Former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta answered questions from members of 9/11 Truth Seattle.org about his testimony before the 9/11 Commission report.
Mineta says Vice President Cheney was “absolutely” already there when he arrived at approximately 9:25 a.m. in the PEOC (Presidential Emergency Operations Center) bunker on the morning of 9/11. Mineta seemed shocked to learn that the 9/11 Commission Report claimed Cheney had not arrived there until 9:58– after the Pentagon had been hit, a report that Mineta definitively contradicted.

Drought graphic // United States

http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html

By Yara Bayoumy MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (Reuters) – U.N. peacekeepers will pursue their mission in south Lebanon despite a car bomb that killed six members of a Spanish battalion, their commander said on Monday.

The attack on a Spanish patrol on Sunday was the first deadly assault on the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) since last year’s war between Israel and Lebanese Shi’ite Hezbollah guerrillas backed by Iran and Syria.

At a solemn commemoration ceremony for the peacekeepers at the Spanish battalion’s base in Marjayoun, Major-General Claudio Graziano, commander of the 13,000-strong force, said:

“I want to reaffirm UNIFIL’s commitment to vigorous pursuit of our mandate for the cause of peace and security in Lebanon, the cause for which our comrades laid down their lives.

“We will continue to work with greater resolve together with the army and the government of Lebanon to fulfill the tasks mandated to us by the U.N. Security Council,” Graziano added.

The ceremony was attended by Spanish Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso and the bodies of the six were then flown to Spain aboard a military plane for a state funeral on Tuesday.

The bombing presents another challenge to the Western-backed Beirut government, locked in a paralyzing political conflict with the Hezbollah-led opposition and shaken by a series of bombings, as well as battles with al Qaeda-inspired militants.

The bombing, which Hezbollah condemned, occurred even though UNIFIL had gone on higher alert after the Lebanese army began fighting Sunni Islamist militants in the north last month.

No group has claimed responsibility, but the Fatah al-Islam group battling the army in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared had threatened UNIFIL earlier this month.

UNIFIL, operating alongside about 15,000 Lebanese troops sent to the south after the July-August war ended, has reported few problems with Hezbollah, which keeps its arms out of sight.

It has seen Sunni militants as a greater peril since al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahri threatened attacks last year.

UNIFIL MANDATE

Timur Goksel, a former UNIFIL spokesman, said he saw the bombing as a “solidarity operation” linked with the Nahr al-Bared fighting, perhaps carried out by a group promoting itself as a “candidate for al Qaeda membership.”

UNIFIL troops with sniffer dogs combed fields near the site of the blast for clues. Conflicting reports said the 40-50 kg (90-110 pound) bomb had been detonated by remote control or by a suicide driver.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the “terrorist attack” and reaffirmed its support of the Lebanese government and army.

In Paris, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the attack was aimed at destabilizing Lebanon.

In Beirut, Siniora’s anti-Syrian cabinet decided to ask the U.N. Security Council to prolong UNIFIL’s mandate, which expires in August, for another year.

UNIFIL has now suffered 266 fatalities since it was set up after a 1978 Israeli invasion.

(Additional reporting by Nadim Ladki in Beirut, Karamallah Daher in Marjayoun, Claudia Parsons at the United Nations and Andrew Hay in Madrid)

A suicidal, genocidal, omnicidal course

Courtesy Leuren Moret, Truthout

The conduct of secret nuclear wars since 1991, through the use of depleted uranium weaponry by the United States and Great Britain with their allies, has taken place in the Middle East, the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Lebanon. It has been carried out for the express purpose of destroying the public health and mutilating the genetic future of vast populations in oil rich and/or pipeline regions.

Carpet and grid bombing with depleted uranium weaponry in Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan has guaranteed permanent radioactive terrain contamination. The recent discovery that U.S. depleted uranium bombs dropped by Israel on Lebanon in 2006 contained enriched uranium suggests covert testing of fourth generation nuclear weapons.

The United States and its allies are fully aware that this weaponry violates the Geneva and Hague Conventions and the 1925 Geneva Poison Gas Protocol.6 It meets the definition of WMD in the U.S. Code7 in two out of three categories. And its use violates U.S. military law.8 since the U.S. is a signatory to The Hague and Geneva Conventions.

The blueprint for depleted uranium radioactive poison gas weaponry – dirty bombs, dirty missiles and dirty bullets – was contained in a declassified memorandum9 dated Oct. 30, 1943. It was addressed to Gen. Leslie Groves, who was head of the Manhattan Project, the U.S. effort to build atomic bombs in World War II.

The recommendation for development of depleted uranium as kinetic energy penetrators was never mentioned in the Groves memo. It was specifically for depopulation.

