Two Muslim women are suing McDonald's, a local franchisee, and an unnamed manager for $10 million. They claim the manager insulted and refused to hire them unless they removed their hijabs.
Quiana Pugh, 25, of Dearborn said "...I was confused that it could happen here in Dearborn, with so many Muslims."
"This manager must have just stepped off of some spaceship to think he can do this in this back yard, in Dearborn," said Nabih Ayad, a civil rights lawyer who represents the women.
And of course, no story on Muslims would be complete without the ubiquitous Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) weighing in:
"It is extremely disturbing that such discrimination could take place at a location which does not mind collecting Muslim dollars, yet places restriction on Muslim women who wear hijab."
The hijab is worn snugly about the head, but draped down onto the chest and back (see photo). Can anyone say safety standards? Or sanitary food-handling practices? How much will they sue for when one of these women, or another like them, gets her scarf caught in some equipment or sets her head on fire trying to work the fry station? Do you want to eat food that has come into contact with one of these hijabs? Sorry, ladies. I just don't know where that thing has been...so I'll pass.
This is not unrelated to my post Michigan: The First Caliph-State?. There is a pattern here. It brings to mind the old saying about eating an elephant, one bite at a time. Nibble, nibble, nibble.
Photo Credit: Clarence Tabb, Jr./Detroit News Full story:The Detroit News
The anointed one's pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his faithful followers...
And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.
The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.
[snip]
Read the entire piece by Gerard Baker at the TimesOnline site. Brilliant!
In an administration marked with so many disappointments large and small, perhaps none is greater for me personally than Condoleezza Rice's tenure at the State Department. To explain why, allow me to provide some background.
About ten years ago, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Rep. Jennifer Dunn of Washington (since deceased) started an annual conference in Washington, DC called the 'Republican Women Leaders Forum'. I was privileged to attend each of the years it was held. At one of these events, I met Dr. Condoleezza Rice. She was the Provost of Stanford University at the time; she would not become National Security Advisor until January 2001.
I suppose you'll have to trust me on this one, children, but I am not a person easily impressed. By this I mean I have no interest in your fame, fortune or family connections. I'm interested in the real you, down deep, where it really counts. Celebrity is cheap and easy. Character? Not so much. What does this have to do with anything, you ask? The moment I met Dr. Rice I was utterly blown away by her presence. This is one tour-de-force individual. Her intelligence was palpable. There was an aura of strength and confidence around her. She was warm and gracious and charming.
Throw in her curriculum vitae, and you cannot help but be mightily impressed. Until you look at her performance at State. Since assuming the office in January of 2005, she has morphed into Condappeasa Rice, traveling the globe appeasing our enemies - Hamas, Hezbollah, North Korea, etal - and chastising our friends, especially Israel. A woman this smart ought to know better.
I realize the State Department is tasked with our nation's diplomacy, but what type of 'diplomatic' discussions can we have with cold-blooded killers hell-bent on destroying Israel? Are we not listening to them? They do not speak in ambiguous terms. Their intent is quite clear in both words and actions. Yet, Condappeasa asserts that Israel must make nice. They release live and healthy killers in exchange for dead and mutilated soldiers, give up still more land for 'peace', dismantle whole cities and move the inhabitants thereof elsewhere, enter into yet another meaningless 'cease fire' agreement, and on and on and on, ad infinitum. Any failure to capitulate is met with a stern warning from the Department of Let's-Give-'Em-A State that Israel risks ruining the 'peace' process.
In researching this article, I learned that one of Condoleezza Rice's college professors and mentors was Josef Korbel, Madeleine Albright's father. She has referred to him as "one of the most central figures in my life". Could this perhaps explain a lot? Ms. Albright excelled at appeasement, too.
So, while reiterating the 'We support Israel and we always will' line, the State Department headed by Dr. Rice continues to prove the opposite by it's behavior. Actions speak louder than words. A woman this smart ought to know that. Condappeasa. I expected so much more.
It just gets curiouser and curiouser in Detroit, children. This afternoon a process server and a Wayne County Sheriff's Deputy went to the home of Ayanna Kilpatrick - the Mayor's sister. They were looking for Bobby Ferguson, a key player in the scandals rocking the city, who is a cousin of Ayanna's husband Daniel Ferguson.
