29: Obama Accounting: Why Is the US So Entangled with Al-Qaida?--5

Mohamed Atta, the Egyptian Al-Qaida hijacker-suicide pilot who flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, is again in the news. FoxNews Megyn Kelly interviewed Army Reserve Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer of the Able Danger Al-Qaida tracking project and former CIA agent Mike Baker. The question was how Mohamed Atta was able to elude US military, CIA, and other intelligence agencies to pilot the Boeing 767 into the World Trade Center in 2001, after being known as an Al-Qaida agent linked to Osama bin-Laden since 1999.

The answer is likey to be part ideology, part strategy, part tactics. US intelligence may not have understood Mohamed Atta's commitment to Al-Qaida.

Atta graduated in architecture at Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt in 1990. Then he became a member of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Engineering Syndicate. His father, a civil and Sharia lawyer, sent him to Germany to continue his studies. Atta felt skyscrapers in Cairo were disrupting the fabric of the city, a "shabby symbol of Egypt's haphazard attempts to modernize and it's shameless embrace of the West".

Atta began a strict Islamic diet in 1992 and began going to the mosques, radicalizing into a militant Islamic. While attending school at the Technical University of Hamburg, Germany, he joined Al-Quds Mosque. Atta formed the Al-Qaida Hamburg Cell with Ramzi Binalshibh, Osama bin-Laden liaison and planner, Marwan al-Shehhi and Zaid Jarrah, members of his "plane bombing" project.

In 1996, angered by the Israeli "Grapes of Wrath" attack on Lebanon, Atta made a will. The will bound him to Al-Quds Mosque, "a harsh, uncompromising, fundamentalist militant version of Sunni Islam". In making the will, "he offered his life" to Al-Qaida, a Sunni, puritanical sect of Wahhabism Islam.

Atta traveled to Afghanistan and met Osama bin-Laden and other Al-Qaida operatives between 1997 and 1999. Atta returned to Germany in 1999. Abu Hofs of Al-Qaida said Atta was a suitable candidate for the "planes operation", since Atta was well-educated and had experience living in western society.

What US intelligence does not seem to really understand is the US Judeo-Christian--Islamic difference in "offering one's life". Making "the ultimate sacrifice" in the West is done to save one's troops. Al-Qaidas offer their lives and those of their "troops" in a suicide mission to harm their enemy. Atta's commitment was made 5years before 9/11/2001; it was unwavering.

Atta, the "planes operation" leader, spend 2 years preparing and planning to execute his Al-Qaida plot on September 11, 2001. The first step was to report his passport missing on his return to Germany from Afghanistan, to obscure his Al-Qaida link. In Berlin Germany, Atta applied for and received a US visa the next day, a 5-1/2 year B1/B2 visa for tourist and business purposes, by May 17, 2000.

2000, the first year, was devoted to the necessary flight training. Atta had emailed 50-60 flight school inquiries from Germany by the end of March, 2000. Atta chose Huffman Aviation of Lakeland, Florida.

Atta took a bus trip from Germany to Prague, Czechoslovakia on June 2, 2000. He flew to Newark, New Jersey the next day. Once in the US, Atta rented rooms, apartments, and cars frequently. He used diversionary paths, "zigzagging" from airports and planes to rental cars and driving, to arrive at his destinations.

Atta started flight school in July, 2000, took solo flights by the end of the month. He earned his "instrument ratings" by November, 2000. Atta obtained a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) commercial pilot's license by December, 2000.

In December, 2000, Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi ordered mail order jet flight manuals and took jet simulator sessions at other airports and airlines.

Mishaps included an abandoned Piper Cherokee at Miami International Airport 12/26/2000. Despite this, Sun Trust Bank accounts, a large amount wire transfer from a United Arab Emirate liaison of known terrorist Omari Sheikh Sayed (aka Mustafa Muhammed Admad), Atta flew under the radar throughout 2000.

Atta traveled back and forth from Tarragon, Spain to Florida and Georgia in 2001, for additional planning sessions with Binalshibh and others. Around April, 3, 2001, Atta greeted the 19 Al-Qaida "muscle hijackers", who most likely attacked the passengers on American Airlines Flight 11 and the other 3 jetliners during the coordinated attacks on "9/11".

Another "red flag" came on 4-16-2001 when Atta received a Florida (FL) citation for driving without a valid driver license. He applied and received one on 5-2-2001 at Lauderdale Lakes, FL.

From Lauderdale, Atta flew to Boston, MA, then to San Francisco, CA, then Las Vegas, NV to meet Al-Qaida associates. Atta flew back and forth from Europe, including Zurich, Switzerland, where he withdrew 1700 Swiss francs from an ATM at a stopover, to Madrid, Spain and back to Florida.

Another "red flag" came on August 13, 2001, when Atta's FL driver license was revoked "in absentia" for failure to show-up for the April "no valid DL" ticket.

Atta was a frequent flyer passenger on commercial airlines or drove long distances, over 3,000 miles, in rental cars almost weekly throughout 2001. His itinerary was hectic as he made "surveillance flights" to learn commercial jet routines on various airlines in various locations in the US. Foreign flights seem to be related to meeting Binalshibh, bin-Laden's liaison, and other Al-Qaida links for continued planning for the "planes" project.

Atta had flown as a passenger on commercial US domestic or international jetliners on a monthly basis in the 2 years prior to "9/11". He and Shehhi had attended flight school, had obtained a commercial pilot's license from the FAA, had taken simulated jetliner sessions, traveled to, rented in, or visited at least 8 states in the US. Atta had traveled back and forth from at least 4 foreign countries. Atta and his Al-Qaida links lived very public lives in the US from May, 2000 through September 11, 2001.

In the final days, Atta flew US Airways from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Baltimore, MD on 9/7/2001, sent $3,000 and $5,000 from Safeway and Giant groceries in Laurel, MD to Mustafa Muhammud Admad (Omari Syed) in Dubai on 9/8/2001.

On 9/9/2001 Atta drove to Boston, MA in a rented Nissan Maxima to pick up Al-Qaida associate Omari at the Milner Hotel. Then they drove to Portand, Maine where they stayed at the Comfort Inn. On 9/11/2001 Atta left the Nissan at the Portland International Jetport and flew Colgan Air on an early morning flight to Boston, MA.

At Boston's Logan International Airport, Atta was selected by "Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System" (CAPPS) for extra screening for baggage explosives. But there was no further passenger screening at the boarding security checkpoint.

Atta arrived at Terminal B South on US Airways and went to the American Airlines departing gate on Terminal B North. The 2 gates were not connected by security.

Atta received a 6:45AM call from Marwan al-Shehhi to confirm the "9/11" attacks. He went through passenger security twice.

American Airlines Flight 11 had 81 passengers aboard when it departed Logan International Airport at 7:59AM. Atta had Business class seat 8D.

The cockpit responded normally to Boston Air Traffic Control (ATC) at 8:13:47AM with a request to change course. Atta began the attack at 8:14AM, 15 minutes into the flight, at beverage service.

American Airlines Flight 11 pilots stopped responding to ATC requests for change in course as the plane began deviating from its flight path. At 8:18AM flight attendants Betty Ong and Madeline Amy Sweeney made cellphone calls to American Airlines to report no communication with the cockpit and passenger injuries.

At 8:23 ATC asked the airliner to reply: "Is that American 11?" Atta was heard on the airlines radio, saying "Buddy...Buddy...We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you will be OK. We are returning to the airport..." At 8:33AM, the air traffic controller asked "Who is trying to call me here? American 11, are you trying to call?" Atta's voice was heard saying: "Nobody move please. We are going back to the airport. Nobody make any stupid moves please." The transponder turned off at 8:28AM.

American Airlines Flight 11 had a flight duration of 1hr:47min before crashing into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46:40AM, the first of 2 jetliners to crash into the World Trade Center.

Atta's bags remained at Logan International Airport. They contained airline uniforms, Atta's will, instructions, and motivational statements. Atta wrote:
"You must make your knife sharp and you must not discomfort your animal during the slaughter". Atta's instructions had the cold-blooded intensity of a manual written for a Halal butcher.

The horror of the 9/11/2001 coordinated attacks must not be forgotten. Atta, too, most likely seemed to be a moderate Muslim, busily touring the US while training to be a commercial airline pilot for a job waiting for him at home.

On June 2, 2002 ABC News interviewed Johnelle Bryant, former loan officer at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in South Florida. Bryant recognized Muhamed Atta's newspaper photograph as that of a man who approached her to finance a "crop duster purchase, twin engine, 6-passenger aircraft & remove seats". Her records indicate Atta approached USDA between the 3rd week of April and the 3rd week of May, before his official visa arrival into the US.

Atta asked Bryant about the Pentagon, the White House, and about security at the World Trade Center, which he stated he wanted to visit. Atta also told Bryant about Osama bin-Laden, "this man would someday be known as the world's greatest leader". Atta told her Al-Qaida needed US memberships.

Bryant contacted authorities and passed a lie detector test.

Mohamed Atta's 2-year long, busy, public itinerary in the US and Europe, his passport, visa, and driver license irregularities, basic and advanced flight school and FAA commercial pilot's license, and his bold hints to another government agency were not heeded.