The Groves memo makes it clear that in 1943, U.S. scientists recommended using radioactive poison gas weapons in order to contaminate the air, water, soil, food, environment and the blood of exposed populations. The long-term contamination is permanent, since uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, making contaminated areas uninhabitable for eternity.

For populations that must continue to live in contaminated areas, the long-term effects are lingering illnesses and mutilation of their DNA. Widespread depleted uranium contamination of DNA in populations results in the potential mutilation of future generations. Mutations induced in the DNA of a single egg or sperm which form a fertilized egg are expressed and repeated in every cell of the developing organism, and defects are passed on to all future generations11.

Not only are U.S. and allied soldiers exposed and civilian populations genocidally targeted, but the depleted uranium pollution is now global.12,13 In reality, we are all Gulf War veterans.

Depleted uranium poison gas weaponry, used on a regional scale, meets U.S. National Security Council goals as stated in the “Global 2000 Report: Vision of a Gloomy World” (1980).14 This report recommended that depopulation in third world countries was imperative to the U.S. government purpose of securing mineral and other strategic resources.

Global atmospheric pollution from depleted uranium particulates will result in massive depopulation on a global scale. By increasing death rates and decreasing birth rates globally, more than 2 billion people will be eliminated.

Depleted uranium is the ideal weapon to bring about the New World Order, which is global depopulation. In just a few years it has turned Planet Earth into a Death Star.

Depopulation and the accumulation of capital

The following is the depopulation policy thesis set out in this paper: Intentional depopulation and massive genocide are the core policies by which ruling elites drive international relations, economic aid development, strategic weapons development and the design of engineered wars.

The operational goal of this intentional depopulation policy is the reduction of the human population. With presidential approval, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger presented 2 billion people as the desired level of reduction, but in fact the depopulation policy may seek a 2-4 billion reduction, or up to two thirds of the world’s population.

This depopulation policy is intended by the world’s ruling elite to result in control of mineral and strategic resources and water and total control of the world’s wealth. One of the most common political epithets for the depopulation policy is “The New World Order.”

“All wars are economic in origin,” said Bernard Baruch, advisor to presidents during World Wars I and II.

Even the 13th century Crusades in the Middle East were not religious wars, but an attempt by special interests in Europe to restabilize and take control over the wealth and revenues of the Silk Road.15 Theology was created to eliminate the “enemies of God” in order to promote and justify the wars of the Crusades, which were fought for a hidden economic benefit. History in the Middle East repeats itself in the 21st century.

The New World Order depopulation policy was consciously accelerated during World War II with the Manhattan Project. During World War II, the Manhattan Project developed three illegal and infamous weapons of mass destruction: the atomic bombs dropped on the civilian populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, a defoliant developed as Agent Orange for the Vietnam War, and depleted uranium radioactive poison gas weaponry used in Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Lebanon since 1991. These weapons of mass destruction were developed specifically for the purpose of depopulation.

After World War II, the international ruling elite – the Illuminati, London Money Power, Bilderberg Group, the Club of Rome, and Skull and Bones – and, in the U.S., the Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission, National Security Council and U.S. State Department have all made depopulation of 2 billion people their top priority. The purpose of this planned human mass genocide is to maximize profits and the accumulation of wealth.

Depopulation in Africa

Depopulation policy has targeted Africa more heavily than any other continent and has resulted in the ruling elites looting its vast natural resources. It is a “treasure box” of minerals and precious, rare and strategic metals, with more diversity of resource wealth than any other continent.

In the book, “Tiny Rowland: The Ugly Face of Neocolonialism in Africa,”16 are details of the role that Tiny Rowland played, as agent of the British Queen, in turning the 1960s dreams of independence of the African nations into the nightmare of a dying continent, plagued by starvation and disease. Rowland was the CEO and chief architect of Lonrho, the British multinational company that was the headquarters for looting African countries through economic dirty tricks.

Through Lonrho, Rowland became the biggest Western businessman in Africa. The book also details how Rowland set up Rio Tinto Mines for the considerable private and personal uranium holdings, worth over $6 billion, of the Queen of England in former British colonies. Not bad for a German former Nazi youth corps member, who was a convicted criminal in Germany before he changed his name, moved to England and became the Queen’s buccaneer.

The depopulation policy thesis extends to international collaboration and alliance between private organizations, universities, corporations, governments, the military and quasi-governmental bodies. The concept for AIDS, a new class of bio-weapon, came out of the Club of Rome and was made in laboratories of the Department of Defense.

AIDS was one of the early “exotic” bio-weapons developed. It was developed and administered by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). Congress funded the AIDS development project, used to depopulate Africa in combination with famine, two ways known to rapidly increase death rates.

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With the City of Houston Council Elections in November, the month of June 2007 is most crucial for all the candidates vying for different positions to raise as much money as possible.

