, it’s not an oxymoron, there really is such a thing), John Edwards offends me–HIGHLY offends me. For him to be using legitimate troop support websites for his propaganda is, at the very least, extremely unethical. He no more supports the troops or their mission than the moon is made of green cheese. But, why should we be surprised at the depths to which this man will stoop to win an election? He of the $400 campaign funded haircuts, the “Two Americas (with his McMansion)”, and his allowance of his wife’s name-calling of a neighbor a “Rabid Republican” whom she’s never met and never intends to meet because he “frightens her”? Not to mention, of course, his ambulance chasing law practice that is now responsible for ludicrous malpractice insurance rates for doctors, unnecessary C-sections on women for doctor’s to cover their hides against those of his ilk, etc.

I guess ETHICS isn’t in his lexicon–although traitor, treason, liar, etc. SHOULD BE.

Here’s Lew’s article: (I have emphasized some things in Lew’s article, just to be snarky to Edwards)

John Edwards: Support The Troops, End The War
May 12, 2007

In yet another attempt at seeming to Support the Troops while undermining them, Democrat party hopeful and former FAILED vice-presidential candidate, ‘silky’ John Edwards, better known as the “Breck Girl,” has launched a new web site, Support the Troops. End the war.

Edwards, before he was elected to the Senate to represent North Carolina, was known as a pretty slick lawyer well practiced in glib speech. His talent of misleading juries into awarding clients–and himself–huge, multi-million dollar judgments is put into practice on his new venture as he skillfully blends a FEIGNED Support for the Troops with his anti-war message.

In a large bold block, titled “Reclaiming Patriotism,” he enunciates,

“Throughout our history, military men and women and their families have sacrificed for America. The troops in Iraq and their families continue to sacrifice today. So this Memorial Day Weekend, John Edwards is asking the American people to give some part of their weekend in return—to honor and remember all those who have gone before in service to our country, and to let our government know we want to honor our troops by ending the war and bringing them home.”

“This Memorial Day weekend, John Edwards is asking that we all take responsibility for the country we love and the brave men and women who protect us. As citizens, let’s volunteer in support of our troops, and offer our service to honor theirs. As Americans, let’s take a moment to join in prayer for our troops. And as patriots, let’s gather together this weekend and make our voices heard. It’s up to us. If we are loud enough, and clear enough, we can end this war. Because it really is possible to stop a president who believes he can do no wrong—it just takes people with the courage to do what’s right.”

In what we have come to expect from the Democrat party as they strive to ruin the country and reform it into a rebirth of the FAILED Soviet Union, nowhere is there any mention of Supporting our Troops on to Victory, as was largely seen throughout World War Two by BOTH major party’s.

In a shameless show of obfuscation, he posts links to REAL AND HONEST Troop Supporters Anysoldier.com, Operation Gratitude and Troopcarepackage.com. (I also support Soldier’s Angels–see my icon on the front page and click to go there)

I also notice a definite lack of acknowledgement for Appeal for Courage, a growing number of our Brave Troops calling on Congress to Support their Mission.

Under his “10 things to do this Memorial Day Weekend” is:

“Pray. Organize a prayer vigil for our troops at your house of worship. Tell us about it.”

Did he suspend “separation of Church and State” for his campaign?

While in the Senate, Edwards voted YES on authorizing air strikes in Kosovo (Mar 1999); voted YES on allowing all necessary force in Kosovo (May 1999); voted YES on authorizing use of military force against Iraq (Oct 2002) and voted NO on $86 billion for military operations in Iraq & Afghanistan (Oct 2003). On The Issues, John Edwards

Most shameful is his call to:

“Get vocal. Buy a bunch of poster-board and markers. At a picnic or with family and friends, make signs that say “SUPPORT THE TROOPS – END THE WAR.” Bring them to your local Memorial Day parade. Then take a digital photo of yourself and your family or friends holding up the poster and tell us about it. We’ll include it in a “Democracy Photo Album” on our site.”

He is actually calling for anti-war displays at Memorial Day Activities! How dishonorable is that to our Veterans who have sacrificed so much to keep America free? And, send him photos so he can post them? Photos of anti-war displays dishonoring American Veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice? Can a politician sink any lower?