The unfamiliar, often duplicated and reversed, mulitple names used by Al-Qaida radical Islamists in the USA may help screen their activities. The enormous sums of money Al-Qaida agents spend help them go through airports, rental car companies, hotels, restaurants, and restaurant bars in the US quickly and easily.

Another source believes Mohamed Atta, a trim man of average height, with a distinctive face, an unchanging but quietly angry affect, possibly was in the US much earlier. In about 1991-1992, two men who looked like Mohamed Atta and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were introduced as Internal Medicine or Cardiology doctors in training programs at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. Both visited MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, OH for Friday Cardiology lunch lectures. Mohamed Atta reportedly has an older sister who is a medical doctor, who may have been able to help arrange this.

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation recently expanded to Las Vegas, Nevada, city of gambling for quick money. Mohamed Atta and other al-Qaida agents traveled to meet in Las Vegas, possibly to finance Al-Qaida projects. Perhaps these links could reveal more information about past and future Al-Qaida plots against the US and the West.

Satellite video surveillance on US commercial airliners, in the cockpit and the passengers cabin, might not have saved American Airlines Flight 11 passengers and crew from horrible death by boxcutter or whatever Al-Qaida "muscle hijackers" did. But video surveillance would have made it possible to confirm the murder of the passengers and crew to allow the military to shoot American Airlines 11 out of the sky before impact over 1 hour later at the World Trade Center.


Graphic: Detour sign from Chase's Calendar of Events, 2010.

Other references: www.wikipedia.com, ABC News, FoxNews.com.

Email mkrause381@gmail.com or mkrause54@yahoo.com to comment or request copies of this or other blogs in the "Obama Accounting" series or other blogs posted by mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotesfive.blogspot.com or http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com (two through six) on www.google.com.

28: Obama Accounting: Why is the US So Entangled with Al-Qaida?--4

The US has become entangled in the wars of the Middle East: in the Arab-Israel Wars, the Lebanon Muslim vs. Christian conflict, the Muslim Sectarian Wars in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, now Afghanistan again. So entangled, that most US citizens, politicians, or government bureaucrats do not recognize the similarities at home.

Undocumented travelers or illegals crossing borders is a significant part of the problem in the Middle East. Muslims of different sects and national origin rush over borders to overthrow other Arab governments. Al-Qaida has become the primary ideological and action organization for these efforts. Iran-based Hamas fights wars in the Gaza Strip against Israel.

In the US, Hamas raises money from US naturalized, student and worker visa holding Muslims, foreign Muslims living in the United States, and sympathizers to fight al-Qaida's wars in the Middle East. The Near Ground Zero Fitness Center/Mosque experince illustates how entrenched, well-financed, and politically connected many sectarian al-Qaida-linked Muslims living in the United States have become.

William J. Clinton Administration's offers of "dual citizenship", depite the smaller 1993 World Trade Center vehicle bombing, have allowed Muslims to live very successfully. Many continue to organize Muslim "inroads" in the United States and to support Muslim revolutionary groups in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Canada.

US oil and other business trading in the Middle East started earlier. By 1973 OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and Arab oil-producing nations, had raised gasoline prices in the US, Britain, and the West creating financial stresses on Western domestic economies. Gasoline prices have increased from 69 cents per gallon of 87% octane regular to $2.69 per gallon this morning, a better price than in some parts of the US.

Huge money losses domestically, while some US citizens "made money" in the oil trades on Wall Street has significantly contributed to US domestic and financial stresses. Business dealings with the Middle East from George H.W. Bush's Abscam through George W. Bush Administration's Halliburton issues have provided many media stories. There are so many stories of conflict of interest and corruption, seemingly on a daily basis. Few journalists have been able leave their more entrenched positions on the left or the right wings to describe the damage to the US and the US economy.

There has to be a better way than to have US and Western military follow al-Qaida fighting from one attack site to another. This month Western anti-terrorist forces follow al-Qaida to new terror targets, perhaps somewhere in Europe or Africa. In the US, uniformed special security forces will be seen on Amtrak trains, to deter al-Qaida efforts here.

Is the goal in the Middle East to protect the Christian and Jewish populations in this region of the origin of 3 major religions, Judaism, Chritianity, and Islam? What if the only way to end US loss of life and money in the Middle East is to find a new home for the Christians and the Jews outside of the Middle East? Then it would be wise for the West to also send the Muslims home to their Muslim countries of origin to fight their sectarian wars, while the West regains domestic and financial peace and stability.

The US and other Western economies are now being "decoupled" from the faster growing "third world" country economies. Why not also separate and repatriate?

The United States of America is not the United Nations. The United Nations obviously is too large and too diverse to govern. Countries continue to opt in and opt out of the United Nations when their interests cannot be respected or maintained.

Western countries have reached political and financial crisis points, patiently trying to integate often violent ethnic groups who seek to overthrow or take control, rather than become part of existing democratic structures of Western government.

US citizens are losing their civil liberties as police become too involved in the every day lives of citizens. More uniformed security guards or police on Amtrak trains tells the story of a slowly developing phase of "martial law" during efforts to prevent al-Qaida or other terrorist attacks.

White, mainstream US citizens are stopped or questioned by traffic police more frequently, as often as monthly or even weekly, as over 13 Million undocumented travelers or illegals pour across the US borders.

Most US citizens are accustomed to carrying their Driver License, to prevent unnecessary inconvenience when stopped by police. It is hard for most US citizens to understand why illegals do not do the same.

All the illegal needs to do is to go to their immigration office for the proper travel permit, go to the US immigration office to present their country of origin identification, pay the Passport fee, follow the process for citizenship, and, of course, get onto the taxpayer list in the United States of America.

The creation of factory, sales, and other business jobs would be more conducive to a peaceful, productive society than federal funding of additional police jobs. These jobs would be better accepted by US citizens if related to solving the illegal issues, and to prevent undocumented possible foreign terrorists from freely traveling, rather then stopping and questioning US citizens.

Graphic: Detour sign, Chase's Calendar of Events, 2010.

Email mkrause381gmail.com or mkrause54@yahoo.com to comment or request a copy of this or other blogs in the "Obama Accounting" series or other blogs posted by mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com until available on http://monthlynotesfive.blogspot.com on www.google.com.

27: Obama Accounting: Why is the US So Entangled with Al-Qaida?--3

Muslims have been fighting each other for control of predominantly Muslim countries and countries into which Muslims have migrated since about 817AD. There is enormous historical rage within Islam over "which way is the right way".

Israel became a focus for Muslim rage during the Jewish migration from Nazi Germany and Europe in the 1930s. As Great Britain recognized the independence of Arab and other colonies, historical disputes became more pronouced. The Jewish migration back to the "Holy Land" from Europe in the 1930s and 1940s brought increased pressure into the area.

Great Britain asked the United Nations for help. In about 1947, borders or partitioning for land for Christians, who also lived in the Middle East, and for Jews, present in the Holy Land but then with an increasing population, were established. The state of Israel was created.

Both Christians and Jews are minority populations in Palestine. Only about 7% are Christian, only about 1% is Jewish. Other Muslim migrated to Palestine to intensify the struggle over land and government influence.

The US became more heavily involved due to increased Muslim vs. Christian tensions in Lebanon, spreading to other areas from 1979 to about 1991. The US fought one of the last "third world wars" in Afghanistan against Communist Soviet (USSR United Soviet Socialist Republics) military about the same time, ending in about 1989.

In the 1980s Afghanistan war against the USSR, access to oil for gasoline, became a significant item for US vs. USSR competition, as well as being a foreign natural resource sought by British and US oil companies.

With withdrawal of foreign military, Muslim sectarian conflict intensified. The Taliban took control, but was recognized by only a few Arab Muslim countries. There was no stable government in Afghanistan for about 7 years following the USSR withdrawal.

From August, 1988 through 1989, "the late Abu ebeida El-Banashiri established the trining camps for our mujahideen against Russia's terrorism. We used to call the training camp Al-Qaida", from the Arabic "qa'idah" for foundation or base, or military base. Osama bin-Laden says al-Qaida was established "by mere chance...The name stayed."

Former British Foreign Secretary Robin cook said al-Qaida should be translated "the database", a reference to computer files of thousands of mujahideen militants recruited and trained by the CIA to help defeat the Russians.

After the withdraw of the Soviet from Afghanistan and the collapse of the Soviet Russian economy in about 1989, the US remains in Afghanistan. Against the Soviets, the US was an ally to Muslims, like CIA operative Osama bin-Laden and thousands of other Muslims. Now the Muhajahideen Muslims face the US as an enemy.

Obviously, there are personal connections. In November, 1989, Ali Mohamed, a former Special Forces Sargent stationed in Fort Bragg left the military for Santa Clara, CA. Later Ali Mohamed went to Afghanistan and Pakistan, to become "deeply involved in bin-Laden's plans".

About a year later, on November 8, 1990, the FBI raided the New Jersey home of Ali Mohamed's associate El-Sayyid Nosair. The FBI found evidence of terrorist plots including plans to blow up NYC skyscrapers. Nosair later was indicted for his connection to the 1993 World Trade Center vehicle bombing and the murder of Israel's Rabbi Meir Kahane on November 5, 1990.

