You gotta laugh! Translator’s fortunes have improved

Wow! Just goes to show what is possible with a little publicity!  Just two days ago the Baltimore Sun published a story about the deplorable living conditions of an Iraq War translator.   We, actually Chris Coen, told you how Lutheran Social Services was falling down on the job.   Well, check out this update on Ahmed’s story. 

Today is moving day for Saad Ahmed, a wounded Iraqi interpreter who lost both legs to a roadside bomb last year while working for the U.S. military.

Ahmed is moving to a high-end apartment in North Bethesda that is wheelchair-accessible, with a spacious bathroom and an elevator to the lobby. 

“I saw it. It was nice, beautiful, like a hotel,” he said after being shown the apartment by Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area, the nonprofit agency that is coordinating his resettlement.

The change of address is one of several positive developments for him this week. A donor has contributed a motorized wheelchair to improve his mobility.

And the nonprofit agency says he will see a doctor within a week and already has referrals to medical specialists. 

The article goes on to tell about other good things coming Ahmed’s way —many thanks to private charity.   Americans are famous for their private charity and its only when people start expecting government (and these non-profit government contractors) to be the charity that we lose sight of the real meaning of the word.

Endnote:  Be sure to click on the comment by Chris Coen, Friends of Refugees, at the Baltimore Sun article.

Tyson’s Union head: we are all just a bunch of bigots

Today the Shelbyville Times-Gazette published a follow-up story to its unexpectedly incendiary article of last Friday about Tyson’s Food doing away with the Labor Day holiday and exchanging it for a Muslim religious day that would benefit a minority of its workers.

The action has truly caused a firestorm of criticism aimed at Tyson’s, but it sure looks like the Union shares much of the blame.    Union President Applebaum, said critics are motivated by bigotry.   Here we go again!  This is the tactic being used worldwide when anyone dares question why we are bending over backwards and giving in to demands by Muslims for us to change to accomodate their religious beliefs.   Next thing you know he will say we are all “Islamophobes” (the slur causing Europeans to cower in fear).

Tyson Foods says that Labor Day is still a holiday, but not for the union employees at the Shelbyville poultry processing facility, who will be taking off the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr instead.

Meanwhile, the union that negotiated the controversial contract at the Shelbyville plant has removed the original press release announcing the holiday change from its web site, and the union president has described the backlash to the decision as “bigotry.”

The union refused to answer a series of questions posed by the T-G, but instead released a statement from Stuart Appelbaum, the national president of the RWDSU [ Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union ].

I have to say again, this all sounds fishy, how did a minority of workers convince hundreds of others that a Muslim religious day was more important than Labor Day, not to mention the Muslim prayer room.  Did someone put the squeeze on someone? 

And again, in case you didn’t hear you were bigots the first time:

“There’s no question that there is a lot of bigotry against Muslims and that this agreement has clearly touched a raw nerve among those who are prejudiced against them,” Appelbaum said in the prepared statement. “However, the RWDSU has always understood that unions are only strong when they work to protect the dignity of workers of all faiths.

It is really important that we stand firm and don’t acquiesce.  Applebaum threatens that more unions will follow their lead (if they succeed in shutting people up).  This is part of the quiet Jihad, the demographic conquest that Vijay Kumar told us about last week:

The Islamists are clever. They begin by first exporting their surplus population to free and open societies. Then those immigrants begin to demand ideological tolerance and conformity to their views….

Hang in there, what’s a few names hurled at you.  When they call you a racist, bigot, xenophobe, nativist, hate monger and more, wear the label proudly.  Those words are the only power they have over you—now.

Tyson’s Labor Day decision, what questions should we really be asking

Update later in the day:  Brian Mosely has the latest from Shelbyville today here.   And, here is my response to the bigotry charge.

Who would have thought the Shelbyville Times-Gazette article last Friday would open the hornets nest it has.  Even the New York Times got in on the story. (Hat tip: Blulitespecial)   Here is the part I found most interesting at the Times:

Mr. Hadley said both management and union were surprised when nearly all the Somali workers — Tyson puts their number at 250, the union at nearly 400 — did not work on Id al-Fitr last year. They were not paid, but the plant almost had to close that day, said Mr. Hadley, adding that management was “elated” by the proposal to make Id al-Fitr a holiday.

Why are the numbers changing?  First we heard 700 from the union, now 400.   I would think that counting the Somali employees wouldn’t be that complicated.  So it makes one wonder if they are purposefully being deceptive.   And why was management so surprised that so many Somalis skipped work on the holiday when anyone who has studied the issues involving Islam in America knows that Somalis are devout Muslims.

But, that isn’t what I wanted to talk about this morning.   As I read through all the articles and comments mostly taking aim at Tyson’s and suggesting boycotts, I see virtually nothing about the source of all of this—-the US State Department’s Refugee Resettlement Program.    I don’t expect the general public to inquire, but where are the investigative journalists?

Does no one want to know how over 80,000 Somalis got here in the first place?

Did you know they are eligible to bring family members once resettled?

Did you know that “church” groups are paid (by you the taxpayer) to resettle these Muslim refugees (and hundreds of thousands more)?

Did you know that the taxpayer pays their airfare?  How many ever repay those “loans”?

Did you know the Somalis are entering the US with HIV and TB?

Did you know that they originally received subsidized apartments, health care, food stamps, employment case workers, and other welfare?

Did you know that Tyson’s Food (and other meatpackers) have run into problems in other US cities?

Do you want to know if Tyson’s gets a tax break for hiring refugees?

I’m told that Tyson’s and other meatpackers used to pay decent wages (higher than today) but began lowering wages first when they found a supply of illegal workers and have kept them lower now that they have a ready supply of refugees, is it true?

Are politicians in Washington on both sides of the aisle encouraging refugee resettlement to fuel big businesses need for cheap labor (while they get to wear a sanctimonius do-gooder white hat)?

And following on that question, is the State Department the employment service for big business?

How many of the Somalis in the US right now are asylees?  In other words, how many slipped into the US illegally and then sought asylum?

Does anyone ever consult the community in advance when a large group of third world refugees are brought into a city or town?   Does the local government have any recourse?

Did you know that the Somalis have practiced female genital mutilation and polygamy in the United States, how widespread is it?

Did you know there is a conflict going on in many black sections of cities over the Somalis who act arrogantly toward American born blacks?

I only have 20 or 30 more questions, but I will quit, I’ve made my point.   So where are all the investigative journalists?  Guess its up to us bloggers to investigate and report the real story.