LinkedInMyra Spearman has sent you a message.Date: 3/31/2009Subject: CALL TO ACTION - PLEASE FORWARDHello Everyone: Today, I spoke with Illinois State Representative, Robert Pritchard. He is a long time proponent of abating domestic and family abuse. He needs to hear from everyone. I asked him to author legislation called, "Duncan and Jack Law" which would only allow "Supervised Visits" to non-custodial parents who have either1). Violated Orders of Protection and/or2). Received a Guilty Conviction stemming from domestic and or family violence.Before ordering visitation, a judge needs to make sure that there was no abuse in the home. If abuse is determined, the non-custodial parent should either be granted Supervised Visitation or No Visitation Previlidges at all. Please email him and let him know that you're in support of this legislation or similiar legislation.bob@pritchardstaterep.comIf you have something better to add please feel free... anything helps...Duncan and Jack are the 2 little children that lost their lives this week at the hand of their father. You can read the story at:http://www.chicagotribune.com/ news/local/chi-missing-boys-dead-31-...Below is a copy of the letter I sent to the Illinois Rep. I'm going to be sending it to NYS as well.There's not a Congressman, Senator, etc... that should say no to this.Dear Sir:I am creator and administrator of the web community Please Help Missing Children.http://helpthesechildren.ning.com/Sir, the loss of Jack and Duncan Connolly is beyond tragic. The actions of the law enforcement involved in this case was a detriment that led to their deaths. They did not take seriously the severity of their father's condition, nor did they act on the information they were given. The Amber Alert for the boys was far from long enough. This should NOT have happened. Had there been a law in effect designed to PROTECT our children in the event of a mentally ill parent, the deaths of Jack and Duncan may have been prevented.PLEASE author legislation called, "Duncan and Jack Law" which would only allow "Supervised Visits" to non-custodial parents who have either1). Violated Orders of Protection and/or2). Received a Guilty Conviction stemming from domestic and or family violence.Before ordering visitation, a judge needs to make sure that there was no abuse in the home. If abuse is determined, the non-custodial parent should either be granted Supervised Visitation or No Visitation Previlidges at all.Someone that may be a strong supporter of this would be Congressman Gary Miller.SincerelyKathryn ComstockAdministratorPlease Help Missing Children
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Diane Tikacs, a former neighbor of the Connolly family when they lived in Algonquin, signs a poster for Duncan Connolly at a memorial in the northwest suburb. The boys were killed by their father who then took his own life. (Tribune photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo / March 30, 2009)
BATTERED EXAMINING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
2 boys found dead; mom rips the courtsAfter 3-week search, boys are found dead with their dad in central Illinois; mother decries system that OKd unsupervised visitsBy Jo Napolitano, Carolyn Starks and Joel Hood | Tribune reportersMarch 31, 2009
Amy Leichtenberg worried this day would come, and she begged the judicial system to prevent it.
In court documents dating back to 2005, she detailed her estranged husband's threats against her family and fought unsuccessfully to keep him from having unsupervised visits with their two sons. Michael Connolly violated the orders of protection against him six times, police records said, and he often vowed to kill himself rather than be separated from the boys.
Connolly, 40, disappeared with Duncan, 9, and Jack, 7, on March 8, prompting a nationwide search. Their bodies were discovered Sunday near a Christmas tree farm in a remote area of Putnam County.
Police described the deaths as a double homicide and a suicide, but released few details about the killings. The boys' bodies were found in the back seat of their father's 1991 Dodge Dynasty, while Connolly's body was discovered about 60 yards away.Leichtenberg declined to comment Monday, but she issued a statement lashing out at the judicial system that allowed Connolly unsupervised visits.
"No parent should have to bury their babies," she said. "Duncan and Jack, Mommy loves you to the heavens and back.
"I feel that the judicial system failed me," she said. "I pray that the courts listen to the warnings from other parents like me."
Though Connolly and Leichtenberg lived in northwest suburban Algonquin for several years, much of their bitter custody battle took place in LeRoy, a small town near Bloomington where Leichtenberg moved with the boys after ending her marriage. She received orders of protection against Connolly there, including a current order, barring him from contact with her.
Connolly, an unemployed pharmaceutical salesman, violated the order six times but was only charged with four misdemeanors between July 2006 and October 2007, McLean County State's Atty. William Yoder said. He met with Connolly for an hour a few months ago at Connolly's request and believed him to be "unbalanced," Yoder said.
