With so many millions who are out-of-work and signing up on job boards, I believe it’s downright disgusting criminal behavior how these companies steal identities of those who are unemployed … below is just part of the story — the link will tell you more…

Cyber crooks are targeting a wave of new attacks at people searching for jobs online, security experts warn. Oddly enough, the criminals behind this scam appear to be just as interested in hiring you as they are in hijacking your PC.

Over the course of the past few weeks, virus writers have set their sights on users of job search giant Monster.com and at least one other jobs site with tainted online advertisements designed to install malicious software on the visitors’ machines, according to SecureWorks, an Atlanta-based security and research firm.

SecureWorks says that since May, more than 40,000 people have had their personal information stolen — including Social Security numbers, bank account data and job site credentials — thanks to a Trojan horse program that was planted in several advertisements running on the jobs sites. Some of these ads required a visitor to actually click on them before the Trojan could do its dirty work, while in other cases the Trojan appeared to swing into action as soon as the page hosting the ad was served, researchers found.

SecureWorks researcher Don Jackson said the Trojan was developed using a toolkit sold in black market forums under the name “icepack.” The toolkit is similar to the Mpack toolkit that surfaced earlier this year. It generates Trojans that probe for the absence of several software security updates holes that then permit the program to deliver its viral payload. Among the many weapons in its arsenal are exploits for recently patched security vulnerabilities in Apple’s QuickTime and Microsoft’s Windows Media Player. It also includes exploits for multiple Web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera.

SecureWorks classifies the Trojan as a variant of the Prg Trojan, a fast-evolving piece of malware that appears to have been developed in tandem by different criminal groups. Secure Science Corp., the San Diego company that first spotted the Prg Trojan in late 2006, has a very detailed analysis (PDF) of the way it operates and some theories about its creators.

Anti-virus maker Symantec Corp. has been monitoring the attacks, which the company attributes to a Trojan its software recognizes as “Infostealer.Monstres.” According to Symantec, the malware steals sensitive data posted by victims to Monster.com and then relays that information to a Web site controlled by the attackers. The Trojan also directs a victim’s PC to blast out junk e-mail.

Symantec’s advisory doesn’t say what that spam looks like, but SecureWorks’s Jackson said the junk e-mails are typical work-at-home scams that include the Trojan as an attachment.

Part of the reason employment forums are being targeted may be that job search sites have truly massive numbers of visitors each day. But there appears to be another angle in play here: The scammers really are trying to recruit new employees.

Work-at-home scams propagated through e-mail are almost always recruitment schemes run by organized criminal groups. The groups typically troll job boards and forums looking for potential “mules,” people who agree — sometimes unknowingly — to launder stolen funds or reship commercial goods on behalf of fraudsters.

Would You Like A Job With That Virus ?

This is just wrong.

On September 9, 2007, a pre-9/11 celebration of sorts will be taking place in New York City, as Islamists from across the Tri-State area will congregate there for the 22nd Annual Muslim Day Parade. If past parades are any indication, law enforcement will need to be on high alert, as the participants have been amongst the most radical in the nation. Will the city allow this denigration of a very somber day to take place, or will it remember its many victims of terrorism and shut it down?

The parade is being run by the Muslim Foundation of America (MFA), an organization located in the Astoria section of Queens that was founded in 1983, around the time of the first annual parade. In actuality, both the MFA and the parade appear to be the same entity with different names, as the MFA’s website, since it was first created in October of 2003, has been devoted almost entirely to discussing the parade.

Thousands are expected to attend this year’s event. In the past, the number of parade-goers has varied. While some participants may be coming out to experience a day of fun with their fellow religionists, others have an alternative agenda.

A pre 9-11 CELEBRATION? Hmm. One of the most somber days in American history has been hijacked by those who are responsible for the attacks of this day in 2001.

The Grand Marshal for the 2006 parade was Siraj Wahhaj, a Brooklyn imam who is known for his fiery speeches, including those that have been considered threatening to the United States. In February of 1995, Wahhaj was named – along with such people as Osama bin Laden and bin Laden’s mentor, Abdullah Azzam – as a potential co-conspirator to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

Another Grand Marshal of a past parade was Muzzamil Siddiqi, the former President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a mosque umbrella organization that was recently named a co-conspirator to the financing of millions of dollars to Hamas. Siddiqi, like Wahhaj, has also verbally threatened the United States, stating in October of 2000, “America has to learn. If you remain on the side of injustice, the wrath of G-d will come.” There are pictures of Siddiqi speaking at the parade, on the MFA site.

