I have to admit, I'm a people watcher. I had a great opportunity yesterday to do just that. I went to the drag races with my husband. I've been to NASCAR, but never NHRA before. I have to admit, they are very similar, and they both quite surprised me.
Let me explain. When you listen to the media, you expect to find a certain thing when you go to a NASCAR or NHRA event. You expect to find beer swigging, gun toting rednecks and not much else. That's not the case. It's actually a varied cross section of America represented at an NHRA event. Take for instance just the people sitting right around me. There was a lady sitting directly in front of me who at first I identified very much with. She had on faded jeans and a race shirt. She spoke with about the same accent I did. She was slightly older than I was. She was sitting with a man about her age, dressed the same as she was. As we talked, we seemed to have about the same backgrounds. We liked the same music. I put her in my economic bracket, about $45-60,000. Then she pulled out one of those top of the line smart phones. I can't afford one of those. I had to re-evaluate. My brother-in-law, who works for AT&T has one of those and he makes about $120,000 a year. Suddenly, I couldn't quite identify with her as much. I don't know what it's like to make that much.
Sitting behind us was an African-American couple that made way more than us, and knew it. She acted a little snooty about it, though he didn't. My husband, who was explaining things to me, asked if this was her first time. He was meaning that he could explain things to her, too. She snottily said, no, I've been before. I guess she took it as if she couldn't afford it, and that he was acting like a redneck who had never been before.
Sitting beside us was another African-American couple. My husband cheered for the Army team. He let out a big Hooah! He must have been Army, or at least military himself. We're Navy, but when you don't have a dog in the hunt, there is no sibling rivalry. You cheer for the military. We must have looked a bit mixed up, my husband and I. We had forest camo jackets on, with our Navy hats. It was a bit cool and had been misting rain.
Actually, I had forgotten a hat all together. A man had caught us getting out of the car, and sold us a couple hats to help support Meals on Wheels. With it we got a free flag decal for our car. Yes, things are expensive and the capitalists come out at the race. But, that's capitalism. We had $10 each, so we went ahead and bought them. I needed a hat, and, no, I didn't know for sure it was going to Meals on Wheels, but $10 for a hat isn't bad. The food was outrageously expensive, and you can't take anything in with you, not even a bottle of water. We paid $4 for an ear of corn!
Across the isle was a group of white people who had been drinking a bit too much. The woman was close to 60 and another woman who looked young enough to be her daughter had been helping her up the stairs when she fell up them. If it hadn't been for a nice African-American man in his late 40's, with his teenage son, she'd have fallen real bad. Most people were real nice.
Now, here's where everyone is going to scream profiling, but I have to report it. I had only one incidence. Well actually, two, but I'll write of that one later. We had gone out to the car to eat the snack lunch we brought, and were on our way back in. So here we are, a couple strolling in, arm in arm, wearing our camo jackets and Navy hats. The jackets have no insignia because we aren't Army. They only have the American flag on them. I see walking towards us a Latino/Hispanic/whatever the politically correct term is. He was rather good looking man, young, probably early to mid 20's, a little heavy set, but not fat, it was more stocky like he lifted weights. His face was round, but again, not fat more of a shape. He had heavy tattoos, but not that I recognized. They were symbols not pictures. I'm not against tattoos; I have one. These reminded me of pictures I've seen when they do documentaries of gangs. I say it that way, because I don't know anyone in a gang. That's the only experience I have. When the news portrays someone in a gang, they have tats like that. That's what I'm saying. As he approached us, he turned the upper part of his body (from the waist up) at a 45 degree angle away from us, and his face even further. This made an extremely awkward picture of him walking. His legs continued to walk a straight line, but his waist turned like he was going to walk away from us, so that his back was to us, and the back of his head was showing and I could no longer see his face. It was like he couldn't even look at us.
Is this common? Is this a total dissing that we just got or what? Is this a cultural thing? I didn't say anything to my husband, who was totally oblivious to it as we walked by. I smiled, but didn't make eye contact. I didn't turn around to see if he looked back. I waited about 20 paces and then I looked back, but he was gone. The whole event made me want to walk out with a crowd, and not alone. To tell you the truth, for the first time in my life, it made me want to take that camo jacket off and blend in with the crowd. But I refused to take that jacket off even when the sun came out and it got hot.
