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Gee, it wasn’t bad enough that several of the 15 of 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudis who studied aviation here in the U.S.
Now, Saudi Arabia, our “ally on the War on Terror” (the “ally” which is actually fomenting the Terror), is sponsoring AVIATION SCHOLARSHIPS for Saudis to study in the U.S. Talk about Chutzpah. Hello? . . . . Haven’t we been there, done that?
Isn’t it about time that we restrict aviation training in the U.S. to nationals of non-terrorist-linked nations? And shouldn’t the Saudis still be ashamed (not that they ever were) of their U.S.-aviation-educated countrymen who murdered nearly 3,000 Americans? Well, why should they be–with the way the Bush Administration panders to them?!

Saudis Have No Shame; Do We Have the Courage to Say No?
And, by the way, we’ve already written about , two of the Saudi men already . They’re the two men who went on the “joy ride” on a Tampa school bus, one in a trench coat on a hot Florida day, in an apparent dry run for a terrorist attack. (More about them , , , and .)
Here’s more of the story on the aviation scholarships, from Saudi Arabia’s government-operated English propaganda rag, The Arab News:

Saudis Offered Scholarships for Aviation Courses in US
Lulwa Shalhoub, Arab News
JEDDAH, 20 June 2006 – The Ministry of Higher Education and the General Authority of Civil Aviation are offering scholarships to Saudi men and women to study various majors related to civil aviation in the United States. . . .
The scholarships are available in majors such as communications, electrical and computer engineering, computer science, systems analysis, air traffic control, flight safety, and other majors related to the airline transport industry. . . .
Applicants for the bachelor’s program must have a minimum score of 85 percent in the science section and 90 percent in other sections, such as Qur’an memorizing . . . .
There are various scholarships this year being offered by the Saudi government to the US, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, India, China, Australia and New Zealand.

Thanks to reader Sandra for the tip.

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This is what happens when the government starts recognizing a million different religions. Everyone, every cult, every belief, and even every non-belief wants their bite at the apple. It opens a pandora’s box.
The latest is with the Wiccans and their fight with the Department of Veterans Affairs (“the VA”). Should military personnel who are Wiccans get to have a pentacle symbol engraved on their government issued tombstones? (FYI, the pentacle is not the same as the symbol of Satan worshippers, who use an upside down pentacle.)
Based on information in a Gannett News Service article, probably so. Right now, that’s not the case. The Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration allows only approved emblems of religious beliefs on government headstones.

Wiccan Pentacle
The article points out that the VA recognizes 38 emblems of faith, among them emblems for Muslims and atheists. As we know, atheism is not a faith or religion. It’s hard to say that atheists is better than the Wiccan group. Ditto for the American Humanist Association, whose emblem–a stylized human figure with arms stretched upward–is also recognized by the the VA.
Also, the IRS has already granted religious tax exemptions for Wiccan “churches” and federal courts have recognized Wicca as a valid religion. And the nations armed forces have recognized Wiccans for decades, letting them practice their faith on base.
Frankly, the whole thing of recognizing some groups as religious groups by the VA smacks of Unconstitutionality and recognizing a religion. It’s a big problem, as manifest here.
Some Wiccans have served with dedication and honor in the Armed Forces:

Marine Lance Cpl. Eric Ballard says the Department of Veterans Affairs is denying him a right by not permitting him to have the pentacle — his Wiccan faith’s symbol — engraved on his government-issued tombstone when he dies.
“I serve my country and I live my religion and both are very dear to me,” said Ballard, the lay leader for Wiccans at Marine Corps Base in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. “I feel like I should be represented … as an active duty military person and as a Wiccan.”
Roberta Stewart is upset with the VA for not allowing a pentacle — a circle with an inscribed five-pointed star — to be used on a plaque for her husband, Nevada National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart, who was killed in Afghanistan last year.
She was told the symbol was not among the 38 emblems of faith recognized for use on VA headstones and memorials.
“Our pentacle represents our spirit and our soul,” she said. “It’s my eternal connection to my husband.”

So what’s the government to do? It’s a troubling debate. Wiccans say their religion is like that of the Native Americans. But they have witches, etc. Also, where do we draw the line? What if, someday, Satan worshippers want their symbols on their military tombstones? Can the government say no? Still, it’s hard to deny the service brave men gave their country, regardless of their beliefs.
More on Wiccan soldier Patrick Stewart who gave his life serving in Afghanistan.