In 1991, Ali Mohamed helped bin-Laden move to the Sudan.

The entanglements between soldiers, first as allies, then as enemies, foreign Muslims living in the US and "the West" as students or visa workers, US citizens who have become Muslims in the US or elsewhere, whether as recruits throughout the "black civil rights movement" or recruits to al-Qaida and Islam recently during the Middle East conflicts are mindboogling.

62% of al-Qaida operatives are university educated. Al-Qaida operatives spend enormous amounts of money taking flying lessons, flying on commercial airlines around the world, renting cars, buying "safe houses". This is a violence not based on poverty or lack of education.

The difficulty in reaching some conclusion to the Middle Eastern conflict may be more complex. If it is due to the joining of US Muslims, in the US military, affirmative action government and other office hires, recruited during the "black civil rights movement", into the worldwide Muslim Jihad, different approaches may be needed.

"Loyalty oaths", "The Pledge of Allegiance" and other pro-USA loyalty statements are performed easily by mainstream Americans. But these have become daily issues for the ACLU (American Civil Liberty Union) and other lawyer groups in lawsuits brought by ethnic and other groups in the US against the USA. But if the USA is the next al-Qaida target economically, politically, or militarily, loyalty oaths may become necessary.

Graphic: Detour sign, Chase's Calendar of Events, 2010.

References: www.wikipedia.com

Email mkrause381@gmail.com or mkrause54@yahoo.com to comment or request a copy of this or other blogs in the "Obama Accounting" series or other blogs posted by mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com until indexed http://monthlynotesfive.blogspot.com on www.google.com.

26: Obama Accounting: Why is the US so Entangled with Al-Qaida?--2

Jamal al-Fadl, former Osama bin-Laden employee convicted under RICO (Racketeer Influenced Crime Organizations) laws, released another 5 keys to understanding Al-Qaida:

6. A key Al-Qaida goal is a complete break from foreign influence in Muslim countries.

7. A key Al-Qaida goal is the creation of a new Islamic "Caliphate" or empire in Middle East and later worldwide.

8. Al-Qaida believes the Christian-Jewish alliance, embodied in the US-Israel alliance, is conspiring to destroy Islam.

9. Al-Qaida believes the killing of bystanders and civilians is religiously justified in Jihad. Al-Qaida also believes the killing of "apostate" non-fundamentalist Islamic Muslims leaders in Muslim countries is justified during this time.

10. Al-Qaida is the paramilitary and ideological fundamentalist Muslim organization
which will achieve the "centralization of decision and decentralization of execution" during the creation of the fundamentalist Muslim Caliphate throughout the group of Muslim countries. There are now 56 UN-recognized Arab countries.

In addition:
11. As Shukhajuma H. Adnan, formerly a South Florida mechanic trainee, describes it:
the Mujahideen of international fundamentalist Islam recruit Muslim warriors to al-Qaida to fight "American Crimes". "American Crimes" includes what fundamentalist Muslims understand to be the USA's vices of sex, drugs, women's participation in society, and US presence in Muslim countries, particularly the military, whether invited by Muslim leaders or not.

Graphic: Detour sign, Chase's Calendar of Events, 2010.

Sources: www.wikipedia.com, ABCNews.com

Email mkrause381@gmail.com or mkrause54@yahoo.com to comment or request a copy of this or other blogs in the "Obama Accounting" series or other blogs posted by mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com until http://monthlynotes(two through six).blogspot.com are indexed on www.google.com.

25: Obama Accounting: Why Is the US So Entangled with Al-Qaida?--1

The United States of America and her citizens lives are on hold, on a long, dangerous, deathly, and expensive detour from normal American life because of al-Qaeda and the worldwide Muslim Jihad. Why?

Reason One: the US may not be familiar with al-Qaeda's goals. A better understanding of al-Qaeda's goals will help the US to develop a better plan against al-Qaeda.

On March 11, 2005, Al-Quds Al-Arabi released this 5 stage summary from Saif al-Adel's document, "Al-Qaeda's Strategy to the Year 2020".

1. Provoke the US into invading a Muslim country.
2. Incite local resistance to the occupying (US, NATO) forces.
3. Expand the conflict to neighboring countries and engage the US in a long war of attrition.
4. Convert al-Qaeda into an ideology and set of operating principles which can be loosely franchised in other countries, without direct command and control. Then attack countries allied with the US until US allies withdraw from conflict.
(Al-Qaeda saw success with this strategy in the 2004 Madrid, Spain train bombings, interpreting Spain's reply as withdraw from the US. Al-Qaeda did not see success in the same strategy in the July 7, 2005 London bombings.)
5a. US economy will finally collapse under the strain of too many engagements in too many places, similar to the result in the earlier war in Afghanistan.
5b. Arab regimes suppported by the US will collapse.
5c. Wahhabi Caliphate will be installed.

If the US interrupts al-Qaeda's plan at any stage, al-Qaeda will face defeat.

It is important to note Step 5c. Al-Qaeda's goal is to establish a Middle Eastern Muslim empire, the Wahhabi Caliphate.

The larger goal is to establish a worldwide Muslim Caliphate by bankrupting the US, by causing a large number of war sites around the world over a prolonged time. The large influx of Muslims into the United States of America, and Canada as a northern access border, during this time must be considered as the early stages of a Muslim invasion to establish the Caliphate. The Near Ground Zero Fitness Center/Mosque has great significance for Muslims, and obviously for US Citizens, in this context.

While US soldiers are off at war, the Muslims, many of whom are included in the over 13 Million undocumented international travelers, the illegals, cross our borders, from the south from Mexico, from the north from Canada, and by boat along our eastern and western coasts.

News alerts on October 1, 2010 warn that Europe is under threat in Germany, France, and Britain. Also, Osama bin-Laden reportedly has released new videotaped commentary requesting aid for Pakistan flood victims and urging al-Qaeda action. Currently, Osama bin-Laden targeted Saudi Arabia, his country of origin, from which he was exiled for condemning the deployment of US troops against Iraq during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the House of Saud (Saudi Arabia).

The danger of Muslim immigration and mixing populations also is evident in the European threats. Muslims in Germany have become very involved. Al-Qaeda attackers met at the Hamburg, Germany mosque, recently closed, to plan the Ground Zero plane bombing attacks. Mohamed Atta, an Egyptian, was a German student, prior to piloting American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

US citizens, known for humanitarian aid around the world and as a safe haven for immigrants from war-torn nations, would be naive to overlook al-Qaeda's international plan for fundamentalist Muslim conquest.

Virtue is lost by a tolerance which exposes one to risk of loss of life and freedom.

Graphic: Detour sign, Chase's Calendar of Events, 2010.

Other references: www.wikipedia.com, ABC News.com.

Email mkrause381@gmail.com or mkrause54@yahoo.com to comment or request copies of this or other blogs in the "Obama Accounting" or other series posted by mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com on www.google.com. Other blogs are found on http://monthlynotes(two through six).blogspot.com as the blogs become available on index.

24: Obama Accounting: National Referendum to Save the American Democracy.

Wake up to the seriousness of the issues facing the United States of America. The American Democracy depends upon an aware electorate, voters who educate themselves on the issues and the politicians whom the voters select to represent them in government.

Participatory Democracy is the best system of government. But its survival depends on honest, aware representatives who understand the issues and vote in the legislature with the will of the people.

Politicians like William Jefferson Clinton, one of Barack Obama's Democratic Party mentors, recently on the campaign trail, took the power from the people by saying: "We need individuals who think and do what's right for you".

Obama clearly follows this political dictum. A majority of Americans rejected Obamacare, including the IRS penalty for those who disagree with Obama mandate to purchase insurance. But, Obama and most of the Democrats pushed the bill through the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The question for the Republicans is: "wasn't there a way to keep this bill in committee to discuss the objections, or to delay its passage?" Some estimate it will take as long as 2 years to repeal the bill. Meanwhile, many Americans have lost coverage or are forced to pay more for coverage, as many in the insurance industry also find the rules too expensive to continue to do business.

Some years ago Ross Perot proposed a national computerized referendum for voters to directly participate in government. The idea was dropped. Perot later sold some of his computer business and developed other interests.

Many politicians and bureaucrats would prefer to make rules for the people and spend the money out of the people's wallets, taxes and more, like mandated insurance. Obamacare is a good example of legislation that should not have been passed by proponents over the people's objections. It also can be a good starting point for the development of a National Referendum Participatory Democracy.

It may be an essential part of the plan to save America, from a change to a communist "state capitalism" of elite politicians and bureaucrats seeking personal profit from "public service", paid government work.

Ecuador today faces a "state of seige" by a police insurgency. Over 800 police, angry over discontinued medals and bonuses at promotion and an additional 2 year wait to 7 years between promotions, attacked Ecuador President Rafael Correa. Police shoved the President, doused him with water, then tear gas during his speech at a police barracks in Quito, Ecuador.

Correa, still recovering from knee surgery 1 week ago, was taken to a Quito hospital. Leaders from Ecuador and Venezuela President Hugo Chavez fear that Correa is held by rebel police in the hospital. Peru President Alan Garcia has shut the border with Ecuador, until Correa's "democratic authority" is restored.

