Social Debate: Barack and American Politics

President Obama is under fire after jumping into the middle of a cultural clash Friday night in favor of building a mosque near ground zero, a stance that has elevated the contentious issue to the presidential level ahead of a difficult election season for Democrats.

Some victims’ advocates and Republicans have strongly condemned Obama’s support for the mosque, which would be part of a $100 million Islamic community center two blocks from where nearly 3,000 people perished when hijacked jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

“Barack Obama has abandoned America at the place where America’s heart was broken nine years ago, and where her true values were on display for all to see,” said Debra Burlingame, a spokeswoman for some Sept. 11 victims’ families and the sister of one of the pilots killed in the attacks.

Building the mosque at ground zero, she said, “is a deliberately provocative act that will precipitate more bloodshed in the name of Allah.”

Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son was killed at the World Trade Center, said the president had failed to understand the issue. “As an Obama supporter, I really feel that he’s lost sight of the germane issue, which is not about freedom of religion,” she said. “It’s about a gross lack of sensitivity to the 9/11 families and to the people who were lost.”

President Barack Obama has expressed his support for the construction of a Muslim Community Center and Mosque near the World Trade Center site in downtown Manhattan, as many protest the plan, saying it is wrong to build a mosque so close to the site of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said the president is “wrong.”

“It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero,” he said in a written statement.

“While the Muslim community has the right to build the mosque, they are abusing that right by needlessly offending so many people who have suffered so much,” he said. “The right and moral thing for President Obama to have done was to urge Muslim leaders to respect the families of those who died and move their mosque away from ground zero. Unfortunately, the president caved into political correctness.”

Entering the highly charged election-year debate, Obama surely knew that his words would not only make headlines in the U.S. but be heard by Muslims worldwide. The president has made it a point to reach out to the global Muslim community, and the over 100 guests at Friday’s dinner in the State Dining Room included ambassadors and officials from numerous nations where Islam is observed, including Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

While his pronouncement concerning the mosque might find favor in the Muslim world, Obama’s stance runs counter to the opinions of the majority of Americans, according to polls. A CNN/Opinion Research poll released this week found that nearly 70 percent of Americans opposed the mosque plan while just 29 percent approved. A number of Democratic politicians have shied away from the controversy.

Opponents, including some Sept. 11 victims’ relatives, see the prospect of a mosque so near the destroyed trade center as an insult to the memory of those killed by Islamic terrorists in the 2001 attacks.

Former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania told Fox News that Obama seems to misunderstand that Islam is not just a religion, but also a political doctrine. He also said the mosque is being run by a man who accused the U.S. of being an accomplice in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Santorum compared the ground zero mosque to a minister who wants to builds a church near the location where the Rev. Martin Luther King was killed but preaches racial separation and the notion that King brought his death upon himself.

“I don’t think Barack Obama would say, ‘Well we have religious tolerance, we’re going to allow them to do that,’” he said. “That is the wrong way to look at this. This is not whether it’s a legal right to do it. People have legal rights to do a lot of things in this country.”

“We have the will of the American public,” he said, noting the polls show most oppose the mosque. The imam is “ignoring the will of the American public, as by the way, Barack Obama is by siding with him.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Obama backs controversial New York mosque project

Repost By Ross Colvin and Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON | Sat Aug 14, 2010 8:17am EDT
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday backed construction of a proposed mosque and Muslim cultural center near the site of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York — a project opposed by U.S. conservatives and many New Yorkers.

“As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country,” Obama said to applause at an event attended by diplomats from Islamic countries and members of the U.S. Muslim community.

“That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances,” he said, weighing in for the first time in a national debate that has grown increasingly heated in recent weeks.

Earlier this month a New York city agency cleared the way for construction of the community center, which will include a prayer room, two blocks from the site of the September 11 attacks, popularly known as “Ground Zero.”

“This is America and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable,” said Obama, who has made improving ties between the United States and the Muslim world a cornerstone of his foreign policy.