Most telling in the Democrat party’s anti-America stance is with all their calls for withdrawing the Troops (only from Iraq, mind you), nowhere do we hear or see them calling for our nation’s Police Forces to withdraw from high crime areas of our own major cities. Of course, there is no political gain in making that call.

Using the Troops for a campaign stunt such as this goes well beyond wrong. Don’t forget, it was the Democrat party that demanded no mention of 9/11 be made during the 2004 campaign, complained endlessly about President Bush appearing in a flight suit after flying out to the USS Abraham Lincoln and the party who failed to garner a majority Veteran support while running a ‘self proclaimed phony war hero.’

Playing political football with the funding for our Troops while in harm’s way and now using honest support sites to gather material for his campaign shows just how low the Democrat party has slid today.

If they honestly were that concerned over the Troops and this war, they would pass a bill defunding the war immediately–in effect surrendering to terrorism–and force the Troops home. Of course, that places the failure square on their shoulders.

Don’t fall for a slick lawyer’s ploy. Support for the Troops is secondary to his desire for campaign material and adding to his personal fortune at our expense.

Lew

John Edwards Supports the Troops? Sure He Does–Just Like I’m a Nappy Headed Ho (Unless That’s What You Consider Red Hair/Green Eyed Irish to be)

This one is from my friend Lew at Right In A Left World. Lew, like Snooper at Capitalism or Socialism…You Decide, is a Vietnam Vet–an honorable one, unlike John Kerry.

As a certified paralegal, working for an ethical attorney (no, it’s not an oxymoron, there really is such a thing), John Edwards offends me–HIGHLY offends me. For him to be using legitimate troop support websites for his propaganda is, at the very least, extremely unethical. He no more supports the troops or their mission than the moon is made of green cheese. But, why should we be surprised at the depths to which this man will stoop to win an election? He of the $400 campaign funded haircuts, the “Two Americas (with his McMansion)”, and his allowance of his wife’s name-calling of a neighbor a “Rabid Republican” whom she’s never met and never intends to meet because he “frightens her”? Not to mention, of course, his ambulance chasing law practice that is now responsible for ludicrous malpractice insurance rates for doctors, unnecessary C-sections on women for doctor’s to cover their hides against those of his ilk, etc.

I guess ETHICS isn’t in his lexicon–although traitor, treason, liar, etc. SHOULD BE.

Here’s Lew’s article: (I have emphasized some things in Lew’s article, just to be snarky to Edwards)

John Edwards: Support The Troops, End The War
May 12, 2007

In yet another attempt at seeming to Support the Troops while undermining them, Democrat party hopeful and former FAILED vice-presidential candidate, ‘silky’ John Edwards, better known as the “Breck Girl,” has launched a new web site, Support the Troops. End the war.

Edwards, before he was elected to the Senate to represent North Carolina, was known as a pretty slick lawyer well practiced in glib speech. His talent of misleading juries into awarding clients–and himself–huge, multi-million dollar judgments is put into practice on his new venture as he skillfully blends a FEIGNED Support for the Troops with his anti-war message.

In a large bold block, titled “Reclaiming Patriotism,” he enunciates,

“Throughout our history, military men and women and their families have sacrificed for America. The troops in Iraq and their families continue to sacrifice today. So this Memorial Day Weekend, John Edwards is asking the American people to give some part of their weekend in return—to honor and remember all those who have gone before in service to our country, and to let our government know we want to honor our troops by ending the war and bringing them home.”

“This Memorial Day weekend, John Edwards is asking that we all take responsibility for the country we love and the brave men and women who protect us. As citizens, let’s volunteer in support of our troops, and offer our service to honor theirs. As Americans, let’s take a moment to join in prayer for our troops. And as patriots, let’s gather together this weekend and make our voices heard. It’s up to us. If we are loud enough, and clear enough, we can end this war. Because it really is possible to stop a president who believes he can do no wrong—it just takes people with the courage to do what’s right.”

In what we have come to expect from the Democrat party as they strive to ruin the country and reform it into a rebirth of the FAILED Soviet Union, nowhere is there any mention of Supporting our Troops on to Victory, as was largely seen throughout World War Two by BOTH major party’s.

In a shameless show of obfuscation, he posts links to REAL AND HONEST Troop Supporters Anysoldier.com, Operation Gratitude and Troopcarepackage.com. (I also support Soldier’s Angels–see my icon on the front page and click to go there)

I also notice a definite lack of acknowledgement for Appeal for Courage, a growing number of our Brave Troops calling on Congress to Support their Mission.

