MR's Blog » Mainstream Media

While America continues to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan, 600,000 Americans will lose health care

MR — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:07:28 +0000

What goes around comes around. While the “collateral damage” continues to climb in Iraq and Afghanistan, the American people are losing their health as well. According to this study 45,000 Americans die annually due to the simple fact that they don’t have health insurance. That’s about 1/3 to the death toll of Iraq. Now AETNA, a major health insurance provider wants to cut over 600,000 Americans from their health insruance. Why? In order to make a profit.

Health insurance giant Aetna is planning to force up to 650,000 clients to drop their coverage next year as it seeks to raise additional revenue to meet profit expectations.

In a third-quarter earnings conference call in late October, officials at Aetna announced that in an effort to improve on a less-than-anticipated profit margin in 2009, they would be raising prices on their consumers in 2010. The insurance giant predicted that the company would subsequently lose between 300,000 and 350,000 members next year from its national account as well as another 300,000 from smaller group accounts

Looks like there is another terrorist entity right here in America.

Jesse Ventura on 9/11 and Questioning the Government

MR — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:14:37 +0000

The FOX News guy that walks off the stage is funny. Related posts:Samir Kuntar and the Israeli Government are both Terrorists Israel is more important than California to the American Government September 11, 1973 – America Overthrew Democratically Elected Government of Chile

Fort Hood Victims Speak out against Anti-Muslim Sentiment

MR — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:11:15 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thank you. May God make it easy for us all and protect the innocent.
Source

Niqabi Sister Help Police Arrest Gunman by Convincing Him to Surrender

MR — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:07:12 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gangsta! I thought it was Philly but this was in Deleware.

Source

FOX News is almost as good as Comedy Central

MR — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:19:46 +0000

A radical New York imam who was once investigated as a possible co-conspirator in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center will share the stage Saturday night as a featured guest and speaker when the Council on American-Islamic Relations celebrates its 15th anniversary in Washington.

Continue to laugh here.

Seriously though, Imam Siraj is the man! Anyone going to this CAIR dinner? Kind of pricey for me, but now that FOX News is advertising it, it might be a hot spot with media attention.

Islamophobia at Stony Brook University

MR — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:17:40 +0000

This is really shocking. I went to Stony Brook University and I absolutely loved the community there. I had never experienced any type of bigotry or hate crime there. It’s really sad that these guys had to print the cartoon and spread it around campus. What would they accomplish by this? I hope and pray that Stony Brook campus police catch those involved.

Go Seawolves!

FOX News on Zaytuna College

MR — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:56:19 +0000

It’s FOX News. That’s all I need to say.

Walmart, Red Lobster and Travelocity Support Hate Speech

MR — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:17:23 +0000

State Farm Insurance was also included, but now they are pulling their ads. I’m really impressed by the power of MediaMatters. Anything that is against this guy Glen Beck and FOX News, I’m willing to support (as long as it’s not haram).

I don’t think I can boycott Red Lobster though. Those biscuits are, mashaAllah, good!

Two men murder for religious reasons – The Christian is charged with murder while the Muslim is charged with terrorism

MR — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:05:07 +0000

Terrorism: The unequal treatment of two religiously motivated crimes
By Junaid M. Afeef, June 8, 2009

For two recent crimes, a Muslim, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, is charged with terrorism and murder. In a similar case, a Christian, Scott Roeder, is charged with murder but not terrorism. Yet, there are ample indications that both sought to influence government policy.

Two men, one Christian and the other Muslim, commit murder just one day apart in the United States. Both appear to have been motivated by their religious beliefs. The Christian murderer is Scott Roeder and his victim is Dr. George Tiller, a physician from Wichita, KS who performed late term abortions. The Muslim murderer is Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad and his victims are Pvt. William Long and Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula who were new U.S. Army recruiters.

These two murder cases expose the media’s and our legal system’s bias against Muslims. Both crimes seem to fit the definition of terrorism motivated by religious extremism. The media and the legal system, however, are treating these alleged murderers and their crimes very differently.

The Muslim murder suspect, Mr. Muhammad, is charged with terrorism along with first degree murder. Mr. Muhammad’s faith has been front and center from the very earliest news reports. The American-Muslim community’s almost immediate repudiation of Mr. Muhammad’s murder was and still is largely ignored.