Obama was speaking during an Iftar dinner he hosted at the White House. Iftar is the evening meal when Muslims break their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

About 2,750 people were killed in the September 11 attacks, when al Qaeda hijackers crashed two passenger planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The attacks deeply traumatized Americans and sparked the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the Bush administration’s “war on terror.”

Many families of those killed in the attacks have mounted an emotional campaign to block the community center, calling it provocative and a betrayal of the memory of the victims.

Conservative politicians such as former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, a Republican former Speaker of the House of Representatives, also have called for the project to be scrapped.

Mark Williams, a spokesman for the conservative Tea Party political movement, said the center would be used for “terrorists to worship their monkey god.”

OBAMA WEIGHS IN

In his remarks on Friday, Obama preached the need for religious tolerance and noted that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution had established the freedom of religion, “and that right has been upheld ever since.”

The president also stressed that al Qaeda was not synonymous with Islam.

“Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam — it is a gross distortion of Islam,” he said. “These are not religious leaders — these are terrorists who murder innocent men, women and children.”

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has firmly supported the community center project as have many religious organizations in the city. However, 53 percent of New Yorkers oppose it, according to a Marist Poll this week.

The Cordoba House community center is the brainchild of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who told Reuters in an interview last month that he had modeled it on the Young Men’s Christian Association.

Now simply called the Y, YMCA facilities across the United States offer exercise classes, education and community activities.

The city agency’s August 3 ruling is expected to clear the way for construction of Cordoba House, which will include a 500-seat auditorium, art exhibition spaces and a swimming pool as part of a 13-story complex.

Since coming into office, Obama, a Democrat, has worked to reach out to Muslims, many of whom felt targeted by the “war on terror” and by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In a speech in Cairo in June 2009, Obama called for a “new beginning” in ties between the United States and Muslims, saying extremists had exploited tensions between Muslims and the West and that Islam was not part of the problem.

(Writing by Jeff Mason and Ross Colvin, additional reporting by Emma Ashburn, editing by Bill Trott)

Report from Huntsville Alabama.

This was taken last night off 635!
Ticket Double Radio Rainbow.

OMG!!

Imagine being caught in this stampede. So far 18 Dead and 80 injured in the stampede outside the the techno party called Love Parade.

Scary stuff

This is incredibly HILARIOUS.

Not even B.O. causes this type of emotion..

NEW YORK – A wealthy Manhattan investment banker and former top Democratic fundraiser was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison for defrauding banks of $292 million, some of which he donated to politicians including Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Al Gore.

Hassan Nemazee, 60, had reached a plea deal in March, admitting that he cheated banks out of the money and pleading guilty to three counts of bank fraud and one count of wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan said he’ll get out of prison in about a decade.

Nemazee was the national finance chairman of Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign; he also raised money for Obama and a long list of other prominent Democrats. He was Sen. John Kerry’s New York finance chairman during his failed 2004 presidential run.

Prosecutors said he used some of the proceeds from his crimes to make personal donations to election campaigns, to make charitable donations and to live a lavish lifestyle that included apartments in Italy and Manhattan, partial interest in a private plane and a luxury yacht.

Stein said he showed leniency to Nemazee in part because of “his involvement in American political life.” If the judge had followed federal sentencing guidelines, Nemazee would have received at least another three years in prison and as many as 19 1/2 years.

Prosecutors said Nemazee used fake collateral starting in 1998 and continuing for more than a decade in order to obtain large loans from major banks. The judge ordered him to pay $292 million in restitution.
Continue reading Fraud gets ex-Obama, Clinton fundraiser 12 years

Obama failed to get Chicago the Olympics, and now LeBron James as well. Video of his thoughts below-

President Obama still has high hopes that his beloved Chicago Bulls will land basketball superstar LeBron James.

“I think the president still believes that he would look quite good in a Bulls uniform,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

He quickly added: “I hope that does not lead to NBA tampering charges.”
Continue reading Obama Couldn’t even Convince LeBron to Go to the Bulls

Its amazing the difference two years makes.

Watch the different responses from the military to Bush and Obama.

The difference in respect is palpable.

From the top to the bottom, our military can’t stand this president.

Is that surprising, when Obama has attacked them for years?