The second event came when Al Anabi raced. Sheik Khalid Al Thani is the sponsor but he's not the driver. Matt Smith is the driver. Matt Smith lost his race, and someone behind me yelled "F***ing Arab!" That's not cool. The driver is just driving a car. But I have to tell you, it shows America is waking up. Nine years ago I knew absolutely nothing about Arabs beyond I Dream of Jeannie. I've done research and I don't like what I've found. If there are moderates, how come they don't speak up? And how come the only moderates that speak up are peons? There are no moderate Imams? That's all I've got to say on that matter.
So, all in all, it was a pleasurable day of people watching. There are a lot more designer jeans than I expected at such an event....a lot more cash being thrown around. And a lot more frozen margaritas mixed in with the beer. If they want more of the seats filled, I would suggest lowering the price a bit. Or making it like NASCAR, where you can bring your own food in.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
It's Definitely a Buyer's Market
Well, I can tell you it's definitely a buyer's market out there. We've been trying to sell a house for almost 18 months. It's not pretty. For a bit of background, never buy a house with your in-laws. When we came to Texas, I was weeks out of the strongest Chemo on the market and radiation treatment for breast cancer and a stage IV diagnosis. My in-laws said they ought to just sell their house and go in on a house together with us. That way, we could get a better quality house than either of us could get on our own (should have been a big red flag) and they would be there for me should my cancer come back (another red flag - she'd never been there for me in the past). If my cancer didn't come back, we would be there for them in their old age - another red flag because she is a very selfish person to start with.
But, we didn't listen and 3.5 years later, we were looking for our own house. We're holding down 2 mortgages, which means we would have been capable of that better house on our own. But, water under the bridge. When we started this "adventure" our house appraised at $162,000. It's a 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath house with almost 3,000 square foot (if you count a sun room) and a 2 car garage and a 2 car covered car port. That's what we bought it for back in 2005. We had talked them down from $169,000. We had gotten a mortgage for our half and they had paid cash gotten a mortgage which they paid off when their house sold a month later.
When we originally put the house on the market we marked it up because we had done some improvements. We had put siding on the upstairs addition, replaced the AC fan on the upstairs unit, replaced the hot water heater, other minor things, and it appraised for more than when we bought it (we were told $169,000). My MIL wanted to list it for $174,500 because she wanted to get her investment after closing costs. That's why it sat there so long. We came down a little, but not much.
After 2 Realtors, that she claimed didn't do anything but list it on the MLS, which I believe is Multi-Listing Service (correct me if I'm wrong), I threatened to stop paying the mortgage and let the bank have it.
We're now working with my realtor. She has open houses, and really promotes it. But the master bedroom had a god-awful paint scheme that everyone commented on as a stopping point. No one wanted to put the time and/or money into having it redone. MY MIL can't understand why that would stop someone from buying a house. She's from the era when you repainted automatically when you bought a house anyway, so why would color stop you from buying? She just doesn't understand that today's buyer doesn't repaint/decorate AT ALL, so they want it to match their tastes already. Let me try and describe this room that they've been living in for 5 years now: It was all wallpaper for starters. 3 out of 4 walls had a pink background with a small almost paisley pattern. The 4th wall was a gray almost paisley print. The border around the top was an actual paisley (yes a different print) in gray stripe. The bathroom is accessed through 2 pocket doors in one wall. This room is done in the top border print of the gray paisley stripes. The Water Closet where the toilet is is done in the larger "almost paisley" pattern of the one wall in the bedroom. Can you say "puke?"
You saw my earlier blog about the contractor blues....if not, I'll summarize here. We hired a contractor to paint the bedroom. He tried to take the paint down and it was stubborn. So he went and got a special tool and chemical. Then, my realtor calls and says there's a new EPA rule that says you have to be lead based paint certified to "disturb" any paint in a space larger than 6ft by 6ft. Luckily, they couldn't get the paper off. They decided to paint over it. But they had agreed to swatch it, in case they needed Kilz. Our agreement on price was based on a set amount plus paint. They knocked off $100 when they didn't need to take the paper off. We were supplying the paint at our expense. The guy shows up and just starts painting, no swatch. MIL is livid. We back and forth, because it's a guy my husband works with who does this as a second job with his brother. We finally settle on giving them $75 for their trouble and deciding to paint ourselves.