Zaf Tahir is running for At-Large Five Position and his supporters organized the first big fundraiser for him at the Sugarland Marriott this past week. Among those attending was Former Mayor Pro-Tem Honorable Gordon Quan, Texas State Representative Honorable Ms. Dora Olivio, Houston City Councilman M. J. Khan, Officials of Pakistan-American Council of Texas (PACT) and appreciable numbers of friends, well-wishers and family members.

Everybody talked about the integrity and entrepreneurial capabilities of Zaf Tahir and how his asset of business acumen will go a long way in making the City of Houston more commerce-friendly and less permit-intensive.

For more information on Zaf Campaign, one can visit: www.ZafForHouston.com.

9-26

By Faisal Kutty

“Nothing personal sir, but your packages are not allowed on passenger airlines,” said a United Parcel Service customer service agent, sitting in an American call centre. She was explaining to me that my package could not be delivered on an “early a.m.” basis from Toronto to Peterborough.

I was interrogating the agent about why this was so, since I had been using UPS without any problems since starting my practice in 1996. Initially reluctant, the agent eventually confessed that when my account number was entered into their system, the “Flight Guardian” software flashed a red signal.

“Sir,” she said, “after 9/11 we can only pick up packages if the green light is given.”

The next day I called the UPS head office and inquired about the situation. The supervisor apologized and informed me that I could use the expedited service within Canada, but that I did not have the requisite clearance to use this service to the U.S.

We will never know how many Canadians have been so specially designated on more than a dozen lists maintained by the United States. The proliferation of these watch lists around the globe has been a troubling development in the “war on terror.”

Now the Canadian government will complicate the situation even more by introducing its own no-fly list (set to be launched on June 18, 2007), which will inevitably be shaped by, and be available to, the Americans and perhaps even others.

As we consider the need to improve our intelligence and law enforcement systems, we must have an open and informed dialogue about what measures truly make us safer while ensuring that our fundamental values and liberties are not sacrificed.

The proper forum for such a debate is our legislature.

Bypassing this necessary debate in introducing the cleverly named “Passenger protect program” is irresponsible and cavalier, particularly given what we learned from the case of Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen who was rendered to Syria for torture while in transit through New York.

This charge is not being made lightly, as the information- sharing protocols and mechanisms, which were criticized by Justice Dennis O’Connor in the Arar inquiry findings, have not been improved or addressed – yet Ottawa is pushing ahead with its list.

Though the government has claimed national security privilege in refusing to confirm or deny this, the Smart Border Declaration and the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, as well as intelligence agreements, make it certain that the list will cross-fertilize with U.S., and perhaps even other nations’ lists.

Making lengthy watch lists based on subjective and political criteria and then giving the power to add and remove names to agencies that have a vested interest in the national security agenda is akin to asking the fox to guard the hen house.

Such lists – they will inevitably fill up quickly with “false positives,” political dissidents, those whom our friends and neighbours subjectively view as threats – have not yet, as far as the public is aware, caught any terrorists in the U.S.

Indeed, common sense should make us wonder how someone can be too guilty to fly and yet be too innocent to be charged. Should those who pose a threat to our security be kept off our flights, but be free to roam our streets?

To make matters worse, real terrorists may not even be placed on the list for fear of tipping them off; no kidding, this is the official U.S. position.

How can such a list provide anything more than a false sense of security while leaving it rife for blacklisting innocent people as well as racial and religious profiling?

The no-fly list will threaten many basic rights and leave little practical recourse.

Yes, in theory there is the office of reconsideration. But the inability to know whether you are on the list until boarding time, the potential use of secret evidence as well as the use of unreliable and illegally obtained information by foreign sources, will make it near impossible to get off the list in many cases.

This is based on a close review of the U.S. experience as well as the plight of individuals who are already encountering difficulties in flying within Canada without Ottawa even having an official list of our own yet.

The extraterritorial application of U.S. watch lists is already impacting us; how will we fare once we have our own list interacting with, confirming and/or merging with other lists?

Hasty and ill-considered national security initiatives, which are essentially aimed at managing public perceptions more than they are in really addressing legitimate and manageable security concerns, will not move us forward in the fight to disrupt terrorism.

It will only complicate the lives of innocent Canadians and increase the opportunity for religious and racial profiling.

No matter how vigorously it is denied, racial/religious profiling is too often the reality for a growing number among Canada’s Muslim and Arab communities and certainly in the national security context.

The experience of many Canadians who have already been caught up in the web of watch lists, in areas other than flying – be it for opening bank accounts, wiring money, sending courier packages, etc. – does not bode well for the no-fly list.

And my package? The one that was flagged by “Flight Guardian?”

Well, I drove to a depot close to my office and sent it off – without using an account number and by paying cash.

So much for the security offered by a watch list.

