Sentencing to be set aside in Somali Christmas tree bomber case

11/29/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, then 19, is shown after his arrest on Nov. 26, 2010, in Portland, Ore. Mohamud was convicted of planning to detonate a bomb during a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony…..

Just when I thought I could take a break from Somali posts today,* here comes news from a few days ago (hat tip: Judy) that due to questions about the legality of NSA spying on private communications, the case of Mohamed Osman Mohamud, the 2010 Portland Oregon Christmas tree convicted bomber, could go into a legal black hole.

Mohamud, whose family came here as refugees, had hoped to blow up the tree and the families there for the tree-lighting ceremony.

From NPR:

The sentencing of a Somali-American man convicted of trying to bomb a holiday tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, Ore., in 2010 has been put on hold indefinitely. That move comes just days after the Justice Department notified his lawyers that part of the case against him had been “derived from” secret NSA electronic surveillance.

Both sides met Tuesday in the chambers of U.S. District Judge Garr King to discuss next steps. The judge later issued a public order delaying the sentencing of Mohamed Osman Mohamud, which had been scheduled to take place Dec. 18.

“If sentencing remains appropriate, the court will reset the sentencing hearing,” after it rules on motions from federal public defenders Stephen R. Sady and Lisa Hay, the judge’s order said.

The move could foreshadow months or even years of legal wrangling, if the case becomes a vehicle to challenge the constitutionality of once-secret NSA monitoring of overseas email and social media accounts.

Wasn’t this just the sort of Islamic terror case we should be unraveling with NSA surveillance?

Photo and portion of caption is also from NPR.

Here is our archive of the Christmas tree bomber case.

*Actually I do have more Somali posts, so to readers who have sent them, I am going to get to them!

Sweden: Somali refugee rapes woman till she dies

11/29/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This dreadful story is all over my alerts this morning. The awful original story is in Swedish. Since I wasn’t completely sure of this translation (below) at the Council of Conservative Citizens, I checked Fjordman’s tweets to see if the story is real and I see he tweeted it yesterday.

Here is what the Council of Conservative Citizens says, and included is a film interview about the rape statistics in Sweden and Norway (be sure to watch it):

A 34 year old immigrant from Somalia was arrested for savagely attacking a woman in the parking garage of a Sheraton hotel in Sweden. The woman died while being raped. Police say the perpetrator continued to rape the woman’s corpse well after she had died.

The Somalian was apprehended by police while still in the act of raping the murdered woman.

Source (In Swedish)

Sweden and Norway are in the middle of a massive epidemic of violent rapes. Crime statistics show that rapes in both countries are overwhelmingly perpetrated by Muslim immigrants.

2013 figures were given in a recent report by Swedish Public Radio. In the first seven months of 2013, over 1,000 Swedish women reported being raped by Muslim immigrants. Over 300 of those were under the age of 15. The number of rapes is up 16% compared to 2012 numbers.

Humorous (sort of!) photo is from Bare Naked Islam about Somali migration to Sweden.

We have an extensive archive on “welcoming” Sweden, click here. Our top post of 2013—They are fighting back in Sweden—is worth re-reading.

Ah the challenges! Getting Somalis to sign up for MNsure

11/29/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, symbols for MNsure. Immigrants want to know who the heck they are!

MNsure, of course, is Minnesota’s Obamacare exchange. They are looking for the young, healthy, legal immigrants to make it work. The part I don’t get is, how is it going to help premiums for all if the immigrant is unemployed and will likely just be pushed onto Medicaid?

Here is the news from Minnesota Public Radio about how to get tens of thousands of Somalis signed up:

The Somali 24 Mall and mosque in Minneapolis is a serpentine maze of stalls, where merchants selling sandals, cell phones, prayer rugs and pots try to lure the throngs of shoppers.

Most days you won’t find health insurance among the wares. But that’s what Asli Ashkir was trying to sell recently — in Somali and English.

Ashkir isn’t an insurance agent. She leads Somali Health Solutions,* an organization designed to introduce people to MNsure, the state’s new online health insurance marketplace.

Minnesota is home to at least 83,000 uninsured immigrants who may be eligible for health coverage through the state’s new insurance marketplace. But convincing them to use the new exchange is proving to be a communications challenge.

