First off my prayers go out on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Haiti.

Haiti has suffered a catastrophe so terrible that some analysts are skeptical as to whether it will remain a sovereign nation at all.

But let’s look at it in context. Haiti has not been a sovereign state in a long long time. France dominated them directly. The USA dominates them indirectly now.

Remember just a few years ago when US CIA agents and military personnel went in under cover of darkness and removed the democratically elected president “for his own protection”?

Haiti has been a broken nation for a long time, and now this earthquake
has thrust it to the center of the world stage.

The question for the Haitian people is, “What will you do with the limelight now that you have it?”

Will you use the opportunity to shed light on the plight of your nation just as relates to the earthquake, or will you use this as an opportunity to overthrow the corrupt minions of America that currently rule there and finally take back your nation once and for all?

Choose quickly.

I’m sure you’ve heard the news about the airport body scanners that are being rolled out against public outcry because of “security concerns” following the recent “attempted bombing”.

You’ve probably seen the sanitized photos shown on television and in papers. What you almost certainly have not seen us exactly what the scanner really shows. I want each of you to watch this video and pay very close attention, then consider whether or not you really want to be scanned.

I really have a hard time believing this one. A (very) rich Nigerian kid decides to blow himself, and a plane full of passengers, up on behalf of instructions from “Al Qaeda”?

Really?

I wonder. Umar Farouk Abdul Muttalib supposedly confessed within hours of arrest to acting on orders from “Al Qaeda”. Now I’m by no means an expert on terrorism, but as far as I can tell there has never been a single terrorist who self-identified himself to authorities as being part of Al Qaeda.

In fact it seems that the only people who throw around the Al Qaeda label are those who are not part of it (if it even exists).

I’ll be monitoring this story as it develops.

If it develops.

So we’ve already heard over and over again about how mentally unstable Nidal Hasan was and/or is. We’ve heard over and over about his poor work record. We’ve heard over and over again about his emails with the so-called radical “Anwar Al Awlaki”.

What we haven’t heard about is the camera footage of his rampage.

Think about it. We have cameras everywhere nowadays. They are on street corners, in elevators, in building lobbies, in gas stations, and are even inside of some cars.

What about on military bases? Well there is footage of him “hours before” the shooting in a store on the base. But what about the CCTV system, which almost certainly exists, in other parts of the base, particularly in the areas where he is said to have committed murder?

Well, a Google News search (see here) reveals that NOBODY in the mass media is even asking that question. Isn’t that odd. Mass murder happens on a major military base and reporters aren’t even asking for copies of the CCTV footage, or even if it exists?

I’m starting to wonder if Nidal Hasan actually killed anyone at all. What if this was actually a shootout between soldiers, perhaps over a desire not to return to the theater of an unjust war? Would the US Military cover that up and use a slightly unbalanced Arab doctor as a patsy?

Thinks that make you go “hmmmmm”.

This just in. According to his father Anwar Al Awlaki, the “radical” scholar who praised Nidal Hassan as a hero, has been missing for 8 months.

Of course this will add fuel to the flames of those who have been claiming all along that www.anwar-alawlaki.com was not really his site at all, and that the writings attributed to him were not really his.

Although Awlaki does not enjoy the specter of grandiosity attributed to Osama Bin Laden, one must wonder if he is being setup as a new shadow-jihadi that America can use as an excuse to invade nations.

Or then again he may have posted that now-infamous message without realizing the storm of condemnation that would descend upon him and simply fled into hiding afterward.

Only time will tell – or not.

Amazing. Ahead of President Obama’s planned visit to South Korea, all of a sudden a shootout happens between a South Korean and a DPRK (North Korean) vessel.

To me it sounds like South Korea is planning to hit Obama up for more money and weapons to “Defend against an aggressive North Korean threat” and this event is just a convenient way of “proving” that South Korea needs protection.

It should be noted that the North Korean government asserts that their vessel never entered South Korean waters, and I also note that the standing (stated) policy in South Korea is that not a single shot is fired at a DPRK vessel or soldier without express authorization from command.

To be honest, I’m not sure what America gains by continually funding South Korea, aside from cheap technology and biotech R&D. It’s almost as ridiculous as the constant funding of Israel’s military.

But let’s not even get started on that today….

Here we go again.

People are dead, and the guy who apparently killed them is Muslim. We’ve all seen this before. It’s like watching a new movie, with new actors, and a new title, but with a familiar old plot.

And of course the ideological enemies of “Muslims” are yelling that he was a terrorist, who had connections to the 911 hijackers, blah, blah, blah.

And, of course, the “Muslims” are either falling all over themselves to condemn what he did, or are falling all over themselves to claim that he wasn’t a “Real Muslim”, as if there is really such a thing nowadays. And just a few “Muslims” (like Anwar Al Awlaki, reputed spiritual guide to terrorists galore) praise his actions as laudable.

And of course the official report on the shooting was that he fired more than 100 rounds using a gun that, according to experts, holds less than 10 rounds in the clip (meaning he would have had to reload 9 times or more).

And of course the media has gone out of their way to point out that he was an observant Muslim who even attended prayers the morning of the attack.