So, after painting for 3 days (just a few hours a day), we have a "creamy beige" master bedroom. I got out-numbered 3 to 1 and they kept the gray paisley bathroom. They said it looks modern now against the creamy beige bedroom.
But we'll see if it sells better now that it's painted. No one wants to actually put in the 6.5 hours worth of painting and the $75 worth of money for the paint? Really? I won't count the $75 for the trouble of the painters. And actually, I've got half of it left. It would have taken about 3 gallons of paint. People today are that lazy? I'm in the wrong business. I should be a painter.
But, we didn't listen and 3.5 years later, we were looking for our own house. We're holding down 2 mortgages, which means we would have been capable of that better house on our own. But, water under the bridge. When we started this "adventure" our house appraised at $162,000. It's a 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath house with almost 3,000 square foot (if you count a sun room) and a 2 car garage and a 2 car covered car port. That's what we bought it for back in 2005. We had talked them down from $169,000. We had gotten a mortgage for our half and they had paid cash gotten a mortgage which they paid off when their house sold a month later.
When we originally put the house on the market we marked it up because we had done some improvements. We had put siding on the upstairs addition, replaced the AC fan on the upstairs unit, replaced the hot water heater, other minor things, and it appraised for more than when we bought it (we were told $169,000). My MIL wanted to list it for $174,500 because she wanted to get her investment after closing costs. That's why it sat there so long. We came down a little, but not much.
After 2 Realtors, that she claimed didn't do anything but list it on the MLS, which I believe is Multi-Listing Service (correct me if I'm wrong), I threatened to stop paying the mortgage and let the bank have it.
We're now working with my realtor. She has open houses, and really promotes it. But the master bedroom had a god-awful paint scheme that everyone commented on as a stopping point. No one wanted to put the time and/or money into having it redone. MY MIL can't understand why that would stop someone from buying a house. She's from the era when you repainted automatically when you bought a house anyway, so why would color stop you from buying? She just doesn't understand that today's buyer doesn't repaint/decorate AT ALL, so they want it to match their tastes already. Let me try and describe this room that they've been living in for 5 years now: It was all wallpaper for starters. 3 out of 4 walls had a pink background with a small almost paisley pattern. The 4th wall was a gray almost paisley print. The border around the top was an actual paisley (yes a different print) in gray stripe. The bathroom is accessed through 2 pocket doors in one wall. This room is done in the top border print of the gray paisley stripes. The Water Closet where the toilet is is done in the larger "almost paisley" pattern of the one wall in the bedroom. Can you say "puke?"
You saw my earlier blog about the contractor blues....if not, I'll summarize here. We hired a contractor to paint the bedroom. He tried to take the paint down and it was stubborn. So he went and got a special tool and chemical. Then, my realtor calls and says there's a new EPA rule that says you have to be lead based paint certified to "disturb" any paint in a space larger than 6ft by 6ft. Luckily, they couldn't get the paper off. They decided to paint over it. But they had agreed to swatch it, in case they needed Kilz. Our agreement on price was based on a set amount plus paint. They knocked off $100 when they didn't need to take the paper off. We were supplying the paint at our expense. The guy shows up and just starts painting, no swatch. MIL is livid. We back and forth, because it's a guy my husband works with who does this as a second job with his brother. We finally settle on giving them $75 for their trouble and deciding to paint ourselves.
So, after painting for 3 days (just a few hours a day), we have a "creamy beige" master bedroom. I got out-numbered 3 to 1 and they kept the gray paisley bathroom. They said it looks modern now against the creamy beige bedroom.
