Mosques to be tapped

[QansaGabeyle]

I know this is short notice...but this is an important issue.
Governor Romney was quoted today in an article in the Globe and he
really is planning to wrong Muslims and International Students.
There is a press conference and a rally tomorrow against this....and
we NEED to have numbers there showing we do NOT support this. Below
is the link to the article.....it's infuriating (and factually
inaccurate in many cases). I plan on going to
this Rally tomorrow. Reer boston imaada meesha and give your support.

It's at 11:30 at the State House...more info is below. COME! We
NEED to keep this from happening and don't let jum'ah be your
excuse...there will be one there.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD AND URGE PEOPLE TO ATTEND!

=========================================================

Assalamu Alaykum,

We are going to be holding a press conference in front of the Governors
Office at the State House tomorrow at 11:30 am.

We are going to be meeting at Nurses Hall in the State House at 11:00 ish.
Remember that we are all going to have to get through security. We need a
lot of people there. So please spread the word as widely as possible. If
people are worried about Jumua prayer there is a prayer service on Park
Street that normally has roughly 240 muslims there.


Press Conference:
MAS Freedom Foundatoin along with ALCU, MIRA, ADC, and the Students of
Higher Education in Massachusetts.
11:00 Nurses Hall
STATE HOUSE

[LINK:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articl ... ts/?page=1]
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articl ... ts/?page=1


If anyone is preparing posters or signs, which is ok, sticks are not allowed
in the State House, so they must remain as just posters and signs.


Hamza Pelletier
Public Affairs Coordinator
MAS Freedom Foundation
hamza@masboston.org
Office: 617-780-5615

To subscribe to our mailing list send email to
MASFF_NE-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To learn more about MAS Freedom Foundation please go to our website
www.masboston.org/freedom

[Quruxley]

Just when I thought some yanks were a little light in the head dept.

-
"Governor Romney was quoted today in an article in the Globe and he
really is planning to wrong Muslims and International Students"

-
So he is talking PUBLICLY of his wishes beforehand so everyone knows?Talk about being discreet.Aren't politicians supposed to be sly and what not?What a jackass.I'm kind of speechless wallahi......

-
Anyways job well done Qansa..

[QansaGabeyle]

"Aren't politicians supposed to be sly and what not?"

Not these neo-con right wing jackasses.

[michael_ital]

[quote="Quruxley"]Just when I thought some yanks were a little light in the head dept.

-
"Governor Romney was quoted today in an article in the Globe and he
really is planning to wrong Muslims and International Students"

-
So he is talking PUBLICLY of his wishes beforehand so everyone knows?Talk about being discreet.Aren't politicians supposed to be sly and what not?What a jackass.I'm kind of speechless wallahi......

-
Anyways job well done Qansa.. [/quote]

quote "As he ponders a potential run for president in 2008, Romney has positioned himself as a homeland security expert:"

And there you have it. All in one, neat, succinct statement. This horses ass is under the impression this stunt will get him in the White House. Good luck, Americans I believe have had it up to here with the hawkish attitudes of the present Administration. What makes him think they're going to accept yet ANOTHER 4 years of the same ?? Good post Qansa.

[Quruxley]

Damn.....Cant believe you guys deal with that shit on a predominantly national level.We have the BNP.A group of pricks that blaim all their misfortune(bearing in mind most of them recieve caydh £££) on foreigners and what have you.Lakiinse they have like 2 chairs in parliament and nobody gives a toss because they are uneducated bastaariin.

-
Qansa....Is there a big support base for this idiot?Or does it look like it'll be all talk no action?

[michael_ital]

For what he's proposing, it'll cost WAYYY too much. I think it's posturing in order to get himself elected the GOP candidate for 2008. And if "approx. 100 people" is any indication, he doesn't have much support.

P.S Qansa, the link no longer works, you need to register. C & P it if you can.

[QansaGabeyle]

Wiretap mosques, Romney suggests
Pushes gathering of intelligence
By Scott Helman, Globe Staff | September 15, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Governor Mitt Romney raised the prospect of wiretapping mosques and conducting surveillance of foreign students in Massachusetts, as he issued a broad call yesterday for the federal government to devote far more money and attention to domestic intelligence gathering.