Under his “10 things to do this Memorial Day Weekend” is:

“Pray. Organize a prayer vigil for our troops at your house of worship. Tell us about it.”

Did he suspend “separation of Church and State” for his campaign?

While in the Senate, Edwards voted YES on authorizing air strikes in Kosovo (Mar 1999); voted YES on allowing all necessary force in Kosovo (May 1999); voted YES on authorizing use of military force against Iraq (Oct 2002) and voted NO on $86 billion for military operations in Iraq & Afghanistan (Oct 2003). On The Issues, John Edwards

Most shameful is his call to:

“Get vocal. Buy a bunch of poster-board and markers. At a picnic or with family and friends, make signs that say “SUPPORT THE TROOPS – END THE WAR.” Bring them to your local Memorial Day parade. Then take a digital photo of yourself and your family or friends holding up the poster and tell us about it. We’ll include it in a “Democracy Photo Album” on our site.”

He is actually calling for anti-war displays at Memorial Day Activities! How dishonorable is that to our Veterans who have sacrificed so much to keep America free? And, send him photos so he can post them? Photos of anti-war displays dishonoring American Veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice? Can a politician sink any lower?

Most telling in the Democrat party’s anti-America stance is with all their calls for withdrawing the Troops (only from Iraq, mind you), nowhere do we hear or see them calling for our nation’s Police Forces to withdraw from high crime areas of our own major cities. Of course, there is no political gain in making that call.

Using the Troops for a campaign stunt such as this goes well beyond wrong. Don’t forget, it was the Democrat party that demanded no mention of 9/11 be made during the 2004 campaign, complained endlessly about President Bush appearing in a flight suit after flying out to the USS Abraham Lincoln and the party who failed to garner a majority Veteran support while running a ‘self proclaimed phony war hero.’

Playing political football with the funding for our Troops while in harm’s way and now using honest support sites to gather material for his campaign shows just how low the Democrat party has slid today.

If they honestly were that concerned over the Troops and this war, they would pass a bill defunding the war immediately–in effect surrendering to terrorism–and force the Troops home. Of course, that places the failure square on their shoulders.

Don’t fall for a slick lawyer’s ploy. Support for the Troops is secondary to his desire for campaign material and adding to his personal fortune at our expense.

Lew

A Call to Justice–Dedicated to the Mothers of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsome

Once again, this article is from Spree at Wake Up America. She passed this along at the request of the Steve Gill Show, and I’m doing the same. The mothers of these victims shouldn’t be forced to suffer this way. And where is Sharp-ima-ton with his blathering about a lack of justice? Nowhere–because the victims, Channon and Christopher, were white, not nappy headed hos.

And, by the way, does anyone know which Congressional District this happened in and why the Representatives haven’t grown a spine to demand JUSTICE for these victims and their families?

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

I’m going to tell you about something horrible. Something horrendous. Something so terrible that you may not want to do much more than glance over the details and go to the bare facts. Why am I going to tell you about this? Because it needs to be told, and JUSTICE needs to be done.

This is the story the Tennessean isn’t covering. This is the story the National Media is paying no attention to. This is the story that has not gotten the coverage that is warranted considering the heinous nature of the crimes committed, the lives lost in such a brutal way. It’s heartbreaking, it’s tragic and, in my mind, there is a very, very large TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE being committed as the story unfolds.

Going outside the blog world, my hat tip for this one goes to the Steve Gill Show, for that is where I first heard about this story today, nearly six months later, during his commentary on how that this story isn’t getting any media coverage.

I’ll begin with what media coverage there has been, then make commentary.

UT student’s body found
January 9, 2007
KNOXVILLE (WATE)

Police say the body of a UT student was found Tuesday in a Knoxville home is just down the street from where her boyfriend was found dead on Sunday.

The body of Channon Christian, 21, was found in a rental house on the 2300 block of Chipman Street in East Knoxville. It was taken to the UT Forensic Center where the positive identification was made.

The body of Christian’s boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, 23, was found Sunday afternoon along the railroad tracks near 9th Ave.

The couple disappeared Saturday night while they were on a date.

Police have not released the cause of their deaths, but they say Newsom was murdered.

