Shelia Jackson Lee Gets It Right—Carry The Constitution With You At All Times

Above is Houston-area Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee.

Rep. Jackson Lee is known for her knack for finding the camera.

Rep. Jackson Lee also has a consistently liberal voting record that serves her district and all people of Texas well.

The picture shows Rep. Jackson Lee at the Muslim-bashing House hearings held earlier this month by Republican Rep. Peter King. She is holding a copy of our United States Constitution.

Mr. King represents folks on Long Island. He chairs the so-called Homeland Security committee of the House. Mr. King held these hearings to “investigate” Muslim involvement in domestic terror.

Mr. King discussed no other group in these hearings. Just Muslims.

Are Muslims the only folks capable  of engaging in terrorist acts?

No.

Rep. King should know this because he was long an active supporter of the violence-loving Irish Republican Army.

In strong contrast to Rep. King’s un-American singling out of one group of citizens, was Ms. Jackson Lee ‘s bringing the United States Constitution to the proceedings.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I advocate bringing a copy of the Constitution with you everywhere you go.

You never know when you have to argue for an expansive interpretation of the Constitution that allows for a wide range of government actions on behalf of the public.

Our government of the people has the right to act as a counterweight to the influence of big money, and other powerful but narrow influences.

Our government of the people has the obligation to expand the rights of citizens to meet the needs of the times.

The strongest arguments for this wide view of opportunity are the promises of freedom written into our founding documents.

Ms. Jackson Lee brought her Constitution to this shameful hearing and spoke of freedom for all.

At least that is what I imagine she was saying. I had the sound off on the television for most of her remarks.

I think I was reading a book at the time. I can’t stand all that talk in these hearings.

We’ve let the political right claim ownership of the flag, and the Boston Tea Party, and the Constitution.

The freedom of all people is a progressive cause.

Put a flag sticker on your car with your liberal/progressive bumper sticker. Invoke the founding fathers to support your views. Read up on American history and tell people the facts when they get it wrong.

As they work day- and-night to screw-up the future, don’t let conservatives also mangle our past.

New York City Mosque Near World Trade Center Should Proceed

Plans for a mosque to be built near the former World Trade Center are moving ahead.

People are calling this the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque.”

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 9-0 to allow the mosque to go ahead.

Here is the home page of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Either we have freedom in this country or we do not.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg got it right.

Here is what Mayor said said about the mosque as reported in the first story I link to in this post—

“With the Statue of Liberty as his backdrop, the mayor pleaded with New Yorkers to reject suspicions about the planned 13-story complex, to be located two blocks north of the World Trade Center site, saying that “we would betray our values if we treated Muslims differently than anyone else.” “To cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists — and we should not stand for that,” the mayor said. Grappling with one of the more delicate aspects of the debate, Mr. Bloomberg said that the families of Sept. 11 victims — some of whom have vocally opposed the project — should welcome it. “The attack was an act of war — and our first responders defended not only our city but also our country and our Constitution,” he said, becoming slightly choked up at one point in his speech, which he delivered on Governors Island. “We do not honor their lives by denying the very constitutional rights they died protecting. We honor their lives by defending those rights — and the freedoms the terrorists attacked.”

The 9/11 attacks were not an attack on a building. They were an assault on our values. A building can fall down in a way beyond our control. Our values will collapse only if we allow them to collapse.

While it is understandable that this mosque makes some people angry, I stand with Mayor Bloomberg in favor of the great American values of full inclusion and freedom of religion.

Minarets Allowed At This Blog—Muslims Should Send Me Tourist Dollars They Would Have Otherwise Spent In Switzerland

Voters is Switzerland have banned mosques in that country from having minarets.

Here is a story on this matter from The Irish Times.

Here is what a minaret is—“Minarets (Turkish: minare, from Arabic manāra (lighthouse) منارة, usually مئذنة) are distinctive architectural features of Islamic mosques. Minarets are generally tall spires with onion-shaped or conical crowns, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure.”

I guess voters in Switzerland have not learned from the historical example of other European nations full of white folks that directed restrictive laws at adherents of a specific religion.

Unlike what we now have in Switzerland, minarets are permitted on this blog.

Above you see the minaret from the Uryanizade Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. It is sticking out from behind the building on the left-hand side of the picture.

All people are welcome at Texas Liberal.

Muslims—Please send your tourist dollars here rather than spending them where you are not wanted in Switzerland. E-mail me and I’ll direct you where to send the money.