In remarks that caused alarm among civil libertarians and advocates for immigrants rights, Romney said in a speech to the Heritage Foundation that the United States needs to radically rethink how it guards itself against terrorism.

''How many individuals are coming to our state and going to those institutions who have come from terrorist-sponsored states?" he said, referring to foreign students who attend universities in Massachusetts. ''Do we know where they are? Are we tracking them?"

''How about people who are in settings -- mosques, for instance -- that may be teaching doctrines of hate and terror," Romney continued. ''Are we monitoring that? Are we wiretapping? Are we following what's going on?"

As he ponders a potential run for president in 2008, Romney has positioned himself as a homeland security expert: He sits on a federal homeland security advisory council, is active on the issue with the National Governors Association, and repeatedly speaks about the lessons the country has learned from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and, more recently, from Hurricane Katrina.

Romney, who referred to himself yesterday as ''red-state folk," has also struck more conservative postures on social issues that may alienate voters in Massachusetts but endear him to the Republican electorate nationwide; his tough talk on antiterrorism measures could also earn him support among conservatives.

His latest message is that the United States needs to shift its focus from response to prevention: Instead of spending billions on training and equipment to react to an attack, he argues, the country ought to work on stopping one.

''It is virtually impossible to have a homeland security system based upon the principles only of protecting key assets and response," he told an audience of about 100. ''The key to a multilayered strategy begins with effective prevention, and, for me, prevention begins with intelligence and counterterror activity."

But that activity is deeply troubling to civil rights groups. Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrants and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, called the methods Romney suggested misguided and ineffective. Tracking people based on their ethnicity, he said, will only sow resentment among immigrant communities and prevent their cooperation with authorities.

''Blanket eavesdropping and blanket profiling only erodes the safety and security of our country," Noorani said. ''People who really know what national security is and what intelligence is realize that we need to build trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities."

Elyes Yaich, president of the Islamic Society of Northeastern University, said that foreign students, especially those from Islamic countries, already face unfair scrutiny coming to the United States and that subjecting them to specialized monitoring would further invade their right to privacy.

''It's something that shouldn't happen," Yaich said. ''If they're going to do surveillance, why not do it for synagogues and churches, too?"

Nancy Murray, director of education for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said international students are already forced to submit personal data to a federal database designed to let the government closely track them. Keeping closer tabs would only cause a greater chilling effect on scholars coming here from other countries.

''Now they're beginning to think, 'Well, why don't we just go somewhere else?' " Murray said. ''We are really going to fall behind. It's very shortsighted."

Asked to respond to that criticism, Romney spokeswoman Julie Teer said last night that the governor has a ''realistic view" of what it takes to fight terrorism.

''The governor believes we can strike a balance between what is necessary to protect our homeland while respecting individual freedom and liberty," Teer said.

Romney said he believes that both state and federal governments have a role in intelligence-gathering. It is the FBI's job to do wiretapping and surveillance, he said, but Massachusetts has a responsibility to collect any useful information it can.

Central to that is a facility opened last year at the State Police headquarters in Framingham designed to be the clearinghouse for a variety of intelligence gathered in the state. At the facility, which state officials call ''the fusion center," analysts armed with tips and information from residents, police, water-meter readers, and others, will pore through the data, look for patterns, and contact Washington about anything noteworthy.

Romney wants to see every state have such a system, which allows it to easily send intelligence to Washington and easily get intelligence back.

''It's the state's responsibility to figure out how to gather that information and fuse it together . . . to determine where the real threats exist," Romney said.

The ACLU has been critical of the fusion center. The group has asked whether collecting loads of data, much of which is sure to prove useless, is the most effective way to prevent a terrorist attack.

''It just seems like we're getting more and more driven by the need to fight the war on terrorism in a very counterproductive way," Murray said.

Romney stressed in his address at the Heritage Foundation that the country's antiterrorism and military operations have to be ''nimble, agile, and fast-moving." He said the distribution of antiterrorism money after 9/11 was haphazard and ineffective.

Cities and towns in Massachusetts and nationwide seized the opportunity to buy new fire trucks and unnecessary equipment, he said. ''It was everybody grabbing money as fast as we could."

If the response to Hurricane Katrina was any indication, the extra funds did not appear to have helped, he said.