All that political posturing against the Army in Iraq is coming back to bite Obama when he needs them most.

Only the oversees crowd can sum up Al Gore faster……….

From GordonKeith.com

iTunes accounts hacking more widespread than initially thought. The facts, and what you should do.

By Zee Follow Zee on twitter on July 4th, 2010
On Sunday we reported details of how one specific app developer had managed to hack iTunes users accounts and use them to purchase his own apps – making it to the top of the iTunes charts.

As the story has developed, the problem has grown far more serious than initially thought – not just that one particular developer and his apps – the Apple App store is filled with App Farms being used to steal.

Maybe this Dude did it:

This post will give a complete run down of what we know and will be continue to be updated as we learn further details.

The Facts

A number of iTunes accounts have been hacked from across the globe, not just the US, and used to purchase apps.
The app developer that began this entire investigation has now had their account (and apps) removed, but we’ve discovered a number of other developer accounts with very similar, if not more “innovative”, approaches to stealing users money.
Continue reading App Store and iTunes Accounts hacked! WHOA

Chestnut eats 54 hot dogs to keep title

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Competitive eater Joey Chestnut has held on to his title at the annual July Fourth hot dog eating contest at New York’s Coney Island, but one of his biggest rivals tried to crash the celebration and has been taken into custody.

Chestnut chomped down on 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes on Sunday to win the annual Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest for the fourth year in a row.

Watching from the crowd was six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi who has not signed a contract with Major League Eating to be free to compete in contests sanctioned by other groups.

But Kobayashi went on stage after the competition. Police officers grabbed him, and he tried to hold onto police barricades as they took him into custody.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

GO USA! Landon Donovan’s winning GOAL today to win the group! First time since 1930!! GO USA!!

This is absolutely unreal:

(AP) DALLAS (AP) – A Dallas police officer is on leave after firing her gun into a squad car floor when colleagues tried to drive her home from a bar where she’d drank too much while off duty.

Officer Kelly Beemer also faces a misdemeanor charge of discharging a weapon.

Video from a squad car camera shows two officers escorting Beemer to the vehicle Wednesday night. Inside, one of them tells Beemer they just want to get her home.

Beemer can be heard saying she doesn’t believe them and demands the car be stopped. As the car continues moving, a muffled shot is heard. The car stops and the officers are heard repeatedly yelling “Kelly, drop the gun!”

No one was injured.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown calls Beemer’s conduct reckless and unacceptable. Beemer’s attorney declined to comment Friday.

___

Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com

Obama says in the interview “Looking to BPs Kick Ass” in Interview

Obama Pounds it out. Just an Odd Picture

EW YORK – As a child, Barack Obama often played soccer on the streets of Indonesia. These days, his affinity for the sport stretches little further than watching his daughter Malia’s junior games and owning a long-distance appreciation for English Premier League team West Ham United.

Yet before he even sets up camp in the Oval Office, signs indicate that the President-elect may already be the best thing soccer in the United States could ever have wished for.

The world game likes to think that it belongs to the people. However, in reality, its cloistered corridors of power are among the most politically intertwined in international sport.

What U.S. Soccer craves is the right to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. The election of Obama has made such an outcome far more likely.

“We would all like to believe sports and politics do not conflict, but we must be realistic,” U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati told Yahoo! Sports. “Certainly, there is a connection. When people talked about China hosting the Olympic Games, it was not independent of other concerns.

“Anything that enhances the perceived views of the United States can only be a positive for us.”

There is a clear element of “popularity contest” about the way the members of FIFA, soccer’s worldwide governing body, make their big decisions. While Obama may have garnered 53 percent of the popular vote to become USA’s first African-American president, internationally he has rock-star status. His victory was front-page news in every corner of the globe and the outpouring of delight has been overwhelming.

To believe Obama’s popularity will not have an impact on the World Cup selection would smack of naivety, according to a high-placed FIFA source.

“How can it not make a difference?” said the source, who asked not to be named. “Now when you think of America, you don’t think George W. Bush or war. You think of this man, Obama, who has made history and given hope to millions.