Political rivals have denounced the police insurgency. General Ernesto Gonzalez, Commander of Ecuador's armed forces, declared loyalty to President Correa. The government has put the military in charge of public order, suspending civil liberties, and allowing soldiers to carry out searches.

Schools and business have shut down. Looting has been reported in the capital. At least 2 banks have been sacked.

Police insurgents have shut down the Mariscal Sucre airport and have blocked highways to the capital with burning tires in the nationwide police "strike".

The Organization of American States (OAS) fears a "coup d'etat" is in progress, in the fifth year of democracy under President Rafael Correa in this South American country of 14 million.

Americans in Ecuador are instructed to stay where they are, if safe.

This is an frightening illustration of a police insurgency, rioting state employees, willing to destroy their country to protest budgetary benefit cuts. Ecuador has 40,000 police officers.

Americans must seriously consider downsizing government to maintain peace at home in these volatile and difficult financial times.



9/30/2010 Corrections: One political opponent, Mayor Jumi Nebat of Guayaquil, called a news conference to denounce the police insurgency. The airport was closed by the military pictured on runways. The police blocked highways to the capital city with roadblocks of burning tires.



Graphic: Chase's Calendar of Events, 2010.


Other references: Yahoo!News AP, 9/30/2010.


Email mkrause381@gmail.com or mkrause54@yahoo.com to comment or request a copy of this or other blogs in the "Obama Accounting" or other series posted my mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com until available on http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com (and two through six) on www.google.com

23: Obama Accounting: "State Capitalism" vs. Private Capitalism in Employment.

The "Charticle" graph to the left dramatically depicts the Obama Administration shift from private enterprise American capitalism employment to "state capitalism", an early form of socialist/communist government, under which the government takes control of the economy.

As government jobs have increased, private sector jobs have decreased. At the left, in January 2008, the first month of the Obama Administration, government jobs, in red, number about 22,375, peaked around March, 2009, and declined to about 22,475 in January, 2010, a net gain of about 100 jobs at the start of Obama's third year.

Meanwhile, the blue line, private sector jobs steadily declined from 116,000 to about 107,000, a net loss of 9,000 jobs during the first two years of the Obama Administration.

Data on causes of private sector job loss did not accompany the graph. Possible causes include aggressive government tax collection, corporate debt, failure to raise business investments or to obtain loans, decreased sales and other losses, and ethnic lawsuit settlements like those discussed in earlier blogs with black and ethnic race-based settlements against companies like AIG and Capital One.

These losses heighten corporate interest in changing from product production to import or investment, in hopes of holding on to business money. However, even these endeavors are not safe from losses due to black race-based lawsuit business raids, as in the Delaware AIG loss of over $6 million in a Department of Justice pre-trial settlement.

This graph represents only part of the economy, but this trend is significant. If government is permitted to feed on the private sector through taxes and lawsuits, the government grows larger, controls more of business and society, and becomes a "central ruling party" as is true in communist governments.

Socialist reruitment through racial and ethnic "social justice" issues are part mechanism, part membership in the replacement of the usual impartial departments of the federal government with racial and ethnic social organizers.

It is as if Obama/Holder brought ACORN (Association of Community Organizations Reform Now) to Washington, DC to replace the Department of Justice (DoJ) in many of the issues arising:

-US Civil Rights Commission dismissing charges of intimidation of white voters by the Black Panther Party in Philadelphia, PA,
-ethnic voter registration fraud as permissible within the DoJ in the case of Julie Fernandez, although ACORN/Project Vote is under investigation in Missouri and Nevada for voter registration fraud,
-black and ethnic organizations have called for a boycott of Arizona(AZ) for enforcing immigration laws while Obama brought suit against AZ for their immigration law enforcement. Obama/Hillary Clinton State Department is taking this law to a UN commission with known human rights violator member nations to review, in what many see as an embarrassment to AZ and the USA.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, before his assassination, said, "there is no role for race in government." Bringing race into government has brought the nation to the brink of bankruptcy in ethnic and race-based lawsuits, and opened the door to racial polarization, extortion, and terrorist activity. A later Democratic president, William Jefferson Clinton, gave a presidential pardon to the Puerto Rican terrorist organization, the FALN. Now Americans are faced with the continuing threat of al-Qaida Islamic terrorism, 10 years after the attacks on New York, the Pentagon, and America.

Government, of course, does depend on tax revenue to fund political and civil service employee salaries in the three branches (executive, legislative, and judicial) of government and activities. But government must remain impartial, race-neutral, and smaller than private enterprise, for the survival of the American economy and for its own survival.

The racial and ethnic issues may have diverted many Americans from seeing the deals being made by politicians and bureaucrats. If American politicians and bureaucrats are permitted to restructure the American government and American business without the vote of the people, it has no legitimate constitutional basis.

There are now many millionaires working in government as US Representatives and Senators. The 50 wealthiest as a group were worth $1.4 Billion, an increase by $85.1 Million from 2008. Lawmaker increase in wealth is due to stock market rebounds with large investment portfolios, despite one of the worst economic downturns since The Great Depression. There were rules prohibiting Senators and Representatatives and bureaucrats from using government and government regulation of business to get rich.

Senator John Kerry (Dem-MA) and Representatives Darrel Issa (Rep-CA) and Jane Harman (Dem-CA) are wealthier than a Rockefeller, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (Dem-WV). Lists of the richest senators and representatives omit whether these poilticians were millionaires before politics.

The Obama Administration continues to spend enormous sums of money America does not have, creating over a Trillion dollar deficit for his Administration and a $13 Trillion national debt while funding his special interest groups, blacks and other ethnics. That Obama also throws some to Wall Street ($700 Million) and small business ($230 Million), does not solve the problem of how to regain solvency as a country.

It is time to hold a National Referendum. Do American taxpayers want to continue to be a tax-based economy with a right to control their representatives and government?

Are mainstream Americans willing to trade their civil rights and right to vote in exchange for welfare benefits like food stamps, welfare medical cards, Section 8 or other subsidized housing?

A large number of Obama's constituents are. Many blacks and other ethnics have refused to pay taxes as a protest against America, while demanding welfare benefits. So do 13 million illegals.

If US government representatives, now called politicians, are permitted to become a finanical elite, to get rich through government, to create budgets to appease welfare recipients, and to take some for themselves and their friends, America will have slipped into communism.

Graphic: Charticle: "Public-Private Employment (Seasonally Adjusted), Veronique de Rugy: Mercatus Center for biggovernment.com.

Other references: The Washington Examiner, The Hill.com

Email mkrause381@gmail.com or mkrause54@yahoo.com to comment or request a copy of this or other blogs in the "Obama Accounting" series or other blogs posted by mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com until http://monthlynotesfive.blogspot.com (monthlynotestwo through six) is easily accessible on www.google.com.

22: Obama Accounting: More on Antigua, Harvard & Money Deals: Nidus for Socialist/Communist "State Capitalism" in the US?

The beach graphic above shows the blue skies, green water, white sands on the Caribbean Island of Antigua. Antigua and Barbuda form a nation. Redonda is the third small, uninhabited island. The three islands arose from the sea, white sands remain from the volcano beneath.

Carib indians are thought to be the first inhabitants of Antigua. In 1493, Christopher Columbus discovered these Lesser Antilles islands. The British established a colony on Antigua in 1632 and later on the other two islands.

The British brought slaves or, if through George III, indentured servants, to work the sugar cane plantations. The slaves were freed in 1834, in Antigua and throughout the British Empire. Later most of the British left, but Britain retained control.

In 1967 the colony of Antigua became part of the West Indes Associated States, to control its internal affairs. On November 1, 1981, Antigua and Barbuda became an independent nation. 98% of the 69,000 population, most of whom are descendants of black Africans, live in the capital city of St. John's on the NW coast of Antigua.

English is the official language. Most Antiguans are Protestant, mostly Anglican.

The government, too, is based on the English system: a constitutional monarchy, with a 17 member parliament, a House of Representatives and a Senate. The majority leader of the House of Representatives is the Prime Minister.

Tourism is the major industry. Sugar and cotton are the major crops. During drought, the clothing, paint, refrigerator and stove factories support the economy.

Isaac Royall left this Caribbean Island to move to Medford, Massachusetts (MA), later the site of the Harvard Law School. Royall fled when the American Revolution began.

In 1781 before his death, Royall left the land to Harvard for sale to endow a Professorship. In 1806, the Royall estate was returned to Royall, Jr.'s heirs. The Royall family then sold the estate and donated the proceeds for the formal foundation of Harvard Law School.

The set of donations: donated land returned, then the cash value of the land donated, may say something about how business is done at Harvard Law School, multiple transactions around the same parcel.

The Antigua experience, with slaves and plantations, most of which Royall sold to move to the USA, established a legal preoccupation with black African and ethnic civil rights issues which continues to this day with over 140 years of revisions of the Civil Rights Act since it became the 14th Constitutional Amendment in 1866. Harvard has been represented on the Supreme Court since Judge Joseph Story in 1827, but the preponderance of 6 of 9 Harvard Law graduates allows Harvard Law to establish policy as if it were a University administration.