This was a terrible vote in Switzerland. The great majority of Islamic people are no better or worse than any other people. They should be allowed to go about their lawful affairs without unjust restriction.

Most Muslims Want No Trouble—It Is The Simplest Stuff That Needs To Be Repeated Most Often

An Islamic person is the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood massacre earlier this week.

There is a mosque that has connections to Houston that is under federal investigation for links to Iran—but nothing yet has been established as certain.

Muslim individauls are seen by many in our nation as guilty by defintion for acts of terrorism.

But the fact is that there are hundreds of millions of Muslims in the world, and very few of them want trouble.

They want satellite television and Coca-Cola and porn and soccer and they want their kids to be able to come to America and get high SAT math scores.

It is possible that many Muslims could be complicent by silence to bad acts. Though this is a charge that could be brought against people all around the world.

It is often the simplest stuff that needs to be repeated the most.

Even decent people can fall into a mental habit of seeing people for something other than what they truly are in life.

There are hundreds of millions of Muslim folks in the world and very few of them want any trouble.

Islam School Flap—Maybe Not Everybody In Friendswood Is Lousy

Recently the principal of Friendswood Junior High School, here in the Houston area, held an assembly where a local Muslim group explained the central tenets of Islam.

This was in response to an incident of harassment against Muslim students.

The Friendswood school board reassigned this principal after parents complained. The controversy was whipped up by a local “Christian”  group and by talk radio.

After this, it was easy to condemn the people of the Friendswood school district as intolerant.

No doubt many of these folks are, in fact, intolerant.    

However, at a school board hearing after the trouble, the majority of speakers stood up for the principal.

It’s often the few that get the attention. And it’s not hard to see the school board as less than a Profile In Courage.  

I’ve reading a biography of Mark Twain.

Twain once met Frederick Douglass. Douglass told Twain how his daughter had been kicked out of a school in Rochester, New York after parents complained about a black child being enrolled the school.

Douglass insisted that the kids be allowed to vote on if the girl should be allowed to remain. Not one student voted to expel the girl.

I’ve no way of knowing for sure, but I bet the great majority of students in Freindswood were not offended to learn about Islam.  

Sometimes it seems that a job of parents is to make sure their kids acquire the same fears and prejudices they were left with by their parents.    

In any case, some of the good people in Friendswood did speak up. And I believe many young people in this country grasp that a new day of greater acceptance of others is ahead.

Above is “Woman With A spray Of Flowers.” This is Islamic art from 16th century Iran.

I’m So Damned Glad The Next President Will Be A Black Person Named Barack Hussein Obama

Above you see Meghan McCain, John McCain’s daughter, wearing a terror scarf.

The scarf is like those worn by Middle Eastern terrorists.

At least that’s what some say after seeing Rachel Ray wear a scarf in a Dunkin’ Donuts ad.  

Meghan McCain’s father goes around saying that people who do not feel as he does about Iraq want to “surrender” to terrorists.      

Mr. McCain thinks my father, who fought Communists in the freezing cold in Korea, wants to surrender to terrorists.

Here is a story about a woman not allowed in a courtroom in Valdosta, Georgia last year because she was a Muslim wearing a head scarf.  She wanted to contest a speeding ticket.

It’s all about demonizing anybody not fitting a very narrow idea of what an American should be.

Is Meghan McCain a terrorist?  

Not as far as I know.

What I do know is that John McCain is a bad guy.

And what about Rachel Ray’s silence on this issue?

She seems able to speak up well enough when she is taking money to tell people to go and eat even more junk. 

She can take a hike as a well.   

I take solace though knowing the next President of the United States is going to be a Black person named Barack Hussein Obama. 

It’s going to be a damned good day when that happens.    

That’s my point here—Better times are ahead. An America where people of all kinds feel at home—or at least more at home— is ahead.

  

Goat Meat—If You Have Some, I’ll Eat It

I recently read the following article in The Muslim Observer—

HILLSBORO, MO—Demand by Muslim and Hispanic communities in America has farmers raising more goats.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said Monday that the U.S. goat herd has grown from 2.5 million in 2002 to about 3 million today with more than 80 percent of the animals being raised for meat.

“It’s the No. 1 consumed meat in the world,” said Scott Hollis, a goat specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “It’s very popular, except here.”

Farmers say goats are relatively inexpensive to purchase and raise and don’t require a lot of land. That means small and weekend farmers find it an attractive niche market, the Post-Dispatch said. On the downside, goats are vulnerable to disease and major supermarket chains aren’t big buyers of goat meat.