But we'll see if it sells better now that it's painted. No one wants to actually put in the 6.5 hours worth of painting and the $75 worth of money for the paint? Really? I won't count the $75 for the trouble of the painters. And actually, I've got half of it left. It would have taken about 3 gallons of paint. People today are that lazy? I'm in the wrong business. I should be a painter.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Feds sticking it to small business again
Well, the Lord is saving me and my small business contractor again. My husband works with someone who has a small business on the side. He is a contractor and paints and does small construction jobs on the side to earn extra money. We hired him to paint the master bedroom in the house we're trying to sell. He already painted the rest of the house for us last year. He and his brother did a great job. But my husband's mother was holding out on the master bedroom. It had been "professionally decorated." ...In paisly wallpaper. Yuck. No one liked it according to the reviews we were getting, so we finally convinced her to have it painted. It's hard to divorce her from this house. She doesn't want to sell. We had bought it together, and we moved out. We're tired of paying 2 mortgages and had to threaten to stop paying our mortgage on the house and have the bank come reposses it. You can't reposses half a house.
So, yesterday, our contractor came to try and get the wallpaper down. It's stuck on so well, that it took off some of drywall paper. He had already decided to just paint over the wallpaper.
I just got a call from my realtor. Back in April they came out with a new law. You have to be a lead based certified contractor to paint anything bigger than a closet now.
According to her email,
Lake Cities Association of REALTORS®
Education Source
Learn to do it Right!!
Since April 2010, federal law requires contractors that disturb lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities and schools, built before 1978 to be certified and follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination. Ask to see your contractor’s certification.
Federal law requires that individuals receive certain information before renovating six square feet or more of painted surfaces in a room for interior projects or more than twenty square feet of painted surfaces for exterior projects in housing, child care facilities and schools built before 1978.
___________
At the end of that, it states that "individuals" receive certain information before renovating. I don't know if that means we can go to Home Depot and take a class on it, or if we HAVE to hire a contractor who is lead based certified, but it sounds like a racket to me. My husband's associate, I can guarentee you, does not know about this law. He will tomorrow.
This is nothing short of a way to drive out small business. Apparently there are heavy fines. If you fine heavy fines, men like my husband's associate will not be able to operate. And President Obama says he's FOR small business? This law proves otherwise.
So, yesterday, our contractor came to try and get the wallpaper down. It's stuck on so well, that it took off some of drywall paper. He had already decided to just paint over the wallpaper.
I just got a call from my realtor. Back in April they came out with a new law. You have to be a lead based certified contractor to paint anything bigger than a closet now.
According to her email,
Lake Cities Association of REALTORS®
Education Source
Learn to do it Right!!
Since April 2010, federal law requires contractors that disturb lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities and schools, built before 1978 to be certified and follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination. Ask to see your contractor’s certification.
Federal law requires that individuals receive certain information before renovating six square feet or more of painted surfaces in a room for interior projects or more than twenty square feet of painted surfaces for exterior projects in housing, child care facilities and schools built before 1978.
___________
At the end of that, it states that "individuals" receive certain information before renovating. I don't know if that means we can go to Home Depot and take a class on it, or if we HAVE to hire a contractor who is lead based certified, but it sounds like a racket to me. My husband's associate, I can guarentee you, does not know about this law. He will tomorrow.
This is nothing short of a way to drive out small business. Apparently there are heavy fines. If you fine heavy fines, men like my husband's associate will not be able to operate. And President Obama says he's FOR small business? This law proves otherwise.
All Voices Should be Heard
I recently watched a video of then Senator Obama talking about the fairness doctrine. He supported it, saying that all voices should be heard. He said that it would be difficult to do that in today's society of 500 channels. He thought that Fox had a right to say what they wanted to say, but that all voices should be heard.
Really, Mr. President? Then why do you not listen to the American public? We stood on the grounds of the Capitol and screamed at you that we didn't want health care, some 60% of us Americans, and you crammed it down our throats any way. I, as an American, have an outlet. This is it. I have a blog. And you want to take it away with Net Neutrality. This is your idea of all voices have a right to be heard? Or is it that too many Americans don't agree with you, so they need to be silenced? Dissension is good, unless they are against you? Rebellion was good in the 60's when it was get rid of government, but shrink government isn't good because you're the government now? Is that it?
I have a voice now, because I went out and got my own blog. That's the American way. But, along comes Big Brother and says, wait a minute, you have to present both sides of the argument. But, I don't think both sides of the argument. This is MY blog, and I don't want to present both sides of the argument in a positive light on MY blog.