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I was ridiculed for writing that . (Add Jerry Lewis, Woody Allen, and David Hasselhoff to that list.) But I was right. And to add to it, not long after I wrote that, Mr. Jackson went to his new homes in Bahrain and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
It’s not debatable. Soccer sucks.
And now, more evidence from that font of the inane and cornucopia of the boring, the World Cup of Soccer:
* Saudi players, presumptuous as ever, will accept being chosen “the man of the match,” only if Anheuser-Busch, the award sponsor, isn’t mentioned. The Saudi soccer federation secured that pledge from FIFA, the governing body of the Cup.
While some Saudi officials said the ban on Anheuser-Busch was linked to the Muslim ban on alcohol consumption, other press reports said it’s due to the fact that Anheuser-Busch is an AMERICAN company. As we’ve written, A-B donates money for . So, the company should be exactly the type of Infidel company the Saudis love.

As for the alcohol ban, we just love that the 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers who were Saudis were also religous Muslims who partook in alcohol–and prostitutes–at the Pink Pony in South Florida AND in Vegas. How do you spell “hypocrisy”? H-O-U-S-E O-F S-A-U-D.
* Members of the Iranian Parliament urged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to launch an official government inquiry into the reasons for Iran’s “weak performance” at the World Cup. to Mexico and Portugal.
Uh-oh. Looks like the legacy of Uday Hussein lives on in the country his pop hated. We foresee beatings and torture in the Iranian soccer players’ near future.
The Parliamentary members also demanded the firing of Iranian soccer coach Branko Ivankovic and Iranian Football Federation officials, citing “damage to the public’s feelings and sense of national pride.”
Religion of Peace, Game of Peace, Baby. Yeah.

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Pro-Amnesty/Guest Workers Program Congressman and House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) isn’t just upset that the House didn’t agree to the Senate’s pro-Amnesty immigration bill.
He’s personally pressuring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents to repatriate a Muslim illegal alien who was properly deported after 18 years here illegally.
Fatima Raziuddin, a Pakistani here illegally, came to the U.S. in 1988 on a student visa. Like many illegals, she instead married another Pakistani Muslim, who at that time was also not a citizen, and took a job. In 1990, a judge ruled she was in violation of her student visa. She made a voluntary departure agreement that same year. But she did not leave and instead had two sons, both U.S. citizens.

GOP House Majority Leader John Boehner Plays Golf,
Aids & Abets Muslim Illegal Alien Fatima Raziuddin
Now, we are supposed to feel bad for this lawbreaker because she won’t be home to watch her oldest son earn his Eagle Scout badge, next year. We are supposed to shed tears because one of her fellow Muslim countrymen in Pakistan set off a homicide bomb near her building while she was “celebrating the birthday of Islam’s prophet Muhammad,” according to the sob story in Ohio newspaper, The Pulse Journal. Boo hoo.
The article tells us of the violence in Pakistan and the lack of electricity, air conditioning, and clean water. Many Muslims occupy countries filled with these conditions and violence–violence to which they acquiesce and often support. Does that mean all of them should immediately get green cards?
Well, unfortunately, a very powerful man, John Boehner, is falling for the sob story. He’s sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong, and has assured the family of Raziuddin that he will “resolve” her case. He’s “committed his assistance to make Fatima Raziuddin’s wish [to return to the U.S.] a possibility.”
But many–and not nearly enough–Muslim illegals are deported from the U.S. We will never get the illegal alien problem under control with pandering, high-ranking Congressman constantly interfering with the orders of immigration judges and ICE Detention and Removal Operations Field Office Directors. Especially in cases like this, where the alien flagrantly flouted the law and the court.
This woman stayed here illegally under false pretenses. A judge long ago ordered her deported, and she agreed to do so, but didn’t. John Boehner is as much a part of the illegal alien problem as she is.
We’ve already written about Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI) and U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) . It’s time for the legislative branch to stick to passing tougher immigration laws.
And allow ICE Agents to do their jobs unfettered.

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Did you know that if you’re the average American you are discriminating against your father, in favor of your mom? More evidence of America’s attacks on fathers:
Both the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Discover Card report that we spend far less on Father’s Day gifts than on Mother’s Day gifts.
The NRF says the average person spends about $122 on Mom and $88 on Dad. Discover Card says it’s $41 on Mom and $31 on Dad. Wives are cheaper than husbands on the respective days, too. Discover says wives spend $43 on their husbands, while husbands averaged $63 for Mother’s Day.
Hmmm . . . maybe, we need affirmative action for dads and husbands.

