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"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened"
Featuring:
Somali Privilege?
Tom McLaughlin
"Know who you are standing with"
"Show me your friends and I'll show you your future"
~~~lll~~~
ROMNEY REACHES OUT TO RESET CAMPAIGN NET FOR 2016
WaPo: “Mitt Romney is moving quickly to reassemble his national political network, calling former aides, donors and other supporters over the weekend and on Monday in a concerted push to signal his seriousness about possibly launching a 2016 presidential campaign. Romney’s message, as he told one senior Republican, was that he ‘almost certainly will’ make what would be his third bid for the White House…Romney’s activity indicates that his declaration of interest Friday to a group of 30 donors in New York was more than the release of a trial balloon. Instead, it was the start of a deliberate effort by the 2012 nominee to carve out space for himself in an emerging 2016 field also likely to include former Florida governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Romney has worked the phones over the past few days, calling an array of key allies to discuss his potential 2016 campaign.”
First in the nation phone call - WashEx: “On Saturday morning, Romney phoned Tom Rath, a former senior adviser in New Hampshire, to give him a personal update. According to Rath, Romney confirmed ‘he is taking a look at this, he’s giving it serious consideration, thinking about what it would mean, what it would take to get involved.’
WaPo: “Mitt Romney is moving quickly to reassemble his national political network, calling former aides, donors and other supporters over the weekend and on Monday in a concerted push to signal his seriousness about possibly launching a 2016 presidential campaign. Romney’s message, as he told one senior Republican, was that he ‘almost certainly will’ make what would be his third bid for the White House…Romney’s activity indicates that his declaration of interest Friday to a group of 30 donors in New York was more than the release of a trial balloon. Instead, it was the start of a deliberate effort by the 2012 nominee to carve out space for himself in an emerging 2016 field also likely to include former Florida governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Romney has worked the phones over the past few days, calling an array of key allies to discuss his potential 2016 campaign.”
First in the nation phone call - WashEx: “On Saturday morning, Romney phoned Tom Rath, a former senior adviser in New Hampshire, to give him a personal update. According to Rath, Romney confirmed ‘he is taking a look at this, he’s giving it serious consideration, thinking about what it would mean, what it would take to get involved.’
May speak with other Sixteeners at RNC Winter Meeting this week - “Governor Romney is one among several prominent Republican officials, and leaders, who were invited.” – RNC Communication Director Sean Spicer. -Fox News
Former running mate Ryan stands aside - AP: “Republican Rep. Paul Ryan announced Monday that he will not run for president in 2016, instead focusing on his work as chairman of a powerful tax-writing committee in Congress. Ryan, of Wisconsin, was the Republican candidate for vice president in 2012…‘After giving it a lot of thought, I’ve decided not to run for president,’ Ryan said in a statement. ‘Our work at the House Ways and Means Committee over the next few years will be crucial to moving America forward, and my job as chairman deserves undivided attention.’” -Fox News
PAUL NH VISIT TO FOCUS ON GUNS, COMMON CORE
The Hill: “Sen. Rand Paul [R-Ky.] will visit the early voting state of New Hampshire on Wednesday to meet with business leaders, political leaders and activists ahead of a potential run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. According to an email from RAND PAC, the political action committee backing Paul, the Kentucky Republican will focus on two issues in particular that are important to grassroots voters: guns and Common Core education standards. Paul will hold a Second Amendment Supporters event at the Londonderry Fish & Game Club at noon on Wednesday. Later in the day, he’ll hold a question and answer session on Common Core education standards. Common Core could be an important issue in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.” -Fox News
The Hill: “Sen. Rand Paul [R-Ky.] will visit the early voting state of New Hampshire on Wednesday to meet with business leaders, political leaders and activists ahead of a potential run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. According to an email from RAND PAC, the political action committee backing Paul, the Kentucky Republican will focus on two issues in particular that are important to grassroots voters: guns and Common Core education standards. Paul will hold a Second Amendment Supporters event at the Londonderry Fish & Game Club at noon on Wednesday. Later in the day, he’ll hold a question and answer session on Common Core education standards. Common Core could be an important issue in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.” -Fox News