Kwame was visiting his sister's house when the service was attempted [At 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon. With full security detail. Huh?]. Tempers flared and the Mayor 'allegedly' shoved the deputy, causing him to fall into the female process server. "The officer alleges the mayor pushed him with significant force to make him bounce into the prosecutor's investigator," Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans said. "Any time one of my police officers is assaulted, if he was -- and I'm not saying he was -- it's a big deal to me."
Under MIchigan law, assaulting an officer or "duly authorized person" trying to serve court papers is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison and a $2,000 fine. Don't try this at home, kids. You will go to jail. The Dishonorable Mayor may get away with it, but you will not.
James Thomas, one of the Mayor's many lawyers, said the process server was "gently escorted" by the Mayor and no assault took place.
Due to the political nature of the 'situation' in Detroit, the State Police have been asked to investigate. Meetings have already taken place to begin the process. We're so proud.
This is a brief (4 minute) clip from a speech Mr. Gingrich delivered to the American Enterprise Institute. He challenges Barack Obama to discuss the real reasons for Detroit's demise, what we must do to restore the city and how racial politics are hampering efforts to help. Newt's position is that we can't have an honest discussion about these things nationally if we won't honestly discuss Detroit. Don't hold your breath waiting for Barry to rise to the challenge....
Gay activists in Colorado were recently successful in getting a law passed which, among it's many unbelievable provisions, bans Christians (and Jews, one would assume) from quoting the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality outside the four walls of their churches. World Net Daily's article describes in detail some of the other egregious elements of this lunacy-turned-legislation, and also contains this prescient quote:
"But now an analyst for Focus, Bruce Hausknecht, has told WND there are other, significant, potential ramifications hidden in the fine print of the new law."
[snip]
"Religious publishers, he acknowledged, could be accused under the law for publishing biblical condemnation of homosexuality. "
Which brings us to Michigan. A gay man from Canton, Michigan (near Detroit and, ironically, Dearborn) has filed a $60 million federal civil rights lawsuit against Zondervan, the Michigan-based Christian publishing house. Because they publish Bibles. Seriously. He claims Zondervan's "misinterpretation" of the Bible, specifically I Corinthians 6:9, caused his family to label him a sinner, which in turn caused him to suffer 20 years of "emotional duress and mental instability." Well, he got the mental instability part right...
While American gay activists are trying to legislate and/or sue Christians out of existence, in places like Turkey, gay people suffer real "duress". Like being shot dead by family members in what may be the first "gay honor killing" in that predominately Muslim country.
Ahmet Yildiz was a 26-year-old physics student in Istanbul, Turkey. After "coming out" to his family, he began receiving death threats. The case was dropped, and within five months he was dead. His boyfriend is in hiding, fearful for his own life. Homosexuality is seen as so immoral that it qualifies as an 'honour killing' to murder someone who is gay - and the perpetrator can escape punishment.
Gay people might want to rethink their focus. Sticks and stones (and bullets) may break your bones, but preaching cannot hurt you.
You have to wonder. I could have made this post twice as long and still not used all the examples available. Michigan, it seems, can't capitulate fast enough to irrational, tyrannical and ridiculous Muslim demands. Both the public and private sectors are equally guilty.
We are also 'lucky' enough to have landed a new business venture's world headquarters (see below) which promises to bring 800 jobs to Metro Detroit. 800 jobs for Arabic-speaking employees? With no apparent intent to assimilate. Swell.
Dow Chemical Joint Venture with State-owned Petrochemical Industries of Kuwait
"The Michigan site offers a number of benefits, company officials said, including easy access to international flights at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, a strong school system where employees' children can continue to speak Arabic, a nearby Arab-American population of about 300,000, and "Michigan hospitality."
~Detroit News, July 26, 2008 (emphasis added)
Wal-mart Opens Muslim-themed Store
"This Wal-Mart, though... [is] in Dearborn, Mich., home to nearly a half-million Arab-Americans, the largest concentration of Arabs outside the Middle East."