He declined to discuss his office's specific involvement in the custody battle.
"This was a tragic event," Yoder said. "This had the worst possible outcome."
Police began a search for Connolly and the boys three weeks ago when he failed to return them after a scheduled visit. McLean Sheriff Mike Emery conceded there was a delay in the Amber Alert about the abduction, saying the department's initial attempt did not meet all of the criteria required for the notification. Pressed to discuss the delay, the sheriff said he would not criticize the investigation.
At LeRoy Elementary School, where Duncan was in 3rd grade and Jack was in 2nd, the brothers' desks had been left untouched since their disappearance. Blue and green ribbons, the boys' favorite colors, were tied to trees, and parents taped pictures of the missing brothers inside their car windshields.
"In small towns something like this affects the whole town, not just one pocket or one neighborhood," LeRoy Supt. Gary Tipsord said. "We had prepared for a lot of different outcomes, but I don't think any of us expected this."
Putnam County authorities discovered Connolly's car about 5 p.m. Sunday near a Christmas tree farm about 8 miles south of Hennepin. Police say they do not know of any connection between the family and the secluded site.
Police would not say how long the bodies had been there, if they suffered obvious injuries or whether a weapon was recovered.
Connolly's aunt, Joyce Connolly, said his family rarely saw him after the couple separated.
"I feel sorry for Michael," she said. "I know that sounds terrible, but he must have been so tormented."
Court records and police accounts portray Connolly as an abusive husband who tried to force Leichtenberg to stay in their marriage. He threatened to cut open her and her parents and once told Jack that he would find "a younger, prettier, nicer mama," according to court documents.
When Connolly sensed Leichtenberg was about to leave him in 2006, she said he pressured her to sign a paper giving him custody of the boys if they divorced. He also demanded his wife make a videotape in which she claimed to abuse her sons, Leichtenberg said. It's not clear she did either.
"He went into a rage again and told me if I didn't get home he would kill me. I went home, and he told me if I ever take his boys again he would hunt me down and kill me and my parents and cut us open," Amy Leichtenberg wrote in her petition for an emergency order of protection in July 2005 in McHenry County Circuit Court.
Neighbors realized something was wrong with the couple's marriage shortly after they moved into their Algonquin neighborhood in 2003. Friends described Connolly as "controlling" and "manipulative" toward his wife and sons. Leichtenberg often would use neighbors' telephones to call her parents because her husband didn't like her speaking with them.
"She could never live a normal life," former next-door neighbor Jim Gerardi said. "That's the sad part about it, because he was watching every single move she made."
While Connolly was out of town on a business trip in 2006, neighbors said they helped Leichtenberg pack her car, and she and the kids sought refuge at a domestic violence shelter.
Leichtenberg filed for divorce in May 2006 in McHenry Circuit Court. In her petition, she described hundreds of harassing phone messages her husband left for her and her family.
In the messages, Connolly outlined stipulations for the divorce: He wanted visitation with his sons alone and one day a week with Amy alone and promised not to hurt them, court documents said.
Leichtenberg withdrew the petition without explanation in December 2006. She returned to the family's home in Algonquin, but neighbors said she hid inside the house and rarely socialized after the reconciliation.
The couple separated again a short time later, and Leichtenberg moved to LeRoy, where a bitter custody battle ignited. She wrote in court documents in April 2007 that he had called her home and her cell at least 18 times.
In a Tribune interview after the boys disappeared, Leichtenberg said Connolly was granted unsupervised visitation rights in December. She said she begged the McLean judge to deny the request.
"All Michael would do is file his own motions, and the judge was basically tired of him and gave him what he wanted."
Tribune reporters Andrew L. Wang and Stacy St. Clair contributed to this report.
<a href="jnapolitano@tribune.com">jnapolitano@tribune.com</a>
<a href="cstarks@tribune.com">cstarks@tribune.com</a>
<a href="jhood@tribune.com">jhood@tribune.com</a>
<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-missing-boys-dead-31-mar31,0,3316104.story?page=2">http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-missing-boys-dead-31-m...</a>
Fellow American's let us pray that the powers of greed hate and division dont rob the people of their good judgement in the election, and deprive them of representative government.
The people of America will continue to take a "back seat" to corporate interests if John McCain is elected.
We are seeing how low the right wing extremists will go to slander opposition, smear and distort the truth.