Does this surprise anyone? All these Muslim groups who aspire to share the wonders of their religion, one of peace, are full of our enemies who aspire to attack us again. These Islamafreakoids preach hate and inspire their young to become martyrs for the cause.

On the MFA website, in addition to the parade photo gallery, there is also a section titled, “USEFUL LINKS.” Four out of the five links listed (complete with their logos) are national organizations which have been found to be part of the violent Muslim Brotherhood overseas. They include the aforementioned ICNA and ISNA, as well as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Students Association (MSA). CAIR was created by the American propaganda wing of Hamas, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), in 1994, and the MSA was the first organization created by the Brotherhood within the United States, in 1963.

Along with the parade, the MFA will be holding an essay contest for children and young adults. The themes for the different age groups vary. For those age 9 – 13 it is ‘Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the best Role Model,’ for ages 14 – 18 it’s ‘The Man is the Best Creation of Allah (SWT),’ and for ages 19 – 23 it’s ‘The Purpose of my Life.’

Uugh. And will New Yorkers allow this?

Shamsi Ali, a member of the parade’s Board of Trustees, runs a children’s madrassa – the Jamaica Muslim Center in Queens – where boys sit all day, Monday through Friday, and memorize the Quran by rote. One of his students and possible participant in the essay contest, a 13 year old named Sameer Uddin, explained to The New York Times his reasons for staying enrolled in Ali’s class. Bringing up disturbing illusions to thoughts of future martyrdom, Sameer stated, “I want to take my parents to heaven.”

Good ole American values here at work huh?

The organizers of the parade state that one of their objectives is “to demonstrate and clarify Islamic values and traditions.”

And they’re doing just this. Islamic values of death, terror, and taking over the free world via these activities.

The fact that this parade is taking place so close to Ground Zero is an insult to the memory of the 3,000 people who perished there six years before. The event should be taken as a threat to public safety and, therefore, it is incumbent on the city of New York to not only watch all of those involved, but to work to shut down the event completely, along with the sponsoring organizations.

If you are concerned about this parade taking place in New York City two days prior to the anniversary of 9/11 – if you are concerned this parade is taking place at all – contact the Mayor’s office.

September 11th is not the day for Muslims to be out and about marching in any way, shape or form. To call this a celebration speaks to what the true meaning of this day is for Muslims. It’s criminal that these people get away with this.

This is absurd.
And dangerous thinking on the part of a Roman Catholic Bishop.

A proposal by a Roman Catholic bishop in the Netherlands that people of all faiths refer to God as “Allah” is not sitting well with the Catholic community.

Tiny Muskens, an outgoing bishop who is retiring in a few weeks from the southern diocese of Breda, said God doesn’t care what he is called.

“Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn’t we all say that from now on we will name God Allah? … What does God care what we call him? It is our problem,” Muskens told Dutch television.

“I’m sure his intentions are good but his theology needs a little fine-tuning,” said Father Jonathan Morris, a Roman Catholic priest based in Rome. Morris, a news analyst for FOX News Channel, also called the idea impractical.

“Words and names mean things,” Morris said. “Referring to God as Allah means something.”

In the civilized world where peoples are free, names and titles don’t mean too much. But in the world of Islam, names are everything. Allah is not my God. He was a pedophile. A drunk. A man who abused women. A freak. I will never bow to him; I will spit upon his BOOK and all mosques and anything else ISLAM. His followers have caused much of this world’s wars and destruction. ALLAH is no GOD. This Bishop is pandering. Like the Brits and food during Ramadan. Like the Brits and special hospitals for Muslims. Like all the silly and special laws given to this religion of Peace…it’s cowarding down to them.

I won’t be a coward.

Disclaimer: I am a Catholic, but I don’t actively practice my religion. I have never even read the Bible.