How's that hope and change going for you? It hasn't passed yet, but it's coming. Do you like the Czars? The ones that the American people didn't get to vote for? The new regulatory Czar (Cass Sunstein) loves to nudge us into doing what he wants us to do. Have you seen the clip of him saying he's going to use the free-market to de-develop our country? Do you realize what de-develop means? It means to give up things that you have. It means to stop using things that you use. It means getting the takers to stop taking. And how was he going to do that? By using the free-market system. But he thinks the free-market system doesn't work. He just admitted it does. So how does he plan on doing that? He's going to either make THINGS so expensive to buy that we can't, or he's going to make it so cheap for businesses to move overseas instead of here, so that our wealth goes over there instead of here (redistribution of wealth). That is a 2-fold fix. By China building things it makes things also less durable, so when they break, all he has to do is raise the import tax and suddenly the price goes up and we can't afford it anymore to replace those things. Then suddenly he's a savior for keeping out Made In China products, but it's closing the barn door after the horses are out. The factories are gone, the work is gone, and our stuff is broken and we can't afford to buy new stuff. So we do without. We de-develop. It's the same with 500 channels on the TV...lower that back to the big 3 and you can use the fairness doctrine. All he has to do is regulate the Cable and Satelite industries to death. Everybody has a right to satelite. Make that a government take-over and then say it's going under we have to get rid of some of these channels.
I had older parents than my peers. My dad was 33 when I was born, thus his dad was older than most. My granddad was born in 1907. He told me all kinds of stories about the depression, and before. I have a tape recording of an interview I had to do in high school of him and grandma of the toys he had when he was a child. It's an eye opener. I remember him telling me about the games he played. They played a game called Easter pop. You took the died Easter egg that you got, and your friend took his egg and you both cracked them together. Who ever's egg didn't break got to keep the other person's egg. They rolled wagon wheel rims with a forked stick. They played kick the can. Are we going back to that with President Obama?
I'm about as white as you can get. I've seen the lady talk about propping Obama up and going back to beans and weanies and wondering if that was her future. Except for voting for Obama, I can SO identify with that woman. I was middle class at one time. I don't think I can count myself as middle class anymore. I'm not poor, because I've seen much poorer, so I guess I'm lower middle class.
I'm still blessed. I have a roof over my head, food on the table, clothes on my body and occasionally enough to help someone else.
I've heard liberals say things were bad under Bush and it makes me so mad. I hear Obama say that things are headed in the right direction. What, downhill? If I saw a train headed in this direction, I'd bail! If I saw a car headed for a train, I'd jump out! If this is the direction he wants America to head, he's headed for treason! He said we're going in the right direction (for him) just not fast enough? Well, let's go to hell in a hand basket, just faster, huh? When I heard them say the recession was over, my first thought was, oh, we hit the double-dip recession finally.
President Obama's policies are the definition of insanity. If you are doing something and you don't get the result you want, you have to CHANGE YOUR POLICY if you want to get a different result. To continue doing the same thing and expect a different result is pure insanity. To use Christian language, it's called repent....a total change in direction, a 180 degree turn. You're doing something that is sending you in a direction you DON'T want to go, so you do something that puts you in the opposite direction. Of course, I don't think Liberation Theology uses that term.
Lori Ann Smith
Really, Mr. President? Then why do you not listen to the American public? We stood on the grounds of the Capitol and screamed at you that we didn't want health care, some 60% of us Americans, and you crammed it down our throats any way. I, as an American, have an outlet. This is it. I have a blog. And you want to take it away with Net Neutrality. This is your idea of all voices have a right to be heard? Or is it that too many Americans don't agree with you, so they need to be silenced? Dissension is good, unless they are against you? Rebellion was good in the 60's when it was get rid of government, but shrink government isn't good because you're the government now? Is that it?
I have a voice now, because I went out and got my own blog. That's the American way. But, along comes Big Brother and says, wait a minute, you have to present both sides of the argument. But, I don't think both sides of the argument. This is MY blog, and I don't want to present both sides of the argument in a positive light on MY blog.
