A man with an axe and knife tried to enter the cartoonist home through a window on January 1st was shot by the Danish police. It only took one day into 2010 before another threat on this cartoonist life took place. Last year there were many threats on his life and three actual attempts.
This is the picture that the Muslims are attempting to kill Mr. Westergaard over:

The death threats and actual attempts on Kurt Westergaard’s life only reinforce the stereotype for all non-Muslims that the Muslim faith instigates violence and indeed is a violent religion that everyone should be worried about.

Pat Condell talks about Islam.

Pat Condell talks about the Myth of Islamophobia.

Christopher Hitchens comment on the history of  Islam part 1.

Christopher Hitchens comment on the history of Islam part 2.

For more information on Kurt Westergaard see this CNN report:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/01/01/danish.cartoon.break.in/index.html

The Cambridge dictionary defines disenfranchise as “to take away power or opportunities, especially the right to vote, from a person or group.” We are all familiar with the United States history of disenfranchising the black vote and the female vote and the poor vote. There was a time when African Americans and Women could not vote. Even once laws were enacted to let them vote, several states had introduced Jim Crow laws like poll taxes and literacy test in an attempt to prevent African Americans and other minority groups from voting. The U.S. is one of few western democracies that the permanent disenfranchisement of those with past felony convictions. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) into law in 1965 to get rid of the Jim Crow laws and restore voting to all.

But there are others now being disenfranchised. Some rules are instituted by counties or states to disenfranchise the poor. This is usually done by republicans in an effort to lower the number of democrats voting. I was caught by one of these laws when I tried to vote. I live in a house on a commercial lot next to a store. The store and house are owned by the same person. When I went to vote in Berrien County Michigan I was told I could not vote because I lived in a store and not a residence. Only people who live in residentially zoned houses were allowed to vote.  So, what about nursing homes, can no one there vote? What about homeless people, can their voice not be heard?  Voting disenfranchising is alive in America still.

There is another group of over 5.3 million Americans that are not allowed to vote. Those are people with convictions even if they have served their debt to society and are now out of jail and back in the community with jobs, paying taxes, and being model citizens. They can do almost anything any citizen can do, except vote. CivilRights.Org says Four million of them are out of prison, living, working, and raising families in their communities and would have their federal voting rights restored under this legislation

There is a hodge podge of laws about this from state to state. In Vermont and Maine all people convicted even those in Jail can vote. In some states, like Virginia and Kentucky permanently deny voting rights to those with felony convictions. Some states like Michgan and Illionis even strip voting rights from people with only a misdemeanor convictions. All the other states have laws in between these extremes which leads to wide spread confusion amoung poll workers which sometimes leads to eligible citizens being denied the right to vote.

In the United States, 13% of all African American men have lost the right to vote, 7 times the national average.

Erika Wood, Brennan Center for Justice, says that in some states up to a third of African American men have lost the right to vote. These laws are firmly rooted in the Jim Crow era, they were intended to keep African Americans from voting, and they were passed right alongside poll taxes and literacy tests.

CivilRights.org says:

Felony disenfranchisement laws were originally passed during the Jim Crow-era to prevent Blacks from participating in elections.  If current trends continue, one-third of the next generation of African-American men will be disenfranchised during their lifetime.  The U.S. is one of few western democracies that the permanent disenfranchisement of those with past felony convictions.

It should be a basic civil right that every person should be able to participate in the democratic process by voting. Voting will help those people coming back out into society to build a sense of civic responsibility.

From the American for Civil Liberties Union (ACLU):

Under current Arizona law, individuals who commit felonies are stripped of their civil rights, including the right to vote, serve on a jury and run for some public offices. These civil rights are not restored – even after release from prison and completion of parole and probation – unless they have paid all of their legal financial obligations to the state, including docket and filing fees, court costs, restitution and costs of incarceration, including interest on these debts.

Arizona’s felon voting ban is one of the strictest in the nation, with one of every 23 citizens unable to vote. The state maintains the eighth highest rate of disfranchisement in the nation. An estimated 176,103 persons are disfranchised in the state as a result of a felony conviction. Forty-four percent of these persons have completed their sentences. …

“Stripping low-income citizens of their basic right to vote has no place in a functioning democracy,” said Dan Pochoda, ACLU of Arizona Legal Director. “Even when people have completed their prison time and have been released back into society, our state puts up barriers to voting – barriers that are based strictly on economics.”