Harvard's insistence on funding for social justice issues perhaps is restitution for its more conservative policies on blacks and ethnics in the 1980s. The benefits of restitution also are applied to Harvard, through subsidized enhanced access for students and faculty to government "public service" jobs. This is part of a conservative bent to unbridled wealth and influence. The latter was revealed in the recent Supreme Court decision to not limit political donations, and presumably influence, on politicians by corporate donors.

The question of money and influence in American law and politics, the role of an "elite" who presume to "know what is best for America and Americans", not only nationally and internationally, but globally, is becoming overwhelming.

There is a tremendous loss of middle-class money and property to both the wealthy and the welfare population, who pay no taxes. Meanwhile the working- and middle- classes are tax collected and bill collected relentlessly.

There is an enormous unregulated influx of poor "3rd world" people who stayed too long after the housing construction bubble burst. Illegals and new immigrants demand huge amounts of social services, including "English as a 2nd language" classes to get through an elementary school curriculum. These demands have overwhelmed our budgets, as state after state records budget deficits.

Meanwhile the wealthy "flip houses" and run financial services companies to amass even greater wealth in the current "millionaire money mania". The upper middle-class and wealthy try to find good returns on investment to continue to "build wealth". Now they are encouraged to take their investment money internationally.

Traditionally, Americans invest locally and nationally in new factories and industries to actually create more jobs to hire more people. But why should they, when a court will allow a black or ethnic group to bankrupt them and their investors with yet another black- or other race-based lawsuit and take it all?

Leaders often do look internationally when things are difficult domestically. But it is the American economy that is at risk now. Few Americans are really interested in international hegemony or being a world superpower. But most Americans, other than the very wealthy, cannot afford to send money out of the country. What if even the rich won't be able to follow it?

What the emergence of groups like "The Tea Party" asks is: can our now elitist, millionaire government and investment economy carry America into the future?

It may be time for Harvard and other "government for profit" business clubs to leave government, to form truly private national/international for-profit business clubs. These clubs now feed on "public service" government by creating trillion dollar budgets with $100-700 million dollar bailouts for "mortgage-flipping" friends and others, who are loosing too much or not making enough money to sate themselves, in government-unsubsidized business.

As the government-guided money raids continue, we are losing banks, 267 in the 2 years since Obama took office. Previously deposits and assets of 3-25 banks per year were "redistributed" through FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) mechanisms.

The majority of middle-class Americans lose money, homes, and our civil rights to what "sounds like it should have been helpful but was not" legislative bills, passed by bipartisan groups seeking personal profit. The Obama administered government is changing private sector capitalism to a "state capitalism" of an early socialist/communist government hybrid arising from the American Democracy.

What can Americans do about it? More on this in future blogs.


Graphics: Antigua and the Lesser Antilles, in The World Book Encyclopedia, 2003.

Other references: www.wikipedia.com, AP Yahoo!News 9-24-2010, 21: Obama Accounting in this series of blogs.

Email mkrause381@gmail.com or mkrause54@yahoo.com to comment or request copies of this or other blogs on "Obama Accounting" or other topics posted by mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotes.blogpsot.com until easily accessible on http://monthlynotesfive.blogspot.com (monthlynotes-monthlynotessix) on www.google.com

21: Obama Accounting: The Harvard Influence in the Oval Office?

Recent Harvard news from the Obama White House is the return of Larry Summers to Harvard. Despite Prof. Summers retrogressive comments about not believing there was a place for women in math, science, and the higher echelons of society, there was a place for him in the Obama White House. There is still a place for him at Harvard, but without his namesake burger at a local restaurant. Barack and Michelle Obama are Harvard Law School graduates. Martha Minow, named Dean of Harvard Law Schol 7/2009, Newton Minow, and other Harvard graduates and connections, in Chicago, IL and elsewhere, supported and contributed to Obama's campaigns.

Of interest for Prof. Summers and other Harvard faculty in government is the two-year sabbatical for "public service", Harvardese for government work, or social justice jobs. This, of course, is a funding concept shared by another Harvard graduate, recently approved Obama appointee, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. As former dean of Harvard Law School, 2003-2009 Solicitor General of the US, while sitting in the Charles Hamilton Houston Professorship for Race and Justice, Kagan promoted the full tuition grant during the 3rd year for students who pledged to spend 5 years working for non-profit organizations or the government after graduation. The "public service for tuition" payment option was discontinued and replaced with other incentives in 2009. 2008-2009 Harvard Law School tuition was $41,500, a significant remuneration for paid government work.

Harvard socialized health care rationing proponent Dr. Donald Berwick, in a speech reacting to public concern over this topic, has taken a step back from formal rationing as Director of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The Harvard Influence on the current US government cannot be underestimated. 149 sitting US federal judges, 6 of 9 sitting Supreme Court Judges, including Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Antonin Scalia, and Elana Kagan are Harvard Law School graduates. Ruth Bader Ginsburg transferred from Harvard to Columbia School of Law.

7 US Senators are Harvard graduates.

Massachusetts (MA) Governor Patrick Deval and Michelle Obama worked for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. Former MA Governor Mitt Romney is a Harvard graduate.

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is a Harvard graduate. Former Goldman Sachs employees include 2 recent US Secretaries of the Treasury, Robert Rubin under William Jefferson Clinton, then Henry Paulson in George W. Bush's administration. Both Clinton and Bush are Yale University graduates, friendly Ivy League rivals of Harvard in business and government.

Internationally, the President of the Republic of China, Ma Ying-jeou and President of the World Bank Group, Robert Zoellick are Harvard graduates. So is United Nations High Commissioner Navanethem Pillay

Harvard Law School itself has an international origin, Antigua. Antigua is a Caribbean island in the Lesser Antilles, east of Cuba, Haiti and The Dominican Republic, and the American Territory of Puerto Rico.

Harvard Law School is built on the Massachusetts estate of Isaac Royall, who sold most of his Antiguan slaves and plantations to move to Medford, Massachusetts. The Royall house is the only remaining slave quarters in the Northeast US. Royall fled Massachusetts at the start of the American Revolution. Before his death in 1781, Royall left the land to Harvard for sale for the endowment of a Professor of Laws or a Professor of Physics and Anatomy.

The decision to endow the Harvard Law School with land left by the heir of an Antigua slave and plantation owner, made history, indelibly influencing the legal history of the United States from the Civil War, through Reconstruction to the present.

The conficts of interest, national and international issues, tuition money for more accessible paid government jobs, and business connections to the university and its "spin-off" businesses, currently and historically, are, like the crest of 3 stacked wheat sheaves beneath the university motto "Veritas" (truth), phenomenal.

In 1827, when the school was struggling financially, an alumnus endowed the Dane Professorship of Law to be given to Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story for belief in the need for "an elite law school based on merit and dedicated to public service".

The question for the American public, in the context of interlocking law, government, and business clubs, nationally and internationally, now globally, is: does The Harvard Influence presume to know "what is best" for America and Americans?

Graphic: World Book Encyclopedia, 2003

Other References: The Washington Post, 2007, www.wikipedia.com.

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20: Obama Accounting: Gerrymandering for a Black Racialist Political Victory?

The Gerrymander, a politcal tool, takes the image of a frightening prehistoric salamander. This graphically portrays the political boundaries of a "gerrymandered Massachusetts election district" in 1812.

Gerrymandering is a political tool used by American politicians to change the boundaries of voting districts to produce a win by one of the two US political parties. Voters have a choice of the 2 major political parties, Democratic Party or Republican Party candidates, or occasionally other candidates who are able to get on the ballot.

Gerrymandering historically has been used to "redraw" districts to promote a Democratic or Republican win. The African-American Barack Obama, campaigned in Illinois and federally, as a Democrat, with the political party which appeals to and receives many black, ethnic, or other minority votes because of its focus on social welfare funding. In Illinois, Obama went further into gerrymandering in his legal career in preparation for his political career as an African-American candidate than the typical American politician.

As a black-identified political community organizer, Barack Obama worked with ACORN/ Project vote to register voters. Obama continued to work with ACORN/Project Vote, in 1991 and 1995, as a black civil rights attorney with Chicago's Judson Miner at Davis, Miner, Barnhill and Galland, to redraw voting district boundaries to promote the success of black politicians, including his own impending political campaigns in Illinois for state representative (1995-1998), then state senator, (1998-2002), then US Representative (2000), US Senator (2002-2008) from Illinois, then as candidate for the US presidency (2007).

The whole topic of Black racialist politics has been difficult to approach in the US. White civil rights lawyers like Judson Miner, black civil rights attorneys, and others utilized by black organizing groups like the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and its well-known black radical action affiliate, The Black Panther Party, have stifled discussion of topics involving racial issues.

The Washington Post editorial policy of "politically correct" is shared by numerous other major newspapers and publishers. Fear of being financially ruined by black civil rights lawsuits has created a paranoia in America so severe that many whites and publishers in general do not discuss or criticize black politicians or government policies, even those which have become so lopsided as to favor blacks and ethnics and to discriminate against whites.

Barack Obama has been transparent about his black focus in community organizing and in politics. On his way to NYC's Columbia University, Obama said, "I was trying to raise myself up to be a black man in America." Later at Harvard Law School Obama described himself as a "stand-in" for all the progress that had been made for Afro-Americans in America.

