The families who had loved ones lynched by the KKK beg to differ.

(Newsbusters) — There are different layers of liberal outrage over the demand to see Barack Obama’s birth certificate, and leftist radio host Randi Rhodes took it to ridiculous lengths on Thursday. Somehow, these demands “wounded” black Americans in a way the Ku Klux Klan “never aspired to,” even if this metaphorical wounding is a much lighter sentence than the death sentences the Klan handed out:

Now that we’re done with the birther thing, and we have insulted an entire population of the American people — we have just absolutely wounded, you know, African Americans. . . we have wounded black Americans . . . we have wounded the President, we have wounded his family . . . we’ve wounded an entire population of the United States of America in a way that I don’t think the Ku Klux Klan ever even aspired to, okay.

People are so devastated by what Donald Trump did, and the things that he said, and the racism of the Tea Party, and they’ve been frustrated for a very long time with whites who refused to accept or acknowledge that the Tea Party had been acting in a racist manner, that they were using covert and overt racism, they were using, uh, you know, things that were right in your face and the basketball reference . . . and all the other, you know.”

Keep reading…

What exactly do they want the UN to do? Kill those who “blaspheme” Islam? I’m pretty sure the answer to that question is a resounding yes.

TEHRAN (FNA) — A senior Iranian diplomat lashed out at growing trend of insults to Islam in the West, and called on the United Nations to take proper measures to confront the spread of Islamophobia in the western societies.

Iran’s Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Eshaq Ale-Habib called on the UN and its Committee on Information to take practical steps to promote “religious tolerance” and to counter the growing Islamophobic trend in the West, and to stop the desecration of Islam.

Ale-Habib also condemned the recent act of burning Islam’s holy book, the Quran, by an extremist US pastor, and said the incident runs counter to the UN’s efforts to promote “religious tolerance and mutual respect between religions and cultures.”

HT: Jay

Keep in the mind, the court wasn’t enforcing the man’s wishes to give twice as much to his sons but rather used Sharia law to interpret the amount that should be given to his sons and daughters.

Via Volokh Conspiracy:

That seems to be what happened in Alkhafaji v. TIAA-CREF Individual and Instit. Services LLC, 2010 WL 1435056 (Pa. Ct. Com. Pl. Jan. 14, 2010), which is now on appeal. I’m posting about this now because the briefs were just posted on Westlaw, and confirm the details of the will, as well as giving some extra perspective on the disputes related to what Sharia law provides in such situations.

Prof. Abbass Alkhafaji died, and left a will that apparently said, in relevant part,

(4) About my pension, the beneficiaries are all my biological kids and my current wife, . . . after reducing all costs associated with the house. . . . [The] rest of the pension, if any left, should be divided according to Islamic Laws and Sharia. . . .

(9) In case I have additional monetary benefits from my job, such as life insurance, 401K, 403B or any other retirement funds that I am not aware of, Allah as my witness, They should be divided, after costs associated with the payment of those funds according to Islamic Laws and “Sharia.”

The trial court entered an order that concluded with, “(1) TIAA-CREF Individual and Institutional Services LLC, shall make distribution of the pension accounts of the TIAA-CREF certificates . . . to the decedent’s surviving spouse, . . . in accordance with decedent’s last will and testament dated July 17, 2007, and to his biological children, . . . in accordance of the law of Sharia, mainly [sic], one-eighth share to the surviving spouse, . . . and thereafter, the remaining balance to be divided, two shares each to the six male children, and one share each to the [two] female children.”

Now if Prof. Alkhafaji had specified in his will that he was leaving a 1/8 share to his wife, and then 1/8 to each of his sons and 1/16 to each of his daughters, that would be fine, regardless of whether his motivation was religious or secular. (This is subject to any state law that might give his wife the power to get some minimum prescribed share, but apparently this was not argued in this case, perhaps because part of the argument — which I won’t get into here — was that Prof. Alkhafaji had left his wife certain assets for the duration of her life, with only the remainder after her death to be split between the children.) People are free to discriminate based on sex, religion, race, and so on in their wills, including in their gifts to their children.