Sippin on Buds, as I go online…

Cross Posted @ ARS

What is up with Elizabeth Edwards? Has she gone mad? I think so…and I think she should keep on doing what’s she is doing because it will ruin her husbands chances of getting elected. Hmm…MAYBE that is WHY she’s doing these things???

NEW YORK — Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic candidate John Edwards, lambastes his rival Barack Obama as “holier than thou” on the Iraq war and accuses Hillary Rodham Clinton of failing to show leadership on health care and Iraq.

As her husband trails Clinton and Obama in national polls, Elizabeth Edwards has been an outspoken critic of his opponents. Last month, she said her husband would be a better champion for women as president than Clinton and more recently said, “We can’t make John black, we can’t make him a woman. Those things get you a lot of press, worth a certain amount of fundraising dollars.”

In an interview published in the August issue of The Progressive magazine, Elizabeth Edwards complained about Obama, who opposed the war when he was a state legislator in Illinois and later as a Senate candidate but has since voted for funds for the military.

She’s attacking Obama, Hillary, and everyone else.

“And honestly, the other candidates?” Elizabeth Edwards asked. “Obama gives a speech that’s likely to be extraordinarily popular in his home district, and then comes to the Senate and votes for funding … So you are going to get people behaving in a holier-than-thou way. But John stood up when he was in the Senate for exactly the thing he’s asking these people to stand up for now.”

OOh, she’s a swinging that bat, hard!

On health care, Edwards said Obama’s plan for universal coverage was inadequate because it left 15 million uninsured. Obama has said his plan would become universal over time, after his proposed reforms reduce the cost of insurance enough so people can afford to buy it.

She also criticized Clinton for not producing a health care plan and for questioning whether there was sufficient “political will” to enact universal care.

Uh…so what is John Boy’s Plan?? I don’t recall it being any better or really any different than anyone else’s…

Edwards even suggested Obama’s signature theme — a plea for hope and political unity — had been lifted from her husband’s 2004 presidential campaign.

“You listen to the language of what people say, particularly Obama, who seems to be using a lot of John’s 2004 language,” Edwards said, noting that Obama’s media adviser, David Axelrod, worked for Edwards that year.

Do we get the sense of some Obama Derangement Syndrome happening here? I think so. Like I said it’s all good. Let the Lemoncrats implode upon one another. They offer nothing new or different or fresh. It’s the same OLD SAME old. So progressive they are. (More like passive- aggressive perhaps?)

Only in Great Britain. For now.

DOCTORS and health workers have been banned from eating lunch at their desks - in case it offends their Muslim colleagues.

Health chiefs believe the sight of food will upset Muslim workers when they are celebrating the religious festival Ramadan.

The lunch trolley is also to be wheeled out of bounds as the 30-day fast begins next month.

Hmm…Why pander to the Muslims?

But staff and politicians branded the move political correctness gone mad and warned that it was a step too far.

Bill Aitken, the Scottish Conservative justice spokesman, said: “This advice, well-meaning as it may be, is total nonsense.

“It is the sort of thing that can stir up resentment rather than result in good relations.”

Yep…exactly. And more than that: What’s next? Forbidden meals in entire buildings where a Muslim might be working??– due to the scent of cooking food? Will they not allow people to eat pork chops or bacon?

The new guidance comes in the wake of the failed terror attacks on Glasgow and the death of suspect Kafeel Ahmed, 27.

Health chiefs in Lothian and Glasgow will give all employees time off to pray and to celebrate Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan.

Will they give the other employees, the doctors and nurses, time off to leave the premises to buy meals?

But Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as Lothian NHS boards also issued the advice, warning workers not to take working lunches, and said all vending machines should be removed from areas where Muslims work.

One senior consultant said: “What next? Are we going to have advice on how to deal with Catholics during Lent?
“This kind of thing does more harm than good.”

The guidance, which was sent round many organisations, was produced by Glasgow consultancy Meem, which advises on Muslim issues and counts the Scottish Parliament among its clients.

Taking away vending machines? No. They’re pandering to low now. Muslims have no more special rights than any one else of any other faith. This giving IN will do nothing to fend off future acts of terrorism. Knowing this, if I were employed at a hospital that made these policy changes, I would not only eat at my desk, I would stand outside the nearest door barbecuing pork ribs and chops and would give them away to all my peers. Every single day of Ramadan. Offending to the Muslims? Tough shit. They offend me when they attack and blow up my fellow citizens.