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A Chicago Tribune story that ran, among other places, in the Detroit Free Press, carried this headline:

Kosovo’s Expected Independence Might Mean Exodus for its Serbs

The double standard is thick. Can you imagine this headline?:

Israel’s Expected Independence Might Mean Exodus for its Arabs

Well, that’s exactly what happened in 1948. Israel became a nation. About 400,000 Arabs left, despite invitations from Israelis to remain. But in that case, it was a Jewish nation. And Muslims, who felt that Israel would lose, and they’d be back in greater Arabia soon, left on their own accord. (Somehow that 400,000 miraculously became 5 million plus in less than 60 years.)
In this case, it’s CHRISTIAN Serbs who will leave (actually they’ll be kicked out, but so much for factual reporting). And those kicking them out are MUSLIM Kosovars. Yet, not a single mention of Islam or Christianity in the story by the Trib’s Tom Hundley.

Europe’s New “Sunni Triangle”
Gee, why not? Maybe it has nothing to do with the infallibility of Muslims and absolute fallibility of Christians and Jews in the liberal media. It’s okay for Muslims to kick Christians out of their country (the ones who haven’t been killed off or forcibly converted).
Oh, and by the way, Kosovo is already haven to a growing number of Al-Qaeda organizers, cell members, and other extremists. Just what we need–another Islamofascist terrorist host state. And don’t forget, these were the people (Muslim Kosovars) that President Clinton and were so intent on helping.
Kosovo, Bosnia, then new European Sunni Triangle. Bully for them, pity for us.

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On this site, we constantly lament the feminization of America’s men. Now, it’s the continued feminization of America’s federal law enforcement.
In this case, it’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE. You know all of those show raids of illegal aliens around the country? Well, more proof that that’s all they are: show raids.
ICE Special Agent in Charge of Michigan and Ohio, a/k/a “Abu Moskowitz” has apologized to the Islamofascist and Hispanic communities for recent round-ups of 60-plus illegal aliens. That’s right–apologized.

Transvestite Performer RuPaul; ICE Special Agent in Charge Ru-Moskowitz
(Thanks to David Lunde for RuMoskowitz artwork)
Our “friends” at the pro-terrorist American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)–headed by Moskowitz crony, “former” terrorist, and FBI award revokee –have released details of a meeting in which Abu M and his minions apologized and “aimed at understanding” the raids. The psycho-babble gobbledy-gook is thick:

ADC Takes Part in Meeting to Address Recent Detroit Arrests
In response to the recent mass arrests of immigrants in Southwest Detroit on May 5, 2006, IMPACT (the Initiative for Meaningful Police and Community Trust) called an emergency meeting for its steering committee members to discuss how IMPACT shall respond and work with law enforcement, regarding what appeared to be raids on the Latino immigrant community. Ms. Rima Elzein, ADC Legal Advisor, along with approximately ten other community leaders, took part in a discussion with officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that was aimed at understanding what prompted these raids, whether, or not they were random and what immigrant communities like the Latino and Arab American communities can expect from ICE in the future.

Sources say the meeting featured apologies by the ICE representatives (rumored to include Moskowitz and all sent by him).
None of this should be a surprise, since, as we’ve written, Moskowitz’s boss, ICE Director of Investigations, a/k/a “Peppermint Patty,” she’s glad Moskowitz “smoothed things over with the Islamic community of Detroit.” That, not catching terrorists and other illegal aliens, is the priority at ICE.
Since ICE in Michigan is led, these days, by such girlie-manish, apologist enforcement policy, perhaps we were wrong in calling him “Abu Moskowitz.” “Ru-Moskowitz” sounds just so much more appropriate. Or perhpas, “RuBrian.” (With apologies to RuPaul.) We can just hear “Sylvester” playing in the background in Ru-Moskowitz’s 18th floor office at the McNamara Building.

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The rule that celebs should stay out of politics (but never do) also applies to star athletes. They are basically celebs with an athletic, instead of acting, skill. And neither has any special expertise to spout their icky (and usually baseless) views.
That brings us to Tennis She-Man Martina Navratilova. USA Today reports that Man-tina is very upset that the NSA wiretapped Mid-Easterners here while they made telephone calls to their Al-Qaeda buddies overseas. On Tuesday, she tells HBO’s “Real Sports” that it’s like government wiretapping in her native Czechoslavakia.
But the two aren’t similar at all. Memo to Man-tina: The then-Communist government of Czechoslovakia was listening in “just ‘cuz,” and they were listening in on anyone and everyone, perhaps because they were an outspoken lesbian tennis superstar and seen as a possible threat or for any other reason under the sun. They were not fighting terrorists. They were fighting freedom.