Keep reading…

HT: Jay

Of course they would, Obama’s been a doormat.

(Moscow Times) — Amid growing anxiety over whose name will appear on the 2012 presidential ballot, lawmakers and pundits were quick to welcome the news that one president would certainly stand for re-election next year — Barack Obama.

The U.S. president’s announcement, made in an e-mail to supporters Monday, sent many in Moscow praising the achievements of a “reset” in relations that has become a hallmark of both Obama’s and Dmitry Medvedev’s presidencies.

“I will be very happy to see a second Obama term because this will mean a maximum in policy continuity regarding Russia,” Mikhail Fedotov, head of Medvedev’s human right’s council, said by telephone Tuesday.

Fedotov said this was even more the case because there is no clear Republican challenger to Obama.

His comments were echoed by Alexei Malashenko, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, who said a second Obama term would be the best possible outcome for Moscow because there was no more capable or promising leader in current U.S. politics. “He is the first U.S. president completely free of Cold War thinking,” Malashenko explained.

Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, also has enthusiastically embraced Obama as Moscow’s obvious choice. “Obama’s global agenda is much better and more productive than what was proposed by his predecessors,” Kosachyov, who is also a leading member of United Russia, said in comments published on the party’s web site Monday.

HT: Big Peace

All-star sycophant.

(Newsbusters) — Justin Farmer is a reporter for Atlanta’s WSB-TV, and he’s exactly the kind of local-news reporter Barack Obama’s been looking for — the kind that’s too star-struck to be objective. Farmer talked of Obama with the traditional media tingles on the station website (since removed, but preserved by Politico): “I took in the man himself, this man, President Barack Obama. Regardless of one’s political leanings, there’s no doubt this is a gifted and complex man. Think about what he ponders in any given day?”

Farmer also boasted that while Obama is shifting into reelection mode, he was “carefully chosen by the administration, along with a few others, to take his talking points back to Atlanta.” Being happy you were “carefully chosen” to carry talking points? That’s the line most editors might want to unpublish.

Keep reading…

And we’re going to continue funding these people to the tune of almost half a billion dollars annually?

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Friday called on the Palestinian Liberation Organization to withdraw its recognition of Israel.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the announcement of a reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah by saying the Palestinian Authority must “choose between peace with Israel or peace with Hamas.”

Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said Netanyahu “must choose between peace and settlements.”

Speaking after the Friday prayer in Gaza City, Haniyeh said that the PLO should not only demand that Israel chose between settlements and peace, but should also withdraw its recognition of the state.

In a surprise unity deal announced Wednesday, Hamas and Fatah agreed to form a transitional government ahead of elections to take place within the next year.

Allah must be pleased.

KUNAR, Afghanistan (April 29, 2011) — Insurgents raided the home of a soldier from the Afghan National Army, beat and tied up two male relatives and murdered four female relatives in Barabat-Jaba village, Kunar province, April 25.

Reports from the area state that the women, a wife, mother, sister and 4-year-old daughter of the ANA soldier, were shot to death in their home by the insurgents who were looking for the soldier because they believed he was passing information to Coalition Forces.

Unable to locate the soldier, the insurgents killed the women in the house and tied up and beat the males.

The ANA Soldier has returned home from his duty-station in Kandahar after hearing about his murdered family.

The incident is still under investigation by the Afghan Border Police.

Even using ThinkProgress’ very generous tax bill of $11 billion for immigrants, it’s dwarfed by Exxon’s $17.6 billion, the highest amount of any US corporation.

FANG: Hi this is Lee Fang from ThinkProgress. Here in DC after Republicans made large gains in the election last year, the debate started shifting towards giving more tax breaks to large corporations, more tax cuts to the rich. Bank of America for example paid nothing in corporate income taxes last year and now we’re debating the Paul Ryan budget plan that gives large tax cuts to upper income earners. Do you think celebrities or people in the Creative Coalition need another tax cut?

