Month: March 2008

Women Against Shariah has arrived

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Our friend Janet Levy has started a blog—an important blog!  It’s called Women Against Shariah and you must read it here.  

Without a doubt one of the most puzzling aspects of the debate about the expanding Islamist agenda is the utter silence of feminists who are otherwise demanding rights for all women.  I guess if the perpetrator is some white male chauvinist pig he is fair game, but by golly they don’t say a word about the brutality some women in the world (and increasingly in America) face under Shariah law and from Muslim men.

Women Against Shariah could not come too soon.   We have a growing number of refugees and other immigrants importing to America practices which all civilized people must reject—polygamy, female genital mutilation, and even honor killings.

Go now and visit Women Against Shariah and check out the informative sidebar on the demands the Koran makes on women regarding their clothing by instructing them on how best to hide their “ornaments.”

And, if you are a blogger add this important site to your blogroll.  Congratulations Janet!

A crime so monstrous

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Check out Powerline blog today about a new book by Benjamin Skinner entitled:  “A Crime So Monstrous:  Face to Face with Modern Day Slavery.”   Skinner writes in Powerline about the horror stories then adds this:

And it is a living history of quiet heroism. John Miller, a former Republican congressman appointed to be America’s antislavery czar, zealously cajoled foreign governments—friends and foes alike—to bear their responsibility and free their slaves. At the same time, he battled State Department elites in an attempt to convince them that abolition mattered. Thanks to his efforts, the Bush Administration can boast of the most aggressive antislavery record since Lincoln.

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The research quickly shattered many of my internationalist preconceptions. Global abolition is part of the UN mandate. But the UN Human Rights Commission cottoned to genocidal regimes like Khartoum that demanded it expunge the word “slavery” from its lexicon, and certain UN peacekeepers actually participated in the slave trade in countries like Eritrea and Cambodia.

Well, so much for the UN Human Rights gestapo coming to the US to tell us how badly we treat “migrants.”  See Judy’s report on our lack of compassion here. 

Although come to think of it maybe the UN Human Rights gang should be called in to investigate groups like the International Institute of CT?   Thanks to Richard for the tip.   

Somalis to get a publically funded school in Minnesota?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Your tax dollars: 

Behind Bosnians, Somalis are the second largest group of Muslim refugees to enter the United States since we started keeping those statistics in the late 1980’s.  Their population in American is now way beyond the original 80,000 or so we have admitted because once here refugees can apply to bring extended family and the Somali family is typically very large (polygamy helps boost those numbers).  

Now we are getting word that your tax dollars will build a special school for them in Minneapolis, some are calling it a Madrassa.    Private religious schools in America have a rich tradition and one huge common factor—they don’t take government funds.  I know from personal experience having spent a recent Friday night helping serve spaghetti dinner to 500 at a Christian school fundraiser.   The ACLU would be landing like a big bird on a Christian or Jewish school, so someone call them on this project!

There is no sense me repeating the story when Jerry Gordon over at the ACT blog has done an excellent job on it.   Read about it here.

What’s up in Wagga Wagga?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

 Update March 11th:    Downunder News Link responds here, sheds some light on the same question I have.

When I first saw this story I was confused.  I couldn’t figure out what Wagga was?   After searching around a bit I found out it’s a city in New South Wales, Australia and its full name is Wagga Wagga (crow crow in the aboriginal language).  They have lots of crows.  But, anyway, back to my story.

It seems there was a racial incident that inspired some letter writing. 

Racist websites Downunder News Links and US based Stormfront have both seized on an alleged incident reported by The Daily Advertiser involving African refugees.

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Prominent Wagga volunteer Erwin Richter said he was concerned Wagga was being associated with racism.

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Mr Richter, who volunteers as a refugee resettlement coordinator, reported receiving letters and phone calls, blaming him for bringing African refugees to the Riverina and telling him to “back off”.

You can read about the ‘incident’ that prompted the letter-writing campaign here.  It involved an altercation between a woman (color?) and some black men, the men left and returned with eight African friends who proceeded to beat the woman with tree branches.

But, here is where I’m confused.   Maybe Australian English is differant from American English!  This is in the first article I mentioned above.

Wagga crime manager Detective Inspector Rod Smith warned those found to be guilty of racial abuse could face prosecution.

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“It is unlawful and we consider it offensive,” he said.

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“Regardless of race, colour or religion police will investigate all allegations of crime without discrimination.

Is the police detective talking about prosecuting the criminals who beat the woman as a racial abuse, or are the letters written to the refugee guy considered the racial abuse? 

Clarification please!  Australian readers please tell me you don’t have hate speech laws.

Bhutanese on the way! For real this time

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Stories abound this week about the first Bhutanese refugees leaving camps in Nepal and headed west and to New Zealand.  We have written several stories about this large group over many months, but it looks like they are really on the way now. 

KATHMANDU (AFP) – The first of more than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees languishing in camps in southern Nepal for more than 15 years have begun to leave for overseas resettlement, officials said Monday.

A UN represenative said this about the first to leave:

“….some people will leave Monday and we would like to see between 40 to 60 people leave in the next two weeks, to Denmark, Canada, Norway, the United States and New Zealand.”

But, then went on to say the larger numbers will be leaving for the US at the end of the month.   We committed to 60,000!

In October 2006, the United States offered to take some 60,000 of the 107,000 refugees who live in seven camps in southern Nepal, and around 23,000 refugees have since applied.