Faisal Kutty, a Toronto lawyer and doctoral candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, is also vice-chair and counsel to the Canadian Council on American Relations.

9-26

By Nilofar Suhrawardy, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

NEW DELHI- Selected as the winning candidate for becoming India’s 13th President, Pratibha Devisingh Patil is just a step away from becoming the first woman to hold the country’s highest constitutional office.

After days of deliberation and suspense coupled with hectic parleys between politicians, her name was finally agreed on last Thursday (June 14) between the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and its ally–the Left bloc.

Making the announcement in the presence of PM Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi described it as a “historic moment” in 60th year of the republic. Patil (72) is a Congress leader and a qualified lawyer from Maharashtra. She has experience as a politician as well as an administrator, having held key positions in the Maharashtra unit of Congress. She held ministerial portfolios before becoming Rajya Sabha’s deputy chairperson for two years from November 1986. Patil went into political wilderness after her tenure as a Lok Sabha member ended in 1996. She was brought in as Rajasthan governor in November 2004. Now she is just a step away from holding the topmost position in the country.

Expressing happiness at her selection, soon after her arrival from Jaipur (Rajasthan), Patil told reporters at the airport (June 16): “My candidature for the top post is a big step for women. I am very happy to be selected as the UPA candidate. This shows that India has a lot of respect for women.” Her candidature would “inspire” other women and help in their empowerment, she said. “But empowerment will not come automatically. They will have to work for it,” she said.

Patil first called on Sonia at her residence and discussed issues related to presidential elections. Later, after meeting PM Singh at his official residence, dismissing speculations of her playing the role of a “mere rubber stamp,” she said: “There is no question why I should be a mere rubber stamp. I have my own thinking and I have my own individuality.”

Interestingly, Patil’s name as a possible candidate was thrown in virtually at the last minute as Congress and the Left remained rigid on their respective stands. Among the names doing the rounds were that of Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, and senior Congress member Karan Singh, sources said. Earlier, the Left had favored External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who had been strongly opposed by Congress. Expecting this logjam, PM Singh had apparently been prepared with a list of possible woman candidates. When A.B. Bardhan (CPI) said: “It is time for a woman. After 60 years, the next president should be one,” Singh came up with Patil’s name. “What about Pratibha Patil?” he asked and that settled the issue. Noted Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande’s name as a possible woman candidate was also considered.

Welcoming Patil’s candidature, Kalam, who demits office next month, said: “Fantastic!”

Hailing the move, Girija Vyas, chairperson of National Commission for Women, said: “It is a sign that Indian democracy has come of age. I thank all who decided to field a woman in the presidential election.” The women organizations are hopeful that with Patil as the President, greater sensitivity will be shown to women’s issues, particularly the long held-up bill providing 33 percent reservation to women in legislatures.

Women politicians of rival groups, however, think otherwise. Displaying a different stand, Sushma Swaraj (Bharatiya Janata Party) said: “For the Congress, loyalty to the Gandhi family has been the main condition for the nomination while for the Left, the criteria has been survival of the UPA. Pratibha Patil is UPA’s choice under compulsion, she is not a natural choice.”

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief J. Jayalalitha said: “We have decided not to support a Congress nominee. It does not matter whether it is a man or a woman. We will go by our decision.”

Though before her nomination Patil seldom hit headlines, in the political field she has made her mark. She is the first woman to hold the office of governor of Rajasthan’s governor. At the time of her nomination, she was the only woman governor in the country. She was first woman president of Maharastra Pradesh Congress committee (MPCC). She is the fourth woman to run for presidential polls and the first one with the electoral edge numerically in her favor. The first time that a woman entered presidential polls was in 1967, but then Manohara Holkar failed to get a single vote, with Dr Zakir Hussain becoming the President. In 1969 elections, Gurcharan Kaur managed to get 940 votes against 401,515 got by V.V.Giri, the winning candidate. Freedom fighter Lakshmi Sahgal was the first woman candidate to be fielded by any political party. Selected by the Left for 2002 elections against President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who won with 922,884 votes, Sahgal got 107, 366 votes.

As of now, Patil is slated to be the winning candidate. The UPA-Left combine with votes of Bahujan Samaj Party has the numerical edge with more than 570,000 votes; National Democratic Alliance holding about 354,689 votes, and third front–106,281 votes.

With the Election Commission having issued a notification, the process of presidential election has been formally set in motion, June 16 being the first date for filing nominations. The last date for filing nominations is June 30 and for withdrawal of nominations is July 4. The counting is scheduled for July 21. Lok Sabha Secretary General P.D.T Achary has been appointed Returning Officer for the election.

