Lewiston, ME, not exactly singing Kumbaya yet

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update 1/7/08:  See my post today on this here. 

When we had our public meeting in Hagerstown, MD back in September we were surprised that a young woman from Lewiston, ME just happened to be in the audience to report that everything was just going swimmingly in Lewiston after a few rough patches with the Somali refugee influx there.   An incident reported yesterday indicates she might have jumped the gun with that assessment. 

A poster of a lost dog named Mohammad was posted near a Somali owned store.   See the news coverage here.  (Hat tip:  Eric)    All people of good will condemn such an act.  But, it further demonstrates that communities are increasingly stressed by large numbers of immigrants of any race or religion, legal or illegal, flooding into small cities in rural areas at a rate faster than any community can absorb.   I think we need a breather and suggest the solution is a moratorium on all immigration.  For immigrants already here, there needs to be less focus on their rights and more on their responsibility to learn how to live as Americans. 

Shelbyville Times-Gazette Reporter under attack

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

 Update 1/6/08:   Be sure to follow the link for the Volunteer Voter.com below, you will find the comments there very instructive.

Yesterday we reported on attacks on author Mark Steyn by Canadian Muslims and even the government, essentially branding him a racist for undisputed facts on Muslim and European birth rates that he published in his best seller, America Alone.  Now, Shelbyville, TN Times-Gazette reporter, Brian Mosely, who did a Herculean reporting job in recent weeks in a series on the tension that exists between the growing Somali community, lured to this southern town by employment at a Tyson’s Food plant, and the residents of Shelbyville. 

In fact, early in the series, readers, and those commenting on the paper’s on-line forum, accused Mr. Mosely of being too soft on the Somalis.    Either read the original series or go to our many posts on the topic, and judge for yourself.  I think you will agree the reporting is straightforward.  While comments are pretty flamboyant, one can hardly blame the reporter for citizens taking an opportunity to vent after what appears to be several years of growing frustration.

In a letter to the editor this past week, Robert Allison said:

First of all, Brian Mosely should not have been selected to author a news series profiling a racial / religious group because he has made clear in his personal blog and other writings that he cannot be impartial toward races and religions other than his own.

So, every reporter in America will now have litmus tests where some Committee for the Preservation of Political Correctness will scrutinize a reporters past writings and make a determination if he or she will be permitted to report on a certain controversial topic.    But that’s not the whole story about this building witch hunt; certainly a tough reporter will just shrug off a highly critical letter to the editor.

The other issue is that people with personal axes to grind are whipping up a frenzy and building bonfires ready to burn this so-called “racist” reporter at the stake.   Here is a blog called Volunteer Voter.com  trying desperately to strike the matches.    Note that Mr. Mosely’s editor defends the paper and reveals that those making the charges have previously brought a lawsuit against this reporter and the paper.

As Brian’s (acting) editor, I question whether Katie [Katie Allison Granju] is in a position to question Brian’s journalistic ethics. What she didn’t tell you is that her family has a prior legal dispute with Brian and the newspaper, which it’s inappropriate for me to discuss in this forum. We ran a blistering letter to the editor [quoted above] from another member of the family yesterday, which accused Brian of being a racist, without pointing this connection out, but if the family is going to dogpile on Brian I think it needs to be said.

Mr. Mosely is extremely fortunate to have an editor like John Carney who has the fortitude to stand up against this nonsense and forcefully defend his reporter.  You must see Mr. Carney’s column yesterday here. 

I’m betting there is more to come for this reporter who dared to discuss the taboo subject of Muslim Somalis in small town USA.   What’s next, will Mr. Mosely and his editor have a little visit from the Race Relations Reeducation Committee for Silencing Wayward Racist Reporters (RRRCSWRR)?

A must read for all who value free speech!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I wrote last week about the free speech controversy on-going in Canada about Mark Steyn and his brilliant book, America Alone.   Jihad Watch has an update here yesterday that you must read.  

Westerners who understand the need for and value of free speech need to stand up for and with Steyn and Savage and all the rest — before it’s too late, and we can’t stand up for them, because we will be imprisoned or worse for doing so.

Here’s a suggestion, go out and buy America Alone by Mark Steyn as a show of solidarity.   Better still, buy a second copy and be sure your local library has it!

Sauerbrey out at State Department

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Asst. Secretary of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, Ellen Sauerbrey’s term has ended, despite lobbying efforts by Refugee advocates in Washington, according to the Baltimore Sun.

WASHINGTON – In nearly two years as the top State Department official on refugees, Ellen R. Sauerbrey has won some unlikely champions: refugee advocates who once said she was ill-prepared for the position.

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But as her temporary appointment draws to a close, their support has not been enough to save her job.

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In recent weeks, representatives of Refugees International, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and other groups that initially objected to Sauerbrey’s nomination have met with Senate staff members to push for a vote that would enable her to stay on through the end of President Bush’s term.

Sauerbrey, a long-time Maryland conservative, has apparently endeared herself to those organizations and volags (voluntary organizations) that work tirelessly to bring more and more refugees to America.  All are tone-deaf about what is really going on in cities that are being overwhelmed by the sheer number of refugees pouring into them thanks to Sauerbrey’s, now former, agency in the US State Department.  

Ft. Wayne, IN as the “world’s front door”

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

 Your tax dollars

As I’ve said before, thar’s gold in them thar refugees.  If you think this is all about taking in the world’s poor and downtrodden, forget it!   We’ve seen it with big businesses like Tyson’s Food that need labor and we see it here.  Ft. Wayne business-types are talking about setting up a kind of one-stop shopping bizarre/social services headquarters for all the immigrants in Ft. Wayne and all the tourist types who might like to come to experience the diversity at the “world’s front door.”   

[As an aside,  I saw this type of thinking years ago when preservationist types were turning the Amish of Lancaster, PA into tourist attractions.] 

With thousands of refugees and other recent immigrants already here and many more on the way, local government and civic leaders hope to consolidate many of the services and businesses they need in one place.

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Next week they’ll meet with officials of the Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. to explore use of a now-closed grocery store at 324 E. State Blvd. But even if a deal can’t be reached on that 41,450-square-foot building – it’s listed for sale at $1.7 million – Marilyn Moran-Townsend said she’s convinced the center will happen sometime, somewhere.

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“It would allow us to welcome new income and leverage our assets to become the world’s ‘melting pot,’” said Moran-Townsend, a board member with Invent Tomorrow, a private group that promotes downtown revitalization and other civic projects.

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In addition to offering immigrants information about and access to various services, the center would also allow various immigrant groups to showcase their culture, crafts, foods, businesses, entertainment and other unique aspects largely unknown to most Fort Wayne residents.

This might all just be fine if that is what the citizens of Ft. Wayne want, but I suggest they be let in on the plans.   It is flat-out wrong when ‘smart people’ in non-profit groups team up with government to make plans behind taxpayers’ backs.