The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
9-11 Remembrance
On Thursday, September 11th at 7PM -All are invited to attend a Remembrance Mass at Mt. Carmel at 7PM.
Join the 9/11 Day Observance today. Visit https://911day.org/ and share your message or good deed tribute. Or share your message on Twitter, #911day.
Our mission is to honor the victims and survivors of 9/11 and those that rose to service in response to the attacks by encouraging all Americans and others throughout the world to pledge to voluntarily perform at least one good deed, or another service activity on 9/11 each year.
9/11 Day is the grassroots movement to observe September 11 every year as a day of charitable service and doing good deeds, and to inspire individuals to continue to help others in need whenever they can. Today more than 35 million Americans and others participate annually by taking time out on 9/11 to help others in need, in their own way! We created this observance soon after 9/11 to provide a positive way to forever remember and pay tribute to the 9/11 victims, honor those that rose in service in response to the attacks, and remind people of the importance of working more closely together to improve our world. In 2009 the U.S. Congress and President Obama joined together to officially establish 9/11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance under bi-partisan federal law.
Participating in 9/11 Day is easy. Simply dedicate time each September 11 to helping others in any fashion that you choose, like making a donation, performing a good deed, helping a friend, relative or neighbor, or volunteering your time. All we ask is that you remember by doing something positive that helps others. Be sure to share your plans or message on Twitter, using #911day, on Facebook, or by visiting our website, https://911day.org/
A few suggestions on how to help from the Ridgewood News :
Give blood. Donate books to a library or volunteer to read to children. Donate pet food to an animal rescue or shelter or volunteer to foster an animal. Donate food to a food pantry. Give clothes to a homeless shelter.
Companies, groups, municipalities and schools can also band together for special projects such as sponsoring a collection, volunteering time to help nonprofits in the area or just sprucing up public places.
For example, the Rotary Club of Ridgewood A.M. is collecting new and used shoes for donation to the Soles4Souls charity. The non-profit group monetizes used shoes and clothing to create sustainable jobs and fund direct relief efforts, including distribution of new shoes and clothing.
Drop off locations for the shoe drive include all Ridgewood public schools and the Education Center, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Chestnut Deli, Columbia Bank, Emmanuel Baptist Church, Morgan Stanley, Old Paramus Reformed Church, Ponds Reformed Church, Ridgewood Christian Reformed Church, Ridgewood Community Church, St. Elizabeth’s Church, Temple Emmanuel, Ulrich, the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, Upper Ridgewood Community Church, Village Hall, West Side Presbyterian Church.
For additional information about the shoe drive, contact Betty Wiest at 201-652-0858.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-editorials/a-day-to-make-a-difference-1.1081489#sthash.CddwFVWx.dpuf
Fears grow that Americans fighting with extremists overseas could bring violence back home
Why I thought Bush made up the whole thing to fight wars so Haliburton could get rich ?
AUGUST 29, 2014, 11:23 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2014, 11:33 PM
BY KEN DILANIAN AND BRADLEY KLAPPER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The case of Mehdi Nemmouche haunts U.S. intelligence officials.
Nemmouche is a Frenchman who authorities say spent 11 months fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria before returning to Europe to act out his rage. On May 24, prosecutors say, he methodically shot four people at the Jewish Museum in central Brussels. Three died instantly, one afterward. Nemmouche was arrested later, apparently by chance.
For U.S. and European counterterrorism officials, that 90-second spasm of violence is the kind of attack they fear from thousands of Europeans and up to 100 Americans who have gone to fight for extremist armies in Syria and now Iraq.
The Obama administration has offered a wide range of assessments of the threat to U.S. national security posed by the extremists who say they’ve established a caliphate, or Islamic state, in an area straddling eastern Syrian and northern and western Iraq, and whose actions include last week’s beheading of American journalist James Foley. Some officials say the group is more dangerous than al-Qaida. Yet intelligence assessments say it currently couldn’t pull off a complex, 9/11-style attack on the U.S. or Europe.
However, there is broad agreement across intelligence and law enforcement agencies of the immediate threat from radicalized Europeans and Americans who could come home to conduct lone-wolf operations.
Such plots are difficult to detect because they don’t require large conspiracies of people whose emails or phone calls can be intercepted.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/fears-grow-that-americans-fighting-with-extremists-overseas-could-bring-violence-back-home-1.1078326#sthash.44jaJXNL.dpuf
Paycheck for Terrorism: $5,300 for Suicide Attack
Sharyl Attkisson / @SharylAttkisson / August 21, 2014
For the first time, startling details are being made public about the millions of dollars funneled from Middle East charities to Islamic terrorists and their families.
Families of Islamic suicide bombers received a $5,300 payment.
The money was used to reward terrorists and their families after attacks on Israelis and U.S. nationals visiting Israel between 2000 and 2005 during the second intifada or Palestinian uprising.
The evidence was presented today in a landmark case in New York federal court. Three hundred U.S. nationals claim Arab Bank knowingly provided financial services to terrorists and their financiers in violation of the U.S. anti-terrorism law. Arab Bank contends it did not knowingly serve terrorists.
Palestinians shout as they follow an empty coffin for suicide bomber Wafa Idris. Middle East charities are under scrutiny for financially rewarding families for the suicide attacks. (Photo: Abbas Momani/Newscom)
Bank documents reveal an elaborate system for which Amman, Jordan-based Arab Bank served as the center point. Some Israelis refer to the bank as the “Grand Central Station of terrorist financing.”
Millions of dollars were funneled from Middle East charities to Islamic terrorists.