DAWSON: Ok I’m not part of the Creative Coalition but, no.

ALLEN: That’s a lightning round, how’s that!

DAWSON: I will just say immigrants pay more taxes than Exxon!

What are the odds the Justice Department files a lawsuit?

(CBS/AP) — A bill signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer authorizes erection of a security fence along Arizona’s portion of the U.S.-Mexico border, either in a compact with other states or by itself.

Spokesman Matt Benson declined immediate comment Friday on why Brewer signed the bill Thursday and on whether she plans to invoke the authority.

The bill does not specify a cost or make an appropriation but says the state would use donations, inmate labor and private contractors.

Brewer recently asked President Barack Obama to extend the deployment of National Guard troops along the border and for more substantial border fences to block smugglers.

Worried about Muslims worshipping Satan . . . isn’t that kind of redundant?

Kuala Lumpur, Apr 30 (ANI): A Malaysian Islamic preacher, Mohammed Daud Che Ngah, has warned that locally produced horror movies and TV dramas could turn Muslim viewers into ‘polytheists’.

“I think the producers are bent on making horror dramas and films because these shows generate good returns,” The Star quoted Ngah, as saying.

Although he acknowledged that artists should be given the freedom to show their creativity, he insisted that they should emphasise more on religious elements.

Earlier, an activist group called Dewan Pemuda Masjid Malaysia had urged the government to curb horror productions in the country.

Muhammad Asyraf Mohd Ridzuan, the champion of reality show ‘Imam Muda’, has said such movies should be censored to ensure that viewers don’t get deviated from their faith or start worshipping ‘satan’ to destroy other people.

Mitt needs to drop out and get a clue.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney stumbled over an explosive turn of phrase Friday night, telling an audience here that Republicans would figuratively “hang” President Barack Obama with bad economic news.

Speaking at an Americans for Prosperity dinner, Romney’s comment came as he recalled Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign.

“Reagan came up with this great thing about the ‘misery index’ and he hung that around Jimmy Carter’s neck,” Romney said. “Well, we’re going to have to hang the ‘Obama Misery Index’ around his neck.”

“I’ll tell you, the fact that you’ve got people in this country really squeezed, with gasoline getting so expensive, with commodities getting so expensive, families are having a hard making ends meet. So we’re going to have to talk about that,” Romney said.

Romney continued, “We’re going to hang him —” before stopping mid-sentence.

“So to speak — metaphorically,” he clarified. “You have to be careful.”

Any reference to hanging — however unintentional — would be especially loaded in a campaign against the country’s first black president, as Romney apparently recognized.

He quickly recovered from the gaffe and continued his remarks. Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for the former governor, said the context of Romney’s comment was obviously benign.

“It is not what the governor meant and that was very clear in what he actually said,” Saul wrote in an email, responding to a Boston Globe report on Romney’s remark. “It’s a ridiculous exaggeration of his actual comments.”

The Globe’s Glen Johnson first highlighted Romney’s comment online, noting that the “mix of nervous laughter with applause indicated that some in the audience realized its potency.”

They have the brain dead part down pat.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A group of “zombies” gathered outside 8th District Republican Congressman Daniel Webster’s office on Thursday. They weren’t looking for “brains” to eat though. The protesters wore heavy make-up to get in character. They’re members of a group called “Organize Now.

They describe themselves as an issue-based, community action group. They’re upset that Webster’s supporting Wisconsin republican Paul Ryan’s budget plan. It includes deep cuts to social security, Medicare and Medicaid. The group says they dressed as zombies to dramatize their message for Webster.

“Organize Now” member Mike Cantone says, “We’re saying don’t work us ’til we die under the Ryan budget, which Congressman Webster did vote for. This budget would eliminate Medicare as we know it and turn it into a voucher system. It would slash Medicaid benefits to seniors, children and people with disabilities who depend on it. And it threatens the future of social security that we all pay into.”