On the other hand, the Christian murder suspect, Mr. Roeder, is not being charged with terrorism. His faith has not been the focus of news reports even though there seems to be ample evidence to suggest that Mr. Roeder espouses extreme, right-wing Christian beliefs. And lastly, the media is giving anti-abortion groups ample opportunity to distance themselves from the murderous actions of one of their own.

Let’s start with the terrorism charges. Domestic terrorism is defined as an act that is dangerous to human life (guns were fired in the direction of the victims – this requirement is met) and which is a violation of the criminal laws of the U.S. or any State (both shootings fulfill this requirement) and which appears to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion or to affect the conduct of a government by, among other things, assassination (an argument for this element can be made in both shootings).

Mr. Muhammad is charged with 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act. This is in addition to the murder charge. Mr. Roeder is charged with murder but there are no terrorism charges. On the face of both cases there seems to be ample indications that these men committed murder with the objective of intimidating a civilian population or with the intention to influence a government policy.

So, why a terrorism charge in one case but not the other? Both cases are heinous. Both local communities surely want to send the strongest message possible to the public that these crimes will be punished to the greatest extent of the law. And ultimately a judge or jury will decide whether the charges are proven beyond a reasonable doubt so the prosecutor runs little risk by adding the appropriate terrorism charge.

The disparate treatment of these two murder cases began right from the first media reports. Most major newswires and major newspapers focused heavily on Mr. Muhammad’s religion very early on.

The Associated Press reported on Mr. Muhammad’s crime by stating that a “Muslim convert with political and religious motives” shot two uniformed soldiers. The New York Times described Mr. Muhammad as “an American convert to Islam.” CNN reported that Mr. Muhammad is a “Muslim convert”.

Let’s compare the reporting by these same news sources on Mr. Roeder’s murder. The Associated Press is mum on Mr. Roeder’s Christian faith. Ditto for the New York Times and CNN. None of theses same news sources make any mention of Mr. Roeder’s religious affiliation or the obvious role his extremist religious beliefs may have played in the killing of Dr. Tiller.

What exacerbates this obvious bias in reporting is the willingness of the media to offer the anti-abortion groups immediate opportunities to distance themselves from Mr. Roeder’s murder while none of them provided a similar opportunity for the American-Muslim community even as they reported that Mr. Muhammad is a Muslim. Major national and regional American-Muslim organizations issued almost immediate statements condemning Mr. Muhammad’s murderous actions so the excuse cannot be a lack of public condemnation of the murder from the American-Muslim community.

To the American-Muslim community this unequal treatment is at the very least annoying and more likely very troubling. The bad news is that this situation is not going to change in the immediate future.

Not enough Americans know what real Muslims are like. There are up to 7 million Muslims living in America. By contrast there are a few hundred million Christians in America. Suffice to say that Americans feel more familiar with Christian values than they do with Muslim values. They don’t realize just how similar these values are – both faith traditions abhor the killing of innocents and neither faith condones the actions of Mr. Muhammad or Mr. Roeder. Plus, the steady stream of news about Muslim extremists killing others and themselves in suicide missions overseas certainly doesn’t help.

There is only one way for American-Muslims to sway Americans’ opinion of Islam. More Americans need to know what real Muslims are all about. While the media can do its job better by giving a voice to the American-Muslim community, American-Muslims need to take matters into their own hands.

American-Muslims need to become civically engaged. They need to get involved on issues of the common good and not just special interest issues. It has to be at the grassroots level with one on one interactions predicated on substantive work that gives non-Muslim Americans a chance to see firsthand what American-Muslims are all about.

President Obama’s message to the Muslim world, including his numerous nods to American-Muslims was great, but American-Muslims need to do some serious, old school, grassroots relational work of their own.

Junaid M. Afeef, Esq. is the Executive Director of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. He can be reached at Junaid.afeef[at]gmail.com

Source: AltMuslim.com

The media doesn’t know anything about the Somali “Pirates”

MR — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:24:08 +0000

Here is a good article to further explain the video. Also MuslimMatters has a guest post from a Somali Canadian here.