Cross Posted @ ARS

Uh oh…the Left is going to play up this.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, whose telephone number was disclosed by the so-called “D.C. Madam” accused of running a prostitution ring, says he is sorry for a “serious sin” and that he has already made peace with his wife.

“This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible,” Vitter said Monday in a printed statement. “Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there - with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way.”

Why do all these polecats seem to think, if they claim they’ve turned to God after doing these things, all will be ok and good? I think it’s the standard phrase and excuse these days…do something bad, or illegal, and go to church, or rehab, and all is well.

And, his name is the only one in the Madam’s book worthy of any attention?

The Sheepdogg vs. Cruella DeVille?

CRAWFORD, Texas — Cindy Sheehan, the soldier’s mother who galvanized the anti-war movement, said Sunday that she plans to seek House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat unless she introduces articles of impeachment against President Bush in the next two weeks.

Sheehan said she will run against the San Francisco Democrat in 2008 as an independent if Pelosi does not seek by July 23 to impeach Bush. That’s when Sheehan and her supporters are to arrive in Washington, D.C., after a 13-day caravan and walking tour starting next week from the group’s war protest site near Bush’s Crawford ranch.

Hmm. Does Cindy Sheepdogg realize that, if she wins Pelosi’s seat (which is a FAR CHANCE if any) she would not be Madam Speaker? She would be a junior member of the club, and most certainly would have to earn the respect of her colleagues. Cindy doesn’t have a chance. She’s lost all of the little amount of credibility she ever had.

I feel bad for the Sheep. She’s a crazy woman who needs help, and lots of it. She used the death of her son to gain attention; the left used Cindy as a mouthpiece for their agenda. She wrongly believes that the left will continue to support here now. Cindy has made the mistake of challenging one of the status quo-career gals. She will be abandoned and ignored. In all this, who remembers her son Casey? I guarantee you all it’s not Cindy; it’s not the left. Casey’s family- siblings and his father, remember him and are forever embarrassed by his mothers antics. It’s a shame.

So Live Earth went live over the weekend. How did it go?

The Live Earth concert promoted by former Vice President Al Gore received plenty of media coverage and hype, but most Americans tuned out. Just 22% said they followed news stories about the concert Somewhat or Very Closely. Seventy-five percent (75%) did not follow coverage of the event.

Doesn’t surprise me at all.

By way of comparison, eight-in-ten voters routinely said they were following news coverage of the recent Senate debate over immigration. Fifty-four percent (54%) said they followed news coverage of the President’s decision to commute Scooter Libby’s sentence.

Some things are more important to Americans.

Skepticism about the participants may have been a factor in creating this low level of interest. Most Americans (52%) believe the performers take part in such events because it is good for their image. Only 24% say the celebrities really believe in the cause while another 24% are not sure. One rock star who apparently shared that view is Matt Bellamy of the band Muse. Earlier in the week, he jokingly referred to Live Earth as “private jets for climate change.”

No duh. The performers were bland to put it nicely…boring, dull, yawn-evoking dorks who can’t seem to find their own voice without being attached to some political stand. Never mind that people view these baffoons as being spoiled brats who don’t live what they preach.

Only 34% believe that events like Live Earth actually help the cause they are intended to serve. Forty-one percent (41%) disagree. Those figures include 10% who believe the events are Very Helpful and 20% who say they are Not at All Helfpul. Adding to the skepticism, an earlier survey found that just 24% of Americans consider Al Gore an expert on Global Warming.

AlBore is NOT an expert. He’s a blow hard. And his association with Global Warming spews more jokes than anything else. After the jokes, people realize he’s just a politician. With an agenda.

It wasn’t just Americans who were bored and unimpressed with Live Earth either.

Organisers of the global music concert - punctuated by swearing from presenters and performers - had predicted massive viewing figures.

But BBC’s live afternoon television coverage attracted an average British audience of just 900,000.

In the evening, when coverage switched from BBC2 to BBC1, the figure rose to just 2.7 million.

