The question really should be whether it is possible to question Islam and not be threatened, injured or killed, slandered, or arrested.
Robert Spencer via PJ Media » Is It Still Possible to Question Islam?.

Is it “Islamophobic” to question whether or not the standard picture of Muhammad as depicted in Muslim texts is historically accurate?

Certainly many people think so, notably the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The OIC is a fifty-six nation body (plus the
Palestinian Authority) that, since the demise of the Soviet Union, comprises the largest voting bloc at the United Nations. It has been
working for years to compel the UN to criminalize “Islamophobia.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held a closed-door meeting with the OIC in December 2011, apparently to facilitate just that and figure out ways to circumvent the First Amendment’s protection of the freedom of
speech.

Journalist Claire Berlinski notes that “the neologism ‘Islamophobia’ did not simply emerge ex nihilo”:

It was invented, deliberately, by a Muslim Brotherhood front organization, the International Institute for Islamic Thought, which is based in Northern Virginia. … Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, a former member of the IIIT who has renounced the group in disgust, was an eyewitness to the creation of the word. “This loathsome term,” he writes, “is nothing more than a thought-terminating cliche conceived in the bowels of Muslim think tanks for the purpose of beating down critics.”

Yet the mainstream media has for the most part bought into this perspective, treating all investigation of how Islamic jihadists use the
texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and supremacism as “Islamophobic,” however useful it might be to understand the motives and
goals of those who have vowed to destroy the U.S. and Western civilization. Into this atmosphere comes my book Did Muhammad Exist? An Inquiry Into Islam’s Obscure Origins, which doesn’t touch directly on terror issues at all, but does demonstrate that Islam was political, supremacist, and violent before it was religious — a fact with considerable implications for today’s political scene.

In broad outline, the accepted story of Islam’s origins is well known. It begins with an Arabian merchant of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca,
known to the world as Muhammad, a name that means the “praised one.” He rejected the polytheism of his tribe and was given to frequent prayer in the hills and caves outside Mecca. In the year 610, when he was forty, he was praying in a cave on Mount Hira, about two miles from Mecca, when he was suddenly confronted by the angel Gabriel, who commanded him to recite.

For the next twenty-three years, until his death in 632, Muhammad did just that: He recited the messages he received from Gabriel, presenting
them to his followers as the pure and unadulterated word of the supreme and only God. Many of his followers memorized portions. The Arabia in which Islam was born was an oral culture that respected poetic achievement, and thus the prodigious feats of memory required to memorize lengthy suras were not so unusual. After Muhammad’s death, the revelations he had received were collected together into the Qur’an, or
“Recitation,” from the accounts of those who had memorized them or written them down.

Muslims around the globe are not the only ones who take this account for granted; even non-Muslims generally accept the broad contours of
this narrative, which has been told and retold for centuries. However, virtually none of that standard account stands up to historical scrutiny, for several key reasons:

• No record of Muhammad’s reported death in 632 appears until more than a century after that date.
• The early accounts written by the people the Arabs conquered never mention Islam, Muhammad, or the Qur’an. They call the conquerors
  “Ishmaelites,” “Saracens,”“Muha- jirun,” and “Hagarians,” but never “Muslims.”
• The Arab conquerors, in their coins and inscriptions, don’t mention Islam or the Qur’an for the first six decades of their conquests. Mentions of “Muhammad” are non-specific and on at least two occasions are accompanied by a cross. The word can be used not only as a proper name but also as an honorific.
• The Qur’an, even by the canonical Muslim account, was not distributed in its present form until the 650s. Contradicting that standard account is the fact that neither the Arabians nor the Christians and Jews in the region mention the Qur’an until the early eighth century.
• During the reign of the caliph Muawiya (661–680), the Arabs constructed at least one public building whose inscription was headed by
  a cross – a symbol abhorrent to Islam.

The lack of confirming detail in the historical record, the late development of biographical material about the Islamic prophet, the atmosphere of political and religious factionalism in which that material developed, and much more suggest that the Muhammad of Islamic tradition did not exist, or if he did, he was substantially different from how that tradition portrays him.