9-26

By Bob Wood, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

As investors, we are always looking for great opportunities to buy something low enough in price now to assure a nice profit in the future. But in today’s environment, stocks and bonds sell at premium prices. Those prices are a result, in part, of the propaganda we often hear reported as news about the economy. But one asset class is now shaping up to what might prove a great buying opportunity.

Where in the world can we look to find undervalued investments? My best guess is that in the year ahead, real estate may well prove to be a wonderful investment. That’s right — good old residential real estate!

Let’s face facts, as much as that sounds opposite to what passes today for economic analysis. Currently, we hear so much about the ‘’Goldilocks economy’’ where every asset class seems to reflect all possible good news, present and future. But isn’t real estate now under enormous pressure? And where that pressure exists, prices will drop and present rare opportunities for astute, patient investors.

But patience is required, since the worst is yet to come for real estate prices, I think. Both enormous excesses in granting credit and growing demand for houses in the past few years have resulted in inflated home values. But that situation is rapidly changing. As home sellers more widely accept the bad news ahead, prices should fall into very reasonable territory.

And since virtually everyone who has wanted to own a home, or maybe several of them, already has one, future demand appears to be muted, at best. Due to changing times, the supply of homes now far exceeds demand, and that helps bring prices down.

Two other factors helping future real estate buyers involve the vaunted Spring/Summer selling season. It is now drawing to a close, and home sales are far below estimates. In my local area, a densely populated location in Florida, the percentage of single family homes listed that sold ran about 6% in May 2007, slightly higher than the trend for the past few months. In May 2005, that number was closer to 50%. Recent condo sales have been even worse, with about 4% of listed units selling in May.

In Fort Myers, Florida a developer held an auction to sell his remaining unsold townhouses. What made this a newsworthy item was that some of the units sold at auction for just under half of what previous buyers had paid at the end of the housing boom in the summer of 2005. Of course, those early buyers were none too pleased to see the value of their homes cut almost in half, but that happens to people who buy during manias such as the real estate bubble now ended. Remember those who bought technology stocks in the late 90s when “perfection” added cost to those assets, as well?

Those of you living in the Detroit area can well see what has changed in the real estate market there as well as or better than anyone else in the country. Also, investors living in the Cleveland area may see much more opportunity in real estate now than they dared to think possible two years ago. We can thank those government officials and domestic companies who pushed for globalization for the economic hard times now seen in these two industrial areas.

But an astute, patient investor can begin to look around for bargains most anywhere, knowing full well that this is actually early in the game for buyers looking for bargains. And bargain prices are much easier to find now than they were two years ago.

To be sure, though, there is plenty of time for investors to look for bargains in homes. By now we are all well aware of problems in the “sub-prime” mortgage market. Too many home buyers with marginal qualifications were granted credit for mortgages. Those buyers were convinced to buy by the constant sales pitch that owning a home would be almost as cheap as renting. Unclear to or unconsidered by to too many buyers were those ancillary costs borne by owners that renters never see.

Think about taxes, insurance, repairs and maintenance costs. Renters simply pay the going market rate for rental properties, while owners pay all costs. And in some areas, those costs are rising faster than they have ever risen in the past. So now, many new home owners find themselves unable to keep up with the true costs of ownership. For others who squeezed into unaffordable homes with the use of creative financing options like adjustable rate mortgages, the teaser rates used to lure them won’t last forever.

As we know, the real estate boom ended about two years ago. For many buyers, those low, introductory interest rates are now due to reset to current market rates. For buyers with marginal qualifications, those rates are much higher than their initial rates. This means increases in their monthly payments. But with the savings rate for consumers now residing in negative territory, budget stretching is probably unlikely. No discretionary income remains for making these higher payments, since it is already being spent.

The bad news for current home owners is that a huge portion of those adjustable rate mortgages are facing higher rates in the fourth quarter of this year. That factor should add even more real estate supply over and above today’s bloated inventories. And this may help depress prices even further.

For these reasons, I think waiting until the end of 2007 to begin the search for a bargain real estate purchase makes sense. It is when others think that buying real estate is crazy that you should be ready with cash for a down payment, knowing that buyers will be scarce and sellers will be desperate to sell. What will help buyers as much as anything will be the knowledge that buying a house or condo is not a necessity. If that perfect home is not selling at the bargain price you want to pay for it, you can simply move along, as others will become available.

To be sure, I am talking about a kind of speculation here. But I am not advocating that readers of this column should rush into the real estate “flipping” game. I advocate investing, not trading, and that means buying a great house or condo and keeping it until the economic environment improves. That process could take years. And buyers will have to wait patiently during that time, while continuing to incur the costs of ownership.

But I believe that the bargains will be plenty, and prices should fall to levels where a home can be bought at such a reasonable price that those additional costs can be recovered at the time of sale well into the future. The sheer volume of homes available for sale later this year should provide wonderful buying opportunities, maybe even as good as those for buying townhouses in Fort Myers, which are now selling at half their prior asking prices.