And the peak audience, which came when Madonna sang at Wembley, was a dismal 4.5 million. Three times as many viewers saw the Princess Diana tribute on the same channel six days before.

Two years ago, Live 8 drew a peak television audience of 9.6million while Live Aid notched 10million in 1985.

The BBC blamed the poor figures on Saturday’s good weather and said its Wimbledon tennis coverage had drawn away afternoon viewers.

Critics said however that the public had simply snubbed what they saw as a hypocritical event.

Exactly. (Did I mention, too, that it’s BORING??)

More about the low attendance at many of the Live Earth events.

A more sinister prospect on Global Warming hacks that we should be concerned about- READ THIS.

Some Marine Corps porn for your reading pleasure.

Heh.

Not all members of Britain’s Parliament agree with dropping the use of the words, Muslim and War on Terror:

In responding to Smith’s words, Tory backbencher Philip Davies wondered, “What purpose is served by this? I don’t think we need pussyfoot around when talking about terrorism.” As one reader asked on the Daily Express’ Web site, “Well, if they aren’t Muslims, what the hell are they? They sure aren’t Methodists or Quakers.”

It is true that not all Muslims are terrorists, nor should all be under suspicion. It’s also true that, save for the occasional convert, most terrorists have been young Muslim males of Middle Eastern or Asian descent. To some, this is profiling. In police work, it’s called a description of the suspects.

Now, we read this news of a new threat here in America:

PHILADELPHIA — Two doctors accused of plotting last weekend’s failed terror bombings in London and Glasgow inquired about coming to the United States to continue their medical studies, the FBI confirmed Friday.

FBI spokeswoman Nancy O’Dowd confirmed a report in The Philadelphia Inquirer that the pair took preliminary steps to apply for graduate medical programs in the U.S.

This is the first suggestion that any of the suspected Islamic terrorists in Britain wanted to come to the United States.

One of the doctors was identified as Mohammed Jamil Asha, 26, a neurologist from Jordan who was arrested in a car on the M6 Highway near Manchester, England, with his wife and 1 1/2-year-old son after the failed attacks.

The Inquirer could not determine the identity of the second doctor.

SO if we don’t profile, or even consider the nation these student doctors are coming from, how can we defend against a potential attack? Is watching and tracking young men of middle eastern decent SUCH a bad thing? I don’t think so. This War on Terror is not something we can describe as anything else; we can’t be politically correct about it. Too much is at stake. Britain can go soft and she will pay the price, but America is stronger than that.

Yawn.

Don’t these people have anything better to do? Guess not…

THEY will come from the highest ranks of the pop aristocracy tomorrow, filling stages on seven continents. As part of Live Earth, a planetwide series of concerts meant to encourage all people to live, consume and vote eco-responsibly, they will use their fame to persuade a global audience that climate change is not only an urgent problem but one they can help solve. Madonna. The Police. The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Dave Matthews, Bon Jovi, Kanye West, Metallica. And Nunatak.

I would LOVE to see how these filthy rich elites actually live: Are they truly green or are they just gas passing humans like the rest of us? Are they all going to tour together on one big happy jet plane, or does each band have it’s own private affair going on?

Even for the superstars playing Live Earth — which begins in Sydney, Australia, at 10 Eastern time tonight (noon Saturday in Sydney) and proceeds westward to Japan, China, Germany, Britain, South Africa and Brazil, ending tomorrow at Giants Stadium — the size of the crowd will be especially huge. Organizers of the concerts, boasting an elaborate “media architecture” of television, satellite radio and Internet broadcasts throughout the world, say they expect to reach two billion people.

I am willing to bet less than two million people will care enough to watch, attend, go online to hear, this foolishness.

To announce intentions to change the world is to invite criticism, and Live Earth has already been hit by a predictable series of analytical arrows. Environmental bloggers questioned the need for big, energy-gorging concerts. News reports pointed out that performers would be making trips around the world in exhaust-spewing jets, and that some of them (Kanye West, Sheryl Crow) have songs in S.U.V. commercials.

Heh. This is putting politely. These elite folk of the world have little to no intention of changing their personal lifestyles and habits, THAT we can guarantee.

There are things we can do and many of us are doing, to keep our planet clean. But these freaks take it one step beyond this. They’re asking us to change our way of living- on the junk science and fear mongering of global warming.