How's that hope and change going for you? It hasn't passed yet, but it's coming. Do you like the Czars? The ones that the American people didn't get to vote for? The new regulatory Czar (Cass Sunstein) loves to nudge us into doing what he wants us to do. Have you seen the clip of him saying he's going to use the free-market to de-develop our country? Do you realize what de-develop means? It means to give up things that you have. It means to stop using things that you use. It means getting the takers to stop taking. And how was he going to do that? By using the free-market system. But he thinks the free-market system doesn't work. He just admitted it does. So how does he plan on doing that? He's going to either make THINGS so expensive to buy that we can't, or he's going to make it so cheap for businesses to move overseas instead of here, so that our wealth goes over there instead of here (redistribution of wealth). That is a 2-fold fix. By China building things it makes things also less durable, so when they break, all he has to do is raise the import tax and suddenly the price goes up and we can't afford it anymore to replace those things. Then suddenly he's a savior for keeping out Made In China products, but it's closing the barn door after the horses are out. The factories are gone, the work is gone, and our stuff is broken and we can't afford to buy new stuff. So we do without. We de-develop. It's the same with 500 channels on the TV...lower that back to the big 3 and you can use the fairness doctrine. All he has to do is regulate the Cable and Satelite industries to death. Everybody has a right to satelite. Make that a government take-over and then say it's going under we have to get rid of some of these channels.
I had older parents than my peers. My dad was 33 when I was born, thus his dad was older than most. My granddad was born in 1907. He told me all kinds of stories about the depression, and before. I have a tape recording of an interview I had to do in high school of him and grandma of the toys he had when he was a child. It's an eye opener. I remember him telling me about the games he played. They played a game called Easter pop. You took the died Easter egg that you got, and your friend took his egg and you both cracked them together. Who ever's egg didn't break got to keep the other person's egg. They rolled wagon wheel rims with a forked stick. They played kick the can. Are we going back to that with President Obama?
I'm about as white as you can get. I've seen the lady talk about propping Obama up and going back to beans and weanies and wondering if that was her future. Except for voting for Obama, I can SO identify with that woman. I was middle class at one time. I don't think I can count myself as middle class anymore. I'm not poor, because I've seen much poorer, so I guess I'm lower middle class.
I'm still blessed. I have a roof over my head, food on the table, clothes on my body and occasionally enough to help someone else.
I've heard liberals say things were bad under Bush and it makes me so mad. I hear Obama say that things are headed in the right direction. What, downhill? If I saw a train headed in this direction, I'd bail! If I saw a car headed for a train, I'd jump out! If this is the direction he wants America to head, he's headed for treason! He said we're going in the right direction (for him) just not fast enough? Well, let's go to hell in a hand basket, just faster, huh? When I heard them say the recession was over, my first thought was, oh, we hit the double-dip recession finally.
President Obama's policies are the definition of insanity. If you are doing something and you don't get the result you want, you have to CHANGE YOUR POLICY if you want to get a different result. To continue doing the same thing and expect a different result is pure insanity. To use Christian language, it's called repent....a total change in direction, a 180 degree turn. You're doing something that is sending you in a direction you DON'T want to go, so you do something that puts you in the opposite direction. Of course, I don't think Liberation Theology uses that term.
Lori Ann Smith
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Think Sharia Law is for You?
I got this from Andrew Breitbart's Big Peace site. http://bigpeace.com/ndarwish/2010/08/26/sharia-for-dummies/. Posted by Nonie Darwish.
1- Jihad defined as “to war against non-Muslims to establish the religion” is the duty of every Muslim and Muslim head of state (Caliph). Muslim Caliphs who refuse jihad are in violation of Sharia and unfit to rule.
2- A Caliph can hold office through seizure of power meaning through force.
3- A Caliph is exempt from being charged with serious crimes such as murder, adultery, robbery, theft, drinking and in some cases of rape.
4- A percentage of Zakat (alms) must go towards jihad.
5- It is obligatory to obey the commands of the Caliph, even if he is unjust.
6- A caliph must be a Muslim, a non-slave and a male.
7- The Muslim public must remove the Caliph in one case, if he rejects Islam.