For example, bank documents allegedly show that a dozen Middle Eastern charities with links to the terrorist group Hamas and other radical Islamic groups transferred $32 million to Arab Bank during the second intifada. The money was then allegedly paid out to families of suicide bombers and other Palestinians who engaged in acts of terrorism against Jews.
An additional charity, the Saudi Committee for the Support of the Intifada al Quds, sent nearly $100 million through Arab Bank. The plaintiff’s analysis of bank records indicates $32 million of it ended up being distributed as cash payments to martyrs and their families, including the families of suicide bombers, and the rest was distributed to other Hamas-controlled charities.
According to evidence presented by the plaintiffs today, based on bank documents, families of suicide bombers received a $5,300 payment, or about four times the average annual Palestinian income at the time of $1,600. If a martyr was wounded but not killed, he received $2,655. If a martyr was arrested and jailed, the family received $1,325. The recipients simply showed up at an Arab Bank branch, presented identification, and received the cash.
>>> Arab Bank Accused of Helping Reward Hamas Suicide Bombers in Terrorism Case
Under anti-terrorism law, it’s illegal for banks to do business with designated terrorist entities or with groups that they know or have reason to believe are linked to terrorists or terrorist activity.
That’s where the two sides sharply differ.
Arab Bank’s main offices in the Jordanian capital, Amman. (Photo: Khalil Mazraawi/Newscom)
Arab Bank’s attorney told jurors in opening statements last week that the Saudi Committee was a legitimate humanitarian group that was never a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Arab Bank also claimed that any business it may have conducted with terrorists or terrorist groups was limited in nature and entirely unintentional, due to typos or mistakes in screening.
Under U.S. law, it’s illegal for banks to do business with designated terrorist entities.
In 2005, Arab Bank settled a U.S. Treasury Department investigation into alleged money laundering and terrorist financing by paying a $24 million fine without admitting wrongdoing.
The plaintiffs in the New York trial are seeking monetary damages and financial penalties from Arab Bank.
This is a Daily Signal special feature.
ISIS Flag flies in New Jersey
How Would You React To A Neighbor Flying The ISIS Flag, Because It Just Happened Here In The U.S.
Aresident in Garwood, New Jersey is generating a firestorm of controversy for flying the flag of terror group – ISIS.
A photo of the flag was posted on social media by Twitter user, Marc Leibowitz:
According to our friends at the Washington Free Beacon, police reported the residents who were displaying the flag “voluntarily” took it down.
Here’s the thing: the United States Constitution guarantees freedom of speech. However, the oath of allegiance which is taken by all immigrants who become U.S. citizens says that they will protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies “foreign and domestic.” And ISIS even threatened to bring jihad to the White House.
In addition, an ISIS sympathizer in the United States who pledged allegiance to the terrorist group was recently detained at JFK without bail. Clearly, ISIS supporters and possibly even members of the group itself are here in the United States. As this is a national security issue, we can only hope that the proper steps are taken to prevent any threats from ISIS carrying out their plans.
https://www.ijreview.com/2014/08/167476-react-neighbor-flying-isis-flag-just-happened-u-s/
Official Docs link Saudis to 9-11
“I Was Absolutely Shocked At What I Read,” Congressman Calls For Release Of Secret 9/11 Documents
Earlier this year, Reps. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., and Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., were given access to the 28 redacted pages of the Joint Intelligence Committee Inquiry (JICI) of 9/11 issued in late 2002, which have been thought to hold some answers about the Saudi connection to the attack.
“I was absolutely shocked by what I read,” Jones told International Business Times. “What was so surprising was that those whom we thought we could trust really disappointed me. I cannot go into it any more than that. I had to sign an oath that what I read had to remain confidential. But the information I read disappointed me greatly.”
The public may soon also get to see these secret documents. Last week, Jones and Lynch introduced a resolution that urges President Obama to declassify the 28 pages, which were originally classified by President George W. Bush. It has never been fully explained why the pages were blacked out, but President Bush stated in 2003 that releasing the pages would violate national security.
Video of Congressman’s press conference here:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-20/i-was-absolutely-shocked-what-i-read-congressman-calls-release-secret-911-documents
TSA implementing ‘enhanced security measures’ on international flights
By Keith Laing – 07/02/14 03:34 PM EDT
The Department of Homeland Security has directed the Transportation Security Administration to implement “enhanced security measures” at overseas airports where planes fly directly to the United States amid concerns about potential summer terrorist attacks.
The announcement comes after military officials raised concerns about al Qaeda affiliated foreign fighters using Western passports to evade terrorist watch lists.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the agency would take steps to minimize the inconvenience to airline passengers as the busy Fourth of July holiday weekend approaches.
Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/211215-tsa-implementing-enhanced-security-measures-on-international-flights#ixzz36OWIEZpS
GOP report on 9/11 anniversary eve: Make TSA ‘smarter, leaner’
By Keith Laing – 09/10/12 04:05 PM ET
Republicans are suggesting ways the Transportation Security Administration can be “rebuilt” into a “smarter, leaner organization” ahead of a hearing on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The House Homeland Security Committee’s Transportation Security subcommittee released a report Monday finding that TSA could be more effective by reducing its number of employees. The report also suggest TSA should consider “enlisting the private sector to modernize and, to the extent possible, automate the passenger screening process to reduce pat-downs, implementing privacy software on all [Advanced Imaging Technology] machines, and sponsoring an independent analysis of the potential health impacts of AIT machines.”
The committee will hold a hearing on the report on on Tuesday, which will mark the 11th anniversary of the hijacking of four U.S. airliners by terrorists.