I believe that Global Warming theories have created a market for products and services- many are expensive and trendy to say the least.Live Earth stands to make a ton of cold but green cash from these concerts and other things. It would be nice to see the rich and famous become true spokespersons for these causes. Instead we hear them roar about the dying planet, and then see them live in planet-resource depleting luxury and it sends the wrong message. Global warming hypocrites.

Global warming. The scandal is forcing entire nations to do away with their national treasures- in this case, Sweden, and Volvo and Saab.

DANDERYD, Sweden — Perhaps more than most Europeans, Swedes have a love affair with big cozy cars.

And with good reason: Volvo and Saab, two of the world’s best-known brands for comfort and safety, are made right in their own backyard.

And a good many Swedes work at the factories that make these vehicles.

But as concern about global warming ripples across this country, the average Swede’s relationship with comfortable — and highly polluting — cars is becoming strained.

The most recent available European Union statistics show that Sweden has the highest-pollution-emitting cars in Western Europe. Many of those happen to be Volvos and Saabs, which tend to be roomy, high-horsepower models that emit a high count of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas.

In 2004, when the average new car in the 15 countries that belonged to the European Union at the time spewed out 163 grams of carbon dioxide a kilometer, the equivalent number in Sweden was 196. According to a study by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the biggest cars in all of Sweden are found here in Danderyd, a wealthy municipality with average emissions of 211 grams a kilometer.

Ahh…when the EU publishes it’s own stats, everyone must listen and trust the information. Does anyone dare question these stats? Of course not. The peasants have no right to do so.

The task was given new urgency in February when the European Commission proposed limiting emissions from new passenger cars to 120 grams of carbon dioxide a kilometer, or 6.8 ounces a mile, by 2012. And it is forcing Swedes to weigh a delicate trade-off between support for their cherished automakers and the nation’s rapidly greening attitude in which a fourth of their energy in 2003 came from renewable sources.

New urgency? Junk science is changing the way nations do everything.

Because Saab and Volvo make up a crucial part of the Swedish economy, the government — like others in the European Union — provides indirect support. The tax code is structured so that company employees receive the maximum tax benefit for driving big new Volvos and Saabs.

“The tax system is tailor-made for these national treasures,” Mr. Falkemark said. The result is that almost half of all new cars sold in Sweden are sold to companies — and half of these are Volvos and Saabs.

So what happens in a nation where government can force a business to change it’s product?

“This is where some of the biggest cuts will have to be made,” said Jos Dings, the director of the European Federation for Transport and Environment in Brussels, referring to government support for Saab and Volvo. “In the U.K., company cars are more fuel-efficient than private cars, instead of the other way around, because the tax system encourages fuel efficiency rather than size.”

The government takes away customers and levies huge taxes. Governments bully private industry…

Saab and Volvo are working on making more fuel efficient vehicles but the pace isn’t “fast” enough, according to the enviro freaks. They’re saying these things:

…the planet cannot wait that long and that Swedes need to learn to drive less comfortably.

And the latest tactic to find it’s way into this foolish debate? Shaming the peasants.

“As global warming becomes more evident,” said Mr. Maberg, the retired Volvo owner, “it will get more and more embarrassing to drive around in a big and heavy car like this.”

When will the peasants demand more information? Will they ever question the stats that are forcing all these changes? Do they except, wholesale, the arguments presented to them in this? Are they citizens or lemmings?

A week from today the Senate will open up the day of business with a Hindu Prayer, for the first time in history.

A Northern Nevada chaplain plans to travel to Washington, D.C., next month to give what is believed to be the first Hindu prayer read at the U.S. Senate since it was formed in 1789.

Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain in Reno, applied to the Senate chaplain’s office earlier this year for permission to give the morning prayer that opens Senate business each day. He received word this week he’s been approved for the job July 12.

“It is an honor for me and for Nevada and for Hindus everywhere,” Zed said in an interview.

The ACLU doesn’t care about this?

Koed said the Senate has kept track of the first prayers given by certain people, including the first woman and first African American. But she said there have been thousands of prayers given over the years and the chaplain’s office has not recorded all of them.

The Senate chaplain usually gives the prayer, but guests frequently step in to do the job.