8- A Muslim who leaves Islam must be killed immediately.
9- A Muslim will be forgiven for murder of : 1) an apostasy 2) an adulterer 3) a highway robber. Making vigilante street justice and honor killing acceptable.
10- A Muslim will not get the death penalty if he kills a non-Muslim.
11- Sharia never abolished slavery and sexual slavery and highly regulates it. A master will not be punished for killing his slave.
12- Sharia dictates death by stoning, beheading, amputation of limbs, flogging and other forms of cruel and unusual punishments even for crimes of sin such as adultery.
13- Non-Muslims are not equal to Muslims and must comply to Sharia if they are to remain safe. They are forbidden to marry Muslim women, publicly display wine or pork, recite their scriptures or openly celebrate their religious holidays or funerals. They are forbidden from building new churches or building them higher than mosques. They may not enter a mosque without permission. A non-Muslim is no longer protected if he commits adultery with a Muslim woman or if he leads a Muslim away from Islam.
14- It is a crime for a non-Muslim to sell weapons to someone who will use them against Muslims. Non-Muslims cannot curse a Muslim, say anything derogatory about Allah, the Prophet, or Islam, or expose the weak points of Muslims. However, the opposite is not true for Muslims.
15- A non-Muslim cannot inherit from a Muslim.
16- Banks must be Sharia compliant and interest is not allowed.
17- No testimony in court is acceptable from people of low-level jobs, such as street sweepers or a bathhouse attendant. Women in such low level jobs such as professional funeral mourners cannot keep custody of their children in case of divorce.
18- A non-Muslim cannot rule even over a non-Muslims minority.
19- Homosexuality is punishable by death.
20- There is no age limit for marriage of girls under Sharia. The marriage contract can take place anytime after birth and consummated at age 8 or 9.
21- Rebelliousness on the part of the wife nullifies the husband’s obligation to support her, gives him permission to beat her and keep her from leaving the home.
22- Divorce is only in the hands of the husband and is as easy as saying: “I divorce you” and becomes effective even if the husband did not intend it.
23- There is no community property between husband and wife and the husband’s property does not automatically go to the wife after his death.
24- A woman inherits half what a man inherits.
25- A man has the right to have up to 4 wives and she has no right to divorce him even if he is polygamous.
26- The dowry is given in exchange for the woman’s sexual organs.
27- A man is allowed to have sex with slave women and women captured in battle, and if the enslaved woman is married her marriage is annulled.
28- The testimony of a woman in court is half the value of a man.
29- A woman looses custody if she remarries.
30- To prove rape, a woman must have 4 male witnesses.
31- A rapist may only be required to pay the bride-money (dowry) without marrying the rape victim.
32- A Muslim woman must cover every inch of her body which is considered “Awrah,” a sexual organ. Some schools of Sharia allow the face and some don’t.
33- A Muslim man is forgiven if he kills his wife caught in the act of adultery. However, the opposite is not true for women since he “could be married to the woman he was caught with.”
The above are clear cut laws in Islam decided by great Imams after years of examination and interpretation of the Quran, Hadith and Mohammed’s life. Now let the learned Imam Rauf tell us what part of the above is compliant with the US constitution?
_______________
My comments? I find this quite disturbing. I know on a gut level that they stand for everything I'm against, just based on the fact that they have to lie about what they stand for. This just outlines it for you. This is flat out, against women, against free speach, against freedom period. How could a free society even stand for this? How could any so-called party, Democrat or Republican, be for Islam and call themselves Americans? If you are for Muslims I suggest you leave America because you are not for a free society. Maybe you should check out one of the countries that have a government that supports that sort of ideology. Like maybe one of the Arab countries. or Afghanistan. I'm not too familiar with my geography over there. I know the free world much better.
I know I'm adding England to my prayer list.
Lori Ann Smith
1- Jihad defined as “to war against non-Muslims to establish the religion” is the duty of every Muslim and Muslim head of state (Caliph). Muslim Caliphs who refuse jihad are in violation of Sharia and unfit to rule.
2- A Caliph can hold office through seizure of power meaning through force.