Martina Navratilova: Has-Been Tennis Star Upset Over NSA Wiretaps
We are fighting terrorists to protect our freedom. The NSA wiretaps were attempts to stop future attacks on our freedom and to protect our country. No-one is preventing freedom of movement, the exercise of religion, freedom of speech, or any of the other freedoms and human rights the Communist Czech government heavily restricted. To compare the two situations is absurd . . . and exactly what a far-left, androgenous former tennis player, desperate to stay relevant, would say.
“We don’t care that they’re listening? It’s nuts!” exclaims Man-atilova.
Uh, no. That you don’t care that terrorists are plotting to kill us, Martina Navratilova–that’s nuts!

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To all my friends and readers who are fathers, Happy Father’s Day.
On this Father’s Day, here’s a touching read about Paul Trudel, a single father who is fighting his 6-year-old daughter’s cancer fight with her. He is single because his wife, the girl’s mother, died of cancer, too.
***
Mr. Mom Nation
Thanks to the many readers who pointed out that the U.S. Census from the Wall Street Journal, regarding married fathers with kids under 15, referred to Mr. Moms a/k/a stay at home dads, and not otherwise, as the Journal’s Harwood made it sound. Whew, that’s a relief. Glad to hear that the number of married fathers with children hasn’t declined to the nadir that we thought.
In fact, there are 26.4 million fathers who are part of married-couple families with their own children under the age of 18.
Still the numbers are telling and bothersome, if on another trend. The Census reports that we are quickly becoming Mr. Mom Nation:

* There are an estimated 143,000 “stay-at-home” dads in America. These married fathers with children under 15 years old have remained out of the labor force for more than one year primarily so they can care for the family while their wives work outside the home. These fathers cared for 245,000 children under 15.
* 20% of fathers with employed wives were the primary caregiver for their preschooler. 6% of fathers provided the most hours of care for their grade-school-aged child.
* 32% of fathers, who regularly worked evening or night shifts, were primary source of care for their preschoolers during their children’s mother’s working hours. For fathers working part-time, the proportion was 38%. For fathers who were not employed, it was 52%.

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It’s a sad update to the story of Katherine Lester, the . Check out his MySpace profile and the scary comments by many American teens, defending him, calling them “Romeo & Juliet.” Puh-leeze.
Unfortunately, despite silly comments to the contrary, we were exactly right when we predicted the . And we have the INSIDE SCOOP from a good friend and reader of this site, who worked with her at a Michigan radio station. The Insider says:

Apparently, Katherine is still set on going back, getting her burka and shutting up. Her father is against making her a ward of the state, which would keep her under parental control until she’s 21. She’s not allowed into Israel til she’s 18. Also, Abdullah is absolutely crushed his Infidel dawg isn’t his yet, that his family is trying to get him clearance to come here.

DANGER: Your Daughter’s MySpace Chats Could Mean . . .
From THIS . . . to THIS
(Katherine Lester, Pictured at Left)
As our Insider points out, the girl’s parents may need a Michigan court to declare her incorrigible and a ward of the State, in order to keep her from doing it again. The Palestinian Muslim, aged 20-25 (depending on which MySpace profile of his you read), sent the 16 year old money to buy plane tickets to get her to the Mid-East. She was apparently going to convert to Islam and marry the man. Reports the Detroit Free Press:

Now that she’s back home, relatives of the 20-year-old man, Abdullah Jinzawi, are distraught that he and Lester failed to connect and marry as planned.
Sana Jinzawi, Abdullah Jinzawi’s mother, waited for the no-show Lester at the airport in Tel Aviv. She said her son is heartbroken and insisted the two are in love.
“She was going to sign a marriage contract as soon as she got here,” she told the Associated Press, adding that she told Lester to “bring a pink dress for the engagement party and a white dress for the wedding.
“She wanted to convert to Islam and wear the head covering and live with us and adopt our culture,” she said.
In broadcast interviews from the Middle East, her online love interest has said he hopes to bring her back to Jordan.

Under Michigan law, Lester’s parents are still her legal guardians (until she turns 18 and is no longer a minor or unless she gets a court to declare her “emancipated”) and can order her not to return to the Mid-East, but the only way to physically stop her is to get a court to declare her an “incorrigible.” And, unlike the , she can only marry at age 16 with parental permission.