AFTER PUBLIC THREATS, nOBAMA AND GOP LEADERS HUDDLE IN PRIVATE
NYT: “In the halls of the White House and the corridors of the Capitol, there was a stark dissonance last week between President nObama’s rhetoric of consensus and compromise and his confrontational actions, offering the first glimmers of the president’s strategy for engaging with a Republican Congress that holds the fate of his agenda in its hands. On the first day of the 114th Congress, Mr. nObama sat in the Oval Office and said his message to the new Republican Congress would be, ‘Let’s figure out how to work together.’ Only about two hours earlier, his press secretary, Josh Earnest, told reporters that the president intended to veto the first two pieces of legislation Republicans in the House of Representatives were planning to pass: to authorize the Keystone XL oil pipeline and to redefine a full-time worker under the Affordable Care Act…But by insisting that he wants to collaborate with Republicans, the president, who will host congressional leaders of both parties at the White House on Tuesday, also hinted that there is negotiating room beyond those threats.” -Fox News
McConnell brings Lee into leadership fold - WashEx: “From Tea Party agitator to leadership insider, Sen. Mike Lee [R-Utah,] is now counselor to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Utah Republican is steering committee chairman, a post that often comes with a seat in leadership. But McConnell wasn’t obligated to bring Lee into the fold last week, when he appointed him as one of four counsellors to the Republican leadership…. Lee and McConnell hardly have a chummy history, although the majority leader shrewdly keeps potential enemies close….[Lee] defied McConnell when he joined forces with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and conservative groups in a bid to leverage a partial government shutdown to derail nObamacare….Lee’s decision to join McConnell’s cabinet marks a departure from his carefully constructed outsider image. Lee’s supporters downplay the move, saying it puts the senator in a position to accomplish his primary goal of advancing conservative reforms.” -Fox News
NYT: “In the halls of the White House and the corridors of the Capitol, there was a stark dissonance last week between President nObama’s rhetoric of consensus and compromise and his confrontational actions, offering the first glimmers of the president’s strategy for engaging with a Republican Congress that holds the fate of his agenda in its hands. On the first day of the 114th Congress, Mr. nObama sat in the Oval Office and said his message to the new Republican Congress would be, ‘Let’s figure out how to work together.’ Only about two hours earlier, his press secretary, Josh Earnest, told reporters that the president intended to veto the first two pieces of legislation Republicans in the House of Representatives were planning to pass: to authorize the Keystone XL oil pipeline and to redefine a full-time worker under the Affordable Care Act…But by insisting that he wants to collaborate with Republicans, the president, who will host congressional leaders of both parties at the White House on Tuesday, also hinted that there is negotiating room beyond those threats.” -Fox News
McConnell brings Lee into leadership fold - WashEx: “From Tea Party agitator to leadership insider, Sen. Mike Lee [R-Utah,] is now counselor to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Utah Republican is steering committee chairman, a post that often comes with a seat in leadership. But McConnell wasn’t obligated to bring Lee into the fold last week, when he appointed him as one of four counsellors to the Republican leadership…. Lee and McConnell hardly have a chummy history, although the majority leader shrewdly keeps potential enemies close….[Lee] defied McConnell when he joined forces with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and conservative groups in a bid to leverage a partial government shutdown to derail nObamacare….Lee’s decision to join McConnell’s cabinet marks a departure from his carefully constructed outsider image. Lee’s supporters downplay the move, saying it puts the senator in a position to accomplish his primary goal of advancing conservative reforms.” -Fox News
1.
CBS News: “Hitler Appearing In Ads On SF Muni Buses”
(pamelageller.com) - The attack on truth is full-on in San Francisco. Even now, after Jews were taken captive and slaughtered in a kosher supermarket by a devout Muslim, the usual suspects and their goosestepping shills are atacking free speech...Another round of controversial ads appearing on San Francisco Muni buses demands an end to U.S. aid to Islamic countries, stating that “Islamic Jew-Hatred: It’s In The Quran,” while depicting Adolf Hitler as an ally of the Muslim world. The black and white campaign, which features a picture of Adolf Hitler, “..and his staunch ally, the leader of the Muslim world, Haj Amin al-Husseini” appeared on at least one San Francisco Muni bus Monday, and may have first appeared in the fall. http://pamelageller.com/2015/01/cbs-news-hitler-appearing-in-ads-on-sf-muni-buses.html/
2.