The NCSL National Conference on State Legislatures has a Restoration Process list state by state but it is 10 years old so its very outdated. I give you the link in hopes the page is updated:

http://www.ncsl.org/LegislaturesElections/ElectionsCampaigns/VotingRightsRestorationProcess/tabid/16529/Default.aspx

The New York Times says that restoring the vote to felons is difficult, because it must be done state by state, and because ex-convicts do not have much of a political lobby. There have been legislative successes in recent years in some places, including Alabama and Nevada. But other states have been moving in the opposite direction. The best hope of reform may lie in the courts. The Atlanta-based United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and the San Francisco-based Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit have ruled recently that disenfranchising felons may violate equal protection or the Voting Rights Act. Source : Published in the New York Times Opionin http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/11/opinion/felons-and-the-right-to-vote.html

But now there is a bill making its way through congress called the Democracy Restoration Act that will resort voting rights in federal elections to those people who have convictions and have been released from prison and are living in the community. The bill was introduced by Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI) and Representative John Conyers (D-MI) as H.R. 3335 and S. 1516 on July 24^th, 2009. There will be a Congressional briefing on the bill on December 11^th at 1:00 pm in Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 226. Go to the Brennan Center at the New York University School of Law http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/democracy_restoration_act_of_2008/ to find more information on  this bill and the meeting in congress.

Here is the press release from Senator Feingold’s office:

Feingold, Conyers Continue Effort to Restore Voting Rights for Millions of Americans
PRESS RELEASES

– 07/27/09

Posted by Senator Feingold’s office. The orginal press release can be viewed here.

For Immediate Release

Contact: Jeanine Plant-Chirlin, 212-998-6289
Susan Lehman, 212-998-6318

Washington – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) are continuing their effort to restore voting rights for million of Americans.  Feingold and Conyers reintroduced the Democracy Restoration Act, legislation that would reinstate the right to vote in federal elections for millions of Americans with a conviction in their past who are out of prison, living in the community.  In America today, more than five million citizens are unable to vote due a felony conviction, nearly three-quarters of whom are no longer in prison.  Feingold and Conyers’ bill would allow these Americans to exercise their right to vote if they are no longer incarcerated.

“Voting helps to build a sense of civic responsibility and commitment to community; denying this fundamental right does nothing to help people with a conviction in their past become better citizens,” Senator Feingold said.  “The expansion of voting rights to the poor, women, minorities and young people is one of the greatest stories in our country’s history.  We should continue this legacy by expanding the right to vote to those who have fully paid their debt to society.”

“There is a growing nationwide movement to restore voting rights to people who are out of prison, living in the community.  Those calling for change include law enforcement officers, religious leaders and elections officials,” said Erika Wood, Director of the Right to Vote Project at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. “The Democracy Restoration Act will eliminate the last blanket barrier to the franchise in our country.”

Feingold and Conyers’ bill builds on a growing enfranchisement movement.  In the last decade, 20 states have reformed their laws to expand the franchise or ease voting rights restoration procedures.  Most recently, the state of Washington enacted a law easing the restoration of voting rights for people who are no longer in custody.  According to the Brennan Center for Justice and the Sentencing Project, 5.3 million American citizens are not allowed to vote because of a felony conviction. Nearly four million people of them are no longer, or never were, in prison, and approximately two million have completed their entire sentence, including probation and parole.

For more information or to set up an interview with Erika Wood, please contact Jeanine Plant-Chirlin at 212-998-6289 or jeanine.plant-chirlin@nyu.edu or Susan Lehman at 212-998-6318 or susan.lehman@nyu.edu.

And from the United Nations: Human rights standards protecting the right to vote, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, are robust because the right to vote is fundamental in every way. And yet the United States continues to fail to protect the voting rights of minority communities, in violation of the United States’ commitments under international treaties that enshrine the right to vote. Source http://www.aclu.org/blog/human-rights-racial-justice-voting-rights/fighting-voting-rights-all-americans

One conservative web site said:

well, why not let felons vote?  Because you don’t have a right to make laws if you aren’t willing to follow them yourself. To participate in self-government, you must be willing to accept the rule of law.

I answer that once someone is out of Jail they have served their time and until they show they are not willing to abide by the laws they should be afforded every right of citizenship.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D. Md. agrees when he says:

“The expansion of voting rights to the poor, women, minorities and young people is one of the greatest stories in our country’s history.  We should continue this legacy by expanding the right to vote to those who have fully paid their debt to society.”

Its time for America to be great again. Restore voting rights to all citizens. Call you congressmen and senators and urge them to vote for the Democracy Restoration Act (DRA) H.R. 3335 and S. 1516.

