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(Compiler's note: Many of you are following the news about the Mattel doll that says “Islam is the Light.” The release below from “MAMA” (Moms Ask Mattel for Accountability) has good news.
We commend and thank “MAMA” for its activism, and thank those of you who have taken action on this. This is an excellent example of how our citizens can play a role in the effort to roll back the tide of radical Islam.
We also commend Wal-Mart and its managers for their positive response to the concerns that have been conveyed to them. Thank you Wal-Mart!!
On the other hand, the release below reveals that Target has not been responsive at all. To find out more click on the link below.)
Parents Campaign Focuses on Target, Kmart and Toys R US
December 16, 2008 - Washington, DC: Wal-Mart managers are removing the Mattel doll that says "Islam is the Light" from store shelves, according to reports from parents and the media across the U.S. and Canada, as well as Wal-Mart employees. Many Wal-Mart managers have removed the controversial doll in the last two weeks, and others are removing it as soon as parents ask.
The Moms Ask Mattel for Accountability (MAMA) campaign to remove the doll began in late November on "Black" Friday, the year's biggest shopping day. The national MAMA campaign started as a response to parent concerns about the Mattel/Fisher Price "Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo Doll." The majority of "Little Mommy Cuddle and Coo" dolls on store shelves have an audio soundtrack that says "Islam is the Light," with no label or warning to parents on the doll's packaging that it advocates Islam to their young children, a practice known as "Dawa." MAMA has advised parents in the U.S. and Canada to ask retailers either to remove the doll from the shelves or to attach a label stating "NOTICE: This doll says "Islam is the light," an invitation to your child to join Islam." MAMA is concerned that an invitation to Islam is a material risk to young girls, because of the discriminatory Islamic law known as Shariah, and wants parents informed about the doll's statement before they purchase the doll.
"Parents are reporting that most Wal-Marts have already removed the doll, or immediately remove it when asked," said Denise Lee, founder of Moms Ask Mattel for Accountability. "And TV and newspaper stories are reporting the same policy changes. MAMA applauds Wal-Mart for taking the lead here in responding to parents' concerns, especially over the Christmas season."
Wal-Mart staff at the Wal-Mart customer "Urgent Assistance" complaint phones were helpful and frank about customer complaints about the "Islam is the Light" doll. Lee spoke with Wal-Mart "Urgent Assistance" employee Ben Werkheiser, who said "We have received quite a few complaints from customers." Werkheiser stated that removal of the dolls is "more or less left up to individual stores' decisions," and when asked if the dolls had been removed from most Wal-Mart stores answered "Yes, they've pulled them because people complained about it. We are mainly responding to customers' complaints. The dolls in most of our Wal-Marts have been pulled." Fellow Wal-Mart employee Maria McDonald stated "We have had many complaints with the doll...the calls we are getting are from customers. I personally have received a lot of calls from customers."
Wal-Mart employee Werkheiser offered advice to customers: "Contact store managers and let them know what's going on. Have them listen to the doll. Customers can call the home office, 1-800-WALMART." Although the Wal-Mart corporate office declined our request to provide an official policy statement, MAMA spokesperson Lee said: "The facts speak for themselves - Wal-Mart is saying YES! to parent requests for removal of the "Islam is the light" doll from the shelves."
A TALE OF TWO TOY STORES....
On the other hand, MAMA's requests to Target to remove the doll - or attach a label stating that it says "Islam is the Light" - met with a NO!
Amy Reilly of Target's Media Relations office called Lee and directed parents "To talk to Mattel if you have any issues with the doll." Reilly carefully stated, "We have not had a national recall on those dolls." When told of parents concerns about the doll Reilly stated, "The doll is a well selling doll." She said, for anything else "I would continue to try reaching Mattel."
"The difference is clear between two responses to parents' concerns," said Lee. "Wal-Mart is trying to help parents, and leaves the decision up to their managers. It appears from all the Target cases that parents have sent us (see "Cases" at www.labelthatdoll.com), that Target refuses to take action in response to consumer complaints, and local Target store managers aren't permitted to respond to their local community."