The McCain camp continues to reach across the aisle-with more mud!
Let's stay on the road of truth, hope and a willingness to work together to build a better future for all of U S.- not just mudslingers fueled and funded by special interest.
The largest paper in Alaska just endorsed Barak! Let the sun shine!
I've got an intense project coning up and wont be able to volunteer any more 'til the election.
Continue to let the light of truth pierce the darkness of lies, deceit, and distortions of the desperate McCain camp who are the "real wolves in sheeps clothing."
INVITATION TO ALL MORMONS TO VOTE THEIR CONSCIENCE
LDS Church encourages member involvement in political process
By Carrie A. MooreDeseret News
Published: Monday, Sept. 22, 2008 12:28 a.m. MDT
While the LDS Church has long affirmed its political neutrality regarding political parties, platforms and candidates, it is reminding its members of their duty to vote and of the church's right to speak out on political and social issues.
In a letter sent to priesthood leaders dated Sept. 11 to be read from the pulpit in LDS congregations nationwide on Sunday, the church's First Presidency titled its message "Political participation, voting and the political neutrality of the Church."
Church leaders each year read a statement of political neutrality from the pulpit and encourage members to get involved in the political process, but this year's letter differed from previous years in the urgency with which it encourages individual political participation.
"As citizens, we have the privilege and duty of electing office holders and influencing public policy. Participation in the political process affects our communities and nation today and in the future," the letter reads.
"Latter-day Saints as citizens are to seek out and then uphold leaders who will act with integrity and are wise, good, and honest. Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in various political parties."
"Therefore, in this election year, we urge you to register to vote, to study the issues and candidates carefully and prayerfully, and then to vote for and actively support those you believe will most nearly carry out your ideas of good government," the letter said.
As in the past, the letter affirms the church's "neutrality regarding political parties, platforms, and candidates. The Church also affirms its constitutional right of expression on political and social issues."
In June, the First Presidency sent a letter to church leaders in California — also to be read from the pulpit — asking church members to "do all you can" to uphold traditional marriage. The move came following a ruling earlier this year by the California Supreme Court that overturned a previous referendum outlawing gay marriage.
Voters there will decide in November whether to approve the proposed amendment, and opponents have grown increasingly vocal in their criticism of the church's stance and the political involvement of its members.
E-mail: carrie@desnews.com
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First Presidency Issues Letter on Political Participation
SALT LAKE CITY | 22 September 2008 | The following letter was issued by the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on September 11, 2008, to be read to Church congregations throughout the United States: Political Participation, Voting, and the Political Neutrality of the Church As citizens we have the privilege and duty of electing office holders and influencing public policy. Participation in the political process affects our communities and nation today and in the future. Latter-day Saints as citizens are to seek out and then uphold leaders who will act with integrity and are wise, good, and honest. Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in various political parties. Therefore, in this election year, we urge you to register to vote, to study the issues and candidates carefully and prayerfully, and then to vote for and actively support those you believe will most nearly carry out your ideas of good government.The Church affirms its neutrality regarding political parties, platforms, and candidates. The Church also affirms its constitutional right of expression on political and social issues. Sincerely yours,
Thomas S. Monson Henry B. Eyring Dieter F. Uchtdorf The First Presidency
Greetings!LDS Members are invited to join Mormons for Obama!This is a group dedicated to bringing together members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS or Mormon) who support Barack Obama.We encourage all people to participate with their local Obama groups (i.e. Utah for Obama).Please read Obama's speech on faith.Also, please use the blog feature for discussions, and make announcements over the listserv. The listserv is now moderated.The Mormons for Obama email discussion group can be found here.Visit the Mormons for Obama Store!Some other Mormon groups for Obama:Oregon Mormons for Obama 08AZ Mormons for ObamaLatter Day Saints (Mormons) for ObamaDFW Mormons for Obama
Greetings!
LDS Members are invited to join Mormons for Obama!
This is a group dedicated to bringing together members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS or Mormon) who support Barack Obama.
We encourage all people to participate with their local Obama groups (i.e. Utah for Obama).
Please read Obama's speech on faith.
Also, please use the blog feature for discussions, and make announcements over the listserv. The listserv is now moderated.
The Mormons for Obama email discussion group can be found here.
Visit the Mormons for Obama Store!
