You just knew it was coming

Chavez: Venezuela Studying Nuclear Program

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Monday that his government is carrying out initial studies into starting a nuclear energy program.

Chavez brought up the issue during a news conference, saying the South American country needs an atomic energy program.

"We're taking on the project of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and they aren't going to stop us," Chavez said. "We need it and we're carrying out the first studies."

Chavez is a close ally of Iran and has defended the Iranian nuclear program, saying he is sure Iran is not making atomic weapons in spite of U.S. and European suspicions.

He has mentioned plans for an atomic energy program previously. It remains unclear how quickly he intends to pursue the program.

Chavez brought up the issue while referring to the case of a physicist and his wife in New Mexico who are accused by U.S. authorities of offering to help develop a nuclear weapon in contacts with an undercover U.S. agent posing as a representative of the Venezuelan government.

"They detained some scientist professors, I think Argentines, and then I was ready to respond when I saw that a government spokesman came out there saying that no, no, there is no evidence," Chavez said.

The U.S. government is not alleging Venezuela or anyone working for it sought U.S. secrets in the case.

Chavez brought up the case as an example of some of the claims his leftist government has to contend with.

"They invent so many things," he said. "The fact they say there is no evidence doesn't mean they aren't going to find it tomorrow, or fabricate it ... that Venezuela is making an atomic bomb."

He called that idea preposterous, saying: "Who in Venezuela could take on a project of that type? Who? We aren't going to take it on."

You just knew it was coming

The Dream Act

Maybe the title should have been...How to create 12 million Democrats out of thin air.

This is just another liberal...."I got my foot in the door move"...if ever I saw one!

  What this amounts to is a last ditch pathetic attempt at granting illegals amnesty before this worthless scumbag and his cohorts are thrown out of office in November.

Reid Adding Amnesty Measure to Defense Bill

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he wants to attach an amendment to a defense policy bill that would help young people in the United States illegally become legal U.S. residents.

The Nevada Democrat said at a Capitol news conference that the legislation known as the DREAM Act is long overdue. He would not say whether he has the votes for the amendment. The act would allow young people who attend college or join the military to become legal U.S. residents.

The young people must have come to the country when they were under 16 years of age and have been in the country five years. Those who join the military must serve at least two years and complete two years of college.

Democrats have also promised gay rights groups an end to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy" that bars gays from serving openly in the military. That is in the bill that Reid said he will try to take up next week.

Republicans oppose both measures.

Asked whether he had the votes for the DREAM Act, Reid responded: "I sure hope so."

President Barack Obama has been under fire in the immigrant and Hispanic communities because Congress has failed to move an immigration reform bill despite his promise to deal with the issue in his first year in the Oval Office.

Some critics say Democrats' end-of-the-year push on immigration reform is a political move. Reid is facing a tough re-election challenge from tea party favorite Sharron Angle, who supports tougher immigration laws. Hispanics make up a quarter of Nevada's population.

A spokesman for the Nevada Republican Party declared Reid's announcement a campaign stunt.

"Nevada voters will overwhelmingly reject these desperate political parlor games that could only come from a 28-year establishment Democrat seeking a fifth term in the U.S. Senate," Jahan Wilcox said in a statement.

Reid blamed Republicans for the inability to pass a sweeping immigration reform bill.

"I've tried to. I've tried so very, very hard, but those Republicans we've had in the last Congress (who backed immigration reform) have left us," he said.

Minutes before Reid announced his plans, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell described the defense policy bill as "needlessly controversial" because of the inclusion of the "don't ask, don't tell" measure and plans to add the DREAM Act.

"I can't tell you right now how easy it will be to move forward with that bill," said McConnell.

The Dream Act

Events Mark 9th anniversary of Sept. 11 Amid Storm of Controversy

It's been nine long years and this son-of-a-bitch is still alive.

I want this bastard dead but not from natural causes.

For me... We Will Never Forget...  means a hell of a lot more then just a "catchy" phrase.

A day of mourning for nearly 3,000 Sept. 11 victims began with moments of silence and tears at the World Trade Center site in New York City to mark the time terrorists began their attack on America nine years ago.

But hanging over the ceremonies, politics threatens to overshadow the day of mourning for victims of the attacks amid a polarizing national debate over a mosque planned blocks from the World Trade Center site.

