Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : How Quickly Can Obama Totally Destroy the US? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (9388)	4/9/2014 9:37:36 PM
From: joseffy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16547

Amid protests, Brandeis withdraws honour for Ayaan Hirsi Ali, defender of Muslim women and critic of Islam Associated Press \| April 9, 2014 More from Associated Press news.nationalpost.com Brandeis University says in a statement that Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali would no longer receive an honorary degree, which it had planned to award her at the May 18, 2014, commencement. AP Photo/Shiho Fukada BOSTON — After taking heat from some of its own over a decision to grant an honorary degree to an advocate for Muslim women who has made comments critical of Islam, Brandeis University withdrew the honor Tuesday night. The university said in a statement that Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali would no longer receive the honorary degree, which it had planned to award her at the May 18 commencement. Ali, a member of the Dutch Parliament from 2003 to 2006, has been quoted as making comments critical of Islam. That includes a 2007 interview with Reason Magazine in which she said of the religion: “Once it’s defeated, it can mutate into something peaceful. It’s very difficult to even talk about peace now. They’re not interested in peace. I think that we are at war with Islam. And there’s no middle ground in wars.” Brandeis, outside Boston in Waltham, Mass., said it was not aware of Ali’s statements earlier. “She is a compelling public figure and advocate for women’s rights, and we respect and appreciate her work to protect and defend the rights of women and girls throughout the world,” said the university’s statement. “That said, we cannot overlook certain of her past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University’s core values.” Even though the university withdrawing the honorary degree, “Ali is welcome to join us on campus in the future to engage in a dialogue about these important issues,” the statement said. JUAN VRIJDAG / AFPAyaan Hirsi Ali returns her seat in the Dutch Parliament in the Hague, the Netherlands, on January 18, 2005, after more than two months in hiding. The Somali-born politician is subject to tough security measures because of death threats against her. Related Ayaan Hirsi Ali: The West’s silent toleration of sexual subjugation Ali was raised in a strict Muslim family, but after surviving a civil war, genital mutilation, beatings and an arranged marriage, she renounced the faith in her 30s. She declined to comment this week to The Associated Press. In 2007, Ali helped establish the AHA Foundation, which works to protect and defend the rights of women in the West from oppression justified by religion and culture, according to its website. The foundation also strives to protect basic rights and freedoms of women and girls. This includes control of their own bodies, access to an education and the ability to work outside the home and control their own income, the website says. More than 85 of about 350 faculty members at Brandeis signed a letter asking for Ali to be booted off the list of honorary degree recipients. And an online petition created Monday by students at the school of 5,800 had gathered thousands of signatures from inside and outside the university as of Tuesday afternoon. VINCENT JANNINK / AFPAyaan Hirsi Ali, a liberal Dutch lawmaker and critic of Islam, arrives to speak to the press 16 May 2006 in The Hague and said she was resigning as a member of parliament and would leave The Netherlands following a furore over lies on her asylum application. “This is a real slap in the face to Muslim students,” senior Sarah Fahmy, a member of the Muslim Student Association who created the petition, said of the honor before the university withdrew it. Bernard Macy, a 1979 Brandeis graduate, sent an email this week to university President Frederick Lawrence and several members of the faculty saying, “Thank you for recognizing Ayaan Hirsi Ali for defending Muslim women against Islamist honor violence.” But Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy group, said, “It is unconscionable that such a prestigious university would honor someone with such openly hateful views.” The organization sent a letter to Lawrence on Tuesday requesting that it drop its plans to honor Ali. “This makes Muslim students feel very uneasy,” Joseph Lumbard, chairman of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies, said in an earlier interview. “They feel unwelcome here.” Robert Fulford: The threatening honesty of Ayaan Hirsi Ali

To: steve harris who wrote (9388)	4/9/2014 9:56:24 PM
From: joseffy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16547

Darrell Issa: Emails suggest Elijah Cummings prompted IRS targeting of True the Vote Washington Examiner By Susan Ferrechio APRIL 9, 2014 Excerpt: House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has accused the panel's top Democrat of prompting the Internal Revenue Service in 2012 to target a conservative organization applying for non-profit status. Issa said records obtained last week from the IRS show communications from the office of ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., about True the Vote, a Texas-based, non-profit conservative group that aims to prevent voter fraud. The communications at one point involved Lois Lerner, the ex-IRS official whom Issa's panel is poised to hold in contempt of Congress on Thursday for refusing to provide testimony about her involvement in targeting conservative groups. “The IRS and the Oversight Minority made numerous requests for virtually identical information from True the Vote, raising concerns that the IRS improperly shared protected taxpayer information with Rep. Cummings’ staff,” a statement from the Oversight panel reads. According to Issa, Cummings and his staff sought “copies of all training materials used for volunteers, affiliates, or other entities,” from True the Vote. Five days after the Cummings inquiry, the IRS sent True the Vote an email requesting “a copy of volunteer registration form,” “… the process you use to assign volunteers,” “how you keep your volunteers in teams,” and “how your volunteers are deployed … following the training they receive by you.” Issa said Cummings and his office asked for more information in January 2013 about True the Vote, this time getting Lerner involved. At one point, an email revealed, Lerner asked her deputy, “Did we find anything?” When the deputy said she had not received any new information, Lerner responded, “thanks – check tomorrow please.” Issa said Cummings had previously denied asking the IRS about True the Vote. <SNIP> LINK