Unmistakably historical, however, are the Arab conquests and the empire they produced. Every empire of the day was anchored in a political theology. The Eastern Roman Empire was Christian; the Persian Empire was Zoroastrian. The realm of political theology offers the most
plausible explanation for the creation of Islam, Muhammad, and the Qur’an. The Arab Empire controlled and needed to unify huge expanses of
territory where different religions predominated. Islam began as an umbrella monotheistic movement that presented itself as encompassing the
true forms of the two great previous monotheistic movements, Judaism and Christianity.

Historical records make clear that toward the end of the seventh century and the beginning of the eighth, the Umayyad leaders of the Arab
domains began to speak much more specifically than anyone had before about Islam, its prophet, and eventually its book. Muhammad, if he did
not exist, or if his actual deeds were not known, would certainly have been politically useful to the new Arab Empire as a legendary hero. The
empire was growing quickly, soon rivaling the Byzantine and Persian Empires in size and power. It needed a common religion—a political
theology that would provide the foundation for the empire’s unity and would secure allegiance to the state.

In any case, the late appearance of the biographical material about Muhammad, the fact that no one had heard of or spoken of Muhammad for
decades after the Arab conquests began, the changes in the religion of the Arab Empire, the inconsistencies in the Qur’an—all of this needed to
be explained. But is attempting to do so “Islamophobic?” Or can disinterested historical investigation still be carried out in the free West?

It is most interesting that the book Did Muhammad Exist? has been greeted with silence or opprobrium. Yet now, more than ever before, historical investigators have the opportunity—in fact, the responsibility—to usher Islam’s origins out of the shadows and into the light, and the responsibility not to be cowed by Islamic supremacist intimidation in doing so. Were they not to discharge that responsibility fully or properly, we will all be the poorer.

On other National holidays the nation takes to the streets in joyous celebration.  On Memorial Day we are to take time to remember and mourn those men and women who gave their lives for this country.  So many did over the years.

We should pause and remember them.  But instead most Americans will go to sales in malls, go to the beach and have cook outs.

The sacrifice these men gave entitles these Americans to do that.  It is our Freedoms and the Freedom of the world that they sacrificed their lives.  The liberation of Europe, not once but twice.  The liberation of Iraq from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein and Afghanistan from the Taliban.  The Freedom of Cuba from Spain, the Philippines, the Battle of New Orleans and Brooklyn Heights.  They sacrificed at Shiloh, and Gettysburg.  The Wilderness and Fredricksberg.  And the nation they fought for survived and thrived.

To the families of those who have died;  Thank You.  There is no monetary settlement, no honors we can give you to heal the pain.

A homosexual Palestinian man petitioned the High Court of Justice Thursday against Interior Minister Eli Yishai and the public committee reviewing humanitarian cases at the Interior Ministry following their decision to reject his appeal for legal residency status in Israel.

According to the petitioner, his request was denied despite indication of special humanitarian circumstances and therefore violates the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law. In his petition, the man also requested that the court issue an edict preventing authorities from deporting him until the court rules on his matter.

The petitioner, a Muslim Palestinian from Nablus who grew up in Israel until the age of six, said he is an openly gay man, whose sexual orientation is well known in the West Bank and was even reported in the Palestinian media.

He further noted that he has been living in Tel Aviv with his Israeli partner for many years, and that the two had signed a domestic partnership agreement over a decade ago.

According to the petitioner, if he is deported back to the Palestinian Authority, his life would be in danger.

He claimed that he has been arrested and beaten by the Palestinian police due to his sexual orientation in the past, and that his family has disowned him and warned him against returning to Nablus.

After a long wait, the petitioner was informed last October that the chairman of the committee, Minister Yishai, has decided to deny his request – a decision the petitioner is claiming discriminates against same sex couples.

Source

To Muslims Homosexuality is a sin punishable by death.  Hundreds of Muslims living in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza have fled to Israel in fear for their lives.  In fact every stereotype of being gay is exploited.  For instance it is widely believed that all male hairdressers are gay.  Therefore no man can be a hairdresser.   Or that idiot Ahmadinejad’s statement to the world that there are no gays in Iran.  That is somewhat true.  They have killed so many.

Yep.  No gays here.  Just dead gays.

In Israel the LGBT community is open.  They live openly, they serve in the IDF, they can adopt.  Although gay marriage is not performed in Israel, if a couple marries in a nation in which gay marriage is allowed, their marriage is accepted by the State of Israel.  Gay partners have the same rights as non-gay partners.  While the US persecuted gays in the military, then implemented  “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”  The IDF had the policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Give A Damn!”  They serve, and many in combat units too.