Whether or not you really need another home, prices could fall so low that investing in real estate will make sense. And until stocks and bonds become more reasonably priced, hiding out in real estate could make the perfect option. For now, it seems more reasonable than investing in stocks, where so few bargains present themselves as a great warning sign. Those people standing in line to pay more than the listed sales prices for homes in 2005 should have been seen as a warning by smart buyers, who would wait for the crowd to tire and thin before going in search of properly priced homes themselves.

Start looking now, but waiting a few more months, I think, will be the best approach. With asset values so inflated in other markets, real estate might well be the best place to seek bargains now.

Have a great week
Bob

Bob Wood ChFC, CLU Yusuf Kadiwala. Registered Investment Advisors, KMA, Inc., invest@muslimobserver.com.

9-26

Honest teen returns lost cash

WEST NEW YORK,NJ— An honest teen is being praised for returning $12,000 in cash that he found in the washroom of a New Jersey restaurant. Yousry Desooky,16, told the Advance newspaper that he saw the envelope on the floor of the bathroom stall.

The words “For Tahir. 11,875” were written on one side, and when the teen looked inside, he found a thick stack of hundreds and twenties. The high school junior immediately informed his dad who left a note at the restaurant for the rightful owner after asking around if anyone had dropped the note.

Guessoum Tahir, the owner of the cash, came back and relieved that it is safe. He said he had gotten the money from a friend, Mount Vernon resident Ibraihim Taibi, who had given it to Tahir to pay him back for a 2003 Honda CRV he bought at a Pennsylvania dealer’s auction.

“I’m thinking, 90 percent, I’m not gonna find the money. I just accept the loss and that’s it,” said Tahir, who owns an auto repair shop in Manhattan. “Thank God it was honest people.”

And Yousry learned firsthand that honesty does, in fact, pay.

Tahir took $1,200 from the stack of cash and handed it right back to the teen.

“I’ll save it for college,” said Yousry, who aspires to be a civil engineer.

Faith leaders launch push against hunger and poverty

Hundreds of national and regional leaders from major faith traditions joined nearly 1000 people of faith at Washington’s National Cathedral for the second Interfaith Convocation on Hunger.

Organized by Bread for the World and sponsored by the Interfaith Anti-Hunger Coordinators, the event brought together leaders of Roman Catholic, Orthodox, evangelical and ecumenical Protestant denominations, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, and Jewish traditions, and other faith groups to call on the president and Congress to renew their commitment to end hunger. The event was held in conjunction with The Gathering 2007, a four-day conference organized by Bread for the World in partnership with twenty-nine denominations and religious organizations.

Imam Mohamed Magid, Executive Director, All Dulles Area Muslim Society, Vice-President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Muhammad Haq, The Islamic Dawah Center, Houston, Texas and Imam Yahya Hendi, Muslim Chaplain, Georgetown University participated in the event.

CAIR plans Oklahoma City office

The Council on American Islamic Relations is planning to open a office in Oklahoma City. The local chapter was approved by the national organization and held a successful dinner in May. It is in the process of hiring a full-time executive director. The staff may be expanded later.

“We will work hand-in-hand with people of other faiths to build a more solid foundation of interfaith relations in our state,” said Lobna Hewedi, CAIR-OK chairwoman.

We want to promote a positive image of Islam and promote civil rights for all Americans regardless of their faith,” Hewedi said.

She said CAIR-OK will also work with local law enforcement agencies, educational institutions and houses of worship to foster mutual understanding and tolerance.

Plans for New Castle mosque invite concerns from neighbours

NEW CASTLE, NY–The Upper Westchester Muslim Society plans to build a 24,690 square foot Islamic center on more than 8 acres of land in New Castle. Neighbours voiced their concerns about noise, traffic, and other changes at a meeting two weeks ago. A few even called for the town to reject the mosque plans, the Journal News reported.

Several Muslims attended the meeting to dispel the concerns. Before the meeting, Lamyaa Elzoghby said they came to support the application and show that they are normal and that not all Muslims are terrorists.

“I want to see how people react when they see us as families with children, normal,” said Elzoghby, who lives in Yorktown Heights and whose husband, Hussein Elzoghby, is on the board of the Muslim Society.

The Muslim Society, which has about 35 member families, was formally organized in 1997 and now holds prayer services in rented office space in Thornwood. Anees Shaikh, who lives in Yorktown and is the vice president of the society’s executive committee, said the location limits the things the society can do, including religious education for the children and weekly prayer services.

Shaikh said there isn’t a large growth in the population of Muslims in northern Westchester, but the Islamic center building is needed because of a growing demand for the services it can provide, especially education for second-generation Muslim-Americans, and for outreach to neighbours. About 80 to 100 people attend Friday prayers.