Some other Mormon groups for Obama:
Oregon Mormons for Obama 08
AZ Mormons for Obama
Latter Day Saints (Mormons) for Obama
DFW Mormons for Obama
One of the few things I disagree with most democrats about is Gun Control. I am against gun bans, and overly ristricting gun laws. I, and my family own guns and use them safely and wisely. I refuse to give up my guns because there are those out there who use them for evil. Just because they can be used as a weapon, doesn't make it so. If the government takes away guns how long before they start taking away knives, axes, scissors, or even gardening tools because they can be used as weapons. If someone breaks into my house it is my responsibility to do whatever necissary to protect my property, my family, and myself. Those who choose to break into houses lose the right to their safety when they make the choice to put my family in danger.
The other big thing I disagree with democrats about is Capitol Punishment. I believe in using the death penalty in 3 types of criminal cases. Murder, Serial Rape, and Child Molestation. First of all those who choose to take someone elses life deserve to lose theirs. To say that a murderer still deserves life, is to give moral equivalence to the lives of The Innocent, and to that of The Guilty. All humans are born with four unalienable rights that should never be violated. Life, Liberty, The Ownership of Property, and The Pursuit of Happiness. Murder violates the first right most of all but violates all the others too. For the safety of the innocent, and the proper use of taxpayers dollars Murderers deserve death by the quickest and cheapest means. Serial Rape; The only reason rapists dont deserve The Death Penalty is because they can change, and the likelyhood of them escaping is so small. Rape by it's very nature changes the victim. They will never be the same, allways inside of them is a madness that stays in the back of their mind for the rest of their life, allways it will eat at them untill they face it. If they win they become a better person with a new outlook on life. If they lose then it gains more control over them. The reason Serial Rapists deserve The Death Penalty is because they by once again commiting that horrible crime have shown the rest of the world that they will never change. For the safety of our women, and the proper use of taxpayers dollars Serial Rapists deserve death. Child Molesters deserve death because rape has worse psychological effects on children then it does to adults. Molestation to a child can have such horrifically profound changes to their minds that those who commit these acts deserve death. Those who do these things to children are not people. They are monsters who though they may look like us they are not. They have shown the rest of the world that they will do these things and most likely will not change. For the safety of our children, the safety of the future of the world, and the proper use of taxpayers dollars Child Molesters deserve death. Some of those who are agianst the death penalty like to say "How can we stop the killing, by killing? The answer to that question is a simple yet terribly sad one. The killing will never stop. No matter how advanced society gets, no matter how advanced religion gets, no matter how advanced technology gets, no matter how advanced our concept of right and wrong becomes, there will always be those who oppose it. There will always be those who take rather than earn, there will always be rapist, there will always be murderers, there will always be molesters, and there will always be evil. To allow evil to live is to put those of us who oppose it in danger. We must never give up fighting for they never will.
A few months ago, I attended a luncheon with several of the most influential leaders of the Hawaii community. These leaders discussed the chracteristics, the personalities, and the actions of a good leader. Open-mindedness, time management skills, sincerity, trusthworthy, and enthusiasm ranked among the top. They further noted how numerous members of the Hawaii community possessed these skills. Unfortunately, the community lacks the most important skill. Voice.
I am a high school student in Honolulu, and am currently taking an Advance Placement class on the History of the United States. One of the class's major projects this year is to volunteer at a political campaign, and write a reflection on the experience: feelings, thoughts. Basically, the good and the bad stuffs.
I was very excited about the project. But, as I started to search for Barack Obama campaign events that provide volunteer opportunities, I was quite dismayed at how uninvolved the community is. I searched, and searched, and searched, and searched, and nothing. I found nothing.
When I came across this website, I thought I finally found hope-- awesome webpage design, teen-friendly interface, social networking-- what else can you ask for? But, as I search for events that are going on at my community (96818, 50 miles radius), the curtains were once again shut as the search only came up with 12 results.
What is going on Hawaii? Sen. Barack Obama is from our land! He is a member of our community, our ohana! We should be the one in front of the battle lines, campaigning, fundraising, painting our bodies with blue and red like the crazy football fans (only if necessary--sounds fun though). But instead, we do nothing!
I write this blog not just to vent out, but to raise the Hawaii awareness of how UNAWARE we are. How UNINVOLVED we are. How we LACK, and NEED VOICE.
It's not too late. We have each other, and Sen. Barack Obama on our side.
Let's go Hawaii, Let's go OBAMA!