3- A Caliph is exempt from being charged with serious crimes such as murder, adultery, robbery, theft, drinking and in some cases of rape.
4- A percentage of Zakat (alms) must go towards jihad.
5- It is obligatory to obey the commands of the Caliph, even if he is unjust.
6- A caliph must be a Muslim, a non-slave and a male.
7- The Muslim public must remove the Caliph in one case, if he rejects Islam.
8- A Muslim who leaves Islam must be killed immediately.
9- A Muslim will be forgiven for murder of : 1) an apostasy 2) an adulterer 3) a highway robber. Making vigilante street justice and honor killing acceptable.
10- A Muslim will not get the death penalty if he kills a non-Muslim.
11- Sharia never abolished slavery and sexual slavery and highly regulates it. A master will not be punished for killing his slave.
12- Sharia dictates death by stoning, beheading, amputation of limbs, flogging and other forms of cruel and unusual punishments even for crimes of sin such as adultery.
13- Non-Muslims are not equal to Muslims and must comply to Sharia if they are to remain safe. They are forbidden to marry Muslim women, publicly display wine or pork, recite their scriptures or openly celebrate their religious holidays or funerals. They are forbidden from building new churches or building them higher than mosques. They may not enter a mosque without permission. A non-Muslim is no longer protected if he commits adultery with a Muslim woman or if he leads a Muslim away from Islam.
14- It is a crime for a non-Muslim to sell weapons to someone who will use them against Muslims. Non-Muslims cannot curse a Muslim, say anything derogatory about Allah, the Prophet, or Islam, or expose the weak points of Muslims. However, the opposite is not true for Muslims.
15- A non-Muslim cannot inherit from a Muslim.
16- Banks must be Sharia compliant and interest is not allowed.
17- No testimony in court is acceptable from people of low-level jobs, such as street sweepers or a bathhouse attendant. Women in such low level jobs such as professional funeral mourners cannot keep custody of their children in case of divorce.
18- A non-Muslim cannot rule even over a non-Muslims minority.
19- Homosexuality is punishable by death.
20- There is no age limit for marriage of girls under Sharia. The marriage contract can take place anytime after birth and consummated at age 8 or 9.
21- Rebelliousness on the part of the wife nullifies the husband’s obligation to support her, gives him permission to beat her and keep her from leaving the home.
22- Divorce is only in the hands of the husband and is as easy as saying: “I divorce you” and becomes effective even if the husband did not intend it.
23- There is no community property between husband and wife and the husband’s property does not automatically go to the wife after his death.
24- A woman inherits half what a man inherits.
25- A man has the right to have up to 4 wives and she has no right to divorce him even if he is polygamous.
26- The dowry is given in exchange for the woman’s sexual organs.
27- A man is allowed to have sex with slave women and women captured in battle, and if the enslaved woman is married her marriage is annulled.
28- The testimony of a woman in court is half the value of a man.
29- A woman looses custody if she remarries.
30- To prove rape, a woman must have 4 male witnesses.
31- A rapist may only be required to pay the bride-money (dowry) without marrying the rape victim.
32- A Muslim woman must cover every inch of her body which is considered “Awrah,” a sexual organ. Some schools of Sharia allow the face and some don’t.
33- A Muslim man is forgiven if he kills his wife caught in the act of adultery. However, the opposite is not true for women since he “could be married to the woman he was caught with.”
The above are clear cut laws in Islam decided by great Imams after years of examination and interpretation of the Quran, Hadith and Mohammed’s life. Now let the learned Imam Rauf tell us what part of the above is compliant with the US constitution?
_______________
My comments? I find this quite disturbing. I know on a gut level that they stand for everything I'm against, just based on the fact that they have to lie about what they stand for. This just outlines it for you. This is flat out, against women, against free speach, against freedom period. How could a free society even stand for this? How could any so-called party, Democrat or Republican, be for Islam and call themselves Americans? If you are for Muslims I suggest you leave America because you are not for a free society. Maybe you should check out one of the countries that have a government that supports that sort of ideology. Like maybe one of the Arab countries. or Afghanistan. I'm not too familiar with my geography over there. I know the free world much better.
I know I'm adding England to my prayer list.
Lori Ann Smith
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)