Yet the majority of the LGBT side with the Muslims of Judea, Samaria and Gaza and not with Israel.  Hamas and the PA both execute gays and lesbians for the crime of Homosexuality.  But American, Canadian and European Gays work towards the destruction of Israel.  They are leaders in the BDS movement.  They are always in the forefront of Fakistinian parades against Israel.

The next time one of these useful idiots yell at you ask them how many people turned out for the Gay Pride Parade in Gaza?  Answer:  0  They don’t have one.  Then ask them how many turned out for the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem?  Answer:  More than 5,000.  Then ask why only Turkey has a Gay Pride Parade and no other Muslim nation has one?  Ask them why try to destroy the only Middle East nation that accepts their gay and lesbian children?  They will never answer that question.

I do hope the High Court elects to grant this poor man asylum in Israel.  He has been in Israel for 10 years, in a loving relationship and has committed no crime.  He is what is good in the region and deserves life.

Yahrtzeit of David “Mickey” Marcus (1902-1948), an American Jew who volunteered to fight for the Israeli army in the 1948 War of Independence. Marcus was a tough Brooklyn street kid who attended West Point and then law school. In World War II, Marcus rose to the rank of Colonel in the U.S. Army, where he helped draw up surrender terms for Italy and Germany. While serving in the occupation government in Berlin, he was responsible for clearing out the Nazi death camps, and then as chief of the War Crimes Division, where he helped arrange the Nuremberg trials. Seeing the Jewish suffering first-hand, Marcus became a committed Zionist, and in 1947 he volunteered to help secure the Jewish settlements which were under attack from hostile Arabs. Marcus designed a command structure for Israel’s new army and wrote manuals to train it.

His most famous achievement was ordering the construction of the “Burma Road,” a winding mountainous path which allowed Jewish convoys to reach Jerusalem and relieve the Arab siege. Tragically, on the day that the war’s cease-fire took effect, Marcus was mistakenly shot by a Jewish guard.

His story became the subject of a movie, Cast a Giant Shadow, starring Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and Yul Brynner.

Barrack Obama

The Sunday Standard, June 27, 2004 (read the entire report here):

Kenyan-born US Senate hopeful, Barrack Obama, appeared set to take over the Illinois Senate seat after his main rival, Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race on Friday night amid a furor over lurid sex club allegations.

An Obama bio printed and circulated by his literary agent surfaced last week (see it here), claiming their client, Barack Obama, the author of the book they were promoting at the time, was born in Kenya. The agency, Acton and Dystal, promoted their booklet identifying Obama as Kenyan-born. The editor of the text at the time, Mariam Goderich (now a partner at Dystel & Goderich – which currently represents “Obama the author” says she misidentified his birth country. Doesn’t know why or how. “…nothing more than a fact checking error…” As with any U.S. President, the first thought would be that he was born in Kenya – right?

The promo booklet was 36 pages long, costing the Agency thousands of dollars, and included numerous celebrity-types (politicians and athletes) – not insignificant. Is it plausible to think Obama did not know a Kenyan birth was part of his bio? I doubt it.

The booklet hearlding a Kenyan birth stayed in circulation from 1991 until two months after declaring his presidential quest in February 2007. From the Acton and Dystel website archive:

BARACK OBAMA is the junior Democratic senator from Illinois and was the dynamic keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He was also the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. He was born in Kenya to an American anthropologist and a Kenyan finance minister and was raised in Indonesia, Hawaii, and Chicago. His first book, DREAMS FROM MY FATHER: A STORY OF RACE AND INHERITANCE, has been a long time New York Times bestseller.

In April 2007, the bio was changed to say Obama was born in Hawaii. Thanks to FaultlineUSA for the link to the Sunday Standard article.

Al Sharpton

Saturday Night Live – Al Sharpton

…Medicare payment rates for doctors and hospitals serving seniors will be cut by 30% over the next three years. Under the policies of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, by 2019 Medicare payment rates will be lower than under Medicaid. Mr. Foster notes that by the end of the 75-year projection period in the Annual Medicare Trustees Report, Medicare payment rates will be one-third of what will be paid by private insurance, and only half of what is paid by Medicaid.