"In Dearborn this week, the world's largest retailer opens a store like no other among its 3,500 U.S. outlets. Walk through the front door of the 200,000-square-foot supercenter and instead of rows of checkout counters, you find a scene akin to a farmers market in Beirut."
~Newsweek, March 10, 2008 (emphasis added)
"Amen said that the Dearborn Wal-Mart is committed to enhancing the shopping experience of its customers. As part of the store's efforts, Arabic-speaking sales associates will wear badges that read "I speak Arabic."
~Arab American News, March 8, 2008
Largest Mosque in North America Doubles in Size
"The American Muslim Society has raised $1.8 million for the construction works of the mosque to double its size."
The largest mosque in North America, Dearborn, Michigan Click to see their photo gallery
"The expansion included a new library and media room, conference rooms and 16 classrooms to teach 600 students Arabic and Islam during two daily shifts."
"The 4.3-million-dollar project included adding a new 2,500-square-foot prayer hall and a banquet center as well as expanding the basketball court.
The new two-story prayer hall will serve to accommodate the increasing number of the Muslim prayers in the area."
~SpiritHit.com, April 29, 2005
County Changes Public Swimming Pool Policy, Allows Muslim Women and Girls to Swim Fully Clothed
Jumanah Saadeh, 14, an Ann Arbor girl, is a Muslim. She follows the teachings of Islam which include covering her hair and the rest of her body when in public. During a field trip to the Rolling Hills Water Park in Ypsilanti, she wore nylon pants, a full-sleeve collared shirt, and her hijab -- a head scarf. She was ordered out of the pool for violating swimsuit policies (in place for public health/sanitary reasons ~Ed). With support from her teacher, Muslim leaders and a civil rights attorney, she persuaded Washtenaw County to change its pool policy to accommodate Muslim women who want to cover themselves while swimming. Jumanah said:
"I felt humiliated and disappointed because I was denied an opportunity to have fun with my friends just because I'm Muslim. ... When a girl reaches a certain age, you have to treat your body like a jewel. You don't show it off."
According to Muslim leaders, this is the first case of its kind in Michigan, and perhaps the first in the U.S.
~The Detroit Free Press, September 4, 2006
Public Universities Install Foot Baths for Muslims at Taxpayer Expense
"When pools of water began accumulating on the floor in some restrooms at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and the sinks pulling away from the walls, the problem was easy to pinpoint. On this campus, more than 10 percent of the students are Muslims, and as part of ritual ablutions required before their five-times-a-day prayers, some were washing their feet in the sinks."
"The solution seemed straightforward. After discussions with the Muslim Students’ Association, the university announced that it would install $25,000 foot-washing stations in several restrooms."
Eastern Michigan University's Muslim Footbath
"At Eastern Michigan (University), even some Muslim students were surprised by the appearance of the footbath — a single spigot delivering 45 seconds of water — in a partitioned corner of the restroom in the new student union."
~The New York Times, August 7, 2007 (emphasis added)
City Equates Muslim Call to Prayer with Church Bells, Amends Noise Ordinance
Hamtramck, Michigan is a quaint, old-world enclave completely surrounded by the City of Detroit. For decades, it has been the home of Michigan's Polish community.Now, not so much. Stash is moving out, and Mohammed is moving in.This city of just 23,000 residents has 3 mosques.
The case garnered national attention in 2004, when the City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the city's noise ordinance, permitting the call to be broadcast over loudspeakers. Ultimately, a ballot question was placed before voters and the change was narrowly upheld.
Detroit has become a national laughingstock of late, what with the mayoral scandal, school board scandal and city council scandal. Or....has Detroit long been a laughingstock? Seriously. Consider this:
..Most people simply take the black complexion of the administration for granted. After all, [he] is not exactly the first big-city mayor to provide patronage and power to his own supporters. But [he] has done more than broaden access to the pork barrel. Under him, Detroit has ... all the trappings of a third-world city - showcase projects, an external enemy and the cult of personality....''
or this
"The bitter controversy over who is to blame for Detroit's problems may be insoluble, but to my mind, blame is largely beside the point. Detroit will either be helped or it won't." *
Then again, perhaps this is more telling:
I think it was Barbara Rose Collins, the esteemed, tiara-wearing member of Detroit City Council,[and former member of Congress! -ed] who once said she resented the implication (by whom I don't recall) that Detroit can't govern itself.