But the most shocking thing to me is that one man, a psychiatrist who had never seen active duty in his life (according to reports) was able to cut through a military base like a hot knife through butter, unchallenged, and unharmed – until a policewoman happened along.

I mean, isn’t the US military supposed to be the most advanced and highly trained fighting force on the planet? And a base full of active duty soldiers couldn’t stop one Arab doctor with a pair of guns, one of which was not even apparently used??

It took a police-woman to save the day.

Big-ups to that latina for handling her business.

As for the Fort Hood soldiers who are supposed to be tough enough to protect this country – ya’ll are pathetic. Maybe the cops should start going out and facing the terrorists. At least they know how to shoot back.

Out.

Aasiya Hassan.

That’s the name of the woman who was allegedly found beheaded at her husband’s offices in the Buffalo NY area.
I know all of you know this already, but I have to frame the discussion first.
Her husband was the head of Bridges TV, a network dedicated to erasing negative stereotypes about Islam.

Go figure right?

Well anyway, I have long felt strongly that abuse of women is one of the most under reported atrocities in the world, and has been for a long time.

Normally I, like others, take the standard line that it is lack of religious conviction and belief that leads people to these types of acts.

But that excuse won’t work here. The alleged murderer, Aasiya Hassan’s estranged husband, was by all accounts quite active in the Muslim community and a very pious Muslim man. So obviously it is not lack of religiosity that was the cause of this crime.

What’s worse is that I have been hearing for a long time, as many of you have, that in Pakistan and other parts of the Muslim world, “honor killings” happen all the time. The honor killing is usually typified by a girl or woman who is suspected of having committed zina (the Islamic term for unlawful sex) and is executed to avoid shame being cast on the family.

Unfortunately for these poor women rape is also reported to be endemic in some segments of the society, and being unlucky enough to get raped brings the same fate on the girl as consensual sex outside of wedlock.

So, having thought about these things so much over the last few days, I went this evening to a weekly scripture study group in Schaumburg, IL and was invited to speak on any topic of my choosing.

Of course I chose the topic of domestic violence.

I initiated my session by asking everyone in attendance (mostly young men) if they had ever in their life had a friend or family member who beat his/her wife. Half of them raised their hands with a marked sense of trepidation, not knowing what I would ask them next.

I asked them all if they felt the need to intervene in some way.

Only one person out of the relatively large group raised his hand. From there the discussion went downhill fast.

There was even one person who argued that scripture gives a man the right to beat his wife, and that it is the nature of a man. He argued that the woman’s divinely ordained trump card is her tongue and that man cannot win that way (i.e. a man could never beat a woman in an argument no matter what) and that a man’s trump card is his fist.

Yep. Like I said, the discussion went downhill fast.

What I found is that, even among religious guys, who spent most Saturday nights poring over dusty old religious texts in a group instead of partying like most young guys do on Saturday nights, there was a real lack of outrage over violence against women. One other brother even made the point that marriage is sacred and that no outsider should intervene, no matter what happens.

This concept has to be crushed. We must make the stand that violence is never acceptable except in self defense, in the defense of the innocent, or in the defense of your possessions. This includes, obviously, violence against women.

Of course there are two sides to every story and ever abuser, for whatever reason, feels that he/she is justified at the time that the abuse is committed.

That’s why one of the best ways to stem abuse is by a twofold system of education and of enforcement.

Men and women must be educated as to what the roles and responsibilities are in marriage, as well as what parameters of behaviour must be. It is really a shame that to drive a car you must be tested and obtain a license. To get a decent job you must be trained and get a diploma. To sell insurance you must take classes and pass an exam.

However to become fathers and husbands, there is no exam. Nobody makes you take a class or examines you before you get married to make sure you are competent enough to play that role.

Eventually that too must change. Marriage is a divine;y ordained institution, no doubt about that, but even divine commandments are open to structure and interpretation.

My interpretation is that most men are not ready for marriage, and need the structure of a formalized preparation program.

The beheading of Aasiya Hassan is not just a tragedy against women. It is a testament to how poorly marriage and marital problems are handled in the Muslim community.

I call on all Muslims reading this to take into your own hands this struggle. Read Surah Nisa (the 4th chapter of the Quran) and not only implement it yourselves, but force it’s implementation in your family and among your friends.

For my Christian brothers, read Ephesians Chapter 5 in the Bible and discuss it with your pastor.

In both of these scriptures is superb guidance for all of us who seek marriage, or are married.

Our women are a trust from God himself. Don’t disrespect their real Lord by abusing what he has put into your care.

Believe it or not, if you do such a thing (abusing your women) you will answer for it; in this life or in the next.

As if Muslims in America aren’t already going through enough, now apparently the stereotypes are just going to get worse.

Muzzamil Hassan founded Bridges TV, a network dedicated to erasing negative stereotypes about Muslims and Islam.

Now he has allegedly murdered his wife by beheading her.

No kidding.

Click here for the full story.

A potentially fatal blow to the livelihood of some low-income Californian households.

The State Controller, John Chiang, has announced that effective February 1st, the state will halt all Public Aid payments and Tax Refunds.

Of course this could be political manuevering to force the state officials to pass a budget, but using the poor of the state as pawns in the game would be a low blow indeed.

Resd the full story here.