Living in Fear - how Americans lost their freedom
For over five years, Bush and his corporate-military junta - aided and abetted by our corporate-owned mainstream media - have used fear and intimidation to push Americans down the road to total paranoia.
Well, first, the good news - we're here!
Now, the bad news - there's no way back.
By the end of Ramadan last year, Najah Bazzy remembers having more than $10,000 in cash donations to distribute to the needy, and a vast auditorium ringed with tables groaning with enough free food for 400 poor families to celebrate the holiday.
This year . . . charitable contributions were meager. She said cash donations amounted to less than $4,000, and for the first time since she began her charity work she bought food to feed about 85 needy families instead of counting on gifts.
Welcome to the United States of Paranoia.
Not only are Muslims afraid to practice their religion, but thousands of people in need can longer rely on their brothers in faith to offer help.
There are similar stories in Muslim communities across the country. Fearful that donations to an Islamic charity could bring unwanted attention from federal agents looking into potential ties to terrorism, many Muslim Americans have become reluctant to donate to Islamic causes, including charities.
“We can’t stop giving because it’s a pillar of Islam — it’s a must,” said Mrs. Bazzy[.]
“It’s a real moral dilemma. Do you forget about the rest of the world out of fear? My family has been here for 101 years, and as an American I’m offended.”
* * *
But recently, fear has often trumped faith.
When Mrs. Bazzy calls people to solicit contributions, they quickly beg off and hang up, telling her later in the grocery store or the bank not to ask them for money on the phone because the government is probably eavesdropping.
Nobody wants to write a check for any amount, and they look at her in horror when she offers a receipt — some of the largest donations she still receives have been anonymous wads of $100 bills stuffed into envelopes.
Now that they know, expect the Feds to raid these charities in search of cash donations.
The developer of the new building that had volunteered office space for her charity begged off, saying that even the potential for a raid might drive away other tenants and bring down rents.
* * *
Seemingly no individual or organization trying to collect funds is immune.
The imam at the Islamic Center of America, Sayyid Hassan Qazwini, is a favorite of the American government for publicly standing behind President Bush, both literally and figuratively, over the invasion of Iraq.
* * *
Yet, his gleaming new $15 million mosque here, a handsome white structure with a gold dome and soaring twin minarets that is billed as the largest in America, remains $6 million in debt.
Contributions dropped sharply this summer after the war in Lebanon, the imam said, when the Bush administration expressed its unreserved support for Israel.
The general sentiment is that the American government’s tilt toward Israel extends to hounding anyone supporting Arab causes.
* * *
The Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Treasury Department has shuttered five major Muslim charities in the United States since 2001, seizing millions of dollars in assets, yet not a single officer or organization has been convicted of anything connected to terrorism.
* * *
“The sad fact is that there are some Islamic charities involved in terrorist financing,” said Daniel L. Glaser, the deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes.
If it's true, then SHOW US THE PROOF!
But, they can't because it doesn't exist!
Imam Qazwini, the descendant of a long line of prominent Iraqi Shiite Muslim clerics, points out that many Muslim Americans, particularly those from the Arab world, fled the region to escape repressive regimes, expecting the United States to provide both freedom and opportunity.
Instead they find themselves facing similar problems.
“Many people who came from the Middle East still live with the psyche of being chased by the intelligence forces,” he said in an interview.
Those same intelligence forces now operate here, in America, the land of the so-called free.
Ahmad Chebbani, 46, served as the president of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce for eight years until this June . . . he also sees the tax returns of some of the most affluent families in Dearborn.
* * *
“Contributions across the board have been drastically reduced because of [fear] . . .
“There’s a lack of trust in the U.S. judicial system, with just an accusation you could end up in jail with secret evidence used as a means of prosecution.”
* * *
The offices of Life for Relief and Development were raided in September on the basis of a sealed affidavit.
The government has said that the raid was not terrorism-related, although agents of the Joint Terrorism Task Force were along on the raid.
* * *
In a speech immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, [Bush] said terrorists might be able to destroy a few buildings in this country but could not harm its foundations.
"I hope he's right. but, I'm afraid he's not," [says Imam Qazwini.]
“It seems like the terrorists have been able to touch our foundations — our civil liberties are being compromised, our religious freedoms are being compromised.”
What the good Imam doesn't realize - or more likely is afraid to admit - is that the only terrorists in sight are the ones who have taken away our freedom under false pretenses and color of law.
United States National Debt
(1938 to Present)
An Analysis of the Presidents Who Are Responsible For Excessive Spending.
http://tinyurl.com/zb3x2
Great read here folks, Don't let the Clinton graph fool you. He flattened the borrowing line by dipping into the Social Security funds and spending those instead.
important information on an economy based on deception and greed.
but, it's also important to realize that, in and of itself, the debt is not the biggest problem. IT'S JUST A NUMBER.
And bankers will say 'we can only solve the debt problem by cutting social programs, etc.'
So, it's not just about eliminating the debt - it's about deciding WHAT we should be spending on [productivity vs. extortion and speculation], WHO we're trusting to 'count' our money, and most importantly, HOW we're creating that money to begin with.
and a follow up:
http://tinyurl.com/yzo8ys
Of course, everyone in Washington already knew that doomsday was approaching. That’s the way the system was designed from the very beginning. It’s all part of the madcap scheme to “starve the beast” and transfer the nation’s wealth to a handful of western plutocrats. That’s explains why the Fed and the White House whirred along like two spokes on the same wheel; every policy calculated to thrust the country headlong toward disaster.