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick & Councilwoman Barbara Rose Collins
Judging by council's on-again, off-again battle with the embattled mayor and, this weekend, a new scandal swirling around council chambers, I'd say the implicators got it just about right.
Embarrassment is not sufficient to describe the city's two pre-eminent elected bodies. They dither, the city crumbles, the creaking schools stumble toward a shutdown, Metro Detroiters groan at the spectacle and Detroiters reap the pathetic rewards." **
or, is this Black journalist correct?
"Black people of Detroit have made themselves the laughingstock of the world because of their irrational 75-year love affair with liberalism and the Democrat Party, which forbids ideological or public policy competition. Moreover, Detroit has made every closet racist self-righteously say inwardly, "See, I told you Negroes can't govern themselves!" This state of affairs vexes me to no end, for I was born and raised in Detroit. I was educated here, and my family and I presently worship in this city."***
It pains me to admit the first two comments, published 18 years ago and referencing then-mayor Coleman Young, are still as relevant today as then. The scandal-ridden, hip-hop, booty-call Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has done nothing to improve the city's image.
Detroit, you see, is mired in debt. The city is nearly half it's former size, but maintains the same level of employees - most of whom, apparently, do very little. In an effort to avoid laying off these unnecessary employees, the city has been selling it's assets. This allows the city 'leaders' to claim they have balanced the budget. One has to wonder what will happen when there is nothing left to sell. Will anyone step up and make the hard decisions?
Perhaps. Rumors are swirling that former Pistons star and businessman extraordinaire Dave Bing is considering a run in 2009. That is very good news, indeed. Mr. Bing has proven himself to be a man of character, intelligence, capability and dedication. Hope springs eternal. Detroit may not deserve someone like him, but she certainly needs someone like him.
Tony Snow was a fine gentleman, a talented wordsmith, a lover of life, music and family, and a soldier of God. His wit and wisdom were much appreciated and will be deeply missed.
One year ago, in the midst of his renewed battle with cancer, Christianity Today asked Tony to reflect on the spiritual aspects of his illness. What he wrote says more about the man than I ever could.
Pray for his wife and children during their sorrow. Rejoice that Tony "now lies in the same safe and impregnable place—in the hollow of God's hand."
When you think of 'honor' killings, do you naturally assume they happen a world away? You know, over there, in foreign countries, where they have a different culture?
Think again. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports a 25-year-old woman was murdered by her father yesterday morning in suburban Georgia for wanting to leave her forced marriage.
The family is described as being of "Pakistani" descent. Notably missing from press reports is their religious affiliation. Care to venture a guess here? Amish? Mormon...Jewish...Catholic...Buddhist? What's that? You say those faiths are not known for murdering their own daughters over real or perceived 'dishonor'? Bingo.
What we're all apparently supposed to ignore is the fact that Muslims do this - almost exclusively, and with their religion's approval - even encouragement. We're also supposed to ignore that it is only Muslim women and girls who are subjected to murder for unapproved behavior.
Where are the 'women's rights' groups? National Organization for Women...any comment? *Crickets*
Men and women in all Western countries need to acknowledge - sooner rather than later - that this problem will not go away on its own. Muslim immigrants are not assimilating into our societies. They don't want to and don't intend to. See France and Denmark for evidence. They want us to do things their way, the sharia way. Which includes murder of your own female relatives if you can't control them.
I just can't make this stuff up! As reported in NewsMax, a recent scientific study has shown that a naturally occurring ingredient in ordinary watermelons
"...can trigger production of a compound that helps relax the body's blood vessels, similar to what happens when a man takes Viagra, said scientists in Texas..."
[snip]
"Arginine boosts nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels, the same basic effect that Viagra has, to treat erectile dysfunction and maybe even prevent it," said Bhimu Patil, a researcher and director of Texas A&M's Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center. "Watermelon may not be as organ-specific as Viagra, but it's a great way to relax blood vessels without any drug side effects."