Chants of thousands of sign-waving protesters both for and against the Islamic center were expected after an annual observance normally known for a sad litany of families reading names of loved ones lost in the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Speaking at "hallowed ground" at the Pentagon, President Barack Obama alluded to the controversy over the mosque in Lower Manhattan. Obama made it clear that the U.S. is not at war with Islam and called the Al Qaeda attackers as "a sorry band of men" who perverted religion.

"We will not give in to their hatred," Obama said. "As Americans, we will not or ever be at war with Islam."

Family members gathering at observances in New York and Pennsylvania brought flowers, pictures of loved ones and American flags, but no signs of opposition or support for the mosque. Reading victims' names at ground zero in New York, they urged a restrained tone.

"Let today never, ever be a national holiday. Let it not be a celebration," said Karen Carroll, who lost her brother, firefighter Thomas Kuveikis. "It's a day to be somber; it's a day to reflect on all those thousands of people that died for us in the United States."

Standing before microphones, stifling sobs, some family members who read names sought to emphasize sentiments on all sides of the mosque argument.

Some -- including Nadine DeGrange, whose uncle, Frank Wisniewski, 54, was killed -- stressed that ground zero is hallowed.

"I come here every year because this is the only burial ground I know. And I pray to God it remains sacred," she said.

Others sought to embrace unity and a spirit of reaching out, which is what the developers of the Islamic center have said is their goal.

"May we share your courage as we build bridges with other people to prevent this from happening again and to preserve human dignity for all," said Robert Ferris, saluting the dozens of building workers who joined families in reading names.

Ferris lost his father, who worked at Aon Corp.

Bagpipes and drums played to open the ceremony, followed by brief comments by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"Once again we meet to commemorate the day we have come to call 9/11. We have returned to this sacred site to join our hearts together, the names of those we loved and lost," Bloomberg said. "No other public tragedy has cut our city so deeply. No other place is as filled with our compassion, our love and our solidarity."

Moments of silence were held to mark the times the hijacked jetliners hit the north and south towers of the World Trade Center, as well as the times the towers collapsed. President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attended separate services at the Pentagon in Washington and a rural field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The mosque debate pits advocates of religious freedom against critics who say putting an Islamic center so close to ground zero disrespects the dead. While the rallies planned in New York embroiled victims' family members in a feud over whether to play politics, a threat to burn copies of the Koran was apparently called off.

John Bolton, who was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, was expected to send a videotaped message of support to the anti-mosque rally, as was conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart. Anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who advocates banning the Quran and taxing Muslim women who wear head scarves, planned to address the crowd in person, along with a handful of Republican congressional candidates who have made opposition to the mosque a centerpiece of their campaigns.

Muslim prayer services are normally held at the site, but it was padlocked Friday and closed Saturday, the official end of the holy month of Ramadan. Police planned 24-hour patrols until next week. Worshippers on Friday were redirected to a different prayer room 10 blocks away.

In Shanksville, Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush spoke to hundreds of people gathered at a memorial service for the 40 victims of Flight 93, which crashed about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Pittsburgh.

Flight 93 was en route from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijackers seized control. But passengers fought back and the hijackers responded by crashing the plane.

Vice President Joe Biden spoke at the New York ceremony, where 2,752 people were killed when two jetliners flew into the trade center. Bells tolled to mark the times that each tower collapsed.

Meanwhile, as New York City and the nation brace to remember the attacks, those most affected say they feel more isolated and frustrated than ever.

"One of the nice things about 9/11 had always been the sense of unity that you felt with the rest of the country," said Mary-Ellen Salamone, an Essex County, N.J., mother of three who lost her husband on 9/11. "You could look back and see that out of the ashes of all the trauma and the horror there were some good things that were coming out of it. Unfortunately, this year that is not the case."

"This year, the tenor of the day is very volatile and actually almost harder to take because of that," she added.

Some said they expect to observe the anniversary in a new way, like Sally Regenhard, vice-chair of 9/11 Parents and Families of Firefighters & World Trade Center Victims. After attending the ceremony at Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, the Yonkers, N.Y., resident, who lost her son, a firefighter, in the attacks, said she will attend the Stop Islamization of America rally in front of the site of the proposed Islamic community center and mosque known as Park51.

"We're hurt," said Regenhard. "This is the worst anniversary and the worst pain that I and my family have experienced since 9/11. We are a wounded group of people who were victimized nine years ago, and instead of having concern and consideration for this, we were vilified because we didn't support a project that was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that I feel is going to be built for the wrong reasons."