See larger image Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy (Studies in Crime and Public Policy) (Paperback) By (author) Jeff Manza, Christopher Uggen List Price: $18.95 USD New From: $15.94 In Stock Used from: $11.99 In Stock

1. Anyone who rejects the teaching of their religious leaders shall be put to death. Such evil must be purged.
2. Anyone who tells the future, is psychic, uses astrology or magic, or worships the earth should be killed.
3. Homosexuals should be killed.
4. If someone tells the future or uses Tarot cards they should be killed.
5. If a child acts out and hits their mother or father they should be killed.
6. If a child talks back or curses a parent they should be killed.
7. If someone commits adultery they should be killed.
8. If a holy mans daughter has sex she should be killed.
9. Anyone who follows another religion should be killed.
10. Anyone who is a nonbeliever should be killed.
11. Ministers of other religions should be killed.
12. Kill everyone in a town if one person worships a different deity.
13. Kill women who are not virgins on their wedding night.
14. Kill followers of other religions.
15. Kill anyone who talks out against the deity.
16. Kill false leaders of this deity.
17. Infidels and Gays should be killed.
18. Anyone who gets too close to the holy stuff in the temple must will be killed.
19. People who work on the holy day of the week will be killed.
20. If children call a prophet of this deity any names then kill the children.
21. Kill anyone who is curious and tries to learn how things work.
22. If a prophet of this deity tells you to do something even against the law then you should do it or you will be killed.
23. If you are a Good Samaritan and try to help the prophets of this deity but you accidently do it wrong you will be killed for helping.
24. If anyone breaks the law of this deity you should kill their children.
25. This deity will kill all its followers’ children.
26. Kill everyone in the city and fill the temple with bodies of those you kill says the deity of this religion.

There is much more in this deity’s holy book about killing children and others. And what if you don’t want to do all this killing? Then the book says you shall be cursed for holding back your sword. There is more, like mass murder, killing your brother, friends, neighbors, but I am sickened by it and just don’t wish to list any more examples.

What book can call itself holy and tell its followers to murder in so many ways? What religion can it be that followers would hold this book in love and say I love you so you must die?

Is this the Koran? NO!

This is from the Christians’ Holy Bible. The deity I was referring to is the Christian God. So the next time you hear someone say that Muslims are evil because their Koran says to kill infidels remember the Christian Bible says to do that too!

Lest you think I am making this up, biblical references by number for the above 26 quotes are:

1. Kill People Who Don’t Listen to Priests (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT)
2. Kill Witches. (Exodus 22:17 NAB)
3. Kill Homosexuals (Leviticus 20:13 NAB)
4. Fortunetellers (Leviticus 20:27 NAB)
5. Death for Hitting Dad (Exodus 21:15 NAB)
6. Death for Cursing Parents (Proverbs 20:20 NAB)
7. Death for Adultery (Leviticus 20:10 NLT)
8. Death for Fornication (Leviticus 21:9 NAB)
9. Death to Followers of Other Religions (Exodus 22:19 NAB)
10. Kill Nonbelievers (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)
11. Kill False Prophets (Zechariah 13:3 NAB)
12. Kill the Entire Town if One Person Worships Another God (Deuteronomy 13:13-19 NLT)
13. Kill Women Who Are Not Virgins On Their Wedding Night (Deuteronomy 22:20-21 NAB)
14. Kill Followers of Other Religions. (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB)(Deuteronomy 17:2-5 NLT)
15. Death for Blasphemy (Leviticus 24:10-16 NLT)
16. Kill False Prophets (Deuteronomy 13:1-5 NLT)(Deuteronomy 18:20-22 NLT)
17. Infidels and Gays Should Die (Romans 1:24-32 NLT)
18. Kill Anyone who Approaches the Tabernacle (Numbers 1:48-51 NLT)
19. Kill People for Working on the Sabbath (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT)
20. Kill Brats (2 Kings 2:23-24 NAB)
21. God Kills the Curious (1Samuel 6:19-20 ASV)
22. Killed by a Lion for NOT striking the prophet when asked. (1 Kings 20:35-36 NLT)
23. Killing the Good Samaritan (2 Samuel 6:3-7 NAB)
24. Kill Sons of Sinners (Isaiah 14:21 NAB)
25. God Will Kill Children (Hosea 9:11-16 NLT)
26. Kill Men, Women, and Children (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT)

Source: www.evilbible.com/Murder.htm
but you can look these quotes up in any bible.

See larger image The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love (Paperback) By (author) John Shelby Spong List Price: $15.95 USD New From: $5.75 In Stock Used from: $0.54 In Stock Release date March 14, 2006.