"The question is what will Target, Wal-Mart and other retailers do on December 26, when all those parents who bought that 'well selling' doll try to return it because it says 'Islam is the light'?" Lee said.
Lee noted that individual Kmarts have also been reported in the media as removing the dolls, but no nationwide policy has been released.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
It's already started...Ammunition Accountability Legislation
Remember how Obama said that he wasn't going to take your guns? Well, it seems that his minions and allies in the anti-gun world have no problem with taking your ammo! If they can deprive you of ammo they do not need to take your guns!
The bill that is being pushed in 18 states requires all ammunition to be encoded by the manufacture, providing a data base of all Ammunition sales. So they will know how much you buy and what calibers. Nobody can sell any ammunition after June 30, 2009 unless the ammunition is coded.
Any privately held uncoded ammunition must be destroyed by July 1, 2011. (Including hand loaded ammo.) They will also charge a .05 cent tax on every round so every box of ammo you buy will go up at least $2.50 or more!
This legislation is currently pending in 18 states: Alabama , Arizona , California , Connecticut , Hawaii , Illinois , Indiana , Kentucky , Maryland , Mississippi , Missouri, New Jersey, New York , Pennsylvania , Rhode Island , South Carolina, Tennessee , and Washington .
The bill that is being pushed in 18 states requires all ammunition to be encoded by the manufacture, providing a data base of all Ammunition sales. So they will know how much you buy and what calibers. Nobody can sell any ammunition after June 30, 2009 unless the ammunition is coded.
Any privately held uncoded ammunition must be destroyed by July 1, 2011. (Including hand loaded ammo.) They will also charge a .05 cent tax on every round so every box of ammo you buy will go up at least $2.50 or more!
This legislation is currently pending in 18 states: Alabama , Arizona , California , Connecticut , Hawaii , Illinois , Indiana , Kentucky , Maryland , Mississippi , Missouri, New Jersey, New York , Pennsylvania , Rhode Island , South Carolina, Tennessee , and Washington .
2008 Legislation
Alabama
Alabama Senate Bill 541Arizona
Arizona House Bill 2833California
California Senate Bill 997 (Carried Over from 2007)
Connecticut
Connecticut Senate Bill 603
Hawaii
Hawaii House Bill 2392
Hawaii Senate Bill 2020
Hawaii Senate Bill 2076
Hawaii House Resolution 82-07 (Carried Over from 2007)
Hawaii Concurrent Resolution 104-06 (Carried Over from 2007)
Illinois
Illinois House Bill 4258
Illinois House Bill 4259
Illinois House Bill 4269
Illinois House Bill 4349
Illinois Senate Bill 1095 (Carried Over from 2007)Indiana
Indiana House Bill 1260Kentucky
Kentucky House Bill 715Maryland
Maryland House Bill 517Mississippi
Mississippi Senate Bill 2286Missouri
Missouri Senate Bill 1200New Jersey
New Jersey Assembly Bill 2490New York
New York Assembly Bill 10259
New York Assembly Bill 6920 (Carried Over from 2007)
New York Assembly Bill 7300 (Carried Over from 2007)
New York Senate Bill 1177 (Carried Over from 2007)
New York Senate Bill 3731 (Carried Over from 2007)Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania House BillRhode Island
Rhode Island Senate Bill 2742South Carolina
South Carolina Senate Bill 1259Tennessee
Tennessee House Bill 3245
Tennessee Senate Bill 3395Washington
Washington House Bill 3359
2007 Legislation
California Senate Bill 997
Hawaii House Resolution 82-07
Hawaii Concurrent Resolution 104-06
Illinois Senate Bill 1095
Maryland House Bill 1393
New York House Bill 6920
New York House Bill 7300
New York Senate Bill 1177
New York Senate Bill 3731
Protecting America in the New Missile Age – Chapter Four: The Cost of Missile Defense
Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr., Ph.D.