White House: nObama will fight media to stop anti-jihad articles
(Robert Spencer ) - More self-censorship and voluntary acceptance of Sharia blasphemy laws. The President of the United States is now (again) signaling that terrorism works: he is saying he will act to curtail Americans’ freedom of expression because Muslims are committing mass murder in response of the freedom of expression...He could have said that he would defend those who say things that jihadis dislike from violent attacks, but no. He was as consistent as ever. And the freedom of speech will suffer for it. How long before he shuts down Jihad Watch, to appease our jihadi brethren? President Barack nObama has a moral responsibility to push back on the nation’s journalism community when it is planning to publish anti-jihadi articles that might cause a jihadi attack against the nation’s defenses forces, the White House’s press secretary said Jan. 12. http://www.jihadwatch.org/2015/01/white-house-obama-will-fight-media-to-stop-anti-jihad-articles?utm_source=Jihad+Watch+Daily+Digest&utm_campaign=21a859f6ed-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ffcbf57bbb-21a859f6ed-123451509
3.
Congress Would Repeal Bad Iran Deal in Next Administration
(Daniel Wiser) - Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) warned the nObama administration on Tuesday that Congress will hold a vote on any final deal on Iran’s nuclear program—and, if unable to prevent the president from lifting sanctions on Iran, would work with the next administration to re-impose them...Cotton said lawmakers aim to soon bring legislation to the floor that would impose additional sanctions on the regime in Tehran if the current negotiations collapse. The bill would likely include language authored by Sens. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) that targets Iran’s oil, gas, and banking sectors and requires the administration to certify that the regime is not sponsoring terrorist attacks against U.S. forces. The measure garnered 59 co-sponsors in the last Congress, and some reports suggest that it could be close to acquiring a 67-vote veto-proof majority this year. My question is why not now?
4.
As EU Becomes Pariah, Iceland Dropping Membership Bid
(Alex Newman) - With the European Union becoming increasingly unpopular across the continent amid a rapid plunge in what little public support ever existed for the unaccountable super-state seeking to become an all-powerful federal regime...authorities in Iceland announced last week that they planned to back out of membership talks and preserve what remains of their tiny island nation’s sovereignty. EU critics, who have been soaring in the polls, celebrated the news. In a recent interview with a national radio broadcaster, Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, elected in 2013 on what has been widely described as a “centrist” platform, declared that all previous work on joining the controversial EU was “obsolete” and “not valid anymore.” He also suggested that Parliament would vote soon on a measure to officially withdraw Iceland’s membership application. http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/europe/item/19898-as-eu-becomes-pariah-iceland-dropping-membership-bid
5.
Washington State Chipping Away at Religious Freedom
(fixthisnation.com) - Consider the case of Barronelle Stutzman of Richland, Washington...As the owner of Arlene’s Flowers, Stutzman has been hit with a lawsuit alleging that she illegally discriminated against customer Robert Ingersoll when she refused to provide floral arrangements for his same-sex wedding. Despite the fact that Ingersoll was a longtime customer and that Arlene’s Flowers has a long history of both serving and employing homosexuals in the Richland area, Washington authorities and the ACLU contend that her refusal was discriminatory and illegal. But that’s par for the course when it comes to this country’s war on freedom of religion. In the fight for gay rights, judges and state officials are cherry-picking what counts as discrimination and what doesn’t. And even though there is nothing in the Constitution guaranteeing the right to get gay married, homosexuals are apparently a protected group, above the law of the land. http://www.fixthisnation.com/conservative-breaking-news/washington-state-chipping-away-at-religious-freedom/
6.
Senate Republicans cautious on US security bill, immigration fight
(David Lawder) - U.S. Senate Republicans on Tuesday said it was unclear if they could pass a Department of Homeland Security funding bill that blocks President Barack nObama's immigration initiatives...raising an early stumbling block for the new Republican Congress. Senate Republicans acknowledged that the measure, expected to win approval in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, may not get the 60 Senate votes needed to clear procedural hurdles erected by Democrats. Republicans have a 54-46 Senate majority and would need to persuade some Democrats to vote against nObama's executive action to lift the threat of deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants. The House measure is expected to ban money from being used to implement the order. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/13/us-usa-congress-immigration-idUSKBN0KM1NK20150113
7.