“The men who vote on World Cup hosts are not immune to those same feelings. If the U.S. bid stacks up in terms of infrastructure and organization, then Obama could be a huge factor.”

A look at the past World Cups since the United States hosted the event in 1994
Year Host nation Total attendance
2006 Germany 3.36 million
2002 Japan/South Korea 2.71 million
1998 France 2.79 million
1994 United States 3.59 million
Obama figures to have a similar influence on the 2016 Olympic Games, which Chicago is vying for alongside Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro. Japanese Olympic Committee chief Tsunekazu Takeda has already admitted Tokyo’s chances of success diminished significantly the moment Obama was crowned the election victor, making Chicago the strong favorite.

The respective rival soccer associations looking at bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups are too savvy to give up any psychological ground at this early stage. But America’s main opponents, likely to be England in addition to joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Holland/Luxembourg, must be seriously concerned about the boost received by America’s bid, which is yet to be made official but is no secret.

The last and only time the U.S. staged the World Cup was in 1994, when the tournament shattered all-time attendance records that still stand to this day. That month in the world spotlight placed the sport in the consciousness of the American public, after soccer flat-lined following the demise of the North American Soccer League in the 1980s. Following the tournament, Major League Soccer began and has progressed steadily ever since. Participation levels have grown, while television viewing figures, especially the top European leagues, push onwards to decent, if unspectacular, levels.

In terms of its ability to host the World Cup, the U.S. is in a position of strength. The phenomenal success of the National Football League is a key element with its countless giant state-of-the-art stadiums in which to host matches.

Highly respected in FIFA circles, Gulati and his team were growing in confidence even before Obama’s victory.

“We know we have got great infrastructure, stadiums and so on,” Gulati said. “We know we would stage a terrific World Cup and having people view us as a nation in a better way is a positive.

“It was very clear from the reaction around the world just how popular this result has been. This election has given a lot of people a reason to cheer. They are looking forward to changes in policy.

“We are waiting for the rules of the game to be announced regarding 2018 and 2022. We will go after it in an aggressive fashion.”

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is expected to visit Obama at the White House next year, while Obama also is likely to attend the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The iconic images that would be spawned by a meeting between Obama and Nelson Mandela would cast further positive vibes upon the sport.

Much now hinges on the decision-making progress. At present, it is unclear if nations will be forced to choose which World Cup to bid for, or if they will be allowed to put forward for both 2018 and 2022. Either way, it is impossible to contemplate Europe not getting at least one of the selections. Currently, England is considered to be the strongest European candidate.

Africa and South America will not be in contention because of how recently they will have staged a World Cup. Brazil will play host in 2014.

CONCACAF president Jack Warner believes the U.S. should step aside for the Europeans on 2018 and instead effectively square off against Australia and China for 2022. But if Gulati and U.S. Soccer had been leaning toward that approach, Obama’s rise to the White House may have shifted the goalposts.

If U.S. Soccer believes it can win in 2018, it will certainly go for it and enjoy the resulting spin-offs four years sooner.

Some say it will take more than the arrival of a single charismatic superstar to transform the game and its status in America, as evidenced by David Beckham’s arrival in MLS and its failure to give soccer the boost that was hoped for. Maybe what was actually needed was a different kind of superstar, one who operates in the political playing field rather than within the white lines.

If that is the case, then U.S. Soccer’s dreams just came true.

This guy is pretty funny.
Happy Sunday Funday!

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=58064327

Raymond Orta WhataBurger guy Impression

Comedian Raymond Orta  | MySpace Video

Washington (CNN)- Two of President Barack Obama’s top legislative initiatives – health care reform and financial regulation – are getting different reactions from the American public, according to a new national poll.

…The poll suggests that most Americans continue to oppose the passage of the health care bill which Obama signed into law in April, although the public may be slightly more optimistic about the bill’s ultimate effect on the country.

According to the survey, 56 percent of the public disapprove of the passage of the bill, with 43 percent approving of the new law.

“Opposition is highest among men, older Americans, and people who make more than $50,000 a year,” says Holland. Continue reading ObamaCare as Popular as Joran van der Sloot on a Blind Date