Speaking of mocking……

MoonHowler

Things aren’t going all that well with Egypt.  President Obama had to get President Morsi on the phone for some serious dressing down.  It seems that the good Egyptian president equivocated quite a bit rather than renouncing the violence against America.

Egypt is strategic for the United States because of their treaty with Israel.  Meanwhile, Mosri is stranded between having the USA pissed off at him and a while country of irate Muslims who don’t seem to understand that we don’t go pull “offenders” out of their beds in the middle of the night and execute them for being crass pigs.

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Volcan del Fuego: Ready for some climate change?

MoonHowler

Volcan del Fuego made September 13th rather memorable for those living around the volcano in Guatemala.  A volcanic eruption can affect air travel and weather around the world.  If the eruption is large enough, it can affect climate for several years.

33,000 inhabitants were evacuated.  The volcano spewed lava nearly 2,000 feet.  The pyroclastic flows are the most dangerous.

Read more:  Volcano Discovery

 

Cash strapped countries eye wealth of the Catholic Church

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Cash-strapped officials in Europe are looking for a way to ease their financial burden by upending centuries of tradition and seeking to tap one of the last untouched sources of wealth: the Catholic Church.

Thousands of public officials who have seen the financial crisis hit their budgets are chipping away at the various tax breaks and privileges the church has enjoyed for centuries.

But the church is facing its own money troubles. Offerings from parishioners have nosedived, and it has been accused of using shady bank accounts and hiding suspect transactions.

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We Stand Against Hate………………………

Elena

Moon and I simply refuse to allow a generalized hate towards Muslims on this blog.

I choose to believe, as Ann Frank did, that “people are really good at heart”.  I am reminding people that post here, actions of a few vocal and violent people do NOT represent an entire people.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/09/does-not-represent-us-moving-photos-pro-american-rallies-libya/56803/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cowardice: Sam Bacile, Anti-Islam Filmmaker, In Hiding After Protests

MoonHowler

UPDATE:  SEE BELOW

Sam Bacile apparently ignored history.  He didn’t learn a thing from Salman Rushdie’s experience  after  he published “The  Satanic Verses.”  He learned nothing from others who have mocked Mohammad and faced death threats.  Bacile ignored what has happened to others in the name of art  and made a politically charged propaganda film that depicted the prophet Mohammad as a liar, a womanizer, a glutton and just about anything else unattractive that  you can throw out.  In other words, Bacile took every stereotype non-muslims have about those who practice that faith and threw it in his movie.

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Not what most of us would call an apology! (aka Romney lied)

MoonHowler

From Huffingtonpost.com:

A host of Republican foreign policy officials were quick to blast the “utter disaster” that was Romney’s response.

Romney’s reference to an “apology for America’s values” was directed at a statement the U.S. Embassy in Cairo put out on Tuesday morning, but that statement, which was itself responding to the outrage over the anti-Islamic film, was issued before the embassy was attacked, despite Romney’s statement to the contrary. What’s more, the statement does not apologize for America’s values, but rather supports a founding American value, religious tolerance, while referencing the “universal right of free speech.” The statement in full:

The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims — as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.

The above is certainly not what I consider an apology.  On the other hand, it isn’t nuking anyone so perhaps that is why it is considered an apology.

Time Line leading up to the events

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s statement on the attack in Libya

MoonHowler

Below is a statement released by the State Department from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on the killing of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya.

Yesterday, our U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya was attacked.  Heavily armed militants assaulted the compound and set fire to our buildings.  American and Libyan security personnel battled the attackers together.  Four Americans were killed.  They included Sean Smith, a Foreign Service information management officer, and our Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens.  We are still making next of kin notifications for the other two individuals.

This is an attack that should shock the conscience of people of all faiths around the world.  We condemn in the strongest terms this senseless act of violence, and we send our prayers to the families, friends, and colleagues of those we’ve lost.Read More

President Obama’s statement on the attacks in Cairo and Libya

MoonHowler

“I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers. They exemplified America’s commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives.

I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe. While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.

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Romney remarks muddle the works in Egypt and Libya crisis

MoonHowler
Ambassador Christopher Stevens

UPDATE:  Confirmed reports indicate that the person killed was the U.S, Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens.    Information is being updated by the minute.  4 Americans in all were killed.  Ambassador Stevens helped free the Libyan people.  President Obama issued the following statement:

“I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers. They exemplified America’s commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives. I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe. While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.”