There may be books and pamphlets on building Black political power bases in America, more likely to be read and available to other blacks. But there are Black political strategies. Clinton and the Democrats dissuaded Obama from challenging IL former Black Panther House of Representative incumbent Bobby Rush in 1999 for the 2000 term. Bobby Rush's son was murdered in a street shooting in October, 1999. Obama lost in 2000.

Obama became more careful running against Black political candidates. In 2002, Obama waited for Carol Mosley Braun to decide if she would run for her former IL US Senator seat, before actively campaigning.

In her previous US Senate victory in IL, Braun proved it was possible for an Afro-American to win statewide as long as there were at least 2 white candidates to split the white vote.

As Obama described it: "Our bases overlapped so much - not just that she was Afro-American, but that she came out of the progressive wing of the (sic, Democratic) party...and our donor bases would have been fairly similar. So it would have been difficult, I think, to mobilize the entire coalition that was required for me to run." Obama knew he needed liberal white contributions and votes to win.

If Braun had run in 2002, he would have been unable to run for the Senate. Obama said, "I would probably have stepped out of politics for a while".

Obama's voice, appearance, and Harvard Law School affiliation were considered well-suited to attract white voters. Afro-American political commentator Debra Dickerson said "We'd probably like it better if he talked like Jesse Jackson, but ya'll wouldn't".

Divide and conquer is an old political strategy. But traditionally such political strategies are used by Democrats vs. Republicans or same party supporters of controversial non-racial issues like taxes. Black racialist politics supported by the politics of black race-based lawsuits, seemingly the legacy of William Jefferson Clinton and the Democratic Party, have effectively denied First Amendment rights to free speech, and have forever changed American politics.

Graphic: Gerrymander, in The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.

Other references: The Washington Post, The Boston Globe.com, www.wikipedia.com.

Email mkrause381@gmail.com or mkrause54@yahoo.com to comment or request a copy of this or other blogs in the "Obama Accounting" or other series posted by mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com (monthlynotes through monthlynotessix) on www.google.com.

19: Obama Accounting: How is Muslim "Mainstreet" Different than American "Mainstreet"?

Modern American "Mainstreet" is more generally product, money, and profit oriented and motivated. More recently, Black and other ethnic group insistence on "minority" small business loans and government grants has changed America's Mainstreet.

The stated purpose for government intervention for ethnic business funding has been "to level the playing field" for all members of a diverse population, to allow everyone to be part of the American "melting pot". However, many black and ethnic business leaders are "activists" for business and political "transfer of power" and "redistribution of wealth" in America.

The current rise of Islam in America is partly a result, partly a cause of the Black civil rights movement, in which many American Blacks found the "faith" in becoming Muslim-identified, not in becoming part of a more diverse America.

Muslims organize around Islam as a religious, political, cultural, social, and business focus. White Christian Americans organize around many other issues in business and in politics other than race, ethnic origin, or religion, for example, product safety, cost, wages, taxes.

This information from "Mainstreet Powered by the Street" may help clarify how business may be done among different groups. An international survey asked:
"Is religion an important part of your life?"
Those who answered "Yes", by country:

US: 56%
Egypt: 100%
Sweden: 17%

Graphic: Crescent & Star from The Illustrated Book of Signs & Symbols, M. Bruce-Mitford.

References: S. Freigerman on Mainstreet Powered by the Street.com.

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18: Obama Accounting: Who Owns the Proposed Near Ground Zero Fitness Center/Mosque Site?

How did the Near Ground Zero Fitness Center/Mosque site story begin? Sharif El-Gamal is one of the major investors in Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's Near Ground Zero Fitness Center/Mosque business project.

In 2006, while shopping at The Sharper Image store, El-Gamal noticed Francisco Patino on the Reality TV show "American Inventor". He hired Patino to find a Manhattan property for the Fitness Center/Mosque. Patino rode his bicycle around Manhattan and saw the Old Burlington Coat Factory building. 51 Park Place was scheduled to be shown the following day by Chase Manhattan Bank. 4 years later Patino works for Chase Manhattan Bank and said he could not comment about his role in finding the site to a NY newspaper reporter.

El-Gamal is the CEO of Soho Properties, incorporated in 2003. El-Gamal has other property holdings in NYC. El-Gamal purchased the 51 Park Place site for $5 million down and a bank loan on the remainder from Mr. & Mrs. Steve Witkoff.

In contrast to Imam Rauf, El-Gamal sometimes stresses the non-religious aspects of the project, the fitness club, culinary school. Imam Rauf wants to build a chain of Muslim Fitness Centers/Mosque modeled on the YMCA (Young Mens' Christian Association).

Hisham Elzanaty, an Egyptian, is a major investor in El-Gamal's $4.8 Million proposed Fitness Center/Mosque, his lawyer W. Starosolsky told Fox5News. Elzanaty owns a $2 million home in Roslyn Heights, and operates 2 NY Neurological & Rehabilitation Centers, 1 in Brooklyn and 1 in Tarryton, NY, which produce over $5 million after-tax income annually. Elzanaty was ordered to repay NYS $331,000 in Medicaid overpayments in 2004-2005.

Elzanaty also co-signed a $39 million mortgage for El-Gamal and Soho Properties. Elzanaty's parents died in the 1999 Air Egypt Flight 990 crash into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantucket. All 217 passengers aboard died. The crash was due to co-pilot error or mechanical failure.

Elzanaty also was in the news in 2008 for his 1999 $6 million donation to the Holy Land Foundation(HLF). Elzanaty, an Egyptian, said he was donating $500/month for Muslim orphans.

In 2008, 5 leaders of HLF were convicted of providing material support to Hamas. HLF is a front group for Hamas, the Muslim terrorist organization.

It is important to remember that Hamas is an Iranian-based Muslim terrorist organization, trying to control the Gaza Strip after forcing out the Palestinian organization, Fatah.

Egypt is at the western border of the Gaza Strip. What if Elzanaty is not simply an Egyptian businessman making a random questionable donation to a terrorist front group, but a representative of another international terrorist organization, an Egyptian organization, or an Egyptian coalition with Iran's Hamas? This creates another level of concern for allowing Middle Eastern terrorism connections to take land and property in NYC and America. What if rival Muslim paramilitary or terrorist organizations begin to fight over control of land and property here as they do in the Middle East?

Over the summer, El-Gamal and Soho Properties fell $224,000 behind on property taxes for 51 Park Place. In September, 2010, El-Gamal dropped off a check for about $35,000 and signed an 8-installment agreement to pay the property tax. El-Gamal said the payment delay involves disputed property assessment values. As noted in Blog 16 of this series, Rauf believes he was granted a lifetime non-profit, no tax exemption by the IRS for Islamic Center properties. As noted in blog 17 of this series, Rauf is pending a lawsuit by Union City, New Jersey for repairs to 2 apartment buildings.

Graphic: Chase's Calendar of Events, 2010.

References: AP, Yahoo!News9/18/2010, NYPost.com 9/2/2010, 9/3/2010, BreakingGround.com.

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17: Obama Accounting: FA Rauf, Spokesperson for Islamic Attitude Toward America

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf does appear soft-spoken on videotape news interviews. But the Imam is aggressive toward Americans in promoting his religious, cultural, and fitness center business project, the Near Ground Zero Fitness Center/Mosque. Rather than withdraw to another site, the Imam is fierce in demanding this site.

His own words are a not well-veiled threat of trouble to come if his project is denied. If read slowly and aloud, the Imam's word are an extortionate "if/then" ultimatum. If the Imam's project is denied, Imam will incite extremist Muslims by announcing "Islam is under attack (sic, in the US)".

Speaking slowly and carefully, the Imam's videotape has been shown and Imam's words quoted on numerous news media:

"If we move from that location, the story will be:
that the radicals have taken over the discourse.

The headlines in the Muslim world will be:
that Islam is under attack (sic, in America).

If we don't do this right,
anger will explode in the Muslim world".

The Imam feels "The United States policy is an accessory to the crime that was committed" in the Al-Qaeda terrorist airplane bombings on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

In his 2005 lectures in Australia, the Imam places blame on the United States for the Al-Qaeda bombings in Ameica as retaliatory acts of revenge:

"We tend to forget in the West, that the US has more Muslim blood on its hands than Al-Qaeda has on its hands of innocent Non-Muslims.
You may remember that the US-led sanctions against Iraq led to the death of over half a million Iraqi children. This has been documented by the UN".

Ed Schultz on Cenk on MSNBC The Young Turks.com interviewed Sam Stein who tried to rally support for Rauf. Stein found a conciliatory Rauf quote at a memorial service for one of the World Trade Center deceased. Stein also noted that Rauf had been selected by the Bush Administration, Karen Hughes, and the FBI as some type of envoy between the US and "The Muslim World".

Rauf continues to be supported in the Obama Administration by PJ Murphy of Hillary Clinton's State Department as a paid-travel envoy for "outreach" to the Muslim world.

But who specifically is Imam Rauf an envoy to?

Al-Qaeda is an Islamic "meta-national" terrorist Muslim organization, for which no one Muslim country will claim as its own, or take responsibility for.