Editor’s note: This is the fourth in an 18-part series of excerpts from Protecting America in the new Missile Age – A Reader. Published by The Heritage Foundation with a number of prominent contributors, its purpose is to inform and educate all Americans about the security challenges we face in an ever-changing world.
Missile defense represents a relatively small part of the total U.S. defense budget: just over $8 billion out of a total 2008 defense budget of $700 billion. This is less than one-70th of national defense spending, and defense spending is only about 4%of gross domestic product. By reasonable standards, missile defense is a modest national security investment that pales in comparison to the consequences of a ballistic missile attack against even one U.S. city. Instead of the few thousand fatalities resulting from the 9/11 attack, we could lose hundreds of thousands and suffer vastly greater physical destruction from the detonation of a single warhead comparable to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. One need only read the obituaries published by the New York Times in the weeks following 9/11. They make somber reading for anyone in doubt of the human tragedy caused by such an attack.
Nevertheless, we are entitled to ask what we are receiving for our investment in missile defense. As other contributors to this reader have pointed out, the United States has had a missile defense research program for several decades. President Ronald Reagan, in his seminal address on March 23, 1983, challenged the scientific and technological community to produce missile defense concepts to defend against the growing Soviet missile threat. ....
Exclusive: Saudi Kingdom Continues to Export Radical Wahhabism
Jim Kouri, CPP
Wahhabism is a fundamentalist movement, named after Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab (1703-1792). It remains the dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia.
Wahhabis hold that some Muslim groups such as Shia Islam follow novel or non-Islamic practices.Wahhabi theology advocates puritanical and legalistic stances in matters of faith and religious practice. Wahhabists see their role as a movement to restore Islam from what they perceive to be innovations, superstitions, deviances, heresies and idolatries. There are many practices that they believe are contrary to Islam.
Wahhabism was a considered a small sect within Islam until the discovery of oil in Arabia, in 1938. Enormous oil revenues provided the means to spread the beliefs of Wahhabism throughout the Middle East. Saudi laypeople, government officials and clerics have donated many tens of millions of dollars to create Wahhabi-oriented religious schools, newspapers and outreach organizations.
U.S. government and other experts have reported that Islamic extremism is on the rise and that the spread of Islamic extremism is the preeminent threat facing the United States. In addition, various sources alleged that Saudi Arabia is one source that has supported and funded the spread of Islamic extremism, or Wahabbism, globally.
The intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, the State Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development are implementing various efforts to identify, monitor, and counter the support and funding of the global propagation of Islamic extremism. The intelligence agencies and DOD are carrying out identification and monitoring efforts, primarily in counterintelligence and force protection.
According to reports, the State Department and USAID are carrying out efforts to counter the global propagation of Islamic extremism, with State's efforts focused primarily on traditional diplomacy, counterterrorism, and public diplomacy and USAID's efforts focused on development programs to diminish underlying conditions of extremism.
According to the General Accounting Office they are preparing a classified report to be subsequently released with a more complete description of U.S. efforts to address the global spread of Islamic extremism. A number of sources have reported that Saudi private entities and individuals, as well as sources from other countries, are allegedly financing or supporting Islamic extremism.
For example, in July 2005, a Treasury official testified before Congress that Saudi Arabia-based and -funded organizations remain a key source for the promotion of ideologies used by terrorists and violent extremists around the world to justify their agenda. However, according to the 9/11 Commission Report, the Commission found no persuasive evidence that the Saudi government knowingly supported al Qaeda.
The government agencies also told GAO staff that Islamic extremism is being propagated by sources in countries other than Saudi Arabia, such as Iran, Kuwait, and Syria. The agencies are still examining Saudi Arabia's relationship, and that of other sources in other countries, to Islamic extremism.