Hii All
I am in high spirits to share with you this portion of information especially for young people who’s their future is being defined by this campaign. Take politics aside and first ask yourself this question; who will make this world better place in the next 8 years and why? The answer is clear like this: Barack Obama is the kind of President the world need now because the best approach needed is in him; Facing real enemies with the well planned diplomacy can yield a best result to both America and the world in many ways. In order to know a person better, you need to sit down with him and talk and this is the best way to know how dangerous your enemy is, and this is what Obama will do. Obama will turn American adversaries to American friends and allies. Proof me wrong fours year after he is elected president.
And this why I judge Obama is a true leader for America
1. For America and the world, Obama will be the right example in bridging the racial differences across America and the world. I am not an America but what I know is that, when Marine goes to war they bled as American but not as people of any color. Young people need to move beyond this notion and to support Obama as symbol of generational change, unity, courage and devotion to the future of America as nation and the world that need solidarity at this stage.
2. I believe Obama is a true hero because bringing poor people from the South Side of Chicago to know what they are doing is a clear vision every America and other concern world citizen should take to support the needy. Because America is the most generous nation in the world, it should show that caring for the poor is a priority and this is what symbolizes the generous America. Obama had shown that very clear in the South Side of Chicago.
3. Being Civil Right lawyer is another big example people should know about him as a true hero who helped people to face a true justice in the free country. Obama stood up for the people who were not able to represent themselves in the court of law and won many cases, these are the characteristics of a true leader who care for his nation and recognize people first.
4. Political Ads may play a big hand to give the wrong information but for me as foreigner, who lives thousand miles out of US, I do consider the legitimacy of your support and other young people across America and the world as not for rhetoric as critics predicts but for what he had done so far.
5. As young person, I need a peaceful world and the world we will consider ourselves as brothers and sisters bearing the God image. To love ourselves and our nations and believe again that this world is going to a right direction.
May God almighty keep all those volunteers in this campaign safe? May all young people helping since the beginning of this campaign last 19 months ago be well as November approaches? I have always visiting this website everyday and watched TV everyday just to offer my support as I will not vote but have a chance to tell you what is better.
You have done but come out in big numbers and knock doors to inform the undecided voters tell your friends and wish all of you good lack
Make the history happen Obama-Biden 2008
God bless you all
Posted 'NATEPERKINS.TV: Black Evangelicals Grassroot Hit The Street of Atlanta's For Barac ...' to blip.tv: http://blip.tv/file/1217647 ireport: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-70870
This blog is directly addressed to Senator Barack Obama. In the name of GOD and you (Mr. Obama); I am ready to assist in any effort directed by you in this time of major concern. I am an IT specialist with over a decade of management experience that happens to be built like a football player. So I make myself available for anything from assisting in the network and communication efforts to cleaning up debris from the street.
The time is now Mr. President, (to be), to take charge, to lead, to react without haste but with keen foresight, to do what you do best. I'm behind you!!!
After months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.
Huh?
Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:
She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience. (1)
Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest. (2)
She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. (3)
Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools. (4)
She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change. (5)
http://www.nateperkinslive.com
NATEPERKINS.TV: Georgia's Jennifer Brook and Friends Celebrated ...By NATEPERKINS.TV (blog-tv)(NATEPERKINS.TV (blog-tv)) Video thumbnail. Click to play Click to Play. Dear NATE -- Join a Georgia Unite for Change Team I'm excited to announce that today, the Campaign for Change in Georgia is launching our Unite for Change Team program in every county and ...Queen Of Late Night Talk Show... - http://bevsmithatlanta.blogspot.com/
http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2005/9/28/115543/198
Go to the above site. Use the information there to create talking points. People, we CAN win the war of words against McCain. We just need to flood the media with the TRUTH.
The truth is that it will take YEARS to get oil out of the Gulf of Mexico. By that time, we could have created a million new jobs at home -- by investing in solar, wind, and other renewable energy products.
Enjoy.
- Sammy
http://religion.info/english/articles/article_385.shtml
Source: Religioscope
Author: Richard Cimino
While there have been allegations in the past of government investigation of mosques on issues relating to terrorism, the recent report, first featured in the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper, is said to be the first confirmation that surveillance is taking place.