But many families express mixed opinions and say they're trying to stay out of the fray, even leaving the city to mark a day they say is best spent in private. "Do I feel that in terms of the Constitution they have a right to do this?" said Diane Horning of Scotch Plains, N.J., whose son died in the attacks. "I do. But I don't think it was sensitive. Yes, they have a right to build this but I don't think it was the right move."

But instead of attending the New York memorial, Ms. Horning is going to Virginia to be with her daughter, son-in-law and their baby to remember her son. "We'll go there for some kind of connection and peace, because it's certainly not in New York," she said. "And if there are demonstrations in New York, it will be that much more agitating and that much more attention will be taken away from the issues that we should be addressing."

The Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal contributed to this report.

Click here to read more from The Wall Street Journal

Events Mark 9th anniversary of Sept. 11 Amid Storm of Controversy

Mexico Lashes Out at U.S. Immigration Practices

Mexico has virtually been taken over by the drug cartels.

 Yet Calderon criticizes the US when his own country is faced with 28,000 drug related deaths over the past 5 years. I'm sure that far exceeds the number of "migrants" shot at the border.

Perhaps he should take the advice of the El Salvador president highlighted in red below.

MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in an interview Friday that last month’s massacre of 72 migrants doesn't undermine Mexico's moral authority to demand better treatment for its own migrants.

"Of course we have the moral authority, because Mexican officials are not shooting Central American youths at the border, but U.S. agents are shooting Mexican migrants," Calderon said in an interview with the Spanish-language Univision network.



His next statement is truly unbelievable!

"If we are talking about responsibility, at the root of this, in the case of immigration, is the lack of immigration legislation in the United States that would recognize this phenomenon," Calderon said.


Responsibility!!!
He points his finger at everybody but himself. Isn't it... his job ...to clean up the drug cartels and provide jobs for his own people? 

The massacred migrants, most from Central America, were attempting to cross Mexico to reach the U.S. border when they were kidnapped by what is believed to be a group of gunmen from Mexico’s Zeta drug cartel, according to a man who survived the massacre.

In a joint meeting with Calderon, President Mauricio Funes of El Salvador said that the home nations of migrants bear some of the responsibility for immigration problems.

"In part, the greatest responsibility lies with our governments, the Salvadoran government, for not having generated the employment conditions, the welfare conditions, that doesn't leave our migrants any choice but to look for other opportunities in the United States and Canada."

Thirteen Salvadorans were among the dead identified so far in the massacre in late August.

Funes also said, however, that he doesn't blame Mexico's government for the massacre, and called for a joint effort to fight drug cartels.

"We have come to have a conversation with the president of Mexico, not to condemn him or criticize him," Funes said. "Rather the opposite, to show him our support and offer our help in this fight."

Funes said the two countries formed a high-level working group to develop joint strategies for combating the drug gangs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Mexico Lashes Out at U.S. Immigration Practices

Waiter.... to real estate mogul paid cash for GZ Mosque!

Lt. Columbo would have seen through this in the first few minutes. Then again he had a brain.

MYFOXNY.COM – by CHARLES LEAF: While Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf has dominated headlines about the proposed cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero in lower Manhattan, developer Sharif el-Gamal, 37, is actually the central figure behind the project.

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If he has nothing to hide why can't he answer some simple straightforward questions? Why is it we have to have tolerance... but he can't "tolerate" a simple question?

Yet just a few years ago, el-Gamal was waiting tables in some fancy Manhattan restaurant.

 Had to get some big fu----- tips. Must be a line at that restaurant a mile long to put in an application!

Obama became the spokesperson for Islam and advocated building a mosque at GZ. He was to stupid to see the political fallout because he's completely out of touch with the pulse of America. Once it sunk in he wound up backpedalling on the Mosque.

Bloomberg came right out and said..."He doesn't care where the money comes from to build the mosque." The liberal elite in NY ask..."if it were a Christian church would you even be asking where the money was coming from to build it?"

They are absolutely right we wouldn't be asking that question. Why? Because Christians didn't  fly 767's into the twin towers....MUSLIMS DID!

To his credit Patterson tried to get the project moved to another location. But he quickly folded. 

Between these three fools, collectively, an eyebrow wasn't even lifted. Blindly they decided to embark on a journey to no-man's land. Between Rauf and el-Gamal they don't see enough here to raise suspicion? Patterson is the only one legally blind. Really...? So are the other two. You don't have to have eyes to know a train's coming.