Altogether, ObamaCare cuts $818 billion from Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) from 2014-2023, the first 10 years of its full implementation, and $3.2 trillion over the first 20 years, 2014-2033. Adding in ObamaCare cuts for Medicare Part B (physicians fees and other services) brings the total cut to $1.05 trillion over the first 10 years and $4.95 trillion over the first 20 years.

Half of all Medicare Advantage customers will lose their coverage:

Mr. Foster estimates that 50% of all seniors with Medicare Advantage will lose their plan because of these cuts. Mr. Obama’s pledge that “If you like your health plan, you will be able to keep it” clearly does not apply to America’s seniors.

“Havoc” and “chaos” for Seniors:

The drastic reductions in Medicare reimbursements under ObamaCare will create havoc and chaos in health care for seniors. Many doctors, surgeons and specialists providing critical care to the elderly—such as surgery for hip and knee replacements, sophisticated diagnostics through MRIs and CT scans, and even treatment for cancer and heart disease—will cease serving Medicare patients. If the government is not going to pay, then seniors are not going to get the health services, treatment and care they expect.

Remember all of the above when you hear Democrats rant-on about Republicans gutting Medicare. Under ObamaCare, there is nothing left to gut. Read it at the Wall Street Journal. Thanks to Weasel Zippers.

Linked at Grumpy Opinions – many thanks!

Surely the word “no” spoken from Obama or the Brits would have kept Abdelbaset in prison in Scotland. Instead, Obama was the recipient of over $77,000 in campaign donations in 2008 (and the DNC millions more) from BP. Obama requested if Abdelbaset was going to be sent to Libya, he be allowed to live at home, rather than in a Libyan prison. Doesn’t make sense, does it?

British doctors said Megrahi had only 3 months to live. That was mid-2009. Today we are told he died of “cancer.” The disgrace is that Adbelbaset al-Megrahi was NEVER treated as a terrorist – he received Halal food while in prison in an area dubbed “Gaddafi’s Cafe.”

Over the skies of Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flt. 103, 259 people died, 11 of them on the ground. Thirty-five students of Syracuse University were among the dead. The first video below is of the town of Lockerbie and what happened that terrible day. The second video is provided by the nephew of one of the Syracuse students – an aunt he never met. Find some interesting Pan Am 103 insight here.

Footage of that day in Lockerbie, Scotland (video)

Remember the Victims of Pan Am 103 (video)

Babies Out of the Nest

Since bungling my back gardening, I’ve stayed inside and done not much but rest, but yesterday I shopped for plants and today ventured out to decide where to plant. Both hubby and I were in the backyard, and birds were going wild. The sound was high decible. Eventually hubby spied the two little ones in the pic above. I guess Mamma pushed them out of the nest. We left the area for awhile hoping she would rescue them. Eventually they tottered off to a neighbor’s yard.

In Brindisi, Italy Melissa Bassi, a 16-year-old student (see family photo of this beautiful young girl here) was murdered by a Mafia revenge bomb planted outside a school named after an anti-Mafia prosecutor. The anti-Mafia prosecutor and his wife were murdered 20 years ago by La Cosa Nostra.

“It was a Mafia attack,” said Nicola Fratoianni, a regional official. “A bomb placed in front of a school bearing the Falcone name is a clear message from the clans — a reprisal to recent police operations.”

Ten days ago police conducted a raid in which they arrested 16 alleged members of Sacra Corona Unita, charging them with extortion, illegal weapons ownership and Mafia association.

Many of the pupils at the school, including the teenager who was killed, were from the nearby town of Mesagne, one of the strongholds of the Mafia group.

Brindisi-Mesagne, Italy

The town of Mesagne is located in the heel of the boot of Italy –  beautiful area with miles and miles of coastline, and miles and miles of ages-old olive trees and grapevines – and very near the Apulia area of Salice Salentino, the home of one of my favorite inexpensive, robust red wines (when I can find it) – Taurino Salice Salentino. Had I had some of Dr. Cosimo Taurino’s succulent magic, my back would have felt better faster and the danged pinched nerve might not be pinching. In the meantime, I am ploughing plowing through The Cold Six Thousand and still wondering, what is truth and what is fiction?

Desmond Hatchett

children with 11 different women. In one year, he fathered 8. He makes minimum wage and needs help from taxpayers to pay child support. The roiling question: why hasn’t Hatchett been neutered by the state? Surely taxpayers have had enough – a concept Hatchett isn’t familiar with. God help the children. Read the story at Fox News.