Joooo-haters hardest hit.

(Seattle PI) — Months after trying to place controversial ads about Israel on Metro buses, the Seattle group behind the ads said its latest effort to put a similar message on billboards has also been rejected.

The group, the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign (SeaMAC), said billboard company Clear Channel Outdoor had placed three of the group’s signs last week and this week.

The signs say, “Equal rights for Palestinians — Stop funding the Israeli military.”

But on Wednesday, Clear Channel announced it was canceling the contract, saying it re-evaluated its decision after people complained, according to SeaMAC.

“We don’t under what is objectionable about equal rights. . .” SeaMAC volunteer Ed Mast said Thursday, standing near billboard on Elliott Avenue West that once had his message. It now said, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”

“This leaves us censored now twice in Seattle.”

Olivia Lippens, president of Clear Channel Outdoor Seattle, said the company is committed to ensuring that “all messages we post, and any websites they promote, adhere to community standards and are not offensive towards any business.”

“Upon further review, it became evident that a campaign sponsored by Stop 30 Billion.org promoted a website that is not in keeping with those standards,” Lippens said in a statement.

Keep reading…

Related: Seattle Leftists Erect Anti-Israel Billboards

There really should be some kind of IQ test before allowing people on national TV.

(Daily Mail) — Never mind who wore what, the View’s Sherri Shepherd had another more controversial question about the Royal Wedding today.

‘Where are the black people?’ the outspoken actress, 44, asked as the panellists critiqued Prince William and Kate Middleton’s ceremony.

The star said she had earlier searched through the footage of guests at Westminster Abbey.

‘Audrey Jones our producer was looking for the black people in the wedding and we found our Rosa Parks moment, because we were like ‘where are the black people’?’ she said.

‘It was like where’s Waldo, where are the black people?’ she added.

‘We found one little black child in the choir but where’s the black people at this wedding?’ she repeated.

‘Wait a minute the Calvary guy, from New York,’ said Goldie Hawn, 65, who was a guest host for the day.

‘Well the guests, there they are,’ said Sherri, pointing to an area in the Abbey reserved for foreign royals, Governor generals and high-level diplomats.

‘They are segregated but they are at the front so we have our Rosa Parks moment,’ she added referring to the African-American civil rights activist Rosa Parks who refused to obey a bus driver’s order to give up her seat for a white passenger on December 1, 1955.

‘I don’t know why they put all the black people over here but they are at the front of the wedding so I ain’t complaining, they got in the front,’ added Sherri.

Hey Mitt, how’s that lead-stuffed albatross treating your neck?

(Ballot Box) — Speaking before a crowd of conservative activists in New Hampshire Friday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney again faced questions about the healthcare plan he championed as Bay State governor.

Romney called the Massachusetts law “an experiment,” admitting that “some parts didn’t work,” but he didn’t directly answer a question on whether or not he regretted signing it into law.

“I went to work to try to solve a problem,” Romney said of the Massachusetts law, which has drawn comparisons to the law championed by President Obama. “It may not be perfect — by the way, it is not perfect — some parts of that experiment worked, some parts didn’t, some things I’d change.”

Some conservative critics have dubbed the law “RomneyCare,” noting its inclusion of a mandate requiring people to purchase health insurance. Romney, meanwhile, blasted the federal healthcare law as “unconstitutional,” warning, “it will bankrupt us.”

“You will note that [Obama] and the Democrats constantly want to give me credit for their plan,” Romney said, alluding to recent comments from Obama and national Democrats likening the two plans. “You know there’s a method to their madness. But let me tell you this, if and when I have the occasion to debate President Obama, I’m gonna ask him this question: ‘Mr. President, why didn’t you call me and ask how it worked?’”

The “progressive” left in a nutshell.

Obama awed by tornado wreckage across South, pledges federal aid — Washington Post

And I’m not cherry picking by any stretch of the imagination, there are hundreds of comments like these.

HT: vangrungy

If the riot cops weren’t there in force, this post would have been about Terry Jones being killed in Dearbornistan.