Naturally, we wanted to talk to Sharif el-Gamal to learn more about the man and his plans, but apparently he didn't want to meet us. We made repeated requests for a sit down interview with him, left him multiple voice mail messages and he never returned any of our calls. We even went to his office and talked to colleagues, but we were turned away. He left us with no choice: We had to go find him.

El-Gamal is an American Muslim reportedly born to a Polish mother and an Egyptian father. He was raised in Brooklyn.

Today, el-Gamal's company, Soho Properties, owns the building where arguably the most controversial mosque in the world will be built. He bought the old Burlington Coat Factory building at 45 Park Place, two blocks from the World Trade Center site, for $4.8 million in cash in 2009.

We asked him where he got the money to put down on the property, but he stayed silent when we approached him.

Again how do you go from waiter to paying $4.8 million in cash?  

And that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg!

His newfound notoriety was an extraordinary leap from his not-too-distant days as a waiter at Serafina, a trendy Upper East Side eatery, and at Michael's, an upscale celebrity-filled restaurant packed with a veritable who's who in media.

El-Gamal's former restaurant bosses and co-workers told Fox 5 that the young and opportunistic el-Gamal thrived on the buzz from bumping elbows with marquee names and relished the opportunity to schmooze the high dollar clientele.

"Customers would come in and ask for him, he had his regulars," said Cosmo Sammarone, a Serafina waiter.

El-Gamal left Serafina in 2002 and started selling real estate. But in just a year, he went from broker to business owner and launched his own real estate company, Soho Properties, in 2003. Records show he is the president and chief executive officer.

A long-time associate of his says el-Gamal isn't quite who he seems to be. The associate asked Fox 5 to protect his identity because he fears retribution.

"I was pretty much in shock when I saw him on the news as the developer," the associate said. "What I can say about Sharif is nothing good.

He said el-Gamal liked living in the fast lane, meeting celebrities in the restaurants were he worked, and partying with them at nightclubs.

"Very persuasive, master manipulator," he said of el-Gamal.

Today, el-Gamal's holdings included at least four buildings in Manhattan, including the site near Ground Zero, one in Chelsea, and two residential buildings in Washington Heights, where tenants seem to like him.

Records show el-Gamal bought the Washington Heights properties in 2007 for a little less than $3 million each.

Ken Brandman, president of N.Y. Commercial Real Estate Services, knows el-Gamal well. He, too, was a bit surprised to hear el-Gamal is the developer in the mosque near Ground Zero.

"I don't think he has a lot of money," Brandman said. "I'm sure he didn't buy it with his own money."

Soho Properties bought the site for the mosque for $4.8 million in cash. Just four months later, with Manhattan's real estate market collapsed, el-Gamal made an even bigger deal.

With credit super tight, and prices plummeting, he paid $45 million for a 12-story commercial building in Chelsea that sold three years earlier for $31 million.

"It seems like a lot of pay in a downturn, considering it went for considerably less during the boom," said Stuart Elliott, the editor of Real Deal magazine.

El-Gamal, the waiter turned mogul, plunked down another $5 million as down payment on the Chelsea building.

"Something's up with that deal," Ken Brandman said. "Unless someone gave him a lot of money, or he won the lottery, than somebody else put up the money."

Fox 5 News has learned that el-Gamal did have help from a man named Hisham Elzanaty. Mortgage documents show that Elzanaty is the guarantor on the $39 million loan el-Gamal's company secured to buy the building.

Who is  Hisham Elzanaty?

We repeatedly asked El-Gamal where he raised the money, where it was coming from, but he refused to answer our questions and run from us. He also did not answer the question of whether he would consider relocating the mosque


Sharif El-Gamal has a history of at least seven run-ins with the law, including a 1994 bust for patronizing a prostitute.

Years before his latest real-estate project ignited an uproar, Sharif El-Gamal racked up at least seven run-ins with the law, including a bust for patronizing a prostitute.

"I regret many things that I did in my youth. I have not always led a perfect life," El-Gamal, 37, said in a statement to the Daily News.

His most recent arrest was for a Sept. 10, 2005, assault on a barber who sublet a Manhattan apartment from El-Gamal's brother, Sammy.

The brothers and another man went to the apartment that afternoon to retrieve back rent from Mark Vassiliev, criminal and civil court records show.