It is interesting to average the murder rate for death penalty states versus states without a death penalty. If the death penalty is a deterrent then the death rate in the death penalty states should be lower. The rates for 2008 where:

The murder rate in Death Penalty States was 5.2 murders per 100,000 people.

The murder rate in states without the death penalty was 3.3 per 100,000 people.

It is clear from this evidence that the death penalty is not a deterrent to murder.

Source:   www.deathpenaltyinfo.org

See larger image The Decline of the Death Penalty and the Discovery of Innocence (Paperback) By (author) Frank R. Baumgartner, Suzanna L. De Boef, Amber E. Boydstun List Price: $23.99 USD New From: $11.51 In Stock Used from: $9.00 In Stock

I learned the economic times are hitting hard around the world. The Moscow Truth reported politics and crime like any newspaper but it also had articles of hope that I don’t usually see in my local paper.

For instance the  reporter Igor Moiseyev interviewed , Yury Mikhaylovich Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow who as served as mayor since 1992. Mr. Luzhkov has supported free transportation to the elderly and a strong encouragement of business entrepreneurship. He has been elected three time to Mayor.

Igor Moiseyev asked Mr. Luzhkov how he was able to help the city prosper when others failed before and how to weather bad times. Luzhkov gave his recipe for survival.

First, have “quiet strenght.” First mute your emotions and try to understand the rules of the game in which you play, or life itself, or your enemies. Then when you are ready to speak, smile, go easy on your language and do not have a stone heart. Be calm. Your behavior and your words are appropriate for yourself, your colleagues, those you work with, clients, customers and so on.

Strickly speaking, there is nothing new. As the ancients said: if you can not reverse the situation, change your oppinion about it. In otherwords, change your attitude to what is happening (with all its monstrous injustice) and become the living embodiment of “quiet Strength.”

Second, look for interesting moments. Find interest in your work. Look for ways you can improve it. You simply have to show a bit of observation, curiosity and ingenuity to see what lies on the surface. It is in your power to make your life interesting.

Third, Risk. If the status quo is not good, then risk is needed to move beyond it. Never be afraid to take risks. A crisis is not just a danger but also an opportunity, as the Mayor likes to repeat. So use this opportunity to the fullest.

Fourth, Act. Solve a problem at any cost. “Impossible” is a word used often in Russia but if you use it once every five times your boss asks you to do something you may find yourself out of employment. Instead, when you are asked to solve a problem do it no matter what you must do to get it done. You will become indispensable to your boss.

Fifth, Go slow and do it right. Sometimes “standing on the shoulders of giants” is not the right thing to do. For instance Carnegie believed, erroneiously, that quick implementation of management decisions was preferable even with slow and inept execution. “A mistake is a mistake” says the mayor. And my management formula is: if you did the work quickly, but bad, no one will remember that you did it quickly, they will remember that you did it bad. If done slowly, but well, no one will then blame you because you did it slow, they will still say: he did it well…”

Sixth, “Only the tractor reels up a dirt on itself.” No normal person likes to engage in self-criticism, it is well known. Lozhkov likes to say “Only a tractor reels up a dirt on itself.” And yet, he offers a clear dividing line between self-flagellation and objective analysis of mistakes. “Being able to objectively analyze and evaluate what worked, what didnot work – is not only possible but absolutley necessary thing – says the mayor. So in conclusion dont be a tractor, don’t throw mud on yourself. But do not be afraid to analyze your own mistakes, so that you will not make the same ones in the future.

The above was a summary of the article using the reports words.
Source: www.mospravda.ru/issue/2009/11/18/article19721/

See larger image Good Advice for a Bad Economy (Paperback) By (author) John Ventura, Mary Reed List Price: $13.00 USD New From: $1.39 In Stock Used from: $0.01 In Stock

We are taught as young Americans that the United States is number one in many areas but especially in health care.  We might have lived all our lives believing this myth if it were not for the health care debate.

On television, almost every day, the health care reformers tell us how Great Britain, France, and Canada, have free health care and we don’t. Realizing the myth of being number one is slipping away from me, I decided to check the facts. Sure Universal Health Care may be available in Great Britain, France, and Canada but not in the United States or all the other Industrialized countries, I thought, thinking only the best were mentioned. With the click of the mouse my American held myth of being number one was shattered. In fact, 18,000 people per year die because of lack of Health Care in the United States according to “Insuring America’s Health: Principles and Recommendations”    http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2004/Insuring-Americas-Health-Principles-and-Recommendations.aspx

When checking Universal Health Care on Wikipedia I discovered the United States is the ONLY, thats right, ONLY industrialized country without Universal Health Care.