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

Search warrants reveal disturbing new details in Knoxville double murder investigation
January 16, 2007
By CATHARYN CAMPBELL
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE)

Search warrants in the double murder investigation of a young Knoxville couple reveal disturbing new details about what happened.

According to the affidavits for those search warrants, investigators found the body of Channon Christian, 21, stuffed in a trash can in the kitchen of Lemaricus Davidson’s home at 2316 Chipman Street.

Investigators obtained the warrants after they found the body of her boyfriend, Christopher

Newsom, 23, near the railroad tracks behind 1701 Whittle Springs on January 7.Newsom had been shot at least three times. He was bound with rope or bootlaces and wrapped in a sheet. His shoes and socks were missing, along with his ID and iPOD. His body had been burned and physically assaulted.

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When officers went to Davidson’s house on Chipman Street, they say the front door was ajar. As they looked for Davidson, they found Christian’s body in the trash can.

In that house, investigators also seized evidence that includes: a .9mm magazine, two .22 rounds, a rifle, three black trash bags with more possible evidence, cell phones, iPODs, loose .38 ammunition, a .22 shell casing, a plastic bag with hair and socks and a gun cleaning kit.

Another affidavit says that two more of the suspects who are charged, Letalvis Cobbins and George Thomas, voluntarily told investigators they were at Davidson’s house when he and a fourth suspect, Eric Boyd, came in with the couple bound and blindfolded.

Cobbins and Thomas also told investigators that Eric Boyd took Newsom from the house at gunpoint and later returned without him.

And Cobbins and Thomas said they were at the house when Boyd sexually assaulted Christian while she was still alive.

Officers have obtained DNA samples and fingernail scrapings from Boyd as part of their investigation.

All four suspects are facing a variety of felony charges. But so far, none of the men has been charged with murder.

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Four suspects charged with murder in Knoxville double slaying
February 1, 2007
KNOXVILLE (WATE)

Four suspects, including a woman arrested in Kentucky Wednesday night, are now facing murder, rape and kidnapping charges in the double slaying of a young Knoxville couple.

But the location of the carjacking that began the series of charges in the investigation and why it happened is still being kept quiet.

The suspects were indicted Thursday in Knox County, separate from the federal charges some of the men already face relating to the carjacking. The rape charges involve both murder victims, Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom.

Lemaricus Davidson faces 46 counts including felony murder, premeditated murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated rape and theft.

Letalvis Cobbins faces 46 counts including 16 counts of felony murder, two counts of premeditated murder, two counts of especially aggravated robbery, four counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 20 counts of aggravated rape and two counts of theft.

George Thomas faces 46 counts including 16 counts of felony murder, two counts of premeditated murder, two counts of especially aggravated robbery, four counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 20 counts of aggravated rape and two counts of theft.

Vanessa Lynn Coleman, 18, faces 40 counts including 12 counts of felony murder, one count of premeditated murder, one count of especially aggravated robbery, four counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, 20 counts of aggravated rape and two counts of theft.

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What they don’t state on the news reports listed above, from what I’ve found so far, are the horrible details of what happened to this young couple. Both of them were raped, sodomized, he was castrated and her breasts where cut off before they were killed. Words cannot express my feelings about this. There are no words. The full count indictments against these animals–and I say animals because anyone who can do what was done here can’t be classified as human–can be found here. And yes, I know that we proscribe to innocent until proven guilty. That being said, WHOEVER DID THIS to this young couple should be put down like rabid animals, in my opinion.

Insult to injury: the DA in this case is NOT, I repeat NOT seeking the death penalty according to the Gill Show.

I’m sure he’d love to explain to anyone who wishes to call him as to why?

Knox County District AttorneyAddress:

Randy Nichols
400 W Main St
Rm 168
Knoxville, TN37902
Phone: (865) 215-2515

Why is this not being shown nationally? Why does the Duke Lacrosse team make the headlines over false allegations and this horrible, horrible situation that really did happen go unnoticed?

A few thoughts on this can be found here:

The Truth About Who Suffers And About Who Inflicts the Suffering
By Jack Dunphy

It may seem like ancient history now, but it was only a year ago that we were first subjected to the media circus that was the so-called and now-dropped Duke Rape Case. For months thereafter, you couldn’t pick up a newspaper or turn on the television or radio without learning some new tidbit about the accused lacrosse players, even as their accuser remained shrouded in mystery. Today we know there was no rape and now not even a case at all, but even in those early days it was apparent enough that there were glaring problems with the accuser’s story (or, as it happened, stories). But not even those problems prevented the case from consuming the attention of the sages in our national media, whose foot soldiers decamped from New York and Los Angeles and such places to descend on Durham, North Carolina, as quickly as they could find it on the map.