The problem for the average American is: with a declared war against only Iraq for not following United Nations rules for revealing "weapons of mass destruction", and as military "back-up" in resolving civil war in Afghanistan, why has the US become the target for generalized or "All-Muslim Party" aggression resulting in the World Trade Center bombings.

Who was the Bush Administration negotiating with through Imam Rauf? No specific countries were mentioned. Is Rauf an unspecified representative of Al-Qaeda? Is so, why would the US negotiate with an international Muslim terrorist organization?

What has occurred is the exacerbation of historical hostilities between mostly Arab Islamic sectarian groups, Sunni vs. Shite, Muslim Fundamentalist Taliban vs. less "religious" Muslim oil/gas traders now fighting civil wars for control over the region. Meanwhile American business people try to make deals for Arab oil and other business.

Large numbers of Arab and other Muslims have come to the US. Is this to escape the wars in their native countries or to invade or retaliate for the American presence there? Why would immigration not have been closed to those with whom America is at war or in "conflict" with, supporting one sectarian group over another?

Fighting unconventional undeclared wars in areas of ethnic sectarian civil war while trying to do business there puts the US in a precarious position. If the US is there to help spread participatory democracy in governments there, it is encouraging there are elections in Afghanistan. But neither the people nor the authorities are troubled by voter fraud, which could lead to the same violent power struggles. There are attacks even as the election is taking place.

The lack of clear goals in our government and military involvement in Afghanistan and the whole area is having a destabilizing influence on America at home, as people flood the US looking for a stable life or to retaliate for what they see as our meddling in their affairs.

Islam is not really a religion like current Christianity. The history of Islam, since 817AD, is riddled with takeovers of adjacent countries by Islam, and once Muslim populations are established, by warring rival leaders and sects of Islam.

Who really does Imam Rauf represent and what is his more specific role as emissary to whom?

AP DB Caruso wrote 9/18/2010 on Yahoo News that Sheik Ubaid of Islamic Leadership Council of Metropoliatn NY is one of a number of Muslim groups planning a Muslim summit about the Fitness Center/Mosque in NYC September 19-20, 2010.

Ubaid says Imam Rauf has been a regular "talking head" on national news media on Muslim world affairs, but among NYC Imam Rauf is something of an outsider, not that involved with the local Muslim community. Ubaid said Rauf "did not round up support for the center before going public with his plans. Had he consulted us, we probably would have told him, gently, no".

Americans may be making a very serious mistake in not knowing who it is we are negotiating with, what groups they represent, and why they are negotiating with us.
Imam Rauf may be only a very aggressive Islamic businessman, demanding a specific place for his business, and willing to risk worldwide peace for it.

Imam Rauf and one of his Islamic Fitness Center/Mosque partners, Sharif El-Gamal or Soho Properties, have fallen behind on more than $224,000 in prperty taxes this summer. Yahoo News reported that NYC finance department confirmed El-Gamal turned over a check for about $35,000 and signed an 8-installment payment plan. El-Gamal said failure to pay resulted from a dispute with NYC over assessed property values, and the appeal is still pending.

Other reports that NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and staff, including Comptroller John Liu, have offered a lifetime non-profit status to the Park 51 and other Islamic centers group may have a role in this dispute.

In other Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf real estate news, (AP, Newark, NJ) 9-17-2010 The Greenwich Times.com reports wife Daisy Khan has replied to Union City, Ner Jersey pending lawsuits against Rauf for repairs on 2 apartment buildings Rauf owns there.

D. Khan says the repair delay is due to delayed city permits for repair. The city disputes this saying the city would never hold up permits when the safety of residents is at stake.

Graphic: Crescent and Star, The Illustrated Book of Signs and Symbols, M.B-Mitford.

Other references: AP, Yahoo News, Greenwich Times.com.

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16: Obama Accounting: The Imam, The Near Ground Zero Fitness Center/Mosque Plan, and the Mayor.

The Imam is Feisal Abdul Rauf. He is the son of Egyptian Imam Mohammad Abdul Rauf, who came to New York City (NYC) to establish the Islamic Cultural Center of NY, which opened in 1991. The senior Rauf also established the Islamic Cultural Center of Washington, DC. Then the senior Rauf left for Malaysia.

The younger Imam Rauf studied Physics at Columbia University in NYC and in New Jersey, then was involved in teaching, sales, and real estate.

The Imam's plans for the Mosque are bold. The old Burlington Coat Factory is to become a 13-story fitness center with swimming pool, cultural center meeting rooms, and Mosque.

In July 2000, Imam Rauf said he envisioned not one, but a global association of Muslim community centers/Mosques, modeled after the American YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association).

The Imam's Center/Mosque is unlike the YMCA concept. YMCAs are non-denominational fitness centers with rooms for general community purposes, arts & crafts, sports teaching programs, without religious affiliation or religious services. YMCAs mainatain non-profit status by observing the doctrine of separation of church and state.

The Imam's plan is to establish centers for spreading moderate Islam worldwide, named "Cordoba House", which would include meetings rooms for a prostyletizing type of interfaith dialogue.

In the Imam's own words 7/2005: "Our stated objective is to establish this as a launching point, as a HQ (headquarters) is you want, of a global understanding of a moderate Islam that is true to its fundamentalist principles."

The Near Ground Zero Center/Mosque is a few blocks from Ground Zero, formerly the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Each Tower was destroyed by a Muslim Al-Qaeda suicide pilot "plane bombing", actually by flying a jet passenger airplane into the the walls of the Tower. As in the original meaning of "Ground Zero" as epicenter of a nuclear or other explosion, the waves of damage from the bombing have spread from the center of loss of about 3,000 innocent mostly American civilian lives, throughout The City, NY state, and the United States of America.

The American objection to the establishment of a Muslim Mosque so near Ground Zero is the insensitivity to the surviving family, friends, and co-workers of the WTC bombing victims. Surviving family has extended to include the majority of USA citizens objecting to the Muslim demand for this site. Other objections include a fear of future violence from a Muslim center near this site of destruction of American life and property. There also is a feeling that Muslims would be taking a bounty from a violent act of aggression against Americans on American soil, building a monument to themselves and their actioins at this site.

The proposed site originally was noted by the newsmedia as the old Burlington Coat Factory at 51 Park Place, but subsequently has been described as 45, 45-47, 45-51 Park Place.

Imam Rauf expresses only confidence in his plans. The Imam feels he has influenced American leaders, including American presidents. Imam mentions his influence on former Presient Bush. Bush will forever be remembered for his hypnotic address to the nation that "Islam is Peace" while sending American troops to stop the civil war-torn Muslim sectarian violence sites in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On CNSNews videotape posted 8/27/2010, Imam Rauf also says parts of his book were woven into Obama's Cairo speech, 2/2009. The speech was drafted by Obama White House staffers, Ben Rhodes, political advisor, and Rashed Hussein, Deputy Associate Counsel, Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

Imam Rauf advises Muslims to "Think of ouselves as how to engineer solutions, we think of ourselves as an engineering shop. What has to be done to the US Government,
Israel, (sic, as) Muslims, educators, and media."

In alliances with Imam Rauf, American politicians have formed sloppy arguments about the rights to build a Mosque on private property. Whether the property actually is owned and by whom is a topic for a future blog.

Most of the American politicians who support the Mosque appeal to the 1st Amendment Right to practice one's religion. This of course is true, but does not include government help in acquiring property or helping with building expenses.

But NY politicians including Scott Stringer, Andrew Cuomo, Margaret Chin, and Daniel Squadron have expressed support. This would be using government to reverse the doctrine of separation of church and state, to support the Mosque at this site. NY Governor David Patterson has gotten involved offering to help find another site. If Patterson really meant on "state"-owned land he too would be violating the Separation of Church and State. Pre-Iftar Pres. Obama expressed some support but equivocated, remaining somewhat aloof on the issue.

But Imam Rauf may have influenced NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg the most. Mayor Bloomberg's staff stated NYC could offer the planned Muslim Fitness Center/Mosque special "non-profit funding".

The 9/2/2010 NY Post JG Riel also reported "tax-exempt" status for Imam Rauf's Muslim organizations. Documents indicate this tax-exempt status also applies to Rauf's wife's 1-bedroom Upper West Side apartment, listed as her residence, where they state over 500 members pray.

Rauf's 1997 American Sufi Muslim Association (ASMA), at 78th St., North Bergen, New Jersey and the 1998 ASMA, at a small (800 sq.ft.) apartment at 201 W.85th St. NYC, NY are both part of this exemption. The exemption is described as "never having to pay taxes, file returns, or reveal sources of congregation money or how it's spent", in documents reported by the Washington, DC-based Investigative Project on Terrorism.

ASMA has given money to Rauf's "Cordoba Project" which is said to support the Near Ground Zero Mosque.

Taxes may be somewhat differently assessed in NYC than in the rest of the US. But multiple lifetime, non-profit, but religious "mosque" exemptions in NY, NJ and who knows what other states, is a rather large "jizya" from the Non-Muslim, Jewish, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his staff.

Graphic: Money from Chase's Calendar of Events.

Other references: NY Post, CNSNews.com, wikipedia.