Huh. Well. God Bless American science! Another reason to love Texas, gentlemen. Now get thyself to the produce market...stat!
In Richmond, VA, fashion design students at Virginia Commonwealth University have completed a course project requiring them to design Islamic 'abayas', the shapeless, black, tent-like covering worn by women in some Muslim countries.
Why? The school has a campus in Qatar, and hoped for "perhaps a better understanding of cultural norms in the Arabian Gulf nation..."
Abayas are the traditional overgarment in the Gulf nations of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Oman. They also are worn in Iraq and some other Arab nations. Women and girls wear the black abaya, a lightweight crepe garment that includes a head covering called a shayla, in the presence of men and boys who are not immediate family members.
[snip]
However, in Saudi Arabia, which follows strict Islamic codes, officials warn that women should not wear unapproved abayas — including those with ornamentation. (Emphasis added - Ed)
Kim Guthrie, the course's instructor, wanted to show her students that "Just because the women wear this doesn't mean they're oppressed."
Really? Not oppressed? Huh. Then what's up with this story about a young professional woman - who was wearing the mandatory sackcloth, by the way - being arrested in Saudi Arabia? Oh, that's right...it wasn't her outfit, it was her Starbucks...
A 37-year-old American businesswoman and married mother of three is seeking justice after she was thrown in jail by Saudi Arabia's religious police for sitting with a male colleague at a Starbucks coffee shop in Riyadh.
Doesn't the mere existence of something called the 'religious police' send shivers down your spine? If it doesn't, check your pulse, children. Saudi Arabia’s Mutaween (religious police) has nearly 500 offices and 10,000 members.
She was interrogated, strip-searched and forced to sign and fingerprint a series of confessions pleading guilty to her “crime”.
“They took me into a filthy bathroom, full of water and dirt. They made me take off my clothes and squat and they threw my clothes in this slush and made me put them back on,” she said. Eventually she was taken before a judge.
“He said 'You are sinful and you are going to burn in hell'. I told him I was sorry. I was very submissive. I had given up. I felt hopeless,” she said.
Nothing says 'we respect women' like arrest and a strip-search for sitting in the wrong chair.
Another example of how 'not oppressed' the women of Islam are.... a young woman in Tehran is arrested for violating Islamic dress codes. What...she showed a toe? Oh, and notice please the attire of the men (and I use that term loosely) in this video.
According to the law in Iran, a woman who does not cover her hair and body in public can be fined or imprisoned for up to two months. Now that's what I call freedom!
Don't get me wrong...I support a woman's right to wear this mode of dress if she chooses to. It's the notion that it is required by law and punishable by a prison sentence that have me questioning the 'not oppressed' claims of a hippy-dippy fashionista and the relevance of forcing Sharia into American fashion design.
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated.
But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson JR, noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.
Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution.
These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians.
They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: “For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” They gave us a free and independent America.
The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War.
We didn’t fight just the British.
We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government!
Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn’t. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and thank God, and these patriots. It’s not much to ask for the price they paid.
This is not the first time Shereef Hadi Akeel has aided and abetted terrorist suspects; an Op-Ed in the New York Post from October, 2007 identifies Mr. Akeel as one of the 'Lawyers for Terror' for his part in the suit against Blackwater for the accidential shooting of civilians in Iraq in September.
Prior to the Blackwater case, Mr. Akeel made a name for himself defending Islamic American Relief Agency, based in Missouri, a 'charity' identified by the Treasury Department as a front for al-Qaida. Find more information about this case here.
Apparently, terrorists pay well. Mr. Akeel's law firm boasts two plush office locations, including one in Dearborn(istan), Michigan
"To better serve the community of Dearborn [home to the largest Muslim population in the United States - Ed.], enable better access and to make more convenient, The law firm of Akeel & Valentine is proud to announce the opening of their new office. The new Dearborn facility is located conveniently across from City Hall."
Shereef Hadi Akeel is also listed as the contact for a 'charity' called the Sharia Scholars Association of North America, located in Royal Oak, Michigan. There is much, MUCH more to discover about this organization....I will address it in a separate post.