The following countries have Universal Health Care: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Colombia, Bhutan, China, Hong Kong (one of the healthiest places in the world), India, Israel, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,  Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, Austria, Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand.

Ok, I thought, but our health care even if it is not a free universal health care is still number one right? No, it came as quite a shock, that, the United States of America is NOT number one?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) The United States is NOT the number one country for health care. The WHO measured five indicators of health systems for 191 countries and then ranked the countries.

Here is the ranking. Notice the United States is 37. Number one is the best.

Rank       Country

1         France
2         Italy
3         San Marino
4         Andorra
5         Malta
6         Singapore
7         Spain
8         Oman
9         Austria
10        Japan
11        Norway
12        Portugal
13        Monaco
14        Greece
15        Iceland
16        Luxembourg
17        Netherlands
18        United  Kingdom
19        Ireland
20        Switzerland
21        Belgium
22        Colombia
23        Sweden
24        Cyprus
25        Germany
26        Saudi Arabia
27        United  Arab  Emirates
28        Israel
29        Morocco
30        Canada
31        Finland
32        Australia
33        Chile
34        Denmark
35        Dominica
36        Costa Rica
37        United States of America
38        Slovenia
39        Cuba
40        Brunei
41        New Zealand
42        Bahrain
43        Croatia
44        Qatar
45        Kuwait
46        Barbados
47        Thailand
48        Czech Republic
49        Malaysia
50        Poland
51        Dominican Republic
52        Tunisia
53        Jamaica
54        Venezuela
55        Albania
56        Seychelles
57        Paraguay
58        South     Korea
59        Senegal
60        Philippines
61        Mexico
62        Slovakia
63        Egypt
64        Kazakhstan
65        Uruguay
66        Hungary
67        Trinidad and Tobag
68        Saint     Lucia
69        Belize
70        Turkey
71        Nicaragua
72        Belarus
73        Lithuania
74        Saint Vincent  and the   Grenadines
75        Argentina
76        Sri  Lanka
77        Estonia
78        Guatemala
79        Ukraine
80        Solomon   Islands
81        Algeria
82        Palau
83        Jordan
84        Mauritius
85        Grenada
86        Antigua   and Barbuda
87        Libya
88        Bangladesh
89        Macedonia
90        Bosnia-Herzegovina
91        Lebanon
92        Indonesia
93        Iran
94        Bahamas
95        Panama
96        Fiji
97        Benin
98        Nauru
99        Romania
100       Saint Kitts and Nevis
101       Moldova
102       Bulgaria
103       Iraq
104       Armenia
105       Latvia
106       Yugoslavia
107       Cook Islands
108       Syria
109       Azerbaijan
110       Suriname
111       Ecuador
112       India
113       Cape Verde
114       Georgia
115       El   Salvador
116       Tonga
117       Uzbekistan
118       Comoros
119       Samoa
120       Yemen
121       Niue
122       Pakistan
123       Micronesia
124       Bhutan
125       Brazil
126       Bolivia
127       Vanuatu
128       Guyana
129       Peru
130       Russia
131       Honduras
132       Burkina   Faso
133       Sao Tome and Principe
134       Sudan
135       Ghana
136       Tuvalu
137       Ivory Coast
138       Haiti
139       Gabon
140       Kenya
141       Marshall Islands
142       Kiribati
143       Burundi
144       China
145       Mongolia
146       Gambia
147       Maldives
148       Papua New Guinea
149       Uganda
150       Nepal
151       Kyrgystan
152       Togo
153       Turkmenistan
154       Tajikistan
155       Zimbabwe
156       Tanzania
157       Djibouti
158       Eritrea
159       Madagascar
160       Vietnam
161       Guinea
162       Mauritania
163       Mali
164       Cameroon
165       Laos
166       Congo
167       North Korea
168       Namibia
169       Botswana
170       Niger
171       Equatorial Guinea
172       Rwanda
173       Afghanistan
174       Cambodia
175       South     Africa
176       Guinea-Bissau
177       Swaziland
178       Chad
179       Somalia
180       Ethiopia
181       Angola
182       Zambia
183       Lesotho
184       Mozambique
185       Malawi
186       Liberia
187       Nigeria
188       Democratic Republic of   the Congo
189       Central   African   Republic
190       Myanmar

See larger image Who Killed Health Care?: America's $2 Trillion Medical Problem - and the Consumer-Driven Cure (Hardcover) By (author) Regina Herzlinger List Price: $26.95 USD New From: $9.65 In Stock Used from: $4.55 In Stock