Romney was one of the first high-profile Republicans to criticize the federal government's response to the hurricane, calling it ''an embarrassment." But in the two weeks since, he has reserved most of his criticism for state and local governments, in particular Louisiana's Democratic governor, Kathleen Blanco.

Yesterday, Romney did not criticize Blanco by name, though he did so implicitly a few times. At one point, he said that one clear failure in the response to Katrina was a lack of ''fast-moving decision-making and clear authority." He said there would be no such leadership vacuum if a disaster hit Massachusetts.

''In my state, it's me," he said. ''The governor's in charge. I got it."

Answering a question yesterday about the National Guard, Romney said he believes there is no need for a military draft, calling it ''totally unnecessary."

The Heritage audience was highly receptive to Romney yesterday, giving him a rousing welcome and lengthy applause as he concluded his remarks. The foundation promotes study of issues important to conservatives.

Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com. Globe correspondent Chase Davis contributed to this report.

[michael_ital]

LOOOOOOOOOOOL @ " he told an audience of about 100."

Now THAT'S what Icall a powerbase. They'll more than likely be his campaign contributers for his alleged "run" for Presidency.

[Quruxley]

100 people?Guess most people aint losing sleep over that.Anyways thanks for the information.Night

[michael_ital]

Habeen or Subaax Wannagsan ??

[Globetrotter-]

Qansa when did you become a mosque attendee?

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

Although Romney's suggestion is not practicle, this kind of thing is inevitable. Profiling OBVIOUSLY should be done. Think about it.

A short quiz to illustrate:

1. The killing of Leon Klinghofer and the hijacking of the Achille Lauro was done by:

a. Klinghofers wife
b. The three stooges
c. IRA militants
b. Male Muslim Extremists between the ages of 17-40

2. The attack on the World Trade Center in 1994 was done by

a. Bugs Bunny fans pissed because it was taken off the air
b. Underpirveldged kids from the Bronx
c. The Clash
d. Male Muslim Extremists between the ages of 17-40

3. The attacks on the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya were done by:

a. The Tamil Tigers
b. Ex Vietcong pissed off about America's role in the Vietnam conflict
c. The Communists
d. Male Muslim extremists between the ages of 17-40

4. The attack on the US barracks at Khobar Towers was done by:

a. Saudi women protesting because they are not allowed to drive
b. Ghengis Khan and his Horde
c. American Vietnam veterans pissed about a lack of government benefits
d. Male Muslim extremists between the ages of 17-40

5. The attack on the US consulate in Jeddah was done by:

a. Muttawa seeking to augment their wages
b. Playboy models protesting that playboy is not sold in Saudi Arabia
c. The CIA
d. Male Muslim extremists between the ages of 17-40


Now, do you see a trend here? Hmmmmm. For sure we had the Atlanta and Oklahoma attacks by home grown psychos. I'll grant you that. But those were OBVIOUSLY abberations. And one per in in jail, and the other is dead. So there you have it. Profiling makes sense. The US isn't being targetted by catholic extremists, it isn't being targetted by Bhudist extremists, it isn't being targetted by Chinese extremists - it is being targetted by Muslim extremists. Isn't it obvious to everyone here?

[AbdiWahab252]

Mad what about the Puerto Rican Terrorist Groups ? Or about the AL-CRACKER organizations like the Christian Identity white militants

AS A BLACK MAN IN THE SOUTH, I AM A WHOLE LOT SCARED OF AL-CRACKER than AL_QAEDA.


Qansa, I guess the Darood Masjiid in JP is on the list.

[Sir-Luggoyo]

I think by now every Bostonian knows the limitless idiocy of Romney and he will vacate the seat, come next election, for the young bright African American Deval Patrick. I met this man briefly when he was planning an outreach committee, he is one hell of a politician. His campaign is still in the grassroots level but I would bet my last penny on him.

It was an unexpected jolt when in the middle of a casual conversation, he said he was in Mogadishu in 1984, working for the UN department of World Food Program and talked about how peaceful the place was.

I can't still get over how a Democratic State could take a dumb neo-con to their State House.

[DANGIRL]

Why do i know find this strange?Oh well that's the way things happen in United of Mistake.United of Mistake is ruled and controlled by bunch of Neo-con jerks.