The UN Uses Paris Attacks for Criminalizing anti-Islamic Speech
(Ben Barrack) - The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ambassador to the UN, Ufuk Gokcen is using the Paris terror attacks to push an agenda started in his home country of Turkey with the help of then Secretary of State Hilly Clinton in 2011...As an international voice of the OIC, a Muslim bloc of 57 nation states, Gokcen is using the Paris attacks to apply pressure to non-Muslim countries to enact blasphemy laws that would criminalize criticism of Islam. Known as the “Istanbul Process”, which was officially kicked off by Hilly, then Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (now Prime Minister) and the OIC Secretary General from Istanbul in 2011; it’s all about exploiting such tragedies to push its agenda.
8.
GOP To Close Door On nObama’s Plan To Empty Gitmo
(Jonah Bennett) - A group of Republicans, led by Sen. Kelly Ayotte, is striking back against the nObama administration by introducing a bill to prevent President nObama from emptying Guantanamo Bay and sending prisoners to Yemen... “Now is not the time to be emptying Guantanamo,” said Ayotte, who introduced the bill, The Hill reports. Ayotte bought up the recent terrorist attacks in Paris as the central motivation for the bill, since the terrorists involved in the shootings had been trained in Yemen, a country which has received 22 transfers directly from Guantanamo Bay since 2004. The legislation prohibits any transfers to Yemen for at least two years, while also keeping detainees away from U.S. soil. Any detainees deemed high- or medium-risk cannot be released. http://dailycaller.com/2015/01/13/shut-it-down-gop-to-close-door-on-obamas-plan-to-empty-gitmo/?advD=1248%2C48782&bt_alias=eyJ1c2VySWQiOiJjNTliYzIxYy1kM2ZhLTQ5MWMtYjhmZC02M2M2MjhjYzNjZjMifQ%3D%3D#mnetint
9.
House Republicans Just Torpedoed Hilly Clinton’s 2016 Hopes
(conservativetribune.com) - The Benghazi Select Committee will continue their investigation for the foreseeable future, as they were just reauthorized by the House, according to Western Journalism...and that is horrible news for Hilly Clinton’s presumed 2016 presidential run. In a mostly party-line vote of 234-172, the Committee was reauthorized by the House. The devastating part for Hillary is that the reauthorization also removed any time or budget limits from the Committee, meaning they could work into 2016, if necessary. This places Hilly Clinton’s 2016 Presidential hopes in jeopardy, as it is widely expected that she will be subpoenaed before the Committee at some point. http://conservativetribune.com/house-repubs-torpedoed-hillary/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_content=936184&utm_campaign=0
10.
CAIR Sues California
(Lloyd Billingsley) - Elhindi, who left Sudan at age 19, allegedly suffered this abuse while working a California State Prison, Sacramento. He told Steve Magagnini of the Sacramento Bee “My accent was joked about, my color was joked about, and the use of the N word was unbelievable, It’s scary.”...The stress level, he told the Bee, “amounts to emotional torture” and “never stopped.” He declined to retire because “I have a family to support and have invested 27 years of my life into state service and cannot just walk away.” But it wasn’t just about him. “I think it’s a systemic issue,” Elhindi told the Bee. “There are other Muslim officers that have complained of similar treatment, but the majority are scared to report it.” In 2011 Elhindi filed a complaint with Equal Opportunity Commission, which found reasonable cause to believe the California Department of Corrections may have violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The U.S. Department of Justice, however, declined to pursue the case. http://www.frontpagemag.com/2015/lloyd-billingsley/cair-sues-california/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2a3809e7b8-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag&utm_term=0_57e32c1dad-2a3809e7b8-156509103
Somali Privilege?
Tom McLaughlin
(tommclaughlin.blogspot.com) - If you drive a taxi in Portland, Maine the best place to wait for a fare is the Portland Jetport. But, you need a special permit. There are only forty-five permits to be had and all are held by Somali and Iranian immigrants. Paul McDonough of Timely Taxi in South Portland claims that is discrimination against him as a white man and he filed suit against the City of Portland. Most of the jetport is in South Portland which is a separate municipality, but the terminal is in Portland, and that city owns the entire facility. It’s city council decides who gets a permit.
The Portland Press Herald ran a story about the suit January 2nd. I’ve been checking into it, but few city officials want to talk about it. It didn’t help that radical Muslims this past week murdered people in Paris and focused the world’s attention on Islamic terrorism. Most Somalis are Muslim and so are most Iranians. I’ll keep digging though.