“I don’t think our needs are really that different than any other faith group in the area,” he said.

The Upper Westchester Muslim Society wants to build a two-story building at 130 Pines Bridge Road with a prayer hall with separate spaces for men and women, a social hall, meeting rooms, classrooms, a daily prayer room, a baby-sitting room and other small rooms. The plans include 78 parking spaces. Because of the slope of the land, only one story will be visible from the road.

City planners deny Islamic school request

FORTH SMITH, AK–The Fort Smith Planning Commission on Tuesday denied a request by the Fort Smith Islamic Center to operate a school next to the center,the SW Times reported.

The Islamic Center received a conditional-use permit to construct a mosque and school at 2401 S. 28th St. in 2002, before abandoning that plan and purchasing the former First Church of Christ Scientist at 1800 S. Albert Pike in January 2005.

Officials with the Islamic Center hoped to build a 4,400-square-foot education facility in the southwest corner of the mosque property.

While no one expressed opposition to the plan at a planning commission study session a week ago, about 20 people raised their hands at Tuesday’s meeting to signify their opposition to the proposed school.

About nine of those opposing the Islamic Center’s request addressed the commission.

Most comments addressed concerns about traffic, the addition of the building possibly exacerbating existing drainage problems, the facility not matching the existing character of the neighbourhood, an adverse affect on property values and parking.

Muslims donate food in Rock Island

ROCK ISLAND, IA–The Muslim community is fighting hunger and stereotypes in Iowa by donating food to the needy through the Churches United project.

“We should get busy serving our neighbor and learn about one another,” said Ahmed Elkhaldy, president of the Muslim American Society-Iowa.

The group has so far delivered 500 pounds of meat and has plans to return monthly with more to feed the hungry.

“I think they’re demonstrating there is a far more positive side of Islam than what a few have hijacked and turned into something else,” said Mike Wakefield, Barnabas Uplift.

Roundtable participants dismiss Muslim stereotypes

DECATUR, IL–An event titled “Islam: Its Teachings, Perceptions and Misperceptions” was held at the Decatur Public Library, the Herald Review reported. Muslim panellists at the event included Laila Muhammad, executive director of Ash-Shamsiyyah or “The Umbrella,” an anti-domestic violence program in Chicago; Suleman Chaudhary of Decatur, a graduate student at the University of Illinois; Imam Johonnie Shabazz of Masjid Walihasan, a mosque in Decatur; Imam Darnell Karim of the Harvey Islamic Center; and Muhammad Abdullah of the Muslim Reading Room and Study Center in Champaign.

“God has made us in different colors and with different languages so we may get to know each other,” Karim said. “People hear the word ‘differences,’ and they think it’s negative. But the word ‘difference’ is good in the eyesight of God. No matter what your denomination, we are people of faith. We are trying to understand what is going on in the world.”

Karim said with recent stories in the news media focused on the actions of Muslims in the Mideast. When people hear the word “Muslim,” they often hear “terrorist,” he said.

“The media needs to tell people that Islam is a religion of peace,” Karim said. “When you see a picture of a man with a machine gun, that is not Islam.”

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Non-citizens may win right to vote in Boston

Boston–June 18–The Green Rainbow Party of Massachusetts, Boston Chapter voted unanimously to support a petition to allow non-citizen residents of Boston to vote in municipal elections, which was introduced on April 11, 2007 to the Boston City Council by city councilor Felix Arroyo and supported by city councilors Chuck Turner, Charles Yancey, Sam Yoon, and Michael Ross.

Boston is home to over 150,000 immigrants, representing over 25% of the population and nearly 30% of the work force. Immigrants own over 8,000 businesses in Greater Boston, and generate $12.3 billion of economic activity in the region. Nearly two-thirds of those immigrants are currently not eligible to vote.

Arroyo believes that excluding such a significant portion of the City’s population from voting on issues that effect their lives undermines the health of our democracy.

“They are already paying taxes, they are already authorized to be here, and they are participants in the life of the city,” Arroyo argued.

Until 1926, twenty-two U.S. states and territories permitted non-citizens to vote.

If the non-citizen voting petition is approved by the Legislature, about 95,000 legal immigrant residents would get the right to vote, and the number of eligible voters in Boston would increase by as much as one third, although non-citizens still could not vote in state or federal elections.

There are currently about 280,000 registered voters in Boston, according to Election Department figures.

To move forward, Arroyo’s petition must receive approval from a majority of councilors and be signed by Mayor Thomas Menino, who is still undecided.

Ali Noorani, director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said, “Boston is a big fish. It does change the dynamics.”

It is believed that immigrant voting will encourage civic education and political literacy.