The case was simply irresistible to our sophisticated betters in Manhattan and the tonier zip codes of southern California. The “victim” was black and a single mother, each in itself a shield against criticism, but taken together an impregnable defense against any judgment of her own behavior and motives. Furthermore, she claimed to have been attacked by a group of southern white elites, thus justifying the low opinion of such elites held by those who live within sight of the Pacific Ocean or the Hudson River. (Never mind that none of the accused were actually from the south.) Only when the evidence of the defendants’ innocence and of the prosecutor’s misconduct accumulated to an undeniable critical mass did the media slink off to await the next Big Story.

Compare the attention given the Duke case with that accorded a far more heinous crime, one whose victims have thus far failed to arouse the sympathies or even the notice of those who found so much enjoyment in their condemnation of the lacrosse players. Chances are, unless you live in Tennessee, you will not recognize the names Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. Christian, 21, and Newsome, 23, both of Knoxville, were driving through that city together on the night of January 6 when they were kidnapped and murdered. Newsome’s burned body was found along some railroad tracks on January 7. Christian remained missing for two more days until her body, stuffed in a trash can, was found in a home not far from where Newsome’s was found. Police and prosecutors allege both victims were raped before being killed. Yes, both. Three men and a woman have been charged with the crimes in a 46-count grand jury indictment handed down in Knoxville on January 31.

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Steve Gill has this to say on his Daily Notes page:

I guarantee that if the victims were a black college couple, and the murderers were a bunch of white guys you would have seen this story on television so much your eyes would be bleeding. As it is, the media has ignored it. Where is Jesse Jackson? Al Sharpton? Don’t they think racially motivated crimes deserve attention? Or is only white on black crime worthy of our contempt and outrage? (Emphasis mine)

This is why I’m against hate crimes legislation. We don’t need the thought police telling us “this crime was a HATE crime and they deserve more punishment for it.” Bull. It’s a crime. How much more dead would Phillip Workman be today if he had been charged with a hate crime when he was found guilty of killing a Memphis police officer instead of just being charged for the crime itself? He’d still be dead after his execution this week.

I don’t know the Christian or Newsom families; they live at the other end of the state from me. My heart goes out to them, though, as a parent, as a human, as a man. I can’t imagine the grief and the pain they must be suffering.

Again I want to pose the questions: Why is this not being tried as a capital crime? It makes no sense to me that it would be treated as anything but. Why the lack of media attention for this case? Does this story have less merit, less importance, than finding out who the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby is? Is it more important that we know that Paris Hilton is going to have to pay the price for driving on a suspended license?

I’m going to ask my fellow Tennesseans especially to feel free to cross post this one, in it’s entirety, in part, trackback to it, link to it, whatever. Get the word out. Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom deserve it, and so do their families. They deserve justice. And they deserve, and need, our prayers and support. Any of you with more information on this story, feel free to pass it along to us.This needs to be told, and it needs to be told now.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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For myself, I’ll add–below are the names of the Tennessee Representatives in Washington, D.C. Maybe, if enough people raise hell, there might be a chance for TRUE JUSTICE for these victims and their families, even if they AREN’T BLACK.

The following information was copied from Complete Email Addresses for Congress, Senate, Governors and State Legislators here. Burn up their phone, fax and email boxes with DEMANDS FOR JUSTICE for this couple and their families!

Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) 615-741-2001
State Legislature Links
Sen. Bob Corker (R) Fax: 202-228-1264
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R) Fax: 202-228-3398
Rep. William Jenkins (R-1) Fax: 202-225-5714
Rep. John Duncan, Jr. (R-2) Fax: 202-225-6440
Rep. Zach Wamp (R-3) Fax: 202-225-3494
Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-4) Fax: 202-226-5172
Rep. Jim Cooper (D-5) Fax: 202-226-1035
Rep. Bart Gordon (D-6) Fax: 202-225-6887
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-7) Fax: 202-223004
Rep. John Tanner (D-8) Fax: 202-225-1765
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-9) Fax: 202-225-5663