Not getting much out of city hall or the jetport, but I’m learning a lot researching online. According to an article in the Bangor Daily News back in 2011, forty-nine out of fifty jetport permits were held by Somali immigrants and they held a press conference that year to announce legal action against the City of Portland. They were having difficulty renewing their jetport permits in person. Many were traveling back and forth to Somalia and it was hard to show up at the jetport to renew their permits. Hmm. If they’re here in Maine fleeing oppression in Somalia, why are they going back so often? The civil war is still on. And, how can they afford it?
When Somali taxi driver Jama Farah spoke at the 2011 Portland City Hall press conference, behind him was an unidentified man with an orange beard and orange skullcap. The beard struck me. According to another article by former US Attorney Andrew McCarthy on Somalis in Minnesota, a man named Abdullahi Ugas Farah with a “tangerine beard” once spoke for the radical “Islamic Courts” in Somalia and later was in Minnesota campaigning for Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Senator Al Franken (D-MN). When I punched “Abdullahi Ugas Farah” into Google Images, up popped a man with a tangerine beard and matching hat sitting next to Congressman Ellison. He wore glasses and a tan jacket just like the man at the Portland City Hall press conference. Both he and the spokesman were named Farah. Is it the same guy? Was a radical Muslim from Somalia at the Portland City Hall press conference? So far, I’ve gotten no response from Somali cabdrivers I contacted about the man’s identity. Somalia’s “Islamic Courts” spawned the terrorist group Al Shabaab which last year pledged allegiance to al Qaida.
Stephen Salamone of S&S Taxi said he’s been trying for years to get a jetport permit. “It’s blatant discrimination,” he said. A retired Portland firefighter, Salamone told me those permit holders get the best riders. “Fares go all over the state,” he said, and “I can’t even get an application. What do I need to do?” He suggests the city open a bidding process or make it a lottery. He wants a level playing field for everyone.
An online commenter to the Press Herald story, wrote that she prefers to call McDonough’s Timely Taxi and added: “When I arrive after his hours and must use a Jetport cab, I invariably get flack from the driver: ‘no dog, no dog’ when he is confronted with my Seeing Eye dog.”
An online commenter to the Press Herald story, wrote that she prefers to call McDonough’s Timely Taxi and added: “When I arrive after his hours and must use a Jetport cab, I invariably get flack from the driver: ‘no dog, no dog’ when he is confronted with my Seeing Eye dog.”
The Portland Jetport is significant in the annals of Islamic terrorism since al Qaida terrorist Mohammed Atta boarded a plane there early in the morning of September 11, 2001. Three hours later he crashed another plane into the World Trade Center. Present and former FBI officials with whom I’ve talked still don’t know why Atta was in Portland.
According to former US Attorney Andrew McCarthy: “Somalis began pouring into America in the mid-Nineties thanks to the State Department’s refugee resettlement efforts . . . In 2008, State was forced to concede that there had been immigration fraud on a massive scale: nearly 40,000 aliens admitted into our country after falsely claiming family ties to immigrants already here.” Somali immigrants in Maine got national attention twelve years ago when nearby Lewiston, Maine Mayor Larry Raymond said his city couldn’t handle any more of them because welfare money was running out. Charges of racism and bigotry rained down on him here in the blue northeast, but he didn’t back down. Since then, mayors in Manchester, NH, Springfield, Massachusetts, and in many other American cities have said the same thing.
Last August, a Lewiston Somali woman’s ex-husband, Abdirahmaan Muhumed, died fighting for ISIS in Syria. He worked at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport and even had a security clearance! He had multiple wives and left nine children, including two from when he lived on Bartlett Street in Lewiston. He and his Maine wife traveled back and forth between Maine and Minnesota many times before they divorced. KMSP-TV in Minneapolis reported that at least 22 Somali immigrants traveled from Minnesota to Somalia to fight for Al Shabaab and twelve more went to Syria to fight for ISIS. Three quarters of the 900 taxi permits at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport are held by Somali drivers.
Though some have passed through here, my research shows no radical Muslims living in Maine at present. Somalis with whom I’ve come in contact at various businesses in the Portland area seem very nice. As long as they’re here legally, work to support themselves and assimilate, Mainers would welcome them. That so many are driving taxis is a good thing. That virtually all the plum jetport permits issued by the city went to Somali taxi drivers, however, is, at best, suspicious. I shall continue to investigate as Mr. McDonough’s lawsuit goes forward.
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