An article in the Los Angeles Times (May 29) reports that information about the alleged spying surfaced in a case about classified files concerning terrorism that were stolen from a secure office used by military and civilian law enforcement officials at Camp Pendleton. Some of these classified records referred to the surveillance of Muslim communities in Southern California, specifically, the Islamic Center of San Diego. The records alleged that the mosque had been monitored as part of a federal surveillance program targeting Muslim groups, according to the Union-Tribune article.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/07/10/muslim_profiling/index.html
Source: Salon
Author: Juan Cole
The U.S. Justice Department is considering a change in the grounds on which the FBI can investigate citizens and legal residents of the United States. Till now, DOJ guidelines have required the FBI to have some evidence of wrongdoing before it opens an investigation. The impending new rules, which would be implemented later this summer, allow bureau agents to establish a terrorist profile or pattern of behavior and attributes and, on the basis of that profile, start investigating an individual or group. Agents would be permitted to ask "open-ended questions" concerning the activities of Muslim Americans and Arab-Americans. A person's travel and occupation, as well as race or ethnicity, could be grounds for opening a national security investigation.
The rumored changes have provoked protests from Muslim American and Arab-American groups. The Council on American Islamic Relations, among the more effective lobbies for Muslim Americans' civil liberties, immediately denounced the plan, as did James Zogby, the president of the Arab-American Institute. Said Zogby, "There are millions of Americans who, under the reported new parameters, could become subject to arbitrary and subjective ethnic and religious profiling." Zogby, who noted that the Bush administration's history with profiling is not reassuring, warned that all Americans would suffer from a weakening of civil liberties.
I mean- one day these guys and gals are trying to convince America that Barack Obama is an extremist Muslim, and the next day the same people are trying to pressure Barack to cancel his membership at his Christian Church!
Anybody remember the movie 'Sybil'?
http://www.truthout.org/article/republican-campaign-against-likely-democratic-voters-begins
http://atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/4016/32/
Source: Atlantic Free Press
Author: Stephen Lendman
Yassin Aref is a 37 year old Albany, New York resident and one of many Muslim victims of police state justice in post-9/11 America. They've been hunted down, rounded up, held in detention, kept in isolation, denied bail, restricted in their right to counsel, tried on secret evidence and trumped-up charges, then incarcerated as political prisoners or deported to where they face possible arrest and torture.
Because of his faith and ethnicity, Aref was victimized by US "justice" in a post-9/11 climate of fear. He's an Iraqi Kurd who emigrated to the US as a UN refugee in 1999 with his wife and three young children. He's now in federal prison but committed no crime. He's also the author of a poignant memoir/autobiography titled "Son of Mountains: My Life as a Kurd and a Terror Suspect." He wrote it in custody at Troy, New York's Rensselaer County Jail after his wrongful conviction in October 2006.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_C_muslim30.426eaa8.html
Source: Press-Enterprise
Author: Paige Austin
A civil-rights group and a coalition of Muslim activists headed by a Corona man called on Congress this week to investigate a report that military and law enforcement officials stole surveillance records of Southland Muslims from Camp Pendleton.
The request stems from a news report that military officials and law enforcement members of the Los Angeles County Terrorist Early Warning Group illegally took the top-secret documents from the base's Strategic Technical Operations Center.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz has been court-martialed and convicted for his role in the thefts.
While the details of the surveillance and the alleged theft remain largely unknown, the incident provides confirmation that the military and law enforcement groups have been gathering information about local Muslim communities, said Michael German, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington Legislative Office.
MIAMI, FL, 6/4/08) - On June 2, 2008, Florida Muslim leaders met with Doudou Diène, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, at a Miami hearing to discuss Islamophobia and anti-Muslim discrimination.
For photos of the event: http://picasaweb.google.com/bedier/UNMiamiHearingOnRacism
Special Rapporteur Diène is visiting several cities across the United States to "gather first-hand information on issues related to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia."
Reuters: U.N. racism investigator to visit U.S.
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL16843098
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004444827_iraqgospel29.html
Source: McClatchy Newspapers
Author: Jamal Naji and Leila Fadel
At the western entrance to the Iraqi city of Fallujah on Tuesday, Muamar Anad handed his residence badge to the U.S. Marines guarding the city. They checked to be sure he was a city resident, and when they were done, Anad said, a Marine slipped a coin out of his pocket and put it in his hand.
Out of fear, he accepted it, Anad said. When he was inside the city, the college student said, he looked at one side of the coin. "Where will you spend eternity?" it asked.
He flipped it over, and on the other side it read, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16."