El-Gamal allegedly cursed at Vassiliev, called him the Arabic curse word "sharmouta" and punched him in the face, breaking his nose and cheekbones.

When he was arrested, El-Gamal denied he socked Vassiliev, but conceded, "[Vassiliev's] face could have run into my hand," court papers say.

"I am in real estate. I'm rich. Why would I do this? Why would I jeopardize my career? I'm not a thug," he told cops.

He was charged with misdemeanor assault and harassment. Charges were dropped in 2007 after Vassiliev sued.

El-Gamal eventually settled the civil case for $15,000 - and the 2008 negotiations provided a glimpse into his finances.

Vassiliev's lawyer, Erik L. Gray, said there was no indication El-Gamal had assets beyond a $1.1 million upper West Side pad he owned with his wife.

Even after El-Gamal inked the deal, he was slow to pay and the matter ended up in mediation - where his lawyer, Marshall Isaacs, told Gray there were money problems.

"He had told me [El-Gamal] was struggling financially and was having trouble coming up with the payment," Gray said. "It was based on the fact that he was in real estate and the real estate market was depressed."

El-Gamal agreed to fork over $1,360 in interest and fees but paid up in installments, Gray said.

If his 2008 cries of poverty were genuine, El-Gamal experienced a dramatic reversal of fortune a year later, scoring a $39 million mortgage to buy a W. 27th St. commercial building.

In a deposition for the Vassiliev suit, El-Gamal testified he worked as a waiter from 1997 to 2001 when he "moved onto greener pastures."

The son of a bank executive, El-Gamal has said he turned to Islam after 9/11 and that his religious awakening followed a troubled youth.

[he turned to Islam after 9/11 and that his religious awakening followed a troubled youth] 

How would you interpret this remark?....My country was attacked by Muslims so I decided to become a Muslim......Interesting??


Was that your reaction after 911?

He pleaded guilty in 1994, 1998 and 1999 to disorderly conduct in Manhattan.

He also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in 1990, DWI in 1992 and attempted petit larceny in 1993, Nassau County prosecutors said.

Details were unavailable, but a source confirmed a 1994 arrest for patronizing a prostitute.

El-Gamal says he's a different man now.

"My faith teaches me every day about humility. I have been humbled by my imperfections. But my faith also teaches me about forgiveness," he said in the statement.

"While I might not be proud of some of my actions in the past, I am extremely proud of the Park51 project and what it will mean to thousands of New Yorkers of all faiths and denominations who live in Lower Manhattan."

There's more

Canadian Muslim Claims Shady GZ Mosque Developer Sharif El Gamal Threatened Her

Does Obama and the "leaders" in NY know what is going on in this guy's head? Do they even care?

According to Raheel Raza, a founding member of the Muslim Canadian Congress, who recently argued in an oped and on the O’Reilly Factor that the GZ mosque is “a deliberate provocation”.

http://hemingwayreport.blogspot.com/2010/08/finally-one-brave-muslim-steps-up-to.html#links

Last week, Raza and a Canadian 9/11 widow attended a meeting about the mosque in New York City.

“They were very arrogant. They didn’t answer questions,” Raza told QMI Agency.

The meeting was hosted by Daisy Khan, the wife of the imam promoting the mosque and Sharif El Gamal, the man whose property firm owns the land the mosque is to be built on.

Raza says she asked questions about who was financing the building, estimated to cost $100 million, and whether any of the money would come from countries other than the U.S.

There has been speculation that the mosque is being funded through Saudi Arabian sources, but at the Manhattan meeting Raza said there were no answers.

On Monday, back in Toronto, Raza says she received a call from a man who identified himself as Sharif El Gamal. “His tone was intimidating,” said Raza. “He accused me of ‘jumping into’ the meeting he called and then said ‘May Allah protect you.’ I was shocked and hung up.”

Raza says El Gamal’s tone was threatening and she took the phone call as a clear threat against her and not as some claim, a casual phrase meaning goodbye.

“Why would I need Allah’s protection?” asked Raza.

El Gamal told the Niagara Falls Review on their second attempt at an interview that “there was no phone call made by anybody” before again hanging up.

Raza insists there was a call, “I saved the number on my cell.” The number on Raza’s cellphone matches that of El Gamal’s Soho Properties offices in New York.

If we don't wake up soon, we are going to "politically correct" ourselves right out of our own country!

Waiter.... to real estate mogul paid cash for GZ Mosque!