Zed, spokesman for the India Association of Northern Nevada, decided to inquire about the possibility of giving the prayer after he became the first to read a Hindu prayer to the Nevada State Assembly on March 19 and then the Nevada Senate on May 7.

Zed, who also teaches classes at Truckee Meadows Community College on Hinduism and Hindu gods and goddesses, said he likely will include references to ancient Hindu scriptures, including Rig Veda, Upanishards and Bhagavard-Gita.

I find this odd. Religion is welcomed in the House so long as it’s not Judea-Christian religion.

Many are pushing to have all references to God removed from our currency and the phrase, “One nation, under God” removed from the Pledge. Battles about 10 Commandment plaques have taken up a huge portion of the ACLU’s time and effort.

Will we be hearing low tone, long winded “OMMMMMMM’s” next week? Will we witness our Senators sitting on their butts indian style, each arm up in the air with their index fingers clasped to their thumbs as well?? What a sight it would be…picture Nancy (Cruella) DeVille and Harry Reid in that pose…

Many US Flags are made in China and Mexico. That’s a shame. Some states are going to change this, and I think it’s a patriotic thing to do.

ROSEMOUNT, Minn. — At American Legion Post 65, visitors can drop off worn U.S. flags knowing they’ll be disposed of with the proper respect. On their way out, they can buy a new 3-by-5 flag for $20 or a 4-by-6-footer for $30.

Made in America, of course.

“That’s our flag. It belongs here in the United States; it should be made in the United States,” Air Force veteran Bob Racette said while fingering a flag in a corner of the legion hall bar.

By year’s end, a new law will require every Old Glory sold in Minnesota stores to be American made. It’s the latest and strongest attempt by states to stem imports of foreign-made U.S. flags.

In Arizona, schools and public colleges were required starting July 1 to outfit every classroom from junior high up with a made-in-the-USA flag. Tennessee requires all U.S. flags bought via state contract to be made here, and similar bills are moving forward in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

And this not so surprising fact:

The U.S. Census bureau estimates that $5.3 million worth of U.S. flags were imported from other countries in 2006, mostly from China. That figure has been steady over the past few years. The big exception was in 2001 when $51.7 million in U.S. flags were brought into the country, most on the heels of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Does the job of making an American flag qualify as one of those jobs an American won’t do?

Some good news though:

Sandy Van Leiu, chairman of the Flag Manufacturers Association of America, said the imports are cause for concern even though U.S. companies still dominate the flag market.

“That door is going to keep opening,” said Van Leiu, a sixth-generation executive at the family-owned Annin & Co., a 160-year-old business that supplies retailers like Wal-Mart. “It starts small, then it gets big. You’re just opening Pandora’s box.”

To help consumers identify the origin of their flags, the association created a certification program two years ago that bestows a seal-of-approval logo to flags made with domestic fibers and labor.

Look for the seal of approval for your next American flag purchase.

Of course some people point out the legal problems and international trade issues:

Whether Minnesota’s law violates international trade agreements — and whether anything would be done about it — is an open question.

Under World Trade Organization standards, the U.S. government can’t treat foreign products less favorably than those produced within its boundaries, said Peter Morici, a business professor at the University of Maryland and the former chief economist for the U.S. International Trade Commission. How the rules apply to states is debatable, he said.

Morici said a foreign business harmed by the law would have to get its government to take action against the U.S. government. Robert Litan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, said while the likelihood of Minnesota’s law sparking a dispute is slim the symbolic message is hard to miss.

“It’s symptomatic of an anti-foreign bias moving through the country right now. It would not surprise me if other states copied it,” Litan said. “It’s hard to oppose politically.”

I think there would be an uproar if our country was taken to legal task over this. Indeed I would stand up and make some noise.
Wrapped in my American flag of course, that was made in the USA.

Others have a different perspective:

“That flag should be made throughout the world because it is our message to the world that there is hope for freedom and justice,” Republican Rep. Dan Severson said at the time.

I never would have considered this aspect.

I make sure my flags are made in America and so should everyone else in my opinion. My daughters have flags from other countries they have visited and to be sure, these were all made in said countries. It’s the right thing to do- and it might help keep some Americans working.