The Saudi government has announced and, in some cases, undertaken some reform efforts to address Islamic extremism. For example, the government is undertaking educational and religious reforms, including revising textbooks and conducting a three-year enlightenment program, to purge extremism and intolerance from religious education. However, U.S. agencies do not know the extent of the Saudi government's efforts to limit the activities of Saudi sources that have allegedly propagated Islamic extremism outside of Saudi Arabia.
Wahhabism is a fundamentalist movement, named after Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab (1703-1792). It remains the dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia.
Wahhabis hold that some Muslim groups such as Shia Islam follow novel or non-Islamic practices.Wahhabi theology advocates puritanical and legalistic stances in matters of faith and religious practice. Wahhabists see their role as a movement to restore Islam from what they perceive to be innovations, superstitions, deviances, heresies and idolatries. There are many practices that they believe are contrary to Islam.
Wahhabism was a considered a small sect within Islam until the discovery of oil in Arabia, in 1938. Enormous oil revenues provided the means to spread the beliefs of Wahhabism throughout the Middle East. Saudi laypeople, government officials and clerics have donated many tens of millions of dollars to create Wahhabi-oriented religious schools, newspapers and outreach organizations.
U.S. government and other experts have reported that Islamic extremism is on the rise and that the spread of Islamic extremism is the preeminent threat facing the United States. In addition, various sources alleged that Saudi Arabia is one source that has supported and funded the spread of Islamic extremism, or Wahabbism, globally.
The intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, the State Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development are implementing various efforts to identify, monitor, and counter the support and funding of the global propagation of Islamic extremism. The intelligence agencies and DOD are carrying out identification and monitoring efforts, primarily in counterintelligence and force protection.
According to reports, the State Department and USAID are carrying out efforts to counter the global propagation of Islamic extremism, with State's efforts focused primarily on traditional diplomacy, counterterrorism, and public diplomacy and USAID's efforts focused on development programs to diminish underlying conditions of extremism.
According to the General Accounting Office they are preparing a classified report to be subsequently released with a more complete description of U.S. efforts to address the global spread of Islamic extremism. A number of sources have reported that Saudi private entities and individuals, as well as sources from other countries, are allegedly financing or supporting Islamic extremism.
For example, in July 2005, a Treasury official testified before Congress that Saudi Arabia-based and -funded organizations remain a key source for the promotion of ideologies used by terrorists and violent extremists around the world to justify their agenda. However, according to the 9/11 Commission Report, the Commission found no persuasive evidence that the Saudi government knowingly supported al Qaeda.
The government agencies also told GAO staff that Islamic extremism is being propagated by sources in countries other than Saudi Arabia, such as Iran, Kuwait, and Syria. The agencies are still examining Saudi Arabia's relationship, and that of other sources in other countries, to Islamic extremism.
The Saudi government has announced and, in some cases, undertaken some reform efforts to address Islamic extremism. For example, the government is undertaking educational and religious reforms, including revising textbooks and conducting a three-year enlightenment program, to purge extremism and intolerance from religious education. However, U.S. agencies do not know the extent of the Saudi government's efforts to limit the activities of Saudi sources that have allegedly propagated Islamic extremism outside of Saudi Arabia.
Sob Stories for Terrorists
When someone admits to committing a crime, the emotional angst is shared by loved ones of the victim and accused alike. Drunk drivers have families, too, after all. So do bank robbers. But you won't see many newspaper stories devoted to their torment.
It is entirely different when it comes to those accused of terror-related crimes.....
Donors list raises fears over Hillary Clinton role as Secretary of State
Bill Clinton has raised millions of dollars from governments and politicians in the Middle East and Asia, raising fresh concerns about the impartiality of his wife’s role as Secretary of State. ....
'American Taliban' Lindh Asks Bush for Freedom
The parents of American-born Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh on Wednesday pleaded with President George W. Bush to set their son free before he leaves office next month.
IMF warns of economic riots, police ready for civil unrest
Paulson discussed worst-case scenario at bailout meeting – declare martial law.
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