DEARBORN, Mich. — Florida pastor Terry Jones was outside Dearborn’s City Hall for his planned 5 p.m. protest, drawing a crowd of hundreds.

“We’re glad to be back,” he told reporters. “We’re going to talk about a number of issues. Of course Sharia, jihad, what happened last week and we’re even going to be talking about president Obama’s reelection.”

Counter-protesters lined Michigan Avenue across the street from City Hall. About an hour into the protest, the crowds broke the barricades and a police line. They rushed the street but were quickly contained by riot police crews.

The crowd was throwing water bottles and shoes at supporters of Jones. Police worked to push the crowd back across Michigan Avenue.

At least one arrest was made.

HT: Jack (via Creeping)

Fantastic!

TALLAHASSEE (AP) — The Florida Senate passed a bill and a proposed constitutional amendment Thursday that would ban the use of public and insurance exchange money for abortions, with most Republicans voting in favor and Democrats against.

The amendment (HJR 1179) received 27 votes — the minimum needed to put it on the 2012 ballot. It would ban public funding — already prohibited by federal and state law — and exempt abortion from the Florida Constitution’s strong privacy right.

The bill (HR 79) would exclude abortion coverage from policies obtained through insurance exchanges that states must set up in 2014 under the federal health care overhaul.

Opponents argued that both measures, which also passed the House on Wednesday, would infringe on women’s rights. Supporters often raised moral arguments against abortion.

“We’re not talking about an appendectomy, we’re not talking about a tonsillectomy and we’re not talking about a mastectomy,” said Sen. Steve Oelrich, R-Alachua. “What we’re talking about is ending a human life.”

Both measures will return to the House because of changes made by the Senate. They were parts of a package of six abortion-related measures passed in the House.

Red meat.

(RFT) — ​U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Richard Callahan visited the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis last night to address the fears and frustrations of Muslim Americans who worry they are being racially profiled and wiretapped — and to assure them that the Missouri Legislature’s attempts to ban Sharia law from being considered in state courts here could face Constitutional challenges.

Seated in front of a large Muslim audience during a town hall-style meeting at the Ballwin mosque, Callahan anchored a panel that included fellow federal attorneys (one of whom was Muslim American), as well as three members of the FBI.

“There is a worse kind of Muslim hatred recently,” said Adil Imdad, one of the event’s organizers. “Especially in the last two years, Islamophobia and fear-mongering have been spreading like wildfire, and it’s causing a lot of stress for our youth.”

The problem is now hitting a little closer to home, said Imdad, pointing to three bills currently circulating through the state legislature that seek to limit Sharia law (Islamic law) in Missouri courts. Sharia law could come into play in rulings considering child custody or prisoner rights for Muslims. As we’ve reported, the bills have become a source of controversy.

Callahan responded by hinting that, should anti-Sharia legislation get passed by the Missouri Legislature, it could be overturned by the federal courts. “The Department of Justice has a good history of challenging laws passed by state legislatures,” he said. “If some laws are passed, I think you will see challenges by the federal government on the constitutionality of them.”

Traitorous vermin.

MIAMI (AP) — Stepping up his demand to change the nation’s immigration laws, President Barack Obama promised graduates at a vast, multicultural community college in Miami on Friday that he’ll keep working to help students not legally in the U.S. to become American citizens.

The president’s renewed endorsement of the DREAM Act, which has become a rallying cry for Hispanic and other students around the country, drew enthusiastic applause from more than 3,000 graduates of Miami Dade College at their commencement ceremony. The students are part of an increasingly important political constituency in a state that will be crucial to the president’s 2012 re-election hopes.

The college graduates more Hispanic students than any other higher education institution in the U.S. Obama took note that some students had recently identified themselves publicly as immigrants without legal status in the country.

“Some were brought here as young children and discovered the truth only as adults,” he said. “They put their futures on the line in hopes they will spur the rest of us to live up to our most cherished values.”