ABCnews.com

 

wsj.com:

Demonstrators attacked a U.S. consulate in Libya, killing one American, and breached the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, amid angry protests over a film by a U.S. producer that mocks and insults the Prophet Muhammad.

The movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” was directed and produced by an Israeli-American real-estate developer who characterized it as a political effort to call attention to the hypocrisies of Islam. It has been promoted by Terry Jones, the Florida pastor whose burning of Qurans previously sparked deadly riots around the world.

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Apple iphone 5: Fired up, ready to buy?

MoonHowler

Is everyone fired up, ready to go?  Change that to ready to buy.  APPLE’s long awaited  event will be tomorrow, September 12.  Perfectly choreographed, the powers-that-be at Apple will entice the faithful and hold them on tenterhooks while they introduce  new products, to… just one more thing…Steve Job’s signature expression.

Apple aficionados expect the iphone 5 to be unveiled.  There is a slight chance that the mini ipad will be introduced.  Or…Tim Cook could fool us all.

Size still counts.  Important questions will be about screen size, battery life and what you can watch on it.   Perhaps there will be new features we haven’t thought of.  Jobs defined what we want.  He made us want things we did not know existed.

The event begins at 10 am Pacific time.  Meanwhile, investors were jittery and the stock closed around $2 less, down to $660 a share.  that is not untypical for APPLE stock.

Are you planning on buying the new iphone 5 regardless of what it has?  I think I might have to take the plunge but not right away.

I think if I were a betting woman, I would bet on one more thing….a new companion ipad.

 

 

VA unique with religious exemptions

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Nearly 7,000 Virginia children whose families have opted to keep them out of public school for religious reasons are not required to get an education, the only children in the country who do not have to prove they are being home-schooled or otherwise educated, according to a study.

Virginia is the only state that allows families to avoid government intrusion once they are given permission to opt out of public school, according to a report from the University of Virginia’s School of Law. It’s a law that is defended for promoting religious freedom and criticized for leaving open the possibility that some children will not be educated.

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9/11/12 Reflections: 11 years later

MoonHowler

Each of us remembers 9-11 in our own way.  It has been 11 years.  In many ways, on this day we are stuck in a time warp of disbelief and will forever visualize those planes hitting the buildings, the falling bodies, the crumpling buildings and that huge cloud of poisonous debris hurling forward at those trying to escape its fury.  When do we move on from those horrible visuals to a quieter more reflective mood?

It’s another clear, cripsy fall Tuesday in September, just like 9/11/01.  I am going to try to start today.  I may not make it.  Feel free to share your 9/11 thoughts.

 

Colonel Morris Davis: 9/11 at 11: the lost United States of 10 September 2001

MoonHowler

Guest Post:  Colonel Morris Davis

Disclaimer: All guest posts are the opinion of the poster and do not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration.

M-H

9/11 at 11: the lost United States of 10 September 2001

September 11, 2001 is a milestone date in history that nearly everyone living at the time will recall in detail for the rest of their lives. I will always remember sitting at my desk in my office at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, eyes fixed on the television in the credenza sitting on the other side of the room. I recall watching the towers fall and wondering how it would change America.

Like this 10 September, 10 September 2001 was a Monday. The only reason I know that is because it was the day before an enormous tragedy that is permanently etched into my mind, and that happened on a Tuesday. I went to the same office and sat at the same desk on Monday as I did on Tuesday, but I have no recollection of one day and a vivid recollection of the other. Even though I do not recall any of the details of Monday 10 September, sometimes I think about how America might be different if we could turn back the clock.

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CTU vs Rahm Emanual: Chicago’s teachers on strike

MoonHowler

What’s it all about?  Emanual and union president Karen Lewis each tell a different story.  Lewis’s can be heard in the above video.

But when it comes to exactly what the strike it about, the stories of the city and the union vary dramatically. Shortly after Lewis finished saying that the union was striking over contract negotiations, teacher evaluations, lack of proper air conditioning, and broader pedagogical issues — such as class size and out-of-class services for poor kids — Emanuel addressed the press.

“This is totally unnecessary, this is avoidable, and our kids do not deserve this,” he said.
The mayor, who fashions himself an education reformer, wore no tie. While Emanuel usually doesn’t mince words, his anger appeared more internalized, more resolute. At moments, he appeared to be on the verge of tears. His hand shook visibly as he took a sip of water in between statements. “This is a strike of choice,” he said.

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