15: Obama Accounting: Muslims, Sharia Law, and Sharia Taxes

The Crescent, now a symbol of Islam, originally signified the waning Moon, and was associated with the goddess Diana.

As described in blog 14, Muslims belong to the religious, cultural, and political force of Islam. Sharia is the Law of Islam.

Islam is unlike most religious groups which request donations, or more strenuously, "tithes". Islam through Sharia law imposes taxes on Non-Muslims as well as Muslims. Sharia law can become "official" or quasi-official in "host" countries in which Islam has made "inroads", through the activism of Muslim activists.

Muslims apply the concept of the "head tax", apportioned and fixed for each individual. It is a "poll tax", used from ancient times until the 19th Century, as a type of Census. The "poll tax" was used to count the number of citizens who arrive at the polls to vote.

American Blacks have protested poll taxes as voter registration fees. In Virginia voters were charged $1.50 to cover clerk fees for those who did not register and provide resident information 6 months prior to voting, until banned in a federal voting rights lawsuit.

In Sharia Law when a "corvee" is commuted for cash payment, it becomes a poll tax. These can sometimes be paid off by labor, depending on the local interpretation of Sharia.

All Muslims who live above the subsistence level must pay an annual poor tax, a "zakat". This obligation owed by Muslims to the poor community is calculated on wealth, not income. There is a 2.5% base rate of taxation. This varies depending on the type of wealth being assessed, savings, jewelry, or land.

"Jizya" is the head tax on Non-Muslims, classically on able-bodied men of military age, required to be paid to Islamic authorities. In exchange, Non-Muslims receive "dhimma": are permitted to practice their faiths, be exempted from military service, and other local issues. This of course depends on the interpretation by the local "qadis", the Islamic judge.

"Jizya" often is interpreted by Non-Muslims as a form of discrimination or of "protection money" (like in Chicago, IL, 1930s). "Jizya" was abolished by the Ottoman Empire in 1855 as part of reforms to equalize the status of Muslims and Non-Muslims. "Jizya" was replaced by a military-exemption tax on Non-Muslims, the "Bedel-i Askeri".

Be mindful that in Arabic "Sharia" means "path to the water", the meaning of which is obvious to thirsty camel and rider in the Arabian deserts. An interesting question is whether "zakat" and "jizya" frequently were collected on the "sharia" path.

Graphic: Crescent & Star in The Illustrated Book of Sign & Symbol, M. Bruce-Mitford.

Other References: Encyclopedia Britannica, The World Book Encyclopedia, 2003, wikipedia.

Email mkrause381@gmail.com or mkrause54@yahoo.com to make a comment or request a copy of this or other blogs posted by mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotesfive.blogspot.com or http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com.

14: Obama Accounting: Muslims and Sharia Law

Muslims account for about 1/5th of the world population. Islam is the religious, cultural, and political organizing force for Muslims. Muslim history extends back to about 817AD to the Iranian Muslim ibn Al-Hajjaj. This early scholar compiled the Haddith, stories and deeds of the Prophet Mohammad from over 300,000 Islamic traditions from Arabia, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq.

The early story of Muslim is long, complicated by various Islamic sects, which stuggled to dominate the culture and politics, as well as the religious sector, of the Arab states, South Asia, and Africa.

In modern history, by 1906, Muslims created the "All-India Muslim League, a political group which advocated a separate Muslim state in India. This was encouraged by Great Britain, then the colonial overseer of India, until the 1913 Muslim movement to form an independent self-government in India. A moderate Muslim Muhammed Ali Jinnah called for a Hindu-Muslim alliance in India until 1940, when the Muslims began to fear independent India would be dominated by Hindus.

In 1947, the British granted independence to India, a partition was drawn, and adjacent Pakistan became a Muslim South Asian country.

Sharia was mentioned in the previous blog (13) discussing Muslim workers seeking special consideration (accommodation) in the workplace for prayer and other breaks during the daytime fast month of Ramada, the Muslim religious holiday.

Sharia is the law of Islam. Sharia laws apply to many aspects of secular law, including crime, politics, and economics, and personal life, including sexuality, hygiene, diet, prayer, and fasting. When "official" in a Muslim or non-Muslim "host" country, Sharia law is applied by an Islamic judge, a "qadis".

"Imam" responsibilities vary with the interpretation in a particular country. An Imam may be a communal prayer leader, a scholar, religious leader or political leader.

Muslims attempt to impose Sharia law in non-Muslim countries. The imposition of a second set of laws provokes controversy, violence, and even open warfare as in the Second Civil War of Sudan.

The role of warring Muslim sects in Afghanistan and Iraq where the US has been involved, is complicated, with shifting alliances, and has not been clarified in the American newsmedia.

Muslims have made in-roads into "host" countries. In India, some Muslim minorities have been able to establish Sharia courts to adjudicate personal and community issues. Even Britain has allowed a "Muslim Arbitration Council". A recent newsreport noted self-identified moderate Muslims in Canada supported local schools, Canadian laws and government--as long as the local system remains hospitable to Islam and does not interfere with Islamic practices, that is, Sharia Law.

The American equivalent of this "country within a country" demand would be the Native American Tribal Reservations, who obviously have long been a part of truly indigenous American history.

Graphic: Star & Crescent: The crescent was adopted as the symbol of Islam in the
14th Century, the star was added later. In The Illustrated Book of Signs & Symbols, M. Bruce-Mitford.

Other references: Encyclopedia Britannica; The World Book Encyclopedia, 2003;
SD Strouthes Law and Politics, www.Wikipedia.com.

The next blog in this series will discuss Sharia Taxes on Non-Muslim and Muslim residents of non-Muslim "host" countries and Muslim countries.

Email mkrause381@gmail.com or mkrause54@yahoo.com to comment or request a copy of this blog or others posted by mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotesfive.com. Until indexing is complete the blogs in "five" will be available on http://monthlynotesfour.blogspot.com and http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com on www.google.com.

14: Obama Accounting: Muslims and Sharia Law

Muslims account for about 1/5th of the world population. Islam is the religious, cultural, and political organizing force for Muslims. Muslim history extends back to about 817AD to the Iranian Muslim ibn Al-Hajjaj. This early scholar compiled the Haddith, stories and deeds of the Prophet Mohammad from over 300,000 Islamic traditions from Arabia, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq.

The early story of Muslim is long, complicated by various Islamic sects, which stuggled to dominate the culture and politics, as well as the religious sector, of the Arab states, South Asia, and Africa.

In modern history, by 1906, Muslims created the "All-India Muslim League, a political group which advocated a separate Muslim state in India. This was encouraged by Great Britain, then the colonial overseer of India, until the 1913 Muslim movement to form an independent self-government in India. A moderate Muslim Muhammed Ali Jinnah called for a Hindu-Muslim alliance in India until 1940, when the Muslims began to fear independent India would be dominated by Hindus.

In 1947, the British granted independence to India, a partition was drawn, and adjacent Pakistan became a Muslim South Asian country.

Sharia was mentioned in the previous blog (13) discussing Muslim workers seeking special consideration (accommodation) in the workplace for prayer and other breaks during the daytime fast month of Ramada, the Muslim religious holiday.

Sharia is the law of Islam. Sharia laws apply to many aspects of secular law, including crime, politics, and economics, and personal life, including sexuality, hygiene, diet, prayer, and fasting. When "official" in a Muslim or non-Muslim "host" country, Sharia law is applied by an Islamic judge, a "qadis".

"Imam" responsibilities vary with the interpretation in a particular country. An Imam may be a communal prayer leader, a scholar, religious leader or political leader.

Muslims attempt to impose Sharia law in non-Muslim countries. The imposition of a second set of laws provokes controversy, violence, and even open warfare as in the Second Civil War of Sudan.

The role of warring Muslim sects in Afghanistan and Iraq where the US has been involved, is complicated, with shifting alliances, and has not been clarified in the American newsmedia.

Muslims have made in-roads into "host" countries. In India, some Muslim minorities have been able to establish Sharia courts to adjudicate personal and community issues. Even Britain has allowed a "Muslim Arbitration Council". A recent newsreport noted self-identified moderate Muslims in Canada supported local schools, Canadian laws and government--as long as the local system remains hospitable to Islam and does not interfere with Islamic practices, that is, Sharia Law.

The American equivalent of this "country within a country" demand would be the Native American Tribal Reservations, who obviously have long been a part of truly indigenous American history.

Graphic: Star & Crescent: The crescent was adopted as the symbol of Islam in the
14th Century, the star was added later. In The Illustrated Book of Signs & Symbols, M. Bruce-Mitford.

Other references: Encyclopedia Britannica; The World Book Encyclopedia, 2003;
SD Strouthes Law and Politics, www.Wikipedia.com.

The next blog in this series will discuss Sharia Taxes on Non-Muslim and Muslim residents of non-Muslim "host" countries and Muslim countries.

Email mkrause381@gmail.com or mkrause54@yahoo.com to comment or request a copy of this blog or others posted by mary for monthlynotesstaff on http://monthlynotesfive.com. Until indexing is complete the blogs in "five" will be available on http://monthlynotesfour.blogspot.com and http://monthlynotes.blogspot.com on www.google.com.