“The government will be at your side…..”

Ashkir’s organization has crafted a decidedly Somali outreach plan that includes telephone and in-person assistance in Somali. On her visit to the mall, Ashkir enlisted the imam in the mall’s mosque to talk about the program during the midday prayer.

“Whatever the Imam says is highly respected,” she said. “He is the leader in the religion.”

Setting up shop at the mall also was strategic. On Fridays, when few Somalis work, the shopping center attracts young, uninsured men — a demographic that’s critical to the economics of the exchange. [They would have to be employed men with a decent salary to make it work! Right?—ed]

Hassan Abdi of Minneapolis followed the imam’s advice and stopped by. Abdi, who is unemployed, dropped his health insurance earlier this year because it cost too much and covered too little. He had not heard of MNsure and wanted to know the cost.

“Sometimes, it’s difficult to get the insurance that covers all of your needs,” he said.

Price is a chief concern among the people she’s talked to about MNsure, Ashkir said.

“But there’s help available from the federal as well as the state, that’s what we keep telling them,” Askir said. “You will be supported if you don’t make enough. The government will be at your side to help you. Then, they like that.”

About the photo: Minnesota Public Radio says that symbols chosen for MNsure’s logo are unfamiliar to most immigrants. No kidding!

*By the way, I tried to find some financials for Somali Health Solutions, but could not. I couldn’t even figure out in my cursory search if they are a non-profit organization.

As winter approaches, Berlin police try to break up refugee camp

11/29/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The source for this story from earlier in the week is Revolution Now, so consider that as you read this news from Germany where “refugee” protestors have lived on the street for a year.

Around the world! This is what they are all agitating for! No borders!

Interesting that Revolution Now says the Green Party district mayor believes the longstanding camp demonstration is being fueled by ‘Leftwingers’ using the refugees as pawns. Emphasis is mine:

The refugeee protest camp at the Oranienplatz in Berlin is under immediate threat of eviction. Earlier tonight German police tried to evict the camp but activists succeeded in defending the camp. After the police operation there was an unauthorized spontanious demonstration which was attacked by police forces.

In the earyl evening hours police tried to evict the refugee protest camp at the Oranienplatz, a square in the Kreuzberg neighbourhood in Berlin. In the afternoon district mayo Miss Herrmann of the Green party declared the end of the tolerance of the camp and asked the police to evict the square. Because of a fast and massive mobilisation activists managed to prevent the eviction tonight.

City officials have found space to house 80 inside (out of the cold). They aren’t throwing them out into some German forest! The protestors basically are demanding the right to live in Germany freely.

District mayor Herrmann was in the camp in the afternoon and spoke with refugees and their supporters. She was informed about the fact that the building where refugees could stay if they would leave the camp has a capacity of 80 people so at least 30 refugees had to return to the camp.because there was no place for them in the building. Furthermore there were refugees who made clear from the beginning of the negotiations about an alternative place to stay for the refugees that they will not even consider to leave the protest camp as long as their demands are not met. They demand an end of the so called “Residenzpflicht” which restricts their freedom of movement, an end to their placement in isolated camps and a stop of all deportations. Although Miss Herrmann knew that a big group of refugees had to and/or wanted to stay at the Oranienplatz she ordered the police operation.

Hermann: Radicals exploiting legitimate refugees!

Refugees stated tonight: “Since the negotiations started we valued the limited access to an alternative place as an attempt to divide us.” From the beginning of the talks responsible authorities were informed by refugees that leaving the camp is not an option for many people at Oranienplatz. Miss Herrmann reacted that the struggle of the refugees was being directed by leftwing radicals and that the refugees were exploited by them. With this kind of reaction she denies the ability of the refugees to act politically for themselves in a self-determined way. She is also participating in a media campaign to delegitimize the refugee protests. This media campaign aims to divide people in “good” refugees who will accept an alternative place for the winter and repress people who want to change the system and who are fighting for equal rights for all people and who are protesting at the Oranienplatz for mor than a year now.

There is more, with photos.

For all of our posts on the problems Germany is having with refugees and asylum seekers, see our Germany archive here.