The Muslim Observer is a weekly newspaper I picked up in a business run by an Islamic person. It is published in Michigan. It is a publication fully committed to Muslims living as citizens of the United States.  

Here is the full St. Louis Post-Dispatch article on goat meat.

Here is information about raising goats for meat. 

Supermarkets will sell goat meat if people start to ask for it to be sold. It might take time, but they will.

It’s interesting how demographic changes alter what we eat and what we consider as normal.

Things change because life is always in flux. If you accept this, you are more likely to be well-adjusted and more likely to enjoy the things life has to offer. 

I see here that Muslims and Hispanics enjoy goat meat.

Does this mean that the right will come to see goats as a symbol of the threats our nation faces? Will they label goat keepers as people attacking our nation from within? 

The goat in the picture is a Valais Blackneck goat.

Here is information about goats.

Chinese Islamic Restaurant & Links About Islam In China

A “Chinese Islamic” restaurant has opened in Houston. It is in the location of another Chinese restaurant I often went to but is now closed.

(Update—I have now eaten here three times. It is very good and there is a large menu with many items. The place is clean and the people working there are nice. ) 

The restaurant is called Jamillah Garden and is located at 15514 FM 529 in Houston. Call 281-855-4818 for takeout.  

The word “Jamillah” is a variation of the female Arabic name Jamila. Jamila means beautiful.

Beautiful garden.

Below is a picture of the Bogar Botanical Gardens outside of Jakarta. You see there an Islamic woman enjoying the garden. All people like nice things like a beautiful garden. Here is a link to information about these gardens.

I have not yet visited the Chinese Islamic restaurant. But I will soon. Today I was handed a menu.

What do Islamic Chinese people eat?   

Well–Looking at the menu I see some different offerings from the previous restaurant in that location.

Cold Ox-Tendon for example.  And Spicy Ox-Tripe.

I will order neither item.

There are many lamb dishes. That will do just fine. And many standard Chinese food offerings.

Though the Sweet & Sour Pork is gone.

Here is information on Islamic Dietary restrictions. 

Here is an excerpt from the Koran—

“You who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, idols and raffles are only a filthy work of satan, turn aside from them so that you may prosper. Satan only wants to stir up enmity and jealousy among you by means of intoxicants and gambling, and to hinder you from remembering God, and from praying; so will you not abstain?”(5: 90 – 91) 

I don’t follow all that. But I have some sympathy for the position. 

Here are a number of articles about Chinese Muslims from the Islam Awareness Homepage.

The above source says China is 2% Islamic. That comes out to 24 million people.

Here is a BBC story about Chinese Muslims living in the Ningxia province of China. 

Here is a picture of Yinchuan. This is the capital of Ningxia.  

Here is a history of Muslims in China from the Los Angeles Chinese Learning Center.

Here is an Economist story about Muslims in the Chinese frontier province of Xinjiang.

Here is information on Islam.

Here is an Islamic blogger from the great state of Ohio—The Tales of a Modern Muslimah.  I think she has the makings of a good blog and I hope she begins to post on a more consistent basis.

I hope the new Chinese Islamic Restaurant is a good place and I hope people will be willing to give it a chance.

Obama Could Say—“So What If I Am A Muslim?”

A rumor is going around that Senator Barack Obama is a Muslim.

This rumor is false.

Here is what Senator Obama has said in denying the rumor—

“I’ve been a member of the same church for nearly 20 years, praying to Jesus with my Bible,” Obama told 1,200 people at a church-run community center in Sumter. “Don’t let people turn you around because they’re just making stuff up. That’s what they do, they try to bamboozle you.”

Fine.

What I’ve not heard Senator Obama say is, “I’m not Muslim, but so what if I was?”

Being Islamic is good enough for hundreds of millions of people.

So why not just say–“I’m not Muslim, but it would not matter if I were.” 

And as Senator Obama, who is the favored candidate of this blog, makes an effort to win black voters in South Carolina, he uses a word–bamboozle– that Malcolm X had been know to use.

As in this example from Malcolm X—

“You’ve been hoodwinked. You’ve been had. You’ve been took. You’ve been led astray, led amok. You’ve been bamboozled.”

Mr. Obama is paraphrasing Malcolm X to deny he is Muslim, and not saying anything, as far as I know, about how it would make no difference if he were in fact Islamic.

This does not seem like leadership from Senator Obama.

( Please click here for a Texas Liberal history of the South Carolina primary.)