Several U.S. cities allow all residents to vote regardless of their citizenship status, and similar initiatives are being considered in New York, San Francisco, and Denver.

The State of Massachusetts risks losing one of its ten congressional seats due to resident departures. Thanks to legal immigration, the state’s population did not decrease. The largest immigrant population in Boston as of 2000 is Caribbean. Because of immigration, non-whites became the majority in Boston in 2000.

All legal permanent residents must agree to take up arms for the United States. Tens of thousands of non-citizens serve in the U.S. armed forces and hundreds of non-citizen soldiers have died in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Muslim Homechoolers Graduation Ceremony

Revere, MA–June 14–Their parents clapped and cheered as twelve Muslim homeschoolers received certificates of promotion and gifts on Thursday evening, June 14th. The End of School Year Celebration was held at the Boston Dialogue Foundation, an Islamic center in Revere, Massachusetts.

The celebration was a combined potluck and awards ceremony for the students. The third, fourth, and fifth grade students gave presentations on character building, while the first and second graders sang Islamic songs.

“Your children are very smart, MashaAllah,” A school staff member told the parents before introducing each student and the subject of their presentation.

Myssa, a third grader, whose presentation was on good manners said, “Every Muslim should be polite so other people can see how polite we are.”

“I should have self-control to set an example for little kids,” Elaf, a fifth grader, said about the importance of self-control in her life.

Sara Erritouni, a second grader, gave a final presentation on Eid Al Fitr. She explained that on the Eid, Muslims wear their best clothes. They go to pray in the mosque, and children get a lot of gifts from their parents.

The students, who come from Revere and other nearby cities, are part of a homeschooling organization called Ace It Education. The organization offers first through fifth grade. The students learn Qur’an, Arabic, and Islamic studies in addition to regular school subjects. They meet Monday through Friday for six hours a day at the Boston Dialogue Foundation and are taught by a staff of five full and part-time teachers. Ace It Education functions like a full-time Islamic school, but for various logistical reasons, such as lack of space and the difficulty of complying with Massachusetts school regulations, the organization has chosen to keep its homeschooling status, at least for another year.

At a recent parent’s meeting, a staff member from the Boston Dialogue Foundation said that the mosque is interested in buying a building or renting classroom space in an unused Catholic school in Revere in order to establish a full-time Islamic school.

If a school is formed, it would be the first Islamic school in Boston’s North Shore.

The Boston Dialogue Foundation was founded in July 2000 to serve the Turkish community and other Muslims. According to its website, its mission is to promote mutual understanding, respect, and collaboration between followers of different religious traditions.

As for the upcoming school year, Ace It Education has extended its program to include sixth grade and is accepting a limited number of new applications.

Center for Arabic Culture holds Open House

Newton, MA–June 17–The Center for Arabic Culture hosted an Open House to meet the teachers on Sunday, June 17. Twenty persons attended the event. Because twelve new families signed up during the Open House, the number of classes was increased from 3 to 5.

CAC wants to provide a permanent and visible presence of Arabic culture in the Boston area.

CAC hopes to become the first choice for Arab-American social expression.

Its programs include visual arts, film, dance, and theater productions from the Arab world, lectures, conferences and workshops focused on Arabic culture, history, and the Arab-American experience. CAC promotes Arabic culture in all of its regional and historic varieties.

Salma Abu Ayyash, who is on the CAC Board of Directors, told TMO, “I was interested in promoting Arab culture to present an alternative to the vilification of Arabs after 9/11. I think through art, music and cultural exchange we can assert our humanity and fight the prejudice and misinformation that is widespread in the USA about Arab culture.”

CAC offers Arabic language classes on Sundays to kids and adults. The classes are only 1 1/2 hours, with a light homework load, ideal for those families who are overwhelmed by the intense Sunday School Arabic school curriculum at area mosques.

This fall will be the second semester of the Arabic program, which takes place in three classrooms at Mt. Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts, and offers qualified teachers and small class sizes. Arabic classes will begin September 9. Tuition is $300 per semester.

CAC focuses on both academic empowerment and cultural enrichment activities to equip Arab-American youth with the tools to speak, read and write Arabic. The curriculum for ages 4-16 includes language, culture, music, dance, art and calligraphy.

Six year old Giacomo, a Palestinian-Italian American who attended CAC last year, told TMO that he liked “the games that [kindergarten teacher] Khitam did.”

An adult language course is offered for ages 16 and above. This course is a beginner level course in Modern Standard Arabic. Adult students will learn the alphabet, reading and writing.

The CAC’s Arabic language program enables Arab-American children and young adults to experience the beauty, flexibility, and heritage of the Arabic language.

CAC does not endorse any religion; the curriculum is respectful of all religions.

In its resolve to maintain its independence and objectivity, CAC has no affiliation with any government or any non-cultural organizations.

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